The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 335 The Way of Balance
night.

Inside the palace cabinet.

Li Dongyang was still drawing the light to draw up the bill. As a person on night duty in the cabinet and a member of the newly established Shangdiao Office, Li Dongyang was shouldering two errands at the same time, and he didn't take the assignment of the Shangdiao Office too seriously in his heart.

After midnight, there were footsteps outside, and the person from Zhongshushe, who was in charge of serving tea and water, knocked on the door.

"Cevil Department, Eunuch Xiao, Supervisor of Rituals, is visiting."

Li Dongyang just got up, first added two pieces of charcoal to the brazier, and then went to open the door.

Xiao Jing stood respectfully at the door, but did not enter.

"Eunuch Xiao?" Li Dongyang didn't deliberately salute, Xiao Jing couldn't just come to visit at night, since he came, he must have something to do.

Xiao Jingdao: "There is an important military situation related to the march of the Liaodong army, please go to the elder Li Ge to meet the saint."

"Your Majesty... haven't you slept yet?" Li Dongyang didn't even want to ask what happened in Liaodong, because from the previous sporadic news, it can be seen that Lu Wan was marching rapidly on the grassland, and the news was delayed for six or seven days before reaching the capital. The speed is slower than the transmission of the battle report on Ningxia West Road.

"Please." Xiao Jing didn't say much.

If you are told to face the saint, you don't have to worry about whether the emperor is asleep, you will definitely see him when you go.

……

……

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

The lights were bright, and Zhu Youtang couldn't see clearly at night. Usually, for the sake of saving money, he put the candles in front of his eyes to illuminate them. But that night, he used more than a dozen candles to illuminate the entire palace.

Dai Yi and Wei Bin were not there, but Chen Kuan stood by.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Li Ge, please come." Xiao Jing walked in front of Li Dongyang, and the two came in directly without communicating in advance.

Zhu Youtang looked up.

Li Dongyang hurried forward to salute.

Zhu Youtang said: "If it's so late, going to let Bingkuan enter the palace, will it disturb him too much?"

Li Dongyang thought to himself, is it too late for the emperor to discuss with his courtiers about important matters?

"Your Majesty, is there any important military situation?" Li Dongyang asked.

Neither the Tongzhengshi nor the cabinet saw it. The military information should have been directly transmitted to the emperor, and Li Dongyang is not surprised now.

Zhu Youtang sighed and said, "The news just came seven days ago. It was snowing on the grassland. Governors of Liaodong, Lu Wan and Marquis Shouning, were leading troops to chase Duoyan Sanwei. It was confirmed that the one walking on the north bank of Huangshui was Tai Most of Ning, and Duoyan's small, as for Fuyu and Duoyan's majority, they travel on another westward road forty or fifty miles north of Huangshui."

While speaking, Zhu Youtang asked Chen Kuan, who was standing beside him, to hand over Lu Wan's performance to Li Dongyang.

Li Dongyang took it over and looked at it, frowning.

Zhu Youtang said: "The area around Keshidan was originally the area of ​​activity of the Chahar Department, where the little Tatar prince and the three guards of Duoyan were fighting. This battle may take place here. According to Lu Wan's prediction, if everything goes well, In two or three days, we will catch up with the troops retreating westward from Duoyan Sanwei South Road from the north bank of Huangshui."

Li Dongyang quickly scanned the contents of the memorial, and asked: "Your Majesty, I don't understand what the governor of Liaodong said about the ambush of the Ming Dynasty."

"Is there anything you don't understand?" Zhu Youtang said, "Jizhou sent [-] cavalry, led by Wang Xian and Peng Quan, and they arrived in Huangshui early. Set up an ambush along the route. Use the artillery brought to the grassland by Jizhou to block the westward advance of Duoyan Sanwei."

Li Dongyang heard that the horizontal frown on his brow almost jumped out of the skin.

He said: "Your Majesty, this is a very risky move."

Zhu Youtang said: "The war is approaching, so it's useless to say this now. I won't be able to sleep tonight, if everything goes well..."

The emperor also seemed to have fallen into a state of "madness".

Li Dongyang looked at Xiao Jing and Chen Kuan with their heads down, and said: "Once the situation of this battle changes, I'm afraid the morale of the Ming Ji Liao soldiers will not be able to recover within three to five years."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "Of course I also know the consequences of losing this battle, but how can there be a battle that is invincible?"

Li Dongyang felt mixed feelings when he heard this.

It seems that the emperor is still sensible.

Both want to win, but also know that it is impossible to win all the time.

"Li Qing's family, don't you think it is already very difficult for Daming to win with artillery and sky gunpowder now?" Zhu Youtang started the topic first.

