Nanjing Forbidden City.
It was July, and the red sun was in the sky over the capital. The trees and trees surrounding the palace covered the ground. Inside the palace walls, the sound of cicadas was heard, but there was no one in the main halls.
After the eldest princess Liu Yufei was exiled to Yunyang, some concubines in the harem were successively implicated. Of course, they were not as lucky as the eldest princess. Emperor Guangde governed the harem very harshly. Liu Kan issued an edict that anyone in the harem, from the two empress dowagers down, who was involved with the Liaodong rebellion, no matter who they were, and no matter how serious their crimes were, must be executed immediately.
The tragedy of Emperor Jiajing of the former Ming Dynasty is not far away. For kings who strictly implement reforms, the real fatal threats are often not outside or in the corners of the sea, but often right around them, in the harem.
While the various corps continued to reduce their troops and the workshops, schools, and forts underwent earth-shaking changes, the imperial palace, the core of the power of the Daqi Dynasty, also experienced a power reshuffle. A group of concubines and eunuchs loyal to the Supreme Emperor (who were dissatisfied with the New Deal) were purged. Lost, all twenty rounds were replaced by Li Juying's party members.
Of course, the shuffling is not simple and crude. At least, the charges assigned to those who are cleared are well-founded.
From May to July, no less than a hundred people including harem maids, concubines (in the era of the Supreme Emperor), eunuchs and eunuchs were implicated and executed. Even the two young eunuchs around the Empress Dowager Cisheng were “incited to spread rumors, breed trouble, and encourage rebellion.” ” was impeached by the general manager Li Juying, and finally the young eunuch was sentenced to be cut in half.
Since then, while Emperor Guangde was reforming the political and economic structure of local state governments, he also firmly grasped the palace and imperial power of Da Qi.
As the saying goes, both hands must be grasped and both hands must be strong.
In the main hall of Fengtian Palace, Liu Kan put down a piece of ice-cold watermelon and took a bite of it. Regardless of the blood-red watermelon juice that kept leaking from the corners of his mouth, he reached out and took the roasted lamb leg handed to him by the palace maid, dipped it hard in the dipping sauce, and took a big bite.
Accompanied by the sound of chewing like a beast, the veins on Emperor Guangde's face swelled, and his face became more ferocious. The face that was originally very broad suddenly became a few inches wider.
He gnawed off half of the lamb leg in one go, ate five or six pieces of watermelon, and ate most of the fruits and mutton piled on the table like a whirlwind, with blood-red juice splashing everywhere.
Finally, he took the handkerchief handed by the palace maid and wiped it vigorously on his face. The blood-red dipping sauce and melon juice immediately dyed the innocent handkerchief red.
Liu Kan glanced at the handkerchief and threw it away. He slowly raised his head and finally noticed the two courtiers kneeling under the hall.
"Get up and talk! Come closer and tell me, where are my sister, the eldest princess Liu Yufei, and the former chief minister Lu Xiangsheng now? Have they arrived in Yunyang safely??"
Emperor Guangde lay on the table with his big hands and looked forward with bright eyes, like a master returning from hunting, asking his servants about today's harvest with concern.
"My sister is a miserable person, eh."
When I mentioned my sister, my eyes suddenly tightened, and I tried hard to squeeze out a few tears. I tried twice, but found that I couldn't do it.
"Your Majesty, Rong Chen reports..."
The two stood up almost at the same time, and at the same time raised their hands to return to Liu Kan. Because they refused to give in to each other, they bumped into each other directly.
"whee."
A young palace maid suddenly saw a civil servant and a military general bumping into each other. It was both strange and funny, and she pursed her lips and snickered happily.
"If you like to laugh, I will send you to the Jiaofang Department to make you laugh as much as you want!"
Emperor Guangde waved his hand gently, and Li Juying ordered the two eunuchs to come forward and drag the maid out without explanation.
When the wailing of the palace maid gradually faded away, Manager Li said angrily: "The Holy Emperor and the ministers are discussing military matters, how can you people interrupt, all of them retreat, and if you dare to make any mistakes, accompany her to the Jiaofang Department to joke!" "
The expressions of all the palace maids suddenly changed, they became silent and stood there trembling all over. Several people had no time to clean up the messy melon rind dishes on the tables and hurriedly left.
