Chapter 114: Just do good deeds, do not ask about the future

Zhang Juzheng returned to the Wenyuange and conducted a comprehensive review of Sun Jigao's impeachment. He discovered that the young Emperor was truly taking it step by step. First, he had Zhang Juzheng's father brought to the capital to live under the name of an elder, and now, by discussing the contradiction between mourning and revoking the mourning period with Sun Jigao, he was simply paving the way.

Zhang Juzheng's father was already old. Having been brought to the capital, there would eventually be a day of departure. When that day came, how would it be handled?

The court would inevitably be stirred up. This kind of political struggle in a zero-sum game was most damaging to the nation, and the Emperor was simply paving the way for potential political struggles in the future.

"Sun Jigao's reading is still not good enough." Zhang Juzheng returned to the Wenyuange and said to Lü Diaoyang.

Lü Diaoyang asked suspiciously: "Ah? Why did His Majesty call you over?"

"To watch the fun. His Majesty wanted to scold... he proclaimed Sun Jigao for an audience and let me go watch the fun." Zhang Juzheng had a bright, sunny smile on his face. The young Emperor's scolding was truly brilliant; there wasn't a single word that was superfluous.

Lü Diaoyang said with great interest: "Tell me, what was the fun?"

Watching the fun was human nature. He also wanted to know what exactly had happened.

Zhang Juzheng recounted everything that happened in the Zhao Wenhua Hall from beginning to end. From the moment Sun Jigao entered the hall, he had already fallen into a disadvantageous position and was directly crushed by the Emperor using ancestral laws.

Zhang Juzheng said with emotion: "His Majesty mentioned 'expediency in times of war' twice. Sun Jigao didn't even realize this allusion. His Majesty hadn't even used his full strength, and Sun Jigao had already collapsed."

His Majesty hadn't even used his strength, and Sun Jigao had already fallen on the ancestral laws. He was truly a typical person who didn't read books.

His Majesty's ammunition was extremely sufficient, such as the allusion of "expediency in times of war."

Lü Diaoyang heard the fun and was also full of smiles. The court officials of the Great Ming were all busy, and these people who didn't do anything were chattering all day long. "Xie Xie is like Ta Ta" was indeed annoying. He heard Zhang Juzheng mention the saying of "expediency in times of war" and asked: "Who told His Majesty this allusion?"

Zhang Juzheng was silent for a moment and said: "Me."

"The Grand Secretary taught well, and His Majesty learned well." Lü Diaoyang smiled, picked up the memorial, and began to write the floating slip.

The allusion of "expediency in times of war" was indeed told to the young Emperor by Zhang Juzheng. This ammunition was provided by him.

"Jin Ge" (Gold and Leather): Military equipment and uniforms. "Wu Pi" (No Avoidance): When the ruler has an order, one must obey and not dare to refuse or avoid it.

It refers to Zixia asking Confucius about the clause of "expediency in times of war" in the *Book of Rites*.

Zixia asked Confucius: "Is the rite of crying until the funeral is over during the three-year mourning period the same as the rite of 'no avoidance' in the military, where one must obey the ruler's orders? Did the ancestors also do this?"

Confucius said: "In the past, during the Xia Dynasty, parents' mourning began when the coffin was stopped for burial. During the Yin Dynasty, parents' mourning began after burial. During the Zhou Dynasty, it began after the three-year mourning period was over. As the *Book of Rites* says: 'A gentleman does not take away a person's relatives, nor does he take away the past.'"

Zixia asked with some confusion: "Is 'no avoidance' in military affairs not wrong? If there is a war and parents pass away, and one returns to cry until the funeral is over, isn't that violating the ruler's orders?"

Zixia was actually asking about how to be both loyal and filial.

Confucius said: "I heard Lao Dan say that Duke Boqin of Lu intended to set the rite of crying until the funeral is over for three years. Now, whether subjects follow this rite also depends on their own interests. I don't know about your question."

The meaning of this passage is that when the nation is in an emergency, the person in charge cannot be replaced. At this time, the ruler has orders that must be obeyed, and the subject has orders that must be received.

