I'm really not the carpenter emperor

"I've been here all this time, you didn't see me."

The relationship between Zhang Yan and Tong Jing'er is not bad on weekdays. The two are not of high family background, and they can play together in private. Hearing what she said, I know that I am not lying.

However, Zhang Yan still glared and said:

"Sharp teeth and sharp mouths."

Chapter 241

"This raid on Penghu is the fifth time Nan Juyi has gone out."

"Swift in and out, I have never reported to the imperial court beforehand, the Fujian navy reserve, and the fleet's marching routes in various places, I am afraid Hongmaofan has already figured it out thoroughly!"

In the hall of the Ministry of War, Minister Cui Chengxiu was slapping the table and roaring.

"Yes, it's too careless!" Yan Mingtai, the right servant of the Ministry of War, also said:

"If I knew today, I shouldn't have listened to the Ministry of Officials and asked him to go to Fujian to be the governor. In the current situation, Hong Maofan's ships have not decreased but increased, and many ships have blocked the Zhangzhou estuary."

"One day of being blocked is a huge loss for the court."

Yan Mingtai, like Cui Chengxiu, relied on flattering Wei Zhongxian to take over the position, and the two now lead a group of Wei party officials to control the Ministry of War.

However, compared to Cui Chengxiu's smooth sailing and straight to the position of the department hall, Yan Mingtai's experience is really too tortuous.

Yan Mingtai was born in Qingyuan, Zhili (now Qingyuan, Hebei).During the Wanli period, Jinshi Jidi, successively served as the head of the household department, participated in politics in Liaodong, and was impeached and dismissed after picking up relics.

For a long time, he started to do things and patrolled the Liaohai Sea.

When Kaiyuan was lost, Xiong Tingbi, the economic strategist of Liaodong, sent him to Shenyang, and returned weeping halfway.

The new emperor succeeded to the throne, changed Yuan Tianqi, replaced the old officials, set up the capital supervisor's office, and sent military supervisors to Shanhaiguan and Dongjiang towns. In spite of the opposition of the officials in the Liao Dynasty, he was bold and decisive, and decided to continue to appoint Xiong Tingbi.

On the recommendation of Xiong Tingbi, Yan Mingtai became the deputy envoy in the first year of Tianqi and stationed in Guangning.

Wang Huazhen was eager to make meritorious service, and proposed four ways to send out troops. Regardless of Cao Wenzhao's opposition, he insisted on going to war. He was finally defeated by the slave chieftains.

The court deliberated and blamed it on Ye Xianggao, a senior scholar, and Wang Huazhen, a left counselor, who were taken into Beijing by Tiqisuo and executed.

Sun Chengzong, the emperor's teacher, was ordered by the emperor to go out of the customs, and repeatedly impeached him, saying that Yan Mingtai had been in Guangning for several years, but he really had no talent, and his fortifications were flattering, and he was just using empty words.

In August of the first year of Tianqi, the court pushed Yuan Chonghuan, a disciple of Sun Chengzong, to serve as a soldier in Guangning and also Fu Ningyuan. Emperor Tianqi acquiesced, and Yuan Chonghuan rushed to Ningyuan to take up his post.

So Sun Chengzong used important officials as the gatekeepers, and Yuan Chonghuan of Ningyuan only followed his lead, so that he exercised his own power, and repeatedly discussed the "Ningjin defense line".

Yan Mingtai was rejected and impeached by Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan because Shangshu opposed the establishment of the Ningjin defense line.

In the second year of Apocalypse, Wei Zhongxian set up a big prison.

At that time, Yang Lian returned to his hometown to give lectures in Donglin, and the soldiers from Dongchang chased him to his home to confuse people's hearts and kill him.

Ye Xianggao was burdened by Donglin, angered the emperor, and was punished by nine clans with a single order. At that time, the eunuch party rose, and all Donglin party members wrote:

"The eunuch steals the handle, and the sky is dark."

Yan Mingtai stayed at home for several months, heard the wind, and secretly married Wei Zhongxian. After being recommended by Zhang Zhi, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he was called as the right servant of the Ministry of War.

Such a tortuous experience allowed Yan Mingtai to see clearly the so-called nobility of the Donglin Party members and the so-called villains of the Eunuch Party.

Like the choice of most people, if you are a villain who flatters the authority, you can serve as an official again, get resources, and thus display your ambitions.

Well, he chose to be this villain!

After returning to Beijing, Yan Mingtai, who put his life aside, became the favorite minion of Cui Chengxiu, the celebrity under Wei Zhongxian, and was willing to be driven by him.

Cui Chengxiu can't match her thick skin.

