Chapter 1555: Relieving Worries for the King

During Wang Yan's time in Jiliao, only the initial struggle was the most intense, with life-and-death confrontations.

That was the intense backlash caused by touching the fundamental interests of others. This was also the most difficult part of reform: failing to suppress the counterattacks of these people.

Unlike others, Wang Yan fought them head-on from beginning to end, fighting to the very end, vowing not to stop until one side was dead. He was even fiercer and more intense than those great families whose fundamental interests were damaged.

At the same time, he also had methods. As long as it was within the rules, no matter what kind of trouble they caused, he could settle it. Impeachment? It was useless if the Jiajing Emperor didn't handle it. Central financial sanctions? Shuntian Prefecture could supplement them. And the Jiliao region, which had been reorganized, collected more than double the silver than before.

As for others stuffing people under his command to hold him back, he simply and directly invoked military law to behead them.

And outside the rules, Wang Yan directly deployed troops to suppress them. After all, truth was in his hands, and the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard were by his side. Just as Hu Zongxian had once requested the imperial order tablet to kill the Hangzhou Prefect and the canal regulators, Wang Yan could kill just the same, with procedures filled in later. He said who was guilty, and they were guilty; he said who deserved to die, and they deserved to die.

This was the benefit of being a favored minister, a sycophant minister—monopolizing power, disrupting power, framing... and it was surprisingly reasonable. No one felt there was any problem with him doing this; on the contrary, not doing so would be the big problem...

After more than a year, the policies of clearing fields, checking households, overturning old cases, collecting cleaning fees, and collecting taxes at the horse market were thoroughly implemented throughout the Jiliao region.

Perhaps some places didn't execute them thoroughly, but it didn't matter. As long as the land and population after clearing fields and checking households were more than before, it was enough. Moreover, this forceful implementation not only resulted in more land and population than before, but directly increased them by sixty percent.

At the same time, Wang Yan also changed the assessment standards for officials, with changes in land and population accounting for a significant share. The registered land and population numbers were just that much. Under the circumstances of exempting labor services and reducing taxes, if the number of land and population decreased, it meant the place was rotten, and the local officials and great families would all be thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

Of course, it was also necessary to prevent people from faking, which was the business of the supervisory system. There was no wall in the world that didn't leak wind; there was only acquiescence, indulgence, and non-pursuit. If one truly grasped and investigated strictly, nothing could be hidden; it was just a matter of time.

Clearly, Wang Yan's position could ensure the powerful execution of this supervision.

Wang Yan did not relax his reorganization of the Jiliao border army, nor his efforts to clear out the internal parasites and shatter the original chains of interest.

After forcefully suppressing the counterattacks of the great families and ensuring stability, Wang Yan set about rectifying the border army.

Just as he had previously discussed with Tan Lun, he solved the problem of eating empty military pay, solved the internal mountain problems, and solved the problems of soldiers' welfare and fairness and justice.

Of course, he didn't directly forbid false reporting of establishment to eat empty pay, nor did he target anyone, exposing his purpose right away—that was clearly not suitable for use in the army.

In governance, Wang Yan's style had precedents, so the Jiliao region was prepared and knew his purpose: he was specifically sent by the Jiajing Emperor to dismantle local forces.

But the army was different. This was Wang Yan's first time governing the army; no one knew what he ultimately wanted to accomplish.

Everything began with Wang Yan going to the grassroots to comfort soldiers and eating with them, when a grain of sand appeared in the rice.

The soldiers had all been warned and didn't know about those shady dealings. Even though they had long heard of the reputation of the "Blue Sky" Wang, they hadn't seen the real person or the real thing, so no one would believe the words of an official.

On a normal morning, Wang Yan was eating at a table with soldiers very affectionately, fully exerting his personal charm, chatting with the soldiers about their hometowns, women, welfare, and foreign enemies, when a soldier bit into a grain of sand...

"Still saying it's fine? I heard the crunching sound. Don't tell me you broke a tooth?"

Hearing Wang Yan's concern at the time, the soldier who bit the sand didn't care at all: "My lord, we are used to eating it. A little sand is a common occurrence."

"Common occurrence?"

Wang Yan expressed surprise, so he had his attendants investigate the logistics of this unit. Starting from the cook who made the meal, starting from the fixed monthly number, starting from this one incident.

Under Wang Yan's authorization and the professionalism of the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard, that very morning, the unit's main officer, deputy officer, and over thirty others were put on trial by Wang Yan in front of over a thousand officers and soldiers.

