Chapter 1398 Is Li Zicheng going to appear in Xin Zi Juan again? (The first update is asking for a guaranteed monthly pass!)
Having not been to the Ministry of War for a long time, Feng Ziying felt a little strange about time.
In Shuntian Prefecture, I didn’t spend much time dealing with the Ministry of War. Instead, I spent a lot of time dealing with the Ministry of Household, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Punishment and even the Ministry of Commerce.
The newly established Department of Commerce and Industry is also located right next to where the old six departments (except the Department of Punishment) were. A large area of the original Luan Jiaku was vacated and converted into the office area of the Department of Commerce, so that several departments are concentrated in this pile. Office work, plus the Hanlin Academy is also nearby, so they can live together.
After entering the public house of the Ministry of War, as usual, I went to Zheng Chongjian's place first.
In order to inquire about information, we must first start from below, but we did not get much useful information from Zheng Chongjian.
“Ziying, go to Wen Ruo’s place and inquire about it. He is in the Wu Xuan Qing Li Department. You have to go through their side for such situations, so you can know more or less.”
Zheng Chongjian is very busy. He works in the Fang Division, from Bozhou in the southwest to Phoenix Fort City in the northeast, from Penghu Inspection Department in the southeast to Hami in the northwest. All military information must be summarized here. Having experienced the Ningxia rebellion, Zheng Chongjian can be regarded as one of the few in the Ministry of War. Young scholars who have personally been in battle, so they are highly valued.
“There’s no need to rush, it’s good to listen to what’s going on here.” Feng Ziying was quite leisurely, holding a teacup and sipping tea slowly.
"Hey, you feel free now? Didn't it mean that your affairs in Shuntian Mansion are so complicated that you are so busy that you have no time to take a bath?" Zheng Chongjian was happy. Feng Ziying has always been the busiest among them. Yes, today I came to my place to taste tea.
"No matter how busy you are, you have to learn to adjust yourself." Feng Ziying didn't give him any nonsense, "How's it going in the southwest?"
"The Guyuan Army is basically confirmed to be disbanded. One part will be merged into the Jingxiang Army, and the other part will be merged into Yulin Town. Because of the establishment of Huaiyang Town, the Ministry of Household Affairs will be unable to bear it. Mr. Huang has made it clear that if Guyuan Town is not abolished and Ningxia Town is reduced, and Gansu Town, then he will have no choice but to resign." Zheng Chongjian's face darkened.
Huang Ruliang has been forced to resign just a few days after taking office as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, which shows how tight the finances of the Great Zhou Dynasty are.
“There should be some surplus in the Jieshen Treasury of the Ministry of Industry, right?” Feng Ziying hesitated.
"Hush!" Zheng Chongjian quickly looked around and raised his index finger in front of his mouth, "Ziying, be silent! This topic cannot be brought up. The emperor is very sensitive to this. Mr. Cui from the Ministry of Industry is fine, but you also know that the emperor is old. My health is also not good, and it is said that I am already considering repairing the mausoleum. If Jieshen's treasury is empty, can it be done?"
Repairing a mausoleum? ! What is this doing?
Feng Ziying put down the tea cup and sighed: "Why is the emperor so confused? The construction of the mausoleum should be done in the future. If we can't give up this little money now, what about the inner treasury?"
"As you get older, maybe you have different ideas?" Zheng Chongjian even smiled bitterly: "You and the foreign ministers can also make decisions about the inner treasury? Unless the emperor himself takes the initiative, it would be disloyal and disrespectful for your foreign ministers to make such ideas. Captain Long will have to think about you. The ministers are incompetent, but they still want to take advantage of the emperor's little family wealth, but the emperor has not yet taken advantage of you ministers."
What Feng Ziying and Zheng Chongjian said were disrespectful and even disobedient, but among scholar-officials and close friends, there were not so many taboos.
"It's okay to cut Guyuan Town, but I'm afraid Gansu Town and Ningxia Town are not suitable. The Tumut people may not be as tame as they appear. The Chahar people's entry into the customs last year also stimulated them. In addition, when Hami and Shazhou were captured, Days are still short, and we have not been able to stabilize at all. If there are few mistakes, we are afraid that it will fall again. This is the emperor's restoration of the land, can he just abandon it?" Feng Ziying frowned, and heard the bad news as soon as he came. It gave him a bad feeling.
"Huh, why bother about other things? Let's solve the problem at hand first." Zheng Chongjian spread his hands, "The Jingxiang Army was formed when Mr. Zheng was in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs. At that time, the imperial court was in a hurry because of the rebellion in the southwest. To eradicate the root cause of the rebellion, we had no choice but to think that it would be solved in a year and a half, and that it would be too late to be disbanded by then. But now the Jingxiang Army has become the main force in countering the rebellion. The key is that there is no end in sight to this war. "
Huang Ruliang encountered a series of troubles when he took office as Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Although the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce could increase revenue through expanding maritime trade and clarifying tariffs, these were not achieved overnight, and they would not be able to contribute to the court's fiscal revenue in a short period of time. In order to turn the tide, Huang Ruliang could only think of ways to reduce expenditures, and military expenditures were the first to bear the brunt.
