"Lord Li suspects that Li Zicheng is cooperating with the Jian Nu?"
"No, Li Zicheng despises the Jian Nu from the bottom of his heart and will not cooperate with them. However, his non-cooperation does not mean that his subordinates will not cooperate, so I want Commander Li to find a way to investigate."
"This..." Li Ruolian looked embarrassed.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to check, it’s just too difficult!
Even if it was true as Li Banghua expected that there were people in Li Zicheng's army cooperating with the Jiannu, such top-secret information could not be found out by just sending a few Jinyiwei.
Moreover, with so many civil and military officials under Li Zicheng, it would be impossible to investigate!
Li Banghua saw Li Ruolian's concerns. He blinked and said, "Li Zicheng is currently besieging Daming Prefecture. Let's first find a way to investigate his civil officials, especially Song Xiance, Niu Jinxing, and Li Yan!"
......
Daming Mansion!
Li Xingzhong was lying on the floor of the government hall like an unreasonable scoundrel.
Zhao Wang Zhu Chang? and Zhou Wang Zhu Shaojiong were sitting on chairs in the lobby, looking at Li Xingzhong's poor performance with great confusion.
"What happened to General Li?" asked King Zhou.
"He must be angry because no one wants to play with him. How about this, when we have nothing to do, let's play mahjong?" King Zhao had a smile on his face and his eyes were shining.
(It is said that mahjong originated during Zheng He's voyages to the West. At that time, there were no entertainment activities on the ship. As time went by, the soldiers were homesick and developed disgust, and even tried to rebel. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Zheng He invented mahjong, a cross-era entertainment tool.)
"My mother doesn't allow me to play with you!" King Zhou gave King Zhao a look of disdain and stood up to leave.
"Don't go. I will never hide my cards again, okay?" King Zhao hurriedly grabbed King Zhou's sleeve and promised solemnly.
"real?"
"I'm lying to you, you're just a puppy!" King Zhao swore!
"Your Highness Prince Zhao must not talk nonsense. If the Princess Dowager hears us, we will be punished!" The left and right chief historians of Prince Zhao's mansion stepped forward at the same time and bowed to Prince Zhao.
"I won't listen, I won't listen. I want to be a puppy!"
“Your Highness Prince Zhao, please spare us two!” The left and right chief secretaries of Prince Zhao’s mansion immediately knelt down and kowtowed continuously.
"Then...you two will play mahjong with me later!" King Zhao said with a smile.
The left and right chief secretaries of Prince Zhao's palace did not dare to agree, nor did they dare to refuse, so they had to look at the people around them for help.
After taking a quick look around, they turned their attention to Li Xingzhong.
"General Li, please get up quickly. The bandits have been besieging the city for two days. You neither go out to fight nor train your soldiers. What are you doing lying here?"
(The fief of King Zhao was Zhangde Prefecture, which is now Anyang, Henan.)
Li Xingzhong lay on the ground and looked up at the nine-year-old King Zhou, then at the twelve-year-old King Zhao. The fighting spirit that he had finally aroused was extinguished again.
He never expected that these two princes were actually children!
He couldn't threaten the children and then take the money from them, could he?
If he really did that, not even the entire court would have the ability to carry out civil and military operations, but the common people in Daming City alone would be able to tear him apart.
What's the big deal about bullying a teenager?
Regret it!
Before coming here, he did not even ask about the ages of the King of Zhao and the King of Zhou. Now, the imperial edict in his hand has become a burden.
"Um... Your Highnesses, can we discuss something?"
King Zhao was a few years older than King Zhou, and he immediately said, "Anything is possible except borrowing money!"
Well, the hope of borrowing money from King Zhao is gone!
"Your Highness Prince Zhou?"
The nine-year-old King Zhou chuckled and said, "My mother told me not to play with older people!"
Li Xingzhong: ...
He felt like crying.
At this moment, he just wanted to find a big tree, hug it in his arms, and cry bitterly.
However, crying will not solve the problem.
The problem with Daming Prefecture now is that there is a serious shortage of garrison troops!
Without the more than 10,000 men he brought, the defenders of Daming Prefecture would not be able to fill the battlements of the city wall.
Too few! So few that he dared not go out of the city to fight in the field.
He was afraid that Li Zicheng would attack him as soon as he left the city.
Li Zicheng's policy of encircling but not attacking seemed to be intended to trap the enemy, but no one could guarantee that he would not attack in the short term.
Wait, Li Xingzhong found a flaw in King Zhou's words. He raised his eyelids and asked back, "Your Highness King Zhou, since Queen Mother Wang doesn't allow you to play with me, why do you still want to play mahjong with me?"
"I can choose not to listen to her!" King Zhou answered seriously.
have to!
Li Xingzhong completely gave up hope.
After lying down for a while, he stood up and asked directly: "Your Highnesses, the bandits are now besieging Daming Mansion. You and I are both trapped in the mansion. If we want to defeat the enemy, we need money to recruit civilians."
"What should I do to get the two princes to lend me money?"
King Zhao and King Zhou looked at each other and said almost at the same time: "Play mahjong with us!"
Li Xingzhong: ...
Why?
Li Xingzhong had a flash of inspiration and he first looked at King Zhao.
After seeing the other party's clever eyes, he immediately understood what the twelve-year-old prince wanted to do.
He asked hurriedly, "Your Highnesses, do you mean to gamble on silver?"
"What else?" King Zhao looked at Li Xingzhong relentlessly, "I never do business at a loss! Playing mahjong is the fairest way!"
"That's great!"
Li Xingzhong immediately ordered: "Come here, bring the table and set up the mahjong!"
The left and right chief secretaries of the Zhao Palace came to Li Xingzhong almost at the same time, pointed at Li Xingzhong's nose and said, "Li Xingzhong, as the general of Baoding, you don't go outside the city to kill the enemy, but instead want to use the method of playing mahjong to cheat the princes of the Ming Dynasty of money. Do you believe that I will report you?"
Li Xingzhong didn't care: "Whatever!"
"You..." The left and right chief secretaries were so angry that they were speechless.
Li Xingzhong had a large army under his command, and with Li Zicheng besieging the city, no one dared or could do anything to Li Xingzhong.
"Wait a minute, we will go and report to the Zhao Wang Consort!" The two chief officials of the Zhao Wang Mansion immediately walked out of the government office and hurried to the Zhao Wang's temporary residence. (The Zhao Wang Consort was the Zhao Wang's mother.)
When they returned, the game was over.
King Zhao sat on a chair with a look of despair.
"What's wrong with you, Your Highness Prince Zhao?" a chief official asked hurriedly.
Prince of Zhao Zhu Chang said nothing and sat there as if he had lost his soul.
"What did you do to His Royal Highness Prince Zhao?"
Li Xingzhong said calmly: "Nothing, just lost some money."
"How much?"
"One million taels of silver."
"How much...how much?" The two chief secretaries widened their eyes, thinking they had heard wrongly.
"One round determines the outcome. Your Highness Prince Zhao lost one million taels of silver."
The left and right chief secretaries of the Zhao Palace fell to the ground almost at the same time, and they kept muttering, "One million taels... Rebellion! How dare you rob the prince of the Ming Dynasty of his money in front of us?"
"Li Xingzhong, you are dead today!"
After that, the two chief secretaries stood up at the same time and walked out the door, shouting to the sedan chair outside: "Prince Zhao's Concubine, Li Xingzhong blatantly robbed Prince Zhao of one million taels of silver, he wants to rebel!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
