Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Chapter 242: The Tremor of the Imperial City (4)

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Inside the Palace Front Office, Zhang Yongde asked: Whose troops are these

This was the first sentence he asked, and no one could answer. Finally, a general in charge of guarding the yamen stood at the door and said, "Report to Zhang Dujian, we have sent people to check it out, and we will know when the report comes back."

Then Zhang Yongde looked around and asked the second question: Where is Zhao Kuangyin, the envoy of Zhaodu

Still no one could answer his question, only people muttered: Half an incense stick ago, I saw several people in the lobby of Zhao Du looking at each other, and there was silence for a long time. Everyone seemed to be guessing and thinking about their own things.

Today was not the right day for the roll call. Only high-ranking military officers above the rank of commander of a wing came to the yamen to roll in. Otherwise, Guo Shao would not have started in the morning for the sake of perfection. The generals and deputy generals at the army level were all in their respective military camps, and there were very few people in the Palace Front Office. I don't know when a few more people left, and even fewer people came to the lobby.

At this time, a young general came in and said: The troops with tiger flags and the left wing of the Tiger Army have blocked the intersection of Ma Xing Street and all the intersections on the east side.

What do they want to do? Zhang Yongde stood up suddenly, stared with eyes wide open and shouted.

Today he kept asking questions that were so profound that no one could answer them.

Zhang Yongde stood for a moment, looked at the people in the lobby, slowly sat back in his chair, and fell into deep thought.

Zhao Kuangyin and dozens of others were waiting in an alley. Finally, they saw Zhao Pu riding over with a package in his arms. Zhao Pu came up and said, "I got the things." Kuangyin turned around and asked two generals and guards to wait at the entrance of the alley. He then rode up to meet them, looked back, and asked in a low voice, "Have you checked?"

Zhao Pu looked nervous and nodded vigorously, saying: We cannot neglect such an important matter.

Kuang Yin had a dark face, and the three vertical lines between his eyebrows had not yet spread out. He said in a deep voice: It's too fast, we haven't started yet, it's too late to do it now. He sighed again: I was just about to talk to Zhang Yongde this morning.

Who gave him the courage? It must be that the queen bribed the eunuchs and colluded with the inside and outside. Zhao Pu said, the emperor was still able to speak the day before yesterday, and there has been no sign in the court in the past two days. The time is not ripe at this time. If it is too early, they will really dare to

Kuang Yin said: "We must first support Zhang Yongde and establish him as a leader. Otherwise, if we rely on our own people, it will be easy to make mistakes when we mobilize troops in this situation. We are not well prepared. We have only made plans, but nothing has been done yet. We dare not discuss this with everyone too early. This thing cannot be done."

Zhao Pu said: My Lord, please do not hesitate. If you do not make a decision now, and wait until Empress Fu and Guo Shao have recovered and stabilized the situation in the palace, then you will really have no chance at all.

Kuang Yin rubbed his temples vigorously with his hands. He no longer cared to hide his emotions and was obviously thinking about a difficult decision. He kept muttering: These two men and women are too disgusting, especially the woman. It seems that no one can control her.

Zhao Pu urged nervously: "My lord, if we do nothing, they will never let us go in the end. Since we have to do it now, it is better to do it sooner rather than later."

Kuang Yin pondered and said: It is best to raise an army in the name of suppressing the rebellion. But I know Zhang Yongde too well. He is timid and will join whoever comes to power. Before the Battle of Gaoping, many people were unruly and refused to obey the new king. When he saw that the new king had ascended to the throne, he joined him wholeheartedly. Without the imperial edict and the military order of the Privy Council, Zhang Yongde is timid and will definitely watch the fire from the other side of the river and will never be willing to take risks.

He had to take risks, unless he was given the dragon robe. On the one hand, he had no choice, and on the other hand, the temptation was great enough to become the emperor, which was worth everything people gave up. Zhang Yongde had high prestige. Once he became emperor, other people would probably watch from the sidelines, at least not attack us. But supporting Zhang Yongde now would not only take time, but also throw away the name of suppressing the rebellion, which was easier to mobilize the troops.

Without Zhang Yongde, it would not work. The generals only saw me giving orders, and the other generals of the Palace Front Division were not there, and there was no order from the Privy Council, which would easily arouse suspicion. Especially those middle and lower-level generals who were not familiar with them, it was easy for unexpected events to happen.

Zhao Kuangyin was not a hesitant person. For example, he acted decisively in the battle of Chuzhou and quickly captured the city. But this time it was too difficult for him. He couldn't help but wonder, "Why would they take action now? Damn, is there a spy among us? But I have been very cautious about this matter. Until now, only the two of us know about it. Is there an undercover agent eavesdropping in the mansion?"

Zhao Pu heard this and thought it made sense, but he still insisted: No matter what, there is no other choice.

The initiative has been lost, and Zhao Kuangyin was pessimistic, but he still gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "Let's go to the military camp to call some generals. We will act separately and call as many as we can."

Zhao Kuangyin took out his seal and said: Han Chongyun, the commander-in-chief of the First Army of the Left Wing of the Iron Cavalry, has a close relationship with me and knows you. It will be easier for you to call him if you take my seal with you.

I obey your command. Zhao Pu took the seal with a serious face.

