Cabinet bachelor Yang Shiqi hurriedly walked into the building of the East Palace. The prince held his fat belly. When he saw Yang Shiqi, he stretched out his hand to say hello: "Hey, Mr. Yang, I haven't seen you for a long time. Your style is still the same."
However, Yang Shiqi was not in the mood to joke and said seriously: "Your Highness, something big has happened. The grain and grass sent from Huitonghe to Tongzhou for King Qi have sunk!"
The smile on Zhu Gaochi's face solidified: "What did you say?"
He thought he heard it wrong. This was so nonsense that the prince didn't want to believe it.
Who the hell is playing me! !
"The grain ship collided with the merchant ship and sank when it was approaching Tongzhou. This was an eight-hundred-mile express that had just been sent from there. All channels were cleared. It had just been delivered to the cabinet. When I saw it, I came over without stopping. You report it." Yang Shiqi smiled bitterly, "Now, this urgent document should have been delivered to His Majesty."
Zhu Gaochi held his forehead and wiped the fine sweat on his head: "Wait a minute, I have to take a moment."
The prince felt that his mind could not move. Everything was so sudden, and it felt like he was struck by five thunders.
"Is there an explanation from the Ministry of War?" Zhu Gaochi suddenly asked.
There were two people escorting the grain and grass, one was Zhu Gaochi and the other was Fang Bin, the Minister of War. Among them, the East Palace is responsible for decision-making, and the Ministry of War is responsible for execution. If you ask who is the most suspected of the ship sinking, it must be the Ministry of War.
Yang Shiqi shook his head: "The Ministry of War must not know about this yet. It sank so suddenly just when it was approaching Tongzhou. This is something no one could have imagined. This is God's will, not man-made."
God's will... man-made? !
A familiar figure suddenly appeared in Zhu Gaochi's mind, a young but troubled figure.
"Go! Call the grandson here!" The prince shouted without hesitation.
…
As soon as Zhu Zhanji walked into the study, he saw his father sitting on a chair with a gloomy face. Only the father and son were left in the room looking at each other, quiet and depressing, as if there was an invisible colloid in the air, making it difficult to breathe.
"father……"
"Did you do this?"
Behind the calm was the violent storm. The father and son spoke at the same time, with quite a tacit understanding.
Zhu Zhanji was stunned: "What's going on?"
"I don't want to talk nonsense with you. Please tell me the truth honestly." Zhu Gaochi said in a deep voice, "Did you go to the Ministry of War to find Fang Bin and ask him to help you send it to Tongzhou for King Qi? Are you manipulating food and grass?"
Zhu Zhanji pretended to be dumbfounded: "What? What are you doing? Dad, what did you say?"
Zhu Gaochi could no longer suppress the anger in his heart. He stood up and pointed his chubby finger at the forehead of the emperor's grandson, shouting: "When did you come here and you still stay here with me pretending to be stupid? You really think you are very smart. Can no one discover your dirty tricks?"
The Crown Prince is very aware of his son's urinary nature and his innate wisdom. If he can be properly cultivated and cultivated over the years, he will definitely become an outstanding heir and the future sword holder of the empire.
However, it was just because he was so smart that Zhu Zhanji developed an arrogance in his heart, becoming more and more courageous and acting more and more unscrupulously.
Judging from the tiny details of Zhu Zhanji's expression, Zhu Gaochi already had the answer in his heart. This answer made him unwilling to face the reality - his son was responsible for the shipwreck.
At this point, Zhu Zhanji also showed his cards: "Dad, don't worry, the people I entrusted with this matter are well hidden and will not reveal any flaws. Even if the Jin Yiwei drains all the water from the Grand Canal, they will not We can only conclude that 'the grain ship sank due to an accident', and our East Palace and the Ministry of War will not be implicated."
"madness!"
Zhu Gaochi was trembling with anger, "You idiot, you idiot!"
Zhu Zhanji was a little confused: "Dad, what do you mean by this?"
Zhu Gaochi raised his forehead and said: "I am the person in charge of supervising the transportation of grain and grass, followed by the Ministry of War. Fang Bin, the Minister of the Ministry of War, is one of our people. If you ask who is most likely to have tampered with this matter, it must be me, because I have a motive. , also has this ability.”
Zhu Zhanji spread his hands: "As for the evidence, as long as they can't find the evidence, the emperor won't suspect that someone is slandering us behind the scenes, or they will suspect... King Qi did this in the first place! He is so The purpose of doing this is to frame our East Palace. The emperor is very suspicious and will not jump to conclusions without evidence, but I can guarantee that no one will be able to find evidence."
"Do you think you are smart?" Zhu Gaochi laughed angrily, "Does King Qi care about the evidence? Even if there is no evidence, he can guess that our East Palace did it. This is the highest possibility!"
"Prince Qi doesn't care if it's useless. When did our East Palace fear Prince Qi's palace?" Zhu Zhanji said disdainfully.
