Chapter 131 The Siege of Nanjing
General Zhou brought Zhu Guobi's head to the military camp. Sure enough, upon seeing Zhu Guobi's head, the soldiers surrendered. General Zhou thought his mission against Zhu Guobi was complete. He also captured Ma Shiying and sent him to Zhao Xiaokun.
Zhao Xiaokun immediately sent someone to Zhang Huangyan's house to discuss the aftermath. In the morning, Zhang Huangyan came to Zhao Xiaokun's house. When Zhang Huangyan saw Zhu Guobi's head, he frowned. Wasn't it agreed to spare his life?
Zhao Xiaokun said, "Yesterday he escaped to the military camp and was about to rebel. We had no choice but to kill him! Otherwise, I can't imagine what Nanjing would have become!"
Zhang Huangyan nodded after hearing this. After all, he had not killed Ma Shiying. So he said, "I will write the memorial. Then hand Ma Shiying over to me. I will hand him over to the emperor and the cabinet for handling!"
"Okay! Then I'll have to trouble Minister Zhang!" Zhao Xiaokun then asked someone to bring Ma Shiying over.
Ma Shiying's face was filled with helplessness and fear. He had thought about his own death countless times that night. But when he saw Zhang Huangyan, it was like he had seen a savior. Ma Shiying opened his eyes wide and said to Zhang Huangyan, "Master Zhang, I did not participate in the rebellion! This was all Zhu Guobi's idea! I did not rebel! Save me! Save me!"
"Master Ma! I know you didn't participate in the rebellion. If you did, your fate would be the same as Zhu Guobi's!" After Zhao Xiaokun finished speaking, he stepped aside, and Ma Shiying saw the head on the table.
"Take him away! When the emperor and the cabinet come, tell them why you knew Zhu Guobi was planning a rebellion but didn't report him!" Zhang Huangyan said.
Ma Shiying finally understood why he had been arrested. He knew Zhu Guobi intended to resort to military rebellion, but his failure to report him was akin to treason. He simply wanted to sit back and watch the fight, hoping to see if he could achieve his goal of letting the Donglin faction prevail. Now he had been caught in the act!
Just as Ma Shiying was about to be taken away, someone suddenly came to report, "Sir! It's bad! Ruan Dacheng is leading his troops to besiege the city!"
"What? Ruan Dacheng! How did he lead so many people to rebel?" Zhao Xiaokun asked in surprise. At this time, Ma Shiying was delighted, thinking that he still had a chance to get out.
"Sir, they are raising a banner claiming to purge the imperial court!"
"Purge the imperial court? Who does he think he is?" Zhao Xiaokun turned to Zhang Huangyan and said, "Master Zhang, let's go to the city and take a look!"
Zhang Huangyan was also stunned when he heard this. He did not expect Ruan Dacheng to dare to lead his army to besiege Nanjing City. So he hurriedly followed Zhao Xiaokun to the top of the city wall.
At this time, the rebels were everywhere from Shuangqiao Gate to Fengyi Gate. Some people even held up banners that read: "Clear the imperial court, and peace will return! Punish the traitors, and the Ming Dynasty will rise!"
Zhang Huangyan then asked, "Admiral Zhao, what do you think we should do? The Emperor will be arriving the day after tomorrow. How are we going to explain this to him?"
"They are just a group of rebels. They must be eliminated before the emperor and the empress dowager arrive!" Zhao Xiaokun said coldly.
"There are nearly 100,000 people below you, it's easy for you to say! Your 30,000 people are just militia!" Zhang Huangyan said.
"Minister Zhang! Don't underestimate my militia! They are much better trained than the rabble below the city!" Zhao Xiaokun said. At this time, General Zhou and Li Zichu also arrived. Following them were Shi Kefa and some nobles from Nanjing.
After Zhao Xiaokun greeted them, Shi Kefa said, "Commander Zhao! Did you arrest Zhu Guobi last night? Did you have the cabinet's approval?"
Zhao Xiaokun shook his head and said, "No! But the facts have already told us that they do have rebellious intentions!"
At this time, Zhang Huangyan stood up and said, "I agreed to the deployment of troops into the city! Moreover, Zhu Guobi secretly intercepted the tax money and recruited soldiers. You and I both know this. Isn't his behavior a rebellion?"
"Minister Zhang, this also requires the emperor and the cabinet to make a decision! Sending troops so rashly will lead to a mutiny, and the consequences will be unimaginable!" said Shi Kefa.
"Sir Shi, since Zhu Guobi has already committed treason, do we still have to wait for the emperor to deal with him? What if they find an opportunity to kidnap the emperor without the emperor and the cabinet's approval? As ministers, we should share the worries of the country and the monarch! Instead of asking the emperor for decisions all the time. Otherwise, what are we ministers for?" said Zhao Xiaokun.
"You are making excuses! Everything has its own rules! We must follow the rules!" said Shi Kefa.
Zhao Xiaokun laughed and said, "Rules? The world is in chaos, and you're still talking to me about rules? According to the rules, Zhu Guobi should have been arrested when he intercepted the tax silver. But where were you at that time?"
"This..." Shi Kefa was speechless. In fact, it was mainly because he couldn't mobilize troops at that time. Otherwise, he would have brought Zhu Guobi to justice long ago.
At this time, General Zhou stepped forward and said, "Sir, the rebels in the city have been pacified! They have received their salaries and they should not rebel. I have already secretly executed some of the generals who were closely associated with Zhu Guobi!"
"Well done! But there are not many defenders in the city. Together with the original army and our Kenan Army, there are only more than 40,000 people. Fang Xinyu went to Shizhu again! Who will lead the Kenan Army outside the city?" Zhao Xiaokun asked.
"Sir, you can let Yan Yingyuan, Feng Dunhou and Chen Mingyu lead the troops to support us. They are very close to Nanjing! Each of them has more than 5,000 militiamen under their command!" said General Zhou.
"Okay! Send someone to call for help! We'll stay here!" said Zhao Xiaokun.
"Sir, there's no need for that! We have already made a plan. If anything happens in Nanjing, we just need to fire the signal gun and someone will naturally notify the troops to assemble!" said Zhou Shuai.
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