The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Telling King Yu was actually for the sake of King Yu's peace of mind. After all, there were rebels with tens of thousands of mercenaries in Jiangnan. King Yu was also worried, but he was just anxious and couldn't do anything.

In fact, this is also the main reason why King Yu supports Yu Dayou so much.

With the Battle of Datong as the foundation and the battle to annihilate Zhang Lian's rebels being directed by Yu Dayou, King Yu would feel more at ease.

After listening to Wei Guangde's report, King Yu rubbed his hands and asked, "Didn't the Ministry of War say who should be appointed as the chief general to suppress thieves?"

"No."

Wei Guangde replied.

"It can't be that Hu Zongxian personally supervises the division."

King Yu said casually.

"Hu Zongxian probably didn't know the plan of the Ministry of War, otherwise he wouldn't have reported it. He suggested setting up deputy general soldiers in southern Jiangxi to guard against Fujian thieves."

Wei Guangde replied immediately.

"Forget it, don't worry about this. Seeing that the Ministry of War is so confident, let's just keep an eye on it."

King Yu said with some regret that he actually wanted Yu Dayou to make great contributions in wiping out Zhang Lian's rebels. In the future, he would be able to use him more responsibly. He could transfer him to Jiubian as a general and garrison a town. At least he would not have to worry about the north. On defense.

Just as Prince Yu and Wei Guangde were talking, Yan Shifan was already analyzing the meaning of Emperor Jiajing's performance to Yan Song in the cabinet room where Yan Song was on duty.

"Dad, why didn't you take out Hu Zongxian's memorial and directly recommend Shi Deyu to be the deputy commander-in-chief of southern Gansu?"

"Do you think His Majesty will nod?"

"How will you know if you don't try? The Ministry of War knows how to recommend Yu Dayou. What if we don't recommend him?"

The two talked quietly in the room. It was obvious that Yan Song's performance today did not follow Yan Shifan's original plan, which made him very nervous.

"Father, no matter what His Majesty's attitude is, he has not yet made up his mind to let me serve as an official. We must take this opportunity to maximize Ruzhen's rights."

Yan Shifan looked at Yan Song and said word by word: "I don't care about that Yu Dayou. He is just a martial artist and not worthy of attention. But if Ruzhen cannot be allowed to control the entire Jiangnan, our Yan family may really have no way out. .”

"That day when my father entered the palace, His Majesty was very cautious about the memorial and had no intention of agreeing to it."

Yan Song looked up at Yan Shifan and said: "I know that it was your idea to add the deputy commander-in-chief of Nangan to attract the attention of Prince Yu's palace. But you really think that by controlling Jiujiang, you can make those in Nanjing work for you. Used?"

"Dad, you have seen the things that I sent people to investigate last time. You said that if those things were known to His Majesty, the tricks Xu Pengju and Liu Shiyan were playing, and those people using waterways to traffic in illicit salt, Your Majesty would How will you deal with them? The income of millions of taels of silver a year is enough for His Majesty to punish them with death."

Yan Shifan had a stern look in his eyes at this time, "With this handle in hand, we are not afraid that they will not listen to us. With Jiangnan, we are afraid that His Majesty will not care. Only if His Majesty is afraid, our Yan family will not be in danger."

"I am getting old after all, and I will always go back to Jiangxi to retire."

Yan Song glanced at his son and said, "Even if we can use those means to control them for a while, once my father returns to Jiangxi, do you think our family will still be safe?

For those warriors, they can do anything. Can you not imagine what will happen by then? "

"I will let them know the backup plan I have left. If anything happens to the family in my hometown, those things will be sent to His Majesty."

Yan Shifan said harshly.

"That is a double-edged sword. If used improperly, it will push the family into the endless abyss."

Yan Song ignored Yan Shifan's words, just shook his head and said, "Instead of threatening them with those things, it is better for Mao Qing to continue to be on good terms with them and continue to provide them with convenience. With these local snakes around, as long as my father can escape from the capital." Retreat, for their own benefit, they will try their best to protect us."

"But what if those people in the capital are unwilling to let go?"

Yan Shifan immediately retorted: "If the situation in Jiangnan cannot be controlled, then people will be the slaves and I will be the fish."

When Yan Shifan said this, he suddenly felt a slight chill in his body. He stopped talking and looked at Yan Song.

At this time, Yan Song looked at him with a fierce cold light in his turbid eyes, "Do you think that by working with those people in Nanjing and assisting King Jing, it's really hard to achieve peace for the second time?

Who are those people in Nanjing? If nothing else, can their troops defeat the Jizhen army? "

"Hu Zongxian"

Yan Shifan wanted to argue again, but Yan Song glared back.

"Ruzhen's group of people listened to him and accepted the money from him. The reason was not because he was the governor-general of military affairs appointed by the emperor. If he rebelled, those people would immediately kill him, Hu Ruzhen." During the rebellion, all evidence was destroyed.

