Due to his busy schedule, Shen Yicheng had been taking care of Shi Xing for the past few days. He gave Shi Xing a token to enter and exit the palace at night, allowing him to leave the city and return home late at night.
This gave Shi Xing a lot of convenience, allowing him to take shortcuts through some of the palace gates outside the Forbidden City.
It had been the same for the past few nights. Shi Xing worked overtime late and returned home late as well. However, it was considered smooth sailing. Tonight, the carriage stopped two or three times. Shi Xing didn't mind it once or twice, but when it stopped for the third time, Shi Xing couldn't help it anymore. He lifted the curtain beside the carriage and looked outside.
"What's going on? Why are they stopping and walking? "
Shi Xing asked the attendant outside the carriage.
"Minister, several groups of soldiers are blocking our way. They aren't wearing Black Tiger Armor. They seem to be the guards of the capital. It seems that they are heading in the direction of the Dong 'an Gate."
"The guards of the capital? The Dong 'an Gate? Aren't the guards of the Imperial City under the responsibility of the four Soaring Dragon Guards? Why are the guards of the capital involved? "
Shi Xing found it strange. What was going on with these soldiers appearing in the inner city in the middle of the night? Secretly suspicious, he asked the attendant to come forward and ask not to reveal his identity, only to say that he was from the Ministry of Rites.
It wasn't just the Ministry of War that was busy these days. The Ministry of Rites was also busy. Some officials from the Ministry of Rites had also received temporary tokens to enter and exit the palace.
The attendant quickly returned.
"Minister, those are indeed the guards of the capital. They are the Left Guard of Golden Insignia and the Left Guard of Yulin. They said that they were ordered to change the guards and told us not to pass through here. They want us to make a detour. Minister, did we give such an order?"
Shi Xing frowned when he heard this.
"Ridiculous. When did I give such an order? Moreover, how could the Left Guard of Golden Insignia and the Left Guard of Yulin be swapped with the four Soaring Dragon Guards? Isn't this a joke? "
Shi Xing was well aware of this. This was something that could never happen. After Tumu Castle, the civil officials began to encroach on military power, gradually stripping the Imperial Army that Zhu Yuanzhang had established from the emperor's control.
Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention in establishing the Imperial Army was to establish a powerful army that the Emperor could personally control. In the beginning, there were 12 Imperial Guards. Later, during Zhu Di's reign, because Beijing was a place where wars were prone to occur, he added 10 Imperial Guards.
During the Xuande period, in order to further expand the Emperor's military power, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty selected elite soldiers from all over the world, as well as strong men who escaped from the Mongolian region, to form the Four Soaring Dragon Guards. Four more guards were added to the original twenty-two guards.
The significance of the Four Soaring Dragon Guards was the same as that of the Imperial Bodyguard. Unlike the other twenty-one guards, the Imperial Bodyguard was under the command of the Imperial Bodyguard Commander, while the Four Soaring Dragon Guards were managed by a few eunuchs from the Imperial Horse Surveillance. They were closer to the Imperial Bodyguard than the Imperial Bodyguard.
Thus, the Four Soaring Dragon Guards could be considered the Imperial Army of the Imperial Army. They were the Emperor's true guards and the last line of defense.
After Tumu Castle, the power of the civil officials expanded. Gradually, other than the Imperial Bodyguard and the Four Soaring Dragon Guards, the 21 Imperial Guards were stripped of the Emperor's direct control. Of the 26 Imperial Guards, only the Imperial Bodyguard and the Four Soaring Dragon Guards were still under the Emperor's control.
The other 21 guards quickly declined and did not have much battle power. The mission of guarding the inner city and the Imperial City fell on the Four Soaring Dragon Guards. These four guards were the last line of defense by the Emperor's side. Because of the eunuchs, they were not taken over by the civil officials.
Later, during the Xianzong and Wuzong periods, Zhu Jianshen and Zhu Houzhao did their best to increase the number and battle power of the Four Soaring Dragon Guards under a limited framework. When the Wuzong was at its peak, the Four Soaring Dragon Guards added up to 40,000 soldiers. They accompanied the Wuzong on several expeditions. Their reputation was impressive and they pressured the civil officials to the point where they could not breathe.