Rites are rites, and expediency is expediency. Rites are not things that cannot be changed.

As early as the time of Confucius, in order to avoid the rite of crying for three years, the meat-eaters had already learned to use "no avoidance in military affairs" to act according to expediency.

This was the reason Zhang Juzheng said the young Emperor hadn't used his full strength. If Sun Jigao continued to argue, the young Emperor would have activated the legal principle of "no avoidance in military affairs" and launched a further pursuit. Liang Menglong revoking the mourning period was "no avoidance in military affairs," a problem that even the Master didn't know how to solve. How could Sun Jigao respond?

Sun Jigao didn't respond; he didn't even get that far before he collapsed under the young Emperor's "always right" logic.

"Is this Sun Jigao a new top scholar? Did he study under you?" Zhang Juzheng asked with some surprise.

Lü Diaoyang smiled and said: "No, there was no selection this year. I didn't even have a gate, so who would I take in?"

"In that case, did he study under the Zhejiang faction? He is from Suzhou." Zhang Juzheng asked again. Could it be that no one reminded Sun Jigao? Censor officials, Hanlin scholars—not a single person submitted a memorial. It was strange that Sun Jigao was so reckless.

Lü Diaoyang shook his head and said: "The Tan Sima wouldn't take him. You don't know the Tan Sima, Grand Secretary? The Quanchu Guild Hall opened, and the Tan Sima didn't even stay there, complaining that the students were noisy. It was all Shen Yiguan and the others who were organizing it."

"I also don't know who Sun Jigao studied under."

Zhang Juzheng and Lü Diaoyang didn't know who the new top scholar studied under, but soon, everyone knew: it was the Minister of Rites, Wan Shihe.

Sun Jigao left the palace and returned to the Hanlin Academy to work. Not long after, Wan Shihe sent someone to call him to the Ministry of Rites.

Wan Shihe heard the news and was furious. Because of the *Diary of Activity and Repose*, what happened in the Zhao Wenhua Hall was sent to the Ministry of Rites very quickly. Wan Shihe knew exactly what had happened.

Wan Shihe looked at Sun Jigao and asked in anger: "What is on your neck?"

"A brain." Sun Jigao's mouth twitched.

Wan Shihe kept slapping the table and said: "No, it's paste! Do you know what paste is? It's flour mixed with water!"

"What is under your nose?"

Sun Jigao shivered and said: "A mouth."

Wan Shihe angrily stretched out his hand, pinched his thumb and index finger together, made a gesture of "a little bit," and said angrily: "No, it's a decoration! Do you know what a decoration is? It's something that is completely useless! If you don't understand, you can ask! Does my Ministry of Rites have nothing to do? Do I have to watch you write memorials every day?"

"After you write it, you can bring it to ask me. Ask me if it can be submitted. You took me as your teacher; can you give this teacher a little bit of face? Just a little bit?!"

"Do you know why I am so angry, without caring about civility?"

Sun Jigao swallowed and shook his head: "I don't know."

Wan Shihe walked up to Sun Jigao and shouted angrily: "Of course you don't know. You are about to become the laughingstock of the capital, the shame of scholars. A top scholar, a top scholar chosen once every three years, was scolded by an eleven-year-old young Emperor who has only been reading for a year until he couldn't find north, trembling and admitting his guilt!"

"And I, your teacher, am that lazy person who didn't teach you well!"

"Before, when I first became the Minister of Rites, I was scolded by His Majesty twice. Now, I finally, finally managed to regain a little bit of face, and it was all trampled into the mud by you!"

"All the face is lost!"

Sun Jigao muttered: "I wasn't the only one who submitted a memorial about revoking the mourning period."

"You were the only one! A top scholar! The nation has military affairs, and Liang Menglong is resuming service because of the 'no avoidance in military affairs' clause, so everyone else is silent!" Wan Shihe pointed at Sun Jigao and said word by word: "Do you know what 'no avoidance in military affairs' means? You don't? Where did your reading go? Shall I tell you?"

