The Jingshi was broken, and Chongzhen's family was estimated to be in a catastrophe. Bayi < ])].? ８?１〕Ｚ〕

The Chinese pay attention to the inheritance of the father's business, and the law of succession to the throne has always followed the practice of succession between the father and the son. According to the usual practice, of course, Chongzhen's son was chosen to succeed to the throne.

Emperor Chongzhen had three sons: the crown prince Zhu Cijiong, the second son Dingwang Zhu Cijiong, and the third son Yongwang Zhu Cijiong, but these three princes were all trapped in Beijing and their whereabouts are unknown.

The officials left behind in Nanjing all thought that now the north was fallen by the traitors, and the life and death of Emperor Chongzhen's son were unknown, and it was impossible to wait until they were found to establish a new monarch, otherwise the country would be scattered.

Then, you can only choose from the emperor's close blood relatives.

Guangzong and Xizong have no heirs, so they can only be considered from the generation of Emperor Wanli of Shenzong.

Among the vassal kings who are close to Chongzhen, Zhu Changxun, the king of Fu, is the third prince of Emperor Wanli, and he was also the favorite son of Emperor Wanli at the beginning. In addition, there are Zhu Changrun, King Hui, Zhu Changhao, King Rui, and Zhu Changying, King Gui, all three of whom are the sons of Emperor Wanli.

However, the three kings of Hui, Rui, and Gui are all in their own feudal domains, which are far away from Nanjing, and it will take several months to go back and forth, and the daylilies that support them are cold.

In addition, there is also a Lu King Zhu Changshu, who is the nephew of Emperor Wanli, and his blood relationship is slightly distant. King Lu is the younger brother of Emperor Wanli Zhu Yiyi, fief Weihui Mansion, and later died of illness, and his son Zhu Changshu succeeded to the canonization title of King Lu.

In September this year, Liu Fangliang defeated Wei Hui, and Zhu Changshu hurriedly abandoned the city and fled. First fled to Wuxi, Nanjing, and then to Hangzhou.

In mid-October of this year, Li Zicheng's army captured Luoyang, and Zhu Changxun, the king of Fu, fled to Fengyang, Anhui Province under the escort of the prince's own soldiers, and later heard that Kaifeng, Runing and other places were also occupied by the Dashun army, so frightened that he didn't even dare to stay in Fengyang, and continued to flee to Nanjing, and has now arrived in Yangzhou.

Therefore, according to common sense, Zhu Changxun has become a popular candidate to succeed to the throne.

Nanjing was busy supporting the new monarch at this time, and for a time the powerful people from all sides gathered, and the wind and clouds met, and the undercurrent was surging.

In the sensational attack case at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Changxun's mother Zheng Guifei was accused of plotting to kill the crown prince Zhu Changluo.

In the subsequent Red Pill case, the Donglin Party even pointed out that Zheng Guifei instructed someone to poison Emperor Guangzong, and then forced Zheng Guifei into the cold palace.

And it was the obstruction of the Donglin Party that prevented Wanli's favorite son Zhu Changxun from ascending to the throne.

Therefore, the most popular heir to the throne, Zhu Changxun, was snubbed in Yangzhou.

Because most of the officials of the Sixth Department of Nanjing are now Donglin Party members, and the area south of the Yangtze River is controlled by Donglin Party members, because more than ten years ago, the Donglin Party people caused Zhu Changxun to fail to become the emperor, and it is also impossible to support him now, in case Zhu Changxun settles old accounts after he ascends the throne.

More than ten years ago, the Donglin Party insisted on wanting Emperor Wanli to establish a successor, that is, the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo as the crown prince, which made Wanli stunned and did not dare to set up his favorite third prince Zhu Changxun as the crown prince.

Now, the life and death of Chongzhen's blood relatives are unknown, according to blood, Zhu Changxun has become the unyielding big brother, according to the tradition of passing on the throne, it should be his turn to be the new emperor!

However, the Donglin Party will never mention what the throne should be established, but will trumpet what kind of election of the new emperor will be elected as a virtuous and virtuous lord......

