Chapter 384

The huge candle on the Fengtian Temple was as bright as day.

When Song Nan stepped into the main hall with a chill, there was silence in the main hall, and all the civil and military officials turned their heads and watched Song Nan stride in from the entrance of the hall, passing through the passage between the crowds and descending the steps of the dragon seat.

Everyone's eyes moved with Song Nan's body, and there were many emotions in their eyes, including envy, disdain, indifference, ridicule, and many of them turned out to be gloating.

Song Nan came to the Zhengde seat without squinting and saluted: "Minister Song Nan is called to the palace, long live my emperor, long live." ”

Zhengde smiled and waved his hand: "Pingshen, Song Nan, you were supposed to take sick leave to recuperate at home, I summoned you to the palace late at night, you won't blame me, how is your health?" ”

Song Nan smiled and said: "Where does the emperor say, the emperor summons the ministers to not walk, and they have to crawl; Chen's health is fine, just a minor illness. ”

Zhengde nodded and said, "That's good, do you know why I summoned you here?" ”

Song Nan said: "The emperor is coming to the court late at night, there must be something big happening, presumably he is discussing the loss of Dongchang Mansion." ”

Zhengde nodded and said: "The news of your Jinyi Wei Yamen is well-informed, and such a major event naturally can't be hidden from you, yes, I came to the court late at night because of this incident, the war in Shandong was unfavorable, Xu Yande was incompetent, and he lost Dongchang Mansion, and it was because of this matter that I convened the ministers to discuss countermeasures." ”

Song Nan arched his hand and said: "The emperor must not be in a hurry, the matter has happened, and you must face it calmly." ”

Zhengde said: "I understand, before you go to the palace, I have discussed this matter with the ministers, the strategy of Dingguo Gong to suppress thieves is unfavorable, the employment is unknown, Xu Yande is afraid of the enemy like a tiger when he is in battle, I have decided to remove Xu Guangzuo as the governor of the thief, and at the same time remove Xu Yande from the post of the governor of the East Road to suppress the thief, and demote the knight one level to show punishment." ”

Song Nan glanced at Xu Guangzuo, who was standing beside the British duke, Xu Guangzuo's face was silent, his eyes were empty and he didn't know what he was thinking.

"Merit will be rewarded, there have been punishments, the capable are mediocre, the ministers agree with the emperor's approach, and the loss of Dongchang Mansion is indeed an unforgivable mistake." Song Nan said quietly.

Zhengde nodded and said, "But the matter of suppressing thieves is imminent, do you have any good candidates or builders?" ”

Song Nan thought for a while and said: "The minister is not very familiar with military affairs, so he doesn't dare to speak falsely; But the suppression of thieves cannot be delayed, and the emperor should let the adults recommend the agreed candidates, take office as soon as possible, and save the situation. ”

Zhengde smiled and said: "At this time, someone must have the courage to shoulder the burden to share my worries, before you came, the British Cabinet and the officials of the six ministries have already agreed on a candidate, but I want to hear your opinion." ”

Song Nan said: "Who is it?" ”

Zhengde pointed at Song Nan and said, "It's you." ”

Song Nan pretended to be surprised, opened his mouth for a long time and said, "Minister...... How can you think that the minister is the right person? The minister has never led soldiers and horses to fight a big battle. ”

Zhengde said with a smile: "Why haven't you fought, the battle of Xinpingbao is my own experience, not long ago you led the headquarters to take the thief's nest Wen'an, defeated the thief soldiers in Xin'an County, and killed more than 1,000 enemies, which is enough to show your talent; All the civil and military officials have high hopes for you, this time I want you to go out on the expedition, exterminate the thieves, and remove the tumor in my heart, what do you think? ”

Song Nan slowly exhaled, and after a long silence, he spoke: "Your Majesty, the minister...... This is an important task. ”

As soon as these words came out, the ministers were in a buzz, and even the old man Zhang Mao was quite surprised, what he had just said a few hours ago, how could Song Nan change his mind in a blink of an eye.

