Chapter 104, Emperor Chongzhen’s horror
My child, when you were born, the entire Forbidden City knew your name: Zhu Youjian.
My child, I watch with worry as you and your brother grow up day by day and become a new generation of candidates who will take the blame for the world.
You have to remember, we have always ruled this country by playing dumb and compromising.
I'm very worried that you and your brother may not even know how much you weigh.
In short, the way to be a king is to never trust anyone - especially those scholar-bureaucrats who call themselves "the embodiment of justice".
Unfortunately, I never thought to explain these truths to you in detail, because the candidate to inherit the throne is your brother.
And you, in this life, you should just keep to yourself, enjoy the glory and wealth brought by the imperial power, and don't dream about your brother's throne...
It's a pity that your brother, Emperor Tianqi, has reached the end of his life prematurely before he could leave any descendants.
So, you were finally crowned and enthroned in confusion, becoming the new generation of scapegoat king...
……
"...Ahhhh——"
Accompanied by a rapid exclamation, a man let out a exclamation of fear and "bounced" from the bed. Then because he could not sit firmly, his body tilted and he slipped from the thick quilt. , rolled to the floor, and stood there in a stupid posture with all four hooves in the air... Through the dim light on the bedside, we could vaguely see that this man wearing silk underwear The man in the shirt is very young. Although he deliberately grew a beard on his lips and chin to make his face look older, it can still be seen that he is not very old, and the traces of time have not yet appeared on his smooth cheeks. .
"...Well, Your Majesty, what's wrong?" In the bed where he was originally lying, a woman raised her head in a daze.
"...Oh, it's okay, it's okay, it's just a nightmare..." The man lying on the floor with his hooves in the air sighed and murmured.
Next, after repelling the eunuchs and maids who came in after hearing the sound, the 16th emperor of the Ming Empire, Zhu Youjian, the 23-year-old Chongzhen Emperor, rubbed his aching back, On the other hand, he got up from the carpeted floor and lay back on the bed.
But the nightmare just now made him completely sleepless - how could something so serious and cold be made so hilarious?
Alas, but now I have finally escaped from the dead place in Beijing... If I survive this catastrophe, I guess I will be lucky in the future!
The time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen who had changed his soul thought so, and couldn't help but feel relaxed again.
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——After hastily escaping from Beijing, the journey ahead for this time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen is still very bumpy.
First, they successfully reunited with the remnants of Lu Xiangsheng's more than 10,000 Tianxiong Army at the Changping Emperor's Tombs (later known as the Thirteen Tombs, but Emperor Chongzhen had not yet buried them, so there were only Twelve Tombs at this time), but then they just arrived at Baoan Prefecture. They met thousands of pursuers from the Jurchen Eight Banners and Guan Ning Cavalry - it looked like someone in the capital was tipping off the Tatars. Thanks to Lu Xiangsheng's superior martial arts and decent ability in commanding troops, and the Tatar pursuers had to travel a long distance, putting their troops at an absolute disadvantage, the Ming army was not defeated on the spot. Next, Xuanfu's frontier army Qianhu Wangdou led his troops to come to the rescue and finally defeated the enemy.
Although this victory did not have much strategic and tactical significance, it was like a shot in the arm, temporarily clearing away the disappointment and panic caused by the hasty evacuation of the capital. After cleaning the battlefield, Emperor Chongzhen commended Wang Dou for his bravery in rescuing the enemy, and incorporated his Shunxiang army into the palace forbidden army. Then he moved to Shunxiang Fort, where Wang Dou was stationed, where he planned to rest his troops and horses while summoning King Qin's reinforcements to see if there was a chance to regain the capital.
It was a pity that Emperor Chongzhen only rested for one day at Shunxiang Fort. Li Zicheng also escaped from the capital with the camp bandits and followed him into the Xuanfu. After a chaotic battle, Li Zicheng left with tens of thousands of rogue bandits. Xuanfu Town, which was already unstable and restless, was completely destroyed.
Later, bad news came from the south that Huang Taiji had taken over the capital, and hundreds of officials left behind in the capital rushed to join him. What's even more frightening is that in order to eliminate the threat to the capital from the Xuanfu border troops and Emperor Chongzhen, Huang Taiji captured the capital as quickly as possible, and at the same time organized a crusade of one hundred thousand people non-stop, and marched out of the north of Beijing with great momentum. On the way, they first defeated Changping and Miyun, and then pressed towards Xuanfu...
