Chen Longzheng's expression was sluggish. After a while, he held his head with a pained expression.
"How could this be …"
"Tilong, if you are not willing to follow me, you can go home. This northern expedition has nothing to do with you. From now on, you and I will have nothing to do with each other. Whether I win or lose, live or die, it has nothing to do with you."
Xiao Ruxun sternly said.
Chen Longzheng suddenly raised his head.
"Marquis Xiao, I, Chen Longzheng, am not that kind of person! What I mean is … I … I mean … I … "
"There is no other way. Tilong, tell me, are you willing to follow me on a northern expedition to save His Majesty?"
"I … I …"
Chen Longzheng hesitated for a moment before finally revealing a fierce expression. He fiercely gritted his teeth: "I am willing! I want to ask Shen Yicheng face to face! Where did he go to memorize the teachings of the Saints! This treacherous thief! "
"Good! If that is the case, then there is no time to lose! Tilong, how many ships do you have under your command? How many reliable people do you have? "
Chen Longzheng opened his mouth: "This trip to Zhenjiang is to bring back the porcelain that the French ordered, so I only brought three ships and a few guards. The rest are mostly recruited sailors."
"How many guards?"
"Twenty people per ship, a total of sixty people."
Xiao Ruxun nodded his head: "Enough! Immediately select capable people to inform all the places. Let all our merchant ships return. We must not linger. We don't have much time. When the news of the coup reaches Nanjing, once someone informs us, we won't have a place to hide in Jiangnan. "
"Yes! This subordinate understands! Do it immediately! "
Chen Longzheng was about to run.
"Wait a moment!"
Xiao Ruxun called out to Chen Longzheng and then said: "Tilong, after you have arranged the people, follow me to Nanjing. My elder brother Xiao Ruzhi is in Nanjing. I want to bring him along, otherwise Shen Yicheng will definitely harm him."
Chen Longzheng suddenly understood and quickly nodded: "This subordinate understands!"
Subsequently, Chen Longzheng immediately went out to make arrangements. He sent a dozen people to the surrounding cities where Myanmar merchant ships were doing business and issued an urgent warning to them.
A quarter of an hour later, Chen Longzheng completed his orders and immediately ordered this ship to set off for Nanjing. The other two ships continued to complete their unfinished tasks and waited for the command ship to return to Myanmar.
Zhenjiang was not far from Nanjing. At noon, the ship docked near Nanjing. Then, Chen Longzheng and quickly set off for Nanjing.
Before entering the city, out of caution, Xiao Ruxun let Ma Hu and Xu Yong go out to inquire about the news. They learned that everything in Nanjing was the same as usual. There were no special changes. No one even mentioned the coup in the capital. Everyone was living the same peaceful life as usual.
Thanks to the outdated means of communication in this era, Xiao Ruxun had reason to believe that if this wasn't the Great Ming Dynasty, but the final years of the Manchurian Qing Dynasty a few hundred years later, it would have been much more difficult for her to achieve the same feat.
A telegram from the capital was sent and Nanjing was in a state of panic.
Unlike now, where Xiao Ruxun still had so much precious time to calmly make arrangements.
Xiao Ruxun relaxed and followed Chen Longzheng into Nanjing. They went straight to Xiao Ruzhi's mansion.
Xiao Ruzhi was in the mansion. When she saw Xiao Ruxun coming, her eyes opened wider than anyone else's. After listening to Xiao Ruxun's story, she was dumbfounded.
"Something like this actually happened?"
"Yes, Third Brother, we can't wait any longer. Immediately pack up and call sister-in-law and nephew. We'll leave immediately. Don't stay and don't ask for leave. Follow me immediately."
Xiao Ruzhi reacted with great difficulty. She suddenly realized that the matter was extremely urgent. She didn't have time to say anything and immediately made arrangements.
There were not many people in Xiao Ruzhi's mansion. Most of them were old servants. Therefore, he secretly ordered the old servants to help him pack up. From the back door, he followed Xiao Ruxun and Chen Longzheng and left Nanjing City. They went straight to the dock and boarded the ship. Then, the ship quickly left Nanjing City.
"Ji Xin, what about big brother and second brother?"
Xiao Ruzhi came back to her senses at this time. She was worried about Xiao Rulan and Xiao Ruhui who were far away in the northwest.
"I've already asked someone to help. There should still be enough time. If he can do this, the lives of big brother and second brother should not be in danger."
"Who will help? This … what if he can't make it in time? "
"My old acquaintance from North Korea, Mister Liu Huangchang. He will help me. Third Brother, there is no other way. It's all my fault. I … cough cough cough …"
Xiao Ruxun's heart was in a mess. He held his chest and couldn't help but cough.
Xiao Ruzhi quickly helped Xiao Ruxun massage his back.
"There's no point in saying this now. Ruxun, do you really plan to go north? This … this is really … "
"Brother."
Xiao Ruxun took a deep breath. "Other than going north, I have no other way. Shen Yicheng wants to kill me and destroy Myanmar. I won't sit still and wait for death. I have a hundred thousand troops. Why can't I give it my all?"
"A hundred thousand?!"
Xiao Ruhui turned pale with fright. "Ruxun, what did you do in Myanmar? How can there be a hundred thousand troops in a place like Myanmar? "
"Brother, you will know when you get there."
Xiao Ruxun's face was solemn. "As long as I go north, even if Big Brother and Second Brother are unfortunately captured by Shen Yicheng, Shen Yicheng won't dare to hurt Big Brother and Second Brother. He still needs Big Brother and Second Brother to threaten me. But it doesn't matter. Shen Yicheng's relatives are still in Zhejiang. If I go north, I will definitely send the navy to attack Shen Yicheng's hometown from the sea and capture his relatives. Let's see if he dares to hurt Big Brother and Second Brother!"
Xiao Ruhui opened her mouth but didn't say anything.
That afternoon, the ship returned to Zhenjiang Prefecture. Together with the other two ships, they would head to the mouth of the Yangtze River and then turn south towards Nanyang.
Xiao Ruxun's guess was right. Shen Yicheng did arrange for the news of the new Emperor's ascension to the throne to be sent six hundred miles on land. He also made full use of the Grand Canal to send the news to the areas along the canal.
But their luck was not very good. On the way south, the wind was against and the fleet was three days late when they arrived in Nanjing.
And within these three days, all the commercial ships coming from Myanmar town along the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal received this urgent news. The commercial ships were basically the official commercial ships organized by Marquis Zhennan's mansion. They were very obedient, let alone this kind of order.
Many of the ships didn't even have time to collect the goods and quickly left the place, leaving those partners scratching their heads in confusion.
When the last Burmese commercial ship sailed past Zhenjiang Prefecture and fled to the mouth of the Yangtze River, the first batch of messengers sent by the imperial court to Jiangnan finally arrived in Nanjing.
Only then did the people of Nanjing realize that their emperor had changed.
It was only then that they found out that the great hero and great general Xiao Ruxun was actually a rebel.
However, just like the situation in the capital, this news was only the beginning of widespread confusion.
Especially in the southeast area, even many scholars were skeptical of this news, and there were also many people who didn't believe it at all.
They all demanded an accurate explanation from Shen Yicheng, such as why Zhu Yijun abdicated, and what was going on. They wanted to hear the truth.
This was especially obvious among the poor scholars who relied on farming and studying to pass down their family fortunes.
However, the government didn't care much about this at all. A group of scholars could say whatever they wanted, it wouldn't delay the matter anyway.
But people kept reporting to the local government that the commercial ships from Myanmar had disappeared in two or three days.
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