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Chapter 157: Luring the Wolf into the House (Part II)

When the news of the defeat on the Wuhu front came, the city of Nanjing was suddenly plunged into a storm.

Although the Nanjing cabinet headed by Zhou Yanru was still stubbornly slapping his swollen face and becoming fat, he sent people to announce the "great victory in Wuhu," claiming that "countless enemies have been killed" and "victory has turned into a great victory." However, it was not possible to conceal the habit of the day from any of the Ming Dynasty's political discussions, and at the latest, on the night of the same day, the "well-informed people" in various parts of Nanjing already knew the true situation, and then there was an uproar in the city.

Although the city of Nanjing was still under martial law in theory at this time, neither the officers of the yamen nor the soldiers guarding the city had any intention of maintaining law and order. There were even more servants who colluded with bandits, secretly spreading rumors everywhere that "Emperor Chongzhen had come in", in a vain attempt to set off chaos, and then took advantage of the fire to loot Before the Western army could fight, Nanjing City itself was in the midst of rapid collapse.

In various towns and villages outside Nanjing, there was an endless rush for rice, and from Zhenjiang to Liyang, smoke broke out everywhere.

The people are already so undercurrent, and the situation in the court is even more unbearable. In the past, every day when I went to the court, I always made more noise than the market, but after receiving the news of the defeat of Wuhu, it was a dead silence when I went to the court for three days. It was the eunuch's shouting of "having something to do and retreating from the court", and they all became weak. What's even more terrifying is that the ministers who come to the court are becoming fewer and fewer, and even those who come to the court are generally weird.

As for the fact that the magistrates of Taiping Mansion, Chizhou Mansion, Luzhou Mansion and even Ningguo Mansion have changed banners one after another to surrender to the enemy, no one cares about it anymore.

In desperation, Zhou Yanrufu had no choice but to continue to brag and not make drafts, cheering up the ministers above the court, shouting loudly, "...... The imperial court in Wuhu is only a slight setback, Lu Shangshu still has tens of thousands of strong soldiers, relying on the big victory Guan Tian, will be able to resist the enemy outside the capital! When the abolished emperor's soldiers are tired, our army will be able to break the enemy in one fell swoop! At that time, not only will we have to recover the lost territory of Nanzhili, but we will also go straight to Huguang in one go! ”

While saying this, Zhou Yanru also promised himself with his ancestor Zhou Yu and Zhou Gongjin who didn't know how many generations ago, clapped his palms and read aloud: "...... The big river goes east, and the waves are exhausted. Romantic characters through the ages. To the west of the base, humanity is that Zhou Lang Chibi of the Three Kingdoms ...... "It's a pity that this cheer has no effect at all, and everyone doesn't think that this Zhou Fu is so "heroic, lupine scarf, talking and laughing, and the canopy is in ashes", but they all remembered another famous story through the ages: "Wang Junlou went down to Yizhou, and the king of Jinling was gloomy." The iron lock of Chihiro sank to the bottom of the river, and a piece of stone was lowered......"

Of course, Zhou Yanru's next action to persuade him to donate food and salary did not receive any positive response, and the civil and military ministers who had expected this for a long time all changed into tattered clothes in advance, and everyone cried out in every possible way. Some say that they are pawning clothes to survive, some say that their families have not been able to eat for a few days, and some say that they are selling their mansions in Beijing to raise money...... In the end, Zhou Yanru only raised three hundred taels of silver, and there was no rice or grain.

On the other side, outside the Wuhu camp gate of the Western Army, there was an endless stream of secret envoys from Nanjing, some wanted to abandon the darkness and surrender to the Ming to negotiate the price, some agreed to open the gate of Nanjing, some offered their family property to pray for forgiveness, and some talked with Lu Xiangsheng, the commander of the Western Army, and talked to relatives. As a result, before the Western Army arrived at the Great Victory Pass, Lu Xiangsheng counted it, and now a total of 63 messengers came, and the gold and silver sent reached as much as 10,000 taels!

