Chapter 2246 Guizi was involved in Beijing, and the Ministry of War

"My lord, the emperor is now in a state of confusion and has trouble seeing things. Although Prince Yi Zhong is a few years older than the emperor, his physical condition is much better. In addition, I heard that the Supreme Emperor has always liked Prince Yi Zhong's eldest son Zhang Jun. Although in the past few years, I didn’t see Prince Yi Zhong much, but Zhang Jun saw him whenever he went to Renshou Palace. And it must be said that Prince Yi Zhong, the crown prince, originally had an excellent reputation in the capital, far better than Prince Shou and Prince Fu Li. , was the original Prime Minister Shen, and now Prime Minister Ye, Fang, and even Mr. Qi Ge have a very good impression of this prince..."

Wang Wenyan’s voice was very low, whispering next to Feng Ziying. This kind of news cannot be spread outside.

"Oh? Could it be that the Emperor still wants Zhang Jun to be the crown prince?" Feng Ziying pondered: "Although this is impossible, it can increase the weight of Prince Yi Zhong..."

The original Shen Yiguan, and now Ye Xianggao, Fang Congzhe and Qi Shi all think highly of this prince, it means that this person is really popular. No wonder the emperor thinks so highly of him.

"That's right, so the princes in the court may have some thoughts now. The longevity king, Fu Wang, and Li Wang seem to be mediocre people. Lu Wang, Prince Gong, are too young, but Prince Yi Zhong, the crown prince, is very suitable in all aspects. and…"

Wang Wenyan paused, and Feng Ziying immediately realized there was something else here, and asked in a deep voice: "And what?"

“And I heard that Zhang Jun has a weak and humble temperament and is good at accepting advice. The princes in the court may think that this temperament is more in line with the emperor they expect.”

Wang Wenyan's words were a bit heartbreaking, but Feng Ziying understood it. No one likes an emperor who is too strong or too influential, which will definitely greatly suppress and weaken the power of the prime minister.

"Well, this does pose a problem for the princes, making them both excited and conflicted." Feng Ziying laughed, "It seems that the people sent by Prince Yi Zhong must have played this card. Is it really possible to directly Is it possible for the crown prince, Prince Yohitada, to directly succeed to the throne in the future? There is no precedent for this, right?"

Wang Wenyan thought for a while before shaking his head: "It seems that this is not the case. With so many sons of the emperor, there is no reason for another branch to succeed him. Even if the emperor has this intention, it is unreasonable, so the brothers will end up as brothers. I'm afraid that was Nanjing's intention, but the Supreme Emperor loves Wu Jiwu, likes the prince, and is tolerant of his father."

"Hmph, it's a good idea." Feng Ziying was noncommittal. It had not been his turn to comment on this kind of thing before, so he didn't even mention it to Master Qi and Master Qiao. This may also be related to the fact that the matter is confidential and has not yet been finalized. , but now that I have returned to Beijing, I have to talk about it.

“The imperial household department is currently in an extremely tight financial situation. It is said that Mr. Huang’s beard has turned a lot white because of this..."

“Didn’t Haitong Bank borrow and purchase treasury bonds totaling eight million?” Feng Ziying asked rhetorically.

"Sir, Jiangnan taxation has been suspended for almost two years. Eight million sounds like a lot. By then, it will be nothing to two years of Jiangnan taxation. Moreover, the court is still at war in Sichuan, Shandong, and now South Zhili. Shanxi is in such chaos now, and the Nine Borders cannot be reduced too much. Officials' salaries, grain prices and other commodity prices have increased so much. How much can eight million help?"

Wang Wenyan smiled bitterly and sighed, "You are still talking about what the Denglai Navy wants. I am afraid that the court will veto it immediately because there is no money at all."

“Trouble in the heart and soul, trouble in the elbows and armpits, why is it light or serious, why is it urgent or why is it slow?” Feng Ziying sighed and said, “What’s the explanation?”

Liaodong is dangerous, but isn’t the Shanxi Rebellion dangerous?

The White Lotus Sect has hidden murderous intentions and is waiting to strike. Isn’t it dangerous? What about the Mongols?

This is not to mention that the Southern Zhili side is in a standoff with Niu Sunnan's army.

 In comparison, the rebellion in Sichuan was trivial.

All kinds of thoughts came to her mind, and Feng Ziying became more and more aware of the necessity of returning to the capital. It was already this time. If she didn't intervene in time, once it slipped into an uncontrollable situation and she was beyond the reach of the local government, then she would really regret it. It's too late.

Entering the palace gate, the officials were all surprised when they saw Feng Ziying. Only then did they realize that Xiao Feng Xiuzhuan, who had solved the chaos in Shaanxi, had returned to the capital again, and they all came to say hello and say hello.

Feng Ziying also has to be patient and talk to these colleagues in the future.

If you get to the Ministry of War, you will have a lot to deal with in the future, such as the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Household Affairs, the General Affairs Department, and the Fifth Military Governor's Office.

The bureaucracy in these departments is serious. If you encounter someone you don't like or have no connections, a thing that can be done in half a day can be delayed for three to five days, and it is well-founded and makes you unable to get angry.

 Details determine success or failure. Feng Ziying was also an official in her previous life, so she naturally understood that the red tape and various cutscenes of the Zhou Dynasty were even more terrifying, but now she had to adapt to it.

Along the way, nodding and bowing, shaking hands with smiles, and touching shoulders and arms, there were no less than a dozen people. Feng Ziying found that she had unknowingly become a social expert in the capital city. Almost everyone knew her, and she seemed to be mostly familiar with her. I have the impression that when I meet someone, I can at least roughly know their last name and which department they are in, but it would be really difficult to tell them their name or number.

