Empress Dowager Zhou's words were serious and thoughtful.
Of course Zhu Youtang knew the reason for worrying about him.
"The Imperial Grandmother's lesson is that your grandson must manage state affairs carefully so that he can live up to the teachings of the late emperor and the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty," Zhu Youtang said.
Pretending to be confused, Zhu Youtang is now clear in Yemen.
Empress Dowager Zhou rolled her eyes at her grandson, but turned her gaze to Xiao Jing, who was standing at the door as if he was coming to talk to Zhu Youtang. She said: "Ke Gong, you are an old man in the palace. If you have anything to do, come in."
Zhu Youtang also nodded to Xiao Jing.
Xiao Jing then came in and saluted: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, I have military matters that I want to mention to Your Majesty."
"Military affairs? Emperor, you go first. Even if something happens to the Ai family, it cannot delay your handling of court affairs, especially military and political affairs. But they say that military affairs have come more frequently recently, but you should always spare more time and come more Look at the Aijia, the Aijia always remembers you in their hearts."
Empress Dowager Zhou almost said, "Don't think I don't know that your master and servant are singing double recitals here."
It's no big deal about military affairs, it's just an excuse to leave.
You, the emperor, have also learned bad things. Now you make excuses when you don't want to come to see me, and you always talk about court affairs to deal with it. You know that the Ai family can't delay you from handling court affairs, right?
…
…
Zhu Youtang and Xiao Jing came out.
Empress Dowager Zhou really did not misunderstand Zhu Youtang before. It was he who told Xiao Jing that he would come in and call people away. Zhu Youtang was not avoiding the matter of the two grandchildren of the Zhou family, but he did not want the old lady to pester him anymore. The matter of taking a concubine.
Now his idea is that whether or not to adopt a concubine should not be decided by the people in the inner palace.
I'll take care of my business myself.
"Your Majesty, the King of Hanlin presented a memorial and proposed to ask his son to return to the court and serve in the six ministries. He also declined the previous rewards for military merit." Xiao Jing mentioned.
The rewards mentioned did not include titles, but only some money, silk, etc., which were personally presented by Zhu Youtang.
Zhu Youtang was also helping Zhang Zhou recruit some capable people. Originally, Zhu Youtang thought that by giving the Wang family something, he could recruit Wang Hua and his son to work for Zhang Zhou at once.
But now Wang Hua obviously wants to clear up the relationship with Zhang Zhou.
Zhu Youtang frowned and said, "Which king will give the lecture?"
Xiao Jing was very embarrassed when he heard this. There was no second Wang Shi Lecturer in the court, so he could only say... Wang Hua's presence in the Hanlin Academy was too low. The number one scholar in Chenghua's 17th year had also endured in the Hanlin Academy for 18 years. Now, he is just a minister. Even when the emperor mentioned it, he couldn’t remember it right away...
Just like this, when there is a good opportunity for you and your son to climb up the ladder, you still have to turn it down?
"That's the father of Datong Governor Wang Zhongcheng. Wang Hua." Xiao Jing reminded.
"he……"
Zhu Youtang became very angry after hearing this.
Zhu Youtang believes that Wang Hua has never had the opportunity to be promoted. He should be a suppressed faction like Cheng Minzheng and would not stand with the traditional factions. But now he knows what it means to be in the Hanlin system.
"The matter of conferring a title has probably not been passed down yet, right?"
"yes."
Xiao Jing hurriedly responded.
Zhu Youtang said: "Then why is he so anxious to refuse? He just wants to tell me that his son's contribution can be rejected on his behalf as I am? Wang Weining has been working hard for half his life, and his son has spent ten months on it. It will be completed within the time limit, shouldn’t he feel honored? What does he have to do at this time?”
When the emperor felt that he was being teased, he didn't even need to ask if anyone had gone to see Wang Hua. He knew that Wang Hua must have been under some kind of pressure before he submitted a memorial to refuse credit for his son.
Xiao Jing lowered his head and did not dare to answer casually.
Zhu Youtang said: "It was Bingkuan who took the initiative to ask for credit for Wang Shouren. He highly praised Wang Shouren's ability and believed that this was an important part of filling the gap in the military and political affairs of the northwest. For such a capable young official, I It should be taken seriously and his request will be rejected in my name!"
What the emperor means is that even if you, Wang Hua, take the initiative to resign, I will not agree.
I just want to give you titles and official positions, and want to transfer your son back to the capital? I'm sorry, I don't need you as a minister to teach me how to employ people.
I want to put useful people in the most appropriate positions. Even if you, Wang Hua, are afraid of trouble and want to avoid political struggles, don't try to obliterate your son's achievements in the name of being a father, and don't let me use him!
Xiao Jing said: "Your Majesty, do you think this matter should be decided after the court meeting?"
This was to remind the emperor that the matter of conferring titles on Ma Yi and Wang Shouren only went to the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites, and was not brought to the court for discussion.
If the relationship between the emperor and the ministers was affected by knighting two irrelevant people, Xiao Jing felt that it was unnecessary to intensify the conflict.
"Based on Wang Shouren and Ma Yi's merits, I want to give them titles to let the soldiers in the northwest know the rewards they can get if they work hard. Is it wrong?"
Zhu Youtang also got angry, "Based on the precedent of using troops in the northwest in the past few decades, why can't they get a title? Just because Wang Shouren is the son of a Hanlin minister, am I going to miss out on a capable minister?"
