Emperor Jing'an specially ordered Hu Yanyi and Xue Ding, and Wei Qi was by his side when they met.

In addition to the normal question, Hu Yanyi did not have much time, but for Xue Ding, Emperor Jing'an asked him in detail about his experience in the Hexi Border Army, and asked him what books he had read, especially the military books. Emperor Jing'an admired the young Xue Ding very much, and asked, "What do you think is the most important thing in governing the army?" ”

Xue Ding said: "Training." ”

"Oh?" Emperor Jing'an couldn't help but be a little strange, and said, "Isn't it military discipline?" ”

Xue Dingdao: "Military discipline can only be strict when training soldiers. ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "You talk about it specifically." ”

Xue Ding said: "Military training is important in persistence, and it is natural to get used to military discipline day after day. Therefore, it is said that the most important thing in governing the army is in training, and the most important thing in training is persistence. ”

Emperor Jing'an asked, "What kind of soldiers can be trained?" ”

Xue Ding said: "Mo Jun." ”

Emperor Jing'an didn't seem to hear clearly, and asked, "What army?" ”

Schröding explained: "The silence of silence. In peacetime, when the army is in formation, when marching, when meeting the enemy, and when retreating, the whole army is silent, and only the sound of the general's order and the sound of the golden drum is heard. ”

Emperor Jing'an nodded in his heart, as an emperor immediately, Emperor Jing'an himself was an excellent commander, he led the army to sweep the Tatar cavalry, invincible, he knew what kind of army Xue Ding was describing, and that kind of army would be invincible in the world.

Emperor Jing'an said: "I heard what you said just now, and I don't care much about the various training formations promulgated by the imperial court, so tell me what you think." ”

Xue Ding said: "The various formations listed in the minutes of military preparation promulgated by the imperial court are complete. Our dynasty is dominated by infantry, and the enemies in the north and northwest are mainly cavalry, and if the infantry wants to resist the cavalry, it must form a formation. However, the formation of formation, especially when changing the formation against the enemy, requires a high quality of the soldiers, if it is not trained for a long time, it is very easy to be found by the cavalry when changing the formation, and the cavalry is extremely mobile, and can seize the opportunity in an instant to break the enemy with one blow. ”

Emperor Jing'an nodded again and again, and sighed: "During the Hongzhi period, my cavalry was able to compete with the most elite ironclad heavy cavalry of the Tatars. But in recent years, the cavalry has been declining, and I estimate that the cavalry of the border army, like the cavalry of the forbidden army in the capital, can only be a guard of honor and put on a show. ”

Xue Ding said: "The emperor hates iron but not steel, and the actual situation is not so far." When the minister was in the army west of the river, although the cavalry could not be compared with the emperor's army, it still had combat power. It is only in recent years that due to the lack of horses, especially war horses, and lack of training, it is difficult for cavalry to fight the enemy alone, and can only be used as an auxiliary to the infantry formation. ”

Emperor Jing'an nodded and said: "First, there is a lack of horses, and second, there is a lack of money, cavalry is the most expensive, raising a cavalry, you can raise at least 50 infantry." Unlike the Tatars, who grew up on horseback since childhood, fighting on horseback is like grazing in peacetime, and what costs money is iron armor and weapons. ”

Xue Ding said: "Your Majesty, the minister has heartfelt words, I don't know whether to say it or not?" ”

Emperor Jing'an said kindly: "Xue Qing just said. ”

Xue Ding said: "The great trouble of our dynasty is still in the north, and last year the Tatars plundered, we could only hold on to the city, and could not take the initiative to retreat from the enemy. Fortunately, the Tatars are currently scattered and can only disperse their troops and retreat after the catastrophe. If the Tatars unite and invade on a large scale, it will be difficult for our isolated strongholds in You, Yunliuzhou, Taiyuan and Zhending to last. The top priority at the moment is to train 30,000-50,000 elite cavalry as soon as possible, so that they can face the enemy head-on with the Tatars, so that they can rely on fortified cities, advance and attack, retreat and defend, so as to keep the north safe. ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "Xue Qing is a visionary, and I have always been thinking about it. It's just that the current financial constraints of the imperial court make it impossible to do this. But this matter cannot be postponed any longer, otherwise there will be trouble. Xue Qing is in the prime of life, don't go back to Xiangfan, I will make you the commander of the Sima Army in front of the palace, stay in the court first, and contribute more to the court in the future. ”

Xue Ding kowtowed and said, "The minister obeys the order." ”

After Hu Yanyi and Xue Ding withdrew, Emperor Jing'an asked Wei Qi: "I heard that you and Xue Ding also know each other, what do you think of him?" ”

