The cabinet can no longer be as unscrupulous as before to exclude Zhang Zhou as an alien.
Even Liu Jian, the first assistant, had to consider how to get along with Zhang Zhou in the court.
To be too hard will only lead to alienation from the emperor; to be too soft is even more inappropriate. Confucian officials still need the hard bones, which requires a degree that is neither soft nor hard.
Liu Jian’s expectation for Li Dongyang is that you will take up the banner of confronting Zhang Zhou in the future, and you should not overly present this confrontation to the surface.
Probably I am saying, in fact, I have no countermeasures, all the discretion is up to you.
The next two days.
Zhu Houxuan’s condition gradually recovered. Apart from showing some mild symptoms of wind and cold, he was basically fine. Even several people from the Tai Hospital were allowed to go in to visit his condition, but people stared at him every time. As if they were afraid that they would treat the healthy people into dying ones again.
Zhu Youtang himself also had some leisurely thoughts. When he walked out of the palace, he had to do one thing, which was to choose a place for his beloved concubine to build a palace.
He was accompanied out of the palace by Mou Bin, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, and Li Rong, the eunuch who was responsible for the rituals. It happened that Zhu Youtang also wanted to relax.
"The capital is quite lively. I haven't seen so many people in the world for a long time."
Zhu Youtang looked very emotional when he saw the bustling crowd in the market, thinking of himself It's been a long time since I left the palace.
Li Rong smiled and said, "Your Majesty, good news has been reported frequently in the border areas this year. The Tatars, Jurchens and other barbarians have all returned in defeat. It is now after the autumn harvest, and the people are naturally out and about. The two cities in the capital are very lively in the morning and evening. ."
"Yeah."
Zhu Youtang just nodded.
After walking forward for a while, he remembered something, stopped and said, "But this year there are disasters everywhere."
Li Rong felt a little embarrassed for a moment.
After the eleventh year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty, there was a situation of floods in the south and drought in the north. The situation was relatively good in the twelfth year of Hongzhi, but it obviously worsened in the thirteenth year of Hongzhi.
However, Li Rong is an "old Jianghu" after all. He quickly clarified his thoughts and said, "Originally, the imperial court was mostly constrained by the cost of border relief due to disasters in the past years. However, this year, all over the border, both Cai Guogong coordinated the transportation and reopened merchant villages in Xuanda and other places. Qin Zitai opened up wasteland and opened up villages on three sides. The most important thing is the frugality advocated by your Majesty. The Ministry of Revenue and the government warehouses in various places have surplus grain to provide relief to the victims. As for the stability of the world and the people living and working in peace and contentment, this has created the prosperity of the capital today."
"Really?"
This is when Zhu Youtang had a smile on his face.
He is not the kind of emperor who is easy to fool. After all, he personally reviewed most of the memorials in the Ming Dynasty, especially those that were important related to disaster relief. Even the reports from various places were attended by the Chief of Ceremonies and the Cabinet. However, all major matters must be handled by Zhu Youtang.
It cannot be said that while Ming Dynasty is suffering from disasters, you are bragging about a peaceful and prosperous era in front of him, and he does not believe it.
Can passAccording to Li Rong, it is mainly due to your majesty and Zhang Bingkuan that the northwest was suppressed, so that Ming Dynasty's expenditure could be spent more on people's livelihood, and then peace was achieved.
When Zhu Youtang heard this, he felt light on his face and felt it was reasonable.
Zhu Youtang's complexion improved, and he became very interested while walking around the capital.
He called Mou Bin over and asked, "What unusual things have happened among the people in the capital recently?"
As the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Mou Bin is not actually responsible for investigating the market. However, due to the absence of Admiral Yang Peng of Dongchang, he was still very careful about many things. He said, "The Romance of the Generals of the Yang Family is being performed in the capital recently. It is said to be based on the story of the Yang family who resisted the Khitan foreigners in the early Song Dynasty. Yes, there is a narrative version and a play version, which are both above. It was started by Cai Guogong's theater."
Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "I have heard of this story before, and it is similar to the story of the Yang family. Was there any difference in the past?"
Mo Bin said, "There have been cases in the past, but not in such detail. I have never read the history books, so I don't know what the difference is."
Mo Bin is not lying. .
He doesn’t know, he really doesn’t know.
