Nanchang Mansion City, Governor Yamen.

Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiangxi, sat in the hall, his face was very heavy, and now he was faced with a very difficult choice, as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff. Even when Shouning Yuancheng faced the attack of the Jiannu army, he didn't feel that the situation was so difficult.

There are more than 200,000 anti-thief troops outside the city, which is far more numerous than the Jiannu army back then, but in terms of strength, it is far inferior to the Jiannu army. However, the army under his command was not the Guanning Iron Cavalry, but the local army with low morale that was defeated one after another, with only 40,000 troops, less than one-fifth of the opponent's.

Of course, if it was a normal situation, Yuan Chonghuan would not be afraid. Field battles cannot be won, and defending the city can always be defended. After all, Nanchang City is high and deep, and the other party is a peasant army that doesn't know how to attack the city, Yuan Chonghuan has absolute confidence that he can defend it. However, this is not a normal situation, he is not only facing the thief, but also the enemy from within. The most important thing is that Yuan Chonghuan's own heart is already messed up......

"Brother Element, when you were the governor of Liaodong, you refused to build a slave to defend Ningyuan, and won a great victory in Ningjin, with great achievements. But he was suppressed by the eunuch party and forced to resign. After Chongzhen ascended the throne, he eradicated the eunuch party, and you should supervise Liaodong, who can be greater than you in terms of prestige, and who can know more about building slaves than you? But Chongzhen would rather use Lu Xiangsheng, who has no prestige and no merit, to pass through Liaodong, rather than use you, which shows that he employs nepotism and shows how wary he is of Qingliushi! Brother Elemental, you used to be the governor of Liaodong, and you have made so many contributions in the past, and you have been placed in Jiangxi for more than three years, even the younger brother feels aggrieved for his brother! A middle-aged man in a silk robe said with indignation on his face.

This person's name is Lu Peng, a native of Dongguan, Guangdong, and Yuan Chonghuan is a classmate of the county school. Yuan Chonghuan was promoted all the way to the Jinshi and entered the court as an official, and after Lu Pengxiang failed the test, he chose to take over his own business and became a maritime merchant, and now he actually appeared in Nanchang City and became a messenger of the rebels to persuade Yuan Chonghuan to surrender to the rebels.

"Your Majesty asked me to patrol a province, what does it mean not to reuse? It was I who betrayed His Majesty's trust, not only did not exterminate the anti-thief, but made the anti-thief bigger. Yuan Chonghuan shook his head and stretched out his hand to interrupt Lu Peng's next words, "If Brother Lu comes to reminisce about the old days, he will stay, if he persuades me to surrender to the thief, he should not open his mouth and return the same way!" ”

Lu Peng sighed slightly, and a smile appeared on his face again: "Okay, don't talk about this." He knew in his heart that since Yuan Chonghuan didn't drive him away, it meant that his mind had been shaken.

"Brother Lu's business is doing well, how can he have anything to do with the rebels?" Yuan Chonghuan asked, trying to find out the details of his former friend.

Lu Peng sighed: "Don't hide it from Brother Elemental, if it weren't for the difficult business at sea, how could I do such a thing?" ”

"Chongzhen sent his henchman Li Yanzhi as the general of Fujian, and set up the Royal Maritime Trade Firm in Fujian, and accepted the pirate Zheng Yiguan as a minion, last winter in the Wa Kingdom, Zheng Yiguan led the fleet to attack the fleet of other Fuzhou merchants, and in the name of Chongzhen forced the maritime merchants from all over the country to annex, and forcibly agreed that from now on, all ships going to sea must pay protection fees to the Royal Maritime Trade Firm, each sea ship as high as three thousand taels!

If that's all there is to it, although you will earn less money after paying the protection fee, you can still get by. However, in the spring of this year, the Royal Maritime Trade Company set up branches in Zhejiang and Guangdong to purchase sea vessels and recruit sailors to buy and hoard goods on a large scale. This is clearly to monopolize maritime trade, and to drive out all our maritime merchants! ”

"That's why you turned to the thief? And you are in Guangdong, why did you come all the way to Jiangxi to join the thieves? Yuan Chonghuan was puzzled.

Lu Peng smiled: "How could I come all the way to Jiangxi to rebel?" At the beginning, I came to Jiangxi to negotiate the porcelain business on behalf of several Guangdong maritime merchants. Royal Maritime Trade Bank relied on abundant funds to maliciously purchase in Guangdong to seize the source of goods, and there was no way for us to come to Jiangxi to develop. Who knew that their tentacles had reached Jiangxi, and they signed a three-year contract with several major porcelain factories in Jingdezhen, which was obviously to force us and other Guangdong maritime merchants to a dead end.

