The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

The joint memorial submitted by Cui Yuan and Zhang Yong asking for money and grain was soon transmitted to the capital. As wartime news, it could not be neglected at all for the messengers at the border.

When the news came, the ministers were in an uproar again on their way to court.

The Minister of Revenue, Qi Zhong, naturally became the focus of everyone's attention, and a group of people surrounded him and asked him what was going on.

Liu Jian and Li Dongyang seemed very peaceful.

Wang Ao, who had just entered the cabinet, and Cheng Minzheng seemed to be outsiders, and the discussions of others seemed to have nothing to do with them.

Finally, Qi Zhong quickened his pace and came to Liu Jian's side. At this time, they were just in front of Fengtian Gate. The people from the Honglu Temple deliberately avoided them to give Qi Zhong the opportunity to communicate with Liu Jian and Li Dongyang.

"Several ministers." When speaking, Qi Zhong did not avoid Wang Ao and Cheng Minzheng. He was talking to the four people in the cabinet. "Right now, Liaodong's military affairs are tense, and the front line is tight, but it has been slow to break the situation. Liaodong's local money and grain are no longer enough, and the soldiers are on the verge of running out of food."

Li Dongyang said in a nonchalant tone: "Before the war, didn't the Ministry of War allocate a batch of food and supplies from Jiangnan? They also transported them to Liaodong by sea. I heard that they are also building a seaport there, saying that they will strengthen sea transportation in the future. How come it's been less than two months and they're out of food?"

What this means is that the food shortage was definitely not the responsibility of the imperial court or the Ministry of Revenue, but entirely the fault of Zhang Zhou.

Who asked Zhang Zhou to preside over this war?

Since he wants to go to war, he must first solve the food problem. Food and fodder must be sent before the army moves. It seems that he understands this principle very well, but why is he like a layman when it comes to putting it into practice?

Qi Zhong said: "Liaodong has gathered nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses, and the daily food supply is a huge number. However, due to the resettlement of the Jurchens and drought last year, Liaodong's grain harvest decreased, making it difficult for the local area to resettle and replenish the crops. As for sea transportation, the grain transfer from Nanjing has been stopped."

This is telling Li Dongyang.

The court's policies not only affect the Ministry of Revenue and Taicang in the capital, but also concern the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing and Nanjing's grain preparations. The transportation of grain is basically under our control.

We are not allowed to transfer grain, even Zhang Zhou cannot transfer grain from the south.

Just when Li Dongyang wanted to make some further sarcastic remarks to show that this matter had nothing to do with them, Liu Jian reached out to interrupt their conversation and glanced at Wang Ao and Cheng Minzheng, meaning that the issues you are discussing are beyond the standards that can be discussed in public at present.

If someone told this to the emperor, it would further deepen the "misunderstanding" between the civil officials and the emperor.

"Let's go back first and talk about it later." Li Dongyang understood what Liu Jian meant and said to Qi Zhong.

Qi Zhong bowed and returned to his seat.

This matter seemed to be temporarily settled. After all, Qi Zhong now knew that he would soon withdraw from the court, so in many things, Qi Zhong was not too demanding. He did not want to offend Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, nor did he want to be too closely bound to them, so he now had a mentality of just getting by.

After the bell has retreated.

Li Dongyang said to Liu Jian, "It's obvious that the military commanders and eunuchs at the frontline are asking the court for money and grain. Someone wants to get the Ministry of Revenue so that they can control the overall situation. The Ministry of War is already in their hands. If they add the Ministry of Revenue, who knows how the court will be tossed around in the next few years."

"Yeah." Liu Jian nodded, as if he agreed with Li Dongyang's words.

The control of the army has completely fallen into Zhang Zhou's hands, and he can mobilize troops without even going through the court.

If the financial power with priority on grain is given to Zhang Zhou, it means that Zhang Zhou has grown stronger and no longer needs the Ming court or their group of civil officials. Then Zhang Zhou can do whatever he wants in the future.

From the perspective of traditional Confucian officials, they must not sit idly by and watch this happen.

Li Dongyang said: "Just wait and see. This time we are putting pressure on the higher-ups. Zhang Bingkuan hasn't come today, but this matter... is not a small matter."

……

……

Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, and even the traditional civil officials in the court, were ready to argue with the emperor in the court and fight to the end with Zhang Zhou's faction.

Although Zhang Zhou still did not attend the court, Lu Wan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was there. Logically, someone would have pointed out the issue of Liaodong's lack of military food and supplies and argued for it in the court. Lu Wan was very capable when he was in the court, and this time Lu Wan's transfer to the northwest failed, so Lu Wan also needed some opportunities to show his talents.

From the perspective of a civil official, Lu Wan needed such an opportunity in order to obtain the qualification to re-enter the Shangtingchu. At the same time, Lu Wan also wanted to show that he, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was not a decoration.

