Chapter 352: Past in Confusion
The day before the imperial seal was sealed, an urgent report arrived from Datong that when the Wala delegation left, they disguised themselves as horse bandits and plundered villages and towns, killing twelve people, injuring nearly a hundred, and looting more than thirty people and countless properties.

The Datong soldiers chased for 180 miles, but only managed to rescue 13 people, killed 6 enemies, and seriously injured nearly 100 of them...

When the young emperor received the military report, he was so angry that he threw down the memorial. "You have the nerve to report that you killed only six people? Do you want me to reward them according to their merits?"

"The Wala envoys have been stranded in Datong for more than one or two days, and they have looted the border more than once or twice. Knowing that they were going to leave, why didn't you send someone to see them off?"

The young emperor asked, "Where is Zhu Mian, the general of Datong, doing?"

Who knows this?

An official who was close to Zhu Mian spoke for him, saying, "The Wala envoys did not commit any crime while staying in Datong. Your Majesty has given them generous rewards this time. No one expected the Wala to be so shameless and greedy."

"After all, it is a diplomatic mission. It would be embarrassing if they were escorted out of the border by soldiers."

Face is a very important thing. The little emperor frowned and kept silent.

Of course, not everyone present was on good terms with Zhu Mian, so someone said, "No matter what the reason, Zhu Mian should be held accountable for his dereliction of duty. Your Majesty, please issue an order to reprimand and severely punish Zhu Mian."

Although the young emperor was very angry, he did not want to punish Zhu Mian severely, so he remained silent.

Yang Shiqi, who had been silent the whole time, finally said slowly, "Your Majesty, Zhu Mian, the general of Datong, and Shi Heng, the commander of the left lieutenant general, have written to the emperor, requesting that the rest of the people except the Wala envoys be detained in Maoerzhuang and guarded without food or horse feed, so as to force them not to bring more people next year."

"When leaving the border, Datong soldiers escorted him out of the border and monitored him so that he could not return. However, after the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of War discussed it, they thought it was not appropriate to do it too far, so they only reduced the food supply, and did not allow him to do anything else."

So, the blame was passed back and forth and finally fell back on the emperor.

Of course, even Yang Shiqi, a veteran of five dynasties, could not let the proud young emperor take the blame, so he could only push the blame on Wang Zhen.

Moreover, this matter must be related to Wang Zhen.

Yang Shiqi looked at Wang Zhen with sharp eyes.

Wang Zhen: …

He gritted his teeth secretly and immediately bowed his head to admit his mistake. "It must be that the people under me were not careful. They thought of the power of the Celestial Empire and did not want to humiliate the envoys, so they gave in. I did not expect the Wala people to be so ignorant. Your Majesty has given them such a generous reward, but they not only do not remember your grace, but also dare to rob the people of the Celestial Empire. They should be executed."

Wang Zhen immediately proposed to send troops to attack Wala to restore face for the emperor and the Ming Dynasty.

The little emperor was moved, "We really can't let the Wala go..."

The civil officials were so frightened that they immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, this cannot happen! The people of Jiangnan have been in chaos for many years. The battle of Luchuan has cost a lot of manpower and financial resources. The treasury is empty. We cannot start another war in the north!"

The Imperial Censorate had been holding its breath since May. At this moment, the censors stood up and knelt in the front, kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, there are people in Jiangxi making trouble, there are Japanese pirates on the coast of Fujian and Zhejiang, there are also civil unrest in China, taxes are not collected, the two wars in Luchuan were extremely costly, the people of the world can no longer afford it, if another war breaks out, the Ming Dynasty will be in danger!"

When the imperial censors shouted, other civil officials also knelt in the center of the hall, wiping their tears and crying loudly, counting the number of soldiers sent by the court to support after the Luchuan battle, as well as the cost of food, fodder, armaments, and medicines...

By the way, he also impeached Wang Ji, the general commander of Luchuan, and Mu Ang, the general commander of Yunnan, believing that it was their poor command that led to their failure to seize the opportunity to act until today.

Wang Ji, the commander-in-chief of the Luchuan Battle, who had just returned to Beijing and hadn’t even sat down to relax, pursed his lips, lowered his head and said nothing.

As soon as he returned to Beijing, he was impeached and almost spent the night in jail.

It's impossible not to be angry.

Does he want to fight the Battle of Luchuan?

Wouldn't it be nice for him to be the Minister of War in the capital?
As a result, he was scolded when he lost the fight, and he was scolded again when he won the fight.

