Throughout the ages, the imperial city has been a restricted area, making it difficult for ordinary people to enter and reach the sky.
Although there are cases, for example, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, there was an incident where a madman broke into the East Palace and beat the young master.
But this is an individual case after all, and there are several conspiracies involved.
Even at the end of the dynasty, it was still difficult for ordinary people to approach the imperial city.
However, the Qing Dynasty was an exception.
Because the Qing Dynasty divided Beijing into inner and outer cities, namely Hancheng and Mancheng.
The city-wide defense system of Beijing City is probably equivalent to the imperial city protection palace of the Ming Dynasty.
The disciples of the Eight Banners who live all over the city are not ordinary people. In addition, the large and small yamen are all in the imperial city, so the disciples of the Eight Banners can enter the imperial city at will.
The eunuchs and maids in the palace even set up stalls to sell things in the imperial city. Over time, those bannermen with poor families also began to purchase goods and sell them in the imperial city. The customers included not only the ladies in the palace, but also officials from the six ministries and nine ministers.
Not to mention, the business was so booming that many members of the clan and ministers later began to participate in the trading of the imperial city.
The knowledgeable minister wrote a letter saying that the imperial city was so unorganized that if there was an evildoer, he would definitely be able to go straight to the palace city.
Qianlong hated this very much, and repeatedly issued decrees saying that the access control had been abolished recently, and the officers and soldiers on duty everywhere were not responsible for their supervision, so that idlers and other people came and went at will without any rules.
Since the 23rd year of Qianlong's reign, the "Zhao Shopping Mall" and "Wet Market" in the Imperial City have been renovated about five times. However, each time they can only be effective for at most half a month, and soon it will be the same as before, with the stalls still in place.
The protection fee was still collected, and the market was bustling with excitement.
There are even banner families who live in the east city and go to the west city to do business. To save trouble and travel, they go directly through the Meridian Gate, and they can come and go freely without anyone noticing.
Under such circumstances, the imperial city's defense system is actually zero in the eyes of the treacherous.
The entire palace, which is the last level of the palace defense system, is actually the Qianqing Gate.
If a large group of people want to cause trouble in the Qianqing Sect, then the guards and guards will really miss it. But if a few people want to cause trouble, the guards and guards may not be able to notice.
If the people who cause trouble are actually guards or bodyguards, it will be even more difficult to guard against.
Dong Youliang was a native of the Zhenghuang Banner of the Han Army. His ancestors were deputy general Machi of Minghua, commander-in-chief of Shun Huaiqing, admiral of Huguang in the Qing Dynasty, and a first-class Dong Xueli who edited the "Biography of Erchen" in the National History Museum.
In the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign, he accompanied Wen Fu on an expedition to Jinchuan and Jinchuan, and made great contributions to the frontline school. Later, Mu Guomu was defeated and absconded, and was taken in by Jia Jiashikai. Later, he was recommended by Dingxi Left Deputy General Bo Qing'e to join the Tongjinhui.
Two months ago, he was transferred back to Beijing and got a job as a Qianqing sect leader for 6,000 taels.
The first person to set fire to the palace city was Dong Youliang.
Dong Youliang was also very frightened when he received the order to set fire delivered at the meeting, but he still gritted his teeth and accepted the order.
Because, he has no choice.
Dong Youliang did not dare to set fire to a crowded place, but quietly went to the Changyin Pavilion under construction in the northeast corner of the palace city to set fire.
Because it was under construction and the Empress Dowager was mourning, there was no one on duty at Changyin Pavilion.
Dong Youliang quietly entered and went to the place where the wood was piled. After looking around, he squatted down and took out a book from his arms to light it. He also pulled a pile of sawdust to fuel the fire. Soon, the fire started.
The first things to burn were the pieces of wood that had been sawed off by the carpenters, and soon the intact wood was ignited, and then thick smoke spread everywhere, and the fire quickly broke out in the unfinished Changyin Pavilion.
The first person to discover the fire in Changyin Pavilion was an old eunuch. He was startled at that time. When he shouted hurriedly to put out the fire, he saw a guard coming out of the fire place.
"Oh, there's a fire. Sir, hurry up and put out the fire!"
The old eunuch thought that the other party had also discovered the fire and came over, so he didn't think much about it. However, after the guard glanced at him, he suddenly drew his sword and struck him.
