I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 549 The Role of Railways

"Make a decision early?" Jiang Bin asked doubtfully.

"The treacherous king is powerful. The sooner the Duke makes a decision, the more advantage we will have in terms of legal principles and public opinion." Gu Yishan said carefully.

Jiang Bin immediately understood what Gu Yishan meant, pulled out the knife from his waist, and swung it at Gu Yishan, "Get out!"

Gu Yishan was so scared that he pissed himself and hurriedly dodged Jiang Bin's attack.

Jiang Bin did not chase after him, but stared blankly outside the city.

"I have heard what the Duke said in front of the army today. I will persuade the Queen Mother and the Cabinet to endorse what the Duke said." Gu Yishan actually came back. He said this quickly and ran away.
At this time, the remnants of the Imperial Guards outside the city also arrived at the city gate. Of the six thousand soldiers who went out, only less than half returned, and many of them were injured.
Jiang Bin hurried down the tower and personally greeted the remaining soldiers at the city gate.
No matter what, he still has to firmly grasp the military power of the Guards, which is his greatest reliance now.

Jiang Bin asked the returning soldiers about their well-being, but each of them looked expressionless and did not appreciate Jiang Bin's kindness.

Jiang Bin had no choice but to let the military doctors in the city treat these soldiers first.

Then he looked at Shi Wanshan, the commander of the Guards in this battle. Shi Wanshan was unharmed, but he looked rather embarrassed. He also looked wooden.
"Brother Shi, thank you for your hard work!" Jiang Bin patted Shi Wanshan's shoulder gently.

Shi Wanshan just looked at him indifferently without saying anything.

"Brother Shi, you have made great contributions this time. I will report your achievements to the Queen Mother. Maybe you will be awarded a title of nobility because of it," Jiang Bin said to himself.

"Thank you, Duke!" Shi Wanshan spoke slowly, his voice extremely hoarse, "I feel very tired, I want to take a rest for a while."

Jiang Bin's expression froze for a moment, then he said, "Go! Have a good rest!"

Shi Wanshan nodded and staggered away.
Jiang Bin looked at the guards around him and found that their morale was very low. He wanted to say something to boost their morale, but in the end he said nothing.
Then his thoughts drifted to other places again, and he didn't know where to go now. However, he also knew that the most important thing now was to defend the capital, wait and see if there would be any room for turnaround.

At this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of a musket being fired, and he was instantly awakened. The soldiers around him immediately surrounded him, and he squatted down, thinking someone was trying to assassinate him.
"What's going on?" he asked in surprise.

no one answered him
After a while, I heard bursts of crying.
The guards also lifted their alert. One of them walked up to him and whispered, "Shi Wanshan shot himself." Jiang Bin opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to say.
"Let's go and take a look!" Jiang Bin said gritting his teeth.

They soon came to a nearby room, which was filled with people and filled with crying.
After seeing Jiang Bin coming, the people in the room silently made way for him.
Shi Wanshan had fallen on a chair with blood all over his face. There was a bloodstained pistol on the ground beside him.
Jiang Bin stared at Shi Wanshan's body, feeling mixed emotions.
"Duke, this is Commander Shi's suicide note." An officer wiped his tears and handed over a piece of paper.

Jiang Bin took the paper and saw three big words written in blood on it: I’m sorry.
Jiang Bin couldn't control his emotions for a moment. He squeezed the paper with his hand and the paper was crumpled into a ball. He knew that this "I'm sorry" was not for him, but for the soldiers from both sides who died in the battle today.
However, he quickly controlled his emotions, slowly smoothed over Shi Wanshan's suicide note, and said calmly: "Commander Shi is a man of merit, so he will be buried first, and we will bury him after we win."

After saying that, he walked out of the room. When he reached the door of the room, he found that a large number of guardsmen had gathered at the door, including some who had just participated in the battle. They all came here after hearing the news.
They blocked Jiang Bin's way at the door.
"Duke, tell us what's going on."

"Why are there so many old guards following King Wu?"

"How is His Majesty? We want to see His Majesty."

"Even if you let us die, we must die knowingly"

"."

The guardsmen spoke in unison.
"Didn't I tell you the truth? Everything I said today is true!" Jiang Bin explained.

But the soldiers who noticed something was wrong simply refused to listen.
At this time, Gu Yishan returned with the imperial edict of Empress Dowager Zhang and the letters from the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commandery. Although these people and institutions usually had no control over the Imperial Guards, their names were still quite impressive. Moreover, the contents of the imperial edict and the letters also said that Zhu Houxuan had indeed assassinated Zhu Houzhao and that Zhu Houxuan had indeed rebelled.
It was to endorse what Jiang Bin said before the war and let the guards guard the capital.
In addition, Gu Yishan also brought a lot of silver coins, gold bars and silver bars. The gold bars and silver bars had the Royal Bank logo on them, and it was obvious that they were taken from the Royal Bank vault.
Gu Yishan used the gold and silver to reward the soldiers of the Imperial Guards generously, and Jiang Bin also promised to bring representatives elected by the soldiers to meet Zhu Houzhao, which suppressed the dissatisfaction of the soldiers.
Jiang Bin once again looked at the laborers outside the city who were busy building the railway. A railway loop around the entire capital city had already taken shape. He still didn't understand why Zhu Houxuan was building these railways.
"His name is Xia Yingyong. Ying means "Ying" in Yingzhou, and Yong means "brave" in Chinese. Xia Songshan said woodenly. His tears had dried up, but he still held Xia Yingyong's body tightly.
The soldiers around him became even sadder after hearing what Xia Songshan said. Many people knew that Xia Songshan was a veteran who retired due to injuries in the Yingzhou battle.
"I promise you and everyone that all the sacrifices today will not be in vain, and I will always remember their sacrifice." Zhu Houxuan squatted beside Xia Songshan and said sincerely.

After calming the soldiers, Zhu Houxuan asked the attendants around him, "How is the progress of the railway construction?"

"The main line is almost finished, and the branch line is expected to be finished the day after tomorrow," a servant replied.

"Speed ​​up!" Zhu Houxuan nodded and said.

The guards in the city also allowed the civilians outside the city to repair the railway these two days.
On the third day, a train pulled by two locomotives slowly drove into the branch line of the siege railway, and then the sides of the carriages were opened one by one, revealing huge cannons.
(End of this chapter)