Chapter 225 Imperial Teacher

"Are you short of horses?"

Yang Yiqing asked with a stern face.

Tang Hao blushed when he heard this. What kind of lewd words are these?

"Or do you mean that there are no horses in the Ming Dynasty? Why do you have to target the things of North Korea?"

Yang Yiqing looked disdainful, not hiding his disdain for such behavior.

"After all, the Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire. If you act like this, won't it chill the hearts of the vassal states?"

"What good things do the vassal states have? You just go and rob them. What's the difference between this and robbery? Is the Ming Dynasty still a so-called country of etiquette?"

Faced with Yang Yiqing's harsh accusations, Tang Hao was not angry, but replied leisurely.

"Since the Grand Marshal is so upright, please ask the Grand Marshal to check the horse policy of the Ming Dynasty!"

"This horse policy belongs to the Imperial Household Department, whose highest official is the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, who is a third-rank official directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. It is also the highest leadership organization in charge of horse policy in the Ming Dynasty. It has departments such as the Pastoral Supervision and the Pastoral Group in charge of the raising and use of horses..."

"Yang Yiqing, if you want to secure the position of the Grand Marshal, you must show enough political achievements, otherwise I don't mind overthrowing you and replacing you with one of my own. This horse policy is a good reason for impeachment. Do you want to try?"

Looking at Tang Hao with a playful expression, Yang Yiqing suddenly felt a strong sense of uneasiness in his heart.

What does Tang Hao mean by this?

Is there a big problem with the horse policy of the Imperial Household Department?

Otherwise, why did this ambitious monarch and minister directly target other people's horse farms?

When he thought of this, Yang Yiqing couldn't sit still.

He was a person who had personally led troops to fight against the Mongolian Tartars, so he naturally understood the significance of war horses to the Ming Dynasty.

If there is a problem with the ninety-eight horses in the five herds under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Department, and the Ming Dynasty has no war horses available, then it will no longer be able to resist the Mongolian Tartars' southward plunder in the future!

"Marquis Tang, I hope what you said is true!"

"If not, I will not let you do whatever you want!"

After saying this harsh word, Yang Yiqing immediately got up and left.

He would immediately summon the Minister of the Imperial Household Department to find out what exactly went wrong with the horse policy of the Ming Dynasty.

Tang Hao looked at Yang Yiqing's back, and an inexplicable smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Yang Yiqing is indeed a virtuous and capable official. As long as he is willing to check, he will definitely find something, and further overturn the entire horse policy of the Ming Dynasty, which will be a lot of fun.

This time, it depends on Yang Yiqing's ability.

Tang Hao got up and inspected the training of the soldiers, and then met Wuding Marquis Guo Xun who hurried over.

The Marquis of Wuding of the Ming Dynasty, who had been frightened in the imperial prison for several months, immediately fell to the ground with his knees weak when he saw Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, and cried bitterly while holding Tang Hao's thighs.

"My Lord!"

"My Lord, I am innocent!"

"This is clearly a frame-up!"

Listening to Guo Xun crying and snotting, and this guy even wiped all his snot and tears on his trouser legs, Tang Hao was immediately annoyed and kicked him to the ground.

"Get out of here!"

"Isn't it okay?"

"I just went to the imperial prison and took it as further study!"

"Teach you a lesson, kid, and see if you dare to make friends with all kinds of people in the future!"

Guo Xun was so scared when he heard this that he shook his head wildly.

After this inexplicable frame-up, Guo Xun was really scared.

After all, he was the number one person on the arrest warrant, a professional rebel and a demon of the White Lotus Sect, Li Fuda!

If His Majesty the Emperor disregards friendship and the face of the Marquis of Zhongshan, and directly listens to the slander of that "Li Fuda", the whole family of his Guo family will die tragically!

The whole family will be executed, and there will be an online warning. Who dares not to be afraid!

"Return to the regiment camp immediately!"

"Continue to select elite soldiers to supplement the Beijing army!"

"I have other arrangements for this batch of soldiers. Do you understand?"

Tang Hao reminded him with a deep look, and Guo Xun trembled immediately.

From what he said, there must be a big move next!

When he thought of this, Guo Xun didn't dare to talk nonsense. He immediately bowed and saluted and hurried back to the regiment camp.

Since the establishment of the Dongguanting Camp, this regiment camp has fallen into the same situation as the Beijing Camp, responsible for providing logistics troops to the new army.

Although Guo Xun is a little clever and not very quiet, he is obedient enough. He will do things when he is asked to do things. This is what Tang Hao really values.

