Age of Lazurite, Tower of Glass

Chapter 81: Rise up and fight

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In the early morning, a rooster's crow ripped through the mist in Peiping. There were only a few pedestrians on the streets. The shops on the roadside had not yet opened. The waiter yawned and was removing the door panels and preparing to start business.

In the mist, several groups of soldiers with bright uniforms ran past quickly. There were actually four to five thousand people. Xie Gui was dressed in armor and rode a tall horse in front. Zhang Bing, even though he was a civil servant, also rode alongside, and Zhang Xin was at the end of the team. The group of people quickly passed through Beiping City and arrived at Prince Yan's Mansion.

Xie Gui waved his hand, and the sergeants quickly divided into two teams, trotting around to outflank Prince Yan's Mansion. The palace was quiet in the early morning, and it was obvious that he hadn't woken up yet.

The guards at the main entrance of the palace heard the movement and stretched their heads to look around. Xie Gui had already rode his horse to the door and shouted loudly: "We have been ordered to capture the imperial convict Xu Xiu. Those who resist the order will be killed without mercy!"

Zhang Bing also shouted: "The King of Yan accepts the decree!" Seeing the hesitation of the soldiers, Zhang Bing raised the golden imperial edict in his hand: "Have you never seen this as an imperial edict?"

The soldier was frightened and said in a panic: "Young man, I'll report it right now. You two adults will wait a moment." He ran in after saying that.

After a while, King Yan came out in person. His hat was tilted to reveal his fluffy hair. One hand was still buckling his belt. One of his boots was not properly put on. He had obviously been woken up from the bed. After leaving the mansion, I saw the two of them, a little confused: "What are you two adults?"

Zhang Bing held the imperial edict high and shouted: "King Yan accepts the edict!" Zhu Di hurriedly knelt down.

"According to the imperial edict of Emperor Chengyun, the imperial convict Xu Xiucao, who committed suicide and mutilated the people, should be immediately arrested and brought to the capital for trial by the three divisions. No one in the Yan Palace can stop him, otherwise he will be brought to Beijing for questioning. King Yan has personal relations with the Arutai tribe in Mongolia and is good at it. Form three thousand Mongolian guards and go to Beijing immediately to face the Holy Spirit to clear up my doubts. I admire this!"

Zhu Di was stunned and said for a long time: "I respect your decree!"

Seeing that King Yan was panicking, Zhang Bing couldn't bear it, and said warmly: "Your Majesty just came to Beijing to meet the emperor. If there is anything that needs to be done, I can explain it to His Majesty."

Xie Gui said: "Xu Xiu's crime is extremely heinous and Long Yan is furious. Your Majesty, please hand her over now."

Zhu Di hesitated: "I'll go in and make arrangements right away. Oh, how can this be done? How can I tell the princess."

Zhang Bing advised: "The princess understands justice well and will understand the prince's painstaking efforts."

Zhu Di said: "My lords, wait a moment, I'll go right away and I'll be back in a moment."

Thank you and Zhang Bing looked at each other, and Zhang Bing said: "I and I have nothing to do, let's go with the prince!"

Zhu Di was grateful: "That's best. Please help us to persuade the princess. Last time when the little king was ill, it was thanks to the two adults that the princess was relieved. She respected them very much."

Xie Gui and Zhang Bing looked at each other and smiled, then followed King Yan into the palace with pride. Xie Gui made a gesture to Zhang Xin who was in the distance, and Zhang Xin nodded to indicate that he understood. Xie Gui thought for a while, then waved his hand, and a team of about a hundred people in front followed him. King Yan was in disbelief and didn't care.

It was quiet in the palace, with only the early birds chirping in the trees, but faint sounds of crying could be heard in the backyard. King Yan sighed: "My servant is quick to talk, I'm afraid the news has already reached the princess. It's better to let the sisters say goodbye."

The three people entered Yu Mu Hall, and a hundred soldiers also rushed in and stood behind Xie Gui and Zhang Bing.

Zhu Di just disappeared, clapped his hands, and two chamberlains came out. One was thin and dark, and the other was mature and prudent. Xie Gui was secretly relieved to see that it was not Ma Sanbao.

Zhu Di asked: "The princess is up?"

Hou Xian was a little panicked: "Your Majesty! Are you going to take away the acting princess? The princess and acting princess are crying together!"

Zhu Di frowned: "It's useless to cry! What have you done earlier?" He turned his head and ordered: "Prepare my things, I will go to the capital together."

Wang Jinghong said: "Your Majesty, you'd better go and see the Princess. Princess, I'm afraid the Princess is not in good condition."

