Jiajing Chengming

Zhu Houcong looked at Yang Yiqing and said, "Why, can't I punish him?"

"Your Majesty, please don't be too harsh on the generals."

"They are warriors after all. As long as they don't plot rebellion or surrender to the enemy, they should be forgiven if possible."

"First, they have retainers and old subordinates. If they are pushed to the limit, war is inevitable, which will bring disaster to the local people!"

"Secondly, they are poorly educated and many of them are reckless and vulgar. If we are too strict, they will inevitably misunderstand the court and think that the court does not tolerate them, and they will do more radical things."

"That's why Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty gave up his military power with a cup of wine. Now, Lord Chongxin has just hanged himself. We should not commit another crime and provoke other military heroes, so as to avoid greater disasters!"

Yang Yiqing replied.

Zhu Houcong looked at Zhang Cong at this time: "What do you think?"

Zhang Cong thought about it seriously and said, "Your Majesty, I think what Yuan Fu said is absolutely right. The fact that Chong Xin Bo committed suicide to oppose the national policy also shows that the military heroes also have great complaints about the military reform. If you continue to stimulate them, I am worried that they will lose Nanjing!"

"bias!"

"This is the prejudice of you civil officials!"

"Prejudices formed over five generations!"

"In your eyes, all military officials are not as loyal and reliable as your civil officials. Therefore, you cannot demand too much from them. You cannot let them command the army, you cannot let them become prime ministers, and you cannot be too strict with them in many laws and regulations. As long as they do not rebel or surrender to the enemy, they will not be killed. Therefore, if they kill innocent people for credit, disobey orders, or desert in battle, they will not have to die!"

"But in my opinion, since the military households are more valuable than other households, I must demand higher loyalty from them."

"We cannot maintain strict discipline, obey orders, and never retreat in the face of battle..."

When Zhu Houcong said this, he gnashed his teeth and said, "They must all die!"

then.

Zhu Houcong waved his sleeves and said, "At worst, they will rebel, especially those nobles in Nanjing. It's just right. I can reorganize the army to conquer the world and then replace them with a new group."

Subsequently.

Zhu Houcong asked Yang Yiqing, the chief minister of the cabinet, to go to the Ministry of War to charge the Earl of Chongxin with the crime of defying the king's order.

Yang Yiqing had no choice but to bow and agree.

After he and Zhang Cong heard what Zhu Houcong said, they didn't know what to say.

After the two of them left the imperial study, Yang Yiqing sighed and took the initiative to say to Zhang Cong: "Your Majesty may be lenient to the lower class, but you are also majestic!"

“This may just be the beginning.”

"Since you are in the presence of the Emperor, please be cautious and don't get carried away just because of your high position and power!"

Zhang Cong left after saying this.

Yang Yiqing was slightly stunned.

He felt like Zhang Cong was talking about himself.

"Zhang Bingyong, stop!"

"How dare you, a young man, mock me!"

Yang Yiqing caught up and shouted as he followed closely.

Zhang Cong just smiled and said nothing more.

Because in his opinion, Yang Yiqing was indeed prone to being carried away by success. Back then, relying on the favor of the Temple of War, as a civil servant, he openly called Zhang Yong a brother. Now that he is the Prime Minister, he is still dishonest and uses the power in his hands to manipulate the purchasing channels of the imperial merchants.

But now the military household reform still needed Yang Yiqing to manage, and Zhang Cong had no intention of falling out with Yang Yiqing. Therefore, he did not openly find someone to impeach Yang Yiqing, and he and Yang Yiqing were in a situation of fighting but not breaking up.

Of course, he knew that His Majesty still needed Yang Yiqing and had no intention of abandoning Yang Yiqing.

After all, Yang Yiqing had colluded with the eunuchs, which was a known fact to everyone in the world. As long as the emperor didn't want to use him, he would have a reason to dismiss him at any time.

Now is indeed not the time for Yang Yiqing and Zhang Cong, the only two ministers left in the Imperial Study, to engage in internal strife.

As the military household reform entered deep waters, a series of violent events occurred, causing many ministers in the court to become panic-stricken.

Especially those ministers who were not very supportive of the military household reform naturally took the opportunity to stir up trouble and criticize the correctness of the military household reform.

