Between mid-to-late February and March, the expedition team had already rushed to Piantou Pass, Yansui Station Yulinwei and other places. The Ming Dynasty officially entered the "war mode" of the ten years of Hongzhi.
At the end of March, it rained several times in succession in the capital, which seemed to be good weather.
On this day, Xie Qian arrived at the Ministry of Revenue under an umbrella. The newly appointed Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhong Zhong, came out to greet him and welcomed him into the Yamen.
"Disaster prevention is being carried out all around Zhili," Zhong Zhong said casually.
Xie Qian put the umbrella near the door and asked, "Is it because of the hailstorm?"
"Yes." Zhong Zhong said, "Didn't an edict just come out saying that There may be hailstorms around Beizhili, so all places should take precautions. These rains seem to be continuous after the beginning of spring, but they do not provide much moisture after the spring grains are sown. If there is insufficient water in rivers and lakes, I am afraid that all parts of the Central Plains will There will still be droughts."
Zhang Zhou warned of hail disasters around Shuntian Prefecture: "In April Guimao, Shuntian Prefecture, Jizhou and Zhili Suning, Gaocheng, Zaoqiang, and Qingfeng counties. The wind, rain and hail were blowing, killing people and livestock and injuring the crops."
Zhang Zhou had to warn him of the disaster.
But in fact, Zhang Zhou did not expect that yamen at all levels would show signs of expanding this early warning.
To put it bluntly, it is a bit too much disaster prevention.
"This is undeniable. Huanghuai is still preventing the Gonggong disaster this year."
Obviously, many words are taboo in the court, and it is also because the emperor believes this. Ji Zhonghui felt that Xie Qian was a bit unobtrusive, Just say some "unspeakable" things casually.
Xie Qian sat down.
Ji Zhong asked two heads of the Ministry of Household Affairs to bring over some official documents, which mentioned the transportation of money and grain in the northwest, and also included the new governor of Xuanfu Liu Daxia's raising of money and grain, and Xie Qian The purpose of coming here is to understand Liu Daxia's series of memorials after taking office.
"Xuanfu's reserves are insufficient." Zhong Zhong reminded Xie Qian while he was reading local official documents.
"Yes." Xie Qian did not raise his head, continued to look down and nodded, "In the past year, just on the Xuanda front line, after several battles, if the Xuanfu treasury has been It's strange that it's still full. What's going on with these tens of thousands of stones?"
Zhong Zhong came over to look at it and said, "This is a reward for the soldiers in the previous battle at Guanshan."< /p>
Xie Qian frowned and said, "If it wasn't for another reward, how could it affect the savings of the Xuanfu?"
Ji Zhong said, "That's right, because when Wang Dehua was at Pianguan, he led the front-line troops of the Xuanfu." We went on an expedition to support Xinjian Bo. After the war, soldiers returned to the palace and needed money and food for resettlement. Since the transfer of money and other matters would take time for the court to review, tens of thousands of grains from Xuanfu were transferred to resettle the soldiers and civilians.
Xie Qian looked displeased and said, "I just sent out a military expedition and took tens of thousands of dans of food back. Is there any secret exchange behind the scenes?"
This means that it is not because Wang Qiong was promoted to Minister of Household Affairs that he was rewarded with tens of thousands of stones of grain and used the court's grain to sell favors. This is a bit excessive.
Zhong Zhong added, "This matter has His Majesty's imperial edict. In addition, Mr. Xiao, the chief seal of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, also specifically mentioned it. All he was given were old grains to bring out new ones. Liu Shiyong, the governor of Xuanfu, took office. I mentioned this matter later, but His Majesty ignored it."
Liu Daxia was recommended by Ma Wensheng, but now he is in charge of food and grass in Xuan Mansion, and he is somewhat looked after by Zhang Zhou, Wang Shouren, and Wang Qiong. It means trouble.
But after all, Liu Daxia had just arrived. No matter what opinions he had, the emperor would definitely not consider the issue from his standpoint.
Let you raise food, not settle old scores, not to mention old scores that have been finalized.
The pressure in Jingcang cannot last long." Zhong Zhong seemed to have heard it.
Xie Qian came to "support" Liu Daxia.
Relying on Liu Daxia alone to compete with Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren is a bit like a fly on a tree.
But if a group of veterans in the DPRK come forward, of course they cannot do it too obviously. They must support it secretly. This is to prevent the emperor from developing fierce resistance. This requires cabinet ministers represented by Xie Qian and others. , from time to time, they secretly exert their efforts or something, and secretly help Liu Daxia in the name of rectification.
Zhong Zhong is very clear about his position in the court. He does not belong to the new faction, which means that the Ministry of Revenue is still mainly controlled by the traditional faction headed by Liu Jian.
Zhong Zhong nodded and said, "That's right. Then find someone to play the part. Why don't you ask Your Majesty to change this batch of resettlement grain into silver coins? On the grounds that there must be a reserve of grain for troops sent to the northwest. What do you think about transferring the grain to Yansui?"
"That's good." Xie Qian nodded.
The purpose of the emperor's rewards is not changed, but the food rewarded to the soldiers sent out by the Piantou Pass is changed into money again, and the rewards that have been implemented are changed into imaginary ones after being reviewed and approved again.
The emperor thought he had given a reward, but in fact, the soldiers would get nothing for the time being. They would have to wait another year and a half before these rewards would be distributed to the soldiers in the form of discounts.
It has caused trouble without leaving any trace.
Xie Qian suddenly felt that Ji Zhongbi, a veteran like Zhou Jing, was quite right in the operation.
“Don’t let Zhang Bingkuan know about it.” Xie Qian reminded, “It’s easy to say to your Majesty. Now your Majesty only values the results of the expedition to Hetao. When the money and food are dispersed, your Majesty will not be too harsh. But if Zhang Bingkuan comes forward, things may be different."
Being on guard against Zhang Zhou is like guarding against thieves.
Ji Zhong said, "Yes."
Later, when Xie Qian looked at the official documents nearby and discussed with Ji Zhong, he seemed to have not discussed it first.He was so deliberately avoiding it before, and his words became much more relaxed.
Western Mountain.
Zhang Zhou has been in Xishan for the past two days to supervise the transportation of ordnance to the northwest. The ordnance is not transported to Yansui, or the batch used by Zhu Hui to lead the army, has been prepared before.
Everything that needs to be shipped now is shipped to Datong.
If we say that Xuanfu now serves as the Ming Dynasty’s food transfer station in the northwest, and Wang Shouren’s Datong, where he is stationed as the general commander of Xuanda, serves as the ordnance depot in the northwest.
"Forty cannons, plus 1,600 muskets, can only be equipped with one or two thousand men. Isn't that a little short?"
Zhang Zhou's side , it was Wei Bin, the eunuch and eunuch who came with him as the emperor's special envoy.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "A little adds up to a big thing. The cannon transported this time is not an ordinary light cannon, and the range is not close."
This time, Zhang Zhou will personally supervise it. Because the cannons shipped out were all rifled cannons, and they were also the first batch of rifled cannons in the Ming Dynasty. The fire muskets were still smooth-bore flint muskets, but Zhang Zhou was ready to improve them to rifled ones, but it still took time.
Wei Bin said, "I heard that a lot of craftsmen were transferred to Datong this time."
Zhang Zhou smiled and nodded and said, "Datong produces no less coal than Xishan. The quality is higher, but the transportation of pig iron there is not yet a problem. If a rail railway can be opened from the capital to Shanxi in two years, the northwest of the Ming Dynasty and the capital will be connected. There is a long way to go. "Please remember to bookmark the latest and fastest website for free reading without anti-theft