The heavy rain poured down on the yellow cover on Zhu Shou's left side. The purple square umbrella and the red square umbrella were also soaked by the rain. The originally majestic emperor's guard of honor seemed a little vulnerable in the face of the baptism of nature.
This was already outside the city of Zhending Mansion. News came from the river that the army had been defeated in Jinghe Town. Fortunately, the student soldiers of the Ming Martial Arts Academy fought bravely and saved some face for the emperor.
In the battle of Jinghe Town, the Ming army was first defeated and then victorious, greatly defeating the bandit army. The bandit leaders Liu Hui and Jia Mian'er fled to Xianxian County, but were ambushed by Qian Zhu and Song Jixian in the Chenjiadu area, and almost the entire army was annihilated.
The leader of thieves can only escape with his own body.
The three Zhao brothers, Zhao Tie, Zhao Yin and Zhao Feng who stayed to fight Zhang Yunlin were killed on the spot. Their heads were sent to Hejian Mansion and were ready to be hung up for public display. Zhao Xiu and Zhao Hao escaped with their lives by luck, but their whereabouts are unknown.
trace.
"Please kill Wang Qinian to appease the people's resentment." Yang Tinghe was soaked to the skin and still stood in the rain, refusing to retreat.
Master Yang was the only one in the entire Ming Dynasty who dared to be so bold in front of Zhu Shou, because he was not only Zhu Shou's minister, but also Zhu Shou's teacher.
The rest of the big guys, although they were soaked in the rain, did not dare to move at all because the emperor was furious.
"Kill?" Zhu Shou said angrily, "How can I show this to the world?"
Wang Qinian was promoted by Zhu Shou himself. If Zhu Shou killed him now, it would undoubtedly tell everyone: You are right and I am wrong.
No, we must not bow to the civil servants, nor to the rebels!
"Show me your selflessness!" Master Yang replied in a neither humble nor overbearing tone.
His subtext is obvious: Emperor, you and Mr. Liu are wrong, you must admit your mistake, the world is the world of scholar-bureaucrats, not the world of the emperor and eunuchs! The situation in Hejian Mansion has long been reduced to a pot of porridge, and it is extremely chaotic.
If we don't bow to the gentry and cut off the evil hands that are reaching out to their lives and land, not only will there be chaos in Hebei, but also in Henan, Shandong, South Zhili and Jiangxi. Because in these places, chaos will follow.
, it is the gentry who control the overall situation.
"What is public? What is private?" Zhu Shou replied coldly. He threw the brush in his hand into the heavy rain outside the car, turned it around a few times, and rolled it into the mud. "Xuan, promote Zhang Yunlin to the Hejian Branch.
Guarding General, Qian Zhu became Baoding Branch Guarding General, Song Jixian became Zhending Branch Guarding General, and Chen Jing sent eunuchs to oversee the army, each leading the capital camp to quell the rebels in Hebei!"
Hearing Admiral Chen's slightly helpless answer, Yang Tinghe stood blankly in the rain, letting the heavy raindrops fall on his face, feeling at a loss: the emperor no longer listens to him!
Yes, the emperor did not accept his advice, take a step back and share the world with the scholar-bureaucrats, but continued to seize power forcefully. Although the generals had no rank and were not in official positions, they were able to rule alone!
This single character indicates that Zhang, Qian, and Song will only act according to Zhu Shou's imperial decree from now on. The ones who can restrict them are the eunuchs who supervise the army, not the governor, the prefect, or even the local three departments.
They also have no jurisdiction over these three newly-established separate garrison generals.
As for the four generals in Northern Zhili: Baoding, Xuanfu, Jizhou, and Changping, they have no control over these three generals because they lead the Beijing camp.
Everyone leads the capital camp!
This is a blatant distrust of the civil service group. The transportation of baggage in the Beijing camp is usually directly controlled by the inner treasury, and those in charge of the inner treasury are all eunuchs.
This turned the last trump card of the civilian clique against the army upside down! Because Zhu Shou owned the Donghai Joint Stock Company, which could support an army of thousands of people without any shortage of money.
Moreover, in the capital camp, the people in power are either the princes or other nobles, or the eunuchs. What does this mean?
The summer rain is not cold, but Master Yang's heart is like an ice cellar, and his teeth are chattering. For several years, he has been working hard to maintain a fragile balance between the civil servant group and the emperor...
Now the emperor's words have caused years of hard work to be wasted, and it is getting worse!
In the battle of Qianniu Village, Zhu Shou's impulsiveness and ignorance, Zhai Peng's greed and cowardice, Xu Jin's government and scheming, caused heavy casualties to the student army of the martial arts academy. Master Yang understood all these very well, and he could even understand Xu Jin
The starting point for progress.
Xu Jin was a civil servant, a loyal minister, and a famous general. From his standpoint, he did nothing wrong: restricting the emperor's misbehavior, weakening the new forces as much as possible, and safeguarding the foundation of imperial power.
Zhai Peng did nothing wrong. Both he and Xu Jin intentionally or unintentionally eased the conflict between the emperor and the gentry. This was the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.
But the emperor was not willing to accept their good intentions, and the student soldiers who had survived the disaster would not accept the balanced decision of the civil servants. During the battle of Jinghe Town, the student soldiers made their attitude clear: these teenagers did not listen to Wang Qinian
Instead of following Zhai Peng's orders, he used seven thousand officers and soldiers to achieve his own military success.
Wang and Zhai are both direct descendants of Zhu Shou. These young officers from the martial arts academy are also direct descendants of Zhu Shou. Now, there is a fight in the nest. It seems that Xu Jin and Xu Zuocheng from the martial arts academy are also unable to control the overall situation.
.
Since they are already senior generals, we must not allow these young officers to climb higher and higher!
Master Yang wiped the rain off his face and looked at Zhu Shou's honor guard with an indifferent expression as they slowly poured into the Zhending City in the rain.
The rain kept falling and seemed to never stop.
In a small fishing village in Deshengdian, Wen'an County, hundreds of miles away from Zhu Shou, Zhao Hao was wearing a raincoat, squatting at the door, sharpening a hatchet.
He had been hiding here with his wife and daughter for several days, and the news that Wen'an County and other places were massacred by rebels also reached his ears.
With a long sigh, Zhao Hao looked at his daughter in the room and said with a smile: "Lan'er, as soon as the rain stops, dad will go fishing. At night, you can drink fresh and delicious fish soup."
Zhao Lanlan pursed her lips and pointed to the top of her head: "Dad, it's raining here. Lan'er wants to go home."
Mrs. Zhao Zhang quickly hugged her and coaxed: "Be good, let's go home in a few days."
The house has been burned down, so what kind of home is there? Mrs. Zhao Zhang was still wearing a small white flower on the side of her ear, which was a token of mourning for those who had been unjustly killed by her mother's family and her husband's family.
After the massacre, only a few hundred people in the entire county could escape. According to people familiar with the situation, all of Butcher Zhang's family were killed by the thieves, and all the Zhao brothers became rebels.
All the children of the Zhao family who refused to join the thieves were killed. Even Zhao Hao's parents died in the rebel army. It is not known whether they were killed by the rebels or the enemies of the Zhao brothers.
After coaxing her daughter, Mrs. Zhao Zhang looked at her husband and whispered: "There is no salt in the house."
Zhao Hao knew that his wife was afraid of him, so he didn't say much. He handed her the hatchet and said softly: "If the rebels come in, you can resist them for a while. I will go to Brother Li's house at the end of the village and borrow some salt."
After saying that, he plunged into the rain and walked towards the village.
Before reaching Brother Li's house, Zhao Hao smelled a faint smell of blood. There were only a dozen households in this small fishing village, which stretched for more than a thousand steps next to the lakeside.
Brother Li was far away from Zhao Hao's residence, and it was raining heavily, so he couldn't smell the smell of blood until he got close.
Zhao Hao, who had spent his youth on the edge of a knife, immediately understood that he was in danger. This was an instinct honed between life and death. The tranquility of the fishing village in the past few days had weakened his vigilance.
, making him no longer as alert as when he first left Wen'an City.
"Brother who is this?" Zhao Hao stood outside Brother Li's house without going in. The place was empty, and even if he was besieged, it would be better than the narrow space in the house.