The ministers were also very surprised, just now before the old man mentioned the candidate of Song Nan, the quarrel in the hall was inextricable, and many candidates were proposed and overturned, either because of their lack of ability, so that the ministers could not rest assured, or the parties themselves refused, afraid of taking the responsibility for failure; Especially the generals of the Dingguo Gong family, none of them are willing to take the initiative to take up this burden, and the Dingguo Gong is unlucky, who dares to touch the mold.

And the inner court has no suitable candidate at all, there is Gu Dayong's mistake in the front, this guy is still being interrogated, and others such as Wei Bin Gao Feng and others are not material for leading troops to fight at all, and Zhengde will never take them into account for such a major matter of the army dispatching to suppress thieves.

And Yang Tinghe and others in the outer court were not willing to recommend their own candidates, before going to the palace, everyone had already unified their attitude, unless the emperor ordered the general, they would never take the initiative to recruit this position, because the thieves were already out of control, and if they were not sure of success, there was no need to take risks. No matter how to lead the troops to fight, it is still the honorable relatives and princes who want to take the initiative, who tells them to grasp the military power.

Under the delicate weighing of all parties, they debated for more than an hour but did not select anyone, so when the British public proposed the candidate of Song Nan, most of the people chose to agree, some people naturally believed that Song Nan had this ability, and a large number of people were happy because they could pass on this unbearable burden to others; Even Liu Jin voted in favor, obviously thinking that this is the place where Song Nan can be planted.

Song Nan's euphemistic refusal made people feel that this kid might have seen through everyone's psychology, and he didn't want to fall into this quagmire, some people sighed in disappointment, and some people were happy for Song Nan.

Zhengde's expression was gloomy, he didn't expect Song Nan to refuse, deep down in his heart he always thought that Song Nan was his last support, just like when he was in Xinpingbao, Song Nan was the last hope in his heart when he was desperate, and the current situation was the same, he hoped that Song Nan could stand up and help the court overcome the current difficulties as before, but Song Nan actually refused.

Zhengde couldn't hide the disappointment in his heart, and sighed: "I know that this is a forced request for you, you are not a general with troops, and I can't blame you." It's just that I'm very disappointed, I have a huge court in the Ming Dynasty, and no one can fight for me, it seems that I am going to go into battle in person. ”

Li Dongyang and the other old ministers hurriedly shouted: "No, how can the emperor drive the expedition in person, absolutely not." ”

Zhengde said angrily: "What should I do then? Could it be that I watched that the thief didn't go south to attack Nanjing, Zhejiang and Guangzhou, but I pretended not to see it? ”

The ministers were silent, none of them dared to speak, even if Zhengde was anxious and angry, no one dared to take the initiative to raise their hands to say that they wanted to take on this responsibility, and Zhengde's heart was sad.

In the silence, Song Nan's voice rang out: "The emperor is angry, the minister is not afraid of the thieves, nor does he want to mention the emperor's worries, in the minister's opinion, it is not difficult to suppress the thieves at all, and the minister does not take the thieves in his eyes at all." ”

Everyone looked at Song Nan in surprise, and thought in their hearts: This guy is crazy, this cowhide is too big, do you dare not take over, and come to brag again, the emperor is angry, I am afraid to give this guy a little color.

Sure enough, Zhengde slapped the case and said angrily: "What's the use of you talking about these big words? Have the ability to exterminate the thieves and then talk about it. ”

Song Nan raised his head and said quietly: "Your Majesty, this is the conclusion that the minister has come to after careful consideration, the minister and the thief soldiers have fought each other, and the minister knows that they are a few catties and a few taels, and the minister is not a person who talks big." ”

Liu Jin said predictively: "Then prove it to the emperor, as a courtier, since he has a strategy to defend against the enemy, but he does not share his worries with the emperor, this is a disloyal act." ”

Song Nan sneered: "Gonggong Liu, you don't need to buckle my big hat, I said that there are prerequisites for being able to exterminate the thief soldiers, as long as the emperor can agree to my several requests, I will immediately put on the battle, and if I don't exterminate the thief soldiers, I will come to see me." ”

As soon as these words came out, all the ministers were shocked, Zhengde's spirit was lifted, and his words became softer, and he asked, "What do you want me to promise?" If you want an official position or a farmhouse, if you succeed in suppressing thieves, I will reward you heavily, these are by no means problems, that is what you deserve. ”

Song Nan sighed secretly in his heart, Zhengde is too ridiculous, if it is for this, why should he go to the battlefield to fight hard, serving such an emperor, Song Nan feels deeply sad for himself.

