Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 127

Chapter 127 A Sudden Reversal of Hostilities
Under the brilliant morning sun, under the civil and military gaze of the Manchu Dynasty, Lu Zhen, a rank seven county magistrate, began to talk about the Mongol people in the Northern Lands in front of Emperor:

“Your Majesty, since the people came for my heart of the big trouble, although the taizong emperor several sign of mobei and greatly suppressed their arrogance, but because of how poor, need my property in the central plains, so from time to time have violated my heart of the big bright, and therefore have a small number of people to violate my border.

“This time there is a Mongolian excuse to kill their clansmen and soldiers against the broad spirit is precisely for this reason. In terms of ferocity, the Mongolian is indeed worthy of its reputation, even if there is no decent siege equipment, they are not afraid, still throw the city with ropes, borrow to climb over the city wall, this is really not my great Ming soldiers can do.

“And as far as I’m concerned, with the situation presented by this battle, I’m afraid that the grassland tribes’ desire for me in the Central Plains will be even heavier. Because without outside help, I, Guang Ling, will be able to defend for a few days at my limit. There are quite a few cities in our Great Bright Border that are as weak as the Broad Spirit Guards. If we don’t respond accordingly, I’m afraid that once the city is destroyed, the fate of the civilians and the army there will be … ”

After a pause, Lu Zhen glanced at the several high-ranking officials beside him. “Of course, if the lord of the court feels that the life and death of the people in the border area is insignificant, then this lowly official has nothing to say.”

These words caused the faces of the officials to darken even more. Perhaps in private, they would use the overall situation as a priority to dissuade Emperor, but this kind of words that did not put the lives and deaths of the small people in the border areas on the surface could not be said openly. This made it difficult for them to retort, otherwise, the blame for treating the border people like grass would fall on him.

Seeing that the officials who had always held the moral high ground, ridiculed and criticized him, after Lu Zhen’s words, all of them turned into saw-nosed gourds, Wang Zhen was very happy and looked at this young man with more admiration. He had decided that after everything was done, he would definitely transfer this person to his side. He really needed someone who could speak for him in the Imperial Court.

Lu Zhen’s words continued, “The other thing is that the Border Army is now slacking off. If there are no further changes, I fear that the entire Border Army of the Great Ming Dynasty will fall. When the Imperial Court wants to use them one day, they will become beasts that have lost their claws. At that time, our Border Land will really be in danger.”

These words were not Lu Zhen’s empty words to intimidate, but because of the correct predictions given by the knowledge several hundred years later. As for this point, even the officials in the court had heard of it. Naturally, it would be even harder for them to speak out against it. Otherwise, if something happened in the future, they would not be able to escape from being held accountable.

Lu Zhen bowed down and bowed to the Emperor, “So, Your Majesty, with this lowly subject’s shallow knowledge, the Great Ming border seems to be stable now, but in fact, there are endless internal and external troubles. If there is no change to this, there will be endless troubles in the future. I hope the Saint Son of Heaven will learn from this.”

Xu Xi’s heart skipped a beat when she saw him say that. Looking at Emperor’s expression, it was obvious that he had been completely moved. Once His Majesty issued a decree on the spot to use troops against the Mongols in the Northern Lands, it would probably be too difficult to turn the situation around. At this moment, he could no longer care too much, and immediately leaned forward, wanting to go forward again to speak out against it.

However, just as he was about to walk out, Yang Pu, the chief cabinet officer standing not far from him, suddenly turned his head and gave him a deep look. His gaze carried a hint of stopping and comforting, making him calm down a little.

This gaze instantly pulled Minister Xu like a rope.

Yang Pu was the last surviving boss of the Three Yang Clans of the Cabinet, so there was naturally no need to say anything about his prestige in the court. Ordinary civil servants followed his lead. Regardless of whether it was intelligence or character, this person could not find any flaws in the court. Furthermore, he was deeply trusted and respected by the Son of Heaven. To put it bluntly, sometimes, his authority was heavier than that of the emperor of Zhu Qizhen.

However, even though Xu Xi stopped, her heart was still filled with doubt. She didn’t know why Elder Yang would suddenly stop her from speaking. Could it be that she felt that things couldn’t be done anymore?

But that’s not the case. Even if Emperor is really tempted, no matter how flashy Lu Zhen is, as long as the officials in the court unanimously oppose him, with His Majesty’s personality, he will still give way. Why didn’t he let the fight go? Is there something hidden?

Xu Xi suspected that Yang Pu’s slightly dizzy eyes landed on Lu Zhen, as if he was observing the young man who had suddenly appeared. Although there was still some distance between the two of them, Lu Zhen could actually feel these two meaningful gazes, causing his body to tremble.

Seeing this, Yang Pu revealed a faint smile on his aged face. This young man was very interesting. Although he seemed to be opening his eyes for Wang Zhen and the others, listening carefully to his words, not a single word mentioned that he was going to send troops to the grasslands. Perhaps there was another meaning behind this.

This was because caring was chaotic. Only Yang Pu noticed something strange, so he used his eyes to stop Xu Xi and wanted to see what this young man was going to do.

At this time, after digesting Lu Zhen’s words, Emperor was slightly moved and said, “So this is already the situation in the north. So it seems that we have to fight against the Mongols to eliminate these hidden dangers?”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s gazes landed on Lu Zhen in unison, and many people’s expressions sank along with their hearts. Some people looked at the high-ranking officials in front of them curiously. Why didn’t they say anything at this time? Could it be that they really felt that Lu Zhen’s words were reasonable and couldn’t even refute them?

A smile bloomed on Wang Zhen’s face. He didn’t expect that things would be done so easily. The things he had been thinking about for the past few months were about to be done. He would soon be able to make contributions to the country and then raise his reputation to the same level as Zheng He!

Under the gazes of many different thoughts, Lu Zhen finally spoke again, “Your Majesty, this minister thinks that it is unwise to use troops against the Mongols at this time!”

“What?” Everyone was stunned on the spot. Looking at Lu Zhen was like looking at a lunatic. Why did this fellow suddenly change his mind? Do you really think that this is such a casual place in the Imperial Hall, that he can speak nonsense here? Of course, many people felt a little relieved. At least he didn’t make things out of hand, did he? Naturally, Xu Xi was among them. At the same time, he looked at Yang Pu with some doubts. Could it be that Elder Yang Ge already knew that he would say those words? Could it be that this person was originally arranged by Elder Yang?

A series of questions arose from the bottom of many people’s hearts, but for a moment, no one was able to answer them, causing everyone to feel a fog.

Among them, Wang Zhen’s confusion was obviously the most serious. The smile on his face had frozen for a long time, and then it twisted and distorted. He stared fixedly at this fellow who had suddenly transformed in front of him, wishing he could step forward and kick this unknown fellow to death.

Unfortunately, in this court, his father-in-law didn’t dare to act so presumptuously. He could only use his eyes to “delay” the other party.

Emperor was also stunned for a while before his expression sank, “Lu Zhen, what do you mean by this?”

Lu Zhen took a deep breath and concentrated his mind. “Your Majesty, what I said is from the bottom of your heart. Every single word is for our Great Ming Imperial Court. The various internal and external troubles that I mentioned earlier about the Northern Lands are also true.”

“Since that’s the case, why would you say that now is not the time to use troops against the Mongols?” The Emperor hurriedly asked.

“Soldiers, important matters of the country are not something that can be moved casually. Everyone in the court must be well aware of this. That’s why they tried their best to stop His Majesty’s decree from attacking the Mongol people.”

After pausing for a moment, Lu Zhen continued to add, “Your Majesty, once I, Daming, truly launch a military expedition to the north like the Yongle Dynasty, how should I distribute the grain?” During the Yongle Dynasty, the entire country had just poured out its strength to support hundreds of thousands of troops, but that was also a major matter that had only been accomplished over the years. Now that His Majesty had said that he wanted to use troops against the Mongols, this alone was already a big problem.

“In addition, the mobilization of troops should not be underestimated. Although there are a lot of troops in the border area, it is impossible to send all the troops there to the grasslands. Otherwise, if the Mongols have a gap to take advantage of, I’m afraid that the entire frontier defense city will be in a hurry. Even the Central Plains will be in chaos. Once this is true, it will be too much of a loss.

“Of course, His Majesty can also send troops from the capital and other places. However, in this way, it will be difficult for the armies to control each other. It is still a big problem on the battlefield. After all, it is different from the Yongle Dynasty. At that time, all the soldiers and horses in the country were veterans of a hundred battles because they experienced the Battle of Pacification. That is not something that the soldiers of these places can compare to.”

Lu Zhen enumerated all of these words, causing the Emperor to be speechless and sweat to appear on his forehead.

Zhu Qizhen was not a stupid monarch who insisted on doing things his own way. He was just an impulsive teenager who was stirred up by Wang Zhen. To put it bluntly, the current him was only a Second Grade teenager who was furious, and he was also a rational Second Grade teenager. After Lu Zhen put the questions aside one by one, he knew that it was not so simple to use troops against the Mongols, and the balance in his heart began to waver.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Wang Zhen’s expression was so ugly that he was about to turn into a black-faced bun. Zou Fang, the assistant minister in charge of the military affairs department, finally woke up and immediately berated, “How dare Lu Zhen speak such alarmist words in front of Emperor? Do you really think this is a place where you are so presumptuous?”

The other officials who were angry with him also woke up as if they had just woken up from their dreams. They immediately scolded, “Lu Zhen, you actually dare to say such nonsense and not retreat.”

“You’re a rank seven county magistrate, how dare you bark here!” … The sound of scolding could be heard endlessly for a moment!