After listening to the ministers' remarks and praises for a long time, Zhu Qizhen finally came back to his senses from surprise, and then his face showed a look of ecstasy, and the worries that had been pressing on his heart for many days were also swept away: "Okay, the official army of Datong really did not disappoint me, and they were able to defend the city in a short period of time, and injured thousands of enemies, which really greatly boosted my prestige!" ”

At the same time, he didn't think in his heart for no reason that this might be the spirit of the ancestors and ancestors in heaven to bless him. Of course, this idea cannot be revealed at this time, as the Son of Heaven, what he has to do now is: "Kuang Qing, you quickly turn back to the army to find out the merits of this victorious soldier, and I must reward them heavily!" ”

"Commandment. Your Majesty is benevolent, the rewards and punishments are clear, and the border soldiers must feel more holy grace, and they will do their best to resist the enemy in the future! Kuang Yu praised the Son of Heaven again. Afterwards, the other officials also followed with a few words of flattery, and then they left the palace with joy.

Everyone has been in the palace for a long time, and they have long been sore because of various etiquette rules, and it is not too early, so naturally they will not stay in the palace for a long time. Just now, it was just that the matter was too big, so we turned back to my majesty together, and now that the words are all finished, it is natural that we should go home separately. After all, today is still the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the people in their respective houses are still waiting for their masters to go back.

Until the ministers dispersed, the Son of Heaven still couldn't hide his excitement on his face, and he said hello in his mouth. Seeing this, Wang Zhen on the side also hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this can turn the crisis into safety and make the Tartars suffer." Therefore, the old slave has always believed that as long as His Majesty follows the example of Emperor Taizu Taizong and personally leads the troops to the northern expedition to the grassland, he will inevitably be able to achieve the same feats as his ancestors. ”

In fact, when Datong reported that there was an invasion by the Mongols, Wang Zhen was also quite worried. But now, he didn't see the slightest hint of this, he seemed very determined, as if everything was as he expected. Moreover, he also took this opportunity to once again mention the statement that he had been encouraging the Son of Heaven to go north.

Zhu Qizhen was also a little moved in his heart. As a hot-blooded young man who grew up in the deep palace, he really wanted to lead his troops straight into the grassland like his ancestors and make some achievements. But soon, he suppressed this thought again: "Sir, wait a little longer, the Northern Expedition is not a trivial matter after all, and the ministers have always opposed it, so I can't just go my own way." When the ministers can understand my intentions, it will not be too late to mention this matter. ”

"Hey, speaking of which, it's those old ministers who have always treated His Majesty as a child, so I don't feel at ease here, and I don't worry about that. In fact, now His Majesty is already a Daoming monarch with the talent of heaven and earth, and it is a matter of course that he has made achievements in military affairs. They can't stop His Majesty all the time. Wang Zhen took the opportunity to say a few more slanders in front of the emperor.

However, for such a good-tempered emperor as Zhu Qizhen, the lethality of such words is also limited, he just smiled, then waved his hand and said: "Those old ministers are also thinking about my safety." However, I believe that one day, I will personally take my warriors of the Ming Dynasty straight into the grassland to do what our descendants of the Zhu family should do. ”

"Your Majesty! As long as the old slave still has a breath left, he will definitely follow His Majesty, even if he leads the horse and falls, he must do his part. Wang Zhen hurriedly expressed his loyalty.

"Okay, then let my monarch wait for this day!" The emperor laughed confidently, and the middle-aged eunuch beside him, who was slightly hunched up, also laughed happily at this time, because he could see that the Son of Heaven was more and more moved by this.

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While the other officials all went back to their homes and enjoyed their families together, several important officials of the Ministry of War went directly back to their yamen. Datong's good news is the most important thing in the court recently, and it is closely related to the responsibility of the military department, so even if today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, they dare not deal with it carelessly.

Now that the matter has been reported to the Son of Heaven, it is even more necessary to quickly find out the specific circumstances of this great victory. If some of them lied about the military situation out of greed, the military department would have to find out the truth as soon as possible.

After returning to the Yamen and reading the content of the good news sent to Beijing from Datong in an expedited way of 800 miles, Kuang Yu and other officials showed strange looks on their faces, and no one in the hall was silent for a long time, and everyone fell into deep thought.

After pondering for a while, Kuang Shangshu finally spoke: "What do you think of this good news?" As he spoke, his gaze began with Yu Qian and swept to the many officials below.