But this is enough. Just saying "Sir" can make people smile. Xiao Feng Xiuzuan, who just came back from Shaanxi, actually knows his surname and his position. This is quite rare.

Finally I met an acquaintance worth stopping by, Chai Ke, and Feng Ziying also took the initiative to greet him, so they could chat with each other.

"I'm finally back. I feel most at ease going to Shaanxi, but I didn't expect that you would settle Shaanxi in less than a year and a half. Everyone is a little surprised." Chai Ke took Feng Ziying's hand and sighed. , "It's just that you also have future troubles. Why have the rebels crossed the river into Shanxi? Now the rebellion in southern Shanxi is led by the Shaanxi rebels..."

"Chai Gong, can you blame me for this?" Feng Ziying shook her head repeatedly, "When I came to Shaanxi, Shaanxi had long been in chaos. No, it should be two pots of porridge. The three prefectures in northern Shaanxi were in one pot, and the eastern part of Xi'an Prefecture was in one pot. Guo, I don’t have a lot of head and six arms. When I was still pacifying the three prefectures in northern Shaanxi, the rebels from Xi’an Prefecture had already crossed the river into Shanxi. I couldn’t fly over. At least I forced the Tongguan guards to cross the river and capture Po. Are the salt envoys in the prefecture and Hedong provinces guarded? Who would have done such a thankless and stupid thing if it had been anyone else?"

The Tongguan Guards defended Puzhou, finally leaving a piece of pure land in the chaos of southwestern Shanxi. Whether the Shaanxi or Henan armies wanted to go to reinforce, they could rely on Puzhou as a fulcrum. Zhang Huaichang and Li Sancai disagreed with this. Juekou said frankly that Feng Ziying has a sense of the overall situation and is a role model.

"But the situation in Shanxi is very serious now, don't you know? Fengzhou Bailian and Tumut people have joined forces to invade the border, and the Chahar people are also starting to make moves, so I won't say more to you now, you Hurry to Wenyuan Pavilion, the princes may still be waiting for you, it seems you have to get into the role soon."

Chai Ke waved his hands, his face also filled with worry.

"Chai Gong, it seems that I, the Minister of the Ministry of War, will turn from a false position to a real one. Who will be the Zuo Minister?" Feng Ziying asked smoothly.

 “Zhisheng is appointed as Zuo Shilang.” Chai Ke replied.

“Who will take charge of the Northern Front Army?” Feng Ziying frowned.

"It might be Tong Zhongkui. Originally, the imperial court intended to let Qing Li go, but with the situation in Shanxi now, Qing Li might have to go to Shanxi soon to coordinate Datong, Shanxi Second Town and the entire Shanxi Guard system to deal with it, so Tong Zhongkui can only be allowed to come. I'm in charge of the Northern Front Army." Chai Ke saw Feng Ziying frowning deeply, "Why, are you worried about Li Qing or Tong Zhongkui?"

"It is definitely no problem for Mr. Yuan to take up the post in Shanxi, but how long has it been since Tong Zhongkui was transferred to the Huguang Dusi before he was transferred to the Shandong Dusi?" Feng Ziying hesitated, "I'm worried that he is not familiar with the army in the north, especially since the origin of the northern front army is complex. There are the Jizhen Army, the Beijing Camp, and some of the Northern Guards. He has been in the south, so he may not be able to unite these people."

"What you said makes sense, but now that there is no one available in the court, we can't let Chen Jingxuan go, right?" Chai Ke also found it difficult, "How about Cao Wenzhao?"

"Cao Wenzhao is not suitable. The Northern Front Army was originally Ji Liao's reserve army. If something happens to Liaodong, Cao Wenzhao can be selfless, but what about the soldiers under him?" Feng Ziying shook his head, "Forget it, we can only let Tong Zhongkui go first. I went first, I hope he can get familiar with it as soon as possible."

After saying goodbye to Chai Ke, Feng Ziying went straight to Wenyuan Pavilion.

When he entered, all the princes in the hall were there, including Zhang Huaichang and Huang Ruliang. When they saw Feng Ziying coming in, they all invited Feng Ziying to take a seat.

"When did you arrive? You were told that you wouldn't be able to arrive until tomorrow." Ye Xianggao asked kindly, "Has the journey been smooth, Ziying?"

"It went smoothly. The waterway was much smoother than that in Shanxi..." Feng Ziying noticed that when she mentioned Shanxi, the faces of all the gentlemen present were a little ugly. She couldn't bear it, but she said, "The situation in Shanxi is not good." Okay? Something happened?"

"Well, you are about to take office anyway, so there is no need to hide it from you. Su Nang's cavalry has broken through Sanshan Dun and Ying'en Fort, bypassed Mo'er Mountain, and is heading south. Yang Yuan is a little in a hurry, starting from Jingping The border troops moving north were slow..." Li Sancai glanced at Ye Xianggaocai and said solemnly: "The Han people from Bailian in Fengzhou played a key role in this. They bribed a sentry commander who had long been in contact with the Ying'en Fort garrison. , on the pretext of smuggling smuggled fur goods, he tricked the defenders into opening and closing the door to transport the goods, but he was attacked and breached the gate..."

Needless to say, there are Han people like Fengzhou Bailian who serve as a breakthrough point. There may even be many White Lotus believers in the Datong Army who cooperate with each other internally and externally, and even collude with the Tumut people. The result is unknown.

The problem is that if it is broken at one point, the entire western defense line of Datong Town will collapse. The Tumut cavalry and Fengzhou Bailian rebels who have bypassed the checkpoint can easily bypass the back and launch an attack.

 (End of this chapter)