No one answered….
Zhao Hao didn't panic. He picked up a stone from the mud and threw it into the house. There was a bang and he didn't know what he knocked over.
After a moment of stalemate, there was a strange noise from the house, and a young man walked out with a fierce look on his face, covered in blood, and holding a machete in his hand.
He let the rain fall on his body and said with a smile: "It is indeed Zhao Fengzi, his nose is sharper than a dog's."
Zhao Hao said coldly: "Does Jia Mian'er really want me to die?"
The young man wiped the rain from his eyes: "Boss Jia said that as long as you are alive, he will be uneasy."
Zhao Hao said in a deep voice: "Xing Benwu, you are no match for me."
This young man named Xing Benwu was the younger brother of Jia Mian'er's general Xing Bendao. Hearing this, he smiled and said: "Brother Zhao, I have never thought of fighting you alone. My brother Benzhong has led several
Brother, I have been guarding outside your house, and I am afraid that I happened to pick up my sister-in-law and niece."
There was laughter all around, and from a hidden corner, a dozen young men walked out, each holding a weapon, and surrounded Zhao Hao.
Zhao Hao said angrily: "Xing's crime is not as bad as his wife and children. If you let them go, I will go back with you."
Xing Benwu was stunned for a moment and asked: "How did you know that Brother Jia didn't want to take your life?"
Zhao Hao spat: "If Lao Jia wants to take my life, why would he use the lives of my wife and daughter to threaten me?"
Xing Benwu clapped his hands, wiped the rain from his face, and said with a smile: "Boss Zhao is Boss Zhao, and he is indeed worthy of his reputation. When Brother Jia talked about the things he and you did in northern Hebei, I thought he was complimenting you."
Zhao Hao smiled slightly: "Lao Jia and Brother Liu have captured Qingxian County, but they want to go south to Henan?" Seeing Xing Bengbu nodded, he continued: "If you want to go to Henan, there are two ways, one is Nanpi, the other is Nanpi.
Xian County, are they going to Xian County?"
Xing Benwu walked up to Zhao Hao and replied: "Brother Zhao is very knowledgeable about things. Since my brother has taken over his sister-in-law and niece, he might as well join his younger brother to serve as a military advisor in Brother Jia's camp and seize the dog emperor's possessions in the future."
Jiangshan, Brother Zhao will be Zhongshan, and he will contribute to Kaiping."
Zhao Hao smiled and said: "You also know Zhongshan and Kaiping?"
Xing Benwu touched his head in embarrassment: "My little brother only knows how to kill, but these two names were told to me by Brother Jia before I left. I don't know who they are."
Zhao Hao stretched out his hand, patted him on the shoulder, and said gently: "The rain is getting heavier and heavier. Why don't you go into Lao Li's house and wait until the rain subsides? Then I will go with you to find Lao Jia and the others. I will tell you something by the way."
, this is the story of the King of Zhongshan and the King of Kaiping.”
Benwu Xing said with a smile: "That's right. I thought this family was in the way, so I had already treated the whole family to a plate of noodles. The house was free, and it was just right for us brothers to take shelter from the rain."
"The King of Zhongshan is Xu Da, the Duke of Xu, and the King of Kaiping is Chang Gong Yuchun. They..." Zhao Hao and Xing Benwu walked into the house side by side, chatting as they walked.
The moment he first entered the room, as the light dimmed, Xing Benwu's eyes subconsciously opened wider, and his guard against Zhao Hao also became much less intense.
As soon as Zhao Hao's left foot crossed the threshold, his right hand, which was originally on Xing Benwu's shoulder, suddenly strangled the latter's neck as fast as lightning.
There was only a clicking sound, and Xing Benwu's head was hung on his neck at a very strange angle, and his neck bones were actually broken by Zhao Hao!
What a fierce force! What a ruthless thought!
Zhao Hao didn't pause at all, and moved like a flowing stream, kicking the young man behind him in the groin with his left foot, then a little bit with his right foot, using the force to jump up, and knocking his leg on the temple of the other young man.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Xiucai killed three living people and frightened the remaining people into silence in the rain.
"roll!"
Zhao Hao stood majestically at the door, his voice sounding like it was coming out of hell.