Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 145 Dugu Sixth
The matter of the water bandits can still be delayed for at most two months. After a long time, all the subordinate yamen will come to the general manager's mansion to complain. At that time, Yang Ming has no choice but to send troops.

And what he has to solve now is to control the Xiangyang navy in his own hands.

So Zhou Zhongmo received a letter from Yang Ming at the beginning of the year, instructing him to pretend that the Xiangyang Navy was acting as a water bandit to rob merchant ships.

With these evidences in hand, Yang Ming had an excuse to deal with Cai Ju from Xiangyang Hushi Mansion.

On this day, Cai Ju, who was summoned by the general manager's mansion, came from Xiangyang with his subordinates. He thought that Yang Ming summoned him this time to let the Xiangyang mansion send troops to suppress the bandits, so along the way, he was in a bad mood. very good.

Suppressing bandits, this is a great opportunity to make money, the longer you suppress, the more money you make, he understands this.

When he entered the lobby, his face was still full of spring, and he saluted:

"Xiaozhi received His Royal Highness's warrant and came here overnight, hoping there will be no delay."

"No delay," Yang Ming smiled and looked down at Pei Xizai.

Pei Xizai stood up, handed a stack of files to Cai Ju, and said, "General Cai, take a look at these."

"Okay," Cai Ju accepted it with a smile, but when he finished reading the first few lines, his expression changed.
After reading it, I was even more pale.

After hearing a plop, Cai Ju fell to his knees in the lobby: "His Royal Highness, I don't know about the lowly position. Is there someone who is slandering me behind my back?"

"Slander?" Pei Xizai sneered and said, "It has the signatures of several brigade commanders of the Xiangyang Navy on it. Do you recognize them? These people are currently locked up in the general manager's mansion. Do you want to take them out and confront General Cai?" ? This is convenient for clearing the suspicion of the general."

Zhou Zhongmou did a good job this time. After all, he was born in the general family, so he still has some tricks.

He got all the witness and material evidence. Although he didn't know the specific process, Yang Ming was very satisfied with the result.

The Xiangyang navy pretended to be water bandits and robbed merchant ships in the area of ​​the Hanshui River for many years. As long as they had no money, they would go out and fight for a vote. Not afraid of being checked.

Although Cai Ju was not directly involved in this dossier confession, it did involve Cai Ju's brother-in-law, Chariot General Chen Chong.

Chen Chong is in charge of the Xiangyang Navy.

Cai Ju was really panicking right now, because he had ordered his brother-in-law to do the act of pretending to be a water bandit.

Fortunately, in this confession, my brother-in-law did not confess him, out of righteousness.
But the crime of inadvertence, he can't escape.

"It's a despicable duty, please forgive me."

Yang Ming smiled: "General Cai, get up first."

"Don't dare to be humble," Cai Ju bowed his head and continued to kneel, begging for mercy with sincerity.

If you don't like him, it's not a light matter.

Yang Ming said indifferently: "I heard that General Cai served under Duke Han of the Shangzhu State and invaded Jiankang, and was awarded the Hussar General of Xiangyang Prefecture for his meritorious service. Since he is a meritorious person, this king will not punish him severely."

This Han Gong is Han Qinhu. Cai Ju used to hang out with Han Qinhu. After Han Qinhu died, he took refuge in Han Sengshou.

In the Sui Dynasty, both civil servants and military generals had the custom of not serving two masters, which was more or less influenced by Confucianism.

Lu Bu is a powerful general in the world, but for thousands of years, the title of "three-surname house slave" has always been on his forehead. From this, it can be seen that people who serve two masters are despised by the world.

For example, this Cai Ju, since he started his family by relying on the old Han's family, unless the old Han's family is empty, he will not vote for other people.

And Han Sengshou is also willing to accept his brother's followers and staff, and will treat him as his own.

Of course, Yang Ming didn't intend to impose a heavy sentence, not because of Han Sengshou's face. Han Sengshou's only face with him was because he was Li Jing's uncle.

He didn't impose a heavy sentence because there was no need for it. Cai Ju, who had been a hussar general for more than ten years, still had a lot of influence in the Xiangyang generation. Besides, the other party didn't affect his next arrangement, so just make sense up.

"Recently, the Hanshui bandits have become more and more rampant. I am still wondering why so many water bandits appear out of nowhere? It turns out that the government army is in trouble,"

Yang Ming said indifferently: "As a general of the Xiangyang Mansion, you don't even know about it. What do you think this king should do with you?"

When Cai Ju heard that Yang Ming mentioned Han Gong, he guessed that he must be fine. If Yang Ming really wanted to mess with him, he wouldn't mention Han Gong, but he wanted to show mercy.

"Humble position is a crime, let His Highness dispose of it."

Yang Ming scanned the hall and said, "What do you think?"

Yuan Wendu, who had already discussed with Yang Ming at the bottom, got up and said:

"General Cai has meritorious service, and the subordinates are willing to believe that he really does not know, so in the view of the subordinates, a fine is enough."

Yuan Chang Shi Renyi was also overjoyed in Cai Ju's heart, a fine for a salary is nothing, that salary is not enough for me to buy a concubine.

"It's too light," Du Ruhui sang against the tune, "Water bandits are rampant, wreaking havoc on the rivers. During this time, water bureaus everywhere are in a turmoil. Official ships have been robbed, and merchant ships have suffered serious losses. If something like this happens at this time, His Highness intends to give a light sentence, I'm afraid the Metropolitan Water Department will not be happy."

Cai Ju was relieved just now, but after hearing these words, he hung up again.

