Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 144 Right and wrong merits and demerits
The next day, there will be a court meeting.

Tianqi sat in the hall with a gloomy face, and below him were the densely packed courtiers.

As soon as the court meeting started, the ministers, both big and small, started to discuss the responsibility for the loss of Liao and Shen, and they were all furious and blamed each other. But when it came to discussing the strategy for recovering Liao and Shen, they were silent.

Listening to the endless quarrels of the people below, Tianqi watched coldly and sneered in his heart. These ministers could neither come up with a solution to save the crisis nor elect someone who could save the situation. Instead, the censors, both big and small, attacked each other using the defeat of Liao and Shen, trying to make their political opponents bear the responsibility for the defeat.

After all, Yuan Yingtai was an official with relatively outstanding abilities in the Donglin camp at that time, but he still ended up with military defeat and death. Those civil servants who were far more mediocre than Yuan Yingtai would have been feeding the tiger with their own bodies if they had gone to Liaodong in such a precarious situation, and they would have been doomed to death.

After arguing for a while without any conclusion, Tianqi, who was tired of listening, ignored it and announced in public that Yuan Yingtai would be posthumously honored.

When the ministers heard that the emperor was going to posthumously confer the title of Minister of War on Yuan Yingtai, the former governor of Liaodong who died in defeat, many of them were shocked. After all, the Liaodong battle was so defeated, but the emperor not only did not hold Yuan Yingtai, the person who was most responsible, accountable, but instead posthumously conferred the title on him himself. This was really surprising.

For a moment, the other parties had uncertain expressions on their faces, wondering what the emperor meant by doing this. The Prime Minister Liu Yirong, who had been silent, saw that the time had come and immediately stood up, saluted the emperor, and then said something about how Yuan Yingtai was loyal to the country, and although there were mistakes in the Liaodong battle, the fault was not Yuan Yingtai alone, but the fault of the generals, which led to such a result. Your Majesty is able to discern the truth, see through the truth, and show favor to Yuan Yingtai. The emperor's grace is huge, and as a minister, I am inexplicably grateful...

When this conversation was made known to everyone, they were all slightly thoughtful. If someone said that there was no influence of the Donglin Party behind this matter, the other parties would definitely not believe it.

After talking about Yuan Yingtai, Liu Yirong suddenly mentioned the dismissal of Xiong Tingbi from the Liaodong war situation. He told Tianqi that the defeat in Liaodong this time was not only Yuan Yingtai's fault, but also related to the dismissal of Xiong Tingbi. If it weren't for Xiong Tingbi's resignation, and Yuan Yingtai had just arrived in Liaodong and was not familiar with the situation, Liaodong would not have suffered such a disastrous defeat. Now that things have come to this point, he, as the chief minister of the cabinet, suggested that Tianqi re-employ Xiong Tingbi.

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Liu Yirong with intriguing eyes. Everyone knew how Xiong Tingbi was dismissed. Wasn't it because of the impeachment of the Donglin Party? You, Liu Yirong, are the leader of the Donglin Party and the chief minister of the cabinet. Now you are lying in the court with your eyes closed? Could it be that the impeachment of Xiong Tingbi was not done by you, the Donglin Party, but by someone else?
You were the bad guys, and now you Donglin Party members are the good guys? How can this be justified in this world?
As soon as Liu Yirong finished speaking, Guo Gong, the Censor of the Ministry of War, could not help but jump out and strongly opposed the appointment of Xiong Tingbi, who had lost his army and harmed the country and faked illness to deceive the emperor.

"Guo Gong!"

"Chen is here!"

"Since you think Xiong Tingbi is not capable of taking on important tasks, how about I send you to manage Liaodong?" Tianqi asked directly.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." Guo Gong's face suddenly changed. He was good at talking, but he didn't know how to lead troops to fight! Although Guo Gong worked in the Ministry of War, he was just a censor. How could he know anything about military affairs? Besides, Yuan Yingtai's ability was known to the whole court. Even the famous Yuan Yingtai ended up like this in Liaodong. Wouldn't Guo Gong die without a burial place if he went to Liaodong?

