Chapter 884 973 Let’s Talk About Liaodong Again

It’s fine if I didn’t think about it before, but now I realize that gold has huge room for appreciation relative to silver, so what are you waiting for? Hoard gold immediately.

Wei Guangde is even considering whether to instigate the court to issue an edict, that is, to prohibit the outflow of gold and silver.

Now, whether it is the East or the West, there is actually no financial knowledge, but only some experience in this area.

Wei Guangde also has no financial knowledge, although he has traded stocks and knows some basics.

But he still knows that in the early days of paper money issuance, precious metals such as gold and silver were used as anchors to enhance the public’s trust in paper money, otherwise how could the US dollar be called the US dollar.

This is a necessary process for the issuance of Western paper money to be widely accepted.

Although some countries have discovered currencies that are directly backed by national credit and have no anchors, they still have clear plans for currency issuance.

In fact, this is similar to the treasure notes created by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, except that the Ming Dynasty had no financial knowledge and issued treasure notes indiscriminately. They only used the issuance of paper money as a means of plundering gold and silver, which led to the final collapse of treasure notes.

However, Wei Guangde also knew that it was unrealistic to prohibit the outflow of gold and silver.

If there was really an interest, the sea merchants would still transfer gold and silver abroad by smuggling, which was unstoppable.

The only way to ensure that the gold remained in the country was to store all the gold in the national treasury.

Yes, by the way, in addition to storing gold at home, the court could also exchange the deposited silver for gold. If the court had any savings in the future, it would all be exchanged for gold and stored.

However, in reality, only the palace could have savings and could reserve as much gold as possible.

Wei Guangde immediately listed his previous thoughts and planned to write a charter and discuss it with Zhang Juzheng and Lu Diaoyang.

While he was writing the charter at his desk, Lu Bu came in from outside, holding several official documents and placing them on the side of the desk.

"New memorials?"

Wei Guangde asked casually, and heard Lu Bu's voice in his ears.

"Sir, these are memorials submitted by some officials from the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, the Censorate and other government offices about the performance evaluation system."

"Another memorial against the performance evaluation system?"

Wei Guangde asked casually without stopping writing.

"Sir, you have a keen eye, really."

Lu Bu flattered him a little.

"Nonsense, apart from the memorials opposing the performance evaluation system, there are really few who support it at this time. Who wants to have their official duties monitored by others and be tested every month?"

Wei Guangde did not accept Lu Bu's flattery, but said.

The memorial on the performance evaluation system submitted by Zhang Juzheng was only delayed in the palace for a few days before it was approved and sent to the six ministries for discussion. It is not known whether it was because the cabinet had slight differences on it, and did not pass the memorial in the first place.

Perhaps, it was also because the mechanism of mutual supervision made the palace feel somewhat uneasy, after all, the last link was to delegate power to the cabinet.

In the past few days, Wei Guangde had also heard the results of the six ministries' discussions. Although no one publicly said that the performance evaluation system was wrong, there were indeed not many who publicly supported it, and their attitudes were ambiguous.

However, Wei Guangde knew that when this document was issued, Zhang Juzheng invited the six ministers to the duty room to give instructions, and that day, the work of each department was done. That is, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel were only handed over to the seal because the ministers were not in place.

Wei Guangde was not surprised that the opposition memorial came from these two government offices.

The performance evaluation system must be implemented, and Wei Guangde was sure of it. After all, it was the most important part of Zhang Juzheng's reform.

Without the performance evaluation system, the efficiency of the subsequent series of reforms would be problematic.

When the office was dismissed, Wei Guangde did not forget to take the regulations he wrote with him, intending to go home and see if there were any places that needed to be revised and improved.

After leaving the palace gate and before getting on the sedan chair, someone called him from behind.

Wei Guangde turned around and saw Chen Ju walking quickly from the side of the palace gate.

"Eunuch Chen."

This is the palace gate of the imperial city, and Wei Guangde couldn't call him a brother here.

"Wei Ge Lao, please excuse me for a moment."

Chen Ju also called him that, so the two walked two steps to the side.

"The candidate for the Minister of Personnel has been decided, and it's not Minister Zhu."

When he got to the side, Chen Ju whispered to Wei Guangde.

"Is it Zhang Han?"

Wei Guangde didn't react much, but asked back.

This was the topic he was most concerned about. If the palace chose Zhang Han, it meant that Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao had a connection.

Chen Ju nodded, "You know?"

"I guessed."

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly, "Since the Prime Minister suddenly recommended him, I guessed that Feng Bao must have said good things to the two palaces."

"Yes, Eunuch Feng said that to maintain the stability of the court, we must support Prime Minister Zhang, so the Minister of Personnel should preferably be recommended by Prime Minister Zhang."

