To be fair, Guo Deng's merits are indeed not worthy of becoming a prince, but they are not as worthless as these civil servants say.
At least, an earldom is secure.
Sitting on the throne, Zhu Qiyu frowned and asked Yu Qian.
"Yu Shangshu, someone is impeaching the Ministry of War for improperly describing meritorious services and exorbitant rewards. What do you have to say?"
Yu Qian cupped his hands and said.
"Your Majesty, this battle is a great victory that we have rarely seen since Taizong in the past decades of the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court should reward those who have made great contributions."
"During this battle, Guo Deng killed thousands of enemies and wounded King Bodu. In order to boost the morale of the army and boost the prestige of our border officers and soldiers, I think there is nothing wrong with honoring the marquis."
Although he said this, Yu Qian's expression was obviously not very happy.
In fact, he also felt that this reward was too generous.
That's all for Yang Hong. He has been in town for more than 40 years and has worked hard despite no merit. He should have been given a title.
What's more, he is almost seventy years old this year, and the court always wants to give some extraordinary grace to veterans who have worked hard all their lives.
But Guo Deng is different. He has just turned fifty, which is when military generals are in their prime.
At this time, if you grant the Marquis grace, what should you do next?
You must know that since the Jingnan period, the imperial court has never awarded a living duke.
He is still young, at least like Yang Hong, and has to stay in the border area for more than ten or twenty years before he is worthy of the title of Marquis.
The reason why he proposed this marquis was because he was forced by the emperor, and he himself was not happy with it.
So Zhu Qiyu nodded slightly and continued to ask.
"Since the Ministry of War has this opinion, do other ministries have any other objections?"
The ministers below were stunned. They did not expect that as soon as the emperor opened his mouth, he asked for the opinions of the six ministers and seven ministers.
Logically speaking, shouldn't the subordinates have to argue about this kind of thing first, and then the big bosses can take a stand?
No one on Xunqi's side has spoken yet, so why did he just start expressing his position...
But since the emperor asked, he naturally had to answer.
The first person to come forward was Jin Lian, the Minister of Punishment.
Although both Jin Lian and Chen Mao were impeached last time because of the Cao Jixiang incident, nothing happened to them in the end.
Although it was a good thing to keep his official position, it made Mr. Jin very unhappy.
Strictly speaking, although he was unwilling that time, he actually made a sacrifice for the civil service.
But after the incident spread, I don’t know why it changed.
Because Chen Mao was safe in the end, but Jin Lian admitted his guilt in the palace, it caused a scandal among scholars.
He is a dignified admiral and minister of the Ministry of Punishment, but he can only bow his head and obey the orders of a general military officer. Some people even call him a flatterer.
But Mr. Jin is so angry!
Although these rumors from the outside have basically no impact on him, since everyone is talking about gold, Jin Lian naturally has to express his attitude to the outside world.
Therefore, at this time, there is basically no need to think about his attitude.
"Your Majesty, I think that although Guo Deng has made meritorious service in this battle, he is not worthy of a title, let alone a marquis. He can be given a son and a generous reward!"
After Jin Lian finished speaking, Chen Yi, the censor of Zuodu, also said.
"What Jin Shangshu said is reasonable. Your Majesty is an important weapon of the country and should not be given lightly. Your Majesty, please think again."
Two Qiqings in a row stood up to object, so Zhu Qiyu frowned and said.
"Since this matter is controversial, we will put it aside for the time being. Yu Qing, please continue."
The emperor made concessions, but Yu Qian blinked, feeling something was wrong. He knew that the emperor would not give up so easily.
He had already handed over a memorandum of this memorial, but because the matter involved a lot, he brought it up again in the morning.
The title he proposed for Guo Deng was originally an earl. It was clearly the emperor himself who promoted him to a marquis. Now this...
After gathering his thoughts, Yu Qian continued to speak.
"Ning Yuanbo, the commander-in-chief of Zijing Pass, led an attack this time and defended Zijing. He personally led the army to repel Wala and killed thousands of enemies. His order also fled in panic. Therefore, the Ministry of War proposed that he should be promoted to Marquis of Ningyuan."
There is no objection to this.
After all, as the commander-in-chief of the army, he personally visited the battlefield, led the troops to kill the enemy, and defeated Ye Xian's army head-on.
Although it was said that he had used a trick, no one could deny his credit.
Ren Li was originally an earl, and it was natural for him to be promoted to marquis.
Then, there are the remaining three.