Guo Gong didn't know how to answer Tianqi's question for a moment. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead and he couldn't even utter a complete sentence. Seeing his cowardly appearance, Tianqi's face flashed with disgust.

"When Xiong Tingbi was the governor of Liaodong, you impeached him repeatedly. Later, when Xiong Tingbi was the governor of Liaodong, you, Guo Gong, continued to impeach him. Now the war in Liaodong is so bad, but you don't put state affairs first and still spare no effort to oppose the appointment of Xiong Tingbi. What exactly do you want to do?" Tianqi's voice was not loud and his tone was extremely calm, but these words sounded like thunder to Guo Gong's ears.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty…” Guo Gong knelt on the ground, his face full of fear.

"The censors have the power to impeach others when they hear rumors. This is the ancestral system established by Taizu. However, blindly catching wind and shadows and attacking colleagues based on personal preferences has lost the original purpose of setting up censors in the court."

"The court has already concluded Xiong Tingbi's fault. Don't you know what Zhu Tongmeng's memorial says? Xiong Tingbi's merits in managing Liaodong outweigh his faults. I also issued an edict saying that Xiong Tingbi tried his best to protect the city from danger and his merits cannot be forgotten. Do you think that I and the cabinet are wrong?"

Guo Gong didn't know how to answer. At this time, the Minister of War Zhang Heming came out to smooth things over. He scolded Guo Gong a few words in court, and then explained for Guo Gong that that was not what he meant. He just had a different personal opinion on Xiong Tingbi. His idea was still for state affairs, and there was absolutely no other intention involved.

After Zhang Heming said this, Liu Yirong also said a few good words for Guo Gong.

Zhang Heming was a senior official in the ministry. Since he had spoken, Tianqi had to give him face, not to mention that there was the prime minister to smooth things over. Tianqi immediately severely reprimanded Guo Gong, fined him three months' salary, and asked him to get out and reflect on himself.

After Guo Gong left, Tianqi asked Liu Yirong how to use Xiong Tingbi. Liu Yirong expressed his own views. After listening, Tianqi seemed quite satisfied. He immediately issued an order to use Xiong Tingbi as the right vice minister of the Ministry of War. Then Liu Yirong immediately expressed his agreement. Following Liu Yirong's words, several other important officials of the Donglin Party also expressed their agreement. In this way, the matter was settled.

Everyone saw this scene. Those who could make it to the court were all shrewd people. How could everyone not understand this?
This was clearly a deal between the emperor and the Donglin Party. The emperor held his nose and did not pursue Yuan Yingtai's responsibility, and the Donglin Party also agreed to the emperor's request to reinstate Xiong Tingbi because of this matter. The stage was set, the emperor and his ministers sang in unison, and the matter was settled in a few words.

Those ministers who had originally prepared to target the Donglin Party for the defeat in Liaodong were extremely disappointed. They did not expect that the emperor would actually join forces with the Donglin Party on this matter.

At this point, there was nothing anyone could do. The emperor had spoken, the Donglin Party had agreed, and especially the Prime Minister had represented the cabinet in making its position clear, so the matter was a done deal.

When the court was adjourned, many people looked at Liu Yirong with inquiring eyes. Most of these people were from other parties, but there were also some from the Donglin Party. Everyone seemed to be thinking about something, and no one knew what was going on in each of their minds.

Two days later, Tianqi issued a pardon to Xiong Tingbi, expressing his regret for dismissing Xiong Tingbi from his post. At the same time, he summoned Xiong Tingbi to Beijing as soon as possible to entrust him with the affairs of Liaodong.

Xiong Tingbi, who was at home, was not happy when he received the imperial decree of reinstatement and the pardon, but was worried. The news of the war in Liaodong had reached Xiong Tingbi's ears, and he was heartbroken for the disastrous defeat in Liaodong.

