Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

After hearing Li Shanchang's words, Feng Ji's face changed slightly and he asked anxiously: "What's wrong?"

Li Shanchang didn't hide anything and directly handed the letter in his hand to him: "You should also read it."

Feng Ji quickly took the letter and read it quickly. After seeing what was said clearly, he suddenly became suspicious: "The Northern Yuan Dynasty has been destroyed, why do we need to launch a large-scale Northern Expedition?"

"Hmph, sometimes going to war is not necessarily for fighting, but for military power!" Li Shanchang sneered.

Since the Ming army's victory in the last battle, the Northern Yuan Dynasty has collapsed. Although there are still many disabled Yuan dignitaries in the north leading some soldiers and horses to harass the border from time to time, it is difficult to achieve great results.

After the last great victory, the Ming Dynasty built many cities outside the Great Wall and established garrison capitals. Guarded by these garrison posts, these stragglers did not pose a big threat at all. Under such circumstances, Zhu Yuanzhang once again raised troops in large numbers, with the purpose of Of course it was not a simple Northern Expedition.

Feng Ji thought for a moment and understood this: "Does he want the vassal king to replace the generals and seize military power?"

Li Shanchang nodded lightly, then shook his head slightly: "Not only that, you have been far away from the Great Wall, and you are not very clear about the current situation of the imperial court. Your Majesty's troops for the Northern Expedition this time are all soldiers and horses of Huaixi veterans. If my guess is correct, this If these princes can successfully control the army, I am afraid that His Majesty will take action against us old guys!"

These Huaixi nobles have a high prestige in the military. If they were directly attacked, it would inevitably cause turmoil. But now Zhu Yuanzhang has transferred all their troops and horses, and these veteran nobles have become cursor commanders. But if you attack them, they will have no power to resist.

Li Shanchang's face was as dark as water, and Feng Ji was also a little worried. He and Li Shanchang were like grasshoppers on the same rope. If Li Shanchang was finished, he would not be able to recover.

"What does the Duke plan to do?" Feng Ji asked.

Li Shanchang took a deep breath, and a stern look flashed in his eyes: "For this plan, I can give it a try!"

After saying that, he put down the chess piece in his hand, stood up and handed over to Feng Ji: "Excuse me for now, I'm going to take care of something."

"Your Majesty, please excuse me." Feng Ji said quickly.

Li Shanchang nodded and walked quickly to the study.

He must quickly contact these old brothers in Huaixi, hoping that they can understand the crisis at hand and unite with him to tide over the difficulties.

Lan Yu, Tang Shengzong, Lu Zhongheng, Fei Ju...

Li Shanchang wrote vigorously and wrote more than ten letters in succession, and secretly sent people to send them to these old friends.

Among these people, except Lan Yu, everyone else is a veteran. Although Lan Yu is a rising star, he can become the Duke thanks to Wang Xing's letter. Naturally, this favor must be repaid. At this time, it is with when.

In addition to contacting these nobles, Li Shanchang also sent a letter to Wang Xing in Beijing. Although Wang Xing did not have no official or position, the secret power of these people should not be underestimated.

In the capital, Zhu Yuanzhang was leaning on the dragon chair, coughing softly while reading the memorial. Zhu Biao was reporting court affairs to him below.

"Father, the third and fourth brothers sent people to report respectively. They have led the army out of the border and are expected to fight the remnants of Beiyuan soon."

Zhu Biao said softly.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Well, that's good. Just keep an eye on it and tell me as soon as there is any battle report."

"Yes, father, don't worry."

"Ahem, by the way, have all the vacancies in the court been filled?" Zhu Yuanzhang coughed twice and asked again.

This was to clear out the Li Party. He could kill many people. When these people died, their positions would naturally become vacant, and they would have to find someone to take their place.

Zhu Biao frowned slightly and said softly: "We have found someone to fill in the gap, but many of the newly appointed officials are still unfamiliar with government affairs. It will probably take some time for the government to return to normal."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly: "It doesn't matter, don't rush it."

"Yes." Zhu Biaogong claimed.

Zhu Yuanzhang took a breath and said softly: "Biao'er, I haven't been feeling well recently. I won't go to court in the past few days. You can preside over the morning court."

Zhu Biao was slightly startled, looked at him and said worriedly: "Father, what did the imperial doctor say about your illness?"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's just an ordinary wind and cold. Don't worry, we'll just rest for a few days and we'll be fine."

