Chapter 165 Who dares to stop me from entering the palace to see the car
Several big men with bare chests and tangled muscles held cowhide whips soaked in salt water in their hands and looked at Qian Ning panting.
Several people looked at Qian Ning with a bit of admiration in their eyes. Even though what they were using was just whipping, with their experience and strength, even a strong man would never be able to withstand it.
That's right now.
However, Qian Ning was stunned and didn't say a word. This was the first time they had seen someone like Qian Ning in the prison of the Ministry of Punishments.
The leader picked up a bucket and poured it over Qian Ning's head. The salt water immediately invaded the wound, and the burning sting made Qian Ning groan and wake up from the pain.
Qian Ning raised his head hard and glanced at a few people.
Geng Li, who had been sitting next to him, said to Qian Ning: "Qian Ning, if I were you, I would accept everything. Even if you die, you can die happily, right? Why bother to suffer this here?"
Waiting for torture.”
Qian Ning glanced at Geng Li coldly, spat out a mouthful of blood-streaked saliva and cursed angrily: "Geng, you want Qian to bite Eunuch Liu. It's simply a delusion. Just wait, Eunuch Liu won't do it."
I’ll let you go.”
Geng Li heard this and sneered: "It seems that you won't shed tears until you see the coffin. In this case, I will let you know that Liu Jin, the one you rely on, may not even be able to protect himself!"
As he spoke, Geng Li waved his hands at the people, and they quickly left the cell, leaving the cell to Geng Li and Qian Ning.
After hearing Geng Li's words, Qian Ning naturally sneered with disdain.
Liu Jin has won the favor of the emperor and is now in the limelight, unparalleled in the world. It can be said that as long as nothing happens to the emperor, no matter what tricks these people do, they will be liquidated in the end.
Qian Ning naturally knows very well what kind of temper Liu Jin has. If he really dares to betray Liu Jin, Liu Jin will definitely put him in a dilemma of life and death.
Geng Li walked up to Qian Ning with his hands behind his back, looked at Qian Ning and said with a smile: "Don't you just hope that Liu Jin will come to save you?"
Qian Ning snorted coldly, but Geng Li didn't care at all and smiled and said: "As a member of the Imperial Guard of Qianhu, I think you should know beforehand that Liu Jin has been ordered by the Queen Mother to stay in the mansion to reflect on her mistakes and is not allowed to step out of the mansion."
Qian Ning naturally knew this. When he heard this, he glanced at Geng Li and said: "So what? Although I don't know what accident happened to your Majesty, you must know one thing. Your Majesty is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The Queen Mother can be trapped."
How can Eunuch Liu be able to trap Eunuch Liu for the rest of his life?"
Geng Li smiled sinisterly and said, "What if His Majesty is no longer here?"
Qian Ning's whole body went cold, and he stared at Geng Li with a look of disbelief in his eyes. He said with great horror: "Impossible... This is impossible. Your Majesty is in the prime of his life, so how can something happen to him?"
Geng Li said calmly: "So what? People will always die. For so many years in history, emperors, didn't they all die early? Your Majesty is no exception!"
Qian Ning reacted suddenly, stared at the other party fiercely and said: "You... you are so brave, you even dare to assassinate His Majesty!"
Geng Li shook his head and said: "You don't want to slander others. As ministers of the Ming Dynasty, we are loyal to your majesty. We are loyal to your majesty. How can we be detrimental to your majesty!"
Qian Ning just sneered. He knew these literati very well. If he could believe one out of ten words these people said, that would be good. If he really believed what these people said, he would probably die without even knowing how he died.
.
These people are really capable of committing regicide.
Thinking of this, Qian Ning couldn't help but feel despair in his heart. If the emperor finally collapsed as Geng Li said, earth-shaking changes would definitely take place in the court immediately.
Regardless of the overwhelming power of the eunuch party centered on Liu Jin, it seems that it can compete with the civil service group, but this is based on the emperor's support for Liu Jin. Without the emperor's support, those officials who are attached to Liu Jin will definitely fall behind.
