Chapter 381: Everything is Proceeding According to Plan

The return of Zhang Juzheng to the capital meant only that the prohibition against "beheading those who speak of the Master's faults" would temporarily not be enforced, as it would cause reputational damage to Zhang Juzheng by obstructing the channels of speech. It did not mean the prohibition was completely abolished. At the very least, it could not be spoken of in front of the Emperor. The Emperor's words were golden and final; having made a promise, he had to fulfill it.

Xu Jie had clamored in front of the Emperor that Zhang Juzheng would not die a good death, and Zhu Yijun had delivered a righteous verdict upon him. Even if the Ministry of Justice had to retroactively record the imperial warrant, it was still done in a legitimate and orderly manner.

However, for the sake of everyone's dignity, Wang Chonggu handled the matter as Xu Jie committing suicide out of fear of punishment. Every person of status in the imperial court knew that Xu Jie's head had been sewn back on. Even Xu Wei, far away in Nagasaki, knew of this affair. And because the Nine-Dragon Crown and Belt had appeared in the Xu Jie case, no one spoke up for him. Xu Jie's death did not cause any ripples.

The creature known as the Emperor is, at certain times, just this unreasonable.

In the second month of the eighth year of Wanli, when Zhang Juzheng submitted his petition to return power and beg for retirement, Empress Dowager Li said, "Assist him for thirty years, and then we shall discuss it." Was it that Empress Dowager Li, this little woman, did not understand that imperial power was inviolable? As Empress Dowager, having participated in governance at the Qianqing Palace for several years, she naturally understood the tyranny and unreasonableness of the Emperor and imperial power. But she knew her own child; the Wanli Emperor truly could not bear the weight of the state. That same year, Empress Dowager Li even entertained the thought of deposing the Wanli Emperor and having the Prince of Lu ascend the throne.

The imperial power of the feudal system is just this tyrannical.

Facing this tyrannical imperial power, Zhang Juzheng's current choice was not to confront it head-on, but to agree first, and then attempt to remonstrate.

The conflict between Li Chengliang and the Liaodong Provincial Governor Zhou Yong had already intensified to the point of reaching the imperial court. Court decisions had to be cautious. In the Wenhua Palace, Li Chengliang had Qi Jiguang, Tan Lun, and Zhang Xueyan speaking for him, and Li Chengliang still held the Emperor's favor. Meanwhile, the Liaodong Provincial Governor Zhou Yong was the civil official force sent by the court to restrain Li Chengliang, and the court also had to provide him support; in the Wenhua Palace, Hai Rui, Li Youzi, and Ma Ziqiang spoke for him.

Zhang Juzheng's disposal plan was the most appropriate: ordering Li Chengliang to close the "Flower Towers" and sending Hou Yuzhao to Liaodong to increase the Imperial Faction's power to restrain Li Chengliang. This was support for the Liaodong Provincial Governor Zhou Yong.

But the Emperor believed Li Chengliang had done nothing wrong and that there were reasons for his actions, so he did not order rectification. By sending Hou Yuzhao, the nature of the matter changed entirely. It was no longer support for the Liaodong Provincial Governor Zhou Yong, but suspicion of him—suspecting that he could not fully fulfill his duties.

Facing the Emperor, who had already married and taken personal control of governance, changing the results of the court deliberation, Zhang Juzheng could only say, "Your Majesty is sagacious."

Imperial power is just this tyrannical and unreasonable.

The Governor of Lu Song submitted a memorial of congratulations, thanking the Emperor for granting the marriage. This counted as an agreement to the match, and the wedding was immediately put on the agenda. All preparations were to be pushed forward steadily.

The main content of the court deliberation on the twenty-fifth of the eleventh month, besides the conflict between the Liaodong Provincial Governor and the Regional Commander, was the Emperor granting a princess in marriage to be wed far away in Lu Song.

After the court deliberation ended, Zhang Juzheng did not leave immediately but discussed the conflict between the Liaodong Provincial Governor Zhou Yong and Li Chengliang with His Majesty again.

"Li Chengliang committed a fault and was not punished; instead, the Provincial Governor Zhou Yong was given a light reprimand. Your Majesty, I believe this is a lack of clarity in rewards and punishments." Zhang Juzheng did not oppose the Emperor's decision during the court deliberation, but discussed it with the Emperor behind closed doors afterward.

