When it was dark, Zhu Quan led his subordinates Jing Jun and Sima Chao to Yanwang's Mansion again, and explained to Zhu Di the intention of the two to return to the field.

Zhu Di saw Zhu Quan's move to dismiss the generals in the center of the army, and couldn't help but secretly rejoice, and after pretending to save a few words, he immediately ordered someone to go to the army to extract gold and silver, and rewarded the two of them heavily.

About an hour later, King Ning's mansion. Jing Jun, who cleaned up and changed into cloth clothes, said goodbye to Zhu Quan in the living room of the palace.

Zhu Quan recalled that the two of them had been loyal since they followed him, and they had fought bloodily for several years, and they couldn't help but feel a little sad when they parted, and said in a deep voice: "No matter what the former ** people think they owe this king, they have followed this king to fight on the battlefield in the past few years, and they have all paid it off." You can find a place with beautiful mountains and rivers and become a rich man with peace of mind. ”

Looking at the back of the two of them leaving, Zhu Quan recalled Zhu Di's seemingly casual words about waiting for everything to be stable in Beijing, and he would send someone to Daning to take his wife and children back to Beijing to enjoy the blessings, and suddenly a trace of envy surged in his heart for these two people who had disarmed and returned to the field, and it could even be said that he was jealous, and said with a wry smile: This king can neither run away from the monk nor run away from the temple.

At dusk, Zhu Di had to report to the soldiers of Qianhu Ji Gang, saying that a group of soldiers who were responsible for cleaning up the burned Fengtian Temple in the Forbidden City had unearthed a charred and unrecognizable corpse, and after thinking for a long time, he finally passed on his order in a deep voice. Early tomorrow morning, Chao Chinese Wu will enter the palace with himself early tomorrow morning to check. ”“

On the second day, Zhu Di raised his fingers to the already unrecognizable corpse not far in front of him, and sighed: "This king is in trouble with heaven, but he is unwilling to be arrested and victimized by traitors in the court." Why did Your Majesty do this act of arson? ”

Zhu Quan, who was wearing a python robe and standing solemnly on one side, saw Zhu Di in front of a group of civil and military generals, pointing out the empress of Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yun, who died in the fire, as his own, and immediately bowed down and sighed: "What Brother Wang said is very true, it must be that our nephew saw our army enter the city, and his mind was in turmoil, which led to the fire. ”

Gu Wang Zhu, Cao Guogong Li Jinglong and others immediately bowed their heads and agreed with what King Yan and King Ning said.

Zhu Di said sadly: "His Majesty the Emperor is the person who took over the throne from his father's edict in the past, and this king should be buried with the rites of the Son of Heaven." ”

When Zhu Quan heard this, he praised him again and again, and said earnestly: "Brother Wang, if you think that I have tens of millions of soldiers and civilians in the Ming Dynasty, how can a big country be without an owner for a day?" According to the foolish brother's view, the royal brother ascended the throne immediately after paying homage to his father's filial piety mausoleum, with the heart of the subjects of the world. ”

Zhu Neng, the general who had always been regarded as the right-hand man of Zhu Di, the king of Yan, heard Zhu Quan's words of persuasion, and immediately stepped out of the queue, knelt on the ground and said loudly: "Your Highness is the head of all the princes, and since His Majesty the Emperor has died, His Royal Highness, as the son of the former emperor, should inherit the unification in a proper manner." ”

Qiu Fu, Zhang Xin, Chen and other generals have always looked forward to Zhu Neng's horse, and at this moment they all knelt down, and all of them advised His Royal Highness King Yan to inherit the throne after the thick burial of the "emperor". He and other generals in the army, whether they followed King Yan since the beginning of the Jingjing in the past, or were later forced to submit to the situation, and after the capture of the Beijing Division, he thought that he and other cadres would be awarded the title of official and knight, and he was already overjoyed.

Xia Yuanji, the head of the household department, Shang Shuru of the former military department and other civil officials, although they could not believe in the emperor's death, they had to kneel on the ground at this moment, while secretly slandering the shamelessness of Zhu Quan, the king of Ning, and on the other hand, Li Jinglong, Zhu Neng and others persuaded Zhu Di to take over the throne.

Zhu Di saw the civil and military generals who were kneeling on the ground, pretending to change color, and said categorically: "How can the throne be equal to child's play? You are so bold and reckless, you simply want to trap this king in injustice. ”

Within a few days, the Yan army captured Jingshi, and the news of the death of Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yun** spread to all places.

After the defeat of Puzikou, he led the army to retreat to Licheng near Fengyang, and after hearing the news, Sheng Yong, the general of Pingyan, sat alone and thought for a long time, and finally made up his mind, gathered his generals, and said with a long sigh: "Your Majesty is unfortunately killed, and there is really no need for us to fight any further, so that the lives will be ruined." This official will send an envoy to Beijing today to return to His Royal Highness King Yan.

Walking in the barracks, recalling his righteous eldest brother, Shandong political envoy Tie Xuan, who was recruiting troops to go south to King Qin, Sheng Yong couldn't help but feel ashamed in his heart.

