Under Li Chunfang's narration, Zhang Juzheng quickly understood the reason for the incident.

At the same time, he also knew what he should do next.

Zhang Juzheng's heart knew very well that next, he and Li Chunfang would give Zhu Shunxian, a disciple of the clan who participated in this examination, a suitable ranking on the premise of maintaining the fairness of the Enke exam as much as possible.

This ranking cannot be too high or too low.

If Zhu Shunxian's ranking is too high, it will easily attract criticism, which will affect the fairness of this examination.

Therefore, this intermediate scale can only be grasped slowly by Li Chunfang and Zhang Juzheng.

After thinking about this, I saw Zhang Juzheng restrain his mind, then looked in the direction where Li Chunfang was, and said bluntly: "Brother Zishi, what ranking can this Zhu Shunxian get?" ”

Li Chunfang saw that Zhang Juzheng was so outspoken, and the whole person couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then saw that he organized the language in his mind and spoke in response.

"Before this, I had heard of the name of Zhu Shunxian, Zhu Shunxian is a child of the clan, but he has high ambitions, and he is only eight fights."

"Not only that, but the people he interacts with on weekdays are also people with noble temperaments, and he never hangs with those who are drunk and dreaming of death, and linger in gambling houses and Qinglou all day long.

When Li Chunfang said this, he paused, and then continued to add: "Judging from the talent that this Zhu Shunxian has, most of him will be able to get the rank of more than 20 in the second grade!" ”

After listening to the ranking given by Li Chunfang, I saw Zhang Juzheng nodded, and a hint of relief flashed on his face.

Li Chunfang's thoughts coincided with him, after all, there were more than 20 second-class students, which could be regarded as a very good ranking, which not only gave the emperor enough face, but also did not attract too much criticism.

There are only three people in the first class, namely the champion, the list eye, the tanhua, the jinshi and the first, the second class a number of people, the jinshi background, and the third class a number of people, the same jinshi background.

Since the establishment of the cabinet, all the cabinet members of the Ming Dynasty have basically been elected from more than ten of the second grade, and these people are also known as the "reserve minister" and are the reserves of senior officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Although the ranking of more than 20 people in the second class cannot be entered into the cabinet, if you are lucky enough and have made meritorious contributions, you still have the opportunity to serve as a high-ranking official.

It's just that because of the ranking, it can only reach the height of the third-rank official at most, and if it goes up, it can't be promoted.

……

After that, I saw Zhang Juzheng suppress all the chaotic thoughts in his heart, nodded, and expressed his attitude: "Well, Brother Zishi is really discerning, and I also think that with the talent that this Zhu Shunxian has, he can reach this ranking!" ”

When Li Chunfang heard this, she knew that Zhang Juzheng had reached an agreement with herself on the matter of ranking.

Seeing that this biggest problem was solved, Li Chunfang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and the stone hanging in his heart had also landed safely.

Just when Li Chunfang came back to his senses and wanted to say something, he only heard Zhang Juzheng's slightly emotional voice sound: "Brother Zishi, you are the chief examiner of this Enke exam, and you are the same year as Zaixia, and at the beginning, Zaixia admired your literary talent very much......"

Li Chunfang naturally heard the meaning contained in Zhang Juzheng's words, and then, I saw him stroke his beard, get up from the seat, and say unusually heroically: "Since this is the case, then it will be ugly!" ”

Zhang Juzheng saw that Li Chunfang looked very interested, and immediately ordered someone to bring a pen and paper, and retreated left and right.

After that, Li Chunfang wrote several poems with a little ink, and then, I saw him use pen and paper full of ink, relying on the memory in his mind, inadvertently, to write down the questions of this exam.

"A gentleman enters virtue and cultivates his profession, is faithful, so he enters virtue, and his rhetoric establishes his sincerity, so he lives in the industry, and the heavens and the earth are born, and there is no way to benefit them, and the metaphysical one is called the way ......"

