Chapter 93 The frustrated young minister, the vicious Yan Song! King Jing returns to the capital
In the study room of Yan Mansion.
"Bang!" The irritable young cabinet minister Yan Shifan slammed the table, holding the carrier pigeon in his hand and angrily said, "I've said it before, this Tang Shunzhi is unreliable, so what?"
"The military households were causing trouble, but he actually ordered that no one should suppress them!"
"What else do you have to say now?" Yan Shifan, who looked like his hair was blasting, said angrily, "Stationing troops to promote agriculture is the national policy, but those soldiers on the border dared to cause trouble!"
“It’s simply outrageous!”
As he spoke, Yan Shifan began to pace around the room, somewhat angrily, and said, "I just don't understand?"
"Their land was illegally annexed by the gentry and the wealthy families using various means. We are helping them, but they are actually leading the riot. What a bunch of idiots with brains full of muscles!"
"A bunch of bad militiamen, poor bastards, they deserve to be oppressed, they deserve not to have enough food to eat..."
Yan Song glanced at his furious son, picked up the letter on the table, and said calmly: "The military fields are abandoned, and the military households no longer farm. The issues involved are too complicated..."
"Of course I know!" Seeing that his father was always slow, Yan Shifan slapped his palms with the back of his hands.
"But there's no time, Dad. This year, at most, there are less than five months left!"
"In February or March next year, the military farms on the border will be put back into cultivation. With the little money that was looted from our family and Qingliu, the Ministry of Revenue is living very frugally."
"Once the month has passed, it will be delayed for another year. How will we explain it then?"
"If we let those unruly people continue to make trouble, hmph..." Yan Shifan said with a sneer: "Let's just forget about the 'fight to the death' and just lie down and wait for death!"
"Yan Shifan!" Seeing his son's words becoming more and more rebellious, Yan Song scolded him in a low voice, and finally sighed and said: "This is the usual method of the Qingliu, using the righteousness of the people to control the world."
"At this time, the more brutal and brutal your suppression is, the more counterproductive it will be. This is our first battle with Qingliu!"
"But Dad, Qingliu and the others can afford it, but we can't. Don't forget that the national policy depends on us. If we fail, we will be useless!"
"Last time we were able to pay money to save our lives because the emperor thought we were useful. If we fail this time..."
"If we fail this time, the world will be settled by then, and the emperor will cut the Gordian knot, clean up the bureaucracy, and pave the way for the successor. Who do you think will be purged by then?"
"I would rather suppress a group of people with bloody means than push forward the national policy. As long as Prince Yu is overthrown, everything will be worth it!"
"At worst, we'll fight to the death and turn the border upside down. When they blame us, I'll die with them!"
"Yan Shifan," Yan Song shouted angrily, "We are not fighting. Who do you think the emperor will punish if the incident gets out of hand? Don't forget, everyone in the world knows that we father and son are bad guys!"
"If the incident gets out of hand, Prince Yu will win, and the Emperor will kill our entire family to appease the people..."
"You still don't understand this truth...!!!"
As he spoke, Yan Song's eyes widened, and his questioning voice became longer and longer, while he pounded the table with his fists.
"...Me!" Looking at his excited father, Yan Shifan was stunned for a moment, and then sat aside dejectedly.
Of course he knew that he had just spoken in anger.
Just as Dad said, if everything goes to hell, the Yan family will definitely be the best reason to apologize to the world!
"The collapse of the military-land system led to the collapse of the Wei-suo system. Land annexation was just one reason." Yan Song slowed down his tone and began to speak slowly and at his own pace.
"Let's not talk about some natural disasters, which are inevitable."
"But conflicts like the border conflict with Mongolia have increased the cost of military supplies."
"The army was frequently mobilized to put out fires everywhere, so it was difficult for the military households to engage in stable farming, which naturally affected the continued cultivation and management of the military fields."
"There is also the corruption of military officials who embezzled the income from military farms."
"And the court implemented the recruitment system to deal with some rebellions in the country and to fight against Japanese invaders on the southeast coast... The recruitment system itself weakened the military household and military land system."
"All of the above reasons have left the military households without hope of survival, and they have no choice but to find other ways to make a living."
"At this time, with the cooperation of local officials, the gentry and the big families can easily annex land."
"Not only that, they can also use border merchants to provide these desperate military households with lucrative income and profits, allowing them to see a better life and hope than farming..."
"At this time, the court suddenly asked them to go back to farming. If it were you, do you think they would agree?"
"If our Yan family hadn't intervened, and the national policy of stationing troops to promote agriculture fell on Xu Jie and others, it would definitely be implemented smoothly. But the key problem is that the Qingliu would not allow it!"
