On September 23, Li Zhi sat in the Duke's Mansion of Jin State and discussed matters with his generals and officials.
Li Xing said: "Brother, now that all the traitors in Shandong have been hunted down, should we send the five thousand troops stationed in Japan back to Osaka?"
Li Zhi shook his head and said, "This time the matter is not over yet."
Everyone was stunned when they heard Li Zhi's words. After killing the gentry in Shandong who raised funds to defeat Li, is it not over yet?
Li Zhi said calmly: "If you don't kill a few people who besiege the emperor, and plan to mobilize troops to attack our big boss, the world doesn't know how to fear me, Li Zhi. The civil servants think that they can attack me unscrupulously while hiding in the capital. I will let them
Know the price."
Li Zhi asked Han Jinxin: "Han Jinxin, who is the leader in forcing the emperor to mobilize Guan Ning's army this time?"
Han Jinxin handed over his hands and came out of the queue, bowed and stood in the hall and said: "The people who are leading the commotion this time are Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of the cabinet, Zheng Sanjun, the official secretary, and Liu Zongzhou, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate!"
Li Zhi said coldly: "These three people can be killed!"
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On September 28, in the Nourishing Heart Hall of the Forbidden City, Zhu Youjian rubbed his temples helplessly, feeling very tired.
Zhu Youjian was worried about the aftermath of the failed crusade against Li Zhi.
This time the civil servants mobilized an army of 76,000 Guan Ning troops to attack Li Zhi, but they were completely defeated in Luanzhou. This is not the end of the matter. Since Li Zhi failed to be destroyed, the next step is to appease Li Zhi. If there is no need to appease Li Zhi, let Li Zhi be appeased.
Zhi was satisfied that if Li Zhi rebelled amid suspicion of the court, the situation would be irreversible.
Several people must be killed to take responsibility.
The first person to bear the brunt was Hong Chengchou.
Zhu Youjian gave Guan Ning's army the banner to enter the customs this time to "rectify the local order in Tianjin." Strictly speaking, Zhu Youjian did not give the Donglin Party members the power to start a war. Now that they started fighting and lost, Zhu Youjian
Naturally, the inspector will hold accountable the commander who started the war without permission. Hong Chengchou, as the commander-in-chief of Guan Ning's army, was dismissed by Zhu You inspection a few days ago and was investigated and imprisoned.
However, the key to dealing with relevant personnel lies in whether Li Zhi is satisfied. After taking down Hong Chengchou, Zhu Youjian has been waiting for Li Zhi's reaction.
However, Li Zhi was obviously not satisfied.
Li Zhi wrote a memorial: "Your Majesty, Li Zhi, was ordered by the Emperor to supervise Tianjin, and Shandong was engaged in military affairs. He was self-denial and dedicated to the public service. Unexpectedly, he was suddenly attacked by Guan Ning's army. I know that this expedition was not the intention of the emperor or Guan Ning's army."
As expected, taking down Hong Chengchou will not help. If the emperor really has the ambition to revitalize the imperial court, he should take down the traitorous officials of the Lin Party in the east of the imperial court."
"I believe that Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of the cabinet, Zheng Sanjun, the official secretary, and Liu Zongzhou, the imperial censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, are the commanders-in-chief of this counter-tide. By taking these three people, we can clean up the government and no longer control the country.
Handing over authority to traitorous ministers can intimidate the masses and let people in the world know that the Emperor is not someone who can be manipulated by the Donglin Party."
Zhu Youjian threw the memorial on the table and sighed.
Wang Chengen shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, there is someone beside Li Zhi. He knows that this matter was done by the Donglin Party, and he wants the life of the Donglin Party boss!"
Zhu Youjian said slowly: "Although Hong Chengchou is good at fighting, he is just a lonely minister. It is easy to kill Hong Chengchou. But Zhou Yanru, Zheng Sanjun and Liu Zongzhou are all Donglin Party bosses. Killing these three people will be punished by Donglin
The party has repeatedly obstructed and even counterattacked, but it is not that easy."
Wang Chengen rolled his eyes and said: "Your Majesty, Li Zhi has been killing more than 200 people in Shandong these days!"
Zhu Youjian shook his head and said: "Now Guan Ningjun has nothing to do with Li Zhi. I can no longer control how Li Zhi acts in Shandong."
"Li Zhi's 30,000-strong army has not yet dispersed, and his troops are still in Tianjin. It only takes a few days to reach the capital."
Zhu Youjian looked at the Zizhi Tongjian on the bookshelf and thought for a long time. Finally, he said slowly: "Since Li Zhi doesn't hate Hong Chengchou, he should let Hong Chengchou out."
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In Jinyiwei's prison, Hong Chengchou looked at the spiders on the ceiling without saying a word.
He has been in prison for fifteen days.
Hong Chengchou thought he would die because he led Guan Ning's army to attack Li Zhi and lost.
This battle was not a righteous war, but a civil war initiated by the Donglin Party to protect the gentry's right to evade taxes. If they had won, everyone would be happy. But now that they have lost, the court will have to face Li Zhi's wrath.
Li Zhi holds a heavy army and dominates Tianjin. Now even Guan Ning's army, which is known as the strongest army in the world and spends more than 4 million taels of silver on the court a year, is no match. How terrible is this? Although the emperor has trained 80,000 soldiers in these years
army, but the new army has never been on the battlefield, and it is not yet known whether it can resist Li Zhi.
It can be said that Li Zhi, who defeated Guan Ning's army, has completely oppressed the court with momentum. If the court does not come up with a proper appeasement plan to calm Li Zhi's anger, Li Zhi may raise his troops to rebel at any time!
Hong Chengchou felt that if he led his troops to attack Li Zhi, he would be the first to bear the brunt, and Li Zhi would not let him go.
Moreover, the emperor's banner for this crusade was to "rectify the local order in Tianjin." Now that the war has begun and defeated, the emperor must deal with himself to show that he has no intention of starting a war.
Hong Chengchou sighed.
He first served as a soldier in Shaanxi, and then went to Jiliao to control slaves. He was praised by the government and the public as a famous general who was good at fighting. In the Battle of Jinzhou, he relied on Li Zhi to achieve a great victory, and was awarded the title of earl. He thought he could win the battle.
He lived his life gloriously. Unexpectedly, he could not escape the undercurrent in the court, and he ended up being dismissed from his post and his body was missing.
Hong Chengchou watched the spider on the ceiling move. It turned out that the spider had caught a mosquito in its web and was spinning its silk.
Hong Chengchou sighed. At this time, he felt that the powerful Li Zhi was the spider, and he was the mosquito that fell into the trap.
Hong Chengchou secretly wondered whether he should bite his tongue and commit suicide. Committing suicide in prison would be considered a more honorable death.
However, he was a very self-loving person after all, so how could he be willing to throw away this skin? Sighing, Hong Chengchou fell helplessly on the only wooden board in the cell.
When Hong Chengchou was in despair, the door of the prison was opened, and a eunuch and three guards in golden clothes walked in. One of them opened Hong Chengchou's cell and walked in.
"Common man Hong Chengchou accepts the order!"
"Follow the emperor's edict to carry out the destiny"
Hong Chengchou knelt down and listened to the imperial edict, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the edict was not to declare his death sentence, but to let him go.
The emperor doesn't want to kill him? He leads his troops to attack Li Zhi. If Li Zhi wants his life, the emperor will never let him go.
Hong Chengchou knelt on the ground, thinking about it, and suddenly burst into tears. After receiving the eunuch's imperial edict, Hong Chengchou gritted his teeth and said:
