Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 428 Taking by force
It was the first year of Chongzhen, and it was still winter on the grassland. Guihua City, which had experienced a great war, looked a little desolate in the snow.

Many parts of the city wall still showed signs of post-war damage. Due to the arrival of winter, there was no time to repair it and it was only barely maintained.

In the City Lord's Mansion in the city, Bu Shitu's life is on countdown. His illness is severe and he has never gotten better since he fell ill. It is getting worse day by day. Now he is awake less and unconscious more.

As Bu Shitu fell ill, his tribesmen began to worry about the situation, and his son Omubu was even more anxious because he knew that once Bu Shitu died, he would not be able to control the entire tribe, let alone replace Bu Shitu as the King of Shunyi and the Lord of Tumed.

Omubu was worried about what to do next. Bu Shitu had always held all the power. Even his son Omubu did not have much power in the tribe. He only controlled a small part of the military force. Most of the military force was either controlled by Bu Shitu himself or in the hands of a few trusted generals of Bu Shitu.

Now Bu Shitu is too ill to manage the affairs of the government, and he has not explained the issue of succession since his illness, which has made everyone have some ideas. As the saying goes, it is better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox. How could these Mongolian nobles give up the opportunity to be independent?
Even if he cannot become the leader of the Tumed, being the leader of a tribe is also good. Maybe he can even call himself a Taiji and occupy a region.

Because of these thoughts, everyone in Guihua City is now making their own plans. Some are secretly trying to form alliances, some are ready to leave Guihua City and go to other places to occupy a grassland and become a local emperor, and some are hoping that Bu Shitu will wake up before his death and pass the position of heir to them. There are many different plans.

Ombu is one of them. As the son of Bu Shitu, he has the blood of the Golden Family flowing in his veins. If he wants to compete, he is not without a chance. Unfortunately, Ombu's character is completely different from Bu Shitu. This young man is weak and has no ability. This is the main reason why Bu Shitu has been hesitant to decide on an heir.

More importantly, many people in the tribe did not take Emubu seriously, and not many people supported him. Once Bu Shitu returned to Changshengtian, the only power he could control was the power in his hands, and this power was insignificant to the entire Bu Shitu tribe.

He had no chance of winning the internal fight, and he didn't have the courage. If he failed, he might not even have a chance to survive, so Omubu had already made plans to evacuate Guihua City at any time in order to protect himself.

This is the current situation in Guihua City. Undercurrents are surging in the small Guihua City, and everyone is waiting for Bu Shitu's final days to come.

At this time, tribes from afar came to Guihua City one after another. These tribes were all small tribes in the surrounding areas. Due to the severe winter, many small tribes could not survive the heavy snow, so they had to bite the bullet and migrate to Guihua City in the wind and snow, intending to survive the severe winter under the protection of Guihua City.

This happens every year, and it is not uncommon for the Mongols in Guihua City, except that this year there seem to be slightly more small tribes migrating than in previous years. However, this situation is also the case, because before that, there was a war when Lin Danhan invaded Tumed, and the war brought destruction to Tumed, which aggravated the difficulties for the tribes to survive.

When these tribes came to Guihua City, they naturally would not all enter the city. Guihua City was not big and could not accommodate so many people. It was common for them to camp around Guihua City and bring some things to the city from time to time to exchange for some supplies.

Now that Bu Shitu was seriously ill, Guihua City didn't care much about this matter. Besides, Lin Danhan had already fled and was now in Qinghai. The Tumed war was over, so there was no chance of anything happening again. In addition, everyone had their own plans, so they just handled this matter as they had in previous years, and they didn't care too much.

But Bu Shitu's people, including Omubu, had no idea that some of the tribes that had taken refuge in Guihua City were fake. These people were from the Tengger tribe. Led by Zhu Shenzui himself, they broke up into small groups and pretended to be ordinary small tribes, quietly came to Guihua City, and settled down outside Guihua City.

This time Zhu Shenzui did not make a big fanfare. He did not bring many people with him, only a few hundred. In order to maintain secrecy, he did not use his most elite new army. The people he brought were all Mongolians, but these Mongolians were all the elite of the tribe and had very strong combat effectiveness.

On this day, Zhu Shenzui, who was wearing a fur coat and looked no different from an ordinary Mongolian, drove a horse-drawn carriage with a dozen people into Guihua City. The weather was good today, the wind and snow had stopped, and the sun, which had not been out for a long time, was shining high in the sky, making the body feel much warmer than usual.

The defense of Guihua City was very relaxed, and they entered the city without much effort. After arriving in the city, they found an empty space in the trading area and set up a stall, just like other Mongols around them, bartering goods.

As the sun rose to noon, the place gradually became lively. Many Mongols and people from the tribes stationed around Guihua City were trading here, bargaining with each other, and discussing how to exchange supplies.

