Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 216 Daming Cancer
(PS: Monday is here, please recommend tickets and monthly tickets.)
The situation after the fall of North Korea seems to be developing in the worst direction. The imperial envoy Liu Ruozai who investigated the fall of North Korea left the capital only two days ago, and Xiong Tingbi and the governor of Liaodong issued another memorial to impeach Mao Wenlong jointly!In this memorandum, Xiong Tingbi clearly expressed a kind of soaring anger, scolding Mao Wenlong for delaying the military plane, sitting by and watching North Korea fall and not reporting to Xiong Tingbi, the governor of Liaodong who controlled the tripartite, resulting in North Korea being isolated and helpless, resulting in being conquered by Jiannu In the end, it also led to the abort of the three-party arrangement that Xiong Tingbi had painstakingly worked on for the past two years, and the Jiannu, whose economy was already on the verge of collapse, also gained a precious respite.At the same time, Xiong Tingbi also sternly impeached Mao Wenlong for ignoring orders, repeatedly violating military orders and killing good men for meritorious deeds. Together with the governor of Liaodong, he asked the court to behead Mao Wenlong for questioning!

In all fairness, apart from the incident of delaying the North Korean military plane, Xiong Tingbi’s other accusations of impeaching Mao Wenlong are actually true. On this point, Song Jin, Master Zhang’s brother-in-law, can all testify. There are reports that since Xiong Tingbi took office, Mao Wenlong has indeed violated military orders many times, refused to obey Xiong Tingbi's orders, and did many things that killed good men and pretended to be meritorious. But these are trivial matters, and they are also common in the army. When Young Master Gou came to Liaodong for the first time, how many generals in Liaodong admired Young Master Zhang?Including famous generals like Man Gui and Ma Shilong, they were unwilling to cooperate with Young Master Zhang at first, until Young Master Zhang showed his nature of not engaging in conspiracies and tricks in Jinzhou, and being able to cooperate with ordinary soldiers. The so-called virtue of sharing weal and woe, Man Gui and Ma Shilong and other generals began to be convinced by Young Master Zhang, and Young Master Zhang was able to command the army like an arm and a finger.The grumpy Xiong Tingbi not only does not have the forbearing character and tactful methods of Young Master Zhang, but because of Wang Huazhen's case, he has some ambiguous grievances with Mao Wenlong. The same grumpy Mao Wenlong will naturally not willingly obey Xiong Tingbi Dispatch, the fierce conflict between the two, was also a doomed result from the very beginning.In this way, it naturally gave some people the opportunity to take advantage of the loopholes.

"That kid must be fooling around again, trying to sow discord!" After reading the joint memorial of Xiong Tingbi and the governor of Liaodong, Young Master Zhang was so angry that he yelled loudly in front of Wei Zhongxian, "My father-in-law is also getting older. The more confused, the Jiannu attack on North Korea is such a big matter, no matter how courageous Mao Wenlong is, he dare not deliberately conceal the military situation, right? Hearing a few words of slander from that kid, he put all the responsibility on Mao Wenlong. This is not to make Mao Wenlong Do you want to push back?"

"Monkey boy, it seems that you, like our family, have seriously ignored the conflict between your father-in-law and Mao Wenlong." Probably because he is used to the dog-eat-dog between his subordinates, Wei Zhongxian is even calmer than Young Master Zhang at this moment, with skinny fingers Knocking on the armrest of the grand teacher's chair, he said slowly: "Our family has also considered carefully these two days, and thinks that Liu Ruozai's trip to Liaodong this time will probably not find out the truth. No news - if Mao Wenlong hadn't lied, then those five messengers must have been silenced! There is no proof of death, and Liu Ruozai has nowhere to investigate. If he can't find out the truth, Mao Wenlong will have to take the blame and jump into the Yellow River It can't be washed away either. Well, if your father-in-law and Mao Wenlong weren't so irritable and could calm down, this matter wouldn't have happened like this."

"Father, the child can guarantee it with his head!" Young Master Zhang said angrily, "My father-in-law, Xiong Tingbi, and Mao Wenlong, will not intentionally delay the military plane and sit back and watch North Korea fall! The problem must be that boy!"

