It had been half a month since An Jingzhi received the battle report, and he began to organize his men to go to Nanfeng City to take over. The local loyalist forces had the same idea as An Jingzhi and did not choose to attack the city. The generals who were suppressed by the civil officials did not dare to stay and give others a handle.
When they arrived outside Kyoto with their hungry soldiers, the enemy had long disappeared. The capable generals were able to get food for their subordinates, while those without connections were driven out of Kyoto by civil servants, and all the food and fodder they were entitled to was withheld.
The hungry and exhausted soldiers who had marched thousands of miles fled in all directions on their way back to the defense, and many of them joined Zhu Kang's team.
In October, a shocking event occurred.
Zhu Kang became king, and was given the title of King of Zhenbei.
Before this, no one had taken Zhu Kang seriously. In their eyes, this bandit who distributed land to the common people was not a threat. The more serious threat was the bandits led by Zhang Shimin. In a short period of time, they had gathered tens of thousands of people and were wreaking havoc in the north. With the addition of various rebel forces, their combat power should not be underestimated.
Zhu Kang actually became king in just three years, and occupied the land in the north to confront the imperial court from the north to the south. The imperial court lost all control over the land in the north!
Zhu Kang immediately became the court's number one enemy, and bandits like Zhang Shimin had to take a back seat.
After the royal expedition, most of the court's elite troops became bandits. Those who remained were either flatterers or incompetent. They were defeated repeatedly when they led troops to attack Zhu Kang, who had already become powerful.
As the battle went on, the Zhenbei Army became more and more courageous, and the imperial army was defeated at the first blow. Some of them even surrendered directly when they encountered them.
Among these prisoners of war, those who have committed many crimes will be selected to work in mining for the rest of their lives, while the others will be taken to do hard labor in road construction. Those who have been reformed well can join the army or choose to become citizens under the rule of the King of Zhenbei.
Zhu Kang's power grew stronger and stronger. Just as he was about to attack Kyoto, he heard that Kyoto had fallen and the civil officials surrendered voluntarily. Zhang Shimin personally chopped off the heads of the emperor and many ministers.
"It's been over a month since the fall of Kyoto, and Zhang Shimin hasn't even proclaimed himself emperor."
"He killed the emperor. In the eyes of the world, he is too tyrannical. His subjects will only fear him, not respect him. Even if he becomes emperor, he will not be able to convince the people."
While they were discussing, someone brought them a letter from Zhang Shimin.
After reading the whole article, Zhu Kang remained silent for a long time.
Zhang Shimin's father was an official in the same court as him. Because the emperor was cowardly and could not control his ministers, he pushed the royalists who had always been the emperor's followers to be scapegoats. His entire family was exiled to the border, and he was the only one who arrived alive. His father, mother, and sister all died on the way.
After serving as a soldier for several years, his hatred for the emperor grew day by day. He took advantage of his superiors' withholding of military pay and his intention to make friends with his brothers in the army. As a result, many people responded to the mutiny and he became a bandit, determined to overthrow the emperor.
He succeeded in killing the emperor and the officials who had framed his family. He had imprisoned the rest.
The former favored child of heaven became a loser with his family destroyed, and the once kind and shy boy became a bandit who burned, killed and looted.
After his great revenge was achieved, he had no regrets and was willing to peacefully hand over Kyoto to Zhu Kang. He knew that even if a war broke out, they would not be able to hold on. Unlike Zhu Kang, they did not have a stable rear base with a constant supply of food and grass. There were so many parasites in Kyoto that there was no food left. They could neither win nor hold on. It would be better to pray for a stable second half of their lives for these brothers.
An Jingzhi took the letter from Zhu Kang's hand. This Zhang Shimin is a man who knows the current situation.
Zhu Kang agreed to Zhang Shimin's request.
In December, Zhu Kang proclaimed himself emperor and named his country Dagan. He was known in history as Emperor Yongkang.
Zhang Shimin and his men were all demobilized and returned to their homes. He had already killed the most heinous criminals, and while he had been seeking revenge, he had been forced to indulge them for the sake of maintaining order. Now that he no longer needed to do so, he was no longer lenient. Zhu Kang was very pleased with Zhang Shimin's ability to understand the situation. This move would make his other men think he was ruthless, and he would no longer have the prestige to rally these people to cause trouble.
In the first year of the Yongkang period, Zhu Kang conferred titles on all his ministers in the Golden Palace. Among the military generals, Hong Tao was the most respected, and was given the honorific title of Duke, and was granted the same status as the country. Among the civil officials, An Jingzhi was the most respected, and was also given the honorific title of Duke, and was granted the same status as the country. He was appointed as the Left Prime Minister and the Prince's Tutor.
An's mother was granted the title of First Rank Lady. When the imperial edict arrived, the family was in the process of moving. They had just moved from Lan County to Kyoto, and everything had to be re-arranged.
"The imperial edict has arrived!" The An family members, who had been instructed by the eunuch who delivered the edict, knelt down obediently to receive the edict.
The An family didn't quite understand what the imperial edict said, they just heard the imperial edict. An's mother was stunned and didn't react. She was helped up by Qian to receive the edict.
"I, I became a First-Rank Imperial Consort?" Mother An muttered excitedly, her eyes rolling back as she passed out. The An family members were scrambling. They had no time to entertain the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict, so it was the eldest brother, An, who pulled some silver from his pocket and handed it over.
Father An felt a pang of sadness as he watched Mother An fiddle with the imperial edict. They were all family, after all. If the old woman had glory, wouldn't that be his? If he hadn't fallen for the old woman, would he have Jingzhi? If it weren't for Jingzhi, would he have received the imperial edict? Ultimately, he was the one with the ability. Even in the underworld, he was still so confident in front of the ancestors!
When An Jingzhi came back, his mother was still looking at it, thinking it would be better to place the imperial edict there.
Interrupting An's mother's actions, "Mom, don't be busy. We need to move. His Majesty has given his son a house. It's just east of the imperial city."
"What? Jingzhi really brings honor to mother and the ancestors of the An family. What a good son of mother." An's mother hugged An Jingzhi, touched his face, and tears slowly fell.
The An family settled in Kyoto from then on. The eldest son served in the army, and the second son opened his furniture factory in Kyoto. The children were no longer taught by An Jingzhi, and he packed them up and sent them to the Imperial College.
Goudan and Jinbao said in unison: "Mom, we're back!"
"You're already so grown up, why are you still so unstable?" An's mother and Zhao and Qian said with disdain.
An Jingzhi said: "Mom, I'm back."
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