Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 67: Attending the Court Meeting

Chapter 67: Attending the Court Meeting
In February, after Emperor Ling of Han issued an order for each county to raise funds for palace construction and levied an additional miscellaneous tax of ten coins per mu, in order to prevent county governors from lip service and secretly disobeying the order, the Ten Eunuchs sent out the Western Garden Cavalry, calling themselves the "Central Envoy", to demand county and state taxes from all counties and states.

In March, after the policy was promulgated, all prefectures and counties across the country were in turmoil, and the bandits who had previously surrendered rose up again.

More than ten Black Mountain bandits including Zhang Niujiao rose up in arms and plundered the countryside; several Gepi bandits including He Man rose up in arms and plundered the Ruying area.

For this reason, Si Tu Yuan Wei was dismissed, and Ting Wei Cui Lie paid 5 million yuan to buy Si Tu's position; in the same month, the former Taiwei Liu Kuan died and was posthumously named Zhaolie Hou.

In April, as local government positions had been vacant for a long time and the officials' "observation period" was about to expire, Shangshu Ling Liu Yu began to arrange the list of officials.

At the same time, Huangfu Song's troops fought with the northwestern rebels many times, but all failed and suffered heavy casualties.

So much so that in his correspondence with Zhang Yu, Sun Jian had to say that the Northwest rebels were good at spears and were brave and courageous, which was unmatched by the Yellow Turban bandits. In the battle with the rebels, many of his troops were lost. However, Sun Jian also made many contributions with his own bravery.

In the same month, Zhang Yu was selected by Liu Yu along with five other people because of his outstanding performance during the "observation of government affairs" period, and had the honor of attending the court meetings of all officials.

The content discussed in this court meeting revolved around the rebels in the northwest.

Before the court meeting, in order to prevent Zhang Yu and the other five people from getting into trouble during the meeting, the six people entered the hall early under the arrangement of relevant personnel.

Since there was one person from each Cao, the other five were all officials from each Cao, among whom was Yuan Mi, whom Zhang Yu was familiar with.

Zhang Yu and Yuan Mi gathered together and stood with another person in the corner of the left hall with their hands behind.

Before the court meeting started, Zhang Yu saw another man who was slightly younger than Zhong Yao, with a fair and childish face, a slight beard under his chin, and quite a scholarly air, so he took the initiative to greet him.

"I am Zhang Yu, courtesy name Ji'an!"

"Cao Yuan's secret secretary of Zhongdu, courtesy name Yongning!"

Seeing the two of them take the initiative to greet him, Dong Zhao hurriedly returned the greeting and said, "I am Cao Dong Zhao, a 2,000-stone official, with the courtesy name Gongren. I have heard of your names for a long time!"

"Dong Zhao?"

Another person who left his name in the Three Kingdoms. I hope he is not someone with the same name. Zhang Yu secretly looked at Dong Zhao.

"Mr. Dong, do you know Mr. Wang Boguang, the Minister Wang?" Zhang Yu asked.

Dong Zhao nodded slightly and said with a smile: "The minister who brought me to the stage is Minister Wang. I wonder what your relationship with Minister Wang is..."

"Minister Wang is my wife's brother. He works in the Two Thousand Stone Department. I heard that you are from the same department, so I asked this question. Unexpectedly, you are the chief official Dong. What a coincidence!" Zhang Yu said with a smile.

"I see!"

Dong Zhao's tone became enthusiastic, and he said: "I have been in the cabinet for half a year. Without the guidance of Minister Wang, my future would have been bumpy!"

Obviously, Dong Zhao received a lot of help from Wang Gai after entering the cabinet, otherwise he would not have used this tone to chat with Zhang Yu.

Using Wang Gai as a topic of conversation, Zhang Yu got to know Dong Zhao.

Dong Zhao was from Jiyin County, Yanzhou. He was appreciated for helping the county governor persuade the bandits to surrender. With the help of his family, Dong Zhao was selected as a filial and honest official in the same year as Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao, and was assigned to the 2,000-stone Cao. Because of his outstanding performance, he became a model of the Langguan of his department and was qualified to attend court meetings.

The three chatted for only a while before the bell representing the court meeting rang, and the three of them instantly fell silent.

After a while, the civil and military officials, each wearing court robes, with seals and ribbons on their waists and holding tablets in their hands, entered the court under the chanting of the eunuchs.