Because of Yuan Yingtai, Xiong Tingbi's previous layout in Liaodong completely failed. Not only that, the current situation in Liaodong is even more difficult than after the Battle of Sarhu.

Due to the loss of Liaoshen, the Ming Dynasty's military power in Liaodong was weakened to an unimaginable level. In addition, the previous defense lines had all fallen into the hands of the Later Jin Dynasty, and 70,000 elite troops were destroyed. In particular, the White Rod Army and the Qi Family Army suffered heavy losses. It is no exaggeration to describe the situation in Liaodong as corrupt.

Although Xiong Tingbi is not like Yuan Yingtai who only knows how to talk on paper, he is a man of real ability. However, facing such a bad situation, Xiong Tingbi has no confidence at all.

If Xiong Tingbi had been reinstated before the Battle of Liaodong broke out, he would not have worried at all, because at that time the Ming Dynasty would still have both its army and defense lines in Liaodong, but now they are all gone.

To use pessimistic words to describe it, the current situation in Liaodong can be said to be without external support and internal help. No matter how capable Xiong Tingbi is, he is not a god. He has no idea how to stabilize the situation or reverse such a disadvantage after arriving in Liaodong.

However, he had to obey the court's order, and this time the emperor showed great sincerity. Not only did he clear his name for the previous impeachment, he also appointed him as the right vice minister of the Ministry of War, and asked him to go to the capital immediately to meet the emperor and prepare to go to Liaodong.

Under such circumstances, Xiong Tingbi had no choice but to set off for the capital. He thought a lot along the way and carefully considered how to deal with the current situation in Liaodong.

At this time, Zhu Shenzui in Luzhou Wei finally learned the outcome of the battle in Liaodong.

Zhou Anmin, Wang Rong, Wang Jinwu, and Zhu Shenzhu sat around. After Zhou Anmin finished his detailed explanation, no one said a word. After a moment, Wang Rong slammed the table and said angrily: "Yuan Yingtai has lost his army and humiliated the country. He deserves to die!"

"That's not the case. Although Yuan Yingtai was defeated, he still has some integrity..." Zhou Anmin explained.

"Integrity? What does personal integrity matter? Can his death bring back the soldiers who died on the battlefield? Can it bring the lost territory back to the Ming Dynasty? Or can it make the Jian Nu disappear into thin air?" Wang Rong blew his beard and glared, saying angrily: "If this is the case, there will be countless ministers who will commit suicide for the country. In the future, there will be no need to send any more soldiers to fight. We can just let these big turbans fight and deal with it with integrity!"

"Besides, after such a great defeat, how could Yuan Yingtai still be alive? He was going to die anyway, it was just a matter of dying in a different way. Now, the blame for the defeat in Liaodong has not fallen on Yuan Yingtai, but he has become a hero? It is totally unreasonable!"

Wang Rong's words could not be refuted. Zhou Anmin shook his head and sighed. In fact, he thought so in his heart. Yuan Yingtai's death was not a pity. An incompetent general exhausted the whole army. If Xiong Tingbi had not resigned and Yuan Yingtai had taken over as the governor of Liaodong, it would not have led to such a disastrous defeat.

Zhu Shenzhui, who was standing by, felt even more uncomfortable. Although he did not identify strongly with Zhu Ming, after all, he had a soul from the future hidden in his body. Zhu Shenzhui also knew a little about the direction of history, but when he was actually in this era and experienced it personally, his mood was completely different.

Zhu Shenzhui could not imagine the defeat in Liaodong, and he did not expect it to be so tragic. Especially after hearing from Zhou Anmin about the vigorous battle between the White Rod Army and the Qi Family Army at Hunhe, his blood boiled, but he also felt deep sorrow.

The two powerful armies fought to the last moment by the Hun River, and were eventually annihilated. Zhu Shenzhu was so depressed that he could hardly speak. At the same time, he hated Yuan Yingtai's incompetence even more.

(End of this chapter)