The main hall was dreary, with only a few ever-bright lights lit slightly. Gao Chi sat on the couch with a heavy face, his clothes draped, and a small chamberlain next to his feet was putting on his shoes. Zhang Zhaohua next to him saw that the two of them had come in, and said impatiently: "The three thousand battalions mutinied, and sent troops to surround the household yamen!"

There are three major battalions of the Beijing Army, one is called the Fifth Army, one is called the Three Thousand Army, and the other is called the Divine Machine. Emperor Yongle toured the north and took away the five military battalions and the Shenji battalion, and half of the three thousand battalions were also taken away, and the remaining half was stationed in Zhuque Lane, because at this time, it happened to be the time when the border soldiers entered Beijing to compete and practice, and the military department and the five army governor's mansions had just checked the register.

Huang Huai must have been nervous, and asked in a low voice, "How is the situation now?"

"I just asked the commander of Jingwei to go with the men and horses," Zhang Zhaohua said: "The battalion is arrogant, I suspect that it is a change, and someone instigated it." ”

The reason for the siege of the Hubu Yamen is said to be because the military rations have been stopped for 17 days, and the three major battalions are all proud soldiers and fierce generals who have been organized by the emperor himself, and they will not give up when they make trouble.

"There are 100,000 garrisons in Nanjing," Yang Shiqi did not follow Zhang Zhaohua's words, but said: "Of them, 30,000 are 3,000 battalions, and the remaining 70,000 are border troops and officers and soldiers selected from various places to enter Beijing. After all, these soldiers are not outside the city, but inside the city, and the border army is not a native of Nanjing. ”

According to the rules set by the emperor, 68,000 border soldiers were selected every three years to enter the guard and train with the Beijing army. The commanders, thousands of households, and officers and men of these guards came to the capital to participate in the examination, and those who passed the test were rewarded, and those who did not pass the test in the second year had to move to Yunnan.

These people are not all natives of Nanjing, and if they follow the 3,000 battalions, it will not be called a mutiny, but a mutiny. If you don't use thunder to deter you, I'm afraid it will become more and more out of control.

"It is said that there is no military salary," Gao Chi said: "The 100,000 troops in the capital have not been paid by the households, so why not treat the 3,000 battalions at a loss?"

Because the Tatar Khan Benya lost the border, now the emperor ordered Qiu Fu to take 100,000 horses to the Northern Expedition Benya lost the territory, and the household first supplied the grain and grass for the Northern Expedition, and the emperor asked Nanjing to provide the amount of grain and grass was too large, and the hair of the household Shangshu Xia Yuan Ji was almost white, so he could be regarded as having made up the grain and grass, but here in the Beijing camp that was left behind, he could only pay a month's grain and grass in arrears, and he could only reissue it when the autumn grain was harvested, but he didn't expect that the three thousand battalions couldn't even wait for half a month, and actually besieged the Hubu Yamen, which was really bold.

Soon Jingwei commander Guo Xiang sent someone to report, saying that Jingwei and the sergeants of the 3,000 battalion confronted each other, and the sergeants of the 3,000 battalion refused to evacuate the Hubu Yamen, they not only surrounded the Hubu Yamen solidly, but also rushed into the Hubu lobby, trying to catch Shangshu Xia Yuanji, but no one was found, so they caught the two squires and forced them to open the Hubu treasury, only to find that there was nothing in it, so they were even more resentful, and beat the two squires to death, if they were not surrounded by the Jingwei, it seemed that they wanted to continue to attack other yamen- Because among the six departments, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Industry are also on the same street, and next to each other is the Zhan Mansion, the Hanlin Academy, the General Administration Division, and the Jinyi Wei Yamen.

"Xia Yuanji just set off to Suzhou to supervise the transportation of grain," Zhang Zhaohua breathed a sigh of relief: "I escaped." ”

As she spoke, she became angry again: "The two waiters didn't hide from it! These bastards still refuse to disperse, and they have to see the food!"

Shang Shu Jianyi shook his beard: "In this case, no one can be killed again, it is better to promise them first and pay the arrears as soon as possible." ”

Zhang Zhaohua said: "The summer taxes are all for the Northern Expedition, and the autumn grain has not been collected, and now Xia Yuanji is going to Suzhou, and all he collects is surplus grain, where is there any money and grain for them!"

