Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"Madam, what's wrong...?"

Cai Zhongqian was stunned. Just now, when the young master and his wife were saying goodbye, a strange scene had occurred.

The lady, who usually appeared gentle and weak, suddenly pressed down hard on the side of the young master's neck with a swift movement.

Even more outrageous, the young master's body suddenly went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

"Zhongqian, don't just stand there, come and help me."

Just then, the lady's voice came.

"My husband is too heavy. Help me lift him to the car."

He is my husband and the father of my child. I cannot let him go back to his death!

If we're going to leave, we'll leave together!

. . .

That evening, at the Shanxi Governor's Office.

After the Taiyuan Right Guard and Taiyuan Front Guard took over Chengen Gate, Yichun Gate, and Yinghui Gate without bloodshed, all eight gates of Taiyuan City were closed.

Nearly two thousand men from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Governor's Battalion, the Right Guard of Taiyuan, and the Front Guard of Taiyuan launched a surprise attack on six hundred men from the Left Guard of Taiyuan within the city.

With a troop strength three times that of the other side, and both sides being caught off guard, the battle was one-sided from the very beginning.

The rebel army in Taiyuan Left Guard suffered repeated defeats and was soon divided and surrounded.

By evening, organized resistance within the city had been largely suppressed.

Except for a small number of rebel soldiers who were still hiding in secret places within the city, the vast majority of the rebels had either been killed on the spot or captured alive.

The Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) Thousand-Household Office in Taiyuan also sprang into action, interrogating the rebel prisoners overnight.

"Your Excellency, the thief has confessed!"

Ouyang Hong hurriedly approached Liu, the governor of Shanxi, his face beaming with joy.

"Zhang Yin, the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, was actually an imposter!"

This traitor is the leader of the Maitreya Sect, one of the largest branches of the White Lotus Sect!

"The Maitreya sect?"

Liu Nie stood up.

"This cult has made a comeback!"

I recall that during the Hongzhi and Zhengde reigns, the Maitreya sect rebelled twice, but both times the rebellions were quickly suppressed by the imperial court.

Unexpectedly, after nearly thirty years of recuperation, they have grown to such a great extent!

The leader of the Maitreya sect even brazenly became a third-rank military officer in the imperial court!

Has this person's true identity been uncovered through interrogation?

"The ones who confessed were several mid- to high-ranking officers from the Taiyuan Left Guard. They were originally key members of the Maitreya sect and knew quite a lot."

Ouyang Hong nodded.

"The Maitreya Cult leader who impersonated Zhang Yin used two names. They don't know which one is his real name, and they may both be pseudonyms."

The only thing that can be confirmed is that this person's surname should be Li.

During the Hongzhi era, Wang Liang, the leader of the Maitreya sect, raised an army in the Xinzhou and Guoxian areas to rebel. He was a relative of Li Yue, the Right Protector.

At that time, he was still very young and was only a mid-level leader in the Maitreya sect, using the name Li Fuda.

However, this person is a martial arts genius, and at a young age, he is already one of the top masters in the Maitreya Sect.

After Wang Liang's defeat, he mingled among the soldiers and was imprisoned by the government troops as an ordinary prisoner.

They launched a sudden attack at night, killed the guards, and successfully escaped from prison.

Later, this person changed his name to Li Wu, secretly gathered the remaining members of the Maitreya Sect who had escaped, rebuilt the Maitreya Sect headquarters in Shaanxi, and appointed himself as the sect leader.

After years of recuperation and building up strength, they once again raised an army in rebellion during the Zhengde era.

This time, he did not take the lead himself, but instead had his eldest disciple, Shao Jinlu, come forward while he remained behind the scenes.

The rebel army successively captured Luochuan, Yichuan, and Baishui, and Shao Jinlu usurped the title of king.

When Shao Jinlu was defeated and killed in Luochuan, he had already secretly sneaked into Shanxi and escaped the imperial court's search.

