Chapter 807 896 Quelling the Rebellion

The tense situation in the capital came to an end in such a dramatic way, which no one had expected before.

Just a year ago, the cabinet was headed by Chen Yiqin, assisted by Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde, and the three-person clique almost controlled all affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

But just over a year after Gao Gong returned to the court, this three-person clique collapsed, and power fell into the hands of Gao Gong, who had just returned to the court.

This year, the court has undergone tremendous changes. Gao Gong not only seized the power of the cabinet, but also gathered people's hearts and placed people in the six departments, completing the layout of the court. The next step is to work hard to realize his ambition.

On this day, Yang Bo, a veteran minister who had become an official, finally dragged his old body back to Sijiu City. That night, Gao Gong took the lead and united with the important ministers in the court to pick him up.

Everyone was chatting and laughing at the banquet, and there was no clue that Yang Bo actually made a great contribution during the reverse arch operation.

As for the protagonists of the banquet, in addition to Gao Gong, the chief minister of the dynasty, and Yang Bo, the new minister of the Ministry of War, there was also Zhang Siwei, the right minister of the Ministry of official affairs. He fluttered between the banquets like butterflies among flowers, enlivening the atmosphere of the banquet.

The guests gradually dispersed after midnight, but Gao Gong never left.

In his position, if he doesn't want to drink or get drunk, there are really not many people in the court who are qualified to persuade him to drink, so at this moment, he is just drunk, but his mind is still clear.

Yang Bo, on the other hand, is old enough and senior enough, and there are not many people who can drink with him.

In addition, due to health reasons, he only had a brief taste of today's drinks, so he was not as drunk as most of the other officials.

"As promised, I'll have fun today."

Gao Gong asked Yang Bo.

"The chief minister and all my colleagues have worked tirelessly to help this old man clean up his dust. I can't thank you enough. How can I not be happy about it, haha."

Yang Bo touched his goatee and said happily to Gao Gong.

"Please make an appointment to return to the DPRK this time. It is actually a troubled time for the DPRK."

Gao Gong's eyes were already slightly red, not because of emotion, but because he was starting to get drunk, but he still tried to keep his mind clear.

"Everyone said that with the Datong Peace Conference, the threat from the north of Ming Dynasty has been eliminated. However, I am still frightened and walking on thin ice."

"Why?"

Yang Bo was not sure what Gao Gong meant and asked hesitantly.

"How could I not know that the Tartars are ambitious, but the imperial court is corrupt from bottom to top and the officials are ignorant. I want to rectify it, but if the Tatars invade the border at this time, how can I deal with it with peace of mind?"

Gao Gong said in a low tone.

"What Mr. Chief Assistant said is that the imperial court is in urgent need of rectification, and side affairs cannot be relaxed."

Yang Bofeng greeted.

"Spend some money and buy some time for my Ming Dynasty.

Gao Gong looked at Yang Bo and said seriously: "I asked you to come back because I want to trust you with all my affairs. You are an old soldier and have more experience in this area than me."

"Sir, it's okay to say so."

Yang Bo had been worried that Gao Gong had other motives for asking him to return to the capital, such as trying to find a reason to deal with him. After all, even if Gao Gong wanted to retaliate as an official, he had to seek approval from the emperor.

Emperor Longqing may not necessarily become an old official because of this.

Now looking at Gao Gong's seemingly heartfelt remarks, although Yang Bo has dealt with it carefully, he probably has his own judgment in his heart.

"I have reported before that the Ministry of War wants to increase the number of two ministers, which are actually reserved for border ministers.

The original system had one minister, one left minister and one right minister. In the troubled times of the border, border affairs were complicated and unpredictable. The old personnel establishment of the Ministry of War could not handle the complicated border affairs and could not adapt to the complex border situation. "

As Gao Gong spoke, Yang Bo kept nodding, seemingly listening to everything.

"A minister of the Ministry of War was added to serve as the governor's choice and to support timely and border affairs.

