Zhang Zhou got up early on Monday. The emperor originally planned to take Zhang Zhou to the Meridian Gate for a walk, which would be regarded as a formal introduction to Zhang Zhou to the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs.
He was declined by Zhang Zhou.
Zhang Zhou’s reason was simple. He had not yet passed the Jinshi examination and had not officially passed the selection process for paying tribute. He was not a court official and could not break the rules.
This is to prepare for being able to be in the imperial class in the future. Don’t do anything arrogant now.
Zhu Youtang saw Zhang Zhou’s firm attitude, so he didn’t force it.
The meeting at Meridian Gate.
No one came out to mention the issue that day.
On the first day after the joint examination, when the grading of the inner curtain has not officially started, even if there are many criticisms against Cheng Minzheng from outside, they will not happen immediately.
Historically, Hua Chang participated in the impeachment of Cheng Minzheng, Xu Jing and Tang Yin, and it was also around the time when the results were released in late February, when external rumors were already abuzz.
The topic of the day was mainly military rewards.
There is basically no big problem with the reward for the rest of the meritorious ministers. The main problems lie in three points.
The first is to determine whether Wang Yue will be promoted to Weining Bo or Weining Hou.
The second is the "main force" who made contributions in this battle. Whether Zhu Feng, the second son of Duke Cheng, is qualified to be crowned.
The third point involves the question of whether Pingjiang Bo Chen Rui should be punished.
Let’s start with the simplest issue, which is Chen Rui’s question.
"Your Majesty, although Uncle Ping Jiang was guilty of slacking off in this battle, he did not ignore military orders. All the military orders came from Wang Weining. He deliberately prevented Ping Jiang Bo and other officers from snatching military honors, and used This caused the Tatar troops to be negligent and their strategy was appropriate. If they are held responsible afterwards, they should be punished as well as those who gave the order."
Zhang Sheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, came out to argue with reason, indicating that the emperor could not punish Chen sharp.
Chen Rui ran a little faster, but the problem was that Wang Yue asked him to run, and because he ran fast, Huo Si thought that the Ming Dynasty soldiers and horses were really vulnerable, so he relaxed alert.
This is all strategy.
If the strategy achieves its goal, punishing Chen Rui now will mean encouraging the northwest generals to obtain military orders but not execute them in the future
Zhu Youtang heard this. He felt that it made some sense, and nodded and said, "Even if Ping Jiangbo's merits and demerits are worth it, he is not suitable to stay in the northwest at present. I, the commander-in-chief of Pianguan Pass, have asked Duke Bao to take over. As for Li Wei and Chen Xun, , then he will continue to lead troops to coordinate defense, and Chen Rui does not have to stay as a military officer in the Xuanfu, but can call back the capital."
The emperor seems to have no intention of pursuing Chen Rui further.
If you win, it will be easy for everyone to say. You, Chen Rui, can also decide on "the merits and demerits balance", but you will not be taken seriously in a short time after you return to the capital.
Wang Zongyi, the right minister of the Ministry of War, said, "The Wang Yue people are in Pianguan, and the three sides and other places still need to be garrisoned by honorable ministers. At such a time of employment, why not transfer Pingjiang Bo to Yansui and other places?" To achieve the function of deterring the grassland"
The Ministry of War does not advocate transferring Chen Rui back.
If nothing else, among the honorable ministers in the northwest, Chen Rui seems to be incompetent, but in fact there is no one who can fight better than Chen Rui.
No matter how awesome Wang Yue is, he can only garrison one place, and the rest of the places always need someone to guard him. Could it be that he, Wang Weining, can handle all the nine areas by himself?
And Wang Yue is indeed old, and it is not suitable to stay in the northwest for too long. At most, he will wait until the war in the northwest has completely subsided before he will be transferred back to the capital.
It is actually not worthwhile to step on Chen Rui now, because it is not a good move to discredit Chen Rui. Wang Yue will die later, and when the northwest needs to hire people again, transfer Chen Rui to Chen Ruiyou With today's notoriety, how can we order the three armies
"Three sides."
Zhu Youtang obviously didn't want to hear this proposal. He thought about it and asked, "Xun Chen Is there no one else available?"
This question is actually very inappropriate to ask.
Ma Wensheng came out and said, "Your Majesty, there are many honorable ministers in the northwest. Ping Jiangbo did not have an advantage in the confrontation with the fire sieve, but he did not lose in the tug of war with the little Tatar prince and others. ”
This actually revealed something. That Wang Zongyi came out to speak for Chen Rui was actually the unified opinion of the Ministry of War, not Wang Zongyi’s personal opinion.
What Ma Wensheng means is that in the confrontation between Chen Rui and Huo Si and Dayan Khan, he had one loss and one draw. It doesn’t sound like much, but it is actually very good. He can find someone to defeat Dayan Khan. It's not easy to pull him back.
Zhu Youtang nodded.
