The Dongchun Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace was overcrowded. Big bosses from the inner and outer courts and several princes and nobles gathered here, making the originally spacious Spring Pavilion look overcrowded.
When everyone received the news that they had entered the palace to discuss matters, they thought something had happened. The reason was quite simple, because the emperor never summoned everyone in the morning. In the past six months, the emperor had only attended morning court meetings, let alone The ministers were summoned to discuss matters.
After arriving at Qianqing Palace, I saw so many important people gathered together and all summoned to see him, and I realized that things were unusual.
When Zhu Houzhao told everyone about the rebellion of King Anhua with a solemn expression, and circulated his message to raise troops, the atmosphere in the Spring Pavilion instantly solidified, and the air seemed to be so thick that it was difficult to breathe. The officials and the state The heavy breathing of the princes and princes was like the ocean tide at night, heavy and stagnant.
"My dear friends, this is the situation. The traitor Zhu Zhixiu has raised an army and rebelled. Now Ningxia Town Commander Jiang Han, the town army eunuch Li Zeng and Deng Guang, Zhou Dong sent by the imperial court to Qingtun, and Ningxia Governor An Wei Dozens of officials including Xue Xue were all killed. Four of the seven Ningxia guards participated in the rebellion. The situation is terrible. I invite you all to come here to discuss how to deal with this matter." Zhu Houzhao broke the silence and said in a deep voice.
Everyone recovered from the shock and instantly turned into a room full of water ducks.
"How could this happen? How could such a thing happen?"
"The King of Anhua, Zhu Chixiu, has always been respectful to the court and a kind man. How could he suddenly start a rebellion?"
"Ningxia Town can't be chaotic. Ningxia Town is an important place, bordering the Hetao in the east and Gansu and Shaanxi in the west. It shares an arm with Yan Suibian Town and Gansu and Shaanxi. Only in this way can we ensure the peace of our northwest border town. The consequences of this chaos will be disastrous."
"Yes, yes. What should we do? There can be no chaos..."
…
…
Everyone was talking about it, all of them looked worried and sighed in panic.
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said nothing. He was already panicking, but after hearing these words, he became even more unsure.
"My lords, please be patient for a moment," one person said loudly.
Everyone looked at the sound, but Yang Tinghe, the cabinet scholar, stood up. Everyone stopped talking.
Yang Tinghe bowed to Zhu Houzhao and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have two questions that I would like to ask clearly."
Zhu Houzhao said: "Master Yang, please tell me."
Yang Tinghe said in a deep voice: "First, why didn't my cabinet get the news about King Anhua's rebellion? Who reported it to the court? Why did they bypass the outer court and bypass the cabinet? We didn't even know about it at all. If the emperor hadn't summoned the ministers to come before I came to tell you, but I am still kept in the dark. How is that possible?"
Zhu Houzhao was stunned and glanced at Liu Jin. Liu Jin hurriedly said: "Mr. Yang, that's it. We just learned the news. Mr. Xu from the Ministry of War only received the report from Huang Ke, governor of Yansui, early this morning. Mr. Xu became anxious. , he went into the palace and informed our family before he had time to inform the cabinet. Our family reported to the emperor immediately. No, the emperor invited all your Lordships to discuss the matter. It is indeed necessary to inform the cabinet first. This is not too urgent. Not in time?"
Xu Jin cursed in his heart, but he had to bear the blame. He said hurriedly: "Yes, yes, Master Yang, don't blame me, it's my fault. The main reason is that I was too shocked after receiving the news and rushed to the palace. Reported. It was my fault. Mr. Yang, please calm down."
Yang Tinghe sneered and said: "I'm afraid someone is deliberately circumventing the cabinet. Isn't it too late to inform them? Then what's the use of the cabinet?"
Jiao Fang coughed and said in a deep voice: "Master Yang, now is not the time to pursue this kind of matter. How to deal with Zhu Zhixiu's rebellion is the top priority. Why should Master Yang bother with other things? Isn't it too pointless? "
Yang Tinghe was about to retort when Li Dongyang said in a deep voice: "What Mr. Jiao said is true. The matter is urgent. It doesn't matter that Mr. Xu didn't have time to report it to the cabinet. Tinghe, there is no need to pursue these matters at the expense of the root."
Yang Tinghe breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: "That's fine. But my second question is, why is the situation like this? Ningxia Town is an important town on the nine sides, with heavy troops stationed by the imperial court. Over the years, the soldiers have resisted countless Tatar attacks and have been honored by the imperial court. Seventy thousand troops are stationed in Ningxia Town. A mere Zhu Zhixiu has no military power and no merits. Why dare he rebel? And why do so many court officials and generals submit to him? Does he have such prestige? Ningxia Town This is the place where the imperial court operates, and King Anhua only has a fiefdom in Anyang, so how could those people risk the disapproval of the world and betray the imperial court in the name of disloyalty and unrighteousness?"
Yang Tinghe's voice was loud and loud, and he asked a series of questions. The officials frowned and thought, but no one could answer his questions. In fact, the implication of Yang Tinghe's words was very clear. He wanted to say what kind of reasons led to those in Ningxia Town. The soldiers and horses of the imperial court did not stop Zhu Zhixiu, but instead followed the thieves to cause chaos. Naturally, they had other intentions.
"Master Yang, these questions of yours are also questions of those of us. We don't know why. Zhu Zhixiu may have evil intentions. Those who are thieves may be bewitched and forced by him. We still don’t know.” Jiao Fang said calmly.
