On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, in the morning court at Huangji Hall, the officials were in a hurry.
News from Shandong reached the capital yesterday. As expected, Li Zhi set up a private court in Shandong and took control of the judiciary in Shandong Province. The people welcomed Li Zhi's court, and people came to sue one after another. Originally, during the lawsuit
The local gentry, who were always favored by local officials, lost their power in Li Zhi's court. Nine out of ten cases lost when sued by poor people who made false statements.
Li Zhi expanded his power again. Not only did he control Tianjin, he also extended his power tentacles to Shandong.
This is what the princes in the court do not want to see.
If the judicial power in Shandong was taken away by Li Zhi, what would be left for the civil servants in Shandong? They could only concentrate on construction? Are they still considered officials? The civil servants in the court were the most powerful group in the Ming Dynasty. How could they turn a blind eye?
Watching the Ming Dynasty's power system collapse under Li Zhi's attack?
And once Li Zhi controls the judiciary, he will have the real power in Shandong. With such power, any subsequent commercial taxes and land taxes will be imposed on Shandong without any suspense. Such consequences are intolerable to the civil servants.
.
In the Huangji Hall, Liu Zongzhou, the imperial censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, said loudly: "I believe that what Li Zhi did in Shandong was beyond his authority. Li Zhi controlled Tianjin with the title of Governor of Tianjin and the title of Duke of Jin.
It is already arrogant and reckless. Now it is setting up courts in Shandong without authorization to control the administration of justice, which is really outrageous."
"The Holy Emperor ordered Li Zhi to withdraw his troops from Shandong three times and five times. Instead, Li Zhi captured Jinan and massacred the newspapermen. Now he even opened a court in a grand manner. In Li Zhi's eyes, there has never been a court or an emperor? If this continues, things will become impossible.
"
Zhu Youjian sat on the throne and said nothing.
"Your Majesty Zheng Sanjun has something to say!"
"explain!"
"I believe that Li Zhi is very ambitious. Today he has interfered with Shandong's judicial system. If he is not punished by the emperor, he will definitely take advantage of it. In the future, Shandong's commercial taxes and land taxes will not be less. Then in a few years, he will try to control
Henan, Shanxi, Huguang. Although the world is big, how can it compare with Li Zhi’s ever-expanding ambition?”
"Today, Li Zhi only has 20,000 troops and horses, so he dares to go south to capture Shandong. In the future, Li Zhi will recruit more troops in Shandong and have hundreds of thousands of troops. Even if the emperor mobilizes all the troops in the country, he will not be able to stop his expansion. By then, Li Zhi will not be able to defeat him.
, the country and the country are in danger!"
Zhu Youjian looked at Zheng Sanjun who was talking, but still didn't speak.
"Your Majesty Zhou Yanru has something to say!"
After Liu Zongzhou and Zheng Sanjun finished speaking, it was the turn of Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of the cabinet, to summarize. The civil servants cooperated very well, and behaved in a consistent manner, which made Emperor Zhu Youjian frown slightly.
"At such a critical moment, the Holy One must not hesitate to let the tiger take advantage of the situation. If it is excusable that Li Zhi led the border troops to surround the capital, or it was an act of indignation after being killed by a traitor, then what he exposed by getting involved in Shandong
It’s just naked ambition.”
"Nowadays, the power of Jiannu is not as strong as it used to be. I thought I could deploy soldiers and horses from Xuanda, Jizhen and Guan Ning to attack Li Zhi. Although Li Zhi has more than 10,000 new soldiers and horses, he only has 19,000 veterans.
.If more than 100,000 king troops attack Tianjin at this time, Li Zhi will be unable to resist it and can eradicate this poison once and for all."
After hearing Zhou Yanru's words, the civil servants appreciated it very much and stood up one after another to express their opinions.
"I second the proposal!"
"Seconded!"
Zhu Youjian looked at the civil servants who were advancing and retreating together, and said nothing. After a long time, he said calmly: "I am tired, and I will withdraw from the court!"
Zhu Youjian got up and left Huangji Palace and returned to the study room of Qianqing Palace.
Back in the study, Zhu Youjian sat on the throne, tapping the imperial desk with his fingers, raising his head and meditating.
After thinking for a long time, Zhu Youjian sighed.
Wang Chengen looked at the emperor's face and asked: "Your Majesty, what should we do with the Duke of Jin now?"
Zhu Youjian took a breath and said: "The courtiers are full of hatred for Li Zhi and want to kill him quickly. However, if tens of thousands of border troops are really mobilized to attack Li Zhi, I am afraid that this battle will not be completed in a year and a half.
Judging from the performance of Li Zhihu's defense at Qingshankou, if Li Zhi defended Fanjiazhuang, the border troops would not be able to attack at all and would have to surround him and wait for the city to run out of food."
"There is a drought in all provinces this year, and Li Zicheng has made a comeback to capture cities and territories in Shaanxi. Other bandits have also emerged one by one, and the number of troops to suppress bandits in various places is insufficient. At this time, if I invest all the hundreds of thousands of Ming Dynasty's main forces in Tianjin and Li Zhihao
In one or two years, I'm afraid the situation will get even worse."
Wang Chengen thought for a while, his face sank, he lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, Sheng Ming!"
Zhu Youjian sighed again and said: "However, it is a taboo of this dynasty for nobles to overstep their authority over local government affairs. In the early days of the country, there were cases where vassal kings managed local affairs, but they were all abolished after the Battle of Jingnan. If Li Zhi is
There is no response to such an act of overstepping one's authority. I'm afraid Li Zhi will really think that the imperial court is weak and can be bullied, so he has to look forward to Shu."
Wang Chengen said: "Your Majesty, what should we do?"
Zhu Youjian shook his head and said: "At this juncture, we have to take action. We must let Li Zhi understand my anger. Mobilize 130,000 troops from Xuanda and Jiliao to station troops in Xianghe County north of Tianjin to force Tianjin
, look at Li Zhi’s reaction.”
Wang Chengen's eyes lit up, he raised his hands and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Zhu Youjian shook his head and said, "How much money will it cost the court to come and go?"
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On September 23, Li Zhi was teaching his daughter Li Shu to speak in the second hall of the General Military Mansion in Tianjin, when he saw Han Jinxin, the secret guard ambassador, running in from the yard with a look of panic on his face.
In the cool weather of late autumn, Han Jinxin was sweating profusely. He also knew that he was panicking and was afraid of tripping on the threshold, so he jumped in with all his strength when entering the second hall. After jumping into the second hall, Han Jinxin quickly walked to Li Zhi.
, he knelt down on the ground with a plop, and said in a trembling voice: "My lord, something bad has happened, something has gone wrong!"
Li Zhi looked at Han Jinxin, blinked, and asked, "What's going on? Don't panic, speak slowly!"
Han Jinxin kowtowed on the ground and said loudly: "My lord, the emperor has sent troops to attack us. In return, Yang Guozhu of Xuanda, Wang Pu of Datong, Cao Bianjiao of Jizhen, Bai Guangen, Tang Tong of Miyun, and Guan Ning
All the troops and horses have been dispatched, and the direction is pointed towards Tianjin."
"Together, there are probably hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses!"
Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then carried his daughter in his arms to a chair next to him.
The emperor finally couldn't bear it anymore? Why did he attack at this time?
Li Zhi looked at the yard outside the second hall and thought for a while.
"Deployed four thousand troops and horses from Shandong and gathered 14,000 troops and horses in Tianjin to fight." (To be continued...)