Historically, the story of the Yang family generals has been circulating from the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, but the story basically followed a direction close to historical facts. Until the middle and late Ming Dynasty, after the rise of the Jurchens, the people of the Ming Dynasty had The culture of conquering captives had a huge market, and it was only during the Wanli period that relatively complete stories about the generals of the Yang family were compiled, such as Ji Zhenlun's Romance of the Yang Family Mansion and Xiong Damu's Chronicles of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Up to this point, some Yang family figures who did not exist in history, such as Mu Guiying and Yang Zongbao, as well as non-existent events, were presented to the common people in the form of novels.
In general.
The spirit is commendable.
All stories, whether true or false, are designed to highlight this spirit of self-sacrifice for the court, and the historical facts develop dramatically.
Zhang Zhou probably advanced this spirit by sixty or seventy years.
Li Rong smiled and said, "Your Majesty, since it is a romance, it will definitely not all follow the history books. It is highly praised by the people. Because of the current war between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatar foreign enemies, everything is consistent. If your Majesty is free, you can Go and listen to it yourself."
Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "Whether it's the play or the obedient book, I like it, but it's just that these are all written by Bingkuan. Without Bingkuan to accompany me, I always feel that it is lacking. What? Just leave some memories and go with him when Bingkuan comes back."
"Yes"
Li Rongxin said.
We even go to the theater together, it’s true that the emperor and his ministers are of the same mind.
"Let's go and have a look outside Dong'an Gate. There is Bingkuan's old house over there, and then there is Bingkuan's new house in the north. Look around to see if there is any suitable place."
Zhu Youtang came out to choose a location for the palace.
Now Li Rong, Mou Bin and others also understood.
The address the emperor wants must be close to Zhang Zhou’s residence, so that the emperor canWhile leaving the palace to visit Concubine Xian and her son, you can also visit Zhang Zhou's house as a guest.
Is this for the Concubine Xian?
Maybe there is a more reasonable reason than Bingkuan, who will often come in and out of the palace to look for him in the future.
The Ministry of War.
Ma Wensheng, the Minister of the Ministry of War, was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel as Minister of Civil Affairs by a transfer order, directly vacating the seat of the Minister of the Ministry of War.
The emperor probably felt that it was not important whether there was a minister sitting in the high hall of the Ministry of War. Instead, it was more important to let everyone in the court know as soon as possible that Zhang Zhou was the best candidate to be the next minister of the Ministry of War. things.
So now the affairs of the Ministry of War are taken care of by two ministers.
In the past year or so, the ministers of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty changed frequently. Wang Zongyi, Yang Mi, Xiong Chong, Zhang Zhou, Li Jie, and Xu Jin successively served. Except for Zhang Zhou, it seemed that every one of them had served. A term doesn't last long.
Now the left minister of the Ministry of War is Xiong Chong, while the right minister is a local governor, serving Xiong Xiu who has just returned to the court.
The Erxiong combination was historically an iron-clad combination of the assistant ministers of the Ministry of War from the 13th year of Hongzhi to the 17th year of Hongzhi. Their own strength was still good, but the two did not have the fate of the six ministers of the capital. Only Xiong Less than a year after Chong became the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, Xiong Xiu did not even become a Minister of the Ministry of Justice and was only awarded the title of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment.
At this time, the Ministry of War belonged to the period when Shangshu opened the sky.
There is no minister, and there are no big things, but there are many miscellaneous things.
But there was another incident that happened in the southeast. The two had to sit down and discuss that before the official announcement in the court that the new minister was Zhang Zhou, they did not need to be responsible for anything that happened to others. Basically, he can represent the Ministry of War.
Xiong Chong was older and was also Zuo Shilang, but he was also completely confused when faced with Wei Guogong Xu Er's memorial.
Xiong Chong said with emotion, "Zhejiang Haining Guard is just a guard post in Jinghai. Why did it use sea ships to carry many artillery and soldiers to the Javanese vassal states in Southeast Asia? If they knew that our Ming Dynasty By sending out ships and soldiers, they will definitely think that the Ming Dynasty intends to annex their islands and lands, but it will be very troublesome to have any plans in those overseas lands."
Xu Li was just making a routine report. .
As mentioned, the Jiangnan Shipyard was just established, and even before the factory building was built, an old Ming Dynasty ship was renovated to carry 200 soldiers and more than 100 sailing experienced soldiers. The husband went to sea, because there was not even a second boat, which gave Lao Xu a headache.
