Chapter 776 875 Arch Wing Battle

After returning from the Qianqing Palace, several people separated after entering the cabinet and went back to their respective offices to work.

When Wei Guangde entered the room, Lu Bu also followed him in and whispered in his ear: "Master, the dispute between Gao Ge Lao and Huo Shangshu about the reform of the Beijing camp seems to have escalated some time ago.

Today, Huo Shangshu wrote a memorial about the camp. He also mentioned the past a few years ago and disclosed the conflicts between them. It seemed that he did not want Gao Gong to continue to intervene in the matter. "

"Oh? Give me the copy of the memorial."

When Wei Guangde heard this, he stood still and thought for a moment before giving instructions to Lu Bu.

Originally, Wei Guangde usually took over the handling of memorials about the Ministry of War, but some time ago Gao Gong published several memorials on the reform of the military system.

First, he quoted Zheng Dajing, who had accused the Ming army of lax punishment in the Like incident two years ago, saying, "Generals on all sides who have been accused of crimes and punished have no scruples to use them in conspiracy."

In other words, even if a border general is dismissed due to negligence, he will often be reactivated soon as long as he sends people to the capital for some activities. Therefore, the border generals have no fear of punishment from the court.

In the memorial, Gao Gong mentioned: "Today's ministers are not willing to follow the dead. The disadvantage is that they are too concerned and the rewards are too light." The Ming army's unfair rewards and punishments will seriously dampen the enthusiasm of the soldiers to fight.

Later, Gao Gong proposed reforming the Ministry of War.

"History of the Ming Dynasty Official Records" records: "In the Ministry of War, there is one Shangshu, and one minister on the left and one on the right. The Shangshu is in charge of selecting and concise political orders for the world's military guards and officers. The ministers assist him."

However, during the Jiajing and Longqing periods, the Japanese invaded from the south and the northern barbarians invaded the border areas. The border affairs were complicated and unpredictable. The old personnel structure of the Ministry of War was unable to handle the complicated border affairs and could not adapt to the complex border situation.

Therefore, Gao Gong suggested changing the Ministry of War's "one minister and two ministers" to "one minister and four ministers".

"Also because the current situation is disturbing the border affairs, please appoint a minister of the Ministry of War to select the governor. The minister will be the governor, and the governor will be the army. China and foreign countries will be more powerful, and the border will be rich."

Gao Gong emphasized that the position of Minister of the Ministry of War is related to the safety of the dynasty. In the past two or three decades, there have been troubles in the border areas. Under the system of the Ministry of War, if the border governor is absent, the Minister of War will be vacant. If it is difficult for the Minister of War to escape, there will be Personnel from other departments will be appointed instead.

In this way, the eastern wall is often demolished and the western wall is repaired, which seriously limits the effective performance of the functions of the Ministry of War.

First of all, Gao Gong saw that the Ministry of War was seriously limited by the "one minister and two ministers" situation in the early Ming Dynasty. There were too few ministers. The left and right ministers mainly assisted the minister in handling the affairs of the Ministry of War. They were busy with official affairs. Once foreign missions were transferred, the affairs of the Ministry of War would be Processing is difficult to guarantee.

Secondly, the minister's duty is to assist in the management of ministry affairs. He lacks understanding of the situation in the border areas, and it is difficult to provide suggestions for the Ministry of War's planning and decision-making on border affairs.

Finally, the Ministry of War is responsible for patrolling border affairs. However, because there are too few ministers, other officers are usually seconded when necessary. They often take their posts because they are not in their duties and are not aware of border affairs, which affects the effective handling of border affairs. The long distance makes it impossible to perform duties in a timely manner, thus delaying the opportunity.

Based on the above shortcomings, Gao Gong proposed targeted reform suggestions to Emperor Longqing, changing the Ministry of War to "one minister and four ministers".

Gao Gong believes that the newly added minister can not only serve in the ministry, but also inspect border affairs.

