Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 190 About to go to Henan
In the past few days, the emperor's mood has been ups and downs. After all, the emperor did not expect that Yang Yinglong would be so difficult to deal with. He was so angry after being reported to several defeats, including the victory of Kuaibai that was reported a few days ago. The emperor was in a good mood. Better. It was only later that various impeachments against frontline civil and military officials made the emperor a little angry.

"Chen Ju, I asked you to sort out for me all the memorials about the Southwest War that you have received these days, especially the ones that have been submitted recently, and sort them out," the emperor ordered.

"The ministers have sorted it out. Especially the memorials that have been reported recently have been specially selected and the most important ones have been placed at the top." Chen Ju replied.

"What is roughly written in the memorial?"

"They wrote about everything, mainly reporting on the progress of the war, impeaching civil and military officials, and asking the court to allocate more troops. The most important thing is the military situation just reported by Governor Li Yutian. The ministers just read it and wrote it. It is quite detailed. Your Majesty can read this memorial first and use other memorials as evidence. After all, Governor Li Yutian is in charge of the overall situation."

"Seeing a dragon in the field is a good thing to meet your lord. Li Hualong is indeed a blessed person. Since it is his memorial, please hand it over."

Chen Ju handed over the memorial, and the emperor took it and read it carefully.

"The cabinet vote this time is still in line with my wishes. Li Hualong is a practical person. Now the court is hiring people. How can we remove a governor just because a city and a place have been lost? That is not a problem. Are you kidding Yang Ni? Since Li Hualong has pleaded guilty, just give him a fine and allow him to perform meritorious service. As for the rewards and punishments of the generals, it is the discretion of the front line, but I have no idea what happened to Liu Wei. The march was still very fast in North Korea. Why was he so slack after arriving in North Korea? Is it because he was arrogant? If Liu Wei's troops could arrive on time, Yang Ni would not dare to sack Qijiang City. I also don’t understand. In the memorial, Li Hualong said that Liu Wei would be punished, and he asked Liu Wei to perform meritorious service, but he still led the main attack. "

"Presumably Governor Li felt that talents were rare and felt that General Liu had to ignore others and had to use them. However, since the date was delayed and there was a huge defeat with the city falling, there must be some way to deal with it."

"That's probably it. Forget it, since I have ordered Li Hualong to governor the military affairs of the southwestern provinces, as long as there are no major problems with his opinions, I will naturally approve them."

"Yes, Li Hualong also asked me to plead guilty. Is there anything easy to plead guilty to? Only Yang Yinglong's head is what I want. What do you think of the current situation in the southwest war? What tricks do you think Yang Yinglong can use next? ?”

Just like that, the ignorant Zhang Xiao was called to the imperial study room.

"This is indeed an important matter. Since the Metropolitan Procuratorate can't send anyone capable, then I have to appoint people myself. Chen Ju, go and call Zhang Xiao," the emperor said.

"Your Majesty, as long as we capture Yang Yinglong, we can rest and recuperate."

"I heard that the Yang family of Bozhou has been guarding Bozhou for hundreds of years for generations. Hailongtun is easy to defend but difficult to attack. How can our army capture it so quickly?"

"That's good. In this Battle of Bozhou, I have mobilized a full 200,000 troops to suppress the war. The money and food that the imperial court spent on fighting in Korea have not been replenished. Now that there is so much but so little, it is really difficult to deal with it. ." The emperor sighed.

"Your Majesty, if Yang Yinglong fights hard and adopts bandit tactics to sweep across Sichuan or Huguang, even if the imperial court can pacify it, the vitality of the southwestern provinces will be greatly damaged. But now Yang Yinglong still wants to stick to Hailongtun and does not dare to attack The important town was only to plunder the surrounding villages and towns. This time the attack on Qijiang City was ambushed by our army. Now Yang Yinglong is afraid that he will not dare to dispatch easily again. Therefore, from Yichen's point of view, Yang Yinglong's defeat will not be long, at most it will only be one or two. In a few years, our army will definitely receive full success.”

"Oh? What kind of memorial? Hand it over and I'll take a look."

"Is this how the Metropolitan Procuratorate told me? Are you just fooling me about what I ordered?" The emperor threw the memorial on the table with a slap.

"You should read this memorial first. You have worked with many civil servants and generals during the Southwest War. If you have any thoughts, you can share your thoughts," the emperor said.

