The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

The emperor went to court for the first time after his illness, and he left before it lasted long. However, the ministers did not leave just yet. They had to handle some court affairs in the palace, and the emperor sent people to supervise them.

Inside the Wenhua Hall.

A lot of desks and cushions have been set up long ago so that the ministers can sit down to deal with and discuss these matters. There are many matters that have been backlogged for a long time. It is normal for the backlog of matters to last three to four months and half a year. There are many things that the ministers think The emperor had forgotten about it, and who knows, he just ignored it.

Li Dongyang had a long discussion with Ji Zhong, the Minister of Household Affairs. When he came back, no one followed him, and those present deliberately kept their distance from him so that he could discuss matters alone with Liu Jian.

Li Dongyang delivered a booklet that was not a memorial but just a newspaper to Liu Jian and said: "Last year, the government added more than two million taels of silver, and the expenditure reached 1.26 million taels, which can be regarded as a record. The best in the past few years.”

"Oh?"

Liu Jian had never been very clear about the expenses of the inner government, so he couldn't help but pick it up and look at it.

Li Dongyang commented: "More than half of them were brought back from overseas. Outsiders don't know exactly where they were brought back from. But I heard that if we send ships out to sea after the beginning of spring, we can bring back a lot."

Liu Jian said with a bit of worry on his face: "The sudden increase in silver will probably lead to rising prices."

Although there are still some concepts of economics in this era, the theory of inflation caused by additional currency issuance still has a rough outline in the minds of these traditional civil servants. As ministers of state affairs, if they do not even understand this basic principle, Then Liu Jian doesn't have to mess around anymore.

"It's strange to say," Li Dongyang said, "In addition to the basic construction of temples and Taoist temples, the rest of the increased expenses of the inner government were spent on military expenses, especially the large-scale purchase of military rations, even in the northwest We have purchased a lot of grain cultivated and grown by merchants, but even so, the price of grain this winter has remained at a low level, instead of rising, it has fallen. "

"is it?"

Liu Jian couldn't help but frown.

Although cabinet ministers are equivalent to prime ministers without formal titles and deal with state affairs, cabinet ministers themselves are not directly linked to the lives of ordinary people. Regarding matters such as food prices in the market, they only listen to what others say and do not personally go there. Check.

Li Dongyang took out another copy and handed it to Liu Jian, who then opened it and read it.

"This is reported by Dongchang. Comparative changes in grain prices in various parts of the north since last year's spring famine. The prices of various crops are listed in it. Even if I don't know how much is true and how false, I have asked the Ministry of Household Affairs. Basically, There is no difference from the actual situation, and after the autumn grain harvest, last year was not a smooth one. Famines were still common in various places, but the extent of disaster relief was not reduced, but at the end of the year... the government's grain inventory still increased. "

After Li Dongyang finished speaking, he was already waiting for Liu Jian's opinion.

Liu Jian said: "If local officials are trying to cover up disasters and pretend that things are peaceful, and are levying heavy taxes, this is unacceptable and should be thoroughly investigated."

"There's no way to find out." Li Dongyang said, "It may be that the grain stored in the past few years was released last year. This may affect the price of grain after the spring famine. It's hard to say."

Still no clue.

Obviously there was not a good harvest of grain, and the emperor brought so much silver from overseas, which should have caused inflation. After all, grain prices are the most intuitive manifestation. However, the result was that grain prices did not rise but fell. People's lives were stable, and there was no excessive taxation. Even This is a situation where the imperial court forcibly pays the grain.

Everything seemed so irrational.

"Check again." Liu Jian had no objection and could only reserve his opinion.

Li Dongyang nodded and said: "The matter still needs to be investigated. There is still news. After the spring, Zhang Bingkuan will promote new food crops in Yongping Mansion and other places. This matter can be big or small. His Majesty has given permission. And we don’t intend to decide through the imperial court..."

The meaning is obvious. Do we want to fight to the death and not allow Zhang Zhou to mess around?
Liu Jian also did not give an accurate attitude.

After the two were silent, Liu Jian suddenly asked: "The cabinet has not seen Zhang Tingmian's memorial in the past few days. Have you seen it today?"

"Never. How..." Li Dongyang wanted to ask, why was he suddenly so concerned about Old Man Zhang?

Liu Jiandao: "In terms of matters in the northwest, he can be said to have done a good job. First he participated in the impeachment of Ma Yi, and then led the impeachment of Wang Shouren, which made people think that he was unique or in control of the overall situation. But in the end it was a joke! His son followed suit. Ma Yi went to the grassland and made military achievements, and now he wants to reward him based on his merits. What's the point?"

Liu Jian was also annoyed.