The warriors you look down on can do anything when life and death are at stake. You underestimate those people too much. "

Yan Song said to Yan Shifan, his tone full of regret.

Yan Shifan is very smart, but he uses it in the wrong place. He does not do things with dignity, but likes to use unexpected conspiracies to achieve his goals.

King Jing was obviously exhausted, but he still wanted to change his fate against the will of heaven.

"Please tell Mao Qing to gradually reduce the private salt trade with Nanjing. Don't stop it all at once, and don't reduce it too much. You won't be able to catch them with these methods."

At this time, Yan Song was still trying to persuade Yan Shifan to give up his plan.

"Father, that's an annual income of one million taels. If Your Majesty knew about it, there's no way he wouldn't be tempted."

Yan Shifan still wanted to persist.

"A few years ago, it might have been possible, but it's no longer possible. What His Majesty wants is stability."

Speaking of this, a trace of regret flashed in Yan Song's eyes, "In the early years, for so much money, His Majesty would not have been ruthless, but now it is not possible. Your Majesty will not put the country into turmoil for the sake of money.

Ever since His Majesty fainted, he had actually been making preparations before that.

Everything was too late. From the common people to the local officials, everyone still wanted to make trouble for the court. They came out to cause trouble at this time, but they just thought they didn't die quickly enough. "

"How exactly do the Ministry of War plan to deal with the Fujian thieves?"

Yan Shifan was silent for a long time, then suddenly asked again.

"Liu Xianchong, the governor of Nanjing, is the chief military officer, and Yu Dayou is his deputy. The two of them will work together with the governor to suppress the bandits. Once they respond to the battle, the guards will listen to the two of them."

Very few people in the Ministry of War know about this plan, only a few people. However, Yan Song has been the chief minister for many years and has laid countless secret and open stakes in the Sixth Ministry. Many people have also been secretly supported by Yan Song to high positions. This is not something that ordinary people can see through. Yes.

"Liu Xian, Yu Dayou."

Yan Shifan murmured, "I told you why Nanjing suddenly wanted to add more camp officers and transferred Sichuan Army General Liu Xian to the camp. At that time, Yang Bo was already prepared."

"You, you still want to maintain the current situation. What good will this do to us?"

Yan Song knew from Yan Shifan's words that his son still wanted to maintain the current chaotic situation in Jiangnan.

Yes, it is indeed in their best interest for Jiangnan to remain as it is now. At least Hu Zongxian's position can be stabilized, and the capital has no reason to take action against them, at least for the time being.

However, if Yan Shifan were to secretly help Zhang Lian and his group, it would be doomed once the incident happened.

Emperor Jiajing would never let go of their Yan family. No matter how much friendship he had with the emperor before, it would be of no use at this time.

"Don't think about helping Zhang Lian's group. They are rebels, not robbers. The emperor will not condone them."

Yan Song warned.

"Father, how could I help the rebels?"

Yan Shifan said easily, but he was obviously confident.

Yan Song sighed, he understood that even if Yan Shifan was allowed to surrender in front of him now and agree, he would still make some small moves later.

"No matter what you do, you must not leave any clues, otherwise it will be difficult to die."

Yan Song could only warn Yan Shifan like this. He didn't want to think that his family would suffer because of this when he got old.

No matter what, he had been assisting Emperor Jiajing for many years without any credit for his hard work. He never had the slightest excuse, just because he could end up well in the end.

Emperor Jiajing was such a person. The more you defended yourself, the deeper his hatred became.

If you don't say anything and let others talk about you, Emperor Jiajing will miss you instead. He has helped the emperor carry everything for so many years, and the emperor will not let him end up no matter what.

As long as the palace doesn't say anything, nothing will happen to him or his descendants. What's more, he has also secretly had private transactions with some people. When the time comes, if they help overtly and covertly, this level will be over.

However, Yan Shifan obviously didn't want to settle down like this, and still wanted to cause trouble.

If you were ten years younger, this might not be an option.

Looking at Yan Shifan's leaving figure, Yan Song could only pray secretly in his heart that Yan Shifan must not leave any clues to be discovered by others.

At first, because of the benefits of sea trade, he intervened in Jiangnan affairs at the instigation of Zhao Wenhua. Thinking about it now, Yan Song felt a little regretful.

There was also Luo Longwen, who kept instilling in Yan Shifan the huge benefits of trading with the Japanese country, asking him to write letters to Hu Zongxian behind his back, delaying the army's encirclement and suppression of Japanese pirates, and indulging Japanese pirates.

What I was afraid of was that after the Japanese pirates were wiped out, Emperor Jiajing would re-impose a more stringent sea ban to prevent them from sending ships to trade with the Japanese country.

The current chaos along the coast is an opportunity for them to take advantage of the fire.

At this moment, outside the duty room of Yang Bo, Minister of the Ministry of War, two third-rank officials were walking hand in hand.

"Is Lord Shangshu here?"

One of them asked the scribe outside the door.

"Master Shangshu is here, please go in and report."

