serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 339 Summer Capital 2
There was silence in the upper study.

Emperor Jianwu sat in front of the imperial court with his eyes closed, his face so calm that no expression could be seen.

Wang Hetang and Zhao Zixun hurried to attend the imperial meeting without even having time to change their official robes.

Wang Hetang, Zhao Zixun, Shi Guangzhu, Li Shouzhong, Niu Jizong, and Jin Shuqing stood on both sides of the imperial case, nervously waiting for Emperor Jianwu to speak.

After a long time, Emperor Jianwu slowly opened his eyes, his eyes slowly swept over the faces of several people, and he spoke: "The urgent message from the governor of Yunnan said that all the borders of Yunnan have fallen into the hands of the Annan people, and there are estimated to be 10,000+ Troops and horses, and troops and horses from Annan Kingdom are coming in a steady stream. Yunnan only has [-] patrol battalions. Counting these defeated troops who escaped, the imperial court currently has less than [-] troops. The enemy is strong and we are weak. The situation is very critical.

In addition, more than a dozen senior generals including Rugui, the general guard of Southern Xinjiang, were killed in the battle, and the army did not have a suitable general. Once the Annan people took the opportunity to launch a war, the situation in Southern Xinjiang would be unimaginable!You say, what should we do? "

Wang Hetang, Shi Guangzhu and others either had just arrived or had just seen the urgent delivery from the governor of Yunnan. Because this matter was directly related to the safety of several provinces in the southwest, everyone was thinking carefully, and no one spoke for a while.

Only Jin Shuqing, because he was in the study at the time, knew about the defeat in Southern Xinjiang immediately. He had already made plans during the time when Wang Hetang and others arrived. At this time, he said: "Your Majesty, the top priority is nothing more than Two items. The first is to mobilize the army. I believe that the defeat of the southern Xinjiang army was not an accident, but a long-planned conspiracy. The Annan Kingdom must have gathered hundreds of thousands of troops and wanted to capture the southwest region of our country in one fell swoop. The Annan Army If the garrison in southern Xinjiang can be defeated, the garrisons and patrol battalions in Yunnan and Guizhou and other places will definitely not be able to withstand it. In addition, the people in the border areas will definitely cause chaos, and it will be impossible to use troops unless there are several times the enemy's strength.

In addition, elite frontier troops must be drawn from the nine sides.However, the troops drawn from various border towns were not easy to coordinate, and it was easy for the Annan people to find flaws.According to the minister's wish, the Liaodong Army of An Guogong was mobilized to go south.In this way, the matter of commanding the troops and generals will be solved, and the Annamites can be defeated quickly.

In addition, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs were ordered to quickly transport military supplies such as ordnance, grain and grass to southern Xinjiang. "

Hearing this, Wang Hetang, Shi Guangzhu and others looked at each other, and they all understood what Jin Shuqing had in mind.

Today, three groups of people live in the Concierge House: Xiyi people, Japanese people, and Korean Tatars who arrived in Beijing in late April.

Speaking of the Xiyi people, one thing has to be said. In early March, Zhao Jianjun delivered an 20-mile express from Mobei. The imperial court learned that the [-] Rakshasa army might invade the northwest border. In April In the middle of the month, news came from the Gansu General Military Mansion that a riot broke out in the northwest, and all the imperial troops stationed there were killed. Gansu soldiers and horses had been stationed at various passes to strictly prevent the rebels from entering Gansu, and also requested the imperial court to mobilize troops for reinforcements.

The emperor ordered Zhongjing Hou Shi Ding and Zhongqin Bo Zhao Yi to lead the Jingying and Datong guards westward to reinforce the Gansu guards, put down the northwest rebellion, and eliminate the invading Rakshasa people.

The Xiyi people didn't know where they got the news. That Major William came to Beijing again and once again made a request for alliance, hoping that the two countries would jointly send troops to destroy the Rakshasa people.

There are also the Japanese who knew that the Zhou Dynasty would not send troops to help them eliminate the invading Liaodong Tatars, so they sought free support from the Zhou Dynasty. They asked for [-] pairs of armor, [-] waist knives and a large amount of military supplies as soon as they opened their mouth. .

Regarding the shameless behavior of the Japanese people, the cabinet would naturally not tolerate them and directly rejected them. However, it could sell them the weapons and equipment that had been accumulated in the warehouse.

Even though the Japanese people are short and ugly, they are very evil and evil.

Since they have to pay, they naturally want the best weapons and equipment from the Zhou Dynasty. No, they are interested in the self-generated fire guns in the hands of the infantry yamen soldiers, and are now arguing with the Ministry of War.

As for the Korean Tatars, they came to seek peace.

In early March, Li Chengyang sent a partial force across the Yalu River and captured Yizhou and other places. Gan Xiaosi immediately panicked and hurriedly sent an envoy to sue for peace, saying that he was willing to take over the country and become a vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty.

The Manchu and Qing envoys bribed the ministers of the DPRK and China with heavy sums of money while also contacting the Japanese people, promising that as long as they helped persuade the Zhou Dynasty to give up attacking North Korea, they would not only allow the Liaodong Tatars who were causing trouble in the Japanese country to return to North Korea, but also give them a generous sum of money. reward!

