I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 341: Will the Liaodong war be a victory or a defeat?
The third year of Longqing finally arrived.

On New Year's Day, all civil and military officials got up early as an exception.

They got up at midnight, washed, dressed, and gathered at the Meridian Gate, just like the grand court meetings in the past.

Fifteen days before the event, an imperial decree was issued from the Western Garden that a morning court session would be held on the first day of the third year of Longqing's reign. All officials in the capital who were qualified to attend the court session were to attend on time.

Then, it starts from the morning court on New Year's Day, marking the beginning of the Wanshou Festival, and continues until the 23rd day of the first lunar month, the birthday of Emperor Longqing, reaching its climax, and finally lasting until the end of the first lunar month.

All the civil and military officials in the court began to present memorials to congratulate the emperor on his longevity, and they must also praise the prince's filial piety.

This father and son are so loving!

Officials lined up in the cold wind, shivering as they checked their badges to enter the Meridian Gate.

In this cold weather, no matter how thick your cotton coat is or how expensive your mink fur is, it cannot stop the north wind that is as sharp as a knife.

After entering the Meridian Gate, those who had court rooms would rush in, while those who didn't would find a place sheltered from the wind, curling up into a ball, stamping their feet, talking to their colleagues, and killing time.

Most of the ministers had no desire to finally see the emperor whom they hadn't seen for half a year, only a few were eager to do so.

"Brother Nieyuan, what did you give out as year-end bonuses at the Dali Court?"

"Wells Fargo Bank's 12-liang silver note, and 10-liang silver shopping vouchers from the six major businesses."

hiss--!
There was a sound of people gasping for air all around. Fortunately, it was freezing cold, otherwise everyone would have been frozen by the cold air.

"Your Dali Court is really awesome, giving out so much in year-end bonuses!"

"Haha, it's all thanks to the wisdom of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and also thanks to the Minister Gao of the Ministry of Revenue!"

Brother Nieyuan opened his mouth and spoke with dignity.

"They are now two courts, on par with the Metropolitan Procuratorate. I heard that the Dali Qing was promoted to the second rank at the beginning of this spring, the same rank as the Zhongcheng, a real Sikou!"

"Tsk tsk, Brother Nieyuan was assigned to the Dali Temple after the school was closed. He finally made it."

"Yes, Brother Nieyuan is lucky. He entered the Dali Court early. After another two years, he will be sent out to serve as an inspector, and he will also be a local official.

Alas, it is difficult to enter the Dali Court now! "

"why?"

"The new official system regulations promulgated by the Guanglu Temple require that the Dali Court and the local censors be proficient in law and have studied at the Law School of the Imperial Academy in the north and south."

"There is also this requirement! The rules have changed again. Sigh, we are overwhelmed and exhausted from dealing with it."

Brother Nie Yuan of the Dali Court coughed and deliberately asked, "My dear friends, what did your government issue?"

"Our Hanlin Academy is in trouble!"

"Our Sixth Department was issued a hammer!"

"Our Tongzhengshisi issued a chicken!"

There were complaints all around.

"Alas, comparing yourself to others will only make you angry."

At this time, an official came over quietly and said to everyone: "I heard that the five temples have issued at least 15 taels of silver bills and 15 taels of silver shopping coupons.

Shuntian Prefecture is even more aggressive, offering bills of exchange worth 18 taels of silver and shopping coupons worth 16 taels of silver."

After saying that, he left again, leaving behind a circle of envy, jealousy and hatred!

"No, I will apply to be transferred to Shuntian Prefecture in the spring. After all, I worked under Zihe Gong (Liu Yingjie) when he was in charge of Shanxi.

If you continue to stay in the Sixth Department, you will either starve to death or die of envy sooner or later."

"I can't stay in the Hanlin Academy anymore, Qinggui, you motherfucker!"

Alas! Now the imperial court does not support idlers, and the allowances and bonuses for those who do practical work are much higher. I am so envious and jealous!
In another circle, a group of people surrounded Gao Gong and bowed, saying, "Mr. Xinzheng, thanks to you, our government office has finally had a good year today. No one, from top to bottom, is stabbing me in the back."

Gao Gong's beard twitched with joy. "Haha, why are you thanking me? If you want to thank someone, thank the Crown Prince for his wisdom!"

Everyone looked at him, thinking about the end of the first year of Longqing and the beginning of the second year of Longqing, when Gao Da Huzi looked so miserable and wanted to take a machete to Tongzhou to rob people and bring back some silver.

How could I be so high-spirited and energetic today?

Moreover, at that time, he was secretly angry with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, like a fighting cock that refused to admit defeat. Unlike today, he kept calling His Royal Highness "The Crown Prince is wise!"

"Lord Xinzheng, I heard that the court is going to mint silver coins?" an official asked.

"Silver dollars? What are those?" someone immediately asked curiously.

"In December, the Crown Prince convened a meeting to summarize the economy of the Ming Dynasty in the second year of Longqing in the Taiji Hall of the Western Garden. Four cabinet ministers, our Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Finance of Nanjing, and representatives of thirty-six industrial and commercial transport agencies attended.