At that time, in a fit of anger, we decided to give them a little color to see, so we got in touch with Song Jin, the anti-thief in Ganzhou, and provided the anti-thief with some money, food, and weapons, and asked them to help us intercept the porcelain shipped to Guangdong. Although Song Jin is a thief, he is not bad, and he successfully helped us rob the porcelain. And with our support, his strength has increased greatly, and he has successively annexed several other anti-thieves in Ganzhou, and even defeated Huifeng and Xinchang counties, and led tens of thousands of troops to attack the capital city of Ganzhou, which is why you led the army to encircle and suppress. ”

Yuan Chonghuan suddenly realized: "It turns out that you are behind the back, let me say, in just a few months, how did the anti-thieves who were driven into the mountains by me develop so quickly, and they even have a large number of firearms!" ”

"The fire gun is built in Guangdong, Brother Element, you also know how developed iron smelting is in Foshan and other places, as long as there is silver, let alone fire guns, even red-coated cannons can be built." Lu Peng said with a smile.

"One thing I don't understand, if you control Jiangxi's ceramics, you have already done it, and you will make a fortune in a muffled voice, why do you still incite Song Jin and other thieves to attack Ganzhou Mansion, are you really not afraid of the encirclement and suppression of the imperial army at that time?" Yuan Chonghuan asked.

Lu Peng smiled: "Originally, we didn't expect so much. But didn't Chongzhen lead his troops to the south at that time, and he went on a killing spree in Shandong. We thought that the Royal Maritime Trade Company would know sooner or later that Chongzhen would never let go of the Guangdong gentry such as us, and maybe in the future Guangdong would be the same as Shandong, the gentry would be raided and the fields would be divided. In that case, why not give it a go? So we contacted some gentry in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangdong, all of whom had business at sea, and after discussion, we decided to take out everything we had to do with the emperor! Anyway, the family property is going to be copied by the emperor, so it is better to take it out now, support the Jiangxi anti-thieves, and carry out the great cause of rebellion in Jiangxi!

The first is to divert the emperor's attention and make him unable to take care of other places. Then let the emperor know that he can't do whatever he wants. Henan is in chaos, hundreds of thousands of people in the Red Turban Army are attacking the city, Jiangxi is also in chaos, and then Huguang, Guangdong, and Fujian are all in chaos? Then see what the emperor will do! ”

Yuan Chonghuan gasped! He didn't expect these people to make such a big fuss.

"Of course, no one wants to really rebel unless it is absolutely necessary, let alone rebel in their hometown. So for the time being, they are all hidden behind their backs and regard Jiangxi as a battlefield. As for the encirclement and suppression of the imperial army, Brother Element, didn't you also bring tens of thousands of officers and soldiers from Jiangxi into Ganzhou at that time, and you naturally know what the result of the battle was. Lu Peng shook his head.

Yuan Chonghuan fell silent, he recalled the situation of the battle of Ganzhou half a year ago, when he had no problem transferring troops at all. Although the Jiangxi army is a local army, it has also been trained by itself for three years, and it has completely crushed these anti-thieves in terms of combat effectiveness, so they used to beat the anti-thieves and hide in the mountains. But I didn't expect the battle of Ganzhou, I obviously didn't make any mistakes, but I lost inexplicably. The army was attacked by the rebels during the march, and when the counterattack was deployed, it was suddenly subjected to heavy shelling, and a single officer and soldier fled without a fight, so that it was completely defeated.

When he was marching, he sent sentinels to investigate the news, but he did not find any movement of the rebels at all. And those rebels seemed to know their march route for a long time, and waited in ambush for them to pass several days in advance. There were also several officers and troops, who were obviously able to defeat the rebels according to their own deployment, but they were inexplicably defeated, so that their Chinese army was exposed to the main force of the rebels and had to order a retreat.

Now that I think about it, not only do I have rebels lurking around me, but some officers and generals have also been bought by the rebels.

"Brother Elemental, you understand now. Not only the battle of Ganzhou, but also why did the two support troops of Zhejiang and Fujian lose so quickly three months ago? It's all the same. Elemental brother, Chongzhen is perverse, regards my gentry as a dog, kills and robs the house at will, his brutality is far beyond Sui Yang, no less than Shang Xia Ji! The people of the world are not upright for a long time! If he continues to reign, Shilin will be in danger, and the world will be in danger!

Not only the gentry of Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang, but also the gentry of Jiangxi also think so, otherwise why did the rebels develop so fast, and why did they occupy most of Jiangxi in just half a year? Brother Element, you are both civil and military, and you are a handsome talent who is not born in the world, but the general trend is like this, that is, you are as wise as you, in the face of the current situation, do you also feel helpless? Lu Peng said with a smile.

Yuan Chonghuan also smiled: "Isn't it at a loss, let's not talk about it for the time being, Brother Lu, you confessed the matter so clearly in front of me, aren't you worried that I will take you down at all?" Or do you think that with our old friendship, I will let you go? ”

Lu Peng shook his head: "The reason why I tell you so clearly is that I want you to see the general trend clearly, the so-called good birds choose trees and perch, I hope you can make the right choice." As for my safety, I'm sure you won't mess around. ”

"Oh, why are you so sure? You are the behind-the-scenes supporter of the Jiangxi anti-thief, if you are taken down and sent to His Majesty Zhenjiang, it will be a great achievement! Yuan Chonghuan said coldly.

