Chapter 795 894 The Final Effort

"Your Majesty, please issue an order to hold a court meeting. What do you think?"

Li Chunfang also saw that the current trend in the court was not right, so he made a proposal.

Knowing that it would only backfire if it continued, because there were too many people who opposed it, and most people were used to following the crowd at this time.

Wei Guangde didn't know what others thought. He just silently calculated the votes of support he could get in his heart, and it was indeed half of the court officials.

There were also some people like Zhu Heng. Although they were rejected when they lobbied in the past and put forward various preconditions, Wei Guangde still had a little luck in his heart.

Perhaps, during the court meeting, Zhu Heng would choose to support him for the sake of his fellow villagers.

In fact, not all opponents were brainless and opposed all of them. Most of them only targeted the "mutual trade" and believed that the mutual trade would boost the strength of the Mongols and thus pose a greater threat to the Ming Dynasty.

Do you think their ideas are wrong?

In fact, if Wei Guangde didn't know that the era of the Mongols had passed and Mongolia would be more decadent in the future, he might have stood on their side.

Genghis Khan really left a deep impression on people all over the world.

Before he appeared, the Mongols on the prairie were a mess, and were easily abused by the organized countries around them.

Whether it was the Western Xia or the Liao Dynasty, and the later Jin Dynasty, they all regarded the prairie as their own pasture and took whatever they wanted.

In order to achieve their goal of long-term control of the prairie, they also deliberately created endless killings between the tribes on the prairie to weaken the strength of the Mongols.

All this was not until the emergence of Genghis Khan. He gathered all the Mongolian tribes on the prairie and established a powerful and unified regime. Then he named them one by one, first destroyed the Western Xia, then destroyed the Later Jin, and the Southern Song, and swept across the Eurasian continent.

Although Genghis Khan had died long ago when the Mongols fought to the west, they were all because of his glory after all.

It was also because the vast grassland was not big enough in the eyes of the united Mongols, not enough for his descendants to be enfeoffed, so the Mongols went all the way west to establish a Khanate.

Facing such a powerful enemy, it is not wrong to be cautious.

Wei Guangde certainly didn't know about the Longqing Peace Agreement, but he knew that the decline of the Mongols was inevitable in history, and they had nothing to do with future world history, so he naturally didn't care about the trade.

At the very least, after making peace with the Mongols, the Ming Dynasty could take a breath and make some internal adjustments. Wei Guangde had actually long set his sights on the white mountains and black waters in the northeast.

The general trend of history is very clear. In the end, the foreign races that came out of that land finally succeeded in conquering the Central Plains.

And because of various reasons for their own existence, they chose to destroy the fine traditions of the Han people and blindly chose the policy of keeping the people ignorant, thinking that this would ensure their long-term rule over this land.

The humiliation of later generations and modern times was actually caused by this.

In fact, if the rulers of China were Han people during the Opium War, even if there was a huge technological gap with Western countries, the Han people would be able to quickly learn the advanced Western technologies and catch up or even surpass them.

Just like the Ming Dynasty, it also encountered threats from Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. However, after several wars, the Han people realized the difference in weapons between the two sides and immediately learned the other side's technology, and the gap between the two sides soon narrowed.

After Li Chunfang spoke, Gao Gong quickly expressed his support, followed by Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng. Wei Guangde was a little late, but after confirming that the power comparison between the two sides was close, he also chose to nod in support.

"In this case, please ask your Majesty to issue an order to hold a court meeting tomorrow."

Li Chunfang said, and then looked at Gao Gong and said: "For this matter, you and I will go to the Qianqing Palace to report to your Majesty."

"Okay."

Gao Gong nodded immediately.

"Shan Dai, what do you think the result of the court meeting will be tomorrow?"

After seeing off Li Chunfang and Gao Gong, Wei Guangde walked back slowly with Zhang Juzheng and Yin Shizhen, chatting as they walked.

"It's hard to say."

Wei Guangde could only answer that everything was possible before the court meeting ended, so what could he say.

"Zhengfu, what do you think?"

Zhang Juzheng asked Yin Shizeng again.

However, Yin Shizeng did not have much confidence, so he just shook his head to express his attitude.

"Tonight, let's talk to those people and try again."

Wei Guangde knew that everyone was unsure.

But now that things have developed to this point, they can only try again.

"Uncle, what do you think?"

Wei Guangde did not speak, but Yin Shizeng asked Zhang Juzheng.

"Half and half."

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said, "We have done so much before, and now it seems that we have only got the support of half of the important officials. The rest depends on whether Your Majesty will summon those nobles to attend the meeting."

Wei Guangde was shocked when he heard Zhang Juzheng say this.

