In the palace of Liu Jian, the chief minister of the current cabinet in the capital, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Liu Daxia, and Zhong Zhong all came to Liu Jian's house to discuss the major issues at hand.
Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War, and Zhou Jing, the Minister of Hubu, are still in prison, but the position of the Minister needs someone to take his place.
After being recommended by the cabinet and appointed by Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Daxia succeeded Ma Wensheng as Minister of War.
But now, everyone knows that the Ministry of War is no longer the former Ministry of War. The current Ministry of War does not have any military power. The military power has been reassigned to the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion and is under the direct leadership of the emperor.
Despite this, Hubu is still one of the six bureaus, and the Hubu Shangshu is still an important minister in the court and the pillar of the country.
The Ministry of Husbandry also had Ji Zhong to succeed Zhou Jing as the Minister of the Ministry of Husbandry, but the power of the Ministry of Husbandry did not change at all.
"The news came back and we won again~"
I don't know whether he was happy or sad. There was no hint of joy in Xie Qian's words. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if he was worried.
"It's a good thing that we won the battle. At least in the future, the southeastern coastal areas will no longer have to worry about Japanese pirates."
Li Dongyang smiled and said.
"There is no need to worry about the Japanese pirates, but they won again, and this time they asked for fifteen million taels of silver compensation from the Japanese country. Your Majesty will definitely be very happy, and he will rely more on those military commanders in the future. This
In the future, we civil servants will have no status in the court."
Xie Qian said very worriedly, watching helplessly the rise of the Military Generals Group, watching Emperor Hongzhi slowly move closer to the Military Generals Group, and getting further and further away from loyal people like them.
"You can't say anything~"
Liu Jian shook his head slightly.
"The Japanese invaders and below are killing our people in the Ming Dynasty, and they continue to allow the Japanese invaders to invade our southeast. We should really give them a lesson."
"We didn't have this power before. Even if we wanted to deal with the Japanese pirates, we were powerless."
"Now that we can teach them a lesson and solve the problem of Japanese pirates in the southeast, this battle will not be in vain."
Liu Jian's statement was quite fair, and his starting point was for the benefit of the Ming Dynasty. As for the civil and military disputes, they were placed after national affairs.
"What's more, after giving the Japanese pirates a hard lesson, it will be safer for our Ming merchant ships to travel to Japan, Korea, Nanyang and other regions in the future."
"It has begun to enter summer now. There are hundreds of large ships in Tianjin preparing to go to Huanghuangzhou. In the past, we had to worry about the Japanese side, but now we can rest assured."
After hearing Liu Jian's words, Xie Qian suddenly fell silent. He didn't know the significance of winning this battle to the Ming Dynasty. For the Ming Dynasty, the meaning of this battle was to solve the trouble in the east, at least in the next few decades.
Time, everyone in the east of Ming Dynasty can sit back and relax.
However, Xie Qian was from Zhejiang, a typical Jiangnan person, and he represented the interests of the big businessmen, big landowners, and big gentry in the Jiangnan area.
One of the important reasons why Japanese pirates are rampant is because some people collude with Japanese pirates and pirates and use them to blockade the southeastern coastal areas so that they can monopolize the incredibly profitable sea trade.
Without the support of the Japanese country, the Japanese pirates would be like water without a source or a tree without roots. Even if the imperial army did not go to eliminate them, these Japanese pirates would naturally die out.
This not only dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese pirates, but also hit the interests of the big families, big businessmen, and big gentry in the southeastern coastal areas. It would be impossible to monopolize maritime trade in the future.
In addition, the rise of maritime trade and shipbuilding in Tianjin in the north quickly robbed the market and financial resources of these people in the Jiangnan area. Therefore, the opinions of these big businessmen, families, and gentry in the Jiangnan area were very strong.
As the saying goes, cutting off someone's financial path is like killing one's parents.
The big businessmen, big families, and big gentry in the Jiangnan area were naturally unwilling to do so, and they had been trying to influence the Ming Dynasty's government through officials from the Jiangnan area.
In the past, many people could be easily found to speak for their interests, but after several major cases, Jiangnan Shilin suffered a heavy blow.
Now in the entire court, although there are still many officials from the Jiangnan area, there are only a few people left at the highest level, and Xie Qian is the representative among them. He is a cabinet minister and an important minister in the court.
There is no doubt that he naturally became the representative of Jiangnan Shilin and the spokesperson for the interests of the big families, big gentry, and big businessmen in the Jiangnan area.
