Chapter 33: Defending Jinzhou
In the Ming Dynasty, there were 30,000 to 40,000 eunuchs in the imperial palace, and 60,000 to 70,000 eunuchs in the princes' mansions across the country. Liu Yingkun had some adaptability to be able to sneak out from among the 100,000 eunuchs and become a eunuch in the Imperial Stables.

What is the biggest thing in the current political situation?
After defeating the top cabinet ministers and ministerial officials of the Donglin Party, what reasons did Duke Wei use to promote officials from the Zhejiang Party, Chu Party, Qi Party, and several eunuchs who were affiliated with his faction?
Repairing the three main halls is one task, but the task is expected to take more than a year to complete.

It can be considered as stabilizing the political situation and purging the scoundrels, but the civil servants who have been overthrown recently are all cabinet ministers and department officials, such as Sun Chengzong and others. Calling them scoundrels is like pointing at the Tianqi Emperor and calling him a tyrant.

Because only a tyrant can allow such treacherous and cunning people to climb so high.

Only border affairs, especially the Liao affairs that cost the imperial treasury 5 million taels of silver per year, were the best solutions.

Because of the Liao incident, the Liao tax of nine cents of silver per mu was levied on the common people. If Liaozhen won a great victory, it would not only make the whole court happy, but also reassure the people of the world, letting them know that their Liao tax was not paid in vain.

It can also shut up the scholars all over the world.

This is a heroic feat to establish a life for the border residents and bring peace to Liaozhen.

With his thoughts in a mess, Liu Yingkun spoke out what was in his heart.

Such a great victory in the Liao war is exactly what Duke Wei needs!

Seeing that more Tartar heads were being carried and piled together by the servants, Eunuch Liu struggled to stand up, leaned towards General Li on his right, and then collapsed on the ground again.

"The general's power is so great!"

Liu Yingkun smiled at Li Hao, then turned to the military commander and said to Yuan Chonghuan: "When a country is in great trouble, it must have talented generals. This General Li's killing power is too great. I couldn't bear it for a moment and couldn't stand up."

Everyone in the hall burst into laughter. They were also shocked by the pile of corpses. Many of them had never seen hundreds of real Tartars piled together in their lives, so some rubbed their eyes, some slapped their thighs.

Eunuch Liu's action made the other generals stop acting foolishly and ignorantly.

As early as the servants began to come in and place the heads, Yuan Bingxian, who was sitting on the main seat, changed his expression from smiling to solemn. He had known about the battle situation on the north wall for a long time, but hearing the message of more than 150 heads of Zhen Tatars was one thing, and seeing it with one's own eyes was another.

That was a pile of heads as high as a person's waist. It could be turned into a Jingguan with a simple arrangement.

Yuan Bingxian was ready to stand up and gently stroke the back of General Li's hand to show his closeness and comfort, but as soon as he raised his buttocks, his legs went weak and he fell back heavily.

The fierce murderous aura emanating from more than 150 real Tatar heads and the faint smell of rust and blood intimidated him so much that he couldn't even stand up.

Fortunately, Eunuch Liu collapsed twice, attracting the attention of all the generals, and no one noticed that Yuan Bingxian was also frightened.

Two or three of Eunuch Liu's attendants immediately rushed in from outside the door, helped Liu Yingkun to sit on the main seat to the right of Yuan Chonghuan, and then ran out quickly.

"They are all real Tartars. I have checked." Without caring about the joke he made, Liu Yingkun first determined, "The Liao affairs are trivial. Our Ming Dynasty is lucky to have a general like General Li. It is a blessing for the country and the people."

Cicada is another name for cicada, which is used to refer to noise and disturbance.

Li Hao was a little surprised that such advanced vocabulary could come out of the eunuch's mouth. It seemed that Liu Yingkun had a high cultural level.

It is not surprising. All the eunuchs in the palace have been to school. The place where they studied was called Neishutang. Many cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty, such as Yan Song and Zhao Zhenji, taught in Neishutang when they were working hard in the Hanlin Academy. However, in order to make it sound better, history books implicitly wrote that they taught in the Silijian.

Because the Silijian was in charge of the Neishutang.

