Chapter 193: Who Is Right, Who Is Wrong

"Inspector Li, please explain in detail."

After Zhao Jiu laughed out loud, he did not continue to lose his composure but returned to the throne, sat upright, and composed his expression. "How is Yue Fei incompetent and harming the state?"

"Your Majesty... Censor Li!" Just then, Censor-in-Chief Li Guang suddenly stepped forward, first bowing slightly to the Imperial Majesty, then immediately turning back to address Li Jing sternly. "Grand Commandant Yue is currently at the front facing the main force of the puppet Qi. While censors may speak based on hearsay without being punished for their words, you must also understand the gravity of military affairs! Therefore, if this involves military intelligence, please refrain from discussing right and wrong for now, lest it affect troop morale!"

Zhao Jiu knew that Li Guang was protecting his subordinate and close friend's younger brother, but he said nothing.

"Let the Censor-in-Chief know that although this matter is related to the current military situation, it is not directly connected!"

Upon hearing the warning, Li Jing first replied solemnly to Li Guang, then turned seriously toward the Imperial Majesty on the throne. "Your Majesty, what Your servant speaks is not hearsay but knowledge gained through personal investigation, with solid evidence—it is by no means a reckless slander of a senior general..."

"Speak." Zhao Jiu grew even more curious... He truly wanted to know how Yue Fei could possibly be linked to the word "incompetent."

"Your Majesty, Your servant entered the capital as a Supervising Censor at the beginning of this month. My primary duty was to oversee, together with my colleagues in the Censorate, the reorganization and quota-fixing of the various Imperial Encampment armies. In recent days, while reviewing files at the Bureau of Military Affairs and checking the reorganization results of each army, I compared the various figures submitted by each army and discovered that one category of numbers in Yue Fei's unit differed significantly from the others..." At this point, Censor Li spoke earnestly. "Your Majesty, if these numbers varied among all armies, that would be one thing. But in reality, the figures were similar across all armies—only the Imperial Encampment Forward Army was different. This clearly shows that Yue Fei lacks ability and handled matters incompetently!"

The Imperial Majesty's expression did not change, but inwardly he began to waver with doubt.

After all, the other party's "evidence" already vaguely gave him a feeling of grand archival technique... big data. And data does not lie; big data certainly does not lie.

Of course...

"What exactly is this different number?" Zhao Jiu asked seriously. "Inspector Li, how do you know it is Yue Fei's incompetence? You must understand that even if it differs from other armies, it could be some useless data, perhaps caused by climate or the soldiers' native places. For example, northerners prefer wheat-based foods and dislike rice. The Imperial Encampment Forward Army has many soldiers from Hebei, so certain logistical figures being quite different is a normal thing."

"Your servant would not be so pointless!" Li Jing's tone finally showed some indignation. "Nor am I settling personal scores..."

"I did not mean that." Seeing the other party about to become emotional, Zhao Jiu could only urge helplessly. "Inspector Li, just speak."

"Your Majesty." The censor finally earnestly revealed the answer. "Upon careful investigation, I discovered that the number of officers at all levels in Yue Fei's Imperial Encampment Forward Army is several times that of the other armies!"

Now, the Classics Colloquium had no fixed rules, but only high-ranking, pure-minded ministers could attend such an occasion... For instance, this first Classics Colloquium after His Majesty's accession was hosted by Grand Councilor Lü Haowen as the main lecturer, with the Hanlin Academicians, Ministers of the Six Ministries, and Censors of the Censorate in attendance—no one else participated.

In other words, everyone present was a cultured man.

Yet even so, after Li Jing spoke these words, the Hall of Humble Attendance still showed signs of commotion.

"What does this indicate?"

It was not an act; in truth, the Imperial Majesty was momentarily dazed.