Suddenly they turned against each other and made matters worse.
Seeing the change in Qian Ning's expression, Geng Li said in Qian Ning's ear like a devil: "How about it, as long as you are willing to bite Liu Jin, tell Liu Jin to assassinate the emperor and intend to rebel. Then I may be able to help you."
Please forgive me and spare your family members."
Qian Ning suddenly burst into laughter, spat at Geng Li and said, "Qian cannot believe your words. I want Qian to admit to the death penalty of killing the nine tribes in his next life."
Unexpectedly, Qian Ning would be so stubborn. He screamed angrily: "Come here, I will execute you!"
Time flies so fast, another day passes.
british government
In the back garden, Zhang Mao was sitting there, his body tall and straight, even though his hair was gray, he looked full of energy, making people dare not underestimate him.
Zhang Lun stood next to Zhang Mao, standing there quietly without disturbing Zhang Mao.
There is a piece of information in Zhang Mao's hands.
With the ability of the British government, if they really investigate one thing, there really aren't many things that can be hidden from them.
The information in Zhang Mao's hands at this time was dense and dense, all of which were obtained overnight.
With a bang, Zhang Mao slapped his hand on the table with an angry look on his face.
"How brave, they are so brave, they even dare to plot against the emperor!"
Zhang Lun had already read the inquiring information in advance, which included the major events that occurred in the palace, the mobilization of troops and horses in the capital, and even what happened in the Jinyiwei Yamen. It was recorded in great detail.
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After the Battle of Tumu Fort, Zhang Mao took charge of the British government. For decades, he remained anonymous but secretly weaved a ubiquitous web.
Of course, this intelligence network only has such great power in the capital, and it is also thanks to Zhang Maonai being the leader of the Xungui family. This large network can be said to have gathered the influence of the entire capital Xungui, so
He said that even if Jinyiwei and Dongchang couldn't find out the information at the moment, they could still get it.
Just like what happened in the palace, the main targets of the civil servant group's defense were naturally the Jin Yiwei and Liu Jin's eunuchs.
However, there was not much preparedness for the Xungui Group. Even the information obtained by the British government did not come from the Xungui Group. Instead, it came from the Zhang family, a relative of the family.
Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling, the two uncles of the state, desperately wanted to squeeze into the ranks of nobles, and naturally they were friends with many nobles.
The emperor was assassinated and fell into a coma. Even Liu Jin tried his best to find out the huge news. However, Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling found out about it from the Queen Mother.
Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling knew about it, so the British public would naturally have a way to find out from them.
It could be seen that Zhang Mao was very angry. Not long ago, in the leopard room, the martial spirit that Zhu Houzhao exuded made Zhang Mao see the hope of Wu Xun's rise.
Even during these days, Zhang Mao was thinking about whether to send a secret message to the noble family in Beijing, asking them to select some available children from their clan, so that he could arrange these people into the capital camp.
It's just that he just saw hope here and hasn't made any arrangements yet. As a result, something happened to the emperor in the palace.
What also made Zhang Mao furious was that the battalion that had been transferred by the Ministry of War was actually led by Chang Ningbo and Gao Changsheng himself. Now this battalion was sealing off several palace gates in the imperial city.
What this means is not clear to Zhang Mao.
Someone in their Xungui Group has blatantly attached themselves to the Civil Service Group. How could this not make Zhang Mao angry?
Although Zhang Mao also knew that over the years, Wu Xun had gradually lost power in the court, and many people had quarreled with the civil service group. Even the younger members of the clan had mostly abandoned martial arts and tried to follow the path of civility.
But this is the first time that Chang Ningbo and Gao Changsheng directly disregarded face and personally went out to defend the civil servant group.
At this moment, Zhang Mao even suspected that not only the civil servant group was involved in the emperor's assassination, but maybe even his noble group was personally involved.
