Jinkangcheng Wangjiang Restaurant is located on the bank of Jinkang River and is a time-honored restaurant in Jinkang.
Zhu Datong was thin, with a pointed face and monkey-like appearance. He wore a gorgeous tuxedo, which made him look like a monkey in human form.
But he was in a good mood and had a big smile on his face as he was surrounded and flattered by a group of local officials including Jinkang County Governor Zhang.
Although Lu Ming was sitting next to him, and Governor Zhang and others were also very enthusiastic towards him, that was all.
In today's peaceful times and under the kingdom's legal structure, the status of soldiers is very low.
Not to mention that even if military ranks are linked to administrative ranks, the level of brigade commander is not much different from Zhu Datong, the deputy commissioner of the municipal administrative office. If he retires, he will be demoted, and it would be great if he could be appointed as a county governor.
Lu Ming didn't talk much and seemed a little absent-minded.
I'm still thinking about the call from Sister Windsor late last night.
In the middle of the night, the call even reached Jin Kang, who also wanted to find me. This shows the importance of this call.
But Sister Windsor just avoided the question and talked about other things for a long time.
Unable to sleep late at night, she wanted to find someone to chat with.
There are many things I can’t tell to people around me.
So, as I talked, I gradually understood.
The emperor was in very poor health and was admitted to the hospital again. Before entering the hospital, he expressed his intention to make his eldest son the crown prince.
If this is the case, then the princess supported by Sister Windsor will certainly have no hope.
Not only that, Sister Windsor also said that there have been unusual movements in the Royal Guards, probably because the Second Prince is very dissatisfied.
The second prince and the eldest prince do not have the same mother. The second prince's mother is Sonya.
The Sonyans are one of the main ethnic groups in the West. They have a martial tradition, are brave and good at fighting, and are extremely xenophobic. They are distributed in several states in the far west, and many generals in the Royal Guards are Sonyans.
Ever since the news got out that the Great Emperor wanted to identify the Crown Prince, the imperial capital was likely to become a powder keg.
In this regard, Sister Windsor probably suddenly felt very powerless, because the political situation changed too quickly and the old emperor's health was getting worse day by day.
The political group that supports the princess probably does not have any military power. The empire has been at peace for hundreds of years, and major political crises have always been resolved through party cooperation and compromise. At worst, there is a referendum, but this time is very different.
Sister Windsor was more pessimistic and said that since the Industrial Revolution two hundred years ago, the empire had changed a lot. Many old traditions were no longer appropriate, and there were more and more conflicts among the various ethnic groups of the Griffinni. This was mainly because of the development of technology, which had changed various economic models and brought about earth-shaking changes in the lives of various ethnic groups. Some wealthy states had become poor states, and some once barren lands had now become important industrial and commercial centers. Naturally, this had caused a lot of jealousy, and the lifestyle gap between the states and between different classes of people within the states had become increasingly larger, and various conflicts had been accumulating until today.
There are also some ethnic groups whose xenophobic ideas are becoming increasingly serious and extreme, and the Sophians are one of them.
The Sofia states were once extremely wealthy and rich, but now have become extremely poor.
The Gaides, a group that was the arch-enemy of several neighboring states, were originally a poor region, but have since turned it into a wealthy state with extremely developed commerce.
The militias of both sides have clashed more than once.
And so on. There are countless conflicts within the empire.
It is very likely that this fight for the throne will also be a major outbreak of all these accumulated contradictions.
Sister Windsor said pessimistically that this old empire would have to go through a baptism of blood and rain, so that after the fierce conflict, the social order could find a balance again.
Sipping tea and pondering what Sister Windsor said, Lu Ming sighed softly in his heart. He didn't expect Sister Windsor to have such insight.
To use the example of the previous life, the contradictions in the empire were indeed so deep-rooted that it was difficult to resolve them. It was probably necessary to destroy it completely before it could be rebuilt, thus forming a new social order.
Especially under the federal system of the empire, even under the rule of various federations, even the Kingdom of Griffinni, the cornerstone of the empire, is based on feudal inheritance and evolved from states and provinces formed by the territories of various lords. It has great autonomy. As for the Kingdom of Yingzhou and the four provinces in the northern region, there are many warlords.
It is a miracle that the empire has been able to survive until now.
Perhaps it is precisely because of the great autonomy given to various regions that various forces can barely maintain this ancient imperial federal system.
Now, knowledgeable people at the highest level, such as Sister Windsor, are probably somewhat pessimistic about maintaining the unity of the empire, even though this unity is only in form.
As Lu Ming was pondering, there was a sudden burst of enthusiastic cheers in the private room.
However, several dancers came in and performed, and everyone cheered. Zhu Datong even stared with his eyes wide open.
Lu Ming was frowning when a skinny guy with a pointed face and monkey cheeks came over to him with a smile. He was simply a smaller version of Zhu Datong.
He held the wine glass and said with a fake smile, "Commissioner Lu, I'd like to toast you. I'm Li Shixing, you should have heard of me."
Lu Ming thought to himself, who are you? Yu Luan took a step forward and whispered in Lu Ming's ear, "Master, Zhu Datong's brother-in-law is called Li Shixing."
Lu Ming suddenly realized, looked back at Yu Luan, and nodded in his heart. The little girl was getting smarter and smarter. It seemed that she thought Yu Luan would not pay attention to some unimportant information when he was talking to others, so she would help him remember it.
Li Shixing's greedy eyes were fixed on Yuluan, who was wearing snow-white clothes and was so distracted that he even forgot about coming to toast.