Later, this man, using the name Zhang Yin, became an officer in the Taiyuan Left Guard.

After years of maneuvering, he took up the position of Commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard in the sixteenth year of the Zhengde reign.

At that time, the late emperor had just passed away, and His Majesty had entered the capital from Chengtian Prefecture to inherit the throne. The focus of the court was on the succession of the throne.

After the upheaval of the Great Rites Controversy, many powerful officials lost their power by the end of the Zhengde reign. Now, twenty-one years later, many of them are no longer alive.

It's probably very difficult to find out what methods this person used back then.

After becoming the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, Zhang Yin chose a steep cliff in Pingding Prefecture and rebuilt the Maitreya Sect's headquarters once again.

They stockpiled grain and fodder on the mountain and trained private soldiers.

Over the years, this person has also used various excuses to report damage to the military equipment and armor of Taiyuan Left Guard, when in fact they have sent them to the mountain stronghold.

Today, the mountain stronghold that the cultists call Blackwood Cliff has several thousand able-bodied men and women, and more than ten thousand people including the elderly, women and children.

Including the more than 5,000 men of Taiyuan Left Guard, the number of rebels was much greater than during the Hongzhi and Zhengde rebellions.

Moreover, these people have the same equipment as the officers and soldiers, have received formal military training, and their combat effectiveness is incomparable to that of the rabble of yesteryear.

We can confirm that this person's surname is Li because his son and grandson also have the surname Li.

The prisoners confessed that Li Dali, a staff member of the Taiyuan Left Guard, was actually Zhang Yin's son. He served as the Left Protector in the Maitreya Sect, a position second only to the sect leader, and was also the successor to the next sect leader.

However, Li Dali has not been in Taiyuan City recently, and they do not know where he went.

This afternoon, someone saw Li Dali's son, Li Tong, who is also Zhang Yin's grandson.

However, when I led my men to Li Dali's residence to arrest him, Li Tong and his concubine had already disappeared. The servants said that they had left in their carriage several hours earlier.

At that time, we hadn't closed the city gates yet, and it's very likely we had already escaped outside the city.

"It seems the thieves did indeed receive the news!"

Liu Nie thought for a moment,

"Moreover, Li Tong also anticipated that we would take action."

Neither Zhang Yin nor Li Dali were present. Although he was Zhang Yin's grandson, it wouldn't be easy for him to quickly integrate the six hundred people in the city.

We won't give him that chance.

This man is quite decisive; he quietly escaped the city with his concubine, and didn't even notify the thieves in the city so as not to alert us.

By this time, they should have already arrived at the Taiyuan Left Guard barracks outside the city.

It looks like we'll have to fight a defensive battle tomorrow!

"Your Excellency, please immediately dispatch someone with urgent information, delivered by express courier, to Shuozhou. It must be done quickly!"

Just then, Fan Wenda said urgently,

"The Governor-General is currently using the pretext of inspecting the heads of the Mongols to keep Zhang Yin in Shuozhou, while sending his subordinates to investigate the truth."

During the Right Wing Mongol invasion of Shanxi, Zhang Yin was the general who achieved the most victories.

Before it has been verified that he colluded with Anda and bought off a barbarian leader to claim credit, the governor will not use force against him.

When Zhang Yin went to Shuozhou, he only took a dozen or so personal guards with him. The governor probably never thought that such a small number of people could be in any danger.

To everyone's surprise, this person was actually the leader of the Maitreya Cult. Not only was he highly skilled in martial arts, but his personal guards were also probably top-notch.

If it were a battlefield confrontation, no matter how skilled these dozen or so people were, they wouldn't be able to cause much trouble.

But street fighting within the city is a completely different story!

Once the war in Pingding Prefecture begins, the bandits will surely send someone to Shuozhou to report this matter to Zhang Yin.

If Zhang Yin had seen the messenger before the Governor-General, the consequences would have been unimaginable!