On July 24, in a teahouse in the east of the capital, two middle-aged men dressed as businessmen were drinking tea and discussing loudly.
At this time, a play had just finished on the stage in the tea house, and the actors entered the backstage. The tea guests were sitting bored, and happened to listen to the words of the two merchants.
The conversation between the two merchants shocked everyone from the beginning and greatly aroused the interest of other tea guests.
The older merchant took a sip of tea and said loudly: "Uncle Xing Guo of Tianjin may be rebelling this time!"
The younger merchant said: "Brother Gu, how do you say this?"
"Brother Qi, I'm afraid you don't know! Uncle Xing Guo built a four-foot-high city wall in Tianjin and practiced attacking such a wall day and night. Not only did Li Zhi practice in private, he also called Tianjin's civil and military officials to watch and watch Master Huben perform the drill in private.
The four-foot-high city wall was reduced to dust with one cannon shot. What was this other than attacking the capital?"
When the tea guests heard such heated discussions, they looked at each other and stopped talking one by one. The people who came to the tea house were all idlers, so it was best to be lively. When they heard such a topic, no one was willing to let it go. The tea guests raised their eyebrows
My ears were afraid of missing a word that the old businessman said.
The young businessman said: "So there is such a thing?"
The older merchant lowered his voice and said: "Brother Qi, this Li Zhi is not someone who wants to be subordinate to others. I heard people say that Uncle Xingguo placed a guard of honor for the emperor in the General Military Mansion, made dragon chairs, and made dragon robes.
You must call me 'I', it will satisfy the emperor's addiction."
Although the merchant lowered his voice, for some reason, the volume was still heard clearly by the patrons in the teahouse. None of the patrons in the teahouse spoke. They all leaned towards the two merchants, asking for
Listen clearly to what the two merchants say.
"Even Mrs. Cui, the wife of Xing Guobo, used the queen's etiquette in the General Military Mansion and was ready to honor the world as her mother?"
The tea guests were shocked when they heard this. They didn't expect that Xing Guobo, who was considered the mainstay of the Ming Dynasty during his wars in the south and north, would rebel in the end? If he indulged in the emperor's addiction in the General Military Mansion, sooner or later he would come to the capital.
Ah! Can the tens of thousands of troops in the capital city stop Xing Guobo's Huben division?
The young merchant seemed to be thinking about it with the other tea guests. He shook his head and asked, "Brother Gu, Uncle Xingguo has a strong army. Can he capture the capital?"
The old merchant shook his head and sighed: "There are tens of thousands of soldiers in the capital camp who can fight. Uncle Xing Guo's soldiers and horses are only 20,000. In addition to the tall buildings in the capital, at first glance, Uncle Xing Guo's soldiers
Horses cannot defeat the capital."
"But that's not the case. Uncle Xing Guo's troops and horses are strong, and those muskets and cannons are playing with the guards on the city wall. In front of Uncle Xing Guo's cannons, the city walls of the capital are like wooden fences. A few shots can destroy them.
No more. If Uncle Xing Guo’s army surrounds the city of Beijing, the Beijing camp will not be able to defend it for a month."
The old merchant lowered his head and said: "Sooner or later, the world will have to have the surname Li! Brother Qi, we have already made plans to go to Tianjin more often and get close to Uncle Xing Guo's men. We will also have the merit of following the dragon in the future!"
The young merchant clicked his tongue a few times and said no more. The two merchants threw more than ten yuan of tea money on the table and left the teahouse.
The conversation between the two merchants was like a stone thrown into the middle of the lake, causing waves. The tea guests in the teahouse began to talk as they watched the figures of the two merchants disappear at the end of the road.
"This Uncle Xing Guo is really going to rebel!"
"These two merchants actually want to help Thief Li rebel. Their intentions are to be punished!"
"The traitor Li has already killed two governors, why doesn't the emperor send troops to suppress the traitor Li?"
A young man dressed as a scholar stood up abruptly and said through gritted teeth: "Thief Li is so arrogant, the emperor is so weak, and the country will not be able to survive!"
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Jingcheng Toutie Street is a place where literati gather. It was originally a place to sell calligraphy and paintings. Later, because there were so many scholars, various entertainment facilities were opened, and the most cultural theaters and restaurants in the capital were concentrated. Today, it is the Zhongshizi in the capital.
A place for fun. Eight out of ten people on this road are literate readers.
On this day, people in fine clothes were walking on the main road, and suddenly they saw a young man with his face covered by a face running through the middle of the street.
Running to the middle of the street, the boy suddenly took out a handful of things from the bag behind him and threw it into the sky.
The boy ran and scattered all the way, and what he scattered was clearly hundreds of leaflets. Those leaflets were fluttering in the air and gradually fell to the ground. The boy who threw the leaflets took advantage of the moment when the pedestrians were looking at the leaflets and ran between the two houses.
When we got to the alley behind, he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Pedestrians on the road were curious and picked up the flyers from the ground to see what they were for.
When I picked it up, I saw that the flyer was printed with movable type, and it clearly said:
"The Fire Virtue of the Ming Dynasty has been going on for two hundred and seventy-three years. As time has gone by, the Fire Virtue has not spread. King Xin was not in the imperial lineage at first, and he was the younger brother. He lacked virtue and was despicable. The Fire Virtue of the Ming Dynasty was passed down to Xin.
The king's office has indeed declined and it is unpleasant to smell, and this is the source of great chaos in the world."
"Li Zhi, the uncle of Xingguo, overcame thorns and thorns and rose up in the throat of Tianjin. He followed the virtue of water. When the virtue of fire declined, the virtue of water emerged. If the world wants peace, it must follow the virtue of water. If the world's scholars want to serve, they must follow the virtue of water.
De. On the day when Li Zhi, the uncle of the Xingguo State, ascended to great power, the virtues of the country were greatly promoted, and the world was at peace!"
It turned out to be a leaflet announcing that the Ming Dynasty was about to fall and that Xing Guobo would become the emperor.
Most of the scholars on Toutie Street were born in the gentry. Even if they were not born in the gentry, they hung out with the children of the gentry every day, and they already regarded themselves as part of the gentry. What these scholars hated most was Li Zhi, who killed the gentry. They saw
The first reaction to this leaflet promoting Xing Guobo was to be furious and to throw the leaflet to the ground and stomp on it several times.
The second reaction is, who made this leaflet? How dare you say such treasonous words and promote that Tianjin's Li thief is going to Dai Ming?
The scholars on the street looked at each other, and when they were asking questions, someone said loudly: "Who else would make such a leaflet except Li Thief? Li Thief attacked Xiangyang, Jinan and Suzhou Prefecture, killing two governors and three prefects, and also
We were practicing in Tianjin to attack the city wall of Beijing, and our rebellion was clearly revealed. Now that Li is about to invade the capital, he will first spread public opinion and pave the way for rebellion!"
"Li Thief dares to call the emperor King Xin. He is truly treasonous and unethical!"
"I heard that Thief Li has already put up a guard of honor for the emperor in the General Military Mansion. He has already had his fill of the emperor's addiction at home!"
"I saw Mr. Li when he came to Beijing the year before last. He looked like an eagle and looked down upon a wolf. He was an inhumane figure!"
"I will send these leaflets into the imperial city to tell the emperor not to hesitate any longer. Where in the Ming Dynasty do we have no soldiers? Guan Ning has 70,000 soldiers! They all abandoned the city outside the pass and entered the pass to attack the Li thieves. Even if they gave up the five hundred miles of pass
Ning the defense line, we must also destroy this blatant rebel Li thief!"