Refuting the Emperor in front of so many people would be coercing the Emperor to compromise and would leave the Emperor with no way to save face.

Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng did not always agree. This divergence in political views did not affect their consistency in choosing the path forward.

"I do not believe Li Chengliang was at fault." Zhu Yijun was very clear that the divergence in handling the matter between himself and Zhang Juzheng was primarily whether Li Chengliang had committed a fault.

Were Li Chengliang's Flower Towers truly at fault? Li Chengliang, acting as the mountain king in Liaodong, not causing scandals of forcing good women into prostitution was already giving the state face.

Zhu Yijun did not think so. He said very definitely: "Liaodong is a border region, a place of bitter cold. The sources of Li Shuai's three thousand guest soldiers and retainers are complex; most are desperate men. Li Shuai must use these people to advance inch by inch. I do not believe there is any problem with these Flower Towers."

The military is the intuitive manifestation of violence, and given the special environment of Liaodong, combined with the origins of Li Chengliang's retainers, this method of maintaining stability was not the best, but it was already a very suitable approach.

"Once this precedent is set, I fear the various garrisons of the Nine Borders will vie to imitate it." Zhang Juzheng still insisted on his remonstrance. He still believed Li Chengliang was wrong, that the Flower Towers should not have been opened, and that even causing the influence of imitation was not a matter of one morning or evening, or the gain or loss of one city or place.

Zhu Yijun's fingers tapped on the table. Zhang Juzheng was standing in the court, considering the macro interests of the entire Great Ming. Li Chengliang is capable, but can Wang Rulong, Chen Dacheng, Yang Wen, Ma Gui, Chen Lin, and Deng Zilong do the same thing?

The Flower Towers were indeed easy to invite criticism.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, nodded, and said: "What you say, Master, is reasonable."

"Actually, this matter is easy to handle." Zhang Juzheng said, holding his hands: "Let a wealthy family go to Liaodong. Whatever the value of these Flower Towers, buy them out and continue to operate them."

Zhang Juzheng suggested a compromise: the Flower Towers would continue to operate, but they would not be run by Li Chengliang. In this way, all aspects would be taken care of.

The Flower Towers had been closed for several years. Li Chengliang was truly not lacking this bit of silver, nor was he running a military pay recovery plan. If it weren't for the fact that there were no wars this year and these retainers had nowhere to vent their energy, he wouldn't be stirring up this trouble. This was all consuming the Emperor's favor, and favor could only be obtained through reports of victory.

"Who should go?" Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and asked.

"The Sun family of Songjiang?" Zhang Juzheng thought of Sun Kehong's pleasure boat business. It was a professional match, and having the Sun family take over was most appropriate.

Zhu Yijun thought about it, shook his head, and said: "The Sun family has a large business. Getting into pleasure boats and the flesh trade will only bring a stench of fish and blood upon them. If they take over these Flower Towers, I fear they won't live many more years. Let's change to someone else."

"Your Majesty has a heart of gentle benevolence, exercises sagacious judgment, personally oversees ten thousand matters, and allows the various ministers to assist from below, leading to peace and the preservation of the great enterprise without difficulty." Zhang Juzheng bowed his head, ending this audience, and as usual, flattered him.

The reason Zhang Juzheng suggested the Sun family take over the Flower Tower business was that he felt the Emperor was likely about to take action against the Sun family. They had been fattened up and could now be slaughtered.

Xu Jie was already dead. When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked; it has always been this way.

His Majesty is a mature political creature. "Beheading those who speak of the Master's faults" is His Majesty's current stance, based on the need to continue pushing the New Policies. It is not a stance for after he, Zhang Juzheng, dies. If such a day comes, His Majesty should exchange his posthumous reputation for some benefits... right?

Will he or will he not? That is a question.

Zhang Juzheng was somewhat uncertain. Recently, he occasionally had a fantasy of seeking glory and obtaining it—very occasionally.

This fantasy was given to him by His Majesty. The reason was simple: His Majesty was currently deliberately creating a community of interest for the New Policies. This community would later maintain the New Policies, and its scale was becoming increasingly massive. As the representative figure of the New Policies, one could even name the New Policies after him. Later, if His Majesty truly wanted to settle accounts with him, Zhang Juzheng, it would be very difficult to do so.