However, the Japanese were not so easy to fool, and insisted that they first recall the Liaodong Tatars to North Korea, and then compensate the Japanese for all their losses, so that they would consider asking the Emperor of Zhou to intercede on their behalf.

Among the officials bribed by the Manchus were Jin Shuqing, Ma Guangru and other high-ranking royalist officials. However, what he said was not bad. Moreover, Liu Kun's [-] cavalry and Jizhou guards were stationed in Liaodong.

Jin Shuqing's words seemed to be without any problem. Everyone could not refute and could only remain silent.

Emperor Jianwu looked at all this coldly, picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, put it down, glanced around, and landed on the chief minister Wang Hetang: "What do you think?"

Wang Hetang: "Back to the emperor, I am a civil servant. Please listen to the military's opinions on this matter."

Emperor Jianwu's eyes flashed and he turned to Zhao Zixun: "You think so too?"

Zhao Zixun: "Back to the emperor, this matter is directly related to the safety of the imperial court. I can settle accounts and handle some chores, but I dare not discuss military and national affairs."

As soon as these words came out, Emperor Jianwu was first stunned.

Then, everyone else looked at each other in silence.

Only Jin Shuqing glanced at the ground, and then a contemptuous smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

After pondering for a while, Emperor Jianwu turned his eyes to Zhao Zixun again.

Zhao Zixun just glanced at Emperor Jianwu, and then lowered his eyes.How could Emperor Jianwu not care?This is because Yang Cifu and the royalists are angry with him.

His chest rose and fell, and after a while, he calmed down his breathing, ignored him, and turned his attention to the other three people.

Li Shouzhong didn't understand military strategy. Both Wang Hetang and Zhao Zixun avoided it. At this time, he would not cause such a big trouble for himself, so he lowered his eyes as if he would never participate.

Emperor Jianwu's face darkened, and he asked by name: "Shi Guangzhu, Niu Jizong, you are all from the distinguished military, please tell me."

Niu Jizong looked at Shi Guangzhu.

After a period of silence, Shi Guangzhu spoke: "I can't think of a better suggestion than Jin Shangshu for the time being."

Wang Hetang, Zhao Zixun and Li Shouzhong did not expect that Shi Guangzhu would say such words, and looked at each other unconsciously.

Jin Shuqing didn't expect it, and he felt uncertain for a moment. He looked at the ground with his eyes wide open, chewing on the meaning of Shi Guangzhu's words in his heart, and thinking rapidly about the situation that might need to be dealt with next.

Seeing the deadlock, Dai Quan had no choice but to speak: "I dare to ask, what should North Korea do?"

There was silence.

Emperor Jianwu frowned, and was about to lose his temper.

Jin Shuqing spoke: "North Korea is a barren land and does not have much value. You can leave it alone first. After you have dealt with the Annan people, you can deal with them later. Besides, the prince of Beining County is already on his way back to the court. .”

After a while, Emperor Jianwu made up his mind and said loudly: "Okay! Just do everything according to what Jin Aiqing said! Also tell An Guogong that it was Jin Shuqing, the Minister of Household Affairs, who recommended him."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked!
Emperor Jianwu waved his hand: "You all go back."

"Yes."

Everyone replied in unison and retreated with different moods.

Listening to the footsteps getting farther and farther outside the palace, Emperor Jianwu sighed deeply: "Now even Zhao Zixun doesn't understand me."

Dai Quan: "Your Majesty."

"never mind."

Emperor Jianwu waved his hand, picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and asked: "Tell me, what is going on in Southern Xinjiang? How come the army was suddenly defeated after everything was going well?"

Dai Quan thought for a while and replied: "Perhaps as Jin Shangshu said, all this is a conspiracy of the Annan people. Otherwise, how could there be so many troops attacking Yunnan."

Emperor Jianwu nodded.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came, and Li Zhong, the eunuch in charge of Fengzao Palace, walked to the door and knelt down, saying: "Your Majesty, Concubine De has been diagnosed with Ximai. It has been more than a month. .”

Emperor Jianwu was overjoyed: "Really?"

Li Zhong replied: "Both Xu Yuanzheng and Dr. Wang are sure that it is the Xi pulse."

Dai Quan immediately knelt down and said, "I congratulate Your Majesty!"

Emperor Jianwu stood up: "Let's go to Fengzao Palace!"

Before he finished speaking, the deputy general manager of Qianqing Palace rushed in like a gust of wind. He almost tripped over the threshold and knelt on the ground, gasping: "Yang, Mr. Yang is dead."

Dai Quan asked urgently: "What's going on?"

The deputy general manager fell on the ground: "I was ordered to send Mr. Yang to the prison of the Ministry of Justice. Before I left the Ministry of Justice, I got the news that Mr. Yang was hanged with a belt in the prison of the Ministry of Justice."

Emperor Jianwu was completely stunned at this time and stood there in a daze.
(End of this chapter)