Qianqing Palace.

However, it was said that after Wang Xijue and Zhu Geng, the two cabinet ministers, had just discussed the matter of the Zhan Shifu, they received two urgent reports from the Ministry of War, and the military affairs could not be delayed for a moment, so the two of them summed it up, and immediately summoned other cabinet ministers to the palace to hand over the posts asking to see them.

The palace replied quickly, but after a while, Wang Xijue and others saw Chen Ju, the eunuch who came in a hurry, outside the Qianqing Palace, of course, there was a little mistake that when the old chief assistant sent someone to find Li Tingji, a scholar of Dongge University, he was told that Li Ge had been summoned to the palace.

Hearing the news, Wang Xijue didn't react, but Zhu Geng's face couldn't help but darken.

A group of adults are familiar with the palace, and they don't have time to be polite when things are urgent, so they followed Eunuch Chen to the Qianqing Palace.

"Ministers see the emperor, long live my emperor, long live long live!"

Entering the palace gate, several adults bowed and saluted, but when they looked up, they saw that the Son of Heaven was wearing a crimson dragon robe, wearing a winged crown, and his face was kind, but what surprised them a little was that in addition to Li Tingji, who had already been called into the palace, there was also Fang Congzhe, a bachelor of Hanlin.

"I have already read the military report of the Ministry of War, and the Tatars have come to attack this time, but they have rashly negotiated peace, I don't know what the gentlemen think?"

The military newspaper had already been sent to the palace with the post requesting an audience, not to mention that Zhu Changluo had already received news from Jinyiwei, so he didn't talk too much nonsense, and asked directly.

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that the army cannot be withdrawn!"

No one expected that the Son of Heaven would ask so bluntly as soon as he came up, and there was a brief silence in the hall for a moment, and Shen Li, Shen Ge Lao, stood up and said with a little caution.

Speaking of which, Shen Ge Lao was also very aggrieved, there were a total of six people present, among whom Fang Congzhe was a bachelor of Hanlin, strictly speaking, it was not enough to participate in such a military event, so if it wasn't for the emperor to ask by name, he would not open his mouth indiscriminately.

And the rest is the cabinet ministers, as I said earlier, in the face of such a military event, before thinking clearly in their hearts, the bosses will not rashly express their opinions, after all, the more they speak, the more they can adjust their attitudes and ways of speaking according to the situation.

However, when discussing politics in the palace, you can't always think silently without speaking, so it involves a matter of sorting.

Generally speaking, the order of speaking is the ranking of the status in the cabinet, and in addition to the first and second assistants are obviously more respected than other cabinet ministers, the other cabinet ministers only have an invisible unstable order, to put it bluntly, everyone has a similar status in name, as for the real ranking, it should be based on seniority, prestige, power and a series of things comprehensively.

Speaking of which, Shen Ge Lao has a very deep level of experience in the cabinet, and he entered the cabinet very early, even earlier than the second assistant Zhen Zhenji, second only to the first assistant Wang Xijue, and is consistent with the previous second assistant Shen.

Even Shen Ge Lao was in the cabinet, and he had repeatedly choked with Shen Yiyi, who was the second assistant, and even after Shen Zheng went, he once had the opportunity to ascend to the position of the second assistant, but unfortunately he was preempted by Zhen Zhenji.

Zhen Zhenji and Shen Li don't have any old grievances to talk about, and Shen Ge naturally has to pay attention to his identity obediently, and he hasn't done anything unsuitable for his identity.

Later, Shen Ge Lao was attached to the Zhejiang Party, although he further consolidated his position in the court, but the ranking in this cabinet declined.

The reason is very simple, Shen Ge Lao is not a veteran of the Zhejiang Party after all, he borrowed the power of the Zhejiang Party, and naturally he has to pay a price, and this price is to become Zhu Geng's help.

In the cabinet in the past few years, it is difficult to say which of the two of them has a higher status, but what I don't want to ask is that since Shen has always gone, in the Zhejiang Party, it is still Zhu Ge Lao's status that is higher.

Of course, no matter what, there is also a Li Tingji at the bottom, he is the last one to enter the cabinet, and he is also the most shallow, so he should be the last to enter the cabinet, and he is also the most qualified, and the natural ranking should be the last.

But now is different from the past, since the Chengtianmen incident, Li Ge Lao's reputation among the courtiers has risen, and the power of the imperial party has become more and more huge, and he has invisibly surpassed Shen Ge Lao, and even Zhu Geng may not be able to compare with him.

In view of the above reasons, Shen Ge Lao became extremely miserable and became the first person to speak......

