Wanli Ming Emperor

Chapter 203: Under the Imperial Palace, Assassinating the King and Killing the Emperor

"drive!"

The horses galloped in the rain. The hoarse and low sound of the driving force and the clattering sound of the horse's hooves rapidly stepping on the mud and water intertwined together, inexplicably highlighting the nervous and hurried mood of the visitor.

The rain was heavy, the clouds were dark, there were flashes of lightning, and the footsteps of people and horses along the way were chaotic and continuous.

Qi Jiguang had not yet taken off his woolen coat, his legs were tightly clamped around the horse's belly, and the whip in his hand almost left an afterimage.

He led his personal guards without stopping, galloping through the long street, going against the fleeing flow of people, and breaking through the rain curtain.

The group of people's faces were already soaked from being beaten, but their faces still looked solemn.

Because the shouting and killing sounds not far away were already clear in my ears.

Someone actually gathered troops in the capital to assassinate the king! This is truly a disaster that will break the sky!
Who is so audacious and cruel that he would risk his life to cause unrest in the world? ?
Where did these rebels gather from? How many men and horses are there? Do they have weapons and armor?
The most important thing is whether the Holy Chariot has been hit or not!

Whenever Qi Jiguang thought of this, he felt even more uneasy.

Hurry up! You have to hurry up! The current emperor is a divine and martial man, and the safety of the world is at stake. Nothing can happen!
The closer they got, the clearer the shouting and screaming became, and they could even see bandits fleeing from the battlefield. Everyone saw that the left and right guards didn't need any orders at all, and just fired a few shots and knocked down several bandits who had fled in panic.

"General Qi! The clothing of the White Lotus Sect! Mixed with the armor of the Left Guard!"

The guards put away their guns, reined in their horses, and loudly reported what they had seen.

Qi Jiguang frowned and glanced at him, then quickly retracted his gaze and whipped his horse whip vigorously: "The hands and feet have been picked, leave it to the factory guards! Let's go quickly to protect the emperor!"

"what!"

"Spare your life!"

As soon as the order was given, several screams were heard one after another.

Qi Jiguang turned a deaf ear to it and felt even more depressed.

The Left Guard is one of the six guards under the jurisdiction of the Left Army Governor's Office in Beijing. Although it is not part of the Twenty-Six Imperial Guards, it is the core guard stationed in the capital. If it takes part in treason, it would be a serious matter!
Of course, the presence of armor for the Left Guard does not necessarily mean that this guard is involved.

During the Tianshun period, Zhaowu Bo Cao Qin plotted rebellion and led his private army to attack the imperial palace. The armor he stored was secretly kept after each formal deployment of troops. "Every time he went out, he would select high-ranking officials and soldiers to serve under his command. When he returned, he would store the armor at home, so there were many armors stored at home."

But even so, it at least shows that the person who plotted treason is of a high status!

In addition to the Ministry of War, the Five Military Governorates are most likely also involved.

And the White Lotus Sect...

It's really like a fly, it will drill into any crack!
Since the Yongle reign, the White Lotus bandits have never stopped plotting rebellion!
When Emperor Shizong reformed the system, he instigated the royal family to rebel. After Emperor Muzong ascended the throne, the political situation was unstable, and Zhao Quan of the White Lotus Sect instigated Altan Khan to become emperor. He also planned the Shizhou Rebellion, led the Tatars, and massacred more than 100,000 of his compatriots. Now, because of the emperor's land measurement issue, the White Lotus Sect has colluded with Shi Maohua and his gang.

Traitors and thieves, the two are really like flies meeting shit!
"Hurry! Hurry!"

Qi Jiguang gave orders again.

He only brought ten personal guards with him, which was the maximum allowed by his current favor.

But even though their number is small, they still exude a heavy and solemn aura, which is completely different from other tribes.

At this moment, with an order given, the bodyguards sped up a little more. The eleven men moved in unison like a stream in the rain.

