Chapter 184 Songshan Guard

The palace maids cleared away the dishes and chopsticks, and Emperor Zhengde took Ou Zanghua to the front hall.

When a eunuch brought a cup of eight-tenths hot tea and placed it on the table, Emperor Zhengde said casually, "Please take a seat. Give Mr. Ou a cup as well."

"As you wish." The eunuch responded and went back to make tea.

Emperor Zhengde looked at Ou Zanghua and asked seriously, "In your previous secret report, Lord Ou mentioned that the Songshan Sect you lead is very good at mountain warfare, and whether it has the ability to serve as a flying army. Therefore, Lord Ou proposed to establish the Songshan Guard to train soldiers for mountain warfare to deal with mountain warfare and quell rebellions?"

"Your Majesty, I do have this thought."

After bowing, Ou Zanghua replied, "The south of our dynasty is mountainous, especially in the Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan regions. The local chieftains in these areas do not obey the king and often cause chaos. It would be better to train a Wudang Flying Army to deter them."

After hearing this, Emperor Zhengde could not help but think of the great rebellion in Sichuan in recent months. First, the monks of the Chuoling Temple in Songpan rebelled, then the peasant Fang Si led the people in Renshou to revolt, in November, Liao Mazi and Yu Sifeng rebelled in Hanzhong, and before that, there was the rebellion of Lan Tingrui and Yan Benshu.

Especially Lan Tingrui, who is like a mentally retarded person.

While walking in the mountains, he found an ancient discarded seal and obtained a sword. He claimed that he was destined to succeed, and together with his followers, he deceived the people into revolt.

Even with this, there was still a group of mountain people following him. Emperor Zhengde wished he could kill them himself and let that idiot know what true destiny was!
Therefore, if there was an army that was good at mountain warfare, why would it take several years for something started by a charlatan to still have its impact?

"Since Lord Ou has come up with this idea, I believe he has already made a plan, right? Why not tell us all about it?" Emperor Zhengde looked at Ou Zanghua, his eyes full of expectation.

Ou Zanghua stood up, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I recommend Zuo Lengchan as the commander of the Songshan Guard, Tang Ying'e as the deputy commander, Ding Mian, Lu Bai, Zhang Jingchao, Bu Chen, Fei Bin, Zhong Zhen, and Le Hou as centurions. We will use Songshan as our base to train a fast-response army that can climb mountains and wade through water."

"Based on Songshan Mountain"

Emperor Zhengde asked with some doubt, "Does Lord Ou think that the martial arts of the Songshan Sword School are suitable for mountain warfare?"

"I think that before this, we only knew that the Wudang Flying Army was a strong archery force formed by Prime Minister Zhuge using the barbarian soldiers from the Sichuan region. They are clad in iron armor, can climb mountains and cross ridges, are good at using bows and crossbows and poison arrows, and are good at field battles."

"The reason why barbarians can cross mountains and rivers is that they need to do so in their daily lives."

"And the entry requirements of the Songshan Sword School are even higher than those of the barbarians."

"I understand what Mr. Ou meant." Emperor Zhengde thought for a while before saying, "Then let's do it according to Mr. Ou's idea! I also want to see how strong the martial arts sects that form the military formation are."

"Your Majesty, I thank you!" Ou Zanghua was delighted and immediately bowed to express his gratitude.

Then, Ou Zanghua took out the list he had prepared earlier and handed it to Emperor Zhengde. The list recorded the various things that Li An had embezzled over the years.

Emperor Zhengde did not care about the details of the items. He turned directly to the last page and saw the total amount after conversion: 13,000 taels of gold and 1,264,500 taels of silver.

The 350,000 taels of silver that Prince Ning used to purchase land and houses, as well as the 150,000 taels of silver to replenish the Poyang Lake navy were all included.

As for the expenses of treating the people on both sides of the strait to mutton soup and the gunpowder used to blow up the canal, the 28 chambers of commerce contracted the expenses and even had some left over. It seems that the ancestors enshrined in the Dai Temple of Mount Tai and the Jinmu Temple of Mount Heng really need to be gilded.
"I didn't expect this eunuch to have embezzled so much of my money after staying in Nanchang for so many years!"

