Chapter 229 Li Dongyang

Chen Kuan got a tough job.

But he still had to do it.

To be honest, with his status and position, he would not usually get such a tough job.

But the problem was that Liu Jin was now suffering from torture in the imperial prison, and Zhang Yong was a man who lacked spirituality, so the emperor chose Chen Kuan after choosing and choosing.

What else could Chen Kuan do?

He could only bring two imperial doctors to do the job honestly.

After entering the Li Mansion and coming to Li Dongyang's room, he smelled a strong smell of medicine before entering the door.

The person leading the way was still a young man, but it was not Li Zhaofan. This unlucky guy was still being tortured in the imperial prison, and it was estimated that he would die innocently soon.

The young man was called Li Ciwen, also a young man of the Li family, a son adopted by Li Dongyang, but he was already a branch of the family, and there was no blood connection with Li Zhaofan, the nephew.

Li Ciwen went in and passed the message for a while, then hurried in and bowed to signal Chen Kuan to come in.

After all, Chen Kuan came with the emperor's order this time. Not to mention that Li Dongyang was still conscious, even if he really only had one breath left, he would have to get up and kneel down to receive the order.

Chen Kuan walked into the room and subconsciously covered his mouth and nose with his hands.

There was no way, the smell of medicine in the room was too strong and pungent.

And the chief minister of the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty, Li Dongyang, was leaning on the soft couch with a pale face at this moment, obviously very ill.

"Mr. Li, the emperor has an oral order!"

Li Dongyang struggled twice, but he couldn't get up, so he could only keep asking for forgiveness.

Chen Kuan was not a stubborn person. Seeing this, he chuckled and said, "No need to do that. It's enough for Li Xueshi to hear clearly."

"Your Majesty means, is Li Xueshi in good health? If he is, then go back to work. The cabinet has many affairs. Without Li Xueshi, the chief minister of the cabinet, many things can't run; if he is not well, then Li Xueshi can rest assured. Your Majesty has also sent two imperial doctors to treat Li Xueshi at any time!"

Hearing these words, Li Dongyang was stunned and speechless.

How can this be called an emperor's sympathy for his subjects!

This is clearly forcing him, Li Dongyang, to take the initiative to resign and not occupy the position of the chief minister of the cabinet!

Why is it so?

Why is it so!

Li Dongyang sighed secretly and gritted his teeth and replied, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. I deserve to die!"

"But I should be loyal to the emperor. I will go to Wenyuan Pavilion tomorrow to take office!"

After these words, Chen Kuan's face changed slightly and he looked at this guy deeply.

Do you think you are stupid or too smart?

Isn't your Majesty's meaning clear enough?

Why do you have to be so stubborn and even give up your last dignity?

"Well... I understand what Li Xueshi means and will report it to your Majesty truthfully!"

"There is another thing. Li Zhaofan couldn't stand the torture in prison and has admitted his crime. According to the law of the country, he should be beheaded in public. Your Majesty, considering that this boy is Li Xueshi's only son, wants to ask Li Xueshi's opinion on how to deal with him?"

Li Zhaofan!

Beheaded in public!

Hearing these words, Li Ciwen on the side couldn't help trembling, and looked at this "father" with hope on his face.

Li Dongyang was also stunned when he heard this, and his eyes turned blood red.

Of course he knew that Li Zhaofan was innocent, and Li Zhaofan didn't even need to suffer these cruel punishments. As long as he, Li Dongyang, willingly resigned and retired from the court, all this would not happen!

However, Li Dongyang was unwilling, and he didn't dare to do it!

He was unwilling to retire in such a sad way!

He was even more afraid that he would be retaliated by Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao after retirement!

Indeed, during the Hongzhi period, Li Dongyang had requested to retire many times.

That was because Liu Jian was the teacher of Emperor Zhengde, and with Liu Jian sitting in the position of the chief minister of the cabinet, Li Dongyang would never have the opportunity to make further progress in his life!

In addition, his health was getting worse and worse, and Li Dongyang had completely lost his enterprising spirit, so he repeatedly requested to retire, but Emperor Hongzhi did not allow it.

In addition, even if Li Dongyang retired, there were still Liu Daxia and Xiong Xiu and other central officials in the court to protect the Huguang Township Party. Li Dongyang could still intervene in the government through the power of the Huguang Township Party. There was not much difference between being in the court and being in the opposition.

But what about Zhengde?

Because of Tang Hao, the damned thief, Liu Daxia was ordered to retire, Xiong Xiu was driven out of the court, and Li Dongyang was now alone. He had finally managed to make Yang Yiqing the Minister of War, but it turned out that this was another foolish and loyal person!

