Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"That's exactly what I was thinking too!"

Liu Nie walked to the table, where a map of Taiyuan Prefecture was spread out.

"Commander Ouyang, how many Imperial Guards are in Taiyuan City?"

"There are over three hundred people inside the city!"

Ouyang Hong thought for a moment,

"There are six or seven hundred people in various places around the city. If anything happens, they can get back to Taiyuan City within a day."

"With over three hundred members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and over four hundred members of my own Fubiao Battalion, we can quickly gather about eight hundred trustworthy men!"

Liu Nie nodded.

How many people were permanently stationed in Taiyuan Left Guard?

Besides them, what other troops are stationed in the city?

"Your Excellency, the three guards of Taiyuan have a total of 5,600 regular soldiers on record, but most of them are outside the city."

Ouyang Hong pointed to several locations outside Taiyuan City on the map with his finger.

"Those who are permanently stationed in the city usually number between 1,600 and 1,800, and the number of people in the three guards is roughly the same."

Of these, about six hundred belonged to the Taiyuan Left Guard.

But outside the city, the difference can be quite significant.

Nowadays, many military households in the garrison have deserted their posts, and it's hard to say how many of the 5,600 men listed on the books are actually left.

The vacancies for Taiyuan's right-back and forward positions are likely to exceed half.

But Zhang Yin's Taiyuan Left Guard is different. Since he has been plotting to collude with the White Lotus Rebellion, he probably won't allow the Taiyuan Left Guard to be left vacant.

Even if military households evade their duties, he can have the White Lotus Sect fill the vacancies.

I estimate that the Taiyuan Left Guard has 5,600 full-strength regular troops, and its total strength is likely more than that of the Taiyuan Right Guard and Taiyuan Front Guard combined!

Besides the three guards of Taiyuan, the city's military forces also included archers and yamen runners from the Taiyuan Prefectural Government and Yangqu County Government, totaling about two to three hundred people.

This only includes the number of regular servants; if you include the unpaid servants hired by the government, there are at least five or six hundred people.

However, these people can only be considered as unarmored auxiliary soldiers, just to make up the numbers. They would not be a match for the Taiyuan Left Guard regular army in a head-on confrontation.

In addition, there are seven hundred men from the Prince of Jin's Imperial Guard and the Pastures within the city, but they only obey the Prince of Jin's orders and cannot be mobilized by the local authorities.

"Even if we can mobilize the people from the Prince of Jin's residence, we shouldn't do it."

Liu Nie waved his hand.

"If chaos breaks out in the city, their priority should be protecting the Prince of Jin's residence."

If we were to lose our own vassal states, none of us could bear the responsibility.

The men of Taiyuan Left Guard outside the city can be ignored for now. The most important thing now is to quickly take control of the eight city gates of Taiyuan and eliminate the rebels inside the city before the rebels outside the city can react.

In terms of directly controlled and reliable troops, we have 800 men against the rebels' 600, which is an advantage, but not a significant one.

Moreover, the Taiyuan Right Guard and Taiyuan Front Guard each had five or six hundred men in the city, and their attitude was of paramount importance.

"If we side with the imperial court, we can gain an overwhelming advantage over the rebels. But if we side with the rebels, Taiyuan is in grave danger!"

"As far as I know, Ma Yi, the commander of the Taiyuan Right Guard, and Luo Wenyuan, the commander of the Taiyuan Vanguard, are not close to Zhang Yin on a regular basis."

Ouyang Hong pondered for a moment,

"Your Excellency, you may send someone to summon the two men here now."

At this time, the rebels in Taiyuan Left Guard should have also received news of the war in Pingding Prefecture, and naturally they could guess that the governor had also received the news.

For the rebels in Taiyuan Left Guard, there was only one way out: to immediately rise up in rebellion.

With Zhang Yin absent, the Taiyuan Left Guard lacked someone capable of overseeing the entire situation. If Ma Yi and Luo Wenyuan were truly colluding with Zhang Yin, they would certainly be discussing raising an army with several commanders of the Taiyuan Left Guard by now.

Hearing that the governor had summoned them, those with guilty consciences would certainly not dare to come.

If they refuse to come, we can conclude that they are also traitors.

Once you arrive, there shouldn't be any problems.

Or rather, there might have been problems initially, but after weighing the pros and cons, they decided to stand on the side of the imperial court and distance themselves from the rebels.

Even if the governor notices, he must not investigate further.

"Commander Ouyang is absolutely right!"

Liu Nie nodded and said,

"I can naturally tell what's important and what's not."

As long as Ma Yi and Luo Wenyuan stand on the side of the imperial court and send troops to quell the rebellion in Taiyuan Left Guard, even if they wavered before, I will pretend not to notice.

. . .

West Garden, the rear hall of Renshou Palace.

"Imperial Physician Xu, how is His Majesty's condition? Has it improved?"

After having dinner, Lu Chen went to the imperial bedside to visit Emperor Jiajing.

For the past two days, Xu Kun has been staying in the palace during the day, observing the emperor's condition and often taking his pulse.

"Your Highness, His Majesty's condition is still the same as this morning. His muscles twitch from time to time, his hands tremble frequently, his pulse fluctuates, and he is covered in cold sweat."

Xu Kun quickly replied,

"Your Majesty's pulse is strong and your breathing is smooth. These symptoms are merely a flare-up of erysipelas and will not endanger your life."

Well, it seems that Emperor Jiajing is still going through the withdrawal symptoms of "ice". He only fell into a coma on the evening of the second day. He still has at least several more days to get through.

Hopefully he'll be lucky and not wake up in the next few days, otherwise he'll be in for a rough time.

I wonder how Guo Xun is doing, and whether he can pull through.

If he can get through this and successfully quit, then let him become a monk and let Guo Shoulu inherit the title of Marquis of Wuding.

Lu Chen turned his gaze to Chen Furong, who was kneeling in front of the imperial couch.

Empress Fang had already returned to the west side hall to rest, leaving only her to serve in the back hall.

"Raise your head and let me see you."

Lu Chen asked deliberately,

"You must be the head maidservant to the Empress Dowager, what's your name?"

"This servant, Chen Furong, greets Your Highness, Prince Ying."

Chen Furong quickly replied,

"Her Majesty the Empress has ordered me to stay here and take care of His Majesty's daily life during his recuperation period."

"My brother is currently unconscious and certainly needs careful care."

Lu Chen walked up to Chen Furong and used his telekinetic power to scan her entire body.

Hmm, there's no pregnancy in her belly.

So it's not that she deliberately lied about being favored by the emperor because she knew she was pregnant.

Or is it just to be on the safe side?

She did indeed have a secret rendezvous with one of Duan Chaoyong's disciples recently, but it was only a short time, and it is too early to determine whether she is pregnant.

Probably!

There's no need to do anything secretly today. Let's wait and see. If she's not pregnant, there's no need to do anything.

If she is indeed pregnant, then let the imperial physician diagnose the pregnancy and give her a reason to be made a concubine.

Since we're going fishing, it's naturally better to use heavier bait!

Hmm, that packet of "ice" wasn't on her, so where could it be?

"Chen Furong, I remember now, you are the palace maid that my sister-in-law sent to the Imperial Stables to call for help to save the Emperor."

Lu Chen said, feigning seriousness.

"Taking care of my elder brother day and night is quite arduous."

You, like Imperial Physician Xu, are resting in the side room next door, right? Take me there to have a look.

"Speaking of which, you have also rendered meritorious service, so you mustn't be treated poorly."