In the square in front of Fengtian Hall, a Luan Jia stood quietly. Zhu Qizhen sat in the Luan Jia with an angry look on his face.
Opposite him, the emperor looked deeply disappointed, and behind him were the expressionless ministers. The north wind was blowing, and scattered fine snow fell, covering everyone's shoulders, giving it a slightly cold feeling.
Seeing Zhu Qizhen's generous sacrifice, Zhu Qiyu shook his head in his heart. He knew very well what his brother was thinking.
At this point, it is a certainty that the restoration effort will fail, but life may not be saved.
At this time, the more he acted like he was being forced to die generously, the less Zhu Qiyu could really handle it like this.
However, as I said before, at this point, the other party actually has no power to resist. There is no difference between death and immortality...
Therefore, Zhu Qiyu cast his gaze on Zhu Qizhen, who looked like he was ready to die among the Luan drivers, and said.
"Brother, although you are ruthless, I cannot be unjust..."
After that, he let out a long breath, turned around and stepped back onto the imperial steps step by step. Finally, he looked down at the silent ministers below and spoke slowly.
"The Supreme Emperor has conspired to rebel, committed a heinous crime, and caused the brothers of the Tian family to rebel. This is why I have not cultivated my moral character. From now on, I will personally go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to repent for three days. The Supreme Emperor will be temporarily detained in the Nangong Palace, and the remaining rebels will be imprisoned. The criminal department is in prison, waiting for disposal."
As soon as these words came out, everyone present, including Zhu Qizhen and a group of ministers, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Especially for the ministers, what happened today was really thrilling. The Emperor's rebellion was certainly an unforgivable crime, but if the Emperor really wanted to openly attack the Emperor in public, , then the consequences would probably be shocking.
What's more, as of now, they are still confused about this 'coup' and have many questions. For example, why did Duke Cheng Zhu Yi, who had always been a member of the Supreme Emperor's party, suddenly lead the imperial army to suppress the coup? The commander-in-chief who conspired against the Supreme Emperor. For another example, why did His Highness the Crown Prince stand with the Emperor and seemed to have no surprise at all about the rebellion...
Whether it is the shock caused by this incident or the series of consequences that will be triggered by it, we need to think carefully. Therefore, this coup is now visible to be over, but in a sense, it brings The consequences have just begun.
Looking at Zhu Qizhen who was taken over by the Forbidden Army and escorted all the way to Nangong for custody, Zhu Qiyu's eyes did not completely relax.
This palace change has come to an end for the time being, but there is still one hidden danger that has not been resolved... Jingying!
Although he had asked Shu Liang to accompany Yu Qian to stop Chen Mao's move to deploy troops, for some reason, he always felt a little uneasy in his heart, feeling that he seemed to have overlooked something...
At the camp on the outskirts of Beijing, heavy dark clouds were billowing in the sky, making the entire camp seem quiet and depressing. In such a peaceful night, a sound of horse hooves came from far and near, tearing the silence of the night.
"Who broke into the capital camp without permission?"
Under the light of the torch, the officers and soldiers guarding the camp gate immediately became alert, raised their spears, and shouted loudly.
Then, the horse's hooves were raised high, and the horse stopped. The officers and soldiers looked closely. The first two men had white beards and hair and were wearing armor. They were none other than Ningyang Marquis Chen Mao. Beside him, there was a figure. When the middle-aged nobleman wearing a white military robe saw this person, the officers and soldiers present did not dare to neglect him and immediately knelt down on one knee and said.
"See Lord Governor!"
Yes, this person is none other than Liu An, the Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth Regiment Battalion, Guangning Bo. However, Liu An seems to be different from usual at this moment, with a bit of panic on his face. Seeing this situation, he looks aside Chen Mao suddenly glanced sideways at the other party, so Liu An immediately felt an intimidating momentum, swallowed his saliva, and had to pretend to be calm and said.
"Go and report to Mr. Dong immediately. Beat the drums and gather the generals. The governor has urgent military affairs!"
As soon as these words came out, the officers and soldiers below were slightly stunned. However, with the general's orders, they did not dare to delay. So, while leading Liu An and others into the camp, on the other hand, someone hurriedly reported to the guards in the Beijing camp. All commanded Dong Xing.
So, soon, the originally quiet camp heard the sound of heavy drums. When countless officers and soldiers heard the drums, they were stunned for a moment, then quickly dressed up and rushed out of the barracks. The entire camp suddenly became agitated.
At the same time, in the Chinese army's tent, Chen Mao was wearing armor and sitting on the commander's seat, with a sword shining with cold light beside him.
