Although this room is not very large, it is crowded today because Zhou Chong invited several ministers in the cabinet, and there were several other court officials.

The important minister, so he filled the room, which was not big. After each of them placed a chair and sat down, there was no more space in the room.

Speaking of which, since Li Dongyang passed away, although he had a grand funeral and was very generous to his affairs, it was because Li Dongyang was already a dead person, so Zhou Chong didn't mind making the other party more glorious, but

He was not polite to the people left by the cabinet.

For example, the original Liang Chu and Liu Zhong were both able to enter the cabinet because of Li Dongyang's recommendation. Although these two people are quite talented, they are a bit stubborn. They have raised objections to some of Zhou Chong's actions, especially to Zhou.

Chong was very resistant to some reforms in the administration of officials, so Zhou Chong removed the two men from the cabinet in the name of the other party's nickname, and then promoted Wang Shouren and Yang Yiqing to the cabinet. As for Zhang Cai

Because of his special status, he could not enter the cabinet at all, but he could participate in court discussions like ordinary cabinet ministers, which is actually not much different from entering the cabinet.

There are five members of the cabinet now, namely, Yang Tinghe, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, Jiao Fang, the Grand Secretary of Wuying Pavilion, Wang Qiong, the Grand Secretary of Jinshen Pavilion, Wang Shouren, and Yang Yiqing, the Grand Secretary of Huagai Pavilion. Among these five people, there are only ones

In addition to Yang Tinghe, the other four were the core forces of Zhou Chong's rectification of officials and reforms.

Speaking of Zhou, it is best to make the cabinet stand on his own, so that he can be free from any constraints in the process of implementing the laws. However, Yang Tinghe is not an ordinary person. He was originally Zhengde's teacher. Later, he was then

Li Dongyang valued him and trained him as the successor of the cabinet chief. Now that Li Dongyang died, Yang Tinghe became the representative of the entire Southern Department officials, and Southern Department officials accounted for more than 70% of the Ming Dynasty officials. Now Zhou Chong has ruled Liang Chu.

If Yang Tinghe was kicked out of the cabinet with Liu Zhong, it would probably cause chaos in the entire officialdom.

In addition, Zhou Chong also considered that when he was reforming and rectifying the administration, he needed an opposition voice in the court to remind him to avoid him from doing too much in certain things. Yang Ting and the chief minister of the cabinet happened to have such strength and

Due to the conditions, Zhou Chong still allowed Yang Tinghe to serve as the chief minister, and he did not even have the power to undermine Yang Tinghe.

Originally, Yang Tinghe didn't know what Zhou must do, but with a series of changes in the cabinet and some preparations made by Zhou Chong for reform and rectification of the administration, Yang Tinghe, who had a very keen political tentacle, finally realized Zhou Chong's purpose

This shocked him and his heart was very conflicted. He didn't know where he should stand in this change?

Speaking of which, Yang Tinghe is the representative of Southern Officials. The trend of the Ming Dynasty has been around for a long time. If reforms are carried out, it will definitely involve the entire Ming Dynasty official. The first person to be affected is the Southern Officials with the largest number of people, and he

As the leader of the southern officials, he naturally has to protect his own interests. However, as the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty, he also hopes to completely eliminate the corruption in the Ming Dynasty officialdom. This is not only a good thing for the Ming Dynasty, but also for him

This prime minister is also a good thing to leave his name to the Qing history.

It is precisely Yang Tinghe's ambivalence that Yang Tinghe has always reported some preparations for Zhou Chong before the reform, and that is, he will not stop him or give the green light. If there is any problem, he will also raise objections.

, and this is exactly what Zhou Chong wanted, so so far, Zhou Chong and Yang Tinghe have not had too many conflicts due to reform.

Today, Zhou Chong suddenly summoned all five ministers to him, and Yang Tinghe had a premonition, but when Zhou Chong did not explicitly express his intention to reform, he could still use a neutral attitude and be impartial, but if Zhou Chong was

The formal announcement of the reform of the Ming Dynasty, then he can no longer be like before, but must join a camp, either standing completely on Zhou Chong's side like Yang Yiqing and Wang Shouren, or like Li Dongyang and all Southern officials hoped

In this way, resist Zhou Zhong's reforms.

Yang Tinghe was full of conflicts. Zhou Chong looked at him deeply before his speech, as if he had seen Yang Tinghe's entanglement, but he did not care, but cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, please come today.

, mainly discuss two things. The first thing is that His Majesty personally conquers Liaodong. I wonder if you have anything else to say about this?"

When everyone heard Zhou Chong mention Zhengde's personal conquest for Liaodong, he looked at Wang Qiong. After all, he was not only a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, but also served as the Minister of War, so he had the most say in such military affairs.

