Huang Kezhang is from Fujian, and Zhu Xieyuan is from Zhejiang. Don't look at Fujian and Zhejiang next to each other, in fact, the officials of the two places have always had a bad relationship. Huang Kezhang is a non-Donglin Party, and his relationship with the Donglin Party has always been bad. Zhu Xieyuan is a backbone member of the Donglin Party. It can be said that the relationship between the two in Shaanxi is actually not very good. Of course, the two are also officials who do practical things, although they have no personal relationship, but they still have a tacit understanding in official affairs.

In addition, whether it is Huang Kezhang or Zhu Xieyuan, they are all tide files. Both of them supported the crown prince and opposed King Fu's succession. In a sense, neither of them was very well received by Emperor Wanli. Huang Kezhang was originally the secretary of the Ministry of War, but this time he was transferred to the governor of the three sides, but he was actually demoted. At the same time, he was faintly kicked out of the capital, so as not to have too close a relationship with other tide stalls. Emperor Wanli's methods are still very feminine.

After welcoming Huang Kezhang into the living room, Zhu Xieyuan saluted respectfully again. Civil officials like this set, and they must be well-behaved, so that others like it. After some greetings, Zhu Xieyuan said tentatively: "Zhong Meigong, why do you have time to come to the juniors today?" If there is anything important, you only need to send someone to inform you, and the juniors will naturally come to the door. ”

Huang Kezhang's character Shaofu, called Zhong Mei, Zhu Xieyuan is therefore called Zhong Meigong. He is a Jinshi in the eighth year of Wanli, and his qualifications are quite old. The existing officials of the Ming Dynasty, except for a few people such as Zhou Jiamo (five years of Longqing), [***] Xing (the second year of Wanli), Sun Wei (five years of Wanli), and so on, no one is older than him.

In the Ming Dynasty, the time of Zhongjinshi was too important. All seniority is measured by the time of the middle sergeant. The earlier the time of the junior sergeant, the older the qualification. Even if your official position is very high, if someone else is a jinshi earlier than you, you have to call yourself a junior in a proper manner, otherwise, other people's spittle stars can spray you in the face, and you yourself have an ugly reputation of disrespecting your predecessors, so you can only be depressed alone.

Zhu Xieyuan was a Jinshi in the twentieth year of Wanli, twelve years later than Huang Kezhang. At that time, the imperial examination was a three-year competition, and twelve years was the time for three competitions. In other words, Zhu Xieyuan was three times later than Huang Kezhang. In front of Huang Kezhang, Zhu Xieyuan is indeed a real junior, and he should be respectful.

Not only that, but in the twelve years between Zhu Xieyuan and Huang Kezhang, there have been too many cattle. So much so that in the court, or in the local area, he often called himself a junior with a surname. For example, Ye Xianggao, Cui Jingrong, Zhu Guozuo, Zhang Wenda, Zhao Yan in the eleventh year of Wanli, Chen Daoheng and Wang Dewan in the fourteenth year of Wanli, Zhu Guozhen, Liu Yijing, Shen Jingjie, Gao Panlong, Feng Congwu, Wang Ji, Dong Hanru and others in the seventeenth year of Wanli. Among these people, there are two Shoufu alone, and there are as many as six or seven cabinet scholars.

Huang Kezhang said straight to the point: "Hengyue, do you want to go to the Black Mountain Camp?" ”

Zhu Xieyuan's name is Hengyue, and Huang Kezhang calls him by his number, which is obviously more respectful. This made Zhu Xieyuan feel that his face was not bad. Since Huang Kezhang can afford himself, he is not so restrained. He immediately said, "Zhong Meigong, the junior is preparing to go to the Black Mountain Camp. ”

Huang Kezhang was slightly stunned, and said in surprise: "I heard that you are about to go out, are you going to the Black Mountain camp?" Are you going to see Xu Xingxia in person? ”

Zhu Xieyuan nodded, and Zhengse said, "Yes, the junior is about to go to the Black Mountain Camp." ”

Huang Kezhang asked slowly: "You are going to the Black Mountain Camp, I don't know what happened?" ”

Zhu Xieyuan said slowly: "This Xu Xingxia's subordinates have sixty or seventy thousand military households......

Huang Kezhang nodded thoughtfully. Everyone is a smart person, and he naturally heard the meaning of Zhu Xieyuan's words at once. Zhu Xieyuan was worried that Xu Xingxia had so many people under him, and wanted to talk to Xu Xingxia to see what Xu Xingxia's attitude was. The information sent below is actually very implausible, and you have to look at it on the spot before you can make a decision. The purpose of this is, of course, to be sure whether Xu Xingxia is a manufacturable material. If so, try to nurture it. If not, find a way to get rid of it.

