At noon, the gate of the Waidongchang Yamen in the Imperial City was bustling with activity. At least seventeen or eight people from the command of the emperor's twenty-sixth bodyguard were notified, and Chang Yu, the governor of the Dongchang, hosted a banquet at the Yamen.
As the saying goes, there is no good banquet, let alone a banquet in Dongchang. In addition to the current situation, anyone with any sense knows that they are about to come on stage. The emperor's personal guards sound tall and arrogant wherever they go, but In terms of true ability and the Beijing camp, there is still mutual support for business, but the officers and soldiers of the frontline troops who have been fighting outside all year round smile and say nothing.
If you want to use Huang to get gong, Zhou Yu will be lucky, and the straight-tempered people of Chang Yu will directly say, "Trash!"
On the eve of the siege of the city by the Qing army, the men from the Jingying camp accompanied the Dongchang Fourth Battalion out of the city and fought several battles with the Qing army. They could be considered to have seen blood on the battlefield. Yesterday, when the Qing army attacked the city, the Jingying camp made great contributions to the defense, while the Guards He barely made any effort as a substitute.
The Qing army withdrew its troops and returned to the camp. The whole city breathed a sigh of relief, but it was obvious that neither the emperor nor the eunuch could easily give up and let them come and go as they pleased. Everyone guessed that they were summoned here not just for eating and drinking, but also for showing up. .
The emperor's personal guards, both famous and powerful, were decorated the same as the Beijing camp. Their equipment was the best in the Ming army, and among them, the Jinwu guards and Tengxiang guards accompanied Chang Yu out of the capital to fight. Remarkable.
But this cannot be used to generalize. The Tengxiang Guards are the most powerful among the personal guards. They were taken out by Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong to kill the thieves many years ago. The rest are only what the Jinwu Guards and Fujun Guards can come up with. The countertop is gone.
These three guards are the most powerful and have the fewest manpower vacancies. Under normal circumstances, each guard must have more than 5,000 men, but at this time, except for the Tengxiang four guards, the Jinwu four guards can barely meet the standard, and the rest are seriously vacant. Even the Four Guards of the Imperial Army, one of the three giants, could not even gather 10,000 people, let alone the others.
After the 26 personal guards of the emperor who were old, weak, sick, and on empty wages were inspected by Dongchang, they were really shocked. They were even deeper than the pit in Jingying.
In short, there should have been more than 100,000 personal guards, but in fact, only half of them could be used. Except for the eight Jinwu Guards and Tengxiang Guards who were pulled out, the remaining 30,000 soldiers and horses could not even be assembled by Chang Yu. The situation was extremely embarrassing.
Even if he had 30,000 horses, he couldn't take away all of them. After all, the personal guards had been under the personal control of the emperor since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. They were used to protect the imperial city and were generally not used for external purposes.
Extraordinary things are done in extraordinary times. Now that the troops in the capital are empty, Chang Yu wants to do a big deal again. Emperor Chongzhen did not hesitate to place a bet on him. He issued an imperial edict to command all the troops in the city. To put it simply, whether it is the capital camp or the He has the right to mobilize the Guards at this time.
When employing people, Chang Yu was not polite and invited the commanders of the guards to come to the Dongchang Yamen to discuss matters.
The commanders of the emperor's personal guards are all awesome and coaxing wherever they go, not to mention there are more than a dozen of them at once, and their momentum is naturally quite high. However, although the Dongchang Yamen is small, it is a big temple. It doesn't matter what your identity is, whether you are a dragon or a snake when you arrive at the door. They all have to be kept in check by me. These commanders, who usually have their eyes on the top of their heads, are now waiting at the entrance of the Dongchang Yamen. Although they are not so angry that they dare not take a breath, but absolutely no one dares to make a loud noise.
Except for one person, Tang Potian.
Tang Potian was just a member of the Imperial Guards, so he was not qualified to attend this banquet. However, he had a different identity and was the commander of the guards of the East Palace. More importantly, he was a close acquaintance with Chang Yu, the eunuch of the East Palace, and had worked together many times. Fighting side by side in life and death, he also participated in the Ming army's death squad that attacked the Qing army's camp the night before and was designated as the commander by Chang Yu.
In fact, many people are discussing in private that sooner or later one of the four commanders of the Fujun Guard will belong to Tang Potian.
