"Since Zhenguo Gong said that the Tartars have no faith, why did he reach a peace agreement with the Tartars? The prince of Zhenguo can play the imperial court, so that the court also has a plan for this, you are actively making peace with the Tartars on the one hand, and on the other hand, you can say that the Tartars cannot be trusted, what is the reason? Fei Hong, a university scholar, asked out loud.

The ministers also want to know the answer to this question, since you Song Nan see that the Tartars will not surrender, you will definitely not believe your words, why did the imperial court reach a peace agreement before the holy decree arrived, isn't this a slap in the mouth?

Song Nan sneered and said: "If I tell you, this peace negotiation is a farce at all, I didn't plan to negotiate peace with the Tartars, I don't know what you think." ”

The ministers were in an uproar, and their minds were like a mess, and everyone couldn't figure out what Song Nan was trying to express, what was a farce? The two sides signed a peace agreement and mortgaged the eldest son of Bald Meng Ke as a hostage to Daming, why did it suddenly become a farce?

"Song Nan, what do you mean?" Zhengde was also completely confused.

Song Nan arched his hand and said: "Qi Sheng, the peace agreement reached by the ministers and the bald Meng Ke is a dead letter, without the permission of the imperial court, how dare the ministers make decisions privately?" What the minister did was wrongdoing, Yang Shoufu had already made it very clear, and no matter how confused the minister was, he would not overstep his bounds and set the court's plan privately. This was a game from beginning to end, and under the circumstances, the minister had to use it to stabilize the Tatars. ”

Zhengde frowned and said, "Let's be clear." ”

Song Nan then recounted the situation in detail, and finally said: "The minister has not been able to catch up with the rescue of the people of Yanchi City, at that time hundreds of women, children and children were kidnapped by the Tartars, if the minister turns a blind eye to it, he will become a Ming official in vain, and he will also live up to the trust of the emperor and the people." How could the minister watch the bald men slaughter the women, children, and children of Salt Pond City? Therefore, the minister invited Lord Yang Yiqing to come from Guyuan, and used his status as the chief official of the three sides to perform a scene, and reached a peace agreement with the bald man, and rescued hundreds of women and children in Yanchi City. That's the whole thing, the minister didn't know that the court had issued a holy decree for peace, and the minister didn't coincide with the court. ”

Zhengde's eyes widened, and he exclaimed: "So that's the case? Are you here to save people? ”

Song Nan said: "Yes, all the generals of the Northwest Army know about this matter, and Lord Yang Yiqing is also in the hall, and the emperor can ask him to ask if it is true or not." ”

Zhengde's eyes fell on Yang Yiqing's body, and Yang Yiqing slowly came out and said: "Your Majesty, this matter is true, the minister did pretend to be the imperial court's official identity to reach this fake peace agreement, please ask the emperor to condemn the minister, and the minister's pretending to be a messenger should be punished." ”

Zhengde waved his hand and said: "I'm not busy with pretending to be a messenger." I just want to know, Song Nan, are you willing to let go of the enemy chieftain for the sake of hundreds of people? This...... This...... I don't know what to say. ”

Yang Tinghe said coldly: "Zhenguo Gong, the emperor's doubts are also our doubts, since you have no intention of making peace with the Tartars, you should take down the enemy chieftain, why did you let go of the Tatar lord for the sake of hundreds of women and children, wouldn't this be a way to let the tiger return to the mountain?" ”

"Yes, it's really stupid, either the two sides sincerely negotiate peace and end the war, or capture the enemy chieftain as a hostage to force him to make an alliance under the city, how can there be a reason to let go of the Tatar lord and more than 10,000 Tartar elite soldiers for the sake of hundreds of women and children. Is this deal a good deal? It's just confusing. Liang Chu Fei Hong and others echoed.

