Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 125 The beautiful lady entered the palace and Zong Xian was made a marquis!

The salary is not much.

There is less power.

Gao Gong just felt that he was being stubborn, so he proposed to the emperor the idea of ​​changing the ancestral system and increasing the salary.

Politics and law.

It is the power second only to personnel.

By then, there will inevitably be open and covert struggles between the prefects and the political and legal officials in the local government offices.

Who is the real boss depends on their own ability.

The power changes in the provincial, prefectural and county government offices had no impact on the imperial court, let alone the central cabinet. Gao Gong was unable to refute the emperor's will, nor did he have the intention to go against it. He took up the red pen and drafted a memorial, writing very slowly, as if it was particularly heavy.

It can be predicted that after the implementation of this system, the top leaders of the two capitals, thirteen provinces, prefectures, and counties of the Ming Dynasty would curse the cabinet, especially Gao Gong.

No matter how long the memorial is, it always has an end. Gao Gong put down his pen and handed it to Huang Jin, who quickly took it and stamped it with the imperial seal.

production.

Zhang Juzheng finally spoke, saying, "Your Majesty, I, the Ming Dynasty, had two enemies in the past, the Japanese pirates in the south and the Japanese invaders in the north. However, we won a complete victory in the southeast, annihilated the Japanese pirates, and wiped out the 200 years of darkness along the coast. Therefore, I ask for the title of Marquis of Jinghai on behalf of Hu Zongxian, the Governor-General of Zhejiang and the Governor of Zhejiang!"

According to reports from Jiangnan, there were no more Japanese pirates sailing on the southeastern sea. Although Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, two generals under Hu Zongxian, wanted to lead their troops to attack Japan, the Ming Dynasty's biggest enemy was still the northern barbarians, so it was not advisable to fight across the ocean.

The war in the southeast can be said to have come to an end, so the reward for Hu Zongxian, Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou should be put on the agenda.

After several consultations, the cabinet's titles of earldom for Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou were not decided yet, but Hu Zongxian's title of marquis was decided to be Marquis of Jinghai.

This title of marquis was not first conferred in the Ming Dynasty. As early as the founding of the Ming Dynasty by Emperor Taizu Gao, Wu Zhen, also known as Wu Guobao, was conferred the title of Marquis of Jinghai.

In the third year of the Hongwu reign, Wu Zhen was appointed General Jinghai by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang to train troops at sea. In the winter of the same year, he was granted the title of Marquis of Jinghai.

In the seventh year of Hongwu, Japanese pirates invaded the southeast sea. Wu Zhenchong, the general commander, led the navy of the four guards of Jiangyin to go out to sea to suppress them. Since then, he often traveled back and forth on the sea route to manage military affairs and resist the Japanese pirates.

In the 12th year of Hongwu, Wu Zhen died of illness and was posthumously named Duke of Haiguo. His son Wu Zhong inherited the title of Marquis of Jinghai.

Wu Zhong was disloyal and was implicated in the Hu Weiyong case, so he was stripped of his title by Emperor Taizu Gao.

People at that time paid attention to having a beginning and an end. The fight against the Japanese pirates started with Marquis Jinghai and should end with Marquis Jinghai.

If Hu Zongxian did not make any serious mistakes in the future and was not stripped of his title and lived out his life, he would be posthumously honored not even with the title of eunuch, but Duke of the Haiguo!

Zhang Juzheng's cabinet both remembered Wu Zhen and rewarded Hu Zongxian. This was the highest respect they showed to the two.

This memorial had been prepared in advance by Zhang Juzheng's cabinet and all the signatures had been signed. At this moment, Zhang Juzheng took it out from his sleeve and held it above his head with both hands.

"Is it only a title as reward?" Zhu Houcong opened his eyes and asked Zhang Juzheng.

It is too disheartening to reward someone with a title for his great contributions to the world. Moreover, the current imperial court has a rule that titles cannot be inherited, which is bound to cause criticism.

Zhang Juzheng's body stiffened. Although the cabinet knew that the reward was a little shabby, they really didn't want to add any new candidates to the cabinet.

The power of the cabinet is constant. If there is one more cabinet minister, each person will have less power.

