Chapter 654: Conflict of Interests
Zuo Liangyu, the Qingjun side, is really powerful. Yuan Jixian, who was in Jiujiang, wanted to stop it, but his soldiers didn't buy it, he asked his subordinates to seal the door to resist the enemy, and the soldiers inside set fire to the city at night. The soldiers in Jiujiang City couldn't stay any longer, so they could only go out by themselves, thus becoming Zuo Liangyu's prisoner.
As soon as Jiujiang is over, Anqing Guichi has become the next focus of contention. If Anqing loses again, it will not be far from Nanjing. And Zuo Liangyu walked on the front foot, and Li Zicheng followed with the troops in the back, and Zuo Liangyu simply became Li Zicheng's striker. What's even more terrifying is that Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo are in Dongting, Fuzhou is blocking Zhang Xianzhong, Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing are guarding against Li Yan in Jiangbei, and there are no strong troops like the four towns in the Yangtze River area.
When the news of Zuo Liangyu Qingjun's side reached Nanjing, and with the news that Jiujiang had fallen, Wuchang, Ezhou and other places were occupied by Li Zicheng, etc., the city of Nanjing, which was not too peaceful, suddenly became chaotic.
The previous fake prince case was still circulating in the mouths of the gentry and the people, and at this time, it was rumored that Zuo Liangyu came to Qingjun's side with the prince's secret edict, so it became more and more confirmed that King Fu did not want to return to the throne.
Nanjing Imperial Palace, Qianqing Palace.
The obese Zhu Yousong sat on the dragon chair, looked at Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng anxiously, and said, "Two Aiqing, what should I do now?" Zuo Liangyu actually took Jiujiang easily, not far from Nanjing. ”
Ruan Dacheng said helplessly: "Now that Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo are dealing with Zhang Xianzhong, they can't move, and the other town generals are either too few troops or too far away, so they are not of much use." If you want to stop Zuo Liangyu and Li Zicheng in the back, you must transfer Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing from Jiangbei to surround it. ”
"Tune them?" Zhu Yousong asked in surprise: "But, but they have to guard against Li Yan." Transfer them all to Jiangnan, what about Jiangbei? ”
Ma Shiying said directly: "Your Majesty, the current situation is very critical. Zuo Liangyu came to Nanjing Qingjun under the banner of the crown prince. Although it sounds like a hairy head to the quasi-ministers, he is playing the banner of a fake prince! As long as he comes to Nanjing, not only will the ministers die, but even His Majesty will not escape abdication and detention, and even~"
Zhu Yousong heard the meaning, and the flesh on his face shook and shook. He said in fear, "No, no. That prince, yes, it's Wang Zhiming, it's a fake. ”
"Everyone knows it's fake, but those Donglin parties are still making waves." Ma Shiying said excitedly: "They got a monk to come over and deceive, and they said that King Lu is virtuous and should be the emperor." What do they mean, isn't it clear to Your Majesty? ”
Zhu Yousong was dumbfounded and speechless. If he hadn't had the support of the soldiers and horses of the four towns, he really wouldn't have been able to sit on this dragon chair peacefully. Now that Donglin has Zuo Liangyu as an ally, he, the emperor, really can't sit still.
Ma Shiying continued: "Your Majesty doesn't have to worry about Li Yan. Evacuate Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing from Jiangbei to Jiangnan, and Li Yan may not be able to occupy Jiangbei completely. Even if Li Yan goes south, we still have the Yangtze River moat, and we also have the Qing Kingdom outside. We will send an embassy north by sea as soon as possible to contact the Qing state. There is no problem with cutting the land and ransom, as long as he agrees and forms an alliance with the Qing State, Li Yan will not dare to go south with all his might. ”
"Mowing the land? Ransom? Zhu Yousong repeated nervously. These are all forbidden by the Ming Dynasty and cannot be touched. His cousin Chongzhen had several opportunities to negotiate peace with the Qing State, but he shelved it because he did not dare to agree to any conditions for land ransom, how could he dare to agree easily?
Ma Shiying reminded loudly: "Your Majesty, the thieves not only want my Ming Dynasty, but also come to ask for Your Majesty's life." All of our courtiers can surrender to the thieves, but your majesty cannot. Zuo Liangyu and Donglin are here to ask for His Majesty's throne and the lives of his subordinates. And the Qing Kingdom is just a place for grazing, fishing and hunting. Your Majesty should make a decision on how to choose. ”
Ruan Dacheng also helped: "Yes, Your Majesty wants to distinguish the key points here, this is the time of life and death." ”
Zhu Yousong thought for a while and quickly made a decision. Between life and the loss of the throne, this choice is not difficult.
Time is pressing, and I can't wait for tomorrow to discuss at the court meeting, and Ma Shiying also knows that if it is put to the court meeting for discussion, it will definitely be opposed by the Donglin party. So they decided to directly give orders to Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing in Jiangbei without going through court discussions, and transferred them to Wuhu to deploy defenses, and resolutely blocked the eastward advance of Zuo Liangyu's army.
Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng urged Zhu Yousong to use the seal on the holy decree, plus the text of Ruan Dacheng, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Ma Shiying's private message, and sent them to Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing overnight. They hoped to use the holy decree, the order of the military department, and the private message to make Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing obey the order and come to the south as soon as possible to deploy defense.
Sure enough, the next day's court meeting began to discuss the issue of Zuo Liangyu, and Ma Shiying proposed to transfer Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing's troops to Wuhu to block the defense, which was indeed opposed by many ministers. Even Shi Kefa, the superintendent who was far away in Jiangxi, also sent it urgently overnight, saying that Zuo Liangyu suddenly went eastward and the matter was in a hurry, so Zuo Liangyu quickly captured Jiujiang. But in the back of the Anqing Chizhou defense line, he is already mobilizing troops to reinforce, and there is no need to transfer Jiangbei soldiers and horses.
The officials quarreled and quarreled, and neither side could convince the other. But at this time, things such as holy decrees and letters had already crossed the Yangtze River and were sent to Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing. Ma Shiying believes that Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing will choose to follow the holy will, after all, they are the founding fathers of the decision, and they have received more preferential treatment than Zuo Liangyu in this little year, and they should not let Zuo Liangyu take away their benefits.
However, the two sides quickly reached a consensus on Ruan Dacheng's proposal to contact the Qing State and jointly deal with Li Yan. After all, Li Yan is too dazzling now, and has become the most powerful force in the north, if Li Yan can be dragged by the Qing army, then the Ming Dynasty will still have a chance, and Nanjing will be safe for the time being. After all, Li Yan has the ability to capture big cities like Taiyuan and Xi'an in a short period of time, so that Li Yan has no energy to go south, which is beneficial to both of them.
Nanjing has always been in chaos and party strife, and the use of power cannot be used in a unified manner, and even internal strife has occurred. And Li Yan is also paying attention to the situation in Jiangnan.
Everything happened too fast, which made Li Yan a little dizzy. Zuo Liangyu suddenly raised the banner of the Qing monarch and marched east along the river; Li Zicheng followed Zuo Liangyu and walked slowly, but there were only a small number of garrisons in the rear; Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing, who were stationed in Jiangbei, hurriedly evacuated, and so on.
However, he and Li Zhong quickly discussed a good countermeasure and began to mobilize troops and assign tasks. He naturally didn't want to miss such a good opportunity to enter.
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