In other words, two actual ministers will be added on a flexible basis. They will assist in the ministry at ordinary times and patrol the border defenses when nothing happens. If there is a vacancy for the governor and the court cannot find a suitable person to fill it in a short time, the minister will fill the role. This will not affect the situation. Ministry of War operations.

There are other memorials such as apportioning the power of the governor, clarifying the relationship between powers and responsibilities, etc.

Just as Gao Gong accused Chen Yiqin of infringement, Huo Yi obviously also has this view.

After being contacted about the impeachment of his incompetence at the beginning of the year, Huo Yi easily believed that Gao Gong was behind the scenes and instigated the Ke Dao Yanguan to attack him.

The target is naturally the area under his butt.

It seems that Gao Gong had already coveted the position of Minister of War for a long time when he returned to Beijing.

Because Gao Gong suddenly proposed many reform suggestions to the Ministry of War, Emperor Longqing finally agreed to let Gao Gong accept the affairs of the capital, and Wei Guangde stopped interfering.

Originally, Gao Gong's sudden intervention in the restructuring of the Jingying camp alarmed Huo Yi, but these few memorials made Huo Yi feel Gao Gong's strong malice.

Wei Guangde's thinking has always been "do more and make more mistakes, do less and make fewer mistakes". If Gao Gong wants to intervene in the Beijing camp, then just let him go.

Beijing camp is not that easy to deal with. There are too many noble interests involved in it. When he gets involved in it, he walks on thin ice and has to be careful when dealing with problems.

Since Gao Gong wanted to get involved, of course he was willing to let him do it.

But now I understand a little bit, maybe this is Gao Gong demonstrating to him, showing a hint of threat.

So now that he knew that Gao Gong was having sex with Huo Yi, the Minister of War, Wei Guangde was just having fun letting them fight to the death, and he just watched from the sidelines.

However, Wei Guangde still thought Gao Gong was superficial after all. In fact, the current Ming Dynasty faced external problems. "The troubles from foreign barbarians are most urgent to the Northern Qiang, followed by Guangdong and Guangdong, followed by Yunnan and Shu, Japanese barbarians and Western Qiang." And then again."

Especially when the Jiajing and Longqing dynasties alternated, “all the nine sides of the dynasty were surrounded by enemies. In Xuanda and Shanxi there were the Ada tribes, on the three sides of Shaanxi there were the Jineng tribes, and in Jiliao there were the Tuman tribes. Galloping from the west to the east, disturbing my battlefield, I will never have peace."

Internally, it is because corrupt officials are rampant and there are many hidden rules in the officialdom, which leads to the breeding of all kinds of strange phenomena. The huge national power cannot be concentrated in the hands of the central government for reform, and because of financial constraints, everything is restricted.

In response to such a bad situation, Gao Gong advocated the implementation of reforms, which were gradually promoted from the outside to the inside. First, he hoped to rebuild the strong border defense system of the Ming Dynasty, and then to rectify the internal situation.

In the two years since Gao Gong was dismissed and returned to Xinzheng, he did not sink into regret or anger. Instead, after leaving the court, he was more thinking about how to implement the reform of the Ming Dynasty in his mind.

First, make major adjustments to the military and consolidate the border defense, then rectify the officialdom internally, and finally adjust some national policies that are not suitable for the current situation, in order to let the country return to the prosperity of the early Ming Dynasty.

Wei Guangde has been a small group with Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhan in recent years. He is used to being strong and domineering in the cabinet. When doing things, he thinks of fighting first and has long forgotten the current situation of the Ming Dynasty.

He only remembers that the Ming Dynasty still has a hundred years to go, and he has never thought about doing too much. He is more of a muddle-headed idea, so he has no idea of ​​the political reforms that Gao Gong has already started.

In his view, Gao Gong's return must be to fight for the rights they originally got.

