Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 176: Recognizing one’s father at the age of sixty, what a scum of the world!
The first draft of the separation of the military and government was announced.

The court suddenly became lively, and officials from the Cabinet, the six ministries and other offices in the capital were all discussing the matter.

The establishment of the new military academy also made some speculators realize the arrival of opportunities.

One of them is Xie Chaoen, the former commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town and current Minister of War, who is now on his way to Beijing.

After the separation of military and politics, the Ministry of War was just an empty shell. The Minister of War was one of the Nine Ministers, but he was about to lose his power. Xie Chaoen was both happy and anxious about this promotion.

What's gratifying is that after serving as an official for decades, having experienced both the imperial court and the military, he finally made further progress and ascended to the position of Nine Ministers, wearing a bright red crane robe.

What they are worried about is the loss of power, which will affect their own and their family's wealth.

However, the establishment of the Military Academy allowed Xie Chaoen to see a way to gain power. In the details of the Military Academy disclosed by the cabinet, the emperor was the dean, the chief generals of the nine towns served as teachers, and special personnel of the Embroidered Uniform Guard served as temporary teachers. The lineup was extremely luxurious.

But Xie Chaoen felt that the composition of a military academy consisting only of a dean, teachers, and students was too simple.

Moreover, His Majesty is busy with all kinds of affairs, so how can he communicate with the commanders of the nine border towns every day about the problems of the military academy students? There must be a medium between the dean and the teachers.

That is, the vice president of the Military Academy.

Being able to rule Liaodong Town for nearly twenty years, Xie Chaoen was certainly no fool. He was keenly aware that after the separation of military and politics, the military strength of the Ming Dynasty would usher in a qualitative leap.

Showing off military power and expanding territory are the favorite things of emperors of all dynasties. In the next few decades, the Ming Dynasty will surely actively prepare for war.

The students of the Military Academy will surely be the future of the Ming Dynasty’s army, and the future middle and high-level officers of the Ming Dynasty’s army.

In Xie Chaoen's opinion, the position of the president of the military academy is more of a nominal position. The emperor is just interested in it temporarily, and once his enthusiasm fades, he will not put much energy into it.

If he could become the vice president of the military academy, then for the next few decades or even a hundred years, all the students of the military academy would be his disciples. His students would be all over the world in the military, which, to some extent, would be more influential than having students all over the world in the literati.

Therefore, Xie Chaoen quickened his pace to go to Beijing. At the same time, he sent a letter to the "leader of Huizhou merchants", Hu Zongxian, a cabinet minister of the Ming Dynasty, asking for help in getting the position of vice president of the Military Academy.

Regardless of whether Hu Zongxian recognized this identity or not, the Huizhou merchants and the officials funded by the Huizhou merchants did recognize Hu Zongxian.

As soon as he came into contact with the Huizhou merchants, he added two more Nine Ministers to the Huizhou merchant group. Hu Zongxian was a great man!

In the government hall, Hu Zongxian looked at the letter in his hand that was full of flattering words and could not bear to look at it.

"I wanted to worship him, but I was afraid he would not like this white-bearded boy, so I asked my young son to recognize him as my grandson."

Under the knees: children depend on their parents' knees when they are young.

Baixuer: This is the self expressed by Xie Chaoen.

The young son recognizes his grandson: Xie Chaoen wanted his son to recognize Hu Zongxian as his grandfather.

What he meant was, "I, Xie Chaoen, originally wanted to recognize you, Hu Zongxian, as my father and live under your wing, but I'm afraid you don't like my son, whose eyebrows and beard are all white, so I'll let my son recognize you as his grandfather, and I'll become your adopted son."

To avoid suspicion.

The letters between Huizhou merchants, Huizhou officials and Hu Zongxian had to be copied and shown to all the ministers.

Zhang Juzheng smiled after reading it, looked at Hu Zongxian, and said jokingly: "Ruzhen, I remember you are 48 this year, right?"

"Replying to Yuanfu, your birthday is coming, so you are forty-nine."

"That's not bad."

Zhang Juzheng nodded, his smile growing wider, and he joked, "I remember Xie Chaoen was born in the twelfth year of Hongzhi, so he should be sixty-three years old this year. Xie Chaoen's eldest son has lived in the capital for a long time, and I seem to have seen him. He is also over forty years old.

