CHAPTER XXXII

In the spring of Chongzhen's twelfth year, Chongzhen's mood was particularly gloomy. The ice and snow in the West Garden are still melting as in previous years, the willows are green and peachy, the spring water and the sky are blue, and the swallows and yellow warblers are coming together, but Chongzhen is not in the mood to play. Since he didn't come, the queen and the concubines naturally didn't come. The Peasant War was brewing a new climax, and the Forbidden City lost its spring for another year.

In early March, the Qing troops withdrew from the Great Wall without hindrance. Every time the Qing troops entered the blockade, everywhere they went, the urban and rural areas were ruined, the population was sharply reduced, and production was not easy to recover. This invasion lasted more than half a year, broke through more than 70 prefectures and counties in Jifu and Shandong, wantonly burned, looted, and abducted more than 500,000 Ding Zhuang people, and broke through Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, and abducted King Lu and his whole family who were sealed in Jinan. Chongzhen knew very well that the area around Kifu and Shandong was the fundamental importance of the country, and after this war, there was no peaceful life of more than ten years that could not recover its vitality. However, if peace cannot be negotiated, Manchuria will never let you rest and recuperate. This time the Manchurian troops entered the fortress only two years after the last entry. Who knows when they'll come back? The border army is useless, the generals are afraid of death, they can come whenever they want!

But in comparison, what worries him the most day and night is the problem of Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng. He didn't know how long the situation in Gucheng could be delayed, and he was afraid that once Gucheng changed, Huguang and Henan would be shaken, and the overall situation in the Central Plains would be difficult to clean up. For Li Zicheng is still alive, he hates Sun Chuanting's uselessness very much, thinking that he is "vain in his military exploits and indulge in trouble". If Li Zicheng's plump feathers are not long after, what should it be?

Since the middle of March when his mother's face was hung in the Fengxian Palace, Chongzhen cried silently at his mother's face whenever he felt indescribable emptiness, despair and resentment in his heart, and had nowhere to dispel it. In fact, he didn't remember what his mother was like. His mother's surname was Liu, and she was elected to the palace at the age of sixteen and became the lady of the crown prince Zhu Changluo. The lady had a very low status among the prince's group of concubines, so she did not attract the prince's attention. After two or three years of depression in the palace, she suddenly fell in love with the prince one day, and asked the eunuch to summon her to Xinglong Palace for one night with a tooth card, and later gave birth to a son, who is now Emperor Chongzhen. After that close to the crown prince, she was almost forgotten by the prince. gave birth to a son, and her unfortunate status still did not change much, so she had to fast and chant Buddha in the cold palace to kill the years. When Chongzhen was five years old, she probably accidentally expressed her dissatisfaction with the prince, which angered the prince and ordered her to commit suicide. At that time, the crown prince Zhu Changluo was very unfavored by his father Emperor Wanli, and was often in danger of being abolished, so he strictly forbade the people in the East Palace to spread the word. In fact, even in the East Palace, only a very few people know how Lady Liu died.

The blow of the Peasant Revolutionary War had increased his spiritual pessimism and anguish, and this inability to pour out his feelings to the courtiers and a sense of loneliness were transformed into filial piety to his mother, or in other words, to dispel his unspeakable pessimism and loneliness through filial piety to his mother. In the spring of the eighth year of Chongzhen, after the peasant army burned the tomb of the Fengyang Emperor, he cried several times in the palace, and the pain in his heart was deeper, so he asked a Hanlin Yuan who was good at portraits to go to his grandmother's house every day to wash his hands and burn incense, and paint a portrait of his deceased mother. It took more than two years and many drafts to be changed, and it was not until last winter when the Qing troops approached Beijing that the depiction was successful.

There is little conclusive evidence in the process of depicting the remains of the Queen Mother. Because she has not met her mother's family since she was elected to the palace, and now more than 20 years have passed, even Chongzhen's grandmother (now named Mrs. Yingguo) can't remember her appearance. There is a concubine Fu Yi in the palace, and Chongzhen's mother is the lady of the crown prince Zhu Changluo. She said that the palace where she lives is adjacent to the palace where Chongzhen's mother lives, and she has seen each other more often, and she seems to remember some of them. Among the thousands of palace maids, she pointed out that this person's nose was a bit similar, that person's eyes were a little similar, and another person's chin was a little similar...... The celebrant sent many of the palace maids who were selected to the Winning Mansion one after another, and then Mrs. Yingguo participated in the opinions, instructed the painters, figured out the paintings, and changed the paintings.

Fengying the Empress Dowager's remains into the palace to hold a major ceremony, so it was not until after the Qing soldiers retreated, that the Ministry of Rites prepared a ritual note, and the Qintian supervisor selected an auspicious day, and sent the portrait of Huang Aya framed from Zhengyangmen to the palace with the Empress Dowager's Luan and honor guards. The Ministry of Rites Shangshu led hundreds of civil and military officials to kneel outside the Daming Gate. Chongzhen led the crown prince and the two larger princes to kneel outside the noon gate. Queen Zhou led the princess and concubines to kneel outside the Huangji Gate. Because Chongzhen's mother was not sealed during her lifetime, her portrait could not be sent to the main hall of Fengxian Palace, but could only be hung in the side hall. After the ceremony, Chongzhen called some old palace maids who had lived in his father's palace to see them and asked them if they looked like the queen mother. They echoed in unison in front of him that they were very similar, but behind the scenes, some said that they were a little similar, and some said that they were not at all. Later, Chongzhen thought that his mother had been fasting for two years before his death, and ordered the painter to paint another portrait, with the posture of heaven and man, wearing a Pilu hat, wearing a red brocade robe, and sitting on the lotus throne. Through someone else's brush, his mother is even more beautified and sacred.

