In the early hours of the morning, a huge roar sounded over the sleeping capital. The ear-splitting explosion woke up everyone in the capital. People sleepily got up, opened the windows and walked into the yard to explore.
See what's going on.
At first, many people thought it was the sound of thunder, but there were clear dark clouds in the sky, and the fish belly was spitting white in the east. It was a sunny day, and it was not thunder at all. Soon, people realized that it was coming from the military camp outside the capital.
There was a rumbling sound of cannons. People speculated about what happened, because generally speaking, if nothing major happened, there would be no sound of cannons in the military camp. Cannons are an order to mobilize troops and horses, and there is a major change.
signal occurred.
Soon after, a large number of black soldiers and horses of the Forbidden Army streamed through the streets. When the noisy orders and the noisy sound of horse hooves resounded in the streets, the people also received shocking news from various channels.
The news came to the capital at five o'clock. First it came from several counties in the northwest of Gyeonggi Province. Then it came from the adjacent east and west roads of Gyeonggi. Flying pigeons carried these messages one by one from the vast darkness.
Among them, people gathered from all directions, breaking the comfortable sleep of the soldiers and civilians in the capital of the Zhou Dynasty in the cool morning, and brought news that Qingjiao believers had occupied various counties in Zhouzhou.
The news that the Qingjiao had officially launched a rebellion finally reached the capital in the early morning.
At midnight, Qingjiao believers gathered in crowds in five or six prefectures and counties including Changheng County, Xucheng, Dongming County, and Fengqiu County on the Gyeonggi Road, attacked the local yamen and garrisons, and seized the local prefectures and counties. Jingxi East and West Road
, the place where the Qing Jiao’s old nest is is in full bloom, Qing Jiao believers in more than 20 prefectures and counties including Yingtianfu, Ningling, Zhecheng, Xiayi, Dangshan, Shanzhou, Xingrenfu, Dingtao, etc. started to bloom at the same time.
In response to the incident, a sudden attack was carried out on the local garrison and the Yamen city.
By the middle of the morning, bad news came one by one. All the five counties northwest of Gyeonggi Road were lost. Most of the more than 20 prefectures and counties on the east and west sides of Jingji Road fell into the hands of the Qingjiao. Except for a few prefectures such as Xingren Prefecture due to their geographical location.
To the north, in addition to the large number of garrison troops that withstood the sudden attack by the Qingjiao believers, more than a dozen prefectures and counties fell, including Yingtian Mansion, which had a population of hundreds of thousands.
In the Daqing Palace, Guo Chong was sitting on the throne with red eyes and a haggard appearance. Below him stood more than a dozen important ministers of the court. This was not a formal court meeting, and Guo Chong was still unwilling to announce the news to the ministers. After learning the news, Guo Chong
Sitting in the main hall in person, all the news was gathered here one by one. Every time bad news came, Guo Chong's face turned pale.
At three o'clock in the morning, the bad news finally stopped coming, but in fact this is not something to be thankful for. Because by this time, eighteen prefectures and counties on the East and West Roads in Beijing had fallen under the attack of the Qingjiao last night. Five counties in the north of the Gyeonggi Road
The county fell, and even the two state capitals of Bozhou and Yongcheng, north of Huainan East Road, were affected. Fortunately, they have not yet fallen.
In the main hall, on the sand table map made by Yang Jun, the sand dunes of Gyeonggi Road and Gyeonggi Road, representing the state capital, were filled with small black flags. The small red flags representing the unconquered red flags were alone and submerged in the black flags.
In the middle of the ocean, the Jingxi East Road in the hardest-hit area was almost completely wiped out, and the entire road was destroyed.
"Cough cough cough, cough cough cough." Guo Chong, who was sitting on the throne, looked at the sand table below. Suddenly, his throat felt itchy for no reason, his chest felt tight, and he coughed violently.
"Your Majesty, don't be anxious, take care of your dragon body." Lu Zhongtian stood up from his chair and said with concern.
In fact, Lu Zhongtian himself was pale, not only because he stayed up all night, but also because he originally just went to Changheng County to light a fire to achieve his own goal. He believed that the fire would not burn too big.
It would only arouse the emperor's attention and a little panic, and would be extinguished quickly. But what I never expected was that this fire would actually burn into a prairie fire, and the Qingjiao would actually use this to cause trouble, causing chaos in the world.
.What's so big about this? If the emperor knew the truth, he would probably be killed by the nine clans.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. I have already made arrangements. The troops and horses of the Imperial Guard camp in the capital have begun to be mobilized. From now on, double the manpower will be deployed to guard the city gates inside and outside the capital. Checkpoints will also be set up in the city to ensure that the security of the capital is safe.
The troops and horses to counter the rebellion will also be sent out. The minister's arrangement is that the 60,000 Imperial Guards of the Guard Infantry Division will serve as the main force to counter the rebellion. The troops will be divided into two groups. One group will quell the five counties in the north of Gyeonggi Road. The other group will go directly to the east and west roads of Jingji Road.
We are at Yingtian Mansion. I am stepping up preparations for the expedition and will be able to set off at the latest tonight. Wherever the army goes, it will quickly quell the Qingjiao rebellion. Please don’t worry, Your Majesty." Privy Councilor Yang Jun also reported in a deep voice.
Guo Chong held his chest while gasping for breath, and said hoarsely: "Are you only going to mobilize the 60,000 soldiers and horses of the Guard Infantry Division? Is such a small amount of troops...enough?"
