The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Houzhao had nothing to do, so he simply came to the Dongguanting camp.

In the final analysis, it was because of the news from the grassland that made the Emperor Zhengde feel uneasy.

The little Mongolian prince was almost unifying the grassland, and he, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was still fighting with the gentry. When Zhu Houzhao thought of this, he felt extremely bad.

He called Yang Tinghe, and the teacher and the student had a deep conversation.

Today is different from the past. In the past, the Ming Dynasty could still fight for power and profit behind closed doors.

But now a unified Mongolian force is about to appear, which is like the Wala ruled by Yesen in the past. If it is not handled well, it is very likely that the Ming Dynasty will suffer another civil disaster!

"Your Majesty, you should rectify the border defense."

"The border has been stable recently. Except for the important towns such as Xuanfu and Datong facing Mongolia, the other border generals are slack and often deceive their superiors and subordinates. The court should send a large number of imperial censors to inspect in order to rectify their unhealthy practices."

"Now that the Mongolian prince is about to unify the grassland, the border is unstable and the military preparations at the passes are in chaos. I suggest that the court send imperial censors to each pass to coordinate the defense and rectify the border affairs!"

This was the result of the discussion among the civil officials last night.

The shocking news from the grassland completely awakened the entire Ming Dynasty.

Not only the emperor Zhu Houzhao, but also the civil officials who are now in charge of the various departments and temples in the court.

After Yang Tinghe left the court, he immediately found Wang Ao, Yang Yiqing, Fei Hong and other important officials in the court to discuss how to deal with this matter.

What the emperor is worried about is losing the ancestral land, while what the civil officials are worried about is losing the base.

The basic base of civil officials and gentry lies in a stable court. Only when the court operates normally and stably can it meet their vested interests.

Therefore, the Mongolian prince must be guarded!

After the ministers discussed, they came up with this solution.

It is also a common practice for the imperial censor to patrol the border.

Most of those border generals are domineering, and corruption, bribery and withholding of military pay are commonplace.

On weekdays, it is fine. The court can turn a blind eye. After all, they still have to guard the border, but now the situation is completely different. These border generals must be alert and be ready to welcome the Mongolian prince's army heading south!

Zhu Houzhao frowned and didn't like this proposal very much.

"I remember that in the past, when the censors patrolled the border, there were a few with tough personalities, but they turned up some old problems, but more of them had frictions with the generals guarding the border, causing a lot of public cases."

"At this critical juncture, we still expect the generals to defend the country. You civil officials and gentry are not going to take the opportunity to suppress the military merits?"

Yang Tinghe's face almost turned green. How could he slander someone's innocence out of thin air?

"Your Majesty is wise. The censors patrol the border and cooperate with the garrison to improve the defense."

"To put it bluntly, they are just picking faults. Those generals guarding the border are living a comfortable life. Suddenly, an imperial censor came in and found faults with them and checked their accounts. Naturally, conflicts broke out between the two sides!"

His words surprised Zhu Houzhao. He didn't expect Yang Tinghe to start "keeping pace with the times"!

"Master Yang means that the censor is a dragon crossing the river, and the border general is a local snake. One side wants to maintain stability, and the other side wants to make a difference. When the two fight, conflicts will naturally arise?"

"Your Majesty is wise!" Yang Tinghe flattered him lightly.

The censor patrolling the border and the general guarding the border are almost like a dragon crossing the river and a local snake.

Although Zhu Houzhao's metaphor is a bit vulgar, it directly points to the key point.

"But the problem is that this is not the situation the court wants to see. It's fine if we can't unite as one when a war is about to start, but we still fight each other. When the Mongolian prince goes south, we will just surrender and admit defeat!"

This is a joke.

"Your Majesty, the generals guarding the border are from the military, they deceive their superiors and subordinates, withhold military pay, and enslave soldiers... These are common things. Now the court has sent a large number of censors to inspect, which is intended to rectify the unhealthy trends, and it is normal to have conflicts."

"In my opinion, in the final analysis, it is because although the censors are inspecting on behalf of the court, the generals in various places have been arrogant for a long time, how can they be willing? If you want to solve this problem, you need to send powerful officials in the capital to inspect various places and make arbitrary decisions on the spot."

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Yang Tinghe. His words clearly had the suspicion of taking the opportunity to flatter the generals guarding the border.

But the problem is that what Yang Tinghe said is also the truth.

The generals guarding the border in the Ming Dynasty today are indeed very different from those in the early years of the country and the Yongle period.

Eating empty salaries, abandoning training, withholding military pay and enslaving soldiers... These are all common things.

What's more, it's not uncommon to misappropriate the garrison troops for private use and to give these generals private benefits.

The Ming Dynasty's border defense has been slack for a long time.

During the Hongzhi period, the entire border defense was even more outrageous!

From east to west, the entire border defense was beaten like a dog by the Mongolian Tartars. The Ming army was unable to resist, and descriptions such as "unable to resist", "sitting on the enemy's entry", and "ashamed" were everywhere.

Those so-called great victories were either the court gilding itself or the border generals killing innocent people to claim credit. Others may not know, but how could Zhu Houzhao not know.

For example, in the first month of the twelfth year of Hongzhi, the Liaodong governor reported to the court that he had won three great victories and beheaded 300 people. It looks very impressive, right?

As a result, after the victory report reached the court, no one believed it at all!

"The frontier troops are tired and lacking in energy. In the past, they donated hundreds of people and only managed to capture one or two heads!"

