Today's Wanli has just passed the weak crown, and in the eyes of ordinary people, he is just a young man who has nothing to do. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 But at this time, the coercion he displayed was unprecedentedly powerful, and it forced the ministers to tremble one by one, and they didn't even have the courage to look up at him, let alone refute it.

All of this naturally has to be attributed to the deposition of Zhang Juzheng from the capital a few years ago. When the Son of Heaven, who was not yet eighteen years old, dared to drive the patriarch of the Three Dynasties, who had been in power for many years, and Zhang Juzheng, who was extremely strong, from the court, the ministers had already had a lot of awe for the Son of Heaven in their hearts, and this feeling will surely increase with his age.

Sometimes, if you want to erect authority, you really need to find a target, before it was Zhang Juzheng who helped Wanli establish his prestige, and this time, his eyes fell on Yan Qing, the secretary of the ministry.

As a veteran minister for many years, and a heavenly official in charge of the promotion of officials in the world, Yan Qing's prestige in the court is not in the cabinet. If you can take this opportunity to take it down in one fell swoop, Wanli's reputation as the Son of Heaven and the Lord of the World will inevitably be stronger than before.

When Wanli set his eyes on Yan Qing, this Shangshu Lord also quickly sensed the threat. Although he was on his knees like the ministers, the powerful momentum that was only aimed at himself still made him panic, and he obviously felt that he was going to be unlucky this time.

In such a situation, if you want to protect yourself, you can only turn passive into active, even if you do lose money, you can only bite the bullet. Thinking of this, Yan Shangshu took a sharp breath, kowtowed, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the minister has something to say." ”

Wanli, who just wanted to open his mouth to ask him, didn't expect the other party to come with such a hand, and the words on his lips were stagnant, and the momentum that had been brewing for a long time was also weak, so he could only snort coldly: "Do you have anything else to quibble?" ”

"Your Majesty's words, the ministers really dare not accept them!" There is no turning back when the bow is opened, and now there is only one way to go to the dark, seeing that the Son of Heaven directly took the words to characterize, Yan Qing immediately objected, and at the same time pulled his colleagues to his side.

Shen Shixing and the others immediately heard the meaning of his words, and their expressions changed again, but they couldn't jump out and say that they were not on the same path as him, so they could only helplessly see how he argued.

Wanli didn't expect the other party to be so bold and dare to refute his words like this, and he suddenly became even more angry. But it was not good to be angry for no reason, so he suppressed his anger a little and said, "Am I wronging you?" These are all well-documented facts, do you still want to deny them? ”

"The ministers do have a negative bearing on Your Majesty in this incident, but Your Majesty cannot impose all the faults on the ministers. Those Mongolians were the best at long-distance raids and surprise attacks, which led to the siege of Xuanfu. In fact, the ministers also thought that the Mongolian people were just a momentary spirit, and the Xuanfu seemed to be in danger, but in fact it was still as stable as Mount Tai, so they did not rush to ask His Majesty to immediately dispatch elites from all over the country to rush to the rescue...... "Okay, after he said this, the inaction of these people has become prescient."

Seeing him so shamelessly exonerate himself, Wanli was almost angry. However, the main point of his attack today is not here, and he doesn't want to argue and entangle with him here, but just snorts: "Even if the danger of the Xuanfu this time makes sense, what about all the shortcomings in the army over there, as well as the fact that you people are pretending to be public and private, and covering up the appointment of border army generals and private individuals?" ”

This is indeed an inescapable crime, and no matter how fast Ren Yanqing's mind turns, he can't get away with it, so he can only say: "The ministers have indeed failed His Majesty's trust, and their approach to the border army is inappropriate. However, Your Majesty must say that the ministers did all this out of selfishness, and the ministers would never dare to accept it. ”

"Hah...... Could it be that you are doing this for the sake of my Ming Dynasty? ”

"The minister didn't dare...... But it's true! In the face of the anger of the Son of Heaven, Yan Qing seemed very calm at this time. After all, he has been in the officialdom for many years, and he has been a figure of a very popular minister, and he still has this psychological quality.

"This is really unusual, you allowed those border army generals to appoint private individuals, embezzle military salaries, and thus cause the border city defense to be very weak, and in your mouth, this is still successful?" Wanli was so angry that he almost laughed.

didn't want to, but Yan Qing bowed again: "What the minister said is true, every word comes from the heart, and I dare not have any intention of deceiving Your Majesty." The ministers did all this, and they did it for the long-term peace and stability of my Ming borderland, but they didn't dare to take credit. ”

After a pause, he continued: "Your Majesty is in Beijing, and he does not know the details of the affairs in the north, the conditions of the defenders there are extremely difficult, and there are many casualties in clashes with the neighboring Mongolians from time to time, which has led to the low morale of the border army. In order to improve the combat effectiveness of the border army, in desperation, many generals implemented the strategy of elite soldiers, cut out the old and weak soldiers, and trained the elite in their hands. It is precisely because of their heavier responsibilities that they will be encouraged by many people's military salaries.

