Chapter 305 - The Issue of Cangzhou (1/2)
“That’s easy for you to say. Yanzhou is the closest to Cangzhou, but the garrison there is also the army closest to the capital city. If the Yanzhou garrison is detached there and something happens in this city, they would never be able to make it back here in time.”
“Then who do you suggest we send? Yanzhou and the capital city are the only two cities near Cangzhou. Currently there are not enough troops in the latter, which means we either have Yanzhou send backup or watch the Cangzhou uprising get out of control!”
These people directly started quarreling with each other at the court meeting. Half of them advocated detaching Yanzhou garrison to Cangzhou, while the other half believed Yanzhou garrison should stay put.
“His Majesty is still in a coma. If we don’t figure out a way to tackle the issue of Cangzhou right away, I’m afraid before long we are going to have some serious problems,” Zhao Zheng the Minister of War observed and then looked at Yuwen Tong. “What do you think, Marshal?”
On hearing his remarks, all the others at the meeting fell silent and s.h.i.+fted their gaze to Yuwen Tong.
Previously, Yuwen Tong had never expressed his opinions on this kind of matters, and most courtiers were uncertain of his position. Now that Zhao Zheng was asking Yuwen Tong about it, they immediately quieted down, intending to hear what Yuwen Tong would answer.
“Right now the Northern City Garrison Battalion is the only security force stationed in the capital city. They are not only guarding the imperial palace and city gates but also patrolling streets, despite the fact that they’re badly short-handed. If any foreign enemies launch an attack on this city, we might not be able to defend against it, so the garrison in this city must not be drafted elsewhere.
Sending the military presence in Yanzhou is feasible. Yanzhou is the closest to Cangzhou. If we don’t quash the rebellion in Cangzhou, sooner or later it will spill over to Yanzhou, so we must dispatch Yanzhou garrison there. It’s just that there are two problems facing us.”
Those against detaching the garrison in Yanzhou were just about to speak when the Right Prime Minister and Zhao Zheng started talking.
“You’ve got a point, Marshal. The issue of Cangzhou is of utmost urgency. Once General Dai fails to hold back those rioters, it would be the capital city rather than Yanzhou that’d be in the gravest peril. Given the severity of the incident that happened here a few days ago, we can’t say for sure that it hasn’t come to the knowledge of leaders of the rebel army. If by any chance they decide to attack this city, it’d be very difficult for us to defend against them with the men we have at our disposal, and we’d be forced to draft the garrisons in other cities here. Since drafting security forces in other cities is inevitable, we might as well launch a pre-emptive strike instead of deploying defense. Finis.h.i.+ng the insurrectionary army once and for all is the only way to ensure long-time security.”
These words rendered those courtiers speechless. After all, the capital city was now indeed quite vulnerable and in dire danger.
“May I ask what the two problems are, Marshal?”
After they quieted down, Yuwen Tong continued, “The first one is that we need His Majesty’s authorization to detach the army in Yanzhou. As you all know, His Majesty pa.s.sed out this morning and still hasn’t come to yet. According to the director of the imperial hospital, his prognosis is rather gloomy, which means how to get his authorization is going to be a problem. The second one is that the commander of the garrison in Yanzhou is no less incompetent than Dai Cheng. If he leads the garrison to Cangzhou to back up Dai Cheng, I’m afraid the only thing he would be doing there is get his men killed by the rebel force for nothing.”
“Uh…”
“Aside from that, we don’t really know how the situation in Cangzhou is specifically, and neither do any of us know the real reason why Dai Chen got hurt, or any details about the insurrectionary army. The intelligence reports from Cangzhou are somewhat vague and ambiguous. I worry that the rebel army is not the only problem in Cangzhou – there might have been some changes in the garrison of Cangzhou, so the leader of the reinforcements must be someone having enough authority to have the officers toe the line.”
After hearing Yuwen Tong’s words, many courtiers at the meeting broke out in a cold sweat. There’d been some changes in the garrison of Cangzhou?
Then the capital city… Was the capital city still safe?
What with the spate of unforeseen events that had happened in the capital city recently, these courtiers were all like frightened birds and had no sense of security whatsoever.
“I volunteer for the mission.” Someone suddenly stepped up. It was the General Zhongwu (AKA the General of Loyalty and Valor) who was already in his fifties.
All courtiers’ eyes flashed in his direction. Yuwen Tong also looked at the General Zhongwu and gave a smile. “I was just about to suggest you.”
On hearing this remark of Yuwen Tong’s, the courtiers came to know that the General Zhongwu being the commander of the reinforcements sent to Cangzhou was now a sure thing.
Someone proposed Yuwen Tong be the leader, but the Right Prime Minister and Zhao Zheng objected to it and the proposer had to give up.
“Now that we’ve got a commander, the only thing we need is His Majesty’s authorization. Which one of Your Lords.h.i.+ps is willing to talk to His Majesty about it?” said Yuwen Tong after his eyes swept across everybody present.
“I’ll go. Lord Zhao, Lord Liu, how about you two go with me?”
“It’d be a pleasure, Right Prime Minister.”
Currently, all civil officials were looking to the Right Prime Minister for leaders.h.i.+p. Owing to the attempted usurpation, half of the courtiers had been executed, and the emperor was unconscious. None of the vacancies in the imperial court had been filled, so the court seemed rather empty and bleak, and not many of the courtiers were competent enough to help improve the situation.
The Right Prime Minister, accompanied by the Minister of War and the a.s.sistant Minister of Revenue, paid a visit to the imperial bedchamber. When they walked out, all their faces clouded over with deep apprehension.
“Wha–What happened, Your Lords.h.i.+ps? Did you get His Majesty’s authorization?”
“His Majesty is still comatose, and a court physician said that His Majesty probably… didn’t have much time left. He’s been relying heavily on medication to keep himself alive, and now I’m afraid it won’t be long before he breathes his last.”
At this juncture?! Everybody at the court meeting exclaimed in shock, their hearts sinking so low that they felt as though the bottoms had dropped out of their stomachs.
“The Ministry of Rites… has got to start making preparations.”
“I see,” the Minister of Rites answered and then exchanged glances with Yuwen Feng.
“What should we do now? Without His Majesty’s authorization, n.o.body could detach the garrison in Yanzhou.” Now everybody came to realize that the issue had got tricky.
Subconsciously, these people s.h.i.+fted their gaze to Yuwen Tong, who hadn’t shown a single sign of alarm and had been unhurried and collected all along from the very beginning. As though he was their “stability anchor”, they all started to depend on him in spite of themselves.
“Are there any other adult members of the imperial clan?” Yuwen Tong looked at the Right Prime Minister.
The Right Prime Minister looked back at him, made a slight bow and replied, “Only an uncle of His Majesty’s. He’s in his nineties and has been lying in bed to nurse his illness since last year. Also, his mind is not very clear. He frequently mistakes people for others and has a memory like a sieve. It’s very inadvisable to put him in charge.”
There had originally been more members in the imperial clan, but because of the emperor’s suspicious mind and his sudden changes of mood lately, he had had almost all of them executed on various pretexts. Just a few days ago, an imperial member involved in the King Duan’s attempted usurpation was beheaded.
As things stood, to put it simply, the two underage princes were the only candidates.
When almost everybody was at their wits’ end, someone stepped up and suggested, “We might as well have the Eighth Prince make the decision.”
“The Eighth Prince is only ten. What could he possibly do to help?”