Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 97 Aegis meets obstacles, Ye Qi offers advice

The capital city at the end of October was colder than usual, and going to court in the early morning was undoubtedly a painful job.

Zhu Youtang was lying in the comfortable quilt, and after hearing the sound of cloud panels outside and the eunuch singing "Song of Chicken Crowing", he kicked off the quilt helplessly.

No matter how reluctant he was, he had to get up against the chill in the air and let the maid who was already waiting outside serve him in daily life.

Originally, he didn't want to waste his energy on this meaningless early court, but it's not time to "turn his face", and he also needs to declare imperial power to middle and lower officials through constant exposure.

Although the interests of the civilian group tend to be the same, the upper and lower officials have different demands after all, so it is easier for the lower officials to show their loyalty to themselves.

Take Jiajing's Great Etiquette Dispute as an example. It was those humble officials who really supported Jiajing. The real upper-level officials always stood firm and defended the interests of the civil society.

This kind of loyalty from the middle and lower classes often comes from their pursuit of power, but as long as this measure is grasped, then he will also be an important pawn that he can use.

"Your Majesty, please sit down!" A young and beautiful maid who had just been promoted timidly said.

Since the Qianqing Palace implemented the salary reform, these maids are obviously more meticulous in their work, especially those beautiful eyes are obviously shining.

Zhu Youtang was taller, so he sat boldly on the stool covered with warm cushions, and let this young and beautiful court lady clean his face.

I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but this young and beautiful court lady was obviously closer, so that she could clearly smell the girl's body fragrance.

Guo Yong, who was waiting next to him, paid attention to this side, and saw Zhu Youtang suddenly raised his hand, and Dang even prepared to wave his whisk to let everyone else leave.

"Okay!" Zhu Youtang's brows were slightly itchy, and he raised his hand to scratch the itch.

The few maids serving here did not hesitate to tidy up the copper basins and other objects, but they fell down carefully.

"Your Majesty, it's cold this morning, and it's still windy outside. The slave has already brought the mink clothes!" Guo Yong realized that he had misunderstood, and suggested calmly.

Zhu Youtang didn't want to go outside to be cold, so he chose to put on the mink clothes that he had prepared, and couldn't help but said when he was dressing, "Is this mink fur a tribute from Jianwen Jurchen?"

"This... I don't know the origin of the sable clothes!" Guo Yong couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and then said bitterly.

Zhu Youtang was actually asking casually. Naturally, most of the mink fur in this period came from Jianzhou Jurchen, but in terms of quality, it was actually better in North America.

Going outside to ride the dragon chariot, although the cold wind blows on the cheeks, I really feel the chill outside, but the whole person is really comfortable hiding in the mink fur.

No matter in what era, it is always the lower class who suffer, and the upper class always find a way to live comfortably.

In the square in front of Fengtian Temple, the cold wind is raging here.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

Familiar scenes and familiar voices, but they are called too much, so it is inevitable that they will feel numb.

Speaking responsibly, those online novels emphasize that being yelled at will be addictive, which is actually deceiving you.

Zhu Youtang sat down on the dragon chair as usual, and the group of civil and military officials still shouted long live, but the moment the group of guys stood up, their style of painting suddenly changed.

"The Ministry of War is short of fine iron, please take it back!" He Cong, the left servant of the Ministry of War, led the officials of the Ministry of War to stand up and object.

"Three thousand horses consume a lot of money every year, please take it back!" Li Si, Minister of the Ministry of Households, led the officials of the Ministry of Households to stand up and object.

"Thousands of horses need thousands of good horses, and good horses are fed five times as much as normal horses. Please take it back!" Jia Jun, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, led the officials of the Ministry of Industry to stand up and object.

"Today, the Ming Dynasty should rest and recuperate. It is not suitable to use war, so it is not suitable to form a heavy cavalry battalion. Please take it back!" The newly appointed Minister of Rites, Liu Jian, led the officials of the Ministry of Rites to stand up and object.

"Please take back your life, Your Majesty!"

Although Li Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and Du Ming, Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, did not participate, many officials under him also stood up and expressed their opposition.

"Your Majesty, please take it back!" Wu Xun, headed by Funing Hou Zhu Yong, also stood up to express their opposition.

This……

Watching this scene, Guo Yong couldn't help turning his head to look at Zhu Youtang worriedly.

The matter had to start from yesterday, when everyone was still paying attention to which minister Zhu Youtang was going to kill again, a heavy news came from outside the city.

More precisely, the news came from the [-]th Battalion.

