After listening to Li Jing's story, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that Zuo Xianmei had been escorted to Wuchang by Zhang Huangyan not long ago, and frowned: "Is Huang Wushan really Zuo Xianmei's person?"
Hearing this, Li Jing nodded and said, "It should be Zuo Xianmei's person, because Zhao Erhu once tested Huang Wushan, and he is quite clear about Liaocheng affairs."
"And according to Huang Wushan, Zuo Xianmei had three thousand cavalry, one thousand of whom stayed in Wuchang to guard Yan Yingyuan, and the other two thousand went south with Zuo Xianmei last time, but Huang Wushan's one thousand men have been hiding in the dark. "
"Later, Zuo Xianmei somehow learned about Zhu Yousong's recruitment of wolf soldiers, so when she left Liaocheng, she asked Huang Wushan to go to Huai'an to wait for an opportunity to expose the matter."
"It's just that when he arrived at Huai'an, Zhu Yousong had already disbanded his troops, and he accidentally discovered that there were rebels hiding in other vassal armies, so he hurriedly reported the matter to Zuo Xianmei."
"Later, news came from Zuo Xianmei that she had discovered Dang Shousu's whereabouts and asked him to act accordingly, but he must ensure His Majesty's safety..."
After listening to Li Jing's story, Zhu Yuanzhang realized that Zuo Xianmei actually had a backup plan in Liaocheng, and he valued Zuo Xianmei even more.
Of course, he didn't believe Zuo Xianmei's words to ensure her safety.
It seems that Zuo Xianmei didn't want to marry Zhu Yousong, so she asked Huang Wushan to destroy it.
Later, when things failed to work out, Huang Wushan was asked to take the opportunity to show his loyalty.
Then he thought that when Huang Wushan rescued Li Jing, the rebels had not yet retreated, but they were somewhat unreasonable.
"Did Zuo Xianmei do this because she had a disagreement with the people behind the scenes?"
Just when Zhu Yuanzhang was deep in thought, he realized that Li Jing had finished speaking, so he asked again: "You said earlier that you were worried that Liu Zeqing had disobedient intentions, but what clues did you find?"
Li Jing nodded and said: "On my way back, I heard that Liu Zeqing was very close to Zhao Zhilong, and Zhao Zhilong was probably one of the people behind the scenes in the south, because I was taken to Hangzhou..."
It turned out that after Li Jing was escorted to Jiangnan, he was originally detained at Wang Ruqian's residence in Hangzhou.
At first, Shen Wushuang went to see him. Later, when the other party discovered Brother Li Wu's whereabouts, he quietly transported him to Nanjing. As a result, he lost contact with Shen Wushuang and others.
After several transfers in Nanjing, he was sent to the residence of Zhao Zhilong, the uncle of Xincheng (it was known later).
Soon afterwards, a group of people asked about the golden dragon one after another.
Because he had already prepared for this, even though everyone was very cunning, they could not see through the golden dragon.
Although Li Jing was blindfolded and did not see the other party's appearance, he confirmed the identities of Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong, Jingjiang King Zhu Hengjia and others from the other party's occasional careless words and accent.
After questioning, Zhu Hengjia planned to execute him secretly, but was opposed by Zhao Zhilong and Xu Yunjue.
Later, because he was assassinated, he was secretly transferred to Xu Yunjue's house.
Just when Li Jing was thinking about how to escape, Shen Wushuang sent someone to deliver a message to him, saying that the rebels had gone south and people in Nanjing were panicking. He asked him to hold on for a few days and then they would try to rescue him.
But on the second day, Brother Li Wu led his men into the Duke of Wei's mansion and rescued him.
However, not long after they escaped from Xu Yunjue's mansion, Zhao Zhilong blocked every door in Nanjing and searched house to house.
In desperation, they had no choice but to take the risk and hide in Zhao Zhilong's house.
In order to obtain evidence of Zhao Zhilong's crime, Li Jing took the risk and sneaked into Zhao Zhilong's study and found two important letters.
One of them was written by Lu Jiude. In the letter, Lu Jiude first said with certainty that Chongzhen would die, and then told Zhao Zhilong that Zuo Liangyu had agreed to the marriage between Zhu Yousong and Zuo Xianmei.
