It was already late at night, and the majestic and majestic Jinling City, the capital of the Xia Kingdom, had faded away from the prosperity during the day. A huge city that could rarely be compared with it in the world stood here quietly.
Outside the city, the tall city walls cast shadows, making it even darker.
The soldiers of Xia Army who were guarding the city wall heard the rapid sound of horse hooves coming from the darkness below the city wall.
Upon hearing the strange sound of horse hooves, the soldiers on the city wall immediately became vigilant, quickly rallied, pointed their bows and arrows at the bottom of the city, and lit warning beacons.
In the darkness, the beacon light suddenly lit up on the city wall, which was extremely conspicuous!
When the Xia army stationed in Jinling City saw this, they immediately reacted and began to assemble their officers and soldiers to prepare for the attack.
Several beacon towers outside the capital also lit up warning beacons at this time to notify the army stationed on the outskirts of Beijing.
At this time, as long as another beacon fire is lit on the other side of the city wall, the soldiers in the city who have already organized their troops will quickly dispatch to take over the city defense and attack the enemy. Even the soldiers and horses stationed in the suburbs of Beijing will also come quickly to encircle and suppress the enemy.
Besiege the city and rebel.
Judging from Xia Jun's extremely fast and orderly response, we can know that after Yu Zhaoling ascended the throne, he began to rectify the troops inside and outside the capital, which was obviously very effective!
Captain Xia Jun, who was on the city wall, shouted sharply:
"The capital city gate has been locked. It is not allowed to be opened unless it is an imperial decree or confidential military information! Anyone who dares to attack the city gate will die!"
Together with the captain's scolding, there was the squeaking sound of a bowstring being straightened. If that person dared to attack the city, in an instant, arrows would rain down!
At this time, below the city, only a few "hoo" sounds were heard, and the sound of rapid horse hooves suddenly stopped, and immediately an urgent response sounded:
"Eight hundred miles urgent, Hailing County, Wuzhong County, there is urgent military information to report to Your Majesty!"
Under the city, several firelights lit up, and torches were raised high. Only then did the Xia Army officers and soldiers above the city see clearly the figure, appearance and dress of the person coming.
Seven or eight soldiers of the Xia army, dusty and exhausted, were escorting a messenger wearing post uniforms and carrying an "urgent" flag. They were waiting outside the city with an anxious look on their faces.
When the captain of the city guard saw the costumes of the eight or nine people in front of him, he was already convinced. But to be on the safe side, he still lowered the hanging basket and got the verification document. After carefully confirming that it was correct, he looked tense and shouted loudly.
shouted:
"Quickly, open the city gate! Send someone to escort them and go to the palace to report the emergency!"
"yes!"
With the sound of "ta-ta-da" mechanism and the sound of the chain turning, the closed suspension bridge suddenly fell down, and the closed city gate quickly opened.
Seeing this, the postmaster quickly urged his horse again and galloped away.
More than ten soldiers guarding the city got on their horses and opened the way ahead to escort the man to the palace.
Late at night, in the silent Jinling City, the rapid sound of horse hooves echoed in the city, suddenly waking up the interested people in Jinling City...
Half an hour later, palace officials were suddenly dispatched from the palace, who summoned all the ministers in the middle of the night and went to the Jinshen Palace to discuss matters.
At Yin hour, the Jinshen Palace was already brightly lit and crowded with people. Most of the courtiers who were woken up in the middle of the night rushed here in a hurry, their clothes were messy, and they looked inexplicably different compared to the neat and tidy appearance of the past.
Seems a little funny.
…
As for Xia Emperor Yu Zhaoling, he was already sitting on the dragon throne. He was only wearing a single suit and his face was extremely gloomy and ugly.
When the courtiers were almost all here, Yu Zhaoling said in a cold voice:
"Babaili rushed to report that the traitor Zhang Shicheng saw that the situation was unfavorable and colluded with sea pirates to attack various places along the coast."
"Pirates on the sea are attacking everywhere. Pirates are raging in Nanhui County, Songjiang Prefecture, Changxing Island under the jurisdiction of Wuzhong County, and Haimen County and Fuhaizhou under Hailing County. The navy of Wuzhong County is attacking to meet the enemy, and Hailing County is also sending some troops.
Soldiers and horses to guard the coast."
"The rebel Zhang Shicheng took the opportunity to mobilize all his troops and besiege Taizhou City, the seat of Hailing County. Unprepared, Taizhou City has fallen, and the situation in Hailing County is critical."
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the entire Jinshen Hall.
Just before, the court received news that many salt merchants who colluded with Zhang Shicheng had been captured by the Xiuyi Envoys. The traitor Zhang Shicheng no longer had support, and the situation was over!
But he never expected that in just a few days, the thief would actually contact the pirates who came from nowhere, causing the situation in Hailing County in the southeast to completely deteriorate. Even Wuzhong County next to it was threatened.
Among the courtiers, General Dong Wei walked out quickly and said immediately:
"The thieves who dare to attack our coastal defense in Daxia are not weak, and they must not have appeared suddenly! Your Majesty, do you know where these thieves came from?"
