Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 34 The Three Emperors
About two hundred steps apart, both sides stopped at the same time.

This is a safe distance, cavalry bows cannot reach this range, and it is guaranteed to allow the cavalry of both sides to charge up, so that they will not be caught off guard by the cavalry of one side.

Immediately, the bandits rode their horses to the front of the formation and shouted.

"My right army division has important matters to see His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Where is His Majesty the Emperor? My military division right invites you to speak before the battle."

"Your Majesty, there must be fraud in it, you can't go." Wu Linzheng stepped forward to dissuade him.

Meng Zhaoxiang also remonstrated: "The son of a thousand gold, don't sit down in the hall, and the sage can't put himself in danger."

"It's okay, Li Yan is still a gentleman." Chongzhen said, "If you are worried, you can let Jin Qing and Wu Batan go out with me."

Several civil servants had nothing to say.

Because Li Yan had already arrived in front of the formation, he only brought two followers with him.

Immediately Chongzhen brought Jin Xuan and Wu Batan to the front of the battle.

"Your Majesty is easy to calculate." Li Yan said quietly, "You expected today, right?"

Chongzhen smiled slightly and said: "Li Yan, what I said in the Chahar Grassland still counts. It is still too late for you to abandon the dark and turn to the bright. I promise not to pursue the past."

Li Yan said: "You have long expected that Wu Sangui has the heart of disobedience, and Jiannu will raise troops in a large scale. There must be a battle between my Dashun army and Wu Sangui and Jiannu, right?"

Chongzhen: "If there is no result following Li Zicheng, get lost and return."

Li Yan said: "You even predicted that our Dashun army would be defeated, right?"

Chongzhen: "Only when you serve the imperial court will you have the opportunity to display what you have learned all your life and your ambitions."

Li Yan said: "But there is one thing that I don't understand. The Holy One has such a calculation and the ability to use troops. Why did Yuji refuse to go to the imperial conquest for seventeen years? Otherwise, how could there be today?"

Chongzhen finally answered Li Yan positively this time: "Just before you broke the city, I had a dream. In the dream, Emperor Taizu Gao and Emperor Chengzu Wen taught me the experience of using soldiers throughout their lives. Do you believe it?"

Li Yan smiled and said: "How many people will believe such nonsense?"

"Look." Chongzhen spread his hands and said, "Nobody believes the truth."

"It doesn't matter whether the truth is true or not." Li Yan waved his hand and said, "No matter what, Da Ming's strength is exhausted, and it is already a fact that I, Da Shun Dai Ming, don't make unnecessary struggles, Your Majesty."

Chongzhen said: "If you just want to tell me these things today, then that's enough. I'm still in a hurry, why don't you just say goodbye?"

"It seems that I can't persuade the Holy Master." Li Yan shook his head, and said, "Then let someone else persuade you."

After saying this, he turned his head and waved his hands and shouted: "Come here, bring the false Ming prince, King Ding, and King Yong."

"Prince?" Jin Xuan's heart skipped a beat, he looked up quickly, and saw a group of thieves escorting three brocade-clothed youths out of the queue.

Chongzhen frowned slightly, was he planning to blackmail him with Zhu Cihong and his three brothers?It's really tricky.

Seeing this, Wang Jiayan and others who were guarding the formation, fearing that the bandits would be deceitful, hurried forward with a team of cavalry, only to find out that the three prince brothers came out of the bandit formation.

"Prince? King Ding, King Yong!" Wang Jiayan said overjoyed.

"Father, my son is inconvenient, so I can't salute you."

The three Zhu Cihong brothers were tied behind their backs, and they could only pay attention to Chongzhen.

Along with Wang Jiayan came Zhan Shifu Zuo Zhongyun Liu Lishun, and the three brothers Zhu Cihong looked at Liu Lishun and called them masters.

Liu Lishun was one of the lecturers Chongzhen found for the three brothers Zhu Cihong.

Liu Lishun returned the salute, glared at Li Yan and shouted, "Li Yan is a traitor, what do you want?"

