"I don't know, I was just about to ask the prince." Chang Yu was also mentally prepared. There are thousands of soldiers in a palace. Even if the Ming Dynasty is in dire straits, there will still be two or three thousand. In addition to the vacancy of empty pay, there must be one.
Two thousand, maybe.
King Heng held out two fingers, and Chang Yu recognized that it was eight. Eight thousand was impossible: "Eight hundred?"
Zhu Youyi nodded vigorously: "In fifteen years, there were more than 2,000. That year, the Tatars sent thousands of troops to besiege Qingzhou City. Li Shiyuan led his troops to defend and repel them, but they suffered heavy casualties and have not made up for the loss in the past two years.
There are only 800 left on the books, but the actual situation is still unknown.”
Chang Yu smiled bitterly! He knew he was poor, but he didn't expect him to be so poor!
How to get more than 8 million?
When King Heng saw Chang Yu smiling bitterly and saying nothing, he felt even more confused. He covered his face with his hands and started to cry. He completely lost the dignity of a noble vassal king. Perhaps he thought of his brothers and sisters who had their homes confiscated and destroyed by the Tatars and thieves. Unexpectedly,
How could he not be sad that he was about to follow in the same footsteps, not to mention that he was already timid and cowardly.
Chang Yu couldn't bear to see him in such a posture, so he comforted him: "Our family once protected the lineage of the King of Jin in Taiyuan. At that time, hundreds of thousands of thieves besieged the city..."
"I have heard about Eunuch Chang's great achievements, but at that time you had nearly 100,000 troops in Taiyuan City. Taiyuan City has high walls and thick walls, but Qingzhou Prefecture has nothing. How can a few hundred people stop tens of thousands of Tatars?
They are a hundred times more ferocious than the bandit army!" Zhu Shenxuan wailed in a low voice.
Seeing this, Chang Yu shook his head and said nothing, "Come on! I'm so tired after running for days and nights that I don't even bother to coax you."
After a short while, the carriage drove into Prince Heng's Mansion. Chang Yu got off the car and followed Zhu Youjie to the main hall. Chen Suole and other soldiers were served by the palace's steward and a group of servants who provided them with tea and meals.
Prince Heng was irritated and restless. He led Chang Yu into the main hall and was about to arrange wine and food while discussing how to defend against the enemy. However, Chang Yu had previously feasted on the princes' picnic outside the city and was full.
I was too tired from running around in the sun and felt sticky with sweat, so I said to King Heng, "I want a clean room to take a bath and take a nap."
Damn it, how long has it been? He was still thinking about taking a shower and sleeping. Zhu Youji wanted to curse, but he was really courageless. In addition, he seemed to smell the sweat on Chang Yu's body, so he asked a maid to lure Chang Yu there.
Take a shower and take a nap.
"Father, please discuss your retreat!" There were only two fathers and sons in the lobby, the prince frowned and whispered. Zhu Youyi raised his head and glanced at the prince: "What is the retreat you mentioned?"
Zhu Cian glanced around and said in a deep voice: "There are tens of thousands of Tatars, and there are no soldiers or generals in the city to defend against the enemy. If the city is defeated... my father should pack up early and be ready to leave at any time."
Hey! Zhu Youyi stamped his foot: "As a father, you don't know, but if you leave the fiefdom without the emperor's decree, it would be a serious crime! Didn't he send this big eunuch just to keep an eye on us? But the little eunuch has a reputation, he may
Can we defend Qingzhou City?"
"Father" Zhu Cian was a little anxious: "Leaving without permission will only reduce your rank. If the city is captured by Prince Heng's Mansion, the Tatars will be razed to the ground and no one will be left alive! It is said that the little eunuch can fight, but it is just a rumor. Who has witnessed it with his own eyes?"
I have seen some of the eunuchs and supervisors know how to fight, and there are many rumors that some of them are really just trying to take advantage of themselves!"
"This..." Zhu Youyi was speechless immediately. He was a timid and fearful person, and his heart was even more confused. He did not dare to violate the ancestral rules but was also afraid of death. He didn't know how to choose for a while: "Maybe this little eunuch has real abilities.
Otherwise, if he knew he was going to die, why would he enter Qingzhou City? And you see that he is not panicked at all, maybe he has a way to deal with it..."
Zhu Cian made some sense when he thought about it. The Tatars were approaching with tens of thousands of troops, and Qingzhou City was in danger. It was impossible for the little eunuch to run in even though he knew it was a dead end. He could have waited for the Qing army to break through the city and then come over for a formality.
