The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Yongkang Princess Mansion.

When Yongkang woke up, it was already three o'clock in the morning, and she had a splitting headache. She couldn't remember the process of the drinking contest last night, but she vaguely knew that she seemed to have lost.

"You were sent back, and you will be taken care of this night. Princess, you can't do this again."

The wet nurse was serving tea and water.

Yongkang was naturally angry and gritted his teeth and said: "He must have used some kind of blind trick, otherwise how could he not be drunk after drinking several kilograms of wine?"

Yongkang went to bathe and change clothes. After a lot of effort, the smell of alcohol was not washed away, but before she could finish cleaning up, the wet nurse came over to tell her that someone from the palace was here.

"Eunuch Li?"

Yongkang changed his clothes and walked out, only to see Li Rong holding the imperial edict in his hand and looking at her with a smile.

Li Rong smiled and said: "Your Majesty has a decree to convey, and it is about Consort Cui."

Yongkang calmed down and said respectfully: "I wonder what your brother means? Do you want to knight the consort?"

"No." Li Rong said, "His Majesty sent a decree to let Cui Prince Consort stay in Ningxia Town and serve as temporary deputy general and deputy general to assist Ningxia Governor Yang Yiqing in handling local military affairs and other matters."

"what?"

Yongkang stared when he heard this, "Should we stay in the northwest? Zhang Bingkuan doesn't keep his word."

Li Rong shook his head and said: "Your Highness, do you have any misunderstanding? Last night you went to the banquet and agreed to have a drinking contest. It seems that you came back drunk first, right?"

Yongkang was stunned on the spot and murmured: "Brother Huang also knows?"

She originally wanted to go to Zhu Youtang to complain, saying that Zhang Zhou deliberately let her, an eldest princess, drink in public to ruin the reputation of the Ming Dynasty royal family. Only then did she realize that Zhang Zhou had never concealed anything he had done. Zhu Youtang.

Or maybe her royal brother deliberately let her drink in front of others, or even made a fool of herself.

Li Rongdao: "Your Royal Highness, Prince Consort Cui's stay in the Northwest Army will be helpful to his prestige. Now what can he do when he returns to the capital? Will he really have a big future if he works in the capital camp? ?”

"Where is the title?" What Yongkang deplored the most was naturally the title that his husband could easily obtain.

Li Rong smiled and said: "If you stay in the northwest, you still have the opportunity to continue to make meritorious service. As for this military merit, your Majesty will also reward you based on your merit. He did not say not to give you a title, but it just depends on the timing. The war has just ended, and the Tatars will take the next step." His movements are unknown, so if you give me a knighthood at this time, you will inevitably be gossiped about."

Yongkang said: "If you are rewarded for your merits, what gossip will others have?"

"Consort Cui is a member of the royal family after all. A person who works in the clan's mansion has received a title. How can others not gossip? Your Royal Highness, the eldest princess, this is your majesty's order. You don't have to accept the order. You can see for yourself. This servant is here Let’s go back first.”

Li Rong didn't want to talk nonsense to Yongkang.

The emperor's will is the final arrangement, whether you, the eldest princess, accept it or not, or you have no right to object.

Yongkang was naturally very angry and refused to even send her away.

After the wet nurse came out, she consoled her: "It's a good thing that the prince-in-law has won the post of general."

Yongkang threw the imperial edict on the table angrily, and said with a look of shame and anger: "The emperor would rather listen to an outsider now than make decisions for his imperial sister! Who is the deputy general soldier? Don't take risks, let us husband and wife Thousands of miles apart, we may not have a chance to meet again in the future."

……

……

cabinet.

The appointment letter regarding Cui Yuan was drafted by the Hanlin Academy and soon reached the ears of the three cabinet ministers.

While taking a break for lunch, Li Dongyang seemed to be thinking: "It's strange that Cui Maoren was promoted by Wang Dehua, but he was left in the northwest without being recalled, and he didn't get the honor he deserved. It's a bit strange. .”

Xie Qian asked with a smile: "Do you think Cui Maoren's military exploits are not included in Zhang Bingkuan's plan?"

Li Dongyang said: "It also means that the previous plan is not wrong, or we can get closer to Cui Maoren. But Wang Dehui's side, recently... the talks have not gone well."

These three people in the cabinet are also having a headache now.

The previous plan was to tie the father and son Wang Hua and Wang Shouren to the side of traditional civil servants. Originally, they thought that the difficulty lay with the fledgling Wang Shouren. They were afraid that Wang Shouren would not know the truth, so they first looked for Wang Hua, who was easier to attack.

The result is...Wang Hua seems to be more ignorant than his son.

So much so that Wang Hua seemed to not even care about his own future. He chose to turn a deaf ear to the olive branches extended by traditional civil servants such as the cabinet, which frustrated Li Dongyang who went to lobby.

The plan to win over the Wang family and his son was blocked, so they naturally aimed at another person, the newly rising Cui Yuan.

Liu Jiandao: "After all, the attitude and principles of relatives of the emperor are not as firm as those of colleagues who were born in Jinshi."

