I, Jiajing, successfully cultivated immortality

"Your Majesty, I agree to send the Shenji Battalion to participate in the battle!"

After Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet, clearly stated his attitude, others no longer insisted and expressed their attitude one after another.

After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that allowing the Shenji Battalion to participate in the battle was a decision that was agreed on early in the morning and could not be changed in the slightest.

Thinking back to the emperor's previous efforts to support the clan and nobles, at this moment, thinking of this, the expressions on the faces of everyone present became subtle.

Yan Song lowered his eyes and looked at the ground casually, thinking this.

"It seems that His Majesty plans to use this battle to gradually send the clan and nobles to the court!"

Just as Yan Song was lamenting this matter, he heard the voice of Jiajing's Gujing Wubo: "In addition to the Shenji Battalion, Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, who are in charge of military training, will also go out with the imperial army!"

When Jiajing said this, the stern look on his face also softened a little: "I heard that these two soldiers are very organized and have outstanding military exploits. They have also developed tactics specifically to restrain cavalry. Therefore, I plan to go and see the situation in person another day!”

When Hu Zongxian heard what Jiajing said, he immediately stood up from his seat, leaned down and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou are both Wei Chen's subordinates, so Wei Chen knows them quite well!"

When Jiajing heard this, a look of interest appeared on his face, and he gave Hu Zongxian a look, indicating that he should continue talking.

After receiving Jiajing's consent, Hu Zongxian began to elaborate on his views on Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou.

"Both of them are good generals who are good at training troops and commanding elite troops."

"Especially Qi Jiguang, he was strict in running the army and always took the lead in fighting. The soldiers he trained fought bravely and obeyed orders, and their combat effectiveness was no less than that of our Ming Dynasty's Nine-Border Frontier Army!"

"In the process of wiping out the Japanese pirates, these two men even made great achievements. As soon as the Japanese pirates heard the names of Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, they had no intention of fighting and just fled in all directions!"

When Hu Zongxian said this, he paused for a moment and continued to add: "It is no exaggeration to say that without these two generals, the process of the imperial court's eradication of Japanese pirates would have been much slower!"

"In addition, in the 25th year of Jiajing, the Datong chariot camp commanded by Yu Dayou, with more than 100 chariots and more than 5,000 infantry and cavalry troops, fought against tens of thousands of Mongolian troops at Angenberg. Our army won a great victory and drove away the Mongolian army for hundreds of miles."

After listening to Hu Zongxian's narration, Jiajing's face showed a look of surprise.

After that, Jiajing nodded and said in agreement: "Well, before that, when they met with me, they had already proposed to me that the chariot camp should be the main force to deal with the Tatar cavalry. idea!"

"Currently, more than 18,000 of the more than 25,000 soldiers they are responsible for training are all car camp troops!"

After Zhang Juzheng heard the news from Jiajing, he was very happy.

He knew that the emperor's choice was very correct. Only by relying on the car camp could he effectively compete with the Tatar cavalry.

As the Minister of the Ministry of War, Zhang Juzheng naturally knew the Cheying troops very well. The idea of ​​Cheying began to appear as early as the Zhengtong period, and was later gradually carried forward by Zeng Mian, who was then the commander-in-chief of the Shanxi Trilateral Army.

After Zeng Mian designed the famous "Zeng Mian's Drawing of the Set-by-Set Prisoner Formation", in the same year, the Datong Chaoyang troops commanded by Yu Dayou showed their majesty on the battlefield and defeated enemies several times their own.

Since then, the imperial court began to equip the Jiubian Frontier Army and the Beijing Camp with car camps.

However, according to Zhang Juzheng's understanding, although the Nine-Border Frontier Army is equipped with chariot camps, everyone from the general to the ordinary soldiers thinks that hiding behind chariots is a cowardly behavior. Therefore, the efficiency of the use of chariots is not high. not tall.

After that, Zhang Juzheng suppressed all the chaotic thoughts in his heart, looked in the direction of Jiajing, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty is wise, and I also feel that we need to rely on the chariot camp to be able to compete with those Tatar cavalry!"

Jiajing did not comment on Zhang Juzheng's words. Then, he picked up the tea cup on the table, took a sip, and continued: "It will be too boring for me to go alone by then. You can go with me to see the situation!" "

Naturally, everyone did not dare to disobey Jiajing's words. They immediately lowered their heads and respectfully responded: "As you command, Your Majesty!"

Seeing that the matter had settled, Jiajing turned around, nodded slightly to Lu Fang who was standing aside, and then began to close his eyes and rest.

Lu Fang, who was on the side, saw this situation and immediately stepped forward, faced everyone, and said softly: "The first matter discussed by the cabinet this time has been discussed. We will continue the discussion after a short rest."