At that time, many civil and military courtiers were very familiar with several aspects of Chongzhen's character, such as rigidity and suspicion. Regardless of the courtiers' opinions on several manifestations of his character, and even after his death, it was an important factor in his demise, but one thing that is common is that he is resolute, so the Southern Ming court once gave him a nickname called Yizong. The so-called fortitude in the eyes of the reactionary feudal scholars refers to the fact that he has always struggled to the death tenaciously under the impact of the peasant revolutionary war, and never retreated until the country was ruined and his family was shattered and he committed suicide. At that time, few courtiers knew how pessimistic and weak he was mentally under the blows of the Peasant Revolutionary War. Before the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, this pessimistic and weak side was only secretly revealed in the deep palace, especially in front of the portrait of his mother hanging in the side hall of Fengxian, and tears were more frequent. When it came to the court, he became a very arbitrary, majestic, and inviolable monarch, which made many courtiers tremble in their legs.

One day in late March, he returned to the Qianqing Palace from the Fengxian side hall, his eyes were still rosy, his mood was slightly quiet, and he sat in front of the imperial case to read the documents. After reading Hong Chengchou's request for His Majesty's resignation, and then reading Sun Chuanting's request to summon the right people, he immediately ordered them to be summoned at the same time on the platform tomorrow morning. He looked very weak in the Fengxian side hall just now, and now his face was suddenly full of murderous aura.

Hong Chengchou has been reappointed as the governor of Ji and Liao, and is in charge of the military against Manchuria. Both Chongzhen and the Manchu civil and military believed that he was a commander with deep qualifications, high prestige, and could take on the heavy responsibilities of Liaodong, and placed great expectations on him. Hong Chengchou knew that there were many difficulties, but he deeply felt the emperor's kindness and was determined to go to the customs to rectify military affairs and relieve the emperor's worries.

When Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting had made the usual courtesy, Chongzhen asked Hong Chengchou a few words, nothing more than about the departure time and how to prepare for everything, etc., as for the future strategy of using troops, they had already been discussed when they were summoned twice not long ago, so there was no need to ask again today. He also gave Hong Chengchou a few words of encouragement, hoping that he would play the music early. After calling Hong Chengchou up, Chongzhen restrained the gentle look on his face and whispered coldly:

"Sun Chuanting!"

"Wechen is here!" Sun Chuanting knelt on the ground and didn't dare to look up, waiting for the emperor to ask.

For a moment, Chongzhen looked at him and didn't ask. This strange silence made his heart uneasy. Last winter, he and Hong Chengchou led their division to the suburbs of Beijing. At that time, Lu Xiangsheng had died in battle, and the imperial court promoted him to the governor, and hung the right squire of the military department and the right to the imperial historical title, and the governor of Xiangsheng was the reinforcement of Zhulu, and gave Shang Fang the sword. However, his relationship with Yang Sichang was not good, and he offended Gao Qiqian, and was blamed by the emperor. Chongzhen asked Hong Chengchou to go to Beijing to see His Majesty, and made the minister work in the suburbs, but he was not allowed to enter Beijing to see His Majesty. After the Qing army withdrew, Chongzhen adopted Yang Sichang's suggestion, appointed Hong Chengchou as the governor of Ji and Liao, and handed over all the troops of Shaanxi Qinwang to Hong Chengchou to guard against Manchuria. Sun Chuanting was very opposed to leaving all the Qinwang troops in Shaanxi behind, and fought hard for them, saying that this part of the Shaanxi soldiers must not be left behind, and if they stayed, the "thieves" in Shaanxi would breed again, and the result would not be beneficial to the defense of the Ji and Liao borders, but only cleared the official army for the "thieves" in Shaanxi. He also said: "And the wives and children of the Qin soldiers are all in Qin, and they stay on the side for a long time, and if they are not in a hurry, they will flee, and they will not be used by me but by thieves, and they will drive soldiers from thieves." "Sun Chuanting's opposition to leaving Shaanxi Qinwang soldiers to defend Ji and Liao turned out to be part of his selfishness. He thought that since Hong Chengchou was reappointed as the governor of Ji and Liao, and the governors of Shaanxi and the three sides were missing, the imperial court would definitely ask him to be promoted and filled. He demanded that the soldiers of Shaanxi Qinwang be released back to Shaanxi, of course, for the sake of the future military of "suppressing thieves," but also for his own sake. Without these troops, he will return to Shaanxi in the future, and there will be no monkeys in his hands. Chongzhen is currently anxious to stabilize the situation outside the Guan, and is determined to hand over this part of the people to Hong Chengchou, so he ignores Sun Chuanting's opinion.

Sun Chuanting was a very proud and conceited person, and he always looked down on the strategy of using troops planned by Emperor Yang Sichang on behalf of the emperor. Because he was not able to be summoned by the suburbs like Hong Chengchou, he was even more dissatisfied with Yang Sichang and was determined to fight with Yang Sichang, so before the Qing troops retreated, he said: "The rupture of Xinjiang over the years is mostly due to poor plans. When the war is over, I beg the emperor to give His Majesty a meeting and face the big plan. After the failure of the struggle to return to Shaanxi, his desire to see His Majesty became even more urgent. Now that he has been called, he is indeed right, but the emperor told him to speak so harshly, will he be allowed to recite many words about the country's plans? He bated his breath, sincerely frightened, while waiting for the emperor's questioning, he peeked at the ivory Chao Wat and saw that the neatly made small block on it was written with the main points of the strategy he wanted to play.

After looking at Sun Chuanting for a while, Chongzhen was full of anger, and said in a majestic voice: "Sun Chuanting, I ordered you to patrol Shaanxi and assist Hong Chengchou in suppressing the thieves. In the battle of Dongtong Pass in the southern plains, Ru Lian was victorious, and the whole army was wiped out, and the corpses were piled up like a mountain. It is hateful to deceive the record! I ask you today: Where is the rebellion now? ”

The emperor's anger and reprimand, Sun Chuanting didn't expect it at all, it was like being caught off guard when he was hit with a stick. Although his personality was very stubborn, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, his face was pale, and his limbs trembled slightly. He plucked up the courage to reply:

"The prelude of Weichen to the destruction of the whole army is indeed the truth, and I dare not deceive in the slightest, as evidenced by the governor Hong Chengchou."

