There was endless debate in the court, and everyone had their own positions.
And with the "defection" of Liu Ju, Gao Gu and others, what was originally supposed to be a confrontation between noble relatives and civil servants suddenly became much more complicated.
The emperor also seemed to feel a little headache. He raised his hand and pressed down. The emperor finally spoke, but towards Yu Qian who had been silent.
"Yu Qing, now the ministers in the court have different opinions on this matter. Do you think Wang Ji is guilty?"
Yu Qian still looked as calm as ever, he stepped forward and said.
"Your Majesty, regarding Wang Ji's matter, I consider myself to be just and fair, and have never defended anyone. Although his suppression of the rebellion has been delayed, as the chief military officer, he has the power to make arbitrary decisions based on the situation. He has not committed any serious offense, so how can he be called a crime? ?”
The ministers felt a little helpless. Yu Qian was still Yu Qian. No wonder this temper made the emperor angry many times.
However, in this morning court, the emperor was obviously able to maintain his rationality. Although he was a little unhappy after hearing Yu Qian's words, he did not reprimand him.
As a result, all the ministers secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Generally speaking, if the quarrel becomes like this, it will end in nothing.
This impeachment was initiated by the nobles, and the target was the power of the Beijing camp in Yu Qian's hands. For them, if nothing was done, it would be a failure.
At this point, the two parties in the court are equally matched. Even the emperor may not be able to touch Yu Qian, an important minister of the Seven Ministers.
After hesitating for a moment, the emperor seemed to have made up his mind and was about to speak. Cheng Jing, the eunuch and eunuch who was standing aside, suddenly changed his expression.
Immediately afterwards, the ministers saw a young chamberlain hurried to the imperial steps from the side door and handed Cheng Jing an envelope.
Cheng Jing glanced at it, stepped forward quickly, and delivered the envelope to the emperor. A sharp-eyed minister in front of him vaguely saw that it seemed to be covered with a red wax seal, like a military report.
They soon had the answer, because the emperor opened the envelope, and after reading it, his face suddenly darkened, and he waved his hand, signaling Cheng Jing to read it out in front of everyone.
"I heard that Huang Hao, the censor of the Guizhou Road Patrol, was weeping and bleeding..."
"I was ordered by the imperial court to patrol Guizhou. On the tenth day of the fifth lunar month last year, I went to Linpingyue City. It happened that the Miao rebels rebelled and Pingyue was besieged. I led the defenders in the city to break through the siege several times, but all failed. In desperation, , we had to occupy the city to defend it. Fortunately, the soldiers and people in the city were grateful for the kindness of the imperial court, and they were united and vowed not to surrender."
"However, it has been more than 210 days since the Miao thieves broke out and besieged Pingyue. The food and grass in the city have long been running out. The officials have deployed various methods, but there is nothing they can do. For several days, the soldiers and civilians in the city have been eating grass roots and bark."
"I sent people several times to send messages to Chenzhou to suppress the rebellion, but no news came back. Today, the food and grass in the city are exhausted. There was an incident of changing children for food the day before yesterday. As a last resort, I took the risk and sent messengers again. This letter was hidden in a bamboo tube and sent straight to the capital from the Jiandao."
"I only hope that the imperial court will be considerate of the soldiers and civilians of Pingyue, hold fast to the city, refuse to retreat until the death, and be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, and immediately order the army to dispatch to break the siege of Pingyue and save more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians from the fire."
"I bow my head and pay homage a hundred times. Huang Hao, the censor of the Guizhou Road Patrol, offers my respects."
Cheng Jing's voice was steady and loud, without any emotion.
But just by reading it plainly, all the ministers present could feel the deep sadness and despair in the lines of this military report.
Pingyue was surrounded, which was no secret in the court.
As early as last June, Gong Ju, the commander-in-chief of the southern expedition, realized that the Miao people were powerful and that this was not an ordinary small rebellion. When he requested reinforcements from the court, he sent the news of Pingyue City being surrounded to the capital.
