On the morning of the first day of April, there was a meeting at Meridian Gate.
Zhu Youtang was sitting there, and his mind did not seem to be on what the minister said. From his point of view, the Ningyuan battle had not yet broken out, but everything had been expected by Zhang Zhou, although he now felt that Zhu Feng , the combination of Zhang Yanling and Chen Rui is a bit unreliable, but at least it is still full of expectations.
Even if you lose, don't lose too badly, right?
"... In the past two years, water transportation has been very expensive, especially when money and grain were transported to the northwest. Food prices have doubled, and the number of people fleeing from border areas has increased day by day. The local government has done nothing about this..."
Zhou Jing, the Minister of Household Affairs, is enumerating the difficulties encountered in farming in the northwest today.
This has become a commonplace issue.
From the grain kaizhong to the silver kaizhong, that is, after the folding method, the merchant villages in the northwest basically no longer exist. Growing grain in the northwest is unprofitable. The focus of the border army's defense has changed from reassuring the people to defending the city. Tatars come to plunder every now and then. , who ordinary people can bear it?
At first, the people thought that when they were growing grain, they would be protected by the army and the Tatars would be able to retreat to the city fortress. But when they came out of the city, they found that all their rice seedlings had been destroyed and they could not even replant them. Over time, no one was willing to plant them. food.
The problems in the northwest are not only the result of neglect of government, but also the result of changes in the grassland situation. Natural disasters and man-made disasters have caused the land in the northwest to be abandoned for years. Gradually, everything can only be transported from various parts of the capital. The freight and losses incurred during the journey are It increases exponentially.
Zhu Youtang didn't want to hear this.
Now we only talk about the results of the problem, not the solution, and blame everything on the northwest local government for not blocking the migration of refugees? This pot is a bit dark and a bit big, right?
Just when the court meeting was halfway through, Zhu Youtang wanted to stop the court meeting at any time.
From outside the Meridian Gate, Xiao Jing came in a hurry with two young eunuchs. When Xiao Jing passed by Zhou Jing, Zhou Jing had to stop his long speech. Xiao Jing already brought something like a battle report. It was presented to Zhu Youtang.
"good!"
Zhu Youtang was still drowsy, and the ministers present were not very energetic either.
The emperor roared, and everyone present seemed to be excited. They didn't know what the emperor was talking about.
But when he saw Zhu Youtang standing up, clenching his fists and waving his arms as if he had been given a shot of chicken blood, as if he had forgotten that he was an emperor discussing court affairs with his ministers, Zhu Youtang said with an excited look on his face: "We should promote him." He is an Anbianhou!"
After hearing this, many people's first impression is that something is broken and something happened.
This kind of "accident" does not mean that Ming Dynasty's frontiers encounter any threats, but that some things are beyond their control.
Liu Jian came out and said: "Your Majesty, has there been any progress in the battle of Ningyuan?"
Only then did Zhu Youtang remember that there were a bunch of confused ministers in front of him who were watching him dancing, but he ignored Liu Jian's question and asked: "Where is Bingkuan?"
really.
Many ministers realized that this matter was a bit big.
Xiao Jing smiled and said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang took a rest today and did not go to court."
Hugh? If he doesn't sleep, he won't come to the court! Isn't he the editor of the Hanlin Academy History Museum? How much does the Shang Dynasty have to do with him? Is there anything that needs him to discuss?
"Send someone to invite him to the palace." Zhu Youtang said.
"Yes." Xiao Jing accepted the order and immediately retreated. However, he did not go to invite him personally, but sent someone to go.
Liu Jianli looked very embarrassed there.
One of my chief assistants came out to ask questions, and His Majesty just ignored me?
Zhu Youtang also seemed to remember to explain to the minister at this time. He said: "Yesterday, that is, on the 29th, a fierce battle broke out at the west gate of Ningyuan City in the morning. The good news was sent back at noon yesterday. Anbian Bohe Jianchang Bo and Pingjiang Bo dispatched bombardments from a distance away from the city wall to defeat Di Yi's cavalry formation, and then sent six troops to pursue them... According to preliminary calculations, we have at least six to seven hundred enemy leaders!"
In the past, this kind of thing would cause an uproar everywhere.
But this time, when the emperor finished speaking, the group of civil servants present were completely silent.
I was shocked before.
Already now...
Numb.
Liu Jian took a few quick breaths to calm down as much as possible, as if to suppress the anger in his heart, and asked: "Your Majesty, I wonder what kind of long-range cannon it is, what is its range? What is its power?"