Chen Ju whispered, "There is another thing. The late Duke of Cheng, Zhu Xizhong, was posthumously conferred the title of king. Eunuch Feng said that it was the suggestion of the cabinet. I don't know whether it is true or not. I want to ask clearly."

"What?"

Wei Guangde was not surprised that Feng Bao said good things to Zhang Juzheng and supported Zhang Han to be the Minister of Personnel, but the following question surprised Wei Guangde.

Looking around, Wei Guangde whispered, "How did you know about this? Were you in the palace at that time?"

"Yes, I heard Eunuch Feng say it was the suggestion of the cabinet. I was a little suspicious, so I came to ask."

Chen Ju whispered.

At this moment, Wei Guangde couldn't help but marvel at Feng Bao's courage to say such nonsense.

But then I thought that the current contact person in the palace and outside the court was not Feng Bao.

With this kind of relationship, as long as he communicates well with Zhang Juzheng, wouldn't he dare to tell lies?

I didn't hear what he said to the two palaces. Supporting Zhang Juzheng was to stabilize the court. If something happened in the future, I would call the chief minister to speak, leaving him as the second minister aside.

Wei Guangde fell into silence, still thinking about the pros and cons of this matter. You know, if this matter is exposed, it will certainly make the palace lose trust in Feng Bao, but it will also offend people to death.

Wei Guangde thought he knew the eunuch Feng Bao fairly well, and he had a bit of a vindictive character, similar to Gao Gong.

In addition, this matter will offend Zhang Juzheng to death.

If you can bring down Zhang Juzheng, you can do it.

But this matter sounds big, but it may not be handled well in the palace.

Now it is the two queen mothers who make the decision in the palace. Women are inevitably a little indecisive and may have doubts about Feng Bao, but they are not ready to take him down.

As for Zhang Juzheng, that is even more unlikely.

The result of exposing this matter is probably to make Feng Bao kneel down again. Zhang Juzheng will support Shen Chi and then fine him a salary.

The final decision on this crucial matter may have to be made by the Duke of Chengguo, which will affect the relationship between himself and the nobles.

"Shandai, what's wrong with you? If it's inconvenient to say it, forget it. I understand."

Chen Ju saw that Wei Guangde was silent for a long time, thinking that he had something to hide.

After all, this matter seemed a bit mysterious no matter how he looked at it. He thought that either Wei Guangde had been taken advantage of, or that he had received things from the Chengguo Duke's mansion, so that was why he was like this.

He said this, firstly, it was strange, and secondly, it reminded him that he was worried that Wei Guangde would fall into it.

The matter of conferring a title to the king was really no small matter. Even one of his eunuchs could see that there was something fishy in it. Once the decree was issued, he was afraid that it would attract criticism from outside the court.

Wei Guangde glanced at Chen Ju, and then whispered: "This matter was probably caused by the collusion between Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng."

"Um?"

Chen Ju was surprised for a while, he still didn't understand the meaning of Wei Guangde's words.

"In this matter, Zhang Juzheng told us that the palace intended to posthumously gift Duke Chengguo a title, while Feng Bao said in the palace that it was the opinion of our cabinet. Do you understand the relationship?"

Wei Guangde whispered.

"This is too bold."

At this moment, Chen Ju certainly understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words and couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down."

Wei Guangde said hurriedly, "If you don't come to me and talk about this, I will be kept in the dark."

"Then what should you do about this?"

Chen Ju asked immediately.

"We can only pretend not to know. Unless there is someone in the palace who can replace Feng Bao, he will not be severely punished. It is unwise to offend someone to death.

What's more, when this matter broke out, three parties were offended. Neither you nor I can bear this responsibility. "

Wei Guangde whispered, "Okay, that's it for now. Neither you nor I have said these things."

Chen Ju nodded when he heard this. He knew this better in the palace.

Even in the palace, there are more scandals. There are quite a few chambermaids and maids who disappear every year, and no one pursues them.

After all, the palace is so big, and manpower needs to be mobilized from time to time. If you are here today, you may not be transferred to the palace or palace outside the palace tomorrow to work.

In other words, if you become a high-level eunuch, the situation will be slightly better.

Separating from Chen Ju, Wei Guangde got on the sedan chair and returned to his mansion to rest.

In the next two days, Zhang Juzheng sent the memorial to the palace, and the palace soon issued a decree. The late Chengguo Duke Zhu Xizhong was posthumously granted the title of King Dingxiang and his posthumous title Gongjing.

Regarding Zhu Xizhong, Wei Guangde pretended not to know about it. Zhang Juzheng sent the draft memorial and just looked at it casually, then asked Lu Bu to send it to Lu Tiaoyang for him to read again.

"Hey, Brother Zili, what brought you here to me?"

That afternoon, Wei Guangde was processing official documents when Lu Bu came to report that Tan Lun, the Minister of War, had arrived.