From the minister to the governor, from the governor to the army, there are more troops at home and abroad, and the border talents are self-sufficient.

The chief assistant is a great man, this intention is sincere and feasible. "

Yang Bo waited for Gao Gong to finish speaking before he concluded, and couldn't help praising him.

The sedan chair was carried by everyone, Yang Bo also spoke beautifully, and his ability to flatter was naturally first-class, otherwise it would be difficult for him to thrive in the Jiajing Dynasty.

Next, Gao Gong told Yang Bo several things, which he thought Yang Bo would start to take care of after taking office.

The second article, Gao Gong suggested careful selection of military officers.

The Director of the Ministry of War refers to the officials such as Lang Zhong, Yuan Wai Lang, and Principal Officers in the Military Selections, Staffs, Chariots, and Arsenal Departments under the Minister of War and the Minister of War.

Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the officers of the Ministry of War have been frequently transferred and appointed in general terms, making it difficult to select people with real talents and practical knowledge. In the long run, the officials under the Ministry of War have not taken their duties seriously and have been passive in dealing with matters, which has seriously restricted the functions of the Ministry of War. play.

Chief Assistant Gao Gong recognized that the divisional officer was an important part of the Ministry of War, and he should pay enough attention to the divisional officer of the Ministry of War. He strictly stipulated that subordinate officials would not participate in the rotation of general duties and could only be promoted within the Ministry of War system.

This is actually the decision he made after thinking for a long time. This is the so-called professional cadre. Let professional people do professional things.

Gao Gong believes that the subordinates of the Ministry of War must serve for a long time so that they are familiar with military matters and cannot be transferred at will. In this way, the shortage on the border can be solved.

The internal and external dispatch of the governor and ministers can make up for the shortage of ministers, and the military commander can make up for the shortage of military preparations on the border. This forms a virtuous circle, which can not only solve the problem of no one available on the border, but also make the military commander more capable. Be familiar with national military regulations and rules, and be familiar with the principles of handling affairs of the Ministry of War.

Gao Gong even suggested to Yang Bo that when selecting the military officials in the Ministry of War, they could consider selecting those who knew military affairs in the frontier. After all, they had practical experience, which was much better than the Jinshi who only knew how to read.

Finally, Gao Gong mentioned that he should be sympathetic to the frontier officials and strictly enforce rewards and punishments.

The natural environment of the frontier has always been harsh and cold. During the Jiajing and Longqing years, the frontier ethnic minorities invaded the border area very quickly, and the border area was extremely dangerous.

The governors had been guarding the border for a long time, and they worked hard. The responsibility and danger were huge, which can be seen.

Gao Gong thought that the frontier governors had been in the cold and bitter land of the frontier for a long time, and they were extremely hard. He intended to suggest to Emperor Longqing that the frontier governors should implement a lenient vacation system to relieve the hard work of the frontier governors and allow the border officials to recuperate.

This was actually related to his original memorial to increase the number of assistant ministers in the Ministry of War. He hoped that the frontier officials could take turns to return to Beijing to rest and join the Ministry of War as assistant ministers.

Yang Bo listened carefully to Gao Gong's words, and his eyes changed slightly when he looked at him.

He knew that these words had probably been considered for a long time, and were definitely not impromptu.

Gao Gong was able to think about what others thought and sympathize with the hard work of the governor-general, which shows that he was very thorough in his border defense planning and meticulous in his handling of things.

Although Yang Bo actually valued the power of the Ministry of Personnel more, after communicating with Gao Gong that night, he also knew that if he wanted to really get to that step, he had to fully cooperate with his political reforms and gain his trust.

Otherwise, don't even think about getting involved in the Ministry of Personnel.

And if he can't take charge of the Ministry of Personnel, it is almost impossible to jump into the cabinet from the Ministry of War.

Yang Bo had already felt that Gao Gong's reform was going to launch a large-scale anti-corruption storm in the officialdom, so the Ministry of Personnel would never let go easily.

