The imperial palace, the Imperial Study.
Chongzhen sat on the dragon throne, flanked by several of his high officials, including Han Kuang, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and Zhou Yanru, the newly promoted Grand Protector of the Crown Prince.
Another figure stood beside them, Wen Tiren, who had rarely been seen in the court!
Both Zhou Yanru and Han Kuang were members of the Donglin Party.
Wen Tiren, on the other hand, had little to do with the Donglin Party, and he gradually displayed the image of an isolated minister, refusing to be involved in any of the factions within the court.
On top of his outstanding abilities, Chongzhen was already planning to promote him.
“Your Majesty, the recent unrest in Baxian caused by the Wenxiang Sect rebels was quelled thanks to Chen Ran’s Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They were the first to discover the signs of the uprising and immediately reported it to me. They then led the Embroidered Uniform Guard into Baxian City to put down the rebellion!”
Han Kuang stood in the Imperial Study, beaming with joy as he spoke to Chongzhen.
Chen Ran’s report had quickly reached him, so he immediately came to report it to Chongzhen.
Chen Ran had once again earned another great merit, and Han Kuang was naturally very happy.
Chongzhen was pleased as well. He nodded and said:
“Chen Ran is a very capable person. He recently beheaded Zhao Jingzhong and brought back hundreds of barbarian heads, and now he has helped Me put down the Wenxiang Sect rebellion in Baxian. He truly is one of My capable officials!”
Han Kuang smiled broadly and said:
“Chen Ran has returned to the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Your Majesty, how shall we reward him?”
When he heard the words “reward,” the smile on Chongzhen’s face slowly disappeared.
It wasn’t that he was unwilling to give out rewards or positions.
The Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was the Emperor’s own sharp blade. Chongzhen would never allow his own sharp blade to fall into the hands of the Donglin Party!
This was why, after Chen Ran beheaded Zhao Jingzhong and brought back hundreds of barbarian heads, Chongzhen had only promoted him to the position of Deputy Commander of the Thousand.
Now, Chen Ran had again achieved great merit. How to reward him became another headache for Chongzhen.
He had wiped out tens of thousands of Wenxiang Sect rebels, restoring order from chaos. This was definitely a great merit.
But the position above Commander of the Thousand in the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was the Chief Supervisor.
If he appointed Chen Ran as Chief Supervisor, then the Donglin Party’s influence would be further strengthened!
While Chongzhen was contemplating this dilemma, he heard the rapid footsteps of someone approaching the Imperial Study.
“Your Majesty, please do justice for your humble servant!”
Tian Hongyu walked into the Imperial Study with a distressed face and kneeled down with a thud.
Chongzhen furrowed his brows and said:
“Rise, My dear minister. What troubles you so much?”
Tian Hongyu got up and said:
“Your Majesty, this humble servant found some rare treasures in Jiangnan, which I intended to present to you. But this time, the Wenxiang Sect rebels revolted and robbed my entire caravan!”
“Chen Ran, the Commander of the Thousand of the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, couldn’t even help me recover my belongings. Sadly, my caravan also contained…”
He glanced at Han Kuang and Wen Tiren.
He dared not mention the beautiful woman, Chen Yuanyuan, who he had specially found in Jiangnan, because Han Kuang and the others would accuse him of using beauty to flatter the Emperor and corrupt the palace.
“My belongings were all taken by the rebels!”
Before Chongzhen could speak, Han Kuang said:
“Lord Tian, this time, the rebellion in Baxian was fierce. Chen Ran only had a few hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard and a few thousand soldiers from Baxian. It was already difficult enough to suppress the rebels. The rebels were numerous and chaotic. It was unavoidable that they robbed your caravan.”
Chongzhen nodded in agreement.
But Tian Hongyu retorted:
“However, this Chen Ran was arrogant and domineering in Baxian. He brazenly ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to fire on the soldiers from the Imperial Army who had come to assist with suppressing the rebellion. Your Majesty, at least he should be punished for his blatant disregard for the law!”
Chongzhen’s expression slightly changed when he heard Tian Hongyu’s words.
This Chen Ran was too arrogant and domineering! He had actually fired on the Imperial Army soldiers!
Did he have any regard for law and order at all?
Han Kuang’s face slightly darkened:
“Your Majesty, I also heard about this matter.”
“Oh?”
Chongzhen turned to Han Kuang and asked:
“Tell Me what exactly happened.”
“I heard that after Chen Ran defeated the Wenxiang Sect rebels, the Imperial Army arrived late. To avoid appearing incompetent, the Imperial Garrison Commander Huo wanted to include himself in the official report to save face.”
“But Chen Ran flatly refused. This angered the Imperial Army soldiers. To prevent a mutiny, Chen Ran ordered his Embroidered Uniform Guard to fire warning shots. In fact, no Imperial Army soldiers were injured.”
After hearing Han Kuang’s explanation, Chongzhen had a rough idea of what had happened.
It was probably as Han Kuang described.
As the Commander of the Thousand of the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Chen Ran naturally had access to a lot of intelligence information, allowing him to quickly lead his troops to suppress the Wenxiang Sect rebellion as soon as it broke out.
But the Imperial Army was slow to react, so as Han Kuang had said, they arrived after the fighting was over.
To avoid being seen as incompetent, the Imperial Army soldiers pressed Chen Ran, and he decisively ordered his Embroidered Uniform Guard to fire warning shots.
At this time, Tian Hongyu blinked and said:
“Your Majesty, even if Chen Ran ordered his men to fire on the Imperial Army soldiers out of desperation, he was only concerned with taking credit and pursued the rebels while ignoring my belongings. You must know that my caravan also carried two young women from my relatives’ family, who have disappeared among the rebels!”
“My relatives are naturally related to the Emperor. Chen Ran was only focused on taking credit and let two of my relatives go missing. This is…”
Chongzhen suddenly remembered that Tian Hongyu had said he had found a woman with both beauty and talent in Jiangnan and planned to send her to the palace to entertain him.
A woman who was worth sending from Jiangnan all the way to the capital must be stunningly beautiful!
And she was now missing!
Chongzhen felt very regretful when he thought about it.
But if he were to punish Chen Ran simply because of this, it would be unreasonable, considering his achievements.
He looked up at Zhou Yanru.
Zhou Yanru remained silent, standing there with a calm demeanor.
He was from the same Donglin Party as Han Kuang and naturally wouldn’t want to contradict him in front of the Emperor. He was waiting for Tian Hongyu to take the lead and said nothing.
At this moment, Wen Tiren, who had also remained silent, suddenly coughed and said:
“Your Majesty!”
Wen Tiren had always presented himself as an isolated minister in the court, refusing to participate in the Donglin Party’s affairs and having no deep ties with Tian Hongyu and the other imperial relatives.
Everyone looked at him when he spoke.
“Chen Ran crushed the Wenxiang Sect rebels and saved the people of Baxian from calamity. This is a great merit!”
“Although he ordered his men to fire warning shots at the Imperial Army and lost Lord Tian’s family, he saved tens of thousands of lives in Baxian City. Overall, his merits outweigh his flaws!”
Wen Tiren paused, glanced at Chongzhen and the others, and continued with a faint smile:
“Therefore, Your Majesty should still reward him. However, the question is how to reward him.”
“I believe that Chen Ran, having a strained relationship with the Imperial Army and losing Lord Tian’s family, is not suitable to remain in the capital.”
“He led less than a thousand Embroidered Uniform Guard and crushed tens of thousands of rebels in Baxian. This shows that he has excellent military strategy and combat skills. Perhaps he would be more suited to serve in the Ministry of War, charging into battle for Your Majesty…”