The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Years later, the officialdom of the capital was in a state of desolation.

Because it is still the Zhengdan holiday, many yamen are not open, and even if the yamen are open, there are not many people on duty. If there are any yamen that are indispensable for the imperial court, there really are none. It is like when there are no these yamen, There will be no deviations in the operation of the Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, the interference of the six ministries and other yamen in the capital will cause some instability within the Ming Dynasty.

The twelfth of the first lunar month.

This day was the day when the Hubu Yamen reopened. The ten-day holiday was over. On the first day he arrived at the Hubu Yamen, Ji Zhong sorted out the things at hand.

He had no intention of asking Liu Jian or Li Dongyang for instructions. In the past, if anything happened...especially if it involved military affairs, he had to ask Liu Jian and Li Dongyang for their opinions first. Their courtyard in Dongjiang Mixiang was the Sixth Department of the Central Government. The place where ministers and ministers go most often.

But now everything has changed.

In addition to the addition of the Audit Office, the power of the cabinet has also been further restricted. Xie Qian's case has determined that the cabinet has completely lost its jurisdiction over the six ministries. The six ministries no longer have to ask the cabinet for anything like they did in the early years of Hongzhi. Views.

But when work was about to end that day, Li Dongyang came to the household department in person.

If you don't go to me, I will come to you personally. After all, our cabinet has to intervene in this matter. It's not that easy for you to escape control.

"The war in Liaodong has begun. Although His Majesty has not yet come to court, he has reviewed Liaodong's request for the allocation of money and grain. Now it has been sent to the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate 160,000 dan of grain. This is still a preliminary transfer for the purpose of recruitment. , local money and grain will be raised in Jizhou and Liaodong. At the same time, Shandong and other places are also transporting money and grain from the sea to the north..."

Ji Zhong naturally wanted to give Li Dongyang face.

If you ask, I'll tell you the current situation. It's not that the Hubu doesn't want to influence everything, but it comes from the emperor's order, and it's hard for us in the Hubu to say anything.

Li Dongyang asked: "How much will Beijing Reserve transfer?"

"That's 160,000 shi. If we can allocate a batch from Tongzhou, we may only need to allocate 120,000 shi from the Beijing warehouse reserve. We are still coordinating. Now the granaries on both sides of the canal are full, but we dare not send anyone there now. Check, if any omissions are found, I am afraid that if a war breaks out in Liaodong, it will affect the stability of the military. "

As Zhong said, he gave Li Dongyang the information on the money and grain storage currently summarized by the Ministry of Household Affairs for review.

But Li Dongyang obviously had no intention of looking. He basically knew how much food was stored everywhere.

Zhong Zhong seemed to have thought about what Li Dongyang would ask, and took the initiative: "At the port, His Majesty only issued a decree last winter to transfer 60,000 shi of grain, but the matter has been delayed, and it has not been transferred yet." In terms of silver, it was allocated from the inner treasury of the inner government, and millions of taels of silver were obtained from overseas. So far, there has been a lot of expenditure. Only the internal officials can know where it has been spent. "

Li Dongyang said: "Since the construction of ports and shipbuilding can allocate money and food from the inner government, why can't the battle of Liaodong be done from the Ministry of Household Affairs?"

"what?"

Zhong Zhong was startled.

In this matter, Zhong Zhong was very afraid.

Because one of Xie Qian's crimes was to obstruct the imperial court's allocation of money and food, and to hinder the use of troops in the northwest. To put it bluntly, the crime of the cabinet's previous obstruction of the Ministry of Revenue's transfer of money and food to Zhang Mao was transferred to Xie Qian. .

Ji Zhong also didn't expect that not long after the incident in the northwest ended, there was now a war in Liaodong, and the cabinet would come out to cause trouble again.

Li Dongyang said coldly: "The war in Liaodong is just a little friction between the local government and the Jurchens, and it is by no means huge. The Ministry of War is obviously making a fuss about this matter. No less than 100,000 soldiers and horses were recruited from various places to go to Liaodong. , what's the point? The soldiers and horses need to be maintained, the soldiers need food, clothing, housing and transportation, and the horses need fodder. These are huge expenses. It is not a big deal to ask for 160,000 shi of food now. When this gap is opened, it may be 100 shi. Six hundred thousand shi, will Beijing be able to produce this much food by then?”

Zhong Zhong said: "The arrow is on the string."

I didn't say it too clearly, but I mean, the troops and horses have been mobilized, are we going to take out the food and grass now?
This is not to draw fire from under the cauldron, it is simply to kill the soldiers of Liaodong.

Li Dongyang said: "After the Shangyuan Festival, your Majesty will come to court, and this matter must be raised in court. Your Majesty not only wants to use troops with the Mongolian Tatars in the northwest, but also wants to start a war in Liaodong. The war has not stopped in the past few years." However, don’t you consider the safety of the people everywhere? Avoid unnecessary wars if possible.”

