Li Qin turned around, his icy gaze slowly sweeping over the generals below.
The generals and ministers below were all his subordinates, as were the feudal lords who had been granted titles of king or duke.
Apart from Qin Chenyao, most of them returned to their troops and did not continue to attend court.
Furthermore, they wrote to Li Qin, stating that they followed him south to join him in his campaign against the Jiangnan court.
Now that the Jiangnan court has been destroyed, he has requested to return to his respective territories to guard the four directions for the emperor.
Li Qin suppressed their petition entirely, citing the fact that Jiangnan was not yet completely stable.
Because they knew it wasn't the right time yet, just days before his coronation.
Judging that the time was about right, they sent someone by fast horse to deliver the message to the Northwest.
Let Zhou Wentong join forces with Zu Zhilong to take action.
We must dismantle Hong Chengchou's already weak foundation in the Northwest as quickly as possible.
To completely take control of the Northwest.
Now that so many days have passed, the news should have reached its destination by now.
He is currently suppressing these feudal lords and preventing them from returning, mainly to prevent Hong Chengchou from going back.
If we let him go back, the Northwest will have no chance at all.
He's currently waiting for news from the Northwest.
However, he has other things to do now.
Li Qin's murderous gaze swept over the assembled officials.
Many of the ministers were so frightened that they shuddered.
Li Qin stepped forward and said:
"You should have heard my imperial edict just now. I'm not just talking about Zhang Liangdong and a few others."
Since crossing the river, you and your subordinates have all become undisciplined.
Some soldiers have even sold their armor.
We conquered the world on horseback, so how come you're already thinking about selling your horses and enjoying your newfound power?
ah!"
At Li Qin's roar, the generals below were all so frightened that they knelt down on the ground.
Li Qin coldly walked down and stood beside Dugu Yu, saying:
"General Dugu, I heard that in just a few days since you arrived in Jiangnan, you have taken nine beautiful women from Jiangnan as your concubines."
"You've been living a life of debauchery these past few days. How many days has it been since you went to the army?"
Upon hearing Li Qin approach and publicly criticize him, Dugu Yu immediately kowtowed and said:
"Your Majesty, I will go to the army to discipline them, enforce military discipline, and strengthen training."
Anyone who continues to be disorganized and disorderly will be killed on sight.
After hearing Dugu Yu's assurance, Li Qin turned to the other ministers around him and said:
"General Dugu has spoken, what about you?"
After Li Qin's cold gaze swept over them, everyone present quickly said:
"We will return and immediately reorganize the army."
"Good, very good. Then I will submit my petition after you have finished your rectification."
Now, court is adjourned. Go and discipline your respective troops.
Li Qin immediately turned around and walked back to his dragon throne.
The ministers below, including Dugu Yu and Liu Chenghui, bowed and then withdrew.
Li Qin sat on the dragon throne, watching the ministers leave one by one.
He closed his eyes and patted the armrest of the dragon throne.
The issue of the feudal lords has not yet been resolved; Lingnan and Yunnan-Guizhou have not yet submitted their allegiance; and Fujian has not yet been pacified.
His own subordinates had already begun to imitate the previous dynasty, indulging in pleasure.
Is now the time to enjoy yourself?
Moreover, his subordinates were divided into numerous factions.
Even within the Liaodong military and political group he established, there were many factions.
There were veterans who had followed him since his father's time, and also major generals who were promoted along with him.
There were also some hereditary military officers in Liaodong, led by Xia Nianyong.
These factions have intertwined interests and conflicts.
Fortunately, they were all led by them and fought together from Liaodong.
It is possible to maintain internal unity when dealing with those surrendered generals.
As for the surrendered generals, they were further divided into the new surrendered generals and the old surrendered generals.
The faction of the "old surrendered generals" mainly consisted of generals like Cui Yuanbin who surrendered in the north.
The newly surrendered faction consisted of generals who had surrendered en masse from the south, such as Qi Jiguang.
Within these factions, further divisions were made. For example, the old surrendered generals faction was further divided into the Xuanfu faction and the Hebei faction.
As for the newly surrendered generals, they were divided into the Beijing Garrison faction, the Shanxi faction, the Lianghuai faction, etc., and the Beijing Garrison faction was further divided into the Qi faction, the Yan faction, etc.
In addition to them, there were also Green Standard Battalions composed of garrison troops from various places, and so on.
These various factions gave Li Qin a huge headache just thinking about them.
But at the same time, I feel very reassured.
Because as long as their factions are sufficiently dispersed, the power of each individual is far from threatening them.
This effectively weakens the power of the various feudal lords who jointly establish their own fiefdoms.
However, similarly, their internal cohesion is very poor.
Moreover, there is a flaw that I cannot hide no matter how hard I try.
That is, he ascended the throne by rebelling with his army.
No matter how much you try to beautify or cover it up.
Those who had participated in the rebellion alongside them knew the truth perfectly well.
In the context of the prevailing concept of loyalty to the emperor in that era, he could be considered a rebel.
Of the people under his command, only a very, very small number followed him out of gratitude or other emotional reasons.
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