"Oh? Why? ”

Sure enough, the Son of Heaven still looked unfazed and asked.

"Your Majesty Mingjian, the old minister thinks, this time the Tatar attack, menacing, a few days ago the military department reported that my Datong defenders suffered heavy losses, it can be seen that their people are resolute in attacking, but our army first arrived in Datong only one day, the Tatars sent an envoy to come, eager to reconcile with the Ming Dynasty, isn't it a strange thing? If the war can be stopped, it will be a good loss, but the minister is afraid that this is the enemy's suspicious strategy, so he thinks that he should not withdraw the army rashly, and he will make a decision after a detailed investigation! ”

Shen Li pondered for a moment and said slowly.

It should be said that what Shen Ge Lao said was relatively conservative, and he did not say that he would agree to negotiate peace, nor did he say that he would not agree to peace, but only raised doubts about the sincerity of the Tatar proposals, which can be regarded as a matter of facts and impartiality.

Next is Zhu Geng, these two have always been one, after Shen Ge Lao finished speaking, Zhu Geng also stepped forward and said.

"Your Majesty, the old minister also has this intention, whether it is war or peace for the time being, this time the Tatars suddenly sent an envoy to negotiate peace, it is too strange, not to mention that the old minister remembered that the last military report said, this time Tumut Xing soldiers committed my Datong is for the three ladies to come, but now the three ladies are nowhere to be seen, but Pullik suddenly sent people to negotiate peace, the intention is still to be investigated in detail! At least until the whereabouts of the three ladies are ascertained, I can't discuss with the Tatars for the time being, and the minister proposes to send a messenger to Datong to find out what is going on! ”

Now the ministers in the palace all feel that today's Zhu Ge is very abnormal!

There seems to be nothing wrong with what he said, but it is not quite in line with Zhu Gelao's consistent attitude against war, and for some reason, everyone vaguely felt that Shen and Zhu seemed to be extremely cautious when speaking today......

"It's not proper, Tu Mo Texing committed my Daming and killed my Datong guard, and now my army is rushing to Datong, and the grain and grass have been moved, how can we stop fighting? Your Majesty, in the opinion of the old ministers, this is a good time to criticize peace, since our army has the advantage, we should continue to advance, and give Tumut a lesson with the momentum of a great victory! ”

In contrast, the attitude of the second assistant is much clearer, although earlier, the second assistant did not agree with the dispatch of troops, but he can still distinguish the importance clearly.

Peace? Are you kidding!

The Ming Dynasty mobilized the army, raised military funds, appointed officials, and requisitioned people, which consumed so many manpower and material resources, and as a result, the Tatar word should be stopped?

What a dream!

After a pause, Shinjisuke continued with a frown.

"Your Majesty, this is not a minister's impulsive words, since the first Muzong Emperor and Tumut peace talks, I promised to open the mutual market to it, and the two will not be disturbed, but although Tumut has three ladies to restrain him, but still go his own way, over the years, there are often small groups of unknown forces of enemy soldiers across the Great Wall, enter to plunder property, rob women, although there is no murder, but these things are too rampant, but also make the people uneasy, this is one of them!

Second, after the war, the minister had consulted the documents of the Ministry of War, at the time of Longqing, although Tumut was very prosperous, but the number of troops was only 10,000, among which there were still many women and children, and this war, its troops sent 30,000 soldiers, including cavalry tens of thousands, and according to the report of the Ministry of War, at the beginning of the succession of Pullik, it was not a monopoly on power, 30,000 troops, but the number he could use, under the leadership of Tumut Daxiang Kabi Yatu, there were still 20,000 elite soldiers, and the town was not ......out of the Tumut headquarters."

After saying so many words at once, Zhen Jifu had a dry mouth, and he took the tea on the table and moistened his throat, but his face suddenly became solemn, and said.

"Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, the Longqing Peace Conference has only been more than thirty years ago, but the number of Tumut's troops has increased several times, if in the past, even if it raised troops, how could my Datong resist such difficulties? If it is allowed to continue to grow, it will definitely become a big trouble for my Ming Dynasty, so the old man thinks that no matter whether Tumut has the heart of peace this time, this battle must be fought, and its vitality must be severely damaged. ”

In fact, Zhen Zhenji's position in the cabinet has always been relatively embarrassing, although he is a second assistant, but there is still a prestige of the old first assistant, and there are forces under Shen Zhu and Li Tingji, who are more powerful than the other, and they do not have a strong sense of existence, and more often, they are wandering between various forces.

