Chapter 351 The Battle in the Court
On the morning of May 20th, Yang Zhengshan led his troops into the territory of Qinghua Prefecture directly from Tenglongwei, aiming at the city of Qinghua Prefecture.

Prince Qing received the news first, but he was not panicked. After all, this was something they had expected.

On May 21st, the Tenglong Guard army arrived at the city of Qinghua.

At the same time, the news that Prince Qing and Ji Feiyu were conspiring to rebel also reached Kyoto.

The news was reported by the Secret Guards. Yang Zhengshan also submitted a memorial, but he could not use the 800-mile urgent report, so his memorial was one step slower than that of the Secret Guards.

In the afternoon, the Crown Prince, Prince Cheng, Prince Gong and important officials of the court gathered in the Taiji Hall of the Imperial City.

The Crown Prince, Prince Cheng, and Prince Gong sat under the throne, and the ministers stood in the hall.

The prince's face was filled with fatigue that could not be concealed at this moment. He did not expect the situation to turn out like this.

He had just taken office as regent when the Wuliang army invaded western Liaoning and Prince Qing conspired with Ji Feiyu to rebel. He felt a heavy pressure at this time.

He has always longed for the throne, and now is when he is closest to it, but he also feels the tremendous pressure from it.

"What suggestions do you have for the situation in Liaodong and Chongshan Town?" the prince asked in a deep voice.

Prince Cheng and Prince Gong sat on both sides, looking at the ministers in the hall.

Neither of them are simple characters. The fact that they have been fighting openly and secretly with the prince in the court for more than ten years is enough to prove their ability and strength.

In fact, whether it is the Crown Prince, Prince Cheng or Prince Gong, they are all not young anymore.

The old emperor is sixty-five years old this year, the crown prince is nearly fifty, and Prince Cheng and Prince Gong are both around forty years old.

It’s no wonder that the prince feels aggrieved. How could he not feel aggrieved after being the prince for nearly thirty years?
The key point is that he had a powerful emperor like Emperor Chengping above his head, making him live in fear under the shadow of Emperor Chengping for thirty years.

He has been the crown prince for thirty years. If Emperor Chengping does not pass away soon, the crown prince will probably die before him!

"Your Highness, I think the most urgent task is to select a new governor and general for Chongshan Town to take charge of the overall situation of Chongshan Town and suppress the rebellion of Prince Qing!"

Li Siyuan stood up and spoke.

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

Everyone seconded the motion in agreement.

The prince's expression changed slightly when he heard this, and he asked, "Who do you think can take on this important task?"

Selecting a new governor and general is a major event, which involves the military power of the entire Chongshan Town.

Although the situation in Chongshan Town is bad now, it does not prevent the prince from wanting to take Chongshan Town into his own hands.

Prince Cheng and Prince Gong also shared the same idea.

Li Siyuan bowed and said, "I think Liaoyuan Governor Pang Tang can be appointed as the governor of Chongshan Town, and Tenglong Guard Yang Zhengshan can be appointed as the general of Chongshan Town!"

Upon hearing this, the prince frowned slightly and said, "I remember that Pang Tang has never been in charge of military affairs!"

Although the provincial governor was not a high-ranking official, he was also an important official in the local area.

Being in charge of the government of a province is considered a high and powerful position.

However, the governor does not control military affairs.

Pang Tang served as county magistrate, prefect, governor, and councilor, but he had never been in charge of military or political affairs.

Li Siyuan said: "Pang Tang is good at government affairs and acts maturely and prudently. Although he is not good at military affairs, he can stabilize Liaodong!"

The meaning of Li Siyuan's words was very obscure, that is, Pang Tang only needed to stabilize Liaodong and did not need to interfere in military affairs.

Why do border towns have governors? Isn’t it to curb the generals?
If it is peacetime, the governor is in charge of military and political affairs and is above the general, but if it is wartime, the governor must cooperate with the general.

Lu Chongde and Liang Chu of Chongshan Town handled this point very well before.

The governor is a civil official, and the general is a military general. How can a civil official compare to a military general in terms of commanding a battle?
Therefore, the governor of Chongshan Town selected at this time does not need to have military talent, he just needs to be mature and prudent, and ensure the logistics for the troops fighting in the front.

Pang Tang was the governor of Liaoyuan. He knew the situation in Liaodong best and could mobilize Liaodong's resources to ensure the logistics of the troops at the front.

