There are already dozens of generals and colonels standing here, who are the four straight Du Yu Marquis, Du Yu Marquis, the commanders of each battalion, and the deputy commanders of the guards in front of the palace.

And Du Wenhao brought Li Pu and more than a dozen other guards to his home this time were also waiting there.

Father-in-law Jiao shyly crushed his stomach and shouted in a sharp voice: "Du Wenhao and Li Pu kneel down to listen to the Empress Dowager's decree!" ”

Du Wenhao and Li Pu lifted their robes and knelt down.

Jiao Gonggong chanted: "The Empress Dowager Yi's edict said: The front guard of the palace is commanded by Wei An, transferred to the military department, and the four deputy commanders are relieved of their positions. The position of commander of the front guard of the palace was replaced by Du Wenhao, the criminal officer. The deputy commander of the capital is represented by Li Pu. Chin this! ”

Du Wenhao and Li Pu kowtowed to thank them.

The generals in the audience couldn't help but talk a few words in a low voice, but soon calmed down.

Originally, the generals of the Song Dynasty were often changed like a marquee, the purpose was to not know the soldiers, and the soldiers did not know the generals, so it was common for these captains to change the commander. What's more, now is the time for the change of thrones, for these generals, what they want most is a smooth transition, and they don't want to become pawns in the struggle for imperial power. After all, it doesn't make much difference to them who becomes emperor.

All the generals and colonels looked at Du Wenhao, these people almost all knew Du Wenhao, as the emperor's imperial doctor, he often went in and out of the palace, these were all palace guards, so he naturally knew him. They all heard that he led 5,000 forbidden troops and annihilated 20,000 troops with fewer victories and more battles, and they were full of reverence for him, so they all held their heads high and waited for him to speak.

The reaction of the generals was completely expected by Du Wenhao, he turned over his horse again, and said loudly: "Brothers! Everyone has heard the decree of the Queen Mother, right? Lord Wei An has been transferred to the military department, and the front guard department of the palace will be replaced by this official, and in the future, the front guard department of the palace must obey the orders of this official. If there is a disobedience to the order, please come out at this moment! ”

The generals in the audience were silent.

Wei An was originally the commander of the front division of the palace, he was a high-ranking official from the second rank, but he was demoted to a member of the military department, from the sixth rank, the four deputy positions were not even appointed, let them step down and wait for the vacancy, who else is stupid enough not to know what this means? So no one dared to say anything.

Du Wenhao waited for a while, saw that no one came out, and continued to say loudly: "Brothers, the emperor and the empress dowager have died one after another, and failed to leave an edict to designate the heir to the throne, and now there are some rumors that the six princes and the two princes are competing for the throne, and this official wants to tell you one sentence, that is, how to inherit the throne can only be designated by the queen mother herself, and anyone who tries to use illegal means to obtain the throne is the mortal enemy of my Great Song Dynasty!" As the guards in front of the palace, it is our sacred mission to protect the safety of the Queen Mother and the princes, concubines and princesses, etc., and we only need to fulfill this duty, and we do not need to consider anything else, and it is absolutely forbidden for anyone to interfere in the succession to the throne under any pretext. Pretty clear, isn't it? ”

All the generals agreed in unison.

Du Wenhao reprimanded loudly again: "You are the guards in front of the palace, your duty is to protect the people you are responsible for protecting, only when the people you protect are violated by outsiders, you can use force to resist, don't worry about other things." This official announced that all decisions made by Wei An will be null and void and will not be implemented! Now I order you, each of you, lead your subordinates, and return to your original posts for which you were on duty, and no one shall leave his post without the direct order of his own officer, and those who violate the order will be beheaded!" Do you understand everything? ”

This time, the generals answered in unison.

Before this, Wei An's pre-war mobilization was to ask the palace guards to prepare to counterattack the two princes' armed seizure of power, and all the palace guards were readjusted and deployed, but this time Du Wenhao let them all return to their original posts, which was equivalent to canceling all the original combat deployments made by Wei An.

Du Wenhao said again: "Li Pu listens to orders"

Li Pu hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: "The last general!" ”

"This official orders you to supervise the officers and men of each battalion to return to their respective posts, and the limit is half an hour, and those who fail to arrive within the time limit will be engaged in military law!"

"Order!"

Du Wenhao immediately replaced the four straight Du Yuhou of the palace guards, and replaced them with the four loyal personal guards who followed him in the battle back then.

During the period when Du Wenhao made personnel adjustments to the upper echelons of the palace guards, Gonggong Jiao went back to give the queen mother a life, and then held a golden edict scroll and came out with a team of edict guards. Du Wenhao has already made arrangements here, and Gonggong Jiao, Du Wenhao, and Lin Qingdai left the imperial city and went straight to King Yong's mansion.

