noffsinger Chapter 1342 Lan Youguang Returns to Beijing
Chapter 1342 Lan Youguang Returns to Beijing
Shangjing, the imperial city.
General Lan Youguang has returned to the capital.
He entered the city gate at noon and went to the palace to meet the emperor at 1 p.m. It is unknown what he said to the emperor. After another hour, the emperor issued an edict summoning Prime Minister Cui and the ministers of the six ministries to the palace to discuss matters.
At 4:45 PM, Prime Minister Cui and the five ministers entered the Imperial Study, but Ji Benchang was absent.
Eunuch Hong said, "Your Majesty, the people from the Ministry of Revenue said that Lord Ji went to the Ministry of Revenue's public fields at noon. This old servant has sent someone to deliver the message, but... that public field is located in the suburbs, and Lord Ji will probably need another hour to get back."
Lan Youguang muttered to himself, "That stingy bastard is better off not being here..."
Of the six ministers, he disliked Ji Benchang the most.
He's a born miser; people as generous as him simply can't see eye to eye.
The Emperor pondered for a moment, then said, "Lan Qing, please give a general overview of the Shazhou Prefecture matter to the other officials."
"Yes!" Lan Youguang looked directly at Guo Zhongshu, the Minister of War: "Old Guo, there may be a war in Shazhou Prefecture. Your Ministry of War needs to make preparations in advance."
"War?!" Guo Zhongshu was shocked. "General Lan, what do you mean? The people of Shazhou have only been at peace for a few years. How can they withstand such turmoil?"
Yue Zhenchuan also looked anxious: "General Lan, have those Qiang people from beyond the border attacked again?"
He knew this day would come sooner or later!
Moreover, the Qiang tribes are numerous and their people are scattered, making them prone to chaos!
Looking back a few years ago, it was Lan Youguang who led his troops out of the border and attacked a large Qiang tribe, which made an example of them and scared those tribes into signing a truce agreement with the Great Zhou.
But it was precisely that peace treaty that bound all the previously scattered Qiang tribes together.
Now, if those tribes remain inactive, all is well; but if they were to mobilize their armies... the lives of the people of Shazhou would likely become very difficult.
“If it were just the Qiang people invading, I wouldn’t have returned to the capital so early.” Lan Youguang frowned. “Two months ago, the magistrate of Qingle County in Shazhou secretly colluded with the Qiang people to smuggle the county’s stored grain out of the country, but was caught red-handed by my Dadan.”
"Smuggling grain?!" Guo Zhongshu exclaimed in shock. "If I remember correctly, the Qingle County granary is one of the largest in Shazhou Prefecture! Such blatant collusion with foreign tribes, has the magistrate of Qingle County gone mad?!"
"He's absolutely insane!" Lan Youguang slammed his fist on a large pillar. "That heartless bastard! While secretly selling off stored grain, he was also inciting the people, saying that now that our dynasty has high-yield rice, the grain in Liuyang Prefecture and the capital region is piled up like mountains, and we don't even look down on this barren land of Shazhou. Sooner or later, we'll just hand Shazhou over to the Qiang people and leave the people to fend for themselves! In my opinion, that bastard is afraid that the court will abandon Shazhou, so he's already planning his own escape route!"
Yue Zhenchuan trembled with rage. "Traitorous officials! Colluding with the enemy and betraying the country! Stirring up trouble among the people! If the people of Shazhou truly believe these words, I fear..."
I fear that, as Lan Youguang has said, war will break out in Shazhou.
Luo Bizhi frowned, pondered for a moment, and then asked Lan Youguang, "General Lan, where is the magistrate of Qingle County?"
Lan Youguang curled his lip: "They died halfway there."
"Dead?" Luo Bizhi had a bad feeling and pressed, "What was the cause of death?"
Lan Youguang thought for a moment and said, "He was fine the day before and even asked my Da Dan for water. But he died the next day at dawn. Both military doctors examined him. He had no wounds and his death did not look like poisoning. It looked more like... a stroke."
