Chapter 241: Rewards based on merit, is that enough?

Author: The south is not bright, the north is bright

Chapter 241: Rewards based on merit, is that enough?

The news that Su Jing came back and was greeted by Zhu Yuanzhang personally spread quickly in the Ming Dynasty.

Fengtian Hall, morning visit.

Zhu Yuanzhang had rushed over from the "Niu Mansion" a long time ago. At the beginning of the new year, there were quite a lot of things going on in the Ming Dynasty. The daily morning court must not be cancelled.

The ministers lined up on both sides and glanced up. The civil and military officials of the court were basically occupied by people from the Huaixi Group.

Originally, the Zhejiang East Group was headed by Liu Bowen, but now Liu Bowen has resigned and is no longer here.

Another representative figure of the Zhedong Group is Song Lian, the current Hanlin Academy Emperor.

However, Song Lian was more like a pure literati. Although he was the leader of the literati in eastern Zhejiang, he actually did not play a big role in the court.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty situation at this time was completely occupied by the Huaixi Group.

However, the Huaixi Group is still the main force that Zhu Yuanzhang relies on. Whether it is civil servants or military generals, it is the force that the Ming Dynasty urgently needs.

Zhu Yuanzhang pushed Su Jing out more because he wanted to balance the situation in the court.

He has no idea of ​​breaking this balance for the time being.

"Now that the new year has passed, we still need to discuss the issue of the remaining remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty."

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth, he directly defined the theme of the morning meeting.

Beiyuan has always been a serious problem for the Ming Dynasty. Even though they only won a big victory last year, their remaining strength is still the same.

Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "Expanding Timur's troubles in the northwest, the longer it goes, the more difficult it will be to deal with it, so I have decided to expedition to the north. What do you think?"

The ministers immediately came out one by one to express their opinions.

No one objects, everyone agrees.

On the one hand, this is the influence of Zhu Yuanzhang's personal prestige; on the other hand, it also illustrates the threat of expanding Timur's profile, which everyone knows.

This expanded Timur is none other than Wang Baobao.

Yuan Pingzhang made Chahan the nephew of Timur. Chahan raised him as his son, and Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty gave him the name of Timur.

Wang Baobao is now the leading figure among the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty. He has also fought against many generals of the Ming Dynasty, winning and losing each other, and he is quite powerful in military terms.

Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned Wang Baobao, all the officials understood that this battle must be fought.

The matter was quickly settled, and Zhu Yuanzhang finally decided that Xu Da would be the general to conquer the captives, Chang Yuchun would be the deputy general on the left, and Li Wenzhong would be the deputy general on the right, and they would go out into the desert.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the generals and asked: "Emperor Yuan Shun stayed outside the fortress, and Timur invaded our Lanzhou with a lone army. His ambition is to achieve great success by chance. Now that I have ordered you to go out, what should you do first?"

Xu Da replied: "We can capture Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty directly with our troops, expand our territory, and Timur loses power. We can surrender without a fight."

As a general, Xu Da still plays very steadily.

Taking advantage of Emperor Yuan Shun head-on, the great general Timur was naturally no longer a threat because he had nothing to protect.

This is Xu Da's consistent style.

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Expanding Timur's territory and approaching the border with troops, now leaving the other side to take Emperor Yuan Shun, this is forgetting the near and taking the far, neglecting the time of urgency, and is not a good policy."

"What I mean is that we divided our troops into two groups. One ordered the general Xu Da to go from Tongguan Mountain to Xi'an, pound Dingxi, and capture Timur. The other ordered the left deputy general Xu Da to leave Juyong and enter the desert to pursue Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty.

. So that they can save each other and have no time to respond. What's more, Emperor Yuan Shun lives far away in the desert and did not expect our troops to suddenly arrive. Like a lone dolphin encountering a tiger, it will be easy to get it. This has the effect of killing two birds with one stone."

As a top strategic master, Zhu Yuanzhang also has his own clear ideas.

He had already had his own tactical ideas on how to deal with the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Xu Da said immediately.

The expedition was finalized, and Zhu Yuanzhang was in a good mood.

"I think you should know that the prince has returned."