Sun Jigao looked at Wan Shihe and argued: "Doesn't this just show that it is this wise dynasty that has caused the corruption of the rites and the corruption of customs to this extent?"

"Ministers resume service, and the court officials don't think it's wrong and even praise it; court officials resume service, and ministers don't think it's wrong and even complete it. Everyone follows the custom, mixing together, leading the people of the world to be unfilial without parents, without ethical principles—this is the greatest harm to the world."

Wan Shihe's face changed upon hearing this, and he asked sternly: "Who told you these words?"

"Zhang Siwei, in charge of the Imperial Clan Court." Sun Jigao saw he couldn't hide it and had to say: "Your student also thought so!"

Wan Shihe was furious upon hearing this, then leaned on the table and said: "Go, go find him. From now on, don't say I am your teacher! From now on, your teacher is Zhang Siwei. Go, go right now!"

Seeing that Sun Jigao didn't move, Wan Shihe shouted sternly: "Get out!"

Sun Jigao saw that Wan Shihe was truly angry and hurried away. Wan Shihe's anger was still somewhat terrifying.

Not long after, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites came to find Wan Shihe to preside over the ministry meeting. He pushed open the door and was shocked. Wan Shihe was lying straight on the ground. This scared the secretary out of his wits.

"Imperial physician, imperial physician! Proclaim the imperial physician!" The secretary shouted loudly in a panic.

By the time Wan Shihe woke up in a daze, he had already been carried to the Imperial Hospital, and the imperial physician was reporting something to a figure.

"Your... Your... Your Majesty?" Wan Shihe squeezed his eyes hard, saw clearly who it was, and hurried to get up to pay his respects.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "Minister Wan, no need for formalities. Your temper is too big. Isn't it just that your student's skills are not refined? Just read more books."

If there was fun to watch, would Zhu Yijun not watch? Upon hearing that Wan Shihe had been angered into a faint by Sun Jigao, Zhu Yijun put down the harvest of potatoes and sweet potatoes from the Baoqi Division and rushed to the Imperial Hospital as fast as he could, full of curiosity, asking what had happened. Had Wan Shihe been angered to death?

After finding out the ins and outs, Zhu Yijun was also very happy. Of course, he listened to the imperial physicians' instructions and did not further stimulate Wan Shihe.

Wan Shihe was already the best general among a group of cripples chosen by Zhang Juzheng and Yang Bo. Wan Shihe might have a thousand faults, but at least he had a sense of shame. Now Feng Bao didn't scold Wan Shihe anymore; as long as Wan Shihe could do good deeds, it was fine.

"Your subject is incompetent and ashamed." Wan Shihe said helplessly.

Zhu Yijun said with a full smile: "It's a small matter. Isn't 'babbling' not just Sun Jigao alone? Minister Wan, rest for two days, and return to work the day after tomorrow."

"Minister Wan is a pillar of the nation. As long as you are fine, I will go."

"Respectfully send off Your Majesty." Wan Shihe finally struggled to stand up and respectfully sent off the Emperor.

Zhu Yijun laughed as soon as he left the Imperial Hospital and shook his head repeatedly. He ran toward the Baoqi Division again. This year's sweet potato harvest was another bumper crop. Xu Zhenming, the agricultural scholar, had made innovations in the methods of pinching tips and high-temperature passivation, repeatedly cycling pinching and passivation, pinching and passivation, and had already bred a batch of excellent potato seedlings.

This year's comprehensive yield per mu had exceeded 8,000 catties, with a dry weight of 1,600 catties, or 13 shi per mu. In terms of fertilization and watering, Xu Zhenming had pushed the yield of this variety of potato seedlings to its peak!

Zhu Yijun grabbed a potato in his left hand and a sweet potato in his right, and said to Xu Zhenming: "Next, send these sweet potatoes to the Nine Frontiers. Order them to be planted for famine relief. The seedlings are good seedlings. Even if the matter is difficult, it must be done. Without food, the common people will go hungry. If they go hungry, they will forage everywhere. Only when they are full will this nation not be in chaos!"

