The Lord Protector walked out of Cining Palace and looked up at the capital. The capital was already full of war smoke.
The arsonists are green-skinned scoundrels who fish in troubled waters, and of course there are also ordinary people.
Liu Zhaosun's heart was cut by a knife, but he did not expect that Zhu Youjian would die with him. The new Ming order that he had worked so hard to create fell apart in one fell swoop.
I don’t know how many more people will die.
In accordance with the order of the Protector of the Country, the garrison troops in the Beizhi area have abandoned their peripheral positions and taken them all back to defend the capital to ensure that the capital is safe.
Almost all the passes along the route from Tongzhou to the capital were opened. In other words, Zhang Chun and his "King Qin's Army" could march straight in and reach the city of Beijing without any effort.
Of course, nowadays, Zhang Chun is far more than the only enemy.
"With internal and external troubles, and being besieged on all sides, it seems that I, Liu Zhaosun, am really going to become the Overlord of Chu."
Liu Zhaosun looked at the thick black smoke rising in front of his eyes, and the people's screams rang in his ears.
The capital is about to become hell.
The Yan Fei Dao that killed countless people let out a low roar.
The knife wants to do the right thing, and so does its owner.
Since time travel, he has been thinking hard every day, walking on thin ice, and self-examination like an ascetic, not to save this dying feudal dynasty.
He just wants to establish a new order that is in the interests of the majority of people.
However, no matter how hard we try, the enemy will always be killed and killed.
Now, because of Zhu Youjian's short-sightedness, all efforts were in vain overnight, and the new order collapsed.
Efforts to peacefully transfer imperial power came to nothing. From then on, there was only bloody and violent confrontation.
On the sixth day of the eleventh month of the second year of Tianqi, at the first moment of noon, the Lord Protector, surrounded by his confidants, quickly climbed onto the morning gate tower.
Liu Zhaosun was fully clothed in armor, carrying a flintlock musket and a wild goose feather sword on his waist. He was sitting majestically in the position where Emperor Wanli reviewed the victory of Kaiyuan Army, looking down at the 4,500 troops of the 13th and 14th Guards Corps. Many new recruits - the remaining nearly 100,000 troops are scattered in Henan, Shaanxi, Japan, North Korea, Liaodong, Liaoxi and other places. Many troops still do not know the news of the critical situation in the capital.
"Duke Guoguo, in addition to these 4,500 people, the people that the capital can mobilize now are the raincoat guards, the town guards, the guards from the chamber of commerce, civil affairs, schools, workshops and other departments. The total number is less than 8,000... ··”
Qi Jin approached the Duke Protector, pointed at the slightly immature faces under the tower, and said worriedly.
"More than half of these new recruits have not even started practicing spear formations, and many of the Zhenfu soldiers are disabled. Shen Baihu sent back information that Zhang Chun, that bitch, has incited more than 30,000 Ming troops in Beizhili, Xuanfu, and Datong. That group is also on the way, and Zhang Chun's vanguard is already thirty miles away. They will arrive in the capital today, and the Xuan army will be delayed for a few days."
The situation is grim and the capital is in danger. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Kaiyuan Army has no advantage this time.
Liu Zhaosun bit his lip, looked around, and comforted everyone:
"It doesn't matter, they were all defeated by a group of men. Xuanda still has the courage to come again. They only have 50,000 troops in total. As long as they can hold the capital for three days, garrisons from various places will arrive one after another. They will die when the elite of my army return. "
Zhang Dong couldn't help but said:
"It's more than 50,000 or 60,000. Zhang Chun also encouraged the refugees in Beizhili. I'm afraid it's more than 100,000."
Liu Zhaosun smiled awkwardly.
"Driving the refugees to attack the city? It's interesting. Are Zhang Chun and the others officials or thieves? How come they look more and more like those people in Shaanxi?"
"Where are Shen Lian and Liu Xingzuo now? When will the Kaiyuan troops return?"