In fact, according to common sense, he had no right to toast Lu Ming. It was his brother-in-law's sudden dominance that made him feel elated and he had the illusion that he was second only to God.
"Li Shixing, right?" Lu Ming looked at him.
Li Shixing came back to his senses and said with a smile, "Yes."
"I don't drink." Lu Ming nodded to him and looked at the dancing dancer.
Li Shixing's face immediately turned red and became extremely ugly. He looked around and it seemed that no one noticed him. Then he retreated angrily and returned to his seat in the far row, glaring at Lu Ming fiercely.
Lu Ming picked up the teacup and amused himself.
He ignored Zhu Datong who was like the moon surrounded by stars, and his own deserted table.
Suddenly, two petite figures hurried in from outside, both covered with cloaks. They quickly came behind Lu Ming and handed a small note to Yu Luan.
Yu Luan took two steps forward: "Master, there is an urgent telegram from the imperial capital."
Lu Ming took it and looked at it, and was startled. There were eight words on it, "Coup in the Imperial Capital, details unknown."
No way, it’s coming so soon
However, Sister Windsor has already smelled the wind, and those unusual movements cannot be concealed. If they really want to carry out a military coup, they will naturally have to act quickly.
I was afraid that by the time my sister called me, the party plotting the coup had already taken action.
Lu Ming suddenly stood up and walked out, and Yu Luan, Heitou and other followers hurriedly followed him.
Zhu Datong, who was sitting in the main seat chatting and laughing, had actually been glancing at Lu Ming from the corner of his eyes. At this moment, he saw Lu Ming suddenly stand up and leave without even saying hello, and Lu Ming's expression was also very unnatural. Zhu Datong couldn't help but sneer with disdain, muttering, "He can't accomplish anything great, his hair hasn't even grown out yet!"
Governor Zhang and other local officials were also shocked to see Commissioner Lu "angrily" leave. Seeing that Zhu Datong remained calm, they could only pretend not to see it and ignore it.
…
An extremely compact tiled courtyard house.
Lu Ming was pacing slowly beside the telephone in the main room.
I called Christine but couldn't find her. She must be discussing the situation in the imperial capital with her father and other East China Sea dignitaries.
No matter what, my intelligence is definitely a few steps behind hers.
It was even more impossible to call Sister Windsor. Perhaps the imperial capital's external communications had been completely cut off.
Thinking about it, Lu Ming picked up the phone and dialed a number.
Soon, Hu Dingshan's loud voice was heard over there, "Hello, who is it?!"
"I'm Lu Ming, listen to me, there has been a coup in the imperial capital."
"What?!" Hu Dingshan on the other side was obviously greatly surprised.
"The news is true. Moreover, all communications in the imperial capital have been cut off. The situation is very serious."
"This..." Hu Dingshan was stunned for a moment, "What should we do?" He was stunned again, "Will you be implicated?"
Lu Ming frowned: "Don't you have any ideas? As soldiers, how can we deal with such a huge crisis?"
"Thoughts?" Hu Dingshan was even more surprised. "You don't want to go to the king to help him?"
Lu Ming wanted to smash his head. Serving the king? What kind of serving the king? As long as he left Jiangning, he would be surrounded and attacked.
He said helplessly, "The coup in the imperial capital is a crisis that the empire has never seen in a thousand years. We have to do something. I should be more informed than Governor Chakson. You should report this to Governor Chakson now. Let me draft a draft and send it to you. You sign it. It will be a joint telegram between the two of us. While reporting to Governor Chakson, please also prepare for the next response. No matter what the situation in the imperial capital is, we can't let Jiangning fall into chaos, right? Therefore, we must plan ahead and be prepared before the news spreads to the people and causes panic."
"Especially Black Mountain. Jiangbei has always been eyeing us covetously. With the capital in such chaos, we are like abandoned babies. We must be fully prepared."
"In the joint telegram we sent to Governor Chaksin, we also requested Governor Chaksin's consent to implement martial law in Montenegro."
"It would be best if you go there in person and lobby for this matter."
Hu Dingshan was probably stunned when he heard this. "What does martial law mean?"
"That means all affairs will be managed by the military, whether it is government affairs or the economy. Specifically in Montenegro, it will be managed by our Montenegro Brigade."
"Only if we implement martial law immediately can we avoid causing panic among the people when the terrible news comes. Moreover, it can also deter Jiangbei and let them know that we are taking precautions."
"Well, after we send a telegram to Governor Chuckson, we will immediately hold a telephone conference for company-level officers and above. I will tell everyone!"
After understanding the meaning of martial law, Hu Dingshan suddenly became excited, "Is this okay? Isn't this the way Jiangbei..." He was probably thinking about saying that this is how the Jiangbei warlords do things, but he swallowed his words back, "Okay, for the sake of the peace of hundreds of thousands of people in Montenegro, we, as soldiers, will naturally take on the responsibility."
Lu Ming nodded. "Wait for me to fax you my signed communication. It won't take a few minutes."
“Don't worry, I know, I'll be waiting and racing against time to get this done!” Hu Dingshan seemed to pat his head, “A coup in the imperial capital, this, how can I talk about this…” He was probably still confused and couldn't be more confused.
After hanging up the phone, Lu Ming opened the window and looked towards the direction of the imperial capital in the south. However, this was a mountain city, with heavy mountain shadows in the distance and a gloomy haze.
Although he knew that the struggle for the throne in the imperial capital was becoming increasingly intense, he did not expect it to deteriorate to this point.
It is understandable that if everyone knew that a coup might happen, it would certainly not succeed.
The second prince was also very decisive and caught everyone off guard.