A mutiny broke out in Ningxia Guard. Lower officers Liu Dongyang, Xu Chao and others killed Governor Dang Xin, Deputy Envoy Shi Jifang and a group of officials. Ningxia Guard General Zhang Jizhong was forced to commit suicide...

The news spread to the capital through 600 miles, and the court was immediately in anger. The civil and military officials and generals were noisy and expressed their opinions. Some people suggested sending important officials to lead troops to clear the situation. Some people said that the mutiny originated from Dang Xin's corruption. The rebels were forced to launch a mutiny. They should send people to appease, pardon the soldiers involved, and resolve the mutiny peacefully.

"Shangshu Wang, what is the Ministry of War's opinion on this?" Chief Minister Shen Shixing looked at the Minister of War Wang Yie and asked him.

Wang Yie said: "Master Shen Ge, if you want to solve the Ningxia incident, you should first figure out the cause of the Ningxia incident, otherwise you will not be able to prescribe the right medicine."

"Didn't the urgent report make it clear? It's because the governor Dang Xin owed the food and pay for the soldiers and was too harsh on the soldiers, which led to a mutiny." Fujian Dao Censor Jia Xiyi said.

"Judsman Jia only knows one thing, not the other. The Ministry of War has been paying attention to the matter in Ningxia for a long time. As for the current matter, it has indeed arisen because of the rebel Liu Dongyang. But in my opinion, behind Liu Dongyang, there is another person in charge." Wang Yie said.

Jia Xiyi asked, "Who does Wang Shangshu think the mastermind is?"

"If I guessed correctly, this matter must be a mission to the Lord!" Wang Yie said in a positive tone.

In Wang Yie's mind, he had long expected this rebellion in Ningxia, but what he never expected was that the person who raised the army was not the vengeance, but the unknown Liu Dongyang. In the information mastered by the Ministry of War, there was no record of Liu Dongyang.

After Wang Yie received the news of the Ningxia rebellion, he urgently summoned his aides to discuss. Everyone thought that Liu Dongyang was just a clown in front of the stage, and the real black hand must be a worshiper.

"Why did Secretary Wang say this? The urgent report clearly stated that Liu Dongyang and others raised an army. The word "六文" Zhou Honghe retorted. A year ago, he reported to the court that Li Bai and Li Chengen and others were loyal and brave. If Li Bai really rebelled, wouldn't it mean that his recommender was blind?

Wang Yie said: "Civil Secretary Zhou, you have been to Ningxia Town. You should know that in Ningxia Town, if Henbai would not participate in the rebellion, can a small household like Liu Dongyang cause storms?"

"This..." Zhou Honghe was a little dumb, "Maybe Liu Dongyang incited his soldiers to be powerful and could not suppress them with the power of the dynasty, so he could only begged for the sake of the whole world?"

Wang Yie sneered. He knew very well how powerful Qibai was. If Qibai really wanted to suppress it, ten Liu Dongyang would not have caused trouble. Wang Yie could not explain to him any concepts of combat power and other things to Zhou Hong and a civil servant like him. He could only continue to say:

"Censor Zhou, you have also heard that after Liu Dongyang's uprising, he killed the governor Dang Xin and other officials, completely blocking the road to compromise. In the past, there were also cases of the soldiers of our dynasty who launched a rebellion due to the riots, but those rebels who initiated a rebellion often only confronted local officials, but there were those who killed local officials like Liu Dongyang and others?"

"What can this mean?" Zhou Honghe asked.

Wang Yie said: "The local officials are forced to bargain with the court. The ultimate goal is to make money, not rebel. Our Ming Dynasty has millions of troops. The ordinary town of troops cannot be enemies with our Ming army. Therefore, rebels generally dare not block the road. Instead, they can submit to the court after the court agrees to their conditions.

But Liu Dongyang was determined to rebel this time. If he did not support him, where could he go after the rebellion?"

"If there is a support from him, where can he run?" Jia Xiyi asked. With his insight, he really couldn't think of the subtext that Wang Yie had not said.

Wang Yie said: "Qibai was born in a Tatar. If Liu Dongyang gets the support of Qibai, he will be able to unite the power of Tatars and become enemies with our Ming Dynasty, and even divide Ningxia town from our Ming Dynasty territory."

"Isn't it sensational?" Zhou Hong and said quietly, but he had already accepted Wang Yie's opinion in his heart.

Wang Xijue asked: "Since Wang Shangshu said that the mastermind of the archer is a pride, how should we deal with this matter now?"

Wang Yie said: "It's not been a day or two for the time being that he wants to rebel. This time, he launched a mutiny with Liu Dongyang. The next step is to invade the various forts in Ningxia and form a separatist situation. In my opinion, we should take advantage of the fact that our foundation is not stable and quickly mobilize several troops to pacify. If we wait for him to stabilize his position, it will be difficult to suppress the rebellion."

"It is easy to say that the army is fighting. However, before the troops move, food and grass will come first. If a hundred thousand armored people are sent to Ningxia, it will cost millions of taels of silver alone. This is not a small amount." Shen Shixing said worriedly.

