Lin Xuan of the Red Chamber

It may sound unbelievable, but the fact is true. The [-] troops sent by the imperial court to suppress the rebellion couldn't even catch the rebels.It has been more than four months since the incident happened, and it has been more than two months since the army assembled and set off.

A group of soldiers and horses with sufficient food and grass, experienced generals, and powerful soldiers have spent such a long time in Fujian. The emperor was already furious.Therefore, under such circumstances, the downfall of the fourth prince was so rapid. The emperor really needed a punching bag, and the fourth prince just arrived at this time.

In fact, this matter cannot be blamed for the emperor being furious. It is impossible for any monarch to be merciful to the rebels, and they must be wiped out in the bud as quickly as possible.This is also to warn others, otherwise, everyone will rebel recklessly when encountering some problems, then can this great country still survive.

Therefore, for such a group of farmers who have not been able to deal with what they want and have nothing for such a long time, the emperor is really anxious, and one after another imperial edicts are sent to the camps of the generals in Fujian.

Even if it weren't for the consideration that it would be inappropriate to change generals just before the battle, the emperor would even have thought of changing the general leading the troops.

However, those generals also had hardships that they couldn't tell. They were rich in experience, and it was true that they had experienced hundreds of battles, but they had never faced these rebellious people.

The number of those rebellious people is not large, and they are originally refugees. When they don't use swords or guns, they look the same as refugees. How can they tell them apart?

Coupled with the huge actions of these large troops, they couldn't hide their whereabouts at all, and those rebellious people were all locals, familiar with the terrain, and they were covered by some refugees.That really fully developed the sixteen-character policy that someone once said.

Speaking of this, I have to mention the terrain on the Fujian side. It is rugged and difficult to navigate, mostly in mountainous areas, which is not suitable for the formation of large troops at all.

Although the scale of the peasants' forced rebellion was small, it had attracted widespread attention from the ruling and opposition parties because of the seriousness of the incident.Various forces have launched quite heated discussions around this matter, but most of them believe that this rebellion must be quelled immediately and quickly.

In addition to the desire of these ministers to quickly quell the war, the two princes who had faintly started to confront each other since the downfall of the fourth prince were also extremely concerned about this matter.This is not because they are worried about their own country, but because they understand very clearly that although the current imperial army can't do anything to the rebels in these places.But as long as time goes by and the court intensifies its efforts, those traitors will naturally end up with nothing good.

And even if the imperial court does not send additional manpower, as long as time passes, when those rebels run out of food, they will not be able to implement the current strategy.It is necessary to go out to look for food, and because of the severe drought in Fujian, there is no harvest. Those rebels must stay outside for a long time if they want to find food.

At that time, even if the generals who lead the army are stupid, it will be very easy to win the victory.It is simply impossible for a team composed of ordinary people to fight against the elite soldiers of the imperial court for a long time.

Everyone is well aware of this truth, but it does not prevent them from fooling the emperor and continuing to invest troops there.They were not afraid that the emperor would notice their thoughts, because the emperor didn't understand military affairs at all, so they got angry because of the ineffectiveness of these days.Secondly, even if the emperor understands this, for the sake of the court's face, it is impossible for him to let those rebels continue to relax.

With the help of the third prince and the second prince, the emperor quickly made a decision to send more troops to Fujian to quell the chaos.At this time, the competition between the third prince and the second prince began to become fierce.There is a saying that states that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. On weekdays, these princes and princes have no chance of gaining access to military power at all. Those troops are all in the hands of the emperor alone.

This time can be regarded as the only chance for the third prince and the second prince to reach out to the army, which is why the two of them worked so hard to fuel the flames before.

Regarding these, the emperor may or may not know, but whether he knows or not, since there is no performance, it can be seen that the emperor is acquiescing.

It was already clear what he acquiesced to, he was encouraging the two princes to start placing some people in the army.This was unimaginable in the past. The current Emperor Longqing attaches great importance to the power in his hands, and he will never take the initiative to spread power, let alone spread it to those princes.

