The most important content of the day's meeting must be the battle report of the Ming Dynasty's surprise attack on the Weining Sea. The battle report jointly signed by Dai Yi generals Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren was read out in public.
Even though most people present already knew the outcome of this battle, when they heard the specific battle report and the fighting process, they could still understand that the battle was brutal.
Especially when it is mentioned that Wang Shouren went against all opinions and almost escorted more than 16,000 prisoners and nearly 100,000 livestock to the Ming Dynasty. He was trapped in the Tushan Mountain north of Maoerzhuang and experienced the "Battle of Tushan".
After fighting against a powerful enemy and winning two thousand heads, the ministers present were also thinking about it secretly.
Is this definitely what happened on the battlefield and not someone else making fun of them?
In the end, Wang Shouren reported it personally, and Zhang Zhou led his troops to kill, causing the Huoshan troops to retreat without fighting. From then on, the war fell into a calm state, and they all retreated southward.
"...It is expected that on the night of the twelfth day, the soldiers and horses conquering the grassland will enter Yanghekou. Please use Yanghe Guards as the axis to mobilize all the troops to resist the barbarian invasion..."
Dai Yi finished reading the battle report and respectfully stepped back.
The ministers present remained silent because they knew that the main event was coming next and they would have to discuss their merits and receive rewards.
Zhu Youtang took the words and said: "My lords, such a remarkable achievement has not been seen in recent decades. The only thing that can compare with it is that during the reign of the late emperor, Marquis Weining repeatedly entered the grasslands and made plans based on his unique plans.
"
Zhang Mao came out and said: "Your Majesty, the achievements of Marquis Weining cannot be compared with this."
Zhu Youtang looked pleased, but sighed and said: "But the battle of Weining Hou in Pianguan and the battle of Liaodong Ningyuan can always be compared with them, right?"
These words were actually a reminder to the ministers present.
Since the Tumubao incident and the defense of the capital, the Ming Dynasty has never had a great victory like today. Even if it can be slightly comparable, it may be due to Wang Yue's contribution to the grassland during the Chenghua period, but the person who killed the prisoners was this
A fraction from the first battle is still two zeros from the next one.
Another thing that can be mentioned briefly is this year's battles at Pianguan and Ningyuan, and these two battles were also planned by Zhang Zhou.
Don’t compare yourself, anyway, it’s not Bingkuan but Bingkuan.
Three merits are transformed into one. Is it not too much to give him a prince?
But Zhu Youtang didn't seem to be in a hurry to mention the merits of Zhang Zhou and his soldiers. He said: "Since I came to Dabao, whenever I read history and appreciate the demeanor of famous generals from ancient times, I hope that when the Ming Dynasty will also have such ability.
The man who has accomplished extraordinary feats, now that heaven has shown mercy, has finally given Ming Dynasty such a famous person, I should cherish it. Members of your family should not have any grudges against him."
When you are an emperor, you know your subjects well.
The greater Zhang Zhou's contribution, the greater the resistance he will encounter. It does not mean that Zhang Zhou will be respected just because he is capable.
Since ancient times, those who have made contributions to the country may not be tolerated by the king and the ministers of the court. If the rabbit dies and the dog is cooked, it is because of the fear of the king, and if the party is the same and the opposite is the criticism of the colleagues who become the tiger.
Just like the reformers since ancient times, all of them are trying to stabilize the court, but almost none of them has a good ending. After a certain period of time, they will be impeached and exiled by their colleagues, or even end up ruined and die without a burial place. But history
But these people will always be rectified.
Among the ministers present, no matter whether they were civil servants or military officials, cabinet elders or ministers, no one came out to refute.
Even Liu Jian and others were waiting for the emperor to give Zhang Zhou's credit.
If we don’t focus on Zhang Zhou as a person, we should focus on what Zhang Zhou did. If we don’t focus on what he did, we should focus on the merits afterwards. There will always be a breakthrough.
Zhu Youtang said: "Now that the Tatar forces are divided and the war has begun, Bingkuan means to wait and see the changes and seek development. More importantly, we must mine and smelt iron and cast cannons to appease the people. The Ming Dynasty Salt Policy has been very difficult in the past few years. There have been changes. Bingkuan and I have proposed to restore the method of opening grain in several places in the northwest to alleviate the shortage of grain and silver in the northwest and encourage mulberry farming. I wonder what your opinions are?"
They were all waiting for the emperor to ask Zhang Zhou for a reward for his merits.
As a result, the emperor found another way, or asked Zhang Zhou to "take advantage of the situation" and brought up the issue of grain harvesting again at this time.
what is this?