Every year, the eleventh and twelfth months were the time for the Ministry of Revenue to audit accounts. The accounts of the Great Ming, amidst the sound of the abacus, gradually became a bit clearer.

From the land survey in the first year of Wanli to the large-scale land survey and audit across the country in the third year of Wanli, by the beginning of the twelfth month of the seventh year of Wanli, preliminary calculations showed that the taxable land of the Great Ming had recovered from the 4.22 million qing determined during the Hongzhi reign to 7.84 million qing. The land tax of the Great Ming had also grown rapidly from 17 million shi to 26.1 million shi.

This figure was not as high as the 8.5 million qing and 32.27 million shi of the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, but it was already the limit of what Zhang Juzheng could achieve. According to Zhang Juzheng's plan, the land survey would not end until at least the eleventh year of Wanli.

Zhang Juzheng executed the land survey very thoroughly. In the seventh year of Wanli alone, six prefects who were ineffective in the land survey were dismissed and reduced to commoners, including the Prefect of Songjiang Yan Bangning, the Prefect of Chizhou Guo Siwei, and the Prefect of Huizhou Li Haowen. Meanwhile, the local gentry and squires of Jiande County, such as Xu Zongwu, because they obstructed the land survey, had their entire families exiled to Lu Song.

The Liaodong Provincial Governor Ling Yunyi achieved the championship in the land survey activities of the seventh year of Wanli!

In the seventh year of Wanli, a total of 36.27 million mu of land hidden by large households, cunning people, temples, and local gentry was discovered in Shandong. That is, 360,000 qing of hidden land was discovered by Ling Yunyi. The reason Ling Yunyi was able to achieve such great success was largely a result of the sudden collapse of the Kong family estate in Yanzhou.

In the entire Great Ming, only Ling Yunyi conducted the land survey with three thousand guest soldiers. Anyone who obstructed the land survey was killed without mercy. Ling Yunyi's killing in Shandong was rampant, which also made him suffer the questioning of the remonstrating officials, all of whom felt Ling Yunyi's killing was too heavy.

However, this wind for Ling Yunyi was nothing more than a bit of frost. And this wind passed very quickly, because the wealthy families of Liangguang were again clamoring, begging Ling Yunyi to return to Liangguang to give them a quick end. The charge of "heavy killing" was thus invalidated. If the killing was truly heavy, could the wealthy families of Liangguang still invite the "star of killing" back?

When Ling Yunyi killed people, he let them die clearly. When Wang Jiaping was in Liangguang, the torture he used made life worse than death.

On the fifth day of the twelfth month of the seventh year of Wanli, there was heavy snow and the inkstones were frozen solid. At the Hongying Altar, the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun looked at the heavy snow filling the sky and breathed a sigh of relief. This winter, the snow outside the passes was higher than a person, but inside the passes, there were no signs of snow. Zhu Yijun had performed the Great Yu Ritual to pray for snow. It had been less than three days since he arrived at the Hongying Altar, and the heavy snow was falling in flurries.

A timely snow promises a good harvest. This heavy snow made the faint anxiety and irritability in Zhu Yijun's heart become relaxed.

"Very good!" Zhu Yijun walked toward the Great Imperial Carriage. He was going to the Wenhua Palace. He was going to summon the Third San Niangzi at the Wenhua Palace. The Third San Niangzi's caravan had already returned to the grasslands before the heavy snow blocked the mountains, but the Third San Niangzi herself and her entourage of about fifty people were lingering in the capital.

The reason the Third San Niangzi stayed for such a long time was mainly to purchase shipping tickets, which took some effort. Originally, she should have bid farewell to the Emperor after buying the shipping tickets at the beginning of the twelfth month, but the Emperor went to the Hongying Altar to pray for snow, which delayed things for a few more days. According to the Third San Niangzi's thoughts, an audience at the Hongying Altar was not impossible. As for the discussions on the streets, she did not care.

Zhu Yijun rejected the Third San Niangzi's request for an audience at the Hongying Altar. If he really let this "hot woman" have an audience at the Hongying Altar, it would be like yellow mud falling into one's trousers—even if it wasn't excrement, it would be hard to explain.