"Yes." Li Dongyang cupped his hands.

It is obvious that Daming has a new firearm, which can catch the Mongolian tribe by surprise once or twice.

But in the long run, if people are prepared, they won't give them a chance.

Zhu Youtang said: "In the battle at Pianguan, the victory seemed to be dangerous, but in fact it was just that Wang Yue wanted to show his merits, intentionally created a dangerous place, and counterattacked with a surprise army, killing Huosie by surprise."

"This battle, together with the subsequent battle of Liaodong and Ningyuan, is all about waiting for work, relying on Bingkuan's prophecy, waiting for the Tatars to take the initiative to attack, it can be said to be effortless."

"However, in the battle of Weininghai, we had to take advantage of the situation on the grasslands and travel long distances to detour behind the Tatars to complete a surprise attack. It was also after the Battle of Weininghai that no matter which tribe the Tatars were from, it was no longer possible for the Tatars to face Ming again. The opportunity to fight, especially when the Ming Dynasty artillery and soldiers are complete."

Li Dongyang said helplessly: "But Your Majesty, even so, there is no need to let the Ming soldiers go deep into the grassland, so it is equivalent to giving the Tatars a chance to counterattack."

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "I don't want to take risks, but if I don't, I'm afraid I won't even have the chance to win in the future."

Li Dongyang wanted to say that not winning is not the key, losing is the key.

Take the risk... Once or twice, the battle of Weining Sea is enough, and now His Majesty and that Zhang Bingkuan are still addicted?

Zhu Youtang said: "At present, it seems that the process is going smoothly. The remaining tribal troops of Duoyan Sanwei have been added several ways, or only 4 or [-] people. This also includes the men, women, old and young of their tribe. Batumeng Ke's men don't seem to be in the Eastern Grassland, so there is a great chance of winning this battle."

Li Dongyang said: "But Your Majesty, it's snowing on the grassland now. In such bitter cold weather, not to mention fighting, I'm afraid that the soldiers will suffer great losses when marching, and they may never return."

Zhu Youtang laughed and said, "Does Mr. Li Ge have to be so alarmist?"

Li Dongyang lowered his head and said with a bit of annoyance: "I just made an analysis of the worst situation."

"Hehe." Zhu Youtang continued to smile, as if chatting with Li Dongyang, his mood also relaxed a lot, "The grassland tribes have lived on the grassland for one to two thousand years, and no matter how bad the environment is, they have not let them down. They were completely destroyed, and they are still a hidden danger to Da Ming. I know that bad weather will hinder Da Ming's march, but it will not cause too bad results because of the weather."

Li Dongyang no longer refuted.

"Mr. Li Ge, about Bingkuan's plan for this battle, you will tell the people in the court and the opposition tomorrow. I am a little tired today, and tomorrow's court meeting will not be over."

Zhu Youtang was looking for a reason for not going to court.

Li Dongyang didn't say anything, just arched his hands, probably meaning that he knew it.

Zhu Youtang got up, but he seemed to be unable to stand still. He supported the table, and his tone seemed very slow: "I have always felt restless recently. Since I used Bingkuan, everything has gone so smoothly. God has also favored me too much. Even the use of soldiers, which I never dared to think about before, can be done to such an extent... I am afraid that God will take back some of what is bestowed on me."

"Your Majesty..." Li Dongyang wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zhu Youtang's hand.

Zhu Youtang said: "This is the last battle of this year. In the spring of next year, unless the Tatars invade, I will not take the initiative to use troops again. Now it is too late to recall the soldiers and horses. Whether it is Lu Wan, It's still Wang Xian, who are all admired by Bing Kuan, and I still have some confidence in them. Please go back, Mr. Li Ge."

……

……

After Li Dongyang waited for Zhu Youtang to go towards the Jiaotai Palace, he left the gate of Qianqing Palace under the guidance of Xiao Jing.

Xiao Jingdao: "Tomorrow morning, His Majesty won't go to court, what else does Li Ge want to ask?"

Li Dongyang raised his head to look at Xiao Jing, and said in doubt: "Zhang Zhou sent troops with two groups of troops, Eunuch Xiao should have known about it a long time ago, right?"

"It's not long... Mr. Li Ge, don't misunderstand, His Majesty forbade you to say it..." Xiao Jing hurriedly cleared himself up.

Xiao Jing still wanted to stand with the cabinet. In his opinion, after he was officially promoted to be the supervisor of ceremonies, it was better to have a good relationship with the cabinet than with Zhang Zhou.

