Chapter 133: Song Shi'an Is Preserved |
Each leading a thousand Forbidden Army troops to retake Wuwei—let's see who returns victorious, let's see who gets completely annihilated!
For the first time, Ye Changqing felt that Zhao Yi was truly damn fierce.
That single sentence of his was riddled with holes and had absolutely no persuasive power.
But with his status as a military officer and a meritorious noble, and especially saying it to Chen Kefu, it was incredibly effective.
Chen Kefu had already been getting heated just moments ago, and being provoked like this made him even more inflamed.
This little brat actually dared to say such things!
And he truly couldn't respond casually.
"Stop pulling this nonsense!"
But being attacked like this by such a junior, as a Second Rank military officer, how could he possibly back down? He immediately counterattacked: "I'm asking you—does Song Shi'an's actions deserve to be celebrated?"
"Fine, then tell me—if there's a next time with similar crisis and importance, should anyone be allowed to freely mobilize troops and supplies, and promise soldiers double promotions?"
"Try it," Zhao Yi said. "You and I each take a thousand Forbidden Army troops to retake Wuwei—same crisis, same importance."
"You're using His Majesty's army to seek your own wealth and glory! Making a reckless gamble on luck!" Chen Kefu cursed.
"Your Majesty!" Zhao Yi directly turned toward the Emperor, dropped to one knee, clasped his fists with both hands. "This subject is willing to go to Northern Liang with General Chen, splitting our forces to retake Wuwei. And, I'll sign a military pledge!"
This kid was serious!
Chen Kefu froze.
Standing beside him, watching him, his body went completely stiff.
And those civil officials, kept signaling and urging with their eyes: Agree quickly! If you don't agree now, it's equivalent to saying that what Song Shi'an could do isn't something just anyone can do, that it lacks reproducibility, and even if this precedent is set, it won't have much impact.
Hurry up and bet against him!
Bet against your grandma's triangular basket!
How could Chen Kefu make such a reckless wager?
The Emperor sitting on the dragon throne calmly gazed at Chen Kefu, waiting for him to choose, indulging his outburst.
And just watching him struggle here, hesitate, his neck sweating profusely for quite a while, the Emperor revealed a displeased expression.
At this moment, seeing the situation, Eunuch Xi spoke up to reprimand: "Are you treating the court like children's games?"
"This subject knows his crime." Zhao Yi lowered his head.
Chen Kefu also dropped to one knee, fists clenched, saying awkwardly: "This subject knows his crime."
The two slowly retreated back to their respective positions.
This noisy argument thus ended.
Concluding with Zhao Yi's complete victory.
Although there was almost no logic to his argument, he had picked up the duties of military officers, aired them out to dry, and given them a thorough beating.
The civil officials might not fully see through it.
But the military officers all understood that Chen Kefu was in the wrong.
In truth, all instances of "a general in the field need not accept every command from the sovereign" were technically 'crimes.'
When military officers fight wars, they fight based on adapting to circumstances.
Because in ancient times information transmission was extremely difficult, unable to be timely and effective, yet opportunities in battle were fleeting—it was impossible to follow regulations in everything.
Even in modern times when feedback could be timely, supreme commanders still couldn't remotely control generals or micromanage excessively—this was a great taboo in military strategy, a source of national disaster.
Why say Song Shi'an's actions couldn't be replicated?
You'd need to satisfy several harsh conditions.
First, our army has suffered repeated defeats, morale is scattered.
Second, enemy and our forces are drastically mismatched, with combat-capable soldiers outnumbering us five to one or more.
Third, volunteering regardless of everything.
You say Song Shi'an set a bad precedent? Then can you put your own life and death, and your family's life and death, on the scales?
Never mind your family—you can't even send yourself alone to die, yet you talk about damn righteousness!
Zhao Yi struck right at Chen Kefu's vital point.
This time, everyone knew it was just theater.
But in the future when there's a suicide mission, we'll go together—do you dare? If you don't dare, then shut your damn mouth!
