The Ming Dynasty started with caution

The Ministry of War is on duty.

Yan Chengjin was sitting in the duty room, and the attendants and civil servants on the left and right were all sent out.

The door is closed.

"Sir Zhang, when did the Ministry of War reduce the annual salary, why didn't I know?"

The annual silver is a sum of military pay provided by the imperial court to the towns in Jiubian every year.

During the Zhengtong period, because Jiubian's farmland was destroyed and it was not enough for Jiubian to be self-sufficient, the court allocated a sum of money to Jiubian every year as a subsidy.

With the frequent wars, the number of annual silver coins gradually increased.

During the Chenghua period, Wang Yue and Wang Zhi led the army to fight in Liaodong, and the annual silver rose from hundreds of thousands taels to more than one million taels, which became a routine.

Today, the annual silver supply in Jiubian is only more than 100,000 taels. On average, a town only has about 10,000 taels.

Zhang Fuhua picked up the tea cup and said with his usual expression: "When you asked for the abolition of the town supervisor, Mr. Jiang brought his officials to the meeting and reduced the annual silver."

Yan Chengjin had Yan Chengjin's method, and Jiang Mian also had Jiang Mian's method. How could he tell this son.

After entering the capital, Jiang Mian discovered that any matters discussed at court could easily be abandoned by Yan Chengjin.

If I want His Majesty to report the case and issue an order, I can only go to the Holy Spirit to beg for help in private, without telling this son.

You have a good plan, I have a wall ladder.

Yan Chengjin's heart moved slightly and he said: "Master Jiang is worthy of being Zhuge Liang of Southern Zhili. I really admire him."

Not all political affairs need to be discussed in advance by the court. Many decisions are actually made in private meetings by the cabinet or the ministers of the six ministries.

The cabinet can meet at any time.

There is no doubt that Jiang Mian must have met His Majesty privately.

I don't know what method was used to prevent His Majesty from discussing it in court and ordered the Ministry of War to reduce the annual silver.

If he hadn't gone to the household department to check the accounts, he wouldn't have known that the annual silver had dropped from more than one million taels to one hundred thousand taels.

Zhang Fuhua looked at Yan Chengjin and frowned slightly: "The allocation of annual silver is related to the war. When wars are frequent and the expenses of the nine sides increase, the more annual silver allocated by the imperial court.

At this time, there is no war on all sides, and it is reasonable and reasonable to reduce the annual salary. I am not asking Lord Chiang to beg for you.

Even if the annual silver is reduced, the generals should not sell their official positions to raise silver. "

When people donate money to the imperial court, they are actually selling their official positions.

For example, the Imperial College student clearly marked the price, and each place was sold for a hundred taels to raise money to fill the national treasury.

Just like later generations donating a library to obtain a place in a certain university, it is called a donation, but it is actually a purchase of a degree.

When some emperors of the Ming Dynasty were in power, they turned a blind eye to the selling of officials.

Jiubian's military ranks can also be sold. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty came from the guard system and the recruitment system.

Before the middle period, soldiers came from the Weisuo system established by Zhu Yuanzhang, that is, the missing personnel were supplemented from civilians with military status.

However, when there was a shortage of silver, the army recruitment system was used to recruit soldiers, and sometimes official positions in the camp were sold.

The army is different from the soldiers. The army must be hereditary, so it is called military household. The soldiers are not hereditary. After death, the official disappears. The children of the gentry may join the camp and serve as soldiers if they want to be addicted to official positions.

Nowadays, the official positions that Jiubian sells are exactly the military positions attached to the battalion. The service time is not long and the service is not lifelong.

Back at the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Yan Chengjin wrote a letter to his father.

More than half a month had passed, and Emperor Hongzhi was a little puzzled: "Why doesn't Yan Chengjin come to me to plead for mercy?"

"Perhaps they are still secretly investigating." Xiao Jing just heard from his subordinates that Yan Chengjin was in the East Palace.

The cabinet ministers and six ministers were puzzled that they had not seen Yan Chengjin for a few days.

This son was unusual. He neither impeached nor came to plead with His Majesty, as if Yan Kesong was not his biological father.

"Password to Yan Chengjin."

East Palace, sleeping hall.

Zhu Houzhao and Yan Chengjin were playing cards and happily touched the cards, "If Lao Gao doesn't plead with Father, does he want Master Yan to become an official?"

Selling an official position can be big or small. If Zhu Houzhao becomes the emperor, this will not be a problem.

Chiseled out the city wall? It's nothing, Tatar is already the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and can be seen outside through the city wall.

But the emperor's money was worth every penny, and the civil servants were unwilling to turn a blind eye.

Yan Chengjin said seriously: "Your Highness, please play your cards quickly and don't talk nonsense."

There are no more military achievements to be made on the nine sides. Over time, the soldiers will definitely become slack. It is meaningless for dad to guard the three sides. He can only retire on the nine sides until his death. Your Majesty will not allow retirement.

My father was over fifty years old and could easily be stabbed to death by Tatars. After all, he was a noob when he was young.

Normally, there would be no reason for Dad to return to Beijing, but now is the opportunity.

Although this matter has nothing to do with my father, it is due to poor supervision. Only by becoming an official can my father be freed from the crime.

Your Majesty is merciful, and the family has five death-free gold medals.

Just in time for dad to retire and restart again.

