The Vice Minister of War cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards Lu Yanzheng's tent, saying, "These words were spoken by General Lu himself, so they are undoubtedly true. However, since you have all made your decisions, you must follow the General's lead and must not harbor any disloyalty!"
"We swear to follow the Great General to the death!" Upon hearing this, everyone knelt down and kowtowed towards Lu Yanzheng's tent.
The Vice Minister of War was very satisfied with this. He didn't want the people he brought to cause any trouble, or he would be embarrassed.
...
Lu Yanzheng successfully incorporated the nearly 30,000 troops brought by the Marquis of Jingyang. The imperial court did not learn of this until three days later.
"The Marquis of Jingyang died in battle? The Vice Minister of War defected on the battlefield? Thirty thousand men voluntarily surrendered to Lu Yanzheng?" Emperor Jingqing felt a chill in his heart without saying a word.
He originally thought that with an old general like the Marquis of Jingyang taking the lead, even if he couldn't successfully regain military power, he could at least stand on equal footing with Lu Yanzheng and buy more time for the court.
But to his utter surprise, the moment the two sides met, Lu Yanzheng dared to kill the Marquis of Jingyang!
That would have been bad enough, but after the Marquis of Jingyang died tragically, the Vice Minister of War not only failed to immediately reorganize the military affairs, but instead defected on the spot and surrendered!
"Has the imperial court been neglecting the food and drink of those 30,000 men? How could they possibly side with Lu Yanzheng like this!" Emperor Jingqing roared in fury.
The people below were silent, and the Minister of War lowered his eyes, a hint of sarcasm on his lips.
Isn't the imperial court already suffering losses because of those tens of thousands of troops? In recent years, with natural disasters and man-made calamities, the army has been owing soldiers more than two years' worth of pay, and many families are struggling to make ends meet.
As far as he knew, because the imperial court was not paying military salaries, many veteran soldiers' wives were threatening divorce or running back to their parents' homes.
He guessed that this was one of the reasons why 30,000 people had come to join Lu Yanzheng. He was a grown man, and he didn't have to worry about anything.
When Emperor Jingqing uttered his next sentence, the Minister of War's lips curled into a sneer.
"These traitors must be severely punished! Their families—all the men—must be arrested and each given fifty strokes of the cane! After that, they must be thrown into the nearest mine, where each of them must extract over a thousand catties of ore before they are allowed to leave! All the women must be sent to the Imperial Textile Bureau to make clothes for the soldiers free of charge!"
With so many people, their families must number even more. Arresting them is impractical; it's better to let them do something useful.
Emperor Jingqing thought the punishment was quite severe, but the Vice Minister of Revenue stepped forward tremblingly and said, "Your Majesty, this old minister has investigated. Most of those 30,000 people no longer have families, and some have severed ties with their families. They are still on record with the government. Your punishment..."
The implication is that the punishment is not being effectively implemented.
"What?" Emperor Jingqing's breath hitched. "They're all all alone?"
The Vice Minister of Revenue nodded reluctantly, "Yes."
The Emperor has been in the palace for too long and is completely unaware of the hardships outside. Does he think that serving the court is a good job? No, even those who beg outside would think twice before joining the army!
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingqing flew into a rage, but his anger did not solve the problem. He glanced at the people in the Golden Palace and his gaze settled on the last person.
"Prince Yong, tell me, given the current situation, what should the court do?" Emperor Jingqing suppressed his rage and tried his best to calm himself down.
When Prince Yong was called out, he quickly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, I am terrified. Lu Yanzheng commands a large army and possesses such powerful gunpowder weapons. I believe that the court should remain unchanged in the face of all changes."
"Oh? How do you mean to remain unchanged in the face of all changes?" Emperor Jingqing asked authoritatively.
Prince Yong quoted Qingfeng's words verbatim: "Yuehe is a natural barrier that isolates Jinzhou and the capital from other parties. Even if Lu Yanzheng wanted to rebel, he would need to spend a lot of time and money to train the navy. Meanwhile, the court can use this time to strengthen the training of officials and soldiers in various places and have the people hoard grain and hand it over to the national treasury. After a period of time, we may be able to launch a counterattack against Lu Yanzheng!"
This sounds plausible, but upon closer inspection, it seems problematic. However, for Emperor Jingqing, it's already good enough that someone is willing to step forward and offer advice.
"Look at you all, in this vast court, only Prince Yong can share my burdens! Am I just feeding you all for free?" Emperor Jingqing turned his attention to the others.
The people in the main hall were all kneeling on the ground, which gave Emperor Jingqing a headache. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, I'll leave this matter to Prince Yong. No matter what you do, I'll only care about the result."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Prince Yong was overjoyed. Mr. Qingfeng was right after all! The Emperor's mind was not on politics at all. He would trust anyone who could give him advice!
You have to understand that he was forced to surrender to the court. After all, who would want someone else to sit on their head when they could be emperor themselves?
But at that time, Lu Yanzheng's army was chasing him from behind, and the imperial army and the natural barrier of the Yue River were in front of him. He had no choice but to surrender.
He thought he would have to keep a low profile in the imperial court from now on, but after listening to Mr. Qingfeng's words, things took a dramatic turn for the better.
...
It was seven days later when Lu Yanzheng's informants in the court brought the news.
Yang Meng, carrying the newly drawn map of Qiongzhou, came in and saw Lu Yanzheng smiling. "General, is there some good news?"
Since the five brothers joined the army with the general, each of them has performed their duties with great skill and gotten along very well with everyone in the army.
"It's not exactly a cause for celebration," Lu Yanzheng put down the secret report in his hand and looked at Yang Meng, asking, "Is the map ready?"
Yang Meng nodded happily, "Yes, General. These days I have led my men to travel all over Qiongzhou, and we have also visited many places that no one has ever set foot in. Only then have I drawn this map of Qiongzhou. Please take a look, General."
He handed over the map, and Lu Yanzheng looked it over carefully. He nodded in satisfaction and said, "Thank you for your hard work. With this map, the training of the Northwest Army will be more guaranteed in the future."
"It's not hard work at all," Yang Meng waved his hand. "It's my blessing to be able to work for the general and everyone."
Lu Yanzheng asked him a few more questions and then sent him away.
The five Yang brothers are indeed all capable people. If he makes good use of them, he can save a lot of energy in the future.
Jiang Qinyu also learned through Shunfeng Tower that the Marquis of Jingyang had been killed in an explosion, and that the court had listened to Prince Yong's words and had not made any response.
“Just impotent rage,” Jiang Qinyu smiled, putting the news aside. “Even if the court wants to do something, it’s useless.”
They haven't even found and solved the most fundamental problem, yet they're talking about dealing with Lu Yanzheng?
It's ridiculous that they don't prioritize the lives of ordinary people, yet they expect them to stockpile grain for the imperial court.
"Yunzhu," Jiang Qinyu thought for a moment and then called out, "spread the word that we are willing to buy grain at a high price."
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