Had it not been for Zhang Mao's efforts to impeach Ma Yi, the cabinet would not have been so sure that the war in the northwest was over, and would not have made such a big mistake on the issue of Xie Qian.

At the moment, Liu Jian was holding a booklet with rewards for meritorious service issued by the emperor. Today, the ministers went to the Wenhua Hall to discuss matters, mainly to discuss how to reward meritorious soldiers. Liu Jian thought that he had been Zhang If you don't act calmly, you will naturally feel very angry.

Li Dongyang seemed very calm about this matter, saying: "Zhang Tingmian seems to be a far-sighted old fox, but he has repeatedly been greedy for small things and lost big things in matters of great right and wrong. First he sat back and watched Zhang Bingkuan rise, and now he is leading the troops in person and still can't see the situation clearly. It can be said that I'm so confused now. Even if he knows the good news about the grassland, what can he do? If he pretends not to know anything, he will be forgotten. The more he jumps around, the easier it is for someone to get caught. ...Alas! Insufficiency and conspiracy!”

Liu Jiandao: "His Majesty kept him in the northwest this time just to make him look good. Since he can't bear to break the pus, let's help him. When we look for him again, we must look for him secretly and impeach him. Doing nothing makes you old and stupid.”

Li Dongyang smiled and said: "Isn't this like beating up a drowned dog?"

Liu Jian said with a bit of cruelty on his face: "If he doesn't fall into the water, we will fall into the water! This kind of person... has been arrogant in Taipingwo for a long time, and there is no wind and waves. Even if he wants to retreat bravely, we have to push him forward." Hey, the grievances and conflicts in the Governor's Mansion are not something he can just let go of."

"Yeah." Li Dongyang nodded.

It seems that the two of them can completely reach a consensus on the issue of dealing with Zhang Mao.

……

……

Ningxia, Huamachi.

Zhang Mao sat there with an indifferent expression, while Zhong Decai was still reading out a detailed battle report in front of him, some of which were written by Zhang Rui himself. As for Liu Jing on the side, he just wanted to find a crack in the ground to slip in.

"Well, let's talk about it. I've lost face to my grandma's house. Now that my son has led his troops out of the grassland and joined forces with Datong's troops, there won't be any more accidents, right? Tell me about it. , If I continue to pretend to be deaf, will others forget all my scandals? Aren’t you very capable of impeaching me? Will I have the honor to return to Beijing in the future?”

Zhang Mao did not think that this mistake was caused by himself.

Of course he had to rely on Liu Jing who gave him advice. Now he wanted to skin Liu Jing.

Liu Jing also looked troubled and sighed: "Master, haven't you already blamed me? Why are you bringing up the old things again today? Haven't we all thought of ways to make amends?"

"Fart!" Zhang Mao slapped the table, stood up and said, "The reputation I have worked hard to accumulate for half a lifetime has been lost in just one day. Even though my son won the battle, others laughed at me like a fool. Why don't you ask me to thank you? That means I still have a heavy responsibility, otherwise I should have found a place to hang up on a rope and kill myself!"

Zhong Decai said hurriedly: "Master, you can't do this."

Zhang Mao was originally angry at Liu Jing, but after hearing this, he couldn't help but glared at Zhong Decai angrily, meaning, if you can't do this, why should you remind me? Don’t I know how valuable my life is?

Liu Jingdao: "The transfer order from the imperial court hasn't come yet. As for whether you have merit or demerit, I'm afraid it's hard to say. How about you... personally submit a memorandum of apology, so that His Majesty, for the sake of being a veteran of three dynasties, will punish you... "

Zhang Mao frowned and said, "Are you coming up with bad ideas again?"

"How could this be a bad idea? I'm doing this all for your own good, father-in-law. Think about it, if you didn't mention this, why wouldn't anyone come out to make a fuss?" Liu Jing said hurriedly.

Zhang Mao sneered and said: "Originally, it might have been an option for me to go to Shu to plead guilty, but after what you said, I know that this is not advisable."

"This..." Liu Jing also looked embarrassed.

Why, it doesn’t work if I mention it. Does that mean all my ideas are bad?
Zhang Mao said: "First we took Zhu Dongyang into the ditch... No, you took yourself into the ditch first. If the Empress Dowager hadn't protected you, you would have died hundreds of times, right? Come back when you are old. Chao, what level do you really think you have achieved after half a lifetime of experience? But you don’t know how capable you are at playing chess! Even if I die, I will never listen to your advice again.”

Zhong Decai also said hurriedly: "My lord, I don't think I can go to court to plead guilty at this time. Maybe His Majesty is worried about how to punish you. If you go to court like this, you will play into His Majesty's will."

"Correct!"

