Chapter 79

In the afternoon, Lu Yihao met the emperor Zhao Gou in the imperial study.

"According to the rules, such a minor matter should not disturb the court, but since the new soldier training competition was personally arranged by the court, I believe it is necessary to inform the court and draw attention to it, so as to avoid any bigger mistakes."

Zhao Gou was sitting at his desk, reading Chen Qing's report. Although Lu Yihao tried to downplay the matter, the fact that he came to report it indicated that it was not a simple issue.

Moreover, the report mentioned that a misunderstanding led to intensified conflicts between the two armies, almost resulting in a clash. This was what Zhao Gou could not tolerate. A battle between two armies of thousands in Lin'an would have serious consequences. If mishandled, it could become another Liu Miao Rebellion.

Zhao Gou's face grew increasingly grim. He said to the eunuch, "Summon Chancellor Fan Zongyin to see me immediately!"

"Your Majesty, Chen Qing is waiting in my office. Should I also summon him to verify the matter?"

Zhao Gou pondered for a moment and said, "Let's wait for now!"

Zhao Gou knew very well that this was clearly Fan Zongyin trying to make things difficult for Chen Qing. However, Chen Qing was not willing to be humiliated and fought back. If the two met again, one being high-ranking and unreasonable, and the other being low-ranking but justified, it would be difficult for Zhao Gou to take sides. It would be best if they did not meet.

Soon, Fan Zongyin hurried over. Not knowing what had happened, and seeing Lu Yihao there, he felt uneasy and quickly bowed, "Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty!"

Emperor Zhao Gou threw the Ministry of War's approval on the ground, "Chancellor Fan, is this the damned approval you signed?"

Fan Zongyin's heart sank. How did this matter reach the emperor?

He glanced at Lu Yihao, who was standing aside with half-closed eyes, seemingly uninvolved. Fan Zongyin immediately understood that this was Lu Yihao's doing.

Fortunately, he had discussed the matter in detail with Han Qi the previous night. As long as he firmly denied any personal motives, the responsibility would fall on the Ministry of War. This was Fan Zongyin's usual style—let others take the blame. Previously, the censor Wang Huan had taken the fall for him, and this time, it would be the deputy minister of the Ministry of War, Wang Hao.

Fan Zongyin quickly picked up the approval and said with a guilty look, "Your subject was careless and did not carefully verify it before signing. Several armies wanted to occupy that camp, and the Ministry of War did not want to offend any of them, so they asked me to sign. I never expected the Ministry of War to make such a serious mistake and approve the camp twice."

Emperor Zhao Gou did not comment on Fan Zongyin's explanation. He picked up Chen Qing's report and handed it to Fan Zongyin, "This is the report written by the Western Army Commander Chen Qing, summarizing what happened last night. See if there are any discrepancies."

Fan Zongyin was annoyed that Chen Qing had written the report so quickly. He took the report and read it, "Your Majesty, the situation is basically true, but the descriptions differ due to different perspectives. I cannot agree with some of his conclusions."

"Where do they differ?"

"Your Majesty, last night I heard that a conflict might break out, so I rushed to the camp to mediate. At that time, I knew the Ministry of War might have made a mistake, so I suggested that both sides temporarily stay together and resolve the issue the next day.

However, General Chen had a grudge against me, thinking I was biased towards General Cao. He was very agitated and did not allow me to enter the camp, threatening to shoot me with the bow of the previous emperor if I did. Later, I feared that General Chen might act rashly and cause a major mistake, so I did not intervene further."

"But his report says that you did not recognize the approval from the Privy Council and wanted to force them out of the camp. He did not allow you to enter the camp, which led to the conflict."

"How could I not recognize the approval from the Privy Council? I just wanted to resolve the conflict between him and General Cao. I entered the camp to check if there were any spare barracks, but he became extremely agitated and was unreasonably aggressive, clearly acting out of line..."

Lu Yihao, standing aside, said, "Ministers cannot enter the camp without approval from the Privy Council. In this regard, General Chen did nothing wrong."

Fan Zongyin glared at Lu Yihao, "Acting out of line, is he not at fault?"

Lu Yihao calmly replied, "It depends on the specific situation. If everything is labeled as acting out of line, then Chancellor Fan has shouted at me in the court more than once."

Fan Zongyin almost fainted from anger. He controlled his rage and said coldly, "So his rudeness to me is justified?"

Lu Yihao remained calm, "I said it depends on the specific situation. The Ministry of War was at fault first, and Chancellor Fan also made a mistake. The proper way to resolve the conflict was to find another camp for General Cao's army, not to go to the camp and escalate the conflict. Knowing that ministers cannot enter the camp at will, yet still trying to force entry, and then accusing the other party of acting out of line, is clearly an attempt to use one's power to suppress others."

"You—"

Fan Zongyin's face turned red with anger, but he could not find a way to counter Lu Yihao, who was shrewd and spoke without leaving any room for attack.

