Fu Shanhe

Chapter 428 Arrogant and Domineering
Annam, Yong'an Prefecture.

Due to the distance, the news of "the army of loyalists being wiped out and the Marquis of Wuyang dying for his country" only reached the capital when the great changes occurred.

Looking at the situation in his hands and recalling the time they had worked together, Li Mu couldn't help but shed tears.

Half of his military career was spent in close association with the Marquis of Wuyang; the two complemented each other perfectly.

Aside from the initial mutual exploitation, their relationship became genuine afterward.

Given this turn of events, he should avenge the Marquis of Wuyang no matter how you look at it.

In an instant, he sentenced the civil officials in the court to death.

Regardless of the motive, once this has been done, there must be a price to pay.

Deep down, his dissatisfaction with Emperor Yongning had reached a new level.

Knowing full well that the civil officials' actions stemmed from factional strife, the emperor not only failed to stop them but also went along with it.

Without Emperor Yongning's repeated decrees urging him to expedite things, even if the Ministry of War issued a hundred official documents, the Marquis of Wuyang would have treated them like toilet paper.

While it may seem that the civil officials were responsible for the deaths of the loyalist army, the real culprit was Emperor Yongning.

If the emperor hadn't intentionally weakened the nobility, Li Mu wouldn't have believed that the civil officials were capable enough to force the emperor to issue an edict.

Without the participation of military generals, could a coup d'état initiated by civil officials really frighten Emperor Yongning?

Regardless of whether others believe it or not, Li Mu certainly doesn't.

A similar incident of civil officials forcing the emperor to abdicate occurred during the reign of the previous emperor.

The late emperor did not even show his face before being suppressed by the eunuchs.

If Emperor Yongning truly did not wish to issue an edict, he had many ways to refuse.

Marquis Wuyang was in charge of both command and logistics for the loyalist army.

Without the emperor's involvement, the civil officials could only vent their frustrations verbally, but in reality, they couldn't interfere at all.

"I wish to avenge the Marquis of Wuyang and the innocent soldiers of the loyalist army who died unjustly. Do any of you gentlemen have a plan to advise me?"

Li Mu asked angrily.

In feudal dynasties, officials could not directly target the emperor, but they could target civil officials.

Now that the situation has developed to this point, a conflict between civil and military officials is inevitable, and there is no longer any need to worry about offending anyone.

"My lord, the situation in the capital is unclear, and it is not advisable to take any rash actions for the time being."

The loyalist army has been betrayed, and the nobles and relatives of the emperor in the capital will certainly not let it go. It is estimated that a great power struggle has already begun in the court.

If the imperial court severely punishes corruption, then everything will be fine.

If the court allows treacherous officials to hold power, then we should join forces with the Duke of Cheng, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, and other meritorious nobles and relatives of the emperor to jointly advise His Majesty to befriend virtuous officials and distance himself from petty men.

Lan Linjie spoke first.

Your position determines your perspective; your status determines your stance.

Although he was also a member of the feudal scholar-official class and belonged to the civil official camp, now that he was making a living by following Li Mu, he had to stand on the side of the Marquis of Hanshui.

It sounds nice to call it persuasion, but it's essentially a coercion.

In terms of destructive power, the aftereffects of military generals forcing the emperor to abdicate were far more severe than those of civil officials forcing the emperor to abdicate.

If this happens, the imperial power will be severely impacted.

"My lord, Mr. Lan is right. It is not advisable to make any major moves now."

However, we can first state our position and ask His Majesty to execute the treacherous minister.

However, based on the current understanding, too many civil officials are involved, and targeting so many people at once may not be effective.

Instead, we should target the mastermind as the primary objective.

Wang Jingchuan offered his advice in a tactful manner.

The struggle between civil and military officials is like a huge quagmire; once you get stuck, you can't get out.

Even if a temporary victory is achieved, it is difficult to suppress civil officials forever. The emperor's inherently suspicious nature means that he is far more wary of military generals than of civil officials.

The emperor would not allow it; the nobles had long suppressed the civil officials.

