Chapter 221: Forced onto the Shelf

The Capital.

"Are these all asking for money and grain?"

The Yongning Emperor pointed at the memorials piled up like a mountain in front of him and asked.

Having become Emperor, he finally understood why his imperial brother liked to scrape money.

The court from top to bottom needed money, and the little tax revenue in the national treasury was simply not enough.

Without money, nothing could be done.

"Your Majesty, these are all urgent.

Some unimportant memorials are still placed in the back."

The eunuch in charge of the brush, Su Haoyu, replied in a low voice.

Since the Yongning Emperor ascended the throne, the Great Dayu Dynasty had begun to have bad luck.

The rebellion of the Northern Tatars in the north had not yet subsided, and the White Lotus Sect rebellion had broken out in the south.

During this period, the Northwest land also suffered a great drought.

"Money, money, money, everyone only knows how to ask me for money; where am I supposed to conjure money from!"

The Yongning Emperor couldn't help but complain.

This was the price of personal rule.

In the past, these troubles could be left to the regents to handle, but now he had to make decisions himself.

It just so happened that he lacked experience and didn't understand the tricks of the trade, so some money and grain that could have been withheld were also issued.

This made the court's already tight finances even more difficult.

It wasn't that there were no ministers to advise him, but unfortunately, the Yongning Emperor couldn't listen at all, determined to be a diligent emperor.

"Your Majesty, calm your anger!

The difficulties are only temporary; when the war in the Southeast ends, everything will improve."

Su Haoyu stepped forward to persuade.

"The war in the Southeast is difficult!

Zhu Jingyi is not up to the task; since taking office, he has lost more than he has won, making the situation a mess.

Although he recovered half of Guangdong, he lost half of Huguang and one-third of Jiangxi.

In times of national crisis, one thinks of good generals; do you think I should break the ancestral system and enable the nobility to oversee the army?"

The Yongning Emperor's words gave Su Haoyu a fright.

The Emperor usually rejected eunuchs interfering in politics the most; now that he suddenly asked, who knew if this was a test.

Even if it was a sincere inquiry, Su Haoyu didn't dare to answer.

Suppressing military generals was a national policy, and enabling the nobility to oversee the army was undoubtedly breaking the convention.

Once it got out, it would inevitably cause a huge uproar in the court.

"Your Majesty, I really don't know about these things.

However, the nobility overseeing the army is not contrary to the ancestral system.

Our dynasty has not stipulated that the nobility cannot command the three armies.

Except for the first hundred years of the founding of the country, the Lianghuai rebellion during the late Emperor's era was suppressed by the nobility commanding troops."

Su Haoyu replied uneasily.

Serving by the Yongning Emperor's side, he sincerely hoped that the situation of the Great Dayu could improve.

Otherwise, if the Emperor was sad and worried every day, how could a eunuch have a good life?

"Not bad, this is indeed not contrary to the ancestral system!"

The Yongning Emperor said with satisfaction.

Having had the thought, he didn't implement it immediately.

Unlike the late Emperor's era, no matter what bad things happened, there were eunuch factions to take the blame.

Now that he proposed enabling the nobility to command the coalition forces of several provinces, the court would definitely explode.

Even if he relied on the Emperor's authority to forcibly push through the resolution, he couldn't stop the people below from dragging their feet.

By then, not only would it be impossible to suppress the rebellion, but it would make the situation even worse.

Unless he was willing to grant more authorization, such as: the power to behead civil officials who did not cooperate.

Undoubtedly, this was impossible.

Civil official overseers could have this power because they had no roots in the army.

Even if they held great power, their power came entirely from imperial power.

It would be different if it were the nobility.

Although their influence was not as good as in the early years of the founding of the country, their influence in the army was still not small.

Pulling the generals below to reminisce about the past, it might turn into their own people.

This was the disaster caused by the Great Dayu Dynasty's hereditary system for military generals.

The ancestors of the garrison officers in various places were mostly mixed under the hands of those noble ancestors.

During this period, these people didn't know how many times they had intermarried.

Flipping through the genealogy, they might become relatives.

Thinking of this, the Yongning Emperor decisively dispelled the terrible thought he had before.

The power of the Jing and Li families was already big enough; if the two heads were allowed to command the troops of several provinces, it might lead to a drama of "wearing the yellow robe."

Even in the late Emperor's era, it was only allowing the nobility to command the Beijing camp to go on an expedition, without granting command power over local troops.

"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Wuyang requests an audience outside!"

The maid's voice came, interrupting the Yongning Emperor's thoughts.

"Let him in!"

The Yongning Emperor smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth.

Just as he was worrying about who to send to the front line to oversee the army, a suitable person came to his door.

The nobility also had grades.

Old-school nobility like the Jing and Li families, who held great power in the court and had great influence in the army, belonged to the first grade.

An in-law like the Marquis of Wuyang, who only had a title, was not even in the stream among the noble groups.

His prominent status was limited to this generation.

The next generation would be estranged from the Emperor, and there would be new in-laws to replace them.

He himself came from a small family and had no roots in the court, posing no threat to imperial power at all.

The most critical thing was that the Marquis of Wuyang also had experience in leading troops and had established military merit in the process of suppressing the Lianghuai rebellion.

Although his command ability might not be the best, at least he was more reliable than those civil officials who had never led troops.

Purely from the performance, when the Marquis of Wuyang was in Yangzhou, he did better than Xu Wenyue.

In the Yongning Emperor's eyes, Xu Wenyue's military ability exceeded Zhu Jingyi's, and the Marquis of Wuyang's military ability was greater than Xu Wenyue's.