The closer we got along the road, the more silent every household had its doors and windows tightly closed. Only not far away, with the wind and rain, there were occasional shouts, the clashing of swords, and the sound of bows and crossbows shooting.

……

Not long after, a group of people and horses finally arrived galloping.

Look around.

But the rain was falling from the sky, and the stone-paved ground turned scarlet.

The plaque on the gate of Gao's mansion fell to the ground, the wounded and corpses were lying outside the gate, and the scorched marks on the walls on both sides silently revealed the effect of rain.

The fighting continues.

The Jinyiwei, Dongchang, Tengxiang Zuowei, White Lotus Sect, barbarians, private soldiers, all kinds of people were mixed together in a chaotic mess, and could only be vaguely distinguished from each other by their clothing.

Swords, spears, and halberds collided fiercely.

"Maintain the formation and attack!" Luo Sigong shouted as he stood in front of the gate of Gao's mansion.

Tengxiang's left guards lined up in a row, gritted their teeth, and stabbed with all their might.

"Pfft!"

The sound of the spear piercing the flesh and the heart-wrenching wails rang out at the same time, and blood splattered all over the face, which was terrifying.

The factory guard who vomited was immediately dragged away, and others took his place.

"Surround! Kill!"

The Censorate and the Guards had been at peace for too long, and the rebels were a motley crowd. When the two sides met, they were completely disorganized and acted blindly.

After the fight was thoroughly entangled, the factory guards finally gained a foothold, began to organize themselves into formations, and began to slaughter the bandits in unison.

Dozens of red-helmeted guards were on both wings, with white marks on their armor. They silently gathered in the middle with swords in hand, their steps in unison and their movements in unison.

"Puff puff"

A cold light flashed, and the dozen or so rebels with white scarves wrapped around their arms who were rushing in the front had ferocious looks on their faces the previous moment, but stopped abruptly the next moment.

A dull sound was heard, almost like the sound of wheat being cut, and more than a dozen people fell to the ground and died.

Qi Jiguang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that although the factory guards had also suffered damage, they had a huge advantage and had suppressed the villains.

"Go! Charge to the right wing!"

When providing assistance, foreign troops should avoid being self-centered and disrupting the frontal fighting.

As a famous general of the time, he naturally would not make such low-level mistakes. He simply commanded his personal guards to take advantage of their cavalry and charge towards the group on the right wing to fight against the most fierce bandits.

"Order!"

After a brief response, the neighing of war horses was heard, merging into the meat grinding wheel in front of Gao's mansion.

Even if it is just a long street, the advantages of cavalry are still evident.

Galloping past, no formation can be maintained.

As the spear swept through, several streaks of blood appeared in the air and a corpse fell to the ground.

"As expected of the Qi Family Army, even when riding horses along the long streets, they still maintain their formation. They are truly the elite in the world!"

In the chaos, someone with sharp eyes praised.

Qi Jiguang turned around and saw a senior official in a red robe reining in his horse and approaching.

The former saw the man's face clearly and was about to dismount and salute, but he saw that the fighting was still going on and hesitated for a moment.

Finally, he had to grit his teeth and bowed on his horse: "Your humble servant greets Governor Yin. It is inconvenient for me to dismount at this time. I hope the Governor will forgive me."

The person approaching was Yin Zhengmao, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, who came to Beijing to report on his work.

Seeing that the man was keeping a distance from him and keeping alert, Yin Zhengmao could not help but shake his head: "It's just a minor problem that can be dealt with easily. Commander Qi doesn't need to be so cautious."

Qi Jiguang was speechless for a moment.

Yin Zhengmao's reputation is not necessarily very good. The term "corrupt by nature" refers to this person.

What's more, even the Minister of War Shi Maohua had rebelled, and the person who appeared here now was a high-ranking civil official. How could Qi Jiguang dare to let down his guard?