Zhao Kuangyin looked back and saw the Iron Cavalry Army's left wing commander Shi Shouxin and right wing commander Wang Shenqi at the entrance of the alley, so he shouted: Brother Shi, Brother Wang, come over and talk.

When the two men rode in, Kuang Yin said: There is an important matter that requires the gathering of some generals. You two should go to the army and bring your troops to the Palace Front Department.

The three people who had the best relationship with Zhao Kuangyin were Shi Shouxin, Wang Shenqi and Han Chongyun, two of whom were here. The relationship between these three people and Zhao Kuangyin was very different. They were all friends in need when they were the lowest-level officers in the Later Han Dynasty, and they were the most trustworthy military generals around Zhao Kuangyin.

There were also a few brothers and friends who were not so close to him. Some of them were capable but were stationed outside the city, such as Han Lingkun and Li Jixun. Some were in the Control Crane Army, such as Zhao Chao. Some were not so reliable, such as Luo Mengzi in Guo Shao's army, but they were not as loyal as Luo Mengzi. Zhao Kuangyin was going to personally lead people to find the other brothers in the Iron Cavalry Army. It would be better for him to go by himself if he was not particularly close to them.

With more careful preparation, Zhao Kuangyin could gather more people.

His strength was obviously greater than Guo Shao's. The commanders of the left and right wings of the Iron Cavalry Army were his best brothers. The first-level commanders of the army included his brothers and those who defected to Shi Shouxin. Many of the lower-level generals, including some commanders and deputy commanders, were his personal soldiers. When he was reorganizing the Palace Front Department, he took the opportunity to insert them into the Iron Cavalry Army and promoted them to low-level generals. Zhao Kuangyin's control over the Iron Cavalry Army and the degree of trust he received were slightly inferior to Guo Shao's; but he captured both wings.

Moreover, Zhao Kuangyin's influence was not limited to the Iron Cavalry Army. Zhao Chao was a family friend of his father when he was alive. He was now the commander of the right wing of the Control Crane Army and the commander of the left wing. Yuan Yan was not Zhao Kuangyin's man. However, he only had a little involvement in the Control Crane Army. For example, Zhao Chao was a general of the Imperial Guards and had not been transferred to the Control Crane Army for long, so his reputation was not good. There were also several brothers who had been good friends in the past but were not in key positions.

He and Guo Shao both faced the same problem: insufficient prestige and status. In terms of status, Zhao Kuangyin was actually inferior to Guo Shao; Guo Shao married into the Fu family, a noble family in Hebei, and his status outside was actually higher than Zhao Kuangyin.

But in any case, if we ignore the subtle difference in control, Zhao Kuangyin's direct lineage is at least twice as strong as Guo Shao's.

But now, in such a rush, we can only choose some more reliable people to deal with it.

Zhao Kuangyin felt like he had eaten a bowl of flies. He was obviously stronger, and his plans and deployment strategies were perfect, waiting for the right time to implement them. However, he was caught off guard at the critical moment and had to change his strategy temporarily to save time, which did not maximize his energy. He was very dissatisfied and felt very aggrieved.

A small mistake made by his mother at a critical moment could offset most of the results of his four years of hard work.

The group of people acted separately and hastily summoned the generals to the Palace Front Department. Because the plan had not been implemented beforehand, it was still in the stage of preparation. In order to minimize the possibility of leakage, only two people knew about it. In addition, the timing this morning was not appropriate and the generals were scattered. They were caught off guard and wasted a lot of time.

Even Zhao Kuangyin himself lost confidence in what he was doing, and felt that what he was doing was full of loopholes and in a mess.

But the opponent doesn't care whether he has confidence or not. It's better if he has no confidence. The opponent doesn't want a fair duel, but to kill him by any means. So whether he has confidence or not, he has to bite the bullet and continue.

He discovered many omissions on his side. For example, the defense of the Palace Front Office was not strong, and the Hujie Army had already controlled the main intersection in the east of the inner city, but fortunately they did not move. Zhao Kuangyin thought: Guo Shao's troops might have tried to avoid resistance and chaos in the early stage and did not dare to take the initiative to attack; but it was unclear what they would do when they had time.

The other side even planned such details very carefully, and there was a delicate style under the rough mutiny. This made Zhao Kuangyin feel colder and colder.

Zhao Kuangyin calmed down and suddenly thought: I did not discuss with Zhang Yongde before summoning the generals. When the generals arrived at the Palace Front Office one after another in a mess, would Zhang Yongde be suspicious when he saw so many people coming uninvited

So he temporarily changed his itinerary and only went to one military camp, and then quickly took people to the Dianqian Division.

After Zhao Kuangyin returned to the government office, he went to the lobby first, only to see that it was deserted with only a few people inside. He immediately asked: "Where is Zhang Dujiandian?" A general said: "General Zhao, Zhang Dujiandian and General Yuan went to the camp of the Konghe Army, and said that they would send someone to the palace to ask what happened."

After hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin's heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if ten thousand mangy dogs were running through his heart to chase after this old fox named Zhang.

It's already this time. If anyone is sent, they will know that it is a mutiny of the left wing of the Hujie Army. Only that group of people would use a tiger as their military flag, as if they were afraid that others would not know about their ignorance and think that there is some connection between the Hujie Army and tigers.

There was a mutiny, why did you send people to the palace to ask him questions

I'm weakly asking for a monthly ticket.