On the third day of the first lunar month of the 19th year of Chongzhen, Li Zhi convened his subordinates to discuss matters in the three halls of the Duke's Mansion.
"It's getting cold, so it's a good day to attack Jiangnan."
Li Xing's eyes lit up when he heard Li Zhi's words.
"Brother is finally going to kill those gentry who stabbed them in the back?"
Li Zhi nodded and said: "Qian Qianyi, Zhang Shenyan and their ilk colluded with the Tatars to attack Xinzhou when our army was on the Northern Expedition. It is extremely shameless. If we don't remove these small things, everyone in the world will think that I, Li Zhi, are weak."
bully."
Li Xingdao: "As soon as the eldest brother gives the order, I will lead 40,000 tigers and soldiers south to attack Qian Qianyi. Zhang Shenyan will definitely be in Nanjing to hold Qian, Zhang."
Hong Chengchou cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, it is best to obtain the emperor's approval for this crusade. Nanzhili is where Nanjing, the capital of the country, is located, and it is of great political significance. If the Duke of Guo goes south without warning the emperor, I am afraid that he will let the emperor go south.
The whole world is in an uproar. It is difficult to judge what kind of reaction the emperor will make when he is shocked and suspicious."
Li Zhi nodded and said: "Okay, Counselor Hong, you draft a memorial. I will copy it and send it to the emperor, asking the emperor to allow us to lead the army to the south."
Zhong Feng touched his chin and asked, "What if the emperor doesn't allow it?"
Li Zhi was silent for a while and then said: "If the emperor does not agree, we will not care so much and go directly to Suzhou to arrest Qian Qianyi."
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On the seventh day of the first lunar month, a morning dynasty was being held in the Huangji Hall of the Forbidden City.
"Chen Bing Ke has something to say to Gong Dingzi about the matter!"
"explain!"
Gong Dingzi shook his long sleeves, stood up and said loudly: "I think that Li Zhi must never be allowed to attack the Second Town of Jiangbei."
Zhu Youjian said calmly: "When the Second Town of Jiangbei attacked Xinzhou during the Northern Expedition of Duke Jin, I issued three imperial edicts to ask them to retreat, but Zhang Shenyan turned a deaf ear. After the Second Town of Jiangbei withdrew from Xinzhou, I issued another edict to ask Qian Qianyi to help him.
Zhang Shenyan came to the capital, but the two of them turned a deaf ear. If we don't punish such behavior, will there be any rules in the world?"
Gong Dingzi said loudly: "The emperor is wrong!"
Gong Dingzi raised his hands and said: "Previously, Li Zhi ignored the imperial edict, illegally occupied Shandong Province, and massacred the scholars in Shandong. The world was shocked. Li Zhi's various actions in Shandong were actually rebellion. However, the Holy Emperor could not make a decision and did not send troops to suppress Li Zhi.
Planting, that’s why the Jiangnan scholars are planning to build the Jiangbei army.”
Zhu Youjian frowned when he heard that Gong Dingzi was extremely disrespectful to him in his words. However, although Gong Dingzi seemed to be just a person doing things in a low-key manner, he was actually a cadre of the Donglin Party. Even though Zhu Youjian treated him
He was very dissatisfied with his remarks, but he really didn't dare to drag him out to beat him with a stick.
Otherwise, the Donglin Party will suddenly launch an attack.
Gong Dingzi spoke eloquently: "The formation of the Jiangbei Army was actually to deal with Li Zhi, the Duke of Jin, who was called a good general but was actually a traitor."
"Because of this, when Li Zhi's Northern Expedition left Shandong empty, the two towns in Jiangbei resolutely went northward. However, Li Zhi was cunning and killed thousands of Jiangbei Town's artillerymen in the first battle, which prevented the Jiangbei army from attacking Tianjin."
"In a nutshell, Jiangbei Town is not only not the criminal army that rebelled against the rebellion, but it is the rebel army that suppressed the rebel Li Zhi. At this time, Li Zhi wants to attack the Jiangbei rebel army, and the Holy One must not let Li Zhi go."
Civil servants in the late Ming Dynasty were always arrogant, and there were countless instances of pointing their fingers at the emperor and scolding him. At this time, the Donglin Party controlled the court, and it was at a critical moment concerning the survival of Jiangbei Army, so they spoke very sharply. They directly scolded Li Zhi.
There is no room left for those who rebel against thieves.
When Zhu Youjian heard this, he frowned.
Li Zhi had just defeated the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and in Zhu Youjian's heart, he was already a good general who could open up new territories and help him revive the Ming Dynasty. When he heard that Gong Dingzi had called Li Zhi a rebel, Zhu Youjian was very unhappy.
However, not every official in the imperial court is a Donglin Party member. Zhang Guanghang, the Minister of Punishment, stood up and said loudly: "My minister Zhang Guanghang has something to say!"
