Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 619: Three Powers Return to One
Supervisor of Ceremonies.

Liu Jin summoned Zhang Wen, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, to the Imperial Household Department.

"Master Zhang, I'm sure you've heard that Minister Ma will be transferred to the Ministry of Rites soon."

Zhang Wen's heart was beating wildly. He chose to protect himself in the feud between the civil service group and Liu Jin, and did not take sides.

With the crown prince taking power, Liu Jin's power also reached its peak. Now that Liu Jin summoned me over, he must be intending to promote me.

Above him was the Left Vice Minister, so originally the position of Minister of War would not have been his turn. But if Liu Jin intervened, the outcome might have been different.

But if he really cooperated with Liu Jin, he would definitely become the target of public criticism in the future.

However, the position of the Minister of the Six Ministries is something that ordinary people will never have the opportunity to reach in their lifetime. If you hesitate, you may never have this opportunity in your lifetime.

If he were to become the Minister of War, it would mean that he would become enemies with the civil service group in the future.

Zhang Wen pondered over it again and again in his heart, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "I know."

Liu Jin smiled and said, "The Crown Prince intends to promote Lord Zhang to head the Ministry of War. What do you think of Lord Zhang?"

Zhang Wen knew the hidden rules here, but he still clasped his fists and said, "I eat the emperor's salary and share the emperor's worries. I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty and a minister of the prince. Naturally, I will follow the prince's lead."

"it is good!"

Liu Jin smiled and nodded, saying, "Master Zhang has a bright future. I congratulate you in advance."

"Thank you, Eunuch Liu, for the promotion!"

……

Kunning Palace.

Zhang Mao came to the bedside of Emperor Hongzhi. Seeing that Emperor Hongzhi was suffering from illness, he felt very uncomfortable.

"Your Majesty, you must get well soon and come out to govern as soon as possible!"

"Liu Jin has been in power recently, and things are very chaotic outside. We can't do without the emperor to take charge of the situation!"

Emperor Hongzhi glanced at Zhang Mao with a wry smile and said, "Qingmei, please don't get involved in the outside world. Let the younger generations deal with it themselves."

Emperor Hongzhi knew that Zhang Mao was being used by the civil officials. Why would he, a military general and duke, get involved in these political struggles?
Zhang Mao scratched his head and said in confusion: "But Liu Jin..."

Emperor Hongzhi waved his hand and said, "My dear, this is none of your business. Just stay out of it. There are many people smarter than you. You are not a civil servant. It does not matter to you whether Liu Jin steps down or not. Why do you want to be a pawn?"

Zhang Mao said straightforwardly: "Your Majesty, I am naturally concerned about the Ming Dynasty! My ancestors helped Emperor Taizong to expand the territory, and our Zhang family has always been loyal to the Ming Dynasty. I don't want to see the Ming Dynasty decline!"

"Once the eunuchs are in power, the country will be in ruins, right?"

Emperor Hongzhi said with a smile: "But have you ever seen any eunuch in my Ming Dynasty who can influence the emperor's opinion like the eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty?"

"no?"

"After all, they are just servants of the Ming Dynasty. Without the Emperor's authorization, would they dare to do anything wrong?"

"You are kind-hearted. I will not pursue your faults. Do not get involved in these matters in the future. If you want your descendants to live in peace, then listen to what I say."

"I know you are loyal to the Ming Dynasty, so I will not blame you this time."

"Don't let yourself be taken advantage of without realizing it."

Zhang Mao pondered for a long time, and seemed to understand the implication of Emperor Hongzhi's words. He cupped his hands and said, "I understand. Your Majesty, take good care of yourself. I will come to see you tomorrow."

"Go."

...The order to transfer Ma Wensheng to the Minister of Rites was issued. At the same time, the cabinet nominated Zhang Wensheng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, to the post of Minister of War.

The Ministry of Personnel disagreed, believing that the Left Vice Minister was more qualified. However, the Cabinet said that the Left Vice Minister's performance assessment had failed in several years.

In fact, this matter did not need to go through Ni Yue, but Zhu Houzhao still gave him face this time.

But Ni Yue did not seem to give face to Zhu Houzhao and insisted on not letting the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War take the position.

However, in the end, the Left Vice Minister voluntarily withdrew from the competition. Everyone knew whether there was some trick involved, but the final result was that Zhang Wen, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, took the position.

In this way, Zhu Houzhao had completely placed his own people in the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Revenue, thus achieving the unification of the three powers.

……

After the beginning of spring, the snow in northern Xinjiang has melted.

The little Tatar prince's prestige had been severely damaged since the heavy losses he suffered last winter. This time, he joined forces with the Oirat tribe and planned to secretly attack Hami and deal a fatal blow to the Ming Dynasty.

The Hongzhi Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had not attended court for many days, and the little prince guessed that there might be something wrong with his health.

Taking advantage of the Crown Prince's reign, he planned to send troops to Hami at lightning speed and completely occupy Hami.

The control of Hami is now in the hands of Turpan people. Originally, Turpan people were allowed to control Hami, and the Ming Dynasty traded directly with Turpan people to ensure the safety of the entire Hami and the Seven Guards of Guanxi.

Chen Ce's actions brought peace to Hami for nearly six years.

During these six years, although the Oirat people occasionally attacked Hami, the Turpan people were generally able to maintain peace in Hami.

In mid-February, the imperial examination of the 18th year of Hongzhi came to an end, and the examiners were busy marking the papers of this year's imperial examination.

It was also at this time that the Tatar tribes began to move westward.

Fu Yuan received the information as soon as possible and went to Datong Prefecture as quickly as possible to find Yang Yiqing, the governor of the Three Borders.

"You said...the Tatars will attack Hami?"

Yang Yiqing had a serious look on his face. The defenses of Hami and the Nine Borders were different. They were governed by a mixture of Han and Turpan people, with Turpan people being responsible for military protection.

Their fighting power is not weaker than that of the Oirat people, but if the Oirat people and the Tatars join forces to attack Hami, the outcome will be unpredictable.

But even if Yang Yiqing knew the news, he had no way to dispatch troops there. He could only notify the Gansu Regional Command and let the Gansu Regional Command notify the people of Turpan.

"It's very likely." Fu Yuan said, "The little prince is desperate now. If he really joins forces with the Oirat people to occupy Hami, the east of Lanzhou will be in danger."

"We need to quickly dispatch troops to reinforce Hami."

Yang Yiqing said: "If we rashly mobilize troops, it will alert the people of Turpan. Now we can only notify the people of Turpan and let them..."

"That's not what I meant." Fu Yuan smiled and said, "I just asked you to transfer troops to Lanzhou. This shouldn't require alerting the people of Turpan, right?"

"What about Hami?"

"Let the Turpan people fight first. When most of them are dead, we will take over."

"After we defend Hami, we will take Turpan as well!" said Fu Yuan.

Yang Yiqing's face twitched fiercely, staring at Fu Yuan blankly, thinking to himself, you are really cruel! Have you never considered this result? At that time, who among the ethnic minorities outside the Great Wall dared to trust the Ming Dynasty?

But Yang Yiqing had to admit that Fu Yuan's move was powerful!

(End of this chapter)