Courts.

Zhu Youzhu was in the court, directly in front of the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs, and explained that Cui Yuan and Zhu Feng would lead the Northern Expedition from Jizhou.

The courtiers were still a little confused, and even Xie Qian, who had always been good at words, chose to remain silent.

It's not that Xie Qian doesn't want to say it, but he is being investigated recently, although he has not been imprisoned, but Li Zhang, the prince of Dongchang Factory, and Mu Bin, the commander of Jinyiwei, went to his house one after another to ask him, making him realize that his time in the court may not be long, so Xie Qian is now trying his best to avoid the affairs of the court.

Cheng Minzheng, who had never been much involved in cabinet affairs before, would come out and say: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that now Tatar is attacking and harassing in Ningxia and other places, if he sends troops from Daning and other places all the way to the rear of Tatar, he will definitely be able to break the enemy and raise the national prestige of our dynasty." ”

Not surprisingly, it is agreed, but what puzzles the minister is, what will you Cheng Minzheng do when he comes out to join in the fun?

When things go wrong, there must be demons.

Zhu Youzhu said along with the words: "I also think that this is a good strategy to hit the Tatars hard and make them dare not easily invade the territory, otherwise every time they send troops, the Tatars will flee from the wind, and with the mobility of their cavalry, the Ming cavalry will not be able to encircle and intercept, so it is not a long-term solution." ”

The emperor reminded the minister that the key to the war with the Tatars now was not whether the Ming artillery and guns were lethal enough, but whether the Tatars chose to avoid the war.

Li Dongyang said: "Your Majesty, although it is just right to send troops at this time, it can make the Tatars retreat in difficulty, but now that it is about to be a cold winter, I am afraid that the soldiers will go out to fight, and they will also be prone to frostbite, and even make the Tatars take advantage of the bad weather to raid, which is not good for the officers and men of our three armies." ”

From the good situation to the hidden danger of the bad, it seems that Wenchen has always been the focus of Wenchen.

Aren't you glad to send troops, Emperor? Then we'll be responsible for pouring cold water on you.

In the opinion of our Wenchen, only the emperor is calm enough and can see the whole picture of the matter clearly, so as to better avoid the risks that may be experienced in this battle.

Zhu Youzhu was a little unhappy when he heard it.

I mobilized troops and horses to fight on the grassland, in order to promote the prestige of the country, you poured cold water on my head for fun, right?

It is said that the biggest problem of your group of literati is that you like to be reasonable, and that's really the case...... Can I not know that the grassland environment is harsh in winter? But no matter how bad it is, will the Tatars casually fight the Ming at this time? Wasn't the previous victory in the first battle of Huangshui also completed by Liaodong and Jizhou under the bad weather of sleet?

Zhu Youzhu said: "Then does the Li Qing family think that this battle is out of time?" ”

Li Dongyang naturally knew that the purpose of pouring cold water was not to wake up the emperor, but to let him know the difficulties, and he added: "Stop in moderation." ”

Zhu Youzhu almost rolled his eyes.

To say it is to say nothing.

Chen Kuan, the newly promoted eunuch on the side, said: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a decision made according to the current situation in the border town, and all people and horses must cooperate sincerely, if the northwest sends troops, and Jizhou does not send troops, or even hastily sends troops back, how can it be possible for the Tatars to know the strength of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

Chen Kuan had learned from Xiao Jing's loss of power, and he was now trying to help the emperor and Zhang Zhou speak as much as he could.

He didn't pour cold water on him, and as for the cautious words, he wouldn't say them, but to help resolve the minister's grievances and let the minister know the emperor's difficulties.

Ma Wensheng said: "Your Majesty, I don't know who is the leader of the troops this time?" ”

With the lord who leads the army, of course, there must be a royal history, perhaps in Ma Wensheng's view, Cui Yuan and Zhu Feng are not suitable as the commander of one side, and there must be a minister to control the two talents.

Zhu Youzhu didn't answer.

Chen Kuan said: "Or it is Liu Yu, the governor of Jizhen Town." ”

Ma Wensheng heard that it was Liu Yu that he had always admired, so he naturally had no opinion, maybe his purpose was exactly this, to use what he thought was the capable minister Liu Yu to suppress the two reckless "young people", Cui Yuan and Zhu Feng, no matter how you look at it, they are the kind that have no hair on their lips and can't do things firmly, which worries Ma Wensheng very much.

Zhu Youzhu said a little impatiently: "Then ladies and gentlemen, in your opinion, will this battle end hastily?" Ningxia will report the Tatar attack almost every day, and each time it is dozens or hundreds of people, more than a hundred people, every time the Ming Dynasty sends troops to intercept it, the Tatars will find a flaw and escape, you have a better way, I am also happy to hear it. ”

Lin Han, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, came out and said: "Your Majesty, now the governor of Ningxia has not fulfilled his duty to guard the territory, and he should be punished. ”

This has caused dissatisfaction among many ministers.