A few days later, Zhu Heng finally received Wei Guangde's letter.

However, the situation was different at that time, and the dramatic changes in the court situation still occurred, so Zhu Heng had no intention of opening the letter.

After he finished reading Wei Guangde's letter out of boredom, his face was full of bitterness.

Yin Shizeng was a man of swift action. On the day that Emperor Longqing approved the order, he set off with his packed luggage to return to his hometown in Shandong.

On the same day, several of Wei Guangde's fellow villagers in Beijing also received Wei Guangde's letters, but the letters sent to Yin Shizeng's mansion were kept, and Yin's mansion was empty at that time.

Unlike Wei Guangde's mansion, which was bought with his own money, Yin Shizeng's mansion in the capital was awarded to Yin Shizeng by Emperor Longqing after he ascended the throne. Although it belonged to him in name, Yin Shizeng still returned the house deed to the inner court before leaving.

So even if the mansion is empty now, no one dares to take advantage of it.

But this made it difficult for the messenger. He received Zhang Ji's order to deliver the letter to several adults, but now Yin Shizeng had left the capital, what should he do?

There was no choice but to return to Wei's mansion first, take some money and chase after him in Shandong.

Yang Bo had left the Ministry of War for some time, so although he took over the Ministry of War these days, he was still sorting out the mess, especially some people, he still had to clear them out of the Ministry of War, but an urgent memorial from the southwest had been sent to the Ministry of War.

Wei Yinbao, the leader of the Zhuang people in Gutian, Guangxi, rebelled again.

The Ming Dynasty had long advocated the idea of ​​"guarding the four barbarians" in border management, and took "guarding" as its core in the management of the southwest region. Taking the Yuan Dynasty as a lesson, it opposed the practice of relying on the southwest border to carry out military expansion.

After conquering the southwest, facing the reality of the large number of ethnic minorities in the southwest and the uneven development, complex geographical environment and harsh natural conditions, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty neither chose to imitate the Han law in the inland areas, nor blindly copied the native official system of the Yuan Dynasty, but realized the essence of the central dynasties' policy of control.

Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty often advised his ministers and his descendants not to use force against the southwest. He believed that the places where the "barbarians" lived were mostly remote and wild, and that expeditions to the southwest would be costly and laborious, and even if they were conquered, they would not gain much benefit.

This idea has also influenced the emperors of the Ming Dynasty since then. They have always believed that using force to solve the problems in the southwest is not a good strategy, so they generally adopt a conciliatory approach.

This model has also led to repeated rebellions by the leaders of ethnic minorities in the southwest over the past 200 years of the Ming Dynasty, and Gutian in Guangxi is one of them.

Wei Chaowei, the father of Wei Yinbao, defeated the Ming army in San'e during the Hongzhi period, killing Deputy General Ma Jun and Councillor Ma Xuan, and participated in the capture of Luorong during the Zhengde period.

During the Jiajing period, Wei Yinbao and Huang Chaomeng robbed and killed Councillor Li Minzhong. After the governor-general Wu Guifang sent the historian Liao Yuan to persuade them to surrender, Liao Yuan was promoted to the chief clerk to deal with the relationship with Wei Yinbao, but the effect was weak, and Wei Yinbao surrendered several times afterwards.

In fact, just two years ago, Wei Yinbao was arrested by the Ming army for rebellion, but was not punished for some reasons.

In the third year of Longqing, Wei Yinbao and Huang Chaomeng rebelled in Gutian. Wei Guangde, in the name of the cabinet, appointed Yin Zhengmao, the Jiangxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, as the Deputy Censor-in-Chief and the Governor of Guangxi.

Since Wei Guangde entered the cabinet, he has always had close contacts with the aristocratic families and officials of Jiangxi, so it is not surprising that Yin Zhengmao was chosen as the governor at this time.

