I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 105 Lord Xu, where is your contingency plan?

Xu Jie, Yan Ne, Guo Pu and Li Chunfang looked at each other.

This problem is difficult to deal with.

The captured Xin Ai was now like a hot pancake. Killing him, Altan Khan, who was afraid of his son's death, went crazy and launched a full-scale attack on the Ming border.

If they didn't kill him and just let him go, it would be too easy for the northern barbarians. The emperor was unhappy, and there was criticism from both the government and the public.

Lock him up and do nothing?

That doesn’t work either.

Well, just like before, the emperor took the good things, threw the difficult things aside, and stepped aside to wait for his ministers to come up with ideas.

The hall was very quiet, and none of the four ministers spoke a word.

Emperor Jiajing was not in a hurry either. He put his hands in his sleeves, tilted his head, and looked at his four ministers in a joking manner.

Zhu Yijun's eyes flashed across their faces.

Li Chunfang looked thoughtful, but Zhu Yijun knew that he must be daydreaming.

He felt the most relaxed and least stressed in the palace today.

Guo Pu sat there, expressionless, like a clay Buddha. He adhered to his principles and did not care about anything except the Ministry of Personnel.

Yan Ne's face was solemn, full of wrinkles, and his slightly cloudy eyes kept moving around.

Xu Jie looked very nervous.

He is the chief minister of the cabinet and is in charge of the Ministry of War. This is his job, and now all the pressure is on him.

After a while, Xu Jie exhaled and said slowly: "Your Majesty, why don't we send a letter to Altan Khan to inform him of this matter? We will make a decision after he responds."

Emperor Jiajing nodded without comment. "Well, let them know and wait for Altan Khan's reply. What do you three old gentlemen think?"

Yan Ne quickly bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, what Lord Xu said is wise and mature, and I second your proposal."

Emperor Jiajing stared at Guo Pu and replied with a wooden face: "Your Majesty, I second the proposal."

Before Emperor Jiajing's eyes turned to his face, Li Chunfang quickly said, "Your Majesty, I also second Xu Yuanfu's proposal."

"All agree. Ha, all four ministers agree." Emperor Jiajing turned his head and looked at Zhu Yijun. "Jun'er, what do you think should be done?"

When Xu Jie and the other three heard these words, they couldn't help but feel a shock in their hearts.

Xu Jie and Yan Ne couldn't help but look at each other.

We guessed right!

This great victory at Liuhe was definitely planned by the Crown Prince with the support of the Emperor. Xu Wei was the think tank, and Tan Lun, Hu Zongxian and Qi Jiguang were the executors.

But it is so lawless of you to plan such a big war bypassing the Ministry of War and the Cabinet!

Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun, the crown prince is young and ignorant, and Qi Jiguang is a military general who doesn't know the rules, that's fine, but you two are civil officials who are Jinshi graduates, how can you be so reckless and ignorant!
Xu Jie and Yan Ne complained in their hearts, but they knew that Hu Zongxian, as a "remnant of the Yan Party", had long since drawn a clear line between himself and the mainstream civil servants in the court.

It is understandable that he and Tan Lun took risks in order to gain a foothold in Jiubian.

However, Xu Jie and Yan Ne stood on their own positions and only considered their careers, without giving much thought to other aspects.

The old bureaucrats who have been in the officialdom for decades have "seen through" everything. They will not think too much about other aspects, such as national justice and the emperor guarding the country's borders, nor do they want to think too much about them.

Amid the two people's "worried" gazes, Zhu Yijun spoke.

"Grandpa Emperor, four old gentlemen, is this all that matters?"

Xu Jie cupped his hands and asked in a deep voice, "Your Highness, may I ask why you just let it go?"

"Write a letter to Altan Khan and wait for the news, is that all?"

Xu Jie stroked his beard, thought for a moment, and replied, "In addition, we must send a message to the nine borders, asking them to be on guard and not let the northern barbarians seek an opportunity to retaliate."

Zhu Yijun waited for a while, but nothing came of it, so he couldn't help but sigh slightly. Xu Jie, as the chief minister, was in charge of the state affairs of the Ming Dynasty, but he only thought of this.

For the past twenty years, he has devoted all his energy and energy to pursuing wealth and glory. Even though he has been trying to overthrow Yan Song for more than ten years, it was only Yan Song who blocked his way forward.

"Don't we need to make a contingency plan?" Zhu Yijun's clear voice echoed in the side hall. A contingency plan?

What plan?
Li Chunfang blinked her eyes. As Zhu Yijun's "Dean of Academic Affairs", she had heard many similar names before. She immediately understood and knew how to cooperate.

