Chapter 83: Troubled Times

Ever since Li Chunfang met Hai Rui, the entire Nanzhili has been waiting for the emperor's reply.

The process of waiting is always tormenting, for both parties.

During this half month, the Japanese pirates in Songjiang Prefecture were ready to make a move, and the Susong Military Preparations Department hurriedly asked for help.

The Left Governor Zhu Xixiao, who happened to be on official business in Songjiang Prefecture, asked Nanjing garrison commander Zhang Jing for help. They jointly decided to send a letter to the grain transport office, temporarily transferring Huang Yingjia, the former assistant commander of the grain transport, to guard the Shenshu Camp in Susong, and asked Chen Wangmo, the general commander of the grain transport, to assist the Susong military preparation department and be ready for battle.

At the same time, the prefectures, counties and towns, from somewhere unknown, gradually spread the amount of taxes paid by the two capitals and thirteen provinces over the years.

When people learned that Southern Zhili's tax revenue accounted for 60% of the country's total, their reactions varied.

There are those who are proud and complacent about their superiority, there are those who feel deeply unbalanced and unfair, and there are also good-hearted people who call for tax reduction.

This kind of thing is neither prohibited nor illegal, and it is difficult for the government to deal with it.

For a time, the saying that "the Ming Dynasty was supported by Southern Zhili" was very popular.

The imperial envoys were not idle either.

Several major cases were investigated in succession.

Needless to say, almost all the members of the Salt Merchants' Chamber of Commerce were seized and their properties were raided by Hai Rui.

Several big salt merchants begged for help from the people behind them, but to no avail.

Xu Jie was even more hardworking and personally supervised eleven cases, including the Xu Kun murder and treason case, the canal ship capsizing case, the Shilin false document broadcasting case, the Taizhou inciting ignorance case, the Huai'an insulting the imperial envoy case, etc.

The officials, prefects, censors, secretaries-general, and assistant ministers were arrested like dumplings, waiting to be escorted to the capital.

While visits are not allowed, news of involvement is released from time to time.

Every now and then, there's a startle.

Both sides were aggressive but also remained restrained.

In this atmosphere, it was not until the second day of March that the imperial envoy finally met with Li Chunfang again.

It is unknown what was discussed specifically.

But in the next few days, the Susong Military Preparations Department suddenly displayed its prowess and engaged in close combat with the invading Japanese pirates in an unknown corner.

The garrisons and commanders who had previously been shrinking in fear now led the troops to the battlefield in person, annihilating the Japanese pirates in one fell swoop and bringing temporary peace to Songjiang Prefecture.

It’s a pity that due to the fast-flowing water, many corpses were washed away, greatly reducing the contribution.

In addition, the saying that "the Ming Dynasty was supported by Southern Zhili" also suddenly died down.

The enlightened gentry and clans were calling for the world to be united and the north and the south to be one family.

This kind of pattern makes people feel admiration from the bottom of their hearts.

At the same time, Hai Rui raided the last few salt merchants, and finally stopped after executing all the transport judges and salt tax ambassadors.

He, together with Chen Dong, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and Wang Xijue, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice of Nanzhili, closed the salt administration case and sealed the file.

I will return to the capital to report soon.

As luck would have it, Xu Jie had also completed the imperial case and would return to Beijing to report.

Before leaving, Xu Jie felt for the difficult life of the people and asked Ding'an Earl Gao Gong to return all the 278,431 acres of fertile land donated by the people to them.

As for his second son Xu Kun who plotted to assassinate the official, Xu Jie, after killing his own son for the greater good, still requested the Songjiang government office to return the body and buried it personally.

The people were grateful and praised him for putting petty feelings aside for the greater good.

Under the chairmanship of Gao Gong, everyone erected a monument with tears in their eyes to commemorate Xu Shaohu's merits.

On the ninth day of March, Henan Province Censor Rao Renkan arrived in Nanzhili to review the documents of Nanjing Province.

On the same day, Cao Bangfu, the Minister of Finance of Nanjing, petitioned to retire.

