The lights were brightly lit in the exquisite wooden building. Dakui and Sima Yan were sitting on two bamboo chairs against the wall, sipping fragrant tea. It was as casual as two close friends sipping tea and chatting.
"If you have anything to say, Lord Sima, you might as well say it directly." Dakui said bluntly.
Sima Yan looked at the two soldiers beside her and said: "I'm afraid the walls have ears. The rivers and lakes are dangerous and we have to guard against them."
Dakui smiled and then ordered the two soldiers: "Just wait and check on the left and right. If you have nothing else to do, just wait downstairs." The two soldiers followed the order and walked out of the room until the soldiers' footsteps went away.
Da Kuicai said: "There is no one here anymore, Lord Sima can speak frankly."
Sima Yan nodded, but she was not in a hurry to speak. She first took out a silk scarf from her arms and tied her long, scattered hair into a bun on her head, and then wrapped the bun neatly in the silk scarf.
There are rumors in the world that Sima Yan of Yanchi Tower is as cold as ice, but it seems that the rumors are untrue. Although the Sima Yan in front of Dakui has delicate features, her complexion is not fair. It is said that a woman's whiteness covers all her ugliness, and she is a beautiful woman.
Her skin is slightly dark, but her dark skin makes Sima Yanzi look a bit mediocre.
Da Kui waited until Sima Yan had tidied up and then said, "Can I say it?"
Sima Yan then said: "Where to start?"
"Let's start from when I was in Jiangbei." Dakui took a sip of tea, as if he didn't care.
Sima Yan didn't mind, and said immediately: "Back then, you followed King Xiao Ming and made great military exploits for Jiangbei Red Scarf through life and death. In the end, you were made the Divine Power General and the Privy Councilor, okay?"
Dakui nodded and said: "Yes, it is true."
Sima Yan continued: "As far as I know, there were countless leading generals in the Jiangbei Red Scarf Army who were good at fighting. There were no less than ten famous generals in the army, such as Mr. Guan, Po Tou Pan, and Da Dao Ao.
, Li Xixi, Mao Gui, Li Wu, Cui De, Bai Buxin and others. Each of these people leads an army, ranging from more than a hundred thousand to tens of thousands. How many troops do you lead?"
Dakui thought for a while and said: "I led 20,000 new troops at first, and later I commanded all 50,000 new troops."
Sima Yan smiled and said: "The 50,000 new troops under your command are just the personal bodyguards of King Xiao Ming. The real new force is the main force of the Red Scarf Army led by other generals."
Dakui couldn't help laughing and said: "I, Zhang Dakui, have no talent to lead an army, so I can only serve as a vanguard general under Prime Minister Liu."
Sima Yan then said: "That's the problem. Although you have the title of Privy Council Envoy and the mighty general, you don't have the actual status of a general. A general can only control the Northern Red Scarf tribe, and you can do everything.
Is it right or wrong that things can only be done through the hands of Prime Minister Liu?"
When Dakui heard this, he felt a little bored. At first, he had no idea and knew nothing about military strategy. It would be an exaggeration to say that he was an ordinary man in the army. If he had mastered the military power, wouldn't the hundreds of thousands of red scarf troops be veterans?
Die early and clean?
"Lord Sima, let's put aside the affairs in Jiangbei for now and talk about the affairs in Jiangnan and the current affairs. I want to know what the trap is in this." Dakui asked, looking at Sima Yan.
Sima Yan pondered for a moment before asking: "How did Prince Xiao Ming die?"
Dakui couldn't help but sigh and said: "Back then, King Wu ordered General Liao Yongzhong to welcome Chuzhou, but when the boat arrived at the Guabu waters, King Xiao Ming unfortunately fell into the water." Thinking of what happened back then, Dakui still felt sad.
Sima Yan sneered and said: "If Prince Xiao Ming is still here, will his surname be Han or Zhu tomorrow?"
Dakui blurted out: "Of course the surname is Han..." At this point, Dakui couldn't help but feel shocked, and immediately asked urgently: "You mean King Xiao Ming is..." Dakui only asked half a sentence and then stopped.
Dakui knew that it was a capital crime to speak arbitrarily about the Holy Emperor without asking. Even though Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang had numerous sins, he was not someone who could be judged by his ministers.
King Xiao Ming was murdered by Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. This was something Dakui would never have dared to think about before. But now that Sima Yan mentioned it, Dakui immediately felt that it was very possible.
Zhang Shicheng was also a member of the Red Scarf Army in the uprising. Although he later lost several battles with the King of Wu Zhu Yuanzhang and defected to Yuanting, he was kind and kind to the people. Later, the King of Wu pressed heavy troops to attack Zhang Shicheng's home base in Pingjiang (Suzhou).
Zhang Shicheng was captured alive. If you compare the two, the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes imposed by the current court on the people are simply heaven and earth compared with the lenient treatment of the people by Zhang Shicheng.
Let’s look at the fate of Fang Guozhen, who occupied Wenzhou, Taizhou and Qingyuan. Although he was a close relative of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the things he did for the people were enough to go down in history. Why is he such a good official?
Want to be hated by Emperor Taizu? Now he is being escorted to Nanjing to take up his post, which is called taking office but is actually under house arrest.
After these two incidents, Dakui dared to assert that the death of King Xiao Ming must be related to Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.
Sima Yan wanted to speak again, but Dakui stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "Let's talk about what's going on at the moment."
Seeing the unkind look on Da Kui's face, Sima immediately said: "The rivers and lakes are dangerous, and people's hearts are unpredictable. The emperor made you the political envoy to the south of the Yangtze River, and even made you the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. He investigated the integrity of all officials and massacred more than 30,000 people this time.