The Metropolitan Water Administration is affiliated to the Ministry of Industry and is under the direct management of the Ministry of Industry. They are from Guanzhong. If the rumors of the Xiangyang Military Mansion are reported back to Guanzhong, he will lose his head.

He was led away by Du Ruhui's words, completely ignoring the important point, that is, how could the Metropolitan Water Administration have the guts to be dissatisfied with Yang Ming.

This is Jingzhou, and Yang Ming dared to touch everything except the treasury.

"It's better like this," Pei Xizai said, "Since the Xiangyang Mansion just happened to be in the limelight, why not let General Cai return home to avoid the limelight, and His Highness will do his best to protect it, so other government offices dare to have any opinions?"

"It's exactly what I want," Yang Ming nodded and said with a smile, "There will be no penalty for the salary. General Cai should go home and reflect. Without my warrant, he is not allowed to return to the military residence."

"I would like to thank Your Highness for your kindness." Cai Ju was so grateful that he kowtowed to Yang Ming.

This is the best result. Avoid the limelight. When the limelight passes, you can return to the military mansion naturally.

In fact, he didn't know that Yang Ming asked him to reflect at home this time, not for a while, but for a long time.

As for when to come back, it depends on whether Yang Ming needs it or not. If he doesn't need him, he will never come back for the rest of his life.

Remove Cai Ju, the top leader of the Xiangyang Military Mansion, so that Yang Ming can arrange for his own people.

At this time, Pei Xizai said again:
"Then, what should we do with Chen Chong, the general of the navy chariot and cavalry?"

Du Ruhui said: "This can't be guaranteed, it's written in black and white, and there are signatures and pledges, pretending to be the mastermind of the water bandits robbing merchant ships, you can't kill them."

Yang Ming looked at Cai Ju and said, "What does General Cai think?"

"Kill! Must be killed! If this thief is not eliminated, the people will be outraged," Cai Ju said righteously.

It's just a little brother-in-law, and he gave up as soon as he abandoned it, and he was not his own son, so Cai Ju didn't have any psychological burden at all.

Yang Ming went again: "The navy cannot be without a general for a day. After Chen Chong, who will be in charge of the navy? Does General Cai have a suitable candidate in mind?"

Yes, of course. Didn't His Highness send Zhou Zhongmou over a long time ago?ready-made candidates.

Cai Ju hurriedly said: "The lowly position recommends Cao Junjun, Zhou Zhongmou, to take over the post of general of chariots and cavalry."

"Well, since General Cai has an excellent candidate here, I am at ease with you," Yang Ming nodded and said, "That's it."

Cai Ju knew that he had nothing to do here, so he hurriedly left.

Xiangyang Hussar's Mansion is under the jurisdiction of the Zuo Ling Zuo Ling Mansion among the twelve guards, and the appointment of personnel is also managed by the Zuo Ling Mansion.

But Yang Ming is different. He is the general manager, and he supervises all the military forces in the 22 counties, so he has the right to appoint any general of the military government within the jurisdiction.

For the military mansions outside Jingzhou, he has no such ability.

Last month, there was news from the capital that Li An, the general of the left and right government, had passed away, that is, Li Xiaogong's father.

The prince Yang Guang recommended Jianzhou chief to protect his son as the general of the left collar and the left and right mansions, but Yang Jian failed and appointed Duguzheng, the seventh-ranked Dugu family in Luoyang.

Duguzheng is Dugu Jialuo's younger brother and Dasui's relative.

In fact, before Li An, the general of Zuo Ling Zuo Fu was a member of the Dugu family, named Dugu Tuo, who was the half-brother of Empress Dugu, the sixth eldest in the family.

This old sixth did a shameless thing. He used witchcraft on his sister Dugu Jialuo and Yang Su's wife Zheng.

After Yang Jian found out, he was going to kill him at that time, but later he was spared by Dugu Hou's pleading for mercy, and he was demoted to a commoner, and finally died at home.

Dugutuo's wife is Yang Su's younger sister. This kid was also a famous figure in the Dugu family back then. He has the title of Duke of Wuyao County, and the title of Grand General. He is also in charge of the left collar and the left and right palaces. .

If he hadn't acted recklessly, the Dugu family wouldn't be in such a desperate situation.

Poor Dugu Jialuo is willing to support him, but the family is not up to date.

Right now, in Dugu's family, there is only Lao Qi, the queen's flesh-and-blood brother. Although he has no ability, as an only seedling, Empress Dugu can only forcefully support her.

It seems that the nurse will have to stay in Jianzhou for a few more years.

The Xiangyang navy will be handed over to Zhou Zhongmou in the future. Most of his subordinates are Zhou's children, who are proficient in water, and will be gradually assigned to important positions in the navy.

Next, Yang Ming wrote to the imperial court, asking for funds to rebuild the navy and build new warships to calm the flood in Jingzhou.

Building a ship is very labor-intensive, even taking several years.

But Yang Ming is not worried, because the scale of water bandits is still under control, and it is not difficult to wipe them out.

That's how things were, the trouble of water bandits was delayed to the current situation only because Yang Ming needed money from the treasury to rebuild the navy, and it was undoubtedly a disaster for those who depended on water transportation for their lives.

But Yang Ming had no choice but to do this. On the Yangtze River, how could we not have a decent navy?
Right now, there will definitely be some impact on the people on both sides of the strait, but after the navy is built, there will be no more floods in the various river systems of the Yangtze River, especially in the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty. With a strong navy, there should be no worries on both sides of the Yangtze River.

It is difficult for a while, but it will be of great benefit in the future.

(End of this chapter)