Yuan Chonghuan did not know the secret discussions in the city at this time. All he wanted in his heart was to lead troops into the city.
He has his plan, and the people in the city also have their own plan. Everyone thinks that they are the chess player and everyone else is the pawn.
The emperor distributed food and salary for three days at a time and kept Guan Ning's army in check, which made Yuan Chonghuan worried.
Qian Longxi had just sent him a secret message, which was shot out of the city with an arrow and landed in his defense zone.
Qian Longxi said in the letter that the cabinet had been trying to persuade the emperor to let Guan Ning's army enter the city to strengthen defense. But the emperor never let go.
Fortunately, the emperor agreed to hand over the troops outside the city to Yuan Chonghuan for unified command. He also put half of the newly arrived 300,000 dans of rice at his disposal.
This is the right thing to do. If he is not given food and salary, he will not be able to command the arrogant soldiers of the kings everywhere.
Only when their food and salary are blocked will they be so obedient.
Now that Donglin is in danger, we can only count on Yuan Chonghuan to lead troops into the city to intimidate all parties. As everyone knows, Yuan Chonghuan and the forces behind him have their own plans.
Mrs. Zheng has become the big boss behind the scenes in the capital at this time. She is carefully connecting various forces, negotiating terms, making exchanges, and arranging how to cut the cake after the coup.
Yuan Chonghuan didn't care about their fight, he just wanted to coerce the emperor and the cabinet to sign a city-wide alliance, so that the Qing Dynasty could become a vassal, and smooth out his own mess first.
The Zhou Wenyu incident greatly stimulated him. He did not expect that one of his confidants was actually sent by other forces to lurk very early.
But he knew that there was no way to explain this matter. Donglin was tricked by Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren. Falling into Jimen was a serious crime. It was vicious to blame others.
He was thinking about what actions Zhou Yanru would take at this time. He heard the soldiers coming in to announce that Eunuch Du, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, was here to deliver the order.
He quickly arranged his robes and came to the front of the tent.
"Hey, Governor Yuan, you have continuously repelled Jiannu's attacks on Guangqumen. Your Majesty is very happy to send this old slave to give you a reward."
Yuan Chonghuan cupped his hands and said, "I am wearing armor, so it is inconvenient for me to salute you. My father-in-law, please forgive me."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. It's just a matter of a few words, no big ceremony required."
The last time he sneaked Gao Qi into a trap, he almost scared all the eunuchs in charge of rituals to death. Who dared to come to him to seek death?
Today this person is a court eunuch, and he can't shirk it. He dares to show off in front of Yuan Manzi.
After saying this, he opened the imperial edict and asked Yuan Chonghuan to go to the platform to attend the imperial meeting at 1:10 tomorrow to discuss the distribution of food and pay for various troops and horses and the deployment of some troops to the city to strengthen defense.
Although Yuan Chonghuan had received a tip from Qian Longxi and knew that the emperor had agreed to his unified command, he was still a little excited.
Unexpectedly, the emperor also became a little loose on the matter of leading troops into the city.
After sending Eunuch Du away, he thought carefully about the recent contact with the emperor with some suspicion. After confirming that there was no problem, he showed a long-lost smile.
He knew that the emperor would not be able to defeat him in the end. He had now gathered more than 40,000 Guan Ning troops from King Qin, but he saw the excitement with the Qing army, but there was no decisive battle at all.
With the war dragging on like this, the court must be the one who can't bear it in the end. His demands are twofold: first, to gain unified command of the army. Second, to lead troops into the city.
It seems that the emperor finally compromised. Now the situation is very difficult. Although the Grand Canal is open, it is cut off in a section of the North Canal. The north-south water transportation has been stagnant.
In this era, the imperial capital was mainly surrounded by dry fields, and the output was very low. It was basically unable to support the millions of people in the capital. The rations of the people, the rice of officials, the food and salary of the army, and various supplies all needed to be supplemented by Jiangnan.
.
If the canal is cut off for a few more months, the capital itself will collapse. Yuan Chonghuan was also sure of this. As long as it dragged on, the emperor would definitely not be able to resist.
"Prepare the court uniforms. The headquarters will enter Beijing tomorrow." Yuan Chonghuan said to the captain of the soldiers.
A small shop in Miaohua Hutong is next to a small river, with a few weeping willows hugging each other. In this era, the imperial capital was crisscrossed by rivers. In later generations, as long as place names had three points of water, they were all small rivers in the late Ming Dynasty.
Zhou Wenyu sat alone at the innermost table. He had a plate of plain-cut beef, a plate of stir-fried river shrimps with leeks, and a small plate of assorted pickles. He drank Lihua Baijiu.
A dozen guards sat randomly at other tables.
This is not a restaurant, but a wine shop. It only sells braised food and cold dishes that go well with wine. It mainly sells wine.
Although it is already midnight, this area is full of brothels and gambling houses. At night, red lanterns are hung along the river. Many people who missed the curfew time because they went out to play will choose to find a small wine shop here and have a drink.
By the hour, it will be daybreak.
Don't dare to wander around on the street in the middle of the night. It's a big deal if you are caught by the soldiers and horses. Now the slaves are wreaking havoc outside the city, and the city is patrolling strictly. But as long as you don't go out, you will never do anything in the wine shop by the river.
There will be trouble.
At today's night banquet, Zhou Wenyu couldn't find a seat for him on such an occasion. He could only stand behind Zhou Yanru.
He hardly ate anything, and they dispersed there at 3:00 p.m. After leaving Zhou Mansion, he felt hungry, so he came to this small restaurant to have something to eat.
This is a secret gathering place he opened, mainly to deliver news from the city.
The news of his entry into the city cannot be leaked because the Ministry of War wants to arrest him. After all, the case of Jimen's infiltration has been investigated.
He didn't dare to show up during the day.
People from Donglin are also looking for him. After all, whoever carries this big pot will be in bad luck.
He made the combat deployment and supervised its implementation. We must find him.
Sun Chengzong didn't touch him that night, but he was frightened to death.
Yuan also began to doubt him. He was responsible for a lot of secret affairs involving Governor Yuan. Yuan was always cruel and bold, and Governor Zuo was beheaded, so he was nothing. He was so frightened that he ran away overnight. He might as well hide in
Went to town.
Yuan's people are also searching for him outside the city. After all, if you don't want to take the blame, you have to find him.
He could only lie dormant, waiting for Zhou Ge Lao to form a cabinet, and wait for this power game to finally settle.
He could not be found by the civil servants and nobles because their manors and workshops outside the city had been looted by the slaves. Even the Queen's woolen mill was burned down.
Fortunately, the workers all retreated into the city in advance, retaining the technical backbone. I heard that the empress had lost the chicken that laid the golden eggs, and she was very angry. She scolded Governor Yuan and Zhou Wenyu in the palace.
Let the 24th Yamen discover the traces of this idiot and arrest him immediately.
Zhou Wenyu took a sip of wine, ate a few slices of beef, and sighed. He caused a lot of trouble this time. He didn't know how it would end in the end.
At this time, his eyes lit up, and a woman wearing a Muli hat walked in from the door.
Da Ma Jin Dao found a table and sat down. He shouted loudly: "Waiter, cut a pound of beef, sift the wine, and roll out the noodles."
The woman put a short knife on the table with a bang.
Zhou Wenyu's pupils shrank, he knew this girl. Chun Wu Niang, the stall owner of Qiandong Changzi Ke.
Hasn't she been missing for three years? What are you doing here today?