Author: Silent

Zhang Zhou returned to the court, but did not appear in any public place, and did not even go to places like the Ministry of War, the Governor's Mansion, or the Imperial Academy.

This caused a lot of discussion in the DPRK.

More importantly, the imperial court in the capital was still waiting for an answer on whether to send troops to assist the three guards of Duoyan. The emperor had previously said in front of the old minister that he wanted to ask Zhang Zhou's opinion. This matter was later leaked through some channels, and everyone in the government and the public expressed their opinions.

This is all very concerning.

As a result, Zhang Zhou came back... It was as if this incident had never happened. The emperor neither said that he would rush for help nor that he would not rush for help.

Before the court session that morning, a group of people gathered around Liu Jian and Ma Wensheng to get answers.

"Whether we want to send troops or not, we have to give an accurate signal, right?" Fu Han, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, posed the question on behalf of the officials present.

Liu Jian shook his head.

Probably the cabinet is powerless to do anything about whether to send troops or not.

Xie Qian joked: "Your Majesty intends to deploy troops in Liaodong, so he probably won't send troops, right?"

Qin Minyue, the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel, said: "We have already set up plans in Liaodong and have no intention of sending troops? What does Zhang Bingkuan mean by not showing up yet? Could it be that he has left the capital and gone to Liaodong?"

"No way?"

Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, disagreed with this.

When Zhang Zhou returned to the capital, he had already held so many official positions, and it seemed that all of them had real job vacancies. So just sent Zhang Zhou to Liaodong again?

Li Dongyang said: "You may think so. The Tatar may also have this idea. Without his voice at this time, don't you think the strange voice in the court is not harsh enough?"

"hiss……"

Someone in the crowd took a deep breath.

Li Dongyang obviously meant to ridicule the people present.

What's the matter? If Zhang Zhou doesn't come out to take over so many of his official posts, and doesn't call the shots in the court, you feel uncomfortable without a competitor? You really need him to come out and stir up the water in the capital, then you will feel comfortable, right?

Xie Qian smiled and said: "I think you may mean that the unresolved situation is the most worrying thing. He has no experience as an official. Even if he enters the court, how many disturbances can he cause?"

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, one is a good person and the other is a bad person, and they are bound to be red and the other is bad. Anyway, they use this method of fighting each other to maintain the independence of the cabinet.

Xu Qiong also smiled and said: "What Yu Qiao said is absolutely true."

Do we feel uncomfortable because Zhang Zhou didn’t take any action?

We obviously feel that Zhang Zhou should come out as soon as possible. We have long wanted to have a good battle with him in the court on how to serve as an official and participate in decision-making.

Liu Jian said in a very cold tone: "If you have any thoughts on the use of troops in the north, you can ask me today. If you don't want to ask, I can ask it for you!"

This is the final word.

Some things always require exact answers. You ordinary ministers like to put pressure on others with words, but don't want to go into battle yourself. So as the chief minister, you will not stand idly by.

…

…

Court.

What was discussed that day was still matters such as autumn grain collection and collection. When it came to the issue of border storage, we first went to the Ministry of Household Affairs and sent a series of memorials. They all mentioned the need to balance the disaster situation in various places and increase and exempt as many local taxes as possible.

.

Zhou Jingdao: "Droughts continue in the north, while floods occur in the south. Locust plagues often appear after droughts. If food is not stored in various places in the north in advance, when the disaster is severe, temporary financing for displaced people will be of no avail."

The emperor's intention was to transport the grain collected from various places directly to the northwest, skipping the storage in Beijing.

Nowadays, the imperial court's main purpose is to protect people's livelihood. As for those aggressive and militaristic strategies, especially when it comes to leveling the grasslands within a few years... all the civil servants in the court thought it was nonsense. They did not want to cooperate with the emperor's plans in the next few years. policy.

Zhu Youtang didn't seem to want to force this.

He didn't even bother to comment, he waved his hand and told me to move on to the next topic.

Seeing something was wrong, Liu Jian quickly brought up the questions he had prepared before and took the initiative to consult: "Your Majesty, the three guards of Duoyan were invaded by the little Tatar prince from the east. Please send troops from the imperial court. This matter has been delayed for half a month. Now, The war situation in the north is uncertain, which may threaten the stability of Jiliao, so I ask Your Majesty to make a decision on this matter as soon as possible."

Liu Jian also learned to be smart.

They don’t ask the emperor to discuss the matter publicly, but just ask the emperor to make a decision quickly. This means that if you love someone, you should decide quickly if you want to send troops. If you don’t want to send troops, let us give up.

As for whether, as Li Dongyang predicted, half of the troops would be sent out to scare Batu Munch away and the two sides end amicably, then we accept it.

Zhu Youtang said: "When did I say that I would send troops to assist the three guards of Duoyan, who have never behaved like kings and abide by the etiquette of monarchs and ministers? You will not forget the two incidents of their two border attacks at the beginning of the year, right?"

That means...not sending troops?

The ministers present thought about it.