Xie Qian seemed to be very interested and said: "I heard that there seems to be a lot of unhappiness between the eldest princess Yongkang and Zhang Bingkuan recently, and there are signs of getting worse. This may be an opportunity."

Liu Jian was not very interested in establishing a relationship with Princess Yongkang. He asked instead, "Where is Yang Yingning?"

I always think of winning over someone who is not easy to win over, so I might as well consider Yang Yiqing, whose official career is closer to that of a traditional civil servant.

Li Dongyang shook his head and said: "Since the memorial was submitted, Yang Yingning has not even submitted any memorials, and no letters have been sent to the capital in private. As for whether he has secretly communicated with the Ministry of War, or whether he has intentions How, now I don’t know at all.”

Although Yang Yiqing is a "rising star", in terms of scheming and scheming, he is no worse than the old fritters in the court.

Knowing that he was now the target of public criticism, Yang Yiqing knew that taking refuge with Zhang Zhou was the right path, but he maintained a superficial neutrality and was not directly involved with any forces in the court. He concentrated on getting everything in hand before he was transferred from the post of governor of Ningxia. Get the job done.

Xie Qian said: "Yang Yingning is very interesting. He worked as an academic administrator and managed horse administration in Shaanxi before. Earlier, he served as the patrol censor of Shaanxi. He is familiar with the political affairs of the northwest but is by no means proficient. Last year There was such a big mess in Ningxia's border affairs, yet His Majesty didn't even take him down, but gave him a chance to make meritorious deeds...Does he want to reciprocate the favor?"

Li Dongyang asked: "Yu Qiao, are you saying that he is grateful for Zhang Bingkuan's support?"

"Haha." Xie Qian smiled and shook his head, "It's hard to say."

"Yang Yingning relied on his seniority after all. The appointment as governor of Ningxia is not achieved overnight. If we don't rely on him, we can't expect Wang Dehua and Lu Quanqing to stand in our position." Liu Jian said, putting down a copy that had been prepared long ago. He took out the memorial from the top of the pile and said, "Tomorrow morning, I will mention this matter to His Majesty."

Xie Qian took it over and took a look: "Is there any movement among the Jurchens again?"

Li Dongyang knew what it said without even reading the content. Apparently he had paid attention to it before.

After Wang Shouren was transferred to Datong, even Lu Wan, the governor of Liaodong, was transferred back to the capital. After the governor of Liaodong was changed to Wang Xian, a traditional civil servant, the Jurchens of Liaodong finally got a chance to breathe. They wanted to "recover the lost territory" a series of times, and many of them were The Jurchens who were resettled in southern Liaoning and other places were also migrating secretly, going against the previous resettlement policies of the Ming Dynasty.Small-scale riots even occurred in Fushun and other places.

Although the matter was not too big, Liu Jian thought it could be used as an excuse.

Liu Jiandao: "Yang Yingning should also know that Zhang Bingkuan is not the only one who can mobilize the northwest general. Let him go to Nu'er Gandu Division to manage the army. This is not only to correct the chaos, but also to give him a chance to experience."

Nuer Gandu Division was proposed by Zhang Zhou to be reestablished, and it managed Jianzhou, Haixi Jurchen, etc.

When Yang Yiqing is at his most prosperous now, he must be waiting for the emperor and Zhang Zhou to transfer him to a more important position, such as replacing Qin Hong as the trilateral leader, or being transferred to the Xuanfu as governor, or even being promoted to a noble position. There is a chance to become the Minister of the Sixth Ministry and be transferred back to the capital, etc.

If Yang Yiqing is transferred to Liaodong, it will naturally be a kind of psychological test for Yang Yiqing. This can be regarded as a kind of beating for Yang Yiqing by the cabinet.

Xie Qian asked with a smile: "Your Majesty, can you agree? Zhang Bingkuan, you should be able to see our intention, right?"

Li Dongyang said: "When it comes to transferring Yang Yingning to Liaodong at this time, His Majesty will probably not object. Since the matter of pacifying the Jurchens in Liaodong is His Majesty's strategy, and now that trouble has occurred, it is reasonable and reasonable to send a meritorious minister to deal with it." . It seems that Zhang Bingkuan and Yang Yingning didn’t have much contact with each other. He came out to object at this time, but it happened to be true. I didn’t expect Zhang Bingkuan to object so rashly."

Li Dongyang is scheming.

Transferring Yang Yiqing from Ningxia governor to Liaodong was obviously to give Yang Yiqing power, but it also left Zhang Zhou and even the emperor speechless.

"Very good, very good."

Xie Qian seemed to understand, and was still smiling and sighing.

It was like a conspiracy, which made Xie Qian feel comfortable. Xie Qian said: "In the past, Zhang Bingkuan was in the dark, and we were in the open. Sometimes we had to guess how he would respond. Now it's different. We turn to Dark, I feel more flexible.”

Li Dongyang and Liu Jian rolled their eyes at Xie Qian at the same time.

As if to say.

Do you think that falling into darkness, that is, falling into passivity, is a good thing?