When will it be your turn to speak as a scholar of the Ministry of Rites?

Do you understand how to perform your duties?

The matter of impeachment and guilt has always been the errand of the officials of Science and Technology, and you have to talk about the crime of the governor of Ningxia when you come up, this is to use your mouth to express Zhang Bingkuan's meaning, right?

Zhu Youzhu said: "Does the Ministry of War have any opinions on this?" ”

Zhang Zhou was not there.

Zhang Zhou, who is the secretary of the Ministry of War, is not often absent from the court meetings, but basically does not appear, so that the court almost forgets that there is a person named Zhang Zhou, and even every time Zhang Zhou comes, the minister will worry that Zhang Zhou is holding back something bad, and he must be strictly guarded every time, as if he is facing a great enemy.

Xiong Xiu, the squire of the Ministry of War, said: "Back to Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has cooperated with Jizhou and other places to arrange the dispatch of troops and other matters. This time, 4,200 soldiers were transferred from Beijing to cooperate with Jizhou to send troops, and there were also arrangements for grain, grass, and baggage, all of which had already greeted the household department. ”

Zhu Youzhu said: "It's not enough to just say hello. In the past few days, the household department has to transfer enough grain and grass out, and if it is too late to transfer it to the front line, let the local government in Jizhou temporarily replenish it, and return it with the money and grain from Taicang. ”

Hubu Shangshu Tong Zhong said: "Your Majesty, even if you send troops, should you strictly check the use of money and grain?" ”

"What do you mean by that?" Zhu Youzhu was a little annoyed and said, "Are you worried that someone will divert the military needs for other purposes?" Or do you think Bingkuan will use the money to build ports and even ship ships? ”

She Zhong was also stunned.

He wanted to say, Your Majesty, you have all said your assumptions, so what else can I say?

Liu Jian said: "There are precedents in ancient times for seconding grain, grass and baggage from the local government, but it is so easy to make the local military and civilians lack winter materials. ”

This is tantamount to silencing those who will come out against it.

Obviously, Liu Jian saw that the emperor was resolute in sending troops from Jizhou this time, and if he still had to use the previous tricks, he had to deduct money, food, military supplies, etc., which would make the relationship between the emperor and them even more deadlocked.

The emperor wanted to fight, but the minister just wouldn't provide food and grass...... At first, this trick worked, but every time Zhang Zhou was able to open source it himself in the past two years, it would make the emperor's dependence on ministers lower and lower, and even the emperor would feel that your ministers were purely for trouble, not for the sake of the family, the country, and the society.

Liu Jian still has a vision other than stubbornness, and he also knows that he can't sit back and watch Zhang Zhou continue to grow bigger and stronger, especially a minister who can fight, transfer troops, and raise money and food by himself...... For Wenchen, the threat was too great.

Zhu Youzhu said: "The preparations can be completed within ten days, I have seen the situation of this year's autumn grain collection, in fact, the taxes in Jiangnan, Huguang and other places are still sufficient, and the wind and rain are generally smooth everywhere, only in such a situation, it is convenient for the Ming Dynasty to send troops." However, the grassland has now experienced years of severe drought, and if we do not take advantage of this time to deal a heavy blow to it, I am afraid that it will be even more difficult to wait for its survival to slow down in the next few years. ”

Liu Jian said: "What Your Majesty said is extremely true. ”

There seems to be a common ground between the monarch and the minister.

It seems to be very harmonious.

Zhu Youzhu said: "I will have some arrangements for this transfer of troops, and the details will not be explained here." The listening office and the military department will coordinate everything, and you just wait for the news of the victory. ”

Xie Qian couldn't help it, and almost rushed out to mock a few words.

This hasn't been fought yet, just waiting to win?

Aren't you afraid of happiness and sorrow?

How can there be this, no matter how confident you were before, it should be so optimistic when the situation is great, right? Now even the emperor's expectations are so high?

It's ridiculous.

……

……

In the court discussion, the most important point was to talk about the upcoming dispatch from the East Road.

It was also after the autumn grain was put into storage, and various places entered the agricultural slack one after another, and the affairs of the court and the central government actually began to dim, and the errands of the various yamen were also much lighter.

But it seems that only the Ministry of War is rotating in a row, but the Shangshu of the Ministry of War has always been a dragon and does not see the end, which also makes the minister feel that the Ministry of War is now a yamen operating in the dark, which is a bit out of the structure of the imperial court.

After the court meeting was over, the minister walked out of Fengtianmen, and a bunch of people began to talk again.

At this time, several members of the cabinet had already returned to the duty room, and Lin Han, who had spoken before, was blocked by a group of people, and it seemed that someone wanted to ask for an explanation from him.