Before he could even cry out, the old eunuch was chopped to the ground by Dong Youliang's sword.
There were faint sounds of footsteps coming from all around, and Dong Youliang, who was afraid of being discovered, didn't dare to delay, so he quickly jumped over the wall from the other side and ran out.
There were exclamations of "Water leaked" everywhere behind him.
Dong Youliang, who escaped from Changyin Pavilion, was also in shock. After taking a breath, he pretended to be calm and walked towards Le Shoutang.
This place was specially built by the emperor for the 60th birthday of the Queen Mother, and has been idle ever since.
The fire of Changyin Pavilion under construction was not enough to cause chaos in the palace. Leshou Hall was Dong Youliang's second target.
Likewise, there were not many people on duty at this idle building in the corner of the palace. Moreover, after the fire broke out in the adjacent Changyin Pavilion, all the people on duty at Le Shou Hall rushed to put out the fire.
Just in case, Dong Youliang did not dare to go in through the gate. Instead, he chose to climb the tree outside the fence, then carefully climbed along the branches to the fence, then turned over and jumped down.
After calming down, Dong Youliang tiptoed to the main hall. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he hurriedly opened the door and entered quietly.
But as soon as he entered, Dong Youliang was startled. There was someone in the hall.
It was the eighth prince Yongxuan and two eunuchs.
The eighth prince Yongxuan, who was ordered by Emperor Ama to go to the Leshou Hall to inventory the Queen Mother's belongings for burial, also heard the sound of fire-fighting outside. He was surprised and asked his guards to go to help put out the fire, while he hurriedly counted the items.
.
The eighth prince didn't notice Dong Youliang pushing in the door at first, but a eunuch next to him saw someone coming in.
Yongxuan turned around and looked at Dong Youliang with a strange expression: "Where are you from? What are you doing here?"
"The slave is,"
Dong Youliang looked anxious and felt bitter, as if he was caught stealing by his master.
Seeing that Dong Youliang remained silent, the eighth prince could not help but frown slightly and asked: "Who are you?"
"The slave is, the slave is..."
Dong Youliang suddenly drew his sword and rushed towards the eighth prince, and then the tip of the knife stabbed straight into the eighth prince's chest.
"you!..."
The eighth prince was in so much pain that he couldn't speak, his facial features seemed to be distorted, and he tightly grasped the long knife that pierced his chest with both hands.
"Killed!"
When the two eunuchs saw it, one screamed in horror, and the other was so frightened that he could not speak.
In the flash of lightning and fire, Dong Youliang pulled out his knife fiercely, and first slashed the speechless eunuch on the neck, then kicked the shouting eunuch to the ground with a side kick, and then pounced on him and connected with the knife.
Stab him in the heart several times.
After he was done, he breathed heavily and walked up to Ba Age, who was kneeling on the ground and twitching in pain with blood gushing out from his chest, and he swung the long knife towards his neck.
Dong Youliang, who had killed four people in a row, had red eyes at this time. He knew that he could never look back, so he tremblingly walked to the edge of the temple and immediately started setting fire.
Soon, a fire broke out in the Le Shou Hall, and the wooden building roared with "thunderbolts" in the fire. The sky-high flames from the Changyin Pavilion reflected the Forbidden City like daylight.
Inside and outside the imperial city, countless fireworks exploded in the dark sky at the same time.
"Kill Qianlong, protect the Qing Dynasty!" Shouts kept coming and going.
.........
On the Chongwenmen Gate Tower.
Seeing that the whole city was on fire, Jia Liu couldn't help but be happy, and secretly praised Fan Wei, Liu Heyi was really good, and the spies who attended the meeting were also good.
This fire was set well. In the blink of an eye from the time I heard the news to the time I went to the city, there were at least a dozen fires in the city.
The prince's family, the Baylor family, and the emperor's family...
But why was the infantry commander's office that he planned to use as a headquarters for quelling the rebellion also burned down?
Panting, Fan Wei found Master Gui and told him that he had not sent anyone to burn down the infantry commander's Yamen.
"Oh shit!"
Jia Liu's heart skipped a beat. It's true that a tiger has no intention of hurting others, but people have the intention to kill tigers.
Obviously, he, Jia Jia Shikai, was being targeted.
The reason is, of course, because he is so good at fighting and has great military exploits, and he is also a confidant of the Fourth Japs, acting as the admiral of the Nine Gates.