, why risk your life to cross the line of fire to come to warn, and also vow to defend the city and fight the Tatars.
"Perhaps it's just a matter of luck, but I don't believe that we can withstand tens of thousands of Tatars with just a handful of troops. My father had better make plans in advance."
Zhu Youyi was silent, pacing back and forth in the palace, and finally gritted his teeth: "Go to the palace immediately and tell your mother and concubine to tidy up, just in case. As for how... we'll talk about it later."
Zhu Ci'an responded and left in a hurry. After a while, the housekeeper announced that the prefect Qian Lianghan and the guard Li Shiyuan had arrived. King Heng sighed: "Invite them into the palace."
Qian Lianghan and Li Shiyuan were the pillars of the Qingzhou Mansion, both civil and military. They had been operating in Qingzhou for several years and had a good relationship with Prince Heng. At this time, Wen Zhaoyou came in a hurry after hearing some rumors.
The two of them followed the housekeeper into the palace with solemn expressions. Qian Lianghan was the first to hear that someone from Dongchang was coming to Qingzhou. King Heng asked him to go out of the city to greet him. At that time, he sneered. "Welcome the eunuch? Let me poke my spine."
If you scold me, I won't go.
But I was also wondering why this guy from Dongchang came to Qingzhou. Moreover, the eunuch who was said to be very powerful in fighting personally led the team, saying that he had brought hundreds of fans.
Could it be that Prince Heng had committed something in such a big fight? Impossible. Prince Heng was timid and fearful of trouble. He kept an eye on him both overtly and covertly and didn't notice anything strange!
Could it be that he was pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger? Dongchang has always been good at collecting intelligence. The emperor must have obtained some evidence and asked his confidants to investigate it personally.
If this is the case, will he be implicated? Qian Lianghan was also in a state of confusion at home. In fact, the vassal kings in the early Ming Dynasty could still dictate to local officials. After that, Zhu Di lost any power to deal with local officials, and
These local officials also had the responsibility of secretly monitoring the palace.
As mentioned before, there are also official positions in the palace, such as the left and right officials, the director of history, and the bookkeeping. They are said to be for the vassal to manage the palace, but in fact they are just for surveillance. But later, these palace officials knew that there was no hope of promotion, so they devoted themselves to the palace.
Once effective, the local officials became the main force of surveillance.
Just when Qian Lianghan was restless, a servant of the royal palace came to report that King Heng had summoned him to the palace to discuss urgent matters. He also brought news that spread throughout the city: tens of thousands of Tatar troops were about to approach the city!
Tatar! Qian Lianghan was shocked on the spot.
Li Shiyuan was similar to him, but he first heard about the horse thieves and then heard about Dongchang. When he was confused, he said that the Tatars were coming, and he was furious: strictly investigate those who spread rumors!
It wasn't until the palace servants stamped the seal that this was not a rumor! Li Shiyuan, who was weighing tens of thousands of pounds on his heart, also hurriedly came.
When the two of them entered the palace, they saw the ashen-faced Prince Heng lying on the chair of the Grand Master, and he quickly saluted with a look of despair. Zhu Youyi sighed and waved his hand to indicate that the two of them should sit down. At this time, there was no need to be so formal.
After everyone was seated, the Crown Prince Zhu Cian quickly ordered his servants to prepare tea.
Qian Lianghan glanced around and asked doubtfully: "Your Majesty, I heard that the eunuch of the East Factory is coming, how can I see him?"
Zhu Youyi sighed again: "I said I was tired from the journey and wanted to take a rest."
"Hmph, tens of thousands of Tatar troops are about to attack the city, but he is going to sleep. These eunuchs really...can't understand the importance!" Qian Lianghan snorted angrily, and Li Shiyuan next to him also looked angry. The system of eunuchs supervising the army began
Chengzu, because he had the help of some close eunuchs and monks when he raised his army, he especially trusted his ministers and had eunuchs and supervisors on his side. However, this has been criticized by the government and the public for hundreds of years.
In fact, these eunuchs who did not understand military matters indeed contributed to the decline of the Ming Dynasty and even destructive effects. It is no wonder that courtiers and generals viewed eunuchs extremely negatively.
However, they did not expect that the eunuch of Dongchang, who had suddenly become famous in recent months, would be so virtuous. Qian Lianghan and Li Shiyuan were immediately disappointed. Perhaps Taiyuan and Guanwai were all due to Zhou Yuji and Wu Sangui.
Damn it, he is another person who deceives the world and steals his reputation.
The two people's impressions of Chang Yu immediately flew down three thousand feet.