The Xungui Group and the Ming Dynasty both prospered and suffered losses, but this does not mean that the Xungui Group will be loyal to a certain emperor. They don't care which emperor is from the Zhu family. As long as the Ming Dynasty is still there, they will be with the country.
Hugh's honor.
Zhang Lun looked at Zhang Mao's ugly face and couldn't help but said worriedly: "Grandpa, your health is important, don't get angry."
Zhang Mao patted the table and sneered: "Haha, now someone dares to lead troops to surround the gate of the imperial city. I really didn't expect that his elder brother Gao Changsheng is really confused, even doing such a taboo thing
You dare to end it yourself."
Zhang Lun said: "Grandpa, such a big thing happened in the palace, but the elders did not inform grandpa. They..."
Zhang Mao's eyes flashed, and he looked towards the Forbidden City and said slowly: "Lun'er, prepare your grandpa's court clothes. I want to enter the palace to meet the saint."
Zhang Lun couldn't help being stunned when he heard this and said: "Grandpa, is it right to enter the palace at this time..."
Seeing the worry in his grandson's eyes, Zhang Mao couldn't help laughing and said: "Don't worry, no matter how crazy they are, they will never do anything to me, grandpa."
As he spoke, Zhang Mao said slowly: "Grandpa entered the palace for Your Majesty. There is not even a trustworthy person around Your Majesty now. If it is true..."
Liu Jin was banned from the palace, Gao Feng, Qiu Ju, and even Gu Dayong, who was in charge of the Tengxiang Four Guards Camp, were also summoned into the palace and are now locked up in the side hall.
The commander of the Su Wei was replaced, and the Jinyi Guards were unable to enter the Imperial City. Each of these events showed how tense and dangerous the situation in the Imperial City was.
After glaring at the hesitant Zhang Lun, Zhang Mao shouted: "What are you still doing? Go and get my court clothes!"
Soon Zhang Lun changed into a full-dress court dress, and then the door of the British Palace opened, dozens of elite private soldiers cleared the way, and the carriage of the British Palace headed straight for the imperial city.
In the imperial city
Queen Mother Zhang and Queen Xia looked nervously at the imperial physician Chen Jiu who was diagnosing the emperor's pulse.
Chen Jiu slowly turned around and said to the Queen Mother Zhang: "Queen Mother, your Majesty's pulse has been beating weakly day after day. I'm afraid..."
"roll!"
Even though she was mentally prepared, Empress Dowager Zhang still couldn't help but get angry. If she hadn't relied on him to hang on to the emperor's life, she would have ordered him to be dragged out and executed with a cane.
Sitting next to the emperor's bed, looking at the unconscious Zhu Houzhao, Queen Mother Zhang couldn't help but reach out and gently caress Zhu Houzhao's face that resembled Emperor Xiaozong, but also had a somewhat childish air.
"Your Majesty, you are so cruel. If something happens to you, how can you let me, my mother, live alone?"
Queen Xia was just a girl of eighteen or nineteen years old, and she was sitting on the sidelines sobbing silently.
Her eyes fell on the obvious bruises between Zhu Houzhao's neck. Empress Dowager Zhang was so angry that she suddenly stood up and shouted to the outside: "Send Li Shoufu to this palace, and Mr. Yang Ge is here."
Soon they saw Yang Tinghe and Li Dongyang walking over quickly. Just looking at their extremely tired looks, it was clear that they must have been very tired in the past two days.
Seeing the appearance of the two of them, Empress Dowager Zhang sighed softly, stopped the two of them from greeting each other and said: "You two have worked hard. On behalf of the emperor, I would like to thank the two elders for stabilizing the situation in the court during this difficult time."
, so as not to cause trouble."
Li Dongyang, Yang Ting and Lian Dao didn't dare.
She ordered her chamberlain to prepare seats for Li Dongyang and Yang Tinghe. After the two sat down, Empress Dowager Zhang looked at them and said: "You are also aware of the emperor's situation. Now he is relying on the Taiyuan Hospital to hang on to his life. I don't know when.
