Chapter 149: Court Dispute
Upon hearing that surrender would spare their lives, all the soldiers and generals knelt in surrender. Only Ruan Dacheng, still resigned, immediately drew his sword and chopped Zuo Liangyu's neck.
Zuo Liangyu was killed while unconscious. Ruan Dacheng picked up the head and immediately ran to the front of the battle, shouting, "I killed Zuo Liangyu! I killed Zuo Liangyu!"
Ruan Dacheng ran and shouted, carrying the head in his hand. He came to Zhao Xiaofei and his wife. When he came, Ruan Dacheng knelt down and said, "I am Ruan Dacheng, and I am here to meet you, Lord Kenan! I killed Zuo Liangyu, and I beg you to spare my life!"
Zhao Xiaofei looked at Ruan Dacheng, who was kneeling on the ground, with disdain and said, "I never thought that Zuo Liangyu, such a great hero, would die at the hands of a villain like you!"
"Husband! We can't let him go. It was him who surrounded Nanjing City!" Li Sihong said.
"Yes! He also wants to besiege the Zhao family manor and capture us to threaten you and your brother!" Kou Baimen said.
"Two female generals, I, Ruan Dacheng, was wrong! And didn't you just say that you could be exempted from punishment by offering Zuo Liangyu?" Ruan Dacheng pleaded.
"Didn't you hear it just now? Zuo Liangyu was captured alive and pardoned! Who asked you to kill him?" Zhao Xiaofei said.
"I, I..." Ruan Dacheng was speechless.
Zhao Xiaofei laughed heartily, then said, "It's God's will! Ruan Dacheng, your death sentence is spared! You could have captured Zuo Liangyu alive and not even been imprisoned. Who knew you'd be so clever and kill him? You've outsmarted yourself!"
Ruan Dacheng felt mixed emotions after hearing this. His life was saved, but why didn't he think of dragging Zuo Liangyu over?
"Someone come! Take Ruan Dacheng away! Pickle the heads of the Zuo family father and son and show them to Liu Zeqing and Gao Jie!" Zhao Xiaofei said.
A messenger cut off Zuo Menggeng's head and took away Zuo Liangyu's head from Ruan Dacheng. Then two soldiers tied up Ruan Dacheng and other generals including Huang Shu and Zhang Yu and took them to Anqing City.
Inside the Qianqing Palace in Nanjing's Forbidden City, Zhu Cijiong sat high atop the Golden Hall, with Empress Dowager Zhou to his left, ruling from behind a curtain. Li Banghua reported, "Your Majesty! Battle reports have arrived from the front. The Kenan army has defeated the Zuo army in Chizhou and is now at the gates of Anqing!"
"Okay! I will reward Lord Kenan!" Zhu Cijiong said happily.
At this time, Empress Dowager Zhou coughed, and Zhu Cijiong dared not say anything more. Empress Dowager Zhou said, "It was just a brief encounter. The Zuo army still has hundreds of thousands of troops. We'll see when we can capture the Zuo father and son alive and bring them to Nanjing!"
"The Empress Dowager is wise!" The ministers hurriedly flattered her.
"Your Majesty! This year, except for the north, the tax silver collected by the southern provinces is only 1.8 million taels. The national treasury is already empty. I ask Your Majesty to increase taxes to fill the national treasury!" said Ni Yuanlu.
"Then what taxes can be increased? Anyway, agricultural taxes cannot be increased anymore!" said Queen Mother Zhou.
"Your Majesty, and the Queen Mother! After discussion, the cabinet believes that commercial taxes can be increased. For example, the previous rate of 30% can be changed to 15%. In addition, I propose to reopen the Maritime Customs Office. Anyone who pays taxes can engage in maritime trade!" said Ni Yuanlu.
"Are there any rules?" asked Queen Mother Zhou.
At this moment, someone outside urgently reported: "Report! Urgent news from eight hundred miles away! Zuo Liangyu leads an army of 800,000 and is besieging Anqing City!"
"What?" Queen Mother Zhou was shocked. She was in no hurry to reward Zhao Xiaofei because she was afraid there would be nothing left to reward. But she had never considered that Zhao Xiaofei would lose. If he lost, her son's half of the kingdom would be in jeopardy.
