The pilgrims all ran to the gate of Baiyun Temple and watched them leave. Since the exercise was over, the pilgrims were allowed to leave Baiyun Temple, but some of them were reluctant to leave. They gathered in groups of three or four, some of them talking and chattering.
The blood of these pilgrims was boiling with excitement. As soon as they returned from Baiyun Temple, they spread the news of what had happened that day and exaggerated it.
They said that they had seen with their own eyes today the new emperor training his troops in Baiyun Temple, with the sky full of rosy clouds and flocks of birds coming to congratulate him.
He said that the soldiers of the Three Thousand Battalion were really incompetent. Eight hundred soldiers were no match for the Two Hundred Black Armored Soldiers and were subdued by them in a few moves. He also talked about how wise and powerful the new emperor was, and angrily denounced the generals of the Three Thousand Battalion for drawing salaries without doing anything.
The news spread like wildfire, and the capital was in an uproar over the incident.
Even the cabinet ministers had just heard about the incident at Baiyun Temple. When they arrived at the imperial study, they all looked bewildered, and they roughly guessed in their hearts that there would probably be some "bustle" in the court next.
Gu Jue raised his eyebrows slightly and asked directly, "The 3,000-man battalion can only mobilize more than 1,000 soldiers. Zhuang Maohua, are you aware of this?"
Gu Jue was asking about the Minister of War Zhuang Maohua, but the other elders were also shocked when they heard it.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The Minister of War Zhuang Maohua was sweating profusely and his heart was in knots.
Among the civil servants, the Ministry of War is the government office that has the closest relationship with military generals and the army. They have heard about the issue of soldiers drawing empty salaries.
However, when the former Emperor Gu Lang was in power, he did not care, and with Kang Hongda as the stabilizing force, the Ministry of War wanted to intervene but did not dare to. If they did, it would be a thankless task and they would offend people for nothing. After all, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents.
Zhuang Maohua calmed himself down and answered honestly, "As far as I know, there are a total of 5,600 military personnel in the Three Thousand Battalion." He didn't even dare to look up and look Gu Jue in the eye.
With such a huge gap, the Ministry of War cannot escape the blame for dereliction of duty. It all depends on whether the new emperor intends to punish the Ministry of War.
Gu Jue said calmly: "Three or four out of ten survive?"
“……”Zhuang Maohua was speechless.
The problem of soldiers drawing empty salaries has actually existed in every dynasty, but it is too appalling when it reaches the level of only three or four out of ten.
Zhuang Maohua had always known that the army was idle, but he had no idea it had reached this point.
It can be speculated that if the Three Thousand Battalions is like this, the other two of the three major battalions of the Imperial Guards are not much better, and the guards in various states are probably following suit. How big is the "hole" hidden in the entire Da Qi?
Just thinking about it made Zhuang Maohua feel terrified.
The other ministers were also silent. They could roughly guess in their hearts that since the new emperor had set this precedent, he was probably planning to crack down on the problem of "eating empty salaries". They didn't know how many people would lose their jobs, be imprisoned, exiled, or have their homes confiscated because of this.
After a brief silence, Gu Jue's cold voice resounded in the air again: "If this is not an exercise, but I am really in danger in Baiyun Temple, can I still rely on Da Qi's imperial guards?!"
"If Nanhao's army were to march north to attack Daqi, and I had sent 100,000 men south to support them, but only 30,000 men actually arrived, what do you think would be the outcome of this battle?"
"Can our Great Qi army defeat three enemies alone?!"
Gu Jue's voice was neither high nor sharp, but it was deafening to everyone in the imperial study.
Zhuang Maohua was so embarrassed that he couldn't even lift his head. The other elders were also ashamed. Gu Jue hadn't said a single harsh word, but they felt like they were being publicly executed.
As the old saying goes, if the nest is destroyed, no eggs will remain intact.
The problem of ghost employees is not only the responsibility of the Ministry of War, but other cabinet ministers are also not immune to it.
