"Then what do you think we should do?"
"I……"
Funing Marquis Zhu Guobi was so rebuffed that he almost spit out a mouthful of blood, and glared fiercely at the person who refuted him.
"Okay, stop arguing, we don't have much time!"
Lingbi Hou Tang Guozuo knocked on the table and glanced at everyone: "Everyone, think about why your Majesty did this!"
"Do you even need to think about it? They must be trying to clean us up!"
"Then have you ever thought about why you want to purge us? We are all descendants of meritorious service. The hereditary order established by Taizu Chengzu has existed for more than two hundred years. Why does Your Majesty suddenly want to purge us?"
"For the family property that has been in our hands for more than two hundred years? Land? After all, the court needs money to fight wars, and it also needs fields to return land to the people!"
"No, it's probably for the sake of the Jingying camp in our hands. This can be seen from the siege of Jiannu this time. Half of the soldiers I brought out were killed in the battle at Longjing Pass.
Then they asked us to push across Kara City and then push all the way west to Xuanfu. The overall casualties were nearly 60%. Isn't this deliberately targeting us? "
"We have already compromised, what else does the emperor want? Does he really want to kill everyone?"
"I don't think so. The emperor doesn't want such a large number of nobles to exist and interfere with the entire government and the powerful class. There are four reasons.
The first is to return the land to the people and the Agricultural Research Institute. Now that the people have food, will they still rely on us to live?
Second, from the establishment of the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the biggest beneficiaries are still the people.
The third is the promotion of martial arts halls and military attachés. The people who benefit the most are still the people.
The fourth is the reform of the craftsman system. Although it has not yet been finalized, it will only be a matter of one or two years. The people will benefit.
The passage leading the people upward has been opened, but there are only so many places. How can we free up some places if we don't clear some? "
"Think again, in the siege, more than 60,000 Jiannu coalition troops died, which saved the dignity of the Ming Dynasty and destroyed the morale of the Jiannu. There will be no war in the Northeast for at least a few years.
With such a great victory, it would not be too much to give Yuan Keli, as the commander-in-chief of the front line, a count. Even back then, when Mr. Yangming only put down Zhu Chenhao's rebellion, he was given a count! "
"So, the emperor just doesn't want to have so many nobles who are above the common people and officials! This is a burden to the court, and it is impossible to control the court situation."
After some analysis, everyone in the big tent fell silent.
They already knew the emperor's intentions very well, but how to solve the problem?
Even though they were meritorious and their ancestors had made countless contributions, based on the evidence recorded in that booklet, it would not be too much to kill them ten times.
The rewards granted by Taizu when he founded the country were all cut off directly. More than two hundred years later, compared with their ancestors, the real power and ability they control are vastly different. Only wealth surpasses their ancestors.
Everyone's expressions changed from indifferent at first, to solemn, and now to gloomy.
After a while, someone broke the silence: "We know the emperor's intention. Are you taking the initiative to confess to the emperor and ask for leniency? Retreat? Hand over your family property?"
"Retire? Do you want to die? We have offended so many people, without a title, and if the news gets out, can we live for more than three months?"
"How will a family of more than a hundred people survive if we hand over our family property? Are you willing to hand it over?"
"What should we do? We can't just kill him!"
"It's not impossible. Anyway, we are outside the city and are escaping with our generals. The Ming Dynasty is so big that even the Jinyi Guards are unlikely to find us!"
"Why don't we go to the British father-in-law and ask him to come forward and intercede for us and strive for a good result!"
"Huh, what's the use of looking for him? He has completely turned to the emperor now. Wouldn't he get burned by speaking for us?
We have so many marquises and earls, but their combined influence is not as great as those five...four dukes! "
"This won't work, that won't work either. Do you want to go back and wait to die?"
Some people roared angrily, some sighed, some were silent, and some had glints in their eyes...
"Marquis Zhenyuan, where are you going?"
In silence, Zhenyuan Marquis Gu Zhaoji stood up and walked towards the outside of the tent, and was immediately stopped by someone.
Gu Zhaoji turned around and looked at everyone: "Now that the matter has come to this, it is estimated that everything we have done is under the surveillance of the Jinyi Guards. There is no point in escaping or resisting.
Why not take the initiative and save some dignity, or for the sake of your ancestors, Your Majesty will leave a bloodline!
I'm different from you. I'm an official in the Zuo Army Governor's Mansion, which means I've been charged with corruption, and I don't have any other evil deeds such as loss of life. "
"Lao Gu, please wait a moment and let's discuss it again to see if there are any other opportunities?"
"Lao Gu, we agreed to have a group party!"
"Let him go, I want to see if he will be chopped down by the emperor!"
"Bah, traitor! Those who are greedy for life and afraid of death!"
…
"well……"
Gu Zhaoji, who walked to the door of the tent, sighed softly as he listened to the angry curses inside the tent, and then his eyes were replaced by indifference.
This is a group of people who cannot wake up, a group of people who cannot see clearly, a group of people with illusions, a group of people who want to restore the glory of their ancestors, and have already stepped onto the edge of the abyss.
If it was before the siege of Jiannu, the emperor might have relied on them to stabilize the army, but now... Haha!
When he walked to the gate of the camp, under the hazy moonlight, a man stood with his hands behind his back. Looking at the back, Gu Zhaoji was shocked and immediately jogged a few steps to get behind the back.
"Britain……"
"Shh!"
"You are a smart man. Now that you have chosen, let's go!"
"yes!"
Gu Zhaoji responded, looked back at the tent, and left quickly.
The British duke who was far away in Shanhaiguan came back secretly, and he was still wearing a suit of armor, which showed that he was fully prepared.
These Counts are some of the servant generals, they are quite large in number, and their combat power is quite good. However, none of the Nine Guards of the Forbidden Army, the Four Guards of Tengxiang, and the White Guards can compare with them.
The total number of the three is one or two hundred thousand people, but they only have 30,000 to 40,000 people. What’s the use?
Perhaps, troops were deployed on various roads away from the capital, waiting for them to take the initiative.
In this way, he would be killed directly on the charge of secretly deploying troops and treason, which would be an explanation to the officials and the people.
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed to Gu Zhaoji, so he swung his whip faster and rushed towards the city.
What frightened him even more was that it was already past the opening time of the night ban, but the city gate was still open at this moment, which explained the problem.
"I have to go to His Majesty to plead guilty now, we can't wait any longer for tomorrow!"
With the stimulation of the city gate, Gu Zhaoji immediately made a decision.
But what he didn't expect was that when he arrived at the Meridian Gate, it was already the first quarter of Haishi, and there were still six or seven people kneeling in front of the Meridian Gate.
Perhaps they heard the noise, the kneeling people looked back and whispered: "Lao Gu, you are here!"
"you……"
"Don't say anything, just kneel down!"
Plop...
Gu Zhaoji knelt down without any hesitation and fell into silence.