"Your Majesty, there is another memorial. Although it is not about the Southwest War, it is still an important event. Your Majesty may want to read it first." Chen Ju looked at the emperor who was in a good mood, hesitated for a long time, and then said.

"I also want to recuperate, but things have happened so frequently in recent years. Zhang Xiao, I have one more thing to ask. This country of Franji has been in war for many years and has gone bankrupt several times. Does it mean that after going bankrupt, it doesn't have to pay off its debts? Then? What should we do next when we borrow money? And the Ottoman Empire. I read your book again. Will the Ottoman Empire go bankrupt if it is at war all the time? "

The emperor carefully read the memorial, but as he was flipping through it, the emperor's expression suddenly changed a little unpredictably.

"Your Majesty, although Guizhou is also very mountainous, with almost no flat land, the mountains in Guizhou can still be climbed. Banzhou has been an important land and water transportation center in the southwest since ancient times, and it is not a ravine that is difficult to climb. Even if it is difficult to climb. It is a ravine, and our Ming Dynasty also has generals like General Liu Wei who can climb mountains and ridges. Although Hailongtun is steep, as soon as the imperial army arrives, the Yi soldiers that Yang Yinglong brought here will naturally be frightened, especially since many of the Yi soldiers have seen it before. Without the bravery of General Liu Wei, they would not dare to be buried with Yang Yinglong in Bozhou."

"Your Majesty, calm down."

"Your Majesty, I have read Governor Li's memorial. It is very well written. It clearly explains the causes and consequences of Yang Yinglong's rebellion, the current battlefield situation, and who is the hero, who is the guilty, and who has merit and fault. Both sides explained it clearly, and the most valuable thing is that Governor Li did not deny his mistakes and also proposed ways to make up for it," Zhang Xiao said after reading it carefully.

"Your Majesty, the Franchi Kingdom and the Ottoman Kingdom have been fighting for years, so they are naturally short of money. However, these two countries use a tax farming system to collect taxes, which is similar to the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. Anyway, the Franchi Kingdom has vast land in America and gold. There are also silver mines, sugar cane and other products. As for the Ottoman state, for example, just like the Northern Wei Dynasty, officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty have not even been paid for a long time. Those with rich families rely on family support, and those with poor families have to pay to serve as officials. As for the army, There is no military pay, so everything is dependent on it. Therefore, "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" mentions that the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Southern Expedition also committed burning, killing and looting, and committed all kinds of evil. If that doesn't work, then we should learn from Timur's method and massacre the city to get the goods from the enemy. If the city wants to be slaughtered, if your own city is disobedient, you will also be slaughtered.”

"Then the country of Franji has gone bankrupt so many times, so those debts will not be repaid? Since it is a national debt, interest must be paid, right?" The emperor then asked.

"Your Majesty, the natural way to do this is to repay the interest first and pay the principal first. If that doesn't work, just drive the creditor out or kill the creditor directly. Anyway, the Western Yi countries have been doing this for a long time. Because according to the cross "Religion, in fact, you cannot lend money. Anyone who can borrow money from the king is a heretic, so you can just show your face and deal with it."

"I see, then I probably understand, but these systems are not a good system." "It is true that they are not a good system, but now the European countries are attacking each other, just like the Warring States Period, or even worse. After all, the Warring States Period During that period, all countries nominally evolved from the vassals of the Zhou Dynasty, and if the European countries lost, they would be completely destroyed. So now, in order to compete for hegemony, it doesn't matter if all countries squeeze the people, as long as they win. "

"Let's stop the European affairs here. I still have a few memorials. You can read them too."

Just like that, after just reading Li Hualong's memorial, Zhang Xiao had a few more memorials in his hand.

Zhang Xiao took a rough look and said that Henan suffered from frequent droughts and floods in the past few years. The court had reduced taxes for several years, but until now, it has not returned to the pre-disaster level. Disaster relief expenditures in previous years were often unclear. Then the Metropolitan Procuratorate also sent commissioners to investigate, and either no problems were found, or some minor problems were reported.

"How are you doing?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, I have read these memorials. What do you want to instruct me to do?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"A few years ago, when Henan and other places were hit by disasters, a minister gave me a map of hungry people. After seeing it, I was heartbroken and ordered to reduce or reduce taxes in the disaster areas, and also allocated money and food for disaster relief to the local area. But later, the imperial court wanted to assist North Korea, and I I don’t care about the disaster anymore. I have also seen that Henan has been doing well in the past two years, and I don’t know why the taxation has not been restored. "

"Your Majesty, after all, after the disaster, many fields were deserted and many people were displaced, so the tax recovery may not be that fast."

