Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2403: Drastic Change (IV) Defense of the Duke's Mansion

When the nobles in the capital focused their attention on the Jingguo Mansion in Zhaohui Jinggongfang on the map, the real Jingguo Mansion also came to the test.

The snow in the capital was still falling, and the whole city was covered with a layer of silver, which seemed particularly quiet. However, under this silence, undercurrents were surging, and a tense atmosphere permeated every corner.

The Tengxiang Four Guards finally set out. Under the command of Li Wenjin, 5,000 of the 9,000 soldiers in the city had quickly gathered outside the Jingguo Mansion, and the remaining 4,000 blocked the government offices on the east and west sides of the Imperial Street from Chengtian Gate to Daming Gate.

These include the Five Ministries on East Street (the Ministry of Justice is not here, but in the west of the city together with the Censorate and the Dali Temple, which are the Three Departments), the House of Clan Affairs, the Hanlin Academy, the Honglu Temple, etc.; the Five Military Commissioners' Office, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Taichang Temple, the Tongzhengsi, etc. on West Street.

The situation on East Street is relatively simple. The major government offices have almost no military forces except for dozens of city guards in each office. The Tengxiang Four Guards said to blockade it.

Since the Tengxiang Four Guards were the military force under the control of the Imperial Stables, they could not be frightened by the power of the officials from the Five Ministries and the Hanlin Academy. No matter whether they were scolded or reasoned with, they would not pay any attention and just said that they were "acting in accordance with the imperial edict" and would not reply any more.

There were also some bold ministers who wanted to force their way in - for example, Song Yingchang, the Minister of War, had actually led troops to fight in Korea, so he dared to force his way into the Tengxiang Four Guards defense line with a cold face. Unfortunately, he was also stopped by these soldiers with a fake smile, and they even advised him in a sinister way "Don't disobey the order", which was really a disgrace to him.

West Street was a little more troublesome. Whether it was the Five Military Governor's Office or the Jinyiwei, they had real soldiers. Although the Imperial Guards had been stripped out of the Five Military Governor's Office since Gao Youshi's military reform, only the Production and Construction Corps was left now. However, the Production and Construction Corps had at least 200,000 or 300,000 people, and it was not difficult to gather a few thousand or so soldiers. Therefore, a confrontation was formed in each Governor's Office with the Tengxiang Four Guards - the people inside did not rush out, but the people outside did not dare to break into the Governor's Office either.

The situation of the Jinyiwei was similar. Because the Jinyiwei had been the "Emperor's personal army" of the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years, they were very arrogant and even drew a lime line outside the Jinyiwei office, indicating that "anyone crossing the line will be regarded as treason and will be shot on the spot by the guard."

Some of the four Tengxiang guards did not believe it and deliberately crossed the line to provoke. Jinyiwei commander Luo Sigong held the embroidered spring sword on his waist and ordered with a cold face: "Dare to attack the Northern Pacification Office, shoot!"

Before he could finish his words, a gunshot rang out, and the captain of the Tengxiang Four Guards spurted blood from his chest. He was shot through the chest by the newly issued Wanli Type 3 rifle of the Jinyiwei at close range and died.

This sudden change almost caused a fight, and the soldiers from the four guards of Tengxiang became clamorous and were about to attack the Jinyiwei. Luo Sigong also ordered a defense to defend the emperor's authority and the dignity of the Jinyiwei.

Fortunately, the commander of the Wuxiang Right Guard, Gu Congyuan, who was leading the army, did not lose his mind. He knew that the soldiers under him did not care about the Jinyiwei, but a general like him could not afford to offend the Jinyiwei. If he lost their face today, they would have to take it back one day in the future. Therefore, Gu Congyuan had to run from the back of the formation to the front and forcibly stopped the attack.

[Note: "Tengxiang Four Guards" is a conventional term. In fact, the four guards are: Tengxiang Left and Right Guards, Wuxiang Left and Right Guards.]

Gu Congyuan rode his horse to the gate of Jinyiwei, stood firmly outside the lime line, bowed to Luo Sigong who was standing on the steps of the gate and apologized: "General Wei, how are you? I am honored to meet you!"