"Strong argument!" Chongzhen slapped the royal case and asked: "Not only did you not capture the thief, but even his important henchmen such as Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, Gao Yigong, Li Guo, etc. The so-called 'all the traitors are wiped out, and they will die if they are not captured', is it not a deception? ”

Sun Chuanting tried his best to keep his composure and replied: "Weichen is in front of the monarch's father, how dare he argue strongly. In October last winter, the ministers and governors went to Tongguan in person, encircled and suppressed the soldiers, and set up three ambushes to wait for the thieves. After a day and a night of fighting, the whole army of the rebels was indeed defeated, with casualties all over the field, and the armor was abandoned like a mountain. Although the thieves and their important henchmen were not captured, most of them were likely to die in the chaos. Later, because the minister led the king in the starry night, he did not have time to find the dead body of the giant thief, and offered his head to comfort the worries of the monarch's father and relieve the doubts of the subjects of the Beijing Division, which was really a big hate. ”

"Do you know that all the rebels have slipped through the net?"

"After the minister led his troops to Shanxi, he heard that there were scattered thieves who fled into Shangluo Mountain. In order to cut down the grass and eradicate the roots and avoid future troubles, the minister immediately heard about His Majesty, and sent the deputy general He Renlong to lead the troops back to Tongguan and seriously search and suppress in the Shangluo Mountains. As for saying that the thieves have all slipped through the net, the minister really doesn't know. ”

"Hmph, you're still dreaming!" Chongzhen picked up a few copies of the Song Shu and Tang Newspaper from the imperial case, threw them to Sun Chuanting, and said angrily: "Look at it, this is the result of your victory in Tongguan!" ”

Hearing that Li Zicheng and others had indeed "slipped through the net", and seeing the emperor throw down a few documents, Sun Chuanting was terrified again. He picked up the paperwork with trembling fingers, held it in his hand, and hurriedly skimmed through the "Yinhuang", completely understanding it in his heart. He respectfully handed a stack of documents to the eunuch standing aside, and then kowtowed to the emperor and said:

"Since the king of Qin, although he has been running around Jifu and Shandong day and night, he has no time to inquire about the situation of the remaining thieves, but some of the Tang newspapers have also been seen by the minister. In the opinion of Yuchen, if the reverse break does slip through the net, the worrying person is not in Cuihan Mountain, but in Shangluo Mountain. The remnants of the thieves who entered the Tong Pass and burned the Lingbao City Pass were just under the guise of the thief, not the thief himself. If the officials and soldiers ignore Shangluo and gather troops in the Cuihan Mountain, I am afraid that they will not be fooled. ”

"How do you know it's not the thief himself who is in the Cuihan Mountain?"

"If the thief is not dead, he will definitely lurk and wait for the opportunity to move, and he will never be ruined and have no time to recuperate, but dare to raise the banner of a traitor and deliberately provoke the officials and soldiers to pursue and suppress."

"But why do other remnants play the banner of rebels and provoke the officials and soldiers to chase after them?"

"The minister has been staying away from the thief army recently, and he does not dare to make inferences. But the minister and the traitor have been wrestling for three years, and he knows that the traitor has a lot of cunning, and often takes the false as the real and the real as the false. It is reasonable to be reasonable, and the person who waives the banner of a thief in the Cuihan Mountain is definitely not the thief himself. ”

"Nonsense! This rebel thief came out of nowhere, and even frustrated the officials and soldiers. Judging by the deceit of his use of troops, there is no doubt that the thief himself must be the thief. And some people saw the thief in a blue coat and felt hat, riding a black barge horse and standing under the banner, what is the doubt? ”

"Even so, the foolish minister still doesn't dare to believe it."

"The local report is conclusive, the evidence is conclusive, and you say that you can't believe it, don't you deceive the monarch in front of him, hoping to escape responsibility?"

"The ministers sent and accepted the letter, that is, they promised the country with their bodies. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, His Majesty paid Weichen to suppress thieves, and the ministers always tried their best to repay the grace of the saint's acquaintance, how dare they bully the monarch's father? ”

"It is truly hateful that thou hast been thou hast been thou hast been thou shalt be Since you know the grace of repaying me, why don't you take the traitor and the father of the widow to worry about it? ”

"If it weren't for the edict and the starry night king, the ministers would definitely search everywhere to prevent a thief from slipping through the net."

"Nonsense! Take it for me! ”

When he arrived, two brocade-clothed wrestlers dragged Sun Chuanting up from the ground, stripped off his clothes, and pushed him out. Hong Chengchou quickly knelt down, kowtowed again and again, and said:

"Your Majesty! Although Sun Chuanting is guilty, he implores His Majesty to remember that he has been fighting thieves for several years, and he has worked hard. Although there is a deception in the report, but the rebellion collapsed in Tongguan, and it is also a feeling, and there is no exaggeration, and I implore Your Majesty to ......"

Chongzhen didn't wait for him to finish speaking, sneered, and said, "Qing doesn't need to intercede for him. Qing served as the governor and personally went to Tongguan to supervise the battle, but he made the culprit slip through the net, and he couldn't shirk his responsibility for the law. However, I remembered that your achievements were too big and too small, so I didn't delve into it, but handed over the important task of the east to the secretary to do it. Wangqing will work hard in the future, and don't live up to my high hopes like Sun Chuanting. ”

Hong Chengchou kowtowed again and said: "Weichen was ordered to suppress the thief, but he failed to eradicate the adverse atmosphere, and he did his best, causing the thief to resurgence at present, and he really deserves death." The emperor not only exempted him from heavy punishment, but also made his ministers supervise Ji and Liao, and defend Shenjing. Such a grace is so generous that Weichen is often grateful. Weichen dares not to break his bones in order to repay His Majesty! However, at present, when the country is employing people, Sun Chuanting is very skillful and strategic, and he is also accustomed to battle formations, which is still a useful material among Xinjiang officials. Fu begging the saint to breathe the wrath of thunder, give the grace of rain and dew, suspend the severe punishment, so that he will wear the guilt and try to make merit, not only Sun Chuanting will be afraid of the power and Huaide, and try to redeem the previous sorrows, that is, the soldiers of the three armies will also hear it and be excited. After saying that, he kept prostrating, almost knocking blood.

