In Hongwu, we started as rebels

Chapter 1021 Giving the Imperial Court a Fear
Lu Yunyi discussed some more details with Xu Zengshou.
Xu Zengshou didn't leave until it was completely dark, only then did he hurriedly leave through the back door.

After seeing the person off, Lu Yunyi washed his face.
I'm going to take a look at the documents that arrived today and get some rest.

He had just sat down when he heard footsteps outside.

A slender, tall figure appeared in the doorway, knocked, and a clear, gentle voice rang out:

"My lord, may I come in?"

"Come in."

Lu Yunyi looked helpless and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Mu Jinghe pushed open the door and entered. She was wearing a light purple dress with a white jade belt around her waist, which accentuated her slender waist.

Why are you so late?

Lu Yunyi leaned back in his chair and asked with a smile.

When Mu Jinghe saw Lu Yunyi, she smiled faintly, but then her smile faded and she became somewhat serious.

She walked quickly to the table and lowered her voice to a minimum:
"My lord, I met Lord Mao of the Embroidered Uniform Guard today."

"what?"

Lu Yunyi was taken aback, a look of confusion flashing across his eyes:

"Mao Xiang?"

Mu Jinghe nodded repeatedly:
"Yes, it's Mao Xiang."

"Where is he? Isn't he locked up in the imperial prison awaiting execution?"

“In a shop on the street in Miaoyinfang, I swear I am absolutely not mistaken.”

"How can you be so sure?" Lu Yunyi asked.

"Sir, do you remember Ji Gang, whom we talked about last time? The one who was being monitored at Hongfeng Tower last time."

"remember."

“I saw him; he followed Lord Mao into the teahouse.”

There were several unfamiliar people around, but they looked fierce and menacing, and were definitely not good people; they must be members of the Imperial Guards.

Lu Yunyi's brows slowly furrowed.
Seeing her so certain, I also believed what she said.

Has Mao Xiang been released?
why?
Could it be that Du Pingping failed in her duties?
In an instant, a torrent of thoughts surged through Lu Yunyi's mind.

He quickly regained his composure, smiled gently, and patted Mu Jinghe's head:
"Your message was a great help to me. Thank you for your hard work."

Mu Jinghe walked to Lu Yunyi's side and squatted down.

She rested her head on his lap and said with a smile:
"My lord, I only manage two shops in the capital garrison. Compared to you, I am far inferior. You are the one who truly works hard."

"hehe."

Lu Yunyi's eyes were deep-set, and a flash of murderous intent and coldness disappeared.

Mao Xiang is incredibly resilient; he managed to escape such a certain death situation by sheer luck.

It seems things are moving too fast.

Now, rebellious parties are springing up like mushrooms after rain.
Compared to these people, Mao Xiang's inaction in the face of the rebellion was quite remarkable.

No wonder His Majesty reinstated him.

Have you heard any valuable news at Miaoyinfang lately?

Mu Jinghe thought for a moment and said:
"There are many rumors circulating in the capital recently, not only about the palace, but also about you."

But these are all just rumors and shouldn't be taken seriously.

However, there are some different accounts regarding the matter of the paper money.

"Tell me more specifically?"

Two distinguished ladies arrived this morning.

They were from Zuojiazhuang, outside the city. Their husbands were both officials in the county government, and their families were well-educated and quite wealthy.

I heard that some workshops in Zuojiazhuang have already imposed strict regulations.
From now on, wages will be paid in paper money.

However, some of the laborers and craftsmen did not recognize the paper money, saying it was worthless paper printed by the imperial court.

Some workshop workers even planned to refuse the paper money and seek justice from the government.

They spoke with such conviction that it didn't seem unbelievable to me.

Lu Yunyi narrowed his eyes, his thoughts sinking.

Finally, we have come to this step.

The best way to oppose a government decree is to distort its implementation with twice the force.

The imperial court currently has no explicit regulation stipulating that transactions must be conducted using paper money.
However, the merchants under the Market Exchange Bureau had to use paper money for transactions.

However, some people inevitably took the opportunity to cause trouble and forcibly stipulated the use of paper money.

They used this to harm the people, making them suffer losses for nothing, and thus oppose the imperial court.

Mu Jinghe raised her head and, seeing that Lu Yunyi's expression had become increasingly serious, asked softly:
"Sir, is the matter very serious?"

Lu Yunyi nodded, then shook his head:
"matters concerning people's livelihoods are naturally serious."