Are you using your power to threaten the government? If we don't agree, do you still want to cause trouble?
Zhou Jing, the Minister of Household Affairs, came out and said: "Your Majesty, after the previous salt policy reform, the capital warehouse was relatively full, and there were no major mistakes in the allocation of grain and grass everywhere. Why should we restart the old system?"
Usually the officials of the Ming Dynasty were very opposed to reforms, but they were very supportive of the method of changing the color of grain and silver.
The reason is that after making this change, the Ming court's control over the northwest was strengthened. Your frontier army finally no longer had to set up a small court in the northwest. Yanyin was changed from the private use of the northwest small treasury to the public use of the Ming treasury. The improvement of Ming Dynasty's finances had an immediate effect.
Moreover, the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were paid out in a relatively timely manner. Even if there were still gaps in the discounted salary bills, the normal salary could be paid out in time, and supporting the family was no longer a big problem.
Zhu Youtang said: "I don't want to deny the method of using salt to induce color, but based on Bing Kuan's experience in the northwest, as well as the current tense wars in various parts of the northwest, the temporary changes made were only implemented in Datong. , Xuanfu and other places to encourage local mulberry farming and reclamation, and build water conservancy to protect the livelihood of the people in the northwest. I think Bingkuan's proposal will help improve the use of money and grain in the northwest on the spot, and also avoid the consumption of money and grain in the Ming Dynasty. envy."
The ministers present were a little angry.
Zhang Zhou came to mention it at this time, leaving them at a loss as to how to object.
Because Zhang Zhou is currently using troops in the northwest, it will cost the court a lot of money and food. If Zhang Zhou is allowed to raise it on his own, many problems can indeed be solved. Zhang Zhou probably also knows that with the current financial resources of the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible to support a military campaign in the northwest for several years. of preparation for war.
That's why Zhang Zhou made this suggestion.
However, Zhang Zhou did not deny Yanyin's Zhese method, because Zhang Zhou also knew that there was no direct conflict between the Kaizhong method and the Zhese method. One was to protect the central government's finances, and the other was to protect the northwest finances. From the perspective of using troops, It must be said that local finance in Jiubian is the top priority.
But in terms of the long-term peace and stability of the Ming Dynasty, the Zhese method can bring huge financial resources to the Ming Dynasty court and solve many problems other than side affairs, such as disaster relief, river construction, etc., does it have to be wrong?
What Zhang Zhou means is that when I, Zhang, want to prepare for the use of troops in the northwest, I need to restore part of the grain supply so that I can ensure the merchant villages in the northwest, and the merchant villages are the largest area besides the military villages. Supplement and guarantee, why not?
Do you expect me to ask the court for money every time and let you choke my neck?
Moreover, the period of cancellation of the grain development is still short, and there is still room for recovery and operation of some of the land in Shangtun. Even if I, Zhang, do not personally take charge of the northwest, my people will maintain my remaining power, and the Tatars will not dare to invade the territory easily. If security is provided to those who organize commercial villages and the number of tenants can be increased, won't the finances of the northwest be greatly improved?
Otherwise, I would just fight and create a stable condition, but no one would come to farm the land...
In other words, businessmen feel that farming is meaningless, so these great victories cannot maximize profits.
Seeing that the ministers in front of him were silent, Zhu Youtang knew that these people were holding back their bad intentions again, so he said: "Unless the imperial court can solve the expenses of the northwest in the next few years, instead of having to deal with it every time the northwest asks for money and food, it will be perfunctory." And excuse me. Dear nobles, please understand the general trend in the northwest now. If we don’t take advantage of the internal disputes in the grassland to resolve the border troubles, we may never come back again.”
Liu Jian came out and said: "Your Majesty, it is inappropriate to raise this matter so hastily. Why not wait for the Ministry of Household Affairs to discuss it first and then make a decision?"
According to Liu Jian’s meaning.
You, old man, believe Zhang Bingkuan. If you open your mouth, you must change the law and return the financial power to the northwest. But the problem is that the distribution of salt has become a fixed rule. If you change it easily, won't you be afraid of upsetting the court? Jingcang has returned to the point where it cannot make ends meet. Status, is it what you want to see?
Even if we understand that you have to devote all your efforts to pacify the grassland and make sacrifices for this matter, should we consider the stability of the Ming Dynasty first?
"Yes." Zhu Youtang nodded. He was not in a hurry, because Zhang Zhou said that there was a back-up plan for this matter.