Zhang Yu saw many familiar faces in the crowd, such as Zhu Jun, Zhao Qian, Yuan Shu, Liu Yu, etc. Except for Liu Yu who glanced at the palace attendant in the corner, the others did not notice that there were several more palace attendants in the hall.

Not long after, Emperor Ling of Han sat on the dragon couch, surrounded by two eunuchs.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, with the permission of Emperor Ling of Han, all the officials knelt and sat in attendance. Although Zhang Yu, Zhong Yao, and Dong Zhao were only attending the meeting, they still had their own temporary seats.

As he was quite far away from Emperor Ling of Han, Zhang Yu could not see his face clearly. He only felt that Emperor Ling of Han's voice lacked strength.

"The bandits in the northwest are rampant now, and the General of Chariots and Cavalry has led his troops to fight them but has failed to defeat them. Do you have any opinions on this?"

"Your Majesty, since the General of Chariots and Cavalry went to war, he has led his troops to fight against the rebels many times, but has not achieved any military success. As a result, the northwest is lost and the grain reserves are wasted. In my opinion, the General of Chariots and Cavalry should be dismissed and another general should be selected to take the position." Shaofu Fan Ling impeached.

"Remove the General of Chariots and Cavalry?"

Liu Hong hesitated and asked, "General Chariot and Cavalry has defeated the Yellow Turbans in Hebei and is highly respected. If we invite him back to the capital now, I'm afraid it will be disadvantageous to the army!"

"Your Majesty, you don't know that the two villains Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou are former subordinates of Duan Xing. They are familiar with battle formations, know the mountains and rivers, and are very cunning. The General of Chariots and Cavalry came from Guanxi, and the military tactics he used may have been recognized by the rebels. If we don't issue an edict to replace them, the Western Army will surely be defeated!" said the attendant Xu Xiang.

Seeing that the court was unanimously impeaching Huangfu Song and no one stood up to speak for Huangfu Song, Zhang Yu frowned slightly.

Although Huangfu Song's troops suffered heavy casualties, he was at least a general who knew how to fight. If Zhang Wen were chosen to lead the army, it would be hard to predict whether he would win or lose.

Of course, Zhang Yu could understand the idea of replacing the generals. After all, after more than two months of fighting, the rebels were not only not annihilated, but also invaded the three prefectures. Huangfu Song naturally had to take the blame. "The matter of replacing the generals can be discussed later."

Emperor Ling of Han frowned and said, "Last year, we spent a lot of money and food to fight against the Yellow Turbans. Now the treasury is empty. I wonder what you think?"

"Your Majesty, it is difficult for the General of Chariots and Cavalry to suppress the rebellion, and the national treasury is empty. It is better to abandon Liangzhou and defend the three prefectures." Cui Lie suggested.

"Abandon Liang?"

Emperor Ling of Han was unsure, so he looked around and asked, "What do you think of abandoning Liang?"

As soon as the voice fell, a man suddenly stood up, glared at Cui Lie, and said angrily: "Your Majesty, please execute Situ to bring peace to the world."

Such words shocked many officials present. They had been attending court for so many years, but this was the first time they had seen someone shouting for war and killing.

"How dare Fu Xie'an humiliate a minister?"

However, Yang Zan, a Shangshu Lang who was also in the audience with Zhang Yu, jumped out and impeached, saying, "Your Majesty, Fu Xieting, a councilor, insulted the ministers and should be punished!"

Zhang Yu watched the court discussion getting more and more lively, and shook his head and smiled bitterly with Zhong and Dong. Yang Zan was really bold. As an official who was listening to the court discussion, he dared to impeach the court officials on the spot. I don't know whether to say that this kind of person is positive and motivated or does not know the rules.

"quiet!"

Seeing the chaos, Zhang Rang shouted loudly.

When the noise gradually subsided, Emperor Ling of Han spoke and asked, "Why do you say that, Mr. Fu?"

Fu Xie raised his head and said excitedly: "Liangzhou is the key point of the world and the frontier of the country. When Emperor Gaozu first rose to power, Li Shang settled Longyou separately; Emperor Shizong expanded the territory and established four counties in Hexi. Some people thought that this would cut off the right arm of the Xiongnu."

