He changed the subject and looked at Liu Ziqi, the implication of his words was very obvious.
Liu Ziqi was able to persuade Xiao Ning to return to Datong, Shanxi this time because he had a heart-to-heart talk with Xiao Ning and told him about his life story. This made Xiao Ning give up and not order the Weining Army to be transferred to the capital to quell the rebellion.
Otherwise, if the dog emperor knew that Xiao Ning could still command the Weining Army without the tiger talisman, he would be so worried about the throne under his butt that he would be unable to sleep or eat day and night and would think of ways to take his life.
Liu Yu looked at Liu Ziqi. This was indeed a good opportunity. Liu Ziqi and Xiao Ning brought reinforcements to suppress the rebellion and lifted the siege of Kyoto. As long as they were used a little, they would be able to leave a good reputation in the hearts of the people.
Liu Ziqi shook his head: "The master has no name."
Xiao Ning was anxious, and said in a rough voice: "How can you have no reason to do so? The emperor is unconscious, and the prince is colluding with the court officials to usurp the throne, regardless of the lives of the people. At this time, you, the grandson of the former emperor, suddenly appeared and eliminated the traitors and the emperor's side. This is the orthodox way!"
Liu Ziqi remained silent. He had been preparing for years, but he was reluctant to start an army. There was another reason: it was always the common people who suffered in war, and it was also the common people who were affected by the smoke of gunpowder.
Although he wanted to avenge the blood debt of his father and aunt, he always remembered the way of being a king that his father had taught him since he was young: he must first save the people. If he sacrificed the people to serve his own body, it would be like cutting off one's own thigh to feed his stomach. The stomach would be full but the body would die.
He was once blinded by hatred and thought in a radical way that what did the people of the world have to do with him? Zhu Kuang had killed his father and brother, so why couldn't he avenge his loved ones?
But he is not Zhu Kuang after all.
Everyone said that the former crown prince was too kind, and kindness was a big taboo for a monarch, so his throne was taken away from him and he lost his life.
He also resented his father. If he had not been so kind, valued brotherhood, and had taken steps to eradicate the evil early, would all this not have happened? He would not have lost all his loved ones overnight, and lived in hiding. He would still be the crown prince who was born rich, noble, and dignified.
But as he grew older, he traveled around as a businessman and saw the court levying heavy taxes and levying heavy levies, leaving the people hungry and clothed. He saw years of famine, floods, droughts, lootings and plagues, where only one in ten people survived and had to exchange their children for food. He saw enemies on the border burning, killing and looting, leaving the people living in fear and anxiety.
Only then will you realize that a ruler should have a kind heart and a heart that loves the people.
He is like his father after all.
"Zi Qi, are you going to say something?" Xiao Ning saw that he was hesitant to speak. He was impatient and was afraid that Liu Zi Qi was only here to ask him to send troops to quell the rebellion and that he didn't care about the throne. He said, "I'm a fugitive now, there's nothing I dare not say!"
"In order to make some immortality elixir, Zhu Kuang built a secret palace and palace, and carried out large-scale construction projects. He increased taxes every year. The annual income of Taicang was two million taels, and the annual cost of the secret palace and palace was two to three million taels. He wasted people's money and labor, and the treasury was empty. In the sixth year of Mingzheng, there was a severe drought in Gannan, and the fields did not produce any crops. The court was reluctant to allocate money for disaster relief, so every family had corpses and every room was filled with wailing. Some of the family members died, and some of the entire family lost their lives. I don't know how many people died!"
"In the seventh year of Mingzheng, a censor whose ancestral home was in Shandong, died admonishing Zhu Kuang that he should not indulge in pleasure, listen to the slander of Taoist priests, and neglect state affairs. Not long after that, an earthquake occurred in Shandong and plague spread. However, Zhu Kuang dragged his feet and did not send the Imperial Hospital to research medicine to treat the plague. This was because he listened to the Taoist priests who said that the earthquake in Shandong was caused by the censor who died admonishing Zhu Kuang for not respecting the gods and not serving the Taoist incense, which angered the gods. Therefore, Shandong suffered this heavenly punishment. He then let the people of several prefectures in Shandong fend for themselves!"