The atmosphere became increasingly solemn and oppressive, and the air around seemed to be solidifying.
Gu Jue didn't need them to say any lies about shame or guilt, and directly ordered: "Zhuang Maohua, ask the Ministry of War to cooperate with Su Mubai to count the troops in each state's garrisons from bottom to top. I want to see the results within half a month." He was giving orders and did not give anyone room for negotiation.
At this moment, Zhuang Maohua could not say anything else except "I obey your command."
Then, Gu Jue said, "Also, the Ministry of War should immediately draft a document for recruiting soldiers for my review."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhuang Maohua bowed again to accept the order, his heart heavy.
Since ancient times, there is no common people who are not afraid of war. Joining the army means a chance of death. Which family would be willing to send a good young man to join the army?
To put it bluntly, people like Xue Fengyan and Tang Yuchu who were able to be promoted from civilians to generals had all fought their way through countless wars. The probability of them being able to do so was one in ten thousand, no, even one in a hundred thousand.
Once this conscription order is issued, it is bound to cause a stir in Da Qi.
The cabinet elders exchanged glances with each other. The Minister of Revenue frowned and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, you have just ascended the throne. If you recruit soldiers now, I am afraid it will attract some criticism and accusations of your warmongering. Please be cautious, Your Majesty."
This was one reason. He was also worried that once soldiers were recruited, the new emperor would ask their Ministry of Revenue for money.
Yang Xuanshan, the Minister of Rites, gave the Minister of Revenue a look that was almost pitying. Was the new emperor so easily persuaded?! The answer was obvious.
Gu Jue leaned back in his chair with a leisurely look, rubbing his right thumb lightly on the armrest twice. Without anger or laughter, he asked the Minister of Revenue two questions: "Are you going to fill in the missing soldiers?"
"If Nanhao's army attacks, how will you mobilize your troops to respond?"
Minister of Revenue: “…”
The Minister of Revenue was a civil servant and had no idea about mobilizing troops, so he immediately shut his mouth and stopped talking.
Anyway, the new emperor hasn’t asked the Ministry of Revenue for money yet, so we’ll talk about it later.
The Minister of Revenue was rejected by the new emperor, and Prime Minister Zhang, Yang Xuanshan and the Minister of Works no longer expressed any objections.
The new emperor's character was much stronger and more tenacious than that of his father, Emperor Renzong, and he was always decisive.
After a cup of tea, the cabinet elders surrounded Prime Minister Zhang and walked out of the imperial study.
The sky outside is still gloomy and it hasn't started raining yet.
The weather was apparently still quite cool, but everyone was sweating. Zhuang Maohua in particular couldn't help but wipe the sweat off his face with his sleeves, feeling as if he had almost lost half his life.
In the past, the late Emperor Gu Lang's style of doing things was relatively gentle. However, half a year before his death, he took elixirs, which caused the poison in his heart and made his temper more and more violent.
Although he was irritable, Gu Lang was not a particularly strong monarch in political affairs.
Over the years, they have become accustomed to the style of the late emperor, and it has been a long time since they have felt this kind of thunder-like deterrent power that is awe-inspiring without any anger.
The Minister of Works, who was walking at the end, walked down the white marble steps and couldn't help shaking his head and whispered, "The way the Three Thousand Battalion eats is too ugly."
Zhang Shoufu and Zhuang Maohua looked at the Minister of Industry with strange eyes, and then they looked at each other tacitly. They both realized that this exercise was a trap set by the new emperor.
The new emperor should have discovered the problem of ghost soldiers in the army before he ascended the throne. In all likelihood, he also asked his old subordinates in the palace to carefully investigate the three major camps of the imperial guards and find out the actual number of people in each camp.
Knowing that there was corruption in the army, the new emperor certainly would not ignore it and allow these corrupt officials to grow.
So, the new emperor took action.
If you don’t make a move, it’s fine. But when you do, it’s amazing.