On March 11, an imperial edict was issued to set up a Salt Administration Office in Shandong Province, which was in charge of the salt administration of the six departments and ordered the Lianghuai Transport Office to obey the imperial edict as soon as it arrived.

On the same day, Qin Minglei, the Minister of Rites of Nanjing, submitted a petition requesting retirement.

On March 14, there was an imperial edict that the Duke of Xuancheng Weiguo was the mastermind behind the capsizing of the grain ship. In order to punish him clearly and to rectify the order of the court, the emperor ordered the governor to commit suicide and his title would not be inherited for the time being.

On that day, the Left Commander-in-Chief Zhu Xixiao led the Northern Pacification Office to supervise the Earl of Xuancheng to obey the order.

The next day, the funeral was held at the Xuancheng Earl's Mansion.

On March 17, the Emperor and the Cabinet reviewed the death of officials above the seventh rank and found no error; those in custody were immediately removed from custody and sent to the capital.

Zhang Lu, the right assistant censor-in-chief of the Nanjing Censorate, was promoted to the left assistant censor-in-chief of the Censorate, and was still the commander-in-chief of the Yangtze River and concurrently in charge of patrolling the Yangtze River.

At the same time, he ordered Xu Qiaosong, Marquis of Yongkang, to come to Beijing to meet the emperor.

On March 18, Xu Jie, Hai Rui, Chen Dong and other imperial envoys returned to Beijing.

On the same day, former Grand Secretary Li Chunfang, upon hearing that the Empress Dowager Rensheng was raising Princess Yanqing, specially requested that his granddaughter be sent to the palace to serve and study with her.

On April 18th, an imperial edict arrived in Nanjing.

Approved, Nanjing Minister of Revenue Cao Bangfu, and Nanjing Minister of Rites Qin Minglei retired for recuperation, and were respectively promoted to Prince Taibao and Prince Taishi.

Wan Hao, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College in Nanjing, was promoted to the Minister of Rites of Nanjing and was granted five taels of silver.

Wang Xijue, the assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Justice, was changed to the left assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel, and was given twenty taels of silver and a set of gold silk robes.

The order was issued that Xu Qiaosong, Marquis of Yongkang, and concurrently the Governor of Feng, An, Hui, Ning, Chi, Tai, and Guang, would be stationed in Anqing and continue to be the admiral of Caojiang. He would set up camp in Anqing from that day on.

He ordered Zhu Xixiao, the left commander-in-chief and the commander of the Imperial Guard, to escort Li Baiyang, the granddaughter of former Grand Secretary Li Chunfang, to Beijing.

In addition, we ask Ding'an Earl Gao Gong and the various departments of Southern Zhili to prepare for the "Shanghai Maritime Customs Office" and use the customs taxes of the previous three years to exempt the taxes of various prefectures in Southern Zhili, and the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue will allocate them on its own.

……

On April 13th, we crossed the Lu River in Tongzhou.

Tongzhou County is the starting point of the Grand Canal and is also the foothills of the emperor. It is only 40 miles west of the capital.

It is a strategic location in the capital, in a prosperous area, with a constant stream of people coming and going.

When the imperial envoy's ship docked, there was bound to be a crowd of onlookers.

After the Jinyiwei had cleared out the irrelevant people, the imperial envoy and his entourage got off the boat.

Xu Jie pushed away the guards who wanted to support him, put his hands behind his back, and slowly walked off the boat.

He waited quietly for the Royal Guards to find a carriage. He looked at Hai Rui from the side and asked, "How will His Majesty deal with me?"

Hai Rui shook his head and said nothing.

Xu Jie sighed: "Hai Gangfeng, considering that I saved you once, it's okay for you to tell me this matter which does not violate the law."

He originally wanted to get involved in the splitting of Southern Zhili to demonstrate his usefulness.

It turned out that the emperor was more stable than he had imagined.

He rejected Li Chunfang's proposal outright and instead took the safest approach, taking it step by step.

This was beyond Li Chunfang's expectations and also cut off Xu Jie's ability to use his talents.

