The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 86 Death
General Meng Hanqing of the Left Winged Guards was confined to his residence.

Emperor Chai Rong ordered a thorough investigation into the incident of the Zuo Yulin soldiers embezzling fodder taxes.

With the emperor's order, things were done quickly. In just three days, the truth was revealed.

During the four years that Meng Hanqing was transferred to the position of General of the Left Winged Guards, he allowed his soldiers to embezzle nearly ten thousand strings of coin in fodder taxes.

Most of the money went into Meng Hanqing's pocket, and the rest was divided among the officers and soldiers of Zuo Yulin.

In addition, there were soldiers from the Zuo Yulin Army who resisted and injured the officers and soldiers who were reorganizing the imperial guards.

This incident was directly classified as mutiny, and all the soldiers of the Zuo Yulin Army who were present at the time were taken into custody and imprisoned, to be executed at a later date.

Li Yi didn't expect Chai Rong to be so cruel. He killed one or two hundred people without any hesitation. It seemed that human lives were just a string of numbers in the eyes of the emperor.

But on second thought, what the emperor wanted was a loyal imperial guard, not an arrogant time bomb.

The desertion of Fan and He during the Battle of Gaoping must have left a huge psychological shadow on the emperor.

It is said that the warriors of the Five Dynasties period were arrogant and difficult to tame, but it is difficult to empathize with them without experiencing it personally.

However, Chai Rong deeply realized this on the battlefield of Gaoping.

Looking back on the critical situation at that time, if it weren't for Li Yi and his group of palace troops fighting to the death, and with the help of the right time, place and people, the situation would have been very critical.

It is very likely that Emperor Chai Rong died on the battlefield of Gaoping.

Now, with the prestige of having personally led the army to victory, Chai Rong is determined to make a major overhaul of the imperial guards. He will never allow such a thing to happen again in the future.

In fact, whether it is Zhao Kuangyin in history or Li Yi today, they actually have to thank Fan and He in the battle of Gaoping.

If it weren't for Fan and He's bold actions, which gave Chai Rong a "little shock", it might not have prompted Chai Rong to be so eager to reform the imperial guards.

At the very least, even if the imperial guards are to be reformed, it will be done like during the reign of Emperor Taizu Guo Wei, boiling the frog in warm water little by little, in the hope of minimizing the impact.

But then again, after the Battle of Gaoping, so many officers of the imperial guards were beheaded in Luzhou.

It also removed a lot of obstacles for Li Yi to reorganize the imperial guards.

Most of the officers who were beheaded were stubborn problems left in the imperial guards for generations. Chai Rong took advantage of the aftermath of the great victory and sent them all to meet the King of Hell.

……

After dealing with the soldiers of the Zuo Yulin Army.

The emperor did not rush to convict Meng Hanqing, but brought the matter to the court for discussion.

"I believe that General Meng Hanqing of the Left Winged Guards not only embezzled taxes, but also should be held responsible for failing to properly discipline his soldiers."

"If it weren't for Li Dushi, the Inner Palace Guard, who led his men to quell the situation, who knows what kind of chaos those Zuo Yulin soldiers would have caused."

The person who spoke was Zuo Chengsi, the Imperial Censor, who was the old man who jumped out and shouted "Your Majesty is committing a murderous sin" when Li Yi first proposed to destroy Buddhism.

Li Yi originally thought that the old man was displeased with him, or was instructed by someone, so he jumped out to oppose his proposal to destroy Buddhism.

But judging from his words and actions today, he was simply discussing the matter at hand and was not targeting anyone.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be praising himself for doing a good job in the Zuo Yulin Army.

Li Yi's impression of this old guy inevitably changed a little.

Zuo Chengsi added, "I think General Meng Hanqing of the Left Winged Guards should be severely punished!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another minister stepped forward and said, "I believe this matter should be handled with caution. Meng Hanqing is, after all, a veteran of the Imperial Guards, appointed by Emperor Taizu as the Grand General of the Left Winged Guards. If we punish him too harshly, I'm afraid it will chill the morale of the Imperial Guards."

"If you want to be lenient with this one and let that one go, how can we even talk about military regulations?" Zuo Chengsi argued forcefully. "Your Majesty's plan to reorganize the Imperial Guards will become nothing more than empty talk."

While the two were arguing, other ministers joined in and the quarrel became increasingly heated.