Yu Zhaoling shook his head and said:
"The Xiuyi Envoy has not yet reported detailed military information."
"Well, then we can only ask your Majesty to quickly dispatch the Jinling Navy to clear the coastal defense!"
As soon as Dong Wei finished speaking, some courtiers in the palace immediately retorted:
"No!"
"Most of the warships of our Jinling Navy need to be deployed in Rongjun and Dongning to resist the Yunnan Foreign Navy. The remaining warships are not enough to guard Jinling City, how can we dispatch them easily?"
Jinling City is the capital of the Xia Kingdom. It is related to the safety of the country and is a top priority. The troops and horses guarding the capital cannot be sent out easily, lest the capital be empty and taken advantage of by the enemy.
Before he finished speaking, someone immediately retorted:
"But if we don't send the Jinling navy to attack, the counties along the coast will also be attacked!"
"Hailing County is related to the new salt tax system of the imperial court, and there must be no mistakes. And Wuzhong County is the most prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River. In terms of fiscal taxes and rice grains collected every year, Wuzhong County can account for ten percent of the country's total in just one county.
One or two. Now that the country is in a difficult situation, Wuzhong County must not miss anything!"
Nowadays, Xia State's financial maintenance is difficult, and the wealthy Wuzhong County is even more important!
Yu Zhaoling did not hesitate and immediately interrupted the dispute among the ministers and said in a deep voice:
"There are still soldiers and horses stationed in the capital, don't worry! Immediately order the remaining Jinling Navy to send troops to guard the coast and drive out the bandits!"
"Local county soldiers were mobilized from Liyang County and Kuaiji County in the south of the Yangtze River and stationed in Wuzhong County to prevent pirates from coming ashore to cause trouble. Hailing County Zhang bandits sent troops."
"Taishan County, Donghai County, Langya County, and Jiaodong County in Qidi also need to allocate garrison troops to defend themselves to prevent bandits from leaving Hailing County and harassing the four counties in Qidi!"
"Deploy 20,000 northern elites to pass through Yandi and go to Hailing County to quell the rebellion. A supply of food and grass will be supplied by the local government without any mistakes!"
…
Yu Zhaoling had made up his mind and stayed in the palace. There was no more objection. All the officials bowed and saluted and shouted:
"My lord, please obey your order!"
——
The ministers dispersed, but Yu Zhaoling sent palace officials to recall Mei Chong, Dong Wei, Yuan Feizhang and other loyal ministers, as well as Feng Chu, Zhu Feiang and other close confidants back to the Jinshen Palace.
At this time, the people in the Jinshen Hall were all the confidants that Yu Zhaoling now relied on to control the court. When he was recalled at this time, everyone knew that there must be important military matters to be entrusted!
Sure enough, after everyone arrived, Yu Zhaoling said in a deep voice:
"Zhong Zizuo is still in Hailing County at this time. The situation in Hailing County is critical now. I want you all to mobilize all your hands to respond to him at all costs!"
When everyone in the hall heard this, they were slightly stunned.
Although Zhong Zizuo is now a giant embroiderer with great power, but in real terms, the rank of this second-grade embroiderer is only a mere thousand stones. He is just a spy chief, the emperor's eagle, and he should not be treated with such caution by Yu Zhaoling.
yes.
Seeing the puzzled expressions of the ministers, Feng Chu coughed slightly and explained in a deep voice:
"Commander Zhong was ordered by the emperor to go to thoroughly investigate the local salt merchants who colluded with Zhang Shicheng. Within a few months, he raided 43 salt merchants in the two prefectures of Hailing County and confiscated more than 7.3 million yuan in gold and silver.
two!"
Having said this, Feng Chu couldn't help but sigh and said:
"The reason why the Embroidery Envoys responded so slowly to this incident in Hailing County is because all the local Embroidery Envoys were mobilized by Commander Zhong to escort the gold and silver back to the capital... Such a huge amount of gold and silver,
It was too difficult to transport, and as a result, we were still unable to leave Hailing County before the situation became unstable."
Upon hearing the huge sum of more than seven million silver, all the ministers in the palace couldn't help but hold their breath.
The reason why the situation in Xia Kingdom is so difficult now is because of lack of money!
Previously, in order to train more soldiers and horses to consolidate the border defense line and resist the Yun army, Mei Chong spent all his energy and scraped the treasury and palace treasury several times, but he only collected 800,000 taels of silver for urgent use.
.
At this time, if we can get the more than seven million taels of silver in Zhong Zizuo's hands, most of the difficulties facing the court will no longer be a problem!
The veteran Mei Chong, who was originally looking a little sluggish due to being woken up late at night, suddenly became energetic, his eyes sparkled, and he took the lead in saying:
"Yu Zeyang, the governor of Liyang County, and Lu Ruiyi, the chief minister of Donghai County, were all former disciples of the old minister. I will immediately prepare a copy of the letter and ask them to send someone to respond!"
