I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 100 Weishan Four Lakes
When the emperor came to the cabinet, the eunuch of the Qing Dao Supervisor naturally went to inform him in advance. After Yang Shiqi heard the news, he led a group of people and waited quietly at the door of the cabinet.

Seeing the dragon chariot from a distance, the officials of all sizes straightened their faces, and hurriedly swung their sleeves and bowed in salute:

"Your Majesty is welcome."

Arriving in front of him on a dragon chariot, stepping on a soft ladder wrapped in deerskin to go down to the ground, Li Tian put on a smile and said kindly;
"You love yourselves."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Strolling into the cabinet courtyard, Li Tian walked straight towards the rear cabinet. Yang Shiqi knew why the emperor came, and hurriedly winked at Lu Xiangru, the left counselor of the General Administration, and followed him.

Liao Pao sat on the main seat, and when Wang Fu poured out the tea, Li Tian went straight to the point and said:

"Lu Aiqing, I probably already know the situation, and you can tell me more about it."

Lu Xiangru was a Jinshi in the 13th year of Yongle, but the General Secretary was a fifth-rank official. Compared with the promotion speed of ordinary officials, he was already on a rocket.

Hearing the emperor's question, Yang Shiqi handed over the play to Li Tian before the case. Lu Xiangru also got up when he heard the sound, bowed his hands solemnly, and began to report.

While listening to Lu Xiangru's report and scanning the playbook, Li Tian gradually fell into deep thought.

Liu Gang was found on the bank of the canal, and there seemed to be hundreds of people accompanying him
Pursing his lips, Li Tian wondered why Liu Gang took Zhang Yiliang to Xuzhou.

Xuzhou is under the jurisdiction of Nanzhili, and Pengcheng is the hometown of Empress Zhang. The ruling power of the imperial court there is very strong. Is Liu Gang planning to dance on the tip of a knife, or is he deliberately provoking the imperial court.

He closed the notebook and put it aside. When he looked up and saw that Lu Xiangru was still standing, Li Tian waved his hand to signal Lu Xiangru to sit down and talk, and turned to look at Yang Shiqi:

"Shi Qi, have you read the playbook? What trick do you think Liu Gang is playing again?"

Nodding slightly, putting down the teacup in his hand, Yang Shiqi stroked his long beard, pondered a little:

"Your Majesty, according to what the old minister has seen, Liu Gang may have been lurking in Xuzhou Mansion for a long time, but he just showed his feet recently."

"how you said that?"

"That's it, Your Majesty. There are dozens of lakes, large and small, between Pei County and Pengcheng under the rule of Xuzhou. Among them, Zhaoyang Lake has the largest area and the widest watershed. After the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal passed through Xuzhou for a hundred years, Nanzhili Nearly [-] rivers in the seven prefectures of Henan, Henan and Shandong connect Zhaoyang Lake, Nanshan Lake, Dushan Lake and Weishan Lake that were originally separated.

Between Jining Mansion and Xuzhou Mansion, a large lake of nearly 20 miles from north to south has been formed. There are many islands in the lake, and it is impossible to send troops to station one by one near the state capital. Moreover, since Yongle [-] years ago, there have been many water bandits on the four lakes of Weishan. , making a living by robbing merchants and merchant ships. Although the nearby state capital sent troops to suppress bandits several times, due to the terrain, most of them returned without success. "

Listening to Yang Shiqi talking about the terrain thousands of miles away, Li Tian couldn't help but click his tongue secretly, Yang Shoufu is still a cow.

Looking at Yang Shiqi approvingly, Li Tian frowned slightly:

"So, Liu Gang has turned into a bandit and become a water bandit?"

"The old minister is just guessing."

Without saying anything, Yang Shiqi stretched out his hand and wet his fingers, and simply drew the topography of Weishan and Four Lakes on the tea table:

"Your Majesty, please take a look. As far as the topography of Weishan and Four Lakes is concerned, it is definitely the best hiding place for Liu Gang."

