Among these 25 people, except for the ten general soldiers who are Ma Cheng's ironcore, the other six general soldiers are the new annexed troops surrendered by the Qing Dynasty, they have the lowest status and basically have no right to speak. However, there were still nine general soldiers who were the deputy generals and staff generals of the 36 guards inside and outside Nanjing that year, and they were promoted to the general soldiers because of their meritorious service in the defense of Nanjing.

Although these nine people obeyed Ma Cheng's orders, they were more loyal to the emperor, and now they saw that Ma Cheng was going to lead troops into the city without any order, and kept saying that they would save the emperor, how could this not make the nine people suspicious?

One of the chief soldiers in his forties stood up and asked: "Commander, it is taboo to transfer troops without authorization. Or the language of the Cabinet will work? Or the tiger talisman of the palace horse supervisor is also fine! That's how you can get your name right! ”

This general soldier was originally well-intentioned, you Ma Cheng was on guard by the emperor before, and now you have to transfer troops without an order from the central government, won't it make the emperor even more uneasy in the future? Now as long as there is an order from the central government, even if it is a royal horse supervisor who can't be beaten by eight poles, as long as there is one, you can shirk responsibility in the future.

Ma Cheng also knew the meaning of this general soldier, but now that Ma Cheng ran out of the city alone, where was the order?

Ma Cheng glared and scolded: "What are you doing? Lao Tzu is the Jiangnan Governor of His Majesty, isn't Zhili here considered Jiangnan? Aren't you Lao Tzu's soldiers? Please ask the Ministry of War for everything, how can this battle be fought? ”

After Ma Cheng finished speaking, he pointed his finger at the general soldier who spoke just now and scolded: "Lao Tzu sees that you are Lu Jiude's henchman, you know that the Imperial Horse Prison is under the management of Lu Jiude, why do you want Lao Tzu to ask for any tiger talismans?" Come! Rectify this remnant of the eunuch party on the spot! ”

As soon as Ma Cheng's words fell, Xie Guangkun, the deputy general of the school field, jumped out, pulled out his waist knife and cut off the head of the chief soldier who spoke, and asked viciously: "Who else dares to disobey the military order of the marshal?" ”

Xie Guangkun is Ma Xi's deputy, and at the same time the deputy general of the big school battalion, he stood up, Ma Cheng's ten henchmen also stood up, holding their waist knives and looking at the other fourteen general soldiers.

Although the fourteen general soldiers also have the rank of general soldier, there are only more than 10,000 soldiers in their hands, and there are a total of 50,000 people in the Daxiaochang barracks, of which 30,000 are the most elite new troops, and these new troops are all in the hands of Ma Cheng's henchmen. The strength is not equal, and seeing Ma Cheng's subordinates eyeing him, everyone knows that whoever is against it now, the unlucky guy lying on the ground will end.

Therefore, the remaining fourteen general soldiers knelt on the ground and said, "The last general will obey the orders of the commander!" ”

It would be easy to master the army, Ma Cheng picked up the order arrow on the table and said, "Xie Guangkun listen to the order!" ”

Xie Guangkun came to Ma Cheng and knelt down on one knee in front of him, and said loudly: "The last general!" ”

"You lead 10,000 new troops to garrison the camp, and no one is allowed to approach the camp except by the order of the governor!"

In addition to the 30,000 new troops in the Daxiaochang barracks, there are also 20,000 new attached troops, Ma Cheng doesn't dare to transfer all the new troops into the city, in case these fourteen general soldiers outside the city make any trouble, it will be a big deal, so Ma Cheng left Xie Guangkun in the camp is the meaning of stabilizing the rear.

After Xie Guangkun took the arrow, Ma Cheng picked up another arrow and said, "The chief soldier Wang Shuang listens to the order!" ”

Wang Shuang is one of Ma Cheng's twelve King Kongs, and he is also the only general soldier with the rank of commander in the military camp of Daxiaochang, which is considered Ma Xi

, the third person under Xie Guangkun.

