Just one day after Zhu Youxiao sent the supervisory troops and the Jin Yiwei to the south, a memorial from the Huguang Chief Envoy brought another piece of bad news to the court.
The Miao people in Huguang rebelled so suddenly that the local government was completely unprepared and was caught off guard.
As for the local guard army, there is no hope at all.
In terms of the level of badness, the health centers in areas such as Huguang and Nanzhili were the worst in the entire Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, in order to quell the Miao rebellion in Huguang, soldiers and generals must be dispatched from other areas.
After Zhu Youxiao put down the memorial, he closed his eyes and lay on the dragon chair and thought deeply.
He wouldn't think this was just an ordinary rebellion.
But he can't think too much now, and he won't be able to find out the whole story in a short time.
The top priority is to quickly suppress the rebellion.
As the saying goes, if Huguang is well versed in the world, Huguang is the core of the Ming Dynasty.
The rations of several northern provinces, as well as the military rations of the troops stationed in Liaodong Dusi, are inseparable from Huguang.
If trouble occurs in Huguang, Ming's national conditions will inevitably take a further step back.
At the same time that Zhu Youxiao was meditating, the three ministers of the cabinet had already arrived outside the Qianqing Palace and were anxiously waiting for the emperor's summons.
"I thought that our Ming Dynasty could rest with the people for two years and stabilize the country. Unexpectedly, there was a rebellion in Yunnan first, and now there are changes in Huguang."
"Da Sima, you are the Minister of Military Affairs and the Minister of War. You know the military affairs of the Ming Dynasty best. Have you come up with a good idea?"
Wang Xiangqian stroked his gray beard, looked sideways at the important minister in the emperor's heart and said.
At this time, Wang Zaijin also frowned.
It seems there is nothing that can be done.
But he still held on and said:
"The Miao rebellion suddenly broke out in Huguang. It is understandable that the government was unprepared for the moment and fell into a passive situation."
"But there is no need for the chief minister to worry too much. According to the memorials in Huguang, the rebel Miao thieves are no more than a few thousand mobs."
"The imperial court only needs to dispatch three to five thousand elite soldiers, and it won't take long to defeat them."
Listening to Wang Zaijin's answer, Wang Xiangqian snorted coldly:
"Da Sima's words are very light. If there are three to five thousand elite soldiers in Huguang, Huguang's memorial will be a success."
What he said was both literal and thorny, and it was clearly aimed at Wang Zaijin.
Wang Zaijin is also a good person, so why can't he understand what he means?
Although he and Wang Xiangqian had no personal grudges, they were at odds with each other in their ways of serving as officials and their strategies for governing the country.
What Wang Xiangqian always advocated was to recuperate and wait for the court to calm down and become wealthy before gathering troops to fight.
But Wang Zai Jin was a typical war-fighting official, and he strongly supported the emperor's previous personal expeditions.
Therefore, in the eyes of a mature and prudent person like Wang Xiangqian, Wang Zaijin had another identity as a jester.
That is to blindly cater to the emperor without thinking from the perspective and interests of the world and the court ministers.
But Wang Zaijin did not respond, pretending not to hear, standing aside and looking at the gate of Qianqing Palace.
Xu Guangqi also pretended not to hear. The political discord between the two cabinet ministers was no longer a secret in the capital.
Xu Guangqi suspected that this was the emperor's deliberate decision to appoint a rather conservative person as the first assistant and let a radical official who was eager to make achievements take control of the military.
This is used to create checks and balances, neither allowing royalist officials to dominate, nor allowing conservatives or even opposition officials to have too much say.
Thinking of this, Xu Guangqi couldn't help but admire the young emperor again.
The emperor seemed moody, killed numerous officials, and was extremely cruel.
But he didn't kill just for the sake of killing. Every time the emperor killed someone, every official, it was in Tou's plan.
At least for the past two years, the power of the government has basically been in his hands.
His will and decrees can now be conveyed beyond the capital to the rest of the world. This is a big step forward.
Moreover, the emperor's vision and knowledge were not comparable to those of previous emperors.
Nowadays, people attach great importance to the ocean, and they even look further than Emperor Chengzu.
It's a pity that the situation in the Ming Dynasty is not optimistic. Either there is a rebellion here or there is chaos there.
Since the 40th year of Wanli, the Ming Dynasty has been at war every year. Can your Majesty be able to hold on?
After all, the strong national power of the Wanli Dynasty was brought down by the Zhan War. What will happen to the current Ming Dynasty?
The three of them stood outside the hall waiting for a long time with their own thoughts, and finally saw Wang Chaofu walking out.
"His Majesty orally announced that the three assistant ministers of the cabinet should enter the palace immediately to discuss countermeasures."
"Huguang is very important and there must be no chaos. I intend to send troops from the capital south to Huguang to kill the rebellious Miao people. What do you think?"
Without waiting for Wang Zaijin to express his stance, Wang Xiangqian was the rare first to speak out:
"I agree."
"Since the Miao people have rebelled, they are no longer of the same mind as the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, it is impossible to implement a policy of appeasement."
"It's just that the Ministry of Revenue has allocated all the money and grain available in the national treasury to Yunnan a few days ago, and there are still many vacancies. I am afraid that it will not be able to supply the consumption of the two fronts."
Zhu Youxiao couldn't help curling his lips when he heard this.
Wang Xiangqian's meaning is very clear. The treasury is already empty and there is no more oil or water to squeeze out. It's your turn to pay.
Although Zhu Youxiao was extremely rich, it was still very painful for him to bear the military expenses alone.
But he only had the option of physical pain. There was no way he could turn Huguang into a mess.
But since he has provided money, he will not simply fight a war and put down the rebellion.
There are garrisons in Yangzhou, Nanjing, and Fujian in the southeast region. Huguang is a major grain-producing province, and now something like this has happened. How could he miss this opportunity?
But he won't say it explicitly. There are some things he just knows how to do.
Finally, after unanimous deliberation, it was decided to transfer 5,000 sergeants from the Huben Camp of the Yulin Army, led by Wu Sheng, to go south to Huguang to quell the rebellion.
All military pay, food and fodder came from Zhu Youxiao's internal funds.
The emperor was willing to bear military expenses, and the ministers were naturally very happy. However, they did not know that Zhu Youxiao actually had other ideas.
"Long live my lord, this military expenditure is a huge sum. Are you thinking about it and spending less on internal funds?"
After Wang Xiangqian and others left, Wang Chaofu couldn't help but remind him.
He is an old man who has been here since the 29th year of Wanli. Even though he is uneducated, so many years of experience have made him grow up.
When the Grandfather of the Temple was in power, he would be furious if anyone dared to use his internal funds, let alone money to fight wars.
Zhu Youxiao naturally knew that Wang Chaofu was thinking about himself.
After all, he has been with his old man for six or seven years, and the relationship between master and servant is already very deep.
Therefore, he replied helplessly:
"You think I want to spend money? There's nothing we can do about it. Just check it carefully for me. We must prevent military expenditures from being embezzled and embezzled."