"Teng Shuchang, you have been harboring bandits to enhance your own power, unwilling to fight the rebels in a decisive battle, and even trying to interfere in local government affairs, attempting to embezzle tax revenue. You are indulging in extravagance and debauchery. You are hereby ordered to resign immediately and be demoted to a garrison commander. The southern expeditionary army will be handed over to someone else!"
Teng Shuchang immediately jumped up: "Nonsense!"
Commander Yi glared at him: "Teng Shuchang! You are disrespecting the King!"
"When did I ever harbor bandits to bolster my own power or embezzle tax revenue?"
Commander Yi chuckled: "You can submit a memorial to prove your innocence." He paused, "However... I think you should just accept it, General."
Teng Shuchang left, gritting his teeth.
What exactly happened?
After thinking about it all night, he suddenly remembered what happened today. As he left, he glanced back and saw Fang Zhiyi and Yi Taiwei walking away arm in arm.
Fang Zhiyi! He suddenly realized the problem. Had he misread it? Had he not surrendered at all?
When he went from a winning streak to being suddenly demoted, Teng Shuchang began to seriously reflect on the series of events that had occurred.
He also came to a startling conclusion: Fang Zhiyi hadn't surrendered! He was faking it!
Teng Shuchang immediately took action; he wanted to prove his innocence! It was all Fang Zhiyi's doing, in collusion with someone surnamed Yi! He prepared to mobilize troops, but the city's garrison commander stopped him.
"General Teng, we cannot easily mobilize troops now. It would be bad if the rebels attacked." The garrison commander spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly, but there was a hint of arrogance in his tone.
Looking at his former subordinates, Teng Shuchang understood something.
Sure enough, when he sent people to the front lines to mobilize troops, the new general ignored him, and Teng Shuchang's heart sank.
His self-incriminating report could no longer be submitted. Teng Shuchang was unaware of this. After submitting the report, he wanted to investigate privately. The first thing he did was find his informants, only to discover that they had long forgotten about keeping an eye on Fang Zhiyi and were spending their days gambling with some thugs.
He was furious and immediately drew his sword, killing two thugs. However, he was then arrested by his own men.
Teng Shuchang went from being a general to a prisoner in less than a month.
At this moment, he finally understood that the capital of Li Kingdom was no longer the same as before. The puppet emperor had woven a web of interests, binding all the officials of their Mang Dynasty together. Many of his subordinates had even received benefits from Fang Zhiyi, and some of the officials and generals even had shares in Fang Zhiyi's business.
No wonder, if I were to touch him, it would be the same as touching someone else's money!
Teng Shuchang finally realized that he couldn't impeach Yi Taiwei alone, but what if his deputies were included?
He burst into laughter in the cell, "They were all wrong, they were all wrong!"
Fang Zhiyi is not some king who has lost his country; what he wants to destroy is their country!
But nobody listened to him, nobody even paid him any attention.
Even some of the old guard within the Mang Dynasty received silver notes from Yi Taiwei and others as tribute. For them, fighting was one thing, but factional struggles were another. Although Fang Zhiyi was good at making money, he had no power, fame, or soldiers, so he was not a threat. What they feared was Teng Shuchang's great achievement in destroying the Li Kingdom.
So Teng Shuchang, who was skilled in warfare, was inexplicably imprisoned.
Meanwhile, in Fang Zhiyi's restaurant, several tables were filled with people enjoying drinks and conversation.
"Brother Fang's method works! It's extremely effective."
"It will be even easier to make money in the future, right? Right now, the people guarding the checkpoints are all our own people, so it will be much smoother to do business with the south in the future."
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