Chapter 397 Deadline

The emperor chose to summon Pang Ban this time in Fu'an Palace.

Pang Ban waited for half an hour in a quiet room before seeing the emperor coming in steaming and wearing baggy clothes, obviously just went to soak in warm soup.

Go soak in warm soup just after court? Is the emperor so greedy for enjoyment now? Or is there another reason? A strange thought flashed through Pang Ban's mind.

"Sit down and talk." Without asking Pang Ban to salute, the emperor casually pointed to the soft chair in the quiet room for Pang Ban to sit down. He himself leaned on a reclining chair, and the eunuch at the side refilled him a cup of tea and then respectfully withdrew.

"Have you got any news from your side?"

Pang Ban still sat down after seeing the meticulous ceremony, and replied: "There is some progress at present, and a captain has been confirmed to participate, but in order to continue to explore, so it has not been moved yet. In addition, according to the news from Haixia and Tanshi According to the news, the garrisons and garrison troops in these two places are not optimistic, and some are corrupt."

"Man, sometimes after a long time of comfort, you always forget the fundamentals of living and living. The purpose of setting up the military colony of Tanshi is to guard against the Nanman. Now that the Nanman has not yet risen, our own people have long been digging their own graves."

The emperor didn't show surprise when he heard Pang Ban's words, but he seemed to be sighing, and seemed to be alluding to something.

"Let your subordinates continue to investigate the case. Don't worry about being restrained by anyone. As long as the evidence is solid, no matter who you find out, I will give you the whole story."

"Wei Chen understands."

"I see you have been shrinking in the corner and never making a sound at today's court meeting. Are you trying to avoid suspicion?"

"Your Majesty misunderstood. I just feel that the situation is not yet clear. Regardless of the military or civil servants, the officials on both sides feel that it is too hasty and too rigid. In addition, the responsibility of the minister is not in military affairs or people's livelihood, so I have no right to speak out."

The emperor snorted, wondering if he was dissatisfied with Pang Ban's answer, and after a moment of silence, he said: "It is definitely necessary to fight.

The left minister, Ye Lansheng, has only been a minister for more than ten years. Among the six ministers, except Yang Yansi, the minister of the Ministry of War, who also bears the title of General Zhu Guo and has personally experienced the last barbarian war, the other five ministers have not actually experienced the war. In my heart, I underestimated Nanman's strength and tenacity. He also has too high a view on Guochao's strength. Even if you say that Ye Lansheng and others don't know how to fight, it's not an exaggeration.

These civil servants simply don't want the army to return to the front row. To put it bluntly, they are actually farting. "

Pang Ban could only listen, the emperor was cursing, he couldn't follow suit, but he was relieved in his heart. If you want to say who is the most determined main fighter in the court, it must be the emperor. Forty years ago, the emperor would rather spend 70% of the money from the inner government to invest in the national war to subsidize the national treasury. Now, naturally, he would not go to peace talks just because of a few words from the civil servants.

Moreover, the barbarians and the Jingjiu Dynasty are far more than just mutual hatred in the region. The internal confrontation has long been beyond the reach of peace talks if you want to.

"However, it is not enough to start a full-scale war now. Bai Changqing, the Ministry of household affairs, has made it clear that it will take about three months to gather enough supplies to support the national war. The case in Qing Wei's hands can only be pushed back.

So, there is still a buffer period. I'll give you two months. If you can't produce hard evidence before July 15th, all your previous investigation records will be sealed by me, and they won't be revealed without my permission. Do you hear me? "

Pang Ban was taken aback for a moment, then quickly stood up and bowed to answer.

The emperor's intention was very simple, to give Xuan Qingwei two months to investigate, if no solid evidence could be found within two months, the case would be closed, and no further investigation would be allowed in the file room. Unless the emperor asks you to reopen the file, you will be stuck in your stomach.

"In addition, the military supervisors run by civil servants in the army are mainly aimed at the high-level military and decision-makers. They know little about the lower-level army and have no evidence to prove it. The supervisors of your Xuan Qingwei in the army are not idle all day long. Is it? Let them check the real situation at the bottom of the frontier army, everything is fine and small, you supervise, and I will see your note within five days. Can you do it?"

"Yes! This minister will not disappoint His Majesty."

"Fine. Back off then."

Pang Ban bowed in salute and backed away.

On the way back, Pang Ban's mind was full of what the emperor said just now. The previous arrangement is easier to explain. After all, the "Masan case" involved the Ministry of War, and it is likely to be the high-level personnel of the Ministry of War. At the same time, it also involved the Frontier Army and the Jingxi Army. Speed ​​to quickly cut off the cancer and reduce the impact on other aspects.

But once the speed slows down and exceeds the two months given by the emperor, then the case must be stopped or even temporarily forgotten. Because the "buffer period" mentioned by the emperor will end in two months, and the entire army will most likely enter a state of full combat readiness. At this time, you can't attack the high-level military, otherwise there will be big troubles.

But the latter order made Pang Ban somewhat confused.

Let Xuan Qingwei be placed in the army, and be despised by the army and the civil official group as a waste, and even the emperor said that he "doesn't do anything" Xuan Qingwei's supervisory mobilization? And it is still clearly stated that these supervisory envoys are required to investigate the situation at the grassroots level of the frontier army. What does this mean?

If Pang Ban didn't think much about it before, he would just think that the emperor was deliberately delegating power to Xuan Qingwei to increase Xuan Qingwei's voice in the army. But now he doesn't think so.

According to the information submitted by Jiang Cheng, the garrisons and grassroots garrisons in Haixia and Tanshi have long been rotten into a pot of porridge. There are no stones, and most of them have never even seen what pan-ling stones and talismans look like after enlisting in the army. One can imagine how serious the military funds have been withheld.

Xuanqingwei's inspectors are not much worse than the grassroots Xuanqingwei in various places. The same rotation system is adopted, and the nearest Zhenfushi Yamen and Qianhusuo will coordinate the rotation of personnel. These people are not welcomed by the army or the supervisor in the army, and they don't have much authority, so they are labeled as "trash". Naturally, they don't like the army and the supervisor at all.

It seems that there is no problem in letting the inspectors start to move to investigate the grassroots of the frontier army, but in fact it is a huge problem.

what time is it The southern barbarians are in a sensitive period when military affairs are about to start. Is it appropriate to investigate corruption at the grassroots level with great fanfare at this time? Once it is found out, will it be dealt with according to the law? What impact will that have on the frontier army?

Or did the emperor have other plans?

Pang Ban couldn't figure it out for a while. But what the emperor asked him to do, he still had to move first. As for the meaning, Pang Ban will continue to figure it out until he fully understands it.

On the same day, two top-secret orders went out from the Commander's Yamen, and were sent to the Fushi's Yamen in Jingxi Town and the Military Daoist Chief's Yamen in the south.