The court meeting begins.

The most important content of the day's court discussion must be the battle report of the Ming Dynasty's surprise attack on Weininghai, which was read out in public by Dai Yi's generals Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren.

Even though most of the people present already knew the outcome of the battle, when they heard the specific battle report and the process of the battle, they could still understand that the battle process was tragic.

Especially when it was mentioned that Wang Shouren was able to override public opinion, he simply had to escort more than 16,000 prisoners and nearly 100,000 livestock to Daming, and was trapped in the Tushan north of Maoerzhuang, and experienced the "Battle of Tushan", and then fought hard to win the victory of 2,000 heads, and the ministers present were also secretly pondering.

Is this sure it's happening on the battlefield and not someone else making fun of them?

In the end, Wang Shouren personally played the ceremony, and Zhang Zhou led the troops to kill, so that the people of the fire sieve department retreated without a fight.

“…… It is expected that on the night of the twelfth, the soldiers and horses of the grassland will enter the mouth of Yanghekou, please take Yang Hewei as the axis, and mobilize all walks of life to resist the invasion of Hulu......"

Dai Yi finished reading the battle report and returned it respectfully.

The ministers present were silent, because they knew that the next step was to be the main event, and they had to ask for a reward.

Zhu Youzhu took over the conversation and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, such a miraculous feat has not been seen in recent decades, and what can be compared with it is nothing more than the fact that the Marquis of Weining repeatedly marched into the grassland when he was the first emperor, and he made a plan with a strange plan. ”

Zhang Mao walked out and said, "Your Majesty, the merits of the Marquis of Wei Ning cannot be compared. ”

Zhu Youzhi looked pleased, but sighed and said: "But the battle of Weining Hou Yu Biguan, and the battle of Liaodong Ningyuan, can always be compared with it, right?" ”

These words are actually a reminder to the ministers present.

Since the change of Tumubao and the defense of Beijing, there has never been such a big victory in the Ming Dynasty as today, even if it can be slightly comparable, it is either Wang Yue's exploits in the grassland during the Chenghua period, but the people who killed the prisoners, that is, the fraction of this battle, are still two zeros in the back.

Another thing that can be mentioned is the battle of Biguan and Ningyuan this year, and these two battles were also planned by Zhang Zhou.

Don't compare with each other, anyway, it's not Bingkuan, it's Bingkuan.

Three gongs become one gong, isn't it too much to give him a national duke?

But Zhu Youzhi didn't seem to be in a hurry to mention the matter of Zhang Zhouhe and the soldiers, he said: "Since I ascended to the Great Treasure, whenever I read history and appreciated the demeanor of famous generals since ancient times, I hope that when the Ming Dynasty will have such a person who can establish miraculous achievements, and now the heavens have mercy on it, and finally given the Ming Dynasty such a famous person, I should cherish it." You shouldn't have a bad deal with him. ”

When the emperor is the emperor, he still knows his courtiers better.

The greater Zhang Zhou's credit, the greater the resistance encountered, not to say that you Zhang Zhou can get the weight if you have the ability.

Since ancient times, people who have contributed to their families and countries may not be able to tolerate the king and the ministers of the court.

It's like the reformers since ancient times, all for the stability of the court, but almost none of them have a good end, and after a certain period of time has passed, they will be impeached and exiled by their colleagues, and even to the end of being ruined and dying, but history will always justify these people.

The ministers present, whether it was Wenchen or Wuxun, or the cabinet elder or the minister, no one came out to refute it.

Even Liu Jian and them are waiting for the emperor to set the tone for Zhang Zhou's credit.

If it is not aimed at Zhang Zhou as a person, it is aimed at what Zhang Zhou did, and if it is not for what he did, it will be judged on the merits after the fact, and there will always be a breakthrough.

Zhu Youzhu said: "Now that the Tatar forces are divided and the war has begun, Bingkuan means to wait and see the changes, seek development, and more importantly, to open mines and smelt iron, cast cannons to calm the people." There have been changes in the Ming Salt Administration in the past few years, Bingkuan and I have proposed to restore the law of grain development in several places in the northwest, so as to alleviate the urgency of grain and silver in the northwest and encourage agriculture. ”

are waiting for the emperor to mention the matter of asking Zhang Zhou for meritorious service.

As a result, the emperor found another way, or asked Zhang Zhou to "take advantage of the fire to rob", and he had nothing to do at this time to revisit the matter of grain opening.