"As for the private soldiers that Your Majesty is worried about, it is actually a misunderstanding. In fact, as early as the Jiajing period, in order to resist the Japanese, there were also many forces on the southeast coast that looked more like private soldiers, such as Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou's soldiers and horses...... But that was really an idea made out of desperation, could it be that several emperors and many courtiers also colluded with them? ”

Yan Qing was indeed flexible, and he gave his words, and in just a few moments, he actually found a reasonable and reasonable explanation and pushed all the charges out.

Shen Shixing and other officials couldn't help but raise their heads slightly at this moment, and glanced at this eloquent celestial official with some admiration, if it weren't for the court meeting, in front of the Son of Heaven, they would all give a thumbs up and cheer.

And Wanli was also so refuted that he couldn't even lose his temper for a while, but his expression became even more gloomy. Listening to him say this, what the generals of the border army did was very legitimate, not only was there no fault, but it was meritorious!

But for a while, he couldn't come up with any words, so he could only stare at the other party hatefully for a long time and said: "Even if it is true as you say, as an official of the imperial court, it is a sin to hide this." ”

"The ministers are guilty......" Yan Qing accepted the testimony very calmly this time, because he knew that as long as the charges of the border generals were cleared, their cover-up trip would be nothing at all: "But the ministers are really in trouble." The Mongolian people in the north have always been eyeing our Daming, and there can be no fault in the border towns. If His Majesty knows about the problem and blames the local generals, it will only lead to a great reduction in the strength of the defenders, so that the Mongolian people will have a chance to take advantage of it! "Well, under his explanation, they have all become loyal ministers for the sake of the country, instead of pretending to be public and private.

When the ministers heard Yan Qing's argument like this, they were more determined, knowing that this time they were safe.

Wanli, on the other hand, was so angry that his face turned pale, but he couldn't refute it for a while, so he could only pant there. After all, he is not very old and inexperienced, and there is a big gap between him and the old fritters in these officialdom after all.

Seeing the emperor like this, Yan Qing knew that he was basically safe, so he accepted it when he saw it: "Of course, the ministers still have a negative grace in doing this, and please punish Your Majesty!" But for the sake of the country, I also ask Your Majesty not to severely punish those soldiers who are still defending our Ming frontier at this time. ”

At this time, the tacit understanding between those officials also appeared, and they immediately bowed down again, and said words similar to Yan Shangshu in unison: "The ministers are willing to be punished, and please put Your Majesty ...... the overall situation first."

Originally, he only said that he had already commanded the army of the ministers, but he didn't expect Yan Qing's words to turn the whole situation upside down, and he Wanli was given to the general by them.

If he insists on going his own way and really severely punishes the courtiers and border generals, then once something really happens in the border area, the responsibility will be on him, the emperor-you know, the Mongolian army is still in the Xuanfu area. But if he adopted Yan Qing's advice and turned a blind eye to it, then he would become an accomplice with these courtiers, and naturally it would be impossible to punish them with this matter.

In an instant, Wanli fell into a dilemma, and he didn't know what to do.

The courtiers who knelt on the ground had settled down at this time, and they began to peek at the Son of Heaven, and when they saw his hesitant appearance, they knew that they had survived this hurdle.

And Yang Chen, who was in it, sighed. The Son of Heaven is young after all, and he is far from being the opponent of these old fritters in such matters. And he himself, although he has the heart to stand up, has no proper reason. Moreover, after listening to Yan Qing's sophistry, he couldn't come up with a more powerful argument to refute it, so he could only become a public enemy in vain, which was really unwise.

Perhaps only a pioneering king like Taizu Chengzu has the courage and momentum to overwhelm the courtiers of the Manchu Dynasty. It's a pity that although Wanli has an enterprising heart, he still can't be the master in this matter. Yang Chen was even a little worried that this would make Wanli step back into the old road of history and make him the otaku son who hadn't seen his ministers for thirty years.

Just as Yang Chen was thinking wildly, an attendant suddenly came to the door of the palace: "Your Majesty, the commander of the Jinyi Guard has asked Yang Zhen to see ......."

Wanli was a little overwhelmed and annoyed, hearing this, it was like a drowning man grasping the last life-saving straw, and his spirit suddenly perked up: "Xuan He came in and spoke." He knew that at this time, the only thing he could rely on was Yang Zhen.

And the ministers were also shocked, knowing that things would be variable. However, because they were still on their knees at this time, they could not raise objections for a while, and could only watch all this happen.

After a while, a tall figure slowly appeared at the door of the hall, and Yang Zhen walked into the hall with steady steps......