Having figured this out, the officials all felt a chill running down their spines. From now on, there was another highly effective siege tactic in the world.
From this moment on, the entire Office of Transmission was filled with memorials demanding strict control over the production and transportation of gunpowder. This made Zhu Yijun a little complacent. It was his greatest pleasure to make these civil officials feel frightened and uneasy. Of course, he would not forget what he should do the most — block all information about gunpowder manufacturing sites and have the Imperial Bodyguard stationed everywhere to strictly control gunpowder manufacturing sites so that not a single ounce of gunpowder would be lost.
Apart from this, what made them most uneasy and shocked was the imperial edict that their Emperor Wanli had delivered to the cabinet.
To confer the title of nobility on Xiao Ruxun, to put it more bluntly, was to confer the title of earl.
In the Ming Dynasty, only dukes, marquises and earls were conferred, so it was difficult to confer the title of nobility in the Ming Dynasty. But once conferred, it was basically a hereditary title of nobility, which was conferred by military merits. Civil officials could only be conferred nobility by military merits, such as Wang Yangming. That was why the civil officials were even more surprised.
Xiao Ruxun's meritorious services were indeed great. For example, he had executed Mighty Rabbit's three thousand captives, Bo Bai himself and his adopted son Bo Yun, and had made the greatest contribution in pacifying the Ningxia Rebellion. But he was only twenty-two years old. Wasn't it too early for a twenty-two-year-old to be conferred a hereditary title of earl?
Conferring a title of nobility was not a trivial matter. It was even rarer for a general to be conferred a title of nobility based on military merits in the last hundred years. Even if there was a conferment, it should be conferred a title of earl by military merits, not a general. Therefore, the officials of the Ministry of Rites gathered together and began to discuss this matter.
"Who is Xiao Ruxun?"
"I've looked into it. The Xiao family of Yan 'an is a family of generals. His grandfather, Xiao Han, is the deputy commander-in-chief of Liangzhou. His father, Xiao Wenkui, is in the capital … and has close ties with various noble families. Xiao Wenkui has four sons, and Xiao Ruxun is the fourth."
"Isn't Xiao Ruxun the son-in-law of the former Viceroy of Liao and Minister of War, Yang Zhao?"
"You mean that brute who married the daughter of a scholar?"
The expressions of the civil officials turned ugly. Generals were not likable to begin with, and the son-in-law of a civil general was even more so.
In the Ming Dynasty, the fate of the civil officials was generally not very good. There were not many who retired and returned home. This was because after these fellows, who were originally Jinshi, became commanders of the army, they also developed the style of "results" that civil officials did not like, which was to achieve their goals by fair means or foul.
Since the Han Dynasty, the biggest debate and disagreement between the civil officials and the generals was actually after the unification of the ideological world by the Confucians. Was it better to be "benevolent" or to kill all the barbarians to avoid future troubles? Of course, the civil officials chose benevolence. They wanted to teach the barbarians with the teachings of saints and make them submit to Huaxia. But the generals thought that it was not so troublesome and time-consuming. It was better to just kill all of them and avoid future troubles.
In short, the administrative principles of civil officials were fundamentally incompatible with the administrative principles of civil officials. Most civil officials lived by the doctrine of the mean, while the generals focused on achieving practical results and not avoiding extremes. Long years of military life had made these civil officials develop a temperament that was completely different from civil officials. Therefore, it was natural for the civil officials to have irreconcilable conflicts with the civil officials.
However, the Wen Jiang Group also had the unique noble and aloof temperament of the literati. They looked down on the military generals who were generally uncultured. As a result, when the military generals banded together to survive, they could not receive any help from the military generals, and thus became the model of inhumane people.
In addition, the civil officials often had high achievements, which made many people jealous and did not pay attention to dealing with relationships. Therefore, it often led to a situation of isolation and helplessness. Retreating at the critical moment was already a good ending.
To sum up, this was a problem that Xiao Ruxun himself was very clear about. Yang Zhao did not have good interpersonal relationships, especially in the civil officials' group in the capital. Therefore, it was better to marry his daughter to the Yan 'an Xiao family, who was also from Yan' an, and become the daughter-in-law of a local tyrant.
In general, Yang Zhao did not pay much attention to Xiao Ruxun's talent. He looked forward to Xiao Ruxun bringing glory to his family. It was the consensus of society that the generals could not bring glory to their family in this era. Yang Zhao naturally understood that.
