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Wuzhou Prefecture was the seat of the Guangxi Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office. In the first year of the Chenghua Period of the Ming Dynasty, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi was stationed in Wuzhou. Wuzhou Prefecture governed nine counties, namely Cangwu, Tengxian, Rongxian, Cenxi, Huaiji, Beiliu, Bobai, Xingye and Luchuan, and one prefecture, Yulin.
Zhu Youlang originally ascended the throne in Zhaoqing, but he fought against Zhu Youlang of Guangdong for the legitimate succession of the Ming Dynasty. The war was not going well at first. Instigated by the eunuch Wang Kun, Zhu Youlang fled back to Wuzhou despite the dissuasion of his ministers, and has been using Wuzhou as his temporary capital ever since.
The New Year is approaching. For the emperor and his ministers of the Yongli Dynasty, this will be a sad year. There is an oppressive feeling of impending storm in the court.
A few months ago, at the strong advocacy of Qu Shisi, the Grand Secretary of the Dongge and the Minister of War, he first sent the imperial envoy Li Ruyue to Guangzhou to persuade Zhu Youlang to temporarily give up his prejudice; then he promoted General Jiao Lian, who was in charge of the Pingman Campaign, to the title of Prince's Junior Tutor and ordered him to lead the troops in the "Northern Expedition", attempting to seize Huguang while the Qin was busy expelling the Tartars.
However, the war went unfavorably. Jiao Lian's army only captured one state and several counties, and was blocked south of Hengzhou and could not advance an inch.
Now that the Qin Empire has completed its Northern Expedition and is unstoppable in its quest to unify the world, news has reached the Emperor that Qin Mu has ascended the throne in Nanjing, and the Yongli Emperor and his ministers are deeply worried.
Anyone who is not stupid can guess that it is time for Qin Mu to sweep Guangdong and Guangxi with the power of a great victory.
Sure enough, the spies sent to Huguang and Jiangxi soon spread the news that the Qin army in both places showed signs of mobilization. Although it was not a large-scale mobilization, it was a small movement. As long as there was a slight disturbance in the Qin Dynasty, it was enough to make Emperor Yongli and his ministers tremble with fear.
Zhu Youlang urgently convened a court meeting to discuss countermeasures.
The imperial court was converted from the most luxurious house in Wuzhou. However, no matter how luxurious an ordinary family’s house is, it would look a bit shabby when used as the throne room, and it would not be so majestic.
Zhu Youlang is 23 years old today, about the same age as Qin Mu. He is quite handsome, but just like what his stepmother Wang said when she opposed Qu Shisi's support for him, he is weak by nature and has no opinion of his own.
He asked in a panic, "I heard that Qin troops were mobilized in Huguang and Jiangxi. Ministers, what should we do?"
Zhang Tongchang, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, was upright in character and had always been on good terms with Qu Shisi. He was one of the backbones of the pro-war faction during the Yongli Dynasty. He came out and said, "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has nurtured scholars for 270 years. Your Majesty is the orthodox of the Ming Dynasty and has great righteousness. The people of the world are thinking of the Ming Dynasty and are all looking forward to it, hoping that the royal army will recover the lost territory as soon as possible and save the people from danger.
Your Majesty, the pseudo-Qin may seem strong now, but it has been militaristic and has been fighting for years. In fact, it is weak inside and has nothing to fear. As long as Your Majesty works hard to govern the country, strengthens the army, and prepares for war, the restoration of the Central Plains is just around the corner."
If the Qin emperor and his ministers in Nanjing heard what Zhang Tongchang said, they would be terrified. But no matter what, Minister Zhang was courageous and resolute.
Imperial envoy Li Ruyue also came out to echo, "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, when an enemy comes, the general will stop him; when water comes, the earth will flood him. The pseudo-Qin is indeed nothing to be afraid of. Looking back at the Qin Emperor and Han Wudi, they used orthodoxy to defeat the barbarians. It still took hundreds of thousands of troops, a long time, and countless expenses to conquer Lingnan.
The fake Qin usurpers are hard to convince, but my emperor is the legitimate heir of the Ming dynasty, and the people support him. Your Majesty, I think that now my dynasty can only use the dangerous mountains and narrow passes to block the enemy layer by layer, and when the fake Qin army is tired, our army will counterattack in one fell swoop and will surely defeat it. Then the royal army will go north to Huguang, go east along the river, break Nanjing, capture the Qin rebel alive, and the world will be settled! "
Li Ruyue was from Dongguan, Guangdong. Her impassioned speech was accompanied by a thick Cantonese accent, which made it difficult for Zhu Youlang to understand.
In fact, among the Yongli emperor and his ministers, the one who knew Qin Mu the most was probably Zhu Youlang himself. He had brought beautiful women and treasures to Jinghu to ask Qin Mu to support his father, and had some contact with Qin Mu.
Although he didn't have any opinions of his own, he was not stupid and had his own judgment. Li Ruyue's bold words did not reassure him much.
Deep down in his heart, he felt that as long as he could keep Guangxi, he would be content. As for defeating the Qin State and recovering the Central Plains, he really didn't dare to have such extravagant hopes.
