King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 78
[Everyone, I don’t need to ask for a monthly pass, but you can’t give it away~~ Let the wind blow in from the society]

In the capital, forbidden, the main hall of Qianqing Palace.

In Qianqing Palace, Zhu Xianming leaned on the dragon chair, squinting his eyes and listening to the debate among the three people in the hall.

These three people are not simple, they are the three great scholars in the cabinet, and they are the prime ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

"The increase of troops in the northwest is a foregone conclusion. The most important thing now is to agree on the number of additional troops. The rest is irrelevant!" Zhao Yushan, a scholar of the Hall of Martial Arts, spoke quickly.

Zhao Yushan is 57 this year, but he is already the second assistant of the cabinet, two years younger than the third assistant Chen Jinyun.

So upon hearing these words, Chen Jinyun said in a warm tone: "Mr. Zhao Ge, how much money and food are involved in increasing the number of troops, how can we increase the number of troops if the money and food are not enough? You have to discuss things one by one, you can't be too hasty!"

Zhao Yushan immediately retorted: "Money and food can be raised, but the situation in the northwest is still unstable. If the troops are not increased in time and the Mongolian tribes defect, I don't know how much money and food will be spent to suppress the rebellion!"

"Things haven't reached that stage yet, but after listening to Mr. Zhao Ge...it seems like the sky is about to collapse!"

Speaking of this, Chen Jinyun did not give in, saying: "Since the ancestor Zhongxing, the Mongolian ministries and alliances have been more respectful to the imperial court..."

"Not only do cattle, sheep and horses be offered every year, but also soldiers are dispatched by the imperial court. How can this be called an unstable situation?"

"Even the most rebellious Junggar tribe has donated cattle and sheep on time this year, saying that they are going to rebel... Mr. Zhao Ge is exaggerating!"

"The Junggar tribe colluded with the Raksha Kingdom, don't you know about this?" Zhao Yushan said in a stern tone.

The same cabinet ministers, who can be afraid of whom?

"Hmph, it's just doing some business and sending envoys to each other..."

Before Chen Jinyun could finish speaking, Zhao Yushan interrupted: "Is buying guns just for business?"

Seeing that the two were arguing more and more, Zhu Xianming finally opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Enough is enough..."

Ge Lao, who was still like a cockfight just now, suddenly bowed and stood up, not daring to say anything.

"Xie Ge, what do you think?" Zhu Xianming looked at the silent old man.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Xie Changen, is 65 years old this year. He has worked hard all his life to make his beard and hair gray, and his whole body is already rickety.

From the early days of Zhengtong to the present, Xie Changen has exhausted all his efforts to stabilize the court, so he has Zhu Xianming's trust, and at this moment, he has been given a seat in the discussion.

"Your Majesty, what Yushan and Yushan said, I think each has a reason!"

It is in line with Xie Changen's usual style to speak up.

After working as the chief assistant for these years, now that he has run out of energy and has reached the age of retirement, he is not willing to be involved in party struggles.

"Several tribes in the Junggar are flirting with the Raksha people. It doesn't matter whether they have different ideas, but the necessary deterrence is inevitable!"

Immediately afterwards, Xie Changen changed the subject: "It's just that the number of troops to be dispatched must be within our capabilities..."

"Now we are in the Ming Dynasty, deploying strong troops along the nine border towns, building roads through canals, suppressing the rioters in Annan, and guarding against the Western barbarians. There are too many places to spend money..."

Zhu Xianming was a little annoyed to hear the old-fashioned words, so he asked: "All right, all right, I know all these things, what does Elder Yige mean... how much is it appropriate to increase troops to the northwest?"

After thinking for a while, Xie Changen replied: "With the power of the current treasury, at most one battalion of troops can be added to the northwest!"

According to the establishment of the Jingying Battalion, there are 5000 people in the first battalion. It does not sound like a lot, but in fact they are all soldiers who can fight.

Zhu Xianming also had this number in his heart, so he looked at the other two cabinet ministers: "What do you say?"

Chen Jinyun was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, I think... a battalion of soldiers and horses is too many!"

"Nowadays in the northwest, the capital of Gansu alone has [-] soldiers, plus [-] additional soldiers from Sichuan, and the available soldiers are more than [-]..."

The local guards in the northwest are much more powerful than the Taiping land in the southeast. These troops will participate in battles from time to time, and their combat effectiveness is not ordinary.

"The cavalry of the Junggar tribe is no more than [-] at best, and they lack guns and artillery... they don't pose much threat at all!"