As the chief minister, he knew the income of the court very well. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, China was a typical state of wealth in the people and poverty in the country. The businessmen among the people were rich and wealthy, but it was difficult for the government to collect taxes from them. As the scale of the army and the government continued to expand, various expenditures were expanding, and the finances were almost unable to make ends meet. In the saying goes, even the emperor had no surplus grain at home, otherwise a large number of mining supervisors would not be sent to compete with the people for profit.

In this case, the biggest obstacle to mobilizing heavy troops to Ningxia to suppress the rebellion is the military expenditure issue. If there is another way, Shen Shixing is unwilling to choose the method of sending troops.

"The officials thought that what Wang Shangshu said was just a conjecture. The Ningxia side had not yet heard of the rebellion of the dynasty. At this time, heavy troops were sent in a hurry. If things were not as bad as we thought, wouldn't it be useless to waste the people and lose money?" Zhou Honghe said along Shen Shixing's words.

"What should we do according to the intention of the Censor Zhou?" Shen Shixing asked.

Zhou Honghe said: "The current plan should be to wait for action, wait a few days to see the new news in Ningxia."

"If it is really a rebellion in the Weibai rebellion, in a few days, Weibai will be able to recover the Ningxia forts and invade Hedong. How will it end at that time?" Wang Yi'e asked.

Shen Shixing said: "During this period, the governor of Shaanxi Wei Xue can lead Shaanxi troops and horses to strictly prevent them outside Ningxia Town, so that the situation can be avoided from escalating. Even if as Wang Shangshu said, it will take some time to send several troops to pacify. Zhou Jingshi said that there is no conflict with Wang Shangshu."

"Abide by the order!" Wang Yie had no choice but to agree. He knew what Shen Shixing was thinking. As for him, he also knew that the matter of using troops was of great importance. He would just transfer the troops along the way, which would cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. If things were as Zhou Honghe said, it would be inappropriate to use troops in a hurry now.

Shen Shixing reported the results of the discussion to Wanli, who agreed with their ideas. The next step was to make various specific arrangements.

First, an official was sent to Ningxia Town overnight to negotiate with the rebels, promising that as long as the rebels put down their weapons, the court could pardon their crimes. At the same time, the Ministry of War issued another order to allow Shaanxi Governor Wei Xuezhe to lead the troops of various towns in Shaanxi to prepare for the attack. Next, the Ministry of War also issued a notice to the generals of the Miao people in Shanxi, Liaodong, Zhejiang and other places, as well as the southern Miao people, to prepare for their troops and be ready to send troops to attack Ningxia rebels at any time.

The court officials breathed a sigh of relief and returned to their own yamen. Mutiny is not new. There are several incidents happening every year across the country, but the scale is different. Some small mutiny, that is, more than a dozen military soldiers kidnapped or killed their bosses for some trivial matters, and they will be suppressed in a few days. Although the incident in Ningxia this time was a little bigger, Ningxia was still far away from the capital, and the matter could not affect the capital for a while.

Wang Yie and Wang Xijue walked out of the court together and saw that there was no one around. Wang Xijue asked Wang Yie in a low voice: "Shangshu Wang, is there any news about Su Gaizhi?"

Wang Yie shook his head and said, "No, I'm waiting for his news."

Wang Xijue said: "Last year, you treated Su Gaizhi as an ambush and sent to Ningxia, just because you were worried about today's affairs. Now things are as you expected, but you don't know what the good or bad of Su Gaizhi is. Whether his surveillance camp can be reused."

Wang Yie said: "After the Jianyu Camp defeated the Japanese pirates with firearms in Huai'an two years ago, I instructed Su Jiezhi to train the Jianyu Camp into a powerful force that is known for firearms. A few days ago, I received a report from Xu Guangzu that the application of the Jianyu Camp has made some achievements, so I sent them to Ningxia. If what Xu Guangzu said was not false, I think the Jianyu Camp should be able to restrain the worship."

"I hope so." Wang Xijue said, "I am just worried that Su Gaizhi is too young and will be disorganized when encountering such a major event."

Wang Yie smiled and said, "Didn't Mr. Wang say that Li Zhi is in Su Hao's camp? Su Hao is indeed young, but he has Xu Guangzu, Chen Dao, and Li Zhi around him. These people have experienced many things. With their help, the surveillance camp should not make too much mistakes."

It turned out that after Wang Xijue returned to the capital from Runing, he talked about Li Zhi to Wang Yie. Li Zhi is a great scholar in the world, and there are not many people who don’t know that he is. Except for the people of the Jinyiwei, most officials admire Li Zhi very much, and Wang Yie also belongs to one of them, so when he learned this news, he naturally would not report it to the Jinyiwei.

When sending Su Hao to Ningxia, Wang Xijue and Wang Yie discussed repeatedly, and the main concern was that Su Hao was afraid that Su Hao would be inexperienced. But with Li Zhi and Xu Guangzu in Su Hao's army, Wang Xijue and Wang Yie were much more relieved. In order to increase the insurance coefficient, Wang Yie also sent Chen Dao and Su Hao to command the army. Before Chen Dao left, Wang Yie secretly taught him the opportunity, and all of them were strategies for dealing with the Ningxia incident.

"I hope this Su Jiezhi can bring us some surprises." Wang Xijue said slowly.
Chapter completed!