Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 115
In the front hall of Qianqing Palace, sandalwood incense curls up.

Liu Jin is a very careful person. Before the sandalwood was about to burn out, he replaced it with new sandalwood.

Zhu Youtang looked at the sturdy but not tall old man from Jiangsu and Zhejiang in front of him. In this Ming Dynasty officialdom that pays attention to the "appearance" of officials, it is not easy to aspire to be the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War with this figure.

Ordinarily, based on He Cong's previous words and deeds, he should not use this kind of person.It's just that there are very real problems in front of me. Everyone in this civil servant group has their own private thoughts, and they can only distinguish between those who can do things and those who can't do things.

Zhu Youtang met He Cong's uneasy gaze, and asked lightly, "He Qing, are you from Renhe, Zhejiang?"

"Exactly!" He Cong didn't understand why, but still nodded honestly.

Zhu Youtang saw He Cong's uneasiness in his heart, and asked earnestly: "Jingtai five years ago, the second-class five Jinshi, the first conferment of Guangdong Haifeng county magistrate?"

"Not bad!" He Cong's eyes looked even more puzzled, but he still nodded honestly.

Zhu Youtang looked at the old man who had already turned gray at the temples, and said with some sympathy: "He Qing was promoted from a remote county magistrate to the left servant of the military department, and now he can walk to the front of me along the palace road. Is it not easy?"

"My...my minister is not... not easy!" He Cong has never been an emotional person, but when he heard the words of a close friend, his eyes suddenly became moist, and even his voice choked up.

He was born in an ordinary farmer's family in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Although he has worked hard to get the honor of Jinshi, he, the Jinshi officer that everyone envies, also has suffering.

In the same class as him were Xu Pu, Sun Xian and Yu Zi and other prominent students from prominent families, but he had no official resources and money to manage, so he was finally assigned to a remote county magistrate thousands of miles away.

If it wasn't for him not being pedantic since he was a child, and knowing how to flatter left and right in the officialdom, let alone the high-ranking Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War, he might not even be able to get a chief envoy now, only the local prefect or the chief secretary who has no real power participates in politics.

From the fifth year of Jingtai to the first year of Hongzhi, it took more than 20 years for him to step on the palace road and come to the front of the emperor.

At this very moment, it was the first time for him to face his monarch alone, and he heard the monarch's intimate words, how could he not be moved?
Seeing He Cong's reaction, Zhu Youtang said lightly: "The clothes are not as good as the new ones, and the people are not as good as the old ones! He Qing, although I am very dissatisfied with the supplies of the Aegis Battalion, we, the monarchs and ministers, cannot accept this matter because of it." So I took off your hat, I would be too ruthless!"

"Your Majesty is kind to the minister today, I am so grateful, I thank you Long En!" He Cong burst into tears suddenly, kneeling down in complete surrender.

Huh?
Liu Jin just walked back to Zhu Youtang's side, but he didn't understand that His Majesty just didn't choose to take off his black gauze hat, so why did he favor him?

Zhu Youtang knew that no matter how the civil official clique united, he had basically abolished the Jiuqing court, and now he had regained the right to appoint personnel, so there were not many officials who really dared to publicly challenge it.

He Cong, who walked carefully all the way, could not be exempt, and now he is also worried that he will take off his black gauze hat, and now he will be grateful to himself if he doesn't take off his black gauze hat.

Zhu Youtang doesn't need to play any tricks now, just loosen and tighten the officials at the bottom is enough to let them know who is the emperor, and he looks very calm: "He Qing, you get up first! This time I will leave you alone To keep you, on the one hand, I hope that you will work hard in the future, and on the other hand, I will discuss a relatively secret military innovation with you!"

"Your Majesty, please tell me that I am willing to smash myself to pieces for Your Majesty in return for your kindness!" He Cong immediately wiped away his tears, expressing his loyalty solemnly.

Zhu Youtang gave Liu Jin a wink, and immediately said indifferently: "The little prince is already eyeing me, Daming, and the military information between the imperial court and the Nine Sides is still too slow, so I want the Ministry of War to set up a pond newspaper!"

"Your Majesty, what is Tang Bao?" He Cong asked in a puzzled manner when he heard this term he had never heard before.

Liu Jin came to He Cong, and handed him a plan that had been prepared for him to read.