Dong Wei, the cavalry general, then said:
"The captain of Wuzhong County was once a school captain under my command. Although the situation in Wuzhong County is not good at this time, it should be no problem for him to send some people to go."
"I used to be a military officer in the army. After resigning from the military post, I established a Jianghu sect in Hailing County with hundreds of disciples. I immediately wrote to him and asked him to take his disciples to take care of him. At this time, Jianghu people were more and more interested.
The soldiers and horses of the imperial court should make things easier!" Yuan Feizhang also said in a deep voice.
When he was in the southwest, the military disciple who had taken refuge under Yu Zhaoling, the second son of Marquis Changfeng, Zhu Feiang, also spoke at this time:
"Your Majesty, the fiefdom of our Marquis Changfeng Mansion is in Hailing County. We can also mobilize people from the mansion to help!"
…
Local civil servants, military generals, nobles, and forces in the world.
These forces, mobilized through the relationship between Dong Wei and others, are much more effective than Yu Zhaoling's imperial edict!
Yu Zhaoling exhaled slightly, turned to look at Feng Chu, nodded and said:
"All the embroidery envoys from nearby counties must also be mobilized!"
Feng Chu bowed slightly and said in a deep voice:
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will do my best!"
——
At this time, among Hailing County, Taizhou and Sanshui County.
Yu Zhaoling and others were extremely worried. Zhong Zizuo, who thought he was in danger, was leading his men and staying safely in the county town, eating and drinking when he should, without showing any signs of any trouble.
He looked worried and nervous, but looked calm and calm.
The Embroidered Clothes Envoys who were temporarily transferred from below to protect the huge amount of looted goods were frightened and frightened after Sanshui County was occupied by bandits. They were worried day and night, fearing that the bandits outside would discover the traces of themselves and others.
But when I saw my conductor looking so calm and a little relieved, I couldn't help but feel deep admiration.
To be able to remain calm and composed in such a situation, Commander Zhong really has the air of a general!
Zhong Zizuo, who was recognized by his embroiderers as having the qualities of a general, was currently discussing the next matter with the guards around him who were dressed as embroiderers.
"This time I robbed so many salt merchants and got a total of 12.8 million taels of silver. The greedy Yang Xun only reported 7.37 million taels to the court."
Having said this, Zhong Zizhuo couldn't help but raise his head and said:
"Speaking of which, do you really want to give all this money to Emperor Xia?"
Zhong Zizuo, who was in the Xia Kingdom's court, naturally knew that the reason why Xia Kingdom was behaving so badly now was actually because it had no money to cause trouble.
If such a large amount of money is handed over, Xia Guo's predicament will be solved by more than half. It is naturally not a good thing for Yun Guo!
The guard at Niangan Department next to Zhong Zizhuo raised his head slightly at this time, revealing the face of Niangan Department Yiwei Envoy Ju Meng.
In this drama, Meng is mainly responsible for the affairs of the Xia Kingdom's Nianzhang Department. He had disappeared for a long time, but he never thought that he would be staying next to Zhong Zizuo, disguised as a low-level embroiderer!
"Yang Xun is very greedy and unworthy of trust. I asked you to secretly send the secret back to Jinling City and tell Emperor Xia the truth in order to use Yang Xun's head in exchange for Emperor Xia's greater trust in you.
."
"The preparation office has also made arrangements. After that, you will run into an army of thieves. After the battle, about 40% of the gold and silver will be robbed by the thieves. And you, lead your men,
You risked your life to protect the remaining 60% of the gold and silver... You must return this money to Jinling City, otherwise your achievements this time will be greatly reduced!"
Although he only protected 60%, it was definitely not due to Zhong Zizuo's lack of protection. Moreover, for the Xia court, which was extremely short of money, this was a life-saving straw. When Yu Zhaoling was overjoyed, he would definitely reward Zhong Zizuo.
.
Although these six to seven million taels of silver were a lot, they were actually exchanged for Zhong Zizuo to gain more trust from Emperor Xia and gain a higher position in the Xia Kingdom's court.
As long as it is used properly, the Xia Kingdom's court will no longer have any secrets from the Yun Kingdom! It is not impossible to even let the entire Embroidered Clothes Envoy be used by the Yun Kingdom.
When the war between the two countries resumes, the casualties of soldiers avoided due to detailed intelligence and the cost of the army's expedition are estimated to be far more than a few million taels!
Ju Meng glanced at Zhong Zizuo and continued:
"And the money that was robbed will be sent back to the Yun Kingdom through Henghai General Wang Zhi. One-tenth of it will be given as your reward. As long as the world is unified and the Xia Kingdom is destroyed,
You will receive high official status and countless gold and silver rewards!"
Nowadays, Zhong Zizhuo, who is facing an increasingly important position, cannot use the tough methods as before when sticking to the pole. He must always give him enough chips to allow him to continue to serve with all his heart.
Hearing Ju Meng's words, Zhong Zizuo couldn't help but feel ecstatic. He nodded repeatedly and said loudly:
"I, Zhong Zizuo, will do my best to serve you to the best of my ability and will not disappoint His Majesty!"