My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 67: The Eighth Letter Asks for a Battle!
Zhan Yangbi immediately asked, "What did Su Ze say in his memorial?"

The censor spread his hands and said:

"Su Ze's memorial has just been sent to the cabinet. I have an acquaintance in the Ministry of Public Administration, and he told me in advance."

It turns out that it was just sent from the Ministry of Public Security to the Cabinet.

Zhan Yangbi calculated that even if the emperor stayed in the palace, he would be able to see the copy of Su Ze's memorial in the Six Departments Gallery within two days at the latest.

Zhan Yangbi thought for a moment and said, "Su Ze has always been unconventional. He waited until today to submit his memorial. He must be opposing my plan to relocate the border and prohibit change! Everyone, draft a memorial to impeach him now!"

It was obvious that Zhan Yangbi was not prepared to wait any longer.

Hanaji's troops surrounded Datong, but he was not Altan Khan himself, but just a member of a medium-sized tribe within Altan Khan's army. It was impossible for him to besiege Datong for a long time.

Once Hanaji's troops are withdrawn and the situation at the border eases a little, the court's attention will be diverted from this matter.

If we push for border relocation and border closure at that time, things will not be so easy.

The censors present also responded to Zhan Yangbi one after another, but the number of those who actually wrote memorials to impeach Su Ze was less than the number of those who responded.

Su Ze's combat effectiveness in the six departments was already known to the whole court. Although the censors of the Censorate called for fighting and killing, they did not dare to act rashly this time. Most people chose to wait and see Su Ze's memorial before making a decision.
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In the cabinet.

Gao Gong rubbed his eyes and looked at the empty Prime Minister's throne.

Li Chunfang asked for sick leave.

Old fox!
In the absence of the Prime Minister Li Chunfang, the Second Prime Minister Gao Gong presided over the cabinet, and Gao Gong obtained the power he had always dreamed of.

But taking charge of the cabinet at this time is like taking on a hot potato.

Gao Gong agreed with Altan's tribute and appeased Altan's tribe through trade.

The Southeast Anti-Japanese War during the Jiajing period, coupled with the palace disaster at the end of the Jiajing period, resulted in the burning down of palaces in the Forbidden City. The cost of rebuilding the palaces almost emptied the imperial treasury.

Now that the Japanese invasion in the southeast has subsided, border troubles in the north have arisen again, and the national treasury is even more strained.

If tribute could be paid to Altan Khan and the northern border issue could be resolved, a large amount of money could be saved and used to promote the internal reforms that Gao Gong was preparing to carry out.

However, the opposition from the ministers was so strong that they even proposed policies such as relocating the border and banning the border. Gao Gong did not dare to support the tribute.

The time is not ripe yet.

Gao Gong sighed and looked at Zhang Juzheng who was taking action.

Zhang Juzheng, who was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, must have been more concerned about the border issues, and Zhang Juzheng should have also supported the tribute system.

Gao Gong looked at Zhao Zhenji again, and only then did he realize how expensive firewood and rice were. Zhao Zhenji, who had advocated a tough stance against Altan Khan, had only written a letter requesting the rectification of border military affairs. His attitude was actually very clear.

It's rare for the cabinet to reach a consensus on one thing, but it was ruined by the censors from outside the court!

As for Prime Minister Li Chunfang? He generally had no opinion.

Just at this time, an official from the Ministry of Public Administration delivered Su Ze's memorial.

"Su Zilin finally decided to submit a petition? He's called Su Yishu, and he really submits one petition every month."

Gao Gong picked up Su Ze's memorial with a smile and started joking, which was rare for him.

Zhang Juzheng and Zhao Zhenji also looked at Su Ze's memorial in Gao Gong's hand. Unknowingly, Su Ze's memorial had a special place in the hearts of the ministers.

Gao Gong opened Su Ze's notebook and looked at it for a while, his expression turned strange.

