Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 421 5.103 Didn’t you say that His Majesty was foolproof this time?
Volume [-]

5.103 Didn’t you say that His Majesty was foolproof this time?
Halfway through the fifth day of December in the 50th year of Longwu, less than two miles away from the gate of Tanzhe Temple, the original royal camp, Zhou Yang rushed into the Yonghe Emperor's camp almost desperately, and even mobilized artillery and defensive troops. The Imperial Guards directly confronted each other, and he himself brought the Li brothers into the camp. He was completely dumbfounded after he entered the tent.

"Are you here?" The sitting Princess Yongchang raised her head, her expression extremely bitter. After many days of consumption, she lost her usual brilliance. Her originally watery black hair was obviously dim, and her face was full of exhaustion and pain. "It's time to take another look. I'm afraid I won't be able to see it when I go back."

In the middle of this huge tent, a very simple coffin was placed there. There was nothing else. Lying inside was Emperor Yonghe, who was still pointing out the country and scolding Fang Qiu a few days ago. Only half of the leg was left, the thigh. Not only was the right leg cut off at the base, but a large amount of the right side of the torso was also taken away. Some ice cubes were randomly stuffed in the coffin, which must have been picked up from the nearby mountain stream.

Whether it is the current emperor or ordinary people, death is death. A corpse will not be much nobler just because of its status when it was alive. What's more, Emperor Yonghe's death was very un"royal". At this time, there was not even a decent body. Even the coffins can't be mixed, that is, the temperature in the twelfth lunar month is very low, and it might be rotten in summer.

"What's going on?" After stabilizing for dozens of breaths, Zhou Yang finally regained his ability to speak, "Didn't you say that His Majesty was foolproof this time? It took less than three days for him to lie down directly? Where is Qi Jianhui? Where are the thousands of elite soldiers of the Imperial Guard? What the hell are they doing for food? It didn’t even take me an hour to clean up the rebels outside, so I just got here."

"Is he General Zhou?" He didn't hide anything when he entered the camp just now. Naturally, everyone knew it. Just when he was trapped, a big man in a fourth-grade commander's uniform and full armor had already entered the camp. "My brother Qi Jianhui made General Zhou laugh."

"It doesn't matter whether I laugh or not. Has General Qi thought about his own fate?" Zhou Yang did not pay attention to Qi Jianhui's words of "brother". His relationship with Dongfang Bing was not a secret. The so-called "brother" must have come from her. It was discussed there, "What was originally a sure thing turned out to be His Majesty's death. General Qi, do the Xiangyang Marquis Mansion want to follow him?"

"Okay, General Qi, please go out first and tell the irrelevant people to be stopped. I have something to discuss with General Zhou." Princess Yongchang waved her hand tiredly, signaling the rest to get out. She didn't get up and walk to Zhou until the camp was cleared. Yang said in front of him, "You can't blame Qi Jianhui this time, even I didn't expect that my good nephew would actually recruit a hundred artillerymen from the Shenji Camp.

A total of six thousand-jin Fo Lang machine cannons caught this side completely off guard. The emperor was on the front line to boost morale, but he didn't want to be caught by the artillery fire because he concentrated too many men. One of the shells penetrated the entire area. He killed three people and finally hit him in the lower body. The emperor's brother died before the next morning. "

"Why didn't you send the news?" When Zhou Yang saw his lover's appearance, he had to suppress his anger, so he had no choice but to step forward and hug her, "But if I am slightly prepared in the palace, I will not be ignorant. I have delayed it unconsciously until now, but finally I came here according to the Queen’s order. If I had come earlier,

While he was speaking, he also realized that the incident involving Emperor Yonghe was probably caused by him. Originally, Prince Yizhong was severely short of people and funds because he had been blocked for a long time. things, but "chaos" is a farce, because there is not much strength to call at all.

But this time it was different. Because of the private salt business of Zhang Bo and Zhang Lan in Wuchang Prefecture, as well as the Jiubian smuggling business relying on the relationship with Ningguo Prefecture and the supply of Xue Zihao, the money was very profitable, which gave Prince Yizhong a Sufficient funds can be used to attract people, such as the dead soldiers raised by Jiubian, or to prepare supplies, such as Daye's iron ore and Xuezhao's refined iron.

The result was that when he took action this time, his strength was almost as high as before. There were nearly [-] men inside and outside the city. Most of them were recruited by him from all over the capital camp, and even included an artilleryman. The other half were The dead soldiers raised by the family were obtained through the protection of the caravan and the Supreme Emperor.

In the end, it was the obvious expansion of the entire incident and the death of Emperor Yonghe.

"Don't dare!" Princess Yongchang smiled helplessly, "As soon as the slightest news of the death of the emperor's brother spreads, don't forget that the father is still in the palace. He only needs to summon all the officials to issue the decree. My good nephew Even the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, what should I do then? Therefore, I have been suppressing the news these days, only saying that the emperor brother was injured, and not even daring to fight back.