"Even if there is a shortage of troops, you can let Qinghai and Anxi go to the capital to recruit soldiers from various chieftain tribes. How difficult is it to suppress a Junggar?"

As a cabinet minister, Chen Jinyun has a book in his mind about all the affairs inside and outside the court, so the statement is naturally at his fingertips at this moment.

Now that we are gradually entering the era of hot weapons, the advantage of cavalry has been greatly weakened, and it is very simple to rely on strong cities and sharp guns to defend.

Even when going out of the city to fight in the field, if the infantry cooperates properly, no matter how many cavalry come, they will die.

"Zhao Qing, what do you think?"

After saluting, Zhao Yushan replied: "Your Majesty, the king of Junggar, Gedan, is ambitious, and now he is connected with the rest of the ministries. If there is no strong deterrence... I'm afraid there will be chaos!"

"A battalion of soldiers and horses can only be more or less!"

It can be seen from here that Xie Changen has mastered the level of propriety, and the strength of the first battalion is just caught between Zhao and Chen Fanglue.

…………

Outside Qianqing Palace, Prince Rui Zhu Jingyuan led two blue-robed officials into the palace gate and outside the main hall.

"Father is here?"

"Reporting to the lord, the lord is discussing matters with the three elders!"

If it was someone else, Zhu Jingyuan would have entered as soon as he said he would, and he would not dare to interfere with the cabinet ministers' discussions.

After waiting for about ten minutes, the three old men in red robes left the hall, and stopped to salute when they saw Zhu Jingyuan outside.

"I have seen the lord!"

"You don't need to be polite, Mr. Ge, what are you discussing today?"

Chen Jinyun then replied: "For the increase of troops in the northwest, is the prince here to pay his respects?"

"The Grand Ceremony has newly listed a batch of catalogues, and I will submit the originals to His Majesty for review!"

Chen Jinyun praised: "My lord is majoring in ceremonies, and I have strengthened my cultural heritage of the Ming Dynasty. It is truly immeasurable!"

"I am also acting according to the order, and all the credit belongs to Your Majesty!"

Putting all these words aside, Zhu Jingyuan said again: "I still want to see my father, so I won't talk to the old man anymore. Let me take my leave..."

After greeting, the three cabinet ministers walked down the steps of Dan Bi, while Zhu Jingyuan entered the main hall.

"My son, Zhu Jingyuan, kowtow to my father!"

While reading the newspaper, Zhu Xianming didn't look up, and asked, "Lao Liu, what are you doing here?"

Standing up from the ground, Zhu Jingyuan hooked his waist and replied: "Father... Jixian Hall drew up a few pages of catalogues, and today my son brought the originals, please have a look!"

The orthodox imperial ceremony was compiled five years ago, involving nearly a thousand officials, scribes, artisans, and households, costing tens of thousands of taels a year, which can be called a gold-swallowing behemoth.

If you want to say how useful this book is, it really doesn't mean much compared to the money it costs.

But as Chen Jinyun said, compiling books can strengthen the context of the Ming Dynasty, especially this kind of grand ceremony that has never been seen before.

Zhu Xianming's position is not right, and he needs to use various methods to prove the legitimacy of his throne, one of which is to revise the Grand Ceremony.

After receiving the catalog from Zhu Jingyuan, Zhu Xianming said goodbye in a deep voice: "Well... very good!"

The officials behind him made a show of embarrassment, and the latter would present the books they were holding, and the eunuchs would pass them to Zhu Xianming.

I only heard Zhu Jingyuan say: "These are the originals, and the contents listed in the catalog are all extracted from these!"

"I don't worry about your work, you don't need to look at it!"

Picking up the memorial again, Zhu Xianming said: "If there is nothing else, you can go back!"

Seeing Zhu Jingyuan hesitated to speak, Zhu Xianming couldn't help asking: "Is there anything else?"

"Father... the thirteenth brother was punished with a cane, will he be fine?" Zhu Jingyuan looked worried.

Wang Qing returned to Beijing today. As an older brother, Zhu Jingyuan must of course care about his younger brother who is a compatriot of the same mother.

"Don't mention this bastard, in my opinion, thirty boards is still too short..."

"This little bastard, in front of the officials in Jinling, said that in order to put down the chaos, no matter how much he is wronged, he will not complain..."

"What does he mean by that? Could it be that I wronged him?"

The more he spoke, the more angry Zhu Xianming said in a stern tone: "What are you talking about? The previous account was written off. Damn...how dare you bargain with me!"

(End of this chapter)