Palace of the Prince of Shu in Chengdu.
After receiving Qin Liangyu's secret letter, King Zhu Zhishu of Shu did not open it immediately, but looked at the person who sent the letter.
The person who delivered the letter was no stranger; it was Wang Zhong, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
"Wang Zhong." asked the King of Shu.
"I am here."
"What do you think of Qin Liangyu?"
Wang Zhong thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, the King of Shu, I believe that Governor Qin has an open mind and is determined to stabilize the country."
The King of Shu nodded, picked up the sour plum soup in front of him and took a sip, "In fact, I think so too. Liangyu is a woman who has served on the battlefield. This is unprecedented in history. Her loyalty and military strategy are enough to shame men."
"How about this, when you go back, give Qin Liangyu a message. After we defeat the bandits, as long as she comes to the Prince of Shu's mansion in person to apologize to me, I will not write a letter to accuse her."
Wang Zhong blinked his eyes and said, "Your Highness, the King of Shu, I will definitely deliver your message."
The King of Shu nodded again, reached out to pick up the secret letter, casually opened the envelope, and took out the letter.
One glance and ten lines...
Um?
The King of Shu's expression suddenly became uncertain.
He held the secret letter in his left hand, leaned sideways and used the sunlight from outside to carefully read the contents of the letter again.
Bang!
The King of Shu slammed the letter on the table, his face full of anger.
In order to win the hearts of the people, Qin Liangyu asked him to reduce the land rent of the people in Shu.
If borrowing money was done in compliance with His Majesty's order, then what does it matter if he is asked to reduce or exempt the land rent?
These fields are the property of the royal palace, and it is not Qin Liangyu's turn to interfere in any way.
Soon, he regained his composure.
"Oh, Qin Liangyu takes herself too seriously, doesn't she? I am a prince of the Ming Dynasty, how could I listen to her orders?"
Wang Zhong's expression began to become complicated.
He wanted to say something, but when he saw the smug expression on the King of Shu's face, he couldn't bear to interrupt him.
"Wang Zhong, what do you want to say?" The King of Shu asked in confusion upon seeing this.
Wang Zhong coughed lightly and said, "Your Highness, the King of Shu, before I came here, the Governor of Qin asked me to tell Your Highness that the purpose of writing this letter is to inform, not to discuss."
"What?" The King of Shu didn't react.
"Ahem, Governor Qin has already implemented the contents of the letter."
The King of Shu finally reacted...
"How can this be? How can this be! You are bullying me too much! You are bullying me too much!"
"No, absolutely not!"
"Qin Liangyu, ah Qin Liangyu, you..."
"Someone come here." The King of Shu was so angry that his face looked very ugly.
"exist."
"Let the prefect of Chengdu come! No, let the governor of Sichuan come. I want to impeach Qin Liangyu."
The guard outside the door replied with an embarrassed look on his face: "Your Highness, the Prince of Shu, the Sichuan Governor is currently suppressing bandits in Changshou and I'm afraid he won't be able to come for a while."
The King of Shu was stunned for a moment, then stood up and paced back and forth, thinking about a countermeasure.
At this moment, the left and right chief secretaries came into the hall.
Just as they were about to speak, they discovered that the King of Shu was pacing in the hall in anger.
After hesitating for a moment, Zuo Changshi bowed and said, "Your Highness, Qin Liangyu sent an official document saying that..."
The Right Chief Clerk added: "It is said that the royal palace is asking the people to reduce the land rent."
"No, absolutely not." The King of Shu was a little defensive, and his voice became very sharp.
"But..." Zuo Changshi looked embarrassed, "Qin Liangyu said in the official document that she has the right to take advantage. This document is equivalent to an imperial decree. If you don't obey, you will bear the consequences yourself."
The King of Shu's mood at this moment could no longer be described as angry.
What made him angry was not the reduction of land rent for the people, but Qin Liangyu's style of doing things.
He is a noble prince of the Ming Dynasty!