What is this?

Leverage merit to blackmail the government? If we don't agree, do you still want to make trouble?

Zhou Jing, the head of the household, came out and said: "Your Majesty, after the previous salt political reform, the Jingcang was relatively full, and there were no major mistakes in the allocation of grain and grass everywhere, why do you want to reopen the old system?" ”

Usually, the Ming courtiers were very opposed to reform, but they were very supportive of the method of changing the silver color in the grain opening.

The reason is that after this change, the Ming court's control over the northwest was strengthened, and your border army finally did not have to set up a small court in the northwest.

Moreover, the distribution of Ming officials' money is relatively timely, even if there are still gaps in the folded money, but the usual true color of the money can be issued in time, and supporting the family is no longer a big problem.

Zhu Youzhu said: "I don't want to deny the method of salt inducing color, but according to Bingkuan's experience in the northwest, as well as the current focus of the war in the northwest, the temporary changes are only implemented in Datong, Xuanfu and other places, so as to encourage local agriculture and reclamation, and build water conservancy to protect the people's livelihood in the northwest." I believe that Bingkuan's proposal will help improve the use of money and grain in the northwest on the spot, and also avoid the envy of the Ming Dynasty's money and grain dispatch. ”

The ministers present were all a little annoyed.

Zhang Zhou came to mention it at this time, so that they didn't know how to object.

Because Zhang Zhou is now using troops in the northwest, it will cost the imperial court a lot of money and food, if Zhang Zhou can be allowed to raise it on his own, it can indeed solve many problems, probably Zhang Zhou also knows that with the current financial resources of the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible to support a preparation for several years in the northwest.

That's why Zhang Zhou has this proposal.

However, Zhang Zhou did not deny the color folding method of salt introduction, because Zhang Zhou also knew that there was no direct conflict between the Kaizhong method and the color folding method, one was to protect the central finance, and the other was to protect the northwest finance, and from the perspective of using troops, it must be the local finance of the nine sides.

But in terms of the long-term stability of the Ming Dynasty, the folding method can bring rolling financial resources to the Ming Dynasty and solve many problems other than side affairs, such as disaster relief, river work, etc., must be wrong?

What Zhang Zhou means is that when I, Zhang, want to prepare for the use of troops in the northwest, then I will restore part of the grain opening, so that I can guarantee Shangtun in the northwest, and Shangtun is a great supplement and guarantee in addition to the military tun, why not?

Do you expect me to reach out to the court every time to ask for money, so that you can jam my neck?

Moreover, the cancellation time in the grain development is still short, and some of the Shangtun land still has room for recovery and operation, even if I Zhang does not personally sit in the northwest, there are also my people to maintain my residual prestige, and the Tatars will not dare to violate the border easily, providing security for those who organize Shangtun, and the tenants can also increase, so the northwest finance has been greatly improved?

Otherwise, I only fought and created a stable condition, but no one came to farm......

Or if the businessman feels that farming is meaningless, then these great victories will not be able to maximize the profits.

Zhu Youzhu saw that the minister in front of him was silent, and knew that these people were holding back their bad again, so he said: "Unless the imperial court can solve the problem of the northwest in the next few years, instead of every time the northwest proposes to use silver and grain, it will have to be perfunctory and prevaricated." Ladies and gentlemen, please also understand the general trend in the northwest today, if you don't take advantage of the internal disputes in the grassland to solve the border troubles, you will not come again. ”

Liu Jian walked out and said, "Your Majesty, it is not appropriate to raise this matter in such a hurry. Why don't you wait for the household department to discuss first, and then make a decision? ”

In the meaning of Liu Jian.

Your old man believes in Zhang Bingkuan, and when he opens his mouth, he will change the color folding method and return the financial power to the northwest, but the problem is that the distribution of salt has become a rule, and if you change it easily, you are not afraid of tossing the imperial court? Is it what you want to see in Kyokura returning to a state where you can't make ends meet?

Even if we understand that you want to sacrifice for this matter with all your strength in order to pacify the grassland, don't you think about the stability of the Ming Dynasty first?

"Hmm." Zhu Youzhu nodded, but he was not in a hurry, because Zhang Zhou said that there was a backhand in this matter.

