On the post road, Han Lingkun and more than a hundred other riders were galloping, the rumbling of horse hooves covered the sky with dust and fog, and the hundreds of war horses running made a huge scene. Occasionally, some travelers would stop by the road early, waiting for these arrogant warriors to pass by.
After walking for a few days, Han Lingkun shouted: Send someone to go ahead and see if there is a floating bridge on the Yellow River.
The Privy Council ordered Han Lingkun, the commander of the Imperial Guards Cavalry Division, to return to Beijing immediately to report on his duties. Han Lingkun knew what had happened in Tokyo and understood his relationship with Zhao Kuangyin, but after weighing the pros and cons, he was not prepared to disobey the order.
If he did not obey the military order of the Privy Council, he would either flee or openly rebel. Neither of these was a good choice. He did not even know where Zhao Kuangyin was and had nowhere to go. Even if he knew, Zhao Kuangyin had nothing now. What good would it do to abandon his wife and run over? Han Lingkun's wife and children were all in Tokyo.
Raising an army was not the best strategy either. The imperial guards didn't need to take action. Fu Yanqing in Hebei could just gather the surrounding troops and destroy him. Because the families of the soldiers of the left wing of the Longjie Army were also in Tokyo, there was no reason to raise an army in a hurry. It was estimated that everyone was unwilling to risk their lives for Han Lingkun alone, so it was a good thing that they turned against their own side in the middle of a battle. It was still unclear whether the generals would use his head to seek credit.
It was not too dangerous to go back as ordered. Han Lingkun guessed there were two possibilities. One was that the court was worried about him leading the imperial guards outside to test him, and the other was that they wanted to take the opportunity to demote the imperial guards to a local governor. It was less dangerous to attack him directly. Zhao Kuangyin had been a general for several years and had many brothers in the imperial guards. The higher-ups could not attack Han Lingkun alone.
Han Lingkun decided to behave himself first and go back to see the situation first.
After another few days, he arrived in Tokyo and first met and talked with two generals he knew. As expected, nothing happened.
At this time, Li Chongjin had been completely stripped of his position in the Imperial Guards, and was still serving as a military governor in Hedong with the title of Zhongshu Ling. Han Tong of the Imperial Guards' Mabu Division had been promoted to Mabu Duzhishi, and officially took the top position. Han Lingkun then went to the Imperial Guards' Yamen to report to Han Tong.
Han Tong glared at him and told him to report the situation on the Hebei border in a stern tone, and then ignored him. Han Lingkun immediately relaxed, and in the evening of the same day he went to see another brother, Yang Guangyi, and the two talked late into the night.
The next morning, before dawn, even the roosters hadn't started crowing. In an ordinary courtyard in the northern part of Tokyo's outer city, Li Ergen, a captain of the Iron Cavalry, was ready to go on duty. He put on his armor and hung up a sword, and then saw the servants leading three horses over. Li Ergen handed a rein to a big man wearing a futou and a robe next to him: Commander Wang, I was not polite last night, please forgive me.
The tall and strong man called Commander Wang said: Three years ago, you and I were brothers. Even if we have different positions now, our brotherhood is the same.
Li Ergen said: My good brother, it’s a pity that it’s my turn to be on duty today, so I can’t drink again.
Just in time to go out with Brother Li, Wang commanded.
Please Li Ergen said, looking at the other big man beside Commander Wang, and said in a deep voice, Brother Li's boss Yang Dushi really said it's okay.
Commander Wang said: Yang Guangyi was the brother of Zhao Dushi in the past, and he also knew the general of the imperial guards. He said it was okay, so it must be okay for a while. Besides, people of our level don’t have time to care about the people above us who can’t even figure out who we are. Take Zhang Yongde, the inspector of the front of the palace, for example. He has been in the front of the palace for so many years. Does he know you and me
That's true, Li Ergen said.
Commander Wang whispered: We were born as soldiers, and we became generals thanks to our lord Zhao Dushi. Zhao Dushi is not available for the time being, but he still has some brothers, and we will follow whoever comes to power in the future.
Li Ergen immediately nodded vigorously and said: Yes, being a military commander cannot be done alone, we have to work together and find a backer.
Commander Wang's voice became lower and lower: "Yang Dushi said that when the world changes, it will be our time to rise to prominence; even though nothing is happening now, there will be big storms and waves ahead. Who becomes the emperor is none of our business, but if the Queen Mother and Guo Shao's gang monopolize power, it will definitely not benefit us; those people each have their own brothers, and they won't even share the benefits of a bowl of soup."
Li Ergen said: If anyone raises his arms and calls for help, we brothers will have a lot of people in our hands combined.
Don't be anxious, you have to wait. Now someone has to come forward to convince the others. It's still unknown who this person is. Then there must be an opportunity. We can't act recklessly. With such reckless behavior, even Zhao Dushi didn't dare to run away directly. Commander Wang reminded that there is nothing to do recently, just take the reward money and be careful.
Li Ergen sighed: "What's there to be afraid of a woman? Why is she asked to be king? Brother Wang said, why did our lord Zhao Dushi run away without saying a word? If he had shouted, wouldn't the brothers fight for him?"
