The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

"The troops are divided into five groups. I go west, you go east... Even Ma Yi will form his own group... The troops in each group are not subordinate to each other, and they bear their own merits and demerits... It seems that your grandmother was right. She really didn't treat the Duke of Cai well. He didn't give face to anyone. I guess she asked you to come to the northwest to see your father make a fool of himself."

After Zhu Fu learned of Tang Yin's plan, especially knowing that this was the intention of the court, he felt very disappointed.

Originally, letting his son follow him was more or less a guarantee, but he insisted on asking Ma Yi to follow him to fight... In the end, Ma Yi was not invited, and even his son was sent to other places. The result was...

It is very likely that he, Zhu, will be forced to fight alone.

"Father, what did you say? I don't understand." Zhu Feng's brain was not that smart. Moreover, his old father was criticizing his good friend Zhang Zhou. Of course, he was unwilling to accept his father's statement from the bottom of his heart, so he couldn't figure it out.

Zhu Fu said, "You know nothing! I'll teach you to understand, but it's too late! Do you know what your biggest problem is? It's that you trusted the Duke of Cai too much. You even counted the money after being sold out."

Zhu Feng lowered his head and said, "Father, my family originally disagreed with my coming to the Northwest, but it was Brother Zhang who asked me to help you."

"That's helpful." Zhu Fu said, "Now you are leading troops to Pianguan, what help is there for you?"

Zhu Feng said: "I think the Tang Army will make a good arrangement. If you think this is inappropriate, I can also apply to the Tang Army to see if I can go with you."

Zhu Fu was also furious at this time, and said angrily: "You have seen that I can't do without you, right? Isn't it just about being brave and fearless, rushing forward to fight? In addition to this, do you know anything else?"

"Uh……"

Zhu Feng thought about it.

It seemed that the achievements he had made on the battlefield in recent years were basically due to the secrets his old father had taught him.

Don't be afraid of death...

But it is easier said than done. When the Tatars charge towards you and then chase you for a long distance, and you are determined to fight them to the death, when the time comes, it takes extraordinary people to muster extraordinary courage.

I used to think my father was quite capable, but now... Zhu Feng doesn't even think his old father has the courage to rush forward at the critical moment.

"Father, when it comes to war, even though it's all about charging forward bravely, there are so many changes that can't be summed up in just one word," Zhu Feng said.

Zhu Fu sneered, "You don't mean to say that your father is not as good as you in military tactics, do you? You have only studied for a few days? You think you are the only one who has been to the Martial Arts Hall. Your father has also been there! And do you think that the generals of the Ming Dynasty have no place to study except the Martial Arts Hall?"

"I... that's not what I meant." Zhu Feng discovered that his old father had now fallen into a state of demonic possession.

Maybe he just doesn't like everyone and thinks everyone is trying to harm him.

To the extent that whenever I said something, my old father could always find grammatical errors in it.

"I don't need your pity." Zhu Fu said, "As the head of a family of meritorious generals, don't you think I don't even have that little courage? Isn't it just leading the troops to charge? Humph! I have also summarized it before, that is, to march quickly and not to procrastinate. At worst, we can march day and night! As long as we get out of this grassland, who will get the credit? It's still unknown!"

……

……

In the Qianqing Palace.

The plan to send troops to the northwest was presented in full before Zhu Youtang, and sitting next to Zhu Youtang was Zhang Zhou.

Even Chen Kuan and Wei Bin could only stand there and wait for orders. This internal meeting of the Qianqing Palace discussed one issue: how to "deal with" Zhu Fu after the war in the northwest was over.

"What I want is momentum."

Zhu Youtang said, "I only said that we should divide the troops into five groups, but I didn't expect Tang Yin to carry it out. His memorial was sent to the capital by express horses a few days ago. From what I can see, he made such a plan so early in order to trample the grassland before the autumn harvest."

Zhang Zhouxin said, you really have confidence in Tang Yin.

Although Tang Yin's position was recommended by Zhang Zhou, it was more in accordance with Zhu Youtang's wishes.

Or it was Zhu Youtang himself who was very optimistic about Tang Yin.

Although from the court's perspective, many of Tang Yin's past achievements could not be boasted about.

For example, he led troops to besiege Duobi City for several months, or he led the Korean army to attack, but most of the troops were lost... These were cases of accidentally hurting friendly countries, but they were very much in the interests of the Ming court.

The most unspeakable thing is that Tang Yin instigated a rebellion in Korea and the rebellion was successful.

