Chapter 957: The Old Demon Appears

Liu Zheng was dressed in military attire, his posture upright. Following him were Pei Qianyun and Lu Yao; both were also wearing the military attire of the Duqi and Duwei, one looking awe-inspiring and the other heroic and spirited.

Everyone was stunned.

Li Hang's expression changed drastically first, and he said like a madman: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this must absolutely not be done! The Duqi and Duwei are the vital instruments for the defense of the Capital City; how can they be handed over to others, and to one who is—"

"And to one who is—"

And to one who is a foreigner!

This undoubtedly shocked everyone present, and a buzzing sound arose.

In fact, even Liu Zheng had not expected Li Tun to let him take charge of the Duqi and Duwei; he had also been taken aback.

However,

upon thinking about it, it was normal.

Walking forward step by step.

Li Hang and the others looked at Liu Zheng with eyes that wished they could devour him.

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The current Li Tun had staked everything on him; apart from himself and Li Xuanya, he had no one else he could trust. Whether the Li Dynasty could rise would depend on this move. This could also be considered Li Tun's pledge of allegiance to Liu Zheng: handing the safety of the Capital City to you, first, represents the determination of the Li Dynasty royal family to protect Minister Liu, and second, I have given all the guards of the Capital City to you, which also shows that I fully trust you.

Liu Zheng naturally could understand Li Tun's heart.

He was originally an Imperial Envoy of Longyan and also the Crown Prince of Liangzhou; according to etiquette, he should not kneel to this King of the Li Dynasty.

"Your Majesty."

"Liu Zheng thanks Your Majesty for the appreciation! With the Tiger Tally in hand, the safety of this Capital City shall be safely entrusted to Liu Zheng!"

Liu Zheng could not be bothered to look at them, cupped his hands and laughed, not kneeling.

A group of civil and military officials wailed loudly.

Twenty thousand Duqi and twenty thousand Duwei—these were solid elites; were they just given to an outsider like this?

"This—"

"Your Majesty, how can this be allowed?"

"Your Majesty, that was an accident—"

A group of people still wanted to argue.

Li Tun sighed, looked around, and said indifferently: "My dear officials, first, Minister Liu is not an outsider, and second, with the Duqi and Duwei in your hands, my nephew has died, and I have not felt safe at all."

"This—"

What did these words mean?

Could it be that if a royal family member dies, a royal family member should be there to handle it? This finger pointed directly at Li Hang, causing everyone to gasp.

Li Tun was already looking coldly at Li Hang: "Uncle, who exactly should be held responsible for this matter? A life for a life; this time, it was a member of the royal family who died—so who should pay with their life?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expression changed drastically again.

"Li Tun!"

Li Hang knew that Li Tun was going to tear off the mask, so his eyes turned cold, and he stood up on the spot: "Are you afraid you've been bewitched by this foreign brat! Are you truly not even concerned about the safety of the Li Dynasty anymore!"

Today's Li Tun was truly too domineering.

He had solved Jin Wanji and Zhang Xuan on the spot; was he not even going to spare Li Hang?

Others also knelt on the ground, echoing him one after another.

At present, the Wa's army of five hundred thousand was about to assemble, yet Li Tun was purging officials in the court; this had never happened during the reign of any king. They felt that Li Tun was truly crazy. Was this breaking the pot because it was already cracked?

"You are killing these pillars of the state one by one, the court order is collapsing, and government affairs are not functioning; is this what you, Li Tun, want?"

Li Hang spoke with sonorous force, his eyes grim.

According to the plot,

at this time, Li Tun should announce that he would establish a Cabinet in the Li Dynasty and implement a constitutional monarchy.

Li Tun remained quiet and silent.

Liu Zheng looked at him with some curiosity.

Who would have thought that Li Tun would look over with a laugh and ask Liu Zheng: "Minister Liu, what do you think?"

Liu Zheng was startled, then immediately smiled: "Your Majesty, the Li Dynasty has been exhausted for many years; it should be broken and then rebuilt. Taking this good opportunity to purge the court order and rebuild the system is the only way out for the Li Dynasty."

But he did not.

Could it be that he really wanted to kill Li Hang?

"Yellow-mouthed child, what do you know about court order? What do you know about the way of checks and balances? What do you know about the way of employing people!"

"Your Majesty, this brat is here to bring disaster to the Li Dynasty!"

"Bullshit!"

"Shameless boasting!"

Liu Zheng naturally smiled and said nothing.

The way of checks and balances has existed since ancient times. But just like the principle that punishment does not extend to the scholar-official, the royal family can give you scholar-officials privileges because they believe in your character, believe in your morality, believe that you are elite people, and believe that you are wholeheartedly for the country. But if you exceed this boundary, when your character, morality, stance, and pursuits deviate from what the royal family wants, then this way of checks and balances is not worth having.

"Your Majesty, you must have the discerning eye to recognize the traitor and behead him!"

Liu Zheng's words naturally aroused the common hatred of the civil and military officials of the court, and they retorted in a rage one by one.

Eunuchs, nobles, maternal relatives, and scholar-officials—various forces checked and balanced each other.

This allowed the emperors of the Ming Dynasty to not hold court for thirty years, yet the court order could still function normally.

Just like the Ming Dynasty in history.

That was a dynasty that played the way of checks and balances to the extreme.

Human greed is infinite; when the financial income of those Scholar-Official Groups in Jiangnan exceeded the financial income of the state, everything began to not play by the rules. Once the distribution model had problems, the entire building would collapse.

The current Li Dynasty is exactly like this.

However.

In the later stages, it was different.

Liu Zheng watched these spittle-flying civil and military officials of the Li Dynasty and suddenly felt a sense of being in a dream.

Yes.

England, which first realized a constitutional monarchy, was the same. The New Aristocracy and the Gentry craved new methods of distribution, including power and benefits.

This is the inevitability of history.

Now, with the Duqi Duwei both in his own hands, plus the Imperial Guards, the determination of Li Tun was already very great.

It is just that.

He would personally push the Li Dynasty toward a constitutional monarchy.

This feeling of changing the course of history was truly nothing short of marvelous.

"Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty!"

Who was he still waiting for?

Finally.

This old man came in leaning on a cane, supported by several people. As soon as this voice rose, all the civil and military officials were overjoyed.

"Elder Li!"

"Your Majesty!"

After waiting for a long time, an old man on the verge of death finally appeared.

Li Tun also finally smiled.

Liu Zheng also looked over in confusion.

"Teacher."

"Lord Li!"

Sure enough.

Liu Zheng noticed from the side that the arrival of this old man made Li Tun sit up straight; this was a sign that his spirit was beginning to tense up.

So that was how it was.

So behind this Li Dynasty, with its Southerner Party and Westerner Party, there was still a big shot existing. Li Tun's actions today were, as it turned out, waiting for his appearance.

As the saying goes, the older one gets, the more cunning one becomes.

This was likely a difficult person to deal with.

A big shot.

This was likely an existence capable of having the final say.

This person.

First, he definitely could not be killed.

Li Tun cast a look of seeking help toward Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng was also left speechless, suddenly feeling the pressure increase tenfold.

Second, he must be persuaded.

Third, it would be best to borrow his prestige to settle the constitutional monarchy in one fell swoop.

Liu Zheng could not help but rub his temples.

Did this Li Tun really think his brain cells weren't dying fast enough?

As soon as this old man came in, he threw himself onto the ground and wailed loudly, snot and tears streaming down, crawling as he knelt; one look at this appearance was enough to tell he was not someone to be trifled with.