The Empress came ashore and beheaded the meritorious officials, forcing me to wear the yellow robe

If the Empress had some other soldiers or generals!

As for Li Jize's behavior of "shitting on her head", she would have turned against him long ago, declared that the King of Qin was in rebellion, and ordered the army to encircle and suppress him.

But the problem is...

She knows clearly what the current situation of Da Qi is!

The local garrisons had a large number of soldiers but no combat effectiveness.

The troops that had some fighting power were mostly private soldiers of the generals in various places. What was even more terrible was...

These generals are no different from Li Jize!

They also did not openly rebel, and were nominally soldiers of the imperial court, but they simply "obeyed orders but not decrees."

The emperor could order them to fight, but if you asked them to report to the capital, they would make all sorts of excuses and refuse to come. Even to fight, the court had to provide travel expenses. As for how to fight?

They can do whatever they want!

There are basically two ways to fight barbarians.

1. Hide in a fortified city and watch the barbarians plunder outside.

2. In the wild, I will follow them for thirty miles. If the barbarians come, I will retreat. If the barbarians rob me, I will stand guard! If the barbarians leave, I will reclaim the land!

Generals like these might be able to fight a few rebellious bandits, but how could they be expected to fight the King of Qin or the Northern Liang Wolf Cavalry?

Don't be ridiculous!

If this is the case, the empress could tolerate other generals becoming warlords, so why couldn't she tolerate Li Jize?

The current situation is that whether you can tolerate it or not, things have developed to this point.

The empress can only negotiate with Li Jize!

After the envoy sent by the imperial court met with Li Jize, the King of Qin...

Li Jize, this old man, is pretending to be very innocent!

How can you say that you are rebelling?

That is really unfair to me!

As the deputy commander, I led the army to fight against the barbarians, but halfway through the journey, the army ran out of food and money!

After investigation, it was discovered that the Qinghe prefect had colluded with the commander-in-chief, Zhou Yan, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, to embezzle the soldiers' food and wages.

The army was enraged and mutinied, and the commander was executed.

As the deputy commander, I quickly gathered my troops, killed all the rebellious generals, and put down the civil strife.

He wanted to continue marching south, but the army had no food or money, so he had to lead his troops back to Qinghe County and kill the corrupt prefect Lin Bingwei.

Now, the imperial court wants us to continue to fight in the north. It's so difficult! There is no food, no money. Brothers, you can't fight on an empty stomach, right?

The envoy had no choice but to go back and relay the King of Qin's words to the empress and all the civil and military officials in the court.

Everyone is indignant and angry!

Okay! Damn it!

The Empress was furious because the Qinghe prefect had lied to her, claiming he had successfully suppressed the bandits, when in fact the army's rations had also been robbed by the bandits a second time. On the other hand, it was Li Jize's shamelessness!

Relying on the army in his hands and the fact that the court now wants him to fight against the barbarians, he openly extorts money.

The anger of all officials came from the fact that Li Jize did not follow the market conditions!

As mentioned before, the generals in various places were indeed becoming warlords, but on the surface they still had to rely on the imperial court and court officials.

They would suck the blood of soldiers, falsify the number of soldiers, and then bribe officials in the court. They must have a backer behind them.

The civil service group would take money and speak well of the local generals and approve military pay.

In this way, both sides benefit from each other, which is why... some warlords never win a battle but keep getting promoted!

but……

Li Jize, ah Li Jize!

How shameless.

He directly stopped second-hand dealers from making a profit from the price difference, openly blackmailed the empress, and gave military pay! Give military rations!

Most importantly, the truth was out in the open. Li Jize was probably hoping these officials would be dismissed for "routine work." Then, he could use excuses like insufficient military pay, corruption, and the inability to send troops.

Faced with Li Jize's blatant blackmail, the empress helplessly asked the court, "My dear ministers, what do you think of the King of Qin's request for money?"

"Outrageous! This is absolutely outrageous! How can he be the King of Qin of the imperial court? How is he any different from that traitorous minister?"

"We have truly misjudged the King of Qin! I believe his crimes should be made public!"

For a time, the entire court criticized Li Jize for his "shamelessness".

The main reason is...

They didn't get any benefits! They just watched Li Jize eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks.

If I don't scold him to death and vent my anger, I won't be able to live like this.

In the entire court, only the chief minister of the cabinet, Ye Xianggao, was calm and silent.

The empress frowned and looked at Ye Xianggao and asked, "Lord, what is your opinion?"

"Your Majesty! I believe that under the current circumstances, we should not provoke the King of Qin! Foreign threats are approaching, and we should all unite and face the enemy together."

As expected of an old fox, what he said hit the nail on the head!

You can't kill Li Jize by scolding him, but if the barbarians come, they will definitely chop you to death with the butcher knives in their hands.

Empress: "..."

All the courtiers: "..."

Hi! I'm so angry, but there's nothing I can do.

Back then, everyone joined forces with the emperor to criticize Li Jize, saying "The King of Qin should be executed." How high-spirited they were!

Who could have thought that in just the blink of an eye, the morals of the world would decline and people’s hearts would change!

The King of Qin, who had thick eyebrows and big eyes and was at the mercy of others, unexpectedly turned into a fool, holding a large army and openly blackmailing the court.

You can't not give it!

At least, at this critical moment, they didn't dare to do anything extreme.

for example……

Expose Li Jize’s blatant extortion to the public!

How do you know that if you anger him and break up with him, he won't send troops along the canal directly into the capital to "clean up the court"?

By then, I’m afraid all of these “traitorous ministers” will have to die!

"I believe that the imperial court should not only provide these military salaries, but also provide them generously! And everyone in the world should know that they are eating the imperial court's food and receiving the salary from Your Majesty."

The words of the cabinet chief made all the officials in the court suddenly realize what was going on.

If Li Jize dared to rebel openly, he would be criticized by the people of the world. If he took the military pay and ate the imperial food, but did not fulfill his promise to fight against the barbarians.

How would the common people view him? Was he worthy of rebelling? Was he worthy of being emperor?

"Great advice, Lord!"

"This plan, Lord, is brilliant!"

Under everyone's flattery, the empress breathed a sigh of relief and made the decision immediately.

"In that case, send the first installment of the three additional taxes to Li Jize! And inform the world that King Qin Li Jize has regained command of the Northern Liang cavalry and is marching north to meet the barbarians."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

In the court, all the officials were singing praises.

but……

They never dreamed that Li Jize had 70 million taels of silver in his hands!

What is he doing at this moment?

Li Jize said that in order to alleviate the distress of his brothers, he decided to pay the soldiers three months' salary out of his own pocket.

and……

When it was time to pay the salaries, all the generals and soldiers gathered together, and Li Jize personally handed the silver to the soldiers!

After the food and wages were distributed, some of the more concerned generals took the lead and shouted, "Whose food are you eating? Whose ring are you holding?"