I was able to wake up just now.”
After hesitating for a moment, Empress Dowager Zhang continued: "Before Your Majesty wakes up, all affairs in the court will be temporarily presided over by the two cabinet ministers. Those who can make decisions will be discussed and handled by the two. If they cannot
I had the idea, so I summoned six ministries and nine ministers to discuss it together. I wonder what the two cabinet elders think?"
After looking at each other, the two hurriedly stood up and said to the Queen Mother Zhang: "I will obey the Queen Mother's decree. Before Your Majesty wakes up, I will do my best to stabilize the court."
Hearing what they said, Empress Dowager Zhang couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and said with a slight smile: "The late emperor had great trust in you all when he was here. Now that your majesty has suffered this disaster, you will be able to help your family."
In front of the palace gate, the carriage with the British government's signboard stopped steadily, and was guarded twice by a group of private soldiers. The whole body was filled with an evil atmosphere, which made people feel heart-stopping.
At this moment, a man who looked like a general saw the British Duke's carriage stop and hurriedly came up to greet him. He bowed to the carriage with great respect: "The last general, Wu Yuanchang, pays homage to the Duke."
The curtain was slowly lifted, and a figure slowly walked out of the sedan. It was the British Duke Zhang Mao in court uniform.
Zhang Mao got off the carriage, glanced at Wu Yuanchang who was kneeling on the ground and said, "Get up."
Wu Yuanchang was just a member of the army, and he was nothing in front of the British Duke, the Duke of Beijing who was in charge of the capital camp.
Following Zhang Mao, Wu Yuanchang felt extremely nervous, especially when he saw Zhang Mao walking towards the city gate, his heart skipped a beat.
Zhang Mao seemed not to notice the nervousness of Wu Yuanchang who was following him, and just walked toward the palace gate with a calm expression.
At the palace gate, a group of soldiers from the Beijing camp were guarding the palace gate. At this moment, they saw Zhang Mao in court uniform walking over. These soldiers subconsciously looked at Wu Yuanchang.
They were just soldiers at the bottom. Naturally, they did not recognize the old Duke Zhang Mao, but not knowing Zhang Mao did not mean that they were all fools and could not recognize the British Duke's carriages and ceremonial guards.
Such a guard of honor could only be enjoyed by a few princes in the huge capital, not to mention that at this moment, hundreds of adults from their families were following Zhang Mao obediently.
Zhang Mao looked at the soldiers blocking him and did not speak. He just looked at Wu Yuanchang beside him with a calm expression.
Wu Yuanchang naturally saw Zhang Mao's gaze. Although his gaze was calm, for some reason, being stared at by that gaze made Wu Yuanchang feel infinite tension and great pressure in his heart.
Cold sweat broke out on Wu Yuanchang's forehead. He finally mustered up the courage to say to Zhang Mao: "Old Duke, it's not that the general will not let the old man enter the palace. It's actually that the general has military orders and cannot give orders. He is not allowed to let him go.
Anyone can enter the palace."
As he said this, Wu Yuanchang knelt down in front of Zhang Mao and kowtowed to Zhang Mao.
Zhang Mao frowned and snorted: "You are so brave, you even dare to stop me. Do you know that whenever I want to see the emperor, I can enter the palace at any time, and no one has ever dared to stop me?"
My father, you are the first person who dares to stop me from entering the palace..."
Hearing what Zhang Mao said, Wu Yuanchang was so frightened that he almost fainted, but he did not dare to disobey the military order. Not long ago, his superior said that without an order, no matter who came, they would not be allowed to enter the palace.
If not, he will be killed without mercy.
With military orders on one side and Zhang Mao, the British Duke who had been in charge of the Beijing camp for decades, Wu Yuanchang didn't know what to do for a while.
With a faint glance at Wu Yuanchang, Zhang Mao said with his hands behind his back: "Go and call me the person who can make the decision. Today I want to see if I can enter the palace with my status."
Ouchi."
