Two streets away from the Yang family's residence, there is another house, which is also brightly lit.

However, there was only a sedan parked outside this mansion, and the person who walked out of it was Zhang Yi, the cabinet scholar.

The owner of the mansion is Yang Dan, the young minister of Dali Temple, who has already gone out to greet him in person.

Zhang Yi clasped his fists: "I have a lot of work to do, and I just got out of it. I hope my dear brother won't blame me!"

Yang Dan led Zhang Yi to the inner house and said, "I heard that Brother Zhang returned to Beijing. Brother Yu made a special trip to Wenyuan Pavilion to see him, but he saw that Brother Zhang was extremely busy. Did something happen in Mobei?"

Zhang Yi's face was full of exhaustion and he said: "Two thousand Tatar cavalry suddenly rushed into our Ming Dynasty. The emperor did not have any guards with him. The situation is critical and we need to urgently mobilize troops to Mobei to meet the enemy."

When the two of them arrived at the inner house, a maid immediately came over to offer them tea.

Yang Dan waved his hand, and the maid understood, turned around and went out, closing the door behind her.

"So, the imperial court is going to war again?"

Zhang Yi picked up the tea cup and took a sip, then said: "That's it!"

Yang Dan was puzzled and asked: "Is this... considered?"

Zhang Yi smiled lightly and said: "It's just two thousand people, it's nothing to worry about."

"Which troops are the imperial court planning to send to Mobei?"

As he spoke, a cold light flashed in Yang Dan's eyes, but it was fleeting.

Zhang Yi did not notice anything strange and said truthfully: "Fifth Army Camp!"

It stands to reason that mobilizing troops for war is a secret of the imperial court. Only the cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Household Affairs are related to the government, and only a few senior officials are qualified to know the inside story. It is a bit abnormal for a young minister from Dali Temple to be concerned about the war.

Zhang Yi did not hide it at all, because although Yang Dan was the young minister of Dali Temple, they had another relationship.

Yang Dan's father was Yang Pu, the former chief minister of the cabinet.

When talking about the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty, most people first think of San Yang, that is, the famous Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Yang Pu.

After Emperor Taizong Zhu Di was in trouble, he abolished all the reform measures of Emperor Jianwen and restored the ancestral system of the Hongwu Dynasty.

Soon, he realized something was wrong.

Because Lao Zhu abolished the Zhongshu Province and put the six ministries under the direct control of the emperor, the emperor's daily workload seriously exceeded the standard. Even if he only slept for two or three hours a day and spent the rest of his time approving memorials, he would not be able to complete them.

However, he started his career in Jingnan, and now he has taken over the country under the slogan of "Qing Jun". He must not dare to touch a word about the ancestral system.

I couldn't do it, but I didn't dare to change it. After thinking about it, I finally found a compromise, the cabinet!

In the late Hongwu Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang established a cabinet, which was originally intended to be a group of secretaries who could only give opinions but had no decision-making power.

At this time, the cabinet members had neither taste nor power, and were just obedient babies.

Zhu Di simply came up with a trick and called Xia Yuanji, Xie Jin and others into the cabinet. At the same time, he gave the cabinet higher powers. In addition to making suggestions, he could also give instructions and memorials.

The general process is as follows:

The memorials sent to the court by officials first went to the cabinet. Several members of the cabinet read them for the first time. After reading them, they had to write a reply and then submit them to the emperor.

At this time, the emperor only needs to make a check or a cross, and it's over!

Those with a check mark will be executed directly, while those with a cross will be sent back for reconsideration.

Now, I was freed from the vast memorials and could free my hands to lead the troops to fight.

However, in order to prevent the cabinet from becoming bigger and stronger, Zhu Di still kept a careful eye on it.

He separated the cabinet from the six ministries, and the moral character of all cabinet ministers was very low. This could not only curb the officials, but also prevent his family from becoming bigger and stronger. It was always in a state of balance between the emperor and the officials.

.

This state lasted until the end of Yongle period. During the Ren and Xuan dynasties, the situation suddenly changed.

The character of Emperor Renzong Zhu Gaochi was completely different from that of his father. He had no ambition to expand the territory, and he had never fought in a war since he was a child. Except for the battle in Beiping City, he had never been on the battlefield again.

Since there is no war, we should vigorously develop the economy and restore people's livelihood. This will make us more dependent on civil servants.

It was from this time on that the trend of emphasizing culture over military affairs emerged in the court.

In the Xuande Dynasty, Zhu Zhanji could not sit still and wanted to fight again. However, at this time, under the leadership of San Yang, the civil service group had become bigger and stronger, and even began to dispatch supervisory troops to various armies to participate in military affairs.

The result of the civilian leadership of the troops was that the combat effectiveness of the military camp began to decrease sharply, and then... Jiaozhi was lost, and Nuergandusi was lost.