"Both of you are chancellors, stop arguing over such trivial matters."

The emperor spoke, and the two stopped arguing.

Zhao Gou walked a few steps and said, "I am clear about the right and wrong in this matter. The Ministry of War was seriously negligent, almost causing a clash between the two armies. The head of the Ministry of War bears significant responsibility. By my command, the deputy minister Wang Hao is dismissed from his post. The deputy minister of the Ministry of War will be temporarily held by the grand scholar Zhu Shengfei.

Commander Chen Qing acted in the best interest of the situation, inviting the friendly army into the camp, resolving the conflict, and avoiding a clash. His spirit is commendable and should be recognized. He is hereby promoted to Wu Yi Doctor, by imperial decree!"

Fan Zongyin was shocked and was about to plead for Wang Hao, but he saw the emperor's stern gaze and knew that the emperor was making Wang Hao take the blame.

He sighed inwardly, knowing that if he had known the outcome, he would not have acted as the villain.

Lu Yihao secretly admired the emperor's foresight. He had been puzzled when Chen Qing was promoted to commander, as his rank should have been at least Wu Yi Doctor, not a seventh-rank deputy minister.

It turned out that this position was reserved for Chen Qing, both to comfort him and to avoid excessive promotion.

The emperor was indeed wise, having anticipated that Fan Zongyin would not let the matter rest.

Zhao Gou returned the report to Lu Yihao and asked with a smile, "Is this report written by Commander Chen himself?"

"Your subject asked him, and he said it was."

Zhao Gou nodded, "His handwriting is quite good, indeed!"

......

The new soldier training competition was a decision made by Zhao Gou at the beginning of the year, rooted in the Liu Miao Rebellion. The trusted old generals had rebelled at a critical moment, forcing him to abdicate, which deeply chilled Zhao Gou's heart, making him no longer trust military officers. However, the Jin army's continuous southern invasion forced Zhao Gou to rely on the accomplished generals.

To balance this contradiction, Zhao Gou proposed the idea of new soldiers and new generals. The establishment of the military academy and the new soldier training competition at the beginning of the year were products of this idea. Simply put, Emperor Zhao Gou wanted to promote a group of young generals loyal to him and select a batch of new soldiers as his personal guard.

This new soldier training competition was of great significance, and the commanders of various regions took it very seriously, sending their trusted generals and the best new soldiers to Lin'an to participate.

On this morning, on the western road of Lin'an, a 2,000-strong army was marching towards Lin'an. The army was well-equipped, with high morale, and the flags fluttered in the sunlight, with a large 'Yue' character on the commander's flag.

The leading general was clad in scale armor, wearing a phoenix-wing helmet, holding a large iron spear, with a cold gaze and a black beard, looking to be around thirty years old. This was the newly risen general Yue Fei.

Although Yue Fei had fought many battles and achieved great feats, his true rise to a smooth career path began after Emperor Zhao Gou's southern crossing. He resisted the Jin army's southern invasion and quelled rebellions in various regions, finally earning the emperor's favor and being promoted to the commander of the Divine Army, breaking away from Zhang Jun's forces and establishing his own.

This time, Yue Fei was sent to the Poyang Lake area to suppress the rebel Li Cheng, and his army was stationed in Hongzhou. After defeating Li Cheng and during the rest period, Yue Fei took the opportunity to personally lead 2,000 new soldiers to Lin'an to participate in the new soldier training competition.

Yue Fei, as the commander, was not participating in the competition but had his trusted generals Zhang Xian and Wang Gui participate, along with 2,000 new soldiers recruited in Hongzhou and trained for three months, from which he selected 2,000 elite soldiers to compete.

At this moment, dust rose as two officials galloped towards them.

The two officials reined in their horses and asked, "Is this General Yue Fei's army?"

Yue Fei clasped his hands and said, "I am Yue Fei."

The two officials quickly bowed, "We are officials from the Privy Council, tasked with arranging the camps and supplies for the participating teams. Your camp and provisions have been arranged, please follow us, General Yue!"

"Thank you!"

Yue Fei was a bit surprised. The Privy Council was notoriously difficult to deal with, but now they had not only arranged the camp but also sent people to guide them, which was quite unexpected.

Yue Fei was not a troublemaker, but he was concerned if he had arrived too late, so he asked, "Have the other participating teams arrived?"

"Most have arrived, but a few have not yet."

General Wang Gui asked, "Will the Privy Council arrange accommodation and provisions for each team like this?"

An official smiled bitterly and said, "Some incidents occurred in the past two days, and the emperor ordered the Privy Council to make proper arrangements and prevent any further incidents."

Wang Gui wanted to ask what had happened, but Yue Fei gave him a stern look, signaling him not to pry. Wang Gui had to swallow his words.

The two officials led the group and sped towards the eastern part of the city...