Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Seeing this, An Qing said helplessly: "Don't blame father anymore. Although he did some cruel things, he was still very kind to us. Just like the last time you committed a serious offense, didn't he just exile us to Yangzhou?"

Li Wei sneered in his heart when he heard this. Zhu Yuanzhang did value family affection towards his family, but the reason why he didn't kill him last time was that he felt he was useful and wanted to pass him down as a family heirloom.

If he is no longer of any use, then it is hard to say whether he should live or die. After all, this old man has killed princes-in-law before in history.

"Husband, let's leave the capital as soon as possible, whether it's going back to Yangzhou or going far away, as long as our family is together, it doesn't matter where we go!"

Anqing advised softly.

"Okay, I'll do as you say. Let me get ready and then we'll run away."

Li Wei smiled and said that he had already decided to do this and naturally would not disagree.

Seeing that he agreed readily, Anqing finally smiled with relief.

Li Wei patted her hands to reassure her, then closed the booklet in his hand and ordered someone to bring a brazier, lit it and threw the book into the brazier to destroy the "evidence".

The "evidence" turned to ashes in the flickering flames. He let out a long breath, as if all the past grudges with Zhu Yuanzhang had also dissipated, and he felt a lot more relaxed.

Thinking of Zhu Yunwen's aggrieved look just now, he couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted.

No matter what Zhu Yuanzhang was like, Zhu Biao was good to him at the beginning. Although Zhu Yunwen was not a good person, he was still young after all. If he was educated well, he might be able to correct himself.

"Hey, for your father's sake, I'll take you with me when I leave in the future." Li Wei murmured to himself.

"Who are you taking?" An Qing, who was standing by, heard him mumbling and asked curiously.

Li Wei turned his head to look at her and was about to answer, but suddenly paused, and then he suddenly understood.

It turns out that what Lao Zhu has is not evidence of guilt at all, it's just an emotional card!

"No, no one!" Li Wei shook his head decisively.

Damn! I almost fell into the trap of this old fox again!
Anqing looked at him in confusion and pouted.

……

In front of Zhengyang Gate, the two princes Zhu Gang and Zhu Di as well as Guo Ying, Zhang Long, Mao Xiang and others gathered here and bowed respectfully to receive the imperial edict.

"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, hereby proclaims: The Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan are ordered to return to their respective fiefdoms immediately. Their troops will be handed over to the command of Marquis of Dingyuan Guo Ying and Marquis of Fengxiang Zhang Long. After returning to their fiefdoms, you should behave yourself, guard the borders with all your heart, and do not disturb the people..."

When Zhu Gang and Zhu Di heard the imperial edict asking them to surrender their military power and return to their fiefdoms, their faces changed. They did not listen to a word of what was said afterwards. They waited for the official to finish his announcement. The hot-tempered Zhu Gang immediately stood up and asked loudly:
"Is this the thief Li Wei who forged the imperial edict?"

"Your Highness has misunderstood. This is indeed His Majesty's will."

The official who had just read out the decree said cautiously.

Although these imperial edicts were drafted by Li Wei, they were indeed stamped by Zhu Yuanzhang himself. So, if you really count them, they were indeed Zhu Yuanzhang's will.

Moreover, Li Wei is now in control of the imperial city. Officials who opposed him, including the Minister of Personnel Zhan Hui, have all been imprisoned and executed. As a small official in the Ministry of Rites, he dare not speak nonsense at this time.

"What the hell is this King Guangling? He's obviously a traitor! Have you also defected to the traitors?" Zhu Gang glared at the official and cursed.

The official shuddered when he heard this and quickly explained, "No, no, I didn't! The King of Guangling was personally conferred by His Majesty, and there is nothing wrong with me addressing him like that!"

Zhu Gang was about to scold him, but Zhu Di interrupted him and asked, "Is this really the order from my father?"

"It is absolutely true. This is the seal used by His Majesty personally. I dare not speak nonsense!" Si Zheng said hurriedly.

