He mused as he spoke politely, "Lord Yang, you are too humble. I heard from Vice Minister Liang of the Ministry of War that Yang Xuan, the Grand Coordinator of Datong, is both cultured and martial, a rare talent in Xuan Da. How can you say you have little virtue and hold a high position? I believe you should be the Governor-General of Xuan Da, or at least the Commander-in-Chief of Xuan Da..."
"Hahaha, then it will depend on Scholar Zhu's patronage..."
Yang Xuan laughed heartily and glanced at the crowd behind him.
Everyone then joined in with flattering remarks.
After a while, seeing how friendly both sides were, the common people, assuming there would be no exciting spectacle, gradually dispersed.
Yang Xuan suddenly turned serious and asked Wu Ying, "General Wu, where are Commander Zhu's men staying? Have they been arranged for?"
Wu Ying immediately replied, "Your subordinate has long since made arrangements. Commander Zhu, please have your men stay in the left guard's large warehouse. It's spacious and heated with charcoal fires from the ground, very warm!"
Oh?
A scene flashed through Zhu Mo's mind: move my personal guards outside the city? This was absolutely unacceptable.
Although he was only a fifth-rank Grand Scholar of the Left Spring Court, he was an imperial envoy for the Xuan Da disaster relief, carrying the King's command token. How could he be captured so easily?
He immediately smiled and said:
"Lord Yang, General, to be frank, the reason I came to Datong this time and not to Xuanfu is because there is a major matter to attend to... Uh, I would like to be quartered at the Huayan Temple within the city. May I ask if the two lords can send someone to lead the way?"
As he spoke, he feigned a serious expression.
This was because he had discussed it with Liang Menglong previously, and the White Lotus Society in Datong had initially originated from the Huayan Temple within the city. He had reviewed the defense maps before setting out, and the Huayan Temple was not far from several princely estates, making it convenient.
As soon as he said this, Wu Ying was about to argue.
Yang Xuan waved his hand and said with a smile, "Very well! General Wu, you go now and have them prepare some monk's quarters for the men! By the way, Commander Zhu's men deserve the best quarters!"
He suddenly thought—
Wouldn't it be the same if you stayed at Huayan Temple? That was precisely the place to make a move, and Luo Longwen's strategy emphasized complying with Zhu Mo. Otherwise, if something major happened, and the upright scholars like Zhang Juzheng and Xu Jie made a fuss in court, or if Anda became suspicious, the entire plan would be ruined halfway.
After some pleasantries,
Zhu Mo felt the danger increasingly surrounding him. He merely claimed fatigue and led everyone to take up quarters at Huayan Temple.
That night, he lay restless in the monk's quarters.
...
After much consideration,
He estimated that Ma Fang had likely succeeded in his strike and had greatly impacted Anda, otherwise, according to his calculations, Anda's large army would have already assembled by now.
But a new problem had emerged—
Li Wenjin was tightly controlled by the Yan family in Xuanfu, and Ma Fang was outside the frontier. There was no manpower within Datong city... Ultimately, it was his own lack of experience, and he hadn't anticipated that this matter would be so significant. Otherwise, he would have had Zhang Juzheng arrange for some of his confidants to come earlier.
And now, he felt trapped by an invisible formation. This entire situation was not a military engagement, but a game of intangible momentum.
He had only planned how to deal with Anda initially, but he had never expected the Yan faction to employ this tactic: using their long-standing authority to coerce all officials, forming a curtain of iron, tightly enclosing him. While marginalizing the old guard, they also made the moderates hesitant, leaving him completely unable to move!
And in such circumstances,
How could he mobilize the two garrisons and the populace to confront the approaching Anda army?
As he sighed, he couldn't help but murmur to himself:
"Where is my momentum? Where is my momentum?"
"That would naturally be the might of imperial authority..."
"Before Anda's army presses forward, I should still have an opportunity to break the deadlock..."
He felt that he had to tear open a gap, to force the various factions within Datong Prefecture to choose sides again. And the best gap should be the Embroidered Uniform Guard stationed in Datong Prefecture.
...
The next morning, a light snow was flying.
Zhu Mo had Zhao Shizhen rise early and lead a hundred men in morning drills, allowing the Datong garrison troops to witness the strict discipline of the imperial army. As for himself, he was led by a servant of the Provincial Governor's yamen directly to the Censorate's yamen.
