At the beginning of April of the eighth year of Tianshun.

Liu Juntao led the soldiers of the Longxiang Army to the boundary of the Jingshi and arrived outside the city of Tongzhou.

The soldiers of the Longxiang army did not enter the city of Tongzhou and set up camp, but set up camp on the west bank of the Grand Canal, and Tongzhou provided the food and grass for the army.

At the same time, after Liu Juntao settled the soldiers and horses and the officials of the shogunate, he hurried to the capital with fifty personal guards.

When Liu Juntao arrived in the capital, it was already evening that day, looking at the bustling Beijing division and the bustling crowd, Liu Juntao was a little uneasy in his heart, and he didn't know what the result of his entry into Beijing this time was.

The group rode their horses slowly on the street, Liu Juntao saw that it was getting late, so he wanted to go to the inn to rest first, and then go to the military department early tomorrow morning to deliver the seal letter, and prepare to enter the palace to face the saint.

Who knew that as soon as everyone walked outside the Chongwen Gate, they met a team of Jinyi guards from Beizhen Fusi.

A thousand households led by him stepped forward and saluted: "I have seen the military constitution, please dismount the military constitution, Your Majesty has a message!" ”

Liu Juntao was also a little surprised when he heard this, he didn't expect Emperor Tianshun to be so anxious, and sent people to wait in advance on the way to the pavilion where the officials lived, so he hurriedly dismounted, and the fifty guards behind him also turned over and dismounted in unison, all standing on the left side of the war horse and waiting.

The team of brocade guards in front of them was also amazed when they saw this, and secretly praised the elite soldiers of the Tiance Army.

"Your Majesty's dictation: Dingxiang Marquis, Zuo Zhuguo, Guanglu Doctor, Liu Juntao, the secretary of the military department and the governor of Shanxi, will enter the palace immediately when they enter Beijing, and there will be no delay!"

"Sure enough!"

Liu Juntao led the fifty guards behind him to kneel down and salute together: "Minister, the order!" ”

The people passing by around were all exclaimed in surprise when they saw this, but they didn't expect that the young general in front of them was the Dingxiang Marquis of Megatron, and they cheered at Liu Juntao.

After Liu Juntao waved his hand to the surroundings, he was worried that the crowd around him would gather more and more, so he rushed towards the Forbidden City under the guidance of the team of brocade guards.

As for the fifty personal guards, Liu Juntao asked everyone to wait at the pavilion first.

It didn't take long for Liu Juntao to follow him to the noon gate, at this time it was already sunset, and after the brocade guard handed over the token, he took Liu Juntao into the palace and went straight to the bedroom of Emperor Tianshun.

When Liu Juntao saw Emperor Tianshun, some people didn't believe that the person lying on the dragon bed in front of him was Emperor Tianshun, who was less than forty years old!

At this time, Emperor Tianshun was already very thin, which can be described as a withered face, his face was very pale, there was no blood, and even his breathing was like a thread.

In Liu Juntao's view, Emperor Tianshun's condition can basically be described as "critically ill", and he may die at any time!

"It's Dingxiang Hou here!"

The eunuch Bingbi leaned into Emperor Tianshun's ear and whispered, Emperor Tianshun looked at Liu Juntao, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said with some excitement: "That's good!" That's it! ”

Liu Juntao didn't know what to say for a while, so he had to say: "Your Majesty! Take care of your dragon's body! ”

Emperor Tianshun smiled bitterly and said: "My body, my heart is like a mirror, needless to say. This time, I let Dingxiang Hou return to Beijing, mainly to let Dingxiang Hou preside over the military department, and we must promote the training method of the Tiance Army and the sharpness of firearms throughout the country, so that my Ming soldiers will have enough food ......"

Speaking of this, Emperor Tianshun's breath was a little bad, and after gasping for breath for a while, Liu Juntao also clenched his fists and said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, minister, you must do your best to repay the country's kindness!" ”

Emperor Tianshun nodded noncommittally, and then said: "I am already terminally ill, and the only one who can't rest assured now is the crown prince......"

Emperor Tianshun paused, tilted his head as much as he could, and looked at Liu Juntao with his spare eyes.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the prince is benevolent and upright, and he has the blessing of God!"

Liu Juntao said a decent word, but Emperor Tianshun was still not satisfied, so he continued: "Heaven bless? If Heaven had really blessed the crown prince, there would not have been so many ministers impeaching him now. Aiqing, you have to pay more attention in the future!"

"The prince is still young, after the defeat of Tumubao, he has experienced the abolition of the establishment, endured a lot, and experienced a lot, these are all ashamed of the prince!"

Liu Juntao is also the first two big when he hears this, these words are not what an emperor should say, nor should he be a courtier who should hear!

"Your Majesty!"

Liu Juntao hurriedly saluted and said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, minister, you should do your best to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and the prince will be safe!" ”

Emperor Tianshun stared at Liu Juntao for a long time, and didn't know what to think, so he no longer talked about the prince's affairs, but began to talk to Liu Juntao about the current situation in the court.

Now, the whole court has known that the Tianshun Emperor is seriously ill, so the crown prince will be exposed to the eyes of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military forces, some ministers with ulterior motives, mainly the former ministers of the Jingtai Emperor, began to connect up and down, constantly impeaching the prince, most of the Chinese officials in the DPRK watched the fire from across the strait, and the military attaché was mixed in because of the weak force, which was also the most annoying thing for the Tianshun Emperor.

After Liu Juntao listened, he also felt very tricky, the current battle between the court and the court is no longer a struggle between courtier factions, but has involved the struggle for the throne, and even the grievances and grievances between Emperor Jingtai and Emperor Tianshun!

