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The city of Nanjing is divided into four rings: the imperial city, the palace city, the capital city, and the outer city.
The outer city wall winds among the mountains and rivers, with a circumference of more than 120 miles, enclosing Yuhuatai, Zhongshan Mountain, Mufu Mountain, Shizishan Mountain, Xuanwu Lake, Mochou Lake, etc., with mountains and rivers alternating and beautiful scenery.
In the Ming Dynasty, the outer city was still crisscrossed with fields and paths, presenting a rural and pastoral scene.
But now, the 18 gates of the outer city have all been paved with asphalt roads. The inner side close to the capital has been replanned, with wide and straight asphalt roads crisscrossing each other, and both sides of the road are lined with houses and shops, which are no different from those inside the city.
And because most of the streets and buildings are brand new, it looks more magnificent than the capital. The wealthy families in Beijing think that the capital is too crowded and there is no space for expansion, so they choose to build villas in the outer areas. The luxurious or elegant buildings are hidden among the flowers and trees, which are quiet and pleasant.
The Qinhuai River enters the city from the Shangfang Gate on the south side of the outer corridor, and along both sides of the river there are magnificent courtyards and deep houses, which are scattered in an orderly manner.
In a deep courtyard by the river, the wind and rain enveloped the pavilions and towers. In the secluded room of the west wing, the doors and windows were closed, the sky was hard to get in, and the light inside was as small as a bean, swaying slightly.
"What? The entire East China Sea Fleet is heading south to Fujian? What should we do? Mr. Niu, tell me, has Qin Mu found out anything?"
In the shadow of the lamp, Zheng Zhilong stood up suddenly, with a look of panic on his face. He was already 47 years old this year, but he had practiced martial arts since he was a child, and his movements were vigorous even at the age of 40.
"Don't worry, my lord. The East China Sea Fleet went south to Fujian only to put pressure on Yuan Zongdi and prevent him from rebelling."
The man called Mr. Niu was 55 years old at the time, with long cheeks and a goatee. He was none other than Niu Jinxing, the Prime Minister of the Dashun Dynasty.
He was originally from Baofeng. Later he moved to the county seat. He passed the examination for a scholar at the age of 20, and passed the examination for a juren in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign (1627). He loved reading and was well versed in the Tianguan, Fengjiao, and the military strategies of Sun and Wu.
After joining Li Zicheng, he was highly valued and formulated strategies and policies for Li Zicheng. He was promoted to the position of prime minister. However, this person was narrow-minded, liked to abuse power, and was opportunistic. He had no loyalty or righteousness.
After Li Zicheng retreated to Xiangyang, he and his son Niu Quan saw that the situation was not good, so they immediately abandoned Li Zicheng and lived in hiding.
Once his ship was in distress on the Yangtze River and by chance he was rescued by Zheng Zhilong. As time went by, Zheng Zhilong became his "benefactor".
Both of them were once famous figures, but they were both wanderers in the world. And neither of them was willing to be lonely.
Especially for people like Niu Jinxing, if the world is peaceful, he will have nothing to do with it. So he is afraid that the world will not be in chaos!
The Zheng family was once rich enough to rival a country and ruled a region. After accepting the Qin Dynasty's offer of amnesty, they presented Qin Mu with a huge sum of nine million taels of silver. Niu Xingjin was amazed by the wealth of their family.
In addition, many of Zheng's old subordinates served as generals in the navy, which meant that they had both money and food and soldiers.
After Zheng Zhilong surrendered, he had been living a low-key life in seclusion. Niu Jinxing was a genius. He was eloquent. Under his repeated advocacy, Zheng Zhilong, who was naturally unruly and ambitious, listened to Niu Jinxing's words and asked him to make a careful plan, which led to the collusion of today.
However, Zheng Zhilong was really wary of Qin Mu. Although he had been secretly preparing for a long time, he would not have dared to launch a conspiracy if he had not received the information that Qin Mu was "seriously ill."
Now Qin Mu is going to hold a grand court meeting and send the East China Sea Fleet to Fujian. Zheng Zhilong panicked when he heard this. His biggest bargaining chip is to hide in the dark, put the blame on others, disrupt the situation, and then fish in troubled waters.
Once the truth was revealed, he would have no bargaining chips. Although many of the Zheng family's old subordinates served in the navy, if Qin Mu died, Zheng Zhilong was very confident that he could quickly gather these old subordinates to form a more powerful force than before, and then fight for the world under the banner of Zhu Yihai, the Prince of Lu.
But if Qin Mu is safe and sound, and has discovered that the Zheng family is the mastermind behind the scenes, he will not be able to gather his old subordinates, and I am afraid that only death by a thousand cuts will await him.
