Shen Yichen, who was in the duty room of Wenyuan Pavilion, did not know that Huichang Bo Sun Zhong and others could not accept the loss, and were ready to beat him up or even kill him.

He is discussing with Jin Lian, the Minister of Household Affairs, on how to use the huge profits brought by the "food war" to help the people in the north who have suffered for months to get out of the plight of famine, and to greatly improve their ability to resist natural and man-made disasters in the future.

ability to resist risks.

Although it can be said that Shen Yichen and Jin Lian had no friendship at all, and they were once hostile when Wang Zhen was in power. However, the biggest difference between the camp struggles in the early and middle Ming Dynasty and the party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty was that the family and country were in danger.

At this time, we can put aside personal grudges and help the country and the country.

Jin Lian had excellent talent in financial planning. After the Battle of Tumubao, the Ming Dynasty's treasury was empty, and natural disasters and wars continued everywhere. It was thanks to Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu that he urgently transferred Jin Lian from the Minister of the Ministry of Justice to the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

In this position, the financial crisis on the verge of collapse was alleviated and the battle to defend the capital was ended.

Another point is that Jin Lian makes a clear distinction between public and private affairs. No matter whether the other party has been a political enemy or has any personal grudges, he can put aside his past grudges and work together at critical moments.

Shen Yichen is a cabinet minister and has the leading authority on military and national affairs, but the implementation requires the full cooperation of the six ministries. This is why he chose to invite Jin Lian to his chamber to discuss matters.

"I know that Da Situ doesn't like to talk, so let's get down to business. The purpose of our sincere invitation is to provide relief to the people in the north, as well as the potential war crisis caused by the Mongolian Waqi tribe's changes."

Shen Yichen and Jin Lian had nothing to talk about and reminisce about the past. After welcoming them into the check-in room, they stated their purpose straight to the point.

Just as Shen Yichen knew Jin Lian, Jin Lian had also paid attention to this rising star in politics over the years. Neither party was a talker. Shen Yichen was so straightforward and straightforward, but he was very fond of Jin Lian.

appetite.

"Then I wonder what Shen Zhongtang has to say?"

The "food war" in the capital was raging, and Jin Lian naturally knew about the competition between the two forces behind it.

Frankly speaking, Jin Lian is not the kind of person who forms cliques for personal gain. He also pursued fairness and justice when he was the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. But in this world, not everyone can be as arrogant and moral as Yu Qian. Ning Yuan offended his colleagues and made enemies everywhere.

Be willing to compromise diplomatically.

Jin Lian knew that some people were hoarding and driving up food prices, but knowing that didn't mean he could do anything. In order to stand in the turbid officialdom, he had to turn a blind eye to many things, or even tolerate them.

The more straightforward and cruel translation of the words "good people should not be officials" means that people who engage in politics are immoral.

An innocent and noble person is destined not to be included in the officialdom!

However, what makes Jin Lian feel gratified and fortunate is that Shen Yichen does have the ability to govern the world. He relied on rice grains shipped from the south to curb the sky-high grain prices in the north and avoid a bigger disaster.

A catastrophe occurs.

Judging from the current decline in food prices, Shen Yichen is about to become the final winner. What is his next plan?

"The troops of the Wasac tribe have changed. After suffering the losses of the failure to capture the capital last year, the first target will definitely not be the Nine Borders of the Ming Dynasty. We judge that the Taishi will first annex the Tatar tribe and complete the de facto control of the Mongolian tribes.

unified."

"Tuo Tuo Bu Hua is not a talented and strategic king, and his prestige and performance in the grassland are far inferior to those of Tai Shi Ye Xian. This annexation war was doomed from the beginning. Even if the imperial court ordered the Liaodong Army to rush to help, nothing could be changed."

Shen Yichen first expressed his analysis. For a close enemy of the level of Wasi, a single Liaodong governor could not control the general trend. The most he could do was rush to the aid of the Tatar tribe to delay the process. The outcome would still be that the Grand Master would also complete the Mongolian Empire first.

Ministry unity.

Unless the Ming Dynasty of the same level can make more timely preparations and intervene, the situation can be turned around.

It's just a pity that the Ming Dynasty was also severely weakened after the battle of the capital guard. In addition, the anti-war faction in the court occupied the absolute mainstream. At this time, the Manchu civil and military ministers would never agree. The Ming Dynasty used all its strength to launch another Northern Expedition to fight against its old enemy Wasi.