Luo Sigong put his hands behind his back, showing no intention of returning the greeting. Instead, he sneered, "Oh? You are really very polite. You even dared to lead troops to force your way into the Northern Pacification Office! Gu Congyuan, do you admit your guilt?"

Jinyiwei, especially the Northern Pacification Division, had a terrifying reputation. Gu Congyuan knew that he had the upper hand in the current situation, but he was still frightened by Luo Sigong's words and broke into a cold sweat. He quickly turned over and dismounted, and bowed again, saying, "General Wei, please understand. I am here because of the order from the top. I have no intention of offending you. I hope you will understand."

Luo Sigong's tone slowed down slightly, and he asked, "A transfer order from the higher-ups? I wonder which of your higher-ups is so bold as to attack my Jinyiwei?"

Gu Congyuan laughed dryly and said, "This is an order from Li Hujun following the imperial edict. If the guard has any doubts, he can coordinate with the Hujun."

Luo Sigong felt relieved when he heard him disassociating himself from the matter. He was afraid that these people did not know their place and really stormed the Jinyiwei Yamen, which would be a big problem.

The Jinyiwei certainly has capable men, but most of them are deployed outside to carry out missions. There are not many of them in the headquarters. There are only about two hundred people who can really "fight", and they are not good at frontal combat. If the Four Tengxiang Guards really want to attack by force, the Jinyiwei will surely lose face today.

Now that Gu Congyuan is intimidated by the reputation of the Jinyiwei and is worried about being held accountable, that is the best thing. It is not that I cannot give him this face - as long as the superiors do not hold him accountable afterwards, I can pretend that nothing happened. Of course, if the superiors want to hold him accountable, I will be sorry. The Jinyiwei are minions, and minions do not need to have thoughts - at least they cannot be seen as having thoughts at first glance.

"In that case, I've made a note of it." Luo Sigong said expressionlessly, "I still say the same thing. You are all executing military orders, and I have no right to interfere. But if anyone dares to step into my Jinyiwei Yamen without permission, I will kill him no matter where he is! I hope you don't make the mistake." After that, he turned around and left without looking back.

Gu Congyuan's face turned pale and blue, but he didn't dare to say anything big in the end. Instead, he turned around and shouted, "Open your eyes and look carefully. This is the Jinyiwei! If you don't want to implicate the nine clans, just stay outside the white line. If anyone dares to take the opportunity to cause trouble, I, Gu, recognize you, but the knife in my hand can't recognize you!" After that, he kicked his horse's belly and went to the rear.

At the same time, Li Wenjin, the seal holder of the Imperial Horse Administration, was wearing a bright red dragon robe, riding on a tall warhorse, with a stern look in his eyes and holding a yellow silk "secret decree" in his hand. Behind him, five thousand soldiers of the Four Tengxiang Guards lined up, each wearing armor, holding cold and hot weapons, with their chests and bellies puffed out, and their morale was high - they had just received a two-month salary increase before departure, so how could they not be in high spirits?

This is the power of the Imperial Horse Supervisor. Because they control the imperial store, horse farm and other industries outside the imperial treasury, the Imperial Horse Supervisor can mobilize a large amount of financial and material resources at any time. Even if there is a temporary reward, the Imperial Horse Supervisor does not need to transfer it from other places, and can handle it by itself. Speaking of this, we have to thank Gao Youshi. In addition to the Liaonan Salt Field, his Jinghua also has many industries that share the accounts with the emperor. Among these industries, except for a few that were called to Liu Ping, most of the others had to be transferred through the Imperial Horse Supervisor, which virtually gave Li Wenjin many more opportunities to plunder.

Of course, there are also more funds and materials that can be mobilized today.

"My men, this fight to eradicate traitors concerns the fate of the Ming Dynasty. You must do your best. The emperor will reward you handsomely afterwards!" Li Wenjin said loudly, trying to boost morale.

The soldiers responded in unison, but many of them had flickering eyes. They all knew that the Jingguo Mansion was not an easy place to deal with. Gao Youshi's influence was spread all over the capital, and if they were not careful, they might fall into an irretrievable situation.

Not to mention... exterminating traitors? Who is the traitor? Could it be that the current Prime Minister Jingguo, who pacified Annan and conquered the west and the east, is actually a traitor? Then are there any loyal ministers in this court? The Ming Dynasty is doomed...

