***
Dayuer did not disappoint Qin Mu. In just two days, she not only found the real culprit, but also found some people who were greedy for profits and provided information about the daily situation of the palace to foreign officials.
Qin Mu carefully looked at the confession she handed over. Dayuer stood aside respectfully and explained, "Your Majesty, although Lu Shun cannot be sure who assassinated the prince, from his confession, I think it will not be difficult for Your Majesty to lock the target within a very small range. As long as Ye Bushou investigates, the real culprit behind the scenes will definitely not be able to escape."
After reading the confession, Qin Mu ordered Li Shuang'er, "Send it to Huang Lianshan!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
When Li Shuang'er walked out, she glanced at Dayu'er secretly with a complicated look in her eyes.
Dayuer saw it all and naturally understood it. This time Qin Mu asked her to investigate the matter thoroughly, intending to use her as a scapegoat. This was a very offensive task, which would not only offend the outsiders, but also make her the target of public criticism in the inner palace.
The situation in the palace was complicated. Although many people were not of high status, they had very special positions. For example, some maids in the palace of the Queen and Concubine Xiang, and female officials like Li Shuang'er who often accompanied the emperor in and out.
It's okay to offend ministers outside the palace, but if you offend these people in the palace, you will suffer for every slander they make in the future.
Dayuer had enough understanding about this, but she still investigated it because the emperor wanted her to be the bad guy. If she didn't offend these people, she would offend the emperor. She had no choice.
Now that things were done, out of understanding Qin Mu, she did not take credit or complain at this time. People need to be patient.
Huang Lianshan soon came to the Jianjia Palace. Qin Mu threw Lü Shun's confession in front of him and said coldly: "According to the information I have learned, the Zheng family not only has a large amount of silver deposited in Japan, but also has astonishing wealth buried on some deserted islands. This time you must not only catch everyone in one fell swoop for me, but also find all the treasures for me, and don't leave me a penny behind."
Huang Lianshan held the confession of the young eunuch Lu Shun in his hands, his hands trembling slightly, and it was unclear whether he was excited or afraid.
The Zheng family has silver stored in Japan and buried on a deserted island
Huang Lianshan himself didn't know this information, so how did the emperor know it
"Your Majesty, obey your order!"
***
Even Sima An and Li Yuan, the founding heroes, were always trembling with fear, fearing that Qin Mu would do something like "put away the bow after the bird is gone, and cook the dog after the rabbit is dead." Not to mention people like Zheng Zhilong.
Niu Xingjin told him that throughout history, there may be founding heroes like Sima An who had a good ending, but there has never been a person like Enzhu who was once a hegemon and was forced to surrender and had a good ending.
Zheng Zhilong didn't read much, and he was too lazy to bother looking up history. He just did a simple thought from the perspective of Qin Mu: If he were Qin Mu, would he let such a person go
It would not have mattered if he hadn't asked, but after he did, Zheng Zhilong never slept well again.
After attending the grand court meeting, Zheng Zhilong did not dare to wait for a moment and immediately ordered preparations to evacuate Daqin.
Yes, that is to evacuate Daqin.
Zheng Zhilong had figured it out a long time ago. The world is so big...
With a few thousand troops, it would be enough to find a place to dominate. Why would you stay in Qin and wait for death
Zheng Zhilong's initial plan was to return to the sea and do his old business elsewhere. Later, under the strong persuasion and incitement of Niu Jinxing, he developed greater ambitions.
No matter if it was escaping or rebellion, it would be a capital crime if they were caught anyway. Since Niu Jinxing's words made so much sense, why not listen to him, do it first, and then run away if it doesn't work.
This was Zheng Zhilong’s truest thought. After attending the grand court meeting, he no longer listened to Niu Jinxing’s dissuasion and immediately began to evacuate Daqin.
No one who can become a hegemon is a fool. No matter how much Niu Jinxing speaks, it is not as shocking to him as what Qin Mu said in the Golden Palace.
As soon as Zheng Zhilong returned to his house in the outer city from the grand court meeting, he did not wait a moment. He immediately disguised himself, traveled in a small carriage, and disappeared outside the city in a hurry.
Soon after, in the capital, teams of black-clad cavalry rushed out at night. After raiding the Zheng family residence inside the upper gate of the outer wall, they went straight out of the city.
At the same time, all the secret agents that were not collected at night also took action and spread the dragnet.
After receiving the report, Qin Mu also sent an urgent telegram to Fujian to search and confiscate the Zheng family's property. At the same time, he ordered the East China Sea Fleet to remove all members of the Zheng family from their posts and arrest them and put them in prison.
