Zhu Yuanzhang followed the sound and saw a man wearing a seven-beam crown and a red python robe running over.
Behind him, there were two middle-aged men wearing Confucian shirts.
The man ran up to Zhu Yuanzhang, knelt down respectfully and saluted: "Liu Wenyao, the Commander-in-Chief on the Left, pays homage to your Majesty!"
"What's wrong with you, how dare you stop us from enforcing military law?"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Liu Wenyao dissatisfied and shouted angrily.
Hearing this, Liu Wenyao looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in surprise.
"Be bold!"
Zhu Yuanzhang saw this and shouted sharply again.
Following Zhu Yuanzhang's sharp shout, Liu Wenyao's heart trembled, and he immediately kowtowed to apologize, and at the same time he was full of doubts.
It turned out that Liu Wenyao and Chongzhen were cousins. Although Chongzhen did not allow him to participate in politics due to the ancestral system, he felt regretful because his biological mother died young and was very affectionate to him and his eldest brother Xinlehou Liu Wenbing.
Especially in the past few days, as the rebels were suppressing the situation, Chongzhen was even more sincere to them and obeyed their advice, so he dared to speak out to stop them just now.
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was very different from before, he was a little confused for a moment.
"Liu Wenyao, as the city guard of Yongding Gate, you not only deprived the soldiers of food, but also interceded for those who whipped the soldiers. Do you know your guilt?"
Just when Liu Wenyao was confused, Zhu Yuanzhang's angry voice sounded again.
Liu Wenyao was shocked when he heard this and instinctively raised his head.
However, thinking of Zhu Yuanzhang's scolding, I realized that he was also blaming himself, so he hurriedly lowered his head and said: "Wei Chen is aware of his guilt, but it's just because the camp has been in arrears with wages for several months. Wei Chen has tried so hard to raise money, but he can only get a few stones of millet. ....."
"That's nonsense. Although the food and salary in the capital have been transferred to Juyongguan, yesterday we also allocated 200,000 gold to reward the three armies. How can there be no food in the army?"
"It's obvious that you and other nobles have embezzled money and enriched your own pockets, which led to the shortage of food in the army. How dare you make sophistry in front of us!"
Before Liu Wenyao finished speaking, he was interrupted by Zhu Yuanzhang's scolding.
It turned out that Zhu Yuanzhang learned from Chongzhen's memory that Liu Wenyao was not very talented. Only because he was a relative of the emperor, he was able to become a high official and receive generous rewards.
At this moment, I saw that he and the two people behind him were all rosy-cheeked, obviously having no worries about food and clothing. Then I thought about the fact that there was almost no rice grains in the soldier's porridge, and I felt a little dissatisfied with him.
Seeing that he was interceding for Li Guozhen, he thought that none of them could sympathize with the soldiers, so he decided to use the two of them as rafts to warn everyone.
Liu Wenyao was a scholar and had the highest reputation in his life. When he heard Zhu Yuanzhang's accusation, he immediately raised his head and said: "Since my uncle, uncle and nephew were ordered to defend the city, they have almost lost all their family assets. How could they do such dirty things!"
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that he was so angry that he had no etiquette and shouted angrily: "We have our own military pay to reward the army, so why do you need to spend all your family assets?"
"It's obvious that you felt guilty as a thief and were worried that things would go wrong, so you took out some scraps of silver and did such a scandalous thing to win people's hearts."
"If we don't punish you severely today, we will also be sorry for the soldiers guarding the city."
As he said that, he looked at Hu Siliu again and said: "Hit me, beat me hard, we don't believe we can't kill this unhealthy trend!"
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's determination, Liu Wenyao seemed to have seen the headstrong Chongzhen before. He sighed deeply in his heart, stopped defending, and slowly knelt on the ground.
"Your Majesty, please listen to the common people!"
At this time, a burly Confucian scholar behind Liu Wenyao shouted loudly.
Zhu Yuanzhang originally thought that the two of them were arty officials, but when he heard that they were ordinary people, he was a little surprised and asked: "Who are you?"
The Confucian scholar said loudly: "Huang Nilu, a common man!"
"White body?"
Zhu Yuanzhang confirmed again.
"White body!"
Huang Nilu still answered loudly.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Huang Nilu carefully and saw stains on his clothes and a faint smell of gunpowder. Knowing that he must have been studying gunpowder just now, he couldn't help but feel a little fond of him.
He pondered for a moment, then looked at another thin Confucian scholar and said, "Then who are you?"
"Teacher Shen Zhanran!"
Although the Confucian scholar did not raise his head, he replied politely.
"Are the imperial students also participating in the defense of the city?"
Zhu Yuanzhang knew that although the imperial students learned to ride and shoot, it was only a custom among literati and would not be of much use on the battlefield.
So after hearing Shen Zhanran's words, he asked in surprise.
"Cao Min and Xin Lehou are good friends. Since I have read several military books in my spare time, Xin Lehou asked me to assist the Left Governor in defending the city."
