"Let him in!" Zhu Youxiao ordered lightly. Wei Zhongxian came at the right time. He must have brought good news. However, he didn't know whether Wei Zhongxian had managed to pry open Yao Zongwen's mouth further.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao became a little curious and slowed down the speed of making the rice porridge.

Not long after, Wei Zhongxian walked in from outside.

"Your Majesty!" After Wei Zhongxian walked in, he bowed respectfully and stood aside. Zhu Youxiao was having a meal, and he didn't dare to disturb him.

Zhu Youxiao didn't say anything and continued to eat his meal. After a while, he finished the rice porridge and felt good. He took the towel handed to him by Wang An and wiped his hands. He picked up the tea for rinsing his mouth and rinsed his mouth before standing up.

After taking a look at Wei Zhongxian, Zhu Youxiao finally spoke: "Okay, stop pouting and talk!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian quickly agreed, leaning forward and whispering flatteringly, "Your Majesty, Yao Zongwen has confessed. He colluded with Liu Guojin to suppress Xiong Tingbi..."

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand nonchalantly, interrupting Wei Zhongxian and saying, "Bring up the confession."

Wei Zhongxian was stunned and did not dare to be negligent in the slightest. He quickly took a step forward and handed the confession to Zhu Youxiao with both hands.

After taking the confession, Zhu Youxiao took a look and saw Liu Guojin's name.

Liu Guojin was from Liaodong. It was rumored that he was Li Chengliang's adopted son and had served as an imperial censor in the past. When Li Chengliang abandoned the country and was attacked by public opinion, Liu Guojin stood up and defended him vigorously, but was later dismissed for some reason.

After Yang Hao was defeated, the court recruited Liao people. Liu Guojin seized this opportunity and became the head of the Ministry of War, in charge of military affairs.

Liu Guojin strongly defended Yang Hao and Li Rubai, believing that the main reason for the failure was Du Song's recklessness. He then strongly supported Li Ruzhen to serve as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town.

After the defeat, Liaodong was severely short of troops. Liu Guojin advocated recruiting local soldiers from Liaodong to replenish the army, "using Liao to defend Liao." He believed that millions of Liao people were born and raised in Liaodong, and this land was their lifeblood. They knew everything about it. When Li Chengliang and Li Rusong dominated Liaodong, their warriors were primarily Liao people. Later, Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui also had numerous Liao and Mongolian soldiers under their command, who were highly combat-capable and loyal.

Xiong Tingbi disagreed, because he had always distrusted the Liao people and opposed the strategy of "using Liao to defend Liao". He advocated recruiting troops from the interior to Liaodong Town.

Xiong Tingbi's attitude of completely rejecting the Liao people was very one-sided, paranoid, simple and arbitrary, and was also mixed with his personal grudges with Liu Guojin.

Liu Guojin insisted on his own proposal and spent a lot of money to recruit nearly 20,000 Liao people, but most of them soon ran away.

Xiong Tingbi believed that Liu Guojin recruited local soldiers and "advocated the idea of ​​using Liao to defend Liao, believing that it was better to recruit nearby than to go on a distant expedition, that there was no need to seek far to survive, and that quality was more important than quantity."

Practice has proved that Liu Guojin's "theory has been repeatedly tested but has not been proven correct", and the method of using Liao to defend Liao is not feasible.

Xiong Tingbi reported Liu Guojin's mistake to the court, which naturally made Liu Guojin resentful.

"These civil servants don't think about serving the country all day long, but just think about these things." Zhu Youxiao tapped his fingers on the table and said in a calm tone. There was no difference in his tone. He seemed angry but not angry at the same time.

Wei Zhongxian came to his senses. The emperor was going to make it big! The emperor was talking about these literati. Who were they? Of course, it couldn't be just Yao Zongwen and Liu Guojin. Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian was immediately excited.

She took a step forward, smiled flatteringly, and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I have also learned that Yao Zongwen and Liu Guojin were both disciples of Li Ruzhen. Yao Zongwen could not withstand my torture and confessed everything. He said that Li Ruzhen first defended Tieling and later stationed in Shenyang, colluding with the Jin people. That year, when the Jiannu attacked Tieling, he had no troops to support it, which led to the fall of Tieling. These three people are all traitors."

"Come back after you get the evidence." Zhu Youxiao rubbed his forehead, suddenly felt his throat itchy, and coughed violently a few times.

"Your Majesty!" Wei Zhongxian was originally preparing to leave, but when he saw Emperor Tianqi coughing, his heart rose to his throat, and he hurried forward and gently patted Zhu Youxiao on the back a few times.

Wang An, who was waiting outside the door, was startled by the Emperor's cough. He hurried in, handed him a cup of tea, and scolded Wei Zhongxian, "Why don't you get out? Don't you see that the Emperor is tired?"

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "It's okay."

"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself!" Wei Zhongxian said, looking at Zhu Youxiao with concern. Obtain evidence? That's easy. Go back and have Yao Zongwen continue to press charges. This time, he must find something. If Li Ruzhen alone isn't enough, aren't there others? This matter must be brought to the attention of those in the court.

"The Li family of Liaodong." Zhu Youxiao smiled lightly. The Li family of Liaodong has really become powerful. Li Ruzhen is a Liao person. These days, no one takes the imperial court seriously.

Over the years, the Li family has been expanding its influence in Liaodong. If Liaodong hadn't been at war, a Liao faction might have emerged. Furthermore, since it was a military garrison, a vassal state might have been created. Many Liao people also supported the Li family. Many Liao people in the court said that the Li family had ruled Liaodong for generations, and the people on the border were afraid of them. Therefore, Liao people must be used to pacify Liaodong.

Li Ruzhen wanted to emulate his father Li Chengliang and play the game of keeping the enemy at bay to protect himself, excluding Yang Hao and wanting to become bigger, but ended up losing Tieling.

Xiong Tingbi disagreed with the Liao people defending Liao territory. The reason was simple: Liao territory belonged to the Ming Dynasty, not to the Liao people. "The Liao people defend Liao territory" sounded high-spirited and resolute, but it wasn't the case. By saying this, he prevented others from interfering in Liaodong's affairs, turning the entire region into the property of the Liao faction, with all the imperial money and grain going into their pockets.

Zhu Youxiao was naturally clear about these things. The Liaodong Li family must be abolished. This is why Emperor Wanli wanted to keep Li Chengliang in the capital.

However, the Li family had nurtured a tiger in Liaodong, which became a threat. With Li Chengliang in the capital, Liaodong was still out of control. As a result, the Later Jin Dynasty grew stronger, and the court had to once again send Li Chengliang out. However, Li Chengliang also failed. Nurhaci of the Later Jin Dynasty, who had always flattered him, turned the table directly, and after turning the table over, Li Chengliang was unable to deal with Nurhaci.

Zhu Youxiao felt that Nurhaci would definitely want to say something to Li Chengliang, which was "Sir, it's time to eat shit."

"Everyone wants to form a clique. This world is really interesting." Zhu Youxiao smiled and turned to look at Wei Zhongxian: "Go and investigate! I think this matter is quite interesting. Oh, and send someone to spread the news to Liaodong and let the officials in Liaodong hear it."

There are two reasons for doing this. One is to intimidate Liaodong and support Xiong Tingbi, and the second is to reassure Xiong Tingbi.