The Prosperous Era of Longwan

If there were no rumors, the poems written by Zhang Juzheng and the white lotus and white swallows he sent to the palace would be quite appropriate.

In addition, the young emperor Zhu Yijun would soon choose a queen and would get married next year. In fact, some of the so-called "going out in pairs" metaphors might refer to this.

But now it is different. When rumors spread outside, no one will believe it no matter what the parties involved say.

It just echoes the saying of later generations that silence is acquiescence, explanation is sophistry, and mud stuffed in the crotch is shit.

Wei Guangde actually didn't care about the rumors about Zhang Juzheng, but the timing was too coincidental now.

If Zhang Juzheng was embarrassed to step down because of this incident, what would happen to the reforms that Zhang Juzheng had not yet completed?

Should he let the dignified Wei Ge Lao continue to promote it?

He Wei Guangde couldn't do it.

The interests involved were terrifying. Without the courage of "I will go to hell if I don't go to hell", it really couldn't be done.

Wei Guangde also considered that if Empress Dowager Li and Zhang Juzheng really had such an affair, sending this poem to the palace might also have the purpose of stabilizing his position.

After all, given Feng Bao's current attitude towards him, he also needs the support of the palace.

But still, Wei Guangde felt that Empress Dowager Li was unlikely to have an affair with Zhang Juzheng.

If it was true, then Li Fang was really blind.

Because of the rumors, the atmosphere in the cabinet and even the entire court was very subtle in the following days.

Although everyone did not discuss this matter in the government office, they could not help but exchange their views on it in private occasions.

According to the news received by Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng was also very quiet during this period. Except for working in the cabinet, he went back to his house directly after the government office was over, and did not go out for social events.

Of course, if Zhang Juzheng did not go out, those officials who were on good terms with him would still come to his house.

This atmosphere did not last until the Liaodong war report was sent, and Qi Jiguang's troops captured Hongli Village a few days ago and killed Atai and Ahai, and the court finally had a festive atmosphere.

Yes, although they fought against the remnants of Wang Gao, the only ones who dared to challenge the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong were the two children left by Wang Gao, who kept instigating the Jurchen leaders in Liaodong to rebel.

While they gathered the Jurchen tribes in Liaodong, they also recruited wild Jurchens from further north to strengthen their own strength.

After this period of free-range, the Ming Dynasty basically figured out the tribes in the Liaodong Jurchen tribes that opposed the Ming Dynasty.

After conquering Shaji City, Ata and Ahai gathered in Hongli Village, trying to use the terrain advantage to resist the encirclement and suppression of the Ming army.

At the same time, they also summoned allies such as Tuman, the chief of the Chahan tribe, and Subahai, the chief of the Taining tribe, to lead their troops to help.

It means that they fought against the remnants of Wang Gao, but in fact, they also mixed in Mongolia and other Jurchen tribes.

The battle was no weaker than the encirclement of Wang Gao's troops last year. Qi Jiguang ordered a part of his army to besiege Hongli Village, while he led the main force to defeat the reinforcements of Chahan and Taining. After completely defeating the foreign enemies, he launched the final general attack on Hongli Village.

In the end, the two brothers died in the war, and Wang Gao's troops were completely wiped out this time.

Without the instigation of Wang Gao and his son, the Jurchen tribes in Liaodong should have been honest for a while.

Especially this time, the Jurchens and Mongols invested 70,000 to 80,000 troops, but were eventually defeated by the Ming army.

Even now, Qi Jiguang's troops are still stationed in Shaji City and Hongli Village, and they are likely to continue to expand the northern border of the Ming Dynasty to the north. Kuandian Liubao is no longer the northernmost border of the Ming Dynasty.

"The Ministry of War must plan carefully and carefully judge whether the impact of occupying Shaji City and Hongli Village is beneficial to our Ming Dynasty."

In the duty room of the cabinet, Wei Guangde was meeting with the Minister of War and two assistant ministers in the ministry, and learned about the situation in Liaodong in detail.

"It's not that we must occupy that place and get the so-called credit for expanding the territory for the court, but we have to consider whether occupying this place is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty and whether our Ming army can occupy it.

If it is occupied, it will make the situation in Liaodong more complicated, or if the Liaodong Dusi is too burdened and it is difficult to stay for a long time, it is better to directly distribute these villages to other tribes loyal to our Ming Dynasty to strengthen their strength."

Wei Guangde thought about the situation in Liaodong mentioned by Tan Lun and others, and also expressed his thoughts.

Although he wanted to send the Ming army directly to Nurgan City, Wei Guangde also knew that he couldn't be impatient about this matter, and he had to take it step by step.

If the Jurchen tribes could not be completely surrendered, the isolated army sent there would easily suffer huge losses.

At that time, it will be a big event in the court, and it will cause a storm.

