Chapter 909: The Woman's Way Out, the Disappearing Sea Chart
In the duty room, Wang Yiqi frowned and looked at Hua Yan. As the Minister of War, he was giving face to Jiang Qingzhi by meeting Hua Yan today...
In the Northern Expedition, Hua Yan and the Wolf Soldiers were a special force in Jiang Qingzhi's hands, and they played a decisive role in the battle of Luanling Pass. In the subsequent decisive battle, the Wolf Soldiers once again became Jiang Qingzhi's winning hand, and they gave Altan a flank blow at a critical moment.
When evaluating merits after the war, Jiang Qingzhi, against all odds, put the wolf soldiers at the forefront, which also triggered a lot of opposition. Jiang Qingzhi said: Without the wolf soldiers, Luanling Pass could not be defended. If Luanling Pass was lost, Altan's army could march straight in.
When it came to rewarding people for their merits, the Ministry of War and the court were in a dilemma. Logically, the generals should be rewarded, but Hua Yan was a woman!
This is not the late Ming Dynasty. There is no such thing as Qin Liangyu or female generals...
The saying that war keeps women away is not just empty talk at this time.
A female general suddenly appeared among a group of old men, and she is even more ferocious than us, and has made more contributions than us...
Where do you expect these men to put their faces?
Then give the title of "dad who appreciates flowers"?
Everyone thought it made sense, so they sent someone to Guangxi to pass a message, asking Hua Yan's father to come to Beijing to accept the reward.
Now that no one has come from Guangxi, Hua Yan can't sit still anymore and wants to go home.
Wang Yiqi frowned and said, "Follow orders."
——Do whatever I tell you to do!
The hierarchy is strict, this is the rule of the officialdom, and it is also the rule of the military. Moreover, the rules in the military are even stricter, and it is no joke that a higher-ranking official can crush someone to death.
Wang Yiqi is the Minister of War, and Hua Yan is a commoner, in other words, just a commoner.
A commoner should be terrified when facing the Minister of War, but Hua Yan didn't take it seriously at all.
Lao Wang was not a mean person, but he was still angered by the chieftain's daughter who didn't know the rules.
He asked coldly: "Where are you going back to?"
"Guangxi!"
Hua Yan always felt uncomfortable in the capital. She felt that beneath the gentle and refined appearance of the people in the capital were all cold and indifferent.
But it’s different in my hometown. The people there are simple and honest. You can laugh as much as you want and express your nature freely.
In the capital, once her nature was released, people around her would look at her as if she were an oddball, a country bumpkin, or a fool.
Hua Yan endured it at first, but later she could no longer bear it and started quarreling with others. After several times, she decided to quit.
"This is the capital, the Ministry of War." Wang Yiqi was ready to lose his temper.
Old Wang, the big boss of the Ministry of War, had a stern face and exuded pressure from his years in a high position. Hua Yan was startled and thought of what her father had said before leaving Guangxi.
——There are many rules outside, don't break them. Especially those officials, it's best to pretend to be stupid when you meet them, don't provoke them, or you will suffer the consequences. Remember this!
I forgot.
Hua Yan was stunned and felt a little regretful.
"Cough cough!"
There was a dry cough behind her. Hua Yan saw that the intimidating Old Wang suddenly stood up and smiled, "Long Wei Bur!"
"What's going on?" Jiang Qingzhi came in, "Hua Yan?"
"Uncle!" Hua Yan squatted down, still looking not standard.
"This woman needs to go back." Lao Wang said, "All those who deserved the reward for the great victory have been rewarded. Now she is the only one who is causing trouble."
"Why?" Jiang Qingzhi sat down and took out the medicinal cigarette.
Wang Yiqi said: "Those people in the court and the army have said that it is not right to let a woman become a general or an official. It doesn't make sense. This old man has a headache. Should we let her become a thousand households? There is no such rule."
From a commoner to a thousand-householder, this was a rocket-like promotion.
Jiang Qingzhi smiled, "Girls... not okay?"
In later generations, women can become leaders of a country. In Jiang Qingzhi's eyes, women should not stay at home all day to take care of their husbands and children, but go out to do things.
Being an official... is a bit difficult for the time being. In the current environment, for a woman to serve as an official is to challenge the secular rules that have been in place for thousands of years.
There have been many women who have achieved success in history, such as Empress Wu.
But that is rare after all. After Emperor Wu left, both historical books and unofficial histories slandered him without restraint.
Moreover, Emperor Wu relied on iron-fisted suppression.
Therefore, if Jiang Qingzhi wanted to change the status of women, he felt that he could only do it slowly.
Let’s take it step by step!
But there has to be a breakthrough.
Jiang Qingzhi looked at the stubborn Hua Yan and smiled, "Old Wang, actually... I don't think it's a bad thing for a woman to be a general."
Wang Yiqi smiled bitterly, "If you hadn't said that, I bet those generals would be furious. Moreover, even if I reported this to the court, the officials would be in an uproar and it would be unacceptable!"
"The hen crows at dawn?"
"Yes." Wang Yiqi said, "It's one thing to let a woman appear in the army, but those people will feel uncomfortable."
The military is a man’s world!
There’s no hope for this!
Jiang Qingzhi lit up the medicine cigarette and asked Hua Yan: "What do you think?" Hua Yan said stubbornly: "If I don't want to be an official, I won't be an official. I would rather go home and live happily."
As expected, he was stubborn enough. Wang Yiqi said coldly, "You have repeatedly offended your superiors. If it weren't for Chang Wei Bo, you would have been punished long ago. You still don't know how to restrain yourself!"
—Boss, this woman is too fierce and unscrupulous. The new policy is at a critical moment, and we can’t create trouble because of her.
