Chapter 350: Lack of Vision, Tacit Understanding between the Emperor and His Subjects
Dozens of Beijing guards were kneeling in front of the hall.
Wang Yiqi swore that he had just taken a nap, but when he walked out, he saw generals kneeling on the ground in front of the hall.
"You've admitted your guilt?" Wang Yiqi originally thought that the investigation would take at least three to five days, but this...
Lao Wang looked up at the sky and said, "I just took a nap, right?"
Jiang Qingzhi stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the generals, "Someone moved strangely that night. Who was it? Come forward."
That night, the Right Guard of the Palace Army mutinied, and there were unusual movements among the guards in the capital, but no investigation was carried out afterwards.
Wang Yiqi originally thought that the matter would go unnoticed, and that he would wait for a year or two after the situation stabilized before settling the score. He did not expect that Jiang Qingzhi would investigate the matter right now.
This means at least exile... Who would confess voluntarily?
Wang Yiqi covered his mouth and yawned.
"Your humble servant will die!"
"I am willing to surrender myself!"
"Master, someone is trying to deceive me!"
The three generals crawled forward on their knees, crying like helpless children.
Wang Yiqi stopped yawning.
The uncomfortable feeling made him beat his chest a few times.
The clerk looked up and said, "Master, are these three people surrendering themselves or..."
The three generals looked at Jiang Qingzhi eagerly.
Jiang Qingzhi shook off the cigarette ash and said, "Turn myself in!"
"Thank you, uncle!"
The three generals were moved to tears.
The remaining generals were taken away one by one and then interrogated individually.
Such efficiency...Wang Yiqi was dumbfounded.
"How did you get them to speak?" The two returned to the lobby.
"If a man who has been a thief for many years suddenly finds out that the government is going to investigate him, do you think he will be panicked?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
“Panic!”
"What will he do?"
"Run away."
“No way to run.”
"That would only destroy the evidence."
"What if he's not a thief?"
"That's not necessary."
"That's why I rejected Jinyiwei's arrangement to thoroughly investigate all the generals of the Beijing Guard last time."
"Whoever moves is a thief, and as long as he moves, he will leave traces..." Wang Yiqi leaned back in his chair and sighed, "Just when those generals thought you were going to make a lot of noise but not do anything, you said this... If it were me, I'd have no choice but to accept it."
"But I don't find it gratifying." Jiang Qingzhi pointed outside, "Old Wang, it's only been a short time since the Tiger Guards, who followed Emperor Chengzu in several northern expeditions and frightened the foreign tribes on the grasslands, have transformed into this. To call them rotten mud is an overestimation of them."
"The Beijing guards were devastated in the Battle of Tumu. It will be difficult to restore their original bravery after reconstruction. Lord Wei, such things are unavoidable." Wang Yiqi was also quite emotional.
"Have you ever thought about why the rebuilt Beijing Guards became a mess?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Wang Yiqi hesitated for a moment, "The general is not capable."
“Why is it ineffective?”
The king remained silent.
"Old Wang, you don't dare to say it?" Jiang Qingzhi smiled.
"Alas! After the defeat at Tumu Fort, the military fell into complete decline." Wang Yiqi pointed out the biggest drawback.
"Innumerable military officers died in the Battle of Tumubao, and most of the elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty also died in the battle. That battle completely broke the backbone of the military men of the Ming Dynasty... From then on, the civil officials came on the scene, and it didn't take long for them to completely trample the military men under their feet."
In his previous life, Jiang Qing had been to Tumubao, where there was a memorial place similar to a temple, which housed a list of civil and military officials who died in the Battle of Tumubao.
"Qingzhi, Lord Changwei, you may be very impressive today, but you have captured all the generals of the Beijing Guard. Who will lead the Beijing Guard? Without a general to lead the Beijing Guard... I'm afraid your majesty will have to turn a blind eye to it at night."
Wang Yiqi smiled bitterly and said, "I just took a nap! The problem is that the capital guards are unstable, so Your Majesty dare not fight with those people."
You are putting the cart before the horse!
Jiang Qingzhi understood the unfinished meaning of Wang Yiqi's words, and he said, "I also want you to be well, me to be well, and everyone to be well, but it is precisely because there are too many people who try to smooth things over that the Ming Dynasty has led to the current situation."
Jiang Qingzhi narrowed his eyes, "The old path of using culture to control military power was taken by the Song Dynasty. But what was the result? The Ming Dynasty cannot go down that old path again, absolutely not!"
Jiang Qingzhi's eyebrows were more resolute, "If we want to change all this, rebuilding the confidence of the warriors is the first step. If I let those idiots go, what will the lower-level soldiers think? What will those literati think? They will think that the civil service is still the only one who can control the military... and the warriors are still a pile of mud!"
"Completely cleanse the Beijing guards?" Wang Yiqi was stunned.
"Is it not possible?" Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said, "Completely clean up the Beijing Guards, rebuild the Beijing Guards, use the Beijing Guards as a role model for the world's warriors, and then implement it step by step. This is a delicate process, but I have confidence... The Ming Dynasty also needs this kind of confidence."
"Those scholars now have one more reason to hate you." Wang Yiqi sighed, "But you have too many debts, so you probably don't have to worry about it."
"Those people are well-dressed, but lice are crawling everywhere inside." Jiang Qingzhi said sarcastically: "The Beijing Guards are the sticks in the hands of His Majesty..."
……
"When this stick is sharp, those people will not dare to jump. If this stick is rusty and unusable, they will be fearless." Xia Yan said slowly.
Emperor Jiajing was actually drinking tea with Xia Yan.