Many grassroots soldiers filed complaints, and over twenty more people were plucked from the ranks on the spot. Ultimately, under the witness of the soldiers, these sixty-plus people were all beheaded.

And on the spot, the unit's past military merit books were taken out to check names, while confirming with these soldiers whether the merit records were accurate and whether anyone had objections to the people being promoted.

Wang Yan patiently confirmed them one by one, and before dinner, he filled the vacancies caused by those he had beheaded.

The next day, he began a thorough investigation in all units, checking whether logistics were implemented, checking whether the welfare of grassroots soldiers was being deducted or exploited, and checking whether military merits were recorded correctly.

Anyway, the people were those people. He handled the original people through other matters and completed the banning of these people, and the problems were naturally solved, and the new rules were naturally passed down.

Especially to strengthen control over the grassroots, he basically didn't handle political affairs, but was patrolling and visiting the grassroots of the Jiliao border army to comfort the troops, going deep into the grassroots to make decisions for the soldiers.

This was an effective means to solve problems more deeply, and it really allowed him to catch many people and things that were fooling him. For such people, Wang Yan never let them down, letting them seek benevolence and get benevolence; the construction of the border needed them to contribute, and the Great Ming would forever remember their contributions...

After solving these problems, dealing with those obstructive people, and breaking the original interest connections, the Jiliao border army completed a thorough reform.

The soldiers' welfare was improved, logistics were much more abundant, capable of supporting soldiers in training and preparing for war, and making them willing to train harder, hone the way of fighting in battle formations, and practice the skills of fighting and saving lives.

Because the empty pay problem was solved, the Jiliao border army filled its establishment, effectively experiencing an expansion. Ultimately, the combat troops reached over sixty thousand, and logistics troops such as farming and transport also had over forty thousand, with a total force reaching one hundred and eleven thousand.

With full military pay, a larger quantity of food, and more diligent training, after a short period of time, the Jiliao border army already had the appearance of a strong army.

At this time, the Jiliao border army needed a battle to test their combat effectiveness and announce their heroic invincibility...

The newly built Longevity Palace was very grand, and the Jiajing Emperor had long moved here. The ceiling was higher than the previous Jade Palace, the space was larger, and it was more magnificent. It was also more lonely.

The glass Wang Yan produced made a great contribution. To match the Longevity Palace, huge glass was specially made. According to Wang Yan's wishes, it was made into double layers, which could increase the heat preservation effect in winter and was also more beautiful, directly becoming floor-to-ceiling windows, looking very good.

But at the same time, it also made the summer more sultry. When the sun was full, this Longevity Palace was almost becoming a steamer.

Facing this problem, Wang Yan gave a very simple and plain solution. That was to wait until spring flowers bloomed, then take down the large floor-to-ceiling windows and replace them with ordinary windows that could be opened for ventilation. Under the efficient work of the craftsmen, all the glass could be replaced in just one day.

As for the loss during the operation, that was a matter not worth mentioning. Changing the glass for the palace every year was simply a negligible expense, even though this figure was still terrifying...

In the Longevity Palace, Wang Yan held the Jiajing Emperor's wrist with both hands, taking his pulse.

The sharp Lu Fang, who was worried about the Jiajing Emperor's weak body and the possibility of a serious illness, also discovered something wrong.

This time, Wang Yan's pulse-taking time was a bit long...

The Jiajing Emperor frowned and said: "Why, even you, the divine doctor, can't accurately see my body?"

Wang Yan released his hand at the right time, bowed and cupped his hands: "Your Majesty has practiced immortality for many years and has become an immortal body, and I am but a mortal doctor..."

"Lu Fang."

The Jiajing Emperor leaned lazily, pointing at Wang Yan, "Look, you've become a high official, grown older, and started learning to beat around the bush with me."

"Wang Yan! Say what you have to say! You were promoted by the Master, the Ten Thousand Years Emperor, himself; there is nothing you cannot say!" Lu Fang almost scolded, expressing his dissatisfaction seriously.

"This subordinate is truly wronged."

Wang Yan first cried out, but whether he should say it or not, he was indeed wronged.

The Jiajing Emperor claimed to have achieved success in immortal cultivation, so he couldn't be sick. Yet he wanted to know if he was sick or not. After all, he was feeling uncomfortable, otherwise he wouldn't have let Wang Yan take his pulse without saying anything serious...

"Your Majesty has already achieved an immortal body, so why do you need to take immortal pills? Stop the immortal pills, practice the body-nourishing method, and eat according to the recipe I prescribed."

