The dispute in Jiangnan had already become quite heated about a year ago when Wang Ye went to Beijing.
A year ago, Vice Minister Wang returned to the capital from Jiangnan, bringing news that shocked the court: Princess Xiao Mingyue had colluded with demons to rebel, and all 300,000 Golden Dragon Guard had been turned into demonic zombies. Duke of Qin was attacked from both sides, and his army suffered heavy losses. In Jiangnan, Chen Qing organized militia to resist and barely managed to confront Princess Xiao Jiangnan. Now, a year has passed!
At this moment, the grand court session was about to begin, and the civil officials and ministers were already waiting outside the Vermilion Bird Gate, awaiting the summons.
A group of top-tier sorcerers, civil officials, and aristocratic lords all looked rather grim, occasionally discussing something.
In fact, ever since the news from Jiangnan arrived a year ago, the faces of the civil and military officials have never been pleasant!
This year was truly an extremely bad year for the Great Jin!
The Duke of Wei in the north had a formidable presence. It's unclear what methods he used, but he managed to get four dukes guarding important towns in the Northern Frontier to join his camp. In just three months, all 300,000 of his bloodline members in the Northern Frontier joined the rebels, and in less than half a year, he had taken over the entire Northern Frontier territory!
The many dukes sent by the imperial court were unable to defend Northern Liao due to insufficient troops and could only rely on a scorched-earth policy. In the past six months, they have repeatedly requested reinforcements from the imperial court.
But where does the imperial court have any soldiers now?
Regarding the Jiangnan incident, many top ministers initially recommended Her Highness the Princess to lead the troops, but now, when the issue of taking responsibility is raised, everyone falls silent.
The 300,000 Golden Dragon Guard represent almost the largest force that the capital can deploy. Combined with the princes of Duke of Qin, even though the Great Jin is a newly emerging and powerful dynasty, it has suffered a severe blow!
With the Jiangnan suffering heavy losses and Cloud Capital deliberately creating considerable turmoil in recent months, the Duke of Chu and the Flying Dragon Guard, the most capable warriors of the Great Jin, dared not make any moves. The imperial court now has less than 100,000 soldiers guarding the capital; where would it find the extra military strength to support the north?
" Minister Lin!" The speaker was none other than Vice Minister Yang of the Ministry of Rites: "The matter of Jiangnan cannot be delayed any longer!"
All the civil officials' expressions turned solemn at these words.
A year ago, Wang Ye, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, returned to report, bringing back news that shocked the court. However, because the Princess had not taken any further action, and because it was difficult to obtain information from Jiangnan due to the lingering mystery, coupled with the entanglements of interests between some powerful families and Jiangnan, the matter in Jiangnan has been delayed until today.
But now it's getting harder and harder to delay.
Half a year ago, maritime merchants began to appear in Jiangnan. It is said that most of them were subordinates of Chen Qing from Liuzhou. At first, the imperial court intended to indulge them in order to collect intelligence on Jiangnan.
But once that door was opened, it was hard to stop!
It's simply because goods produced in Jiangnan are selling too well!
First, there's the silk from Jiangnan. In terms of quality, patterns, colors, and textures, it far surpasses silk from other regions. For many years, silk produced in Yunzhou dominated Jiangnan, but now, Yunzhou silk in the entire capital city is almost completely suppressed and can't be sold.
Not to mention the top-quality tea, wine, and other hard currencies produced in Jiangnan!
That's what all the restaurants and teahouses are fighting over right now. In Beijing these days, any restaurant that doesn't have a stable supply of Jiangnan wines and teas is facing the predicament of not being able to stay in business!
The fruit wines and sauce-flavored liquors produced in Jiangnan have a dominant presence in the market. Anyone who has tasted Jiangnan liquors once is extremely fond of them, especially wealthy families who are willing to spend a fortune to buy them. Nowadays, if you don't serve some Jiangnan liquors when hosting a high-class banquet in a restaurant, you simply can't be considered presentable!
The same is true for tea. Since Jiangnan tea entered the capital, it has dominated tea from any other region. Nowadays, the price of one or two taels of Jiangnan tea has been driven up to thirty gold coins or more, making it extremely precious and the first choice for gifts on various occasions!
Not to mention the exquisitely crafted pocket watches that not only tell time but are also beautifully made. Nowadays, wealthy gentlemen would be embarrassed to go out without one of those!
Who wouldn't be envious of such a top-tier business opportunity?
In order to secure a stable supply of goods, merchants from Jiangnan are now highly sought after. Managers of many top families are trying to win them over, gather information, and prepare to make a major foray into various industries in Jiangnan.
But the more they inquired, the more alarming the news became for many wealthy families!
Does the Mountain God allocate land?
Vigorously promote engineering education?
Land cannot be sold?
Officials and gentry paid grain taxes together?
This is absolutely heretical!!
Suddenly, various voices condemning Chen Qing emerged in the court, their momentum even greater than the condemnation of those in the north!
You must understand that there is an open rebellion in the north. Although Chen Qing has privately trained troops, he is at least outwardly subservient to the court and is even helping the court resist the rebellion of the Princess.
