Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 73

Now teachers and students Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan are guarding Liaodong, and the Guanningjin defense line has been redeployed and reinforced. One hundred Hongyi cannons purchased by Sun Yuanhua have also arrived in Liaodong. All of this has put great pressure on Huang Taiji. Not to mention taking the initiative to attack, he now even has to be vigilant and prepared for the Ming army at all times.

And now Huang Taiji really has no time to go to war with the Ming army. He has just succeeded to the throne and is busy dealing with the mess within the Hou Jin regime, which can be regarded as all internal and external troubles.

But Huang Taiji, a powerful enemy of the Ming Dynasty, would naturally not back down in the face of difficulties. Not only did he methodically consolidate his rule over Liao and the Eight Banners, strengthen centralization, he also secretly accumulated strength and waited for the opportunity.

But compared to Zhu Tianqi, the temporary calm situation in Liaodong can buy him more time for development and preparation. Zhu Tianqi should have been able to live a good year with peace of mind. Disturbing words.

The people who submitted the memorial this time were mainly those ministers who opposed the purchase of Western firearms and the recruitment of Westerners. Originally, these ministers learned about the imperial court's purchase of hundreds of Hongyi cannons, and they wanted to submit the memorial. Now they saw Sun Yuanhua Having brought back so many Thai and Westerners, and Zhu Tianqi also hosted a banquet for these Thai and Westerners in the Huangji Palace, they were even more excited!

Even some ministers who were not very disgusted with the Taixi people also followed suit. In fact, Zhu Tianqi also understood this. After all, he had not been to court during this period and never responded to the ministers' memorials. It has the style of Emperor Wanli back then.

Originally, there had already been a Wanli Emperor who did not go to court. The ministers were not completely unacceptable to the emperor's failure to go to court or approve memorials. After all, as the eldest son and grandson of the Wanli Emperor, the current emperor also inherited the legacy of the Wanli Emperor. It's understandable, but it doesn't make sense for you, Your Majesty, to meet the Thai people instead of your own people, right?

Therefore, as the New Year is approaching, Zhu Tianqi has not received New Year's greetings from ministers. Instead, he has received more than 100 remonstrances and memorials. The contents of these memorials are similar and mainly focus on three things.

First, the emperor should not spend money to buy so many Hongyi cannons. The Ming Dynasty's cannons can also be used, and they are cheaper. After all, the government's finances are tight, and the emperor should be frugal.

Zhu Tianqi directly handed over this kind of memorial to Wang Yuanbao and the Supervisor of Ceremonies for approval. The Hongyi cannon purchased by the imperial court was to strengthen the defense of Liaodong and resist the establishment of slaves. It was not something to be enjoyed. How could it be said to be a "waste of money" Woolen cloth?

Furthermore, the money from the internal funds was used to purchase the Hongyi cannon. The emperor used his own private money, so it is not his turn to be a minister and have the power to point his fingers, right?
Finally, Zhu Tianqi said unceremoniously that if you are really concerned about the court's financial problems, you should think of more ways to help the court generate revenue instead of talking here every day and using your pen!
The second thing in the memorandum is to persuade Zhu Tianqi not to trust these Taixi people, let alone let them be officials in Ming Dynasty. The so-called "people who are not of my race must have different hearts", these red-haired fans are absolutely unreliable!

Regarding this, Zhu Tianqi was too lazy to start a debate with them on the "race" issue, but just replied that now Daming needs the cannon-casting skills and knowledge of these Thai and Western craftsmen. If he takes the initiative to take over the task of making cannons, he can also drive away these Thai and Western craftsmen.The third thing in the memorandum is the impeachment of Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua, and it is about the beliefs of their teachers and students. This time, they directly said that they had ulterior motives to confuse the emperor and assist the Taixi people to enter Beijing. These Westerners spread foreign religions.

Zhu Tianqi was also a little helpless about this. Although as a time traveler, he has a relatively open mind and has always respected and non-interfered with other people's beliefs, but for these ministers, it may not be that easy. He accepted it, so he came out to talk about it at every turn. Zhu Tianqi couldn't protect Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua too much.

Therefore, Zhu Tianqi just replied that it was his will to recruit Thai and Western craftsmen, and there was no problem that Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua deceived him, and he warned the ministers not to slander important officials of the imperial court on this basis again!
After approving these memorials, Zhu Tianqi could finally relax. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and no one should dare to cause trouble for himself on such a day.

The ministers were quite surprised to get Zhu Tianqi's approval within one day. They thought that if the memorial was submitted this time, it might just sink into nothing and they would not be able to wait for a reply. Even if the emperor was willing to approve them, they would not be able to wait for a reply. I had to wait until after the holiday, but I didn’t expect the emperor’s approval to be surprisingly quick this time!
The ministers were naturally unconvinced by Zhu Tianqi's reply, but most ministers still felt the emperor's anger from the emperor's reply. After all, it was too naive to insist on causing trouble for the emperor during the New Year. , so these ministers intend to let it go.

And those who refused to be soft and decided to be tough to the end all quietly approached Qian Longxi, hoping that Qian Longxi would lead the officials to go to Shu, and these Taixi people must be driven out of the capital. Of course, the most important thing We still have to bring down Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua.

Although Qian Longxi lost popular support during the reform of taxes and servitude, he is the core figure of the Donglin Party after all, and he still has great influence and appeal in the civil service group, so the ministers still have to count on Qian Longxi shot!

In addition, they believed Zhou Yanru's lies last time and followed Zhou Yanru's "stealing the chicken but losing the rice", so they believed that Qian Longxi was more stable and reliable.

In fact, Qian Longxi himself did not want to go against the emperor. He was a smart man. Since the last time he took the lead in provoking the reform of taxes and levies, but was beaten by Zhu Tianqi's "combination boxing", he had no ability to fight back. I realized that today's emperor is by no means a mediocre king, but an extremely wise and wise man. It would be extremely unwise to try to fight with the emperor because of his own cleverness!

So he chose to remain silent, but at the same time he was also paying close attention to the emperor's every move, secretly pondering the holy will, and waiting for the right time.

He did not agree with the ministers' plan to overthrow Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua, because Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua were now in the limelight, and the emperor trusted them very much. If he insisted on making an enemy of them now, it would be tantamount to hurling an egg against a stone. If Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua had a grudge, they would also make the emperor displeased. Wouldn't they be inflicting trouble on themselves and asking for trouble?
The officials heard Qian Longxi's words, although they were unwilling, but this time, they did not dare not listen to Qian Longxi's words. Last time they did not listen to Qian Longxi's advice, they couldn't hold their breath He insisted on following Zhou Yanru to "bribe" the emperor, but in the end he was almost charged with disrespect because of Zhou Yanru's words "Master Xihuang". This is a lesson from the past!

(End of this chapter)