Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 117 The Jiashen Rebellion

Zhu Youjian cheered up and staggered to the harem.

"Go, make Concubine Kang commit suicide!"

Zhu Youjian ordered in a deep voice.

Concubine Kang is Emperor Guangzong's favorite concubine and his adoptive mother.

Following his footsteps, he came to Renshou Palace.

"His Majesty!"

The maids saluted one after another, their faces full of surprise, not only the emperor with disheveled hair, why did he come here.

"Is the queen's wife here?"

Zhu Youjian asked softly.

"Your Majesty, what's the matter with you?"

Empress of Xi Zong, Zhang Yan.

Since Xi Zong died of illness, Zhang Yan was honored as Empress Yi'an. Emperor Chongzhen respected this woman who was also a mother and a wife, and the harem dared not be presumptuous.

Although nearly forty years old, Zhang Yan still has a face like a crown jade, with a greasy face and a simple hair crown. Through the curtain, she lightly parted her red lips and said resolutely:
"Why does the emperor come to me when he has time? The robbers are attacking more and more, and the robbers should be suppressed."

"The Queen's Wife—"

Zhu Youjian grieved, and said: "Youjian is incompetent, lost his ancestors' foundation, and the city of Beijing has already been destroyed..."

Hearing this, Zhang Yan was taken aback, she pondered for a while, and then said: "My concubine already knows what your majesty means."

"It's just that His Majesty should move south, why are you here?"

"There are still six in Nanjing, and there are still half of the country."

"That's too late!"

Zhu Youjian shook his head, knelt down and kowtowed heavily: "Youjian can only repay the kindness of the emperor's sister-in-law's care in the next life."

As he spoke, he staggered away without looking back.

"Queen—" The maid beside her turned her head.

"Get ready for Bai Ling!"

Zhang Yan saw his embarrassed figure, tears in his eyes, and his beautiful face was full of sadness:
"Daming 270 seven years, is this the end?"

At this moment, she thought a lot, entering the palace, Hakka's making things difficult, miscarriage, and Zhu Youxiao's death.

There were many hardships, she thought that if King Xin succeeded to the throne, Daming would be able to reverse the decline, but who knew that the situation would go from bad to worse.

"I am a concubine, I have no face to meet the late emperor!"

Zhang Yan boarded the chair expressionlessly, looked at Gong'e who was serving him, and couldn't help saying: "You guys also find a chance to leave the palace!"

thump——

At dawn on March [-]th, fires broke out everywhere, and the outside of the city was already full of flames.

At this time the sky will be bright.

"Ring the bell and summon all officials to go to court."

"Boom boom boom——"

The deep and loud ringing of the bell resounded through the entire front hall and echoed throughout the imperial city.

After sitting and waiting for a long time, Chongzhen stared blankly at the empty palace and remained silent for a long time.

"Your Majesty?" Wang Chengen said sadly.

Chongzhen twitched his lips, raised his hand helplessly, pointed at the empty palace, and said with a dead heart:

"All the ministers misunderstood me. The monarch died in the country. Once the world in 270 was abandoned, it was all the mistakes of the treacherous ministers, so that's the case."

With that said, accompanied by Zhaohui, he took the only Wang Chengen left by his side and climbed up Jingshan, also known as Meishan.

The footsteps are heavy, and the former Jingshan Mountain looks extraordinarily steep.

"Grandpa, slow down!"

Wang Chengen supported the frail Emperor Chongzhen, step by step up to the Shouhuang Pavilion in Jingshan.

Chongzhen was out of breath, looking at the war-torn capital, his eyes were lost.

Taking off the white jacket and blue robe on his body: "Bring a pen!"

Wang Chengen, the eunuch who held the pen for the supervisor of ceremonies, carried a vermilion pen with him and handed it over.

Chongzhen closed his eyes, and after a while, he picked up a pen and wrote:
"I have been enthroned for 17 years. Although I am virtuous and ruthless, and the gods are angry, all the ministers misunderstood me, causing the rebels to attack the capital. When I die, I will see my ancestors in the ground without a face. I will go to the crown to cover my face. Let the thieves split my corpse, don't hurt one of the common people."

