Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1029: Rebellion in the Capital

The carriage was low, but fortunately Gou'er was quick-witted and covered Zhu Su's head with his hands, so Zhu Su, who suddenly stood up, did not hit the ceiling.

However, Zhu Su no longer cared about these details. He widened his eyes and anxiously asked the doorman next to Di Meng, "What's going on?"

"Your Highness, I... I don't know either." The doorman replied with some fear. "The official from the Maritime Affairs Department learned that Your Highness was not at home, so he left in a hurry."

"I didn't have time to ask for clarification..."

"...Your Highness, this..." Di Meng followed Zhu Su all the time. Seeing Zhu Su's solemn expression and his eyes almost spitting fire, he knew that this was a sign of Zhu Su's extreme anger.

Abigail was the person that His Highness had ordered the Maritime Affairs Department to contact, but now she had died inexplicably.

Even Di Meng felt that there must be something fishy going on.

"Your Highness, should we go to the Maritime Affairs Bureau and find Lord Yang to find out what's going on?" Di Meng suggested to Zhu Su.

"Let's go to the Maritime Affairs Bureau... No, wait." Zhu Suben subconsciously wanted to agree, but after changing his mind, he overturned his previous idea.

He looked outside the car. Although the night was deepening, the Qinhuai River was still brightly lit. There were still vendors hawking their wares on both sides of the street. Groups of scholars and drunken dandies walked by from time to time. In the distance, the sound of singing from the flower boats on the river could be heard faintly, making people feel intoxicated.

This is Yingtian, the most prosperous place in the world. It is also the most crowded place.

If I rush into the Maritime Affairs Bureau at night and am seen by someone with ulterior motives, will it alert the enemy?

Thinking of this, Zhu Su lay down on the brocade cushion in the carriage again.

"It's just the loss of a foreigner, what's the big deal?" Zhu Su returned to his previous lazy attitude and waved to Di Meng, as if Abigail's death was just a trivial matter.

"There are at least 8,000 foreigners stranded in our Ming Dynasty. If they die, they die. Can the foreigners be more noble than us Ming people?"

"Keep going...keep going home!"

"I am drunk. Please hurry up and tell the princess to make me a bowl of sobering soup..."

After that, Zhu Su closed his eyes, leaned on the brocade cushion, and began to sleep soundly. Outside the carriage, Di Meng and the two eunuchs Gou'er and Sanbao looked at each other, and they understood each other, so they called the deputy general of the personal soldiers and greeted them.

"His Highness is drunk and sleeping in the carriage. Please drive the carriage more steadily. I will go ahead so that the palace can prepare sobering medicine for His Highness."

"Yes." The deputy general saluted Di Meng, and Di Meng left the group first. The rest of the troops continued to drive Zhu Su's carriage and slowly returned to the Zhou Palace.

When the carriage arrived at the palace of Prince Zhou, Princess Di Meng and several of the palace's personal soldiers were already waiting at the gate. Seeing Zhu Su arrive, Di Meng and the personal soldiers carefully helped the drunk Zhu Su off the carriage. Prince Zhou Zhu Su seemed to be really drunk. Even after being helped off the carriage, he was still snoring, which made the group of people spend a lot of energy.

When the gate was closed, Zhu Su was supported by a group of people to the backyard. He opened his eyes, left Di Meng's support and stood up. With a solemn look in his eyes, he asked Di Meng, "How, how did he die?"

Di Meng and Zhu Su had been together for a long time, and they had a tacit understanding. When the prince suddenly pretended to be drunk, he immediately realized that the prince wanted to act secretly and did not want to alert the enemy. During the time when Zhu Su's carriage was dawdling on the road, he had already taken a step ahead and contacted Yang Shiqi who was still in the Maritime Affairs Department through the channels of the palace. At this time, he took out a secret letter from the Maritime Affairs Department and said calmly: "Your Highness, please take a look."

Zhu Su unfolded the secret letter and recognized that it was written by his disciple Yang Shiqi. He read it quickly and frowned in disbelief, saying, "Drunk to death?"

"Yes." Di Meng nodded. "According to Lord Yang, he personally investigated the circumstances of Abigail's death. She reeked of alcohol and was curled up in a temporary shack outside the city, with a pot of Drunken Immortal Wine in her hand that she had not yet finished drinking."

"There were no signs of external injuries on his body. I think there is no other possibility except that he died of drunkenness."

"Oh, the same way he died as Li Bai? This ghost is quite cool and unrestrained." Zhu Su sneered.

