Chapter 1237: Dissolving the Prefectural Armies! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Chong-er, good job!
Wang Gen communicated his praise through his eyes. In the situation just now, even Wang Gen had believed that Wang Chong had been led into a trap. On the contrary, however, Wang Chong had put on a dazzling performance in his first court session, winning the admiration of the gathered officials.
There existed a massive chasm between the martial path and the civil path, particularly when it came to discussion of political affairs. Thus, the majority of generals chose to remain silent, only occasionally speaking when the affair involved the military. But in this aspect, Wang Chong was clearly able to smoothly switch between both sides.
High on the platform, the Sage Emperor was like a motionless mountain, and it was impossible to tell if he was sad or happy. But at his side, Gao Lishi gave a subtle nod. Although Wang Chong still had the tendency of youth to decide things with emotion, Wang Chong was truly a formidable person, whether it was with regards to internal affairs or military affairs.
The discussion of Ji County was quickly brought to a close, and the hostility aimed at Wang Chong was clearly greatly reduced. When some officials occasionally brought up Wang Chong, they would speak with respect. The situation was completely different from what it was at the start.
As time passed, there were fewer and fewer matters that required debate. In this aspect, the Great Tang remained highly efficient. It was precisely this sort of efficiency that had caused the Sage Emperor to remove himself from most political matters and allow the court to handle them.
Wang Chong silently observed everything, slowly developing an understanding of the various mysterious procedures of court politics. It was soon late in the morning and about time to dismiss the court for the day.
”Your Majesty! This subject has a memorial!”
At this moment, an official that Wang Chong had no impression of suddenly stepped forward, holding aloft his ceremonial tablet as he bowed.
Gao Lishi glanced at the Sage Emperor before suddenly saying, ”His Majesty permits you to speak!”
”Your Majesty, the Great Tang is currently at peace, and all the foreign countries on its borders have been awed into putting down their weapons and ceasing hostilities. Moreover, the Imperial Court has already signed treaties with the various countries to engage in mutual trading relations. In order to reduce the taxes and corvee labor on the common people, this subject proposes dissolving the prefectural armies. After giving the soldiers some compensation, have them return home to take up farming or other enterprises!”
Boom!
The words of this official caused the Imperial Court to immediately explode. All the generals furiously stared at this official, and even Wang Chong instantly paled.
”Your Majesty, this subject objects!”
”Absurd! The prefectural army system was established by Emperors Gaozu and Taizong, and to touch it would be to harm the country as a whole! This subject objects!”
”Dissolving the prefectural armies can be done over my dead body! You civil officials just want to target us generals! You've already transferred back the Young Marquis and have reduced the various protectorate armies! What else do you want!”
”Since you've already put forward such a sound and logical argument, why don't we just dismiss all the soldiers and generals. If something happens, you civil officials can go and fight the war!”
It was like someone had poked a beehive in the hall as all the generals exploded in rage. Even the Minister of War Zhangchou Jianqiong could not hide the flames of anger in his eyes.
Another civil official quickly stepped forward and harshly rebuked, ”Bastards! So you generals wish to threaten the Imperial Court?”
A third strange official stepped out of the ranks. ”Civil officials govern the country while generals guard the borders. These are our duties. If we follow your line of thinking, then we should have you generals govern the country! Ever since the Great Tang was founded, it has been embroiled in wars. The power of the country is spent, its people burdened and its resources squandered. Now is the perfect time to dissolve the prefectural armies and improve the lives of the people!”
More and more civil officials began to enter the fray, barraging that general who had issued threats with criticism.
Although civil officials could not fight on the battlefield and were no match for the generals, the Imperial Court was not the battlefield, and martial strength had no use here. All the generals, no matter how high their cultivation levels were, could not find any advantage in these arguments.
”Your Majesty! This subject has a memorial! This subject censures General Zheng for engaging in alarmist talk and deluding the people with lies, thus harming the country! This subject charges him with failing his duty!”
On the other end, King Qi shot a glance at the civil officials of his faction, indicating that they should join the attack against the generals.
In the Imperial Court, if King Song was a staunch hawk, King Qi was a staunch dove. On this point, he just so happened to share the same goal as these civil officials.
Wang Chong stood at the very back, and as the civil officials advanced against the generals, his eyes slowly narrowed and chilled.
The army had already been withdrawn from Khorasan, and the various protectorate armies had also been reduced. The inspectors from the Confucian school had also been planted in every level of the military. The military had been pushed back again and again, but Wang Chong had never expected that they would be so irrational as to also set their eyes on the prefectural armies.
If the protectorate armies were reduced, then once a war began, one could still transfer elites from the prefectural armies to swiftly restore the protectorate armies to their full power. But if even the prefectural armies were dissolved, this would be cutting off the Great Tang's foundation.
The quarrel between civil officials and generals was intensifying, and just when all the generals were under a barrage of criticism from the civil officials, a loud voice rang out.