In fact, the most important thing about the court discussion is to look at the emperor and who he summons to participate.

In the court discussion of the Ming Dynasty, the participants were not fixed each time, but were adjusted according to the matters discussed, but the six ministries, nine ministers and the seal officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology were always fixed.

Generally speaking, the six ministers or vice ministers will be responsible for convening court meetings according to the departments involved in the discussion, and the ministers and vice ministers usually take turns to serve as conveners.

For matters that require joint meetings of multiple departments or matters where responsibilities are difficult to clearly divide, the Ministry of Personnel is often responsible for convening and presiding over the meeting, and relevant departments send people to participate in the meeting.

Of course, the emperor, as the final decision-maker of the court deliberations, has the right to appoint some special personnel to participate in the court deliberations.

Although the leadership of this court meeting will most likely fall to the Minister of War, Guo Qian, rather than the Ministry of Personnel, Emperor Longqing has the right to decide which nobles will participate.

When counting the votes previously, Wei Guangde had left out Xungui's side, and he didn't know what the final result would be.

I hope Li Chunfang and Gao Gong will notice this and recommend candidates to Emperor Longqing.

I returned to the duty room and continued working. I don’t know how long it took, but news finally came. Emperor Longqing issued an order to convene a court meeting on Datong, and confirmed the list of people to participate in tomorrow’s court meeting.

There were forty-four courtiers and dignitaries in total, and several cabinet ministers also attended the meeting.

After going through the list carefully, Wei Guangde also calculated it in his mind. It was still half and half, and it seemed that neither side had an advantage.

The location of the court meeting was decided to be the Yangxin Hall, which is next to the Qianqing Palace where Emperor Longqing lived.

When a court meeting is held here, Emperor Longqing can know the results of the court meeting as soon as possible, and can even summon officials and nobles who participated in the court meeting for questioning.

That night, Wei Guangde once again came to the residence of Zhu Heng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, to make one last bid, and other cabinet ministers were doing similar things at this time.

After some lobbying, Wei Guangde still failed to persuade Zhu Heng to support the Datong Peace Agreement. He still insisted on the view that only by canceling the "mutual market" could he agree.

When he came out to say goodbye, Wei Guangde turned around and said to Zhu Heng who was sent out: "Brother Shinan, I have said everything that needs to be said. The peace negotiation is beneficial to Ming Dynasty.

As for your worry that the Tatars will take advantage of this to gain power, it is superfluous. They no longer have the glory of Genghis Khan, they don’t have it now, and they will never have it again in the future.

If it weren't for their nomadic characteristics, the Mongols would have been wiped out by our Ming Dynasty long ago.

And you know the situation of the imperial court very well. We can no longer afford to delay it. If we continue, in just a few years, not to mention the payment of official salaries, the imperial court will no longer be able to spend money to secure the border.

Brother Shinan, please think again. "

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Zhu Heng, got into his sedan chair and left without waiting for Zhu Heng to return the gift.

Everything that needs to be said has been said, and the final result depends on Zhu Heng's choice. He has no choice.

Although he understood Zhu Heng's proposition, Wei Guangde had run so many times in a row with no results, and it was impossible not to complain.

The last action was actually putting pressure on Zhu Heng, hoping that he would change his tune during the court meeting tomorrow.

After leaving Zhu Heng's house, Wei Guangde went to the Duke Dingguo's mansion again.

I came here to cheer up Xu Wenbi and give him guidance on how to deal with the British Duke Zhang Rong tomorrow.

"Don't care how old he is. Remember, he is the Duke of the country, and so are you. Just catch him and criticize him severely as I mentioned before."

It can be foreseen that tomorrow's court discussion will definitely be tense and full of gunpowder.

When dealing with a British prince, it is naturally difficult to use civil servants to refute him. The best way is to let people of equal status to him in the nobility criticize.

Xu Wenbi is the counterattack weapon when Zhang Rong is in trouble.

"How old is he? He is a generation higher than me. If he says this, he will be so angry that it will make everyone look bad.

What's more, Shandai, it's okay to talk about these things in private, but you really have to say them openly."

What Wei Guangde told Xu Wenbi was, of course, the behavior of some members of the Zhang Rong clan in enriching themselves in the border town. It not only pointed out Zhang Rong's selfishness in his opposition, but also reminded him that if things go wrong, his clan members will be settled by the Queen. .

But Wei Guangde could say these words casually, but asking Xu Wenbi to say them would be too offending.

"We just need to come and apologize afterward, but he still dares to act like a duke and fight with the Duke Ding's mansion.

Even if you really get into a fight, you still have the support of Duke Wei of Nanjing. If I speak for you in the cabinet, why should you be afraid of him? "

Wei Guangde continued to inject blood into Xu Wenbi to stimulate him, "If we can knock Zhang Rong out before the voting and let him leave early, that would be the best result."