Forcing to kill Donglin, impeaching Qingliu, and accepting bribes, Yan Mingtai is doing all the actions that those noble and arrogant people despise.

In the eyes of ordinary people, Yan Mingtai is actually not as good as Gu Bingqian and Cui Chengxiu. The background of the latter two is not very clean, and they themselves have been criticized countless times in the scholarly circle.

Like Wei Guangwei, he was born in a scholarly family and once had an upright spirit, but now he is willing to be a stray dog ​​and be scolded by the world.

The topic of the Ministry of War today is whether to replace Nan Juyi.

Contrary to what Donglin thought, the Ministry of War, controlled by the so-called eunuch party, played a more significant role than when Wang Xianggan, a scholarly scholar, was a minister.

At least, they are really negotiating the best solution based on intelligence.

In the past, when Donglin was in charge of the Ministry of War, there was often a small meeting every three days, and a big meeting every five days. It was complicated and troublesome, and it could neither solve the problem nor propose a substantive solution.

In the end, it is generally procrastinated until the matter is resolved by itself, or it is too serious for the Ministry of War to take care of it, then it is considered over.

After Yan Mingtai finished speaking, another military official said:

"After Nan Juyi became the governor, he did something. He detained the representative of the Hongmao Fan, and mobilized the navy and army to take the initiative."

"As for doing nothing and repeatedly defeating, it should be that the red-haired ships are too sharp..."

Yan Mingtai glanced at it.

"The red-haired ships and firearms are extremely sharp. Hasn't the Holy Majesty sent someone to buy them at the Bugarao Cannon Factory in Macau?"

"It would be best if we could capture a few of their ships in this battle with Hongmao Fan. Let's see what kind of firearms their ships use."

"Pull it to Tianjin Shuiying and let the Armament Division copy it!"

What Yan Mingtai said was actually what many officials of the Eunuch Party thought. Judging from the current situation, although Nan Juyi belongs to the Donglin Party, after becoming the governor of Fujian, he is actually not bad.

It's hard to say if Nan Juyi and Hongmaofan are now confronting each other if someone else is changed. If it's better not to change someone, how should we deal with it?

As he spoke, fine snow began to fall in the capital.

In the hearts of the officials of the Ministry of War, there was also a trace of blue-gray worry. In the midsummer, the imperial court mobilized the navy of several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, full of ambitions, to quickly repel the invasion of the Hongmao Fan.

At that time, the Ministry of War naturally fully supported it.

After all, in the war between countries in this book, there are not many Hongmaofan ships, and the soldiers and horses have a cloud, so they adapt to the local conditions, and they must take advantage of their unstable foothold to start the war quickly!

However, the depths of winter have come, and the situation in Penghu has not improved, with repeated defeats.

The Zhangzhou estuary was blocked by Hong Mao Fan for half a year, and the court's trade and local losses were simply immeasurable!

Since he arrived at the Ministry of War, this matter has almost become Yan Mingtai's most concerned matter, and the so-called eunuch officials in the Ministry of War have also racked their brains.

The state's kindness to support scholars is not today, when will we wait to repay it?

Cui Chengxiu sat in the seat of the department hall and kept sneering:

"As soon as there were some setbacks, those Donglin Party members went to the siege one after another, asking His Majesty to send envoys to negotiate peace with Hongmaofan."

"A bunch of idiots!" Yan Mingtai was very annoyed, and said:

"The current peace talks, in fact, I am losing the Ming Dynasty. This move will greatly damage the morale of the frontier. Is this the result that His Majesty wants?"

"Since we have fought, we must fight to the end!"

"Other people's ships are sharp, and they have been delivered to the door. Can't we let them retreat calmly? Even if it is a life-saving pile, we must grab one. We want to build such a ship, which is sharper than them!"

Someone also snorted coldly and said with a smile:

"Those sour and rotten scholars don't know the benefits of fighting. Our military department doesn't have to argue with them. The most urgent thing is how to solve the Penghu issue and share your majesty's worries."

Yan Mingtai thought for a while, then suddenly said:

"Didn't Nan Juyi propose to recruit the official official named Zheng Yiguan?"

Cui Chengxiu was a little puzzled, and said:

"I said that before the imperial court gave the Zheng family the right to conduct business in the southeast sea area, they did not contribute to the Penghu matter. This request is too rude, so I refuted it."

"Why, what's Ming Tai's opinion?"

Yan Mingtai gritted his teeth and said, "It's not a high opinion, but I feel that I can try to give Zheng Yiguan a Zhangzhou garrison and see what the Zheng family does."

As soon as this remark came out, someone immediately praised:

"Zhangzhou's garrison is a good way to drive away tigers and devour wolves!"