In Confucianism, this is an act of insubordination, and it is unacceptable even within a vassal state. And you, Tang Yin, as a scholar, actually plotted a coup. What was your intention?

Even if Zhu Youtang felt that Tang Yin was very capable, he had to use this person quietly, so much so that Zhu Youtang did not mention the candidate for the Three Frontier Commander-in-Chief, and even the most experienced old ministers in the court did not expect that there would be such a candidate.

Zhang Zhou said: "This plan is huge. The loss of troops alone may be hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. If we add the losses on the battlefield, it may cost 600,000 or 700,000 taels of silver, and we may not be able to win."

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Didn't Wang Qiong say in the memorial that the thing that the northwest lacks the least right now is food?"

"But I am afraid that there will be some waves in the hearts of the soldiers. After all, many soldiers have been fighting on various fronts in the past two years. The rewards for military merits should be implemented as soon as possible, and should not be implemented as in the past, where they have to wait for a year or two before slowly starting to count." Zhang Zhou expressed his concerns.

There is grain in the northwest, but there is not much silver stored.

The Ming Dynasty produced too little silver, and the ship it sent to America has not returned yet, which means that the second batch of silver has not been brought back, and the first batch has basically been used up.

Strangely enough, even though there were several million taels of silver added to the territory of the Ming Dynasty out of thin air, the price of goods in the Ming Dynasty did not rise after they were used. In other words, this batch of silver was absorbed by the people... This also made Zhang Zhou feel the power of the savings of the people of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, the increase in silver will help the formation of a market economy, trigger a chain reaction in the handicraft industry, and even bring great social benefits.

So much so that Zhang Zhou thought it would not be a bad idea to get a few tens of millions of taels of silver to dilute the wealth of the people.

After all, the economy of the Ming Dynasty was too conservative. It was mainly based on agriculture, and handicrafts and commerce were basically not formed, let alone a market economy. The end result was that there was money but no way to spend it, and there seemed to be no better use for it except to store it.

Want to buy land?
It also depends on whether anyone is selling land.

In this era, buying and selling land was a very complicated matter. If a noble bought land, he would be accused of land seizure. The land itself was linked to taxation, and the government offices at all levels kept a close eye on it. In addition, the strict household registration system meant that the common people of the Ming Dynasty could only guard one acre and three mu of land, and it was difficult to find a side job.

Of course, Zhang Zhou also knew that this situation would continue for a few hundred years.

Zhu Youtang said: "I think these five armies are enough to intimidate the Tatars, but it is still a bit difficult to flatten the grassland in one go. Bingkuan. If it is feasible, I would like to be the sixth army, and you will cooperate with me."

Zhang Zhou immediately thought of Zhu Youtang's suggestion to lead the army in person in the spring when he called him back a few years ago. Zhu Youtang was ill at the time, and the wars in the northwest and Liaodong were not going well, which made Zhu Youtang think that he should come in person.

But as Zhu Feng, Cui Yuan and Ma Yi, Zhang Rui's troops achieved great victories in the northeast and northwest respectively, Zhu Youtang put his mind at ease. Zhu Youtang also seemed to realize that it would take some years to completely pacify the grassland, so he temporarily gave up the plan of leading the army in person.

But now...

When Zhu Youtang saw Tang Yin's huge plan, which required spending a lot of money and sending troops from all directions to the grassland, he couldn't help but feel itchy.

Zhang Zhou said, "Your Majesty, even if there is a sixth or seventh army, shouldn't they be sent from Datong, Xuanfu, Jizhou, or Liaodong? There are many people who are suitable to lead the army now."

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Bingkuan, you should know that I want to witness all this in person. But I also know that haste makes waste."

Zhang Zhou said: "If the time is right, Your Majesty wants to go to the grassland in person, which is reasonable. After all, there are the heroic deeds of Emperor Taizong. However, from what I have seen, this war can achieve some local victories, but overall, it will still remain a stalemate."

"Yes." Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "The Tatars will avoid our swords now, but now it is summer, and the pastures everywhere have been destroyed. They want to avoid it, but in the end they will not even have pastures, and there will be no place for cattle and sheep to graze. Then... it will be difficult for them to survive."

Zhang Zhou laughed and said, "Then they will come to rob us again."

Zhu Youtang said: "It seems to be a cycle of cause and effect, but in my opinion, they are the ones who suffer losses. They can't grab things, but they may not even have food to eat. Haven't the three guards of Doyan begun to surrender and accept orders? We still have to rely on the three guards of Doyan this time... Even if they watch the fire from the other side of the river during this battle, it's good. Don't be like when Emperor Taizong went to war, they were fickle and changed sides."

