King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 700 Please Forgive My Arrogance

The government troops are always the government troops. No matter in terms of equipment, training, or psychological quality, they are far superior to the gathered civilians.

Although these rebellious people shared the same hatred for the enemy, they launched three attacks but failed to break through the government army's defense line.

"The Yuanzhou Guards are considered to be of low combat power among all the guards in Hunan, yet they are so difficult to deal with..."

"Not to mention the border troops, above which there are the more elite guards of the capital camp, and above them there are the guards of the imperial guards..."

Hearing his military advisor's sigh, Liu Zhuming turned around and said solemnly: "Today, the people are full of resentment. If we rise up, as long as we make a loud noise, we will surely attract heroes from all over the world to follow us... This is what you told me!"

His military advisor was a failed scholar who was already in his forties and changed his name to Li Qinghou.

At this moment, Li Qinghou thought that his lord was going to scold him for disrupting the morale of the army, but facts proved that he was wrong.

"From the time we started our rebellion in the mountain village to the time we occupied two counties, there have been some twists and turns along the way... but it's basically in line with the military advisor's expectations!"

"Since the military advisor has previously determined that we can defend the dangerous area and wait for an opportunity to act... why are we destroying our prestige now!"

At this point, Liu Zhuming said solemnly: "You and I are the leaders of the bandits. We have no way to retreat. We can only charge forward!"

Having said that, Liu Zhuming drew his sword and turned to look at his old brother behind him.

This time he came in person to supervise the battle, bringing with him 300 of his most elite brothers. These people had been on the battlefield and killed people, had good mental qualities, and were fully equipped with swords.

"Brothers, the ancestor of the current emperor was a beggar hundreds of years ago. He was forced to live by the imperial court and led his brothers to rebel... and he was able to seize the world!"

"We are farmers after all. We are much better off than a beggar. How can we lose to a bunch of pigs from the Zhu family?"

After hearing the following words, the men present all laughed.

Putting away his smile, Liu Zhuming shouted, "Brothers, if anyone doesn't let us live, we will fight him to the death!"

"Desperately, desperately..."

"Brothers, follow me!"

Liu Zhuming personally participated in the charge, leading a group of brave men under his command and rushing towards the northwest side of the Ming army's defense circle.

After a fierce attack, the northwest side of the Ming army was indeed broken through. Although Liang Yi organized defense in advance, it played a minimal role.

At this time, he had to make up his mind and choose whether to fight to the death or break through.

Fighting to the death might stabilize the situation, and you will be safe as long as you wait for reinforcements, provided that the reinforcements arrive in time, otherwise there is a danger of annihilation of the entire army.

Although a breakout would inevitably result in heavy losses, there was a high chance that some people would escape.

In the end, Liang Yi chose to break out. He could not bear the result of the annihilation of his entire army, so he chose the result that was not so bad.

Liang Yi chose to break out to the north. The main force of Chenzhou Guard was stationed in Luxi and may have now set out to move south.

After a hard battle, the government troops left behind five or six hundred corpses and finally broke out of the encirclement.

During this time, Liang Yi was hit by an arrow, which was shot by Liu Zhuming.

The anti-popular side suffered even greater losses, with more than 2,000 casualties. Even though they won, there was still wailing in the air.

Liu Zhuming had no time to be happy. On the one hand, he ordered his men to organize a pursuit, and on the other hand, he ordered his trusted men to seize the weapons of the Ming army.

In order to survive and for his own cause, Liu Zhuming tried every possible way to strengthen himself.

…………

On the fourth day of July, the battle report from Hunan reached the capital.

The Yuanzhou Guard suffered heavy losses, the imperial concubine Liang Yi was seriously injured, and Luxi County, which had been recovered less than ten days ago, was besieged again.

The originally positive trend suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse, which made Zhu Xianming extremely upset. He almost destroyed Huizong's authentic work while appreciating the painting.

In fact, he was in a good mood these two days because the latest batch of money and grain had been collected and the financial situation of the treasury had improved slightly.

Moreover, he received a report from Zhu Jingyuan that this guy had seized nearly one million silver coins in maritime trade taxes in less than a month and was now being escorted to the capital.

That was why he was in the mood to appreciate the paintings, and he also planned to chat with the Queen in the afternoon, so he spent the whole day happily.

But he encountered this incident before noon.

Although the incident made him uncomfortable, it was ultimately just a matter that happened within a few counties, so Zhu Xianming did not panic.

He immediately summoned officials from the Cabinet, the Ministry of War and the Five Military Governors' Office, scolded the officials and generals who were specifically responsible for the matter, and ordered the appointment of a deputy governor to go to Hunan to take command.

The rank of the Deputy Governor-General was higher than that of the Commander-in-Chief. When necessary, he could coordinate the dispatch of troops from neighboring provinces. Of course, this required the emperor's order.

This annoying matter was dealt with just like that, and nothing seemed to have changed.

As for letting Zhu Jinghong lead the troops, Zhu Xianming never thought about it from beginning to end. After all, his youngest son was his trump card. If he had not lost one or two provinces, he would not have let Zhu Jinghong lead the troops.

