Public opinion is very strong,

The Ming Dynasty was now strong and prosperous, so why was it bullied by a small Japanese country?

Therefore, after three days of disputes in the court, all parties finally compromised and made a decision

An advance envoy was sent to Japan to meet the Japanese emperor and to inform the Japanese shogunate not to make mistakes. If the Japanese shogunate did not listen, then the imperial court would send troops to attack it.

After making a decision, it is necessary to choose the envoys, with the Ministry of Rites as the main one, the Ministry of War, the Hanlin Academy, and the Supervisory Office as the auxiliaries. Among them, there are two chief envoys and six deputy envoys. The chief envoys are the third rank and the deputy envoys are the fourth rank. It can be said that the lineup

Very luxurious.

Two high-ranking officials of the third rank, plus six fourth-rank officials, all wearing scarlet robes. It can be said that the imperial court attaches great importance to the Japanese issue, which is related to whether there will be war in the imperial court this year.

After the personnel were selected and received the imperial edict, they could travel with the guard of honor. There was a large imperial navy ship outside Tianjin Prefecture to send them across the sea to Japan.

There was a lot of rumors among the people in the capital because of the mission to Japan, but the really important ministers in the court did not take this matter to heart.

In a garden somewhere in the capital, Huang Liji and Qiao Yunsheng were watching a play. The actors on the stage were babbling and singing "Huo Shao Bowang", while the two people below the stage looked very relaxed.

Huang Liji took a sip of tea from the teacup, then picked up a piece of preserved fruit and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it slowly: "The matter has finally come to an end."

"Let's put it this way. It's up to those people to do the work. Whether it succeeds or not doesn't depend on them anyway. I haven't seen that there has been a lot of action in the capital recently." Qiao Yunsheng forked a piece of fresh fruit. He preferred fresh fruit to preserved fruit.

fruits, and his status is enough for him to have all kinds of fruits all year round.

Huang Liji smiled: "The guy from Changshu has been a little anxious lately."

Qiao Yunsheng was a little disdainful: "He is different from us. He was born in Donglin in the south of the Yangtze River. He was the one who relied on him to reach the sky. Now the holy family is prosperous and powerful. Those old people are gradually taking him as their leader, and the gentry and officials on the southeast coast also look up to him.

He breathed. But now that something like this has happened, although the New Party said they don't care, who can figure out what Linqing is thinking? After all, if we talk about the real holy family and power, who can compare to Linqing?

That one?"

Huang Liji also sighed: "Prime Minister Qiao, let's not worry about it so much. Even if there is a dispute in the future, it won't be between you and me. They say that the cabinet is powerful and powerful, but really

With overwhelming power, how many people can rule a country?"

"There are seven people in the cabinet now, but to be honest, there are only four who can speak and take care of things. Prime Minister Sun can be counted as half, and the total is only four and a half."

Qiao Yunsheng couldn't help but sigh, yes, the current situation is too difficult for the old people.

There are always new people to replace the old ones, and the Donglin Party has not had the good time to be in power as in later generations. Now the new party is suppressing the old people, and the real ones in the cabinet are Zhang Haogu and Zhang Ruitu.

, Lu Xiangsheng and three others.

When the dynasty is the first assistant, when the dynasty is the second assistant, plus the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Households are in hand, the power of the new party is overwhelming, and the old people can no longer stand firm in the court. This is why Zhu Youxiao gave Qian Qianyi

The reason I brought this up is that the old people cannot all disappear.

No matter where in the world or in the court, Zhu Youxiao could not replace everyone with new people at will. That would not be to clean up the court, but to clean up himself.

Just as light and darkness go hand in hand, new and old go hand in hand, and where there is the new there is the old. Qian Qianyi is the representative of the old people who was brought up, and he is the leader of the officials and gentry in the southeastern provinces.

Therefore, Qian Qianyi was born with the support of imperial power and local government in the cabinet. Huang Liji, Qiao Yunsheng, and Wei Guangwei were originally able to occupy a share of the foundation, but now they can just remain invisible.

Didn't Sun Chengzong say a word when he came out of Liaodong to suppress the hundreds of thousands of Liaodong warlords?

