Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 223 My Left Eye Twitched [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

"Huh? Oh..."

Until I heard Yan Maoqing's decision at that moment.

Shen Kun, Gao Gong, and Yan Shifan finally realized, much later, the purpose behind Yan Maoqing's sudden series of arrangements.

No wonder he postponed almost everything in Taiyuan; it turns out he was preparing to go to Datong immediately on official business...

Right!

Although the reason is unknown, the Emperor's edict was so sternly worded that it could not be ignored.

Even now, they all felt that whether Yan Maoqing went to Datong or not would not affect the overall situation, and even felt that Zhu Houcong was manipulating things without understanding anything.

But an imperial edict is still an imperial edict!
Even if the emperor's decision in his decree is substandard, as a subject, one must still give him the face he deserves. Even if it's just a formality to go to Datong, one must still obey orders.

Otherwise, he would be a traitor who disobeys imperial orders!

Don't believe the nonsense about "a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders".

That only applies when the Emperor is not in the mood for micromanagement. Once the Emperor decides to micromanage and issues a strongly worded imperial edict, you'd better obey the decree.

Otherwise, it won't matter who is right or wrong afterward.

It is not you who are important to the Emperor; otherwise, who in the world will take the Emperor's edicts seriously in the future?
“Eunuch Chen, you can also testify for me. After receiving the imperial decree, I did not conceal it or travel incognito. I changed my route to Datong overnight without delay or shirking responsibility.”

Yan Maoqing turned to look at Chen Xi, who had finally understood the whole story after Yan Shifan's explanation, and whose gaze towards Yan Maoqing had completely changed.

He had just considered staging a "defying imperial orders" incident to force him to retire and return to his hometown.

But the thought only flashed through his mind before he immediately dismissed it.

Others may not understand Zhu Houcong, but he knows this big fool Zhu all too well.

This person is not a good person, especially his protectiveness of imperial power has reached an almost abnormal level!

With such harsh wording in the imperial edict, and with so many people watching, if Yan Maoqing dares to disobey the edict this time, then Zhu Houcong is truly willing to risk his life to uphold the solemnity of the edict!
He only wanted to retire and return to his hometown, not to be killed by Zhu Houcong and travel back in time to collect insurance money like in later novels, because no one had ever promised him such a benefit.

However, this imperial edict did indeed bring a glimmer of hope to Yan Maoqing when he was in despair!

Time difference!
He's trying to create a time difference!

When Zhu Houcong issued this imperial edict, it must have been just after he discovered that Zhu Houcong had not gone directly to Datong, but instead had taken a longer route to Taiyuan.

Guan Jieshan would never have taken the initiative to submit the secret letter with the silver seal confessing his guilt before being driven to a dead end. Therefore, this secret letter must have been sent out of Taiyuan City not long ago.

It would take time for the secret report with the silver seal to be sent to the capital and presented to Zhu Houcong.

Now that he has given Chen Xi this small but significant credit, it can buy him a lot of time.

After all, Chen Xi needed to escort the convicted officials and thieves back to the capital, so he had to wait here for them to be brought to justice.

If they want to make their achievements even greater, they will probably have to wait until Kao Chieh spends some more time convicting the remaining officials, powerful figures, and merchants.

In addition, traveling light is definitely more time-consuming than escorting convicted officials and thieves, which adds to the delay.

Zhu Houcong only saw Guan Jieshan's silver seal and dense writing, but he didn't know what had actually happened in Taiyuan Prefecture.

Before Chen Xi returns to report, he will likely remain in a state of confusion. Therefore, the handling of the high-ranking officials in charge of Shanxi exposed by Guan Jieshan will certainly be quite cautious.

Also.

The distance from the capital to Datong is less than 700 li.

The distance from the capital to Taiyuan is about a thousand li.

The distance from Taiyuan to Datong is less than 600 li.

He is setting off overnight from Taiyuan to Datong, which is a hundred li shorter than the journey from the capital to Datong.

If he had walked faster on the road, and if the servant who was delivering the silver seal and secret document to Guan Jieshan had been lazy, the silver seal and secret document might not have even reached the capital by the time he arrived in Datong!

This will definitely give him a time advantage.

This was before Zhu Houcong, high-ranking officials, the Prince of Dai's faction, and the officials, powerful families, and merchants of Datong had fully reacted or understood how badly the situation had deteriorated.

He successfully carried out his previously formulated plan, and the "surprise" he had prepared for Zhu Houcong arrived as promised!

Now or never!
He's racing against time right now, he has to hurry!
……

Several days later, at the Qianqing Palace.

"Chen Xi should have caught up with that scoundrel long ago and delivered my imperial edict, right?"

Zhu Houcong reread the secret letters that Guo Xun and Yan Song had sent back a few days ago, and finally became restless again.

"These two useless fellows! If I had ordered Yan Maoqing to handle this matter earlier, he would have done it smoothly for me long ago. At most, there would have been some minor mishaps, and none of this would have happened!"

"Yan Maoqing has gone completely mad this time!"

"With the situation so dire, this bastard didn't go to Datong first, but instead went all the way to Taiyuan. This time, the mistake he made is utterly absurd!"

