King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 696: Losing Three Counties in One Day
On the tenth day of June in the fifteenth year of Zhengtong, which was the day after Zhu Jinghong returned home, he and Baochai went to the palace to pay their respects to the empress.

Among all the children born to the empress, he was the only one who was delayed at the imperial mausoleum and was unable to visit them in time.

Back at the Prince Consort's residence, Zhu Yunsheng was sitting in the back garden, slightly raising his head and looking towards the pond in front of him. Two dragonflies were chasing each other on the water.

Around her were some ladies of respected status, most of whom were above the second rank.

These women were chatting quietly at the moment, complimenting Zhu Yunsheng in their words, but unfortunately the latter didn't listen seriously at all.

Even at this moment, Zhu Yunsheng not only didn't want to listen, but also felt annoyed by these people, because the main topic of their conversation was about things that needed to be paid attention to when having children.

Zhu Yunsheng had been married for more than a year, but still hadn't gotten pregnant. The queen was worried about this, so she sent these women to give her some advice.

Otherwise, these people would not dare to talk about these sensitive matters in front of Zhu Yunsheng even if they had the guts to do so.

"Alright...if you have nothing else to do, go back home!"

"My place is too small to host you all!"

Even though these people came on the orders of the Queen, Zhu Yunsheng did not give them much face and said these words directly.

She was the legitimate princess, so even though everyone had suffered an unexpected disaster, they could only smile and say goodbye.

When everyone bowed and left, Zhu Yunsheng sat on the rattan chair, staring at the direction of the pond without moving, ignoring these people from beginning to end.

In fact, she was also anxious about having a baby, so she needed someone to give her some advice.

But this kind of thing cannot be rushed, so the queen's excessive concern made her feel uncomfortable.

Just as she was sitting there sulking, a maid hurried into the garden.

"How is it?" Zhu Yunsheng asked.

"The servants have inquired and found out that His Royal Highness Prince Xiang returned to the capital last night and entered the palace early this morning!"

Nodding, Zhu Yunsheng ordered: "Prepare the carriage immediately, I want to go and see Brother Thirteen!"

"Yes!"

When Zhu Jinghong returned to Beijing, Zhu Yunsheng happened to be feeling unwell. After two days, Zhu Jinghong left Beijing, preventing her, his dear sister, from visiting him.

Zhu Jinghong is back today, so of course Zhu Yunsheng has to go there.

Zhu Yunsheng was going to travel, and he not only had to prepare a sedan chair, but also arrange for guards and entourage, and contact the Five Cities Military Department to mobilize additional soldiers...

These noises alarmed the son-in-law of the emperor, Liang Yi, and after asking, he found out that Zhu Yunsheng was going out.

"I'll go with you!"

Liang Yi is a proud person. Although he has accepted the fact that he will be married to Zhu Yunsheng, he is still unwilling to rely on the royal family to bully others.

Therefore, when Zhu Yunsheng went to the Eastern Palace or Prince Rui's Mansion, he avoided them in most cases to show that he had no intention of currying favor with them.

Zhu Yunsheng smiled and said, "It's strange today. Why do you want to see Brother Thirteen?"

"I won't hide it from you. I want to get a job!"

Zhu Yunsheng smiled and said, "Then you are wasting your time. The court regulations are like this. The prince consort can enjoy the honor and does not need to serve as a consul!"

Sitting next to Zhu Yunsheng, Liang Yi said, "The court does have regulations, but for His Royal Highness Prince Xiang, these things can be bypassed!"

"Don't think that just because you are my husband, I, the Thirteenth Brother, will make an exception for you!"

"We have to give it a try, just in case it works!" Liang Yi replied.

"What kind of job do you want?" Zhu Yunsheng asked calmly.

Liang Yi replied: "His Royal Highness Prince Xiang is going to the northwest to lead the troops. I would like to go with him!"

"You go to the northwest...what can you do there?"

"Achieve great success!" Liang Yi said in a firm tone.

"Achieve great achievements? You only read a few military books... and you think you are Bai Qi and Wei Huo?" Zhu Yunsheng sneered.

Liang Yi did not say much about this. He had been familiar with the art of war since he was a child and was full of confidence in himself.

Zhu Yunsheng said unhappily: "Go if you want to, it's useless anyway!"

So he and his wife set out together, packed up their things and headed for Prince Xiang’s mansion.

As for Zhu Jinghong, he and Baochai went to the palace to pay homage to the queen, but after a while he was called away by the emperor.

A court meeting was currently taking place in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace.

The cabinet ministers, officials from the six ministries, and several commanders-in-chief of the Five Military Governorates were currently discussing the war in the northwest.

In general, almost everyone is against launching a major war in the second half of the year, even though Zhu Xianming has explained the reasons clearly.