Zhang Mao said, "Even if I die, I can't admit my mistake! I just talk about the matter. When Ma Yi disobeyed orders and led troops into the grassland, couldn't I impeach him? What if he took my son to fight? When I impeached him, , have you avoided marriage? Now that you have won the battle, you feel that I was wrong?"

Liu Jing murmured in a low voice: "Mr. Xie Ge in the court, I guess he has the same idea as you."

"What did you say?" Zhang Mao was furious.

You actually compare me to a person who has been sentenced to prison?
Liu Jing was also a little unhappy, so he simply raised his voice a little this time and said: "In the matter of impeaching General Ma, the Lord did make a mistake. As the saying goes, knowing your mistakes can make a lot of improvements. If you don't mention it, just I’m afraid that His Majesty will be even more angry, so you may not even think about returning to Beijing for a while.”

Zhang Mao said: "Since Your Majesty doesn't look down on me, why do you want me to stay in the northwest? The wind and sand in the northwest are so strong, do you think it's good to eat and drink? Whoever Your Majesty trusts will be allowed to come!"

"Master..."

Just when Zhang Mao was complaining, the voice of the herald came from outside.

"Put it out quickly!" Zhang Mao also had a bad temper and was completely ungentlemanly.

When the messenger heard Zhang Mao losing his temper inside, he didn't dare to go in. He hurriedly said: "There is a decree from Beijing, saying that you should stay in Ningxia. The messenger has already entered the military camp. Do you want to Go out and have a look?”

"what?"

Zhang Mao opened his mouth wide, almost thinking that he heard wrongly.

Liu Jing said with a surprised look on his face: "The battle report from Datong has just arrived, and His Majesty's decree to keep you in the northwest has arrived? It seems... His Majesty has been prepared for it."

"Humph!"

Zhang Mao glared at Liu Jing again, then quickly walked out of the tent.

……

……

into the night.

In the theater, Zhang Zhou met with Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong said with a smile: "It is a good thing for us that your Majesty keeps the British Duke in Ningxia. Everyone in the capital now mentions you with admiration. They all say that no one in this world can surpass you. Even in the past and present, you are the number one." Who among the counselors and generals in the world can compare with you?"

Zhang Zhou said: "You can't say this nonsense. I don't rely on giving advice, but more on providing a new weapon and a platform for them."

"Platform? Is it a wooden platform...or a stage?" Zhang Yong still doesn't quite understand.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "I am just the manager of a theater troupe. I bring the singers to the stage and show them personally. I am just a bystander. When they achieve success, they will put gold in my face, and I will just take advantage of it." ”

Zhang Yong said hurriedly: "My lord, you are really self-effacing. Which one of them was not cultivated by your wisdom and knowledge? Without you, I dare say that no one in this dynasty would have such ability."

"Haha." Zhang Zhou just smiled.

The one who succeeds is king. Now Ming Dynasty is winning battles everywhere. If Zhang Yong wants to curry favor with him, he will naturally say good things about him everywhere.

Although the flattery sounds awkward, after listening to it for a long time... even Zhang Zhou felt that if you don't hit the smiling person, who would turn away such a person who said nice things?

"Since the British prince cannot come back, sir, it will be up to you to decide on the procurement and other matters for the Beijing camp in the coming year. According to the preliminary budget, the expenditure on ordnance and other expenses for the Beijing camp in the coming year will be about 130,000 taels of silver. If we add more In order to pay for food and salary, we will need about three hundred thousand taels in the coming year."

"Oh, quite a lot." Zhang Zhou nodded.

The Ming Dynasty's taxation mainly collected rice grains, and the silver income was 2 to 3 million taels. Including rice grains, the value was about 6 to 7 million taels.

Beijing camp expenses accounted for only one-twentieth of the Ming Dynasty's income, which was considered relatively reasonable.

Zhang Yongdao: "But if His Majesty wants to go on a personal expedition in the spring of next year, this money will not be enough! Regardless of whether we can fight it out, let's make preparations...to build more ordnance, then it will be necessary to more than double it. The Ministry of Revenue is sure It’s hard to count on it. It’s winter, and I heard that the output of iron ore and coal mines has dropped. It’s probably going to cost a lot more to make a firearm or something before spring.”

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Eunuch Zhang is indeed a foresighted and prepared person."

"There is no way." Zhang Yongdao, "His Majesty did say before that he would prepare to go on an expedition in the spring. For this expedition, we would need to prepare two to three hundred thousand soldiers and horses with food, fodder, ordnance and baggage. Even for the Beijing camp, I'm afraid we have to mobilize 50,000 to 60,000 people. If we recruit more from various places, I'm afraid it won't be enough." (End of Chapter)