Zheng Zhilong was also going to attend the grand court meeting tomorrow. He said uneasily, "Mr. Niu, I'm afraid this information is wrong. Qin Mu's current arrangement doesn't seem like he's about to die. On the contrary, it seems like we're giving him a chance to eliminate his enemies."
Zheng Zhilong always felt like he had been fooled by Qin Mu, and even suspected that "Qin Mu was seriously ill" was actually a trap set by Qin Mu to lure people with ulterior motives into falling for it.
If "Qin Mu is seriously ill" is not true, then... thinking of the consequences, Zheng Zhilong felt a chill down his spine.
Niu Jinxing quickly comforted him, "Don't worry, my lord. We were not the only ones who got the information that night. The high-ranking officials and nobles in Nanjing City all spread the news secretly. As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. Besides, the imperial physician's secret discussion of Qin Mu's illness is true. It has been a short time now, so perhaps nothing unusual can be seen. Qin Mu's various actions are also within our expectations. My lord, you just need to wait and see what happens."
"Although Qin Mu's reaction was within our expectations, the development of the situation was quite different from what we expected. Now that the news of Qin Mu's imminent death has spread, Li Guo has also raised the banner of rebellion against the 'Dashun', but there are very few people who respond. This is different from Mr. Niu's previous estimate that most of the former Dashun members would follow Li Guo in raising the banner of rebellion, whether voluntarily or forced."
What kind of person is Niu Jinxing? Zheng Zhilong questioned him face to face, but Niu Jinxing remained calm and said calmly: "It doesn't matter whether others follow Li Guo to rebel or not. As long as one person follows, it's enough!"
"Will Gao Yigong really rebel?" Zheng Zhilong obviously did not trust Niu Jinxing's calculations.
"Lord, Gao Guiying has rebelled. Does Gao Yigong still have any choice?"
Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong felt relieved. Their greatest hope was Gao Yigong, and they had already taken action before Qin Mu, who would use the telegram to ask Lanzhou to quickly send someone to Lanzhou to remove Gao Yigong's military power.
"I hope it's as Mr. Niu expected."
Niu Jinxing said confidently: "Don't worry, my lord. Gao Yigong has the military power in his hands. As long as he rebels, he can attack Guanzhong. Those former generals of the Dashun Army who are still hesitant will definitely join the rebellion. What my lord needs to do now is to stay calm and don't lose your composure. The good opportunity will come soon!"
That being said, a person like Zheng Zhilong, no matter how greedy he is, would not be completely stupid, otherwise he would not have become a hegemon in the first place.
Just in case, he sent people to let Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Tai, Zheng Chaonan, Zheng Ying, Zheng Cai, Zheng Xing, Zheng Ming, Yang Geng, Gan Hui, Hong Xu and others prepare. These people are either Zheng family members or Zheng Zhilong's brothers in life and death. Although the old troops of the Zheng family were reorganized, it was a nearly 100,000-strong army after all, and many of them were still serving as generals in the army;
Among them, Shi Lang, Ke Chenshu and Chen Hui were highly valued. However, it was precisely because of this that Zheng Zhilong did not dare to contact these three people for the time being.
The reason is very simple. Take Shi Lang and Ke Chenshu for example. They were the leaders of the younger generation in Zheng's army. However, they were suppressed by a large number of predecessors such as Zheng Cai, Zheng Zhibao, and Gan Hui, and they were not well utilized.
Now Shi Lang has become the admiral of the North Sea Fleet of the Qin Imperial Navy, and is like an emperor in Japan; Ke Chenshu has become the deputy admiral of the ocean-going fleet. Hai Rufeng is currently in India, and the ocean-going fleet is actually led by Ke Chenshu.
In comparison, Shi Lang and Ke Chenshu are now much more powerful than when they were in Zheng's army. With the emperor's trust and importance, it would be impossible for him to ask them to join him in a rebellion unless Qin Mu is dead.
Therefore, Zheng Zhilong does not dare to contact these three people including Chen Hui at present, so as to avoid losing more than he gains.
However, even if Shi Lang, Chen Hui and Ke Chenshu are eliminated, the strength of the Zheng family is still very impressive. In addition, they have strong financial resources and many years of business experience. If you don't count them, you don't know. If you do the math, they really cannot be underestimated.
Niu Jinxing said at this time: "My Lord, now that Qin Mu has discovered the plan to frame Li Guo, we can just implement the second step and frame someone else for the assassination of the crown prince."
"Who is Mr. Niu going to put the blame on?"
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.(To be continued..)
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