Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Outside the imperial city, the setting sun shines on everyone's faces, giving people a feeling of peace and warmth.

The soldiers present had experienced a series of battles and had almost not slept all night last night, so they were extremely tired at this moment. However, they did not dare to relax at all and immediately stared at the front and confronted the enemy.

Li Wei stood on horseback in front of the imperial city gate, waiting quietly, while thinking about the purpose of Zhu Yuanzhang's decision.

He didn't believe that the old man would give in easily. Even if he handed over the palace confinement to him and put himself in the hands of the enemy, he might have other purposes.

Under the current circumstances, even if Zhu Gang, Zhu Di and others launched a siege, they might not be able to win. What's more, Li Wei could first break into the imperial city and kidnap all the important officials and Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. At that time, even if Zhu Gang and Zhu Di were unwilling, they would have to stop fighting and negotiate, otherwise neither of them would be able to bear the charge of being unfilial.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang could also choose to commit suicide so that Zhu Gang and Zhu Di would have nothing to worry about and could focus on eliminating this traitor. However, even if the two of them successfully eliminated this traitor, a battle for the throne would inevitably ensue, and the world would be in chaos, with families killing each other. This was definitely not what Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to see.

"Did this old man really compromise like this?"

Li Wei frowned slightly and thought to himself.

Zhu Gang, Zhu Di and others were also staring at the palace gate at this time, waiting anxiously. Although Zhu Yuanzhang had verbally agreed to Li Wei's unreasonable request, Geng Bingwen had already gone to persuade him, and maybe he could change his mind.

"Father, you are so stupid! How can you agree to such a ridiculous request? Isn't this just putting yourself at the mercy of others?"

Zhu Gang was so anxious that he jumped up and down, muttering to himself as he paced back and forth.

Zhu Di, who was far away, was also frowning and thinking hard, wondering why Zhu Yuanzhang did this.

After a long time, the gate of the imperial city suddenly shook and finally opened slowly.

Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, while Zhu Di, Zhu Gang and others felt a sinking feeling in their hearts and no longer had any hope.

"Let's go, follow me into the palace to protect His Majesty!" Li Wei chuckled.

Lu Tang also showed a relaxed smile, and then signaled the soldiers around him to pass on the order, asking the army to dispatch a small team to tentatively enter the gate of the imperial city.

Geng Bingwen led his men to wait behind the door, staring at these "rebels" with unfriendly faces.

After his persuasion, although he failed to make His Majesty change his mind, at least His Majesty allowed him to guard the imperial city together.

After the team entered the city safely, Li Wei's troops began to enter one after another. However, when Lu Tang was about to take over the city defense, Geng Bingwen only gave up a part of it and divided the imperial city into several areas, each of which was responsible for its own area.

After Li Wei learned about it, he agreed without any concern. Geng Bingwen's troops had not been able to stop him before, and now they posed no threat to him. If he wanted, he could drive these defeated soldiers out with just a single order.

However, since Zhu Yuanzhang had already given in, he did not go too far. There were still Zhu Gang and Zhu Di's armies besieging the city outside. If he pushed the issue too far, he would end up in a situation where both sides would be destroyed.

When Zhu Gang and Zhu Di saw that Li Wei's army had entered the city, they both looked grim and helpless.

"Li Wei has already entered the city. What should we do now?"

Zhu Gang sent someone to call Zhu Di and generals including Zhang Long and Guo Ying to his side and asked.

Everyone frowned.

Now that the emperor is in other people's hands, they certainly cannot attack directly, so they can only think of other ways.

"I think, since His Majesty has given the order, we should obey it." Zhang Long said softly.

"Obey your ass! Don't you see that your father issued the order under coercion from him?" Zhu Gang said angrily.

Zhang Long lowered his head and dared not answer.

Zhu Di thought for a moment and said, "Now that things have come to this, we can only retreat to the outer city first. As long as the capital is still under our siege, Li Wei should not dare to act recklessly."

"What if he falsely conveys the imperial edict? Should we listen to it or not?" Zhu Gang asked.

This is the situation he is most worried about. Now that the palace is under the control of Li Wei, it would be easy to forge an imperial edict.

Whether the imperial edict is true or false depends entirely on the emperor's words. Now that the emperor is in other people's hands, he can say whatever he wants.

Zhu Di took a deep breath and said, "If he really does this, we can only adapt to the situation."

Zhu Gang frowned, and could not help but sigh heavily, complaining: "Father, you are such a fool. Why did you agree to let him take charge of the palace? With our 300,000-man army, we will surely destroy him before Li Wei breaks through the city. Father, you just need to let Geng Bingwen hold on for a while longer!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di and Guo Ying looked at each other and were both speechless.

