Chapter 378

On the way back to Beijing, he heard that the bandits of the East Road had entered the territory of Shandong, and were coming and going within the jurisdiction of Jinan Mansion and Dongchang Mansion, and he was very worried. The momentum of the thieves is already large, if they are allowed to flow south, after passing the Qingzhou Mansion and the Gunzhou Mansion, it will cause disaster to the Nanjing Jianghuai area. The people in the Jianghuai and Zhejiang areas are rich and sparsely armed, and if the thieves and soldiers hit the place, it will become a flood, and it is unknown that the emperor can understand this. ”

Zhengde was anxious, he didn't want to hear these words at all, the defeat of the East Road thief army was the most annoying thing for him in the past few days, he was anxious, but he was afraid of illness and did not want to hear people mention it, Li Dongyang mentioned a few words in the morning, and he was reprimanded by Zhengde's old face was dull, and now Song Nan came to mention this matter again, his face was gloomy and terrible, and he endured it and did not get angry.

The emperor can not speak, but the minister asked, Xu Guangzuo, the prince of Dingguo, who bears his responsibility, can not pretend to be dumb, he is the governor of the thief.

"Lord Song, although the thieves on the East Road have entered Shandong, my army of thieves has been stationed in Jinan Mansion and Dongchang Mansion, blocking the road to the south, and the old man has also sent Xingzhou Zuozhong Hou Santun Guard to the south to attack, and it will be strangled in the north of Shandong in a few days. Lord Song, the matter of suppressing thieves is the matter of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, Lord Song is enthusiastic about the matter of suppressing thieves, and the old man can understand it very well. However, the military affairs of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies are still not bothered by Lord Song, do you see when the old man has ever pointed fingers at your Jinyi Guard Yamen? ”

Unless you are a fool, anyone can hear the sarcasm in Xu Guangzuo's words, and the implication is that you Song Nan are not qualified to take care of the affairs of my five military governors' mansions, don't point fingers and join in the fun.

Song Nan laughed and said: "With Dingguo Gong in charge, how can I have room for Song Nan to point fingers, Dingguo Gong strategizes and decides for a thousand miles, and the east and west roads are like broken bamboos, and the thieves are holding their heads and running away, and the thieves have made great achievements, which is obvious to everyone." ”

Someone in the court snickered, and more officials covered their mouths and forced themselves to laugh, and their bodies trembled, Song Nan's words were enough to damage.

Xu Guangzuo's old face was red and said angrily: "Lord Song, are you embarrassed by the old man?" Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, what do you gain by a momentary miscalculation? It's really ignorant. ”

Zhengde couldn't help but say, "Song Nan, is this what you want to play?" The matter of suppressing thieves is only the general leader of Dingguo, not under your authority, if there is nothing else to do, then retreat from the court. ”

Song Nan hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, what the ministers are playing is not a matter of suppressing thieves and using soldiers, but another matter; When the minister was passing by in Zhuozhou, he heard that the imperial court had promulgated a "Law on Sitting in a Row from a Thief to a Soldier", but I don't know if there is such a thing? ”

Zhengde said: "It is true. ”

Song Nan said: "Your Majesty, this law is inappropriate, please abolish this law." ”

Zhengde was stunned and said, "Why is that?" If the thieves are not severely punished, the people everywhere want to follow the thieves, and the thieves are strong, how can they be curbed? ”

Song Nan said: "Your Majesty, this method is definitely not feasible, the ministers come from the front line of the thieves, and they know the reason why the people are thieves. ”

Liu Jin interjected coldly: "Song Nan, you are too lenient, you are just the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and the administration of the imperial court has nothing to do with your Jinyi Guard's yamen; Today, you have been reckless again and again, and the emperor is already extraordinarily gracious for not holding you accountable, you need to respect yourself and talk nonsense in front of all your lords. ”

Song Nan said: "I am an official of the imperial court, do I have no right to admonish?" ”

Liu Jin said: "This law is approved by the cabinet vote, and you have no objections, but you say that this law is not appropriate, and you are the only one in the world who is smart?" Are all of you pustular? ”

Song Nan was shocked, this matter was actually agreed to by the cabinet vote, it was really incredible, did the cabinet people eat and make their brains?

Zhengde also said: "Yes, this law was drafted by the ministers after consultation, and the purpose is to prevent the people from becoming thieves by severe means, which is beneficial to the extermination of anti-thieves, Song Nan, you still don't say much." ”

Song Nan felt a chill in his heart, if the cabinet agreed to promulgate it, he would not be able to recover it, and he alone could not bear the joint coping of the inner and outer courts, but even so, Song Nan still wanted to try his best to redeem some, so he arched his hand and said: "The minister thinks that this law may have a deterrent effect, but the fact is that the thieves use the means of coercing and persecuting the people to obey the thieves. The rest of the people's families will also take risks to join the thieves because they are facing the punishment of the imperial court, so wouldn't it help the thieves? ”

"Song Nan, at the beginning of the drafting of this law, I had already considered this, but I and all the adults thought that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, if they were really loyal and good people, how could they be willing to be coerced, and the thieves and soldiers coerced them, couldn't they rise up and resist?"

Song Nan sighed in his heart, this is really unreasonable, the people are facing a sword on their necks, how to resist? How can you resist threatening the lives of your family members and children and parents to be thieves? Could it be that they are all elm pimples and stunned, and in order to be loyal to your emperor, the whole family died at the hands of thieves? It's ridiculous.

