Chapter 296: Maximizing Benefits

The court meeting begins.

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

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

Especially when it is mentioned that Wang Shouren defied all opinions and almost escorted more than 16,000 prisoners and nearly 100,000 livestock to the Ming Dynasty. He was trapped in the mountains north of Maoerzhuang and experienced " "Battle of Tushan", after fighting a strong enemy and winning two thousand heads, the ministers present were also thinking secretly.

This is definitely what happened on the battlefield, and not someone else making fun of them

In the end, Wang Shouren reported it personally, and Zhang Zhou led his troops to kill them, ordering the Fire Sieve troops. Retreating without fighting, from the time when the war sank into calmness, it was all a process of retreating southward.

"It is expected that on the night of the twelfth day, the soldiers and horses conquering the grassland will enter Yanghekou. Please use Yanghe Guards as the axis to mobilize people and horses from all walks of life to resist the Hulu invasion."

Dai Yi finished reading the battle report and respectfully stepped back.

The ministers present remained silent, because they knew that the highlight was coming next, and they had to discuss their merits and receive rewards.

Zhu Youtang took over the words and said, "My lords, such extraordinary achievements have not been seen in recent decades. The only thing that can compare with it is that the Marquis of Weining repeatedly marched into the grassland during the reign of the late Emperor. Strategies are made based on clever plans."

Zhang Mao came out and said, "Your Majesty, the achievements of Marquis Weining cannot be compared with this."

Zhu Youtang looked pleased, but sighed. He said in his tone, "But the battle between Marquis Weining at Pianguan and the battle at Ningyuan in Liaodong can always be compared with them."

This is actually a reminder to the ministers present.

Since the Tumubao Incident and the Defense of the Capital War, the Ming Dynasty has never had a great victory like today. Even if it can be slightly comparable, it may be due to Wang Yue's achievements in sending troops to the grassland during the Chenghua period, but killing The captured people, that is, a fraction of this battle, are still two zeros from the back.

The next thing I can mention is this year's battles at Pianguan and Ningyuan, and these two battles were also planned by Zhang Zhou.

Don’t compare yourself, anyway, it’s not Bingkuan but Bingkuan.

Three merits are transformed into one, and it is not too much to give him a prince

But Zhu Youtang did not seem to be in a hurry to mention the matter of merit discussion to Zhang Zhou and the soldiers. He said, " Since I came to Dabao, every time I read history and appreciate the demeanor of famous generals from ancient times, I hope that there will be such people in the Ming Dynasty who can achieve extraordinary feats. Now that the heaven has taken pity on it, it has finally given the Ming Dynasty such a famous person. I should cherish it. The Qing family shouldn’t have any grudge against him.”

The emperor knows his ministers better.

The greater Zhang Zhou’s contribution, the greater the resistance he will encounter. It does not mean that Zhang Zhou will be valued just because he is capable.

Since ancient times, those who have contributed to the country may not be tolerated by the king and the ministers of the court. The fear of the king is due to the fear of the king, and the party is united and opposed.The three of them were criticized by their colleagues.

Just like reformers since ancient times, all for the sake of the stability of the court, but almost none of them had a good ending. After a certain period of time, they would be impeached and exiled by their colleagues, or even be ruined and die without a burial. The fate of the land, but history will always rectify the names of these people.

No one among the ministers present, whether they were civil servants or military officials, ministers or ministers, came out to refute.

Even Liu Jian and others are waiting for the emperor to give Zhang Zhou's credit.

If we don’t focus on Zhang Zhou as a person, we should focus on what Zhang Zhou did. If we cannot focus on what he did, we should focus on his subsequent credit. There is always a breakthrough.

Zhu Youtang said, "Now that the Tatar forces are divided and war has begun, Bingkuan means to wait and see the changes and seek development. More importantly, we must mine and smelt iron and cast cannons to appease the people. The Ming Dynasty There have been changes in the salt policy in the past few years. Bingkuan and I have proposed to restore the grain distribution method in several places in the northwest to alleviate the shortage of grain and silver in the northwest and encourage mulberry farming. I wonder what your opinions are."< /p>

They were all waiting for the emperor to ask Zhang Zhou for a reward for his merits.

As a result, the emperor found another way, or asked Zhang Zhou to "take advantage of the situation" and brought up the issue of grain distribution again at this time.

