391 [Returning to Beijing is impossible to return to Beijing]
King Ning rebelled in mid-June. News of the rebellion was sent to Beijing as quickly as possible. The court was informed of the situation on July 8.
Zhu Houzhao was too lazy to say hello to the cabinet and the Ministry of War, so he asked Zhu Hong, the left governor, and Zhu Cong, the governor's chief minister, to stay in the capital as the admiral of the West Government Office (Baofang Border Army). Among them, Zhu Hong was also in charge of the East Road Pass, and Zhu Cong was in charge of the West Road Pass.
He also asked Zhu Tai to lead troops to suppress the bandits in the capital.
The emperor himself took the eunuch Zhang Zhong, the civilian captive Zhu Bin, and the left governor Zhu Zhouyu to march south.
The above group of people named Zhu are all the godsons of Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Bin is Jiang Bin, Zhu Tai is Xu Tai, Zhu Zhou is Shen Zhou, and Zhu Cong is Li Cong... The emperor has complete control over the capital and border towns through his godson.
The Ministry of War was directly deprived of nearly half of its power. Even Wang Qiong, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, had to please those godsons, and at the same time, he also relied on these godsons to fight against Yang Tinghe.
The cabinet and six ministers, who were full of contradictions, were once again forced to unite by the emperor.
Except for Wang Qiong, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, who remained silent, the other ministers all cried and remonstrated, begging Zhu Houzhao to give up his plan to conquer personally.
Zhu Houzhao was too lazy to pay attention to the ministers and urged the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs to quickly recruit civilians and food and grass.
Faced with this situation, Yang Tinghe submitted his sixth resignation letter this year: "I am suffering from illness and request to resign and return to my hometown to rest."
"No!" Zhu Houzhao said expressionlessly.
Yang Tinghe knelt on the ground and refused to get up, just staring at the emperor blankly.
Zhu Houzhao said: "Yang Tingyi, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, has outstanding talents. I propose that he be promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War."
This was to promote Yang Tinghe's brother, so that Yang Tinghe would no longer organize the emperor's personal expedition.
Three months ago, Zhu Houzhao slipped away to the Xuanfu again, and Yang Tinghe sent a remonstrance in half a month. Yang Shen's edict of remonstrance was withheld, and he was so angry that he resigned, and the emperor allowed it. Yang Tinghe also made a fuss to resign, but the emperor did not allow it.
, and gave it to his nephew Yin Guan. Anyway, if he gave it a few more times, he could get a reward from the emperor.
Yang Tinghe said expressionlessly: "Yang Tingyi does not understand military affairs and is not qualified for the position of the right minister of the Ministry of War. I beg your Majesty to take back his order."
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "I am just recommending candidates. Everything depends on the outcome of the court discussion."
The court meeting went very smoothly. Wang Qiong, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, opposed Qingliu, and the Qingliu people voted for Yang Tingyi to join the Ministry of War.
Wang Qiong was extremely depressed for a moment. He licked the emperor and Jiang Bin hard, but his military department was mixed with sand by the emperor.
Wang Qiong went to have a drink with Huang Ke, the left minister of the Ministry of War, and complained that Yang Tingyi was ignorant and that being the right minister of the Ministry of War was pure nonsense. After drinking a few more drinks, he expressed the emperor's dissatisfaction.
Huang Ke smiled and said: "This is your Majesty's balancing technique."
Wang Qiong was stunned for a moment, and he suddenly understood what was going on. He broke into a cold sweat on his vest.
Zhu Houzhao's appointment was, firstly, to ease the relationship with Qingliu, secondly, to make a deal with Yang Tinghe, and thirdly, to discourage Wang Qiong from getting too close to Jiang Bin.
Although Zhu Houzhao's appreciation of Wang Qiong is not as high as that of Wang Yuan, it can also be described as Jane in the emperor's heart. The emperor is happy to see the bad relationship between Wang Yuan and Jiang Bin, and also hopes that Wang Qiong will not collude with close officials, and the more fierce the quarrel between each other will be,
Zhu Houzhao became even happier.
All the officials could not stop the emperor's personal expedition, so they could only resort to the same trick - delay!
There was a long process of recruiting grain and civilian men, and the Ministry of Rites was also slowly preparing for the conquest ceremony. It took a full month.
At the critical moment, Pan Chen, the young minister of Taichang Temple, resigned.
Pan Chen was specifically responsible for this swearing-in ceremony. He suddenly gave up his job, and the entire ceremony had to be rearranged.
Zhu Houzhao was so angry at Pan Chen that he told him to get out of the capital quickly, and then replaced him with an obedient one as the young minister of Taichang Temple.