"Mr. Zhao... tell me what you want to say!" Zhu Xianming looked at the Prime Minister.

From yesterday to today, Zhao Yushan has not made any personal statement, but it is clear that he himself does not support the use of military force.

The reason is very simple. The imperial court has no money, but there are many other places where money is needed.

After walking out of the class train, Zhao Yushan bowed with his waist bent, and then said: "Your Majesty, the others have already settled the accounts very clearly, and I want to say something else now!"

During his several years as Prime Minister, he did a lot of practical work, especially re-surveying the land and forcing the gentry to pay additional taxes to increase the tax base for the court.

But to accomplish these things requires endless energy. Zhao Yushan is aging rapidly, and now almost half of his hair is white.

"You say!" Zhu Xianming said in a deep voice.

"Although I have never led an army, I have read the Art of War and have some basic knowledge on how to use troops!"

No one present, including the emperor, thought that Zhao Yushan would have "short-sighted views".

"It's a national war right now. My Great Ming has deployed hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers to the frontier to fight a desperate battle with the enemy..."

"At this critical moment, we must be resolute and decisive. Either we defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, or we remain motionless and wait for the right time to act!"

"If we divide our forces and fight in stages, even if we can win... it will not be of much benefit to the overall situation!"

"We won today. If the enemy attacks fiercely, our army may be defeated again, and we will only repeat the same mistakes as before!"

Zhao Yushan's words were very simple. He believed that even if the team won in the second half of the year, it would have almost no meaning as long as it was not a decisive victory.

This situation of victory turning into defeat has been repeated seven or eight times in the tug-of-war between the two sides in the past two years.

Zhao Yushan explained it very clearly, but the emperor's expression became even uglier.

But he knew that Zhao Yushan was acting out of public interest, which was why he risked his life to speak directly to the emperor, so Zhu Xianming did not want to vent his anger on him.

Of course at this time, he also realized that he had taken it for granted, but he couldn't save face at this time.

At this moment, Zhu Jinghong appeared in the hall at the right time.

The eunuch took him directly into the Qianqing Palace. He had been eavesdropping in the next room.

"Meet my father!"

Raising his hand to signal Zhu Jinghong to stand up, Zhu Xianming asked, "Did you hear everything that happened just now?"

Being watched by everyone, Zhu Jinghong looked calm and replied to the emperor: "I heard it!"

"what do you say?"

"My son thinks that he should be beaten severely!"

When Zhu Jinghong said this, everyone present was shocked. Zhu Xianming's eyes lit up, thinking that his son was reliable at the critical moment.

So he asked: "Then how do you say... to fight?"

After a few moments of silence, Zhu Jinghong said, "My son thinks that if we have to fight, we should go straight to the battle. Small fights will not help the overall situation!"

Hearing this, the smile on Zhu Xianming's face disappeared. It really came and went quickly.

His words had almost the same meaning as Zhao Yushan's: either a decisive battle or no fight at all.

But for a decisive battle, more things need to be prepared, and it is impossible to prepare everything in a short period of time, so it is impossible to fight at all.

In this way, Zhu Jinghong's purpose of "avoiding trouble" was achieved. After all, there was no absolute certainty in a decisive battle, and even the emperor found it difficult to make up his mind.

Seeing that Zhu Jinghong was a friendly force, the generals and officials present breathed a sigh of relief. They were afraid that Zhu Jinghong would get carried away and agree with the emperor's words to make the matter a done deal.

Doing so would add more unnecessary wars, which would not only cause the deaths of soldiers on the front lines, but would also add a greater burden to the court's finances.

"Okay, that's all for today, let's go!"

Zhu Xianming was unhappy, so he had to ask all the ministers to leave so that he wouldn't be upset if they saw him.

Zhu Jinghong also wanted to go along, but was stopped by the emperor.

After everyone left, Zhu Xianming stepped down from the throne and walked out of the hall, asking as he walked, "Old Thirteen, why have you become so timid?"

Following behind the emperor, Zhu Jinghong replied: "Dad, it's not that I'm a coward, there's really no need to fight!"

"Hehe, as a general, you shouldn't lose your courage!"

"Dad, there are some things they dare not say, please don't blame me if I speak directly!"

"If you fart, let it go!"

Zhu Jinghong said: "Since the beginning of this year, the battles in the northwest have suffered repeated setbacks, which makes you unhappy!"

"You said that the general offensive in the second half of the year was to seize the initiative for the decisive battle next year. In the final analysis... it was to save the court's reputation after the victory!"

"You have been a soldier all your life, how could you not know... Winning one or two more battles in the northwest Gobi Desert is almost useless to the overall situation!"

After saying some very true things at the beginning, Zhu Jinghong flattered him later, just to prevent the emperor from being too angry.

At this time, Zhu Xianming stopped and looked at Zhu Jinghong coldly.

