"Yin Wei, you son of a bitch, you orphan, you talk like someone in your family just died."
"You fucking explain to me what fucking means by 'turmoil,' what fucking means by 'rashly sending troops,' and what fucking means by 'inappropriate.'"
Niu Baoguo's eyes widened in anger, his head almost tilting to one side, and he pointed at Yin Wei, cursing loudly.
"You idiot, how much have these prestigious families given you, and you're still defending them like this?"
Yin Wei, clutching his backside, defended himself, saying, "I wasn't speaking up for those powerful families. I just felt that things needed to be done step by step, not rushed, and that we needed to be more patient."
"Go to hell, you son of a bitch, what are you talking about?"
Niu Baoguo wouldn't listen to his explanation at all: "Before the Regent arrived, you said that the court needed to tolerate those powerful families and clans. Now that the Regent has arrived, you still want the court to tolerate these powerful families and clans. Then what was the point of the Regent's visit?"
"If you ask me, our imperial court should send out the entire army to follow the prince and wipe out all those powerful families in one go, and then thoroughly investigate all the local officials in charge."
"The local officials in Guangdong and Guangxi dared to kill even the imperial envoy. They don't respect the imperial court at all. We should send a large army to clean up these local officials."
"Back then, it was Lord Yin Wei who advised the court to be patient and not cause unrest in Guangdong and Guangxi, saying that the court's military strength was insufficient."
"Now that the imperial court is strong and well-equipped, are you still asking it to tolerate this? If it continues to tolerate this, will those officials still respect the imperial court?"
"After this, will there still be any law? Will there still be any justice?"
When Niu Baoguo got excited, his saliva flew everywhere, and he even kicked Yin Weizhu a couple of times to cheer him on.
Yin Wei was beaten and dared not utter a sound, because he noticed that Emperor Jianyuan was also looking at him with suspicion, as if he also thought that he was in cahoots with those aristocratic families.
"Your Majesty, this old minister believes that a large army should be dispatched to accompany the Regent to thoroughly clean up those powerful clans and families, so that they will know what a king's army is and what the might of the emperor is."
Niu Baoguo knelt on the ground, his tone as firm as if he were joining the party: "If other ministers are unwilling to send troops, this old minister also has some soldiers in his household who can go to Jiangnan to lend a hand to the Regent."
"If no general is willing to go, this old minister is willing to don armor once more and fight to the death for the Ming Dynasty!"
His words were deafening, echoing continuously throughout the hall.
The other generals exchanged glances and stepped forward one after another: "This humble general, Yue Yun, is willing to fight to the death for the Ming Dynasty!"
"This humble general, Yang Ye, is willing to fight to the death for the Ming Dynasty!"
"This humble general... is willing to fight to the death for the Ming Dynasty!"
After the military officer finished speaking, some young civil officials also stepped forward.
"Since ancient times, civil officials have died for their principles, and military generals have died in battle. If you generals are not afraid to die, how can we scholars live a life of cowardice and become a laughing stock?"
"Your humble servant Chen Zu'an is willing to accompany you generals to die for the Ming Dynasty!"
Chen Zu'an stood in the main hall and bowed, his voice neither humble nor arrogant.
Behind him, some young civil officials echoed, "We are willing to die for the Ming Dynasty!"
As Zhou Chao watched the officials step forward and declare their determination to fight to the death, he felt a pang of emotion.
When I was in power, civil officials were in charge and the entire court was in favor of peace. No military general dared to stand up and say the words "fight to the death".
After Li Chang'an came to power, not only did the military generals of the Ming Dynasty become more assertive, but even the civil officials became more ruthless.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Zhou Chao slammed his hand on the table and stood up: "Worthy of being an official of our Great Ming, worthy of being a general of our Great Ming."
"Men of the Ming Dynasty should have this kind of courage."
"Lord Zhang, how many troops are currently available in the capital?"
Zhang Liang stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "The capital city currently has 200,000 troops available."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jianyuan asked in confusion, "Didn't you have 300,000 troops before? How come there are only 200,000 left?"
"Your Majesty, most of the soldiers in the capital were old, weak, sick, or disabled, and some were even receiving salaries without working. General Zhao ordered us to get rid of those soldiers."
"This army of 200,000 is truly elite. Apart from veterans who have fought countless battles, they are all from good families. These are the real soldiers who can fight and are capable of fighting."
Upon assuming military power in the capital, Zhang Liang's first act was to purge the corrupt elements from the army and then dismiss the old, weak, sick, and disabled.
These people are just there to make up the numbers in the army; they have absolutely no combat capability. Keeping them around is not only useless, but it also lowers the army's combat effectiveness.
Especially those bad apples, they have no other skills besides preying on the people.
Zhang Liang will never forget the day someone came to report that a soldier was drunk and had broken the law at a civilian's home.
When he arrived with his men, he saw a family of three huddled together, trembling with fear on their faces.
Inside the room, several soldiers were humiliating someone's dog by pinning it to the table.
The scene was one of him dominating it, eating it, and then being dominated by it.
This scene is truly incredible.
After seeing it, Zhang Liang felt so nauseous that he didn't eat for several days.
Then he hardened his heart and carried out a major purge of the army, completely replacing the soldiers.
"An army of two hundred thousand!"
Zhou Chao stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then ordered, "Dispatch 150,000 troops to Jiangnan to assist the Regent."
"The generals in the court will also go with the army to hone their skills. They haven't fought a war in so many years, I even doubt whether the generals in the court can still ride into battle."
Upon hearing this order, Yin Wei advised, "Your Majesty, this is not a good idea. If all the troops in the capital are sent out, what will happen to the safety of the capital? What will happen to Your Majesty's safety?"
Zhou Chao shook his head indifferently: "The safety of the capital is entirely in the hands of the soldiers left behind in Tai'an City."
"As for me, you don't need to worry. Isn't there a palace being built for me in Tai'an City? I will take the Empress and the Crown Prince to live there."
Yin Wei wanted to say something, but Zhou Chao waved his hand to interrupt him: "Minister Yin Wei, I know what you're worried about, but you don't need to worry, because there's nothing to worry about."
"There is no safest place in the world than Tai'an City."
Zhou Chao made a decisive decision. Generals of the Ming Dynasty would be idle in the capital anyway, so it would be better to send them to Li Chang'an so that he could be properly trained.
With the matter decided, the remaining arrangements for the expedition were to be discussed by the Six Ministries and Zhang Liang and Yang Guofu.
Emperor Jianyuan didn't get too involved, otherwise people would have thought he had some ambitions.
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