"Later, I heard that Liu Ci Fu and a group of upright ministers knelt outside the Fengtian Hall for a day and a night. In addition, refugees in Shandong had rebelled, which forced Zhu Kuang to issue an imperial decree to send an imperial envoy with a royal doctor to Shandong to appease the people. However, he secretly gave the imperial envoy a secret order, asking him to massacre the entire village in the plague-infected area!"
Liu Ziqi closed his eyes, unwilling to think about the miserable scene of the people in Shandong at that time, because he had experienced it personally. At that time, Liu Ci Fu sent him a message telling him about the miserable situation in Shandong and the inaction of the court. He brought medicinal materials and food from Jiangnan and witnessed with his own eyes the imperial envoy and soldiers blocking the villages, killing people and burning corpses.
"What good is such an emperor to the people? There are many such things. Liu Ci Fu should know better since he is in the cabinet," Xiao Ning's face was full of resentment, and his tone became more and more excited. "Don't say it's Ji Wudao. I wanted to rebel against him back then! If it was Prince Chen who ascended the throne, the people of the world would not be like this."
Liu Yu was of course well aware that in order to secure his throne, Zhu Kuang had secretly instructed the Imperial Household Department to frame countless pillars of the court.
Although Liu Ziqi had never entered the officialdom, Liu Yu never hid anything in the court from him, so Liu Ziqi was very clear about what Zhu Kuang did.
"I, Xiao Ning, have risked my life to bring down the emperor!" Xiao Ning said this with a bandit-like air. He dared to bring the Weining Army here just to support Liu Ziqi to ascend the throne.
Liu Ziqi was a little confused. He tapped his fingers on the armrest a few times, took a deep breath, and said, "Wait a minute, let me think about it."
"Young Marquis Gu and his son are definitely willing to be loyal to you. The Lingnan Army plus the troops I can mobilize total more than 300,000. As long as you give the order, we will be invincible!" Xiao Ning didn't understand what Liu Ziqi was waiting for. Did he really have to wait for Zhu Kuang to wake up?
"Right now, Xianyang Guard has only more than 50,000 garrison troops. Even without the Lingnan Army, I can take them all down with the 30,000 Weining Army outside the city!" Xiao Ning never doubted his ability to lead troops in battle. What's more, the garrison troops of Xianyang Guard were only local garrisons, far inferior to the Weining Army that had been fighting against the Oirat on the battlefield all year round.
Liu Ziqi still did not nod.
Xiao Ning had no choice. He couldn't force Liu Ziqi, so he could only follow Liu Yu and say, "Lord Liu, this opportunity is rare and will never come again. Please try to persuade him. I think your words are more effective than mine!"
Over the years, Liu Yu had treated Liu Ziqi as his own child. He understood Liu Ziqi's thoughts. After dealing with Xiao Ning, he just patted Liu Ziqi on the shoulder before he returned to his room.
Liu Ziqi returned to Fufeng Pavilion and sat for a while, then stood up and left the mansion. He walked along Zhanmao Hutong to the ruins of Princess Huaiyang's mansion and sat on the ruins until dawn.
Xiao Ning quietly followed him out of the house and watched him for half an hour. He saw Liu Ziqi sitting in the ruins in a daze, not doing anything, and he was so anxious that he almost stamped his feet.
He suddenly thought of Yu Qizhe, and hurried back to the mansion to ask the servants about Yu Qizhe's residence. Since his father Liu Yu was unwilling to help persuade him, he went to find his brother-in-law.
Yu Qizhe was awakened by Song Nian. He heard him say that there was a man who called himself Xiao Ning outside who wanted to see him. Yu Qizhe thought for a while and roughly guessed his purpose. He got up, put on his outer robe and went to the front hall.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