Lao Wang's concerns were correct, but he didn't know that Jiang Qingzhi was going to use Hua Yan as a breakthrough to try to find a way out for the women of the Ming Dynasty.
"I'll take care of this." Jiang Qingzhi said, "Hua Yan, please be patient here, it's okay... By the way, Shitou always misses you at home, if you have nothing to do, go to Xin'an Lane to find him."
Hua Yan was delighted when she heard this, "I like Sun Chonglou, but some people advised me that it's impolite to always go to the uncle's house. Uncle, in my hometown, I can go to whoever I like, I'm not eating for free, right?"
It turned out that they were eye-catching!
Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile: "Don't be afraid of eating for free, the Bo Mansion doesn't need your set of bowls and chopsticks. Besides, Shitou has no shortage of money."
"Then I'll go later?" Hua Yan looked at Jiang Qingzhi expectantly.
"Let's go now!" Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile.
"Then I'm really going, I'm leaving!"
The girl walked away carelessly, and even bowed before leaving, which made Wang Yiqi very upset.
"Master, this woman..."
"I'll take care of this. By the way, why did you ask someone to look for me?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Wang Yiqi's face froze, "News came from the north that after Altan Khan was defeated and returned, some of his tribes rebelled..."
Sure enough, it came.
Jiang Qingzhi narrowed his eyes and thought about the situation on the grassland.
Altan Khan is not Genghis Khan, nor is he Kublai Khan. He does not have such great talent and strategy. At most, he is a hero, but not a wise leader.
Therefore, even though he was almost invincible in his campaigns north and south, Altan still could not win the hearts of the people.
What kind of people are these...they rise quickly and fall suddenly!
"Altan raised his butcher knife and wiped out more than ten tribes. All men taller than the wheels were killed..." Wang Yiqi sighed, "That was a method used in troubled times."
The chaotic period of the grassland is always accompanied by chaos. In order to survive, you must expand to the surrounding areas. If you don't fight others, others will fight you.
To be honest, in Jiang Qingzhi's view, the grassland can always give birth to powerful forces driven by this law of the jungle.
Whether it was the Xiongnu, the Liao, the Jin, the Mongols, or even the later Qing dynasty, they were all forced out by this environment where the strong prey on the weak and if you don't kill people, they will kill you.
In order to protect themselves, even a coward has to pick up a knife and fight with the enemies and neighbors.
In order to establish their authority and to warn later comers to give up resistance, conquerors often choose the bloodiest means.
For example, any male taller than the wheel would be killed.
Another thing is to humiliate the enemy's wives and daughters.
"It's expected." Jiang Qingzhi would not sympathize with those people.
"Recently, some tribes have joined forces to fight against Altan Khan, and both sides have won and lost." Wang Yiqi lowered his voice, "Chang Wei Bo, there are some voices in the army..."
"You say." Jiang Qingzhi said lightly.
This attitude was natural, but it gave Wang Yiqi a very complicated feeling.
Lao Wang was like a subordinate official reporting to his superior, "During the Northern Expedition, most of the Nine Frontiers did not participate. The Datong defenders became famous because of this battle and were hailed as the best army in the Nine Frontiers. Those people... were not convinced."
"Are you jealous?" Jiang Qingzhi smiled.
"Yes."
"It's not a bad thing to be happy when hearing about war, or even to take the initiative to seek war. But Lao Wang, the timing is not right now."
"Yes!" Wang Yiqi sighed, "Those generals expressed their opinions one after another, saying that the current chaos on the grassland is a good opportunity for the Ming Dynasty to take the initiative. If the court is determined to fight, they are willing to be the vanguard. They are willing to go through fire and water for Your Majesty."
Jiang Qingzhi looked unhappy. Wang Yiqi smiled bitterly, "These people looked at the great victory of the Northern Expedition and felt that Altan Khan was now a trapped dog, so it was a good opportunity to attack him. But they didn't see... If it weren't for you leading the army, the outcome of the Northern Expedition would have been different.
With their lofty ambitions and incompetent nature, let alone conquering the grasslands, I, in the Ministry of War, have to thank all the gods and Buddhas for being able to defend our own pass."
This matter is difficult to handle. If it is suppressed, it will have a negative impact on military morale.
But if we encourage them... Jiang Qingzhi asked, "Will those border generals dare to attack without authorization?"
"That's a very telling question." Wang Yiqi stroked his beard, "Some people were jealous of the achievements of the Datong Border Army this time, so they attacked without authorization a while ago, but were defeated by a cavalry unit under Altan.
The general shamelessly reported a great victory. I knew there was something fishy going on, so I asked His Majesty for instructions. The Jinyiwei went out and found out the problem... After being defeated by the cavalry under Altan, the general, in order to cover up, killed all the small tribes that surrendered..."
Old Wang put his fingers together like knives and swung them down with force, his eyes full of coldness, "I have no sympathy for that small tribe. At another time, these people would follow Altan to rush into the Ming Dynasty to burn, kill and plunder. If they die, they die. But they kill innocent people to claim credit... This kind of trend must not be allowed to develop!"
Jiang Qingzhi looked at Wang Yiqi, and just when Old Wang was a little nervous, he reached over the table and patted him on the shoulder.
"I feel relieved to have you in the Ministry of War!"
Wang Yiqi smiled.
"Oh, I have something to ask you." Jiang Qingzhi said, "When Zheng He's fleet sailed to the West, it was discontinued. Are those sea charts still there? Also, are the blueprints for building the treasure ship still there?"
"Why did Long Wei Bo suddenly think of this?" Wang Yiqi was stunned, then frowned, "It seems... it's all gone."
(End of this chapter)
