The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"After this war, Li Chengliang wanted to change places and could no longer stay in Liaodong.

At this time, Wei Guangde stopped talking about the servant and told Tan Lun.

"There are thousands of servants, and the monthly military salary is at least a thousand taels of silver. Where does the money come from?

If people are not transferred out of Liaodong in time, it will be unclear what the surname will be there in the future. "

Seeing Tan Lun in a daze, Wei Guangde explained.

Although Wei Guangde didn't know how much money Li Chengliang paid his servants every month, the money was definitely indispensable for making people work hard.

Where can a general's money come from?

There are two channels, one is corruption and the other is bribery.

Corruption is about the money from the military towns. They withhold the money that should be given to the guards and distribute it to their own private soldiers. They even directly steal the land of the military camps and turn the guards of the imperial court into their own tenants. use.

As for accepting bribes, it is more complicated. It may be to collect money to do things for others. For example, the border general in Jiangxi Town took money from Shanxi merchants, opened the door to convenience at the border, and tacitly accepted that Shanxi merchants were smuggled out of the customs.

They may also extort local wealthy households, occupy their properties, etc.

You know, Liaodong is a very special place in the Ming Dynasty. It belongs to the Shandong Chief Envoy in name, but in fact it is a military town.

There is no local government, only military institutions exist, and it is a place controlled by the military and government.

Although Liaodong has a governor of Liaodong, there are three administrative units at the provincial level, namely Ningqian Road, Guangning Road, and Liaohai Branch Patrol Road.

But there is nothing further down. They are all managed by the garrison and military garrison. It can be said that except for a few large cities in Liaodong that are managed by civilian officials appointed by the Liaodong Dusi, the rest are controlled by military generals.

As for Shandong, which is nominally in charge, in fact it was no longer able to manage Liaodong affairs in the early Ming Dynasty, and the governor of Liaodong reported directly to the court.

"Shandai, don't you still want to transform Liaodong into the Chief Envoy?"

Although it was all about military affairs before, Tan Lun heard Wei Guangde's dissatisfaction with the current situation in Liaodong and wanted to transfer Li Chengliang away after the war. Wei Guangde seemed to have other ideas about Liaodong.

"Apart from Li Chengliang of Liaodong, are there thousands of generals and private soldiers in the DPRK?"

Wei Guangde just asked, "If there are any, move them to the town as well."

Regarding Liaodong, Wei Guangde had many plans since the last time he built a fort in Kuandian.

A very important reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty was the rise of the Jurchen tribe in Liaodong, which cost the Ming court tens of millions of silver.

Not to mention the military pay due to the surge in war, the later construction of the so-called Ningjin Defense Line was very expensive. If this part of the consumption was left in the court, even if only a small part fell on disaster relief, it would have prevented the Shanshan disaster. So vast.

Without rogue thieves who are too big to lose, the Ming court would not have collapsed under the attack from both fronts.

This time is an opportunity.

After letting Li Chengliang defeat the Jurchen tribe, Wei Guangde would not let him play any tricks to support the bandits. Wei Guangde planned to complete his achievements in one battle and restore the century-old peace in Liaodong.

As for how to fight, Qi Jiguang naturally needs to take action.

Now that they have fought, they must eliminate all the evil, directly eliminate the main force of the Jurchen tribe, and expel the remaining troops to the farther north.

The Liaodong soldiers probably wouldn't be able to do such a thing, so Qi Jiguang's Jizhen army must participate.

After a century of stability in Liaodong, it was natural to consider changing Liaodong from a state of military control, establishing a chief envoy office, and making it the fourteenth province of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the other force that threatens the stability of Liaodong, the Tuman tribe, it is actually simple, that is, fighting.

The current strength of the Mongols is obviously declining, which can be seen from the fact that Anda Khan chose to accept the canonization of the Ming Dynasty and became the King of Shunyi.

Anda Khan is the most powerful in Mongolia, and he cannot continue to be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty. What about other tribes?

If the military was really strong enough to fight against the Ming Dynasty, it would not be possible for them to surrender to An Da Khan.

Just by this speculation, Wei Guangde no longer regarded the Mongols as a threat to the Ming Dynasty.

After Tan Lun left, Wei Guangde put the matter aside.

He would not go up to the pole to talk to Zhang Juzheng about this matter, it was not urgent anyway.

In the afternoon, there was still about an hour before the public office, and as expected, someone came to invite the chief assistant.

The Ming Dynasty's cabinet has always handled official affairs in this way. If there is an emergency, the ministers can naturally be summoned at any time to discuss the matter. If it is just something that is usually difficult, it is usually discussed at this time.

Regardless of whether there is such a matter, Zhang Juzheng will always invite ministers to sit there for a while, even if it is just to drink tea and chat.

When they arrived at Zhang Juzheng's place, after a while of greetings, Lu Tiaoyang also entered the check-in room.

"You two, if there is anything that needs to be discussed today, please feel free to talk about it and let us discuss it."

After the scribe brought tea to Lu Tiaoyang, Zhang Juzheng spoke.

