Resisting the pain that tugged at the heart caused by coughing, Emperor Yonglong took a deep breath, put one hand on the pillow on the throne, took the warm soup served by the waiter next to him with one hand, and sipped it gently.
Take a sip, let the liquid slowly slide down the throat, moisturize the throat, and seem to feel more comfortable.
However, Emperor Yonglong knew very well that his cough would hardly be relieved in the months from this winter to next spring, and he would have to wait until summer and autumn to see if it could get better.
The imperial doctor has advised against worrying too much about state affairs, let alone staying up late and working hard, but in this situation, can he let go?
The people in the cabinet can still be trusted by Emperor Yonglong in terms of ability. The problem is that the hearts of these cabinet ministers can never be completely with him. Their status determines that they need to first firmly grasp the power that belongs to them before they can speak.
other.
Emperor Yonglong regretted not being able to promote Zhang Jingqiu to the cabinet. This made him have no ministers in the cabinet who could agree with him. Compared with his father's Yuanxi era, no matter how the number of ministers changed, there was always one minister.
He realized that the two cabinet ministers were the confidants of his father. Emperor Yonglong had been trying to imitate the soldiers to achieve this. However, he failed to do so in the last adjustment. However, he also knew that this was not a fault of war, but Zhang Jingqiu's fault.
It is caused by the embarrassment of identity and qualifications.
Although Zhang Jingqiu did a good job in his position as Minister of War, his qualifications in Nanjing before entering Beijing were too little.
He was directly promoted from the right-hand censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate to the left minister of the Ministry of War. This was a very sudden and unusual promotion. Before he was the right-hand censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, he had only served as chief officer and doctor in the Nanjing Ministry of War.
, it is really difficult to convince the public with such meager qualifications. If he had not done well in the position of left minister of the Ministry of War, and was also very smooth in dealing with people, plus his own trust, it would be difficult for him to sit in the position of minister of the Ministry of War.
But it is so easy to get into the cabinet. Without sufficient qualifications and merit training, it is difficult to convince the scholars inside and outside the court. In addition, Zhang Jingqiu is from Nanzhi, but he is not trusted by Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe.
, not even as good as Li Sancai, who is from the north.
Fortunately, although Li Sancai is from the north, he has been recognized by Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe, and he is very smooth. Emperor Yonglong has already felt it. I am afraid that this person also has his longer-term ideas, although he is now
He ranks last among the bachelors in the cabinet, but he has begun to show some other faint performances, such as cooperation in some matters that he approves of.
Of course, this kind of person can be used, but as long as his attitude is not clear for a day, Emperor Yonglong cannot truly trust him. He and Zhang Jingqiu are not in the same group, but more like a "smart man" who adapts to the changing circumstances.
Lu Song sat aside in silence. The emperor summoned him and asked a lot about the situation, but he still had no attitude, which made him a little uneasy.
Long Jinwei played almost no role in the Mongolian invasion of the south. Although this kind of information should be mainly from the towns and the Ministry of War, Long Jinwei had such great power and even reported it to them long ago.
The emperor boasted that Long Jinwei's forces inside and outside the border wall had penetrated long ago, but this time the Mongols suddenly moved south, and the scale was far beyond the information Long Jinwei had previously mastered, which also made Lu Song very embarrassed.
"So, the boss's side has been very active during this period." It took a long time for Emperor Yonglong to put away his wandering thoughts and return to the business at hand, "Where is Niu Jizong now?"
"Master Niu's whereabouts are unpredictable. He seemed to be going to Shanxi Town for inspection half a month ago, but he only stayed at Ningwuguan for half a day and then disappeared. He appeared at Laoyingbao ten days ago, and was at Yanmen Pass and Zhenwuwei five days ago..."
Long Jinwei is responsible for supervising all generals in the army. However, without the decree of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of War and the Emperor, senior generals such as Deputy Chief of Soldiers and above, even Long Jinwei cannot be dismissed directly, but those below Deputy Chief of Soldiers cannot be dismissed directly.
The generals are responsible for guerrilla attacks on these generals, and Long Jinwei has the power to do so in emergencies.
Especially for military generals who are in charge of their own affairs, such as the generals and governors, even Long Jinwei holds edicts and documents from the Ministry of War. Generally speaking, they also need to have the imperial censor to take action in person, otherwise they will easily encounter resistance from the generals in the army.
.
A veteran general like Niu Jizong, who is in charge of one side, often has hundreds or even thousands of soldiers. If a few dragon guards are not sure, it is basically the same as sending death to attack such generals.
Of course, Lieutenant Long also has his own personnel in the army. No one except Lu Song knows the true identity of these people.
"Wang Ziteng is still holding back, what's the reason?" Emperor Yonglong said without any emotion in his tone, "How about the food supply over there in Huguang?"
Lu Song hesitated for a moment, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid we don't know the situation in Huguang as well as the Ministry of War. As for Mr. Wang himself, after leading his army to quell the chaos in Pingchadongsi a month ago, he has already entered Sinan Mansion, but he said
Subsequent supplies were insufficient, so we stopped marching westward."