"We have only one goal this time, to break into the Duke Jingguo's mansion and capture Gao Youshi. We must find him alive or dead!" Li Wenjin continued to shout, "All guards must obey orders and follow prohibitions. Do not act on your own!"

The Tengxiang Four Guards Camp was only two miles away from the Jingguo Mansion, so they arrived as soon as they talked. Li Wenjin rode his horse to the front of the team and carefully observed the terrain of the Jingguo Mansion - in fact, there was no need to look closely, he had been here many times. The Jingguo Mansion was adjacent to Shichahai in the west, a wide street in the east, and small roads in the north and south. Except for the Shichahai side, the other three sides were surrounded by high walls. The gate of the mansion faced east, facing the main street. The buildings on the other side of the main street were not high, and the view was relatively wide, suitable for large-scale military operations.

"Pass the order down, divide the troops into three groups. The first group will attack from the main gate, the second group will climb over from the north wall, and the third group will climb over from the south wall. We must control the situation in the mansion in the shortest time possible." Li Wenjin gave the order he had already thought of.

Given his almost nonexistent military command ability, he probably felt that his ideas were well thought out.

"Yes, sir!" The three generals responded in unison, each leading their own troops to prepare for action. As for Li Wenjin's unclear "three groups of troops", they just pretended not to hear it, because they had to allocate them themselves anyway - Li Hujun obviously didn't understand.

The first team, led by General Hu Gang, led 800 soldiers and quickly approached the main gate of the Duke of Jingguo's mansion. They were holding muskets and spears, and their steps were barely in step, but most of them had a hint of nervousness in their eyes.

The second team, led by General Wang Qiang, led 500 soldiers and quickly approached the northern wall of the Jingguo Palace. In addition to the corresponding weapons, they also held ropes and grappling hooks, ready to climb over the wall and enter the palace.

The third team, led by General Zhao Yong, also led 500 soldiers and quickly circled around the southern wall of the Jingguo Palace. Their actions were similar to those of the second team, and they were also preparing to climb over the wall and enter the palace.

The first group of soldiers led by Hu Gang arrived at the main gate of the Duke of Jingguo's Mansion and shouted loudly: "Everyone in the Duke of Jingguo's Mansion, listen carefully! The four Tengxiang guards have been ordered to kill traitors. Those who know what's best for you should quickly open the gate and surrender, otherwise you will be turned into dust!"

There was total silence in the mansion, with no response. Hu Gang saw this and knew that this would not end well, so he ordered, "Prepare for a strong attack!"

The soldiers quickly dispersed and formed an attack formation. At Hu Gang's command, the soldiers began to attack the gate of the mansion. This showed that Li Wenjin had no knowledge of military affairs. He did not order the four Tengxiang guards to prepare equipment to break the door in advance. At this time, they could only use people to pile up - more than a dozen people used their shoulders to hit the gate of the Jingguo Mansion.

The result was naturally that the gate did not move at all. After all, a heavy-duty gate that had been prepared during construction had already been lowered behind the gate. How could it be knocked open by human power?

At the same time, Wang Qiang and Zhao Yong led the second and third teams of soldiers to the north and south walls respectively. They quickly tied ropes and hooks and began to climb over the wall. However, just as they were about to climb over the wall, a burst of dense gunfire suddenly rang out from all over the high wall. The Gao family's servants began shooting from various hidden crenels above the wall, and through carefully designed crossfire, they killed and injured the soldiers who were about to climb over the wall one by one.

The defenseless soldiers of the Four Tengxiang Guards screamed in agony, some fell to the ground, some lay dead, and many more saw blood on the battlefield for the first time and were so frightened that they fled in panic.

Wang Qiang and Zhao Yong on the north and south sides faced almost the same situation. They were all shocked when they saw it and immediately ordered a retreat... Yes, they retreated in an instant.

This is not to say that they are all useless, but because they know that the defense in the palace is much more strict than they imagined, and they have been prepared in advance. In addition, there are small paths on the north and south sides, which are not spacious enough. They are definitely within the enemy's firepower coverage. If they don't retreat, they will just wait for death.