"Of course our family believes what you say." Wei Zhongxian nodded, and said helplessly, "Our family also doesn't believe that your ferocious father-in-law and Mao Wenlong can do such a thing, but what is the evidence? You can't produce evidence to prove that it is What crime did our family use to deal with that kid? Anyway, our Daming is a reasonable place, and he is also a third-rank official. Without conclusive evidence, our family has no way to send him to prison for questioning!"

Young Master Zhang was speechless, there was no conclusive evidence, Young Master Zhang really had nothing to do with the Liaodong governor——Wei Zhongxian is awesome, killing Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou would also have to slander them for accepting bribes from Wang Huazhen, and Don't dare to give them any charges, just kill them directly.In desperation, Young Master Zhang had no choice but to say dejectedly: "I hope Liu Ruozai can find witnesses to prove that Mao Wenlong has indeed sent messengers for help five times after he arrives at Phi Island."

"Even if Liu Ruozai finds such a witness, it will not be of much use. At most, it can only prove Mao Wenlong's innocence." Wei Zhongxian said slowly: "But if the governor of Liaodong insists that he has not received the letter for help, and Mao Wenlong can't produce evidence, If it proves that his request for help has been sent to the governor of Liaodong, then this case will still be an unsolved case. The governor of Liaodong can still infer that it was the storm at sea, or Jiannu intercepted and killed the messenger, which prevented the messenger from sending the letter of request for help to Ningyuan , so as to get rid of responsibility. ——As for finding witnesses or evidence proving that the governor of Liaodong has received the letter of appeal and deliberately concealed the military situation, then don’t even think about it. , will kill all the insiders immediately, let alone that kid?"

"What father said is very true. If I were him, I would definitely do the same thing." Young Master Zhang shook his head and sighed, admitting that the wily Wei Zhongxian was right.In desperation, Young Master Zhang had no choice but to ask Wei Zhongxian for help: "Father, in your opinion, what should we do with this matter?"

"What else can I do? If you are confused, just calculate it." Wei Zhongxian said sinisterly: "The imperial envoys to investigate this case have already been dispatched. It would be best if we can find out the real evidence. Even if we can't find any real evidence, Liu Ruozai It's very easy to prove Mao Wenlong's innocence. At that time, our family will first keep Mao Wenlong, a rare fierce general, and then find any excuses to beat that kid to the end, deprive him of his military power, demote him to a commoner, and slowly find An excuse to settle accounts with him, no matter what, he has to be hacked into pieces, so as to eliminate the hatred in our family's heart! Hmph, although our family has never read any books, we are not stupid!"

"Father is wise, since there is no way to find evidence, the only way to kill Yan Shifan is Xu Jie." Young Master Zhang was overjoyed, and said: "To tell my father, in fact, there are officials Wang Tang from the Ministry of War and Xu Guangqi from the Ministry of Industry. I and several censors all suspected that this kid was the one who made trouble, and there are quite a few clear-headed people in the court, father, if you deal with him like this, they will definitely agree and cooperate with all their strength."

"Very good." Wei Zhongxian nodded, then beckoned Young Master Zhang to kneel in front of him, stroked Young Master Zhang's hair and said lovingly: "But don't participate in this matter, and don't go to the book to impeach him, our family will take care of you Zhang Luo is enough. You are still young, you can't offend too many people in the court, let alone leave a bad impression on others, and your father-in-law appreciates him very much. If you shoot him directly, I'm afraid Weng and son-in-law are at odds."

"Father—!" Young Master Zhang, who had always been a wolf, was moved again, and couldn't help but fell on Wei Zhongxian's lap.Wei Zhongxian smiled kindly, and said: "Work hard at Xuanda University. When our family saves enough food, grass and military salary for you, you can put down the rebellious thieves in Shaanxi. If Liaodong has not been pacified, we will send you to Liaodong again." , and then put Jiannu down, then, you monkey bastard, even a king with a different surname will have enough capital."

"Father..." Young Master Zhang choked up, but he was lamenting in his heart, "Old Eunuch Wei, don't be so kind to me, can you? Although my conscience is not much, it still hurts."

On February 21, after personally supervising the executioner of the Ministry of Punishment to chop Ning Wanwo alive for [-] knives, Young Master Zhang set off to return to Xuanda, and Wei Zhongxian also tried his best at the court to appoint Sun Chuanting according to Young Master Zhang's opinion. As the governor of Datong, Lu Xiangsheng was appointed governor of Xuanfu, Ma Shiying was promoted to governor of Xuanda, and all the important officials of Xuanda were replaced with people appointed by Young Master Zhang in one go. It was the first time in the Ming Dynasty, but Wei Zhongxian's thick skin was not inferior to that of Young Master Zhang, and Ming Xizong also trusted Wei Zhongxian and Young Master Zhang father and son very much, so although the officials criticized this a lot, they still couldn't stop Young Master Zhang from wantonly using private individuals. , in Xuanda, covering the sky with one hand.As for Ruan Dacheng recommended by Ma Shiying, because Young Master Zhang didn't know much about his abilities, he just recommended him a position as the magistrate of Datong, which was also approved.At the same time, Lu Xiangsheng, Wu Sangui, Zhang Dapao and others who went south to recruit soldiers also successfully completed their mission, and brought the newly recruited [-] soldiers of the slave slaughter army to the north to meet with Young Master Zhang and return to Xuanda together.

Young Master Zhang is gone, but the bad things about North Korea have left Wei Zhongxian with a headache. For a long period of time, Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong, who are also brutish, will send memorials and fight almost every day, not only accusing each other of making mistakes The military plane led to the fall of North Korea, and also pulled out some old things about Chen Guzi's rotten sesame seeds. For example, Mao Wenlong beheaded the North Korean civilians who were forcibly shaved by Jiannu, and exchanged their heads for military exploits, which caused North Korea to submit a letter of credence to protest; There is also the conflict between Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen in Liaodong that year, and he gave up Guangning and withdrew to Shanhaiguan in a fit of anger.The tone is more fierce than the other, and the curse is worse than the other. It is very doubtful. If these two guys meet next time, will they roll up their sleeves and fight on the spot?But the governor of Liaodong who was the most suspected, after successfully provoking the conflict between Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong to attract everyone's attention, quietly disappeared from everyone's sight and hid far away to watch the excitement.

Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong quarreled like this. Of course, the Ming court could not ignore it. Most officials tended to temporarily separate Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong, so as not to repeat the mistakes of Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen in Guangning and delay the major military affairs. Some officials also suggested that they should be dealt with at the same time. The crime of dereliction of duty by Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong made them bear the responsibility for the fall of North Korea together.But fortunately, the treacherous and cunning Wei Zhongxian trusted Young Master Zhang a little more. He used the excuse that the imperial envoy had already set out to handle the case, and made a decision after the result was obtained. He finally suppressed the limelight and recruited elite secret agents from the East Factory. Went to Liaodong to investigate the case with Liu Ruozai both openly and secretly.

Wei Zhongxian was not the only one who was in trouble, Liu Ruozai, the imperial envoy handling the case, was even put on the stove by Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong for barbecue at the same time.In Shanhaiguan, Xiong Tingbi almost grabbed Liu Ruozai by the collar and yelled, forcing Liu Ruozai to find out the hard evidence of Mao Wenlong's crime of concealing military information!In Phi Island, after Mao Wenlong presented the draft letters and witnesses that he sent envoys five times to ask for help, he pinched Liu Ruozai by the neck and threatened Liu Ruozai to impeach Xiong Tingbi for intentionally delaying the military plane and watching North Korea fall!But when Liu Ruozai rushed to Ningyuan to investigate, the governor of Liaodong, who was in Ningyuan, called out Zhuang Tianqu again, swearing that he had never received a letter from Mao Wenlong for help. Jian also had no choice but to testify, proving that they had never seen Mao Wenlong’s envoy in Ningyuan City, let alone any request for help—of course, Hu Liangfu and Li Yingjian couldn’t guarantee whether Ningyuan Wharf had received a request for help. up.

As one of Young Master Zhang's sworn brothers, Liu Ruozai is of course not a good person. In order to investigate the truth of the matter, Liu Ruozai went deep into the army and interrogated the soldiers of the Ming army who were in charge of patrolling the sea some time ago. Mao Wenlong's letter for help, but every soldier swore and swore that he had never seen half of Mao Wenlong's courier. Sun Zhongshou and Xie Shangzheng, the Liaodong governor's confidants who were mainly in charge of sea patrols and traffic information, also stood up to testify that since the beginning of the first month From the beginning of the Eighth Korean War until the fall of North Korea on the fourth day of February, Ningyuan never received a single message from Phi Island.Xie Shangzheng, who helped the governor of Liaodong to kill Mao Wenlong in history, also testified, "After we lost contact with Phi Island, we sent envoys to Phi Island twice to restore contact. No corpse! Imperial envoy, you have to decide for us."