The position of the chief inspector of ceremonies has a direct conflict of interest with Zhang Zhou, and the cabinet and the official seal of the chief inspector of ceremonies can actually form an echo.

Take what you need.

So he didn't want to fight against Li Dongyang and other cabinet ministers, and he didn't want them to think that he was on Zhang Zhou's side.

Li Dongyang walked in front, Xiao Jing followed behind, Li Dongyang said: "Your Majesty knows that this battle may lose, but still insists on listening to Zhang Zhou's way of governing the army. If every time you have to rely on dangerous moves to win, the Ming Frontier Army Some soldiers will also think that in the future, they must take risks to be successful, and there will be more and more reckless things. In the future, will the Ming Dynasty's borders be based on defense, or light soldiers and aggressive advances?"

Xiao Jingdao: "Master Ge is worrying too much, these things... our family dare not speak up, and we are not qualified to speak up."

What is the main thing?
Xiao Jing wanted to say.

Based on Zhang Zhou's mood, if he said stick to it, he would stick to it, and if he said to advance rashly, he would advance rashly.

If Zhang Zhou was allowed to win battles all the time, no matter how doubtful the emperor was, he would not act against Zhang Zhou's wishes. This was the reality.

Xiao Jing looked at Li Dongyang who was walking in front with narrow eyes, and said to himself, don't you, Li, know this?
Li Dongyang said: "I'm also afraid that the scale of troops used in the grassland will increase day by day. Whether it is Pianguan, Ningyuan, or Weininghai, they all won by chance. Now that they have gone deep into Horqin grassland and used more than [-] troops, if there is a disturbance in this battle No matter how much we gained before, it is not as good as what we lost in this battle."

Xiao Jing tentatively asked: "Elder Ge thinks, will this battle be won or lost?"

"Probably...you will get it." Li Dongyang said helplessly.

When Xiao Jing heard this, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Shouldn't you, Li Dongyang, be contrarian?Before you were in front of the emperor, even the emperor thought you were quite alarmist, how come you are in front of me...you tend to believe Zhang Zhou instead?

Li Dongyang may also feel that it is inappropriate for him to say so, he said: "Qin Emperor Hanwu, no matter how many troops they use, how can the people have happiness? The rule of Wenjing, the people live in peace, do not rely on foreign military fronts, it all depends on the king Benevolence and filial piety govern the country."

Xiao Jingdao: "Ge Lao, this benevolence and filial piety can govern the country, but it cannot govern His Majesty's heart."

"Ok?"

Li Dongyang was just expressing his emotions in front of Xiao Jing, which was to express the cabinet's central idea of ​​governing the country to the future eunuch.

Who knows that Xiao Jing's side is not a naughty melon like Dai Yi.

Xiao Jing also only looks kind, but in fact he is very dark-hearted, and Xiao Jing can see clearly the way of life today.

Did the emperor use Zhang Zhou to govern the country?Do not make jokes.

"Your Majesty uses the Duke of Lai for selfish reasons rather than for public service." Xiao Jing also let the cabinet know his position and knowledge, and it can be regarded as a prestige for himself. , but from the beginning of the year to the present, is it true that Daming spent more coins this year than usual?"

Li Dongyang was silent for a moment.

Civil officials initially attacked Zhang Zhou's adventurism.

After discovering that Zhang Zhou had been winning all the time, he changed to use Zhang Zhou to attack with military force regardless of the life and death of the people of Ming Dynasty.

But now Xiao Jing also made it clear that Zhang Zhou did not purely increase the consumption of Daming's treasury in terms of running the army, and pursued the principle of military priority, and the expenditure of Daming's treasury did not increase because of this.

In this way... It didn't affect the people's livelihood, but still won the victory on the battlefield, this is called skill.

Xiao Jingdao: "Your Majesty certainly wants to rule the people with benevolence and filial piety, but the hearts of the people also need the use of soldiers in the north to rule them. If the Ming Dynasty repeatedly violates the border, and the frontier soldiers can do nothing but stand firm, then they will preach benevolence and filial piety to the people. Is it helpful for enlightenment? Sometimes His Majesty actually has no choice.”

"Hehe." Li Dongyang smiled, "Eunuch Xiao, you still admire Zhang Bingkuan."

Xiao Jing shook his head: "If it's always like this, it's okay. It's a pity...Since ancient times, which powerful minister has not come from a capable minister? Our family is also afraid."

What are you afraid of, there is no need to say more.

Li Dongyang understood that if Xiao Jing wanted to stand on the position of the emperor, he must find a force to check and balance Zhang Zhou, and not let Zhang Zhou's family dominate.

Li Dongyang understood what this meant.

