Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 284 Pilgrimage (IV)

Forbidden City, Wenyuan Pavilion.

"Sir, the Xinhua envoy has returned to Huitong Hall from the Ministry of Rites." A captain of the Jinyiwei knelt on the ground and reported in a low voice.

"Okay, I got it." Wen Tiren, the Grand Tutor of the Ming Dynasty and the Grand Secretary of the Zhongji Palace, leaned back on the couch, waved his hand, then opened his eyes and sat up.

"Come here." After thinking for a while, he softly called a clerk, "Go and invite the Grand Tutor (the Minister of Revenue) here."

"Yes, Lord." The clerk immediately ran out of the hall.

"Hehe, Xinzhou China..." Wen Tiren showed a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth.

After a fierce game of bargaining, the candidate for the Minister of Personnel nominated by him was finally recommended by the court and recognized by Emperor Chongzhen. His confidant Xie Sheng also took the position of Grand Chancellor as he wished, thus further consolidating the political power of the "Wen Party".

However, he had not been happy for two days when he received some very unhappy news from the Ministry of Rites.

Under pressure from Wu Zongta, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet, the Xinhua delegation, which he had despised and excluded, was allowed to be received by the Ministry of Rites and was also scheduled to meet with the emperor.

Logically speaking, the pilgrimage by foreign envoys was just a ceremonial act and would not affect the Ming Dynasty's political affairs. Moreover, this "trivial matter" would not attract the attention of him, the prime minister of the time.

However, for some reason, Wen Tiren felt an inexplicable disgust towards this vassal state of Xinhua.

Because it is actually related to the "Western Law Party"!

As we all know, although the former Prime Minister Zhou Tingru was not a member of the "Western Law Party", he was a potential supporter of the "Western Law Party".

It was with his full support that Denglai Governor Sun Yuanhua was able to train firearms troops in Dengzhou, supervise the manufacture of artillery, and, despite numerous objections, recruit a large number of Portuguese into the army and supervise the Western-style training in the army.

Unexpectedly, the Wuqiao mutiny broke out, Kong Youde, Li Jiuchen and others gathered tens of thousands of troops to cause chaos in Shandong, and attacked Denglai in one fell swoop, seizing a large number of artillery and weapons, causing a shock to the entire north.

In the process of overthrowing Zhou Tingru, Wen Tihen used the Denglai Rebellion to discredit him and denounced the "Western Law" as harming the country and the people.

Of course, based on this point alone, the Xinhua vassal state does not seem to have any connection with the "Western Law Party" and is not worthy of Wen Tiren's attention.

But the problem is that this Xinhua vassal has close relations with a group of military leaders in Dongjiang Town. Whether it is the old Dongjiang faction of Shen Shikui or the "outsider" Huang Long faction, they actually have a good relationship with each other.

In addition to engaging in grain and fur trade with Dongjiang Town, the Xinhua people also helped Huang Long's troops to train a small-scale firearms unit, and the technique they used was the "Western method" training model.

Needless to say, Huang Long was recommended by Sun Chengzong, the former governor of Ji and Liao, to be the general of Dongjiang Town. Although Sun Chengzong was once the emperor's teacher, he had a close relationship with Zhou Tingru.

Therefore, in Wen Tihen's heart, Huang Long was also a "remnant of the Zhou party" and was among those to be politically purged.

However, this guy was lucky enough. During the Denglai Rebellion, when all the armies were defeated, he actually achieved a great victory in Denglai, destroyed almost all the naval ships of the rebels, cut off the rebels' retreat, and boosted the morale of the court.

Emperor Chongzhen was also very pleased and issued an edict to praise Huang Long highly. He not only favored his sons but also promoted him and rewarded him with silver. It was a glorious occasion.

Therefore, it would be difficult for Wen Tihen to take action against such a meritorious minister in a short period of time.

He's just a small person, nothing to worry about.

When you find an opportunity, just wipe it off.

As the prime minister of the dynasty, government affairs were extremely complicated, so he immediately put these trivial matters behind him and no longer paid attention to them.

But they never expected that after Xinhua was allowed to come to Beijing for pilgrimage, their envoys somehow became familiar with a group of technical officials from the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, and they discussed astronomy, calendar, mathematics and many other strange things all day long.