Wei Qidao: "My nephew and Mao Xiang met General Xue in Xiangyang, we only thought he was a Confucian general at the time, but judging from the pacification of the Wudoumi Sect and the right strategy just now, he is really handsome. ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "Xue Ding's background is good, and he is Xue Jiabi's nephew, and he will become the pillar of Dasui in the future." ”

Wei Qidao: "My nephew also thinks that Xue Ding and Mao Xiang will be the pillars of Dasui in the future." ”

Emperor Jing'an glanced at Wei Qi and said, "You have already mentioned Mao Xiang twice in a row, do you have any opinions about my approach?" ”

Wei Qi hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, "My nephew will never dare to slander Uncle Huang. It's just that the nephew has something in his heart and hopes that the emperor's uncle will have mercy. ”

Emperor Jing'an said expressionlessly: "Let's talk about it." ”

Wei Qidao: "My nephew has been living in the people for more than ten years, and he has lost the care of the Mao family, and the Mao family is really a great favor to the nephew. Mao Xiang was involved in the Wudoumi teaching case, but he was really implicated by his nephew, and now Mao Xiang's father has died of this illness, and his nephew is heartbroken. Mao Xiang was innocent of the crime, and he himself was a great talent, and his nephew begged the imperial uncle to forgive Mao Xiang. ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "Why do you say that Mao Xiang is implicated by you?" ”

Wei Qi was speechless for a while, and only said after a while: "Yu Yijian, the inspection department, once said in Luchuan Manor that someone was looking for the Heavenly Master of the Five Bucket Rice Sect, but he really wanted to find his nephew, but he mistakenly found Mao Xiang. ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "At that time, the Inspection Department judged so, but as a result, Mao Xiang still entered Wan'an Mountain, and there was no so-called real person behind the scenes. Mao Xiang is the person the Wudou Mi Sect is looking for, and he was not implicated by you. ”

Wei Qidao: "Yes, my nephew now believes that there is no so-called person behind the scenes, and I just ask the emperor's uncle to see that Mao Xiang is innocently involved in the Wudou Rice Sect, and his heart is to the court, forgive him." ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "The Inspection Department reported that the situation of the Mao Xiang case is complicated, there are still unclear points, and it still needs to be investigated. After the investigation of the inspection department is completed, it will be disposed of separately. You go down first. ”

Wei Qi didn't get up, and continued to kowtow: "My nephew has nothing else to ask for, I just want to see that I am taking the risk of being talented, so that I can keep him as a great follower, and so that my nephew will not be saddled with the infamy of ingratitude." ”

Emperor Jing'an said: "You keep saying that you are talented and talented, isn't Mao Xiang just a Xie Yuan?" ”

Wei Qidao: "Mao Xiang once discussed the government with his nephew and proposed a solution to the problem of displaced people. ”

Emperor Jing'an's eyes lit up and asked, "What way?" ”

Wei Qidao: "Junfu." In addition to the poll tax, all kinds of taxes paid by the imperial court are evenly distributed to the land, so as to solve the disadvantages of excessive taxes by ordinary people and evasion of taxes by the families of honorable relatives. ”

Emperor Jing'an's eyes darkened a little and said, "It's not easy to talk about." You go down first. ”

Wei Qi kowtowed and said, "My nephew begs the imperial uncle for mercy." ”

Emperor Jing'an said angrily: "Wei Qi, you have to understand that you can't be emotional in major affairs of the court. After saying that, he stood up and walked away.

Qiu Deyong walked up to Wei Qi, who was kneeling in a daze, and said softly: "Prince Ming, please go back first, don't make the emperor angry." ”

Wei Qi stood up silently and went out of the hall listlessly.

In accordance with Emperor Jing'an's will, the Three Law Divisions decided to try the case of the Zhang brothers' rebellion as soon as possible before the year.

On this day, the three legal divisions continued to interrogate, and after asking the Zhang brothers to confess to the crimes, Shangshu of the Criminal Department was about to announce the verdict, Zhang Fangping suddenly shouted: "Lord Zuo, what you said that day, if I can confess the truth and report other criminals, I can reduce the punishment, and I won't be late, right?" ”

There was a commotion in the hall suddenly, and Shangshu of the Criminal Department slapped the Tang Mu and said, "Bold! Offenders are not allowed to disturb the public court. ”

Zuo Zhenkun said: "The law stipulates that criminals can be commuted if they voluntarily correct, and the trial officials may not stop them. ”

Shangshu of the Criminal Department said: "Lord Zuo, I am going to announce the sentence today, don't you want to make extraneous branches?" ”

Zuo Zhenkun said: "The Three Law Divisions are the highest judicial bodies of Dasui, how can they not follow the law? ”

Shangshu of the Criminal Department had no choice but to ask: "Zhang Fangping, what truth do you want to confess, and who is you reporting?" ”

