Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 143 Yang Tinghe learns that the emperor is training troops, Jiajing sows discord
The fifth day of the third month in the first year of the Jiajing reign.

The cabinet issued an edict to re-establish the Weiwu Camp at the request of the Minister of War Wang Yangming.

Guo Xun, Marquis of Wuding and Left Commander-in-Chief of the Central Military Commandery, was transferred to be the governor of the Weiwu Camp, and Wang Yangming, the Minister of War, was transferred to assist in the military affairs of the Weiwu Camp.

Zhang Wei, the Earl of Hui'an, was promoted to the Right Commander-in-Chief of the Central Military Governor's Office and was appointed Governor-General of the Eastern Official Office of the Beijing Camp, which was equivalent to replacing Guo Xun in charge of the Beijing Camp.

Zhu Houcong let Guo Xun and Zhang Wei take charge of the military power, which was naturally a reward for the two of them having chosen to stand on the emperor's side.

of course.

The two of them are indeed rare nobles who have participated in actual combat during the Zhengde Dynasty, so training troops is not a problem for them.

Although these two people were responsible for training the troops, the selection of generals and logistical supplies were still the responsibility of the Ministry of War.

This is for checks and balances.

It was impossible for Zhu Houcong to let Guo Xun turn all the people in the Weiwu Camp into his own men. Even if he wanted to use his own people, he had to get approval from the Minister of War Wang Yangming.

As emperor.

Zhu Houcong was also worried that Guo Xun would become the second Duke Zhongguo Shi Heng after gaining greater power.

Therefore, he would still let Wang Yangming assist in the management of the Weiwu Camp to check and balance Guo Xun and prevent Guo Xun from cultivating a private party in the Weiwu Camp.

but……

It was not easy for Zhu Houcong's decree to re-establish the Weiwu Camp to be passed by the cabinet and be willing to be executed by the Ministry of War, and it did cause an uproar in the court.

Because most of the civil officials have always wanted to reduce the emperor's military power, and now the emperor wants to strengthen his military power again, which is simply against the wishes of most of the civil officials.

Even many military officials were unhappy.

Because not all military officials want to achieve great things, many of them just want to live a stable life.

Even if their status is lower than that of civil servants.

Even if he could only make money by withholding military pay and eating empty salaries, and could not ennoble his wife and children, at least he would not have to worry about risking his life on the battlefield.

Therefore, after this decree was issued, it was inevitable that it would cause dissatisfaction among many court officials, who felt that it was a return to the Zhengde era.

The series of reform measures taken by Yang Tinghe to reduce military strength were in vain.

and……

In the eyes of many court officials, now was not a time when internal and external troubles were particularly serious, and they had even just won a great victory in Datong.

So they didn't understand why the court would spend so much money to re-establish the Weiwu Camp.

What the court officials knew was that...

If you want to build an army of tens of thousands of elite soldiers who are good at fighting, it will definitely cost a lot of money.

after all……

The current price of a top-quality warhorse is sixty taels of silver.

An ordinary war horse costs thirty taels of silver.

Even an ordinary packhorse costs ten taels of silver.

The main cavalry must have at least more than a thousand high-quality war horses as heavy cavalry.

This would cost more than 70,000 taels of silver.

The remaining war horses must also be 10,000 in number, which can be used for dual or triple purposes, and will cost 300,000 taels.

And there will need to be nearly ten thousand pack horses, which will require another 100,000 taels of silver.

Besides.

And infantry.

The infantry's pack horses would require at least 15,000 horses, which would cost 150,000 taels of silver.

Theoretically, just purchasing horses would require a one-time investment of more than 600,000 taels of silver.

This does not include losses along the way and embezzlement by officials.

Each infantry firearm costs four taels of silver.

Swords, spears, arrows, etc. weigh a total of four taels.

Clothes, shoes and socks also cost one or two taels.

Each person in the tent has one or two taels of cooking utensils.

In total, each soldier costs ten taels of silver, and the initial purchase of tens of thousands of infantrymen will cost one hundred thousand taels of silver.

The armor, including chain mail and lamellar armor used by officers and elite vanguards, cost between eight and ten taels per set, while a set of cloth armor for soldiers cost four taels. Considering that elite soldiers sometimes needed to wear two or three layers of armor, the total cost was three to four hundred thousand taels of silver.

There are six or seven hundred infantry artillery pieces, and the cost of each piece ranges from twenty to a thousand taels, which adds up to a total of one hundred thousand taels.

This does not include the losses in gunpowder, lead bullets, horses, chariots, and firearms during training.

