Fu Shanhe

Chapter 367: Party Dispute
“Your Majesty, it is difficult to tell right from wrong in the dispute between Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces in a short period of time.

It would be better to let the Sansi Yamen investigate first. It won’t be too late to deal with it after the whole story is clear.

The most urgent task is to deal with the rebels who have fled to Shanxi."

Yue Mingyu was the first to express his position.

Deep down, he kept praying that no one would be replaced.

Due to the rebellion, countless officials of the Dayu Dynasty were dismissed.

As a result, the reserve pool of officials in the Ministry of Personnel was insufficient for the first time.

Those officials who had no connections in the past were also able to move forward in this round of reshuffle.

The disadvantages are also very obvious. Many officials, despite their limited abilities, are assigned to important positions.

Many places were in a mess and administrative efficiency further declined.

Now they are waiting for the emperor to reopen the imperial examination to replenish fresh blood for the court.

"Your Excellency Yue has a point. It is not appropriate to make a big move at this time.

Regarding the dispute between Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, the Cabinet urged the three government offices to investigate it as soon as possible.

Regarding the matter of suppressing the rebellion, do you have any countermeasures?"

Emperor Yongning nodded and said.

Asking the three ministries to investigate is tantamount to trying to smooth things over.

Since officials from two provinces are involved, the court must send an investigation team, and at the very least, peace must be restored in both places.

Otherwise, the officials in the capital would not risk their lives to go and investigate.

If one really wants to hold someone accountable, letting the Jinyiwei investigate would be much more efficient than the Sansi Yamen.

But as an emperor, he needs to consider the overall situation.

Shaanxi had just experienced war and was in a period of recovery, so it was not suitable for large-scale personnel adjustments.

Shanxi is experiencing war and is also not suitable for adjusting officials.

Even if there is a problem, we can only suppress it first.

Whether there will be a subsequent reckoning will depend on how the situation develops in the future.

Deep down in his heart, Emperor Yongning felt a hint of regret.

If we had known the situation would develop like this, we should not have sent the pillars of the noble faction to the front line.

The action to suppress the White Lotus Sect did achieve a breakthrough, but when he wanted to ask for advice, he couldn't find anyone!
The ministers below are loyal, but their abilities are limited.

Especially when it comes to military affairs, they appear to be incompetent.

The fact that the rebels in Guanzhong were able to flee to Shanxi was certainly due to the dereliction of duty of local officials, but more importantly it was due to the failure of the court's strategic deployment.

"Your Majesty, the only solution now is to mobilize a large army to encircle and suppress them."

Luo Zefeng replied nervously.

The reason he was able to sit on the position of Minister of War was simply because everyone knew that this position was very hot and no one competed for it.

With the reputation of being knowledgeable about military affairs, he was "popularly selected" without knowing it.

Originally, he still had a little bit of luck and thought that the situation in Dayu was not that bad.

After becoming the Minister of War, he realized that he was too idealistic.

The actual situation in Dayu is ten times worse than expected.

The empire has a limited number of combat-capable troops, and the two most powerful armed forces show signs of growing in size.

It is openly known that Liaodong Town is unruly, and the armed forces of the nobles are also not easy to deal with.

These armies remained loyal to the imperial court, but they were not a civilian-controlled court.

However, the bigwigs in the civil service camp had high hopes for him, hoping that he could control the national army through the Ministry of War.

In order to suppress the rebellion, the former Minister of War had no choice but to allow the noble faction to grow stronger. He was regarded as a traitor by the civil service camp and had to leave in disgrace.

When he took the position, he encountered the same trouble.

"Be more specific?"

Emperor Yongning asked unhappily.

Mobilizing a large army to encircle and suppress the enemy is a general answer that is not a solution at all.

If we want to implement it specifically, we must at least determine where to deploy the troops?
How many troops should be mobilized?

Who is responsible for leading the troops?

How much money and food is needed?

When will the troops be dispatched?
……

A series of specific issues were not addressed at all, and it didn't seem like they were meant to solve the problems.

Compared with the previous ministers of war, Luo Zefeng's ability is obviously much inferior.

“Your Majesty, the situation in the south is gradually improving. Perhaps we can withdraw a town from the front line to provide support.

In addition, two regiments were drawn from the Beijing camp to join forces with the Shanxi army to form a major army to suppress the rebellion.

As for the candidates for commander-in-chief, I have three candidates to recommend.

They are Qin Tianrui, a descendant of Duke Xingguo and the general of the first town in Jiangxi.

Liu Qifeng, descendant of Marquis of Nanyang and general of the first town in Huguang.

Ye Hongchang, a descendant of Marquis Pingyuan and the general of the Second Town of Huguang.

These three people are all capable of being great generals and are capable of taking on this important task!"