I don’t know whether his good student helped him.

Now that life and death are in the hands of others and I don’t have any bargaining chips, how can I not be nervous?

Hai Rui met Xu Jie's gaze, paused, and said seriously: "How could Your Majesty have told me about the arrangements? I really don't know about this matter."

Xu Jie knew that Hai Rui would not easily lie to him, and he felt even more helpless.

Logically speaking, if the emperor wanted to kill him, he would not have allowed him to return to the capital as an imperial envoy to report. He should have been sent to the capital in prison.

Besides, he was the former prime minister after all, and for the sake of the dignity of the ministers, he should not be easily executed.

After all, no official wants to see what happened to Xia Yan happen again.

But...things like one's life and property can only be guessed at, and that's enough to torture people.

Xu Jie tossed and turned during these nights, and in a short period of time, he looked much older.

He couldn't suppress his fear - the emperor was too cruel.

Xu Jie is now in Southern Zhili and has lost his living space.

His colleagues and fellow villagers were resentful of his previous actions, and it could be said that everyone wanted him to be killed.

He wanted to rely on his clan, but was forced to return the land and disperse his "family".

Even his closest descendants began to look at him strangely when he decided to use his second son to take the blame for his eldest son.

It can be said that he has been forced from an old minister seeking personal gain to a loyal minister!
Faced with such an emperor, he could not be sure whether the emperor summoned him to the capital for other arrangements or wanted to continue to frame him.

He kept thinking, is there any way out for him?

Just as Xu Jie and Hai Rui were looking at each other in silence, a sudden noise came from the distance.

The Jinyiwei immediately surrounded the senior officials.

Gu Chengguang quickly took people forward to check.

After a while, he hurried back.

Gu Chengguang said with a strange expression: "Hai Yushi, there are Tatar envoys in front. I don't know why they got into a fight with someone."

After that, he added: "People from the Chahar tribe."

Hai Rui was startled, then his brows furrowed.

The Chahar tribe is often called the Tuman Khan, which is today's orthodox Mongolian Khan tribe.

Why send an envoy to the court?
Luo Sigong was still young and had not experienced the Gengxu Rebellion. He could not help but ask curiously, "Mongols? Chahar tribe?"

Xu Jie was also thinking about the reason.

He distracted himself and explained: "The many tribes of Mongolia are not all of one mind."

"There are tribes that are friendly with our dynasty, and there are tribes that are hostile to our dynasty." "Although Gao Gong's ability is mediocre, the tribute to Altan Khan that he presided over was a great achievement. This Altan Khan is a tribe that is friendly to our dynasty."

"As for the Tuman Khan, they are a tribe that is hostile to our dynasty."

"The Khan of Tumen Khan is called Zasaktu Khan. He is an orthodox member of the Golden Family and is ambitious. He is dedicated to governing the country and has formulated the Tumen Khan Code. He has also selected Wanhu and integrated the noble ministers."

"Outside, Tuman Khan went east to conquer the Haixi and Jianzhou Jurchens, and went south to repeatedly invade Ji, Liao and other places in our dynasty."

"They even sent envoys repeatedly to try to persuade Altan Khan to break the alliance and join forces to invade our dynasty."

"It is indeed a great threat to our dynasty!"

Xu Jie looked serious and knew everything like the back of his hand.

The tone was ups and downs, and it was filled with fear and murderous intent.

He had such a stern look on his face that even his words were inadvertently filled with a chilling coldness.

Hai Rui and others looked at each other - this was the first time that everyone felt the majesty of the Prime Minister!
Xu Jie seemed unaware and slowly turned his head to look at Gu Chengguang: "Why did the Tuman Khan come to the capital?"

Gu Chengguang told him everything he had just learned, "In February, Tuman Khan learned that our dynasty had changed from the old to the new, and he was still intent on stealing, so he sent people to test us."

"In early March, Chang Ang and Dong Huli of the Duoyan Guard led their troops to Xifengkou."

