Politics is often a multifaceted affair.
Lure the snake out of its cave, clean up the demon clan, punish King Qi, reestablish authority, prepare for a rainy day, and set up a net to catch fish—these are all mixed together.
Su Ziji looked at the window, and saw the firelight reflected in the deep rain curtain. It was a circle of bicycle frames, radiating out and guarding like an umbrella frame.
There are raincloths on the roof, and there are baffles covered with iron sheets on both sides. These are twenty bed crossbows.
The three-bow bed crossbow, also known as the "eight-ox crossbow", uses hard wood as the arrow shaft, iron pieces as the feathers, and the arrows are like javelins.
Once launched, it can penetrate five inches into stone and can be nailed into city walls, allowing siege soldiers to climb up.
If there are two armies, seven hundred steps can still penetrate the iron armor.
The Habayashi Wei family has a strong family background and even has bed crossbows. Now they are all in use... although they are a bit old.
"arrive!"
Su Ziji put on his armor, pure black, with the armor leaves clanking.
The wind and rain were oppressive, the black clouds were endless, the ruts were rolling along the road, and the footsteps of people and horses were messy.
After a while, a scout came back to report.
"Your Highness Taisun, an imperial envoy has been ordered to come."
"The lonely man is here to greet you."
Su Ziji got out of the car with his sword pressed and walked to the front of the formation. Sure enough, he saw a familiar eunuch in front of him. When his eyes met, Su Ziji immediately understood that he was the queen's man.
The eunuch seemed to be very anxious. He held up his command talisman and shouted: "Your Highness, King Qi is attacking the palace gate. It is urgent. Your Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time. Please do it quickly!"
The eunuch spoke in a sharp voice that could be heard by the entire Yulin Guard team. He came closer again and seemed to be whispering something.
Su Ziji nodded heavily and then waved his hand.
"Cen Rubai and Wan Qiao obey orders!"
"The general is here!"
Cen Rubai and Wan Qiao were half-kneeling on the ground, performing military salutes, their armor leaves clanging against each other, and their bodies were already soaked.
"Cen Rubai, hold your command talisman and urgently mobilize two thousand Hu Ben guards to block King Qi's retreat. Be careful, you can only block and do not advance indiscriminately."
"Wanqiao, you hold the command talisman and urgently mobilize two thousand households of Jian Zhang and Guard to block King Qi's retreat. Be careful, you are also allowed to block and not to advance indiscriminately!"
"If anyone disobeys the order, we can kill anyone with a household size of less than a thousand!"
"Yes!" Cen Rubai and Wan Qiao took a few steps on their knees, knelt forward to receive the order talisman, and then went out.
Soon, the sound of horse hooves rolled like thunder into the heavy rain.
"Zeng Nianzhen!"
"Here!" Zeng Nianzhen knelt down and obeyed the order.
"With the order, all the elite guards will be dispatched to follow King Guqin!"
This is the deployment of a private army!
"Yes!" Zeng Ninzhen responded solemnly, took the token, immediately mounted his horse, and galloped away.
Su Ziji looked at the Forbidden Palace with deep eyes.
"The Yulin Guards will follow me to serve as king, but they will not actually kill the emperor. At most, they will help me reach the forbidden palace."
"Only a private army will kill the emperor for me."
The three thousand private troops were originally stationed in scattered places, but as long as there was this order, they became "the elites drawn from each guard"!
Private armies are legalized.
There are so many garrison troops in the capital, how can they all know each other?
Su Ziji said it was a transfer, but no one can say otherwise.
Even if someone has doubts, they can't question it now, and they won't be afraid to expose it when everything is settled.
Of course, King Qi also has to solve it.
"The emperor originally summoned three guards and 15,000 people to encircle and suppress him. To target the King of Qi's private army of 1,000 people, it can be said that ten people attack one!"
"Now even if King Qi instigates Lin'an Guards to rebel, and including private soldiers, there are only 6,000 people, the emperor will still have three times the advantage."
"Even if there are no reinforcements, there is still a high probability that the emperor will win. He does not need much support, as long as he blocks King Qi's retreat!"
"A quick victory is not good for me. It is in my interests that both sides of the fight suffer heavy losses and become exhausted!"
"My key is to control the emperor. Once I control the emperor, all the guards can be dispatched by me. As long as I pay attention to propriety - everyone within a thousand steps of the emperor will be my people."
"Even people who are not mine can be used. For example, Wanqiao, Huben Guards and Jianzhang Guards are actually used by me!"
