Chapter Ninety-Nine, the Decision of Emperor Chongzhen (Middle)

PS: Fixed a bug above.,It's only the end of October here.,The previous chapter was mistakenly written as November.,It's been corrected.,Thank you for your understanding.。

I was a little dizzy in front of the manuscript.

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In the early morning of October 22, the fifth year of Chongzhen, the Forbidden City, the Jinluan Palace

This is the first court meeting after Emperor Chongzhen's "initial recovery from a serious illness", and it is also the first court meeting after Guan Ningjun's defection. Although the ministers in the palace were led by the first assistant Wen Tiren, and they put on a congratulatory table to celebrate the health of the emperor's majesty, but the entire court meeting still did not show the slightest joy.

-- As soon as the congratulatory table was finished, a Shangshu, three waiters, and two imperial historians knelt down to collectively "make a speech" and demanded to "tell the old man and return to his hometown."

“…… Unfortunately, the ministers and other ministers are exhausted, and the praise and painting are invalid, and the crime deserves death. ”

After saying their usual farewell words, they lay down on the ground, facing the throne on the altar and remained motionless, waiting for the emperor's answer.

- Sin deserves death? You should have died a long time ago!!

Looking at these old foxes, big foxes, and little foxes who seemed to be respectful, the Chongzhen Emperor of the crossing version really wanted to roar so angrily.

Last night, he secretly summoned the first assistant Wen Tiren and the last general of the Qin Wang Army, Lu Xiangsheng, into the palace to inquire about the current battle situation, combined with the reports of the eunuchs in the inner court, His Majesty finally roughly figured out what these waste fools had stabbed in the past two months.

-- Since the original Emperor Chongzhen defected because of the Guanning Army's surrender to Shanhaiguan, and the Liaodong Tatars took the opportunity to enter the Kou in a big way, and became angry and unconscious, the new first assistant Wen Tiren was ordered to preside over the "wartime cabinet" and lead the overall situation of the Jingshi War of Resistance.

However, even at such a moment of crisis, the Donglin Party in the central government was still bent on demolishing Wen Tiren, and because there was no emperor to suppress the position, it even became even more unscrupulous -- in the past two months, the vast majority of the orders issued by the cabinet have been passively delayed by the six departments controlled by the Donglin Party, and very few have been implemented, and the entire Beijing imperial court is almost in a state of paralysis, Wen Tiren, the first assistant, has been basically hollowed out, and there are even people who do not understand the Guò cabinet to issue orders indiscriminately...... And the inner court master and supervisor also came to intervene, sending overseers everywhere to seize the military power, which made the situation even more chaotic.

It was not until the entire Yongping Mansion and most of the Shuntian Mansion, as well as some county towns of Hejian Mansion and Baoding Mansion fell one after another, and Lu Xiangsheng's 30,000 Tianxiong Army and Hong Chengchou's 50,000 Qin Army collapsed one after another, that the Donglin Party members in the court found that this time it seemed that they had gone too far in party fighting, and they had completely gotten rid of it, and they were no longer "driving the Wen and overthrowing the pavilion" and "resisting the eunuchs", but directly collapsed the Jingshi of the Ming Empire...... But their first reaction next was not how to unite sincerely, turn the tide, and tide over the difficulties together, let alone self-examination and guilt, but to jump out of the broken ship of the Beijing court to save their lives - such as these guys who are begging to return to their hometowns now......

Hey, hey! What about the good "death to repay the king"? (Zhong Donglin Party said: Your Majesty, you are so naïve!) ）

Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen also knew that these guys who were kneeling in front of him and handing over their resignations were already quite disciplined. There are many officials in the yamen of various ministries who directly put up their official seals and then slap their butts and leave. In addition, there are even more undisciplined - not only are people gone, but also the official seal has been taken away!

Although these people slipped away with the official seal, it should not be to swagger, but just to leave a souvenir, or to pass it on to their descendants as antiques. However, this official seal is not a seal that can be engraved with a piece of radish, and the official documents of the yamen all need to be verified, and after the original official seal is lost, the imperial court needs to go through a whole set of very complicated procedures if it wants to change the official seal -- otherwise the whole system will be chaotic.

