The threat level of the Nanjing court is still no less than that of that battlefield. The only difference is that on that battlefield, everyone is fighting for their lives, but in this court, they are fighting for the power of life and death with machinations. If you want to fight in this court
Surviving the situation requires both extraordinary courage and prudent behavior.
For example, today's court meeting in Yingtian Mansion is almost divided into two groups. One group is the officials of the Six Departments of the Capital headed by Wu Linzheng, and the other group is the Nanjing courtiers headed by Ma Shiying. The two sides have already begun to compete with each other today.
And the only mediator is Zhu Ling, now the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. But now in order to stabilize the situation in the north, its intention is also what Li Banghua said, it is to stabilize people's hearts so that there will not be only one pass and one city left in the north.
, Furthermore, once there is no one in the north who is willing to govern, not only the officials in various places, but also the people will have no intention of resisting the bandits.
Now both Shandong and Nanjing are in urgent need of His Majesty. But it seems that Shandong is more urgent at the moment.
One of the reasons for this urgency was Dong Chuan, who led 20,000 soldiers to assist Zhu Ling, but was directly recruited. In the past few days, he sighed day and night, with countless thoughts in his heart. He was always worried.
Liu Zeqing, the commander-in-chief of his army, will settle the score with him. After all, he took away one-fifth of your army.
Therefore, when he was not summoned by His Majesty these days, he had been drinking alone in the house. If there was no wine, he would beat and insult his servants arbitrarily, causing them to be frightened out of their minds by him. Even a look from him would make them hurry up.
Kneel on the ground and beg for mercy.
Your Majesty is resting today, and all the other ministers and generals have something to do, so Dong Chuan has time to drink and have fun by himself. He picked up a pot of wine and poured it into his mouth wantonly. Soon he drank all the wine. See you.
Unable to pour out another drop of wine, he was already so drunk that he threw the jug on the ground.
As the wine bottle shattered, the fragments splashed all over the floor. The expressions of the slaves standing around changed, and their expressions showed bitterness, and they knelt down in a hurry. No matter whether there were fragments under them or not, they would hurt themselves.
legs. But if you want to survive, even if you have one, you have to kneel down immediately.
"I tell you, next time there is no wine, you will not just kneel on the fragments, I will let you swallow them!" Looking at the painful expressions on the faces of a group of slaves, Dong Chuan not only did not move at all, but became more and more angry
He vented his emotions even more vigorously.
A group of slaves did not dare to talk about their sufferings and shed unwilling tears. Obviously they had prepared ten bottles of wine, and they were all the best wines in the Yanzhou Mansion restaurant, but they still couldn't bear his daily drinking! What if?
This happens every day, even if there is no restaurant, isn't it their fault?
"Okay, are you still aggrieved?"
Seeing several slaves shed tears of dissatisfaction, Dong Chuan became even more angry. He grabbed a wine glass and hit a slave on the opposite side, causing his forehead to bleed.
"If anyone keeps crying, it will not end well!"
"Where did General Dong get so angry? Why don't you talk to me so that you can ease it and avoid hurting your body." Suddenly a voice came from outside, but no one came to report it before. Dong, who was lying on the chair, asked
Chuan was stunned for a moment and quickly stood up.
Naturally, he is not an idiot. People with lower official positions than him would not dare to come in without reporting. And from the tone of this man's tone, it seems that he is his new boss Wang Jiayan not long ago.
After straightening his clothes a little, he bowed to him with a flattering look and said, "Your Excellency Shangshu suddenly paid a visit today. I didn't have time to greet you, so it's a bit rude. I have some fine Southwest tea here. I don't know what you like."
Which kind? I'll ask my servant to make it for you."
Wang Jiayan couldn't help but laugh secretly when he saw Dong Chuan being so flattering. He waved his hand and said, "General Dong, I didn't come here to drink tea today."
"Then what is the purpose of your visit today?"
"General Dong was under the command of Liu Zeqing, the commander-in-chief of Shandong Province?" It was a very understatement, but it had already stirred up waves in Dong Chuan's heart.
As soon as he heard Wang Jiayan talk about this matter, he immediately guessed that Wang Jiayan's visit today must have a purpose. Although he didn't know what the purpose was, he had to deal with it carefully to avoid harming his own general.
"Exactly, I was lucky enough to kill a few slaves before, so I followed General Liu's account. In the past few years, I have been following around to kill bandits, so I was quickly promoted to deputy general and was appreciated by the court." Dong Chuan knew it.
