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Chapter 447: Border (II)

Emperor Taihe did not sleep all night.

The next morning, Emperor Taihe entered the Golden Palace with red eyes.

The defeat of the border army in Pengcheng shocked all the civil and military officials. At the grand court meeting, all the officials, regardless of their official positions, cursed General Zuo. Even if they were in the same party as the prime minister, they would never speak for General Zuo at this time.

The focus of the ministers' debate was the same as yesterday: General Zuo must be held accountable for his crimes. It all depended on whether the Emperor was willing to give General Zuo a chance to "make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence."

After arguing for a whole morning, there was still no conclusion.

Emperor Taihe was upset and had no appetite. He barely ate a few bites at noon and then put down his chopsticks.

Eunuch Ge came in and handed over a letter: "Your Majesty, this is a letter from Princess Nanyang."

Emperor Taihe nodded slightly and took the letter.

Zheng Chen saw this and frowned slightly. Jiang Shaohua was in Nanyang, but his heart was in the court, and he kept writing letters every month.

Unfortunately, they were far away from each other and there was a time gap between their correspondence, so there were some things that Jiang Shaohua simply didn't have time to respond to.

For example, right now, the court is arguing over how to deal with Zuo Feng. Nanyang County probably just received the news. Even if Jiang Shaohua wants to write a letter, it will be a few days later. This letter was sent seven or eight days ago. The content of the letter should be about spring farming and grain seeds, which is completely different from what Emperor Taihe is worried about now.

Thinking of this, Zheng Chen curled the corners of his mouth.

Officialdom is a man's world. No matter how smart and powerful Jiang Shaohua is, he is still limited by his status and distance, and his influence on the court is not that great. Unless Jiang Shaohua is willing to give up Nanyang County and live in the capital for a long time...

But she just refused to come. Now that she has made her choice, she will stay in Nanyang County forever! The affairs of the court have nothing to do with her.

After Zheng Chen and the others left, Emperor Taihe opened the letter and saw familiar handwriting.

This letter, as Zheng Chen expected, was mainly about spring ploughing and sowing. At the end, it mentioned the recent dream of his grandfather, which was a subtle reminder to Emperor Taihe to be wary of the people around him.

Emperor Taihe was now very upset and had no time to think about these things. He put the letter down and started reading the memorials.

……

At this time, Jiang Shaohua, who was patrolling the Imperial Guards camp, received the tragic news that the border troops were defeated and massacred in Pengcheng. His face immediately changed, and his voice suddenly became solemn: "Is this news reliable?"

The person who came to deliver the letter was Chen Changshi's personal attendant: "This is news from the border troops, it is absolutely true and reliable."

Chen Changshi has a wide range of friends. Not only does he have many acquaintances in the court, he also has one or two close friends in the border troops.

Given Chen Changshi's personality, he would never send any unreliable news to her.

Jiang Shaohua took a deep breath, reached out to take the letter from Chen Changshi, and opened it quickly.

This letter was more detailed than the war report sent to the court. The defeat of the border army was not entirely the fault of General Zuo. The general stationed in Pengcheng abandoned the city gate when the Rouran cavalry attacked in large numbers and fled with dozens of his personal soldiers. As a result, the army was demoralized and Pengcheng was lost.

The whereabouts of this general surnamed Zhao are unknown now. It is unknown whether he died on the battlefield or is hiding somewhere. If we really want to judge the crime, General Zhao is the one who deserves to be cut into pieces.

However, this is the rule in the army. Whenever a battle is lost, the commander-in-chief must bear the main responsibility. It is true that General Zuo used the wrong people. After the fall of Pengcheng, he did not organize a counterattack in time, but retreated to Sizhou, leaving Pengcheng completely to the Rouran cavalry. From this point of view, it is not unjust for General Zuo to be held accountable.

In the previous life, there was no Pingzhou Rebellion and no Pengcheng Massacre. General Zuo had always been in charge of the border army until Zheng Chen became the prime minister ten years later, when General Zuo retired in disgrace.

What exactly caused this shocking change?

Who does General Zhao work for? Why did he abandon the city and flee at a critical moment? Where is he now?
How will the court deal with General Zuo?
Various problems arise one after another.

Jiang Shaohua was overwhelmed with emotions and looked grim. He held the letter in his hand for a long time without saying a word.

Song Yuan, Qin Zhan and others cursed General Zuo. Liu Hengchang was relatively calm and whispered to Jiang Shaohua, "I know the princess is very angry. However, such important court affairs should be decided by the emperor and Prime Minister Wang. We in Nanyang County should not interfere."

I can't ask about it.

The court was changing rapidly, and the county lord was in Nanyang County, and it took nearly half a month to write a letter back and forth. In such matters, he basically had no say.

Jiang Shaohua came back to his senses and looked at Liu Hengchang: "You are right, it is indeed inappropriate for Nanyang County to interfere in the affairs of the court. This princess will not submit a memorial to express her attitude, but will only write a private letter to the emperor."

Submitting a memorial was a political statement, while writing a letter to Emperor Taihe was a private conversation between siblings, so there were no worries.

Seeing that the princess had listened to his advice, Liu Hengchang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said no more.

Jiang Shaohua immediately picked up his pen and wrote a letter to Emperor Taihe.

"…I know that my cousin is angry. General Zuo lost the battle and territory, and the innocent people of Pengcheng died. This account will be settled sooner or later. However, things have their priorities. General Zuo has been in charge of the border army for more than ten years, and the border army obeys his orders. Changing the commander in a hurry is a taboo in the army and will definitely lead to instability in the army. If the Rouran takes the opportunity to send troops, the consequences will be disastrous."

"I ask my cousin to calm down and think twice before acting."

……

After such a big thing happened, Jiang Shaohua couldn't remain calm at all. He put down his chopsticks after eating only a few bites of his meal.

Chen Jinyu saw it all and was secretly worried. She had never seen the princess so restless before.

"Pengcheng was massacred, tens of thousands of people were slaughtered, and young men and women were abducted. Such a horrific tragedy would make anyone feel uncomfortable." Chen Jinyu sighed in a low voice: "I know the princess feels sad, several times more than me. But this matter is different from the plague in Pingzhou. The county magistrate cannot do anything about it, and cannot intervene."

Yes! She could send people to deliver food and medicine to Pingzhou during the plague, and she could recommend her own confidant to be the governor.

What can she do when the border troops are defeated?
You can't send your own guard battalion to provide support!
This is what the court should do. As a princess of Nanyang, she should not interfere. It is even more inappropriate to reveal her family background and strength at this time.

Jiang Shaohua was silent for a long time, and whispered: "I have always been worried that something unexpected will happen in the capital. I didn't expect that the unexpected event would come from the border troops."

Chen Jinyu didn't understand the deep meaning behind this, but still comforted him softly: "Anyway, it's far away from us, and it won't cause trouble in our Nanyang County."

Jiang Shaohua hummed: "You should leave first! I want to be alone for a while."

Chen Jinyu had no choice but to retreat.

Jiang Shaohua stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, gazing at the crescent moon in the sky. He thought of the tragic scene of Pengcheng being massacred and sighed deeply.