King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 727: Seventeen Years of Zhengtong

When Zhu Jinghong said the last sentence, the scene suddenly became lively.

Thirteenth Master will not fight in the future? Is he planning to retire? Isn't this a joke?

But everyone knows that in such a formal occasion, Zhu Jinghong was definitely not joking when he said this.

After some thought, several generals sitting near the main seat guessed what Zhu Jinghong meant.

The people who really wanted to hear these words were not even here.

Indeed, Zhu Jinghong's words were addressed to the old man in Beijing.

He believed that in today's occasion, there must be one or more spies arranged by the emperor, whose purpose was to eliminate the emperor's suspicion and maintain a tacit understanding between father and son.

Zhu Jinghong wanted the throne, but didn't want any unpleasantness in the process, so he had to handle his relationship with the emperor well.

In fact, he no longer took the Crown Prince and the Sixth Prince seriously. Now, the only person facing him is the Emperor.

If they, father and son, had a head-on conflict, it would be a disaster for the Ming Dynasty and the current good situation would be ruined, which neither of them wanted to see.

Most people present would not understand Zhu Jinghong's considerations. Looking at everyone talking about it, he really wanted to shout something at this moment.

Who can understand my heart...

After that, the banquet continued for more than an hour, during which time people kept coming to persuade Zhu Jinghong not to have the idea of ​​retiring and doing nothing.

Zhu Jinghong responded one by one, saying that there would be no big battle coming up, so there was no need to let him get involved in small matters.

After everyone thought about these words carefully, they agreed that this was the case, and they were able to accept it a little.

After the banquet, the generals dispersed and Zhu Jinghong returned to the military camp outside the city by car along the same route.

It is now September, and it will take at least another two months to deal with all the affairs in Junggar.

It was already midwinter by then, and heavy snow had blocked the mountains and made the roads difficult to travel. It would be early spring before we could return to Beijing.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed and Yili's report was sent back to the capital.

"As a minister, I have already achieved the utmost. What more can I hope for... What courage!" Zhu Xianming said with emotion.

In Kunning Palace, Zhu Xianming placed the secret report about the Yili celebration banquet in front of Yang Qingyin.

After reading the report, Yang Qingyin replied, "I'm afraid he said this to you so that you can feel at ease!"

"Maybe!" Zhu Xianming replied.

"According to what he said, he will be idle again after returning to Beijing. You should stop making things difficult for him then!" As soon as she finished speaking, Yang Qingyin started coughing.

Her health was very poor, and she rarely spoke unless the emperor came.

After pacifying the queen, Zhu Xianming replied: "Who do you think I am? Why would I embarrass him?"

"Let me tell you straight, this guy has planted quite a few people in the Jinyiwei North and South Divisions, the Left and Right Dragon Guards, the Left and Right Imperial City Guard Divisions, and the Five Cities Military Division..."

"If I really couldn't tolerate people, I would have cut off his branches long ago!"

Zhu Xianming knew all of Zhu Jinghong's arrangements clearly.

Therefore, he also knew that even if Zhu Jinghong was not sent on an assignment, he still had strong power in the capital, and this was tacitly approved by Zhu Xianming.

But the prerequisite is that Zhu Jinghong must be sensible and know when to stop.

In the past few years, all the credit went to the emperor and the soldiers. After returning to Beijing in triumph, no military honors were given. Zhu Jinghong's performance made the emperor very satisfied.

"When will Old Thirteen come back?"

After a brief thought, Zhu Xianming replied: "The mountain is now blocked by heavy snow and it is difficult to pass. I'm afraid we will have to wait until next year!"

In fact, it is not that they cannot leave, for example, the soldiers who are delivering the message are leaving, but they are risking their lives to deliver the message. Zhu Jinghong certainly cannot and there is no need for him to take such a risk.

Of course, if the emperor summoned him urgently, he would be able to come back.

“When next year?”

"We'll leave in February and it'll take two months to get back to Beijing. I'm afraid we won't arrive until April or May!"

"It's just right. He can stay there longer to sort out the affairs of Junggar. It won't be too late for him to come back!"

The emperor was talking to himself while the queen was counting the accounts.

It is already the end of October. Even if we arrive in Beijing in April, there is still half a year left...

Can I still hold out for half a year? Yang Qingyin asked herself.

In recent months, coughing up blood has become a normal occurrence. Several times during meditation, she would faint inadvertently, but she never made it known.

There were difficulties both inside and outside the court, and she really didn't want to make her husband and son worry.

Now that the war was won, she had planned to summon her youngest son back to Beijing, but she was stopped before she could even say anything.

The heavy snow blocked the mountains and made the journey difficult, and Junggar also needed his youngest son to be stable... These two reasons made Yang Qingyin suppress the idea.

Let’s wait a month or two and then we’ll see… Yang Qingyin thought to herself.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and now it is the twelfth lunar month and the New Year is almost here.

The snow stopped in the palace and the sky and the earth were all white.