Yang Tinghe sneered and said: "What a joke, tens of thousands of border troops are so easily deceived? He Jinyi and others were favored by the imperial court and were also famous border generals. How could they be deceived by a local vassal king? What is the reason? The situation in Ningxia Town was stable a year ago. The commander-in-chief Jiang Han reported to the court that the morale of the Ningxia Town troops was stable and the soldiers were dedicated to their lives. They broke into Tatar territory and destroyed several frontier fortresses of the Tatars, and did not mention anything unusual about King Anhua. How could such a drastic change happen in just a few months?"
Jiao Fang frowned and said: "What you said doesn't make sense. Maybe Jiang Han is whitewashing the peace and not reporting what he knows. It's not a day to freeze three feet. There must be signs that Zhu Chixiu intends to rebel. Speaking of which, this It's Jiang Han's dereliction of duty."
Yang Tinghe laughed and said: "Master Jiao, are you saying that Mr. Jiang didn't report the knowledge? To whitewash peace? Then what is he trying to do? He was killed by Zhu Zhixiu. Also, Master Jiao must not forget that in February Li Jiang Han ordered someone to give a discount, and the chief assistant wanted to see the discount, but you, Mr. Jiao, said that it was just a discount to urge the court to pay the soldiers' wages and food. You had already responded and dealt with it. So the chief assistant did not ask any more questions. But I know that the Zhezi is not about asking for money and food. What did Jiang Han say in the Zhezi? Why didn’t you, Mr. Jiao, hide it? "
Jiao Fang was a little flustered, and said angrily with a red face: "Mr. Yang, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to slander me? Speak clearly."
Yang Tinghe said: "I didn't slander you. You can't blame me if you have a guilty conscience. But in February, I received a letter from Mr. Yang Yiqing, the governor of Shaanxi and the director of horse racing in the northwest. At the end of February, Jiang Han went to the Shaanxi racecourse to select horses. , told Mr. Yang about Ningxia Town. He said that Zhou Dong and others sent by the imperial court to rectify the military camp were acting randomly, which made Ningxia Town uneasy. The officials and soldiers were deeply disturbed by it, and the crowd was excited. He was worried that something would happen. He reported this to the court, but there was no reply from the court. Mr. Yang wrote and asked me to pay attention to this matter. Unfortunately, the emperor had decreed that during the farming period, Eunuch Liu would have full supervision. I told Eunuch Liu about this matter, but Eunuch Liu didn't give me an answer at all. Mr. Jiao, do I have any reason to suspect that Jiang Han's excerpt was actually not about military pay, but about the situation in Ningxia Town? But you concealed this matter. ?”
The room was eerily quiet. After listening to Yang Tinghe's words, everyone thought about it and became frightened. They didn't know what to say. Could it be that... Jiao Fang deliberately concealed it? Liu Jin didn't report what he knew?
Jiao Fang's face turned from red to pale, and he was shocked. He stood up and saluted Zhu Houzhao with his hands in hand.
"Your Majesty, I have to defend myself a few words. Yang Tinghe's words have already criticized and slandered me. I have to tell the truth. Indeed, I have received a report from Jiang Han, and it did say that Ningxia Town
The matter of farming. However, I believe that the matter of farming originally involves
The selfish interests of some people, those people invaded and occupied the farmland, harmed the interests of the court and military households, and enriched their own pockets. To put it bluntly, the farmland incident would have caused dissatisfaction among many people. The situation described in Jiang Han's excerpts is nothing more than this.
.This is expected, what is there to say?”
Zhu Houzhao frowned and nodded.
Jiao Fang continued: "The imperial court has made great determination to clear the villages. How can it give up just because some people are dissatisfied? As the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, it is understandable that Jiang Han is worried about the mood of his soldiers, but how can he stop eating because of choking? This is a major issue for the imperial court.
Any dissatisfaction with the policy cannot be tolerated. I just don’t want anyone to make a fuss about this matter and disrupt the village.
Tian Zhice. That’s why I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t conceal it intentionally. If I make a mistake in this matter, please ask the emperor to hold me accountable. But I must remind the emperor that the Qingtun incident was the wisest decision the emperor made.
It must not be given up halfway or slandered. Some people want to connect Zhu Zhixiu's rebellion with Qingtun, but that is an act with ulterior motives."
Liu Jin said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the affairs of Qingtun are under the supervision of the slaves. Academician Yang did tell the slaves about the Ningxia Town. After the slaves learned about it, they wrote a letter to reprimand Zhou Dong and others, ordering them to act improperly.
If you are rough, you must understand it with reason and act with the justice of the court. If it is said that Zhou Dong’s behavior caused
It caused the dissatisfaction of the soldiers, which was the fault of the slaves. However, if someone criticized the Qingtun policy, the slaves would not agree to it. Lord Jiao was right. Some people wanted to describe this rebellion as the Qingtun policy of the imperial court.
The result is completely slander and criticism with ulterior motives. Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."
Zhu Houzhao closed his eyes and sighed, waving his hands and saying: "You people, the traitors are rebelling now. If you don't come up with ideas and come up with solutions, you have no time to find people to hold them accountable. Instead of asking about the traitors' faults, you should first do it yourself."
You are making trouble for yourself. I really don’t understand what you are thinking. The Qingtun incident cannot be slandered, and the matter cannot be discussed again. I don’t want to hear this. I want you to tell me how to quell the rebellion. Do you understand?"
Yang Tinghe was stunned for a moment, waiting to say something else. Li Dongyang pulled his robe and said in a deep voice: "Master Yang, now is not the time to hold people accountable. Don't put the cart before the horse. Just stop when it's appropriate."