So much time has passed, and Gunbilik has already died of illness in Beijing.
In the two border areas of Hetao and Xuanning, the largest force among the Mongolian herdsmen today is the Duoyan Tribe.
There were too many surrendered soldiers and surrendered to the Mongolian people at that time. Even with the digestion of enterprises such as Qun Mujian, Baojin Bureau, and Tongyi Bureau, and with the cultural education of Tang Shunzhi, Lin Xiyuan and other frontier officials to guide the reclamation of wasteland and cultivated land, there were still most of them. The Mongolian people are only accustomed to grazing.
In order to facilitate management, naturally we can only restrain them with the three parts of Duoyan, who are now very devoted to surrender.
The Ordos tribe no longer has a unified lord, but has been split into more than 20 small and medium-sized tribes. The three Doyan tribes do not rule them in name, but they have a vague relationship of superiority and subordinates.
There was one thing in particular that the Duoyan tribe, which was the first to engage in new border trade with the Ming Dynasty, was better at making extra money by allowing some Mongolian people in the border areas to carry coal and iron back from farther away.
This is a very dangerous thing.
It is necessary to leave the safe area where the Ming border troops patrol daily and go deep into Mobei. It is necessary to contact the large and small tribes that are now under the rule of the Khan Court, exchange the goods of the Ming Dynasty from them for coal and iron, and then transport them back in baskets or Lele carts .
If they were plundered by Mongolian cavalry on the way, Ming Dynasty would not take care of it without clear military orders.
In other words, we are just letting it go now: Datong is actually already mining on a large scale, and this part of the coal and iron is just to allow the Mongolian people who have not turned to work and farming a way to make extra money by grazing.
They became a special caravan traveling northward without a border market to Mobei. The merchants of the Ming Dynasty only collected their goods in Hetao and Xuanning.
There are always such men in the family of herdsmen who can bear children, even the old and the weak. In order to live a better life in the Ming Dynasty, they took the risk to go deep into Mobei with goods, exchanged coal and iron from there at a lower cost, and then used their own Manpower, almost not included in the cost, traveled thousands of miles to transport coal and iron back.
Although the earnings are risky, tiring, and small, under the organization of Duoyan Department, there are still a large number of people doing it.
If they were robbed by the Mongolian tribe under the Khan's court, they would naturally have a grudge against the Mobei tribe.
For so many years, the small and medium-sized Mongolian and Yuan tribes closer to the Ming Dynasty have never been plundered by the Khan's cavalry. It can be seen that Anda's mind is indeed very broad and his ambitions are extraordinary: You can do this form of business with the Ming Dynasty and get the grassland needs. some goods.
He is not afraid that these small tribes in the south will become unstable factors in the future.
The two countries have been in this state for many years.
In the direction of Hetao, it is relatively peaceful. The border residents there carry coal and iron from the outer Mongolia; in the direction of Xuning, a brave general has emerged in recent years. The Xuening cavalry led by Ma Fang has to go to Liaodong to rob the Jurchen Khan every year. The court cavalry engaged in a chase and interception battle, and also attacked Chahar and Tumut's headquarters and burned wasteland.
Now that summer is approaching, the snow on the grasslands has melted, and the news of the queen's death in the capital has not yet reached the north. Ma Fang is now a colonel, a guerrilla general, fourth grade, and the commander of a regiment of the Xuanning Cavalry Brigade.
Above him is the brigade commander of the entire Xuanning Cavalry Brigade, with the rank of major general, and the commander-in-chief of the Xuanning Border Region.
Above that, there is the general military officer of Xuanda, Yu Dayou, Marquis of Hanhai, with the rank of lieutenant general, and the governor of the Central Military Command, Qian Shi, the second rank.
Ma Fang asked for a battle: "Master Marquis, the general has figured out a few more positions last year. They must have tribes that want to move there this summer. Over at Jiliao, the Jianzhou Guard has repeatedly invited your majesty to send troops northward.
Cut off the way for the Khan's cavalry to march eastward to plunder. If the Khan's court continues to be so unscrupulous, if the Jurchens surrender to the Khan's court, Ji Liao may be in trouble."
The commander of the Xuanning Cavalry Brigade was one of the generals who survived when Zhu Qi dragged down 30,000 Ordos soldiers and civilians. Now he is also eager to attack on a large scale and be awarded the title of uncle for his merits.
In the past many years, it was often just a regiment of two thousand cavalry that left the border fortress and went deep into Mobei. Over the past few years, because the regiment had the best record, this job often fell on Ma Fang. From the 12th year of Jiajing, only one regiment
Hundreds of households, all their merits have been promoted to the fourth rank of guerrilla general, with the rank of colonel.
