Chapter 596 The wind is going in the wrong direction

The court meeting.

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

The courtiers were still a little confused. Even Xie Qian, who had always been good at talking before, chose to remain silent.

It’s not that Xie Qian didn’t want to say it, but that he was under investigation recently. Although he was not sent to prison, Li Zhang, the official of the East Factory, and Mou Bin, the commander of the Jinyiwei, went to his house to question him one after another. His words made him realize that his time in court might not be long, so Xie Qian is now trying his best to avoid affairs in the court.

Cheng Minzheng, who had not participated much in cabinet affairs before, will now come out and say, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Tatars are currently harassing Ningxia and other places. If we send troops from Daning and other places all the way, we can kill the Tatars." In the rear, we will definitely be able to defeat the enemy and enhance the prestige of our country."

Unsurprisingly, he agrees. What makes the minister puzzled is why you, Cheng Minzheng, come out to join in the fun.

When something goes wrong, there must be a monster.

Zhu Youtang followed the words and said, "I also think that this is a good strategy to severely injure the Tatars and prevent them from easily invading the country. Otherwise, every time they send troops, the Tatars will flee in the wind and use their cavalry to attack them." Mobility makes it impossible for the Ming cavalry to pursue and intercept them, and this is not a long-term solution."

After the emperor's reminder, the minister realized that the key to the war with the Tatars now does not lie in the Ming's artillery and muskets. Whether there is enough lethality, but the Tatars choose to avoid fighting.

Li Dongyang said, "Your Majesty, although it is just right to send troops at this time to make the Tatars retreat in the face of difficulties, but now it is about to be a cold winter, I am afraid that the soldiers will be prone to frostbite when they go out to fight, and may even cause frostbite." The Tatars took advantage of the bad weather to make a surprise attack, which would be detrimental to our soldiers."

Making the best of a good situation and discovering bad hidden dangers seems to have always been the focus of civil servants.

Aren’t you very happy, Emperor? Do you want to send troops? Then we will be responsible for pouring cold water on you.

In the view of our civil servants, only if you, the emperor, are calm enough and can see the whole situation clearly can you better avoid the risks that may be experienced in this battle.

Zhu Youtang felt a little unhappy after hearing this.

I mobilized troops and horses to go to the grassland in order to enhance the prestige of the country. Is it fun for you to pour cold water on me?

They say that the biggest problem with you literati is that you like to reason. Is that really the case? How could I not know that the grassland environment in winter is harsh? But no matter how bad it is, the Tatars will fight the Ming Dynasty at will at this time. It was completed after each sent troops

Zhu Youtang said, "The Li Qing family believes that this battle is inappropriate."

Li Dongyang naturally knew that the purpose of pouring cold water was not to wake up the emperor, but to wake up the emperor. To let him know the difficulty, he added, "Enough is enough."

Zhu Youtang almost rolled his eyes.

To say it is to say nothing.

On the side, the newly promoted eunuch Chen Kuandao said, “Dear ministers, this is based on the current situation in the border town.It was decided that all people should cooperate sincerely. If the northwest sends troops, but Jizhou does not send troops, or even sends troops hastily and returns, how can the Tatars know how powerful the Ming army is?"

Chen Kuan learned from Xiao Jing's experience of losing power, and now he tried his best to help the emperor talk to Zhang Zhou.

He did not pour cold water on him. As for those cautious words, he would not say them, but wanted to help resolve the situation. The minister's resentment made the minister aware of the emperor's difficulties.

Ma Wensheng said, "Your Majesty, I wonder who is leading the army this time."

With the honorable ministers leading the army, Of course, there must be a censor of the capital. Perhaps in Ma Wensheng's opinion, Cui Yuan and Zhu Feng are not suitable as commanders, and there must be a civil servant to control the two talents.

Zhu Youtang did not answer. /p>

Chen Kuandao said, “Maybe it’s Liu Yu, the governor of Jizhen. ”

When Ma Wensheng heard that it was Liu Yu, whom he had always admired, he naturally had no objections. Perhaps this was his purpose, to use Liu Yu, whom he considered a capable minister, to suppress the two reckless The "young people" Cui Yuan and Zhu Feng seemed to be the kind who were talkative and unreliable, which made Ma Wensheng worried.

Zhu Youtang said impatiently, "Well, gentlemen. Family, in your opinion, is this war going to end hastily? Ningxia will report Tatar harassment almost every day, and each time there are tens or hundreds of people, no more than a hundred people. Every time the Ming Dynasty mobilizes troops to attack If you intercept them, the Tatars will find loopholes and escape. If you have a better way, I would be happy to hear it.

Lin Han, the Minister 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 made many ministers dissatisfied.

