ebookland Chapter 117: There are many talented generals, and there must be someone who can do the job
Chapter 117: There are many talented generals, and there must be someone who can do the job
Zhou Yichen was really irritated by Zhou Hanjin's stupidity and selfishness. Whether it was treason or his persistent assassination of Bai, these were all stepping on his bottom line and minefield.
It was difficult for him to maintain his previous cold attitude towards Zhou Hanjin. Not directly picking up the sword to kill Zhou Hanjin was the maximum tolerance he could show.
He could tolerate Zhou Hanjin's exclusion of him in the court, and he could also tolerate Zhou Hanjin's deliberate competition for favor in front of his father, and even his words that put him down.
Because he didn't care about all these, but the only two things he couldn't tolerate were Zhou Hanjin attacking him.
Moreover, such assassinations happened more than once or twice, but repeatedly, and...colluded with foreign enemies to achieve the effect of civil strife. With such crazy behavior, how could they care about the common people and soldiers on the border?
The issue they discussed this time was the bandit problem that was harming the people in the area from Huzhou to Lingzhou. This issue had been suppressed in the Censorate for several months, and the Censorate was the territory of the Eighth Prince and the Yao family.
They knew clearly that there was such a scourge, but they deliberately suppressed it and did not report it. Zhou Yichen received a letter from them via white pigeons, which mentioned the rampant banditry in Lingzhou.
Chu Xi didn't have much time to stop on the way, but he witnessed two robberies. One time, they attacked Chu Xi and his group, and the other time, they attacked a powerless lady from a wealthy family.
She punished them severely both times, but it was far from enough. She was afraid that there were more bandits hiding in the mountains and it would not be so easy to catch them.
In addition, the matter in Xi'an City was so urgent that she had no time to waste.
Zhou Yichen only found out about this after receiving Qi Bai's letter. They were far away in the capital, like living in a greenhouse, and had no idea of the sufferings of ordinary people.
He immediately sent one of his trusted men to write a memorial to the emperor about the bandit problem in Lingzhou. But now Zhou Hanjin actually said in the court, in full view of everyone, that a group of bandits were nothing but a small problem.
Just let the local garrison handle it.
After Zhou Hanjin finished his speech, Zhou Yichen laughed with an ambiguous tone and spoke frankly in front of all the court officials.
"Eighth brother, this is wrong. There have always been bandits in the area of Huzhou and Lingzhou. This time, the bandits in Huzhou are even more rampant. They directly broke into Huzhou and attacked Prince Chu and others. Such a bold act, I think it is very necessary to suppress the bandits."
What this means is that in Huzhou City, bandits can go in and kill people at will, which shows indirectly how useless the local garrison is.
Everyone present looked at Zhou Hanjin at the same time. Everyone knew that Zhou Hanjin's maternal grandfather, the Yao family, had a relative who was stationed in Huzhou and was the deputy general of Jiang Zhenyao's uncle, a member of the Feng family.
This kind of small matter of suppressing bandits is usually not led by the main general himself, but will most likely fall into the hands of the deputy generals around him.
Now the Third Prince has exposed this matter in front of His Majesty, which means he cannot trust the local commander of Huzhou...
Zhou Hanjin smiled wryly, "Then according to what Third Brother said, are you planning to go to Huzhou to eliminate the bandit troubles yourself?"
Zhou Yichen responded to Zhou Hanjin's pointed words with a sharp but calm tone, "We are the great Zhou Dynasty, with countless talented generals. There must be someone who can do the job. If you really want me to lead the troops to suppress the bandits, I can do it. But I am not as experienced as those veteran generals."
This statement pointed out that the Great Zhou Dynasty was full of talented people and military generals, so why would he need to go to Huzhou in person to suppress the bandits?
Secondly, he cleverly said that he could go, but his experience was not as good as those experienced generals.
Zhou Jinye listened to the Eighth and Third Brothers fighting each other with swords flashing and sabers flying, watching the fire from the other side of the river. This time he did not take sides with anyone, as any adult prince present was his potential enemy.
He teamed up with Zhou Hanjin to assassinate Chu Qibai, and it was based on a trade exchange. Now these two are people he needs to guard against, so why should he help them?
Zhou Hanjin didn't wait for the emperor on the dragon throne to speak, and asked in a slightly solemn and sharp tone, "Then according to Third Brother, who is suitable to lead the troops to suppress the bandits?"
As soon as these words were spoken, some young military officers received impolite and warning looks from Zhou Hanjin. Nowadays, most of the military officers in the court were selected through military examinations and did not have a strong family background.
Without a strong family background to rely on, they naturally did not dare to easily offend the Eighth Prince who was quite popular with the emperor. Therefore, they all lowered their heads and did not express their opinions.
As for the veterans of the older generation, they were calm and composed because they knew that this matter would not fall on them in the end. His Majesty was on high alert against them!
The emperor sat leisurely on the dragon throne, watching his two sons interacting with each other coldly.
The rampant banditry in the Huzhou area is not something that happened overnight. Every year, more than a dozen reports are submitted from the area from Huzhou to Lingzhou alone.
The contents of the letters all begged the emperor to order troops to attack those rampant bandits and completely wipe out this group of bad apples.
He had been suppressing this matter and was too lazy to take care of it. After all, banditry was everywhere and it would take time, manpower and financial resources to deal with it.
But the situation this time was different. The memorial repeatedly stated that the bandits were very rampant and dared to bring weapons into Huzhou City and kill people openly, including the Prince of Chu, who was of high rank. They simply did not take the imperial power seriously.
The words were firm, sharp and loud.
This made His Majesty, who clearly knew some of the inside story, feel a little embarrassed for a while. If he did not agree to send troops to suppress the bandits, his dignity as the emperor would be slapped in the face by a group of "bandits".
Agree...then the selection of the person to lead the troops will definitely be his biggest headache.
Zhou Yichen said calmly, "I believe that in the great Zhou Dynasty, there must be good generals willing to fight for the people."
This sentence made many generals present eager to take action, and they were right. Not to mention that suppressing bandits could be a great achievement and could also protect the country. Moreover, as a general, they were just going through the motions at the court meetings every day.
I felt sleepy and had no interest at all, but I still forced myself to listen.
Instead of watching the princes fighting and scheming in the capital, it is better to go out and do something practical.
After much deliberation, the emperor finally agreed to the request to suppress the bandits in the memorial, and personally appointed Tang Yuhuai as the chief commander to lead 5,000 elite soldiers from outside the capital to Huzhou area.
In addition, if Tang Yuhuai does not have enough manpower, he can directly join forces with the local garrison to suppress the bandits.
As soon as the decree was issued, Zhou Hanjin lost his expression at the court meeting. When he returned to his mansion, he smashed several expensive vases and antiques in a row.
"Zhou Yichen! Chu Qibai! Alright, you two are great. Since you want to fight, then fight to the death! I want to see who has the tougher bones!"
There were often bandit problems in the Huzhou area. At the beginning, he deliberately scattered the people he had trained in the mountains in order to use the bandits to hide his true purpose.
Now it's good...
Bandit Suppression...
How could there be such a coincidence?!