Chapter 100, Time Travel Version of Emperor Chongzhen’s Decision (Part 2)
After discussing with Lu Xiangsheng and Wen Tiren for more than half an hour, and finalizing the specific plan for this "move to Xixing", the time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen ordered them to prepare for their escape quickly, and then left the Qianqing Palace himself, accompanied by Wang Chengen Then we came to the inner transport warehouse door.
At this time, the eunuchs guarding the warehouses had gotten wind of the news, opened all the doors of each warehouse, and were preparing to pack up their belongings and load them on the road. Emperor Chongzhen took the opportunity to inspect the interior and found that the inner treasury of the Forbidden City occupies a large area and contains various types of palace supplies ranging from spices to old furniture. Among them, there is a large and spacious silver warehouse, which stores the gold and silver and official cast silver accumulated by the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. They were cast into large silver ingots of fifty taels and one hundred taels, and were neatly placed in the warehouse. The "internal money" that the scholar-bureaucrats in the court often asked the emperor to allocate refers to the money placed here.
Looking around at the rows of empty wooden shelves in the treasury, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but sigh slightly - the original Emperor Wanli and later Wei Zhongxian once sent people everywhere to collect mining taxes and commercial taxes, and once the inner treasury was filled to a large extent. Rich, it is said that the maximum amount of silver deposits can reach 20 million taels. Unfortunately, as soon as Emperor Chongzhen came to power, under the deception of the Donglin Party, he exempted Jiangnan from commercial taxes and cut off his own financial path. He was defrauded of seven to eight million taels of internal money by Yuan Chonghuan, a big liar, and gave it to the unfed white-eyed wolf at the Guanning Army in western Liaoning... Coupled with the consumption of a series of wars that followed, the current internal treasury now has There is less than two million taels of silver left. Even if you include various precious stones, gold and other valuables, the price is only three to four million taels of silver.
Haha, to say that the royal family is rich in the world... Even the homes of the Yangzhou salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River probably have more money than I have here, right?
Picking up a royal silver ingot wrapped in mulberry paper and looking at the dim light for a few times, Emperor Chongzhen smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Speaking of which, he, the time-traveling emperor, is really miserable. He is surrounded by the Three Palaces and Sixth Courtyard, and countless beauties, but from time-traveling to now, he has not slept with a woman - at first, he recovered from a serious illness, and his health I was too weak and was powerless when it came to matters between men and women. Although I recovered a little bit later, I was shocked to find that the situation was serious. My family and my life were about to be in danger. I really didn't have the interest to push girls... Oh, let's go first. Let’s talk about it after solving the problem of how to survive! He is still an emperor no matter what, so as long as he saves his life, do he still have to worry about not having a woman?
Seeing the eunuchs busy carrying all kinds of gold, silver, fine grains, rice and dried meats, Emperor Chongzhen lamented his bad fate in his heart, but at the same time he couldn't help but began to doubt that the garrison of the capital at Desheng Gate would be there by then. Will they obey the imperial edict and open the door to let people go?
Or will he choose to turn against the Emperor and start a bloody battle on the streets of the capital?
As a pessimist, he has never been afraid to speculate on the madness of potential traitors with the greatest malice.
After all, in the spring of the 17th year of Chongzhen in another time and space, they actually did this once.
The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. He finally had a seizure. He no longer had the intention to stay in the Forbidden City and waste time. Instead, he left all the preparations for the escape to Wang Chengen and led the five hundred internal forces. (armed eunuchs), go straight to Deshengmen to ensure the escape route - at this moment when the building is about to collapse and people's minds are changing, even the imperial guards, who are the emperor's personal soldiers, are no longer so reliable because many of them are the children of officials and powerful people. . Only these eunuch chamberlains whose life and death prospects are tied to the royal family can basically be regarded as relatively reliable members of their own family...
What this time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen didn't know was that although he thought he was pessimistic enough, in fact, he was still too optimistic!
——Do you really think that as long as you escape the death zone of Beijing, you can turn the corner into peace?
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
On the other side, as soon as Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the Wen Mansion's imperial pavilion, returned home, he also ordered everyone in the house to pack their bags quickly and prepare to flee with the emperor.
"...Dad! Is it true that the capital cannot be defended this time? Well, it doesn't matter, if this house is lost, it will be lost! It is better for dad to go to Nanjing and continue to be the chief minister than to be in the siege of the capital. I am always on tenterhooks all day long, fearing that the thieves will be much stronger when they break into the city..."
When Wen Tiren's eldest son Wen Zichen heard this, he looked at this luxurious house with carved beams and painted beams and a deep courtyard with some reluctance, but then he became relaxed again, "...Haha, the beauties from the south of the Yangtze River on the boat on the Qinhuai River, and the beauties from Zhejiang I have missed the waterside scenery of my hometown for a long time..."
"...Go to Nanjing and then become the chief assistant? What a wonderful idea! When I go to Nanjing, it's hard to say whether I can save my life!"
While packing up his books and manuscripts, Wen Tiren glared at this dissolute son who slept in flowers and willows all day long, "...you are a worthless thing, and you don't even know how to think about it. Now everyone knows that being a father is... The mortal enemy of the Donglin Party, and where is the headquarters of the Donglin Party?”
"...Of course it's Jiangnan, and Donglin Academy is in Wuxi..." Wen Zichen replied without thinking, and then felt a sense of horror, "...So, if my father followed the emperor to move south to Jinling, wouldn't he be falling into a trap? ”
"...What can we do? It is true that the future is uncertain if we go south to Jinling, but if we stay in the current capital, the end will be even more unimaginable!"
