The seven cabinet ministers looked around, staring at each other with big eyes and small eyes, and said nothing for a long time.
First assistant Song Yingxing suddenly fell ill, second assistant Fei Chun suddenly died, and it was Liu Ziren's turn to make the decision.
At Hanzhu Academy, apart from the Fei family, the people who had the best relationship with Zhao Han were Xu Ying and Liu Ziren. Zhao Han even helped the Liu family dig sweet potatoes.
Liu Ziren was already in his forties, thin, with a long beard, and quite a bit of an immortal spirit. He cleared his throat and said: "Song Weng is ill in bed, Fei Ge is sick in bed, and Ding You is at home. I have little talent and little knowledge. If I do something inappropriate, I will
I also ask all colleagues to feel free to correct me.”
"Don't dare." Everyone bowed their hands.
Song Yingxing couldn't control the scene, and Liu Ziren couldn't control it even more. Who were the people present?
Chen Maosheng was one of the first people to follow Zhao Han in the uprising.
Yuan Yunlong, Fei Ruhe's brother-in-law, is the leader of the Anfu Sect.
Zhu Zhiyu (Zhu Shunshui), Zhao Han's old acquaintance in Qianshan.
Zhang Bingwen, a former Ming official whom Zhao Han valued highly.
Wu Yingji, a scholar of Fushe who was promoted by Zhao Han in an unusual way.
Although Fang Shenghong took over the throne after the death of his elder brother Fang Shengchang, he also had the merit of bringing territory to his service in the early stage.
There are also several big bosses who have not yet joined the cabinet. One is Zuo Xiaoliang, who is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. The second is Wang Tiaoding, the Minister of the Ministry of Etiquette. The third is Ouyang Zheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Works. The fourth is Jiangsu Zuobu.
Political envoy Xu Ying. Even Liu Ziren couldn't suppress these four people!
As a distinguished minister, Liu Ziren had high qualifications and prestige, and he was also an old friend of the emperor. But who asked him to face a group of distinguished ministers?
Liu Ziren continued: "Mr. Fei Ge is mourning for his father. Let's go together to express our condolences tomorrow."
"It should be." Everyone said.
Fei Chun's whole family lives in Nanjing, so Ding You doesn't need to go back to Qianshan.
Ding You has a tradition of more than two thousand years, and Zhao Han can't abolish it at all.
What Zhao Han can do is to reduce the three-year Ding You period to 27 months (restoring ancient rites), which is equivalent to shortening it by a quarter. He also reiterated repeatedly that local official Ding You must wait until the successor arrives and the handover procedures can be completed before he can go home.
, otherwise the official qualifications will be permanently revoked. Officials who work locally in their hometowns should return to the Yamen immediately after the funeral, and are not allowed to talk about Ding You.
Liu Ziren had nothing to say, so he found something to say: "Last year's national finances only had a surplus of 120,000 taels. This year, His Majesty made adjustments to the school, which can only stop the sudden increase in school expenses. In other aspects, it can still be done
Province after province, Qinghai and Tibet are about to go to war, and the costs will be huge before and after the war."
"The Ministry of Industry has no way to save it," Wu Yingji said. "The management of the Yellow River has reached a critical moment. In the next two years at most, the entire Yellow River will be diverted from Shandong to the sea."
Zhang Guowei has been managing the Yellow River for more than ten years and has traveled all over Shandong, Henan, and Jiangsu. Following the old path of the Yellow River in Shandong, he has been digging canals to divert water and building various dams everywhere.
Nowadays, part of the Yellow River flows into Shandong, and another part flows into the Huaihe River. If we wait another year or two, we will take advantage of the dry season to block the gap on the south bank of the Yellow River and completely complete the artificial diversion of the Yellow River. The funds for regulating the Yellow River in more than ten years will add up.
It is estimated that it will reach more than 4 million taels, which is equivalent to spending 300,000 taels every year.
Liu Ziren nodded and said: "It is true that money cannot be saved in regulating the Yellow River."
Zhu Shunshui couldn't help complaining: "Your Majesty was too hasty. He took over the Monan grassland, then took over the land of Burma, and now he still wants to fight in Qinghai and Tibet. Even Emperor Yongle's five expeditions to Mobei took more than ten years.
"
Others did not dare to answer. Only Chen Maosheng said with a smile: "If His Majesty wants to fight, we will accompany him to fight. After a few years, the national treasury will be rich."
Zhu Shunshui couldn't help but shook his head. How many years could it take? I'm afraid it would take twenty years to stabilize. After Qinghai and Tibet were conquered, there was also the Ruan family in Vietnam, the land of the Western Regions, the land of Mobei, and the Tatars of Ninggu Pagoda.
The remnants of my sins have not yet been destroyed.
Every time the territory is expanded, everyone is very excited, but after the excitement, their heads hurt.
Especially in Mobei, the cabinet ministers are worried, what should they do if they encounter Zhu Di's situation?
During Zhu Di's five expeditions to Mobei, only the second expedition achieved the greatest results. In the remaining four times, the Mongols fled, even throwing away their cattle and sheep. Especially in the fifth expedition, when hundreds of thousands of troops set off in a mighty manner, they were defeated by the Mongols.
People are just scurrying around like dogs, and there is no real fight at all.
That kind of play is a lose-lose situation.
The Ming Dynasty wasted money and people, almost ruining the finances. Of course, Mongolia was not in a good position. A large number of livestock could not be taken away in time, and the grazing season was missed. Every winter, the tribesmen would starve to death.
