Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 121 The court was shocked
Although Liu Er died and the imperial court knew the source of the White Lotus' bombs and detonators, the transaction between the mountain stronghold and the White Lotus was not actually cut off.

Because the real middleman in this transaction was the Han family, and the apparent middleman had been removed by the court, it didn't matter at all.

The Han family has plenty of ways to find a middleman at any time to connect the two families again.

This is actually the main reason why the imperial court was unable to wipe out the White Lotus Sect, which lasted for several years and eventually exhausted all the vitality of the imperial court.

Because the White Lotus rebels were supported by many big families like the Han family, and the military generals also needed the White Lotus to improve their status and get money from Jiaqing.

In this way, the White Lotus Sect would naturally revive again and again, and after Jiaqing had spent all the money he got from Heshen, the White Lotus Sect would naturally die out.

Of course, by then the court’s vitality will be completely exhausted, and its control over the local areas will be reduced to the lowest level.

In fact, it was because Liu Er understood this point that he told Chen Gu not to rush into rebellion, but to wait patiently until the court was exhausted and lost control of the local area.

When the time comes, if Chen Gu rises again, the court will turn a blind eye as long as he does not cause too much trouble. Even if he causes too much trouble, the court may not be able to suppress it.

By then, as long as Chen Gui conquers a piece of territory, he will be able to stabilize it and will have more time for development.

But the best of many things always hide countless changes in them. After all, man's plans are not God's plans, and nothing can be certain.

Perhaps the only thing we can be sure of is the uncertain future.

Jiangjin County.

After Chen the Assassin withdrew from Jiangjin County, Rong Zhao immediately wrote a letter and sent it downstream to his father Na Yancheng in Chongqing.

Na Yancheng received Rongzhao's letter the next day. After learning what had happened, Na Yancheng immediately wrote back to Rongzhao, asking him to send Yinghui's body to Chengdu by express horse, and then load the bodies of the remaining 500 members of the Jianrui Battalion onto ships and send them to the capital.

It takes no more than five days to get from Chongqing to Hangzhou by sailing downstream, and from Hangzhou to Beijing via the Grand Canal, it only takes about ten days if there is a favorable wind.

In other words, the bodies of the 500 soldiers from the Jianrui Battalion could be sent to the capital within half a month.

The 500-strong elite battalion led by Delentang himself went to the small county of Jiangjin to handle a case but was completely wiped out, with only a dozen or so people escaping. This was really a huge incident.

Such a big thing cannot be concealed at all, and Na Yancheng does not want to hide it either. It is certain that they, father and son, will be held accountable.

Since he couldn't hide it, he might as well make a big deal out of it and report the details to let Jiaqing know that it wasn't because Yancheng and his son had failed in their duties, but because a traitor had appeared in the county of Jiangjin.

Although this group of rebels was not large in number, their weapons were very powerful, so powerful that it exceeded everyone's expectations. Even a veteran general like Delentang, who led a battalion of 500 elite soldiers, was annihilated, while the enemy only had 200 troops.

Although this matter sounds unbelievable, it is the fact, and Na Yancheng is not afraid of being investigated.

In this way, maybe they would have a chance to get away. On the contrary, if they concealed the truth, they would definitely be used as scapegoats. Even if Jiaqing could pardon them, the ministers in the court would definitely hold them accountable. As for sending Yinghui's body to Chengdu, it was sent to the Governor of Sichuan, Feimo Lebao. Na Yancheng hoped that the pain of losing his son would make Feimo Lebao pay attention to this matter, so that he would write to Jiaqing to send troops to Jiangjin to encircle and suppress Chen.

That was a battalion of 500 elite soldiers, the most elite battalion of the imperial court, and they were completely wiped out by 200 people. Facing such a fierce group of bandits, it would be insufficient to encircle and suppress them without sending a large army.

Moreover, they had to act early, otherwise if such a ferocious force were to develop, Yan Cheng simply couldn't imagine the consequences.

Therefore, for the sake of himself and his two sons, as well as for the sake of the imperial court, Na Yancheng chose to use such a drastic measure as transporting the bodies of 500 members of the elite battalion to the capital, in order to force the imperial court to pay attention.

The body was not transported back to the capital so quickly, but Na Yancheng's memorial had already arrived in the capital. Even though the body had not been seen yet, Na Yancheng's memorial alone had caused a stir in the court.

Jiaqing was furious and held a grand court meeting to discuss the matter.

"The Jianrui Battalion, which had made numerous military achievements and never lost a battle since its establishment by the previous emperor, was formed by the most loyal and brave men carefully selected from the elite of the Eight Banners. How could the Jianrui Battalion, which I spent a huge amount of money to build, be completely wiped out by 200 bandits with only 500 people?

Tell me why?" Jiaqing was furious, and finally threw Na Yancheng's memorial in his hand towards Abida.

Abida's face was full of bitterness. How could he know why? When he received the letter from his son Na Yancheng, Abida was so scared that he almost fainted. He felt that Zhang Jia was probably completely finished.

Na Yancheng's plan was to survive, but Abida felt that he was doomed this time.

Abida took a deep breath, knelt down tremblingly, picked up the memorial, and then prostrated himself on the ground and replied: "I deserve death. My children and grandchildren have failed to do their job well. Please punish me, Your Majesty. Please take care of yourself!"

Abida did not make a single statement in defense of himself or Na Yancheng. Instead, he admitted his guilt obediently and looked like he was ready to be beaten and punished. This actually calmed Jiaqing down a lot.

Jiaqing also understood in his heart that Na Yancheng and Rongzhao could not be blamed for this matter, and it could be said that Na Yancheng and Rongzhao had been very cautious.

Perhaps considering the reason why Addis disappeared with the Tong'an warship, Na Yanben instinctively felt that something was wrong after finding out that the bombs and detonators that recently appeared among the White Lotus rebels came from Jiangjin.

When the main army could not be mobilized, Na Yancheng suggested that Delentang should dispatch the Jianrui Battalion. Delentang followed his advice and directly dispatched all 500 soldiers of the Jianrui Battalion, and he himself went there to take charge.

I originally thought that with such a strong force, it should be foolproof.

But they unexpectedly met Chen Gu, and eventually Delentang and the 500-strong battalion had their boat capsized in a small Jiangjin County. All of the 500-strong battalion was killed or wounded, and only a dozen people escaped. Delentang was taken away and his life or death was unknown.

This blow was too great. After all, the Jianrui Battalion represented the strongest combat power of the imperial court, but it was annihilated by a smaller force. It was not just a defeat, but annihilation.

After Jiaqing vented his anger, his whole spirit seemed to collapse. He looked at the ministers in the court and asked, "Tell me what we should do about this matter?"

(End of this chapter)