The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 439

The cabinet can no longer be as unscrupulous as before to reject Zhang Zhou as a different kind.

Even Liu Jian, the chief assistant, had to consider how to get along with Zhang Zhou Yu Chaotang.

If it is hard, it will only lead to alienation from the emperor; if it is soft, it is even more inappropriate, and the hard bones of Confucian officials are still needed... This requires a degree that is neither soft nor hard.

Liu Jian's expectation for Li Dongyang is that you will take up the banner of confronting Zhang Zhou in the future, and you can't show this confrontation too much on the surface.

I'm probably saying that, in fact, I have no countermeasures, and all the discretion is up to you to control.

The next two days.

Zhu Houxuan's condition is gradually recovering. Apart from showing some mild cold symptoms, he is basically fine. Even several people from Tai Hospital are allowed to go in to visit his condition, but every time they are stared at, as if they are afraid that they will come again. Treat the healthy to the dying.

Zhu Youtang himself also had some leisure time. When he walked out of the palace gate, he wanted to do one thing, which was to choose a place for his concubine to build a palace.

He was accompanied by Mou Bin, the Commander of Jin Yiwei, and Li Rong, the eunuch of Li Rong, and it happened that Zhu Youtang also wanted to go to relax.

"The capital is quite lively. It's been a long time since I saw so many people in the world!"

When Zhu Youtang saw the bustling crowd in the market, he was still very emotional, remembering that he hadn't been out of the palace for a long time.

Li Rong smiled and said: "Your Majesty, there are frequent good news in the frontier this year. The Tatars, Jurchens and other barbarians have all returned home. Now that it is after the autumn harvest, the common people will naturally come out and walk around. The morning and evening cities in the capital are very lively."

"Ah."

Zhu Youtang just nodded.

After walking for a while, he remembered something, stopped and said, "But this year, disasters are happening everywhere."

Li Rong was a little embarrassed for a moment.

After the 11th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty, there was a situation of floods in the south and drought in the north. The situation in the 12th year of Hongzhi was relatively good, but the situation in the 13th year of Hongzhi obviously deteriorated.

However, Li Rong is an "old rivers and lakes" after all. He quickly cleared his mind and said: "Originally, the imperial court has been constrained by the expense of the frontier in disaster relief over the years. The commercial villages were re-opened in Dawai, and the Qin Dynasty set up land to open up wasteland on three sides. The most important thing is the thrift you advocated, so that the Ministry of Households and government warehouses in various places have surplus food to help the victims, so that the people in the world can live and work in peace and contentment. This has created the prosperity of the capital today."

"is it?"

Only then did Zhu Youtang have a smile on his face.

He is not the kind of emperor who is easy to fool casually. After all, he has personally reviewed most of the memorials in the Ming Dynasty, especially those that mainly involved disaster relief. It is up to Zhu Youtang to intervene.

It can't be said that Daming is suffering from a disaster, and he doesn't believe you bragging about a peaceful and prosperous world in front of him.

But after what Li Rong said, it is mainly thanks to your majesty, you and Zhang Bingkuan, that the Northwest was subdued, so that Ming's expenses could be spent on people's livelihood, and then peace was brought.

When Zhu Youtang heard this, he felt that his face was bright, and he also felt that it was reasonable.

……

……

Zhu Youtang's complexion improved, and he was full of interest when he was walking around the capital.

He called Mou Bin over and asked, "Among the people in the capital, is there anything unusual recently?"

As the commander of Jinyiwei, Mou Bin is actually not responsible for listening to the gossip of the people in the market, but because the admiral Yang Peng of the East Factory is not there, he still pays attention to many things. Romance is said to have been compiled based on Yang's clan's defense against the Khitan outsiders in the early Song Dynasty. There are story books and play books, and they are published at the same time, and it was first started by Cai Guogong's theater building."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "General Yang? I've heard it before. Is this "Romance" different from the past?"

Mou Bin said: "There were also in the past, but not in such detail. I have never read history books, so I don't know the difference."

Mu Bin is not lying.

He didn't know, really didn't know.

In history, the stories of the generals of the Yang family have been circulated from the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, but the stories basically follow the direction close to the historical facts until the middle and late Ming Dynasty. It was only during the Wanli period that a relatively complete Yang family story was compiled, such as Ji Zhenlun's "Yang Family Mansion Romance" and Xiong Damu's "Northern Song Dynasty Chronicles".

