On the second day of June in the seventh year of Guangde, Emperor Guangde issued an edict, ordering Duke Cheng Guo to return to the pass on the same day, and the chief instructor Xing Zhongyi would lead the army to continue to guard Liaodong. With this edict, Deng Changxiong was deprived of his military power.
On the eighth day of July, Duke Cheng Guo arrived in the capital with several personal soldiers. Kang Jingxiu, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Li Juying, the chief internal affairs officer, went to Longsheng Pass to greet him.
After losing his military power, the emperor no longer greeted him in person. In addition, there were recent rumors from various parties that the imperial court was tracking down the remaining members of the eldest princess. Deng Changxiong could not help but panic.
At the beginning, the eldest princess Liu Yufei and a group of party members planned to rebel against the Qing emperor. These people invited Deng Changxiong many times to join forces to join forces. Although Deng Changxiong refused, he did not report the traitor in the end.
Now that the eldest princess has lost power, it is said that she has been imprisoned in the Cining Palace by the emperor. All the party members have dispersed like hozens. These people have either joined other families or fled overseas.
Deng Changxiong knew in his heart that the imperial court's liquidation of the eldest princess's gang members would come sooner or later. He was worried that the letters in which he communicated with the traitors had now fallen into the hands of the emperor. Given Liu Kanzhi's meanness and ungratefulness, he was afraid that he would not let it go.
Of the six surviving corps after the disarmament, the First, Second, and Third Corps were directly controlled by Emperor Guangde. Wu Aheng was a confidant of Emperor Guangde. It is said that Emperor Guangde began to prepare to attack Qin Jianxun's Fourth Corps. Since then, Da Qi's most elite army will soon fall into Liu Kan's hands.
One wrong step, one wrong step after another. If they had followed Pu Gang's suggestion and raised troops together to force Liu Kan to abdicate, they would not have ended up in the situation they are in now.
Deng Changxiong had no energy to regret. On the day he returned to Nanjing, he hid in his mansion, closed the door to thank guests, lived in seclusion, and lived like a year, just waiting for the emperor to punish him.
During this period, some generals who stayed in the capital came to visit Deng's house, but Duke Cheng all excused himself from illness.
"General, please come back. As I said just now, my master is ill and will not see any visitors today."
"What about tomorrow? I will leave the capital in a few days, and I want to see Duke Cheng."
"Not even tomorrow! There are many people in Nanjing who want to see my master. Please come back."
The old housekeeper of the Deng Mansion stuck his head out from the crack in the door, looked at the tall general standing next to the stone lion, waved his hand vigorously, and sent the man away as if to shoo away flies.
The man shook his head helplessly, turned and left. The two Ryukyu soldiers behind him muttered something in a low voice. Seeing the Shangguan approaching, they quickly handed over the reins.
The general took the reins and was about to mount his horse when a trace of unwillingness arose in his heart. He threw the reins to his soldiers, turned around and strode to the gate.
The red door creaked shut, and the military general grabbed the door knocker and pushed it hard. There was a thud in the yard, and the door was pushed open with a huge force. The housekeeper of the Deng Mansion flew five or six steps away like a cannonball, and fell on his back. on the ground.
The giant quickly stepped over the threshold and stepped forward to help the old housekeeper. The housekeeper backed away as if he had seen a ghost. He pointed at someone and said to the servants watching the excitement around him:
"You even dare to break into Duke Cheng's residence. You are so brave! What are you doing standing there in a daze? Why don't you beat this reckless man out quickly..."
Five or six servants swarmed forward. The general was tall and tall, taller than everyone else. Although he was surrounded in the center with his bare hands, he was calm and calm, without any fear. ….
Two Ryukyu soldiers outside the door were watching from the other side and did not come in to help. One of them laughed and said, "I'm afraid these servants are not enough to fight the general."
The two sides were about to take action when an old and hoarse voice came from the courtyard:
"stop!"
The old housekeeper struggled to get up. Hearing the sound, he quickly waved his hand to the servant to stop.
"Sir, this guy said he was here to visit you, but when he disagreed with you, he barged in and even hurt me..."
Deng Changxiong looked at the general carefully, frowned, and suddenly asked: "Zhennan Hou Linyu, who are you?"
