"We'll discuss Jiang Tu's matter later." Emperor Taixing didn't care about his face anymore and openly stated that he wanted to protect Jiang Tu. Whoever mentioned Jiang Tu, whoever made things difficult for Jiang Tu, was making things difficult for him. This attitude... made the officials present very disappointed. Your Majesty is old and confused! Stupid! Incompetent! It would be better to let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince come forward to supervise the country, and the old emperor can rest assured to practice Taoism and seek immortality in Taiji Palace. Perfect! However, the old emperor was reluctant to give up power and even wanted to take back the power from the Crown Prince. In the past, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was allowed to ask questions about politics, but now he would find a reason to confine His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and prohibit His Royal Highness from contacting foreign officials, thus cutting off the possibility of the Crown Prince asking questions about politics. It's ridiculous! Many officials were worried about the Crown Prince being in such a state of defense, fearing that something unspeakable would happen.
Unfortunately, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was becoming more and more licentious and acting more and more crazy, with a tendency to break the jar and break the pot. Some people say that His Royal Highness did this to reassure the old emperor. However, in this way, the old emperor has more reason to dislike His Royal Highness for not taking matters into his own hands. In the final analysis, everything has two sides, with both advantages and disadvantages. If His Royal Highness shows that he remains determined and actively proposes and governs after being suppressed and confined, I am afraid that the old emperor will not be able to sleep well and will face greater suppression. If he behaves a little absurdly, at least the old emperor may relax his guard against His Royal Highness, and occasionally he will feel guilty and send some memorials to the East Palace, so that the prince can express his views. Whenever the old emperor defends Jiangtu, the court officials will have the idea of letting His Royal Highness take his place. If someone instigates the prince to seize power at this time, I am afraid that there will be many followers. It's a pity that no one dares to step forward. Even if someone steps forward, the prince probably doesn't have the courage to take this step. Even if he has the courage to take this step, the imperial guards are not vegetarians. The commander of the imperial guards is the loyal lackey of the old emperor. Don't forget the imperial horse guards, there are also thousands of soldiers and horses, all of whom are the old emperor's people. The old emperor has no sense of security, so he cares more about the defense of the palace than anything else. Key positions are filled with trustworthy people. Last year, taking advantage of the Jinzhou rebels' disturbance, the people of the military department were replaced with people the old emperor believes are reliable. The palace and the capital are locked in all directions, and no one can make a fuss. What can I do! Unless, unless a ninth-grade warrior or even a master warrior can be invited to come forward. A master is worth thousands of troops. However, masters are scarce resources. It is said that there are master warriors in the palace, but they are still the old emperor's people. There are still too few talents available to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He can't compete with the old emperor. The ministers have no choice but to continue to endure the crazy old emperor. If you want to protect Jiangtu, you can pay for it. The court officials united and forced the old emperor to bleed. Not only did they have to deliver supplies and rewards to the Jinzhou army, but they also had to pay the salaries of the officials in Beijing. Not to mention paying all of them, they had to pay for three to five months. Otherwise, Jiang Tu must die!
The court officials united, especially when the two prime ministers also publicly expressed their opinions, the power was terrifying, and even the old emperor who had been in charge of the court for decades could not ignore it. The old emperor was furious and smashed his most precious whisk. Forcing him to pay is like cutting his flesh. Jiang Tu helped him make money, and then he had to pay the money. How could this be! It seems that the court officials are all eyeing his money bag and are unwilling to let him live a peaceful life. "Can taxes be increased?" "No! Last year there was a flood in the south, and this year there was a drought in the north. The people are miserable, I hope your majesty will understand." "Is there any other way?" "There is no other way for the time being. Unless your majesty is willing to give half of the mining tax to the Ministry of Revenue." Ridiculous! After all, he was still thinking about his small treasury. The ministers were surging, and the old emperor had to retreat a bit. The two sides fought for several days, going back and forth, dividing interests and power, and various personnel changes. The old emperor finally agreed to take money from the small treasury to subsidize the Ministry of Households. After that, the Ministry of War hurriedly transported supplies and silver to Jinzhou. Halfway through the supply, news came from Jinzhou that Pingjiang Hou led the army to suppress the bandits and launched a siege that lasted for half a month, and finally successfully captured the city. Killed tens of thousands of bandits, captured tens of thousands, a great victory! It’s a pity that the rebel King Ming and the elite rebel infantry and cavalry escaped. However, the capture of the rebel King Ming’s sworn brother, the third person in the rebels, was enough to make the old emperor smile. Maybe the previous disaster of the Li family manor can also be handled lightly. The good news reached the capital, and the Taiji Palace, which had been gloomy for several days, finally heard laughter. The old emperor changed his mean and stingy attitude and asked for a big reward for Pingjiang Hou. "Chen Qingzhi is not very good at doing things in the court, but he is still very good at fighting. This time, the Jinzhou rebels have been completely eliminated. It's a pity that the Great Ming King and his group escaped." "The Holy Lord is here, so this great victory can be achieved. Pingjiang Hou's great victory is all thanks to Your Majesty." "Hahaha..." The old emperor was very happy and liked to listen to people flattering him. "Order it down, escort the Great Ming King's sworn brothers to the capital and cut them into pieces. I want the world to see what the end is for those who dare to kill officials and rebel. Will there be anyone who dares to rebel in the future!" The old emperor was murderous. Qiu Defu bowed and accepted the order. The captured rebel leaders this time included more than one sworn brother. Among the tens of thousands of captives, there were hundreds of big and small leaders. The old emperor gave the order on how to deal with these captives. The main rebels were all beheaded, and the rest were screened. Those who should be beheaded were beheaded, and those who should surrender were surrendered. The old emperor meant to kill people until the common people at the bottom dared not rebel. In fact, Pingjiang Hou was full of anger in his heart, even though everyone surrounded him and flattered him, saying how good this battle was and how well he commanded. According to his deployment, as long as the soldiers obeyed his orders, the King of the Ming Dynasty would have no chance to escape. The imperial army could completely wipe out the rebels in one fell swoop, and Jinzhou would be peaceful from then on. He bribed the traitors among the rebels, and there were so many spies among the rebels, but the King of the Ming Dynasty and the elite infantry and cavalry still escaped. In other words, although the rebels were defeated, the core and the foundation were still there. Just pull up a group of people and they can come back in a blink of an eye.
Damn, with such a perfect tactical arrangement, and the traitors working together, the battle ended up like this, only capturing a sworn brother of the Great Ming King and tens of thousands of mobs, what kind of victory is this? It's nothing more than a face-saving victory. The Great Ming King is still alive, and the elite infantry and cavalry are still there. It's too early to talk about annihilating the Jinzhou rebels in one fell swoop. The war in Jinzhou will be repeated! Pingjiang Hou looked at the rolling mountains, feeling very melancholy. He knew that his mission to suppress the Jinzhou rebels was completed, and he would soon return to the capital. The old emperor would not allow him to stay in Jinzhou for a long time and truly control such a combat-capable army. As for the Jinzhou rebels' comeback, it was not his turn to worry about it. If the court officials were more efficient, and delivered supplies and rewards in time, there would not be a situation where the soldiers did not obey orders. He understands politics! According to his previous temper, if he dared not to obey orders, he would have been killed with a knife. Now he has submitted a report to the court for punishment.