The king and his two ministers discussed who could succeed Wang Yongji as the Governor-General of Pingliao.
After discussing for a while without any result, Fan Jingwen and Wang Jiayan could only bow and leave.
On the morning and evening of March 14, two handwritten letters from Wang Yongji were delivered to Chongzhen's dragon desk.
The first letter was written before the Battle of Sarhu.
Based on Shuose's confession, the letter speculated that Wu Sangui would find a way to request a change of defense.
The Jiannu would then launch a sneak attack when the Ming army was changing its guard.
The second letter was written after the Battle of Sarhu.
The content of the letter is the entire process of the Battle of Sarhu.
Including Wu Sangui's initiative to request a change of guard, but he was ambushed by the Jiannu during the change of guard. In order to prevent being attacked from both sides, the Northern Army had to retreat.
Although they retreated, the evidence that Wu Sangui betrayed his friendly forces was confirmed.
Looking at the evidence in his hand, Minister of War Wang Jiayan lowered his head and remained silent.
He still couldn't believe what he saw.
But the evidence was there, and he had to believe it.
Chongzhen asked Fan Jingwen: "Lord Fan, is the evidence sufficient?"
"Your Majesty, the evidence is irrefutable."
"In that case, let's close the case."
Fan Jingwen raised his head: "What does your majesty mean?"
"According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty!" Chongzhen said coldly: "Wu Sangui has committed serious crimes such as buying rice to support the thieves, seeking money to collude with the enemy, stopping the army from fighting, and treason. He should be arrested and executed immediately. Those family members who should be killed should be killed, those who should be exiled should be exiled, and their property should be confiscated by the national treasury!"
When the words "exile" and "confiscation" were mentioned, Chongzhen suddenly became excited.
But calm was soon restored.
"Your Majesty," Fan Jingwen wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Although the evidence is irrefutable, Wu Sangui still controls tens of thousands of elite Guanning troops. Once the news gets out, he will definitely start a rebellion. No matter what the result is, it will be a disaster for the court. Should we find a way to deprive him of his military power first?"
"Haha," Chongzhen smiled and shook his head, "Wu Sangui will never voluntarily give up his military power. He will have a battle with the Liao army sooner or later. Instead of passively waiting, it is better to take the initiative to force him to take action."
Fan Jingwen hurriedly said: "Your Majesty! If Wu Sangui defected to Jian Nu at this time, not only would our army's advantage in Liaodong be completely gone, but even..."
Fan Jingwen didn't finish his words.
Wu Sangui played an indispensable role in the recovery of Liaoyang and Shenyang.
If Wu Sangui is forced into side with the Jiannu, the army that pacifies Liao will face tremendous pressure.
Liaoyang and Shenyang, which were recovered with great difficulty, may also fall into the hands of the Jiannu again.
"Wu Sangui!" Chongzhen sneered, "He wants to help the Jiannu to turn the tables? What a joke!"
After sneering, Chongzhen said to Wang Chengen: "Write a letter of imperial decree to Zu Dashou, ordering him to go to Fushun immediately to recruit Wu Sangui's former subordinates to surrender."
"I obey your command." Wang Chengen took note and walked out quickly.
Fan Jingwen looked up at Chongzhen in confusion.
He was wondering why Chongzhen did not use the imperial edict but the imperial edict instead?
Facing Fan Jingwen's inquiring gaze, Chongzhen smiled and said nothing.
The imperial edict represents the imperial court.
The imperial edict represented Chongzhen himself.
He wanted to order Zu Dashou to go and persuade them to surrender in his own name.
Those who surrendered surrendered to Chongzhen, not to the imperial court.
This is very important for what happens after the pacification of Liao.
Seeing that Chongzhen had no intention of explaining, Fan Jingwen remembered another thing: "Your Majesty, Wu Sangui is not only a general, but also a noble. No matter what crime he committed, according to the rules, he must be arrested first and then be dealt with after a joint trial by the three judicial departments."
"Then arrest him first, and then hold a joint trial by the three courts!" Chongzhen said coldly.
With Chongzhen's current control, he could completely bypass the three judicial departments and directly convict Wu Sangui, or execute him directly.
But he didn't do that.
He must obey the law.
The first sign of a dynasty’s decline is problems with the rule of law.
What's the problem?
Crime rate increased?
Refuse to pay taxes and labor service?
Neither.
Except for a few criminals, most people are law-abiding.
It is simply not possible to break the law, after all, they are powerless to fight against the imperial court and local governments.
The laws we abide by are not rigid and static, but flexible.
In the imperial court, this law was the Great Ming Code.
But when it comes to local governments, the law becomes the responsibility of local officials themselves.
If local officials abide by the "Great Ming Law", then the people will abide by the "Great Ming Law".
If local officials do not abide by the Ming Code, the people will suffer.
There is also a problem with the rule of law.
As the saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will be crooked.
Only when the emperor and the ministers in the court abide by the law, will the officials below abide by the law.
Only when officials abide by the law will local gentry follow suit.
This series of chain reactions.
You may not see results in the short term, but the consequences will become apparent over time.
For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen had to be a law-abiding emperor.
After talking about Wu Sangui's problem, Chongzhen looked at Fan Jingwen but said nothing.
Fan Jingwen knew that Chongzhen wanted to bring up the issue that had not been discussed two days ago: the selection of the new Governor-General of Pingliao.
With such a big thing happening, Wang Yongji couldn't stay out of it.
Someone has to be replaced.
Fan Jingwen initially agreed to change the coach, but after two days of thinking, he disagreed.
He bowed and said, "Changing the commander before a battle is a taboo in the military. Besides, the matter of Wu Sangui has not been resolved yet. Changing the commander at this time will easily cause the situation in Liaodong to get out of control."
"I didn't say to change it now," Chongzhen waved his hand, "I meant to find a suitable candidate first, and then consider changing the commander after the Wu Sangui issue is resolved."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