Hearing this, Zhu Biao breathed a sigh of relief: "Well, I will preside over the affairs of state on behalf of my father these days."

"Yes." Zhu Yuanzhang hummed softly, and then said: "In the past few days, you should pay more attention to the movements of the ministers when you go to court, and make it clear to us when you come back."

"Yes." Zhu Biaogong claimed.

Zhu Yuanzhang put down the memorial in his hand, moved his body again, found a comfortable position to lie down, and said: "Okay, if you have nothing else to do, go back and deal with government affairs. Let's take a rest."

"Okay, I'll take my leave now."

Zhu Biao bowed his hands, turned around and exited the hall.

After Zhu Biao left, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the imperial platform outside the palace, with a meaningful look in his eyes. After a while, he gently closed his eyes.

He let Zhu Biao take charge of the government not only because he was unwell, but also to take this opportunity to convey to the outside world the message that he was weak and old, so that some people with ulterior motives could jump out boldly!
Time passed day by day, and Li Shanchang's letter was quickly delivered to the hands of various nobles.

It's just that these nobles had different reactions after reading the letter.

After reading it, Lan Yu snorted and burned the letter, pretending she didn't see it.

He is now the leader of the military generals. No matter what, he does not believe that Zhu Yuanzhang will attack him. After all, he has military power in his hands. If it really comes to that point, he will definitely not be easily captured.

What's more, now that Zhu Yuanzhang is old and seeing that the prince is about to ascend the throne, he considers himself a confidant of the prince. At this time, he has no reason to follow Li Shanchang in rebellion.

Lu Zhongheng and Fei Ju were skeptical about what Li Shanchang said. They had all been reprimanded by Zhu Yuanzhang many times for their mistakes. Although they were treated leniently in the end, it is not impossible to say that Zhu Yuanzhang would settle accounts with them. .

But if they were asked to raise troops to resist Zhu Yuanzhang, they did not have the courage.

So after careful consideration, several people neither refused nor agreed, and wrote an ambiguous letter to Li Shanchang with the attitude of observing the situation.

Wang Xing and others were very active, but unfortunately after the Jin Yiwei's attack, their power was severely damaged, and they had no military power. Even if they tried their best to help, they could only provide some miscellaneous soldiers such as bandits and bandits, which would not be a great weapon.

"These reckless men are so clueless. They can't understand something so obvious. They are still hesitant now. How stupid they are!"

When Li Shanchang received these replies, he was so anxious that he cursed loudly. He had been patient for many years, always looking for opportunities to persuade these Huaixi veterans, but Zhu Yuanzhang's gentle policy left him unable to use it. In the past 20 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, only a few nobles were actually convicted and executed. All of them had conclusive evidence that they were more than innocent. This made many nobles feel lucky and felt that Zhu Yuanzhang would not kill them without recognizing their relatives.

However, he understood that these were Zhu Yuanzhang's delaying tactics. When he insisted on giving the prince the title of king, he had already begun to promote today's situation.

He saw it clearly, but he couldn't explain it to these brainless generals. Although these nobles were brave and invincible on the battlefield, they had a deep respect for Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the country. It was not difficult to persuade them to raise troops. Average size.

When Li Shanchang was at a loss what to do, the servant hurriedly came to report again.

"Sir, there is news from the capital that His Majesty is ill, and the morning court has been handed over to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Li Shanchang was startled and quickly asked in a deep voice: "Is the news accurate?"

"That's correct. The imperial court has been reporting government affairs to His Majesty the Crown Prince recently. I haven't seen His Majesty for a few days." The servant said respectfully.

Li Shanchang was overjoyed when he heard this: "That's great!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was ill, which was great news for him.

A generation of emperors is getting old, and now is a good time to take advantage of his weakness and fight hard.

"Okay, I understand, go down."

Li Shanchang first sent his servants away, and then wrote to these nobles again to explain the pros and cons, hoping that they could recognize the reality and work together for great things.

Li Wei has been living in this spacious mansion in Yangzhou New Town for several months. In addition to eating, drinking, and having sex every day, he just wanders in the yard, and then looks for opportunities to "chat" with the soldiers who follow him.

"What percentage of the rent do the tenants in your hometown pay to the owner?" Li Wei asked casually.

The soldier following him hesitated for a moment before replying: "Generally, you have to pay 50% to 60%, and some even pay 70%. It depends on the harvest."

When Li Wei heard this, he couldn't help but shook his head and sighed: "Hey, I can't even get half of the food I have worked hard to grow for a whole year. How pitiful!"

