Dugong

Chapter 86 Eliminating Dissidents
A hint of hesitation flashed in Li Ping'an's eyes. He could still deal with Consort Zhang, but the Prince of Zhenbei was truly a formidable figure, one that even His Majesty had to be cautious of.

He hesitated for a moment, then resolutely waved goodbye.

"Drag him away and execute him. He dared to embezzle the military pay of the capital garrison. I'm sure the Prince will find out and punish him for the greater good!"

After Zhang Shensi was executed, the remaining generals remained silent in fear.

This eunuch dared to kill even the nephew of the Prince of Zhenbei and Consort Zhang. Not to mention the military generals who were connected with the Zhang family, even the military generals who were loyal to His Majesty and the court were terrified.

As recorded in history books, eunuchs were indeed ruthless, vicious, and cruel.

Li Ping'an suppressed his unease. If he were still that little eunuch or minor official, perhaps he would still have room to jump ship and change allegiance.

Now holding three positions—Chief Steward of Cining Palace, Director of Imperial Horse Administration, and Deputy Commander of the Beijing Garrison—he is essentially a powerful figure in his own right, and even if he were to climb up to Cining Palace to kowtow and pledge his loyalty, Consort Zhang would not dare to accept him.

The only way is to follow His Majesty's wishes and fight against the Dowager Consort, the Zhang family, and the Prince of Zhenbei!

"My godfather often lamented that once you enter officialdom, you are no longer in control of your own destiny, but I wonder how much of his dying act was out of loyalty and voluntariness..."

Li Ping'an gathered his thoughts, looked down at the remaining generals, and continued calling out names.

"Meng Chen, Lieutenant General of the Valiant Guard..."

"Please spare my life, Commander!"

Before Meng Chen could finish speaking, he rushed out from the crowd, knelt down and begged for mercy: "This humble official was confused for a moment and embezzled military funds. I am willing to offer all my family's wealth to you, sir."

Li Ping'an's face showed interest: "How much silver?"

Meng Chen quickly replied, "This humble official prefers houses and fields, but currently only has a little over a thousand taels of silver. If you prefer gold and silver, sir, I will send someone to pawn them, and I can get at least twenty or thirty thousand taels!"

Li Ping'an's expression suddenly changed, and he pointed at the numerous military officers and cursed.

"Look! Without us even interrogating them, these corrupt officials have already jumped out on their own. We are deeply grateful for His Majesty's favor; how could we possibly collude with you? Drag them away and execute them!"

Meng Chen tried to explain, but a eunuch had already sealed his speech acupoints, rendering him unable to utter a sound.

In the blink of an eye.

Another headless corpse appeared on the drill ground. The soldiers, seeing the usually high and mighty figure die before their eyes, disregarded the truth of the crime and spontaneously shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

The resentment from six months of unpaid wages was now being vented on the "corrupt official."

Your Majesty is indeed wise; the unpaid wages are entirely the fault of corrupt officials!
Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Li Ping'an stopped wasting time and announced more than ten names, all of whom were military officers from the "Zhang" faction.

"kill!"

At a command, a flash of cold light appeared, a head rolled to the ground, and the stench of blood filled the air.

Li Ping'an coldly swept his gaze over the remaining hundred or so military officers, many of whom were still Zhang family henchmen, and they were all so frightened that they could hardly stand.

"Keep killing!"

More than a dozen heads fell to the ground. No matter how hard you fought back or how much you begged for mercy, the result was the same.

Thirty heads were piled up to form a mound of heads, most of them dying with their eyes wide open in disbelief.

Li Ping'an put the list into his sleeve. There were still more than a dozen Zhang family generals in the Six Northern Guards, but the task could not be completed in one go, and the people could not be killed all at once.

Leaving some roots behind will make it easier to cleanse and eliminate them repeatedly in the future, thus ensuring complete control of the Beijing garrison.

Li Ping'an ordered, "Bring the grain supervisor here."

Several old eunuchs escorted a dozen or so officials forward, all of them bound hand and foot, their mouths stuffed with rags torn from somewhere.

Li Ping'an's killing intent was chilling: "There are so many corrupt officials in the Beijing Garrison, you are all guilty of dereliction of duty!"

Unable to speak, the grain inspector could only kowtow and beg for mercy. Two of the more timid men fainted upon seeing the mound of human heads.

Li Ping'an secretly scorned the Emperor's brother-in-law, thinking him to be utterly ignorant and easily intimidated.