Walking within the palace walls, Baochai had a complicated expression, as she had just met the Queen.

Although the Queen Mother behaved almost the same as before, she still noticed something was wrong, mainly because the change was too great.

The last time I met the Queen was a month ago.

"The Queen Mother has lost a lot of weight, which makes me worried!" Baochai whispered.

The reason why she was able to discover it was because she had few opportunities to see the queen, and the emperor saw her every day without noticing.

"princess?"

Hearing someone calling her, Baochai subconsciously looked up and saw that the person coming was Concubine Hui, the mother of the eleventh prince, Prince Huichang Zhu Jingtao.

"Greetings, Madam Zhuang!" Baochai bowed.

She was a princess of great dignity, but Huipin was her elder after all, so of course she had to take the initiative to greet her when they met.

Huipin was over 40 years old and was very friendly to everyone. She asked, "Princess, you look worried, but what's bothering you?"

"They are all trivial matters in the mansion. Sigh... it's better not to mention them!"

"There are many things to do in the mansion, and it's all up to the princess to manage. It's inevitable that there will be troubles. A few days ago, the eleventh wife came to visit and said that her mansion..."

Huipin kept talking on and on, and her implication was that she was trying to set up a connection with Huichang Palace. Baochai was just pretending to be submissive throughout the whole process.

She has experienced this kind of situation too many times and is now very familiar with handling it.

Finally, the two of them talked and laughed, and said goodbye at the palace gate.

"My lady, you are the imperial concubine, why do you have to do this..."

Behind Concubine Hui, a senior palace maid couldn't help but speak.

Of course, she was not complaining mindlessly, but she felt that her own queen did not have any big pursuits and should just live a stable life. There was no need for her to put herself in a difficult position.

"You don't understand!" Huipin said calmly.

In the blink of an eye, another half month passed and time entered the seventeenth year of Zhengtong.

This year is obviously colder, and the snow in the capital is thicker.

However, the heavy snow did not affect the New Year atmosphere. Kings, nobles, peddlers and common people all celebrated the New Year in their own ways.

At this time, at Guangning Gate on the west side of the capital, a ragged man was stopped by soldiers when he tried to enter the city.

"Without a pass, without proof...you still want to enter the city? Get out of here!" the soldier shouted.

It has been more than three hundred years since Zhu Yuanzhang established the road permit system, and it has almost become a system in name only during the Ming Dynasty.

Even in the capital, there is basically no regulation, unless some suspicious people are specifically questioned.

This ragged man was an eyesore when he entered the city, so he was naturally stopped.

"I told you... my home is in the city, I'm the lieutenant general of the Beijing Camp, my name is Guo Xing!"

"Just you... the Lieutenant General of the Beijing Camp?" After looking Guo Xing up and down, the soldiers present all laughed.

"If you are a lieutenant general of the Beijing camp, I will be the commander-in-chief of the Five Armies Commandery!"

"Get out of here right now. If you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll throw you into jail and make you eat prison food!"

Seeing how ferocious these people were, Guo Xing didn't dare to say anything more and could only turn back and leave.

But he was telling the truth. His name was indeed Guo Xing, and he had been a lieutenant general of the Beijing Camp and had the title of second-class son.

He was the commander of the guard of Ning Huanxiang, the governor-general of the Northwest Rebellion Suppression Campaign. He was captured alive during the attack.

Fortunately, he was lucky. Because he was strong enough, he was kept as a slave and served as a laborer in the Dzungar army.

Three years passed like this.

During these three years, he was always in a state of anger and was resentful about Ning Huanxiang's death in an attack.

Also during these three years, he reviewed the events of that year many times and finally came up with two possibilities.

Or... Junggar was extremely lucky and ran into Ning Huanxiang by chance, but Guo Xing thought the possibility of this was close to zero.

Because it was obvious that those people came prepared, which meant that their whereabouts had been leaked.

Therefore, there is only another possibility, that someone leaked the secret to the Dzungars.

Who will leak the secret?

Guo Xing thought of a person, a person who suddenly appeared that year, drank with him, and talked a lot with him...Sun Shaozu.

Sun Shaozu was a general in the Ming army. His family had titles and hereditary positions, so he had no reason to collaborate with the enemy.

However, after eliminating all possibilities, Sun Shaozu is the most suspicious person.

Originally, these things were in the past. Now that Guo Xing was back alive, there was no need to bring up those old accounts.

Moreover, on the way back to the east, Guo Xing also learned that Sun Shaozu had now become Zhu Jinghong's disciple, so provoking him would be asking for trouble.

However, when he escaped from the Dzungar army after the defeat and went to seek help from the Ming army in Urumqi, he learned some maddening things.

After the Ministry of War investigated the attack on Ning Huanxiang, it was determined that he was derelict in his duty. He was stripped of his military rank and even had his family's title demoted by one level.

Simply put, Guo Xing is now a criminal. If he does not clear his name, he will have to live in secrecy in the future.