"It indicates Yue Fei's incompetence!" Censor Li continued earnestly. "Your Majesty, why feign ignorance and shield this man? Not to mention that having several times the officers of other places wastes enormous resources—where did so many officers come from? Was it not because Your Majesty ordered him to reorganize the army, yet he lacked the courage? He roughly dismissed the low-ranking soldiers among the hundred thousand troops of the Eastern Capital Rear Area Command, but dared not easily deal with the officers, resulting in an overabundance of redundant officers in the army... With so many officers, top-heavy and bloated, it is no wonder that the puppet Qi rebel Liu Yu has been fighting in Dongping for days while he cannot even move from the banks of the Wen River!"

The hall grew even more tumultuous, with many whispering among themselves. After a moment, Censor-in-Chief Li Guang also stepped forward solemnly:

"Your Majesty, we know that during wartime it is inappropriate to deal with frontline commanders, but regardless, we ask Your Majesty to take precautions early. First, quickly dispatch the Imperial Encampment Central Army or the Imperial Encampment Right Army to reinforce Dongping. Second, after the war, measures must be taken against the Imperial Encampment Forward Army and the Dongping Pacification Commissioner Zhang Rong..."

Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was still somewhat bewildered. He still could not grasp the logic behind this.

At this point, even the day's protagonist, Chief Councilor Lü Haowen, spoke solemnly: "Your Majesty, I believe Censor-in-Chief Li's words are appropriate. Of course, the specific matters should be immediately discussed by the entire Bureau of Military Affairs to formulate a strategy, then a swift decision made."

Zhao Jiu finally spoke, but still sounded hesitant: "Isn't it better to have more officers? That way, one can command as easily as moving one's arm and fingers, right?"

At these words, the hall fell silent for a moment.

But shortly after, Supervising Censor Li Jing could no longer contain himself and said indignantly: "Your Majesty, that more officers are better—this servant has truly never heard of such a thing!"

"Your Majesty." Censor-in-Chief Li Guang also spoke seriously. "There are established regulations for officers. And for someone like Yue Fei, a Military Governor and Grand Commandant, even though he has the authority to appoint additional officers and staff at various levels, having several times the officers of other Military Governors—what kind of practice is that? Is he not afraid that too much is as bad as too little? With so many officers, it must surely be because he failed to clean house properly during the previous reorganization, not for the sake of 'commanding as easily as moving one's arm and fingers'!"

Zhao Jiu finally understood at this moment, but found it amusing.

At its core, no one in this matter had ill intentions... If there was any private motive, it was likely a case of "the sword dance aimed at Liu Bang," targeting the Palace Censor Moqi Xie, who was ostracized by the purist faction, because Moqi Xie was directly responsible for supervising the reorganization of the Imperial Encampment Forward Army... As for Yue Fei, in the end, these ministers were reasoning based on common sense. They did not believe that such a young Yue Fei had that kind of ability, so they made a reasonable guess based on the Great Song army's usual nature over the years.

For example, they interpreted Yue Pengju's brief halt near the Wen River at the front as an inability to control his troops, forcing him to be unable to support the front. Then, based on this "ironclad fact," they investigated and directly discovered even more "solid" evidence!

And it was almost foreseeable that as Yue Fei's military achievements and status gradually became outstanding, this kind of "suspicion" from the civil officials might gradually disappear, but wariness would inevitably arise again, and the jealousy of other military commanders would follow.

By then, it might become even more lively.

With this thought, the Imperial Majesty laughed again.

This time, even Censor-in-Chief Li Guang, who had initially been mediating and protecting his subordinate, grew angry: "Your Majesty, is there something laughable in what Your servant said?"

"No." Zhao Jiu did not even look at him and replied directly. "I was just reminded of something... What do you all think should be done with Zhang Rong? According to Yue Fei's explanation, Grand Commandant Lü's memorial, and Yang Yizhong's memorial, didn't they all say that this scoundrel Zhang Rong caused the problem?"

This was a forced change of topic.

But it was quite effective, because the issue of Zhang Rong had also been debated fiercely in the capital recently, and the debate was very interesting... Some, such as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Encampment Qu Duan, believed that Zhang Rong's behavior was tantamount to rebellion, and that not executing him would fail to win over the army's loyalty. But a considerable number of people believed that Zhang Rong was originally a bandit, and although he had acted petulantly this time, he was still contributing to the state. Moreover, he had great merit and should be treated leniently.

