Chapter 501 Is Datong planning a rebellion?
He was delighted that the court was in his control and that a fight broke out among all the officials in front of the palace gate.

Gao Gong has completely lost interest in it.

He was truly calm.

Even when someone came to report the free-fighting match in front of Xi'an Gate, Gao Gong could still sit calmly in the head chair of the cabinet and quietly drink a sip of the tribute tea bestowed by the emperor.

then.

The Prime Minister ate a few more red dates.

State affairs are heavy and complicated, and the Prime Minister feels that he must take care of his health first.

Yuan Wei, Li Chunfang and Zhao Zhenji also looked at Gao Gong silently for a few times, then they lowered their heads to deal with the matters at hand, drafted the memorials submitted by various ministries and localities, gave their opinions, compiled them into a book, and then handed them over to the Imperial Household Department for approval.

At this time, someone else came in.

"Yuan Fu, they have stopped at Xi'an Gate."

"Huang Jin from the Imperial Household Department brought the East Factory guards and took all the officials involved in the fight to the palace gate."

Gao Gong looked at the person who came.

It was Su Yu, the secretary of the Imperial Decree Office, who was sent by the Cabinet to Xi'an Gate to gather information.

Su Yu, courtesy name Junming, was a native of Rugao, Nanzhili. He was the 31st place in the second class of the imperial examination in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign.

The current teacher is the Prince’s guest Yan Shaoting.

After hearing the latest news, Gao Gong just hummed and took a sip of tea: "What's the situation? Has anyone been beaten to death?"

Su Yu nodded: "Seven people died and more than twenty people were seriously injured."

When Su Yu finished saying the specific numbers.

Yuan Wei, Li Chunfang and Zhao Zhenji in the classroom all raised their heads and glanced towards the Prime Minister.

Gao Gong's brows twitched slightly.

"Dead..."

He muttered something, then glanced at the three people in the cabinet, and finally his eyes fell on Yuan Wei.

Yuan Wei is now the second-in-command of the cabinet, equivalent to Xu Jie in the past.

Received Gao Gong's gaze.

Yuan Wei said, "Since someone has died, this matter is not trivial and cannot be dealt with lightly. Huang Jin brought the people from the East Factory there. The emperor must have issued an imperial decree. Now... the prime minister should also come forward and go there."

The Cabinet is the center of the court, and the Prime Minister is the one who oversees all civil and military officials.

Now that things have been settled, we just need to go through the motions.

Otherwise, if we really count it strictly, Gao Gong and the cabinet should bear responsibility for the brawl among officials at Xi'an Gate today.

Gao Gong frowned and said, "How should we deal with it? The emperor has always been a man of deep thoughts, and I, the minister, cannot figure it out. This time, something like this has happened, and I am afraid that no one can guess what the emperor thinks."

The court has changed.

Everything became a little unfamiliar to Gao Gong, especially the unfamiliarity brought about by the emperor's transformation.

I want to realize my ambition of becoming a virtual monarch with real power.

I'm afraid it will have to fall on the new king.

Gao Gong believed that he was not a treacherous person, nor did he want to be a powerful official. He just wanted the world and the court to do things according to the rules. Those who made mistakes were punished, and loyal officials and generals were promoted. In this way, the world would naturally be peaceful and strong.

Su Yu delivered the message and stood silently aside, quietly observing the expressions and reactions of several ministers in the cabinet.

The gentleman once said that although the Zhongshu Sheren in the Imperial Edict-Drafting Office was inconspicuous and far less prestigious than those in the Hanlin Academy, the Six Ministries, and the Censorate, the Zhongshu Sheren had an advantage that others could not match.

The right to be informed.

After passing the exam, he was selected to work in the Imperial Decree-Drafting Office as a seventh-rank Zhongshu Sheren. At first, Su Yu was a little confused, but later he finally understood the true meaning of what the teacher said.

Yuan Wei said, "Why not... let the people from the Three Judicial Departments submit a petition first. The person who beat the seven people to death will be charged with murder and sent to prison. The rest of the people who participated in the fight will be suspended from their posts and be tried by the Three Judicial Departments. The Ministry of Personnel will punish and demote them?"

Officials who beat people to death would naturally be held accountable, and even if they survived, they would probably be demoted to commoners or even exiled to the border. As for the others, the three judicial officials would naturally review the severity of the crime, and then the Ministry of Personnel would give their opinions accordingly, and those who should be fined would be punished, and those who should be demoted would be exiled from the capital.

The advice given by Yuan Wei is quite reasonable.

But Zhao Zhenji suddenly said: "I'm afraid the emperor's heart is not like this..."

When the new cabinet minister finished speaking, everyone in the classroom fell silent.

At this moment.

Another person came over from outside and stood at the door of the classroom.

He is the eunuch from Xiyuan.

"Prime Minister, all the ministers, there is an alarm coming from the border, and the emperor is calling you to see him."

Xuanbian is Xuanfu Town, one of the nine borders.

In recent years, most of the Nine Border Alerts were along the lines of Xuanfu and Datong. The imperial court had deployed hundreds of thousands of troops in these two places for this purpose, and even exempted the two places from taxes so that they could be used locally. The imperial court also issued an additional hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year.