Luo Zefeng answered reluctantly.

It wasn't that he wanted to reuse generals from the noble family, it was purely because he had no choice.

Recommending a general requires taking responsibility. If the general recommended by him encounters a major defeat on the front line, he, as the Minister of War, will also be in trouble.

In order to reduce risks, he directly eliminated those generals who did not have outstanding military achievements.

The remaining generals with outstanding military achievements either came from the Nine Frontiers or from the noble family.

The troops from the nine borders have been withdrawn several times, and the remaining ones all have important tasks to do, so they are not suitable for large-scale withdrawal.

The only town with surplus troops was Liaodong.

However, the situation in Liaodong Town was special, and the imperial court was too busy suppressing it to vigorously promote their generals.

After a series of exclusions, the generals who were most suitable to serve as commander-in-chief were all sons of noble families.

I recommend these three people because the three families behind them were all wiped out in the explosion in Beijing, and the rest are all side branches.

To get to my current position, I have already exhausted all the family inheritance.

The favor this person offered was like timely help to the three of them.

If they succeed and return to the pinnacle of nobility, this political investment will be a huge profit.

"Minister Luo, the war on the southern front is at a critical moment, and it is not appropriate to mobilize troops.

If the withdrawal of troops resulted in a gap in the battle line and Fu was able to break out of the encirclement, all the previous efforts would be wasted.

For the sake of the overall situation, the Ministry of War should select someone more capable and virtuous!"

Left Censor-in-Chief Lai Yaohua immediately objected.

Most of the military power in the capital and the southern provinces fell into the hands of the nobles. If someone from the other side were to be appointed as the chief commander, the army of Shanxi would also be labeled as a noble.

In the past, they looked down on the children of nobles who lived a life of idleness and waiting for death. Now that these guys suddenly started to fight, it became even more difficult for them.

Unlike children from poor families, these guys do not have to take the imperial examination route and can also become officials in the court.

The unspoken rules that originally restricted the children of nobles were broken time and again during the wars to quell the rebellion.

There are only so many official hats in the court. If the nobles take too many, they will inevitably squeeze out the opportunities of officials who come from the orthodox imperial examination system.

For these civil service families who controlled the imperial examinations, the noble group had become their biggest competitor.

"Shi Jingming, General of the Second Town of Liaodong.

Shi Jinglin, general of the third regiment of Liaodong.

Yun Yufeng, general of the third regiment of Huguang.

Su Zhiyong, general of the Fourth Regiment of Huguang.

Xie Zhiyuan, general of the Second Town in Jiangxi.

......"

Luo Zefeng reluctantly reported a string of names, some of which were generals from the noble faction, and some from the Liaodong faction. After seeing this, Lai Yaohua, who had just raised objections, was suddenly put on the stand.

Unlike the previous three, the families behind these guys are still in their heyday.

The consequences of supporting them to take power would be even more serious.

"Besides them, is there no one else in my Great Yu Dynasty?"

Lai Yaohua couldn't help but question.

If the occasion was right, he really wanted to ask Luo Zefeng where he was sitting.

Knowing that the Qingliu Group wanted to suppress the Liaodong faction and the noble faction, he actually recommended people from these two factions.

"Master Lai, if there is a more suitable candidate, please put it forward."

Luo Zefeng said unhappily.

At this moment, he suddenly understood the suffering of the former Minister of War.

Following behind is a bunch of stupid teammates who only think about their own interests and don’t consider the actual situation at all.

If he compromised, the situation would inevitably collapse further, and he would eventually be punished by the emperor and imprisoned.

Choosing to stick to principles would offend the Qingliu Group.

Within the civil service camp, other power groups would carefully consider the consequences, but the Qingliu Group was the most radical.

The bad precedent set by Yin and Zuo did not end with their deaths, but instead allowed the unlimited party struggles to continue.

Although everyone despises this behavior, we have to admit that this approach is the most effective in power struggles.

Under the rule system, whoever has a lower bottom line has a better chance of gaining the upper hand.

“Selecting generals is the responsibility of your Ministry of War.

If you can't select the right generals, then you, the Minister of War, have failed in your duty!"

Lai Yaohua immediately scolded.

After the signal was sent out, a group of imperial censors followed suit and impeached Luo Zefeng for dereliction of duty.

In a flash, the court became lively.

A few days ago, we were all friends, but because of political differences, we became enemies in the blink of an eye.

Deep down, Lai Yaohua knew that what he was doing was somewhat unethical.

But there is no way, there is no room for tenderness in party struggles.

There are certainly certain risks in recommending a general with no combat record, but these risks must be taken in order to suppress the growing power of the noble faction.

Once a war of words begins, it is often difficult to stop.

