Chapter 398: Paranoia has struck again

Victory report!

Victory report!

The messenger soldier rode to the capital at the fastest speed, galloping all the way on the streets of the capital, not forgetting to shout the two words "victory report."

Marquis Pingjiang deployed troops and generals, drove the main force of the Great Ming King into the encirclement, wiped them out in one fell swoop, and captured the Great Ming King, as well as several generals and strategists under the Great Ming King.

The Great Ming King rebel who had harmed the world of the Great Gan for several years was thus wiped out. Even if there were fish that slipped through the net, it was not worth worrying about, all being clowns.

The victory report reached the court, and the court was shaken. It spread throughout the world, and the world was shaken by it.

Everyone's eyes turned to the south, to the rebel Prince Chu.

Marquis Pingjiang wiped out the Great Ming King's rebel force, and the only one left was the Guo Dachun route. After wiping out Guo Dachun, Marquis Pingjiang returned to the capital in triumph. At that time, could the court let Marquis Pingjiang take over as the Great Marshal of the South, and send troops to be responsible for wiping out the Prince Chu system?

"Absolutely impossible!"

Yu Zhaoan said so in the signing room.

"Absolutely impossible!"

Left Minister Li Liangcheng said so.

"Absolutely impossible!"

Xie Changling, imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, muttered to himself.

Whether it was out of the need for power balance or out of the old Emperor's selfishness, it was absolutely impossible to let Marquis Pingjiang serve as the Great Marshal of the South. It was absolutely impossible to let him touch the troops of the north and south alone.

Absolutely impossible.

Inside the Taiji Palace!

The old Emperor closed his eyes and meditated, but his mind was not on cultivation.

His eyebrows twitched, and his expression changed implicitly, looking happy one moment and miserable the next.

Qiu Defu found an opportunity and asked in a low voice: "The Emperor has been tired all morning; do you want to rest?" After speaking, a cup of tea with just the right temperature was brought over, and the tea was fragrant.

The old Emperor suddenly felt thirsty. Without even opening his eyes, he lowered his head slightly and opened his mouth, and the teacup reached his lips. After drinking a sip of tea, his mood suddenly calmed down a lot.

Since he had no intention of cultivation, today's homework would be forgotten.

As soon as he moved, Qiu Defu had already supported him with both hands, serving him comfortably and just right.

"Does the Emperor want to rest?"

"I will walk around."

Qiu Defu hurriedly knelt down and put on shoes and socks for the old Emperor.

The old Emperor kicked off his shoes, only wearing cotton socks and walking around on the ground.

"Has the victory report been passed on to the world?"

"Reporting to the Emperor, the victory report has just arrived at the Government Affairs Hall, and it has already been passed on to the world through the post station. This is a great happy event, and it also makes people in the world happy. Seeing that the end of the year is coming, and there is not much time left before the New Year, Marquis Pingjiang fought a beautiful battle at this time, and this battle was a complete victory, all thanks to the Emperor. The Emperor is blessed by heaven!"

Other palace maids and eunuchs all followed Qiu Defu, knelt down together, and shouted: "The Emperor is blessed by heaven!"

The old Emperor was pleased and rarely showed a smile.

"I knew he could do it. This battle shouldn't have been delayed for such a long time. The Great Ming King is just a mud-legged person, hasn't read books for two days, and doesn't have any real capable strategists around him. Fighting depends entirely on a few old brothers leading people to charge and fight. This kind of grass-roots team, with Marquis Pingjiang's ability, shouldn't have been delayed until now; this is not his level."

Qiu Defu heard this, and his heart was suddenly anxious, tentatively testing: "Is the Emperor suspecting that Marquis Pingjiang deliberately delayed the war?"

Hmph!

The old Emperor gave a cold snort. "His legs are lame, but his brain is not lame. Dealing with a few rebels, spending such a long time, and so much grain and military equipment, what is he eating?"

Qiu Defu's face turned pale, and for the sake of the silver, he dared to say: "Marquis Pingjiang finally solved the court's great trouble."