Zhu Di frowned and said nothing when he heard this. Zhu Gang said angrily again:

"Humph, I think this imperial edict is fake. Even if it was really sealed by my father himself, he must have been coerced by that villain!"

"You...if you don't disbelieve it, you can go to the palace and meet the emperor yourself!" said Si Zheng.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di looked at each other subconsciously.

In fact, they don't want to withdraw their troops now, so they hope that the imperial edict is fake. Of course, they are also worried that after they withdraw, Li Wei will really use the emperor to control the princes.

"Okay, then I will go to the palace to ask for an audience with father. If it is really father's will, I can also say goodbye to father!" Zhu Di said in a deep voice.

"Absolutely not! Now most of the imperial city is under the control of the thief Li Wei. If you enter the city at this time, he will definitely suddenly attack. Your Majesty is already trapped in the enemy camp. Your Highnesses must not take any more risks!"

Zhang Yu, who was beside Zhu Di, spoke immediately.

Zhu Di glanced at him with approval in his eyes.

As princes, he and Zhu Gang naturally could not refuse to enter the palace to meet the emperor because of their own safety. As a subordinate, it was appropriate for Zhang Yu to speak at this time.

"Yes, the two princes must not fall into the trap of that villain again!" Zhu Neng also said.

"That's right, Your Majesty can't go!"

Zhu Gang's subordinates also followed suit and expressed opposition.

When Zhu Di and Zhu Gang saw this, they immediately looked "embarrassed".

"What should we do? Without meeting our father, how can we confirm that this imperial edict is not a fake one passed on by Li Wei?" Zhu Gang asked loudly.

"I am willing to do it for you!"

"I am willing too!"

Many people volunteered to go to the palace to meet the emperor on their behalf. Only then did Zhu Gang and Zhu Di's expressions improve and they frowned in thought.

"Your Highness, please let me go." Guo Ying took the initiative to bow and said.

He could more or less guess what the two princes were thinking. If he allowed their men to enter the palace and then misrepresented the true decree, it would be troublesome.

Zhu Gang and Zhu Di looked at him, thought about it, and agreed.

Although Guo Ying is also the main general, he is not irreplaceable. Even if he is detained by Li Wei, there are Zhang Long and Mao Xiang leading the troops here, so nothing will go wrong.

After the two agreed, Guo Ying did not hesitate any longer. He handed over the military affairs to Mao Xiang, and then hurried into the palace with Si Zheng who came to convey the imperial edict.

Zhengyang Gate was the main city gate in front of the imperial palace and was very close to the imperial city. Guo Ying quickly followed the chief official into the palace and met Zhu Yuanzhang who was handling government affairs.

"See Your Majesty!"

Guo Ying bowed and saluted.

"Excuse me, what brings you here to see me for?" Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand to refuse the formality.

Guo Ying did not beat around the bush and asked directly, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Public Security just issued an order for the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan to hand over their military power and return to their fiefdoms. The situation in the imperial city now makes the two princes inevitably worried, so they asked me to come and ask. Is this a personal order from Your Majesty?"

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and said calmly: "Yes, this is what we mean. Go back and tell them to do it!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Ying looked up at Zhu Yuanzhang. Seeing that his eyes were determined and he did not seem to be threatened, he felt relieved.

"Yes, I obey your order!"

Guo Ying bowed and accepted the order.

"By the way, go back and tell Mao Xiang to let him come to the palace to take up duty. After all, he is the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and he is needed to oversee the defense of the palace." Zhu Yuanzhang said softly again.

Guo Ying did not think much about it and said respectfully again: "I obey your order."

"Well, back off."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said no more. Seeing this, Guo Ying bowed again and turned to leave.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his departing back and let out a sigh of relief.

He transferred Mao Xiang into the palace in order to comply with Li Wei's other requests. Of course, Mao Xiang knew too much and would be dealt with sooner or later. Now he was just doing him a favor.

After Guo Ying left the palace and returned to the army, he conveyed his will to Zhu Gang and others:
"This decree is indeed His Majesty's intention."