The young military general put away his sandbag-like fists, gave Deng Changxiong a standard military salute, and said in a loud voice:
"The last general is Lin Zhenyu, the son of the Marquis of Zhennan, the deputy general of Ryukyu. He heard that Duke Cheng had returned to the capital and came here to pay a visit today. He accidentally knocked down the housekeeper just now. How offensive. I wonder who you are?"
"It turns out to be Zhenyu's nephew. I have just returned to the capital and everything is complicated.
, it’s hard to describe in one sentence, so all the foreigners will disappear. Don’t be surprised by your virtuous nephew, don’t be surprised. "
With that said, Deng Changxiong walked up to Lin Zhenyu, looked at it carefully, nodded and smiled: "It looks like it, it really looks like it. I didn't expect that Lin Yu's son has grown so big and has a formidable future. Come, come into the room and talk, Butler Zhao, look." Tea!"
Hearing that the person in front of him was Lin Yu's son, Butler Zhao's eyes clearly changed. Lin Yu had a close relationship with Deng Changxiong during his lifetime. Butler Zhao also bowed and saluted, with a smile on his face and said:
"General Lin is a young and talented man. Your military exploits in Ryukyu have been written about in newspapers. The city of Nanjing regards you as a figure like Huo Qubing. When I saw you today, you are indeed extraordinary..."
Butler Zhao was chattering and ordering tea.
Deng Changxiong led Lin Zhenyu into the side room and sat around a tea table. When the maid handed over the tea, Duke Cheng Guo dismissed everyone, leaving only Butler Zhao nearby.
The two talked about some battlefield battles. Deng Changxiong asked Lin Zhenyu in detail how he defeated the red-haired barbarians in Ryukyu. Lin Zhenyu finished talking about it one by one, and then talked about how Emperor Guangde summoned him and appointed him to go to the Fourth Corps to pacify the chieftain soldiers. Deng Changxiong listened. At this point, he suddenly put down his teacup and said leisurely:
"My dear nephew, although my uncle is a rough man, he also knows that the Yunyang Mountain is poor and evil, and has been a place where prisoners were exiled since ancient times. Qin Jianxun, the commander of the Fourth Army Corps, has always had an unclear relationship with the chieftains in Sichuan. , when the Supreme Emperor was in power before, he was not in a hurry to attack Sichuan, so he never transferred the Fourth Corps. Now he has sent you to be the battalion officer to pacify the chieftains. Your new officer has taken office, and you have no confidants and no backup. My uncle is really worried about you. It’s safe.”
Lin Zhenyu clasped his fists and replied, "What my uncle said, my nephew also understands, it's just that the emperor's order is hard to disobey, everything depends on man, so if you give it a try, it's not impossible."
Deng Changxiong coughed and sighed: "It's a pity that my uncle has lost his power now and his military power. He is soft-spoken and no one listens to your pleas. In short, Yunyang is a dangerous place, and military achievements are secondary. You go, so you have to protect yourself." .”
Lin Zhenyu was staying in Nanjing for the past few days and heard some rumors from the court. It was said that the emperor was tracking down the eldest princess's accomplices and that generals in each army regiment were implicated. Based on this situation, he immediately guessed that Deng Changxiong and others might also be involved in this matter. related.
"Uncle, don't worry. As long as the court still needs me, Your Majesty will be able to hear what I say. I am in Ryukyu and I have some merits. If someone tries to frame my uncle, my nephew will clarify it for him in front of the palace."
Deng Changxiong coughed twice, the scar on his face trembled slightly, and the wrinkles relaxed.
"Hahaha, it's rare for a good nephew to have this kind of heart, better than my unfilial son. When he heard that I was coming back, my unfilial son avoided seeing me for fear of affecting his career...Old Zhao, go and tell your servants , I’ll leave Zhenyu to have dinner at home tonight.”
Butler Zhao nodded silently and left wisely.
When Butler Zhao went out and there was no one else around, Deng Changxiong stood up tremblingly.
"My dear nephew, please wait here. I'll be back as soon as I go."
After Deng Changxiong said that, he turned around and walked to a secret room in the wing, took out a wooden box.
Lin Zhenyu stared at the wooden box curiously, wondering in his heart whether his uncle saw that he was going to Yunyang and wanted to give him a gift.
Deng Changxiong looked around for no one, quickly stuffed the wooden box into Lin Zhenyu's arms, and said solemnly: "Put it away and open it again when you go to Yunyang. You will naturally know by then. Go back quickly and don't let the raincoat guards see it." arrive."
"Uncle..." Lin Zhenyu stopped talking.