Jian Yi had no choice but to say: "If you have to, Guangji and Taicang-the ministers are willing to bear the responsibility for the crime, as long as they can quell the mutiny." ”

"This is not a matter for which you are not responsible," Zhang Zhaohua said: "Guangji and Taicang are preparing for a year of disaster, where can they be misappropriated! This cannot be compromised at all, otherwise it will be repaid in the future!"

Zhang Zhaohua could not imagine pressing the gourd to float the scoop, because at the same time there were also border troops who owed food, if they saw that the big camp that was making trouble could pay their salaries, and these people who did not make trouble for the time being would also learn from them, and once the household department could not pay the food and wages on time in the future, would they have to mutiny like today?

Besides, it is not a small amount to reissue the arrears, otherwise Xia Yuanji would not be in a hurry to go to Suzhou in person. But now Zhang Zhaohua refuses to give a penny to the 3,000 battalions, "The rebels openly besieged the ministry, attacked the government, killed officials, and did what they did like the enemy - hateful Jingwei commander Guo Xiang, colluded with him, faced the rebels, did not dare to do anything, and came to ask me if I could agree to their request, I really deserve to be killed more than the rebels!"

Several officials present were all sweating on their foreheads, and they all said: "The Beijing camp is a soldier brought out by the emperor himself, because of the lack of pay for a long time and lack of discipline, he went to the ministry to make noise in front of the yamen, and the mother can't say that they are rebels." ”

"You excuse them!" Zhang Zhaohua said: "The corpses of those two waiters are still hanging on the yamen of the household department!" she said and pointed to a person standing on the side: "You say, in the army, if there is a mutiny among the soldiers, how to deal with it?"

"Only kill. This man did not say at all: "The soldiers rebelled and killed the commander, the commander rebelled and killed the general banner, the general banner rebelled and killed a hundred households, the hundred households rebelled and killed a thousand households, the thousand households rebelled and killed the generals, and the generals rebelled and killed the main generals." ”

Several officials looked at each other, not knowing this young man, Zhang Zhaohua said: "His name is Yang Hong, and he has a hundred households in Kaiping." ”

Zhang Zhaohua only introduced this short sentence, and then said to Yang Hong: "I ordered you to take the position of Guo Xiang, you tell me, can you quell the rebellion?"

Yang Hong said categorically: "Yes, it just depends on what kind of result the mother wants." ”

"Then I'll tell you," Zhang Zhaohua said, "first, they will not agree to any of their demands; second, if they still resist stubbornly after three days, they will be killed; third, they will hand over the first evil and coerce them, and the rest of them will be spared the death penalty." ”

"You hold the warrant of the prince, and the soldiers and horses of the 17th Route of Jingwei are free to be transferred. Zhang Zhaohua hesitated for a moment and said, "You have the right to act arbitrarily, I just need the situation to calm down as soon as possible." ”

Jian Yi and several people said: "Niangniang, how can this matter bypass the Governor's Mansion-"

Zhang Zhaohua looked at them hesitantly, and these people looked at each other, not knowing what she wanted. Zhang Zhaohua drove them away, leaving only Huang Huai and Yang Shiqi, and said: "Ji Gang is afraid that he has already been sent to Beijing by Mi Shu, don't think about it, he won't write anything good." Now is the time for you to assist the prince from danger. ”

Huang Huai said: "The mutiny is really unexpected. Although due to the lack of pay, the situation is pitiful. It's just that the emperor has just left, and such a thing happened in Nanjing, which will definitely make the emperor feel that it is caused by the incompetence of the crown prince or the inability to convince the public. It is the duty of the ministers to tell His Majesty the truth. ”

Zhang Zhaohua sighed and said: "Just now the prince was still arguing with me, and he wanted to settle the matter, how could it be? If there are not a few heads on the ground, how can I explain to the emperor? The emperor always wants to see the prince's ability, if he can't even control the Beijing camp, how can he still support the foundation?"

Zhang Zhaohua has already seen the deeper situation after this incident, since there is no way to avoid it at the beginning, then the final way to deal with it is to let the emperor see the determination and ability, Gao Chi wants to compromise with Jingying, make up for the food and salary, and even not hold him accountable, which will make the emperor feel that it is a pity to hand over the chair under his ass to Gao Chi.