Zhu Youtang took advantage of the turmoil of seizing the door and passed the Twelfth Supervisor to take direct control of the Twelfth Battalion. He first kicked out the twelve commanders who were close to the civil servants, and then dismissed the twelve nominal admirals who were sitting on vegetarian diets. Re-evaluation and appointment.

In fact, both Yingzong and Xianzong had carried out reforms on the capital army. After all, this was an army to consolidate the safety of the capital and the imperial city, so naturally it took a little more thought.

It's just that no matter Yingzong or Xianzong, it mainly starts with the control of the Beijing camp.

Even though Emperor Xianzong was already vigilant against the civil official group, it was still a mutual check and balance model created by the three parties, unlike Zhu Youtang who directly controlled the Beijing army through twelve eunuchs.

What people never expected was that everyone thought that Zhu Youtang's control of the [-]th Battalion through the [-]th Supervisor should stop, but now he suddenly threw out Wang Zha.

"Each battalion selects 250 elite soldiers, and forms a heavy cavalry army of [-], called the Shield Battalion. The new battalion chooses a place to garrison ten miles away from the capital, and exercises once every five days to protect the safety of the capital!"

The imperial edict to establish the Aegis Battalion was issued by the imperial palace. Zhang Shanji, the military officer, wanted to prevent the seizure of Xie Yikui's house earlier, but he did not dare to refute this imperial edict.

In fact, he couldn't refute it. After all, both Yingzong and Xianzong played the tricks of "withdrawing camps" and "establishing camps", and now the twelve camps are based on the expansion of the three major camps.

It's just that Wenchen found out about the establishment of the Aegis Battalion, and it was like a frying pan.

From ancient times to the present, everyone knows that heavy cavalry is invincible in melee combat, but why are there so few in all dynasties?
If you want to maintain a heavy cavalry troop, not only do you need a huge initial investment, but you also need huge expenses for daily maintenance. It is simply a gold-swallowing beast.

In China, the heavy cavalry army actually has a unified name-Tielin Army.

The name alone is enough to explain the heavy cavalry army's demand for fine iron, and the army's daily rations and horse rations will cost a lot of money.

If it is in wartime, this kind of expenditure may be the last resort, after all, victory is more important than anything else.It's just that Daming is in a period of peace, and there is no need to form heavy cavalry at all.

Although [-] heavy cavalry may not seem like much, it will be a huge military expenditure in the long run. Besides, who knows if Zhu Youtang will continue to expand his troops?
That's why, when they learned that Zhu Youtang was going to set up a shield camp, no matter what reason Zhu Youtang was based on, the civil and military officials headed by Xu Pu immediately jumped out and strongly opposed it.

They came here against the cold wind this morning, precisely to stop Zhu Youtang's stupid move.

"We don't discuss the Aegis Battalion this morning! If you have any objections, you can come and play!" Zhu Youtang also did not expect to receive such strong opposition, and immediately suppressed the anger in his heart and expressed his position lightly.

Liu Jian, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, glanced at Xu Pu, and immediately expressed his opinion again: "The Aegis Camp is related to the rise and fall of Ming Dynasty, please accept the invitation of all officials!"

"Your Majesty, please accept the invitation of all officials!" Li Si, Minister of the Household Department, and other officials followed closely to express their opinions.

Zhu Youtang saw this group of civil servants once again united front, and found that this group of people finally came to the same goal by different routes.

What these civil servants want is to hold power in their hands and seal their wives and children, but they have never wanted a strong country and rich people.The so-called "establishing a heart for the world, establishing a life for the people, inheriting the knowledge of the past, and creating peace for all generations" is nothing but Ye Gong's love of dragons.

In the original history, it was the Ming Dynasty dominated by these civil servants that caused the relationship between Ming and Mongolia during the Hongzhi period to change from the original plunder and tribute to the equality between the two sides.

From the point of view of the ruling class alone, it is actually in everyone's best interest to choose to stay on the defensive and be a shrinking turtle.

His emperor is naturally delicacies from mountains and seas and Sangong Sixth Courtyard, and these officials who have worked hard for ten years hold great power and seal their wives and children.

With the historical pen in their hands, even if the frontier residents were slaughtered, they may focus on describing the picturesque south of the Yangtze River and sing the praises of the prosperous Hongzhi era created by them.

"Liu Shilang, I just want to set up a small shield battalion, do I owe you your salary?" Zhu Youtang asked angrily when facing this group of civil servants who wanted to force the palace.

In his previous life, he was a member of Huaxia, loved his own nation, and had a dream of chasing Britain and beauty.

In this life, he is already the Lord of China, and he also loves his nation and land, so he naturally wants to shoulder this mission like thousands of Chinese traversers.

