Zhu Mo, having made up his mind, ignored them and loudly addressed Zhuang Yidong, "Zhuang Yidong, I've heard you've served in the Five Generations Guard, is that true?"
Ma Lu and several other old guards were startled: What was this about? Why were they being questioned?
Zhuang Yidong snorted and replied, "Is there any falsehood to it?"
"Did you earn military merits?"
Zhu Mo, seemingly nonchalant, directly asked the question that most concerned the common people.
"Hmph!"
Zhuang Yidong pointed to his left arm, which had been severed at the shoulder, and said proudly, "In the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing, the Gengxu year, Anda besieged Datong. I fought under the command of General Lin Chun, engaging Xin Ai at Deshengbao, fighting fiercely for seven days and seven nights! Hmph, this arm was lost then..."
Oh...
A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd.
Li Lai, looking left and right, was already very anxious—
This Zhu Mo is indeed difficult to deal with!
He is clearly inciting the people! If he's allowed to continue questioning, won't the common folk become agitated? Then we'll be in a passive position...
But despite his anxiety, under Ma Lu's cold, piercing gaze, he felt his legs weaken and dared not make any move.
...
Meanwhile, Zhu Mo, after hearing Zhuang Yidong's account, had understood the crux of the matter—
During the Gengxu Incident, Anda had indeed besieged Datong, but Qiu Luan, a protégé of Yan Shifan, had used Chen Ping's stratagem and bribed Anda with a large sum of money. Anda accepted the money and then turned to besiege Xuanfu, and later attacked the capital. Because of this, Zhuang Yidong's military merits were not recognized by the Yan family, or if the imperial court acknowledged them, the Yan family's governors, inspectors, and generals deliberately suppressed the Datong defenders of the Gengxu Incident, outwardly obeying but inwardly disobeying.
This was not difficult to understand. After Qiu Luan's affair was exposed, the Jiajing Emperor was furious and ordered the exhumation and desecration of his corpse. The defense of Datong during the Gengxu Incident became a great source of trouble, and no one dared to mention it again. And the Yan family, wouldn't they just take the opportunity to suppress these guards? Anyway, there was no place to seek redress for this matter...
Zhu Mo had carefully listened to the common people's discussions and knew that they had another doubt: was Zhuang Yidong a Hu person?
At this moment,
Seeing that the time was right, he asked again:
"Zhuang Yidong, they say you are a Tartar. What do you say to that?"
Zhuang Yidong was enraged and shouted:
"They're spewing nonsense! I'm damn well not a Tartar!"
"I hail from Xiaogan, Hubei!"
Huala!
Oh...
The onlookers suddenly realized that he was from Hubei.
That made sense. Xiaogan and Macheng in Hubei were Han people who had settled there by the Ancestor Emperor to reinforce the border. So, the people in the prince's mansion were purely slandering him...
Zhuang Yidong continued indignantly:
"My wife isn't a Tartar either. She was simply captured by the Tartars. In the twenty-third year of Jiajing, Anda raided Datong and captured her. She walked back on her own three years later! She was from Jujumen Fort, her maiden name was Wang, and she was also from a military household in the south..."
Huala!
The crowd surged, and many people began to shout—
"Damn! Wasn't that young fellow talking nonsense!"
"Holy hell, how can they twist black into white like this..."
"Old Zhuang is also a hero!"
"So his wife was someone who returned on her own, no wonder she can cook Hu soup..."
"Alas, that makes sense. They are both unfortunate souls, a perfect pair!"
"Damn it! What kind of world is this..."
"..."
Having had experience in Jiangnan, Zhu Mo knew this was the best time to take down Li Lai. He had to take the gamble.
Li Lai was also a shrewd man and instantly realized he was in trouble. But he thought: I have more people after all. We'll put out the fire together! Can you, Zhu Mo, really turn the world upside down?
