Daming talker

Chapter 672: Have a Global Perspective
This waterway between Suzhou and the capital connects several regions and water systems, with several sluices in the middle.

On the one hand, one needs to queue up to pass through the lock, and on the other hand, many places require the use of manpower on the shore to navigate.

Those who don't have strong connections and travel slowly may spend forty days on the road, while a normal official ship can take less than thirty days.

For a case like Lin Tailai, who has the highest priority and has the government authorities along the way providing unconditional and full support for the fleet to travel day and night, the time required is even shorter.

In mid-June, Lin Tailai received the imperial edict in Suzhou, and in early July he arrived at Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou, the last stop of the Grand Canal.

Fortunately, Lin Tailai was in good health and could withstand such high-intensity work, but many of the 300 servants who followed him fell ill due to exhaustion.

These servants could only be temporarily placed in inns along the way to recuperate, and then continue their journey after they had recovered.

At Zhangjiawan Wharf in Tongzhou, Lin Tailai abandoned his boat and changed horses, moving forward towards the not-too-distant capital without stopping.

It was not until he passed Chongwen Gate that Mr. Lin finally relaxed physically and mentally, and walked leisurely towards the Lin Mansion in Li Ge Lao Hutong.

He had hurried on his journey just to "obey the emperor's order" and show it to the emperor.

After all, the emperor must be in a bad mood now. If he still travels slowly, wouldn't he be asking for being struck by lightning?
Therefore, before entering the capital, everyone had to act as if they were hurrying on their way.

As for after entering the capital, that means the requirements of the imperial edict have been fulfilled and there is no need to worry anymore.

Anyway, in Mr. Lin's heart, he is not really worried about North Korea.

The situation in North Korea has collapsed to such an extent that it has reached the point where it cannot collapse any further. The situation cannot get any worse. What's the point of being anxious?

Besides, we don’t have a large army at hand, so even if we want to take action, what can we use?

Besides, it takes time to mobilize a large army. It will take at least two months to complete the task, so there is no need to rush.

So after Lin Tailai arrived in Beijing, he first submitted a memorial and then rested at home for two days.

The memorial further clarified that there were at least tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers who crossed the sea into Korea, and then the old tune of "one hundred thousand troops and two hundred thousand taels of silver" was repeated.

When Emperor Wanli saw these two numbers, he suddenly felt his dizziness became more serious.

Especially since these 200,000 silver taels were only the advance payment, and no one knew how much more would be needed later.

So Emperor Wanli sent Lin Tailai's memorial to the court for discussion. Since Lin Tailai had returned to Beijing anyway, he could just let him discuss it with other ministers.

Of course, although to outsiders it seemed that Lin Tailai was resting at home for two days, he was not completely idle. Instead, he secretly convened an enlarged meeting of the Renewal Society.

At the meeting, Alliance Leader Lin listened to the work reports of all members over the past six months and gave the latest instructions one by one.

Leader Lin highly praised Comrade Zhao Zhigao's spirit of not waiting or relying on others and actively exerting his subjective initiative; he also praised Comrade Wang Yusheng for not fearing strong enemies and daring to draw the sword.

Leader Lin called on all members to learn from Zhao Zhigao and Wang Yusheng to make the future of the Renewal Society even more glorious!
During the free speech period, Zhao Zhigao asked Lin Tailai: "What are your plans regarding the affairs of the Joseon Kingdom?"

Lin Tailai replied: "The primary issue in any work is the personnel issue. If you want to do a good job, you must first do a good job in personnel work."

Zhao Zhigao understood that he should first get people and power, and then do specific things. As for whom to get, of course, it was those who had previously led the affairs of North Korea.

At this point, Lin Tailai suddenly said to the censor Wang Yusheng: "You did a good job in the last court discussion, especially forcing Lu Guangzu to sign a written agreement. Did he sign it in the end?"

Wang Yusheng replied angrily, "Several people came out to dissuade me, saying that young people like me should respect the elderly, and they also vouched for Lu Guangzu, and the matter was left unresolved."

Lin Tailai then asked, "So Lu Guangzu hasn't resigned yet?"

Wang Yusheng was helpless about this. "He claimed to be ill and stayed at home, refusing to see anyone."

Lin Tailai said angrily, "Then why don't you go to his house to remind him to fulfill his bet? It's okay for him to hide from others, but if he hides from you, wouldn't that make him a scoundrel?"

Even if Lu Guangzu wants to pretend to be dead, he can't do it safely!
Wang Yusheng muttered, "I want to go there too, but I don't have any elite soldiers and generals around me. I'm afraid I'll be beaten if I go."

This worry was justified, so Lin Tailai instructed Zhang Wen again: "Assign a hundred servants to follow our Imperial Censor Wang!"

Lin Tailai then asked Ye Mengxiong, the Minister of War, "How is Shi Xing now?"

Ye Mengxiong replied casually: "You are just a clown. Jiuyuan, please don't bother with me."

Lin Tailai asked again: "How did you recommend me to the emperor?"

Ye Mengxiong replied: "I request that you be appointed to manage Liaodong, Korea and the Japanese affairs."