Fortunately, the imperial court itself in Beijing is almost finished, and if the official seal is lost, it will be lost! Anyway, there's no chance of using it again.

In short, looking at the high-raised buttocks below, the face of Emperor Chongzhen, the traverser, changed several times, and finally stopped the urge to scold, "You should have died a long time ago", and said as calmly as possible, "...... You Aiqing have worked hard and made great achievements, and this is cherished. ”

Hearing that the emperor was relieved, the relieved officials immediately kowtowed three more times and replied loudly: "Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live." Then they all bowed slightly, retreated a few steps, knelt down again and kowtowed three times, and then got up and retreated to the threshold of the main hall, knelt down to the throne and kowtowed the last three heads, and then turned around and walked out of the hall - Originally, according to the old rules, when walking out of the main hall, there would be officials waiting outside the hall, and a few pieces of red silk were issued to the departing officials as pensions, but now when the war is in chaos, no one cares about such small sections.

On the other side of the hall, the emperor looked at the court hall that had become a lot more sparse, and the remaining officials, and couldn't help but sigh again: Those who fled may indeed be lacking in discipline, but these people who choose to stay may not be so loyal.

Who knows how many of them have turned into rebels, plotting to curry favor with their new masters?

So, the emperor glanced at the first assistant Wen Tiren, and Wen Tiren made a comparison to a few of his cronies, and then a few people exchanged sign language, and finally launched a Zuo Zhongyun Li Mingrui, and said to the emperor: "...... Your Majesty, with all due respect, today's matter has come to this point, and Jingshi Cheng cannot be guaranteed. The ministers also hoped that the emperor would give priority to the temples of the world, abandon the Beijing Division, and let the city leave as soon as possible while the Dongyu army had not yet arrived at the city......"

Next, Li Mingrui specifically pointed out a feasible escape route: "...... Now the Liukou are entrenched in the West Mountain, the Jiannu soldiers are in Tongzhou and Liangxiang, and the Beijing division has been trapped on three sides, but there is still a road to the north. His Majesty can go out of Deshengmen, go to Changping, and then go to Baoan Prefecture to meet with the Xuanda border army. At this point, Jin Ke sat and watched the battle of Yanji and waited for the opportunity to return to Beijing; Retreat can have heavy troops to protect yourself, go to Taiyuan and Luoyang to go south to Jinling, rebuild the imperial court, and protect the temple ......of our dynasty" In the end, Li Mingrui knelt down and cried: "...... I wish His Majesty to follow the example of the former Yue King Goujian, not to one city and one place, to take care of the dragon's body, and to break through the palace of loyal ministers! Now His Majesty has the hope of the world, and the ancestors have been blessed for three hundred years, and they will be able to make great efforts to restore the rivers and mountains! ”

These words made the Chongzhen Emperor of the traversal version very tempted to hear, whenever there is still a glimmer of life, who is willing to die lightly? According to his cognition, it turned out that Emperor Chongzhen could be said to be a political figure with a habit of politics and cleanliness, and the thing he cared about and demanded the most was that his reputation in history must be innocent. Therefore, in the original history, Emperor Chongzhen had many opportunities to flee to the south, at least to keep half of the south of the Yangtze River, but he repeatedly gave up the opportunity, and finally refused to put down the shelf, for fear of being ridiculed, and even more afraid of leaving an infamy in history.

But his time-traveling version of Emperor Chongzhen doesn't have such a good face...... Even if he fled south to become Song Gaozong, it was much better than hanging a coal mountain!