"Your Majesty, the minister is not for personal official positions and private interests, the minister is talking about other things." Song Nan sighed.

"Oh, yes, yes, I misunderstood you, I know you don't care about that, but what are you going to mention?" Zhengde asked sincerely, but he regretted that he shouldn't be so straightforward in front of the ministers, it would make it difficult for Song Nan to step down, and he should have promised him privately in the imperial study.

Song Nan didn't want to go around in circles anymore, so he said quietly: "Your Majesty, one of the conditions is to ask the emperor to decree the abolition of the law of Shiwu sitting together...... The second condition is to ask the emperor to repeal the new horse policy and the land reform law, and the third condition is to ask the emperor to send officials to the place of military disaster to comfort the people, give relief to the people who have caused military disasters, and pardon all the sins of the people who were forced to join the army. As long as the emperor agrees to these three conditions, the minister can set up a military order to exterminate the thieves. ”

The civil and military officials were in an uproar, and the three conditions put forward by Song Nan turned out to be to change the regulations that had been promulgated by the court and pardon the crimes of the thieves, the meaning of which was self-evident, Song Nan This was a vague link between the civil unrest and the horse administration promulgated by the imperial court, the policy of land reform, and the law of Shiwu sitting, etc., as if it was the policies promulgated by these imperial courts that led to the civil unrest.

And these three measures are all policies pursued by Liu Jin, and the repeal of these three decrees is tantamount to accusing Liu Jin of misleading the country in court, which is an open and naked confrontation with Liu Jin.

Everyone stretched their necks and glared and swallowed foam, waiting for the reaction of the emperor and Liu Jin, and all of them lost their voices for a while.

Zhengde didn't react for a long time, but Liu Jin quickly reacted, and said coldly: "How can this be reasonable, as a courtier, it is within your duty to serve the court, but you come to use this as a threat to put forward such rude conditions, it is simply a big rebellion." ”

Song Nan sneered: "I put forward these three conditions precisely in order to be able to exterminate the thief soldiers, if there is no such prerequisite, forgive me for my incompetence, I can't exterminate the thief soldiers, if the emperor wants me to go, I can only fight and die to be loyal." ”

Liu Jin reprimanded: "Joke, what does your suppression of bandits have to do with the policies of this imperial court? The policy of the new horse policy and land reform is a major policy agreed upon by the imperial court, and the law of Shiwu joint sitting is a law to eliminate the deterrence of the people from being thieves. Is it trying to take advantage of the chaos to disrupt the government? ”

Song Nan shouted angrily: "Shut up, do you have any other skills besides being able to buckle a big hat and frame others?" The shortcomings of the Singapore and Malaysia politics are highlighted, and there are complaints from all over the Ming Dynasty, how much do you know about this? The new land law is even more absurd, not only has the illegal annexed land not been confiscated, but on the contrary, it has intensified, and the people have worked hard for a year but are in debt. Under such circumstances, can the people be undisturbed? ”

Liu Jin shouted angrily: "Nonsense, it's all nonsense." ”

"Whether it's nonsense or not, the imperial court sent someone to the bottom to secretly investigate, and the information obtained by my Jinyi Wei Yamen was carefully analyzed by me, and I dared to say it here today. Your Majesty, although the people are pure, they are not lambs, they don't want much, just food and clothing, when there is no way to live, it is inevitable that the people's grievances will turn into anger. Why are so many people thieves? for they have no way to live. And the method of Shiwu sitting is even more absurd, most of the people have no heart for thieves, this is good, forced by this law to have to make trouble from thieves, can thieves become more and more powerful? If these three policies are not abolished, it will be difficult for the thieves to be exterminated, and even if they are subsided this time, the root cause will still be there, and it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no more chaos. I dare to say a big rebellious remark, if these three measures are not abolished, the country will have no peace. ”