Hearing the continuous shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" coming from below, Li Qin was stunned.
Zhu Qizhen was so frightened that he collapsed onto the dragon throne.
At this moment, he stretched out his trembling hand and pointed to the officials below who were shouting "Long live Li Qin!"
At the same time, he looked at Li Qin standing next to him.
Because he doesn't know whether Li Qin arranged this or not.
Did Li Qin intend to use this incident to seize the throne and force him to abdicate?
Then kill him.
Holding the list in his hand, Li Qin, standing on top, was also completely bewildered.
Because he wanted to use this incident to establish his terrifying authority among the court officials.
We need to thoroughly intimidate them and make sure they don't cause him any more trouble.
However, this unexpected incident occurred while the officials below were under extreme tension.
They are expressing their loyalty by calling him "Long Live!"
Li Qin then turned around and glanced at Zhu Qizhen, who was already paralyzed with fear on the dragon throne.
He immediately waved his hand, ordering his men to stop the assembled officials from shouting "Long live the Emperor!"
He knew that now was not the time to shout "Long live him!"
The current imperial court in Jiangnan has not yet been pacified, and the local warlords are all eager to make their move.
I would proclaim myself emperor right now, even if I don't actually become emperor.
Those would all be a huge blow to the legitimacy of the imperial court in the capital that he himself controlled.
It's like tearing your own hand.
So after the officials were stopped, Li Qin immediately said:
"Who is trying to harm me? Drag them out."
The guards present then pulled over the official who, out of fear, had pledged his loyalty and led the chant of "Long live the Emperor!"
At this point, the official was so terrified that he could no longer stand and collapsed to the ground.
Li Qin glanced at him and thought to himself, "That was a good call, but it was too early."
He immediately stepped forward and said:
"Who are you to call me 'Long Live the Emperor' in front of His Majesty? Are you trying to frame me for disloyalty?"
Afterwards, Li Qin went directly to Emperor Zhu Qizhen, bowed, and said:
"Your Majesty, this man called me 'Long Live the Emperor' to your face, attempting to frame me. Please punish him."
Just after Li Qin finished speaking, Xi Ning, who was standing next to the emperor, also saw through Li Qin's thoughts.
He walked up to Emperor Zhu Qizhen and said:
"Your Majesty, you must be lenient and benevolent."
After hearing Xi Ning's words beside him, Zhu Qizhen could only say helplessly:
"Drag him away and give him twenty strokes of the cane."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The official was immediately dragged away and began to be flogged.
Li Qin held the list in his hand, looked at the civil and military officials below, and smiled contemptuously.
He knew he had achieved his goal, and the people in front of him no longer dared to have any other thoughts.
Moreover, if he were to ascend the throne in the future, these people would all be the ones who would shout "Long live the Emperor!"
There will be no officials who refuse to hand over the imperial seal when he ascends the throne and abdicates.
Since the desired effect was achieved, Li Qin stopped reciting it.
Instead, he simply handed the list to his subordinates and told them to arrest the suspects one by one.
The most noticeable person among them was the Second Grand Secretary Xu Youzhen, who was sitting in the front row.
He stood up, gave Emperor Zhu Qizhen a final bow, and then walked away.
Li Qin watched Xu Youzhen walk away and shook his head.
This guy was still playing the loyal subject even at the very end.
He is indeed capable, but he's not one of our own, so I'm not entirely comfortable using him.
He originally planned to leave him alone, and in the future, after taking over Henan, let him manage the Yellow River and dredge the Grand Canal.
It seems I'll have to choose someone else.
After all these people were arrested.
Li Qin walked up to Emperor Zhu Qizhen and took the list from his subordinate.
He placed it in front of Emperor Zhu Qizhen and said:
"Your Majesty, I have found out the treacherous officials who participated in the rebellion."
Please have Your Majesty issue a decree in red ink to handle this."
As he spoke, Li Qin handed over the emperor's writing brush.
Xi Ning, who was standing next to Zhu Qizhen, lowered her head and said:
"Your Majesty, he must be severely punished."
Zhu Qizhen looked at Li Qin in front of him and knew that Li Qin wanted him to order the execution of those officials.
He wants to bear this reputation himself.
He wanted to stand up for himself for a while, but when he saw the guards behind Li Qin, he chickened out.
He then trembled as he accepted the imperial brush from Li Qin's hand.
All of these people's names were crossed out.
After seeing them all executed, Li Qin immediately raised his wine glass with a smile and said:
"Gentlemen, now that the treacherous ministers have been eliminated, you are all loyal ministers, and there are no more treacherous ministers."
"Come on, everyone, let's have a drink!"
Upon hearing Li Qin's words, all the ministers present raised their glasses with smiles on their faces and toasted Li Qin.
Qian Qianyi, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, who was sitting in front, saw this scene and sighed inwardly.
At this moment, Li Qin stood on the stage, receiving congratulations from the officials.
At that moment, he acted more like an emperor than the emperor himself.
However, there was nothing he could do about it.
He had no choice but to drink a glass of wine.
He doesn't have the ability to fight to the death to protect the country like Yu Gan.
He didn't have the courage to jump into the lake and die for his country like Yang Shizhong.
He didn't have the ambition or courage to rebel like Xu Youzhen.
In the end, like many other officials present, they could only helplessly express their dissatisfaction with Li Qin.
However, under Li Qin's military intimidation, they continued to work for him.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
