Chapter 352: Confusing the Past

The day before the imperial court sealed its decree, an urgent report arrived from Datong: the Mongol envoy team, pretending to be bandits, raided villages on their departure, killing twelve, injuring nearly a hundred, and abducting over thirty people, with looted wealth uncountable.

The Datong troops pursued them one hundred and eighty li, recovering only thirteen captives, killing six enemies, and severely wounding nearly a hundred others…

The young emperor, upon receiving the military report, flew into a rage and slammed down the memorial: "Only six killed? You dare report this? Are you expecting me to reward them for their service?"

"The Mongol envoy team has lingered in Datong for days on end, raiding the borderlands repeatedly. Knowing they were about to leave the pass, why did no one send troops to escort them?"

The young emperor demanded: "What was Datong's overall commander Zhu Mian doing?"

Who knew?

Some officials close to Zhu Mian defended him: "The Mongol envoy team committed no offenses while lingering in Datong. This time, Your Majesty's gifts were generous—no one anticipated the Mongols would be so shamelessly greedy."

"After all, they are an envoy team. To escort them out of the pass under military guard would be too humiliating."

Face was a very important thing. The young emperor fell silent, his face dark.

Of course, not everyone in the hall was friendly with Zhu Mian; one official spoke up: "Regardless of the reason, Zhu Mian neglected his duty and must be punished. I humbly beg Your Majesty to issue an edict of reprimand and impose severe penalties on Zhu Mian."

Though furious, the young emperor had no intention of punishing Zhu Mian severely, so he remained silent.

Yang Shiqi, who had said nothing until now, finally spoke slowly: "Your Majesty, Datong's overall commander Zhu Mian and the left deputy commander Shi Heng previously submitted a memorial proposing to confine all members of the Mongol envoy team except the envoys themselves to Mao'er Village, withholding food and fodder to deter them from bringing more men next year."

"When they departed the pass, Datong troops were to escort them beyond the border and monitor them to prevent return. However, after deliberation between the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Ministry of War, it was deemed unwise to push matters to extremes, so only food rations were reduced; all else was left unchanged."

Thus, the blame bounced back and forth, finally landing squarely on the emperor's head.

Of course, even the five-dynasty veteran Yang Shiqi dared not force the proud young sovereign to accept blame he himself had crafted, so the fault was pushed onto Wang Zhen.

Moreover, this affair must involve Wang Zhen.

Yang Shiqi's gaze burned steadily toward Wang Zhen.

Wang Zhen: …

He clenched his teeth inwardly, then immediately bowed his head in apology: "It must have been the carelessness of subordinates. Thinking of the Celestial Dynasty's majesty, they hesitated to humiliate the envoys too harshly, so they yielded a step—never expecting the Mongols to be so ungrateful. Your Majesty bestowed such generous gifts, yet they not only ignored the imperial grace but dared to raid our people—these men deserve execution."

Wang Zhen immediately proposed launching a campaign against the Mongols to restore the emperor's and the Great Ming's honor.

The young emperor was swayed: "Indeed, we cannot allow the Mongols to continue…"

The civil officials panicked and knelt en masse: "Your Majesty, do not! Southern peasant uprisings are escalating; the Luchuan campaign has drained vast manpower and treasury funds. The state coffers are empty—no further wars can be waged in the north!"

The Censorate had been holding its breath since May; now the censors stepped forward, kneeling at the front, bowing their heads to the floor: "Your Majesty, rebels have risen in Jiangxi; Japanese pirates harass the coasts of Fujian and Zhejiang; internal unrest simmers; tax revenues are collapsing. The two major battles in Luchuan have consumed enormous resources. The people of the realm can no longer bear the burden. Another war will doom the Great Ming!"

As the censors cried out, other civil officials knelt in the center of the hall, weeping as they listed the costs of troops, grain, arms, and medicine dispatched to support Luchuan since the campaign began…

They also took the opportunity to impeach Luchuan's overall commander Wang Ji and Yunnan's overall commander Mu Ang, blaming their poor command for failing to capture Si Jifa to this day.

Wang Ji, who had just returned to the capital and barely had time to sit down, clenched his lips and said nothing.

He had been impeached upon his return, nearly spending the night in prison.

To say he was not angry was impossible.

Did he want to fight the Luchuan campaign?

Wasn't it better to remain in the capital as Minister of War?

He was scolded for losing, and scolded for winning.

