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

Chapter 458: Military Incident
How could He Jian know what Pei Yuan would do?
I've already said what he meant, and I'm not interested in playing charades with him anymore.

So he said to Liu Xiang, "I have pity on you. You don't have to go to the southwest as a soldier. Go to Liaodong and be a county magistrate. If I'm not mistaken, you will see that man again one day."

After saying that, he looked at Liu Xiang and gave his advice sincerely, "When the time comes, don't make a mistake."

When Liu Xiang heard this, his heart was filled with astonishment.

If that person was a little willful, the Minister of War would personally inquire into his case and show him special favor, thus helping him avoid the fate of being exiled and even allowing him to retain his official position.

If I had been willing to meet him and get his help, would my fate have been completely different?
In the next few days, in the eyes of all the officials in the court who were just watching the action, there were indeed some sudden changes in the situation.

First, the Left Censor-in-Chief Li Shishi publicly stated that he did not want to pursue fame and fortune and was willing to give the opportunity to be promoted to the cabinet to others.

Then, another popular candidate, Minister of War He Jian, not only gave up the opportunity to be promoted to Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, but was even willing to resign from the post of Minister of War in order to resolve the current deadlock in the court.

He Jian's statement immediately overshadowed Li Shishi's, causing an uproar in the court and the country.

Even the emperor sent eunuchs to secretly inquire about He Jian's true intentions.

Perhaps because he had already prepared himself mentally, He Jian answered the outside world's questions very frankly.

Many nice words that had been prepared long ago were thrown out continuously.

Not to mention "the king is wise and the ministers are virtuous", even many doctors and officials who He Jian had never even looked at before received a lot of praise from him.

When everyone saw that He Jian had completely assumed the demeanor of a retired veteran cadre, they finally believed it.

Naturally, the people in He Jian's own faction were in a panic and started to make decisions one after another.

Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing also began to study intensively the future struggle situation after He Jian's departure.

Just when the civil officials were scheming and fighting among themselves, Zhu Houzhao, who got the chance, saw it and prepared to quickly push forward his "Military First Ming" plan.

Because of the intervention of Pei Yuan, the little butterfly, the camp of civil officials became more fragmented at this time, and Zhu Houzhao had He Huan, a good strategist, which made him even more powerful.

This group of people, ready to strike, like leopards ready to hunt, closely watched the changes in the political situation.

After discussing with their respective followers, Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing both believed that they could take advantage of He Jian's departure to divide up He Jian's vacant sphere of influence and thus strengthen themselves.

After the cabinet submitted He Jian's resignation, Zhu Houzhao tried to retain him without any expression.

Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing didn't notice anything different and still let He Jian go through the process of resigning or retaining him.

After the process was completed, Zhu Houzhao granted additional grace to He Jian as he had retired with honors, adding the titles of Prince Taibao, Guanglu Dafu, and Xunzhuguo, and also promoted one of his sons to be a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He Jian completed the handover, bid farewell to his old friends without any delay, and left the capital.

In order to demonstrate his political integrity, Pei Yuan also pretended to go out of the city to see him off.

Pei Yuan, a Jinyiwei who is not presentable, certainly has no right to mingle with a group of civil officials.

Fortunately, as soon as he appeared outside the city, he attracted He Jian's attention.

Pei Yuan waved to him, and He Jian nodded.

Just as a group of officials were sobbing outside the city gate to bid farewell to a big shot in the court.

The eunuch Xiao Jing, wearing a dragon robe, also came to the Ministry of War surrounded by eunuchs of all ranks.

Afterwards, Xiao Jing issued an edict, requesting the Ministry of War to transfer troops from the Beijing camp and Xuanfu border troops, ordering them to travel back and forth for training and defense, with a total of 3,000 troops to each side.

The officials in charge of the Ministry of War were very shocked by this.

Because before, when Zhu Houzhao was training troops in the Leopard House and Taiping Warehouse, he only relied on a small number of servants drawn from his adopted sons.

Zhu Houzhao even had a considerable conflict with the Ministry of War in order to solve the problems of money, food, weapons and armor for these people.

Unexpectedly, just after He Jian left the city, Zhu Houzhao sent someone to the Ministry of War to convey his order.

Moreover, this time it was not just the private soldiers under the emperor's control that were involved. The emperor even wanted to transfer some of the regular troops from the border towns to the capital.

Transfer border troops to Beijing?
This guy is trying to bring in a living Dong Zhuo, right?

What kind of brilliant idea could He Jin come up with?

Wang Ju, a Langzhong of the Military Affairs Department who was involved in the mobilization of troops, had also read Romance of the Three Kingdoms!

He immediately requested to postpone the matter on the grounds that there was no one in charge in the Ministry of War and that a decision could only be made after the new Minister of War took office.

Now everyone in the court and the public knows that it is basically a done deal that Lu Wan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, will be appointed as the Minister of War.

He Jian was so noble just to make way for Lu Wan.

There will definitely not be any accidents in the subsequent court recommendations.

