Chapter 2281 The Gui scroll is a piece of bones, the imperial party

 The two of them walked slowly and said nothing.

Qi Yongtai also realized that the growth rate of his disciple was so amazing, from Xiao Feng Xiuzhuan of Hanlin Academy, to Tongzhi of Yongping Mansion, to Shuntian Mansion Prime Minister, and then to the right minister of the Imperial Palace, the censor of the capital, and the right minister of the Ministry of War. He served as a minister and governor of Shaanxi, and finally became the right minister of the Ministry of War. In just a few years, he completed the magnificent transformation from a young scholar who had just entered the official career to a third-rank official.

From the beginning, he could only put forward opinions on some specific matters, but now he can put forward detailed and specific systematic planning suggestions on matters in a certain field. For example, now that he is the Minister of War, he can come up with a complete set of suggestions according to changes in the war situation. Suggestions and opinions are all supported by evidence and are not aimless.

It’s no wonder that Ye Fang and Li were all envious of having such a disciple, and they only said that there would be a successor.

Like the negotiations between the imperial court and Nanjing, Qi Yongtai actually didn't want to tell Feng Ziying because there were too many intrigues and secrets involved.

The emperor's intentions, the purpose of Prince Yi Zhong, the interests of the Zhang family, the rights and interests of the scholar group, the subtle relationship between the Jiangnan scholars and the northern scholars, coupled with the suppression and prevention of the warriors by the scholars, and internal worries The interactive relationship caused by foreign aggression made this negotiation full of uncertainty.

Qi Yongtai is worried that letting Feng Ziying be involved will only make Feng Ziying immersed in these dirty things at a young age, which is not conducive to Feng Ziying's growth.

But now it seems that he still underestimated Feng Ziying. Feng Ziying's growth rate has greatly exceeded expectations. Perhaps this is related to his family background. The other party has been able to treat everything that represents the dark side very calmly and even with ease.

Since this is the case, Qi Yongtai can put aside his original worries and even discuss these topics with Feng Ziying.

"Ziying, I'm afraid the current situation in the imperial court is worse than what the outside world has seen, and worse than you imagine. The money raised from Haitong Bank through various methods has basically been exhausted, and one year's official salary is owed in advance. It must be reissued, the reconstruction of the three towns of Shanxi, Datong and Xuanfu, the counterinsurgency in Shanxi, the counterinsurgency in Shandong, the war in South Zhili, the Northern Front Army is now crossing eastward to Liaodong, the counterinsurgency in Huguang, etc. They all need silver, but the taxes in the south of the Yangtze River cannot be raised, and the tax reductions and exemptions in the north are also forced. In this way, eight million taels of silver sounds like a huge amount, but once you spend it, you find that it is not enough at all, and this We are also facing the invasion of the Chahars and Jianzhou Jurchens, and we have to spend money. Where will the money come from?"

Qi Yongtai sighed, "A penny is too much for a hero. The court is now heavily in debt. If we win this battle, the court will have to find a way to pay off the debt. If we lose, I don't know what the final result will be. Perhaps many people will have no choice but to retire and live in poverty for the rest of their lives.”

"So the imperial court wanted to capture Jiangnan as soon as possible, pacify Shanxi, and solve Sichuan and Huguang. However, in the face of Nanjing's sky-high asking prices, the imperial court had to persist. This became a vicious cycle. It depends on who can withstand the torture. If there is a slight change, it may be a disaster for everyone."

Feng Ziying suggested: "So Jiangnan will not move for the time being, but Shanxi, Liaodong and even Sichuan must hurry up and strive to solve the problem as soon as possible, so that Nanjing will not dare to delay it any longer."

Qi Yongtai slightly nodded, but it is easier said than done. It would be good if the situation in Liaodong can maintain the status quo. Yuan Keli just went to Shanxi, and it takes less than half a year to solve it?

There was also the Sichuan side, which dissatisfied the court the most. The cost was huge, far exceeding the court's original prediction, and even increased several times.

Preliminary calculations show that the food consumption for the Bozhou Rebellion in recent years, plus the later addition of the Anshe family, has exceeded six million taels of silver. The original cost for the Southwest War was two million taels. Silver, this has more than doubled.

When Xiong Tingbi went there, everyone had high hopes. As a result, more than a year later, Feng Ziying had settled the chaos in Shaanxi. Xiong Tingbi was still fighting with several chieftains in Sichuan. This was after Wang Ziteng had voluntarily left Huguang. Now that Yang Yinglong is about to be executed, and the two Anshe families are at the end of their rope, it is estimated that the Southwest Chieftain Rebellion will come to an end within half a year.

Feng Ziying nominally spent only 300,000 taels of silver on the imperial court to suppress Shaanxi, but in fact it was much more.

It was not just the merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi who supported hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. The key was that Feng Ziying adopted the method of supporting war with war. He used the rebel army as the king's vanguard, massacred and exterminated the powerful local gentry, confiscated their homes and exterminated their clans. Come to extract oil to feed your family.

Feng Ziying also calculated that he had squeezed more than three million taels of money and goods from these powerful and evil gentry alone. Without such a huge income, he could not afford to support these rebels and then transformed them into guards. It is also impossible to provide relief to the victims so that they will not continue to become refugees and rioters. How could the civil turmoil in Shaanxi be quelled so easily?

Now that Yuan Keli has gone to Shanxi, the situation is not that simple.

