Chapter 362: We need to ask our Ming Dynasty’s God of Wealth for help

"so……"

"The thieves outside the pass are indeed restless again."

Yanfu Lane.

The study room of Yan Mansion.

Yan Shaoting held the latest news and looked up at Xu Wei who was sitting opposite him.

However, Lu Yi, who delivered the message, snorted and said, "This Ma Fang asked the court for 300,000 taels of silver. I think even if the wolves and thieves of the Anda tribe outside the pass are restless, they won't spend so much money to keep them safe."

Yan Shaoting immediately glanced over.

He frowned and asked, "What do you want to say?"

Lu Yi turned his head and said, "Brother-in-law, I think the fact that the An Da tribe has ulterior motives to knock on the gate is probably true. Ma Fang, the general commander, and Xuanfu Town would not dare to lie about such a thing, but asking for 300,000 taels of silver is probably too much. I think he just wants to take the opportunity to make some money."

After all, this kind of thing has happened frequently in our country.

Lu Yi is in the Jinyiwei, so he is naturally very clear about such things.

Although the imperial court's control over the border situation has gradually weakened in recent years, it has often investigated and severely punished those officers who were drawing salaries without doing any work or engaging in corruption.

Xu Wei said quietly, "In my opinion, Ma Fang asked for 300,000 taels of silver because he knew the court would not agree. I'm afraid what he really wants is only a few hundred thousand or a few hundred thousand taels of silver."

When asking for money from the superiors, people have always been accustomed to reporting an exaggerated amount.

Then wait for the superiors to lower the price and give a discount before disbursing the money.

Lu Yi continued to hum and said unhappily, "Even if it's a few hundred thousand taels of silver, I think Ma Fang will have to take a hand when it's sent to Xuanfu."

Pass one hand.

It means to intercept.

The silver went into private pockets.

Xu Wei glanced at the indignant Lu Yi, then turned to look at Yan Shaoting who stopped talking.

He smiled and asked, "What do you mean by this, Langjun?"

Yan Shaoting's eyes moved and he looked at Xu Wei.

"Ma Fang is a brave man. I know that he was abducted and enslaved by Tatar bandits outside the Great Wall when he was young. He finally escaped back to Datong and served under the general commander Zhou Shangwen of Datong."

Yan Shaoting's eyes flickered, and he smiled. "I remember that he seemed to be just a captain at the beginning, and he also experienced more than a hundred battles, big and small, before he sat step by step to the position of the general of Xuanfu today."

Seeing that Yan Shaoting did not mention the matter of Ma Fang, the current general commander of Xuanfu, who was urgently asking the court for money to defend the border, he talked about Ma Fang's past experience instead.

Xu Wei raised his eyebrows and said, "My dear, do you mean that the money Ma Fang asked for this time is reasonable?"

Yan Shaoting nodded, "Generals at the border have always asked for large sums of money, and Ma Fang is no exception. Half of 300,000 taels is 150,000 taels. I'm afraid this is Ma Fang's limit this time. With this 150,000 taels of silver, even if the army keeps some, he can't take it all. If he wants to keep Xuanfu and keep his position, he must use the big sum of money for practical purposes."

Because Ma Fang is a smart person.

Only a smart person can sit on the position of the general commander of Xuanfu Town.

Therefore, even if the problems of empty salaries and corruption in the army continued despite repeated bans, Ma Fang would certainly keep to himself, but he would also make sure that the majority of the money and grain allocated by the court was spent on practical purposes.

Otherwise, his position might be targeted by others.

There is no way the imperial court would be so tolerant.

Xu Wei's eyes moved, and he whispered, "Speaking of which, Langjun is still in charge of military supplies. This time, Xuanfu sent an urgent message, and it happened that Langjun made all the proposals in the court at the beginning of the year. I'm afraid that Langjun will have to be summoned for the court meeting this time."

The changes in military supplies have been witnessed by everyone in the court in the past two years.

At least because of Yan Shaoting, and with Gao Wuguan and Xu Kun around, there has been no corruption or fraud in military supplies.

After spending the money, the court can actually see what is being made.

The Imperial Guards and the Beijing Garrison have both replaced their weapons with a new batch of equipment.

to this end.

In fact, at the end of last year, Gu Huan, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, who was stationed in the Beijing camp, proposed to submit a memorial to the court, in which his words were all praising the court for doing a good job in military supplies.

However, Yan Shaoting's eyes moved slightly.

He looked at the two people in the study and spoke slowly.

"But I don't really understand the court's military affairs."

Yan Shaoting said, "But I think that the court should change the rules of military affairs in the future. In addition to the soldiers' salaries, other things such as military equipment and food should be given directly in kind. Just like this time, the court should still send the majority of military equipment, firearms, food and other things to Xuanfu for military use, and then the Ministry of Works and Xuanfu Town should work together to repair the border walls and garrisons."

