Chapter 24 The seizure of military power in Shandong
A quarter of an hour later, in addition to leaving hundreds of people in the post house to protect Empress Zhou, Zhu Cihong took the remaining 1,000 Donggong Imperial Forest Army out of the city and rushed out of the city to the military camp outside the city, where Liu Zeqing's 50,000 Shandong army, led by ten generals.
"Who trespassed on the barracks!"
"Get out of the way, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived, who dares to stop it!"
Zhang Kuishan rushed to the front, and with a whip of the horse, he knocked the blocking sergeant to the ground, and a thousand Donggong Imperial Forest Army rushed in.
"Knock knock----" An East Palace Imperial Forest soldier beat the war drum.
"Who's beating the drum!" A staff officer walked out of the barracks with a curse.
At the same time, the other barracks officers also came out, thinking that the person who beat the drum was Liu Zeqing, but they didn't expect it to be Zhu Cihong, the prince of Taiming.
"Grandma's, such a big sun doesn't make people have a good rest, it's really unlucky!" Everywhere in the barracks, many soldiers who had been lazy and sitting on the ground chatting jumped up, this is a gathering of military drums, when something big happens, it is extremely severe, and if you are late, you will be killed, and the soldiers who are usually lazy do not dare to desert at this time, and they quickly run towards the school field one by one.
"Who are you, why are you beating the snare drum indiscriminately, and you can't be killed!" A staff member took the lead in coming to the school and found that it was not Liu Zeqing who had come, but a group of people he didn't know, and immediately pointed to Zhu Cihong, who was standing in the center of the school platform, and scolded.
"Bold! Dare to be rude to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, you want to rebel! Zhang Kuishan shouted, with a bang, the saber was half drawn, and the half-bright blade was cold under the reflection of the sun.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" The general was taken aback, and looked at the yellow four-clawed dragon robe worn by Zhu Cihong, which was exactly what the prince was qualified to wear, not who the prince was.
This general didn't think that anyone dared to come to this military camp to pretend to be the prince, he also heard that His Royal Highness the Prince only came to Shandong yesterday, and Liu Zeqing, the chief soldier, set up a banquet to catch the wind for His Royal Highness the Prince, so the prince in front of him is nine out of nine.
"The last general will see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness forgives his sins!" The general hurriedly knelt down to greet him.
The other nine generals arrived one after another at this moment, and they were also surprised that it was rumored that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had only come to Shandong yesterday, and they could not be surprised, and hurriedly stepped forward to pay their respects.
"The last general will wait to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Excuse me!"
After a while, all the 50,000 troops in the barracks gathered here, and standing at the front were ten generals of each battalion.
Zhu Cihong glanced at the ten generals of each battalion.
"You must be very strange, why did the crown prince come here, and why didn't you see Liu Zeqing coming here with the prince?"
Indeed, especially several of Liu Zeqing's henchmen, they knew that it was impossible for Liu Zeqing to let Zhu Cihong come here alone, but at this moment, Liu Zeqing was missing, which made them very puzzled.
"Hehe, Shandong General Liu Zeqing colluded with the thief Li Zicheng, intending to rebel, killing the prince, betraying the Ming Dynasty, the crime is unforgivable, and he should be punished! Fang has just been corrected by this prince on the spot! The corners of Zhu Cihong's mouth hooked up a cold smile, and he didn't talk nonsense, and directly said something that almost scared all the soldiers of the 50,000 army in front of him.
Everyone was stunned, they couldn't believe their ears, their chief soldier Liu Zeqing actually intended to rebel, and was killed by His Royal Highness the Prince, how is this possible, sure enough, someone jumped out and shouted in disbelief.
"Impossible, how could the chief soldier rebel and be killed? You must be a fake prince, come here to coax us and others, don't be fooled, go up together, capture this fake prince, and leave it to the chief soldier! One of the staff officers angrily pointed at Zhu Cihong on the school platform and shouted.
"Yes, this person must be a fake prince, let's go together!" Another general shouted along.
