Jiuxi

Chapter 358 Chapter 356 [Who can be the ballast stone]

Hou Yu can be said to be unable to argue now.

He took the initiative to refute Lu Chen earlier because he wanted to gain a foothold in the court as soon as possible and let all forces in the court and China gradually become familiar with his existence.

After all, like Lu Chen, he is a newcomer who has just arrived. Although he has the secret support of Li Shizhi, the minister of punishment, this relationship will definitely not be revealed at the moment, and it will even be hidden for a long time.

He just wanted to make a voice in the court, but he never thought of helping Lu Chen and the emperor destroy the iron rice bowl of the Beijing army.

However, it was impossible for him to object to Lu Chen's proposal anymore. The previous refutation was considered reasonable and well-founded, but now he would forcefully refute it and it would be nonsense and a clear intention to go against the emperor.

Lu Chen, this treacherous boy!

Hou Yu cursed angrily in his heart, maintained a forced smile on his face, lowered his head and said nothing.

Lu Chen stopped teasing the Marquis of Nan'an who took the initiative to provide assists. He and the emperor on the dragon throne looked at each other, and the two men seemed to have a clear understanding of each other.

On the cloud viewing platform that day, Li Duan and Lu Chen chatted for a long time.

Guo Congyi remained silent. Wang Yan, as the general in charge of Beiya, had to go out and say: "Your Majesty, I think Shanyang Hou's proposal is still debatable."

However, neither Li Duan nor Lu Chen expected that the first person to jump out to oppose would be Nan'an Hou Yu.

Li Duan did not get carried away because of this. He looked at Guo Congyi and Wang Yan and asked, "Do you have any objections to the policy proposed by Marquis Shanyang?"

All the important ministers in the court are watching, so he cannot openly point out that the Beijing army is the territory of the Jiangnan family, and your majesty cannot interfere in it.

Li Duan said calmly: "Wang Qing's family just says it doesn't matter."

Even if Wang Yan scolded Hou Yu in his heart, it would be of no avail. Faced with the emperor's gentle attitude, the general's mind was racing, and he finally found a reason to say: "Your Majesty, the Beijing army has not been so good in recent years. I have never been on the battlefield. For example, in the Battle of Huaizhou two years ago, the three armies of Nanya were ordered to go north to attack Qingtian City, and their performance in the battle was not bad."

Wang Yan felt a manic and depressive mood in his heart.

You must know that when Li Jingda was appointed governor of Dingzhou, the emperor obviously wanted to promote Chen Lanyu, and the choice of Hou Yu was obviously the result of discussions between Guo Congyi and Li Daoyan.

What is the difference between this and rebellion?

Even if this is an established fact formed in the past ten years or so, even if everyone knows the composition of the Beijing Army, these words cannot be said publicly.

Not to mention that the two people had never crossed paths before, just because Hou Yuneng was recommended by Guo Congyi as Li Jingda's successor, Wang Yan knew that he was one of his own after all.

He paused slightly, quickly cleared his thoughts, and then said: "Your Majesty, the art of war has it that it is a taboo for a general to not know his soldiers and not to know his generals. If we follow Shanyang Hou's proposal, let some middle and lower-level generals of the Beijing Army and the Border Army conduct the The exchange will most likely result in a situation where the generals are unfamiliar with each other, which will be detrimental to the combat effectiveness of both sides."

How could Wang Yan be in such a difficult situation if Hou Yu hadn't jumped out eagerly to help Lu Chen prepare the ground for the young prince to take the lead in taking the rightful position.

He resisted the urge to turn around and glare at Hou Yu, and expressed his attitude to the emperor in silence.

The problem is who could have expected that this person would be so impatient and fall into Lu Chen's trap in just a few words, making this matter very difficult.

It seems that the newly promoted general has an extremely strong desire to express himself.

The court needs to be balanced, the interests of the family must be guaranteed, and the emperor's majesty also needs to be maintained. This is the common responsibility of everyone.

However, it was difficult to leverage Shen Rong's power in the Beijing army. The monarch and his ministers discussed many strategies from simple to deep, among which was the trick Lu Chen proposed to attack - he first suggested the rotation strategy between the Beijing army and the border army, and then When the important ministers in the DPRK raised objections, Lu Chen then turned to the method of removing fuel from the cauldron.

Wang Yan was extremely angry with Hou Yu. In fact, he realized at this moment that Hou Yu could not be Lu Chen's helper.

He talked to Lu Chen about his worries and the most important issue. If the Beijing army was unstable, the frontier army's Northern Expedition would lack a stable rear.

Li Duan remained silent, and Lu Chen answered: "General, don't worry too much. First of all, this transfer does not involve the chief officers of each army at all levels. It only involves the exchange of deputy generals to exchange experience and prepare for war. Secondly, the court can use this strategy Establish a routine and extend the time for the exchange of generals, so as to achieve the effect of learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses."

Turning over the table is an act of self-destruction. No matter how dissatisfied Wang Yan is, he must act within the rules of the game.

In fact, at this time, most of the civil servants also came to their senses and couldn't help but look at Lu Chen with complicated expressions, and then turned to Nan'an Hou Yu, who stopped saying anything.

Digging a hole during a court meeting is not unusual, many people have done this kind of thing, but Lu Chen dug it so accurately and Hou Yu jumped in so cooperatively, it is not a rare sight.

The young Shanyang Marquis seems to be more than capable of leading troops in war.

The courtiers secretly increased their vigilance.