Now Pang Tang definitely cannot go to Chongshan Town to take up his post. Chongshan Pass has fallen into the hands of Ji Feiyu, and Chongshan Town does not even have a governor's office. If Pang Tang wants to handle the affairs of Chongshan Town, it would be more appropriate for him to go to Liao'an Prefecture.

Therefore, the most suitable candidate for the current governor of Chongshan Town is Pang Tang.

The prince glanced at Li Siyuan with mixed feelings.

He wanted to compete for the position of governor, but for Li Siyuan's sake, he finally compromised.

As for Prince Cheng and Prince Gong, they did not set their minds on the position of governor, because Li Siyuan's words made it very clear that the military power of Chongshan Town would be in the hands of the general, not the governor.

"Although Yang Zhengshan is talented, he is only a commander of the Guards. Will he be unable to convince the people?"

"I think Marquis Jingyuan is more suitable to be the commander-in-chief of Chongshan Town!"

This time, the prince did not give Li Siyuan a chance to speak and directly told him the candidate he had in mind.

His reason was not wrong. Yang Zhengshan was only the commander of Tenglong Guard. There were many people in Chongshan Town whose official ranks were higher than his. If he was appointed as the general, some people might not accept it.

For example, Tang Feihu and Niu Zhuang both served as lieutenant generals with the official title of Tongzhi of Chongshan Town, and their ranks were higher than Yang Zhengshan.

And if Yang Zhengshan served as the commander-in-chief, his official position would at least be promoted to the deputy commander-in-chief of the Central Army Commandery.

"I think this is inappropriate. Marquis Jingyuan has no experience in serving in a border town, nor does he understand the affairs of Chongshan Town. How can he take on this important task at this time?"

Before Li Siyuan could say anything, Prince Cheng jumped out to object.

Everyone knows that Marquis Jingyuan is the prince's man, and they can't let the prince's people take charge of Chongshan Town.

"That's right, I think Nanyang Marquis Lu Baishu is more suitable. Nanyang Marquis has a high level of cultivation and has been to Liaodong many times to handle official business. He knows a lot about Liaodong and Chongshan Town, so he can take on this important task!"

"That's not right. The Marquis of Nanyang is the commander of the Xianwu Camp. How can he be easily transferred?"

"Then let the Prince of Changguo go. He is both virtuous and talented, and is brave and good at fighting!"

"Brave and good at fighting! My brother, if I remember correctly, Sun Jizong has never been on the battlefield!" King Cheng laughed disdainfully. ...

For a while, the Crown Prince, Prince Cheng, and Prince Gong started arguing with each other, all of them wanting to recommend their own people to be the general of Chongshan Town.

The Crown Prince's face became more and more ugly. It was obvious that Prince Cheng and Prince Gong had joined forces to target him. Whenever he proposed a candidate, both of them would jump out to oppose him.

When all the ministers in the hall saw this, they all fell silent, as if they had become dumb.

The prince glanced at the group of ministers, feeling secretly resentful.

Even though the three of them were fighting each other happily, in fact the court was still under the control of Emperor Chengping.

From the Cabinet to the Six Ministries, and then to the Five Military Governorates, they could not win over any of the powerful officials in the court.

The five ministers of the cabinet, the officials of the six ministries, and the left and right governors of the Five Military Governors' Offices never had any intention of taking sides.

This is the control that Emperor Chengping has over the court. Even though Emperor Chengping is now in a coma, these important ministers still do not stand on the side of him as the crown prince.

The prince knew very well that as long as Emperor Chengping had not passed away, he was just the crown prince.

Listening to the rebuttals of his two younger brothers, the Crown Prince's eyes fell on Ningguo Duke Zhou Mao, and he suddenly said, "I think General Zhou Lanzhou is more suitable. Ningguo Duke, what do you think?"

Old man, stop pretending to be dead and speak to me now!
As the prince finished speaking, the palace fell silent.

If you ask who is currently suitable to be the general of Chongshan Town, there is no doubt that Zhou Lan is the most suitable.

Liang Chu couldn't do that, because he was the commander of the imperial guards. Anyone could be touched at this time, except Liang Chu.

The reason is very simple. Liang Chu was appointed by the old emperor. Anyone who touches Liang Chu has evil intentions. The importance of the Twelve Battalions of the Imperial Guards is self-evident.

Replacing the commander of the Twelve Battalions of the Imperial Guard at this time would be tantamount to putting a knife to the neck of Emperor Taiping.

So apart from Liang Chu, Zhou Lan became the most suitable candidate.

Zhou Mao sighed in his heart, and could only stand up and say, "Your Highness, I think this is inappropriate. Although Zhou Lan is familiar with the situation in Chongshan Town, it will take at least ten days to get from Kyoto to Liaodong. Ten days is enough to make the situation in Chongshan Town worse and irreversible!"