After Zhang Juzheng finished browsing the exam questions written on the paper, he couldn't help but feel a little frightened, even if he was asked to do these questions, he would feel anxious.

"Well, it's really worthy of being a champion, and he can actually think of such a tricky way to solve the question!"

After finishing his sigh, I saw Zhang Juzheng quietly put away the paper with the exam questions, and then chatted with Li Chunfang.

Time passed slowly, I don't know how long it was, and later, Li Chunfang saw that it was getting late, and took the initiative to resign to Zhang Juzheng.

"It's not too early, it's time for me to take my leave!"

"Brother Zishi, go slowly!"

After personally sending Li Chunfang away, I saw Zhang Juzheng return to the study, took out the paper with the exam questions from his sleeve, and secretly sighed: "Alas, it seems that the return of the clan and the honorable nobles to the court is already the trend of the times, and it can no longer be avoided!" ”

On the other side, on the way back, I saw Li Chunfang open the sedan curtain and look at the scenery on both sides of the road, looking thoughtful.

In the previous contact with Zhang Juzheng, Li Chunfang was vaguely aware of one thing.

That is, all along, the government and the opposition have had a good evaluation of Zhang Juzheng, this person is quite talented and extremely pragmatic.

"No wonder this Zhang Juzheng can get the favor of His Majesty, it seems that in the future, I will have to learn more about this aspect!"

Then, I saw Li Chunfang withdraw his gaze from the scenery on both sides of the road and muttered to himself silently.

……

Forbidden City, Cabinet.

At this time, Xu Jie looked at the budget report on the construction of the 'Meritorious Pavilion' in his hand, which was submitted by the Ministry of Industry, and the whole person couldn't help frowning.

After all, according to the estimate of the budget report in hand, it is estimated that it will cost 860,000 taels of silver to build the 'Meritorious Pavilion'.

In Xu Jie's view, it is just to build the 'Meritorious Pavilion', far from using so much, besides, at last year's imperial meeting, the emperor just said that he would save expenses.

Then, I saw Xu Jie put down the budget report in his hand, then looked in the direction where Yan Shifan was, and asked: "Little Pavilion Elder, is the cost of building the 'Meritorious Pavilion' a little too high?" ”

"The report submitted by the Ministry of Industry says that it is expected to cost 860,000 taels of silver!"

When Yan Shifan heard Xu Jie's words, he immediately stood up and responded: "Elder Xu Ge, you don't know, this budget report of the Ministry of Industry is already very conservative!" ”

Yan Shifan paused when he said this, and then added: "After all, the construction of the 'Meritorious Pavilion' is a matter of great importance, so naturally you have to use the best materials, and the materials alone will cost a lot of silver!" ”

"In addition, there is no road on the Yunnan-Guichuan side, and the cost of building the road is too high, so the cut timber can only be transported to the capital by sea!"

"If you choose to ship by sea, the transportation cost will inevitably become high, not only that, in order to build the 'Hero Pavilion', you also need to transport good stones from Yunnan, which costs a lot of labor and a lot of money."

"Xu Ge Lao should look at the long-term, the imperial court is about to build the 'Meritorious Pavilion' for a tower, not only occupies a small area, high structural strength, the space inside is also very broad, after it is built, there is no need to repair it for decades in the future!"

"Isn't that the same as saving a lot of money?"

After listening to Yan Shifan's explanation, Xu Jie nodded, and said in response: "Okay, this bill has been signed by the household department!" ”

After Xu Jie finished speaking, he signed his name.

At this moment, there was a rush of footsteps from outside the cabinet, and then, I saw a servant walking in quickly.

After entering the cabinet, the official did not hesitate at all, immediately looked in the direction where Yan Song and Xu Jie were, leaned down, and respectfully reported: "Old Yu Ge, this is the battle report sent by Suzhou Wei over there for eight hundred miles!" ”

When the official's words fell, the atmosphere in the cabinet suddenly fell into a stagnancy.