Of course, he didn't feel that the victory of the Ming Dynasty's frontier troops was so infuriating, but he felt that he seemed to be being teased.
artillery?
So it turned out that this was what Zhang Zhou had "no comment on" at that time, and yet Zhang Mao supported it and said it could defeat the enemy?
Zhu Youtang pointed to Xiao Jing, who had just dispatched people to invite Zhang Zhou and returned to him, and said, "Say."
Xiao Jing said: "Mr. Zhang previously cast twelve Zimu Shenwei cannons and asked An Bianbo and others to bring them to Ningyuan. This cannon has a range of two miles on the ground. If it is erected at the top of the city, the range will be even longer, and the cannonballs will bloom after they land. , there is almost no grass growing within a hundred steps around!"
"ah!"
Even if the civil servants present could endure it any longer, they did not want to express any emotion, lest they inflate other people's ambitions and destroy their own prestige.
But after hearing Xiao Jing's words, their jaws almost dropped.
When Xiao Jing saw that the effect was achieved, he continued: "During this battle, An Bianbo deliberately stayed within the city fortress, attracting the Hulu to camp close to him, and used his cavalry to form an array outside the west gate of the city. Then the Hulu made a surprise attack with thousands of cavalry. When the Hulu cavalry rushed to the halfway point, twelve Shenwei cannons fired in unison and fired five consecutive rounds, using sixty explosive bombs to knock the Hulu cavalry formation off their feet. , Immediately, An Bianbo and other generals personally led the troops into battle, and started a battle to pursue and kill...Jianchangbo himself personally killed a Hulu captain in this battle..."
Hear Xiao Jing's words.
The civil servants present could not stand still, and a group of people were talking among themselves in private.
Why does this tone sound like a replica of the battle at Piantou Pass?
He was also an inconspicuous general who was despised by them. Last time it was Zhu Feng, this time it was Zhang Yanling, but he was able to kill the enemy with his own hands on the battlefield?
How smoothly can this allow Zhang Yanling to go into battle and kill the enemy?
Does that mean that anyone who can ride a horse can go into battle and kill the enemy?
Zhu Youtang was in a good mood at this time. He looked up at the Meridian Gate and said, "I didn't expect that this battle would go so smoothly. The first success should still be attributed to Bingkuan. Since he had a clever calculation and guessed where Di Yi would further invade, He also suggested that I make arrangements for dispatching troops and generals, and even made the powerful long-range cannon with his own hands. This battle can be said to be another monument for the border army to demonstrate its divine power against Di Yi."
"Congratulations, Your Majesty."
Last time, Xu Qiong came out to congratulate him first, but this time, it was Xie Qian who came out to congratulate him first.
Xie Qian took the lead, and the other ministers all recognized him and came to congratulate Zhu Youtang, which was considered as flattering the emperor.
The emperor has said before that heroes are judged by their results. Now even if the results are questionable, for example, the results of the subsequent pursuit battle have not yet been released, there may be false claims of military exploits... But is there any point in worrying about these trivial details now?
I guess Zhu Feng and others would not dare to risk the disdain of the world and falsely report their military exploits, right?
If this credit was reported by Ren Liang and other local generals, the water injection component would be huge.
But Zhu Feng and others were sent by the emperor himself, and Ningyuan was not far from the capital. If the report was a great victory, how could the imperial court not send people to investigate?
"Dear gentlemen, I have always insisted on trusting people when I employ them. I hope you can understand me more in the future."
At the critical moment, the emperor became humble.
These words seemed to be an explanation for him to use Zhu Feng and Zhang Yanling, but to the ministers' ears, they were more of a preparation for listening to Zhang Zhou.
Look, I listened to Zhang Zhou twice on the Nine Sides issue, and won both times, right?
It doesn’t matter who uses what big weapon, as long as he can win, but you have nothing to do to pick on him, does that make sense?
Li Dongyang came out and said: "Your Majesty, I wonder what the further trends in Liaodong will be? But are we going to use Liaodong as a breakthrough point to send troops to the grassland?"
"I haven't thought about it yet." Zhu Youtang did not guarantee these civil servants. Just as he now listens to Zhang Zhou, if Zhang Zhou says it is suitable to send troops to the grassland, then he can almost send troops there without hesitation.
I won’t make such “layman” suggestions.
Li Dongyang couldn't help but glance at Liu Jian next to him. It seemed that he understood Liu Jian's previous move of nominating Zhang Zhou as the number one pick now.
If the enemy can't stop it... then let's just "join the flow".
