On the 19th of the 11th month of the 25th year of the Wanli calendar, Beijing.
This day was a rare sunny day since the beginning of winter. The sun had returned to the earth, bringing a little warmth to this cold place. Perhaps in reality, nothing had changed, but as long as one was bathed in the sun, one would always feel warm.
The people who had been cooped up in their houses for many days finally chose to leave their moldy homes on this day. They opened their doors to get some fresh air and changed into their thickest clothes and trousers. They reluctantly left their houses to take a stroll outside.
The hawkers who had a keen sense of smell had also reopened their shops, selling some hot noodle soup and hot noodles. Business was quite good. People liked to sit down and have a bowl of hot noodle soup, basking in the sun as they chatted.
The people who had not been able to chat for many days could finally open their chatterboxes on this day.
Xu Guangqi was no exception. He, who had been studying at home until his brain was numb, decided to take this opportunity to go out for a stroll to refresh his mind. He invited a few friends from his hometown to a small pub to drink. They chatted about the past and present, and the atmosphere was relaxed and cheerful.
After three rounds of drinking, everyone chatted even more enthusiastically. No one knew who was the first to start talking about the affairs of the country, but as they chatted, the topic shifted to some recent political topics.
A villager with some connections in the capital took advantage of the fact that he was a little drunk and said excitedly to everyone, "I don't know if everyone has heard that a few days ago, the First Minister and the Second Minister of the Cabinet had a huge argument. It is said that it even reached the ears of the Emperor."
As soon as these words left his mouth, everyone's attention was attracted. Although scholars were particular about not paying attention to outside matters, to these High Scholars, their status was already different. They already had the qualifications to become officials, and needed to pay attention to and understand more things, especially the general direction of the imperial court. This was one of their compulsory courses.
"Brother, please explain to me what is going on."
The person who spoke was rather proud and said, "I have a good friend who is on duty in the Cabinet. He told me that a memorial was sent from Datong that day. It was about the Tumer tribe north of Datong, which is the tribe of the famous Third Lady. They were asking for food to tide over the winter.
Cabinet Elder Zhao attached great importance to this matter, and he planned to prioritize allocating rations to Datong Town to help the Tumult Tribe survive the winter famine. However, Cabinet Elder Zhang disagreed. What Cabinet Elder Zhang meant was that the rations were very important and should be given to the armies and commoners of the Nine Frontiers. How could they be allocated to the Mongolians?
Cabinet Elder Zhao and Cabinet Elder Zhang each have their own opinions. None of the other ministers in the Cabinet is qualified enough to say anything, but the two of them have brought the matter to His Majesty. It's said that both sides are right. His Majesty can't make a decision at the moment, so the matter is in a deadlock. "
Someone asked doubtfully, "Since the reign of Jiajing, the power of the Grand Secretary has far surpassed that of the other assistant ministers. How can the Vice Secretary stop the Grand Secretary from supporting something?"
Then, that person looked at the person who asked the question with "innocent" eyes.
"Friend, this is not a rule, but a convention. Even a rule can be overturned, let alone a convention. Cabinet Elder Zhao was getting on in years, and it was almost time for him to retire. Then, who would take over the position of Grand Secretary?
Minister Zhang is younger than Minister Zhao, and he's in the prime of his career. Of course, he wants to get as many achievements as he can before Minister Zhao retires so that he can take over the position of Prime Minister. "
"But you can't go against the old grand secretary, right? After all, he is the old Grand Secretary, this is too inappropriate. "
"You're wrong. Cabinet Elder Zhao has a bad reputation among the officials. What Cabinet Elder Zhang is doing isn't just for political achievements, but also to show off in front of the officials."
"I see! Brother, you're a genius! "
"Hahaha, you flatter me!"
They began to flatter each other, but for some reason, Xu Guangqi was concerned about the food shortage of the Tumed tribe that the two officials were arguing about.
The Tumed tribe had a good relationship with the Daming. This wasn't something unbelievable in other dynasties, but in the stubborn Daming Dynasty, it was very strange. The Daming Dynasty had never made peace with the nomadic barbarians, but the Tumed tribe was an exception because of the appearance of a strange woman.
Under the leadership of this strange woman, the Tumed tribe had defended the Daming's borders and helped the Daming avoid many disasters. They had made great contributions to the Daming Dynasty. Now that this tribe was asking for food because of a disaster, why didn't Cabinet Elder Zhang allow it?
Met with disaster …
Xu Guangqi felt the cold and instantly understood that the Tumed tribe was suffering from a disaster because of the unusually cold weather. They had no food to survive, so they asked for food aid from the Daming Dynasty. According to his understanding, in the past, every time there was a cold and famine, it was also a time when the Daming Dynasty's border was in trouble, and the Mongolians would definitely go south to plunder.
Cold, the further north one went, the colder it would get. This was an experience that had been passed down for many years. The Mongolians lived to the north of the Daming Dynasty, and if the Daming Dynasty was so cold that their crops were wiped out, wouldn't the other tribes on the plains be frozen to death?
What would the starving people choose? Would they starve to death, or would they fight for a chance of survival and plunder the Daming Dynasty?
There was no need to talk about the thousands of years of experience.
The Tumed tribe had already gone south to ask for help, then wouldn't the Mongolians in places colder than the Tumed tribe be so cold that they couldn't even survive? Would they … form a group to invade the south and invade the border?
Xu Guangqi turned pale with fright when he thought of this.
"Grand Secretary Zhang's actions have harmed the country!"
Xu Guangqi couldn't help but blurt out. At that moment, the table full of scholars who were fawning over each other looked at him in shock.
"Zi Xian, although Grand Secretary Zhang's reputation among the officials isn't good, he is still a strong candidate to be the next Grand Secretary. It doesn't matter if you say it in front of us, but if word of it were to spread and Grand Secretary Zhang found out, what would we do? We are only High Scholars, and can discuss the affairs of the country, but not the politics of the court. "
One of the scholars reminded Xu Guangqi out of goodwill.
The rest of them nodded their heads in agreement.
"Zi Xian, you are the Top Scorer of the Heavenly Obedience Prefecture, and are already the focus of attention. You have to be more careful with your words."
The well-informed scholar looked around and cautiously warned Xu Guangqi.
Xu Guangqi hurriedly shook his head.
"That's not it. Everyone, listen to me. In the past, when the northern barbarians invaded the borders, it was always during the period of the Daming Dynasty where the crops were wiped out due to the extreme cold. This isn't a coincidence, it's inevitable."
The rest of the scholars looked at each other.
"What do you mean?"
"When the weather is cold, the crops will be lesser. The colder the weather is, the lesser the crops will be. Under the extreme cold, the crops will be wiped out. Furthermore, everyone should know that the further north you go, the colder the weather gets. If the crops of our Daming Dynasty were wiped out, wouldn't the Mongolians who lived further north have their cows and sheep frozen to death?
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