Chen Xi didn't want to go to Beiguan. If he wanted to go, when he came back from Quanzhou, Liu Daxia asked him to go to Beiguan to transport food and salary, he agreed.

Now Xie Qian is driving the duck to put it on the shelves, and he has to be sent to Beiguan for a few days to "train".

Just my little body, I almost broke up when I went to Quanzhou. There were so many things that I had the motivation to return to my hometown to visit my relatives. I ran to Beiguan in the cold winter months, which was because I was sincerely sorry for my health!

Chen Xi didn't know how long it would take to go to this time. Fortunately, Beiguan is not too far from the capital, and it would take more than ten or twenty days to go back and forth. If we count the time we stayed at the border, it would probably be the same for a month unless we happened to encounter a war...

Chen Xi quickly abandoned this idea, not to mention that the crows really met... The Tatars have been busy for a year and have enough food and clothing. They have to take advantage of the heavy snow and freeze to take a break and have a sumptuous grassland meal. Their wives and children have a good rest on the kang. They don’t have to hunt everywhere like mad dogs all year round.

But who knows what the Tatars thought?

What if they feel that they haven’t robbed enough, or that there is a hot beef and mutton on the kang, but their wife and servants are not enough, and they are planning to come to the Central Plains to rob the population again?

When Shen Xi felt that his life was about to experience a major hardship, a court meeting was also held in the palace.

This court meeting was discussed in the autumn scenery a few days later.

The Ming Dynasty did not emphasize that the world was won by the horse on the back of the horse. These days, being able to be good at literature and martial arts is not a great thing. The most important thing is to learn moral articles well, and it is best to be unanimously praised by scholars. Then entering the house is not a dream.

Emperor Hongzhi rarely engages in physical activities since he ascended the throne, let alone hunting in the paddocks, which is also the reason why he is in poor health.

Now Emperor Hongzhi doesn’t even know how to ride a horse, and going to hunt will only make people laugh.

However, when the Tatars were so special, in order to show their importance to the warriors, the court had to do the last time even the autumn hunt that had not been carried out for a long time. The British Duke Zhang Mao was still strong, and he would personally get on the horse, bend his bow and arrow, and show the power of the Ming Dynasty's archer to the foreigners.

As for the brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling, they did not take the initiative to ask for some advice... They had a little bit of self-knowledge. As a military post, they were also the "Military Marshal" of the Ming Dynasty, and they could not even ride a horse well, so don't show their shame in front of the Gentiles.

As for the literati of the Ming Dynasty, there are only two people who can ride horses and complete riding and shooting. One is Ma Wensheng, a veteran of the four dynasties. However, Ma Wensheng is in his seventies this year and his body is not as good as before. If he gets on the horse and makes trouble, he may even have his bones shaking apart. The other is Liu Daxia, who can barely deal with it, but he is over 60 years old this year, so it is a problem whether he can hunt prey on the yard.

In addition to Zhang Mao, the top civil officials and military generals of the Ming Dynasty were basically older than the other, and Emperor Hongzhi could not go on the battlefield personally. Looking back, there was no need for hunting this time.

"...Your Majesty, don't worry, aren't there any artillery?" Xie Qian smiled and reported.

The bad atmosphere in the court became alive because of Xie Qian's words... Yes, we still have artillery, but artillery is the magic weapon of the people of Folang Ji. Is it really appropriate for us to use it to scare the Urianha?

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty has always had a tradition of generosity. If the Urianha people saw it and thought this thing was good and asked us for two things, would we give it or not?

Of course not to give it!

Even our allies can't imagine the advanced things we have created. Who knows whether you will bite us like the Tatars in the future!

The Minister of Personnel Ni Yue said: "Sir Xie is proficient in artillery and thinks that with the Fran machine cannon, all nations can come to pay tribute?"

Among all, Ni Yue is the kind who likes to pick on others. He will speak directly if he doesn't like him. Xie Qian has been in the limelight recently, stealing the limelight of Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and the ministers, which makes him feel very unhappy.

As a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, you should have the awareness of a cabinet minister. You always ask the emperor about some strange and lewd skills. The Ming Dynasty may be ruined by your mouth.

