Qin Zhongtang just thought about it in his heart, lamenting his fate as a "tinker in the Ming Dynasty".
To be honest, he doesn't know what step he can take in the future, and he doesn't dare to dream of creating an entire modern civilization on his own.
If you can create an East Asian version of Tsarist Russia, you will be worthy of your ancestors and future generations.
While Qin Dewei, who had known for five hundred years before and five hundred years afterward, was thinking about the future, other ministers in the palace had already begun to think hard about how to comfort Emperor Jiajing.
After all, the ethical relationship between monarch and ministers in this era emphasizes the principle that "the emperor is worried, the minister will be humiliated, and the emperor is humiliated, the minister will die." If the emperor and his father are in such a bad mood, the ministers present have the obligation to comfort him.
Yan Song was a master at appeasing the emperor's emotions. He was the first to have an idea and advised Emperor Jiajing:
"Beibei invades the border every year. If there are too many times, there will always be one or two accidents. Therefore, it is just an accident to go deep this year. Your Majesty does not need to be too worried."
Qin Dewei sighed: "Can Mr. Yan Ge guarantee that there will not be another accident next year or the year after? If it does happen again, will Mr. Yan Ge be responsible for what he said?"
Yan Song silently recited the word "forbearance" and turned a deaf ear to Qin Dewei's words. He added: "Besides, the northern captives are just robbing food thieves. They will retreat after robbing them. They will not harm the foundation of our Ming Dynasty."
Qin Dewei sighed: "The prime ministers of the previous dynasty must be from prefectures and counties, but in our dynasty, non-Hanlin officials will not be included in the cabinet. Compared with each other, both have their own advantages and disadvantages.
What Mr. Fang heard from Mr. Yan Ge was that he was so indifferent to the lives and property of the soldiers and civilians in the border town, and seemed completely ignorant of the sufferings of the people.
This really makes me understand the shortcomings of the prime minister not being able to serve the state and county!"
Yan Song silently recited the word "forbearance", turning a deaf ear to Qin Dewei's words, and said: "Even if the northern captives go deep, they will only loot, and they will definitely have to go back outside the wall.
As an emergency strategy now, we can mobilize the Xuanfu army and horses and order them to go west to reinforce Datong and intercept the return of the northern captives."
Qin Dewei sighed: "Imagination is always beautiful, but reality is far from it."
Mr. Yan Ge stopped reciting the word "forbearance" silently, but he still had no interest in quarreling with Qin Dewei, and continued to play in a very "organic" manner: "There are five disadvantages to a weak army in the border town.
The first is that the generals do not know the soldiers, and the soldiers do not care about the generals; the second is that the people have no fighting spirit, and the weapons and armor are not repaired; the third is that the prisoners are raped at night, and the punishment is not punished; the fourth is that the generals have too little power; the fifth is that the officials are negligent in their duties."
Qin Dewei sighed again: "What Mr. Yan Ge said, I said it but didn't seem to say it, and I heard it but didn't seem to hear it.
I don’t think I have the skills of thirty years to say something like this that seems to be just to make up the word count but is very correct.”
Yan Song was originally a very tolerant person, the kind of person who was cruel and didn't say much.
But Qin Dewei's language seemed to have a strange magic power, which could always make Yan Song break his guard. He finally couldn't bear it and asked: "How about you, Qin Dewei, say a few words?"
Qin Dewei opened his mouth and came: "This time when the Northern Captives penetrate deeply, the border generals are unable to fight effectively. It is not because of His Majesty's kindness and power, but because of the poison of Zhang Zan, the former Minister of War!
I think back when Zhang Zan was in charge of the military election, the military attachés in the border towns were selected only because they had no energy. Most of them were obtained by bribery, and then they were never rectified. How could there be no problems?
Therefore, if you want to consolidate the border, you must clean up Zhang Zan’s remaining poison! Let’s start with those who recommend Zhang Zan to join the Ministry of War!”
Guo Xun, the Marquis of Wuding who had a grudge against Qin Dewei, originally wanted to say a few words to help Mr. Yan Ge to fight against Qin Dewei.
But after hearing Qin Dewei's last sentence, he immediately didn't dare to speak for fear of getting burned.
Qin Dewei's words were actually a disguised attempt to help the emperor shift the blame, placing the main responsibility on Zhang Zan, who had "corrupted the side affairs and left poison to this day."
But it was Guo Xun who recommended Zhang Zan as Minister of War! If the emperor really adopted Qin Dewei’s views and pursued the case, he would be more likely to die!
Yan Song, who had no such scruples, immediately reprimanded Qin Dewei: "Qin Dewei! How dare you discuss border affairs and use the same party to defeat different parties!"
