Emperor Yuanzong heard that the Zhenbei Army was unwilling to come to the rescue, which led to the fall of Pingliang Fort to this day.
He was indeed furious and wanted to issue an edict to reprimand Zhao Yanjiao for dereliction of duty.
This time, his decree was not carried out and was rejected by Xu Zheyuan, the Minister of War, in the imperial court.
He was a veteran minister who assisted the emperor in ascending the throne. He was about to retire from officialdom and rarely attended court.
But these veteran officials had no choice but to attend today's grand court assembly.
Things are different now than they were five years ago.
The last massacre in Suijin Town involved thousands of people, and public opinion was divided, with no one daring to speak up for the Zhenbei Army.
This time, however, Tang Ying accused the Zhenbei Army of being slow to respond.
After all, Pingliang Fort was lost from Xuanwei Army, and they should bear the main responsibility.
The Zhenbei Army's rescue efforts were ineffective; if the Emperor wanted to punish Tang Ying, he would first need to imprison him.
Changing generals on the eve of battle has always been considered a major taboo in military strategy, which is obviously not a good thing, and the emperor would not be willing to do so.
While raising his objections, Xu Zheyuan also handed over a note from the Zhenbei Army demanding payment of military funds.
Over five years, the Ministry of Revenue owed 800,000 taels of silver in military pay, which happened to be the money for the Grand Princess to build the shrine for cleansing.
In recent years, the Northwest has been stable, but the central government feels that the Zhenbei Army is spending too much money.
In the memorials submitted to the Ministry of War, there were requests every now and then for the Zhenbei Army to reduce its military expenditure.
As a result, the Ministry of War not only transferred the crossbows and arrows that should have been sent to the Northwest to the Southeast Navy, but also only allocated 20,000 sets of thick winter coats and cotton-padded clothing.
Xu Zheyuan spoke passionately in the court: "How can we fight a war without money? Are we going to make those soldiers run around naked and empty-handed in the freezing cold?"
The salaries of the Zhenbei Army were repeatedly delayed by the Ministry of Revenue, and no one paid any attention to them.
Moreover, the Zhenbei Army's Suijin Guard has just distinguished itself in battle.
The same small garrison, one of which was captured and difficult to conquer, was not punished.
One killed a tribal chief and received dozens of heads, but received no reward.
Now that those who should be punished haven't been punished, and those who should be rewarded haven't been rewarded, how can other generals accept this?
In a normal court assembly, the emperor could simply say a few words and leave, but today there were so many people that it was impossible for them to leave.
The courtiers below were in an uproar. Emperor Yuanzong, who was over fifty years old, looked grim, his forehead covered in cold sweat, and he sat motionless.
Having held power for so many years, he is no longer the weak emperor he was when he first ascended the throne.
Back then, Emperor Yuanzong was just an unfavored prince and had no chance of seizing the throne.
Fortunately, with his elder sister offering advice and his general Zhao Yanjiao leading the charge, he was able to gradually reach the top.
To express his gratitude, he made Zhao Yanjiao's younger sister, Consort Yan, empress and named the prince she gave birth to as crown prince.
His elder sister had rendered meritorious service in supporting the emperor, and no matter how extravagant she was, he would always grant her every request.
However, the Empress was taciturn and reserved, and although she was dignified, she was far less beautiful than the other concubines in the palace.
The Crown Prince is of good character, but he is rigid and lacks the steady and understanding nature of the First Prince, as well as the liveliness and agility of some of the younger princes.
Even though the Grand Tutor repeatedly advised that the Crown Prince was gentle and kind by nature and quite virtuous, and that even if he made no great achievements or mistakes in the future, he would still be a good ruler to safeguard the country.
He still didn't like it.
People in the court said that he was too strict with the crown prince, and would scold and berate him for the slightest mistake.
No one knows what's in their heart.
Every time I see those two faces, I am reminded of Zhao Yanjiao, who behaved so rudely in front of me.
More than twenty years have passed, but the scene of Zhao Yanjiao forcing him to make Zhao Yanzhu his empress under the pretext of the border crisis is still vivid in his mind.
This was an utter disgrace for an emperor.
Even though the Zhenbei Army is now struggling to make ends meet and is trying its best to conceal its true nature.
As long as Zhao Yanjiao does not relinquish her military power and the empress is not deposed, Emperor Yuanzong will find it difficult to resolve this inner conflict.
However, ancestral laws stipulate that an empress cannot be deposed without fault, much less the crown prince.
Besides Zhao Yanjiao, there were other meritorious officials in the court who supported the succession struggle.
If Zhao Yanjiao suffers a bad end, it will likely cause a great upheaval in the court, as the saying goes, "When the rabbit dies, the fox grieves."
For example, Xu Zheyuan, the Minister of War, was the one who led the trouble at this time.
They finally managed to obtain a portion of Zhao Yanjiao's military power through the Xuanwei Army, and yet they still made such a huge mistake.
Now that two garrisons have been attacked and the border is unstable, and some people in the court are speaking up for Zhao Yanjiao, Emperor Yuanzong has no choice but to suppress the agonizing pain in his heart and the metallic taste in his throat.
Such matters cannot be resolved at a grand assembly; they inevitably involve repeated arguments and debates.
Half a month later, Emperor Yuanzong was also dizzy from the noise. The Ministry of War finally received an imperial edict: Tang Ying was ordered to atone for his crimes by quickly subduing Pingliang Fort.
The Ministry of Revenue allocated 200,000 taels of silver to the Zhenbei Army, along with 10,000 sets of winter clothing, to assist the Xuanwei Army and the government in annihilating the Di barbarians and suppressing bandits.
This is still just a piece of paper; the Ministry of Revenue still needs to allocate funds and supplies before distributing them to Yunzhou.
Even at the fastest possible pace, the Zhenbei Army would likely receive 10,000 sets of winter clothing, or perhaps even fewer, during the sunny month of March.
Fortunately, the request for the Zhenbei Army to cooperate with Tang Ying of the Xuanwei Army to subdue Pingliang Fort only required a single sentence and did not need to be delayed. The Ministry of War's coordination order was quickly transmitted to Hecheng.
Naturally, a message was sent to the Suijin Guard in the shortest possible time: the imperial reward would not be received for the time being, but the supplies and rewards from the Zhenbei Army had been delivered to the garrison.
At this time, the town of Broken Gold had already become a completely different place.
Just after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Chun Tao, a young woman from the town, approached Song Liyun to inquire about work. Her family was all idle, and she was happy to earn a few coins.
Song Liyun told her to wait for news at Boss Mu's shop.
After the New Year, Boss Mu returned to Suijin Town and angrily berated Jin Sanzhong and others for a long time upon learning that they were the spies from back then.
He still wanted to keep his shop open in Suijin Town. After discussing it with Song Liyun, they decided to hand over the business of selling acorn tofu to the Respect for the Elderly Hall.
Now Song Liyun is going to distribute the work to each household in the town.
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