Emperor Guangde said with a pleasant look:
"Jiang Liuer speaks first!"
Jiang Liu'er took a step forward to get closer to Emperor Guangde. Regardless of Kang Guangxu's angry gaze behind him, he loudly said to Emperor Guangde:
"Your Majesty, it's all the fault of the general's incompetence! This time, despite all my efforts, I still can't
After killing the traitor, the eldest princess was escorted by someone all the way, and that person was very skilled and knew how to deceive people, so a group of soldiers were willing to die for him! The thieves sent to intercept were either killed by him or recruited by him and became his personal soldiers..."
"Oh, who can be so brave? He can also recruit thieves to become his own soldiers. It is indeed extraordinary." Emperor Guangde looked up at Jiang Liu'er with a surprised look on his face.
"I thought you, Jiang Liu'er, were already invincible, but I didn't expect there was someone more powerful than you!"
"Who is that person?"
Jiang Liu'er blurted out: "Going back to your Majesty, that person is Lin Zhenyu, the battalion officer sent to Yunyang by the imperial court. Like his father, the Marquis of Zhennan, he has courage that no man can match..."
Just as Jiang Liuer was about to report in detail his experience in killing and subduing thieves, Emperor Guangde said calmly: "Okay, I understand."
Liu Kan's face showed no change, no joy or anger.
"So, my sister is still alive?"
Jiang Liu'er whispered: "I'm afraid I'm not only alive, but also living well in Yunyang."
Liu Kan murmured to himself: "Since you are alive, why do you have to stay in Yunyang? Aren't you waiting to be hanged..."
Emperor Guangde realized that he had made a mistake, and quickly waved Jiang Liu'er to retreat first, calling Kang Guangxu to come forward and ask questions.
"Kang Guangxu, your father Kang Yingqian is a close minister of the emperor. The two have a close relationship. In the past, Kang Guangxu helped his father complete many things in Daqi."
Emperor Guangde looked at Kang Guangxu with a peaceful expression.
Kang Guangxu kowtowed quickly to thank him. When he looked up again, his eyes were already blurred by snot and tears.
"The eldest princess arrived in Yunyang safely, which is somewhat beyond my expectation,"
Before Emperor Guangde could finish speaking, Kang Guangxu quickly reminded him:
"Your Majesty! Jiang Liu'er is clearly..." Kang Guangxu didn't wait for the emperor to speak, and began to roar at the top of his lungs.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that Jiang Liu'er is clearly in league with the Liaodong rebels. This time, your Majesty told me that I didn't complete the task. I wanted to kill or behead you, but I didn't say anything about it. This guy was all behind it. , deliberately looking for crooked thieves to allow Liu Yufei and the others to escape smoothly. Such traitors should be killed immediately!"
Emperor Guangde smiled and said nothing, and then said after a while: "Jiang Liu'er is in charge of my Chinese army guard. He has thousands of brothers, many of whom are veterans from the time of the Supreme Emperor. He killed Jiang Liu'er, and his subordinates started making trouble. What happened? Okay? Kill him, and who can protect me in the future?"
Liu Kan spoke in an increasingly stern tone, which made Kang Guangxu frightened and did not dare to say another word.
"Daqi ruled the world with filial piety. Many of the generals' parents and children have moved to Nanjing. Jiang Liuer's family members are still living on Sakhalin Island. How can people live in such a bitter and cold place for a long time? So, Liu Xingzuo has already sent someone to pick them up. Jiang Liu'er has made great achievements for Daqi over the years. Now that he is prosperous, his family cannot continue to suffer. Therefore, I will treat this person like Lin Zhenyu and give him Give him a place to live, give him money, and give him another chance. I hope he can seize it and immediately cut off ties with rebellion. Good and evil are only a matter of thoughts."
"Of course," Emperor Guangde looked up at Kang Guangxu, his eyes becoming murderous.
"If he persists in his obsession and continues to hang out with those traitors, if necessary, you and Liu Xingzuo can take advantage of it and get rid of this person."
