Time passes day by day, and in a blink of an eye, it is the seventh day of the second month of the first year of Jingtai. According to the practice of the previous imperial examinations, two examiners who presided over the examinations and eighteen examiners who were marking the papers will be announced on this day.

Chen Yichen met the saint alone after the Zhengdan court meeting and received the promise of Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu to appoint him as one of the two examiners. However, without a formal appointment, everything was in suspense. "Your no jokes" often said this sentence itself is just a joke.

In the Wenyuan Pavilion room, Chen Yichen was closely following the memorials submitted by prefectures in various northern Zhili to control the current trend of grain prices.

Although Chen Yichen, during the court discussion some time ago, recommended Xu Youzhen to serve as the Minister of Works, the far-flung water cannot relieve near-thirst, and the skyrocketing trend of grain prices cannot see any signs of relief before the summer harvest comes.

The price of grain in the capital has increased from four cents per stone last month to seven cents per stone in just ten days. Many farmers in northern Zhili have begun to eat the crops for spring plowing without any help.

If the grain is eaten, there are only two consequences. Either the whole family starves to death, or they take out everything valuable, such as the only remaining land, wife, son, and children, or even sign a contract for sale.

Use these things as collateral to borrow grain from the landlords and gentry to sow seeds, and then pay a lot of money and can't repay the sky-high interest in this life.

As long as the gentry and landlords use their methods properly, they do not need to do anything that badly rob or force good people to become prostitutes, etc., and ordinary people will take the initiative to "dedicate" everything they have.

If you have a gentler attitude or leak a little fur from your fingers, you may get the title of "benevolent and generous" charity. A typical person who is sold is to help the other party count the money.

This is why in the late period of the feudal dynasty, there would be various land annexation and people would live in poverty. The ability of the landlords and gentry class to resist natural disasters and man-made disasters was completely different from that of the common people. They could use various legal means to rob, and eventually evolved into a situation of "cannibalism".

"To the north, the rice and grain of the capital have increased to seven cents per stone, and the highest in other places in Zhili in the north is even reached one or two taels. If this continues, many people will not survive the summer harvest. I wonder how many families will be destroyed."

"How about this, open the capital granary and Tongzhou granary to release grain!"

Shang Lu was heartbroken at this moment. Since he became the prime minister of the cabinet, he has hardly had a good sleep in various government affairs.

Who would have thought that the Ming Dynasty, which seemed to be a prosperous era, seemed to be in turmoil after the transformation of a Tumu Fort, completely shattering the impression of the kingly paradise that Shang Lu once read in the books of sages.

It turns out that the people suffer so much!

Compared to Shang Lu's eagerness, Chen Yichen seemed very calm. He had long realized that under the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, it was actually rotten, but it only caused the battle of Tumubao to tear off the fig leaf.

And unlike Shang Lu, who has been studying academics at the Hanlin Academy after he entered the officialdom, Chen Yichen has experienced the scene of the collapse of the Yellow River in Shandong Province, and naturally he understands that eagerness is meaningless.

"No, the capital granary and Tongzhou granaries are responsible for the supply of hundreds of thousands of troops in the capital. In addition, the northern Washu tribe is ready to move, and they must reserve enough military rations to rush to aid the border troops, otherwise the consequences will be even more serious."

Chen Yichen directly rejected Shang Lu's idea of ​​opening a warehouse and releasing grain. The matter was prioritized. At present, external troubles were far greater than internal troubles. If the border troops could not withstand the food, the fate of the entire northern land would only be more tragic than the famine!

"But the problem is that the thorns have not attacked the border now. Even if you are not preventing any problems, you can't watch the starvation in the northern Zhili area everywhere, right?"

"There is also the Xuanda defense line after Liu An's renovation, and now 70% to 80% of the beacon forts have been restored. It is not easy for the Tartars to cross the defense line."

"To the north, did you refuse to open the warehouse and release grain to prepare for the Liaodong Army to rush to assist the Tatars?"

After the Xuanfu reported on the military situation of the sect's troops mobilized, Chen Yichen had already convened a cabinet discussion through the cabinet's chief minister Chen Xun, mainly to prepare for the Liaodong Army to assist the Tatars, and at the same time began to urgently raise military rations to start the war.

After all, the troops and horses will go ahead before they move. Whether for Mongolia or the Ming Dynasty, Liaodong will fight for the decisive battle, and whoever can't hold on first will become the loser.

"Yes, I must ensure the supply of military rations in Liaodong and not let the soldiers work their lives hungry!"

Chen Yichen admitted Shang Lu's question without any concealment.

The Battle of Yanghe, Yaoerling, and Tumubao in the 13th year of Zhengtong lost not only the elite soldiers of the Beijing camp, but also a large number of excellent war horses, which lost the ability to take the initiative to attack Mobei in a short period of time.

The Tatar tribe now has the relationship between the Ming Dynasty, which is because of the cold teeth. If the Wasaka tribe is allowed to completely unify the Mongolian tribes, and even usurp the throne and call it Khan, then his future strength will surpass the level before the Battle of Tumu Fort.

After all, the combat effectiveness of an army that is prohibited is far greater than that of a mob with ulterior mobs!

Since there is no way to take the initiative to fight against the Northern Expedition, we can only passively protect the Tatar tribe from being annexed. The Liaodong Army is the only army outside the Great Wall Pass of the Ming Dynasty.