He also understood that Ma Wensheng's answer to him was actually telling him.
There is indeed no one else available in the northwest.
"If I transfer the title of Duke to Yansui, do you think it is feasible?" Zhu Youtang made a bizarre-sounding proposal.
The ministers present were all stunned by the emperor's jumping thoughts.
No one came out to comment for a while.
It doesn’t matter that Duke Cheng Guo Zhu Fu knows how to fight. Anyway, Duke Bao Guo is also like this. A lineage is a lucky star. If my son has made meritorious service, I should also go to the battlefield to train.
Zhu Youtang said, "Chen Rui's call back to the capital remains unchanged for the time being. As for who will be sent to Yansui and other places, the inner court will decide After the meeting, the two cabinet ministers and the Secretary of the Ministry of War summoned the British Duke. "
This means that after the meeting, there will be a small meeting.
The discussion is not about whether Chen Rui should go or stay, but about who should take over part of the military power in Chen Rui's hands, and then transfer him to Yansui, Ningxia and other places to defend against the Tatars. little prince.
This brings the first topic to an end.
The next step is the issue of Zhu Feng’s title.
On this matter, the opinions of the courtiers are basically unanimous.
What kind of dream do you, Zhu Feng, have in Spring and Autumn? Go to the northwest at a young age.Just kill a Tatar with your own hands. It is better to say that it is the military merits achieved by your troops than because you got a bargain. If this can be awarded with a title, then the title of the Ming Dynasty is too worthless, and one person can get the title. .
This time, Xu Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue, came out to object: "Your Majesty, the military merits obtained by Zhu Feng are the results of the overall strategy. If the title is determined based on personal merit, then there are not a few people in the northwest who deserve the title. Merit. Don't claim it falsely."
What Xu Jin actually wants to say is that military merit cannot be counted twice.
This time's military exploits are not small, but the specific figures have not yet been calculated clearly. The people sent by the imperial court to the northwest have just set off for two days, and it will take some time to reach Piantou Pass. As for Piantou Pass, The surrounding supervisory censors have not issued specific investigation reports yet.
Zhu Feng is just a staff general at best, not even a staff general. He can only be regarded as a guerrilla. His official position is under the chief soldier and deputy chief soldier. In fact, at this time, regardless of the commander Wang Yue It would be a bit inappropriate to talk about the achievements of marginal generals first.
The ministers also wanted to say it.
Don’t think we don’t know that Zhu Feng joined the army because of his connections.
In fact, he doesn’t have much ability.
If such a person can get a title, what will happen when he is alone in the future?
Zhu Youtang said, "Zhu Feng is the son of Duke Cheng. He is a queen with meritorious service. He left behind a reputation of loyalty when he offered medicine to the princess. This time, Northwest led the troops into the city without fear. Even though he is young and has done nothing in the past, I want to reward him because of his loyalty to the emperor. The country came from his actual military exploits, not Zhan Xun. It would be unfair to say that he was taking advantage of his merits."
According to Xu Jin's words, Zhu Feng was described as an unlearned and unskilled little man. Youtang himself couldn't listen anymore.
His character is
to protect his shortcomings.
Of course, if it weren’t for Zhang Zhou, Zhu Youtang would not be able to protect Zhu Feng no matter how much he tried to protect his shortcomings.
But now Zhu Feng has become "one of our own" in the eyes of the emperor. I just want to promote him, what can you do?
The ministers present have a headache.
Liu Jian came out and said, "With his background in Zhu Feng and his military exploits, it is not impossible to plan to join the nobility."
When he said this, many people at the scene raised eyebrows. .
Have you, Old Man Liu, rebelled? You actually followed the emperor's wishes
In fact, Liu Jian just came out and said a "fair word". Others couldn't see it. Could it be that Liu Jian You can't tell, but in fact, Wang Yue could have received many military merits by himself, but he took the initiative to give them to Zhu Feng
From Liu Jian's point of view, the matter of whether Wang Yue was granted a title or not was even more critical. Why not share some of Wang Yue's military merits with others
And from a certain perspective, Zhu Feng is the second son of the Chengguo family, and Zhu Feng's eldest brother has no son. , maybe the title of Duke Cheng will be passed on to Zhu Feng in the future, and he has not broken his principles when he gets the title of Military Honor, so why should he forcefully oppose it and provoke the emperor and cause so many discords between the emperor and his ministers?
After hearing Liu Jian's words, Zhu Youtang immediately showed joy. He said, "Mr. Liu Ge, if you have any other ideas, just tell me."
In fact, Zhu Youtang also knew, Liu Jian's willingness to speak according to his wishes must have prerequisites.
After so many years of getting along with kings and ministers, he is familiar with the routines.
Liu Jiandao said, "If Zhu Fengjin is regarded as his uncle, then the merits of Pianguan should be divided and rewarded, and the merits of Wang Yue should also be counted separately."
