June 19, the 27th year of Chongzhen.
Just when the cabinet chief Xie Sanbin was worrying about who would lead the troops to quell the rebellion, news came from the three borders of Shaanxi: with the help of Lu Daqi, the governor of the three borders of Shaanxi, Bolot, the son of the former Shunyi King Omubu, successfully took over the tribe.
Xie Sanbin's first reaction was to immediately dispatch Lu Daqi and the border troops from the three borders of Shaanxi to the south to quell the rebellion.
But Shaanxi is thousands of miles away from the capital.
If we count on them to quell the rebellion, I'm afraid the rebels will invade the capital first.
in addition...
Lu Daqi submitted a petition requesting to retire and return home on the grounds of his advanced age.
This caught Xie Sanbin off guard.
to this end.
Xie Sanbin could only make two preparations.
On the one hand, he continued to transfer Shaanxi border troops to Beijing, while at the same time looking for suitable candidates to lead the troops in the capital.
Taking the strength factor into consideration, Xie Sanbin reduced the difficulty of the task.
The previous mission was to take the initiative to attack and wipe out the rebels.
The current task is to defend, as long as we can keep the rebels in the Xuzhou area.
Once the Shaanxi border troops arrived, the strength of the army that was suppressing the rebellion increased greatly.
At that time, we will take the initiative to attack the rebels.
I thought that after the difficulty of the mission was reduced, the nobles and generals would agree to lead the troops into battle.
But what Xie Sanbin didn't expect was that the generals and nobles remained the same.
They were either injured or sick and were unable to lead the troops into battle.
Xie Sanbin was angry.
He took advantage of lunch time to go to the residence of Liu Wenyao, the governor of the Beijing camp, and asked for a meeting.
The housekeeper of the Liu residence stopped him from entering, but Xie Sanbin forced his way in.
The housekeeper said helplessly: "Thank you, sir. It's not that I want to stop you. It's my master who told me not to see anyone during my recovery."
Xie Sanbin snorted coldly: "I can choose not to go in, but you have to help me tell you a message."
The housekeeper said gratefully, "Thank you, sir."
Xie Sanbin glanced inside and said in a deep voice: "Go in and tell Liu Wenyao that the treasury is in deficit. The salaries of the Beijing camp cannot be paid this month. The exact time it can be paid depends on when the collected summer grain arrives in the capital!"
The butler blinked and bowed, "Thank you, sir, for waiting. I will report right away."
Upon hearing that the Beijing Camp's pay would be stopped, the Beijing Camp Governor Liu Wenyao could no longer sit still.
He asked someone to open the back door and invited Xie Sanbin in.
After meeting, Xie Sanbin asked directly: "Liu Wenyao, what do you mean?"
Liu Wenyao personally brought a chair to Xie Sanbin and said with a smile, "Master Xie, calm down and sit down to have a cup of tea."
Xie Sanbin frowned and said coldly: "There is no room to sit! The rebels first captured Yangzhou, then Huai'an, and are heading towards Xuzhou. If Xuzhou is lost, Shandong will be in danger. If Shandong is lost, the rebels will enter Zhili and threaten the capital."
"As the governor of the Beijing camp and a noble of the imperial court, you should lead the troops to the battle instead of hiding at home pretending to be injured."
Liu Wenyao pointed to his arm and said, "I am indeed injured."
Xie Sanbin walked closer and took a closer look, and found that Liu Wenyao's left palm was swollen.
He glared and said, "This time we are sending out troops so that you can be the commander-in-chief of the three armies, not the general who will charge into battle. This injury will not affect your leadership!"
Liu Wenyao smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Master Xie didn't understand what I meant."
"What do you mean?"
"I can be a general who charges into battle, but I cannot be the commander-in-chief of an army."
"Why?"
"There are some things I can't say, but Mr. Xie should understand."
Xie Sanbin raised his voice: "I don't understand! Now the affairs of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty are all on my shoulders. I am busy from dawn to midnight every day. I don't have the time or the energy to think about so many things. If you have anything to say, just say it, don't hide it."