Being able to serve as a cabinet bachelor will also be a blessing to future generations. In addition, Huang Liji and Qiao Yunsheng have shown no competition in recent years. This will also be a favor in front of Zhang Haogu and other new party bosses. In the future

If they retire, their descendants will be taken care of.

Therefore, Huang Liji and Qiao Yunsheng can no longer argue. They have already seen clearly that there is no harm to them if the court maintains this situation. Even if they really have

How much power can we change for the better? No kidding, if they can't be the first assistant, then having some power would be worse than peace of mind without it.

In the previous wars between people in the court, the most opposed ones were Huang Liji and Qiao Yunsheng. They did not care whether the Ming Dynasty's steady upward momentum would be interrupted, but whether anything would go wrong in the stable court situation. They

They are the people who care about stability the most. What they need is a stable retirement, not getting into a mess.

The person who is really anxious now is not them, but Qian Qianyi. As Huang Liji said, the most anxious person right now is Qian Qianyi. He must prove himself, not only to prove in front of Zhang Haogu that he has no intention to be with Zhang Haogu.

The new party is fighting to maintain the current stable situation of combining the old and the new, and it also needs to prove in front of the emperor that it has no small ideas. Therefore, Qian Qianyi has been looking for people and checking the ins and outs of things these days.

While Qian Qianyi was busy proving his innocence, Zhang Haogu and others were not idle either.

"Where does this matter have anything to do with it? What's the point of pursuing it now? What do you think of those people? Whether it's Yin Feng or Huo Liao, I

Just stay still." Zhang Haogu smiled and picked up a few melon seeds and put them on the

Dial it slowly with your hands.

Zhang Ruitu listened to the storyteller on the stage narrating the play he had written about Apocalypse's private interview in private, holding a fan in his hand and tapping it, nodding his head from time to time with great concentration, looking contented.

Lu Xiangsheng, on the other hand, was holding a book in his hand, flipping through it from time to time and drinking some tea. The preserved fruit snacks, melon seeds and snacks on the table were not touched at all. The boy on the side came up to add hot tea and then stepped away knowingly. Zhang Haogu finally

He spoke again: "Speaking of which, the two of you inviting me here today are not just for relaxation, right?"

Zhang Ruitu smiled and said: "Hey, I just want to ask Yuan Fu if we should make a move first. Since this battle is inevitable according to Yuan Fu, and we have to hold the initiative in our hands, can we let the following prepare first?

point?"

Zhang Haogu looked at Lu Xiangsheng: "Is this the same idea as Prime Minister Lu?" Lu Xiangsheng nodded: "Since ancient times, military affairs have been based on planning in advance. There has never been any talk of starting a war today. All preparations have been completed over many months.

, just now we declared war to begin."

"The imperial court only got out of the war in Nanyang last year. Now there is still a town of troops left in Nanyang. This year there will be another war with Japan. The matter is too urgent. If we don't hurry up and make preparations and rush into battle when the war really starts, then

It’s troublesome.”

Zhang Haogu nodded slightly: "Wait a moment, I've invited someone here."

After a while, Liu Hongxun, the Minister of War, arrived. Seeing that the three new party bosses were there, Liu Hongxun was obviously a little cautious.

"Liu Shangshu, sit down quickly, today is just for chatting." Zhang Ruitu smiled and pulled Liu Hongxun to sit down, and the waiter immediately brought tea.

After Liu Hongxun sat down, Zhang Ruitu asked with a smile: "Liu Shangshu, the imperial court fought a war in Nanyang last year, and the expenditure was not small, right?" Liu Hongxun quickly said: "In the battle last year, the imperial court used three towns.

, but the actual war only lasted for half a month. The greatest consumption was on the navy side, as a large number of gunpowder cannons were fired. However, they were replenished at the end of last year, and now the navy's strength is still increasing." "As for the southeast.

The warehouses in the coastal provinces have not consumed much. Now all the warehouses are full, and the military stocks in the north and south Zhili have also been checked. As long as the scale of the war is maintained, the imperial court will not be under pressure." Obviously, Liu Hongxun

He clearly understood the purpose of calling him here today and answered his position very directly.

This battle must be big, Liu Hongxun has already realized it, he realized it from the selection of the people sent to Japan.

Yes, two of the third rank and six of the fourth rank are important ministers of the imperial court, but most of these people have just come to the capital from Yingtian Mansion. The main supporting force behind them is those in the southeast, and those who need to maintain it are also in the south.