So far, some Yang family figures that did not exist in history, such as Mu Guiying, Yang Zongbao, and events that did not exist, were presented to ordinary people in the form of novels.

In general.

It's a commendable spirit.

All the stories, no matter true or false, are all to set off this spirit of self-defense for the imperial court, and the historical facts develop dramatically.

Zhang Zhou probably advanced this spirit by six or seventy years.

Li Rong smiled and said: "Your Majesty, since it is a novel, it must not all follow the history books. The common people praise it, because it is in line with the current Ming and Tatar foreign enemies. If your majesty is free, you can go and listen to it yourself."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "Whether it's watching the play or listening to the story, I like it, but it's all written by Bing Kuan. Without Bing Kuan's company, I always feel that something is missing. Let me save some thoughts first, and wait for Bing Kuan to write it." After Kuan comes back, go with him."

"Yes."

Li Rongxin said.

They even have to go to the theater together, it's true that the monarch and his ministers are of the same heart.

"Come on, let's go outside Dong'anmen to have a look. There is Bingkuan's old house over there, and then Bingkuan's new house in the north. Look around to see if there is any suitable place."

Zhu Youtang came out to choose a site for the palace.

Now Li Rong, Mou Bin and others understood.

The address the emperor wanted must be close to Zhang Zhou's mansion, so that the emperor could visit Zhang Zhou's mansion while visiting the concubine's mother and son.

Is this for Concubine Xian?
I'm afraid there is a more reasonable reason for Bingkuan who often goes to and from the palace to look for him in the future?

……

……

Ministry of War.

Ma Wensheng, the Minister of the Ministry of War, was transferred to the Ministry of Officials as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs by a transfer order, and directly vacated the position of the Minister of the Ministry of War.

The emperor probably felt that it didn't matter whether there was a minister sitting in the high hall in the Ministry of War. Instead, it was more important to let the court know as soon as possible that Zhang Zhou was the best candidate to be the minister of the Ministry of War.

So now the affairs of the Ministry of War are handled by two servants.

In the past year or so, the ministers of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty have changed frequently. Wang Zongyi, Yang Mi, Xiong Chong, Zhang Zhou, Li Jie, and Xu Jin have worked successively. Except for Zhang Zhou, it seems that each of them did not last long.

Now the left servant of the Ministry of War is Xiong Chong, and the right servant is Xiong Xiu who was born as a local governor and Fu Que has just returned to the court.

The combination of the two bears was historically an iron combination of the servants of the Ministry of War from the 13th year of Hongzhi to the 17th year of Hongzhi. Their own strength is still good, but the two of them do not have the life of the six ministers of the capital. Only Xiong Chong has been a Nanjing householder for less than a year. Minister of the Ministry, Xiong Xiu didn't even get a minister, only a minister of the Ministry of punishment as a posthumous gift.

At this time, the Ministry of War belonged to the period when Shangshu opened the skylight.

There is no Shangshu, and there are no major events, but there are many chores.

But there was another incident that happened in the southeast, and the two had to sit down and discuss it... Before the official announcement of the new minister was Zhang Zhou, the two of them didn't have to be responsible to others for anything, they could basically represent the Ministry of War .

Xiong Chong was older, and he was also Zuo Shilang, but he was completely confused by Wei Guogong Xu Chu's performance.

Xiong Chong said with emotion: "Zhejiang Haining Guard was originally just a guard post in Jinghai. Why did it go to Nanyang with sea ships loaded with many artillery and soldiers? If those Java feudal states knew that I, Ming Dynasty, sent sea ships and soldiers , I must think that I, Ming, have the intention of encroaching on their islands and lands, but what are the plots in those overseas places? This matter will be very troublesome!"

Xu Wu is just playing routinely.

As mentioned, just after the Jiangnan Shipyard was established, even before the workshop was built, an old ship from the Ming Dynasty was rebuilt first, and it carried 100 soldiers and more than [-] servicemen with sailing experience and went to sea. There are no two boats, which makes Lao Xu a headache.

Because this ship went out to sea according to the route given by Zhang Zhou, it didn't look like it was defensive, but it seemed to be going out to fight.

Even if the two hundred soldiers seem to be a little less, Xu Yu is also afraid that something will happen to the ship after it goes to sea.

