Li Yindu's memorial essay forced Emperor Guangwu, who was very happy with his achievements and especially concerned about face, into a corner.
The memorial text first told the tragic situation of the people of Huliping, "the bones were exposed and the corpses were burned"; then he praised Emperor Guangwu for expelling the Tartars and restoring China's great cause, such as "great talents and great strategies, as vast as the rivers of water; Wen Tao and Wu"
He wrote a lot about it, "Death is like the brilliance of the sun and the moon" and so on. Finally, he expressed his hope that the emperor would send troops to avenge the people of Kuliping, "Such a heroic lord, how can he bear to suffer this to my people?"
Massacre? Even though they are thousands of miles apart, a large army will be mobilized to retaliate." "On the day when the king's army attacks the Rakshasa in the north, he will report it to the spirit front."
This way of writing praises the emperor so highly. If Zhu Hengjia did not send troops to attack the Rakshasa people, wouldn't he be unqualified to be a holy king? But if he sent troops to fight in the vast snow, the military expenditure would be several times normal. Where did the money come from?<
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"Have many people read this article?" Zhu Hengjia asked Wang Zhongshun.
"Long live my grandfather, this article has been widely circulated. It has spread throughout the streets and alleys of the Ming Dynasty. Almost all scholars have copied a copy. Even many illiterate people have heard that scholars have read it." Wang Zhongshun
Answer respectfully.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Hengjia's brows furrowed even deeper.
After a while, the great emperor made up his mind. Since everyone in the world is looking forward to my Northern Expedition to Rakshasa and avenge the tragic death of the people of Kuliping, public opinion cannot be violated! The most important thing is that I cannot lose my face! It is tightened.
Even if you eat glutinous rice bran every day, you still have to fight this battle.
He postponed the idea of transferring Nuergan Governor Sun Jinding back to Beijing, and sent an order to Sun Jinding, asking him to assemble the troops of Nuergan, Heilongjiang, and Jilin provinces, and the Rakshasa people for the Northern Expedition. At the same time, he secretly ordered Sun Jinding to set the goal of the Northern Expedition.
Make it smaller, just capture the Nerchinsk area. Don't make it too big, the treasury can't bear it.
Since ancient times, emperors have always wanted hungry soldiers. They can let the soldiers in northern Xinjiang fight bloody battles, but they have to pay military pay and raise military supplies.
Zhu Hengjia sent an order to the chief minister of the cabinet, Guan Shouzhen, and Zhang Xiaoqi, the Minister of Household Affairs, entered the palace to discuss the matter of military pay for the Northern Expedition.
As Guan Shouzhen walked into the palace, Zhang Xiaoqi took half a step back and followed him.
Guan Shouzhen suddenly slowed down and asked Zhang Xiaoqi: "Da Situ (another name for the Minister of Household Affairs), how much money is there in the national inventory now?"
"Mr. Ge, the national inventory is only one million taels of silver," Zhang Xiaoqi replied.
"Yeah," Guan Shouzhen hummed and said in a low voice, "I'll see you later, Your Majesty, and you have to say that you only have 500,000 taels of silver. Remember that."
"Yes, I understand." Zhang Xiaoqi sighed inwardly. Mr. Guan Ge didn't want Mr. Sun Ge to succeed in the Northern Expedition, and wanted to cut off Mr. Sun Ge's salary. There was nothing he could do. Mr. Guan Ge was also his immediate superior.
, it’s impossible not to listen to him!
The two entered the Qianqing Palace, and just as Guan Shouzhen expected, Emperor Guangwu's first sentence was to ask how much silver was left in the treasury.
"Your Majesty, there are still five hundred thousand taels of silver in the treasury," Zhang Xiaoqi replied.
"What! There are only five hundred thousand taels left!"
Zhu Hengjia gritted his teeth and said, "Let Nuergan move them all over."
"No, Your Majesty," Guan Shouzhen said hurriedly: "We must leave 200,000 taels to deal with emergencies, and we can only allocate 300,000 taels at most."
Zhu Hengjia frowned and said, "Guan Qing, it is difficult to transport troops in the north, and the cost is several times that in the south. Three hundred thousand taels is not enough."