Imagine if Li Dongyang really resigned and retired, who would protect the Huguang folks and who would guarantee everyone's interests?

Moreover, Liu Jian, the teacher of Emperor Hongzhi, should have resigned on his own initiative during the Zhengde Dynasty. Yang Tinghe, the teacher of Emperor Zhengde, was too young, and Li Dongyang had the opportunity to go further and become the Yuanfu who was in charge of the cabinet, so why did he resign?

The change of court is bound to be accompanied by the alternation of power. This is an irrefutable truth.

Li Dongyang finally sat on the position of the chief minister of the cabinet, and he has not really realized his political ambitions. Why did he resign in such a dejected way?

If he resigns now, even if Tang Hao does not retaliate, no one from Huguang Township will be in a high position in the central government. Not to mention guaranteeing their interests, once they offend Emperor Zhu Houzhao for something, they will be liquidated and uprooted immediately. What can Li Dongyang do in the opposition?

At that time, not only will he live in fear after retiring and returning home, but he will also be held accountable!

Therefore, Li Dongyang is unwilling to resign and dare not resign!

Things have come to this point, and he can no longer resign just because he wants to!

Even if he has to watch Li Zhaofan die!

"Chen Dayong, my Zhaofan has been well-educated since he was a child, and he will never do such a sinister thing. Please Chen Dayong look carefully!"

"Oh?" Chen Kuan smiled, and his smile was very cold. "Since it was not Li Zhaofan who did it, who did it? Could it be that it was Li Xueshi who did it as Tang Shaozong said?"

When Li Ciwen heard this, his face was pale.

"Mr. Li, don't forget that the Censorate has sent an imperial censor to Chaling, Huguang, to investigate the case of your Chaling Li family occupying farmland and exploiting the people!"

"It is said that the imperial censor sent by Zhang Zongxian this time is He Mingfu, who is known as the "iron-faced imperial censor". If he arrives in Chaling, I am afraid that your Li family's century-old foundation will be destroyed!"

Li Dongyang's face changed wildly, and Li Ciwen was so scared that he collapsed on the ground.

Iron-faced imperial censor He Mingfu, a native of Caozhou, Shandong, had great ambitions since he was young, read widely, and stayed up all night. In the twelfth year of Chenghua, he passed the imperial examination.

This man was upright in his official duties and hated corrupt officials. He once toured Liaodong. The eunuch who was the tax officer in Liaodong at that time was the confidant of Li Guang, the great eunuch of the Hongzhi Dynasty. Relying on Li Guang's power, he levied heavy taxes, causing the people to flee in an endless stream, and the weeping crowds blocked the road.

After He Mingfu arrived at his post, he heard and saw this scene. He immediately arrested the Liaodong tax collector who was extremely angry and executed him. He also announced to the world that if there were any more tax collectors who harmed the people, they would be severely punished.

After that, He Mingfu drew the "Picture of Suffering People", listing the various illegal crimes of eunuchs and tax collectors in various places, and presented it to the court, which shocked the court and began to investigate these eunuchs who were doing evil and exploiting the people. Although the powerful eunuch Li Guang was very angry, he had no choice. In order to get rid of the predicament, he bribed the He family with money, but He Mingfu refused to accept it.

Finally, the people of the world were full of resentment, and the court and the people were shaken. Emperor Hongzhi woke up from his dream and issued an order to beat Li Guang to indicate that he would bear the blame. Li Guang died of worry and anger, and committed suicide out of fear.

Iron-faced censor He Mingfu, his name is of course known to Li Dongyang!

Li Dongyang knew even more clearly that the Li family of Chaling had relied on his power over the years, and I don’t know how many farms they had occupied and how many people they had persecuted!

If He Mingfu were allowed to investigate, I'm afraid that the entire Li family of Chaling would be arrested and imprisoned, and no one would be clean!

"Chen Dayong!"

"Does your majesty have to do this..."

"Be careful with your words!" Chen Kuan shouted coldly!

"I'm afraid Li Xueshi doesn't know that just this morning, your majesty issued an order to thoroughly investigate the corruption of horse politics. The Minister of the Imperial Household Wu Tinghuan dared to be so treasonous that he angrily scolded your majesty as a tyrant and a traitor to the people, which made your majesty furious and suspended all officials of the Imperial Household for a thorough investigation!"

"The Ming Dynasty now is not the Ming Dynasty of the Hongzhi Dynasty. Li Xueshi should respect the emperor!"

Li Dongyang listened to this shocking news with a pale face, and the whole person was struck by lightning.

His Majesty ordered a thorough investigation of horse politics!

All officials of the Imperial Household were suspended for investigation!

It's over!

Everything is over!