Of course, they couldn't just retreat like that, they just planned to withdraw from the small path first, and discuss a solution at the street corner. They also thought of a solution while retreating: go back to the camp to pull the sidecar over, and under the cover of the sidecar, they would shoot at the servants of the Jingguo Mansion to see if they could suppress the opponent's firepower, and then climb over the wall to attack.

Why didn't they use artillery? Of course, it was because they didn't have artillery... bullets. The Tengxiang Four Guards actually had artillery, but since it was not wartime, they only had ten training artillery. They also had gunpowder, although because Li Wenjin didn't know military knowledge, the gunpowder transported from Wanggongchang was only for guns, but considering that it was only for temporary use, they could make do with it for now.

The problem was that they had no shells! Since the four Tengxiang guards were stationed in the capital city, it was impossible for them to use live ammunition for artillery training. Therefore, their real artillery training was carried out in the Beijing North Camp. Usually, they were only taught the steps and coordination in the camp, and there was no need for live ammunition at all.

Li Wenjin was a military layman, and he probably had not expected to use artillery at all, and was completely unprepared. At this point, the officers of the Tengxiang Four Guards were at a loss: with the defense level of the Jingguo Mansion, how could they break through the door without artillery? It seemed that they could only bring the side carriages over to shoot at the Gao family servants, wait until the other side ran out of ammunition, and then force the door open, or wait for them to open the door and surrender.

Apparently, they had not expected that Gao Youshi's residence always stored a large amount of weapons and ammunition, and they were still counting on the other party's insufficient reserves.

At this time, Hu Gang's troops at the main gate were also encountering stubborn resistance. Like the north and south sides, the Gao family's servants used the crossfire points on both sides of the gate to fiercely shoot at the attacking soldiers. Not only that, the long high wall suddenly had at least a hundred gun holes, and the sound of the muskets and the screams of the Tengxiang Four Guards were intertwined, and the scene was extremely intense.

"Break the gate and rush in, or we'll all die!" Hu Gang shouted loudly, trying to boost morale. But the opposite happened. The motionless gate made the soldiers standing on the main street, who could only passively take the beating, even more desperate. They retreated to the other side to hide - after all, the main entrances of buildings these days often have several thick door pillars or stone lions. However, this little cover was not enough for them to hide, and instead caused many soldiers to scramble for positions, resulting in fierce infighting.

Other soldiers who had nowhere to hide rushed to the gate, but were quickly repelled by the Gao family's servants. The crossfire points on both sides of the gate continued to shoot, and the soldiers had nowhere to hide and fell to the ground one after another.

"Retreat first!" Hu Gang felt a sinking feeling in his heart when he saw the casualties increasing rapidly one after another. He felt that he would not be safe even if he stood in the crowd, so he could only order a retreat.

The soldiers quickly retreated to the sides of the street, seeking cover. Their hearts were filled with fear and anxiety, and their morale began to decline.

Li Wenjin was watching the entire battle from behind, his heart filled with anger. He had not expected the Gao family's defense to be so tight, his soldiers fell one after another under the crossfire, and the attack was completely blocked.

"Damn Gao Youshi, he actually designed the mansion to be so sturdy, he must have had some bad intentions and I have been prepared for it!" Li Wenjin cursed angrily.

But scolding was useless, so he calmed down and ordered: "Pass the order down, temporarily stop the attack, and make plans after regrouping."

In fact, his orders were no longer needed at this moment, as the three "armies" had already withdrawn to both sides of the street and regrouped. However, compared with their high morale not long ago, they were now filled with fear and anxiety, and their morale suddenly dropped.

Li Wenjin rode his horse to the middle of the soldiers, trying to boost their morale. "Don't be discouraged, my men. Although the Gao Mansion is well defended, our army is strong and we still have a chance. As long as we push the side carriage over, we will be able to capture the Jingguo Mansion without fear of the enemy's firepower and achieve the first merit in exterminating the traitors!"

Although the soldiers were uneasy, they still responded in unison. Li Wenjin felt a little relieved and began to re-arrange the attack mission. However, he really didn't know how to fight, so his instructions were exactly the same as before. He simply followed the advice and equipped all three groups of troops with a large number of side carriages.