The two generals who spoke were Liu Zeqing's absolute henchmen, each leading the two most elite battalions of soldiers and horses under Liu Zeqing's command, it can be said that it is absolutely impossible for them to betray Liu Zeqing, how can they believe what Zhu Cihong said, even if what Zhu Cihong said is true, they will be desperate to capture and kill Zhu Cihong to avenge Liu Zeqing.
Among the 50,000 troops, two battalions of soldiers and horses were about to move, and they were about to obey the orders of the two generals and rush forward.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and one of the staff officers was punched a hole in the front door, blood splattered, and he fell to the ground, not knowing whether he was alive or dead. And the muzzle of the tunnel hair short gun in Zhu Cihong's hand is emitting white smoke.
At the same time as Zhu Cihong's gun rang out, more than a dozen Donggong Imperial Forest soldiers waiting next to Zhu Cihong lit the fire rope of the musket in their hands, and quickly rushed forward, and more than ten muskets fired at the other general at the same time.
More than a dozen gunshots rang out, and the other ginseng was beaten into a sieve and died a miserable death.
"All those who defend Liu Zeqing are his comrades and should be punished!"
This bloody scene immediately frightened everyone, and the soldiers and horses of the two battalions who were about to rush forward also paused, and their faces turned pale and they didn't know what to do.
Zhu Cihong took a package from the hand of a guard that he didn't know what was inside. opened it, and it was Liu Zeqing's head that was wrapped impressively.
Zhu Cihong grabbed Liu Zeqing's head by the hair and lifted Liu Zeqing's miserable white head in the air.
"Liu Zeqing has already been punished, who dares to question this prince, these two will be the end! Who are you waiting for, and you are still dissatisfied! ~”
As soon as Liu Zeqing's head was revealed, the shock to everyone was very obvious, not only did all the soldiers dare not move, but even the remaining eight generals were so frightened that their faces turned pale, and they stood there for a while not knowing what to do.
The reason why Zhu Cihong didn't show Liu Zeqing's head at the beginning was to test Liu Zeqing's henchmen, and sure enough, he let him be tempted and killed Liu Zeqing's henchmen, plus Liu Zeqing is dead, he believes that this army can no longer escape from his grasp.
"The last general is willing to obey the orders of His Royal Highness the Prince!" Sure enough, one of the staff officers was the first to react, and immediately knelt on the ground and swore allegiance.
"The last general is willing to obey the orders of His Royal Highness the Prince, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Chitose!" The remaining seven generals knelt down and swore allegiance, and then all 50,000 sergeants knelt on the ground to express their submission to Zhu Cihong.
The ancient imperial power is deep-rooted, and Liu Zeqing is dead, and they are not Liu Zeqing's absolute henchmen, so naturally they will not fight against the prince with brains, and the oath of allegiance is true, after all, the prince is going south to Jiangnan to ascend the throne as the emperor, if they follow His Royal Highness the prince, a lucky person may become the emperor's pro-army in the future, and it is not a problem to soar.
"Good! Wait, wait! As a result, Zhu Cihong preliminarily subdued Liu Zeqing's army of 50,000.
"You, what's your name!" Zhu Cihong pointed to the general who knelt on the ground and asked.
"Back to His Royal Highness the Prince, Ji Feng, the last general and former battalion general!" Ji Feng replied loudly, his voice was deep, like a fierce general.
Zhu Cihong nodded, very satisfied with Ji Feng's performance.
"Ji Feng listens to the order, this prince is temporarily under your position as the deputy chief soldier of Shandong, and is responsible for assisting this prince to coordinate the 50,000 army of Shandong!"
"His Royal Highness the Prince Xie is very loving, and he will never give up from now on, but His Royal Highness's order is obeyed!" Ji Feng knelt down and thanked him, envious of the other seven generals, but he didn't expect Ji Feng to react one step ahead of them and swear allegiance to His Royal Highness the Prince, and in a blink of an eye, he was promoted by one level and rode on their heads at once.
"Although Liu Zeqing has been ambushed, there are still fellow parties in his mansion, Ji Feng, this prince ordered you to lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to go back with this prince to exterminate Liu Zeqing's comrades!" Zhu Cihong ordered.
"The last general obeys!" Ji Feng immediately ordered 10,000 soldiers and horses to return to the city with Zhu Cihong, and surrounded Liu Zeqing's general military mansion!
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