Lin Tailai said thoughtfully: "Although the emperor urgently summoned me back to Beijing, he did not give me any official appointment.

So the first priority is to convince everyone and get the appointment!"

On the second day of the secret meeting of the Renewal Society, someone suddenly came to Lin's house with a secret letter. It turned out that Wang Xiangqian, the governor of Xuanfu, heard that Lin Tailai had returned to the capital and sent someone to deliver it urgently.

Lin Tailai was quite puzzled. Everything had been calm in Xuanfu. What urgent matter could Wang Xiangqian have?

After opening the letter, I found out that it was written by someone else, but there was no signature.

The secret letter contained only a short sentence without a beginning or an end: "My dear husband, you are already twelve years old. Let me test you. I hope you can have a child."

Lin Tailai sighed secretly, it seemed that this woman couldn't wait any longer.

During the "bloody mediation" that year, I persuaded Sanniang to marry the nine-year-old Bu Shitu for the sake of the overall situation.

He also made a promise that when the puppet Shunyi King Bushitu came of age, he would use his own seed to help Sanniang give birth to a son, and falsely claim that the son was Bushitu's.

Then Bu Shitu would die unfortunately, and then he would support the son he had with Sanniangzi as the King of Shunyi.

Now is the time to fulfill the promise, which we originally thought would take another two years.

Now is the time to prepare for the expedition to Korea, and Sanniangzi suddenly comes to add to the drama, which is really adding to the chaos!
The other members looked at the changing expression on Alliance Leader Lin's face and asked, "What's the problem?"

Lin Tailai replied: "It's not difficult, but it will be hard for me. I have to sacrifice myself for my country again."

Two days after arriving in Beijing, Lin Tailai, a reader in the Hanlin Academy, a junior official in the Taichang Temple, and a doctor in the Three Ministries, officially began his public activities.

Early in the morning when he went to work, Lin Tailai blocked the gate of Hanlin Academy, looking at the three words "Deng Yingmen" on the plaque with deep affection.

After a while, he sighed and said to his colleagues around him: "In recent years, I have been entangled in worldly affairs and have not experienced the joy of studying for a long time!
I feel extremely ashamed and feel unworthy to step into this place of Hanyuan and Tsinghua University today!"

After saying this, Lin Tailai decisively turned around and left, and actually did not enter the Hanlin Academy.

The Hanlin scholars who were blocked outside the gate and couldn't go in looked at each other in bewilderment. They had prepared themselves to be criticized by Lin Tailai, but they didn't expect that Lin Tailai would just walk outside the gate and leave.

Han Yu, the rising star of the Hanlin Academy and the new double champion, said maliciously: "The Hanlin Academy can continue to maintain its peace. Shouldn't we celebrate?"

Editor Zhou Yingqiu glanced at Han Yu and said rudely, "What a celebration! Jiu Yuanjun passed by without entering, which means he doesn't want to waste time here!

This further proves that our Hanlin Academy is no longer that important, and is even inferior to the Ministry of Examination, the Ministry of Guests and Guests, and the Ministry of Communications!
Do you, Han Yu, still think this is something worth being happy about? You are such a second-generation rich kid who doesn't understand current affairs. If you don't understand, just keep quiet!

But you still have some sense. It was very wise of you not to jump out when Jiu Yuanjun was here just now."

The words were rough but the truth was there. All the Hanlin scholars were speechless. It was an indisputable fact that the status of the Hanlin Academy had declined.

The biggest advantage of the Hanlin Academy is that they are close to the emperor and have more interactions with him. But now these Hanlin Academy members can't even get in touch with the emperor, so what say and future do they have?
Could it be that Lin Jiuyuan had already seen this trend, and that’s why he was actively striving for fame and fortune?

In fact, it’s not that Lin Tailai doesn’t attach importance to the Hanlin Academy, but there are too many government offices that need attention today, and he really can’t pay enough attention to them all.

But the biggest news in the court today was not Lin Tailai's inspection of the various government offices, but what happened in the residence of Left Censor-in-Chief Lu Guangzu.

In the morning, the censor Wang Yusheng visited the Lu Mansion, claiming that he wanted to urge General Lu to fulfill the bet, but was then forcefully expelled by the Lu family's servants.

Then, a hundred strong men jumped out from the street corners to stand up for justice and severely injured the Lu family servants guarding the gate.

Then this group of big men, taking the censor Wang Yusheng with them, quickly and successively broke through the gate, front yard and courtyard of the Lu Mansion.

Finally, after strong persuasion from Censor Wang, these big men dispersed before the officers and soldiers of the Beijing Patrol Battalion surrounded them.

The court ministers were extremely shocked by this, because similar incidents in recent years usually only involved smashing the gate and at most affecting the front yard, maintaining a certain bottom line.

This time, he broke through the bottom line and went deep into the courtyard! If he worked harder, he would be able to rush to the inner courtyard where the women were!
But who can be blamed for this? In the last court meeting, General Lu supported Shi Xing's plan and publicly threatened to make a bet.

No one knows whether Mr. Lu is trying to break the bet without any bottom line by claiming to be ill and unable to go out this time?

