In today's era, transportation is not developed, and communication is naturally not developed either. Civil letters are generally sent to and from post stations. The post stations of the Ming Dynasty are divided into official posts, military posts and civilian posts. The official posts are mainly responsible for delivering official documents from various places and newspapers from the capital court. The General Affairs Department government orders and correspondence between officials. The Minyi Station was mainly responsible for delivering letters from the people, while the Junyi Station, as the name suggests, was only responsible for delivering military reports. In history, King Li Chuang who overthrew the Zhu Ming Dynasty with his own hands was the Yinchuan Prefecture. A postman of Guanyi.
In comparison, carrier pigeons are naturally the fastest in delivering messages, but they also carry the greatest risks, including weather, wind direction, natural enemies, hunting, etc. Therefore, unless there is an urgent military report, officials and dignitaries are generally willing to choose post stations to deliver messages.
There was not just one homing pigeon that landed in the courtyard in front of Prince Xing¡¯s Mansion, but four of them fell in succession. This was also for safety reasons. Even if one or two were hunted, the remaining pigeons could successfully convey the news.
In the vestibule, a warrior from the palace quickly caught the carrier pigeon in his hand and took out a small mailbox with a small note rolled inside. The warrior respectfully handed the note to Xing Wang Zhu Houcong's hand.
Zhu Houcong unfolded the note and glanced slowly. His dull eyes suddenly became radiant. His whole body seemed to be injected with green vitality, and even his body trembled slightly.
"The emperor drowned and fainted. His life is in danger. He will die within a few days." Zhu Houcong murmured, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened his eyes and confirmed every word in the note again, and found that they were all true. , it was definitely not his own hallucination, Zhu Houcong's thin body trembled more and more obviously.
"Heaven has blessed me with wealth and honor, but God cannot take it, so I will bear the blame for it! I, Zhu Houcong, have the chance to glimpse a great treasure. May my ancestors bless me!"
"Come here, I will pass on the history of the palace, the staff, and the officials. The professor will go to the Chengyun Hall to discuss matters."
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The atmosphere in the Chengyun Hall was very lively. Yi Qian Changshi, staff, professors and others in Prince Xing's Mansion, who had planned to eat and wait for death as their lifelong ambition, just like Zhu Houcong, were so excited that their noses turned red after learning the great news. His eyes were bloodshot, but after all, the emperor's death by drowning was not good news that everyone would celebrate. They couldn't act rebelliously and look happy. In the quiet hall, everyone could only hear their heavy breathing.
In the heart of Zhu Houzheng's confidant, the person who is here is familiar with the order of the throne in today's throne. Everyone knows that when there is no later, if the emperor dies. The dragon chair in the Fengtian Hall of the capital must be sat on by the prince. This is the ethical order of the heavenly family and no one can stop it.
So while their hearts were filled with excitement, everyone here had already secretly made up their minds to slightly increase their lifelong ambition of eating and waiting to die. If the prince really became the emperor, they, the old ministers who had been hiding in the palace, could enter the court with the merit of following the dragon. Hall. Are you afraid that you won¡¯t be reused?
The only thing that can be done now is probably to fast, bathe and burn incense, and pray that the half-dead emperor in the capital will kick his legs to die and become an immortal.
At this time, everyone in the Chengyun Hall was like a gambler who had won a huge prize, sitting at home eagerly waiting for the day to receive the prize.
Zhu Houcong is still young. Although there are palaces in the city, they are not as deep as adults. At this time, he was smiling broadly.
"For more than a hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, from Hongwu to Zhengde, countless vassal princes and clans raised armies and rebelled for the throne of the emperor, but they eventually fell into disgrace and died in a bad way. Who knew that God would only favor me, and my family, King Xing, lived far away in Huguang. No. After sending out an army and not planning a plan, ninety-five nobles descended from the sky. Isn't it God's will?"
"The walls have ears. There are factory guards in the mansion, please be careful what you say!" a staff member reminded in a deep voice.
Zhu Houcong laughed twice and then stopped, but he couldn't hide the proud look in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, the news from the capital says that His Majesty just fainted and did not die. We still have to wait for a few more days until the death report comes from the capital, or the royal family and the courtiers send the enthronement edict, then the matter will be finalized. , before that, the prince must not let out a single word, let alone do any unethical behavior. Before ascending the throne, the Queen Mother, the courtiers and the clan all have the right to veto. The prince must not act too hastily and fall into the trap. Talking point."
Zhu Houcong nodded heavily: "I can save it."
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Houcong raised his head, with a look of intelligence in his eyes: "Starting tomorrow, the palace will open half of the granary, open a porridge shop, spread linen cloth, and provide relief to the homeless people in the villages and counties near Anlu Mansion who have no food and clothing"
"Your Majesty's move is a good deed, but the vassal prince's relief of grain would be suspected of buying into the hearts of the people. For fear of being impeached by the officials, it would be better to hand over the grain cloth to the Anlu magistrate, and let him provide relief in the name of the government. The people will think of someone who is good." It's not important. What's important is that the government will report the prince's good deeds to the capital. The queen mother in the palace, the cabinet bachelor and many courtiers will definitelyKnowing the prince's good deeds, everyone in the court praised him at that time. If your majesty dies, the throne will definitely belong to the prince. "
Zhu Houzhao was still lying in the main hall of the Leopard Room without waking up, but the atmosphere in the capital became more and more solemn. In the court hall, the ministers were so panic that they didn't even try to hide it. They all had tense faces and looked anxiously. Toward the Leopard Room.