Interests.

If they were asked to go to Japan to hold people accountable, the court obviously had no intention of negotiating anything. Liu Hongxun realized at the court meeting that the cabinet wanted to fight.

Now he is even more certain of this.

After a while of chatting, everyone separated. Zhang Haogu did not go home, but went to the palace.

In the Wuying Palace, Zhu Youxiao rarely went to Xiyuan to check out his machines today. Before the battle, Zhu Youxiao was naturally more concerned about the war. "

This battle is beneficial to the imperial court, so let’s fight. I don’t care if some petty villains try to cause trouble.”

"The Ming Dynasty has two capitals and twenty-four provinces, and more than 38 million households. Not to mention the current 470,000 troops, even if they are doubled several times, the court can still afford them!"

Zhu Youxiao spoke calmly, with a domineering look on his face: "Don't they just think that the imperial court only has these troops, half of them are outside the border fortress, and the total number of northern and southern Zhili troops is only more than 200,000 troops.

, if half of it is lost, the imperial court will not be able to survive?"

"Humph, they had a good dream!"

"Master, I plan to have the new army organize and train a dozen more towns. The imperial court must have at least 200,000 more usable troops."

Zhu Youxiao finally saw clearly: there are 30,000 people on the grassland, 30,000 people on Gansu and Shaanxi sides, 30,000 people in Liaonan, 50,000 Jiaozhi, and Nanyang.

The new army needs to be stationed everywhere, and the available troops left in the north and south Zhili are only enough to maintain stability. Without more troops and horses in hand, Zhu Youxiao felt that there was something unsmooth in his chest and he couldn't make sense.

Zhang Haogu listened silently to Zhu Youxiao's ideas, and it was not difficult to train another ten towns.

After all, the Ming Dynasty now has a policy of favoring the military, with high status, high treatment and welfare, and honorary support for the disabled. The New Army is the court's own people, the emperor's own people, and the heirs of the New Army will receive preferential treatment no matter whether they are an official or whatever they do.

Under the imperial court's military recruitment system, not only the common people in various places, but also the gentry and merchants wanted to join the army.

At least the gentry and merchants already had a good foundation, and their heirs would be well-educated and literate, and would have a higher starting point in the army. In the future, they would also be on the right track to enter the center of the imperial court.

The current limit on the number of new troops in the imperial court is not that no one is willing to join the army. On the contrary, there are more people who are willing to join the army. The imperial court prefers lack to excess. In addition, it is undergoing great development. The people who need the most are not soldiers but workers. But Zhu Youxiao has this idea.

Normally, if the imperial court had more than 200,000 troops, there would really be no monsters in the world.

Zhang Haogu thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, even if we want to expand the army, it is not possible now. Now the imperial court has fifteen towns in the north, three towns in southern Liaoning, three towns in Gansu and Shaanxi, thirteen towns in the south, and five towns in the southwest. In total, it has

There are thirty-nine towns, and four towns of Mongolian cavalry are always on the grassland. These are enough. Instead of expanding the towns, it is better to expand the people."

Zhang Haogu’s idea is to expand the number of people in each town on the basis of the existing towns. In this case, there is no problem in simply adding 100,000 soldiers. As for the follow-up training of new towns or other things, it can be done slowly.

Take your time.

Zhu Youxiao nodded, Zhang Haogu's thinking was more stable. Nodding, Zhu Youxiao said: "Let's leave it like this. Let's first look at the war situation in Japan, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei provinces

The militiamen are also well prepared. If anything goes wrong, the militiamen from these three provinces can be trained in ten towns."

The northern provinces are the basic base of the New Party and Zhu Youxiao. Counting the four provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei plus Zhili, the imperial court can easily train more than 300,000 new recruits with certain military qualities. On the bright side,

The imperial court only has those soldiers and horses, but in the northern provinces, including Gansu and Shaanxi, Lianghu, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the imperial court can expand more troops and horses at any time, but it is not necessary now.

After talking about the military expansion, Zhu Youxiao asked: "Since we have decided to fight, how many troops does the cabinet plan to send?"

Zhang Haogu said: "What I mean is to try to control it below 50,000, or even preferably around 30,000."
To be continued...