Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 744: Siege of Jinzhou
With the final word, Zhu Shenzhui directly announced the result, and the court meeting ended.

Returning to Wenhua Hall, Zhu Shenzhu was in a good mood. The restoration of the Beijing Inspection System today was the result of his planning for the past few months. It was also for this purpose that Xu Xiancheng was transferred back to the capital.

Everything went as planned, and the result was just as Zhu Shenzhui had imagined. The main purpose of rectifying the administration of officials in the name of the Beijing inspection was not the main purpose, but to crack down on officials at all levels and compete for the right to speak in the court. This was just the first step, and in the future the Beijing inspection would become a regular practice, and then gradually cover officials at all levels in the localities from officials in Beijing.

Zhu Shenzhu had no doubts about the abilities of Xu Xiancheng and Zhang Xijun, and it was most appropriate for them to handle the Beijing inspection. As for the establishment of the Supervisory Department, it was not a sudden idea of ​​Zhu Shenzhu, but something he had planned long ago. Although the so-called Supervisory Department was only a temporary department, who could know its real purpose?
In Zhu Shenzhui's view, the political structure determined by Zhu Yuanzhang at that time could be said to be carefully designed after referring to the pros and cons of previous dynasties. Whether in terms of rationality or the mutual checks and balances among various departments, this system has reached the peak of the feudal dynasty's political structure.

Even the Manchus in history also used this system as a reference for their political system after they came to rule the Central Plains. At most, they added some parts to it because they were a foreign race. This shows the advancement and rationality of the political structure established by Zhu Yuanzhang. But then again, the rationality at the beginning does not mean that it will always be rational. The system of the culmination of the whole system also has some flaws, which is unavoidable.

In terms of the official supervision system, the Ming Dynasty had the Censorate, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Six Ministries and other censors. These departments and officials were set up to supervise and manage the administration of officials. In addition, the Jinyiwei also had the duty of supervision, and later the East Factory, the West Factory, and even the Neihang Factory, etc., all of which actually revolved around the administration of officials.

But this was not enough, Zhu Yuanzhang also set up the Beijing Inspection System and a series of other official assessment systems, which were impeccable in all aspects. But in the end, no matter how well the system is set up, it is just a decoration if no one implements it. The gradual decline of the Beijing Inspection System is an important reason. No official wants to have a strong system to control him, and who wants to be in fear every day?

For this reason, the imperial examination system during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang was changed from three years to four years, and then from four years to six years. In the eyes of the civil service group, since the system could not be abolished, the system should be extended.

As time went by, and with the emperor's later concessions, the Beijing Inspection System not only changed from the original three years to four years, and finally extended to six years, but also eventually became a formality under the deliberate promotion of the civil service group. After the 21st year of the Wanli reign, Emperor Wanli even stopped attending court, and the Beijing Inspection System was in name only.

The purpose of restarting the Beijing Inspection is very clear, which is to make use of this existing system again. Moreover, the establishment of the Supervisory Department is a signal, which not only represents that the Beijing Inspection System will become a permanent system again in the future, but more importantly, the Supervisory Department will become the most important department for supervising, assessing and even deciding the promotion of officials in the future.

In this way, Zhu Shenzhui could directly seize some power from the Censorate, the Ministry of Personnel and other departments, and then use the functions of the Supervisory Office to suppress the civil service group. This approach was actually similar to his Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Guard, and no one could find any fault with it.

"Regent, Earl Ning Shan, the First and Second Assistants, and Lord Yang and Lord Chen from the Ministry of War are all here."

"Let them in." Zhu Shenzhui said.

After a while, Wang Jinwu, Wen Tiren, Zhang Zhifa, Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia walked in and saluted Zhu Shenzhui at the same time.

"Please take a seat!" Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and asked them to sit down and talk. Among the five people, Wen Tiren was the chief minister and had the highest status, so he naturally sat down first. The second was Wang Jinwu.

