Yang He flipped through the two pages at random, which only recorded the two recent edicts of the Son of Heaven, as well as a few excerpts from the Supervision Yuan, and it could be seen that he was in a good mood, and the successful elimination of the rebels of the Du family's uncle and nephew some time ago made the voices of the faction opposing his strategy in the court a lot lower. Yang He turned the first two pages a little carelessly, and suddenly his fingers stopped, and an irrepressible smile appeared on his face.

"Master, are there any happy events?" The old servant standing in Yang He had been following him for forty years, and immediately felt the mood fluctuations of his master, and asked in a low voice.

"Hmm!" Yang He didn't hide it in front of his old servant: "Wen Liang (Yang He's son Yang Sichang) has been promoted to the right capital of the imperial history!" ”

"Congratulations, sir!" The old servant's smile was much more obvious, and he naturally understood what Yang He meant by what he said. The so-called right capital imperial history is one of the governors of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Inspectorate, and its position is second only to the left and right capital imperial history and deputy capital imperial history. The Metropolitan Procuratorate was developed from the Imperial Historical Observatory of the previous generation, and it was the supervisory organ of the ancient state, which had the power to impeach, evaluate, and supervise the administrative organs, and even had the power to "adjudicate major matters and make decisions on small matters". In view of the chaotic political affairs of the Yuan Dynasty and the prominent contradictions between the central and local governments, Ming Taizu divided the local government power into three: the administrative department, the capital command envoy department, and the inspection and envoy department, that is, the administrative, judicial, and military and political powers were separated, so as to avoid the situation that the local tail was too big to fall. Obviously, this kind of administrative structure will inevitably have different powers and command in extraordinary times such as wars, in order to cope with the extraordinary situation, the Ming Dynasty set up governors and other central officials to unify the command of the military power, and theoretically speaking, the task of these dispatched officers is to supervise, inspect, probe, play and other supervisory powers, so their own officials often belong to the Imperial Procuratorate, such as the supervision of the imperial history, the left and right imperial history, the deputy capital of the imperial history, where the supervision power has transformed into an administrative power beyond the ordinary administrative system, If you use an analogy, it is similar to the "head of the central working group" often mentioned in today's news broadcasts. Therefore, Yang Sichang's promotion to the imperial history of the right capital marked a major step in his official career, and marked that he was already qualified to command a military and political aspect as a Xinjiang minister.

"That's it, this time Wen is weak to be the governor of Yongping and Shanhaiguan for military affairs, this is not an easy errand!" Yang He's face quickly returned to its former calmness: "Dongyu broke the border, besieged the Beijing Division, overthrew the army and killed the generals, there are many things inside, and the water is also very deep, if you don't do it well, I'm afraid it will be a disaster!" “

"Master, the old slave said something rude, if it is about being an official and doing things, compared with the old master, I am afraid that the young phoenix is clearer than the old phoenix!"

"Huh!" Hearing this, Yang He laughed, pointed at the old servant's nose and said with a smile: "You have spoiled him since he was a child, and he will not change when he is old!" ”

The master and servant were talking and laughing in the study, when there was a rush of footsteps outside, and a Chinese general in a red robe came into the door, knelt down and kowtowed to Yang He, and presented a document with both hands: "Tell your lord, there is an urgent military situation in Yan'an Town!" ”

The old servant hurriedly stepped forward to take the document and sent it to Yang He, Yang He opened the document and just read two lines, the smile on his face froze, he read the document from beginning to end and read it twice, and stood up: "Change my clothes for me and go to the signing room!" “

In the signing room, more than a dozen civil and military officials had already gathered, and a few familiar ones were talking in low voices, their faces full of worry. At this time, there was a rumor outside, and the officials hurriedly stood up in accordance with the order of the left and the right. At this time, Yang He had already come in, and as soon as he sat down in the middle, he asked in a deep voice, "You all know about the affairs of Yan'an Town, right?" ”

"The lower officials already know!" Everyone responded in unison.

"Well, Shen Yikui led his troops south, and all the forts around Yan'an Town were all down overnight, the thieves and soldiers were thin on the city walls, and there was a shortage of food and food in the city, and the situation was critical, what do you say should be done?"

