Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty
Chapter 432 Unexpected
Chapter 432 Unexpected
After Yuan Chonghuan finished speaking, the four ministers beside him, Li Biao, Qian Longxi, Zhou Daodeng, and Liu Hongxun, all praised Yuan Chonghuan as a "remarkable man" and flattered him, saying that Emperor Chongzhen was wise and brave and knew how to use people properly, and that with Yuan Chonghuan stationed in Liaodong, the country would be safe.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was even happier. Everyone discussed the military affairs of Liaodong. Soon, the time was almost up. Wang Chengen on the side said in advance that Emperor Chongzhen should take a rest. After all, half a day had passed since the convocation of all the ministers. Emperor Chongzhen was not tired from sitting, but the others were standing. After standing for nearly two hours, the adults were a little exhausted, especially as everyone has three urgent needs, and they have to go to the urination after a long time. They couldn't let the ministers hold their urine and accompany the emperor, right?
Emperor Chongzhen immediately followed suit and adjourned the meeting, but at the same time told Yuan Chonghuan not to leave for the time being as he would see him again later.
Yuan Chonghuan quickly agreed. After Emperor Chongzhen left the platform, Yuan Chonghuan and the ministers also withdrew. Outside, the ministers congratulated Yuan Chonghuan one by one. Judging from the emperor's attitude today, there would be no problem for Yuan Chonghuan to govern Liaodong in the future. When Yuan Chonghuan went to Liaodong, he would stabilize the situation as soon as possible, then fight back against the Jiannu and pacify Liaodong. There would be hope for the revival of the Ming Dynasty.
"Brother Yuansu, just now in front of the emperor you said that it would take five years to pacify Liao. Do you have a specific strategy?" Xu Yuqing, the military censor, went outside to find Yuan Chonghuan and asked him directly. He was also present when the platform summoned him just now, but his official position was not high and he was not qualified to speak. He heard the conversation between Yuan Chonghuan and Emperor Chongzhen clearly, but he did not hear what he wanted to hear, because Yuan Chonghuan only said that it would take five years to pacify Liao, but did not mention any specific strategies, which made Xu Yuqing feel itchy.
Xu Yuqing and Yuan Chonghuan were also old friends. Xu Yuqing was a Jinshi in the 44th year of Wanli, and Yuan Chonghuan was a Jinshi in the 47th year of Wanli. Although they were not in the same class, they had served in the same dynasty. Yuan Chonghuan was transferred to the capital as the head of the Ministry of War because of his outstanding performance as a county magistrate. At that time, Xu Yuqing was a Censor of the Ministry of Personnel. The two had contacts and their relationship was pretty good.
Hearing Xu Yuqing's question, Yuan Chonghuan, who was feeling very proud, didn't think much about it and replied subconsciously: "Strategy? Haha, I was just trying to please you..."
"What! You...you!" Upon hearing this, Xu Yuqing's face changed drastically, and he pointed at Yuan Chonghuan in anger: "Yuan Yuansu! The emperor is the wise ruler of our Ming Dynasty. Today's platform summons is about national affairs. How can you talk big without any confidence? Today you shamelessly told the emperor that you can pacify Liao within five years, but you can't come up with any strategy. What if you can't pacify Liao by then? Haven't you considered the consequences?"
"I..." Yuan Chonghuan's face changed and he felt extremely regretful. He suddenly realized that he had said the wrong thing and carelessly told Xu Yuqing what was in his heart.
He and Xu Yuqing have known each other for many years and he knows that Xu Yuqing is a nerd with a bad temper and always responds to soft words rather than hard ones.
Once Xu Yuqing publicized what he had just said in anger, he would be in big trouble. You must know that he was indeed fooling Emperor Chongzhen. It was not the first time that Yuan Chonghuan had fooled Emperor Chongzhen. When Emperor Tianqi was in power, he also asked him about his views on Liaodong. At that time, Yuan Chonghuan also shamelessly put forward the so-called five-year plan to pacify Liaodong. However, Yuan Chonghuan was speechless after being asked back by Emperor Tianqi and was unable to answer at all. Fortunately, Emperor Tianqi did not pursue Yuan Chonghuan and did not publicize the matter. Instead, he comforted Yuan Chonghuan and told him to be humble and do his job well in Liaodong, to be down-to-earth and not to talk nonsense, and then sent him back.
Today, Emperor Chongzhen convened a meeting and once again asked about Liaodong. Yuan Chonghuan was a bold and showy person, so he didn't think much about it just now. He just gave the answer that Liaodong would be pacified in five years.
However, Emperor Chongzhen was different from Emperor Tianqi. The young emperor did not have the calmness and judgment of Emperor Tianqi at all. He was so happy about Yuan Chonghuan's words. With the flattery of several cabinet ministers, the emperor greatly appreciated Yuan Chonghuan's abilities. If nothing unexpected happened, his administration of Liaodong would be a foregone conclusion. But now, a slip of the tongue almost ruined him.
He quickly grabbed Xu Yuqing and dragged him to a place with few people. When they reached the corner, Yuan Chonghuan said to him, "Brother Gongshi, what I said just now to comfort the emperor is true, but it is also true that we will pacify Liaodong in five years. I have planned the idea of pacifying Liaodong many years ago. When the late emperor was alive, he summoned me to inquire about the matter. However, Wei Zhongxian controlled the government at that time, and the eunuch party was rampant. I was restricted in what I could do in Liaodong. Later, Lord Sun was forced to resign, which directly disrupted the plan of pacifying Liaodong. Only then did we have the current situation. Otherwise, the Jiannu in Liaodong would have been wiped out long ago."
