In the imperial palace in the capital, Emperor Hongzhi held the latest issue of the Ming Dynasty Morning Post, drinking tea and reading the newspaper.
"Bang~"
"Is the Gansu and Shaanxi area really what it says in the newspapers?"
Just after reading the most important piece of news, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but slap the table heavily, and the whole person looked very atmospheric.
"Replying to Your Majesty, I am inseparable. In fact, every time the Tatars go south to plunder, they pass through like locusts crossing the border, leaving no grass behind. This is mostly the case in Gansu and Shaanxi."
Xiao Jing on the side was startled when he heard the loud noise. After hearing Emperor Hongzhi's question, he thought about it and replied.
"Then why didn't the report submitted before be explained in detail?"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly after hearing this. He knew something about this matter, but the memorials submitted by ministers in the past did not focus on this aspect. For these ministers in the court, they focused more on describing it.
If we were to defeat the Tatars, we would not care about how many people were killed.
Defeating the Tatars could help them get promoted and make a fortune, but the life and death of the common people had no impact on them at all, so naturally the memorial on the desk of Emperor Hongzhi basically described it as a raging war and bandits raging.
With this description, although Emperor Hongzhi also knew that the Tatars would plunder when they went south, he did not have an intuitive idea of how they would plunder, and what the casualties of the Ming people were. There were no specific figures or detailed descriptions.
But the Ming Morning Post is different. Because of Liu Jin's instructions, the Ming Morning Post has dedicated reporters to go to Gansu and Shaanxi.
When reporting on this incident, more emphasis was placed on describing the brutality of the Tatars, with rivers of blood flowing everywhere they passed, rafts floating with blood, how many people died, how many towns were massacred, and so on.
There was a huge contrast between the two, which made Emperor Hongzhi know that the Tatars had committed many crimes when they went south. They killed many of my Han children, burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil.
It is no longer as empty as the prelude, just a paragraph or a few words, which makes people unable to feel the brutality of the Tatars and have no intuitive feeling.
"this…"
Upon hearing Emperor Hongzhi's question, Xiao Jing didn't know how to answer for a moment.
The reason why the ministers in the court wrote memorials in this way was actually because they did not want the emperor to be warlike. After all, the emperor was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the emperor of all the people of the Ming Dynasty.
If an emperor knew that his people were being ruthlessly slaughtered by the Tatars, the emperor with a little blood would still have some temper, and he would have to give an explanation to the people of the world.
Once the emperor wants to go to war, he will naturally reuse the military generals group, which is extremely detrimental to the civilian officials suppressing the military generals group.
Moreover, the emperor was warlike and liked to use a butcher's knife to solve problems. The good days of these ministers were coming to an end. Look at Comrade Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, and then look at Comrade Zhu Di, the son of Zhu Yuanzhang. Both of them are warlike people.
They all like to use a butcher knife to solve problems.
Their butcher's knives were not only powerful against foreigners, but also against their ministers. Countless ministers died in the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di.
Therefore, whether it is to suppress the generals and nobles, or to prevent the emperor from being warlike, when writing this report, you must pay attention to which ones are the key points and which ones should be mentioned in one stroke. The ministers in the court know it very well.
Whether it is a report about the Tatars going south to plunder, or a report about famine and the like, most of the time they report the good news but not the bad news, trying to make the emperor feel that the whole world is having a banquet on the sea and the clear river, so that the emperor can
Focus on your own enjoyment, rather than becoming an emperor who likes to toss.
The emperor who likes to toss is difficult to control and is not conducive to the interests of their civil servant group. It is also easy to destroy the dominance of the civil servant group that they have finally managed to achieve.
"Hmph~"
Emperor Hongzhi snorted coldly, thought for a while and said: "Immediately summon the cabinet ministers Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, the Minister of War Ma Wensheng, the Minister of Household Zhou Jing, and the British Duke Zhang Mao to enter the palace."
"Yes~"
When Xiao Jing heard this, he nodded quickly and immediately glanced at the little eunuch next to him. The other party understood and went to do it immediately.
…
In the house of Liu Jian, the chief assistant of the cabinet, Liu Jian, who had just had his morning court, was also having breakfast and reading the newspaper.
"This is the Tomorrow Morning News~"
Liu Jian frowned. The Tomorrow Morning News was still very good, but this first report about the Tatars going south made him feel very inappropriate.
"Such a report will definitely arouse public outrage, and it will be very difficult for the court to deal with it."
Liu Jian seemed to have seen the angry scene. If countless people petitioned the emperor and asked to send troops to avenge him, this matter would be really difficult to handle.
As the chief minister of the cabinet, he is very aware of the current situation in Ming Dynasty.
The current situation in the Ming Dynasty is that it is impossible to fight a war, because the combat effectiveness of the Ming army is very low, the level of fighting against the five scum, and it is not allowed financially. The treasury of the Ming court can starve to death.
Where is the money for the imperial court to fight the war?
Therefore, whenever the Tatars plundered from the south, as long as the other side did not threaten the capital, the imperial court would just huddle in the big city. When the Tatars plundered, they would naturally retreat.
This is a typical herd mentality.
That's what to do when faced with a lion attack?
There is no need to do anything, you just need to wait until the lion is full, and the lion will naturally be fine.
But things are different now. The Ming Dynasty Morning Post exposed this matter, letting everyone in the entire Ming Dynasty clearly know the various crimes committed by the Tatars. Naturally, the entire Ming Dynasty will be furious.
At that time, even if the imperial court does not want to fight, it will still fight because public opinion is boiling and everyone will demand revenge. If you don't fight, you will be alienated. Anyone who opposes the fight will be scolded as Qin Hui.
But can the imperial court fight the Tatars?
Even if you can fight, can you win?
Judging from the current situation of the Ming army, it is almost impossible. If they defend the city, they can still rely on the high walls built with cement to fight. If they leave the city, they will almost be meat in the mouths of the prairie wolves.
Yes, the other person can eat whatever they want.
If they don't fight, the Ming army can still defend many large cities, but once they actually fight on the grasslands, losing troops and generals will be a trivial matter.
Once the loss of troops is too heavy and some important cities are empty of troops, these Tatars are very likely to take advantage of the situation. More people will die and the losses will be even greater.
The Tatars are getting more and more successful as they fight, and their ambitions are becoming more and more aggressive. Maybe by then they will target the capital, and the government and the opposition will really be in turmoil.
This is why Liu Jian felt that the description in the Ming Dynasty Morning Post was very inappropriate. He seemed to have seen that a big change was coming.
"Master, someone from the palace is here to announce your entry into the palace~"
While Liu Jian was still thinking about this matter, the palace's decree came.
"Alas~"
"This Liu Jin really doesn't make people worry about how to run a good newspaper."
Hearing the steward's words, Liu Jian couldn't help but sigh. He could almost guess the reason why Emperor Hongzhi announced his entry into the palace.
Soon, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Zhou Jing, Ma Wensheng, Zhang Mao and other important officials in the court all came to the temporary office of Emperor Hongzhi.
"Has everyone read the newspaper?"
Emperor Hongzhi's face looked ugly. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he spoke slowly.
"I've seen it~"
Everyone looked at each other and nodded.
"As long as you have read it, please tell me first, why the area that was massacred and the number of people who died were not listed in detail in the report submitted from below. In the report I have seen, they are all mentioned in one stroke, without details.
If this matter was not mentioned in the Tomorrow Morning News, I would have thought that not many people would have died."
"You are all the pillars of the country and the pillars of the country. Let's take a look. This time the Tatars went south, and at least one hundred thousand people died in Gansu and Shaanxi. These are all bloody lives, and they are all the sons and daughters of our Han family.
"
Emperor Hongzhi was very angry. Although his voice was not loud, it made all the ministers sweat on their foreheads. Everyone knew that Emperor Hongzhi, a good old man, was really angry this time.
Everyone was silent for a while, and each other was silent. Everyone knew the secret behind this, but this kind of thing could not be said. Once it was said, it could involve limiting the imperial power and limiting the emperor. When the time comes, it would be
It's uncertain how many more people will die.
"Why aren't you talking?"
"Liu Jian, please talk first."
When Emperor Hongzhi saw that everyone was silent, he said very dissatisfied, and then directly started to call the names.
"Replying to Your Majesty, memorials from various places also mention the brutality of the Tatars. It's just that these memorials always focus on brief introductions, so there is no way to describe them in detail like this newspaper."
Liu Jian thought for a while and could only force himself to explain.
"Well, then, in the future, reports on wars and disasters must list numbers and areas in detail, and they can no longer be vague."
After listening to this, Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly and did not continue to dwell on this matter. He had also read the memorial, and it did mention the atrocities of the Tatars. It cannot be said that the following people did not mention this matter.
"Yes~"
When everyone heard this, they quickly said yes, and at the same time, everyone couldn't help but frown. The detailed numbers and areas listed cannot be as vague as before, which means that it will not be so easy to deceive the emperor in the future.
Sometimes some minor disasters can no longer be used to defraud the court for relief, while some major disasters cannot be concealed so easily.
"The main thing I have called everyone here today is to talk about whether our Ming Dynasty can defeat the Tatars. The Tatars go south every year, enter and plunder our country every year, kill our people and steal our money, but our Ming Dynasty's
But the army can only watch helplessly, and there is nothing they can do against them."
"If things go on like this, Ming Dynasty will become the leeks of the Tatars. They come here to harvest every year, one will decline and the other will grow, and it will eventually become a big problem."
"This time I went south and killed 100,000 of my people. The next time I went south, I killed another 100,000 of my people. How can I just sit back and watch this bloody feud?"
Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and said.
From the moment he saw the description in the Ming Dynasty Morning Post and the bloody figures, he decided that he must return the favor. As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he could not sit idly by and look at his people seriously.
Being slaughtered and indifferent.
After hearing what Emperor Hongzhi said, the faces of Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Zhou Jing, Ma Wensheng and others turned ugly. Emperor Hongzhi was determined to have a good fight with the Tatars.
But they don't want to go to war, because fighting will not only kill more people, but more importantly, it will shake the interests of the civil service group.
"Your Majesty, the Tatars went south to plunder supplies for the winter. As long as they have plundered enough, they will naturally return to the grassland."
"Soldiers are a major event for the country, a place of life and death, and a way of survival. If you start the war lightly, you may become a catastrophe."
Zhou Jing was the first to stand up and express his objection. His meaning was very clear, that is, these prairie people have nothing to fear. They just come here to plunder materials and wealth. As long as they are full, they will naturally go back. There is no such thing as
It is necessary to fight with them to the death, because fighting with them will only cause greater losses, and if you are not careful, it is very likely to shake the Ming Dynasty.
"Yes, Your Majesty, don't talk about war lightly."
"This time the Tatars chose to go south from Gansu and Shaanxi, mainly because our Great Wall and cities in this area were not reinforced or heightened with cement."
"In the past, Tatars went south from Datong and Xuanfu, but since we used cement to heighten and consolidate the Great Wall, passes and cities, it has become difficult for Tatars to go south."
"So I think that we only need to go to Gansu and Shaanxi to allocate more cement to repair the Great Wall, the passes, and consolidate and heighten the city walls, which will be enough to prevent the Tatars from going south, and then there will be no more border troubles."
Xie Qian also stood up and expressed his views.
What he meant was even simpler, that is, the Tatars succeeded in moving south this time. That was because the Great Wall and passes in Gansu and Shaanxi had not yet been repaired with cement, so the Tatars were able to successfully move south.
As long as cement is used to repair, consolidate, and heighten the area, the Tatars will rest in the south in the future. Using cement, they can build a strong defense line. There is no need to fight with these prairie people.
"Your Majesty, Duke Li, and Duke Zhou are right."
"Our Ming army is poorly equipped, poorly trained, and has low combat effectiveness. There is no way it can compare with the grassland army. It can defend the city by relying on the city, but there is no chance of winning in this field battle outside the city."
Li Dongyang also followed suit, saying bluntly that the Ming Dynasty's army had low combat power and was not suitable for fighting with the grassland people. It would be wiser to rely on cement to build tall city walls to reach them.
After hearing the words of these three people, Emperor Hongzhi's face turned livid. He called them here to discuss how to deal with the grassland people, not to call them to come against him.