"Haha."
Zhu Youtang smiled.
It is indeed a hidden trick.
Calculate separately
One is the commander-in-chief, and the other is his general. Is it possible to divide the entire military merits piece by piece, count them one by one, and give the rest to the king if there is no one to claim it? Yue
In order to restrict Wang Weining, your civil servants really did everything possible.
"Let's postpone the discussion about Zhu Feng's advancement and let's talk about Wang Weining first." Zhu Youtang took the initiative to change the topic.
On the first issue, regarding Chen Rui, the emperor was considered a "big victory".
But then on the second issue, that is, the issue of Zhu Feng's title, the civil servants gave the emperor trouble. The emperor heard it and then turned to the third topic.
Let’s give Wang Yue’s credit first, and then talk about Zhu Feng.
Of course, there is a hidden topic involving Zhang Zhou. This may not be discussed in the court, but can be discussed in the inner court meeting. After all, even Zhang Zhou himself did not insist on using military merit. Get nothing.
The third topic started immediately.
When it came to Wang Yue’s military exploits, almost all the civil servants at the scene wanted to add a few words.
Zhu Youtang did not allow the people present to express any opinions. He directly put his personal opinions first. "I asked the Ministry of Rites to refer to the past hundreds of years, each time involving Beiguan, Jiubian and other places." The war also involved sending troops to Mongolia many times, and it was concluded that Wang Weining's contribution has not only reached the level of being awarded a marquis, but can even be made a prince."
The emperor first made the prerequisites clear.
It does not count as the founding of the country, nor does it count as peace.
In these two major battles, those who received military honors accounted for nearly 90% of the Ming Dynasty's nobles, and their merits were not obtained from foreigners.
There may also be some people, especially those who were knighted during the Yongle period, who participated in both the Jingnan and the Northern Expedition during the period.
Ignore this for now.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Wang Yue was given the title of "Marquis of Weining" based on his military merits in fighting the Tatars on the Mongolian grassland and the precedent of being awarded a title.
Taking the first Prince Jingyuan as a civil servant, Wang Ji, as an example, not counting his last attempt to quell the rebellion in the southwest, or even his three conquests of Luchuan, based solely on his contribution to the northwest battle, he It is far inferior to Wang Yue's battle at Pianguan.
And Wang Yue also had several famous battles during the Chenghua period.
God, our Ming Dynasty border gates were damaged, and the repairs were very expensive. If this is used as a demonstration of merit and a precedent set by a high official, then others will definitely follow suit in the future, and it will inevitably lead to future troubles."
With Xie Qian
Even if we know that his contribution is great, we can't make it too public. Just give him the title of Uncle Weining.
You must give him Weining. Marquis will make future border governors and generals feel that if they want to win the title, they have to play big, and to play big, they have to take risks. They follow Wang Weining's example of blowing up the head gate, or doing something similar, only in this way can they achieve unparalleled success.
Giving Wang Yue a marquis is not a demonstration of merit, but a bad example.
The ministers looked at each other with "Thank you Yu Qiao for being awesome"
Although you usually make jokes and jokes, but in the absence of Li Dongyang, I want you to take the lead.
< p>After Xie Qian finished speaking, Zhu Youtang remained silent for a while.Before, Zhu Youtang only thought that the civil servant was restricting Wang Yue for no reason, but after hearing Xie Qian's words, he was convinced. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.
Wang Yue is very awesome, but the one about blowing up the head pass is unacceptable
Even he, the emperor, criticized him in court before. If his behavior is just based on setting an example, Xie Qian is right. Who told Wang Yue to play too much? In the future, the court will have to spend at least one hundred thousand taels, and at least tens of thousands more. The famous servants came to complete the construction
During the construction process, if the Tatars took advantage of the opportunity to attack again, who would be responsible for the crime
But the emperor thought again, and there was also a bombing. The good thing is that if the Tatars know that the Ming Dynasty has such a powerful weapon, they will not give them a chance if they want to explode.
Even if Wang Weining has this ability, you will not accept it.
Zhu Youtang said, "If we only use the destruction of the Pianguan Fortress to discuss Wang Yue's fault, then I think it is a bit harsh. If you, gentlemen, stand in the shoes of the soldiers in the northwest, and know that I have meritorious service but cannot give rewards and punishments, but use innocent things to judge my faults, how can you inspire the morale of the army in the future when there is another conquest? Should you also look forward and backward? Influence the use of troops"
The emperor is using Xie Qian's theory to refute Xie Qian.
You said that Wang Yue will set a bad example, so that future border officials will
Then I will retort, saying that if you don’t reward Wang Yue well, then the generals in the northwest will be too scared to do anything arbitrarily
What is this? Is it better to get good results?
Is it better to not dare to mess around and end up being tied up and leading to defeat? Please remember to bookmark the latest and fastest website for free reading without anti-theft