"Li Gao's old illness and the cowardice of the patrol officers and sergeants in various towns, how can he do this?"

The civil servants and gentry began to question, the officers and soldiers of Liaodong were all a bunch of trash. In the past, one or two hundred people could only be beheaded one or two levels. How could such a great victory be achieved now? There must be some fraud!

Even after a great victory, no one believed it. How could the civil servants and gentry of the imperial court suppress people like this?

As a result, the late emperor sent people to investigate, and it turned out to be a fraud.

On the pretext of mutual trade, the Liaodong officers and soldiers deceived more than 300 men and women from Taining and Fuyu Guards, got them drunk, and then killed them before reporting their victory to the court.

What is this?

At best, it's a trap, but at worst, it's killing a good person and taking credit for it!

To deceive people into killing them, to initiate side provocations, to arouse resentment, and to have the nerve to report victory, this is the virtue of the Liaodong officers and soldiers. It is simply a shame and a great humiliation!

During the entire Hongzhi period, there were very few battles in which the Ming Dynasty could effectively resist the Northern invaders, and there were only three or four major victories. Wang Yue's "Helan Mountain Victory", which was often touted by the gentry, only had the real result of beheading four people. Level 12.

The rest of the battle is not worth mentioning. Most of the people involved in the invasion will be convicted of the relevant guards. Even if they are convicted, the Hongzhi court seems to be careless. There is almost no detailed and serious investigation of the reasons. They do not think about improvement strategies. They just simply The local government fined him a salary or demoted him, and many times he directly "forgived him" and ordered him to kill the enemy for his crime.

So much so that Wang Hao, who was still the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs at the time, couldn't help but write a memorial, "In recent years, border officials who pretended to report their merits were rewarded, and those who lost the law and lost the law were often ordered to be punished and killed. This is why people's hearts are becoming increasingly lax." ", the reason why border preparations are weakening day by day is that the imperial court does not pay attention to it, does not strictly supervise it, and does not take any measures. Although meritorious service is rewarded, guilty party is not punished. In such an atmosphere, the border guards and soldiers below are of course superfluous and ineffective in responding to the war."

After more than ten years of such laissez-faire, the Northern Barbarians became more and more arrogant, and from time to time they went south to rob and kill countless people. On the other hand, the Ming Dynasty's border troops became more and more decadent and weak, and they only knew how to huddle in the Great Wall fortress, not even daring to fight back. , are extremely afraid of the Tatars, and have no military morale at all!

Therefore, it is not entirely the civil servants who are pouring dirty water on the generals, but the real reason for the failure of border preparations. The same cannot be entirely blamed on those guarding the border generals. The imperial court must bear the main responsibility!

Zhu Houzhao sighed and said: "What Master Yang said is true. With the overall situation in mind, I have no time to deal with these trivial matters of criticizing each other."

"If we want to choose a capable and important minister to patrol the border, does Master Yang have any suitable candidates?"

"Fei Hong, the censor of Zuodu!" Yang Tinghe gave the answer without thinking.

As for a powerful and important minister who can also control the arrogant frontier generals, there is no more suitable candidate except the General Secretary of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Zhu Houzhao was also a little frightened. He looked at Yang Tinghe and fell into deep thought.

Is this, the civil servant and gentry... a sign of goodwill?

The General Secretary of the Metropolitan Procuratorate personally patrols the border for the sake of the overall situation, which was extremely rare in the past!

However, there are dozens of passes on the border and such a big deal. If you want to take charge of the overall situation, you must have an important minister who can control it with strength and prestige.

It is not as wild as the savages said. It is outrageous for military ministers to salute civil servants when they see them. This is because today's military generals, especially the border generals, have not yet faded away from the arrogance and arrogance of the early dynasty.

Therefore, to take charge of this matter, someone at the level of Jiuqing must come forward, otherwise it will not be suppressed.

According to the previous rules of the imperial court, the most senior official who went out on inspections was the censor of Youdu.

Although the Yushi of Youdu is not a sitting official, he is still a high-ranking person. The next step is the Jiuqing, and naturally he cannot be appointed casually.

"Fei Zongxian has a strong character and outstanding abilities. He personally patrols the border and organizes border affairs. No matter how arrogant those border generals are, they will not dare to confront Fei Zongxian. Then the border will be stable!"

Yang Tinghe spoke again and gave his explanation.

When things have developed to this point, civil servants and gentry must also start taking the overall situation into consideration.

Fei Hong, the censor of Zuodu, personally patrols the border and organizes border affairs, which can also show His Majesty the Emperor the responsibilities and responsibilities of civil servants and gentry!

"I'll give it some thought and discuss this matter later!"

Zhu Houzhao saw Tang Hao, so he didn't rush to agree to the matter.

Knowing that His Majesty the Emperor was coming in person, Tang Hao had no choice but to bring Qiu Yue, Wang Qiong and others to pick him up.

"Okay, okay, I'm just walking around casually, no need to be polite!"

Zhu Houzhao helped Tang Hao up, and noticed that Anguo and Wang Qiong were still there, and immediately asked: "Why haven't you two dear ladies rushed to take up their posts?"

"Marquis Tang said there is an infrastructure artifact!" Wang Qiong answered honestly.

"Sacred weapon?" Zhu Houzhao's eyes suddenly lit up, "What good thing is it again?"

Yang Tinghe was also full of curiosity. It was better to come early than to come by chance!

Tang Hao didn't bother to explain and just waved his hand.

"Let's go and see it together!"