There are two memorials on the imperial case of Emperor Zhao Gou. One of them was submitted to the Privy Council. It was reported that Chen Qing, a martial arts student, led an army to annihilate the bandit Zhang Kui and had Zhang Kui's head. The Privy Council recommended that Chen Qing be promoted to Xiezhonglang.
All generals under his command were promoted to one level and presented with commendations and rewards.
Another memorial was that Yushitai impeached Chen Qing, a martial arts student, accusing him of being cruel and unjust, killing surrendered soldiers, and dividing the spoils of war without the consent of the court. He asked the Ministry of War to record him as a major demerit and demote him.
Both memorials were aimed at the same person, and both had instructions from important ministers. In the memorial to the Privy Council, Li Hui, an acquaintance of the Privy Council, praised him highly, pointing out that Chen Qing led a rabble to quell the rebellion and achieved great success.
Victory is extremely difficult.
On the contrary, in the impeachment memorial of Yushitai, Zhizheng Fan Zongyin also made an annotation, severely criticizing this unethical behavior of killing and surrendering soldiers, and accused this kind of killing of prisoners and the cruelty of the Jurchens, and asked the court to kill them to serve as a warning to hundreds of people.
, this behavior can no longer be allowed to occur.
Logically speaking, such trivial matters concerning low-level officers should not appear in the emperor's imperial memorials. They were directly approved and dealt with by the prime minister. Now that they were actually reported to the imperial study, it shows that there are major differences between the two memorials.
Zhao Gou was silent for a long time in thought. Coincidentally, Zhang Jun's work report was widely divided in the DPRK and the court, and the debate was fierce. There is no result yet. Is there any connection between the two?
At this time, a eunuch whispered at the door: "Guan family, they are coming!"
Zhao Gou came to his senses and said quickly: "Xuan them come in!"
Not long after, two officials walked in from the outside. The person walking in front was Xue Liang, the Zuo Jian doctor, and the person following him was Xu Yun, Zuo Shiyi.
The two walked into the imperial study, bowed and saluted, "See your majesty!"
Zhao Gou smiled and waved his hand, "You two beloved queens are of equal height, please give me a seat!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The two officials sat down on the soft couch. Zhao Gou glanced at Xu Yun and said with a smile: "I have read Xu Aiqing's report carefully. The position is very fair and it is explained truthfully. I am very pleased, but I still have a few more
I want to confirm the doubts again."
Xu Yun quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please speak!"
"As for the killing of prisoners, Xu Aiqing's report is consistent with He Zhizhou's report. I think there should be no problem. However, I would like to discuss Chen Qing's motive for killing prisoners with Xu Aiqing again."
...........
Chen Qing did not move back to Taixue. In fact, their dormitory was still there and was not taken away by Taixue. However, Chen Qing's army was not disbanded, so he should continue to live with the army.
Early the next morning, two officials from the Privy Council came to the military camp and handled various procedures for them. The first was to extend the secondment period, the second was to formally approve their use of the military camp, and the third was to provide supplies.
These matters were very complicated, so Chen Qing asked Zheng Ping to deal with them. He had more important things to do. Zhang Jun, the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu envoy, came to his military camp to inspect.
The school grounds were steaming with heat. Some soldiers were practicing marksmanship, some were practicing crossbows, and hundreds of soldiers were practicing squatting. Five hundred soldiers were running in formation in a circle around them.
Chen Qing accompanied Zhang Jun to the team practicing horse steps. Zhang Jun asked with a smile: "There are still stones tied to the legs. Is this practice effective?"
Chen Qing said with a smile: "The effect is very good. They have a stable base and will not fall easily. Especially when the two armies are fighting, they have a clear advantage!"
"That should be promoted among the armies in the northwest!"
Zhang Jun turned back to his staff and said, "Write it down and remind me later."
Zhang Jun visited other trainings and was full of praise. A general's ability can be seen from training the army.
I was not wrong about the person. He was able to train the defeated Ximenxiang army to such an elite level. This Chen Qing was really good.
"Is there any difficulty now?"
Chen Qing shook his head: "People from the Privy Council came today to help us solve all the difficulties. We don't need to bother the Xuanfu envoy for the time being."
Zhang Jun smiled slightly and said: "The Privy Council is not easy to deal with! You have to beg them to do something. This time you kill Zhang Kui, and your political achievements will be counted on the Privy Council, so they are willing to take the initiative to help you.
, but the Ministry of War may not be too happy."
"There's nothing you can do about it. This is not a humble decision."
"It really has nothing to do with you, but you are the one who gets hurt in the end!"
Zhang Jun sighed softly and pointed to the tent in the distance, "Go and talk in the big tent!"
Several people came to the camp, Zhang Jun sat down and said: "This time you killed Zhang Kui, which can be regarded as a moderate achievement. According to the custom, you can be promoted to the third level, and your generals can also be promoted to the first level. Privy Council
I have already reported it. The Western Army does not have such good rewards. It would be good to be promoted to one level. It is also because Muzhou is too close to Lin'an and everyone is paying attention. If you do well, you will be heavily rewarded, but if you do not do well, you will also be punished.
