Daming talker

Chapter 680: Farewell and Leaving Beijing

The day before Lin Jinglüe left Beijing, court ministers held a meeting in the East Court Room outside the Meridian Gate to recommend candidates for the Left Censor-in-Chief, and it was even very likely that the Minister of Justice would be one of them.

Since it involves two of the Seven Ministers, it is a very heavyweight matter, so all forces are on high alert.

If we don’t count the farce at the end of last year, the last time such a heavyweight recommendation was made in the court was a year ago.

In the East Court Room outside the Meridian Gate, the atmosphere was very serious. Although it had not officially started yet, the ceremony had already become quiet.

In fact, in the eyes of many people, the results of the imperial recommendation have already been "decided".

Sun Pi Yang and Sun Yu, two old Jinshi who won the title of Jinshi in the 35th year of Jiajing, will be appointed as the Left Censor-in-Chief and the Minister of Punishments respectively.

It is difficult for others to compete with these two in terms of qualifications, and the Lin Party cannot come up with any candidate who is equally qualified.

Wang Tianguan, who was presiding over the court recommendation, closed his eyes and rested, as if he was waiting for a certain rhythm before speaking.

At this moment, a figure swayed at the window of Dongchao's room. Suddenly, a giant man in a Qilin costume poked his head out of the window and looked into the house through the window.

This figure seemed to block out the sunlight, as if a huge shadow appeared in the hearts of the Qingliu forces.

Looking up and seeing Lin Tailai is an ominous sign!

"Lin Tailai! What are you doing here?" Yang Junmin, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue, asked loudly.

Among the giants of the Qingliu forces and the Shanxi-Shaanxi Alliance, Sun Pi Yang and Sun Yu are likely to be nominated today. It is not convenient for them to act as "gunners", so Yang Junmin has to take over.

In previous court sessions, Lin Tailai could always find a way to sneak in, but today it was absolutely impossible!
The general who is about to lead the troops outside must avoid suspicion! He cannot interfere in the high-level personnel affairs of the court while commanding a large number of troops.

That's why Yang Junmin dared to get rid of his psychological shadow and rebuked Lin Tailai with confidence!
Lin Tailai was not angry, but said with a smile: "I was just passing by! I just happened to pass by, you guys continue!"

Yang Junmin was afraid that Lin Tailai would find an excuse to stay and refused to leave, so he continued to refute: "How dare you say it was a coincidence? What could have happened to you that made you pass by Dongchaofang?"

Next to the East Courtyard is the Meridian Gate, and inside are the Huangji Gate, Huiji Gate, Wenhua Hall, and the Cabinet. Is there anything you, Lin Tai, need to do?

"I come to pay my respects to Your Majesty!" Lin Tailai said confidently.

According to etiquette, the day before a minister leaves the capital, he should appear before the emperor to bid farewell.

When the morning court can be held normally, the imperial edict is usually held at the court meeting, which is considered one of the reserved items of the court meeting.

But as we all know, this is an extraordinary period, and any project that requires the emperor to intervene must be adjusted.

Yang Junmin felt that Lin Tailai was really insulting everyone's intelligence, and retorted:
"Now, Your Majesty only needs to stand outside Chengtian Gate and bow to it from afar! Why do you need to enter the palace and walk here?"

Lin Tailai opened his eyes wide and said in surprise: "Do all of you ordinary ministers bid farewell to the emperor outside Chengtian Gate?
But the emperor has ordered me to enter the Meridian Gate and bid farewell outside the Huangji Gate, so I have to pass by the East Court Room. "

The ordinary ministers in the East Court Room: "."

Fortunately, Lin Tailai did not delay for long. After saying this, he hurried away and entered the Meridian Gate next door.

Then Lin Tailai stood in the small square outside Huangji Gate and bid farewell to Huangji Gate.

Chen Ju, the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department, came out from the east corner gate of Huangji Gate and called Lin Tailai over to listen to the emperor's orders.