At noon, Liu Yuanqing, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, was the first to come forward and say:
"Your Majesty, because of the investigation of the occupation of military households and military farm labor, the commander of the guards, Qing Gong, killed several Qing army censors and trial censors, and the lieutenant general Li Jin fled north to join the Tartars. Moreover, the deputy commander of the Jiangxi Commandery, Zhao Jie, defected to join the rebels and leaked the route of the government army to suppress the rebellion, forcing the government army to re-plan its strategy to suppress the rebellion."

"Now, Nanjing Chongxinbo has even hanged himself because of his strict inspection of military households and military fields!"

"The fierceness of the military officers and the powerful families' resistance to the inspection of military households and military fields is really disturbing!"

"In order to prevent the rebellion from breaking out again before it is quelled, and to prevent the people from suffering as a result, I ask Your Majesty to order a temporary suspension of this military reform, or at least a temporary suspension of the order to investigate the occupation of military land."

After Liu Yuanqing said this, Lu Ying, the Left Censor of the Military Department, also said:
"Your Majesty, the generals and powerful families have occupied military land and forced the military households to work. This is a century-old problem that cannot be eradicated overnight. If we suddenly investigate now, I'm afraid that another drastic change will really happen!"

"If the northern barbarians and southern bandits collude with the rebels to attack us, the world will be in turmoil. It is terrifying to think about it!"

"So please think twice, Your Majesty! Rather than rushing to eliminate this evil now, it is better to educate people's hearts first, and then wait for the future, when people's hearts change, it will not be too late to eliminate the accumulated evil."

"In addition, I accuse Henan Governor Yan Song of being too strict in enforcing the law, which may easily lead to a major change. Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to dismiss him from his post to prevent all the powerful officers in Henan from taking radical actions!"

Lu Ying followed up.

At this time.

Zhang Cong asked in a cold voice: "If we put it off until tomorrow, and tomorrow until the day after tomorrow, we don't know when this problem can be solved! Your Majesty, can you wait? Can the soldiers who are starving and waiting for help all over the world wait?!"

"That's right!"

"The imperial court has been promoting Confucianism and preaching Buddhism for 150 years, and has long since eradicated the barbarians. As a result, the invasion has become more and more serious."

"It can be seen that no matter how long the saints teach, they cannot understand the court."

"The greedy and despicable people who are selfish and self-serving must be investigated strictly without bloodshed!"

"There is no reason to withdraw before the mission is completed. This will not benefit the Holy Might!"

"In addition, I think Yan Song did nothing wrong. On the contrary, he has made contributions and maintained discipline for the court! The officers of the garrison have received great favors from the country. If they obstruct the national policy, they should not be forgiven!"

Gui E then started to refute.

Zhu Houcong also nodded and said, "I also think that we can't give up halfway. It will be more and more difficult to check the military land as time goes by, because if we don't check it, more and more people will wantonly occupy it! If today there are three generals and six lieutenant generals occupying the land, then tomorrow there will be six generals and nine lieutenant generals, plus more university scholars and ministers. If this continues, when future generations want to check in the future, they will only blame us for being lazy and not checking in time when the occupation problem was particularly serious!"

"Besides, the imperial court is now well-off and the annual revenue has increased greatly. We should take this opportunity to eliminate all the accumulated problems that should be eliminated, rather than waiting until the treasury is not as good as it is now, which will only make it more difficult!"

"In short, we can't put off any problem!"

"As for Yan Song, I have issued an imperial decree to commend him and reward him with one thousand silver dollars! He will also be remembered for having passed the examination with excellent grades!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, Yang Yiqing, Zhang Cong, Gui E and others all stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"But your majesty, the Qing army censors and trial censors have already been killed and beaten, and the conflicts faced by reform and elimination of abuses are already so fierce that I am afraid no one dares to take on this matter anymore."

At this time, the Left Censor-in-Chief Hu Shining also stepped forward and expressed his concerns to Jiajing.

Zhu Houcong said coldly: "I don't believe that there are no people in this dynasty who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the country! Pass on my decree, calling on the scholars who have observed the government to recommend themselves as Qing army censors and trial censors, to fill in the Qing army censors and trial censors who are unable to perform their duties, and continue to check the military households and military fields for me!" (End of this chapter)