Xu Zhenming said very solemnly: "Your Majesty, the *Book of Fan Shengzhi* of the Western Han Dynasty says: 'When harvesting wheat seeds, wait until they are ripe, choose the large and strong ears, and plant them in season, and the harvest will be doubled.' This is the method of selecting the superior and eliminating the inferior."

"The *Essential Arts for the People* of the Northern Wei Dynasty says: 'Millet, broomcorn millet, glutinous millet, sorghum, and glutinous sorghum should be harvested separately every year. Choose the good ears with pure colors and hang them high. In the spring, take the seeds to prepare for next year's planting.' This is to establish special seed fields, planting the selected pure and good seeds separately to avoid mixing with other seeds."

"The *Essential Arts for the People* says: 'In fertile land, choose single ears, harvest and store them separately.' This is a typical single-ear transmission method, a single-plant selection method, to seek a better harvest."

The method of selecting the superior and eliminating the inferior, the seed field method, and the single-ear transmission single-plant selection method were the three breeding methods Xu Zhenming discovered while annotating agricultural books. Combined with Xu Zhenming's passivation and pinching method, all four could be used together to obtain good seeds, which would be of great benefit to the world.

Two parts seeds, three parts management, five parts fertilizer—what the Great Ming farmers lacked most was not diligence.

Zhu Yijun often saw farmers in the Baoqi Division, and those farmers gave the young Emperor a solid lesson on what "the suffering of the common people" meant.

Not stepping out of the gate was for the young ladies of the wealthy families in the city. In the farmers' homes, women also had to farm. They started picking ears and digging at six, carrying water for irrigation at ten, and were ready to marry at thirteen. And the matter of sitting in confinement after childbirth simply didn't exist among the common people. After the child was born, the mother started working in the fields on the third day, and during the busy farming season, she even went to the fields the next day.

Poor people and hard labor—some families of five or six people only had two pieces of coarse hemp clothing. Whoever went out wore them.

Such things made Zhu Yijun realize that the four words "the suffering of the common people" were as heavy as a thousand taels of gold.

The Great Ming farmers were not lacking in diligence. If they planted better, and could get 60% or 70% of the Baoqi Division's yield, it would save countless lives.

A few days ago, Wang Guoguang submitted a memorial saying that sweet potatoes should not be included as a staple food, but should still be used for famine relief. That was to say, planting sweet potatoes on wasteland would not be subject to grain tax. As for grain rent and private demands from the township, the court was currently powerless and could only leave it to the poor people to fight for themselves.

Xu Zhenming bowed his head and said: "Your subject requests: issue an edict for maritime merchants to pay attention to overseas sweet potato seeds, and there will be rewards for bringing them back, to be used for selecting the superior and eliminating the inferior; select farmers, scholars, and candidates from all over the country to come to the Baoqi Division to work together on the great plan; open seed fields and fire rooms in the military colonies of all places to specialize in breeding seeds for military colony use; if there are large plants, send them to the capital as auspicious signs, to be used for single-ear transmission and single-plant selection breeding."

"If the sweet potato seeds get sick, if it is a single variety, it may lead to famine and disaster, so we still need multiple varieties to prevent disease and disaster."

Plants getting sick, silkworms getting sick, livestock getting sick—for the Central Plains dynasty, this was not a new thing.

Zhu Yijun held the potato and sweet potato and said with some helplessness: "What you said is all very good, but the inner and outer treasuries are extremely empty. These things can be done, but perhaps not many can be done. You said you want to select farmers, scholars, and candidates to enter the Baoqi Division. This yamen for farming, facing the yellow earth and backing the sky, how many people will respond to the edict?"

"How much success can be achieved, who knows?"

Xu Zhenming said solemnly: "That is still better than not doing it."

"Xu, you say such things, putting the top scholar to shame. Just do good deeds, do not ask about the future." Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun immediately expressed his high approval. How much success could be achieved, no one knew, but for farming, doing it was better than not doing it.