"Fortunately, the governor of the four towns, Qi Jiguang, learned about it and immediately led his troops to meet them."

"The two sides fought, and although Dong Huli was forced to retreat, there were casualties on both sides."

"Then Dong Huli proposed exchanging prisoners and asking for rewards from the court. Qi Jiguang did not dare to take the initiative and sent both the people and the memorial to the capital."

Xu Jie and Hai Rui looked at each other, their eyes were serious.

Both of them had experienced the Gengxu Rebellion, and the scene of the Tatars looting around the capital for eight days was still vivid in their minds.

No one dared to take the Tatars lightly.

Xu Jie wanted to ask more, but when he was about to speak after thinking about it, he suddenly remembered his current situation and felt that he was in danger of losing interest.

Hai Rui then asked, "What's going on up ahead?"

Gu Chengguang looked around and whispered, "The Tatar envoys had a conflict with the generals of Minister Wang who came to Beijing. The county didn't dare to intervene, so more and more people gathered."

Hai Rui was stunned: "The king's edict?"

Isn't he the Minister of Justice? Why is he getting involved with family generals?

Xu Jie was more perceptive about this matter. He suddenly interrupted and asked in surprise: "Wang Chonggu has entered the capital!?"

Gu Chengguang quickly spoke up and made it clear: "Yes, it is the Minister of War, Wang Chonggu, the Minister."

"Minister Wang went to Beijing to see the emperor first, and some of his private soldiers stayed behind. They were in a bad mood and had grievances with the Chahar tribe. They happened to meet each other, so they started a quarrel."

Xu Jie nodded, understanding it all.

When Altan Khan paid tribute, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were in charge at the central government, while Wang Chonggu was in charge at the border.

After Altan Khan surrendered and opened tribute trade with each other, he almost broke off relations with Tumen Khan.

Afterwards, Wang Chonggu wanted to use the same trick again and sent the Kharchin tribe to mediate. However, Tuman Khan did not respond and the two sides fought each other.

In short, the top leaders of the Tuman Khanate were very wary of Wang Chonggu.

It seems that the envoys coming to Beijing now are the most determined advocates of war.

Xu Jie stroked his chin and thought subconsciously.

Why are you here?
Did the new emperor come to the throne to test the waters? Or did he think the court was unstable and wanted to ask for favors? Or was it simply the behavior of a barbarian?

Xu Jie couldn't figure it out, so he shook his head and looked at Hai Rui: "Let's go, let's go to the capital first."

Once he enters the center, it's a matter of life and death. If he dies, everything is over. If he lives, there will be nothing he doesn't know.

At this time, the Jinyiwei had already brought the carriage and was waiting on the side.

After Xu Jie finished speaking, he turned around and got on the carriage.

Hai Rui looked at it twice more, nodded, and got on the same carriage with Xu Jie.

Chen Dong and others went to the car behind.

After getting on the carriage, Hai Rui was still somewhat worried: "Xu Shaohu, in your opinion, is this unusual move by the Mongolian Khan a serious problem?"

Both Xuanda and Jiliao are too close to the capital.

The shadow left by the Gengxu Rebellion is truly indelible.

But Xu Jie hesitated for a moment and shook his head: "Hai Gangfeng is worrying too much."

Seeing that Hai Rui was still worried, he explained the reason: "Hai Gangfeng, you don't know that the Chahar tribe has suffered heavy losses repeatedly and has not recovered yet. In my opinion, I am afraid it is just bluffing."

Hai Rui was stunned: "Suffered a serious injury?"

Before that, he was either a minor official or in prison.

Moreover, relatively speaking, Hai Rui was not very clear about border affairs.

Xu Jie nodded proudly: "I was present at the Yipianshi Battle, and I was in charge of the Jielingkou Battle. I know Tuman Khan quite well."

"In the first year of the Longqing reign, Yingke and Dong Huli allied with the Chaduoyan Guards and the three Wuliangha Guards, and with tens of thousands of people, they invaded the Luan River, shocking the capital."

"But within a month, they were repelled by our army, and Yingke was killed by our firearms."