Although Yang Shiqi concluded in the letter that Abigail died of drunkenness... there were also many doubts between the lines.

And Zhu Su totally didn't believe it.

Abigail was just drunk and had not committed any other crime. The Maritime Administration did not have the authority to arrest and interrogate her. Zhu Su only asked the Maritime Administration to ask Abigail about the details of the Srivijaya pirates. There was no need to arrest and interrogate this person for such a small matter. Therefore, Yang Shiqi only used a few pots of Drunken Immortal Wine as bait and asked this person about some details of being captured by the pirates, and then did nothing else.

But the problem lies here. The Maritime Administration had just asked Abigail, and Abigail died of drunkenness... How could there be such a coincidence in this world?

Moreover, Zhu Su had seen Abigail before and knew what this man looked like. Although he was an alcoholic, he was still in his prime, and his body was far from being hollowed out by alcohol. He was still strong and healthy. How could he be weak to be able to travel all the way from Venice to the Ming Dynasty as a sailor?
Such a strong man, drunk to death? Haha.

"Your Highness..." Sanbao, the most alert of the three, seemed to have thought of something. His face turned pale and he reminded Zhu Su, "These people have no relatives or friends in the Ming Dynasty. I don't think they have any deep hatred with others. If someone kills someone, there must be a reason."

"I'm just afraid..."

"I'm afraid it's because of the pirates in Srivijaya," Zhu Su said, taking over Sanbao's words. His voice seemed to come from the Netherworld, cold enough to make people feel like they were falling into an icy cave. "I originally thought that even if there were pirates in Srivijaya, they must be natives from a certain country, or the remnants of Chen Zuyi."

"But if Abigail really died because of this, then it can be proved that the power of these pirates even extended to the capital of our Ming Dynasty."

"Even... they are from our Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Su said the last sentence with gritted teeth.

"This!" Gou'er and Di Meng looked at each other in surprise.

"This... Your Highness, it shouldn't be possible." Di Meng said thoughtfully. "Our Great Ming is strong and prosperous, and the four barbarians are submissive. If the foreigners don't know the power of our Great Ming, then it's fine."

"Under the rule of our Great Ming, who would dare to risk the wrath of the world and do something that would cut themselves off from the Great Ming?"

"This... this is just like an old man hanging himself because he thinks his life is too long, right?"

"But money can move people's hearts. Everyone likes to boast that they are smart, but there are still many fools in this world." Zhu Su said. Of the two guesses, he was more inclined to the latter one.

It was still too magical that a group of pirates from Srivijaya could reach out to Yingtianfu in the Ming Dynasty and kill people. Moreover, it had only been a few days since the Maritime Affairs Department contacted Abigail. Even if the pirates from Srivijaya had supernatural powers, unless someone had awakened some kind of system, it would be impossible for them to arrange killings so quickly in Yingtianfu, thousands of miles away.

But if this group of people came from the Ming Dynasty, then it would make sense. If they came from the Ming Dynasty, then their leader could be in Yingtian Prefecture. Knowing that the Maritime Affairs Department was looking for a foreigner to inquire about the South China Sea pirates, the pirate leader of this group panicked and was worried that Abigail would reveal some clues, so he arranged to kill them. This is very possible.

Moreover, Zhu Su recalled his previous investigation of these people when he was in the Maritime Affairs Department... These pirates only robbed foreign merchants, and rarely robbed Chinese merchant ships. Previously, he guessed that these people were afraid of alarming the Ming court and attracting the Ming navy's encirclement and suppression. Now, who knows the capabilities of the Ming navy best and is most afraid of it?
There is no doubt that they are people from Ming Dynasty itself!
If Abigail's death was confirmed to be a vendetta, then Zhu Su could almost conclude that the group of pirates were from the Ming Dynasty itself.

There is a traitor within the Ming Dynasty!

"Someone died in a shack outside the city. Which government office is responsible for this matter?" Zhu Su asked.

The most urgent task is to find out the truth about Abigail's death. Only after the truth is determined can we prescribe the right medicine and choose the appropriate method. If Abigail really died of drunkenness, then it would be the best, everything would be fine, and the Ming Dynasty would remain the same as it should be. But if Abigail was really killed by someone.

Therefore, Zhu Su believed that it was necessary to cleanse these unstable factors within the Ming Dynasty before the Ming Dynasty invaded Annan.

The Battle of Annan was a battle that Zhu Yuanzhang was determined to win, and it was also related to the expansion and foundation of the Ming Dynasty. If there really was a group of Ming Dynasty traitors with considerable power in Southeast Asia lurking in Yingtian Prefecture, it might trigger some unexpected situations for the court.