Ji Zhongdao: "What does Mr. Li Ge mean?"

Li Dongyang said indifferently: "The Jurchens, especially the Jianzhou Jurchens and Haixi Jurchens, are exhausted. If the Ministry of War had not insisted on using troops in Liaodong before, they would not have had the intention to cause rebellion. Now they should adopt a gentle policy as a guide." host."

Zhong Zhong sighed: "Your Majesty wants to relocate the Jurchens to Yunnan and other places, but I'm afraid the Jurchens won't agree."

Li Dongyang frowned and said: "Western Liaoning and other places are almost barbaric. Further north, there are places where Nu'er Gandusi and others have never stationed troops to support the people. Why can't the Jurchens be moved north or stay where they are? If we must radicalize women If the real person rebels, there will be wars in Liaodong and other places in the next few decades. I don’t know what Zhang Bingkuan is trying to do..."

Zhong Zhong reminded: "The strategy for Liaodong was decided by the Holy One. If we say that it was decided by one person, the Minister of War, I'm afraid it would be a bit biased."

"You and I both know exactly what's going on." Li Dongyang's tone was cold. He probably felt that Zhong Zhong was now inseparable from the cabinet. Otherwise, why didn't he take the initiative to find something and ask him to come to the door in person?
Zhong Zhong said: "The Ministry of Revenue is still cooperating with the allocation of money and food. They have transferred a wave of money and food first. If it has to be delayed for a few days... it is not difficult. I am afraid that His Majesty will issue an order to inquire again. If you want to wait until the Lantern Festival After that, if you raise it from the top, just by raising it from the household department, I'm afraid it will have little effect. "

It means that our household department cannot take the lead in this matter, and we should not use our household department as a weapon.

Li Dongyang said: "Don't worry, we just need to put this matter on hold for now. After the Lantern Festival, someone will argue with His Majesty. You just need to report the difficulties to the Ministry of Household Affairs truthfully."

……

……

Ji Zhong had no choice but to temporarily suppress the external transfer of some money and food.

After Lu Wan, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, heard about this, he came to Zhong Zhong anxiously and asked why the dispatch of money and food was not timely.

In the Hubu Yamen, Lu Wan also had a very tough tone: "If we delay for one day, the soldiers of Liaodong may run out of food. If we delay it for three to five to seven days, I am afraid that the march will be greatly affected, and the soldiers will suffer from cold and hunger. At that time, the Jurchens were waiting for an opportunity to attack. I wonder if the Ministry of Revenue can bear this responsibility? "

Zhong Zhong said: "Don't be anxious first. It will take some time to transfer so much food from outside the capital at one time."

Lu Wan said coldly: "I don't think it's because of lack of preparation, but because someone came over to say hello, right?" Shangshu, you should know where Mr. Xie Ge's fault lies. Previously, His Majesty did not hold the Ministry of Revenue accountable for this matter. Responsibility, if there is another delay today, I am afraid that Your Majesty will not turn a deaf ear."

"you……"

Zhong Ben wanted to say, how can you threaten me?
But I thought that although he was just a minister of the household department, he was already a minister on duty at the listening department, and this yamen gradually gained the emperor's attention. Moreover, the emperor also made it clear in the court rules before that when a war breaks out, the Superior Court is responsible for reporting and handling all matters. In other words, in military and political affairs, the cabinet does not have any jurisdiction. On the contrary, the Superior Court is responsible for reporting and handling all matters. Can serve as an advisor to the emperor during wartime and take on many tasks.

Lu Wandao: "If someone instructs us to wait until the court to discuss it, then it will be postponed for four or five days, and it is not sure whether His Majesty will come to court immediately after the Lantern Festival. Whether His Majesty has been ill recently, the palace has also No news came out.”

"That's true." Zhong Zhong also found a loophole in this question.

It is said that we can wait until the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, after the emperor goes to court, and then we can argue with the emperor.

But what if the emperor doesn't go to court?
Can't this matter be put off forever? After all, the imperial order has been issued.

Lu Wan did not resolve the conflict, but instead tried to persuade him: "This batch of money and food may not seem like much, but it can allow the soldiers to persist for several days. The allocation of money and food everywhere must be carried out in an orderly manner. If only the capital is here, If the grain is not transported, the responsibility lies with the Ministry of Revenue. You must know that Shandong and other places will make arrangements early in the morning, and there will be no major deviations from Cai Guogong and others. "

"What are you talking about?" Zhong Zhong asked, "Does the Ministry of War have the authority to mobilize money and food?"

Lu Wandao: "Does the Ministry of Revenue have the authority to dispatch ships at the port? Or mobilize money, food, luggage, etc.? They have all been transported to the port and will be shipped at any time. The Ministry of Revenue is already very embarrassed. If the next step is taken, Your Majesty feels that the Ministry of Revenue If we have to hold the Ministry of Finance in our hands, who will be in charge of the Ministry of Finance in the future?”