"Now that Zhangzhou is trapped by Hongmao Fan, whether the Zheng family wants to gain the convenience of the court to do business, or just for their own benefit, they must go to Zhangzhou!"

Chapter 242 Finally A Little Useful Ministry of War

At this time, someone raised concerns.

The one who spoke was Liu Chao, who was given by the Bingke, because Donglin had done nothing when he was in power, and later he was promoted because he flattered Wei Zhongxian. Donglin party members called him "serving Wei Zhongxian like his father, extremely shameless."

But Liu Zhao was not angry at all, instead he took this kind of insulting words as the supreme praise, and after that, he worked harder for the eunuchs.

He leaned over and said:

"Zhangzhou's garrison, this is Zhao'an Zheng's family."

"With a formal official status, the Zheng family can do far more than today, not to mention that the vicinity of Zhangzhou is still a prosperous place, and merchant ships from all over the world come and go. Calling this pirate who started his business into Zhangzhou is like a wolf into a flock of sheep!"

"Why didn't I know this?"

Yan Mingtai sighed: "But Yujie, now relying solely on the imperial navy, it is not easy to exterminate or repel these red-haired fans who are extremely powerful at sea..."

"The battle of Penghu has been going on for nearly half a year. If it continues like this, it will inevitably become a protracted and fierce battle. Fighting in Liao territory will cost money and food, and disaster relief will be needed in various places. If we continue to fight on two fronts, I am afraid that the court will not be able to support it."

Yujie, this is Liu Zhao's character.

"Oh!" He sighed heavily, suddenly his eyes lit up, and said:

"How about choosing a guard station along the coast of Fujian, appointing Zheng Yiguan as the head of the thousand, and entrusting him with the position of commander of the guard to see if he can take it?"

"No."

Cui Chengxiu categorically denied it, saying:

"According to what I know, Zheng Yiguan has a big appetite. Last time, Nan Juyi, the governor of Fujian, granted him the right to trade in the southeast coast, so he reluctantly fought a few battles with Hongmaofan."

"Those battles won and lost each other, but they attracted more red-haired fleets from the Spice Islands. Once this happened, Zheng Yiguan never took a step forward and asked for help."

"Humph!"

Having said that, Cui Chengxiu sneered and said:

"Zhaoan, I don't know, I thought Zheng Yiguan was so loyal and patriotic. No one of our ministers in the Ministry of War knows, he never set his eyes on this official status!"

"With the protection of the imperial court, he can openly break away from Li Dan and develop on his own!"

Yan Mingtai also saw this point, he looked at the military officials who were discussing, and when they gradually calmed down, he said:

"The only plan for now is to rely on the Zheng family's power at sea if they want to repel the Hongmao Fan as soon as possible and develop the imperial court's own naval power."

"It's good to ask him to taste the sweetness. This time, Zheng Yiguan will break with Li Dan. When the time comes, they will fight with each other. I will benefit from it!"

"That's the truth!" Liu Zhao nodded, probed earnestly and said:

"Then draw up a notebook and hand it over, and ask the Holy One to make a decision?"

After the words fell, everyone turned their eyes to Cui Chengxiu, Minister of the Ministry of War, who was in the first place.

Although the latter is always sprayed by the great sages of Donglin as nothing but flattering Wei Zhongxian, but he can convince the crowd in the Ministry of War, but he is also a decisive and ruthless master.

He rolled his eyes in their sockets, clapped his hands and smiled:

"That's it, you guys make a memorial, the name of the Herbarium Hall."

……

"Your Majesty, the book of the Ministry of War Minister said it was about the battle in Penghu..."

"Hand it over to me!"

Early the next morning, Zhu Youxiao looked at the notebook brought by Wang Chaofu. He didn't have any desire at first, but after hearing what he said, he waved his hand and grabbed it for himself.

The more you look, the more dignified your eyes become.

The conflict between the Penghu area and the Dutch was inevitable in history. It took several years to repel the Dutch colonial team.

But in Zhu Youxiao's view, this is an opportunity!

Daming's firearms, to be honest, have not been vigorously developed for several years because of wars and successive years of famines. Not to mention that they are particularly backward, they can't catch up with the footsteps of the West at this time.

All in all, this is still an era of great navigation.

The Ordnance Department develops field weapons on land, and the navy cannot let it go. The Tianjin Navy established before was Zhu Youxiao's emphasis on navigation technology.

It's just that there is really no money now!

The money from house raids, as well as the income from customs duties along the river and Zhili mining tax, a large part of these were occupied by Liaodong military expenses, Zhili, Jiubian, and Denglai's salaries.