Xie Qian looked at Ni Yue and said disdainfully: "What Mr. Ni said is wrong. You have seen the power of the artillery before. Such an exquisite firearm was made by Folang Jiman first, which seriously threatened the safety of my border... Shouldn't I, the Ming Dynasty, be shameless and brave?"

In terms of position in the central court, the Ministry of Personnel is the first of the six ministries. The Minister of Personnel and the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet are basically the same. However, because the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet has the power to make a vote, all the memorials are read by the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet before writing down the handling opinions and handing them over to the emperor for judgment. It can be said that he is the person closest to the emperor, so he seems to be even higher. But in fact, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet can only be a fifth-rank official, while the Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel is a real second-rank official.

After the Chenghua year of Jingtai, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet was successively given the title of Shangshu, and there were also special titles such as Taibao, Taifu, Shaobao, Shaofu, etc., and they had a high political status and had the first rank of official positions. Therefore, the Secretary of the Six Ministry had to ask for the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet for any matter. This made even the Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, the head of the Six Ministry, actually became a subordinate of the cabinet.

Xie Qian called Ni Yue "Old Ni", not how old Ni Yue was. Now Ni Yue is only fifty-six years old, and he belongs to the "young and strong school" among the ministers in the palace.

Xie Qian clearly said, "You are old" don't rely on your old age.

Seeing the two important ministers quarreling in front of the ministers, Emperor Hongzhi waved his hand quickly: "Okay, okay. Things that have been agreed upon before should not change. The artillery of the Folang Jiren is indeed worthy. If you stick to your own conscience, you may be the result of today when you encounter Tatars invading the border again!"

A word made the ministers present keep silent because anyone could see that Emperor Hongzhi was dissatisfied with the border army always avoiding fighting.

As soon as the Tatars invaded the border, they were confined to the Ming Dynasty. The officials could not retreat and allowed the Tatars' cavalry to ravage the border and rob the border people. This made Emperor Hongzhi feel extremely embarrassed.

It’s okay once or twice, this is the third time in a year, and it’s still the case. Although there are lessons from the Tumu Fort Incident, I, the emperor, did not lead the army in person. You should fight me well. No matter whether you win or lose, you must let me know that you are working hard!

Liu Jian asked with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that the Tatars repeatedly invade the border and the border troops cannot defend, which will damage the majesty of our Ming Dynasty. It is better to choose another capable governor from the three sides."

The Ming Dynasty's "three borders" refer to Ningxia, Gansu and Yansui, which is also the top priority for the Ming Dynasty's Beiguan defense of Tatars and Oirats. Because the Later Jin had not yet risen at this time, the Ming Dynasty placed its main defense direction on the three borders. Starting from the tenth year of Hongzhi, Wang Yue was the first three border governor.

When Zhu Youzhang heard this, although he agreed, he was worried... Who to be the governor of the three sides is a difficult question.

It is said that the soldiers of Beiguan are unable to defend themselves, which would damage the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, but this is the result of the emperor's tacit approval and the court's indulgence, because in the hearts of the Ming Dynasty, the monarchs and ministers, they do not want to fight this war. It is best that the Tatars can pay tribute to the court as honestly as before. Even if they don't come to pay tribute, just don't come to make trouble. Everyone gets along in harmony. The border will open a trade place for you so that you can get goods that are not on the grassland and be at peace with each other.

But the Tatars were just "disobedient". This was also the rise of the Dayan tribe. The Tatars became stronger and stronger. They were no longer interested in internal integration, but instead had more and more experience in robbing the people of the Central Plains.

Especially the fire sieve, it is simply a representative of finding trouble for nothing. If you lead the troops out, aren’t you afraid that your nest will be taken by the Dayan Khan of the Dayan tribe?

Zhu Youzhe asked, "Sir, can you have a favorite candidate?"

Liu Jian glanced at Ma Wensheng and didn't say anything, but the meaning was very obvious. Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War, was very suitable.