Zhang Bingwen said: "The commercial taxes and tariffs have been rising year after year. Most of the trade in Coconut City (Batavia) has recovered. Last year, there was no need to invest any more money. It also handed over more than 30,000 taels to the central government. The money to be handed over in the future will
There will definitely be more and more. The population of the four provinces of Shan, Shaanxi, Hebei and Liao is also recovering, the land tax has been collected in full, and the wealth of these four provinces is also increasing. After three years, there should be a large fiscal surplus.
Already."
"By the way," Yuan Yunlong remembered something, "This morning, I received a report from the governor of Taiwan. The Spanish governor of the Philippines requested to establish a supply point in Ryukyu."
Liu Ziren was a little confused: "The Governor of the Philippines requested to set up a supply point, why didn't he ask the Governor of Luzon, Zhang Huangyan, to pass the message?"
Wu Yingji said with a smile: "Zhang Huangyan must be worried. What if a supply point is set up in Ryukyu and Fujian maritime merchants trade with Spain in the future and send the goods directly to Ryukyu instead of going to Luzon?"
Zhu Shunshui said: "Zhang Huangyan is worried too much. The Spanish are more worried about this matter than him. Once the trading port is changed to Ryukyu, no one will go to Cebu anymore. Wouldn't the Spanish Philippine colony be abolished? In my opinion, Ryukyu supplies
At most, we can supply vegetables, fruits and food.”
"There will still be goods." Zhang Bingwen blinked.
Everyone understood instantly, and then they couldn't laugh or cry.
The colonial officials in the Philippines wanted to engage in smuggling in Ryukyu supplies!
On Cebu Island, there are layers of supervision by officials, so it is very troublesome to bring more goods. Setting up a supply point in Ryukyu can avoid supervision and pick up some goods on the way. This is like a long-distance bus, which stops not far from the station.
If you pick up a few more passengers on the road, you don't need to buy a ticket (trade license), and all the money you make goes to the driver and conductor.
Liu Ziren was ranked third in the cabinet, and it was not for nothing. He immediately decided: "Let the Spaniards supply supplies in Ryukyu. The deeper they are involved in Ryukyu's interests, the stronger China's control over the Philippines will be."
If smuggling develops on a large scale in Ryukyu, how many Spanish colonial officials will benefit? If there is a conflict between the two countries in the future, the Spanish officials will be the last to be fought.
Even after the rise of Li Quan's caravan, those Spanish colonists were very likely to buy ships and join the group and engage in smuggling with Li Quan. Even if something went wrong and the Spanish king knew about it, they could all blame it on the Chinese merchants.
By the way, there is a quota for silver shipped from the Americas to the Philippines, but the actual volume is more than three times the limit. The Spanish have been smuggling, but there is never too much silver. With the cooperation of the Chinese, their smuggling will become even more rampant. Anyway,
Privately no one took the king seriously.
Speaking of the Philippines, the cabinet ministers began to discuss Chittagong again, planning how China would receive Chittagong as a dowry after Portugal sent the princess.
Zhao Han's "brainwashing" of the officials was very successful. The cabinet ministers talked about overseas situations very clearly. From Japan to India, if you mention any important port, they can recall its approximate location.
"Gentlemen, important military information!"
A man from Zhongshushe shouted outside the door.
"Come in."
Cabinet ministers went to work, but soon fell into a state of sluggishness.
This military situation is so weird. The disputes between Qinghai and Tibet have been settled by the Mongols themselves.
The eldest son of Gushi Khan was 60 years old and led the army to defeat his sixth brother. The sixth son of Gushi Khan returned to Qinghai after the defeat. The eight brothers stayed in Qinghai and did not fight. After the eldest son won, he did not bother to return to Lhasa.
He succeeded to the throne of Khan and continued to graze herds in his own place. The eldest grandson (the son of the fifth son of Gushi Khan) continued to rule the Kham region and provided taxes for the Heshuote Mongolian tribes.
What the hell is this?
The plans of the emperors and ministers of Datong all failed, and the descendants of Gushi Khan actually united together to become Buddhists.
"Should we fight then?" Liu Ziren asked.
Zhu Shunshui said: "The food and grass and the people have been preparing for almost a year. How can we say that we will not fight if we don't fight?"
"Who should be beaten? What is the name of the master?" Liu Ziren asked again.
No one answered, and there was no way to answer.
Gushi Khan's eldest son was called Eqir. He was an extremely brave general, but he had no interest in governing the country.
Historically, he returned to Lhasa three years after his father's death to succeed him as Khan. Then, from time to time, he took his tribe and left Lhasa to graze elsewhere. Hearing that there was a rebellion in Lhasa, he led his troops back to quell the rebellion easily, and then
Continue to take the tribe to graze.
This man's thinking is very strange. He will fight anyone who rebels, and he will win in one fight. If he wins, he will not govern, so that his brothers and nephews can only stare.
Currently in Qinghai and Tibet, monks have little real power.
It was precisely because Eqil did not care about the government, and his son later did not care about the government, that the ruling power was gradually controlled by Diba (chief executive). Diba felt that he could not compete with the Mongolian nobles, so he roped in the monks to do it together, and finally the power was completely lost.
into the hands of the monk.
The cabinet ministers found the emperor. Zhao Han read the information and fell speechless for a long time.
Gushi Khan's nine sons and one grandson neither unified, fought, nor cooperated with the Datong Army. They did not even inherit the throne of Khan. Zhao Han could not have imagined this bizarre situation, and he wanted to attack it.
Open these guys' heads and study their brain circuits carefully.
"If the north and the south advance together, let's say we are recovering lost territory and asking them to hand over the land in the late Ming Dynasty!" Zhao Han didn't bother to think about it and just sent troops.
Once the army approaches the border, one or two of Gushi Khan's descendants will always lead the way.
Of course, it is also possible to work together as a group to deal with the outside world, it depends on whether they are really united.