The first assistant of the poor family

Chapter 492 Infighting
When Liu Yan, the envoy sent by Zhou Zhifu, arrived at King Ning's camp, his legs were almost trembling.

He came this time to surrender to King Ning under the order of Zhou Zhifu.

Liu Yan is the master hired by Zhou Yue, and he was always surprised by the owner's request.

Of course, he didn't know the consensus reached between Xie Shen and Zhou Zhifu, and he thought that the Lord Fu Zun really wanted to dedicate Anqing Mansion to King Ning.

This cannot be blamed on Zhou Zhifu, because this is Xie Shen's request.

Xie Shen was naturally afraid that Liu Yan, the messenger, would not be able to keep his mouth shut, and that he would miss out on his big influence plan.

At first Liu Yan refused to be the messenger.

But Zhou Zhifu threatened him that if he didn't go, his relatives would suffer.

In desperation, Liu Yan had no choice but to bite the bullet and come out of the city.

Anyway, he is just a messenger, the court will not keep an eye on him in the future, will it?

For the sake of his family, he can only be humiliated once.

King Ning was surprised by Liu Yan's arrival.

After all, Anqing had been besieged for several days, and Zhou Yue didn't even have the slightest thought of giving up resistance. Why did he suddenly let go and send an envoy?
Could it be that the army has lost its morale?Or maybe the prefect of Zhou felt that Anqing City would be destroyed if he continued to resist, so why not seek refuge in advance to earn a good impression?
In short, Zhu Chenhao was very happy.

He ordered someone to bring the messenger to Shuai Zhang for questioning.

Liu Yan was led into the tent by a group of hulking generals, only to see a middle-aged man in a dragon robe looking at him intently.

He thought to himself that this person should be King Ning.

Unexpectedly, King Ning changed into the dragon robe so impatiently. It seems that the plot of rebellion has been planned for a long time.

"Caomin pays homage to the prince."

Liu Yan knelt down to greet King Ning and said respectfully.

Zhu Chenhao was very displeased and said, "You should call me Your Majesty!"

Liu Yan groaned secretly in his heart. He thought that King Ning must be flattered by a group of rebellious ministers these days.These people called His Majesty one by one, and King Ning really thought he was the emperor.

How sad and ridiculous!
How to address King Ning is indeed an extremely troublesome problem.

If Liu Yan only went out of the city as an envoy to meet King Ning once, he could still put the blame on Zhou Zhifu.But if he said the word "Your Majesty" to King Ning, the nature would be completely different.This means that he approves of King Ning's treasonous behavior and actively flatters him.
But if he didn't call, Liu Yan suspected that his leg would be broken immediately.

Liu Yan had no choice but to comfort himself that no one would know exactly what he said when he came to King Ning's camp.

A hero doesn't suffer from immediate losses, so let's admit defeat first.

"Your Majesty, the prefect of Zhou sent the grassroots here to dedicate the city."

This must be said sooner or later, and Liu Yan said it as soon as he gritted his teeth and stomped his feet.

"Well, he finally figured it out. I am ordered by the sky, those who follow me will prosper, and those who oppose me will perish."

Zhu Chenhao was still intoxicated in the dream of imperial career and couldn't extricate himself, he waved his hand and said: "Surrender now, and you will all be rewarded when I conquer the country."

After shaking his prestige, Zhu Chenhao asked in a deep voice: "Since Zhou Yue wants to surrender, why doesn't he open the city gate to see me in person?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this is a helpless move by the government. After all, there are many officers in the city who are still loyal to the imperial court."

Zhu Chenhao was dumbfounded, and even suspected that he had heard wrong.

What does it mean?Zhou Yue wants to surrender but has no control over his subordinates?What kind of surrender is this!

Zhu Chenhao was furious, and his anger naturally directed to Liu Yan.

"Get out!"

"Hold on, Your Majesty!"

At this time, Wang Lun, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, stood up and respectfully said: "Zhou Yue must have his difficulties. Your Majesty may wish to hear what plans they have."

Zhu Chenhao suppressed his anger, waved his hands at Liu Yan and said, "Go ahead."

Liu Yan was so frightened that he forced himself to calm himself down. Fang respectfully said, "The Master's intention is to ask His Majesty to pretend to attack the east gate, so that the Master can gather those generals who support the imperial court to go to the east gate. At that time, the Master will open the south gate. Gate. Your Majesty can send the main force into the city to take over Anqing."

This set of rhetoric was said to Liu Yan by Zhou Yue himself, and he repeatedly urged him several times.Liu Yan did not change a single word, and recounted it to Zhu Chenhao.

After hearing this, Zhu Chenhao fell into deep thought.

Zhou Yue is a bit more thoughtful this week.