Emperor Zhengde put the list aside with an indifferent look, looked at Ou Zanghua and smiled again: "It is Ou Qing who makes me feel at ease!"

When other ministers went down to suppress bandits and reorganize the garrisons, they all asked the court for money and people.

Only his Lord Ou not only did not ask for money, but also brought money back to the court.

Only Zhengde can cultivate such a minister with both moral integrity and talent!
Especially the sale of eunuchs' houses to princes, this operation even stunned Emperor Zhengde.

When the news was sent back to the capital by the Jinyiwei via carrier pigeon, Zhengde opened the national map overnight to see which other cities could replicate the same operation. If he could do this to all the eunuchs and princes in the country, the money he earned would be enough for him to fight Mongolia three times.

When Zhang Yong saw this scene, he was so scared that his hair stood on end, fearing that Zhengde would really do this.

Fortunately, Zhengde just took a look around and drew circles around Xi'an, Xiangyang, Taiyuan, Kaifeng, Wuchang and other places.

Facing his boss's praise, Ou Zanghua calmly cupped his hands and said, "This is all due to your Majesty's teachings. I am only doing my humble part."

Emperor Zhengde smiled even more happily. "I still have a lot to teach you about fighting and martial arts. But I can't teach you much about governing and making money."

"Oh, right! Mr. Ou is now also a fourth-rank official. I remember that the place you live in is not very big!"

"I'm here." Zhang Yong quickly came out and responded.

"I remember that many large mansions were vacant in the capital last year. I chose one that is close to the imperial palace and gave it to Lord Ou."

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Yong responded immediately.

After Liu Jin fell last year, a large number of court officials fell with him, including the Cabinet Deputy Minister of Rites Jiao Fang, the Minister of Personnel and Prince's Guardian Zhang Cai, the Minister of Personnel and Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion Cao Yuan, and the Minister of Works Bi Heng.

Each of the houses they left behind was much larger than the one Ou Zanghua lived in now.

"I bow to thank your majesty!"

Ou Zanghua accepted it decisively. He had brought back more than 1.2 million taels of silver for Emperor Zhengde. Wasn't it reasonable for him to give him a house?
Emperor Zhengde liked Ou Zanghua's genuine and unpretentious attitude. The two discussed the Poyang Lake navy for a while. Emperor Zhengde agreed to Ou Zanghua's recommendation of Qian Zhongyi as the general, Ma Xiaolin as the deputy general, and Wang Chenger and Wang Haoba as captains.

In the eyes of Emperor Zhengde, the best policy was to disband the Poyang Lake navy, an army that fled at the sight of the enemy.

Now that Ou Qing is willing to spend time and effort to arrange training, let him do it!
As for whether it will be of great use in the future.
If any other minister had said this, Zhengde would have just smiled.

But since Ou Qing said so, he believed it for the time being.

Emperor Zhengde was truly kind to those he trusted, a fact you can only find in a few history books.

Before that, there was Liu Jin, who was known by the world as the "Emperor Enthroned".

Among them was Qian Ning, who was even more arrogant and even called himself the "emperor's illegitimate son".

Later, there was Jiang Bin, who was the commander-in-chief of the four towns of Xuanfu, Datong, Liaodong and Yansui. This guy's next step was An Lushan.

Apart from Liu Jin, who was too arrogant and angered the public, and was killed by everyone, Qian Ning and Jiang Bin both died after the death of Emperor Zhengde.

Among them, Qian Ning's house was confiscated by Zhengde because he colluded with Prince Ning, but he was not killed.

If these three had done more, they could have died of old age like Zhang Yong, with sacrifices at three altars, imperial coffins, and blessings for their descendants.

Ou Zanghua at least had some achievements and military merits, so with the support of Zhengde, he was able to ascend to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Rites at a young age.

Liu Jin, Qian Ning and Jiang Bin did not have many real achievements, and they rose to power by currying favor with Zhengde.

Afterwards, Ou Zanghua also had lunch in the Qianqing Palace. When he came out, it was almost the afternoon.

When Ou Zanghua thought about having to get up early tomorrow to attend the morning court, the joy he felt after get off work completely disappeared.
(End of this chapter)