"I can tell you some of the specific strategies, but I can't tell you some of them. You work in the Ministry of War, so you should understand the principles of military secrets. In addition, my strategy to pacify Liao was also recognized by Lord Sun. You don't believe me, but you must believe in Lord Sun's ability, right? We are where we are today thanks to Lord Sun's support, and everyone in the world knows this..."
Yuan Chonghuan talked about this and that, and told Xu Yuqing some of the so-called plans that he had used to deceive Emperor Tianqi. After hearing his explanation, the anger on Xu Yuqing's face gradually faded. He looked Yuan Chonghuan up and down and asked, "Do you really have a strategy? Are you just talking nonsense?"
Yuan Chonghuan patted his chest and assured that he did have a strategy, and the emperor would summon him next. If he didn't have a strategy, the emperor would not believe him. He just couldn't tell him all the strategies for the sake of confidentiality, and asked Xu Yuqing to understand.
At this point, Xu Yuqing finally felt relieved. He felt that Yuan Chonghuan's words made sense. Moreover, Yuan Chonghuan had been in Liaodong for a long time, fought against the Jiannu many times, and had made great contributions. If he didn't have any ability, he wouldn't be able to achieve what he has today. More importantly, Yuan Chonghuan mentioned Emperor Tianqi and Sun Chengzong. Although Emperor Tianqi had passed away last year, and Sun Chengzong had retired to his hometown because of Wei Zhongxian's previous incident, it was not impossible to find out about this kind of thing. If Yuan Chonghuan was talking nonsense, he would definitely not be able to cover it up. Therefore, Xu Yuqing felt that Yuan Chonghuan would not use this important matter to deceive him.
Seeing Xu Yuqing's expression change, Yuan Chonghuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was really shocked just now, and blamed himself for almost saying the wrong thing when he was too proud of himself. Now it's finally solved, fortunately he has a good relationship with Xu Yuqing, and Xu Yuqing is a nerd who is easy to deceive. If it were someone else, the trouble would probably be bigger.
Next, Yuan Chonghuan became more vigilant. Whenever others asked similar questions, he pretended to be mysterious and kept silent on the grounds of military secrets.
After resting for an hour, the eunuch came to tell him that Emperor Chongzhen had summoned him again. Yuan Chonghuan then stood up, straightened his clothes and went to the platform.
When they met for the second time, Emperor Chongzhen became more cordial towards Yuan Chonghuan. He specially asked Wang Chengen to get a brocade stool for Yuan Chonghuan to sit next to him and talk.
After Yuan Chonghuan thanked Emperor Chongzhen with gratitude, he sat down steadily and started a conversation with Emperor Chongzhen about the pacification of Liao.
Because of Xu Yuqing's previous experience, Yuan Chonghuan had already prepared a plan in his mind when he met Emperor Chongzhen again, and he also had some preliminary ideas about the so-called strategy.
In addition to the core of his strategy that he had used to fool Emperor Tianqi, he also proposed some things that he added later. Emperor Chongzhen didn't even understand how to be an emperor, let alone know anything about military affairs, and didn't know much about the situation in Liaodong. In addition, he had already recognized Yuan Chonghuan in his heart, so he naturally leaned towards Yuan Chonghuan. Therefore, he also agreed with what Yuan Chonghuan said, and he liked Yuan Chonghuan, who was sitting next to him and talking excitedly, from the bottom of his heart.
In addition to these, Yuan Chonghuan also proposed to Emperor Chongzhen that in order to pacify Liao within five years, the court must provide full support, which not only requires absolute power in Ji and Liao, but also strong support in terms of military expenditures, food, military equipment and even personnel appointments.
According to Yuan Chonghuan, these must be done if he wants to pacify Liaodong in five years. Otherwise, he will not be able to display his abilities in Liaodong, and a skilled cook cannot cook without rice. These prerequisites must be met, otherwise pacifying Liaodong in five years will be empty talk.
In fact, Yuan Chonghuan put forward these demands to find a way out for himself. He knew very well in his heart that the so-called five-year plan to pacify Liaodong was just bragging. Back then, Sun Chengzong spent so much effort to lead his army to Liaodong but only succeeded in suppressing the situation in Liaodong. He was never able to completely destroy the Jiannu.
Could it be that Yuan Chonghuan was even more powerful than Sun Chengzong? Yuan Chonghuan knew that it was absolutely impossible to pacify Liaodong in five years, and it would be difficult to do so even longer. But as Xu Yuqing said before, what if he failed to complete the task within five years? Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan had to put forward these seemingly outrageous conditions. If the court or Emperor Chongzhen failed to meet his requirements, then it would not be his responsibility if the task could not be completed. He could not be allowed to pacify Liaodong empty-handed, right?
But Yuan Chonghuan never expected that the young Emperor Chongzhen had really made up his mind. After listening to his story and request, Emperor Chongzhen slapped his thigh to express his agreement. He immediately said that he knew the principle that a general on a battlefield would not be granted orders by the emperor, and he also understood the principle that food and fodder should be sent before troops move forward.
The pacification of Liaodong was a national event that must be accomplished by gathering the entire country's strength. As an emperor, he certainly would not allow Yuan Chonghuan to govern Liaodong without any certainty, nor would he try to pull his leg behind his back.
Since he trusted Yuan Chonghuan, Emperor Chongzhen had to fully support Yuan Chonghuan. This was not only for the sake of the country, but also to let the world see his courage and magnanimity. So Emperor Chongzhen agreed to all of Yuan Chonghuan's conditions, and also promised that he would urge the cabinet and various ministries to make all preparations in the name of the emperor. He would provide silver, weapons, people, and power. Chongzhen had only one condition, which was to completely eliminate the Jiannu in Liaodong within five years.
(End of this chapter)
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