Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 883 Destroyed

A chieftain who is close to and distant from the imperial court, and a royal relative and general who has some relationship with Empress Ma, which one will the court and the public trust more? The outcome is beyond doubt.

In the eyes of the Ming court, the chieftains in the southwest were forced to submit to the court due to the situation. Moreover, there were many ignorant people in the mountains and they were not of the same race, so it was normal for them to rebel. Therefore, although Zhu Yuanzhang put the matter on the court meeting and asked all officials to discuss it, the moment all officials heard the news, they all said the same thing, believing that what Ma Ye reported must be true. Even if Shuixi Aicui had not rebelled, it must have been exposed, so Ma Ye sent an urgent messenger to report it.

In any case, the imperial court should order the troops to be dispatched as soon as possible to nip this group of ignorant bandits in the bud.

In the midst of this wave of efforts to send troops, Zhu Su insisted on his own opinion, still demanding that Ai Cui not be directly accused of treason, and that the troops be sent only after the facts were investigated. The court was in an uproar, and an official stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, why do you trust the barbarians but not your relatives? If the situation in the southwest is delayed and the rebels become stronger, what should we do?"

"The chieftains in the southwest have been granted titles by our Ming Dynasty and have learned the laws of our Ming Dynasty. How can they be barbarians?" Zhu Su said.

The official said calmly, "Those who are not of our race must have different hearts. During the Tang Dynasty, foreign races were in chaos, and China had difficulty recovering for hundreds of years. It was not until Your Majesty wiped out the Tartars that the glory of the Han and Tang dynasties was truly restored."

"What I want to say is that Your Highness must not trust the foreign races and sow hidden dangers for the great situation of our Ming Dynasty..."

He turned to Old Zhu and said righteously, "Your Majesty, I believe that foreigners are not our people and should not be treated as our own. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty loved the barbarians, but the An-Shi Rebellion almost destroyed the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty formed an alliance with the Jin Kingdom, but on the day when the Liao Kingdom was destroyed, the Jin army pointed its spearhead at the Central Plains. I know that Your Majesty wants to win over the chieftains in the southwest, but treating the barbarians well and treating them as your own is nothing but courting disaster!"

"Now that General Ma has made the discovery, we should take his head and intimidate him with our might. This will shock everyone and make the villains lose their minds..." He spoke eloquently.

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Su interrupted him impatiently: "To intimidate the people? To teach them to be disloyal and wary of us from now on? The southwest has been under the rule of China for a long time. If we can't even rule and govern them, how can we talk about expanding our territory?"

"In the early Tang Dynasty, there were more victories than defeats in foreign wars, which laid the foundation for the Tang Dynasty's dominance and prestige. Among these famous generals who made great military achievements, there were many foreigners, and many of the soldiers they used were Hu soldiers. Among the twenty-four people in the Lingyan Pavilion, how many of them were Hu people?"

"The policy of Tang Dynasty's vassal states was the biggest problem for the country. When the imperial court was weak, the vassal states' generals began to have different ideas. The disadvantage was that too much power was delegated, and the reason was human greed, not the conflict between the Han and the Hu people. Since ancient times, which dynasty did not have rebellious generals and traitors? How many of them were Hu people? Even if they were generals of the same ethnic group, those who became ambitious when they saw the imperial court was weak did not know how to be ordinary people. From the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the present, why do you have to single out An Lushan to make a fuss?"

The official was stunned, but could not say anything.

"The tribes in the southwest have coexisted with China for many years, and they are very close to each other." Zhu Su turned to Old Zhu and said, "If even they are still wary and unwilling to treat us wholeheartedly, how can we transform all nations into China and expand our territory?"

"The former land of Rongdi is now part of China. The tribes in the southwest have been brought under the rule of China, but we are raising an army to attack them and exterminate their tribe without knowing right or wrong, just because of one person's words. If we do this, will the other chieftains be willing to follow China in the future?"

"Then according to your Highness, Ma Tongzhi falsely accused Ai Cui? Why did he do that?" Another official stepped out. "Ma Tongzhi was transferred and had no grudge against Ai Cui, so how could he have falsely accused her?"

"So, the matter is still unclear..." Zhu Su said. He turned his head and looked at Old Zhu, "Father, I would like to go to Yunnan and Guizhou again to investigate this matter."

"If Ai Cui really has committed treason, I will personally go to the battlefield to eliminate the bandits... But if so, there must be another hidden story..."

"I ask you to make a fair decision, Father. Do not allow Ai Cui to be wrongly accused just because she is not a Han Chinese!"

On the throne, Zhu's eye sockets were slightly sunken and his face was as gloomy as water. Zhu Su couldn't help but feel uneasy. The time when Ma Ye made his memorial was really a coincidence. At this moment, Zhu was missing Empress Ma the most. Naturally, he was unwilling to doubt Ma Ye, who had a relationship with Empress Ma.

Fortunately, Zhu was a wise ruler after all. He only thought about it for a moment before agreeing to Zhu Su's request. "In that case, I will send you to take care of this matter."

"Remember, the overall situation is the most important. If anyone causes chaos, we must not tolerate it."

"Your son obeys your command." Zhu Su stepped forward to receive the order. It seemed that there was some profound meaning in Zhu's words, which also put his mind at ease.

Even though he looked much older due to the death of Empress Ma, his aura was even more fierce...but the Hongwu Emperor was still the decisive and ruthless Hongwu Emperor. He would never forget the overall situation of the Ming Dynasty's rise because of some sectarian and ethnic conflicts.

After Zhu Su received the order, Zhu appointed several more generals. In addition to the southwest, other places such as grasslands and deserts also had many signs of chaos. The reason why the Ming Dynasty temporarily rested was to wipe out these unstable factors in one fell swoop. Therefore, on the first day of Zhu's restoration, he had to deal with these evil spirits.

Zhu Su took the order and went out. Before he returned to the palace, he met a servant from the palace who was anxiously waiting for him to leave the court at the palace gate.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, you finally came out, Your Highness..." Seeing Zhu Su, the anxious servant was relieved and hurriedly came to greet him. "Your Highness, when you were in court today, someone came to your house to look for you, claiming to be from the southwest."

"Oh?" Zhu Su immediately took it seriously. In order not to miss the news from Xie Jin, he had instructed his family yesterday that if anyone came from the southwest, they must be brought into the mansion as soon as possible. He also guessed that even if Xie Jin's people were a little slower than the official post of the court, they would not be too slow, and they should have arrived by now.

"Quick, send me back home!" Zhu Su ordered. He had received the imperial decree to go to the southwest, so he was naturally more concerned about the ins and outs of this matter. If he knew about it in advance, he could make some arrangements in advance.

Zhu Su knew the man who came to report the news. His name was Xie Rong, a cousin of Xie Jin, and he himself was a scholar with a good reputation. However, when Zhu Su saw him in the mansion, the scholar had dark skin and a dry face, and it was obvious that he was very tired from the long journey.

When he saw Zhu Su, he hurriedly exchanged greetings and said, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened."

"I'm afraid your painstaking arrangements in the southwest will be ruined in an instant!"

(End of this chapter)