Emperor Yonglong couldn't help but snorted twice in the letter.
This Wang Ziteng indeed grasped the court's thoughts very well, or in other words, he identified the weakness of the court's current dilemma, and he was more at ease at the junction of Huguang and Sichuan.
With the impact of the Bozhou Rebellion, some surrounding chieftains also started to think about it. Wang Ziteng took advantage of the situation and went on a killing spree in the Xuanwei Division and Shiyedong Division of Baojing Prefecture to suppress those chieftains who were ready to make a move.
Although a series of victories were achieved, it also aroused resistance from the surrounding chieftains. Even some chieftains who had not had much rebellious intentions now joined in, making the scale of the entire Banzhou rebellion intensified.
However, Yang Yinglong still behaved very tactfully and never sent troops to reinforce the surrounding chieftains. Apparently he was worried that he had fallen into the trap of diverting the tiger away from the mountain.
The current chaos in the southwest seems to have been successfully suppressed by the government and army, but to Emperor Yonglong, it feels more like lighting fires everywhere. Yang He's Jingxiang Army has not yet been formed and is lacking everything. The Guyuan Army has already entered Chongqing.
However, Sun Chengzong fought several beautiful battles after gathering the soldiers of the Syrian Army to prepare the road for training, but to be honest, the scale was not large, and he was not able to
Really achieve a decent victory.
"Huguang has sent grain and grass supplies to Baojing Prefecture, but he arrived late. As a result, he was attacked by the local chieftain rebels and burned a lot..." Emperor Yonglong raised his eyes, "This is reported by Huguang, but
However, the Ministry of War had doubts. They believed that 80,000 shi of grain and fodder could not be delivered to Baojing Prefecture so quickly. Yongding Guards on the edge of Lishui River reported that the grain transported through Yongding Guards was not that much at all, but the Huguang Chief Envoy
Si Ze said that there is only more, not less, and they have already calculated and excluded all the travel expenses..."
Emperor Yonglong's eyes were already a little cold, "Who should I believe? Or is there something here that I don't know about? Don't you, Longjing Lieutenant, know anything about the situation in Huguang?"
"Your Majesty, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has already sent a censor to verify this matter, and Long Jinwei is also cooperating. If there is no decree from the emperor, and we intervene without permission, if it shakes the morale of the army and delays the war, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will
side……"
Lu Song also had difficulties. The Metropolitan Procuratorate was very hostile to Long Jinwei, and according to regulations, Long Jinwei was only responsible for supervising the private behavior of officials and generals. If there was any inappropriate behavior in normal public and military affairs, the Metropolitan Procuratorate should
In court investigations, unless the Metropolitan Procuratorate needs to issue an invitation, Long Jinwei will generally not intervene.
For example, the supply warehouse in Baojing Prefecture was attacked, and it has been proven that it was indeed an attack by the chieftain. Then Wang Ziteng also sent a team to quickly counterattack and wipe out the rebel army. However, how much food and grass was burned? If Long Jinwei was not justified
The reason is difficult to investigate, but the Metropolitan Procuratorate can directly intervene in the investigation as long as there is suspicion or a report is received.
Emperor Yonglong did not believe that the cabinet and the Ministry of War were not aware of some of the doubts, but he never received a letter from the cabinet on this, so this made him very angry.
Maybe he was suspicious, but Emperor Yonglong would rather believe that it existed than believe that it didn't exist.
"Lu Song, I give you a secret order. You should immediately send capable people from Fusi, Beizhen, to Huguang to check the supply situation of food and grass for the Jingxiang Army and Denglai Army from the Chief Secretary of Huguang. I have a feeling.
I'm afraid there are some..."
Emperor Yonglong waved his hand tiredly, but did not say any more, "Go."
Lu Song did not dare to ask any more questions. He knew that the emperor was in a bad mood and in poor health during this period. He was also irritable when he went to court. The personnel of the cabinet and the six ministries had not been finalized for a long time, which made his majesty very dissatisfied.
Of course, there may be some ideas that the emperor has that the cabinet does not agree with, and there is also a wrestling match between the cabinet and the emperor.
Seeing Lu Song's disappearing figure, Emperor Yonglong lowered his eyes and shook his head.
Lu Song's loyalty was unquestionable, but his performance somewhat disappointed Emperor Yonglong.
Too cautious and conservative, too afraid of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. This may be related to some of my previous attitudes, but now I imply so clearly that this guy still follows the rules and refuses to go beyond the slightest. He does extraordinary things in extraordinary times, but
Lu Song did not do it.
In normal times, Lu Song would be a step-by-step and loyal minister, but now he is unable to meet his own needs. But changing people at this time would be a huge trouble. Long
If the force of forbidden captains were to change the commander of the capital, it would definitely bring turmoil, and its impact would also be huge.
Thinking of this, Emperor Yonglong's mouth became more and more bitter. He sighed for a long time before raising his head and asked: "I summoned Zhang Jingqiu, has he arrived yet?"