Although Chongzhen was very angry, Sun Chuanting did not kill Li Zicheng and others, but he also knew that he was a useful material. After listening to Hong Chengchou's words, he was silent for a moment and said:

"Okay, Gu Zhun Qing, spare him this time. Let's go. Waiting for Hong Chengchou to get up, Chongzhen glanced to the side and ordered: "Call Sun Chuanting back!" ”

After a while, Sun Chuanting put on his clothes again, was brought in by the eunuch, and knelt down on the square brick floor about a zhang away from the imperial case, and his body was very low. Chongzhen looked at him and said:

"Sun Chuanting, my aunt remembers that you are still willing to do things honestly on weekdays, spare you for the crime of ineffective combat this time, and still supervise the military affairs of Hebei and Shandong to see the after-effects."

Sun Chuanting kowtowed and thanked him, but he still couldn't stand on the ground.

"Let's go down." Chongzhen said softly.

Sun Chuanting kowtowed again, got up and bowed his head and retreated. Although he was very sturdy and only forty-seven years old, when he stepped down from the Danqi, he was like an old man, his steps were unsteady, and he almost fell.

Hong Chengchou answered a few more questions from the emperor and kowtowed to withdraw. He is an old bureaucrat who is well-versed in the world, and he knows in his heart that the reason why the emperor is so strict with Sun Chuanting today is partly because Sun Chuanting recruited him himself, and partly because he deliberately used his majesty's resignation to kill chickens and scare monkeys, so that he could see some colors. Therefore, he originally wanted to make a small plea to the emperor, but he didn't dare to say it. As soon as he came out of the Emperor's Gate, a eunuch chased him out from inside, and orally passed a holy decree saying that the emperor would give a banquet on the platform at noon tomorrow, and instructed the civil and military officials to feast for him outside the Chaoyang Gate tomorrow afternoon. He knelt down to listen to the order, kowtowed in thanksgiving, and the mountain shouted long live. But while he was grateful to the emperor for his grace, he felt uneasy in his heart, as if he had a premonition that some misfortune awaited him. He knew that the emperor's grace was unpredictable, and if he went to guard against Manchuria in vain, he could only do his best for the emperor, die in Liaodong, and don't think about returning to the court. And when you weigh it all down, there is very little hope of success.

When Sun Chuanting returned to the mansion, he felt that his ears were buzzing, and he couldn't hear his family talking to him clearly. He didn't eat lunch, didn't allow others to disturb him, and sat alone in his study to get bored. Looking at those small words written on the morning wat last night, I sighed.

Due to the great mental blow, Sun Chuanting returned to Baoding, but his ears were deaf and he asked to resign and return home. Chongzhen didn't believe it, and ordered Yang Yijun, the governor of Baoding, to check the authenticity nearby, and tell the truth. Yang Yijun replied that Sun Chuanting's deafness was true. Chongzhen was furious, saying that they were treacherous, and sent Jinyi Banner School to arrest them together in Beijing and send them to prison. The Manchu Dynasty knew that Sun Chuanting was wronged in prison because of deafness, but no one dared to ask for help for him.

After mid-April, the imperial court received definite news that Li Zicheng had been lurking in the Shangluo Cong Mountains since he broke through from the southern plains of Tongguan, and that only Gao Guiying and Liu Fangliang were active in western Henan. Although Sun Chuanting's speculation proved to be correct, Chongzhen did not release him, because Chongzhen was a stubborn person who never admitted his mistakes, and second, he hated Sun Chuanting for not capturing or beheading Li Zicheng and all the important leaders of the peasant army. Since learning about Li Zicheng's activities in Shangluo Mountain, he has become more worried about state affairs, often sleepless at night, and his temper has become more irritable.

In late May, it was another sleepless night in Chongzhen.

It was already after the second watch, and the courtyard of the Qianqing Palace was quiet, only Emperor Chongzhen and the eunuchs and palace maids on night duty had not yet slept. The whole Forbidden City is also quiet, but every once in a while from the east and west long street come to beat the copper bells, the rhythm is even, the sound is soft, as soon as it arrives near the Rijing Gate and the Yuehua Gate, it is extraordinarily light, it is obviously very careful, for fear of startling the "holy drive". Chongzhen read the documents in the Xinuan Pavilion of the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, and often pondered about the lights, and rarely noticed the intermittent ringing outside the courtyard of the Qianqing Palace. A palace maid walked up to him lightly, knelt down and said:

"Emperor Qi, it's late at night, please rest in peace."

Chongzhen didn't seem to hear it, and continued to read the documents. After a while, the palace maid who was kneeling on the ground spoke again. He still didn't look up, and while holding a red pen to criticize a note, he whispered, "Got it." His comments on the recital are the same three words, as if he was not answering the palace maid, but inadvertently pronouncing his comments. The palace maid didn't dare to disturb him anymore, got up from the ground, and quietly retreated. After a while, the eunuch in the sweet room brought a bowl of bird's nest soup, which was held in front of him by the palace maid. He yawned, rubbed his eyes, ate the bird's nest soup, and then left the imperial case and walked out of the main hall of the Qianqing Palace. But he didn't go to sleep right away, walked around the pier for a while, and then looked up at the sky. The sky was blue, the moon was close to the south, the stars were brilliant, and there were no clouds. He had read books such as the secret manuscripts of Lingtai's collection "Observing Phenomena and Playing with Occupation" and "Summary of Meteors", and had also read the engraved copy of "Tianguan Ephemeris", so he could recognize many stars. He first found the fifteen stars of Ziweiyuan, and then found the Ziweixing, which represented the emperor's constellation. Probably due to the psychological effect, he felt that Zi Weixing was a little dark, and the vast corner of Tianyi Star was very large, flickering and shaking. According to the books on astrology, this is a sign of rebellion in the world. After looking at the stars, his heart became heavier and he sighed deeply. Several palace maids and eunuchs stood close with their hands bowed and exchanged glances with each other, but no one dared to persuade him to go to bed.