Zhu Yijun walked while touching this sweet potato and that potato, and said: "Yesterday, Gao Qiyu submitted a memorial."

"Who is Gao Qiyu? Is he also an agricultural scholar?" Xu Zhenming said with some confusion.

Others only read the sage's books, while Xu Zhenming truly only planted sweet potatoes, with his ears not hearing anything outside the window. He didn't even know about the chaos Gao Qiyu had caused, even though Xu Zhenming had a waist token of the Quanchu Guild Hall and was a member of the Quanchu Guild Hall.

Zhu Yijun picked out a large potato and said: "Gao Qiyu is a jinshi. He did some foolish things a while ago, ruining himself, ruining the Grand Secretary, and ruining me."

"Ah, then shouldn't he be beheaded?" Xu Zhenming said with great surprise. Hearing this, Gao Qiyu was still alive and still an official.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "Gao Qiyu is the Grand Secretary's man; how can he be killed just like that?"

"Then he should be killed even more; the Grand Secretary wouldn't protect him." Xu Zhenming asked without understanding.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "Kill, kill, kill—do you think scholars are worms in the field, to be killed at will? Why don't you kill the earthworms that turn the soil too! You are so stubborn!"

"Have you read the theory of contradictions? Heaven is always changing, and people are always changing. Gao Qiyu just couldn't turn his brain for a moment, and you keep talking about killing, killing, killing."

Xu Zhenming bowed his head in a hurry and said: "Your Majesty, your subject only reads agricultural books and does not read the theory of contradictions."

"You've gone too far!" Zhu Yijun was so angry. The people around him, when talking about the laws of development of things, avoided the topic. Only Zhang Juzheng could say a few words. Zhu Yijun raised his head slightly and said: "The powerful and wealthy in Liyang County, Suzhou Prefecture, occupied the wasteland that Ma Yilong had reclaimed, and Gao Qiyu snatched it back."

"More than 127,000 mu, not a single mu less. If these powerful and wealthy people dare to occupy it again, I will go there myself, tear down their gates, move their beds, confiscate their homes, and set fire to their houses!"

Gao Qiyu went to Liyang, Suzhou, to handle official business. He didn't fail, nor did he drag it out; he went directly to Inspector Luo Bingliang Bingliang. Inspector Luo Bingliang Bingliang sent a criminal investigation centurion, and after the signal was released that if they didn't return the land, their homes would be confiscated, the powerful and wealthy in Liyang obediently returned the land they had occupied over the years.

After all, Inspector Luo Bingliang Bingliang was someone who really would confiscate their homes.

To prevent these fields from being occupied again, these fields were granted to the poor people, but the land deeds were in the hands of the Regional Commander of Songjiang Town. The Liyang military colonies became an enclave of Songjiang Town.

If there was any occupation or private demand again, the poor people could go to Songjiang Town to file a complaint.

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhenming immediately said: "Then Gao Qiyu truly should not be killed."

Ma Yilong had reclaimed 120,000 mu of land, only to have it occupied. Ma Yilong was Xu Zhenming's teacher, and Xu Zhenming's skills in farming and water conservancy were all passed down from Ma Yilong.

The land his teacher had reclaimed, his teacher's long-cherished wish finally fulfilled, Xu Zhenming naturally started to like Gao Qiyu, even though he had never met him.

"Virtue!" Zhu Yijun sneered and continued to fiddle with his sweet potatoes and potatoes. Xu Zhenming was truly in the Emperor's favor. As a seventh-rank official of the Baoqi Division, he saw the young Emperor all the time. Xu Zhenming would change his face faster than turning a book, yet he didn't receive any reprimand. The sharp-tongued young Emperor wouldn't even scold him, which could be considered unique in the world.

This was completely different from his attitude toward Sun Jigao. For Sun Jigao's evaluation, Zhu Yijun had only two words: disgusting!

A top scholar, unable to argue with an eleven-year-old child. In the future, how would he have the face to open the Donglin Academy? Zhu Yijun would definitely make a large plaque and write the matter on it, and set it up in front of his academy, so that the scholars of the world could take a good look at how much talent Sun Jigao really had!