The three generals had nothing to say, so they could only lead their own teams to prepare for another attack. However, they did not expect that this wave of attack would be even worse than the previous one. When they carefully pushed the sidecars to their respective positions and planned to shoot at the gun holes on the high walls of the Jingguo Mansion, they suddenly found dense black dots thrown from the top of the high wall...

The sound of explosions rang out all around. After the loud bang of the palm thunder, the shattered sidecar was torn into pieces, and hundreds of bodies with broken limbs and arms instantly appeared. The remaining soldiers of the Four Guards no longer cared about the orders from their superiors and fled in all directions like headless flies. Some soldiers near Shichahai even jumped directly onto the ice and rolled away.

Inside the Jingguo Mansion, on the Rixin Building, Gao Mo put down his binoculars, bowed slightly to Menggu Zhezhe beside him, and said, "Madam Menggu, please tell the master on my behalf that we have repelled the attack of the four Tengxiang guards. If nothing unexpected happens, the other side should not dare to attack again. I think we should switch to a siege and blockade soon. Please rest assured, master."

Menggu Zhezhe also put down the telescope, smiled gratefully at Gao Mo, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Mo."

Gao Mo's old face showed a trace of smile, and he said: "Madam Menggu, you are too polite. The main gate is commanded by your family general Fei Yingdong. He is the one who made the greatest contribution."

Menggu Zhezhe also laughed. Fei Yingdong was not only in charge of the main gate, but he actually made all the arrangements for today's command and decision-making. It was just that Gao Youshi made the final decision after listening to the report. According to Gao Youshi's habit, he never competed with his subordinates for credit. In the end, Fei Yingdong must have the first credit.

Menggu Zhezhe was naturally happy to see her own general perform so well. She exchanged a few polite words with Gao Mo, then went downstairs excitedly to find the master to report the good news.

Gao Youshi's condition was not good at the moment. He had been struggling to stay healthy that day, analyzing the situation with Gao Mo, Menggu Zhezhe and others, and meeting guests, which made his condition worse. He slept almost the entire day the next day. He woke up the next night and quickly issued a batch of orders and adjusted some arrangements.

Today, his spirits have recovered a little, but he was also warned by the doctor in the palace not to work hard, so unless it was the most urgent matter, the people below would not report to him. Of course, with the gunshots and explosions just now, he couldn't sleep even if he wanted to. As soon as Menggu Zhezhe entered the door, Gao Fushi smiled and asked, "Have you defeated the four guards of Tengxiang?"

"Master, you really have a keen eye." Menggu Zhezhe also smiled sweetly in return: "Just as expected before the battle, the four Tengxiang guards were not well prepared, and Li Wenjin was completely ignorant of military affairs. He has been repelled by the servants. Uncle Mo said that they are expected to switch from attack to blockade... Master, what should we do now?"

Gao Fusi chuckled and said, "Wait."

"Just wait?" Menggu Zhezhe hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but say, "Fei Yingdong thinks that he can lead his army to attack, taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, and give the Tengxiang Four Guards a good beating."

"I know he can." Gao Youshi laughed, but still shook his head firmly: "It's just not necessary."

Menggu Zhezhe asked curiously, "Why is this?"

"Giving them a hard time is just to catch them off guard and cause them to suffer a few hundred more casualties. It is not enough to change the current situation." Gao Youshi shook his head and said, "It is still the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who died, isn't it?"

Menggu Zhezhe was speechless for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Then continue to wait...what about that?"

"When the situation becomes clear, the four Tengxiang guards will naturally lay down their weapons and surrender. Why bother killing more people?" Gao Youshi glanced at the hourglass and said calmly, "At this moment, those who should take action should have already taken action. At the latest tomorrow morning, the clouds should be gone and the sun should be shining again. Why rush?"

Menggu Zhezhe was a little discouraged, but she just hoped that Fei Yingdong could make more contributions, so she didn't insist on persuading Gao Youshi to kill more ruthlessly. She just asked subconsciously: "Everything is as the master expected, right?"

This unintentional remark suddenly froze Gao Youshi's smile. He frowned and said, "There is a slight mistake. I hope there won't be any major changes..."
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PS: The previous chapter had fewer words, 3K, and this chapter makes up for it, and even has a little more.

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