"Stroke?" Luo Bizhi's brows remained furrowed. "He's very fat?"
Lan Youguang shook his head: "Not at all, he's a skinny monkey."
After regaining his composure, Yue Zhenchuan also noticed this unusual detail: "Stroke victims are often obese and have stagnant blood and qi. But how could someone who was skinny and could still beg for water normally the day before suddenly suffer a stroke and die the next day? This... doesn't make sense!"
Lan Youguang also said, "My Dadan also said that the bastard died strangely, but both military doctors examined him and found nothing unusual."
Luo Bizhi lowered his eyes and pondered.
For a moment, the imperial study fell silent.
After a moment, the emperor asked, "Has Minister Luo noticed anything unusual?"
Luo Bizhi said solemnly, “Your Majesty, I believe that this person’s actions in Qingle County are somewhat illogical.”
The emperor seemed to be deep in thought when Lan Youguang slapped the pillar and exclaimed, "My Da Dan said the same thing!"
Yue Zhenchuan pressed, "Big Egg... no, what did the young general say?"
Lan Youguang suddenly changed his tune and inexplicably adopted Lan Dadan's tone: "If I were the magistrate of Qingle County, I would never spread rumors and incite the people's hearts while secretly selling off stored grain."
Although he still hadn't quite figured out the pros and cons.
But his eldest son is always intelligent and would never speak without reason.
Luo Bizhi nodded and said to the Emperor, “Your Majesty, everyone knows that selling grain is a serious crime of treason. If the magistrate of Qingle County truly harbored rebellious intentions, he should have secretly sold grain, kept quiet, and hidden the ill-gotten gains. After everything had settled down, he should have incited the people's hearts and then, taking advantage of their anxiety, cooperated with the Qiang people in their rebellion. But he has chosen to both secretly sell his stored grain, attracting the Qiang people's covetousness, and at the same time, spread rumors to draw the court's attention. Isn't this deliberately inviting trouble and making the Gouyun Banner Army target him?”
Upon hearing this, Lan Youguang slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That's what my Da Dan said too!"
His shout threw the emperor's newly formed thoughts into disarray.
The Emperor sighed helplessly, “Lord Lan, didn’t Lan Da change his name to ‘Jian Feng’? Stop calling him ‘Big Egg’; it’s an insult to literature.”
Lan Youguang scratched his head: "Your Majesty, I spoke too quickly about something..."
The emperor waved his hand and asked again, "Has the body been brought back?"
Lan Youguang said, "I brought them back, but they all stink. Even the face powder can't cover up the smell."
Yue Zhenchuan rubbed his nose.
For example, Lan Youguang's body smells both fragrant and foul.
Luo Bizhi raised his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, I wish to perform an autopsy."
Lan Youguang shuddered inwardly.
People say that these people who live on the edge are ruthless, but in his opinion, the hands of those empty shells in the Ministry of Justice are far more ruthless than those of these brutes.
"Granted," the Emperor said. "Investigate the cause of death as soon as possible. As for Shazhou Prefecture..."
"Your Majesty, this old minister believes that the most urgent task is to stabilize the morale of the people of Shazhou." After a long silence, Prime Minister Cui finally spoke: "Just as General Lan said, if the court does not handle this matter properly, the morale of the people of Shazhou will waver, and with internal and external troubles, war may break out, which will be detrimental to the people."
After he finished speaking, the ministers of the various departments, unusually, did not utter a word of rebuttal.
Yue Zhenchuan asked Lan Youguang, "General Lan, what is the current situation in Shazhou?"
“The Anbei Army is guarding it,” Lan Youguang said. “My eldest son said that the Qiang people dare not act rashly, and that General Anbei is both brave and resourceful. Even if a war breaks out, the Anbei Army can hold Shazhou. But my son also said that supplies must be sent to the troops before the war, so the Ministry of Revenue must make plans early and not be stingy.”