Shanxi scholars were the mainstream of civil servants in the north. Qiao Yingjia, Han Xu, and Sun Juxiang, Sun Dingxiang, were the two brothers. These were the leaders and backbone of the northern scholars. They had close relations with the local scholars in Shanxi. If Yuan Keli wanted to In this way, three or five people can suppress it, and the court can tolerate it. If they slaughter and clean up all the way like they did in Shaanxi, and rely on this method to raise food and wages, it will definitely attract countless criticisms, and Yuan Keli can't bear it.

In addition, here in northern Shanxi are the Fengzhou Bailian and Tumut people. The scholars still support the imperial court's resistance. You can't just swing your sword at them, right?

What's more, Yuan Keli may not have the courage to raise Kou Zonghu. These literati cherish their own feathers very much, how can they be as unscrupulous and unscrupulous as himself?

So Shanxi can definitely win this battle, but it will depend on the court's full support.

When Feng Ziying knew that Yuan Keli was going to Shanxi, the Ministry of Revenue first gave him one million taels of silver as a backstop, and would continue to provide full support in the future. This was very different from going to Shaanxi himself.

However, Feng Ziying is not jealous either. This is actually a disguised recognition of her ability.

"The cabinet and the Ministry of War had already sent a letter to Xiong Tingbi before you came back, asking him to resolve the Sichuan war before the end of the year. He wrote back and said that he would strive to resolve it before the end of February next year, and the court agreed." Qi Yongtai took a long time to say something. : "The consumption of the Sichuan War greatly exceeded the court's expectations and disrupted the court's plans, which is why it was so passive and embarrassing. Xiong Tingbi's performance was unsatisfactory and disappointing."

"Qi Shi, it's pretty good. Brother Zhisheng should not have been allowed to come in the first place. He is already familiar with the situation. Ten birds in the forest are worse than one in the hand. If Brother Zhisheng was allowed to directly take over the entire Sichuan and Huguang military affairs, I dare say The Southwest War ended in the first half of this year. Brother Feibai had to get familiar with and adapt to it again. He couldn't do it for half a year. Then Yang Yinglong, An Bangyan and She Chongming got a chance to breathe, which would inevitably delay the war. Brother Feibai still managed to win the war. Yes, the court cannot be too demanding."

Qi Yongtai was slightly surprised by Feng Ziying's words, and after thinking for a while, he explained: "There is a reason for letting Zhisheng come back. Yang He did not play well, and letting Zhisheng take over would make the Huguang scholars feel sad. , Feibai is gone, they are all from Huguang, so Dongxian (Guan Yingzhen) and Zishu (Chai Ke) have no objections."

Feng Ziying suddenly realized that there was another whole story here.

The North Korean scholars and the Huguang scholars have formed an alliance and have a harmonious relationship. The Qi army must take this into consideration. If this causes a rift between the Northern scholars and the Huguang scholars, and in vain allows the Jiangnan scholars to benefit, then it will be counterproductive. Not beautiful anymore.

 “Then Mr. Zhang (Li Tingji) has already entered the official position, but the officials and teachers want to join the cabinet?” Feng Ziying asked.

Qi Yongtai hesitated for a moment and shook his head slowly: "This is also a key issue that the imperial court is negotiating with Prince Yi Zhong. Nanjing proposed that one of their people should join the cabinet, which means that they have identified the vacancy left by Zhang Zhishi. , but the cabinet is unwilling to accept this condition. I hope Dongxian will join the cabinet, but Ye Fang and Ye Fang are not very supportive."

"Oh? Ye Fang also has a candidate? Who? Cunzhigong (Gao Panlong)? Mingqigong (Huang Ruliang)? They are not qualified enough to convince the public. It can't be Ji Huigong (Liu Yishui), right? That's too ridiculous, and you will never agree." Feng Ziying was surprised.

If Ye Fang and his two brothers recommend another Jiangnan scholar to the cabinet, they will have a crushing advantage over the northern scholars. Among the five cabinet ministers, Ye Fang and his two men are originally the first and second assistants. Although Li Sancai's native place is There are scholars from the North, but their attitude has always been biased towards the south of the Yangtze River. If there is another scholar from the south of the Yangtze River, there will be three and a half Qi Yongtai and one from the north.

"You think Ye Fang and I are too simple. Of course they know that I will not agree to tell you about those people, so they are also very conflicted." Qi Yongtai stroked his beard and pondered, "Well, there is one more thing, Liu Ji (Gu Bingqian) came to me and asked me to support him in joining the cabinet. I was a little surprised. Liuji came to me and asked me to recommend him..."

Gu Bingqian? This recognized weakling in past life history? A guy attached to Wei Zhongxian?

There is no problem with Gu Bingqian's qualifications. He has been serving as the Minister of Rites for many years. Moreover, he was the Minister of Rites during the reign of Emperor Yuanxi, so he has deep qualifications.

But this person has a problem, that is, he was born in the south of the Yangtze River, from Kunshan, Suzhou. Logically speaking, he was a scholar from the south of the Yangtze River. If he became the minister of the Ministry of Rites, he should be the leader of the scholars from the south of the Yangtze River. But he is not. On the contrary, he is not He was favored by the Jiangnan scholars because he was so trusted by Emperor Yonglong, and he was an imperialist through and through.

Two of the Jiangnan scholars who were not favored by this group were Gu Bingqian and Zhang Jingqiu. Both were from Nanzhili and both were imperialists.

 (End of this chapter)