Then, I saw Xu Jie take the lead in reacting, looked in the direction where the official was, and ordered in a deep voice: "Take it immediately!" ”

"Obey, Elder Xu Ge!"

After receiving the battle report, Xu Jie couldn't wait to take it apart and browse the content on it with extra concentration.

Soon, Xu Jie finished reading the above content, and his face was extremely ugly, and it was mentioned in the battle report sent by Suzhou Wei that there was currently a Tatar army of more than 5,000 people, which was attacking Suzhou Wei.

Seeing this, Yan Song, who was on the side, was full of curiosity that could not be concealed, and asked, "Elder Xu Ge, what's wrong?" ”

When Xu Jie heard this, he handed the battle report in his hand to Yan Song's hand, and then spoke: "Elder Yan Ge, as mentioned above, there is a Tatar army of more than 5,000 people, which is attacking Suzhou Wei!" ”

After learning the news from Xu Jie's mouth, Yan Song's face was full of shock that he couldn't hide: "What! ”

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he immediately lowered his head and read the contents of the battle report with great concentration.

"Without further ado, let's go and inform Your Majesty of the news immediately!"

After this, I saw Yan Song put down the battle report in his hand, faced everyone, and commanded in a deep voice.

Seeing Yan Song, the head of the cabinet, speak, everyone did not raise any objections to this, and as soon as they walked a few steps, another official hurriedly ran in.

After entering the cabinet, the official took out the battle report sent from the front line from his sleeve, lowered his head, and reported in a deep voice: "Old Pavilion, this is the battle report sent by Pingliangwei!" ”

When Yan Song heard this, he stretched out his thin hand, took the battle report from the hand of the official, and began to browse it.

The content of the battle report, like the previous Suzhou Wei, has a Tatar army of more than 3,000 people, which is attacking Pingliangwei on a large scale.

Subsequently, several officials hurriedly ran into the cabinet and sent the battle reports of Shazhouwei, Jingluwei, Yongchangwei, and Shanhaiwei.

The above content, without exception, is the news of Altan Khan's army moving south.

After browsing all these battle reports, I saw Yan Song looking Xu Jie up and down with cloudy eyes, and said with emotion: "Elder Xu Ge, it seems that your previous expectations have come true, and Altan Khan has really poured out!" ”

Hearing this, Xu Jie nodded, and said in response: "Yes!" ”

After that, I saw Yan Song facing everyone, and then spoke.

"Let's go, let's go meet Your Majesty!"

"Yes, Yan Ge Lao!"

……

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

At this time, Jiajing was sitting on the dragon chair, bored looking at the music sent by the celebrant supervisor.

At this moment, I saw the guide eunuch take an eager step and enter the Qianqing Palace.

After entering the Qianqing Palace, I saw the guide eunuch leaning down and reporting in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the cabinet is asking for a meeting outside, saying that it is the front line that sent a war report, and Altan Khan's army has gone south!" ”

When Jiajing heard this, he couldn't help but perk up, and then, he waved his hand and commanded: "Well, I know, let them all come in!" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After receiving Jiajing's specific instructions, the guide eunuch did not hesitate at all and left the Qianqing Palace quickly.

After guiding the eunuch to leave, I saw Jiajing unconsciously clenching his fists and saying to himself: "My Ming dynasty's national fortune depends on this battle!" ”

After a while, I saw the cabinet members stepping into the Qianqing Palace.

Subsequently, under the leadership of Yan Song, the first assistant of the cabinet, everyone knelt on the ground in unison, and said in unison: "Ministers knock to see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

When Jiajing heard this, he glanced over the bodies of everyone present, nodded, and commanded: "Well, get up!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After receiving Jiajing's consent, everyone slowly got up from the ground.

Immediately, I saw Yan Song tremblingly take out the battle report sent from the front line from his sleeve, hold it high above his head, and report it in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, not long ago, my Ming Dynasty's Suzhou Wei, Pingliangwei, Shazhouwei, Jingluwei, Yongchangwei, and Shanhaiwei all sent battle reports one after another, saying that Altan Khan's army had gone south!"