There was a deathly silence in the detention room, and these civil and military officials knew very well what the letter meant: like Yan'an Town, an important town that the Ming Dynasty had operated for many years, there were many castles on the roads around it, and its defensive focus was actually on these fortresses rather than the city wall of Yan'an itself. Even if the Ming army can hold Yan'an, the rebel army led by Shen Yikui can also surround Yan'an Town with a small number of troops, and go south along the river valley with a large army, because the main force of the Shaanxi army is under the command of He Huchen and Du Wenhuan, the Guanzhong Plain is empty, and Shen Yikui can lead the cavalry to carry hundreds of thousands of hungry people along the river valley to the south and directly kill the Guanzhong Plain. And if Yan'an is breached, more than 10,000 military households there will join the ranks of the rebels, and their power will quickly expand to the point of being uncontrollable. Whether it is the former or the latter, the only thing Yang He can do is to pack up his belongings and go to the edict to report.

"Why don't you let the two adults He and Du quickly lead the troops back to help--" A curtain official just said halfway, but was sealed by everyone's contemptuous eyes, He Huchen and Du Wenhuan are still in the Qingyang area of Gansu Province, and when Xi'an sends envoys here, and then returns to the division there, the daylily is cold. However, Yang He didn't want to make no one speak, so he replied casually: "It's okay, someone will immediately send an envoy to let the two generals He and Du return to the division." However, I'm afraid that the two generals are in the middle of nowhere, and the whip is out of reach, and there are any good strategies for the ranks, so let's listen to them quickly. ”

"As seen by the following officials, although there are actually many thieves, most of them are rabble, and there are only more than 1,000 of them who are fierce and good at fighting. If you meet it head-on with thousands of elite soldiers, it will not be difficult to defeat it! Another 30-odd official said, "Actually, it's not that there are no soldiers in this pass, but that there is no salary!" ”

"Not bad!"

"Wende's words are very true!"

"What Wende said is very good to my heart!"

Although the three years of Chongzhen's reign in the northwest can be said to be full of popular uprisings, it is far from reaching the situation that Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucheng, Lao Huihui and other people often supported more than 100,000 troops, broke the state and fell into the government, and turned to fight for thousands of miles. The vast majority of the participants were not so much rebels with political goals as hungry people who just wanted to be fed, and even rebels like Shen Yikui, who were born as border soldiers and had good military qualities, had no clear political goals in their leaders' minds. It is not difficult to defeat this kind of rabble who have no will to fight. But the bad thing is that the situation on the side of the Ming army is not much better, and the vast majority of the Ming soldiers are not only in arrears for many years, but also used as free slave labor for the government and generals all year round. It is not difficult to win in this "worse than bad" race, but you must come up with a lot of money.

"Hmmm! How much silver did you say Jiansheng wanted? Yang He called each other in the words of Zhao Wende.

"If it is calculated with 6,000 soldiers, first make up for one year's arrears, and then pay for the promotion and pickle silver. It's at least 100,000 taels! ”

The number in Zhao Wende's mouth made Yang He's face gloomy all of a sudden, although he was the governor of the three sides and was in charge of the military affairs of the northwest, he himself did not have the power to obtain financial resources from the Chengxuan Envoy Division, which was commonly known as the "Domain", in other words, every tael of his silver must come from the central government. Obviously, the original purpose of this system design was to prevent the governors and governors who held military power from combining with local financial resources and becoming local separatist forces to compete with the central government, but this also caused huge internal friction in local military and financial resources, and weakened the ability of the border areas to resist external invasion. At that time, the main military focus of the Ming Dynasty was already in Liaodong, and the financial resources given to Yang He were limited, and the previous military operations of He Huchen and Du Wenhuan had used all the money and grain of the governor, where was the extra money to pay for the sudden burden?

"As the following officials see, they can borrow from the squires in the city, after all, this is also their township, if the gods come in, aren't they the unlucky? Is it also their duty to give some money? It was still that Zhao Wende who spoke, but this time no one spoke out to echo him, and most of the people in the signing room had an unfathomable look.

"My lord, Brother Zhao's plan is under the officials, and I think it needs to be considered again!" One of the oldest officials objected: "100,000 taels is not a decimal, and it is difficult to raise enough in a hurry, as the saying goes, soldiers are expensive and fast, I am afraid that the money has not yet been scraped together, and Shen Yikui has already hit Xi'an City, so it is better to find another way to do it!" “

"Yes, if you do this, I'm afraid that the old men in the court will have a lot of gossip again!" Another person replied, what he said was the imperial historians of the Inspectorate, these officials had nothing to do but still need to find out something, if Yang He asked the gentry for money, I am afraid that the Shaanxi officials would be the first to spare him.

