When the Emperor saw the Crown Prince coming, he said, "This is the memorial from the Marquis of Zhenyuan. Take a look at it."
Chen Zhong tactfully handed the memorial from Marquis Zhenyuan to the prince with both hands.
The prince opened the memorial and read it carefully. After reading it, he said, "Father, God bless our Great Yong. After this, the northern barbarians will surely be seriously injured and will not dare to invade in the next five to ten years."
The emperor nodded and said, "Yes, this man called An Yong has made great contributions. In your opinion, what official position should he be given?"
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince thought for a moment and said, "Father, if you were to say that An Yong has another identity, do you still remember the Earl of Rongchang and the Princess of Yongjia in Beichuan County?"
The emperor nodded and said, "These two are the heroes of our Yong Dynasty. How could I forget them?" After thinking for a while, he said, "The surname of Rongchang Bo is An, and the surname of An Yong is also An. Could they be from the same family?"
His Royal Highness nodded, and said, "Yes, Father, the last time I went to Beichuan County, Lord Yu mentioned to me that An Yong is the eldest son of the Earl of Rongchang, and he joined the military camp only two years ago."
The emperor sat up straight upon hearing this and said, "Oh? The An family is full of talented people!"
At this time, a young eunuch came in and said, "Your Majesty, several ministers have arrived and are waiting outside."
The emperor nodded and said, "Announce."
After several adults came in, he bowed and said, "Your humble servant greets the emperor and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
The emperor said: "My dear ministers, please stand up!"
After all the ministers stood up, the emperor said, "Chen Zhong, read the memorial of the Marquis of Zhenyuan to all the ministers."
After Chen Zhong finished reading the memorial, several adults said in unison: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations, Your Majesty, for getting rid of this great threat."
The emperor said: "According to your opinions, what should we do next?"
The Minister of War was a war advocate and said, "Your Majesty, if that is the case, why don't we take the initiative to attack and bring the Northern Barbarians into the territory of our Great Yong Dynasty."
The Minister of Revenue said hurriedly, "That's not right, Your Majesty. Why do the northern barbarians come to plunder our territory every winter? It's because the land in the north is barren and crops can't survive. Even if such a place is incorporated into our territory, it will not bring any benefits. Instead, we will have to allocate grain and funds."
The Prime Minister said: "What the Minister of Revenue said is not without reason, but we cannot let the Northern Barbarians go so easily."
The emperor said: "Prime Minister, if you have any countermeasures, you might as well tell us directly."
The prime minister thought for a moment and said, "Although most of the land in the Northern Barbarians is relatively barren, the two states adjacent to Juyongguan are relatively rich. It would be better to let the Northern Barbarians cede these two states to our dynasty and sign an agreement. From then on, they will become vassal states of our Great Yong Dynasty and pay tribute to our dynasty every year."
The Grand Tutor said, "This method is feasible, but the Northern Barbarians only have these two states that can produce grain, and they may not be willing to cede it to us."
The prince said, "The reason why the northern barbarians frequently attack is simply for food. Our army's war horses are not as good as those of the northern barbarians. We can let them exchange their war horses for food. This will not only solve the problem of war horses, but the northern barbarians will no longer think of attacking after they have had enough food. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Good idea, but who should go there?"
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said: "Father, I am willing to go to the border."
The emperor shook his head and said, "No, the matters in your hands are equally important. Let's leave this matter to someone else!"
The Prime Minister said, "Your Majesty, the Second Prince is not young anymore and can do some work. It would be better to send the Second Prince this time, and then send a few veteran ministers to give him advice." The Second Prince is the Prime Minister's grandson. He is nineteen years old now. Although he is young, he is very steady in his work and is currently working in the Ministry of Revenue.
The emperor hesitated for a moment. He was not the kind of emperor who wanted to see brothers fighting each other. Since he had appointed a crown prince, he did not want to support another prince to compete with the crown prince, so he had never used other princes. After thinking it over, he shook his head and said, "The second prince is still young and the border is far away, so let's send someone else."
Later, several adults successively recommended several candidates, but the emperor was unwilling to do so. Finally, the emperor looked at the Minister of Revenue and said, "Minister of Revenue, this matter is of great importance. You will take the officials of the Honglu Temple to the border to negotiate in person."
The Minister of Revenue did not expect that this mission would fall on his head, and he quickly said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will definitely fulfill my mission."
After discussing this matter, the emperor said: "In this battle, the border soldiers have made great contributions. Now let's discuss the issue of official promotions."
The emperor said, "In the last battle, the Marquis of Zhenyuan made great contributions, but I only rewarded him with some gold and silver, but did not promote him. This time he made great contributions again, and I am thinking of conferring the title of Duke of Ying on him. Do you have any objections, my dear ministers?"
The ministers wanted to object, but the Marquis of Zhenyuan had indeed made great contributions this time, and it was not excessive to confer the title of Duke, so they all said, "Your Majesty is wise."
The emperor then said, "An Yong has made great contributions in offering advice and has personally captured the leader of the barbarians, so he is given the title of General Zhongwu, a senior general of the fourth rank. What do you think, my dear ministers?"
An Yong was born in a farming family, and had no complicated relationship with the officials in the court. He was also a good leader in fighting, so the emperor wanted to use him and accept the title of Marquis of Zhenyuan. As the emperor was suspicious, he was afraid that the Marquis of Zhenyuan would be more powerful than the emperor, and there would be no more titles to be given. So he found someone to replace him early, and An Yong was the person the emperor chose.
These ministers were all as cunning as a sieve, so they could naturally see the emperor's thoughts. So no one refuted and they all said, "The emperor is wise."
Then, the emperor promoted all the generals who had made contributions by half a level. General Li was promoted from the third rank Huaihua General to the third rank Huaihua General, General Liu and General Wang were promoted from the third rank Yunhui General to the third rank Huaihua General, and even Lieutenant Zheng was promoted from the sixth rank Zhaowu Lieutenant to the fifth rank Youji General.
Then he ordered rewards to the three armies and the whole country celebrated.
When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince saw that the three armies had been rewarded and the ministers had already left, he said, "Father, I have something to report."
The emperor nodded and said, "What is it?"
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said, "Father, I need manpower to mine rock salt. This year's corvée has already been collected. I don't want to waste money and manpower. I beg you to give me 30,000 captives to mine rock salt."
The emperor nodded and said, "Approved, but you must make proper arrangements and prevent these prisoners from rioting."
The prince said happily, "Thank you, father."
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