"Zhang Dong, as the commander-in-chief of the Raincoat Guards, is in charge of intelligence investigations, but he doesn't even know where the Supreme Emperor is!"
"There may be rumors in the market that my father has been killed by Tokugawa Iemitsu. In the north and south of the Qi Dynasty, people's hearts are floating, and the common people regard me as an unworthy descendant. They say that I stay in Nanjing to enjoy peace and sit back and watch my father's war. Die Japanese... Zhang Dong, when the Emperor disappeared that day, why didn't you send someone to look for him?"
"The Sixth Corps is still fighting fiercely in Kyushu. Have you ever contacted General Zhao?"
Zhang Dong was silent.
He didn't want to send people to search for the Emperor at that time, but Mount Fuji was still erupting at that time, and there was boiling magma everywhere.
Edo Castle flooded to the sky, and when the volcano calmed down for a while, the entire Honshu Island sank into the sea.
The coir raincoat guard is mortal, so he can't sneak into the bottom of the sea to find the Supreme Emperor, right?
This time, in the name of the Eastern Expedition, the Supreme Emperor went to Japan to seek the art of immortality. This has long been an open secret.
Besides, given the character of the Emperor, he has his own way and no one can stop him.
Not long ago, Emperor Guangde had a correspondence with his father.
However, at this time, Liu Kan pretended to be ignorant, as if he had no idea about the Supreme Emperor's cultivation of immortality.
As for Zhao Lijiao and the Sixth Corps, those people who continue to stay in Kyushu are nothing more than massacring Japanese people.
Although Lin Yiwei is cruel and ruthless, he has not reached the point of madness.
Liu Xingzuo, Pei Dahu and others standing nearby couldn't help but wink, gesturing for Zhang Dong to explain to him.
However, Zhang Mazi remained silent.
Liu Kan returned to the dragon chair and angrily shouted: "Zhang Dong, you ignored the safety of the Supreme Emperor and withdrew the raincoat guards from the Japanese country early, abandoned your father in the wilderness, and abandoned your comrades on the battlefield. What are your intentions?! "
Zhang Dong lowered his head, remained silent for a long time, and whispered:
"I am guilty, please punish the emperor."
Liu Kan was filled with murderous intent: "He is unfaithful to his father and unjust to his colleagues. Come here, drag this unfaithful and unjust traitor out and behead him!"
In the Fengtian Palace, the situation suddenly changed.
The storm is about to come and the wind is filling the building.
Pei Dahu gritted his teeth, knelt on the ground, and begged Emperor Guangde:
"Your Majesty! The whereabouts of the Supreme Emperor are erratic. Even I and Eunuch Dongfang are unaware of the whereabouts of the Supreme Emperor. The matter has not yet been clarified. It would be inappropriate to rashly convict him. Commander Zhang has followed the Supreme Emperor since the Ming Dynasty's Sarhu War. These In the past year, he has conquered the east and west, and made great achievements. I will vouch for it with my life. Zhang Dong has no second thoughts. The Supreme Emperor has said that Zhang Dong can be of great use. I hope your majesty will treat him well..."
As he spoke, he looked towards the east and wished.
Dongfang Zhu knew that Liu Kan had murderous intentions, but he still dared to speak at this time and pretended not to see Pei Dahu.
Pei Dahu grabbed the ground with his head and continued:
"If your Majesty insists on killing him, please kill me too. As the commander of the Imperial Guards, I failed to protect your father, and Zhang Dong is not to blame."
Pei Dahu once protected the empress Zhang Yan, the empress dowager, and was respected by Emperor Guangde on weekdays.
Liu Kan quickly stepped forward to help Pei Dahu up and said seriously:
"Why did General Pei say this? I believe you."
Seeing that Liu Kan's anger was somewhat relieved, the officials followed him to plead for Zhang Dong.
Liu Xingzuo advised: "Your Majesty, the soldiers of the Eastern Expedition have been fighting bloody battles for almost two years. Now that they have just returned, they should be rewarded as soon as possible according to their merits. I have sent capable personnel to the Japanese Kyushu to continue the search. It is estimated that it will not be long before we get the news. .”
Liu Kan didn't make any reaction.
The civil servants gave some gentle advice.
Only Lu Xiangsheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, swore to heaven that Zuo Zhengzhangdong fulfilled his duties during the Eastern Expedition to Japan and made no omissions.
Anyone with a discerning eye can clearly see that Emperor Guangde's intention to eliminate the influence of the previous dynasty and reform the Daqi system is extremely obvious.
Zhang Dong, the leader of the coir raincoat guards, not only represents himself.
In a sense, Zhang Dong is the shadow of the Supreme Emperor.
He is not only the master of imperial intelligence, but also the promoter of Kong Terror's rule.
, and is the embodiment of the empire’s polar circle rule.
Over the years, under Zhang Dong's instructions, not only 80,000 but also 100,000 enemies have been interrogated, executed, and monitored.
These enemies not only come from the Later Jin Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, North Korea, and the Japanese Kingdom..., but many of them come from within Daqi.
Although most of these enemies deserved their punishment, whether they were tortured or cut in half, for them, it was considered benevolence and benevolence. However, among the one hundred thousand enemies, there were always one or two who were wronged, and there were always a few who were wronged. Individuals became victims of the imperial emptiness.
From this perspective, it is not an exaggeration to say that Zhang Dong is the executioner.
Compared with his father, Liu Kan was more unruly, more perverse and disorderly, and more cruel and bloody.
This child lost his mother not long after he was born. He was assassinated many times when he was young and almost died.
His father spent his limited life on waging war - at least in Liu Kan's view - various dark experiences created a huge difference between Liu Kan and Liu Zhaosun.
