Using the emperor to control the princes

Chapter 90: Holding the Emperor hostage to control the princes

"Master, news has come from Fengjing that the one leading the troops here is not Yang Sui, but the King of Zhenbei!"

"Yang Sui's assassination attempt failed, but he was arrested. Under torture, he revealed everything about you."

"You are all useless. You can't even do this!"

The subordinate swallowed.

"Master, there is one more thing. The King of Zhenbei made a list of what you did and spread it throughout Fengjing."

"Oh? Let the news out that Yang Sui framed me. This prince has nothing to do with him. He is labeled as the Second Prince's henchman."

"Do it cleanly."

"Yes, Master, I will do it right away."

At three quarters past ten, the entire migrating team fell silent. Most people had fallen asleep. The third prince sat in the dim carriage with a divine light shining on him.

Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. We are already halfway to Jianye. We originally wanted to be gentler and make everyone more respectful, but now we can't blame him entirely.

"Someone come!"

"I'm here."

"Go and inform Captain He, Captain Zhou, and Captain Dong of the Imperial Guards to apprehend the royal family and the ministers listed tonight at midnight."

"I obey your orders!"

-

"Second Prince, the spies in Fengjing have sent news that the King of Zhenbei brought 50,000 troops into the capital. However, within a day, he left 30,000 troops behind and returned to the northern border!"

"What's going on? Didn't the Ministry of War mention the Mongolian vanguard? Minister Wang is the third brother's man?"

"I don't know. It's possible that the King of Zhenbei chased them all the way and wiped out the vanguard army."

"That's impossible. Since he was able to bring 50,000 troops into the capital, it means that there are at least 50,000 more troops in the northern border. According to the style of the King of Zhenbei, he will not allow the Mongolian army to enter the city at all!"

The second prince directly rejected it, saying that the gate to the north was not so easy to enter!

"What other news have you found out?"

"The spies also said that the Prince of Zhenbei wrote an indictment of the Third Prince Zhang's crimes, and it has now spread throughout Fengjing."

The subordinate reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper peeled off the wall, then handed it to the second prince with both hands.

"interesting."

The second prince quickly glanced through it, then folded the paper again and stuffed it into his sleeve pocket.

"You may withdraw. This prince is going to pay his respects to his father."

I, your subordinate, will withdraw tactfully.

The second prince checked his attire and after confirming that it was appropriate, he got out of the car and walked five meters away from the imperial carriage and asked the imperial guards to inform the emperor.

"Second Prince, His Majesty has gone to bed. It is not convenient for him to see you now."

Captain Huang from the Imperial Guards Battalion on duty stepped forward to stop them.

"This is a matter of great importance and cannot be delayed. If the Emperor is harmed as a result, who will bear the responsibility, you or me? Captain Huang, please step forward and report this."

The second prince was beaten and harassed, and now he had to see his father.

When Captain Huang heard the Second Prince's attitude of "If you don't let me see my father today, and something happens tomorrow, you'll have to bear the consequences", he immediately changed the subject.

"Second Prince, your words are too serious. I will report this to His Majesty immediately."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the imperial carriage. After a cup of tea, he returned to invite the second prince.

"Your Majesty has awakened. Second Prince, please come this way."

"Thank you, Captain Huang!"

He turned around and got on the imperial carriage.

"Father, I am sorry for being reckless and disturbing your rest. However, this matter is of great importance. I was afraid of a major change, so I came to you as soon as I received the news!"

The second prince took out a piece of paper from his sleeve pocket and presented it with both hands.

He spoke as the emperor read.

"Father, my men have come with a report that it was not the Mongol vanguard who invaded Fengjing, but the King of Zhenbei. There are still 30,000 troops left in Fengjing."

After saying this, he waited quietly for the emperor to speak.

The second prince's gaze remained below the emperor's hand, and he did not look directly at the emperor's face.

But from the emperor's stiff finger bones and the slight trembling of the paper, one could still feel the owner's inner unrest.

"Come, wake up all the ministers."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Eunuch Quan responded from outside the imperial carriage.

-

"Third Prince, I'm afraid the situation is unusual. His Majesty has called all the ministers over."

The noise was so loud that the Third Prince, who had been sitting in the dark waiting for the hour of Chou, had already noticed it.

"Notify several captains and start now."

"Yes! I'll go right away."

They are all in the same boat, and they all do things that cost them their lives and property, but they do things efficiently and quickly.

While the ministers were still dragging their feet towards the imperial carriage, the situation suddenly changed.

At least one-third of the ministers were directly held at knifepoint by the imperial guards and forced to stand aside.

The situation happened suddenly, and some ministers were already groggy from sleep, and their minds were still dazed and unable to react for a while.

The Imperial Guards had a total of 20,000 soldiers. The commander of the Imperial Guards was the emperor's confidant Meng Dexian, who had five captains under him, each leading 4,000 soldiers.

In the current situation, Commander Meng personally led two captains and 8,000 soldiers to surround the emperor.

Captain He, Captain Zhou, and Captain Dong, with twelve thousand men, surrounded the eight thousand men.

The third prince slowly walked out of his carriage and faced the emperor through a layer of imperial guards.

"Father, it's so cold in the middle of the night. It would be bad if we called the ministers out and let them get frozen."

"It seems that what the King of Zhenbei wrote is true. I underestimated you. You have figured out the entire Forbidden Army Camp."

"Just four thousand more people, do you think I'll be afraid?"