When Lu Fang finished speaking, everyone present involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief, and their tense nerves were able to relax.

For a while, the cabinet became extremely quiet. Everyone was cautious and did not dare to make any noise for fear of affecting the emperor's rest.

……

Time passed by so slowly. I don’t know how long it had passed, but Jiajing slowly opened his eyes.

Seeing this situation, Lu Fang on the side immediately stepped forward, faced everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Now let's discuss the second matter, which is the encore that the court will hold!"

After Lu Fang finished speaking, he returned to stand beside Jiajing.

Everyone knew very well that the Enke examination that the imperial court would hold soon was called an Enke examination, but in fact it was no different from a normal imperial examination.

If it weren't for the candidates who openly opposed the imperial court's integrated grain payment policy for officials and gentry during the palace examination last year.

This time, the imperial court only needs to set up a roster and submit a report, as well as a special examination, as it did in the past.

But it was precisely because of such an incident last year that this group of students were left out in the cold and sent to a remote place, with no hope for their career.

After clearing his throat, Jiajing faced everyone and said slowly: "For the encore that the court will hold next, if you have any suitable candidates, just suggest them!"

When Jiajing finished speaking, Zhang Juzheng was seen suppressing the excitement in his heart and looking expectantly in the direction of Xu Jie.

After all, Xu Jie had personally promised to recommend himself to the emperor to become a fellow examiner this time.

Under Zhang Juzheng's expectant gaze, Xu Jie stood up, leaned down, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have a personal note for you!"

When Jiajing heard this, he glanced over Xu Jie's body, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Oh, does Mr. Xu Ge have a suitable candidate?"

"Your Majesty, I feel that Li Chunfang, the Minister of Rites, should be the examiner to take charge of this Enke examination."

"Li Chunfang is the number one scholar in the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing reign. He is honest, upright and talented. It is most appropriate that the number one scholar is responsible for setting the questions for this exam!"

After hearing the candidates proposed by Xu Jie, Jiajing's eyes lit up and he made his decision immediately.

"Well, this Li Chunfang is indeed good. I agree, let him be the examiner for this exam!"

After Jiajing finished speaking, he looked in the direction of Xu Jie and continued to ask: "Now that the examiner has been selected, what about the co-examiner?"

"Mr. Xu Ge, who do you think is more suitable to be the co-examiner?"

After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng looked as normal as usual, but judging from the slightly trembling hands hidden in his sleeves, his heart was not at peace at this time.

After all, this is a good opportunity for him to cultivate his own power openly.

Finally, under Zhang Juzheng's expectant eyes, Xu Jie spoke: "Your Majesty, I think that in order to show that the court attaches great importance to this Enke examination, a cabinet minister should be sent to serve as a co-examiner. !”

"Therefore, Wei Chen recommends Zhang Juzheng, Minister of the Ministry of War, as a co-examiner for this examination!"

When Xu Jie finished speaking, the eyes of everyone present unconsciously fell on Zhang Juzheng.

Suddenly being watched by so many eyes, Zhang Juzheng not only did not feel guilty at all, but looked like he accepted it calmly.

"Xu Jie personally recommended Zhang Juzheng to His Majesty. Is it possible that he planned to pave the way for him?"

When Yan Song thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a little suspicious on his face.

As we all know, serving as an examiner for the imperial examination has great benefits for officials and is a veritable hot potato.

Not only can they take this opportunity to recruit a group of new talents as party members, but they can also increase their reputation in the court.

A large part of Yan Song's party members were trained by him when he served as the minister of wine in the Imperial College.

There is such a passionate love between each other, which is naturally much more reliable than a simple relationship of interest.

Although Yan Song had an inexplicable sense of crisis, he did not mean to obstruct it.

After all, he is also very optimistic about Zhang Juzheng, a younger generation, so it would be best if he could give him a little support.

After that, Jiajing looked in the direction of Xu Jie, nodded slightly, and said in agreement: "Well, what Mr. Xu Ge said makes sense. In order to show that the court attaches great importance to this Enke exam, it should be Send a cabinet minister to serve as a fellow examiner!”

"It's decided that the examiner for this exam will be Li Chunfang, the Minister of Rites, and the co-examiner will be Zhang Juzheng, the Minister of War. As for the other candidates, you can discuss it yourself after you come down!"

When Jiajing said this, he turned his eyes to Zhang Juzheng, raised his eyebrows, and said slowly: "Zhang Aiqing, don't let me down!"

When Zhang Juzheng heard what Jiajing said, his face was full of excitement. He immediately stood up from his seat and responded without thinking: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will definitely live up to Your Majesty's trust!" ...

As soon as Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, a look of surprise flashed across the faces of everyone present.