Zhu Youtang knew that he was actually carrying out an innovation in military intelligence, so he explained with great ambition: "Tang Bao, this is the military intelligence reported to the imperial court by Tang soldiers and lower-level officers. Two additional agencies were established in the Department of Vehicle Driving: one is the Maguan, The special commander is responsible for communicating military information; the first is the Victory News Office, which sends and receives incoming and outgoing documents. Another nine military officers are stationed on the nine sides, and pond stations are set up everywhere to convey the front-line military information of the commander-in-chief or governor!"

Although there is also the transmission of military information in this era, neither the speed of clearing up the military information nor the speed of transmission can compare with the pond newspaper system, and the pond newspaper system is actually conducive to strengthening the central government's dominance over the localities.

For example, in the well-known Gengxu Incident in later generations, Wu Xun Wei Ninghou Datong General Soldier Qiu Luan sent a large amount of gold, silver and jewels to the enemy camp in order to seek peace with the invading Alda.

If there is a pond newspaper system, although it is impossible for these martial arts to stand up, it will also deter this kind of martial arts who are greedy for life and fear of death from doing such a shameful thing.

"The Tang soldiers who collected information had spies, guerrillas, huh? Jinwei and hidden guards?" He Cong looked at the plan in his hand, and suddenly looked up at Zhu Youtang in puzzlement and said.

If the people in front could understand it, but this last Jinwei dark guard was unheard of, but he was very sure that Jinyiwei did not have this title.

Facing He Cong's astonished gaze, Zhu Youtang nodded slightly and said, "On the bright side, the Tang newspaper collected as much information as possible based on what the Tang soldiers saw and heard with their own eyes, and personally interrogated the captives or those who surrendered. All relevant intelligence from the front line, border or the enemy is compiled, but it will also be the military information transmission channel of the dark guards of the Jin Army. The nine military positions at the Tangzhan are all served by the Jin Yiwei. Hand it over to the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and the outstanding ones will be incorporated into the Jinyi Dark Guard!"

In fact, many people don't know that there are special messengers in the Ming army, and they have a unified name-Ye Bu Accept.

Not accepting at night, in fact, they are personnel sent out by the Ming Frontier Army to spy or investigate the enemy's situation. Now the main targets of investigation are against the Mongolian tribes.

There are two main types of no charge for leaving the country at night, one is called long whistle night charge, and the other is called far whistle night charge.The departure range of the long post is roughly between fifty and one hundred miles, and the departure range of the far post can reach hundreds of miles.

In addition to these searches and investigations, there are also night-buyers who will lurk on the Mongolian grasslands and carry out spy work that lasts for several years.

In the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the military information work was attached great importance, so until now each army has a Yebushou who is specially responsible for going out to investigate the enemy's situation, and it is one of the most important sources for collecting military information.

The number of people who leave the customs at night will not exceed ten people, and many of them are actually Mongols who came from here, or Han people who have lived in Mongolia.

It's just that they are low-level soldiers after all, and whether they can display their talents depends largely on the frontier generals, but most of the current frontier generals are greedy for life and fear of death, so they naturally follow the principle that more things are worse than less things.

Zhu Youtang knew that his ancestors actually left a rich legacy, and now he needed to pull back the Ming iron cavalry who used to gallop on the prairie from the edge of the cliff before the frontier army was completely corrupted.

He knew that he must have a battle to the death with Dayan Khan, so now he set up a pond newspaper to grasp the military situation on the nine sides for his own deployment and dispatch.

No matter in which era, intelligence is the most important thing, and if you want to lead China to rise, you will definitely defeat Mongolia, which was ruled by Dayan Han.

Liu Jin saw that He Cong had read the specific design plan, but knew that this matter could not be leaked, so she took the plan back.

"Your Majesty, I'm going to run the pond newspaper, but I don't know how to arrange the staff of the Jinyiwei?" He Cong made a statement immediately, and then looked puzzled.

Zhu Youtang had already made up his mind, so he said indifferently: "Jinyiwei Qianhu Wang Xianghui will follow you, and he will provide the list of personnel stationed at Zhatang Station, and you can do it when the time comes!"

Although he knew that Dayan Khan was unlikely to infiltrate him, but just in case, he still wanted to keep things secret.You must know that there are indeed many traitors throughout the ages.

"I obey!" Although He Cong didn't understand the deep meaning, he already sensed the emperor's ambition, so he expressed his opinion.

When Zhu Youtang saw that the business was finished, he appeared to put pressure on him unkindly: "He Qing, the armor of the Aegis Battalion must hurry up!"

"I must urge the two factories to step up production!" He Cong complained secretly, but he still expressed his position solemnly.

Zhu Youtang also didn't want to embarrass He Cong too much, so he raised his hand to let him leave.