His gaze quickly shifted from Qu Shisi, Zhang Tongchang and Li Ruyue to the chief minister of the cabinet, Ding Kuichu. Among all the ministers in the court, Ding Kuichu was the one who shared the most "like-minded" views with him.
Ding Kuichu was originally the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. He was greedy and lustful. During his tenure as an official, he plundered the people's wealth. His family had nearly one million gold coins and three or four hundred wives and concubines. Even Qin Mu, the emperor of the Qin Dynasty, was inferior to him.
Such people are usually afraid of death and strive for a partial peace. He formed an alliance with the eunuch Wang Kun in the Ministry of Rites, and contacted Chen Bangfu, Duke of Qing, and Cao Ye, the Governor of Guangxi, and tried his best to suppress the pro-war faction headed by the Minister of War Qu Shisi, the Right Vice Minister of War Wu Bing, and the Minister of Revenue Wu Zhenyu.
Seeing Zhu Youlang looking over, Ding Kuichu stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, our dynasty only has Guangxi under its rule. We have few soldiers and generals, a small area with few people, and we have lost contact with the Duke of Qian in Yunnan. Our situation is difficult.
Looking at Qin Mu, he already has a million soldiers, and has occupied Huguang in the south and Liaodong in the north. When the enemy is strong and we are weak, our dynasty should focus on developing people's livelihood, strengthening the army and preparing for the future.
We can even send envoys to Qin Mu to seek temporary peace, paralyze him, and buy time for our dynasty to grow stronger. However, some people in the court did not know their own strength, were ambitious, did not listen to the advice of the old ministers, were greedy for merit, and rashly started a war.
Now the facts have proved that I was not worrying too much. In the Northern Expedition, it would be difficult to make any progress if we only relied on sneak attacks to capture a few states and counties. Now that we have torn our faces with Qin Mu, we don’t even have room to maneuver. If the Qin army attacks with the power of a great victory, our dynasty will be in danger, and the emperor will be in danger!"
After hearing what Ding Kuichu said, Zhu Youlang was in great confusion and asked anxiously, "Master Ding, is there no way to remedy this?"
Ding Kuichu replied: "Your Majesty, there are ways to remedy the situation."
"Master Ding, please tell me how to remedy this situation?"
Ding Kuichu did not answer, but glanced at Qu Shisi and others indifferently. Cao Ye, the governor of Guangxi, immediately came out and protested: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, the person who tied the bell should be the one to untie it. Whoever advocated the war should bear the responsibility. As long as this arrogant man is handed over, Qin Mu will be able to withdraw his troops..."
"Cao Ye!"
Wu Bing, Wu Zhenyu, Zhang Tongchang, Li Ruyue and others shouted in unison.
"Your Majesty, Qin Ni is a thief who stole our country. If he were free, how could he allow our dynasty to live in peace in a corner?" Li Ruyue's thick Cantonese accent shook the entire "Golden Palace". He stepped forward, pointed at the tip of Cao Ye's nose and cursed, "Your Majesty, this beast must have secretly colluded with Qin Ni and received benefits promised by Qin Ni, so he spoke so recklessly and framed loyal people in order to eliminate your right-hand man. Your Majesty, please drag this beast out and execute him immediately, otherwise the morale of the soldiers in the front will collapse, and the Ming Dynasty will be in danger!"
"Your Majesty, please kill this beast!"
"Your Majesty, please kill this beast!"
Wu Bing, Wu Zhenyu, Zhang Tongchang, Liu Zhen, the Grand Secretary of the Dongge, Jin Bao, the Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and others also shouted loudly.
There were quite a few people from Ding Kuichu's faction. Liu, General Qing, Duke of Qing Chen Bangfu, Lieutenant General Sun Jinding, Minister of Rites Wu Bitong, Minister of Works Lin Zizhong, General Liu Chengyin, Deputy Censor-in-Chief Huang Wei and others immediately joined the battle and strongly supported Cao Ye.
There was a sudden sound of saliva flying in the "Golden Palace", and the two sides quarreled and refused to give in. It eventually turned into a full-scale fight, with high-ranking officials in the court pulling and biting each other and fighting.
The Foshan Shadowless Kick, the Shaolin Subduing Tiger Fist, the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, the Nine Yin White Bone Claws, made the "Golden Palace" filled with gloomy winds and official hats flying everywhere. Compared with this, the previous drama of Li Dongyang fighting Shouning Hou with a golden gourd was nothing.
Zhu Youlang had convened this court meeting to discuss countermeasures after hearing that the Qin army was mobilizing. Unexpectedly, before a countermeasure could be agreed upon, the pro-war and pro-peace factions actually started fighting each other.
Zhu Youlang was dumbfounded.
"Stop! Stop! Everyone, stop! How can this be disgraceful? How can this be disgraceful? Stop it!" Zhu Youlang shouted until his face turned red, and at least he made Fang Fang stop fighting.
When the smoke cleared, all that was left was the "Golden Throne Hall" covered in black hats, official boots, patches and belts, just like a battlefield after a fierce battle between two armies.
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ps: Urgently seeking monthly tickets! Urgently seeking monthly tickets! Urgently seeking monthly tickets!
.(To be continued..)
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