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In this world, the real fools are only a few after all, and some people's decisions seem to be foolish, but in fact, they are still because of the different perspectives of interest considerations, some people can only see short-term interests, some people pay more attention to long-term interests, some people pay more attention to the influence of public opinion than actual interests, and some people think that political interests should give way to economic interests.

Of course, Emperor Deqing was not a fool, when he heard the Mongolian explanation of "Kundulun Yingming Khan", he immediately knew the true purpose of Jianzhou Jurchen, Monan Mongolia and Korea - that is, he wanted to fight the autumn wind and take advantage.

If you can't be anxious for justice and righteousness, fight for righteousness and squander money, and fund a large amount of money and grain to Jianzhou Jurchen and other departments to tide over this year's food shortage, how can you be regarded as a generous and generous king?

However, as a ruler, especially a ruler who wanted to leave a name in history, Emperor Deqing thought from a completely different perspective from his courtiers and ordinary people.

He attaches more importance to the political significance of this matter than to the actual interests, especially the evaluation of his later history books.

The most famous examples are the title of "Tian Khan" of Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and the title of "Sage Khan" of Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of Sui, all of which are written in the history books and described in heavy ink.

If Emperor Deqing could be jointly elected as Khan by the Jianzhou Jurchens and Monan Mongol-speaking Korea, wouldn't Emperor Deqing be side by side with the founding emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties in the history books?

For a while, Emperor Deqing couldn't help but think about what was wrong and his mood was agitated, even if he knew that this matter was just a means of fighting the autumn wind of the Jianzhou Jurchen and other departments, it was difficult to bear its temptation.

However, Emperor Deqing still has some reason after all, but he also knows that the Ming Dynasty's own money and grain situation is just barely maintaining turnover, if Zhao Junchen's agricultural reform does not have significant results this year, and then encounters a few natural and man-made disasters, I am afraid that there will be problems within the Ming Dynasty, maybe there will be a rebellion of displaced people, which is also something that Emperor Deqing can not tolerate no matter what.

In this case, Emperor Deqing was naturally hesitant and contradictory in his heart, wanting to grit his teeth and pay part of the benefits and accept the joint recommendation of the Jianzhou Jurchen and other ministries, but also worried that the Ming Dynasty would take care of itself and there would be internal problems.

So, after seeing Zhao Junchen suddenly stand up and speak, Emperor Deqing did not stop him, on the one hand, he wanted to listen to the opinions of the courtiers, and on the other hand, he also wanted to buy time to consider the pros and cons, so he nodded and said, "Oh? Zhao Aiqing is against this? Say, I'd like to hear what you think. ”

Zhao Junchen said loudly with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the Jianzhou Jurchen, the Monan Mongolian tribes, and the Korean Dynasty jointly elected you as Kundulun Yingming Khan, although it is out of 'good intentions', but this matter is not in line with the rules of heaven and unreasonable!" Your Majesty, you are the Son of Heaven, the Emperor, and the Emperor! How can your title be determined by a few surrounding tribes? The emperor is supreme, how can he be compared with the title of 'khan'? To give an inappropriate example, can we still recommend Your Majesty to be the head of the cabinet? ”

At this time and on such an occasion, Zhao Junchen naturally could not say such self-defeating remarks in public as "the imperial court is short of money and food, and it is impossible to provide more funding to the Jianzhou Jurchen and other ministries", nor can he hype up the opinion of "raising tigers for trouble" in front of the envoys of various countries, so he simply directly questioned the legitimacy of this matter to show his opposition.

But this reasoning obviously cannot convince the vast majority of people.

Like Cheng Yuandao, he has always been very interested in this kind of grand narrative, after all, he only needs to open his mouth, and he doesn't need to worry about the turnover of money and grain in the imperial court.

So, as soon as Zhao Junchen's words fell, Cheng Yuandao stood up and objected: "Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that what Zhao Gechen said is really inappropriate!" The tribes around the court jointly elected you as the Kundulun Wise Khan, all out of their admiration, and it is also a great opportunity to solve the border war in one fell swoop, how can you miss it because of some trivial problems? ”

On the other hand, Lin Wei, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, was naturally on Cheng Yuandao's side at this time, after all, once Emperor Deqing accepted the title of "Kundulun Wise Khan", the household department would become the protagonist of the major yamen for a period of time in the future, and a series of activities would also have a lot of oil and water to be fished, so he followed the list and said: "Your Majesty, the minister also thinks that for the sake of a hundred years, at this time, we should gladly accept the recommendation of the Houjin, Korea, Monan Mongolia and other ministries, and not let them chill, and this is also to preach to the world that my Ming Dynasty is strong, Your Majesty's great opportunity to be wise. ”