Those who can read the battle report with the monk and the scholar at this time are all important officials in the ministry, and they also have certain opinions on military affairs. Therefore, after facing this problem, many people showed skepticism: "Lord Ministry, this good news always gives people a feeling that it is difficult to believe. Not to mention the slaughter of those thousands of people, the almost negligible casualties of our Ming army alone are really inconsistent with our common sense. ”

"Yes, my lord, although we have never actually been on the battlefield, we have read many military reports. My Ming Dynasty and the Tartars clashed, which time was not the same casualties, even if Emperor Taizong went on a northern expedition to the grassland decades ago, he had to pay a lot of price in destroying the enemy. But this battle of Datong is too weird. ”

"And the person who has the first merit written in this war report is still a magistrate, a civil official, how can he make such a contribution on the battlefield? There must be some problems in this, and we should take a good look at what the situation in Datong is now. ”

Because these people are in front of their bosses, they still speak in a bit of proportion, and they don't dare to assert too much. However, the meaning of his words has been clearly revealed, and they are very skeptical of the authenticity of this battle report.

Kuang Yu also frowned a little hesitantly: "Yes, this matter does look like someone is cheating." Yu Shilang, I don't know what you think about this? After finding that Yu Qian had never spoken, he finally turned his head and asked by name.

When other officials heard this, they also turned their attention to Yu Qian. Yu Qian was already famous before he joined the military department, and he was the military department that the Son of Heaven specially ordered to enter the military department, so his status was extremely high in the ministry, and he was not even inferior to his boss Kuang Yu. In many matters, even Kuang Shangshu had to consult him before making a decision, and he was upright and respected by his colleagues, and his attitude could indeed influence the hearts of everyone in the military department.

Yu Qian was still holding the good news in his hand, and when he was asked at this moment, he pressed the document on the table, and pointed at the contents with his finger and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, how do you explain what is written on it about the head and the captive?" Nearly 5,000 is not a small amount, if they don't have something in hand, would they dare to say such a big thing? Also, the prisoners of war are even more difficult to handle......"

"Could this be a murderous act?" A soldier's heart suddenly moved, and he spoke.

These words also caused everyone's brows to jump, because such things have indeed happened in the past. In order to make meritorious contributions, border officers will always come up with some ways to obtain credit, including provocations on the side and murder of good people. Among them, the latter is the most serious.

Because sometimes in order to win the trust of the imperial court, they will not only go to the grassland to kill innocent civilians, but in many cases, even the Han people in the border areas will be targeted by them. After killing someone, shaving the hair of the Han people is considered a Mengren. And this method has not been less credit in the imperial court in the past.

Kuang Yu's brows furrowed even deeper, if this is the case, I'm afraid this matter will be a big deal. Maybe even the previous battle report that Datong was attacked by the Mongols was fake, for today's good news. Even if you think about it a little deeper, there may be a certain force in the DPRK and China behind it. Because they wanted to instigate the imperial court to use troops against the north, they created such a crisis and a great victory, in order to come up with a reasonable excuse, and at the same time give His Majesty and the people of the world a confidence that they can win.

The more he thought about it, the more Kuang felt that this matter was suspicious, and his heart was even tighter, and he was about to decide that there was fraud in it. But Yu Qian spoke again: "If someone really kills good and riskes merit, then why should the biggest credit be given to a civil official?" ”

"This ......" the crowd suddenly had some difficulty answering the question. Indeed, if such a bold thing is really done on the basis of merit, there is really no need for these border generals to give credit to a civilian official, unless this Ulzhou governor named Lu Zhen is an insider and colludes with them.

Yu Qian followed their train of thought and continued: "You can also say that this is the result of collusion between the two sides. But as a six-rank state official, is it necessary for him to take such a risk for the sake of military exploits that have nothing to do with him? This really doesn't fit with common sense. He still has an opinion in his heart, but he can't say it at the moment, that is, he believes that Lu Jin is not such a person, but it is better not to mention his friendship with Lu Jin in front of these colleagues.

Kuang Yu hesitated for a moment, and then asked: "Then according to the waiter's opinion, there is nothing wrong with this good news?" ”

"Whether there is a problem or not, the lower official does not dare to assert at this moment. However, we can take a closer look first. Anyway, there is still half a month before the official opening of the imperial court, as long as we send someone to investigate, the truth can always be ascertained. What's more, this good news only lists some casualties between the enemy and us, and is far from giving a clear picture of the specific battle situation. We can wait a little longer, maybe in two days, a more detailed battle report will be sent to Beijing. When the time comes, we will know what this is really going on, whether it is true or not. ”

"Well, what Yu Shilang said is, then according to your wishes, let's wait and see before dealing with it." Kwong also nodded approvingly, because this was indeed the most stable way to deal with it.