"Snapped!"
"Snapped!"
"Snapped!"
...
As the sound of imperial staffs sounded one after another on the city wall, the soldiers guarding the city all had serious faces and were no longer as lazy as before.
And when Wang Quede's bloody head was revealed to everyone, all the soldiers looked horrified and their bodies couldn't help but stand up straight.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the soldiers silently, knowing that Wang Quede's head had restrained them.
So after he finished executing the imperial staff, he said to Ni Yuanlu: "Ni Qing, please immediately take out 30,000 gold from the treasury to buy food."
"If we see soldiers without food again, I will chop off your head and tell the story to the nine gates!"
Ni Yuanlu was stunned when she heard this, and was about to speak, but was stopped by Fan Jingwen's eyes, and signaled him to agree.
Seeing this, Ni Yuanlu had no choice but to bow and reply: "Wei Chen accepts the order!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Okay, go and do it quickly. If you have any questions, just come to us!"
Ni Yuanlu was still a little angry in her heart, but after listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, she bowed respectfully and slowly withdrew.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
At this time, Hu Siliu took the lead in kneeling down and shouting loudly.
As Hu Siliu's voice sounded, all the soldiers knelt down and shouted long live.
After Zhu Yuanzhang waited for the soldiers to stop, he shouted loudly: "We know that you have suffered these days, but don't worry, as long as we are here, we will never let those corrupt officials exploit you."
"In the future, if you find any officials who are deducting military pay or corrupting the law, you can tie them to the imperial city and we will make the decision for you!"
...
Every time Zhu Yuanzhang said something, all the soldiers shouted long live.
For a moment, the shouts were like thunder, causing panic among the unknown rebels outside the city.
Zhu Yuanzhang took the opportunity to appease the soldiers and delayed for a while. It was estimated that Wang Shoulin had arrived at Fude Building, and then he looked at Liu Wenyao and said, "First explain the city affairs, and then go with Xin Lehou and the Prince Consort." Qianqing Palace, we have something to discuss with you."
After saying that, he glanced at Shen Zhanran and Huang Nilu again and said, "You two can lend us your help for the time being!"
When Liu Wenyao heard this, he immediately bowed and said: "Your Majesty's words have offended the humble ministers. There is no one in the four seas who is not your Majesty's subject. Why bother Your Majesty to excuse me?"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and said: "Okay, then you go!"
After Liu Wenyao saluted respectfully, he quickly walked towards the city guard's command center.
Zhu Yuanzhang then helped Li Guozhen up and said, "Go and tidy up, and wait for us at Qianqing Palace. We will ask you about military affairs later!"
Li Guozhen nodded with tears in his eyes, saluted respectfully, and staggered back.
Then Zhu Yuanzhang and his party followed the steps to climb the city and slowly walked down the tower.
When Zhu Yuanzhang came to the city and saw the official sedans in the distance, there was a hint of unhappiness on his face.
However, he didn't say much, he just silently mounted his horse and galloped towards Zhengyang Gate.
Seeing this, everyone on horseback or in sedans chased after him.
Zhu Yuanzhang met Huang and Shen on the road, although they were scholars, but their riding skills were very superb, and he admired them even more.
Through previous conversations, he knew that Shen Zhanran was respectful and courteous, but also a bit unfamiliar in his politeness. On the contrary, Huang Nilu was direct and direct, which made people feel more approachable. So he took the opportunity to ask Huang Nilu: "Are you good at firearms?"
Huang Nilu was shocked when he heard this and said in surprise: "How did your Majesty know that ordinary people are good at firearms?"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and said: "We have a very good nose. As soon as I saw you, I smelled the smell of gunpowder all over your body!"
Huang Nilu smiled awkwardly, and just when he was thinking about how to answer, he heard Zhu Yuanzhang say: "You are all commoners, how come you know Zuo Dudu?"
When Huang Nilu asked, he slowly told the story.
It turns out that the two of them are not Liu Wenyao's disciples, but friends of Xin Lehou Liu Bingwen.
The scene when the three met was also very old-fashioned. At that time, Huang Nilu came to Beijing after completing his studies, hoping to show off his talents.
Unexpectedly, he encountered obstacles everywhere and found no way to surrender. Just when he was about to leave, he aroused the dissatisfaction of the bullies for rescuing an orphan girl.
There were many people watching at that time, but everyone was afraid of speaking out because of the bully's power. Only the young Shen Zhanran stood up and spoke up.
However, although Shen Zhanran was very powerful, he could not stand up to the bully's domestic slave. When the two of them were trying to support themselves, Xin Lehou Liu Wenbing happened to pass by.
After he found out about this, he severely punished the bully and took the two of them to his mansion for treatment.
After going back and forth like this, the three of them actually became good friends.
After listening to their stories, Zhu Yuanzhang also had a general understanding of Liu Wenbing.
At this time, Shen Zhanran suddenly heard a sound of surprise and stared straight ahead.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked around and saw that they had arrived in front of Zhengyang Gate.
The previously crowded crowd had dispersed, and only Li Ruolian and Li Changru were chatting happily at the city gate.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang asked strangely: "Do you know him?"