This is actually a way to hand over power.

It is also to prevent border towns from becoming too big.

But he also knew that there have always been regulations from above and countermeasures from below.

Moreover, given the current situation in the army, it is impossible to allow anyone to hastily propose such reforms.

If things go wrong, it might turn into a mutiny.

at the same time.

Cabinet room.

After Yang Bo received the news from Lan Yongzhen, he waited until the other party left and then thought for a long time alone in the government office before he decided to come to Wenyuan Pavilion.

"Xuanfu is the northern gateway to the capital, with a border wall of 1,116 li, 1,274 border piers, and 192 crossing points."

"Since Emperor Taizu, the imperial court has spent no less than 10 million on the border wall in Xuanfu alone."

"Now, Xuanfu has more than a thousand miles of border walls, more than a thousand border piers, and nearly two hundred crossing points, but only less than a hundred thousand soldiers are stationed there to guard it."

"The general of Xuanfu Town sent a message to the capital urgently this time. In fact, it was the news from last year. The Anda tribe outside the Great Wall is ready to make a move. Although the Anda tribe outside the Great Wall has often harassed in recent years, it is not like the 29th year of Jiajing, when the bandits invaded Huairou and Shunyi. But it does not mean that the bandits outside the Great Wall have no ambition to go south again."

"I think that since the Xuanfu General Ma Fang has urgently submitted a petition, saying that the border is urgent, there may be some lies. Although it is unreasonable to ask the court to allocate 300,000 taels of silver for the border wall, the court should allocate more than 100,000 or 200,000 taels of silver to protect the border wall."

Yang Bo stood in the classroom, his tone calm, just stating the facts.

Similarly, he did not fully comply with Ma Fang's urgent request and agreed to the court's allocation of 300,000 taels of silver.

Before he came to the cabinet, Yang Bo pondered for a long time in the Ministry of War.

He and Ma Fang are very familiar with each other.

Therefore, Yang Bo knew clearly that Ma Fang would not lie about border affairs, nor would he send the urgent message just to embezzle the money allocated by the court.

Even if the court allocated money, some of it would inevitably be withheld and embezzled.

But he believed that Ma Fang would use most of the silver on the border wall.

otherwise.

He, Yang Bo, was the first person to get rid of Ma Fang.

And this.

Ma Fang also knew it in her heart.

So there has always been a tacit understanding between the two.

Sometimes the unspoken rules in the army cannot be broken, but the court's national policy of defending the nine borders must also be guaranteed.

This is the bottom line between Yang Bo and Ma Fang.

In the classroom.

Gao Gong, who was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue's finances, leaned back in his chair, holding a memorial in both hands and looking down at it.

Yuan Wei looked at Yang Bo sideways for a few times, but didn't say anything. As for the Prime Minister Yan Song?

I seem to have fallen asleep again...

finally.

Xu Jie frowned and spoke slowly, "Didn't the imperial court decide at the meeting after the beginning of the year that the court would build new firearms and weapons for the nine frontier towns? Wasn't the matter of replenishing the number of soldiers in each town, as proposed by the prince's guest, also handed over to the Ministry of War?"

This was a tactful rejection of Yang Bo's request.

The court now has a plan to strengthen the towns to defend the border. Therefore, the request of Ma Fang, the general of Xuanfu Town, is in conflict with the court's plan.

Conflict.

Naturally, the court's plan must come first.

Yang Bo frowned and said, "The court's plan is to serve the country in the long run. But the border is in danger right now. If the Xuanfu border is in danger due to the court's lack of preparation, the incident in the 29th year of Jiajing may happen again..."

Yang Bo's words had just fallen.

There was an angry shout in the cabinet classroom.

"presumptuous!"

Xu Jie slammed the table on the spot and looked at Yang Bo with a grim face.

"Are you cursing the safety of the country?!"

His roar finally woke up Yan Song, who was sitting in the head chair of the cabinet.

Yan Song slowly raised his head and glanced at Yang Bo who was standing in the classroom.

He glanced at Xu Jie, who was full of anger, and then looked at Yang Bo with a smile: "Is it because of the urgent delivery from Xuanfu Town that you have come to the cabinet today?"

Meet Yan Song and ask.

Yang Bo immediately cupped his hands and said, "In reply to Lord Yan's words, the Ministry of War believes that the court should allocate some money and grain to Xuanfu to strengthen the defense of Xuanfu's border wall."

Xu Jie also immediately turned around and looked at Yan Song.

