Li Zicheng had already decided to lead an army of 200,000 troops to the east on the sixth day of the fourth month of April, and to go on the expedition on the day he originally ascended the throne, which was also a kind of propaganda of martial arts, and all preparations must be prepared in just a few days.

Li Zicheng is now the emperor, and the imperial expedition is an extraordinary move, and he is not excited and excited, but worried and heavy-hearted. What he was upset in his heart was that this was a surprise to him, it had been solved, and he didn't expect anything to happen, everyone was immersed in the joy of victory, and only thought about how to hold the enthronement ceremony in Beijing, and then spread the word to the south of the Yangtze River and unify the whole country, and establish the foundation of the world, but he didn't expect that Wu Sangui, who had not yet ascended the throne, dared to resist and surrender, and took the initiative to attack his soldiers and horses, and even the Manchu Tartars were going to take the opportunity to commit crimes in the south!

On the second day of the first month of April, the strategy of this march and the main policy of dealing with the officials and people of the Ming Dynasty were determined: this trip or go straight to Shanhaiguan, and then the camera to capture, must take Shanhaiguan, after entering the border, choose the city in the pass, and guard the troops separately, thinking that the gateway to Liaodong and the conquest of the Central Plains before the base, take the Kaishan Pass, enter the Great Wall from Jizhou and Miyun, and fight with Li Zicheng to strive for victory.

On the third day of the fourth month, the 150,000 Manchu Eight Banner soldiers who had been assembled, under the leadership of Dolgon, went to Shanhaiguan to kill.

Fengyang, the central capital of the Ming Dynasty, since the proposal to support King Gui appeared, has won a lot of responses, the original response to the support of King Lu have changed the direction of the wind, and even some people who insist on supporting King Fu have also swayed, and the key person in this change is naturally Ma Shiying.

Today, Ma Shiying's mansion, there is a guest, it is the eunuch Lu Jiude who stayed in Fengyang, this support merit, Lu Jiude does not care so much, he is angry at what the Donglin Party did, for his own interests, like the grass on the wall falling with the wind, such behavior He feels extremely shameful, at present, the country has no lord, the people's hearts are turbulent, if it is so delayed, then what should the Ming Dynasty do?

"Governor Ma, just imagine, even if you succeed in supporting King Gui, but you can get a few percent of this support, and when the time comes, it will not be Shi Kefa and them, people eat meat, I'm afraid you can only drink a mouthful of soup, what is the virtue of the Donglin Party, you know better than me, the party is the same and different, not the people of their interest groups, they are all sparing no effort to fight, do you think that even if you help them this time, they will thank you and reconcile with you? But it is not the same to support the Fu King, at the moment the Fu King is the most favorable candidate for orthodoxy, and there is no foundation, if you come forward, support the Fu King, once the Fu King ascends the throne, then this meritorious man, who else can there be besides you......"

Under Lu Jiude's persuasion, Ma Shiying was really moved, I have to say that what Lu Jiude said is not unreasonable, the Donglin Party has become an interest group in an iron bucket, flaunting a righteous man and a gentleman, and doing all selfish deeds, even if Lu Jiude shows goodwill, they are afraid that they will not appreciate it, and in the end, they are afraid that this support is theirs, and they can't even drink a mouthful of soup.

"Father-in-law Lu, with all due respect, why are you so inclined to be with King Fu?" Ma Shiying was also very curious, as far as he knew, Lu Jiude didn't have any friendship with King Fu, why he was so active in being a lobbyist for King Fu at this time, which was something he couldn't understand.

Lu Jiude smiled calmly: "Our family actually doesn't want anything, but we can't get used to those people in the Donglin Party, Shi Kefa is vacillating, he is the secretary of the military department, he wants to please both sides, and he does everything in everything, but he doesn't want to think about it, how can there be such a good thing in the world, I am afraid that in the end I won't be able to get anything, and I will offend everyone, I think he is not suitable to be the secretary of the military department." ”

In the face of Lu Jiude's frank words, Ma Shiying also laughed at the moment, but he didn't expect that there was another confidant, those boastful people in the Donglin Party, he had long been displeasing to his eyes, but there was no way, their political prestige was very high, so Ma Shiying had to get closer to them in exchange for his political prestige.

"As long as Governor Ma comes forward, this matter is very easy to solve, Governor Ma is the governor of Jiangbei, and he can come forward to contact the soldiers and horses of various towns in Jiangbei to jointly support King Fu to inherit the unification, King Fu has no good impression of the Donglin Party, and when the time comes, I am afraid that the position of the first and auxiliary minister of the cabinet will be none other than Governor Ma!"

Under Lu Jiude's persuasion, Ma Shiying was moved, huge interests were placed in front of him, he was also enthusiastic, if he could really become the first and auxiliary minister of the imperial court, then he Ma Shiying would not be in vain, and he supported King Fu, and he also followed the ethical plan, not a mess, but just a correction of his position, but from an opportunist to a person who takes into account the overall situation, why not?

Just when Ma Shiying was about to agree, Ma Shiying's sister-in-law Yang Longyou hurriedly came to the hall, very anxious, Ma Shiying saw that her sister-in-law was so rude, and hurriedly scolded: "Why is it so unseemly? What is the panic that is happening like this? ”

"Big deal! Something is wrong, I just got the news that Cao Bianjiao led the army to escort King Ding and King Yong to Yangzhou, and I am afraid that I have arrived in Nanjing at this moment! ”

In the face of this sudden major change, not only Ma Shiying, but also Lu Jiude was completely stunned, almost everyone in Nanjing was arguing about the establishment of a new monarch, who would have thought that Chongzhen's prince would be able to get out of danger, and arrived in Nanjing without warning, which gave everyone a blow to the head, and all their plans would be reduced to a dream, a disgusting dream.

Ma Shiying and Lu Jiude glanced at each other, they were all waiting for the other party to speak, at this time, no matter which vassal king they planned to support, it would be tantamount to fart, who is the most qualified to inherit the unification, there is no doubt that it is of course Zhu Youzhen's biological son, and King Ding is the son-in-law of Emperor Chongzhen, compared to any vassal king, it has an absolute advantage.

"Governor Ma, we haven't said anything about it at the moment, let's rush to Nanjing immediately, and prepare to bow to the new king, whether it is King Fu or King Gui, we can only say that their fate is not good, what we say today, just go with the wind!" Lu Jiude also understands very well what he should do at the moment.

Ma Shiying, an old fritter in officialdom, how could he not understand Lu Jiude's meaning, and he also said at the moment: "Understood, then I won't send it!" I'm also going to pack up here and get ready to go to Nanjing, don't send it! ”

"Farewell!" Lu Jiude also left abruptly, preparing to go to Nanjing to pay homage to the new monarch.

"It's really unpredictable and ever-changing!" Ma Shiying also sighed at the moment, in the past month, all kinds of changes in Nanjing, let him also sigh, too fast, fast people are overwhelmed, difficult to parry, Ma Shiying also got a lesson from today, until the last moment, don't easily stand in line to make a stand, standing wrong is very likely to be doomed!