Just as he was about to nod his head in response, He Wuyu, a cabinet scholar, stood up and shouted loudly with spit flying: "...... Your Majesty, don't listen to the gossip of such thieves to confuse the public! I have always guarded the country with the Son of Heaven, sat in Beijing, and raised all directions! If the Son of Heaven does not dare to defend the battle and let the city go, what will the soldiers and officials defending the land in front think? Moreover, since His Majesty ascended the throne and ascended the throne, Liaodong Jiannu has been under the capital several times, and which time has it not been frustrated and returned? If during the Jingtai period, when the Warat people besieged Beijing, Yu Shaobao (Yu Qian) also heard that the strong enemy was coming and left first, where would there be the current great tomorrow! Therefore, please punish Li Mingrui in Zuo Zhongyun to thank the world! ”

He Wuyu's words were impassioned, the ministers in the palace were speechless for a while, Li Mingrui's face was as pale as death when he heard it, Lu Xiang stomped his feet angrily, Wen Tiren's eyes were dark, and Emperor Chongzhen's eyes were full of ridicule...... You're such a fighting expert? What a joke!

You Donglin Dang! If you don't make trouble for your own people, will you really die?

Or have you already negotiated the price with Huang Taiji, and are ready to exchange my head for the official position of the Jurchens? So I'm afraid I'll run away?

However, no matter how murderous Emperor Chongzhen's eyes were, next, driven by the scholar He Wusu, the ministers of the Donglin Party in the court, as well as some pedantic people from other factions, all stepped forward one after another, and criticized Zuo Zhongyun Li Mingrui, who proposed "let the city go":

“…… The Supreme One, the Son of Heaven, the Supreme One, the Truth. There is a bloody battle in the front, but the rear is moving south and fleeing, how can there be such a reason? ”

“…… In today's trend, the first is to cheer up the people's hearts, if the emperor abandons the Beijing division and runs away, the hearts of the people in the world are bound to be out of control, just ask, what will happen next? How will the people of the world look at our emperor? In today's strategy, the minister thinks that there is no other strategy than to consolidate people's hearts and stick to waiting for help. ”

“…… If God blesses the Ming Dynasty, then the country will survive this catastrophe, if not, the Ming Dynasty is also the Son of Heaven to guard the country, His Majesty has been punished in the past by many ministers who lost their power and land, is it that when things come to an end, His Majesty can only get rid of the ministers, but he is deserted and fled? ”

“…… Now the Jingshi is admittedly in danger, but the country is dead and the king is dead, guarding the country with the Son of Heaven, and the king is dead, this is the right way. Today's matter has come to this, only to obey the mandate of heaven, if His Majesty discards the ancestral mausoleum, rushes out, and is captured halfway, it will be in vain for posterity to laugh! ”

“…… The world, the emperor of the world, His Majesty should defend it to the death, so why abandon it! The ministers are willing to lead the army and the people out of the city to resist the war, and may His Majesty stick to the capital! ”

……

Looking at these civil officials standing on the moral height, one by one proud, full of righteousness, generously and bluntly spoken under the Danqi, talking eloquently, looking forward to self-pride, looking like a loyal and righteous man, the eyes of the time-traveling version of Emperor Chongzhen on the throne are getting colder and colder - it is true that what these guys said is not completely unreasonable, but the people who are in front of them have to consider whether the medicine has side effects, isn't it a big joke?

Don't look at these scholars in the palace to say so impassioned, brave and loyal, when the enemy soldiers really come to attack, there will definitely not be a scholar to come to the palace to escort them, but there will definitely be many people who open the city gate to lead the way! And a considerable part of the soldiers and horses defending the city will inevitably defect!

Therefore, seize the time to escape from Beijing, at least there is still a way to live, and if you stay in Beijing and defend the city, you will definitely die!

In short, when these "loyal ministers and righteous men" were speaking directly under the Danqi, His Majesty the Emperor was looking at them with the eyes of bed bugs and fat pigs...... remembers that when Li Zicheng entered Beijing in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, he plundered 70 million taels of silver from their house; So before I flee from Beijing, should I also torture them and squeeze out some gold and silver to pay for the army? This is probably a waste use!

But after thinking about it carefully, he finally gave up this tempting plan -- Huang Taiji's sweat tent was already stationed in Wuqing County, and seeing that the Eight Banners soldiers were approaching, it was too late to implement any measures to recruit troops, train soldiers, cast artillery, and raise food. Even if you can grab tens of millions of taels of silver, there is nowhere to use it, and it is even difficult to transport so much silver...... If it is a coil on the road, it is enough to rely on the inner money in the palace.

