Seeing that the mutinous soldiers were about to rush to the general's tent, Duke Wei and his men were still trying to pass the buck. Zhu Ping'an was speechless. They couldn't distinguish the priorities. In the face of the mutiny, if they didn't handle it properly, everyone would be killed, and they were still trying to pass the buck... ...
"Eunuch He, Uncle Xu, in the face of a mutiny, we should put aside the dispute and deal with the mutiny first."
Zhu Ping'an stepped forward, bowed to Eunuch He and Duke Wei, and reminded them solemnly.
"Yes, my dear nephew, what you said is right. What's most important now is to deal with the mutiny. This is the most important thing at the moment. As for Captain Wang's documents, we can put them aside for now. When the mutiny is resolved, there will be plenty of time to deal with them. If the mutiny cannot be resolved, we will give up. Why would we care about Captain Wang and Captain Zhang?"
Upon hearing this, Marquis Linhuai nodded repeatedly, walked up to Zhu Ping'an, and spoke to Eunuch He and Duke Wei.
"Yeah, that makes sense."
"I will listen to Master Xiao Zhu first."
Duke Wei nodded, and Eunuch He also nodded with his index finger raised, and the two reached an agreement.
Then, Duke Wei, Marquis Linhuai, and Eunuch He all turned their eyes to Zhu Ping'an unconsciously.
Well, okay, Zhu Pingan had to stand up first after seeing this. Eunuch He obviously hadn't recovered from his fear yet, and up to now, his hands and feet could still be seen trembling from time to time. Duke Wei and Marquis Linhuai hadn't calmed down yet either, so they had to stand up first.
"Eunuch He, could you briefly tell us what happened after entering the military camp so we can analyze it."
Zhu Pingan bowed.
"Well, this is what happened..." Eunuch He nodded, then slowly said, "At that time, Captain Wang invited me to Zhenwu Camp with an official document, saying that Duke Wei wanted to discuss important matters with me. I was ordered by the emperor to guard Yingtian. Zhenwu Camp is an important force to protect Yingtian Prefecture, so it is naturally not to be taken lightly. Without even washing my face, I hurried to Zhenwu Camp with Captain Wang..."
Didn’t even wash your face?!
Zhu Ping'an glanced at Eunuch He inconspicuously, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. Eunuch He had put on makeup and had not washed his face... It seemed that he had to listen carefully to what these old foxes said.
"I met Huang Maoguan, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, on the way. The one who went to invite him was Captain Zhang from your Zhenwu Camp, so we rushed to Zhenwu Camp together." Eunuch He continued.
"Then what? How was Minister Huang killed by the rebels?!" Duke Wei asked impatiently.
Eunuch He was not happy to be interrupted by Duke Wei. He looked at him and saw Duke Wei shrink his neck. Eunuch He continued, "Minister Huang and I had just entered the military camp. We hadn't walked a few steps when Captain Wang and Captain Zhang who led us here disappeared. Then we were surrounded by chaotic soldiers..."
Zhu Pingan roughly pieced together the scene from Eunuch He's account:
After being surrounded by the chaotic soldiers, Minister Huang and Eunuch He had not yet realized that the Zhenwu Camp had mutinied... ... Both of them were high-ranking officials. Eunuch He was one of the three great men of Yingtian, and Minister Huang was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He held the power over the money and grain of the guards and soldiers in various places. He was usually respected, flattered, and worshipped. Seeing these big-headed soldiers being so rude, he naturally showed his authority and scolded the chaotic soldiers, "You bastards, how dare you be so rude? Get back quickly and kneel aside!"
However, the soldiers who usually worshipped, flattered and feared them no longer believed them at this moment.
Instead of retreating, the mob became even more excited. They surrounded them more tightly and pushed them around.
"What about the monthly rations for our wives? When we formed the army, we agreed that those with wives would get one stone of rations, and those without wives would get four-tenths less. At the beginning of the year, you made the decision without permission and reduced our monthly rations by half. It would have been fine if you reduced them, but why did you stop paying us last month? We were still suffering from a flood at the time, and we were already short of food. The monthly rations were also stopped. Do you know how our family survived?!"
"Mr. Huang, you, the Ministry of Revenue, secretly reduced the monthly rations for our wives and families. Later, you went even further and slandered us to the higher-ups, and petitioned to abolish the monthly rations for our wives and families! Mr. Huang, you were responsible for reviewing and distributing the rations for the garrisons and soldiers in various parts of Jiangnan. You petitioned to abolish the monthly rations for our wives and families, and you embezzled all the money in disguise, and it all went into your own pockets!"
"Mr. He, the troops of Yingtian Prefecture all obey you. Just give the order and return our wives' monthly rations and soldiers' salaries."
"You bastard officer, not only have you stopped paying your wife's monthly rations, but what about our military pay? That's the money we earn for our lives. We haven't received our military pay for two months, and our whole family depends on it to buy rice. Do you want to starve us to death?!"
"Official dog, bring me the money!"
"You dog officer, return our wives' monthly food and our soldiers' wages!"
"If you don't give us money, we will rebel!"
"Rebellion, rebellion! It's better to surrender to the Japanese pirates. They have good food and drink, and their life is a thousand times more comfortable than ours."
... ...
The riotous soldiers surrounded Eunuch He and Minister Huang, shouting in anger.
"presumptuous!"
Eunuch He and Minister Huang scolded the rioting soldiers. They were usually arrogant. Not to mention the big soldiers, even the middle-level officers were not taken seriously by them. It was common for them to show off their power. They would beat and scold the big soldiers at will. At this moment, they still did not realize the danger and seriousness of the rioting soldiers.
"What are you shouting about, a bunch of soldiers? The monthly food for your wives has been stopped a long time ago! Soldiers' pay! Oh, the imperial treasury is tight right now, how can we have the money to pay you soldiers' pay! Get out, get out, get out of here."
Minister Huang holds the power over the finances of the garrisons and soldiers in various places. He is used to bullying these big-time soldiers and at this moment he keeps cursing them.
The rebel soldiers would not leave, and their emotions became more agitated, and they shouted and demanded monthly rations and military pay even louder...
"We have 3,000 men in the Zhenwu Camp. If you don't give us enough food and wages today, don't even think about leaving!"
"That's right. We have 3,000 men in the Zhenwu Camp, and we're going to send one less person today. You dog officers, don't even think about leaving!"
"That's right. If you don't give us money and give us a way to live, you dog officials who eat the flesh and drink the blood of soldiers will forget about living!"
"If you don't give me money, I'll rebel!"
When Huang Shilang heard the chaotic soldiers shouting "3,000 people", he couldn't help but curse, "What?! 3,000 people?! It's still 3,000 people!"
According to the military system of the Ming Dynasty, if a soldier died in a garrison or a military guard, then all the money and grain would be reduced according to the number of deaths. When the flood occurred last month, Minister Huang was in a good mood because soldiers from garrisons across the country died in the disaster, so he was able to reduce a considerable amount of money and grain.
The Zhenwu Camp had a full strength of 3,000 people, and there are still 3,000 people now, which proves that no one died in the flood.
So at this moment, Huang Shilang was in a very bad mood and couldn't help cursing at the chaotic soldiers, "Damn it, during the flood, people from all guards died, but your guard didn't?!" The translation is "Damn it, during the flood, people from all guards died, but why didn't your guard die?!"
This sentence ignited the anger of the rebel soldiers, pushed their anger to its peak, and also pushed himself to a path of no return.
The extremely angry soldiers drew their knives on the spot, and Huang Shilang's blood-red flowers bloomed...