But the current situation is different from the past. The emperor was always in good health, and there was no problem even if he had been on the throne for more than ten years. Under such circumstances, he naturally refused to disperse the power in his hands.But now, the Emperor Longqing could clearly feel that his body was not as good as before.

Perhaps because he felt that his time was coming, Emperor Longqing was no longer as harsh on the princes as before. If any prince dared to stretch his hand into the army, Emperor Longqing would never tolerate it.But now Emperor Longqing not only acquiesced, even the third prince and the second prince had the courage to do so at the beginning, it was because of the emperor's slightly suggestive words.

The battle between the second prince and the third prince in the court did not overshadow the downfall of the Zhen family. After all, the Zhen family is also a century-old family. Even before this, many important officials in the court had to consider The Zhen family's thoughts.

Especially those families that had no ties to the Zhen family and had a close relationship with them hastily drew a clear line with the Zhen family, for fear that they would be affected by the affairs of the Zhen family.

In addition to these people who have made trouble and are busy drawing a line with the Zhen family, there are also some people who have taken a fancy to the hidden interests in this matter.

What is that, of course, it can not only harvest the national treasury, but also slightly enrich the house raids of one's own small treasury.

As for the ransacking of the house, as long as it does not happen in your own home, it is really a good thing. First of all, the treasury is filled, and the ministers don’t have to worry about having no money in the court every day. There are some benefits to be gained.And other important officials in the court will also get a big gift when the team that went to search their homes returns.

This was already a common practice in the Great Zhou Dynasty, just like every year when local officials return to Beijing to report on their duties, they will send ice and charcoal tributes to the officials in the court.In fact, it can also be seen from this point, because of the connivance of the current emperor, what the atmosphere in the court has become.

In short, for the matter of going to Zhen's house to search the house, many officials who are not very high-ranking are very fond of it.You know, doing this can not only temporarily avoid the battle between the second prince and the third prince, but also travel at public expense for free, and earn extra money. Who wouldn't like it.

But before those officials could think of a way to fight for it, the emperor had already issued an imperial decree, appointing Li Hong, the prince of the Qin Dynasty, and Hua Linxuan, Xinke Tan, as imperial envoys to go to Zhen's house to conduct a search and other matters.Before all the ministers could recall the imperial decree, the emperor issued another imperial decree, in which he ordered the son of the third prince to be the supervisor of the army and go with the army to suppress the rebellion.

Such two imperial decrees have fooled all the ministers again.What is going on here? First of all, the first imperial decree is just to raid a house, so there is no need to send two people there.This is not a big deal, what's more, the status of the two people sent here is not low, one is the eldest son of King Qin, and the other is the son-in-law of King Qin, what is going on like that.

Let's talk about the second thing, even though the third prince is now fighting fiercely with the second prince, the reason is to put some of his own people in the army that went to counter the rebellion, and he wants to have some influence in the army.But that doesn't mean that, for this purpose, the second prince wants to send his son there.

Although the second prince didn't have only this son, but after thinking about it, he knew that if the second prince asked him to make him his son, he would definitely not be his best son, but his best son.Swords and swords don't have eyes on this battlefield. Although they are dealing with a group of ordinary people and have no fighting power, if something happens, the blow to the third prince will definitely be huge.

You know, as early as the ancestors of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the royal family inspected whether the heirs could succeed to the throne. It was not only the sons, but the grandchildren were also under the strict inspection scope.

This is also the reason why the second prince didn't like Li Hong very much, but wanted to make him his son, not only because Li Hong looked like the current emperor and was favored by the emperor, but more importantly, because of his own ability and talent.

In the same way, as the third prince who aspires to the throne, the heir he establishes will naturally not be that kind of idiot, and he will also have real talents and real learning.

It is of course very important to be able to place one's own manpower in the army, otherwise, the third prince would not have fought so hard with the second prince, but if compared with his own heir, the importance would be discounted a lot up.