Because this ship went to sea according to the route given by Zhang Zhou, it didn't look like it was for defense, but it seemed like it was going to fight.
Even though the two hundred soldiers seemed to be a little short, Xu Yan was also afraid that the ship would encounter any accident after it went to sea.
Xiong Xiu asked, "Brother Tengxiao, I don't know much about the Ministry of War. When I first came here, did you see that Zhang Zhou was so eclectic in his work?"
Farewell to Xiong Xiu He looks younger, but he was a Jinshi in the second year of Chenghua, three years earlier than Xiong Chong.position, but Jinshi is also about quality, and not many top three Jinshi can get ahead. He was able to work in the local area for so many years, and returned to the court to serve as a minister just after the end of the rule. It is not because of his ability, but precisely because others think he is. "No harm to humans and animals."
The traditional faction believes that finding an incompetent assistant to Zhang Zhou will make Zhang Zhou tired of dealing with the affairs of the Ministry of War. Who knows that even if you have been the left minister of the Ministry of War, you have never done anything in the ministry
You still want us to find a very experienced person to help you?
For the emperor, people like Xiong Xiu did not belong to the traditional faction, and they happened to be taken over by Zhang Zhou for his own use.
Then Xiong Xiu was so confused. He was a local official before his mother's funeral, and immediately became a minister when he came back. But the things at hand became more and more wrong.
Xiong Chong sighed, "If he does everything according to the rules, do you think a new Jinshi, who has not passed the exam for three years, can achieve his current position?"
"That makes sense." Xiong Xiu also had to accept it.
Although Zhang Zhou is an example of a "sycophant" in the court, he is a sycophant of a certain caliber. He may have a close relationship with the emperor, but he conquered the emperor's heart with his ability and was attracted by the emperor. Talents with a keen eye for recognizing talents have been promoted.
“But how to determine this?” Xiong Xiu asked again, “The ship is equipped with twenty-four mighty cannons, six mighty long-range cannons, and one mighty heavy cannon at a time. It will be difficult to explain the losses to the imperial court."
The cannons invented by Zhang Zhou are all called "mighty cannons". Cannons and heavy artillery are basically enhanced versions of Hongyi cannons.
A ship that was in dilapidated condition, but brought out 200 soldiers and more than 30 cannons at a time, was simply crazy in the eyes of those who were in charge of traditional military affairs.
This is also because the Ming Dynasty has never fought a decent water battle since the founding of the country, and even the water battles at the founding of the country were not sea-ship battles. Traditional civil servants could not understand that the trend of future naval battles would be to use cannons to bombard them. , so when it was discovered that Zhang Zhou had used so many new artillery pieces originally used to defend the north against the Tatars on an inconspicuous sea voyage, the Ministry of War felt that Zhang Zhou was acting randomly.
Xiong Chong said, "This is sent to the Ministry of War. In fact, a copy has already been sent to the bank. We only need to answer when your Majesty or cabinet ministers ask. I will I don't think your Majesty will take it to court. After all, that person did it, and his Majesty must have tacitly approved it."
Xiong Chong still has "experience".
Zhang Zhou used ships to carry artillery to the sea. He did not have to worry about the emperor's questioning. He only had to worry about how the traditional civil servants would give us problems.
It seems that those who serve as ministers deal with large and small matters in the court, but in fact most of the things are done by the people below. They have to deal with people more than things.
"Then" Xiong Xiu asked, "how to say"
Xiong Chong said, "If asked, we cannot say that the Ministry of War willKnowing that, after all, doing so would offend that person, and might even make His Majesty dissatisfied. When that person was doing this, he was still the Minister of War in Nanjing. He wanted to transfer a few cannons to the ship, and he didn't need to say hello to us in Beijing. "
"So" Xiong Xiu is obviously not very good at playing.
Xiong Chong sighed, "Think about it, who was in charge of the Ministry of War when this happened? Were you here at that time? When asked, he said that he would go back and check the list of official letters sent from various places to see if any of them involved this content. If the question is really urgent, just mention it one more time and say that the affairs of Jinghai are always handled by the Southern War Department first, and can be directly reported to Your Majesty by the Southern War Department."
Xiong Xiu has actually already heard this. I probably understand.
We can neither refute nor confirm, so we have to say something ambiguous to appease the ministers on the grounds that we have just arrived at the Ministry of War and have not yet seen all the official documents.