After confirming that there was no problem with the soldiers of the Beijing Army, Tang Hao left the Dongguan Hall camp and went to visit Liu Jian.

Since the last day, many things have happened. Even Liu Jian did not expect that it would end up like this.

The two sat opposite each other, and Liu Jian listened quietly to Tang Hao's narration of this series of stories.

When Tang Hao mentioned Li Dongyang's reaction in the court, the old official finally couldn't help but sneered: "Hehe, this Li Dongyang is really cold-hearted!"

"When the old Prime Minister Xu Pu retired and returned to his hometown, I succeeded him as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. Li Dongyang was very dissatisfied with this matter and resigned many times."

"To put it bluntly, he saw it clearly enough. As long as I am in the court, there will be no place for him, Li Dongyang, as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. Besides, his body is getting weaker and weaker, so it is better to retire and return to his hometown to recuperate!"

Tang Hao did not expect that there was such a reason.

But if you think about it, you can understand that the person in front of you is Emperor Hongzhi, the official teacher of Emperor Hongzhi. He dominated Li Dongyang in the East Palace, and then he dominated Li Dongyang when he entered the cabinet. Speaking of which, Li Dongyang is a miserable person. Older brother!

Not to mention that in the cabinet at that time, there was a jealous Xie Qian who joined the cabinet at the same time as Li Dongyang to participate in machine maintenance.

If it were someone else, I'm afraid he really couldn't bear it and left directly.

"This is what happened in this series of shocking events. Li Dongyang chose to collude with Liu Jin and take advantage of His Majesty's curiosity..."

Tang Hao finally concluded, mentioning his own counterattack.

"In the same way, I also used His Majesty's rebellious mentality to successfully remove this thorn. Now it is known to the world that Li Dongyang colluded with the eunuchs. Even if he is unwilling to resign, the civil servants and gentry will reject him. I guess he is the leader. There are no courtiers left, the clay sculpture chief minister is worthy of his name!”

The first clay sculpture assistant!

Hearing this word, Liu Jian just felt sad.

Liu Jian served as Emperor Yingzong, Emperor Xianzong, Emperor Xiaozong, and Emperor Wuzong. He was a veteran of the four dynasties. He was honest and upright, devoted to his duties, and had never done anything arrogant.

Liu Jian was in the cabinet for twenty-one years and served as the first assistant for ten years. He advocated Confucianism and learning, paid attention to practical matters, worked hard to mediate the struggles between various forces, and tried his best to maintain the normal operation of the court.

Liu Jian, this life seems to have ended like this. What is the difference between him and the "chief assistant of clay sculpture" in the mouth of Zhongshan Marquis at this moment?

He knew clearly that the late emperor's obsession with fasting was a waste of money and people, but Liu Jian tried to persuade him many times to no avail and could not do anything. He could only watch helplessly as the late emperor continued to add money and food from the treasury to the internal treasury, and then did all the "make-up" at the expense of people and money. Such meaningless and boring things as "building statues of Wudang Mountain gods and giving rewards to various temples for worshiping and cultivating".

Knowing that the occupation of the capital was serious, the late emperor not only put the capital back into heavy work, but also became obsessed with Buddhism and Taoism, built temples, and favored his relatives, which made the occupation of the capital even more serious. Royal and public projects, including some completely unnecessary temples and some projects for the royal relatives and relatives, were also completed by the Beijing army, which further exacerbated the decline of the Beijing army's combat power and became increasingly corrupt.

Knowing that the late emperor favored his relatives, his two brothers-in-law, Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling, were greedy, arrogant, and lawless. They were hated both internally and externally. The reason was all due to the late emperor's unprincipled favor for the Zhang family. And unlimited connivance, the rewards given to the Zhang family were so rich that other emperors of the Ming Dynasty could not catch up, which resulted in the emergence of two uncles in the country who committed evil and harmed the world!

Knowing that the late emperor corrupted the salt policy, Ye Qi indulged the eunuchs in asking for salt quotations before the reform, and even gave the salt quotations to the emperor's relatives at will. For example, the remaining salt quotations from the Zhengtong to Chenghua years totaled 160,000 yuan. More than 9,300 citations were all sold to businessman Zhu Da at a price of 5 cents per citation. Just because Zhu Da was a family member of Shouning Marquis Zhang Heling, this has completely exacerbated the corruption of the Ming Dynasty's salt administration!

knowing that……

Every "knowledge" at this moment is like a sharp blade, piercing Liu Jian's heart!

