pappabearbooks Chapter 2326 Flattery
Chapter 2326 Flattery
Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!
When Zhao Wenhua heard the conversation between Chen Hong and Yang Yi, he almost spat out a word. What merit did Yang Yi have? It was utterly ridiculous and a load of bull. What did Yang Yi have to do with suppressing Shi Shangzhao's rebellion?
When Yang Yi served as the governor of Henan, the Shi Shangzhao Rebellion broke out in the province, which was due to Yang Yi's mismanagement!
He, the governor, should be skinned alive!
Let's break it down from the beginning. Shi Shangzhao was a salt smuggler, illegally selling smuggled salt. Why didn't Yang Yi arrest him and imprison him?! If he had been imprisoned, would Shi Shangzhao have later rebelled?!
Next, let's see how Shi Shangzhao orchestrated the rebellion, and what kind of people did he gather? He gathered salt workers and starving people!
Why did so many salt workers rebel under his instigation?! Why didn't other provinces, where there were also many salt workers, rebel?! It was because the salt administration in Henan under Yang Yi's rule had serious problems! It was because Yang Yi mismanaged the province, failed to govern effectively, and his officials oppressed and extorted the salt workers. The salt laws were too harsh, leading to the salt workers being instigated to rebel by Shi Shangzhao!
Why did so many starving people rebel under his instigation?! It's because Yang Yi, the governor of Henan, was incompetent. He failed to provide adequate disaster relief. Henan suffered from consecutive years of drought and floods, resulting in poor harvests for both provinces. Yang Yi, for the sake of his own political achievements, did not report this to his superiors or apply for tax reductions due to the disaster. Instead, he submitted a memorial claiming that Henan enjoyed favorable weather and that no one picked up lost items on the road! For the sake of his political achievements, he continued to collect taxes from the people as usual. Even though the people were suffering from the disaster, he continued to press for payment, and his subordinates followed suit, increasing the taxes at each level, ultimately leading to a rebellion!
From this perspective, it seems that Yang Yi was the one who caused Shi Shangzhao's uprising. If Yang Yi is to take responsibility, he should be skinned alive!
Alright, let's see how the rebellion of Shi Shangzhao is quelled!
The suppression of Shi Shangzhao's rebellion had little to do with Yang Yi; it was simply that he was the governor of Henan, nominally in control of all the troops, prefectures, counties, and police forces in Henan!
The rebellion of Shi Shangzhao was truly quelled by Jiangzhou, the then Provincial Governor of Shanxi. The imperial court appointed Jiangzhou as the commander-in-chief to coordinate the suppression of Shi Shangzhao's troops. The main generals were Cao Bangfu and Chen Nan. Jiangzhou mobilized tens of thousands of troops from Henan, Shandong, and Fengyang in Anhui, dividing them into several routes to encircle and intercept Shi Shangzhao. Cao Bangfu led the charge, winning battle after battle, defeating Shi Shangzhao, and ultimately capturing him, thus quelling the rebellion!
Yang Yi didn't have any merit whatsoever. He just happened to be appointed as the governor of Henan, the highest-ranking official in name only. He only organized some logistics. You could remove him and just tie up any dog.
The ones who truly deserve credit are Jiang Zhou! Cao Bangfu! and Chen Nan!
What merit did Yang Yi have? He just happened to be the governor of Henan. He was a thief, a shameless and despicable thief who stole the credit for suppressing Shi Shangzhao's rebellion.
After suppressing Shi Shangzhao's rebellion, he took advantage of his position as the highest-ranking official responsible for reporting the merits to the court and shamelessly claimed the greatest credit for suppressing the rebellion. I have never seen such a shameless person!
bah bah bah!
Zhao Wenhua was indignant, his face as black as the bottom of a pot, gloomy, and the surrounding temperature dropped below zero.
Besides Zhao Wenhua, many other officials present also disagreed with Yang Yi. Yang Yi had little to show for his efforts in suppressing Shi Shangzhao's rebellion; he was merely the nominal highest-ranking official. Jiang Zhou, Cao Bangfu, and Chen Nan had quelled the rebellion far too quickly, taking only two months from the start of the campaign to its conclusion. Yang Yi hadn't even had time to do much logistical work.
