Chapter 438 Peak Hour 1
In the early morning of the 20th lunar month, Song Nan's python robe and jade belt, dressed in utensils, entered the palace and court under the embrace of all the brocade guards. Hundreds of officials gathered in front of the Fengtian Hall, and the most eye-catching thing was the admirals of a fully armed regiment camp. Usually, most of them were not listed in the court, but today they attended collectively when they saw Song Nan's big stride. What happened, the marquis' eyes suddenly glowed, looking like they were the same enemy.
British Duke Zhang Mao stood in the corner accompanied by Zhang Lun, coldly looking at the camp admirals around Xu Guangzuo, while Xu Guangzuo narrowed his eyes with a smile and whispered to the marquis who glared at Song Nan from time to time.
Song Nan is the absolute protagonist today. Everyone knows that today is the day when Song Nan was promoted to a peerage, but what position he was promoted is intriguing. The attitude of the princes of the regiment camp has become obvious. Therefore, when Song Nan smiled and bowed to his officials, the officials still said congratulatory words. But it is difficult to hide the excitement of gloating and watching the bustle.
Song Nan went to her husband by herself and said, "Master, are you in good health?"
Zhang Mao hummed back and said, "Thanks to you, I'm not angry."
Song Nan smiled and said, "Has the young master ever conveyed my meaning to the old man? What does the old man think?
Zhang Mao naturally knew what Song Nan was referring to. Last night, Song Nan visited the Duke's Mansion. Zhang Mao deliberately avoided it and only sent Zhang Lun to see Song Nan. The father and grandson discussed what Song Nan said to Zhang Lun all night. They both felt that this matter was unlikely and thought that Song Nan was dying. It is not easy to talk about adding a new camp in Beijing. This move will attract unanimous opposition from the imperial court. Song Nan is afraid that he will suffer a big loss in this matter.
However, as long as Song Nan does not insist on entering the regiment camp to replace someone, the atmosphere in the regiment camp will not be tense, and Xu Guangzuo's approach to attract the Xunqi will not succeed. After all, the marquis are all Zhang Mao's old relationship. As long as it does not hurt their interests, they will not openly deviate from the British government. Whether Song Nan's business has become a trivial matter or not, at least this boy still understands that it is impossible to enter the regiment camp. If Song Nan insists, the British general will not hesitate to openly oppose it in the court.
"Is it important what I think? You have made up your mind, and the emperor has promised you. It's useless to say anything. I just want to remind you that yours will be given to you, and it's useless if you don't force it. There are some things that you can't get.
Song Nan smiled and said, "There is something in my words, but for my ignorance, I don't understand your machine front; Song Nan only believes in human-made things, and the old man knows in his heart that I have also fulfilled my obligations to the British government. I only hope that the old man can help me with a few words at that time. It's my business."
Zhang Mao said, "I can only promise not to object. In fact, it's better not to get that position. If I were you, I wouldn't want anything this time. Let the emperor owe you this."
Song Nan smiled and said, "Can you do this or look at the face of the little princess?" I understand. The old man really does what he says and will never give me any help. However, the old man doesn't know enough about me. I will never want what I shouldn't want, and I don't hesitate to fight for what I deserve. I can't compare with the old man's obscure. I'm so superficial.
Zhang Lun frowned and said, "Song Nan, why do you talk to the old man so much? Don't you know the dilemma of this matter?"
Song Nan sneered and said, "I'm embarrassed. What is not a difficult thing in my life? I just want to know who will make a start for Song Nan at the critical time. Maybe I'm too naive. Well, in this case, I don't pray that the old man will help me. Sometimes I'm a guy who doesn't hit the south wall and doesn't look back. Today's matter is the opposition of the whole dynasty. I also want to fight not to get rich for promotion, just for this tone.
Zhang Mao sneered and said, "I'm ambitious, hey, I'm just a little stupid."
