The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 382 Do you really think I dare not kill anyone?
Inside the hall, there were curses like thunder!
Zhu Houzhao, sitting on the dragon throne, was not angry at all. Instead, he enjoyed the art of cursing by civil and military officials with great interest.

The civil officials only responded with a few words such as "you are not worthy of being a son" and "how is your mother?", while the warriors used the most vulgar and common words, which were extremely lethal. Zhu Hou saw that Zhang Lun's saliva was sprayed on Xi Shu's face.

In contrast, the anti-war civil officials naturally suffered a setback until one person appeared and put an end to this farce.

The anger in his heart had long since disappeared, replaced by endless murderous intent.

So there is no need to get angry because of these dying people!
A Hanlin scholar with bloodshot eyes shouted, "Your Majesty, are you willing to use the people's blood and sweat to gain fame in order to expand your territory?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall suddenly became extremely quiet, and you could hear a pin drop.

"idiot!"

All the ministers looked at Han Lin who had spoken and cursed him in their hearts.

What he said was tantamount to pointing at the Emperor's nose and scolding him for being warmongering and ostentatious!

For this emperor who is very careful about his reputation, it would be strange if he didn't get furious!
Xianning Marquis Qiu Yue waved his hand, and all the military heroes immediately quieted down, watching the show with their eyes and noses, ready to watch.

"Li Yuan, are you accusing me of being too ambitious?"

Even though Zhu Houzhao was smiling all the time, the ministers felt a chill down their spines and all over their bodies!
Hanlin Li Yuan was unmoved and replied passionately: "Since your majesty ascended the throne, you have worked hard to govern the country, implemented benevolent policies, eliminated accumulated problems, and restored people's livelihood, making our Ming Dynasty revived and restored the country's livelihood!"

"The people of the world have just seen hope for a new life, but Your Majesty has ignored the advice and suddenly mobilized troops, repeatedly starting wars. Isn't this just being ambitious?"

Bang!
A loud bang!
Zhu Houzhao stood up and walked straight to Li Yuan, saying in an extremely cold voice: "I will tell you why we must recover Hetao!"

"In the fifth year of Jingtai, Yesen was killed in Neijiang, Northern Yuan Dynasty. The three Wuliangha guards requested to live near the border and the 'Northern Barbarians' took the opportunity to move south."

"In the first year of Tianshun, the tribes of Bolai and A Luochu went in and out of Hetao, and repeatedly invaded the borders of Ningxia, Yansui, Yongchang, Zhuanglang, Gulang, Zhenfan and other places of the Ming Dynasty."

"At the beginning of Chenghua, Maolihai, Baiqi Jiasilan, Liluohu, and Mandu arrived one after another. At first, they did not stay for long periods of time. After six years, they went deep into various counties to kill and plunder people and livestock, often tens of millions, and there were usually four or three people a year."

"Since then, the Mongolian tribes have frequently harassed the northern defense line of the Ming Dynasty, causing the northern border defense to gradually become in crisis, forcing the court to invest a lot of manpower and material resources to resist!"

"They are consuming the national strength of the Ming Dynasty! They are keeping the Ming Dynasty as a fat sheep! They are waiting for the Ming Dynasty to decay and fall, then they will go south to Guanzhong, compete for the Central Plains, and rebuild the Mongols!"

Zhu Houzhao's narration of examples of the northern barbarians trapping people, harassing border towns, and slaughtering civilians left Li Yuan speechless and he could only nod his head.

Then the Emperor turned around and shouted at Xu Mengchun, "For the Ming Dynasty, if we control the Hetao area, we can use the Yinshan Mountains as a barrier to resist the threat from the Mongols and ensure the safety of Guanzhong and the Central Plains!"

"On the contrary, for the Mongols, occupying the Hetao area can be used as a base to move south to Guanzhong and compete for the Central Plains with unstoppable force!"

"This is such a strategic location, but you, Xu Mengchun, actually called it a waste of time? What's your basis?"