The affairs of the Ministry of War itself do not need to be responsible to any ministers in the court. However, there were many things during the Hongzhi period. When the emperor asked the cabinet to draw up the votes, he informed the six ministries in advance, which allowed the cabinet to gradually have supremacy. The power of the "prime minister" of the Six Ministries.
When the cabinet saw Xu Xi's report about sending ships to sea, bringing soldiers, artillery, and even firecrackers, they probably realized that Zhang Zhou was preparing to use troops in the southeastern sea area.
Xie Qian took Xu Yan's memorial and went directly to ask Liu Jian for his opinion.
At this time, Li Dongyang was not there. >
After Liu Jian took it over and looked at it, he put it aside and said very calmly, "Zhang Bingkuan built ships in the name of Jinghai and built ships to patrol the sea with artillery. Is there anything wrong?"
When Xie Qian heard this, he immediately felt something was wrong and asked, "Isn't the wind blowing in our cabinet these days?"
Liu Jian rolled his eyes at him and said, "What do you want to say?"
Xie Qian sat on a chair nearby, pondered for a while, shook his head and said, "Liu Zhongtang, you should know that Zhang Bingkuan's intention was never to stabilize the Ming Dynasty's maritime territory. Even Wei Guogong said that this time he sent a ship to sea, maybe to Nanyang shipped back a batch of goods designated by Zhang Bingkuan. Could it be that Zhang Bingkuan had already done it, and if he couldn't buy it, he would just grab it or not prepare to buy it at all?"
The merchant ship went to Nanyang to do business.
And Zhang Zhou When sending a ship to Nanyang, he didn’t intend to spend any money, so he just resorted to violence.
Liu Jian’s tone was still calm and he said, “There may not be many people on an island in Nanyang, so send two to three hundred people. It's just right to go. "
As he spoke, the pen was still flying in his hand.
Xie Qian asked, "What is this?"
"Please resign. ”
Liu Jian didn’t hide it either.
Xie Qian was speechless when he heard it.
Emotions Li Dongyang is not here today. You are busy writing your resignation inside. I am the only one. I'm alone here worrying about voting matters. Unfortunately, I still feel that I'm just a supporter of the cabinet. Now I, the person who started the relationship, is taking the lead.
"Then should I go back and write one? "Xie Qian asked.
"Whatever. Liu Jian repliedStill no pain or itching.
Xie Qian thought for a while and gave up this idea.
If the emperor really wants them to leave, he will give various hints. Now the emperor has not expressed this intention at all. It will be useless to write it back, and the emperor will not agree.
Everyone knows it, but it should not be known in the court."
"This is" Xie Qian frowned.
"Things can be publicized, but don't mention them in court, otherwise what is right will become wrong. What is wrong will become even more wrong." Liu Jian seemed to be teaching Xie Qian how to do things. .
It's turned, I'm the only one who hasn't woken up yet.
Liu Jian finally finished writing his resignation, put down his pen, and waited for the ink to dry. Only then did he have the heart to face Xie Qian and said, "Go to the Ministry of War and ask, just say that you want to know the details of going to sea. There is no need to embarrass the people in the Ministry of War." People, the government and the public are only afterthoughts about Zhang Bingkuan's affairs, and they can't change anything. By the way, let's expand on the problem a little bit, but don't say it yourself, just pretend that it was leaked by the way when Wei Guogong presented it. "
Xie Qian said, "Both the government and the public know about it, and they will definitely talk about it secretly. Wouldn't your Majesty not know?"
"It doesn't matter if your Majesty knows," Liu Jiandao said, "As long as I don't wait for you to go up. Your Majesty is too lazy to ask."
"Yes."
Xie Qian nodded and stood up to leave.
Liu Jian reminded, "The memorial is here to stay, and the vote does not need to be decided in the future."
Xie Qian was surprised for a moment.
Let me ask the Ministry of War about this in the name of drafting the draft, but you have already decided on the content of the draft, so why should I ask?
Liu Jiandao "Yu" Qiao, Bingkuan is very disciplined in his work. Externally, he is very tough, like a tiger who never lets food get away; internally, he is very weak, and never seems to confront us."
"Occasionally, he would confront us in the court, and that was intentional. Every time, he would appear to be passively fighting back. This would create a good impression in front of His Majesty, making him feel that he could fight outside and be at peace with himself at the same time. A wise minister."
"We need to understand his plot and change some strategies." Please remember to collect the latest and fastest free anti-theft website