Although the situation was so desperate, Zhou Yanru still wanted to struggle again, so he entered the palace to discuss countermeasures with the emperor, but who knew that it was another thunderbolt on a sunny day, that "Yonghe Emperor" Zhu Yihai, after the dispersal of the dynasty on this day, he sneaked out of the palace and disappeared!

The emperor doesn't want the country, he ran away by himself, what is he still tossing around?

Although this Yonghe Emperor is also the Donglin Party, with the current situation, is it still too late to replace someone to ascend the throne and become the emperor?

So, when Zhang Pu found him, Zhou Yanru was wearing a set of stained red official robes, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the cabinet room, using a half-old tin pot, warming wine on the small red clay stove, his expression was full of indescribable despair and decadence, as well as resentment and confusion.

“…… Yo! It's you! Let's have a drink with the teacher! Zhou Yanru raised his cloudy eyes, glanced at Zhang Pu, who was in the dust, and then took out a small wine cup and poured a glass of wine for Zhang Pu, "...... Right now, I want to drink, but I can't find anyone to accompany me! Our emperor does not know the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen, and Qian Muzhai (Qian Qianyi) also fled to his hometown in Suzhou! Did he think he would be able to escape the pursuit in the future? ”

Listening to Zhou Yanru's babbling in a gloomy tone, Zhang Pu held the wine glass in his hand, his eyes were sour and tearful, his face was full of anger, and his chest was infinitely resentful, "...... Teacher! We will wholeheartedly promote righteousness and establish a life for the people of the world! Why did you end up like this? What a heavenly injustice! Heaven is unfair! ”

In fact, even at this time, Zhang Pu and the vast majority of Donglin Party members still did not think that there was anything wrong with supporting the new emperor in Nanjing. Since Emperor Chongzhen appointed the traitorous minister Wen Tiren and deposed the gentlemen of Donglin, making the Beijing court no longer the atmosphere of "all the righteous and prosperous dynasties", Emperor Chongzhen is no longer a "natural saint" in the eyes of Zhang Pu, but a "disaster of the world"!

And after that, with the disgraceful departure of the Donglin gentlemen, the national fortunes of the Ming Dynasty really fell from the mountains and rivers to the collapse. Beijing, the dignified imperial capital, actually let the Liukou and Tartars occupy it in turn, and several of the most elite imperial officers and armies in the world either rebelled or surrendered to the enemy, or the whole army was wiped out. The Central Plains, Henan and Shaanxi are all filled with countless rogues and thieves. Huang Shi, the world's number one general in the south who guarded Fujian, also colluded with thieves to rebel and swept several southern provinces in one go. Shandong also has Dengzhou rebels and Wenxiang Sect one after another, which can be called the fire of the Quartet, no matter how you look at it, it is a sign of the death of the country!

In Zhang Pu's view, all this is obviously the fault of Emperor Chongzhen, who did not listen to the teachings of our Donglin Party righteous men and gentlemen, so that the world became like this! He is no longer worthy of being the lord of this world! That's why my generation wants to set things right, set up a new virtuous and capable new monarch, and help protect the Ming Dynasty!

Who knows that not only the Zhu Ming clan in the world can't understand the painstaking efforts of the Donglin gentleman, but even the heinous Chongzhen Emperor refused to die obediently, but jumped out to destroy the Donglin Party's hard work! How unreasonable! Heaven is intolerable!

However, compared to the resentful Zhang Pu, his teacher, cabinet assistant Zhou Yanru, is quite peaceful," ...... Alas, it has already reached such a point, so why complain about it? Anyway, the teacher has already seen it, and in the life of the teacher, what other beautiful things have you not experienced? The title of the gold list, the leader, the Qionglin banquet sitting, wearing flowers and riding horses in front of the royal street; The young man was ambitious, the official fortune was prosperous, he entered the cabinet at the age of 36, and became an assistant at the age of 37......