Regardless of whether you are guilty or not, when will it be your turn as the Minister of Rites to speak out

Do you know how to perform your duties? Understand

The matter of impeachment and prosecution has always been the job of the officials of the Ministry of Education, but you came up to discuss the crimes of the governor of Ningxia. This is to use your mouth to express Zhang Bingkuan's meaning

Zhang Zhou was not present.

As the Minister of War, Zhang Zhou was not often absent from court meetings, but basically absent from court meetings. Without being present, the court almost forgot that Zhang Zhou was there. Even every time Zhang Zhou came, the ministers would worry that Zhang Zhou was holding back something bad, and they had to be on guard every time, as if they were facing a powerful enemy. < /p>

Xiong Xiu, the minister of the Ministry of War, said, "Back to Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has coordinated with Jizhou and other places to arrange for the dispatch of troops. This time, 4,200 soldiers were mobilized from the Beijing camp to coordinate with Jizhou to dispatch troops, as well as grain, grass and baggage and other arrangements. They had already informed the Ministry of Household Affairs. "

Zhu Youtang said, "Just saying hello is not enough. The Ministry of Revenue has to transport enough grain and grass in the past few days. If it is too late to transport it to the front line, it will be temporarily replenished by the Jizhou local government and returned with Taicang's money. "

Zhong Zhong, the Minister of Household Affairs, said, "Your Majesty, even if you send out troops, should you strictly check the use of money and food?"

"What do you mean?" Zhu Youtang said angrily, "You It's a burden"Do you think someone will use the general's money for other purposes? Or do you think Bingkuan will use the money and grain to build ports or even build ships?"

Zhong Zhong was also startled.

He really wanted to say, Your Majesty, you have stated your hypothesis, so what else can I say?

Liu Jiandao, "There are precedents for borrowing grain, grass and baggage from the local area in advance, but it is so easy for the local military and civilians to do so." There is a shortage of winter supplies. If this battle must be fought, transportation must be stepped up. ”

These words are equivalent to silencing those who still want to come out to oppose.

Obviously, Liu Jian saw the emperor’s determination to send troops from Jizhou this time. If Using the same tactics as before, insisting on deducting money, food, military supplies, etc. will make the relationship between the emperor and them even more stalemate.

The emperor wants to go to war, but the ministers just don’t have the food and grass. Initially, this trick worked. But every time Zhang Zhou was able to go to the source of wealth on his own in the past two years, the emperor would become less and less dependent on his ministers. The emperor would even feel that your ministers were just trying to cause trouble and did not care about the country and the country. /p>

After all, Liu Jian still had foresight beyond stubbornness. He also knew that he could not sit back and watch Zhang Zhou continue to grow bigger and stronger, especially a minister who could fight wars, mobilize troops, and raise money and food by himself. For civil servants, The threat is too big.

Zhu Youtang 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. Yes, the weather is generally smooth everywhere. Only under such circumstances can it be convenient for the Ming Dynasty to send troops. However, the grassland has now experienced successive years of severe drought. If it is not severely damaged at this time, it will be even more difficult for it to recover in the next few years. "

Liu Jiandao, "What your Majesty said is absolutely true. "

The monarch and his ministers seem to have found common ground.

It seems very harmonious.

Zhu Youtang said, "I will have some troops this time. The details of the arrangement will not be explained here. The Supervisory Office and the Ministry of War will coordinate everything. You can just wait for the news of victory. ”

Xie Qian couldn’t help it and almost rushed out to taunt him.

We haven’t fought yet, we are just waiting to win

We are not afraid that extreme joy will lead to sorrow< /p>

How can this be the case? No matter how confident you were before, you should wait until the situation is better before you are so optimistic. Now even the emperor's expectations are so high

It's ridiculous.

The most important point in the court meeting was the upcoming dispatch of troops from the East Road.

It was also after the autumn grains were put into the warehouse, and various places entered the slack season one after another, and the affairs of the court were discussed. In fact, everything has started to dim, and the errands of various government offices have become much easier.

But it seems that only the Ministry of War is running smoothly, but the Secretary of the Ministry of War has always been a dragon, which also makes the minister feel that the Ministry of War is now in full swing. It was a secret government office, somewhat out of touch with the imperial court's structure.

After the court meeting, the ministers walked out of Fengtian Gate, and a group of people began to discuss the cabinet again. Several people have already returned their value.Lin Han, who was speaking before, was blocked by a group of people. It seemed that someone wanted to get an explanation from him.

"The Shaanxi Supervisory Censor has not impeached the Ningxia Governor and other generals recently, but Lin Butang seems to be biting them. The Tatar invaders, according to the past rules, If there is no fault, then it is merit. The pass has not been lost, the people have not suffered any big losses, the soldiers have not suffered any damage, and everyone is in peace. Who should be held responsible? Who can guarantee that he can do better than the current generals? Better"

Yan Guan 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 officials in the court has been very low recently.

