Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 31 Rebellion
In the early morning, a long team was marching on the official road.

The figures in the team were all wearing red military uniforms and had long swords on their waists. It was obviously an army on the march.
In front of the army were thirty or forty cavalrymen on horseback, constantly exploring the way forward and driving away pedestrians on the way of the army. In the back were infantrymen lined up in two rows.

In the center of the army were more than a dozen carts, pulled by horses and covered with black waterproof cloth, which covered the contents tightly.

Moving forward from the cart, there was a large horse-drawn carriage. In front of the carriage, several soldiers were holding several flags and walking in front.

The flag was inscribed with six Chinese characters in black regular script:

The morning breeze blows, and the big red flag with black characters flutters in the wind, making a magnificent sound.

Inside the carriage, Su Guansheng opened the curtain and looked out the window.
At this time, the army had returned to the official road from the wild. There were more and more pedestrians and merchants on the road, and the marching speed slowed down a bit.
Once again on the official road, it means that this place is not far from Zhaoqing City.
Su Guansheng lowered the curtain, took the water bag on the table in the car, drank a sip, and his face looked tired.
A few days ago, he received a secret decree from Chen Bangyan, and immediately organized his troops in Guangzhou and decided to lead them to Beijing.

All he had were the 3,000 men he had recruited when he was helping Jiangxi. However, these 3,000 men were mixed, and once he organized the army, problems arose immediately.

After his 3,000 men arrived in Guangzhou, some of them had fled, and a considerable number were old, weak, sick and disabled, and were not fit to be on the stage. After a round of elimination, he was left with only about 2,000 strong and capable soldiers.
Su Guansheng eliminated all the old and weak from the army, and then urgently allocated armor and weapons from Guangzhou and nearby treasuries, almost plundering all the county yamen and guards near Guangzhou, so that all 2,000 people were fully equipped.
Because of this matter, Su Guansheng stayed in Guangzhou for another day.

Given the current situation, the sooner he entered the court, the more room for maneuver he would have. However, he still ignored Chen Bangyan's urging and waited until all the troops were fully equipped before setting off with the army and the silver.
Su Guansheng was very clear about his own situation. He led his troops to Beijing not to compete for power with Ding Kuichu and others with his own army.

Ding Kuichu has tens of thousands of troops under his command. If a fight really breaks out, even if he recruits another 5,000 people, he will not be able to defeat the army under Ding Kuichu's command.
The men under Ding Kuichu were veterans who had fought in Guangxi and suppressed rebellions. They were not comparable to his newly recruited soldiers.
The reason why he led his army into the court was to use the army in his hands to tell Ding Kuichu and others that although he, Su Guansheng, could not defeat you, the officials of Zhaoqing, but if you acted recklessly, he would also be able to splash your blood
Su Guansheng's army was actually used to scare people, so he left all the old and weak soldiers in Guangzhou, and replaced all the weapons and armor in the army, making his troops look elite.
The more powerful this army looks, the more it can intimidate the officials in Zhaoqing City, and the safer he will be.
Although the two thousand men were wearing military uniforms of different ages, they were all in uniform. The soldiers lined up in two rows and marched silently. The long spears in their hands were shining and reflected the cold light. From a distance, there was really a murderous aura coming towards them.
If these two thousand men were used to intimidate the officials of Zhaoqing, then the dozen or so carts in the team were Su Guansheng's real confidence.

This time he emptied the Guangzhou treasury and took out most of the silver from the Guangzhou treasury, which was a total of 70,000 taels of silver.
The King of Gui is now trapped in Zhaoqing City, and all his money and grain are controlled by Ding Kuichu. He has long been dissatisfied with Ding Kuichu, but the King of Gui has no foundation in Guangxi Province, so he can only let the officials of Zhaoqing do whatever they want.

At this time, he was ordered to lead the army into the court. Not only did he have two thousand elite soldiers, but he also brought 70,000 taels of silver.
If he surrendered to the King of Gui at this time, it would be like sending charcoal in the snow, so that the King of Gui would have soldiers and food in his hands instantly, and he, Su Guansheng, would definitely be regarded as a confidant by the King of Gui.
Su Guansheng's eyes flashed with excitement when he thought of this. Although he was suddenly conferred the title of Grand Secretary because of his support, what's wrong with supporting the emperor? Since ancient times, the merit of following the emperor has been the most important. He is also a Grand Secretary conferred by the court.
Although he was born in a mixed family, he felt that he was no less capable than those ministers who had come from the so-called imperial examination system, and even better.

He had been a county magistrate and a prefectural judge. He had fought against local evil gentry and punished treacherous clerks. How many of those civil officials who passed the imperial examinations and came from noble families actually had the experience of governing a region?
If you ask them to write eight-part essays, they are probably experts, but if you really put them in the local area, they probably can't even calculate the taxes and grain of a county.
Since Su Guansheng was able to be conferred the title of Grand Secretary by supporting Longwu, he could also continue to be the Grand Secretary by supporting the King of Gui.
Su Guansheng's eyes flashed with a fierce light. Thinking of this, he suddenly opened the curtain of the carriage and gave an order to the guards beside the carriage.