Zhong Zhong frowned and said, "Are you trying to say that His Majesty is going to remove me from my post or even convict me of a crime?"

"Minister Qi, what you are doing now may seem to be complying with the wishes of those ministers, but in fact it is against the will of His Majesty. It would be fine if nothing goes wrong... If I were the governor of Liaodong, I would petition His Majesty for food and make the local soldiers suffer terribly. Then His Majesty would have a reason to report it to the court... Who would suffer then? Would it be the ministers in the cabinet? Wouldn't it be the people in the Ministry of Revenue who would bear the consequences?"

Ji Zhong was silent.

Think about it too.

It's okay if nothing happens, but if something happens, it will be the executive level rather than the decision-making level who will take the blame. Liu Jian and Li Dongyang can be easily exempted from liability.

It is rare to be able to pick Xie Qian out like this. Now Li Dongyang will not leave any evidence on paper. Who arranges the transfer department to do the work? You, Zhongming, know that you are directly under the emperor's jurisdiction, why do you listen to the cabinet? When you say that the cabinet arranged for you to do this, you are committing a crime.

"Food must be transferred." Lu Wan said, "We can wait until the transfer is done, and then we can argue with His Majesty. That is all for later. If something happens due to delayed food, no one can bear the responsibility. Please also ask the minister Think twice.”

Zhong Zhong raised his head and looked at Lu Wan. His head felt heavy when he thought of the power he held in his hands.

In the end, he rolled his sleeves and said, "I have been in poor health recently. It is up to you to decide the matter. When I come back from a few days of recuperation, I hope the matter will be resolved!"

Obviously, Zhong Zhong also felt that what Lu Wan said was reasonable, but he could not "disobey" Li Dongyang's instructions. The only way was to leave the matter of food adjustment to the minister, Lu Wan, and he chose to escape.

……

……

The allocation of food continued, although it was delayed by one day, but the overall problem was not big.

However, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang did not receive any news. After all, the people who directly contacted them were officials such as the Minister of Secretariat. The Capital Warehouse was allocating grain. There was no need to report this matter directly to the cabinet minister, and it was impossible for the cabinet to do so. There will be so many eyeliners watching.

Furthermore, Li Dongyang also felt that as a traditional civil servant, it was impossible for Zhong Zhong to betray his trust.

Since everything has been decided in person, just wait and argue with the emperor in court. There is no need to worry about Zhong Zhong betraying him.

But things are just so uncontrollable...

The reason is that the cabinet's control over the court is already very low, and many of the decisions made by the cabinet are contrary to the emperor's opinions, and the emperor does not give the cabinet any face at all. Lian Ge Lao said: Just catch it.

When the cabinet and the emperor disagree, the emperor no longer cares about the friendship between teachers and students, or the stability of the court, and he no longer suffers losses like before and has to endure it... The emperor is already very powerful now.

Zhong Zhong understood this, so he listened to Lu Wan's opinions wisely.

At fourteen o'clock on the first lunar month, while on duty at the cabinet, Li Dongyang still swore to Liu Jian that this matter was completely under control.

But after working as a part-time worker, when Li Dongyang was going to the Ministry of War to talk to the two ministers of the Ministry of War about the use of troops in Liaodong, and was going to bring the two ministers of the Ministry of War together to oppose the use of troops in Liaodong at the meeting on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, he saw Ma Wensheng coming in a hurry. .

Ma Wensheng said: "Binzhi, didn't you say that we should first slow down the grain adjustment matter of the Ministry of Revenue? Why hasn't the matter been slowed down at all?"

"What?" Li Dongyang frowned.

"The food has been transferred out in the past few days. It is all going to the port by land. It is said that it will be transported by sea to Liaodong. Don't you know this?" Ma Wensheng was also surprised.

Is this how you, Li Dongyang, control the situation?
Li Dongyang said: "Ma Butang, how did you know?"

Obviously Li Dongyang didn't believe it.

Ma Wensheng sighed: "I didn't know, but even the governor in Xuanfu knew about this. How do you think I knew it? The transportation of grain from the capital is related to the transportation of money and grain to the northwest, and Xuanfu serves as a granary. , there will also be an official document from the Ministry of Finance... Didn't anyone tell you? "

Li Dongyang was startled.

Only then did he realize that Liu Daxia, the governor of Xuanfu, had been recommended by Ma Wensheng, and Liu Daxia was a good hand at managing finances.

As a result, in just a few days, Liu Daxia learned about the situation and promptly conveyed it to the capital. On the contrary, he, the elder in the capital, was completely unaware of it.

"What exactly is the Ministry of Household Affairs going to do?" Li Dongyang was furious.

Ma Wensheng sighed: "I heard that the minister has retired due to illness. The left minister is on the three sides, and the right minister is in the upper listening area, but it is the right minister in the upper listening area who is handling this matter. I'm afraid you'll go to Huhu. It's all in vain, because... Alas! If your Majesty wants to use troops, it's better not to use force to obstruct it." (End of this chapter)