As the end of the year approaches, the capital is calm and peaceful.

During the end of the year, it was snowing every day in the capital, and the earth was covered with ice and snow, which was a scene of silver. People rarely went out, and several lively morning and evening markets in the capital were stopped, and even the affairs of the court were postponed as much as possible.

The assessment of all officials was postponed to the first lunar month, and officials who went to Beijing could only temporarily settle in stations, guild halls, hotels or private houses purchased in the capital early, waiting for the assessment results at the beginning of the next year.

During this period, Xie Qian's life was very comfortable.

His courtyard is full of guests every day, especially when a large number of officials waiting for the assessment are stranded in the capital at the end of the year. Some students who were once ministers or in the same year as the imperial examination came to visit. If it were normal, Xie Qian might not have met him. But now Xie Qian is the chief minister and is responsible for the stability of the court. If the emperor does not see the court officials, he will stand up and teach the officials to be loyal to the emperor and the country.

There are several groups of ministers he meets every day, and each time he meets about half an hour, when he meets some old friends, Xie Qian even keeps someone for dinner.

Among these people, one of them has a special status, which is Wang Qiong, who was just appointed as the three-sided general system.

The border officials of the Ming Dynasty needed to return to the capital to report their duties. Wang Qiong came to the capital this time mainly to report on military and political affairs in the northwest, and at the same time asked the court for money and food.

Because Wang Qiong didn't take office for a long time and his status in the central government was obviously not as good as Shen Xi and Yang Yiqing, he was forced to deal with matters in the northwest. After Wang Qiong arrived in the capital, he immediately tried to communicate with the Ministry of Revenue, but the feedback from the Ministry of Revenue was that the treasury was tight and powerless.

Wang Qiong had superb political skills and vaguely smelled that the cabinet was stuck and did not allocate money and grain to the northwest, so he had to come to the teacher Xie Qian for help... When Wang Qiong was promoted to the Jinshi in the 20th year of Chenghua, Xie Qian was the same examiner.

In previous wars against Tatars, Wang Qiong basically did not appear on the front line. Although he became bigger and bigger, he lacked prestige. However, Wang Qiong was the "disciple" that Xie Qian admired. He was young and had a bright future... Although Wang Qiong himself was in his forties, Xie Qian still took time to meet him.

"... Two years ago, Liu Yi used his power to transfer money and grain from the northwest treasury to the capital, so that the local treasury was empty. The rebellion of the Anhua King occurred the first year. Now in the cold winter, soldiers on the three sides are short of clothes and food. This time, the students returned to Beijing and specially talked to the Ministry of Revenue. I hope my mentor can guide him on his behalf..."

After seeing Xie Qian, Wang Qiong visited with the rituals of his students and was respectful.

Xie Qian was at ease to receive the visit, but he did not show too much enthusiasm on his face and sighed: "Dehua, this Ming Dynasty treasury is empty because of the trouble of the tyrant named Liu. You don't know that many of the autumn grains have been making up for the deficits in the past two years. It is not easy to make the treasury full in a short period of time. The treasurys in various places are in a state of tension. The court has to lose one's care and let the locals solve the problem on their own."

It’s not that Xie Qian is in a difficult position, it’s entirely because of Shen Xi that he cannot allocate money and food to Wang Qiong, and can only treat this matter with a cold attitude.

Wang Qiong's tone was urgent: "The important areas in the northwest are different from the Central Plains and Jiangnan. The output of military military farmland here is really hard to compare with the fish and rice town."

Xie Qian shook his head: "Dehua, don't forget that the Central Plains has always been quiet. There are several groups of bandits across the mountains and rivers. The court sent people to quell the rebellion one after another. The local government could not collect food, and there were floods and droughts. The life is better now when you are in the court? The salaries of all officials in the capital have been owed for half a year!"

Wang Qiong was stunned. He didn't expect Xie Qian to feel bitter and grievances with him, and his sadness was beyond words.

It seems that these officials in the Ming Dynasty are in dire straits.

Wang Qiong thought to himself: "The killing of Liu Jin did not cause much storm. It was basically too stable. I heard that the grain in Taicang had already worms, so why did it happen very differently when it arrived at Xie Zhongtang? Liu Jin was greedy before, but he still had the ability to govern the country, so he would never have such a huge deficit in various places... Who was the one who deducted local food and grass under the name of Liu Jin?"

Wang Qiong was not a simple person. Later generations listed him as the third ministers of the Ming Dynasty together with Yu Qian and Zhang Juzheng. His talent and ability were much higher than Xie Qian.

In addition to his outstanding military talent, Wang Qiong also made achievements in governing people's livelihood. One thing he understood was that although Liu Jin was powerful, the overall power of the Ming Dynasty was still booming, and the local governments in the northwest were in stock.

