Zhu Yuanzhang followed the sound and saw Xiangcheng Bo Li Guozhen, wearing a black gauze hat and a crimson crane uniform, waving the whip in his hand with an angry look on his face and viciously beating the soldiers lying on the ground.
Behind him followed a group of about ten soldiers. Their right hands held the handles of their swords tightly, and they stared at the beaten soldiers with vigilance.
The whipped soldiers stood up slowly under his pressure, some were trembling, and some had fierce looks in their eyes.
However, when they saw the soldiers behind Li Guozhen, they shrank back slightly.
When Li Guozhen passed by, they were still lying down and minding their own business, not paying attention to the urging just now.
Although the whip in Li Guozhen's hand was stained with blood, he still whipped this one, and then he whipped the one who was lying down, and he hit the one on the left, and the one on the right fell asleep again.
Seeing this, Li Guozhen waved the whip in his hand even more rapidly.
But his operation, apart from making many soldiers look angry, did not change any of the status quo.
However, he was very stubborn, waving his whip all the way and driving everyone to defend the city.
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in poverty, and what he hated most in his life was officials who bullied weak officials. Now that he saw Li Guozhen whipping the soldiers like this, he suddenly felt murderous.
"Your Majesty, please go and persuade Uncle Xiangcheng. If he continues to be whipped like this, it will be easy for the soldiers to mutiny!"
Luo Yangxing was also a man who had led soldiers. He knew that whipping a soldier before he obeyed was taboo. Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous intent, he whispered to please him.
When Wang Chengen heard this, he opened his mouth, but did not speak. He just looked at Li Guozhen worriedly.
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Luo Yangxing and did not speak. Instead, after being silent for a while, he strode towards Li Guozhen.
"Let you guys be lazy, I'll let you..."
"How dare you..."
Li Guozhen was about to whip a soldier lying on the ground, but suddenly found that the whip had been grabbed.
He was furious at this moment and started to curse without looking back.
However, when he found out that it was Zhu Yuanzhang who grabbed his whip, he immediately stood on the spot.
"Your Majesty, I didn't know that Your Majesty was coming, so please forgive me!"
After Li Guozhen reacted, he immediately threw away his whip, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed repeatedly to beg for mercy.
When the soldiers heard his words, they looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in surprise.
"Li Guozhen, if you are not supervising the army at Qihua Gate, why did you come to Yongding Gate?"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Li Guozhen and said coldly.
When Li Guozhen heard Zhu Yuanzhang's words, his body trembled, and then he cried: "The three major camps are gone, I am ashamed of your majesty..."
As he spoke, he kept kowtowing.
After a while, his forehead was cut open and blood was flowing.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Li Guozhen appearing here, he knew that he must have lost the battle and vented his anger on the soldiers.
Originally, with Zhu Yuanzhang's personality, he would not hesitate to kill someone who defeated the army and humiliated the country and whipped the soldiers.
However, he learned from Chongzhen's memory that when everyone heard that the rebels were attacking and they all cowered to protect themselves, only Li Guozhen stood up and was willing to lead troops to meet the enemy, and he was considered a loyal minister.
At this moment, seeing Li Guozhen bursting into tears, and seeing that the soldiers guarding the city were indeed too lazy, they hesitated for a moment.
"Even if you are defeated and feel uncomfortable, you should not take it out on the soldiers. You must know that soldiers are human beings. We owe them military pay and cannot give them enough to eat. How can we blame them for not having the will to fight!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while, and then angrily scolded Li Guozhen.
Hearing this, Li Guozhen raised his head in surprise and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.
Because in his impression, Chongzhen hated lazy soldiers the most.
Once captured, they will be beheaded regardless of the reason, but how can you speak for these soldiers today?
When the soldiers heard Zhu Yuanzhang's words, they all looked at him, with a glint in their eyes.
"Li Guozhen, the uncle of Xiangcheng, beat a soldier for no reason and ordered him to be flogged fifty times. He will be executed immediately!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he looked at Luo Yangxing aside.
Luo Yangxing knew that Chongzhen had always favored Li Guozhen, so his anger at this moment was just a show of pretense.
It is inevitable that Chongzhen would blame him later, and he was also worried that he would be squeezed out by other courtiers after flogging Li Guozhen.
So when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze, his eyes immediately wandered, and at the same time he couldn't help but step back.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, he knew that he did not want to offend Li Guozhen, and he became even more angry.
Then he remembered Chongzhen's complaint that no one in the civil and military dynasties was willing to share his father's worries, and he felt even more urgent to find capable people to help him.
At this time, Wang Chengen slowly stepped forward with hesitation and said: "Old... slave..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw Zhu Yuanzhang's stopping gaze, so he remained silent and retreated slowly.
When Li Guozhen heard Wang Chengen's words, there was already a trace of unwillingness in his eyes.
However, when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang's stopping eyes, he felt a sense of gratitude in his heart, and then he bowed down respectfully.
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at everyone, looked at the soldier he had helped up before, and said gently: "What's your name?"
When the soldier heard this, he said excitedly: "Little man... Hu... Hu Siliu."
Zhu Yuanzhang patted him on the shoulder and said: "Okay, Hu Siliu, do you dare to enforce military law?"
When Hu Siliu heard this, he couldn't help but retreat and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in surprise.
At this time, several soldiers who had been whipped by Li Guozhen were about to move, but when they saw Zhu Yuanzhang's sharp eyes, they became quiet again.
"What, you don't dare?"
Seeing that Hu Siliu was a little panicked, Zhu Yuanzhang asked gently, like a kind old man.
"I...I...Master Li..."
Hu Siliu stammered at first, but after seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's encouraging eyes, he immediately straightened his chest and said loudly: "I dare!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he said with a smile: "Don't worry, as long as we are here, no one will dare to bully you!"
After saying that, he looked at Li Guozhen and said, "Are you convinced?"
Li Guozhen did not answer, but knocked his head heavily on the ground.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Hu Siliu again and said: "Okay, let's do it!"
With his encouragement, Hu Siliu slowly picked up the whip from the ground and walked slowly towards Li Guozhen.
"Wait!"
At this time, Li Guozhen suddenly shouted.
As his words sounded, Hu Siliu couldn't help but retreated again, looking at Zhu Yuanzhang in panic.
"Are you not convinced?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, he shouted angrily.
Li Guozhen kowtowed and said: "You want me to die, but I dare not not die, let alone only fifty lashes!"
"It's just that I am wearing official uniform at the moment. If I am beaten like this, it will be disrespectful to the court. Please allow me to take off my official uniform!"
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Li Guozhen and said, "That's right!"
"Thank you!"
Li Guozhen bowed respectfully, stood up slowly, and took off his official uniform.
Then he bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and slowly knelt down.
"beat!"
Seeing that Hu Siliu was still hesitating, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but raise his voice.
Hearing this, Hu Siliu became emboldened and stepped forward slowly. Just as he was about to raise his whip, he heard another voice shouting: "Leave someone behind under the whip!"
