My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 69: Indecisive
[Do you want to spend 30 points of prestige to ensure that the "Ping Rong Memorial" is executed?]

Only 30 points?

That's right, the cabinet all agreed with him, and the emperor just rejected the memorial due to the opposition of the censors, so only a small amount of prestige points would be needed to enforce it.

"implement."

[Prestige value has been deducted, current prestige value is 80 points]

Su Ze sat in the chair. He was not a warmonger, but some problems always had to be solved.

In the history before Su Ze traveled through time, the two major achievements of the Longqing Dynasty were Altan Khan's tribute and the lifting of the sea ban. Basically, most historical materials only mentioned this in passing, saying that Altan Khan's tribute brought a long period of peace to the northern border and saved the Ming Dynasty military expenses.

But it’s actually much more complicated than this.

In fact, after Altan Khan was enfeoffed as a tribute merchant, the tribute markets in the northwest continued to open and close, and Altan Khan's tribesmen often went south to plunder.

Xuanda was brought to peace during the Wanli period. When Zheng Luo was in charge of Xuanda, he used flexible military and diplomatic means to balance the forces on the grassland. There were also several setbacks during this period.

Later, when Tibetan Buddhism in U-Tsang was introduced into Mongolia, the northwest gradually became stable.

In Su Ze's view, now is a good time to solve the problem of the northern grasslands.

Some things always need to be resolved. It is better to resolve them now when the country has ample military funds and there are no wars, rather than when wars are everywhere and military funds are tight, right?

Moreover, among the ministers in the cabinet today, Li Chunfang is low-key but has conciliatory tactics, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng are capable, and Zhao Zhenji is also a calm bureaucrat with long experience in officialdom. They can be said to be the golden cabinet of the Ming Dynasty.

The anti-Japanese war had just ended. With Tan Lun as the literary leader and Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang as the military leader, this was considered a golden combination.

This is precisely the best time to resolve the northern issue.

Do we have to wait until the three major expeditions of the Wanli Emperor to resolve it?

Or should we wait until Li Zicheng starts his rebellion to resolve it?

Using war to promote peace, fighting small battles to seek peace, this is the essence of Su Ze's "Plan for Pacificating the Rong".

Next, it depends on the system.
-
The eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department did not dare to neglect this memorial which was approved by the three assistant ministers. This time, all the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department were mobilized, and Li Fang personally brought Su Ze's memorial to the imperial study.

After reading the memorial, Emperor Longqing rubbed his eyes and asked:

"What do you think, eunuchs?"

Li Fang was silent. At this time, the eunuch Chen Hong, who was in charge of writing, looked at him and took half a step forward to prepare to speak.

But at this time, Feng Bao, the second-in-command of the Imperial Household Department, bowed and said:

"This is a matter of national policy. Your Majesty, please consult the Prime Minister."

Emperor Longqing nodded, and Chen Hong quickly retracted his foot.

However, all this was seen by the old foxes Li Fang and Feng Bao.

Especially Feng Bao. Chen Hong usually pretended not to fight, but now his true colors are exposed, right?

Feng Bao was secretly alert and put Chen Hong on his list of people to suppress.

As for Li Fang, he planned to win over Chen Hong and suppress Feng Bao in the Imperial Household Department.

In a blink of an eye, the situation in the Imperial Household Department changed quietly.

Soon, the eunuch came to the cabinet and the emperor summoned the cabinet ministers to ask questions.

This time the questioning lasted until the evening, and Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were so exhausted from talking that their mouths were dry.

Gao Gong first explained to the emperor the allusions in Su Ze's memorial, and then clearly supported Su Ze's strategy, believing that it was the best strategy to "pacify the north with one strategy."

Zhang Juzheng, on the other hand, started from the feasibility point, detailing the silver reserves in the Taicang warehouse and the combat capabilities on the border, and even estimated the cost of mobilizing the army north. His implicit meaning was, "Your Majesty, please rest assured that the Ministry of Revenue can provide the silver for the war!"