The imperial court only used paper money when distributing salaries to officials and clerks.

There was no prohibition against the use of copper coins and silver by ordinary people. Now, some are taking this opportunity to cause trouble; they are plotting something sinister.

"Then, sir, could you arrest these troublemakers?"

Lu Yunyi was taken aback, gave a self-deprecating smile, and shook his head:

"Let alone arresting him, you can't even mention him."

The situation is already chaotic enough; if the conflict is expanded further, it will only make things more difficult for His Majesty.

Some things, once they escalate, become a full-blown war.

The last time we saw such open and brutal confrontation was during Hu Weiyong's rebellion; it's not going to happen now.

Upon hearing this, a flicker of fear crossed Mu Jinghe's eyes:
"That is indeed quite serious."

"Moreover, killing people is useless in this kind of court struggle."

Behind every person is an interest group; if you kill one person who was pushed forward, you can just push another one forward.

Unless, like His Majesty, the entire group is exterminated to prevent future trouble.

"Then why hasn't His Majesty made a move yet?" Mu Jinghe asked, looking surprised.

She had witnessed numerous mass killings in the capital.

This situation is extremely tense, but the palace has yet to take any action.

"I do not know."

Lu Yunyi's voice was long and drawn out. He sighed and said softly:

"I have no children and cannot understand Your Majesty's feelings at this moment."

But I think His Majesty probably hopes the situation can stabilize and stop causing further turmoil.

"Why? These are all traitors."

Lu Yunyi narrowed his eyes, his voice hollow:

"His Majesty only has one son, and he can't bear to part with him."

Mu Jinghe was stunned, and whispered a reminder:
"My lord, His Majesty has more than twenty sons."

Lu Yunyi waved his hand:
"His Majesty has only one son; the others are princes and cannot be counted."

When Prince Qin was born, His Majesty had already conquered Yingtian and was enfeoffed as Duke of Wu, effectively making him the emperor of the Huai River region.
When the Crown Prince was born, His Majesty was still a military commander.

The difference between the two is like that between a son and a prince; the difference is enormous.

Mu Jinghe was very clever and immediately understood what he meant, nodding repeatedly:

"My lord is right."

"You should go and rest early; I still need to read some documents."

Pay close attention to news these days, and try to write it down as much as possible; I need to read it.

"Don't worry, my lord, I will have someone remember it. Have you eaten yet?"

Lu Yunyi was taken aback, touched his stomach, and suddenly laughed:

"I forgot. Let's eat together first."

Mu Jinghe's eyes curved into crescent moons as she nodded repeatedly.

"My lord, you have been working too hard these days. Don't let official business take a toll on your health."

The capital city, the northern camp!
The moonlight poured down like snow, scattering across the rooftops of the concrete houses.
It looked like it was covered with a layer of white snow, gleaming with a cold light.

At this time, the entire eastern part of the northern camp had been completely cleared out.
Soldiers, warhorses, and all kinds of military equipment were moved to the West Camp.

The vacated Dongda Camp was used to house three thousand wealthy households who had relocated to Guanzhong.

This resulted in the East Camp not only not decreasing in number, but becoming even more brightly lit and bustling than the West Camp.

The wealthy families were settled in houses, their faces beaming with excitement.

Although they had to leave home, the imperial court provided relocation compensation.

Enough for a family of four or even five to live comfortably for a lifetime.

After arriving in Guanzhong, they will be given land and oxen.

The Prince of Qin's residence would also help with the construction of the houses.

At first, they were somewhat uneasy, wondering what the houses the imperial court had built would be like.
But after moving into this concrete house, they were surprised to find that...

This house is more sturdy, safer, and warmer than the one in my hometown, and even looks much more dignified.

This kept many people up all night, eagerly awaiting their departure!

The central command tent of the Eastern Camp was a three-story building, with the second floor being the location of confidential documents.

Xu Zengshou was in a meeting room near the middle section at that moment.

Several of Yingtianwei's staff officers were present.

Sitting on either side of the long table, hurriedly organizing documents, a sense of sternness arose spontaneously.

Soon, a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old looked up and asked in surprise:
"General, we are transporting three thousand wealthy households, so why do we still need to devise a battle strategy?"

Xu Zengshou glanced at him, saw it was Li Fangying, and said irritably:

"Stop talking nonsense. Do whatever your superior tells you to do. For a soldier, obeying orders is his duty!"

Li Fangying was the youngest son of the late Prince Qiyang and the third younger brother of Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao.