"Yes, at this time, you can't offend the old man!"

In the face of opposition, Zhao Wende's face also became ugly, he was still young after all, and his temperament was very anxious: "This can't work, that can't work, what other way do you have to fail?" You can't watch Shen Yikui fight under the city of Xi'an, right? “

Facing the quarrel of his subordinates, Yang He, who was sitting at the top, had a gloomy face and did not say a word, and after about half a sound, he coughed twice and said: "You all go down, let me go down alone!" “

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone left the signing room, and as soon as Zhao Wende came out of the official gate, a voice came from behind him, vaguely calling his name, and when he looked back, it was Yang He's personal servant, and he hurriedly turned around to salute. The old servant stretched out his hand and asked: "Mr. Zhao, please go back and have something to discuss, please come with me"

Zhao Wende knew that it must be about fundraising, and he was secretly happy in his heart and hurriedly followed the old servant, walked through the courtyard, and arrived at Yang He's study. When he entered the house, he saw Yang He standing by the wall, frowning and looking at the map on the wall. Zhao Wende hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Your Excellency!" “

"Excuse me!" A smile appeared on Yang He's face: "You just raised money from the gentry in the city, do you have a detailed strategy?" “

"Of course, there is!" Zhao Wende said with a smile: "If you ask for money directly, I'm afraid the gentry in the city will not bleed, and at most they will take out three or five hundred taels to deal with, which will not help." Xiaguan means to exchange salt for silver. “

"Salt for money?" Yang He frowned: "Are you imitating the sages?" “

"Not bad!" Zhao Wende laughed, and his face was quite complacent: "When the country was founded in this dynasty, there was a method of opening up, merchants transported grain to the border pass, and then exchanged it for salt, so the merchants planted grain in the border tuntian in exchange for salt, so that the horses were full. Now there is no money in the government, but it can prescribe salt in exchange for money, food, and soldiers to fight thieves. “

Yang He nodded, but did not speak, he knew that what Zhao Wende said was a feasible way, although as the governor of the three sides, he did not have the right to ask for unplanned money and grain from the Shaanxi Domain, but the power to issue salt was there, after all, this thing was actually just a voucher, the government could open as much as it wanted, even if the salt producing area could not be cashed out later, it would be a few months later, and the current pass could always be passed. But to do so would mean meddling in local affairs, which would inevitably clash with local officials in Shaanxi Province and with the merchant groups that monopolized the salt industry. Yang He weighed the pros and cons, and finally decided to adopt Zhao Wende's suggestion.

"You immediately set up a charter for me, how much salt you need to pay, how much grain you need to exchange, all of which are sorted out, just write it here, and when it's written, follow me to see the domain!" Yang He nodded to Zhao Wende.

"Yes, Lord Governor!" Seeing that Yang He had adopted his suggestion, Zhao Wende's face immediately showed a look of eagerness.

According to the customs of the Ming Dynasty, from the eighth day of the first lunar month to the end of the seventeenth day of the first month every year, lantern markets are organized in various places to celebrate the beginning of the new year. Although the northwest land of Chongzhen was ruled by war and famine for three years, this did not affect the lantern market in Xi'an, and many gentry who fled the war took refuge in this fortified fortress with their families and property, which brought a kind of deformed prosperity to Xi'an. During this ten-day lantern market, the mile-long street from the East Gate to the Drum Tower is a market during the day and a lamp market at night. All kinds of goods from the 13 provinces of Beijing and even overseas are listed on both sides of this street according to the classification of industries. Every day, just after the hour, the streets and alleys are surging with people, there are people who buy things, some watch the excitement, some come to open their eyes, and even the big girls and little daughters-in-law who rarely go out on weekdays also go out in the company of their families, people are sometimes trampled off their shoes, sometimes they are stolen silver, and there are even those who are separated from their families, shouting, calling, like a pot of porridge that has been rolled. At night, shops close and pedestrians begin to watch the lanterns and fireworks. On both sides of the long street in the east and west with the drum tower as the center, there are all color buildings, and most of these color buildings are hung with curtains, which shows that the lights on the color tower are turned off by a certain official eunuch or the female dependents of the gentry. On both sides of the road, all kinds of lanterns are hung, there are fireworks, juggling, and on the drum tower, there are more groups of colored cloth boys beating drums all night, and the people of the time call it "Taiping Drum".