The soldiers in the barracks could not help but thunder with joy when they heard that the commander was determined to lead the army to surrender. Many of them have already experienced too many bloody battles, and they have no idea when and where they will die, and the Ming Emperor is just an unreachable shadow for them. Today's general order to the whole army undoubtedly made them see the dawn of continuing to live and reuniting as a family.

Seeing those ordinary soldiers rushing to tell each other, the joy in their eyes that could not be concealed, Sheng Yong's heart suddenly swelled with a sense of relief, and he secretly sighed: A general will succeed and ten thousand bones will wither, become a king and defeat a king, and all the achievements will be emperors and generals. At least Sheng's surrender today can give countless men another chance to reunite with their wives and children.

In the eyes of the generals and soldiers of the warring sides, this battle of Jingyan was just a battle between uncles and nephews for family property, and at this time, His Majesty the Emperor had already returned to heaven, and there was really no need to continue fighting, so the generals of the southern army in various places led their troops to surrender. Following Sheng Yong, he commanded He Fu, and Mei Yin, the commander of the horses, led the army to surrender one after another.

Zhu the king of Zhou, Zhu Quan the king of Ning, and Zhu Buyi the king of Gu led a group of military generals who were difficult to admonish, as well as the Chinese officials of the dynasty, and repeatedly persuaded the country to advance on the grounds that the country could not be without a monarch for a day. After Zhu Di, the king of Yan, finally agreed "reluctantly" after his resignation. Zhu Quan thought of his wife Xu Ying's sister and brother affection, and immediately took advantage of the rare opportunity to quietly beg Zhu Di, hoping that he could read Xu Huizu, the Duke of Wei, after all, as the first hero of the founding of the country, the son of Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan, could give the net an open side.

Although Zhu Di hated this son of Xun Qi who was loyal to Zhu Yun and actually led the army to fight with him, he thought about it again and again about the prestige of Xu Da, who had passed away for a long time, between the government and the opposition, and reluctantly agreed, and ordered Ji Gang to imprison him in prison and make some calculations after suffering hard.

On this day, Zhu Di led a group of officials to pay homage to the southern foot of the Purple Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Beijing, under the Mount Everest in Dulongfu, the Ming Taizu, the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and the Empress Ma's joint burial mausoleum.

When going down the mountain, Zhu Quan saw Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao Guogong not far away, with a dejected look on his face, and turned his head to look at the distant mountain, which occupied a huge area and the city was clearly recognizable, and Ying Tian, the capital master of the Ming Dynasty, couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart: Rebellion and surrender are naturally shameful, but if Li Jinglong leads the army to fight to the death with us, Yingtian City is afraid that there will already be corpses all over the city, and blood will flow like a river. For Zhu Yun, he is a shameful betrayer, and for the scholars and doctors who stand and talk without backache, he is a villain worthy of criticism, but for those people and civilians who were spared from the pond fish in the war and their families were ruined, is he a merit or a fault? It's hard to explain.

On the same day, Zhu Di, who was wearing a five-clawed golden dragon robe, held a ceremony in the palace, that is, the emperor's throne.

"Bring the traitorous ministers who separated my royal flesh and blood in the past to the palace." Zhu Di shouted with murderous anger on his face.

Ji Gang, who had been on standby outside the Wuying Palace, heard this, led a group of soldiers to shout loudly, and escorted Huang Zicheng, who was defeated and captured, to the palace with the former military department Shangshu Qi Tai, the Hanlin Yuan attendant Fang Xiaoru, the criminal department Shangshu Zhao, the household department waiter Lang Zhuojing, etc., and the Shandong political envoy Tie Xuan and other officials to the palace.

Zhu Quan, the king of Ning, who was standing on one side, couldn't help but gasp when he saw that the ministers who refused to yield to Zhu Di accounted for seven or eight out of ten of the former courtiers. After careful inspection, I didn't see Xu Huizu, the Duke of Wei, in it, although Zhu Di had already agreed, I couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief in my heart, squinted at Zhu Di who was full of murderous face, and thought in my heart: King Zhongshan has been dead for a long time, after all, the descendants of Fuze, although Zhu Laosi is decisive in killing, he must also take care of Marshal Xu Da's meritorious deeds for the Ming Dynasty, and did not put his son Xu Huizu, who was loyal to Zhu Yun and led the army to exterminate us, and Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai were in the same column.

"You wait for the guilty ministers, seeing that His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is above, why don't you pay a lot of courtesy?" Ji Gang pressed the handle of the knife with his hand, making a gesture of intimidation and anger.

Zhu Di saw Huang Zicheng, who was covered in blood, Qi Tai and the others were actually standing upright with their eyes facing up, not putting themselves in their eyes, and they couldn't help but be angry in their chests.

Huang Zicheng sneered again and again, and said coldly: "You are just a chaotic minister and thief who everyone will be punished." Speaking of this, a hateful gaze swept over Zhu Quan, Li Jinglong and the others who were standing on the side.

