Huangming

Chapter 93 The Enigma of Power and Lust, the Shadow of the Noble Family (Please subscribe! Please vote!)

Inside the room, a brazier burned charcoal, adding warmth to the study.

Marquis Deng Shaoyu of Dingyuan sat calmly in his grand chair.

There are many intricacies involved in recruiting soldiers.

If he wanted to, he could make a huge profit from it.

After all, how many people would want to join the army in the capital and become a military household?

This is a secure job!

To get into this field, do you need to spend money? Are you willing to spend the money?

According to regulations, each soldier recruited in the Ming Dynasty was given 5 taels of silver for settling down. Is it possible to deduct a small portion of this 5 taels of silver?

Five taels per person, so ten thousand people would be fifty thousand taels, which is no small sum.

Not to mention that falsely reporting salaries and reselling military personnel all generate money!

It is precisely because he holds great power that so many people fawn over him.

Because even a little oil leaking from under his fingernails would be enough for the people below to eat until their mouths were greasy.

but.
This was the first task His Majesty assigned to him.

He had to do this job perfectly so that His Majesty would look at him with new eyes.

of course.

He could ignore everyone else, but he would make contact with the people of the Fourth Guard Battalion.

After all, His Majesty intends to reorganize the Four Guards Camp, and at this time, he can take advantage of anyone who dares to approach him.

Regardless, he will surely repay His Majesty's kindness in some way.

As for being resented by others?

What he wants is to be envied by others!

If others don't resent him, how can His Majesty trust him to use?

He must hand over some leverage to His Majesty, so that his life is always in His Majesty's hands. Only in this way can he truly maintain His Majesty's favor forever.

Only the Marquis of Dingyuan's mansion can stand forever.

"My lord, all the visiting cards are here."

Li was now truly frightened and quickly brought out the visiting cards, finally finding the visiting cards from the Wuxiang Left Guard, Wuxiang Right Guard, Tengxiang Left Guard, and Tengxiang Right Guard.

Most of the visiting cards were from the top ranks of households with a thousand or a hundred households.

Among the many visiting cards from commanders of thousands and hundreds, the visiting card from Li Ruzhen, the commander of the Wuxiang Left Guard, stood out.

Li Ruzhen

Wasn't he dismissed from his post?
Deng Shaoyu looked thoughtful, but soon his slightly furrowed brows relaxed and a smile even appeared on his face.

"Isn't Li Ruzhen similar to me?"

Li Ruzhen was the third son of the famous general Li Chengliang.

Last year, Liaodong was in imminent danger, and the court had no general to send to pacify Liaodong. Some ministers suggested that, based on the old prestige of the Li family, Li Ruzhen should be appointed as the commander-in-chief to pacify Liaodong.

Although Li Ruzhen came from a military family, he knew nothing about military affairs. He initially defended Tieling and later garrisoned Shenyang.

Last year, the Jurchens attacked Tieling, but Li Ruzhen refused to send reinforcements, leading to the fall of Tieling and his dismissal from office.

The discussion was fierce, and many people in the censorate impeached the brothers Li Rubai and Li Ruzhen, wanting to imprison and execute them!

Now that he has sent his visiting card, is he trying to curry favor with the emperor in order to turn his life around?

This person can be used to reorganize the Four Guards Battalion!
The thought of possibly making a contribution and being praised by His Majesty made Deng Shaoyu hum softly.

He immediately turned to the steward behind him and said, "Send word to invite Li Ruzhen to the mansion tonight."

Xicheng Fucaifang.

There stands a magnificent mansion.

This place is near the Xi'an Gate of the Imperial City and only two miles from the Five Military Governor's Office, making it convenient for military affairs advisors.

This magnificent mansion was built in the eighth year of the Wanli reign (1582) by imperial decree when Li Chengliang was the Earl of Jinningyuan. It covers an area of ​​thirty acres and has five courtyards in accordance with the regulations for an earl's mansion.

The main gate is adorned with a plaque that reads "Zhenliao Xundi" (meaning "Residence of a Meritorious Official in the Defense of Liaodong"), while the screen wall of the second gate is painted with a scene depicting the military exploits of Fushun under a snowy night.