"Bingkuan has a good understanding of people. Which one of the people he recommended is not a well-known figure? Even if these people ruined the original order of the officialdom, they were all used in preparing for war and in nine-border defense, and they did not affect the The promotion of officials in the court did not affect the order of the Ming Dynasty. Why should I give in? This is not allowed!"
Xiao Jing also didn't expect that the emperor would be so annoyed by Wang Hua's rejection of Wang Shouren's contribution.
He also knew that what he said before might have been wrong, and he would not even express his personal opinions this time.
He also seemed to see that the emperor now had Zhang Zhou, and he was no longer the king who relied on his civil servants in every possible way. He even looked a little like Zhang Zhou, who regarded civil servants as obstacles to governing the country.
This was actually a reminder to Xiao Jing that he should be more clear about his side in the future and not always think about helping those Confucian officials in the court.
…
…
In the name of the emperor, the Chief of Ceremonies first rejected Wang Hua's petition to deny his son's contribution.
Immediately during the court meeting the next day, Zhu Youtang announced in public that he would confer titles on Wang Shouren and Ma Yi.
"...Bing Kuan was the chief contributor in this battle, but the soldiers, Wang Shouren and Ma Yi, both fought for the country. They were brave and fearless and could stay calm in the face of danger. They drove straight into the grassland and retreated after their great achievements, thus promoting the prestige of the Ming Dynasty. , citing the past border affairs and military considerations, I also think that the two of them are Pinglubo and Xinjianbo, and they should be divided."
"As for the two of them, they must stay in the northwest and serve the army. They cannot be transferred from their posts easily. Do you have any objections?"
The emperor first affirmed that the two men carried out Zhang Zhou's tactics and were meritorious officials.
He also stated that he should not try to transfer Wang Shouren, Ma Yi and other meritorious people out of the northwest. In any case, they would cooperate with Zhang Zhou and continue to use troops.
This seemed to be blocking the mouth of the civil servants. After all, yesterday Wang Hua took the initiative to transfer his son back to the capital for further study. The emperor naturally knew that this was actually the traditional way for civil servants to dig holes for Zhang Zhou.
As soon as these words came out, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang couldn't help but look at each other.
The emperor's intention was too obvious, which made them feel that something might have angered the emperor, who was once known for his benevolence and righteousness.
Min Gui, the censor of Zuodu, said: "Your Majesty, if you want to reward many knights for your merits in one battle, I am afraid that there will be a flood of military titles in the northwest. After this year, many people will be rewarded for their military merits."
Zhu Youtang said: "What do you mean by Min Qing's family? After Emperor Taizong was in trouble, he rewarded many people at one time, and they were all based on military merit. Do you think I gave excessive rewards?"
Min Gyu hurriedly explained: "That's not what I meant."
"I think that's what you mean." Zhu Youtang responded tit for tat. He probably also knew that if he didn't show some momentum, the civil servants would still chatter about the matter. If the influence of the matter was extended from the court to the private sector, Zi's discussion is not good.
Therefore, discussions must be kept within the confines of the court.
In order to make the world's scholars sincerely convinced, we must first stop the people in the court from acting blindly.
"Similar to the fact that I did not directly reward Bingkuan with a title before, I still used his current official position to serve Wang Shouren in the northwest of Datong until the war subsided and he returned to the capital and rewarded him generously with a title. Ma Yi, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, I will re-appoint him as the chief military officer of the Xuanfu, and he will assist in guarding the military affairs around the Xuanfu with the help of pacifying the Lupps."
"As for Duke Baoguo, I will transfer him to Ningxia. He will be stationed in various areas of Ningxia!"
The emperor's words made the ministers present even more confused.
No matter how you look at it, Zhu Hui, as the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, helped achieve the great victory in the Battle of Weininghai, which is also meritorious.
Why was Zhu Hui suddenly transferred to Ningxia?
Could it be that... Zhang Zhou felt that Zhu Hui was out of tune, or that the emperor believed that Ningxia's defense was more important than the surrounding areas of Xuanfu, so he let Zhu Hui take on the important responsibility?
Zhu Youtang said: "Zhu Fu, the Duke of Chengguo, transferred Guyuan and established an additional border town in Guyuan to help guard everywhere!"
Liu Jian hurriedly came out and asked: "Your Majesty, the war in the northwest is still ongoing, and it is really not appropriate to change the current layout of the towns in the northwest."
Although Guyuan is also an important border city in the northwest, it was still not an important town on the nine borders in the 12th year of Hongzhi. At this time, the town of Shaanxi was transferred to Guyuan in order to strengthen the control over the three sides. Of course, this was all during the 12th year of Hongzhi. Five years later, Liu Jian now feels that things were too hasty.
Zhu Youtang said resolutely: "Nowadays, the affairs of the three sides are mostly blocked in Yansui, Yulinwei, Ningxia, Shaanxi and other places, and the defenses cannot be coordinated. It is the result of my discretion to use the city of Guyuan to increase the dispatch of the northwest parties. The feasibility of this matter has been discussed within the Ministry of War before, and there is no need to discuss it again. Qin Hong, who is in charge of the military affairs of the three sides, was ordered to coordinate the reinforcement of the passes and separate defenses."
Liu Jian was very angry after hearing this.
I always feel like I was a hindsight, but even the Ministry of War knew about this in advance? But the cabinet knew about it together with others?
Zhu Youtang said: "There is no need to discuss the matter of conferring titles. The Ministry of Household Affairs will draft a strategy and allocate money and grain to various places in the northwest to increase military pay after the autumn grain collection this year. This matter cannot be delayed any longer!"