Was it his wish to spend so much?

The southwestern barbarian lands are mountainous, densely forested, waterlogged, and teeming with venomous insects and snakes. Every soldier who went there fell ill at least once.

They were unfamiliar with the terrain, while the Baiyi had lived in Yunnan for generations and knew it far better.

Reinforcements came from Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, and Guizhou, even some drawn from the north. Only the troops from Guangdong and Sichuan-Guizhou adapted reasonably well; others suffered severe maladjustment.

This meant the campaign demanded even greater manpower and resources.

Not to mention the mountains of Yunnan, thick with forests—once a man vanished into the trees, he could never be found again.

Wasn't that exactly how he failed to capture Si Jifa's family?

He captured father after son, son after father—but each time he caught one, another slipped away, then another rose up.

This was no northern plain, where after defeating the enemy, a single shout and a charge could round them all up.

He couldn't catch them!

But he truly did his best!

At sixty-five years old, Wang Ji muttered silently in his heart, his face stern and expressionless.

As for other expenditures…

Wang Ji lowered his eyes and said nothing. The elder didn't scold the younger—the court had allocated ample funds to the southwest, but how much actually reached the troops?

Forget distant matters: why was Liu Ju's equipment so shoddy?

It nearly led to his entire force's annihilation.

!. Read

They say I spent too much—damn it, who's really spending this money?

Wang Ji's gaze slid across the civil officials, settled on Yang Shiqi, then lifted to sweep over Wang Zhen.

Pick the softest persimmon to squeeze. Have the courage to impeach Wang Zhen. Impeach the emperor. Trace the entire chain—see where the money went.

In truth, he was curious too: where did all that money go?

Just as he was venting loudly, the emperor suddenly erupted, slamming his fist on the table: "No money, no money—everyone tells me there's no money! The Great Ming is peaceful and prosperous—how has it come to this poverty?"

"Where did the Japanese pirates in Quanzhou get their arms? Are the refugees illegally mining silver in Jiangxi truly refugees, or are they being backed by someone? Why do they profit when they mine illegally, yet when I order mining, the mines yield barely dozens of taels a year?"

The young emperor, enraged, pulled out a memorial on silver miners rebelling and hurled it down: "Three silver mines, and together they yield less than two hundred taels a year? Are these even silver mines?"

"I now decree fixed quotas—whether you extract it or not, you will produce it!"

A seventh-rank censor collapsed to his knees, weeping uncontrollably: "Your Majesty—local officials and gentry have colluded to embezzle silver! You do not investigate the officials or the local gentry, yet you impose fixed silver quotas—ultimately, the burden falls back on the common people!"

He crawled forward, shoving aside colleagues who tried to pull him back, and banged his head against the floor: "I beg Your Majesty to dispatch censors and officials from the Court of Judicial Review to thoroughly investigate the silver mines, reduce the quotas. The tax burden on Jiangxi's people cannot be increased further. This year alone, Jiangxi has already produced sixty thousand displaced refugees—and this is only the Ministry of Revenue's count; in truth, it may be half again as many…"

This was a Jiangxi official. Hearing this, officials from other regions began pleading for their own homelands.

A Fujian official said: "Fujian's tax burden is heavy too, and Japanese pirates harass our coasts. Fishermen relocated inland lose their land every year and flee again—this is not choice, but desperation."

The official from Zhejiang said: "Even if your taxes are heavy, none are heavier than Zhejiang's—each year, the fixed quota of silk, satin, and brocade leaves Zhejiang in unbearable suffering."

The official from Nanzhili said: "Nanzhili is the same."

The northern officials nearly choked with rage; a Shanxi official, face grim, said: "Are there already two hundred thousand refugees along the Yellow River—do they wish to be refugees?"

The Emperor's face turned utterly black. "From the words of your lordships, my Great Ming is a realm in chaos."

The officials finally snapped back to their senses and immediately bowed their heads in apology: "We have spoken foolishly."

Yang Shiqi sighed softly, knowing this matter could not be pinned on Wang Zhen.

To investigate the failure to guard Datong against plunder would force the Emperor to delve deeply into the Jiangxi silver mine case.

The silver mine case involves so many people—if pursued with deadly force, countless lives would be lost.

Taking leave today; making up tomorrow and the day after. I'm starting to adjust my schedule—tomorrow I'll aim to update during the day.

(End of chapter)