Zhang Lun also frowned and said, "Soong Nan, why do you have to take a step back..."
Song Nan smiled and arched her hand, said nothing more, and turned to the front steps of the palace. Although I can't hear the conversation between Song Nan and the British Duke, the officials who observed the words have guessed some clues from the expressions of both sides. It seems that the rumor that Song Nan, who has made great achievements in the court this time, will get nothing is true. He is still delusional about taking the leading military position from Lao Xunqi, even if he is awarded the title of marquis. Cheng.
Thinking of Song Nan's return to Beijing, the emperor led the civil and military officials to welcome the grandeur and glory of the ten-mile long pavilion. Thinking about what was about to happen in the hall today, two words flashed in the hearts of the civil and military officials, that is: tiger head and snake tail, laughing!
The bell buzzed, and the heavy gate of Fengtian Hall also opened under the efforts of several chamberlains. The huge candles in Fengtian Hall were burning brightly than the morning. The officials stopped buzzing and greeting each other, and slowly climbed up the high steps in line.
Dozens of red-guits and red-cladled generals came out of the side halls and stood majestically around the dragon seat. Then, under the guidance of several princes in the inner court, Zhengde slowly stepped out to ascend the dragon throne. The ministers shouted long live and made a chaotic salute. When Zhengde got up, he was already sitting on the dragon throne.
"If there is a book, there is no book to retreat!" The old opening remarks sounded from the mouth of the waiter.
Officials of the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have successively reported some things about the reconstruction of relief after the chaos of the thief soldiers, as well as the appointment and removal of officials. Zhengde made oral instructions one by one, which is nothing more than relief and reconstruction as soon as possible. During the festival, it is necessary to ensure that the people have a house to live in, eat, eat, wear clothes and so on.
Dealing with these trivial things, he suddenly fell into silence. Zhengde glanced down the hall and saw Song Nan standing by the aisle in the fourth row. He smiled and said, "Song Nan, come forward."
Song Nan hurriedly bowed and saluted. Zhengde said, "Song Nan, after three days of rest, has your body and spirit recovered?"
Song Nan said, "Your Majesty is sympathetic to me. I feel much better these days."
Zhengde laughed and said, "That's good. I said that the day you come back from vacation is when I reward you for your achievements. The focus of today's morning is this matter. Can all the meritorious generals enter the palace?"
Song Nan said, "We are all waiting outside the hall."
Zhengde said, "I will meet them."
After a while, led by Xu Taijiangbin, more than a dozen generals who followed Song Nan to suppress the thieves quickly entered the hall, knelt down and shouted long live, kowtowed their heads and salute. Zhengde smiled and waved his hand and said, "Except, you are all meritorious officials. Today, I will give you a reward and stand aside and wait."
The generals hurriedly got up and found a place to stand.
Zhengde took a look at Song Nan, looked up at the civil and military officials and said quietly, "Guys, this time to suppress the thieves, Song Nan, the commander of Jinyiwei, stood up and led a large army to sweep away the anti-thieves, annihilate 70,000 thieves, and ensure the stability of our community, which can be said to be a lot of hard work. I asked you about the award of Song Nan a few days ago, but there were different opinions.
Zhengde paused, looked around at the expressionless civil and military officials, and continued, "I'm thinking that no matter whether Song Nan had the courage to shoulder heavy burdens and share national worries during the crisis, judging from Song Nan's performance of suppressing thieves this time, Song Nan is a leading general. I know that many people will be unconvinced, and I don't want to expose your scars. Some of you usually boast bravery and blow loudly, but when you go to the battlefield, aren't you beaten by thieves? I have no intention of blaming anything. After all, it is common for soldiers to win or lose, but the reason is obvious. The winner is naturally more powerful than the loser. Are you saying that what I am saying?
Xu Guangzuo's face was gloomy. The emperor's words seemed to be incompetent. At the beginning, he was the first to take charge of and suppress the thief. It was his son who was defeated by the East Road. Isn't the emperor's words aimed at himself?