The more enthusiastically they jump around now, the greater the pressure they will face when they retaliate in the future.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. I will never compromise with such a traitorous scoundrel."

No matter how many people are involved, the matter must be investigated to the end!

Li Mu decisively refused.

If he were a simple politician, prioritizing weighing the pros and cons, there would be nothing wrong with doing this.

But his status was that of a nobleman and the main leader of the Great Yu army; the army was his foundation.

Compromise would not only betray the friendship with the Marquis of Wuyang, but also disappoint the comrades in the army.

The Annam Protectorate was far from the political center, so even if it offended the emperor and the civil service, its foundation could not be shaken.

If the Annamese can establish their own independent state, then his trump cards are far stronger than those of the Annamese Kingdom.

In addition to being the Protector-General of Annam, he also held military and political power in Guangdong and Guangxi.

According to the original plan, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi would automatically step down upon the end of his term.

Now that the situation has changed, whether or not he should step down is now uncertain.

If the terms cannot be agreed upon, in order to protect themselves, the remaining three leaders of the nobility faction will hold onto the governorship.

If pushed too far, they would directly establish the Southeast Mutual Protection Pact, cutting off the imperial court's supply of money and grain.

"My lord, since you have made up your mind, why not simply compile a list of corrupt officials and impeach them directly to His Majesty?"

If you are willing to take the lead, the nobles and relatives of the empress will surely follow. Faced with pressure from both the court and the public, the imperial court will most likely make concessions.

Wei Xinzhi offered a subtle reminder.

Although it's done under the guise of impeachment, this action is essentially a coup attempt.

Whether the emperor will punish the treacherous officials is unknown, but he will certainly hate him, the leader of the group, the Marquis of Hanshui.

If it doesn't manifest in the short term, it will leave hidden dangers in the future, which is clearly not the behavior of a wise person.

Choosing to do this means accepting the resulting political consequences.

"Ha ha……"

"When the nation is in peril, how can we men shirk our responsibilities for personal gain or loss!"
I appreciate your kind intentions, gentlemen.

But some things just have to be done by someone.

"Mr. Lan, draft a memorial for me. This time, I intend to impeach the six ministers, the cabinet ministers, and those treacherous officials who led the loyalist army to its doom!"

After laughing heartily, Li Mu said with great spirit.

At this rate, the Great Yu Dynasty will be destroyed by them sooner or later.

The emperor settles accounts after the harvest, but there has to be an autumn harvest for it to happen.

Aside from the unexpected rise of the nobility faction, which trained over 200,000 elite troops, the current situation of the Great Yu Dynasty is strikingly similar to the chaotic late Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Dayu was like a dilapidated house in the midst of a storm. The nobles were now doing the work of wallpapering.

No matter how much you repair and repaint, you can't change the fact that the beams and pillars are being devoured by termites.

Once a storm hits, the house will leak everywhere.

If one day the wallpaperers get tired and weary, this dilapidated house will collapse on a stormy night.

"My lord, you are truly a great man!"

Wang Jingchuan couldn't help but praise.

Though there may be thousands of people, I will go forth. This fearless heroic spirit is the ultimate romance pursued by countless writers.

Seeking revenge for the Marquis of Wuyang and the fallen soldiers aligns with the Confucian concept of "righteousness."

"Send down the order to prepare sacrificial offerings. I wish to offer sacrifices to the Marquis of Wuyang and the fallen soldiers."

Li Mu, suppressing his grief, gave the order.

Revenge cannot be accomplished overnight, and he did not expect that a single impeachment memorial would be enough to convict a group of civil officials.

The world is not black and white, but rather a balance of pros and cons.

No one knows what decision Emperor Yongning will make.

……

Capital.

The situation did not go according to Yongning's plan. The appeasement measures not only failed to silence the civil officials, but also angered them.

After the news leaked out, the scholars in the capital were in an uproar.

Holding up the tablet of Confucius, they ran to the palace gate to petition.

A group of civil officials also participated in the event.