In their opinion, King Lu Zhu Changshu is much more virtuous, and King Lu is also the nephew of Emperor Wanli, and the bloodline relationship is not far away, so it is natural to support him as the emperor. And Zhu Changshu is currently in Hangzhou, not far from Nanjing, and he is the right person.

As a result, around the question of who will be the emperor, the officials of the six departments in Nanjing are-for-tat, each holding their own opinions, and no one can come up with a unified opinion for a while.

And people from all walks of life are also working in the shadows to gain more support for their claims. In half of the rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River, there are undercurrents surging, and everyone is secretly working hard.

At a time when the forces of all parties in Nanjing were secretly competing, Mo Li, who was far away in Xiangyang, Huguang, immediately announced a northern expedition to conquer Li Zicheng after leading the army and the people to sacrifice Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou.

Moli sent Guan Feng to lead an army of 50,000 to Nanyang, and half a month later recovered more than ten prefectures and counties in Nanyang Prefecture. At the same time, Cao Bianjiao also led his troops to recover Runing. After the two joined forces, they continued to advance towards the hinterland of Henan.

After Li Zicheng broke through Beijing, he sent Hao Shaoqi and others to lead troops to capture Tianjin and Hejian, and went south to Shandong.

In addition, he sent Liu Zongmin to lead troops to attack Jimen and Shanhaiguan, intending to capture Liaodong.

Most of the defenders of Shanhaiguan were taken to King Qinwang of Gyeonggi by Cao Wenzhao, but they were defeated and retreated to the river, and there were only 3,000 soldiers and horses left behind in Shanhaiguan, and the troops in Jimen and Changping were also very empty, and they would soon be captured by Liu Zongmin.

Liu Liangzuo and Zuo Liangyu, who fled to Tianjin, were defeated by Hao Shaoqi and continued to flee south. After learning that Chongzhen was hanged, the two were even more distraught, and they could only reluctantly lead the remnants to flee to Nanjing and support the new emperor.

Cao Wenzhao and Zhu Dadian, who were defeated and retreated to the river, fled to Jinan before Liu Liangzuo and Zuo Liangyu, Jinan was Zhu Dadian's territory, and when he arrived in Jinan, Zhu Dadian regained his strength, gathered the remnants, and prepared for a decisive battle with Li Zicheng's Dashun army in Shandong.

For this reason, Zhu Dadian personally came to the door and persuaded Cao Wenzhao to stay in Shandong and resist the thief army with him.

However, after Cao Wenzhao heard that Moli was in Huguang to worship Emperor Chongzhen of Daxing, and then attacked Runing, Nanyang and other places where Li Zicheng's Dashun army was entrenched, and won the battle, Cao Wenzhao decided to lead his troops to the west, wanting to join Moli and return to the system.

Zhu Dadian couldn't keep it, so he had to let him go.

Later, Liu Liangzuo and Zuo Liangyu both led their troops to flee to Jinan, Liu Liangzuo was under Zhu Dadian's command, so under Zhu Dadian's persuasion, both of them were under Zhu Dadian's command and stationed in Jinan together.

Zhu Dadian was joined by Liu Liangzuo and Zuo Liangyu, and later incorporated a lot of rout soldiers who were scattered by the Dashun army, including the remnants of Liu Zeqing and others under the command of Zu Dacheng, and became a powerful Ming relict in the north for a while, with 120,000 troops in Shandong, organizing the army and civilians to defend along the Yellow River to strictly prevent the Dashun army from going south.

When Zhu Dadian was training the army in Shandong with great fanfare and preparing to meet the southward march of the Dashun army, at this time, Zhu Changxun sent someone to find him.

It turned out that after Zhu Changxun learned that the left-behind officials of the six departments in Nanjing were all controlled by the Donglin Party, he knew that he was jealous of the Donglin Party, and they would definitely not support his succession at this time.

But on the other hand, if the Donglin Party members once they support someone else to ascend the throne, then they will become the biggest potential threat, because they are the most promising candidates to succeed to the throne, and once others take the throne, they will definitely be wary of themselves, and they will unscrupulously get rid of themselves.

Therefore, Zhu Changxun decided that he couldn't sit still, he had to take the initiative......