When the Supreme Emperor was still alive, Emperor Guangde pretended to be like his father and tried his best to suppress his inner thoughts.
Now, the Supreme Emperor has disappeared and is most likely dead. Liu Kan has taken over the power. Ideas that he has suppressed for many years are springing up one after another, and there is no way to stop him.
"I keep saying that I am the Supreme Emperor, and I can't do without the Supreme Emperor in three sentences. I miss the Supreme Emperor so much. Why didn't I try hard to find him when I was in Japan?"
Emperor Guangde looked around and saw a large number of civil and military officials kneeling down.
Seeing that the situation was like this, he had no choice but to suppress his anger and changed the subject:
"Since so many people have pleaded for Commander Zhang, I will pardon you this time."
Liu Xingzuo took Zhang Dong and kowtowed to thank him, but he heard Emperor Guangde continue:
"The death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped. Push him down and beat him with thirty military sticks! Drive him out of Nanjing!"
Zhang Dong was dragged down and immediately sent to the entrance of the main hall to be beaten with a military stick.
There was silence in the main hall.
The ministers listened to Zhang Dong's sound of typing, and anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the young emperor wanted to eliminate the influence exerted by the Supreme Emperor.
As we all know, Emperor Guangde was very dissatisfied with the various policies of the Supreme Emperor, and there was even a long-term gap between father and son because of this.
Now, as an emperor and a minister, the young emperor obviously wants to kick away his father's old ministers, regardless of whether they are loyal or not.
Only in this way will he not always live in the shadow of his father.
Only in this way can Emperor Guangde implement the country-governing strategy he has been brewing for many years, which is obviously not a polar circle system.
Liu Kan was certainly not a fool. Before making these moves, he had already replaced the generals responsible for Nanjing's city defense as his confidants.
To put it simply, Emperor Guangde’s confidants included the following people:
Kang Yingqian's nephew Kang Jingxiu, Kang Yingqian's son Kang Guangxu, Mao Wenlong's son Mao Chengdou, Mangui's nephew Mao Yan, Shen Lian's nephew Shen Shen, Wang Erhu's son Wang Jin, Yuan Keli's son Yuan Shu, Qi Jin's son Qi Ming, Sun Chuanting's son Sun Shirui... ··
The oldest of these officials is only thirty-five years old, and the youngest Qi Jin’s son Qi Ming is only sixteen years old. Many of them grew up playing with Emperor Guangde. The relationship between the emperor and his ministers is naturally not that of those in the previous dynasty. Veterans can compare.
Relying on these young men, Emperor Guangde has successfully taken over the civil affairs and chamber of commerce of Daqi in the past half month, and each regiment has also sent new training officers and soldiers representatives. At least on the surface, Emperor Guangde, who was not yet thirty years old, already controlled the overall situation.
Next comes the cleanup operation.
Zhang Dong was just the beginning. Looking at Emperor Guangde's posture, he wanted to drive all the forces related to his father out of the core of power to prevent them from becoming an obstacle when he implemented the New Deal.
The Master said: "When the father is alive, observe his ambitions; when the father is gone, observe his actions; if you do not change your father's ways for three years, you can be called filial."
Liu Kan not only wanted to change his father's ways, but also wanted to make a big change.
Although the young emperor read the books of sages and sages, he studied Confucianism with the most famous Confucian scholars in the empire.
However, deep down, he is different from his father. He is bloody and cruel and can use any means to achieve his goals.
Not to mention that he had not changed his ways for three years, it had only been two months since the disappearance of the Supreme Emperor that Emperor Guangde began to deny the "Qi Dynasty Land Acquisition System" and the rule of polar circles.
Liu Zhaosun would never have imagined that he would hire famous teachers, spend a lot of money, and carefully train him to be such an emperor.
After being dissuaded by everyone, Emperor Guangde immediately announced that Liu Xingzuo would replace Zhang Dong and become the supreme commander of the Capricorn Guards.
Liu Xingzuo knew that the emperor was trying to bribe him. Of course, it was more likely that he was treating himself as a bridge and would tear it down after crossing the river.
Liu Xingzuo pretended to smile on the outside, but he was already sad inside.
Emperor Guangde continued to issue his personnel appointments.
He looked at Pei Dahu with a pleasant look: "How old is General Pei this year? He seems to be fifty."
Pei Dahu remained silent and nodded towards Emperor Guangde.
"I know my destiny at fifty. When the Wang Gong factory exploded and the Qi army was defeated, without your protection, the Empress Dowager Cisheng would not be able to return to Liaodong safely... You have worked hard for Da Qi for so many years and made a lot of contributions, father. The emperor often mentioned you in front of me before, but now that you are old, you should enjoy your old age in peace."
Pei Dahu's face is full of vicissitudes of life, the scar on the left side is shaking slightly, like a mark on the bark of a tree, and his body like a candle is swaying in the wind.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"
Wu Xiao died in the Japanese country, so Emperor Guangde announced that Jiang Liu'er would replace Pei Dahu and become the new commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard.
Anyone who participated in the Eastern Campaign, including the imperial guards and the coir raincoat guards, would be rewarded.
As for Pei Dahu, he was allowed to retire and return to his hometown. Of course, the little emperor rewarded him with a considerable amount of gold and silver.
········
Emperor Guangde's drastic appointment and dismissal caused everyone to panic.
However, in any case, Emperor Liu Kan of Guangde took the Imperial Guard and the Coiled Guards firmly into his hands in the shortest time and at the smallest cost, controlled the intelligence and whips, and laid the foundation for the empire's subsequent political and economic reforms. Base.
