Chapter 287: The Battle of Korea (Central)

The court meeting has been in progress for an hour, and the boring and lengthy three readings have come to an end. "Pei Jia, the governor of Ye County, is the Minister of the Secretariat, but is anyone opposed?"

The hall is silent, so what if the objection is? Before the new cabinet structure map was launched, all objections are meaningless unless the new person's serious fault can be cited.

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"Pei Jia, the governor of Ye County, is the Minister of the Secretariat, can anyone object?"

The hall was still silent. Seeing that no one objected, Pei You, the Minister of Personnel, stepped forward and bowed to Cui Xiaofu and said, "Reported to the Empress Dowager, there are 19 appointments for officials above the fourth rank and above this time, all of which were approved by the third reading."

Cui Xiaofu nodded, "The personnel appointment and removal end here. Can you please report this to me?"

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense.

"Empress Dowager, I have this memorial." Pei Jun stood up, and everyone's eyes were attracted by him. Without doubt, he wanted to announce the composition of the new cabinet. The news that the ministers had spread this morning was the reorganization of the highest power in the Tang Dynasty. The three chief ministers and six auxiliary ministers of the cabinet had clear power levels, and the interests between them were also clear at a glance.

Zhang Huan was also quietly waiting for Pei Jun's reading, just like everyone else. Before entering the hall, he had already given Pei Jun two names, Chu Xingshui and Cui Yu, these were the two cabinet assistants he recommended. He had not even had time to discuss with Cui Yu. Perhaps this was what Pei Jun expected.

Zhang Huan's eyes looked at Cui Yu, and it happened that Cui Yu's eyes were also looking at him. When the two of them touched their gazes, Zhang Huan smiled slightly and nodded to Cui Yu. He had already conveyed the meaning of his intention to express his opinion to the other party with his eyes and expressions.

"I want to ask the Empress Dowager to modify the family system, restore the standards before Qingzhi, and expand the admission quota for the Ministry of Personnel exam...."

Pei Jun's voice echoed in the hall. Almost everyone did not expect that Pei Jun's comments were actually the door shade, not the composition of the new cabinet. The whispering sound began to sound in the hall. No one understood why Pei Jun did not mention the matter of the cabinet, no! One person understood Pei Jun's true intention.

Zhang Huan's heart suddenly sank. He had fully understood that Pei Juntianping had turned to Cui Xiaofu. There would be no new cabinet to be introduced at this court meeting. Even if there was one, it would be a matter for the court meeting.

Without the existence of the cabinet, Cui Xiaofu's power suddenly became infinite. She could easily decide or reject a proposal, such as Shuofang Jiedushi.

"The original intention of Menyin is to give meritorious officials, and it is just a supplement to our Tang Dynasty official system. But to this day, seven or eight out of ten new officials have been selected from Menyin, and only one or two of the 100 Jinshi officials have obtained officials.

As time goes by, not only are new officials and talents becoming increasingly rare, but the public is also full of grievances, which prevents thousands of scholars from looking for. Therefore, the empress dowager believes that the family has come to a time to change, so I specially proposed this case and asked the Queen Mother to approve it."

Pei Jun's clear voice echoed in the hall, and the hall was already silent, surprised, doubted, agreed, resentful, and all emotions were intertwined. This was a proposal without any signs. Even officials from the Ministry of Personnel had never heard of it. This was Pei Jun's first proposal. Without any discussion, he directly asked the Queen Mother to approve it.

Zhang Huan was still sneering. This was because Cui Xiaofu and Pei Jun continued to play. The prime minister proposed a proposal and the empress dowager directly approved it. This was equivalent to telling all the ministers that in the court today, the empress dowager could decide everything.

This is a carefully planned layout, and the goal is Zhang Huan.

"What the Prime Minister said is very true. The Ai family heard that there were 97 new Jinshis last year, and only five officials were hired. This is undoubtedly a serious damage to the imperial examination system of the Tang Dynasty. The Ai family approved the case of the restructuring of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Personnel and forwarded it to the Ministry of Personnel for execution."

Cui Xiaofu criticized the word "accurate" on Pei Jun's memorial on the spot and handed it to the eunuch next to her. Pei Junshen gave a tribute, "I thank the Queen Mother for your kindness!"

He raised his eyes, glanced at Cui Xiaofu quickly, and then slowly retreated to the court. Back then, Cui Yuan proposed the new gang system. After fierce confrontation and behind-the-scenes transactions, it was finally passed. However, today, the abolition of the new gang system was only a cup of tea. Only Pei Jun and Cui Xiaofu's statements were passed, which shocked many people and wondered what was going on behind this.