After all, Zhang Juzheng, a fellow examiner, was decided by the emperor himself. From this alone, we can see how much the emperor valued this Zhang Juzheng!

At this moment, a look of understanding flashed across Yan Song's face, he lowered his eyes and said silently to himself: "It seems that my previous guess was correct. This Zhang Juzheng is indeed His Majesty's man!"

"But when did Zhang Juzheng get involved with His Majesty?"

While Yan Song was still racking his brains and struggling with this issue, he heard Jiajing's voice, bringing him back to reality.

"Okay, let's stop here today for the matters discussed by the cabinet today. My dear friends, if there is anything else you need to report, if not, let's leave it at that!"

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Juzheng stood up, looked in the direction of Jiajing, leaned down, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have a personal note for you!"

Hearing this, Jiajing waved his hand, signaling Zhang Juzheng to continue speaking.

At this time, except for Gao Gong, the eyes of everyone present were once again focused on Zhang Juzheng.

Later, Zhang Juzheng organized the words in his mind, mustered up the courage, and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, I suddenly remembered that a few years ago, Zhao Zhenji, the governor of Zhejiang and the governor of Zhejiang, sent someone to charge him with treason. , have you searched the Yuan family in Jiaxing?"

Zhang Juzheng's words were like a bombshell, completely detonating the scene. Even Yan Song, who had always been indifferent, couldn't help but have a look of horror on his face.

It wasn't just Yan Song who was shocked by this, even Xu Jie's face on the side was full of disbelief.

What Xu Jie didn't expect was that Zhang Juzheng would dare to bring up old matters again and mention the Yuan family in Jiaxing in front of His Majesty.

"Why is this Zhang Juzheng bringing up this matter now? Doesn't he know that the purpose of everything His Majesty has done before is to divert the attention of the government and the public from this matter?"

Just when Xu Jie wanted to stand up and help Zhang Juzheng smooth things over, he heard Zhang Juzheng's voice again: "Your Majesty, the 12.82 million taels of silver confiscated from the Yuan family's home in Jiaxing this time, although they have long been Deposit it into the treasury!”

"But the 198,600 acres of land held under his name has not been dealt with yet!"

Facing everyone's gaze, Zhang Juzheng did not flinch at all. He only saw him looking in the direction of Jiajing and said in a deep voice: "Therefore, Wei Chen proposed that the imperial court send officials to distribute these lands to the people as they did several times before. Those people who are landless and have little land!”

After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, Xu Jie couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief, and the stone hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground safely.

"It turns out that Zhang Juzheng had this in mind. I thought..."

After that, Jiajing looked Zhang Juzheng up and down, with a look of interest on his face, and said with a half-smile: "Oh, in that case, Aiqing must already have a suitable candidate in mind, right? "

Facing Jiajing's scrutinizing gaze, Zhang Juzheng lowered his head and responded without thinking: "Your Majesty, I have been recommended by the ministers, and the official Ma Ziqiang will take charge of this matter after the banquet!"

After hearing this name from Zhang Juzheng, Jiajing thought about it for a long time, but still could not find any information about this person.

Seeing this, Gao Gong stood up from his seat and added in time: "Your Majesty, this person took part in the Shaanxi Provincial Examination last year and won the top spot. He is currently serving as a lecturer at the Jingyan Banquet!"

After listening to Gao Gong's explanation, Yan Shifan had a clear understanding in his heart. He shook his head and said secretly: "It seems that this Ma Ziqiang was more or less influenced by the officials and gentry who openly opposed the imperial court during the imperial examination last year." Implicated in the issue of integrated grain payment."

"Since Zhang Juzheng dares to recommend this person to His Majesty in person, it means that this person should have some real talents!"

"It seems that I have to pay more attention next time to see if there are any good ideas among last year's batch of moves!"

Thinking of this, Yan Shifan clenched his fists unconsciously, his face full of anticipation.

After Jiajing learned about the candidates recommended by Zhang Juzheng, he did not respond immediately. Instead, he supported his chin with one hand and tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him rhythmically, making a "click-click" sound, as if he was weighing it. Pros and cons.

After a long time, Jiajing came back to his senses, looked in the direction of Zhang Juzheng, nodded, and said: "Well, I'm sure, let Ma Ziqiang, the official of the Sutra Banquet, take charge of this matter. It’s also good to have some local experience!”

Seeing that Jiajing agreed to his proposal, Zhang Juzheng's face was full of joy, he leaned down and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Seeing that the matter had settled, Jiajing looked back, waved his hands quite casually, faced the crowd, and then spoke.

"Okay, I'm tired too. That's it for today's cabinet discussion!"

After Jiajing finished speaking, he stood up from his seat and walked out of the cabinet. Lu Fang, who had been waiting beside Jiajing since the beginning of the cabinet discussion, saw this and quickly followed Jiajing's pace.

