After listening to Wang Shoulin's report, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered: "Go back and interrogate Van Defu again. Things may not be as simple as he said!"
"As for that Li Mou, he must be a tough guy. Ordinary methods are useless to him. We must cut off his escape route."
Although Wang Shoulin is in the Jinyi Guard, he is a rough man, more than loyal and courageous, but not very resourceful.
After hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, he nodded in understanding.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "What do you gain by arranging the people near Fude Tower?"
Wang Shoulin shook his head and said: "There is no news yet, but the general has told them that if they find anything, they must report it immediately!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and just as he was about to speak, he saw the young eunuch from before hurriedly walking in, saying that he was from Jin Yiwei looking for Wang Shoulin.
Zhu Yuanzhang guessed that there should be news from Fude Tower, so he asked Wang Shoulin to go out and take a look, while he continued to study the city defense distribution map.
After a while, Wang Shoulin walked in happily and told Zhu Yuanzhang that a rebel nest had been discovered.
Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately asked him to lead people to arrest the rebels. At the same time, he sent the 100,000 taels of silver confiscated from his home to the Ministry of Household Affairs and handed it over to Ni Yuanlu for disposal.
Not long after Wang Shoulin left, Li Ruolian hurriedly came to report that Li Zicheng had passed by Desheng Gate during the Shen Dynasty. The soldiers guarding the city did not fire an artillery attack because they were afraid of the rebels. It is still unknown where Li Zicheng is.
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while, and after telling him to strengthen patrols in the city, he let him leave.
After Li Ruolian left, Zhu Yuanzhang did not look at the city defense map again, but fell into deep contemplation.
When Wang Chengen saw this, he quietly withdrew and stood respectfully outside the door.
In fact, it was not only Zhu Yuanzhang in the palace who was thinking deeply at this moment, but also Fan Jingwen in the Fan Mansion outside the palace with a solemn look on his face.
Ni Yuanlu and Li Banghua sat quietly aside, silent.
After a long time, Ni Yuanlu broke the deadlock and said to Fan Jingwen: "Mr. Fan, what do you think of today's events?"
Hearing this, Fan Jingwen looked at Li Banghua and said, "I wonder what Brother Li thinks of this matter?"
Li Banghua stroked his beard, pointed at Fan Jingwen and cursed with a smile: "You, you, are getting more cunning as you get older, and you don't have the heroic spirit before at all."
When Fan Jingwen heard this, he laughed and asked him to speak again.
Li Banghua calmed down his thoughts and said: "Although I have not seen your Majesty today, based on your past character, it is understandable that you did what you did today."
"It's just that His Majesty was obviously frightened by the rebels a few days ago. The palace also said that someone saw His Majesty hiding in the dark and crying."
"So I feel that Your Majesty may have been stimulated today, treating a dead horse as a live doctor. We must treat it with caution, and we must not make mistakes at a critical moment and ruin our reputation for the rest of our lives."
After Li Banghua finished speaking, Ni Yuanlu nodded in agreement and said: "What Mr. Li said is true. Yuan Lu also feels that His Majesty was stimulated and became so crazy when he was so angry."
"However, your Majesty's methods of beheading Cao Desi and his son alive and beheading Wang Quede were a bit extreme, but they also inspired the fighting spirit of the soldiers who defended the city. It is a good thing."
"I just hope that His Majesty can maintain this state, continue his efforts, and defeat the rebels."
Hearing this, Fan Jingwen shook his head and said, "Yuan Lu, you are wrong. It is said that a country is easy to change, but one's nature is hard to change."
"Although His Majesty is talented and intelligent, he is also headstrong and suspicious by nature, so he often does things with doubts and regrets, and it is difficult to end well."
"Today I see that Your Majesty seems to have a plan in mind, and he is even more vigorous and resolute in dealing with things. He is very different from the past. This cannot be explained by stimulation. I am afraid there is another reason."
Ni Yuanlu looked at Fan Jingwen with some doubts and said, "Then in Mr. Fan's opinion, why does your majesty do it?"