"At present, there is a Tatar army of more than 5,000 people, which is attacking Suzhou Wei on a large scale, in addition, Pingliangwei is also besieged by a Tatar army of more than 3,000 people, Weichen conservatively estimates that the army used by Altan Khan this time is probably more than 100,000!"

Lu Fang, who was waiting on the side, heard this, and without waiting for Jiajing's orders, he immediately stepped forward, took the battle report from Yan Song's hand, and respectfully handed it to Jiajing.

"Your Majesty!"

"Hmm."

After Jiajing received the battle report from Lu Fang's hand, he read it word by word.

Jiajing quickly finished browsing the contents of the battle report, and immediately, he saw the battle report in his hand put aside, and said with emotion: "Fortunately, the imperial court has reminded all guards to pay attention to precautions before this, otherwise, in a hurry, I am afraid that I will not be able to parry such a rapid attack!" ”

When Jiajing's words fell, Xu Jie, who was on the side, was suddenly honored.

After all, it was he who put forward the idea in public at the cabinet meeting, and Altan Khan would invade in large numbers this year.

……

Then, I saw Zhang Juzheng stand up, turned his gaze to Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon chair at the moment, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, at present, the main force of my Ming Dynasty is stationed in Jizhou Town. ”

"In addition to the 80,000 troops stationed in Jizhou, there are 23,000 Liaodong iron cavalry commanded by Wu Ying, the general soldier of Liaodong, and more than 25,000 soldiers commanded by Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, in addition, the Shenji battalion commanded by Chengguo Gong is also in Jizhou!"

When Zhang Juzheng said this, he paused for a moment and continued: "Although the Tatar army is huge this time, in Weichen's opinion, the strategy adopted by Altan Khan this time is obviously a strategy of attack, and there should be only one place where he really attacks!" ”

"Before the situation is clear, the army of the imperial court should not act rashly, it should wait for the opportunity, and after discovering the main force of the other party, it will take the opportunity to launch a decisive battle and annihilate it in one fell swoop!"

When Jiajing heard this, after thinking for a while, he approved Zhang Juzheng's idea: "Well, that's right, I remember that the imperial court received reports from Hamiwei, Shazhouwei, and Suzhou Wei earlier, and since last year, Altan Khan has invaded my Ming frontier more and more frequently. ”

"In previous years, it was three to four times a year, but last year it has reached as many as seven or eight times, not only that, but only two or three thousand troops were sent to attack each time, and now it seems that it should be exploring the way in advance, looking for weak points in defense, in order to seek a breakthrough!"

When Jiajing's words fell, everyone looked awe-inspired, and responded in a deep voice: "Your Majesty Shengming! ”

Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, Jiajing looked in the direction where Xu Jie was, and asked: "Elder Xu Ge, what are the problems with the baggage, grain and grass required for the front line?" ”

When Xu Jie heard this, he immediately lowered his head and replied without thinking: "Your Majesty, the household department has already transported most of the baggage, grain and grass required by the army, and the rest will also arrive within three days!" ”

When Xu Jie said this, he raised his head, looked in the direction where Jiajing was, and continued: "Your Majesty, Weichen has a reluctant request!" ”

When Jiajing heard Xu Jie's words, he waved his hand and motioned for Xu Jie to continue.

"In order to maximize the enthusiasm of those caravans, Wei Chen proposed that after those caravans completed the task of transporting baggage for the imperial court, they should be noted in the booklet, so that they could complete the task fifty times as soon as possible, and then receive a complete sea trade certificate!"

"Well, since that's the case, let's do it according to Elder Xu Ge's suggestion!"

When Jiajing heard this, after thinking about it for a while, he agreed to Xu Jie's suggestion.

Due to the limited number of maritime trade vouchers issued by the imperial court before, it is very precious.