Qin Dewei: ""
There are so many flaws that I can’t even mention them.
You, Mr. Yan Ge, actually accuse others of "taking advantage of border affairs to unite and defeat dissidents." Then in the original historical time and space, how did Zeng Xian, the governor of the three sides, and Xia Yan, the chief assistant, be executed because of border affairs?
Xia Yan, the first assistant, snorted coldly. They are really two treacherous ministers who only cater to the emperor and attack each other! State affairs still depend on him, the first assistant!
So Xia Shoufu stood out from the crowd and told Emperor Jiajing: "In the past, the imperial court abolished the Dongsheng Guard and retreated from the Hetao to the current border wall."
Qin Dewei happened to be taking a deep breath and exhaling. When he heard Xia Shoufu's speech, he couldn't help but spit out a breath with a "pop".
After listening to this opening statement, Xia Shoufu was probably going to propose a "reply plan".
To put it simply, "Futao" means to recover the Hetao area and push the border defense line northward in some areas.
There is nothing wrong with this matter in itself, but the dark humor lies in the fact that the historical trigger for Xia Yan's death was the "replication" controversy.
Everyone didn't understand Qin Dewei's reaction and glared at Qin Dewei a few times, but no one asked.
Xia Yan continued: "Since then, Hetao has been occupied by the Hu people, and Datong Town has become a protruding part of the border defense, hanging alone in front of the enemy, and the hinterland of Shanxi is also facing the Hetao bandits.
I believe that the imperial court can prepare to regain Hetao and rebuild Dongshengwei.
In this way, it can be connected to Datong Town and form a horn, and it can also completely protect the hinterland of Shanxi Province, which is enough to make the northwest border defense more stable."
Most of the others heard this "plan" for the first time, and Yan Song was also secretly surprised. He didn't expect Xia Yan to come up with such a creative idea.
He guessed that Xia Yan was probably stimulated by Qin Dewei and began to pursue "accomplishment" and compete with Qin Dewei.
Yan Song felt that this was a good thing.
As long as you don't forget your original intention and insist not to do practical things on high-risk border affairs, you will definitely have the opportunity to replace Xia Yan as the first assistant.
While others were still making assessments, Qin Dewei sighed: "The double trap will cost at least one million taels of silver."
Xia Shoufu explained: “It doesn’t need to be invested all at once, it can be increased year by year.”
Qin Dewei sighed again: "The first assistant means that it is a bottomless pit, and it will not be effective in a short period of time, and the final success or failure is unpredictable.
Also, many military households in the border towns have already fled. If the imperial court rebuilds the garrison amid heavy siege by the enemy, how will it be able to retain them?"
Xia Shoufu replied: "The first is strict control, and the second is generous rewards."
Qin Dewei still sighed: "Relying solely on forced restrictions or small profits to seduce is not a long-term solution after all.
People's hearts can be stable for a while, but it is difficult to be stable for a lifetime, otherwise the Dongsheng Guard would not have been abolished in the first place.
Besides, how could the Beibei watch the Ming Dynasty regain the Hetao? They would definitely continue to harass them, which would make it difficult to regain the Hetao!
Is there any plan to deal with this situation? If you can't think about things as comprehensively as possible, it's better not to do anything, otherwise it will just be a waste of national power."
Xia Shoufu immediately wanted to hit someone. Others had worked hard to make a plan, but you, Qin Dewei, just opened and closed your mouth and denied it?
Yan Song suddenly felt that Qin Dewei's painting style today was different from what he and his son expected.
When they analyzed it at home, they all believed that Qin Dewei was keen on pursuing success. Therefore, today, taking advantage of the incident of Beilu's invasion, he would definitely put forward many practical suggestions and seize the opportunity to seize power.
But so far, Qin Dewei is more of a bully than a minister attending the meeting, and he has bullied almost everyone's suggestions!
Qin Dewei himself, on the other hand, did not say anything actually useful. He basically just kept criticizing and attacking from the beginning to the end, like a traitor who cannot be tolerated!
In fact, the strategy to deal with the Beibei is nothing more than these. Yan Song doesn't believe that Qin Dewei can come up with any new tricks, so what exactly does he want to do?
------Digression-----
After working for a long time, I still have to code. I am sleepy and tired, and I really can’t write anymore. Let’s continue tomorrow.
The three things I care about most are monthly tickets, monthly tickets, and monthly tickets!
This advertising effect is really useful. The new collection added every day is the lifeline of this book! Can you order all of them to read it? This month is really critical. In any case, I urge everyone to support the monthly ticket this month.