Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 69 Prepare to silence
Yang Tinghe didn't understand why Li Dongyang was suddenly so panicked, and he couldn't help but become quite nervous for a moment.

Of course, it was normal for Li Dongyang to panic.

After all, only he and Liu Jian and others knew that once Zhu Houzhao really revealed the truth about the death of Emperor Hongzhi, they would be killed without a burial place!

Not only will the body and family suffer a devastating blow, but even one's good reputation will be ruined, and what will be left in the history books is only the reputation of a "minister who killed the king."

"Zhu Houzhao is so cruel! He wants to kill us all!"

Li Dongyang sat down again, clenching his fists tightly, but at the same time he looked around with some fear, and said again in a very low voice:
"At first, I thought Zhu Houzhao was young and ignorant, and his mind was not developed, so he would not suspect this much, but I didn't expect that Zhu Houzhao would suspect it so quickly and even sent people to Shaanxi. Although Zhang Yu and others were nominally stationed in various places on the border, they were actually settled in Shaanxi. He wants to punish us for the crime of regicide!"

Yang Tinghe was quite shocked when he heard this, but he also guessed that there might be a major conspiracy that he was not aware of.

However, Yang Tinghe did not directly ask what the conspiracy was, but asked: "May I ask, since the Prime Minister did this, why didn't he just kill him?"

"Isn't it because they are afraid that Zhang Yu and his gang will do something desperate? Of course, they are also afraid of alerting the enemy. They planned to kill Zhang Yu and his gang after the mourning period for Emperor Xiaozong was over and they relaxed their vigilance. However, as soon as the mourning period for Emperor Xiaozong was over, Zhu Houzhao and Liu Jin started to cause trouble, so they haven't been killed yet!"

Li Dongyang said, "But we can't delay any longer!"

Li Dongyang originally thought that he could still realize his political dream of becoming the Prime Minister after Liu Jian left, and reach the highest goal of his official career that civil officials hoped for. However, he did not expect that as soon as he became the Prime Minister, he was first sidelined and now he was being targeted by the emperor, who was determined to confiscate his property and exterminate his clan.

However, Li Dongyang would not surrender willingly, but he had no way to resist. He had no military power and could only use other means.

After saying that, Li Dongyang hurriedly instructed his servant, "Ask Li Hong to invite Shao the Great!"

Yang Tinghe didn't know who the so-called Shao Xia was, so he just asked again: "May I ask, was Emperor Xiaozong's death really known?"

Before Yang Tinghe finished asking, Li Dongyang waved his hand:

"Don't ask any more questions, and from now on, you and I don't want to have any relationship. Now our emperor wants to kill us old ministers. If we lose in the future, we won't implicate you.

From now on, you will continue to be the Grand Secretary of Zuo Chunfang! Remember! In the future, you will have to maintain the position of Qingliu in the court! When it is late at night, you can quietly leave through the back door and go to the guest room to rest!"

Even if Li Dongyang didn't say it, Yang Tinghe had guessed it roughly, so he followed Li Dongyang's arrangement and went to the guest room. He was also determined that from now on he would no longer have any contact with people related to Li Dongyang.

Li Dongyang's butler Li Hong also invited Shao Da Xia overnight.

The Shao hero here is naturally not the Shao hero of the Wanli period, but he is also a man of the world, and a thug kept by wealthy families like Li Dongyang. He does underworld things for high-ranking officials like Li Dongyang that they are not convenient to do themselves.

When Shao Daxia saw Li Dongyang, he hurriedly bowed and said, "Greetings, Master!"

"There is something very urgent that needs to be done. You must take your people to Shaanxi immediately and send Zhang Yu and others to the underworld. You must hurry and make sure to catch up with the imperial officers and soldiers. Ma Yongcheng has just left the capital not long ago. You should be able to catch up with him," Li Dongyang said coldly in the dark corner. Shao Daxia did not dare to look at Li Dongyang under the candlelight, but only lowered his head and asked: "Then may I ask, sir, what should we do if we fail to catch up with him and the imperial officers and soldiers get there first?"

"Then take your people to Sanyuan. They will definitely escort Wang Shu to Beijing to continue to cover up their purpose of escorting Zhang Yu to Beijing. At that time, you must intercept Wang Shu and others and kill Zhang Yu and others directly. By the way, kill this old man Wang Shu. This person's entry into Beijing will also be a nightmare for all my officials, so kill him by the way!
Also, remember to dress up as Tartars. Once the news reaches the capital, it will just be the Tartars breaking through the border, looting and slaughtering the village!"

After Li Dongyang finished speaking, he waved his hand and asked Shao Da Xia to leave.

"Don't worry, master. I will definitely live up to your trust."

Shao Daxia was secretly delighted. For him, dressing up as a Tartar or a bandit to kill people and rob goods, or even to massacre villages and cities, was a common occurrence. It was also the way he made his fortune.
Of course, he dared to do this because he had the support of high-ranking officials in the court such as Li Dongyang.

According to the rules of collusion between officials and bandits, whenever bandits like Shao Daxia or gangsters committed murder and robbery, officials would pin the blame for the massacre or looting on the Tartars or other fierce bandits that the court could not handle.

In this way, people like Shao Da Xia can rest assured and will not be punished.

But people like him also have to work for high-ranking officials and even have to get along with high-ranking officials. For example, the ownerless land after the massacre can only fall into the hands of the gentry and bureaucrats, and they will get the money from the sale of the land from the gentry and bureaucrats.

Sometimes officials and gentry would directly collude with the Tartars to make profits, which was a common practice in the late Ming Dynasty.

Li Dongyang continued to sit in the dark corner in a daze. He was still thinking about how to survive and how to ensure that the murder of Zhang Yu and others would be foolproof.

Suddenly, Li Dongyang raised his eyes, immediately got up and went to his study to write two letters and sealed them with wax himself before calling his butler Li Hong:

"Send someone to deliver this letter to Shaanxi Governor Yang Yiqing immediately. At the same time, send this letter to Shaanxi Provincial Censor Lü Zhonghe. You should personally deliver this letter to Lü Zhonghe and tell him that according to the old rules, you should get things done before you make money!"

"Yes!"

Li Hong responded and hurriedly said goodbye to Li Dongyang.

Li Dongyang now began to feel fortunate that he was still in the cabinet, which allowed him to act more conveniently. However, Li Dongyang also knew that if Zhu Houzhao succeeded in uncovering the old case, he would definitely be the first to be arrested. Moreover, he could not escape from the capital now because it was still under martial law.

Li Dongyang couldn't help but talk to himself: "Emperor! You gave birth to a good son, but you have fooled me until now. In the past fifteen years, I didn't even notice any flaws."

Yang Tinghe left Li's house in the middle of the night, and said, "Prepare a gift list and invitation tomorrow. I want to visit Ma Gefu!"

At the same time, in the dark night, about hundreds of riders, led by Shao Daxia, galloped directly towards Shaanxi.

On the road from the capital to Shaanxi, Ma Yongcheng and Wang Yangming's teams were riding forward day and night.

(End of this chapter)