King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 475 The Ninth Court Meeting

After everyone left, there were only two people left in the military tent. Besides Zhu Jinghong, the other one was Sun Shaozu.

"You have been in the northwest for a long time and know a lot about the situation in Junggar and Zhasak. How feasible is the strategy I proposed just now... do you think it is feasible?"

When Sun Shaozu was about to speak, Zhu Jinghong said again: "I want to listen to the truth, don't lie to me!"

As a result, Sun Shaozu could only hold back his flattery, and then looked at the map seriously and began to think.

"Thirteenth Master, the ministers who attack the city dare not speak nonsense, but I think this strategy of running for thousands of miles is feasible!"

"Although it is thousands of miles away, as long as our army brings enough food and grass, and the internal and external cavalry cooperate with each other, it will be difficult for the Dzungars to defeat our army. And if their army attacks... just as His Highness said, we can fight in advance!"

Zhu Jinghong asked: "How can you be sure that our army can win even if a decisive battle is fought in advance?"

Sun Shaozu replied: "Thirteenth Master, our army is already stronger than Junggar. As long as we don't command it randomly... we will definitely win!"

In fact, the reason is very simple. In terms of the troops stationed by the imperial court in the northwest, their comprehensive strength is already better than that of Junggar. This is the confidence for Zhu Jinghong to formulate his strategy.

In comparison, Ning Huanxiang was too cautious and wanted to compress the Junggar defense line steadily, which was possible but extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

"What a pity... Governor Ning has other ideas!" Zhu Jinghong said with a smile.

Sun Shaozu also sighed sadly, but he was thinking about other things.

If I follow Ning Huanxiang's style of play, how can I stand a chance of making a comeback? We can only play according to Master Thirteen’s method...

No, it doesn’t matter which way I fight. The key is to let Master Thirteen command the battle, so that I can have a chance to make contributions...

The more Sun Shaozu thought about it, the clearer his goal became. He was already planning how to put Zhu Jinghong in power.

First of all, we have to take down Ning Huanxiang...

The last thought he had came up shocked him, but it was not annihilated in the end, but took root in his heart.

Zhu Jinghong will not know that there are already people working out ways for him to take power, and there is no need for him to take the initiative to arrange it.

And this once again proves that as long as there are the same interests, the strongest community will be formed, without any superficial agreement or anything.

"Master Thirteen, it's time to eat!"

A clear female voice came, but it was Nuo Min who reminded outside the tent.

Although her father wanted to take her back, he could not win over Nuo Min, and she ended up staying with Zhu Jinghong.

To be honest, how many people want to give Zhu Jinghong a woman but haven't had the chance yet, but there are very few who try so hard to shirk it like Su He does.

It can be seen how much Su He cares for his daughter, but it is precisely because of his care that he compromised when Nuo Min begged and made a fuss.

"When you go back, clearly mark the situation of each department on the map. If you have the latest situation, draw it on it!" Zhu Jinghong finally ordered.

"Yes!" Sun Shaozu responded.

Sun Shaozu retreated, and Nuo Min came in with a tray in his hand. The smile on his face could not be concealed.

"Master Thirteen, it's time to eat!" Nuo Min came closer and said.

"There are only four dishes today, including shaomai, meat on hand, and..."

Nuo Min stayed with Zhu Jinghong for the past two days, so he took over the food and drink errands and gave him a taste of everything he knew.

Besides Baochai, Nuo Min was the second person to cook for Zhu Jinghong, which made him feel a little emotional.

"Thirteenth Master, after today's discussion, is there really going to be a big war?"

"Ok!"

"Wouldn't that mean a lot of people would die!" Nuo Min looked sad.

"There is no way around this!" Zhu Jinghong sighed.

"Will the matter be over after the imperial officers and soldiers win?"

"Yes!"

Nuomin has many problems. Although she was born into a fierce grassland tribe, she has a delicate and kind heart, which makes her personality shine.