What is this?

We won’t agree to use your merits to threaten the government. You still want to cause trouble

Zhou Jing, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, came out and said, "Your Majesty, before After the reform of the salt policy, the capital and warehouses were relatively full, and there were no major flaws in the allocation of grain and grass. Why should we restart the old system? They are very supportive of the silver-folding method.

The reason is that after this change was made, the Ming court's control over the northwest was strengthened. Your frontier army finally no longer had to set up a small court in the northwest. Yanyin changed from the private use of a small treasury in the northwest to It improved the public use of the Ming Dynasty's treasury and played an immediate role in improving the Ming Dynasty's finances.

Moreover, the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were paid out in a relatively timely manner. Even if there were still gaps in the discounted salary notes, the normal salary could be paid out in time, and supporting the family was no longer a big problem.

Zhu Youtang said, "I don't want to deny the method of using salt to induce color, but based on Bingkuan Yu's knowledge in the northwest, as well as the current tense wars in various parts of the northwest, I have made temporary changes and implemented them. The area is only Datong, Xuanfu and other places to encourage local mulberry farming and reclamation, and to build water conservancy to protect the livelihood of the people in the northwest. I think Bingkuan's proposal will help improve the use of money and food in the northwest. It also saves the Ming Dynasty from wasting money and food."

The ministers present were a little angry.

Zhang Zhou came to mention it at this time, leaving them at a loss as to how to object.

Because Zhang Zhou is currently deploying troops in the northwest, it will cost the court a lot of money and food. If Zhang Zhou is allowed to raise it on his own, many problems can indeed be solved. Zhang Zhou probably also knows that with the current financial resources of the Ming Dynasty, it will not be possible. It may support several years of preparation for a war in the northwest.

That’s why Zhang Zhou made this suggestion.

But Zhang Zhou did not deny Yanyin’s Zhese method, because Zhang Zhou also knew that there was no direct conflict between the Kaizhong method and the Zhese method. One was to protect the central government’s finances, and the other was to protect the northwest finances. From the use of troops, From a perspective, local finance must be the most important issue.

But in terms of the long-term peace and stability of the Ming Dynasty, the folding method can bring huge financial resources to the Ming Dynasty court and solve many problems other than side affairs, such as disaster relief, river construction, etc., must it be wrong< /p>

What Zhang Zhou means is that when I, Zhang, want to prepare for the use of troops in the northwest, I need to restore part of the grain supply so that I can ensure the Shangtun in the northwest, and Shangtun is Why not take advantage of the great supplement and protection outside the military camp

Do you expect me to ask the court for money every time and let you choke my neck

And The time for the cancellation of the Grain Expedition is still short, and there is still room for recovery and operation of some Shangtun land. Even if I, Zhang, do not personally take charge of the northwest, I still have my people to maintain my remaining power. The Tatars will not dare to invade the territory easily. Those who organized the commercial villages can ensure the security and increase the number of tenants. Then the finance of the northwest will be greatly improved

Otherwise, I would just fight and create a stable condition, but no one would plant the crops.

Or businessmen feel that farming is meaningless, so these great victories cannot maximize profits.

Zhu Youtang saw that the ministers in front of him were silent and knew that these people were holding back their bad intentions again. He said, "Unless the imperial court can solve the expenses of the northwest in the next few years, instead of every time the northwest asks for money and grain, , all kinds of perfunctory and excuses, gentlemen, please understand the current situation in the northwest. If we don’t take advantage of the internal disputes in the grassland to resolve the border troubles, we will never come back again.”

Liu Jian came out and said. "Your Majesty, it is inappropriate to raise this matter so hastily. It is better to wait for the Ministry of Household Affairs to discuss it first and then make a decision."

This is what Liu Jian meant.