When Shen Zhanran heard this, he replied neither humble nor arrogantly.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the Ming Dynasty had the custom of civilian officials commanding the army, but most of those civilian officials were in charge of the central army and did not participate in the attack. At this moment, he saw Shen Zhanran, a scholar, dare to stand at the forefront.
Moreover, under his pressure, he responded politely and with full confidence. He should be a scholar with practical knowledge, and he felt a little happy again.
So he looked at Liu Wenyao again and saw that although Liu Wenyao was kneeling on the ground, his body was trembling, and he was obviously angry.
Then he thought that if Liu Wenyao was a bully, Shen Zhanran and Huang Nilu would definitely not be born in vain, and they couldn't help but change their views on him.
Zhu Yuanzhang was thirsty for talents at this moment. After seeing the character of Liu, Huang and Shen, he felt much better.
So he looked at Huang Nilu again and said calmly: "Okay, Huang Nilu, what do you want to tell us?"
Huang Nilu heard this and said loudly: "What the common people want to say is what your Majesty said about military pay. Governor Zuo has only heard about it but has never seen it."
"As for the food for the soldiers guarding the city, it is indeed the proceeds from the sale of supplies by the Zuo Governor. However, because there are many soldiers and little money, they ran out of food yesterday."
Zhu Yuanzhang originally suspected that Liu Wenyao was corrupt, but after hearing Huang Nilu's words, he asked again: "I only heard it through my ears. Didn't our military pay go to the hands of your Zuo Commander?"
Just as Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he heard Huang Nilu's voice: "If your Majesty wants to ask about military pay and firearms, you can ask Wang Quede, the supervisor of the army here."
"Military pay and firearms?"
Zhu Yuanzhang heard something in Huang Nilu's words, and immediately said to Wang Cheng'en: "Go and call Wang Quede for us!"
After that, he said to Liu Wenyao and the others: "You guys get up first, and we'll deal with it after Wang Guede arrives!"
Then he said to Hu Siliu: "Go and enforce military law for us!"
Liu Wenyao, who had just stood up, heard this and wanted to speak again, but was pulled aside by Shen Zhanran.
"Snapped!"
When the whip was whipped down, a blood mark immediately appeared on Li Guozhen's back.
"Snapped!"
"Snapped!"
"Snapped!"
Hu Siliu wanted to hold back at first, but when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, he immediately put his little thought aside and beat Li Guozhen bloody.
After a while, the clothes on Li Guozhen's back were in tatters, revealing bloody scars.
As the scars on Li Guozhen's body appeared, the soldiers on the city looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with both respect and fear.
"Master Wei, please slow down, your Majesty will be fine!"
At this time, I saw a group of people wearing red and red climbing the city wall.
Among them were Wei Zaode, the chief minister of the cabinet, Fan Jingwen, a bachelor, Ni Yuanlu, the minister of household affairs, Zhang Jinyan, the minister of war, and a group of royal guards.
The person leading the way was a eunuch wearing a three-beam crown and a python robe.
I saw him supporting Wei Zaode with a flattering look on his face, nodding and bowing.
It turned out that when the officials heard the news that Zhu Yuanzhang had left the palace, they were shocked and frightened, and they followed Zhu Yuanzhang's route with their own agendas.
Later, he met Wang Shoulin on the way, who came on Li Ruolian's order, and came to Yongding Gate with him.
Just when they didn't know where Zhu Yuanzhang was, they happened to see Wang Guede, who was rushing over, and accompanied him up the city wall.
"His Majesty!"
After Wei Zaode saw Zhu Yuanzhang, he immediately ran over and knelt down, screaming.
The officials behind him also came forward and knelt down to Zhu Yuanzhang.
After Zhu Yuanzhang asked everyone to get up, he looked at the eunuch and said, "Are you Wang Quede?"
Wang Quede was originally a seventh-rank eunuch, but he had always been depressed. Recently, with the help of a fellow countryman, he was appreciated by Wang Dehua. Not only was he promoted to the fifth rank, but he also got a job as a supervisor of the army.
At this moment, seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang ignored the ministers and actually asked him, he was surprised and happy in his heart, and hurriedly replied: "Long live the Lord, slave... I am none other than Wang Quede."
In Chongzhen Palace, most eunuchs called Chongzhen Long Live Lord and called themselves slaves to show their closeness.
Only eunuchs with official positions address Your Majesty like foreign ministers and call themselves ministers.
Because this Wang Quede was on a new errand, he suddenly made a fuss about it.
"You're doing a good job as a supervisor. Drag us down and beat you!"
Zhu Yuanzhang glared at him and shouted loudly.
"Long live thanks..."
"ah!"
Wang Guide heard the first half of Zhu Yuanzhang's words and thought he wanted to reward him.
I just wanted to thank him, but when I heard the second half of the sentence, I was so scared that I collapsed to the ground.
