Thief Emperor

Chapter 970: Sin yourself?
Meng Qing sat in his seat, silent for a long time, then lowered his head and flipped through the documents on the table, and suddenly said: "The Khitans rarely come so close to investigate the news. It seems that there are not too many Khitans in Yingzhou. They are a little panicked."

The Tang army's telescopes have become widely used, and each scout team can be allocated several.

Under such circumstances, the Khitan scouts would be easily discovered.

Ever since the Khitans occupied Youyan during the Zhaoding period, they had begun dealing with the Jiangdong Army, which is now the Tang Army. It was impossible for them not to know about this, so under normal circumstances, when Khitan scouts encountered the Tang Army, they would basically observe from a distance and would not get too close.

Generally speaking, Khitans were rarely seen within ten miles of the Tang army.

This time, the Khitan scouts were only twenty miles away from Meng Qing's central military camp. You have to know that the army was deployed on a large scale when marching. They were so close to Meng Qing's central military tent, which means that they were probably only a few miles or a dozen miles away from the Tang army's vanguard.

The scout team that Li Zheng was in was originally patrolling about 20 miles away from the front army. After discovering the Khitans, they followed the Khitans all the way to the Tang army and finally reached a very close distance.

The appearance of Khitans in the safe area means that something is abnormal.

After talking to himself for a few sentences, he looked at Liu Bo and asked, "Ninth Brother, have the people from the Wugu tribe replied?"

Liu Bo shook his head slightly: "Not yet."

"But the Wugu tribe shouldn't have any big problems. After all, they are probably being surrounded and killed by the Khitan Khan's men right now."

"I have also sent people to the Shiwei tribe."

Liu Bo whispered, "There will probably be a reply within five days."

Meng Qing nodded and said yes, then said: "Then I won't hesitate any more, we won't attack Yingzhou City, we will go straight to Yuguan."

"As long as we take Yuguan, we can fight however we want in the future."

Liu Bo nodded and said with a smile: "Xiao Meng, when you fight, you are also very much like His Majesty."

Meng Qing was startled when he heard this, then waved his hand: "The superior is a man of extraordinary talent, I can't compare with him."

"The reason why I dare to fight is because I have someone in a higher position to watch over me from behind, so I feel confident."

He took a deep breath, stood up, and said to Liu Bo: "Brother Jiu, once the war starts, I won't be able to take care of the Second Prince. I need someone from your side to keep an eye on him for me."

Liu Bo was a little confused and said with a smile: "Are you still planning to let him go to the battlefield?"

"If we don't let him go, he probably won't agree."

Meng Qing shook his head and said, "Besides, I don't want to be a stubborn elder."

"Brother Jiu, you have a lot of people there, so just take his safety into consideration."

At this point, Meng Qing paused and said, "Most of the original members of his scout team are injured. He wants to be promoted, so I will promote him to captain."

Marshal Meng looked at Liu Bo and said, "If all else fails, create a new scout team for him. I will send a few of my personal guards to his team."

Liu Bo was startled when he heard this, then he shook his head and said, "You send a few people, and I send a few people, then it will become a game of house."

He thought for a moment and said, "Didn't two people from his team die in battle? We can just give him two more replacements."

Then the English duke smiled and said, "You send one and I'll send one."

Meng Qing nodded and said yes, then said in a deep voice: "It's settled now, I will beat the drum and call the court."

"Prepare to march directly into Yuguan!"

…………

Luoyang, in Ganlu Palace.

The Minister of Revenue Du He, as well as Prime Minister Zhuo Guangrui, the new Prime Minister Xu Ang, and the new Prime Minister Tao Wenyuan all sat below.

Emperor Li looked through the documents in his hand and frowned.

It was summer now, and this year's summer flood caused the river to burst its banks, killing countless people.

At this time, according to reports alone, at least hundreds of thousands of people died in the flood, and perhaps a million or more people were left homeless.

The Emperor read through the memorials one by one. When he saw the last one, he flew into a rage and slammed the table fiercely, "Asshole, asshole!"

He raised his head, glared at Tao Wenyuan, the newly appointed prime minister and former Minister of Rites, and shouted angrily, "You officials from the Ministry of Rites are really making a fuss!"

After saying this, he threw the memorial in his hand directly in front of Prime Minister Tao. Because the memorial was too long, the pages flew everywhere.

Mr. Tao remained calm, lowered his head, picked up the memorial, held it in his hand, and read it carefully.

This is a letter from a doctor in the Ministry of Rites.