Yang Xuanshan patted Zhuang Maohua's shoulder sympathetically and sighed, "Brother Zhuang, you will be busy from now on."
Zhuang Maohua: “…”
Zhuang Maohua was not comforted at all by the other party, he could only think positively and be at ease.
The new emperor's approach this time was considered mild.
He could also directly order the Ministry of War to investigate the personnel situation of the Imperial Guards and even the national garrisons after ascending the throne. However, doing so would likely cause a certain backlash in the army and make the soldiers in the army suspect that the new emperor wanted to settle scores later and use this as an excuse to purge all the old generals left by the previous emperor.
As the saying goes, the lips and teeth are cold. Changes in the army will also cause panic among civil officials, which is not conducive to the stability of the court.
Given the new emperor's strong style, he should not be afraid of opposition in the court, but a lot of trouble will arise out of nowhere. In this way, not only will the new emperor waste time arguing with court officials repeatedly, but even the Minister of War himself will find it much more difficult to do this job.
Like now, the new emperor used the military exercise as a pretext and singled out three thousand battalions for attack, directly tearing open this "bloody wound" and exposing the problem of the Da Qi army's empty pay to the court and the people.
Now everyone in the world knows that the new emperor wanted to mobilize troops but was unable to do so because of the problem of "ghost soldiers".
This is official corruption, their intention is to empty the national treasury and leave Da Qi with no soldiers available.
This is a serious problem.
Now the officials are watching, the scholars are watching, and the people are watching too.
Do you want to check? Of course you have to.
Not only do they need to conduct a thorough investigation, but they also need to recruit soldiers. This way, the new emperor will be in a righteous position, and their Ministry of War will have less trouble doing things.
Yang Xuanshan sighed again: "Our emperor's methods are really extraordinary."
It was unusual, but Zhuang Maohua was still upset. He felt that Yang Xuanshan was simply talking without any pain in his waist. He sighed tiredly, "I will definitely have to sleep in the government office for the next month."
All the ministers had left the Qianqing Palace, but the atmosphere in the imperial study was still very solemn.
Two soldiers in black armor stood stiffly on the other side of the imperial desk, with their heads lowered obediently. They could feel Gu Jue's eyes scanning back and forth over them.
The two soldiers felt as uncomfortable as the ministers just now.
Then, one of the soldiers, who was about thirty years old and had a square face, broke the silence first, clasped his fists and admitted his fault, saying, "I was wrong."
Jingfeng personally brought in a cup of freshly brewed tea and glanced at the two soldiers.
Jingfeng deeply agreed with this. As soldiers of the Black Armor Army, each of them was an elite force, but they made a fuss over such a small commotion and ignored their duties. Of course, they were wrong.
Gu Jue picked up the pastel enamel teacup and slowly used the tea lid to brush away the tea leaves floating on the tea soup. His movements were graceful and slow, and he did not speak.
The young general next to the square-faced soldier knelt down on the ground and said, "It's my fault. I thought there were really bandits surrounding the temple, so I went to stop the pilgrims from leaving the temple...that's why I..." That's why I accidentally let Chu Qianhuang escape from the wing room.
No matter what the reason was, it was their duty to guard Chu Qianhuang. They should have stayed with her all the time, and at least one person should have been left to guard the room. Otherwise, Chu Qianhuang would not have escaped from the room, let alone been stabbed.
This is a serious dereliction of duty and there is no excuse for it.
Gu Jue took a sip of hot tea elegantly and said calmly, "Go down and accept your punishment."
The Xuanjia Army has its own military rules. In the final analysis, they were in the capital and felt that Chu Qianhuang could not escape, which led to their dereliction of duty today. Rewards for merit and punishments for faults are the way the Xuanjia Army governs the army.
The young general quickly clasped his fists and said, "I am willing to accept the punishment."
The square-faced soldier regretted it deeply. He also knew that this subordinate was young and hot-tempered. He should have found someone with a calm personality to take charge of this task. This kid's temper still needs to be tempered.
