The fire in the Nuan Pavilion was very bright. Zhu Qiyu had already dismissed the irrelevant palace maids and chamberlains. Wu and others were also in the inner hall, accompanying the two little babies.
The room was quiet, with only Shu Liang's voice echoing.
"After receiving the emperor's order, I sent someone to investigate from the beginning. It turned out that before King Guangtong came to Beijing, his connection with Huichang Bo Mansion came from a Miao caravan."
"Although this caravan is not run by the personnel of the county prince's palace, it comes from a squire's family who has close contacts with the county prince's palace, and the feudal kingdoms of King Guangtong and King Yang Zong are also in Miaoland."
"Originally, the caravan visited many noble houses in the capital, but encountered obstacles everywhere. But the strange thing is that starting from July, they inexplicably entered the gate of Huichang Bo Mansion."
"Moreover, almost every month, they send in a large amount of goods, and Huichang Bo treats them like honored guests."
Zhu Qiyu frowned and said softly.
July...miao land?"
Shu Liang nodded, hesitated for a moment, and continued.
"Your Majesty, in July, when the Miao rebellion was at its peak, the general military officers of the Southern Expedition gathered in the palace to request reinforcements from the imperial court. After discussion with the ministers, they ordered Wang Ji, the Minister of War, Jingyuan Bo, to lead an army of 100,000 troops to conquer Luchuan in the south.
Heading for reinforcements."
"Based on time, I think this may be related. However, time is too tight, and Wang Ji's army is still returning to the court. I don't have time to look for evidence, so I dare not make any judgments."
Wang Ji...
Zhu Qiyu thought about his name in his heart and suddenly laughed.
He hadn't even gone to trouble this old man, but he had brought it to his door.
As an unprecedented minister of the Ming Dynasty who was ennobled as a civil servant, this old man was capable of writing poems and writings, and was capable of riding and shooting people in battle.
It's a pity that this skill is used in the wrong place!
When Nangong was restored, this old man, at the age of seventy, took his son and personally went into battle and rushed into the palace.
In terms of merit, he is no worse than the masterminds Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang!
During this period, he was away leading his troops, and Zhu Qiyu was also busy with court affairs and had no time to pay attention to him.
But he never thought that this name would appear in front of him in this way.
In fact, that's right. Without any collusion of interests, it can be accomplished overnight.
Since Wang Ji participated in the Nangong Restoration, it at least shows that he has an excellent relationship with the group of people who are now plotting to usher in the restoration.
Even if he is not involved yet, at least there must be a relationship between him and Huichang Bo Mansion.
A hint of coldness flashed in his eyes, and Zhu Qiyu spoke.
"In that case, then continue to investigate for me. If I remember correctly, the rebellion in Miaoland has been delayed for more than half a year, right?"
This was within the scope of imperial government affairs, and Shu Liang was not familiar with it, but today Cheng Jing also came with him.
After hearing this, he came forward.
"Your Majesty, it is indeed true. It has been eight months since the Ministry of War reported in April that the Miao people were rebelling."
"The military report submitted by the former Ministry of War stated that Wang Ji had led his troops to Chenzhou three months ago. However, due to the complex terrain in Guizhou, high mountains and dense forests, and scattered Miao people, with a total number of more than 100,000, no large-scale attack has been carried out yet.
send troops."
"The mountains are high and the forests are dense, and the Miao soldiers are scattered?"
Zhu Qiyu sneered. Others didn't know, but he knew the situation in Miaoland very clearly.
Although the Miao rebellion was massive, it was actually poorly equipped and lacked combat power.
In addition, after nearly eight months of stalemate with the imperial court, many supplies in Miao land were already in serious shortage. Wang Ji had a hundred thousand troops at his disposal. If he really made a large-scale march, the outcome would be decided within two months.
The reason why he stood still was because he was threatening his own dignity!
Wang Ji mobilized 100,000 troops this time for the purpose of conquering Luchuan. However, the long battle failed and he wasted money and resources. He was impeached several times in the court.
The person who saved him was none other than Wang Zhen!
In fact, after the Civil War, the imperial court liquidated Wang Zhen's party, and some censors also mentioned the matter again.
However, his situation was different from that of Shi Pu. It was a definite fact that Shi Pu bribed himself to get the official position. Moreover, the Fujian rebellion in which Shi Pu was supervising military affairs was coming to an end and he should have been recalled to the capital.
But here in the Miao land, the Miao people besieged several cities with great momentum, and soon gathered more than 100,000 people. However, the Zhengnan general military officer who was responsible for suppressing the rebellion only had less than 20,000 people in his hands.
In addition, the border was in critical condition at the time and the imperial court was unable to send troops to reinforce the southwest. Therefore, it could only dispatch Wang Ji's Luchuan army nearby.
What's more, Wang Ji was indeed protected by Wang Zhen, but he was much more cautious in doing things. There was no evidence to show that he had bribed Wang Zhen or had done other illegal things.
Therefore, this matter can barely fall within the scope of normal military affairs.
After all, Wang Zhen was the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, and he had the right to speak on many matters in front of the Supreme Emperor.
Just because he said a few words for Wang Ji, we cannot regard Wang Ji as his accomplice.
Out of these considerations, the seven ministers finally suppressed the impeachment of Wang Ji after deliberation.
However, this was exactly Wang Ji's plan.
He was afraid that he would be implicated by Wang Zhen, so he was reluctant to launch troops to attack Miao.
However, since he came to the door this time, Zhu Qiyu was not polite and gave orders with a slight snort.
"Cheng Jing, go and summon Wang Ao and Yu Shiyue from the Cabinet, Yu Qian from the Ministry of War, and Shi Jing from the Rear Army Governor's Office into the palace."
"It is said that the Miao area has been in rebellion for a long time. As the commander-in-chief of the army, Wang Ji was afraid of war and delayed the advance, putting the people of the Miao area in dire straits. I am going to remove him from the post of the commander-in-chief of the army and send another capable minister to suppress the Miao area.
chaos."
Although the imperial court has sealed it now, it still has to deal with urgent military matters.
As for whether the change of the chief military officer by the emperor is considered an urgent military matter...it depends on different people's opinions.
Zhu Qiyu said firmly, but Cheng Jing did not leave immediately, but hesitated for a moment and said.
"Your Majesty, although the rebellion in Miaoland has been going on for some time, I am afraid that the leaders of the outer dynasty will not easily agree to change the commander-in-chief on this basis."
"What's more, now that all yamen have been sealed, this matter does not require an immediate decision. Even if the cabinet drafts an edict, the Sixth Section will probably..."
Cheng Jing did not continue speaking, but the meaning was already expressed clearly enough.
Although this matter is a military matter, it is not really an emergency. The commander-in-chief of an army of 100,000 people cannot be replaced just by saying.
The battle situation on the frontline is changing rapidly, and the methods of attack and defense need to be determined according to the specific situation.
Therefore, if it were not for the impeachment of the frontline admiral and military affairs minister, the reason for delaying the advance due to fear of avoiding the war would not be sufficient.
In addition, now that the imperial court has sealed it, it is still unclear whether the edict can be drafted. Even if it is drafted, I am afraid that it will be sealed when the sixth section is reached.
Cheng Jing had to warn the emperor, who seemed angry and dazed, about this risk.
But Zhu Qiyu shook his head and said.
"Don't worry, I'm sensible, just call them over!"
This chapter has been completed!