After receiving the news, Zhao Mingting went out of Donghua Gate and rushed to Taowuji. He was shocked when he saw the brightly lit military mansion with soldiers in order on the city.
At that time, the imperial army and the imperial guard army mainly combined the military system of the ministry and the imperial army system. Specific land was set aside to support military households. However, brave soldiers were recruited from these military households and incorporated into the active imperial army and the imperial guard army. They were stationed in state camps, etc.
With the cooperation of local soldiers, the main cities and defense lines were attacked and defended.
Although the military households are tenured for life, brothers are brothers, father and son, in addition to cultivating the fields, they also have to prepare their own soldiers, armor, mules and horses, which is an extremely heavy burden. Therefore, it is impossible to recruit all the strong labor force in the military households.
Enter active duty.
In that case, the entire military system will collapse immediately.
Soldiers are recruited into active service through rotational training and garrison duty. The average annual service period is about three to four months, which means that three to one-quarter of the active and brave soldiers will be integrated into the army at the same time.
The Longque Army was responsible for the battle to reduce the vassalage of Tanzhou. At one time, more than half of the Jianyong were recruited into the battalion. Although the original consideration was to ensure the suddenness of the reduction of the vassalage of Tanzhou, it was also regarded as an attack on the Longque Army.
The military households to which they belong are exploited excessively.
Fortunately, the war went smoothly, the results of the battle were published and the rewards were generous, so there was no resentment.
In more extreme cases, most or all of the soldiers will be mobilized and incorporated into active service battalions.
However, it takes time to mobilize troops. Communication means are limited in the world, and soldiers need to disperse and live close to the fields. Military orders are issued layer by layer, and villages and villages are notified. The dispersed personnel are gathered layer by layer to complete the distribution of soldiers and armor.
, organize the battalion and assemble at the designated location.
Even if internal assembly is carried out using the garrison military mansion as a unit, it usually takes three to five days.
As for Taowu Ji, it only took three hours.
Moreover, in these three hours, not only had nearly 6,000 generals been assembled, but they had even completed the defense of Zhicheng and surrounding sentry passes, and gathered more than 40,000 women, children, and children into Qiuhushan Villa.
If Zhao Mingting hadn't arranged for people to keep an eye on this place, he would have deeply suspected that the Third Prince and his family had already been prepared.
Zhao Mingting frowned secretly, and suddenly felt that it was very difficult.
In any political shock, most people sit on the fence and watch, and this time inside and outside Jinling City is no exception.
The original plan of Anning Palace was to first control the palace city, the imperial city, the Privy Council, and the political hall, with the support of the two privy ministers Niu Gengru and Wen Muqiao, and then take over the nine-door city defense. At this time, it would be almost possible to control the inside and outside of Jinling City.
These fence-sitting factions were convinced by the wait-and-see; and then they sent orders to Zhaozhou County to purge Jinling soldiers and horses, and then they were able to put pressure on Zhang Wei, Yang Zhitang, Du Chongtao and other generals who were stationed abroad, but their families and young dependents stayed in Jinling City, forcing them to
He expressed his loyalty to the imperial court, and only in the last step did he take action against the second and third princes who had elite troops stationed in the feudal town.
Now we have just entered the second step, and even the nine gate city defense has not been completely taken over. Zhenyuan Marquis Yang Jian, Chengyi Bokou Shixiong and others have closed the camp outside the city and refused to accept the edict without the signature of Emperor Tianyou. At this time, they called
The troops of the Dragon Bird Army loyal to the Third Prince were assembled and successfully got stuck at the southern foot of Baohua Mountain outside the East City to peek at the Donghua Gate. This only made the attitudes of some of the fence-riding factions ambiguous.
At least before they use the power of their direct lineage to level Qiuhu Mountain, a considerable number of people may choose to wait and see instead of immediately expressing their allegiance to An Ning Palace and the prince.
In other words, it has become impossible for them to successfully cross the third step without fighting.
Although currently, except for Kou Shixiong and Yang Jian, the rest of the Forbidden Army and Guards have not shown strong resistance, but at this time they must dare to mobilize these soldiers and horses to attack Qiuhu Mountain, and these soldiers and horses will not mutiny and surrender.