"Wang Shuang, you lead 20,000 new troops into the city from Jubaomen, arrest the rebellious party of the party attached to Lu Jiude, if anyone resists, don't hesitate to kill!"

After Ma Cheng finished speaking, he said: "An Zhennan, Tian Boguang, you take the escort of this governor and enter the city from Zhengyang Gate with this governor to save His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

Wang Shuang, An Zhennan, and Tian Boguang received the order together, and then the generals went out to start preparations.

In addition to these general soldiers in the big tent, there is also a civil official, that is, Wang Xian, the long history of Ma Cheng. Originally, there was a civil official Chen Zilong, but since there was nothing to do in the army, and it was still the New Year, Ma Cheng gave Chen Zilong a month off and asked him to go back to his hometown in Songjiang for the New Year.

Wang Xian originally didn't know what was going on in the city, but now when he heard that Ma Cheng was going to lead troops into the city, he immediately asked, "Master Hou, but what happened last night?" ”

Wang Xian is Ma Cheng's confidant, naturally he doesn't have to hide everything from him, Ma Cheng told everything that happened from last night to this morning, Wang Xian was overjoyed after hearing it.

"Master Hou, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! In the two hundred and seventy years of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a scandal in which the emperor sent someone to assassinate Shoufu, and now it is just time to abolish this faint monarch in one fell swoop, and then Hou Ye monopolizes the southern capital, and Hou Ye's thousand-year foundation can be completed! ”

Ma Cheng is full of thoughts at this time, where is he in the mood to consider what self-reliance? After hearing Wang Xian's words, Ma Cheng sighed and said, "Hey, the most important thing now is to enter the city to rescue Bendu's father, eldest brother and third brother!" Speaking of this, Ma Cheng also shed a few tears: "If it weren't for the father, eldest brother and third brother to cover the boy, how could the boy escape from the southern capital smoothly?" ”

Ma Cheng now forgot that he left Ma Shiying alone, and instead pretended to be worried about his father and brother. Wang Xian sighed in his heart when he saw Ma Cheng like this, he was really a benevolent and filial prince, and he was still thinking about the life and death of his father and brother at this time.

"Hou Ye, rest assured, the old lady and the two masters are both auspicious people, and they will definitely be able to turn evil into good fortune!"

Ma Cheng gritted his teeth and scolded when he heard this: "This time, my father and brother have three strengths and two weaknesses, don't complain that Lao Tzu doesn't talk about the friendship between kings and ministers!" ”

Now Ma Cheng thought that Ma Shiying must have died in the imperial city, because it was already noon, and five or six hours had passed since last night, where could the three of them hide from the search of thousands of palace guards? Ma Cheng said this as a preparation for the abolition of Zhu Lunkui in the future, if you kill my father, naturally don't blame me for being ruthless!

At this time, Wang Shuang and others had already prepared the army, and Ma Cheng took Wang Xian out of the big tent, rode on his horse and began to lead the troops to attack Nanjing City. Because this day is the second day of the first month of the fourth year of Shaowu in the Ming Dynasty, the Gregorian calendar is 1648, and the lunar calendar is the year of Wuzi, so the coup d'état launched by Ma Cheng is also called the Wuzi Revolution by later historians.

Ma Cheng's main target with his nine thousand guards was Zhengyangmen, which was not far from the palace, and at the same time, Ma Cheng knew that the guards here would be his own Zhao Jinshi, so he chose to attack from here. As for the 20,000 new troops led by Wang Shuang, their main purpose was to seize Jubaomen and liquidate the anti-horse forces in the city.

Ma Cheng's 9,000 troops appeared outside Zhengyangmen City, which frightened the new guard general, Zhao Jinshi.

Although this Zhao Jinshi is Ma Cheng's person, his relationship with Ma Cheng is only a relationship of interests. Zhao Jinshi was born in Nanjing, and his family is Nanjing

The military household outside the city, he himself has the position of a hereditary hundred households.

