Chapter 99: In the court, he was called an official! Yan Shifan was going to expose something?
He was wearing a navy blue Taoist robe. Compared with the cotton Taoist robe he wore in winter, this robe was a bit thinner, making Qingfeng's figure look more agile and light.
Except for Yan Song and his son, Lu Fang and other people from the Imperial Household Department, everyone present saw this legendary young female imperial teacher for the first time.
Small, too small, too young.
Looking at the young imperial tutor in front of them, who was only 28 years old and had an oval face that still looked a little childish and cute, everyone had different thoughts.
If before the trip to the southeast, the Qingliu faction's understanding of Qingfeng was limited to the flattery of the Yan party, then a young Taoist girl was sent to Your Majesty's deep palace.
Then, after the emperor, who had traveled from the southeast, used a Luotian Grand Ceremony to easily suppress the chaos with a wave of his hand and also took back Hai Rui's uncontrollable sword, they dared not underestimate him.
Everyone misjudged the emperor.
The sixteen-year-old female imperial tutor was also a tool created by the emperor before he realized that his end was approaching.
Now, regarding the affairs of the northern border, the emperor has once again used this tool, and it is obvious that the emperor is going to take action again.
For a moment, everyone's heart was lifted up, and they looked at the young imperial teacher in front of them with scrutiny.
Being stared at with vigilant and scrutinizing eyes by so many people in power who stood at the pinnacle of the Ming Dynasty, Qingfeng was extremely calm. There was no other reason for this, just four words: a heart as calm as still water.
"Master, please take a seat." Lv Fang smiled when he saw Qingfeng and led Qingfeng to the small stool next to Jiajing's throne. "This is specially arranged for you by the master."
When everyone saw this scene, they all said in their hearts, "Sure enough."
The small stool next to the throne was for the Imperial Master. In fact, they thought of it when they heard Lv Fang say that the Imperial Master would preside over the meeting.
Prince Jing and Prince Yu, who were sitting below the throne, also turned slightly and nodded towards Qing Feng, expressing their goodwill.
No matter who this young imperial teacher is to my father, before my father leaves and before the war in the north ends, she may have a certain impact on their fight for the throne.
After everyone had returned to their seats, a faint buzzing sound was heard from the side hall after a bronze chime was struck.
"Today we have only one thing to discuss," Lv Fang stepped forward with a serious expression and said, "Why has the matter in the northern border reached this point? We must come up with a rule for the matter of Altan."
After saying that, Lu Fang glanced at everyone in the cabinet, stepped in front of Chen Hong, and said calmly: "Let's start."
"Not long ago, Tang Shun's report actually made it very clear that the reason why Altan Khan coveted the Ming Dynasty this time was entirely due to the successive riots by the Datong military households!"
Yan Shifan, who had been holding his breath, opened fire first.
When everyone saw Yan Shifan open fire, they all had different expressions on their faces, but no one stood up to object because that was the fact.
What Altan Khan was interested in was nothing more than mutual trade, which was also an important reason why the two sides had been at peace since the 29th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty.
However, as the Yan Party provoked conflicts between Shanxi merchants and the gentry, a large number of military households who relied on business for their livelihood began to cause trouble during the mutual trade, and trade with Mongolia was also affected.
With such a big commotion, the Mongols would harass the Ming Dynasty on a normal day. What's more, the border incident was such a big deal. How could they miss the opportunity to blackmail the Ming Dynasty again?
That's right, everyone can see clearly that Altan Khan suddenly sent cavalry to the border to send a signal to the Ming Dynasty. I believe that it won't be long before various "requests" will be sent.
However, on the other side of the border, both the Yan Party and the Qingliu began to mobilize troops and generals half a year ago, and sent their most elite and capable officials over there.
Therefore, the border situation was already tense at this time.
Because the Qingliu and Yandang had won and lost the first two rounds, they decided to start the third round. Coincidentally, Altan Khan attacked, and both sides saw an opportunity.
That is to take advantage of the danger of Altan's invasion and completely defeat the other side. It is precisely because they saw through each other's calculations that the third round of confrontation between the two sides was directly transferred from the border to the court.
Therefore, today we must put the main responsibility for Altan Khan's invasion on the other side. As long as we defeat him, all of his backup plans regarding the northern border will be invalid.
"The national policy of stationing troops to promote agriculture was originally in charge of my father..." Yan Shifan was very excited, but before he could finish his words, Yan Song started to scold him, "Yan Shifan!"
"There is no father here, only the emperor and his subjects, and in the court, it is called an official position!"
Yan Shifan was choked by his father's rebuke, and almost lost his temper. He looked at his father with resentment, and then continued: "The national policy of stationing troops to promote agriculture was proposed by Lord Yan."
"The Emperor has appointed Lord Yan to be in charge, and the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War to jointly supervise. However, when we promoted the national policy and adopted a conciliatory policy in the northern border, we encountered fierce resistance."
"Those gentry families incited the military households, gathered people to cause trouble, and hindered the implementation of national policies. A mere local gentry family actually dared to hinder the implementation of the court's national policies. This is enough to show the huge power behind them!"
When Yan Shifan said this, he sneered and looked around at Qingliu and others present.