Man Gui laughed loudly, "Liu Dayong, now you believe it, General Li from Ningyuan City is indeed brave enough to defeat ten thousand men."

Although the three real Tartar heads that Man Gui had fished out were nothing compared to Li Hao's mountain of heads, he was still very happy.

The more he gains in this battle, the greater the share of the credit he will get.

The eunuch nodded vigorously several times, then suggested: "I have an important matter concerning the palace that I need to discuss with General Li alone. General Li, would you like to move to another place to discuss it?"

He looked at Li Hao, who had no expression on his face. He said this in a very overbearing manner, without any intention of consulting Yuan Chonghuan, Man Gui and others, and only asked for the opinion of Li Hao, the person involved.

"I'm OK."

General Li guessed what the eunuch was going to do, which was to gain military merit.

However, it was not the kind of blatant robbery that Luo Lisu had done during the day. The most likely possibility was that they fabricated the illusion that Li Hao and Duke Wei had known each other for a long time, and then the eunuchs in the palace shared the credit for discovering talented generals, making early arrangements, and worrying about state affairs.

He didn't mind this. With Wei Yan's intervention, the civil servants in the capital didn't dare to take his reward money.

Generally speaking, the reward for the head of a Tartar must be checked by the local military governor, provincial governor or the Ministry of War before it is allocated to the local area by the Ministry of War or the Ministry of Revenue.

Once the reward money is taken out of the treasury, it will be drained away by officials at all levels. Generally, the general who kills the enemy will only receive about one third of the reward money he should have received.

Like the time when he received eighty taels of silver from the provincial government office two days ago, it was purely because Yuan Chonghuan opened the back door and used the silver from the provincial government to pay for it, so no one took a cut.

Of course, the reward of silver is actually the smallest item in military merit. The power to guard a place is what Li Hao needs most at the moment.

Yuan Chonghuan also vaguely understood what Liu Yingkun was going to do. Ever since Sun Chengzong left, he had no support in the court. Duke Wei was very popular, and he had built a shrine for him before. There was no reason for him to block the way of Liu Yingkun and Duke Wei today.

"General Li has fought hard today, so you should rest for the next two days. I will explain the military etiquette to General Li later. Someone, find a quiet and empty room for Liu Dayong and General Li."

Yuan Bingxian summoned servants from the provincial government office and arranged a location.

Liu Yingkun nodded to Yuan Chonghuan with satisfaction, called the servants at the door, sat on a chair, and asked the servants to take him out.

"General Li, I am not being arrogant and being so rude in front of you. I am just so overwhelmed by your majesty that my legs are weak and I can't even walk."

After walking out of the hall, Liu Yingkun specifically explained to Li Hao the reason why he sat on the chair.

General Li waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care about these trivial matters.

After arriving at the room arranged by Yuan Chonghuan, Liu Yingkun dismissed several attendants, and Li Hao also asked his servants and Cao Daxiao and others to wait outside the door.

"General Li, there is a big event here, which is what Duke Wei is worried about all day long. Are you willing to listen?"

Liu Yingkun considered his words and then began to persuade.

Li Hao, who was sitting carefree on the chair, snorted coldly, "Give Wei Yan some credit, right? I've thought of it for you. Just say that he and I have known each other for a long time, and it was Wei Yan who recommended me to join the army in Ningyuan City. He made plans in advance and discovered talents. This is what he wants."

Wei Yan was a derogatory term, but Liu Yingkun didn't care at all.

They are eunuchs anyway, so what if they let others say a few words? The most important thing at the moment is to agree on the details with General Li.

"General, you are so smart that I am not as smart as you." This clear attitude of cooperation made Liu Yingkun very happy. "I originally thought that being trapped in Ningyuan City was a great disaster for me, but I didn't expect that General Li would be waiting for me here. This trip in the first month of winter is not in vain. I feel relieved to hear your words. Please speak freely. I will agree to all the affairs and duties of the court on behalf of Duke Wei."

This is a generous statement, but General Li has some doubts.

He crossed his arms and thought for a while, "I want to guard Jinzhou and be promoted to the rank of general. Can you make decisions on such important matters for the court?"

In terms of military merit, Daishan's achievement was enough to earn him the rank of general, but it would take time for the imperial court to bestow the award.

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(End of this chapter)