"Not only this one, I heard that in the fourth year of Longqing, they were defeated by General Li Chengliang in Liaodong, killing countless people."

"Even if it was a person growing out of the ground, it wouldn't recover so quickly."

After hearing this, Hai Rui felt a little relieved.

He shook his head and sighed, "These are troubled times."

Last year, the emperor took his hand and said that the central government was out of money and entrusted the salt administration of Nanzhili to him.

After only half a year of turmoil in Southern Zhili, the Tatars started making trouble again on the border.

The poor emperor was only eleven years old, how could he bear such a heavy burden?

Seeing Hai Rui's emotional expression, Xu Jie couldn't help but smile and comfort him, "Don't worry, Hai Gangfeng. Our dynasty's military expenditure is not wasted. To put it another way, we spent a full eight million taels of silver the year before last."

Hai Rui was stunned and asked in shock, "Eight million!?"

How much is the total income of the country?

The emperor had told him before that the Taicang warehouse had more than 3 million taels of silver a year. If all the grain, rice, fodder, tea, etc. were converted into silver, and the warehouses, the Imperial Household Department Treasury, the Imperial Household Department Treasury, and the inner treasury were all added in, the total amount would probably be just over 15 million taels.

Does this mean that half of the military expenditure will be spent?

Xu Jie didn't care about Hai Rui's shock and laughed, "What does Hai Gangfeng think?"

"Hai Gangfeng, believe it or not, half of the 5.27 million taels you brought back this time must be used as military expenses."

According to his experience in governing the cabinet, 40% of the annual income was used for military expenses, and 40% went into the imperial treasury to feed the pigs of the royal family.

Hai Rui remained silent.

This is the harm of excessive border troubles.

This is not militarism, this is defensiveness.

He sighed: "National affairs are difficult."

Then he cheered up and said, "Your Majesty, when you are in power, you will surely be able to eliminate all border troubles!"

The two of them kept talking in the carriage, while Luo Sigong, who was driving outside, carefully controlled the horses.

Tongzhou is not far from the capital.

In addition, the official road from Tongzhou to the capital is flat and smooth, and the speed is much faster than other places.

The journey of forty miles was completed in two hours, and this was the result of slowing down the pace.

Hai Rui's return to the capital this time was not known to everyone, and everyone entered the city gate smoothly.

As soon as I entered the city gate, I found Li Jin already waiting there.

Li Jin stopped the people who were about to get off the car to greet him, and said respectfully: "Imperial Censor Hai, Junior Master Xu, His Majesty is not available today, so he asked me to settle you two and see you again tomorrow."

Luo Sigong stopped the carriage and took the lead.

Li Jin leaned against the window and walked beside the carriage.

Xu Jie lifted the carriage curtain and asked casually, "Your Majesty is summoning Wang Chonggu?"

They had just heard that Wang Chonggu had arrived in Beijing, and had arrived just one step earlier than them.

Now that the Tatars have taken action, Wang Chonggu's reputation has naturally increased, and it is reasonable for the emperor to take the initiative to summon him for an interview.

Li Jin looked straight ahead, bent over and smiled, "Minister Wang will also be summoned tomorrow, after Junior Master Xu."

Xu Jie was stunned and looked at him inquiringly.

Li Jin said in a gentle voice: "Today, your majesty is in the Huangji Palace, and has issued an order to send ministers and attendants to offer sacrifices to the tombs of Yue Zhenhedu, Confucius, the ancestors, and other kings and princes such as Xu Wang, as well as the gods of Dayue, Taihe Mountain, and Zhenwu. "

"And your majesty personally offered sacrifices to the emperors of all dynasties."

Xu Jie nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

This is also what should happen after ascending the throne, and it is also a precedent.

It's just that it's rare to see the emperor personally offering sacrifices.

Huh? Xu Jie frowned suddenly.

He suddenly realized something and looked at Li Jin: "Emperors of all dynasties? What about the former Yuan Dynasty?"

Li Jin nodded and smiled.

(End of this chapter)