Zhu Di was a little angry: "Didn't you see that I am accompanying the two adults? Let her cry!"

Thank you and Zhang Bing looked at each other again, and Zhang Bing said: "It's okay for the prince to go and have a look. If you are ready, you can come with me. Xu Xiu Shang asked the prince to bring him out."

Zhu Di said apologetically: "Then Xiao Wang, go in and take her out." Then he ordered: "Go and call Ge Changshi to accompany the two adults here for me."

After a while, Ge Cheng arrived in a hurry. Zhu Di said: "Ge Changshi, you are here to accompany the two adults." Ge Cheng agreed, and Zhu Di bowed his hands and strode out of the palace gate.

As soon as Zhu Di walked out of the palace gate, there was a loud noise, and the back door of Yu Mutang collapsed, and a large number of royal soldiers rushed in, with the flash of swords and the sound of killing.

Xie Gui shouted: "No! I've fallen into a trap!" He jumped up from his chair and was about to draw his sword. The wind roared from left and right, and two cold lights flashed towards his face.

Hou Xian and Wang Jinghong had a dagger in their hands at some point. They stepped forward and attacked from behind, stabbing Xie Gui to death in the hall in an instant. Xie Gui was a general and was good at fighting on the fly. This kind of close combat was extremely inconvenient in armor. He was killed within two rounds when surrounded by two masters. Hou Xian turned around and struck Zhang Bing down with another palm.

Ge Cheng was so frightened that he couldn't stand up. One hundred sergeants were restrained, with shining knives held at their necks.

Zhu Di slowly walked into the hall, followed by Dao Yan. The two looked at Ge Cheng coldly, and Dao Yan smiled and said, "When Ge Changshi informed the court, he didn't expect today, right?"

Ge Cheng calmed down: "You traitor! You don't know the justice of the king and his ministers! I just hate that I fell into your trick!" Zhu Di didn't want to waste more words, raised his hand to signal, Hou Xian slashed behind Ge Cheng, and Ge Cheng was instantly killed. Elsewhere, blood splashed all over the floor.

Zhu Di glanced at the hundreds of soldiers: "Are you willing to follow me, or are you willing to die?"

General Guangwei went to his post alone, and the defenders of Chuzhou were not brought to Peiping. These sergeants were originally troops from the Peking Command Department. King Yan had been in Peking for nearly twenty years. These sergeants admired and awed King Yan, and many of them had followed Zhu Di on expeditions. A hundred people looked at each other and shouted in unison: "I am willing to follow the prince!"

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly ran in: "Father! General Zhang and the sergeants outside the palace have gathered!"

Zhu Di waved his hand, and the group strode out of Mu Tang and arrived in front of the palace. The more than 4,000 sergeants who had just outflanked them were lined up neatly.

Zhang Xin stood proudly in front of the queue. When he saw Zhu Di, he immediately raised his arms and shouted, "King Yan!" King Yan! "I waved with my left hand, and the hundred soldiers who had just joined the team quickly joined the team. As the team raised their guns, they shouted "King Yan! "King Yan!" The shouts shook the sky, and the red tassel on the gun raised and lowered was particularly bright in the morning light. The young faces looked at King Yan with admiration.

With tears in his eyes, Zhu Di raised his hand to stop his shouting and said loudly: "You have lived up to King Yan, and Zhu Di will certainly live up to you all!" There were cheers again.

At this time, Ma Sanbao rushed over: "Report to the prince! Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng have already captured eight of the nine city gates! They were all captured without fighting! Now only Yongding Gate is left."

Most of the defenders in Peiping were the old troops of King Yan. The soldiers of these eight city gates, ranging from captains of centurions to captains of thousands down to ordinary soldiers, were almost all brought out by Zhang Yuzhu. The two of them had a detailed understanding of today's personnel distribution at each city gate last night. They split up early in the morning and called for surrender. As expected, they succeeded in one fell swoop.

Except for Yongding Gate, the largest of the nine city gates. Guard General Peng Er was a member of the Hundred Households who came to the Governor's Mansion of the Chinese Army just this year. He did not buy into their accounts and did not trust King Yan. He kept saying that he was loyal to the imperial court and immediately fell out with Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng.

Zhu Di jumped on his horse: "Let's go! Go to Yongding Gate!"

A group of people hurried to Yongding Gate, and heard roars and killing sounds from a distance, and the two sides were fighting. Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng had an absolute advantage in besieging Peng Er. Peng Er was covered in blood and saw that he was about to die, but he was too stubborn and refused to surrender. Instead, he repeatedly urged the sergeant: "Go up! Go up!".