Guan Shoufu was not in a hurry and was well prepared, "Your Majesty does not know. Although the national treasury is empty now, Nuergan, Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces are rich in ginseng, mink skin, gold and silver mines, and have close ties with Japan, Korea, Luo
The trade of the various countries is not poor, and there is still a lot of money in the vassal treasury. You can ask the national treasury to allocate 300,000 taels, and then let the three provinces raise another 300,000 taels themselves. This war can be fought for a few months. Wait and see.
When summer grain is put into storage, there will be no shortage of money."
"Alas! Let's just follow Guan Qing's advice." Seeing that Guan Shouzhen's words seemed reasonable, Zhu Hengjia could only nod in agreement.
After returning from the palace, Guan Shouzhen laughed wildly in his heart: Thief Sun, thief Sun, it’s only three hundred thousand taels of silver, how do you think about your northern expedition? Your Majesty asked you to attack Nerchinsk. If you can’t defeat it, let alone return to the capital and join the cabinet.
, it’s cheap if you don’t get punished. Hahaha!
It turns out that Emperor Guangwu didn't know the status of the vassal treasury in the three northern provinces, but Guan Shouzhen did. Those three provinces were vast and sparsely populated, and could not collect much tax. A hundred thousand taels in the vassal treasury would be considered good, but
Three hundred thousand taels?
Guan Shouzhen felt very happy that he could defeat Sun Jinding this time. After all, he was a great scholar with a Jinshi background. He came to Yaxing for a while and told his slave: "Come here, bring a table to the back garden and prepare it."
Pen and ink. Master, I want to draw plum blossoms."
It is snowing lightly in the sky, and in the plum grove in the back garden of Guan Mansion, the plum blossoms are blooming in full bloom. As worthy of being the first of the Four Gentlemen, Aoxue Lingshuang is exceptionally strong-willed!
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In the Nuergan Governor's Mansion, Sun Jinding's mood fell to the bottom. He thought he could return to Beijing immediately and return to the cabinet to take power, but the fate was unpredictable, and the Rakshasa people in the north actually started to make a fuss at this time. These barbarians were very angry.
Damn it, you ruined my good deeds!
He had suppressed his anger, mobilized his troops, and prepared to teach the Rakshasa people a lesson. Unexpectedly, another imperial edict came. The emperor he respected the most actually only allocated 300,000 taels of silver to himself, saying that he would give up the place.
The vassal treasury raised another 300,000 taels from itself to serve as the first installment of military expenses.
He summoned Kuang Lu, the governor of Nuergan, Gu Chaojian, the governor of Heilongjiang, Ji Xuguo, the governor of Jilin, Zhu Yongyou, the chief envoy of Nuergan, and other officials. When he asked, they found that there were only 70,000 taels left in the treasuries of Nuergan, Heilongjiang, and Jilin provinces.
Where did the three hundred thousand taels of silver come from?
Your Majesty, Your Majesty, aren't you embarrassing an old minister? It's okay to let the soldiers fight hard, but you can let the soldiers fight hungry. How can there be such a reason in the world?
The three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang. Sun Jinding summoned his confidants, Ren Yingmei, the inspector of Nuerqian, and Ye Shimao, the prefect of Kuwu Island, to discuss.
"Elder Ge, why don't you report the situation of the vassal treasury in the three northern provinces to the Holy One truthfully and request for more military pay," Ren Yingmei said.
"That's inappropriate." Sun Jinding sighed. "I know the temper of the Holy Lord best. He would rather suffer for himself than treat the soldiers at the front badly. This time, only 300,000 taels are allocated, which is probably from the national treasury.
It is true that there is no money left. But the Kuliping incident has spread like wildfire, and it is impossible not to fight. As a minister of the country, how can I not share the worries of your father? You must not publish a memorial to complain!"
Ye Shimao said thoughtfully: "Mr. Ge, I think this matter is not that simple."
"Oh, Mr. Ye, what do you think?"
"Lao Ge, in the past Zigong persuaded Tian Chang and said: 'Those who are worried about the inside will attack the strong, and those who are worried about the outside will attack the weak.' This Rakshasa provocation happened without any warning. I am afraid that some people used borrowed knives to kill people.
What a plan! No matter how poor the national treasury is, how can there be only 300,000 taels of silver left? I'm afraid it's the handiwork of someone in the court who doesn't want you to make a contribution. Qin Hui is in the court, and it's hard to realize Wu Mu's ambition!"<