Due to the invasion of the Chahar people, the Jurchens in the Northeast are still eyeing them. Liaodong, Jizhen, Xuanfu, and Datong towns cannot be abolished. Even Shanxi Town (Taiyuan Town) and Yulin Town (Yansui Town) are also elite forces. The Ministry of War It is impossible to agree, so we can only make plans in the three towns of Guyuan, Ningxia and Gansu.
No one thought that the battle to counter the rebellion in the southwest would end like this. Guyuan Town was not acclimated to the climate, and everyone felt that it deserved to be abolished. Jingxiang Town performed mediocrely, and it could be said that it was just founded, and Yang He was not a veteran, but What do you say about Denglai Town?
Denglai Town was established at a huge cost, and the commander-in-chief was also the governor of Denglai. It could be said that he had overwhelming power for a while. Wang Ziteng was also a veteran general in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he had started preparations for countering the rebellion in the southwest early, but the result was a mutual victory or defeat.
Every time the war reaches the critical moment of victory, there will be mistakes. Either the logistics and supplies cannot keep up, or it is difficult to advance due to harassment by the local chieftain army, or it is blocked by weather. In short, it is difficult to complete the work, which makes the court very disappointed. I also started to be a little suspicious of Wang Ziteng and Denglai Town.
Denglai Town, Jingxiang Town and Huaiyang Town were the only three towns established in the Zhou Dynasty in the decades after the Jiubian Town Regulation was established, which can be said to be of great significance.
Denglai Town was originally prepared as a reserve force for the important nine-border town, while Jingxiang Town was established because of the rebellion in the southwest and the need to deploy an army in Huguang and the southwest to stabilize the hinterland of the Great Zhou Dynasty. As for Huaiyang Town, It was due to the harassment of Japanese pirates and the strong demands of the Jiangnan gentry that the court was forced to make a compromise due to the situation.
If Guyuan Town is not withdrawn, then the imperial court now has twelve towns, but now the imperial court is unable to support such a large-scale army. Guyuan Town must be withdrawn, and Gansu Town and Ningxia Town must be greatly reduced. Only in this way can it support The establishment of Jingxiang Town and Huaiyang Town.
“The prolongation of the war in the southwest is indeed a thorny problem...” Before Feng Ziying finished speaking, Zheng Chongjian immediately said: “Isn’t it that Wang Ziteng wants to preserve his strength and rely on his troops to respect himself?”
Feng Ziying shook her head, "If you don't talk about this, this is beyond our control. I'm worried about Guyuan Town."
"Guyuan Town?!" Zheng Chongjian disagreed, "Guyuan Town is the worst among the nine important towns. Didn't you notice it when Ningxia suppressed the rebellion last time? It is on the second line, has no worries internally and externally, and is extremely corrupt. It should have been abolished long ago. .”
"Dazhang, you can't say that. Guyuan Town was originally prepared as a reserve team for the three towns of Gansu, Ningxia, and Yulin. Moreover, Guyuan where it is stationed is located in the hinterland of Shaanxi. However, this area is the largest in Shaanxi, northwest, and even the entire Great Zhou Dynasty. In a poor place, without this army stationed there, bandits would have started swarming and the place would have become unstable."
The abolition of Guyuan Town reminded Feng Ziying of the consequences of the abolition of the post and post soldiers in the late Ming and Ming dynasties. Wasn't it because Li Zicheng had no choice but to go to the frontier army because of the abolition of the post station, and finally made a desperate move to cause trouble?
If Guyuan Town is abolished, although it is nominally annexed by Jingxiang Town and Yulin Town, you can imagine how a border town with 100,000 soldiers and horses can be completely absorbed by the two towns if it is abolished. Tens of thousands of people will definitely be kicked out. So how will these frontier soldiers who have been in the army their entire lives live in the future?
Of course, the court will definitely have arrangements, but you can also imagine what the local government's arrangements will be like. I will leave you a few acres of Susukino fields, and then think about the climate and harvests of this small ice age in northern Shaanxi. I think of this. Feng Ziying even shuddered.
"If Guyuan Town is not abolished, then Gansu Town and Ningxia Town must be abolished. This is a principle that the cabinet has determined. One town must be abolished and one town must be downsized. In fact, only ten towns can be maintained. If No surprise, Gansu Town and Ningxia Town were reduced to Ganning Town, Guyuan Town was abolished, and even its name was no longer retained. This is the result." Zheng Chongjian said expressionlessly: "Ziying, you can't change this result."
"Already decided?" Feng Ziying still didn't give up, and he planned to lobby Zhang Huaichang again. It was really that Li Zicheng's impression on Feng Ziying was too deep. No matter what the Ming Dynasty eventually died, Li Zicheng was the real vanguard.
"It's settled, Ziying, don't embarrass Lord Shangshu. He is also very helpless. It's good to be able to keep Ganning Town. According to the ideas of the Ministry of Revenue and several cabinet elders, Gansu Town must be completely abandoned. , retreated significantly, and Ningxia Town simply merged with Yulin Town. However, this idea was too shocking, and the emperor would never agree, so we came up with this compromise opinion." Zheng Chongjian sighed, "Southwest The rebellion endangers Huguang, and Huguang must not make any mistakes."
Feng Ziying was silent, if Huguang is rotten, where will the rice grain of the capital come from? This is a truth that everyone understands. In comparison, they probably feel that Gan Ning can really be ignored.
There will be more soon!
(End of this chapter)