With the case at this stage, even if Young Master Zhang came, the truth might not be found out, let alone Liu Ruozai, who was far below Young Master Zhang in cunning and treachery?Seeing that the deadline was approaching, Liu Ruozai could only report the results he had found to the imperial court and ask the imperial court to make a decision. After the memorial was sent to the imperial court, Wei Zhongxian, who was also sent to the East Factory for a secret investigation and found nothing, was also helpless. ——Confirmed that Mao Wenlong did send messengers asking for help five times, and there was no suspicion of delaying the military plane. It was only because of changes in the sea wind and waves, or the interception of Jiannu sea that caused Xiong Tingbi to not receive the letter for help, so Xiong Tingbi was not guilty of delaying the military plane. .As a result, Mao Wenlong and Xiong Tingbi were punished for dereliction of duty, both officials were demoted to one level, and their salaries were fined for half a year!

Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong lost North Korea, but the conviction was so light. Of course, the civil and military officials were dissatisfied, but fortunately, the king of North Korea Li Ji sent a secret envoy to quietly send a letter of credence, explaining to the Ming court why he was forced to surrender. Difficulties also showed that he was in the slave camp and his heart was in Ming Dynasty, saying that as long as there is a chance, North Korea will return to the embrace of Ming Dynasty without hesitation.With this letter of credence, Wei Zhongxian barely suppressed the court's public opinion, and at the same time freed up his hands to start punishing the governor of Liaodong who was the most suspected.

As the adoptive father of Young Master Zhang, Wei Zhongxian is far more cruel and despicable than Young Master Zhang. In the absence of conclusive evidence, Wei Zhongxian excused that there were two typos in a memorial written by the governor of Liaodong half a year ago, and instructed the Eunuch Censor He came forward to impeach the governor of Liaodong for his disrespect; at the same time, Wang Yongguang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, who was furious, also wrote a letter in person, impeaching the governor of Liaodong for allegedly embezzling military pay, eating empty money and drinking soldiers' blood; and Gao Di, another iron buddy of Young Master Zhang, also sent a memorial from his hometown to impeach the governor of Liaodong. The governor of Liaodong took advantage of the horse market in Gaotaibao and was suspected of capitalizing on the enemy.In addition, many eunuch officials also impeached the governor of Liaodong for some minor crimes under the instruction of Wei Zhongxian.Wei Zhongxian took the opportunity to get angry and suggested that Ming Xizong dismiss the governor of Liaodong from office and demote him to a commoner. Bi Zisu, the current Shaoqing of Taipusi, is the governor of Liaodong.

I have to admit that Wei Zhongxian's actions are indeed despicable enough. Without any evidence, just relying on the guarantee of some officials to directly dismiss a governor. So after making this decision, none of the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty objected.But what Wei Zhongxian didn't expect was that he also underestimated the energy of some governors of Liaodong. Before the eunuchs sent by the Liaodong supervisor to announce the decree arrived at Shanhaiguan, the governor of Liaodong had already received the news and made preparations immediately. , rushed to Shanhaiguan first, knelt on the ground holding Xiong Tingbi's thigh and cried bitterly.

"Men, the imperial court is deliberately punishing students." Because before taking office in Liaodong, the governor of Liaodong once asked Xiong Tingbi for advice on the strategy of flattening Liaodong, so after Xiong Tingbi returned to Liaodong as a supervisor, the governor of Liaodong did not blush at all. It is commensurate with Xiong Tingbi's teachers and students, "Teacher, if others don't understand students, how can you not understand students? Students have eaten empty quotas, but the civil servants and military generals who led troops in the Ming Dynasty have never eaten? They said that students are suspected of being enemies. What evidence? The student accidentally wrote two typos, so what does it matter? There are so many officials in Liaodong, who has not written a typo? Jiuqian and the court dismissed the students for these crimes, the students are not convinced!"

"Teacher, the students don't necessarily want to be this official." The Governor of Liaodong cried like hell, sobbing and said: "It's just that the students are dismissed from office for the people for no reason, the students don't want to bear this innocent injustice! Teacher, it’s been almost two years since you came to Liaodong for the third time. Didn’t you see what the students have done? Didn’t you see it? The imperial court didn’t give Liaodong a tael of military expenses, and the students still built Jinzhou City, but they didn’t give it to the students. With the new muskets, the students still took down Haizhou City and restored the Daming River and Mountains hundreds of miles away. Even if there is no credit, there is still a little hard work, right? Master, do you have the heart to treat the students like this?"