"explain!"
"Gong Dingzi's tongue is like a sword, and it is really ridiculous to slander the Duke of Jin as a rebel. If the Duke of Jin hadn't conquered the south and conquered the north, and killed the traitors in the south and massacred the Tatars in the north, I am afraid that the situation of the Ming Dynasty would be much worse than today. If it were not
If you are not the Duke of Jin, to put it mildly, I am afraid that the capital has been plundered several times by the Tatars, and Hu, Guang, and Sichuan have probably been in ruins."
"To put it more seriously, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Duke of Jin supported the country of Ming Dynasty."
"For Gong Ding, a good general who saved the country, to be turned into a traitor in this way, I am afraid it will chill the hearts of all the loyal ministers and righteous men in the world!"
Hearing Zhang Guanghang's righteous speech, Zhu Youjian stroked his beard and nodded slightly. Zhang Guanghang finally spoke Zhu Youjian's heart.
However, when it comes to dealing with Li Zhi, the Donglin Party and officials close to the Donglin Party are not prepared to give in. Li Zhi wants to take away the tax-free privileges of the gentry, which will cost the life of the gentry. Gong Dingzi pointed at Zhang Guanghang and said
: "Zhang Guanghang, you were an accomplice when Li Zhi killed Wu Di! We will not let you go!"
"presumptuous!"
Zhu Youjian finally couldn't stand Gong Dingzi anymore and shouted loudly: "Gong Dingzi, you are making such nonsense, do you know that the ethics of the monarch and his ministers are normal?"
Gong Ding saw that Zhu Youjian was angry, so he didn't dare to say anything anymore and backed away.
Zhu Youjian looked at Gong Dingzi coldly, took a deep breath, and finally decided not to poke the hornet's nest of the Donglin Party.
However, there are countless cadres of the Donglin Party, so how could Gong Ding be the only one? Nine-and-a-half of the ten scholars who passed the Jinshi examination were against Li Zhi. Unless Zhu Youjian stopped the Ming ancestral law of imperial examinations, the follow-up of the Donglin Party
The power can be said to be endless.
"I have something to say, Wang Duo, the great scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion!"
Wang Duo, the chief minister of the cabinet, went into battle in person.
"explain!"
"Li Zhi's wolf ambition is not trivial. He killed Wu Zong the day before yesterday, Zhou Yanru yesterday, and today he tried to send troops to attack Jiangnan and massacre the southern scholars. Li Zhi's wish was nothing more than to use brute force to block the mouth of the world and use barbarian
He used all his strength to fight against the gentry of the world, and used brute force to kill all the gentry who blocked his advance."
"If the emperor allows him to send troops to the south of the Yangtze River today, then Li Zhi will definitely cause a bloody massacre in the south of the Yangtze River after defeating the two towns in the north of the Yangtze River. Li Zhi is so ambitious that we and the imperial officials will never let him go."
Zhang Guanghang said loudly: "Zhang Shenyan, Qian Qianyi and his like colluded with the Manchus and attacked the Duke of Jin from the north and the south. How can we not kill these little scoundrels who colluded with the Tartars?"
Wang Duo snorted coldly and said: "I'm afraid Li Zhi wants to kill more than just Zhang and Qian. With Li Zhi's style, I'm afraid Li Zhi will not let go of any of the Jiangnan gentry who sponsored the Jiangbei Second Town!
"
Hearing Wang Duo's words, the court fell silent for a moment. Everyone had seen Li Zhi's bloody methods. He allowed his soldiers to control Nanzhili. I am afraid that none of the gentry in Nanzhili who funded him could escape.
Everyone looked at the emperor to see how he would decide.
Zhu Youjian tapped the dragon chair with his fingers and did not speak for a long time.
Seeing that Zhu Youjian's face was wrong, Fan Jingwen, the elder of the pavilion, jumped out and said loudly: "Your Majesty, think twice, I am afraid that Li Zhi will not only massacre the scholars, but also stay in Nanzhili and turn Nanzhili into the second largest city in the world."
Shandong and South Zhili are our remaining capitals in the Ming Dynasty, how can we let Li Zhi occupy them?"
Zhu Youjian thought for a while and said calmly: "I will not let Li Zhi occupy southern Zhili."
"Publish my imperial edict, appoint Qian Qianyi, and Zhang Shenyan several people are rebels! Li Zhi is allowed to attack the second town of Jiangbei and clean up the order of South Zhili. However, Li Zhi is strictly ordered to withdraw from the south after handling the affairs of the second town of Jiangbei.
Zhili!"
Upon hearing Zhu Youjian's decision, the civil servants in the court immediately exploded.
"Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, this statement is deeply inappropriate!"
"Your Majesty! I have something to say!"
Seeing the civil servants jumping out one by one, Zhu Youjian sighed.