Xie Qian looked around and saw that Liu Jian and Ji Zhong were from the north, Li Dongyang and Liu Daxia were both from Hunan, and they could not wear the same pair of trousers as they were from Jiangnan.
Especially Liu Jian and Zhong Zhong. With the rise of the Beijing-Tianjin region in the north, they, officials from the north, will naturally benefit a lot from it.
These officials from the north and the families behind each of them have more or less enjoyed the benefits of the rise of capitalism and maritime trade.
From Liu Jian's words, we can know that these northern officials all support the use of force against Japan. There is no way. These northern officials have more or less shares in the large and small commercial banks in Tianjin.
They also have shares in the hundreds of large ships that are about to go to the Golden Continent. If the Japanese side is not stable, their investment may be in vain.
Having taught the Japanese a lesson, their investment will be stable and they must be supported.
"But, Mr. Liu, after all, this Japanese country is a vassal state of our Ming Dynasty. If we mobilize so many troops to force the Japanese country to sign a city alliance, will they be convinced by us?"
"What's more, Zhang Mao, Liu Jin and others have gone too far. The compensation of 15 million taels of silver is really too large. Moreover, they have to cede Ishijian Kingdom and lease Hyogo Prefecture. In the future,
We still need to station troops in the Japanese country, how does this fit in with our status as the superior country of the Ming Dynasty?"
Xie Qian thought for a while and said.
"Convinced?"
"How can we convince the Japanese nation?"
Liu Jian looked at Xie Qian, smiled and asked.
"This...of course is based on benevolence, righteousness and integrity..."
When Xie Qian said this, he was a little speechless.
"Renyi?"
"Integrity?"
"Our Ming Dynasty has always been benevolent and honest towards the Japanese country, but they did not take our Ming Dynasty seriously and did not restrain their warriors. As a result, the Japanese invasion in the southeast of our Ming Dynasty became more and more serious, and they even killed our Ming Dynasty merchants."
"I think Liu Jin is right. It is useless to talk about benevolence, justice and morality to deal with the Japanese. Only by giving them a hard lesson with your fists will they learn to be afraid and naturally obey our words."
"As for the so-called confession, there is no need at all."
Liu Jian smiled and said.
I also sighed in my heart, the rift between the three giants in the cabinet was already obvious. I could still chat with Xie Qian before, but now, I feel like I can't even say a word without comment.
The differences between the two people on government affairs are also getting bigger and bigger. Just like this time when sending troops to Japan, Xie Qian was firmly opposed to it, while Liu Jian supported sending troops to Japan.
"Mr. Liu, Gong Xie, what's the point of arguing about this now?"
Li Dongyang stood up to be the peacemaker. He had already seen that the conflict between Liu Jian and Xie Qian was getting bigger and bigger, and it was difficult for him to be caught in the middle.
Of course, Li Dongyang also tends to support Liu Jian, because he also has shares in some commercial banks. In addition, he feels that the Ming Dynasty has been changing rapidly in recent years, has a new look, is prospering, and there is hope for the Ming Dynasty ZTE.
All of this is inseparable from Tianjin, the establishment of maritime bans, and maritime trade, so whether it is the butt that determines the head, or for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, he is more inclined to support Liu Jian.
"Yeah, what's the point of discussing these things? The ship is already done, and it's hard to recover if it's overturned~"
Xie Qian nodded and said helplessly. Then he thought about it and said goodbye directly. There would be no point in talking further.
Watching Xie Qian leave, everyone was silent for a while. Everyone knew in their hearts that the civil service group had now split and was no longer an iron plate.
…
In the Qianqing Palace of the Imperial Palace.
"Haha, well done~"
Emperor Hongzhi saw the latest news coming back from Japan. It was really Long Yan's great joy, and he was so happy that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear.
"Zhang Mao, Liu Jin did a good job~"
Emperor Hongzhi was in a very good mood and was constantly making calculations in his mind.
"Fifteen million taels of silver were used as war indemnities. After the military power was taken back, millions of taels of silver were spent to go out. Unexpectedly, we just defeated a Japanese country, and all of it was recovered with interest.
."
"With these fifteen million taels of silver, the reform of the military system can be accelerated."
"Judging from the battle reports that came back, the new army is very powerful, with powerful artillery and muskets. It easily defeated the Japanese with just artillery. Maybe we can expand a few more new armies."