To protect Xuanfu and Datong is to protect the capital.

but……

It will often become a reliance for Xuanda and others to threaten the center.

Yuan Wei and others looked at Gao Gong.

Both Xuan and Da are heavily populated by people from Jin. The current Minister of War Yang Bo is even born in Jin.

Gao Gong also had a close relationship with Yang Bo, who was a Jin person and also from Jin.

At this time, Xuanbian was in a hurry.

It's hard not to feel that there's something fishy going on here.

Gao Gong naturally knew what they were thinking, and said with a serious face: "The emperor has urgently summoned us, so we should get up quickly and go to the Wanshou Palace to see him."

He didn't want to say anything more, but his heart was heavy.

Now he has to reorganize the court and implement new policies. The court is in chaos because of this matter. Today, there was even a fight because of the pent-up emotions of officials some time ago.

At this critical moment, something seemed to have happened to Xuanbian again.

This couldn't help but make Gao Gong Wuming angry.

He stood up and was the first to walk out of the classroom.

Gao Gong had already begun to wonder what had happened in Xuan Bian this time.

Yuan Wei, Li Chunfang and Zhao Zhenji followed behind.

I was speechless all the way.

Soon the four of them entered the Wanshou Palace together.

Since only cabinet ministers were summoned, the emperor would naturally not sit in the front hall.

Led by the eunuchs from the Wanshou Palace, the four arrived at the door of the inner hall.

As soon as they arrived here, the four of them heard a burst of rapid coughing coming from the inner hall, which sounded quite painful.

Gao Gong frowned slightly, and Yuan Wei and the other two looked at each other.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister and the three elders are here."

The eunuch went in to pass the message.

The coughing became less severe.

Lu Fang walked to the palace gate and looked at Gao Gong and the other three. "Prime Minister, the three ministers, please enter the palace. The master is waiting for you four."

Four people entered.

When I smell it, I can smell a herbal scent that is stronger than before.

This made the four of them feel depressed again.

Obviously, the emperor seemed to have some health problems. After entering the palace, Gao Gong was the first to raise his head and quickly glance at the emperor who was sitting on the Taotai like in the past.

Although the emperor was still wearing a Taoist robe today, it was obviously thicker.

The emperor himself had his hands curled up under his Taoist robe, his face seemed to have turned a little red due to his previous coughing, and he lay on his side on the soft pillow with a rather uncomfortable look on his face, with a blanket covering his lower body.

This is a rare sight.

And saw four people coming in.

Jiajing, who was lying on his side on the Taotai, just raised his head slightly: "Prime Minister, the elders are here..."

"I will pay my respects to Your Majesty."

"I heard the urgent report from Xuanbian and your Majesty summoned us. We rushed before you and asked for your instructions."

Jiajing raised one hand limply and waved.

Lu Fang then handed the opened urgent report from Xuanbian to Gao Gong.

Gao Gong hurriedly took it and opened it to examine it carefully. Yuan Wei and the other two also stepped forward and watched.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Not long after.

The four people's expressions changed.

Gao Gong raised his head and looked at Lu Fang in front of him: "The report from the Western Road of Xuanbian is that the Western Road of Xuanbian has discovered that the enemy troops are stationed in the upper reaches of the Dongyang River outside the border wall of the Eastern Road of Datong?"

The Nine Frontier System was a system in which the Ming court established nine military border towns in the northern border areas, each with a general commander in charge.

In each town, different garrisons will be set up according to the terrain.

The west road of Xuanfu Town is roughly based on the lines of Wanquan Zhuwei City, Ximalin Fort, Xinhekou Fort, and Xinkaikou Fort.

correct.

The defeat at Yutailing, where Emperor Wuzong ascended the throne, actually took place between Xinhekou Fort and Xinkaikou Fort on the west route of Xuanfu.

There is also a famous place here, Yehuling.

The north road of Datong Town refers to the area bordering the west road of Xuanfu Town, which includes the border forts such as Zhenlu Wei, Tiancheng Wei, Gaoshan Wei, Yanghe Wei, Yongjia Fort, Xinping Fort, Wayaokou Fort, Baiyangkou, Huyukou and Yanghekou.

There is also a famous place here, namely Baideng.

Because of the terrain, this area has always been a place where the Central Plains dynasties and the grassland nomads fought and conquered each other.

However, the reason why Gao Gong's expression changed so suddenly was because the border town's urgent request was wrong.

The upper reaches of Dongyang River face the east road of Datong Town directly, while the lower reaches of Dongyang River flow through the west road of Xuanfu.

Now that the rebel army, that is, the army of Altan Khan, is stationed in the upper reaches of the Dongyang River, they should have urgently reported to the capital from the Datong East Route, instead of reporting from the Xuanfu West Route.

Yuan Wei also frowned and said, "This time, Altan is stationed in the upper reaches of the Dongyang River, which is the area of ​​Maoerzhuang and Liangmatai outside the Datong East Road. So... why didn't Datong report to the capital in a hurry?"