After finishing writing, he was full of grief and indignation: "I am not a king of subjugated countries, but most of them are ministers of subjugated countries."

"My lord—"

Wang Chengen watched him pull out his belt and hang it on the pavilion, and couldn't help but lose his voice.

"Help me!"

Chongzhen smiled: "After I die, you will collect the body!"

With tears in his eyes, Wang Chengen picked him up.

bang-

As his body struggled, he gradually lost his voice.

"My lord, you're gone, what's the use of keeping the servants alone?"

Wang Chengen wiped away his tears, pulled out his belt, and hung it up.

He turned his head and saw Chongzhen's corpse hanging up, his left foot was bare, his right foot was red shoe, his face was miserable, and he was full of unwillingness.

"Slaves, come to accompany you."

After speaking, he also hanged himself.

The cold wind howled, and at the Shouhuang Pavilion on Meishan Mountain, two corpses hung side by side without anyone noticing.

And before that, Andingmen.

The intruders attacked, and the gatekeeper eunuch Fang Zhenghua, armed with a three-eyed blunderbuss, killed the enemy in the city.

He was not afraid, and led the eunuchs and defenders to fight back continuously, killing and injuring dozens of people, but he was outnumbered and had to be captured.

"who are you?"

Fang Zhenghua was not afraid, and said sharply, "I am Fang Zhenghua, the manager."

"court death--"

For a while, the soldiers hacked to death.

Here, the crown princes Zhu Cihong, Yongwang, and Dingwang were sent to the home of Zhou Kui, the head of the state, but the gate was closed and they were not allowed to enter.

The eunuch was in a hurry, so he picked up the ax and started to chop. Even if he went a few inches deep, the door still didn't open.

"My lord, I can't get in!" The eunuch cried out in grief, "What should I do!"

"The world is so cold that even the old man can't be trusted."

After all, Zhu Cihong was a young man, he did not expect that his grandfather would actually close the door and refuse him entry at this time.

The younger brothers panicked even more.

After a while, the streets were full of troops. When they saw the three teenagers accompanied by the eunuch, they immediately arrested them.

The direct line of the Ming Dynasty was destroyed in this way.

……

On March [-]th, it was daylight.

Zhang Jinyan, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, took the initiative to open the Zhengyang Gate to welcome Liu Zongmin's troops.

At noon, under the guidance of the eunuch Wang Dehua, Li Zicheng rode a horse, wearing a felt hat and a light blue robe, entered the Chengtian Gate and entered the inner hall.

Prime Minister Niu Jinxing, Shangshu Song Qijiao, Yu Shangyou, servants Li Zhisheng, Zhang Jianran and others rode on horseback.

Li Zicheng boarded the Huangji Hall, sat on the throne, and looked down at the ministers, feeling an unspeakable feeling all over his body.

At this time, he felt that he seemed to have undergone some kind of baptism and was completely reborn. In a real sense, he became an emperor, not a grass-headed king like before.

Conquering the South and the North, and escaping from death, after more than ten years, he finally completed his great cause.

My Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven in the true sense.

It took him a long time to regain his composure, and an astonishing light radiated from his single eye:
"Da Suo's harem, I want to get accurate information from Chongzhen. I want to see people when I am born, and I want to see corpses when I die."

"Your Majesty, I was in the harem and found that the empress and concubines had been killed, only Princess Kunxing was still alive and had been hacked several times."

Liu Zongmin ran over in a hurry.

Invading the palace, he was the fastest to arrive, looting gold and silver, court ladies, exhilarating.

"No news from Chongzhen?"

Li Zicheng frowned: "Princess Kunxing? Treat yourself well, and I hope you can get news about her father."

"As ordered!"

Liu Zongmin nodded, and said roughly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, Chongzhen can't escape."

"Restrain Queen Zhou!" Li Zicheng thought about the aftermath, and couldn't help saying: "Put it outside Donghua Gate."

After finishing speaking, he said to Niu Jinxing and the others: "Decide my will, and three days later, the officials of the Ming court will come to have an audience. Anyone who violates it will bear the consequences."

(End of this chapter)