Yu Dayou shook his head: "The military affairs meeting has long had a strategy. Before there is an explicit order, the main purpose is to attack and harass. The Jurchens dare to surrender to the Meng Yuan Dynasty to harm the Ming Dynasty? That is a joke. Now, although the two cavalry brigades in Xuanning and Hetao have their own talents,
With more than 5,000 cavalry, it is still not enough to eliminate the northern invasion in one fell swoop. If the Khan's court cannot bear the attack and harass the army from the south, a decisive victory will be more certain."
Even with a large amount of pasture and surrendered Mongolian people, it was still not easy to accumulate cavalry strength.
What the Ming Dynasty wants is not showy cavalry, but cavalry that can truly take over the Mongolian Yuan's nest in the future.
A cavalryman with three horses is basic. With the Ming Dynasty's current steel output, there is no shortage of armor and weapons.
However, these cavalry have to hone their tactics when the Khan Court avoids fighting, so they can only rely on going out to harass. On the Hetao side, the key point is to manage the fortress to the south of the Yangtze River, and the Khan Court headquarters is also concentrated in the north of Xuanning.
, so over the years, the ones who have made great contributions have been the Xuanning Border Region.
Tang Shunzhi didn't want to have greater achievements so soon.
Nowadays, the two cavalry brigades are constantly rotated. Some of the cavalry brigades that have experience in going out of the fortress are transferred to Hetao, and some of the cavalry there are transferred to Xuanning.
This guy Ma Fang has actually taken 30 to 40% of the soldiers from the two cavalry brigades to unfamiliar places to familiarize themselves with the terrain.
But this is not enough.
Yu Dayou knew more information, so he just ordered: "The money and food allocated as usual is still two thousand cavalry. In spring and autumn, one trip will go out to burn wasteland, and one trip will intercept the Khan's court and plunder the cavalry. This year is still the same, Ma Fang,
It’s better you come.”
"...The last general takes command!"
The general could only sigh.
One of them was promoted by Guo Xun, Duke of Yi, and the other was promoted by Zhu Qi, Duke of Baoguo. But if this situation continues, I am afraid that it will be Ma Fang who will lead the cavalry army in a decisive victory against Meng Yuan in the future.
There is no way, that guy's holy family is also prosperous.
I heard that Duke Yi Guo was still helping him match up, because in the third year of Jiajing, His Majesty was pregnant during his southern tour, and the two princesses born to Concubine Shu and Concubine Jing were already seventeen years old, so it was time to consider choosing a consort.
This matter was said to be something the Queen Mother was worried about before she passed away last year, and she and His Majesty seemed to have some differences over it.
They didn't know that now that the queen had passed away, these matters would naturally have to be postponed.
In the Forbidden City, Zhu Houcong had selected the Eighteen Daoling Ridge, which he renamed Yangcuiling according to Yan Song's wishes, as his auspicious land for thousands of years.
Whether An Bin and the others will relocate to Yangcuiling in the future is not something that needs to be decided now.
Lu Bing came over to see him off again.
This is a routine matter. In the imperial family, relatives, and officials, any abnormal behavior they have will be reported to the Jin Yiwei and the internal inspection factory.
Zhu Houcong read it silently.
After so many years, the clans and relatives who are mainly engaged in business, around the military affairs conference, the five government offices and several major princes are still planning the ministers who will make military achievements in the future. These are all obvious circles.
Among the civil servants, there is no obvious group except for the officials of the East Palace. However, there will be some activities before and after the major national policy meeting every three years.
Zhu Houcong can appoint anyone, but the smoothness of future government orders and the seniority and prestige of important ministers must also be considered.
Now there are more variables brought about by the position of queen.
"How is Qingyi feeling now?" Zhu Houcong suddenly asked.
Lu Bing replied: "The eldest princess is also very sad, I can only comfort her more."
Zhu Houcong remained silent.
His sister passed away many years ago, and the Empress Dowager Chiang also passed away last year. Now they are his brother and sister.
Now Zhu Houcong's eldest son is nineteen, and his eldest daughter and second daughter are also seventeen. The emperor's daughters have already been granted the title of princess, so Zhu Qingyi naturally became the eldest princess.
When Empress Dowager Jiang was seriously ill last year, she complained that he didn't care about her daughter's marriage.
There was nothing I could do about it. The old man felt that he should have to worry about these things at the age of sixteen, but Zhu Houcong naturally felt that it would be better to be older.