For the Nine Elders of Donglin, if they were stacked together, they wouldn't be able to compare to one of Zhang Juzheng's little fingers. Zhu Yijun could look at them highly.

That night, Zhu Yijun came to the optical laboratory.

If it was a full moon and the weather was good, the simple telescope in this simple optical laboratory could already clearly see the craters on the moon's surface. Except for being slightly reddish, this telescope was enough.

But today was a waning moon. Zhu Yijun wasn't here to see if there was a Chang'e on the moon; he was here to try out a new toy.

On his small astronomical platform sat a sextant. Zhu Yijun carefully moved the sextant. This sextant was imitated and improved according to the drawings sent by Yin Zhengmao, and it had just been calibrated today.

When a machine is operating well and achieving its purpose, it is best not to move its parts arbitrarily. Just like national affairs, the Great Ming's national affairs could no longer operate well, so Zhang Juzheng had to reform them.

Zhu Yijun had made some improvements to this sextant. The Red-Haired Barbarians' sextant was suitable for navigation, so it was relatively simple and could roughly measure latitude, but it wasn't very precise. Navigation mostly used quadrants—a cross with a fixed length could observe latitude.

For sextants, one had to look at the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire (the Indian Empire, the source of the British Empire's imperial title).

The Timurid Empire was a powerful kingdom that ran rampant in Central Asia during the Yongle era. In the fifth year of the Xuande era, King Ulugh Beg of the Timurid Empire built the Ulugh Beg Observatory in Samarkand. The Ulugh Beg Observatory had a super-large sextant, more than three zhang high. That sextant was more precise.

Later, the Timurid Empire couldn't survive in Central Asia and went south to bully the Indians, establishing the Mughal Empire.

The Mughal Empire also had a super-large observatory and a larger sextant, but no one operated it.

The first improvement Zhu Yijun made to this sextant in his hand was adding a level to it—actually, it was a glass tube filled with distilled water and sealed, which could keep the sextant level.

The second improvement was the observation hole. Zhu Yijun added a telescope with a very, very small black dot in the center, which was to magnify the object and make the sextant in his hand more precise.

The third change was adding a magnifying glass and a spiral differential drum to the index arm. This spiral differential drum was a knob used for fine adjustment of the index arm, allowing the index arm to point more precisely to the mark.

Zhu Yijun first checked if it was level. Zhang Hong and Feng Bao had respectful hearts, and the placement rack they made had threads that could adjust the level. Then he had to adjust the moving mirror on the index arm and the fixed mirror on the horizontal arm. The young Emperor had great patience and adjusted all the lenses bit by bit.

The light of Polaris crossed the vast starry sky, shooting from the vast and boundless sky toward the quiet Forbidden City, passing through the window lattice and shining on the moving mirror on the index arm. The light reflected by the moving mirror shone on the fixed mirror, but the fixed mirror did not enter the telescope Zhu Yijun was looking through.

Zhu Yijun carefully pushed the index arm. The moving mirror moved, and the light moved, entering Zhu Yijun's field of vision. Zhu Yijun began to adjust the differential drum, rotating it carefully, and finally aligned Polaris with the small black dot in the center of the telescope.

Zhu Yijun fixed and clamped the index arm and began to read the number.

The degree on the magnifying glass was 39°, and the 98 on the spiral differential drum. The degree Zhu Yijun measured was 39.98°. This was the latitude of the Zhao Wenhua Hall in the Forbidden City of Shuntian Prefecture.

Zhu Yijun didn't know if it was precise or not, but he tried his best to be precise.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "Sir does not deceive me. Sir said that the infinite principles of all things are in change, and it is indeed so. This thing is excellent. Send it to Grand Secretary Zhang for his use."

"Wait, I will write an imperial edict myself."

Zhu Yijun began to write the imperial edict. He wrote for a long time before copying it again and said with a smile: "Send it to the Grand Secretary."

"The palace is closed." Feng Bao took the edict and said with some difficulty.