Even if the late emperor made all kinds of mistakes, it was not the fault of the late emperor, but the fault of his ministers, and even more so the fault of Liu Jian, Emperor Hongzhi’s advisor and chief minister of the cabinet!

As an emperor's teacher, I cannot advise the emperor to work hard to revitalize the Ming Dynasty!

As the chief assistant, he cannot assist the emperor to reform the past and eliminate the shortcomings!

He, Liu Jian, is just the "chief assistant of clay sculpture" and has nothing to say.

Tang Hao noticed Liu Jian's pale face and immediately realized that he seemed to have said the wrong thing.

"This...Yuansuke, I'm not talking about you..."

"Of course I understand what Marquis Tang means, I just have a little idea of ​​it."

Liu Jian quickly returned to normal and managed a smile.

"It doesn't matter if you don't mention Li Dongyang, he will never achieve success after all. His heart is cold and his talent cannot convince the public. In the end, he will only end sadly!"

After a pause, Liu Jian looked at Tang Hao solemnly.

"Actually, I have always understood that when Your Majesty took over the throne, he inherited a mess. The treasury was empty, the Beijing army was declining, the border preparations were ineffective, the salt administration was corrupt, and the powerful were arrogant..."

When Tang Hao heard this, he rarely became serious and listened carefully to Liu Jian's inner words.

"There is no such thing as a "Zhongxing Dynasty", it is just a fig leaf put on by civil servants and gentry."

"If there really was a Ming Dynasty resurgence, how could it be that the people were destitute and their wealth was exhausted, and the army and the people were impoverished!"

Liu Jian's eyes turned red for a moment, and tears could even be seen streaming down his face.

"However, in any case, the late emperor cannot be blamed for all this. If we are to blame, we can only blame us gentry and relatives of the emperor!"

"The late emperor wanted to revive the Ming Dynasty more than anyone else, but he was too soft-hearted and too indecisive, so in the end..."

Liu Jian suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed Tang Hao tightly!

"Tanghou!"

"You must remember!"

"Your Majesty can be soft-hearted, but you must not be soft-hearted!"

"You are the sharpest knife in His Majesty's hand and the key to reviving the Ming Dynasty!"

After saying this, Liu Jian murmured with laughter and tears: "If you, Tang Hao, had appeared in the Hongzhi Dynasty, when the late emperor had just ascended the throne, wouldn't everything be different?"

Tang Hao had no way to answer this question, and it was completely meaningless.

If the person Tang Hao saved was Emperor Hongzhi, he would definitely not shout about reviving the Ming Dynasty. He would just accept the reward honestly and become a free prince.

Because, there is a huge gap between Zhu Youtang and Zhu Houzhao!

One is a saintly and virtuous ruler of the restoration in the writings of literati, and the other is a ridiculous and incompetent ruler in the writings of literati, but in Tang Hao's heart, the evaluation of the two is biased towards two extremes.

In terms of Zhu Houzhao's imperial deeds alone, he is much better than his father!

Tang Hao also saw that Liu Jian was not in a good mood. If he continued to talk, he might be beheaded, so he left decisively, leaving Liu Jian alone sitting in the courtyard to think.

After a long time, Liu Jian looked behind the rockery.

"Jiefu, did you hear everything clearly?"

Wenyuan Pavilion Grand Secretary, the new literary leader in charge of the Hanlin Academy, Yang Tinghe.

Yang Tinghe walked out from behind the rockery with an extremely solemn expression.

"Marquis Tang has a heart to save the world and serve the country, you should be a fellow traveler."

"But you and Marquis Tang are on completely different paths. He wants to be a hawk and a cruel official, and then leave a bad name for all eternity!"

"And you, Yang Tinghe, want to become a leader of the gentry, assist His Majesty in governing the country with all his might, and be remembered for eternity!"

Yang Tinghe was stunned when he heard this, and then smiled bitterly.

"Mr. Liu, why is the world so unfair?"

Is it fair?

Of course it's not fair!

Yang Tinghe has always seen what Marquis Zhongshan Tang Hao has done.

Should the Zhang brothers be beaten?

Not only should they be beaten, but they should die!

Should Zong Yue, Bian Xiong and others die?

Of course they should die!

So, what did this Marquis Zhongshan do wrong?

He did nothing wrong, why should he bear the bad name for eternity?

After all, Yang Tinghe is still very young, and he has no experience in local governance, so he can't understand and can't accept it.

He wanted to seek "fairness" for Tang Hao, but in this world, there is no such thing as fairness from beginning to end!