First, Eunuch Chen gave Lin Jinglie some verbal encouragement on behalf of the emperor, encouraging Lin Jinglie to do a good job in mineral exploration in addition to military operations.

At the same time, the emperor's imperial edict to the King of Korea was handed over to Lin Jinglie, who took it and presented it to the King of Korea.

More importantly, Eunuch Chen also presented Lin Jinglue with the Shangfang Sword on behalf of the emperor. Without this, the position of a general seemed to lack a soul.

In the middle and late Wanli period when all procedures were kept simple, today's farewell speech by General Lin was considered to be full of ceremonial sense.

Emperor Wanli, who hid in the deep palace, actually sent eunuchs to deliver the message, which shows how much importance he attached to it.

In fact, it didn't take that long in total, just a few more words.

Lin Jinglie held the newly acquired Shangfang Sword in his hand, turned around and walked out of the Meridian Gate, and came to the outside of the East Courtyard.

Then Lin Tailai leaned against the door holding the sword and shouted, "I'm just passing by to listen, you guys continue!"

There was a discussion going on about appointing the Minister of Justice Sun Pi Yang as the Left Censor-in-Chief, and the time was almost ripe.

As a result, after Lin Tailai appeared, it was as if the pause button was pressed in Dongchao's room.

Yang Junmin could no longer bear it, "Please leave, everyone who has no connection with you!"

Lin Tailai was still smiling and said to Yang Junmin in a nonchalant manner, "I have something to talk to you about, but I'm afraid it will be too late if I leave tomorrow!
Your nephew Han Yu asked me to pass on the eight taels and five cents of silver to Qian Sile, but I really can't find him, so I'm returning the silver to you first."

Yang Junmin's face darkened instantly, "No need! If you can't find the person, you can keep it for yourself!"

Then Yang Junmin ignored Lin Tai's visit, and others were even more reluctant to ask him to leave.

Wang Tianguan pretended not to see Lin Tailai and asked everyone, "If we recommend Sun Piyang as the Left Censor-in-Chief, who agrees and who opposes?"

Before Wang Tianguan finished speaking, the Left Vice-Chief Censor Zhan Yangbi, under the death gaze from outside the door, suddenly jumped out as if he had been injected with chicken blood and shouted: "I object!"

Yang Junmin felt something was wrong and cursed in frustration: "You are not against it! Do you think you, a notorious person, want to be promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief?"

Zhan Yangbi ignored Yang Junmin's provocation and said loudly to everyone: "Last year, the Fengxian officials in important inland provinces had problems one after another, so since the beginning of this spring, the court has begun to investigate the Fengxian officials in various provinces three years back, mainly from the 16th year of Wanli to the 19th year of Wanli!
So far, there have been some interim results, which are truly shocking!

During this period, Lu Guangzu was the Minister of Punishments and later the Left Censor-in-Chief. He should have taken the main responsibility, but he had already resigned, so he was not held accountable.

There was also Wu Shilai who served as the Left Censor-in-Chief for two years and bore minor responsibility, but he had already died of illness and there was no need to pursue his case.

During this period, Sun Piyang served as the Minister of Justice for a year, so he should at least be held responsible for dereliction of duty! Not punishing him was a sign of leniency by the court, so how could he be promoted to the position of Left Censor-in-Chief? "

Like a bolt from the blue, Sun Pi Yang, who had strong and almost impeccable qualifications, suddenly had a small breakthrough.

Although it does not seem to be enough to overthrow Sun Pi Yang, the cracks on the golden body are not a good sign anyway.

Who knows what Lin Tailai will do next to expand this breakthrough?
Here, no one doubts Lin Tailai's ability to stir up trouble.

Thinking of this, everyone in the East Chamber looked at Lin Tailai standing outside the door. Lin Tailai was surprised and shouted, "It was Deputy Xianxian Zhan who was holding Grand Minister Sun accountable, but why are you all looking at me?"
I was just a passer-by, listening in, and I didn’t say anything! "

The more Lin Tailai pretended to be innocent, the more people thought there was a conspiracy. There must be a conspiracy! There must be a back-up plan to deal with Sun Piyang!

