Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

In the imperial study room, you can hear a needle drop.

Although people have a selfish side after all, many civil servants initially had a heart of "carrying on their unique knowledge to the saints and creating peace for all generations", but they were often defeated by the hypocritical reality.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has welcomed such a British master, even if they don't think about their own future, they still want to witness the prosperous age of China with their own eyes, and even want to participate in it.

Now the imperial court is faced with the big problem of properly settling millions of disaster victims, but there is no good way to solve this stubborn problem throughout the ages. Just as He Zhixin, the Minister of Punishment, said that self-destruction is the most common method for the dynasty.

Unexpectedly, many people present had similar thoughts to Wu Yu, the right minister of household affairs, but believed that this problem would still not be a problem for this wise and powerful emperor.

Out!

When Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, saw Zhu Youtang appearing beside the guardrail of the attic, his eyes flashed with excitement.

After many things, more and more important ministers are now impressed by the emperor's wisdom, so they hope that Hongzhi can find a way to break the situation.

In the past, virtuous ministers were valuable because the emperor relied on them for everything. It's just that the current Emperor Hongzhi is simply a monster emperor. Their biggest role is to "less empty talk and more practical work" to implement the emperor's decisions.

Whether it is his boldness in rectifying the salt administration, his wisdom in using unruly records to promote the clearing of land, or his command of elite soldiers and generals in military affairs, they all reveal the emperor's wisdom in governing.

Although it is very difficult to resettle millions of victims, they believe that under the leadership of this British Lord, it may not be impossible to solve the problem.

"Are you crazy? The emperor can solve this problem. He is so sick that he seeks medical treatment!"

He Qiaoxin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, had different ideas from the other ministers. Seeing that the unlucky right minister of the Ministry of Finance actually wanted to ask for help from the emperor, he couldn't help but feel contempt in his heart.

Although he admitted that the emperor had done quite well since he ascended the throne, it did not necessarily mean that Zhu Youtang was so good. It was just that Zhu Youtang was a headstrong emperor, and he had two mad dogs, Wang Yue and Wang Zhi.

If he were in his position, he would definitely be ten times stronger than Zhu Youtang, and he would use wise ministers such as Wang Shu, Ma Wensheng and Liu Daxia, and the world would be in great trouble.

As for the problems that he couldn't solve, it was naturally impossible for the little emperor to solve them. He was just making a big joke.

Zhu Youtang was just being served tea by a beauty in the pavilion. After a moment's hesitation, he walked to the guardrail and said calmly: "In that case, let's start the war immediately!"

War?

Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, and other officials looked at each other, but they were confused for a moment.

Obviously everyone was discussing the resettlement of millions of victims in Henan, but the emperor suddenly said that he wanted to go to war, which seemed to be an inappropriate answer.

As for the war in the emperor's mouth, it undoubtedly refers to the bloody massacre of Jianzhou Jurchen by the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who stationed troops in Liaodong. But now that there is a major disaster in the country, isn't it more appropriate to call a truce at this time?

"Sure enough, this little right minister of household affairs is unreliable. This emperor who already holds great power is simply a war maniac. Everyone is obviously discussing the resettlement of millions of victims, but the result is that the war in Liaodong is suddenly mentioned. This emperor wants to fight. Are you crazy?" He Zhixin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, was concerned about Cao Ying and the Han Dynasty. Faced with Zhu Youtang's unreliable answer, he secretly discussed it.

"Your Majesty, are you going to conquer Jianzhou Jurchen?" Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, asked tentatively.

Zhu Youtang shook his head gently, causing the important officials below to be stunned immediately, but he did not expect that he guessed wrong.

Zhu Youtang's eyes were piercing, and he said firmly: "That's wrong! The people of our country are the people of the higher country. The Jurchens in Jianzhou are many disloyal, and they have flattered North Korea several times, which shows their wolfish ambitions. The late emperor once said that Its type. Now I don’t want millions of people to be displaced, so this time I want to wipe out the Jurchens in Jianzhou and take back the old land of the Ming Dynasty to pacify the millions of victims of the Ming Dynasty."

ah? wipe out?

The chief minister of the cabinet, Wan An, and others were dumbfounded and couldn't help but look at the aloof emperor.

Just as they were thinking hard about how to subsidize the people and let millions of people regain their livelihood, the emperor jumped out of the "country" and set his sights on the fertile land of Jianzhou.

The Jurchens in Jianzhou are no longer nomadic in the true sense. The reason why they are transitioning to a semi-agrarian society is precisely because of the unique land conditions in Jianzhou.

If that fertile land could be recovered and water conservancy projects could be built, it would really be a good place to resettle millions of disaster victims, so that the millions of disaster-stricken people would not become slaves or starve to death in the wilderness.