Zhu Yuanzhang changed his subject and directly talked about Zhu Biao.

Prince Zhu Biao!

The future emperor of the Ming Dynasty has now returned to Yingtian safely. This is great news.

Even though there is competition between the two parties, Zhu Biao is highly respected by both parties.

On the Huaixi Group side, Chang Yuchun was his future father-in-law, and on the Zhedong Group side, Song Lian was Zhu Biao's teacher since he was a child.

It can be said that in order for Zhu Biao to better control the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had already made all preparations.

Although it is said that many ministers used their own means to find out the news about Zhu Biao's safe return, any information obtained through inquiring is not as reliable and reassuring as what came out of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth.

Sure enough, as soon as Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, the expressions of the officials became much better.

However, the next second, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Su Jing, who prevented and cured the plague in Qingzhou Prefecture, is also back. People, how should I reward him?"

The affairs of Qingzhou Mansion have been determined by Zhu Yuanzhang, and Su Jing is the major contributor.

Everything is result-oriented. If there is a problem with the process, as long as the result is flawless, it will be more difficult to find fault.

"Cui Shangshu, you are responsible for formulating all these matters of etiquette. I think that with Su Jing's contribution, he should be awarded a title. But I haven't thought about what title to give him. What do you think?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Cui Liang, the Minister of Rites, and asked with a smile.

Knighted!

As soon as this statement came out, the officials were shocked!

They all knew that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to promote Su Jing, but they did not expect that he would directly ennoble him.

Cui Liang walked out slowly and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, today in the Ming Dynasty, there are five ranks of lords: Duke, Marquis, Uncle, Son, Son, and Son. I believe that due to Su Jing's contribution, he will be given the title of Son, Son, and so on.

More appropriate."

The system of lordships in the Ming Dynasty was also established recently. Jue: Zheng, a Duke of the first rank, and a Duke of a county, from a county prince of the first rank; Zheng, from a county uncle of the second rank; Zheng, from a county uncle of the third rank; Zheng, from a county son of the fourth rank; Zheng, from a county prince of the fourth rank;

Male from Wupin County.

Zhu Yuanzhang made great achievements, and the five princes, Li Shanchang, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong and Deng Yu, were all from the Huaixi Group.

Liu Bowen, the leader of the Zhedong Group, was only granted the title of Bo, not even a Hou.

The circumstances involved include the Huaixi Group's outstanding achievements and Zhu Yuanzhang's own tendencies.

After all, the Huaixi Group has been with Zhu Yuanzhang since the beginning of the uprising, and many people have a close relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang. It is normal to have this tendency.

But as an emperor, personal affairs are one thing, and the balance of the government is another.

The most ruthless emperor's family, this is no joke.

Cui Liang suggested that his son should be ranked second among men. The shocked ministers were slightly relieved. Su Jing's contribution was not small, and with Zhu Yuanzhang's strong support, it was enough to be ranked in the second two ranks.

Cui Liang still knows how to measure. These two levels of titles are within the acceptable range of the ministers.

"Sir, are men second class? Cui Shangshu, what if I want to make Su Jing my uncle?"

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke again, and there was another earth-shattering sound.

Uncle!

Even though he was ranked third, Liu Bowen was awarded the title of Uncle Chengyi.

If someone who is not a member of the Huaixi Group can be awarded the title of Bo, it is definitely a very high title.

Although everyone knows that Su Jing was pushed out by Zhu Yuanzhang just to become the next "Liu Bowen".

But isn’t that a little too fast!

The ministers were stunned, with different expressions and changes.

But without exception, they were all very shocked, except Chang Yuchun.

"Cui Shangshu, are there any problems with my thoughts?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked Cui Liang again.

This is already a pretty obvious hint. If the emperor asks him personally, that would be putting pressure on him.

Normal smart people know how to answer.

However, at this moment, many ministers are hoping that Cui Liang will not choose a smart person's answer.

It's better to have someone in front than to charge by yourself.

Cui Liang's face remained as usual, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "I think it's inappropriate."

Inappropriate!

Really loud!

Following Cui Liang's answer, many people breathed a sigh of relief.

If Cui Liang said it, they wouldn't be in a hurry to say it.
To be continued...