Without question, Chen Kefu didn't dare say another word during today's court session.
Without a prominent target, how would we resist Song Shi'an?
The Prince of Wu had truly been startled just now, because the confrontation was too sharp.
But he hadn't expected that Zhao Yi had both courage and strategy.
Directly suppressing the military officers' side—once that was done, when these civil officials spoke up again, they were actually easy to deal with.
This Fourth Brother was really going to be direct about it.
The Prince of Zhongping felt it—that powerful momentum of his.
And the hundred officials were also afraid.
Even if the Prince of Wu himself hadn't entered the fray, wasn't this servant's roaring representative of the Prince of Wu's killing intent?
However, right now, no one dared to curry favor with this hot stove.
"The military officers have made enough noise. Let the civil officials speak." The Emperor said. "Minister of the Secretariat, what's your view?"
Ouyang Ke stepped forward.
This was nominally the head of the civil officials.
But because he had chosen the Emperor's faction, his actual power was quite limited.
Of course, he understood this clearly in his heart.
If he had too much power or too complex a background, he wouldn't be able to stand in this position.
Since he stood here, he had to be balanced.
"Your Majesty," Ouyang Ke replied. "This subject believes that merit and fault each exist. But to completely separate merit and fault, determining who has complete merit and who has complete fault—this is improper."
"Speak," the Emperor said.
Ouyang Ke continued: "The subordinate officers and civil officials, because they strictly executed orders, bear no fault. They should even be rewarded for their courageous combat and full logistical support. But the 'instigator' who proposed it—knowing it couldn't be done yet doing it—that is knowingly committing a crime."
After saying this, he paused.
The hundred officials all looked at him, very puzzled.
What was wrong with what he said?
Just then, Ouyang Ke suddenly raised his head and spoke: "But if Song Shi'an definitely committed a crime, don't the others bear responsibility for admonishment? Did they try to dissuade him?"
This statement made Ye Changqing's eyes light up.
Brilliant!
This point was too strong.
Song Shi'an taking all responsibility essentially gave the officials a basis for attack, attributing all guilt to him without directly impeaching or angering the other participants.
They wanted to single him out.
But Ouyang Ke forcibly brought Song Shi'an back into the collective.
And his words filled in the logical gaps from Zhao Yi's earlier argument.
Military orders don't just constrain the commanding general.
When the commanding general is about to violate military orders, don't the deputy generals, military advisors, and subordinates have a 'responsibility to admonish'?
Whether the admonishment works is another matter—but did you try?
Or was it that because the commanding general shouldered all the responsibility, the subordinates were completely absolved—if we lose, it's the general's fault; if we win, all the credit goes to us.
This would be setting a truly bad precedent.
The Emperor looked toward the Secretary and asked: "During the Shuofeng troop deployment, did anyone offer admonishment?"
"Replying to Your Majesty," the Secretary said. "The supervising officer who returned to Sheng'an is organizing and cross-checking the records. We still need to understand the situation from General Ran Jin who returned with Song Shi'an, Zhao Xiang, and the other soldiers."
"When can it be compiled?" the Emperor asked.
"Replying to Your Majesty, in three days," the Secretary said.
"Right now, it's only Song Shi'an's word without evidence. Zhen has also sent the Imperial Clan Administrator to question Wusheng." The Emperor summarized: "In three days, we'll hold court again to discuss this matter further. What do you all think?"
"Your Majesty is sagely wise."
Everyone bowed in salute, ceasing hostilities for now.
Actually, this debate really did resolve one very important question.
Namely, Song Shi'an's merit and fault—how to judge them.
The merit was definitely great.
The fault was definitely also great.
But the merit outweighed the fault.
Moreover, even if he shouldered all the blame, it didn't mean all responsibility truly belonged to him.
Singling him out maliciously was neither proper nor reasonable.
Good, he's been preserved.
What they'd argue in the next round would be how much responsibility the others should share, and how much merit Song Shi'an would have left after his faults were deducted.