"Thirteenth Master, there is someone outside who claims to be here to pay homage to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Jinghong was a little surprised when he heard that he came on the order of the prince, but then he ordered: "Bring him to see me!"

At this time, Jia Lian was outside the camp, and he was the one who was ordered to come.

The prince finally found a job for Jia Lian, asking him to be a service officer in the governor's office, and asked Jia Lian to bring a letter to Zhu Jinghong.

As long as the letter is handed in, Jia Lian can go to the governor's office as an errand.

After following the guards into the tent, Jia Lian saluted and paid homage to Zhu Jinghong who was sitting on the throne.

Although he was surprised that Jia Lian came, Zhu Jinghong calmly said: "Get up!"

"What does Fourth Brother have to pay?"

"Reporting to the Thirteenth Master, this is a letter from His Highness the Crown Prince..."

Jia Lian handed over the letter, and Nuo Min stood up, took it, and then sent it to Zhu Jinghong.

When Zhu Jinghong opened the letter, Jia Lian raised his waist and said, "The prince is writing this letter to ask the Thirteenth Master for a favor!"

"The prince heard that corrupt officials are rampant in Gansu, making it difficult for the people to live, and the people are ready to rebel..."

"The Crown Prince said... the people can carry the boat or overturn it, so the people's support cannot be expected. Corrupt officials must be punished for the grievances of the people..."

Jia Lian was talking, while Zhu Jinghong was listening and watching.

The prince's intention was very clear. He hoped that Zhu Jinghong would persuade Wang Pei'an to investigate the case strictly, which was completely opposite to Zhu Jingyuan's intention.

Zhu Jinghong was not surprised at all that the prince supported the investigation and stood on the side of the so-called "clear stream".

"Alas... I'm late. Prince Rui's Mansion sent a message a few days ago, asking me to write a letter to Chang Shi to advise him to be careful!"

"Since I have already written one letter, how can I write another one? Since Fourth Brother wants others to investigate strictly, why not personally send someone to persuade him?"

"With the support of his status as the prince, how can Wang Changshi be afraid of evil!"

This shows that the prince is indeed doing great things and cherishing his life. At this time, he still wants to protect his feathers.

It is never a bad thing to advocate a strict investigation of corruption, and it is unlikely to hurt its feathers in the first place.

The only bad result of doing this is that it may make the emperor dissatisfied.

But it was just dissatisfaction. If the prince showed a strong attitude, Zhu Xianming would really look down on him.

"This..." Jia Lian looked confused, and he didn't know how to deal with this matter.

This matter has exceeded Jia Lian's ability to deal with it, and he is extremely embarrassed at this moment.

At this time, Zhu Jinghong said: "I can't go back on my promise, so I can only trouble you to go and tell Wang Changshi what my fourth brother means!"

Jia Lian was not a fool and knew how deep the water was, so he did not agree to it.

Jia Lian replied: "I thought... it would be better to report it to the prince first, and then deal with it not too late!"

It's just that after reporting to the prince, you have to reply, which takes at least twenty days. Who knows what will happen during this period.

Zhu Jinghong smiled and said: "Well... you can decide for yourself!"

"Have you eaten?" "This... I came all the way and haven't eaten since noon!" Jia Lian looked embarrassed.

Before Zhu Jinghong could speak, Nuo Min interjected: "There happens to be food in the kitchen, you can just help yourself!"

The reason why Nuo Min interrupted was because he was worried that Zhu Jinghong would leave Jia Lian behind and eat the meal he cooked alone.

Seeing that Zhu Jinghong didn't speak, Nuo Min looked at the maid on one side and ordered: "Zhenzhu, take the young master down for dinner!"

"Yes!"

Thinking about Nuo Min's identity and envious of Zhu Jinghong's many beauties, Jia Lian saluted and said, "Thank you, Thirteenth Master!"

"Go, go!" Zhu Jinghong smiled calmly.

Jia Lian was led away by Pearl, while Zhu Jinghong was accompanied by Nuo Min. The two of them had dinner and chatted. Not to mention how beautiful the day was.