Then he changed his tone and pointed out that King Jingjiang's status was embarrassing and he had no possibility of inheriting the throne. He also said that although the wolf soldiers were fierce, they were not Zhu Hengjia's private soldiers and would sooner or later play with fire.
Finally, Lu Jiude analyzed the pros and cons and tried his best to persuade Zhao Zhilong to support Zhu Yousong.
The other letter was written by Zhu Hengjia, but the wording of this letter was quite casual, which showed that the relationship between the two was very close.
Zhu Hengjia first stated in the letter
He raised suspicions about the Jinlong incident and asked Li Jing about the time of arrival.
Then he told Zhao Zhilong that Lu Jiude had discovered the wolf soldiers, and it might be difficult to frame Zhu Yousong, so Zhao Zhilong should be more careful.
Then he said that the plan against the vassal kings had been launched, and asked him to use Liu Zeqing to expose the matter, but not to be involved in it, so as not to damage his reputation and make it difficult to look back in the future.
At the end of the letter, Zhu Hengjia told Zhao Zhilong to do something about the southern grain and other matters, and to maintain the chaos in the north until the times change.
Li Jing was shocked after reading the letter. She immediately imitated two letters and replaced the original ones, and kept the original letters close to her body.
Later, Zhao Zhilong's search was fruitless, so he had to open the city gate, and they took the opportunity to escape...
After Li Jing finished speaking, he took out two letters from his arms and handed them over respectfully.
Zhu Yuanzhang took the letter and read it. When he saw that what was written in the letter was roughly the same as what Li Jing said, he couldn't help but frown even more.
At this time, Wang Shoulin came in again to report the interrogation of Liu Zeqing.
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to his story, he said in a deep voice: "How did the vassal kings react when they learned about the rebels?"
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous intention, Wang Shoulin hesitated for a while, then bowed and said: "According to Liu Zeqing, all the vassal kings were very panicked when they learned about the incident. They discussed it behind closed doors all night, but no action was taken afterwards."
"Only King Lu sent someone to warn them, but they were intercepted by the rebels on the way, so the news never got through."
Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and shouted angrily: "Why was it intercepted by the rebels? I'm afraid I was beheaded by him!"
"If you go to interrogate Liu Zeqing again, just say that we already know about him and Zhao Zhilong. If he can honestly explain, we may spare his life, otherwise, we will skin him and cramp him!"
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous intent was getting worse, Wang Shoulin bowed in agreement and hurriedly withdrew.
"Your Majesty, I heard from Zhao Erhu on the way back that Jilharang has entered the customs, and the rebels seem to have made some changes. If your Majesty deals with Zhao Zhilong and others at this moment, Jiangnan will be shaken, which will be detrimental to the overall situation. Please think twice!"
At this time, Li Jing stood up slowly and persuaded in a low voice.
Zhu Yuanzhang was originally concerned about the affairs of the vassal kings. When he thought of the time when he divided the kings, the ministers strongly opposed it.
But he firmly believed that as long as the rights of the kings were limited, their ambitions could be suppressed.
And the family ties that are thicker than water will also allow the vassal kings to step forward when the court is in danger.
I didn't expect that this group of descendants would be so incompetent, making everything everyone said come true, so I was very angry.
After listening to Li Jing's words, he was silent for a while and then said: "Li Qing, we know the appropriateness, you don't need to worry!"
"Nowadays, the hearts of the South are unstable. If we don't shock them, they will become even more unscrupulous..."
While he was talking, a guard in Jinyi came in to report that Zhu Yujian had come with an order.
After Zhu Yuanzhang let Zhu Yujian in, he said in a deep voice: "King Qin, do you know the situation of the vassal kings in Huai'an?"
When Zhu Yujian heard this, he was stunned and said with some hesitation: "Your Majesty, I have been encircling and suppressing the rebels, and I don't know much about the affairs of the vassal kings..."
"I only heard from my ears that they seem to have recruited some rebels..."
He originally wanted to say that he didn't know, but when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang's sharp eyes, he immediately changed his mind.
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zhu Yujian and said in a deep voice: "Immediately lead your cavalry and Li Chengdong's troops to Huai'an, lock up all the vassal kings... and take them to the Fengyang Emperor's Mausoleum, and let them stay in Taizu's palace." Repent in front of me, and anyone who resists will be killed on the spot!"
Zhu Yujian and Li Jing were shocked when they heard this.