"Your Highness, what is the contingency plan? Please tell me clearly!"

"The contingency plan is to predict what might happen and then make different response measures based on these possible events, just in case."

Xu Jie and the other two looked at each other.

Emperor Jiajing put his hands in his sleeves, clasped them in front of his chest, and watched the fun with a smile on his face.

"Lord Xu said that it is necessary to write a state letter to Altan Khan to inform him of the situation. How will Altan Khan react when he receives this letter?
Altan Khan would be furious and would gather his troops to attack the border in the south. It was not enough for Xu Ge Lao to send an order to the nine borders to strictly defend them. It was necessary for Hu Bingbu and Tan Du to organize the troops, be ready, and wait for an opportunity to strike a head-on blow to the invading northern barbarians and dampen their ferocity.

At the same time, we took Xin Ai to Datong Pass. If Altan Khan dared to start a war, we would hang Xin Ai on the wall of the pass and let all the tribes on the grassland see that Altan Khan's eldest son was hanged like a dog by the Ming Dynasty.

Since we have fallen out, let's fight it out with swords and guns. There is no point in being polite."

Hearing what Zhu Yijun said, Xu Jie and Yan Ne couldn't help but shudder in their hearts.

What a good pair of grandparents and grandchildren, they are vindictive and ruthless, and it has been passed down from generation to generation!

The two of them also saw a sense of arrogance in Zhu Yijun.

The great victory at Liuhe boosted the morale of the crown prince.

I'm afraid there will be more trouble in the court in the future.

Zhu Yijun is still going on.

"There is another outcome. Altan Khan swallows his anger and sends people to negotiate. If you are willing to talk, then we can have a good talk. But we must always come up with a bottom line.

For example, we can release Xin Ai, but Altan Khan must send 5,000 good horses and return the White Lotus leader Zhao Quan and his gang that had previously wreaked havoc in Datong, Shuozhou and other places and fled to the south of the desert.

Yan Ne suddenly said, "Your Highness, why don't you let Altan Khan swear to heaven that he will not invade the Ming Dynasty again?"

Zhu Yijun sneered a few times, "Lord Yan, do you believe in such an oath?"

Yan Ne hesitated for a moment and nodded firmly.

Zhu Yijun sneered in his heart, but said solemnly on his face: "Yan Ge Lao is a gentleman who knows the truth of saints, but Altan Khan is not. I don't believe in such an oath, and I'm afraid Altan Khan himself doesn't believe it. Grandpa Emperor, do you believe it?"

"Haha," Emperor Jiajing waved his sleeves and said loudly, "It's better to rely on yourself than to rely on others!
As long as the soldiers of the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty are loyal and as solid as iron, Altan Khan will lose soldiers and generals every time he comes. After a few times, he will not invade the Ming Dynasty in the south without swearing an oath to heaven. "

Zhu Yijun cupped his hands and said, "Grandpa Emperor is wise and wise!"

He glanced at Yan Ne and continued, "If Altan Khan ignores this and treats Xin Ai as an eldest son, what should we do? Should we tell Xin Ai the good news and sow discord between them?
This is what I mean by contingency plans. When making a major decision, you need to assess the opponent's reaction and make the best or worst-case plans based on various possible reactions. Only in this way can you avoid being caught off guard and in a panic. "

Xu Jie felt that the Crown Prince's words were directed at him.

Caught off guard, this has always been the characteristic of the Ming Dynasty in handling state affairs, especially border affairs.

When the unexpected incident happened suddenly, the cabinet and the six ministries were in a panic, trying to do everything at once, delaying, prevaricating, covering up, trying to smooth things over, or responding at random.

At this critical moment, the censors of the Censorate also came out to join in the fun.

Others are still trying to find solutions to the problems, and they begin to "enforce justice on behalf of heaven" by solving problems for those who create and discover the problems.

The Gengxu Rebellion is an example.

Altan Khan invaded the border and plundered the capital. The six ministries in the cabinet quarreled fiercely, and the troops sent to support the king or the border troops were transferred here and there, like a monkey show.

While Aldan Khan's troops were still circling around the capital, the censors began to vigorously eliminate evil and uphold justice, as if Aldan Khan would give up if the court was full of righteous people.

Zhu Yijun looked through the records and documents in the inner treasury and was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

This is the Ming Dynasty.

This is the imperial court that governs the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty and hundreds of millions of people.

Change it, it must be changed!
Try every possible way to change it little by little
Emperor Jiajing laughed, stared at Xu Jie and asked, "Lord Xu, does the cabinet have any contingency plans?"

(End of this chapter)