Zhu Mo shouted loudly, "Li Lai! You just insulted a meritorious guard and have beaten several old guards to death. Do you know your crime?"
Hahaha!
Li Lai burst into laughter and said, "You fake imperial envoy, how dare you babble nonsense here, hahaha..."
He suddenly turned around, drew his long saber with a clang, and shouted:
"Brothers, don't fall for his trick! Ma Lu has already been dismissed and is awaiting investigation! The governor and the prince have both said that the old guards often collude with the enemy! They are rebelling! Brothers, today we will capture all these people of unknown origin! Go!"
At this moment,
The sound of clanging sabers was incessant. The over a thousand private soldiers all drew their long sabers.
These private soldiers were not unafraid of the imperial envoy, but that was the reality of things now. As the saying goes, a local official is better than a distant one. Who didn't know that Li Lai's father, Li Chong, had been an assistant commandant of volunteers for over ten years, a trusted confidant of the governor, and a powerful figure in Datong? Even the guards were obedient to him. What power did this pale-faced imperial envoy have?
It should be known that the border regions had long since deteriorated. The law of the jungle and the supremacy of strength were the norm. Most people were accustomed to this bottom-level logic, and everyone had the same thought: if you are truly capable, then strike down the Yan family...
Zhu Mo sighed inwardly: This time, the worst outcome is unavoidable... But there's no other way. We have to do it, and deal with the consequences later...
He also turned and ordered the hundred-man squad:
"Prepare the firearms!"
With a whoosh,
The hundred-man squad took down the long firearms from their backs, swiftly unwrapped them, took out the gleaming new muskets, loaded them with shot from their waist pouches, and filled the primer box with powder. They cocked the mechanisms and secured them, all in one smooth motion, almost in the blink of an eye.
Li Lai and the private soldiers were about to charge when they saw the dark mass of long firearms pointed at them. They all gasped and retreated a few steps.
They naturally knew about matchlocks. If the distance were great, they wouldn't be afraid, but now they were only ten-odd feet apart. Even without much accuracy, they would surely be riddled with holes... Thinking of this, all the private soldiers felt a sense of fear and slowly retreated.
As they stood at a standoff, the situation was extremely tense. A slight spark would immediately ignite a bloody conflict.
Zhu Mo was like an arrow on a string, with no choice but to shoot. He then gave Ma Lu a look. Ma Lu, with those porters, advanced on Li Lai, carrying their sabers.
Li Lai, worthy of being a fierce villain, had thrown caution to the wind. He shouted:
"Brothers, kill!"
Huala!
The private soldiers surged forward again.
Zheng Qin looked at Zhu Mo for the last time, awaiting the final order.
But at this moment,
A voice suddenly shouted:
"Li Lai, stop!"
"The Embroidered Guard, Yu Zhen, is here!"
Embroidered Guard?
Huala!
The crowd stirred again. The private soldiers also looked in the direction of the voice and saw an official walking over. At the same time, he took off his cloak, revealing his resplendent flying fish suit.
And held high in his hand was a metal plaque,
Northern Commandery Investigation.
...
Yu Zhen had been hesitant and conflicted, his thoughts a whirlwind.
First, Zhu Mo stepping forward had completely changed his perception—
It turned out this Zhu Mo was a man of passion, far from the likes of Shang Yang and Wu Qi that they rumored him to be. His willingness to risk everything showed he wasn't considering anything else, just burning with righteous indignation to champion the cause of that wronged old soldier.
This could not be hidden.
Alas,
It was I, Yu Zhen, who was being shortsighted, only considering my own future... Old Huang Zhong was right, but for the sake of loyalty to the Emperor, in the present situation, I, Yu Zhen, can only stand on the side of justice.
With this thought,
He was already extremely excited, and at the last moment, seeing that a conflict was about to erupt, he immediately intervened to stop it.
Indeed,
In this Great Ming empire, there was only one thing that could always maintain order, and that was—
The Embroidered Guard.