He knew that if he wanted to strengthen the country, he needed a strong army. Only when the Aegis Battalion he personally built was sent to the altar, then the military spirit of Huaxia would truly return.

That's the case, if anyone dares to stop him from building the Aegis Battalion, it is naturally impossible to forgive him lightly, and he really hopes that the Ministry of War can complete the heavy armor as soon as possible.

The capital city in the first lunar month is still covered with snow.

Although the Zhengdan holiday has passed, the atmosphere of Chinese New Year still exists.The sound of firecrackers continued to sound everywhere in the capital, children in new clothes were still running, and many ordinary people were still visiting relatives.

It was just that when He Cong, the left servant of the Ministry of War, returned, the Yamen of the Ministry of War in Dongjiang Mi Lane seemed to be busy like a dog running around, and He Cong's roar kept coming out during this period.

The five policies of military policy and pond newspapers need to be implemented immediately, and three of the five policies of military policy belong to the Ministry of War. Therefore, the Ministry of War has four important new policies to implement.

Two of the five military policies belonged to the household department, and the household department was also busy under the leadership of Li Si, especially looking for candidates to dispatch the governor of the tea horse department.

The five military policies had nothing to do with the Ministry of Industry, but Jia Jun, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, offered to build the Hall of Mental Cultivation, so they had to come up with an effective construction plan immediately.

For the three yamen, pain and happiness.

"What does it mean to have eight moves every month?"

"The eighth day, eighteenth day, and twenty-eighth day, these three days go to court!"

"July has a [-]-day holiday, this Longevity Festival is really exciting!"

……

Although the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Ministry of Industry were the first to get busy, many middle- and lower-level officials responded positively and honestly after learning about the new early morning system and holiday system.

Just when the atmosphere in each yamen appeared to be very harmonious, something disharmonious still appeared after all.

The sky above the city of Beijing was originally fine, but it suddenly darkened. Just as many officials looked up at the sky disapprovingly, expressions of horror suddenly appeared on their faces.

However, a solar eclipse appeared in the sky, and the area covered by the sun only increased little by little, and it was evolving towards a total solar eclipse.

"Your Majesty lost his political power and morality?" Xu Qiong, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, immediately fell to the ground in shock when he saw this.

After hearing the news, Chen Qiong and other high-ranking officials walked out of their duty rooms one after another. When they looked up and saw a solar eclipse in the sky, they felt a chill in their hearts.

"The five policies of military policy are policies that are out of policy!" Liu Jian, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites, raised his head and saw the sky where the solar eclipse was staged, his eyes flashed with joy.

This era still believes in the idea of ​​"respecting the sky and protecting the people" originated from the Western Zhou Dynasty.It is believed that "Heaven" only entrusts the "mandate of heaven" to rule the world to those who have "virtue". Once the ruler "lost virtue", he will lose the protection of heaven, and new virtuous people will emerge to replace them. As the ruler of the world, he should "be worthy of the sky with virtue".

Once a solar eclipse or a lunar eclipse occurs, it is due to the emperor's loss of morality and government.

It's just that there is no way to "save the king". Yes, after so many years of repeated "research", it is a remedial method that the officials perform "the gift of rescue".

As a courtier loyal to the emperor, whenever a solar or lunar eclipse occurs, he must perform rescue rituals as usual to save the emperor who has lost his morals and government.

Whenever there is an abnormality in the movement of the sun and the moon, the emperor and the ministers in power must strengthen their self-cultivation activities around the government at that time.At the same time, cultivating morality and politics became the most critical remedial measures in imperial politics.

Like now, the newly promulgated "Five Military Policies", "Early Dynasty System" and "Holiday System" are undoubtedly the root cause of the disaster, so "political revision" should be carried out afterwards.

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty: during a solar eclipse, all civil and military officials in the capital must be rescued by the Ministry of Rites.

"Quick, come to the Ministry of Rites!"

"Your Majesty, the old minister is here to save you!"

"Why are you still sitting in a sedan chair, run over quickly!"

……

When they saw the solar eclipse, officials from various yamen rushed to the Ministry of Rites like a tide, preparing to perform rescue rituals to save the corrupt emperor Hongzhi.

But no one expected that the five military policies, the early court system and the holiday system that were just about to be promulgated just now would encounter a solar eclipse, which is really unpredictable.

"My God, I won't take you to play like this!" Zhu Youtang walked out of the Qianqing Palace after hearing the news, and when he saw the sun that was slowly being swallowed up, he couldn't help cursing.

(End of this chapter)