Chapter 785: The King and His Ministers Are Crazy
Since the death of his mother, Empress Dowager Jiang, Emperor Jiajing has never shed a tear. Even when he was forced by his ministers, even when he looked around and saw that all the scholars and officials in the world were his enemies, he still held his head high and never showed any weakness in front of his enemies.
Empress Dowager Jiang didn't say much in the days before her death, but she always gave warnings.
——My son, remember, those people are wolves. They are ambitious and wicked. The weaker you are, the more proud they will be, and the more cruel they will be.
My son, remember, don't show any weakness. What is an emperor? Only those who are more ruthless than their subjects are emperors!
Emperor Jiajing remembered his mother's words firmly.
From then on, he never showed any signs of weakness again.
But at this moment, his eyes were red without him realizing it.
Emperor Jiajing wiped his eyes. There were no tears, but his eye sockets were hot.
"Oh, this is joy!"
Not just happy, but ecstatic!
That's Altan!
For many years, the foreign Khan in the north has been threatening the Ming Dynasty. He has been unable to sleep or eat well because of this powerful enemy, worried that one day he would wake up and receive news that Altan Khan's army was heading south and rushing into the capital.
He wished he could lead his army into battle and destroy the royal palace.
But when Jiang Qingzhi revealed the current situation of Ming Dynasty officials and soldiers, Emperor Jiajing fell silent.
This is an army that is not even as good as a watchdog.
Relying on them to go out of the border to fight the Hu, Emperor Jiajing felt that he would either be captured or die in battle.
Became a laughing stock for all eternity.
He vowed to change all this, so Emperor Jiajing adopted all of Jiang Qingzhi's suggestions.
Cleanse the Beijing Guards and rebuild the Beijing Guards.
Rebuild martial arts, gradually abandon the group of military honors, and gradually replace the group of generals with martial arts students...
Create firearms and attach unprecedented importance to firearms.
After seeing the power of the flintlock, Emperor Jiajing saw hope.
When Emperor Jiajing learned that Altan Khan's army was heading south, he handed over almost all the guards in Beijing to Jiang Qingzhi.
This is a national war!
He entrusted Shuguang to his cousin, and stayed in the capital, keeping an eye on the civil servants and the literati... Sure enough, someone did something weird.
Someone in the south wants to cut off the army's food supply!
Emperor Jiajing sneered, and then the emperor's thunder descended, shaking the officialdom in the south.
But this is just the beginning.
Afterwards, all kinds of rumors spread in the capital, such as Jiang Qingzhi's rebellion and the army's disastrous defeat...
The rumors even changed several times a day, making people feel that the country is about to fall, and there must be something...
Under tremendous pressure, Emperor Jiajing gradually fell silent.
He is waiting!
Waiting for news of this battle.
As for the various rumors from the outside world, he turned a deaf ear to them.
Until now!
Good news!
The huge pressure suddenly slipped away, and Emperor Jiajing also lost his composure.
"Altan! Defeated!" Emperor Jiajing clenched his fists.
"Yes." Rui Jingxian said fearfully, "The envoy from the northwest who came to announce the victory is entering the palace."
"His Majesty!"
Yan Shifan arrived, followed by Zhu Xizhong. As soon as the old playboy came in, he said loudly, "Your Majesty, I said Qingzhi would definitely live up to everyone's expectations. Now it is true. Your Majesty, this is the blessing of our ancestors!"
Yan Shifan glanced at Zhu Xizhong and thought: This old dude is really cunning. With just a few words he pushed the credit onto the heads of emperors of all dynasties.
But you underestimate this great achievement!
Can this great victory, which has never been seen since Emperor Chengzu, be covered up by saying that it was due to the protection of our ancestors?
The brilliance of Long Wilbur at this moment is so great, how can it be concealed by just a few words?
"Long live!"
At this time, someone outside was cheering.
Huang Jin went out to take a look, and when he came back his face was flushed with joy, "Your Majesty, it was the palace servants who spontaneously cheered, congratulating Your Majesty."
"Reward the people in the palace... fifty coins each!" The Taoist's face was also beaming.
"Your Majesty, great joy!" Cui Yuan arrived late.
The old prince consort said happily: "After this battle, the northern grasslands will no longer be a major threat to the Ming Dynasty. I congratulate Your Majesty."
"Where is the messenger who brought the victory?" Emperor Jiajing felt as if he had returned to his teenage years and was actually impatient to know how the battle went.
"When I arrived just now, I saw the envoy was surrounded by palace servants, and those who could read were reading the rostrum."
"Called him."
The messenger was brought into the temple, knelt down, and presented the cloth with both hands.
Huang Jin took the proclamation and read aloud, "Your Majesty, I, Yan Song, and your Majesty, Jiang Qingzhi, report to you..."
Yan Song was the nominal commander-in-chief, but everyone knew that his role was just supervision.
Like a military supervisor.
"…The enemy was strong, and the soldiers, remembering your majesty's kindness, fought hard and refused to retreat. The battlefield was covered with blood and corpses piled up like mountains…"
Everyone seemed to see countless soldiers charging, shouting, falling, and bleeding...
Emperor Jiajing sighed, "The soldiers...are loyal and brave!"
At this moment, he thought of those civil servants and literati.
Compared with these people, warriors seem to be simpler.
Of course, as smart as I am, I also know the consequences of a warrior losing his checks and balances. Perhaps I can check and balance all of this.
Let the military men rise up from the oppression of the civil officials.
"…At this time, Chang Wei Bo ordered the left guards of the Tiger Guards and the vanguard of the government army to attack. The firearms suddenly exploded, and the enemy was caught off guard and frightened!"
Firearms really played a big role!