In addition, Shi Shangzhao's rebellion was very limited in intensity and scale, and most of the rebels were starving people with poor fighting ability.
Compared to the Wokou raids in Jiangnan, Shi Shangzhao's rebellion was insignificant. The scale, intensity, and fighting power of the Wokou raids in Jiangnan were far beyond what Shi Shangzhao's rebellion could compare to. One was the vast ocean, while the other was merely a muddy pond in a village.
It was only because Shi Shangzhao's rebellion occurred in Henan, the heart of the Central Plains, and Fengyang, the place where the emperor rose to power, that the imperial court took it seriously.
If a rebellion of this intensity occurred in a remote province, the imperial court would not have paid so much attention to it.
Of course, compared to Zhao Wenhua, they only complained in their hearts and wouldn't show it on their faces.
As before, after receiving the imperial decree, the newly appointed Governor-General Yang Yi organized a welcoming banquet for Chen Hong and the other envoys.
Although Zhao Wenhua was resentful that Yang Yi had taken over as governor, he still attended the banquet to welcome Imperial Commissioner Chen Hong.
All the officials were present; no one was absent at this time. Chen Hong still had to go back to report. If he made a fuss about it and then spoke ill of you to the Emperor, who could stand that?
"Come, let's drink this first cup of wine together, colleagues. Let's toast Eunuch Chen and the other eunuchs. You have traveled more than two thousand miles from the capital, crossing mountains and rivers, braving wind and rain, and you must be exhausted. How hard you have worked!"
As the newly appointed governor, Yang Yi naturally became the host of the welcoming banquet. He stood up and raised three cups of wine, the first of which was offered to Chen Hong and other eunuchs.
When Chen Hong spoke, all the officials naturally stood up to toast Chen Hong and the other eunuchs. Although Zhao Wenhua was not convinced by Chen Hong, he had no choice but to stand up and toast as well.
"Thank you, Governor Yang, thank you, Lord Zhao, thank you all." Chen Hong stood up, raised his wine glass, and toasted everyone.
After finishing his first drink, Yang Yi stood up, picked up his second glass, looked around at everyone, and his gaze fell on Zhao Wenhua.
What are you looking at?!
Zhao Wenhua squinted and met Yang Yi's gaze.
"This second cup of wine, fellow colleagues, let us toast Lord Zhao together." Yang Yi held the wine cup with both hands, offering it to Zhao Wenhua with a smile, and said respectfully, "Lord Zhao is deeply trusted by His Majesty. He was ordered to come to Jiangnan to offer sacrifices to the sea and supervise the anti-Japanese pirate military affairs in the southeast. He is both wise and brave, and his hard work and achievements are outstanding. The sea sacrifice was a great success. On the day of the sea sacrifice, he did not hesitate to use himself as bait to lure and kill thousands of Japanese pirates. From then on, the whole world knew that the gods protected our Great Ming and punished the Japanese pirates. This greatly boosted the morale of the anti-Japanese pirates in Jiangnan. This is all thanks to Lord Zhao's sea sacrifice. After the sea sacrifice, Lord Zhao immediately devoted himself to supervising the anti-Japanese pirate military affairs in the southeast. He worked tirelessly and disregarded his personal safety to correct the wrongs and restore order. It was under Lord Zhao's supervision that we in Jiangnan achieved the great victory at Wangjiangjing and wiped out thousands of Japanese pirates. In the future, our overall anti-Japanese pirate situation in Jiangnan will still rely on Lord Zhao's guidance and leadership. Come, fellow colleagues, let us toast Lord Zhao together."
That's practically flattery.
Zhu Pingan couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.
A group of officials present followed Yang Yi in raising their glasses and toasting Zhao Wenhua.
Zhao Wenhua, one of the parties involved, was stunned. He hadn't expected Yang Yi to be so friendly and humble.
Even though you've tried to be friendly and humble yourself, I'm still going to impeach you! Who told you to sit in the wrong position? (End of Chapter)