In order to keep the secrets, I have guarded all the officials accompanying me, and they have not been allowed to leave the tent for two days; Now, the emperor's wife has made a timely decision. Otherwise, I don't know how long I can hold on. If this news can be hidden from the outside world, how can I deceive the old cunning people in the camp? "The emperor wanted to go to the temple to pray for blessings, and it was only fifty miles outside the city. Naturally, he had to put on a lot of airs, and all the civil and military officials, including principals and major deputies, followed him. The royal family and military officials with status also sent representatives, and the four bastards and eight There is no shortage of heads of the public family, and the vast number of troops is not even less than the escort of a thousand households. Fortunately, everyone knows the essence of this matter, and no one has the courage to cause trouble.

But if the news spreads that Emperor Yonghe is dead, will anyone believe that all the civil and military officials who followed him are loyal and can avoid causing trouble?Once the news spreads, the result will be a disaster. In the past two days, the role of the Imperial Guard is mainly to defend against the enemy. On the contrary, the rabble led by Prince Yi Zhong is not taken seriously by anyone. But if it is delayed any longer, the result may be unpredictable. .

"Since the rebels have artillery, why didn't I encounter them?" This is also what makes Zhou Yang strange.

"Thanks to the artillerymen you sent to Baihu. After what happened, Qi Jianhui had people push the artillery to the front regardless of the cost, and knocked out the six Franco cannons. The price was that he only had three left. , they are all placed by the gate of the camp." Princess Yongchang sighed helplessly, "Okay, since you are here, there must be nothing in the palace, so you can go back after getting ready."

This is not difficult to understand. The five-hundred-jin Folang machine gun is indeed worse than our own infantry cannon in all aspects, but the weight of the thousand-jin Folang machine gun is there, even though there are a lot of congenital defects, such as air leakage and overall material. It can't be forced to charge, etc., but it can easily fire solid bullets five hundred paces away, which is enough to suppress infantry artillery. Fortunately, it has much poorer maneuverability and was killed by Qi Jianhui's "Duizi".

"Why are you so anxious now? You can't let His Majesty use such a coffin to return to the capital, right?" Zhou Yang quickly stopped her, "At least let all the adults come out and get together to unify their voices; and then take advantage of tonight Changed the coffin - now that I'm here, you can guess a lot about the situation in the palace. Anyway, His Highness is here, so there won't be any more problems."

"Where is that bitch and the trash she raised?" Princess Yongchang asked with a sigh of relief.

"I didn't see it with my own eyes, but Chuxiu Palace has been burned to the ground. There shouldn't be any hidden dangers left in the east." Zhou Yang briefly explained the things in the palace with a smile, and finally added, "Although I didn't see him again after that. She, but according to the wishes of the Queen, she should have taken the opportunity to finish it off."

"That's good." Princess Yongchang was finally relieved.

"Okay, my suggestion is to spread the news first, so that everyone can be prepared, take advantage of the afternoon to have a good rest, and talk about it in the evening if you have anything to do." Zhou Yang said with a smile and hugged the girl. , "Let's go, I'll take you there where your tent is; you don't have to think too much, there won't be any more surprises."

There was another thing he didn't dare to say directly. The atmosphere in the camp these days was definitely depressing. Everyone probably couldn't care less about maintaining their image. For example, Princess Yongchang herself had not been able to take a bath for three days at this time, and she was staying with the corpse again. , although he still smells delicious, Zhou Yang always feels uncomfortable in his heart; the same goes for other civil and military officials, don't forget that they are not allowed to go out, and the toilet is also in the tent.
That night, in the large tent in the center of the camp, where the coffin of Emperor Yonghe was stored, hundreds of civil servants and military personnel lined up according to their status. After completing the worship procedures, those who were not qualified to receive the money were waiting outside for news. The coffin was also moved to the northernmost side of the tent and placed in order. The civil and military officials stood on both sides. Princess Yongchang, one of the only two royal families present, was responsible for "presiding over the meeting" - well, the other one was Prince Zhongshun, who actually had no real power.

"My lords, now that the chaos has subsided and His Majesty passed away because of it, there is a woman from this palace who shouldn't be here, but in such troubled times, she has the audacity to speak out." Seeing a group of people looking at their noses and hearts, only there was no one. When one person spoke, Princess Yongchang simply broke the calm, "I will return to Beijing tomorrow. I believe you all have no objection to this. But what happens next?"

Or to put it another way, if the emperor is gone, what will happen to his position?Wu Xun lost too many points this time. Even the leader Niu Jizong didn't speak, and the others naturally didn't say much. The civil servants were all flirting with each other, but no one answered for a long time, so that it was enough. After dozens of breaths, the big tent suddenly became quiet.

(End of this chapter)