Ma Wensheng has led troops in the northwest for many years, and has only been back for less than two years. If you say you are old, your body looks OK, at least you have prestige. Even if you put people there, it will be enough to cheer up the soldiers of the three armies and make the Tatars frightened.

Liu Jian didn't say it directly, but Zhang Mao said: "Your Majesty, the old minister should have volunteered, but now the old minister is old and stupid, and I am afraid he will not be able to do this."

If you are not competent, you will still stand up and say something. Isn’t this a mess?

Everyone had this idea, but since it was Zhang Mao's words, even if they had thoughts in their hearts, they could not talk nonsense, because this was the British Duke who was in charge of military power in the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, when a smart person understands it, Zhang Mao stood up in disguise and said good things to Ma Wensheng... Zhang Mao is only 60 years old this year and calls himself "old". Shangshu Ma is 74 years old this year. You have to let someone die on the frontier before you can be willing to do so, right?

This is why Ma Wensheng didn't want to come out and volunteer. It's not that Ma Wensheng didn't want to serve the country. It's because he was already powerless at such age. It looks good to stay in Beijing and go to court every day, but no one knows that when he comes home from court, he is trembling when he wants to see his hand. Going to the border is obviously going to help.

Zhang Mao said he was not suitable, and Ma Wensheng was old, so who would go?

At this time, you must find someone who is respected, understands military strategies, is best at riding and shooting, and has a certain prestige in the army...

Naturally, many people look at Liu Daxia. Ma Wensheng is old. You are young. You are only sixty-four years old. It’s just that time. I think when Ma Wensheng went to the border, he was already sixty-six. Since Ma Wensheng could conquer the Western Regions and recover Hami at the age of sixty-six, you should be fine at the age of sixty-four, right?

Liu Daxia, who was looked at by everyone, went up and refused, and stood there as if he knew nothing.

Originally, Liu Daxia was used to helping Emperor Hongzhi do some jobs with imperial destiny. He has done a lot over the years. This is not the first time he went to Xuanfu. In the first few years, he also went to manage military pay and investigated major deficit cases of the Ministry of Revenue. But now, he also knows that his health is not as good as before, and in terms of military strategy, he is not a little bit different from Ma Wen.

Ma Wensheng was a serious leader in war, and at most he was a think tank for running errands, asking him to dispatch troops and generals. He asked himself not to be confident.

In the end, Zhu Youtang relieved his ministers: "According to the latest report, the Tatars have retreated a few days ago. I think there will be no more war before the spring of the next year. If artillery is sent to the border troops, there will be Tatars invasion, and there will be no need to worry too much. I will not discuss this matter for the time being."

The ministers present looked ugly.

Originally, it was discussing hunting in the paddocks, but later it was said that it would find someone to govern the three sides, which made the scene awkward because of a problem... In this hall, except for the brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling, they were all older than the other, and they were all old guys who were half-tied. They stood in the palace hall and talked about Shangke. If they really wanted to send them to do something, it would really cost their lives.

The only Zhang brothers who are of the same age and health are just famous relatives. They even have to take the initiative to hunt in the yard. They expect them to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy and serve the country. That is really a big deal.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit serious, Xie Qian quickly reported: "Your Majesty, the old minister mentioned before, about artillery matters..."

In order to show that he was no exception, Xie Qian quickly called himself an "old minister". Since those heavy issues are difficult to discuss, let's continue the previous topic and discuss the issue of the Folang machine cannon.

Ni Yue was still dissatisfied with Xie Qian just now, and now he is much more pleasing to Xie Qian.

There is a "You Kankan" in the court who is good at breaking deadlocks and smoothing out the situation. It is actually quite good. At least when Emperor Hongzhi and his ministers confront each other without saying anything, someone needs to come out to ease the atmosphere.

Just thinking about it again, the old ministers in the hall are worried!

***************

ps: The first update is here!

Last month, the emperor updated 560,000 words. This month, there are many things happening, and the goal is 450,000. The average daily is about 15,000 words. Please supervise it!

The emperor asked himself that he was a hardworking person and hoped to impress everyone and give you the most important monthly ticket to "The No. 1 Scholar in the Poor Family"!
Chapter completed!