However, the two sides took different actions: the scholars shouted slogans directly outside the palace, while the officials chose to boycott the court.

In fact, it wasn't just the palace that was affected, but also the residences of many nobles.

However, the Five Cities Military Command acted swiftly. Upon seeing someone causing trouble, they immediately imprisoned them on charges of "colluding with the Northern Barbarians." Next came the confiscation of their property and the arrest of the person, solidifying the charges with lightning speed, and then executing them.

The Beijing garrison was not idle either; whenever they saw people gathering and causing trouble, they would directly suppress them.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

The judicial process has been directly simplified.

For the safety of the capital, when dealing with suspects, it is better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free.

Having witnessed the brutal methods of the nobles and learned that scholars cannot reason with soldiers, they had no choice but to go to the emperor to complain.

Without the emperor's order, the secret police dared not act on their own.

Emperor Yongning could neither agree to the demands of the civil officials nor bear the infamy of slaughtering scholars, leading to a stalemate.

"Your Majesty, this is a secret memorial sent by the Marquis of Hanshui from Annam, delivered by express courier."

Xu Zhongen cautiously stepped forward and said.

If it were a regular folded document, he would definitely have pressed it down directly.

The situation is already chaotic enough; there's no need for anyone to make it worse.

However, Li Mu's position was different; he represented the stance of local officials within the nobility faction.

If he suppressed the memorials and prevented the emperor from knowing about them, it would cause serious trouble in the future, and he could not bear the responsibility.

"Bastard!"

"I will tear this traitor to pieces!"

After opening the secret memorial and glancing at its contents, Emperor Yongning couldn't help but burst into a tirade of curses.

The officials impeached in the memorials have all become corpses.

The civil officials were furious. If they were to punish these people again, the entire civil service would likely erupt in anger.

People with different identities tend to have different ways of looking at problems.

In the eyes of the nobles, these civil officials, due to their infighting, caused the destruction of the loyalist army, and it would not be unjust to exterminate their entire families.

But in the eyes of civil servants, this was just an ordinary decision-making mistake.

The main reason the loyalist army was wiped out was that its commander failed to discover the enemy's plot in time, which led to them falling into an ambush.

Even if someone were to be held accountable, a few words of reprimand from the emperor would be enough to end the matter.

The nobles and their relatives dared to overturn the table and beat a group of high-ranking officials to death on the spot during the court assembly, which was a complete rebellion against the Heavenly Gang.

Before the tragedy, Emperor Yongning favored nobles and relatives of the emperor.

After all, the nobles and relatives of the emperor suffered heavy losses and needed to be appeased.

The death of the Marquis of Wuyang severed his foundation in the army, resulting in immeasurable political losses.

He also harbored deep resentment towards the culprit who caused all of this.

As the situation developed, his inclinations gradually shifted towards civil servants.

The actions of the nobles and the emperor's relatives, who joined forces, instilled fear in him.

The fact that so many high-ranking officials died silently while being treated by imperial physicians could not possibly be a coincidence.

The fact that the imperial guards couldn't find any problems only intensified his sense of unease.

If they can harm officials in the palace, who knows, they might harm the emperor himself someday when their interests clash.

For the sake of checks and balances, he needed the civil service to stand firm.

Unfortunately, those civil officials were all blockheads and completely failed to understand his good intentions.

Not only did they refuse to cooperate, they also rallied scholars to join them in their nonsense and made some unrealistic demands.

Before the problems with the civil officials were resolved, the nobles started causing trouble.

Li Mu's memorial exposed all his schemes.

Once a deceased civil official is convicted, the prestige accumulated by the civil service group over countless years will vanish overnight.

The cabinet and the six ministries, these high-ranking officials, conspired to plot against the army that came to the aid of the emperor.

If it were made public to the world, it would cause a huge uproar.

The power structure in the imperial court has been disrupted, and the long-dormant group of nobles and relatives of the empress will once again take center stage in history.

Whether the emperor likes it or not, he must give them important positions.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

"The Marquis of Hanshui is far from the capital. Judging by the time, he must have just received the news of the annihilation of the loyalist army when he submitted this memorial."