, they will also be extremely slack in combat, thereby turning the situation in a direction that is even more unfavorable to them.
It's just that the 10,000 elite soldiers secretly transferred by Xu Mingzhen to Chaozhou to be controlled by Xu Zhu will not be able to cross the river and enter Jinling until noon tomorrow at the earliest; currently, they directly control 30,000 troops and horses, and they must be on guard against any changes by Yang Jian and Kou Shixiong.
It is necessary to defend the Nine Gates and the Imperial City and deter other forces. For the time being, it is impossible to separate the absolutely superior troops and horses to attack Qiuhu Mountain.
Is it really necessary to accept Han Daoxun's suggestion and make a certain degree of compromise with the second prince, King Xin, and the third prince, King Tan?
Zhao Mingting secretly had a headache, but it was not his turn to comment on such a big matter. He was only responsible for collecting this information and presenting it to Empress Xu, the Crown Prince, Niu Gengru, and Wen Muqiao for them to make the final decision.
Zhao Mingting had just sent several people back to the city to report the latest information to Niu Gengru. At this time, a touch of fish belly white appeared in the eastern sky, and the sky and earth seemed to be immersed in deep, clear water. The slightest light would be so dark that it made people feel uncomfortable.
The suffocating night pried open a gap.
Suddenly, the main gate to the south of Taowu City suddenly opened, and dozens of knights galloped out desperately.
"What are they going to do?" Zhao Mingting murmured to himself, but he did not remain immersed in confusion for long. He ordered his subordinates and said: "Capture one person alive and see what they are going to do?"
After burning a stick of incense, several spies from the Fang Division captured alive a knight who had just left Taowu to rule the city, and handed a silk letter to Zhao Mingting.
Unfolding the silk book, Zhao Mingting saw the number "Xu Clan's Message to the Empress Rebellion" written clearly on the top of the page. Zhao Mingting shouted: "No, we fell into Han Daoxun's thieves' delaying strategy. Hurry up and prepare your horses and follow me into the city!"
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"Hey! This useless thing, Marquis Xinchang, sneaked back into Jinling, and you didn't even notice?"
No one expected that Empress Xu would be so angry that she could tear the "Request for Rebellion" silk book in half. Zhao Mingting looked at this scene with fear. He did not expect that Empress Xu's seemingly skinny body actually had the appearance of a strong man.
strength.
In addition to denounced An Ning Palace for causing rebellion, killing ministers without permission, trying to harm the prince, imprisoning Emperor Tianyou for plotting to usurp the throne, etc., the petition also singled out the Ming Dynasty concubine Wang Fu, Xinchang Marquis Li Pu, Chuzhou Defense Envoy Chief Secretary Wang Wenqian, and the Minister of Civil Affairs
Han Daoming, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple and others convened an uprising on behalf of the second and third princes at Qiuhu Mountain, calling on King Qin's rebel soldiers to gather at the southern foot of Baohua to protest against An Ning Palace and the prince's rebellion.
It was also after seeing the petition that Zhao Mingting knew for sure that Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, had sneaked back to Jinling.
Although in the eyes of Empress Xu, Xinchanghou was a useless thing, Xinchanghou Li Pu sneaked back to Jinling at this time, but it was like a poisonous thorn in their throats, making them unable to swallow and spit out, which was extremely uncomfortable.
Speaking of it, Marquis Li Pu of Xinchang deliberately concealed his whereabouts and acted quickly. Even if the secret agents of Zifangsi lurking in Tanzhou were aware of it, it was normal for them not to discover it in time in Jinling due to the inconvenience of transmitting the news.
It's just that Zhao Mingting didn't dare to defend himself at this time.
"Is there any false propaganda coming into the city at this time?" When Empress Xu was not so angry, Niu Gengru asked Zhao Mingting.
"We intercepted the fake message and rode back to the palace. We haven't found anything else in the city for the time being, but I fear it will be difficult to stop it." Zhao Mingting replied, kneeling down.
Now the second prince and the third prince are collaborating together. In order to bring them down, they have joined hands so quickly. This is something they were caught off guard.
The Longque Army and Chuzhou have only withdrawn their directly related people who are apparently related to them, but they must also have a large number of secret spies hidden in Jinling City, and it is impossible for the official department to investigate them one by one.
