Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 33 Killing Liu Zeqing

As soon as Zhu Youjian saw the white-faced man riding on the horse and wearing the military officer's first-grade unicorn uniform, Zhu Youjian guessed that this person was Liu Zeqing, the commander-in-chief of Shandong and the right commander.

Zhu Youjian ran over first, and even laughed first: "Liu Aiqing, you have kept me waiting for a long time!"

When Liu Zeqing saw Zhu Youjian in yellow robe, he got off his horse in fright.

Although he no longer took Emperor Zhu Youjian seriously, Liu Zeqing saluted respectfully:

"Your Majesty, I have come to see you under the order, and there are [-] troops accompanying me. Your Majesty can rest assured!"

"With Liu Aiqing here, why should I be afraid of trespassers!"

Saying that, Zhu Youjian personally took Liu Zeqing's hand and walked to the main hall in the backyard:

"I have already ordered people to prepare a table of food and wine for Aiqing. Aiqing has been exhausted all the way. It is regarded as a royal banquet given to you. After the banquet is over, we, the monarch and ministers, will talk about it!"

Liu Zeqing didn't expect that His Majesty would treat him so courteously and entertain him personally. He didn't know what to say for a while, so he hurriedly followed Zhu Youjian in.

The [-] troops brought by Liu Zeqing were already stationed outside the city.

The five hundred soldiers and servants who accompanied him were also personally invited to the front hall by He Xin, the horse supervisor.

Zhou Yuji's [-]st Guards Army and Liu Fangliang's [-]rd Guards Army had begun to slowly move toward Jinan City, but Liu Zeqing's [-] troops didn't know that they were slowly being surrounded.

In order to paralyze the [-] troops, Zhu Youjian ordered Li Banghua, Minister of the Ministry of War, to show up at Liu Zeqing's camp outside the city with a batch of silver, and to send money to Liu Zeqing's army in the name of His Majesty's reward.

Naturally, Liu Zeqing's generals could not prevent His Majesty the Emperor from sending money to the officers and soldiers below, and the officers and soldiers below all focused on rewarding the silver, and almost ignored the changes around them.

And in the front hall, Liu Zeqing's servants, who were in charge of protecting Liu Zeqing's safety, also sat in the front hall drinking under the personal hospitality of He Xin, the horse supervisor.

The majestic eunuchs, eunuchs, are equivalent to the ministers of the foreign dynasty, and their authority and status are not insignificant. Therefore, when He Xin personally entertained these servants, these servants did not think that there would be problems with the wine they drank.

Even if there were a few vigilant ones, He Xin secretly sent people to closely monitor them. Once there was any movement from His Majesty, he would not mind getting rid of these vigilant servants himself.

The atmosphere between Zhu Youjian and Liu Zeqing was very harmonious, because Zhu Youjian personally persuaded him to drink, and seeing the emperor Zhu Youjian had a drink by himself, Liu Zeqing also drank with Zhu Youjian more at ease.

At this time, Chen Yuanyuan was noticed by Liu Zeqing because he accompanied Zhu Youjian to pour wine. Liu Zeqing had always been lustful, so when he saw Chen Yuanyuan's beauty, he couldn't help asking, "Your Majesty, may I ask who this beauty is?"

"It's the famous lady from the capital that I got when I left Beijing. It's all thanks to her to comfort my heart these days. Otherwise, I would not be able to live today when I see the country ruined and my family destroyed."

As Zhu Youjian spoke, he showed sadness. He didn't reveal Chen Yuanyuan's true identity in order to prevent Liu Zeqing from revealing his true nature because he was afraid of Wu Sangui. Let's try how much Liu Zeqing doesn't take himself as an emperor seriously, and at the same time further paralyze Liu Zeqing.

As expected, Liu Zeqing stared at Chen Yuanyuan without blinking, disregarding that this woman is His Majesty's woman, and said:

"Your Majesty has three thousand beauties in the harem. I'm afraid you don't like such a beauty. Why don't Your Majesty reward her to this king. I haven't tasted a woman for a long time these days."

