The Thirty-first Group of British (1)

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  Vote for me!!!!

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  Strong winds set fires, midnight murders.

  The drum had already beaten the third watch, and for two days, the three hundred men, Duan, Ren, and She, who were supposed to be on duty at the inner gate, had not arrived. They were now sharpening their knives, preparing to take action, with about a dozen of their trusted subordinates by their side.

  Although Zhu Ciwen was already observing with his eyes when he chose people, and then carefully selected them, these three people were originally indeed the kind of honest ones... but things are changing now...

  They are, after all, a family of military officers, with over two hundred years of hereditary succession in the Imperial Guard. Even the most honest person, who has never eaten pork, must have smelled its aroma, right? Now they're getting reckless and arrogant, with the Crown Prince backing them up... The fact is, the Ming dynasty is now on shaky ground, with dozens of households robbed in the capital, not a single brother was killed, and no government agency has ever investigated this matter.

  After all, it's a plan before action, everything is designed in advance, even later when each family is on high alert, including the few dogs they raised, the position of the guard dog, the range of movement of the dog, the location of the master's main hall and bedroom... All these are drawn with a rough sketch, planned before action, so there is no place that cannot be reached.

  After rushing down this road, several hundred households were meticulous people, and they quietly calculated their accounts. At the very least, there were 180,000 taels of gold and over a million taels of silver.

  The young master is not a petty person. From the time he started serving until now, each of them was rewarded with several hundred taels of silver. This sum of money, although received by everyone, did not satisfy them.

  Beijing opera performers, who doesn't want to support a family! The day the young master made his bow, everyone's heart was filled with warmth and they were determined to give their all for him. But giving one's life is just that - giving one's life. With so much money, who wouldn't be tempted? A few hundred taels of silver divided among them, at first it felt substantial... but human hearts are even heavier than silver. As time passed, a few hundred taels couldn't hold it down.

  A few people have calculated that our loyalty to the young master's heart cannot be changed. In the capital, doing such things is bold and daring, killing people and stealing goods, but the backing is the crown prince. This relationship must not be messed up. However, there is no need to wait for instructions like this. The old guys in the cabinet are also afraid of money, and it's time to move them. In these two days, I haven't gone to report, and I've done two more jobs continuously. One brother didn't fold, and we got six or seven hundred thousand taels of silver out.

  This silver is hard to come by, and it's even harder to hand it over... No one can bear to part with it. Counting the number of people, there are only a dozen or so, with three hundred households taking the lead, and the remaining ten or so people dividing it up again, each getting a large sum of silver. However, privately embezzling the entire amount is also not dared... After thinking about it, it's better to make another big move, leaving the previous silver for everyone, and making a big haul to offer to the young master!

  Swallowing Master Xiao's silver again, everyone is raised by Little Ma!

  The goal in front of him is the famous General Wu Sangui's mansion in Beijing, Old Master Wu, who has been a general for many years, led tens of thousands of soldiers, and doesn't know how much soldier's blood he has drunk or how many empty quotas he has eaten. The Wu family's wealth is unknown to ordinary officials and civilians, but which military officer doesn't know?

  Family property is at least over 10 million!

  Tonight, everyone made up their minds that they must get at least 180,000 taels of gold and silver from the Wu family!

  As for the guards of Wu's mansion, it was true that some were elite soldiers from Guanning, but these days they had been everywhere and had become bold, their numbers were also roughly equal, so they all hid at the foot of the outer wall of Wu's house, shrinking into a ball, although the night was cold and the chill was biting, their bodies shivering with cold, but their hearts were ablaze!

  ……

  ……

  "Junior nephew pays respects to his uncle!"

  "Get up!"

  "Thank you, Uncle."

  At the sound, he stood up and saw that it was a tall and slender young man with elegant clothes, but with a heroic spirit between his eyebrows, and very few noble sons had such an air. It was Feng Kechang who came to Beijing at his father's behest.

  Although he has been in Beijing for a short time, Feng Kai Zhang's face is already filled with the words "devastation" ... If you insist on putting it another way, then using "torture" doesn't seem wrong either...

  But after all, it's the official family that came out, and in any case, they can't afford to lose face, especially in front of their uncle, even though their uncle has already handed over... After all, he was once the Da Ming Taizi Shaobao, the Minister of War!

  It is said that the newly appointed Minister of War, Zhang Jinyan, gave 10,000 silver coins to Chen Yan, the chief assistant of the Grand Council, and after several rounds of negotiations, he finally secured the position of Ben Bing.

  But there are also many people scolding Zhang for being too stupid!

  What's the current situation? Everywhere is rising up in revolt, not to mention that the capital is no longer safe and secure. Unlike the Eastern Barbarians who invaded the border and left after looting, if the bandits come, eight or nine out of ten will plan to attack the capital. Even if nothing happens for the time being, can this position be taken lightly? Not to mention vomiting blood from exhaustion, but also being oppressed by the emperor, squeezed by colleagues, what's the point of coming here?!

  His uncle Feng Yuanbiao was in this position for so long that his hair turned white and now his waist is slightly hunched.

  "Reporting for duty..."

  Behind Feng Kai Zhang, Wei Yue followed him for many days. By nature, he was a straightforward person who didn't interfere with Feng's official business. However, every day he followed and took charge of some miscellaneous tasks as well as dealing with people in the official circle. Wei Yue was familiar with these people and got rid of some troublesome characters, saving Feng a lot of trouble.