However, the public was outraged. Almost every time the court was in session, many officials denounced Chen Qing. Especially after some previously concealed information was exposed, not only the court but also the common people launched a protest against Chen Qing. The main group that denounced him was the scholars of the various academies, who represented the voice of the people!
Especially last time, even the largest White Deer Academy in the capital, Bailu Academy, joined in, and tens of thousands of students across the capital gathered to strike. The situation had escalated to the point where the imperial court could no longer ignore it.
Upon hearing Vice Minister Yang's words, the ministers all frowned deeply!
Although Vice Minister Yang is not young, he still holds the position of Vice Minister, but his reputation among scholars is very high. Otherwise, His Majesty would not have included the Yang Household in the list of potential Crown Princesses.
Vice Minister Yang's words practically represented the voice of the Confucian scholars.
The sorcerer families held a unique position in the Great Jin Dynasty. They rivaled the aristocratic families, but in terms of faction, they belonged to the civil official camp.
Although in private, sorcerer officials held a much higher status than ordinary officials, this status was obtained by scholars who attached themselves to them. Apart from the former Warlock Dynasty, sorcerer families held the highest status in the Great Jin Dynasty.
Normally, the civil officials follow the lead of the Nine Ministers because the families of sorcerers can uphold their reputation in the struggle between scholars and military generals. But now, the literati are almost collectively denouncing Chen Qing, which forces the Nine Ministers to take this voice seriously!
Although they were well aware that the current situation in the court made it impossible for them to spare any resources to attack Chen Qing.
"Your Excellency, there's no need to worry. The court will not allow Chen Qing to act recklessly!" The Ministry of Rites quickly reassured him.
"But what Chen Qing is doing now is undermining the very foundation of our Great Jin! The court has yet to take any action, and we scholars are disheartened!" Vice Minister Yang said indignantly. " Chen Qing has already used commercial interests to win over many petty families willing to serve him. If this continues, Chen Qing's power will expand further, and the country will cease to exist!"
These words sounded righteous and awe-inspiring, but to the Nine Ministers, they sounded rather harsh.
The goods from Jiangnan are too valuable. Even if they are acquired at a high price, the secondary speculation will still yield huge profits. Such profits are naturally seized by the sorcerer families and the first family of bloodline families. Many ordinary scholar families can't even get a taste of the soup and can only become suckers who consume them.
Isn't this the kind of petty family that Vice Minister Yang was referring to?
If it weren't for the other party's special status, the Minister would have been prepared to make a few sarcastic remarks to him.
"Your Excellency," the Minister of Ministry of Rites sighed, "You all know the current situation. The court is short of troops, and the war in the north is raging. Where can the court spare troops to attack Chen Qing?"
"Your Excellency is mistaken!" Vice Minister Yang, unusually direct in his rebuttal, said in a deep voice, " Chen Qing harbors wolfish ambitions. If left unchecked, his harm will be no less than that in the North. We have already gathered evidence that Chen Qing is not only promoting heretical practices and bewitching the people in Jiangnan, but now he is also aiding the enemy in the North. If we do not take action soon, the consequences will be dire!"
"Aiding the enemy?" The Minister of Ministry of Punishments frowned. "Why do you say that, Your Excellency?"
To be honest, what Chen Qing did was indeed against the rules, but whether it was a rebellion or not, the court has not yet determined. After all, many of his actions were reasonable and in accordance with the law. When he went to Liuzhou to take up his post, the temporary power to recruit soldiers was given by the Jiangnan Provincial Governor. At that time, he reported to the court, and the court approved it and issued an official seal.
Then came the great calamity in Jiangnan. As the prefect of Liuzhou, Chen Qing had a duty to defend the territory, so it was understandable that he recruited militia to resist.
As for the idea that the militia could stand against the Princess, everyone knows that's nonsense, but at least on the surface they are loyal to the court.
With this pretext, the higher-ups can at least suppress the voices from below demanding the punishment of Chen Qing on multiple occasions.
But accusing them of aiding the enemy is a bit too much.
"That's just me talking nonsense." Vice Minister Yang quickly produced a memorial and said, "Officials in the north have been collecting evidence for many days. Chen Qing's merchants are collecting large quantities of shipbuilding timber and horses from the north. These are strategic resources. What is Chen Qing trying to do?"
"This..." The Minister of Ministry of Punishments frowned. "It can't be considered aiding the enemy, can it? Chen Qing is facing pressure from both the West Sea and the Princess's rebellion. It's normal for him to need to arm his soldiers, and the same goes for horses. Chen Qing is training cavalry for the sake of the court."
"But where did he get the horses?" Vice Minister Yang said quietly, "The two largest horse farms in the north are now occupied by the Duke of Wei. According to intelligence, Chen Qing transported more than 10,000 horses back to Liuzhou this time, including many Dragon Horse and Elephant Horse that only noble families could raise!"
Everyone: "."
"According to reports from officials in the north, the rebels were originally facing a food shortage, but suddenly many grain merchants appeared in the Jiangnan, selling a lot of grain to the Duke of Wei. It was precisely because they needed grain from the Jiangnan to survive that the Duke of Wei relinquished his monopoly on horses. Isn't this aiding the enemy?"
"This"