The rain outside became heavier and heavier, and big raindrops hit the window lattice, making a crackling sound.
Upon hearing Zhu Qiyu's words, all the ministers present could not help but twitch their eyelids.
No way, this is not over yet?
Yu Qian obviously also saw the expressions of the ministers and said.
"This is the latest military report I received before I entered the palace."
Keywords, latest...
Meaning, this is the last one, nothing more.
So the ministers tightened their strings again and listened carefully.
Yu Qian took out a military newspaper from his sleeve robe again and read.
"The guards of the Xuan Mansion, Yang Hong, Ji Guang, Zhu Qian, Luo Hengxin, etc., report to the imperial court."
"On the 17th day of this month, at Unity Time, hundreds of fine knights were sent to the gates of Xuanfu City. Among them were men wearing blue dragon robes. They said, I am the Ming Emperor, and I will quickly open the gates of Xuanfu City..."
"It is difficult for me, the general of Xuan Mansion, to tell the truth from the false. It happened that Yang Hong, the chief military officer, was inspecting other places, so the soldiers guarding the city said to them, "The people we are guarding are all in the emperor's city. We dare not open the door at dusk."
"After drinking tea, the bandits gathered around the man in dragon robe and retreated, crossing the Xuanfu River and heading north."
"The next day, the captors sent two more people, claiming to be Zhongguan Xining and his general officer Yue Qian. They held a letter and asked for gold, pearls and colorful coins, and they were given first."
"The matter involves a serious matter, and I dare not take charge of it, so I will send the two of them back to the capital and ask the court to make a decision."
Yu Qian's calm voice echoed in the hall.
After reading the military report, Zhu Qiyu said calmly.
"This is the latest military report from the Xuanfu. Although the guards have dealt with it, they have also kidnapped the emperor first. Even if this fails, the emperor will be kidnapped again to order the guards at the passes."
"If this happens again, we will quickly discuss how the guards will make a decision and give clear orders to the border guards to avoid unrest in people's minds and lead to catastrophe."
After hearing this, all the officials below looked at each other in shock, but no one spoke for a while.
This kind of thing is really hard to say...
Logically speaking, this kind of thing cannot be agreed to, but now that the emperor is in Ye Xian's hands, they are willing to take advantage of it.
If he gets angry first and is disadvantageous to the emperor, then who can bear this responsibility?
Zhu Qiyu is not in a hurry. The various news tonight have really impacted all the elders too much.
They do need some time to digest it.
However, what Zhu Qiyu didn't expect was that the first person to stand up was not the civil servant, but the Prince Consort Jiao Jing, who had been silent in the palace.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the emperor is the foundation of the country. Now that the enemy is strong and we are weak, the emperor is controlled by the captors. If we refuse again and again, the captors may become angry in shame and be detrimental to the emperor."
"Therefore, I believe that at this time, we should do our best to rescue the emperor."
Zhu Qiyu looked at Jiao Jing and thought to himself, this is quite bold!
Is this wrong?
Of course it is right!
But no one in the palace dared to say that.
Why?
Because these words, and the continuation of these words, should be "...No matter what conditions the captors propose, as long as we can rescue the Emperor, we will do our best, and we will try to counterattack after we welcome the Emperor back..."
Of course, these words would never be spoken.
But in court, many words do not need to be said, it is enough to express one's attitude.
But the problem is, if he grabs such a good card as the emperor first, how can what he wants be trivial?
Sure enough, just as Jiao Jing finished speaking, Yu Shiyue, the minister of Dali Temple, stood up and said.
"It's not appropriate. The military report has already made it clear. They also held the emperor under the city. The intention was not gold, silver and silk, but an attempt on our border town."
"Xuanfu, Datong, Zijing, and Dushi are all important border defense towns of our Ming Dynasty. Once they are seized by you, our border defense of Ming Dynasty will be destroyed immediately."
"If this is the case, if we advance from the border towns first, our capital will be in danger."
The complete border defense system of the Ming Dynasty was only fully constructed during the Hongzhi Dynasty.
But Emperor Taizong moved the capital to Beijing in order to conquer Mobei.
Over the years, the imperial court's arrangements on the border have been constantly advancing.
Specifically, it is to defend according to danger and connect the dots to form a line.
With Guyuan, Datong, Xuanfu, and Guangning as the basic points, cities were built at various passes along the border, and heavy troops were stationed there, which were named border towns.
By the time of the Hongzhi Dynasty, the so-called "nine-sided town" had finally been formed.
Although it is still in its infancy now, the principle is the same.
Yu Qian also stood up and said.
"What Master Yu said is true. The bandits are originally nomadic people. Although they are brave and good at fighting, their logistics cannot support them for a long time."
"Let's march all the way first. The closer we get to the Ming Dynasty, the longer our grain and grass transportation routes will be."
"However, if you wait to use our border town as a transfer point, the supply of food and grass will continue to flow, which will definitely become a serious problem for you."
In fact, in the cold weapon era, all wars involved were food, grass and baggage.
The Ming Dynasty sent troops this time, with the name of an army of 500,000, but in fact, only more than 200,000 were able to fight.
The reason why there are so many people is to supply the army's logistics.
For Daming, this is the truth, and for Ye Xian, it is naturally the same!
The Oara army marched all the way south, seemingly overwhelming.
But in fact, every time he takes a step further, the logistical pressure will increase.
This is also the reason why the Wala army must plunder and plunder wherever they go.
Without plundering supplies, and with their transshipment capabilities, it would have been impossible to supply an army of 100,000 for such a long time.
Most of the people present were civil servants and were not familiar with military matters.
Although they knew in their hearts that they could not agree to such things, they did not know why.
However, as the Minister of War, Yu Qian is naturally aware of the situation in border towns.
After some explanations, all the ministers understood something in their hearts.
After Yu Qian finished speaking, someone else stood up and said.
"Yu Shilang's words make sense. Border towns are the most important part of our Ming Dynasty's border defense and must not be lost. Besides, every inch of our Ming Dynasty's land is the foundation of the country and the foundation of our ancestors. How can we abandon it?"
Zhu Qiyu glanced over and saw that the person speaking was Gui Shizhong.
He had the impression that this person's name was Li Kan, and he should be in charge of the etiquette department temporarily.
As a Fengxian official, these words are in line with his status.
However, Zhu Qiyu still did not speak.
Because it’s not enough…
On Jiao Jing's side, as a close relative, his status is now in jeopardy.
Seeing that Prince Zhu Qiyu had no intention of helping his relative, he seemed to have made up his mind to follow the Queen Mother until her death.
It is precisely for this reason that he took the risk of being criticized by many civil servants and said these words.
This can be seen just by looking at Jin Ying's face when he spoke.
But Zhu Qiyu didn't really care about Xunqi.
As mentioned earlier, today's honorary relatives have been severely damaged by this battle, and they can be regarded as inactive. There are only a few who can speak out, and it is impossible to resist the suppression of civil servants.
What's more, they relied on the emperor, so even if Zhu Qiyu helped them, he couldn't really gain their trust.
So there is no need...
He knows in his heart that his base is on the side of civil servants, at least at this stage.
So the first thing he wanted to find out was the attitude of the civil servants.
What Yu Qian and others said just now roughly stated their attitude.
But it's not enough...
Sure enough, within a moment, Chen Xun, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, spoke out.
"Having said that, although the border town is important, the safety of the emperor is also the foundation of the country. I think that the request Ruona Ye made first is not excessive. Such as gold, pearls, money, silk and other things, I can agree as appropriate to appease his heart. If
I refuse it completely, for fear that he will be embarrassed and angry, and it will be detrimental to the emperor!"