My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 59: Daily Use?

Zhang Juzheng rubbed his temples, glanced at Gao Gong who was reading a newspaper, and then glanced at the First Assistant Li Chunfang and the Fourth Assistant Zhao Zhenji, both of whom were also reading newspapers.

"When was the Yuefu New Report delivered?"

"A moment ago, Mr. Zhang was so engrossed in reading a memorial that the clerk didn't dare to interrupt him."

Zhang Juzheng pinched his temples and looked at the memorial in front of him, his head began to buzz again.

This is a memorial sent by Wang Chonggu, the governor of Xuanda.

The Governor-General of Xuanda is an important official in charge of the military affairs of Xuanfu and Datong. Although Wang Chonggu is a civil official, his resume covers the southeast during the Japanese invasion. After the Japanese invasion was quelled, he was transferred to the northwest and rectified border affairs in Ningxia. He is one of the few civil officials in the Ming Dynasty who is proficient in military affairs.

It can be said that Wang Chonggu was the civil official who understood military affairs best in the Ming Dynasty after the death of Hu Zongxian.

Altan, whose full name is Borjigin Altan, can tell from the name who he is a descendant of.

In the northern grasslands, it has always been a place where one tribe takes over and another takes the stage. After the decline of the Oirat Mongols, the Tumed tribe where Altan Khan was located began to rise.

In the 29th year of the Jiajing reign, Altan Khan's tribe rose up in rebellion, broke through the defense line set up by the Ming court in the nine borders, and fought their way to the outskirts of Beijing. This was the Gengxu Rebellion of the Jiajing reign.

Zhang Juzheng glanced at Zhao Zhenji standing beside him. The Gengxu Incident can be said to be the starting point of Zhao Zhenji's official career. When Altan's army surrounded the capital, Emperor Shizong gathered all the officials to discuss countermeasures. Only Zhao Zhenji opposed peace talks, and was praised by Emperor Shizong. He was promoted to Zuo Yude and Censor.

At that time, there was chaos outside the capital and the ministers did not dare to leave the city. Zhao Zhenji took his younger brother Zhao Yiji out of the city to reward the troops and organize the defense of the capital.

After the Japanese invasion in the southeast was resolved, the biggest threat to the Ming Dynasty was the Mongolian Altan tribe in the north.

Zhang Juzheng knew what Wang Chonggu was reporting just by looking at the cover of the memorial.

The Governor of Xuanda usually only talked about three things when he wrote a letter to the emperor - money, money, and fucking money!
Wang Chonggu reported that the imperial court owed Xuanda's army a total of 200,000 taels of silver, and he requested the imperial court to allocate the reward silver as soon as possible.

Therefore, every memorial submitted by Wang Chonggu would first be sent to Zhang Juzheng, who was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue.

But the court has no money.

Zhang Juzheng sighed deeply. He knew in his heart that it was not easy for Wang Chonggu, the governor of Xuanda.

Wang Chonggu’s predecessor, Qiu Luan, was a truly valuable person.

Qiu Luan was a member of Yan Song's faction. When he was in charge of Xuanda, he often used the local soldiers' pay to bribe Altan Khan, allowing the enemy to attack from other places.

In addition to bribing the enemy, Qiu Luan was also corrupt and allowed his soldiers to kill innocent people to claim credit. It was during his tenure as the governor of Xuan Da that Xuan Da's military expenditure increased so much.

After Wang Chonggu took office, he reorganized Xuanda’s army and rebuilt the northwest defense line.

But Altan Khan continued to send troops to the border, and their demands were very simple: tribute.

Yes, Altan's goal was not to occupy any territory, but to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and trade with the Ming Dynasty.

During the Jiajing reign, Altan Khan invaded several times and always demanded that the Ming Dynasty open horse markets and trade with the grasslands.

The Jiajing Dynasty also briefly opened a horse market, but the Tumed tribe was fickle. After the snow disaster in the 30th year of the Jiajing reign, they allowed their troops to plunder Datong again. The Jiajing Emperor immediately closed the horse market and cut off trade with Altan Khan again.