In the defense of Nanjing, Zhao Jinshi fought bravely, and at the same time, because of the relationship between the garrison of Jubaomen, he had some comradeship with Ma Cheng, and after the war, Ma Cheng promoted him to be the chief soldier, so Zhao Jinshi was still very grateful to Ma Cheng.

But gratitude is gratitude, and it is impossible for Zhao Jinshi to risk killing his head to help Ma Cheng. Now that the emperor's decree to kill Ma Cheng has spread all over Nanjing City, and their thirteen guards have already known, what is Ma Cheng leading the army to do here in Zhengyangmen at this time?

Seeing Ma Cheng riding a tall horse to Zhengyang Gate, Zhao Jinshi leaned out and shouted: "Marquis Zhenguo, Your Majesty's will has been handed down, seeing the affection of your comrades-in-arms, the last general advises you to understand the general situation, dismount and surrender!" The last general promises to intercede for you before the emperor! ”

Ma Cheng sneered in his heart when he heard Zhao Jinshi say this, he and the emperor have been fighting endlessly, is it something that works if you intercede? Not to mention that you are a mere general soldier, are you qualified to intercede for Lao Tzu?

"Zhao Jinshi, Lao Tzu knows what you are afraid of, but don't worry, as long as you let Lao Tzu enter the city, Lao Tzu will ensure that you will be promoted and make a fortune!"

After Ma Cheng finished speaking, he pointed to the cannon behind him and said, "See?" Zhao Jinshi, you are also a hero who defends the city, and you know how powerful Lao Tzu's cannon is! Now that there are sixty-four cannons here, how long do you think your Zhengyang Gate can hold out? ”

Zhao Jinshi was also a participant in the defense of Nanjing, and he knew the power of this kind of artillery, and now he felt a little numb in his scalp when he saw more than 60 artillery pieces facing him. But no matter how Ma Zhao Jinshi is, he is not optimistic about Ma Cheng, because the 400,000 people of the Manchu Qing Dynasty attacked Nanjing City and did not defeat it, and Ma Cheng could take it in a short time with tens of thousands of people?

Zhao Jinshi knew that the most fearful thing about the coup d'état was that it would drag on for too long, as long as it could drag on for three days, the news would spread all over Nanzhili, and then Ma Cheng's army would be defeated. Now that the Nanjing city wall has been renovated for two years, it is stronger than four years ago, and Zhao Jinshi feels that he can hold on for three days.

Ma Cheng saw that Zhao Jinshi was no longer talking, and knew that this guy had made up his mind not to open the door, so angry Ma Cheng shouted: "Come on, open the cannon!" Collapse the city gate for Lao Tzu! ”

Ma Cheng's artillery was preparing, and suddenly there was an earth-shattering explosion from the south Jubao Gate, and a puff of black smoke rushed out of the high. Zhao Jinshi was dumbfounded when he saw this scene, he knew that someone had blown down the city gate with gunpowder.

Although Ma Cheng came to Zhengyangmen, Jubaomen is the main direction of attack. On the other side, Wang Shuangke, the main general, was much more simply, he led the army to the Jubao Gate, there was no nonsense at all, and he directly asked people to load a large cart of five hundred catties of gunpowder, and then transported it to the city gate, ignited and blew up the Jubao Gate.

Zhao Jinshi saw the loud noise and black smoke coming from the Jubao Gate, and knew that this battle could not be fought today, he knew very well that the new army was powerful, as long as these guys entered the city, those soldiers of the Soldiers and Horses Division and the Inspection Division in the city were not their opponents at all.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jinshi changed his attitude just now, and smiled at Ma Cheng under the city: "Hou Ye, just now the last general didn't recognize the situation, and now after careful consideration, the last general has decided to take refuge in Hou Ye!" Please rest assured, the last general will order someone to open the city gate now! ”

Seeing Zhao Jinshi's change of attitude, Ma Cheng sneered in his heart: You guy is still lucky, if you fired the cannon yourself just now, then this will not be the result after the city is broken.