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It is precisely because he knows Li Li's current strength very well and the many entanglements between him and Li Li that over time, Zhu Jun's disgust towards Li Li has become more and more complicated.

Whenever someone mentions Li Li, he can't help but get angry, and he is so angry that he can't help but feel relieved. After all, Li Li is what he watched as he grows up. Although he always stands on the opposite side of Li Li, this does not hinder his appreciation of Li Li. This is just a purely special emotion of elders towards younger generations. Appreciation and love have nothing to do with their position.

For a person like Zhu Jun who has been loyal to the Eastern Han Dynasty for most of his life, anything can be changed, but he can only be determined in his heart. Although he dare not say that he will never be able to change it, this faith in loyalty is as important as his life.

Zhu Jun, who was boiling inside, was silent for a long time. After finally calming down, he whispered calmly: "Li Jue forced his levy of food and wages and severely reduced the salaries of officials. These old men also heard about it. Before this, Li Zhiran agreed to raise food and wages for the army, and even donated a year's salary and two hundred pieces of silk for it. After all, Xiliang was bitter and cold, and it was a place of battle. People lived a difficult life and the treasury was exhausted. If there was no money and food, how could the army resist the invasion of barbarians?

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to reduce the salary of officials and raise food and money. At most, the method is too arrogant and a little inappropriate. At least Li Zhiran did not force food and money from the common people, and since we have the ability to support some food and money, we should take it out. After all, money and food are nothing more than anything else. As long as we can fill our stomachs, why force too much!”

Speaking of this, Zhu Jun turned his head and stared at Dong Cheng, with a scrutiny in his eyes. He was obviously displeased with Dong Cheng's behavior of not understanding military affairs but accusing him. However, due to the sympathy, he did not say it directly and left some face for Dong Cheng, otherwise it would be difficult to meet in the court in the future.

After a brief pause, Zhu Jun asked suspiciously: "As for what the edict said, Li Zhiran attacked the inner court of the palace, I don't know where to start? Could it be that Li Jie dared to imitate Dong Zhuo and privately force the concubines of the late emperor?"

Before he finished speaking, he continued, "It shouldn't be so? As far as I know, Li Zhiran's second wife, Yang, has always been strong and beaten several concubines that Li Jue privately accepted to death. Li Jue ignored this and let him go. From this point of view, it would be too far-fetched to say that Li Jue occupied the concubines of the late emperor, and it is really hard to win the trust of others. At least I don't believe it, because I know Li Jue, and he is not a lustful person."

Indeed, the relationship between Zhu Jun and Li Jue has always been good, and his position as the Grand Marshal was recommended by Li Jue. In other words, the reason why Zhu Jun's Grand Marshal's Mansion has always been guarded by the county government is because he has always had prejudice against Li Li, which made Li Jue willing to help, but it was not convenient to say much due to his uncle and nephew's romance.

However, after Li Li led his army to go to war, Li Jue took good care of Zhu Jun and usually arranged a few soldiers to guard outside the Taiwei Mansion, just pretending. In addition, Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song were not on the list of reducing the salaries of hundreds of officials, but they took the initiative to donate a lot of food, grass and cloth. This awareness of protecting the territory of the Han Dynasty is indeed worthy of recognition. After all, they spent most of their lives fighting for the Han Dynasty. When they were old, they would never lose national justice because of disagreement of political views. This is precisely the reason why they both have always been enemies with Li Li, but have never been dismissed or executed by Li Li. Putting aside political views and stances, Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song are worthy of being famous generals in the world. Their character and ethics are role models of military generals and worthy of respect.

Seeing that Zhu Jun actually questioned what he said before, Dong Cheng was both hated and angry, but he had to force himself to concentrate and stabilize his emotions, and could not express it. Because he came here because he asked Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song for a great mission, how could he offend the person first before the matter was completed?

So, Dong Cheng forced himself to remain calm. After taking a deep breath, he said with pain: "The Taiwei didn't know that the old thief Li Jue was indeed not a lustful person, but his methods were far more cruel than Dong Zhuo's death! This thief deducted the money and food required by the palace without authorization, and dispersed most of the eunuchs and maids who were left in the palace again, so that only two old maids in His Majesty's bedroom were left in His Majesty's bedroom, and the mansions of other royal relatives were even more serious. Thousands of entourages and maids were forced to be dismissed. Now, there are less than ten eunuchs and maids inside and outside His Majesty's bedroom, and only more than ten concubines in his inner courtyard were left in more than fifty years old. There are less than five hundred maids in his huge palace.

This is not the end. The old thief Li Jue was not satisfied with this and kept claiming that His Majesty was still young and could not use so many maids to serve him. However, the remaining maids were all "old men" who had been in the palace for decades, and even if they were dismissed, they had nowhere to go. The old thief was so angry that he strictly stipulated the monthly ingestion of everyone in the palace, and the distribution was only a small amount.

To this day, the maids in the palace have been hungry for more than three months and cannot eat enough every day. Even His Majesty has not seen any meat and blood for half a month, and they are so hungry that they are as thin as a hair. A month ago, when the old minister learned about this, he tried his best to make some wine and meat for His Majesty. He was found by the Yulin Imperial Guard. He was punished with thirty rods without saying anything, and then sent to Sikong Mansion for Li Jue to take it."