As long as one message is secretly sent into the city at this time, hundreds of messages may be copied out before dawn.
Even if a curfew is fully implemented in the city after dark, it is impossible to completely prevent the spread of false propaganda; not to mention that Xinchang Hou and others have already sent the false propaganda to nearby prefectures and counties as soon as possible.
They lost the initiative. Even if they issued the imperial edict before noon, they could not stop the speculation and rumors in the market that they were plotting to murder His Majesty and usurp the throne.
And if the position is not right, it seems that people in Jinling City are a little panicked and will not escape their control. However, when they fight for control of local states and counties, they will become quite passive.
This is precisely the most deadly.
On the one hand, the third prince controls Hunan, and his power can extend to Jingxiang, Jiangxi, and other places. The second prince controls Chuzhou, and his power can expand to Yangtai. However, the three parties are really going to fight a stalemate tug-of-war. Jingxiang in Jiangbei, Huainan, etc.
, Yangtai and other places may all fall into the hands of Liang Jun, who is eyeing them.
Speaking of the whole thing, they still had too few direct descendants in Jinling and were not fully prepared to control the whole city immediately. At the same time, they did not expect that Xinchang Hou Li Pu and others would move so quickly in Qiuhu Mountain.
, not to mention that Wang Wenqian and Xinchang Hou Li Pu could actually collude at this moment.
"When will Xu Zhu come over?" Queen Xu asked Zhao Mingting, grabbing the torn silk book in half with her skinny chicken-foot-like hands, trying her best to suppress the anger in her heart.
"If we cross the river tonight, the 10,000 horses and horses will not be able to assemble at the quarry until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest; even if the horses don't stop and there is no rest in between, it will not be until the early morning of the day after tomorrow to reach Jinling City at the earliest." Zhao Mingting said.
The naval camp of the Lou Chuan Army is located in the north of Jinling City, and the open rivers on the left and right are under its control. Before Zhenyuan Marquis Yang Jian's attitude was clear, they would not dare to organize a boat under the eyes and nose of the Lou Chuan Army's naval warships.
Boats transport soldiers and horses across the river.
Before planning the incident, they mainly secretly prepared boats around Caishiji on the north side of Dangtu County, so that in an emergency, Chaozhou's military envoy Xu Zhu and Chaozhou's elite could be transported across the river as soon as possible.
If everything goes well, it will be the day after tomorrow when Xu Zhu's troops march to Jinling.
Under such a chaotic situation, the East Palace Guards and the Zuowu Guards need to further mobilize and expand the troops in their respective camps. If they want to expand an additional 20,000 to 30,000 troops, it will take the day after tomorrow at the earliest to complete the assembly.
At present, Yang Jian and Kou Shixiong have 20,000 elite troops who are unable to leave their camps. There are another 50,000 forbidden troops and bodyguards in the Jinling garrison. On the surface, they continue to recognize the validity of the order issued by the Privy Council. However, the morale of the military is unstable and they cannot be entrusted with important tasks.
Not to mention hastily dispatched to storm Qiuhu Mountain.
Niu Gengru also found it somewhat difficult.
At this time, an old man walked in. In his haste, he tripped over the high threshold and almost fell over.
"Why are you panicking? The imperial treasure has been found?" Queen Xu was furious in her heart, but she still couldn't tolerate others being flustered in front of her, so she sternly scolded the old eunuch.
The emperor's imperial edicts include edicts, pardons, and edicts, and different imperial seals are used according to needs.
Chongwen Palace uses pardon letters to issue orders every day. Niu Gengru and the others have obtained six imperial seals dedicated to pardon letters, which can be used to issue ordinary imperial edicts; only the emperor's royal treasures required for edicts are not usually used. Now they are looking through Chongwen.
They went to the palace and arrested the people from Zhongshushe who were responsible for the seal and the imperial edict. They interrogated them for most of the night, but they still couldn't find them.
At this time, it was really frustrating to find someone to engrave the royal treasure according to the old edict, and it would take another day or two to delay the edict on passing the throne before it could be drafted and promulgated.
Seeing the old eunuch walking in hastily, he thought he had discovered something in Chongwen Hall.
The old man did not come to inform him of the whereabouts of the imperial treasure, but cried out in a tearful voice:
