Since Liu Ziguang's rebellion, the entire northern Ming Dynasty has fallen into a strange situation. The old red shirt armies in Hebei, Shanxi, Liaodong and other places are no longer under the control of the imperial court, but they are still nominally imperial troops, but the imperial court does not give them any pay.
Food, wages and equipment are actually equivalent to warlord separatism.
But separatism is not entirely true. Except for Shanxi Province, which is controlled by the red shirt general Zhao Zhangcheng, the forces of both sides are intertwined in other places. The 200,000 forbidden troops under the command of Wei Guogong Xu Zengshou are stationed in Zhending, Beijing and other places.
There are sufficient equipment, and the relationship with Li Yan's Red Shirt Army is relatively harmonious. The Forbidden Army often secretly sells weapons and ammunition to the Red Shirt Army, and through the relationship of the Red Shirt Army, they smuggle them to Japan, Goryeo and other areas with frequent civil wars in exchange for high price differences.
The cooperation between the two parties was pleasant and harmonious.
This situation is not what the court wants to see. The commander-in-chief of the Hebei Forbidden Army, Xu Zengshou, is a hereditary Duke of Wei. He is the brother of the current queen and the emperor's uncle. Logically speaking, the relationship is absolutely hard. This is because the queen has been relegated to the cold palace.
We had to be on guard against Xu Zengshou colluding with the red shirt army and becoming enemies of the imperial court.
Nowadays, the government is controlled by Huang Zongxi and Wei Zhongxian. It is said that these two are indeed talented people. Their strategizing is not inferior to Qian Qianyi, the then chief minister of Donglin. Besides, there are also young heroes Yuan Chengzhi and other talents selected by Zhu Youxiao.
, it is not difficult to put this disintegrated country back in order.
Beijing, the Duke of Wei's Mansion, was originally the residence of Prince Gong of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but was later requisitioned by Xu Zengshou. He was also the hereditary Duke of the Ming Dynasty. Wherever he went, he had to have a residence that matched his status, right? Xu Zengshou's official rank was very high.
The original title of Grand Governor of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion was still there, and he was also responsible for the military affairs of Hebei and Liaodong. It can be said that all the troops and horses in the northern border of the Ming Dynasty were under his control, and he could definitely be regarded as a frontier official.
But Xu Zengshou was not in a good mood, because a letter came from home saying that the girl had angered the emperor and had been thrown into the cold palace. The most ruthless emperor's family, Xu Zengshou, as a first-class duke, didn't know that if the girl hadn't been with Zhu You
If there was free love in school, he would never marry a girl into the palace. He would rather find a brother-in-law like Liu Ziguang who has the same smell. His sister Xu Yuanhui has been married to the emperor for five years. She is already 21 years old this year and has not yet been able to marry him.
She gave birth to a boy and a girl, and she had a very stubborn temper, almost the same as when she was not married. In the past, the young couple just had noisy fights, but the emperor has gradually matured, so can there be more quarrels?
Although the queen was relegated to the cold palace, her title is still there, which shows that the emperor still misses the old relationship, or in other words, has some fear of his brother-in-law. After all, he has hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands and monitors the tiger-like red shirt.
Jun, if it weren't for the Buddha who is holding me down, those lamps that don't save fuel would have started making trouble long ago.
Liu Ziguang ran away, Yuan Chonghuan was far away in the Western Regions resisting the Junggar army, and the rookie Yuan Chengzhi was also quelling the rebellion in Nanzhao. There was no one in the court who could replace him. Alas, while his words still have some weight, he quickly wrote a sincere letter.
Go back and say something nice to the emperor on behalf of your sister. This life will go on forever, right?
Just as I was about to write a letter about Lang Hao, someone came to report: "General Zu sent someone to deliver a message. His son has put out full moon wine today and invited me to a banquet."
By the way, why did I forget about this? Zu Dashou’s newly married concubine gave birth to a big fat boy. He said hello to her a month ago. Today is the time for full moon wine. Although Xu Zengshou is the Duke of the country,
, but his old temper did not change, he still liked to mingle with his subordinates, and he was especially fond of drinking. How could he be missing in such a lively occasion, so he quickly prepared congratulatory gifts and went to the banquet with a group of soldiers.
Zu Dashou's current position is Baoding General Soldier, and he also controls tens of thousands of elite soldiers. He has built a large house in Beijing, which is also the palace of a Manchu prince. He also married a Manchu nobleman.
His concubine helped him give birth to a chubby son. Zu Dashou was nearly forty years old and had such a son. It was indeed a great joy in life. Today Zu Dashou did not wear official uniforms, but wore a perfume.
Yunsha's robe and face were full of smile lines. She would slap everyone on the shoulder: "I won't go home until I'm drunk today!"
Hearing that Marshal Xu was coming, Zu Dashou hurriedly went out to greet him. Xu Zengshou was a martial artist, so he didn't talk about those empty tricks. He had already come in first. When he saw Marshal Xu, he punched Zu Dashou in the chest: "Old Ancestor, I have you. I'll see you later."
You have to drink a few more drinks, and you are not allowed to go to bed until you are drunk."
Zu Dashou smiled sarcastically and said, "I've made you laugh. I'll definitely accompany you later. Come on, please hurry up and invite your uncle to the chief."
Xu Zengshou laughed and went. The servant placed a very heavy gift list at the door where the gifts were collected. Then all the soldiers went to the adjacent courtyard to have a drink. Zu Dashou's mansion was huge, and there were hundreds of tables opened today.