In fact, Gao Gong had no intention to fight with their small group at this time. With the support of the emperor, he was sure to win. He would not look at them because he had the general situation in his hands.

The Ministry of War had already intervened, and now he was busy with the list of redundant officials in the officialdom with Zhang Siwei, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He was going to do a big job now.

Although he did not have the title of the chief minister of the cabinet, he already had the power of the chief minister of the cabinet.

However, when Wei Guangde read Huo Yi's memorial, Gao Gong had already returned to the duty room and knew the content of Huo Yi's memorial, which made him very angry.

The old story mentioned by Huo Yi was that in the 40th year of Jiajing, when he was still the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, it was proposed to send one assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue to Jizhen to manage food and wages. At that time, there was a vacancy for the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue. When the cabinet discussed it, it was proposed that Gao Gong be transferred to Jizhen as the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Wei Guangde had a clue when he saw this. This should be Yan Shifan's strategy to send Gao Gong out of the palace and make Prince Yu's Mansion lose its support in the court.

At that time, although Prince Jing was away from home, Prince Jing's family, or the Yan family, had not completely admitted defeat and planned to take action to weaken Prince Yu's Mansion.

If Gao Gong left Beijing, his hope of entering the cabinet would be slim. With such a clear purpose, Gao Gong would naturally not be willing to go, so he chose to shirk.

In this meeting, Huo Yi happened to be present and expressed his support for this matter, so Gao Gong held a grudge against him.

Yes, Huo Yi's thoughts at this time were similar to Wei Guangde's. He thought that Gao Gong was fighting for power. Perhaps the idea was to increase the number of two assistant ministers in the Ministry of War to facilitate him to insert people and fight for the power in his hands.

Wei Guangde still had some impression of what Huo Yi mentioned, and he had indeed heard similar rumors.

Yes, it was a rumor, because Gao Gong did not go in the end, and the matter was naturally not accomplished. It should be because of Xu Jie and others' dealings.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde's heart was shocked.

If Gao Gong dismissed Hai Rui and transferred Zhu Daqi to Yingtian as governor before, it seemed that he wanted to ease the relationship with Xu Jie. It is possible that after reading this memorial, Gao Gong's intention to retaliate against Xu Jie would be even stronger.

You have to know that Gao Gong's personality is like this. Huo Yi's memorial is actually tearing open his wounds that have healed long ago.

This memorial was submitted publicly. After the content was spread, I don't know how many people will know about it. Thinking of the fight between Gao Gong and Xu Jie two years ago, I am afraid that they will say that Gao Gong is ungrateful and repays kindness with enmity.

And the fact is indeed so. Gao Gong didn't want to tear his face with Huo Yi and make things worse, but after seeing this memorial, he had made up his mind. Although Emperor Longqing had no intention of changing the Minister of War before, he was now determined to force this matter.

Huo Yi must be expelled from the court.

Thinking of this, Gao Gong immediately spread out the rice paper, asked someone to grind the ink, and then took up the pen, and wrote a "Debate on Huo Benbing" in one stroke.

Gao Gong was very good. In the memorial, he explained the events of the 40th year of Jiajing, and at the same time tore open a scar of Emperor Longqing, that is, the Battle of Shizhou the year before, accusing the Ministry of War of handling it too lightly.

The original Datong incident was caused by Zhao Ke's escape from the battlefield, and Tian Shiwei and Liu Bao were sentenced to death in advance because of Shizhou. Later, because of the petitions of the border general Ma Fang and others, and the activities of their families behind them with gold to the capital, they were finally sentenced to be exempted from death and sent to the army.

Gao Gong directly reported the news he knew, and combined it with his previous accusations against the Ministry of War to confirm the fault of the Ministry of War for long-term improper punishment.

The Battle of Shizhou was a big blow to Emperor Longqing at the beginning. He believed that if this matter appeared in front of Emperor Longqing again, Huo Yi would inevitably follow the old path of Liu Tigan in his rage.