In this weather of goose-feather snow, the roads were piled up and blocked by heavy snow. In this day and age, without snow-melting agents and with no one to clear them, they melted very slowly. This year, the Third San Niangzi would again spend the New Year in the capital. This was the third time the Third San Niangzi had spent the New Year in the capital.

"Your Majesty truly has a ruthless heart. With a subscription of ten million silver, you actually didn't give this concubine even a share of five hundred thousand silver." The Third San Niangzi had an audience with the Emperor in the side hall of the Wenhua Palace. After the courtesies, as soon as she opened her mouth, the Emperor became like a heartless man who had abandoned her.

Zhu Yijun hadn't played with her, so he naturally didn't count as a heartless man. He shook his head and said: "In this matter, I don't have enough to distribute here. I can't give San Niangzi Zhongshun even a bit. There is no way around it. The Great Minister of Justice's spit when he scolds people has already splattered on my face."

According to Wang Guoguang, the state treasury and the inner treasury should be split fifty-fifty, and the Jin, Chu, and Zhe factions shouldn't be given a single cent of the subscription funds!

"It is fortunate that this Yanxing Tower bought enough shipping tickets. Returning, it can still be accounted for." The Third San Niangzi covered the corner of her mouth and smiled. Five hundred thousand silver, all exchanged for shipping tickets. In three years, she could basically recover the capital, and the rest would be profit. A ship's lifespan is between ten and fifteen years. It is truly a business with ten thousand profits for one.

The Third San Niangzi also had her own considerations. The Great Ming was sharpening its weapons. If they broke through Guihua City, she would be too lazy to run west. Continue to drift with the Altan Tian Kehan? The Third San Niangzi did not want to live that kind of life. If she was captured by the Great Ming, so be it.

As a first-rank lady conferred by the imperial court and a representative of the grassland reconciliation faction, the imperial court would not truly behead her for all to see. These shipping tickets were her retirement money for the future.

In recent years, she had been coming to the Great Ming more and more frequently, also because of this consideration.

"San Niangzi Zhongshun purchased quite a lot of kelp this time. The Altan Tian Kehan's son, Buyan, also intends to purchase some. But since the Second Grand Secretary Wang has already promised it to you, San Niangzi, he naturally will not go back on his word. However, next year, kelp will not be at this price." Zhu Yijun brought up the commodity of kelp. Shandong kelp was very popular in the interior of the Great Ming. Densely populated coastal areas didn't need much of it, but this thing was quite sought after on the grasslands.

"Can kelp truly prevent goiter?" the Third San Niangzi asked, still somewhat unconvinced.

Zhu Yijun pointed to himself and said: "This is the result of the Great Physicians of the Dissection Institute researching on me and the Prince of Lu."

Kelp is sea vegetable. It had already appeared in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, it was an imperial dish. Therefore, the Great Ming imperial family rarely had deformities like goiter. This point was confirmed by Li Shizhen and Chen Shigong of the Dissection Institute after repeated research, and they had conducted experiments on a range in Shandong.

The Third San Niangzi looked somewhat helpless. She very clearly knew His Majesty the Emperor's plan: it was to use commodity advantages to drain the blood of the grasslands, especially the mobility of the grasslands. Once the grassland people couldn't run, they wouldn't be far from complete reconciliation.

Just in the logic of the kelp business, if they wanted to get more kelp, they had to raise more sheep. If they raised sheep, they couldn't raise horses. If the grasslands lost mobility, they would lose the ability to attack and migrate.

But knowing the Great Ming Emperor's plot, the Third San Niangzi actually couldn't do anything. She couldn't resist, so she simply lay flat and let the Emperor do whatever he wanted.

"Next year, will the price rise again? The grasslands are really about to be squeezed dry by Your Majesty. Don't raise the price. Next year, when this concubine comes to the Great Ming again, I will bring Your Majesty a few Hailar girls to help Your Majesty vent your fire." The Third San Niangzi chose to bribe him to his face. The pearls of the grasslands were the main component of Datong ladies.

Datong ladies, Yangzhou slender horses—famous throughout the world.