When Wu Yuanchang heard this, he felt as if he had received a general amnesty and said quickly: "My lord, please wait a moment. I will leave right now."
Wu Yuanchang quickly found his boss, Ning Bo, and Gao Changsheng.
When he saw Gao Changsheng, Wu Yuanchang felt as if he had seen a savior. He knelt down in front of Gao Changsheng and said: "Sir, help me."
Gao Changsheng frowned, looked at Wu Yuanchang and said, "Didn't I ask you to guard the palace gate? What are you doing here?"
Wu Yuanchang said with a sad face: "Sir, the British Duke... The British Duke is right now in front of the palace gate, forcing the general to let him into the palace."
"What? The British Lord, why is he here? Who told him the news!"
Gao Changsheng also changed his expression after hearing this. They have tried their best to block the news. It can be said that only a few people know about the changes in the imperial city. Even if someone notices that something is wrong in the imperial city, they probably won't think much about it.
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Among the people they kept secret was Zhang Mao, who had been the admiral of Beijing Camp for decades. Although Beijing Camp had already been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, the Fifth Army Governor's Office also had jurisdiction. Zhang Mao was in Beijing Camp
The influence is not small at all.
Wu Yuanchang said: "Sir, the British Duke is waiting for you to see him right now."
Hearing this, Gao Changsheng shook his head almost subconsciously and said, "No, I won't go."
As he spoke, Gao Changsheng glanced at Wu Yuanchang, rolled his eyes and said: "Go back immediately and hold the British Duke for me. I will go into the palace to see the two elders. As long as you hold the British Duke,
Afterwards, I will give you a rank and a title."
Wu Yuanchang almost burst into tears when he heard this. What about being promoted to a higher position? Do you really think Zhang Mao is so easy to talk to? He dared to say that if he went back alone and dared to prevent the other party from entering the palace, Zhang Mao would dare to go crazy on the spot.
Break into the palace.
Gao Changsheng glared at Wu Yuanchang and said, "What are you doing stupidly? Go quickly."
After saying that, Gao Changsheng turned around and entered the palace directly through the palace gate.
Wu Yuanchang looked at Gao Changsheng's retreating figure, gritted his teeth, and went to see Zhang Mao with a look of resignation.
Zhang Mao was looking at the soldiers guarding the palace gate with great interest. At this moment, these soldiers knew Zhang Mao's identity, and their eyes were full of awe when they looked at Zhang Mao.
That is to say, there was no movement from Zhang Mao. Otherwise, Zhang Mao might be able to frighten them into disarming them on the spot with just one word.
"My lord, my lord, the general is back!"
Wu Yuanchang bowed to Zhang Mao with a smile on his face.
Zhang Mao frowned and a stern look flashed in his eyes: "Where is Gao Changsheng?"
Wu Yuanchang said hurriedly: "My lord...he has something to do and will come to see the Duke later."
"Okay, okay, that's really good. In that case, get out of my way!"
Wu Yuanchang was startled, and instinctively stopped in front of Zhang Mao and said: "My lord, you can't do that..."
The next moment, Zhang Mao stretched out his hand and pulled out the long knife from the waist of the servant beside him. With a flash of blood, Wu Yuanchang's head flew up.
There was still a look of disbelief on Wu Yuanchang's face, and he obviously did not expect that the Duke Zhang Mao would directly kill people.
Not to mention Wu Yuanchang, even Wu Yuanchang's subordinates were frightened. They instinctively clenched the weapons in their hands and stared in fear at Zhang Mao, who was full of evil spirits.
Zhang Mao's eyes fell on these soldiers and he snorted coldly: "Get out of my way, otherwise don't blame me for being rude to you."
As Zhang Mao moved forward step by step, these soldiers retreated timidly, not daring to stop Zhang Mao at all.
In the palace, Gao Changsheng saw Yang Tinghe and Li Dongyang in great panic.
At this time, Yang Tinghe and Li Dongyang had just come out of the inner hall. They had received the Queen Mother's decree and could legitimately lead the government, with somewhat relaxed smiles on their faces.