"Shaanxi supervises the imperial history, and recently did not impeach the governor of Ningxia and other generals, but it was Lin Butang, you seem to be biting them. Tatar Kobian, according to the rules of the past, that is no fault is meritorious, the pass has not been lost, the people have no major losses, the soldiers have not been damaged, everywhere is peaceful, so who else should be held responsible? Who can guarantee that they will do better than the current generals? ”

The speaker seemed very stubborn.

However, because of the emperor's previous punishment of those who participated in the impeachment of Wang Shouren, the presence of Kedao's speech officials in the court has been very low recently.

Those self-proclaimed righteous speech officials were imprisoned in the end, and they have not come out yet, which has also reduced the momentum of speech officials to the lowest point, and everyone is very depressed.

But in what they think is unfair, especially when they find trouble with Lin Han in private, they will not be soft at all.

Lin Han said: "As far as things are concerned, don't you think that the border trouble in Ningxia is a bit big now?" Why did the Tatars only keep an eye on Ningxia and spare the rest of the border towns? Is it just because Ningxia is farther away from Jingshi? ”

Tong Zhong came over and said: "Lin Shangshu should not have the same knowledge as them, it is just for the sake of court affairs, whether the governor of Ningxia has dereliction of duty, he should wait for the local imperial history to investigate." ”

Lin Han closed his eyes and said: "Regardless of whether the local generals in Ningxia are derelict in their duties, Your Majesty wants to transfer troops to attack the grassland from the side, it is for the stability of the frontier. ”

"Lin Butang, you are using strong words, if you don't keep it, why do you want to build that city fortress? Since ancient times, isn't it all about defending against foreign invasions? ”

Some ministers seem to admit death.

The contradiction between them and Lin Han is probably also a question of whether they should attack or defend externally.

Now the emperor has repeatedly broken the strategy of the main defense of the Ming Dynasty in the past, and sent troops to attack the grassland, in addition to the traditional Wenchen is destroying the ancestral system, it will also be considered to be a labor and a loss of money, as if only the turtle shrinkage defense is the most cost-effective and labor-saving, and the expedition will cost money, to ensure the logistics supply and grain and grass supply, the soldiers can not complete the daily conscription and tuntian and other things......

The more deeply influenced by Confucian culture is, the more conservative the more he claims to be learned.

And Lin Han came out of this group of conservatives.

If it weren't for the fact that Zhang Zhou was his son-in-law...... Maybe Lin Han won't have this kind of change.

This is Lin Han's own refusal, after all, Lin Han will also feel that his thoughts are naturally generated, not influenced by anyone.

"Don't fight!"

Ma Wensheng also came over and shouted to stop.

Others can still express enough respect for Ma Wensheng, after all, Ma Wensheng is also the head of the foreign ministers, and he has the qualifications there.

The official secretary of the Ming Dynasty, basically in addition to being promoted from the Ministry of Rites, is also promoted from the Ministry of War, and a person like Ma Wensheng who has military merits will also appear to have more weight in speaking.

Ma Wensheng said: "In the past two years, Ningxia has been repeatedly attacked by foreign Yi, and several governors have been replaced, and they have not completely driven the Tatars out of the border city defense. Shouldn't we think about how to defend ourselves against external enemies? ”

seems to want to be a peacemaker, but Ma Wensheng seems to be on the emperor's side this time.

It seems to support the emperor's decision to send troops from Jizhou.

Tong Zhong said with a smile: "That's right, everyone is scattered, if you don't leave, it will be seen by the people of Honglu Temple and make a note, it will not be good." The matter of sending troops has been decided, and you just have to wait for the good news, now that there is that Zhang Shangshu, I haven't heard of defeat on the battlefield for a long time. ”

An official said: "The battle of Huamachi is also a defeat and then a victory, even if it wins, it doesn't see much victory." ”

Keep pouring cold water.

Lin Han was too lazy to bother with this group of people, walked in front and didn't look back.

Ma Wensheng continued to wave his hand and said: "If Jizhen can achieve results in sending troops, or can make the Tatars surrender in a battle, everyone, the old man still has some confidence in that Zhang Shangshu." ”

The more Wenchen trusted Zhang Zhou and how confident he looked, the more strange it would be.

And Lin Han has already walked out quickly for a while.

Shen Lu hurriedly followed up and asked, "Brother Lin, you go slowly, ...... you look?"

Lin Han huffed angrily: "Something? ”

Shen Lu stepped forward and said, "There has been something wrong with the limelight recently, why don't you seem to be too opposed to Cai Guogong?" How long has it been since you heard their decision to impeach Cai Guogong, or even oppose Cai Guogong? ”

"Isn't it every day?" Lin Han was still angry.

But when he recalled it a little, he realized that it seemed that only those middle- and lower-level Wenchen were holding on to Zhang Zhou, and they were all much more honest.

And the high-level ministers seem to ignore Zhang Zhou's "bad deeds", and often say good things about Zhang Zhou.

Killing? (End of chapter)