The incident developed very rapidly, and a team of civil officials did not know whether they had made an appointment in advance, so they went to the noon gate to meditate, asking Emperor Chongzhen to release the criminal department to the matter. The reason is that the criminal department did feel unwell before the incident, and the people from Dongchang intercepted him when he was sick and was preparing to go on leave. The charge of deceitful cannot be pressed on his head.

After receiving such a notice, Emperor Chongzhen's lungs were about to explode. He really didn't expect that these civil officials would be able to reverse black and white, and they would become wronged by two mouths.

Emperor Chongzhen was angry and was ready to deal with these people as accomplices, but as soon as his decree arrived at the noon gate, the eunuch who delivered the decree ran back, saying that there were many more officials who advocated the same idea, and many of them were important ministers of the court. They didn't dare to carry out their previous will anymore, so they could only come back and ask Emperor Chongzhen.

If it were replaced by a few years ago, when Emperor Chongzhen was really high-spirited, even if there were more officials, he would contradict him like this, distort the facts, and deal with him, it is estimated that he would really have to serve it all.

But now, after years of tempering, and even experienced the edict of self-infliction, he must have a certain sense of the overall situation and will not be so impulsive.

But even so, he is still a young man in his twenties after all, and although he has restrained his temperament, he is unwilling to compromise. Sit, go on a hunger strike, feel free to see how many days you can last.

The reason why he did not compromise, Emperor Chongzhen also understood that if he was put back in the criminal department, it would mean that the previous efforts were in vain, and then he would ask for a new order to order the factory guards not to leave the yamen, and be fooled by those civil officials again, which he could not tolerate.

On the civilian side, if they can't save the criminal department, it means that the factory guards will really get out of the cage and move back to the same way before. If that's the case, it's equivalent to a knife hanging over their heads, and they can't tolerate it when they do things at all times.

As more and more civil officials went to the sit-in, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly became ruthless, sent factory guards to surround the noon gate, and supervised the civil officials to go on a hunger strike and sit-in. If you don't change your mind, then you really have to go on a hunger strike, don't come to a fake set. The follow-up civil officials were allowed to enter but not to leave, and they all sat on the cold and windy noon gate square to drink the northwest wind.

There is a grapevine here, it is said that Emperor Chongzhen originally wanted to mobilize the soldiers and horses of the five cities to command the people and horses of the division to impose martial law outside the Forbidden City, but the army belonging to the Ministry of War was sent out of the city by the Ministry of War on business before the arrival of the holy decree, and some of them were at home and could not be assembled in a short time. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to send factory guards to surround the noon gate, so that civil officials and their families could watch the noon gate, so that the crowd was raging, so that more civil officials shouted the slogan of "let the Son of Heaven understand the truth" to join the sit-in hunger strike.

On the third day of December in the sixth year of Chongzhen, it was the second day of the sit-in, and many elderly civil officials couldn't stand it. However, no one dares to compromise first, so they can only stand up, hoping that someone will not be able to stand it and take the lead first.

Wang Dehua, the governor of Dongchang, who was supervising on the side, was a little afraid, he was afraid that so many civil officials would have accidents, and if the emperor couldn't withstand the pressure, he would push him out as a scapegoat. After thinking about it, he told Emperor Chongzhen about the situation.

"What's the panic, this is what they brought on themselves!" Emperor Chongzhen sneered and said, "I am already merciful enough, and I don't have a court to serve them!" ”

Such a formation has been troubled more than once in the Ming Dynasty, such as during the Jiajing period. Emperor Jiajing also refused to compromise, and even used a court battle against the people who were the leader, and was killed on the spot at the noon gate to make an example.

However, by the end of the evening, the civil servant had already fainted. The factory guards were surrounded by orders and were indifferent to this.

But the family members of the civil officials watching from the outside were anxious, and summoned the house slaves to start attacking the factory defense line to save their master.

At the beginning, the factory guards did not dare to use knives to cut people, after all, these people are the families of civil officials. The most important thing is that this is not one or two civil service families, but a large group of civil service family members with status.

Until the clothes of the factory guards were torn, their faces were scratched, and the defense line was broken several times, the news reached the ears of Emperor Chongzhen, which immediately made him furious, and immediately sent additional factory guards.

The news here also spread to Shoufu Wen Tiren one after another, at first he still maintained his true character of a lonely minister, but as the situation became more and more serious, he finally couldn't sit still, and finally agreed with a few colleagues and began to discuss how the matter would end.

However, the atmosphere in the Forbidden City is tense, and the internal and external contradictions between the DPRK and China are about to erupt, but it does not affect the ordinary people of the Beijing Division, even including some generals and their soldiers, and it is more to be lively.

Just like the soldiers of the Beijing camp guarding the north gate of the Beijing Division, the soldiers on duty on duty hid in the hole of the city gate, holding the spear in their sleeves, chatting quietly.

In the past, they talked about women a lot, but the current topic is all speculating about the outcome of this conflict between the DPRK and China.

Not much different from them, in the barracks on the side, the rotating non-commissioned officers and captains on duty at the head of the city, they were all gloatingly discussing, and some people even secretly opened a handicap for people to bet on.

For these big-headed soldiers, whether it is a civil official win or a factory guard represented by the emperor, they are all people who ride on top of their heads, and one side is unlucky enough to make them happy.

But what they didn't know was that they were discussing other people, and there were people watching them in the shadows not far from the city gate, but the people in these shadows had not moved.

After the third watch, the night was already very dark, the moonlight of the crescent moon was dim, and only vague figures could be seen a little farther away.

Fan Wencheng, who had been hiding in the shadows, turned around and instructed the three big men beside him: "Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming? ”

"The last general!" Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming lowered their voices and immediately responded.

Fan Wencheng ordered solemnly: "You two act according to the plan, it is best to control the city gate quietly, and then immediately send a signal to the outside of the city." Otherwise, it is death, and you must hold on until the army enters the city! ”

Speaking of this, he paused and added: "Don't worry, the master has clear rewards and punishments, even if you die in battle, the master will never treat your family badly!" ”

"The last general understands!" Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming both nodded slightly, and replied in a low voice and forcefully.

In the end, the two of them saw that Fan Wencheng no longer had anything to say, so with a move of their hands, forty or fifty people came out of the shadows, put on several formations, and swaggered towards the city gate at different intervals.

Fan Wencheng looked at it for a moment, then turned his head and ordered Shang Kexi, who was still standing beside him: "You scatter the people, keep an eye on the city, and if there is a big noise, set fire everywhere, understand?" ”

If you set fire, first, it can cause chaos in the city and provide support to Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming at the head of the city, and second, tell the army ambushed outside the city to attack the city quickly.

(To be continued.) )