Heavy penalties can be said to have both advantages and disadvantages."
"I understand the humble position!"
"In addition, in the military training competition next month, you and Liu Qiong will represent our Western Army. The army you are now commanding also represents the Western Army. I hope you will go all out and let the emperor and the court ministers take a good look at our Western Army.
Style.”
Chen Qing clasped his fists and said: "This humble position will never disappoint the Xuanfu envoy!"
Zhang Jun pondered for a moment and then said: "Actually, I came to see you today for another reason. You may have guessed that the Yushitai has impeached you for brutally killing prisoners and dividing the spoils privately."
Chen Qing smiled and said: "I met Wang Huan, the supervisory censor, in Chun'an County, but I didn't expect these two charges. They thought too highly of me."
"The movement is quite big this time. Yushitai is just the vanguard. The real person who wants to deal with you is Prime Minister Fan Zongyin."
"So I said they think too highly of me."
"They are actually not dealing with you, but with me. If you are successfully impeached, then as the coach and the person who recommended you, I will also be implicated. Many ministers who originally supported me will remain silent because of this, and ministers who were originally neutral will
There will be a tendency, so I take this matter more seriously than you do."
Chen Qing said apologetically: "I'm sorry for causing trouble for the Xuanfu Envoy!"
Zhang Jun waved his hand, "I should be the one who got you involved. In fact, killing prisoners is not a big problem. Sharing the spoils privately is a bit troublesome. Please tell me first, how much did you take?"
Chen Qing shook his head, "I haven't taken any of my humble position!"
"Tell me the truth!"
"It is true that I have not taken any money from my humble post, nor have I taken any spoils of war. The total money I have in my humble post is only eight taels of silver, which is what is left over from the last time when the envoy of Xuanfu rewarded me with a thousand taels of silver."
"Have you spent all the thousand taels of silver?"
"The humble position was given to the family of Yang Hua, Dutou, who was killed in the battle. His family only had his old mother, wife and two young sons. If he was killed in the battle, the family would not be able to survive."
Zhang Jun stared at Chen Qing for a long time and finally nodded, "I believe you are an upright person, but integrity alone is not enough in court struggle. You must also learn to defend yourself and have sharp fighting methods. Tell me,
Do you have any idea?"
Chen Qing thought for a while and thought: "Bizhi feels that the best way to deal with it is to go public. No despicable hidden arrow can be used in public, so I hope to have the opportunity to publicly confront Yushitai or Fan Xianggong!"
"That makes sense!"
Zhang Jun stroked his beard and smiled: "I will try my best to find a public occasion for you to defend."
...........
That night, Zhang Jun visited Prime Minister Lu Yihao. Lu Yihao was the prime minister, and his attitude was particularly important.
More importantly, Lu Yihao grew up in the northwest and was skilled in the military. He was also from the Western Army and served as a clerk in Zhongshi Dao's account and joined the army. Zhang Jun hoped that he could speak a few words of justice for Chen Qing.
In the distinguished guest hall, Lu Yihao picked up a tea cup and said with a smile: "Brother Deyuan, when you went to Shaanxi Road to take office, you were so full of ambitions, but you have become so unconfident in just two years? A small impeachment has made you so
nervous!"
Zhang Jun smiled bitterly and said: "If it weren't for Fuping's defeat, I wouldn't be so passive!"
"I have also read the Yushitai impeachment document. In fact, there are no really unacceptable charges, such as plundering the people with troops, raping prostitutes, or lax military discipline, indulging in disturbing the people, etc. I have not seen it. It means that you
This subordinate is quite good, and he can actually manage rogue soldiers like the Ximenxiang Army, so you don’t have to worry too much, those two minor charges won’t make any difference!”
"Lv Xianggong, I also know that the two charges are not serious, but with the impeachment of Yushitai and Fan Xianggong's prejudice, if he is not convicted of one crime, Fan Xianggong will not be able to live with his face.
But even if it is a small fault, it is not fair to Chen Qing, and it will have a great impact on his future. He is a general with great achievements in the Western Army, so I specially recommend him to study martial arts. If he
I have no way to explain to the officers and soldiers of the Western Army if I am innocently convicted!"
Lu Yihao pondered for a moment and said: "I'm afraid I can only remain silent on this matter!"
Zhang Jun was really disappointed. He originally expected Lu Yihao to stand up for justice, but he didn't expect that he didn't want to offend Fan Zongyin.
Of course, Zhang Jun also knew in his heart that Lu Yihao actually didn't want to take sides on his own issues.
Helpless, Zhang Jun had to settle for the next best thing, "In fact, there is no need for Xianggong Lu to intercede for him. I just hope that Xianggong Lu will give Chen Qing a chance to defend himself, preferably publicly in the morning. This will at least be good to him."
Fair."
Now that Zhang Jun has reached this point, Lu Yihao has to give this face. He thought for a while and said: "There will be an issue to deal with the traitor Zhang Kui in the morning the day after tomorrow, so it will be set in the morning the day after tomorrow. I will arrange Chen Qing as a witness.
In the next court, I will add Yushitai's impeachment to the list, and then he can defend himself!"