"You think it's expensive? I also think it's expensive. But the Great Ming doesn't even have enough of this thing itself. Selling it to the grasslands is already doing the utmost benevolence. San Niangzi Zhongshun, don't be too greedy. A price increase is inevitable. If the grasslands raise a few more sheep, won't they be able to trade for it?" Zhu Yijun didn't buy this at all. He had plenty of beauties, but there were still too many horses on the grasslands.

"Your Majesty doesn't like Hailar girls? If Your Majesty doesn't mind this concubine being a withered flower and a fallen willow, what about this concubine?" The Third San Niangzi's words carried a hint of seduction, and she didn't care about the gazes of the eunuchs and palace maids in the side hall.

Zhu Yijun sneered and said: "Let's talk about serious business."

The Third San Niangzi brought up this matter, also with a headache, and said: "Raise more sheep? Does Your Majesty think this concubine doesn't want to? But the Altan Tian Kehan and the Tümen Tian Kehan are fighting each other to the death. Many warhorses have died. The Altan Tian Kehan even sent people to the 'Back Mountains' to ask the Oirat for horses. Next year, I fear the horse herds on the grasslands will increase again."

"Your Majesty, hurry up and cook them all in one pot. Save them from fighting each other to the death over those things that don't exist and have no head or shadow, delaying the herding of sheep."

In the context of the grasslands, the "Back Mountains" were Oirat and Karakorum. In the past, it was the place where Genghis Tian Kehan rose to power. After the Yuan Emperor Kublai Tian Kehan took the Han lords to slaughter it once, that place became a place for herding horses again. The word "Oirat" means "horse-herding slave."

Mahamud, Toghon, and Esen were conferred titles by the Great Ming for three generations. The Oirat tribe gradually grew in power and won against the Great Ming once, capturing the Ming Emperor Zhu Qizhen. The power of the Oirat reached its peak in Esen's hands, but it quickly declined following Esen's death in an internal conflict in the fourth year of Jingtai. Even his head was sent to the Great Ming in exchange for a reward.

The Hu barbarians have no hundred-year fortune.

Up to now, the Altan Tian Kehan had broken Oirat and Karakorum. The Third San Niangzi was an Oirat person; she was captured at that time. So the Oirat people became horse-herding slaves again. The conflict between the Altan Tian Kehan and the Tümen Tian Kehan, as they fought, meant horses were not enough, so the Altan Tian Kehan asked the Back Mountains for horses.

The Third San Niangzi was very irritable. Salt, iron pots, tea, and kelp were all things the grassland people urgently needed. Under the scourge of war, it had become impossible to even herd sheep properly.

The Third San Niangzi sat up straight and said: "Your Majesty, actually, Tengri, Çangri, and Eternal Heaven, translated into the language of the Great Ming, are actually the 'Qian' of Heaven and Earth. It is Heaven—the Heaven of the Old Heavens. It is not a person who became a god, but a rule. The vastness of the sky and the wilderness—the awe and faith of the nomadic grassland people in the face of nature."

"The highest Tengri Heaven God, the highest god living on the Heavenly Mountains, is Möngke Tengri."

The last sentence was sung by the Third San Niangzi. It was a sentence from the grassland sacrificial prayers, which appeared after Genghis Tian Kehan.

"Why did San Niangzi Zhongshun suddenly mention this?" Zhu Yijun asked somewhat puzzled. We were talking about business; why did it drag on to the three words "Eternal Heaven"?

The Third San Niangzi did not answer the Emperor's question but continued: "When Genghis Tian Kehan was campaigning against the Tayichiud tribe, he climbed to high ground, spread out his saddle, hung his golden belt around his neck, clasped his hands, and prayed: 'I am Tian Kehan not because I have a strong physique, but because I conform to the Mandate of Heaven; I am Tian Kehan not because I have superhuman wisdom, but because I rely on the grace of Heaven and the virtue of my ancestors; that I can sweep away my enemies is the favor of Heaven; relying on the help of Eternal Heaven, I have obtained the help of Heaven and Earth.'"

"Has Your Majesty discovered it?"

"Discovered what?!" Zhu Yijun didn't understand at all what the Third San Niangzi was talking about. What on earth was she saying with this dragging on and on?

Only then did the Third San Niangzi open her mouth and say: "The grasslands and the Central Plains actually both believe in Heaven. It is not a specific person; it is not a person who became a god; it is not a doctrine, but a rule under the Mandate of Heaven. This is different from Buddhism, the Nestorianism of the West, and the Muhammad of the Hui. The faith of the grasslands and the Central Plains is different from other places."