Anyone can short of food and grass logistics, and the Liaodong Army must not be able to move the food and grass!

"To the north, I know you are trying to prevent the thorns from becoming bigger, but for the sake of dogs between the Tartars, it is worth it to make the people of the Ming Dynasty freeze and starve?"

In Shang Lu's view, the way to be an official is to protect the people, not to do anything for the king's hegemony. Even if the Wastu tribe really annexed the Tatar tribe, it would be a loss. As long as the Ming Dynasty could be safe and secure, the people would defend the Great Wall defense line, why should we be afraid of the Tartars invading the border?

Shang Lu's thinking is not an isolated case. After the Tumu Fort Incident, almost no one in the court wanted to take revenge, to flatten the tiles and stab the unofficial officials, to complete the feat of sealing the wolf's servants and Yan Ran's stones!

They just thought about how to defend and began to focus on building the Great Wall defense line on a large scale. This is the Ming Great Wall that can be seen in later generations.

But Chen Yichen is different. The Ming Dynasty has given up the Western Regions, the Hexi Corridor, the Nuergandu Division, the Annan Metropolitan Division, and the Mengyang Xuanwei Division. Where else should I give up on the front line?

Could it be that he would have been huddled in the Great Wall for the rest of his life, watching the Liaodong Dusi beneath the double-sided attack of Mongolia and Jurchen, and once again gave up a large area of ​​territory?

"worth."

Chen Yichen did not explain too much to Shang Lu. He was constantly compressed by foreign enemies and was ambitious, which would bring worries about the destruction of the country.

Looking at Chen Yichen's resolute answer, Shang Lu didn't say much. He was not a tough person. He just turned his head and looked at the memorials of the states in various places, and the tragic situation of hunger and coldness always appeared in his mind. If he didn't open warehouses and food to help, I wonder how many people would starve to death on the streets.

"Yangbei, since it is not possible to open up sources for the time being, can we start with throttling the money?"

"The imperial guards, squads, royal troops, and southern conquests have now combined, and they are close to 400,000 troops. It is time for some soldiers to return to their original garrison."

Regarding Shang Lu's suggestion, Chen Yichen showed a solemn expression on his face. In fact, he had thought about this issue, but he didn't know where to start.

Theoretically, after the war of the capital, the various southern expedition forces and the royal army should return to their original homes, and the rotation of the squads should not be stationed in the capital for a long time. Under normal circumstances, there were only about 150,000 soldiers stationed in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, which meant that more than half of the soldiers would return to the original garrison.

But the problem is that the situation in the capital is not normal now!

Although Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Qizhen, was actually under house arrest, under the pressure of the Empress Dowager and Minister of the Imperial Court, Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu did not dare to do things too ugly, and there were still court officials who could get the opportunity to seek advice.

Even the Empress Dowager Sun went to Nangong to meet his son, but no one dared to stop him.

This led to Zhu Qizhen's initial panic and helplessness, realizing that he still had a great loyalty force. The current emperor Zhu Qiyu looked at him as if he was strong outside and was not even his nominal confidants Yu Qian and Yang Hong could not ensure 100% loyalty.

Not to mention the matter of regaining the throne and restoring it, if you want to save your life in the Nangong, you will inevitably have the power to make Zhu Qiyu feel afraid and dare not easily attack "killing the regency".

There is no doubt that the Shenji Camp controlled by Anyuan Hou Liupu and the Nanzheng Army controlled by Jingyuan Bo Wang Ji are the biggest bargaining chips for Zhu Qizhen to settle down in the capital, and they will never be able to return to their original garrison in any case.

In order to ensure that there is no crisis of mutiny, Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu did not dare to force these two honors and relatives to hand over military power too radically. After all, they are different from civil officials like Chen Yichen, and honors and generals have natural non-war command rationality, and many times the emperor cannot deprive military power unscrupulously.

In other words, the problem that the emperor cannot easily solve is how Chen Yichen persuaded the Southern Conquest Army and the Wang Jun from all over the country to leave Beijing?

"I will find a way to discuss with Jingyuanbo."

Chen Yichen still did not say anything to refusal, and placed his hope on Jingyuan Bo Wang Ji, who could understand the righteousness of the family, country and the world, rather than blindly being loyal to the king.

Shang Lu naturally understood that in the current situation of the two emperors fighting in the capital, it was not easy to make either side give up military power. It was just that no one could do this except Chen Yichen!

Just as Chen Yichen and Shang Lu were discussing government affairs, Zhao Ranyuan, a clerk of the Secretariat, knocked on the door and walked in and reported: "Old Chen Ge, Master Shang Ge, Wenyuan Ge came to the Ministry of Rites to issue an edict, and he was also the leader of the Da Zong Bo. It seems that there is a key announcement."

The matter that could allow the Minister of Rites Hu Yi to personally announce the imperial edict, undoubtedly reached the level of military and national affairs.

Chen Yichen and Shang Lu did not dare to neglect them, so they immediately walked out of the duty room and went to the hall of Wenyuan Pavilion. At the same time, several other cabinet ministers in the cabinet also received the news conveyed by the officials and hurried to the hall to pay homage to the imperial edict.

When Hu Yi saw the ministers coming, he did not announce the order immediately. Instead, he worshiped the statue of Confucius in the Wenyuan Pavilion Hall.
Chapter completed!