He frowned and said, "Prime Minister, during the imperial meeting this year, Runwu proposed that the court build new weapons and firearms and send them to each town, and also replenish the soldiers in each town. There was basically no objection to this matter at the beginning, and the cabinet also decided on it. The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and Runwu are all working on this matter.

Now, where is the reason for adding extra expenses? The court has not defaulted on the military pay and food of Xuanfu Town. If they ask the court for money and food just because the bandits of Anda tribe outside the pass are invading, won't all the towns do the same in the future? If the court does not give money and food, will there be no one to guard this wall?"

After saying this, Xu Jie turned and looked at Yang Bo.

He said worriedly, "Wei Yue, it's not that I want to stop your Ministry of War from doing things, nor is it that I don't know that the border is related to the country, but things should not be done this way."

Xu Jie's words.

This really stumped Yang Bo.

Looking at what Lord Xu said, there is really no partiality at all. He is selfless and considerate for the country and the people.

Even Yan Song nodded and said, "What Lord Xu said makes sense. If we ask the court for money whenever there is an enemy at the border, I'm afraid other places will follow suit. If the court doesn't give us money, I'm afraid we won't be willing to defend the border any more!"

This is a serious political issue.

Although it is said since ancient times that food and fodder must be sent before troops move forward.

But these words correspond to the army going out to fight.

Rather than an army defending the border like Xuanfu Town.

Yang Bo's face looked serious.

He knew in his heart that when the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister were of the same opinion, anything would become impossible.

Yang Bo had to change the subject and said, "The Prime Minister and Lord Xu also know that Ma Fang is a veteran general who has been through many battles. He has defended Xuanfu for many years and his achievements are obvious. This time he was able to rush to the capital, which must mean that he knew that the bandits outside the pass were coming in force. Even if the court cannot break the rules at the moment, should it still allocate some money or weapons and firearms first?"

This is the beginning of the emotional offensive.

really.

Yan Song also nodded: "What Wei Yue said is not wrong. I also know this Ma Fang. He is a careful person when guarding Xuanfu on weekdays. There have been no major problems on the border wall of Xuanfu in recent years. This time he asked for 300,000 taels, probably to attract the attention of the court."

Done.

Yan Song did not say anything else, but turned to look at Xu Jie.

Xu Jie's expression was solemn.

The reason why he disagreed to allocate money and grain to Xuanfu was, as he said, the court already had a plan and could not break the rules and set a bad example for other towns.

Secondly, it was because Xu Jie’s butt would not sit with Jiubian.

If we can avoid giving money and food to the Nine Frontiers, then we certainly cannot do so.

But he smiled dryly and looked at Yang Bo: "Wei Yue, in fact, as soon as Ma Fang's urgent message arrived at the Western Garden, the emperor summoned us. At that time, the emperor also agreed that the court should not break the rules at will. The nine frontier towns, which receive salaries from the court, have the responsibility to guard the border.

This time Ma Fang is in a hurry to deliver the goods, and the court is not ignoring it. Didn't the military supply department have a batch of firearms stored in the warehouse at the end of last year? The cabinet can write a note, and your Ministry of War can also sign and seal it, and send all these firearms to Xuanfu and hand them over to Ma Fang. "

After all.

Xu Jie’s point was only one: silver cannot be given away randomly.

Yang Bo frowned and said, "But Ma Fang mentioned the repair of the border wall and various garrisons..."

Xu Jie immediately waved his hand and said, "Let him repair it first, and the court will settle the account for him when the time comes."

"This this……"

Yang Bo muttered twice but didn't say anything else.

just.

What he meant was that there was no such logic.

You can see Xu Jie's expression, and then look at the reactions of other people in the cabinet classroom.

Yang Bo could only sigh and leave.

Wait until he leaves the imperial city.

But he saw Lan Yongzhen actually waiting in front of the palace gate. Obviously he knew that he was going to enter the palace and go to the cabinet, so he waited here in advance.

When Lan Yongzhen saw Yang Bo coming out, he immediately walked forward with a smile on his face and said, "Minister, I wonder if the elders..."

Yang Bo's face was solemn and he shook his head.

Then his eyes moved.

I thought about what Lan Yongzhen said when I first met him today.

Yang Bo immediately narrowed his eyes and spoke softly.

"In this matter, the elders have clearly stated that the rules cannot be broken."

"It is obviously impossible to expect the court to give silver directly."

Lan Yongzhen's face was anxious, and he said immediately: "But this year, the Anda tribe will definitely attack the border in large numbers, and Xuanfu is now stretched to the limit. If..."

Yang Bo waved his hand and looked in the direction of a certain place in the city.

"I can't do anything about this, but..."

"I'm afraid you still have to find the God of Wealth of our Ming Dynasty..."

…………

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(End of this chapter)