Emperor Hongzhi was calculating silently in his heart. He did not expect that just by defeating the Japanese country, he would be able to receive fifteen million taels of silver in compensation.
This business can be done.
Only tens of thousands of troops were dispatched before and after, and several battles were fought on the Japanese side. They basically relied on powerful artillery to bombard the enemy, and there were not many real frontal battles.
Therefore, the casualties were very light. The number of soldiers killed and sacrificed in battle was less than three digits, and the number of injured was less than 500. At such a small cost, the Japanese country was severely repaired.
"It must be Liu Jin who did it. Zhang Mao, Liu Jin, and Yang Yun definitely don't know the difficulties of being a leader. Only Liu Jin knows the importance of money."
"It's time to reward him properly. He has done a lot for me before and after. He must be granted a knighthood. Marquis shouldn't be too much, but he is still too young. I will have to assist Hou Zhao in the future.
If you make a marquis all of a sudden, it won't be easy to reward him later, so let's make him a count first."
The first thing Emperor Hongzhi thought of was Liu Jin.
At a glance, it is obvious that this treaty was definitely written by Liu Jin. It included land cession, compensation, and terms such as leasing. Zhang Mao and the others would not have been able to come up with these things.
So Emperor Hongzhi was also thinking about how to properly reward Liu Jin. Liu Jin had done a lot for the old Zhu family.
Not to mention anything else, just for the properties acquired for Lao Zhu's family, even Emperor Hongzhi probably doesn't know how much wealth Lao Zhu's family has now. Anyway, he doesn't have to worry about money now, and he doesn't have to worry about it anymore.
I searched and searched like before.
"By the way, there is also the Shijian Kingdom. The Shijian Silver Mine contains hundreds of millions of taels of silver. This belongs to our Ming Dynasty and can be mined slowly in the future."
Soon, Emperor Hongzhi's eyes were fixed on Shijian Kingdom again. Thinking of Ishijian Silver Mine, Emperor Hongzhi became even happier.
The Shijian Silver Mine, which contains hundreds of millions of taels of silver, is enough to be mined for a long time. For a long time in the future, the silver mined from the Shijian Silver Mine alone will be enough to support the expenses of the Ming Dynasty's army.
"We got the money, solved the Japanese problem, and stabilized the route to Huangjinzhou. This stop is worth it. Liu Jin is a son of an expert and has a far-sighted vision."
"With Ishimi, we also rented Hyogojin and stationed troops here. From now on, the Japanese country will be able to live in peace, and we, the east of the Ming Dynasty, will have no troubles from now on."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at the map and towards the east of the Ming Dynasty, with a smile on his face.
Putting aside the so-called benevolence and morality, the exchanges between countries must be based on interests. Things that are in line with the interests of Ming Dynasty should be done more, and things that harm the interests of Ming Dynasty should not be done.
If we consider the affairs of the suzerain and vassal states and do not use force against the Japanese, where will the money come from and how can we eliminate the Japanese troubles?
"Liu Jin is right. There are only eternal interests between countries, and everything else is false."
Emperor Hongzhi remembered Liu Jin's words and immediately smiled.
"Next is the grassland in the north. Although the little Tatar prince is dead, the Tatars have been severely damaged. Now they are taking the opportunity to unify the grassland."
Soon, Emperor Hongzhi turned his attention to the vast grasslands in the north.
According to the latest news, the Oara army marched eastward and swept across the entire grassland, from the Tianshan Mountains and the Altai Mountains to the Greater Khingan Mountains in the east. In the northeastern region, wherever the Oara army passed, the tribes on the grasslands surrendered.
The areas and tribes that were originally ruled by the little Tatar prince have now been basically conquered by the Oara army. The Tatars were destroyed, but Emperor Hongzhi was not happy.
Because the northern grasslands have been unified, once the grassland people are unified, another Mongol Empire may be born. There is no doubt that the Oara army that unified the northern grasslands will soon go south again with the intention of settling in the Central Plains.
This is the biggest headache for Emperor Hongzhi now.
At first, he killed the little prince and suffered heavy losses to the Tatar tribes. Unexpectedly, he ended up taking advantage of Oara, allowing Oara to unify the northern grasslands.
Although the northern border is still quiet now, Emperor Hongzhi can already feel that the eyes of the northern prairie wolves are looking south.
However, Emperor Hongzhi is not afraid now because he is also confident.