"The emperor is holy, but it can't be generalized. The matter of soldiers is complex and changeable, and there are also many accidents. Just like Xu Yande's defeat in Shandong, that was because he didn't understand the thief soldiers. He didn't expect that the thief soldiers were so fierce that he was defeated. After Lord Song took over, it was precisely because of Xu Yande's defeat that he was cautious. Or it can be said that Lord Song's victory also had Xu Yande's credit. Jiao Fang, a cabinet scholar, really said some truths.
Some people covered their mouths and laughed secretly, some people sneered at them, and some people echoed. Xu Yande's great defeat can also be said to be meritorious, and they have to admire Jiao Fang's shamelessness and eloquence.
"It's really a joke. When Xu Yande suppresses the thief, the number of thieves was less than 20,000. When Song Nan suppresses the thieves, the number of thieves has reached more than 60,000. It was Xu Yande's defeat that caused the strength of the thief soldiers to rise sharply, and the arrogance was even more arrogant. Lord Jiao said such a thing. Fortunately, this was in the court. If it came to the ears of the people of the world, wouldn't it not Do you laugh at the big teeth of people all over the world?" Yang Tin and his cold voice were full of sarcasm.
Jiao Fang said with a blank face, "Lord Yang, this is too much. Do you mean that the development of the thief soldiers is due to the defeat of Grandpa Xu? So, may I ask, at the beginning of the uprising, there were only hundreds of anti-thieves. When Xu Yande was ordered to suppress the thieves, it had reached tens of thousands, and it had increased dozens of times in just a month. Whose responsibility?
Yang Tinghe said, "That's the responsibility of the Ministry of War. The commander of Bazhou Guard concealed that the enemy has been investigated and jailed, and Liu Daxia, the minister of the Ministry of War, has also taken the blame and resigned. Did Lord Jiao forget?"
Jiao Fang said again, "Then..."
Zhengde snorted coldly: "You two, I'm discussing with you about the rewards of meritorious officials. I'm not here to listen to your cabinet arguing about who is right or wrong. You'd better leave these matters in the cabinet to argue. Regarding the reason why Liu Liu and Liu Qiyi rebelled against each other, I also want to hear the cabinet's conclusion, but it's not today. The matter discussed every day."
Jiao Fang hurriedly stopped and arched his hand and retreated. Xu Guangzuo threw away his grateful eyes. Since his defeat, he has finally heard someone hugging his father and son. At the beginning, he was really caught off guard when suppressing the thief. Who would have thought that the thief soldiers would suddenly be so powerful? If he had known it was this knot. As a result, Xu Guangzuo will not let Xu Yande serve as the governor of the east road to suppress thieves.
"I feel that Song Nan has both the talent of leadership and the courage and behavior of serving the Ming Society, so I think it is appropriate to grant Song Nan the position of Admiral's regiment and give full play to his leadership..."
Everyone held their breath and said to their minds: When it comes to the point, let's see the reaction of the marquises of the regiment camp. This time, the protagonist is not the outer court or the inner court, but these nobles who usually hold military power and enjoy honor. Somehow, many courtiers suddenly felt a sense of pleasure, hoping to see these gang of the most favored royals of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Mao frowned. Hearing the emperor's intention, he had not given up the idea of letting Song Nan enter the regiment camp to replace a marquis, so he had to come out and openly oppose it. At this moment, as the governor of the regiment camp, if he did not try his best to speak for his eleven marquis, these guys would really leave him in the future.
Not only did Zhang Mao think so, but the eleven marquis of the regiment camp also looked at each other. In the past few days, everyone has reached a consensus. Once the emperor asked Song Nan to replace one of them for no reason, the rest will never stand by, but will put pressure on the emperor at all costs. There is Song Nan today, and there will be others tomorrow. The end of a marquis today may not be his own end.