Bai Gui heard this and replied: "The inspector Cao came here in the morning. He said that he was summoned by His Majesty and has been waiting in the concierge for half a day."
"Well, I asked him to come. Go and send someone to invite him in."
Not long after, Cao Tai came to Zhu Qiyu and knelt down to apologize.
Zhu Qiyu waved his hand: "Okay, get up. Now that you have been released from the prison of the Ministry of Punishment and you have made meritorious service, your previous crimes will not be investigated for the time being. Have you reported to the Ministry of War? How did the Ministry of War do it? Arrange it for you?"
"It has been reported. The Ministry of War has arranged for the ministers to guard Zijingguan."
"snort!"
Zhu Qiyu shook his head and snorted coldly, quite dissatisfied with the arrangements of the Ministry of War.
Cao Tai raised his head in surprise, and after just one glance at Zhu Qiyu, he realized he was being disrespectful and quickly lowered his head.
Zhu Qiyu was not in a hurry. He took off his shoes and moved to the inside of the soft couch, staring at the pot of white chrysanthemums on the small table in a daze.
It wasn't until Cao Tai's back was almost soaked with cold sweat that Zhu Qiyu asked quietly: "Cao Aiqing, do you want to live or die?"
Isn’t this nonsense? Who would want to die if they have nothing to do?
When Cao Tai heard this, he kowtowed quickly and asked the emperor to show him a clear way.
Zhu Qiyu smiled and said: "In our Ming army, there are still many people who support the Supreme Emperor, especially the middle and lower-level generals. Therefore, as long as the Supreme Emperor shows up, Zijin Pass cannot be defended no matter what.
When the time comes when you lose Zijingguan, you will have only two choices: either die in battle and die for your country, or be dragged back to the Ministry of Punishment, where your crime of sinking the city and losing your land will be punished together with your previous crime, that is, beheading.
In the end, if you make a comparison, you will find that it is better to stay in the Penal Department Prison from the beginning and never come out. That would make death slower.
That's why the Ministry of War asked you to guard Zijingguan to trick you on purpose. They had planned it from the beginning to squeeze out the last of your use value, and then send you to the guillotine. "
Anyone who can oversee a province is not a fool. After Zhu Qiyu mentioned this, Cao Tai suddenly realized that his back was really completely soaked this time.
Now Zhu Qiyu's strategy is to try back and forth, whether there are dates or not, and let's deal with the two poles. If you can win over one or two diehards, you will achieve great results; if you cannot win over, then you will just use it as a tyrant to kill time.
Anyway, now the new emperor has put the opportunity of life in front of Cao Tai. It depends on him whether he is willing to seize it or not.
Cao Tai was originally an honest and capable official, dignified and upright. Later, he was falsely accused and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Emperor. Moreover, this was a very rare river management talent, so Zhu Qiyu felt that it was very necessary to save him.
After a while, Cao Tai finally figured out that precisely because of his uprightness, he should not die unjustly. In order to be able to display his ambitions, there is nothing wrong with kowtowing to the new emperor and showing loyalty.
So Cao Tai knelt on the ground, kowtowed heavily, and shouted: "I am willing to swear allegiance to your majesty to the death. Please give me a chance to make meritorious deeds."
Zhu Qiyu nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, you can assist me in military affairs as the censor of Youqiandu."
When Cao Tai heard this, he was quite surprised and couldn't believe it for a moment.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Qiyu added: "I was under tremendous pressure to deny the Supreme Emperor's judgment and exonerate you; I also promoted you exceptionally, hoping that you would make outstanding achievements to make me proud. If you disappoint me, Just go back to Sichuan and be the county magistrate for the rest of your life."
After hearing this, Cao Tai felt relieved and kowtowed quickly to show his loyalty.
Zhu Qiyu comforted him again, then asked Cao Tai to sit aside, and asked Bai Gui to call Fan Guang in.
According to the unwritten rules of the new emperor's accession to the throne, ministers agreed that the new emperor could reward a group of close associates. Generally, emperors promoted old ministers of the vassal.
However, Zhu Qiyu did not intend to reward the subordinate officials of the Prince's Palace, but to select a group of potential civil servants and generals for special promotion.
At present, Shi Heng, the generals in Beijing and Shanxi, is rebellious and cannot be trusted; Yang Hong played a very suspicious role in the Tumubao Incident, so he cannot be trusted. Sun Boring's relationship with the Empress Dowager Sun's family is hard to say, and it's not worth winning over.
After counting, Fan Guang is still worth trying.
Just as Zhu Qiyu was thinking about it, Fan Guang had already come in and knelt down to salute.
"General, please get up quickly. If someone comes, please sit down."
Since Cao Tai was already sitting aside, Fan Guang declined and sat aside.
Zhu Qiyu first asked: "I heard that the general is good at riding and shooting, and he is extremely brave. I want you to lead the troops to attack him head-on. Do you dare?"