"Brother Elemental, don't forget, you and I are fellow villagers, when you were an official in the court, I would go to your house to visit Lingzun Lingtang every festival, if you take me and give it to the emperor, aren't you afraid that Lingzun Lingtang will be sad?" Lu Peng said with a smile.

Yuan Chonghuan's face changed drastically, and he could hear the naked threat in Lu Peng's words. His family is in Guangdong, and if he dares to win Lu Peng, he will inevitably affect his parents and family. The Guangdong gentry and maritime merchants who participated in the rebellion in Jiangxi would never be polite to their families.

"Let's go," Yuan Chonghuan waved his hand weakly, "Yuan Mousheng is a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, and he will never betray the Ming Dynasty and betray His Majesty to be a rebellious minister and thief!" ”

"Brother Elemental, think twice. Although there are still tens of thousands of troops in this Nanchang city, the army and the people are separated and the morale is low. Lu Peng patiently persuaded.

Yuan Chonghuan shook his head and sneered: "Be loyal to the country, just die." And it's not so easy for you to capture Nanchang, right? ”

After operating in Jiangxi for three years, Yuan Chonghuan still has a very strong control over his subordinate troops, coupled with the rich experience of defending the city in Liaodong, he is confident that he can continue to defend it, and there is no problem at all in holding it for another half a year, which is enough to wait for the imperial army to come to help.

"Brother Elemental, is such an emperor really worthy of your loyalty to him? Did he treat you like a courtier? This Ming Dynasty is the gentry and the Son of Heaven share the world, but he regards the gentry as enemies. What if you can help him defend Nanchang? When the Praetorian Guards arrive in Guangdong, your fields will also be divided! Tian Peng persuaded bitterly.

"You don't need to say it again, I won't betray the court!" Yuan Chonghuan was in turmoil, but he still adhered to the final bottom line, unwilling to be a rebellious minister and thief who had been stinking for thousands of years.

"Brother Elemental, if you only let you betray Chongzhen and not let you betray Daming, are you willing?" Lu Peng said suddenly.

Yuan Chonghuan was stunned: "What do you mean?" ”

Lu Peng smiled slightly: "Of course, there is another new monarch." Chongzhen has no way, and what he did disobeyed the previous emperors of the past dynasties, released the slave Juntian, canceled the military and slave registration, and openly banned the various systems formulated by Emperor Taizu, and has betrayed the Ming Sheji. We should elect a new monarch separately, continue the Ming Dynasty, and then under the leadership of the new monarch, we will do something difficult to appease, and crusade against the unrighteous rebellion! ”

"Establish a new monarch ......," Yuan Chonghuan gasped. If this is really the case, it is really not certain who belongs to this Ming Dynasty.

Originally, no matter how tyrannical Chongzhen was, he was also the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, occupying the name of righteousness, and whoever opposed him was a rebel and a thief. But if the thief sets up another clan as the new king, it will become a war between the Zhu family to grab the throne, just like Emperor Chengzu's Jingnan, after Zhu Di captured Nanjing and defeated Zhu Yunwen, officials everywhere will surrender without psychological burden.

And now the gentry and officials in the world hate and fear Chongzhen, once the thief really establishes a new king, it is conceivable what the gentry officials will react to. On the one hand, Chongzhen, who abolished their privileges and divided their land, and on the other hand, the new emperor who defended their inherent interests, and they could think of any choice they would make with their feet.

"You have another new king, will Song Jin and other anti-thief leaders agree?" Yuan Chonghuan asked dryly.

"Why don't you agree, when the matter is completed, they will be named hereditary princes, and they will be very happy?" Lu Peng said with a smile, "Those people are just some mud legs, they gathered to rebel when they couldn't survive before, how ambitious do you think they will be?" ”

"The emperor is not something that any clan can do......" Yuan Chonghuan muttered.

"The clan we support should be very qualified," Lu Peng said with a smile, "Zhu Yousong, the prince of King Fu, Brother Elemental, do you want to tell me if he is qualified to be the emperor?" ”

"Prince Fuwang, you actually rescued him from Fengyang Prison? What a deliberate thought! Yuan Chonghuan was shocked.

If you talk about the clan closest to Chongzhen's bloodline, it is naturally the line of Zhu Changxun, the king of Fu, when Zhu Changxun was almost made the crown prince by Emperor Wanli, it was the desperate opposition of the ministers, and Zhu Youzhen's father, Taichang Emperor Zhu Changluo, was able to ascend the throne.

And Zhu Youzhen actually put Zhu Changxun and Zhu Yousong and his son in Fengyang Prison in the name of rebellion in order to get money, which is also known to everyone in the world. Zhu Changxun has died in Fengyang Prison, so it is most justifiable to support Zhu Yousong's accession to the throne and compete for the country with Chongzhen!