Yes, the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty have always been like this for military generals. What can be used by me, I will be vigorously promoted, and given glory and wealth. If it can't be used by me, it should be cut off as soon as possible, so as not to lose the tail and support the army. Why did there never be any outstanding generals in the late Ming Dynasty? It is for this basic reason. The general unruly generals are in the bud and are eradicated, where is the opportunity to rise?

However, Huang Kezhang understands that he understands, but he does not approve of Zhu Xieyuan's approach. His thoughts are not the same as Zhu Xieyuan. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in the eighth year of Wanli, and once held many official positions, served in many places, and finally served as the secretary of the military department. It can be said that he is quite familiar with the situation in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. Regarding the situation in Ningxia Town, how could Huang Kezhang, as the governor of the three sides, not know?

Huang Kezhang's judgment of the situation in Ningxia Town is even more pessimistic than Zhu Xieyuan's. The current Ming Dynasty is full of undercurrents and crises, as long as one is not handled properly, all crises will erupt at once. He felt that getting rid of Xu Xingxia was actually just to stop the boiling of the soup, and it had no effect at all. Even if Xu Xingxia is killed, there will be Zhang Xingxia, Li Xingxia, and Wang Xingxia, and it is impossible to prevent the chaos from happening.

On the contrary, if you use this Xu Xingxia to do something, it is better than killing him. This Xu Xingxia is obviously capable. He can fight, and he can toss. This kind of person is not easy to deal with. The knife and axe hand, smashing the cup as the number, those are all plots in romance novels. In reality, there is not much that can be done. This Xu Xingxia is definitely not a fool, and he will definitely not be easily fooled. If it doesn't work out and the two sides break up completely, things will be very troublesome.

In fact, Huang Kezhang has always felt that this Xu Xingxia is not a problem at all. On the contrary, the biggest hidden danger is all the low-level military households in Ningxia Town and even the four towns in the northwest, as well as some civilian households, who are the biggest hidden dangers. These people live in poverty, are bullied and repressed, and they have long been holding their stomachs angry. They all hated the court to the extreme. If they vent all the anger in their hearts, the whole of Shaanxi will change overnight.

What is the reason why the military households below hate the court so much? Of course, it was caused by the imperial court itself. Not to mention the arrears of money and food for the time being, in ordinary life, these military households have also been bullied and oppressed by officers at all levels, almost to the point of having no way to live. Once a person has no way to live, what is there to fear? Of course, he picked up the knife and pointed it at his enemy, and the white knife went in and the red knife came out. Therefore, finding ways to improve the lives of these people, calm their grievances, and at least keep them fed and clothed is the fundamental way to solve the problem.

Just last year, in the winter of the forty-fourth year of Wanli, the Longde Hall in the palace was on fire. Emperor Wanli was suspicious for a while, and he didn't know why God wanted to "condemn" himself, which was quite sincere. Huang Kezhang seized the opportunity to report his maladministration, and bitterly described that in the past 20 years, the tax envoys have gone out in all directions, looting the people's wealth, and the people have sold their wives and children in order to pay taxes, and the palace has built a lot of buildings, extravagantly squandered, and exhausted the people's blood. And the soldiers guarding the frontier went into battle hungry, and their monthly rations were in arrears of millions. In contrast, the two are full of dangers and hidden dangers.

At the same time, Huang Kezhang complained that due to the famine for many years, some places have reached the miserable situation of fathers eating their sons and wives eating their husbands, and sincerely hoped that the Wanli Emperor would "regret his past mistakes, change the old ruts, collect talents, help the times, strike taxes and stop weaving (donations), rest with the people, live in a big way, and settle the frontier." As a result, there was no response, and it is estimated that like countless impeachment recitals, they have all sunk into the sea, and there is no trace at all.

For the emperor Wanli, Huang Kezhang really has an indescribable feeling. Accept it with an open mind and die without repentance, this is the basic attitude of the Wanli Emperor towards all impeachment chapters, and it has never changed. This was the case before, it is the case now, and it is estimated that it will continue to be the case in the future. Emperor Wanli was a smart man, that's absolute. From his accession to the throne at the age of ten, to his unhesitation to defeat Zhang Juzheng and dig up the grave and whip the corpse, it fully shows that this master is very difficult to serve.

He rarely goes to the court, lives in the deep palace for a long time, and can't hide any major affairs in the court from him at all. In his control of the imperial court, he was even better than Emperor Jiajing. During the Jiajing period, Xia Yan, Yan Song, Xu Jie, Gao Gong and others actually understood Emperor Jiajing's mind very thoroughly. However, for Emperor Wanli, few people know what he is thinking. He did not hesitate to send troops to North Korea to suppress the rebellion in Ningxia and Yang Yinglong in Banzhou. All this fully shows that he has the potential to become a generation of heroes.