"To be precise, Qingliu understands the importance of national policy, so they think the same as us."
"That is the main goal, to overthrow us. What if we sacrifice some soldiers and civilians for this?"
"As long as His Royal Highness Prince Jing loses power completely, the rest will be their own internal affairs."
"Shifan..." Yan Song said, and his tone became increasingly gentle as he looked at Yan Shifan with a frown on his face. He naturally knew that Yan Shifan had just suffered a defeat in the war with Qingliu, and he was feeling depressed.
He can understand some truths as long as you explain them to him.
"You have to understand, just because we stand on the emperor's side and do good for the court doesn't mean it's justice!"
"For the entire Northern Territory, our Yan family is here to cut off their financial resources..."
"Those who stand on the opposite side of interests are bad people!"
"At this time, if you use the imperial decree as an excuse to forcibly suppress it, that is exactly what Qingliu wants to see."
"The emperor asked His Royal Highness Prince Jing to return to the capital to assist Prince Yu in running the cabinet. He is just watching the fight. If things get out of hand and the bottom line is broken, we will be out."
"And this is also the reason why I let Yingde take charge of Datong. Like Ruzhen, he understands the overall situation, knows how to judge the situation, has his own considerations, and has a long-term vision."
"This war has already begun. We must deal with it carefully and with gentle means."
"But Dad, Tang Shunzhi didn't do this because of our order. He wanted to do it on his own..." After calming down, Yan Shifan said with some frustration:
"In the north, our forces are too weak."
"How do we fight Wang Chonggu and those noble families?"
"I really can't figure out this account..." Yan Shifan turned his head away, sulking.
The first battle with Qingliu made him feel frustrated, as if he was stuck in a quagmire and couldn't extricate himself.
This made the young cabinet minister, who used to be arrogant, feel restrained and very unhappy, and of course uneasy.
After all, the Yan family’s businesses are all in the southeast.
Not to mention Hu Zongxian, the governor and the provincial judge of Zhejiang are all their people. It can be said that they have absolute control over the whole country.
But the northern border was completely a military deployment in the past six months, and the foundation was too weak, and there was no senior official who could take on the responsibility. "Heh," looking at his son who was dejected and looked like a defeated rooster, Yan Song suddenly chuckled dotingly.
Then, Yan Song pushed his son's arm on the table like an old child, but his son dodged it with disgust.
"Shifan," Yan Song chuckled, put down the letter in his hand, and said quietly, "The Art of War says: The enemy is clear, but the friend is not yet determined. Lead the friend to kill the enemy, do not exert your own strength, and deduce by 'loss'."
"Hmm?" Hearing this, Yan Shifan, who was sulking, was startled. He raised his head and met his father's smiling eyes. After a moment's thought, he said, "Borrowing a knife to kill someone? But whose knife should I borrow..."
As he spoke, Yan Shifan froze for a moment, then slapped his thigh and said, "Hai Rui!"
"How could I have forgotten about it? I only remembered that this was an uncontrollable sword, but I forgot that it could be used by anyone!"
After his father's advice, the frustrated young minister suddenly saw the light and felt enlightened.
"We are loyal subjects, and so is Hai Rui. The annexation of land and the collusion between the gentry and the officials are all real facts. We can report the matter to Hai Rui."
"Given Hai Rui's personality, there's no way he wouldn't investigate!"
"If the matter really gets out of hand, it will be Hai Rui's doing. We may be able to add fuel to the fire then... Dad, you're great. I admire you!" Yan Shifan looked at his father, his face full of surprise.
"Our Yan family represents the emperor, so we can naturally borrow the Emperor's Sword. Does Qingliu want to use Hai Rui to deal with us?"
"Then we have to stand with Hai Rui. You pass the message to all the officials in the northern border," Yan Song said, with a hint of fierceness in his tone.
"Cooperate fully with Hai Rui! In addition..."
As he spoke, Yan Song pulled out a piece of paper from the table and handed it to Yan Shifan. There was a big word "Jin" written on it.
"Dad?" Yan Shifan looked at his father with some confusion.
"Shanxi merchants." Yan Song just said these two words calmly, and then said: "After these military households stopped farming, most of them survived through the 'mutual market' trade."
"In the North, the largest group of merchants is these Shanxi merchants."
"The gentry and the Shanxi merchants have lived in peace and harmony with each other. We need to find a way to make them chaotic. Once Hai Rui starts, we will make sure that the gentry are too busy to take care of themselves..."