The sects of the West believe in Jesus. The Buddha of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama. The Hui believe in the Prophet Muhammad. The difference between this and the Eternal Heaven of the grasslands and the Old Heavens of the Central Plains is that other faiths are all people who have existed.

If according to the basic laws of religion, Genghis Tian Kehan achieved such achievements, the grasslands should believe in Genghis Tian Kehan. But the consensus of the grasslands still considers Genghis Tian Kehan to be the King of the World, not a god in heaven. So the faith is still Eternal Heaven, or in other words, the Old Heavens.

"The Records of the Grand Historian says that the Xiongnu are the descendants of Huaxia. This should be reasonable. Your Majesty, hurry up and attack! Punish the people and cut down the crimes. Hurry up and capture these two barbarian kings, the Tümen Tian Kehan and the Altan Tian Kehan, to the capital to be beheaded for all to see!" This was the fundamental purpose of the Third San Niangzi talking about Eternal Heaven actually being the Old Heavens. They are all one family. As the Great Monarch of the Unification of the Four Seas, as His Majesty the Emperor, hurry up and civilize the grasslands!

She was urging the Emperor to hurry up with military conquest, plus political, cultural, and economic restraint, so that the grassland people could herd sheep peacefully and live a few days of peaceful life.

Zhu Yijun understood what the Third San Niangzi was talking about. He nodded and said: "The Great Ming cavalry only has ten thousand men. My strength is not enough. I can only say as soon as possible."

"Then this concubine will wash clean in Guihua City and wait for Your Majesty to capture me!" The Third San Niangzi stood up, ending this audience. Anyway, it was an audience in the side hall. Besides palace maids, there were only eunuchs. She didn't feel ashamed. The middle secretary who should have been writing the Diary of Activity and Repose was always going to the toilet.

"Nonsense." Zhu Yijun waved his hand and gave Feng Bao a few more instructions. The Third San Niangzi would spend the New Year in the capital. There was no need to arrange for her to stay at the Four Barbarian Hostel; just arrange for her to stay at the Huitong Hostel.

The Third San Niangzi stood in front of the Wenhua Palace, looking at the heavy snow filling the sky. This snow was very heavy. She knew she would still spend the New Year in the capital this year. She had truly studied the specific meaning of Eternal Heaven. Eternal Heaven is an invisible rule that exists in all things, time, and space. It is the same thing as the Mandate of Heaven view of the Central Plains.

She looked back at the Emperor, knowing that the time for her to live in the Great Ming for a long time was not far away.

Regarding what the Third San Niangzi hoped would happen, Zhu Yijun could only say: everything is proceeding according to plan.

Zhu Yijun is a person who values faith and keeps promises. This is a fact known to everyone inside and outside the Great Ming. But up to now, there is one thing Zhu Yijun still hasn't fulfilled: the promise he made to Tan Lun to recover the Daning Guard and the Hetao region. This promise was only half realized, and the other half had not yet been realized.

Not fulfilling a promise was like a fishbone in Zhu Yijun's throat. But now, the Great Ming cavalry still did not have enough mobility to conquer the grasslands. In the first court deliberation of the seventh year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng said that the main direction of the New Policies this year was still to enrich the country and strengthen the military. Strengthening the military was to expand the number of maritime defense inspectors and organize cavalry.

During the Hongwu and Yongle reigns, the Great Ming launched thirteen large-scale attacks on the grasslands. Since then, the Great Ming had gradually lost interest in the matter of conquest, and also lost the ability to attack. With the general trend of "promoting literature and suppressing martial arts," attack gradually became a luxury. The Great Ming only had one Zhang Juzheng who clearly proposed strengthening the military and put it into practice. The rest of the Grand Secretaries had never said so clearly. Even at the end of the Ming Dynasty, various supervisors emerged one after another, but they were still using civil officials to control military officials.

Not even daring to say it shows how great the resistance to the two words "strengthening the military" was.

There were three places where Zhang Juzheng was criticized by the hundred officials. The first was the Examination Method, using the hundred officials like cattle and horses. The second was strengthening the military; as a civil official, giving military officials power—what kind of civil official is that? The third was running a one-man show and obstructing the channels of speech.