However, in a situation of isolation and helplessness, he could only get close to the military officials' group, marry his daughter to a military official, and gain the friendship of the military officials' group. Thus, he could safely retire in Nanjing. He also took time to study and raise his reputation. He hoped that one day in the future, he could help his son-in-law and daughter.
In fact, he did so. In the original history, Yang Zhao really helped Xiao Ruxun.
However, at present, Xiao Ruxun's situation was not good. Although his father, Xiao Wenkui, had been a general in the capital for a period of time, according to the level of the capital, his father was probably in cahoots with the remaining military officials' group. Otherwise, his father would not have lasted for long.
Nowadays, the degree of corruption in the capital was probably no less than that of the imperial army in the Song Dynasty. However, their power was still there. The last force of the military officials' group headed by State Duke Cheng was entrenched here. They were struggling at death's door under the deterrence of the civil officials, but the civil officials could not do anything to them.
For example, the military officials' group was the best local snake in the capital, and the civil officials were the strong dragons.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun was not isolated and helpless. Instead, with the help of these people, Xiao Ruxun, who had obtained the title of nobility, was already a member of the military officials' group — and more orthodox than his father!
What's more, the military and noble groups also needed fresh blood to stabilize their position and strength, so that they wouldn't have to lose this small territory. As long as Xiao Ruxun showed goodwill, they would definitely accept her and form a community of interests, becoming the best local tyrant together.
Therefore, when he came to the capital this time, it was not about how to establish a relationship with the civil officials' group, but to build a good relationship with this group of people in the capital who did not pay their salaries. Although they did have some moral integrity, it was impossible for a person with moral integrity to mix in the officialdom. What everyone competed in was the lower limit of moral integrity and the upper limit of intelligence. People with moral integrity were destined to go somewhere to seek refuge or simply resign. Out of sight, out of mind.
In the 13 years of the apocalypse, Xiao Ruxun had dealt with many inhumane people, and also with many ruthless people. He was even one of them. Xiao Ruxun was not unfamiliar with these methods, but when it came to political struggles, Xiao Ruxun was still a little inexperienced.
Thus, he naturally decided to avoid direct confrontation with the civil officials and avoid playing politics with them. Instead, he chose to draw closer to the generals and nobles. Although the scholars looked down on the generals, they would not rashly provoke them, especially these fellows in the capital who had inherited their titles for generations. If he really did make a move, he would probably follow in Zhang Juzheng's footsteps and get himself into trouble.
No matter how powerful a dragon was, it still couldn't suppress this group of top quality local tyrants. Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng was a good example.
You have already forced him to this point, and you still have the nerve to continue bullying him?
Moreover, the war in Korea was about to begin. If his petition was not accepted, then when Zu Chengxun's army was defeated for the first time in Pyongyang, the Ming court would understand the power of the Japanese army's cannons and would inevitably remember him, a famous general who was extremely skilled in using firearms and training firearms.
In short, this time, Xiao Ruxun's decision to participate in the war in Korea would not be changed. If there were no conditions, then he would create them!
But the officials did not know that, out of their disgust for the civil officials and their contempt for the military officials, they had their own methods of dealing with this despite the emperor's forceful demands. The title of Count of Pinglu, a renowned treacherous official of the Zhengde Dynasty, had been bestowed upon Xiao Ruxun. Even if we can't do anything to you, we can at least disgust you a little, so that you don't forget just who is in charge of the Daming Court. Youths are easily impetuous, so we'll help you vent your anger.
This was the basic mentality of the civil officials at this time: a minor general, even if he could fight and be bestowed the title of count, was still far from being able to stand up to them as an equal, far from being valued.
Not to mention that he was already a member of the Generals and Nobles Group. He also had connections with the local tyrants in the capital. He couldn't be overly oppressed to avoid the dissatisfaction of the local tyrants. When the time came, it would be easy for everyone to lose a portion of their benefits, and it wouldn't look good on their faces.
"Then, what kind of title should we draw up?"
The officials of the Ministry of Rites began to rack their brains. They all turned their gazes to the Minister of Rites, Luo Wanhua. In truth, Luo Wanhua did not want to participate in this kind of matter, but sitting in his position, he was only one step away from becoming a minister. No matter what, it was not a good thing to offend the current ministers.
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