Zhu Gang didn't know, but they knew very well that even though they had several times more troops than Li Wei, the outcome of a real fight would be unpredictable, and Geng Bingwen would not be able to hold out until they had encircled and annihilated Li Wei.

"Okay, let's withdraw our troops first."

Zhu Di did not explain much, but just advised softly.

Zhu Gang glanced at the sky and could only agree reluctantly. He waved his hand and ordered his personal soldiers to withdraw their troops.

Zhu Yuanzhang's decision put a major war on hold temporarily. Zhu Gang and others withdrew their troops and returned to the outer city to garrison. In the imperial city, Geng Bingwen continued to confront Li Wei. The capital temporarily returned to peace, and the ministers who had taken refuge in the imperial city were sent back to their homes. However, Li Shanchang and others who wanted to take the opportunity to escape were unlucky.

Zhu Gang and his men retreated before the battle started. These scattered soldiers had no chance to break out of the city and were trapped in the city, hiding everywhere.

Although the war had not yet ended completely, the diligent Zhu Yuanzhang still did not let his ministers rest. The next day, before dawn, the ministers who had just returned home for a nap came early to the outside of the Meridian Gate to attend court.

Under the gray sky, the imperial palace was still majestic, with the palace guards and Li Wei's troops lined up on both sides of the road.

Following the guidance of drums, music and whips, the ministers walked through the middle in fear, lowering their heads and glancing at the two groups from time to time, fearing that the two sides would suddenly start fighting over a disagreement and kill them together.

Fortunately, they were safe along the way. When the ministers arrived at the Fengtian Hall, the white-haired Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting upright on the throne.

After the formalities and worship, the ministers began to report on some daily government affairs as usual. However, now that the palace was occupied by others, they had no interest in government affairs and only dealt with trivial matters in a perfunctory manner.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not blame them. On the contrary, he dealt with these small matters seriously one by one.

When Zhu Yuanzhang had already gotten up early to go to work, Li Wei was still sleeping in a palace on the west side of the front court. He was very tired after the two days of fighting. After letting Lu Tang and others take control of part of the palace, he directly found a palace nearby to live in. An Qing was worried that he would have a love-hate relationship with his father again, so he also moved into the palace with him.

Zhu Yuanzhang went to court at the hour of Yin, while Li Wei got up only at noon.

"What is your majesty doing?"

Li Wei asked Lu Tang beside him while washing his face.

"He should still be in court now."

Lu Tang replied softly and handed over a towel.

"It's rare that he's still so diligent at such an old age!"

Li Wei smiled as he wiped his face.

After saying that, he thought for a moment and said, "Let's go and join in the fun."

"Yes!" Lu Tang nodded and followed him out. Along the way, Li Wei's own soldiers saluted him when they saw him, while the soldiers opposite them were a little embarrassed, not knowing whether to salute or ignore him.

Li Wei didn't care. He greeted his people with a smile and walked towards the Fengtian Hall.

In the main hall, all the ministers made reports one by one, and Zhu Yuanzhang responded to them one by one.

At this moment, Li Wei walked in with a nonchalant look, eating a handful of melon seeds in his hand. The guards on duty at the door did not dare to stop him. After all, the person on the other side was Li Wei's man. If he tried to stop him, the other side would probably not cooperate and might even shoot him dead.

"Oh, you're all here? Good morning, everyone!" Li Wei said with a smile.

Zheng Kexin, who was reporting on something, heard the noise and immediately stopped talking and turned to look.

The other ministers lowered their heads after seeing him clearly, trembling with fear and not daring to speak.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him, then looked away, pretending not to see it.

"We will do as you requested. Let's do it as soon as the court meeting is over." Zhu Yuanzhang instructed Zheng Kexin.

"Yes."

Zheng Kexin responded cautiously, then bowed and returned to the court.

Li Wei seemed a little redundant standing in the middle of the hall. Seeing this, Lu Tang quickly asked someone to bring him a stool.

Li Wei just sat carefree in the center of the hall, facing Zhu Yuanzhang.

All the ministers were silent, and dared not continue to report on state affairs. They all stood in the court with their heads bowed and remained silent.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at his ministers and asked calmly, "What? Nothing to report?"

The ministers were silent.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang snorted and said, "In that case, let's discuss this rebellion. What do you think should be done?"

Upon hearing this, the faces of the ministers suddenly changed!

The number one traitor is right before our eyes. Discussing how to deal with the rebellion in front of him, isn't that courting death?
Seeing that they were silent, Zhu Yuanzhang looked directly at Zheng Kexin who had just returned to the court.

Zheng Kexin felt his gaze and his scalp suddenly went numb, but he was the Minister of Justice and he really couldn't escape this matter.

