Chapter 583: Falling apart (Part 2)
Chapter 583 Falling apart (Part 2)
Chapter 581: Falling apart (Part 2)
Of course, what Huang Chao said was just a verbal declaration. In terms of military power and political power, instead of relaxing, he tightened the grip.
Now is the most critical time for the Ming Dynasty court, so Huang Chao is even more aggressive in asking for resources from the court.
Qingzhou now still has three threats, Liu Bei from Pingyuan, Song Jiang from Liangshan, and Kong Rong from Beihai.
Huang Chao doesn’t care much about these three people, but if the three of them join forces, even Huang Chao must treat them with caution.
Huang Chao organized several wars and wanted to unify Qingzhou, but the three parties jointly defended it, and there was insufficient food and grass in reserve, so in the end they did not gain much benefit.
With such a good opportunity now in front of Huang Chao, how could he not extort more food and grass? After all, Yanzhou had hoarded all the food and grass of the Yellow Turbans.
Zhang Sheng was furious with Huang Chao's robbery, but he could only admit it through gritted teeth.
The Ming Dynasty is now in turmoil. If Huang Chao's prestige is used to add insult to injury, it is likely to accelerate the split of the Ming Dynasty. It would be good to appease Huang Chao with only part of the food and grass. After all, the Ming Dynasty is not short of food.
Yangzhou, Shouchun.
“Huang Chao…”
Fang La's angry roar came from the Governor's Mansion, and soon there were the sounds of various objects being smashed.
After venting for a while, Fang La was still furious. He naturally knew why Huang Chao supported Zhang Sheng, because Huang Chao did not want him to be the new emperor.
Fang La has been paying attention to the trends in Zhongyuan since Zhang Sheng's true identity was exposed, and he also vaguely expected that things would get worse.
Fang La did not believe that all the ministers in the court would be loyal to one woman. Once things got out of hand and Zhang Sheng could not bear the pressure and was forced to abdicate, Fang La would be the one most likely to be regarded as the new emperor.
After annexing Hong Xiuquan’s Jiangbei territory, Fangla now occupied most of Xuzhou and northern Yangzhou, becoming a prince second only to the Ming Dynasty in strength.
As long as Fang La is appointed as the new emperor, the strength of the Ming Dynasty will be doubled, which will be beneficial to both parties.
However, Huang Chao's declaration was like a needle in the sea, temporarily calming the turbulent Ming Dynasty and appeasing the hearts of all parties, but it only ruined Fang La's plan.
Fang La looked north in the distance, his eyes full of hatred, and said coldly: "Huang Chao, just wait for me. This hatred will never end until death."
Of course Fang La knew why Huang Chao wanted to attack him, because when Huang Chao and Hong Xiuquan fought for the position of successor, Fang La stood on Hong Xiuquan's side against Huang Chao, so how could Huang Chao allow Fang La to ascend the throne?
“Here comes someone.” Fang La shouted coldly.
“The subordinate is here.”
“Write down the next words of this governor, make 100,000 copies of them and send them to all the states.”
A cold look flashed in Fang La's eyes, and he said calmly: "The daughter of Zhang Sheng's thief disguised himself as a man. He had cholera and deceived the world. He was named Emperor Ming, but he was actually a thief of Ming..."
The visitor was stunned and stammered: "Captain, isn't this inappropriate?"
Fang La stared at the man with murderous eyes. The man couldn't bear it and had to lower his head, clasped his fists and said, "I obey."
After the man left, Fang La's eyes became even colder. He didn't expect Zhang Sheng to be so popular that even his own confidants would speak for her. "Junior sister, I allowed you to sit in that position before, just because the situation at that time was chaotic. Except for you, the Saint of Peace, it was difficult for others to convince the crowd. Now that your identity has been exposed, it is time to step down and hand it over to me, senior brother. ”
Not many people know Zhang Sheng’s true identity, but there are still many people in Ming Dynasty, and Fang La is one of them.
Fang La didn't say it before, Zhang Sheng was needed to stabilize the situation, but if he doesn't say it now, he really has no chance of taking the position of Emperor Ming.
“Junior sister, don’t blame senior brother. It was Huang Chao who forced senior brother to die.”
Fang La's eyes were full of coldness and he sneered: "What should you do next?"
Between a woman and himself, Fang La was confident that the ministers of the Ming Dynasty knew how to choose. After all, he had the support of the Yin and Yang family behind him.
How did Fang La know that the Yin and Yang family were just using him, just like they were using Zhang Jiao. Of course, his weight was definitely not as good as Zhang Jiao's.
If Huang Chao's declaration stabilized the turmoil within the Ming Dynasty, then Fang La's proclamation stimulated the turmoil in the Ming Dynasty.
Fang La, the largest prince in the Ming Dynasty, all stood up and said that Zhang Sheng was Dongfang Sheng, the Holy Maiden of Taiping. Does that confirm the identity of Zhang Sheng's daughter?
Of course not.
Apart from Fang La's verbal confession, there is no evidence to prove that Zhang Sheng is a woman, and the rumors about Li Shimin also have no definite evidence.
So unless Zhang Sheng admits it personally or is found with definite evidence, rumors alone can only shake her foundation, but will not be enough to oust her from the throne.
If Zhang Sheng had fought alone, rumors alone might have knocked her down, but behind her were Zhang Liang, Zhang Sanfeng, Xiang Yu and other auxiliary officials, as well as the team Zhang Jiao had left for her.
Although the Ming court is not monolithic, it is still relatively united. Fang La has clearly stood on the opposite side, so the Ming court cannot remain indifferent.
Those who were loyal to Zhang Sheng in the court all stood up and accused Fang La of being ambitious, wanting to split the Ming Dynasty, betraying the Yellow Turban, and ascending to the throne instead of being a son of man.
There are also various rumors circulating among the people that Fang La did anything to secure the throne and even falsely accused Zhang Sheng of being a woman. For a time, Fang La's reputation dropped to the extreme.
Yanzhou, Chenliu, Daming Palace.
“Your Majesty, Fang La, Governor of Xuzhou, slanders His Majesty, which is tantamount to rebellion...”
Xiang Yu stood up and spoke, clasping his fists with a stern look on his face and saying: "The last general asked me to lead the army to put down the rebellion."
Zhu Yuanzhang stood up quickly when he saw it.
"Your Majesty, I am also willing to lead troops to suppress the rebellion. If defeated, I am willing to kill myself to thank the world."
Xiang Yu glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and understood that this junior was afraid of his own prestige, so he did not want him to have military power. After all, he was the person who would be most affected after he returned to the court.
Xiang Yu admires Zhu Yuanzhang very much. After all, he was able to become Qu Commander in the shortest time, and he was also recognized by Zhang Jiao and accepted as a closed disciple, which shows his ability and loyalty.
"It's a pity that the desire for power and selfishness are too strong." Xiang Yu thought to himself,
At this time, Xiang Yu finally understood why Zhang Sheng wanted to restrict Zhu Yuanzhang, because if there was no one to check and balance, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely become a powerful minister.
Zhu Yuanzhang, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, for Zhang Sheng, and in order to live up to Zhang Jiao, he did his best in everything he did, worked hard, and took care of everything.
But in Zhang Sheng's eyes, what Zhu Yuanzhang did became the behavior of a powerful minister. If Zhu Yuanzhang knew Zhang Sheng's true thoughts, he didn't know how he would feel.
(End of this chapter)