He expressed the doubts in everyone's mind on behalf of Gao Gong.

On the platform.

Jiajing coughed lightly a few times, and his face turned unnaturally red again.

Li Chunfang also spoke up: "Why didn't Datong Governor Zhang Zhixiao report it? Why didn't Datong General Sun Wu hear about it? Let's report to the border of Xuan. This year, Yan'an and other places in Shaanxi have reported the intruders. How come the frontier of Xuan and Da is not on guard?"

Gao Gong immediately glanced at Li Chunfang, frowned slightly, and felt a little dissatisfied.

Even before the matter became clear, Li Chunfang had already begun to pin the blame on the governor and general of Datong.

This is not a good thing.

Zhao Zhenji glanced at Gao Gong's expression, and then slowly said: "Since it is about military intelligence and military preparations, I think the emperor has summoned the Ministry of War. Why not wait until the Ministry of War arrives before discussing it."

This statement came out.

Gao Gong immediately gave him a grateful look.

Li Chunfang also closed his mouth and stopped talking.

On the Taotai, Jiajing coughed several times in succession.

Lu Fang said: "The master has sent someone to summon the Ministry of War. I think they should be here by now."

As soon as he finished speaking.

Then I heard footsteps coming from outside the hall.

"I am Yang Bo, the Minister of War, and I am here to see you."

"Your servant Hu Zongxian comes to see you at your command."

Outside the palace gate, Yang Bo and Hu Zongxian both looked solemn.

Xuan Bian hurriedly reported to the capital at this time, it must be that Altan Khan outside the Great Wall had made some unusual movements again.

The imperial court is now implementing a new policy. If Altan Khan launches a large-scale invasion at this time, it will inevitably involve the entire Nine Borders, including Shanxi, Datong, Xuanfu and even Jizhou.

By then, the capital will have to mobilize troops and all matters will be delayed due to border affairs.

Although this is bound to happen, once the border wall is captured by the enemy army, they will approach the capital.

Then Yang Bo, the Minister of War, would probably be in trouble.

Although Hu Zongxian was not in charge of the Ministry of War, if major problems arose in the nine borders, the court would inevitably allocate money and grain to the nine borders, and the war in the southeast would naturally be affected.

These are all issues that affect the overall situation.

"Enter."

When Yang Bo and Hu Zongxian were both worried, Lu Fang had already called them in from the hall.

They were just two ministers of war, so Lu Fang naturally didn't need to go to the palace gate as he did when he welcomed the cabinet ministers before.

Yang Bo and Hu Zongxian entered.

Yang Bo spoke first: "Your Majesty, I heard that there is an emergency in Xuanbian, and now is the time for autumn defense. Last time, Xuanbian was invaded by several armies of Altan Khan, causing a group of troops to rush into the capital. The court ordered rectification at that time, and the general Ma Fang even went to the capital to report his guilt. The emperor was merciful and punished him to return to Xuanbian. Now there is an urgent report from Xuanbian again. The court should issue an order to severely reprimand Ma Fang and order him to strictly guard the border wall and not let the thieves get in!"

He was the first to speak and respond in his capacity as the Minister of War.

But when Yang Bo finished speaking, everyone in the hall looked at him with complicated eyes.

Yang Bo was stunned.

Did I say something wrong?
Zhao Zhenji sighed silently, and then said, "Although Xuanbian came to report today, he said that there are Altan's bandit troops stationed outside the border wall of Datong East Road and in the upper reaches of Dongyang River."

Yang Bo's face suddenly tightened.

He was the Minister of War. Even without looking at a map, he had a geomancy map of the nine frontiers of the Ming Dynasty in his head.

I obviously said the wrong thing!
But in an instant, Yang Bo felt uneasy again.

There were enemy troops stationed in the defense area of ​​Datong, but the report came from Xuanfu. How could he not understand the problem here?

I couldn't figure out the situation of the side wall for a while.

Yang Bo immediately spoke up: "Datong Governor Zhang Zhixiao, General Sun Wu, do you have any report?"

There was silence in the hall.

No one answered Yang Bo's question.

But Yang Bo's face turned visibly paler.

Gao Gong turned his head and glared at Yang Bo, snorting coldly, "The Nine Frontiers were established at the beginning of the country. Initially, they were to guard against the Yuan people, supply the court with supplies to the northern expedition to the grasslands outside the Great Wall, and drive out the Yuan thieves. Later, they were set up for more than a hundred years, and have always been for the court to guard against the southward movement of the Mongolian tribes. Each of the Nine Frontiers is guarding the border walls, each responsible for its own territory, to ensure the safety of the people in the border areas, and to defend against the thieves in the south of the desert. Each town has countless scouts and night patrols, and they have to go out of the border every year, every month, and every ten days to investigate the enemy situation. Now the enemy troops are stationed outside the border of Datong, but Xuanfu has reported it, but Datong has not heard of it. Why is this?"

As the Prime Minister.

Gao Gong is fully qualified to say this.

And the next second.

Gao Gong snorted coldly: "Are they planning a rebellion?"

…………

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(End of this chapter)