Don’t you have any face?
If Qin Liangyu came in person and had a good discussion, he would most likely agree to reduce the land rent.
But what did Qin Liangyu do?
Send someone to inform him directly!
You call this asking me to do something for you? Is this the way to treat a prince?
"Qin Liangyu is arrogant and has committed the crimes of deception, usurpation, rebellion, arrogance, greed, and erosion. She also coerced the prince of the Ming Dynasty and forced me to donate silver to reduce the rent. Her crimes are unforgivable. You should immediately write to His Majesty and ask for His Majesty's judgment."
The left and right chief secretaries first bowed their hands to accept the order, and then asked in a low voice: "Your Highness, what should we do with Qin Liangyu's official document? Should we obey it or not?"
The King of Shu ignored them and said to Wang Zhong, "Wang Zhong, the letter has been delivered. If you have nothing else, go back and report."
Wang Zhong was very self-aware and bowed before leaving.
Only after Wang Zhong left did the King of Shu breathe a sigh of relief.
Although his face had long been trampled under Qin Liangyu's feet, he still had to say the harsh words in front of Wang Zhong.
He looked at the left and right chief officials of the palace and said impatiently, "Ask, ask, ask, you only know how to ask! Is it necessary to ask about this kind of thing?"
Zuo Changshi looked embarrassed: "This matter is of great importance, I hope Your Highness will make it clear."
The King of Shu glared at him and said, "How dare you disobey my order? You don't want to live anymore!"
"Qin Liangyu has soldiers and grain, and she is also the governor of four provinces. We must not go against her! She can do whatever she wants, and we can't stop her. When the bandits are defeated, she will naturally reap the rewards."
"The more rents of the people's land are exempted, the better. It would be best if all of them were exempted. Then His Majesty will definitely give me an explanation!"
"Yes, I'll arrange it right away."
As the news spread, the people of the entire Shu area quickly became excited.
Their favorable impression towards the imperial court and the King of Shu increased greatly.
The direct result was that Qin Liangyu's recruitment plan went very smoothly.
There were more indirect results, which were basically beneficial to the imperial court and unfavorable to Zhang Xianzhong.
Although Zhang Xianzhong had a large number of soldiers and generals and was aggressive, people like Qin Liangyu, Zeng Ying, Long Wenguang and Yang Zhan were no pushovers.
The two sides fought in Fuling, Changshou, Fengdu and Zhongzhou, and each won and lost.
Zhang Xianzhong could not invade Sichuan, and Qin Liangyu was unable to defeat Zhang Xianzhong.
The war in the lower reaches of the Ming Dynasty has temporarily entered a stalemate phase.
If the bottom lane entering a stalemate phase is good news, then the news about the middle lane Jingshi is worse than the last.
Wang Chengen, holding a stack of Tangbao newspapers in his hand, read them one by one.
"Your Majesty, Li Xianzhong sent a message. After Dorgon's defeat, he headed south. He has been searching for half a month but has not found any trace. Your Majesty, please give him a few more days."
"Tang Tongtang reported that Duoduo has withdrawn his troops from Juyongguan and headed north. It is unknown whether he will continue to besiege Xuanfu Town or leave from Dushikou and retreat outside the pass. If he continues to besiege Xuanfu, the capital will be safe. If he retreats from Dushikou to the outside of the pass, Tang Tong predicts that Duoduo will enter the pass again from other places."
"Huang Degongtang reported that his main force had reached Wei County, 35 miles northwest of Daming Prefecture (Daming County). The vanguard was defeated by Liu Fangliang's troops and retreated to Wei County with hundreds of casualties."
"Li Xingzhong of Daming Prefecture sent someone to risk his life to deliver a secret letter. He has collected all the food in the city and distributed it per person every day. Except for the soldiers, all other personnel will have their food reduced by half. But even so, they can only hold out for another twenty days."
"When they have no food to eat, they will have no choice but to attack their war horses."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
