Chapter 39: Competition

Because the forbidden army was renovating the house, Ma Datong and Ma Dahe, who were originally the minions of the horse, were punished as official slaves and miscellaneous servants in the imitation pear villa because of Xulian, and were temporarily requisitioned to the forbidden army to build a house, because it was too ordinary and trivial and did not attract anyone's attention. Xie Xiangcun, who was grounded and restricted, was temporarily dispatched to garrison the forbidden army to lead the yamen, and no one paid attention. In this way, these three people rushed to Yuezhou without knowing it.

Empress Dowager Xu ordered Xie Xiangcun to hand over her handwritten letter to General Ma in person. And the people who introduced him to General Ma secretly were Ma Datong and Ma Dahe, who had guided him in martial arts. Xie Xiangcun's interaction with these two had made Empress Dowager Xu quite suspicious in the past, but now it is crooked and has come in handy.

At the same time as Xie Xiangcun sent the letter, there was an incident of noise among the soldiers of the Taihu Lake Water Division, and the reason for the noise was that the soldiers' salaries had been in arrears for a long time. There were many soldiers involved, and the command made Zhuge Youcheng 'pay the soldiers as soon as possible' to pacify them, so that there was no chaos. Even so, it was a shock to the government and the opposition.

Empress Dowager Xu ordered the military department to summon Zhuge Youcheng and return to the court to discuss the incident. Dai Yun wanted to use this to increase military spending, and Zhuge Youcheng respected him on the surface, but he did not have the filial piety of silver. Dai Yun has long been disgusted with this person, if Empress Dowager Xu blames Zhuge Youcheng for the incident, Dai Yun doesn't mind adding fuel to the fire, it is best to dismiss him from his post and investigate him, so as to promote his cronies and become the commander of the Taihu Lake Water Division.

In the early morning of this day, the atmosphere was very depressing at the beginning. General Ma, the commander of Yuezhou, returned to the court to visit his daughter, the former queen Ma, because of illness; And the commander of the Taihu Lake Water Division made Zhuge Youcheng, and he also went to the court on the same day to report the sergeant's noise.

Dai Yun's face was gloomy, Mrs. Xu's expression was solemn, and many ministers who wanted to discuss other matters felt that it would be better to discuss it another day when they saw this atmosphere.

Because General Ma was once the head of the country and had a lot of qualifications, he started the discussion first. After General Ma saluted the Empress Dowager Xu and Qian Hongzuo, he said: "The last general thanks the Empress Dowager and the Holy Longen, and authorized the last general to come to Hangzhou from Yuezhou to visit his daughter in the palace." ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "The Ma family was ordered by the former king to be imprisoned in the cold palace because of his crimes, and it stands to reason that he is not allowed to visit. However, General Ma has meritorious service to the country, and Ma's illness is dying, and there are signs that it is difficult to recover, so the mourning family is particularly kind and allowed to visit. ”

General Ma saluted again: "Thank you Queen Mother, the minister still has a reluctant request." ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Please speak." ”

General Ma said: "After visiting yesterday, Wei Chen saw with his own eyes that the little girl was seriously ill and could not die soon. In the cold palace, there is no one to take care of, I wonder if the Queen Mother can forgive her sins? After all, she has been imprisoned for many years and has been punished. Please ask the queen mother to see that she has served the former king for many years and has a prince, and the quasi-ministers are invited. ”

The entire court hall was so quiet that even a pin could be heard falling to the ground. Dai Yun and most others were waiting to hear how Empress Dowager Xu refused. The most criticized thing about women is jealousy. Previously, the Ma family persecuted the concubines many times, but after the Empress Dowager Xu took power, she did not take the opportunity to abuse her, which was already extraordinarily lenient. It may also be that Empress Dowager Xu holds her own identity and disdains to bother with the abolition of the queen. Now General Ma asked her to forgive her daughter's sins, which is no different from a fool's dream. As long as the Empress Dowager Xu imprisoned the order was "issued by the previous king, it is difficult to change", this signboard is played, and no one can force it.

Empress Dowager Xu sighed and said: "Even if she is at fault, what is more heart-wrenching than losing her son." The death of the prince Hongxu not only made the former king heartbroken, but also the mourning family was very sad. Since General Ma requested, the mourning family pardoned Ma's sins and handed her over to his own son, Prince Hongliang, who now lives in the auxiliary palace on the west side, and Ma can move there. ”

General Ma took his clothes and knelt down and said, "Thank you for the grace of the Queen Mother." ”

There was a sound of ear-to-ear communication in the court, and Empress Dowager Xu's move was quite surprising. But no one objected, after all, the abolition queen was a sick person, and even the Empress Dowager Xu, who had been harmed by her, could forgive her, and what could others say.