After a cup of tea, all the major factions were involved in the battle, and the hall became a mess.

I don't know who started the bad start, but the verbal fight turned into a physical fight.

Seeing a group of officials fighting each other, Emperor Yongning did not stop them for the first time.

He had long been unhappy with these ministers, but due to the rules of the game, he could not do anything about them.

Now, looking at the chaos among the officials below, he actually felt a sense of pleasure.

"stop!"

"Jinyiwei, quickly pull the gentlemen apart!"

Seeing that the situation was out of control, Wan Junhui immediately ordered people to stop the fight.

However, the tragedy still happened, and many of the officials who participated in the battle were bruised and battered.

Lai Yaohua, who was the first to provoke the war, ended up in tragedy. He collapsed to the ground, unable to get up, and kept spitting blood from his mouth.

It was obvious that someone had attacked him during the melee just now.

Not only was Lai Yaohua seriously injured, but a number of clean officials were also seriously injured.

The root cause of their being beaten was naturally the dispute between civil and military officials.

Although there are few military generals in the court, they have received battlefield fighting training since childhood and have no pressure in fighting against a few scholars.

If it weren't for the fact that we were in public, it would be inconvenient to kill them, and I guess several people would have died today.

"Send the imperial physician to treat you all."

The cold voice of Emperor Yongning brought back the IQ of the ministers.

Especially those clean officials who were beaten, they regretted it secretly.

A gentleman uses words rather than violence, but just now I couldn't help myself and took action.

Most of the military generals in the court were from noble families.

The previous statement was blatantly targeted and offended people.

Provoking a fight undoubtedly creates an opportunity for the other party to retaliate.

The emperor and the cabinet did not step in to stop it immediately. It was obvious that their dissatisfaction with them had accumulated to a certain extent, and they deliberately watched them get beaten.

"Your Majesty, please..."

Before he could finish his complaint, Lai Yaohua fainted on the spot.

The leading Qingliu boss fell down, and a group of Qingliu officials who regained their rationality stopped their activities.

They were not in the right in the dispute just now, and continuing the dispute would only make the emperor more disgusted.

“Lord Lai, you are concerned about state affairs and don’t want us to be delayed by this matter.

The Jinyiwei carried the wounded away and had the imperial physician treat them, while the rest of the people continued to discuss their business.

We just talked about the selection of commander-in-chief. Let's pick a suitable general from the generals nominated by the Ministry of War!"

Emperor Yongning's words made a group of upright officials furious.

It seems that not only did they suffer the battle today in vain, but they also failed to get the position of the chief coach to suppress the rebellion.

But it was the emperor who spoke, and he would not allow them to refuse.

This is the benefit of checks and balances among multiple factions. The emperor can stand in the position of arbitrator and make decisions according to his own will.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, you should simply let General Qin be the commander-in-chief.

It just so happens that the First Town in Jiangxi is now stationed in the Yangzhou area, so it would be convenient to transfer it back to encircle and suppress the rebels that have fled into Shanxi."

Wan Junhui was the first to express his position.

When it comes to taking charge, he, as the prime minister, is not allowed to back down.

The struggle between civil and military forces is important, but encircling and suppressing the rebels is the most important.

The Qingliu people can make a fuss, but that is because they are not in the right position and they don’t have to take responsibility for their empty talk.

If the cabinet also follows suit, the country will be in danger.

The Jiangbei area was gradually recovered by the government troops, and Fu Ni's troops were suppressed in a corner.

Even if they wanted to break out, they would not choose Yangzhou as the breakthrough point.

It’s not a question of whether they can take it down or not, but that there is simply no place for them to stand in the Jiangbei area.

If you really want to escape, you should run to the Central Plains.

There are a large number of hungry people in Henan, who can quickly expand the rebel army and restore their strength as soon as possible.

The way to break the impasse is to take a gamble with a million troops, unite with the Guanzhong rebels who have fled to Shanxi, and attack the capital together.

At worst, he could advance westward into Shu, join forces with the Shu rebels, and establish his own rule over the land of Bashu.

"Then let's go with him!"

"By the way, send someone to urge my several governors to wipe out the remnants of Fu Ni as soon as possible and restore peace to the world."

Emperor Yongning thought for a moment and said.

The White Lotus Rebellion lasted too long, especially after the fall of Nanjing, which brought him tremendous political pressure.

Now that victory is in sight, he doesn't want to wait even a moment.

If it weren't for the fact that the following governors had a surprisingly consistent strategy in the encirclement and suppression of Fu, he would have issued an order to intervene long ago.

He was unable to give specific command at the front line, but he could still issue orders to urge a decisive battle.

The longer it drags on, the more unfavorable the situation will be for Dayu.

……

(End of this chapter)