The soldier suddenly showed a bitter expression: "There is no way, this is fate, the land belongs to others, so of course we have to pay rent for cultivating other people's land."

"That's not necessarily true. Do you know how they got these fertile fields?"

"how did it get here?"

Li Wei smiled and told him about the things he encountered when he was building the city in Yangzhou.

"They seized water sources and colluded with the government to build canals on their own land with the money allocated by the court, which naturally turned it into fertile farmland. The wasteland newly reclaimed by the poor was not only in a bad location, but also because there was not enough water for irrigation. These rich gentry would also ask the government to classify the poor people's land as fertile farmland and impose heavy taxes, thus forcing the poor to sell the new fields they had cultivated and become tenants for them. They used this method to buy the land cultivated by the poor at low prices. At the same time, they force the poor to farm the land for them, so that they can just sit back and collect the land rent and make money..."

The soldier was stunned after hearing these words, and his anger rose in his heart: "This is too much! How could they do this! Aren't they afraid of the court's investigation?"

"Yes, Your Majesty will punish you severely if you know it!" Another soldier couldn't help but interject.

Li Wei smiled and explained: "Afraid, so they will give confessions to the government, and local officials will bribe their superiors. As long as the benefits are distributed properly, these problems will not be a problem."

The biggest corrupt official in the feudal dynasty was actually the emperor. Just like Qianlong, who often spent hundreds of millions of taels on his own food, drink and fun, what is the difference between that and corrupt officials? As the saying goes, take from the people and use it for the people. If the emperor uses the state's taxes for personal enjoyment, it is an open and honest act of corruption.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in civilian life, did care for the common people, was frugal himself, and would severely punish corrupt officials, but the same could not be said for his descendants.

And even though he imposes strict punishments, corruption continues to be banned. In his later years, he himself could only sigh helplessly, "The way to control is exhausted!"

"This... this is too much!" The soldier looked angry and didn't know how to vent his anger.

Li Wei sighed faintly: "This is all determined by the system. Power is distributed from top to bottom, and benefits can only flow from bottom to top. The more power you have, the more benefits you will get, and the people at the bottom can only Endure exploitation and oppression.”

"Then what should we do?" The soldier looked at him hopefully.

"Simple, just change the power structure. Power starts from the bottom up, and the benefits will naturally flow to the people at the bottom." Li Weidao.

This is the fundamental difference between democracy and feudalism. Feudalism is a top-down feudalism, while democracy is a bottom-up election. Whoever holds the highest power will naturally enjoy the greatest benefits.

"How can power come from the bottom up?" the soldier asked. Although he didn't understand it very well, he knew the top and bottom. He couldn't imagine what it would be like for the people at the bottom to make the decision.

Li Wei smiled and was about to explain to him what democracy was when the soldier next to him quickly pulled him back and lowered his voice: "Stop talking, head over here!"

Seeing Zhao Shun walking over quickly, Li Wei stopped talking.

Arriving in front of the three of them, Zhao Shun looked at him, then at the two men who looked a little strange, and suddenly felt a headache.

This has happened several times. Even if he ordered the soldiers not to talk to Li Wei, Li Wei could always find opportunities to seduce them. As long as he left for a while, he would come back and find that his men had become evil as if they were possessed. An angry look.

"You... forget it."

Zhao Shun raised his hand, intending to reprimand his subordinates as before, but in the end he sighed and said no more.

He has recently replaced several waves of people to guard Li Wei, but after these people returned, they all seemed to be different people. Their attitude towards Shangguan changed from being submissive before to implicitly resentful, as if they were different from generals like them. It's like killing his father out of revenge.

And this phenomenon is showing signs of gradually spreading, just like an infectious disease. It’s really evil!

"Prince-in-law, it's getting cold. It's better to go back to the house and rest early if you have nothing to do."

Zhao Shun cupped his hands and said.

Li Wei nodded lightly: "That's fine."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

Zhao Shun followed him with two men, sent him back, and then replaced him with two more men to guard him.

After sternly instructing the two not to talk to Li Wei, Zhao left Li Wei's mansion and went to find Guo Ying.

He needs to talk to Guo Ying about this matter, he always feels that something big will happen if this continues!
Guo Ying also has a huge mansion in Yangzhou New City. Although it is far inferior to Li Wei's, it also covers an area of ​​dozens of acres.

Since taking over Yangzhou city defense, he has nothing else to do except daily drills. Whenever he has free time, he drinks and has fun. He is so happy. (End of chapter)