General Ma said: "The ministers still have a discussion, which is related to the rise and fall of the country. ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "General Ma, please speak." ”

General Ma Dao; "When the minister heard that Lord Zhen Fu of the household department proposed the method of soldiers to tuntian, the minister thought so. Nowadays, war is raging, and if the country does not have heavy troops, it will be difficult to protect itself, but if the soldiers do not settle the fields, the country will be poor and the people will be overwhelmed. Sooner or later, the people's grievances will boil, and while the situation can still be saved, I hope that the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord will immediately implement the policy of Tuntian. ”

Dai Yun was taken aback, but General Ma was different from Zhen Fu. Zhen Fu's collection of autumn taxes was blocked, and suddenly when he talked about using a sergeant to Tuntian, Dai Yun could accuse him of shirking his responsibility; And Xie Xiangcunren is soft-spoken, Dai Yun can scold him to get out, and General Ma is not at fault, and he is an old qualified general, Dai Yun wants to refute him, and he must consider the wording. But the incident happened suddenly, and Dai Yun was allowed to think about it carefully, and General Ma had already continued: "The army of my Wu Yue Kingdom is the army of the king. It should be relieved of the people's upside down, in order to get the support of the people, and now the people are in hardship, the taxes are heavy, I am willing to take the lead in Tuntian, reduce military spending, and the people to tide over the difficulties. ”

Empress Dowager Xu praised: "General Ma really understands righteousness, no wonder the people of Yuezhou praise the general's benevolence." I don't know how General Ma plans to Tuntian? ”

General Ma said: "The Yuezhou soldiers and horses are stationed, which was originally a tea garden in the middle of the mountain. Because of the garrison, the people were forced to move out, and the tea plantations were deserted. Tea is a prestigious specialty of my Wuyue country, and even the Central Plains Imperial Court has designated tea to pay tribute, and other countries are even more admiring to buy it. It is a pity that the tea plantations are barren, as long as the Empress Dowager allows the soldiers and horses to be planted in Yuezhou, I will hire tea farmers to guide the soldiers in planting, and the proceeds from the sale will be used as military expenses, so that the treasury can reduce the military expenses for the soldiers and horses in Yuezhou. In addition, during the spring sowing and autumn harvest seasons, the soldiers of Yuezhou are willing to help the farmers work without taking a penny. ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Okay! General Ma really managed the army well. The mourning family is quasi-Yuezhou soldiers and horses in Tuntian, which is presided over by General Ma with full authority. ”

General Ma Shane returned to work.

Empress Dowager Xu turned to Zhuge Youcheng and asked about the sergeant's noise, Zhuge Youcheng had several arrears of soldiers' salaries, and the hardships and dissatisfaction of the officers and men in the army.

After hearing this, Empress Dowager Xu lowered her face and said: "You said that the soldiers in the army are bitter, aren't the people bitter?" What else would you say besides these complaints? This Taihu Lake was originally a rich land, and your garrison was there, but you were so poor, and you were also leading soldiers, why didn't General Ma ever owe his soldiers' salaries? ”

Zhuge Youcheng looked at Dai Yun and said, "Marshal Dai, for the sake of it, please explain one or two to the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord." "Many people have heard the meaning of Zhuge Youcheng, and the Taihu Lake Water Division is in today's predicament because of the insufficient military salary allocated by the Ministry of War, so Zhuge Youcheng begged Dai Yun to intercede for himself.

Dai Yun was successful with Zhuge Youcheng, and said in a fierce voice: "The Queen Mother is asking you, what is the matter with Guan Benshuai?" ”

Zhuge Youcheng was obviously a little angry, pondered for a moment, and said resolutely: "The Empress Dowager, the Holy Lord, as long as the quasi-ministers have one thing, the ministers are willing to make a military order to pay off the arrears of military salaries within three years, and there is no need for the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord, and there is no need for additional military expenses." ”

Empress Dowager Xu asked: "You want to mourn your family, what are you allowed to do?" ”

Zhuge Youcheng said: "The minister asks the queen mother for permission, from now on, the military expenses of the Taihu Lake Water Division will be changed from the military department to the direct allocation by the household department." As long as the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord have special permission, the Taihu Water Division, like the Yuezhou garrison, will be directly issued military expenses by the Ministry of Households. ”

This is too simple, and at the same time too far-reaching a request, and not many ministers can understand it.

Empress Dowager Xu was puzzled: "This is not difficult. However, with this year's military salaries, how can Chen Yu make up for the arrears? ”

Zhuge Youcheng said: "Yuezhou soldiers and horses can tuntian, and so can the last general." As for how to Tuntian, let me go back and discuss with the soldiers before deciding. ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "There is no joke in the army, if the mourning family is allowed to directly allocate military funds to you by the household department." What if you can't pay off your salary within three years? ”

Zhuge Youcheng said: "The last general is willing to take the blame and resign from the post of commander of the Taihu Lake Water Division." ”

Empress Dowager Xu only said one word: "Okay." Then he called: "Lord Hebu Zhen! ”

Zhen Fu bowed and saluted: "The minister is here." ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "The Taihu Lake Water Division was in arrears of military salaries, and there was a noise incident. The situation is serious and cannot be delayed any longer, so you immediately and separately allocate this year's military expenses of the Taihu Lake Water Division to General Zhuge for emergency. From now on, the military expenses of the Taihu Lake Naval Division will be directly allocated by the household department, and the income from the Tuntian of the Naval Division will be returned to General Zhuge for the return of the arrears of military salaries. ”

Zhen Fu should claim to be.

Zhuge Youcheng glared at Dai Yun hatefully, and then said, "Thank you for the grace of the Queen Mother." ”

Dai Yun wanted to oppose it, but he couldn't say anything, and as long as he objected, Zhuge Youcheng would immediately blame him for the real reason for the arrears of the Taihu Lake Water Division's military salaries. Zhuge Youcheng didn't say it at the moment, just to save face for him. As long as the military expenses are no longer allocated by him Dai Yun, Zhuge Youcheng doesn't have to care at all, and there is a conflict with him in the court.