Huang Lianshan suddenly slapped his forehead and said in a lost voice: "Oh no! They have people in the palace, Your Majesty is in danger..." Huang Lianshan ran out of the yamen in panic, jumped on his horse and rushed towards the palace.
The reason why he suddenly made some judgments was that he had secretly checked the Imperial Medical Bureau in an attempt to confirm whether the emperor really had a hidden illness.
The reason why he secretly investigated the matter was because a rumor that the emperor was ill spread in Nanjing overnight. This rumor was well-founded and was not groundless. At least the imperial physician was secretly discussing the emperor's condition, which would have been impossible to know if there was no one in the palace.
It was not new for the ministers and founding nobles to place spies in the palace. They usually did not do this to murder the emperor. After all, outsiders could not enter the palace. How many people in the palace would have the courage to help you murder the emperor? It was already precious for them to help you pass on some trivial news for the sake of great benefits.
However, these trivial news were of great use to people outside the palace, as they could learn about the emperor's moods in a timely manner, so as to cater to his preferences or seek benefits and avoid harm.
Therefore, when the news of the emperor's illness came that day, Huang Lianshan did not pay much attention to it.
But now thinking back, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. This force behind the scenes spread rumors, assassinated the prince, and framed Li Guo, intending to cause chaos in the world so that they could fish in troubled waters.
In this case, their spies are not comparable to the spies planted by ordinary powerful people. They will definitely try their best to murder the emperor, because nothing is more in their interests than murdering the emperor.
Huang Lianshan was terrified when he thought of this, and he dared not wait for a moment. He kept whipping his warhorse and galloped through the rainy streets. Fortunately, martial law was in place, and there were no ordinary people on the streets except patrolling soldiers, so he could gallop.
On the Chengtian Gate, soldiers stood in rows. The muzzles of the cannons were sharp, and the rain curtains were interweaving horizontally and diagonally, making the entire Daqin Palace look desolate.
In the Huagai Palace, battle-hardened generals like Meng Ke, Ma Yongzhen, Liu Meng, Di Zhongxing, Huo Sheng, Ling Zhan, Zhao Jian, Yan Yingyuan, Qin Zuoming and others were all dressed in armor, making the Huagai Palace look chilly and eerie.
Among the civil officials, only Sima An, Lu Zhenfei, Li Yuan, Yang Tinglin and Liu Boquan were present.
There is also a white-haired Qin Liangyu with a dragon-headed cane beside her and a solemn expression.
Minister of War He Liang was reading a list of former generals of the Dashun Army. After he finished, he said to Qin Mu, "Your Majesty, here are the names of all the battalion commanders and above. There are fifty-three in total."
A battalion has 500 men and one commander.
It turned out that a total of about 200,000 Dashun troops defected to Daqin. If it had not been for the vigorous reorganization, there would have been more than 500 generals above the level of battalion commanders. Even after the reorganization, there are still as many as 53 generals above the level of battalion commanders.
Among them, Li Guo, Gao Yigong, Yuan Zongde, Hao Yaoqi, Tian Jianxiu, Liu Tichun, Liu Fangliang, Liang Tao, Li Laiheng, Zhang Nai, Wu Ruyi, Dang Shousu, Lin Yangcheng, Wang Jincai, Niu Wancai, Li You, He Lan, Liu Rukui, Ma Chongxi, Zhang Neng, Tian Hu, Yang Yanchang and others were all capable generals in the Dashun Army at that time.
After listening to He Liang's statistics, Qin Mu felt a little heavy in his heart. This incident was not like Zhu Yuanzhang's killing of meritorious officials in the early Ming Dynasty, which was carefully prepared beforehand. On the contrary, from beginning to end, Qin Mu was very passive. He was not prepared for this.
Now Li Guo has seized Quanjiao County and openly raised the slogan "Qin Mu is dead, Dashun will be revived".
Although the Dashun Dynasty no longer had much appeal among the common people, at first glance it seemed that raising the banner of "Dashun" was of no use.
But if you look at these lists, you will find that Li Guo's move is actually very insidious;
After the reorganization of the Dashun Army that surrendered to Qin Mu, there were at least 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers left. Ordinary soldiers were easily brainwashed. They had already been dispersed, so this was not the key.
The key lies in the fact that the original civil officials and military generals of the Dashun Dynasty, such as the large number of generals listed above, were all from the Dashun Army.
Now many people actually have no intention to join the rebellion. But after Li Guo raised the banner of "Dashun", those who had been branded with "Dashun" would inevitably be suspected. This would force those former generals of the Dashun Army who had no intention of rebelling to join the rebellion.
To put it bluntly, Li Guo raised this banner not to call on ordinary people to rebel with him, but to force the former generals of the Dashun Army to rebel with him.
This is a difficult thing to explain. You are a former member of the Dashun Army, and now the former "crown prince" Li Guo has raised the flag of the Dashun Army and called on his former members to rebel together.
I am the emperor, and I tell you: You don’t have to be afraid, I believe you will not follow Li Guo in rebellion, and I will not do anything to you.
Do you believe what I say
You say you believe.
Do I really believe that you believe my promise
Do you believe what I say
It's been so confusing, right? In the end, no one trusts anyone!
"Your Majesty, Liu Tichun, Lin Yangcheng, Wang Jincai, Niu Wancai, Li You, He Lan, Liu Rukui, Ma Chongxi, Zhang Neng and others have been detained, and Hao Yaoqi, Liu Fangliang, Tian Jianxiu and others have also been placed under house arrest in the palace."
