Li Banghua smiled slightly: "It doesn't matter if it's a conspiracy or an open conspiracy. Huang Degong did this to drag the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works into it. He is not afraid of others sharing the credit, but he is afraid that the court will punish him for abandoning the city."
In the Ming Dynasty, it was a capital crime for a military general to abandon a city and flee.
However, there is a lot of room for maneuver in actual implementation, and the emperor will make a comprehensive assessment based on the performance and loyalty of the generals.
Generally speaking, as long as you resist desperately, there is a high probability that you will not be punished.
Another prerequisite is that there is someone in the court who speaks for him.
"Lord Li, at the morning court tomorrow, should we help Huang Degong to gain credit or impeach him?" Qiu Yu asked cautiously.
He was the youngest among all the people in the cabinet, and it was purely a coincidence that he became the Minister of Personnel.
Whether he can keep the position or not has no say on his part; that depends on the prime minister and the emperor.
The emperor sat high in the temple, and he had no way to curry favor with him. All he could do was to get close to the chief minister of the cabinet.
Not only he thought so, most of the officials in the court thought so.
Li Banghua thought for a moment and said, "Everyone should do his job. Those who should take credit should take credit, and those who should be impeached should be impeached. There should not be only one voice in the court."
"If there is only one voice, then it must be a lie. You and I understand this, and so does Your Majesty."
"Thank you for your teachings, Lord Li!" Qiu Yu became more and more determined to get closer to Li Banghua.
"Lord Li, the newspaper also reported that Huang Degong captured Liu Fangliang alive. Please tell the court how to deal with him!"
"Your Majesty should have read the contents of the Tangbao. Has there been no news from the palace?"
"No, the only news in the palace is that His Majesty asked the King of Zhao and the King of Zhou to seek refuge in Beijing."
Li Banghua frowned.
The kings of Zhao and Zhou were still young, so sending them to Beijing at the same time seemed to be a way of caring for the princes. In fact, the Ming emperor was very likely to take action against the princes who only ate and did not work.
What the emperor does has nothing to do with these ministers.
Because this is the emperor's private matter.
Li Banghua looked out the door and said, "We have no right to interfere in the affairs of the vassal kings. As for Liu Fangliang...it's getting late, so we'll discuss this matter at court tomorrow morning."
The next morning, all the ministers stood in the Huangji Hall.
Li Banghua coughed lightly and stood up: "Your Majesty, Damingfutang News."
Then he read the contents of the newspaper word for word, and then looked at everyone.
The officials in the court were all a little surprised.
Officials from the Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Works began to discuss in private.
"What does Huang Degong's report mean?"
"Yes, it's a pity that we didn't win or lose. If we lost, we would probably be convicted."
"This man is too vicious. Don't panic, I will take the lead in impeaching him later."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Although Huang Degong's newspaper seems to be trying to apportion the blame, he has also given up the credit."
"That makes sense, but not much. Merits are all false, and money is real. Huang Degong can get a reward for his head, but what can we get? A compliment?"
"Not necessarily. The performance bonus for June hasn't been paid out yet. With this achievement, our three yamen will definitely receive some performance bonuses."
"It's performance silver. Losing a city is a serious crime. Wait for your Majesty to punish you!!"
"quiet!"
Seeing that the voices of officials from the Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Works were getting louder and louder, Wang Chengen spoke out to stop them.
"Huang Degong lost cities and territories, and his guilt is severe. Your Majesty, please punish him!" Shi Bangyao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, was the first to stand up and impeach.
To be fair, he did not want to impeach Huang Degong.
Huang Degong suppressed Zhang Xianzhong, fought Dorgon, confronted Duoduo, and attacked Li Zicheng.
Looking at all the military generals in the Ming Dynasty, how many could do what he did?
But.
Shi Bangyao was the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and his duty was to impeach officials.
It is a fact that Huang Degong lost Daming Prefecture. If he is not impeached at this time, he will be suspected of forming a clique for personal gain.
By then, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate should also be replaced.
"I second the motion!" Several censors from the Censorate stood up and echoed.
"I second this proposal!"
Seven or eight officials from the Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Works stood up at the same time and expressed their attitudes.
Chen Biqian, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, said, "Your Majesty, in order to escape the blame for the loss of cities and land, Huang Degong implicated the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Works in the Tangbao, and tried to get us to help him speak well in the court."
"His heart is worthy of death!"
"He deserves to be killed!" Three or four officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War spoke at the same time.
"Everyone!"
Vice Minister of War Wang Jiayan stood up in front of everyone.
He glanced around with a smile on his face and reminded, "Whether this battle is won or lost has not yet been concluded. You are all in a hurry to draw a clear line between yourself and Huang Degong. Aren't you afraid of blocking out the credit as well?"
"This..." Several officials began to wonder in their hearts.
"We just need to do our best to serve the court. Victory or defeat is the business of the generals. What does it have to do with us?" someone retorted.
Wang Jiayan shook his head: "How is it unrelated? The Ministry of War recruits soldiers and trains them, distributes weapons and armor, the Ministry of Revenue is responsible for money and food, and the Ministry of Works manufactures weapons and armor. If any one of these links goes wrong, the generals leading the troops in the front will be in trouble."
"At best, the battle will go badly, and at worst, the soldiers will be defeated and killed. Isn't Pingyuan Bosun Chuanting a bloody reality?"
When Sun Chuanting was mentioned, the court fell silent.
Why did Sun Chuanting lose?
In fact, this question is a bit redundant. We should ask how Sun Chuanting can remain undefeated!
He had no money or food, no soldiers, and no weapons or armor!
You have to figure out everything by yourself!
If one person does the work of three government offices, even the king of heaven cannot win!
Seeing that no one answered him, Wang Jiayan sneered and added: "Everyone, the six ministries are a whole. They are not only responsible to His Majesty, but also to the officials below!"
Chongzhen sat on the dragon throne with a calm face.
This is the current situation of the Ming Dynasty court.
Everyone did what seemed to be the right thing and was extremely responsible to the emperor.
But if you look closely, some people's jobs are entirely for the purpose of satisfying the emperor.
They used all kinds of voices and actions to try to tell the emperor: Your Majesty, please see, I am only doing my job, I am not lazy and I am not forming a clique for personal gain.
Chongzhen stood up and took two steps forward, saying in front of all the civil and military officials in the court: "Jingnan Bo Huang Degong is deeply loved by me. He not only rescued the two kings of Zhao and Zhou, but also killed more than 10,000 enemies and captured Liu Fangliang alive."
"Your Majesty, Huang Degong's loss of cities and territory is a serious crime. Please order a punishment! Even if you don't punish him, you can't reward him; otherwise, other generals will follow suit."
Just when Chongzhen was about to give a characterization of this war, Song Quan, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, stood up.
Then, Wang Hongzuo, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, bowed and saluted: "I second the motion!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