Faced with Yin Zhengmao's approach, Qi Jiguang had to change the subject in a hurried tone: "Governor Yin! How is His Majesty? Has the emperor been disturbed by the traitors? Can I enter the palace to see the emperor?"

Yin Zhengmao pointed his chin at the bloody killing field outside the gate of Gao's mansion: "In such a mess, why bother to rush in?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty is fine. Only a few thieves climbed over the wall and were quickly thrown out. None of them hit Your Majesty."

"We will wait until these rebels are completely wiped out before we seek an audience with His Majesty."

Of course, he had something else to say - Qi Jiguang knew to be on guard against Yin Zhengmao, so how could those factory guards let anyone in easily at this time?

It would not be difficult for Yin Zhengmao, the Minister of War, Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief and Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, to get in. However, Qi Jiguang was born a military general, so he would probably be turned away at the sensitive moment.

You might as well wait a while until things calm down, and then you can calmly ask for a meeting and greet him.

Qi Jiguang did not take it to heart that he was not allowed to enter the palace to meet the emperor. He was finally relieved when he heard that the emperor was fine.

He let out a long sigh: "That's good, that's good."

After relaxing, Qi Jiguang finally had time to ask about the cause of the situation: "Governor Yin, who is so cruel and crazy to cause this scene?!"

In the rain, the sounds of killing gradually became quieter and showed signs of calming down.

All the thieves were dispersed and fled in all directions.

The factory guards, cavalry, patrol officers, and even the servants who came to gallop, each formed a battle formation and strangled any thieves who showed their backs.

Near the gate of Gao's mansion, he had already started searching among the crowd for a finishing blow.

Yin Zhengmao was silent for a while before he slowly said, "It should be the Chengyi Marquis's mansion that is plotting a rebellion. I just saw Liu Zhi, the brave lieutenant general of the Fifth Army Camp, being taken into the mansion."

The White Lotus Sect is just a mob and ultimately needs to be commanded by someone.

The leader, Liu Zhi, was given special attention first and was captured immediately - this is why these rebels are now in disarray.

Qi Jiguang frowned and muttered to himself: "The Right Commander of the Five Military Commandery, the Earl of Chengyi Liu Shiyan... No wonder there are armors of the Six Guards mixed in with these rebels."

"I don't know how he got mixed up with the White Lotus thieves."

Upon hearing this, Yin Zhengmao snorted coldly: "This group of people have already colluded with foreign forces!"

He wiped the rain off his face and continued, "Yesterday when I went to the palace to report on my work, I heard that Wang Chonggu had found out that Ma Zheng was entangled with the White Lotus Bandits, the Tatars, and the Jurchens!"

"Whether it is Shi Maohua from the Ministry of War or Liu Shiyan from the Five Military Command, they are both deeply involved in horse politics."

"Once a rebellion is planned, all parties will naturally join forces!"

Qi Jiguang was about to speak when he heard this.

Just then. "Bang, bang, bang!"

"Whizzing!"

"kill!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The fighting outside was coming to an end, but it was not yet complete. The fighting in several places was a bit intense.

Suddenly, a series of explosions, like thunder, suddenly sounded!

Then there was a burst of shouting and killing sounds coming from inside Gao’s mansion outside!

Yin Zhengmao's eyes widened and he turned around suddenly: "Not good!"

There are thieves attacking the emperor!
The officials of all ranks who had just arrived and were watching from outside, as well as the scattered soldiers and generals who had fought and killed the rebels, also reacted.

Everyone turned around in surprise and looked inside the mansion.

Upon seeing this, the two civil servants in green robes, who had just shrank back at the flashing swords and sabers in front of them, now joined hands and covered their heads with their sleeves, trembling like sieves as they crossed the killing field in front of the mansion, ready to enter the mansion to protect the emperor.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Qi Jiguang took a deep breath and remained calm.

That was the sound of firearms just now.