"Having said that, I'm always worried. The Metropolitan Procuratorate can't send out capable people right now. I want you to go to Henan and see for me what's going on? Henan Province is a major source of food and salary for the imperial court. , If the food and salary collection is delayed and insufficient, the imperial court will not be able to keep up with all aspects of expenditure. "

"Wei Chen only has the position of Prince Consort. If Wei Chen is allowed to go, I don't know if it will be convenient or if it will violate the laws of the court."

"It doesn't matter. I will instruct the cabinet to give you the title of Yushi of Qiandu. When you went to Ningxia before, you also used this name. This time you will be familiar with the road. "

"Your Majesty, when I went to Ningxia Town, I said I was going to inspect the place. In fact, it was to intimidate the Ningxia army and prevent the Ningxia army from mutiny. At that time, it was still possible to control the situation with the help of thousands of elites from the Beijing camp. So at that time The tense situation in Ningxia Town means that even if all the civil and military officials in Ningxia Town are upright and honest, they still have to adjust themselves out. If we go to Henan this time, we will really have to find out the problems and dig deep into the secrets of others. Except for that time when I went to Ningxia to get a tiger skin from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, I have never worked as a censor," Zhang Xiao said quickly.

"It doesn't matter, Zhang Xiao, don't forget that you were a clerk in charge of money and food in Shuntian Mansion before. You can also know Arabic numerals, and you can make tables and charts. This time you go to Henan, to put it bluntly, you are going Check the accounts. It’s not difficult for you to take stock and settle the accounts. I’m not asking you to go to Henan this time, but I’m not asking you to investigate anyone, but you have to find out the details for me.”

"I obey the order." The leader had already said this, and Zhang Xiao could only nod in agreement.

"Zhang Xiao, you don't have to worry. You are also my son-in-law after all. I will select capable officials to assist you, and give the capital a thousand households to protect you. There will be no problem."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Watching Zhang Xiao leave, the emperor couldn't help but sigh.

"Why did your Majesty sigh? Is there anything wrong with what Consort Zhang said today?" Chen Ju asked quickly.

"This has nothing to do with Zhang Xiao. Even when I think about the war in the southwest, I always feel uneasy. I also know that Li Hualong is a man with a bad temper and can't tolerate sand in his eyes. Now he has to compromise for the sake of the war, Liu When he rushed to aid Korea, he did not dare to stay for a moment. When fighting the Japanese, he personally led his troops and burned the Japanese's food and grass. Now it is better, the whole army is so delayed. If Liu Wei and his troops can arrive at Qijiang City earlier, How dare Yang Yinglong dare to attack the city? Seeing the strength of the Bozhou army, he hid first and then led his army to rush out. That's it, Qijiang City. The common people had to be exploited by Kuai Bai's subordinates before they were released. Even so, Li Hualong still wanted to punish them with a fine and meritorious service. Especially Liu Wei, although he was demoted, he still led the people and became the lord. It can be seen that. The war in the southwest is so serious," the emperor said with emotion.

"After all, General Liu Wei's reputation as Liu Dadao is also widely spread in the southwest. Governor Li insists on re-employing Liu Wei. He must have taken a fancy to General Liu's bravery and strategy. Otherwise, the two of them would not have much friendship. , why did Governor Li come to recommend Liu Wei? He must have valued General Liu's reputation." Chen Ju explained after thinking for a while.

"Yes, Li Hualong must have relied on Liu Dadao to win the battle." The emperor nodded.

In this way, Zhang Xiao, who was enjoying himself when he came, had become an imperial envoy when he returned. Although Henan was not far away, Zhang Xiao could not guarantee how long it would take to complete this official trip. In this way, Zhang Xiao, who was worried, returned to the princess mansion.

"Consort, why do you look so solemn today? Is something wrong?" the princess asked.

"Your Majesty summoned me today. I will be leaving for Henan on official business in a few days. Please take care of yourself, Princess. I don't know when I will be back," Zhang Xiao replied.

"Since it is my father's will, I have nothing to say. The prince-in-law must be careful along the way." the princess reminded.

"Thank you for your concern, princess."

(End of this chapter)