On July 25th, Emperor Zhu Youjian ended the difficult court meeting and walked slowly back to Qianqing Palace.
The court meeting on this day was not so much about the emperor handling state affairs as it was about hundreds of officials forcing the emperor to palace. Zhu Youjian let out a long breath when he came out of the Huangji Palace, as if he was sighing that he finally escaped from the Huangji Palace.
Wang Chengen followed Zhu Youjian, but his face was full of surprise and he seemed to be greatly shocked.
Zhu Youjian returned to the Qianqing Palace, flipped his sleeves and sat on the throne, looking at the gorgeous wall decorations in the Qianqing Palace in silence.
After a long time, Zhu Youjian took a long breath and shook his head.
Wang Chengen's face was still full of shock. He finally couldn't help it, raised his hands and asked: "Your Majesty, I don't understand. Is your Majesty really planning to mobilize Guan Ning's army to attack Li Zhi?"
Zhu Youjian did not answer this question, but just sighed.
Wang Chengen said: "Your Majesty, you can't do it! Not to mention that the Duke of Jin is loyal to protect the country. Just talk about the Guanning Defense Line guarded by the Guanning Army. The transfer of 70,000 troops to the south will not give the entire Ningjin Defense Line to the Tartars. Zi? The imperial court spends millions of taels of silver every year on the Guanning defense line. All the mountains and rivers of the four hundred miles from Yizhou to Shanhaiguan are suddenly abandoned? Give it to the Tatars?"
Wang Chengen said anxiously: "Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty has been guarding the Ningjin line of defense for decades, and now we have abandoned it all! You can't do it, Your Majesty."
Zhu Youjian turned over the memorial on the imperial case and said nothing.
Wang Chengen looked at Zhu Youjian, waiting for the emperor to answer his words.
Zhu Youjian looked at Wang Chengen for a long time and then said: "These Donglin Party members did not know how much money they took from the Shandong gentry this time, and they all went crazy! They regard the Guan Ning Army as their private property. If I don't Let the civil servants mobilize Guan Ning's army, will these civil servants let me go?"
The Guanning Defense Line was built in the hands of Sun Chengzong. Sun Chengzong was a leader of the Donglin Party. The construction of the Guanning Defense Line received strong political support from the Donglin Party. After the Guanning Defense Line was completed, it frequently consumed the imperial court for four or five years a year. One million taels of silver. A considerable part of these wages went back into the private pockets of the Donglin Party bosses.
Because of this historical origin, the relationship between the Donglin Party and the Guan Ning Army is very close. The Guan Ning Army’s food and salary standards have always been the highest among the Ming Dynasty’s frontier armies. No matter how short of money the court usually is, no Donglin Party member is willing to Reduce the size and food and pay levels of Guan Ning's army. After all, reducing the expenses of Guan Ning's army means reducing the money given to the civil servants themselves.
Among the people of the Donglin Party, Guan Ningjun was the door god who guarded the territory of the Ming Dynasty in western Liaoning and made great contributions to the survival of the Ming Dynasty.
But this time, the Donglin Party members would rather give up the filial piety of Guan Ning Army and mobilize Guan Ning Army to attack Li Zhi.
This time Li Zhi poked a hornet's nest in Shandong's equalizing land tax, which was basically equivalent to digging up the ancestral graves of civil servants. No matter how important Guan Ningjun's filial piety is, it is not as important as the private property of civil servants in their hometown! If you don't go all out, If Li Zhi is stopped, I am afraid that Li Zhi will implement the policy of equalizing land tax across the country in the future.
Civil servants are gentry first, and officials second. Which civil servant does not have thousands of acres of fertile land in his hometown? Without tax exemption privileges, what will these civil servants do after they become officials?
Just now at the Huangji Palace, dozens of civil servants came out to request the Guan Ning Army to be mobilized to attack Li Zhi. The civil servants have nurtured the Guan Ning Army for decades, and now it is time to mobilize the Guan Ning Army to use it.
In the bottom of their hearts, the Donglin Party even felt that Guan Ningjun was the private army of the Donglin Party, and they were unequivocal on this matter.