Gao Gong put down the manuscript, pinched his temple, and suddenly asked Zhang Juzheng, who was working on it:

"Lord Zhang, how much silver is left in the Taicang warehouse for border defense?" Zhang Juzheng looked at Gao Gong in confusion.

The Ming Dynasty’s treasury is actually a general concept.

It can be roughly divided into internal treasury and external treasury.

The inner treasury was the emperor's private treasury, whose main income was gold and silver.

The Outer Treasury is the national treasury that the court can use, and most of the taxes come into the Outer Treasury.

Among them, the Taicang warehouse managed by the Ministry of Revenue is the largest part of the external warehouse.

The silver for border defense can be regarded as a war budget specially reserved by the Ministry of Revenue. This money is used exclusively for war. If it is not spent this year, it will be carried over to next year and cannot be used for other purposes.

Of course, many times, the emperor would embezzle border defense silver when spending money on royal ceremonies, enfeoffment of vassal kings, and other occasions.

The cabinet ministers of the Longqing Dynasty were relatively tough. When Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, he wanted to embezzle border defense funds to organize the Lantern Festival, but was opposed by Xu Jie, the then chief minister of the cabinet.

Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth and said:
"This year, the Taicang Warehouse still has a surplus of 1.2 million taels of silver for border defense."

That sounds like a lot of money.

However, the annual military expenditure during the Jiajing period was as high as 4 million taels. Now that the Southeast Anti-Japanese War has ended, the expenditure on the nine borders has increased, and the regular silver needed each year is more than 2 million taels.

The regular silver is the daily expenses of the army and is specially allocated by the Ministry of Revenue, while the border defense silver is an independent reserve for emergency military expenses. The two should not be confused with each other.

But even so, the Ministry of Revenue's war reserve funds were only enough to mobilize the nine-border army for half a year.

In fact, the time was even shorter, because the military expenditure during war was different from that in peacetime. Soldiers in the Ming Dynasty needed rewards for fighting and rewards after the war. These 1.2 million taels seemed like a lot, but in fact it was not much at all.

Zhang Juzheng was puzzled by Gao Gong's sudden mention of the border defense silver, so Gao Gong handed over Su Ze's memorial.

Zhang Juzheng took the memorial and his expression became as ugly as Gao Gong's.

Because Su Ze's memorial neither supported Zheng Luo and demanded the relaxation of border restrictions, nor did it advocate, like Zhan Yangbi, the relocation of borders and the complete severance of trade with the Altan tribe.

In addition to the two options, Su Ze proposed another route - fighting!

After reading this memorial, Zhang Juzheng was stunned. Su Ze, aren't you being a little too extreme?

If it weren't for Su Ze's memorial, Zhang Juzheng would have probably just read the beginning and directly voted it "nonsense" and put it in a separate category!
But just because the memorial was from Su Ze, Zhang Juzheng continued reading it.

After reading it all, you have to say, you have to say, Zhang Juzheng felt that it made quite a lot of sense.

Even Zhang Juzheng seemed to agree with Su Ze's memorial.

Zhang Juzheng glanced at Gao Gong. He knew that Gao Gong advocated tribute, but Gao Gong had just asked him how much silver the Ministry of Revenue had for border defense, which showed that he was also considering Su Ze's proposal to send troops to the north.

Reputation refers to the difference in weight between people in the hearts of others.

If your leader values ​​you, he will at least listen to your opinions and take them seriously.

If your leader doesn't value you, he won't even listen to your opinions, and no matter how good your opinions are, they will not be adopted.

Of course, Su Ze's memorial was also very well written. The first sentence he wrote made Zhang Juzheng's eyes light up.

"I have heard that the Art of War says: 'If the general's prestige is already established, then first win him over with kindness; if the general's prestige is not yet in place, then first strengthen him with authority.'"

"Governing a country is like governing an army. If you seek peace through force, the world will be at peace. If you seek peace through retreat, the world will be in danger!"

(End of this chapter)