Zhu Jinghong received Baochai's reply on the first day of July and sent a letter to Wang Pei'an on the same day.

This reflects the importance of eight hundred miles of expediting. Because this letter went through the ordinary official document circulation channel, Wang Pei received the reply on the seventh day.

On the afternoon of the ninth day of July, Wang Pei'an finished his day's investigation and took the letter from the guard.

In the letter, Zhu Jinghong elaborated on the court situation in detail, and advised Wang Pei'an not to be Qingliu's pawn, and asked him to put the investigation aside first.

When the war in the imperial court is over, he can investigate as he wants, and neither Qingliu nor Zhao Yushan will or can stop him.

Only then did Wang Pei'an know that the situation in the court had changed drastically, and that he had become the focus of the struggle between the two sides.

In the study, Wang Peian took the letter and walked to the candle. He sighed and said, "Your Highness... you really shouldn't have sent this letter!"

After lighting the letter with a candle, Wang Pei'an continued: "In this case... you will also be involved in the party struggle!"

"You already have a lot of notoriety, but now if you are targeted by Qingliu again, I'm afraid life will be even more difficult in the future!"

Wang Pei'an's vision has always been very accurate. He is just in a lower position and limited by the lack of information. Otherwise, he would have seen through the situation of the court.

Although he is rigid, he is by no means brainless. Now that he knows that things have "changed," he will not be used as a weapon.

In fact, there is no harm in being a spearman, but the problem is that if we really follow Qingliu's purpose and cause chaos in the northwest and a defeat in the front, then it will be the people in the northwest who will suffer in the end.

In the face of major issues of right and wrong, Wang Peian will not be confused.

Although the letter had been burned, Wang Pei'an recalled the last few paragraphs of the letter. Zhu Jinghong really considered the overall situation and warned him to supervise the transportation of grain, grass and ordnance. This is the cornerstone of the victory of the frontline army.

The victory or defeat of the counterinsurgency war, the survival of the imperial officers and soldiers, and the expectations of the soldiers' relatives all depend on Mr.

In the last sentence of the letter, Zhu Jinghong unlimitedly promoted Wang Pei'an's role, and his deep-seated purpose was to keep him in the pass, lest this man come to restrict him.

"Supervising the transfer of ordnance and food and grass is not only to provide frontline protection, but also to uphold justice for the soldiers and civilians who are transferring food and grass. I still have a lot to do!" Wang Pei'an murmured in a low voice.

Obviously, he adopted Zhu Jinghong's opinion.

Wang Pei'an was a decisive person, and he showed a different attitude the next day, simply because his main investigation direction was no longer corruption, but instead inspecting the transfer of grain and grass in various yamen.

The news came a few days later, much to the relief of scores of officials in Gansu.

This group of people was really frightened, and now they dared to mess around under Wang Pei'an's nose, so the money and food of the people were fully allocated, making his name Wang Qingtian resound throughout the northwest.

Another seven or eight days later, the news from the northwest came back to the capital, but at this time, the court discussion had not yet reached a conclusion.

The memorial was delivered to the cabinet on June 23, and it is now July 18, only a few days to almost a month away. The two factions have held eight debates, but no results have been reached.

The most critical reason is because Zhu Xianming did not express his position.

But in fact, Zhu Xianming's attitude is already very obvious, even if he does not express his position on such an upright matter as investigating corruption.

As the emperor, of course he can't say he won't investigate, so it needs to be brought up by his ministers, and it has to be through court discussion.

Chongzheng Hall is the place where the regular court is held. The regular court is held on the first day of every tenth day. Except for the large court meeting on the first day of each month, it can be used up to twice a month.

But in July, in the past eighteen days, Chang Chao has used this place six times, of which the court meeting has been held five times.

Originally, the court meeting was held in the Qianqing Palace, but although the scope of the discussion expanded, the Qianqing Palace location was moved here.

The Chongzheng Palace is currently holding its sixth court meeting on this matter, and together with the three in the Qianqing Palace, this is the ninth time.