Those Yan Guan who claimed to be righteous ended up being imprisoned and have not been released yet. This also brought Yan Guan's momentum to its lowest point, and everyone was in a very low mood.

But they will not be lenient at all when it comes to what they think is unfair, especially when it comes to privately causing trouble for Lin Han.

Lin Han said, "Let's talk about the matter, don't you think that Ningxia's border troubles are a bit serious now? Why do the Tatars only focus on Ningxia and let other border towns go? It's just because Ningxia is further away from the capital?"

Zhong Zhong came over and said, "Shang Shu Lin, please don't be acquainted with them. They are all just for court affairs. Whether the governor of Ningxia has neglected his duties should be investigated by the local censor."

Lin Han closed his eyes and said, "Regardless of whether the local generals in Ningxia have failed in their duties, your Majesty wants to mobilize troops from the side to attack the grassland, all for the sake of the stability of the border. Knowing that we are now fighting head-on, our Ming soldiers will not be afraid, and it can even be said that We can win every time, so why do we have to stay in the pass and wait for the Tatars to attack?"

"Lin Butang, you are arrogant. If you don't defend, why build that? Aren’t city fortresses used to resist foreign invasions since ancient times?”

Some ministers seemed to accept death.

The conflict between them and Lin Han was probably also about whether they should focus on attacking or defending against the foreign barbarians.

Now the emperor has repeatedly broken the previous defensive strategy of the Ming Dynasty and sent troops to attack the grasslands. In addition to destroying the ancestral system by traditional civil servants, it is also considered to be a waste of people and money. It seems that the only way to save money and effort is to shrink and defend. Yes, it costs money to go on an expedition to ensure logistical supplies and food and grass supplies. The soldiers cannot complete daily corvee work and farming.

The more ministers who are deeply influenced by Confucian culture, they pride themselves on being knowledgeable. , the more conservative it will appear.

And Lin Han came out of this group of conservatives.

If it weren’t for Zhang Zhou being his son-in-law, Lin Han might not have changed like this.

This is something that Lin Han himself does not admit. After all, Lin Han also feels that his ideas come naturally and are not influenced by anyone.

“Stop arguing”

Ma Wensheng also walked over and shouted to stop.

Others can still show enough respect for Ma Wensheng. After all, Ma Wensheng is also the head of the foreign ministers, and he has the qualifications to be there.With.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was basically promoted from the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, as well as the Minister of the Ministry of War. And those who were promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of War like Ma Wensheng with military exploits would also appear to be superior in their speech. More weight.

Ma Wensheng said, "In the past two years, Ningxia has been repeatedly attacked by foreign barbarians. Even after several governors, the Tatars have not been completely driven out of the border city defenses. Even though the northwest has achieved repeated successes, At that time, the ambitions of the Tatar invaders still could not be cut off, because the people of the Ming Dynasty were not unified. Why should we argue endlessly in the government over trivial matters? Shouldn't we think about how to defend ourselves against foreign enemies?"

It seems that Ma Wensheng wants to be a peacemaker, but Ma Wensheng seems to be on the side of the emperor this time.

It seems that he supports the emperor's decision to send troops from Jizhou.

Dan Zhong smiled and said, "You're right, everyone should leave. If you don't leave, people from Honglu Temple will see you and make a note of it. That would be bad. The matter of sending troops will be gone." It’s settled, just wait for the good news. Now, Zhang Shangshu has not heard of a defeat on the battlefield for a long time.”

There is an official saying, “In the battle of Huamachi, we were defeated first. Even if we win, we won’t see much success.”

Continue to pour cold water.

Lin Han was too lazy to argue with this group of people and walked in front without looking back.

Ma Wensheng continued to wave his hands and said, "If Jizhen can achieve results by sending troops, or if the Tatars can surrender in one battle, everyone, I still have some confidence in Zhang Shangshu."

The more the civil servant trusted Zhang Zhou and appeared more confident, the more strange it became.

And Lin Han had already walked a short distance quickly.

Shen Lu hurriedly followed up and asked, "Brother Lin, please walk slower, look."

Lin Han said angrily, "Something's wrong"

Shen Lu said He stepped forward and said, "There is something wrong with the limelight recently. It seems that no one is against Cai Guogong. How long has it been since you heard about their decision to impeach Cai Guogong, or even oppose Cai Guogong's decision?"

"Don't you do 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-class civil servants had been holding on to Zhang Zhou, and they were much more honest.

The high-level ministers seemed to have ignored Zhang Zhou's "bad deeds" and often said good things about Zhang Zhou.

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