However, after the Wuzong fell into the water and died, after the Jiajing, Longqing, and early Wanli periods, the Four Soaring Dragon Guards now only had 6,500 soldiers. The actual number was estimated to be less than this number. In all aspects, they were far inferior to the Four Soaring Dragon Guards during the Wuzong period.
However, as the Emperor's last psychological line of defense, the civil officials would not instruct the remaining 21 guards to try to control the defense of the inner city and the Imperial City. Instead, they let the Four Soaring Dragon Guards be responsible for it as the last layer of warmth between the emperor and his subjects.
The remaining 21 guards were mainly responsible for guarding the outer city and were never mobilized to the inner city. Unless there was something really important, the cabinet could only mobilize the 21 guards into the inner city or even the Forbidden City after receiving the Emperor's permission.
Before Zhang Juzheng, the cabinet's power was not very prominent, so the leadership of the Jing Camp was in the Ministry of War. After Zhang Juzheng, the cabinet's power expanded and its power was in the hands of the six ministries. Shi Xing himself also had to hand over a part of his power to the cabinet to supervise and use. This naturally included the leadership of the Jing Camp.
Currently, the Jing Camp was basically made up of military generals and nobles who were in charge of military affairs and distribution of benefits. The Minister of War or assistant minister was also the Minister of Military Affairs and was the assistant of military generals who were in charge of military affairs and actually controlled the Jing Camp.
Originally, this situation would have some unpredictable variables because of Xiao Ruxun's appearance. Shi Xing was also deeply worried because the Emperor had already issued several edicts to him not to restrict Xiao Ruxun too much and to cooperate with Xiao Ruxun in all aspects. This made it very difficult for Shi Xing.
Even so, Shi Xing had no idea that the Jing Camp would enter the inner city and change guards with the Four Soaring Dragon Guards tonight.
This was complete nonsense!
Could it be that the Emperor had allowed it? Why? Why wasn't there a notice for him?
As the Minister of War, Shi Xing felt that the problem was a little serious so he no longer concealed his identity. He directly got out of the car and quickly walked to the side of the marching troops. He grabbed a person who looked like an officer and asked.
"Which group are you from? Who ordered you to change guards in the middle of the night? "
The officer looked at Shi Xing and saw that he was dressed in a big red robe. He should be a high-ranking official and asked tentatively, "May I know who you are?"
"The Minister of War, Shi Xing!"
Shi Xing immediately revealed his identity.
The officer obviously didn't expect the Minister of War to appear in front of him and was so frightened that he quickly knelt down on one knee.
"I pays my respects to the Ministry of War!"
"Get up. You haven't answered my question! What's going on? "
The officer stood up and carefully said, "If we return to the Ministry of War, we received an order from the Cabinet. The Cabinet ordered us to change guards with the troops guarding this place."
"Cabinet? The Four Soaring Dragon Guards and the Warrior Battalion are under the command of the Imperial Horses. Did the Imperial Horses also cooperate with them? Was this an order from His Majesty? "
The officer hurriedly said, "This lowly general doesn't know. This lowly general only knows that when we arrived here, there were only a few officers of the Black Armored Army waiting for us to change guards. Once we arrived, they left, and we took advantage of the situation to change guards. We were just following orders."
"Ridiculous! Even if it's an order from the Cabinet, they should inform me about it. They didn't say anything. What does this mean? Do they think that I, the Minister of War, am just a decoration? Does Shen Yicheng still Daming the Ministry of War?! "
Shi Xing was very dissatisfied and sternly reprimanded the officer. The officer had no choice but to say, "Then, then why don't we ask the Minister of War to go to the Cabinet and ask? Our orders were issued by the Cabinet. At this moment, there might be people in the Cabinet on duty. "
Shi Xing glared at him.
"I don't need you to say anything! Someone, let's go to the Cabinet and find Shen Yicheng to ask! "
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