Then, Na Qian Tong also expressed his position again, and said: "Your Majesty, the minister has been staying in Houjin all these years, and he also has some understanding of the thoughts of the surrounding ministries, just like what the ministers said, the Houjin, Korea, and Monan Mongolian ministries elected you as Kundulun Yingming Khan out of a heart of loyalty and filial piety, and the title of Khan is also supreme in the grassland, and there will never be any intention of degrading!" Historically, people such as Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui and others also gladly accepted the title of Khan, so this incident is by no means an untenable isolated case. ”

Cheng Yuandao didn't have a backache when he stood and talked, Lin Wei sat crooked from the beginning, and Zhao Junchen didn't bother to argue with them, he just looked at Qian Tong with a sneer and said, "This Qian envoy from Houjin ...... Since you are taking Tang Taizong and Emperor Wen of Sui as examples, you should understand that the title of Taizong of Tang is 'Heavenly Khan', and the title of Emperor Wen of Sui is 'Sage Khan'. If Your Majesty accepts this title, doesn't it mean that my Ming Emperor is weaker than the Sui and Tang Emperors?

What's more, if I remember correctly, Nurhachi, the founding emperor of the Later Jin, once had the title of 'Kundulun Khan', which is only two words different from the 'Kundulun Wise Khan' whom you elected His Majesty! And Nurhachi had fallen to the Ming Dynasty several times back then, how could His Majesty stand side by side with him? ”

As he spoke, Zhao Junchen's mood turned out to be a little dark.

Over the years, Zhao Junchen has been targeted by people with reasons such as "righteousness", "rules", and "ancestral law", and now Zhao Junchen can be regarded as learning and borrowing, and he finds that this kind of intimidating method is simply not too easy to use, and he only needs to shout a few high-sounding slogans to be invincible.

Finding fault with your mouth is really the easiest thing in the world.

On the other hand, hearing Zhao Junchen's statement, Cheng Yuandao, Lin Wei, Qian Tong and others were really speechless for a while and couldn't refute it.

At the same time, Emperor Deqing finally made up his mind.

The reason for Emperor Deqing's decision was not only that Zhao Junchen's statement was reasonable—of course, Emperor Deqing himself did feel that his khan's title was a little low because of Zhao Junchen's statement—and the more important reason was the silence of the vast majority of officials.

In this case, if a part of the benefits are taken out to reward the Jianzhou Jurchen and other ministries, the "daily welfare" of the officials is only afraid that it will drop again and again, and maybe there will be a few more "silver for rice" thing, the officials are naturally very positive when they shout slogans to show their loyalty, but if they sacrifice their actual interests only for the false name of Emperor Deqing, then they have to thank Busen.

Therefore, except for a few people such as Zhao Junchen, Cheng Yuandao, and Lin Wei, the vast majority of officials did not express their position at this time.

And silence is sometimes a statement.

Seeing the attitude of the officials, Emperor Deqing was a little unhappy, but he finally made a decision, and said slowly: "Zhao Aiqing, Cheng Aiqing, Lin Aiqing, and the Qian envoys have their own reasons, since this is the case, let's discuss this matter again." ”

The so-called "reconsideration", on the one hand, is to discuss again within the imperial court whether to accept the honorific titles recommended by the Jianzhou Jurchen ministries, and on the other hand, it is also to let the Jianzhou Jurchens and the Monan, Mongolia, Korea and other ministries discuss again, whether to recommend a more resounding honorific title to the Deqing Emperor.

In this way, this matter actually still has a tail, obviously Emperor Deqing still has no dead heart, if the Jianzhou Jurchen and other departments really come up with loud honorific titles such as "Tian Khan" and "Sage Khan" in the future, Emperor Deqing is afraid that he will follow.

But in any case, Zhao Junchen's goal was also achieved, at least temporarily delaying Emperor Deqing's decision, and there was still room for redemption.

*

Because Emperor Deqing never accepted the gold medal that Qian Tong held on his head, after Qian Tong saw that Emperor Deqing refused, he directly took the gold medal back into his arms, shaking his head and sighing again and again.

But then, Qian Tong did not continue to entangle, but took out a gift list again, and spoke again: "Since Your Majesty has made up your mind, the criminal ministers naturally dare not force it, and after returning to Houjin, they will also let them discuss the new honorific title again, I only hope that this new honorific title can satisfy Your Majesty by then, and it will not be in vain for the guilty ministers to persuade each other over the years......