Zhang Zhou said: "Then we have a reason to wipe out the three guards of Duoyan at once."

"Alas!" Zhu Youtang sighed, "Perhaps it is really as you said, we have to eat one meal at a time, and fight one battle at a time. If the weapons are not updated, it will be difficult to maintain the advantage on the battlefield. Bingkuan... you will have to work hard."

……

……

Zhang Zhou was personally led out of the palace by Chen Kuan.

The two of them didn't discuss any valuable topics on the way. When they left the palace, they saw Yongkang waiting for them in the distance.

Chen Kuan smiled and said, "It seems that Princess Yongkang is determined to invite you over. You should give her some face."

Zhang Zhou said goodbye to Chen Kuan and then walked towards Yongkang. Yongkang also came towards him with a smile, like a quiet woman.

"It's really hard to invite Minister Zhang. I sent people to invite him several times but he didn't come to your house. Today I have no choice but to come in person." Yong Kang said with a smile, "Will Minister Zhang show me the honor?"

Zhang Zhou said, "The prince consort is in Liaodong and has not returned yet. Is it really okay for me to go to his house like this?"

Yongkang smiled and said, "You are a powerful official, are you afraid of others talking about your behavior? Or does Minister Zhang think that your reputation in the court is good enough?"

Zhang Zhou shrugged and said, "I feel like it shouldn't get any worse."

Yong Kang turned his eyes to the side and said, "You are so boring. When such a noble princess invited you to come, you refused. You even said it was for reputation. Dare I ask if my reputation is important? Even I don't care, so what do you care about?"

Zhang Zhou nodded and said, "That makes sense."

"Then please come in?" Yongkang said.

Zhang Zhou asked curiously, "You are not going to let me ride in your carriage, Your Highness the Princess?"

Yongkang glared at Zhang Zhou and said, "Minister Zhang, do you really have to embarrass a little woman like this?"

Are you just a little woman?

Zhang Zhou thought, why am I so unconvinced?
Communicating with you is a sheer waste of time. You are so thoughtful that you have to invite me to your house. What do you want to say or do? Isn't it to get more opportunities for your husband to make meritorious deeds? Or do you have something to ask of me?

Doing things for others... Zhang Zhou doesn't seem to like it.

Of course, he dislikes asking others to do things for him even more.

Yongkang said, "If you don't know, you might think that Minister Zhang is cold and indifferent to others, and can't even have the most basic conversation. Only I understand that you are busy and want to use your cold attitude to make me retreat. I have come here in person to invite you, do you think I will just leave like this?"

"please."

Zhang Zhou said, "I will get in the carriage, you go ahead, my carriage will follow, just do your thing, don't worry about whether I follow you or not. I know exactly where the entrance to the Princess's Mansion is."

……

……

Zhang Zhou and his entourage drove towards Princess Yongkang's mansion in a grand procession.

In terms of momentum, even though Yongkang was the eldest princess and a member of the royal family, she still lost.

This was because Zhang Zhou was a top-ranking official in the court, and even the entourage he brought with him were all sent by the emperor. However, if Yongkang wanted to find someone to lead the way or accompany him, he would have to spend money to hire them, so the comparison was dwarfed.

Waited until we arrived at the princess's mansion.

Only after Zhang Zhou got off the carriage did Yongkang manage to get off.

From this point, Zhang Zhou knew that Yongkang seldom went out, but even so, she had been to Jizhou... This showed that Yongkang cared about Cui Yuan very much, and she would travel hundreds of miles for her husband.

"I haven't been out for many days. I am sorry for being disrespectful in front of others."

"Minister Zhang, please."

Zhang Zhou followed Yongkang into the mansion, and someone cleared the way for them to a flower hall. A table had been set up long ago, but there was no wine or food on it, only some simple snacks such as melon seeds.

"I don't know if we can invite anyone here, so I asked the kitchen to prepare. It's very hot in this summer. Minister Zhang, would you like to have a cup of tea first?" Yong Kang said.

"No need." Zhang Zhou said, "This yard is quite nice."

Yongkang smiled and said, "This isn't your first time here, why do you seem so unfamiliar? Do you want me to take you around?"

"I couldn't ask for more." Zhang Zhou said, "It's better to look at the scenery than to talk about things at the wine table. When the greenery is lush, it's the best time to chat with the princess." (End of this chapter)