…
…
Zhu Youtang did not ask the ministers to wait for Zhang Zhou with him.
Even if he wanted to express his merits for Zhang Zhou, he would prepare a decent reward in front of civil officials, military officials, princes and nobles during the Fengtian Palace in the future, so that others would know how right he was to use Zhang Zhou.
When Zhang Zhou entered the palace, all the ministers had already dispersed. Zhang Zhou only needed to go to Qianqing Palace to see Zhu Youtang.
"Bingkuan, Zhijie will live up to your expectations, and it will not live up to my expectations."
Zhu Youtang didn't wait at his seat, but stood in the Qianqing Palace. He only waited for Zhang Zhou to arrive, then came up and grabbed Zhang Zhou's arm and spoke to Zhang Zhou with excited words.
Zhang Zhou first lowered the fire to Zhu Youtang, and said: "Your Majesty, the big results have not been achieved. Don't forget the overall strategy just because of temporary strategic advancement."
"Yeah."
Zhu Youtang nodded, "Bingkuan, you are more considerate. Someone, please show Bingkuan the strategic plan."
The map was spread out in front of the assembled table.
Zhang Zhou drew the map himself. Zhang Zhou thought it was superfluous. Could it be that the emperor wanted him to analyze the war situation here?
Fortunately, the arrival of Xiao Jing made the emperor's head cool down again: "Your Majesty, Mr. Liu Ge and others, as well as the British Duke and others are here."
"Let them in."
Zhu Youtang didn't even use the word "please", maybe because he felt it was unnecessary.
Then Zhang Mao, Ma Wensheng, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and Zhou Jing appeared in the Qianqing Palace.
When they entered the palace and saw two tables with maps on them in the middle of the palace, and Zhang Zhou and the emperor standing almost side by side, they had doubts about "doesn't this guy understand the rules?" But then they
After thinking about it, what happened to Zhang Zhou cannot be inferred using common sense.
"The Qing family members have arrived just in time. Bingkuan is about to analyze the current situation in Liaodong with me. You should come over and listen together! No need to salute."
As long as Zhang Zhou is here, the etiquette of the emperor and his ministers will be exempted.
Several people moved forward to gather together.
When they see that map, they will feel dizzy. Those who have never studied geography will feel that it is like a heavenly book when they see this kind of thing at first glance.
Then Zhang Zhou pointed out several areas on it and explained it a little by comparing distances. All six ministers present became "understood instantly".
"The terrain of Ningyuan is very special. If you chase us from here for only forty or fifty miles at most, you will encounter mountains and so on. You must retreat." Zhang Zhou said, "It seems that most of the results of the battle occurred under Ningyuan City. I want to do it again. Be aggressive, unless you are leading troops to attack the grassland."
Li Dongyang asked the previous question again: "In your opinion, should our Ming border troops be allowed to recover the grassland?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhouyi knew that he was testing himself. He smiled and said, "It's not impossible!"
Li Dongyang glared at him.
It seems to be saying, you kid, if I give you a pole, you can climb up, right?
Zhu Youtang asked seriously: "Bingkuan, what do you think the chances of winning are if we send troops into the grassland now?"
"Your Majesty..." Liu Jian wanted to cool down the emperor's mind again.
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, the so-called chance of victory should be limited to one time and one place, and should not be the overall battle situation. At present, marching into the grassland still does more harm than good, and our three armies are currently equipped with few new artillery. The next step is to take The new weapons that have come out are still under development and cannot be put to use yet."
"Yes, that's right."
Zhu Youtang seemed to be full of expectations about sending troops to the grassland before, but after hearing Zhang Zhou's words, he suddenly felt that not sending troops was the right thing to do.
Several ministers looked at each other.
They all seemed to see that the current emperor seemed to have no independent opinion and was completely led by Zhang Zhou.
But the problem is... they haven't been able to remind the emperor that doing this is wrong. Even they themselves feel... Zhang Bingkuan is really a bit evil. It's okay to have Wang Weining in the first battle. You can't win with famous generals. , but Ning Yuan used a group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals, and he could still achieve a great victory?
Zhu Youtang said: "My intention is to allocate money and food to supervise the construction of some powerful long-range cannons. What do you think?"
Liu Jiandao: "Your Majesty, should these matters be discussed in court?"
Zhang Maoze said with a smile: "Is it possible that there will be opposition in the court or in the inner court to things that benefit the country and the people?"
This moment left Liu Jian speechless.
