Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 250 Mutiny?

On the first day of November in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, on the official road of Fucheng County, the dense sound of horse hooves rolled by like thunder, raising clouds of dust.

This was a large-scale team, with forty large carts for luggage alone and more than a thousand followers. When the passing carriages and horses on the official road saw them, they all gave way to them.

In a teahouse by the road, two scholars in green robes were resting their horses. One of them pointed at the largest and most luxurious carriage in the team and said, "Brother Gao, do you know who is sitting inside?"

Upon hearing this, the scholar surnamed Gao said, "With such a large array, he must be a king or a noble."

The man who had spoken earlier smiled and shook his head. The scholar surnamed Gao then said, "Brother Bai, please stop keeping me in suspense. Tell me quickly. You came from the capital, so you must know."

The scholar surnamed Bai shook his head and said, "This man is not a prince, but his nephew is a duke with an annual salary of 5,300 dan."

"Brother Bai, you are joking. Has there ever been a duke in our dynasty with an annual salary of more than 5,000 dan? The founding king of Zhongshan only had an annual salary of 5,000 dan..." The scholar surnamed Gao suddenly realized halfway through his words and pointed at the carriageway, "You mean this is Wei..."

"Who else could it be?" The scholar surnamed Bai took over the conversation and continued in a low voice, "They bullied men and women along the way. Wherever they passed, it was like being attacked by an army."

The scholar surnamed Gao was shocked when he heard this: "Wasn't Wei Yan banished to Zhongdu? How come he still has such power?"

"As the saying goes, a tiger will not fall even after its death!" The scholar surnamed Bai said and sighed, "Although the current emperor is a rare young wise ruler in history, it's a pity that he is too kind..."

The two chatted for a while until the team went far away before continuing on their way.

At dusk, the two of them stopped at the southern gate of Fucheng County and ran into Wei Zhongxian's team heading south to Fengyang. There were many hotels in this area, but they were all occupied by Wei's followers. Bai and Gao had to rest in a dilapidated temple, which was crowded with passing merchants.

At midnight, there was a commotion outside. Everyone came out to see what was going on. They saw that the hotel was brightly lit, some people were snatching the gifts, and some were trying to stop them. The whole scene was in chaos, just like a bandit attack.

"What's going on?" the scholar surnamed Gao asked in surprise, and the scholar surnamed Bai also shook his head in confusion.

After a long time, the two finally figured out what was going on. It turned out that the new emperor was furious after learning about Wei Zhongxian's "grand" departure from the capital, and ordered the officials to take him back to the capital. The news arrived before the official arrived, so Eunuch Wei's followers mutinied, preparing to rob and then disperse.

The shop owners were first robbed and then robbed. Wei Zhongxian himself was not much better off. Forty carts of valuables were looted. Only a few eunuchs and a dozen loyal servants were left with him. In the end, they could only drink in the hotel, crying and shouting.

"Good! Good! Good!" Gao, the scholar, cheered after hearing the whole story. He then said, "Brother Bai, now we have a place to live. Let's go and ask for the upper rooms from the two families. If we're too late, there might not be any left."

"Brother Gao has gone by himself. I will not sleep tonight..." The scholar surnamed Bai suddenly laughed and said, "I will go and urge Eunuch Wei to set off as soon as possible."

Half an hour later, the crying in Wei Zhongxian's room gradually subsided. The scholar named Bai sat outside and began to sing a song "Guazhier" repeatedly and loudly. The lyrics said:

"Thinking back to the night banquet, it was so extravagant. We served lamb, poured fine wine, and had loud music and singing. Now, in this lonely and deserted inn, I can only get drunk on village wine...

I remember that I slept on a bed with embroidered quilts. Now the curtains are made of reeds and the kang is made of earth, and the cold wind blows into the window... I remember that I was powerful and powerful, and who would not respect me? The nine ministers called me junior, and the prime minister visited the private office. Now my power is gone and my time is declining, and I am scattered like drifting grass...

Thinking back, back then, the python jade was facing the sky. Now I am leaving the Dragon Tower, leaving the Phoenix Pavilion, and am alone in the lonely house...

The shadow of the cold moon accompanies me, and the neighing of horses is what drives me. It is so desolate, it is better to die than to live like this!"

That night, Wei Zhongxian took off his belt and hanged himself, five days earlier than in another time and space. This may be the biggest change Lin Hai has made to history so far.

However, Lin Hai didn't know all this at the time. He was drinking with Chen Bazong on Pingtan Island that night. Fujian was too far away from the capital, and even the news that Wei Zhongxian was exiled had not yet been received.

The next morning, the Jianbingju put on the Ming army's standard fat coat, carried the flag of the Haitan Youbing, and landed in Fuqing County, Fuzhou Prefecture on a warship. In order to conceal their presence, Chen Bazong and his personal soldiers also accompanied the army.

It is six hundred miles from Fuqing to Tongan, and it is estimated that it will take ten days to reach Tongan County, so before Lin Hai set off from Tamsui, he asked the Navy Department to send troops after November 15th.

The marching speed this time was twice as fast as that of the army during the Battle of Dongshan, mainly because this was an interior march and the Vanguard Bureau could stay overnight in civilians' homes.

In the absence of camping, 60 miles a day is a moderate marching speed, which has little impact on combat effectiveness. During the march, the cavalry sentries of the Vanguard Bureau walked like the infantry sentries, mainly to save horsepower. Jinjiang horses are weak, and the Vanguard Bureau cavalry are currently single horses.

The military law and combat regulations of the Vanguard Bureau were different from those of the Ministry of the Army, but the regulations regarding lodging in civilian houses were basically the same. They all referred to the established rules of the Qi Family Army, and the core principle was to arrange accommodation according to the organization.

In principle, each squad lived in the same family, the squad leader lived together, two squads in the same team lived opposite or next door, and the same was true for squads and above. In addition, the residences of troops at all levels had to be marked with identification flags, and the central army had to know the distribution of accommodations.

This is not only to ensure the speed of assembly, but also to ensure the discipline of the lodging, and to use collective military law to force everyone to supervise each other.

However, the Vanguard Bureau was used to being lax, and more than ten violations of military discipline occurred on the first day of the stay. The worst of them was that a squad of soldiers gang-raped a family's wife and daughter.

After the captain of the squad reported it, Feng Yidao personally led people to arrest the five criminals. After Lin Hai made sure that they were innocent, he immediately said to Captain Chen: "According to military law, these five people should be beheaded, but I am not in a position to do it, so I have to trouble Brother Chen to do it for me."

"It's inevitable for a large army to go to war. In order to avoid affecting morale, why don't we just forget about it?" Chen Bazong said, lowering his voice, "Lin Yourong, your men are all unruly warriors. What if they mutinied?"

"No, he must be beheaded! And he must be beheaded in the street so that the people can come and watch." Lin Hai's attitude was very firm. The military law of the Vanguard Bureau was not as strict as that of the Army Department, but cruelty and harming the people was an absolute taboo.

If this matter is handled leniently, the Vanguard Bureau will have no bottom line in the future. Lin Hai would rather risk affecting morale to enforce military law. As for the mutiny mentioned by Chen Youji, Lin Hai thought it was basically impossible. The officers of the Vanguard Bureau were all old brothers and were politically strong.

More importantly, the Vanguard Bureau is supported by high salaries. It is not easy for ordinary people to earn this little money. Who would ruin their own golden rice bowl?

(End of this chapter)