Zhu Houzhao said seriously while playing his cards: "When I ascend the throne, I will re-appoint Master Yan as Minister of War. Master Yan's art of war was taught by me, and I trust my students."

Yan Chengjin shouldn't respond to him. Dad has a title and cannot be a civil servant.

Even if Zhu Houzhao ascends the throne, it will be the same, and all officials will not allow it.

Gu Dayong reported: "Your Highness, Your Majesty sent someone to summon Lord Yan."

Yan Chengjin came to the main hall, and the day for his father to return to Beijing was approaching.

During this period, he investigated a lot of matters in Jiubian, but did not report them to His Majesty.

He must have been summoned for this purpose.

"Yan Chengjin has met His Majesty."

Emperor Hongzhi took a deep look at Yan Chengjin and said calmly: "You are investigating Jiubian's selling of officials, why don't you report it to me?"

"I haven't come to a conclusion yet. I still need to escort the general back to the capital for interrogation to confirm something."

The ministers looked at each other.

Xuanfu is the closest to the capital, and the generals are escorted to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.

Yan Kesong is in Yansui, which is also close. He can reach the capital in a few days by riding a fast horse.

Emperor Hongzhi spoke again: "What did you find?"

"This matter started when Lord Jiang requested to reduce the annual silver. Wen Gui, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, requested to repair the border forts and pay the military salaries, so he borrowed more than one million taels from the Taicang warehouse and the Imperial Household Department.

Now the deadline has come, and I dare not owe the debt or default on the debt, and the annual silver has been cut, so I came up with this bad idea."

Wen Gui was the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and was successively the governor of Xuanfu, Datong and Yansui.

Seeing that the border forts were destroyed, he requested to repair them. In order to start the construction as soon as possible, he borrowed silver from the Taicang warehouse and the Imperial Household Department.

It could have been repaid with the annual silver.

But the court cut the annual silver to 100,000 taels of silver.

It's like borrowing someone else's money on a credit card. It's agreed to borrow for only one day, but the credit card suddenly reduced its limit and couldn't be taken out.

Wen Gui was dumbfounded, and the soldiers of the nine borders were also dumbfounded.

When the deadline for return arrived, they could only find ways to return it from the towns of the nine borders.

"I remember this."

Jiang Mian's face moved slightly. He and Zhang Fuhua met the emperor to save money on the nine frontiers.

The ministers secretly thought that Yan Chengjin would definitely plead for Yan Kesong if he investigated this matter.

...

Ten days passed in a flash, and the weather gradually turned cooler.

Emperor Hongzhi was reading the memorial in Fengtian Hall.

Xiao Jing walked in and reported: "Your Majesty, Miao Kui sent someone to deliver a message that Yan Kesong has arrived in the capital. Do you want to send someone to arrest him and put him in jail?"

Liu Jian and others looked at each other.

The officials were slightly moved. Arresting and imprisoning was a fair treatment, and Anding Hou was no exception.

Emperor Hongzhi said: "Let him enter the palace."

An hour later, Yan Kesong and Wen Gui and other officials were led into the hall.

The officials looked at the door of the hall.

Yan Kesong knelt down and said: "I am in charge of the military affairs of the three frontiers. I failed to supervise and manage them effectively and could not be loyal and devoted. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to retire."

The faces of the officials froze. Is this too fast?

I thought Yan Kesong would make an excuse, but I didn't expect that the first thing he did when they met was to ask for retirement.

Emperor Hongzhi's eyes condensed, and he couldn't bear it. "This matter has not been investigated clearly. Yan Qing's family doesn't need to be impatient. If Yan Qing's family doesn't know about it, I will deal with it lightly."

Repeatedly conquering the Tatars and making meritorious contributions proved that Yan Kesong could guard the nine borders.

It's a pity that he retired because of being implicated.

Li Dongyang and others hesitated after weighing the pros and cons.

At this time, Yan Chengjin looked at several military generals: "Does Anding Hou know about the sale of official positions?"

"I don't know."

Yan Chengjin took out a gold medal of immunity from death: "I beg Your Majesty to allow my father to retire."

The hall was quiet.

Han Fu's face moved slightly. He wanted to put Yan Kesong in prison, torture him, and then investigate whether he had any relationship with Yan Chengjin.

But Yan Chengjin didn't give Yan Kesong the opportunity to go to prison at all.

In this plot, it is a historical fact that Wen Gui owed silver to the two temples. It is also a fact that he chiseled the wall to beg for silver and the annual silver was drastically reduced. The difference is that it was not because Jiang Mian asked for it, but because the court had no silver during the Zhengde period. Besides, some readers said that this plot was abrupt and had no foreshadowing. It is not that there is no foreshadowing, but the type of plot entry point is different. I don’t know if you have watched the God’s Tomb by the great god Chen Dong. The male protagonist knew a secret at the beginning, and then kept looking for the answer to this secret. And the plot of the night watchman’s X million people being massacred, at the beginning someone came back to report that the place was massacred and X million people died. This writing method is to give the answer first and then slowly solve it. It is common in suspense, such as the opening of Red Moon, and some great gods who like to dig a big hole to cover the whole book and then keep digging small holes. Of course, it is not suitable to put it in this book, because this kind of plot is often used in suspense. Put it in a light-hearted book, uh... that’s it, everyone sees this, so use it less in the future