Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume 2 Rampant Qilu

Chapter 1: Overcoming Hardships and Adventures to Seek a Way Home

Section 4: Discussion of Merit and Controversy

At the end of April of the forty-seventh year of Wanli (the fourth year of the Later Jin Heavenly Mandate), Jingshi.

Late at night, Huang Jiashan, the secretary of the military department, still did not rest, but leaned on the Taishi chair in the study and rested comfortably, with a few plates of pastries and a pot of tea on the small table on the side, and a letter in his hand humming the tune of Kunqu opera softly, so comfortable.

The twist and turn in Huang Jiashan's hand is the good news sent by Xiong Tingbi, the new Liaodong Economic Strategy, the words of the good news of the 740th level of the white flag Jiannu in the middle of the battle, have always lingered in Huang Jiashan's mind, and the joy filled the heart of this military department Shangshu, sweeping away the depression since this time.

In order to alleviate his inhuman fault, Fang Congzhe insisted on charging Liu Yunwei with not being in a hurry to rescue and returning to Liaoyang without authorization, forcing His Majesty to demote Liu Yunwei to a thousand generals, and also downsizing the establishment of the Hanwei battalion. Now that the Qilin Tiger has passed on the good news again, I want to see what Elder Fang has to say, presumably Elder Pavilion must be very excited, haha. ”

Thinking of this, Huang Jiashan couldn't help laughing, and once again in his heart he went to see Emperor Wanli tomorrow to report the draft, and then went back to the room to rest satisfied.

At the same time, Fang Congzhe was also tossing and turning in the house and couldn't sleep. After Fang Congzhe learned about this, he only felt like he had been hit on the head, and he locked himself in the study in a fit of rage, and he didn't come out until late at night.

At this time, Fang Congzhe's situation is very embarrassing, and tomorrow Huang Jiashan, the secretary of the military department, will definitely enter the palace to meet Emperor Wanli, so as to invite merit to report the victory. At that time, Emperor Wanli will definitely call himself, the head of the court, over so that he can discuss the reward together. What should I say then? Did you tell Your Majesty that you were wrong to demote Liu Yunwei? So where is the dignity of himself, the head of the court? Where is the prestige among the courtiers?

Thinking about it, Fang Congzhe kept thinking in his heart: "Tomorrow, Huang Jiashan will definitely cry out for Liu Yunwei in front of His Majesty, and he will definitely advocate vigorously rewarding Liu Yunwei and Hanwei Ying; And after His Majesty defeated Liaodong in the imperial court, he finally received a good news, and most of them would also publicize it in order to boost the morale of the people; So how do I deal with it? It is impossible to agree with Huang Jiashan's proposition, and if you don't agree, don't say anything else, even Your Majesty can't pass the pass. So how should I be? ”

Time passed in Fang Congzhe's tangled and anxious mood, and it didn't take long for the sky to turn slightly white, seeing that it was about to be the time to enter the palace to meet him, Fang Congzhe rubbed his bloodshot eyes, and said secretly in his heart: "The only way to open is to maintain the mean, hum!" Give Liu Yunwei some money and benefits, don't think about promotions or anything like that. In this way, the old man's face will not be too ugly, and I will be able to deal with it on His Majesty's side. ”

Thinking of this, Fang Congzhe called his subordinates to serve him to change his clothes and breakfast, and then washed his face with cold water, cheered up his tired spirits, and prepared to wait for Emperor Wanli's summons.

It didn't take long for him to arrive at two o'clock in the palace, and a father-in-law was sent to the palace, saying that Emperor Wanli urgently summoned the elder of the pavilion into the palace to discuss important matters.

Fang Congzhe knew in his heart that he must be discussing the victory of the Anshan Station, but on the surface, he still pretended to be surprised and anxious, and hurriedly followed the father-in-law into the palace.

As soon as Fang Congzhe came to the imperial study, he saw that Huang Jiashan, the secretary of the military department, was still sitting next to Emperor Wanli, and the two monarchs and ministers were talking and laughing about something, and said in their hearts: "It seems that Huang Jiashan has already presented the good news to His Majesty." ”

"Minister, Fang Congzhe greets Your Majesty."