"Your Majesty, I think...I think that Li Shanchang, Lan Yu and others raised an army to cause chaos, and they should be executed! I ask Your Majesty to confiscate their property and behead them to serve as a warning to others!"

Zheng Kexin gritted his teeth and denounced Li Shanchang and others, but avoided talking about Li Wei in front of him, as if he had completely forgotten that there was a big rebel here who defeated Zhu Di and the court's 100,000 elite troops and seized the palace.

However, Li Wei smiled lightly and said calmly: "To serve as a warning to others? Who are you warning others to follow? Me?"

Zheng Kexin trembled all over, waved his hands repeatedly, and said righteously: "No, no, no, Li Fu Ma raised an army to serve the king, which is still an act of loyalty to the emperor. How can he be confused with Lan Yu and others? I have no such intention!"

"Oh, it seems I misunderstood." Li Wei said lightly, then waved his hand: "Okay, then you can leave."

"Yes Yes!"

Zheng Kexin didn't dare to say much, and didn't even bother to salute Zhu Yuanzhang. He hurriedly returned to the court and secretly wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Li Wei coldly and remained silent, while Li Wei continued to eat melon seeds as if nothing had happened.

Everyone is afraid of death, but there are also some who are not afraid of death, especially those who know they are going to die.

"Your Majesty, I accuse Li Wei of rebellion and raising an army to rebel. Now he is still arrogant and rude in front of the palace. His crime is unforgivable! Your Majesty, please order someone to arrest him!"

Zhan Hui said sternly as he left the class.

Among all the officials in the court, there are not many who have deep conflicts with Li Wei, but Zhan Hui is definitely the undisputed leader. As the Minister of Personnel, he almost always takes the lead in impeaching Li Wei. Now that Li Wei is so powerful, it is estimated that he will never let him go.

Apart from him, Tang Yougong and Li Shu were similar. After Zhan Hui finished speaking, Tang Yougong also mustered up the courage to come out and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, although the bandits are powerful now, we still have the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Jin outside. As long as Your Majesty gives an order, the bandits will be killed!"

These civil servants did not understand war. Although they knew that Li Wei's troops were extremely powerful, when they thought of the nearly 300,000 troops united by Zhu Gang and others, they still felt that Li Wei would be defeated once the fighting started.

"I agree. Your Majesty must not compromise with the bandits!" Li Shu followed out of the class.

"What nonsense! Your Majesty, the Prince Consort is loyal and courageous. Your Majesty must not listen to the instigation of treacherous ministers!" Gao An, the Imperial Censor of the Engineering Department, shouted angrily.

He was the northern scholar during the last North-South list case. Originally, all of them had failed the exam, but thanks to Li Wei's secret manipulation that made the matter bigger, and Wu Chen's proposal to reopen the North list, these northern scholars were able to pass the exam and become scholars.

After Gao An finished speaking, Liu Guan, who was also a northern scholar, immediately followed him out and rebuked him: "Yes, His Majesty has personally approved of the matter of the Prince Consort. Do you dare to question His Majesty's words?"

"Yes, can the Prince Consort be like those rebels?"

"That's right, the Prince Consort is clearly here to serve the king, unlike Li Shanchang and others!"

"I think you are the treacherous ones, slandering the emperor and accusing him of crimes that deserve to be put to death!"

After the two men finished speaking, others also echoed their opinions. Some were Li party members who had survived in the past and took the opportunity to show their loyalty, while others were afraid that if they did not speak up, Li Wei would hold a grudge against them and settle accounts with them.

Zhan Hui and his companions looked at the excited ministers and felt a chill in their hearts.

Li Wei looked at Zhan Hui and the others with a smile on his face, and said softly: "Look, the masses... No, the officials have sharp eyes!"

After that, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang again and said calmly: "Your Majesty, I think these people are the traitors. They must have been connected with Li Shanchang, Lan Yu and other traitors."

Zhan Hui's face suddenly changed when he heard this: "You, you are slandering me!"

Li Wei shrugged indifferently and continued to crack melon seeds.

At this time, he only needs to express his attitude, and others will do the rest for him.

Sure enough, after he finished speaking, those who expressed their loyalty immediately began to impeach Zhan Hui.

"Your Highness is right. It must be because you defeated Li Lan's rebels that they hold a grudge against you and slandered you!"

"That must be the case! They are the traitors!"

"Your Majesty, please severely punish the rebels!"

"Your Majesty, I have evidence. In order to frame the Prince Consort, Zhan Hui had a secret conversation with Lan Yu. This shows that he had already been connected with Lan Yu!"

Everyone spoke up, no one could come up with concrete evidence.

Zhan Hui had indeed privately approached Lan Yu in order to impeach Li Wei. Many people knew about this. Now that Lan Yu had rebelled, he really had no way to refute it when others used this to attack him. (End of this chapter)