Since receiving the memorial from Governor Ji Liao about the accident in Dongjiang Town, Tianqi's mood has been extremely bad. He is not even in the mood to do the carpentry work he hoped to do most in the past.
"I am guilty."
All the important ministers present in the court knelt down and cheered.
Tianqi looked at the ministers in front of him and said with a dark face: "I am not interested in watching you kowtow. Who can tell me how to solve the problem in Dongjiang Town?"
The ministers were silent.
"What?" Tianqi glanced at the ministers one by one and scolded in a cold voice, "You people have the salary of the imperial court, do you still want me to come up with a solution for you?"
"I don't dare."
Everyone lowered their heads and replied.
Angered by such an answer, Tianqi slapped the table repeatedly and said angrily: "I think it's not that you don't dare, but that you are very brave. Chief Minister, what do you think?"
Huang Liji looked bitter when his name was called.
However, as the chief assistant, he could not shirk it, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Your Majesty, the most worrying thing right now is whether there is any connection between the thieves occupying Pi Island and the slave thieves."
"You mean, the thieves took Pi Island to enslave the thieves?" Tianqi asked with a frown.
Huang Liji said: "This possibility cannot be ruled out. Judging from the current situation, the main force of this group of bandits is concentrated on the northwest and south seas. Pi Island is located in the northeast, separated from the two places where the bandits are entrenched. Qianli, taking Pi Island will not bring much benefit to the thieves."
"What Huang Aiqing said makes sense. I am also worried that the purpose of the bandits taking Pi Island is to clear obstacles for the slave thieves in the rear." Tianqi felt that Huang Liji's analysis was very reasonable.
It really makes no sense for the thieves to go to great lengths to capture Phi Island by sea. The only explanation that it was to help the slave thieves is more reasonable.
"Your Majesty, this group of thieves suddenly attacked Pi Island. They may not necessarily have colluded with the slave thieves. They might have some other purpose." Shi Minlai stepped forward and said.
Tianqi, who was sitting on the dragon throne, looked over after hearing Shi Minlai's words.
Huang Liji asked Shi Minlai with an ugly face: "Old Shi Ge said that the thieves have other purposes, so tell me what other purposes the thieves have."
"I'm also curious, what are the other purposes Shi Aiqing mentioned?" Tianqi also asked.
Shi Yulai bowed slightly to Tianqi and said: "I have heard that the Liu thieves in the northwest had a grudge against the slave thieves and puppet Khans. Liu thieves once led his troops to kill many puppets on the grassland. The people under Khan’s command, the old slave was not dead at that time, and the pseudo-Khan today is still Baylor.”
"These things you mentioned happened a few years ago. Who can guarantee that the slave thief will not turn into friendship with Liu thief again?" Huang Liji said.
Tianqi, who was sitting on the dragon chair, nodded slightly.
In order to deal with the Ming Dynasty, the Liu thieves in the northwest and the slave thieves in Liaodong secretly joined forces. This possibility is not impossible.
Shi Feng came to look at Huang Liji and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Huangge, just listen to what I have to say."
"Go on, I want to hear what tricks Mr. Shi Ge can come up with." Huang Liji said to Shi Min with an unhappy look on his face.
He had long been dissatisfied with Shi Minlai, who was always in trouble with him.
Shi Minlai looked at Tianqi on the dragon chair again and said, "I think that the bandits suddenly captured Pi Island because they may value something there."
"Impossible!" Huang Liji retorted loudly on the spot.
Tianqi, who was sitting on the dragon chair, said to Huang Liji with an unhappy look on his face: "If the chief assistant has any ideas, we will talk about it later. Let Shi Aiqing finish his words first."
"yes."
Tianqi had already spoken, and Huang Liji had no choice but to step aside.
Shi Minlai glanced at Huang Liji proudly and continued: "The bandits who came from Dajuan Island captured Pi Island, and these bandits had a navy, so I would venture to guess that they captured Pi Island. For the wood in Liaodong, it is well known that the large wood in Liaodong is very suitable for shipbuilding.”
"Where is the wood for shipbuilding? It doesn't necessarily have to be wood from Liaodong." Huang Liji retorted.
Shi Yilai turned around and said to Huang Liji: "I just said that there is such a possibility. Could it be that Mr. Huang Ge thinks that this possibility does not exist?"
However, Huang Liji ignored him, but looked at Tianqi and said, "Your Majesty, I think Mr. Shi Ge's speculation is pure nonsense."
"Shi Aiqing, your guess is indeed not very convincing." Tianqi looked at Shi Minlai with a disappointed look on his face.
He and Huang Liji had the same idea. It was impossible for the bandits to capture Pi Island with such great fanfare just for a few worthless pieces of wood.
Shi Yilai bowed to Tianqi and said, "It's not unreasonable to say what I say. It's just a year ago that Dongjiang Town sold a lot of big wood to bandits. Later, Liu bandits rebelled, and Dongjiang Town stopped this business." Business."
"Is there such a thing?" Tianqi frowned and looked at Huang Liji, who was the chief assistant.
Huang Liji bit the bullet and said: "I heard someone mention it a few times later, but because of the special situation in Dongjiang Town, Mr. Gu Ge and Mr. Zhu Ge didn't mention it at the time, so I didn't take it too seriously. thing."
He blamed the previous two chief assistants for selling large logs to bandits in Dongjiang Town. After all, he was not the chief assistant at that time.
"Okay, that's great. They are all good ministers of the Ming Dynasty, but they actually did such a thing to seduce the enemy. Now it's okay. I used the wood I bought from you to build a boat, and then I will deal with you." Tianqi He slammed the table angrily.
In the past, he only knew that the officials below had dirty hands and liked to make money, but he did not expect that these people were so courageous and dared to interact with thieves in private.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Now is not the time to hold Dongjiang Town accountable. We should wait to recapture Pi Island from the bandits and stabilize the situation in Dongjiang Town. It will not be too late to punish these officials who colluded with the bandits." Shi Minlai achieved his goal. Start to comfort Tianqi.
Although the business relationship between the thieves and Dongjiang Town began when the previous chief assistants were there, Huang Liji, as the current chief assistant, naturally needs to bear part of the responsibility for the mistakes of the previous chief assistants.
The yellow mud fell into the crotch, and it no longer mattered whether it was genuine or not.
"Everyone should be killed, everyone should be killed." Tianqi's face was as gloomy as water.
In his view, any court official who dared to be an enemy should be cut to pieces.
Huang Liji also knew at this moment that he had been tricked by Shi Minlai, but thinking of the situation in Dongjiang Town, he could only say: "Your Majesty, the top priority right now is to recapture Pi Island. If the thieves who occupied Pi Island hand over Pi Island to the slave thieves, In our hands, Dongjiang Town, which is used by the imperial court to contain slave thieves in the rear, is likely to completely lose its use as a result."
"I believe that the Denglai navy should be dispatched at this time to solve the problem of bandits on Pi Island. At the same time, it can also let the slave thieves know that Pi Island is not something they can worry about." Shi Minlai was the first to say that he would regain Pi Island. countermeasures.