If he really does not have absolute control over the army, it is indeed not appropriate to open the city gate directly.

In this way, those generals might kill Zhou Yue directly, and Zhu Chenhao would have no chance to take over Anqing.

But Zhou Yue has his advantages, he is the supreme commander of Anqing in name.Arranging troops is a matter of his words, as long as Zhu Chenhao cooperates with a feint attack on one side, and then enters the city from the other side, he can easily take this fortified city.

Of course, this is not to say that Zhou Yue has no risks.

If Zhou Yue's intention to transfer the tiger away from the mountain was discovered by those generals, he would probably be chopped into pieces by angry soldiers.But for Zhu Chenhao, there was no loss.The big deal is to re-siege the city.

Naturally, Zhu Chenhao didn't want to miss this kind of guaranteed profit. He pondered for a moment and turned to Li Shishi and asked, "What does Xiang Li think?"

Li Shishi shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, I think this is absolutely impossible!"

Zhu Chenhao wanted Li Shishi to help him make up his mind, but Li Shishi was pouring cold water on him.

"Why not?"

Faced with Zhu Chenhao's urging questions, Li Shishi did not panic at all, and replied calmly: "Your Majesty, if you follow Zhou Yue's intention to attack the east gate and take the south gate, the warships at Hongniwan will have to be mobilized. The blockade and control of the mouth of the river will be weakened, and if an enemy ship sneaks in, it will not be discovered immediately."

Zhu Chenhao thought that Li Shishi had some great ideas. Seeing Li Shishi's boastful talk, he sneered and said, "The purpose of controlling the river bend is to moor warships in preparation for a big battle. Right now Zhengde has not sent reinforcements at all. I don't know what Li Xiang is afraid of!"

"Your Majesty!" Li Shishi was filled with grief and indignation, he shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, if you don't believe me, you can give it a try, but I think this is a sign of defeat!"

"You are presumptuous!"

What Zhu Chenhao hated most was hearing the word "defeated in the army", this old man dared to say in front of his face that he was truly lawless and lawless.

"Come on, it will cost forty to drag this traitor out."

Zhu Chenhao gritted his teeth and said with a ferocious face.

"No need, I will go by myself!"

Li Shishi sneered, and walked out of the tent.

He thought to himself that Zhu Chenhao was in such a hurry to establish his prestige before he conquered the country, so he should take them as loyal veterans.How could such a person win the world?

It's a pity that he was blind and took refuge in this kind of person.

"Okay, okay. Give me a hard hit, really hit me!"

Zhu Chenhao felt that his authority had been challenged, so he said harshly.

After a short while, he heard the muffled sound of the board hitting Li Shishi's buttocks and legs. To Zhu Chenhao's surprise, Li Shishi didn't say a word.

"Your Majesty, although Li Xiang is at fault, he is not guilty of death. Li Xiang is very old, and this beating will probably take his life."

The right prime minister, Liu Yangzheng, finally couldn't stand it anymore.

In his opinion, King Ning is too self-willed.

King Ruoning is a master of success, which is not fatal at all.However, King Ning is rebelling now, and this temper will kill him and everyone.

If heaven wants to kill people, it must first make them mad.

King Ning is so arrogant, mean and ungrateful, which of his subjects would work hard for him?

Without these dead men, King Ning is nothing more than an ordinary mortal who can no longer be ordinary. What is the king's hegemony and aspirations for Kyushu?

Liu Yan on the side was terrified watching.

This Prince Ning is also too tempered, right?

Li Shishi was Prime Minister Zuo whom he leaned on as his arm. He even said that he would hit the board if he dragged on, without giving his ministers a chance to explain.

It should be said that the old Zhu family has a long-standing habit of beating courtiers. It can be traced back to Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.

Emperor Taizu started in the wilderness, and finally won the competition among the heroes, and established the unified Ming Dynasty.This is naturally a great achievement, but Emperor Taizu came from a humble background, and he always unconsciously thought that his subjects looked down on him.

Therefore, Emperor Taizu created the four registers of the people, the army, the craftsman, and the stove, and included all the people in the world into the four registers.

Passed down from father to son, from generation to generation.

In Emperor Taizu's vision, people in the world follow the principles of noble and humble, and Ming can survive forever.

But this is just a beautiful idea, not to mention that there are many loopholes to exploit when this system is implemented after Zhu Yuanzhang's death.Even when Zhu Yuanzhang was still alive, those aristocratic families still looked down on the emperor who was born with mud legs.

The Jinyiwei detective founded by Zhu Yuanzhang got the news and reported it to the emperor.Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally furious.He thought in his heart that you are eating and smashing my bowl, it really turned the world upside down.

Aren't you unconvinced, I will beat you until you are convinced.

Thus, the 'great' court rod system was born.