"I think that Lord Li's proposal is more appropriate. Yang Zhengshan, the commander of the Tenglong Guard, can take on this important task!"

He turned the topic back to Yang Zhengshan.

Let Zhou Lan go to Chongshan Town?
Do not make jokes!
Now the Ningguo Mansion cannot stand out. The Ningguo Mansion is already very conspicuous, and they must not let Zhou Lan go any further.

As long as he doesn't back down, Zhou Lan can't go any further, otherwise the Ningguo Mansion will definitely become a thorn in the emperor's side.

Neither the current emperor nor the new emperor who will ascend the throne in the future can tolerate a Ningguo Mansion that is extremely powerful.

In fact, Zhou Mao did not want Yang Zhengshan to serve as the general of Chongshan Town, because Yang Zhengshan was also a member of the Ningguo Mansion, but it was better to let Yang Zhengshan take the position than to let Zhou Lan.

As for Li Siyuan, he didn't care about the issues of the Ningguo Mansion. He just felt that Yang Zhengshan was the most suitable.

Although Zhou Lan is also suitable, she is in Kyoto and has been away from Chongshan Town for several years. She certainly doesn't know as much about Chongshan Town today as Yang Zhengshan.

After hearing what Zhou Mao said, the prince felt even worse.

His original intention was to show goodwill to Zhou Mao. Since there were people who opposed the people he recommended anyway, he might as well show goodwill to the Ningguo Mansion. As long as Prince Cheng and Prince Gong didn't take advantage of it, then the matter would not be the worst.

But he didn't expect that Zhou Mao didn't appreciate his kindness at all.

Li Siyuan spoke again: "I think Yang Zhengshan, the commander of the Tenglong Guard, can take on this important task. I hope Your Highness will put the overall situation first!"

What he said was a bit impolite.

I hope Your Highness will put the overall situation first!

Doesn't that mean the prince didn't consider the overall situation first?
"I second the proposal!"

"Old minister seconded the proposal!"

Several ministers stood up to second the motion, even Liu Yuanfu, who had been resting with his eyes closed, stood up to second the motion.

Liu Yuanfu stood up, and Guan Wenshuo naturally followed suit.

Li Siyuan represented the opinions of the cabinet, Zhou Mao represented the Central Military Governor's Office and the nobles, while Liu Yuanfu and Guan Wenshuo represented the Censorate.

With the addition of Minister of Rites Wu Liangzai and Minister of Works Jiang Wei who stood up to second the motion, the opinions of all the ministers were basically unified.

Minister of War Wang Lu glanced at Liu Yuanfu next to him and also stood up and said, "I second the motion!"

Liu Yuanfu agreed to let Yang Zhengshan serve as the general of Chongshan Town, not because he had a friendship with Yang Zhengshan, but because he felt that Yang Zhengshan was suitable.

Although Yang Zhengshan's official position is a bit lower, but in terms of ability, no one would doubt Yang Zhengshan's ability.

Yang Zhengshan’s previous battle record is the biggest proof. The name of the God of Killing Butcher is enough to intimidate countless people.

However, the Minister of War Wang Lu agreed to it for the sake of Li Siyuan and Liu Yuanfu.

Wang Lu didn't know much about Yang Zhengshan. He only knew that Yang Zhengshan was a powerful figure, but he didn't have a clear idea of ​​how powerful he was.

Upon seeing this, the Crown Prince, Prince Cheng, and Prince Gong stopped arguing.

How else can we fight?
If we continue to argue, we will be ignoring the overall situation!
Prince Cheng and Prince Gong did not feel anything about this result. Their goal anyway was to prevent the prince's people from taking charge of Chongshan Town. Now their goal was half achieved. As for the other half, their people also lost the opportunity to take charge of Chongshan Town.

The one who felt the most uncomfortable was the prince. Not only did he get nothing, he was also almost accused by Li Siyuan of ignoring the overall situation. He wanted to please Zhou Mao, but Zhou Mao didn't appreciate it.

Now he felt like he had lost both the wife and the army.

"Then let's do this. Liaoyuan Governor Pang Tang is promoted to the post of Chongshan Town Governor, with the title of Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief. The Commander of Tenglong Guard is promoted to Assistant Governor of the Central Military Governor's Office, and is actually granted the post of Chongshan Town General!"

The prince said in a deep voice.

"Your Highness is wise!"

All the ministers praised him as a wise man.

(End of this chapter)