Liu An, who was supposed to be the commander-in-chief of the regiment, stood beside him, looking quite nervous. In addition, on both sides of the commander's seat were commander Dong Xing and chief officer Yu Guang.
Further down, in the middle of the big account, were the generals who were gathered together urgently.
Seeing that everyone was almost here, Chen Mao stood up from the commander's seat, drew out the sword at his side, and said.
"The Supreme Emperor plotted rebellion and raised his troops to attack the imperial city. Your Majesty is now in danger. Under His Majesty's order, I led the fourth regiment to enter the palace to serve the king. Everyone, the day to put down the evil evil and serve the country with loyalty is now. Victory!"
As a veteran on the battlefield, Chen Mao naturally knew how to mobilize the enthusiasm of these soldiers. His words "Wan Sheng" made people feel excited.
However, everyone present was still calm. The commander standing at the front hesitated for a moment and spoke.
"Ningyang Hou Mingjian, the transfer of the capital camp is of great importance, and the final general will follow the rules. Please show Ningyang Hou to show your majesty's edict, the Ministry of War is suitable and the horse talisman!"
As soon as these words came out, Chen Mao's face suddenly darkened, so Yu Guang, the leader next to him, immediately said.
"The situation in the palace is critical. We must not delay at all. The imperial edict and the military department are all available. The governor and I have reviewed them. All you have to do is obey the orders and follow Marquis Chen to the palace to serve the king!"
this……
All the bosses present looked at each other with a bit of hesitation. However, at this moment, Dong Xing on the other side suddenly pulled out his sword and put it directly against the chest of the top boss who raised the question, saying.
"Boss Liu, do you think that Mr. Yu, Mr. Governor and I, together with Mr. Chen Hou, can't make fun of this matter? Your Majesty is in danger now. If your Majesty makes a mistake, you and I will lose ten of our heads!"
When these words were said, Dong Xing's face was filled with chills. At the same time, everyone present realized that the dozens of officers and soldiers on duty around the camp were not what they usually saw.
Then, a terrible guess emerged in their hearts, and everyone couldn't help but swallow their saliva. At this time, Chen Mao, who had been silent all the time, also spoke.
"Everyone, it is a great achievement to enter the palace and work hard for the king. The day when you have made great achievements is now. I am here, and the edict is in hand. Why do you still hesitate?"
As he said these words, the surrounding officers and soldiers all drew their swords out of their sheaths, which immediately put strong pressure on the commanders present.
So, under such pressure, several generals looked at each other. In the end, one of them couldn't bear it and fell to his knees and said.
"I will obey the holy orders and wait for the dispatch of Marquis Chen!"
With the first one, there will naturally be followers. The other bosses present fell to their knees one by one and said the same thing, until the last boss, the one who first raised the question, also knelt down under pressure. After falling to the ground, Chen Maocai nodded with satisfaction and said.
"Assemble all the officers and troops and leave the camp! The target is the imperial palace...Fengtianmen!"
"yes!"
The sonorous and powerful sound sounded, accompanied by the rolling dark clouds in the sky, making people's hearts throb...
At the same time, about five miles away from the fourth regiment camp, Yu Qian and Shu Liang were speeding along with hundreds of Dongchang fans, heading in this direction.
"Xu..."
The horse's hooves were raised high. Yu Qian reined in the horse's head and suddenly stopped. His eyes fell on the noisy fourth regiment camp in the distance with the beating of drums. His face suddenly darkened.
Shu Liang stopped immediately, obviously realizing something, turned to look at Yu Qian, and said.
"Yu Shaobao..."
"We can't go any further. The fourth regiment camp has begun to gather. The sound of drum beating means that Chen Mao has controlled the entire regiment camp. Now that we rush over, there is no other use except to die."
Frowning his brows, Yu Qian's face was as gloomy as water, and he spoke.
The so-called mutiny is sometimes difficult to say and easy to say. Just like now, for these soldiers at the bottom of the Beijing camp, they have no cognitive ability and cannot have the determination to question military orders, even if they are in their hearts They had some doubts, but the military order was from above and they had to obey it.
With such a large-scale drum gathering, it is conceivable that Chen Mao has definitely controlled most of the generals of the fourth regiment. Under such circumstances, even if Yu Qian arrives with the emperor's hand edict, he will inevitably be counterattacked. He came here and framed him as a false edict, so he must not go any further.
Of course, not moving forward does not mean doing nothing, but after thinking for a moment, Yu Qian made a decision, turned to look at Shu Liang aside, and said.
"Eunuch Shu, for the current plan, the only way is to immediately dispatch the nearest fifth and sixth regiment battalions to come for reinforcements. At the same time, seal the nine gates of the capital to block the rebels from the capital."
"Therefore, I also ask my father-in-law to take people back to the city immediately, report the situation here to Your Majesty, seal the city gate, obtain the talisman, and mobilize the sixth regiment camp. I hold the imperial edict and rush to the fifth regiment camp first to attack from the rear. Chen Mao, calm down this chaos."
"But……"
After hearing Yu Qian's words, Shu Liang was silent for a rare moment and did not act immediately.
There is no problem with this arrangement. The only and biggest problem is that in Yu Qian's hand, there is only an edict instructing the Beijing camp not to move without authorization and to stay in place. Apart from this, there is no evidence for the deployment of troops.
Yes, the edict he brought this time was not an edict to mobilize troops, but an edict ordering the Beijing camp to stay in place. This was because, according to the original expectation, they should be able to rush ahead of Chen Mao. Go to the fourth regiment camp and take control of it.
However, what he didn't expect was that Chen Mao moved so quickly. He quickly obtained Kanhe, and then took Liu An hostage and took the entire regiment camp hostage.
Under this situation, it was necessary to mobilize troops to suppress it. Yu Qian's arrangement was very clear. He asked Shu Liang to return to the palace to report the news. On the one hand, he sealed the imperial city and mobilized the imperial army to resist. On the other hand, he sought talisman to mobilize other troops in the capital. Suppression of rebellion.
But the problem is that Chen Mao and others have already started to take action. Therefore, if you want to stop them, you must first mobilize a sufficiently elite army to block them to a certain extent. The intensity does not need to be too strong. When the edict is issued, the envoy holds the talisman and mobilizes a large number of officers and soldiers from the Beijing camp to dispatch.
Therefore, this is the biggest dilemma. If we wait until we get the talisman to mobilize the army, it will definitely be too late. However, without the talisman and just an imperial edict, how can we mobilize the Beijing camp to stop Chen Mao's rebels? ?
After thinking for a while, Shu Liang spoke.
"Let's do this, Yu Shaobao, our family will go with you to mobilize the troops. As for the report, we can just send someone else."
It is obviously unrealistic to mobilize troops based on hand orders alone, but if Shu Liang is accompanying him, perhaps the hope can be greater, but in this way...
"no!"
Yu Qian shook his head and clenched the gorgeous ceremonial sword at his waist with his right hand. He took it out before going out, and it was also the first time he took it out of the mansion after receiving the gift.
Holding the sword tightly, Yu Qian's tone became more firm and said.
"This matter is of great importance. The curfew has not yet ended. If anyone else goes back, they will be intercepted by the officers and soldiers guarding the city. Time is urgent. If you delay for a moment, the danger will be greater. Only Eunuch Shu can go back in person." Get the talisman as quickly as possible and put an end to this chaos."
"Don't worry, father-in-law, Yu promises that we will delay it until the angel arrives!"
Looking at Yu Qian's firm expression, Shu Liang's face showed a rare hint of complexity, because he knew very well what kind of determination Yu Qian had made at this moment.
Because his decision was actually putting himself on the fire. If the fifth regiment battalion could not be mobilized, then it would be a serious crime to be unable to stop Chen Mao's rebels from advancing in time.
But if he mobilized and successfully blocked Chen Mao, then later on, Yu Qian would also face the crime of mobilizing the Beijing camp without the purpose and without the talisman.
It can be said that when he made this determination, he had actually put himself in a dilemma...
However, the current situation is urgent and it is not the time to express emotion. Therefore, after a moment of silence, Shu Liang nodded slightly and cupped his hands.
"In this case, I leave everything to Shaobao, let's go..."
After that, Shu Liang took half of Dongchang Fanzi and turned around and ran towards the imperial city. At the same time, Yu Qian took the other half of the troops and also turned around and headed towards the fifth regiment camp nearest here. Rush to the station.
"Who is trespassing?"
The sky was dim, and a thin ray of light penetrated the thick dark clouds, and with difficulty, it showed its head. Yu Qian and his party quickly arrived at the location of the fifth regiment camp.
Facing the questions from the gatekeepers on the opposite side, Yu Qian tightened his horse's head, stopped at the camp gate, took out the edict in his sleeve, raised it high above his head, and said.
"I am Shaobao Youdu Censor Yu Qian. By His Majesty's order, I want to see your Governor Xu. Please open the door quickly without delay!"
(End of chapter)