But surprisingly, during the court meeting that day, the emperor seemed not to want to mention the issue of the lack of military rations in Liaodong from the beginning.

Because Zhu Youtang didn't care about this at all.

The pattern is different.

The original plan of who would enter the Shangtingchu had not been implemented, which meant that there were only two temporary ministers on duty in the Shangtingchu, Cheng Minzheng, the cabinet minister waiting for the change of term, and Xiong Xiu, the right vice minister of the Ministry of War.

The fangs of the upper court seemed to have been temporarily pulled out with Lu Wan's departure.

After the court meeting was over, most ministers felt relaxed and happy. There was no conflict between them and the emperor, the court was still the same court, and they could continue to live their lives.

But for Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, this matter seemed so unusual.

The emperor had clearly already had the opportunity to fight with the ministers for control of the Ministry of Revenue, so why was he still so calm? Did the emperor think that this matter should be delayed for two days? Let the matter ferment for a while?

Arrived at the cabinet duty room.

Liu Jian called Wang Ao to his side and handed him some memorials, especially Cui Yuan's "crying" memorial about the lack of food and the inability to continue the march due to natural disasters.

"Jizhi, take a look at this and give us some advice." Liu Jian wanted to test Wang Ao's attitude.

Wang Ao took it and casually opened the top one and glanced at it. He seemed to know the contents already, and then closed it again.

He said: "According to the previous rules, we should either stop the war and send the soldiers back to their hometowns to calm the army. Or we can temporarily mobilize food. If we mobilize from the capital, it may not be enough, unless we first take out some from the Liaodong reserves and then make up for it with the Beijing warehouse reserves."

Li Dongyang came over and said with a smile, "I haven't been to the Jingchu recently. How about you take Jizhi over there? We should understand the situation there and know how much grain we can mobilize?"

This is setting a trap for Wang Ao.

Just let Wang Ao follow Cheng Minzheng to see that there was not much grain left in the reserves of the Ming capital, and large warehouses such as Taicang were almost half empty. Let Wang Ao know that the so-called Battle of Liaodong could not be fought and should not be fought. Let Wang Ao know how irresponsible Zhang Zhou, the student he chose, was in this matter.

Cheng Minzheng laughed and said, "The affairs of the Hanlin Academy have been very busy recently. I am afraid I can't spare the time. How about letting Jizhi go by himself? The Ministry of Revenue will also send someone to assist."

Wang Ao asked, "Am I going to check the accounts or the warehouse?"

This question made the smile on Li Dongyang's face fade.

Wang Ao was obviously not stupid. He knew that Li Dongyang was engaging in factional struggles. As a cabinet minister, Wang Ao was not overstepping his authority to go to the Jingcang warehouse to check. But if he wanted to go, he had to have a reason to let the people below know the purpose of his visit.

If you, Wang Ao, go there like this, wouldn't it be the same as telling the Ministry of Revenue and the Vice Minister of Revenue in charge of Taicang and others that you are going to cause trouble or create problems for them?
If Wang Ao came up, he would be offending a group of people.

If you check your warehouse without any reason, no one will think you are a good person.

Cheng Minzheng came over and pulled Wang Ao's arm, saying with a smile, "Why are you so reserved? His Majesty didn't ask, and the court didn't mention it either."

Liu Jian said: "It's time to mention it."

What this means is that, in fact, our strategy was wrong. We should have taken the initiative to force the emperor to step down, rather than waiting for the emperor to come and get involved with us. If that had happened, the initiative might not have been on our side.

Li Dongyang also looked a little worried and said, "Your Majesty is not aware of Liaodong's predicament, so he didn't mention it. Or is Your Majesty deliberately suppressing the matter, or is he waiting for us to take the initiative to bring it up?"

Liu Jian sighed: "It's still unclear."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Cheng Minzheng.

Cheng Minzheng seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and said with a smile: "It seems that someone will go to the Hanlin Academy today, how about I ask him?"

This person is naturally Zhang Zhou.

After all, Zhang Zhou still works in the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Among all the positions Zhang Zhou holds, this position seems to be the most ordinary, because Zhang Zhou usually does not take care of the affairs of the Hanlin Academy.

But for Liu Jian and others, this is a very dangerous position, because it is a core position related to their struggle for territory. The emperor kept Zhang Zhou's position in the Hanlin Academy, and it seems that he was waiting to appoint Zhang Zhou to the cabinet.

Liu Jian said: "It's good to ask. If Liaodong's money and grain cannot be transferred, the soldiers' food and clothing should also be taken care of. Don't you think that no one in the government and the public will care about it?"

