Zhu Yuanzhang saw Wu Mengming's face was happy, while Fan Jingwen's face was full of sorrow. In order to increase Fan Jingwen's confidence, he deliberately left him and Jiang Dejing behind.
After Wu Mengming bowed and saluted, he reported: "Your Majesty, General Li has just received the news that Commander Li made a surprise attack on Ma Chongxi's camp last night. When the rebels were in panic, he joined forces with Jing Nanbo to defeat Zhending's defense line. Now he is pursuing Kill the enemy and move towards Shanxi."
Zhu Yuanzhang heard this and said: "Okay, Li Ruolian and Huang Degong deserve to be from the Beijing army and can fight tough battles!"
After that, he looked at Fan Jingwen and said, "Fan Qing, what title do you think he should be given based on their achievements?"
Fan Jingwen was stunned and said: "Your Majesty, the reason why Jingnan Bo Huang Degong and Ping Xi Bo Wu Sangui were granted the title of Bo without merit is that they should come to Beijing to serve the king."
"Now Uncle Jingnan has just done his duty, and logically he shouldn't be awarded a title. Moreover, Wu Sangui was not rewarded for rescuing the capital before. I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to reward Huang De for his merits at this moment!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled, looked at Jiang Dejing and said, "Jiang Qing, what do you think?"
Jiang Dejing had seen that Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention was not to award a reward, but to make Fan Jingwen confident.
He pondered for a moment, and then said respectfully: "Master Fan is right, but what Wu Sangui annihilated at Chaoyang Gate was only the surrendered troops, while what Huang Degong defeated in this battle was Li Thief's regular army. The two are not the same at all. "
"Furthermore, I heard that Ma Chongxi and Ren Jirong had 60,000 to 70,000 men, but Huang Degong only had 40,000 to 50,000 troops. It is not easy to win under such circumstances, so I feel that we should be commended!"
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that after Fan Jingwen finished listening, the sadness on his face had dissipated a lot, and he smiled again and said: "Fan Qing, I will leave this matter to you and Jiang Qing to handle."
"But you must remember that although we do not hesitate to give titles, these titles must be awarded to meritorious ministers who are loyal to the court. Only in this way can morale be truly boosted."
"Of course, it doesn't mean that others can't award rewards, but they must be distinguished to avoid chilling the hearts of loyal ministers. It's up to you to grasp the appropriateness!"
Jiang and Fan responded repeatedly, and when they were about to leave, a young eunuch hurriedly walked in and reported that the Jinyiwei secret agent had important matters to see Wu Mengming.
Wu Mengming was shocked when he heard this, glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, and walked out quickly after seeing the other person nodded slightly.
The originally relaxed atmosphere of Dong Nuan Pavilion became somewhat solemn due to this incident.
After a while, Wu Mengming walked in with a smile on his face and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, I am very happy. Pingxi Bo Wu Sangui has broken through the defense line of the rebel Guangling. Now Gao Jie and others are also attacking the surrounding counties and cities. I believe it won't be long. Comprehensively break through the rebel defenses."
Zhu Yuanzhang said with some confusion: "We remember that it was Li Mou's army that defended Guangling. His three thousand soldiers were no worse than Guan Ning's cavalry. How could Wu Sangui break through the defense line so quickly?"
Wu Mengming smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you don't know something. Ever since Gao Wencai pretended to be a scholar and borrowed Li Zhisheng's hand to send Lord Shen's letter to Niu Jinxing, the rebel civil servants and military attachés started rioting."
"Later, Li Thief killed Li Zhisheng and settled the matter. However, after this incident, Li Thief's trust in Li Yan was no longer what it used to be. After the meeting, only Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing were left to discuss."
"After that, he ordered Li Guo and Li Mou to switch defenses, and Ping Xibo seized this opportunity and captured Guangling in one fell swoop."
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but frowned when he heard this.
Because he had already seen that Li Zicheng was not a foolhardy man when Gao Jie and others besieged Li Zicheng last time, so even if Li Zicheng had doubts about Li Yan, he would never reveal it at this time.