Don't forget that the Ministry of War used to be the world of their Huguang Township Party, and the corruption of horse politics is naturally inseparable from them!

Whether it was corruption in the resale of war horses or profiteering from bribery, they made a lot of money from it!

Wu Tinghuan, Wu Tinghuan, you damn fool!

Li Dongyang was so angry that his eyes turned red and he couldn't help coughing violently.

This cough could not stop immediately.

Chen Kuan couldn't help sighing when he saw that he couldn't ask anything.

"Mr. Li, you and I are colleagues who have known each other for many years."

"I have something to say, please keep it in mind, Mr. Li."

Li Dongyang was indifferent and just coughed violently.

"The Ming Dynasty now is not the same as the previous Ming Dynasty."

"Your Majesty is in his prime, determined to renew the Ming Dynasty, and has already begun to rule the country!"

"If Mr. Li doesn't want to be executed, then resign as soon as possible. It's such a simple truth to retire at the peak of your career. Don't you think Mr. Li doesn't understand it?"

Li Dongyang was stunned when he heard this, and then he kept coughing.

Chen Kuan didn't care about his tricks, and continued to speak to himself.

"Speaking of which, the smartest person is still the Prime Minister Liu Jian!"

"At first we all thought he was just an old official who was good at smoothing things over, and no one took him seriously!"

"The Liu Yu case has become a stain on Liu Jian's life, and a perfect excuse for all forces to attack him!"

"But what was the result? Liu Jian took the initiative to resign and retired, and received all the treatment after the retirement of the central government officials, and then left Beijing to return to his hometown to spend his old age. This is the real wisdom of foolishness!"

"Mr. Li, think about it!"

After saying these words, Chen Kuan stood up and left.

As for the two imperial doctors, they will stay in Li's house, ready to sentence Li Dongyang to death at any time.

After Chen Kuan left, Li Dongyang stopped coughing, but stared at the blood in his palm in a daze.

At this moment, Li Ciwen knelt down in front of Li Dongyang with a pop.

"grown ups!"

"Let's become official!"

"Your Majesty can no longer tolerate you!"

"If you continue to insist on your own way, then my century-old foundation of the Li family will be destroyed!"

Li Ciwen had just become the "lucky one" and was adopted from the clan to Li Dongyang. There was no relationship between the two parties yet, and he couldn't pronounce the word "father", so he could only call him "sir", which means "sir". call.

Li Dongyang ignored the new son and was still in a daze looking at the blood on his hands.

"My lord!"

"As long as you say goodbye and take office!"

"Your Majesty will not be aggressive with you!"

"Cousin Zhaofan can survive! My Li family will not face catastrophe! This is all a bargaining chip that Your Majesty has shown you, sir..."

"Get out!" Li Dongyang suddenly roared, making Li Ciwen tremble all over.

"grown ups……"

"roll!"

Facing the furious Li Dongyang, Li Ciwen did not dare to persuade him any more and rolled out of the room crawling on the ground.

Li Dongyang fell into deep thought alone, and then burst into extremely vicious laughter, as terrifying as a night owl, making people shudder!

After Chen Kuan returned to the palace, he immediately went to pay the order.

"Your Majesty, this Li Dongyang probably won't resign!"

The reason why Chen Kuan said those seemingly well-intentioned reminders was actually to force Li Dongyang to resign.

After all, His Majesty the Emperor entrusted this job to him in the hope that Li Dongyang would be more sensible and take the initiative to resign, leaving both parties with dignity.

However, Li Dongyang has such a cold heart, so there is really nothing to say.

Zhu Houzhao sneered and said: "That's all, even if he is still the chief minister of the cabinet, he is just a clay sculpture chief minister and has no influence."

"Then Li Zhaofan, let's save his life first. Maybe he will be of some use in the future!"

"As for the case of Chaling Li's occupation of farmland and fish and meat for the common people, let He Mingfu investigate as he wants and do whatever he wants to do!"

"I just want to see how Li Dongyang will have the dignity to continue to be at the top of the court after the outcome of this case comes out!"

Chen Kuan understood immediately and chuckled: "I'm afraid that by that time, the civil servants and gentry will attack him in groups, and they will no longer let him, Li Dongyang, hold the position of chief minister of the cabinet!"

Zhu Houzhao snorted coldly and was noncommittal.

Immediately, he mentioned another thing, and his expression became strange.

"Da Xun, I heard that Duke Baoguo canceled his marriage to the Marquis of Zhongshan?"

"Indeed!" Chen Kuan explained with disdain, "Not only did he cancel the marriage, but Zhu Hui, the protector of the country, acted as if he was deliberately humiliating him. He just sent a servant to the Marquis of Zhongshan. The government informed me!”

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Houzhao became furious!