"Your Majesty......," Song Nan sighed.

"Okay, okay, you just returned to Beijing from Yizhou, you must not even have returned to the mansion, hurry back to the mansion, and come back to see me after resting."

"The emperor thinks twice......" Song Nan did not relent.

Zhengde waved his hand unhappily and stood up, strode off the dragon seat and walked away, the eunuch on duty didn't react for a while, and was stunned before he hurriedly shouted: "Retreat!" The ministers hurriedly bowed down and shouted long live, but Zhengde was already behind the curtain of the side hall.

Song Nan stood there in a daze, the courtiers bustled out of the hall, Song Nan didn't move, after a while, someone patted him on the shoulder, Song Nan woke up, turned his head to look, but saw his husband Zhang Mao standing behind him, looking at himself with a smile.

Song Nan hurriedly saluted: "Good old man." ”

Zhang Mao beckoned, and the two walked out of the hall and walked down the steps.

Zhang Mao smiled: "Did you just return to Beijing in the morning?" ”

Song Nan nodded and said, "Yes, I haven't had time to go back to the house yet, I was going to visit your old man in the afternoon." ”

Zhang Mao smiled: "Let's go back to the house first, I haven't been home for more than 20 days, but I came to the palace when I returned to Beijing, do you want to learn Dayu to control the water and pass through the house without entering?" ”

Song Nan smiled and said: "The old man said that he was joking, thieves and soldiers outside Beijing were rampant, I wasn't so anxious, so I hurried to see the driver." ”

Zhang Mao sighed and said, "Song Nan, there are some things that cannot be rushed, and it is the best policy to plan slowly." ”

Song Nan said: "Old man, you haven't seen the suffering of the people, wherever the thieves go, they are all scorched earth and ruins; After the people were coerced into thieves, I had to slaughter them with my own hands...... Ay! Don't mention it, it's useless for me to be in a hurry anyway. ”

Zhang Mao laughed and said: "You, you are too young to know the way to cultivate Taoguang, do you think you are in a hurry?" Are you the only one who understands it? ”

Song Nan said: "Old man, can't you see that this method of sitting together is simply nonsense? ”

Zhang Mao stroked his beard and smiled: "The old man naturally knows. ”

"Then why don't you come out and oppose it?" Song Nan stood still and asked in amazement.

Zhang Mao said: "Some things are not opposed, Xu Guangzuo sent Xu Yande this straw bag to suppress the thief because he wanted Xu Yande to make some military merits, Gu Da's intention to besiege but not attack is to let the thief soldiers fight with you, the disadvantages of the method of sitting together, these things are like a mirror in the old man's heart." ”

Song Nan was even more stunned: "Then how can you condone them, why don't you come out to admonish?" ”

Zhang Mao said: "Is it useful to advise? You did admonish, but it made the emperor unhappy and made Xu Guangzuo hate you to the core. It is said that the method of Shiwu sitting together was proposed by the emperor himself, you should be the cabinet Yang Ting and they are all fools? They just don't want the emperor to come to power, that is, this law is not conducive to the suppression of thieves, and the cabinet does not take responsibility, which is the way to protect oneself. Naturally, people who understand this will not come out against it. ”

Song Nan stood for a long time and said: "It turned out that the emperor proposed it himself, no wonder it was so." ”

Zhang Mao said: "The old man estimates that most of it is still Liu Jin's idea, how could the emperor think of getting such a thing, Liu Jin is afraid of attracting opposition, so I don't know what method was used to move the emperor to propose it himself, so it will be implemented logically." ”

Song Nan nodded and said: "I think so too, it must be Liu Jin's bad idea from this gelding, this guy wants to die, the previous horse politics and land policy have made the people miserable, this time Liu Liu Liu and Liu Qi rebelled, I dare to say that it was Liu Jin's horse politics and land policy that caused the incident, this dog thief is not removed, it is difficult for the court to have a peaceful day, and it is difficult for the people to have a peaceful life." ”

Zhang Mao said solemnly: "Be careful, don't talk about it." ”

Song Nan sneered and didn't answer, and said for a while: "Then we can't do anything?" The thieves of the western road have escaped into the mountains and are difficult to exterminate; Shandong's thieves crisscross a large area under the jurisdiction of Jinan and Dongchang, and as soon as the law of Shiwu sits is promulgated, the strength of the thieves will increase greatly, and Xu Yande can be exterminated? I'm skeptical. ”

Zhang Mao stood still, looked at Song Nan and said: "Young man, you remember, some people don't touch the south wall and don't look back, eat a trench and grow wise, this is my Ming catastrophe, no one can survive, can't hide." When the emperor understands, he will take the initiative to come to you without your direct advice, go home with peace of mind, and do your own errands. ”

Song Nan sighed: "Do you have to hit the south wall to repent?" ”

Zhang Mao said: "Sometimes it's like this, the old man also knows that the Ming Dynasty has also suffered a heavy blow when such a life is ruined." However, if they are not broken, they will not be able to stand up, and they will not experience great calamities, and some people will not understand the reason, and although these losses are huge and unbearable, they have to endure them. With the strength of one or two people, instead of reversing the situation, it will be a catastrophe, I don't want to see the day when your head is cut off, if you dare to make your child a widow, I can't spare you. ”

Song Nan was silent and stood still; Zhang Mao patted him on the shoulder again, turned around and walked out of the palace gate quickly.