Even the emperor Zhu Youjian did not dare to go against the entire civil service system. There were too many emperors who died inexplicably in the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Youjian did not want to be one of them.
So after dozens of civil servants made an aggressive presentation, Zhu Youjian backed down. Zhu Youjian agreed to mobilize Guan Ning's troops into Tianjin, under the banner of purging local order.
When Wang Chengen heard Zhu Youjian's words, he subconsciously looked at the eunuchs and maids on the left and right, as if there were people who had defected to the Donglin Party everywhere.
Zhu Youjian's palace is not monolithic, and the power of the Donglin Party is also not small here. For example, Cao Huachun, the "eunuch Si Li Bingbi and the admiral of the Dongchang", was a member of the Donglin Party. At that time, Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, wanted to run the Donglin Party.
Lin Qianqianyi and Cao Huachun killed Wen Tiren, and finally Wen Tiren resigned and returned to his hometown in despair.
If the emperor confronts the entire civil service system, he may die of an inexplicable illness one day.
Wang Chengen also knew that the emperor was in a difficult situation. In this war-torn world, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty could only maintain the dignity of the royal family like walking on a tightrope, struggling to maintain the momentum of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty was far from having the power as the common people thought.
Zhu Youjian sighed and said: "Even if I don't agree, the civilian officials will definitely be able to bypass me and mobilize Guan Ning's army. Do warlords like Zu Dashou see me as the emperor in their eyes? Rather than pointlessly confronting the civilian officials,
It’s better to just let things go and accept the matter.”
Wang Chengen was silent for a long time and then asked: "In this case, why did the emperor insist on guarding the troops in the Beijing camp and did not let the civil servants transfer the newly trained troops to the Beijing camp?"
Zhu Youjian shook his head and said: "The New Army is different from the Guan Ning Army. The New Army is my hard work and is in the hands of the most loyal generals. Without my will, no one can mobilize the New Army, so I
Naturally, the new army will not be allowed to fight against Li Zhi."
Zhu Youjian thought for a while and said: "And if the Beijing New Army and Li Zhi are mobilized to fight, it will really break up. Li Zhi also knows the relationship between Guan Ningjun and the Donglin Party, and will not be affected by Guan Ningjun.
If I attack Li Zhi, I will raise the flag of rebellion. If I mobilize new troops to attack Li Zhi, I will really force Li Zhi to rebel."
"And to put it bluntly, Li Zhi's troops and horses were so powerful that they were able to defeat hundreds of thousands of Japanese shogunate troops. When the new army faced off against Li Zhi's Huben division, it was hard to say who would win and who would lose. The new army placed
You can intimidate Li Zhi in the capital, but you must not use it to attack Li Zhi. Otherwise, what if Li Zhi defeats the new army?"
Wang Chengen finally understood the emperor's thoughts and said: "So the emperor deliberately said that he was ill and would not go to court for the next two months?"
Zhu Youjian nodded and said: "That's it. I agree to let the Donglin Party members mobilize the Guanning Army to clean up the local order in Tianjin, but I haven't said how to clean up. Whether we will fight in the end and what the fight will be like, I don't know.
Ignore it! I am sick and I need to recuperate in the palace!"
The banner of rectifying local order in Tianjin is very erratic. If Guan Ning's army wins this battle, at worst it may cost Li Zhi his life. But if Li Zhi wins this battle, at worst, Zhu Youjian will also
It can be explained that the emperor had no intention of attacking Li Zhi, but that the civil servants were using their power.
Wang Chengen pondered and said: "However, no matter what, once I give up the four hundred miles of Ningjin territory, I still feel like my heart is cut by a knife."
Zhu Youjian turned his head to look at Wang Chengen and sighed.
"In the beginning, for the sake of money, these civil servants regarded the Ningjin Line of Defense as extremely important. They spent millions of silver on Ningjin a year. However, when it came to the critical moment of equalizing land tax, these civil servants did not care about anything. It was obvious that one hundred thousand
The border troops are suppressing bandits in Henan, and the imperial court is in a state of tension, so these civil servants want to dispatch the last Guan Ning army to attack Li Zhi and provoke civil strife."
"In the eyes of these civil servants, do they ever have the slightest concern about their family and country?"