The ministers came, uninvited.
This was probably their most outrageous act... The guards at the gate asked them to wait for the report, but the impatient civil servants swarmed over, pushed them aside, and trotted into the West Garden.
At this moment they were standing outside the hall, gasping, staring at Huang Jin and the lumbago in his hand.
Huang Jin said in an excited voice, "...The enemy army launched a counterattack and attacked with all its forces. Our soldiers refused to show weakness and the two armies fought for a long time. When the enemy army was exhausted, the defenders of Luanling Pass led by Prince Yu came to support them, and the morale of the enemy army plummeted..."
what?
Prince Yu comes to help!
Prince Yu led the troops in the Battle of Luanling Pass. When the news reached the capital, many people could not believe it.
At this moment, he actually led his troops to come to the rescue at the critical moment of the war... This!
This is a great achievement!
Emperor Jiajing knew his son's character very well. He needed Sun Chonglou to teach him archery and horsemanship. What could he do in battle? He could only play a role in boosting morale.
It's like a mascot in later generations.
And leading the army to come to the rescue, this must be the plan of that idiot.
However, that idiot gave the credit to the third brother. This is...
The emperor habitually analyzed Jiang Qingzhi's intentions and felt that he was trying to build momentum for the third brother.
"…The enemy was hit hard by this blow and the left wing was thrown into chaos. At this time, the ambush troops suddenly attacked the enemy camp. The camp caught fire and the enemy was thrown into chaos."
ambush!
Lu Song thought of Jiang Qingzhi's past military deployment examples and blurted out, "This deployment of troops can be described as elusive!"
Even Jiang Qingzhi's die-hard enemies had to agree with this statement at this moment.
From the beginning of the war, it seemed that the Ming army was passive, but as the war progressed step by step, it was found that the entire war seemed to be under the control of Jiang Qingzhi.
Unconsciously, the initiative changed hands.
Before you know it, one gains while the other loses!
Unconsciously, the opportunity to fight back came...
"…Our army launched a general attack. The enemy resisted for a moment, then collapsed."
Everyone then breathed a sigh of relief, and there were sounds of exhalations inside and outside the hall.
The same was true of Emperor Jiajing.
He had never been so nervous before, and his palms were sweaty.
"Our army pursued them relentlessly, and Altan led the remnants to flee in panic. In this battle..." Huang Jin raised his head, his eyes sparkling, "We killed more than 20,000 enemy soldiers, captured more than 30,000, and seized countless supplies and flags..."
The good news has been read out.
Emperor Jiajing remained silent.
The ministers outside the palace were also silent.
After an unknown amount of time, Emperor Jiajing finally spoke.
"A great victory?"
Yes, until this moment, the emperor and his ministers felt that this was a dream.
A dream they didn't want to wake up from.
Altan, that huge threat, actually lost?
Has the threat to the north of the Ming Dynasty been lifted?
The sharp sword that had been hanging over the heads of the emperor and his ministers for so many years was actually broken!
"Your Majesty, we have won a great victory!" Lü Song trembled and said in a trembling voice, "Altan has been defeated!"
Xiong Jia staggered in, holding onto the doorpost. Huang Jin hurried over to help the old man, "Slow down!"
"No, I can still work for Your Majesty and the Ming Dynasty for another twenty years!" The old man shook off Huang Jin's hand, but Huang Jin remembered that last month it was this old man who said with a sigh that he was old and was afraid that he would not survive this year.
In a blink of an eye you can live another twenty years?
Xiong Jia came in and said, "Your Majesty, this is a great event. I would like to order fast horses to spread the good news to all parts of the country."
"Yes!" This is exactly what the Taoist meant.
Xiong Jia said: "I would like to ask for a generous reward for the meritorious officers and soldiers in this battle, but you must not do that..."
The old man turned around, stared at the civil officials and said, "I know that some people don't like warriors, and will suppress them when they find an opportunity. There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, but this fierce tiger is now protecting the Ming Dynasty and us. No matter how unhappy we are, we have to hold it in. If anyone suppresses us, I will... give him a good beating!"
The bony fist was raised high, seemingly powerless, but everyone felt awe in its heart.
"I'm here!" Emperor Jiajing said lightly.
"Your Majesty, I heard yesterday that someone said that if we can stop Altan in this battle, the warriors will be proud again. The old story of the former Tang vassal is not far away!"
Xiong Jia said: "These people are good at making wild guesses. Your Majesty, please... be vigilant against these villains!"
The civil servants were silent, some had flickering eyes, and some had hatred in their eyes.
But more people were nodding, "That's exactly what it should be."
"The soldiers fought bloody battles for their country, but were suppressed after returning. Whoever dares to do this, I will never forgive him!" The old dude turned his eyes and stared at everyone.
But he was sighing in his heart.
Xiong Jia's words seemed to be a warning to the ministers, but in fact, he was killing two birds with one stone, using this incident to hint to Emperor Jiajing: Chang Wei Bo made great contributions in this battle and can be regarded as a pillar of the country and a pillar of the sky. Your Majesty, you must not doubt him because of rumors from the outside world, that would be self-destructive!
Thinking of this, Zhu Xizhong could no longer hold back and said, "Your Majesty, someone wants to repeat the old story of Di Qing in the former Song Dynasty. I...I dare to guarantee with my life and property that Qingzhi...has no second thoughts!"
The civil servants looked at Emperor Jiajing in silence.
Jiang Qingzhi actually defeated Altan Khan, and the news spread throughout the world, and Chang Wei Bo's reputation will also be known throughout the world.
Great achievement!
How will Daoye face this cousin?
Is it suspicion...or is it suspicion?
(End of this chapter)