It doesn’t fit Zhang Zhou’s character.

Liu Jian asked for instructions again: "Nowadays, there are many changes in Liaodong, from the governor of the capital to the censor, to the garrison officer, to the chief military officer, to the staff general, etc. If the Tatar invaders invade the border at this time, I am afraid it will cause discord among the generals. I'm sorry. We will postpone the discussion on the replacement of the governor of the Liaodong capital, the censor, the general military officer, and the guarding officer until later."

This is to test the emperor's attitude.

If the emperor insists on changing at this time, it means that he wants to take action in Liaodong, and Zhang Zhou is likely to be arranged to go to Liaodong.

If the emperor also said that this matter can be postponed, it means that the emperor is not very concerned about Liaodong affairs.

Zhu Youtang said: "Haven't the candidates for the governor of Liaodong been selected among the three people? I asked Bingkuan for his opinion. He believed that among the three people, Lu Wan, the censor of Shaanxi Province, was the most suitable. The middle officer is initially determined to be Zhang Yong, who has made great achievements in the battles such as Pianguan. As for the general military officer of Zhenliao... I will think about it again."

"His Majesty……"

Of course Liu Jian would object.

Especially when it comes to the candidates who the emperor explicitly said were decided by Zhang Zhou, can the ministers accept them?

Except for Qin Hong and the governors under him on three sides who are not Zhang Zhou's people, almost everything from Xuanda to Ji Liao is single-handedly taken care of by Zhang Zhou's forces. Although many people don't know what Lu Wan's background is. But they felt that the more unknown a person was, the more likely it was that he belonged to Zhang Zhou.

When something goes wrong, there must be a monster.

Zhu Youtang asked: "Do you have a better understanding of the current situation in Liaodong? Do you have a prediction of the Tatars' next move, or do you have a deep understanding of the dispatch of troops and defense?" If anyone really has a good opinion, I can adopt it."

The implication is that you are not as good as Zhang Zhou in military affairs, so why are you still opposing the people recommended by Zhang Zhou?

Just a very simple matter, do you have an accurate judgment on whether Batu Munch can annex the Three Guards of Duoyan? If not, just shut up.

Liu Jiandao: "Your Majesty, does Zhang Zhou, the left minister of the Ministry of War, also want to participate in the layout of Liaodong's military affairs?"

Zhu Youtang shook his head and said, "Isn't Bingkuan in the capital?"

"Then he..." Liu Jian only spoke.

Wait for the emperor to give him the message.

Zhu Youtang said: "I have just learned that Bingkuan fell ill after returning to the capital due to fatigue from the journey. He is not yet able to attend court meetings. Let him rest for a few days."

sick?

The first thought of most of the ministers present was that this guy could actually get sick?

Doesn't he call himself a half-immortal? Now that he's sick, he doesn't dare to call himself a half-immortal anymore, right?

But looking at the emperor's expression, it seemed that he was not nervous at all when talking about Zhang Zhou's illness, as if the emperor was helping Zhang Zhou lie.

But after the emperor gave the answer, the ministers could not say anything else, unless they continued to insist... We suspect that Zhang Bingkuan is pretending to be ill, and we ask your majesty to investigate carefully... This is causing trouble for ourselves.

…

…

After the court meeting is over.

When the ministers left the palace, they were in a good mood.

"I never thought that Zhang Bingkuan would still be ill? But he said he was not made of iron? I thought he could fly into the sky and escape from the earth, and was proficient in the art of ghosts and gods!"

When others say this, it does not mean that they really believe it, but they use it to amuse Zhang Zhou.

Probably just wanted to pull Zhang Zhou down from the altar.

Zhou Jing deliberately kept his voice low and asked Ma Wensheng on the side: "After he returned to Beijing, he never went to the Ministry of War?"

Ma Wensheng shook his head.

Needless to say, the ministers returned to what they suspected when they entered the palace. Zhang Zhou suddenly disappeared. Is it possible that he was involved in Liaodong's plan? Could it be that Zhang Zhou secretly sent troops again?

Zhou Jing looked around at the people present and said, "Then we should send someone to investigate."

Li Dongyang was about to part ways with these officials who were leaving the palace. Hearing this, he dropped a sentence: "Save worry and do more things. Your Majesty won't ask. What's the point of us asking him if he is sick? Do you also have something to do with one person?" And delayed the affairs of the DPRK and China? Does it really have such a big impact on you if he is in the DPRK? "

Of course it has an impact. We have knots in our hearts and feel uncomfortable doing anything we do.

They think so in their hearts, but these people can't say it with their mouths.

Zhou Jing smiled and said: "If you don't ask, don't ask. Sooner or later, you will have the answer, right? It means that the affairs of the Ministry of War will be more arduous, and one less Zhang Bingkuan... It will really have no impact on us. Let's go!"

…

…

Zhang Zhou was indeed not pretending to be ill.

He was indeed not in good health. He caught a little cold due to the rush on his way back to the capital. He might have been infected by Zhu Youtang when he met Zhu Youtang.
To be continued...