What Zhang Zhou wants to do is to bring benefits to Jingcang and Northwest China at the same time through the reform of the salt law, which is actually a method commonly used by traversers...... That is the salt field drying method, this method came out, the output of the salt fields in the Ming Dynasty increased, the problem of the people eating salt was greatly improved, and the salt tax revenue was increased at the same time...... There is also enough salt in the capital to trigger the release, and there is also salt in the northwest to exchange grain from salt merchants......

Of course, it will also bring the problem of more salt and low salt prices, but salt merchants have been seeking huge profits since ancient times, and whether official salt will be hoarded by salt merchants, Zhang Zhou has not thought about it for the time being.

Anyway, in the future, there will be official salt, you can hoard it if you want, there are many fewer salt merchants, and there will always be people who will follow one after another.

"In this matter, I will let Bingkuan give a detailed decision, and the future should be gradually decided." Zhu Youzhu said, "There are some other things...... It will also be decided in the near future. ”

What's the matter, but the emperor played a dumb riddle.

……

……

The ministers had been waiting for the emperor to offer Zhang Zhou a reward for meritorious deeds, but until the end of the court meeting, the emperor did not say a word about it.

Not to mention that this matter was not expected by the Wenchen Wuxun who was present, even a few ceremonial eunuchs and eunuchs could not have expected it, yesterday the emperor also said that he would give Zhang Zhou the Duke of Lai, and the words were conclusive, and the possibility of His Majesty changing his mind was almost none, did it mean that the emperor was ready to mention it again after Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren withdrew to the Guannei?

But after waiting for the court meeting, Zhu Youzhi immediately asked Xiao Jing to summon several important ministers into the inner court.

Before the ministers left, when they knew the list of those summoned by the inner court, they probably knew that the emperor did not forget or want to postpone the discussion, but did not want to quarrel with the ministers in the court, so he simply used the method of the inner court to solve the major affairs.

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

The four celebrant eunuchs were all there, and the few people who were summoned were the three ministers of the cabinet, Ma Wensheng, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Zhou Jing, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, Xu Qiong, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and the representative of the Governor's Office, the British Gong Zhang Mao.

Before these people came, they had a plan in their hearts and thought about how to deal with the problems that the emperor might have.

But when they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, they saw a table temporarily prepared in the center of the hall with a lot of books, and they were all confused that they didn't know what medicine was sold in the emperor's gourd.

Old Chinese medicine doctor.

Grasping medicine never comes according to the prescription, thinking of one out is one out.

The three ministers of the cabinet were all the emperor's husbands when he was young, and at this time they were also pondering that the emperor had learned from Zhang Zhou.

"A few Qing families, I came to you, you should also know what I want to say, that's right, it is to reward the soldiers of the Northwest for meritorious deeds." Zhu Youzhu said, "But how to talk about it, I'm really anxious." It just so happens that before Bingkuan left, the "Ming Huidian" compiled here, which involves many precedents related to the Ming Dynasty's military achievements in the past few decades, all of which are justified and not groundless. ”

"You should also take a look to see if there are any mistakes or omissions."

Hearing this, Xie Qian's reaction was the biggest one, he seemed to be the most determined person to erase Zhang Zhou's merits before the current court meeting, and even the opinions of Liu Jian and Li Dongyang were a little contrary.

But now he couldn't help but glance at Liu Jian and Li Dongyang.

You still say that you want to follow Zhang Zhou's hair?

I'm afraid that you will be holding it, Zhang Zhou, the donkey, has not yet been pacified, he can jump up and kick you away!

Look!

Now His Majesty wants to use the "Daming Huidian" compiled by Zhang Zhou's kid as the basis to reward him for his meritorious deeds! Maybe that kid thought of this when he was compiling this book!

Are you in a hurry?

Liu Jian said: "Your Majesty, the ministers and others are all clear about the rewards for military merits, and there is no need to consult the classics. ”

"Alas!" Zhu Youzhu sighed, "Since you all know it, then be open and honest, you should also know the first merit of the Ming Dynasty, and kill the head of a Hu Lu, it's time to reward him, right?" ”

As soon as these words came out, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang glanced at each other first.

They all felt a "shock" in their hearts, as if they were calculating, always thinking about how to suppress Zhang Zhou's credit, but they didn't care about a "big trouble", and it seemed to be a "trouble" that could not be solved.

Even the emperor was more thoughtful than they were.

That is the burden of military rewards, and whether the imperial court can afford it.