However, this time, in addition to uniting the ministries to nominate Your Majesty as Kundulun Yingming Khan, Houjin also prepared rich tribute gifts for His Majesty, including 200 ginseng of more than 100 years old, 300 high-quality mink skins, 500 fine deer antler velvets, and 500 gold beads...... A three-foot-high gold and jade Buddha statue and a rare white tiger skin...... In addition, there is a night pearl the size of an adult's fist, which is a national treasure passed down from generation to generation in the Later Jin Dynasty, and it is also an opportunity to dedicate it to Your Majesty! ”

The gift list that Qian Tong read was not only extremely large, but any gift was also extremely valuable, and the sum of all the gifts was enough to make all the officials present stunned, as if Houjin had moved out of his treasury.

No one expected that Houjin's tribute would be so rich and valuable!

However, before the shock of the hundred officials subsided slightly, the Mongol tribes of Monan and Korea also offered their own tributes, although not as amazing as the Jianzhou Jurchens, but also unexpectedly rich and valuable.

But this is never a good thing.

As we all know, the Han dynasty has always regarded itself as the superior kingdom of the Celestial Empire, and after accepting tribute from neighboring countries, it often has to be doubled and returned.

Especially in this situation, Emperor Deqing has just rejected the "deferential heart" of the Jurchen tribes in Jianzhou, so naturally he can't be stingy.

At the same time, because of the interruption of the incident just now, Emperor Deqing's murderous intent towards Qian Tong, a traitor, has disappeared without a trace.

So, after Emperor Deqing pondered for a moment, he said slowly: "I have already seen the loyalty and respect of all countries...... After today's ceremony, we will arrange for the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Households, and the Inner Carrier to discuss together to reward the filial piety of all countries such as You! ”

Hearing the word "heavy reward", Qian Tong knew that most of the goals of his trip had been successful, and immediately led the envoys to thank Emperor Deqing again.

On the other side, Zhao Junchen's face sank like water.

This time, it is obviously the Jianzhou Jurchen chess master, and all kinds of situations today are also in their plans!

Electing Emperor Deqing as "Kundulun Wise Khan" is only the first step, if you can't use a mere name to get the most benefits, then once again give a large number of tribute gifts to Emperor Deqing, so that Emperor Deqing can't wipe face, so he has to double the return, and he can still get great benefits.

Moreover, Emperor Deqing also knew that it would inevitably lead to a hemorrhage to return the tribute to the Jurchen and other ministries in Jianzhou with the savings of the Inner Carrier Treasury, so he once again pulled the Yamen of the Household Department and asked the National Treasury and the Inner Treasury to bear the expenses of this matter.

But at this time, Zhao Junchen has no position or opportunity to oppose it again!

"Count you ruthless! But that's not all! ”

Zhao Junchen stared at Qian Tong for a long time, and secretly thought in his heart.

Zhao Junchen has always been accustomed to taking advantage, and he has long regarded the treasury money and grain as his own ban, so he is naturally absolutely unwilling to suffer at this time!

*

After Deqing's boasting, the birthday congratulations of hundreds of officials, and the audience of envoys from various countries, this ceremony finally came to the fourth link, which is the link that the officials paid the most attention to, that is, the Deqing Emperor rewarded the meritorious officials of the battle between Shaanxi, Gansu and Hetao.

The outstanding military exploits of the Shaanxi-Gansu trilateral and Hetao regions should be the most prominent of Zhao Junchen's contributions, not only the brilliant victory of the Shaanxi-Gansu trilateral annihilation of the Mongol coalition army, but also the subsequent counterattack on the Hetao region was also laid by Zhao Junchen.

However, when Emperor Deqing rewarded him, he first rewarded Liang Fuchen, who was still presiding over the overall situation on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu, not only gave Liang Fuchen the hereditary title of "Marquis of Zhongyi", but also promoted Liang Fuchen to the second assistant of the cabinet, and also rewarded a number of gold and silver treasures, as if Liang Fuchen was the first contributor to this series of brilliant victories.

Emperor Deqing's approach was obviously to suppress Zhao Junchen's influence and rising momentum, so he deliberately let Liang Fuchen suppress Zhao Junchen.

For such a situation, Zhao Junchen also expected it, and did not have any emotion.

But Emperor Deqing didn't dare to go too far, and after rewarding Liang Fuchen, he immediately announced his intention to reward Zhao Junchen.

With Zhang De's announcement, Zhao Junchen once again slowly stepped out of the ranks under the attention of hundreds of officials.

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