Because of this, the imperial court urgently ordered Wang Ji's army, which was conquering Luchuan, to temporarily change its route to Miao land and take over Gong Ju's role in countering the rebellion.
But for the elders in the court, Pingyue was surrounded, it was just four words on paper.
It wasn't until Huang Hao's military report arrived that they realized that just four words on the document affected the lives of tens of thousands of Pingyue soldiers and civilians.
What they didn't expect was that the situation in Pingyue had become so bad.
The atmosphere in the palace became low and depressing.
This military report not only brought a deep shock to the ministers present, but more importantly, even the dullest person could notice that with the arrival of the military report, the emperor's anger was brewing under his calm face.
Finally, the sound from the throne fell, still calm.
"The Ministry of War, apart from Pingyue, how many other cities were besieged by the Miao army?"
Yu Qian stood there, his face also livid because of the contents of the military report.
He had never expected that the situation in Pingyue would be so dangerous.
After hearing the emperor's question, Yu Qian woke up, took a deep breath and said.
"Back to Your Majesty, according to the information obtained from the military report of the Ministry of War, Miao bandits are spreading in the southwest, reaching Longliwei in Guizhou in the west, Yuanzhouwei in Huguang in the east, Wugang Prefecture in Huguang in the north, and Bozhou in Sichuan in the south. The besieged areas are mostly in Guizhou. Huguang is where it belongs.”
"Among them, Pingyue was the first to be besieged, and it has been more than seven months. There are 11 other cities, which have been besieged for three to five months. Among them, four cities can still transport supplies, and five cities can still communicate, including Pingyue. Inside, three cities have been completely surrounded, and no news has been heard."
When he said these words, Yu Qian's rare voice trembled.
"No news came?"
The emperor whispered softly, but it was not difficult to be heard clearly in the silent hall.
With a "bang" sound, the emperor's right hand slapped heavily on the imperial case.
His originally plain face turned into a fierce expression.
"Then where does this military report in front of me come from?"
The emperor was so angry that he laughed, his body trembling slightly.
"What a Wang Ji, what a Hou Jing, I sent them to quell the Miao rebellion, but what was the result? A general military officer who recruited Miao soldiers, and an admiral and military minister, the two of them teamed up and sent troops to Chenzhou and Yuanzhou, but they were unable to move forward. Treat the people of the Miao land as nothing."
"It's very good. It's just that you are afraid of war, but you dare to deceive the court and stop the military report. If Huang Hao hadn't risked his life to send this letter, would the court have waited until the soldiers and civilians of Pingyue were starved to death? Do you want to report a great victory to me?"
The thunderous voice echoed throughout the entire hall.
This was the first time that the ministers saw the emperor so furious. Seeing that the situation was not good, they all fell to their knees and shouted in unison.
"Your Majesty, calm down."
It became quiet in the main hall. The elders lowered their heads and did not dare to breathe. In the huge Wenhua Hall, only the breathing of the emperor touched everyone's hearts.
After a while, the emperor finally calmed down a little, but his face was still livid and he said coldly.
"Cheng Jing!"
"The minister is here..."
"Eight Hundred Miles has been urgent. He immediately sent an order to Liang Yao, ordering him to launch troops to Pingyue within three days after receiving the order. No delay is allowed. Regardless of the cost, the siege of Pingyue must be lifted within ten days. Anyone who fails to do so will be deemed to have missed the deadline. The crime shall be punished under military law.”
"According to the order."
After Cheng Jing received the imperial edict, he took two steps back and stood back where he was, preparing to deliver the edict after the morning court session as usual.
However, the emperor glared at him and said, "Go now!"
Although the words were addressed to Cheng Jing, the ministers could not help but tremble in their hearts.
Even Da Xun, the most favored person around the emperor, is treated like this. It seems that the emperor may be really angry this time.
As Cheng Jing hurriedly exited the hall and went to deliver the decree, the emperor finally calmed down and returned his gaze to the hall with a deep tone.
"Yu Qian, do you have any explanation for this military report?"
