Chapter 62: The Qi Family Army's Enlightened Master

Back at the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao sat down in his own chair.

Clearly, imagination was beautiful, but reality was cruel—he might as well honestly wait to pick the third option!

"Your Majesty, the Grand Secretariat just submitted a routine memorial—a report of victory from Xiong Tingbi, Military Commissioner of Liaodong." Chen Hong looked at Zhu Youxiao, his expression slightly grave as he spoke.

"A report of victory?"

Hearing the words "report of victory," Zhu Youxiao was not pleased in the slightest—on the contrary, he was extremely surprised, and after the surprise came deep worry.

In Zhu Youxiao's view, the Ming army in Liaodong had no chance at all of defeating the Jurchen. This was not a problem that could be solved by swapping in a different person, even if that person was Xiong Tingbi.

So this report of victory from Liaodong might well end up becoming a report of defeat. Right now, Zhu Youxiao was genuinely worried about that.

If Shenyang and Liaoyang fell, there would be real trouble.

The strategic positions of Liaoyang and Shenyang were far too important. Their existence could effectively hem in Nurhaci, directly confining him and preventing him from attacking on all sides—this was crucial.

Taking the report of victory, Zhu Youxiao read it through once, and the worry in his heart finally vanished without a trace.

The battle report on it could hardly be called a victory report, but the situation he had feared had not arisen either—indeed, he could breathe a sigh of relief.

Only after confirming that Liaodong was safe did Zhu Youxiao have the presence of mind to ponder the meaning of this victory report.

After a long moment, Zhu Youxiao smiled bitterly and shook his head—clearly, Xiong Tingbi was testing him!

"That Xiong Tingbi!"

But it didn't matter. No matter what he was thinking, in his eyes, Xiong Tingbi had indeed rendered merit. As long as Shenyang and Liaoyang were preserved, that was a great achievement.

Looking further down, the Grand Secretariat had also given its draft rescript.

What was written there was not recognition of Xiong Tingbi's merit, nor was it crediting Xiong Tingbi for his accomplishments—rather, it said that Xiong Tingbi was suspected of falsely reporting victory.

Because Xue Guoyong, Governor of Liaodong, had also submitted a routine memorial, writing that Xiong Tingbi was unruly and intractable, arrogant and conceited, usurping power and acting autocratically, while also fearing the enemy and refusing to advance—and falsely reporting a great victory.

Zhu Youxiao let out a cold snort, then set Xiong Tingbi's memorial aside.

There was nothing particularly wrong with the Grand Secretariat's draft rescript. After all, someone below had impeached Xiong Tingbi, and the one impeaching him was the Governor of Liaodong—that could not simply be ignored.

But there was a trap in it as well. According to the Grand Secretariat's reasoning, a high-ranking official should be dispatched to Liaodong to investigate.

If the investigation confirmed the accusations, then naturally the court would credit Xiong Tingbi with merit; if the investigation did not confirm them, then naturally Xiong Tingbi would have to be punished.

Although this draft rescript looked very fair, Zhu Youxiao knew that this was precisely a scheme to bury Xiong Tingbi.

If he took it at face value, he would truly be a fool. Dispatch a high minister to investigate—send who?

As long as someone was sent, it would be a blow to Xiong Tingbi's authority.

Besides, would the person sent speak well of Xiong Tingbi?

This kind of great victory—you could call it a great victory, or you could call it cowardice before the enemy. Because indeed, strategically you had achieved victory; you had shattered Nurhaci's schemes. But tactically, you had indeed been cowardly and refused to fight, only daring to defend stubbornly inside the city walls. Putting all of that together, it was not impossible to pin the crime of fearing battle and refusing to advance on Xiong Tingbi.

Such a subjective matter—send people to investigate? Zhu Youxiao would have to have a hole in his head to think that way.

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Youxiao said directly: "Send it back!"