On rainy days like this, only in sheltered places like indoors or under the eaves can firearms be 60% effective!

In this case, it must not be carried by the rebels, but by the imperial guards who were guarding and shooting!

Long-range shooting, not even close combat.

Thinking of this, Qi Jiguang immediately spoke up and gave orders to the guards: "Go back! Follow me into the palace to protect the emperor!"

……

Inside the Gao Mansion.

"Lord Chengyi! The emperor is cowering in the inner courtyard right now! The big event is just one step away!"

The Jinyiwei who had just opened the door for Liu Shiyan now covered his face with his hands. As he spoke, he bowed and begged Liu Shiyan to make way and let him leave.

Liu Shiyan turned his head and said, "The emperor didn't even notice this!?"

The Jinyiwei was in a hurry to leave. He had no idea whether the emperor had noticed or not, so he just said perfunctorily, "He must not have noticed, otherwise how could I open the door for the Earl of Chengyi?"

Liu Shiyan thought about it and nodded in agreement.

The man who opened the door breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this, then clasped his fists and bowed, then passed by Liu Shiyan and was about to leave.

next moment.

The blade pierced through the chest.

The Jinyiwei turned his head in surprise.

Liu Shiyan muttered, "I can't even survive, and you, an ant, still want to survive?"

Liu Shiyan drew back the knife without sheathing it, allowing the rain to hit the handle and drip onto the ground mixed with blood.

He glanced towards the inner courtyard, and as if he saw the trembling emperor, he felt relieved in advance.

"The fate is in my hands! If the emperor had stayed in the palace, I'm afraid he would still have no choice but to resort to methods like setting fire, drowning, cinnabar and arsenic poisoning. But he insisted on leaving the palace to seek death!"

"Now, if we can capture this palace and get within five steps of the emperor, we will see him weeping bitterly!"

Liu Shiyan's eyes were red and his face was ferocious.

“I hope God will continue to help me!”

Ignoring the corpses on the ground, Liu Shiyan prayed continuously in his heart, stepped over the threshold of the back room, and rushed in with his troops.

"kill!"

The men rushed in and entered the backyard, but found it deserted.

Not only the backyard, but the entire hall was unmanned, and there were no factory guards to be seen along the way.

The people around him immediately became alert, moved closer to Liu Shiyan, and reported in a low voice: "Commander-in-chief! Something seems to be wrong!"

Liu Shiyan laughed: "There's nothing wrong. The factory guards are out in full force and are just going to the front gate to win military merit. This just proves that destiny is in my hands! Follow me to the front yard and attack Huanglong!"

His voice was no longer low, but extremely clear, and all the private soldiers could hear it.

The private soldiers changed their minds and realized that it was true. These officers and soldiers of the imperial court were always indolent and incompetent, and were not good at marching and fighting, but they were indeed never behind others in military achievements.

Everyone believed what Marquis Chengyi said with some doubt.

Liu Shiyan glanced around covertly and put aside the doubt in his heart - of course he realized that something was wrong, but it had come to this point, so why not go all out and risk death? Should he still carefully back out, gently close the door, and politely say "excuse me, did you come to the wrong place"?

Regardless of whether the emperor is prepared or not, he must burn his boats!

In order to boost morale, although he knew something was wrong, Liu Shiyan still acted heroically, holding a long sword and leading the way.

The Grohe mansion has only three courtyards and does not occupy a large area.

There was some dust everywhere in the courtyard and houses. The big red lanterns hung along the way in advance for the New Year were torn to pieces in this storm.

After passing through the back room and searching the two side rooms and finding no one there, the soldiers in black armor went straight to the inner courtyard without stopping.

"The emperor must be hiding in the east and west wing rooms of the inner courtyard, trembling in fear, no more than a hundred steps away from me."

"Even if he is prepared, I have dozens of soldiers and armors, and I can kill him with a pile of them!"