He was originally a guard, but because he couldn't stand the monotony of standing guard all day, he was sent to Yingtian Guard as a staff officer.

He rolled his eyes, but still replied:

"Yes, General!"

Not long after, Li Fangying spoke again.

He walked up to Xu Zengshou with a document in his hand and solemnly asked:
"General, my troops plan to be divided into three parts—front, middle, and rear—to protect three thousand wealthy households."

However, the troop strength in the middle section is nearly 30% less than that in the front and rear sections.

If the enemy attacks, we can isolate the front and rear by attacking from the middle.

My suggestion is to position Mao Wenhao's most elite troops in the central area to provide rapid support.

Xu Zengshou glanced at him with some surprise:
"Wow, you know all this? Where did you learn it?"

Li Fangying straightened her back and said in a deep voice:
"Reporting to the General, I learned this from my elder brother Li's military treatise."
Such a long, serpentine formation should have its main force positioned in the middle to cover the front and back.

"Li's military treatise? What is that? Is it the family study of the Prince of Qiyang?"

"No, it's a military treatise written by my elder brother!"

Xu Zengshou was stunned for a moment, his eyes filled with confusion.

If I remember correctly, the Duke of Cao has only been leading troops in battle for four years, yet he still has military books?

"Could I also write a military treatise by Xu?"

Xu Zengshou pondered silently, then asked with a smile:

"Written by the Duke of Cao? What do you think? Can I take a look?"

"Reporting to the General, my elder brother's military treatise is excellent, and Lord Lu has also praised it highly."
If the general wishes to see it, he can inquire with my elder brother after he returns to the capital.

"Lord Lu also praised him highly? Does Duke Cao really have this ability?"

Xu Zengshou was shocked, silently muttering to himself:

"Could it be that Duke Cao has been secretly practicing diligently?"

Must be!
Xu Zengshou was certain in his heart, and then said:

"In military campaigns, elite troops can be positioned in the middle section."
But we're just sending people away; the only threats we need to be wary of are mountain bandits and outlaws. We can keep our elite troops at the front and rear as a deterrent.”

Li Fangying thought about it and felt that it made sense:
"Yes!"

"Well, you all go ahead with your work, I'm going to rest for a bit."

Xu Zengshou waved his hand and walked out of the conference hall.

After leaving, he did not rest.

Instead, they went straight up to the third floor and into a secluded room.

Upon opening the door, one finds a long, narrow rectangular table inside, with people sitting on either side. The table is covered with papers covered in writing and drawing, and a huge map of the capital region hangs nearby.

Gong Xianzhi was standing in front of the map, head bowed in deep thought!
"The general is here!"

When Gong Xianzhi saw him enter, he bowed deeply.

Xu Zengshou waved his hand:
"Don't be so polite, we're all bodyguards."

"How about it? Can two hundred musketeers hide in the middle of the column?"

Gong Xianzhi's expression was slightly grave:
"Don't worry, General. With only two hundred musketeers, we can easily hide in the middle without being detected by the enemy."

"That's fine, I've already made arrangements."

Most of Yingtianwei's elite troops were at the front and rear, with only a small number of soldiers in the middle.

If someone really comes to intercept us, we'll be counting on you guys.

"General, rest assured, we have hidden four hundred warhorses, which are scattered throughout the middle of the column to pull carts. If anything changes, we can quickly provide support."

"Ah."

Xu Zengshou nodded, somewhat suspicious:

"Are we getting a little too easily frightened? Is someone really going to come and ambush us?"

Gong Xianzhi nodded with a solemn expression:

"General, it's better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't."
Only by being prepared for everything can we be ready for anything, and only then can we remain calm in the face of unexpected military situations.

"Yeah!"

Xu Zengshou nodded repeatedly, as if he had remembered something:
"Having stayed in the capital for so long, I almost forgot how to fight. I was wrong."

Xu Zengshou looked at the map in front of him, examining the markings on it, and asked:
What are you looking at?

Gong Xianzhi pointed to the map and said in a deep voice:

"This subordinate is speculating on the location of the enemy's attack."

"Oh? Which places?"

Gong Xianzhi's expression was solemn as he said:

"Reporting to the General, there is no specific location yet, but I speculate that if the rebels really intend to take action, it will not be in the capital region."

"why?"

"There are many garrisons in the capital region, and local officials and garrisons often go into the mountains to sweep away bandits."