"Come with Qingyi and have a meal with me tonight." Zhu Houcong paused and then said, "And Cui Yuan, you can also go and ask your aunt to come with you."
"I accept my order."
The emperor wanted to have a meal with his aunt, uncle, brother-in-law, sister and brother-in-law, so the palace immediately started making preparations.
This was a sign of the emperor's depressed mood.
After receiving the news, Cui Yuanxian sent someone back to tell Princess Yongkang to prepare in advance.
Today, the eldest princess of Yongkang is already sixty-two years old. Because Cui Yuan was re-employed, she is the emperor's aunt, and her status in the capital is quite transcendent.
Cui Yuan, however, was only thinking about what His Majesty said when he summoned him a few days ago.
As the president of Daming Bank, the accounts of the state treasury and enterprises under the Huangming Assets Bureau are all located in Daming Bank. Cui Yuan is naturally very aware of Daming's financial situation.
The Ming Dynasty had been peaceful for six or seven years, but I'm afraid there will finally be a big disturbance.
The order Cui Yuan received was to prepare for a major audit. At present, the emperor has not yet issued an explicit order, so it is natural for Daming Bank to quietly sort out the flow of funds in this account.
Then, probably the Ministry of Finance and Taxation and other ministries and the Huangming Assets Bureau followed up.
Account audits have always been accompanied by a large number of cases.
The emperor has been concentrating on domestic affairs and the Academy of Science and Technology for several years, and he doesn't know what to clean up at the moment. What does it have to do with the empress's position, the battle for the crown prince, and major national policy meetings and other obscure matters.
Before nightfall, another galloping horse entered the capital. Soon after, the bell tower rang nine times again, and all the officials and people in the capital were astonished.
Who went again?
The news then spread that it was Zhang Fuking who passed away at the age of sixty-six.
As the emperor, Zhang Fujing looked at him with special eyes and promoted him. His official career in the second half of his life started with the new law, and he eventually became a highly respected minister.
He conquered the sky in Guangdong, overthrew the Confucian family in Shandong, and after more than ten years in the central government, he always gained the emperor's trust. He even received the emperor's clear support more than a year in advance and was re-elected as Prime Minister and Minister of State.
After him, no important minister has received clear support.
This year is another year of major national policy conferences. On the eve of qualified ministers starting to run for the position of Prime Minister and Minister of State, Zhang Fujing also passed away.
Calculating the time, it is three days behind the Queen.
At this point, at the beginning of His Majesty's reign, the important ministers who accompanied him, except Cui Yuan, Yan Song, Guo Xun and a few others, Yang Tinghe, Yang Yiqing, Sun Jiao, Fei Hong, Wang Shouren, Zhang Fijing... have all left.
The emperor's grandmother, mother, queen, and sister are also not alive.
The ringing of the bell has ended, but the gloom in the hearts of the officials in the capital is getting thicker.
An era has passed, and the future is extremely unpredictable.
Yan Song and Liu Long were so busy that when a figure like Zhang Fuking passed away, there were a lot of things to do, such as posthumous title, burial, and funeral ceremony.
Before nightfall, a decree was sent from the Yangxin Palace: the third son of the emperor, King Zhu Zaiyin of Ao, went to Yongjia, Zhejiang to offer condolences and attend the funeral ceremony.
Yan Song and Liu Long couldn't help but feel shocked and inexplicably envious.
Yang Yiqing was given the honor of being buried by the emperor's eldest son, and the king of Yue also attended Yang Tinghe's funeral ceremony.
After that, Wang Shouren enjoyed this treatment. It was the fourth son of the emperor who helped his body to be buried last year. However, Fei Hong died before and did not receive this treatment.
Now, Zhang Fujing's funeral coincided with the Queen's national funeral, and His Majesty actually arranged for the prince to go at such a moment.
Is this the kind of treatment you get from being loyal to the emperor and having made great achievements?
Isn’t Fei Hong worthy?
Yes, it was because of Yang Ting and Qian Rang that Fei Hong became the first Prime Minister and Minister of State under the special circumstances at that time. But he also worked hard and made great achievements in those six years. He originally planned to make money from the officials and gentry who were dissatisfied with the new law.
, that’s also the one who’s got a bad reputation.
Could it be because Fei Hong was still too selfish towards the Fei family, or maybe he overreacted to the establishment of a government office in the East Palace a few years ago and the emperor didn't like it?
Yan Song was agitated in his heart: Back then, he also reacted wrongly to the establishment of a government office in the East Palace and was punished.
Now that the queen is gone, the officials are secretly speculating, will it be counterproductive?
