On April 29, Li Zhi and nine general soldiers were sitting in the Chinese army's tent, waiting for the angel Wang Cheng'en sent by Chongzhen.
Now 160,000 frontier troops are deployed ten miles outside Beijing, surrounding the capital from the east and north. Martial law has been declared in the capital, and twelve of the thirteen city gates have been closed, leaving only the Guangning Gate in the southwest corner.
It is open during the day for people in the capital to transport necessary daily items into the city.
The situation in the capital is already very tense.
The people in the capital didn't know what was going on, and they didn't understand why the triumphant King Master suddenly surrounded the capital. The people had just celebrated the victory in the Jinzhou War, and were ready to squeeze in to see the Duke of Jin.
It was a grand occasion for all the generals to enter the capital to receive rewards, but in the end, large soldiers besieged the city.
The people living outside the city sought refuge with relatives and friends and hid in the city in panic. Dozens of miles east and north of the capital suddenly became no man's land.
Of course, the 160,000 frontier troops came to ask for orders. Li Zhi issued three orders and imposed strict military discipline, restraining the 160,000 frontier troops from destroying the temporarily abandoned residences of the people. The army camped in the suburbs outside the city, far away from cities, towns and villages, and would not invade the autumn.
Wang Chengen was walking in the continuous tents. The momentum of the 160,000 coalition troops camped for dozens of miles made him a little nervous. He did not bring many people with him, only two eunuchs accompanying him, and entered through the gate of the 160,000 coalition troops.
Li Zhi's Chinese Army.
As soon as he saw Li Zhi, Wang Chengen bowed his hands and sang: "Wang Chengen has met the Duke of Jin!"
Wang Chengen was the emperor's number one confidant, and all the generals knew it. When they saw Wang Chengen, the nine generals did not dare to neglect, and quickly bowed and saluted.
Li Zhi stepped forward to help Wang Chengen up and said with a smile: "The angel prince has arrived. Li Zhi has come to welcome you from afar. Please take a seat."
Wang Chengen shook his head, smiled bitterly, and sat down next to Li Zhi.
As soon as he took his seat, Wang Chengen went straight to the topic and asked directly: "When will the Duke of Jin withdraw his troops?"
Li Zhi's face sank and he replied: "As long as the emperor kills thirty-seven traitorous ministers, the army of 160,000 will naturally return to his own troops."
Wang Chengen looked at the nine respectful soldiers, slammed the table and shouted loudly: "I have never heard of a minister leading an army to surround the capital and force the king to kill the ministers. Li Zhi, are you going to rebel?"
Hearing Wang Chengen's words, several generals looked at each other and secretly thought that Wang Chengen had scolded Li Zhi when he came up. How could the emperor be so tough? Wu Sangui was so frightened that his head was covered with sweat and his face turned white. Wang Pu opened his mouth in surprise and looked.
Looking at Zu Dashou. Seeing that Zu Dashou's face did not change color, Wang Pu calmed down a little and closed his mouth.
Li Zhi didn't speak for a while, but looked at Wang Chengen calmly.
After a long time, Li Zhi said slowly: "One hundred and sixty thousand soldiers were so indignant that Master Chen begged for his life. Is this a rebellion? Your Majesty has said so!"
Wang Chengen asked sharply: "What if the emperor doesn't agree to you?"
Li Zhi said calmly: "Li Zhi is an ordinary man. He can only drink two liters of water a day and eat only four bowls. What can he do? The key is how to think when 160,000 soldiers are murdered. If the emperor ignores right and wrong and defends the traitor, he will
It depends on how the 160,000 indignant border troops react."
Wang Chengen trembled and changed his voice and asked: "Li Zhi, are you planning to attack the capital?"
Li Zhi picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea, but did not answer the question.
Wang Chengen looked at Li Zhi and said miserably: "Li Zhi, you are using your own strength to rob your troops!"
Li Zhi put down the tea cup and said calmly: "One hundred and sixty thousand soldiers fought in a bloody battle with the Tatars. Isn't it true that they are loyal and serve the country? If Li Zhi had not followed justice and attacked the treacherous officials, the 160,000 soldiers would have killed Li Zhi long ago."
Wang Chengen looked at Li Zhi and suddenly said coldly: "Li Zhi, if you attack the capital, you will not be able to please me in the future!"