Seeing Xie Sanbin's somewhat collapsed look, Liu Wenyao whispered: "If I lead the troops to Xuzhou, does Lord Xie want me to win or lose?"
Xie Sanbin was very surprised by this question. He took a step back and said seriously, "Do I even need to ask this? Of course I hope you win."
"Okay then," Liu Wenyao said in a serious tone, "and then what?"
Xie Sanbin was even more surprised: "What then?"
"What happens after we win the battle of Xuzhou?"
"Of course, we will lead our troops south to attack Nanjing!"
"Okay!" Liu Wenyao nodded. "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in Nanjing. If he dies in the chaos... or commits suicide out of fear of punishment, how can I explain this to His Majesty?"
Xie Sanbin shook his head: "What else do you need to explain if you commit suicide out of fear of punishment?"
"Ah!" Liu Wenyao sighed, "Master Xie, have you forgotten the witchcraft disaster that happened during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han?"
Xie Sanbin shuddered all over and his back began to feel cold.
The Witchcraft Incident occurred in the second year of Zhenghe in the Western Han Dynasty.
Gongsun Jingsheng, the son of Prime Minister Gongsun He at the time, was accused of using witchcraft to curse Emperor Wu of Han and of having an affair with Princess Yangshi.
Gongsun He and his son died in prison, and a number of relatives including Wei Qing's son Wei Kang were implicated.
But this is just the beginning.
Under the order of Emperor Wu of Han, the favorite minister Jiang Chong began to investigate the witchcraft case.
Because Jiang Chong had a grudge against Crown Prince Liu Ju, he joined forces with others to falsely accuse Liu Ju of being the mastermind behind the witchcraft case.
Liu Ju was forced to raise an army and kill Jiang Chong.
However, due to insufficient troops, they were ultimately defeated.
His helpers also died in the chaos.
Crown Prince Liu Ju was left with nowhere to go and was forced to commit suicide.
Afterwards, someone wrote a letter to the emperor to appeal for justice for the prince, and Emperor Wu of Han repented.
So he ordered that all those who plotted to murder the prince and those who opposed the prince should be executed.
As many as 100,000 people died in the Witchcraft and Poisoning Rebellion, which is known in history as the Witchcraft and Poisoning Disaster.
Although the Crown Prince Zhu Cilang of the Ming Dynasty is not the Crown Prince Liu Ju of the Han Dynasty, the current situation is somewhat similar to the Witchcraft and Poisoning Incident.
For Liu Wenyao, he cannot lose the battle.
Because if you lose the battle you will be impeached by all the civil and military officials in the court.
The punishment could be as minor as a salary fine, or as serious as stripping the title, imprisonment, or even death in prison.
At the same time, he couldn't win the battle.
After winning the battle, we have to advance southwards.
When the troops arrived at the gates of Nanjing, problems arose.
What if we find Zhu Cilang dead after we capture the city?
Regardless of the cause of death, Liu Wenyao would be charged with murdering the prince.
When Chongzhen repented one day, his fate was even worse than if he had lost the battle.
Faced with this situation where we can neither lose the battle nor win the battle.
Liu Wenyao could only avoid it by faking an injury.
Although Xie Sanbin is extremely intelligent, he is busy and trapped in a dilemma.
It is inevitable that those who are involved are confused.
After Liu Wenyao's reminder, Xie Sanbin finally realized what was going on.
He was originally thinking that if Liu Wenyao didn't agree, he would discuss it with other people.
But what Liu Wenyao can understand, others can also understand.
In other words, no matter who is found, they will face this problem.
"This is a troublesome matter!" Xie Sanbin muttered to himself.
Liu Wenyao stood by and waited quietly without saying a word.
After waiting for a long time, Xie Sanbin suddenly suggested: "What do you think... let His Royal Highness Prince Ding lead the troops to quell the rebellion?"
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