Zhu Yijun was stunned and asked: "Is the palace closure still a matter for you, Feng?"

"It wasn't before, but now it is." Feng Bao said quite firmly: "Your Majesty said that this ship in the palace cannot leak from the top. Your Majesty leads by example, and your subject dare not disobey. Passing a message is fine, but proclaiming an edict is not. Proclaiming an edict requires opening the palace gate."

People will change. Feng Bao now pursued scolding people in the Zhao Wenhua Hall. Today, he scolded Sun Jigao, and the Emperor specifically named him, Feng Bao, and didn't let Zhang Hong do it. This was the effort Feng Bao made to maintain his position after completing the Emperor's personal farming affairs.

Power is always responsible for its source, and Feng Bao's power only came from the Emperor. The power of the palace maids and eunuchs in this fighting arena came from Feng Bao, this old ancestor. If he made a mistake, the people below would follow suit. The case of assassinating the Emperor was caused by his willfulness, which led to negligence.

He started to observe the palace closure, and no one in the palace dared to let people in to visit privately anymore.

Zhu Yijun was also happy upon hearing this and said with a smile: "Hey, Feng, what you said is reasonable. Tomorrow, then. Proclaim the edict tomorrow."

The young Emperor was not complex, especially Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, who followed the young Emperor like tails every day. They knew the young Emperor very well—a heart of a newborn, pure and white. To put it more harshly, he could be seen through at a glance.

Feng Bao and Zhang Hong were called "companion" when they did the right thing and the Emperor was in a great mood. If they did a fairly good job, the Emperor would call them "big companion." If they did a bad job, the Emperor would generally call them by their names.

Feng Bao was trying his best to avoid the Emperor calling his name. He didn't have a second or third chance. A third time would be a dead end.

The Zhao Wenhua Hall the next day lacked Wan Shihe. Wan Shihe had been angered into a faint by his own student, which left the court officials stunned. They could only say that Sun Jigao was indeed not a human son. He took a teacher, but listened to Zhang Siwei. Why didn't he take Zhang Siwei as his teacher?

Wan Shihe also submitted a memorial to resign. The court discussion rejected it. Ge Shouli was the most opposed. If Wan Shihe ran away, wouldn't the one being scolded become him?

The Great Ming army reported the battle situation every day, and Li Chengliang and Zhang Xueyan submitted a very, very long memorial. Zhu Yijun read it once and felt a little dizzy. Zhang Xueyan probably summarized all the flattery of his life into the memorial, and Li Chengliang was a military general who was not good at words; he just repeated the same things over and over.

Anyway, the court officials were brilliant, the Grand Secretary was tough, and the Emperor was high and tough, willing to let the military generals display their talents, and even gave half the pay, and promised to give the full pay, pension, and rewards after the battle.

Most importantly, the Emperor paid for the military pay out of his own pocket. If it weren't for the military danger and the need to fight, the two of them would have crawled to the capital to kowtow nine times to the young Emperor to thank him for his imperial grace. In the memorial, they also shouted that if the ruler treats his subjects like hands and feet, the subjects will treat the ruler like their heart and soul. They would definitely kill the enemy well, even digging out the earthworms in the bandit's nest and cutting them in half, shaking the egg yolks evenly, and sending them to the Emperor for his inspection.

Since the Jiajing era, after the national and inner treasuries were separated, for so many years, this was the first time he had heard of an Emperor spitting out money from the inner treasury to the outside.

"The Liaodong soldiers have the heart to fight. The military morale can be used." Zhang Juzheng also didn't finish reading the long memorial and said with emotion.

This time, Pei Chengzu was killed—the Pei Chengzu who had made a covenant with the bandit Wang Gao!

This was riding on the face of the Liaodong border town and acting wild. If Li Chengliang swallowed this breath, he wouldn't need to mix in the Liaodong area anymore. The court didn't give pay, so they wouldn't fight? Now the court not only let them fight but also allocated half of the previously owed pay.

Wang Gao should have gone to dig wild ginseng when he was bored, instead of luring and killing Pei Chengzu. Liaodong was originally a powder keg, and he had to light it.