According to imperial custom, Embroidered Uniform Guards of the level of Xuan Da disaster relief supervisors were to be stationed at the Governor-General's yamen or the Provincial Governor's yamen. Yang Xuan was a low-key person and, to ensure that matters were handled without any fault, directly vacated the Censorate's yamen and let the Embroidered Uniform Guard take charge.
Zhu Mo walked through the courtyard and strode into the hall, only to see a person sitting upright in the hall, wearing a magnificent flying fish robe, but not dressed in plain clothes and straw sandals.
He couldn't help but inwardly cry out, "Bad!"—
How could he have been so careless and left such a big loophole?
He was Zhang Er's man!
He immediately regretted not having paid attention to this at the time. Because this was a routine matter, Xu Jie could report it, and a few supervisors of the Directorate of Ceremonial could decide. He wondered where the slip-up occurred that they had allowed this person to be stationed in Datong?
This person's name was Yu Zhen, a subordinate of Zhang Er,
This would be very troublesome!
One must know,
The Thirteen Protectors of the Embroidered Uniform Guard could be said to be the most reliable forces in the world at present, but there were two exceptions: one was Zhang Er, and the other was Lu Bing, or the Sixth.
Because there was more than one supervisor in the Directorate of Ceremonial, although Lü Fang was the Grand Director, he also had to consider other historically formed structures. Zhang Er and Lu Liu were confidants of the old supervisor Huang Zhong, and Huang Zhong, in turn, was Yan Song's early internal support in the palace.
Zhang Er and Lu Liu were anomalies within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and their usual style was different. Whenever they appeared, they would go all out with their displays, and after leaving the palace, they often wore flying fish robes. They usually associated with prominent figures of the Yan faction and the wealthiest men in the empire, already famous in the capital.
Several years ago, Yan Shifan had hosted a literary gathering in the East Building to evaluate the empire's wealthy and talented individuals, which was widely circulated in the Great Ming. Among the seventeen wealthiest individuals were Zhang Er and Lu Liu.
This shows that,
These two had always treated the Embroidered Uniform Guard as an official position.
Their trusted subordinate Yu Zhen was naturally no exception.
...
At this very moment,
In the main hall of the Datong Censorate's yamen.
Zhu Mo saw that this Embroidered Uniform Guard was sitting casually behind a large desk, wearing a luxurious sable cloak, with a black jade ring on his left ring finger, appearing refined and noble.
What was even more surprising was that he had brought two servants with him, one warming wine and the other brewing tea. The furniture set clearly indicated it was brought from the capital.
Upon seeing Zhu Mo, this person quickly stood up and bowed, saying:
"Yu Zhen pays his respects to Grand Scholar Zhu..."
"Oh, Mr. Yu... Mr. Yu, you have worked hard..."
This was the first time Zhu Mo had encountered this type of Embroidered Uniform Guard, and he was momentarily unsure how to address him.
In fact, he did not dislike pomp. It made scholars and gentlemen appear refined and rare, but when it came to officials, it was a bit displeasing. And this person, who was an Embroidered Uniform Guard specifically tasked with apprehending corrupt officials, made him extremely uncomfortable. Compared to Zhu Qi, Wu Feng, Wu Ming, and Wu Liang, who would believe he was also an Embroidered Uniform Guard?
As he had a thought, he couldn't help but smile—
The Yan family was indeed incredibly powerful. Imagine, what would the common people think when they saw an Embroidered Uniform Guard dressed like this? What were they guarding? The attire alone represented half a lifetime's income for an ordinary citizen, and something that ordinary upright officials could only dream of buying.
So,
What were they displaying? At the very least, they were displaying: we Embroidered Uniform Guards are also among the powerful and influential in the empire! And thinking more deeply, in contrast to the Grand Ancestor's plain clothes and straw sandals, who in the empire would like, or fear, such an image, isn't it self-evident?
What was even more terrifying was that if the hearts of the common people in the empire became extremely materialistic, wouldn't plain clothes and straw sandals appear ridiculous and clownish? Who would respect them anymore? And what authority would an image that was looked down upon by everyone possess?
It could be seen that this small detail had completely revealed the crux of the Great Ming's problems.
Seeing that Yu Zhen was Zhang Er's man, he was already deeply disappointed. For the first time, he felt a sense of fear regarding the danger of the situation and was deeply awestruck by the invisible pressure created by the Yan family.