Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

In the capital at the end of October, it was colder than in previous years, and going to the morning court was undoubtedly a painful job.

Zhu Youtang was lying on the comfortable quilt. After hearing the sound of clouds outside and the "Crowing Song" sung by the eunuch, he kicked off the quilt helplessly.

No matter how reluctant he was, he had to get up despite the chill in the air and let the maid waiting outside take care of him.

Originally, he did not want to waste energy on such a meaningless morning meeting, but it was not the time to "fall out" yet, and he also needed to declare his imperial power to middle- and lower-level officials through constant exposure.

Although the interests of the civil service group will tend to be consistent, upper-level and lower-level officials ultimately have different demands, so it is easier for lower-level officials to show their loyalty to them.

Taking the Jiajing Etiquette Controversy as an example, the real support for Jiajing was those humble officials. The real upper-level officials always stood firm to defend the interests of the civil service group.

This kind of loyalty from the middle and lower classes often comes from their pursuit of power, but as long as this scale is grasped, he will also be an important chess piece that he can use.

"Your Majesty, please sit down!" A young and beautiful palace maid who had just been promoted timidly said.

Since the salary reform was implemented in the Qianqing Palace, these palace ladies have obviously become more meticulous in their work, especially those beautiful eyes that are obviously shining.

Zhu Youtang was relatively tall, so he sat on a stool covered with a heating pad and let the young and beautiful palace maid clean his face.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, this young and beautiful palace maid was obviously close to him, so that he could clearly smell the body fragrance of the girl.

Guo Yong, who was waiting nearby, paid attention here and saw Zhu Youtang suddenly raised his hand, almost ready to wave the whisk to let everyone else leave.

"That's it!" Zhu Youtang's brow was slightly itchy, and he raised his hand to scratch the itch.

The maids serving here immediately packed up the copper basins and other items and poured them down carefully.

"Your Majesty, it's cold this morning and the wind is blowing outside. My servant has already brought the mink clothes!" Guo Yong suggested calmly when he realized that he had misunderstood.

Zhu Youtang didn't want to freeze outside, so he chose to put on the mink clothes that had been prepared. While dressing, he couldn't help but said, "Is this mink fur a tribute from Jianwen Jurchen?"

"This...servant doesn't know the origin of this mink coat!" Guo Yong couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then said bitterly.

Zhu Youtang actually asked casually. At this period, most of the mink furs came from Jianzhou Jurchen, but in terms of quality, it was actually better from North America.

When I rode the dragon chariot outside, although the cold wind blew on my cheeks and I really felt the chill outside, I felt very comfortable hiding in the mink fur.

No matter what era it is, it is always the lower class who suffer, while the upper class always find a way to live comfortably.

In the square in front of Fengtian Temple, the cold wind is raging here.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

Familiar scenes and familiar voices, but it’s just that they’re shouted out so many times that it’s hard to avoid feeling numb.

I can say it responsibly. Those online novels emphasize that being yelled at will make you addicted. This is actually a lie to you.

Zhu Youtang sat down on the dragon chair as usual, and this group of civil and military officials were still shouting long live. However, as soon as these guys stood up, their style suddenly changed.

"The Ministry of War has insufficient refined iron today. Please take back your order!" He Cong, the left minister of the Ministry of War, led officials from the Yamen of the Ministry of War to stand up and object.

"Three thousand heavy cavalry consumes a lot of money every year. Please take back your Majesty's order!" Li Si, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, led the officials of the Ministry of Revenue to stand up and object.

"Thousands of good horses are needed to ride three thousand heavy horses, and the feeding of good horses is five times that of ordinary horses. Please take back your order!" Jia Jun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, led the officials of the Ministry of Industry to stand up and object.

"Today, the Ming Dynasty should rest and recuperate, and it is not suitable for fighting. Therefore, it is not suitable to form a heavy cavalry battalion. Please take back your order!" Liu Jian, the new left minister of the Ministry of Rites, led officials from the Ministry of Rites to stand up and object.

"Your Majesty, please take back your order!"

Although Li Yu, the Minister of Personnel, and Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment, did not participate, many officials under him also stood up and expressed their opposition.

"Your Majesty, please take back your order!" Wu Xun, headed by Funing Marquis Zhu Yong, also said the same thing, and they all stood up to express their opposition.

this……

Guo Yong looked at this scene and couldn't help but turned to look at Zhu Youtang worriedly.

Things have to start from yesterday. Just when everyone was still paying attention to which minister Zhu Youtang was going to kill, a piece of heavy news came from outside the city.

To be more precise, the news came from the 12th Battalion.