“…… Honorable Master! I'm not convinced! Zhang Pu waved his hand violently and smashed the wine glass on the ground, "...... Why did it turn out like this? ”

“…… Defy? Hehe? As a teacher, how can you be willing to admit defeat? But even if you don't accept it, what can you do? It's the end of the road! ”

Zhou Yanru drank all the warm rice wine in the cup, wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeve and said with a wry smile, "...... Wuhu was defeated, the three armies disintegrated, and after Lu Shangshu retreated to the Great Victory Pass, there were only a few thousand soldiers left under his hands, and they were fleeing every day, even if they were rewarded with a lot of silver, they couldn't stabilize the army's heart! Now even Lu Shangshu, the commander, has been discouraged and desperate, and he dismissed his family early, just waiting for the enemy soldiers to come to the pass, and then die and die!

As for the city of Nanjing, even our emperor ran away, and the Donglin gentleman also escaped, leaving only the master and a few people who couldn't escape to keep the top tank. Moreover, those nobles in Nanjing who hold military power, such as the Wei State Public Security Yuanhou Longpinghou, are also secretly connecting with each other now, just waiting for Emperor Chongzhen's soldiers and horses to hit the city, and they will fight back! In the face of such a desperate situation, what else can be imagined? ”

Speaking of this, recalling the grievances and difficulties that he had encountered everywhere in the government before, Zhou Yanru couldn't help but feel sad again, "...... Even if the division wants to stick to the capital and carry it to the end, where does this soldier come from? Where does the food come from? As the so-called general trend has gone, there is nothing to be done! ”

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However, in the face of the desperate cry of Zhou Yanru, the cabinet assistant, his student Zhang Pu still had his eyes shining, "...... If you talk about food, students have no choice, but this soldier, there are still some, it depends on whether the respected teacher is reluctant to lose face, and whether he is willing to borrow the teacher's help to suppress it! ”

“…… Borrowing help from teachers? Zhou Yanru blinked in confusion, and then suddenly realized, "...... Could it be to appease the Australian thief? Let them send large iron ships deep into the Yangtze River to intercept enemy sailors? Although this strategy is feasible, I'm afraid it may not be able to move them, right?! ”

“…… Definitely! Definitely! The student is not talking about an Australian thief! Zhang Pu shook his head again and again when he heard this, "...... Not to mention that the Australian thief is short-sighted, contemptuous of scribes, and wantonly harms the gentry in Zhejiang, and his methods are finger-pointing, and he is not the same as the righteous men and gentlemen of my generation. Even if we are willing to humiliate and beg for their help, the thief is far away in Hangzhou, far away from Liudu, and it will be too late just for the time it takes for the envoys to come and go! ”

“…… Since it's not an Australian thief, is it ...... The Jurchen Tartars in Jiangbei? Zhou Yanru frowned deeply at first, and then was shocked, "...... How so? This is a mess of China! Have you forgotten the distinction between Huayi? ”

“…… Respect the teacher is too worried! It's just a matter of borrowing from teachers to help suppress it. Zhang Pu replied lightly, "...... At least compared to the Australian thief, the Jurchen Tartar had some courtesy to us and other gentlemen and scribes. Moreover, if the thief is led into the south of the Yangtze River, there is a danger that the country will change color. And although the Tartars were once famous, they have now become lost dogs, and they can slowly divide and disintegrate, use water milling methods, and collect them for my use......"

At this time, although the Nanjing court did not have a very clear grasp of the internal situation of the turmoil in the north, it at least probably knew that the Liaodong homeland of Jiannu had changed hands, and the Guanning rebel generals such as Zu Dashou Wu Xiang parted ways with the Tartars again, and the Dengzhou army broke through Jinan and compressed the Qing army to the land of Lunan and Lianghuai, and for a time the whole clan was isolated in the Central Plains and became a rootless tree...... So Zhang Pu naturally had the idea of introducing it as foreign aid.

