I never expected that Liu Zeqing would be moved to the court meeting again today, and he was too haunted. In fact, in other words, Liu Zeqing has always been theirs. He tossed and turned every night because he was not killed. Liu Zeqing.
If we talk about the person everyone wants to get rid of most at this moment, the first one on the list is Liu Zeqing. As long as he is removed, the entire Shandong will quickly come under His Majesty's rule, and a series of defense lines can be quickly established. When Shandong stabilizes, then the entire current situation will also stabilize.
But this seemed to be too difficult for Gao Jie. He was speechless for a moment and looked at Wang Jiayan in disbelief. His eyes seemed to say: "Brother, what do you think of me? Did you say you want a star for me?" Can I take it off for you too?"
Even Zhu Ling felt that it was too much. Seeing that everyone was silent, he immediately came out to smooth things over: "Wang Qing, I know that you have great resentment towards certain criminal officials. I wish you could cut them into pieces so that you can be worthy of the people." .But the current situation is still very dangerous after all. With slaves raiding the borders and bandits running rampant, I am afraid that Gao Yigong will come soon. Killing a general soldier at this juncture is indeed too much."
Hearing His Majesty's defense for him, Gao Jie was very grateful and hurriedly said: "I would like to thank Your Majesty for your gift."
Unexpectedly, Wang Jiayan did not give Zhu Ling any face, and immediately said forcefully: "Not killing is not enough to establish the law of our Ming Dynasty, not killing is not enough to satisfy the common people, not killing is not enough to calm the restless hearts of other officials of our Ming Dynasty! Your Majesty, Think twice, the Ming Dynasty has plenty of general soldiers!"
"Your Majesty, think twice." Huang Bodang was really good at choosing moments. As soon as he finished speaking, he came up and echoed, causing the situation to become stiff again.
By the way, Gao Jie had a sad face again.
At this point, Zhu Ling really had no choice but to suddenly envy the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. He would kill ministers as they were told and did not have to listen to them at all. However, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was controlled by civil servants. This was too humiliating!
"His Majesty!"
At this time, Shi Kefa was not afraid of Wang Jiayan. He stood up and handed over his hand again and said: "General Gao has donated most of his property to ease the pain of the people. He also handed over the military power, hoping to gain your Majesty's and everyone's understanding. Finally, he personally shouldered the thorn in front of the army. Please forgive me, that repentant heart has been placed in front of everyone! It is not easy for him to change his ways and serve the court again! Those who do not have military power are just ordinary people. Your Majesty can kill him if he wants. But if Wouldn't it be wrong to hurt the hearts of those who still want to submit to the imperial court..."
"A big mistake?" After saying that, he looked at Zhu Ling with sincere eyes.
Zhu Ling hurriedly looked away, thinking to himself: "Why are you looking at me? Look at Wang Jiayan. I want to save him, but he won't let me!"
"As far as I know, those who refused to obey the imperial edict before were Liu Zeqing, Zuo Liangyu, Gao Jie, and Huang Degong. Not to mention Wu Sangui, the people standing below are related to Ning Jun. All of these people I mentioned should be punished! Wang Jiayan's tone seemed to be a little more relaxed, and he was not as tough as before, saying: "It's not that I insist on killing him, but if I can be exempted from crime just by handing over military power and carrying a few thorns on my back, then those guilty ministers after the Ming Dynasty will be exempted." If everyone can do this, then there will be chaos.”
"The sinner is willing to be punished."
Gao Jie was also desperate. It seems that Wang Jiayan is determined to make things difficult for him. Grandma, if I hadn't listened to Shi Kefa, I would have killed you first!
"good!"
Zhu Ling really didn't want to kill this Gao Jie. This Gao Jie was also considered a fierce general. Originally, the Ming Dynasty was short of strong generals, so it happened that Gao Jie had joined him. Moreover, if Shi Kefa was asked to vouch for this person, he would not have any different intentions. In the past, he had no respect for Shi Kefa.
It's bigger than the one against Emperor Hongguang.
"After all, you have committed a serious crime. I demoted you to a commander-in-chief in the army. From now on, you are no longer a high-ranking commander-in-chief. You must start over from a small soldier. If you reach the position of commander-in-chief again, you will be punished. You can
Do you understand?"
"I understand." Gao Jie couldn't help but sigh. It doesn't matter whether it's light or serious. At least his life is saved.
This matter was finally over, and Wang Jiayan and Huang Bodang reluctantly accepted it. Originally, according to their wishes, Gao Jie must be killed, but Shi Kefa and His Majesty insisted on disagreeing, which led to the current situation. However, Shi Kefa did not agree with Gao Jie.
I felt a little ashamed. Originally, he had reached this point without being punished, but I still didn't ask for mercy for him.
"Okay, everyone."