This does not include the military pay of officers and soldiers, as well as pensions, bounties, the loss of food and fodder, the additional losses during the march, the salaries of officials, firewood, medicine, replacement of dead horses, and barracks maintenance.

In short.

All the court officials knew that if the emperor wanted to restore the Weiwu Camp, he would have to invest millions of taels of silver every year to maintain the combat effectiveness of this army.

And now.

Taicang’s annual income of silver was only about 4 million taels.

This was in a year when tax payment was relatively good.

And these four million taels are enough to defend the nine borders against foreign invaders.

Therefore, for many court officials, it would be better to use so much of the treasury silver as reserve silver for military supplies in the nine borders instead of spending it on the new army every year. Then, when famine occurs, they can reduce taxes and provide disaster relief to a greater extent.

Moreover, the court officials could guess that the income from the treasury was limited. To maintain such a new army, they would definitely find ways to increase income in order to maintain it well.

Therefore, most court officials were unwilling to see the emperor restore the Weiwu Camp.

But first, the cabinet chief Liang Chu chose to support the emperor.

When Jiang Mian asked Liang Chu to approve Wang Yangming's memorial to re-establish the Weiwu Camp, he asked Liang Chu again, "Prince, should we really agree to your majesty's re-establishment of the Weiwu Camp?"

"You can't disagree!"

"Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back." "I believe you all still remember why we decided to cooperate with Your Majesty to start the reform?"

Liang Chu sighed and asked Jiang Mian and other cabinet ministers.

Jiang Mian said: "I remember that it was because the former Left Censor-in-Chief Chen Jin demanded 5 million taels of frontier pay for the Nine Frontiers and refused to reduce a cent. The court also had to provide relief to the disaster-stricken areas of Huaibei and Huainan where people were already cannibalizing each other and more than 100,000 rioters were looting merchants. So they had no choice but to borrow 5 million taels from Xingming Bank and had to start reforming the salt policy. And because the rebels colluded with the border generals to use foreign invaders to intimidate the court, the court had to borrow from Xingming Bank again to build the outer city, and took the opportunity to issue new money in Shuntian Prefecture while building the outer city."

"Now, because a large amount of new money is going south, and the south is increasingly in arrears with taxes, the Grand Marshal said in front of the emperor that only by strengthening the army and horses can we rectify the tax policy and open up the sea to increase revenue. So, Your Majesty has the idea of ​​strengthening the size of the emperor's personal army, just like the late emperor."

Mao Ji added.

Liang Chu said: "It can be said that we had to change the system from the beginning to the end because the border officials and generals of the nine borders were too greedy. The civil and military officials colluded with each other, so that the little savings that the court had accumulated with great difficulty were almost all extorted by them, and most of them did not reach the hands of the soldiers and civilians in the border towns, but only fed a bunch of corrupt officials. The court also lost its authority because of this, and did not dare to anger them too much."

"All this is due to the fact that the central government's military is not strong enough."

"So, we need to reform the system and rebuild the authority of the court, not just your majesty's authority, but also the authority of the cabinet. The military forces at the center must be strengthened."

"I had my objections to Yang Xindu's disbanding of the Weiwu Camp, but I didn't expect that the Nine Frontiers would be so arrogant after Your Majesty ascended the throne, so I didn't stop him too much."

"Later, I felt that no matter how much money the court saved, it couldn't cut its own sword."

“Because it is difficult to expect everyone to know the rites of the saints and follow the teachings of the saints!”

"After all, the late emperor and the current emperor are wise and intelligent, so they still want to restore the Mighty Camp in order to revive the government and eliminate the evils."

"In short, strengthening the military is not about militarism, but about building a strong country and enriching the people."

After Liang Chu reflected and summarized for a while, Jiang Mian and Mao Ji both nodded without refuting.

Yang Yiqing and Fei Hong also did not object.

just.

When Yang Tinghe learned that the cabinet had issued an edict to rebuild the Weiwu Camp, he felt as if he had been slapped in the face.

He felt humiliated and his dignity was seriously hurt.

Because the thing he was most proud of was abolishing the Weiwu Camp.

result……

Now the bureaucrats represented by Liang Chu and Wang Yangming have restored the Weiwu Camp!

"I have long known that reusing Wang Yangming is not a good idea."

"Helpless, Liang Shunde won't listen!"

"Now it seems that Liang Shunde intends to curry favor with the emperor by re-employing Wang Yangming and negate my hard work!"

Yang Tinghe also gnashed his teeth and started talking, and suddenly he clenched his fists, tightened them against his chest, and said, "Damn it! How despicable!"