Moreover, torturing the ministers for gold and silver before abandoning Beijing would not only leave them infamous, but also delay time, and even induce a greater rebellion - in the late Ming Dynasty, the Donglin Party was the best at creating civil unrest and street riots......

So, after patiently listening to the spit of the civil officials, Emperor Chongzhen did not make any statement, but calmly ordered to retreat from the dynasty, leaving Wen Tiren and Lu Xiangsheng at the same time, and instructed them to go to the Qianqing Palace to "summon the right" after the dispersal of the dynasty...... This is the end of the meeting.

――This is the first and last court meeting held by Emperor Chongzhen in the Forbidden City......

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“…… This generation is really a lie! It is indeed the ancestral system for the Son of Heaven to guard the country, but it also depends on the current situation! When the times have changed, how can we stick to the rules and remain the same? There is a cloud in the art of war, and if there is no soldier who must be saved outside, there is no city that must be defended inside. Now that the Guanning Iron Cavalry has rebelled, there are no soldiers and no generals in Shanxi and Shaanxi, and there are only 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers inside and outside the Beijing Division, and the internal emptiness has reached the extreme! Although the Xuanfu and Datong border armies have some soldiers and horses, they are fluctuating in people's hearts, lack of food and salary, and the scheduling is out of order. Now there are no more soldiers and horses outside the capital to Qin Wang, and there are not many soldiers and horses in the capital to defend the city! The imperial court Taicang did not have much silver and two soldiers, and there was not much grain and grass to meet the needs of the army! There is no success inside and outside, there is no way to deal with it, and the major policy of the country's survival, how can it be just the arrogant and useless words of this son of heaven guarding the country? Today, the ministers of the palace only care about inviting names, and confuse the public with evil words, which is really very hateful, and it cannot be punished by beheading, it is really necessary to peel off the skin and grass, thinking that it is the ring of the latecomer! ”

When he was introduced into the Qianqing Palace by the little eunuch, Lu Xiangsheng immediately scolded indignantly-although this famous commander in the late Ming Dynasty was born as a civil servant, he was burly and powerful, and he always took the lead in fighting and killed, and his personality was also rude and straightforward, just like the fierce Zhang Fei in the play.

For such straightforward words, Wen Tiren, who has always been gentle and elegant, obviously couldn't accept it, and then before he could open his mouth to ease the bullying, he was surprised to see that Emperor Chongzhen actually nodded in response, and at the same time stretched out his hand and handed over a bright yellow scroll, "...... It is true that this generation should peel the skin and grass, but now it is too late. Lu Qing, take this holy decree, quickly go to Tongzhou to open a warehouse to get grain, and levy a qiē mule and horse vehicle, and transport as much grain as you can. Then the whole army abandoned the garrison, moved north to defend the tomb of the Changping Emperor, waited to meet the chariot in the palace, and then went north to Xuanfu for refuge - within two days after the Ming Dynasty, I will lead the Jinyi Guard and the internal Cao Jing army to travel, and strive to seize the siege of Jiannu before the siege of the city, and protect the palace dependents to highlight the dangerous place of the Beijing Division......"

Then, Emperor Chongzhen ordered the eunuch to give Lu Xiangsheng the royal order banner and the monk Fang sword, "...... If the Tongzhou Guancang does not comply with the order and refuses to release grain, the Qing can send troops to attack it. If any officials in Beijing dare to obstruct it, even if they are college students, scholars, and squires, Qing can also behead them - according to the secret report of Jinyi Wei, the hundred officials in Beijing are now quite well-known, and there are not many credible people, and the safety of me and the world will be handed over to Lu Qing! ”

For Emperor Chongzhen's frenzied decision and arrangement, Lu Xiangsheng and Wen Tiren were dumbfounded for a while, and after half a sound, Wen Tiren muttered, "...... Is it really that urgent? No need to wait any longer? Maybe the tide is still turning around? ”

“…… Can't wait! Emperor Chongzhen shook his head, "...... Leave early, rest assured! If you don't leave, you won't be able to leave in a few days! ”R1148