The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

Caishikou, the place where executions are carried out.

A large number of common people and scholars have gathered here.

Most of them were just watching the excitement at the city gate, and a small number of them were called here by their friends.

After all, the turmoil not long ago shocked the entire capital, and the court has not given an explanation.

Because of this, many people are speculating that the beheading at Caishikou today must be related to the turmoil not long ago.

At this moment, in the cell next to the execution ground, Tang Hao was sitting with Li Dongyang. The two sat opposite each other like friends, and the table was full of wine and food.

"Eat."

"This "last meal" is indispensable. No matter what, you have to eat and drink enough before you go on the road."

Tang Hao said while pouring wine for Li Dongyang.

The grudges between the two of them will be settled today.

Li Dongyang was not polite. He picked up the wine glass and hesitated for a moment, then drank it all, and then coughed violently.

After a long while, he smiled bitterly and said, "Since my illness became more serious, I have stopped drinking."

"I didn't expect that this last beheading wine would have a different taste in my heart!"

Tang Hao did not respond, but silently poured him wine again.

Li Dongyang picked up the chopsticks and looked at the table full of delicacies, but he didn't know where to start.

But in the end, he picked up a chicken leg and put it in the bowl, took a bite carefully, and slowly tasted the taste.

After a long time, he said with an intoxicated face: "This taste is really unforgettable."

"I can't drink alcohol or eat meat with my disease, otherwise I will vomit blood. But even if I don't drink alcohol or eat meat, I will be emaciated for a long time. That's how my relatives died back then."

Speaking of this, Tang Hao was also a little touched.

Li Dongyang's whole family really died. If he was ruled out as a retribution, it can only prove that this is their family's genetic disease. It seems quite strange that all men and women died young.

"Since you are sick, why can't you retire while the tide is still flowing?"

"If you had known better back then, when the emperor wanted to take back power, wouldn't it be good to retire early and return home to enjoy your old age?"

Tang Hao was very puzzled by this.

He has always found it difficult to see Li Dongyang clearly.

You say he has no talent and knowledge, but he is a genius who has risen all the way to the top, and finally became a cabinet minister.

But it is such a person who clings to the power in his hands and chooses to confront Emperor Zhu Houzhao many times. As a result, Zhu Houzhao hates him to the bone and sends him to the Ning Wang Mansion and puts him on the must-kill list!

If Li Dongyang had known better and resigned earlier, such as on the day Liu Daxia retired, would his fate be better?

Tang Hao didn't know.

Because there is no if in this world.

Li Dongyang stared at Tang Hao in a daze and asked a question.

"My whole family is dead, what else can I lose?"

Tang Hao finally understood after hearing this.

Speaking of which, Li Dongyang is also a pitiful man!

His whole family died, his relatives died one after another, and in the end, he was the only one left who was still lingering.

What else does such a person have to lose?

He, Li Dongyang, lost too much, so he didn't want to lose anything anymore, including power and status, and even everything he had!

This is a poor guy who was forced to be possessive to the point of being morbid.

"You are wrong, your son Li Zhaofan is still alive!"

Tang Hao clapped his hands, and Li Zhaofan walked in tremblingly.

Back then, he took the blame for Li Dongyang and was directly thrown into the imperial prison, and has been imprisoned ever since.

Fortunately, it was only in the early days of imprisonment that the Jinyiwei tortured him, and later he was allowed to rest and recuperate, so Li Zhaofan could survive until now.

After Li Zhaofan entered the cell, he knelt down in front of Li Dongyang without saying a word, and then he burst into tears without saying a word.

Li Dongyang patted his head and said with tears in his eyes: "Good boy, you have suffered, you have suffered!"

Li Dongyang once thought that his son Li Zhaofan had been killed long ago, so he completely turned evil and regarded Tang Hao and Emperor Zhu Houzhao as mortal enemies.

After all, Li Zhaofan was the last adult male in their lineage!

Tang Hao looked complicated when he saw this, and then walked out of the cell on his own.

"Accompany your father to finish this last meal of execution!"

Hearing the three words "execution meal", Li Zhaofan was shocked.

He looked at Li Dongyang with a panic face and asked: "Father, what is going on?"

Li Dongyang smiled bitterly and shook his head. He did not explain too much, but shook the empty wine glass and signaled Li Zhaofan to pour him wine.

At this point, he was about to be beheaded and displayed to the public, and he didn't care about any illness or dietary restrictions.

Li Zhaofan poured wine with tears in his eyes, silently serving his father as he did in the past.

"Zhaofan, after I'm gone, you should go back to Chaling!"

"Don't become an official, be a gentleman, live a stable life, and expand my Li family, okay?"

Li Zhaofan suppressed his inner grief and forced a smile.

"Okay, that's good too."

"My son doesn't want to get involved in the fight."

"Devoting yourself to studying is my son's greatest wish."

Li Dongyang smiled with relief, then reached out and touched his son again.