Chai Rong sat on the throne, expressionless and silent, allowing the ministers to argue with each other until they were red in the face.

Li Yi looked at the emperor's expression, then looked at the prime ministers who were the heads of the civil officials, and Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin who were standing at the forefront of the military generals.

Seeing that several influential people did not speak, he naturally would not take the initiative to express his opinion. He stood in the ranks of generals, watching everyone's thoughts and keeping a completely out of the matter.

Anyway, he has done what he should do, so he has no say in how he is dealt with or convicted.

In this way, the ministers quarreled more and more fiercely, and were even about to roll up their sleeves and fight.

Only then did Chai Rong speak, "My dear ministers, please stop arguing." Hearing the emperor's words, Zuo Chengsi and others finally stopped arguing, apologized, and returned to the queue.

Chai Rong's eyes swept over several prime ministers, as well as Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin, and finally turned to Li Yi.

"Li Qing, you are the one who did this. How do you think Meng Hanqing should be dealt with?"

Uh... Li Yi didn't expect that the emperor would kick the ball to his head again.

He immediately stepped out and said, "How to deal with it is up to your Majesty to decide!"

"However, I feel that compared to his failure to discipline his soldiers, this embezzlement of taxes is Meng Hanqing's greatest sin."

Chai Rong frowned and asked, "Why?"

On the surface, corruption is a minor matter, mutiny is a major matter, and military rebellion is naturally the top priority.

However, Li Yi's approach was different from others, so the emperor couldn't help but be curious about what he meant.

Li Yi said, "Tax embezzlement may seem like a financial issue, but in the long run, it affects the hearts and minds of the people. If this continues, it will inevitably lead to great harm."

He directly raised the level of his ideas to the hearts of the people. Not only was the emperor curious, but the civil and military officials present also pricked up their ears, wanting to hear what he had to say.

Li Yi continued, "This fodder tax was originally intended to provide for the Imperial Guards. Everything has a fixed quota. If someone pockets it, they will definitely have to double it back from the people."

"In troubled times, the burden on the people is already heavy. How many people need to support over a hundred thousand imperial guards? I don't need to say more about this matter."

"Thousands or even tens of thousands of strings of cash is a huge sum of money, not to mention for ordinary people, even for important officials and generals like us. Who can easily come up with it?"

"This is just the amount Meng Hanqing embezzled. If there were ten or a hundred times more people who embezzled money for their own benefit like Meng Hanqing, how shocking would the number be?"

"This kind of embezzlement, plus daily expenses, the money spent is more than a million!"

"If money is used properly, it can be said to be worthwhile. But in the end, it enriches certain parasites and makes the people suffer. You can imagine whether people will support it or not."

"If the embezzled money had been left, it would have been enough to greatly reduce the burden on the people."

"By then, who among the people of the world would not think that Your Majesty is a wise and enlightened ruler like Emperor Taizong Wen?"

In fact, what he said was also to cater to the emperor's wishes.

According to historical records, Meng Hanqing eventually died, and that was without any disturbance by his soldiers.

Since that was the case, Li Yi simply exaggerated Meng Hanqing's crimes. Regardless of whether he admitted it or not, the fact of corruption was there.

It is a good opportunity to use the Meng Hanqing incident to shock people's hearts.

After that, when Li Yi wants to take action against the Palace Army and the Imperial Guard, the resistance will definitely be reduced a lot.

What methods did Zhao Kuangyin use to reorganize the imperial guards in history?

Li Yi is not quite clear about it, but he has his own understanding, which is nothing more than winning over one group and suppressing another.

If you want to suppress those who are disobedient, you naturally need to build momentum first and let them know that they will not have a good ending if they fall into Li Yi's hands.

After all, everyone is doing this for profit.

No one wants to take the risk of gambling with his or her life and property.

After hearing this, Chai Rong thought for a moment and made up his mind: "Meng Hanqing has been a veteran for several dynasties. Even if he has no merits, he has worked hard. Let's give him a little dignity."

As soon as the emperor said this, everyone immediately understood that the matter of Meng Hanqing had been decided.

No one said any more.

The meeting is over.

The eunuch who conveyed the emperor's order arrived at Meng Hanqing's house and brought a cup of poisoned wine given by the emperor.

August, Gengchen.

Meng Hanqing, General of the Left Winged Guards.

Death penalty!

(End of this chapter)