The main hall, "Zhenlu Hall," could accommodate a hundred people. Before the Battle of Sarhu, banquets were often held for the generals of the nine border regions. Bear skins and Tatar gold knives, which were tributes from Jianzhou Guard, were displayed in front of the hall.

The east wing houses the Military Affairs Office, which stores defense maps of various forts in Liaodong. Before Nurhaci rebelled against the Ming Dynasty in the 44th year of the Wanli reign, there were night scouts who urgently delivered secret reports on the expansion of the Jianzhou army here.

However, all of this is now just a passing cloud.

Nowadays, the Li residence is deserted, with fallen leaves scattered all over the ground, and the smell of decay can be smelled even without entering the residence.

Today, in this day and age.

Spiderwebs hung from the beams inside the Zhenlu Hall.

"Why does Third Brother bother wearing this outfit?" He suddenly sneered, slamming his wine bowl heavily onto the table.

Li Ruzhen remained noncommittal and slowly said, "A servant from the Marquis of Dingyuan's residence sent a message saying that Deng Shaoyu wants to see me tonight."

"Is it that lucky Marquis of Dingyuan who has gained His Majesty's favor? Heh, is it really a favor?"

He laughed wildly and overturned the wine jar.

Bang!

Li Rubai's silver cup shattered into the wine cellar, stirring up dust that filled the room.

"What use is His Majesty's trust? Once we lose the battle, won't we end up like we are today?"

Li Ruzhen suddenly stood up and said excitedly, "Second Brother! Look at our brothers! They have followed the Li family through thick and thin, and now they can't even get a full meal. They have to sell their wives and children to beg for a living. Can you bear to see them like this?"

In the Battle of Sarxu, Li Rubai suffered a crushing defeat. During his retreat, most of his Liaodong cavalry were killed in action, and his personal guards were almost completely wiped out.

Some of the servants fled to Jianzhou.

More servants followed him back. They were dismissed this year under the pretext of the Ministry of War's investigation into the Liaodong military register for unpaid salaries.

It was common for border generals to embezzle salaries and support their own retainers; once they lost power, their authority was naturally taken back.

Most of these people became refugees and had nothing to eat.

"Can you bear it?"

He laughed hoarsely.

"Back in the Battle of Sarhu, Du Song's firearms battalion was a hundred times more elite than the household guards, yet they were still buried in that snowy plain. What's the use of being able to bear it? A mere Marquis of Dingyuan can't even protect us, let alone those household guards. We can barely protect ourselves, how can we protect them?"

"But things are different now!"

Li Ruzhen loosened his jade belt, causing the veins on his neck to bulge.

"Deng Shaoyu has gained the emperor's favor and is currently recruiting soldiers in Beizhili. If he approves, several hundred brothers will have imperial rations again!"

Li Rubai's eyes were bloodshot as he roared:

"Do you think Marquis Dingyuan is some kind of benevolent person? All he wants is the last bit of influence we have in Liaodong! Once he's squeezed the last drop of value out of us, he can turn around and send us brothers to prison!"

Li Ruzhen staggered backward, his back hitting the nanmu wood frame displaying Tatar golden swords, causing the gleaming scabbards to fall to the ground.

He bent down and picked up a rusty goose-feather knife, the blade reflecting his distorted face: "Second brother, have you forgotten Father's dying words? The Li family has been loyal for generations. Even if we are torn to pieces, we will protect those who follow us! Now the servants are so hungry that they can't even lift a knife, and you want them to wait to die with us?"

"Loyal and virtuous?"

Li Rubai suddenly coughed violently, and dark red blood seeped from between his fingers.

"The fate of loyal and virtuous people is the execution of their entire families, leaving behind only these fallen leaves on the ground!"

Li Ruzhen's hand holding the goose-feather knife began to tremble.

The glint of the blade flashed across the faded snowy night battle map on the wall, as if taking us back to that night that brought shame upon the Li family.