King Yong's mansion was heavily guarded, and when he learned that Gonggong Jiao had come to deliver the decree, he hurriedly reported it. Soon, King Yong, King Cao, as well as Cai Qu, Xing Shu, Cai Jing and other people all came out.

When King Yong saw that Du Wenhao was wearing the military uniform of the commander of the guards in front of the palace, he was really surprised and delighted, stepped forward and grabbed Du Wenhao's shoulders with both hands and kept shaking, laughing and said: "Good brother, did you really do it?!" ”

"Yes! The Empress Dowager has issued a decree appointing the foolish brother as the commander of the palace guards. The decree issued by Gonggong Jiao just now. ”

Gonggong Jiao smiled and nodded: "The Empress Dowager decrees that General Du Wenhao Du will be the commander of the palace guards in front of the palace." ”

"Good! That's great! Brother, what about Wei'an? ”

Du Wenhao said: "Wei An has been transferred to the military department. ”

King Yong was stunned for a moment, and then looked up to the sky and laughed: "Hahaha, there are really yours!" Good! That's great! Hahaha"

Du Wenhao said again: "All the palace guards in the palace have returned to their original positions, and no one is allowed to leave their posts without a direct order from the foolish brother." The prince can rest assured. ”

This news made King Yong even more overjoyed, grabbed Du Wenhao's shoulder and shook and patted, and praised Du Wenhao for being a good brother and capable of doing things.

Jiao Gong said fairly: "Two princes, our family is here to pass on the holy decree of the Queen Mother. Please set up an incense case to receive the order. ”

King Yong hurriedly welcomed Gonggong Jiao and Du Wenhao into the mansion, placed an incense case in the main hall, and knelt down to receive the order.

Gonggong Jiao said with a sharp voice: "The Empress Dowager Yi decreed that Zhao Hao, King Yong, and Zhao Hao, King Cao, immediately entered the palace to discuss the succession to the throne. Chin this! ”

King Yong and King Cao were even more surprised, it seems that Du Wenhao's ** Tang Zhen poured the queen mother into a daze, and after kowtowing to thank him, he took over the decree.

Du Wenhao asked, "I wonder if the sheep sent by the foolish brother have been delivered?" ”

"It's arrived, it's been delivered to the points, and it's being slaughtered and barbecued. When the king comes back from the palace, he will inspect the points on behalf of the virtuous brothers, and let the brothers give you a few glasses of wine! ”

Du Wenhao hurriedly bowed down to express his gratitude.

Cao Wangle said: "Brother Huang, if this time, the queen mother is sure to be succeeded by you, then we still have to celebrate and celebrate?" ”

Xing Shu also cheered happily on the side: "Yes, such a big event should be a good carnival and drink." ”

King Yong saw that the biggest obstacle Wei An had been dismissed, and the guards in front of the palace had fallen into the hands of "his own people" Du Wenhao, and Du Wenhao was in his own house at the moment, as long as he stayed here, he was not afraid of any wrongdoing. So I was so relieved that I got carried away with joy and laughed: "Yes, yes! That's right! Feast! A big banquet for the king to entertain Du Xiandi, immediately passed on the king's order, so that the horse army, the infantry army commanded Ma Quanyong and Shi Yuan, as well as all the deputy commanders, Du Yuhou, and the commanders of each battalion, all went to the king's mansion to drink and celebrate, and the rest of the people waited in place to standby, and when the king returned, he would also reward the brothers of each battalion! Hahaha"

Prime Minister Cai does feel that he is now in a state funeral, and the coffins of the emperor and the empress dowager are still resting on the mourning hall, and at this moment they are feasting and drinking and singing, but they are afraid that it is not good, but seeing that King Yong is so excited, once it is confirmed that he will succeed to the throne tonight, he is the emperor, and he can decide how to treat the funeral, so he can't afford to sweep his head at this time.

After King Yong made the arrangements, he took King Cao to follow Gonggong Jiao into the palace in a sedan chair.

Entering the palace, the palace walls really couldn't see the soldiers in front of the palace who had been wearing sharp bows and arrows, and all parts of the palace were guarded by the same Ouchi guards as usual. It's as if nothing has happened here at all.

The two princes were very happy, and followed all the way to the queen mother's bedroom, and when they entered the palace, they saw the queen mother sitting on the soft couch, looking at them sadly.