If an uprising were to take place in the capital region, local officials would react swiftly, making it extremely difficult for anyone to rebel.

Xu Zengshou frowned upon hearing this, and after thinking carefully, he said:
"I think it's more likely that the enemy will take action in the Gyeonggi region."

"Please enlighten me, General."

"If the rebels intercept and kill us, what is their purpose?"
Firstly, it was meant to give the imperial court a warning and hinder the relocation of the capital.
Secondly, it serves to deter wealthy households, showing them that they are not safe just because they have received a promise from the imperial court.

The journey will take more than a thousand miles, and we might even die on the way.

Therefore, I think the rebels will take action in the Gyeonggi region.

Only in the Gyeonggi region will the impact be greater and more people will know about it.

If this had happened in Henan, the Provincial Administration Commission and the Military Command could have easily covered it up, and the matter might have been minimized.

Gong Xianzhi gasped upon hearing this.
After thinking it over carefully, he felt that this conjecture made a lot of sense, so he quickly said:
"General, you are right. I only considered the terrain and the possibility of success, but I did not take this into account."

Xu Zengshou laughed:
"We're not leaving until tomorrow, so we need to prepare both contingency plans."
But one thing must be remembered: if a rebel army really comes, it will be a blatant provocation against the imperial court!
"Damn it, we have to kill all these bastards! Don't let them get away!"

Gong Xianzhi laughed and straightened his back:

"Yes!"

The night was deep, and in the blink of an eye, it was already the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).

Although the camp was still lit up sporadically, it was far less lively than when night had just fallen.

Most of the wealthy families had already gone to bed.

Only the soldiers of the Yingtian Guard patrolling at night were moving back and forth.

At that moment, a small, thin figure peeked out from behind the west tent.

He was a servant of a wealthy household, named Liu San.

He was wearing a faded short-sleeved shirt, with a cloth bag tied around his waist and a chamber pot in his hand.

While seemingly heading to the filth collection point in Yingjiao, he was actually quickly scanning his surroundings out of the corner of his eye.

"Hurry up and get through this patrol before your shift ends!"

The shouts of the patrol squad's flag officer could be heard from not far away.

The light from the lantern shone through the tent curtain.
Liu San quickly pulled his head back and crouched down in the shadow of the tent.

As the patrol's footsteps faded into the distance, Liu Sancai crouched down and stood up.

Instead of heading towards the corner of the camp, he went around to the back of the tent.

Using the luggage piled up by the wealthy families as cover, they slowly moved towards the east wall of the camp.

This area was temporarily cleared yesterday when wealthy households were being resettled.

The camp wall was not yet fully constructed; a drainage outlet about half a person's height was left at the corner, covered only by a few loose stone slabs.

Liu San looked around to make sure no one was there.

With fingertips gripping the edge of the stone slab, he suddenly exerted force, moving the slab to create a gap just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.

He first handed out the chamber pot, then bent down and hunched his shoulders to slip out.

After leaving, he quickly moved the stone slab back to its original position.

He covered the gaps with dry grass, then picked up the night-scented bucket and ran towards the path to the north.

One must avoid the patrolling soldiers on the road.

About fifteen minutes later, the outline of the North Gate finally appeared in the night.

The city gates were already closed, and two lanterns hung on the gate tower.

The dim light shone on the open ground in front of the city gate, casting the silhouettes of two guards at the side gate.

Liu San slowed his pace, walked along the base of the city wall to the dark corner on the west side of the city gate, took out a wooden plaque from his cloth bag, held it in his hand, and coughed softly.

The guard on the city wall poked his head out and asked in a low voice:
"Who's there?"

"It's me, here to deliver the night soil."

Liu San raised his head, held the wooden sign above his head, and used the lantern light to make it clear to the guards.
"When the west wind blows, the chrysanthemums bloom."

The guard on the city wall tensed, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke to his companion:
"I gonna go see."

Before long, he came down the small ladder inside the city gate with a lantern and opened a side door that could only allow one person to pass through.

"Did you bring the stuff?"

The guards kept their voices very low, their eyes scanning the path behind Liu San warily.

Liu San quickly took out the scroll of secret letter from his cloth bag and handed it over:
"Tell Master Zhang's relatives in Guanzhong to send a message about the goods list. The luggage is at the front and back, and we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

The guard heard this and secretly memorized it.

He tucked the secret letter into his pocket, returned the wooden plaque to Liu San, and took the chamber pot.

"I know, let's go back."

(End of this chapter)