At this time, Wang Tianguan, who was in charge of the recommendation, said leisurely: "Sun Piyang's merits outweigh his flaws, and we cannot deny him for this reason.

But it also gives us a warning that the position of Minister of Justice is closely related to people's livelihood and has great responsibilities, so the selection of candidates must be done carefully."

What this means is that Sun Pi Yang can be the Left Censor-in-Chief, but he must give up the vacant position of Minister of Justice. You, the Qingliu forces, cannot occupy everything!
Sun Yu, the current Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who was originally about to be promoted to the Minister of Punishments, was speechless. Why was it Sun Pi Yang who was breached, but he was the one who was injured?

I am also a Jinshi in the 35th year of Jiajing. Now I am the oldest person in the court and I am still serving as a minister!
The Qingliu forces originally wanted to struggle and then forcefully push Sun Yan away, but after looking at the barbarians standing at the door, they decided to "quit while they are ahead."

Although the barbarian didn't speak, the people standing next to him seemed to have an invisible and powerful deterrent force.

Struggling is equivalent to gambling. If Lin Tailai takes action to kill Sun Pi Yang, he will suffer a greater loss.

In order to prepare for the imperial inspection next year, Sun Pi Yang must be promoted to the position of Left Censor-in-Chief, so Sun Yu could only be patient for now.

The final result of the court recommendation was that the Minister of Punishments Sun Piyang was promoted to the Left Censor-in-Chief, the Minister of Works Chen Yubei was promoted to the Minister of Punishments, and Zhong Zhengji, an old Jinshi in the Jiajing dynasty who had been promoted several times and was acceptable to all parties and was the Vice Minister of Works, was promoted to the Minister of Works.

After the court session ended, Minister of War Ye Mengxiong and Lin Tailai walked out of the palace together.

He couldn't help but ask curiously, "What backup plan have you prepared to deal with Sun Piyang so that you can force them to give in and give up the other Shangshu?"

Lin Tailai said calmly: "I really have no backup plan. I can only stand outside the door and keep silent. I have no other options.

I don’t know why they are so afraid that I will completely destroy Sun Piyang.”

Ye Mengxiong: “.”

It turned out to be an empty city stratagem? Can the court push be played like this?

On the next day, Lin Tailai, who was a reader in the Hanlin Academy, Shaoqing of the Taichang Temple, Langzhong of the Three Departments of Examination, Right Censor-in-Chief, acting as Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and was in charge of Liaodong, Denglai, Korea and other places to prepare for the Japanese invasion, set out on the eastern expedition.

The accompanying camp included three hundred temporarily "recruited" servants from the Lin mansion, as well as several hundred cavalrymen from the headquarters of Dayun, deputy general of Gansu Zhensongshan, with Dayun as the central military officer.

Originally, there were officers and soldiers from the Beijing camp who wanted to follow the expedition in the hope of making achievements, but they were politely declined by Lin Jinglüe.

Regarding the veteran soldiers of the Beijing Camp who had not been on the battlefield for a long time, had never fought even a security battle, and whose greatest combat experience might be street fighting, Lin Jinglue suggested that you should continue to carry out more important tasks such as defending the capital.

In order to get a good start, Lin Jinglie took a detour and left the city from Deshengmen in the north. The Minister of War Ye Mengxiong personally saw him off.

Then they headed eastward, out of the capital's territory and reached Sanhe, where they stopped for three days to join up with the government troops transferred from Jizhen.

This battalion has 3,000 soldiers and horses, with Qi's army bloodline. Among them, 600 to 700 are descendants of the southern soldiers who followed Qi Shaobao north to Jizhen.

The Lieutenant General Wu Weizhong and the guerrilla Ye Bangrong who led the troops were both veterans of the Qi family army. They had followed Qi Shaobao in his battles and were promoted from Yiwu recruits based on their military achievements.