Otherwise, once he shows up and his background is discovered, he will be arrested and sent to the Ministry of War to be punished.

He was extremely cautious along the way and never revealed his identity.

Therefore, he no longer wanted to delve into the truth of what happened back then, but clearing himself of the grievances was something he had to do.

Just when he had arrived in the capital and was about to go home to discuss the matter with his family and seek help from old friends to clear his name, he was stopped outside by soldiers.

In desperation, Guo Xing gave his real name, but no one knew him at all.

Actually, this is normal. Who can still remember what happened a few years ago?

Even the officials in the Ministry of War who were in charge of the investigation might not be able to remember it after hearing it.

Therefore, Guo Xing could only think of another way, since he couldn't force his way in anymore.

Finally, he set his sights on a passing grain truck, and after seven or eight attempts, he finally hid under the truck and climbed into the city.

He had been in the Dzungar army for several years, moving food and fodder, and his arm strength had been well developed, so it was easy for him to lift the food into the city.

But he could never have imagined that Sun Shaozu was now serving as the commander of the Five Cities Army and was responsible for the defense of the West City.

Guo Xing's remarks today were heard by Sun Shaozu who was on patrol while the soldiers were joking and talking about them.

"Guo Xing..."

Sun Shaozu will never forget this name for the rest of his life, as that was the benefactor who helped him get rich.

To put it more broadly, Guo Xing also played a huge role in Zhu Jinghong's rapid rise.

For Sun Shaozu, not finding the bodies of Guo Xing and some guards was the only thing he worried about in his life.

Now, several years have passed, and he thought that the matter had been settled, but he heard the six words "Beijing Camp Lieutenant General Guo Xing" again.

He had specifically checked before and found that there were exactly two generals named Guo Xing at the rank of Qianzong and above in the Beijing Camp. One of them was almost fifty years old and it seemed that he should retire in the next two years.

"Come here!" Sun Shaozu looked serious.

The soldiers who were called came cautiously in front of Sun Shaozu.

"See the Commander!"

"Just now I heard you say that you met a weirdo today?"

The leading flag officer replied: "That's right, sir!"

"Tell me about it!" Sun Shaozu asked calmly.

So the soldiers told their story again. Sun Shaozu asked a few more questions and finally understood the situation clearly.

After waving away several soldiers, Sun Shaozu left accompanied by his guards. At this moment, his expression was extremely solemn.

The thing I was most worried about in the past few years actually happened...

While feeling deeply unfortunate, Sun Shaozu was also somewhat thankful that he happened to meet a soldier and chat with him, and learned about the situation in advance.

Back on the city wall, Sun Shaozu immediately issued a military order, ordering his soldiers to arrest beggars outside the city on the grounds of maintaining the image of the capital.

Guo Xing was outside the city, and he would feel at ease as long as he could catch the man and kill him.

What just happened happened only half an hour ago. In Sun Shaozu's opinion, the possibility of catching him is very high. After all, he has offered a reward. The more people the centurion catches, the more money he will get in reward.

In less than half an hour, his soldiers captured more than 30 people, but after he identified them, none of them was Guo Xing.

This made him feel bad again, but he could only wait quietly!

How could he know that he would be waiting for bad news next.

"Sir, just now when Censor Meng was on patrol and ordered the soldiers to search the vehicles entering the city, they discovered a thief..."

The person who was speaking was a captain. He saw that Sun Shaozu was worried, so he tried to find a topic to get close to him.

"Where do you think this little thief is hiding?"

"It was right under that wooden cart. This guy was hanging under the cart and sneaked into the city!"

"Censor Meng ordered a re-investigation, which took quite a while. The man couldn't hold on any longer... He fell to the ground and was arrested!"

"You know what? Even beggars know that it's easier to beg in the city, so they try every possible way to get in!"

"The more bizarre things are yet to come..."

Before the captain could finish his words, Sun Shaozu stood up suddenly. The word "beggar" really shocked him.

"You saw it with your own eyes?"

"I followed Censor Meng on his inspection tour at the time, and I saw it with my own eyes!"

"What is that person wearing? What does he look like?" Sun Shaozu asked with a serious expression.

"That person..."

After hearing the captain's story, Sun Shaozu could confirm that it was that guy Guo Xing.

"These scoundrels who have sneaked into the capital must be up to no good. Wherever they are, bring them here immediately!" Sun Shaozu shouted angrily, looking as if he was loyal to his country.

"The person was taken away by Censor Meng!"

"Took away by him?" Sun Shaozu was surprised, then clenched his fists.

"what happened?"

"Then Censor Meng said a few words to you, and then ordered me to arrest the man, but the beggar said he didn't want to go to the Five Cities Military Command!"

"Then something even funnier happened. The beggar said he was a lieutenant general of the Beijing camp and had something to report to the Ministry of War..."

At this time, Sun Shaozu's face had turned black!
(End of this chapter)