What Zhang Zhou wanted to do was to bring benefits to Jingcang and Northwest China at the same time through the reform of the salt method. In fact, he also used a method commonly used by travelers... that is the salt field beach drying method. As soon as this method came out, all salt fields in the Ming Dynasty With the increase in production, the problem of people eating salt has been greatly improved, and at the same time, salt tax revenue has increased... There are also enough salt reactors in the capital to release, and there are also salt reactors in the northwest to exchange grain from salt merchants...
Of course, it will also bring about the problem of too much salt and low salt prices, but salt merchants have been seeking huge profits since ancient times. Zhang Zhou has not yet cared about whether official salt will be hoarded by salt merchants.
Anyway, there will be plenty of official salt in the future, so you can hoard it if you want. If there is one less salt merchant, there will always be someone to take over.
"I will ask Bingkuan to make a detailed decision on this matter, and it should be gradually decided in the future." Zhu Youtang said, "There are other things... that will be gradually decided in the near future."
What happened? The emperor made a riddle.
…
…
The ministers had been waiting for the emperor to offer to reward Zhang Zhou for his merits, but until the meeting was about to end, the emperor did not mention a word about it.
Not to mention the civil servants present, Wu Xun, did not expect this. Even the several eunuchs and eunuchs who were in charge of rituals did not expect this. Yesterday, the emperor also said that he would give Zhang Zhou a gift of Lai Guogong. He said it with certainty. The possibility of your majesty changing his mind is almost impossible. No, does it mean that the emperor is planning to mention it again after Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren's withdrawal from the pass is confirmed?
But after the court meeting, Zhu Youtang immediately asked Xiao Jing to summon several important ministers into the inner court.
Before the ministers left, when they knew the list of those summoned by the inner court, they roughly knew that the emperor had not forgotten or wanted to postpone the discussion of merits, but because he did not want to argue with the ministers in the court, so he simply used the inner court discussion. way to solve big problems.
Inside the Qianqing Palace.
The four eunuchs and eunuchs who were in charge of rites were all present. The people who were summoned were three cabinet ministers, Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War, Zhou Jing, the Minister of Household Affairs, Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, and Zhang Mao, the representative of the Governor's Office.
Before these people came, they had already planned in their minds how to deal with the problems that the emperor might have.
But when they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, they saw a temporary table in the center of the palace with many books on it. They were all confused as to what kind of medicine the emperor was selling in his gourd.
An old Chinese doctor.
When taking medicine, I never follow the prescription, I just take it as I think of it.
The three cabinet ministers were all the emperor's husbands when they were young. At this time, they were also thinking that the emperor had learned bad things from Zhang Zhou.
"Several Qing family members, I'm here to find you. You should also know what I'm going to say. Yes, I'm going to give rewards to the northwest soldiers for their merits." Zhu Youtang said, "But what to say, I'm really anxious. It happens to be here. The "Da Ming Huidian" compiled by Bingkuan before he left contains many precedents related to military rewards in the Ming Dynasty in the past few decades. They are all reasonable and well-founded and not groundless."
"You just want to take a look and see if there are any mistakes or omissions."
After hearing this, Xie Qian had the biggest reaction. He seemed to be the one who was most determined to obliterate Zhang Zhou's contribution before the court meeting that day. He even contradicted the opinions of Liu Jian and Li Dongyang.
But now he couldn't help but look at Liu Jian and Li Dongyang.
Are you still saying that you want to stroke Zhang Zhou’s hair?
I'm afraid that if you keep trying, Zhang Zhou's donkey will jump up on his hind legs and kick you away before he can calm him down!
Look!
Now His Majesty is going to use the "Da Ming Huidian" compiled by that boy Zhang Zhou as a basis to reward him for his merits! Maybe that boy had thought of this when compiling this book!
Are you in a hurry?
Liu Jiandao: "Your Majesty, I know all about the rewards for military merit. There is no need to consult the classics."
"Alas!" Zhu Youtang sighed, "Since you said you all know it, to be honest, you should also know the Ming Dynasty's first achievement, beheading a barbarian. How much reward should be given, right?"
As soon as these words came out, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang looked at each other first.
They all felt a sense of "shock" in their hearts. It seemed that they were always thinking about how to suppress Zhang Zhou's achievements, but they did not worry about a "big trouble", and it seemed that it was a "trouble" that could not be solved. ”.
Even the emperor was more thoughtful than them.
That is the question of whether the imperial court can afford the burden of military rewards.
Ma Wensheng, as the Minister of the Ministry of War, was very knowledgeable about this. Liu Jian did not answer. He stepped forward and replied: "According to the rules of rewarding soldiers who went on expeditions during the Chenghua period, each rank should be rewarded with forty taels of silver."