"I will respectfully send you off to Your Majesty!"

Later, under the leadership of Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet, everyone knelt on the ground and said in a deep voice towards the direction Jiajing left.

After Jiajing's figure could no longer be seen clearly, everyone got up from the ground one after another.

"Let Duke Cheng Guo personally command the Shenji Battalion to participate in the battle, alas..."

After secretly sighing, Yan Song picked up the tea cup with wolfberry water on the table and took a sip, with an inexplicable look on his face.

……

Shortly after the cabinet deliberations ended, many matters discussed in the cabinet deliberations, as well as the court's handling of the case of Hou Wenqing, a foreign minister from the Ministry of Industry, who blackmailed a postman while drunk, were also announced one after another.

Compared with many matters discussed in this cabinet meeting, officials are still more concerned about the outcome of the handling of Hou Wenqing, a member of the Ministry of Industry.

After all, the whole thing was so bizarre that it aroused a lot of curiosity.

At this time, the bulletin board not far from the cabinet was already surrounded by officials who came after hearing the news.

"Look, it says here that the next person responsible for commanding the imperial army is Yang Xuan, the governor of Jiliao. In addition, the Shenji Battalion will also participate in the war. This year, Enke's examiner is Li Chunfang, the Minister of Rites, and the same examiner Then Zhang Juzheng, Minister of the Ministry of War..."

"Okay, let's pay attention to these later. The most urgent task now is to see how the court deals with Hou Wenqing!"

"Yes, that's right. Let me take a look. It says that from now on, Hou Wenqing, a member of the Ministry of Industry, will be relieved of all official positions and ordered to remain in office and never use it again!"

When the officials near the bulletin board read out in public the court's results on the extortion of postmen by Hou Wenqing, a foreign minister from the Ministry of Industry, a discussion soon arose.

"Tsk, this Hou Wenqing is so miserable!"

"I see, this is clearly his own fault. A high-ranking official of the imperial court actually did such a shameless thing. He went to blackmail a postman. The imperial court was almost disgraced, and he was not punished. , it’s already considered kind!”

"Well, you are right. The imperial court will be completely embarrassed by this Hou Wenqing. By the way, this Hou Wenqing seems to be a Jinshi in the 23rd year of Jiajing..."

"Everyone, you should wish yourselves good luck next time. After all, the Sixth Section is not someone to be trifled with!"

While the officials who came to eat melons were talking about this, on the other side, in the Forbidden City, was the Ministry of Rites.

In the duty room, Li Chunfang was methodically processing the official documents sent by her subordinates. At this moment, she heard a rapid knock on the door.

Seeing this, Li Chunfang put the brush aside and said: "Come in!"

After the words fell, there was only a "squeak" sound, and the door of the room was pushed open. After a while, Xu Xuemo, the minister of etiquette, entered the room quickly.

At this time, Xu Xuemo's face was filled with excitement that could not be concealed. After entering the check-in room, he subconsciously looked in the direction of Li Chunfang, leaned down, and reported in a deep voice: "Master Shangshu, this is a great thing. !”

Hearing this, Li Chunfang glanced at Xu Xuemo, a look of surprise flashed across her face, and asked, "Oh, what's the big deal?"

Later, I saw Xu Xuemo suppressing the excitement in his heart. After organizing the words in his mind, he said respectfully: "Master Shangshu, the cabinet has decided that you will be the examiner of this Enke!"

When Xu Xuemo said this, he paused for a moment and then continued to add: "In addition, to show the importance the court attaches to this encore, Mr. Zhang Ge will also serve as the co-examiner by then!"

After learning the news from Xu Xuemo, the joy on Li Chunfang's face disappeared, replaced by a look of surprise that could not be concealed.

After that, Li Chunfang calmed down, looked in the direction of Xu Xuemo, and confirmed to him: "What do you mean, veteran Zhang Ge takes the position of co-examiner?"

Facing Li Chunfang's gaze, Xu Xuemo nodded and said in agreement: "Yes, Lord Shangshu!"

When Li Chunfang learned that she had been appointed as the examiner of this Enke examination, she was actually very happy. After all, those officials who passed the examination and entered official careers would automatically become his disciples.

Li Chunfang can also use this relationship to win over those new scholars to improve his status in the court.

After all, as the Minister of Rites, Li Chunfang is only one step away from joining the cabinet. When these new scholars gradually grow up, they will become his indispensable help in the future.

But now Cheng Yaojin showed up halfway. Zhang Juzheng, as a cabinet minister and Minister of War, could directly participate in the decision-making of national affairs, and his voice was much higher than his own.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng was able to offer higher prices to win over those new scholars. (End of chapter)