"Go back, I will live my life in Nanjing, that's enough."
Lin Zhenyu no longer asked what was in the box, stuffed the wooden box into his armor, and gave a military salute to Deng Changxiong:
"See you later, uncle, take care!"
Deng Changxiong coughed violently, patted the giant on the shoulder, and waved to leave.
Watching Lin Zhenyu's back fade away, Deng Changxiong murmured:
"General Liu, Supervisor Kang, I can only keep your secrets in Bozhou in the 29th year of Wanli until now..."
·~~~~~
On July 23rd of the seventh year of Guangde, half a month after Duke Cheng Guo returned to the capital, Emperor Guangde summoned the Liaodong soldiers who had suppressed the rebellion in the Fengtian Hall to discuss their merits and reward them.
"The suppression of the rebellion in Liaodong was due to the sacrifice of the officers and soldiers of the three armies. God bless the Qi Dynasty, and the king's army succeeded immediately, which is a great achievement for the country."
Liu Kan's eyes slowly swept across the ministers in the hall, and finally landed on Duke Cheng.
"Gong Cheng Guo, I heard that you led troops to counter the rebellion this time. You first cut off the enemy's food routes, and then waited for work. With a thunderous strike, you conquered Shenyang in the first battle, Liaoyang in the second battle, and Tieling Kaiyuan. They fell in the wind. In three to five days, One hundred thousand rebels were wiped out. Even though Wu Qi and Sun Bin were reincarnated, it was nothing more than this."
Deng Changxiong knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice: "How dare you, the minister, be greedy for God's credit? The pacification of Liaodong this time was all thanks to your majesty's strategic planning. The king's army has great morale, abundant soldiers, good food, as well as incendiary bombs and other sharp weapons. It is not the minister alone." The merit of this is that the training officer Xing Zhongyi took the lead and beheaded Pu Gang, the leader of the thief, which is a great achievement..."
Emperor Guangde nodded slightly, with a satisfied smile on his face. He was about to let Li Juying announce the reward to Duke Cheng when he suddenly heard a voice:
"After this battle, hundreds of thousands of people in Liaodong, Shen, Tieling and other places were killed or injured. The vitality of Liaozuo was severely damaged, the fields were barren, and ten houses were empty. The late emperor relied on Liaodong as the foundation to achieve today's hegemony. I sincerely request your majesty to reduce the cost to the people of Liaoning. Three years of taxation..."
There was deathly silence in the main hall.
Which pot is not mentioned? Emphasizing the Supreme Emperor at this time is clearly questioning the authority of Emperor Guangde. As for tax reduction and exemption, is it to win people's hearts?
No one would have thought that these childish words above would actually come from the mouth of an old minister, and the person who said these words was a meritorious military general who controlled the three major armies of Da Qi!
The ministers were silent.
The professional smile on Emperor Guangde's face instantly solidified.
Kang Guangxu, the Minister of Rites, was about to jump out, but was frightened by Liu Kan's murderous eyes.
"Okay, okay, okay, Duke Cheng is not only a god in the military, he is also considerate of the people. He is indeed an important minister left by the late emperor."
Duke Chengguo was so frightened that he could not kneel down for a long time.
Liu Kan looked around and said with a pleasant expression: "Duke Cheng, please call me. I am convening everyone today. In addition to rewarding the three armies, I have one more thing to do."
"October 18th is an auspicious day. I will confer the daughter of the Duke of the State as the Imperial Concubine of Daqi."
No near misses.
All civil and military officials congratulated Duke Cheng and congratulated the future abbot of Da Qi.
Duke Cheng Guo thanked the emperor again, and when he stood up, he was sweating all over his body.
Today, his wish to die in the court hall failed, and he inexplicably became the abbot of Da Qi. Deng Changxiong became more and more uneasy.
Starting from the first year of Wuding, including Duke Cheng Guo, Da Qi had three state abbots. The first two were Yang Hao, the father of the Eastern Empress Dowager Yang Qing'er, and Taikang Bo Zhang Guoji, the father of the Empress Dowager Zhang.
The fate of these two people was very tragic. Yang Hao was killed in the explosion at Wanggong Factory, and Zhang Guoji was later ordered to commit suicide by the Supreme Emperor.
Deng Changxiong looked at the group of upstarts in the Fengtian Palace and murmured in his heart: "What will happen to me in the end?"
Dream of Wuyue