Li Duan had been watching calmly. Now seeing that the heat was on, he said warmly: "Since the ministers have no objections, according to Lu Chen's request, we will temporarily decide on the rotation of middle and lower-level generals in the Beijing army and the border army. In order not to cause any trouble between the government and the opposition. There is a commotion. The number of general officers to be transferred in the first batch is limited to fifteen people, and the highest military rank cannot exceed the captain. As for the specific candidates, the Privy Council will come up with a charter as soon as possible. I will also let the governors of Jingzhou, Huaizhou and Dingzhou List of people on the list."

His decision can be described as cautious and he did not rush into war.

The exchange of fifteen generals means that each army in the Beijing army can at most give one military position to the border army, and at the same time send one person to the border to learn experience. However, everyone knows that this is just the beginning.

Once the emperor opens this gap, more and more frontier generals will surely enter Beijing in the future.

Privy Councilor Guo Congyi pondered for a moment, then bowed and said: "I accept the order."

"There's one more big thing."

Li Duan spoke again, this time with a serious look on his face. Looking at the cautious expressions of the important ministers in the palace, he slowly said: "Since I came to the throne fourteen years ago, the structure of the Beijing army has not changed. I don't think this is the case." a good thing."

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the palace immediately became serious.

In fact, the emperor said this at the beginning, which is why Guo Congyi never expressed his stance.

Although Lu Chen's strategy of cutting down on salary is powerful, it is a long-term process, and there are many details that can be figured out, so it may not be a dead end.

Compared with this matter, Guo Congyi was more concerned about the changes in the structure of the Beijing army mentioned by the emperor.

After hearing what the emperor said, Guo Congyi responded calmly: "Your Majesty, for the Beijing army, maintaining stability is more important."

Li Duan was not surprised by Guo Congyi's direct statement. On the Cloud Observation Platform that day, Lu Chen advised him not to act too hastily, and to take things one step at a time. Too many attempts to seize power were made at once. Guo Congyi and others and Jiangnan behind them The family will definitely not accept it.

However, Li Duan knew that he could not wait forever.

Looking at Guo Congyi's respectful but firm expression, Li Duan said calmly: "Privilege Guo, listen to me."

Guo Congyi lowered his head and said, "I'm so outrageous. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Li Duan shook his head, and then said bluntly: "I want to appoint another general besides Wang Aiqing, and the two of them will jointly lead the Sixth Army of Beiya."

Wang Yan couldn't speak at this moment, otherwise he would be suspected of taking over power.

Guo Congyi asked: "I wonder who your Majesty plans to promote?"

If the emperor said the word "Lu Chen", Guo Congyi would be relieved, because this appointment would never be approved by the Manchu ministers.

Li Duan's calm eyes swept over Lu Chen, stopped beside Wang Yan, and said calmly: "General Liu Shouguang."

Liu Shouguang's qualifications are sufficient to be the general in charge of Beiya, and this candidate will basically not arouse opposition from the courtiers.

The question is, if Liu Shouguang is transferred to Beiya, who will replace him as the general of Nan Ya?

Li Duan continued: "I am going to make some adjustments to the organizational structure of Nanya. After Liu Qing's family went to Beiya, the Twelve Army of Nanya was changed to be led by three generals. The Marquis of Nan'an, Yuzhang Huwei and Ningwei, etc. Army. Privy Secretary Guo temporarily holds the post of general and is in charge of the Pingwei, Qiangwei and other armies. After a period of time, when the court recommends suitable candidates, you can hand over the power of these four armies."

Hou Yu was in a very irritable mood, because he and Liu Shouguang were originally in charge of the Twelve Army, but now the emperor cut off both armies with one sentence. However, after experiencing the previous scandal, he really did not have the confidence to speak out against it now.

Guo Congyi should have been happy. As a privy councilor, he was already a highly respected minister. Now the emperor has handed over part of the military power of the Beijing army into his hands. This is a supreme favor and trust.

However, the expression on the Privy Councilor's face was quite serious and he asked: "Your Majesty, this move——"

Li Duan interrupted him again and said slightly forcefully: "Li Jingda will take the Zhenwei Army to the Dingzhou Governor's Mansion. The third general will only be responsible for controlling the remaining Dingwei and other three armies for the time being. I am determined to let Shan Yang Marquis Lu Chen temporarily takes over the position of general, and we will make adjustments if necessary in the future."

The whole hall was filled with dead silence.

The next moment, Privy Councilor Guo Congyi flicked his robe sleeves, saluted and said: "Your Majesty, the establishment of the Beijing army is related to the safety of the capital, and even more to the stability of the capital. It must not be tampered with without permission. I am afraid that I will be punished by death. Please bow to your majesty. Take back your life!"

General Wang Yan also knelt on the ground and said: "What Privy Guo said comes from the bottom of his heart and is for the country. I beg your Majesty to think again!"

Hou Yu followed closely behind.

The six ministers, Hanlin bachelors, Imperial Academy Jijiu and others knelt down one after another to persuade him.

The current general Liu Shouguang sighed in his heart. Although he did not give any advice, he could only kneel down like other important ministers.

For a moment, all the officials in the palace fell to their knees, praying earnestly and excitedly for the emperor to take back his will.

Only the two prime ministers and Lu Chen did not move.

Li Duan looked at the scene in front of him and felt a huge wave coming towards his face. Even though he was a noble man, he couldn't help but purse his lips tightly at this moment and quietly pierce his fingers into his palms.

(End of this chapter)