People like Hu Zongxian were awarded titles for their military merits and then entered the cabinet as prime minister. Even though he was just entering the cabinet, his voice and influence in the court were greater than those of Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin.

It was no problem to wrestle with Gao Gong, the second prime minister. If he was really angry about something, he could have a fight with Zhang Juzheng. As the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng was already upset enough to have Gao Gong, who was not convinced, so he would never want another "big Buddha".

Similarly, Gao Gong attached great importance to power and was unwilling to have more people who could not be managed in the cabinet.

Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were not so obsessed with power, but the struggle between the prime minister and the deputy prime minister in the cabinet was chaotic enough, and they didn't want another person to continue to disrupt the situation.

But the four of them never expected that the emperor would speak out to ask for a title for Hu Zongxian.

"more than."

Zhang Juzheng said after a long while: "With Hu Zongxian's merits, he should have made further progress. I am stupid, but may I ask Your Majesty whether you should add the word 'chastity' to the cabinet?"

Since he couldn't stop it, Zhang Juzheng simply gave up. Hu Zongxian's courtesy name was Ruzhen, and adding the character "zhen" to his name meant that he agreed to Hu Zongxian joining the cabinet.

Gao Gong still had a bit of reluctance on his face, but the situation was so overwhelming that it was beyond human control, so he could only lower his head.

Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin don't care.

"Aim!" Zhu Houcong's tone became calm again.

This approval was two-fold: it approved Hu Zongxian's title of Marquis of Jinghai, and it also approved Hu Zongxian's entry into the cabinet and appointment as prime minister.

Zhang Juzheng added a few more strokes to the prepared memorial and ordered Hu Zongxian, the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Governor of Zhejiang, to join the cabinet that day.

The holy seal falls.

Zhang Juzheng calmed down and continued, "Your Majesty, the southeast is safe today, but the northern barbarians are rampant. Although there are signs of peace talks, they are not of our race, so their hearts must be different. We must be prepared for war in the northern border.

The cabinet convened the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue for discussion and requested that 11 million taels of silver be allocated to the Ministry of War, of which 5 million taels were to be given to Gansu, Guyuan, Ningxia, Yansui, and Taiyuan as defense supplies for the five border towns, 3 million taels were to be given to Xuanfu and Datong as supplies for resisting the invaders, and 3 million taels were to be given to Liaodong and Jizhou as supplies for attack and defense in the north.

As the Oirat gradually declined, the defense pressure on the Five Garrisons in Gansu was no longer so great, but harassment still existed. Moreover, given the bitter cold on the frontier, the Five Garrisons should be given some incentives and compensation.

There is no need to say much about Xuanfu and Datong. They need a large army as the frontline positions during the Tatar invasion or the Ming Dynasty's counterattack.

The same was true for Liaodong and Jizhou. Since the Chenghua period, the Jianzhou Jurchens seemed to be showing signs of restlessness again, intentionally or unintentionally creating trouble in the two border towns of Ji and Liao.

Adequate military preparations must be made.

This was a sincere and appropriate response, so Zhu Houcong accepted it and said, "Approved!"

Zhang Juzheng's cabinet could clearly feel that the emperor was approaching two extremes in terms of increasing the salaries of court officials and increasing military pay and military supplies.

Don’t even think about the former, but the latter is absolutely true.

Zhang Juzheng sighed inwardly and went to draft a memorial.

Zhu Houcong looked at the ministers and shook his head. If he didn't increase military pay and military supplies, would he have to wait for the foreign races to attack and then use the saved money to pay compensation to them?
Although the Ming Dynasty was vast and rich in resources, it had nothing to give to foreign races!
Money was distributed to the people, to the officials, and to the soldiers. No matter how ignorant Zhang Juzheng's cabinet was, they knew that they had to do something for the emperor and get some money.

"Your Majesty, it is late autumn and the weather is warm. All local government offices have reported that the beauties are ready. It is time to choose an auspicious day and order the local government offices to send the beauties to the capital." Zhang Juzheng knelt down and pleaded.

After the selection was completed, it was natural for the beauties to be brought to the capital. The Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites had basically completed all the arrangements.

"Prelude!"

(End of this chapter)