Ask Liu Long to ask Cui Yuan for advice, I'm afraid he did something wrong! What can Liu Long not say to Cui Yuan? What is the relationship between Cui Yuan and the emperor?
Your Majesty is afraid that Yan Song will see through him!
What should smart people do? Yan Song thought about it with a grimace and found that he could only express his feelings by doing one thing.
That is to withdraw from the race for Prime Minister and Minister of State and let Yang Shen enter.
Isn't the undercurrent in the court today the issue of the crown prince? Only if the prince's status is stable enough, there will not be any hidden dangers caused by the selection of a new queen.
The East Palace official sits in the position of Prime Minister and Minister of State, which is more important than anything else.
Yan Song was worried about gains and losses, and sighed with emotion: Yang Shen will probably wait for at least another six years if he sits on it. Your Majesty, you are so eloquent, can I really live to be eighty? I am already sixty-one, and I am not young anymore!
The queen passed away and left the court for a long time.
If you want to express your stance, you must contact some important ministers as soon as possible and submit a joint petition before the next court meeting.
Especially Zhang Bi.
Although he has already promised to become an official, it is most suitable for him to take the lead in doing this. Since the prince would like him, Yan Song's "high integrity" would not be so eye-catching, as if he had a great chance of winning.
of.
Zhu Houcong doesn't know Yan Song's thoughts now.
In the Yangxin Hall, five people had dinner together.
The atmosphere at the dinner table was naturally very solemn. Zhu Qingyi's eyes were slightly red. Looking at her brother who was eating silently, she didn't know how to comfort her.
When we arrived here before, it was fine to chat with the emperor about home affairs. However, after the news of Zhang Fujing's death was reported, the emperor became silent again.
"...Your Majesty, your dragon body is important, and you need to relax your mind." The one who spoke was the eldest princess of Yongkang.
Zhu Houcong nodded: "What my aunt said is true. Everyone has his own destiny, but in the past year or so, there have been too many heartbreaking news for me."
Sun Ming allowed him not to worry about the affairs in the harem, and Zhang Fujing, from the beginning to the time he quickly took over as the real implementer of new laws in the court after Wang Qiong and the others left, was the person who made Zhu Houcong worry less in the past.
Yang Tinghe and Fei Hong? Neither of them originally wanted to implement a new law of this scale. However, Yang Tinghe’s change of direction was indeed of great significance, and Fei Hong did not cause any obstacles in the early stages of the full rollout of the new law.
But it was Zhang Fujing who first returned to the central government and later served as Prime Minister and Minister of State for six years, who really made the new law take root throughout the Ming Dynasty.
He only started working as an official when he was in his forties. In the following ten years when his body and energy began to decline, Zhang Fujing really worked hard and was honest and neglected his family.
During his more than ten years in the imperial court, he did not admit any ministers, did not allow any private visits, and did not indulge in the shadow of his nephew. He was strong and clean, dedicated to serving the public, generous in chronicling affairs, and did not shy away from resentment. There has never been a person like Fu Jingyun in his speech and appearance.
This is the evaluation of Zhang Fuking in history.
In this life, he will have to meet Zhu Houcong, and he will have more comprehensive respect and trust, and his achievements will naturally be greater.
Today's Huanghuang Shengming has implemented the direction pointed by Zhu Houcong, and Zhang Fujing is the first to do so. Yang Shen has changed his appearance. Although he is conscientious, his pattern is always small, and he will always give advice on trivial matters.
, even if he agrees with things, he always speaks out of integrity.
As for Yan Song...of course he was effective at doing things, but perhaps his thinking had been set long ago. His starting point for thinking about problems was never to actively think about the country, but to focus solely on the emperor's will.
This is the difference between them and Zhang Fujing.
Zhu Houcong was indeed in a bad mood because of the news of Zhang Fuking's death. It is true that he took office because his body was too overdrawn, otherwise Zhu Houcong intended to set a precedent of being the Prime Minister and Minister of State starting from him, which could last for nine years.
During the three years he lived in his hometown, Zhu Houcong often learned about new legal issues from local and private perspectives through letters from Zhang Fuking.
Now, Zhang Fujing is gone too.
Thirty-five-year-old Zhu Houcong wanted to gather his mind and start to achieve his real purpose of letting them all come to eat with him today.
"Ming'er has gone, and the court officials are going to ask me to establish another queen." Zhu Houcong said, "This matter involves a lot of things, including my sons."
The emperor used the affectionate name and said something that made their hearts skip a beat.
Princes...that is naturally related to the crown prince.