You old man believes in Zhang Bingkuan. If you open your mouth, you must change the law and return the financial power to the northwest. But the problem is that the distribution of salt has become a fixed rule. If you change it easily, don't you be afraid of upsetting the court? The warehouse has returned to the state of being unable to make ends meet, which is what you want to see

Even if we understand that in order to pacify the grassland, you have to devote all your efforts to make sacrifices for this matter, but should we consider the Ming Dynasty first? The stability

"Yes." Zhu Youtang nodded. He was not in a hurry, because Zhang Zhou said that there was a backup plan for 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. In fact, he also uses a method commonly used by travelers, which is the salt field beach drying method. As a result, the output of salt farms in the Ming Dynasty increased, and the problem of people eating salt was greatly improved. At the same time, the salt tax revenue increased. The capital also had enough salt sources to release, and there were also salt sources in the northwest to exchange grain from salt merchants

Anyway, there will be plenty of official salt in the future. If you want to stock up, justHoarding, one less salt merchant is a lot, and there are always people who will succeed one after another.

"I will ask Bingkuan to make detailed decisions on this matter, and they should be gradually decided in the future." Zhu Youtang said, "There are also some other things that will be gradually decided recently."< /p>

What happened, the emperor made a riddle.

The ministers had been waiting for the emperor to offer to reward Zhang Zhou for his merits, but until the meeting was about to end, the emperor did not mention a word about it.

Not to mention the civil servants present, Wu Xun, did not expect this. Even the several eunuchs and eunuchs who were in charge of rituals did not expect this. Yesterday, the emperor also said that he would give Zhang Zhou a gift of Lai Guogong. He said it with certainty. Your Majesty There is almost no possibility of changing his mind. Could it be that the emperor was planning to mention it again after Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren's withdrawal from the pass was confirmed?

But after the court meeting, Zhu Youtang immediately asked Xiao Jing to , 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 roughly knew that the emperor had not forgotten or wanted to postpone the merit discussion, but he did not want to argue with the ministers in the court. It is better to use the method of inner court discussion to resolve major issues.

In the Qianqing Palace.

The four eunuchs and eunuchs were all present. The people who were summoned were three cabinet ministers, Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War, Zhou Jing, the Minister of Household Affairs, Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, and the British representative of the Governor's Office. Zhang Mao.

Before these people came, they had plans in mind 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 temporary table in the center of the palace with many books on it. They were all confused as to what kind of medicine the emperor was selling in his gourd.

An old Chinese doctor.

I never follow the prescription when taking medicine, I just think of it as it comes out.

The three cabinet ministers were all the emperor's husbands when they were young. At this time, they were also thinking that the emperor had learned bad things from Zhang Zhou.

"Several Qings, I'm here to find you. You should also know what I'm going to say. Yes, it's to reward the northwest soldiers for their merits." Zhu Youtang said, "But how to say it?" , I am really worried. It just so happens that there is a Ming Hui Dian compiled before Bing Kuan left, which involves many precedents regarding military rewards in the Ming Dynasty in the past few decades. They are all well-founded and not groundless." p>

"You just want to take a look and see if there are any mistakes or omissions."

After hearing this, Xie Qian had the biggest reaction. He seemed to be the most determined before the meeting that day. Those who want to erase Zhang Zhou's contribution are even somewhat contrary to the opinions of Liu Jian and Li Dongyang.

But now he couldn't help but take a look at Liu Jian and Li Dongyang.

You also said that you should stroke Zhang Zhou's hair

I'm afraid that if you stroke him, Zhang Zhou, a donkey, can jump on his hind legs before he can be comforted. I'll kick you off

Let's see

Now His Majesty wants to use the Ming Dynasty Code compiled by that boy Zhang Zhou as a basis to reward him for his own merits and deeds. I thought of this when I was writing this bookLevel

Are you in a hurry?

Liu Jiandao, "Your Majesty, all ministers are aware of the matter of military merit rewards. There is no need to consult the classics."

"Alas. "Zhu Youtang sighed, "Since you said you all know it, to be honest, you should also know the Ming Dynasty's first achievement, beheading a barbarian, how much reward should be given?"

This is a sentence When they came out, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang looked at each other first.

They all felt a sense of "shock" in their hearts. It seemed that they had calculated everything and were always thinking about how to suppress Zhang Zhou's achievements, but they did not worry about a "big trouble", and it seemed that It is a "trouble" that cannot be solved.

Even the emperor was more thoughtful than them.

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

As the Secretary of the Ministry of War, Ma Wensheng was very knowledgeable about this. Liu Jian did not answer. He came forward and replied, "According to the rules of rewarding soldiers who went to war in Chenghua, the first rank should be rewarded with forty taels of silver." "

"Where are the prisoners?" Zhu Youtang continued to ask.