The scribe said to him with a smile on his face, then turned around and walked into the house.

Not long after, the scribe came out and said to the two of them with the same face: "Master Shangshu, please invite Master Ge and Master Zhang to come in."

"Shuzhi, let's go in."

The man known as Mr. Ge spoke.

"Shilang Ge, earlier."

Zhang Shouzhi said hurriedly to Ge Jin.

The two of them entered Yang Bo's check-in room one after another. After clasping fists and saluting, Yang Bo asked them to sit down.

"You two are here for business?"

Ge Jin is the right minister of the Ministry of War, and Zhang Shouzhi is the Minister of Taipusi Temple who took office at the beginning of the year. They came hand in hand. It is absolutely impossible to say that nothing will happen.

"Da Sima, I didn't know until I took up the post of Taipus Temple that Taipus Temple has been in serious shortage of horses in the past two years. The border town and the Ministry of War have been asking me for horses all day long, and they want to see where I can find them."

The person who spoke was Zhang Shouzhi, the minister of Taipus Temple. He was formerly the Shaoqing of Dali Temple and moved to the minister of Taipus Temple at the beginning of the year. This was a complaint.

The horse administration of the Ming Dynasty had actually declined at this time. Private horse herding directly turned into the income of Chang Yingku. There were horses in the official horse farm, but that was during the inspection. After that, these horses had to be replaced. Die for various reasons.

As unofficial legends say, "There was a commander in the Ming Dynasty who said, 'How can I sell the horses I raise if they don't die?'

Bi said: "If the horse is not dead, how can I get the money to inspect the horse?" ’

The army said: "If the horse is not dead, how can I get the benefit of buying it with Mahu Tongtong and the whole clan?" ’”

Corruption was rampant from bottom to top in the Ming Dynasty, and Ma Zheng was naturally not immune.

However, after Hongzhi, the pressure from the Mongols in the north increased sharply, and the Ming army began to urgently need a large number of war horses. Whether this was to prepare for war or something else is hard to say.

However, Yang Bo, who was the Minister of the Ministry of War, naturally knew that there was something fishy about it. It was a fact that the frontier army was short of horses, and it was also a fact that the frontier army was reselling horses.

"What do you want?"

Since Zhang Shouzhi and Ge Jin came here together, they must have thought of some way before they came to discuss with me.

"Mr. Yang, let's not talk about the border troops. Let's just say that the shortage of horses in the Beijing camp must be solved first."

Ge Jin spoke first at this time.

"You should have discussed some solution, let's talk about it first."

Yang Bo frowned and said directly.

"I asked the old people in Taipu Temple, and they said that when the court was short of horses in the past, it was always solved by conferring horses. This method has many benefits. The most important thing is that it can quickly obtain horses in large quantities and solve the problem of horse shortage. .”

Zhang Shouzhi said bluntly, and took out a memorial from his sleeve, "Please take a look at it, Mr. Yang. If possible, please ask the Ministry of War to hand it over to the emperor for review."

"Nama's appointment? Is this your way to solve the shortage of horses in the capital camp?"

Yang Bo naturally knew what Nama conferment was. Although the word "Nama" was used, it was actually solved by exchanging silver.

Those who need to be ordained give money to Taipu Temple to gain advancement, whether they are entering the Imperial Academy to wait for ordination or other places.

As for the money, Taipusi will naturally use the money to buy horses from surrounding foreign countries and chieftains and transfer them to the army.

As for sending the horse directly, is it okay?

The answer is of course no. Although it is called "Nama", if everyone just sends horses directly, how can the officials responsible for horse purchase handle this matter.

There is a shortage of horses in the capital camp. Ge Jin went back to the ministry to talk about it several times in the past few days. Since then, he has been negotiating with Taipu Temple. Today, a conclusion has been reached. However, Yang Bo is still hesitant about the "Nama investiture" issue.

I took a look at Zhang Shouzhi's official document and found out that Ma Que from the Taipu Temple asked for the case of Nama's appointment. Those who were martial arts students in Beijing and Wei who had passed the imperial examination were allowed to receive 240 taels of silver and were sent to prison; , Those who have not taken the imperial examination will receive three hundred and twenty taels of silver, as will those who are civilian military veterans and those who come to Beijing to visit relatives and are willing to pay.

Those who have made meritorious service in the military and border areas are expected to receive silver for redemption. Thousands of households, towns and governors will receive one hundred taels of silver, and commanders will receive one hundred and forty taels. All commanders will receive two hundred taels. For those who have not completed their meritorious service and are willing to redeem, the amount will be reduced in descending order.

The governors of the border towns and the governors of the two capitals and the provinces all paid the stipends for their meritorious service. Once they were in the capital and the soldiers and civilians abroad, they received twenty taels of silver and were awarded crowns and honors as martyrs. If he is involved in a lawsuit, he will be reinstated as soon as he accepts the request. Those who violate the law will not be allowed to issue an edict.