"Bring General Chen Jitai here."

The guard responded and quickly rode forward. Not long after, a middle-aged general with a burly figure and wearing a bright red military uniform rode up to the side of the carriage.

This middle-aged general is Chen Jitai, and he is also the chief general supporting the Gan Biao Camp under Su Guansheng. All the troops under Su Guansheng are managed by this man.
"General Chen, where are we now?" Su Guansheng asked

"Report to the Lord, we have just found a boundary marker on the side of the road. It is estimated that Zhaoqing is only fifteen miles away," Chen Jitai dismounted and replied respectfully.

"Send the order to the front, clear the road quickly, no delay, we must arrive in Zhaoqing by noon today," Su Guansheng's face darkened and he said
"Yes, the army will arrive in Zhaoqing at noon today," Chen Jitai responded, and then mounted his horse and galloped forward.

Su Guansheng's eyes showed a thoughtful expression. Chen Bangyan returned to Guangzhou on October 5th. He mobilized troops and food on October 6th and set off on October 7th. Today is October 10th.

If the news brought back by Chen Bangyan is good, on the 12th, that is, two days later, the King of Gui will accept the third persuasion and formally establish the position of regent.

Why did he order the army to rush to the court at night? Because only by reaching Zhaoqing 12 days before the event could he catch up with the King of Gui's final persuasion and have the merit of supporting the King and making the final decision?
As long as he arrived in Zhaoqing before the 12th day, with 2,000 soldiers outside and the support of the King of Gui inside, the officials of Zhaoqing would have to give Su Guansheng a credit for supporting him.
"Make way! The army is marching. You merchants, please make way for us!" On the official road, dozens of soldiers in military uniforms looked fierce, constantly pushing the pedestrians and vehicles on the road.

"Sir, please be kind. These dozen truckloads of goods are urgently needed in the city. We just need to go faster. We will definitely not delay your business."

A round-faced man in a round-necked brocade robe secretly cursed in his heart, thinking that he had encountered local soldiers blocking the road again. He put on a flattering smile on his face and immediately greeted the soldiers who were entering his own team.
The brocade robe steward moved his hand and stuffed a string of copper coins into the hand of the sturdy soldier in front of him. He smiled and was about to speak.

Unexpectedly, the soldier clapped his hands, and the copper coins scattered on the ground, making a crackling sound like rain.

The round-faced steward was stunned, as if he had not expected the soldiers in front of him to react like this. Aren't these people setting up checkpoints just for money?

"Who the hell is joking with you? The army is moving out. I'll give you half a quarter of an hour to get out of the way. If you miss the deadline, don't blame me for being ruthless."

The sturdy soldier drew out his long sword and chopped it on the railing of the cart with a clang, penetrating several inches into the wood. The round-faced steward looked at the bright white blade and felt dizzy.

ta ta ta

Suddenly, noisy footsteps were heard on the road in the distance.
The round-faced steward subconsciously looked up and saw dozens of knights in fiery red uniforms riding horses at the end of the official road. They were all wearing iron armor, and the cold and chilling

Behind the knights was a line of soldiers that seemed to have no end. The soldiers all carried long spears in their hands. The iron spear heads emitted a cold white light in the sun, which was so dazzling that it hurt people's eyes.

At the end of the sight, a long team was covered in smoke and dust. Countless soldiers kept emerging from the smoke and dust, marching silently on the official road, as if thousands of troops were pressing forward in the smoke and dust.
"Woe is to you, woe is to you"

The round-faced steward looked dazed, muttering subconsciously:

But then, he seemed to react suddenly, a look of horror appeared on his face, and he suddenly shouted loudly
"Push the goods down the official road, quickly push the goods down the official road"

As the round-faced steward shouted, the rest of the caravan woke up as if from a dream, and all of them pushed the vehicles and goods on the road off the official road with terrified expressions.

A dozen cavalrymen kept riding past, shouting military orders back and forth. Dust rose up all over the official road, and merchants and travelers along the way were thrown to the ground.

Su Guansheng's soldiers drove the pedestrians on the road, and the merchants and civilians all fled in panic. Even the tea stalls on the roadside pulled up their flags and fled into the distance.
But the soldiers on the road did not notice that a strong man in tattered military uniform was lying on the roof of the tea stall, looking at the army at the end of the road.

The sturdy man observed for a moment, but the more he looked, the more terrified he became.

The road was filled with smoke and dust, and it was impossible to tell how many people were marching. He only felt as if there was an endless army walking out of the smoke and dust.

The strong man looked pale, and he jumped off the roof. He went to the tea stall and brought out a skinny horse.

The strong man climbed onto the horse, familiarized himself with the road, and then drove the horse onto a wild road beside the official road, galloping quickly into the distance.
(End of this chapter)