If you do something, you may make mistakes, but if you don't do it, you will definitely not make mistakes.

It's not that Wei Guangde is lazy and doesn't want to continue to expand northward, but he knows that the strategy of the Ming army to the north must be steadily advanced, step by step.

In the past, for the sake of a Nurgan city, it can be said that Emperor Yongle almost spared no expense to occupy it.

Tens of thousands of troops were stationed on the banks of the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River, and their purpose was to protect the smooth flow of this river and transport supplies to the Nurgan city.

Of course, the army stationed on the riverside also directly controlled the areas near the river basin.

However, such a cost is not something that the Ming Dynasty can sustain for a long time.

So in the end, the Ming army had to shrink and move the troops of the Nurgan Dusi inland, but continued to control this place in name only by paying tribute to the local tribal leaders.

“The Ministry of War must have a clear attitude, that is, the northern frontier of our Ming Dynasty is Nurgan City, and it is definitely not Kuandian Liubao or Hongli Village.

Liaodong Dusi should have warships that can transport a thousand households to Nurgan City at any time. "

Hearing what Wei Guangde said, Tan Lun and the two ministers were slightly surprised, but they just looked at each other and no one said anything.

"It will definitely be too late this year, but the Liaodong Dusi can prepare. I hope that next spring and summer, the Liaodong Dusi can exclude two or three hundred households from inspecting Nurqian City along the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River.

There are insufficient warships in Liaodong, so the Ministry of War must coordinate and mobilize ships from Shandong or other places. "

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he looked at Tan Lun, waiting for his answer.

"Mr. Wei Ge, are you preparing to garrison troops in Nurgan City again during this northern tour?"

Tan Lun asked directly.

"The imperial court has not learned about the situation in the north for many years. This time it is mainly to understand the current situation in Nurgandusi. This fleet only went over to see if there are other forces infiltrating there.

I remember that there is a big island across the sea from Nurgan City, and there are still residents on the island. "

Wei Guangde replied.

"Mr. Ge is talking about Kuyi, right? There are thousands of Kuyi people living on the island."

A waiter interrupted.

"Kuyi. Kuye"

Wei Guangde whispered in his mouth that the Sakhalin Island in later generations should now be Kuyi Island, but later he may have thought that the name was not good, so he changed the word Tongyin.

"If possible, let them visit Kuyi Island and give something to the people there to promote the majesty of my Ming Dynasty.

After so many years, the people there may have forgotten that they are still my ministers of the Ming Dynasty. "

Wei Guangde continued.

Tan Lun understood what Wei Guangde meant, and was not in a hurry to resume garrisoning in the north. Instead, he went around to remind those people that these were Ming Dynasty's lands and they were still Ming Dynasty's ministers.

"Bring some grain, cloth and cotton as a reward from the emperor. From now on, I will go there every three to five years."

After Wei Guangde said this, he looked at Tan Lun and said with a smile: "You adults should understand what I mean.

By the way, I heard that it is very close to the Japanese country, so we should pay attention to collect relevant information after the army lands on the island.

With such close neighbors, I believe that the Kuyi people should have had contact with the Japanese.

It is necessary to let the Japanese know that Kuyi Island is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so that they should not think about getting involved. "

After the official conversation was over, Wei Guangde saw off the people from the Ministry of War, then returned to the check-in room to think for a moment, and then simply wrote a memorial asking the Liaodong Capital Division to send troops to the north to patrol Nuerqian City.

This matter is not a small matter, it is a military matter after all, so Wei Guangde plans to chat with Zhang Juzheng later to see what he means.

The quantity of grain, cloth and cotton received by the military department is limited each year, and they are all closely allocated to the border troops.

The extra supplies will have to be allocated to the Ministry of Household Affairs.

The amount doesn’t need to be too much, just go there and take a look at the situation, and remind the locals that this was land managed by the Ming Dynasty a few decades ago.

If they just send some supplies in three to five years, it can make the local people think about the Ming Dynasty. Wei Guangde feels that this transaction is not a loss.

After all, it was bitterly cold in that place, and it was really not easy for people to live.

Otherwise, there would not have been so many deserters, and in the end they would have had to withdraw their troops and abandon that land because of the heavy burden.

Wei Guangde clearly wrote down the plan and the benefits that the court could get. In fact, if the memorial is about discussing politics, it is very simple, that is, it is a congratulatory memorial, such as a congratulatory form. It takes a little effort to write it in a colorful way. .

Anyway, it is similar to the eight-legged essay, constantly piling up rhetoric and pursuing magnificence.

Wei Guangde just wrote it casually and circulated it among the cabinet ministers. Naturally, it was not a formal memorial. In the end, it had to be submitted by the Ministry of War. The cabinet vote was approved and stamped by the Supervisor of Ceremonies very early.