And Li Yan is also a man with a strong mind and good strategy. When Li Zicheng treated him like that, he was loyal to Li Zicheng, and now it is even more impossible for him to turn against Li Zicheng because of a letter.
Then Zhu Yuanzhang thought that although the cavalry under Li Mou and Li Guo were not weak, Wu Sangui allowed Wu Sangui to capture Guangling. It was most likely a conspiracy.
He originally wanted to ask Wu Mengming for details, but when he saw that Fan Jingwen still looked worried, in order to prevent Fan and Jiang from being unable to act freely, he suppressed his questions, looked at Fan Jingwen and said, "Fan Qing, are you still worried now? "
Fan Jingwen was not familiar with military affairs. After hearing Wu Mengming's news, he was already determined. Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's question, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty's far-sightedness is beyond the reach of my senior minister."
"However, I am still worried that your majesty will be too strict and lose the heart of a country gentleman, which will affect the overall situation. I ask your majesty to think again!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Fan Qing, you are worrying too much. We are dealing with corrupt officials, not squires."
"Although these corrupt officials can be considered squires, they are the scum of the squires. We believe that after hearing this, the real squires will only clap their hands and cheer, and will never cry out for their injustice."
"On the contrary, if we don't deal with those corrupt officials, some truly capable and far-sighted squires will look down on us and leave us because they are unwilling to join in with those corrupt officials."
Hearing this, Fan Jingwen nodded and said: "Your Majesty is right. There are indeed too many young people in the officialdom today. I was worried that they would gather in crowds to cause trouble. However, with such a great victory, even if they have their thoughts, they would not dare to act rashly."
"But the land is the lifeblood of the squire, and the rebels lost their support because of their pursuit of stolen goods. Please be careful, otherwise I worry that there will be endless troubles in the future."
Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Fan Jingwen was hinting to him that when the rebels came, gentry from all over the country had surrendered one after another, and he was worried that he would go too far now and force these people to side with Li Zicheng again.
So he smiled and said loudly: "Fan Qing, we are not people who are overjoyed at success. I never thought that the ills that have persisted for nearly a hundred years will be cured in one day."
"However, it is imperative to inventory the land, otherwise the world will never have peace. As for the reason why the squire turned to the rebels before, it was just that he mistakenly believed that our Ming Dynasty was in ruins."
"But now that we have defeated the rebels one after another, I believe they should understand the general trend. Those who can see the general trend clearly also understand the truth of the integration of family and country."
"When the time comes, we believe that not only will they not stop them, but they will also provide strong support. As for those fools, as long as they are properly differentiated, there will be nothing to worry about..."
After listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's story, Fan Jingwen immediately knelt down and apologized: "I was confused and almost missed your majesty's important event. Please forgive me!"
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and helped Fan Jingwen up and said: "Fan Qing, you don't need to blame yourself. As long as you are loyal to the country, no matter whether you are right or wrong, we will not blame you."
Fan Jingwen's body trembled slightly, and then he said with trembling words: "Thank you for your advice, I will take note of it!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction, then picked up the memorial on the table and handed it to Fan Jingwen and said: "You don't have to worry about this, just go ahead and do it. If there are any problems, we will solve them for you."
"As for Gong Dingzi..."
He stopped again, pondered for a while, and said: "Confusing right and wrong, falsely accusing the courtiers, making them reflect at home, and not allowed to go out unless ordered!"
Fan Jingwen heard the words and whispered: "Your Majesty, Taizu has a system, and the officials can report things. If you punish Gong Dingzi like this, I am worried that it will arouse the dissatisfaction of other officials. If... Your Majesty, please think again!" "
Although Fan Jingwen stopped talking in time, Zhu Yuanzhang already understood what he meant.
He sneered and said: "It's okay to report something based on rumors, but you can't hide evil intentions. There is no need to discuss this matter again. If anyone is dissatisfied, just ask them to come to us!"
Fan Jingwen saw that Zhu Yuanzhang had made up his mind and Jiang Dejing shook his head slightly at him, so he did not argue anymore. After saluting with Jiang Dejing, Fan Jingwen left Dongnuan Pavilion.