After Fang Congzhe's big gift, Emperor Wanli waved his hand with a smile and said, "Old Fang Ge, please get up and give you a seat." ”

The little eunuch on the side moved a chair with thick cushions, and after Fang Congzhe thanked Emperor Wanli, he sat down and said, "I don't know what Your Majesty has to do when he urgently summons the old minister into the palace?" ”

Emperor Wanli raised a copy of the note in his hand and said: "Old Fang Ge, you see that this is a good news sent by Xiong Tingbi to the Ministry of War from Liaodong Jinglu, and the specific situation will be told by Huang Shangshu." ”

Huang Jiashan took a promise and said, "Elder Fang Ge, this good news was received by Xia Guan last night. The good news mentions: On the way south to Sichuan to take up his post, Liu Yunwei was attacked by two thousand iron horsemen of the white flag of Jiannu. Fortunately, Liu Qian was extremely brave, and led the soldiers of the Hanwei Battalion to kill the enemy bravely, and finally defeated the Jiannu Iron Cavalry, which was a lone army, and beheaded 740 levels. ”

Fang Congzhe pretended to be surprised and asked, "Two thousand Jiannu iron horses?" Where did you encounter it? ”

Huang Jiashan felt very comfortable when he saw Fang Congzhe's surprised appearance, and said casually: "South of Liaoyang, Anshan Station." ”

Fang Congzhe sneered when he heard this, and said: "Huang Shangshu, there is a sentence that the old man doesn't know whether to say or not. ”

Huang Jiashan was shocked when he saw this, and he was a little unsure of what Fang Congzhe wanted to say, and said, "Pavilion Elder, please speak." ”

"As far as the old man knows, the Anshan Post is still south of Liaoyang, which can be said to be the hinterland of the hinterland of Liaodong, how can there be two thousand Jiannu iron horsemen rampant there? Didn't Xiong Tingbi take any precautions against Jiannu? ”

Huang Jiashan never expected that Fang Congzhe would not play cards according to common sense, and now he is obviously talking about Liu Yunwei's victory, he has to be involved in Xiong Tingbi's inability to resist the enemy, what is this Fang Congzhe going to do?

Emperor Wanli also frowned a little unhappily when he heard Fang Congzhe say this, and said, "Huang Shangshu, do you have anything to say about Fang Ge Lao's questions?" If you have something to say, just say it! ”

Huang Jiashan stabilized his mind and said: "Your Majesty, Fang Ge Lao, since the defeat of the National Dynasty, the military strength of Liaodong has been greatly hit, coupled with the vast and sparsely populated land of Liaodong, and most of the Jiannu are iron horses coming and going like the wind, then even if Xiong Tingbi has great ability, it is impossible to plan the defense of Liaodong seamlessly in a short period of time. It's not that Xiong Tingbi is not dedicated, but that he can't do anything, and it's difficult for a good woman to cook without rice. ”

Emperor Wanli nodded and said, "I see that what Huang Shangshu said is reasonable, does Fang Ge Lao still have any questions?" ”

Seeing that Emperor Wanli didn't want to be too entangled on this issue, Fang Congzhe thought to himself: "Well, I didn't want to find Xiong Tingbi's bad luck in the first place, but just threw bricks and led to the topic." So he said: "Back to Your Majesty, the old minister has no doubts. ”

Emperor Wanli nodded and said, "That Fang Ge always thinks that this great victory should reward the meritorious soldiers?" ”

"The play meat is coming!" Fang Congzhe said secretly in his heart, and then said slowly: "Back to Your Majesty, before discussing the matter of the reward, the old minister still has something to say. ”

"Elder Ge, please speak."

Fang Congzhe glanced at Huang Jiashan, saw him looking at him in disbelief, and was very proud in his heart, and said: "Your Majesty, the old minister thought that Liu Qian's total strength in this battle must be meritorious, but that Jiannu went hundreds of miles deep into the hinterland of Liaodong, and instead of attacking cities and plundering populations, he went to fight with the Hanwei camp, which is a bit unreasonable." ”

Hearing what Fang Congzhe said, Emperor Wanli was also suspicious, so he looked at Huang Jiashan and motioned for him to explain.