In Zhang Juzheng's view, Altan Khan's tribute was actually a good deal. By using tribute to appease Altan Khan's tribe and to secure the northern defenses, he could save an untold amount of military expenses.

Moreover, trading with Altan Khan was not unprofitable. The Central Plains was short of horses, and by trading with Altan Khan's tribe in Xuanfu and Datong, one could obtain war horses steadily.

However, the topic of tribute was a taboo in the Ming Dynasty.

The starting point of the Japanese invasion in the southeast was the Japanese pirates' fight for tribute in Ningbo.

Anyway, for the censors, they only need to consider their firm stance against the enemy, but the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War have many more things to consider.

The high military expenditure and the war-torn nine frontiers meant that the censors could submit petitions to expand the borders, but whether the army could fight its way out, whether the conquered territory could be held, and who would pay for the rewards and pensions after the war were not things the censors needed to consider.

Anyway, whoever mentions Altan Khan paying tribute now is a traitor and a capitulator!
Even if we, the Ming Dynasty, die in battle or starve to death, we will not open a tribute trade with the foreign barbarians just because they force us!

In fact, Wang Chonggu also proposed to start tribute in Xuanda in his private letter to the cabinet.

In the cabinet, Gao Gong actually also supported the tribute system to solve the problem of high military expenditure in the northwest.

But it is useless to have only Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng's support, as this topic is too sensitive.

Zhang Juzheng put down Wang Chonggu's memorial and picked up the "Yuefu Xinbao" published by Su Ze.

The first page is an excerpt of news from the court gazette, which briefly introduces the recent major events in the court gazette. This makes it convenient for grassroots officials and people to know the developments of the court.

There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, the Ming Dynasty has always advocated open government affairs. One of the responsibilities of the county government designed by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang is to post the latest policies of the court in the announcement pavilion outside the county government. Zhu Yuanzhang also stipulated that the county magistrate must send village elders to read out the policies in the countryside.

Of course, how well this system is implemented depends on the situation at the grassroots level.

For most county magistrates, it is naturally better to have less trouble than more. If the people knew the court policies, how could the officials, gentry and clerks take advantage of the information gap on the policies to exploit the people?
Zhang Juzheng was very clear about the moral character of the grassroots. If the "Yuefu Xinbao" could be distributed to all prefectures and counties, would it be possible to stop officials and gentry from exploiting the people?

Zhang Juzheng shook his head, thinking that he was really daydreaming. It was difficult for this newspaper to be distributed in the capital, let alone cover the whole country.

However, the format of this news briefing is different. It is more interesting than the long articles in the court bulletin, and can quickly help people understand the important events of the court.

If you think about it carefully, isn't this the same as the cabinet draft?
The only difference is that the draft is for the emperor to see, while this brief is for newspaper readers.

The third edition was Luo Wanhua's eight-part essay. Zhang Juzheng was very satisfied after reading it and planned to take the newspaper back to his son as a model.

Zhang Juzheng chuckled. Su Ze was really a smart guy. With this third edition, people would read Yuefu Xinbao. Even officials who had passed the imperial examination would have sons and nephews preparing for the exam.
In this way, the Ministry of Revenue, which was forced to subscribe to the newspaper, should have less discussion.

The plays and jokes in the fourth edition were also interesting, and Zhang Juzheng planned to go home and read them carefully.

Because he was flipping through the book casually, Zhang Juzheng finally got to the second edition.

Hmm? Daily life?

When did Su Ze join the Taizhou School? How did he start practicing the daily life method?
Zhang Juzheng disliked the trend of lecturing in the court and the country the most. He glanced at Zhao Zhenji. Did Su Ze surrender to Zhao Zhenji?

"Two Children Debate on the Sun to Resolve Doubts"?
Zhang Juzheng read it in depth, but he felt that it was not the theory of mind of Zhao Zhenji's school. Instead, it was talking about "optics". The arguments used were all from "Zhou Bi Suanjing" and "Mengxi Bitan". Is this still the daily way of life for the people according to the theory of mind?

Zhang Juzheng turned his head to Zhao Zhenji, wondering what Lord Zhao was thinking now?
(End of this chapter)