Episode 140 Emperor's Political Conference: Northern Expedition!

Xiang Xiaoqiang never expected that his mother-in-law would "run away" again. He looked at the newspaper in Xiuxiu's hand in a daze, and then looked at Shang Xiaojun, who was quite proud, and couldn't cry or laugh for a while, not knowing what to say.

…… Alas, could it be that the mother-in-law is dozens of years old, or is it a bookish businessman? Yes, for the constitutional process of the Ming Dynasty, it is certainly much better for the army to be controlled by the cabinet government than in the hands of the emperor alone, and it is more able to prevent a way back. But the problem is, mother-in-law, you also have to see which camp your son-in-law is! If you have itchy hands again, isn't it a disservice to your son-in-law to write such an article at this time!

…… You let Zhu Yourong hand over the military power to the cabinet, Zhu Yourong's girl is dead-eyed, if it is really handed over, who will it be.

In fact, not only Xiang Xiaoqiang, but even Qiu Yu, including Ye Ziyu and Xiuxiu who was holding a newspaper, only understood what was going on at this moment, and they were all dumbfounded, not knowing which one their mother was playing. They had all read the article before, and now that their mother said it, they understood.

Shang Xiaojun slowly realized that the atmosphere was not right, looked at everyone one by one, tapped the table with his fingers, and said with a smile:

"What's wrong? …… Hey, hold on, do you really think your mother-in-law is doing you a favor? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang came to his senses, sighed, and acquiesced.

Shang Xiaojun smiled:

"Don't worry, hold on. I know Shen Rongxuan. Although he developed later, no one could guess him, but in college back then, his temperament was still fully revealed. …… This article will freak the hell out of him. He was afraid that His Majesty would really think that this was what he had made people write. Look, in two days, he will hold a cabinet press conference in response to this article. Moreover, at the meeting, he would say that the current situation is still in an 'extraordinary period', because the Qing are still in the north, still engaged in an arms race with the Ming Dynasty, and there is a great possibility that they will invade the south again through the exercises...... Qiu Yu, are you right? ”

She looked at Qiu Yu with a smile. Qiu Qiu's eyes also widened, and he nodded vigorously, thinking that it was:

"Yes, Elder Shen Ge will definitely say that!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang shook his head and sighed:

"Mother-in-law, why are you doing this? If you don't write this article, isn't it nothing? If you don't mention it, no one will mention it for the time being. ”

Shang Xiaojun stared at Xiang Xiaoqiang and said solemnly:

"Yes, yes, you say 'not necessarily'. That is to say, if I don't take the initiative to mention it, it may not be mentioned by others. And if someone else writes about this question, they may not be able to write about my effect. Whoever I asked to read this article, his first feeling would be: This is what Shen Ge Lao arranged for someone to write. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted at Shang Xiaojun, and said slowly thoughtfully:

"Oh...... Mother-in-law, you mean to ...... How so...... Is 'framing' Shen Rongxuan? ”

Shang Xiaojun smiled:

"Not exactly. And the main thing is...... Let's put it this way, O virtuous son-in-law, you said that the last cabinet meeting discussed whether to take the initiative to attack the Manchus, and the ministers who supported and opposed it were half to half? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Xiuxiu glanced at each other and nodded.

"Okay," Shang Xiaojun took the newspaper from Xiuxiu's hand, held it up, tapped the article on it, and said, "Now it can be unanimously passed." ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Xiuxiu suddenly realized. …… After a few seconds, Qiu Yu and Ye Ziyu also suddenly realized.

……

Sure enough, Shen Rongxuan reacted. And the action was faster than Shang Xiaojun expected. On the morning of the next day, representatives of the Cabinet Information Minister held a press conference to respond to the article "The Last Students of Donglin" published yesterday in the "20th Century Freedom Forum" on behalf of the Cabinet Government. As Shang Xiaojun expected, the Minister of Information, on behalf of the Cabinet, expressed his gratitude to this "Donglin Late Student" for his enthusiasm to serve the country, but the country is still in an "extraordinary period" stipulated in the Constitution.

…… Why? Because the Qing captives in the north were still in an arms race with us, they were holding back their efforts to build tanks and planes, and the Manchu emperor was planning an unprecedented "exercise of the century," which was said to require the use of more than 100 divisions. According to a lot of intelligence, the Qing captives had a tendency to use this exercise as a cover to invade the south again...... Therefore, the current concentration of full control of the three armies by Her Majesty the Empress is a superior policy and is not unconstitutional...... This also reflects the spirit of the Constitution, that is, when the country is in crisis, military power is highly concentrated, so that it can more effectively defend the homeland and the country......

Then the Minister of Information went on to say that there was no such thing as "His Majesty should return military power to the Cabinet," which was not scientific and unconstitutional. Because the constitution stipulates that the monarch of the Ming Dynasty is the supreme commander of the armed forces of the whole country, whether in peacetime or extraordinary times. The difference is that, in peacetime, if His Majesty wants to mobilize troops, he should only obtain the consent of the Cabinet in principle. Not in extraordinary times. That's the difference. As for the statement that "the army belongs to His Majesty in extraordinary times, and the army belongs to the cabinet in ordinary times", this is purely a misunderstanding.