Wang Jinwu is now the Earl of Ningshan. Not only is he the commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp, he is also in charge of the new army. Now he is also the Left General and the Junior Guardian, a genuine first-class military honor.

Originally, it was planned to give Wang Jinwu the title of Earl of Changping, because Luzhouwei was not far from Changping, and Changping, as an important place in Shanxi, had a great reputation from ancient times to the present. However, there was once an Earl of Changping in the history of the Ming Dynasty. This person was Gu Dakuan, the elder brother of Gu Dayong, a eunuch in the Zhengde period. Because Gu Dakuan had made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion at that time, the Zhengde Emperor was so happy that he directly conferred him the title of Earl of Changping. Although this title was not hereditary and was taken back by the court after Gu Dakuan's death, it was a bit inappropriate to give this title to Wang Jinwu.

After all, Gu Dakuan was Gu Dayong's elder brother, and Gu Dayong was a great eunuch during the Zhengde period. It didn't sound good to give Wang Jinwu the title of a great eunuch's elder brother. So after consideration, Zhu Shenzhu made some adjustments and changed Wang Jinwu to Ningshanbo.

After that, it was Yang Sichang. Although Yang Sichang's position in the court was slightly lower than that of the second assistant Zhang Zhifa, Yang Sichang had a longer seniority! When Yang Sichang was in the cabinet, his position was higher than that of Wen Tiren. If he had not been careless in the political struggle with Wen Tiren and was finally driven out of the cabinet, Wen Tiren might not have been able to sit in the position of the first assistant.

Even now, Yang Sichang is still one of the six ministers, in charge of the Ministry of War. Although Zhang Zhifa is the second assistant, he has always been obedient to Wen Tihen. The so-called second assistant is just a decoration, and his presence in the cabinet is not high. For example, he may be able to put on airs in front of others, but he does not have the confidence to do so in front of Yang Sichang.

The last person to take a seat was naturally Chen Xinjia, who had the lowest official position and status. Although Chen Xinjia was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, he was a juren. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there were only two people who could reach this level of official with the status of juren, he and Hai Rui.

The five people were divided into three groups. As the general, Wang Jinwu was naturally Zhu Shenzhui's die-hard supporter. Wen Tiren and Zhang Zhifa represented the cabinet, and Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia represented the Ministry of War. After they sat down, Zhu Shenzhui looked at everyone and asked directly how to deal with the current situation in Liaodong.

"I believe Liaodong must be saved, Jinzhou must be saved!" Wen Tiren said without thinking, "The Jiannu are besieging Jinzhou now. Although Zu Dashou is leading his troops to defend it, the isolated city of Jinzhou may not be able to hold out for long. Once Jinzhou falls into enemy hands, Zu Dashou and his men will be destroyed by the Jiannu. The Ming Dynasty will suffer huge losses in Liaodong. Let's not talk about whether the Liaodong defense line can stop the Jiannu's subsequent attacks. Such losses are not something the Ming Dynasty can afford."

"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely right." Zhang Zhifa echoed, "Once Jinzhou is lost and the defenders are annihilated, the whole world will be shaken. The situation in our Ming Dynasty has just improved. First, Ning Shanbo led his troops to repel Huang Taiji at the Great Wall, and then Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou won a great victory by besieging and annihilating Gao Yingxiang's troops. The victories in the two battles have greatly boosted the morale of our Ming Dynasty, and the government has become increasingly stable. However, if Jinzhou is defeated at this time, with heavy casualties, it may damage the prestige of the regent..."

Zhang Zhifa must have followed Wen Tihen's words, but although his words were meant to echo Wen Tihen, he also pointed out a key issue, which was the impact of the Liaodong war situation.