It’s just that Liu Jin changed the previous grain storage system and transferred the money and grain to the capital for unified storage.

Wang Qiong thought that he would take the shipped food back to Beijing, but he was told that Liu Jin had a huge deficit in the current dynasty that the food that should have existed disappeared.

How can this answer satisfy Wang Qiong?

Wang Qiong asked: "Xie Zhongtang cannot tell the people from the Ministry of Revenue? Isn't it said that there will be a battle in the northwest next year?" Due to indifference, Wang Qiong's name for Xie Qian changed unknowingly.

Xie Qian became more and more angry when he heard the war in the coming year and said, "It's all rumors, or some old things when Liu Jin was in power. If the next year is over, how can we send troops to the north? Dehua, you have always known the right amount. Don't mention this matter again, otherwise you don't have to enter this door again!"

...

...

Wang Qiong was defeated by Xie Qian.

Although Wang Qiong had predicted it in advance, he was still unwilling to accept it after he returned.

Wang Qiong is not the kind of person who surrenders easily. He has more advantages than Wang Shouren and others. He is not just a mature and persistent person, but also because he can coordinate and take into account the overall situation. Under his governance, the northwest has minimized the impact of the Anhua King's rebellion. This time he came to the capital, and he also believed that he would not turn back until he achieved his goal.

"...Xie Zhongtang is obviously avoiding the problem. Perhaps the mainstream officials in the court do not support the war next year, so they deliberately deducted the food and supplies of border soldiers. Now it seems that only by contacting the pro-war faction can we get this batch of food and food..."

Wang Qiong quickly realized that in order to achieve his goal, he had to go to Shen Xi, the first three-sided general manager.

"... Among so many people in the court, the absolute representative of the war faction is Shen Zhihou, the Minister of War. Although he is young and energetic, his achievements in the border are higher than anyone else. Even Shangshu Ma and Shangshu Liu were not as good as him. After returning to the capital, he first fought against Liu Jin and then against his relatives. Now he has retired, recuperating at home and keeping his low profile. I heard that he is still raising military funds. If I ask him for help from the Northwest Treasury, he will definitely help me..."

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Qiong personally visited Shenxi Mansion.

Because he submitted a visitor in advance, Shen Xi already knew that Wang Qiong was coming. For Shen Xi, Wang Qiong was considered a heavyweight guest.

Shen Xi did not meet Wang Qiong in his ward, but in the study, mainly to reflect respect for Wang Qiong. Although he still had to pretend that he had not healed, on the spiritual level, he did not want to lose to Wang Qiong. After all, this involves the issue of prestige and primary and secondary.

Chen Xi envisioned the war next year, but it required the full cooperation of the Northwest military and civilians, and he had to give the guests a sense of confidence.

Wang Qiong was very polite when he saw Chen Xi. He did not show off his attitude as a colleague or a person who had experienced it, but instead gave a tribute to Chen Xi as his subordinates.

Chen Xi naturally would not be too arrogant. After the two of them sat down after seeing each other, Wang Qiong came up to express his intention: "...I am here to come because of the insufficient inventory of grain in the Northwest Prefecture."

Chen Xi nodded: "Have you ever seen Bo'an before Brother Dehua came to the capital?"

"Um."

Wang Qiong nodded and said, "I have passed by Xuanfu. I have to ask the food and materials stored in the Xuanfu treasury in detail, and have had an overnight talk with Bo'an. He said that after arriving in the capital, I can first go to the Ministry of Revenue and Xie Zhongtang to try my luck. If it fails, I can only try to meet the saint."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Why did Brother Dehua come to see me again?"

Wang Qiong said: "After meeting Xie Zhongtang, I realized that the intention he had covered was obvious. I knew that most officials in the court had a negative attitude towards the use of military forces in the northwest next year. This is also the fundamental reason why the court used no food. I know that Shangshu Chen has made great achievements in operating the northwest in recent years. I hope to assist Shangshu Chen in the next year to plead for mercy."

Chen Xi shook his head: "It's not a question of pleading for mercy. I am worried about the lack of military rations in the northwest. The resistance of the court is too great. The court even set a task for the northwest to raise military rations by itself, but it was rejected by me, mainly because I know that life in the northwest is not easy."

Wang Qiong's face was gloomy. It was obvious that the two had a lot in common with respect to the northwest issue.

Chen Xi felt that Wang Qiong seemed to have a tendency to dominate the war, so he took the opportunity to ask: "Let's not talk about the military rations for the time being, what do Brother Dehua think about the war next year?"

