Zhu Youzhen attached great importance to the movements of Jiannu reported by Lu Xiangsheng.

Zhu Youzhen originally believed that after the war in the autumn and winter of last year, Jiannu had been crippled and was basically no longer a threat to the Ming Dynasty. But he didn't expect Huang Taiji to make a move to annex the Horqin Department to enhance his strength.

The vassal tribes of the Horqin Department and the Jiannu Department have many marriages with each other, and the Fujin of Huangtaiji is from the Horqin Department. The relationship between the two sides is very close, and Huang Taiji actually made a move against the Horqin Department, and he was really ruthless!

After annexing the Horqin Tribe, Jiannu had 20,000 more cavalry, and its strength was greatly enhanced. And if Huang Taiji defeats Lin Dan Khan and annexes the Chahar tribe, then the entire Mongolian plateau will be the territory of Jiannu. The Jiannu cavalry will threaten the Ming at any time from the northern border.

For this situation, Zhu Youzhen naturally did not allow it.

However, Lu Xiangsheng was running Liaodong, and the imperial court did not have enough money and food to start a big war, so if he wanted to suppress Jiannu, he had to think of other ways.

After the court discussed this matter, the courtiers unanimously approved to support Lin Dan Khan of the Chahar Department to fight against Jiannu.

More than a year ago, in order to avoid the edge of Jiannu, Lin Dan Khan led the Chahar tribe to move from northwest Liaoning to Yinshan Hetao, defeating the Khalkha and Ordos tribes. At that time, Zhu Youzhen happened to arrive at Xuanfu with his own conquest and returned to the division, and while dealing with the Jin merchants in Zhangjiakou, he sent Hong Chengchou to lead his troops out of the grassland to defeat the Khalkha department, capturing tens of thousands of Khalkha Mongolian women and children, hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, and achieved a brilliant victory.

Because of the relationship against Jiannu, Zhu Youzhen acquiesced to the Chahar Ministry's inheritance of the Khalkha Ministry's right to pay tribute and trade.

However, Lin Dan Khan is also a man of great ambition and talent, although he keeps saying that he wants to unify the whole of Mongolia and establish the same feats as Genghis Khan, but he has never lost more than won against Jiannu.

Therefore, during the court discussion, Zhu Youzhen vetoed the proposal of some courtiers to sell Lin Dan Khan's guns to enhance his strength, and stipulated that armor, weapons and other materials were not allowed to go out of the border wall. However, in order to support Lin Dan Khan, he can sell him pig iron grain and other things. Firearms are never allowed.

Note that it is to sell, not to give. If Lin Dan Khan wanted to obtain the Ming Dynasty's pig iron, grain and other materials, he had to trade and exchange cattle, sheep and horses.

The Ming could do business with Lin Dan Khan, but they didn't do charity, and it was impossible to fill the Mongols with their own silver.

"But in this way, Lin Dan Khan may not be able to fight against Jiannu. Your Majesty, although it will cost some silver to support Lin Dan Khan, it is still cost-effective to help the Ming Dynasty fight against Jiannu and spend some money and food. Shoufu Huang Liji persuaded.

Spending hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in exchange for Lin Dan Khan's containment of the civil servants on the grassland, in the eyes of Huang Liji and many other civil officials, this business can be done.

Zhu Youzhen asked rhetorically: "Does the treasury have silver now?" Last month, Lu Xiangsheng just asked for silver and grain, and if the household department has silver, he might as well allocate some to Lu Xiangsheng. ”

"The treasury has no money." Hubu Shangshu Bi said with a cold face, "Although this year's autumn tax has been escorted to Beijing, but everywhere needs silver, the officials in Beijing have been in arrears for three months, many officials have been unable to open the pot, and they must reissue their salaries, the money and grain of the Beijing Guards, the office funds of the major yamen, money must be used everywhere, this year's tax and silver will not be able to support next summer, if there is an emergency such as a snow disaster, I am afraid that even this winter will not be able to survive." ”

Huang Liji smiled bitterly, of course he knew that the household department did not have silver, but the household department did not have the emperor's inner treasury. The tax branch has been opened in Suzhou, and hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in commercial taxes every month have been put into the emperor's treasury. But if he asked the emperor for money, Huang Liji couldn't say it.

Huang Li was extremely reluctant to say it, but some people dared to say it, and Cao Sicheng, the imperial historian of the left capital, stood up: "Your Majesty, there is no silver in the treasury, and the silver in the treasury can be issued to support the Chahar Department." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, it doesn't take much silver, just a few hundred thousand taels." Other courtiers also said.

Zhu Youzhen sneered: "Okay, a crippled Jiannu actually made you so afraid that you had to bribe the Mongols with silver!" How good it is to have so much silver to train troops and strengthen yourself, why bother to cheap the Mongols? Jiannu is the enemy of the Ming Dynasty, but the Mongols are not? Aren't you afraid of raising tigers? ”

The courtiers looked at each other, didn't they say at the beginning that they would support Lin Dan Khan against Jiannu, why did they turn their faces at the mention of silver? If you don't give Lin Dan Khan silver, what will people use to fight against Huang Taiji?