So today, this group of big men who broke into the courtyard of Lu Mansion was actually sending a warning about what the consequences would be if they did not stick to their bottom line.

A day later, according to the emperor's order, the court held another meeting on the issue of Korea, and dozens of ministers from various ministries and departments gathered in the East Court Room.

Wang Tianguan, who was nominally presiding over the court meeting, simply announced the start of the meeting, then disappeared into a corner, found a chair and dozed off.

Although the court meeting had begun, no one spoke for a while because everyone felt something was strange.

"Lin Jiuyuan didn't come?" Finally, someone couldn't stand it anymore and asked a soul-stirring question.

Everyone can understand that Lu Guangzu didn't come, but it's too much if you, Lin Jiuyuan, didn't come, right?

Although participation in court discussions is generally "voluntary", why did the emperor urgently summon you, Lin Jiuyuan, back to the capital?
Ye Mengxiong, the Minister of War, said, "Lin Jiuyuan has reported to me that he has gone to Xuanfu to do some work."

Shao Bi, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, stood up and severely reprimanded him, saying: "You did not attend the court meeting, but went to Xuanfu. This is simply dereliction of duty!"

Shao Shaosikou, who used to be a quiet guy, suddenly became so active today, which surprised many people.

After a little thought, he understood. Perhaps it was the shaky Lu Guangzu that gave him hope of "replacing". After all, the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate were both judicial departments, so it was normal for them to communicate and transfer with each other.

Ye Mengxiong forced a bitter smile and said, "It's understandable that Lin Jiuyuan went to Xuanfu."

Someone asked curiously: "What is the reason? Why not explain it clearly?"

Ye Mengxiong seemed to find it difficult to speak, but he still answered: "The previous disastrous defeat of 5,000 elite soldiers in Liaodong shows that the scale of North Korea's military deployment this time will not be small.

A large number of troops will definitely be transferred from other border towns to Korea, so it would be best for our Ming Dynasty to ensure stability in other directions and avoid bearing pressure from multiple fronts.

Lin Jiuyuan went to Xuanfu in person to appease the right wing of the Northern Tartars and ensure the stability of the long border from Xuanfu to Datong all the way to Ningxia and Gansu for some time to come."

Everyone: "."

What's the point of appeasing the right wing of the Northern Tartars? It sounds so lofty, but isn't it just sacrificing one's life and becoming a modern-day Han Derang?
In order to increase his persuasiveness, Ye Da Sima tried his best to say seriously:
"Lin Jiuyuan's idea is not only to appease the Northern Tartar Right Wing, but also to persuade the Northern Tartar Right Wing to harass the Northern Tartar Left Wing.

If the right wing of the Northern Tartars can contain the left wing of the Northern Tartars in the next one or two years, it will reduce the pressure on Liaodong Town and Ji Town, especially eliminate Liaodong's worries and help Korea use its troops from the side.

Just like Lin Jiuyuan said, we cannot look at war from a local perspective, we must have a global perspective.

Logically speaking, this statement is very logical and no one can find fault with it.

It just feels weird. Should I persuade him or sleep with him?

Minister of Industry Chen Yubi asked, "How long will it take for Lin Jiuyuan to come back?"

Ye Da Sima replied: "The situation is quite urgent this time, Lin Jiuyuan will probably need to go and appease them for about three days.

Before leaving, Lin Jiuyuan also said that we don’t need to worry about him and let the officials in the court discuss it first.”

Chen Yubi said, "With Lin Jiuyuan not here, what's the point of us talking so much here? The emperor probably won't appoint anyone else to govern Korea, right?"

Although many people are reluctant to admit it, they have to face the fact that as long as Lin Tailai returns to the capital, he will be the first candidate to govern Korea.

Perhaps many people think that they are also capable of managing North Korean affairs, but no one dares to say that they are more suitable than Lin Tailai.

This is the prestige and sense of trust that Lin Tailai established by winning seven battles in the northwest and pacifying Ningxia.

No matter who is the emperor and chooses people, he will tend to choose those who have always won battles.

What the emperor is considering now is probably how much authority to give?
In addition, in the battle to pacify Ningxia last year, seven generals and tens of thousands of strong soldiers were mobilized.

Therefore, Lin Tailai, who was the military supervisor at the time, was one of the few people in recent times who had experience in commanding "large-scale troop operations."

In the Ming Dynasty, which was accustomed to security battles involving thousands of people, there were very few people with such experience, not even Li Chengliang, who was known for his battle-hardened experience.

Judging from the current trends, North Korea is clearly going to use its troops on a larger scale, and will certainly give priority to those with experience in "large-scale troop operations."

As for the other two who have recent experience in "large-scale troop operations", they are Li Rusong and Ye Mengxiong, but it is obviously impossible for them to compete with Lin Tailai for the position of Minister of Strategy.

In the end, the second court meeting on Korean affairs ended hastily in the absence of Lin Tailai, and was scheduled to resume three days later.

Yin Zhuoran, the Korean envoy guarding the palace gate, was extremely anxious when he heard the result.

(End of this chapter)