"Brother, it's already noon today, and the factory supervisor won't let me wait in. Does he plan to let us drink in the wind here?" The other commanders of the guards gathered at the yamen gate and waited in whispers. Tang Potian was waiting. If he gets impatient, he talks to the yamen guards.
The officials in the yamen knew him well and knew that he had a good relationship with the factory supervisor, so they said: "Master Tang, don't make things difficult for me. We are all following orders. Why don't you go and ask the factory supervisor first?"
and! Tang Potian rolled his eyes: "I can't be fooled. How could I break into Dongchang's Yamen casually? Even if Eunuch Chang doesn't punish me, how can I let the gangsters inside be so evil?"
"Look at what Mr. Tang said, the people in our Dongchang are all very kind. We have a good reputation for being friendly and friendly outside. Where does the evil spirit come from..." The gatekeeper Fanzi was also a talker and started talking to him.
Being kind to others? ...Tang Potian laughed loudly: "You can also say it..." As soon as he finished his words, he heard a lazy voice: "Who is talking bad about our Dongchang, yo Old Tang, what are you doing to Dongchang? I won’t wait for you, or go back and find some brothers to say hello to you..."
After hearing this, everyone turned around and saw Chang Yu getting out of a carriage at the entrance of the alley. Everyone hurriedly gathered around and saluted.
"Yes, you can't bear the humble position of greeting people in the yamen." Tang Potian rubbed his nose: "I thought you were resting inside, why did you come from outside?"
Chang Yu rolled his eyes at him: "Relax? How can our family be as lucky as you to sleep in the sun and bask in the sun? Our family has just come back from the palace this morning..." As he said this, he gave Tang a lift. Potian walked into the Yamen on his shoulders, making the guards and commanders behind him look jealous.
The people in Dongchang are not particular about food, but they have a simple meal but good wine. On the two long tables in the lobby, more than a dozen guards and commanders sat around and stared closely at the young eunuch Chang Yu sitting in the middle.
Chang Yu is a low-key person, and very few people in the government and the public have seen his true appearance. Even among these people, many of them are seeing this legendary little eunuch who is already a god for the first time, and their eyes are full of surprises.
Chang Yu, who was the focus of many eyes, took it calmly. He held a wine glass in his right hand and scanned the audience with a sneer on his lips: "The Royal Guards of the Ming Dynasty are the foundation of the country and the majesty of the royal family. But I don't know how much face the royal family can still maintain at this time." .
It was a simple sentence, not painful or itchy, but it made many personal guards and commanders extremely uncomfortable.
"In the near future, our family will be ordered to go out of the city to encircle and suppress the Tatars. Although there are tens of thousands of troops outside, we still have insufficient troops. You have been waiting in the greenhouse for a long time and it is time to go out to bask in the sun and enjoy the wind. How about the bloody battle between Jinwu Guard and Tengxiang Guard? I hope you won’t lose all the face you can easily earn for your personal guards.”
Everyone whispered, Tang Potian slapped the table and stood up: "Isn't it just to kill the Tatars? Those with two eyes and one mouth are no different from the rebels. With one knife, the head will still be cut off and blood will flow. As long as the factory supervisor says a word, he will be killed." We will not hesitate to fight against the swords and fires, and we are willing to shed our blood for the Ming Dynasty and the Emperor!"
Everyone stood up to agree. Chang Yu nodded slightly, raised his glass and stood up: "Here's to you all!"
Chang Yu was able to master the skills of commanding generals, motivating generals, benevolence and power, and used them with ease. During lunch, all the guards and commanders who participated in the meeting were excited. They were sharpening their swords and could not restrain themselves. They wanted to pick up the swords immediately. Go to the battlefield and kill Tatars to earn fame and money!
At present, the guards in the capital can draw up to 30,000 troops, but they cannot take them all away. After all, the guards of the imperial city are also very important, but Chang Yu is not polite and orders 20,000 troops, ordering all ministries to mobilize troops to prepare for war as soon as possible, and orders General Tang Potian was led by the President of the Guards.
There are more than 50,000 troops outside the city, plus 20,000 personal guards and another 20,000 mobilized from the Beijing camp. These nearly 100,000 troops can definitely beat Dorgon to a bloody head, Chang Yu thought to himself.
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