Wen Tiren snorted angrily - As a concentration camp for the losers of the Ming Dynasty's political struggle, the six departments of the Nanjing court in the Ming Dynasty were all frustrated officials who lost in the political struggle. Many of the Donglin Party officials were just killed by Wen Tiren. Rush down. It had only been a year since they left Beijing in despair, but now the situation was reversed. It was Wen Tiren's turn to escape to Nanjing to find old enemies like them to hang out together!
One can imagine how "warmly" those old enemies would welcome Wen Tiren, an old enemy of Donglin, after he fled to Nanjing!
What's more, in addition to the Nanjing court, the Donglin Party's power among the people in Jiangnan is even greater, and its financial resources and influence are simply suffocating!
"...However, it is precisely because the Donglin Party in Jiangnan is so powerful that the Holy Father must reuse my father to prevent one family from becoming dominant in the court!"
Although he is recognized as a lustful playboy, as the son of the chief minister of the cabinet, Wen Zichen still has some political sensitivity, "...if all government affairs fall into the hands of the Donglin Party, there will be no checks and balances. Without power, the Holy One will be reduced to a puppet!”
"...Of course the emperor wants to keep me alive, but after the imperial court is defeated, even if the emperor wants to, he may not be able to keep me alive!"
Wen Tiren shook his head and sighed: "...Do you know who is behind the Donglin Party? The squires, powerful families, and wealthy families in the entire Jiangnan! The court wants to collect grain, and the fields are in the hands of these people; the court wants to recruit soldiers, and the strong men are in the hands of these people The imperial court wants officials, and scholars are still in the hands of these people; the imperial court wants to collect business taxes, which ship in the south is not the asset of these people, and which business house does not bear the name of these people?
< br>
Even with the might of the royal family, it is difficult to suppress such a behemoth - as long as the Donglin ministers in Nandu work together to cut off the court's taxes, money and food, the world will collapse immediately! While in Beijing, the imperial court could still barely deter Donglin from rebelling against the party with its prestige accumulated over the years. But if the imperial court moves to Nanjing, firstly, the fallen phoenix will not be as good as the chicken, and secondly, the strong dragon will not suppress the local snake. Even if the emperor wants to check and balance, unless he can capture an elite soldier to intimidate the wealthy gentry families in the south of the Yangtze River, otherwise, even if he is the emperor, Aren't you just at the mercy of the Donglin Party? ”
At this point, Wen Tiren's eyes became darker and darker, "...I don't know if Your Majesty knows in your heart that although Beijing is a dangerous place today, there are spies in the city, and the military morale has been completely lost, but as long as the Emperor is in the Forbidden City If he succeeds, he will still be the emperor of the Ming Dynasty until the enemy troops break the city; but if the emperor's chariot leaves Beijing, will the people of the world still regard him as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty? Sigh, the future is really unpredictable..."
……※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
On October 23rd of the fifth year of Chongzhen, the emperor decided to abandon the capital and run away. From that night to the next day, the chariot meandered out of the palace. After hearing the news, all the officials in the capital rushed outside the Shenwu Gate, wanting to cry and admonish the Holy Master not to leave the capital lightly. Unexpectedly, the emperor had already changed his clothes and led 500 internal troops to Deshengmen, forcibly taking over the city defenses and clearing the way for the troops leaving the capital. Only Queen Zhang (Emperor Chongzhen's sister-in-law and Emperor Tianqi's empress) got off the car outside the palace gate and wept to persuade the officials to disperse.
So the ministers went to Deshengmen again and saw the emperor standing at the top of the city with his helmet on his head. Chen Yan, the head of the Hanlin Academy, came forward and cried and said: Your Majesty, please don't abandon the ancestral temple mausoleum and make the world laugh. I am willing to lead the army and the people in a bloody battle and die to repay the favor of the king! The emperor said to him: Although Aiqing's bravery is valuable, the capital has become an isolated city. There are no reinforcements outside and there are spies inside. How is it different from committing suicide to stick to the capital? Instead of returning to the throne of the Northern Song Dynasty as the Hui and Qin emperors, allowing themselves to be abused by the Tartars, and hunting the cities of the Five Kingdoms in the north to sit on the wells and gaze at the sky, why not go south to seize the land of wealth, raise money to train troops, and refresh the administration. In this way, there may be a chance for resurgence!
In addition, nobles from the capital led their troops and patrolmen from the five cities' military and horse divisions came to confront the internal troops on the city wall, seeming to want to seize the door to block the imperial driver. The emperor was very angry and scolded: "Could it be that you and others have secretly connected with the Eastern captives and want to kill the king and surrender to the Tartars?" After hearing this, the noble soldiers trembled and retreated. The emperor then ordered the great scholar He Wuzou to stay in Beijing and take charge of the armies in Beijing together with Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo. He also ordered the gates of the inner and outer cities of Beijing to be opened to allow the people to escape. Immediately, the emperor went out of the city and led the queen, imperial concubines, princes, maids and chamberlains, accompanying court officials and escorting troops, totaling more than 10,000 people, to the north of Beijing to visit the Changping Emperor's Mausoleum.
At that time, after hearing the news, the Imperial Academy had mobilized the imperial guards and hundreds of scholars in the capital. Holding the tablet of the most holy teacher, they wanted to go to Desheng Gate to stop the imperial driver. Unexpectedly, most of the officials who were responsible for supervising students were weak and walked slowly. By the time they arrived at Deshengmen with the sacrifice wine, the emperor's chariot had already been out of the city for a long time. On October 26, the emperor arrived at Changping, where he joined Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army, and then moved to Xuanfu. On the 30th, Guan Ning's rebels and thousands of Eastern captives came after them. The emperor ordered Lu Xiangsheng to lead his troops to defend them. After a day of fierce fighting, Xuanfu's brave general Wang Dou led his troops to come to the rescue and defeated the enemy. The royal driver even took a break at Shunxiang Fort...