The two soldiers retreated quickly. Just as they left, they heard a "meow" and a black cat with four snow-white paws came in with its tail raised and elegant steps, striding with its head held high and looking very proud.
After coming in, it turned around and barked again towards the back, as if urging something.
Gu Jue's eyebrows moved, and his originally cold face suddenly seemed to melt like the first snow. The next moment, the little girl he had been thinking about walked in gracefully with a sweet smile.
Shen Qianchen walked over and sat down opposite Gu Jue, facing him across the table. She didn't hesitate and took two sips of his tea. Then she heard the cat meow twice again.
Shen Qianchen glanced at the cat and said to Gu Jue with a smile: "Our Yueying's ability is gradually improving. She just stole a live fish from the imperial kitchen as a gift to me."
Thinking of the fish that was out of water and was thrown to the ground by the cat, flapping its tail, Shen Qianchen found it funny. He smiled with a faint dimple and his beautiful eyes were full of longing.
To be honest, when Lieutenant General Li You saw Gu Jue in Baiyun Temple, his expression was similar to that of the fish. Since he had been fished out of the water, no matter how much he jumped, it was all in vain.
Gu Jue smiled when he saw her smile, his eyes lingering on her face with lust, and said, "So you deserve a reward!"
Yueying, who was squatting nearby, seemed to understand and meowed.
"You deserve the reward." Shen Qianchen tilted his little face and smiled brightly, his eyebrows and eyes curved into soft and sweet arcs.
There was a profound meaning hidden in her words that only she knew.
Yueying deserves to be appreciated for the dried fish, and Gu Jue deserves to be appreciated as well.
Shen Qianchen waved at Gu Jue and smiled with a relaxed look.
Gu Jue thought she was going to whisper something, so he moved his face closer. At the same time, Shen Qianchen slightly stood up from his chair, raised his chin slightly, and moved his face closer to him, wanting to kiss the corner of his lips.
Who would have thought that when the green lotus-colored silk ribbon at her temple brushed across Gu Jue's neck, he felt a little itchy. He picked up the silk ribbon casually, and his handsome face turned to the side.
Then, her plump cherry lips pressed firmly against his thin lips, and their lips touched each other.
There was a sudden "boom" in Shen Qianchen's head, and all the blood in his body rushed up to his cheeks, and both cheeks turned bright red.
This kiss was actually as light as a feather, as soft as clouds, and fleeting.
Shen Qianchen quickly retreated.
On the other side, Gu Jue had frozen, motionless, and even forgot to breathe.
When she stepped back, his eyes were still following her, resting on her rosy lips. Her lips were as red as her cheeks. Her eyes were moving, and there was a rare shyness and coquettishness in her expression.
Shen Qianchen's heart was beating very fast, and his breathing became a little rapid.
When she noticed that Gu Jue was rarely in a daze, her mood suddenly became very happy. She felt a little embarrassed, but also wanted to rub against him.
She felt a little thirsty and wanted to drink some water, but then she saw Gu Jue hooking his finger at her and saying in a soft and charming voice, "Come here."
His narrow eyes were half-closed, with undercurrents surging in them, bright and hot.
Shen Qianchen's cheeks began to feel hot again, and his heartbeat, which had finally stabilized, began to beat out of control again. He felt that the Gu Jue in front of him was really different from usual.
How to say it, it's like a peacock spreading its tail and a peony blooming.
At this moment, the door curtain at the back was lifted up, and the wind blew in again, breaking the charming atmosphere in the room.
Jingfeng initially thought that he had disturbed something, but when he saw the two of them sitting across the desk, he thought he was overthinking it and reported in a serious tone, "Empress, Miss Chu has woken up."
After Gu Jue and Shen Qianchen left Baiyun Temple in the afternoon, someone caught up with them from behind and reported that Chu Qianhuang was stabbed in the abdomen with a dagger by Aunt Jiang. Not only Chu Qianhuang, but also Madam Chu was pushed to the ground by Aunt Jiang and was almost injured. Aunt Jiang had already been captured.