The general meaning is that the river burst its banks, countless people suffered and became homeless, and it was ultimately because of the interaction between heaven and man, because the emperor was unjust.

Why is the emperor so unjust?
Because the emperor has not been willing to rest with the people and is still waging wars abroad. It has finally stopped for a few years, but now the war in Youyan has started again. What he said was very reasonable and well-founded.

The general argument is that from the first year of Zhangwu to the seventh year of Zhangwu, although it cannot be said that the world had good weather and harvests every year, there were generally no major disasters. Especially in the sixth and seventh years of Zhangwu, there were really good weather and harvests in various places.

So why did the river burst its banks and the people suffer disaster this year?

Because this year, His Majesty the Emperor launched an attack on Youyan.

War is an ominous sign, and thus it brings the wrath of heaven, which brings disaster.

The suggestions he gave were very simple, just two.

The first is to let Emperor Li stop fighting and give the people a rest.

The second is to let the emperor issue an edict of repentance and admit his mistakes to everyone above and below him.

To admit mistakes to the superiors is naturally to admit mistakes to God. To admit mistakes to the inferiors is to show the imperial edict to the subjects and admit mistakes to them.

"Your motherfucker!"

The emperor became angrier and angrier, and finally couldn't hold back his swearing, cursing: "You asked me to issue a self-criticism edict, but I haven't figured out where I went wrong!"

At this time, Tao Xianggong finally finished reading the memorial. He took a deep breath, bowed his head and said to Li Yun: "Your Majesty, I am no longer the Minister of Rites, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites have nothing to do with me."

When Tao Wenyuan was appointed prime minister, he was not like Zhuo Guangrui who also served as minister of the ministry. After becoming prime minister, he also resigned from the post of Minister of Rites.

This is common practice.

After all, the influence of the Ministry of Rites is still too great. If the prime minister also serves as the Minister of Rites, his influence will probably be comparable to that of Prime Minister Du and Prime Minister Yao.

After saying this, Mr. Tao sighed and continued, "In addition, I feel that this memorial does not..."

Hearing what he said, the Emperor frowned and gave him a vicious look.

Tao Xianggong immediately stopped talking and changed his words: "I think there is nothing good about this memorial. Your Majesty does not need to be angry about it."

He looked at Du He who was present and said, "The local area has suffered a disaster, and the court has sent people to provide disaster relief as usual. The Ministry of Revenue should still have a lot of surplus."

Upon hearing this, the Minister of Revenue Du He looked at the emperor and then said to Tao Wenyuan: "Prime Minister Tao, the Ministry of Revenue has had a lot of surplus in the past few years, but this year, all the grain has been used to prepare for the war on the front line."

"Just some money left."

Emperor Li patted the table and said in a deep voice: "The Ministry of Revenue has done its best to provide relief to the victims. This is the most basic duty of the court. There is nothing to say about it. As for money and grain."

"I will send someone to solve the food problem."

At this point, His Majesty the Emperor narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice: "I will send people to investigate the matter of the river bursting. If it is a natural disaster, it is fine, but if it is man-made."

Li Yun patted the table and said in a deep voice: "I am not afraid to tell you clearly that this is the biggest case in the Zhangwu Dynasty."

Although His Majesty the Emperor had been away from the army for many years, the murderous aura was still there. His words made everyone present lower their heads in fear.

The emperor slammed the table and continued, "Prime Minister Zhuo, you should go to the disaster area in person to transfer grain and rice to provide relief to the victims."

Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head and said, "I obey your command."

Emperor Li thought for a moment and continued, "This Doctor Gu from the Ministry of Rites should be dismissed from his post and demoted to a county magistrate in the disaster-stricken county."

"Let him see what the might of heaven looks like."

Upon hearing this, Tao Wenyuan also lowered his head and said, "Yes, I'll remember that."

After more than an hour, Emperor Li made detailed arrangements for dealing with the flood. It was not until it was completely dark that several ministers left one after another.

After they left, Li Yun opened the two documents that Jiusi had just delivered today.

The first document was a joint letter from Meng Qing and Liu Bo, explaining the situation of the King of Yue.

The second document was written by the King of Yue himself and was delivered by the Nine Departments.

The content of this document was very simple and it only roughly explained the situation. At the end of the letter, His Royal Highness the King of Yue wrote these words pitifully.

"I beg you, Father."

"Don't don't don't don't."

After saying "don't" three times in a row, His Royal Highness the King of Yue pleaded.

"Don't tell Mother."

(End of this chapter)