Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 421: Python Clothes Heading North
As soon as Xiao Yan's words came out, the military officers who were not good at dealing with the situation immediately found a breakthrough.

When facing bandits, the court clearly had different standards for similar results.

Military officers have to be punished for defeat in battle, but don’t the civil officials have the responsibility to defend the territory?
Zhang Ruzhou, the magistrate of Dacheng County, was killed by bandits, but he was granted the title of Secretary of the Guanglu Temple, was granted sacrifices, and one of his sons was admitted as a student of the Imperial Academy. Huo En, the magistrate of Shangcai County, and Wang Zuo, the magistrate of Xiping County, were killed by bandits, but they were promoted to Junior Secretary of the Guanglu Temple.

Huai'an prefect Liu Xiang failed to defeat the rebels and was captured by them, but was suspended from his post pending investigation.

The former Shandong governor Bian Xian and Zhending governor Xiao Chong were dismissed from their posts for their inability to govern the people, and were not punished.

What if we use the same standards?
These statements made by the military officers were quickly attacked by the civil officials.

This is because although civil officials have the duty to defend the territory, fighting against bandits is obviously the job of military officials. How can the mistakes of military officials be used to accuse civil officials?
Just as this topic was gradually heated up and the emotions of both sides were aroused.

There was a little-known captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard named Pei De, who, under the guidance of a Taoist master, immediately found the key point of the civil officials group.

The essence of this war was not an invasion by the barbarians, but an internal rebellion.

The battle line has expanded and the situation is devastating everywhere. How can we blame the soldiers who were originally guarding the nine borders and the capital? Isn't this caused by the unpopularity of the local officials?

If the people can live and work in peace, who would be willing to risk being beheaded and follow the rebels?

——"When a tiger or rhinoceros escapes from its cage, or a tortoise or jade is destroyed in its box, whose fault is it?"

This question is simply fatal!
The military officials did a poor job in suppressing the local rebellions, but how should we evaluate the merits and demerits of the civil officials who were the root causes of the local rebellions and who governed the local areas?
And there is a reason why the military officials performed so poorly.

Even Peng Ze, the military commander and chief censor at the front, highly praised the fighting capacity of the Bazhou Army in his memorial to the court.

——"The bandits are even more vicious than the northern barbarians."

These peasants fight more fiercely than the Tatars and the Oirat. What do you want them to do?
Isn't it the result of the long-term oppression of local officials that these peasants suddenly turned into a mob?

So, on what basis can the perpetrators of the rebellion stay out of the matter and criticize the military officials fighting in the battlefield?
Pei De's words immediately hit the nerves of the civil officials.

It makes them angry and unable to refute.

Correspondingly, the morale of the military officers who came to the capital to compete for merit was greatly boosted. Each of them seemed to have transformed into an imperial censor in the court, speaking impassionedly against the corruption and chaos in various places.

Some of them have been in local areas for a long time, while others have been to various places to suppress rebellions, and have witnessed many bad policies.

Many military officers were jealous of the civil servants who made a lot of money, and they took the opportunity to expose the money-making faces of the civil servants to the world.

The most passive unit here is the Ministry of War.

Because there was a very annoying thing that inevitably became a pain point for the Ministry of War.

Another current Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Li Hao, was the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture before the civil unrest in Bazhou!
And Bazhou was under his jurisdiction.

If this rebellion, which lasted for more than two years, were to be investigated in this way, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture would certainly not be able to escape.

This immediately cast doubt on the Ministry of War's role as the judge.

As the situation becomes more and more complicated, many knowledgeable people have realized that unless an influential "powerful person" emerges to correctly guide public opinion, things are likely to get out of control.

Many people placed their hopes on the new cabinet chief, Yang Tinghe.

However, Yang Tinghe knew that this powder keg could not be touched.

If he favors the civil servants, and if a small-scale mutiny occurs in the army due to the lack of rewards for merit, then his position as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet will be over.

If it is biased towards the military officer, how should this matter be investigated?
How to define the criteria for inciting rebellion?
How can we tell which officials are corrupt and which are honest in just a few words?

Even if we take a step back and say that Yang Tinghe relied on his prestige to suppress objections from all sides and allowed this grand deliberation to proceed smoothly, would that be good for him?
He has reached the highest level of promotion, isn't he still the Prime Minister of the Cabinet?
But what if we didn't take this 10,000-step retreat? What if something went wrong?

Wouldn't that mean he would have to say goodbye to his beloved Wenyuan Pavilion?

As for the second assistant Liang Chu, he had been silent for a while since Liang Ci'e was killed in Sanhe Posthouse.

Although he was handling his official duties as usual, many people believed that this barked dog would definitely bite people.

Liang Chu had no interest in getting involved in this kind of dispute.