Regardless of the cost of building the artillery, judging from the effectiveness of the artillery in the Battle of Ningyuan, it must be built. It depends on how much it is built. This depends not only on the Ming Dynasty's abundant financial resources, but also on Zhang Zhou's design. The division's capabilities and level, if technical support was not provided last week, there would be no way to build artillery.
Zhu Youtang did not intend to discuss this in detail with the ministers. He said that he wanted to create true creation.
As Zhang Mao said, do you ministers have to find reasons to object to this kind of thing?
"In my opinion, Bingkuan will be responsible for building new cannons. The imperial court will not interfere with how he builds them. According to the cost, the imperial court can purchase them from him." Zhu Youtang put forward his own opinion.
"His Majesty……"
Now even Zhang Mao felt that the emperor was giving Zhang Zhou both power and money.
The other civil servants would naturally oppose it together.
Dai Yize explained from the side: "The craftsmen used are all from the imperial court. How to make it is decided by Mr. Zhang, and the cost will naturally be calculated. Mr. Zhang has no intention of using the cannon for other purposes. The craftsmen are all Without leaving the capital, if the court does not use Mr. Zhang... no one in the court can complete the task of casting steel."
Xie Qian smiled and said: "You mean, in this world, except for Zhang Zhuangyuan, no one else can accomplish it? Even with his guidance?"
Zhu Youtang said: "Xie Qing's family, do you have any objection to this?"
"I...don't dare."
Xie Qian originally wanted to continue to question a few more words.
But the emperor's tone was wrong, and he would give up as soon as he got good.
"From the mighty sky gunpowder to the mighty long-range cannon, they were all made by the Zhang Qing family. His role in the two battles of Pianguan and Ningyuan is irreplaceable. I will give him the merits of the battle of Pianguan." He noted it down, if I want to grant him a title, will any of the ministers have any objections?"
Zhu Youtang was also unambiguous.
In the battle at Piantou Pass, you still think that Wang Weining's tactical use made more contributions, and Zhang Zhou only played a supporting role.
In addition, Zhang Zhou was just a civil servant at that time and did not participate much in the big discussion of that battle, so you still don't trust him.
Now that he is a Jinshi, with two consecutive meritorious achievements, it is not too much to give him a title, right?
"I second the proposal." Zhang Maoxian expressed his opinion.
But no matter how you listen to it, Zhang Mao's tone sounds sour.
Before he wanted to make an alliance with Zhang Zhou, he felt that there was no conflict of interest between him and Zhang Zhou. There would be no conflict if one was a civil servant and the other was a military officer, and each got what he needed. But if Zhang Zhou also got the title, the result might be It will be different.
But in this situation, Zhang Mao had to side with Zhang Zhou.
Ma Wensheng chose silence at the critical moment.
Because he had no reason to object.
Liu Jiandao: "Your Majesty, matters of meritorious service should have been discussed in the court. Regardless of Zhang Zhou's credit in this battle, he did not personally lead his troops to fight the enemy hard, nor did he perform any meritorious deeds in front of the battle. This is the first of its kind. Opened……"
"Do Liu Qing's family want to object?" Zhu Youtang looked unhappy.
Why do you target whoever I want to use?
Liu Jian said helplessly: "We still need to discuss it again."
"Haha." Zhu Youtang sneered, "I understand what you mean. Ningyuan's battle results will have to wait for further reports, and people will be sent to check to see if there are any false reports. As for those who kill good people and take merit. Zhu Zhijie shouldn't be able to do this."
This point was also recognized by several civil servants present.
Killing good people and taking credit for their merits is usually done by local veteran Youzi.
The local military generals have been in business for many years and are sure that no one will report them. They have high security and can find a scapegoat to do this kind of thing.
If Zhu Feng has accomplished great merits, and yet he goes to kill good people and take credit for them... unless Zhu Feng is tired of living.
It seems that Zhu Feng is too stupid to do such a thing.
Zhu Youtang said: "The pursuit of Ningyuan in the first battle is of little value. All the results of the battle should be reported before tomorrow morning. At that time, I will discuss the merits and reward them. I will first confer Zhu Zhijie as the Marquis of Anbian, and then for Bing Kuan discusses merits, you gentlemen should have no objections, right?"
Even Liu Jian and Li Dongyang were silent now.
Even if it is just for the current achievement of killing and capturing six to seven hundred Duoyan cavalry, it is enough to confer a marquis title on Zhu Feng, not to mention that there may be more in the future.
As for Zhang Zhou...it's not about whether there is a precedent for Zhang Zhou's reward for his merits, but that the emperor insists on setting this precedent.
The emperor insisted on awarding someone, but the ministers really couldn't stop him.