Wang Qiong coughed and stood up and said, "Report to the State, the Southern Army led by His Majesty and the Eastern Army led by Liaodong Dushi have been assembled. In addition, there is no problem with the logistics. It can be said that the two armies are

The attack can be launched at any time, but according to the previous plan, the battle against the three guards of Duoyan is still mainly based on surrender. Therefore, before launching the attack, the Ministry of Rites had sent an envoy to the three guards of Duoyan, hoping to persuade the three guards of Duoyan to submit directly, without

After all, as long as the war occurs, not only will countless soldiers die in battle, but also will have to spend a lot of financial and material resources."

Zhou Chong also knew about sending envoys to the three guards of Duoyan. After all, Duoyan was originally a fence-bearer between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars. If the envoy could use the envoy to persuade the other party to surrender again, it would be a good thing.

"Mr. Wang, in your opinion, will the three guards of Duoyan be motivated by our envoys and leave the Tatars and turn to my Ming Dynasty?" Zhou Chong pondered for a moment and asked. Although Wang Qiong had a problem with his character, he could do it.

But he can be called the head of the minister, otherwise he would not have been called the third minister of the Ming Dynasty together with Yu Qian and Zhang Juzheng.

Hearing Zhou Chong's question, Wang Qiong immediately replied after a moment of contemplation: "Report to the State Administration, if it were placed in the past, the three guards of Duoyan would probably be persuaded by the envoys, and then surrender to our Ming Dynasty again, but the previous surrender was just

In name, our Ming Dynasty would not interfere in the internal affairs of the three guards of Duoyan, but this time we not only proposed to make the other party surrender, but also proposed to take over the other party's army and then dispatch officials to manage it. In this way, we will be the leader of the tribe.

Power will be emptied. With Huadang's character, he will definitely not agree with the conditions proposed by our Ming Dynasty, so this battle is probably inevitable!"

Zhou Chong and other cabinet ministers nodded in agreement when they heard Wang Qiong's analysis. The reason for using troops to the three guards of Duoyan this time was to completely subdue them, and then recruit the Mongolians of the three guards, plus

The Han people formed a Han and Mongolian cavalry as the main force to invade the grassland in the future, so it is naturally impossible to allow the three guards of Duoyan to be autonomous. The three guards of Duoyan must be completely included in the rule of the Ming Dynasty. This contradiction is irreconcilable, and the other party must not be easily

He agreed, so the Ming Dynasty could only use war to hurt the other party until the other party had to agree.

"That's the case, then we can only fight. But this time we dispatched an army of 150,000. Is this a bit of a big deal? With so many troops, we can almost destroy the three guards of Duoyan?" At this time, Yang Tinghe suddenly suggested that he was

The objection said that the three guards of Duoyan were just fence-bearers, and only tens of thousands of people were needed to deal with such a tribe. Now Wang Qiong mobilized 150,000 people at once, which was simply a waste in Yang Tinghe's opinion.

"Mr. Yang, don't underestimate the Three Guards of Duoyan. In recent years, they have gradually eroded Liaodong. Their strength is no longer comparable to that of the past. The total population of the Three Guards has increased several times. It is estimated that it should be more than 500,000.

To conquer such a large tribe, there are only a few more than 100,000 people. Moreover, the 50,000 Japanese servants in the Liaodong Dusi are not only about dealing with the three guards of Duoyan, but their most important task is to deal with the Jurchen savages of Jianzhou Guard.

"Before Wang Qiong spoke, Zhou Chong replied for him.

"But the three guards of Duoyan were originally grasslanders and had no place to live all year round. If the army is approaching now, what should they do if they can't defeat them and take their people to flee north? After all, they are already living in the upper reaches of the Songhua River. Let's go back again.

It’s not difficult to get to the ancestral land?" Yang Tinghe raised his objection again.

"Although what Lord Yang said is possible, it actually doesn't work. First of all, the reason why the three guards of Duoyan went south was not only to be greedy for the beauty of the southern grasslands, but the most important thing is that the north has become colder and colder in recent years, and the grassland people almost every year

A large number of people will be frozen to death in winter, so the three guards of Duoyan will move south desperately. However, after they left, the grassland that originally belonged to them was occupied by other Mongolian tribes. If they wanted to go back, they would probably have to do with those

When the Mongolian tribes start war, it will be a war of extermination, which is even more terrifying than surrendering to our Ming Dynasty!” Wang Qiong, the Minister of War, is indeed very competent, and he is very knowledgeable about the matter on the grassland.

"Well said, the three guards of Duoyan have no way out. We sent 150,000 troops to show our Ming Dynasty's military power, and on the other hand, it also allows Duoyan's three guards to see our determination to regain Liaodong. I believe that as long as the three guards of Duoyan start the war, it will start

If you can't take advantage, you should seriously consider surrendering." At this time, Yang Yiqing also added that the only person among his civil servants who could lead troops to fight alone, and when he was in Ningxia, he was concerned about the situation on the grassland

I know very well that although the situation in Liaodong is different from that in Ningxia, the principles are the same.

After hearing this, Yang Tinghe finally had no objection. Next, Zhou Chong discussed with Wang Qiong and Yang Yiqing a few more words, and then put the matter in Liaodong aside and started to talk about the second thing, which was also the convening of Zhou Chong today.
Chapter completed!