Let the horses run, and ask the horses not to eat grass, how can there be such a reason in the world?

"Your Majesty is very true!" Wen Tiren stood up and said angrily, "The Chahar Department was originally Jiannu is a mortal enemy, but the Ming Dynasty did not reward Lin Dan Khan with silver, and Lin Dan Khan had to fight to the death with Jiannu. At present, Jiannu has lost most of the population, and it is when the strength is weak, and Lin Dan Khan has annexed the two departments of Khalkha and Ordos, and his strength is very strong, so he may not be the opponent of Jiannu. ”

Since the emperor didn't want to pay for it, it would be useless to continue talking, although Wen Tiren also thought that hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were nothing, but he still stood up and supported the emperor's idea.

"Elder Wen Ge is right, this matter is so good." Glancing approvingly, Zhu Youzhen announced his retirement from the court.

After returning to the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youzhen recruited Gong Yonggu, a concubine, and told him about "supporting" the Mongols, and asked Gong Yonggu to prepare some more goods in Beijing and transport them to Zhangjiakou, where the Zhangjiakou Royal Commercial House was responsible for selling them to the Mongols.

Gong Yonggu was in charge of the business of Huangzhuang Huangdian in Beijing, and this matter was naturally explained to him, and the trade in the horse market was imminent, and he needed to prepare more goods to earn more silver.

With Lin Dan Khan's ability, he is not Huang Taiji's opponent at all, and it is useless to support his silver, unless the Praetorian Guard army goes out of the fortress and unites with the Mongols to deal with Jiannu together. However, although Lin Dan Khan relied on the Ming Dynasty, he would not allow the Ming army to appear on the grassland.

Therefore, instead of supporting Lin Dan Khan, it is better to take the opportunity to get some benefits from the Mongols. As long as the Praetorian Guard is strong enough, what if Lin Dan Khan is defeated by Huang Taiji?

As long as you can train 100,000 elite Praetorian Guards, it will be enough to sweep the entire grassland!

"Wechen obeys." Hearing that there was business to do, Gong Yonggu went down happily.

"Your Majesty, Sun Chuanting has entered Beijing and is waiting to be summoned." Wang Chengen said.

"Announce him to the palace." Zhu Youzhen said.

In order to calm the anger of the courtiers, Zhu Youzhen sent him to Nanjing as the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, and now he was summoned back by Zhu Youzhen, ready to appoint him as the governor of the three sides of the trilateral governor, responsible for the military of Xuanfu Datong and Yulin three towns, in order to prepare for Jiannu.

"Wechen knocks to see Your Majesty." Half an hour later, Sun Chuanting was brought into the Qianqing Palace.

"Flat, give a seat." Zhu Youzhen and said.

Sun Chuanting sat respectfully on the brocade pier, waiting for the emperor to inquire.

"Aiqing has been the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department for more than half a year, what is her impression of the situation in the south?" Zhu Youzhen asked with a smile.

"Back to Your Majesty, the prosperity of the southern capital is naturally far better than that of Beijing. But ......" Sun Chuanting hesitated.

"Aiqing has something to say, just say it directly." Zhu Youzhen smiled.

"However, in the minister's opinion, Nanjing City is full of decay and decline, and it has a faint appearance of the end of the world." Sun Chuanting said solemnly.

"Oh?" Zhu Youzhen's expression became serious, "Aiqing can elaborate." ”

Sun Chuanting said: "When the minister went to Nanjing in the winter of last year, he did not bring a large team of people, but left the guard of honor behind him, and went from Weifu in a light car. From the Beijing division all the way to the south, I saw mourning all over the wilderness, and the displaced people were everywhere. I thought it would be much better to Nanjing, after all, the land south of the Yangtze River, the treasure of Tianhua, the prosperity of the original is better than the north. However, after arriving in Nanjing, I found that the situation was no different from that in the north.

The situation in the south is no different from that in the north, and it is even worse. After more than half a year in Nanjing, the minister secretly visited the book and found that the land annexation of Ying Tianfu was far greater than that in the north, ninety percent of the fields were annexed by the noble gentry, and less than one percent of the fields belonged to the yeoman farmers who paid the imperial court taxes.

In the city of Nanjing, the scholars are romantic, on the Qinhuai River, singing and dancing are leveling, the gentry only know how to form associations and talk, the officials only know how to embezzle and make money, the honorable generals only know how to embezzle military salaries, and the Nanjing Guards are weak in combat power, and even the exile army is not as good as the people's army. The whole city of Nanjing seems to be singing and dancing to level the prosperous atmosphere, but it reveals a decadent atmosphere, in the eyes of the minister, just like the Bianliang City before the death of the former Song Dynasty. ”

Sun Chuanting whipped Nanjing City, which was compared to Bianliang City before the fall of the country, which shocked Zhu Youzhen. Shocked that this guy was so bold to speak.