The press minister held a press conference here, and in the Forbidden City, Zhu Yourong and Zheng Yuxuan listened on the radio, and they all showed satisfied smiles. In the palace of Yanping, Zheng Gongyin listened to the radio, and was also overjoyed. He sighed that Shen Rongxuan, the old fox, was still very sensible.

In the headquarters of the People's Guards, Xiang Xiaoqiang and a group of henchmen around him were also sitting on the radio, and when they heard this, a group of people also laughed. None of them expected that the Cabinet would be able to go one step further and utter the crucial phrase "Even in peacetime, the army is His Majesty's." Mother-in-law Shang Xiaojun's article can be said to be very fruitful, let the cabinet speak out by itself, then for a long period of time, the military power of the Ming Dynasty will be legally in the hands of Zhu Yourong, and to a certain extent, in his own hands.

However, according to Xiang Xiaoqiang's analysis, the latter sentence was probably said by the Minister of Information on his own initiative. Even if Shen Rongxuan showed loyalty, he would not instruct him to go so far. After all, Shen Rongxuan always had trouble with Xiang Xiaoqiang, not because the two had any personal grudges, but because of the ancient struggle between the Han dynasty and the monarchy (the Manchu Dynasty did not).

The emergence of Xiang Xiaoqiang and the People's Guard, especially after Xiang Xiaoqiang was granted the edict of "the right to control the armed forces of the whole country", made the cabinet feel a strong threat and felt that the Ming Dynasty could move towards military dictatorship. Therefore, Xiang Xiaoqiang's identity naturally has irreconcilable contradictions with the cabinet government. Even if he had good personal relations with all the ministers, it would not work.

…… There is only one situation that can alleviate or unify this contradiction, and that is the Northern Expedition. In large-scale foreign wars, this high degree of concentration of military power is no longer a contradiction, but a necessity to ensure victory.

This is certainly not the main reason for Xiang Xiaoqiang's desire for the Northern Expedition. But it's a useful reason.

……

A few days later, on July 25, Shen Rongxuan mentioned that all the cabinet members of the Ming Empire, as well as the commanders of the General Staff of the Army, the General Staff of the Navy, the General Headquarters and the People's Guard, held a military and political meeting of the entire Imperial Empire in the Fengtian Hall of the Forbidden City.

The meeting was of a very high standard and was attended by all members of the Cabinet, that is, ministers of all "ministries". Most of them are departments that are far away from the Ministry of the Army, the Navy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, and so on. In the past, even special "cabinet meetings" would not have come so together, that is, ministers from the relevant departments of the issue would attend. But this time not only all the cabinet ministers came, but all the "commander-level" figures of the three general staffs.

This time, not only did everyone come, but the confidentiality of the meeting was very high-end. Except for the ministers and commanders themselves, no other attachés, secretaries, and adjutants are allowed to bring in. If anything is recorded, the minister and the commander themselves record it. As a result, although a wide range of sectors are involved, the number of people who are really informed is very small. The number one ministers of more than a dozen departments, plus a dozen or so commanders of the three general staff departments and the People's Guard, were only about 30 people who participated.

And these only thirty or so people are the core of the decision-making level of the Ming Empire.

Although unlikely, Praetorian Guard agents carefully checked the inside and out, up and down, of the Mukden Hall beforehand to make sure there were no tapping microphones, hidden tape recorders, or bombs or anything like that.

The generals who came to participate didn't know what was going on. In the past, most of the imperial councils distributed materials on relevant topics in advance, so that they could be prepared. But this time, nothing was said. And when they arrived at the door, they were told by the Praetorian Guards that their respective attachés could not follow up, so they could only be divided into two groups, military and governmental, and waited and rested in the Wenhua Hall and Wuying Hall on both sides of the Fengtian Palace.

This made most of the civil and military generals who came to participate feel faintly uneasy. Thinking of the "sensitive article" that just appeared in the newspaper, even many ministers wondered if this was a "cup of wine to release military power" by Xiang Xiaoqiang to his majesty? Set up a bureau to wipe out all the cabinet ministers, and then announce that the Ming Dynasty will resume the monarchy dictatorship from now on?

…… When I think about it, I don't think so. Her Majesty is not that kind of person after all. And even if Xiang Xiaoqiang is bold, it is unlikely that he will do such a thing. Her Majesty is not brainless.

Everyone entered the Fengtian Hall one after another, and each took their seats according to the department's name plate placed on the conference table.

……

Dozens of people sat at the conference table, everyone nodded to each other, and the hall was filled with a "buzzing" sound.

Everyone was soon surprised to find that in the position of the "People's Guard", next to Xiang Xiaoqiang, there was the only woman in the hall sitting - the former Manchu Gege, the head of the sticky pole, Princess Liaoyang.

Eyes exchanged lightning on each other, guessing what this portended. But at the same time, everyone has also become a courtier, smiling at the fourteenth grid, saying "I have seen Her Royal Highness the Princess".

Soon, Shen Rongxuan came in, nodded and smiled at everyone, and sat down.

After a while, Zhu Yourong walked in. The crowd stood up and saluted.

Then, Shen Rongxuan announced the topic of this meeting - the Northern Expedition.