But he said that Li Shanchang was confused and got into the carriage in despair. When he returned to the mansion, his younger brother Li Cunyou was waiting at the door.
Seeing his brother return home, Li Cunyou hurriedly greeted him, "Brother! You have finally returned home. Can your superiors lift the ban on my family?"
Although Li Shanchang was cautious about the reason for the invitation from the palace this time, Li Cunyou was extremely optimistic. His brother was the most important figure in the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and he was always highly regarded by his superiors. He was just helping those officials make plans, it was no big deal.
If you have to suffer miserably in front of your superiors, this matter will be over as soon as you think about it. In the past few days, Li Cunyou was under lockdown under the emperor's order. Li Cunyou was really going crazy because he couldn't go on the flower boat on the upper reaches of the Qinhuai River. He couldn't survive a day.
Hearing the word "superior", Li Shanchang trembled instinctively, pushed him away and tried to help Li Cunyou, and said fiercely: "I have ascended the throne now, how can you call me superior?"
"From now on, if you don't address your Majesty, I will break your legs!"
Li Cunyou was stunned and didn't understand why his brother was suddenly so excited. When he wanted to ask more questions, Li Shanchang had already gone to the back house.
Li Shanchang dismissed his servants and walked straight to the study. The more he thought about the meaningful words spoken by the emperor just now, the more frightened he became. After sitting there for a long time, I found a rope and hung it on the beam...
"Master, I have cooked a bowl of bird's nest porridge for you..." Seeing that there was still light in the study, Li Shanchang's concubine knocked on the door of the study on the pretext of delivering porridge. After knocking for a long time, no one answered. She boldly pushed the door open, and the scene in front of her almost shocked him.
"Someone! Come quickly! Master... Master has hanged himself!"
The entire Li Mansion was in a state of panic. Countless servants and servants rushed in and helped pull Li Shanchang off the rope. Fortunately, it was discovered early that the rope Li Shanchang found was not very strong, and the mainstay of the Duke's mansion was still alive. After a while, Li Qi, Li Cunyou and other members of the Li family also came. When Li Cunyou saw Li Shan's appearance, he was frightened out of his wits: "Brother! Why is it like this? Why is it like this!"
"...Get out, get out!" The Duke of Guo, who had regained his breath, was obviously very angry. Li Cunyou still wanted to howl, but seeing Li Shanchang staring at him as if he were an enemy, he had to swallow back half of his words. . It was Li Qi who took charge of the overall situation. First, he asked everyone to exit the study to allow more air circulation. Then he pointed out a few close housekeepers and asked them to block the news and not let the matter leak out easily.
"Qi'er stays..." After making arrangements, he was about to quit when his father suddenly spoke. Li Qi was stunned for a moment, and finally stopped.
After everyone else was far away, Li Qi came to Li Shanchang's bedside and sighed: "Father, why is this happening?"
"Qi'er, I don't want to be a father... I don't want to be a father either!"
"I regret listening to what you said back then!"
With that, he told his son all the unexplained things Lao Zhu said to him.
"...asked me if I was almost seventy years old, and said that you are loyal. This is because I have lived too long and should have died long ago! I, Li Shanchang, claim to be smart in vain, but I came late and lost my integrity... Your Majesty If I don't die, how can I save this huge family property for you?"
Li Qi touched the wound on his face and said to himself that if he had known about this, why bother in the first place. After he went to the palace to report the news that day, Li Shanchang beat him frequently when he came back. Even the identity of this prince must be given to a concubine who has always been favored.
It would also be a lie to say that there is no resentment in my heart. But after all, he couldn't watch his father die like this, so Li Qi advised: "Your Majesty's intention may be that you should never interfere in the government affairs... Dad, why don't we go back to our hometown in Dingyuan tomorrow and just live our lives by studying and farming?" .”
"Hey... Your Majesty intends to take back your nobles' death-free certificates and the land they have hoarded. Even if you want to farm and study the family heirloom, you can't do it now..." Li Shanchang shook his head and sighed. The more he thought about it, the more he felt distressed. He did not have military power, so he was naturally not among those nobles who exchanged military power for land that did not need to be confiscated. Now that he is disliked by the emperor again, even if His Majesty assigns him the qualifications to establish an overseas country, it will definitely not fall on his Li family.
You must know that Li Shanchang was the first to achieve great success in Dingbang, and his contribution was greater than that of Xu Da. If foreign countries were to be enfeoffed, he would definitely have a share. But now...
well! I, Li Shan, have been planning my whole life, but in the end I lost a lot because of a small thing, and I lost my life...
"Dad, it's okay." Li Qi was stunned for a moment, but he was more open-minded than Li Shanchang. "Even if His Majesty wants to take back the land certificates, I still have hundreds of acres of land in my hometown in Dingyuan, so I won't be unable to survive."
"As a minister, you should be loyal and loyal. Dad, you colluded with the party for power and property, which is disloyal. Even if you are a farmer and protect the name of my Li family, why not?"
Li Shanchang felt angry and regretful when he heard this. He was angry that his son was so foolish and loyal and accused him, a father, of being unfaithful. What he regretted was that he had forgotten the word loyalty, thinking that as the first hero of the founding of the country, he could monopolize the government, and forgot the way of prudence.
All the regrets turned into a long sigh, and it was useless to say anything at this time. Thinking of Lao Zhu's methods when he was young, Li Shanchang shuddered: He is not as optimistic as his son. If he comes to power... Your Majesty has made up his mind to kill me. Even if he hides back to his hometown, what's the use?
"No, I have to find a way to make up for it..." Li Shanchang frowned and thought, he finally mustered up the courage to commit suicide, but after being blocked, he no longer had the courage to commit suicide. Moreover, being able to build a country overseas and be known as an independent and a few people is really very attractive to people like Li Shanchang who are very fond of power.
If you can, if you please Your Majesty...
Li Shanchang immediately forgot his pain, jumped up from the couch, and began to write furiously on a blank memorial...
A few days later.
""Please set up a tax department to collect business taxes"?" In Jinshen Hall, Lao Zhu couldn't help but be a little surprised when he looked at the familiar handwriting on this memorial.
"Biao'er, didn't the Jin Yiwei come to report that Li Shanchang failed to hang a beam a few days ago and was seriously injured? Why did he give us this memorial? Could it be a legacy?" Lao Zhu asked doubtfully. His words last night did hint that Li Shanchang wanted to commit suicide. Although half of them were angry words, if Li Shanchang had died last night, he would not have felt seriously.
Zhu Yuanzhang would not be merciful to the stumbling blocks on the road to the Ming Dynasty, even if he was a former comrade. This was the style of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
But it’s just that Li Shanchang didn’t die, he actually wrote this memorial to himself early in the morning... This is worthy of discussion. You know, it was the old guy's work to give those people advice to resist the business tax. Could it be that the old guy thinks that if he switches sides now, we will spare him?
Lao Zhu threw the memorial aside.
"Dad, this memorial was delivered to the cabinet by the Korean father-in-law himself early in the morning. After my son looked at it, he immediately brought it to you for your royal viewing." Zhu Biao saw Lao Zhu throwing the memorial on the ground and quickly picked it up with great care. He stood up, dusted off the dust on his head, and presented it with both hands: "I think you should read this memorial."
"The strategies written in this memorial...maybe can really solve the urgent needs of the Ming Dynasty!"
(End of chapter)
