My eunuch godfather

Chapter 57 The Eastern Palace

As it turns out, whether you're bold or timid, what's meant to happen will happen.

That day, Ma Ping found Zhang Kun, beaming with joy, "Brother Kun, that Mr. Yongji has written to us, wanting to meet!"

Mr. Yongji has always contributed articles to Guangwen Daily under a pseudonym. Although he doesn't write many articles, his comments on current affairs are very sharp.

Even Ma Ping, who was more outspoken than Zhang Kun, sometimes didn't dare to publish Mr. Yongji's articles in the Guangwen Daily.

Therefore, Ma Ping frequently wrote back to Mr. Yongji to express his apologies.

In the letter, he also tentatively inquired about the other party's true identity and whether they were willing to join Guangwen Daily.

Is the other party willing to accept the offer?

"Old Ma, does this Mr. Yongji want to see you, or does he want to see me?"

Zhang Kun was also very pleased. One of the purposes of establishing Guangwenhao was to attract talent, and Mr. Yongji was definitely worthy of the title.

"Mr. Yongji wants to see you, Brother Kun. We've arranged to meet at..."

When Zhang Kun finally met Mr. Yongji and learned his true identity, his smile instantly froze on his face:

Han Kuang, Junior Chamberlain and Lecturer to the Crown Prince, was a man of Crown Prince Zhu Changluo.

Zhang Kun knew him; he had seen him in the movie "Brotherhood of Blades" before his time travel, and the guy had already become the Grand Secretary.

From this, we can infer that Han Kuang was likely highly trusted by Zhu Changluo, and had at least entered the cabinet during the Tianqi era.

Such a person, inviting Zhang Kun to a teahouse for tea, couldn't possibly be for a few packs of premium Jin Si cigarettes from the Guangwen Daily.

"I wonder about Mr. Yongji..."

Zhang Kun still referred to Han Kuang by his pen name, making the other party's true identity quite sensitive.

After a few cups of tea, the two sides didn't discuss anything too sensitive; they mostly talked about Han Kuang's unpublished articles.

"...Master Zhang, what's your opinion on Xiong Mingyu's 'Eight Worries, Five Gradual Progresses, and Three Absences' from the Department of Military Science?"

Han Kuang pulled out an article from the manuscripts he had brought, and then pulled out the current issue of Guangwen Daily, and asked Zhang Kun with a smile.

Xiong Mingyu, a supervising secretary in the Ministry of War, believed that the Ming Dynasty was currently facing the following problems:

The "eight worries" are that the imperial treasury is too full, while the national treasury, such as the Ministry of Revenue's imperial storehouse, is too empty.

Soldiers in border towns were owed pay, while officers were seeking promotions and instigating border conflicts.

The right wing of the Tatars, known as the Thirty-Ten Thousand Households, dreamed of becoming kings and rulers, while the left wing, also known as the Thirty-Ten Thousand Households, were always raiding the border.

The Yellow River overflows, for example, in June when the Zhujiakou dike in Xiangfu, Henan Province burst, and the Grand Canal also needs to be dredged.

Shandong suffered from natural disasters, while Hubei and Hunan suffered from corvée labor such as logging.

The Wanli Emperor did not fill the vacancies in his official posts, leaving many important positions vacant.

The streets and alleys were filled with noise and commotion, the people were very hostile, and rumors were rampant.

The people of Jiangnan are fond of causing trouble, and they often cause trouble, showing no fear of the government.

The "Five Gradual Changes" are: eunuchs gaining power, the decline of important officials, cheating in the imperial examinations, the corruption of military industry, and the blockage of trade routes.

The "three lacks" refer to the lack of discipline in the imperial court, the lack of good governance in remote areas, and the disillusionment of the gentry with the imperial court.

"In my opinion, the most important thing is to maintain border defenses..."

Zhang Kun knew that more than twenty years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he would be dealt a fatal blow by the Shaanxi refugees represented by Li Zicheng.

The fact that Shaanxi refugees were able to fight for many years was largely due to the influx of border troops who were owed wages.

The Shaanxi of that time includes the Shaanxi, Ningxia, Qinghai and eastern Gansu of later generations.

It is necessary to support five garrisons: Yansui, Ningxia, Guyuan, Gansu, and Lintao, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers!

Therefore, the destructive power of the peasant uprising that occurred in Shaanxi was bound to be far greater than that in Henan, Shandong, and Southern Zhili.

In March, citizens of Songjiang, Shanghai, Qingpu and other counties in Southern Zhili rioted, looting and burning the residence of the gentry Dong Qichang.

In April, thousands of disaster victims rose up in Wuyang, Biyang, Suiping and other counties in Henan.