Cheng Minzheng said with self-mockery, "The soldiers in Liaodong are starving on the front lines, and they are asking the court for money and food. They can't even bring their cases to the court, and yet they have to talk about it in this way. It's really..."

"Keqin, you complained too much today." Li Dongyang reminded, "Whoever does something must bear the consequences. Shouldn't the Ministry of War be responsible for this matter? The Minister of War himself didn't come to court and didn't bring it up. Is he waiting for us to bring it up?"

This is to tell Cheng Minzheng that you don’t need to have any psychological burden.

The one who did the wrong thing was Zhang Zhou, the instigator of the Liaodong War. What does it have to do with us?

"Haha." Cheng Minzheng just laughed at himself, as if he really didn't want to get deeply involved in this matter.

……

……

The reason Zhang Zhou went to the Hanlin Academy that day was actually to discuss the subsequent additions and revisions to the "Da Ming Hui Dian".

He originally didn't want to go, but Cheng Minzheng forced him to come. Cheng Minzheng also wanted to take advantage of Wang Ao's entry into the cabinet, as there was one vacant Hanlin Bachelor position, and wanted to develop a way to get Zhang Zhou to take the position of Hanlin Bachelor to facilitate his retirement.

Cheng Minzheng is very open-minded about this kind of thing.

Promote Zhang Zhou?

Ya uncalculated.

They supported each other, and Cheng Minzheng wanted to take advantage of his seniority to urge Zhang Zhou to work harder and let Zhang Zhou participate more in the government.

However, he never expected that the Liaodong incident would happen and Cheng Minzheng would have to take on this task in the end.

Inside the Hanlin Academy.

Zhang Zhou seemed to be fine. He first met with a few people who were in charge of editing the book and had a general chat, but they didn't talk about anything nutritious. Then Cheng Minzheng came over and took Zhang Zhou to the empty bachelor's room.

"Duke Cai, you are such a busy person that it's hard to see you normally." Cheng Minzheng started complaining.

Zhang Zhou laughed and said, "Why, you came to the Hanlin Academy and didn't even have a cup of tea, and you want to listen to Elder Cheng's teachings?"

Cheng Minzheng waved his hand and handed a manuscript to Zhang Zhou, saying, "I looked at it and there aren't many things that can be changed. Many of the rules were actually reviewed by you. As for the authenticity of the content, I don't want to verify it. It's probably what it is, so be it."

"Oh." Zhang Zhou nodded.

Cheng Minzheng seemed to have finished discussing the important matters, and then he said, "What's going on in Liaodong? The soldiers on the front line can't even get food, and they are all starving."

Zhang Zhou said: "Food and grass are a little tight, but we should not be out of food, right?"

Cheng Minzheng frowned and said, "It seems that you know everything, but you deliberately don't say anything. Even if the food is not out, how can we fight this war without soldiers and food? Tens of thousands of soldiers are gathered outside the territory of the Jurchens, unable to move forward or backward. Every mouth needs to be fed every day. Have you ever thought about the loss?"

Zhang Zhou smiled and didn't respond.

"Oh my." Cheng Minzheng was also very anxious when he saw Zhang Zhou's calmness. He said, "Can't we just talk openly? How many people are worried about this incident today? You don't know how much pressure the Minister of Finance is under today."

"Really? But as far as I know, no one in the court today even mentioned this matter?" Zhang Zhou asked with a smile.

Cheng Minzheng was startled.

Then he realized that although Zhang Zhouren seldom attended court, he actually knew everything that was discussed in the court.

As he was speaking, someone at the door reported: "Two scholars, Eunuch Yang from the Imperial Household Department has arrived in front of the Hanlin Academy. He said he came to visit Scholar Zhang."

Cheng Minzheng was a Grand Secretary, and Zhang Zhou was a Bachelor of Imperial Tutoring. In the eyes of the people in the Hanlin Academy, they were both Bachelors.

Zhang Zhou said, "Well, that eunuch Yang claimed that he had some connections in Liaodong and could get some money and food. I was going to talk to him. It's an emergency, so you can't complain if the food is rotten. Wherever there is food, it doesn't matter."

Cheng Minzheng frowned and said, "Look at you, what are you talking about? Do we have to rely on this method to save food now?"

Zhang Zhou said helplessly: "There is nothing we can do. The imperial court cannot allocate too much food. But the overall military goal cannot be neglected. Sometimes it is necessary to get some food."

Cheng Minzheng stood up and prepared to welcome Yang Peng, but he couldn't help asking, "Is this the only way? There is no other way?"

"Yes, there are." Zhang Zhou said, "But it's not for fighting, but for... Hehe, too much talk leads to mistakes. Master Cheng, do you want to see Eunuch Yang?"

Cheng Minzheng was in a dilemma, so he naturally refused to give up and said, "Let's meet." (End of this chapter)