Of course, Zhu Zhanji was not reconciled to this result, so he established an internal study hall and planned to use eunuchs to control the cabinet. Unexpectedly, his good son Zhu Qizhen trained a Wang Zhen who could cover the sky with one hand.

"History of the Ming Dynasty" lists Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Yang Pu as one biography, and says at the end:

Therefore, those who are called virtuous prime ministers in the Ming Dynasty must be the first of the three Yangs. They are all capable of original Confucianism, understand the situation, work together to support each other, and appease the communist bandits. In history, they are called Fang, Du... Also known as Yao, Jing is good at keeping the text, and upholds the justice of the world.

Sanyang Qishu is almost.

To put it simply, Sanyang was the wise prime minister of the court.

Since it is compared to a wise prime minister, it means that the cabinet developed and grew during the Sanyang period.

Yang Rong and Yang Shiqi died of illness in the fifth and seventh years of Zhengtong respectively. Before Zhu Qizhen's personal expedition, only Yang Pu was left of the glorious San Yang.

At that time, Wang Zhen was in power and the court was filled with chaos. Although Yang Pu took over as the chief minister of the cabinet, he could not defeat Wang Zhen at all.

In the following years, he quietly endured and trained Cao Nai, Miao Zhong, Chen Xun, Zhang Yi and others to check and balance Wang Zhen.

Zhang Yi was promoted by Yang Pu, so he and Yang Dan were often referred to as brothers.

Even if it is a major court matter, he will not deliberately hide it.

First of all, Yang Dan's identity is the young minister of Dali Temple, so he has the right to intervene.

Furthermore, as the biological son of his mentor Yang Pu, his character is naturally trustworthy.

He just returned to Beijing today when he received an invitation from Yang Dan. He didn't think much about it, turned down other entertainment, and hurried over after finishing his business.

Yang Dan looked calm and continued to ask: "Since the situation is urgent, why don't we dispatch the three thousand battalion?"

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The Three Thousand Battalion is a cavalry and has strong mobility during combat.

Zhang Yi replied: "The Three Thousand Battalion went out for training and has not returned yet. The Shenji Battalion has too much baggage, so the Fifth Army Corps is more suitable."

Yang Dan nodded and suddenly changed the topic: "By the way, Brother Zhang, a friend came from my hometown and brought you some small gifts."

Zhang Yi was confused and asked: "What?"

Yang Dan stood up and took out a small wooden box and placed it on the table.

Zhang Yi saw that he was silent and acting mysteriously, so he asked, "What is it?"

Yang Dan smiled and said, "Brother Zhang will know it at a glance."

Zhang Yi didn't think too much, reached out and opened it, and found a stack of land deeds inside.

"This is?"

Yang Dan still said nothing, picked up the tea cup, blew on the tea foam floating on it, and drank slowly.

Zhang Yi became more and more confused. He picked up the land deed and took a look at it. His expression suddenly changed.

"Brother Yang Xian, why are these land deeds... in your hands?"

Yang Dan then put down the tea cup and said leisurely: "It's not my foolish brother, but another friend."

"who is it?"

"Brother Zhang also knows this person. He is the commander of the Jian'an Guard, Yang Tai."

"Yang Tai?"

Zhang Yi looked stern. This Yang Tai was not a relative of Yang Dan, but the grandson of Yang Rong, another cabinet minister among the three Yangs.

"What does he mean by taking these land deeds?"

Yang Dan said calmly: "These are Brother Zhang's ancestral properties. Wouldn't it be a pity to sell them to those cheap businessmen at a low price?"

In the New Deal three years ago, the imperial court changed the tax law and implemented the system of sharing the land from one person to one mu.

Before that, it was called a population tax, or poll tax.

How many people are in the family, how much tax do you have to pay?

This system began in the Han Dynasty and has been like this for more than a thousand years and nearly two thousand years.

However, the people at the bottom are too poor and cannot afford to pay, so they have no choice but to run away with their families or hide the news. In the most cruel cases, they may even drown their babies.

When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, he established a household registration system to prevent people from escaping.

After Zhu Qizhen conquered the north and south and put down the foreign chaos, he finally took action against the gentry class, opened the sea, and implemented the New Deal in one go, making it difficult for people to guard against.

From now on, paying taxes will not depend on the population, but on how much land and property your family has.

After the population tax is exempted, people can produce with peace of mind and no longer have to flee, and the restrictions on the household registration system are no longer necessary.

As a result, the big landowners who used to value their land more than their lives began to waver.

Because land tax is divided into grades, the more acres you have, the more tax you pay, and the tax increases exponentially, up to 50%.

Let’s do the math, the land at home is not enough to grow grains to pay taxes, so how about growing a ball?

From that time on, the situation of land annexation was broken in one fell swoop. The former landlords and gentry continued to sell off their land and invest the money gained from selling the land into other industries, such as trade, workshops, etc.
To be continued...