For a moment, the whole world was in an uproar again. Was the Zheng family actually the mastermind behind the assassination of the prince
Given the Zheng family’s complex network of connections in the Royal Navy, people in the streets and alleys of Beijing were discussing whether this move would lead to a serious rebellion in the Royal Navy, and the discussion continued all night long.
***
In the dark night, Li Guo led 1,450 people, disguised as refugees from Quanjiao, and headed south.
In order to boost morale, Li Guo said to his men: "Rebellion is a capital crime punishable by death for nine generations of the clan. You should understand that there is no first arrow in a drawn bow. We are the first group of people to rebel in the Qin Dynasty. In order to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, the court will never let us off easily. Otherwise, anyone can rebel in the future. Anyway, everything will be fine if we lay down our weapons.
So, you have come to this point, there is no turning back. The imperial court may lie to you and say that you can be pardoned by surrendering, but that is just a trick to get you to lay down your arms. Once you really lay down your arms, the imperial court will definitely kill you and your family.
Now, all you have to do is follow me, we will sneak across the river and launch a surprise attack on Ma'anshan. Although there are many soldiers and horses in Ma'anshan, they will never think that we dare to launch a surprise attack. Our current identities are refugees, and we will not attract attention. As long as we are careful, we will definitely succeed.
Are there any special breeds of kings, princes, generals, or ministers? Anyway, you only have one life, so let's take a chance now. I promise that you will be made a prince and a minister in the future, with great honor, and your wife and children will be given titles and wealth, and you will enjoy endless glory for generations."
Li Guo spoke enthusiastically, but few responded. Most people followed him reluctantly because they were forced to do so. When they heard that they were going to cross the river to attack Malema, they were even more reluctant. While Li Guo was speaking, someone took advantage of the darkness of the night and quietly hid behind the bushes and ran away. Li Guo was unaware of it and continued to head south with his men.
After walking a few miles, the number of people escaping under the cover of night continued to increase. Li Guo, who was walking in front, received a report from his men and thought it was not good. If someone escaped, it would not only affect morale, but more importantly, most of these escapees would report his whereabouts to the government.
Li Guo sighed sadly: It's time, it's fate! Now in this world, people's minds are settled, Qin Mu is still alive, how easy is it to rebel
Although he was the commander-in-chief of the Right Army, he was given a high position and actually had no soldiers. Among the 1,450 people he brought, most were able-bodied men who had just been recruited in Quanjiao, and only 500 were soldiers of his adopted son Li Laiheng.
These young men who had just been forcibly recruited started to flee before the Qin army arrived. How could we still rely on them
On the other side, Liang Tao retreated to Longshan, west of Quanjiao, taking more than 20,000 people from the county town hostage. There was crying and chaos everywhere. This was nothing, as Liang Tao was just creating momentum to lure the Qin army through.
But not long after leaving the city, the people began to flee in all directions. Even though Liang Tao ordered all the captured fugitives to be killed, he failed to stop the situation from deteriorating.
It was a dark night and Liang Tao could not catch that many people. Before he had walked ten miles, half of the people had run away.
At this moment, Liang Tao received a report that 500 cavalrymen led by Commander Song Ping had arrived in Quanjiao and were heading towards them. Such news made Liang Tao and Li Laixiang secretly groan.
The five hundred cavalrymen of Song Ping were sent by Li Chen. They arrived earlier than Yan Yingyuan and his men, and they were provided with intelligence by the black-clad cavalry who never retreated at night. He did not enter the city but rushed straight to kill them.
When the people held hostage by Liang Tao heard that the soldiers had arrived, they cheered and then scattered. Men, women, old and young, some ran into the paddy fields, some ran into the woods, and some hid in the ditches, playing hide-and-seek in the night.
Seeing this scene, Liang Tao and Li Laiheng were so desperate that they no longer cared about the fleeing civilians. "Hurry up!" Liang Tao shouted urgently, and he and Li Laiheng fled westward with their two hundred soldiers.
Song Ping's five hundred cavalrymen were chasing closely behind, and in the panic, even some of Li Laiheng's two hundred soldiers began to quietly leave the group and escape with the looted treasures.
In troubled times, it is not uncommon to gather tens of thousands of troops overnight.
In such a peaceful era, it is normal for the forcibly recruited troops to flee overnight...
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ps: Thanks to babajiejie, xiye, meiliairen, anwttt665174, the lazy guy lala, hurry, dscm, ltmmx, husirmobile, hyydf206, fsgrfdgtergh, one and a half years old, chenyanzhou2, xiaodi, the divine light of autumn, the little tiger of the demon world, do not disturb, car war, jakinger, shengsq for casting precious monthly tickets or giving rewards. Thank you very much!
.(To be continued..)
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