Wei Guangde only guessed at the beginning. He thought Gao Gong and Huo Yi would have a long-lasting war of words, and both sides would keep submitting memorials to accuse each other, and he was happy to watch the joke.

But the next day, when the copy of Gao Gong's memorial came into his hands, Wei Guangde could no longer laugh.

The Battle of Shizhou had nothing to do with him, but he also intervened in the activities of Tian Shiwei and Liu Bao.

After all, many things in the Ministry of War at that time were inseparable from him, and he received a lot of money from the Tian family and the Liu family.

Fortunately, this memorial focused the matter on the Ministry of War and did not expand it.

After all, this matter involved a lot of things. Although it was a punishment decided by the Ministry of War, which side did not need to be taken care of?

If any of them did not handle the relationship well, they would be impeached.

But in Gao Gong's memorial, he only complained that the Ministry of War was not doing his job and had no intention of conducting a thorough investigation. That would be much better.

"Shizhou"

Wei Guangde murmured, "Huo Benbing, it seems you can't stay in the court."

Wei Guangde would not take action directly, but at this time he was considering quelling the matter as soon as possible. The best way was to let Huo Yi get out.

As long as Huo Yi leaves, Gao Gong will have no excuse to continue to attack the Ministry of War, and he can expose it now.

Wei Guangde made up his mind that when His Majesty asked him, he would stand at the top of the high arch and speak.

Gao Gong wanted to drive Huo Yi away. Although Wei Guangde still hoped that Zhang Juzheng would be stronger and could restrain Gao Gong's attention, but it was a matter of his own. It was best to satisfy Gao Gong and settle the dispute.

Huo Yi has left, who can take over this position?

Wei Guangde has no interest in the household department because it is a quagmire.

He has no interest in the Metropolitan Procuratorate because it is very sensitive and is not within the reach of a cabinet minister who ranks low in the cabinet.

As for the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, they were one-third of the emperor's land. They were the hub for moving the cabinet and could not be relied upon.

The Ministry of Industry has always been under the control of Jiangxi people, so naturally he does not need to pay too much attention to it, and he is not very concerned about the Ministry of Punishment. After all, he has no idea of ​​​​interfering in local affairs.

But as for the Ministry of War, we have to think carefully. Who are the people who are qualified to succeed Huo Yi now?

The first thing Wei Guangde thought of was naturally Tan Lun, the governor of Jiliao who was just around the corner. If Tan Lun was asked to return to the capital to serve as Minister of War, would the emperor give his approval?

After all, he had said a lot of good things to Tan Lun in front of the emperor, and Nianji Town was considered peaceful. Although there were occasional wars, the scale was very small, with only a few hundred people.

Moreover, for insurance purposes, Qi Jiguang was transferred to Jizhen as the chief military officer, and soldiers from Zhejiang were also transferred.

Under the current situation, even if Tan Lun returns to the Ministry of War, it will actually have little impact on Jizhen.

Wei Guangde made up his mind to push Tan Lun to compete for the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of War. At this time, the south gate of Baihu Fort suddenly opened, and a fast horse rushed out of the fort towards the governor's office of Datong.

What happened yesterday was really shocking. The grandson of Anda Khan actually came to surrender with a dozen tribesmen.

The garrison of Defeat Hu Fort first locked the people outside the fort for a long time and did not dare to open the fort door. After understanding the situation in detail, they arranged for the soldiers to go out and collect the weapons and armor of the incoming people, put them inside the fort, and sent people to guard them separately.

At the same time, they spent another night, sending people to separate Han Naji's entourage for questioning, and finally figured out the situation.

After asking the clerk in the fort to write down the situation as concisely as possible, he immediately sent a messenger to Datong to deliver the news.

There is no doubt that it is very dangerous to temporarily accommodate Hannaji and his tribe, as Anda Khan and his troops may attack at any time.