Fan Guang hurriedly stood up and replied: "Your Majesty only wants to give me 50,000 elite soldiers, and I am willing to capture them alive for Your Majesty and offer them to me first."
Zhu Qiyu waved his hand: "I don't have 50,000 elite soldiers for you now. The last elite soldiers in the Beijing camp were killed by Duke Cheng. Shanxi still has the last elite army. It's a pity that they are not loyal to me, and I can't mobilize them." .”
Fan Guang is not stupid either. Xin Jun almost pointed at Yang Hong's nose and scolded him when he said this. Isn't it clear that he wanted to show his loyalty by siding with him?
This is so confusing. If you really want to express your loyalty and swear allegiance to the emperor, then you are on a pirate ship, and you will be waiting to offend others in the future. If you don't show your loyalty, just wait to be recorded in the emperor's notebook.
Everyone on the left and right was dead. After thinking for a moment, Fan Guang replied: "I am willing to fight for your majesty."
Zhu Qiyu asked reluctantly: "If I appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu and ask you to lead 50,000 elite troops to disarm all the Xuanfu soldiers under Yang Hong's command, will you obey the order?"
Being able to ask this question means that Zhu Qiyu has broken the pot: If you obey the imperial edict, then I will cultivate you well. If you don't obey the imperial edict, then bye bye. You were recommended by Yu Qian, so just go back to Yu Qian. From now on, I will ignore you no matter what you do.
This problem will not be easy for Fan Guang. Fan Guang is a military commander with excellent character, unlike some civil servants. Such a brave and upright general would not bother to lie. If you can do something, you can do it. If you can't do it, you can't do it. There will be no prevarication or false stories.
Zhu Qiyu sipped the tea leisurely and did not rush him, but left Fan Guang enough time to think slowly. Anyway, it is best if Fan Guang is willing to be loyal to him, but if he is not willing to be loyal, forget it. The Ming Dynasty had outstanding people and talented people. Without Fan Guang, Wang Guang, and Li Guang, there were so many people in the Ming Dynasty. The emperor did not have to worry about having no one to be loyal to him.
After waiting for a long time, Fan Guang gritted his teeth, knelt on the ground and replied: "I am willing to die for your majesty."
Zhu Qiyu heard this and asked again: "If I build a new army and give it to you to take charge of, and ask you to only obey my orders, will you be willing to obey the order?"
"I am willing to obey the imperial edict."
"General, think carefully. What I said is that you only take orders from me. You don't even have to listen to Yu Qian, the Minister of War."
Fan Guang replied: "I have thought it over carefully. I am willing to be loyal to His Majesty alone. May I ask, Your Majesty, what kind of new army do you want to build and what is its size?"
Zhu Qiyu smiled and said: "The six ranks of the East Palace, each with 10,000 to 30,000 people, are under my direct control. They belong to neither the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion nor the Ministry of War. In the early stage, there may only be 30,000 to 50,000 people, but in the later stage, they will gradually replace the Beijing camp.
The troops in the Beijing camp will be eliminated on a large scale, and the remaining ones will be broken up and dispersed to the nine sides. "
Fan Guang was shocked when he heard this. He just took a sip of water and already began to regret his oath of allegiance. He wished he could eat what he just said.
Bai Gui was even more frightened when he heard this. He almost blurted out: "Why is your majesty rebelling?" '
Zhu Qiyu ignored everyone and just ordered: "The ancients said: If the king is not secretive, his ministers will lose their secrets, and if their ministers are not secretive, they will lose their virginity. If anyone spreads today's words, it will be to the Yi tribe.
Keeping secrets for your Majesty is the duty of a minister. If you cannot even do this most basic thing, your wives, children, and children will no longer have to live. "
Bai Gui, Fan Guang and others hurriedly obeyed the leader's orders.
"Okay, Cao Aiqing and General Fan, you can go home now. Come to the house early tomorrow morning and accompany me to inspect military affairs."
After Zhu Qiyu finished speaking, he added: "You can come without breakfast. I will ask the princess to prepare something delicious for you."
Fan Guang and Cao Tai hurriedly agreed and bowed and resigned together.
After watching the two people leave, Zhu Qiyu looked at Bai Gui and saw that Bai Gui's face was already very ugly. Xiang Zhong, who was a little further away, also heard the conversation just now and was a little distracted.
Only He Yi's face remained as usual and calm.
When Zhu Qiyu saw this, he was deeply surprised and wanted to ask He Yi to stay. So he smiled at the three of them and said, "I'm tired today, so let's all disperse."
The three of them hurriedly bowed and left. As soon as they reached the door, Zhu Qiyu suddenly smiled again and said: "He Aiqing will stay here for a while. You are the youngest. If you suffer more, help me write the subtitles before leaving."