Facing the approach of the Tartar army and the letters of surrender sent through various channels, Xuanfu's border troops became increasingly unstable. More and more civil and military officials began to harbor ulterior motives. Mutinies broke out frequently. In the end, even the general of Xuanfu who was ordered to deploy elite troops to escort him was driven out of Xuanhua Mansion by a group of rebel soldiers. In order to seek great success, some rebel generals who had defected to the Tartars actually led their trusted servants to sneak attack on the emperor's chariot...
It seemed to be a repeat of the scene in the capital. In this desperate situation where all the relatives were betrayed and the hozens were scattered, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to continue to flee westward. He first passed through Juyong Pass and retreated to Datong, where he was escorted by the Datong border army. Completely got rid of the Tatar pursuers. However, Datong is located on the border, with barren land and inconvenient transportation. Neither food nor taxes can sustain a maximum expenditure. So the emperor set off again and fled to Taiyuan, Shanxi Province in late November. He established a camp here and settled all the civil and military officials who fled with him, and finally settled down.
——At this time, it was already freezing cold in the north, with heavy snowfall all over the ground, and the roads were difficult to travel. The emperor's chariot was really unable to continue on its way to Nanjing.
At this time, Taiyuan City had just been bloodbathed by the Shaanxi bandits in the summer. The governor, prefect, commander-in-chief and the King of Jin were all killed or disappeared, freeing up many houses and official positions. Later, after being recaptured by the army, he did not have time to be re-appointed. So the emperor and his eunuchs happened to move into the Jin Palace. Although the bandits had already plundered all the gold and silver in the palace before evacuating, and set fire to many houses, at least half of the buildings were still intact. It was better than during the heavy snow. It's much better to camp out and sleep in the sky. As for furniture and other items, you can make do with just scraping together.
The civil and military officials who accompanied him to the west also moved into the vacated government offices throughout Taiyuan City, finally setting up an exile from the imperial court.
Until this time, His Majesty the Emperor's life was a little more stable - although the Jurchen Eight Banners' cavalry continued to advance wildly on the North China Plain, and a small group of rangers even crossed the frozen Yellow River and fought all the way to the gates of Kaifeng City. It is said that This caused panic in Henan Province. But as of now, the Tartar troops are still separated from Taiyuan by the Taihang Mountains, and they will not hit Emperor Chongzhen for the time being.
The Shaanxi bandits have also been damaged by this year's chaos in the capital. Although it is difficult to eradicate them, they should not become a problem in a short time.
Therefore, the time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen is basically satisfied with the current situation - although the capital and almost all of Beizhili have fallen to the enemy, for him, he has successfully escaped from a dilemma. As far as the overall situation of the Ming Dynasty is concerned, a big financial burden has been lifted. Next, as long as the spring flowers bloom and the roads are clear, his chariot will continue to go south to Jinling, reestablish the imperial court in Nanjing, take control of the wealth and wealth in the south of the Yangtze River, refresh the government, and calmly raise funds and train troops. Then perhaps we can organize our army for the Northern Expedition and reorganize the mountains and rivers; at worst, we can rely on the natural dangers of the Jianghuai River to maintain the peaceful situation like that of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Eastern Jin Dynasty - no matter what, I can't do worse than Song Gaozong Zhao Gou!
Well, you have to be more careful and careful about those "thieves" who are entrenched in a corner of Hainan Island and are suspected of being time travellers. I hope they have no delusions of changing the dynasty, otherwise I will have to eradicate them with ruthless hands. In addition, it seems that Huang Shi, the commander-in-chief of Fujian, also raised his troops to rebel. I wonder how the war is going over there now? According to the memory of Emperor Chongzhen in the original version, this general who was also suspected of being a time traveler was an invincible opponent in Liaodong during the Tianqi years. It seemed that he was not easy to deal with... However, with Jiangnan's financial resources, even with silver bullet tactics, It should be able to hold it down!
——Although this time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen had a good idea, he seriously overestimated the intimidating power of "orthodoxy". Moreover, his own ability may not be worse than Song Gaozong, but the loyalty of the Ming Dynasty scholar-officials is completely incomparable with the Song Dynasty scholar-officials, and his death-defying skills and stupidity are far superior to those of his predecessors...
In short, if there is anything particularly dissatisfied with this time traveler emperor recently, it is that up to now, he has not been able to have sex with Emperor Chongzhen's concubines! But we really can't blame the concubines for not serving them wholeheartedly. It was entirely his own fault - before in the Forbidden City, this time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen woke up from a serious illness. His body and bones must be abnormally weak. Naturally, Can't have sex. Then, before he could recuperate, the sharp deterioration of the war situation forced him to stand up and try to arrange his escape under the pressure of the civil and military forces of the court. Along the way, he not only had trouble eating and sleeping, but also had to face all kinds of open and hidden arrows, and be wary of long-distance pursuits by local government troops and Tartar bandits with ulterior motives. This time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen's physical strength and energy , in fact, it has already been severely overdrawn.