As Zhang Zhifa said, if Jinzhou was defeated or even suffered huge losses, the consequences would be very serious. Zhu Shenzhui had established his position through two internal and external wars. Now the Ming Dynasty was changing for the better. Once Jinzhou was lost, or even Zu Dashou's entire army was wiped out, the impact would be unpredictable. This must be paid attention to.

Zhu Shenzhu nodded slightly, indicating his approval. If the first ancestor had listened to his advice earlier and led his troops to retreat southwards and voluntarily gave up Jinzhou before Huang Taiji had time to completely surround it, there would not be the current predicament.

It was too late to retreat now, as Huang Taiji's encirclement had already taken shape. Considering the Ming army's combat effectiveness against the Eight Banners, it might be possible for a small group of troops to escape to the south, but it was simply impossible for Zu Dashou to withdraw tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians from Jinzhou to Ningyuan.

Now Zu Dashou is guarding an isolated city, and the situation in Jinzhou is very dangerous. If Jinzhou is not rescued, it will inevitably fall. It is only a matter of time. Once Jinzhou is lost, Zu Dashou's entire army will be annihilated. Such a great defeat will surely shock the court and the public, which will have a great impact on Zhu Shenzhu's status and even shake his position as regent.

"Mr. Yang, as a soldier, what do you think about the Jinzhou incident?" Zhu Shenzhui turned to ask Yang Sichang.

Although Yang Sichang and Wen Tiren had different political views and they also had conflicts in private, today was different. Zhu Shenzhui had asked them to discuss the Liaodong war, so he naturally would not put personal factors above official business.

Yang Sichang said immediately: "I agree with the views of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. Jinzhou must not be lost, and Zu Dashou's troops must not be destroyed by Huang Taiji. Even if the court abandons Jinzhou and withdraws the defense line, it is not now. Rescuing Jinzhou is a must now!"

As the Minister of War, Yang Sichang was quite capable and had a good strategic vision. He had even seen through Zhu Shenzhui's plans for the Liaodong battlefield.

Yang Sichang's idea is similar to Zhu Shenzhu's. To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal situation. Now that the internal problems of the Ming Dynasty have not been solved, there is no need to rush to solve the external problems first. As long as the external situation is stabilized and the situation is not allowed to deteriorate, it will be fine. Wait until the internal problems are completely solved, and then free up hands to deal with external problems, that is, the Liaodong battlefield. This is the best strategy.

Not long ago, Zhu Shenzhui had just cancelled the additional Liao salary and reduced taxes for the northwestern provinces. His purpose was to stabilize the internal situation, solve the problem of bandits, restore production, and control the local areas.

Yang Sichang agreed with this point very much, and secretly admired Zhu Shenzhui's courage in doing things. Zhu Shenzhui was different from Emperor Chongzhen. If he were Emperor Chongzhen, he would never do this. He would not give up until he had to grab both hands, without considering whether he could catch both.

One should eat as much as one's appetite allows. Zhu Shenzhu decisively gave up part of it and focused on dealing with internal troubles. As long as the Ming Dynasty had no internal troubles, what would the Jian Nu army matter to him?

The Jiannu rose to power during the Wanli period. Although they were extremely ferocious, they caused great suffering to the Ming army in Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers and generals in Liaodong and spent countless funds, but still could not solve the Jiannu problem.

But even so, in Yang Sichang's view, Jiannu was not a real threat. No matter how powerful Jiannu was, they were only in a corner of Liaodong. As long as Jiannu could not break into Shanhaiguan, Ming would be as stable as Mount Tai. The previous Jisi Incident was just an accident. If Emperor Chongzhen had not appointed Yuan Chonghuan, who was ambitious but incompetent, how could Huang Taiji have reached the capital?

On the contrary, the local bandits were the real threat. As long as the bandits were not eliminated, the world would be unstable. Moreover, the destructive power of the bandits was much greater than that of the Jiannu. Yang Sichang was well-versed in history books and was familiar with the examples of the fall of dynasties in history. Of course, he knew which was more important.

(End of this chapter)