Although later the heart of the second assistant had the meaning of approaching the Son of Heaven, but the attitude of the Son of Heaven has always been very ambiguous, and later the heart of the second assistant thought about it carefully, the reason is actually one point.

The Son of Heaven's thirst for him was not intense, in other words, he did not bring much use to the Son of Heaven.

First of all, in the cabinet, Li Tingji has now lost his temperance and has become a lackey of the Son of Heaven wholeheartedly, no matter what it is, as long as the emperor gives an order, he can do it.

This point, Zhen Cifu is absolutely irreplaceable, Zhen Cifu is still a little ashamed and high-minded, if he really wants him to put down his body and go to cater to the emperor in everything, he can't do it.

As for high-level things, the Son of Heaven has the support of the old first assistant, and the old first assistant has been in the four dynasties, and he is the first to advocate the prince's merits, and his prestige in the court is incomparable.

If the Son of Heaven has something that cannot be solved, as long as the old Shoufu comes forward, he will be able to suppress the public opinion of the court, which is also incomparable to the second assistant.

So in fact, the position of the second assistant is more embarrassing, he can do it, someone does it for him, and he doesn't want to do it, and he can't do what he wants to do.

After thinking about it, he finally decided to find another way.

Therefore, in addition to dealing with daily government affairs, all his thoughts have been on the study of the past experience of the Son of Heaven.

I have to say that although the later he became, the more the Son of Heaven behaved like an antelope hanging its horns, and there was no trace of it, but in the early years, he could still see something!

For example, the Son of Heaven's attitude towards foreigners is obviously very disgusted, and carefully recalling the dealings between the Son of Heaven and foreigners, Zhenzhenji found that the Son of Heaven has never compromised with foreigners in any matter.

From the Wa Kingdom to the Jurchens, and then to the current Tatars, this is the case, the strategy pursued by the Son of Heaven is to hit with one blow, and if you hit the opponent with a serious injury, you will not beat the opponent to the point that the body is incomplete, and the vitality is greatly damaged, and you will never stop!

Therefore, I firmly believe that this time is no exception, this time the Son of Heaven even sent out his own three major battalions of the pro-army regardless of the will of the people, how could he agree to the peace discussion?

Regardless of whether or not the Tatars really had the intention of shaking hands and making peace this time, Kin Jisuke can at least conclude that in today's hearts, there is no such thought at all!

Of course, Zhu Changluo didn't know these thoughts of Zhen Cifu, and he didn't expect that Zhen Cifu, who had always been low-key, would say such amazing words this time.

Although he agreed with it in his heart, he did not show anything on his face and continued.

"What does Motosuke mean?"

"What the second assistant said is not unreasonable, the old man also thinks that this is not the best time for peace, the third lady is my minister of the Ming Dynasty, the lady of the Shunyi King who was canonized by my emperor, this rash disappearance, it is really strange, not to mention that as far as the military report is concerned, the envoy sent by Tuo Lik said that Tumut has suffered a great change internally, and someone intends to usurp the throne, such a disorderly act, I must not sit idly by, so the old minister implores Your Majesty to order the army to march to Tumut, help Tumut restore orthodoxy, find the three ladies, and rebuild the old friendship between my Ming and Tumut!"

In contrast, the old Shoufu is much calmer.

After saying this, Zhen Zhenji's face was faintly hot, look at what people said, it doesn't leak!

Didn't you say that someone was carrying out a coup d'état internally?

Well, my Ming sent troops to solve the coup d'état for you, if you recognize yourself as a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, don't resist, wait for the Ming Dynasty to quell the rebellion for you, and find the three ladies.

Otherwise, let's have a good fight!

Not only has the goal been achieved, but also has not lost the demeanor of a great country of etiquette, which is worthy of being the first assistant.

Looking at himself again, the meaning in his words is the same, and even Yu Zhenjifu said it in more detail, but in terms of momentum and fame, it is inferior......

But now, basically everyone has expressed their opinions, as for Li Gelao, who has not spoken, it is natural for everyone to think that he has told the Son of Heaven in the future before everyone, so the rest is only His Majesty's opinion, after all, in the end, this matter still has to be decided by His Majesty.

"Since all the gentlemen have this intention, then I will send someone to reply to Tumut, order you to withdraw your troops, and then order Magui to continue to advance, find the three ladies, and re-establish the orthodoxy of the king of Shunyi!"

The attitude of the Son of Heaven was expected by everyone, and he was settled according to the words of the old Shoufu.

It's just that for some reason, all the ministers have some feelings, as if there is a faint sense of regret in the tone of the Son of Heaven......