Chapter 69 Prepare to silence
Yang Tinghe didn't understand why Li Dongyang was suddenly so panicked, and couldn't help but become quite nervous for a moment.
Of course, it is normal for Li Dongyang to panic.
After all, only he, Liu Jian and others knew that once Zhu Houzhao really revealed the truth about Emperor Hongzhi's death, they would die without a burial place!
Not only will the body and family suffer a devastating blow, but even a good reputation will be ruined. What will be left in the history books will only be the reputation of a "regicide minister".
"What a ruthless Zhu Houzhao! He is going to kill us all!"
Li Dongyang sat down again as he spoke, clenching his fists tightly, but at the same time he looked around with some fear, and said again in a very low voice:
"At first, I thought that Zhu Houzhao was young and ignorant and had an immature mind, so he would not suspect this. But I didn't expect that Zhu Houzhao would become suspicious so quickly and even sent people to Shaanxi. Although Zhang Yu and others were called border guards, they were actually They are all settled in Shaanxi, he is going to punish us with regicide!”
Yang Tinghe was quite shocked when he heard this, but he also guessed that there might be a major conspiracy that he didn't know about.
However, Yang Tinghe did not directly ask what the conspiracy was, but asked: "Wan Sheng dares to ask, since the chief minister did this, why didn't he just silence him at that time?"
"It's not that Zhang Yu and others are afraid of jumping over the wall! Of course, they are also afraid of alerting the enemy. They are planning to wait until Emperor Xiaozong's mourning period is over and Zhang Yu and others relax their vigilance before going to silence them. However, just after Emperor Xiaozong's mourning period, Zhu Houzhao, Liu Jin and others caused trouble, so that We haven’t silenced these people yet!”
Li Dongyang said, "But we can't delay it any longer now!"
Li Dongyang originally thought that he could realize his political desire to become the first assistant after Liu Jian left and reach the highest end of his official career that the civil servants hoped for. However, he did not expect that as soon as he became the first assistant, he was first ignored and now he was watched closely by the emperor. If you let go, you will have to confiscate your home and exterminate your clan before you give up.
However, Li Dongyang would not be willing to surrender, but he could not resist. He had no military power, so he could only use other means.
After saying that, Li Dongyang hurriedly ordered his servant: "Let Li Hong invite Daxia Shao!"
Yang Tinghe didn't know who Li Dongyang called Shao Daxia, but asked again: "Wan Sheng dares to ask, is the death of Emperor Xiaozong really perpetrated?"
Before Yang Tinghe finished asking, Li Dongyang waved his hand:
"Don't ask anymore, and from now on, you and I don't have anything to do with each other. Now our Emperor wants to kill us old cabinet ministers. If we still lose in the future, we won't You are involved;
From now on, you can still just be your Zuo Chunfang bachelor! Remember! You will have to maintain Qingliu's position in the court in the future! When it gets late at night, you can quietly go out through the back door and go to the guest room to rest! ”
Even if Li Dongyang didn't say anything, Yang Tinghe had a rough guess, and he followed Li Dongyang's arrangement and went to the guest room. He was also determined that from now on, people related to Li Dongyang would no longer interact with each other.
Li Dongyang's butler Li Hong also invited Shao Daxia overnight.
The Shao Daxia here is naturally not the Shao Daxia from the Wanli period, but he is also a Jianghu man and a thug supported by a wealthy family like Li Dongyang. He does underworld things for Li Dongyang and other high-ranking officials that it is inconvenient for them to do it themselves.
When Shao Daxia saw Li Dongyang, he hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "I've met the master!"
"There is something very urgent that you need to do now. You should immediately take your people to Shaanxi and send Zhang Yu and others to the underworld. You must be quick and get ahead of the imperial officers and soldiers. Ma Yongcheng has just left the capital not long ago. You should be able to catch up," Li Dongyang ordered coldly while hiding in a dark corner. Shao Daxia did not dare to look at Li Dongyang under the candlelight. He only lowered his head and asked: "Then I dare to ask, sir, what should I do if I fail to catch up and let the imperial officers and soldiers get there first?"
"Then take your people to Sanyuan. They will definitely escort Wang Shu to Beijing to continue to cover up their purpose of escorting Zhang Yu to Beijing. When the time comes, they must intercept Wang Shu and others, kill Zhang Yu and others directly, and Wang Shu and others by the way. Forgive me for killing this old man. This person will be a nightmare for all my officials if he comes to Beijing. I will kill him by the way!
In addition, remember to dress up like a Tatar. Once you pass to Beijing, it will just be a Tatar breaking through and plundering and slaughtering the village! ”
After Li Dongyang finished speaking, he waved his hand to tell Shao Daxia to retreat.
"Don't worry, sir, I will definitely live up to my trust."
Shao Daxia was secretly happy. Dressing up as a Tatar or a bandit to kill people, sell goods, and even slaughter villages and cities was a commonplace for him, and it was also the way for him to make a fortune.
Of course, he dared to do this only because he had the support of senior officials in the DPRK and China like Li Dongyang.
According to the rules of collusion between officials and bandits, every time a bandit or Jianghu sect like Shao Daxia did something to kill someone or steal goods, the officials would blame the massacre or robbery on the Tatars or the gangsters that the court could not control.
In this way, people like Shao Daxia can sit back and relax and will not be punished.
But people like him also have to work for high-ranking officials and even get a good position among them. For example, the unclaimed land after the massacre of the village can only fall into the hands of the gentry and bureaucrats, and they will get the land sold from the gentry and bureaucrats. of silver money.
Sometimes officials and gentry could directly collude with the Tatars to make profits. This was a common thing in the late Ming Dynasty.
Li Dongyang continued to sit in a dark corner in a daze, still thinking about how to survive the desperate situation and how to ensure that the murder of Zhang Yu and others was foolproof.
Suddenly, Li Dongyang raised his eyes, immediately got up and went to his study, wrote two letters and sealed them with wax himself before calling his housekeeper Li Hong:
"Immediately send someone to send this letter to Shaanxi Governor Yang Yiqing, and at the same time send this letter to Shaanxi Governor Lu Zhonghe. You should send this letter to Lu Zhonghe personally, and tell him that the old rule is to do things first. Get rich! ”
"Yes!"
Li Hong responded and hurriedly said goodbye to Li Dongyang.
Li Dongyang is now glad that he is still in the cabinet, which makes it easier for him to act, but Li Dongyang also knows that once Zhu Houzhao succeeds and an old case is set off, he will definitely be the first to be detained, and now he cannot escape from the capital. Because the capital is still under martial law.
Li Dongyang couldn't help but mutter to himself: "My late Emperor! You did give birth to a good son, and you actually fooled me until now. In the past fifteen years, I haven't seen any flaws."
Yang Tinghe left Li Mansion in the middle of the night, and at the same time ordered: "Prepare a gift list and post tomorrow, sir, I am going to visit Ma Gefu!"
At the same time, in the dark night, there were about hundreds of riders riding directly towards Shaanxi under the leadership of Shao Daxia.
On the road from Beijing to Shaanxi, the teams of Ma Yongcheng and Wang Yangming were also riding horses day and night.
(End of chapter)