Zhu Ling's voice interrupted everyone's thoughts and brought them back, saying: "Now we have received news that the bandit general Gao Yigong has led an army of 100,000 and is slowly eroding Shandong. His intention is obvious, so he
It wanted to gradually encroach on us, and then gradually surround us. Starting from Cangzhou where we were at that time, it divided into two groups, marching one way to the east and all the way to us."
"The main force heading towards us must be the main force led by Gao Yigong." Wang Jiayan said while looking at the large map on the wall.
"Exactly."
"Wang Qing, come and tell everyone about the current situation."
"According to the decree."
Wang Jiayan walked out of the queue, stood next to the map and said: "We now add the troops brought by the Minister of History, which is close to 140,000. Most of them are stationed in Yanzhou. Meng Zhangming led 5,000 people to station in Jining, and Fan Xianchao led more than 6,000 people to station in Yanzhou.
Teng County below the Yanzhou Prefecture. And in Jinan to the east of Yanzhou Prefecture, Liu Zeqing is stationed."
"Didn't we get in touch with Liu Zeqing?" Shi Kefa couldn't help but wonder.
Wang Jiayan sneered and said: "This person is famous for being naughty. We have sent messengers a long time ago, but we did not get any useful information. Besides, he has tens of thousands of troops there, and we did not act rashly."
"Whether this person is a hidden danger or a reinforcement is on the way, it is difficult to judge."
Wang Jiayan added: "According to the report from our spies, Gao Yigong should have led an army of 70,000, including 10,000 auxiliary troops, and was slowly advancing southward. It has been five or six days now, if nothing happens.
, then Dongchang Mansion should have fallen."
Speaking of this, for some reason everyone still feels and feels ashamed about the fall of a certain place. This feeling is similar to the feeling when you were a child and your class rank was very low in the school, or even last. Although it is related to you,
But it doesn't seem to have much to do with it. If others don't mention it, it doesn't matter.
But now that Wang Jiayan mentioned it, everyone's anger was partly vented. However, this intruder was too powerful and defeated the court one after another.
"What about Jinan Mansion?" Zhu Ling asked softly.
"I think that firstly, it is possible that Liu Zeqing escaped and surrendered to the intruder. I don't think that he will stick to Jinan." Wang Jiayan's judgment was very correct. It is better to hope that people like Liu Zeqing can defend the city than to hope that the intruder can change his ways.
Make a new start and return to the imperial court.
"Then it looks like Jinan Mansion is gone." Huang Bodang said with a look of despair.
"However, if the intruders occupy so many places, it will greatly divide the troops. After all, these places have just surrendered and are bound to be unstable. They must be guarded by separate troops. In this way, when Gao Yigong arrives in Yanzhou Prefecture, there will naturally not be many troops.
But when we gathered together, there were hundreds of thousands of troops. With such a gap, not to mention anything else, our army won in terms of numbers alone."
"But since ancient times, it is not quantity that determines success or failure. During the reign of Emperor Yingzong, Ola could only defeat an army of 100,000 people, but he actually directly massacred our army of 600,000 soldiers in Beijing. Such a defeat is unprecedented." Shi Kefa said sadly. He was most distressed by this period of history.
Every time I think about it, I feel a little sad.
"We are not the old Beijing camp, and your Majesty is not the Yingzong." Wang Jiayan was obviously unhappy.
"You all should discuss how to deal with it." Zhu Ling was really helpless. These two people seemed to be enemies. If they were to be put on the ring one day, it would all depend on him.
"Jinan is mountainous, while Dongchang is watery. Yanzhou is flat and flat, which is suitable for cavalry to advance. However, there is also a problem. Since the previous governors who suppressed bandits have died one after another, no one seems to have presided over an army of hundreds of thousands. So currently
The question is whether to choose one commander to lead an army of hundreds of thousands, or to command them separately."
After saying that, Wang Jiayan looked at Zhu Ling, hoping that he could make a decision.
Such a problem is really a headache. If it comes to choosing a general, he has some candidates here. But now he is choosing a coach, the coach who will lead the entire army. He has thought about it but can't make a decision. Once he fails, the entire army will be destroyed.
Overwhelmed, more than a month of hard work was completely in vain.
In the end, he chose a more conservative approach and said: "It is safer to lead separately. Several generals will each lead a part of the army, and everyone will set up camp and discuss together."
Shi Kefa also nodded slightly, agreeing with this idea. After all, he had not commanded an army of hundreds of thousands, and no one present had such experience. Naturally, no one dared to take over easily.
As for Gao Jie, who had been kneeling on the ground for a long time, his legs were already sore and numb. He was not in the mood to listen to their discussion. He really just wanted to think about it now.
"Gao Qing."
Hearing a voice coming from above, Gao Jie followed the sound and saw that it was His Majesty.
"If you are tired, just close your eyes for a while."