Lu Tiaoyang smiled and said: "The embarrassing matters have been dealt with a few days ago. In the past few days, all I have received are ordinary business affairs, and there is nothing worth talking to the second master."

"Haha, it's a good thing that the court has nothing to do."

Zhang Juzheng just answered with a smile. After smiling, he looked at Wei Guangde to see what was going on over there.

Wei Guangde took out the battle report from the Ministry of War from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Juzheng and said: "There is nothing important today. It's just that the Ministry of War sent a battle report. A few days ago, Dong Changtu, the younger brother of the chief of Duoyan tribe, raised troops to raise troops and was beaten back by Qi Jiguang. Yes, Dong Changtu was captured alive."

As soon as Wei Guangde finished speaking, Lu Tiaoyang put his hands on his hands and laughed and said: "This is a victory, and we still captured the enemy chief alive. We should ask Jizhen to hand over the merit book as soon as possible and let the Ministry of War set a reward."

Zhang Juzheng took the battle report from Wei Guangde and unfolded it. He soon smiled. When he looked away, he looked at Wei Guangde and asked, "Shandai, what do you think of this matter?"

"Dong Changtu stayed in Jizhen first. According to the battle report, the Duoyan tribe sent someone to make peace, hoping to release him.

Now that King Xuanda Shunyi has surrendered, only Mongolian tribes like the Duoyan tribe who are dissatisfied with the peace agreement are still enemies of our Ming Dynasty.

This time, we captured Dong Hu's younger brother, hoping to recreate the events of that day and make the Duoyan tribe surrender.

In this way, the only remaining Mongolian tribes were the Liaoxi Tuman tribe. King Shunyi also said that he did not have strong binding force on this tribe, and he did not want to raise troops to attack the rebels, so we had to take action ourselves, maiming the people and forcing them Surrender is. "

Wei Guangde said, "If the various Mongolian tribes unite, it should not be difficult to gather 200,000 people, but they themselves are divided, and our government just takes the opportunity to weaken them."

"This matter can be tried by the Ministry of War. Is there anything else?"

The battle in Jizhen was not a big deal in Zhang Juzheng's eyes, so he quickly forwarded the battle report to Lu Tiaoyang and spoke again himself.

"The rest is fine."

Wei Guangde shook his head slightly and said.

"Shandai, Sir He, if there is nothing else to do today, let's discuss the Jiaolai Canal again.

I mentioned this to Shandai before, but I wonder if I have any ideas now. "

Zhang Juzheng saw that nothing happened in the court, so he brought the matter of re-excavating the Jiaolai Canal, which he had discussed with Wei Guangde earlier, to the cabinet for discussion.

“The Jiaolai Canal was dug in the Yuan Dynasty, but nothing was done about it in the end. The Yuan Dynasty switched to shipping and no longer maintained the canal.

I have also thought about this matter. We have discussed it repeatedly before. It is difficult to dig the Jiaolai Canal. Even if it is completed, it may not be able to sail due to insufficient water. I think the Ministry of Industry is right and does not support excavation. "

Wei Guangde had discussed it with Zhu Heng a long time ago, so he directly expressed his attitude, which was opposition.

At this time, Lu Tiaoyang did not speak, but looked at Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde.

He also knew something about the Jiaolai Canal. Although he had not directly participated in the discussion, he also knew that it was rejected in the final on-site investigation by the Ministry of Industry.

When did Zhang Juzheng have the idea to restart the Jiaolai Canal?

Lu Tiaoyang was curious, but he could also guess that Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng should have talked about this before, but he didn't know.

“Good loans and reconsideration of the Jiaolai Canal are also preparations for the safe transportation of grain to the capital.

You are also aware of the damage to the Fushan Island tanker, which shows that the risks of shipping are unpredictable. I think it is safer to go through the inland river.

There is only a sea route from Huai'an to the mouth of the river. It only takes half a day to reach it by boat. It is also close to the coast and is considered safe. "

Zhang Juzheng said.

"The Ministry of Industry conducted an on-site survey and calculated that at least millions of dollars would have to be invested in order to restore shipping on this canal. Where could the imperial court have the money to do this?

Moreover, Qianyuan had already used this road in the past, but in the end due to insufficient water, it was not possible to carry a fully loaded canoe. "

Wei Guangde also immediately refuted the unrealistic idea of ​​co-navigation of the Jiaolai Canal.

"Introducing water from several surrounding rivers into the canal."

Zhang Juzheng came up with his own solution and said bluntly.

"The cost is too high and the court cannot afford it."

Wei Guangde still shook his head.

Seeing that the two of them had their own opinions, Lu Tiaoyang spoke at the right time and said: "Master Shou Fu, I think what Shou Fu said is reasonable.

The previous government had excavated the Jiaolai Canal, but actually gave up in the end. I also think it is not feasible. "

“Instead of digging a new canal, we should invest in building bigger ships.

The ship is large and has strong ability to withstand wind and waves. "

Wei Guangde immediately answered.

Since Zhang Juzheng did not consider finances, it means that Zhang Juzheng already had a plan for the coming year's finances. Wei Guangde decisively brought the topic to the construction of large-scale ships.