"You're all tired from killing today. I'll give you a chance to redeem yourselves. All generals, listen to my command: pay your wages!"

"As ordered."

The remaining military officers felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and dared not be arrogant because of their merits. They all bowed and accepted the order.

The eunuchs of the Imperial Horse Stables set up more than twenty tables, with chests of gleaming silver placed beside them. Under the command of the flags, the guards lined up to receive their pay: one tael of silver and a receipt for two shi of coarse rice.

The grain inspector trembled as he distributed wages, fearing he might miss a paycheck or make a mistake, while the eunuch watching nearby tirelessly gave instructions.

"The court is in dire straits. The Ministry of Revenue is out of money. His Majesty has to tighten his belt to scrape together these funds for the salaries!"

After the soldiers in front received their pay, they bowed three times and kowtowed nine times in the direction of the palace. When the soldiers behind saw this, they followed suit and shouted the same thing.

"Long live His Majesty..."

From dawn till dusk, all the military pay was finally distributed. Li Ping'an announced that those who served in the army for the next three months would receive double pay.

The soldiers seemed to have suddenly understood, and without any guidance, they knelt down and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

……

Wuwei County.

city ​​wall.

Prince Cheng stood with his hands behind his back, gazing towards the direction of the Beijing garrison, and could clearly hear shouts of "Long live the Emperor!"

"Eunuch An's matter is settled."

Among the six southern guards of the capital, the Shengwu Guard and Ruiwu Guard were elite troops under Prince Cheng. They were lying in ambush not far from the drill ground, ready to suppress the rebellion at any time.

The Northern Six Guards, who were unarmored and whose generals had suffered heavy casualties, were like cattle and sheep to be slaughtered in front of the armored and armed soldiers.

As for how many people would die, Prince Cheng didn't care.

The royal family doesn't need soldiers who would dare to rebel with the slightest instigation; killing them all would actually stabilize the court.

Standing behind him, Prince Zhao Lian asked worriedly, "Father, if we allow that eunuch to slaughter the generals at will, won't that affect the morale of the army?"

"Nonsense! What do you mean by eunuch? He is the Deputy Commander of the Beijing Garrison, appointed by His Majesty. You should bow and pay your respects to him."

Prince Cheng reprimanded him, then said, "The Beijing Garrison is one of the foundations of the imperial family. Listening to Eunuch An is better than changing your surname to Zhang."

Zhao Lian asked in confusion, "Since His Majesty intends to reclaim military power, why send the eunuch... Eunuch An to do so?"

“There are some things that Your Majesty or I cannot do ourselves, and eunuchs are the most useful in those situations.”

Prince Cheng explained, "If the Prince of Zhenbei tolerates it and lets Eunuch An deal with his generals, that would be loyalty to the emperor and the country. If he can't help but cause trouble, for the sake of the country's stability, all the blame can be placed on Eunuch An!"

Eunuchs are supposed to share the emperor's burdens and take the blame.

Zhao Lian suddenly realized what was going on. He despised eunuchs from the bottom of his heart and asked with schadenfreude, "Father, do you think the Prince of Zhenbei will retaliate?"

"Eunuch An deliberately split the pay into two days, just waiting for the Southern Six Guards to cause trouble!"

……

evening.

Back to the Imperial Stables.

Li Ping'an listened to his subordinates report the list of military officers and confidants killed that day, carefully reviewing the list from personal guards to centurions and sergeants.

The purge wasn't just about killing high-ranking officials; it also involved eliminating powerful factions.

Eunuch Xia said worriedly, "My lord, there are hundreds or even thousands of unranked military officers involved. If they are all eliminated, it may affect the stability of the capital garrison."

"That still needs to be cleaned up; His Majesty wants a clean Beijing Garrison!"

Li Ping'an had already made up his mind and instructed, "I have heard that there are many chivalrous heroes in the martial arts world who admire His Majesty's grace and are willing to serve the court. We can recruit them into the army."

Although platoon leaders and centurions are not officially ranked, they open the door to promotion. As long as they "make meritorious contributions" later, they can be promoted to military officers.

As for how to gain merit, Li Ping'an would send someone to give him guidance.

For example, a great hero can lead troops to wipe out mountain bandits and seize enough silver to make meritorious contributions, which can be added to His Majesty's private treasury. He should be promoted accordingly.

As for where the impoverished bandits got their money, that's not important anymore.

(End of this chapter)