With the increasing prosperity of sea trade, more and more people have made a lot of money through sea trade, and because of this, every sea trade certificate can be sold at a very high price, and it is still priceless.

After all, the sea trade certificate is equivalent to a cash cow, as long as there is a sea trade certificate, you can reasonably and legally participate in the sea trade, and the profits of the sea trade are enough to ensure the wealth of future generations.

Seeing that Jiajing agreed to his proposal, Xu Jie's face was full of excitement that he couldn't hide, and he immediately leaned down and replied in a deep voice: "Your Majesty Shengming!" ”

The reason why Xu Jie made this suggestion in front of Jiajing was that in addition to mobilizing the enthusiasm of those caravans, he also had his own considerations.

After all, many families who have obtained sea trade certificates have made a lot of money through sea trade.

In Xu Jie's view, instead of taking a huge risk to annex a large amount of land, it is better to get a few maritime trade vouchers from the imperial court, so that the family can participate in the maritime trade and grab wealth through the maritime trade.

Just as Xu Jie's reverie, he only heard Jiajing's voice sounding from the ancient well: "The general order is that all the guards must find the main force of the enemy army as soon as possible, and at the same time, the remaining heavy grain and grass, as well as the ordnance and weapons produced by the Ordnance Division, must all be transported to the front line!" ”

"If the fighter is delayed because of the baggage and the food and grass have not arrived, it will be dealt with according to the law of the Ming Dynasty!"

As soon as Jiajing's words fell, everyone present looked awe-inspired, and responded in a deep voice: "Obey, Your Majesty!" ”

"Okay, you guys go down and get busy, if you have any news, report to me immediately!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the ministers will retire!"

……

Gansu, Suzhou.

Suzhou Wei was established in the 28th year of Hongwu, Suzhou Wei is located at the west end of the Hexi Corridor, in the intersection of agriculture and animal husbandry, and its strategic location is extremely important.

In the territory of Suzhou Wei, there are 46 castles built, and these 46 castles, together with the side walls and passes, form a tight defense system.

At this time, on the city wall, Peng Yaozheng, the commander of the Suzhou Guard, pressed his sword with one hand, looking at the enemy army that had retreated in the distance, with a solemn expression.

Not long ago, Suzhou Wei was fiercely attacked by more than 5,000 Tatar troops, and this attack was not as good as before, and it was obvious that the enemy army was obviously determined to take Suzhou Wei by surprise and take it by surprise.

The surrounding area has long been in ruins, the camp wall has been destroyed in many places, the arrow tower that originally stood outside the camp has also been destroyed, and even the surrounding ravines have been filled in by corpses.

There was a lingering fishy stench in the air, as well as the smell of gunpowder residues.

The ground was littered with piles of corpses, blood pouring from the wounds of the corpses and converging into pools of blood not far away.

And not far from those corpses, there were many ownerless war horses wandering back and forth, making a heavy snort from time to time.

After stopping to watch for a long time, I saw Peng Yao withdraw his gaze from a distance, sighed helplessly, and said to himself.

"Alas, if it weren't for the imperial court issuing a notice before, reminding the guards to pay more attention, I'm afraid that this time it would really be caught off guard!"

At this moment, I saw a subordinate with a Yanling knife at his waist, walking quickly in front of Peng Yao, leaning down, and reporting in a deep voice: "Your Excellency, the casualties have been counted, in this battle, we have killed 1,339 people, and a total of 428 people have been lightly and seriously wounded!" ”

"The enemy's casualties are still being counted for the time being, but they must be much more than ours!"

After listening to the report of his subordinates, he saw Peng Yao muttering for a moment, and then ordered: "Bury those dead brothers alive, and in addition, wait until the enemy's casualties are counted, and report them to the imperial court together!" ”

"Yes, Commander!"

When the subordinate heard this, he immediately lowered his head, arched his hand to Peng Yao, and answered in a deep voice. (End of chapter)