Zhang Fangping said: "Mao Xiang is indeed not what our Wudou Rice Sect is looking for, someone spent 100,000 taels of silver for us to help find it." ”

The hall was even more uproar, and the Shangshu of the Criminal Department slapped the shocked Tang Mu and shouted: "Silence! After calming down a little more, the Criminal Department Shangshu said: "Zhang Fangping, the case of Mao Xiang is not tried by the Three Law Divisions, you don't need to say much. Now the verdict has been pronounced by the three law divisions. ”

At this time, Zuo Zhenkun made up his mind after a fierce ideological confrontation, and he said to the criminal department: "Don't pronounce the sentence first, we should listen to the confession of the criminal." ”

Shang Shu of the Criminal Department hurriedly said: "The emperor has made a will, and the case of Mao Xiang will be tried by the Inspection Division, and the Three Law Divisions should not be involved." ”

Zuo Zhenkun said: "First of all, the law stipulates that if a person retracts his confession in court, the trial official must hear it, and consider whether it is in line with voluntary surrender and commutation of punishment according to the circumstances; Secondly, when it comes to the case of impersonation, we can hand over the confession to the Inspection Division and help the Inspection Division investigate, why not? ”

Shangshu of the Criminal Department said: "The emperor has a decree that the inspection department will investigate the case, and each department shall not interfere. After speaking, he said to Dali Siqing: "Lord Siqing, right?" ”

Without waiting for Dali Siqing to speak, Zuo Zhenkun said: "We are not interfering in the investigation of the Inspection Division, but helping the Inspection Division." The most important thing is that we cannot fail to act in accordance with the law, otherwise the imperial history will be impeached. ”

Shangshu of the Criminal Department scolded in his heart: "The imperial history is all your subordinates, if you want to impeach them, will they not impeach?" But it was impossible for him to say this, so he could only look at Dali Siqing for help.

Dali Siqing was shocked by Zuo Zhenkun's words, and it made sense to think about it, but he couldn't make up his mind, so he had to say: "Why don't you ask the Inspection Department?" ”

Zuo Zhenkun said disapprovingly: "The trial of the case by the Three Law Divisions requires the consent of the Inspection Division?" ”

Dali Siqing thought about it and said, "Yes, our three law divisions can't be too weak." What do you say, Lord Shangshu? ”

Shangshu of the Criminal Department couldn't cry or laugh, and said in his heart: "You are too grassy." But he knew that Zhang Fangping couldn't be allowed to retract his confession, otherwise he might get away with it, not to mention the majesty of the Criminal Department as the chief judge, even if he got the 50,000 taels, it would become hot.

He resolutely said to Zuo Zhenkun: "Lord Zuo, I don't agree to listen to Zhang Fangping's confession, this is against the emperor's will. ”

Zuo Zhenkun also said resolutely: "We did not take the initiative to get involved in the case of Mao Xiang, there was no violation of the will at all, but we just tried Zhang Fangping's case normally, and in accordance with the law of the Great Sui, we heard the confession of the offender and corrected him." ”

The Criminal Department Shangshu said: "As long as it involves risk-taking, we can't intervene." Then he patted the shocked wood and said: "Zhang Fangping listens to the judgment." ”

Zuo Zhenkun said angrily: "Wait! The three legal divisions will be tried, and the verdict can only be pronounced if they reach the same opinion, is the criminal department deliberately violating the law of the Great Sui? If so, you don't need others, I, Zuo Zhenkun, am the first to join you! ”

The Shangshu of the Criminal Department did not dare to announce the sentence again, and Dali Siqing was afraid that the two would clash again, so he hurriedly said: "The two adults, both of them are dissipated, they are all for the sake of the court, let's discuss it carefully." ”

Zuo Zhenkun slowed down his tone and said: "Two adults, our three law divisions are the supreme legal institutions of the Great Sui, if we don't act according to the law, not to mention that we can't convince the public, even if we can't explain it to the emperor." ”

Dali Siqing nodded and said: "That's true, today we don't follow the law, tomorrow someone will participate in a copy, don't wait for the emperor to deal with it, and I have no shame to stay in this position anymore." ”

Zuo Zhenkun said: "I understand the worries of the two adults, in this way, our respective opinions will be recorded today, and the emperor will also see it." I will preside over the trial below, if the emperor has any punishment, I will bear it with all my might, and the two adults will not be responsible, how about it? ”。

The Shangshu of the Criminal Department had no excuse, and he didn't see any reaction from the officials who heard the trial of the Inspection Department, so he really didn't know the bottom in his heart, so he had to be silent.

So, Zuo Zhenkun sat down in the position of the chief judge, patted the hall and said, "Zhang Fangping, tell me what you just said carefully." ”