In the heavy snow of Sarhu, the torches of the Ming army were trampled into dust by the Jurchen cavalry. He and Li Rubai led the remaining troops to flee through the valley, with the flames of Du Song Camp soaring into the sky behind them.

After that battle, the situation between the Ming Dynasty and Jianzhou reversed.

After that battle, the Li family's two generations of business in Liaodong were completely destroyed.

"I don't care about any conspiracies or traps!"

Li Ruzhen suddenly plunged his goose-feather knife into the floor tile.

"Tonight, I will go to the Marquis of Dingyuan's mansion to fight for the brothers' future. If you're afraid of death, then stay in this dilapidated house and wait for the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

He turned to leave, but Li Rubai grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"stop!"

Li Rubai's voice was terrifyingly low.

"You think you can escape unscathed by joining the Marquis of Dingyuan with your servants? The political infighting in the court is fierce right now. Whoever falls will drag a few generals down with them. We brothers are the defeated generals of Sarhu, carrying the lives of hundreds of thousands of people on our shoulders. We are a piece of fat meat that everyone wants to gnaw on!"

Li Ruzhen abruptly shook off his brother's hand, causing the jade belt to snap completely and the jade pendants to scatter and roll away.

"Fat meat? We're not even as good as stray dogs now!"

He pointed to the mess on the ground.

"Look at this Li mansion! The swallows on the beams have all flown away, and rats are defecating on the ancestral tablets! Do you think you can escape punishment by hiding here?"

Li Rubai suddenly fell silent.

After a long while, as if half of his energy had been drained, he said weakly, "If you want to go, then go. But remember, don't use the Li family's name. We brothers lost our lives long ago in Sarhu."

The night wind swept withered leaves into the hall, making the spiderwebs rustle.

Looking at his elder brother's hunched back, Li Ruzhen suddenly recalled that spring twenty years ago:
The father rode a tall horse and led his brothers out of the town of Liaodong.

Back then, the Li family mansion was bustling with activity, with carriages and horses, and banners blocking out the sun. Who could have imagined what it would look like today?
He turned and walked towards the courtyard, where moonlight shone on the broken jade and leftover wine scattered on the ground.

From the shadows came the suppressed coughs of the servants and the cries of a hungry baby.

Li Rubai's voice drifted from behind, tinged with drunkenness and despair: "Tell the children to scrape the Li family crest off their armor. From this day forward, they are no longer the Li family army."

Li Ruzhen's eyes reddened, and she walked silently out of the mansion.

He knew that his brother was all bark and no bite. If he really didn't care about the lives of the servants, why would he have to sell his belongings to help them?

Brother, you're so obsessed with saving face that you'll suffer for it.

The Li family has fallen, but the Li family cannot let down its brothers.

What does face matter?

It was nearly dusk.

Li Ruzhen walked out of the faded gate and stepped into the muddy pile of fallen leaves on the street.

The alleyways of Xicheng were filled with the stench of swill, and cobwebs covered the dilapidated eaves. A disheveled woman knelt in a corner, digging for grass roots with broken tiles.

After passing the dilapidated Drum Tower, the street became noisy.

A wooden sign hung at the entrance of the grain store that read "Four ounces per stone." Several men, clutching empty cloth bags, argued with the shop assistant, scattering bran all over the ground, which was then snatched up by beggars.

"Mother, it hurts..."

The sound of a child crying came from the street corner, and a woman was smearing sap from tree bark onto the child's chapped lips.

The sound of string and wind instruments drifted from afar. Two ornate sedan chairs turned into the alley. When the curtains were lifted, half of a luxurious skirt adorned with pearls was revealed, and expensive pastries were casually tossed on the ground.

A cool night breeze blew as Li Ruzhen stopped in front of the Marquis of Dingyuan's residence.

A dead beggar was curled up at the base of the wall, clutching half a piece of clay in his hand.

The same city, separated by a street or a wall, yet they are two different worlds.

The end of a dynasty reveals the full spectrum of human nature; nothing could be more poignant than this.

Li Ruzhen sighed and strode towards the gate of the Marquis of Dingyuan's residence.

(End of this chapter)