They are just a few rebels. Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? As the emperor, he cannot afford to lose face like this.

At this time, there was singing and dancing in Prince Xiang's mansion, literally.

Today was a free day and there was nothing else to do in the palace, so Baochai arranged singing and dancing and gathered everyone together.

What is different from the past is that Yingchun, the "invisible person", also attended the banquet today. It can be seen that under the guidance of her external brain, she has won a lot of favor for herself these days.

She creates a character who is aggrieved but not complaining, maintains her original fragile and vulnerable personality, and at the same time provides unique services in spiritual practice and Buddhist scriptures, which makes Zhu Jinghong really fascinated by her recently.

Everyone else was invited by Baochai, but she was the only one sent by Zhu Jinghong.

Because she was not suitable for walking in public, Yingchun covered her face with a veil, which added a different charm to her.

Sitting in the main seat, Zhu Jinghong leaned back in his chair, playing with a jade pendant in his hand, listening to the singing on the stage with his eyes slightly closed.

She was the only one who listened attentively at the scene.

Daiyu was sitting next to Baochai at this time, and the two of them were chatting in low voices. Keqing and Baoqin were sitting together, whispering.

Only Zhen Qin held Yinglian's hand and talked about her mother's family in a slightly louder voice, saying that many good things had been sent to her and she would share some with her later.

As for Nuominqiqige, the two of them were natural allies. At this moment, they were drinking and chatting about the scenery outside the Great Wall and the interesting things that happened in their youth.

At this moment, Deng An appeared beside Zhu Jinghong, leaning over his waist, and whispered, "Your Highness, I just got news that in Hunan..."

After listening to Deng An's story, Zhu Jinghong nodded and didn't say anything more.

The resurgence of the situation in Hunan gave him a bad premonition, so he still advocated mobilizing heavy troops to wipe out the bandits in one fell swoop.

But... he was just thinking about it and didn't intend to tell the emperor.

The reason was that he was too concerned about state affairs, which made the emperor feel wary.

From the time he returned to Beijing until now, except when the emperor took the initiative to summon him for questions, he never took the initiative to express his opinions on military and political affairs, nor did he have any contact with the nobles.

Although he had made up his mind, Zhu Jinghong still felt unhappy as he watched the situation continue to deteriorate.

"what happened?"

This was Baochai's voice. She keenly noticed that something was wrong with Zhu Jinghong.

"It's okay!" Zhu Jinghong said calmly.

"It's okay" means I don't want to say it, at least not in this situation, so Baochai didn't ask any more questions.

"I'm glad you're okay!" Baochai nodded.

Everything remains the same, as if nothing had happened.

But less than half an hour later, Deng An appeared beside Zhu Jinghong again.

"Your Highness, the Emperor has sent someone to tell you... Please enter the palace!" After a pause, Zhu Jinghong nodded.

"My father summoned me to the palace, you guys continue!" Zhu Jinghong stood up and said.

"Go early and come back early!" Baochai instructed.

Then Zhu Jinghong stood up, changed his robes and went to the palace.

Only after asking the eunuch who delivered the message did he learn more about the situation.

It turns out that the latest news is that a civil uprising also broke out in Jingzhou Prefecture, south of Chenzhou Prefecture, but it was quickly suppressed by the Jingzhou Guards.

Rebellions broke out one after another in the two prefectures, and the situation became increasingly serious, so the emperor convened a meeting again.

When Zhu Jinghong arrived, the crown prince, the cabinet ministers, the officials from the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and two governors of the Five Military Commandery had all arrived to participate in the meeting.

Seeing Zhu Jinghong being called, everyone present was not surprised, because the emperor had summoned him many times in the past month or so.

The content of the meeting was that the emperor asked about the administration of the local government in Hunan.

It is called an inquiry, but in fact it is more of an accountability, and the first to bear the brunt are the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue.

The reason is that the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of taxation, while the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of appointing and dismissing officials. Now that local officials' taxation has sparked civil unrest, it is natural that the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue should be held accountable.

The two judges answered with sweat on their foreheads, but they also pushed all the responsibility onto others. Simply put, the local officials were too greedy.

But the problem is that the memorial submitted to the Hunan Provincial Government said that all taxation was carried out according to the arrangements of the Ministry of Revenue.

Finally, the three university scholars present also spoke, and their advice was to appease the local authorities to avoid another civil unrest.

Not only that, the newly levied taxes should also be appropriately reduced or exempted, so as to resolve the grievances of the people in various places.

In recent years, there have been constant major wars, and military rations, military equipment, military pay, pensions, rewards, shipbuilding, cannon manufacturing...each of them is a gold-eating beast.

Not only did the national treasury become empty, but life for ordinary people also became extremely difficult.

"What do you think, Prince?" The emperor suddenly looked at the prince.

"I think what the three ministers said is absolutely right. Years of war have been unsettling the people. It is only by showing appropriate sympathy... that Your Majesty can show his kindness!"