"I know! He has merit, and I won't erase his merit. But he delayed the war, delayed until now, causing the court to spend double the grain and military equipment, only then to pacify a mere Great Ming King. I..." The old Emperor gritted his teeth, his cheeks on both sides tightened, seemingly hating him to the extreme.

Qiu Defu hurriedly appeased: "The Emperor is angry, the Emperor is angry! Why not summon Marquis Pingjiang back and ask him personally?"

"No! Summoning him back at this time, the court officials will suspect that I cannot tolerate people, and the rabbit will die and the dog will be cooked. I want to tell the people of the world that I can sit on the country, and naturally I can tolerate anyone. As long as they are loyal officials and good generals who handle affairs for the court and share worries for me, I will never be stingy with rewards. You let the Government Affairs Hall discuss a plan as soon as possible; Marquis Pingjiang's rewards must not be less, and must be heavy. The soldiers' reward silver must also be allocated in time, and must not be delayed. If the money is not handy, I can take out five hundred thousand taels of silver from the inner treasury to solve the urgent need."

Qiu Defu was dumbfounded and felt shocked.

The iron rooster actually took the initiative to take out money!

Did the sun rise from the west today?

Heavens!

Has the world turned upside down?

The iron rooster also has a day of taking the initiative to take out money, and also urges the Government Affairs Hall to allocate silver as soon as possible.

Could it be that the Emperor has changed his nature? Could it be that the Emperor has recovered? Recovered to the previous state, wise and martial?

Qiu Defu carried caution and doubt, bowed and agreed. Waving his hand, the eunuch received the order and went to the Government Affairs Hall to pass the message.

"The Emperor is wise! There is also the rebel Guo Dachun in the north. Marquis Pingjiang should take advantage of the victory and attack, wiping out Guo Dachun in one fell swoop, and completely solving the war in the north. In this way, the court can free up its hands and concentrate on dealing with the Prince Chu system rebels in the south."

The old Emperor gave an "um," not committing himself.

"Bring me all the memorials he has submitted over the past two years; I want to look them over."

"Is Your Majesty referring to the memorials of Marquis Pingjiang?"

"Naturally."

Qiu Defu did not quite understand, but he executed the order perfectly. Soon, he had gathered all the memorials from Marquis Pingjiang over the past two years, moved them to the Taiji Palace, and placed them on the desk. Along with them, he also found all the battle reports of various levels from the north over the past two years, as well as the memorials from local officials, to serve as reference.

"Your Majesty, all the memorials from Marquis Pingjiang over the past two years are here."

He hadn't realized it until he organized them, but Marquis Pingjiang had written quite a lot of memorials in the past two years. There were two or three every month, some just to pay respects, some introducing details from the army, and others analyzing the war. Judging from the text alone, Marquis Pingjiang was diligent and responsible, worthy of being the Grand Marshal for pacifying rebels, always maintaining close contact with the court and allowing the court to understand the changes in the battlefield situation as quickly as possible.

Of course, there was no shortage of memorials urging for grain, weapons, and cotton clothing, and his pleas of poverty were truly sincere and earnest. It was as if the entire army would be gnawing on tree bark and eating wild vegetables by the next meal. Even so, he still maintained military discipline and never allowed his officers and soldiers to go out and harm the local people. This point could be corroborated by the memorials from local officials.

When the officers and soldiers gathered and the great army set out, the local people did not suffer from the ravages of war.

Then why were there frequent ravages of war during the last pacification of rebels?

It must have been that last time, Marquis Pingjiang's control over the officers and soldiers was limited; many frontier generals listened to orders but did not follow them, acting in compliance while secretly opposing.

Qiu Defu took the opportunity to put in a fair word for Marquis Pingjiang, "Marquis Pingjiang has not had it easy! The frontier army is arrogant and difficult to control. To be able to achieve this much, he must have already given his all."

The implication was that integrating this bunch of arrogant officers and soldiers had consumed a huge amount of time and energy. The so-called charge of deliberately delaying the war and causing the loss of grain and weapons to multiply should be unfounded.