  Apart from this, he was indifferent to everything else and never asked about official business in the government office.

  However, today is the day to come to Feng Yuanfeng's place. In those years, Feng Yuanfeng was a Shilang of the Ministry of War and insisted on saving Wei Yue and others' lives under his own will. Later, he also thought of ways to reinstate these people... As for the favor, it is still not enough to repay.

  Otherwise, with Wei Yue's temperament, how would he humbly visit and pay respects?

  He said that, but Feng Yuanbiao suddenly slammed his palm on the table and angrily shouted: "I heard that you, Wei Da, are very talented, but until now you still look like a dead man? I saved you because I saw your exceptional skills, pitying your talent for the country. What use is it to be under my tutelage if you can't even do this one thing? It's really infuriating..."

  Feng Yuan's strong and tough personality is well-known, otherwise he wouldn't dare to openly defy Chongzhen at this time, which led to his downfall... However, this old man's temper is really explosive, before even exchanging pleasantries, he directly brought up the main topic in a rough manner...

  Wei Yue remained expressionless, only kneeling on the ground and kowtowing, as if Old Man Feng said something, he didn't care at all.

  This kind of situation in front of me, of course, is not the first time either...

  "Alas, never mind about this stubborn donkey." Feng Yuanfeng was tired of scolding and stopped. He turned to his nephew and asked in a low voice, "Things didn't go smoothly, did they?"

  "It's...". Feng Kechang had just started, and Feng Yuanbiao saw a shadow flashing outside the study, and the lamp shadow inside was also swaying. The old man became furious and scolded: "Didn't I say no one is allowed to come? Who is it?"

  "It was Wang, the Minister of War, who came to pay his respects."

  The housekeeper of the Feng manor was outside, because the master had given prior instructions that no outsider would be allowed to enter, but Wang Jia Yan was an important guest and a familiar one who usually came in directly without needing to be announced, so he could only swallow his anger and report.

  "Oh, it's him..." Feng Yuanfeng paused for a moment before saying: "He came at just the right time, we can discuss things together."

  Having said that, he stood up and waited in front of the door of the inner study without going out to greet him.

  At that time, the wealthy families had a study on one side of the inner flower hall to entertain first-class guests. Feng Yuanfei's study was also quiet and had some ancient artifacts made of gold and stone. If you weren't an important guest, you wouldn't be allowed in here.

  Before long, a fifty-year-old official in a red robe came striding over. Feng Yu saw him from afar and exclaimed in surprise: "What's this? You've come straight here after the imperial court gathering without even changing your clothes?"

  "Not at all!" Wang Jiayan smiled wryly: "I've been busy all day and rushed to see you, how could I have the energy?"

  "Okay, then let's change at the next stop."

  "No need," Wang Jiayan replied, "I have something to attend to tonight."

  "What?"

  "His Majesty saw the Grand Minister today, and then summoned the Ministry of War... There is already an imperial edict: to establish a military government in the capital, with Zhang Taigong as the Governor-General of Military Affairs, and I as the Deputy Governor-General."

  "Who will lead the troops back to Beijing?"

  "It's not yet certain, but it's likely that Zhu Chunchen will be appointed. Oh, and there's also a rumor that if the situation becomes critical and they need to urgently summon troops from Guanning to support the capital... Wu Xiang might be appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard..."

  Wang Jiayan shook his head and said, "The emperor is also desperately seeking a cure!"

  "Hmph!" Feng Yuanfeng's sharp words cut to the bone: "They're all unreliable people who only look out for themselves. The emperor is surrounded by such petty individuals, what more can be said?"

  "It's not that there's no one at all, in times of crisis, Wang Cheng'en will definitely be sent to take charge of the entire capital's defense... This person still has several thousand Inner City Guards under his command, and there must be quite a few loyal ones among them."

  "It's not that we can't use it." Feng Yuanbiao let out a somewhat painful sigh, shaking his head and saying: "The bandits are still in Shaanxi, and on our side, people are already at their wit's end. Many have made up their minds to surrender."

  "However," Wang Jiayan, a man of strong character, smiled when facing Feng Yuanbao: "We must first do our duty and then talk. I plan to go on patrol at the inner and outer city gates tonight to check the defense situation... Let's slowly pick up the defense of the capital first."

  "Hmm, it's tough!"

  Feng Yuanfeng let out a cold snort, but didn't overly provoke his old friend of many years. He simply pointed at Feng Kezhang and said in a low voice, "This child's arrival in the capital is also a means for me and my brother to secretly plan an escape route. If it succeeds, there may still be a chance to turn things around."

  "Oh? I'd like to hear more about it."

  "You probably know that my brother is currently the Governor of Tianjin. To be honest, we and Li Meng'an, Li Taixu have discussed it among ourselves, and being trapped in Beijing is not a good strategy. However, moving south still has the opportunity to defend the Yangtze River, so I predict that we will take action next year, and preparations have already begun!"

  What he said about Li Meng'an was actually Li Banghua, the Left Vice-Minister of Justice of the imperial court, who had a reputation for being upright and clean. This old man had always been loyal and straightforward, earning people's respect. As for Li Tai Xu, it was Li Mingrui, the Left Zhongyuan, also a trusted minister who enjoyed the trust of Emperor Chongzhen.

  They had already collectively planned to ask Chongzhen to move south, and with Feng Kezhang's identity here, Wang Jiayan immediately nodded and said to Feng Kezhang: "Brother, you have come to urge the Emperor to go to Tianjin and then take the sea route to move south?"