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "Just question Liu Tichun as usual and then release him. Also, summon Gu Jun'en and Song Xiance to the throne immediately."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, the most worrying people right now are Gao Yigong and Yuan Zongdi. Yuan Zongdi is stationed in southern Fujian, and Gao Yigong is stationed in Qinghai-Tibet. They both have heavy troops under their command. As for Yuan Zongdi, we have already telegraphed to Fuzhou to temporarily relieve him of his military post, but no definite news has been sent back yet.
Gao Yigong is even more worrying. Gao Yinggui has disappeared and is most likely in Li Guo's army. Gao Yigong is Gao Guiying's younger brother and has 15,000 troops stationed in Qinghai-Tibet. Currently, telegrams can only reach Lanzhou, so it is difficult to notify Qinghai-Tibet in time to remove Gao Yigong's military power.
Once Gao Yigong got the news first, he would most likely gather all the Tibetan tribes and attack Guanzhong. If this were to happen, it would be a big disaster!
To be on the safe side, I suggest that in addition to telegraphing Lanzhou and sending people to Qingzang to immediately remove Gao Yigong's military power, we should also telegraph Qin Yiming, who is guarding Guanzhong, to transfer troops to Lanzhou first. Then order Li Dingguo in Guazhou to make emergency preparations.
In addition, the rest of the people on the list of fifty-three must also be stripped of their military powers in a timely manner and placed under custody, and will be screened and dealt with after the situation has calmed down."
The only good thing now is that there is a telegraph, which can buy Qin Mu a lot of time. For example, as for Gao Yigong, the news had to be passed on by word of mouth to Qinghai-Tibet, which always took a month or so. Now that the telegraph has reached Lanzhou, Qin Mu can send a telegram to Lanzhou and send people to Qinghai-Tibet to disarm Gao Yigong first, which will be much faster.
However, there were also some big problems. Gao Yigong was a general guarding a region. If Qin Mu sent an envoy from Nanjing with an imperial edict to remove his military power, it would be justified and the Qinghai-Tibet troops would not dare to object.
The problem now is that Qin Mu can send a telegram to Lanzhou, but he cannot give Lanzhou a copy of the imperial edict with the imperial seal. Without the imperial edict, the local garrison will not recognize you. Just by talking, you want to remove the military power of the general who is in charge of a place
The only way to do this is to send someone to take Gao Yigong down by surprise, which inevitably involves huge risks. After all, a general guarding a place is not something that anyone can take down just because they want to.
Under such circumstances, it was very necessary for the Minister of War He Liang to suggest that Qin Yiming of Xijing and Li Dingguo of Guazhou be prepared for contingencies.
After Qin Mu asked He Liang to handle the matter, he immediately shouted, "Ling Zhan! Yan Yingyuan!"
"I'm here!" Ling Zhan and Yan Yingyuan immediately left the team, their iron armor clanging.
"I order you to lead 5,000 cavalry each, split into two groups, and encircle and suppress Li Guo with all your strength!"
"I obey your order!"
According to intelligence, Li Guo was actually forced into the rebellion in a hurry, and he currently had only 700 soldiers. After capturing Quanjiao, he followed his old tactics, opening warehouses to release grain, hoping to recruit soldiers. As a result, no civilian took the initiative to receive the grain.
Nowadays, ordinary people have enough food at home, so who would want you to open your granaries and release grain
The only thing that worries people is the slogan "Qin Mu is dead, Dashun is revived" put forward by Li Guo, which is very shocking to the people who do not know the truth. In the hearts of ordinary people, Emperor Qin Mu is the sky. If Qin Mu dies, it means the sky has collapsed.
At this time, when a rumor is spreading widely, you don’t have TV news and can’t access the Internet, so how do you verify the truth of the rumor
The answer is: it cannot be verified.
Therefore, a slogan has an unimaginable power of incitement in this era. Something like "The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky should be established" and "The rebel king will not pay taxes when he comes" have countless believers.
Now, as an ordinary citizen, if everyone around me is saying that the emperor is dead, most people will probably believe it, and the consequences will be unimaginable.
Public opinion comes before the troops move. It seems that the top priority now is to win a war of public opinion!
Outside the Huagai Palace, the sky was gloomy and rainy.
At this time, a young eunuch gave Qin Mu a cup of tea. He bent over, and his hands trembled slightly when he raised the tea over his head. Qin Mu didn't have the leisure to pay attention to these things. He took the tea, lifted the cup lid, stirred the water surface and drank... ... ...
********************
ps: Thank you very much to Miyunshan, Mengqingxi, premixer, garrylau, Zijianfengxuan, It's so difficult to name, roy baby, boundless silk, desire sea medical heart 01, Dian Er, Baozou Wangcai, little fat girl Xiaoqiu, skyboy1, Shenma ball, Xiaobawang r, mmmmm, Potato Winnie, Babajiejie, long124520, Shangxuan Tianxia, wealthy younger brother, ugly silver, autumn divine light, small business spirit, ants moving will rain, wind is also melancholy, illiterate beast, Canghai Duxing, Lidong Youxia, jinxun99 for casting precious monthly tickets or rewards, thank you all!
Finally, Hao Yuan begs for some subscriptions from everyone. Those who can afford it, please go to Qidian.com to subscribe to the genuine version. It costs a few cents per chapter. I need bread to continue writing! (To be continued..)
...