We are engaged in a battle for national destiny.

Since the fate of the Tatar tribe cannot be rewritten, Shen Yichen plans to start from other aspects. Passive defense has never been his style.

Attack is the best defense!

"The result of the previous court discussion was to transport the capital and Tongzhou warehouse rice and grain to aid Liaodong and boost the morale of soldiers from all over the world. Now I want to go one step further and ask Grand Situ to coordinate the budget and allocate food and salary to Xuanda's troops and unite Liaodong

Dusi completely annexed Ji and the three guards of Wuliangha outside the Liao border!"

At this moment, Shen Yichen told Jin Lian about his strategic goal, which was the three guards of Wuliangha who had been attached to the Ming Dynasty for decades, also known as the three guards of Duoyan in later generations.

Since the late Yongle Emperor, the three guards of Ulliangha have been in a state of repeatedly jumping left and right. When they are strong, they want to break away from the fetters of the Ming Dynasty and restore the glory that belongs to their descendants.

When it was weak, it moved out of the agreement it had signed with Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, and was willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty to become the best barrier to prevent other Mongolian tribes from plundering and harassing the Ji and Liao defense lines.

In recent years, Wuliangha Sanwei hoped to get warmer and more fertile pastures in the south. Through gradual encroachment, he forcibly advanced the territory from the Xilamulun River to the Liaohe River Basin. Now he has captured the Daning area and completely

Stationed herdsmen along the Xuanda Great Wall defense line.

How can you allow others to snore and sleep on the side of the couch?

If the Ming army wanted to completely conquer the grasslands, it would need enough land to raise horses and weaken the power of the Mongols from the root. Then annexing the three Uliangha guards and letting them disappear in the long river of history would be the unified dynasty of the Central Plains.

What should be done.

"Annexing the three guards of Ulliangha?"

Hearing Shen Yichen's words, the face of Jin Lian, the Minister of Revenue, was full of shock.

He originally thought that this was an invitation to discuss matters, and Shen Yichen was most likely talking about something related to disaster relief and assistance to the people, and that it involved some assistance in the "food war". But he never expected that he would be so open-minded.

What we need to do is to expand our territory!

"At that time, Emperor Taizong borrowed troops from the three guards of Wuliangha. Later, he was awarded official titles, crowns, ribbons, platinum, banknotes, uniforms, etc. Everyone knew that he was a vassal state under the Ming Dynasty."

"If we blatantly annihilate and annex the three guards of Ulyanha, it will damage the etiquette and morality of this great country, and it will also alienate all the vassal states and violate the royal teachings of Confucius and Mencius. This must not be done!"

Jin Lian immediately rejected Shen Yichen's idea. After all, he was a scholar who accepted Confucianism. Compared with the two tribes of Wasi and Tatar who were nominally surrendered, the three guards of Wuliangha were actual Ming Tatar officials and even early "allies"

.

The Ming Dynasty was known as a land of etiquette, so how could it do such a thing as the collapse of etiquette?

"Subordinate to a vassal state?"

Faced with Jin Lian's pedantry and narrow-mindedness, Shen Yichen couldn't help but say this term in a mocking tone.

"As long as the three guards of Wuliangha had the heart to surrender, they would not have rebelled countless times over the decades and moved south to encroach on the territory of the Ming Dynasty."

"Da Situ, do you still remember that when you were the military counselor in Ningxia, you guarded against the Mongolian Tatars harassing the border? Do you still remember the beacon fires in Shazhou and Xingwu City, and the smoke in Hexi and Guyuan? Do you still remember how many there are in Jiubian?

Did the soldiers and civilians die miserably at the hands of the Tartars who rebelled repeatedly?"

"I don't need any ceremonial state or kingly education. There is only one requirement for the Tartar Tribe, and that is to seal the wolf as a slave and drink from the vast sea of ​​horses!"

When Shen Yichen said these words, his expression revealed a rare fighting spirit and bloodlust.

If the Ming Dynasty does not annex the Three Guards of Wuliangha at this moment, they will inevitably be completely unified by the Waqi tribe. Instead of caring about the false name of a country of etiquette, Shen Yichen hopes to see the battle flag of the Ming army planted in the

At the top of the Golden Tent of the Mongolian Khan, the supreme glory of military strategists and generals of the Central Plains dynasties has been achieved!