In this way, Ruzhen, who is 40 years old, has a 60-year-old godson and a godgrandson of the same age, and her children and grandchildren are all complete at once. "Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin couldn't help laughing when they heard this.

Xie Chaoen is a talented person. He can think of a way to establish a relationship by recognizing someone as his father or grandfather.

Hu Zongxian was extremely embarrassed.

Fortunately, Gao Gong spoke up, although unintentionally, to help Hu Zongxian out of the predicament, saying: "Chao En is a mediocre and shameless man!"

For the sake of power, he was willing to give up his dignity and recognize a man of his son's age as his father. Fortunately, Xie Chaoen came up with this idea.

Gao Gong couldn't imagine how such a person, who had been in charge of Liaodong Town for more than ten years, could protect the people of Liaodong Town.

Just as the saying goes, what the mind desires, the destiny takes place, Jinyiwei Commander Lu Bing walked into the Government Affairs Hall.

Seeing the elders discussing Xie Chaoen's letter, he shook the case file in his hand and said, "After Xie Chaoen handed over the military power of Liaodong Town, the Jinyiwei secret envoy in Liaodong Town also found out what Xie Chaoen did in Liaodong Town and why the situation in Liaodong Town was in a mess."

Zhang Juzheng and others looked at it intently.

"In September of the 30th year of the Jiajing reign, the Jianzhou Jurchens launched an army to besiege the Right Guard of Dingliao. The defending general Wang De was killed in the battle. The beacon fire in the Right Guard city was cut off, and there was no firewood or water. Xie Chaoen, the commander of Liaodong Town, planned to abandon the Right Guard city.

Fortunately, Shang Biao, the lieutenant general of Youwei City, was ordered to transfer money into the city and resisted with all his might. When the food ran out, he ate cattle and horses and dismantled houses for firewood. Only then did the soldiers stop having any dissenting ideas.

During the reign of Shang Biao, a surprise attack was launched and the Jianzhou Jurchen leader Tuoluosun, his son-in-law, and one of his generals were captured.

The situation reversed, so Xie Chaoen ordered the soldiers of Liaodong Town to attack one after another.

The Jianzhou Jurchen soldiers learned that the city's defenses had become stronger, so they lifted the siege and left.

"In June of the 32nd year of the Jiajing reign, the Liaodong garrison originally had an army of more than 91,000 people, but now only has more than 57,000 people, and more than 33,000 people have fled.

Most of those left were old and weak and could not fight.

The reason for their escape was that they had to build the border wall for many years, transport stones and cut wood from the mountains, and the labor was too heavy to complete. They had to borrow money and pay for goods. The generals were corrupt and the officials were greedy, so the soldiers were poor and had to escape.

"In April of the 38th year of Jiajing, the Liaozuo coast was difficult to reach by land and water. Due to natural disasters, the whole town had no crops for three years.

That year, there was no smoke from cooking in the village, and many bones were exposed in the wild. It was so desolate and miserable that it was unbearable to look at.

There was a severe famine, and a dou of rice cost eight cents of silver. Mothers abandoned their newborn children, and fathers ate their own dead children. The elders said that this was a disaster that had not happened in a hundred years.

At the turn of summer and autumn, floods and insect plagues occurred simultaneously, and a dou of rice became as expensive as seven cents of silver. The price in winter and spring was even more uncertain.

Xie Chaoen, the general commander of Liaodong Town, submitted a petition requesting a large amount of money from the imperial treasury to save the lives of the people in the town.

The emperor was moved by the news and on August 25, the 38th year of the Jiajing reign, he ordered the Ministry of Revenue to immediately issue 600,000 taels of silver and dispatch an imperial censor to purchase grain and transport it to help the people. At the end of the year, he issued another 50,000 taels of silver for cattle and tools to prepare for sowing next spring. At the same time, he borrowed 50,000 dan of rice from the Taicang warehouse to help the hungry people.

However, the Ministry of Revenue allocated more than 600,000 taels of silver, but did not give a cent to the people. The Liaozuo coastal area was rebuilt by the townspeople, cattle equipment and other items were sold at high prices, and 50,000 dan of Taicang rice was completely exchanged for bran for livestock.

"..."

Every single one of them is a serious sin.

Lu Bing looked at the ministers and said, "Mr. Minister, Xie Chaoen will come to Beijing at noon three days later. What should we do?"

"Grasp!"

(End of this chapter)