Xiao Jing wanted to support what Zhang Zhou had done from the standpoint of the emperor, but also to guard against Zhang Zhou's arbitrariness of power, which would affect the stability of Ming Dynasty.

"Yes." Li Dongyang nodded.

This conversation can be regarded as an open and honest conversation between the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Foreign Affairs about Zhang Zhou, the most powerful minister in Ming Dynasty, before Xiao Jing formally took over the Supervisor of Rites.

It can't be called an alliance, it's more like... stating a position and cooperating for a win-win situation.

As for Zhang Zhou, he is already winning and there is no need to cooperate with them.

……

……

Zhang Zhou did not enter the palace to meet Zhu Youtang until around noon the next morning.

And early in the morning, the details of the use of troops in Liaodong had been spread to the court and the public, but the ministers strictly abide by a principle, that is, not to criticize casually until the results of the battle are obtained.

Or to put it another way... Zhu Youtang asked for leave that day and did not go to the court, and they had no way to criticize it. Even if they wrote memorials to persuade the king, it would take a process. The emperor could not approve such memorials at any time. To be polite, not to criticize someone directly is to be kind to ministers.

"Your Majesty." Zhang Zhou met the emperor, but it was in the back garden of the palace.

Zhu Youtang said: "I'm in a nervous mood today, I haven't had a good rest these two days, I can't sleep at night, and I feel groggy during the day, so I came here for a walk."

Zhang Zhou said: "Did the imperial physician prescribe some tranquilizing medicine for His Majesty?"

"It's useless." Zhu Youtang said, "In fact, I also know that ordinary people are probably like this, unless I can find some sustenance, but apart from this matter of governing the country, what else can I use as sustenance?"

this question...

Zhang Zhou felt that the emperor understood very deeply.

As an emperor, in addition to governing the country, of course you can also indulge in sensuality, or like your future nephew Zhu Houcong, you can devote yourself to Taoism and pursue longevity...

"Bingkuan, you should also know about the use of troops in the north. I am not too worried about whether this battle can be won, but I have another problem. This battle is a joint battle between Jizhou and Liaozhen. Regarding the division of military merit, if there is a dispute, have you thought about how to resolve it?" Zhu Youtang is a king, and Zhang Zhou also thinks that Zhu Youtang is quite high.

Before the war happens, don't think about winning or losing, first think about how to divide the credit.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Isn't it a good thing to have disputes?"

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Is it a good thing?"

Zhang Zhou said with emotion: "There is competition, there is vitality. If whoever is sent, he can get the credit, and the credit is in dispatching, not in fighting. This is why I never want your majesty to praise me too much."

"You...you're still humbled." Zhu Youtang gave Zhang Zhou a white look.

"The dispatch of troops from Jizhou and Liaodong was a last resort under the circumstances. No matter which side contributed more, if there was a dispute afterwards, it would also give the ministers of the DPRK and China a chance to sidestep and mediate." Zhang Zhou said.

"How?" Zhu Youtang became interested.

Zhang Zhoudao: "I have used soldiers for a year. I believe that all the people I have used are people recommended by me. The ministers in the court have some criticisms about this, and think that I am nepotism."

"En." Zhu Youtang nodded.

In fact, what Zhang Zhou said was not only what the ministers were worried about, but even the emperor would not say that he had no idea about it at all.

Zhang Zhou can be awesome with whoever he uses. In the future, will these people listen to Zhang Zhou or the emperor?
Zhang Zhoudao: "In fact, I also hope that there are ministers who have made achievements on the battlefield, and they are recommended by the officials in the court. Now it is up to the ministers to employ people, but when it comes to merit...we can distinguish relatives and estrangements. At that time, the officials will also follow Wang Xian. He and Lu Wan make a choice among the two, who to take over and help."

"You..." Zhu Youtang frowned, "Bingkuan, why don't you speak so directly? They are all recommended by you, but you push them towards the minister?"

"There is no way, Your Majesty, every time I want to use troops, the officials think there is a problem and want to refuse, so why not let the ministers secretly plan for His Majesty, and let the ministers recommend the method and candidates for the use of troops, so that everyone will be happy? "

Zhang Zhou actually made it clear.

He deliberately created a dispute between Jizhou and Liaodong over the division of credit, so as to cause some disputes among the generals in the army, and let the traditional civil servants choose one side to deal with the other side.

Sounds like digging a hole for yourself.

But what is Zhu Youtang's identity?How could he not know the way of balance in court?He used Zhang Zhou precisely because he wanted to use Zhang Zhou to balance the status quo of North Korea and Chinese being strong and military weak.

(End of this chapter)