"After that, we will suppress Shanxi merchants, let local officials give more benefits and favoritism to the gentry and big families, and then divide them into factions to support Shanxi merchants and gentry and big families. In short, we want to make them chaotic."
"The North is like an iron wall to us. We must first stir up chaos among them and muddy the waters!"
"If you want to break the enemy's stronghold, you must first disrupt its interior. Use spies to disrupt it, and the enemy will collapse on their own!"
"After that, we can go down and fish in troubled waters. When business is hindered, the benefits of stationing troops to promote agriculture will be magnified..."
Hearing this, Yan Shifan's eyes lit up!
However, thinking of the consequences of doing so, a hint of fear appeared in his eyes when he looked at his father Yan Song.
Dad, you are getting more vicious as you get older. According to this plan, after we have established a foothold in the north by stationing troops to promote agriculture, all the officials in their line will be purged at once, and many people will probably die.
However, you have to be ruthless!
For the sake of His Royal Highness Prince Jing and the future of the Yan family, what does it matter if a few people die? The Qingliu can disregard the lives of the people, and our Yan family only sacrificed a few officials who were not good people in the first place.
Well, our Yan family is the kindest!
……
The next day, it was sunny.
The capital, outside Zhengyang Gate.
A group of people lined up early in the morning.
A bright red carpet was laid at the foot of the city gate, and on both sides were a group of royal guards and eunuchs, as well as some palace maids.
Prince Yu, dressed in a bright red dragon robe, stood with his hands behind his back.
Behind him, the Qingliu, Yan Party and officials from the six ministries, as well as some officials of all sizes in the capital, gathered around their respective factions.
"Dad," Yan Shifan, a young cabinet minister in a scarlet official robe, whispered to his father Yan Song beside him:
"Have you noticed that Prince Yu has become more and more different since he became the assistant cabinet minister?"
Yan Song raised his eyelids, glanced at Prince Yu's back, then looked away without saying anything.
However, Yan Shifan was still whispering in his father Yan Song's ear.
"For the past month, the cabinet meetings have all been chaired by Prince Yu, and everyone in the court has been full of praise for him... Not only that, this prince used to hide under the wings of Xu Jie and others, but in recent days, he can be said to have shown his brilliance..."
"Moreover, ever since the Emperor abolished the rule that the two dragons cannot meet, he has been running to Yuxi Palace more frequently. I heard that he always comes and goes with a smile on his face."
"Yesterday I actually begged the Emperor to bring the six ministers of the Cabinet to welcome Prince Jing back to the capital, and the Emperor actually agreed..."
"Just agree. He is welcoming me as a brother and colleague, so there is nothing wrong with that..."
"But this is a bit too speculative. The Qingliu faction fully supports him, and it is inevitable that we will come to welcome him."
"Now, everyone is wearing official uniforms, making a big show, and making it all his credit..."
"Brothers should be friendly and younger brothers should be respectful. A harmonious family is full of joy. All officials in the court are of one mind..." Yan Song said in a gentle voice: "This is the bearing and style that a prince should have..."
"Your Highness Prince Yu did this to give His Highness Prince Jing a warning. At the same time, he also announced to the world that he, in the name of the elder brother, had summoned officials from the six ministries of the cabinet to welcome his younger brother..."
As Yan Song spoke, he looked at Xu Jie, who seemed to sense it and turned back to smile at him.
"You have the title of crown prince, and you also have a reputation for caring for your younger brother. Those scholars and the noble families must have been prepared long ago."
"Dad, do you want to do something? If we let him pass it on, wouldn't it confirm his title as the crown prince?" Yan Shifan frowned.
"It's okay. The fact that the emperor agrees to this makes me more certain that the two dragons are fighting to choose the most suitable one."
"When King Jing became a vassal, there was too much noise. This move today can dispel the rumors of brothers fighting each other and father and son not getting along."
"It will also let everyone in the world know that in our Ming Dynasty, the emperor and his subjects are united, brothers are friendly and respectful, fathers are kind and sons are filial..."
"For His Majesty, it was just a matter of convenience."
"You don't have to worry about it. As for the publicity you're worried about, Qingliu isn't that crazy. They know when to stop."
"Until the real outcome of the decisive battle comes out, none of this matters, because the final decision-making power lies in the hands of the emperor."
"coming!"
At this time, someone shouted, and Yan Song and Yan Shifan also looked up.
Then, a group of carriages and horses were seen approaching slowly from afar, surrounded by guards, and the flag of King Jing fluttering in the wind.
King Jing Zhu Zaizhen returns to Beijing!
"..."
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(End of this chapter)