Cui Xiaofu smiled proudly. This is the essence of today's court meeting. Without the restrictions of the cabinet and without Pei Jun's objection, then everything is up to her Empress Dowager.

Her eyes swept around the hall and fell on Li Mian. The next one was he who proposed Duan Xiushi as the governor of Shuofang.

"I have the idea to report!" A loud cry pulled her gaze in the other direction. Cui Xiaofu's eyes suddenly narrowed. She leaned forward and stared at the hall tightly. Zhang Huan came out of the list. Did he understand something?

The strong hostility radiated by Cui Xiaofu even felt it, the young Li Miao beside her. He turned his head uneasy to look at his mother. Cui Xiaofu immediately noticed the emperor's uneasiness. Her body relaxed, and she smiled and patted her son's hand, indicating that he should not be nervous.

"Zhang Aiqing, please speak!"

"What I want to talk about today is about some reforms to the military system of the Tang Dynasty." Zhang Huan calmly took out a memorial from his arms, bowed slightly to everyone, and said loudly: "It is well known that before the sixth year of Tianbao, our Tang Dynasty implemented the military system of the government. The people had half of the soldiers and half farmers, and they brought their own clothes, armor, food and grass, and they joined the army nearby. The court paid free land and tax exemption to compensate the people. The implementation of this military system for a hundred years has created the reputation of our Tang Dynasty's prosperity and made the army of the Tang Dynasty firmly controlled by the court. However, the land system collapsed later, and the court was unable to restrain the soldiers.

The government system was finally destroyed in name only and changed to the recruitment system. However, whether it is the recruitment system or the government system, the imperial court can control nearly one million troops. But to this day, the imperial court has less than 100,000 troops in its hands, and there are scattered everywhere. Some prefectures and counties have less than 500 people, and even the number of local bandits is not as good as the number of local bandits. The number of troops controlled by the imperial court is less than 100,000. It is really a joke when it is spread. But I also know that if there are too many people, the local governments can't afford it. So I thought hard and finally thought of a way to have the best of both worlds."

Speaking of this, not only the ministers in the hall, but even Cui Xiaofu also had a strong interest. Although Zhang Huan only referred to the regiment training and avoided the army of the aristocratic families and warlords, almost everyone knew that it was not that the court did not want to increase local regiment training, but could not afford it. After the Anshi Rebellion, the population of the Tang Dynasty dropped sharply, from nearly 50 million to 15 million. Although after nearly twenty years of rest and recuperation, the population gradually increased to 22 million, the number of self-cultivated farmers not only did not increase, but decreased. This actually reflects the seriousness of land annexation from one aspect. The court's fiscal revenue was maintained more by salt tax, commercial tax, etc. rather than by renting and placing taxes.

Correspondingly, the embarrassment of local governments, the wealth produced on the land was in the hands of wealthy families, so the seven major families were able to support hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of soldiers, which is the reason.

The local government has no money or food, so naturally it is impossible to recruit soldiers and raise soldiers, which has led to the scarcity of the number of troops trained in the regiment. If Zhang Huan can solve this problem, it would be a great skill.

Seeing that everyone's interests were attracted, even Pei Jun listened to his explanation very attentively. He couldn't help but smile and gently stroked his long beard and continued: "I have been an official in the local area for many years. I know that the number of refugees is amazing. They also long to be able to stabilize. Therefore, if they can give them a piece of land, the local government will not have to bear any food and salary, so that they can half-arm half-married. In this way, according to the most conservative estimate, the local regiment training can increase by at least 200,000."

At this time, the hall was already filled with boiling sounds, and almost everyone understood that Zhang Huan’s so-called reform was actually to restore the military system of the palace, but the scope was a little smaller. To put it bluntly, it was the military farmland system in Longyou.

There are those who agree and those who oppose it. There are many different opinions and no consensus. Even Cui Xiaofu fell into deep thought. She seemed to think that Zhang Huan's purpose was not so simple. What a big deal to reform the military system. It requires repeated discussion and discussion, and the pros and cons are clearly analyzed one by one before it can be introduced at the right time. However, he said it lightly at the court meeting, as if he could confirm it in a few words. Is it a little too rash?

Just as everyone was talking about the loud discussion, Zhang Huan heard loudly: "The Ministry of War can choose a place to conduct experiments. If it is practical, it will be promoted nationwide."

Cui Xiaofu's eyes suddenly lit up. She understood what Zhang Huan meant. She waved her hand to the palace supervisor Li Qinchuan. Li Qinchuan immediately said loudly: "Silent! Please keep quiet in the court!"