Xiong Xiu asked: "Brother Teng Xiao, I don't know much about the affairs of the Ministry of War. I'm new here... Look, did Zhang Zhou do things so eclectic?"

Regardless of his younger age, Xiong Xiu was a Jinshi in the second year of Chenghua, and he was awarded the Jinshi degree three years earlier than Xiong Chong. After so many years of being around, he was able to return to the court as a servant just after the end of the guard system... It's not because of his ability, but because others think he is "harmless to humans and animals".

The traditional faction believes that finding an incompetent assistant to Zhang Zhou will make Zhang Zhou exhausted in the affairs of the Ministry of War... Who told you that even if you have been the left servant of the Ministry of War, you have not done anything in the Ministry of War?

You still want us to find someone very experienced to help you?
For the emperor, Xiong Xiu did not belong to the traditional faction, and it happened to be taken over by Zhang Zhou for his own use.

Then Xiong Xiu was so confused, she was a magistrate before her mother's funeral, and became a servant directly when she came back... But the matter at hand, the more she looked at it, the more wrong it became.

Xiong Chong sighed: "If he followed the rules in everything he did, do you think a new Jinshi who has not passed the exam for three years can achieve his current position?"

"Hey! It makes sense." Xiong Xiu also had to accept.

Although Zhang Zhou is a model of "sycophants" in the court, he is a good sycophant. There is probably a kind of family who has a close relationship with the emperor, but it is through his ability that he conquered the emperor's heart and was promoted by the emperor's insightful eyes. up.

"But how do you decide?" Xiong Xiu asked again, "The ship is equipped with 24 mighty cannons, six mighty long-distance cannons, and one mighty heavy cannon. The imperial court will explain it from top to bottom."

The cannons invented by Zhang Zhou are all called "mighty cannons". Those without superfluous words are light cannons, long-distance cannons are sub-parent cannons, and heavy cannons are basically enhanced versions of Hongyi cannons.

In the eyes of those who are in charge of the military and political affairs, it is simply crazy for a ship to go out with two hundred soldiers and more than 30 cannons at a time.

It is also because Daming has never fought a decent water battle since the founding of the country, and even the water battles at the founding of the country were not naval battles. So many new cannons that were originally used to defend against the Tatars in the north were used in an inconspicuous sea operation, and the Ministry of War felt that Zhang Zhou was acting recklessly.

Xiong Chong said: "This copy was sent to the Ministry of War. In fact, a copy has already been sent to the bank. I just need to answer when asked by His Majesty or cabinet ministers. I guess His Majesty probably won't take it." Go up to the court and say, after all, it was the man who did it, and His Majesty must have acquiesced. Just deal with the cabinet ministers well."

Xiong Chong still has "experience".

Zhang Zhou went out to sea with artillery on his boat, so he didn't have to worry about the emperor's questioning, he only needed to care about how the traditional civil servants would give us problems.

It seems that the servants are dealing with the big and small affairs of the government, but in fact most of the things are still done by the people below. They still have to deal with people more than with things.

"Then..." Xiong Xiu asked, "How do you say it?"

Xiong Chong said: "If you are asked, you can't say that the Ministry of War did not know in advance. After all, doing so would offend that person, and may even make His Majesty dissatisfied. When that person did this, he was still the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. There is no need to say hello to us in Beijing."

"So?" Xiong Xiu was obviously not very good at playing.

Xiong Chong sighed: "Think about it, who was in charge of the Ministry of War when this happened? Did you come then? When you were asked, you said that you would go back and check the official letters sent from various places to see if there was anything involved. This is the content. If you are really urgent to ask, let me mention one more thing, and say that the Southern Military Department has always been the first to ask about the Jinghai matter, and the Southern Military Department can directly report to His Majesty..."

When Xiong Xiu heard this, he probably already understood.

You can neither evade nor be sure, so you have to say some ambiguous words to appease the cabinet ministers on the grounds that you have just arrived at the Ministry of War and have not seen all the official documents.

The affairs of the Ministry of War itself do not need to be responsible to any ministers in the court, but there were many things during the Hongzhi period. The emperor asked the cabinet to say hello to the six ministries in advance when they drafted the bills, so that the cabinet gradually had a "prime minister" who was superior to the six ministries. "The right.

……

……

The cabinet probably realized that Zhang Zhou was preparing to use troops against the southeast sea when he saw Xu Yu's report about sending ships to sea, bringing soldiers, artillery, and even firecrackers.