"Stop taking immortal pills?"

The Jiajing Emperor didn't express anything, turning to say, "You've done well in Jiliao these past two years."

The Jiajing Emperor had his own standards for evaluating things. If he could make him spend more silver, the locality didn't complain, and they were very obedient to him, then he was a good official who could be heavily used.

On this basis, if he could make the locality more prosperous, let the people live a good life, and let the people remember him, the high-and-mighty Great Ming Emperor, then it was even better.

It was just a pity that for so many years, Wang Yan was the only one who could do the latter...

At the beginning, the Jiajing Emperor had to reduce expenses to support Wang Yan's activities in Jiliao. After more than a year, Wang Yan settled the officials and great families within the Jiliao jurisdiction, and the reduced expenses were not only supplemented, but Wang Yan could even get more money for him to spend. This made the Jiajing Emperor extremely comfortable.

If there was anything bad, it was that the Jiliao border army, under Wang Yan's leadership, was becoming increasingly clamorous, and the voices calling for war were rampant...

"It's all what this subordinate should do, finally not failing Your Majesty's expectations."

Wang Yan said, "Your Majesty, it has been more than two years. Now the Jiliao army of one hundred thousand can be said to be strong and well-equipped, with sufficient grain and grass. This subordinate thinks we can take the initiative to attack. First, fight a few small-scale battles to let the Tatars see whether the Great Ming's fist is hard or not. Also, let Xu Jie and others open their dog eyes and see clearly: how can our Great Ming, a celestial empire, negotiate peace with barbarians?

A group of people without a lord or father—have they forgotten the Gengxu incident? Such a great humiliation, and they can easily let it pass? For more than twenty years, the Tatars have invaded the south year after year, looting and harassing the border, harming the people. It is a blood feud with our Great Ming! How can we negotiate peace with such enemies? We must fight until they are subdued!"

In the 29th year of Jiajing, Altan Khan led an army to invade Datong. The Datong Regional Commander, Qiu Luan, bribed Altan Khan, damn him, to tell Altan Khan not to fight him but to fight somewhere else. In the end, Altan Khan attacked the capital from Gubeikou, ravaging the capital region for eight days before leaving.

Recently, Xu Jie and others negotiated peace and trade with Altan Khan because Altan Khan's grandson brought a group of people to Datong to defect.

The cause of the matter was simple: Altan Khan took a fancy to his grandson's concubine. How could a young man bear this anger, and being unable to resist, he directly ran away.

So Altan Khan also took this opportunity to closely contact the Great Ming, wanting to negotiate peace again, so that everyone could be happy...

Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and others all agreed to negotiate peace and trade. Since the three of them agreed, Prince Yu of course agreed, but Prince Yu now had no competitors and didn't express his stance on anything, just honestly waiting for his old father to die...

But they didn't think about the things Altan Khan had done before, nor did they consider the Jiajing Emperor's mood, or perhaps they thought about it but didn't care at all. Anyway, they just didn't agree to fight.

The reason was also simple: Wang Yan had previously said he wanted to trade and infiltrate, so just execute it slowly. The Great Ming's life had been getting better and better these years, and we couldn't let the good situation be destroyed by fighting a war.

This was indeed a mature way of planning for the country, it was just that they didn't take the Jiajing Emperor, the one-and-only emperor, seriously...

The Jiajing Emperor said: "It's hard for you to still remember, still thinking about the humiliation I suffered. But Xu Jie and the others also used your words to refute you. You said back then you wanted to trade... Now they are holding onto this reason. What do you say?"

"Your Majesty, those words of this subordinate were said more than five years ago. How can the Great Ming of that time be confused with the Great Ming of today? Our Great Ming is like the sun in the sky, our national strength is getting stronger, how can the small barbarians be our Great Ming's opponents?

Xu Jie and others are all rebellious subjects. They haven't accomplished anything in so many years, just adding trouble to Your Majesty. It's truly unreasonable!"

"Then you go and persuade them. You are the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War; you can have a say in such matters." The Jiajing Emperor fully expressed his stance.

"Then this subordinate will go to the Grand Secretariat and teach them what it means to be a subject and what it means to share worries for the King."

"Go." The Jiajing Emperor nodded with satisfaction, with undisguised pleasure.

Clearly, the Jiajing Emperor was extremely eager to fight.

Otherwise, why would Wang Yan run back from so far away? He came to see the Jiajing Emperor's illness. Physical illness is an illness, and heart illness is also an illness...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who tip, vote for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1556 =====