Jiuxi

Chapter 390 Chapter 388 [The final value]

The Hou Yu case is generally concluded, but there is still one very important matter that needs to be dealt with urgently.

Li Duan looked around at the ministers in the palace, and finally his eyes rested on the face of Privy Councilor Guo Congyi, and said slowly: "After Hou Yu was dismissed, there is a vacancy for General Nanya. Does Ai Qing have someone to recommend?"

Guo Congyi had expected this.

The reason why the emperor insisted on punishing Hou Yu did not lie in how many Shazhou people he killed on the border. The essence came from the military power of Nanya in his hands.

Nowadays, Nanya is divided into three. Lu Chen, as the emperor's confidant, controls three Beijing armies. Most of the troops are still under the control of the Jiangnan clan. This is the source of frequent disputes in today's court meeting.

This time Guo Congyi did not hesitate at all, nor did he have the opportunity to discuss with others, and replied decisively: "Your Majesty, I recommend Zhang Xu, Marquis of Yongding. Marquis Yongding once served as the commander of the capital of Beijing, and was later promoted to the governor of Taiping Prefecture. Regardless of He is qualified for the job regardless of his qualifications, military merit or ability to lead the army. He resigned from the post of Governor of Taiping Prefecture the year before last due to health reasons and returned to Beijing to recuperate. Now he has recovered, but is temporarily idle at home. I sincerely request your Majesty to re-appoint the Marquis of Yongding!"

Li Duan looked calm and just glanced at Lu Chen meaningfully.

Lu Chen tasted a hint of helplessness from the emperor's eyes.

The northern frontier army is indeed capable of conquering and fighting, but so far it has relied on Li Tianrun and Xiao Wangzhi to take charge of the overall situation. If not for the sudden rise of Lu Chen, it would have been difficult to find successors to these two people. In other words, even if the emperor wanted to promote him, he would not be able to find such a successor. Talents who can stand alone.

This is the moment.

Guo Congyi was slightly startled, and the other courtiers immediately pricked up their ears.

But for the emperor, how much difference does it make to replace Hou Yu with Zhang Xu?
Wang Yan and others wanted to understand this, and the depression in their hearts eased slightly, and their complexions gradually returned to normal.

In many cases, it was not that Li Duan had to rely on Jiangnan's civil and military skills, but that he had no better choice.

Wu Xun is different from civil servants. The latter has a wider range of choices, which means that Li Duan has enough back-ups to deal with the resistance of the court officials. But if a military general wants to control an army, it is not enough to rely on the emperor's appointment. Without ability and prestige, it is easy to be ignored by the generals below.

Li Duan added: "Zhongshu drafted a decree to appoint Yongding Hou Zhang Xu as the marching commander of Wuwei Camp. Wuwei Camp has jurisdiction over Huwei and other three armies."

Lu Chen came out of class and said, "I'm here."

Zhang Xu is naturally a very suitable candidate. He is a member of the Beijing Army. He is very familiar with the situation of the Beijing Army. He also served as a general governor in the border areas. He can find no faults in all aspects.

The emperor's proposed restructuring was obviously aimed at the Privy Council, but he couldn't refute it, otherwise it would fall in the eyes of the ministers. They couldn't help but wonder why the Privy Council clings to military power? Could it be that he really has a disobedient heart?
You see, a group of officials, represented by Yushi Zhongcheng Xu Zuo, are staring at Guo Congyi with eager expressions on their faces.

Li Duan said warmly: "I appoint you as the marching commander of Jinwu Camp. Under your command are the Zhenwei, Chongwei, Liwei and Dingwei armies. Among them, Chen Lanyu, the commander of Dingwei Army, is appointed as the marching commander of Jinwu Camp, responsible for assisting you in handling the situation. Military affairs.”

From now on, the Nanya of the Beijing Army became history and was reorganized into three camps, and the commanders of the three camps directly obeyed the emperor's orders.

Li Duan praised it, and then said to the civil and military officials: "You don't have to worry, this measure will not waste people or money, it is just a slight adjustment on the existing basis. Lu Chen."

"good."

Guo Congyi seemed to have aged several years in an instant. He lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty is wise, I have no objection."

Lu Chen said respectfully: "I accept the order."

A faint smile appeared on Li Duan's lips, and he asked gently: "What do you think of my proposal?"

It was so quiet in Duancheng Hall that you could almost hear a pin drop.

Li Duan naturally knew the thoughts of these important ministers. He did not directly reject Guo Congyi's recommendation. He said calmly: "As for the Nanya armies, I plan to implement further restructuring. Dear friends, you can consult together for details."

The emperor's adjustment seemed to have little change, but in fact it directly canceled the existence of Nanya and deprived the Privy Council of its jurisdiction over Nanya's armies.

Under the gaze of everyone, Guo Congyi seemed like a mute eating Coptis chinensis, unable to express his suffering.

Li Duan continued: "Based on the existing three generals, Nanya will be restructured into Jinwu Camp, Xiaoyong Camp and Wuwei Camp, which will be stationed on the east, north and west sides of the capital respectively. Each camp will have its own A marching commander is served by a general. They are of the same rank and have equal rights and responsibilities. They are directly responsible to the emperor and are no longer under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council."

As a result, the soldiers and horses originally commanded by Hou Yu were included in the Wuwei Camp, and only the Dingwei Army under Chen Lanyu was transferred to the Jinwu Camp.

Xue Nanting came out of work and came down.

After many officials left the court and others were punished and executed, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty finally put away their arrogance and did not dare to forcibly oppose the emperor without justifiable reasons.