He walked down the Dan Majesty slowly, took a few breaths of fresh air in the courtyard, and walked all the way to the Qianqing Gate. At this moment, a eunuch who happened to be leaking into the room walked in with the hour card. Although since the end of Wanli, the palace has relied on the self-striking bell from the West, but the carved leakage room behind the Wenhua Hall is still working as usual. Every time an hour is paid, the eunuch on duty holds a green ground gold hour card more than a foot long and more than four inches wide and sends it into the Qianqing Gate, and replaces the next hour card and brings it back to the Wenhua Palace. Chongzhen was about to turn around and walk back, when he suddenly saw the eunuch holding the hour card coming, so he stopped and asked:

"What time is it?"

The eunuch holding the hour card bowed down and replied: "It's already time to hand over the son, the emperor." ”

Chongzhen had to go to the early court because there were more than two hours, and after the early dynasty, he had to take the queen Hetian and Yuan Erfei to Nangong to burn incense, so he decided to go to bed quickly. He walked to Yangdezhai under the eaves behind the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, took off his clothes under the service of the palace maids, and went to the imperial couch. But after a while, he suddenly thought that there were still many important documents that he hadn't read, so he put on his clothes again and got out of bed, and instructed a palace maid to take the stack of documents that he hadn't read to Yangdezhai. When he resumed reading the papers, he told the maids and eunuchs who served him to rest. The palace maids on duty all retreated to the opposite side of the Sizheng Xuan to sit and rest, not daring to stay away; Only two of the eunuchs remained, and the rest went back to the duty room around the Qianqing Gate. The two eunuchs who were left behind spread two thick mattresses on the ground outside Yangdezhai, put mink bags on them, and slept in them.

Just as he was reading the paperwork, he couldn't help but think of Shaanxi again. At the end of last month, he contacted the Shaanxi Xinjiang officials to report that since last winter, Li Zicheng had collected the remnants in the Shangluo Mountains, recruited troops, built weapons, accumulated grass and grain, and prepared for a big move; And to help the hungry, win the hearts of the people, engage in reclamation, and seem to have been guarding the merchant Luoshan for a long time. He hated the confusion and uselessness of the local civil and military officials in Shaanxi very much, and dared to ignore the "thief situation" for a long time and raise tigers. He had already given strict instructions to Zheng Chongjian, the new governor of Shaanxi and the trilateral provinces, and Ding Qirui, the governor of Shaanxi, and ordered them to quickly transfer troops to suppress them. What is the current situation of their raids? Can you take advantage of Li Zicheng's fledgling to extinguish him in one fell swoop? ……

Chongzhen thought for a while, reviewed the documents for a while, and his eyes gradually narrowed. In his dream, he saw Zheng Chongjian's booklet and was very happy; I saw Xiong Wencan's letter again, which was about Zhang Xianzhong, but strangely, he always couldn't understand it. He threw the letter on the table and said angrily:

"Confused, is Zhang Xianzhong really cared for?"

A faint cyan dawn was already visible in the window. From outside the Forbidden City, there was a faint intermittent rooster crow. The small incense burner of Xuande on the imperial case has been extinguished. An intricately crafted Western chiming clock was sitting on a carved snail-inlaid mahogany coffee table next to the imperial couch, and was ticking along, when suddenly a gilded figure struck a small bell several times with a small hammer. Almost at the same time as the bell rang, a slow sound came from the Xuanwu Gate: first, the drum of the report was heard four times, followed by the copper cloud board of the report, and the sound was clear and slightly desolate.

A eunuch woke up suddenly, quickly crawled out of the mink bag, tiptoed to open the bead curtain a little, peeked inside, and saw the emperor leaning over the imperial case and snoring gently, and the elephant pipe and red pen in his hand fell on a document. He carefully picked up the red pen and put it on the coral pen holder, and called out softly:

"Emperor, please go to the royal couch to rest!"

Chongzhen opened his eyes. The aftermath of the copper cloud plate seemed to tremble gently on the curtain. He looked at the Western bell and saw that it was almost time for him to get up and pray to the heavens, so he ordered the people of Chuandu to wait and freshen up. The eunuch bowed again and said:

"Emperor, you haven't slept all night, so please go to the royal couch and lie down for a while! Long live so anxious for state affairs, often forgetting to sleep and eat, how can the Eucharist be supported? Please take a break on the couch! ”

"Don't be instigated, quickly spread the word that the people are waiting to freshen up!"

As soon as there was a pager, the palace maids and eunuchs who were specially serving the emperor to groom and dress, as well as waiting for the early dynasty, all came in. There is a palace maid who combs the emperor's hair in the morning, commonly known as the housekeeper in the Qianqing Palace, holding a round box of red pile lacquer, which contains bronze mirrors, grates and ivory combs, etc., and is the first to bow down and walk into Yangdezhai.

After freshening up and dressing neatly, Chongzhen went to the front of the main hall of the Qianqing Palace to worship the heavens according to the daily practice, and then, after passing the invitation of the queen, concubines, princes and princesses, he hurriedly ate the vegetarian snacks sent by the Shangshan Supervisor, and then went to the court, officially starting his busy and troublesome life as an emperor on this day.