Liu Juntao was also drenched in a cold sweat, and the situation he was in was even worse than he had expected.

"Your Majesty, Your Minister......"

Liu Juntao didn't know what to say for a while, and Emperor Tianshun also saw Liu Juntao's embarrassment, and did not force Liu Juntao to express his position, but said: "Aiqing has just arrived, and the soldiers are also sleepy and tired. ”

Liu Juntao also breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, which gave himself a buffer time: "Minister, the order." ”

"One hundred and forty miles east of Jingshi, there is a county town called Pinggu. Don't camp the soldiers of the Long Xiang Army in Tongzhou, there are many noisy people, so let the soldiers go to Pinggu to station. ”

"Minister, obey!"

When Liu Juntao left the palace, Emperor Tianshun didn't have much joy, but said to himself with a complicated expression: "Aiqing is finally Ming!" ”

After Liu Juntao returned to the pavilion, it was already late at night, but he didn't feel sleepy.

Long before Liu Juntao led the army to set off, the Ministry of Intelligence had already ascertained the situation in various parts of Gyeonggi and compiled it into a detailed text and submitted it to Liu Juntao.

Liu Juntao also discussed with the officials of the Zanhua Department for a long time, and selected a few cities that might be garrisoned by the soldiers of the Long Xiang Army.

And this Pinggu County is the last thing that everyone wants to station.

Pinggu County is located at the junction of Jingshi, Tianjin Wei and Beizhili, and is located at the intersection of the southern foot of Yanshan Mountain and the north end of the North China Plain.

As early as the Western Han Dynasty, Pinggu County was established in the twelfth year of Han Gaozu, which belonged to Yuyang County. In the second year of the Later Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty died, and the edict enshrined the great Sima and the great general Huo Guang as the Marquis of Bolu, and built Bolu City, which was in Pinggu County.

In the Hongwu period of the early Ming Dynasty of this dynasty, Pinggu County began to build the Great Wall of Zhenluoying, Beishuiyu, Nanshuiyu, Xiong'er Village, Yuroshan and other places.

During the Yongle period, the imperial court continued to build the Great Wall in Emei Mountain, Huangsongyu, Heishuiwan, Zhangzuo, and Jiangjun Shiguan. During this period, Pinggu first belonged to Jizhou, Beiping Prefecture, and then changed to Jizhou, Shuntian Prefecture.

Pinggu County is located in the east of Jingshi, which can be described as the east gate of Jingshi. In the first year of Jianwen, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, launched the "Battle of Jingnan", which was to march through Tongzhou, Pinggu, Miyun and other places.

Liu Juntao also knew that in the first year of Chongzhen in later generations, the Houjin Tatar soldiers besieged Jizhou, went down to Sanhe, crossed Pinggu, and Linshunyi County, and finally arrived at the city of Beijing. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen in the later generations, the Manchu Tartar soldiers entered the pass from the Miyun Wall Ziling, and then connected the ancient Beikou and the general Shiguan, conquered Pinggu City, and approached the Beijing Division from Pinggu.

It can be seen that the terrain of Pinggu County is dangerous, and it is the only way to approach the Beijing division from the east, and it leads to Beizhili and Shanhaiguan in the north, and Tianjin Wei in the east, which is a place where soldiers must fight!

Liu Juntao knew in his heart that Emperor Tianshun hurriedly ordered himself to lead his army into Beijing when the situation was turbulent, and let himself lead more than 10,000 soldiers of the Longxiang Army to be stationed in Pinggu County, just to block the east gate of the Beijing Division!

At this time, Liu Juntao spread out the map in his room alone, and saw that many patterns had been marked on the map.

Pinggu County, the east gate of the Beijing Division, is stationed in Longxiang Army, Shandong Town in the south, and Shanxi after Jingcheng Pass in the west, whether it is Shandong Town or Shanxi, there are soldiers of the Tiance Army stationed in the army, and the number of troops is more than 100,000!

And where is the north side of Kyoshi? It is the newly established Hanhai Metropolitan Protectorate!

Although the first governor and governor of the Hanhai Protectorate were recommended by the cabinet and the six ministries of the central government, and Emperor Tianshun directly nodded and agreed, there were still more than 10,000 elite soldiers of the Changshui Army and hundreds of thousands of servants, although these soldiers and horses were stationed in the territory of the Hanhai Protectorate, they were under the command of Liu Juntao!

In this way, there are soldiers and horses of Liu Juntao's family stationed on all sides of the Beijing Division, and as long as Liu Juntao is willing, he can mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to encircle the Beijing Division!

Liu Juntao looked at the map on the table and couldn't help but sigh: "Perhaps, this is the reason why His Majesty appointed me as the secretary of the military department and urgently transferred me to Beijing!" ”

Emperor Tianshun wants to use himself and the hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands to deter the court, and once the prince has an accident, he can raise troops to escort the prince's smooth accession to the throne!

"It seems that Your Majesty really wants me to be Dong Zhuo!"

Liu Juntao couldn't help but smile bitterly, he never expected the situation to develop to the way it is now.

"Isn't Your Majesty afraid that I will be suspicious?"

Suddenly, Liu Juntao thought that Emperor Tianshun promoted Hu Dexing to the governor of Shandong, and agreed to the proposal of the ministers of the court and the central government, appointing Chen Mao as the first governor of the Hanhai Protectorate, which is to check and balance himself!

Even Liu Juntao can be sure that Hu Dexing and Chen Mao must have also received a secret order from Emperor Tianshun!

However, Liu Juntao still believes in Hu Dexing, and what is difficult now is how to deal with the situation in the DPRK and China.