Zhu Gang and Zhu Di looked a little unhappy. Zhu Gang questioned, "Did your father say this because he was threatened by Li Wei?"

Guo Ying shook his head: "I have observed that His Majesty did not seem to be threatened, and there was no one from Li Wei in the palace at that time."

After Guo Ying finished speaking, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di fell silent.

After a while, Zhu Di said again: "I think this matter needs to be confirmed again. After all, the situation in the imperial city is complicated now."

"Yes, fourth brother is right." Zhu Gang immediately agreed.

Guo Ying's face changed slightly when he heard this. He had figured out that these two brothers were eyeing the position of crown prince and did not want to withdraw their troops.

"Are you two princes going to disobey my order?" Guo Ying asked in a deep voice.

The two men's faces suddenly changed, and their soldiers immediately began to reprimand:
"Nonsense, how could the prince disobey the order? But now the emperor is being threatened. If we withdraw, then Li Wei can really use the emperor to control the princes!"

"Yes, this matter cannot be ignored. Marquis Dingyuan should understand!"

"that is!"

Guo Ying narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly: "If the two princes do not trust me, you can send someone to the palace to confirm it!"

Zhu Gang and the other man looked at each other and nodded at the same time: "Okay!"

Upon seeing this, Guo Ying said no more, bowed his hand, and turned away with a grim expression.

Afterwards, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di sent people to the palace to meet the emperor again, but the reply they received was the same as Guo Ying's, that this was indeed Zhu Yuanzhang's own intention.

After the two learned about it, they were immediately conflicted.

Needless to say, their father's majesty was self-evident in their hearts. Since it was truly their father's will, they dared not disobey. However, they were somewhat unwilling to hand over the military power. After all, the position of crown prince was undecided and most of the imperial city was controlled by others. If they withdrew like this, they would probably completely lose the qualification to compete for the throne.

For the time being, they could only delay time and refuse to leave Beijing.

Upon seeing this, Guo Ying went to the palace again and reported the situation to Zhu Yuanzhang. However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not give any response. He had no choice but to go back and urge the two to hand over the troops.

Li Wei ignored Zhu Gang and the others. After all, he had asked people to draft this decree without expecting the two of them to leave happily. Regardless of whether they left or not, he had to start doing what he was supposed to do!

On that day, Mao Xiang followed the imperial order, handed over the troops to Guo Ying and Zhang Long, and then entered the palace with a few trusted men.

To be honest, he didn't want to enter the palace, but he was just an ordinary military general without even a title, so he had no qualifications to disobey the imperial order like Zhu Gang and Zhu Di did.

Along the way, looking at the personal guards and Li Wei's soldiers standing on his left and right, he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

He is different from Guo Ying. Guo Ying used to be Li Wei's subordinate, and he has never had any hatred with Li Wei. In the final analysis, it's just that they have different positions.

However, he participated in many actions against Li Wei. Although these were arranged by Zhu Yuanzhang, he was the direct executor after all. If Li Wei really wanted to retaliate, he would never forgive him.

Fortunately, the imperial city is not controlled by Li Wei alone now. There are also these personal guards to confront them. Even if Li Wei insists on capturing him, he will have to go through a fierce battle with these personal guards.

Since entering the imperial city, Mao Xiang has been on high alert and always vigilant against Li Wei and his troops. If a fight really breaks out, he will immediately move closer to his own army.

Hongwu Gate, Chengtian Gate, Duanmen Gate, Wumen Gate, Mao Xiang walked along the right side of the road where the generals took to court all the way to the imperial palace.

However, just as he entered the palace through the Youye Gate, he suddenly saw a soldier team of over a hundred men lined up neatly inside the gate, and they had obviously been waiting for a long time!

"not good!"

Mao Xiang's face suddenly changed and he turned around and tried to escape.

However, at this time, Xie Feihu had already rushed in from outside with a large group of people, cutting off his retreat.