Although the emperor is essentially a member of the ruling class, if there is really a ruling class in this era, then he alone is enough.

As for this group of civil servants who are full of patriotism and love for the people but are only interested in profit, they either obediently obey their own orders, or they all go to hell.

This……

Liu Jian, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, has always regarded himself as the emperor's teacher, but at this moment, feeling Zhu Youtang's anger, he couldn't help swallowing secretly.

"Your Majesty's hole candle is dead. Today, 3000 heavy cavalry will be rebuilt to protect us and the Ming Emperor. This is the best policy, and the minister seconded it!" Wan'an had been very unhappy with Qingliu for a long time, and Dang even stood up to express his opinion.

After all, he was an old minister who flattered the party. After Wan An stood up and expressed his opinion, a large group of officials including the left servant of the Ministry of Industry, Chen Zheng, and others stood up and said, "Your minister waits for a second opinion!"

Although it is indeed expensive to set up the Aegis Battalion, Daming's finances can afford it, and now the man in front of him is not a closet prince, but an emperor who holds twelve battalions in his hands.

If the emperor was really angered, all the civil and military officials present might be wiped out directly.

Seeing Wan An and others supporting him, Zhu Youtang couldn't help but feel better, but seeing Zhang Sheng not far away was still standing there, he also sighed helplessly.

I don't know if it's because of the Confucian culture, or these civil servants are really used to being a turtle to seek security, and they don't have the idea of ​​being prepared for danger in times of peace.

Or, their civil servants actually never cared about who was sitting on the dragon chair, as long as they had a salary and a black hat, they didn't care whether the person sitting on it was a ghost.

In fact, it wasn't just Zhang Sheng who was like this, I'm afraid Wan An also felt in his heart that he was just messing around in forming the Aegis Battalion.

After all, without spending such a large sum of money now, everyone's life is comfortable.Forbearance with Mongolia in the north is a beautiful world with vast sea and sky.

Although there are thousands of people, I will go!
At this moment, Zhu Youtang looked at Zhang Sheng standing still, and felt that he had to rely on himself for this road.

How can there be so many people who sacrifice their lives for righteousness, how can there be so many insightful people, what these civil servants who have been in the cold for ten years only think about the prosperity of the world in the country and the people.

There may be people who want to follow him to seal the wolf and live in Xuxu, but he hasn't seen it yet, or they are not in the civil official group at all.

cough!
Seeing Liu Jian hit a hard nail, Xu Pu coughed lightly.

Li Si, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, came out understandingly and said: "Your Majesty, even if the imperial court wants to set up a shield battalion, the cost will be as little as 10 taels, but the Ministry of Household Affairs has already fixed the expenditure for next year, and I am afraid it will not be able to afford this expenditure!"

When the officials heard that they couldn't afford it financially, Dang even whispered to each other.

In fact, many officials didn't want to oppose Zhu Youtang, but the cost of building a heavy cavalry battalion was indeed not a small sum, so they were all worried about Daming's finances.

"Couldn't the Ministry of Households not be able to take out all this money?" Zhu Youtang asked in a deep voice, not knowing whether the other party was stopping him or wanting to hack his internal treasury.

Facing Zhu Youtang's questioning, Li Si directly said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, there are a lot of floods this year, which has caused serious shortages in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, the project budget next year is very huge, so I am afraid that we will not be able to spend so much money. !"

"Since you don't have enough money, why don't you take it easy?"

"Yes, there is no need to rush this matter now!"

"It's okay to wait for the first class, but now the Tartars are very peaceful!"

……

When the officials present heard Li Si's words, many officials' eyes could not help but lighten up slightly, but they thought of "delaying the word", and they all expressed their opinions in a low voice below.

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly, how could he not see through the small thoughts of these tricky officials.

Ye Qi turned his head and glanced at Xu Pu, and then suddenly came out and said: "Your Majesty, if you want to solve the urgent financial situation, I have a plan to solve it!"

"Talk!" Zhu Youtang found out that the sun was coming out from the west, but he said calmly.

Ye Qi cleared his throat, then took out a memorandum that he had already prepared, and said: "Your Majesty has been worried about the salt law since he ascended the Great Treasure, and he discussed with Xueshi Xu a few days ago, and finally came up with a good plan. One quotation of branch salt means five cents of silver, and one quotation of salt. Please change the method of discounting silver, four cents and two cents of silver, and one quotation of branch salt. The new method of practice, one quotation of salt and eight quotations, can be obtained. Solving the current financial difficulties of the Ministry of Households can also be used for the future of the Ming Dynasty.”

(End of this chapter)