Liu Jian glanced at Yang Tinghe in surprise and sneered: "Fairness? What fairness do you want?"

"Because Zhang gave birth to a queen, her son was granted the title of Duke and her daughter was granted the imperial decree. This is the highest honor that many military generals and soldiers have sacrificed their lives for. Is this fair?"

"The eunuch Li Guang prayed to the Emperor Gu with talismans and was in power. This is a power that many civil officials and gentry cannot hold in their lifetime. Is this fair?"

"There is no fairness in this world. If you want fairness, don't stay in the central government. Go to the local areas and see the world!"

"Do you, Yang Tinghe, really think that the rich are enjoying wine and meat while the poor are freezing to death on the streets is just a light poem?"

Liu Jian's words have become extremely harsh. He also discovered Yang Tinghe's problem. His career was too smooth and he had no experience in local governance. This would become Yang Tinghe's political shortcoming and might even make Yang Tinghe a stupid and powerful person who "why not eat meat porridge"!

Yang Tinghe sighed and remained silent in the face of Liu Jian's accusation.

Liu Jian stared at this "younger generation" in a daze, and then gave a warning.

"Zhang Fuhua, the chief censor of the Censorate, has been an official outside all his life. He knows the Ming Dynasty better than you do."

"I will write a letter and ask him to give you more advice. If you are interested, you can visit him often."

Hearing this, Yang Tinghe immediately bowed to Liu Jian.

"In addition, Tang Hao has his own ideas. You should not interfere. When you should oppose, you should oppose firmly. When you should cooperate, you should cooperate tacitly. Don't sacrifice the public for personal gain. You two are like-minded. Even if you have no private contact, you can understand each other's intentions!"

"Your Majesty can tolerate Tang Hou holding military power, but he can never tolerate Tang Hou making friends with his cronies. You must remember this firmly. Never show goodwill to Tang Hou at any time, otherwise it will be his catastrophe!"

The integration of civil and military affairs is also carried out in secret.

What would the emperor think if a powerful nobleman who holds military power had a good reputation and was supported by civil officials?

Yang Tinghe was shocked and reacted immediately.

"I understand what Mr. Liu taught me."

Liu Jian waved his hand and stood up tremblingly.

"Jiefu, I am undoubtedly a failure as the emperor's teacher."

"But I don't want you to fail too, do you understand?"

"The greatest wish of the late emperor in his life was to revive the Ming Dynasty, revive the Ming Dynasty!"

Liu Jian burst into tears, and tears kept falling from the corners of his eyes.

"But how difficult is it to revive the Ming Dynasty?"

"There are strong enemies outside and paralysis inside. How can we talk about reviving the Ming Dynasty under internal and external troubles?"

"The path that the late emperor and I took has proven to be a failure. It is a dead end!"

"So I hope you can cooperate with Lord Tang and take the path proposed by Lord Tang, open the sea and lift the ban to enrich the country and strengthen the army. Even if it fails in the end, the person who deserves to die and bear the infamy will only be him, Tang Hao, not you, Yang Tinghe, so you can act boldly..."

"I will leave Beijing and return home tomorrow. I hope that I can see the revival of my Ming Dynasty in my lifetime. In this way... I will die without regrets!"

After saying this, Liu Jian left tremblingly on his crutches.

In fact, since his resignation was approved by the emperor, Liu Jian instantly aged ten years and completely lost all his energy.

The former cabinet chief who controlled the overall situation and stabilized the court has now become a gray-haired old man.

Yang Tinghe watched Liu Jian leave and bowed again.

This visit today was destined to change Yang Tinghe's life.

The Imperial Tutor and Emperor Hongzhi failed.

The Ming Dynasty has never had a revival!

The Ming Dynasty has now reached a desperate situation where the people are poor and the military and civilians are poor!

So, in the face of such a desperate situation, in such a dangerous situation, what should he, the imperial teacher of Zhengde, do?

In addition, Yang Tinghe sadly discovered that there is no fairness in this world at all, from beginning to end!

Since there is no fairness, then make it relatively fair!

I, Yang Tinghe, am not Liu Jian, and His Majesty the Emperor is not the late emperor!

Yang Tinghe took a deep breath and quickly left Liu Jian's mansion.

The pride of being an imperial teacher did not allow him to hide behind Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao all the time, watching Zhongshan Hou reform and establish a new system and bear the infamy, and then he, Yang Tinghe, enjoyed the name of assistant!

However, Yang Tinghe did not expect that Zhongshan Hou's action was one step ahead of him!