As a result, after the group of people arrived in Taiyuan and finally settled down, he immediately became seriously ill again, and it was not until the past two days that he gradually got better.
Although the queen and concubines are already sleeping with them, they are just chatting under the quilt. Even if he occasionally becomes lustful, the time-traveling version of Emperor Chongzhen would have no choice but to give up in the face of the empress or concubine's cry of "Are you going to die?" - after all, he himself knew that he was indeed very weak, and it was difficult for him to time-travel. He came here to be the emperor for a time, but it would be a shame if he died because of his excessive impatience!
In the midst of these wild thoughts, it was already bright outside, and there were bursts of chicken crows. So His Majesty the Emperor called the maid on duty to help him get up, dress and wash. In the flower hall outside, exquisite breakfasts have already been laid out. Although the emperor is in trouble outside and the conditions are not as good as those in the palace, there are still more than 20 pastries and side dishes, porridge, cakes and soups, as well as more than a dozen palace maids. Waiting around, serving food and serving dishes...
Seeing so many respectful and beautiful people around him, the time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but feel happy again.
What is wealth and honor, what is one step ahead, what is the feeling of being superior to others, this is it!
——No matter where you go, there are a large number of servants following you. If you want to eat something, just look at it and someone will bring it to you with a flattering smile. If you want to use something, someone will take care of it without even asking... This This is the life a successful person should really live!
Thinking about the days when I had to sacrifice myself for five buckets of rice in the modern world, where I had to work overtime for free regardless of whether it was cold or hot, wind or rain. I was secretly tripped up by my colleagues and made to wear shoes by my boss. This time-travel version of Chongzhen The emperor shed tears of sympathy for his past self.
Even if it was just to continue to enjoy such a leisurely life, he must firmly secure the throne under his butt.
Unfortunately, in the current storm of empire collapse, this selfish dream is destined to remain a luxury.
——Emperor Chongzhen had not finished his breakfast when he saw his confidant eunuch Wang Chengen running over in a hurry, with a look of panic on his face:
"...Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Something is in trouble! I'm afraid I won't be able to go to Nanjing! The rebels in the capital actually want to support a new emperor!"
"...What?! How dare they do such a heinous thing?!"
As if there was a "buzzing" explosion in his head, Emperor Chongzhen jumped up in shock. He didn't even notice that a bowl of hot millet porridge fell on his lapel, "...Nanjing Civil and Military People Who among the ministers is involved in this matter? And which of my relatives do you want to make the false emperor?"
"...Your Majesty, the news from the south is not very clear now. We only know that Lu Weiqi, the Minister of War in Nanjing, Zhang Pu, the leader of Fushe, and Qian Qianyi, the leader of Donglin, are all involved in this matter. And the puppet emperor they are trying to support is This is Zhu Yihai, the second son of King Lu." Wang Chengen replied.
"...The second son of King Lu?" Emperor Chongzhen's expression was very strange for a moment, "...Why is he in Nanjing? Where are King Lu and his son?"
"...It is said that the palace of Prince Lu was attacked by the demon Wenxiang Cult. Neither Prince Lu nor the crown prince escaped. Only the second son Zhu Yihai ran to Nanjing."
"... Got it, and then this guy hooked up with the Donglin rebels in the south of the Yangtze River..." Emperor Chongzhen sighed, sat down slumped, and was confused for a moment - about the possible threats to him in this time and space. He has carefully considered the factors for the throne, from Jurchens, Shaanxi bandits to various rebels, and those suspected of being time travellers, and thinks he can come up with some countermeasures. However, he never expected that Nanjing would dare to proclaim a new emperor while he was still alive and blatantly depose him from the throne!
——After he heard the names of Zhang Pu and Qian Qianyi among the rebel group, this time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen already knew that the current mainstream forces of the Donglin Party and Jiangnan who stood behind the Donglin Party The wealthy gentry, landlords and merchant groups may have all abandoned themselves as emperors... What should we do now? Without the money and food from Jiangnan, what should he use to feed the court and rule the world?
Moreover, with this bad start from Nanjing, who knows what the civil and military officials in other provinces will think? Will they follow the same example?
Next, as if God didn't think he had been frightened enough, Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, hurriedly arrived with a new piece of bad news:
"...What? There is something strange happening on the ground in Luoyang? King Fu is contacting the civil and military officials in Henan, and he seems to be plotting something evil?!"