Zhao Jiu naturally understood the root cause of these two attitudes.

Simply put, Zhang Rong now behaved like a domineering warlord, whereas before he was a bandit who had received an official post... Correspondingly, if someone had always regarded him as a bandit, they would naturally find his current behavior reliable. Conversely, if someone had previously regarded him as a regular officer, they would naturally see his behavior as a public challenge to the central authority's power, requiring severe punishment.

In a word, it was a matter of perspective.

As for what Zhao Jiu thought... In truth, Zhao Jiu had not thought much about it, because he was waiting for Yue Fei to finish this battle. Only the outcome at the front could truly force Zhang Rong to make a decision.

That would be the time to make a resolution.

"Alright..."

As the Imperial Majesty forcibly changed the subject, the hall fell into renewed debate. Seeing this, Lü Haowen understood the situation and stepped in at the right moment to fulfill his duties as Grand Councilor: "Your Majesty, it is getting late today, and we have already performed the Classics Colloquium ceremony together. Why not let the various officials return home, and tomorrow they can submit memorials to discuss these two matters collectively, and then let the Bureau of Military Affairs and the Department of State Affairs clarify them fairly before Your Majesty?"

"Grand Councilor Lü handles affairs with maturity!" The Imperial Majesty immediately nodded, then rose again and left directly.

However, after taking only two steps away from the throne, Zhao Jiu suddenly remembered something—when Yue Fei had impeached Li Gang back then, it was of course absurd and laughable, but he ended up stripped of his rank and sent away. Li Yanxian was even placed on the wanted list for telling the truth. And today, Li Gang's younger brother impeached Yue Fei, which would also most likely become absurd and laughable, and would certainly have no impact.

It was also absurd and ridiculous.

Of course, Zhao Jiu understood in his heart that this was because Li Jing was a censor, protected by something akin to procedural justice.

Still, it was laughable. So the Imperial Majesty laughed out loud for the third time, then, holding his golden belt, hurried away with such brisk steps that the stiff wings on his hat swayed unsteadily... He was in a rush to go practice calligraphy.

A silent night passed. The next afternoon, just as large-scale discussions, impeachments, and clarifications about the Jingdong war situation were underway in the Eastern Capital, in Yanggu County, which was not far in a straight line, the Qi State's Grand Councilor Hong Ya had already fallen into despair.

Yet, amid his despair, as he looked at the three banners reading "Commandant Li" advancing from both east and west behind Yang Yizhong's flags, Grand Councilor Hong suddenly had an epiphany—among these three Commandants Li, one should be Li Kui, and the remaining two should be Li Bao.

These three men were all officers of Yue Fei's Imperial Encampment Forward Army.

And the fact that the Imperial Encampment Forward Army's troops were simultaneously coming from both upstream and downstream of the Ji River could only mean one thing: while the Qi army had made a detour north of the Yellow River, using the river as cover to outflank Zhang Rong, Yue Fei had likely planned an even larger encirclement—passing Liangshan Marsh on the left and Mount Tai on the right!

Was he enveloping the entire Dongping Prefecture?

Moreover, considering the length of this encirclement route, it was quite possible that Zhang Rong had no sooner refused to let Yue Fei cross the Wen River than Yue Fei had immediately acted.

But all of this was irrelevant now, because as he thought further, Grand Councilor Hong soon realized that he had been sold out by Li Cheng!

Not only that, but that scoundrel truly seemed to understand this so-called Yue Fei as well as he claimed—otherwise, how could he have fled so cleanly? So skillfully?!

He should be in Jinan by now, right?!

If the Jin Jun did not wish to cross the river and fight during the summer heat, they would probably have to hold their noses and support him to maintain the situation, wouldn't they?

"Going out for a trip." With this thought, Hong Ya suddenly turned and pointed at the person beside him. "Zhang Maode, is it? Going out for a trip—serve as my envoy."

Zhang Maode, Zhang Erguan, was momentarily at a loss.