Jin Han was not surprised that Shen Yichen said these outrageous remarks. He was even more shocked that the other party understood him so well and everything he had gone through when he was the counselor of Ningxia Military Affairs.

Although civil servants in the early and middle periods of the Ming Dynasty could not serve as generals or prime ministers like in the Han and Tang dynasties, in fact, a considerable proportion of the ministers of the Central and Central Cabinets had served as border governors, and they were not as helpless as many people imagined.

With the power of tying a chicken, I don’t know the hardships of the frontier and the bloody battles of the soldiers.

In the eighth year of Zhengtong, Jin Lian was transferred back to the capital from Ningxia to serve as Minister of the Ministry of Justice. The memory of that period as counselor and military affairs was not completely buried. Shen Yichen's questioning and fighting spirit awakened many memories of when he left town and border gates. He also responded to repeated rebellions.

Can the Tartars, whose hands are stained with the blood of the Ming Dynasty soldiers, really be educated by the teachings of Confucius and Mencius?

When you have this question in your mind, it means that Jin Lian actually already has the answer.

After a long silence, Jin Lian took a deep breath and then slowly said: "Shen Zhongtang, how much food and grass can you give to the soldiers of Jiubian?"

Hearing this question from Jin Lian, Shen Yichen also breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, he was not very confident that he could convince the other party. After all, Confucianism was too powerful, and the only thing he could rely on was Jin Lian.

Lian Chuzhen’s experience in the frontier.

Facts have proved that Shen Yichen's bet was right. Jin Lian served as Ningxia's military counselor for three years. The border scenes he witnessed were far beyond what the corrupt Confucian officials in the court could compare with. The effect of royal education on the barbarians in the vassal state was far less than the sword in the hands of the Ming Dynasty soldiers.

With sword!

"When the price of grain in the capital falls below the bottom line, I will buy up the rice grains sold by Huichang Bo and others. Including the grains currently in stock, the total is expected to be around four million shi."

"These four million stones will be handed over to the Great Situ. How to distribute them between disaster relief and the payment of military pay for the Nine Borders is up to the Great Situ."

The storage time for things like rice and grain is limited. After realizing that hoarding is hopeless to raise the price of grain, Huichang Bo and others will definitely sell the grain in their hands, and Shen Yichen can just buy it all back at a low price.

To put it bluntly, this operation is similar to the manipulation of stock trading by bankers in later generations. They sell at high prices and collect at low prices. Money and grain are also earned, which is equivalent to Shen Yichen winning twice.

Leave professional matters to professionals. This is the policy that Shen Yichen has always implemented, including the flood control supervisor. Once he is on the right track, he will never interfere too much.

Jin Lian's ability to manage money and grain is unparalleled in the world. In addition, he is the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. No one is more suitable to handle and distribute this huge batch of rice grain than him. In addition, since you choose to turn to the other party for help, you must have absolute trust and dig.

Sosou is also not Shen Yichen’s style.

"Four million stones of rice and grain have been given to me for my full disposal. Shen Zhongtang is really a generous person."

Jin Lian said this in a playful tone, but he actually felt moved and admired in his heart.

After all, four million stones and rice grains not only represent huge wealth, but also represent contributions to disaster relief and future military exploits. No wonder Shen Yichen can hold a high position at a young age and gain support and allegiance soon after leaving town.

, this kind of heroism and magnanimity cannot be matched by many veterans.

"In addition to four million stones of rice and grain, I will also donate two million taels of silver to be used for the departure of the Southern Expeditionary Army and the green crop loan for spring plowing. I am afraid that this matter will still have to be taken care of by Da Situ."

Through this large-scale sale of rice grains, Shen Yichen probably earned more than two million taels of silver from Huichang Bo Sunzhong. Excluding the cost of repurchase, he could have a balance of at least two million taels, and it may be more than this amount.

Anyway, this money was earned in vain. Today, Shen Yichen dare not say that he is as rich as the country. At least he does not need to consider any financial issues in this life. Now it is time to fulfill the promise between Jingyuan Bo, Wang Ji and the emperor, and take the money.

The money for the southern expedition was sent south to conquer the Luchuan rebels as soon as possible.

As for the green crop loan, it was actually an improvement of the green crop law in Wang Anshi's reform in the Northern Song Dynasty. In years of famine, the court provided loans to farmers at low prices to help them complete the difficult period of spring plowing and avoid borrowing usury from landlords and gentry, thereby preventing or slowing down land annexation.
To be continued...