Fenghou

Chapter 344 Excuses
At the same time, in the Imperial Study Room of Zichen Palace, Zhang Jun was reporting the results of his conversation with Chen Qing to Emperor Zhao Gou, with Qin Hui and Zhao Ding beside him.

Zhao Gou is not a stingy king when it comes to conferring military merits. He is very generous to the soldiers who have done meritorious service. He was very generous in promoting Chen Qing before, but this time it was really because of the empress dowager's firm opposition.

Zhao Gou listened to Zhang Jun's report, pondered for a moment, and asked Qin Hui and Zhao Ding, "What do you two think?"

Qin Hui understood the emperor's intentions very well. He knew that this result was what the emperor wanted. Since he did not offend the queen mother and appeased the meritorious Chen Qing, everyone was happy. It is unbearable for him to gently confer the title of Duke, and he can accept it in his heart. Although His Majesty does not want to break his trust in the world and seal him as Duke, he must also consider Chen Dutong's own feelings. Since he has This idea, His Majesty, let him be fulfilled!"

Zhang Jun secretly scolded Qin Hui for being shameless, obviously Chen Qing had to accept the official arrangement, but in Qin Hui's mouth, it turned out that Chen Qing gave up his credit and became the official's favor for Chen Qing.

But Zhang Jun also knew in his heart that the officials wanted to hear such words, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and cooperate: "Mr. Your Majesty conferred the Duke of another country, which made him unbearable. Before interrogating Xu Yun, the commander of the Mingzhou Navy who surrendered to the Puppet Qi, he was dissatisfied with Chen Qingfeng, the Duke of the Kingdom, so he was drawn over by the Puppet Qi. He proposed that he should not grant a reward. Passing it on to his subordinates is also his response to Feng Guogong, His Majesty will fulfill him!"

Zhao Goulong was overjoyed, the two prime ministers were good at talking, and in the end they didn't reward Chen Qing, but instead fulfilled him by themselves.

Just as Zhao Gou was about to speak, Zhao Ding said first, "Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

Zhao Gou was really helpless. As soon as this upright gentleman opened his mouth, he knew something bad was going to happen.

"What did Mr. Zhao say?"

"Your Majesty, military merit rewards are always the result of weighing the pros and cons. It is a reward for those who have done meritorious service, and it is also to boost the morale of the entire army. Your Majesty bestowing Chen Qing as the Duke of the State is a good thing for a thousand dollars to buy a horse's bone in my humble opinion He can inspire tens of thousands of soldiers to be loyal to His Majesty. Xu Yun is just a special case, just one or two thorns in the fragrance of the garden, and it must not represent the thoughts of other soldiers. In this battle of Jingxiang, regardless of the Changlin rescue battle, the Jiangling defense battle, the Hanyang decisive battle, the Three Gorges blocking battle and the capture of Xiangyang, it was Chen Qing's own efforts to turn the tide. In the end, the court commended those who defended Jingxiang Credit, but not for Chen Qing, Your Majesty, what will the soldiers of the world think?"

There was no sound in the imperial study room, Qin Hui said with a dry smile: "Mr. Zhao is too worried. The court still wants to commend Chen Qing's merits, but only commend them separately. Two merits are combined into one merit. It is by no means that he has been forgotten."

Zhao Ding gave Qin Hui a disgusted look, "This is just deception. Everyone knows that Feng Guogong is because of the extermination of Yang Yao, and it has nothing to do with the defense of Jingxiang. If we insist on forcibly twisting together now, it will only make the world laugh. .”

Zhang Jun saw that the official's face was a bit ugly, so he quickly smoothed things over and said: "The puppet Qi army and Yang Yao secretly colluded. Among them, it also fully proves that the puppet Qi army's southern invasion was planned for a long time with Yang Yao, so there is nothing wrong with combining the two achievements into one. As for the title, you can explain it separately."

"That's it!"

Zhao Gou finally spoke, "Two meritorious deeds are combined into one meritorious service. I formally conferred the title of Lord Jing Guo. I agreed to his request and distributed his meritorious service to the generals under him. Doctor, seal up the guards, that's all!"

Everyone broke up unhappy, Qin Hui turned a corner and came back.

Seeing that Zhao Gou was still sulking, he persuaded: "Your Majesty, don't worry. He wants to distribute the credit to his subordinates. What does he have to do with His Majesty? Your Majesty has not treated him badly. Besides, as long as I don't Opinions, other people actually don’t care, and don’t need to think too much about other people’s feelings.”

"But Mr. Zhao is very dissatisfied!"

"Hey! What's wrong with Mr. Zhao?"