Today, in front of the official office, several members of the cabinet gathered together to discuss for a long time and have come up with some countermeasures.

Maybe it was a method that was not on the table in the past, but now it is no longer considered, especially for those older officials and nobles. I just try to stimulate them by trying to stimulate them, and send them to the Tai Hospital at the beginning of the theoretical stage. If you don't let them vote, that will achieve your goal.

Naturally, Gao Gong and others also said that those who support will receive all kinds of support in the future.

Wei Guangde had already told Xu Wenbi about Gao Gong's promise before, in order to reassure him that even if Zhang Rong revealed some bad things about the Dingguo Palace, the "Qingtian" in the cabinet would not take any action.

After leaving Dingguo's mansion, Wei Guangde rushed to Zhu Dashou's mansion without stopping.

Although Zhu Dashou was in charge of the Hanlin Academy, he had brought with him the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, so he was naturally among the court officials this time.

Wei Guangde really regrets that he should have kicked him out of the Ministry of Rites, so that he would not have to face him.

Yes, Wei Guangde's task tonight is to contact and lobby Zhu Heng and the major officials, and to encourage Xu Wenbi to bravely confront Zhang Rong at tomorrow's court meeting.

On the second day, there was indeed a fight between dragons and tigers in the Yangxin Hall.

Several people from the cabinet sat on the chairs placed to the north. The dragon chairs behind them were empty. Emperor Longqing did not come to the scene in person, but a small chamberlain kept informing him of the news.

According to convention, since it involves military and national affairs, Guo Gan, the Minister of War, will be in charge.

However, his attitude is clear, so his opening remarks are naturally biased against Wang Chonggu's strategy. However, because he is in public, his words are still safe, saying that Governor Wang was deceived and confused, and he has thoughts that he shouldn't have.

In fact, behind the scenes, there are not a few people who curse Wang Chonggu as a traitor who harms the country, and Guo Gan is one of them.

Zhang Siwei, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, could not stand Guo Gan's words that his uncle was old and confused, and stood up to refute, thus opening the curtain of the court discussion.

Zhu Dashou, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, was indeed not affected by Wei Guangde's lobbying, and soon came out to refute, and then encountered the rebuttal of Wang Xilie, the left assistant minister of the same department.

The assistant ministers and the temple ministers came out to express their positions and attack each other, and at this time, except for Guo Gan, who presided over the court discussion at the beginning, the other nine ministers remained silent.

The same thing happened to several people in the cabinet. Except for coming in to greet them, they all sat there like statues, quietly watching the speeches of these people.

When Duke of England Zhang Rong couldn't help but speak out against the peace talks, Duke of Dingguo Xu Wenbi also stood up to refute.

But after all, he didn't have that much courage, and Xu Wenbi didn't dare to throw out the words that Wei Guangde taught him last night to attack Zhang Rong. The debate between the two sides was just around the peace talks, and they didn't bring it up.

The drama that happened in the Yangxin Palace, and the eunuchs kept running into the Qianqing Palace to report to Emperor Longqing. At this time, the emperor was playing with a small and exquisite snuff bottle in his hand, pouring out some from time to time and putting it in his palm, and taking a deep breath before putting it to his nose.

The snuff was inhaled into the nasal cavity, which irritated the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity. Emperor Longqing couldn't help but sneeze, and then he looked refreshed.

"Okay, continue to watch and report again."

Waving his hand, Emperor Longqing signaled the eunuchs below to continue to watch in the Yangxin Palace.

He was also calculating silently in his heart. So far, it seems that the fight is still evenly matched. It seems that only after the final count of votes can the winner be determined.

Yesterday, Gao Gong talked about the court discussion in front of the emperor, and thought that it was biased for the cabinet ministers not to participate in the court discussion and vote. No matter what, they are also the ministers of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel. Naturally, they are important ministers and should have the right to vote.

However, Emperor Longqing did not express his opinion.

He knew in his heart that even if he wanted to change it, it would not be now, but he could only wait for an opportunity in the future.

The court discussion of the Ming Dynasty had never appeared in the past, because the previous dynasty was all discussed by the prime minister, and the six ministries and other government offices were not qualified to participate.

The court discussion of the Ming Dynasty focused on form and ignored the essence. Many court discussions were more of a formality.

Because in the past court discussions, the opinions of powerful ministers played a key role in the court discussions, and the opinions of most participants were not fully respected.

However, this time was obviously different. In terms of high-end combat power, if there were no cabinet ministers to hold the line, the opposition seemed to have a slight advantage.

After more than an hour, the speeches ended, and the next step was the voting session.