Every time he went to court, he always heard some unpleasant and difficult to solve problems, which made him even more bored after retreating. Today, when the court was in power, the household ministers were in charge of the situation of arrears of salaries in various places, and the daily payment documents kept flying, and they were anxious to spark, but the treasury was like a wash and could not cope with it. In addition, several section and provincial officials requested that the Qing soldiers burn and plunder the ruined Jifu and Shandong prefectures and counties to provide relief as soon as possible, and to bring them into exile, so that the remnants of the robbery could live and work in good peace. But the military salary has not yet been settled, so how to talk about the relief funds! When he arrived, Chongzhen retreated with a very heavy heart.

In order to go to Nangong to burn incense today, he fasted vegetarianly for three days. Now that the next dynasty has come back, while sending the queen Hetian and Yuan Erfei to come to the Qianqing Palace, he is bathing again. As soon as the concubines came, he took them out of Donghua Gate. Except for the eunuch Wang Dehua, who was in charge of the seal of the celebrant and a large group of eunuchs and palace maids, there was no guard of honor, and the ministers outside were not known as much as possible.

At this moment, the eunuch in the clerical room sent several 100,000 urgent documents to the duty room of the eunuch who held the seal and the eunuch who wrote the pen in the palace of Yangxin. Wang Dehua, the eunuch with palm prints, was not there, and several eunuchs with a pen looked at it, and they were shocked one by one. Wang Chengen ranked first among the eunuchs on duty, and he chased him out of Donghuamen with these urgent documents.

In recent years, Chongzhen has changed a lot. In the first few years after his accession to the throne, although the country had internal strife and external troubles, the overall situation had not yet eroded, and he hoped to be a generation of "Zhongxing British masters" with strong confidence and vigor. At that time, although he was also afraid of abnormal phenomena in the natural world, such as solar eclipses, star changes, strange winds, and rain, he was not as afraid as he had been in recent years. Eight or nine years ago, a courtier was plagued by drought and floods, and he was negligent in his remarks and criticized the government and government, and his words were too harsh. He was very annoyed, and reprimanded him when he went to court: "Yao has nine years of flooding, and Tang has seven years of drought, and I don't know that Yao and Tang have any immorality!" But in recent years, any abnormal natural phenomenon he has considered to be the Five Elements Calamity, that is, the warning given to him by God and the bad omen of the country, and he is terrified and hesitant. At the beginning of his accession to the throne, he was not very superstitious about Buddhism and Taoism, but was influenced by Xu Guangqi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites at that time, and was somewhat close to Catholicism. In the past two or three years, he has become more and more superstitious about Buddha, Tao, ghosts, and gods.

On the fifth day of the second lunar month, when the Qing soldiers were in Shandong, an earthquake occurred in Beijing. Although earthquakes are a common natural phenomenon, it is not surprising that there have been many earthquakes in the Beijing area during the Ming Dynasty. The Yongle period was the heyday of the Ming Dynasty's national power, and in just 18 years, Nanjing was shaken six times, Beijing was shaken twice, and the five earthquakes in Nanjing were all before the Yongle Emperor moved the capital. However, since the Western Han Dynasty, Confucianism represented by Dong Zhongshu has linked earthquakes with personnel, and this superstitious thought is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and also in Chongzhen's heart. Chongzhen believes that Beijing is the capital of the Ming Empire, just at the feet of the emperor, and since he ascended to the pole, there have been two major earthquakes, but does it not indicate that his country is unstable? The eunuchs who held the seal of the celebrant often recited the changes in the stars and clouds observed by the eunuchs of the Lingtai according to the truth, and nine times out of ten they were unlucky. This added to his sorrow. Although he verbally said that he was the "British master of Zhongxing", he gradually understood in his heart that "Zhongxing" was hopeless, and even had a premonition that he might even lose the country. Especially Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting tried their best to extinguish Li Zicheng near Tongguan, and the fortune of the country became clearer in his heart.

The more he felt that it was difficult to count on personnel efforts, the more he wanted to rely on the gods to bless the fortune of the country. In the spring of this year, he concealed from the courtiers and ordered the monk Daolu Division to secretly select dozens of famous and virtuous masters of Buddhism and Taoism to build Jiao in Nangong. He also sent a decree to summon Zhang Zhenren of Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi Province to come to Beijing to build Jiao, but due to the long distance, he had not yet arrived. Since mid-March, he has often been busy, taking Zhou Hou Hetian and Yuan Erfei to Nangong to burn incense and pray. But how can such a thing be concealed from the ministers? Inevitably, some officials advised him not to be superstitious about monks and Taoists and do such useless things. He was very painful in his heart, and sometimes thought that since he was a wise monarch, he should naturally not be superstitious about monks, Taoists, ghosts, and gods, so that future generations would talk about it. But he also thinks that the state affairs are going wrong, and there is no way to save it, unless God has mercy, what is the way to turn the country from danger to safety, or is it extremely Tailai? At one point he said to himself:

"Alas, Jian Jiao, Jian Jiao! How do these officials know about my painstaking efforts! I am not a mediocre lord, but I have no choice but to ask God for the people! ”

Later, another official put on a script, the wording was more straightforward, saying that Nangong was close to the Taimiao, and the sound of bells, drums, cymbals, and cymbals every day was deafening, which made the ancestors uneasy. The ancestors are uneasy, how can they pray for blessings and disasters? Chongzhen was not angry, and mentioned Zhu Bi and criticized: "I want the Buddha, the heavens, and the ancestors to know, but I don't want others to know." After a night, when this recital was about to be sent out to the palace, he looked at the imperial approval again, and felt that the criticism was indecent, not like the emperor's words, so he erased it, changed the word "stay in the middle", and no longer issued it.