What if this group of traitors were actually military heroes sent by the imperial court to conquer Annan in the future? For their own selfish interests, they made Annan a mess again as it was in history, and lost the support of the Annan people...

So, for the Ming Dynasty, this would be an absolutely unbearable and extremely huge loss.

"Your Highness, it should be the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture," Sanbao replied. "The prefect of Yingtian Prefecture oversees the counties surrounding Yingtian Prefecture. The shack where Abigail died should be within the jurisdiction of the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture."

"Yingtian Prefecture Prefect?" Zhu Su touched his chin. Liang Shuyuan, Yingtian Prefecture Prefect, was not a familiar figure to Zhu Su, because he was not a disciple of the new school and had no connection with his Zhou Palace. If we really talk about factions, he was a disciple of Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

It is said that this old man is a conservative Confucian scholar. Although he is upright in his official duties, his temper is stubborn and stubborn. Zhu Su does not think that he can persuade him to help, unless he goes to find Zhu Biao. However, this matter is still just a figment of the imagination, and Zhu Su does not want to bother the busy Zhu Biao for the sake of a foreigner's affairs.

"Your Highness, the Wucheng Bingma Division also has the power to manage and purse the shantytowns that Abigail belongs to." Gou'er noticed the embarrassment on Zhu Su's face and reminded him. "In the Nancheng Bingma Division, Qianzong Dongji is an old subordinate who once followed you to fight against Nahachu. Antai, the shantytown area outside the city, is under the jurisdiction of the Nancheng Bingma Division."

"Dong Ji?" Zhu Su was slightly stunned, and then he remembered a figure with a broad face and square mouth, holding a sword, and bravely charging towards the enemy with his bare chest.

Strictly speaking, this Dong Ji was not a subordinate of Zhu Su. He was originally a military household in Jizhen. When Zhu Su fought against Nahachu, he made great contributions. In that battle, Dong Ji, who was only a centurion, fought bravely and resisted the attack of Nahachu's cavalry with his infantry. During the final counterattack, he even cut off the silk on his armor and threw it away because he disliked the armor that hindered his speed in chasing the bandits. He held a sword and chased a Mongolian general who was fleeing on horseback with his bare feet like a madman.

On the battlefield at that time, Zhu Su noticed this centurion who fought without regard for his life. Although his behavior of being bloodthirsty and ready to rush into the enemy camp shirtless was not desirable, Zhu Su still praised his bravery when facing the enemy.

After the battle, it was discovered that this man risked his life to cut off the heads of two cavalry generals under Nahachu. It was rare to use infantry as cavalry, but he was able to kill the enemy generals. Zhu Su personally praised him for this achievement, which made him promoted from a centurion to a thousand households, and he was transferred from the bitter cold Jizhen at the border to the glamorous Yingtian Prefecture, which made others envious.

However, the Five Cities Army...

Zhu Su remembered that Dong Ji should have been transferred to the Beijing Army.

In fact, the Wucheng Bingmasi was also a regular army during the Hongwu Dynasty. However, in recent years, the population of Yingtian Prefecture has increased dramatically, and there has been an endless stream of merchants coming and going, and various public security problems have surfaced.

As the capital of the Ming Dynasty, how could it be insecure and not be laughed at by the merchants, foreigners, and envoys? So Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and reorganized the Five Cities Military Department, making it responsible for maintaining public security in Yingtian Prefecture.

Compared with other regular troops, the Wucheng Bingmasi is more like the police, armed police and other organizations that maintain public order in later generations than the army. All violent incidents and stampedes in the city should be dealt with by the Wucheng Bingmasi. Other armies usually stay in the barracks for drills and are responsible for attacking and killing the enemy during wartime, while the biggest duty of the Wucheng Bingmasi is to patrol the city. This job is much easier than the regular army, so the Wucheng Bingmasi is also jokingly called the retirement place in the army.

"Such a brave general was actually transferred to the Wucheng Bingmasi." Zhu Su muttered to himself in some surprise.

But in any case, Dong Ji should be a trustworthy person. By entrusting this matter to him, Zhu Su can use him to advance the investigation of Abigail's death. Therefore, Zhu Su ordered Sanbao to bring Dong Ji to the Zhou Palace early tomorrow morning. I believe that with his past relationship with Dong Ji, Dong Ji would definitely not refuse such a simple task.

(End of this chapter)