"Do you want to experience the tragedy of the barbarian soldiers besieging the imperial capital again?"

The Emperor's harsh rebuke made Xu Mengchun's face turn red. Although he was a veteran of three dynasties, he knew nothing about military affairs.

From the perspective of putting people first, there is nothing wrong with what Xu Mengchun said, but from a strategic perspective, the Hetao region is a battleground for military strategists.

But what Zhu Houzhao said next completely humiliated Xu Mengchun. "Waste of money and food?"

"Then I would like to ask you, Xu Mengchun, is it more expensive to recover Hetao once and for all, or is it more expensive to spend on the military expenditures in the nine frontier military garrisons every year?"

"Even if you are an idiot who doesn't understand military affairs, you can still do this basic math, right? The loss of our Ming Dynasty's mobilization of soldiers and civilians this time is less than the annual military expenditure allocated by the imperial court to the nine frontier military garrisons!"

"As long as our Ming Dynasty successfully recaptures the Hetao area and rebuilds the northern border defense system, it will be much more difficult for the barbarians to plunder and harass our Ming Dynasty in the future. Our Ming Dynasty can also reduce military spending and use it for the development of people's livelihood. This is the real national policy!"

"And I have to tell you some bad news. The Mongolian tribes entrenched in the Hetao area now have millions of people, hundreds of thousands of them are armored. After the Yellow River freezes, they step on the ice to enter the trap, and before the ice melts, they travel eastward to escape. Their strength is growing!"

"If the Ming Dynasty does not take advantage of the great opportunity of the civil war between the left and right wings of Mongolia to recapture the throat of the Hetao region, and wait until the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty are unified again and completely eliminate all internal hidden dangers, and the Ming Dynasty is no longer as strong as it was during the Hongwu and Yongle periods, do you think they will go south to Guanzhong and rebuild the Yuan Dynasty?"

This is an indisputable fact!

Because exactly the same thing happened not long ago.

After the development of three generations of heroes, Mahamu, Toghan and Yesen, the Oirat tribe finally unified Mongolia. They then drove the three Uriankhai guards to spy on the strength of the Ming Dynasty's border defense, and then went south to concoct the Tumu Incident, which caused the Ming Dynasty to decline!

The Oirat army led by Yesen once reached the gates of the capital. If it were not for the minister of justice Yu Qian who was ordered to save the situation, the Ming Dynasty would have perished long ago!

Therefore, no one is not afraid of a unified grassland force!
Zhu Houzhao glanced at Xu Mengchun, then looked at Li Yuan.

"Do you really think I can't understand your little tricks?"

"You are simply worried that if the Hetao is successfully recovered and military honors rise again, it will affect the power of you civil officials and gentry and damage your vested interests. That's why you scumbags keep making suggestions and trying to stop the court from recovering the Hetao!"

"His crime must be punished!"

After saying this, Zhu Houzhao ignored Li Yuan's terrified pleas for mercy and shouted coldly.

"Come here, drag this beast out and beat him with a hundred sticks outside the palace!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was silent.

Beating with the cane in the imperial court was a form of torture that all civil officials and gentry feared.

You have to know that your body and hair are given by your parents. Exposing your buttocks in public is a kind of spiritual harm to the noble and proud literati and scholars.

Moreover, compared to humiliation, the beating in court was more likely to result in death!
The court canes were all made of large chestnut wood, with a hammer head wrapped in iron sheet on the end, and an extremely sharp hook on the iron sheet. Once the stick was struck down and then pulled away, blood would immediately flow and the skin would be torn apart!

With Li Yuan's weak physique as a scholar, even thirty strokes of the stick, let alone a hundred strokes, would be enough to kill him on the spot!
Before Xu Mengchun and others could open their mouths to plead for mercy, the soldiers came in and dragged Li Yuan out.

The next moment, a shrill scream resounded throughout the hall, echoing in the ears of every official.

"how?"

"Do you really think I dare not kill anyone?"

(End of this chapter)