Just as he was mentally cursing everyone who had done the work, "Tap tap tap..."

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from afar inside the hall. Huang Jin rushed in from outside, carrying a specially made memorial box in his hands.

"Your Majesty, a secret document bearing a silver seal has been delivered by Guan Jieshan, the Provincial Governor of Shanxi. This servant has carefully checked the seal and stamp. Please take a look!"

"The Provincial Governor of Shanxi?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houcong's heart tightened.

The Shanxi Provincial Administration Commission was located in Taiyuan, so this was a secret document with a silver seal sent from Taiyuan. Moreover, apart from Guo Xun, who was currently serving as the governor in Datong, this was the highest-ranking official in Shanxi.

and so……

Could it be that Chen Xi was ultimately too late and failed to catch up with Yan Maoqing before he arrived in Taiyuan, allowing Yan Maoqing to cause some trouble in Taiyuan?
As his heart tightened, Zhu Houcong's left eyelid twitched uncontrollably.

However, at this moment he had no time to care about such trivial details. He immediately snatched the box that Huang Jin presented with both hands, opened it himself, and took out the memorial to examine its contents.

"..."

Huang Jin was also deeply troubled at this moment, and silently lowered his head and took two steps back.

In his experience, apart from some special cases, these silver-stamped memorials were mostly filled with accusations and mutual attacks.

Especially if it comes from the Provincial Administration Commissioner, it usually involves suing the Governor, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, or the Military Commander, leading to endless disputes.

However, the emperor could not simply ignore such memorials from high-ranking officials. Whether he offered reassurance or ordered the imperial censors to investigate, he had to respond in some way.

After all, the emperor's control over these local areas is inherently weak, and the slightest carelessness could lead to chaos. It is not as good as dealing with the affairs of the capital by adopting a cold and discreet approach.

At this very moment, Huang Jin, like Zhu Houcong, wondered if Yan Maoqing had already caused some trouble in Taiyuan...

Just as I am worried at this time.

"This……"

Zhu Houcong suddenly let out a strange murmur. Huang Jin subconsciously looked up, only to see that Zhu Houcong's expression was even stranger than the murmur itself, and even the hand holding the dense scroll was trembling slightly.

"Could it be that Yan Maoqing has become so lawless that he has led his troops to kidnap Guan Jieshan's entire family?!"

"!!!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Jin immediately knelt down quietly, becoming even more afraid to make a sound.

Although he didn't know what was written in the secret memorial, if Yan Maoqing really did as Zhu Houcong said, and led his troops to kidnap the entire family of a provincial governor, then...

This is not just lawlessness; it's like tearing a hole in the sky, a hole that even the emperor can't cover up.

Then he saw Zhu Houcong suddenly slam his hand on the imperial desk, and say with great enthusiasm:

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! With Guan Jieshan's secret memorial, how can the Great Harmony not be achieved?"

"Yan Maoqing is truly my lucky general. No wonder he didn't go to Datong. He struck right at the heart of the matter, prying up the entire Shanxi province and sending it to the capital!"

"How could I have thought he didn't know what was important and what was urgent? When has he ever disappointed me?"

"Hiss... This is bad!"

At this point, Zhu Houcong suddenly remembered something and immediately looked at Huang Jin and asked:

"Huang Jin, do you think that the strongly worded edict I ordered you to draft, if we immediately send someone to retrieve it, will still have a chance to get it back before it reaches Yan Maoqing?"

Although Guan Jieshan's secret memorial did not mention Yan Maoqing, Zhu Houcong could not understand how Yan Maoqing had managed to do this.

But judging from past examples, he was already convinced that this was Yan Maoqing's doing, because nothing Yan Maoqing was involved in ever made sense.

Huang Jin was completely bewildered by Zhu Houcong's sudden and inexplicable emotional changes. He wanted to ask, "What do you think, Your Majesty?" but dared not risk his life, so he could only cautiously reply:

"Your Majesty, that imperial edict has been out for quite some time now. I believe that even if Chen Xi had crawled there, it would have already reached Minister Yan Mao by now..."

Isn't this embarrassing?

Is this thing emitting blue smoke questioning my abilities?

Zhu Houcong's old face flushed slightly, but in front of Huang Jin, he nonchalantly tried to cover it up:

"Never mind, when he returns, I will reward him handsomely... In fact, isn't this also a sign of my trust in him? Why don't I urge others to go to Datong? You agree, Huang Jin?"

Huang Jin felt that Zhu Houcong was being a bit of a "protester," but he readily accepted the fact that he had been "silenced," and said with a forced smile:

"That's right. Yan Maoqing and the Emperor are of one mind, and he will surely be able to appreciate the Emperor's trust."

"Ah……"

Zhu Houcong chuckled dryly, trying to recall which eye had twitched earlier, while glancing at the names on the dense list:
Cabinet Minister Zhai Luan!
Minister of War, Zhang Zan!
Yang Bo, Director of the Department of Military Affairs, Ministry of War!

Then Zhu Houcong's gaze gradually turned cold, and he closed the secret memorial and said again:
"Go, summon Xia Yan to the palace to see me."

(End of this chapter)