After welcoming the people in, Tan Lun took out a battle report from his sleeve and handed it over, "Let's take a look. Jizhen just won a battle and captured Dong Changtu, the younger brother of Dong Hu, the chief of the Hadoyan tribe in Uliang. He asked if he would be escorted. The capital is asking for guilt."

"It's a good thing to win the war, haha. I thought there was another mutiny in the local guard station."

When Wei Guangde heard that Qi Jiguang won the battle, he immediately laughed and joked.

After all, it was the first year of Wanli, and what the court was most worried about was what happened to the local guard station. However, the court really didn't have many good options in this area. There was no other way except issuing money, but the court was short of money now.

Wei Guangde took the Jizhen battle report and quickly browsed it. At the beginning of the year, Duoyan's troops invaded the border and were pushed back by Qi Jiguang's troops. Half a year later, they came back again, and Qi Jiguang finally seized the opportunity to fight, which was regarded as a military exploit.

"It's not easy. After negotiating the peace with Anda Khan, the border town's military achievements have been reduced. Your military department has also shifted from dealing with threats from the northern grasslands to dealing with various domestic troubles. So what did you mean by being like that before?"

Wei Guangde thought of Tan Lun's sad face when he came in earlier, so he asked with a smile.

"Shan Loi, what I was thinking about was taking advantage of this matter to make the three guards of Wuliangha surrender. Maybe I was thinking about something, so I was misunderstood by you."

Tan Lun was surprised at first, but then he understood and said.

"With Dong Hu's brother at hand, we can talk about this matter.

I heard that the Duoyan tribe is the most powerful among the three guards. If the Duoyan tribe surrenders, the other two guards will not dare to jump around.

If you really dare to cause trouble, let the Duoyan tribe send troops to conquer. "

After saying this, Wei Guangde pondered for a moment and then continued: "That's what I say, but the court has to invest real money and silver for this. I'm afraid it will be like Anda Khan, who has to ask the court for rewards every year."

"Giving some money can solve border problems, and it will also be beneficial to the border residents."

Tan Lun said.

Also, he is the Minister of War, not the Minister of Household, so he doesn't care about money.

The Ministry of War is a money-spending yamen. As long as it wins the battle, why does it care about so much?

"If we can make the Duoyan tribe surrender, then only the Tuman tribe in Liaodong will be left."

Wei Guangde did not continue talking about the silver, but mentally sketched the power map outside Daming Bian Town.

Although Anda Khan accepted the Ming Dynasty's canonization as King of Shunyi after the Datong Peace Conference, Mongolia's geographical location was narrow and long, and Anda could not fully control the entire Mongolian tribe. decision, there were great differences among the various tribes of Mongolia.

In the end, the Mongolian tribes that were close to the northeast and far away from the court of the Great Khan became a serious problem for the Ming Dynasty today.

As for the three guards of Ulyanha, Duoyan defected to Anda Khan and became part of Tumote. During the Jialong period, he often attacked Mingbian with them and became part of Xilu.

Taining and Fuyu were annexed by the Neikalkha and Horqin, subordinates of the young prince Huduntu, respectively, and became part of the Northern Barbarians, which was what Wei Guangde called the Tuman tribe.

"Shandai wants to use troops against Liaodong?"

Just this sentence made Tan Lun aware of Wei Guangde's intention.

However, it was only a preliminary idea at this time, and the target was not the Tuman tribe as Tan Lun thought, so Wei Guangde waved his hand at this time and asked: "Is there any news from the Sixth Fort in Kuandian, Liaodong?"

Wang Daokun, the minister of the Ministry of War, visited the border and Li Chengliang proposed to build the Sixth Fort in Kuandian. The imperial court asked the Ministry of War to submit a report and asked Zhang Xueyan, the governor of Liaodong, to conduct an on-the-spot inspection. The Ministry of War also had to prepare a strategy for fighting the Jurchens near Kuandian.

Some time had passed, and Wei Guangde now wanted to know if the Ministry of War had any news from Liaodong.

After hearing Wei Guangde talk about building a fortress in Kuandian, Tan Lun understood Wei Guangde's true intention, which was to temporarily appease the Mongols and aim his butcher knife at the Jurchens.

You know, after several campaigns against the Jurchens, they were almost wiped out. However, a hundred years later, the Jurchens gradually recovered their vitality. In recent years, they even actively provoked the Ming Dynasty and killed its generals.

Since Li Chengliang took over as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, he has been fighting back and forth between the Mongols and the Jurchens. Although he has outstanding military achievements, he will still get tired after all.

The purpose of moving Kuandian Liubao was to hold back the Jurchens, and to concentrate military forces to severely inflict heavy damage on the Tuman tribe on the border.

However, Tan Lun also knew that Wei Guangde's goal was not Mongolia, but more serious damage to the Jurchens.

"Not yet. It's close to the Jianzhou Jurchen Department. Governor Zhang must be more careful when traveling." (End of Chapter)