Li Tian stood up and looked, seeing Yang Shiqi drawing dozens of routes beside the four lakes in Weishan, he suddenly understood, frowned and said:

"From this point of view, I can only catch him unless I send troops to surround the entire Weishan and Four Lakes."

It is naturally impossible to surround Weishan and the four lakes. Yang Shiqi only thought that Li Tian was expressing emotion, and he paused and said:
"Liu Gang fled with the officials ordered by the imperial court, and he must not be allowed to get away with it. The old minister has a clumsy plan, and I ask His Majesty to order it."

"Speak quickly."

Seeing that the emperor wanted to discuss this matter with the chief assistant, Lu Xiangru hurriedly stood up with his arms folded: "This humble minister retreats."

"No need." Shouting to stop Lu Xiangru, Li Tian turned to look at Yang Shiqi and stretched out his hand:

"Shi Qi, tell your story."

Lu Xiangru was stunned when he heard the words, but secretly happy in his heart, being able to sit in the cabinet with the emperor's first assistant for a while, the next year's official examination department will definitely give him a high evaluation.

"Your Majesty, this old minister's plan is to block the news of Liu Gang's exposure in Xuzhou, and the imperial court's reward for Liu Gang does not need to be changed, and then secretly send a few fake merchant ships to pass through the four lakes of Weishan, Use all the tricks to inquire about Liu Gang, as well as the rich and powerful gentry near the state capital."

After listening to Yang Shiqi's strategy, Li Tian calculated the possibility of success, and generously sent a smiling face:
"Scholar's great talent, what a three-pronged approach, what a bright repair of plank roads and dark storage."

Yang Shiqi smiled knowingly, struck while the iron was hot, and made a few additions in a row. Li Tian kept nodding his head, and immediately discussed with Yang Shiqi in detail.

After talking about this matter, let's come to an end for now, Li Tian turned around and sat down to sip tea and rest, then turned to look at Lu Xiangru and chatted:
"How many years has Lu Aiqing been an official?"

Lu Xiangru's heart would be pounding, he never thought that he would be able to talk to the emperor when he entered the palace today, and said respectfully:
"Return to Your Majesty, I have been an official for nine years."

"It took nine years to become a councilor of the Secretary of General Administration, and the promotion is fast enough. It seems that Lu Aiqing is also quite capable."

Although Lu Xiangru felt complacent when he heard the words, he quickly showed a humble expression on his face:
"The humble minister is just sharing his majesty's worries and doing his best to do his job well."

A fifth-rank official can be regarded as a high-ranking official outside, but in Li Tian's eyes, he is just an ordinary courtier.

In line with the harmony between the monarch and his subjects, and patiently chatted with Lu Xiangru for a few words, Li Tian smiled gently, and put down the teacup in his hand.

Lu Xiangru understood what was going on in his heart, and with a smile on his face, he bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, there are still a lot of government affairs to be done in the General Administration Department, so I will resign first."

Li Tian nodded slightly, signaling Jiang Bao to open the door for Lu Xiangru, and watched Lu Xiangru walk away with a smile.

As soon as Lu Xiangru left, Li Tian turned to look at Yang Shiqi, and said sullenly in his tone:

"Shiqi, why is it that Lu Xiangru was directly promoted from the head of the military department of the sixth rank to the counselor of the General Administration Department of the fifth rank, but the strife between the DPRK and China has become serious recently?"

When Lu Xiangru said earlier that he had served as the head of the Ministry of War, Yang Shiqi noticed that Li Tian's face was a bit wrong. When Li Tian asked, Yang Shiqi quickly clasped his hands and explained:

"Your Majesty's new emperor is on the throne, and it is normal for the officials of the court to be replaced and transferred, not because of rivalry."

Although what Yang Shiqi said was reasonable, Li Tian didn't fully believe it. It's normal for one emperor to have one courtier, but the replacement of officials and the promotion of officials by leapfrogging are two different things.

"Jiang Bao, go to Qianbu Corridor and summon Qian Yi to come to the cabinet to meet me."

(End of this chapter)