"So, do you officials have anything else?" The Emperor felt somewhat weary and said: "If there are matters, report them. If not, court is dismissed."
After he finished speaking, after a moment, Cui Ting, leaning on his staff, slowly walked out: "Your Majesty, this old subject has one more matter."
"Vice Minister Cui, speak."
The Emperor became somewhat interested.
"The metropolitan examination is approaching," Cui Ting raised his head and said. "Any juren is qualified to take the exam. Song Jing's sons Song Shi'an and Song Ce are both juren from last year. Since their guilt hasn't been finalized, they should also be able to take the exam, shouldn't they?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall was in uproar.
At a time like this, this Vice Minister Cui was actually discussing this?
Also, wasn't this bringing the matter of favoritism openly to court? It was fine to do such things, but everyone didn't do them so blatantly.
But Cui Ting had no choice—it couldn't be resolved privately.
Even if he registered them, their qualifications would definitely be revoked.
This matter could only be brought up publicly.
"That certainly isn't acceptable, is it?"
"Who's ever had someone still sitting in the Court of Judicial Review's prison while preparing for the jinshi examination?"
"Right, since the examination system began, there's never been such a precedent."
Obviously, the opposition was unanimous.
All resistance.
It even included several Grand Secretaries, who all shook their heads in disagreement.
The Prince of Wu also wanted Song Shi'an to take the jinshi exam—that would make promotions much more convenient. But such words, he truly couldn't say openly.
Contending with the officials from the sidelines was acceptable.
But to oppose the aristocratic families head-on in everything—that would be too foolish.
"There is no precedent, but that doesn't mean it violates the laws of Great Yu. Which article states that one cannot take the exam while under review at the Court of Judicial Review?" Cui Ting didn't lose his composure and directly asked.
At this moment, a certain Third Rank official around fifty years old at the side suddenly said somewhat sarcastically: "Vice Minister, aren't you being a bit too hasty?"
"What are you saying?"
Provoked by him, Cui Ting turned toward him and questioned.
"The laws of Great Yu don't say it, but does it need to be stated that a minister bearing guilt cannot participate in the examinations?" he asked. "Has there ever been a scholar taking the metropolitan examination who wasn't of clean status?"
"Yes, yes."
A chorus of agreement.
"What I mean is, what did you mean by saying I'm too hasty?" Gripping his staff, Cui Ting said angrily.
"Vice Minister Cui wanting to seek some convenience for his own maternal grandson is of course understandable. But if one can obtain scholarly honors, why must it be at this moment?" he asked.
"Fine, then in the future if you have a promotion opportunity, it also needn't be at this moment. Wait another three years—how about that?"
"Vice Minister Cui is quibbling over details here. This subordinate won't argue with you." He extended his hand, making a gesture of unwillingness to engage.
Making it seem like Cui Ting was relying on his seniority to bully others.
"Can you not refute it?" Vice Minister Cui said disdainfully.
"This subordinate naturally cannot out-talk Vice Minister Cui. You're so adept at adapting to circumstances—how could I anticipate that?"
"What exactly are you saying?"
"Some trivial matters that also demonstrate the Vice Minister's magnanimity."
He didn't look at Cui Ting, but his mouth didn't stop: "Everyone knows this—the legal wife of the Song household has never gotten along with the concubine. But Vice Minister Cui, not holding grudges, after Song Shi'an returned from Shuofeng, treated him like his own maternal grandson, personally registering him for the exam..."
Cui Ting's face grew increasingly red from what was being said.
The hand gripping the staff trembled.
The hundred officials all suppressed their laughter.
And he continued smugly with his sarcastic remarks, completely disregarding the old colleague beside him: "I believe that even if Jieyuan Song wasn't a jieyuan, hadn't gone to Shuofeng, and his daily hobby was just listening to songs at pleasure houses, Vice Minister Cui would still love this unrelated by blood grand—"
Before he could finish, suddenly, Cui Ting brought his staff down heavily on his head with a loud crack!