Feeling that he had said too much, Zhu Zhanji smiled and said to Zhang Fu and Hu Hao: "Besides, aren't there two great masters?"
"Wei Chen and Hu Shangshu join forces to protect His Highness from worries." Zhang Fu looked at Hu Hao and said confidently.
"Yes, maybe I won't need to take action by then." Hu Hao also nodded. Now that the top masters in the world have zeroed in one after another, these two survivors can indeed cope with any situation.
After a few people sorted through the details and made sure nothing was missing, Zhu Zhanji and Hu Hao said goodbye and left.
At this time, it was already time to hold the lanterns. Zhang Fu and Zhang Xi sent His Highness Taisun away. Watching the carriage disappear at the street corner, Zhang Xi suddenly sighed.
"What?" Zhang Fu glanced at Zhang Min.
"It's nothing, I just have a bad feeling." Zhang Xi smiled bitterly and said, "I'm really afraid that Wang Xian will fall from the sky tomorrow."
"He can't fly back even if he puts on his wings!" Zhang Fu said coldly: "Besides, I originally arranged the situation according to the worst-case scenario, so it would be useless even if he really flies back."
"I hope so." Zhang Shi still looked unsure, which made Zhang Fu unhappy for a while. He snorted and walked in...
On the carriage, Zhu Zhanji said to Hu Hao: "Master Hu, do you think there is any problem with the British Duke's plan?"
"In my humble opinion, the British government has made very careful arrangements, so there shouldn't be any problems." Hu Hao said softly, "But we can't put all our hopes on him."
"Yes, Gu Ye is not that naive..." Zhu Zhanji lowered his voice and said, "I also have a trump card!"
"Oh, how did His Highness arrange it?" Hu Hao looked at Zhu Zhanji in surprise.
"Haha, Master Hu will know when the time comes." Zhu Zhanji refused to tell the truth.
"It would be nice if Your Highness has his own backup plan..." Hu Hao stopped talking knowingly.
"Sir, I didn't mean to hide it. It's really useless to talk more." Zhu Zhanji explained lightly.
"Your Highness does not need to explain anything to Wei Chen." Hu Hao shook his head and said with a smile: "Wei Chen is home and will be escorting you to His Highness's house tomorrow morning."
"Wei Chen still has some things to tell you." Hu Hao said calmly: "Your Highness, go ahead and Wei Chen will arrive soon."
"That's fine." Zhu Zhanji nodded and didn't force himself to stay.
After Hu Hao got out of the car, a dark shadow followed him silently. This was not because Zhu Zhanji suspected him, but because before the battle, it was important to be careful...
This night in the capital is destined to be restless and undercurrent, and I don’t know how many people are sleepless all night...
However, the long night eventually passed and dawn gradually came.
Today is the first day of March in the first year of Hongxi's reign in the Ming Dynasty. It's still very cold in the morning and evening. Last night was even more chilling. There was a layer of silver frost on the ground, which made the Shuntian official who was watching the night shiver with cold. Fortunately, the officer was merciful and spared them.
For the errands done in the middle of the night, the night watch officers were very grateful and ran home like a dog chasing a rabbit, and they were all gone in the blink of an eye.
Therefore, after midnight and before dawn, there were no official patrols on the streets of the capital. However, the people living on the street could vaguely hear the rumble of the army passing by on the street. It gradually disappeared until the fourth watch.
movement.
After the fifth watch of drums, the capital, which had just quieted down, suddenly became noisy again. This was the news that officials of the Ming Dynasty were preparing to go to court. Since last month, the emperor had canceled the regular court and held only two court meetings every month.
, this was the first time for the officials to go to court, and I was a little excited when I thought about it! Even high-ranking officials like Shangshu Shilang deliberately got up early, went out early, and rushed outside the Meridian Gate to wait for the court.
Chengtianmen, Dong'anmen, Xi'anmen, and Bei'anmen, the four gates of the imperial city, also slowly opened at the fifth watch, and officials living in various parts of the capital were put into the imperial city. Various sedans, sedans, and carriages
, the donkey carts filed into the city from the four gates and gathered at Chengtian Gate. Then the officials got off the sedans and sang greetings in high spirits, greeted each other, and then walked to the Meridian Gate chatting and laughing.
It was obvious that the civil servants were in a very happy mood. How could they not be happy? The emperor quietly deprived the nobles of their right to participate in and discuss political affairs. From then on, the military and state affairs of the Ming Dynasty no longer allowed those old men to dictate!
It is conceivable that in the days to come, the status of civil servants will become higher and higher, and they will soon surpass the nobles and crush them under their feet!
"We should have done this a long time ago. Your Majesty's move is really satisfying!"
"Scholar Jin and their spirits in heaven will definitely be very satisfied!"
"I heard that this was all the advice of the cabinet's Bachelor Yang!" Now there are three bachelors Yang in the cabinet. In order to distinguish them, people may call the eldest Yang Shiqi "Scholar Yang" in order of age, and the youngest Yang Shiqi.
Yang Pu was called "Little Yang Bachelor", and Yang Rong was directly called "Yang Bachelor".
Or they can be distinguished by their place of birth. Yang Shiqi is called "Western Yang", Yang Rong is called "Eastern Yang", and Yang Pu is called "Southern Yang". The government and the public recognize that Xiyang has talent, Dongyang has industry, and Nanyang has talent.