Yang Jun said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, can't the 60,000-strong army still suppress the rebellion of the religious bandits? Don't look at how loud they are, but they just caught them by surprise and caught us by surprise. The number of local soldiers was originally only
Not many. All the soldiers and horses in the Jingdong area were to the north to defend the Liao people in the border town, so they took advantage of the loophole. I dispatched 60,000 troops to deal with them, which was already a great honor to them. They were just a bunch of rabble. Besides, I
Nor can we transfer a large number of imperial troops from outside. The 200,000 imperial troops in the capital are already at the limit and the remaining 60,000 should be responsible for guarding the capital and protecting the emperor, so we cannot mobilize as many troops as we want."
Guo Chong frowned and nodded. He was indeed worried about the situation in the capital. Who knew whether the Qing Jiao believers had infiltrated the capital. If the troops were empty and the Qing Jiao believers took advantage of the situation to cause chaos, wouldn't it be a danger to the imperial court?
"To ensure that there is no emergency, can tens of thousands of soldiers and horses on the Yanyun border be mobilized to help suppress the rebellion?" Guo Chong asked.
Yang Jun bowed and said: "Absolutely not. The duty of the soldiers and horses in the border town is to defend against the Liao attack. The layout of the soldiers and horses has been decided. If the troops in the border town are mobilized to quell the chaos in the interior, the Liao people may take advantage of it. In fact, the veteran
I have some doubts that the sudden rise of the Qingjiao is a trick played by the Liao people. Maybe they are just hoping that we will transfer the soldiers and horses from the border town, which will give them a chance."
"What Privy Yang said is true. The soldiers and horses in the border town cannot be moved. Privy Yang firmly believes that 60,000 forbidden troops are enough to suppress the rebellion. We should trust Privy Yang's judgment. After all, when it comes to fighting, Privy Yang is still the number one in our dynasty.
People." Lu Zhongtian also said.
Guo Chong thought for a while, nodded and said: "Okay, in that case, let's follow Yang Aiqing's arrangement. The situation is changing rapidly. Almost all of the east and west roads in Beijing are occupied by Qingjiao believers. I can't tolerate them in my great Zhou Dynasty.
Xiaoyao, I hope this matter can be settled as quickly as possible."
Yang Jun bowed and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will do my best. However... deploying troops to fight is not just a matter of words. I need a lot of help. I also ask the Emperor to issue an order immediately to allocate money, silver, food and supplies to my army. The so-called army.
Before food and grass are used, soldiers and horses also need a large amount of money to support the battle. The soldiers' pay must be doubled, the brave must be rewarded, the wounded must be treated, and the war dead must be compensated. It can't be done without money."
Lu Zhongtian and others rolled their eyes. Sure enough, if money was not mentioned at this time, it was not Yang Jun. Although Yang Jun led the army in battles with great results and few defeats, he was known to spend money lavishly. He could win the battle.
, largely because he was extremely generous in rewarding soldiers and horses who participated in the battle. He believed in the principle that a brave man must be rewarded with a heavy reward, so whenever he led his army into battle, money was poured out, and he only cared about victory or defeat, not caring about it at all.
How much money was spent. The last so-called great victory at Yanyun, when only tens of thousands of people fought on both sides, he spent more than three million taels of silver, without caring about the financial situation at the time.
"Money? Of course I have to give it. How much money do you estimate will be needed to quell this chaos this time?" Guo Chong said.
"I know that the imperial court is in financial difficulty. I sympathize with the imperial court's difficulties and try to spend the least amount of money. This time, I feel that ten million taels of silver is barely enough." Yang Jun said.
"What? Ten million taels?" Guo Chong said in shock.
"Privy Yang, are you opening your mouth like a lion? Opening your mouth and asking for ten million taels of silver? This is too much." Fang Dunru, who had been standing aside and said nothing, sneered.
"What? Isn't this too much? Your Majesty, you know that fighting a war means getting money and food. At this time, counterinsurgency comes first. Should the court still be stingy with money? Is it more important to counterinsurgency or money? Don't feel bad, Your Majesty.
Silver. If the situation worsens, how can ten million taels of silver be comparable?" Yang Jun shouted in a deep voice.
Guo Chong frowned tightly. He also felt that Yang Jun was indeed a bit excessive. He spent ten million taels of silver with one mouthful, and he spent the money without mercy, regardless of the situation in the court. But at this time, it is most important to calm the situation.
Importantly, it does hurt to spend the money, but it cannot be ignored.
"The most I can give you is three million taels of silver, plus grain and other supplies. No more. Although counterinsurgency is the top priority, apart from counterinsurgency, I, Zhou, still have more money to spend.
"You can't just let Privy Yang spend money." Fang Dunru said in a deep voice.
Fang Dunru actually saw that Yang Jun was taking this opportunity to ask for money. Some time ago, Yang Jun wanted more than 10 million taels of silver to redress the garrisons in the northwest and Yanyun border towns, but Yan Zhengsu and Fang Dunru rejected it.
Yang Jun made a lot of complaints and said a lot of weird things. But the change of clothes was not a top priority. The delay in changing the weapons and armor would not have much impact. The director of the weapons department could still cope with it if the supervisor of the weapons department repaired it for them.
, so although Yang Jun is dissatisfied, he cannot jump up and make trouble. But it is different now. There is a war. Yang Jun has become the backbone of the court. His big mouth is actually to ask for more money, which cannot be used to quell the rebellion, but
It can be used on soldiers and horses. This is called curve to achieve the purpose.
"Three million taels? Are you sending beggars? Mr. Fang, I remind you that we are in urgent need now. Do you want to hold back the rebellion? If the Qingjiao rebellion cannot be quelled because of this, can you bear the responsibility?" Yang Jun sneered.