"Do you really think that our East Palace is not afraid of his King Qi?" Zhu Gaochi said a little tiredly, "That's a lunatic. He never acts according to common sense. He has the support of the largest faction in the court, the 'Xunqi' , is controlling Jinyiwei and Dali Temple, and is also the old man’s favorite prince. Why do you think that the East Palace can’t take Prince Qi’s residence seriously? If Prince Qi is pushed into a hurry, such a lunatic will use any means to defeat Prince Qi. They all look pale and powerless in front of him!”
The prince has many political opponents. After the old man ascended the throne, the East Palace has always been the most powerful party in the court. As the saying goes, the higher you stand, the more enemies you make. However, Zhu Gaochi has always been able to defeat all his opponents with ease.
It wasn't until he met King Qi that Zhu Gaochi met his most difficult enemy. If an irreversible struggle really breaks out between Prince Qi's Mansion and the East Palace, the final result will inevitably be a loss-lose situation for both parties.
Therefore, Zhu Gaochi has been controlling the East Palace and does not want to do anything wrong. He has been controlling the situation well and has been controlling the distance very well. But he never expected that it would be his own son who lit the fuse in the end.
"The old man was born in the military. What he hates most is when soldiers are fighting in front and someone stabs them in the back."
Zhu Gaochi sighed, "You have made a big mistake. I'm afraid Long Yan will be angry this time. I told you before, don't touch this matter, don't touch this matter! But you just don't listen, and you don't know Either he committed suicide by himself, or he was bewitched by someone, and he actually acted evilly, and committed a huge crime. I am afraid that even I will not be able to escape this time."
As soon as he finished speaking, the messenger from the palace arrived.
But this time the person who came to convey the order was not a eunuch, but a general wearing gold armor, riding a horse, and holding a sword. This was the general of the Twelve Guards.
The Twelve Guards are independent of the general army under the jurisdiction of the Five Army Governor's Mansion and the Ministry of War, that is, the Twelve Guards of the Imperial Guard, namely: Jinyi Guards, Banner Guards, Kingo Guards, Kingo Guards, Habayashi Left Guards, Habayashi Right Guards, Fu Military guard, Fujun left guard, Fujun right guard, Fujun vanguard, Fujun rearguard, and Huben left guard.
In the Yongle Dynasty, the Twelve Guards were added twice more. The first time was when Zhu Di first came to the throne, he promoted the three guards of Peking to personal troops and renamed them Jinwu Left Guard, Jinwu Right Guard, and Yulin Vanguard.
The second expansion included Yanshan left guard, Yanshan right guard, Yanshan avant-garde, Daxing left guard, Jiyang guard, Jezhou guard, and Tongzhou guard. They were originally the "Seven Guards of Beiping Dusi" and were promoted to pro-army in the fourth year of Yongle.
The twenty-two personal guards were commonly called the "Shang Twelve Guards" of the Hongwu Dynasty. Except for the special Imperial Guards, the rest were elite imperial guards who obeyed the emperor's orders.
"The emperor ordered the prince and grandson to stay in the East Palace. They are not allowed to take a step without an order. They are waiting to be punished. I admire this!"
The cold voice was conveyed among the palaces of the East Palace. Without any hesitation, the sergeants of the Twelve Guards blocked every door of the East Palace and stood guard in front of the door with knives.
The Prince's Palace in the East Palace, which was splendid one moment, became a prison for killing people the next moment.
This is how the old man always does things. Either don’t do it or never do it.
The young emperor's grandson was stunned. He did not expect that the emperor acted in such a domineering and ruthless manner, sealing people as soon as he was told. With just a verbal order, the aloof East Palace was reduced to dust.
"Zhanji, Zhanji, you are really good at cheating."
Zhu Gaochi's smile was bitter, "That's all, just treat it as the sin I committed in my previous life. You'd better pray that the old man will be soft-hearted and give me a chance for the sake of the prince's many years of hard work."
When things got here, Zhu Gaochi actually knew what was going on.
If I let my son get into a trap this time, he might not be able to escape. The emperor's decision to go to war in such a big way must have been made in his heart. Even if he could keep his position as crown prince, he would already be half-legged in the grave, and he would no longer have the capital to go down to Prince Qi's palace.
The sky in the East Palace has collapsed!
King Zhao was crippled, King Han was deposed, and now the prince himself was walking to the edge of the cliff. Among the four princes, only King Qi was left to take care of himself and became the first heir to the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Zhanji was in a daze: "How could this happen? How could this happen..."
Zhu Gaochi patted the emperor's grandson on the shoulder and sighed: "Zhanji, don't blame yourself too much. Accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. I have worked hard for so many years and have never had a comfortable life. Now, I can be regarded as having nothing to do."
"We, father and son, will just wait for the emperor's decision and see what outcome he can give."
…
On the Tongzhou Canal, a huge merchant ship was stopped by another merchant ship.
The saber-wielding sergeants jumped directly to the opposite deck, and the crew was frightened and overwhelmed. No one expected that right next to Shuntian Mansion, on the canal, there would be bold water bandits who would dare to block the road and rob!
Before the more than ten sword-wielding guards on the merchant ship could react, they were beaten by a group of sergeants and turned upside down.
"Run away!"
One of the crew members just wanted to jump into the river, but was suddenly grabbed by the collar and pulled back, and his body fell backwards on the board of the boat.
"Why are you running? I'm here to do business."
Zhu Gaojie waved his hand and said, "Chirong, have someone move all the food out of the ship's warehouse."
Chirong got the order and walked towards the ship's warehouse with a group of people.
The captain of the merchant ship swallowed his saliva and saw that this group of water bandits had no intention of killing anyone. He bravely walked up to Zhu Gaojie, cupped his hands and said, "Sir, if you want to steal food, then grab food. As long as you don't use the knife, nothing will happen." Easy to talk about."
"Just grab it, I'm just buying it!" Zhu Gaojie glanced at the captain, "How many grains of grain do you have on board?"
The captain knew he couldn't hide it, so he answered honestly: "Four hundred stones."
"Four hundred stones? Are you serious?"
Zhu Gaojie was stunned, "Do you think this is a grain transport ship?"
One stone of rice is equal to about 200 kilograms. 400 stone of grain is equivalent to 80,000 kilograms when converted into kilograms!
The food and grass consumed by thirty thousand elites in a day is only two hundred dan.
Originally, Zhu Gaojie planned to grab a few more ships, and then stop after grabbing three hundred shi of food, as long as he could reach Shuntian Mansion. Unexpectedly, the first ship he grabbed exceeded the task.
"Master, you are right, this is really a grain ship."
The captain said helplessly, "We came from Suzhou and were ordered to escort the grain to Shuntian Mansion to deliver grain to the civilians who were building the palace."
"This..." Zhu Gaojie touched his head.
This is a robbery on your own head!
The grain supply for the construction of the palace was cut off?
"There is no need to panic. In fact, you have completed the mission." Zhu Gaojie patted the captain's shoulder and said happily, "Anyway, even if your ship of food is delivered to Shuntian Mansion, it will be delivered to me. It's just that you have to deliver it in advance. That’s all.”
The captain blinked: "What do you mean?"
…
Zhu Gaojie really didn't lie to the captain. Even if the ship's grain was escorted to Shuntian Mansion, it would fall into the hands of the Northern Expeditionary Army.
In any case, this Northern Expeditionary Army will definitely rush to Shuntian Mansion to borrow food. Shuntian Mansion is the city closest to the military camp and the only city capable of supplying 30,000 elite grain and grass supplies.
In order to support the army's food supply, Shuntian Mansion will definitely not be able to rely solely on the grain reserves in the granary. It will allocate food and grass from various aspects to restore blood to the Northern Expeditionary Army.
As for this grain ship, I am afraid that as soon as it arrives at Shuntian Mansion, it will be converted into military grain and fall into the hands of Zhu Gaojie.
But now he was cut off halfway by Zhu Gaojie.
This is the fastest way Zhu Gaojie can think of to solve the food shortage crisis.
The grain ship sent from the south of the Yangtze River sank, and Zhu Gaojie set his sights on the Grand Canal. This Grand Canal carried countless ships every day. If he intercepted a few ships, he could always scrape together enough for the Northern Expeditionary Army to persist to Shuntian Prefecture. Forage.
It's just that he didn't expect such a coincidence. The first ship he just intercepted was a grain ship carrying water.
…
Zhu Gaojie took out the tiger talisman and said: "In the name of the Northern Expedition of the imperial court, I will requisition the grain on your ship. Now you can take the people back to Suzhou. I will send a letter to the Suzhou magistrate. You will not suffer any consequences." Punishment, on the contrary, the court will mark your merits."
"What?!" The captain was confused.
This tiger charm... doesn't look like it's fake.
There is an inscription engraved on the tiger talisman. It is not so much an inscription as a pattern-like word, which is extremely difficult to imitate. Each different tiger talisman can only mobilize a certain army, and the emperor has more than one tiger talisman in his hand, or even many. It is difficult to imitate just by having a one-sided or several-sided relationship with a certain one.
To prevent counterfeiting, the cross-section of each pair of tiger symbols is not flat, but uneven. When the two tiger symbols are together, they fit together tightly, like an undivided whole. This is where the word "match" comes from. . Even if the forger has seen the original Tiger Talisman, it will be difficult to imitate it.
The captain didn't know what to do for a while. He thought he had encountered water bandits, but he didn't expect to encounter a general holding a tiger charm.
There seems to be no difference. Many armies are actually organized gangsters.
