Ming Dynasty: Charge, Emperor Yongle!

In the first ten days of December of the fifth year of the Hongwu reign (1386), on the main street of Kaifeng Prefecture.

"Da da da! Da da da!"

A group of riders galloped through the main street, and the people along the way quickly gave way.

"Your Highness."

From afar, a guard of the Prince of Yan came galloping over and reported: "The guards in the city have been ordered by the Commander-in-Chief to seal off the four gates. Mongols and Semu people are not allowed to leave the city."

"Sex-eyed person?"

Li Jinglong looked at Zhu Di with some suspicion: "Isn't the little novice monk beside Master Daoyan a Semu person?"

Zhu Di didn't explain much to him, but waved his hand and said, "The entire army is in charge formation. I want to see who has the audacity to stop me."

"Yes."

The guards of the Prince of Yan responded in unison, their eyes revealing a chilling glint.

These iron-blooded elites, who had crawled out of piles of corpses, exuded an invisible sense of oppression that made people tremble. Even Li Jinglong was stunned and dared not utter a word.

"Knock knock knock!"

Immediately afterwards, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves echoed through Kaifeng Prefecture, getting closer and closer to the west gate.

"What is that?"

The gatekeepers looked up in alarm and saw dust obscuring the sky in the distance, as iron cavalry surged in like a black torrent.

Located in the heart of the Central Plains, Kaifeng Prefecture had enjoyed peace for a long time. The soldiers of the garrisons here had not fought a war for many years, and they trembled as they faced the Prince of Yan's guards who had emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

Zhu Di led the way, his gaze as cold as a knife, pointing directly at the heavily guarded city gate. He sneered inwardly, "The nobles of Huaixi, all they know are these lowly tricks. utterly clueless."

"Quickly, let them through!"

Upon seeing Zhu Di's bright red robe adorned with a four-clawed python dragon, Yan Xiong, the commander of the Kaifeng Garrison, instantly changed his expression and roared.

"Yes."

The guards who had been blocking the way immediately cleared the passageway through the city gate.

"Da da da! Da da da!"

Zhu Di rushed out of the city gate first, followed closely by the others, completely disregarding the guards.

"grown ups."

"I think I saw that Semu person."

One of the centurions rubbed his eyes and said uncertainly.

"Where?"

Yan Xiong, the commander of the Kaifeng Garrison, narrowed his eyes.

"Among those people just now."

The centurion pointed at Zhu Di and his entourage as they departed, his expression complex.

Immediately, the Kaifeng garrison commanders and soldiers present had different expressions, as this was tantamount to them letting the man escape.

"grown ups."

"We can still send troops in time."

One of the commanders mustered up the courage to ask Yan Xiong for his opinion.

Kaifeng Garrison was the most elite garrison north of the Yangtze River and south of the Yellow River. With 5600 men chasing a mere hundred or so, it was a piece of cake.

"Pfft!"

Yan Xiong raised his knife and immediately beheaded the commander. Blood gushed onto his body, making him look like a demon from hell.

"hiss!"

All the Kaifeng garrison commanders and soldiers present were terrified by this scene.

"The one who just left was His Highness the Prince of Yan."

"If you don't want to live anymore, you can tell me, and I won't mind sending him on his way."

"But if anyone implicates our Kaifeng Guard, I'll be the first to object."

Yan Xiong's cold gaze swept over everyone.

"Prince Zhu Di of Yan!"

In an instant, the Kaifeng garrison commanders present broke out in a cold sweat.

The lesson of Tu Jie, the Provincial Judicial Commissioner of Henan, was still fresh in everyone's mind. People in Kaifeng turned pale at the mere mention of the name of the Prince of Yan. If they had actually stopped the Prince of Yan just now, they would probably all be corpses by now.

"Report to the Commander of the Capital Garrison: Wang Wei, the commander of the Kaifeng Garrison, has been killed in action."

"Also, not a single word of what happened here can be spread."

"You all hold the lives of your families in your hands; I'm sure you all understand what to do."

"I'll go to the headquarters of the Capital Garrison Commander right away."

Yan Xiong left a message, mounted his horse, and headed towards the headquarters of the city's military commander.

The generals and soldiers of Kaifeng Guard looked at each other in bewilderment. Then, several soldiers stepped forward, collected the body of Commander Wang Wei, wrapped it in straw mats, and threw it into the mass grave to feed the wild dogs, as a contribution to everyone.

Half an hour later, at the Henan Provincial Garrison Commander's Office, in the main hall.

"What did you say?"

Cao Zhen jumped up, his big, round eyes fixed on Yan Xiong.

"grown ups."

"This humble general personally witnessed the Prince of Yan taking that person away, and the commander of the thousand men under my command who tried to stop the Prince of Yan's guards was killed on the spot by me."

Yan Xiong answered meticulously.

"Good, well done."

Cao Zhen plopped down, his face filled with lingering fear: "We can't continue down this muddy water."

"When gods fight, little devils suffer. Let Brother Feng and the others have their headaches."

What a joke! The Prince of Yan, Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong, the Duke of Song—any of these people and their influence could crush him with a flick of their fingers.

He is now very grateful that he knelt down in time last night, thus escaping a deadly disaster.

"grown ups."

"The Provincial Judicial Commissioner's office?"

Yan Xiong cautiously inquired about Cao Zhen's opinion.

"snort!"

He wouldn't get angry if it wasn't mentioned, but the moment Tu Jie was brought up, Cao Zhen was furious and sneered, "Isn't he supposed to be very capable?"

"If he doesn't even respect His Highness the Prince of Yan, then let him do it himself. I can't be the one to clean up all his messes."

"Yes."

Yan Xiong solemnly agreed and left to carry out the order.

............

The events that unfolded in Kaifeng were quickly captured by various forces, who promptly relayed the information back to the capital, Yingtian Prefecture.

"Is this your explanation?"

"Just stand by and watch the Prince of Yan take them away from Kaifeng?"

Hu Weiyong was devastated. Zhu Di had taken away witnesses who knew the inside story of Henan. No one dared to imagine what he was going to do with them.

Once Tie Xuan appears before the Emperor and the Crown Prince, their secret dealings, collusion, oppression of the people, and encroachment on farmland will be exposed to the whole world. At that time, even Li Shanchang will not be able to protect them.

"Prime Minister Hu"

"We definitely didn't handle this well."

"The Duke of Song sent me to ask for your opinion on what to do next."

Zhu Liangzu stood below, watching Hu Weiyong.

"call!!!"

Hu Weiyong took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Things have come to this point, we can only prepare for the worst."

"Tell the Duke of Song and his men to hand over all the land they have seized in Henan over the years."

What?

Zhu Liangzu stared at him with wide eyes, his face filled with disbelief.

During the Ming Dynasty, the salaries of officials, members of the imperial family, and nobles were undoubtedly the lowest. If they did not seize fertile land, how could they maintain their extravagant lifestyle? Asking them to hand over all these lands was like asking them to cut off their own flesh, which was unacceptable.

"Still coveting your belongings?"

"What if this gets back to His Majesty?"

"Which of us—you, me, or them—can remain uninvolved?"

"The most urgent task is to act decisively and preemptively shut up the Prince of Yan."

Anxiety appeared on Hu Weiyong's dark face as he urged him on.

"I understand, I'll go back and deliver the message right away."

A shadow crossed Zhu Liangzu's eyes as he turned and left the Hu residence.