Zhu Youtang took advantage of the turmoil of seizing the door and directly took charge of the 12th Battalion through the 12th Prison. He first kicked out the 12 commanders who were close to the civilian officials, then dismissed the 12 nominal admirals who were still sitting on the table, and finally punished the generals of the 12th Battalion. Re-examination and appointment.

In fact, both Yingzong and Xianzong had reformed the Beijing army. After all, it was an army that consolidated the safety of the capital and the imperial city, so it naturally required a little more thought.

However, both Yingzong and Xianzong mainly started with the control of the Beijing camp.

Even though Emperor Xianzong was already wary of the civil service group, he still created a check-and-balance model with three parties in charge, unlike Zhu Youtang who directly controlled the Beijing army through twelve eunuchs.

What people never expected was that everyone thought that Zhu Youtang should stop controlling the 12th Battalion through the 12th Supervisor, but now Wang Zha was suddenly thrown out.

"Each battalion selects 250 elite soldiers to form a heavy cavalry force of 3,000, which is called the Aegis Battalion. The new battalion will be stationed at a location ten miles away from the capital. It will conduct drills every five days to defend the safety of the capital!"

This imperial edict to establish the Aegis Camp was issued by the imperial palace. Zhang Shanji, the military officer, had previously tried to prevent the raid on Xie Yikui's home, but he did not dare to refute this edict.

In fact, he couldn't refute it. After all, both Yingzong and Xianzong had played the tricks of "dismantling camps" and "setting up camps". Now the twelve camps were originally expanded from the three major camps.

Just when the civil servants found out about the establishment of the SHIELD Battalion, it suddenly felt like a pot was exploding.

From ancient times to the present, everyone knows that heavy cavalry is invincible in close combat, but why are there so few of them in all dynasties?

If you want to maintain a heavy cavalry force, not only do you need a huge initial investment, but also daily maintenance requires huge expenses. It is simply a gold-eating beast.

In China, the heavy cavalry army actually has a unified name - Tielin Army.

This name alone is enough to explain the heavy cavalry army's demand for refined iron, and the army's daily rations and horse food will be a huge expense.

In wartime, this kind of expenditure may be a last resort. After all, winning the war is more important than anything else. But now that the Ming Dynasty is in a period of peace, there is no need to build heavy cavalry at all.

Although three thousand heavy cavalry may not seem like much, it will also be a huge military expenditure in the long run. Who knows whether Zhu Youtang will continue to expand his troops?

Just like this, when they learned that Zhu Youtang was going to set up the Aegis Camp, regardless of Zhu Youtang's reasons, the civil and military officials headed by Xu Pu immediately jumped out and strongly opposed it.

They came here despite the cold wind this morning just to stop Zhu Youtang's stupid move.

"There will be no discussion of the SHIELD camp this morning! If you have any objections, please report them to the original source!" Zhu Youtang did not expect to receive such strong opposition, so he immediately suppressed the anger in his heart and expressed his position calmly.

Liu Jian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, glanced at Xu Pu, and immediately expressed his position again: "The Shield Camp is related to the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty. Please allow all officials to invite you!"

"Your Majesty, please grant the request of hundreds of officials!" Li Si, the Minister of Revenue, and other officials followed up and expressed their stance.

Zhu Youtang saw this group of civil servants once again unite the front, and found that these people ended up with the same goal after all.

What these civil servants want is to hold great power and have wives and children, but it has never been about making the country strong and the people rich. The so-called "establish a mind for the heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, carry forward the unique knowledge for the saints, and create peace for all generations" is nothing more than Ye Gong's love for dragons.

In the original history, it was the Ming Dynasty dominated by this group of civil servants that caused the relationship between the Ming and Mongolia during the Hongzhi period to shift from both plundering and paying tribute to the two sides becoming equals.

From the perspective of the ruling class alone, it is actually in everyone's best interest to stay stuck and be a coward.

Naturally, he, the emperor, has delicacies from the mountains and seas, three palaces and six courtyards, while these officials who have worked hard for ten years hold great power and have wives and children. As for the people in the border areas who are being disturbed, they can just ignore the report.

The history pen is in their hands. Even if the border residents are completely slaughtered, they may still focus on describing the picturesque south of the Yangtze River and praise this prosperous and prosperous era created by them.

"Liu Shilang, I'm just setting up a small SHIELD battalion. Do I owe you your salary?" Zhu Youtang asked angrily when faced with this group of civil servants who wanted to force the palace.

In his previous life, he was a member of the Chinese nation, loved his nation, and had the dream of chasing Britain and the United States.