"Bold!" Wan Shihe immediately expressed his position: "The barbarians are indeed like this, wolf-faced and beast-hearted, fearing power but not cherishing virtue! The court is generous, but they don't think of being respectful. If we don't suppress them with thunder, I fear the Northern Barbarians will all think our Great Ming is empty and can be bullied, and border incidents will naturally arise everywhere!"

"The nature of the barbarians is only to discuss strength and weakness. Once a grudge is formed, they will retaliate endlessly!"

Wan Shihe was an old pedant who advocated for "gentleness to those from afar." He would still talk about "gentleness to those from afar," but this had already been too gentle. How else could he be gentle? Kneel down and kowtow, begging Wang Gao not to cause trouble?

"Then shall we discuss the strategy of driving and suppressing?" Zhang Juzheng asked.

"Suppress!" Wan Shihe gritted his teeth and said: "The Jianzhou Jurchens are not subjects."

"In the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong era, the sky changed at Tumu Fortress, and the Yingzong Emperor was captured. At that time, the national prestige was frustrated, and border affairs were in a mess. Li Manzhu, Dong Shan, and other bandit leaders took the opportunity to plunder the border, and Liaodong was exhausted. During the Chenghua era, we destroyed their nests and cut off their species."

"Now it is the same!"

During the Gengxu Incident, Altan Khan invaded the capital, and the Dingxiang Prince Zhu Xizhong guarded the capital, but the capital was plundered for eight full days. Afterward, the Great Ming and Altan Khan fought in the Northwest, and this fight lasted for more than ten years. The Jianzhou Jurchens took advantage of the situation to start border troubles again, which was exactly the same as Li Manzhu and Dong Shan in those years!

They were all bandit slaves who deserved to be killed by heaven!

Even Wan Shihe, the biggest dove, agreed to suppress them, so no one disagreed with the expedition against the Jianzhou Jurchens.

The court actually needed people like Wan Shihe. Being fond of war is dangerous, and war will lead to the loss of the nation. Wan Shihe reminding everyone not to be fond of war was also reasonable. Similarly, forgetting war is dangerous.

The Minister of Revenue, Wang Guoguang, was silent for a moment and said: "In August, the Governor Zhang Xueyan submitted a memorial saying: 'The military pay for this town is in arrears by 149,700 taels.'"

"The Liaodong border is more than 2,000 li long, with 120 fortresses, and enemies on three sides. There are 72,000 official troops, each given one shi of rice per month, discounted to 2 qian 5 fen of silver. Horses are given feed in winter and spring, discounted to 1 qian 8 fen of silver per month. This was followed by drought, and people were starving, hence the arrears."

Wang Gao was not a fool. If the Liaodong border town was extremely fierce, Wang Gao would not dare to cause too much trouble. This matter had been discussed before. The court issued 30,000 taels of silver from the Taicang, so Wan Shihe asked if the Liaodong border side was learning from the old affairs of Wu Dui, lying about the enemy situation to get these military pays.

"If the arrears are not paid, the military morale is hard to use." Qi Jiguang represented the military generals. No matter how noisy the court was, he had to explain from a military perspective that one had to be full to work.

The court officials fell silent. Should they suppress them? Yes. But the court couldn't even pay the arrears.

Zhu Yijun looked at everyone and asked: "30,000 taels have already been issued, which means 110,000 taels are still in arrears. How much silver is in the Taicang of the Ministry of Revenue?"

Wang Guoguang bowed his head in a hurry and said: "The Ministry of Revenue can allocate 60,000 taels of silver."

"That is enough." Qi Jiguang heard that there were 60,000 taels of silver and thought for a moment before saying.

Wang Guoguang frowned and said: "Enough?"

"Half pay is enough." Qi Jiguang looked at everyone and said: "If you can get half pay and be full, it is enough to win. The military morale can be used. If you win, you can give the remaining half pay, and you can win next time. The soldiers in the border towns actually know that the court's finances are in great deficit."