The Marquis of Hanshui is likely unaware of most of the recent upheavals in the capital; otherwise, he wouldn't have submitted this memorial.

Xu Zhongen offered this advice tactfully.

To punish Li Mu over a mere memorial is utter nonsense.

The nobles and relatives of the emperor have temporarily settled down because they achieved their expected goals in the previous round of struggle.

But this does not mean that the conflict between civil and military officials has ended.

Everyone is secretly plotting, waiting for the next confrontation.

Against this backdrop, labeling a powerful figure from the aristocratic family as a "traitor" would likely cause an uproar among the noble families and their relatives.

What Emperor Yongning viewed as a threat and provocation, the impeachment memorials, in the eyes of the nobles and relatives of the emperor, were seen as a way to set things right.

"Humph!"

"Can a mere claim of being too far away to know the truth cover up the crime of great disrespect?"

“If he hadn’t been extremely arrogant and domineering, he wouldn’t have dared to submit such a memorial.”

This isn't impeachment; it's clearly an attempt to force me to convict these officials!

After a fit of rage, Emperor Yongning gradually regained his composure.

The Great Yu Dynasty already had many arrogant and domineering military generals, so it didn't matter if one more was added.

The key point is that Li Mu's statement will directly affect the stance of many nobles and generals.

They all came from the six towns of Guangdong and Guangxi, and the Marquis of Wuyang was their former superior.

This former boss treated them well, and now that he's in such dire straits, it's only right and reasonable for him to get justice.

Moreover, many of our comrades-in-arms also died innocently in the Battle of Changping, so we cannot stand idly by.

The problem is that the big players haven't made any statements yet, and while everyone has their own ideas, they don't dare to take action.

Now there's no need to worry anymore. The Marquis of Hanshui, who has the greatest influence in the military, has stepped forward and publicly stated his position. Everyone just needs to follow suit.

With the powerful figures in the military making their stance clear, the nobles and relatives of the emperor in the capital have gained more confidence and will most likely cause trouble for him again.

As for the changing situation, the court needs stability, and these issues will most likely be ignored.

Emperor Yongning did not believe that these military men possessed particularly high political acumen or strategic vision.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

The eunuchs all spoke in unison.

With civil officials disrupting court proceedings and nobles and relatives opposing him, Emperor Yongning could only consult with the eunuchs.

Unfortunately, the eunuchs were terrified by the purges of the eunuch faction in previous years, and they were all trying to protect themselves, not daring to show their faces.

"That's fine. Let's pretend that the impeachment by the Marquis of Hanshui never happened."

In addition, an imperial edict was drafted to inform the Marquis of Hanshui that he only needed to manage the affairs of the Protectorate General and that he did not need to worry about important matters of the court.

Make two copies of the memorial and send one to the Duke of Cheng and the Marquis of Zhenyuan, respectively, to gauge their reactions.

Emperor Yongning thought for a moment and then spoke.

If you encounter someone you dislike and can't deal with, just send them far away and out of sight, out of mind.

Although I don't believe the nobles will rebel, we still need to be vigilant.

"The slaves obey the orders!"

"But Your Majesty, what about the officials who have suspended court and the group of scholars outside the palace gates?"

Xu Zhongen braced himself and stepped forward to ask.

Both of these groups are like stubborn, unyielding rocks.

Fortunately, the northern barbarians besieged the city, cutting off the channels for scholars in other regions to respond. Only the scholars in the capital could be mobilized; otherwise, the situation would have increased tenfold.

"I have spread the word that I intend to promote capable officials from among the many officials to fill the vacancies in the court."

At the same time, I informed the candidates outside that after the northern barbarians retreated, I would hold an additional imperial examination, and they should hurry back to study.

If anyone disobeys this advice, then strip them of their official rank and exile them to Lingnan!

Emperor Yongning said expressionlessly.

Having spent so many years outwitting and outmaneuvering civil officials, he had accumulated some experience and knew that each of them had their own weaknesses.

(End of this chapter)