This matter should be dealt with after the Minister of War takes office.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Jing laughed and said, "The Minister of War is not here, but there is still the Vice Minister, right?"

Just when Wang Ju was wondering in surprise, isn't the assistant minister also Lu Wan, Li Hao, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, who had been claiming to be sick at home for many days, walked into the lobby of the Ministry of War silently.

Wang Ju's pupils suddenly shrank.

Li Hao, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and former governor of Shuntian Prefecture!
This guy, who was criticized harshly during this great debate and was considered incompetent in military affairs and useless in governing the country, chose to stab others in the back when there was a power vacuum in the Ministry of War.

Li Hao ignored the strange looks from officials of the Ministry of War such as Wang Ju, took the emperor's edict from Xiao Jing, then quietly entered his office and began to write the document for mobilizing troops.

When Li Hao came out of his office, he handed the sealed document to Wang Ju, a doctor in the Military Affairs Department.

Wang Ju subconsciously took it and checked the contents.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the document touched his hand, it was rudely taken away by a sturdy eunuch.

Afterwards, the document fell into the hands of eunuch Xiao Jing.

Xiao Jing took it in his hand and played with it for a while, unfolded it and looked at it for a few seconds, then handed it to the sturdy eunuch again, "Send it to Xuanfu."

Wang Ju was furious when he heard this and rushed over to seize it, "This is an order from the Ministry of Personnel!"

Unexpectedly, the Jing army immediately rushed forward and stopped Wang Ju.

Xiao Jing said with a fake smile, "Doctor Wang is right. When he comes back, we will punish him severely. The inner court also has rules."

Wang Ju's hands and feet turned cold after hearing this.

Did he want to punish the eunuch? He wanted to stop the Xuanfu border troops from entering the capital! Wang Ju looked around in panic, wanting someone to quickly notify the cabinet or the six departments to stop this as soon as possible.

However, Xiao Jing was well prepared. The clean troops he brought directly blocked the Ministry of War and did not allow anyone to enter or leave.

So, just as the court officials outside the city gate were bidding farewell to He Jian, several riders on fast horses passed by them and rushed out of the city.

Xiao Jing sipped his tea leisurely in the Ministry of War for a while before leaving leisurely.

When the ministers in the court heard about this incident in the Ministry of War, they were immediately furious.

Many people hurried back to the yamen. Yang Tinghe also brought Liang Chu, Fei Hong and others into the palace to ask the emperor about the matter.

He Jian is now a honorary official of the title of Prince Taibao, Guanglu Dafu and Zhuguo, enjoying the retirement benefits of the first rank, which is considered to be a successful retirement. He listened to a few words slyly, and was not willing to get involved in such a thankless task again.

After bidding farewell to everyone, He Bingbu concealed the truth, escaped, hid during the day and came out at night, made a feint to the east and attacked in the west, lured the tiger away from the mountain, and the old man pushed the cart and went straight to his hometown in Zhejiang.

The entire court was in a panic in response to Zhu Houzhao's surprise attack.

They thought that after abolishing Liu Jin's new policies and dismissing a large number of Liu Jin's followers, the emperor would no longer be able to cause any trouble.

Who would have thought that Zhu Houzhao would take advantage of the opportunity when the Minister of War was away from office to mobilize troops in the border towns.

What is he trying to do?
He wants to follow He Jin's example and mobilize foreign troops to enter the capital. Who is he trying to intimidate?
The party members headed by Yang Yiqing immediately jointly wrote a letter, stating that "the border troops go to Beijing for defense, and the Beijing troops go to the border for training, which is a constant disturbance and fatigue. It is a constant movement for no reason. Thousands of soldiers not only waste food and money, but also show weakness to others. Our ancestors have established that the Beijing troops guarding the interior should not go out without reason, for fear of being spied on by the four directions; the border troops defending the exterior should not relax their preparations when there is no trouble, for fear of being caught off guard. I beg you to slowly discuss the adjustment."

Zhu Houzhao showed a rare toughness and replied bluntly, "I have heard of your sincere intentions for the country. You can immediately dispatch 3,000 people from Xuanfu and send them to Beijing within ten days. The same number of people from the Beijing camp will go to Xuanfu for defense. Every spring and autumn, each person will be rewarded with one tael of silver."

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao even wanted to normalize this matter, Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet, who originally wanted to stay behind the scenes, could no longer sit still.

He pondered for several days at home and wrote an article to Zhu Houzhao, complaining about the "ten inconveniences" of the transfer between the Beijing camp and the border camp.

Said:
"The troops at the border of Beijing each have their own territories. They can only support each other in case of emergency. It is inconvenient to move when there is no emergency."

"The troops of the capital are preparing for the border, but they are not used to fighting. It is hard to guarantee victory, which may damage the prestige of the country. It is also inconvenient."

"The border troops entering the capital is shocking, and the news has spread everywhere, which is bound to cause suspicion and inconvenience."