After April, he never went to Nangong to burn incense because he was busy. A few days ago, he received a joint letter from the governor of Shanxi and the political envoy of Bubu, saying that it rained and blood in a certain place in Shanxi, and that an earthquake had occurred in a certain place, which had collapsed many houses and crushed many people and animals. He was very shocked, and said in his heart: "The eclipse on New Year's Day the year before last, the earthquake in Beijing and Shanxi this year, and the rain and blood, the disaster is so terrible. I thought again, when the Western Han Dynasty mourned the emperor, there was a solar eclipse and an earthquake, and the ministers responded to it, saying that this was an unusual disaster, and sure enough, the Western Han Dynasty died soon after. What's more, now there are not only solar eclipses and earthquakes, but also rain and blood! Thinking of this, and thinking about the current situation, I didn't feel a cold sweat. According to the imperial calendar, he chose a day and time suitable for fasting and praying, and went to the southern city to burn incense. After choosing an auspicious day, he instructed the celebrant to prepare a Qingzi table for him, and told the monks and Taoists in Nancheng in advance to know.

Now Chongzhen, together with Zhou Hou, Concubine Tian, and Concubine Yuan, took a small chariot, passed through the west sandwich road of Wenhua Palace, went out of Donghua Gate, and walked south along the bluestone royal road on the east side of the moat. In the past three months, the city of Beijing has been windy and sandy, and today the weather is rare and sunny. Although it has been handed over in late May today, the first half of Beijing is not hot, and the slight south breeze is refreshing and pleasant. On the riverbank, a long row of green willows reflects the water, and the soft silk swayes. Two orioles weave through the willow branches, making a gentle and soft call. At the turn of the moat, there is a rockery made of Taihu Lake stones, surrounded by acacia willows on all sides, and the green shade is forested. A few blooming pomegranate flowers are lying across the Taihu Lake stone, which is extremely bright red. From here to the west, there is a stone road sandwiched between pines and cypresses, leading to the back corner gate of the Taimiao; To the south, not far away, there is a high red wall, covered with yellow glazed tiles, from which the majestic palace and tall ancient pines are revealed, and the sound of bells, chimes and fanbai is heard. The water in the moat was clear, the golden sun was shining on the microwave, and there were three or four white cloud shadows rippling at the bottom of the water. Chongzhen hadn't been out of the Forbidden City for many days, and he couldn't help but feel refreshed at this time, with a hint of a smile in his eyes. It was as if all kinds of troubles had temporarily left his heart.

The three riders continued to go south, and after a while, they came to the outside of the main gate of the South Palace.

Most of the buildings in Namgong are buildings from the Yeongjong era. Over the past 170 years, it has been repaired, painted, and rebuilt, and it is very beautiful. There are many tall whitebark pines outside the gate of Nangong, covering the sky and the sun. The three-by-one yellow chariot stopped on the white marble road in the middle of the whitebark pine, and a group of monks, Taoist priests and deacons and eunuchs knelt beside the road. Chongzhen took the queen and the two concubines to slowly walk up the carved dragon jade steps, entered the palace gate, coiled under a pine tree for a while, and then walked into the Nanfeng Gate. There are many flowers and trees here, and there are three treasure halls side by side: the Longdeok Hall in the middle, the Chongren Hall on the left, and the Guangzhi Hall on the right. They rested in the Longde Hall, were worshiped by the monks and Taoists, ate a cup of tea, and then were guided by the deacons, monks, Taoists, and eunuchs in front of them, and walked inward. At this moment, Wang Chengen was wearing a green silk palace gauze without a complement, wearing a chimney hat knotted with a horsetail, decorated with gems and pearls, holding a blue silk sprinkled gold fan specially designed for covering the sun in his right hand, and carrying 100,000 urgent confidential documents in his left hand, and hurried from the Forbidden City. He must first show himself to King Dehua of India before he dares to start playing the emperor. But Wang Dehua was leading the emperor and the ladies inside, so he didn't want to rush to talk. His heart was very anxious, and beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on his sideburns, so he had to wander beside the Longde Palace, peeking at the emperor as he walked through the Feihong archway with a relaxed expression, and slowly stepped onto the Feihong Bridge.

Chongzhen rarely has a little leisure today, standing on the bow-shaped Feihong Bridge, admiring the exquisite carvings on the white jade railings and railings, and pointing to those lifelike aquatic animals for the queen to appreciate. After a while, he led the concubines down the bridge, crossed the Dai Ao archway, glanced at the two pavilions of Tianguang and Yunying on the left and right, and climbed a beautiful rockery that was very exquisitely piled. There is a round hall on the mountain called the Qianyun Palace, the east side is the Lingyun Pavilion, and the west side is the Yufeng Pavilion. He pondered on the mountain for a while, thinking that the round hall and pavilion on the mountain were all added after the restoration of Yingzong, although there were troubles at that time, after the change of civil engineering, but the roots of the country are still strong, and they are not as stormy as they are now. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but be full of sorrow, and I didn't want to look at the scenery anymore, and I didn't even bother to enter the Qianyun Palace.

He and his concubines bypassed the Qianyun Palace, went down the beautiful mountain, and came to the Jiali Gate. All the monks and monks knelt on both sides of the road. Chongzhen and the concubines passed through them, walked into the beautiful gate, stepped on the white jade carved dragon steps, and entered the Yongming Hall and sat down. The monks bowed their heads, folded their hands, and walked to the place where Jiao was built from the left side of the Yongming Hall and the Taoist priests from the right, not even daring to make a sound of footsteps. After a while, from the back of the Yongming Palace, there came the sound of bells, drums, chimes, wooden fish, cloud boards, copper flutes, etc., as well as the sound of monks and Taoists, forming a solemn and solemn musical ensemble. Wang Dehua walked up to Chongzhen, bowed down and said:

"Emperor, it's time to get Jiao."