Li Zhi said calmly: "That will happen in the future."
When Wang Chengen heard this, his face turned red with anger. He stared at Li Zhi, and the expression on his face changed from anger to anger, and then from anger to sadness. Finally, Wang Chengen sighed helplessly and completely softened.
When he came down, there was no trace of reproach on his face.
Seeing Wang Chengen's stern expression softening, Wang Pu let out a long sigh of relief. He looked at the commander-in-chief next to him with some joy, wanting to share his joy, but found that no one paid attention to him. Wang Pu thought for a while and looked at it with admiration.
Zu Dashou glanced at Zu Dashou who was calm and calm.
Wu Sangui wiped the sweat from his head and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Wang Chengen took out a piece of white paper from his arms, looked at it carefully, then handed it to Li Zhi carefully, and said: "The Holy One said, although the Jinzhou war was won, these four people deceived the king and ignored them. The Holy One said
They were originally meant to be killed. Previously, the officials were so aggressive that they were forced to attack the palace, and the emperor was unable to do anything for a while, so he allowed them to live until now. Now that the Duke of Jin has sent troops to the border, public opinion has changed, so the Holy One just killed these four people."
Li Zhi looked at the piece of paper and saw the names of the four masterminds written on it: Wu Di, He Shishou, Li Daiwen and Chen Jishan.
Li Zhi shook his head and said lightly: "Too little!"
Wang Chengen looked at the piece of paper, pursed his lips, waved his hand and shouted: "Bring me a pen!"
An eunuch quickly opened a package and took out a pen and inkstone from it. Wang Chengen took the brush, pondered for a moment, and added the names of a Taipusi Shaoqing and a Household Minister on the paper.
Pushing the piece of paper in front of Li Zhi, Wang Chengen said: "How?"
Li Zhi shook his head and said, "Too few!"
Wang Chengen raised his head and glanced at the nine general soldiers who were watching the excitement. Seeing that the military attachés were looking forward to him, he couldn't help gritting his teeth. He rolled up his sleeves to write, and added a Taipusi Shaoqing and two household ministers.
He put up his name and said loudly: "Kill three more people! How about that?"
Li Zhi still shook his head.
Wang Chengen had an angry look on his face and said loudly: "Other officials are not even qualified to go to court, and they don't even have the opportunity to deceive the emperor. Do you want to kill the Duke of Jin?"
Li Zhi replied calmly: "If the officials of the Ministry of Revenue and Taipus Temple do not report the information, what difference does it make if they go to court or not?"
Wang Chengen said angrily: "According to the Duke of Jin, the civil and military forces in this dynasty are full of snakes and rats, and they can all be killed?"
Li Zhi said: "Thirty-seven people have been listed in the memorial. Why do you talk about the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty?"
Wang Chengen took a breath, and the hand holding the pen trembled a little. He thought and thought, and finally put down the pen, and added the word "Manmen" next to Wu Zong, Chen Jishan and Li Daiwen. After writing these words
Wang Chengen gritted his teeth and wrote the word "Manmen" next to He Shishou.
After writing these eight words, Wang Chengen was already sweating.
"Duke Jin, such a large-scale killing is already the emperor's bottom line, and there can be no more. If we kill more, the civil servants will definitely not let go of the emperor who compromises with the Duke of Jin!"
Wu Sangui suddenly walked up, half-knelt on the ground and cupped his hands towards Li Zhi and said: "Dong Jin, I think the emperor has reached his limit. I can no longer push him!"
Li Zhi glanced at Wu Sangui, closed his eyes and said: "Wu Zhi committed a heinous crime and wanted to destroy the nine tribes. Chen Jishan and Li Daowen were treacherous and wanted to destroy three tribes. It is impossible to kill everyone and let them go! And the thirty-seven people on the memorial,
No one should be missing."
Wang Chengen looked at Li Zhi angrily and knocked the brush on the table angrily. Looking at the other eight general soldiers who were sitting still, Wang Chengen waved his hand and strode out of Li Zhi's tent.
Li Zhi looked at Wang Chengen who was standing up and shook his head.
Wang Pu swallowed his saliva and asked in surprise: "Duke Jin, how are you doing now?"
Li Zhi took a sip of tea, raised his head and said, "Since the emperor cannot kill more people because of public opinion, let's influence the public opinion in the capital."