Among them, representatives of industrial and commercial associations pointed out that the circulation of silver in the market is becoming more and more popular, but the quality of silver is uneven, and there is even fake silver mixed with lead, which harms the people and businesses.

After the Jinyiwei Zhenfu Division cracked down severely and killed a group of people, fake silver mixed with lead was almost eliminated. However, some unscrupulous merchants continued to defraud the people and merchants by using impure and inferior silver.

Therefore, it was suggested that the court follow the example of copper coins and uniformly mint silver dollars to reduce illegal activities that harm the people. "

"Is it like the silver dollars in Daqin and Xiqin?"

"Yes, after the agreement was reached, Xiyuan asked our Ministry of Revenue to draft a charter, which gave the Baoquan Bureau full authority to mint coins. The hydraulic press made in Kaiping was used, together with the master plates cast by skilled craftsmen, to stamp out the coins. The first batch of 1,000 silver yuan came out, and they looked pretty good. They have been sent to Xiyuan."

"Mr. Gao, the rules were set in December, but the silver dollars are out so soon?"

"Xiyuan is doing things in a swift and decisive manner, and it's going fast!"

Gao Gong explained: "This is the first edition of the silver coin, and the pattern has not yet been finalized. Xiyuan and the Ministry of Revenue have already discussed this matter, but it was only discussed at the December meeting and officially finalized. Many things have been prepared long ago, so it will be quick."

Another person asked, "Mr. Gao, is the land survey still going on? Why haven't I heard anything further?"

Gao Gong opened his eyes and said, "Of course it's still going on! First it was the three towns of Shanxi, then the nine frontiers, then Liaodong, Jingji, Shanxi and Shaanxi, it has been advancing all the time.

This matter is very complicated and involves many local people. We should proceed step by step. It is better to be slow than to make mistakes. "

The center of this circle of people is Gao Gong, and the center of the other room is Shen Li.

With an impassioned look on his face, he said to his colleagues standing around him: "We have been fighting in the north and south for four months, but no one in the world knows what the result will be!

The Supervisory Office issued an official document in November, saying that a great victory was won in Liaodong, Tumen Khan was defeated and his invasion was repelled. What kind of great victory was it? There was no further news.

Someone nearby said, "They said they were going to count the results of the battle in Liaodong, but it was snowing heavily and the weather was freezing, making it very difficult to count. It is said that the officials sent by the Supervisory Office and the Ministry of War to investigate were almost frozen to death on the road."

Shen Li said disdainfully: "Ridiculous! It's really ridiculous! It's all excuses. As long as you are willing to do something, you can get it done even if knives rain from the sky! The Xiyuan faction is known to be a gathering of capable officials from all over the world, so how can they not do a small thing like counting the results of the battle?"

Someone nearby looked at his thick cotton-padded jacket, the mink fur, and the fox neck scarf, and was speechless.

You dress so thickly when you go out to attend the morning court, and you still have the nerve to criticize others for not doing a good job of counting small things.

Liaodong is colder than the capital!

It’s just that I keep these words in my heart and it’s hard to say them out loud because if I say them out loud it will affect the relationship between colleagues.

Shen Li continued generously, "I will ask you carefully at the court meeting later, what is the situation of the Northern Expedition and the Southern Expedition? There must be some secret hidden that they dare not let the world know!"

"What's the matter?"

Someone asked deliberately.

"We have lost the battle and we dare not let the world know!" Shen Li said loudly.

There was silence all around.

Wang Lin sat aside, looking at Shen Li who was standing there like a green pine tree, stroking his beard and nodding with satisfaction.

There was silence for a while, and suddenly someone said, "It seems that the whip has been cracked. Go out and line up."

Everyone rushed out of the court room, leaving only Shen Li, Wang Lin and three or five others alone.

The left and right groups stood in position, music started, and Emperor Longqing came in from the side on a sedan chair. All the ministers turned their eyes to him.

After not seeing him for half a year, Emperor Longqing's face had turned pale and bluish, his round face had become long and narrow, and his cheekbones were slightly visible.

It really is true that lust is a sword hanging over your head!
Or a bone scraper!

After getting off the sedan chair, Emperor Longqing, supported by two eunuchs, walked slowly along the steps to the Danchi with light steps.

Zhu Yijun stood on the step below the throne and bowed to Emperor Longqing.

Emperor Longqing smiled and nodded to him, then finally walked up to the top floor of the Danchi and sat down on the throne!
Three whip sounds were sounded again, the officials sang praises, and the two groups of civil and military officials came forward to salute.

After the ceremony, it was time for the morning court session.

Several officials came forward to report things in a pretentious manner, all of which were ceremonial matters, such as when to offer sacrifices to the Temple of Heaven and when to offer sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Shen Li seized the opportunity and said loudly: "I have something to report!"

After saying this, he rushed ahead of a stunned official from the Honglu Temple, walked out of the queue, came to the Danchi, knelt down and said loudly: "I have something to report! I want to ask on behalf of the people of the world, the Liaodong war has been going on for half a year, is it a victory or a defeat!"

(End of this chapter)