Chapter 96 My Heart is So Tired
Chapter 96 My Heart is So Tired
Just as the imperial court was worrying about the imperial examination, news of Anda's actions also reached the capital.
After receiving this intelligence, the Ministry of War immediately reported it to the emperor.
The cabinet, the Ministry of War and others all went to the Wanshou Palace in the Western Garden to wait for an audience with Emperor Jiajing.
The chief minister of the cabinet Yan Song, the minister of rites Xu Jie, the minister of war Ding Rukui, the junior secretary and Hanlin scholar Lu Ben and others all had gloomy expressions and did not say a word. They all knew that the situation this time was more serious than before.
Because this time, there is intelligence from both Xuanfu and Liaodong.
Moreover, the contents of these intelligence reports are very inconsistent. This situation either means that there is something wrong with the intelligence itself, or Altan is preparing to launch attacks on several fronts and launch a comprehensive invasion of the nine important cities on the borders of the Ming Dynasty.
Such a serious situation was definitely not something that the Cabinet and the Ministry of War could decide, so at this critical moment of the imperial examination, they all came to the Western Garden to request an audience with the emperor and hold a royal meeting.
Huang Jin came out of the Wanshou Palace, looked at Yan Song and the others, and announced, "The Emperor has ordered you to come to the Emperor's presence."
Yan Song and others bowed and said, "We obey your order."
Then everyone entered the palace one by one.
After the four people came into the hall and stood on the left and right, Emperor Jiajing also came out wearing a black Taoist robe.
Yan Song and others bowed again: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
Emperor Jiajing sat on the imperial couch, looked up at everyone, and said calmly, "Everyone, get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Yan Song stood up tremblingly, and Emperor Jiajing said again: "Huang Jin brought a brocade cushion over for the elder."
Normally, when Emperor Jiajing met Yan Song alone, he would not give Yan Song such courtesy. However, when other cabinet and six ministries officials were present, Emperor Jiajing would deliberately elevate Yan Song's status and treat him differently from other ministers to show his favor and the difference between high and low status.
Yan Song sat carefully on a brocade cushion beside him, while Xu Jie and others stood obediently in their places without looking around, being very respectful.
Emperor Jiajing stretched out his arms and put aside the wide sleeves of his Taoist robe. "Tell me, is there any urgent news?"
Ding Rukui, the Minister of War, stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, according to spies from Xuanfu, the enemy moved their camp to Weining Haizi; later they reported that the enemy intended to attack Shuozhou. Spies from Liaodong reported that the enemy intended to attack Haixi and Kaiyuan, and the Doyan barbarians requested to prepare for Baimaguan. The reports were different. I think that what Alda is planning this time is very big, so I dare not reply privately, so I reported it to the cabinet and asked your majesty to make a decision together."
When Emperor Jiajing heard what Ding Rukui said, he could not help but snorted, "Are you afraid of taking responsibility? It is not new for Alda to violate the border. This time, Xuanfu and Liaodong have reported it. Doesn't this already explain the problem? Tell me, what is your plan?"
Emperor Jiajing was also very clear about the nature of these ministers. They said they came to ask him for a wise decision, but in fact they were just trying to pass the buck.
Moreover, these people probably had already discussed the response strategy before coming and were just waiting for him to make the final decision.
Therefore, Emperor Jiajing was too lazy to waste time talking to these ministers. After all, he was not his warlike cousin, and he did not have any military strategies. Therefore, Emperor Jiajing would not express his opinions on such professional military affairs. What he wanted was the result.
As long as there is a solution to the problem and the solution sounds reasonable, Emperor Jiajing will not say anything unnecessary.
In this respect, he is much better than Zhu Houzhao, but of course he is also much worse.
After all, as a professional emperor, it would be a great disadvantage if he did not understand strategic tactics.
Ding Rukui bowed to Emperor Jiajing awkwardly, "I have already discussed this with the elders. It is the generals' job to keep their own territory and prevent the invaders from invading."
"The first thing that should be decided in the imperial decree today is to urgently prepare for Jizhen to serve as a shield for the capital. We request that a group of Hejian soldiers be stationed in Miyun and a group of Baoding soldiers be stationed in Tongzhou. They will all be under the command of the Jizhou governor. The four guards including Zhuolu and Xingzhou can also be mobilized to garrison the various passes." When Emperor Jiajing heard what Ding Rukui said, he glanced at Yan Song beside him.
Emperor Jiajing asked, "What do you think of the Minister of War's opinion, Lord Yan?"
When Yan Song heard the Emperor Jiajing's name being called, he quickly stood up and bowed tremblingly, saying, "Your Majesty is in charge of the decision-making process, and I dare not speak nonsense about military matters."
Emperor Jiajing looked past Yan Song and looked at Xu Jie and Lü Ben, "What do you two think?"
Xu Jie and Lu Ben also quickly replied: "Your subjects dare not speak recklessly about military and national affairs."
After hearing what Xu Jie and Lü Ben said, Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but sneer, "Aren't you all good at talking in normal times? Why do you throw the blame on me when you encounter an emergency? Do I raise you just to be my yes-men?"
Yan Song, Xu Jie, Lu Ben and others were so frightened by what Emperor Jiajing said that they quickly knelt down and apologized.
Emperor Jiajing looked at them kneeling down with their heads buried, and a sense of helplessness flashed through his heart.
Emperor Jiajing sighed, "Forget it. The fault lies with me. Even if you can come up with some suggestions, I will be the one to bear the consequences if there are any problems. I agree with Ding Rukui's suggestion."
After hearing this, Yan Song and others hurriedly bowed to Emperor Jiajing again, "Your Majesty is wise!"
Emperor Jiajing waved his sleeves and left the meeting hall directly.
Huang Jin followed immediately.
When Emperor Jiajing returned to his own retreat, he couldn't help but reveal a hint of disgust and anger on his face.
"These cabinet ministers and officials from the six ministries will blame me. The court has given them high positions and generous salaries, but they can't help the emperor and his father. Whenever they encounter a problem, they will blame me. What's the point of keeping them?"
Huang Jin listened to the angry words of Emperor Jiajing and quickly advised: "Your Majesty, calm down. The cabinet and the six ministries have always been like this. How dare they make the decision on such an important matter?"
Emperor Jiajing snorted, "Yes, they don't dare, but when they fight against me, they dare to do anything. It's difficult for me to be an emperor!"
Huang Jin remained silent. He didn't dare to respond to such words again.
After Emperor Jiajing complained for a while, the depression in his heart dissipated a lot.
Then Emperor Jiajing stopped thinking about these terrible things and went back to the golden tent to meditate. It was better to cultivate and become an immortal as soon as possible.
Zhu Zaigui, who had already arrived at Shunyi Industrial Park, now came to Zhang Erhe accompanied by Teng Xiang and Zhang Tianci.
After receiving Zhu Zaigui's affirmation and strong support, Zhang Erhe worked hard and built a tall furnace in a corner of the second phase industrial park and began to burn transparent colored glaze according to his secret recipe.
Today was his first day of opening the furnace, and Zhu Zaigui had nothing to do, so he came here from Prince Yu's Mansion, wanting to see with his own eyes whether Zhang Erhe's transparent colored glaze was really glass.
If it is really glass and the production cost can be reduced, then we can make a lot of money.
Because in the ancient society where industry was underdeveloped, the price of either glass or colored glaze would not be too low, and there was no difficulty in selling them, it was even faster than robbing money!
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I finally completed the task on time today, and tomorrow I will be able to update normally at 9:30 every day.
(End of this chapter)