"Go, I want to do something for you in the end!"

Li Dongyang had been calculating and fighting for his whole life, and the only person he felt sorry for was his son.

Since Li Zhaofan was adopted as his son, he had been serving him attentively, never complaining or showing any dissatisfaction, and never seeking any benefits with the power of Li Dongyang. He was like a loyal servant who only wanted to take good care of him.

As a result, Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao sounded the drum to report to the emperor, publicly pointing out that Li Dongyang secretly colluded with Liu Jin and drove Tang Shaozong to seize power. In the end, after investigation, he found out that Li Zhaofan was involved. Li Dongyang had always refused to compromise, so Li Zhaofan had been imprisoned, and his life and death were unknown.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Li Zhaofan had taken the blame for Li Dongyang and had saved him from a disaster.

Therefore, Li Dongyang felt full of guilt for Li Zhaofan.

Li Zhaofan knelt on the ground, kowtowed three times to Li Dongyang respectfully, and then walked out of the cell.

Then Tang Hao walked in, sat down by himself, and poured himself a drink.

"How is it? He's pretty good to you, right?"

"It's very humane to let your son see you off before you die!"

Li Dongyang looked at this mortal enemy and suddenly smiled.

"Tang Hao, your future fate is destined to be worse than mine!"

"The gentry are not so easy to deal with!"

Li Dongyang is such a shrewd person that he can tell at a glance what the Marquis of Zhongshan wants to do, or he has long known the real reason for the poverty of the Ming Dynasty!

All the money and grain fell into the hands of the gentry, so how could the court and the people not be poor?

And this Marquis of Zhongshan, and the Emperor Zhengde behind him, want to revive the Ming Dynasty, so they will definitely take action against the gentry!

But are these gentry really so easy to deal with?

"You can be violent for a while, even for a lifetime!"

"But after you die, after Zhengde dies, the gentry will still be gentry, there will be no change!"

"This is true for Emperor Taizu Hongwu and Emperor Xianzong Chenghua. As long as the court exists, the gentry will exist, so what you do is useless!"

At this point, Li Dongyang suddenly laughed, and his mood seemed very good.

Knowing that the efforts and efforts of this mortal enemy for a lifetime will be in vain, there is nothing more gratifying than this.

The gentry will never be defeated.

As long as the court is still there, the emperor needs the gentry to herd the people for him and educate the people for him!

And the court will still implement the imperial examination system, so the inheritance of the gentry will exist, and there will never be a moment of defeat!

To put it bluntly, Tang Hao and Emperor Zhengde can only be violent for a while like Emperor Chenghua, but after they die, the gentry will still come back and control the discourse power of this era, and even everything in this era!

Emperor Chenghua, who is so skilled in means, finally chose to give up and compromise with the civil officials and gentry, didn't he?

So what is your basis, Tang Hao and Zhu Houzhao?

Tang Hao looked at Li Dongyang, a typical representative of gentry seeking profit, and did not hide his hostility at all.

"Be violent for a while?"

"You think too highly of these gentry!"

Tang Hao sneered: "When I drove those rebels to slaughter the gentry, did you think they dared to resist?"

"The scholars' rebellion failed in ten years. Without military power, it is meaningless for them to fight for power and profit. They are just leeks like merchants. When His Majesty is short of money, their families will be confiscated and exterminated to make up for the deficit, that's all!"

Leeks!

The gentry are like lowly merchants!

Hearing this, Li Dongyang was furious.

"How dare you?"

"How dare you confuse the gentry with lowly merchants?"

"Aren't they one and the same?" Tang Hao replied coldly: "The gentry support merchants to manage their industries and make profits for themselves. Isn't this what you always do?"

"Don't think that you are noble just because you have read the books of sages all your life. You look down on merchants, craftsmen, and anyone. Your self-esteem is nothing more than the privilege of the court to favor scholars."

"What if this marquis abolishes this privilege?"

As soon as these words came out, Li Dongyang was struck by lightning and looked at Tang Hao in disbelief.

Abolish the privileges of scholars?

Directly cut off the foundation and lifeline on which the gentry depend for survival?

"Tang Hao!"

"Are you crazy?"

"If you really dare to do this..."

"What if I do it?"

Tang Hao looked at Li Dongyang with a smile.

"Even if I abolish the privileges of you scholars, so what?"

"All the soldiers in the world respect me, and His Majesty the Emperor regards me as his limbs. Do you scholars have any room to resist?"

Li Dongyang stared at Tang Hao in a daze, and finally his face was full of despair.

"Tang Hou, don't do this!"

He said in an almost pleading tone: "You can't abolish the privileges of scholars!"

Tang Hao slowly got up and walked out of the cell.

Only the overbearing and arrogant voice came, and Li Dongyang was stunned in place, not knowing how to answer.

"Your confidence in annexing the land, your confidence in thinking highly of yourself, and your confidence in being superior to the common people lies in this privilege!"

"Then why can't it be abolished?"