"As for the affairs of the southeast, there are still examples of local gentry families annexing land, and that's because they have the support of someone in the court!" At this point, Yan Shifan could be said to be pointing his sword directly at Xu Jie.
“How similar is this experience to the last one?”
"Is there anyone here who is still supporting those families? Because the national policy of stationing troops to promote agriculture requires the expropriation of those people's land, so some people are unhappy." "They are starting to oppose the court and the emperor?"
Yan Shifan's words made the ears of everyone present ring.
When Prince Yu saw that Yan Shifan brought up the old matter again and tried to put the blame on Xu Jie and others, he couldn't help but frown.
King Jing standing aside remained calm, his expression unrecognizable.
"The Southeast incident was nothing more than a conspiracy between the local gentry and the government, and the emperor has already made a holy judgment. Are you questioning the emperor by bringing this up now, young minister?"
The first person to speak out was still Zhang Juzheng, and his move was to give the other person a taste of his own medicine.
You, Yan Shifan, are not the only one who can put accusations on others, I can do it too!
You're still digging up a case that has already been judged by the emperor? You don't know the rules. Are you questioning the emperor's fairness?
After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, Zhao Zhenji immediately opened fire on Yan Shifan.
"Since the young minister is questioning the emperor, does he want to reopen the Southeast land annexation case? Why don't you draw up a charter on the spot and send someone to the Southeast to investigate today!"
"It's just that the northern border is in chaos, and Altan is ready to make a move. In addition, the Japanese pirates in the southeast coast are also following suit and invading!"
"The Japanese in the south and the barbarians in the north attacked from both sides and overthrew our Ming Dynasty. Only then will you be happy, young minister!"
Zhao Zhenji doesn't talk much, but he is vicious!
First, he accused me of having bad intentions and wanting to cause chaos in the Ming Dynasty, and then he used Yan Shifan as a scapegoat. The northern border is already in chaos, and you are digging up old accounts at this time. Are you going to investigate the southeast?
Fine, fine, we'll let you investigate! If the southeast is in chaos, it's your responsibility, Yan Shifan!
I think you, Yan Shifan, want to cause unrest in the Ming Dynasty!
"Young Lord!" At this time, Gao Gong, who had been holding back his anger, also took a step forward and continued to fire at Yan Shifan.
"The military households don't know the importance and significance of stationing troops to promote agriculture. We just need to publicize it. Now that things have gotten out of hand, isn't it because of problems with the implementation of the policy?"
"Without any evidence, you are just making wild guesses and making insinuations. Isn't that too much?" Gao Gong's words were sharp and pointed. He glanced at Yan Shifan and said:
"Because the people below made mistakes and caused the military households to cause trouble, shouldn't we blame them on the wrong people?"
"In addition, according to the report sent from the northern border, the root cause of the military households' riot was that the officials below maliciously suppressed Shanxi merchants, which caused the military households to lose their commercial livelihoods."
"That's why the Northern Territory is in such a mess!" At this point, Gao Gong took out a memorial and said, "Please have a look, Imperial Master. This is a memorial submitted by the Northern Territory."
"It records in detail that Wang Shou, a Shanxi merchant, was detained by Zhang Yuanming, the prefect of Datong, on the grounds that his goods were suspected of smuggling. This caused him to suffer heavy losses, so he had to dismiss the hired military households."
"Moreover, Wang Shou is not the only one. Not only that, in Datong Town, there are also a large number of officials who collude with gentry families to suppress Shanxi merchants while supporting other merchants."
"They deliberately provoked conflicts between Shanxi merchants and the gentry, but in the end, it was the military households that suffered."
"This is what caused the current chaos!"
Qingliu's firepower was too strong. Yan Shifan was attacked from all sides by the Trinity. He looked around and suddenly became anxious.
Even rabbits bite when they are angry, let alone Yan Shifan. So, Yan Shifan started to bite!
"Haha, good, good, I knew you would make trouble!" Yan Shifan's chest was heaving with anger, "The matter in the southeast is caused by the ignorance of this humble official and the collusion between officials and businessmen!"
"And the incident in the northern border was caused by someone in the imperial court doing something bad?"
"I didn't say that anyone in the court was doing bad things. I was just stating the facts!" Gao Gong snorted coldly and handed the memorial to Lu Fang, who then presented it to Qingfeng, who was staring at him in amazement.
"Imperial Master, please have a look." Lu Fang stuffed the memorial into the hands of Qingfeng, who was a little dazed, as if he was shocked by the scene.
It turns out that a quarrel between men can be so intense... Qingfeng was secretly surprised, and after coming to his senses, he glanced at Lu Fang.
After receiving a reassuring look from Lu Fang, she nodded slightly, her eyes implying that she remembered everything that had been told to her before.
"Whether you are making insinuations or not, you know it in your heart!" Yan Shifan said angrily: "In the final analysis, you are just afraid. You just want to bully the emperor and make him compromise with you!"
"Just like in the 29th year of Jiajing, it's all your conspiracy!"
At this moment, the words of Yan Shifan, who was forced into a corner, suddenly made the atmosphere in the hall suddenly tense.
In the side hall, Jiajing, who was sitting in the temple and listening with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes.
The hammer in his hand swung, and suddenly a buzzing sound was made.
Suddenly, everyone in the hall was shocked.
"..."
(End of this chapter)