The two of them bowed happily. King Yong said: "The queen mother summoned the child late at night, I don't know what to order?" ”

The queen mother said: "The queen mother misses you and asks you to accompany the queen mother." Have a seat. ”

When the two of them heard this, they were a little dumbfounded, which was completely different from what they expected. King Yong still didn't give up, and asked again: "Didn't the queen mother come to us to ...... to discuss the succession to the throne?" ”

The Empress Dowager shook her head and said, "Tomorrow the Queen Mother will convene the old ministers of the court to discuss and finally determine the successor." ”

King Yong was even more stunned: "Doesn't the queen mother think that she should designate the throne to the child to inherit?" The child is a hundred times stronger than the Six Princes! ”

The Queen Mother smiled bitterly: "Child, the succession to the throne has been taught by ancestors, and it can't be said that whoever has the ability will be the emperor, wouldn't it be a mess of the rules!" ”

King Yong's heart was completely cold, and his sleeve robe shook: "Queen Mother, the child is still in a hurry, so I have to leave!" Turning around and leaving, King Cao also hurriedly said goodbye and came out. But the queen mother did not say anything to stop her.

As soon as the two of them walked to the door, more than a dozen internal guards flashed out of the horizontal thorns outside the gate, clasping their fists and saying, "Two princes, please stay!" ”

King Yong was furious: "What are you doing? How dare you be rude to this king? ”

"I'm sorry, this is the queen mother's decree, the two princes can't leave the palace!"

King Yong turned around sharply and looked at the queen mother on the soft couch: "The queen mother wants to put the child under house arrest?" ”

The Empress Dowager got up slowly, her eyes full of sadness: "Hao'er, Hao'er, the Queen Mother can't watch you and the six emperors and grandsons fight each other for the throne, so you can't leave the queen's bedroom until the succession to the throne is clear." This is for your good! With that, the queen mother flicked her sleeve robe and turned around and entered the apse.

King Yong caught up a few steps, and several Ouchi guards flashed out on both sides of the main hall, clenching their fists and bowing, blocking their way.

King Yong's heart was cold, he knew that he had been fooled and fell into the trap of the little imperial doctor.

At this moment, Du Wenhao was happily drinking in the sea of Yongwangfu.

According to the orders of the two princes, the banquet was quickly set down, and Ma Jundu commanded Ma Quanyong and the infantry army commanded Shi Yuan, with the deputy commander of the envoy, Du Yuhou, and the commanders of each battalion hurriedly came, and several tables were moved in the hall, accompanied by Cai Qu and others to drink.

The Song Dynasty's Ma Army Guards Division and the Infantry Army Guards Division originally belonged to the Palace Front Guard Division, which was an institution under the Palace Front Guard Division, and the highest military officials were inspected in the front of the Palace. Later, in order to disperse the military power, the capital inspection and deputy positions were abolished, and they were divided into three, and each of them was directly responsible to the emperor by the commanders of each city. However, due to the physical reasons, the commander of the guard division in front of the palace is a second-rank official, and even the deputy commander is also a fourth-rank official, while Ma Jun's and infantry's commanders Ma Quanyong and Shi Yuan are only fifth-grade officials, and they are far worse than Du Wenhao in terms of rank, and they know that Du Wenhao is now a big celebrity of King Yong, so they are all competing to tie up Du Wenhao.

Cai is indeed the right prime minister, and he is the biggest, except for the prince, he is the biggest, but he knows that the prince wants to stabilize Du Wenhao now, so he also puts down the shelf and frequently toasts Du Wenhao.

Someone wants to toast Lin Qingdai's wine, but Du Wenhao said that she has to take care of herself, and he is not allowed to drink, and those who respect her have their own drinks, so Lin Qingdai does not drink a drop of wine, but Du Wenhao is a dry glass of wine, and he drinks very freely, of course, the person who toasts him naturally wants to drink it first, Du Wenhao personally pours the wine, who dares not to drink.

An hour has passed in a blink of an eye, and it is already the third watch in the middle of the night, but the two princes have not returned. At this moment, most of the officers in the field, such as Ma Quanyong and Shi Yuan, were already drunk, lying on the table and falling asleep, and most of them were lying on the ground.

The servants wanted to come to help, but they were all driven out by Du Wenhao, saying that they would continue to drink when they woke up, and Cai did not drink well if a few civil officials did not drink, and they were already so drunk that they didn't know what to do.

Du Wenhao also drank so much that his tongue was big, and he was still drinking with people everywhere with a wine glass in one hand and a wine jug in the other.

In the end, I couldn't find anyone to drink, because there were only Du Wenhao and Lin Qingdai standing in the field. The servants who were waiting from afar were amazed.

At this time, a team of people came in from outside, led by Gonggong Jiao, who came with the Ouchi guards to announce the decree, and they were very surprised when they saw the scene in the field.