Shen Qianchen had the injured Chu Qianhuang brought into the palace and placed in Jingren Palace.
Chu Qianhuang was stabbed by Aunt Jiang and lost too much blood and was seriously injured. It was Shen Qianchen who rescued her. With her previous experience in treating Gu Jue and Gu Nanjin, her treatment of Chu Qianhuang this time went smoothly.
Before leaving Jingren Palace, she told people to come and report to her when Chu Qianhuang woke up.
"..." Jingfeng always felt that Gu Jue seemed to be glaring at him, and couldn't help but wonder if he was being disliked.
In just two breaths, Shen Qianchen's cheeks cooled down and he regained his calm.
She silently calculated the time and felt that the effect of Ma Fei San was almost over.
She stood up and said lightly, "Jiuxia, I'll go see her."
Without waiting for Gu Jue to answer, she ran away like a gust of wind, leaving only the Xiang Fei curtain swaying in the air.
Gu Jue looked at the Xiang Fei curtain with a picture of butterflies playing with peonies, a tender smile floating between his eyebrows. He raised his hand and lightly touched his thin lips, his eyes flickering, as if he was recalling something.
The middle finger of his right hand trembled twice...
After Shen Qianchen came out of the imperial study, he went directly to Jingren Palace.
The imperial physician who stayed at Jingren Palace saw Shen Qianchen coming and hurried forward to greet him, reporting Chu Qianhuang's condition: "Empress, Miss Chu just woke up. She is still very weak due to excessive blood loss. She has already taken one dose of the prescription you prescribed. I also took her pulse and it was a wiry pulse. She also has qi stagnation and blood stasis, and she is restless."
Facing a medical expert like Shen Qianchen, the imperial physician put it very concisely. The so-called "Pi pulse" was usually caused by heavy bleeding that resulted in the yin blood being unable to maintain the yang energy.
Shen Qianchen nodded slightly and walked towards the inner room. Chu Qianhuang was her patient now, so she had to take Chu Qianhuang's pulse in person.
There was a faint smell of medicine in the inner room. As soon as I entered the room, I could see an empty bowl on the coffee table.
A palace maid with an oval face was carefully helping Chu Qianhuang up from the couch and letting her sit with her back against a large pillow.
It should be the movement of standing up that affected the wound on his abdomen. Chu Qianhuang frowned slightly, and his eyelashes trembled twice.
Her long black hair fell down like a waterfall. She was wearing a white shirt with a small vertical collar. Her cheeks were pale without a trace of blood, as white as snow.
The light beside the bed cast a soft glow on her skin, making her temperament look gentle, peaceful, yet delicate.
Shen Qianchen stopped and looked at Chu Qianhuang from two meters away. She didn't know why, but she always felt that there seemed to be something different about Chu Qianhuang, but she couldn't tell what was different about her.
Shen Qianchen was stunned, looking at Chu Qianhuang quietly.
The maid was the first to sense something. She turned around and saw Shen Qianchen. She knelt down and saluted with fear and trepidation: "Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen."
Almost at the same time, Chu Qianhuang also turned her head and looked at Shen Qianchen following the palace maid's gaze.
On her pale oval face, her willow-shaped eyes were as black as ink, and her pupils were like the surface of a windless lake, clear, peaceful, and calm.
She seemed a little surprised, blinked slowly, and then smiled softly: "Second sister."
The smile spread from the corners of her pale lips, extended to the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, and then to the bottom of her eyes, just like a spring breeze gently blowing across the willow branches on the shore, and each willow branch created ripples on the lake.
My fever started to rise to 39.7 last Friday, and then I had a fever every day, over 38 degrees every day, my brain was fuzzy, and it took me 3 or 4 hours to write 1,000 words. Today I am finally alive!!
The colds have been quite severe recently, so you guys should take good care of your health.
(End of this chapter)