There is nothing wrong with this statement. It not only tells about his origins, but also tells about his own experience.
"General Dong can be regarded as a fierce general in the imperial court." Wang Jiayan also praised him at the right time.
"I don't think I should take it seriously, but I'm just worthy of the imperial court's appreciation. If we talk about his contribution, it can't be compared to Mr. Liu."
Wang Jiayan smiled and changed the topic: "It seems that General Dong admires General Liu very much. It seems that General Liu is also a fierce general of our Ming Dynasty. I wonder how many bandits have been wiped out this year?"
Hearing this, Dong Chuan was immediately startled and didn't know what to answer. If he really wanted to tell the truth, of course he couldn't. What they adhere to is that if the imperial court orders me to attack, I will attack the enemy.
, but how many they can annihilate depends entirely on luck. And every time they come back from an expedition, they will plunder the prefectures and counties that were previously occupied by bandits.
Because of this, Liu Zongbing was devalued before, but was re-employed later. However, he still did not want to work for the court, and only wanted to earn money from it.
"Sir, today's bandits are extremely cunning. As soon as they see our imperial army, they immediately run away. Every time we go on an expedition, we always return without success." Dong Chuan, who put on a bitter face, was helpless, but
Then he added: "But we can drive them out of Shandong every time and give the people a peaceful life."
"But I heard people say that many bandits have settled in Shandong now, and some prefectures and counties have even surrendered to the bandits. However, the Shandong government has never sent troops to quell it. Is this possible?" Suddenly, Wang Jiayan's tone turned cold.
Even the air around him seemed to have solidified.
In an instant, after hearing this, Dong Chuan hurriedly explained: "Sir, who is speaking ill of us in the court?" Then he immediately put on a look of injustice and said: "We brothers are fighting to the death against the bandit on the front line.
, but there are people talking about us behind our backs! We are really unjust!"
"You don't need to ask who said it, His Majesty and we have experienced it together."
Dong Chuan's eyes immediately froze, he was extremely shocked, and seemed to not know how to defend himself. He was speechless for a moment. Then he hurriedly said: "Did your Majesty say anything?"
"Your Majesty has spoken! If Dong Chuan writes down all Liu Zeqing's sins, I will forgive you. And if you can lead troops to assist Your Majesty, I have seen that you have the heart to serve the country. All the sins you have committed in assisting Liu Zeqing in the past are not guilty."
I will hold you accountable. The imperial court is also employing people, and Dong Chuan is also a fierce general with a bright future. I hope you can clearly understand the situation before making a decision!"
As soon as Wang Jiayan finished speaking, a group of royal guards rushed in from outside, all with swords drawn. Dong Chuan was also shocked. The guards guarding the door were either captured or killed.
It seems that if I don't cooperate today, I will definitely be killed. Now that things have happened, Mr. Liu, don't blame me!
He immediately knelt down with a plop and said loudly: "The guilty minister Dong Chuan is willing to prosecute Liu Zeqing's crime to the world and serve your majesty!"
"General Dong, write now." Immediately afterwards, Wang Jiayan handed over a piece of paper.
…
It took half an hour after Dong Chuan finished writing. One piece of paper was not enough, so he added three more pieces of paper, and finally he managed to write down all of Liu Zeqing's crimes, and finally asked him to sign them personally. This was the end.
.
Looking at all the charges against Liu Zeqing, Wang Jiayan was also shocked. The person who did such a thing was not a bandit, but a beast in the cloak of the imperial court! Killing people and setting fires, plundering people, killing good people and taking credit, and framed Zhongliang.
Didn’t fall behind either!
Put away your accusations, put them in your arms, turn around and leave.
Suddenly seeing Wang Jiayan turning around and leaving, Dong Chuan, who had just betrayed his master, hurriedly chased after him, but was stopped by a guard holding a knife. He had to say aggrievedly: "Sir, what about me?"
Hearing Dong Chuan's words behind him, Wang Jiayan turned slightly and said, "You betrayed your master, which is disloyal and unjust. The court will definitely not want such a villain!" After that, he left directly.
At this moment, Dong Chuan realized that he had been played! He wanted to resist immediately, but suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from behind him. He stretched out his hand and touched it, and saw a hand covered with blood! He turned around suddenly and saw only the eyes in his eyes.
Suddenly a sharp long knife appeared and struck straight at him.
The next moment, he was already lying in a pool of blood, lifeless.