Mao Xiang looked at the leader Xie Feihu in horror, holding his sword alertly while shouting, "What do you want to do? I am here to see the emperor in the palace. Are you blocking my way to rebel? Come on, come on!"

However, the imperial guards on duty not far away ignored his shouting. Mao Xiang's heart sank when he saw this.

Xie Feihu sneered as he stepped forward, holding the imperial edict that Li Wei had asked Zhu Yuanzhang to seal. He came to Mao Xiang and directly opened the imperial edict and read it out: "The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, decrees: Mao Xiang colluded with Lan Yu, Li Shanchang and other rebels, plotted evil, and should be executed..."

"Nonsense! Nonsense!" Mao Xiang interrupted him angrily. A few days ago, he led his troops to fight against Lan Yu and others. How could he possibly collude with Lan Yu and others?
However, Xie Feihu was too lazy to argue with him, and after being interrupted by him, he was too lazy to announce the imperial edict again. He simply put the imperial edict away and waved his hand, saying, "Take it down!"

After receiving the order, the soldiers immediately rushed forward.

The few close confidants around Mao Xiang wanted to resist, but before they could even draw their swords, they were shot dead by the soldiers led by Xie Feihu.

Their guns now are different from before. They can easily kill those who are armed with knives even at a short distance.

Mao Xiang's face turned pale, and he shouted anxiously, "Li Wei! Li Wei! You can't kill me! Everything I did was arranged by His Majesty, so you can't blame me! You can't kill me!"

"Hmph, press on!"

Xie Feihu snorted coldly, and his soldiers immediately arrested Mao Xiang and smashed him in the face with the butt of a rifle, which immediately made his face covered in blood, and his shouting stopped abruptly!

The commander of the royal army, who was once so powerful and even the dukes and princes had to show respect to him, was taken down so easily.

But this was just the beginning. After capturing Mao Xiang, Xie Feihu immediately led people to begin a large-scale arrest. In addition to Zhan Hui and others, there were many officials in the court who were really in collusion with Li Shanchang, Lan Yu and others, and they were also thrown into jail in one fell swoop.

A vigorous arrest operation began. All people who had close relations with Li Shanchang and Lan Yu were arrested, even some Confucian scholars who had worked in their houses were not spared. Wang Xing, who had once looked for Li Shanchang, also could not escape.

Three days later, all these people were taken to the execution ground. There were thousands of people there, which was quite a spectacular sight.

Li Wei personally came to the execution ground and was shocked to see so many people. He asked Xie Feihu:
"Why so many?"

Xie Feihu explained softly, "Teacher, except for the ones you ordered, the others are the ones that His Majesty wants to arrest. I have reported this to you."

Li Wei was stunned. Xie Feihu did tell him that Zhu Yuanzhang was going to add some people to the list of people he wanted to kill, but he didn't expect Zhu Yuanzhang to add so many people at once.

"Damn, he took advantage of me again!" Li Wei couldn't help but curse inwardly.

Among the people in front of him, the ones he wanted to kill only accounted for a small part. Most of them were people Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to eliminate, and they had little to do with him. In this way, he was equivalent to taking the blame for Zhu Yuanzhang again.

"Then teacher, are you still going to kill him?" Xie Feihu asked.

Li Wei thought about it, waved his hand and said, "Kill him, kill him."

Too many lice don't itch, too many debts don't worry. Anyway, he is going to fly away, so it doesn't matter if he offends a group of people again.

Moreover, most of these people were connected with Li Shanchang or Lan Yu, so their deaths were not unjust.

After receiving the order, Xie Feihu turned around to carry it out.

With one scream after another, no matter if they were nobles, wealthy men or famous scholars, all of them were beheaded with one blow of the sword, and all their past glory disappeared into thin air.

Seeing Xie Feihu and his men start to clean up the corpses, Li Wei felt relieved again.

Now all those who should be killed have been killed, and all the grudges have basically been settled, except for the last person left.

Li Wei let out a long breath, said hello to Xie Feihu, but left first. (End of this chapter)