Chapter 155,
The enemy has broken in?
Who did it?
The first to react was Emperor Mingde. After he angrily threw a teacup, everyone present woke up.
"How many people are here?" Pei Yan asked hurriedly.
The young eunuch didn't dare lie and immediately gave the answer given by the city gate guard: "There are hundreds of thousands of troops gathered inside and outside the city!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene exploded.
"What? Hundreds of thousands of people? Where did so many people come from? This...this is enough to form an entire army!"
He then asked, "Hundreds of thousands of people are going to Beijing? This was probably premeditated." "What should we do?" Some people who couldn't keep secrets had already panicked, slapping their thighs and wondering what to do.
Although His Majesty had just smashed a cup to temporarily stabilize the situation, there were too many people and a small commotion broke out again.
At this time, one of the black-faced generals stood up and said, "Hundreds of thousands of people have infiltrated the city and even taken up residence outside. What are those City Guards doing? Are they just guarding there like gatekeepers?"
"Your Majesty" He then knelt on the ground.
"Your Majesty, please hand over the Royal Guards to me. I will lead my men to meet the enemy immediately! I will not stop until they are completely defeated!"
This dark-faced general was called Wang Jiao. He was a burly fellow, but possessed considerable brute strength. He was currently the Grand General of the Imperial Guard, but he was on leave in the capital, and had unexpectedly encountered something like this. How dare he rebel?
How can one endure this?
Prime Minister Liao: "The Imperial Guards only have about 10,000 men at most. How can you use 10,000 men to fight against 100,000 men? What can you use?"
Pei Yan: "The people from the Imperial City Bureau can also do their bit!" But the Imperial City Bureau only has about 500 people. They can't help much.
"However... the enemy has already reached Chengqian Gate and we need people to meet them. Your Majesty, you must make a decision quickly! Why not let General Wang buy time?"
Prime Minister Liao: "How many people can the Imperial City Administration have? Now that the enemy has come, are you still stalling for time? These few people can't hold out for even a stick of incense. But, Your Majesty, are you sure you still want to stand here?"
"It is said that a country cannot be without a king for a day. The best thing to do now is to protect His Majesty's health. Why don't you quickly let General Wang protect His Majesty's departure?" He spoke with a hint of majesty in his tone.
Logically speaking, this is the best way.
However, Emperor Mingde was furious: "I am the monarch. How can I leave at this moment? Abandoning the people? Even if I win by chance, how can I face the people and my ancestors in the future? How can the people recognize me as their monarch?"
What he said makes sense.
Liao Xiang fell into deep thought for a moment.
Emperor Mingde then said, "Wang Jiao, I appoint you as General Weiyuan. This time, you must repel the enemy. I will immediately send the troops stationed outside the city over. You only need to hold out for one stick of incense, and reinforcements will arrive after that!"
Wang Jiao accepted the order in a critical moment, knelt on the ground, bowed, and then left with his men.
From outside came the roar of artillery fire and the sounds of enemy fighting, and judging by the sounds, they were already some distance away from Chengqian Gate, which showed how ferocious the enemy was.
Emperor Mingde fell into deep thought, which was rare.
Pei Yan then said, "Your Majesty, please go into the secret passage to avoid the limelight first, and leave the outside to me." This is the best solution.
The ministers obviously understood the seriousness of the situation, so they immediately knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty, please enter the secret passage to temporarily avoid the enemy!"
"Your Majesty, please enter the secret passage to temporarily avoid the enemy!" He shouted several times before stopping.
Emperor Mingde did not move, leaving his men kneeling on the ground until a soldier arrived to report: "We've investigated. The people who have arrived claim to be... the former Second Prince. They claim... they claim the imperial edict granting the throne is false. They are coming, they are coming..."
No one dared to say what was to come, but everyone present knew the specific meaning.
"What? The Second Prince? Isn't he dead?"
"He can't be alive!"
"What imperial edict? The imperial edict of succession... this... this..." The ministers had been talking about it at the beginning, but now no one dared to speak.
However, some people still spoke out: "Bullshit! The succession edict clearly stated that Your Majesty succeeded to the throne. This is a fact known to everyone! There were witnesses present at the time. Prime Minister Liao and Duke Pei saw His Majesty open his mouth and pass the throne to you!"
Prime Minister Liao and Duke Pei?
"But...but...then why did the Second Prince say that this position should be his?" Someone asked.
"Why else could it be? Power is so dazzling. Which of the princes left behind by the late emperor wouldn't want to take that position?"
"But...but...if that's really the case," someone still questioned, "If that's the case, then why did the Second Prince gather an army of 100,000 to force the emperor to abdicate?"
"Unless... he has some token in his hand..."
The minister no longer wanted to continue speaking.
"It is a token necessary for succession." After figuring out this problem, the ministers fell silent again.
Only Pei Yan said, "Where is the token? The late emperor personally announced that Your Majesty would succeed him. Some of you old ministers have seen the imperial edict, and the imperial seal was handed over to Your Majesty. What other token could there be?"
I said this naturally to dispel the doubts of the ministers, but...
Someone, a veteran minister, jumped out at this very moment and said, "There are more than just these three things that are needed to succeed to the throne. I've heard that Your Majesty has a group of Black Armored Soldiers, who were personally trained by Your Majesty for the future emperor. It's said that they even had special tokens made for them, with a golden eagle pattern on them."
"But later... when Your Majesty ascended the throne... I never heard of the existence of this token. I, an old minister, would also like to know whether this token is with Your Majesty."
"After all, people can lie, and imperial edicts can be forged. Moreover, when the late emperor passed away, only Prime Minister Liao and Duke Pei were inside..."
He only said half of the words, the main point was not to offend anyone.
However, Emperor Mingde raised his head and looked in the direction of the old minister.
"So what you mean is...I am not in the right position?"
The old minister said: "I didn't say that, but the specific events that happened back then still need to be corroborated by Prime Minister Liao. Duke Pei is already dead, so he is the only one who knows what happened in the palace back then..."
This is asking Prime Minister Liao to speak out.
Everyone knows that Prime Minister Liao and Your Majesty are not on good terms, and at this moment, he may not be willing to stand on Your Majesty's side.
Even Pei Yan was a little worried, fearing that Prime Minister Liao would suddenly go back on his word and say that the late emperor did not pass the throne to Emperor Mingde, but his father was already dead, and he was the only one who could prove whether the late emperor's accession to the throne was legitimate.
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