"Run? At this distance, running away will disrupt the formation and lead to quick death!"

Liu Shiyan kept calculating in his mind and adjusting his breathing, and unknowingly he stepped into the inner courtyard first.

Behind him, dozens of densely packed figures with cold light walked out of the main room and followed closely behind him.

Liu Shiyan was about to give an order when he saw some shadows on the roofs of the side rooms out of the corner of his eye.

He suddenly felt his hair stand on end!
Looking up, the densely packed bows and crossbows seemed to suddenly wake up, filled with murderous intent!
In front of the window, a number of bird guns were extended, with the black muzzles all pointed downwards, ready to devour anyone!
Liu Shiyan's uneasy heart suddenly rose to his throat!
Firearms! Crossbows! How could the emperor bring such things when he went out of the palace to see the teacher!

He didn't even inform the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commanders' Office. What a dictator he is! He took and gave away as he pleased and really treated the Hyogo as his own private treasury!

Outrageous!

Without having time to think, Liu Shiyan immediately gave the order!
"Hide back in the hall!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was the sound of a crossbow arrow leaving the string, and the black muzzle of the gun flashed with fire in the rain, and a series of sounds immediately intertwined together.

"whoosh whoosh"

"bang bang"

"Whizzing"

"bang bang bang"

With two bangs, a pool of blood exploded from the neck of the unfortunate soldier, and he immediately fell backwards to the ground.

The remaining soldiers finally reacted and hastily surrounded Liu Shiyan and fled back to the hall.

Every resounding clanging sound was a scratch left by the crossbow arrows on the armor.

Poof.

Occasionally, the sound of a crossbow arrow piercing the flesh could be heard following closely behind.

There was a continuous symphony of crossbows, firearms, commands, muffled noises, and groans.

The rain of arrows, accompanied by flames, flooded the sky in front of Liu Shiyan, almost making him want to burst his eyes!
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen bodies fell around Liu Shiyan, and blood flowed on the floor tiles of the inner courtyard.

"Load the arrows and shoot!"

"Load the gunpowder! Fire!"

Officers came and went.

It was not until Liu Shiyan retreated into the hall that the fighting gradually subsided.

Liu Shiyan glanced around and saw that he had lost seventeen people in the last meeting, and he felt extremely angry!

If it wasn't for the purpose of hiding from others and being unable to hold a shield, he would not have suffered the loss from crossbows and firearms!
"The factory guards actually used firearms and crossbows without the approval of the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commands! This is tantamount to treason!"

Having suffered a great setback and with his mentality unbalanced, Liu Shiyan actually shouted words to the outside that stunned everyone around him.

Unfortunately, no one responded.

"Take everything in the room and use it as a shield!"

At Liu Shiyan's command, the soldiers immediately placed the tables and chairs in the house in front of them.

At the same time, the sound of armor clanging could be heard in the corridor outside the hall.

This is going to be a siege!

Liu Shiyan took a deep breath, knowing that he couldn't just sit there and wait to die!
"The emperor was well prepared, but he didn't take precautions, and let you get caught up in the fighting. Is it worth it for such a mean person!?"

While Liu Shiyan was shouting outside to paralyze the enemy, he was also reorganizing the formation and preparing to charge out.

He tried to calm down.

When the emperor traveled, he was ordered to be accompanied by 120 guards. However, according to bribed insiders, the emperor was afraid of death, so he brought 100 more people, so the total number was no more than 220.

Now most of them are still fighting outside the mansion and have not yet returned to defend. There are no more than seventy people outside the hall, which is about the same number as himself.

But they were all rich kids, with all the pretensions; whereas his own men were all desperate criminals willing to risk their lives, and had fought with him for many years.

Furthermore, no matter whether it is firearms or crossbows, they are afraid of charging into the formation. Once they get close to the enemy, they are completely useless.

In this way, we may be able to fight a desperate battle!
(End of this chapter)