Zhu Di looked closely and saw that although Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng were all soldiers from his palace, the defenders on the other side of the city gate were also familiar faces, many of whom had gone to the north with him. At this time, the two sides were fighting each other, and blood and flesh were flying everywhere.

With tears in his eyes, Zhu Di shouted: "Stop!"

When the sergeants on both sides heard this shocking roar and saw that it was King Yan, they couldn't help but stop fighting and stared blankly. Peng Er was speechless and collapsed to the ground. Zhang Yuzhu could see that he was dying and ignored him, and looked at King Yan together.

Zhu Di stood upright on his horse and said loudly: "This king is the son of Taizu. He has guarded the northern border for many years and has served according to the law. Now he is murdered by a traitor in the court! I wanted to die, but I miss my young master and cannot let it go. The young master is oppressed and persecuted for his evil deeds!”

Zhu Di paused, glanced around, and saw that all the sergeants were looking up at him and listening carefully, and then said loudly: "Taizu's ancestral teachings say that if there are no honest ministers in the dynasty, if there are evildoers, they must be punished by training troops, and by clearing the emperor's side." Evil'. I swear that I will never stand against these treacherous evildoers! I will lead all the soldiers to fight against them together! Protect my young master and secure the country! This act of perseverance is my great Ming's heart, and the gods will learn from it!"

Suddenly, the color of the sky and the earth changed, and a strong wind blew. The flag on the city head and the red tassel on the sergeant's helmet were all fluttering in the wind. The bricks, tiles, mud and stones on the city wall were constantly blown off by the strong wind, and scattered all over everyone. All the soldiers squinted their eyes in a hurry. The world was already dark and they could not see.

In the strong wind, Zhu Di looked up at the sky. The wind and clouds were rolling, and there was a faint sound of thunder. Zhu Di suddenly felt hot in his arms. He put his hand into his arms, but the glazed tower shone brightly.

Zhu Di's heart moved. He held the pagoda in his hand. In the darkness among the flying sand and stones, only the light of the glazed pagoda shone. Zhu Di got off his horse, walked slowly through the crowd and strode up to the tower. The purple-tang colored cloak fluttered in the wind, and the burly figure stood tall in the strong wind, like a god.

Zhu Di held up the pagoda with his arms and roared: "Fengtian Jingnan!"

There were thunder and wind in the sky, and the dark clouds were rolling and spinning like a giant dragon, with teeth and claws, ready to pounce down on the face. Zhu Di remained motionless. The colorful glaze tower under the giant dragon's bloody mouth burned his eyes, and it became even more dazzling as the dragon's mouth opened and closed. The dragon's body was circling, wandering uncertainly. I don't know when the dark clouds gradually dispersed, the wind and thunder disappeared, and there was silence.

The strong wind gradually stopped, and the sky was blue again. An auspicious cloud floats above King Yan's head, and the pagoda stops shining in the sun, and its precious color flows. King Yan looked calm and motionless.

The sergeants on both sides were stunned. The weapons in many people's hands fell to the ground, making a clanging sound.

"The way of heaven cannot be violated, Buddha bless Yan Xing!" Dao Yan shouted, taking the lead in kneeling to the ground.

The stunned sergeants fell to the ground and shouted in unison, "Buddha bless Yanxing!"

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On July 6, the first year of Jianwen, King Zhu Di of Yan swore an oath to raise troops in Peiping. In the name of the Qing emperor's side execution of treacherous ministers, he claimed to be Fengtian Jingnan. Jing means to calm down and clear away; Jingnan means to calm down the disaster.

A civil war between uncles and nephews of the Ming Dynasty royal family began, known in history as the "Battle of Jingnan".

On the sixth day of the seventh lunar month, Chen Cai, the general in charge of Tongzhou, who was an old member of the King of Yan, took the initiative to join the Yan army.

On the eighth day of July, the Yan army captured Jizhou from the east, and Zunhua and Miyun followed suit.

On July 11, the Yan army attacked Juyong Pass.

On July 15, the Yan army won a complete victory in Huailai. Song Zhong, who had moved from Kaiping, was captured alive. His general Chen Zhi retreated to Datong. The elite of the palace who had been recruited from the original Yan palace returned to the Yan army.

On July 18, Yongping Prefecture (now Lulong County, Hebei Province) surrendered to the Yan army.

At this point, in just ten days, the Yan army quickly grew from less than a thousand soldiers in the palace to 30,000 sergeants. It wiped out Peiping for a week and gained a firm foothold.