If the Emperor was satisfied with the opinion given by the Grand Secretariat, he would naturally issue a red endorsement with his own brush; if the Emperor was not satisfied, then naturally it would be sent back, letting the Grand Secretariat draft an opinion once again.

This time, Zhu Youxiao directly sent back the opinion drafted by the Grand Secretariat.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong promptly acknowledged and said respectfully.

Although this matter had somewhat affected Zhu Youxiao's mood, his spirits were still quite good. At least the Liaodong affair had temporarily settled down—Shenyang hadn't fallen, Liaoyang hadn't fallen. That was the best possible outcome.

As for Xiong Tingbi badly defeating Nurhaci, Zhu Youxiao had never even considered it—Liaodong simply did not have that kind of strength.

The disputes within the court, Zhu Youxiao paid no attention to at all. If empty talk were useful, then what would cannons be needed for?

Over the next two days, another wave of impeachments against Xiong Tingbi surged through the court.

Looking at the memorials before him, Zhu Youxiao helplessly let out a sigh.

Why did it feel like Xiong Tingbi had stolen someone's wife, or snatched someone's child? These people had the air of being absolutely determined to see Xiong Tingbi dead.

Setting the memorials aside, Zhu Youxiao stretched.

He had no mood to keep reading this stuff. With this time, he might as well ponder what to eat for lunch.

"Your Majesty, Qi Jin requests an audience." Chen Hong came to Zhu Youxiao's side, and seeing that his mood seemed good, promptly spoke up.

Zhu Youxiao was overjoyed. Qi Jin had come? Finally, he had come!

He could not help but rise to his feet and quickly said: "Summon him at once."

Toward Qi Jin, Zhu Youxiao held great expectations.

One should know that Qi Jin was no idle second-generation wastrel living off his inheritance, but a true fierce general of the battlefield. He had followed Qi Jiguang in the army since childhood—from a young age he served under the Junior Guardian in campaigns, repeatedly building military merit, rising from Centurion through Garrison Commander, Mobile Corps Commander, and Assistant Regional Commander.

In the early Wanli era, he followed Regional Commander Liu Ting on the campaign against the western passes, and was the first among the generals to ascend Gaoli City, earning the top merit and being promoted to Vice Regional Commander.

Talent like this absolutely had to be put to good use. At the same time, Zhu Youxiao could not help but feel some relief in his heart—fortunately he had transmigrated now. If he had transmigrated a few years later, Qi Jin and the Qi Family Army would have been gone.

Such an ace unit absolutely had to be expanded. Zhu Youxiao had already planned it out—in the initial phase, directly expand by twenty thousand men.

These twenty thousand men would be trained by Qi Jin. Once they were fully drilled, they could be pulled to Liaodong for a trial battle.

Three thousand Qi Family soldiers had fought the Battle of the Hun River, hailed as the bloodiest battle east of the Liao. So what could twenty thousand men accomplish?

Zhu Youxiao was looking forward to it, truly looking forward to it. Although his heart was agitated, he still sat himself properly, ready to wait for Qi Jin to enter.

Before long, Qi Jin walked in from outside.

He wore a suit of armor with a large crimson cape behind him, looking travel-worn and weary—clearly he had assembled his troops at the Ji Garrison and rushed all the way to the capital. And from the looks of it, he had not rested even after arriving at the capital, but had come straight in.

Upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, Qi Jin directly knelt and performed the ritual of obeisance.

"Rise, no need for ceremony!" Zhu Youxiao said with a smile. As he looked at Qi Jin now, his heart held both relief and regret—but more than anything, expectation.

Only after Qi Jin stood up did Zhu Youxiao speak: "Minister Qi, traveling all the way to the capital, weary from the journey—you should rest a while more."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's warm words of comfort, Qi Jin felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.

How many years had it been? Since Zhang Juzheng's fall, what had his family gone through? What had his uncle gone through? What had he himself gone through?

Could it be that the Qi family had finally found an enlightened master?