"What about the prisoners?" Zhu Youtang continued to ask.
Ma Wensheng said: "Both calculations."
Xie Qian couldn't help but feel ashamed.
A head is worth forty taels, and if there are more than 3,000 heads, that means more than 120,000 taels.
More than 16,000 people were captured... Xie Qian didn't dare to think about it anymore.
This damn thing is going to turn the Ming Dynasty Jingcang upside down in one battle.
From the Ming Dynasty to the Hongzhi period, the annual fiscal and tax revenue, measured in silver, was approximately between 2 million taels and 3 million taels.
But if a reward costs nearly one million taels, the whole court will be in trouble. In the next three years, the ministers may not be able to pay their salaries.
Zhu Youtang said: "Even if the women and children are lost, but in addition to the livestock, surprise attacks and other contributions, and to raise the cost of troops for the northwest... I don't think this battle should be rewarded according to the rules of the past."
The emperor means.
If we can't afford the reward, we'll just default on it.
Ma Wensheng said: "Your Majesty, rewards are not necessarily based on first merit."
"Yeah." Zhu Youtang nodded, "That makes sense."
Then the ministers present, as well as several ceremonial eunuchs and eunuchs discovered that it was actually easy for the monarch and his ministers to reach an agreement on certain aspects. For example... they all knew that such a great achievement would be achieved if the beheading and prisoners were killed according to the rules. If we calculate the merits of the government, then the court will easily go bankrupt, so let's try another way.
Zhu Youtang said: "I didn't say it to the emperor before, because I had this idea, but since the Tumu Fort disaster, the Ming Dynasty has always judged merit by first merit. I think the reason for this is that you, sir, should We can’t be more clear that it’s not easy to change things rashly now.”
The military achievements of the Ming Dynasty are judged by the number of heads killed, which seems to have disadvantages, and it is easy to kill good people and take merit.
But the biggest advantage is that the first merit is relatively "fair".
At least the first achievement requires a head and exact parameters. If we talk about military achievements, that is not the case.
In the early Ming Dynasty, military merit was judged not by first merit but by military merit.
It is divided into three levels: extraordinary power, first power and secondary power.
The most representative example of his extraordinary achievements is that after Chang Yuchun defected to Zhu Yuanzhang, he led an army to defeat the enemy with one man's strength during the Battle of Caishiji. From then on, he became known as "Chang Shiwan" and became a general under Zhu Yuanzhang. He has been famous throughout the ages.
But the problem is that it is difficult to determine whether it is a "wonderful skill", a first skill, or a second skill.
"History of the Ming Dynasty" clearly records the shortcomings of judging by military merit: "...there were as many as three or four hundred people who were reported by the later military officers. They were not included in the list of beheadings. They were given separate names, which were called transporting sharp spears and holding flags. , it is said to charge to defeat the enemy, it is said to take the lead three times, it is said to serve in front of the army. The disadvantages of indiscriminate use have reached its extreme."
This means that when it comes to military merit, it is all a matter of clever names and a mess. Even if the person is not on the battlefield, he will be judged for his merit.
Then everyone in the imperial court discovered that this method was not effective and could easily lead to corruption.
Then let's change it.
It’s determined by the first merit.
You will get credit according to how many heads you kill, and prisoners will also be counted. Even if there are cases where good people are killed and credit is taken away from them, it would be better if we do more interrogations. It is better than random calculation of merit without standards.
Anyway, the Ming Dynasty generals and soldiers were all too weak to kill a few at a time, and we were very strict in reviewing the first merit, and even stipulated that the head should be above the Adam's apple. If the head could not be judged as male or female, it should be thrown into the water, and the one facing up was a man. , the one with the back of the head pointing up is a woman...
This is why Xie Qian felt that there was a way to suppress Zhang Zhou's contribution.
Because in terms of Zhang Zhou's "first contribution", he did not personally participate in the battlefield. As long as we strictly implement it, we can give as much credit as possible to Wang Shouren and Ma Yi, and they will be rewarded for every contribution. If others are high, Zhang Zhou's gong will be low.
Now Zhu Youtang has made it clear that it cannot be determined by the first merit.
The court cannot afford to pay compensation.
Now let's figure out how to minimize Daming's expenses during this reward process. We have to be frugal.
What if Zhang Zhou extinguishes the fire sieve in a few days and sends you tens of thousands of heads or tens of thousands of prisoners... We, the monarchs and ministers, can drink the northwest wind together!