Groups of factory guard spies rode out of the city one after another and returned to the city one after another. What they brought back was not good news.
The emperor¡¯s drowning could not be concealed no matter what. Factory guards reported that there were signs of instability among the vassal kings in various places.
An unknown person spread the news about Zhu Houzhao's drowning. For a while, carrier pigeons in the city were flapping their wings and rushed back and forth. A few days later, the news returned by the factory security spies became more and more serious.
Heng Wang Zhu Youyi, Rong Wang Zhu Youshu, and Yi Wang Zhu Youbin were the three most unable to restrain themselves. They completely ignored the rules of the vassal king not to leave the fiefdom without an edict. Under the guise of going to Beijing for pilgrimage, they led their entourage in a grand manner without saying a word. Heading straight to the capital, the lights in the other palaces stayed on all day and night, and the chief ministers and ministers stayed up all night to discuss matters with the vassal king.
The three vassal kings who left their fiefdoms were naturally the most anxious. They had to be anxious.
It can be seen from their names that these three have a close relationship with Zhu Youtang, the late Emperor Hongzhi. They are the biological children of Emperor Xianzong and the brothers of Emperor Hongzhi. If not for the fact that Emperor Hongzhi was reincarnated a little faster than them. , the throne after Xianzong might be theirs. Now that Zhu Houzhao is dying, in terms of blood relationship and throne order, they naturally have the best chance. Although there is King Xing in front of them, who can guarantee that they will not be the one? Chance? In terms of blood relationship, they are the biological brothers of the late Emperor Hongzhi and the biological uncle of Zhu Houzhao. It is ethically correct to establish a direct descendant, and it is also appropriate to establish an elder. Go to the capital to try your luck, maybe you can win a big prize
The three imperial uncles happily set out on the road with great expectations for the future.
When the news reached the capital, the hearts of the courtiers became increasingly heavy.
They are not worried about these three 250 princes, but the vassal princes who are still staying in their fiefdoms but staying up all night to discuss matters. They seem to be calm, but who knows what kind of storm is brewing behind the scenes? The battle between kings has been cruel and ruthless since ancient times. If the emperor dies in the future, God knows what these vassal princes will do to fight for the throne. The three princes who entered the capital started a fight. It is a matter of whether to establish the eldest son or to establish the heir. There was a chaotic war. How could the vassal kings staying in their fiefdoms not seize this eternal opportunity and make the water in the capital more and more muddy?
News from all directions were gathered by the factory guards. The commander of the Jin Yiwei ordered Qin Kan to suppress the news and remain silent. Dai Yi, the director of the East Factory, could not remain silent, so he knocked on the door of the great scholar Yang Tinghe at starry night. Knowing that the situation was serious, Yang Tinghe ordered Initiate court discussion again.
The content of this court meeting is the defense of Gyeonggi.
The vassal kings everywhere are not only gearing up, but sharpening their swords. The capital has to prepare for a rainy day. After all, the Ming Dynasty has been a country for more than a hundred years, and there are too many idiot princes who don¡¯t know the heights of the world. However, this kind of two hundred and five princes can still hold the palm of their hands even if they are not big or small. With only a little military power, if these 250 commanders really attack the capital and sit on the throne, it will be a complete laughing stock for the ages, and the ministers of the capital will be laughed at by future generations for thousands of years.
In the Wenhua Hall, the main members of this court meeting were the Cabinet, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Chief of Ceremonies and the Six Ministers.
Yang Tinghe sat in the front seat without saying a word, but his mind suddenly recalled Qin Kan's remarks in the pavilion by the Xihua Pond on the day His Majesty drowned.
At that time, Qin Kan proposed to deploy four more foreign armies to garrison in Beijing. Everyone in the pavilion expressed their opposition. Only a few days later, Qin Kan's original proposal had to be formally discussed at the court meeting.
The Twelve Regiment Battalions of the Capital originally had only ten battalions. In the third year of Chenghua, it was increased to twelve regiments. The initial number was 10,000 elite troops per battalion. In other words, the total number of elite troops defending the capital was about 120,000. , but this data is only from the Chenghua year. By the 14th year of Zhengde, the Twelve Regiment Battalions had been living in a peaceful land for a long time, and the fathers and sons of military households in the army had retired. The succession gradually became uneven, and the shortage of personnel became increasingly serious. Today's Ten The total number of the Second Regiment and Battalion is less than 70,000. Including the Royal Horse Guards Tengxiang and the Four Guards guarding the inner palace, as well as the Miyun Guards, Wude Guards, Guangwu Guards, etc. of the regular troops stationed around the capital, the total number of people is about 200,000 to 300,000. .
It seems like an extremely large number, but after the Civil War, the Ming Dynasty lost half a million troops. The military households that were replaced later had not experienced the smoke of battlefields for several generations, and their combat effectiveness was very low. They were no longer known as the "elite" in the past. It was precisely because of this fact that Zhu Houzhao once considered switching defenses between the border army and the Beijing army.
To this day, all the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty have unanimously opposed the proposal, but the situation is critical.It had to be brought to the table by the cabinet and formally discussed with the ministers.