Zhu Houcong shook his head helplessly: "My health does not matter, and my life is probably not short. Now I have nine sons. Many years from now, the queen will not be the biological mother of the prince, and the princes will all be adults. I'm afraid there won't be any headaches for me."
Young Ming'er has one more last wish, hoping that I would choose her sister to be the queen, and I have agreed to her. However, she is only seventeen years old, and it is not easy to suddenly take charge of the harem. She is related to the prince as an aunt and nephew, so it will be natural in the future.
It will help the prince. But as a queen, it might not be good if she doesn’t have any biological children."
He stopped when he said this, and Cui Yuan felt frightened.
The incredible news is that the emperor already has a candidate for his queen.
But what the emperor didn't say was even more terrifying: Whether he can keep the harem peaceful is a matter of ability; but if he has this ability, can he sacrifice his own happiness?
Do you treat your children as parents and look forward to having a worry-free life for the rest of their lives?
That's impossible. She is only one year older than the prince. It can be imagined that the relationship was originally very polite...
So what the emperor said is probably very bad. If the new queen has a son and has the ability to control the harem, wouldn't she want to make her own son the prince?
Sun Ming's beauty's early death really disrupted Zhu Houcong's future arrangements for his sons.
Sun Jiao had such a good lifespan, and Sun Ming was also the empress in the harem. Zhu Houcong really didn't expect that she would be thoughtful but didn't reveal it to her mouth, because the selection of an empress, two concubines and nine concubines at once was very complicated.
In the harem, Sun Ming was so seriously ill that it was difficult to recover because of the worries brought about by his implementation of new laws, the expansion of territory and many other state affairs.
Now that the matter has come to this, Zhu Houcong has to face it.
Lu Bing did not dare to say anything at all and could only look at Cui Yuan.
Did the emperor expect them to give some suggestions, or had he already made a decision on what he wanted them to do?
Cui Yuan could only say: "Has your Majesty made a decision?"
Zhu Houcong sighed: "I want to calm the hearts of many people, and let her take charge of the harem well so as not to give me a headache. Everything else is easy to talk about. Only these days did I realize that Ming'er was gone.
There will be trouble in the future, so there is no certainty.”
When it comes to matters in the harem, the empress has the strength to do so, and the emperor doesn't know how much worry he will have to worry about.
Cui Yuan knew that the emperor's intention was already certain. The queen was Sun Lan, and the prince's status could not be shaken.
What bothered the emperor was just how the harem could continue to be so peaceful.
After thinking about it, he could only say: "With Your Majesty here, the hearts of the concubines have been calmed down. Once the old and new are balanced, things will probably be settled. In my opinion, the concubines' positions in the harem have not been changed for many years, so it is time for them to be promoted to noble concubines."
Yes, there should be clear arrangements for the prince, and there should be people who can become concubines. In this way, there are still gaps in the six east and west palaces. Your Majesty is in his prime, and it is time for some new people to be added to the palace. "
The eldest princess of Yongkang couldn't help but tugged at him under the table, but asked with worry on her face: "New people and old people, won't that make things more chaotic?"
Cui Yuan had a righteous look on his face: "How wise is your Majesty? The new queen will have the help of the new people, and the old people will be rewarded and appeased. Only if there is no fear, the harem will be peaceful. As for the legitimate sons, they will also grow up in an orderly manner. Now the princes
Dear brothers and sisters, Your Majesty’s teachings are well received, so there is no need to worry too much about the future.”
When Zhu Houcong heard the word "brothers, friends, brothers, respect", he couldn't help but feel a little awkward now.
But he didn't expect that Cui Yuan's solution to his troubled problem of how to ensure the peace of the harem was to choose a few more with Sun Lan.
Zhu Houcong silently waved his hand: "I won't talk about this anymore. It's just that I don't know who to talk to about the issue that I'm really worried about. I won't do it this year, and I will establish a queen next year. The harem thing is what I want to do.
I worry about it myself.”
It is time to face head-on the thoughts of other concubines in the harem and the problems between the grown-up sons.
He could no longer just let the queen do her best to maintain the situation so that he would have less to worry about.
While chatting about other topics, Huang Jin walked in with an ugly expression.
"What's the matter?" Zhu Houcong asked.
"...It's not a big deal."
"Tell me, they are all family members."
Zhu Houcong opened his mouth, and then Huang Jin said hesitantly: "Over there at Renshou Palace... a servant reported... that the Empress Dowager Cishou... has been praying for many years..."
Everyone was shocked and looked at the emperor.
Regardless of whether it is true or not, reporting at this time is intriguing.