Zhu Yijun stretched. The Great Ming is flourishing!

He sometimes envied Zhu Yiliu. This kid recently set up a flower stage at home, letting beauties from ten thousand countries dance on the stage, completely disregarding the severe winter, not even giving the beauties pants to wear, and having a very happy time. Envy is just envy. Zhu Yijun still had many things to do.

Tieling Guard, outside Li Chengliang's Flower Tower, the newly appointed Inspecting Censor Hou Yuzhao, after more than half a month of trekking, finally arrived in Liaoyang to take office. As soon as he arrived in Liaoyang, Hou Yuzhao called the Provincial Governor Zhou Yong to go to the Flower Tower together.

Hou Yuzhao was a practical official, and Zhou Yong was a Confucian scholar. Zhou Yong disliked Tieling Guard very much, calling this place a "devil's den," and also disliked the Flower Tower very much, seeing it as a "dragon's pool and tiger's den," which was an insult to refinement.

When Hou Yuzhao arrived at the place, he reasoned with him and pulled Zhou Yong to Tieling Guard, everyone going to the Flower Tower together.

"The Marquis of Ningyang comes from a military background. He calls you to come, and you don't come. Of course, he will oppose you in everything." When Hou Yuzhao was reclaiming land in the Daning Guard, he had heard of the conflict between Li Chengliang and Zhou Yong. At first, it was a very small conflict, not even counting as a verbal dispute, but this conflict and gap grew larger and larger, even reaching the Wenhua Palace.

Hou Yuzhao watched Zhou Yong still unwilling to move forward, so he had to continue: "There is no fundamental conflict. Once it is spoken out, it will be fine."

In the sixth year of Wanli, there was a great victory in Liaodong. Li Chengliang drove for two hundred li, beheading over a thousand, forcibly expanding the territory by over fifty li, building three hundred camps and forts, and reclaiming over twenty thousand qing of land. No matter how capable Li Chengliang was at fighting, the expansion of territory, land reclamation, and camps and forts were all work done by Zhou Yong. Zhou Yong did not hinder him; instead, he provided a lot of help, providing stable supplies and a rear area.

Hou Yuzhao was well-versed in the theory of contradictions and did not believe that Li and Zhou had completely parted ways.

Hou Yuzhao saw that Zhou Yong still couldn't let go of his face, so he reached out and pulled him, walking into the Flower Tower, saying as he walked: "Go, let's go in and play. I've long heard of the name of the Flower Tower. Today, I'll come to see it. Since we're here, we're here!"

"Provincial Governor Zhou, your arrival is a great honor! I failed to welcome you from afar! I apologize, please come in!" Li Chengliang walked out laughing. He was actually watching at the door, waiting for Zhou Yong to walk in, and then hurried out to welcome him.

Zhou Yong coming from Liaoyang to Tieling Guard was Zhou Yong admitting defeat and giving him, Old Li, face. Li Chengliang couldn't be ungrateful. Once Zhou Yong entered the door, the previous matters would pass with the whistling north wind, and no one would mention them again.

This time, Wang Chonggu wrote a letter to mediate, and the Great Ming Emperor sent someone to persuade them. If they still made such a scene, the imperial court's judgment of the situation in Liaodong would become even worse.

Zhu Yijun had emphasized more than once that the imperial court needed a smooth person like Wan Shihe.

The name of the Liaodong Provincial Governor was wrong in the previous chapter; Zhou Yong was written as Zhou Yan. It has already been changed. Zhou Yan was never the Liaodong Provincial Governor. Zhou Yong was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Jiajing. In the 5th year of Wanli, he was transferred from Left Vice Minister of the Dali Temple to Left Censor-in-Chief and Provincial Governor of Liaodong. In the 5th month of the 6th year of Wanli, he recorded the achievements of the Liaodong garrison and was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief. In the 11th month of the 10th year of Wanli, he was promoted to Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Governor of Jiliao and Baoding. In the 11th year of Wanli, the Supervising Secretary Feng Jinglong impeached Zhou Yong for being a member of the Zhang faction, and he was dismissed and reduced to a commoner. Begging for monthly tickets, Awoo!!!!!! ===== CHAPTER 382 =====