Since Xu Wenyue could suppress the rebel army when presiding over the rebellion suppression work, then replacing him with the Marquis of Wuyang, who had stronger military ability, naturally would not be a problem.

"Your subject..."

"Uncle, we are all family, no need for extra courtesy!"

The Yongning Emperor's enthusiasm gave the Marquis of Wuyang a fright.

It was true that the relationship between uncle and nephew was good, but this did not include the Emperor.

Since the nephew became the Emperor, no matter what the relationship was in the past, now there was only a monarch-subject relationship.

"Your Majesty, there is a distinction between monarch and subject!"

The Marquis of Wuyang said hurriedly.

Such a performance, falling into the Yongning Emperor's eyes, was naturally satisfactory.

The Emperor could show closeness, but he himself could not forget his identity.

No one liked to get along with people who couldn't see clearly.

"Uncle, you came just at the right time.

The war in the Southeast has been dragging on, and now it has spread to the Jiangnan region; I can't sleep or eat in peace.

Zhu Jingyi is a good-for-nothing, completely failing my trust.

I wonder, Uncle, do you have any strategy for suppressing the rebels to teach me?"

Hearing the Yongning Emperor's words, the Marquis of Wuyang cried out in his heart.

He had been paying attention to the war in the Southeast, but only limited to paying attention.

He had never thought about how to use troops specifically and how to annihilate the enemy army.

But since the Emperor asked, he couldn't not answer.

Having established military merit in the rebellion suppression war and having a persona of knowing military affairs, he had to maintain that persona.

"Your Majesty, the White Lotus Sect rebel army has grown big, so they cannot be regarded as ordinary rebels.

Wanting to suppress the Southeast rebellion is by no means something that can be completed in a day or two.

In my humble opinion, the rebellion suppression army should be deployed in two routes.

The imperial army on the Huguang and Jiangxi lines should stand in the front to block the rebel army's edge and prevent the rebel army from further expanding.

The imperial army of the three provinces of Liangguang and Fujian should send troops to attack the enemy's rear, continuously recovering lost territory and compressing the rebel army's activity space.

The White Lotus Sect's million-strong army consumes a large amount of grain and grass every day.

As long as their activity space is limited, it won't take long for them to be trapped and starved to death by the court!"

The Marquis of Wuyang immediately bluffed.

Whether the strategy could succeed or not, he didn't know; anyway, it sounded feasible.

As long as the imperial army on the front line could complete the task, it would absolutely be able to annihilate the rebel army.

"Good!

Uncle, you are truly a great talent!

Zhu Jingyi is not up to the task; I have decided to dismiss him on the spot and escort him back to the capital.

Uncle, are you willing to go and serve as Governor to preside over the rebellion suppression work?"

Facing the Yongning Emperor's expectant eyes, the Marquis of Wuyang was dumbfounded.

He had just blown some hot air, and now he was being asked to go to the front line; this was really too difficult for people.

If the rebel army were really easy to suppress, such a good job wouldn't be his turn!

"Your Majesty, this matter should be handled with caution.

There are many talents in the court; your subject is really not up to the task!"

The Marquis of Wuyang hurriedly refused.

As early as when he was in Yangzhou, he had made up his mind that he would never go to the front line in this life.

He hadn't lived a good life for a few years, and now he was being asked to go to the front line again; he had to dispel the Emperor's terrible thought.

"Uncle, no need to be humble.

Before Grand Secretary Xu left office, he recommended you to me.

'Among the civil and military officials in the court, the one who can quickly suppress the White Lotus Sect rebellion is none other than the Marquis of Wuyang!'

I remember his words clearly."

The Yongning Emperor's explanation made the Marquis of Wuyang half-dead with anger, and deep in his heart, he immediately greeted Xu Wenyue's ancestors for eighteen generations.

Wasn't it just some past grievances; was it necessary to pit him to death like this!

The rebellion suppression Governor was not a good job; even if he did it well, it would be difficult to have a substantial improvement in his status.

If he messed it up, the current Governor Zhu Jingyi was the example.

Being escorted back to be held accountable, whether he could save his life was an unknown.

Only a fool would want to do such a bitter job.

"Your Majesty, our dynasty has always used civil officials to control the military, and there has never been an in-law serving as Governor of several provinces.

The great cause of suppressing the rebellion is of great importance, so we must not take risks!"

The Marquis of Wuyang tried hard to shirk.

"Uncle, no need to decline; this matter is settled!"

The Yongning Emperor stated immediately.

In order to suppress the White Lotus Sect rebellion quickly, he could no longer care about so much.

There were only a few people in the court who had the ability to clean up the mess.

Not enabling the Marquis of Wuyang, he couldn't let the Duke of Cheng or the Marquis of Zhenyuan do it, right!

"Your Majesty, wait!

The two rebellion suppression armies are far apart, and setting up one Governor simply cannot take care of both.

Affected by the rebel army's obstruction, just the transmission of military orders would take more than ten days.

In the battlefield, speed is precious; I propose setting up two rebellion suppression Governors to command the armies separately.

I volunteer to preside over the military affairs of Liangguang and Fujian!

As for the rebellion suppression matters in Huguang and Jiangxi, I recommend Grand Secretary Xu."

The Marquis of Wuyang bit the bullet and stepped forward to say.

Since he couldn't hide, he would pull another one to be a cushion.

At the very least, in the Liangguang region, he had his old subordinates, which was easy to use.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 222 =====