At the moment, they only hope that the court meeting will end early so that they can exchange ideas in private and decide what attitude to adopt in future court disputes.

However, Li Duan finally suppressed them, so how could he miss this great opportunity to change the existing power structure?
After confirming the ownership of the two camps, Li Duan looked at Privy Councilor Guo Congyi again and said with a smile: "Just now, the Privy Council mentioned the Marquis of Yongding, and I suddenly thought of someone. Hu Hai, the Marquis of Chongshan, is also at home in the capital, right?"

Guo Congyi said: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Li Duan nodded and said: "The Privy Council is in charge of such a large number of things in the Privy Council. I really can't let you work too much. I feel bad about it. Previously, I asked Aiqing to temporarily take charge of the four armies of Nanya. Now that the Heroic Camp has been set up, these four Beijing armies It should be transferred to the Heroic Camp. I am going to appoint Chongshan Hou as the marching commander of the Heroic Camp. Does Privy Council think it is okay?"

Of course Guo Congyi didn't want to agree.

However, as a privy envoy, he could not return the favor with a heavy army. Even if the emperor didn't care, other noble families would not be able to accept it.

Generally speaking, the court always needs a state of balance. This balance not only refers to the relationship between the emperor and the Jiangnan family, but also refers to the various forces within the Jiangnan family. No one wants to have a superior De'an Guo appear next to Li Daoyan.

What's more, the candidate proposed by the emperor, Chongshan Hou Hu Hai, was also a member of the Jiangnan family. However, he was defeated in the power struggle in the past few years and had to serve as the general of Nanya.

Although this old Marquis Hu is older than Guo Congyi, and will be sixty years old in two years, he is still strong and strong. If he knew that he would be reused by the emperor, he might be happy to marry another concubine.

If he were to know that the emperor's proposal was blocked by Guo Congyi, Wang Yan and others, the so-called old and new grudges would probably get out of hand.

The most important thing is that Guo Wang and others have no suitable reason to object, otherwise they will definitely fight.

Therefore, several military giants had no choice but to agree to the emperor's proposal.

Li Duan breathed a sigh of relief, and intense fatigue suddenly surged into his heart, but he still persisted and said: "Regarding the preparations for the construction of the three capital camps, the Privy Council needs to draw up detailed regulations and submit them to the emperor within five days."

Guo Congyi bowed and responded: "I obey your order."

Li Duan held the armrest of the dragon chair with his left hand and stood up with some difficulty. No one knew that he was covered in cold sweat at this moment, which was caused by both physical and mental exhaustion and physical pain.

At this moment, all the civil and military officials were busy with the contents of today's court meeting, and were secretly calculating the gains and losses of various aspects, so almost no one noticed the emperor's situation.

Only Li Shizhi, the Minister of Punishment, stood among the crowd and quietly watched the emperor's movements. Seeing the emperor's tiredness and fatigue that could not be concealed, an icy coldness flashed in his calm eyes.

The emperor entered the harem, and the voice of the eunuch Lu Shizhou resounded throughout the palace.

"Retreat!"

……

Nan'an Marquis Mansion.

A group of forbidden troops escorted the eunuch who announced the decree. The first thing they did was to remove the marquis' mansion plaque on the gate tower.

From now on, there will be one less prince among the few princes in Da Qi.

With the removal of the plaque, the title of Marquis of Nan'an will disappear from Da Qi's list of military honors.

Led by Hou Yu, everyone in the Hou family knelt in the atrium outside the main hall, listening with trepidation to the eunuch's recitation of the edict.

When they heard that Hou Yu had been expelled from his title and exiled two thousand miles away, the old, weak, women and children sobbed uncontrollably. They waited until they heard that the emperor was going to seize the rewards that Hou Yu had received over the years, and that the Hou family's property was going to be taken away. After the confiscation of 90%, the crying in the courtyard suddenly became louder, almost heartbreaking and painful.

Hou Yu turned a deaf ear. He just stared blankly at the imperial edict in the eunuch's hand, his face livid and his eyes bloodshot and red.

The entire Hou Mansion has been controlled by the Forbidden Army, so the gold and silver treasures of the Hou family must be sorted out clearly.

Hou Yu came to the back house in despair. No one deliberately restricted his freedom in the house.

He walked into the inner study and sat in front of the window, looking at the four treasures of the study on the desk, like a living dead.

The noise outside has nothing to do with him.

I don't know how long it took, but a middle-aged servant walked into the study, came up and cried out: "Master."

Hou Yu's dull eyes moved, and he turned to look at the servant. His voice was as hoarse as a blunt knife cutting stone: "What did the Li family say?"

The middle-aged servant lowered his voice and said: "Master, Li Jinshan relayed that the minister asked the master to be patient for the time being, and the time is not yet ripe. He also said that the master only needs to wait for three months at most, and things will turn around. When the master returns to the capital and rises to prominence!"

As if a drowning man had grasped the last straw, Hou Yu's pale face finally gained some color, and he said slowly: "Well, that's all we can do now. When a certain person comes back to the capital, none of those people will be able to escape." Lose!"

……

At sunset, the Li family mansion in Pingnanfang.

Dongyuan.

Li Shizhi stood on the porch and looked at the sunset. Li Jinshan walked quickly and whispered: "Master, I have met Hou Yu's cronies and will truthfully convey the master's instructions."

Li Shizhi was silent and nodded slightly.

After a long time, he still looked at the sunset on the horizon and said calmly: "Do you think it is more valuable for a person to live or to die?"

Li Jinshan was shocked.

Li Shizhi suddenly laughed softly.

(End of this chapter)