No matter what Zhu Youtang meant by the silence below, he knew that important matters had to be decided by himself as the emperor himself: "I am not a warlike king, but I will strengthen my country, and I will do business with the world outside, and I will be restored inside." The land of China. Even if Qing Shi scolds me as a tyrant, the purpose of establishing a state today is not to conquer it, but to annihilate it and restore our old land of China. Are you willing to give me a helping hand?"

"Your Majesty attaches great importance to the people, and I am willing to go through fire and water for Your Majesty!" Wan'an learned Zhu Youtang's true intention and expressed his stance loyally.

Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, was originally a man who flattered the emperor for his official career, but after seeing the emperor's actions, he couldn't help but shed tears of loyalty.

Although this emperor is contrary to the benevolence advocated by Confucianism and the blessing of shared peace advocated by the ruling class, he is an emperor who truly has the people in his heart.

There have been many prosperous times throughout the ages, but in fact they can only be the prosperous times for some people, and the vast majority of them are silently carrying forward the burden of this prosperous age.

It's just that in order to resettle millions of refugees, the current emperor did not hesitate to bear the reputation of a tyrant and directly sent troops to wipe out the entire Jianzhou Jurchen. How could the emperor not swear to follow him to death?

this……

He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Punishment, was dumbfounded and his head was buzzing.

I thought this eternal problem was unsolvable, but the emperor found a new way to solve it by recovering old lands and investing huge sums of money in water conservancy projects.

But... launching a war just to settle down one's own citizens, wouldn't such an approach damage the reputation of a great country with etiquette?

Zhu Youtang felt that these important ministers were pretending to be common people, so he said seriously: "Since the ministers have no objections, let's discuss who will lead the expedition? How can we relocate the refugees and develop water conservancy projects after Jianzhou is destroyed? Jianzhou has a flat terrain, and the land is It is fertile, even if the imperial court spent 500,000 taels of money to develop water conservancy projects and actually build our Northeast Granary of the Ming Dynasty, this can solve the shortcomings of water transportation in the near future, and build the foundation for the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty in the long run."

Different from the thinking of the ruling class in this era, if you want to build a place, you need early capital investment.

The fertile land in Jianzhou is a good place for agricultural development, but it actually requires time and manpower to cultivate it, and it also requires investment in water conservancy projects, so that Jianzhou can truly be built into the granary of Northeast China.

Although the initial investment is expected to be one million taels, once the Northeast Granary rises, the capital's demand for food from the South will be greatly reduced. By then, the problem of land shortage will be solved, and food security will be provided for the entire Ming Dynasty.

"According to the decree!" Li Yu, the official minister, and other important ministers felt that the emperor was strategizing, and immediately saluted respectfully.

I...object!

He Qiaoxin was very unwilling to do anything that was detrimental to the etiquette of the country in order to accommodate millions of disaster victims. He just looked around and found that no one had any objections, so he couldn't help but swallow the words that came to his mouth.

Huh?

The Right Minister of the Ministry of Revenue looked at He Qiaoxin, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, with disdain, but he noticed something strange about He Qiaoxin, and he believed that the Minister of the Ministry of Justice was indeed disloyal, and immediately regarded him as his first political enemy.

Because Zhu Youtang set the tone, everything became simple in the following discussions.

Although this group of important ministers can't open up the pattern, who will take charge and resettle the refugees are actually their old profession.

The problem since ancient times has actually been about money. However, Hongzhi's finances are still very healthy, and a large amount of stolen money has been obtained from the Ye family just recently.

Since there is no need to impose additional taxes or stipends on the people, there is naturally no need to argue. Everyone only needs to consider how to spend money.

“Our Ministry of Household Affairs has enough money for disaster relief, but the Metropolitan Procuratorate must do a good job in anti-corruption!”

"We at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development have the money to build embankments, but the Ministry of Works needs to be careful when selecting river officials!"

“Our Ministry of Household Affairs’ granary is well-established, but the Ministry of War must formulate regulations for transporting grain!”

…

Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, has become a veritable God of Wealth. He allocates funds correctly when faced with requests from various yamen, but he also makes requests with confidence.

The biggest feature of the Hongzhi Dynasty was that it abandoned the previous model of working alone and replaced it with cooperation among various departments, thus greatly improving work efficiency.

Now it can be said that the monarch and his ministers are united. Although some corruption is impossible to prevent, the court's determination to combat corruption is unprecedentedly strong.

In particular, the status of the Metropolitan Procuratorate has suddenly risen, and the more upright Wang has his head beheaded, so the Metropolitan Procuratorate is silently shouldering the sacred mission of anti-corruption.

After listening to the opinions of officials from the six ministries, Zhu Youtang handed over the work of rescuing and relocating the victims to the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel. The repair of the Yellow River embankment and the planning of the Jianzhou water conservancy project were undertaken by the Ministry of Works, with other departments assisting.

As for the most important candidate to lead the campaign in defeating the Jianzhou Jurchens, Zhu Youtang originally preferred Liu Xuan, the governor of Liaodong, but Liu Xuan's military ability was still a bit lacking. In the end, it was decided that Wang Yue, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, would lead the expedition.