"Tao Jin, the deputy commander-in-chief of Zijing, set up an ambush outside Yuzhou City. When Ye Xian's army retreated, he fought with him. He killed thousands of the enemy and shot Yan Timur, the enemy chief. The Ministry of War discussed and proposed to confer the title of Datong Uncle.
"
Well, there is no objection to this.
Just the merit of shooting an enemy chieftain was enough to earn him a knighthood.
Yu Qian continued.
"Yang Xin, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, personally led an army to attack Alazhiyuan's army at night, beheaded the generals and captured the flag, and then led an army to assist Fan Guang in recapturing Yanghe Pass. The Ministry of War discussed and conferred the title of Uncle Zhangwu.
"
"Fan Guang, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Datong, dispatched the army to support Datong and relieve the danger of the isolated city of Datong. He also personally led the army to attack from the east and west with Yang Xin, recapture Yanghe Pass, and cut off the logistics route. It is a great achievement. The Ministry of War discussed and planned
Granted the title Jing'an Bo."
At this point, some ministers raised objections.
"Your Majesty, retaking Yanghekou is certainly a great achievement, but it is barely enough to confer a title for this achievement, let alone two people?"
"Yang Xin is Yang Hong's nephew. His night attack on Alazhiyuan was under Yang Hong's order. Since the imperial court has already made Yang Hong a marquis for his merits, how can he make him a marquis again?"
"Although Fan Guang supported Datong and recaptured Yanghe, his attack on Baiyangkou failed, and he led the remnant army to flee back to the grassland. The court did not criticize him, which is a mercy, and it is not appropriate to ennoble him."
What these words mean is that if you add two out of three, including Guo Deng who was suppressed, it is equivalent to half of the titles, all of which were suppressed by civil servants.
No matter how good-tempered Xunqi is, he can't bear it anymore.
Chen Mao stepped forward and said: "That's nonsense! Although Yang Xin was ordered by Yang Hong, his military exploits are indelible. In addition to his contribution to recapturing Yang He, why can't he be knighted?"
"Fan Guang failed in his attack on Aiyangkou because King Saikan rushed to rescue him. At that time, there were 5,000 troops defending Aiyangkou. Adding King Saikan's army of 5,000, how could Fan Guang recapture Baiyangkou with 5,000 against 10,000?
sheep?"
"Soldiers are fighting bloody battles on the front line, but when you are recounting your achievements, you are procrastinating and obstructing them. What are your intentions?"
The old Marquis had a fiery temper, and almost cursed him when he came up.
However, the civil servants were not easy to mess with. Chen Yi, the imperial censor of Zuodu, immediately retorted and said:
"According to the wishes of the Marquis, merit should be rewarded, and mistakes should be made for a reason. It is respectable for soldiers to shed blood on the front line, but this is not a reason to confuse right and wrong."
"As an admonishing officer, we should remonstrate with the Ministry of War if the plan is inappropriate. This is the duty of a civil servant, just like a general who is responsible for leading troops in battle."
"What's more, during this battle, the admirals and ministers of the various passes and the censors who patrolled the border also fought bravely to the death. Countless people died while coexisting with the city. Why did the Marquis say that we deliberately obstructed the granting of the title?"
"In my opinion, it's not that what we said is inappropriate, but that the Marquis is making wild remarks and deliberately provoking a civil-military dispute!"
Wen Chen is not afraid of bickering at all.
Most of the people who had just stood up to speak were censors. When Chen Mao started to scold him, Chen Yi, as the head of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, naturally came out to protect him.
These words were counter-intuitive and well-founded, making Chen Mao's face turn red and his neck thick with anger.
Seeing that Mr. Chen was trembling all over, he was about to roll up his sleeves and start a fight.
Zhu Qiyu also had to scold him and said.
"We are just talking about political affairs. As important ministers of the imperial court, how can you be so at odds with each other and criticize each other?"
"The people who came here are Chen Mao, the Marquis of Ningyang, and Chen Yi, the censor of Zuodu. They behaved inappropriately before the king and criticized the court officials. They were both fined one month's salary as punishment."
"I accept the crime and thank you, Your Majesty."
The emperor had already spoken, so it was natural that the two of them could not continue to quarrel, so they both bowed to the ground, admitted their mistakes and accepted the punishment.
But relatively speaking, Chen Yi's face was very calm, while Chen Mao glared at the former, seemingly still unwilling to do so.
But no matter what they were thinking, after getting up, they all stood back in their respective queues.
Just when all the ministers thought that the emperor was going to put an end to this controversy, they heard the emperor speak again, saying.
"Marquis Fengcheng, what do you think of what the Ministry of War has discussed?"