Commander Wang said: We brothers are willing, but not all the generals of the Iron Cavalry are brothers. Zhao Du made a mistake.
It was very cold in the early morning of August and many people did not get up. There was an alley outside the yard, and there was no one there before dawn. Outside the alley was a street.
Guo Shao rode in a horse-drawn carriage with a group of plain-clothed attendants and slowly arrived at the entrance of the alley. They stopped by the roadside and all the lanterns on the carriages were extinguished.
Guo Shao took out an envelope with "Li Ergen" written on it.
If your husband went out in the morning and didn't come back, and a stranger came to your door with a letter saying that your husband had something important to do and would be away from home for a while, would you be suspicious? Guo Shao whispered.
Jingniang, who was sitting next to him, said: If I were a member of that family, they would definitely be suspicious. They would first send someone to the homes of good friends that I usually interact with to inquire about the situation, and then find my husband's superior.
Guo Shao thought for a moment: What if I have my husband's handwritten letter and keepsake
If the letter is well written, I will still be skeptical, but I will be afraid of being scolded if it makes too much noise, so I will be very cautious before alerting my superiors. Jingniang said seriously.
Guo Shao pondered again and said: If a captain is absent from duty occasionally, there will be no movement in the military camp for a few days.
At this moment, Lu Chengyong walked to the side of the carriage and asked in a low voice: The time is almost up, will the lord order an ambush
Guo Shao opened the curtain and warned: The generals of the Iron Cavalry Army are all young and strong men, so look carefully at their appearance and dress, and don't arrest the wrong ones; if there are more than three people accompanying them, cancel the operation and don't rush.
I understand. Lu Chengyong clasped his fists and said.
Guo Shao turned around and said to Jingniang: Lu Chengyong was a former infantryman in the small army, and his martial arts skills are a bit rusty. You should ask Yang Biao to go with you. I can feel more at ease with you two.
Jingniang said: Master, wait for my news.
Guo Shao yawned. He got up too early. Normally, unless there was a big court, he would still be asleep at this time. But today, he had been up for an hour. He closed his eyes and took a nap in the carriage.
Unexpectedly, just as he was half asleep, he heard a noise outside. He quickly lifted the curtain and saw three big men tied up and blocked with cloth in the alley. The soldiers behind were holding horses and weapons and sundries. The tied man in front had a cut on his face, which seemed to be scratched, and his face was covered with blood.
Jingniang said: I didn't want to draw the sword, this guy is not honest.
Guo Shao couldn't help but give a thumbs up and said: Take the carriage and go.
Soon, Jingniang got on Guo Shao's carriage. The wheels creaked and the carriage started to shake slightly. Guo Shao said to Jingniang: "Torture them and make them confess the names of other people." In case he missed some, he read out the names of the three-level military commanders of the Iron Cavalry Army, including the commander, the general, the deputy commander, and the general.
Tomorrow morning, we will find another way to capture another person and force him to confess. If the names on the list are different, we can use torture such as cutting off their hands and feet or knocking out their teeth. If that doesn't work, we can threaten their families.
Jingniang said: We are too cruel
Guo Shao said: This is not cruel, it's just a matter of winning or losing. If you lose, you have to pay the price. Zhao Kuangyin's party and the Queen Mother are fighting for power, and power is related to the life and death of countless people; since those people want to be rich and powerful, if they have the courage to participate, they should also be prepared to lose everything if they fail; how can you gamble without even the capital and get something for nothing
Jingniang murmured: They are all going to die anyway, so it doesn't matter if they suffer a little.
Guo Shao smiled and said: You have to think like this. If you are supposed to do something, you should do it anyway. Why don't you make it difficult for yourself if you don't think it through
Jingniang, who was always cold and indifferent, glanced at him and seemed to be becoming more and more interested in Guo Shao.
Guo Shao said: I have figured it out a long time ago. Since I dream of making a name for myself, I should face such fierce competition. I will find out more about Zhao Kuangyin's team here. In two days' court session, I will ask Huang Binglian to report the case of Zhao San raping and murdering his brother and sister-in-law, and publicize it in front of all the civil and military officials. Then I will post details of the case in various places in the city to build up momentum.
What's the use of that yellow robe, Jingniang asked.
Guo Shaodao: The yellow robe and the living Zhao Pu can convict Zhao Kuangyin. Don't move for now. If we are too aggressive, others may realize the danger and become desperate. Now we are only saying that Zhao San is morally corrupt and has done all kinds of evil, but we haven't mentioned Zhao Kuangyin. The case of Zhao San is like boiling water to a lukewarm temperature; the final killer is to add a big fire to the bottom of the pot to really boil the water.
Jingniang frowned and thought for a while, then said: "The last time the master rebelled, no one knew what you were going to do until the last moment. I think it will be the same this time."
Guo Shao chuckled and said: I have done this kind of thing once, so I have experience. It will be easy for me to do it again. Hey, when you say that, I really feel like I am very skilled.
... .