With the conclusion of the Supreme Meeting of the Imperial Study Room, the largest "Jianzhou Jiyou Project" since the Hongzhi Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty was launched.

In the next few days, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War became the busiest departments.

The Ministry of Revenue is fully responsible for disaster relief work in Henan and other places, the Ministry of War is responsible for the logistics of the Liaodong war, and other departments mainly cooperate with these two tasks.

But when news spread to the outside world, especially the Ming Dynasty's appointment of Wang Yue to jointly supervise the army eunuch Zhang Yong and the new Liaodong commander-in-chief Wu Jingbo Zhao Chengqing, anti-war sentiment suddenly rose.

"Conquering deer because there is not enough sinew is not the behavior of a great country?"

"The Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette, and such behavior can be considered a tyrant!"

"Those who have lost will have few helpers. A wise minister will not serve the king. A wise man should resign!"

…

Scholars from the outside world ignored the millions of disaster victims. When they learned that the imperial court was planning to conquer Jianzhou, they immediately objected passionately.

With the help of interested people, the public opinion in the capital was almost one-sided, and many scholars pointed their fingers at the imperial court.

What's more, some people advocate that virtuous people should resign and leave such unjust kings.

These voices naturally reached the palace. Although Zhu Youtang knew that the power against him in the capital was rising instead of falling, he did not intend to focus on these clowns, but focused on pacifying Jianzhou and providing disaster relief.

To the east of the city, Dongsheng Inn.

Xu Hong and Gao Kui are two lucky people who stayed in the capital. When they have time, they will get together in this fate-changing place.

Although there is still about a month left before the Sunchon College Examination, candidates are already coming to prepare for the exam, and these "active" candidates like to criticize current affairs the most.

Anti-war seems to have become politically correct, and a table in the middle is talking about it, pointing the finger at the emperor who is "motivated".

Xu Hong naturally heard these discordant sounds, but noticed that Gao Kui had arrived first, and walked towards the wine table in the corner.

When Gao Kui saw Xu Hong arriving, he personally poured the wine for Xu Hong and said, "What a coincidence between us two! I thought I was the only one staying in Beijing, but I didn't expect that I would also be sent to Henan on errands!"

"You all, the Procuratorate, are becoming more and more lenient. Now the officials from the six departments say they are most afraid of you, for fear of being caught by your Procuratorate!" Xu Hong sat down in front of the table and picked up his wine glass.

There was a hint of sarcasm in the corner of Gao Kui's mouth, and he looked upright and said: "If you don't do anything bad, don't be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door. Those who are really afraid of us must have ghosts in their hearts and have done something illegal. How dare you reach out for disaster relief funds like this one?" , I must not recognize my relatives, and I will never be complicit in anything!"

"This time, due to the slag construction of the river, most of Henan has been reduced to a wasteland, and millions of people have been displaced. I used to think that the power your Majesty gave you to the Procuratorate was too great, but after experiencing this, I realized that Your Majesty is actually Lord of England. But now that things have happened, someone in this capital actually calls Your Majesty a tyrant. I really want to taste it!" Xu Hong took a sip of wine and frowned slightly.

Gao Kui raised his head and glanced at the few scholars who had just criticized the emperor, but asked seriously: "Your Majesty used deer sinew as an excuse to conquer Jianzhou, right?"

"If my guess is correct, this is indeed an excuse! At first, His Majesty was afraid that he was planning to establish a state, but now millions of people have been displaced. This battle is inevitable, and it is inevitable to win!"

"you mean……"

"Anmin!"

As soon as these words came out, a bright light flashed in Gao Kui's mind, and then he looked in the direction of the Forbidden City in shock.

Several scholars in the center of the front hall were still criticizing the emperor, but Gao Kui in this corner looked at the Forbidden City in shock, and Xu Hong's eyes were also full of awe.

Although it is impossible for the imperial court to announce the Jianzhou Jiyou Project, it is inevitable that some clues will not be revealed, and some talents with political talent can also get a glimpse of it.

In fact, Xu Hong was smart on the one hand, but more importantly, Xu Hong had met Emperor Hongzhi before and knew that he was a rare British master.

In addition, Zhang Sui was sent to Liaodong earlier, so Liaodong must not have been a war caused by Lujin, but Emperor Hongzhi had the idea of ​​taking back the entire Jianzhou, and even wanted to use Jianzhou as a basis to pacify the savage Jurchens and Hai. Western Jurchen.

Considering the current disaster situation in Henan, Xu Hong has every reason to infer that the real intention of the Jianzhou War is to resettle millions of victims.

"Hey, what are you two muttering about? I think the head of the case heard you talking about the British Lord just now?"

At this time, several boys who had been giving advice just now came over, and the man with the black mole in the lead asked them with a strange look.

Sorry, I'm in the hospital and I'll be back to normal in two days.