In the past, we could take the initiative to suppress Zhang Bingkuan, but nothing happened. Now that Zhang Bingkuan takes advantage of the situation, we are constrained everywhere, and even have to be led by his nose. Is this still worth celebrating?

Li Dongyang said: "Tomorrow morning, you have to pay attention to your tone when you present the memorial. It's because of you, Qiao, that you brought it up, so you can be prepared for both advance and retreat."

With Xie Qian as the proposer, Li Dongyang and Liu Jian first watched the fire from across the bank, taking advantage of Xie Qian's verbal convenience, which could be regarded as giving traditional civil servants a dimension to advance and retreat. If the emperor had strong objections to the matter, it could be regarded as leaving a way out.

"Understood." Xie Qian knew that he was just a hard worker and had no objection. Anyway, the division of labor in the cabinet has always been this way.

……

……

The plans of Liu Jian and the others are set, and they will not put too much emphasis on implementing them secretly.

In order to ensure that this matter was legal and reasonable, they first had to draw up a proposal in the report to Liaodong, suggesting that the emperor transfer Yang Yiqing to Liaodong. In this way, the matter would actually be known to the Chief of Ceremonies before the morning court meeting.

After Li Rong reported it to Zhu Youtang, Zhu Youtang didn't seem to think anything of it. Li Rong could see that this was a combination of kindness and power by the cabinet to win over Yang Yiqing, and it was not easy to expose it in front of the emperor.

When he went to meet with Zhang Zhou that night to discuss the case of Zhu Hui and other distinguished ministers, Li Rong made it clear to Zhang Zhou.

In the study room of Zhang Zhou's house.

Li Rong sat aside and watched Zhang Zhou write and draw. Li Rong was too embarrassed to even go up and see what Zhang Zhou wrote on the paper.

"Eunuch Li is worried that the Tatars will come back after Yang Yingning leaves Ningxia?" Zhang Zhou seemed to be confused and asked a question that left Li Rong speechless.

Li Rong said awkwardly: "Sir, aren't you worried that this newly-emerged capable minister will become inseparable from you? From now on, he should be someone you can rely on when you are on the grassland, right?"

The merits of Huamachi and Shigoucheng that you promoted were all calculated in advance and given to him for free.

After cultivating people, now you just throw them away?
Zhang Zhou said: "We are both working for the imperial court, so how can we distinguish each other? On the contrary, I feel that the cabinet's proposal is reasonable. If I were to choose a candidate to go to Liaodong to pacify the Jurchen, it would indeed be difficult to find someone other than Xin Xinbo who could people."

Li Rong smiled bitterly and said: "It's just a Jurchen, why are you so worried? On the contrary, it's a Korean who can easily lose his tail."

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said: "Eunuch Li is wrong. The Jurchens seem to have few people, but they have always been a hidden danger to the Central Plains dynasty. If they are suppressed but not eliminated, it will be the norm for some time in the future. It is not an ordinary person who can accept such an errand. I am We have a plan to let Tang Yin and An Bianhou take the orders to Liaodong. After all, they have experience in collecting and collecting."

"This...is pretty good."

Li Rong happily believes that Tang Yin is Zhang Zhou's direct descendant, and Tang Yin was previously responsible for shipbuilding and so on, and there was no room for him to use his talents. It is much better for Tang Yin to go to Liaodong for training than to let Yang Yiqing, who has become a major contributor to the Ming Dynasty, go to Liaodong. .

Zhang Zhou said: "Now the cabinet proposes to let Yang Yingning go, plus Marquis Anbian, isn't it good?"

"This……"

Li Rong didn't know how to evaluate it.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "The two of them had the experience of working together when they were in Ningxia. Now that Yang Yingning has won the reputation of the military, let him go to Liaodong to lead the army. Marquis Anbian who is eager to prove that he fights for the family, how good would it be?" "

Li Rongdao: "Sir, it's not that our family deliberately plays a different tune. You see, these two people can be of great help to you. If they are transferred to Liaodong... doesn't this weaken your own strength in Beijing?"

"Eunuch Li, you can't say that. When working for the court, you can't think about personal gain. Besides, I am a person who has nothing to do with the world. I don't seek any big development in the capital. I don't care about those who are powerful or not. It’s within my scope of thinking.”

Zhang Zhou looked very free and easy.

Li Rong couldn't help but smile bitterly after hearing this.

You have become the Duke of the State, the Minister of War, and a powerful official with less than one person and more than ten thousand people. How dare you say that you don't seek great development?

"Anbianhou can also make some adjustments. I think it is not impossible to send a few more young people to experience it." Zhang Zhou said, "For example, during the expedition to Hetao, Zhang Lun and Zhou Tang performed well. , Zhou Ying, and Jianchang Bo who has always been eager to express himself..."

"Uncle Jianchang? He..."

Li Rong wanted to say, is this a person?

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "It's better to let him go to Liaodong than to leave him in the capital, right?"

Li Rong was startled, thinking that this was really the case.

If Zhang Yanling stays in the capital, he will cause trouble. It is best to send him out all the time, so that the people in the capital can find peace. (End of chapter)