Du Wenhao shook the wine jug in his hand, and said with a smile: "This double-layer wine jug is really magical, give them medicinal wine, my old man drinks good wine, and one person knocks down these dozens of military schools, haha, my old man's alcohol is still good!" Hahaha"

It turned out that Du Wenhao brought a special wine pot this time, which was obtained from the Queen Mother, this kind of wine pot is divided into two layers inside and outside, there is a small hole in the handle, hold down the small hole, pour out the wine of the inner tank, let go of the small hole, pour out the wine of the outer tank, he added anesthetic to the wine of the inner tank, and when others toasted, he had to be dissatisfied with the other party's wine glass, and pour a little, these generals drank the wine of the anesthetic, and naturally fell asleep quickly.

Du Wenhao held the wine jug and looked up to the sky and laughed: "Okay, it seems that there is no need to announce the decree here, wait for them to wake up in prison before announcing it." ”

Father-in-law Jiao smiled and nodded, and with a wave of his hand, those inner guards rushed forward and shook all the drunk generals in the field. The servants who were waiting were so frightened that they scattered and fled, only to find that all the passages and doors in the hall were controlled by the Ouchi guards. I couldn't get out at all, and I was all driven into a hall and watched.

At this time, several big carts came outside, and the guards loaded the drunk and locked officers into the cars except for Ma Quanyong and Shi Yuan and transported them away. Cai Qu, Cai Jing and Xing Shu were carried into the house and put on the bed and let them fall asleep.

When Du Wenhao went outside, he called the soldiers on duty outside, and drunkenly told them that the prince had an order, and asked them to immediately notify the capital and deputy capital of the horse army in the whole city, and the company-level officers of the infantry army and the deputy capital of the infantry army to call them to drink.

When Gonggong Jiao and them entered the palace just now, they were still carrying the sedan chairs of King Yong and King Cao, and those soldiers on duty just saw the sedan chair of the eunuch and the prince entering, and they thought that the prince was back, and they must have succeeded to the throne, so they all ran around and notified them.

At this moment, the soldiers of the horse army and the infantry army who were on guard in various parts of the city were also drinking wine and eating meat, so unhappy.

Soon, the junior officers of the horse army and the infantry army in the whole city all arrived, and they pressed a large area in the courtyard of the Yongwang Mansion, and their eyes widened excitedly. Waiting in line.

Suddenly, countless crossbowmen appeared on the roofs of the patio, with bows and arrows facing them, and countless spears and axes appeared below, swords and spears were clearly flickering, and the officers were frightened, I don't know what happened, before they entered the palace, the swords were all left outside, and at this time, they were bare-handed, where did they dare to move.

The door of the main hall opened, and out of it came out Gonggong Jiao, who was holding the holy decree, as well as Du Wenhao and Lin Qingdai, who were in full armor. Immediately, a team of Ouchi guards escorted Ma Quanyong and Shi Yuan, who were commanded by Ma Quanyong and Shi Yuan, who were all commanded by the infantry army, staggered out and pressed down on the steps until they knelt.

Gonggong Jiao licked his stomach and glanced at the generals below, and said in a sharp voice: "The guards in front of the palace have all commanded Du Wenhao to receive Yi's order!" ”

Du Wenhao walked to the bottom of the steps in heavy armor, picked up his robe and knelt down.

Jiao Gonggong chanted: "The Empress Dowager Yi's edict said: Ma Quanyong and Shi Yuan are commanded by the Ma army, and the infantry army is commanded by Shi Yuan. The two positions of commander of the guard horse army division and the commander of the guard infantry army division are concurrently served by Du Wenhao, the commander of the front guard department of the palace. Chinchi! ”

After Du Wenhao thanked him, he got up to accept the order and stood aside.

Ma Quanyong and Shi Yuan had been woken up with salt water, but they were still dizzy at the moment and didn't know what was going on, but they still heard the content of the holy decree clearly. Ma Quanyong shouted more urgently: "Spare your life, this is what Prince Yong meant, ordering us to lead the army to prepare to attack the palace and seize the throne by force, this is all his ......"

"Shut up!" Father-in-law Jiao said sharply, "When death is imminent, you dare to frame the two princes!" Come! Execute! ”

The guards on both sides came up, knocked off the helmets on the heads of the two, grabbed the hair to expose the necks and fixed them, and strode out of the hall with two executioners with black veils, holding a ghost head knife in one hand and a bowl of soju in the other, drank a few sips, sprayed on the knife with a snort, picked it up and drew an arc in the air, and slashed at the back of the necks of the two people!

The two of them knelt on the ground and were still loudly complaining, saying that it was the idea of the prince, the ghost head knife passed by, the sound stopped abruptly, the big head rolled down the steps, the blood spurted out several feet away, and the generals standing in front of them were stained with a little bit. The guards with the headless corpses on either side threw the corpses forward, and the two headless corpses fell to the top of the steps.

Seeing this scene, the hundreds of generals and officials on the field were as quiet as cicadas, and they shrank their necks one by one and did not dare to speak.