Even if he wants to participate, others have to consider whether they will be bitten hard by Liang Chu.

As for Fei Hong, there is even less hope for him.

He is a loyal and honest gentleman, who would bother him with such things?

Even if Fei Hong was called over, I'm afraid he would be helpless.

Just as this great debate was gradually reaching a deadlock, the generals and commanders from all over the country who had come to Beijing gathered at the Ministry of War, clamoring for an explanation every day.

Gu Dayong, the eunuch in charge of supervising military affairs far away in Shandong, suddenly issued a letter and telegraphed the whole country that he wanted to go to Beijing!
According to Gu Dayong, as the person who has served as the admiral of military affairs for the longest time, he knows the performance of each military official very well and is also well versed in the people's livelihood in various prefectures and counties.

No one is more qualified to be the judge than him.

He will disregard his personal reputation and go to the capital to mediate the matter on behalf of the civil and military officials in the court.

When the news came, He Jian, who was arguing with the military leaders in the Ministry of War, almost laughed out of anger.

What kind of waste is Gu Dayong?
His performance over the past two years has made it clear to everyone that this eunuch is incompetent in commanding troops and employing generals.

Although the subsequent Battle of Yanggu achieved horrific results, there is one fact that cannot be denied: Gu Dayong's identity at the time was a criminal who was escorted to the capital for trial.

Therefore, one can imagine how much role Gu Dayong played in that battle.

He Jian just made a simple analysis and guessed that there must be some shameful transactions involved.

It’s just that the emperor at that time was willing to protect him, and this is a fact.

Since it would be given to anyone, He Jian didn't insist too much.

Now Gu Dayong dares to jump out and come out to mediate, which is simply ridiculous.

Unexpectedly, after He Jian treated this matter as a joke and told the noisy soldiers in the Ministry of War, those military leaders fell into an eerie silence.

Minister He was a little surprised, "Don't you think it's funny?"

Don’t these warriors have any sense of humor?
Unexpectedly, before Minister He could ask the reason, the generals and commanders became excited.

In the lobby of the Ministry of War, everyone was excited, raising their arms and fists, "Let him speak! Let him speak!"

I go!

He Jian felt numb when he saw those restless military officers.

Gu Dayong is such a waste, why is he so popular among the army?
Could it be that he is really a one-in-a-million military commander? !

Outrageous! However, in fact, the commanders' ideas were very simple.

When Gu Dayong was called back to Beijing to be questioned, he shamelessly wrote them a letter, threatening them to help him praise him.

These generals and commanders were afraid that Gu Dayong would do something bad, so they had to accept it and praised Gu Dayong against their will, which helped him overcome the crisis.

Therefore, it goes without saying that the generals and commanders had high expectations for Gu Dayong.

——I was the one who supported Gu Dayong back then, now he owes me this shit!

Come and praise me back!
Praise me back strongly!

As the military camp reached an unprecedented consensus, this great debate was miraculously temporarily frozen.

There were rumors in the capital that "famous teachers and generals should not be proud of themselves, thousands of troops are waiting for the military supervision."

Even Zhu Houzhao, who had been closely watching this matter in the palace, was surprised to find that the old eunuch who supervised the army, whom he did not think highly of, actually maintained such a strong influence in the army.

At this moment, he is the most powerful person who can stir up the political situation.

So, under everyone's attention, the eunuch in charge of military affairs and the supervisor of the Western Factory, Gu Dayong, was appointed.

——The python robe goes north!
Gu Dayong's trip was very high-profile. After leaving Jinan City, he once again issued a letter to the court at the first post station he stayed at.

——"Fighting in four provinces, taking stock of the heroes who suppressed the rebellion in my mind, Volume 1"

The memorial was submitted without sealing and was delivered to the court through the post station.

It means that everyone can view and copy it.

The post station was the main artery for the imperial court to control all parties. All news coming from the south and the north was transmitted through the post station.

Gu Dayong published the letter through the post station, and the content spread throughout the country in a very short time.

The person Gu Dayong focused on in "Fighting in Four Provinces, Listing the Heroes Who Suppressed Rebellions in My Mind, Volume One" was the guerrilla general Xi Yong.

He praised Xi Yong generously, especially mentioning that when Xi Yong was chasing Zhang Xing, Zhang Wang, Ma Wu and others, he defeated the enemy with a small force at Gaolidian, Weixian, beheaded 800 bandit leaders, and persuaded more than 500 people to surrender. He also killed the bandit general Li Long at Chencundian and repelled Liu Liu at Songjiazhuang.

If you look at it this way, Xi Yong's contribution is no less than capturing He Jin and dispelling Zhao Sui's hatred.

However, Qiu Yue was able to rise from a Ningxia lieutenant general to a marquis, while Xi Yong, according to the reward provided by the Ministry of War, was only promoted one level and his son was given a promotion.

