My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 722 Wang Tong’s Dilemma

In the Wuying Hall of the Imperial City of Beijing, Zhu Zhanji sat in the hall with an angry look on his face. Two officials, one civil and one military, fell to their knees on the ground. Xia Yuanji and other cabinet ministers were also standing on both sides.

"Wang Tong, do you know your guilt?"

Zhu Zhanji stared at the general kneeling below, and immediately slammed the table and said angrily.

"Official, I know your guilt!"

The general below replied tremblingly.

He was none other than Chengshan Bowang Tong. He had been ordered to guard Jiaozhi before, but now Jiaozhi was lost. Moreover, without the consent of the court, he abandoned Jiaozhou without authorization and led the soldiers and people to escape from Jiaozhi. This alone is a capital crime.

"Your Majesty, the defeat of Jiaozhi is really a disgrace to our Ming Dynasty. Prince Chengshan is unfavorable in guarding the country. He deserves to be beheaded!"

At this time, someone stood up and suggested directly.

"My minister agrees!"

Seeing that some people suggested that Wang Tong be beheaded, other ministers also stood up to express their opinions. Even Yang Rong and Yang Pu also stood up and expressed their opinions, feeling that Wang Tong should be responsible for the loss of Jiaozhi.

Only old man Xia Yuanji squinted his eyes and stood motionless, seemingly unwilling to express his position.

However, Xia Yuanji is old and has resigned several times before, but Zhu Zhanji is unwilling to let him go, so now Xia Yuanji is slowly handing things over to others and rarely expresses his opinions on government affairs, such as The current cabinet has actually been taken over by younger generation officials such as Yang Rong and Yang Pu.

"Your Majesty, I think that although Uncle Cheng Shan is guilty, his crime will not lead to death. Moreover, it was thanks to Uncle Cheng Shan's good command when withdrawing from Jiaozhi, so I ask for your mercy!"

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the civil servant who was kneeling next to Wang Tong suddenly interceded for Wang Tong.

I saw that this civil servant had gray hair and a face full of wrinkles. He looked not much younger than Xia Yuanji. Moreover, his face was pale and there was a scar on his neck that was not completely healed.

This old man's name is Huang Fu, who is currently the Minister of Industry. He once guarded Jiaozhi with Zhang Fu and Zhu Gaoxu. He had great political achievements during his time in Jiaozhi. At that time, Jiaozhi also had a desire to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, and even after he left When he arrived in Jiaozhi, the people of Jiaozhi rushed to see him off, crying and unwilling to let him leave.

Therefore, during the previous rebellion in Jiaozhi, Zhu Zhanji decided to send two people, one civil and one military, to Jiaozhi to quell the rebellion. Among them, the military commander was Liu Sheng, who died in the battle in Jiaozhi, and the civil servant was Huang Fu.

Compared with Liu Sheng who died in the battle, Huang Fu's luck was not so good. He set off from Nanjing. A few days after he arrived in Jiaozhi, Liu Sheng died in the battle before he arrived in Jiaozhou. Wang Tong was besieged in Jiaozhou City. , the entire Cochin bureaucracy collapsed completely, and rebels were everywhere.

Therefore, Huang Fu had no way to go forward, so he could only find a way to evacuate Jiaozhi, but he was caught by the rebels halfway. At that time, Huang Fu did not want to be humiliated and directly committed suicide with his sword. Fortunately, the people around Huang Fu He stopped and the scars on his neck were from suicide.

However, after the rebels learned Huang Fu's identity, instead of embarrassing him, they sent him gifts out of Jiaozhi and gave him a lot of gold and silver as payment for his return to the Ming Dynasty. Huang Fu could not refuse at that time, so he had to accept it. He bought gold and silver, but turned it over immediately after returning to the Ming Dynasty, leaving nothing behind.

"Huang Shangshu, the capture of Jiaozhi has nothing to do with you, but Wang Tong, as the commander-in-chief of Jiaozhi, was unable to defend the country. He should be punished with death!" When others saw Huang Fu interceding for Wang Tong, others immediately stood up and retorted. .

