Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 31
Shandong Dongchang Mansion.

Liu Zeqing was looking at boxes of jewels brought in by his generals.

Seeing the gold, jade and jewelry that can almost blind the eyes, Liu Zeqing's smiling face can bloom.

As the commander-in-chief of Shandong, he also knows that the current situation is unfavorable, and there is a great possibility of a change of dynasty.

However, as an ordinary man, he can't see that far, and he doesn't even have the ambition to be the master of the world.

Therefore, after occupying Shandong, Liu Zeqing just blindly collected money.

He did not obey the imperial edict, nor expressed his opinion on Li Zicheng's appeasement.

He just waited for the situation in the world to become clear, so that he could take advantage of the situation and surrender.

Today, I heard that His Majesty Zhu Youjian has left the capital and is heading south.

Liu Zeqing began to plunder the people's fat and anoint the people in Shandong even more recklessly.

The hundreds of years of Ming Dynasty's style of emphasizing literature and restraining military affairs made it difficult for these sudden and noble warlords to have ambitions in the world when they were born in troubled times.

Even Liu Zeqing is just a person who sees small profits and forgets righteousness.

After knowing that the Ming emperor had escaped, he felt that the emperor would definitely rely on him more, and unscrupulously plundered money in the Shandong area on the grounds of raising military salaries.

This move not only made the common people but also the gentry complain.

This is also the reason why he was defeated and surrendered directly when he encountered Jiannu going south in the original history.

Liu Zeqing, the commander-in-chief of Shandong, has no ambition to plot the world based on Shandong.

Naturally, they will not find a way to build in Shandong to appease the people.

Now hearing that His Majesty Zhu Youjian has gone south, his biggest idea is to take the emperor to order the princes as Zhu Youjian expected!
He wants to rely on Zhu Youjian to blackmail the emperor Zhu Youjian on the grounds of relying on himself, and even expand his territory by controlling His Majesty Zhu Youjian.

Although Liu Zeqing is not interested in farming and construction, he is very interested in expanding the territory. He even wants Zhu Youjian to give him Yangzhou.

Liu Zeqing never thought of taking Shandong's original foundation.

Therefore, he wanted to rob once before the Ming Emperor came.

In this way, he can bring enough wealth to go south with His Majesty Zhu Youjian, and then go to the prosperous south of the Yangtze River to become a high official.

Zhu Youjian didn't expect this.

Zhu Youjian would not have thought that Liu Zeqing would be so unambitious. In his opinion, once people in the world have mastered the army and the territory, they should have the ambition of an emperor, but they don't know that not everyone is so self-motivated.

Like Liu Zeqing, he was thinking of collecting money while no one was looking after him, and then Chuang Jun came and surrendered Chuang Jun, and continued to serve His Majesty after he came down. He didn't care who was sitting in the world, he only cared about whether he could continue Live so decently and richly.

Li Mingrui came to Liu Zeqing with Zhu Youjian's decree.

Along the way, Li Mingrui also saw the atrocities committed by Liu Zeqing's army in the area of ​​Dongchang Mansion. As the emperor's close minister, he could truly see what it means to be ten rooms and nine empty spaces, and what it means to force the people to rebel against the government.

However, Li Mingrui also knew that he could not show his hatred for Liu Zeqing now, so he entered Liu Zeqing's temporary residence with a smile on his face.

Liu Zeqing heard that the emperor's close ministers came with the emperor's decree, so he hurriedly went out to meet him himself.

Liu Zeqing, who has always been in awe of civil servants, even if he became a big warlord, would not dare to show contempt to noble civil servants like Li Mingrui. What's more, now that he knows that His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty has gone south, he still wants to continue to be a minister of Ming Dynasty , you have to continue to respect the courtiers around the emperor.

"Li Zhongyun, please sit down." Liu Zeqing personally greeted Li Mingrui to sit down, and asked with a smile on his face, "I don't know what decree Li Zhongyun brought from His Majesty, how do you want to deal with me, Liu Zeqing?"

In fact, Liu Zeqing did have doubts and fears in his heart. He knew that he had resisted the decree because he was afraid of trespassers before, so now he was afraid that the emperor would come to settle accounts after the fall, although he did not think that the emperor of Ming would dare to kill him. The commander-in-chief of one hundred thousand soldiers.

"Look at what Zongbing Liu said. Why did His Majesty intend to dispose of you? You are the backbone of my Ming Dynasty. It is too late for Your Majesty to rely on you. How could you be willing to destroy the Great Wall?"

Li Mingrui took out the imperial decree as he spoke: "At the beginning, Mr. Liu had to resist the decree because he was accidentally injured while riding a horse. Your majesty is a magnanimous king. How can you care about such trivial matters? Besides, your majesty didn't intend to deal with you. The next official has brought an order to reward Liu Zongbing you, Liu Zongbing, please accept the order."

Hearing this, Liu Zeqing hurriedly ordered someone to set up an incense case, and personally led a group of cadres to kneel down to listen to the order.

Li Mingrui read out Zhu Youjian's decree that Liu Zeqing be the king of Dongchang and he will stay in Shandong forever.

Then, Li Mingrui suppressed his resentment towards Liu Zeqing first, and said with a smile on his face: "Congratulations to Zongbing Liu on being crowned king of Dongchang. Apart from being honored as the founder of the country, this is the first time in my Ming Dynasty that I have been crowned king with a different surname before my life." , Such an honor is enough to show that His Majesty attaches great importance to you, and please follow His Majesty's orders and lead your troops to meet Xie En as soon as possible, without any delay, if the other three towns' commander-in-chief find out, you may not be able to become a prince."

Liu Zeqing didn't move for a while at this time, and it took a long time before he stood up and took the order.

As a martial artist, Liu Zeqing was able to reach his current position from a mere soldier. Liu Zeqing mainly relied on his grasp of officialdom and power. The reason why he will personally greet the sixth-rank official.

But Liu Zeqing didn't expect to be a king, so Zhu Youjian's will put him in a completely confused state.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian's will not only made him a little confused but also a little disappointed. He originally wanted to go to the south of the Yangtze River with the emperor Zhu Youjian, and then forced the emperor Zhu Youjian to give him Yangzhou.

In this way, he can not only avoid the danger of facing an army of thieves in the future, but also make a fortune in a prosperous place like Yangzhou.

Seeing that Liu Zeqing did not speak, Li Mingrui thought that Liu Zeqing had seen through His Majesty's strategy and began to doubt His Majesty Zhu Youjian's intentions, so he deliberately kept silent to find a reason to refuse to see Zhu Youjian.

For a while, Li Mingrui didn't know what to do. He didn't know whether Liu Zeqing would definitely go to Jinan to meet him as His Majesty said.

But Li Mingrui also knew that he couldn't say too much now, because if he said one more word, Liu Zeqing would have a little more doubt.

At this time, Liu Zeqing suddenly ordered: "Bring me the jade-faced Buddha of the Han Dynasty that the General Soldier obtained the day before yesterday, and another plate of gold ingots, and let Qiuniang come here."

"Liu Zongbing, what do you mean?"

Li Mingrui saw a plate of gold in front of him, a crystal-clear jade-faced Buddha, and a charming beauty standing beside him, so he couldn't help but look down, and couldn't figure out what Liu Zeqing meant. To bribe yourself.

"As long as Li Zhongyun fulfills my wish, these are all yours," Liu Zeqing said frankly, "Can you tell Your Majesty to make me king of Yangzhou? I'm not used to this Shandong border."

(End of this chapter)