This naturally made everyone realize more clearly the irrationality of the Ministry of War's assessment and reward this time.

Everyone agreed that Gu Dayong was indeed a capable person.

After reading Gu Dayong's compliments, the guerrilla general Xi Yong burst into tears. He never expected that he had missed such a close friend back then.

As a result, everyone became more and more looking forward to Gu Dayong.

We soon arrived at the next station.

Gu Dayong once again published a letter and issued the public chapter of the second volume.

——"Fighting in four provinces, taking stock of the heroes who suppressed the rebellion in my mind, Volume 2"

In this volume, Gu Dayong emphasized Jiang Bin's outstanding performance in the Battle of Huaishang.

The author especially mentioned the scene where Jiang Bin was shot by three arrows, one of which hit him in the face, but his face was covered with blood, and he pulled out the arrow and continued to fight. He believed that Jiang Bin was loyal and brave for his country, and his courage was no less than that of Xiahou Yuanrang in the past.

It is said that even the emperor, who knew nothing about this matter, was amazed when he heard it.

Before Gu Dayong arrived in Beijing, Jiang Bin, who was waiting for reward in Beijing, was summoned into the palace by the emperor.

The emperor asked him to take off his clothes to show his wounds, and then looked at the arrow wound on his face. He couldn't help but exclaimed, "I didn't expect Jiang Bin to be so brave!"

As a result, before he was rewarded for his contribution in pacifying Bazhou, Jiang Bin had already been directly promoted to the position of deputy commander-in-chief, and was allowed to enter and leave the Leopard Room directly on his behalf and accompany the emperor.

Now the remaining generals and commanders all had red eyes. Damn, they were so envious!

As a result, everyone became more and more looking forward to Gu Dayong's memorial.

This is no longer just Gu Dayong's comments on them, it has allowed the emperor and the world to intuitively see what they are doing.

Their battle over the past year or so can no longer be summarized by just a few words of victory or defeat in memorials.

In "Fighting in Four Provinces, Listing the Heroes Who Suppressed Rebellions in My Heart, Volume 3", Gu Dayong introduced Xu Tai in detail.

It was also in this text that everyone saw the warrior who was suppressed in various ways but had nowhere to appeal.

In the impeachment of the censor, everyone only saw that Xu Tai was attacked by the enemy army during the battle of Weihui, and suffered heavy casualties. But no one noticed that in such a difficult situation, Xu Tai also gathered and protected the subordinates of Lieutenant General Li Jin.

In the impeachment of the censor, everyone only saw Xu Tai's arrogance because of his victory. But no one noticed how fierce the battle Xu Tai won was. In that battle, Lieutenant Generals Yang Yi, Xiong Wei, and Jiang Yi were defeated one after another, and Cheng Zhao watched Wang Gao's troops being surrounded and annihilated, but did not dare to rescue them. Xu Tai won the battle.

In the censor's impeachment, everyone had only seen that Deputy General Liu Hui and Lieutenant General Wen Gong defeated the rebel army in Guan County and beheaded 178 people, while Xu Tai and Jiang Yi flinched.

Well, we can understand that he would shrink back when he lost the battle, but why would he shrink back when he was in a favorable situation? You are just guessing, right? Besides, even if he didn't have any merit, it wouldn't be enough to warrant impeachment.

With Gu Dayong's writings, more and more warriors became known to people all over the world.

Some of their achievements were more specific, and their temporary failures also explained the reasons to the world, and many of them were even generally forgiven.

As Gu Dayong got closer to the capital, many civil officials and military generals began to get nervous.

Because everyone can see the trend of Gu Dayong's comments, it is obvious that the later a person appears, the more weight he or she carries.

Maybe that person is the one Gu Dayong admires the most during his battles in the four provinces.

With the current level of social attention, and the emperor's frequent direct intervention and parachuted rewards, this person might be able to rise to the top overnight!
Finally, the most anticipated article appeared the day before Gu Dayong went to Beijing.

Before the people who were waiting anxiously looked through the documents, they inevitably had their own guesses.

——Ningxia Lieutenant General Qiu Yue had an outstanding military record and was first an Earl and then a Marquis, which he fully deserved.

——Lu Wan is steady and cautious, and his command is firm, he is also a pillar.

——Jiang Bin was shot in the face by an arrow, but he was able to pull out the arrow and continue fighting. He was as fierce as a tiger and he definitely had a chance to make a comeback.

——Although the governor-general Bai Yu said that the outcome of the battle could be decided with just one battle, there was some element of luck involved, and the number of gains could not convince the public, right?
When I opened Gu Dayong's final review article...

Everyone couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

——Fuck, who is He Huan?

(End of this chapter)