"No one dares to talk to me like this!"

Zhu Jinghong's words were too straightforward and in a sense offended the emperor.

Zhu Jinghong leaned over his waist and replied, "Dad, a prime minister is very tolerant. You are the emperor... I don't think you will argue with your son!"

With a cold snort, Zhu Xianming continued to move forward and walked down the stairs, while asking: "Then tell me, how should we arrange the decisive battle in the northwest?"

"Since we are going to have a decisive battle, the most important thing is to prepare food and weapons in advance, and this..."

Zhao Yushan said, either don't fight or fight a decisive battle.

During the meeting just now, no one, including the emperor, thought about the decisive battle in the second half of the year. The reason was that there was not enough food, fodder and military equipment.

It is simply impossible to increase these within this year. If we start preparing with all our strength now, perhaps we will have a chance to fight next year.

Of course, it is very difficult to achieve this under the current financial situation.

Therefore, the emperor was really too ambitious, which was why he had such eager and radical ideas.

Zhu Jinghong talked a lot. He had participated in and commanded many major battles in recent years. He had indeed honed his skills in all aspects and could analyze things in a very organized way.

In fact, Zhu Xianming was well aware of the situation. Now that Zhu Jinghong had said this, he could only adjust his thinking and stop talking about war.

"The decisive battle...start preparing now and can only look forward to the war starting next year!" Zhu Xianming said with emotion.

At this moment, Dai Quan, the governor of the Eastern Depot, entered the Qianqing Gate and hurried towards the direction of the emperor.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you, Master Thirteen!"

After Dai Quan saluted, he was called up by Zhu Xianming, and then he handed over a report with both hands.

Zhu Xianming didn't rush to answer it, but asked, "What's going on?"

"Your Majesty, this is the urgent military information submitted by the Northern Pacification Division!"

Li Qingxiang, the deputy commander of the Northern Pacification Division, was injured while riding with the emperor some time ago and is now recuperating. The Northern Pacification Division is temporarily under the charge of Dai Quan.

Upon hearing the report, Zhu Xianming's heart tightened and he asked solemnly, "Emergency military information? Something happened in the northwest?"

What he is most worried about now is the collapse of the situation in the northwest, which will trigger a series of serious situations.

"It was sent by the Hunan Thousand Households Office, reporting a gang of rebels, who have now occupied three counties!"

The rebels in Hunan also captured three counties... This shocked Zhu Xianming.

In this peaceful time, there are rebels who have captured the county town, and there are three of them...

Not to mention Zhu Xianming, Zhu Jinghong also felt it was outrageous and even thought that the report was false.

Zhu Xianming took the report and decided to see what was going on.

After seeing the situation, Zhu Xianming felt even more uncomfortable.

The rebels who rebelled sixteen days ago and occupied three villages are the same people who now occupy three counties.

When he mentioned this to the Queen yesterday, he thought these people were dreaming and could be easily wiped out. He never expected that something like this would happen.

Three counties... Those are three counties, three counties in the heart of the Ming Dynasty!

Zhu Xianming was originally very unhappy because of his poor performance in the northwest and the comparison with Zhu Jinghong's great victory at sea.

But now, in the heart of the Ming Dynasty, three counties were lost. This made him feel ashamed and angry...

Ordinary low-class people are ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. Rebellion and claiming to be emperor should be a joke, and they can be suppressed by sending some yamen runners and soldiers. Who would have thought that it would turn out like this...

Less than five days passed between the first report and the second.

In other words, it took them only five days to take over three counties.

Now, five days have passed since the second report was sent out. Could it be that these people have taken over one... or even two prefectures?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Zhu Xianming immediately ordered, "Cheng Ying... immediately send a message to the Ministry of War and ask the Hunan Provincial Commander to mobilize troops immediately and wipe out the bandits within this month!"

The chief eunuch Cheng Ying followed and immediately replied, "Yes!"

"Also, all the county magistrates and prefects involved in the incident will be dismissed from their posts and serve as a reward for their crimes. If the rebel army cannot be completely wiped out within this month, they will all be subject to military law!"

"Yes!" Cheng Ying replied.

Hunan has lost three counties. The people below are definitely more anxious than the emperor, and they must be doing their best to suppress the bandits now.

Today is the tenth day of June. If the decree is sent at an expedited speed of 800 miles, it will be delivered in about four days.

In other words, when the local civil and military officials in Hunan received the imperial edict, they only had half a month to deliver it.

"Dad, can you please let your son see the report?" Zhu Jinghong spoke at the right time.

Zhu Xianming handed it to Zhu Jinghong, who immediately started reading it.

After calming down a little, Zhu Xianming also wanted to hear Zhu Jinghong's opinion.

A few minutes later, Zhu Jinghong put away the report and said, "Dad... this matter is very strange!"

(End of this chapter)