Song Nan looked at them coldly, and suddenly smiled: "I understand, the cabinet scholars and the adults of the outer court originally thought so, and they would rather watch the Tartars kill all the women and children in front of them than to save them, I understand it, but I don't know if the sages you read teach it like this." After the next dynasty, I will order people to go to the streets to do an investigation, whether they should be saved or not, whether to let the Tartars kill all the hostages or find a way to save the people first and then try to do it, let's listen to what the people say. ”

Liang Chu Fei Hong and the others were speechless, Song Nan meant to hype up the words and deeds of these cabinet scholars who would not save them when they saw death, this was to stink them. It is true that on this issue, from a big standpoint, it is unwise to let go of the bald beast for the sake of hundreds of women, children and children, but the people definitely do not see it that way, and the people will definitely think that saving the hostages is the first, which is a manifestation of the court's attention to the people. Sometimes public opinion and the interests of the country go in opposite directions, which sounds incredible, but this is what happens all too often.

"Zhen Guogong, don't use such words to oppress people, we are important ministers of the imperial court, the first consideration should be the interests of the Ming Dynasty, it is obviously unwise to give up the opportunity to capture the enemy chief for hundreds of people, this truth Zhen Guogong obviously understands. But we can't say that what you did was wrong, after all, it is also the responsibility of the imperial court to protect the people of the Ming Dynasty, and if you stand on a certain position, the old man will still admire your behavior. However, in order to gain prestige and ignore the interests of the imperial court, he let go of the enemy chieftain, and the Zhenguo Gong said in tears that my Ming soldiers and civilians had suffered heavy casualties, so it was not in vain, but let the enemy chief escape. ”

Yang Tinghe did have some eloquence, and he grasped the weakness in Song Nan's words, neither denying Song Nan's behavior, showing that he was also compassionate and compassionate, but he did not forget to stand firm and point out the inappropriateness of this move. If it is said that other people's attacks are all big blades and indiscriminate slashing people, Yang Tinghe attacking people is like secretly taking a small knife to cut meat, which is as deadly, but it teaches you to be difficult to guard against.

Song Nan nodded and said, "What Yang Shoufu said is reasonable, but please make my intentions clear, did I say that I let go of the bald man?" Did I say there is no follow-up to this? In fact, this time I will return to Beijing to ask the emperor for permission to continue to lead my troops north, and I will fight to the Tatar country and take the bald head to the emperor. ”

The ministers were in an uproar again, and everyone thought: It turned out that Song Nan returned to Beijing with such a purpose, and he let go of the bald man in order to save the people, obviously some women's kindness, in order to make up for such a mistake, he actually wanted to go north to the Tatar country and capture the enemy chieftain again. If this person either has strong self-confidence, he is a little crazy, and it is not easy to catch the rabbit that he let go.

Yang Ting and Guan Er said with a smile: "Nonsense, the prince of Zhenguo must know that the imperial court has no intention of using soldiers anymore, so he said such a thing, just in case someone accuses you of picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons." It doesn't have to be like this, whether the peace agreement is true or not, in short, an agreement has been made, and Bald Mengke has also been signed, and his eldest son has been taken hostage, which shows that he is still sincere. The vitality of the Tatar country is greatly damaged, even if they are the wolves of Zhongshan, they will not be able to offend our border towns again. We can think of it as a formal agreement, and if the Tartars are serious, why shouldn't we take it seriously? It would be in the interest of both countries to strike their troops, and both countries had suffered so much that it was time to rest. ”

Zhengde nodded and said: "What Scholar Yang said is very true, Song Nan, I don't blame you for letting go of the Tartar leader in order to save the people, the result of the whole thing is good, and it is also what the court hopes to achieve, and the Tartars don't know that you are pretending to negotiate peace with them, so we will recognize this peace agreement, and the two sides will strike a truce to recuperate." ”

Song Nan frowned, and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, the minister said, the main purpose of the minister's return to Beijing is to implore the emperor to grant the ministers the Northern Expedition, and the emperor means that the ministers are not allowed to play?" ”

Zhengde said: "This matter is better to think about it in the long run, a few days ago, the court has decided on a truce, and now that there is a contract and a hostage, we should also have some peaceful birthdays." ”

