On the 16th day of the first month of the 26th year of the reign of Wanli, the citizens of the capital, who had just spent an uneasy Lantern Festival, received the news they wanted to hear. At the same time, the officials and Emperor Zhu Yijun also received the news they wanted to hear.
The siege of Zijing Pass had been successfully lifted. The Northern Barbarians had all been wiped out. Xiao Ruxun had already led his troops out of Zijing Pass to quell the bandits.
Thank the heavens, Xiao Ruxun truly lived up to his reputation as the number one general of Wanli. The matter that Li Chengliang and Chai Guozhu couldn't handle together was solved by him in one go. Regardless of whether he was a trusted aide of the Emperor or not, just his ability to command troops was worth relying on.
Because no one knew when the Northern Barbarians would come again.
The common people were finally relieved. The streets of the capital, which had been desolate for many days, were once again filled with the hawking of peddlers.
The rich families were finally relieved. They began to move out of their hiding places and set foot on the road back to the capital to do what they should do.
The officials were finally relieved. Those who should be greedy continued to be greedy, and those who should be fighting continued to fight. Those who told their wives and children to run away also hurriedly sent people to call their wives and children back.
Don't leave! The capital is safe!
With Xiao Ruxun's arrival, all the problems were easily solved. As long as it was a military matter, as long as Xiao Ruxun was called over and given military power, it could be solved. Daming, it was really a blessing to have such a pillar of support!
Following that, the old tune from more than three years ago was played again. Those officials who originally did not support the transfer of Xiao Ruxun desperately rebuked those who wanted to transfer Xiao Ruxun away. Especially those officials who originally did not support the transfer, and this time, they were forced to move their families and properties. They were even more enraged.
Out of selfishness, you transferred meritorious officials away, but can't you at least think about your own safety? Just like this time, the Northern Barbarians were already at your doorstep. All of you packed up your belongings and prepared to run. If Xiao Ruxun had been there, would he have allowed the Northern Barbarians to act so arrogantly?
All of you! All of you are shortsighted and selfish! You never care about the interests of the court or the people!
Those who were rebuked were naturally not willing to be rebuked, so the two sides began to quarrel. The war at the frontline had not ended, and the Northern Barbarians had not even been expelled from Daming's territory. But the war of words had already begun for the second time, and it was only getting more and more intense.
Both sides had divided themselves into many factions. For example, the faction that supported Xiao Ruxun's transfer back to the Central Plains was the 'Military Administration of the Capital Barracks' faction. The faction that supported Xiao Ruxun's idea of the capital barracks training the capital barracks was the 'Commander of Ji Town' faction. Although they did not support Xiao Ruxun's idea of the capital barracks, they supported Xiao Ruxun's idea of guarding Ji Town nearby, just like Qi Jiguang during Zhang Juzheng's era.
In addition to these two major factions, there was also the Shandong Military Commander Faction, the Liaodong Military Commander Faction, and the Shanxi Military Commander Faction. In short, they all advocated keeping Xiao Ruxun in a place that was closer to home. They didn't want to be like this time, throwing her to a barren land like Myanmar, a waste of talent.
They were scared by the Northern Barbarians and did not want to experience it again. No one could give them a sense of security. Only Xiao Ruxun could give them a sense of security. Otherwise, how could they quarrel when they lost their lives?
On the opposite side, the factions that did not support the transfer back to the Central Plains had also split into several factions. The more moderate factions advocated for Xiao Ruxun to be transferred to Henan, Southern Zhili, or Zhejiang, so that if anything happened, they could send help to the Emperor as soon as possible. As for the hardliners, they completely disagreed with Xiao Ruxun's transfer, insisting that he stay in Myanmar.
Most of these hardliners were people who had close dealings with Wang Xijue. Wang Xijue had told them more than once that they absolutely could not let Xiao Ruxun come back. Although they did not understand why, they seemed to realize something when they saw Wang Xijue's cautious expression, so they tried to stop him.
Unfortunately, there were not many people in this faction. As time went on, the focus of everyone's debate became whether to keep Xiao Ruxun in Northern Zhili or Southern Zhili.
They were anxious.
Regardless of these Imperial Censors, the real decision-makers in the circle of the Six Ministries and the three cabinet ministers, a total of nine people, were worried about the news of Xiao Ruxun's victory.
In the Cabinet duty room, there were Zhao Zhigao, the First Minister, Shen Li, and Shen Yicheng, the new Minister of Personnel, Tsai Kuo-chen, the Minister of Revenue, Yang Junmin, the Minister of Rites, Yu Jideng, the Minister of War, Shi Xing, the Minister of Justice, Song Yingchang, and the Minister of Works and the Right Imperial Censor of the Inspectorate, Xu Zuo.
There were a total of nine people sitting together. The real central leaders of the Daming Empire were all gathered together.
They only revealed a part of Xiao Ruxun's victory report. As for the remaining key parts, they did not dare to reveal them and tacitly hid them from their subordinates.
Nonsense, if those Imperial Censors knew the truth, wouldn't they make a fuss? Would there still be peace?
Zijing Pass was won, yes, but there were only 5,000 Northern Barbarians there, but they claimed to have 40,000. This scared the Ming Dynasty Army so much that they did not dare to take a step forward. The remaining 35,000 people left in the night and disappeared. It was extremely strange. How did these Northern Barbarians come in? Why did they come in? And when did they plan to leave?
At their level, they knew a lot of things, but they did not say it out loud. This was to give everyone a chance to turn back and not make things too ugly. Therefore, the group of people looked at the Minister of Revenue, Yang Junmin, with a strange expression.
Zhao Zhigao did not say a word, Shen Li's face was ashen, and Shen Yicheng looked around at everyone's expression. He was secretly delighted and wanted to hear what the others had to say. He looked down and did not say anything.
Since the three Assistant Ministers did not say anything, the Minister of War, Shi Xing, who always disliked Yang Junmin, was the first to speak.
"Yang Butang, there are some things we don't say, but it doesn't mean we don't think about it. Previously, we were allowed to only think about it in our hearts and not say it out loud. But now, things are different. Not only did the Northern Barbarians come out of nowhere, but their actions are even stranger! If you say you don't know anything, it won't make sense! "
Yang Junmin's situation was getting worse and worse these few years.
He was Yang Bo's son, one of the representatives of the Jin Merchants. When Zhang Siwei and the others were still around, his situation was still okay. But after Zhang Siwei and the others retired and died of illness, his situation became worse and worse. At this time, the court was no longer dominated by the Jin Party.
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