It costs a huge amount, is that what he wants to spend?
The southwestern barbarian land has many mountains, many trees, much water, and many poisonous insects and snakes. When the soldiers go there, who wouldn't get sick once or twice?

They were not familiar with the geographical terrain, but the Baiyi had lived in Yunnan for generations and were much more familiar with it than their soldiers.

The soldiers who went to support included soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi, the two lakes, Sichuan and Guizhou, and even some from the north. Except for the soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi and Sichuan and Guizhou who had adapted to the local climate, the soldiers from other regions were not used to the local climate.

This means that this war will consume greater manpower and financial resources.

Not to mention, Yunnan has high mountains and dense forests, and it is difficult to catch people once they get into the woods.

Isn't that how he seized the opportunity to make a fortune?
We captured so many fathers and sons one after another, but we missed some and then another one popped up.

This is not like the great plains of the north, where you can defeat the enemy and then just rush forward to capture him.

He can't catch it!
But he really tried his best!

The 65-year-old Wang Ji was muttering to himself, but his face was serious and silent.

As for other expenses...

Wang Ji lowered his eyes and said nothing. The second brother didn't talk about the eldest brother. The court allocated a lot of money to the southwest, but how much of it actually went to the army?
Let’s not talk about the distant past, just take the batch of military equipment in Liu Ju’s hands as an example, why are they of such poor quality?

As a result, Liu Ju's entire army was almost wiped out.

They say he spends a lot, but damn, who is spending this money?
Wang Ji's gaze slid across the group of civil servants and fell on Yang Shiqi, then he raised his eyes and glanced at Wang Zhen.

If you have the guts, go and impeach Wang Zhen, go and impeach the emperor, go and straighten out the whole thread and find out where the money went.

In fact, he was also quite curious. Where did all the money go?

Just as he was complaining, the emperor suddenly got angry and slammed the table, saying, "No money, no money. You are telling me that you have no money. How can the Ming Dynasty be so poor when the country is peaceful and the people are prosperous?"

"Where did the weapons in the hands of the Japanese pirates in Quanzhou come from? Are those refugees who illegally mined silver in Jiangxi real refugees, or are they being directed by someone behind the scenes? How come they made money when they were mining privately, but when it's my turn to mine, I pay them dozens of taels of silver a year?"

The young emperor was so angry that he found a report about the miners' rebellion and threw it down, questioning Yang Shiqi and other civil officials, "There are three silver mines, and the silver they pay in a year is less than 200 taels. Are they silver mines?"

"I just want to determine the amount now. If you can't mine it, you have to mine it for me!"

A seventh-rank imperial censor fell to his knees and cried bitterly, "Your Majesty - this is a conspiracy between local officials and gentry to misappropriate silver. You don't investigate the officials or the local gentry, but only set a limit on the silver. In the end, the money will still be distributed to ordinary people."

He knelt forward, pushed away his colleagues who were pulling him, and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, please send the censors and officials from the Dali Temple to thoroughly investigate the silver mines and reduce the silver tax. The tax burden on the people in Jiangxi really cannot be increased. This year, the number of landless refugees in Jiangxi has reached 60,000, and this is only the statistics of the Ministry of Revenue. In fact, I am afraid there are half more..."

These officials were from Jiangxi. When officials from other places heard this, they also began to speak up for their hometowns.

The governor of Fujian said: "Taxes in Fujian are heavy, and Japanese pirates harass the coast. Fishermen who migrated inland lose their land every year and flee abroad every year. They have no choice but to do so because they can't make a living."

The governor of Zhejiang said: "No matter how heavy your taxes are, they are not as heavy as those of Zhejiang. The annual quota of silk and satin makes Zhejiang suffer terribly."

Nanzhili said: "It is the same in Nanzhili."

The officials from the north almost vomited blood after hearing this. An official from Shanxi said sullenly, "There are already 200,000 refugees in the Yellow River area. Do they just want to be refugees?"

The emperor's face darkened when he heard this. "Listen to what you said, my dear ministers. The Ming Dynasty under my rule is in chaos."

The officials came back to their senses and bowed their heads to admit their mistakes. "We made a mistake."

Yang Shiqi sighed softly, knowing that this matter would not be blamed on Wang Zhen.

If the emperor wanted to investigate the Datong robbery, he would probably have to look into the Jiangxi silver mine case in depth.

The silver mine case involved many people. If we really investigate it with all our might, who knows how many people will die.

　I'm taking a day off today, and will make up for it tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I'm going to start adjusting my work and rest schedule, and I'll try to update during the day tomorrow.
　　(End of this chapter)