Zhang Mazi knew he had made a mistake and quickly replied:
"Shen Baihu is in Tianjin Guards. Lu Tongzhi said he is willing to assist us. They can rush back tomorrow. Liu Xingzuo and Zhu He are monitoring Buerhanggu and Dudu in Liaodong, and beware of Jiannu taking the opportunity to rebel. They will not be able to escape for a while."
"Lu Demin is willing to help the Kaiyuan Army? Is the news reliable? How many troops does he have?"
"Two thousand guardsmen and dozens of servants."
"oh."
Liu Zhaosun wiped his beard. He had heard about the combat power of those guardsmen. Shen Lian could kill more than a dozen of them by himself.
Ma Shiying was at the side to smooth things over:
"It's better to dissolve enemies than to make enemies. Lord Protector, we are besieged by thieves and can't rescue us. If Fatty Lu can really help me, Lord Protector will be crowned emperor in the future, and he should have the merit of following the dragon."
When a group of close friends discussed matters, they did not shy away from anything. Entering the customs and proclaiming the emperor was something that Kaiyuan had already decided on, and there was nothing to hide.
"Where are the other ministries? Where is the closest one?"
Lin Yu directed two guards to unfold a huge map of Beizhili. Zhang Dong pointed at Weihaiwei, Shandong, and said to everyone:
"The closest ones are the Third Guards Army, the Seventh Army, and the Tenth Army stationed in Shandong. Wang Erhu began to gather the garrison troops from various counties five days ago. He assembled 16,000 soldiers at Weihaiwei and crossed the sea in batches. It is expected to land at Tianjin Wei soon, and the forward troops can reach the capital in as early as three days, of course, this is if there are no enemy forces blocking the way."
"Is there still no news about the Second Army, the Eighth Army, and the Twelfth Army?"
Zhang Dong ordered the map to be put away and replied:
"No, the Tangma and post roads in Shaanxi were cut off by bandits. The bandits were short of food and grass. At first they only massacred the rich, gentry, and wealthy households, but now they also rob common people and business travelers!"
Liu Zhaosun gritted his teeth and said: "What's the use of a group of madmen occupying Shaanxi and Henan like this!"
"Are both Japan and Korea still stable?"
Zhang Dong looked relieved and could finally share the good news:
"Coirui Guards will receive reports from the Fifth Army, Sixth Army, and Ninth Army every other month. In October, Wu Aheng led the navy to fight another battle with the Dutch in the southern waters of Ryukyu and captured the Red Army. The thirty-five Mao Yi people were asked by Magistrate Yuan if they would be escorted back to the capital?"
"No need for the time being, behead him on the spot."
Liu Zhaosun waved his hand to interrupt Zhang Dong's report, stood up and walked to the gate tower.
"Water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the nearer. Taking up such a large territory, we should have thought that today, we can only rely on ourselves."
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Whether it was Qi Jin or Qiao Yiqi, the civil and military generals all expressed concerns about whether they could defend the capital.
The combat power of these new soldiers in front of them is worrying.
"Instructor Mori!"
Senti ran to the Lord Protector and waited for the superior's order.
"Give me the bullhorn, I want to speak to my soldiers."
Senti quickly handed over a large paper loudspeaker and stood respectfully beside the Protector.
The slightly childish faces in front of him made Liu Zhaosun feel as if he had gone back to the forty-seventh year of Wanli, to the time when he personally trained trackers.
"Brothers of the 14th Guards Army! I am Liu Zhaosun, the supreme commander of the Kaiyuan Army. Many of you have seen me and know me! Like you, I get up very early in the morning and do running exercises. Just like you, we all started as small soldiers. Six years ago, in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, the slaves rebelled. In Saerhu, the Ming army lost two of its four armies and fled all the way. I took thousands of brothers with me. I broke a bloody path, so the soldiers believed in me and elected me as their leader. Six years later, I became the Protector of the Country and the one who protects the Ming Dynasty."
Thousands of soldiers raised their heads and listened silently to the speech of the Protector.
"Anyone who knows me well knows that I am just like a soldier. I eat what you eat. I am at the forefront when training and fighting. I used to be the same as you, now I am the same as you, and I will be the same as you in the future! During the bloody battle in Hunhe River, I was stabbed in the left rib by a Jiannu sentry horse and hit with several arrows. Oh my god, I did not die, but my family members died today!!"