Yin Zhengmao and Admiral Li Qian mobilized 140,000 local and Han soldiers, and ordered General Yu Dayou to be the general. They first seized the dangerous places such as Niuhe and San'e, and the troops successively conquered Dongshan Fenghuangzhai and approached Chaoshui.

Liao Yuan lured the Zhuang people to kill Huang Chaomeng. Wei Yinbao was desperate and ordered his accomplices to cut off a head that looked like him and present it to the Ming army.

The Ming army returned victorious from the "conquest", and Yin Zhengmao was promoted to the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and remained the governor. Gutian was renamed Yongning Prefecture, and a deputy envoy and a lieutenant general were appointed to guard it.

Soon, the assistant Jin Zhu captured Wei Yinbao, and Yin Zhengmao was not held accountable because he pleaded guilty.

The reasons are complicated, but it is precisely because of this that the officialdom has been secretly rumored that Yin Zhengmao is so bold that he dares to deceive the emperor for money.

Wei Guangde did not investigate whether Yin Shizun was deceived or really fell under the money offensive. After all, this man can do things and do good things.

So when the censors heard about it and reported it, Wei Guangde handed over a note and suppressed the matter.

Afterwards, Yin Zhengmao was not punished for his military merits, but the account was also remembered by many people with ulterior motives.

And this time Gutian Wei Yinbao rebelled again, which made many people remember the events of the previous year. Now that Wei Guangde, Yin Zhengmao's umbrella, is not in the court, the censors are in a turmoil and have impeached him for letting the enemy.

The Gutian rebellion was actually not very large in scale. In Yang Bo's eyes, as long as the elite troops of Guangdong and Guangxi were mobilized, it could be broken overnight.

However, the terrain in Guangxi is complicated, and if you don't have someone familiar with it, you may still suffer a great loss.

So Yang Bo simply went to the cabinet and discussed with them who should be chosen to suppress the rebellion.

"In theory, the Guangxi rebellion should be suppressed by Governor Li Qian, but I am a little worried about his military ability."

Yang Bo directly expressed his concerns in Gao Gong's duty room.

"Li Qian can still cope with coastal defense, but I am afraid he is not capable of suppressing the rebellion in the mountains."

Zhang Juzheng also whispered on the side.

"Then change someone."

Gao Gong heard Zhang Juzheng say so, and immediately set the tone and replaced Li Qian.

Zhang Juzheng heard this, just looked at Gao Gong in surprise, and didn't say anything more.

He could only be more careful with Gao Gong in his heart, because Zhang Juzheng could feel that Gao Gong's words about replacing Li Qian were not necessarily because he was really dissatisfied with his ability, but more because of his place of origin.

Who told him to be from Jiangxi.

"Who suppressed the rebellion last time."

Gao Gong also noticed the word "again" in the memorial, knowing that this was not the first rebellion.

Gao Gong had not returned to the court when the rebellion was suppressed, so he was not very clear about the inside story.

"Yin Zhengmao, the governor of Guangxi, wiped out the rebels two months after he took office."

Zhang Juzheng introduced.

"Yin Zhengmao, is he the one impeached by the censors in the past two days?"

Gao Gong asked in surprise.

"Yes, he failed to do his job and let the thieves go."

Zhang Juzheng explained the cause and effect in detail, and Gao Gong became more and more excited as he listened. He did not expect that Yin Zhengmao was recommended by Wei Guangde, and it seemed that he was quite capable.

"Rumor has it that Yin Zhengmao received a large sum of money from Wei Yinbao, so he pretended to be cheated and then reported his achievements."

"No need to say more."

While Zhang Juzheng was still introducing, Gao Gong waved his hand and said, "Don't bother two masters with one thing. Let Yin Zhengmao handle this matter.

If he can quell the rebellion as soon as possible, he will be rewarded for his merits. If he can't quell the rebellion, he will be punished for multiple crimes."

"But outside..."

Zhang Juzheng hesitated and looked at Yang Bo, wanting him to help say a few words, but Yang Bo shook his head.