At this time, Huang Jiashan was already sweating profusely, and he had already scolded Fang Congzhe dozens of times in his heart, and when he saw Emperor Wanli signaling himself to speak, he said: "Your Majesty, the minister got the news from Xiong Jingluo, saying that when the Eastern Route Army fought Jiannu, Liu Qianzong led the Hanwei battalion to severely damage the main force of Jiannu, and the slave chief Nurhachi held a grudge and wanted to take his life before Liu Qianzong left Liaodong, so he sent the two thousand white flag iron horsemen to attack the Hanwei battalion. ”

Fang Congzhe said: "According to Huang Shangshu's meaning, that is to say, the reason why these two thousand Tatar captives penetrated hundreds of miles into Liaodong was because of Liu Qianzong? Was it Mr. Liu Qian and Hanwei Camp who attracted Jiannu? ”

Huang Jiashan was speechless for a moment, and the beads of sweat kept falling, and he snorted for a long time before saying, "I, I didn't mean that!" ”

Fang Congzhe smiled and said, "But that's what the old man heard. ”

Huang Jiashan said angrily: "In this way, according to the meaning of Fang Ge Lao, then President Liu Qian and Hanwei Ying have achieved a great victory, not only in vain, but also in fault? ”

As soon as Emperor Wanli heard Huang Jiashan's words, his face suddenly darkened, and he snorted coldly and leaned back on the couch without speaking.

Fang Congzhe knew that Emperor Wanli was already angry at this time, and knew that the fire was almost over, so he said: "The old man didn't say that Liu Qian was useless. How could it be useless to repel the Tartar Capture Array and slash hundreds of levels? ”

This time, Huang Jiashan was a little stunned, and stammered: "That, what does Fang Ge Lao mean?" ”

Fang Congzhe said: "Your Majesty, Huang Shangshu, the old man thought that he had always made a merit in defeating Liu Qian in this battle, but there were some small mistakes in attracting Liu Qian, a slave. Therefore, if the big work is worth the small mistake, it should be commended, but it should not be too heavy. The old man thought that the Hanwei camp was thousands of miles away from Sichuan, and he didn't know if the money and food in the camp were sufficient. ”

As soon as the words fell, Huang Jiashan understood what Fang Congzhe meant: "Dare to behead hundreds of levels of great victory, just give some silver, and think about something?" That's the first level of the seven hundred and forty Jiannu! Isn't it just that I'm worried that Liu Yunwei has been promoted to an official because of his merits, and there is nowhere to put your old face? That's why you're here and in the mud, is your face more important than the morale of the soldiers? ”

Thinking of this, Huang Jiashan said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that if you only give some silver and do not increase the official promotion, it will inevitably snub the soldiers' desire to serve the country!" ”

Fang Congzhe said coldly: "What Huang Shangshu means is that the court's reward did not meet expectations, and the soldiers did not have the heart to serve the country?" ”

"You!" Huang Jiashan said angrily: "Elder Ge is deliberately misinterpreting!" It's a strong argument! ”

"That's it!" Emperor Wanli shouted: "You are the first assistant of the cabinet and the secretary of the military department, you can quarrel when you discuss this matter, and you are not afraid of the jokes of the ministers when it spreads!" ”

Fang Congzhe and Huang Jiashan glared at each other, and hurriedly admitted their mistake to Emperor Wanli.

Emperor Wanli thought for a while and said: "Passing the decree, Liu Yunwei transferred 5,000 taels of silver from the interior and 1,000 stones of grain and grass from the household department to reward meritorious soldiers. ”

Fang Congzhe saw that Emperor Wanli adopted his own opinion, and said proudly: "The old minister has the order. ”

Then Emperor Wanli said: "I remember that Hanwei Ying went to Sichuan to go to Shandong, right? ”

Fang Congzhe said: "Back to Your Majesty, it is the first line of Shandong. ”

"Then send the reward to Shandong, and then send it to Liaodong for nothing."

"Your Majesty is wise, the old minister will do it."

And Huang Jiashan wanted to argue a little more, but he heard Emperor Wanli say: "Stand down, I'm tired." ”