The court staff who dared to disobey the emperor's orders, the court staff who dared to sing against the emperor, and the court staff who dared to point fingers at the emperor's private life
In short, as long as Emperor Zhu was offended, Jin Yiwei would drag him down and spank his ass.

Scholars have delicate skin and tender flesh, and even if they don't die, they will have to lie in bed for several months to recover from their injuries.

At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the civil servants had not yet developed to the later stage where they rushed to anger the emperor for the sake of reputation and were punished by the court.

Facing Zhu Yuanzhang's iron-fisted policy, the arrogant and defiant civil servants finally lowered their heads and chose the former between their buttocks and their dignity.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was only the founder of the court rod system, and it was Emperor Zhengde and Emperor Jiajing who really carried it forward.

The number of courtiers who these two emperors combined may be more than half of the number of court staff in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhu Chenhao was not the real emperor, his surname was Zhu anyway, and he more or less inherited some habits of the old Zhu family.

Zhu Chenhao didn't learn much about good habits, but he learned the skill of beating his subordinates' butts to gain prestige quickly.

There are only a few courtiers around him that he can rely on, and Li Shishi is an important assistant minister.Not only is he good at making plans, but he is also very good at internal affairs and logistics.

But it was such an all-around talent who was abandoned by Zhu Chenhao like a piece of shit, saying that the court stick was the court stick, and that the humiliation was humiliation.

It is not an exaggeration to describe Zhu Chenhao as mean, ungrateful and cold-natured.

Zhu Chenhao raised his eyebrows, the fat on his cheeks tightened suddenly, he waved his hand reluctantly and said: "Forget it, let him be spared this time!"

Liu Yangzheng hurriedly rushed out to tell the executing sergeant to stop, even so Li Shishi had already been beaten more than a dozen times, and was sweating profusely, almost fainting.

Liu Yangzheng winked at the two sergeants, and the two immediately set up the weak Li Shishi and went down.

Liu Yangzheng sighed, thinking, Brother Ruoxu (Li Shishi's words), why are you bothering.

Zhu Chenhao obviously didn't intend to care too much about it.The people have already fought, and the power has also been established.The next step is naturally to discuss the matter of taking over Anqing Mansion.

Although the plan proposed by Liu Yan did not satisfy him completely, at least it gave him a glimmer of light in the darkness.

After Zhu Chenhao hesitated again and again, he agreed to Liu Yan's request and agreed on a time to enter the city instead.

Liu Yan completed the task assigned by Zhou Zhifu, and he didn't want to stay in King Ning's camp any longer.Apparently Zhu Chenhao didn't like the messenger either, so he sent him away directly.

After Liu Yan left, Wang Lun, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and Liu Yangzheng, Prime Minister of the Right, also resigned one after another.

Zhu Chenhao only kept Qian Ning, the commander of Jinyiwei, and asked him his opinion on this matter.

From the beginning to the end, Qian Ning did not express any opinion on this matter, which made Zhu Chenhao very puzzled.

You must know that Qian Ning is a straight person, and he will be the first to express his opinion at any time.

But he was silent on this matter, there must be something hidden.

Zhu Chenhao was not stupid, of course he knew that this might be a false surrender.

But Li Shishi, that old man, was really out of character, he had no choice but to slap the old man Li in order to save his face in front of the envoy.

But this does not mean that Zhu Chenhao has no doubts about Zhou Yue's surrender.

Now he wanted to hear Channing's opinion.

There are only two people in the handsome tent, so there is no need for any scruples.

Qian Ning pondered for a moment, then bowed to Zhu Chenhao and said, "Your Majesty, there may be deceit here."

Zhu Chenhao was shocked when he heard the words.

If Li Shishi was the only one who said this, he might consider it alarmist.But now that even Qian Ning said the same thing, Zhu Chenhao had to think carefully
"Tell me, where is the fraud?"

Qian Ning chuckled and said, "Your Majesty thinks, why did Zhou Yue ask His Majesty to pretend to attack the east gate?"

Zhu Chenhao replied casually: "Because he wants to mobilize the main defenders in the city to go to the east gate, so that he can open the south gate to welcome our army into the city."

However, Qian Ning shook his head repeatedly and said, "It's not that simple. What Li Xiang said makes sense. His Majesty's navy is stationed in Hongniwan. The sequence will be disrupted. If an army takes advantage of the chaos and sneaks in."

Channing didn't continue, but the meaning was already obvious.

King Ning rebelled, and his strength lies in this navy.

Without this navy, King Ning's army would be like chickens and dogs in front of the imperial army.Zhu Chenhao is also aware of this, so he has always protected the warships. Most of the warships are docked in the Hongni Bay in the southeast of Anqing Mansion, and only a small number of warships are sent in turn to block the river.

(End of this chapter)