When they saw Gao Changsheng running over in panic, the two of them couldn't help but frown.
Yang Tinghe glanced at Gao Changsheng and said, "Uncle Gao, what's going on? Why are you in such a panic?"
Gao Changsheng panted and said: "Mr. Ge, the Duke of the State, the Duke of the State is here and wants to enter the palace to see you!"
Hearing what Gao Changsheng said, Yang Tinghe's expression changed slightly and he said, "But the British Duke?"
The only person who could frighten Gao Changsheng into this was the British Duke Zhang Mao, who had been in charge of the Beijing camp for decades and had great prestige.
Hearing this, Gao Changsheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, it's the British Duke Zhang Mao."
Li Dongyang pondered for a while, looked at Yang Tinghe and said: "Jiefu, if the British Duke comes here at this time, he may have got some news. With his status, we cannot stop him. In this case, we might as well invite him into the palace.
As long as he is here, when the news of His Majesty's accident spreads, those nobles will be stabilized."
Yang Tinghe nodded slightly and said: "What the chief assistant said is true. In this case, I will personally invite the British Duke."
Gao Changsheng and Yang Tinghe rushed towards the palace gate as quickly as possible. After all, they expected Wu Yuanchang, a small official from hundreds of households, to hold back a prince like Zhang Mao. To be honest, even Yang Tinghe was not optimistic about it.
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Therefore, Yang Tinghe and Gao Changsheng, who were afraid that something unexpected might happen, rushed as quickly as possible.
From far away, before reaching the palace gate, I heard an angry shout: "Get out of my way, otherwise you will be so ruthless and will be killed without mercy!"
Hearing this angry shout, both Gao Changsheng and Yang Tinghe felt bad.
The next moment, Yang Tinghe couldn't help shouting loudly: "Your Majesty, please stop! Your Majesty, please stop!"
With a bang, the palace door opened suddenly, and the soldiers fell down. At this time, Yang Tinghe and Gao Changsheng had just arrived in front of the palace door, and happened to see the moment when the palace door opened.
The palace door opened, and Zhang Mao, who was stained with blood, was seen holding a long knife in his hand and staring at the two of them with an evil look on his face.
Yang Tinghe, who was startled by this scene, couldn't help but feel a thump in his heart. He relied on his strong willpower to stabilize his body and did not let himself retreat.
However, compared to Yang Tinghe, Gao Changsheng was obviously much worse. Gao Changsheng, who was already in awe of Zhang Mao, happened to see Zhang Mao covered in blood and was so frightened that he backed away and almost fell to the ground.
Zhang Mao had actually heard Yang Tinghe shouting, but he had no intention of stopping. Instead, he directly knocked open the palace door. His purpose was self-evident, and he wanted to express his anger.
Yang Tinghe only saw Zhang Mao holding a long knife and staring at him so hard. His mind turned and he understood Zhang Mao's intention. He couldn't help but feel a little relieved. The shock on his face dissipated. He put on a smile and raised his hands to Zhang Mao.
He bowed and said: "Old Duke, if you want to enter the palace, you only need to say a word. Why do you need to use swords and guns? Why do you have to do this? Why do you have to do this!"
Zhang Mao looked at Yang Tinghe coldly, glanced at Gao Changsheng who was shrinking his neck timidly, and couldn't help but snorted: "Really? Why do I feel that this imperial city seems to have changed its owner? In the past,
When Your Majesty was here, I wanted to enter the palace, but no one dared to stop me. I never thought that someone would dare to stop me from entering the palace to see Your Majesty today. I suspected that this person had evil intentions, so I chopped off his head with a knife. Yang Ge
Lao, do you think I am wrong in doing this?"
While Zhang Mao was speaking, his gaze kept falling on Gao Changsheng's neck. He was so angry, especially because there was blood dripping from the blade of the knife in his hand. Gao Changsheng was so frightened that he subconsciously leaned towards Yang Tinghe.
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