Zhu Shenzui was wearing a fur hat, with his hands in his sleeves, leaning against a cart. Several of his men were talking to the Mongols who came to trade, but his eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings, paying attention to the situation in the city.

"master!"

Wang Hai quietly came to Zhu Shenzhui and greeted him in a low voice.

Wang Hai was dressed similarly to Zhu Shenzhui now, also in a greasy fur coat and a fur hat, looking like an ordinary herdsman. "Our people have entered the city, please give us your instructions, Master."

"Are the City Lord's Mansion and several important personnel in place?" Zhu Shenzhui asked softly.

"My lord, everything is in place." Wang Hai replied in a low voice.

"Well done!" Zhu Shenzhui praised. Wang Hai's arrangement was good. The situation in Guihua City had been reported long ago. Moreover, Wang Hai had sent people to Guihua City before and had a clear understanding of the situation in Guihua City.

Guihua City is not very big. The central area is the oldest old city, and the most magnificent building is the Silver Buddha Temple. In addition, there is the City Lord's Mansion, which was also the palace of Sanniangzi and successive Shunyi kings. But now it is the residence of Bu Shitu. The seriously ill Bu Shitu is currently in the City Lord's Mansion, and his son and several subordinates live very close to the City Lord's Mansion, in several residences on its left and right.

During the Sanniangzi period, Guihua City was expanded to its current appearance. However, even so, the entire Guihua City was only the size of an ordinary county town in the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, after the previous war with Ligdan Khan, the defense of Guihua City was not strict. In addition, due to the weather, the entire city defense was very loose. There were less than 2,000 soldiers in the city, and most of the main force of Bu Shitu and the tribe were outside the city.

"Pass the order down, have everyone take the number as a signal, and after taking over the City Lord's Mansion, attack at the same time. There must be no mistakes!"

"Yes!"

Wang Hai responded quickly and turned to leave. After Wang Hai left, Zhu Shenzhui did not stay here any longer. He gave his men a look, and several of them nodded knowingly. Then, except for a few people who stayed to continue "doing business", the rest of them took out the weapons hidden in the cart with Zhu Shenzhui, and then quietly left the area and headed towards the city lord's mansion.

It didn't take them much time to reach the City Lord's Mansion. The City Lord's Mansion was not big and seemed lower than the Silver Buddha Temple not far away. In terms of size, it was just a slightly better mansion in the Ming Dynasty.

Outside the city lord's mansion, several Mongols were guarding the gate. Because it was cold and this was inside the city, these Mongols were guards in name but in reality they were just ordinary gatekeepers.

Zhu Shencui and a few others walked straight towards the City Lord's Mansion, and not far away in the other direction of them, a few ordinary-looking Mongolians also walked towards this side after Zhu Shencui appeared. Both groups were heading towards the City Lord's Mansion, and they moved neither fast nor slow, and arrived in front of them in a moment.

"This is the City Lord's Mansion, no outsiders are allowed to approach!" Zhu Shenzui and his men soon reached a distance of more than ten meters from the City Lord's Mansion. At this time, the guards saw them coming this way and became a little alert and shouted a warning.

"Sir, I have an important matter to discuss with Khan Bu Shitu..." Zhu Shenzhui said this without stopping.

"Which tribe are you from? Do you think you can meet Bu Shitu Khan whenever you want? Get out of here right away!"

"I really have something important to discuss with you! My tribe is..." Zhu Shenzhui continued to walk and talk. At this moment, he was only four or five meters away from the opponent. Suddenly, he quickened his pace and rushed towards the opponent like an arrow. Behind him, several other Mongols made the same move at the same time. What surprised the opponent even more was that not only their side, but also several Mongols from another direction rushed directly towards them.

"You...are not good!"

After a brief moment of shock, the guard quickly came to his senses. Just as he was about to call out to his companions and draw the saber from his waist to stop the attack, he saw Zhu Shenzui had already raised the wooden stick in his hand. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was not a wooden stick at all but a short spear. The spear head was shining brightly and it came in an instant like lightning.

Before the other party could even shout out, the short spear in Zhu Shenzui's hand hit the other party's throat directly. With a "puchi" sound, the piercing was fierce and accurate. As the short spear was pulled out quickly, a stream of blood spurted out. The guard covered his pierced throat with both hands, gurgling but unable to make any sound. His eyes were wide open with fear, and when the spirit faded, the whole person fell to the ground.

After hitting the target with one strike, Zhu Shenzhui did not stop, and the short spear in his hand went straight to the other guard on the left. Just like before, he pierced the other guard's throat before he could react, causing that man to follow in the footsteps of his companion.

At this time, Zhu Shenzhui's other men also arrived, and they cooperated with each other to deal with the remaining guards as easily as cutting melons and vegetables. Among these guards, only one more screamed, and then they all fell in a pool of blood, no longer breathing.

(End of this chapter)