As soon as Liu Zeqing said that, he completely disregarded his image in front of Zhu Youjian and rushed towards Chen Yuanyuan.

And he didn't even notice that there were already 36 knife and axemen quietly crawling at the root of the wall outside the door.

The windows of the north, south, east and west of the main hall have been opened, and 72 firearmsmen have quietly aimed at Liu Zeqing with their firearms.

Chen Yuanyuan hurriedly stepped aside.

Zhu Youjian hurriedly pulled Chen Yuanyuan to his side, and pulled her hand back behind the screen.

Liu Zeqing felt something was wrong, and couldn't help shouting: "Your Majesty, what are you doing, why did you hide with her!"

Zhu Youjian didn't answer him, but winked at Li Ruolian, the Commander of Jinyiwei and his fellow acquaintance.

Then, Zhu Youjian sat directly behind the screen and asked Chen Yuanyuan to make him a cup of tea.

But here, Li Ruolian has already stopped Liu Zeqing: "Bold Liu Zeqing, you have been favored by the emperor, but you have repeatedly disobeyed and disobeyed, and now you have even more evil intentions. Murdering your father is a crime that should be punished. What is right or wrong!"

Immediately, 36 knife and axemen appeared in the main hall: "This subordinate is here!"

"Your Majesty has an order to hack this thief to death!"

After Li Ruolian said that, he jumped into the air first, and the Xiuchun knife in his hand turned like snowflakes, and suddenly accumulated a mighty momentum and slashed towards Liu Zeqing's forehead.

Liu Zeqing stumbled back a step, he didn't expect His Majesty to kill him suddenly, he was numb for a moment.

However, when Li Ruolian's blade approached him, he still instinctively avoided it, but at this time other swordsmen had already launched attacks, and some cut off his left arm directly.

The pain caused Liu Zeqing to wake up immediately, and suddenly shouted at Zhu Youjian: "Zhu Youjian! Why did you kill me!"

As he said that, Liu Zeqing rushed towards Zhu Youjian desperately, and pulled out the dagger from his sleeve, as if he wanted to kill Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian didn't panic at all, he still drank his tea and smiled coldly.

At this time, 72 firearmsmen had already pulled the trigger, and the bullets hit Liu Zeqing's body densely like rain.

Even though Liu Zeqing was wearing soft armor, he was beaten with dozens of blood holes all over his body.

At the same time, an axeman suddenly launched an attack and chopped off Liu Zeqing's feet. Liu Zeqing fell directly to the ground, his eyes widened.

Other sabers and axemen immediately flocked to Liu Zeqing with their swords up and down.

Following Chen Yuanyuan's exclamation, Liu Zeqing had already been chopped into meat, but his head was not chopped off, but was cut off by Li Ruolian, the commander of Jin Yiwei.

Li Ruolian, covered in blood, appeared in front of Zhu Youjian holding Liu Zeqing's head: "Your Majesty, the traitor Liu Zeqing has been executed!"

……

Li Ruolian, commander of Jinyiwei, had just launched an operation to kill Liu Zeqing under the order of Zhu Youjian. Liu Zeqing's servants on the side of Yuma Supervisor He Xin also noticed something was wrong, and Yao Wenchang, the leader, even shouted:

"The military gate is in trouble, everyone, follow me to rescue the military gate!"

As soon as Yao Wenchang finished shouting, he found that most of the servants behind him had fallen to the ground unconscious.

The only few servants who were still awake were surrounded by officers and soldiers of the Second Guards Army who rushed out from all directions before they could join Yao Wenchang.

He Xin, the horse supervisor, also came out, smiled at Yao Wenchang and the others, and waved directly: "Take it!"

Immediately, dozens of spears stabbed towards Yao Wenchang and the others. Yao Wenchang and the others were caught off guard and were riddled with holes, and were wiped out by the second guard army in an instant.

For most of Liu Zeqing's personal guards who fell on the ground, He Xin, the Imperial Horse Supervisor, also ordered them all to be killed, leaving no one behind!
After all, these people are domestic slaves loyal to Liu Zeqing, it is impossible to expect these people to serve the court.

(End of this chapter)