Xiang Du, among whom Xi Yang was the leader, the officials no longer called Yang Shiqi a "bachelor", but "Shou Kui".
"Yes! Mr. Shoukui is really a man of God!" Now Yang Shiqi's prestige far exceeds that of the six ministers and other great scholars in the cabinet. He is a well-deserved civil servant leader in the hearts of the officials. When the officials mentioned him,
There is no dissatisfaction but respect. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he has been the most encouraging person among civil servants!
"However, can those nobles be willing to do so? Nothing will happen, right?" Someone also asked worriedly.
"Who knows? But it's a done deal, can they still bite people?" But most people have been carried away and are blindly optimistic. "I would say, Mr. Shoukui should continue to work hard to control the military power of those nobles.
Take it away too, and they will be completely honest!"
"Don't you think so, sir? But we have to take it one step at a time. If we take too long, we'll get in trouble."
"Yes! I heard that the emperor and Shoukui are discussing and eventually want to move the capital back to Nanjing, but this is not that easy. I'm afraid it won't be possible in two or three years."
Suddenly, the voices of the civil servants talking loudly became much quieter, and the air seemed to be stagnant. The civil servants looked in the direction of Chengtian Gate with different expressions. It turned out that the nobles had arrived.
In sharp contrast to the high-spirited and high-spirited atmosphere of the civil servants, the honorable nobles all walked together with a gloomy look on their faces. From Chengtian Gate to Meridian Gate, no one spoke to each other. This feeling of sharing the same hatred and hatred
The killing put great pressure on the civil servants. No matter how disdainful the civil servants were, after the nobles appeared, no one dared to talk loudly. They all kept their mouths shut and waited in line outside the Meridian Gate.
After a while, Zhu Zhanji and Hu Hao arrived hand in hand. Hu Hao walked to the line of civil servants, while Zhu Zhanji came to the front of the line of distinguished officials and stood next to Zhang Fu.
"Your Highness, after midnight, Shuntian Prefecture withdrew its night patrol officers and soldiers," Zhang Fu reported softly without squinting his eyes: "Our troops have taken up positions outside the four gates of the imperial city, and we will start to mobilize as soon as we enter the palace."
"There is no movement at the four gates of the imperial city, right?" Zhu Zhanji took a deep breath of cold air to calm down the tension in his heart.
"Everything is business as usual. Your Highness, don't worry. At least there will be no problems with the two city gates we control." Zhang Fu said softly: "The troops from Jinyiwei, Shenji Battalion and Three Thousand Battalions have not left the camp. As long as we act quickly, we can
Block them in the barracks. Then concentrate most of the troops to besiege Chengtianmen. With ten times the troops, and with the cooperation of the internal forces, the battle should not last more than two quarters. These two quarters of an hour are also when we are most in danger. Your Highness must be careful.
.”
"I understand." Zhu Zhanji nodded, and the two stopped talking and waited quietly to go to court...
When the sun first appeared, the majestic sound of bells and drums sounded on the Meridian Gate Tower, echoing among the red walls and yellow tiles of the Forbidden City.
Under the Meridian Gate, the left and right gates slowly opened, and the Forbidden Army soldiers lined up majestically inside and outside the two gates, all the way to the Jinshui Bridge.
The civil and military officials, led by the officials of Honglu Temple, entered the Forbidden City through the left and right gates respectively. The nobles, led by Duke Yingying, Duke Cheng and Duke Ding, entered through the left gate, but were stopped by the censor at the door.
Stopped.
"Sorry, sir, those who have not canceled the summons cannot go to court." Sure enough, times have changed. In the past, these mere seventh-grade supervisory censors would not have the guts to do this.
"What did you say?!" Zhu Yong glared and slapped a censor into a spinning top.
"You dare to beat the censor on duty?!" The censors were shocked and angry, and loudly accused them.
"What's the point of just beating me? Can't I beat you little brats!" Unexpectedly, the honorable nobles intensified their efforts. As soon as they swarmed up, they knocked several supervisory censors to the ground. Fortunately, there was still business today, and the honorable nobles did not kill them.
Just beat them until their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen.
"Bah!" The nobles spat thickly and swaggered into the palace. The guards on the side turned a blind eye and had no intention of stopping them.
Several censors got up from the ground in embarrassment. Looking at the nobles walking away, they remembered what this gang of murderers had done a month ago.
The episode was almost uneventful, and the court meeting was not affected at all. The civil and military officials walked along Qingyun Road, crossed the Jinshui Bridge, and headed for Fengtian Gate.
"Today's pomp is not small..." Looking at the Fengtianmen Square, with many flags and clouds of guards, Zhu Yong couldn't help but murmured in a low voice: "So many guards are standing guard."
"The Great Chao," Xu Jingchang explained his doubts seasonedly, "it's just a little more grand than the Chang Chao."
"Those civil servants know how to do this, let's see what they do after today!" Zhu Yong snorted coldly, but Zhang Fu gave him a cold glare, and he quickly shrank his neck, not daring to talk nonsense anymore.
"Master, don't be nervous," Zhu Zhanji saw Zhang Fu's gloomy expression and said softly, "There are people of our own hidden here..."