When Shen Zhanran heard this, a look of hesitation flashed across his face, and then he said seriously: "He seems to be an old friend of Cao Min, but I haven't seen him for many years, and Cao Min doesn't dare to confirm it!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was so smart, how could he not understand the meaning of his words?
So he reined in the horse, and the horse immediately let out a long neigh, which attracted the attention of Li Ruolian and others.
When Li Ruolian saw that the person coming was Zhu Yuanzhang, he immediately came up to him and knelt down to worship him.
Zhu Yuanzhang jumped down, helped Li Ruolian up, and said, "Li Qing, do you feel aggrieved that we let you, a third-rank official, guard the city gate?"
Hearing this, Li Ruolian hurriedly knelt down and said, "Everything I have in this body is a gift from His Majesty, how dare I express my grievances!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and helped him up, and said: "Okay, in that case, let's make you the commander of the Jinyi Guards and follow us to handle some trivial matters!"
Li Ruolian looked at Luo Yangxing in surprise and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
I happened to hear Li Changru's voice saying: "It's rare for His Majesty to appreciate you. Mr. Li, why don't you thank me quickly!"
Li Ruolian had just had a conversation with Li Changru and admired him very much. When he heard what he said, he immediately knelt down to thank him.
After Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and helped Li Ruolian up, he said to Li Changru: "Come and see, we have also brought you an old friend!"
With that said, he pulled Shen Zhanran out.
When Li Changru saw Shen Zhanran, his expression suddenly changed.
Then he knelt down and kowtowed and said, "The sinner Li Jingkeng has come to see Your Majesty. The sinner took on his name because he had no choice but to do so. Please forgive me!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the word "Li Jing", he had no impression in his mind.
However, seeing Li Jing trembling, he felt very strange. After carefully checking Chongzhen's memories, he discovered that in the ninth year of Chongzhen, a martial arts student named Li Jing had written a letter asking for help from a wealthy family in Jiangnan.
At that time, Li Jing's proposal caused an uproar in the court. Although Chongzhen was also quite moved, due to the collective opposition of all the ministers, it was dropped in the end.
"Are you Li Jing, the martial arts student who submitted the letter?"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Li Jing and confirmed.
Li Jing kowtowed again and said, "The offender is none other than Li Jing, the military student who submitted the letter."
Zhu Yuanzhang said with some confusion: "We remember that we have not punished you. Why do you keep saying that you are a criminal?"
Li Jing was stunned when he heard this, and then told the story.
It turned out that after Li Jing wrote the letter, it immediately caused an uproar in Jiangnan, and many officials and gentry wrote letters to refute him.
The most influential among them was Qian Shisheng, the cabinet scholar at the time. He not only tried to punish Li Jing severely in court, but also secretly instigated the Jiangnan gentry to persecute him.
For a time, Jiangnan scribes criticized Li Jing verbally and writingly. They not only refuted his petition, but also deliberately misinterpreted some of his daily trivial matters.
Then they use this as an excuse to accuse him of being rude, reprimand him for being unfaithful, or refute him for being unfilial. All of these are not enough.
Li Jing had just succeeded in his studies and was in high spirits, but he was not intimidated by rumors.
Moreover, he believed that his petition would be beneficial to the country, and even if the court did not adopt his suggestions, he would not be punished.
So even though he was notorious at the time, he didn't panic and still fought hard.
It wasn't until he received a letter from a classmate that the county government was preparing to arrest him for making lies and disrupting government that he realized the seriousness of the matter.
He also knew that this was an attempted crime and there was no defense for it, so he ran away overnight.
Little did he know that the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River hated him and pursued him fiercely. Not only were they wanted by the government, but there were also rewards from the people, making it inevitable for him to avoid him.
In desperation, he had to flee to the north. Unexpectedly, after those people learned that he had arrived in the north, they still refused to give up and sent many people to hunt him down.
In the end, Li Jing had no choice but to hide his name and work as a tenant in the Shen family, thus avoiding the eyes and ears of those people and living a quiet life.
Later, he got help from his friends. He originally wanted to take part in the imperial examination as Li Changru, and then avenge himself after gaining fame.
But he didn't expect that the civil examination was darker than the martial arts examination. He failed repeatedly and wasted those good years.
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Li Jing's story, he was silent for a while and said, "Okay, we all know your grievances."
"Let's make you a member of the household department as a compensation for these years!"
As Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, everyone present was shocked.
Hearing this, Li Jing kowtowed repeatedly and said: "The common people thank God for his kindness. From now on, the common people will do their best to repay His Majesty's kindness in knowing you."
Zhu Yuanzhang helped him up and said: "Okay, now that we are facing a powerful enemy, you don't need to make these false gifts anymore, and come back with us to the palace to discuss the plan to retreat from the enemy!"
Seeing this, Li Jing hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and thanked him again.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled, took the reins from Wang Chengen, got on his horse, and galloped away.
After Li Ruolian hurriedly explained, he found two more horses and rushed towards the imperial city with Li Jing.