Wang Qiong thought for a while, then said helplessly: "In fact, I did not take the initiative to cater to Shangshu Chen, but the situation on the grassland changed rapidly. The Dayan tribe has once again calmed down the internal troubles of the Tatars and gradually formed a situation of great unification. If they continue to unite within their internal forces, there will be no peace in the northwest border defense in the next few years or even hundreds of years."

After hearing Wang Qiong's words, Chen Xi felt what insight was.

Speaking to a person who knows how to talk to a knowledgeable person, Chen Xidao: "The idea of ​​this is consistent with Brother Dehua. This year or two is the best opportunity. It is better to promote another division within the Tatars. As long as the grassland tribes fight each other, the situation on this border will be much better. At that time, whether the court adopted a policy of gentleness or threatened by force, it was better than now."

Wang Qiong nodded, and his eyes looked at Chen Xi with a little mutual appreciation.

However, Wang Qiong also understood that he would not be able to help much in this future war. At most, he would do logistics work, and the matter of leading the three armies would be done by Shen Xi.

Chen Xidao: "When will Brother Dehua go back to the three sides?"

"After the New Year... it may not be set off until the end of the first lunar month." Wang Qiong said.

Chen Xi shook his head: "It may not be necessary that late. I will find an opportunity to take you to meet Your Majesty. What do you want to say? Tell Your Majesty clearly in person. With Your Majesty's help, it should not be difficult to allocate food from the capital treasury. But you must be mentally prepared. The money and food you can get is much less than you expected!"

...

...

When Wang Qiong met Chen Xi, what he mentioned was basically money, grain, military funds.

Wang Qiong could not get money and food from Chenxi, but Chen Xi could take him to see the emperor, which provided great convenience for Wang Qiong.

For a minister, seeing the king is an honor, and whether he can get money and food is a secondary issue.

After Chen Xi sent Wang Qiong away, he deeply felt that the current difficulties faced by the northwest were tantamount to the war next year. The court tried its best to seize the cost of the Northwest army and local governments in terms of food and resources, and ignored the interests of the generals and the people in the Three Borders and Xuanda Land, which would not help win the hearts of the people.

"...Xie Yuqiao did a great job. He did not give money and food, and even tried his best to provide the money and food that border troops and localities should have. If the Northwest material crisis cannot be solved in a short period of time, it is very likely that the officers and soldiers will give in first. Even if this war is forcibly implemented next year, it will bring many uncertainties. At that time, I was digging my own grave..."

Chen Xi originally wanted to write a letter to Xie Qian or submit a memorial to Chen Ming, but when he thought that the cabinet and the Sili Supervisor were in contact with each other, Chen Xi felt very powerless.

He did not fight for Zhang Yuan, causing Zhang Yuan to get along with Xie Qian. This also means that if Zhu Houzhao comes forward to provide help, any request from the Ministry of War may be rejected by Xie Qian.

Xie Qian completely took the initiative.

After Chen Xi thought about it, he felt that he shouldn't have told Zhu Houzhao, so he naturally wouldn't beg Xie Qian. Both methods were causing trouble for himself.

"...Xie Yuqiao waited for me to surrender, and everything was followed by his orders, so it was not very meaningful to go to him. He would never give me any convenience. On the contrary, if I went there, he would be even more arrogant. He felt that I could not do anything without him. As for His Majesty, what's the use of going to say? He had already agreed that military rations and supplies needed to be raised by himself, but now he helped Wang Qiong to ask for money and food, which was like slapping himself in the face. It was really undesirable..."

Chen Xi seemed to be facing a dead end, which was very different from fighting with Liu Jin.

Now it is equivalent to tug of war with Xie Qian. It is still unknown who can win. At least now Xie Qian has an absolute advantage in morality and court. Anyone who challenges Xie Qian's authority is to bring shame on himself. Chen Xi also felt that his previous blind concessions gave Xie Qian a kind of confidence and gave the initiative in his hand.

"...I can only raise money and food from merchants in advance. However, it is too difficult to solve the food and military pay crisis in the northwest in a short period of time. The next step is to see how to transport food from the south. This will test the commercial network established before. Do you want me to raise money to help the court solve the crisis?"

Chen Xi was very annoyed.

He felt that all the money that Hui Niang had just transported him from the south was going to be spent, which meant that the money he had earned was given to the court for nothing, and it might not be enough to fill it all in.

But what's annoying is that no one appreciates it yet. For the sake of his political ambitions, he needs the support of a strong trade system, which also makes Chen Xi more determined to carry out industrial and commercial tax reform in the Ming Dynasty. In Shen Xi's view, only when industry and commerce develop can scientific and technological progress be promoted and feedback it to industry, can farmers get out of the vicious circle of stagnation in agricultural society for thousands of years.
Chapter completed!