"That's right! Since when has he made me feel at ease with this thorny head?"

After thinking this through, Zhao Gou felt better again, and he asked Qin Hui again, "About Li Gang, do you think I transferred him to the court?"

Qin Hui was taken aback. The subconscious meaning of Li Gang's transfer to the imperial court was to be a prime minister. How could this be allowed?Although Chen Qing hates him, he doesn't pose any threat to him, but Li Gang is different. Once he becomes prime minister, he will definitely become his biggest political enemy.

"Your Majesty, Huguang was miserably devastated by water thieves and bandits, and was also invaded and destroyed by the puppet Qi army. Now it is time to restore vitality and people's livelihood. It is time to employ people. Li Gang has a high reputation in Huguang, and it is most appropriate for him to restore Huguang's people's livelihood. Not long after he was transferred to Huguang, he was simply asked to work for a few more years to save some political achievements."

Qin Hui said that he would not let Li Gang return to the court. In fact, why did Zhao Gou want Li Gang, a hardliner who resisted the gold, to be a prime minister?He just wanted Qin Hui to come up with an excuse for him.

Restoring people's livelihood is a good excuse, Zhao Gou said happily: "Li Gang will continue to serve as Huguang Xuanfu Envoy, and he will be crowned Prince Shaobao, promoted to Gold Ziguanglu Doctor, and University of Baohe Palace. Qi's work!"

A series of dizzying appointments, but the most important thing is that there is nothing wrong with Zhongshumen. Qin Hui put his heart down and said quickly: "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Is there anything else, Mr. Qin?"

"I still have something to report to His Majesty!"

"what's up?"

"That's right, Weichen chatted with several generals a few days ago. When talking about the reason why Chen Qing led the army in many battles, they all mentioned that there was a secret firearm in Chen Qing's army. It was very sharp, called the powder barrel, and it was amazingly powerful. , which is very effective in defending the city."

Zhao Gou was immediately interested, "Is there such a thing? Immediately ask him to take out a few barrels to the Military Weapons Supervision, make a large number of them, and promote them to the entire army."

"Weichen also heard that other army generals asked him for it. He always used the excuse of keeping secrets to prevent Jinbing from imitating it, and refused to take it out. Weichen estimated that he would use this excuse to shirk."

Zhao Gou frowned, "What will happen if Jin Bing gets it?"

"As long as weapons are promoted, the other party will know sooner or later. Which is not right? Golden soldiers also have firearms. The key is to consider the pros and cons. Firearms are more suitable for defense, while golden soldiers are more offensive, so they are more suitable for the Song army. Instead of the Jin Bing, the benefit to the Song Army is great, but the benefit to the Jin Bing is small. Chen Qing's situation is too small, and he takes his own interests too seriously. The humble minister's suggestion is to send a special envoy to Baling directly, and how much will it cost to take out His Majesty's handbook? As soon as the powder keg comes back, even if Chen Qing finds out about it afterwards, there's nothing he can do about it, so he won't have to find all kinds of excuses to evade it."

Zhao Gou was quite dissatisfied with Chen Qing's selfishness in his heart. Qin Hui's suggestion reminded him that Zhao Gou also wanted to give it a try. Would his handwriting work in Chen Qing's army?

"Yes, I will write a letter, and I will hand over this matter to Mr. Qin. If the firearms are sharp, they will be widely promoted in the army immediately."

When Qin Hui returned to the imperial court, he immediately found his confidant, supervised the censor Wan Qixie, and handed him the emperor's letter, ordering him to take people to Baling immediately to ask for gunpowder.

Wan Qixie said with a sinister smile: "There is a plan for a humble position. It is better to say that Chen Qing's subordinates do not recognize the emperor's handwriting, but only recognize the general's order after getting the gunpowder. In this way, Chen Qing can be impeached for raising a private army and questioned. , what does Xianggong think?"

Qin Hui pondered for a moment, this method seemed very good, but it might be self-defeating, and he couldn't bear to confront him face to face, once he tracked down the whereabouts of the gunpowder and found that it fell into the hands of the golden man, he would have to be dismissed and sent to prison, the consequences would be disastrous.

He said to Wan Qixi: "This matter can't be extravagant. If the other party doesn't give it, just tell the truth, but if it does, then do as I said, take five barrels and hand them over to the military supervisor for four barrels. When I asked more questions, I said that the other barrel fell into the river and was lost, do you understand?"

"Humble job understands!"

Wan Qixie led the order to retreat, and he immediately left Lin'an with a few of his men on horseback, and rushed towards Baling County.

(End of this chapter)