"Now Lianglong is in rebellion, causing unrest in the country, and Your Majesty cannot sleep. Cui Lie is the Prime Minister, but he does not think of a strategy to quell the invasion, and instead wants to abandon thousands of miles of land. If the Qiang and Hu people are allowed to live here, their soldiers will be strong and armored, and they will surely become a great threat to the world. Si Tu does not know the pros and cons, and he has deceived Your Majesty, so he must be punished!"

Under Fu Xie's scolding, Cui Lie turned his head away and said nothing, his expression full of shame!
"What Mr. Fu said makes sense!"

Emperor Ling of Han was quite touched and said, "Don't mention the words of abandoning Liang again!"

"We cannot abandon Liang now, but the treasury is running low. What strategy should we adopt?"

"Your Majesty, you are collecting palace repair expenses from the whole country. This is not what a wise monarch does. Xie thinks that we can temporarily repair the Nan Palace and use the palace repair expenses to supplement military funds." Fu Xie said.

Emperor Ling of Han looked at Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong and asked them what they thought.

Zhang Rang said respectfully, "Your Majesty, what Fu Yilang said makes sense. I think we can extend the time for repairing the Nan Palace to supplement the military expenses of the Western Army, so as to avoid criticism of the palace expenses."

"it is good!"

Emperor Ling of Han was very satisfied and asked, "Now that the military funds have been settled, who shall we choose to replace General Huangfu?"

"Your Majesty, Sikong Zhang Gong (Zhang Wen) is well versed in military affairs. He can lead the troops to the war and select brave generals to accompany him," an official suggested.

.........

After some discussion, Emperor Ling of Han recalled Huangfu Song and ordered him to lead his troops back to Chang'an in the autumn. The person who replaced Huangfu Song as the commander-in-chief was Zhang Wen, the Minister of Works. Yuan Pang, the Prefect of the Imperial Guards, was his deputy, and Dong Zhuo, the General Who Defeated the Enemies, and Zhou Shen, the General Who Suppressed Bandits, were his officers to assist Zhang Wen in the expedition.

Zhang Wen, one of the Three Dukes, was in charge of the army, and Yuan Pang, one of the Nine Ministers, was appointed as his deputy general. This shows the importance the court attached to the Northwest Rebellion. After all, even the famous general Huangfu Song had failed, so Emperor Ling of Han dared not ignore it.

After the court meeting, all the ministers left the court first.

However, Zhang Yu, Zhong Yao, Dong Zhao and others stayed in the hall and were the last to leave due to their identity issues.

On the way out of the palace, seeing that there was no one around, Zhang Yu complained: "Using the palace expenses to subsidize the military funds and then extend the time for collecting miscellaneous taxes, I'm afraid this is exactly what Zhang Changshi wants."

"Why do you say that?" Zhong Yao asked.

Dong Zhao interrupted and said, "Because the palace maintenance fee is used to subsidize military funds, it makes it easier for eunuchs to embezzle money. If Your Majesty asks about the progress of the Nan Palace renovation, you can put it on the military expenses of the Western Army."

Zhong Yao reacted and sneered, "No wonder Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and the like are so happy. It turns out they just want this."

It was in Zhang Rangrang's interest to use the money from repairing Nangong to subsidize military expenses. Repairing Nangong could be done quickly, so it was hard to say that it would be a long-term levy. Once a war broke out, they would have a reason to delay repairing Nangong.

As long as the war was not over, they could continue to collect palace maintenance fees, which was not as good as a one-time collection. On the contrary, Emperor Ling of Han would be grateful to Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong for helping him manage finances and coordinate military expenses with Nangong expenses.

Perhaps it was under such circumstances that the deceived Emperor Ling of Han foolishly said such outrageous words as "Empress Zhang is my father-in-law, and Empress Zhao is my mother."

Little did he know that his real parents were the common people of the Han Dynasty. Without the people to endure his exploitation and pay all kinds of exorbitant taxes, could Zhang and Zhao create money out of thin air?
"The Daily Notes of Emperor Gaozu" states: "... I am a descendant of the Northern Regions, and have long enjoyed the Han Dynasty's salary. I originally supported the Han Dynasty, but the country was in turmoil, and the wicked were in the court.... In order to eliminate the accumulated evil, drive out the Qiang and Hu, and protect the people, I took up the sword and started an uprising. Changing the country's destiny was not my original intention!"

(End of this chapter)

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