Rise From the Humble

"Shi Yan, I still have the impression that you organized the Cangtou Army to guard Zhengyang Gate the year before last. Do you have any suggestions regarding the Japanese invasion in the south of the Yangtze River?"

After listening to Lu Ben's suggestion, Emperor Jiajing stretched out his finger, nodded Li Mo, and asked for his opinion.

When Li Mo heard Emperor Jiajing mention that he had organized the Cangtou Army to guard the Zhengyang Gate, he couldn't help but feel a touch of complacency on his face as he had profound Qi-nurturing skills.

The Cangtou Army guarding the Zhengyang Gate mentioned by the Holy One is one of the things Li Mo is most proud of in recent years, and it is also a great confidence for him to return to the Ministry of Personnel. This happened during the Gengxu Revolution the year before last. .

At that time, Anda, the leader of the Mongolian Tatar tribe, sent troops to invade Datong. The troops crossed the Great Wall and marched straight in, arriving at the gates of the capital. Since a large number of troops were sent to the border towns of Datong to defend against the Tatar and other northern invaders at that time, the total number of troops remaining in the capital was only 40,000 to 50,000, and there were quite a few old, weak, sick and disabled among them. As early as after the Tumu Fort Incident, the Beijing camp was no longer as elite as it had been in the past. In desperation, Emperor Jiajing had to order the civil and military ministers in the capital to guard one gate every thirteen people. Only the thirteen ministers could ask which gate had a problem. Li Mo was the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs at that time, and he was ordered to take five thousand men to guard Zhengyang Gate.

The Tatar soldiers guarding Zhengyang Gate were watching with eager eyes. Li Mo only had 5,000 soldiers at his disposal, and a small number of them were old, weak, sick and disabled, leaving a serious shortage of major generals. In order to defend Zhengyang Gate, Li Mo thought deeply and selected 5,000 young people from the square near Zhengyang Gate. They organized them and named them the "Cangtou Army", armed with armor and weapons from the treasury. They ordered them to defend Zhengyang Gate together with five thousand soldiers. The Tatars who guarded Zhengyang Gate saw that there were many soldiers and horses at Zhengyang Gate, more than 10,000 people with bright armor, sharp weapons and flying banners. They regarded it as a hard nut to crack and never dared to attack Zhengyang Gate.

Li Mo's calm coping ability was appreciated by Emperor Jiajing. Not long after, Xia Bangmo, the Minister of Personnel Affairs, retired, and Li Mo was promoted to the Minister of Personnel Affairs.

Promotion in this part is not easy.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a precedent for promotion from Minister of Civil Affairs to Minister of Civil Affairs, which shows how special this step is.

It can also be seen that Li Mo holds great importance in Emperor Jiajing's heart.

"Your Majesty, I propose to recruit troops to organize and train a new army. From the reports on the Japanese invasion in the south of the Yangtze River in recent years, it can be seen that the guardsmen are no longer good at recruiting and fighting. Now they are not good at fighting and standing. I have conducted an investigation and found out that the military households are no longer good at recruiting and fighting. It is not uncommon for people to flee, live on empty wages, and be old, weak, sick, and disabled, making it difficult for them to shoulder the current heavy task of suppressing Japanese pirates."

Li Mo took a step forward, bowed and reported back.

"Recruiting troops and training a new army? Well, it's all right. Let's discuss it later. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

Emperor Jiajing made a noncommittal comment, and then asked again.

The hall was quiet for two seconds.

With suggestions from Yan Song, Xu Jie, Lu Ben and Li Mo, all the officials in the palace thought they had no better suggestions.

It was quiet for two seconds, and just when Emperor Jiajing showed dissatisfaction, someone stood up.

It is Zhao Wenhua!

Zhao Wenhua is now the Minister of Industry and is also qualified to participate in court discussions.

"Go back to your Majesty, I have sent you my message to guard against the seven Japanese pirates." Zhao Wenhua took a step forward and bowed deeply.

Zhao Wenhua's body was slightly excited at this moment, yes, he was excited. He has been preparing for this day for half a year. As early as six months ago, he realized that the Japanese plague was getting worse.

When the Japanese pirates are in serious danger, the emperor will definitely hold a court meeting to discuss the countermeasures to eliminate the Japanese pirates in the south of the Yangtze River.

This is a great opportunity.

Back then, he went behind the back of his adoptive father Yan Song and risked offending his adoptive father Yan Song by offering Baihua wine to the Holy One, just to take a step forward. It's a pity that although he offered Baihua Wine, he couldn't go further and offended his adoptive father Yan Song. If he hadn't begged his adoptive mother to intercede for him and begged his adoptive father to forgive him, he would have probably ended his career. Fortunately, I survived this disaster without any danger.

After seeing the increasing trend of Japanese pirates, Zhao Wenhua predicted that the Holy Emperor would hold a court meeting.

Therefore, he began to prepare for this court meeting half a year ago. He consulted local chronicles, read military books, humbly asked for advice, and was not ashamed to ask. After countless days and nights of hard thinking, he finally completed this "Seven Things to Prevent Japanese Japan".

He had long been familiar with the contents and knew them by heart.