Still the same sentence, nine out of ten people with a bad temper are soft-tempered rather than tough--and Xiong Tingbi is one of those nine!Seeing the protégé crying under his knees, and thinking of the completely different treatment that the protégé and his son-in-law received at the imperial court, Xiong Tingbi softened his heart and complied with the request of the governor of Liaodong. Young Master Zhang sent a letter from his family, intimidating Young Master Zhang, a proud son-in-law with a high reputation in the imperial court, to come forward as a guarantor for his favorite student. He brought it into the latrine for use; after Gu Baozuo's book was delivered to the capital, Wei Zhongxian immediately threw it into the stove, and yelled: "Xiong Lao is confused! The older you get, the more confused you become! If it wasn't for the sake of our own son Come on, our family really wants you to leave Liaodong for the third time!"

"Master Xiong is indeed a bit old-fashioned." Wang Yongguang, who came to submit Xiong Tingbi's memorial, also echoed: "I really don't know what Master Xiong thinks. He has been in Liaodong for the third time, and he has put in countless painstaking efforts over the past two years. , finally pushed Jiannu to the point of desperation, as long as he persisted for another half a year, the famine alone could starve Jiannu to death! In the end, it fell short, Master Xiong has not yet seen who is playing tricks in the middle, really smart For a lifetime, I was confused for a while."

"Old man, hasn't he been honored by our own son?!" Wei Zhongxian said very proudly: "In the land controlled by Jiannu, the grain can rise to 30 taels, the key is that our own son swept away The Horqin Grassland scared hundreds of Tatar tribes, and they didn’t dare to sell food to Jiannu anymore, cutting off the source of food for Jiannu! Otherwise, relying on the few small battles he fought after he took office, he would be able to Jiannu forced to this point?"

"Nine thousand years old, I believe that Governor Xiong still has some merits after serving as the governor of Liaodong for the third time." Wang Yongguang said a fair word, "There is a saying in military strategists that good fighters have no great achievements! Governor Xiong The reason why Master Xiong fought small battles was because Jiannu knew that he could fight and refused to touch his bad luck, so after two years, Master Xiong had no major achievements. But on the other hand, Master Xiong It also saved a lot of military expenses for the imperial court invisibly, and ensured that Shanhaiguan was safe and sound."

"Then why is our own son so outstanding in military exploits?" Wei Zhongxian snorted coldly with disdain.Wang Yongguang smiled wryly, and replied: "Nine thousand years old, who dares to compare with Tan Hualang? Our other generals in Ming Dynasty all try not to fight as much as possible, and don't want to take risks with their own heads-that is, Tan Hualang As soon as the Tatar coalition forces provoked him, he immediately rushed into the grassland, beat the innocent Tatar tribes to pieces, and killed the grassland with blood flowing into rivers, isn't his combat ability outstanding?"

"The key is that our own son is capable." Wei Zhongxian said complacently: "If the thieves in Shaanxi hadn't become more and more troublesome, and they couldn't do without the monkey guard, our family would have sent the monkey to Liaodong long ago. Clean up the slaves."

Wang Yongguang smiled, and was about to flatter Wei Zhongxian to make Wei Zhongxian happy, but a young eunuch came running outside the door and said to Wang Yongguang: "Officer Wang Yongguang, your deputy Yuan Shilang is here, saying that there is an urgent report from the Liaodong military. He also said that the matter is of great importance, please present it to the nine-thousand-year-old ancestor immediately!"

"Emergency report on the military situation in Liaodong?" Wei Zhongxian and Wang Yongguang jumped up at the same time.Wei Zhongxian roared: "Hurry up, call Yuan Keli in and report directly to our family!"

The little eunuch hurriedly led away, and a moment later, Yuan Keli, the servant of the Ministry of War, was led into Wei Zhongxian's back hall. As soon as he entered, Yuan Keli said in a panic: "Nine thousand years old, Wang Tangguan, something is wrong, the Ningyuan army Mutiny! The new governor of Liaodong, Bi Zisu, was kidnapped by the rebels, and he was humiliated and committed suicide!"

(End of this chapter)