"Brother, calm down!"

"Although Liang Shunde is cunning, the emperor is now working hard to govern the country, and no one can stop him."

Yang Tingyi, who happened to return home at this time, came aside and tried to persuade Yang Tinghe.

Yang Tinghe was even more sad after hearing what Yang Tingyi said:

"Your Majesty is working hard to govern the country and wants to be a sage monarch, which is a good thing, but Liang Shunde should use this as an excuse to persuade the emperor to follow the correct etiquette, govern frugally, and use the treasury to stabilize the world. In this way, he can achieve the virtues of Yao and Shun with a peaceful and harmonious policy."

"But he did not use his status as a senior official and the chief minister to urge the emperor to follow the example of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty and Emperor Xiaozong of the current dynasty. Instead, he fawned on the emperor and compromised, and even thought he was doing the right thing!"

"Don't be too angry, brother."

"You know Liang Shunde's temper."

"Your Majesty is young and energetic now, and you don't know fear. Naturally, you will think that Liang Shunde is a respectful and obedient person who is good at mediation. And when Your Majesty gets married and has children, or even gets older, you will have some concerns and will only know the benefits of maintaining the status quo."

"At that time!"

"With your majesty's wisdom, you will definitely be appointed to return to the cabinet and restore the old laws."

"All you have to do now is take good care of yourself and don't hurt yourself."

Yang Tingyi advised.

Although Yang Tinghe felt that the emperor might not use him again.

But he also had some vague expectations, especially since the longer he suppressed his desire for power, the more he wanted to burst out, so he said in a self-deceiving way: "You are right, I can't get too angry, I have to wait until the day when the emperor realizes it himself and decides to use me again!"

then.

Yang Tinghe added: "But Liang Shunde did not remind him, so I have to remind him. I will write a memorial to Your Majesty, urging Your Majesty to be lenient and peaceful in governing."

"Brother, you can persuade me, but please don't directly anger His Majesty."

"Although this mighty camp is not what everyone in the world wants, it is understandable that the emperor uses the treasury to revive the martial virtue. No one can really say that the emperor cannot make his army strong, otherwise it will inevitably make the emperor and some people in the world think that the person who made the report has ulterior motives. What's more, there are many people who support the emperor this time. Once my brother directly mentions this matter, it will inevitably make the ministers who are now valued by His Majesty complain in front of the emperor, saying that you want to curb the imperial power and have a rebellious heart."

Yang Tingyi persuaded Yang Tinghe to come.

Yang Tinghe narrowed his eyes and smiled, "I will not directly mention the matter of the Mighty Camp, but I can mention the matter of Xingming Bank lending money for profit."

"Brother is wise."

"Many court officials throughout the country were dissatisfied with the emperor's use of the nobles and relatives to seize profits from the gentry. Even the reformist ministers who were favored by the emperor were quite critical of this, believing that raising taxes in the south was better than lending out the treasury for profit."

"Brother, this proposal will surely be supported by most of the court officials."

Yang Tingyi spoke with great admiration.

Yang Tinghe actually submitted a memorial to the emperor.

In his memorial, Yang Tinghe, with the righteousness of a sage, advised the emperor not to seize the people's interests and increase their debts.

In Yang Tinghe's view, even if the emperor wanted the big families in the world to lower their interest rates, he should directly issue an imperial decree to persuade them or even make a clear request, rather than using the hands of nobles and relatives to use lower interest loans to encourage the people to spend their money beyond their means.

If this continues, the number of people in debt will increase, and the spirit of prudence and frugality advocated by the saints will inevitably be lost!
After seeing the contents of the memorial, Zhu Houcong just sneered.

But he admitted that what Yang Tinghe said made sense. The emperor used nobles and relatives as his gloves and personally invested in lending, breaking the gentry's monopoly in the field of financial lending and forcing interest rates to fall. This would increase the debt level of the people and make the people of the world live beyond their means like the court.

However, Zhu Houcong dared to do this because he knew that this was the era when the Age of Discovery had just begun.

Therefore, when Zhu Houcong paid his respects to the two Empress Dowagers, he deliberately put on a gloomy face.

Empress Dowager Zhang was more concerned about the emperor's mood because the emperor was no longer her son, so she asked, "Who angered the emperor again?"

"Of course it was Yang Tinghe. He blamed me for letting the two uncles lend money and take interest!"

When Zhu Houcong said this, Empress Dowager Zhang felt uncomfortable instantly. Why did Yang Tinghe care about the Zhang family's affairs?
(End of this chapter)