According to the envoy, their Xinhua country was founded on "science and technology" and "industry and trade", and they particularly valued artifacts, advocated understanding the truth and getting to the root of things, and were fond of strange and tricky things.

Many of the issues they discussed bore a striking resemblance to those proposed by the "Western Law Party," and this immediately caught Wen Tiren's attention. As the Book of Documents says, "He who loves his neighbor also loves the crows on his roof."

Then, those who hate others naturally also hate the crow on their roof.

Although Wen Tihen did not explicitly give the Xinhua delegation a cold reception, the sharp-minded officials still sensed the Prime Minister's disgust towards this small foreign vassal state from his words and deeds, so they left the Xinhua people out in the cold.

As long as Your Majesty does not care, then let the Xinhua people wait quietly in Huitong Hall.

With so many affairs needing to be dealt with in the court, it is normal to neglect and forget about the pilgrimage of an unknown foreign vassal.

However, it is unknown through what channels the Xinhua people managed to get through to the cabinet's deputy minister Wu Zongta, and announced the tribute and pilgrimage to the court, and ordered the Ministry of Rites to immediately arrange a schedule for the Xinhua envoy to meet the emperor.

Cai Shengrui, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, immediately reported the matter to the Prime Minister.

Wen Tiren suddenly felt unhappy.

This Mr. Wu is very enthusiastic!

"My Lord, you called me here for some urgent matter?" After receiving the summons, Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu quickly came to Wenyuan Pavilion to meet the Prime Minister.

"Shanxi has been plagued by drought for months, spreading across more than twenty prefectures and counties, and the number of victims is estimated at millions." Wen Tiren spoke directly without further ado, "Therefore, I have requested permission from Your Majesty to allocate 100,000 taels of silver from the treasury to Shanxi for disaster relief."

"My Lord, the Ministry of Revenue has no money..." Ni Yuanlu said immediately with a bitter face.

"The summer tax has just been deposited into the treasury, how come there is no silver?"

"Your Excellency, in July, the Jiannu invaded Xuanfu and destroyed over ten border fortresses, shocking the capital. Therefore, the Ministry of War dispatched troops from various garrisons to support the invasion and contain the Jiannu's advance. Our Ministry of Revenue has already allocated 150,000 taels of silver for military use. In addition, summer pay for the Liaodong garrisons will also be allocated, and…"

"Does the Ministry of Revenue have any other funds that can be temporarily embezzled?" Wen Tiren interrupted his complaints.

"Lord, there is really no money left..."

"A few days ago, your Ministry of Revenue wanted to allocate a batch of money and grain to Dongjiang Town?"

"Yes, Lord. Dongjiang Town has sent an urgent report stating that the Jiannu are planning a large-scale invasion to the south. We urgently need the imperial court to allocate a batch of equipment and food to resist the Jiannu invasion. Lord Wu has forwarded the memorial with Your Majesty's approval to our Ministry of Revenue, requesting the immediate allocation of food, money, and supplies needed by Dongjiang Town."

"How much food and wages does your Ministry of Revenue plan to allocate to Dongjiang Town?"

"Eighty-six thousand taels of silver, and thirty-two thousand dan of grain."

"First, transfer all these materials and silver to Shanxi."

"Lord..." Ni Yuanlu was stunned.

"No need to discuss this further!" Wen Tiren said flatly, "The famine in Shanxi has lasted for nine months. The ground is already littered with starving people and withered bones. If we don't provide relief, the rebels will be misled and will rise up in force, making it impossible to control them."

"Lord, this is Dongjiang Town..."

"It's not a major issue, so let's wait and see." Wen Tiren shook his head and said, "Tell them to be patient. After the autumn tax is collected, we'll pay them together with the wages and food supplies they've been owed."

"Lord, I'm afraid this will... delay military operations!"

"A remote place, a place that fears war, how could it possibly delay military decisions?" Wen Tiren said disdainfully. "Ruyu (Ni Yuanlu's pen name) will immediately take charge of the matter after returning to the yamen. I will report this matter to Your Majesty later."

"..." Ni Yuanlu's expression was very conflicted, but under the gaze of the Prime Minister, he nodded with difficulty.
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(End of this chapter)