, although these people are corrupt officials, they have implicated a wide range of people. Many of them are innocent people. Who should bear this blood debt? "
Dakui was stunned when he heard this. He really hadn't thought about this problem.
Sima Yan continued: "For those corrupt officials who have been sentenced, their families or friends will naturally want to settle accounts with you. Who among the officials does not have a confidant? Are they really going to die?"
Dakui didn't say anything, just listened quietly.
Sima Yan said again: "If you die, all these grievances will be pushed to you, because you are responsible for verifying the case and supervising the execution of the person. And the emperor just used a Zhubu." The voice changed.
After a pause, Sima Yancai said: "You are going to Yunnan this time. If you succeed, the imperial court can quell the troubles in Yunnan without spending a single soldier. If you fail, the emperor will not suffer losses, but your life is in danger. Now you are the target of public criticism.
I couldn’t be better placed to take on this responsibility.”
Dakui couldn't help but ask: "Master Wang Xiyuan is a good official, and he is popular among the people and has achieved good results, so why should he be sent to take risks?"
"Because Wang Xiyuan was an official of Yuanting." Sima Yan replied without thinking.
When Dakui heard these words, he couldn't help but feel chills running down his spine. As the saying goes: Accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. There are indeed many terrible things about the current Emperor Taizu, and everything he does reveals his scheming.
In the eyes of the emperor, there is only the country and the royal power. As for good and evil, the life and death of the people are beside the point. As the old saying goes: If you don't love the country, you love the beauty. What it means is that if there is no country in the emperor's eyes, then there must be a beauty.
.
During the Shang Dynasty, there was a very cruel king called King Zhou. King Zhou loved his concubine Daji very much. He drank and had fun with Daji all day long. He didn't care about the affairs of the country or whether the people's lives were good or not! King Zhou
He doted on her very much, made a wine pond and meat forest for her, drank and had fun with her every day, and even set up the punishment of burning with cannons to drive people away. He also listened to Daji's words and killed many loyal ministers and innocent people.
King Zhou's uncle Bigan was a loyal minister. Seeing that King Zhou was deceived by Daji, he bluntly admonished King Zhou: "You! You can't indulge in wine and sex all the time, and you can't kill loyal ministers and innocent people indiscriminately. You should cheer up.
Get up and do something useful for the country and the people!" When Daji found out, she felt very unhappy: "This Bigan is really nosy. He dares to interfere with my affairs and the king's. I must teach him a lesson.
!”
Daji ran to King Zhou and said, "Your Majesty! If Bigan is really a loyal minister, why don't you ask him to cut open his chest and take out his heart and liver and offer it to you!"
After hearing Daji's words, King Zhou said, "Yes! I can ask Bigan to give his heart to me! Daji is so smart!" King Zhou immediately ordered Bigan to have his chest cut off and die.
Later, this incident was recorded in the book "Lu Shi Chun Qiu", in which there is a passage: "Zhou's heart is not clear, so he can think evil. If he knows everything, he will not kill Bigan!"
As an emperor, if he can use history as a mirror and correct himself, he will naturally gain a lasting legacy and be supported by the people. Think about the fact that today's Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang only cares about the world. When he learned that the prince had violated the law, he still ordered him to be killed and had his beloved concubine beaten.
Entering the cold palace. This shows his determination to purge officials.
If we say that when he was in the Jiangbei Red Scarf Army, Da Kui was reduced to a tool because he did not understand the main purpose of the army and did not know how to lead troops in combat, then it can only be said that it was because Da Kui had no ideas and no wisdom. When he defected to King Wu,
Now, after Sima Yan explained his situation in detail, Dakui couldn't help but think that it was because he was not familiar with the world.
Dakui looked at Sima Yan for a long time before asking again: "Is there any danger in going to Yunnan? I hope you can tell me clearly."
Sima Yan said with a smile: "Although Wang Fu is in constant panic now, he started business in Jiangnan when there was no Red Turban Rebellion, and later defected to the emperor. Now his net worth is probably tens of millions. This person defected to
The King of Liang of Yunnan offered me his wealth. The King of Liang loves money as much as his life and naturally treats him as an honored guest. The gold and silver you are bringing with you are only tens of thousands of taels, how can the King of Liang take such a fancy to you? Moreover, the King of Liang relies on the terrain of Yunnan’s mountains and rivers.
The risk is comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty. If you accept the recruitment easily, won't you lose your barrier? Ten thousand taels of silver to buy the king of Liang to be crowned your head. This is nothing more than a fool's dream."
Just when Da Kui was about to speak, Sima Yan said: "Don't think that the current emperor doesn't know about the money you received in Linjiang. There are many people who want to deal with you. If you don't want others to know, don't do anything except yourself. Even if you go to Yunnan
He may save his life, but when he gets to the capital, he will definitely not be able to avoid Xiang Shang's sword."
Dakui was shocked when he heard this. Are things in the world really so dangerous?
"What does Miss Sima want me to do?" Dakui was at a loss for words at this time.
Sima Yan looked at Da Kui for a long time before asking: "Do you know why I came here to wait for you?"
Dakui just shook his head.
Sima Yan smiled mysteriously and said, "Someone is offering you a lot of money to have your head on your head."
Dakui smiled bitterly and said: "Of course I know that there is more than one person who wants my head."
Sima Yan asked in confusion: "You don't want to know who wants to kill you?"
Dakui still shook his head and said, "You wouldn't tell me if I asked." But Dakui then asked, "How do you plan to kill me?"
Sima Yan smiled but did not answer, but the smile had a profound meaning, and Dakui was confused.