He had been preparing for this moment for a long time, and how could he not be excited?

"Speak." Emperor Jiajing nodded.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I have seven things to do to prevent Japanese pirates: First, send officials to the south of the Yangtze River to worship the sea god. Second, order some officials to bury the bones and reduce the corvée labor. Third, recruit more strong men from the Jianghuai River to serve as naval forces, and overhaul warships to strengthen coastal defense. Fourth. , Increase land tax in the south of the Yangtze River. Those with more than 100 acres of private land in the four prefectures of Su, Song, Chang, and Zhen will be given heavy taxation, and at the same time, official land tax and grain will be collected in advance for three years. Fifth, the rich will lose financial resources and it will be self-effective, and after the Japanese invasion is calmed down In terms of merit, he may be exempted. Sixth, send important ministers to supervise the military situation in the south of the Yangtze River. Seventh, recruit Tongfan's old party and salt disciples to penetrate into the Japanese pirates and spy on the enemy's situation."

Zhao Wenhua bowed his body deeply and replied loudly. After finishing speaking, every cell in his body pricked up his ears and looked forward to it.

This anti-Japanese incident was his hard work over the past six months, and it was also a long-planned opportunity for him to get promoted.

The success of half a year's work depends on this moment.

"Well, it's rare that you are interested." Emperor Jiajing nodded slightly and looked at His Highness, "What do you think?"

The Holy One said that I am interested. Zhao Wenhua couldn't help but be very excited. If it weren't for His Highness, he would almost shout out of joy.

When Zhao Wenhua was excited, Nie Bao, Minister of the Ministry of War, took a deep look at him, stepped forward, and said loudly, "Returning to your Majesty, regarding the seven things Master Zhao said about preventing Japanese pirates, I believe that the first, second, third, and Things 5 ​​and 7 and 5 are feasible, but things 4 and 6 are not feasible. The south of the Yangtze River has been flooded, and the Japanese invasion has become more and more serious. The people are not able to make a living, so how can we increase taxes. As for the sixth thing, send important ministers to supervise the military situation in the south of the Yangtze River. Since we intend to set up a governor of Jiangnan, it is really unnecessary to send important ministers to supervise the military situation in Jiangnan."

Nie Bao just took office as the Minister of War this year. After taking office, he took up the matter of guarding against autumn. He was highly praised and adopted by Emperor Jiajing. He then asked him to build the outer city of the capital, which was also adopted by Emperor Jiajing. After the outer city was completed, he was awarded the crown prince Shaobao for his merits. .

Nie Bao was a disciple of Wang Xue. He was known as an honest official and had always disliked the strict party.

"Lord Nie, maybe you didn't listen carefully to the seven things Xiaguan said. When Xiaguan said to increase the tax on land in the south of the Yangtze River, he specifically refers to two categories. One category is for those who have more than a hundred acres of land in the four prefectures of Su, Song, Chang, and Zhen. They should pay special attention to their tax. Because the four prefectures of Su, Song, Chang, and Zhen are prosperous, and the floods this year are not serious, and the people who are promoted to high-ranking officials are those who have more than 100 acres of land. They are rich and pay high attention to the disciplines and their endowments, and their livelihoods will not be affected. 2. Category is official land, and official land is official land of our court. Taxes and grains are levied for three years in advance. In the final analysis, the taxes and grains collected are our court's taxes and grains, which will not affect the livelihood of the people. Only with money to tax grains can we better destroy Japanese pirates. This is also to quell the Japanese pirates in the south of the Yangtze River as soon as possible. As for the sixth thing, sending important ministers to supervise the military situation in the south of the Yangtze River is to share the worries of the governor of Jiangnan and assist the governor of Jiangnan in exterminating the Japanese pirates. As the saying goes, one person can think short, two people can think long."

After Nie Bao finished speaking, Zhao Wenhua retorted.

He had been preparing for this matter for half a year, and had already thought about how to deal with various objections.

Therefore, Nie Bao's rebuttal sounds reasonable and well-founded.

"The Japanese plague is serious, and it is a time when money is needed to sacrifice money to sea disciples." Li Mo, the official minister, also raised objections.

"Lord Li, what you said is wrong. All things have spirits, let alone the sea. The reason why the Japanese pirates are getting more and more fierce and coming across the sea and oceans one after another is because there must be sea monsters secretly causing trouble. We sacrifice to the sea and pray to the sea god to bless us, and kill the sea monsters that cause trouble. , help me in the Ming Dynasty to annihilate the Japanese pirates. In this way, the Japanese pirates will be annihilated, as if there is divine help."

Zhao Wenhua was the first to refute and defend Li Mo after he finished speaking, and was equally well prepared.

Yan Song nodded approvingly.

"It's about offering sacrifices to the sea. What's the opinion of the Ministry of Rites?" Emperor Jiajing did not comment, but looked at Xu Jie.

"I think that sacrificing the sea is feasible and necessary." Xu Jie lowered his head and said.

Li Mo glanced at Xu Jie with disdain.

"Well, I agree." Emperor Jiajing nodded slightly.

Zhao Wenhua was ecstatic.