Zhao Zhenji recounted the military situation in Xuanda and agreed with Su Ze's analysis of the border situation. As Su Ze said in his memorial, the Altan tribe's ruling ability was actually very loose and its control over the tribes under its command was very weak.

If the southern troops were dispatched north, they could indeed achieve certain results and stabilize the situation on the border. However, no matter what the three ministers said, Emperor Longqing was still hesitant and finally decided to send the matter to the nine ministers for public discussion.

On the way back to the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng felt a little depressed.

He said to Gao Gong, who was also depressed:
"Su Zilin's memorial has been sent to the court for public discussion. I'm afraid the outer court will be furious and Your Majesty will back down again."

Gao Gong also knew the emperor's character very well. He nodded and said:

"Su Zilin is still too impatient. If there were no trouble at the border and he offered this strategy, and we slowly persuaded him, I'm afraid we would be able to convince His Majesty."

Zhang Juzheng sighed:

"He must have been driven to desperation by the censors. These petty officials are useless in important matters, and they also repeatedly stir up controversy and undermine state affairs!"

Gao Gong put his hands in his sleeves, his eyes flashed with a gleam as he said:

"The Kedao should be cleaned up."
-
After discussing with the cabinet for a day, Emperor Longqing chose to go to the Yiku Palace in the evening.

Concubine Li came out to greet them with her son. When Longqing saw the chubby six-year-old boy, a smile appeared on his face.

Seeing that the emperor was in a bad mood, Concubine Li immediately talked about Li You's family matters:

"Your Majesty, don't you think Jun'er has learned more etiquette? It's different now that the Imperial Lecture has begun. With so many great teachers teaching him, Jun'er is learning very quickly!"

Every parent hopes that their children will become successful. After hearing what Concubine Li said, Emperor Longqing felt much better.

He called Zhu Yijun over again and asked him some simple questions to enlighten him.

Zhu Yijun answered fluently, which made Emperor Longqing feel better. He said to the eunuch Zhang Hong who was accompanying Zhu Yijun:

"Instruct the Imperial Household to give the Crown Prince's tutor a reward of twenty taels of silver."

When Zhu Yijun saw that his father was happy, he straightened his chest. When he heard that his father had rewarded his teacher with silver, he was even happier.

He asked:
"Father, does Master Su have it too? Does he have it too, even though he hasn't taught me?"

Emperor Longqing then remembered that he had appointed Su Ze as the Imperial Lecture Officer of the Eastern Palace.

But Su Ze hasn’t given lectures to the Crown Prince yet?

Emperor Longqing looked at Zhang Hong, and the clever eunuch immediately said:

"Your Majesty, the Eastern Palace has its own system for teaching, and it needs to be reviewed by the two adults in the Zhanshi Mansion."

Emperor Longqing said curiously:

"How do you know Master Su?"

Zhu Yijun immediately said:
"I have read the Yuefu New Newspaper published by Master Su!"

After saying this, Zhu Yijun told Emperor Longqing a joke from the Yuefu Xinbao, which made both Emperor Longqing and Concubine Li laugh.

Although Zhu Yijun was only six years old, he knew how to read people's expressions. After listening to Zhang Hong telling jokes in the newspaper, he concluded that Su Ze was an interesting person, so he was always looking forward to Su Ze's visit to give lectures.

Today, he had the opportunity and took Emperor Longqing by the hand and said:

"Father, please issue an order tomorrow to have Master Su come and give lectures to this son of yours."

Emperor Longqing agreed immediately.

After enjoying the happiness of family, Emperor Longqing felt much more relaxed all over.

Zhu Yijun was still young and fell asleep quickly. Emperor Longqing suddenly had an idea and said to Concubine Li:

"My beloved, would you like me to go and listen to Su Zilin's lecture to Jun'er tomorrow?"

(End of this chapter)