Speaking of this, Dong Cheng could no longer help but burst into tears, and tears flowed. Fortunately, he was considering his own face and did not cry in public. Even so, he still choked and said nothing.

When Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song, Huangfu Jianshou and Huangfu Li heard this, they immediately looked at Dong Cheng with a dumbfounded look, and their hearts were shocked and their faces were full of shock.

At this moment, Huangfu Jianshou, who was originally drowsy, had no sleepiness anymore. His eyes were like copper bells, and he opened his mouth wide. He felt astringent throat. He didn't know where to start. You know, he was weak since childhood, and he didn't get better when he grew up, and he had been relying on ginseng soup tonic to extend his life. Therefore, he never cared about the affairs of the court, and he really turned a blind eye to the affairs outside the window, and stayed in the mansion for many years. The only time he went to the court was because Dong Zhuo wanted to kill his father Huangfu Song, which forced him to plead with Dong Zhuo. As a result, Dong Zhuo thought of him as filial piety and brotherly, and had met him several times before. Because Huangfu Song had indeed promoted him before, he released Huangfu Song and gave him the position of Chief Censor.

This was the only time Huangfu Jianshou appeared in the court. Since then, he has been staying in the mansion without leaving the gate. His younger brother Huangfu Li is actually his cousin, Huangfu Song's nephew. It is precisely because he is weak and sick, that he was kept by Huangfu Song and taught by him sooner or later, to follow his son. Therefore, the descendants of the Huangfu family were not prosperous, and what followed was that they were not involved with the officials in the court, and there were very few things that could implicate the Huangfu family.

Just as Huangfu Jianshou and Huangfu Li were stunned and lost their minds, Huangfu Song, who had been silent all the time, suddenly asked: "There are only five hundred maids in such a huge palace. This matter is too absurd. Why hasn't there been any news before? It should be noted that in the great Han Dynasty, there are no more than 10,000 maids, and there are 8,000 yuan in total. How could Li Jue quietly dismiss so many people? The words of the man who spoke were just too exaggerated and too sensational?"

"Well, what Brother Yizhen said is reasonable." Before Dong Cheng could explain, Zhu Jun interrupted: "If Li Jue wants to hide it from everyone's eyes and leave no traces, he will dismiss thousands of palace concubines and eunuchs without leaving any traces. Unless they are killed directly in the palace and then buried the corpse and destroyed the traces; otherwise, it will be impossible!"

As he paused, a hint of doubt appeared on Zhu Jun's face. The tone of the conversation suddenly turned and he pondered: "However, in recent months, Your Majesty has indeed not been to court. Most of it is Li Jue who presided over the government affairs, and His Majesty rarely appears. Is it true that what the Confessionate Lord said?"

"Every sentence that Dong said is true. If there is a half of it, it will be struck by lightning!" Dong Cheng said with a decisive expression.

Then, he said to Huangfu Song and his son with a serious expression: "Maybe you have never heard of it yet. The inner courtyard of the palace has been empty since two years ago, like an empty temple. As early as the Chang'an Rebellion, most of the concubines and maids in the inner courtyard of the palace were kidnapped by Li Li's little thief. Even the princess Tang Ji, who was deposed emperor Liu Bian, was forcibly taken as a concubine by Li Li. It is said that Tang Ji had given birth to a daughter for Li Li last year.

When Li Li led his troops to the palace, he sent thousands of eunuchs and palace concubines, and rewarded all the concubines of the late emperor and the beauties of the inner courtyard to civil and military generals under his command to serve as concubines for his wives. Afterwards, in addition to the Yulin Guards who entered the palace, there were only less than two thousand people inside and outside the palace.

The reason why no one knew about that great dismissal was because Li Li chose to carry out the chaos. After the chaos subsided, he would be pushed to the chaos army, but he could stay out of the matter. Therefore, there were only more than a thousand maids who had been dismissed this time, so naturally he could do it without anyone noticing it and silently."

"The young emperor's Princess Hongnong was actually taken as a concubine by Li Lin and gave birth to a son. Is this serious?" Zhu Jun grabbed Dong Cheng's shoulder in surprise and asked anxiously.

"Cough cough cough!" Dong Cheng's tense neckline made Dong Cheng's breath unhappy, and he couldn't help but cough. After seeing this, Zhu Jun hesitated for a moment, then let go.

"Well! Every word that Dong said is true, and there is no false statement. The second year after moving the capital to Chang'an, Your Majesty took Tang Ji back to the palace and became Princess Hongnong. However, during the Chang'an Rebellion, Li Li led his troops into the palace at night. He accidentally saw Tang Ji's beauty and became evil. He stayed in the inner courtyard of the palace that night, and took Tang Ji away the next day. Afterwards, the world only knew that Li Li married several more concubines, but he didn't know that Tang Ji was among them. Now Tang Ji has given birth to a child for Li Li, and it is really a mature meal! Alas???????”

After patiently explaining, Dong Cheng's long sigh made the four people in the hall sink, and then five angers surged, with the same hatred of the enemy and the same spirit, and the strong anger filled the entire inner hall.

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Chapter completed!