The banquet was enough for thousands of people, and all the distinguished guests in Beijing came.
Watching the Duke's soldiers entering the courtyard, Zu Dashou put away his smile, took one of his men to the side and asked, "Is Li Yan here?"
"General, Li Yan went to Tianjin to inspect the navy's military affairs. He couldn't come. He just sent someone to send a big gift." However, many other generals came.
Zu Dashou nodded: "That's all. Let's start the banquet."
The banquet officially started, and all kinds of dishes were served in a stream. The generals did not like complicated tricks, which included big fish and meat, roast duck, pig heads, elbows, brushed mutton, and vats of Erguotou. For a while, they were guessing and giving orders, shouting and drinking, and the atmosphere was very
lively.
While drinking, suddenly someone at the door shouted: "The imperial envoy is here!"
Everyone who was drinking in the yard was stunned, and the wine glasses they raised stopped in the air. They saw a person coming in from outside. He was not tall and young. He was wearing a full set of armor. Behind him was a guard holding Shang Fang's sword, walking swaggeringly.
Come in.
"Who is this?" Everyone whispered, and Xu Zengshou, who was drinking in the main hall, was also stunned, because he knew this person, it was Yuan Chonghuan's son Yuan Chengzhi. Didn't he lead the army to Nanzhao to quell the rebellion? Why did he suddenly appear here?
Beijing, or some kind of imperial envoy, could you say? Xu Zengshou didn’t dare to think about it anymore.
Yuan Chengzhi led a group of people into the courtyard, pushed the wine table away, took out the imperial edict and said: "By God's blessing, the emperor issued an edict to check that Xu Zengshou, the governor of Jiliao, and Li Yan, the governor of Hebei, colluded with the traitor Liu Ziguang with the intention of treason.
The crime cannot be forgiven. All official positions, titles and honors will be taken away from the two of them and they will be executed immediately. There must be no mistake. I admire this!"
"Master, please accept the edict." Yuan Chengzhi rolled up the imperial edict, held it in both hands and looked at Xu Zengshou, with a smile on his face as he was determined to win.
"This is a false edict! I don't accept it! I want to go to the capital to face the Holy Spirit!" Xu Zengshou suddenly stood up and pushed the table far away. He subconsciously wanted to pull out his sword, but he missed it. The sword had already been unhooked and placed on the table.
It's the concierge.
Zu Dashou, who was sitting next to him, also stood up, pulled off the fragrant cloud gauze robe on his body, revealing the soft armor underneath, shook his head and said: "Brother Xu, it's too late, go ahead and kill him, brother will give you incense on your grave every year.
of."
"Zu Dashou! It's you!" Xu Zengshou finally understood that the so-called full moon wine was the Hongmen Banquet set up by Zu Dashou, specifically used to deal with him. He pointed at Zu Dashou and became furious.
Zu Dashou avoided Xu Zengshou's gaze and said: "Brother, I'm old and have a son. I've been fighting and killing all my life. I'm tired. I want to go home and live in peace and quiet for a few days. Alas, this is all for naught.
It's a matter of methods." Before he finished speaking, his expression changed, he turned around and pulled out a steel knife from the secret compartment, and shouted sternly: "Kill the thief according to the order!"
The joyous banquet suddenly turned into a hell on earth. A large number of red-shirted officers, people brought by Zu Dashou, and restless elements in the Forbidden Army were all targeted for execution. They drank too much and did not bring weapons.
He had no choice but to be slaughtered by others. Before long, the yard was filled with corpses, and Xu Zengshou was also held captive by several muskets, unable to move.
"Brother, close your eyes, I will be fast." Zu Dashou said.
Xu Zengshou's eyes widened with anger: "You are the rebellious officials and traitors! Destroying the Great Wall will only plunge the Ming Dynasty into war! You will regret it."
"Uncle Xu, I won't bother you to worry about the rest. The military affairs in the north will be taken over by my nephew. Everything is under control. You can rest assured." Yuan Chengzhi said softly from the side, slightly dark but handsome.
There was some blood spattered on his face, it looked like he had killed a lot of people just now.
Yuan Chengzhi nodded towards Zu Dashou. Zu Dashou gritted his teeth and raised the knife in his hand. A silver light flashed through. It was pitiful that Wei Guogong had a great reputation and worked hard for the country for half his life, but he ended up with his body and head missing.
"Hang the head on the city gate for three days, and then rush it 600 miles to the capital. The remnants of the Red Shirt Army in Beijing must be eliminated today, organize the troops, put on Red Shirt Army clothes, and rush to Tianjin overnight
, strive to seize Tianjin without bloodshed, and capture Li Yan alive. If you can't capture him alive, you can do it dead. Shanhaiguan must be captured, as well as the passes on the Taihang Mountains. Be on guard and be ready to march into Shanxi at any time. The Mongolian side must also greet you.
Zhamuhe will definitely not give up when he hears the news." Yuan Chengzhi walked away while giving orders to Zu Dashou and others. Although Man Gui, Zhao Lijiao, He Kegang and others were not involved in this matter, they were all moved by the thunder.
, plus Yuan Chengzhi is the son of their old superior Yuan Chonghuan, there is always some connection, and now they have no choice but to follow him all the way to the dark side.
On that day, the city of Beijing was filled with corpses and a sea of blood. The murderous intent was so high that all the logistical agencies of the Red Shirt Army were slaughtered. Scientific researchers, technical workers, and military officer families suffered heavy losses. Even the water of the Yongding River turned red.