The other ministers were also shocked. Hadn't they just defeated Zuo Liangyu's 100,000-man vanguard army a few days ago? How could they be surrounded at the gates of Anqing so quickly? The important officials debated the matter, some advocating sending someone to Zuo Liangyu immediately to negotiate peace, and even proposed making him the King of E, giving him permanent control of Hubei.
Zhang Huangyan then stepped out and said, "Your Majesty! Queen Mother! I think there's no need to worry. Let's wait for news from Lord Kenan!"
"What news are we waiting for? How many troops are left in Nanjing now? Huang Degong and Zhao Xiaokun have less than 100,000 troops together! Can we resist them?" said Wu Shaozhi, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War.
"Your Majesty! Queen Mother! I think that although the troops are besieging Anqing, Duke Kenan will not necessarily be defeated. Think about it, Duke Kenan has never been defeated since he led the troops, and he has two capable generals, Zhou Shuai and Wan Shan, under his command. I believe that Duke Kenan will definitely..." Before Zhang Huangyan finished speaking, someone brought another urgent report.
"Report! Lord Kenan's army of 100,000 defeated Zuo Liangyu's army of 800,000 at the gates of Anqing City, and is now encircling and suppressing Zuo Liangyu's remaining forces!"
"What?" The important officials began to discuss again.
This time, the Ming Dynasty ministers experienced a roller coaster ride. The battle reports, one after another, made their hearts leap. Many were stunned. One hundred thousand versus eight hundred thousand. Is Zhao Xiaofei the reincarnation of Yue Fei? Initially, they thought they could just hold off Zuo Liangyu's army and negotiate later. But they never expected that Zhao Xiaofei not only held off Zuo Liangyu's army, but actually defeated his 800,000-man army. What kind of a trick was this?
However, the Donglin Party officials quickly realized that Zuo Liangyu could not die! This was their trump card! They now had no say in the court and no troops, so how could they regain control of the court?
So someone immediately petitioned Zhao Xiaofei to capture Zuo Liangyu and his son alive and bring them to Beijing. Even Shi Kefa urged Zhao Xiaofei to bring them alive. However, Shi Kefa wanted Zhao Xiaofei to present the captives to Beijing to boost morale.
Empress Dowager Zhou saw what these people meant, and she knew exactly what they were thinking. But she couldn't afford to offend them, as the Donglin Party was a powerful force in the south. She couldn't afford to offend everyone! So, Empress Dowager Zhou could only say, "Since that's the case, then order Zhao Xiaofei to..."
At this time, another person came to report, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, the Kenan army has severely defeated the Zuo army and surrounded the remaining troops fifty miles outside Anqing City. Zuo Menggeng was shot and killed by two concubines of Kenan, and Zuo Liangyu was killed by the rebels. The Zuo army has been basically wiped out! The heads of the Zuo family father and son have been cut off and sent to Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing's troops!"
Empress Dowager Zhou was delighted. She thought to herself that Zhao Xiaofei knew his limits. If he really did capture the Zuo family father and son alive, it would be difficult for her to deal with them.
The Donglin Party members immediately fell in dismay. This impeachment was completely groundless! He had done no wrong in killing the enemy on the battlefield. Before the battle, no one had expected Zhao Xiaofei to achieve such a great victory.
"Good! My brother-in-law has won a great victory! Come, convey my decree! My brother-in-law is promoted to King of Anqing, and the title will be hereditary!" Zhu Cijiong said happily.
"No!" At this time Zhang Huangyan came out to object.
Even important officials such as Shi Kefa, Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu opposed it.
"Why?" Zhu Cijiong asked.
"When Taizu founded the country, many generals had military achievements that were even greater than those of Kenan Gong today. But Taizu did not confer the title of king on them! Your Majesty, please revoke your order!" said Li Banghua.
"Your Majesty, please revoke your order!" The ministers echoed.
Princess Kunxing, who was in the palace, heard the news and lamented, "My dear husband, you are too outstanding. The Ming Dynasty may not be able to tolerate you!"
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