This is actually not the art of war, but the art of power.
After all, the Huben Guards and Jianzhang Guards intercepted the retreat, and they would definitely fight when they encountered the King of Qi who broke through.
He used the power that was not his own.
"With this kind of deployment, even if the divine strategy comes back to life, it will be shattered to pieces, let alone a copycat product."
The demon army is indeed elite, but Su Zi is a master of Taoism and understands the limits of the demon clan. There is no way to escape from such an encirclement and suppression.
Otherwise, the world would no longer be dominated by Zheng, but by the demon clan.
"Prince Qi, you have to hold on a little longer."
The lightning flashed across the sky, instantly illuminating the official roads, neighborhoods, palaces, woods, and the densely packed military formations on the official roads.
Bi Xin, who was fully clothed in armor, was actually feeling uneasy, his face was sullen, and he seemed to be preoccupied.
Not to mention themselves, every thousand households smelled something bad.
But the imperial envoys came one after another, bringing military talismans and urging the advance. Was it really granted by His Majesty?
It looks real.
The feminine smell of eunuchs cannot be faked easily, and several of them are indeed familiar eunuchs who deliver orders.
The same applies to imperial edicts and military symbols. To mobilize troops and horses, it is impossible without military symbols.
Along the way, Taisun had sent people to mobilize troops several times, and several of his old subordinates also received orders to mobilize troops to quell the rebellion.
Bi Xin raised his head and glanced into the distance, thinking in his mind, a little horrified. Unknowingly, his control over the Yulin Guards was weakened to the extreme.
Putting this aside, in terms of the overall situation, to be honest, Bi Xin always felt that the changes were a bit too fast.
The King of Qi didn't behave like a prince, so why did he suddenly rebel?
The emperor clearly has a grandson, but he seems a little unhappy. Now he keeps giving military talismans, does it feel like he is entrusting an orphan?
Ah, could it be that His Majesty is in poor health?
Bi Xin came up with such a guess.
Because his illness worsened and the King of Qi rebelled again, he handed over the military power to the grandson in advance?
It's not impossible.
The emperor's poor health was not news for a long time, but he was getting sick and getting through it.
If his condition suddenly worsens, for the sake of the country, no matter how unhappy he is, he can only leave it to his grandson.
After all, the grandson is the orthodox one.
Bi Xin felt a little relieved.
Even though he had surrendered to his grandson a long time ago and made a difficult decision, but it has actually come to this point... I still hope that everyone will be safe.
Once something happens, I don't know how many people will die...including myself.
But when he thought about it, he actually felt disappointed again.
If it were really calm, where would he find credit?
If there is no merit, how will I seek justice for my mother's death in the future?
Even if the great grandson had promised that he would definitely give him a chance, he could not conjure credit out of thin air.
The canonization of the mother would probably be very difficult.
Thinking this way, he suddenly didn't want...the road to be too peaceful.
After only a moment, three or five eunuchs arrived one after another, urging them more and more urgently.
The front seems very pessimistic.
One token after another, they went around in a circle and returned to their own hands. Now there are twelve tokens!
Su Ziji was thoughtful and had a wonderful smile.
"My lord, everything is ready. I have confirmed that the guard of the Shenwu Sect has been replaced by the one assigned by the empress."
"As soon as the lord arrives, we can open it!"
Zeng Nianzhen came over to protect the eunuch and brought the latest news from the front.
Su Ziji nodded lightly.
Shenwu Sect is actually Xuanwu Sect.
In order to avoid the name of Zheng Taizu Ji Xuan (also named Zicheng), it was renamed Shenwumen.
Shenwumen has a city gate garrison and a commander. Although the previous commander had flawed personal ethics, he was loyal to the emperor. It was very difficult, but through rotation, he was cleverly replaced by one of his own!
This is not only the power of the queen, but Concubine Wu may also have played a role. Thinking of this, the pretty face of Princess Xinping comes to mind.
"Speed up!" Shaking his head, Su Ziji gave the order again.
The originally heavy and solemn team sped up a lot at this time, and the black mass rushed towards the Forbidden Palace like a torrent.
Along the way, I saw every house with its doors closed and lights turned off, as silent as a ghost town.
Only in the distance, as the wind and rain come, there are sometimes shouts of killing, the sound of swords clashing, the sound of bows and crossbows firing...
Murderous intent permeated my heart.
(End of chapter)