Ma Wensheng, as the secretary of the Ministry of War, can be described as a treasure of the family, Liu Jian did not answer, he came forward to answer: "According to the rule of Chenghua, reward the soldiers who go out to fight, and the first rank should be rewarded with forty taels of silver." ”

"What about the captives?" Zhu Youzhu continued to ask.

Marven said: "Same count." ”

Xie Qian couldn't help but be embarrassed.

A head level is forty taels, and more than three thousand heads are more than 120,000 taels.

More than 16,000 prisoners were captured...... Xie Qian didn't dare to think about it anymore.

This is fucking going to turn Daming Jingcang upside down in a war.

During the period from the Ming Dynasty to Hongzhi, the annual fiscal and tax revenue, denominated in silver, was about between two million taels and three million taels.

But if a reward costs nearly one million taels, the court can drink the northwest wind, and the ministers may not be able to pay a fortune in the next three years.

Zhu Youzhu said: "Even if the women and children are discounted, but they must add the merits of livestock, surprise attacks, etc., and then the cost of raising troops for the northwest...... I don't think this battle should be rewarded by the rules of the past. ”

The emperor meant.

We can't afford to pay the reward, so let's pay the bill.

Ma Wensheng said: "Your Majesty, it is not necessary to reward meritorious deeds by the first merit. ”

"Hmm." Zhu Youzhu nodded, "That makes sense." ”

Then the ministers present, as well as a few celebrant eunuchs, found that in fact, it was still easy for the monarch and the ministers to reach an agreement on certain aspects, such as ...... They all know such a great credit, if it is calculated according to the merit of beheading and captives, then the imperial court is easy to go bankrupt, so let's change the way.

Zhu Youzhu said: "I didn't say anything about it before, and it was precisely this kind of thought, but since the disaster of Tumubao, the Ming Dynasty has always been based on the first merit. I thought, the reason for this, Qing and the others should be very clear, but now it is not easy to change it rashly. ”

The military exploits of the Ming Dynasty are judged by the number of heads killed, which seems to have drawbacks, and it is easy to kill the good and take the merits.

But the biggest advantage is that the first merit is relatively "comparatively" fair.

At least the first merit still needs a first level, and there is an exact parameter, if it is judged by military merit, then this is not the case.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the argument of military merit was not based on the first merit, but on military merit.

It is divided into three categories: miraculous gong, head gong and secondary gong.

The most representative of the miracle is that after Chang Yuchun defected to Zhu Yuanzhang, when Quarry Rock became famous in the first battle, he led the troops to break the enemy with the strength of one person, and since then he has been known as "Chang 100,000", becoming a general under Zhu Yuanzhang and a celebrity through the ages.

But the problem is that it is difficult to judge whether it is "miraculous work" or the first or second skill.

The "History of the Ming Dynasty" clearly records the drawbacks of judging by military merits: "...... After the leading officer played up to three or four hundred, he was not among the remnants, and he set up a separate name, saying that he was transporting a magic spear, that he was holding a banner, that he was charging to break the enemy, that he was the first three times, and that he was serving before the army. The disadvantages of recklessness are extreme. ”

It means that when military merits are discussed, they are all in a clever name, a mess, and even if this person is not on the battlefield, he will be judged for credit.

Then the court found that this trick didn't work, and it was easy to breed corruption.

Let's change it.

It is determined by the first merit.

How much merit is given for killing as many heads, and the prisoners are counted, even if there is a situation of killing good people and risking merit, it would be good for us to check more, it is better than the kind of indiscriminate calculation without standards.

Anyway, the Ming soldiers are very wilted, and they can't kill a few at a time, and we are very strict in reviewing the first merit, and even stipulate that the head should be above the Adam's apple, if you can't judge the men and women, they should be thrown into the water, and the men are facing up, and the back of the head is the woman......

This is why Xie Qian feels that there is a way to suppress Zhang Zhou's credit.

Because Zhang Zhou talked about the "first merit", he did not personally participate in the battlefield warfare, as long as we strictly implement it, then we can push the credit to Wang Shouren and Ma Yi as much as possible, and the merit is rewarded, and if others are high, Zhang Zhou's merit will be low.

Now Zhu Youzhu has made it clear that if you use the first merit to decide, it will not work.

The court could not afford to pay for it.

Now let's calculate, how to minimize Daming's expenses in the process of this reward, we also have to save a little.

In case Zhang Zhou extinguishes the fire sieve in a few days, he will send you tens of thousands of heads or tens of thousands of prisoners...... Let's drink the northwest wind together!

(End of chapter)