Chongzhen didn't make a sound, immediately got up from the dragon chair, and walked out with reverence. Queen Zhou, the two concubines, the palace maids and the eunuchs followed him quietly. Behind the Yongming Hall is a small courtyard, a color of white marble pavement, there are more than a dozen hugging pine and cypress, and the branches are horizontal. Among them is an ancient pine with a twist in the sky, dotted with bright red flowers among the verdant pine leaves. In the middle of the courtyard is a tall white silk prayer shed, with fluttering flags; The lotus throne is dedicated to a sandalwood carved image of Buddha Shakyamuni. A yellow satin banner is hung outside the shed, with the inscription: "Build a Dharma Meeting to Eliminate Disasters, Eliminate Crimes, Protect the Country, Benefit the People, and Pudu All Living Beings." The concubines stayed outside the prayer shed for the time being. Emperor Chongzhen advanced into the scripture shed, put incense in front of Shakya, burned the yellow watch, bowed four times, knelt on the yellow satin worship mat and prayed silently, begging the Buddha to be merciful, help him eliminate the "thieves" in various places, punish Manchuria, and stop rainfall, drought, locusts, and epidemics, and bless his national fortune. When the silent prayer ended, he felt that it was not enough, and specially prayed a few words, asking the Buddha to influence Zhang Xianzhong and others to change their minds and hearts, and to make the officials and soldiers capture Li Zicheng, who had slipped through the net, as soon as possible, and get rid of the troubles of the imperial court. He prayed to God for sincerity, and although he didn't make a sound, he couldn't help choking in his throat and bursting with tears. After praying, he stood up and stepped aside, watching the queen and the concubines come in turn to worship the Buddha.

In front of Chongzhen kneeling on the Buddha to pray sincerely, Wang Dehua stayed outside the prayer shed, standing and waiting. A eunuch came to his side, leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Sect Master, Wang Bingbi has something to do. He turned his head and saw Wang Chengen standing behind the Yongming Hall with a restless expression, and he couldn't help but be shocked in his heart. He made a look to prevent Wang Chengen from coming to the front of the scripture shed, and he quickly walked over on tiptoe, and asked quietly: "What is the emergency?" Wang Chengen saluted, took out the documents from his sleeve and handed them to him, and whispered: "Please show the sect master, are these 100,000 urgent documents played by the emperor now?" Wang Dehua hurriedly looked at a few documents and was shocked. After thinking about it for a while, he handed over the paperwork to Wang Chengen and whispered: "Take it back to the palace, you must not let Banzai know at this moment." Even if the sky falls, we must wait for the emperor to burn incense and return to the palace, and then we will play to him. ”

Wang Chengen didn't dare to say anything and left quietly.

From the courtyard where the Buddhist puja is built to the north, bypassing the rockery, passing through the small white jade bridge with carved railings, it is a round hall again, and the gold plate dragon plaque is inscribed with the word "Huanbi". Surrounded by green water, flowers and trees are luxuriant, there are several pine trees, and thousands of green bamboo poles. This is the last and most secluded place in the South Palace, and a few feet further north is the red palace wall covered with yellow tiles. The Taoist altar is set up in the Huanbi Temple, which is called "the altar of building three Qing Pulin, subduing demons, subduing demons, eliminating disasters, and destroying chaos". Chongzhen walked into the Huanbi Palace, bowed to the Jade Emperor, burned the green words, prayed silently for a while as usual, and then withdrew. The queen and the two concubines came out in turn to burn incense. They went to rest in the Yongming Palace, ate snacks, and drove back to the Forbidden City.

When Chongzhen walked into Donghua Gate, there happened to be a subordinate who was meeting Jimen to pick up the book. Suddenly, I heard the eunuch calling: "The holy car returns to the palace!" He hurriedly hid in the west duty room inside the Wenhua Gate and spied through the window. Chongzhen glanced at him. After turning into the west of the Wenhua Palace, Chongzhen sent a little eunuch back and told him in a gentle tone not to talk nonsense after he went out. At this time, Chongzhen's mood was very calm, his temper became very good, and there was a smile on his face.

Back in the Qianqing Palace, he had just changed his clothes and took a sip of fragrant tea with a tea bowl, Wang Chengen walked in front of him, bowed down and put a few documents on the imperial case, and said timidly:

"Playing the emperor, Zhang Xianzhong is the opposite."

Chongzhen's hand trembled violently, and the tea bowl fell on the imperial case, splashing the paperwork. He was about to ask for details, but Wang Chengen lowered his head to avoid his eyes, and whispered:

"According to Zheng Chongjian, the governor of Shaanxi and the three sides, the situation in Shaanxi has also changed."

"What's the matter, Zhang Xianzhong has entered Shaanxi?" Chongzhen jumped up and asked. "Why don't the officers and soldiers intercept it?"

"No, Emperor. It was Li Zicheng who started the incident in the area of Shangluo Mountain. ”

Chongzhen's eyes straightened, and he sat down in the chair dejectedly, and after a long time, he muttered half a sentence:

"I've been worried about ...... for a long time"

After a while, he calmed down a little and asked Wang Chengen to read him a few urgent letters. When he heard Xiong Wencan's report that he had ordered Zuo Liangyu, Luo Dai and others to lead Chu and Yu officials to "chase down" Zhang Xianzhong, and was waiting for the good news, he shook his head, sneered with his nostrils, and said to Wang Chengen:

"Give Xiong Wencan, a damn old thing, a strict reprimand, and tell him to look at the crime and watch the aftermath. If the thief cannot be exterminated, the punishment will be aggravated! ”

"Yes!"

"What does Zheng Chongjian's book say? Read! ”

In addition to reporting that Li Zicheng had re-established the banner, Zheng Chongjian also reported that there was an epidemic among the peasant army, and that important "Qu Kui" such as Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin were bedridden. He also said that he had "personally gone to Wuguan to supervise the army's attack, and it was not difficult to wipe out all the traitors." After hearing this, Chongzhen seemed to see a new hope, nodded, and said to Wang Chengen:

"Prepare the will for me, and Zheng Chongjian will quickly advance and suppress, and there will be no delay!"