Song Nan shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid that we want to live in peace, but the Tartars don't let us live in peace, everyone knows that the Tartars have suffered a great injury in this battle, and this is an excellent opportunity to expel them in one fell swoop, and the worst can also recapture the Hetao area and drive them to the north of Yinshan Daqing Mountain." It can not only allow the Tatars to lose the abundant land of water and grass in the Hetao area, so that they will never be able to recover their vitality and have no offensive power, but also restore the Daningwei system, push the border line to the north of the Yellow River for hundreds of miles, and establish a walled fort to stabilize the defense, so that the trouble of the border town can be solved once and for all. ”

Zhengde didn't understand these ways, but when he heard Song Nan say that the head was the way, he was a little tempted, so he asked Yang Tinghe: "Scholar Yang, what Song Nan said seems to have some truth, if it can be so, it seems to be a great thing." ”

Yang Tinghe shook his head with a smile and said: "Your Majesty, what Zhenguo Gong said is certainly fascinating, but has the emperor forgotten what the lords said when he decided on the truce and the policy of peace earlier?" Easier said than done, although the Tartar is greatly damaged, I also know that I am suffering from it. In this battle between the northwest and the Tartars, the soldiers of the northwest guard post suffered more than 90,000 casualties, thirteen cities were destroyed, and countless casualties were inflicted among the people. The entire Shaanxi and Gansu areas are almost scorched earth. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the war in the northwest, the imperial court invested countless amounts of materials and silver, and then hundreds of thousands of people were to be relieved, the border towns and cities were to be rebuilt and rebuilt, and the soldiers and generals who died in battle were to be buried with pensions, all of which cost a lot of money. If you don't know the price of firewood and rice, Zhenguo Gong doesn't know the current situation of the imperial court, and we can't support a big war. ”

Zhengde nodded, looked at Song Nan and said: "You also heard, the imperial court has fought to the end of this battle, Song Nan, let's stop and stop." ”

Song Nan sighed and said, "Just for the sake of temporary difficulties, give up the great plan of the eternal foundation?" This account is not very shrewd. To see the benefits of being able to calm the border troubles once and for all in the future, it is not something that can be compared with millions of taels of silver. Now that we are rebuilding and resting, we can certainly take a breather. But the Tatars have not stopped breathing, the border towns built today will be burned tomorrow, and the people who return home today will be trampled and killed by iron horses tomorrow, why can't they be wiped out? I didn't expect that Lord Yang, who is the first assistant of the cabinet, would be so short-sighted, and to say something disrespectful, your ability and vision in government management are really not very good. ”

"You...... It's just presumptuous. Yang Tinghe was really angry, he hated people the most for doubting his ability, and he was so undisguised that he couldn't get over it.

"You have the ability to go to war hungry, but the officer wants to see how capable you are."

"Yang Shoufu means that you don't express your opinion on this matter, and the cabinet doesn't interfere, right?"

"Hmph, if you want to intervene, you can't intervene, the court has no silver and no materials in your hands, and if you want to fight, you Zhenguo Gong will find a way by himself. No wonder the old man didn't remind you, this is a good situation, if you insist on doing something bad and bad things, you will be the sinner of my Ming Dynasty through the ages. ”

Song Nan laughed and said: "Don't worry about my reputation with Yang Shoufu and all the adults, you have to talk and count, without your help, I can win the same fight." ”

Yang Tinghe's face was pale, Song Nan ignored him anymore, turned to Zhengde and said: "Your Majesty, you only need to nod, and the ministers can take the Hetao for you and drive the Tartars to the north of Yinshan, and then the emperor can sit back and relax, and no longer have to worry about border troubles." ”

Zhengde looked at Yang Tinghe, then at Song Nan, rubbed his hands and didn't know how to choose, and said for a while: "But you have no money and food, how can you fight this battle?" Yang Shoufu said very clearly, the imperial court had no money and grain to supply the Northwest Army for the Northern Expedition. ”

Song Nan said: "Your Majesty, the ministers will find a way to solve this matter by themselves, and the emperor doesn't have to worry." ”

Zhengde was stunned, this matter is a bit ridiculous, one wants to fight, the other does not give money and food, both sides have their own reasons, it seems that it is difficult to refuse, this matter is really difficult to do.