After finishing writing, Wei Guangde waited for the ink to dry, then got up and went out, directly to Zhang Juzheng's check-in room.

"Do you have free time, Mr. Chief Assistant?"

When he arrived at the door, Wei Guangde asked.

"The adults are currently processing official documents, and I will report immediately."

The clerk in front of the door said hurriedly, and then he turned around and entered the house.

Soon, someone came out of the house again and said, "Mr. Wei Ge, please come in." ’

"Um."

Wei Guangde nodded and walked into the room.

During this period of time, there were almost no meetings in front of the cabinet office. After all, it was nothing major.

The biggest thing, apart from the election of the Wanli Emperor, was the two foreign wars.

The beautiful girl has entered the palace to learn the rules, so she has nothing to do with the outer court.

The wars in Southwest China and Liaodong Province were both won, and all that was left was to wrap things up and recount the achievements, which were all decided by the Ministry of War and handed over to the Cabinet and the Palace for the final decision.

As for other matters, of course there is no need for a meeting. A cabinet minister can just vote according to the rules.

Everyone knows Zhang Juzheng's current situation, so Wei Guangde will naturally not chat with him if nothing happens.

Zhang Siwei ran away from Zhang Mansion very early when he arrived. Wei Guangde heard Zhang Ji's report that night and didn't take it to heart.

After entering the room and bowing to each other, Zhang Juzheng led Wei Guangde to sit down. Wei Guangde took out what he had written and handed it to Zhang Juzheng, and then explained his considerations.

“Although the imperial court seems to be consuming national funds by sending food, cloth and the like to Nuergan’s tribe, furs, ginseng and other rare goods from outside the customs will naturally be harvested as tribute.

With these things brought to the palace, the palace's purchases will be less this year, so after calculation, we won't actually lose much, but it has reaffirmed my Ming Dynasty's right to manage Nuergan. I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. "

Zhang Juzheng asked while watching, and Wei Guangde also answered patiently.

Just now, it was about the end of the year, and the Ministry of Revenue was in financial distress, but it was actually just a shortage of silver.

However, there were still taxes in kind collected twice a year, such as grain and cloth. Naturally, the ones sent out did not need to be very good.

In fact, the taxes in kind collected by the Ming Dynasty now, especially cloth, were all sent to the capital, and the poor ones were kept in the local area, either sold or used to make military uniforms. There were many left, but cotton was a little tight.

It was just the allocation of materials, and the Ministry of Revenue should be able to complete it easily.

"That's good, but how does Shandai plan to solve this warship?"

Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and nodded. Liaodong had soldiers and horses, and it was only necessary to draw a few hundred households and a few hundred people to go to Nurgan City. The cost was not large.

As for the things sent over, there were also gifts in return.

Besides, they were all materials, and the court could afford them.

But when it came to the warships heading north, Zhang Juzheng had to ask a question.

Liaodong has a small number of ships along the coast, and they are all small boats. It is difficult to find enough large ships to carry hundreds of people to the north, so they can only be transferred from the south.

"Shandong."

Wei Guangde whispered, "Some of the usable ships from the Denglai Navy will be transferred to the Liaodong Dusi. They will return to Denglai after the ice in the north in winter, and return to the north after the ice melts next year."

Wei Guangde naturally considered the issue of ships, but he was not sure about the current situation of the Denglai Navy's ships. He only knew that they were very bad and most of them were old ships.

The main force of the Nanhai Navy has not returned. Now the new ships in several shipyards in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are all ordered by the Nanhai Navy, and the money is also allocated from the south.

If the capital directly asks for ships from there, the court will have to pay this money.

As I said, the Ministry of Revenue has no money now, and this money should be paid by the Ministry of Works, but the Ministry of Works has shifted its focus to the management of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and it has no money to build ships.

"I will write to the current commander of the Denglai Navy and ask him to select the best warships to hand over to the Liaodong Dusi, and also transfer ships from the Nanhai Navy to supplement Denglai.

When the court's finances are sufficient, it will also allocate money to build new large ships for the Denglai Navy. The Ministry of War will send another order, and I think Shandong will have nothing to say."

The current Denglai Navy is under the management of the Shandong Dusi, unlike the Nanhai Navy, which is at the same level as the provincial Dusi and only obeys the orders of the Ministry of War.

But because of this, Wei Guangde does not think that the governor of Shandong will jump out to oppose the court's orders.

After all, his official hat is still in the hands of the cabinet.

Although he cannot be appointed or dismissed directly, his influence is still enough. Although it is a bit troublesome to replace people, it is definitely not difficult to do.

"Alas, it's all because of the lack of money."

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said, "Has Li Chengliang in the southwest reported how much silver he can send back?"

Wei Guangde shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Calculating the time, he should have received the official document from the Ministry of War. Even if he sets off immediately, it will take at least three to five months." (End of this chapter)