Qi Tai said loudly: "The emperor's grandson Yunren is filial piety, the world is in the heart, and it is appropriate to ascend to the throne." Internal and external civil and military ministers work together to assist the government to reassure our people. This is the deathbed edict of Emperor Taizu, and all the scholars, squires, civil and military officials can testify to it, and all the subjects of the world can testify to it. ”

Xia Yuanji, the head of the household department who stood on one side, Ru and other officials who were determined to return to the new dynasty couldn't help but be ashamed when they heard this, and couldn't help but hang their heads.

Zhu Di slowly stood up, looked at the group of scholars who were strong in self-strength, and said in a deep voice: "You are full of poetry and books, don't you hear the eternal story of Zhou Gong assisting the king? ”

"I don't know where the king is today?" Fang Xiaoru, as a member of the Hanlin Academy, has been the emperor for a long time, so he is naturally familiar with allusions, and immediately asked.

Zhu Di sighed and said: "My nephew has already been buried in the Fengtian Hall when the city was broken, with the gift of the Son of Heaven. ”

Fang Xiaoru asked with a smile on his face, "Where is the son of King Cheng?" ”

Zhu Di's face couldn't help but turn cold when he heard this, he suppressed the anger in his chest, and replied coldly: "The Ming Dynasty has thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, and tens of millions of subjects, it is advisable for an older monarch to be in charge." ”

Zhu Quan, who was standing on one side, couldn't help but sigh in his heart when he heard this, and secretly thought to himself: I'm afraid that Zhu Laosi's words are purely strong words in the eyes of a cadre of Jianwen and loyal ministers. Imagine a country with a population of tens of millions, which should be run by a young man with an immature mind? Or is it a resourceful adult at the helm? Zhu Yun's various naïve methods since the reduction of the feudal domain are not enough to explain the problem?

Fang Xiaoru still asked reluctantly: "The younger brother of King Cheng is not young. ”

Zhu Di finally couldn't help but change color when he heard this, and flicked his sleeves and said, "This is my family matter." ”

Fang Xiaoru's face did not change, and asked-for-tat: "Let's ask about the imperial family, which one is not related to the world?" How can the word family matter be summed up in one word? ”

Zhu Di, who was speechless, sat down heavily, his eyes swept over the silent household servant Zhuo Jing, his heart moved slightly, and his face was slightly gentle, and he said: "I am really unwilling to sit still and wait for death, I heard that Zhuo Jing was unwilling to use swords and soldiers in the past, and there were many people among the courtiers who opposed the cutting of the domain, so you will go down to the palace." After saying that, he waved his hand to Ji Gang, who was eyeing the side of the tiger.

Ji Gang was a shrewd person, knowing that His Majesty the Emperor intended to divide the former court, moderately cut the domain, and oppose the three factions of the feudal domain, so he immediately stepped forward and wanted to take a group of civil servants except Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, and Fang Xiaoru who were confronted in public.

"The first emperor is the edict of Emperor Taizu canonized, and he took over the throne in the name of righteousness, although Zhuo is not talented, he really has no shame to serve the two masters." Zhuo Jing didn't know Zhu Di's strategy of differentiation, and he still said it like this. Although he opposed Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, and Fang Xiaoru's strategy of cutting the feudal domain in the past, it did not mean that he would agree with Zhu Di, a chaotic minister and thief who usurped the throne. ”

Tie Xuan, the political envoy of Shandong, laughed and said: "Traitor, have you ever forgotten the day when the city of Jinan fled in embarrassment?" ”

When Zhu Di heard this, his face turned pale.

Zhu Fu, the king of Zhou, wept and said: "The younger brother was framed by the traitors of Er and other traitors for no reason, and he was sent to Yunnan, and he couldn't eat enough every day, and he almost couldn't survive the Beijing division, and Zhu Bai, the king of Xiang, died tragically under the humiliation. I implore the royal brother to punish the traitor and avenge my brothers. As Zhu Di's half-brother and half-brother, he bore the brunt of the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yun's reduction of the domain, and was sent to Yunnan to graze, only a few months ago he was recalled to Beijing to be imprisoned, recalling the torture and suffering of his family's old and young wives and children in the wilderness, and it was difficult to control his gaffes and cry in public.

Under the city of Jinan, he was almost killed by Tie Xuan's trick to surrender, which was a life hatred that Zhu Di regarded as a great shame. Hearing this, the murderous intent in his chest was difficult to suppress, and he recalled in his mind that when he was in Beiping in the past, he had already handed over his military power, Zhu Yun and this corrupt Confucian still refused to give up, as the son of his father and emperor, he was the commander who led the army to defeat the barbarians, but in the end he had to pretend to be crazy and stupid to avoid the disaster of killing, Huo Ran stood up and gritted his teeth and said: Those who follow me prosper, and those who oppose me die, you are determined to do so, then you can't complain that I am ruthless.

Zhu Neng and the other generals saw that this dry and sour Confucian was not afraid of death, and their faces showed two rare feelings of compassion. In the eyes of the Han who fought in their army, in the past, the two armies fought, you killed me, and I killed you, each of them was just their own master, and today's integrity of such a corrupt Confucian minister is far better than that of Sheng Yong, Ping'an and other powerful generals, and admiration arises spontaneously.