Yang Tinghe sighed and said: "Zhenguo Gong, you have embarrassed the emperor, if you want to go to war, this is a war of the imperial court, you personally promised to raise food and salary, don't you still use the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty?" The old man understands your feelings, and the old man has also had a time when he was young, but it is indeed out of place at this time. ”

Song Nanli ignored him, looked at Zhengde and said: "Your Majesty, the minister's proposition is for the sake of the long-term peace and stability of the border town of Daming, the emperor is never willing to hear the news of the Tatars' invasion of the border towns again, although my Daming is in a difficult situation, but the situation of the Tatars is even worse, if you don't seize this opportunity at this time, you will definitely regret it in the future." ”

Zhengde looked at Song Nan's determined eyes, and finally asked, "Are you really sure to win this battle?" ”

Song Nan said: "When did the minister say a big thing about military affairs? The emperor can rest assured. ”

Zhengde nodded and got up slowly, looked around at the ministers, and said slowly: "I believe that the Duke of Zhenguo is by no means bent on going his own way, I think it is appropriate for you to consider the matter of starting a war. ”

Yang Tinghe's face turned pale, and he said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the old minister reiterates that the imperial court has no money to support this war, and I ask the emperor to think twice." ”

Song Nan sneered: "The minister also reiterates, I have no food in the imperial court, I raise it myself, this battle must be fought, Yang Shoufu should not use this lack of money and food as an excuse to obstruct it, if you only have this one reason, it is better to be hands-free, this is not a matter at all." ”

Yang Tinghe said angrily: "Even if you can raise food, this matter of tearing up the peace talks will also make the imperial court lose its trust in the world, what should the surrounding subject countries think?" ”

Song Nan laughed and said: "It's ridiculous, what kind of faith do you have to talk about with the Tartars, if you want to talk, you go to the northwest to take a walk, see where the ruined cities are, the people who have lost their homes, you talk to them about keeping your promises with the Tartars, and keep the dung you were splashed all over and come back." ”

Yang Tinghe flicked his sleeves and said: "In this case, I have nothing to say, the emperor, the old minister has something to say first, if the war causes other incidents, or leads to domestic turmoil, this consequence must be investigated." ”

Without waiting for Zhengde to speak, Song Nan said: "Yang Shoufu will stay in your cabinet office and listen to the news with peace of mind, you don't have to move a finger in this matter, you have other important matters to be busy with, so you don't have to worry about such a trivial matter." ”

Yang Tinghe snorted coldly and stopped making a sound. Zhengde thought for a while and asked: "But this army will cost at least a few million taels of silver, do you really raise it personally?" ”

"Your Majesty, don't worry about it, Zhenguo Gong is rich enough to rival the country, and it is more than enough to take out some silver to deal with this battle, speaking of which, Zhenguo Gong earned millions of taels of silver in the white paper workshop, and it is time to give back to the court at this moment." The secretary of the military department, Lu Wan, interjected in a strange way.

Song Nan turned his head and shouted: "Talkative, I am right with the emperor, when it is your turn to interject, you should reflect on your command mistakes in the northwest, it is not busy with your head now, if I ask for your resignation from the position of the secretary of the military department, instead of lying on the position of the secretary of the military department with a shy face." ”

Lu Wan's color changed, his mouth snorted and wanted to refute, Zhang Lun shouted in a low voice: "What Zhen Guogong said is right, Lord Lu, I was planning to play the emperor to impeach you, you don't have nothing to do." ”

The grandfathers of the two countries joined hands to scold, Lu Wan was frightened, he wanted to speak out but he didn't dare, look at Yang Tinghe and others, although their faces were not good, they didn't mean to come out to speak, so they had to cover their faces with their hands and retreat.