The prince's answer was quite standard. Zhu Xianming smiled and said, "The imperial decree has been issued, so it cannot be changed overnight!"

"But I am the emperor and father, and all the people in the world are my subjects. How can I not care about and protect them? Next year's taxes... can be reduced by 30%!"

The money and grain collected this year are to support the war in the northwest, so they must be collected, otherwise it will affect the overall situation.

After all, if we continue to delay, it will cost more money and food.

If we win a great victory next year, the whole world can relax, but if we lose... the fight will have to continue, and the people will still have to live a hard life.

Then the agenda came to discuss military affairs, and a map of Hunan was laid out with the locations of various garrisons marked on it.

Of course, due to the backwardness of current communication means, the marked content is the situation six days ago and cannot represent the current situation, or it can only give a rough idea.

On the military issue, everyone was speaking and offering advice on how to attack the enemy's heart, how to bribe the bandits, how to mobilize troops to attack, how to stabilize other prefectures and counties...

Everyone was discussing and talking very lively, but Zhu Jinghong did not speak the whole time because no one got to the point.

About half an hour later, when the meeting was nearing its end, Zhu Xianming dropped a bombshell.

"Hunan is in trouble because local officials are deceiving their superiors and subordinates. I think... we should send competent officials to rectify the situation. What do you think?"

No one dared to refute this, otherwise the emperor would suspect that they were the backers of local corrupt officials.

"Your Majesty is wise!" all the ministers said.

So the emperor continued, "Do you have any candidates?"

No one said a word about who to send.

Firstly, this job would offend people; secondly, it is hard to find so-called “capable officials”; and thirdly, they are waiting for others to speak first.

"Chen Qing, do you have a candidate?"

The deputy assistant Chen Jinyun replied: "Your Majesty, the Minister of Rites Cui Yu is upright and decisive. I think he is the right person!"

Cui Yu was promoted by Prime Minister Zhao Yushan, and Chen Jinyun was directing the blame towards his opponent.

"Zhao Qing, what do you say?"

Zhao Yushan came out and replied, "Your Majesty, Cui Yu has been in the Imperial Academy for a long time and has little contact with political affairs. Sending him to deal with the situation... I think it is not appropriate!"

"I recommend Wang Linzhi, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice. He is a veteran in the criminal justice field with 30 years of experience and has handled many major cases over the years. It would be more appropriate to send him there!"

Wang Linzhi, recommended by Zhao Yushan, did not belong to any faction in the court, and his selection was truly out of public interest.

Although Wang Linzhi was not bad, Zhu Xianming already had a better candidate in mind, so he shook his head slightly.

After a few moments of silence in the hall, Zhu Xianming said, "Deputy Imperial Envoy Wang Pei'an is upright and incorruptible... What do you think?"

Cui Yuwang Linzhi, who was mentioned by the two cabinet ministers just now, is upright, upright, and decisive, but that is relative to ordinary officials. He is several orders of magnitude inferior to Wang Pei'an.

So when they heard the three words "Wang Pei'an", everyone in the hall changed color, which shows that this Deputy Censor-in-Chief is very famous.

Of course, most people present also knew that Deputy Censor-in-Chief Wang Pei'an also served as the Chief Clerk of Prince Xiang's Palace.

If this person were really sent, most of the Hunan officials would probably be held accountable... This was what everyone thought, including Zhu Jinghong.

At this moment, the emperor's inquiring gaze wandered over the ministers present, waiting for them to speak out.

"Prince...what do you think?" the emperor pointed directly.

"Your Majesty is wise!" This was the only answer the prince could give.

With the prince taking the lead, others could only respond one after another, and at the same time said "take care" to the civil and military officials of Hunan.

"Okay... draft an imperial decree immediately, ordering Wang Pei'an to be the governor of Hunan, and the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate to send another person to take over the Northwest Military Supervisory!"

"I'm waiting for the order!"

The matter was discussed and everyone left, except Zhu Jinghong, who was kept by the emperor.

They walked around the corridors of the palace, with the emperor in front and Zhu Jinghong following closely behind, but no words were exchanged between them.

"You didn't say a word just now. Is there something you can't say?" Zhu Xianming asked calmly.

Zhu Jinghong did have something to say, but it was not convenient for him to say it out loud.

The situation was a little different when the emperor asked questions, and it was time for him to speak.

"Father...please forgive my son's arrogance. I am not bound by the constraints of being a subject and I will frankly express my thoughts on the war in Hunan!"

Zhu Xianming was shocked when he heard this!

What does "not being bound by being a subject" mean? If you don't want to be a subject, do you want to sit in my position?

This kid is really arrogant... Zhu Xianming thought secretly.

In fact, Zhu Jinghong has been staying at home recently and deliberately weakening his presence, which makes Zhu Xianming very satisfied.

He had previously worried that the father and son would not get along well, but fortunately, it turned out that these problems did not exist.

There was a tacit understanding and trust between father and son, so Zhu Xianming understood that Zhu Jinghong's words showed that he wanted to speak "frankly".

(End of this chapter)