So many years have passed since the glorious days of the anti-Japanese war in the southeast, and there are really only a few veteran generals of the Qi family army still serving in the barracks.

Commander Lin Jinglüe came to the tent, and Wu Weizhong and Ye Bangrong came in full armor to pay their respects.

According to the etiquette at that time, when a general paid a visit to a commander, he would first come in wearing armor to pay his respects, then go out to change into casual clothes before coming back in to talk.

After Brigadier General Wu and Youji Ye, who were wearing armor, finished their worship and were about to go out to change into regular clothes, they were stunned by the decorations on the right side of General Lin's chair.

As a commander-in-chief, he would certainly put some "decorations" on his left and right to show his authority.

At this moment, on the left side of Lin Jinglie were hung the sword and the royal flag, and the murderous aura of "acting at one's own convenience" was overwhelming.

On the right side is a weapons rack with a peculiarly shaped spear on it. The spear head is a foot and a half long and shaped like a dagger.

What made Brigadier General Wu and Guerrilla Ye stunned and stare at was this spear. It looked so familiar to them!
The mighty water gun! Qi Shaobao's mighty water gun!
When they were still serving under Master Qi, this powerful water gun was always by his side!
Under the command of this powerful water gun, they were promoted step by step from a small civilian soldier to a military officer of the third or fourth rank!

Lin Jinglue smiled and said, "This department is the successor of Qi Shaobao's martial arts, which is what people call a closed disciple."

As to whether he could be considered a "closed disciple", Lin Tailai was not quite sure.

But it doesn’t matter. If there are new disciples behind me, as long as I kill the new disciples, I will definitely become the “last disciple”.

Wu Weizhong and Ye Bangrong did not doubt the saying of "closed disciple". Otherwise, why would Qi Shaobao give the Shenwei Lie Water Gun to Lin Jinglie?
Besides, Jizhen is not far from the capital, and I have vaguely heard the legend that the top martial arts champion in the 14th year of Wanli was a disciple of Qi Shaobao.

With this bond, the two of them looked at Lin Jinglie with a different mentality.

Lin Tailai greeted them and said, "The military salute is over. The two veterans, please change into your regular uniforms and chat again! We won't talk about official business today. I will host a banquet for you two old friends on behalf of the teacher!"

Lieutenant General Wu’s loyalty +100!

Ye Guerrilla Loyalty +100!

Looking at the two people going out to change into casual clothes, Lin Tailai recalled some popular sayings on the Internet in later generations.

What about the great achievements of the Southern Army, which was mainly composed of Qi's army, in Korea being swallowed up by the Northern Army, which was mainly composed of the Liaodong Army, and the commander Li Rusong favored the Northern Army.

Then, after returning to Jizhen, the Qi family army demanded a reward of silver, but was suppressed and three thousand people were slaughtered with rivers of blood.

It can only be said that these stories, like the story about Qi Shaobao being poor and destitute in his later years and having no money to see a doctor, are more like rumors fabricated by Qing fans based on some prototype events in order to prove that "the Ming Dynasty has lost its morality."

During the Korean War, conflicts did arise between the South and North armies, but it did not reach the point where the North Army completely swallowed up the South Army's achievements.

It is true that a Southern Army general ran to Li Rusong and yelled at him, and Li Rusong had to pay out of his own pocket to settle the matter.

As for the later Jizhen mutiny, official materials stated that the reason was that a group of officers and soldiers who had never been on the battlefield also started to clamor for reward silver. The specific reason remains to be investigated.

The final result of the mutiny was that one or two hundred people died in the suppression, and the rest of the mutinous soldiers were disbanded. It was not the case that all the southern soldiers were massacred as described in the online jokes.

Those who know a little about military mutinies know that the Ming court at that time did not have the tradition of slaughtering large numbers of rebel soldiers.

If the Ming Dynasty at that time was really ruthless enough to kill thousands of people in response to the mutiny, Lin Tailai, who had violated the law several times, would have been brought to justice long ago.

(End of this chapter)