The soldiers raised their heads, many clenched their fists, and veins bulged on their faces.
"I just want things to be the way they were before, with farmers having land to farm, businessmen not betraying the country, officials not sucking blood, and the emperor working hard, but they refused. An hour ago, my wife was poisoned to death by them, If the patrol hadn’t arrived earlier, they would have killed him too!”
Liu Zhaosun shouted loudly to the dark crowd of people below the tower. At some point, tears flowed down his cheeks.
He wiped away his tears:
"Them! They are a bunch of thieves who are coming to attack the capital now. Not only do they want to kill me, Liu Zhaosun, but they also want to kill you. They want to take back your fields and houses, and let you go back to the past, go to the canal to pull fibers, and go to Qufu to work as tenants. , they want to seize your women, kill your children, break your bones and suck your blood, and squeeze you dry, will you agree?!"
The area around the Meridian Gate suddenly became quiet. Thousands of people opened their eyes, opened their mouths, and raised their fists.
Two thousand five hundred recruits shouted in unison:
No!
The training officers and soldier representatives of each battalion took the lead and shouted:
"Guard the capital and kill all the enemies!"
"Guard the capital and kill all the enemies!"
Liu Zhaosun waved his hand to interrupt the shouting of everyone, pointed at the nine gates of the capital and said:
"Climb the tower! Defend this city!"
Workshops, chambers of commerce, schools, all members of the Kaiyuan system have joined in this defensive battle. Their opponents are not only Zhang Chun, the commander-in-chief of Hejian Prefecture, but also those who have been transferred to Zhengding Prefecture and Shuntian Prefecture. The prefectures and counties in Shaanxi that suppressed the bandits took advantage of the absence of Kaiyuan's army to kill or put under house arrest the generals recommended by the Protector. They responded to Zhang Chun's call and joined in this vigorous appeasement operation.
In the Ming Dynasty, because all the financial and military power were returned to the imperial court, the local states and counties were weak and basically did not pose a threat to the imperial court, so there were almost no cases of local rebellion. However, with Liu Zhaosun's various operations in the past few years, the imperial power was in danger. It also lost its mystery. No one was loyal to the court, and many people had evil intentions.
More importantly, under the Little Glacier climate, the disaster situation in various places in Beizhili was not much better than that in Shaanxi and Henan. It was only because the scale of the refugees in Beizhili was still small and they were more suppressed by the imperial court that the civil uprisings in various places in Beizhili in the late Ming Dynasty became apparent. Less prominent.
Now that the Kaiyuan Army was suddenly transferred, the tight valves in various prefectures and counties suddenly loosened, and local forces reared their heads.
In order not to repeat the mistakes of Shaanxi, all the Beizhi military leaders could think of was to go to the capital to try their luck. Even if they could not capture Beijing, they could still seize the opportunity to grab a sum of money without waiting for the Qiu Ba people below to rebel.
So when the main force of the Kaiyuan Army was transferred away one after another and General Zhang mobilized King Qin, everyone responded one after another and wanted to eliminate the traitors for the emperor.
Liu Zhaosun met Jin Yuji, her daughter and Yang Qing'er. Jin Yuji was wearing fish scale armor and carrying a short-tip bow.
Yang Qing'er held two-year-old Liu Yufei, while the maids Jin'er and Shaoyao took care of the infant Liu Kan.
"Husband, are you okay?"
Yang Qing'er looked at her husband's blood-stained face, worried.
"It's someone else's blood."
Liu Zhaosun forced a smile on his face, reached out and pinched his little daughter's nose.
When Jin Yuji walked up to her husband and daughter, Liu Zhaosun said in surprise:
"I asked you to protect Mr. Yangge and his daughter, why are you all here?"
"Husband, Hunhe has sworn that you are the overlord, and we will never be apart until death."
Liu Zhaosun gently hugged Jin Yuji and looked up at the Ming army flags rolling in from all directions.
"Okay, I am Overlord, you are Yu Ji, and we will die together today."
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