Xie Qian took Xu Chu's memorial and directly opened the door to ask Liu Jian's opinion.

Li Dongyang was not there at this time.

After Liu Jian took it over and looked at it, he put it aside and said indifferently: "Zhang Bingkuan built a ship in the name of Jinghai, and built a ship to patrol the sea with artillery. Is there anything wrong with it?"

When Xie Qian heard it, something was wrong immediately, and asked: "Is it because the wind in our pavilion is not blowing right these days?"

Liu Jian rolled his eyes at him and said, "What do you want to say?"

Xie Qian sat on a chair beside him, pondered for a while, then shook his head and said, "Liu Zhongtang, you should know that Zhang Bingkuan's intentions have never been about the stability of Daming's sea frontier. Nanyang shipped back a batch of goods designated by Zhang Bingkuan. Could it be that Zhang Bingkuan had already prepared it, and if he couldn’t buy it, he would just grab it? Or did he not plan to buy it at all?”

Merchant ships go to Nanyang to do business.

And Zhang Zhou sent a boat to Nanyang, he didn't intend to spend money, so he just used violence.

Liu Jian's tone remained calm and said: "There may not be many people on an island in Nanyang, so it's just right to send two to three hundred people there."

As he spoke, he was still moving his pen like flying.

Xie Qian asked, "What is this for?"

"Please resign."

Liu Jian didn't hide it either.

Xie Qian was speechless.

Feeling Li Dongyang is not here today, you are busy writing your resignation letter inside, and I am the only one there to worry about the drafting of the ticket?Fortunately, I still feel that I am just a supporter of the cabinet, and now I am the one who starts the relationship, so I am playing the leading role?

"Then shall I go back and write a copy?" Xie Qian asked.

"Anything you want." Liu Jian replied still indifferently.

Xie Qian thought about it, but gave up this idea.

If the emperor really wants to let them go, he will give all kinds of hints. Now the emperor has not expressed this intention at all, and it is useless to write it back, and the emperor will not agree.

Xie Qian said: "Should I bring this matter up to the court?"

Liu Jian looked up at Xie Qian and said, "Yu Qiao, I hope that when something happens in the future, it's best for the government and the public to know, but it shouldn't be known in the court."

"This is..." Xie Qian frowned.

"Things can be publicized, but don't mention them in court, otherwise what is right will become wrong, and what is wrong will be even more wrong!" Liu Jian seemed to be teaching Xie Qian how to do things.

Xie Qian frowned and said, "That means, if Zhang Bingkuan is allowed to act recklessly in the future, I won't even be able to give direct remonstrance!?"

I was thinking while talking, and sure enough, the wind in the cabinet has turned, only I haven't woken up yet.

Liu Jian finally finished writing his resignation, put down his pen, and waited for the ink to dry before he had the heart to face Xie Qian and said, "Go to the Ministry of War and ask, and just say that you want to know the details of going to sea. Don't embarrass the people in the Ministry of War. Now the government and the opposition are facing each other. What happened to Zhang Bingkuan was all done with hindsight, and they can’t change anything. Let’s play with the topic a little bit by the way, but don’t let it be you who say it yourself, just pretend it’s Wei Guogong’s performance, and let it out by the way.”

Xie Qian said: "The government and the public know it, and they will discuss it in secret. Does your majesty not know?"

"It's okay for Your Majesty to know." Liu Jian said, "As long as I don't wait to raise it, Your Majesty won't bother to ask. Your Majesty only cares about the results."

"Ah."

Xie Qian nodded, got up and was about to leave.

Liu Jian reminded: "Leave the memorabilia, and the ticket plan does not have to be decided in the future."

Xie Qian was surprised for a moment.

Let me ask the Ministry of War about this in the name of drafting a ticket, but you have already decided on the content of the ticket?Then what else should I ask?
Liu Jian said: "Yu Qiao, Bingkuan is very disciplined in his work. Externally, he is very tough. Like a tiger, he will never let the food go away; internally, he is very weak. He seems to never confront us head-on."

"Occasionally confronting us in the courtroom is also intentional, and every time it seems to be a passive counterattack. This will win a good impression in front of His Majesty, and make His Majesty feel that he can be outside and at the same time. Your Majesty."

"We need to understand his plan and change some strategies."

(End of this chapter)