"When the Beijing troops go out, they rely on their power to occupy houses, demand money and grain, demand food and wine, force people to buy goods, and rape women. The generals and officials protect their faults and refuse to stop them. The border troops suffer but dare not speak out. This is inconvenient."

"The frontier troops are in the inner court, they are careless and rely on favors, they look down on the soldiers and civilians, they despise the government, they are lazy and idle at small times, they violate the law at big times, if we discipline them, we may not be able to handle it, but if we let them go, they will become even more uncontrollable, which is the five inconveniences."

"Being away from home, leaving family behind, or not being able to adapt to the climate, or not having consistent financial support, these are the six inconveniences."

"In addition to food and fodder, we must use traveling rations, and in addition to cloth and flowers, we must give rewards. Unless it is an emergency, it is a wasteful plan and has seven inconveniences."

"Going back and forth, there is no rest; when you are in a hurry, something may happen on the road; when you are tired, there may be a gap at your side, eight inconveniences."

"It shows the emptiness of the Beijing camp and the weakness of China, which is inconvenient."

"The northwest borders have heard the news. We need to coordinate with them. If there is any negligence, who will be blamed? It will be very inconvenient."

"I hope Your Majesty will listen to the opinions of others and seek the most appropriate answer."

Zhu Houzhao read Yang Tinghe's article and wrote in red ink, "What the Grand Secretary said was very good." However, the troops in Xuanfu were already calling for the city gates to be opened.

Zhu Houzhao was unusually stubborn in his refusal to withdraw the imperial edict, which resulted in the dispute ending with the troops from Xuanfu quickly arriving in the capital.

Pei Yuan was not too surprised after learning the whole story.

I also feel that Zhu Houzhao made a really good move!
At this point, the court and the public could only shift their focus to Li Hao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and wanted to know why this man suddenly defected and stood on the side of the emperor.

You have to know that when the "Great Debate on Merits" was at its most intense, the civil officials never thought of throwing Li Hao away as a pawn!

Unexpectedly, Li Hao jumped out and facilitated the entry of Xuanfu border troops into the capital at the critical moment when He Jian resigned, Lu Wan had not yet taken office, and important officials were seeing He Jian off outside the city.

Pei Yuan knew clearly that many civil officials still thought that Li Hao was just an exception and completely ignored the fact that Li Hao had served as the Minister of Public Security.

Only after Zhu Houzhao had made adequate preparations and began to frantically promote officials with Tongzhengsi qualifications to take charge of the affairs of Xuanda and the Ministry of War, did this secret royalist "Tongzhengsi faction" surface.

Only then will the fight between the two sides become intense.

Zhu Houzhao's clean and efficient surprise attack brought Yang Yiqing and Yang Tinghe together in a rare unity, and they quickly began to promote the court.

Then, without any fuss, they unanimously recommended Lu Wan as the Minister of War.

Afterwards, Yang Yiqing, as the person in charge of the court recommendation, and Yang Tinghe submitted the results of the court recommendation to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao readily gave his approval and appointed Lu Wan as the Minister of War.

This made the important officials of the court guess for a moment whether the emperor intended to let the previous military incident go, or to advance and retreat in moderation and wait for further negotiations.

Soon, Lu Wan took office smoothly and then handed over the power of the Ministry of War smoothly.

He was originally the second-in-command of the Ministry of War, and now he has been entrusted with a task in a time of crisis. All departments of the Ministry of War have shown unprecedented support.

Li Hao, number three in the Ministry of War, felt guilty and soon claimed to be sick again.

But the hunt for the traitors began immediately and fiercely.

The censors of the six departments began to turn around and fiercely criticized Li Hao for his incompetence as the governor of Shuntian Prefecture and his inaction as the right vice minister of the Ministry of War.

Li Hao was speechless and had to ask for retirement.

Zhu Houzhao came forward to protect Li Hao, but in the end he was not strong enough and Li Hao was soon dismissed from office. He was only allowed to use the post station to return home.

In the original history, Li Hao did secretly defect to Zhu Houzhao.

It's just that at that time he played the role of Li Shishi who stepped on the landmine. He was appointed as the Minister of Rites by Zhu Houzhao to fill the vacancy left by Fu Gui.

As a result, Li Hao stirred up a hornet's nest.

As a Shangshu who was promoted by imperial decree instead of being recommended by the court, and as he was not a Hanlin but was in charge of the Ministry of Rites, he was torn apart like crazy by the six departments and thirteen ministries.

Li Hao was so disgraced that he requested to resign six times before he managed to save his dignity.

During this time and space, after the "great debate on merits" initiated by Pei Yuan, Li Hao's merits and demerits were more clearly revealed to the world.

Then, his running figure became even more embarrassed.

Pei Yuan watched the changes in the court with great interest, but Wei Ne and Jiao Huangzhong, who were unaware of the truth and knew something about it, were completely defeated.

The two never dared to imagine in their dreams that all those wild words they said were actually true!

(End of this chapter)