Emperor Jiajing poured him some tea, and Xia Yan took it subconsciously, then was in a trance for a moment, "The last time I drank tea in Yongshou Palace was a few years ago!" The tea formed an arc and slowly poured into the teacup. The tea soup was emerald green, and it was refreshing to look at.
Emperor Jiajing poured himself some tea as well. "Those people are jumping up and down, they just want to ruin the rectification of the Beijing Guards, so that I can't afford to act rashly and have to remain dormant."
"The Imperial Guards are a big problem. When I was in power, I also thought about purging them, but a single move can affect the entire body. Once I opened my mouth, various forces began to exert pressure overtly or covertly."
Xia Yan took a sip of tea and said, "I know what they are afraid of, but as Your Majesty said, those people are fearless... Unless Your Majesty is determined to cut off his own arm, and even to see the smoke of war all over the Ming Dynasty without being moved, many things cannot be done lightly."
"You are much more pessimistic." Emperor Jiajing put down his teacup and said calmly, "There are many doubts about the death of the late emperor who fell into the water and became ill. If the late emperor was really murdered by someone, what was the motive of those people?"
Xia Yan frowned, "The late emperor was often... the late emperor was a little crazy."
"Talk about it."
"The late emperor would often appoint me as a general and order me to lead the army into battle... and my moods were unpredictable..."
The notoriety of that stubborn emperor was known to everyone in the world. After his death, people were talking about it, saying that this emperor had finally killed himself.
"Is it really nonsense?" Emperor Jiajing said, "The late emperor used these so-called nonsense to gradually pull the Beijing guards out of the quagmire after the defeat at Tumu Fort. He also used these so-called nonsense to continuously train the Beijing guards... Who would be afraid?"
His voice was very soft, but it made Xia Yan feel as if he heard a thunderclap.
Xia Yan's eyebrows suddenly raised, "Your Majesty's intention..."
Emperor Jiajing took a sip of tea and said, "The last emperor even led the army to war. Who has ever done such a thing as leading an army to war as an emperor?"
"Emperor Taizu, Emperor Chengzu."
Emperor Taizu was the founding emperor, and it was common for him to lead the army to war. It was not until his later years, when he had a high status and numerous generals under his command, that he settled in the center and focused on planning strategies.
After Emperor Chengzu ascended the throne after the Jingnan Rebellion, the remnants of the Mongols in the north became increasingly powerful. For this reason, Emperor Chengzu launched several northern expeditions and suppressed those remnants again.
Subsequent emperors made no further achievements in military affairs.
No.
Have.
Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen.
This ambitious emperor, under the instigation of Wang Zhen, led the army in person, but was easily defeated by Yesen. Not only was he captured, but the capital was almost captured.
After Yingzong, the Ming emperors no longer dared to mention any northern expedition until Wuzong ascended the throne.
Northern Expedition!
I want to march north!
These seemingly ridiculous actions gradually gave more vitality to the Ming army, which seemed to have had its backbone broken after the defeat at Tumu Fort.
All these past events flashed through Xia Yan's mind one by one.
He looked up at Dao Ye.
Dao Ye looked calm, "Understood?"
If you still don’t understand, then you’re not Xia Yan.
"Those people are worried that the late emperor will follow the same path as Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu!" Xia Yan was horrified. "What are they afraid of?"
He was shocked, and Emperor Jiajing said calmly: "What are they afraid of? Just think about the plight of the civil officials when Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu were emperors."
Emperor Taizu spent his entire life fighting corruption, sparing no effort in killing corrupt officials and treating civil servants like dogs.
Be good and do your job well.
If you don't behave, I'll kill you and skin you and stuff you with straw!
Although Emperor Chengzu was not as cruel as Emperor Taizu, he was also very rude to civil servants.
Xia Yan understood completely, "How dare those people... do this?"
That's regicide!
"They are not afraid of being infamous for eternity?"
"Who writes the history books?" asked Emperor Jiajing.
"Public opinion is controlled by them..." Xia Yan suddenly cried out, "Is this what I thought were gentlemen? I am blind!"
Shuangmei twitched her tail nervously a few times beside Taoist Master.
"It's not just you. Many people are blind, including me back then."
Emperor Jiajing touched the back of Frosty Eyebrows and said, “As soon as I ascended the throne, I trusted and respected Yang Tinghe and others and entrusted them with my confidants.
I originally thought that the emperor and his subjects could work together to change the world and give the Ming Dynasty a new look.
But I was wrong. In the eyes of Yang Tinghe and others, the country is not as important as what they call the Tao. For this reason, they can put the Ming Dynasty in danger..."
If it weren't for Dao Ye's insistence during those years, he, the emperor, would have been sidelined long ago.
"Your Majesty!" Xia Yan said anxiously: "In this case, the Beijing Guards are the only weapon in your Majesty's hands. The Beijing Guards cannot be left alone and must be thoroughly cleansed. Otherwise, I am worried..."
He stood up suddenly and said, "I will go find Qingzhi now."
"Sit down!" The Taoist priest pressed his hand. Xia Yan was startled and sat down slowly. "Your Majesty, there is no time to lose..."
"Why do you think Qingzhi left the Right Guard of the Imperial Army untouched? Is he raising a tiger to cause trouble?" Emperor Jiajing said calmly, "If we want to purge the Beijing Guards, we need a reason to shut them up. And the mutiny that night...is that enough?"
Xia Yan couldn't help but nodded, "That's enough!"
"Qingzhi and I have a tacit understanding." Dao Ye smiled and said, "Now that I think about it, those generals should be trembling in fear!"
A eunuch appeared outside the door. Huang Jin went over to ask him questions and came back to report:
"Your Majesty, Lord Chang Wei has captured the generals of the Beijing Guards at the Ministry of War!"
(End of this chapter)