There were more than seventy people present at the scene, including the cabinet ministers, the six ministries and nine ministers, the six ministries and the Supervisory Yuan, plus the assistant officers of the five temples, the bachelors of the six subjects, the Hanlin Academy, and the Chunfang officer of Zhan Shifu.

The two parties were clearly divided. At this moment, each side stood on one side, speaking in turn to explain their own views, or to refute the other's views.

The one who was speaking at this moment was Zhou Xinyang, the censor of Qiandu of the Inspectorate.

His attitude is to support strict investigation of the case. Simply put, he is on Chen Jinyun's side, which can be called "clear flow".

"There is nothing more harmful than selfishness, and nothing more violent than bribery."

Zhou Xinyang talked eloquently, but he was facing an empty throne, and standing next to him was Lu Tong, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony.

To Lu Tong's left and right were Dai Quan and Liu Zhong, the eunuchs of Bingbi respectively. The three of them came to listen on behalf of the emperor.

But at this time, Zhu Xianming was in the palace, just among the rows of tall bookshelves on the east side, holding the report sent back by the Gansu Jinyi Guards in his hand.

Gansu Jinyiwei is in the process of reorganization, and the newly arrived Qianhu has begun to take charge. This is the situation report he sent back.

In recent days, Wang Pei'an has "moderated" his methods a lot, and the news that few officials have been jailed means that the matter is slowly cooling down.

Taking the report to Cheng Ying who was following behind him, Zhu Xianming knew that it was time to wrap things up.

Generally speaking, there are still many people in the court who are willing to act according to the prevailing situation. Nowadays, support has focused on the overall situation, and the voice of suspending the investigation of the case has become the majority.

When Zhu Xianming was thinking about this, he heard the court discussion suddenly become louder, and the two parties lost control and started shouting at each other.

"Everyone, pay attention to your manners, pay attention to your manners..."

"Let's discuss the matter, don't talk about other things..."

Since the court meeting was a closed-door meeting, there was no ceremonial officer to enforce discipline. At this moment, we could only rely on the three ceremonial officers to suppress it.

But with so many people present, how could the three of them suppress them? As a result, not only was the situation not under control, but more and more people participated in the scolding war.

This situation had happened several times before, and in the end the two cabinet ministers were able to speak out, but today they both stared at each other with cold expressions on their faces.

Seeing that the verbal battle was about to turn into a physical conflict, Zhu Xianming also knew that it was time for him to express his position. Presumably this was also the intention of his two good ministers.

"Your Majesty is here!"

As the eunuch shouted loudly, the people who were still noisy fell silent and quickly returned to work to tidy up their court uniforms.

A few breaths later, accompanied by several eunuchs, Zhu Xianming appeared from the east side door wearing an ocher-yellow military uniform.

All the officials present immediately knelt on the ground, and then shouted loudly to pay homage: "I bow to your majesty, long live my emperor!"

After sitting down, Zhu Xianming did not ask everyone to get up, but picked up the memorial on the table and read it. This was the original document sent back by Wang Pei'an on June 23.

It was this memorial that caused a war of words in the imperial court for more than twenty days, so much so that it has not yet passed the approval vote. It is enough to compete for the memorial that took the longest time to draft.

After watching for nearly a minute, when the officials present felt pain in their knees, Zhu Xianming finally spoke: "They are all virtuous people who have passed the first grade in the department, but now they are like villains in the market, insulting each other and even going to fight. You are really good to me." Your Majesty!"

"If word of today's incident spreads, the people in the world will not speak against you, but will only accuse me of being a ignorant and mediocre king. Otherwise, how could there be such a ridiculous thing between your majesties!"

These officials present are all well-educated people who have reached the first grade in the Department of Science and Technology. Of course they understand the principle that "the king worries about the humiliation of his ministers, and the king will humiliate his subjects to death."

So when the emperor convicted himself, everyone present kowtowed again and shouted in unison: "I am waiting for death!"

(End of this chapter)