It's a pity that Emperor Wanli is too lazy. His negligence in government did disappoint Huang Kezhang. As an emperor, it is simply ridiculous that he did not even bother to carry out the replenishment of officials. How can you effectively run the country without enough officials? How long does it take to appoint officials? If you don't even want to take out such a little time, what kind of emperor are you? On the issue of the crown prince, Emperor Wanli wavered again, which also disappointed many people.

Of course, it is very undesirable to be a courtier and slander the emperor. The trilateral governor, who had read the books of the sages, had absolutely no intention of cursing the Wanli Emperor. However, every time in the dead of night, Huang Kezhang still has a trace of fantasy, and his fantasy has changed. If only Emperor Wanli could cheer up, how nice it would be! If he doesn't cheer up, the situation in the Ming Dynasty will only get worse and worse, and at some point, a large-scale chaos will really break out.

After pondering for a moment, Huang Kezhang asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Zhu Xieyuan straightened up and said without hesitation: "Tune." ”

Huang Kezhang said lightly: "Inside? Outside? ”

Zhu Xieyuan said: "First inside, then outside." ”

Huang Kezhang nodded silently.

The conversation between the two is a bit of a dumb riddle. If you don't know the details, after listening to the words of the two, you definitely don't know what it means. Actually, the meaning of both is very simple. Transfer, that is, to transfer Xu Xingxia from his current position, and not let him continue to stay in the position of Zhenshuo Fort Qianhu. As for where to transfer and what new positions to transfer, we will talk about that later. The top priority at the moment is to isolate him from the military households at the bottom first.

Inside, it is to transfer within Ningxia Town. In addition, it was transferred from Ningxia Town to other places. Zhu Xieyuan's meaning was to let Xu Xingxia be transferred inside Ningxia Town first, and then outside Ningxia Town. Under the jurisdiction of the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, there are a total of four military towns, and it is no problem to transfer a small generation of thousands of households from Ningxia Town to any other military town. As long as he is transferred to a suitable place, Xu Xingxia has no way to continue tossing.

This is the gentleest, most quiet, and least costly way to dispose of it. As long as Xu Xingxia accepts the transfer, his fate is doomed. In the future, he was either transferred to a place where he could not see anyone at all to die of old age, or he was under the close surveillance of other people, and he was placed under house arrest, and his life was in the hands of others at any time. Even, if necessary, he will be secretly disposed of. In this year, it is simply too normal for one or two thousand households to die. What's more, it's still a small agent of thousands of households.

Of course, this is also the most dangerous way to deal with it. Xu Xingxia is not a stupid person. As long as he received the order, as long as he left the Black Mountain camp, he could detect the cattiness in it. It's fine if he obediently accepts the appointment, but if he refuses to accept the appointment, I'm afraid it will really force him back. There is news that the people around Xu Xingxia are intentionally or unintentionally inciting him to rebel, which is a very dangerous signal! If the army chaos really breaks out in Ningxia Town, they must take complete measures.

Huang Kezhang said casually: "What if Xu Xingxia doesn't accept the appointment? ”

Zhu Xieyuan said in an orderly manner: "Let Li Guozhen issue an appointment order." ”

Huang Kezhang nodded, indicating that he understood. This is to ask Li Guozhen to sing black face, and the governor of the three sides to sing white face. If Xu Xingxia really refuses to accept the order, causing an embarrassing situation, or even an armed confrontation, the governors of the three sides can also come forward to relieve it a little, and then secretly mobilize troops to encircle and pursue him. Of course, the best way is to secretly mobilize troops from now on to prepare for the assessment of the rebellion.

It's just that every time I think of Xu Xingxia's combat effectiveness, the trilateral governor has a little headache. Others are the master who can wipe out four thousand Tartar cavalry in one go, how many soldiers and horses does he have to mobilize to contain him? As soon as this battle starts, the consequences will be serious. In case Xu Xingxia is forced to be anxious, and the banner of rebellion is really raised, it is estimated that the four towns in the northwest will all be eroded.

Emperor Wanli is a miser, staring at his money bag, once a war starts, he has to use the internal money, it is strange that he is not mad. He won't hold anyone accountable, he'll just cut off the heads of both of them first. Therefore, forcing Xu Xingxia to oppose is really not the best policy. However, it is indeed not possible to let Xu Xingxia develop unscrupulously, support the army and respect himself, and the tail will not fall. Alas, let's take one step at a time, I can't care so much.

(To be continued)