Huang Fu was a civil servant, and Liu Sheng died in battle on his way to Jiaozhi. Therefore, the defeat of Jiaozhi had nothing to do with Huang Fu. It was just that he had taken over the post of chief envoy of Jiaozhi and needed to bear some joint responsibility.

"Cheng Shanbo is indeed to blame for the loss of Jiaozhi, but he defeated Li Shan in Jiaozhou City and organized the soldiers and civilians to return safely to the Ming Dynasty. This is also a meritorious service to the country. Therefore, for the sake of Cheng Shanbo's merits, Your Majesty, please let him go." He’s a horse!”

Huang Fu did not waver at all, and once again interceded for Wang Tong.

In fact, Huang Fu knew very well that compared to himself, Wang Tong was even more unlucky. Originally, the commander-in-chief of Jiaozhi was Li Bin, Marquis of Fengcheng. Li Bin died of illness in the 20th year of Yongle, leaving the post of commander-in-chief of Jiaozhi vacant for several years. It was not until Zhu Gaochi succeeded to the throne that Wang Tong was sent. Tong went to Jiaozhi to take over the post of commander-in-chief.

But at that time, Jiaozhi's military and political affairs were in chaos, and the rebel forces were getting stronger and stronger. When Wang Tong arrived in Jiaozhi, he had to face a large-scale rebel army. He suffered a defeat at first, but later when Jiaozhou was besieged, he still led the Five thousand soldiers and horses defeated Li Shan's rebels in one fell swoop.

Originally, Wang Tong was counting on reinforcements from the court, but he did not expect that Liu Sheng underestimated the enemy, causing the reinforcements to be wiped out. Now Wang Tong was isolated and helpless, and almost fell into death.

But in this desperate situation, Wang Tong took advantage of the opportunity of Li Shan's lair being attacked and decisively ordered the troops and civilians to withdraw from Jiaozhi. It was precisely because of Wang Tong's decisiveness that the lives of more than [-] troops and civilians were saved. Huang Fu saw it with his own eyes.

Therefore, in Huang Fu's view, although Wang Tong was guilty, the crime did not lead to death. At most, he would be demoted.

"Wang Tong, Huang Shangshu is interceding for you, do you have anything to say?"

Zhu Zhanji still valued Huang Fu's opinion, so he turned to Wang Tong and asked.

"I am indeed worthy of death for my defeat at Jiaozhi, but I also have difficulties. Please forgive me!"

Wang Tong immediately kowtowed heavily.

Wang Tong is full of bitterness now. He is indeed aggrieved. Just like Huang Fu said, he has just arrived in Jiaozhi, has no roots and has to face the rebels. To be able to fight like this, he has really tried his best. .

Although Zhu Zhanji was angry at this time, he did not lose his mind. He could also understand Wang Tong's grievances. After all, before Wang Tong went to Jiaozhi, Jiaozhi was already a mess. If Wang Tong was replaced by someone else, , maybe the situation will be worse than now.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhanji also hesitated, so he turned to look at Xia Yuanji, who had not expressed his stance, and said, "Xia Shangshu, how do you think I should deal with Cheng Shanbo?"

Xia Yuanji seemed to have known that Zhu Zhanji would ask him, so he was not surprised at all. He took a step forward calmly and said: "Your Majesty, I thought that Cheng Shanbo was guilty, but as Huang Shangshu said, the crime is not Even if he is to die, please Your Majesty to conduct a detailed trial, punish him if he is guilty, and reward him if he has merit, which can be regarded as justice to Cheng Shanbo!"

When Wang Tong heard that Xia Yuanji also spoke for him, he immediately looked at him gratefully. He had never had any friendship with Xia Yuanji before, but he did not expect that at this time, the other party could help him.

After hearing what Xia Yuanji said, Zhu Zhanji was silent for a moment and finally made a decision: "Bo Cheng Shanbo is to blame for the defeat of Jiaozhi. I have decided that the Ministry of War and the Fifth Army Governor's Office will jointly review the matter. We will deal with it after knowing the result!”

(End of this chapter)