"I heard that during the Yongle Dynasty, the Nanjing Bao Shipyard could build five thousand large ships, and each ship could carry five or six thousand stones of grain and a thousand people.

Rather than excavating and abandoning the canal before the Yuan Dynasty, it would be safer to build such a large ship to transport grain from Huai'an to Beijing. "

Wei Guangde strived to rebuild the ship at Nanjing Bao Shipyard, and he also had many considerations.

There is no doubt about the convenience of sea-going ships for transportation, and transportation between the north and south of the Ming Dynasty is now carried by water. However, the navigation volume of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is really hard to describe, and it is by no means as smooth as later generations thought.

Even in a disaster-free year, ships on the canal can only be released in batches, and they are definitely not just going along the river casually.

Every time Wei Guangde crossed the canal, he would wait for some time at various locks. Even if the ship he took had priority over the canal boats and private merchant ships, he still had to wait because of conditions such as the need to wait for water to be filled in the channel and for upstream ships to arrive at the locks.

In other words, many sections of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal are actually one-way traffic, which also causes congestion in many waterways and requires sluice officials to divert them.

"Marine transportation can only be a supplement, but it is not a once and for all solution."

Zhang Juzheng saw that Wei Guangde admired sea transportation so much, so he had to advise, "River transportation is the safest method, and good loans must not be taken away from food due to choking."

Moreover, the areas through which the canal passes are prosperous in commerce and provide food and clothing for the people on both sides of the strait. This is also beneficial to stabilizing the place, and shipping cannot compare. "

"So Shandai never believes that water transportation should be abandoned, but it is not necessary to transport grain through canals.

Every time a ship passes through the border, merchant ships will be blocked in the sluice.

If water transport is carried out by sea, merchant ships can pass through the locks smoothly, which is actually good for commerce.

Dangerous sea transportation is borne by the imperial court, while safe river transportation is carried by civilian ships. This is also the responsibilities of the imperial court for the sake of the people and not competing with the people for profit. "

Wei Guangde smiled.

Anyway, many officials like to talk about not competing with the people for profit. Wei Guangde is now learning and selling.

Zhang Juzheng saw that Wei Guangde was not getting enough oil and salt, but he was still optimistic about shipping, and felt a little exhausted for a while.

I have already mentioned all the concessions that will benefit the people, so what else can I say?

Seeing Zhang Juzheng's ugly expression, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of what Zhu Heng had said about what the Ministry of Industry had discussed earlier, which was a project to avoid the Yellow River.

The biggest problem with this strategy is that it costs a lot, because it needs to dig hundreds of miles of new canals, avoiding the Xuzhou section of the Yellow River and going through Taierzhuang, Hanzhuang and other places.

This proposal was aborted because of the huge cost. Considering that Zhang Juzheng was willing to spend millions of taels of silver to build the Jiaolai Canal, it would be better to divert his attention here.

After thinking about it, Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Juzheng and said again: "Brother, in fact, the Jiaolai Canal is not the only way to make a smooth canal. In the early years, the Ministry of Industry had intentionally dug a canal from Pizhou to Nanyang Xinhe to avoid Xuzhou and avoid Yellow River.

It's just a huge project, but it can indeed solve the difficulty of sailing near Xuzhou and the problem of the Yellow River bursting. "

Wei Guangde still reminded Zhang Juzheng.

"That one requires millions of taels of silver, which is more than twice as big as digging the Jiaolai Canal, and it also takes longer."

Zhang Juzheng shook his head. Obviously he knew about this and had probably considered it, but was frightened by the huge cost.

Seeing that Zhang Juzheng knew about this, Wei Guangde continued: "But digging the Jia Canal can directly avoid the most dangerous section of water transportation, which is very beneficial to ensuring the smooth flow of water transportation."

"Not to mention that the imperial court has no money, even if the imperial court can pay for this expenditure, what will Xuzhou do?"

Zhang Juzheng said without thinking.

Hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, Wei Guangde immediately realized that Zhang Juzheng should have a deep relationship with the water transport interest group, so he has always supported the water transport faction in matters of water transport.

It is no wonder that he has always opposed shipping and insisted on a phalanx in which shipping is supplemented.

Thinking that many people wanted to cancel the plan to transport grain by sea because of the Fushan Island shipwreck, Wei Guangde couldn't help but feel nervous.

If there had not been a private deal with Zhang Juzheng that time, I am afraid that Zhang Juzheng would have stood up clearly to support them in canceling the shipping of grain, even though this policy had been made a permanent rule not long ago.

"My opinion on the canal is this. Either build the Jia Canal or build a sea route. The Jiaolai Canal is definitely not feasible."

Wei Guangde made his attitude clear directly and did not want to compromise.

I was almost sold by Zhang Juzheng. If I don't be tougher now, I don't know how Zhang Juzheng will handle him in the future.

Thinking about what he and Feng Bao had done, Wei Guangde couldn't help but feel angry.

Pretending that I don’t know, it’s so uncomfortable to hold it in. (End of chapter)