The hall immediately calmed down, and Pei Jun stood up and said, "Empress Dowager, I do not agree with what Zhang Shangshu said. Not to mention that the number of refugees in various places is just a general discussion, and there is no statistics from the government. Even if the number of refugees in this part is as Zhang Shangshu said, with a large number of people, what about the land to resettle them? Where do you come from? Although there is a little land in the hands of the local government, the income from these lands is to ensure that the local government can operate normally, and the officials have the positions and land to feed the existing regiment training. If they are all used to recruit soldiers, the local government will not be able to survive."

Cui Xiaofu smiled and said, "The Ai family agrees with Zhang Shangshu's latter suggestion. Find a place to do experiments and take a look. If you don't try it, how can you know whether it is OK or not? Pei Xiangguo, do you think so?"

Seeing that Cui Xiaofu insisted on insisting, Pei Jun knew that Cui Xiaofu had another purpose, so he stopped objecting, "I obey the Queen Mother's arrangement." He bowed and retreated.

At this time, Zhang Huan took out another memorial and handed it to an eunuch and said, "This is a memorial from Donghai County's regiment training envoy Wang Lianjiang requested to increase the number of troops in the regiment training. I will consider it and start with Donghai County."

The eunuch handed over the memorial to Cui Xiaofu, and she looked through it. She didn't care about it when she tried it. Who was doing it?

Cui Xiaofu closed the memorial and smiled at Zhang Huan, "The Ai family agreed to this matter, but the Yuan Shishang of the Ministry of War was injured and could not handle official duties. Now the Ministry of War is short of staff, and this is added to the matter, so there is no more busy place. So the Ai family thought of a compromise and set up another Left Shishang in the Ministry of War to be responsible for the reform of the military system. What do the Secretary thinks?"

The court suddenly became silent, so quiet that even the sound of heartbeat could be heard. Many people looked at Zhang Huan with a squinted eyes. He was tied up in a cocoon, but Zhang Huan smiled slightly and said, "I wonder who the Empress Dowager plans to recommend to the Left Minister of the Ministry of War?"

"Li Huai, the Prince of Jiyang, was once the chief minister of Jiannan Jiedu Prefecture. He was a little familiar with the military. The Ai family recommended him as the left minister of the Ministry of War. Zhang Shangshu thought it was feasible?"

Zhang Huan pondered for a moment and said, "I have no objection."

"What about the prime minister?" Cui Xiaofu looked at Pei Jun again. At this time, Pei Jun also understood Zhang Huan's intention. He saw the arrangements for today's court meeting, so he gave in and exchanged the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War for the Shuofang Jiedushi. This transaction was cost-effective for Cui Xiaofu.

After all, Zhang Huan's army was stationed in Shuofang. Even if Duan Xiushi was named Shuofang Jiedushi, he might not be able to control Shuofang. Yuan Zai was injured and could not go to court within one or two months. Li Huai went to Donghai County and could return to seize power with just a little deployment. How could Cui Xiaofu let him stay in Donghai County forever?

At this moment, Pei Jun suddenly felt that he had done too much to Zhang Huan. He was very uneasy. This uneasiness was not because Zhang Huan was his son-in-law, but because Chang'an's food was to be sent from Longyou. Once Zhang Huan is really angry and the food supply is cut off, who will Pei Jun go to?

Thinking of this, Pei Jun immediately stepped out to tell Cui Xiaofu: "Report to the Empress Dowager, I also agreed to establish the position of Left Minister of War, but I also wanted to take this opportunity to ask the Empress Dowager for permission and appoint the former Deputy General of Shuofang Jiedushi Ma Lin to serve as Shuofang Jiedushi."

"Okay! I passed on the order of Ai's family and appointed Li Huai, the prince of Jiyang, as the left minister of the Ministry of War, and immediately went to Donghai County to investigate the reform of the military system. In addition, he was also appointed Ma Lin, the deputy envoy of the former Shuofang Jiedushi, and became the governor of Shuofang, and immediately took office."

This ending is what Cui Xiaofu wants. After playing games for nearly a month, she finally beat Zhang Huan at the court meeting. She was in a very comfortable mood. The purpose of the court meeting today was already achieved. Seeing that it was not too early, she said to the supervisor in the palace: "Ask all the officials again, if there is nothing else to report, the court will be dispersed if there is nothing to do."

"The Empress Dowager has an order. All ministers can report to the court if they have something to do, and they can disperse the court if they have nothing to do." A high-pitched voice echoed in the hall, and the sound has not yet disappeared. Only a person walked out of the royal family. He reported loudly: "If you have something to do, you must report to the Empress Dowager!"
Chapter completed!