In May, more than 300,000 disaster victims gathered in Fengyang Prefecture, Southern Zhili.

In June, more than 3,000 disaster victims in Wu'an County, Shandong Province, rose up and killed the registrar.

Since July, disaster victims in Mengyin County, Shandong Province, have started an uprising, killing government officials and soldiers, and their leader has declared himself king.

Disaster victims in Yizhou, Changle, Feiyang, Jiyang and other counties rose up one after another, killing officials and looting granaries.

One of the disaster relief leaders, Zhang Guozhu, led more than 500 people to break through Anqiu City.

However, all these large and small peasant uprisings have been suppressed by local officials and gentry!

To a large extent, this was because there were not many soldiers in these areas, and the officials and gentry were able to provide them with food and pay, so they were willing to follow the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, there was another reason why Zhang Kun prioritized border defense supplies:

That means I can make money, I'm very useful!

"No wonder this issue's three news items all mention Zhao Xingbang, a military officer, requesting an increase in the pay for the Ninth Border Garrison!"

After hearing Zhang Kun's idea, Han Kuang remained noncommittal, but instead pulled out the current issue of the Guangwen Daily and continued to inquire:

"What about besides the border defense provisions?"

"The second most important thing is to maintain the canal!"

Zhang Kun also pulled out an issue of the Guangwen Daily, which contained an article he wrote under the pen name "Beiquan," introducing the current state of the Grand Canal.

He indicated that the canal was becoming increasingly clogged and needed to be dredged as soon as possible, and continued in his reply to Han Kuang:

"Only if the canal still exists can the wealth of the south be continuously transported north..."

Moreover, the canal is closely related to the Yellow River.

In order to preserve the Grand Canal and the grain transport system, the Ming Dynasty and the subsequent Qing Dynasty chose to sacrifice the Huai River basin.

Starting with Pan Jixun, the construction of the Gaojia Weir during the management of the Yellow River led to a continuous increase in the floods suffered by Huaibei.

Regardless of the merits and demerits of this policy, Huaibei can at least share some of the profits from the canal transport for the time being.

If something happens to the canal again, the already fragile Huaibei region could very well collapse completely!

Furthermore, with the rapid development of maritime technology, the cost of maritime transport is indeed far lower than that of canals in the long run.

The problem is, what about the millions of canal workers from Shandong, Henan and other places in Huaibei?

Emperor Chongzhen abolished the post stations, which created one Li Zicheng. How many Li Zichengs would be created by abolishing the Grand Canal, which has an even larger scale of industry?

In addition, Zhang Kun established the River Works Camp, and his plan was to complete the project of dredging the moat of the nine city gates.

We moved to Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou to take on the even bigger project of dredging the Grand Canal!

"Border defense supplies, canals,"

Han Kuang dipped his finger in tea, smeared the ink on the manuscript, and wrote two words in cursive script in the blank space. He then asked again:

"Who's ranked third?"

"The third most important thing is to infiltrate the Han tribes, or rather, Liaodong!"

Chahar tribe refers to the Chahar Wanhu, the main territory of the Tatar Khan, and is generally used to refer to the left wing of the Tatar Khan's three Wanhu.

Zhang Kun, of course, would not forget that there was a Nurhaci outside the Great Wall, so he took out an issue of the Guangwen Daily with a map of Liaodong.

Pointing to the location of the 30,000 households of the left wing of the Tatars and the Jianzhou Jurchens, he explained to Han Kuang:

"After the Chahan tribe migrated eastward, they, together with the slave chieftains of the Jianzhou Jurchens, formed a pincer movement against Liaodong!"

If Liaodong falls, I fear that another Liao state, or even a Jin state, will emerge!

At that time, with barbarian invasions on the borders from the outside and famine-stricken people rebelling from within, the Ming Dynasty would be caught in a pincer movement!

Han Kuang looked at the simple yet essential map, nodded repeatedly, and smiled at Zhang Kun:

"Why does Master Zhang only mention the 'Eight Worries' and not the 'Five Gradual Aspects' and the 'Three Absences'?"

Zhang Kun felt these were the key issues and didn't want to engage in abstract discussions about discipline, governance, or public sentiment.

Just like treating an illness, you should first treat the bleeding and inflamed external wound before talking about conditioning your body.

But this is how he explained it to Han Kuang:

"I am just a quack doctor, I only know how to treat the symptoms, not the root cause."

With my abilities, I am only qualified to be a capable official, a minor minister. These fundamental problems still require the help of the nation's high-ranking officials!

So who are the ministers of the state?

Of course, it's you, Grand Secretary Han Kuang!