"What Aiqing said is so serious, land annexation in the south is much more powerful than in the north, but why are there so many displaced people in the north, but not so many in the south?" Zhu Youzhen questioned.

"The minister didn't understand it at first, but then it gradually became clear. The economies of the North and the South are not quite the same.

The people in the north are heavily dependent on land, and because of the serious land annexation, a large number of people have lost their land and become tenant farmers, bearing heavy rents, and in the event of natural disasters, they will be unable to continue and have to become displaced people.

The land production in the south is higher than that in the north, and it is easy for the people to survive, but there are a large number of workshops in the south, and the prosperity of industry and commerce far exceeds that in the north. Even if you lose your land, you can work in the workshop to earn money to support your family, so there are fewer displaced people.

However, the people in the south are still exploited by the landlords and employers, and most of their lives are miserable, barely dying, and in fact they are not much better than the people in the north. ”

Okay, when I went to Nanjing, this Sun Chuanting turned out to be an angry youth, which made Zhu Youzhen surprised and relieved at the same time. Only with more officials who are worried about the country and the people can there be hope for the Ming Dynasty.

"In Aiqing's opinion, what should it be?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

Sun Chuanting was silent for a moment, and slowly shook his head: "The minister doesn't know, but in the minister's opinion, it is extremely difficult to change, even if Shang Yang is reborn, it may not be possible, so ......"

That's why he said that he had the appearance of the end times.

Sun Chuanting is a native of Daizhou, born in the north and grew up in the north, and has never been to the south. In recent years, the climate in the north has become colder and colder, with droughts, locusts, and disasters year after year, so that people are displaced everywhere. In Sun Chuanting's view, there is no way to do these natural disasters, but the Ming Dynasty is rich all over the world, and the south is very rich in climate, and with the support of money and food in the south, it will definitely be able to survive this difficulty. Especially after the strength of Jiannu was weakened last year, Sun Chuanting was full of hope for the future of the Ming Dynasty.

However, after arriving in Nanjing, he was shocked to find that the situation in Nanjing and even in the entire south was not much better than that in the north, and the official and military systems were even worse. He is the secretary of the military department, taking the army as an example, the army in the north can still fight, and the army in Nanjing, let alone fighting, is a group of people named Huazi can defeat them.

The people of the world are waiting to be fed, but those scholars and doctors in Nanjing only know empty talk, and the nobles of Nanjing do not want to serve the country, but only know that they annex fields and embezzle military salaries. The corruption of Nanjing's officials was much worse than that of Beijing than in the north, and in Sun Chuanting's view, it was almost incorrigible, so he said such things as the end of the world, hoping that the emperor would be able to make every effort to change all this after knowing the situation in Nanjing. But if you want to ask how to change it, Sun Chuanting himself has no good way.

"Does Aiqing know the current situation of Yansui?" Zhu Youzhen's eyes became brighter and brighter, and he suddenly asked.

"Yansui ......" Sun Chuanting pondered, he had heard about the situation in Yansui, but after all, he was not in his position and did not seek politics, and he didn't know much.

"What is the appearance of the end times, I already knew it three years ago, when I went to northern Shaanxi in person. At that time, northern Shaanxi was full of displaced people, and the fields were full of white bones, and the phenomenon of changing children and eating them was happening every day.

Almost half of the hundreds of thousands of people in northern Shaanxi have become displaced people, and there are dozens of rebel rebel troops, and there are people in the sixteen counties and counties of Yan'an Prefecture.

This situation can only be suppressed by thunderbolt means.

However, if the suppression does not change other words, it can only treat the root cause but not the symptoms, even if this suppression continues, and if there is another natural disaster, the people will not be able to eat enough, and they will inevitably do it again.

Therefore, after I arrived in northern Shaanxi, I punished the corrupt officials and the gentry, returned the land annexed by the gentry to the displaced people, and distributed the money and grain that the gentry had taken from them to the people, so that the rebellion was quickly quelled. I also set up Baojia in northern Shaanxi, established Yansui Town, and recruited its strong as a Praetorian Guard.

You have also seen the current situation Aiqing, since then, there has been no riot in northern Shaanxi, and the children of northern Shaanxi have killed the enemy on the battlefield in Liaodong, and recreated the slaves to recapture most of Liaodong! ”

Zhu Youzhen talked eloquently, full of pride, but Sun Chuanting trembled in his heart when he heard it.

Sun Chuanting naturally understood the meaning of Zhu Youzhen's words, this is to promote the northern Shaanxi model to the whole country!

But in that way, wouldn't it be that the gentry and landlords of the whole world would be liquidated like the gentry of northern Shaanxi, and their heads would be killed and their fields seized?

This is tantamount to revolutionizing the life of the entire gentry class!

If the emperor's words are spread today, it will inevitably terrify the gentry of the world, and even lead to chaos in the world!

Sun Chuanting only felt cold all over his body, and endless fear was born in his heart.

ps: 4,000 words, it's basically better. I'll write another chapter, there's no guarantee when it's going to be written.