Ma Wensheng said, “It’s the same calculation.”

Xie Qian couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

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

Xie Qian, who had captured more than 16,000 people, did not dare to think about it anymore.

This damn thing is going to turn the Ming Jingcang upside down in one battle.

From the Ming Dynasty to the Hongzhi period, the annual fiscal and tax revenue, measured in silver, was approximately between 2 million taels and 3 million taels.

But if a reward costs nearly one million taels, the whole court can drink from the northwest wind. In the next three years, the ministers may not be able to pay their salaries.

Zhu Youtang said, "Even if the women and children are lost, but in addition to the livestock, surprise attacks and other contributions, and to raise the expenditure of troops for the northwest, I don't think this battle should be rewarded according to the rules of the past. ”

The emperor means.

If we can’t afford the reward, we’ll just default on it.

Ma Wensheng said, "Your Majesty, rewards are not necessarily based on first merit."

"Yes." Zhu Youtang nodded, "That makes sense."

p>

Then the ministers present, as well as several ceremonial supervisors and eunuchs discovered that it was actually easy for the monarch and his ministers to reach an agreement on certain aspects. For example, they all knew that such a great achievement would be achieved if beheading was followed. Calculating the merits of the superiors and prisoners, the court will easily go bankrupt, so let's try another way.

Zhu Youtang said, "I didn't say it to the emperor before, but that's exactly what I had in mind, but since the Tumu Fort disaster, the Ming Dynasty has always judged merit by first merit. I think, among them Your Majesty should be very clear about the reasons. I am afraid it will not be easy to change it rashly now."

The Ming Dynasty's military achievements are judged by the number of heads killed, which seems to have disadvantages and is prone to killings. A situation in which good deeds are counterfeited.

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

At least the first step requires a first level and exact parameters. IfIn terms of military merit, that's not the case.

In the early Ming Dynasty, military merit was not judged by first merit, but by military merit.

It is divided into three levels: extraordinary power, first power and secondary power.

The most representative of his extraordinary achievements is that after Chang Yuchun defected to Zhu Yuanzhang, when he became famous in the battle of Caishiji, he led the army to defeat the enemy with one person. From then on, he was known as "Chang Shiwan" and became Zhu Yuanzhang. His generals are famous throughout the ages.

But the problem is that it is difficult to determine whether it is a "wonderful skill", a first skill or a second skill.

The history of the Ming Dynasty clearly recorded the shortcomings of military merit: "There were as many as three to four hundred people who were reported by the leading military officers, and they were not included in the list of beheadings. They were named separately, and they were called "carrying sharp spears" and "carrying spears". The flag says to charge and defeat the enemy, and it means to take the lead three times, and to serve in front of the army. This is the end of the abuse."

It means that when it comes to military achievements, it is all about clever names. It's such a mess, even if the person is not on the battlefield, the credit will be judged.

Then the whole court discovered that this method was not effective and could easily lead to corruption.

Then let’s change it.

It’s determined by the first merit.

You will get credit according to how many heads you kill, and prisoners will also be counted. Even if there are cases where good people are killed and credit is taken away, we can do more interrogations. It is better than the random calculation of merit without standards.

Anyway, the Ming Dynasty generals and soldiers were all too weak to kill a few at a time, and we were very strict in reviewing the first merit, and even stipulated that the head should be above the Adam's apple, and those who could not tell whether they were male or female would be thrown into the water. , the one facing up is a man, and the one with the back of the head facing up is a woman

This is why Xie Qian felt that there was a way to suppress Zhang Zhou's contribution.

Because Zhang Zhou did not personally participate in the battlefield in terms of "first contribution". As long as we strictly implement it, we can push the credit to Wang Shouren and Ma Yi as much as possible. , one merit will be rewarded equally, if others are higher, Zhang Zhou’s merit will be lower.

Now Zhu Youtang has made it clear that it will not work if it is determined by the first merit.

The court cannot afford to pay compensation.

Now let’s figure out how to minimize Daming’s expenses during this reward process. We have to be frugal.

What if Zhang Zhou extinguishes the fire sieve in a few days and sends you tens of thousands of heads or tens of thousands of prisoners. Let us, the monarch and his ministers, drink the northwest wind together. Please remember to bookmark it. The latest website The fastest and free reading without anti-theft