“…… However, this Jiannu is also the old enemy of my emperor no matter what, and now he is still arrogant to claim the title of emperor......" Zhou Yanru was still a little hesitant.

“…… Venerable, as you said before, the imperial court is now at the end of its rope and has nothing to do. When you get to such a field, where can you pay too much attention to it? You can only choose the lesser of two evils! Venerable Master, you should also know that the Emperor Chongzhen has always been mean and unkind, but he is not a generous and benevolent master! If he is allowed to enter Nanjing and sit in the Dragon Court, where in the world will there be a place for us? ”

Zhang Pu stood up and said to Zhou Yanru very sincerely, "...... Although the Jurchen Jiannu is indeed a barbarian outside the Saiwai, the ancients also had a cloud: if you enter the barbarian, you will be barbarian, and if you enter China, you will be Chinese. Now that they have lost their hometown in Liaodong, and even the way back to the north has been blocked, they can be said to be in an extremely embarrassing situation, even if they don't want to enter China, they can only enter China. Moreover, I recently heard that the Tartar Emperor Huang Taiji married the Yansheng Mansion in Qufu, Shandong, and accepted Miss Kong as a concubine, which shows that he really has the heart to accept the sage's education! If we can take it for our own use, we can not only save the crisis in Nanjing, but also let the Confucians of Donglin in the south of the Yangtze River raise their orders to them and teach the sage avenue, so as to truly subdue this generation and turn it into summer! ”

It turns out that some people's receptivity and resilience are always stronger than many people think.

For example, the Jiangnan scribes represented by the Donglin Party, although they put their loyal and patriotic mouths into their mouths, were actually just a group of shameless people who had neither loyalty, conscience, nor discipline. The more these people care about the world's affairs, the more messy the world's affairs become.

For example, the biggest crisis of the imperial court at the end of the Ming Dynasty was never the rogues and Tartars, but the financial bankruptcy, and the only solution was to collect business taxes, which could be seen by anyone with a discerning eye. But the Donglin Party is vigorously opposed to this, because it will levy taxes on themselves and the back-up financiers, and hurt their short-term gains. Therefore, even if they know that if the financial crisis is not resolved, the whole country will soon fall apart, they still prefer to bring down the country that has given them countless privileges and honors with their own hands, and they will desperately dig into the corners of the imperial court to seek their own selfish interests, and even take the initiative to push the country down the abyss of destruction!

Even if it means that the final end is all over, for the sake of temporary benefits, these great masters who are dead will not hesitate to do the same!

Of course, the capitalists of later generations actually had the same virtues, otherwise how could they sell the rope that hanged themselves for profit?

Therefore, after Zhang Pu threw out a sufficiently high-sounding step, Zhou Yanru, who was also lacking in discipline, immediately climbed down the pole and accepted the proposal to "borrow teachers to help suppress" to the Manchu Eight Banners without objection, and asked with a little worry: "...... Since the Tartar Emperor was still marrying a concubine in the Holy Mansion, Qufuyan, Shandong not long ago, it seems that he is far away from staying in the capital, and now he is sending an envoy to borrow troops from him to ask for help, is it still too late? ”

And Zhang Pu confidently assured: "...... The students have already sent someone to cross the river and go north to make contact, and the Tartar Emperor is now stationed in Yangzhou! As long as the Yangtze River sailors of the imperial court can provide ferries, the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty can cross the river and go south to relieve the danger of Jinling, the capital of Liudu......"

However, just as they were carefully planning how to lure the soldiers of the Eight Banners into Jiangnan and recruit this generation for their own use, they seemed to forget that as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang, had also handed an olive branch to a famous Hu general of the Northern Dynasty.

And the famous general of the Hu people of the Northern Dynasty is Hou Jing, who has a strong name as the "Great General of the Universe......