Fan Jingwen hesitated for a while and said, "Do you think His Majesty's clothes are different today from before?"
Ni Yuanlu thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty's jade belt seems to be much lower than usual today, and it is pressed down from time to time!"
Li Banghua took the conversation and said: "Your Majesty has always observed etiquette and has never behaved like this. How could he be so abnormal today?"
"Don't you think this habit is very similar to a person's?"
Seeing that the two of them had not guessed what he was thinking, Fan Jingwen reminded him again.
Li Banghua was shocked when he heard this and said: "You mean this is Taizu..."
"Quietly!"
Fan Jingwen hurriedly stopped Li Banghua and said in a low voice: "It's good that you know, why bother shouting like this. If my prediction is correct, Jin Yiwei, who has been silent for a long time, should have already taken action."
Li Banghua looked out warily and whispered: "Did your Majesty go check Taizu's records again and get inspired?"
Fan Jingwen shook his head and said: "Your Majesty has been reading Taizu's Records for more than ten years, how could he suddenly be inspired?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he added: "But if this were not the case, it would indeed be difficult to explain His Majesty's behavior today."
"Could it be that Taizu couldn't bear the suffering of the people and asked his Majesty to give advice in a dream?"
Ni Yuanlu suddenly had an idea and said something that was completely contrary to her identity.
Hearing this, Li Banghua said sternly: "Yuan Lu, you must be careful what you say, and you must know that your son does not say anything, but strange power can confuse your spirit. Especially in this critical moment, do not let your mind wander and fall into the trap of evil people."
Fan Jingwen heard something in his words and asked, "What? Did Zhang Yingjing from the Zhengyi Sect offend you again?"
When Li Banghua heard the words "Zhang Yingjing", his face grew long and he said angrily: "He didn't offend me, he just defrauded a lot of money from the Queen, claiming that he was praying for His Majesty's blessings and eliminating disasters."
"If praying for blessings is useful, why did the imperial court surround and suppress the two thieves Li and Zhang for more than ten years, but not only did they not eliminate them, but they were besieged in the capital. It shows that the Taoist priest is a liar."
Seeing Li Banghua's angry look, Fan Jingwen said with a smile: "You should change your temper. When you encounter injustice, you get angry and want to find someone to fight for. This is not the style of an old minister."
"And Zhang Yingjing does have some abilities. He was the one who solved the illnesses of Qiu Yu and the prince before. This shows that he is not a deceitful person..."
Li Banghua's temper comes and goes quickly.
Under Fan Jingwen's persuasion, he quickly put the matter aside and continued to analyze Zhu Yuanzhang's behavior that was inconsistent with Chongzhen.
It's just that they analyzed and analyzed, but never found a reasonable answer. In the end, they had to encourage each other not to lose their moral integrity.
In fact, it was not just the three of them who could not come up with an answer. Wei Zaode, Zhang Jinyan, Guang Shiheng and others had been discussing for a long time, and just like Fan Jingwen, they had no clue.
Although they also discovered Zhu Yuanzhang's weirdness, due to their different thoughts and the matters in Hongde Palace, they all had scruples about each other, and they often stopped talking about key points.
When Wei Zaode saw this, he also lost his mood to communicate.
It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang has changed too much. He is worried that if he leaves it alone, he will not only lose his political capital, but may also affect his plan. In desperation, he patiently continues to run in with them.
Just as they were trying to maintain a good communication atmosphere with each other, they suddenly heard that Wang Shoulin had captured the rebels in the city.
Although this news panicked them, it also tied them together again and actively discussed various possibilities.
Also attracted by the news about the rebels were Liu Wenbing, Gong Yonggu, Shen Zhanran and others. When Shen Zhanran speculated that the incident might be a sequelae of Fude Tower, they returned to Zhu Yuanzhang's changes again.
However, like others, they did not come up with a convincing statement.
In the end, he only came to the conclusion that when the country was in crisis, he should work hard to serve the country at the expense of his own life.
However, Shen Zhanran quietly warned Li Jing not to be too aggressive, lest he fail to serve the country and end up in a situation where everyone calls for beatings.