"What a great Zhu Hui!"

"What a bastard and loser!"

"I haven't settled the matter with Pingjiang Bo Chen Xiong in the last battle. How dare you be so arrogant and domineering now?"

"Call Tishuai to put Zhu Hui in jail immediately. In the name of accepting bribes from Pingjiang Bo Chen Xiong, I won't peel off a single layer of his skin!"

Chen Kuan was startled when he heard this, then smiled and nodded.

Poor Baoguo Gong!

This time it was really a disaster.

With Chen Kuan's intelligence, he couldn't understand that this was clearly His Majesty the Marquis of Zhongshan who had forcibly taken away one hundred thousand taels of silver. His Majesty was sharpening his sword and aiming at the fat sheep, preparing to harvest a wave of money to fill his internal funds!

After all, the Dongguanting Camp is a bottomless pit, and money has to be poured into it every day. If your Majesty does not ensure that the internal funds are generated, how can you afford to raise so many elite soldiers!

Chen Kuan immediately went to deliver the order. After Zhu Houzhao waited for him to leave, he immediately took out a pamphlet and read it with relish. The pamphlet had seven characters written on it - the first volume of "Qian Breaks the Sky".

After receiving the order, Tishuai Mubin naturally did not hesitate and immediately led Tiqi into action.

After all, the target this time is Zhu Hui, the Duke of Ming Dynasty and the Duke of Bao Guo!

This Bao Guo Gong was only passed down to the second generation. The first generation man was promoted by force through military merit. The result is good now, because this useless second generation Zhu Hui is probably going to die.

At this moment, Zhu Hui also noticed some uneasiness, but it was not because of Pingjiang Bo Chen Xiong, but because of Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao!

He never expected that Tang Hao, who had almost been expelled from the sect before, would miraculously make a comeback and directly defeat Li Dongyang!

This damn savage barbarian not only did nothing wrong, but also still held the power of the Beijing army. Even Yang Yiqing was tricked by him into investigating Ma Zheng's affairs!

Damn it!

Why is the result like this?

Now he, Zhu Hui, is no longer a human being inside and out!

After all, when the engagement was broken off last time, the second uncle of the Marquis of Zhongshan, Tang Yan, put aside his harsh words and would definitely settle the matter with Duke Baoguo's government for this humiliation!

To be honest, Zhu Hui still has some confidence. After all, he is Duke Baoguo, while Tang Hao is just a Marquis of Zhongshan. The two have different bodies.

If you are a normal person, even if you are humiliated by the Duke, it will still be humiliating.

But that Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao was not a normal person!

He is a fucking lunatic!

So Zhu Hui is really scared now. He is afraid that this lunatic will come directly to his door!

When he thought of this, Zhu Hui angrily slapped the butler beside him several times, causing the latter to scream in agony.

"You damn thing!"

"I asked you to cancel the engagement, why did you make trouble?"

"You are just a lowly servant, who gave you the courage to humiliate Zhongshan Marquis?"

The housekeeper was stunned for a moment, and was so scared that he knelt on the ground after hearing this, and hurriedly wanted to explain.

However, at this moment, a doorman rushed in with a tumble.

"Master!"

"It's bad, Master!"

"Someone is knocking on the door!"

After this, Zhu Hui's face changed drastically, and then he forced himself to calm down.

After all, he is Tang Hao's elder, and he has helped Tang Hao in the past, so Tang Hao should not make a big fuss!

So Zhu Hui glanced at the housekeeper coldly, and ordered to tie up this waste and hand him over to Tang Hao to vent his anger. Even if he was killed, it was none of his business!

However, when Zhu Hui came to the door with his butler, who was tied up with his hands tied, ready to surrender to Tang Hao, he was stunned.

Because the person who came to the door was not the Marquis of Zhongshan at all, but the Jinyiwei!

Mou Bin looked at the panicked Zhu Hui and sneered: "Duke Baoguo, please follow me into the imperial prison for a talk!"

As soon as the words fell, the wolf-like Jinyi Tiqi immediately stepped forward and arrested Zhu Hui.

"No!"

"What are you doing?"

Zhu Hui roared in horror, but he couldn't get away at all.

"By the order of His Majesty, thoroughly investigate the case of Zhu Hui, the Duke of Baoguo, colluding with Chen Xiong, the Earl of Pingjiang, and reselling salt vouchers for corruption and bribery, and take him away!"

Chen Xiong!

Chen Xiong, the Earl of Pingjiang!

Zhu Hui finally understood, and was immediately scared pale.

He hurriedly looked at his butler and screamed wildly: "Go and ask the Duke of Yingguo! And the Marquis of Zhongshan! Go!"

Butler: "..."