The emperor appeared calm.

"Father, this is hard to say."

"Come, let His Majesty see your new weapons."

As the third prince finished speaking.

The outer guards pulled out a narrow, miniature version of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow from their quivers and, in unison, wound the bowstrings and aimed them at the inner guards.

The moment the weapon was taken out, the emperor's expression finally changed, with surprise and anger at the same time.

"Zhou Zhili! You truly are worthy of being the Minister of Works appointed by me personally!"

"Your Majesty, I am deeply honored by your praise."

Zhou Zhili stepped out from the group of ministers and bowed in the direction of the emperor from a distance.

"Are you trying to force the palace to rebel?"

The emperor stared sharply at the third prince, his good son.

"Father, how can you say that? I have never considered forcing the emperor to abdicate, and rebellion is nonsense."

"I simply wish to ask Your Majesty to continue on your journey and settle down in Jianye as soon as possible. Great Xia cannot be without a ruler for a single day. I hope Your Majesty will have a good rest. We must continue on our journey tomorrow."

The Third Prince spoke gently and politely, but it sounded extremely harsh to the Emperor's ears.

"Second brother is really something, waking up Father in the middle of the night, thinking something terrible had happened. He dared to disturb Father's rest by spreading rumors without any factual evidence."

"Whether you are a son or a subject, it is an act of disloyalty and unfilial piety."

The Second Prince felt his blood rushing to his head as he heard the confusing words.

"You! Shameless!"

"Second brother, how could you curse me? It's so embarrassing for everyone here to hear it. It's beneath your dignity."

The third prince didn't even look at the second prince, but blew on his white jade ring.

"It's late at night, Father, you should go to bed early."

"Someone, please ask the Second Brother to return to his carriage and rest."

"My dear ministers, please go back to your places and rest. We have to continue our journey tomorrow."

The crowd began to move slowly, and the imperial guards around the emperor were driven away, leaving only Commander Meng, two captains and two hundred imperial guards to guard.

The second prince's carriage was surrounded by ten imperial guards and guarded day and night.

The other one-third of the ministers who had knives at their necks were asked to make a choice on the spot: they could only choose between their lives and the emperor.

This time, everyone brought their families and everything they had with them on the trip. Even if they wanted to be loyal to the emperor and die for him to gain a good reputation, this was not the Hongwu Palace. Not only would they die, but also their entire family.

Actually, there is no choice.

The ministers removed their necks from the knife and hurriedly walked towards their families.

Seeing his colleague coming back from the crowd in a decent manner, what was there to not understand? This guy had already joined the Third Prince's camp, but he had been pretending in front of him for a long time.

Everyone thought he was a loyal minister who was not involved in either party and just wanted to be the emperor!

Of course, in this situation, I couldn't complain. After all, I was also a member of the same faction. Whether forced or motivated, on the surface, we were all good colleagues.

This round of suppression and counter-suppression ultimately resulted in victory for the side with a huge advantage in weapons.

We have to thank the King of Zhenbei for this. Zhou Zhili brought him to the Ministry of Works and asked him to explain the essentials of weapon manufacturing to the officials of the Ministry of Works.

The officials were truly eager to learn new knowledge, and the King of Zhenbei gave them unreserved guidance and instruction, which could be described as comprehensive.

Even Zhou Zhili himself did not expect the King of Zhenbei to be so generous.

None of those who could pass the imperial examination and enter the Ministry of Works were stupid. They had technical skills and could apply what they had learned to other situations with a little guidance.

This small magic crossbow is the product of this group's own research.

As the frame is reduced, naturally the number of feather arrows that can be fired will be less. A small magic crossbow can only hold thirty crossbow arrows, and they are specially made arrows that are half the size of normal arrows.

After shooting, you can only stop to install the arrow. This pause time, on flat ground, can be a fatal blow.

Fortunately, the emperor didn't know that this small magical crossbow only had thirty arrows, which made things go more smoothly.

The next half of the journey was extremely silent.

Everyone was very careful in what they did, fearing that they would make mistakes and be punished by the emperor.

The merchants and common people who followed behind noticed that the atmosphere in the group ahead had changed dramatically overnight. Although they didn't know what had happened, they all silently restrained themselves and tried to pretend that they didn't exist.

Arriving in Jianye, the Third Prince escorted the Emperor into the temporary palace and personally arranged all matters in the palace.

The emperor watched coldly, but he had to admit that this son was much more capable than his eldest son.

I think he has been involved in a lot of his eldest son's affairs.

"Your Majesty, you are exhausted from the journey. I will not disturb your rest. I will come to pay my respects in three days."

After saying this, he turned around and left without waiting for the emperor to speak.

Of course, the emperor didn't want to speak.

After leaving the palace, he immediately went to work to arrange food and accommodation for the ministers.

Many ministers have branches in Jianye, and these branches can live directly with their clan.

The main group of people are those who have no relatives in Jianye and have never bought any real estate.

He called the prefect of Jianye and asked him to buy all the houses he had ordered to be sold in recent years, and to divide all the land deeds according to the size of the houses.

Now is the time to recoup the investment and make a fortune. Of course, the house is not in his or the prefect's name.

In front of everyone, the third prince called all the people from the government pawnshop over, and that same day he brought the ministers who needed to buy houses to provide a one-stop service from viewing, selecting and buying houses.

I was very quick and moved in that night. Even if there are some things I am not satisfied with, I will choose another one later.