The swearing-in ceremony was hasty, and Zhu Houzhao personally led an army of 30,000 people to go south, claiming to the outside world that he would command 100,000 troops to conquer the rebel king. Officials from each department, including the cabinet, had to send at least one person to accompany the army south. The emperor wanted all officials to look at him
How to win the battle.
"Great victory, great victory in Jiangxi, Prince Ning has been captured alive!"
Historically, as soon as Zhu Houzhao walked to Zhuozhou, Wang Yangming's victory document arrived. At this moment, the swearing-in and sacrificial ceremony had just ended, and the 30,000-strong army had only walked a few miles. Looking back, they could even see the city wall of Beijing in the distance. News of Jiangxi's great victory flew by.
Come running.
Zhu Houzhao could only order to stop the march, patiently read the victory document, and said with a constipated expression: "Wang Shouren made a mistake on me, and Wang Erlang also made a mistake on me!"
Yang Tinghe's mood was a bit complicated. He was happy that Prince Ning's rebellion was quickly put down, so that the emperor could go on a personal expedition without a chariot, and that his younger brother had picked up the right minister of the Ministry of War for nothing. He was also worried that Wang Yuan and Wang Yangming would make great achievements again, and it might be difficult to do so again in the future.
Thinking about how to promote Wang Yangming.
Historically, Wang Yangming was recommended to go to Jiangxi by Wang Qiong, so Yang Tinghe had to attack him. He chose the approach of "courtesy first, then attack", that is, he gave Wang Yangming the first credit in countering the rebellion and promoted Wang Yangming to be the Minister of War in Nanjing.
The insidious part of this method is that it eliminates the merits of his arch-enemy Wang Qiong and puts all the credit on Wang Yangming. Once Wang Yangming agrees, it will be tantamount to betraying his benefactor Wang Qiong, and he will be thrown to Nanjing for retirement.
, which is equivalent to gaining nothing except promotion.
Wang Yangming refused to comply, and Yang Tinghe was so angry that he directly knighted him, blocking Wang Yangming's career advancement limit.
But it is different now. Wang Yangming was recommended to Jiangxi by Wang Yuan and has nothing to do with Wang Qiong. If Yang Tinghe dares to interfere with this, he will break up with Wang Yuan. He is crazy to do this because he thinks his political enemy is still
Not enough?
But Wang Yangming also had a grudge against him!
At first, Wang Yangming was appreciated by Li Dongyang and was promoted three times within a year. He had a bright future. After Yang Tinghe became the first assistant, he frantically eliminated dissidents and sent Wang Yangming to Nanjing to raise horses. This approach was equivalent to a deadly feud in the officialdom.
, Yang Tinghe really doesn’t want to see Wang Yangming return to court.
Unable to figure out how to deal with it for a moment, Yang Tinghe put away his thoughts, knelt down and shouted: "Your Majesty, please return to the court immediately!"
"Your Majesty, please return to the court immediately!" the military officials followed and shouted.
After walking two hundred miles, Zhu Houzhao was able to continue his journey south shamelessly. Now he has only walked a few miles and can still see the city of Beijing when he looks back. Is he still so shameless?
Yes!
Zhu Houzhao scolded: "I have already offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, and sworn to serve as my commander in charge of the expedition. How can there be any reason to turn back midway?"
Yang Tinghe retorted: "Your Majesty, it is not that we turned back midway, the army has just set off."
"Walking only one mile is called turning back halfway!" Zhu Houzhao started to get angry.
Yang Tinghe said solemnly: "I dare to ask your Majesty, the imperial commander's personal expedition is to attack the rebel king. Now that Ning Fan has been captured, what is the reason for your Majesty's personal expedition? As the saying goes, a division has a reputation. Your Majesty commanded the Sixth Division to go south. Please find a legitimate name for sending troops.
.”
Zhu Houzhao was immediately speechless and stamped his feet angrily: "Then go back!"
The military officials were overjoyed and packed their luggage and returned the same way. Yang Tinghe was also thinking about how to control the court.
However, Zhu Houzhao quietly called Jiang Bin over. After some instructions, Jiang Bin immediately went to the Three Thousand Camp.
The 30,000-strong army only returned one mile back when Zhu Houzhao suddenly rode away on horseback.
Jiang Bin naturally wanted to cooperate with the acting and shouted: "Your Majesty has run away, the cavalry is chasing me!"
In just a blink of an eye, the emperor, along with his cronies and more than 2,000 cavalrymen, fled until only a thin shadow was left, leaving all the civil and military officials stunned.
"Mr. Yang Ge, do you want to pursue him?" Li Hao, Minister of Industry, asked.
Yang Tinghe was silent for a long time, and then said in his sleeves: "Never mind, let's go back to Beijing!"