In this life, he is already the Lord of China, and he also loves his nation and land. Naturally, he must shoulder this mission like the thousands of people who have traveled through China.

Although the emperor is essentially a member of the ruling class, if there is a ruling class in this era, then he alone is enough.

As for these civil servants who talk about being patriotic and caring for the people but are only interested in profit, they will either obey their orders obediently or they will all go to hell.

this……

Liu Jian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, had always regarded himself as the emperor's master, but now he felt Zhu Youtang's anger and couldn't help but swallow secretly.

"Your Majesty, you have rebuilt the heavy cavalry with 3,000 men to protect our Ming Emperor. This is the best policy, I agree!" Wan'an had long been very unhappy with Qingliu, so he immediately stood up and expressed his position.

After all, he is a veteran of the Party. As Wan An stepped forward to express his position, Chen Zheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Works, and a large number of other officials came forward one after another and said: "I second my opinion!"

Although it is indeed expensive to set up the Aegis Battalion, Ming Dynasty's finances can completely afford it. The man in front of him now is not a wardrobe prince, but an emperor with twelve battalions in hand.

If the emperor was really angered, all the civil and military officials present might be killed directly.

Seeing the support from Wan An and others, Zhu Youtang couldn't help but feel better, but when he saw Zhang Sheng still standing there not far away, he sighed helplessly.

I don't know if it's due to Confucian culture, or if these civil servants are just used to being cowardly in order to seek stability, and have no idea of ​​being prepared for danger in times of peace.

Or maybe they, the civil servants, actually never care who is sitting on the dragon throne. As long as they have a salary and a black gauze hat, they don't care whether the person sitting on it is a human or a ghost.

In fact, not only Zhang Sheng, but Wan An also felt that he was fooling around in forming the SHIELD camp.

After all, if we don't spend this huge sum of money now, everyone can live comfortably. If you have some patience with Mongolia in the north, you will have a beautiful world with vast seas and high sky.

Although there are thousands of people, I am going!

At this moment, Zhu Youtang looked at Zhang Sheng standing and felt that he had to rely on himself for this road.

How can there be so many people who give up their lives for righteousness, how can there be so many people of insight? What these civil servants who have lived in poverty for ten years only want is the wealth and wealth in the world where the country is peaceful and the people are peaceful.

There may be people who want to follow him to seal Langjuxu, but he hasn't seen them yet, or they may not be in the civil service group at all.

cough!

Xu Pu coughed lightly when he saw Liu Jian hit a hard nail.

Li Si, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, came out with understanding and said: "Your Majesty, even if the imperial court wants to set up a shield camp, the cost will be hundreds of thousands of taels at least. However, the Ministry of Revenue has already fixed the expenditure for next year and may not be able to bear this expenditure!"

When the officials heard that they could not afford it financially, they immediately started whispering among themselves.

In fact, many officials did not have to oppose Zhu Youtang, but the cost of building a heavy cavalry camp was indeed not a small amount, so they were worried about Ming Dynasty's finances.

"Isn't it possible that the Ministry of Finance can't even get out this little silver?" Zhu Youtang asked in a deep voice, not knowing whether the other party was trying to stop him or trying to exploit his inner treasury.

When Li Si faced Zhu Youtang's question, he directly said with a grimace: "Your Majesty, there have been a lot of floods this year, resulting in serious harvest shortages in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, next year's project budget is huge, so I may not be able to spend so much silver." !”

"Since we don't have enough money, do you want to wait a while?"

"Yes, there is no need to rush this matter now!"

"It's okay to wait for a while, but now the Tatars are very peaceful!"

…

When the officials present heard what Li Si said, many of them couldn't help but their eyes lit up slightly, but they thought of the "drag-zijue", and they all expressed their opinions in a low voice below.

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly, unable to see through the little thoughts of these cunning ministers.

Ye Qi turned to look at Xu Pu, and then suddenly said: "Your Majesty, if you want to solve an urgent financial problem, I have a solution!"

"Speak!" Zhu Youtang said calmly when he found that the sun was rising in the west.

Ye Qi cleared his throat, then took out a memorandum he had prepared and said: "I know that your Majesty has been worried about the salt law since he ascended to Dabao. He discussed with Xu Xueshi a few days ago and finally came up with a good plan. Today, the merchant will lose two dou of millet and five liters of millet. , one branch of salt is worth five cents of silver, and one branch of salt is obtained. I would like to ask you to change the method of breaking silver, giving you four cents of silver and two cents of silver, and one branch of salt. With this new method, you can get eight citations of salt from one branch. Solving the current financial difficulties of the Ministry of Household Affairs can also be a plan for the Ming Dynasty."