Li Yan ignored Liu Lishun, and just said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, I have no other intention to bring the three brothers of the prince to see you today. I just want to tell you that if you surrender and abdicate, you can not only reunite father and son, but also save Zhu. The family is rich and honorable!"

"Otherwise?" Chongzhen asked coldly.

Li Yan said: "Otherwise, we can only burn jade and stone together!"

After a pause, he said again: "Not only are the three prince brothers doomed to die, but you, the Holy One, do you really think you can escape? Are you thinking too simply of the current situation?"

"You will win today, and the final result will be the same."

"You might as well tell the Holy Majesty that I have already informed Liu Fangliang, the General of the Left Battalion stationed in Baoding, and Yuan Zongdi, the General of the Right Battalion stationed in Henan. If you set up a world-wide net, Your Majesty, you will never be able to reach Nanjing."

"If I can get to Nanjing, I don't need to worry about it." Chongzhen stretched out his hand and pointed at the three brothers Zhu Cihong and said, "It's just that my three emperors are really innocent, and I hope you will release them with a high hand. If so , then I am very grateful, and I will definitely be rewarded in the future."

Li Yan said: "If the Holy Majesty returns, father and son will naturally be reunited."

After a pause, he revealed his murderous intent: "If the Holy Majesty insists on going his own way, not only the Holy Majesty himself will not be able to protect himself, but the three heirs may also die!"

"presumptuous!"

"Dare thieves!"

Wang Jiayan and Liu Lishun were furious.

"Father, please listen to my son's words."

Amidst the noise, the voice of Prince Zhu Cihong suddenly sounded: "Mr. Sima once said that a person is mortal, and it may be heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than a feather, and it will vary according to what you use it for."

"Compared with my great Ming Jiangshan Sheji, my ministers are like a feather."

"Father, please go south to stay in the capital quickly to reorganize the rivers and mountains, and don't need to worry about your sons and ministers."

Hearing this, Wang Jiayan, Liu Lishun and other ministers just lamented that the Crown Prince was aware of the overall situation, but Li Yan and Chongzhen's expressions changed. They had already heard the Prince's farewell intention.

The prince is only fifteen years old, so young, how can he have such courage?
"Be careful!" Li Yan shouted immediately, "Don't let him commit suicide!"

Before Li Yan finished speaking, Zhu Cihong slammed his neck into the blade of the thief general beside him.

Fortunately, the thief general reacted quickly enough, and when there was no time to move, he suddenly withdrew the knife, and finally avoided Zhu Cihong's neck, but still left a streak of blood on his face, and the blood flowed profusely in an instant, which looked very scary.

"His Royal Highness?!" Wang Jiayan, Liu Lishun and other ministers almost went crazy on the spot when they saw this.

"Father, you don't have to worry about your ministers, I will bid you farewell!" In the confusion, there was another loud roar, and everyone looked intently, but it was Zhu Cijiong, the King of Ding, who slammed headfirst into the thief's blade beside him.

Fortunately, this time the thief general was prepared, and he stretched out his hand to hold Zhu Cijiong's little head.

Zhu Cijiong's angry eyes widened and he struggled and shouted: "Father, don't worry about us, let's go!"

Seeing this, Yongwang Zhu Cizhao burst into tears. After all, he was only an eleven-year-old child.

There was a moment of chaos in front of the bandits, and Wu Ba Tan and Jin Xuan wanted to rush up to snatch them, but Chong Zhen stopped them with his hand.

Don't act rashly at this time, otherwise it will easily lead to a melee. Although the Ming army has four thousand cavalry, it is okay to bluff people, but if they really fight, they may not be able to fight.

Even if he could fight, Chongzhen didn't want to fight.

Because he only had such a little force on hand, he couldn't afford to consume it.

What's more, if they really wanted to fight, they might end up hurting Zhu Cihong and the others.

Perhaps it is possible to put pressure on Li Yan from the moral level, force him to let go, and then persuade him to retreat.

It wasn't until the thief doctor stopped Zhu Cihong's bleeding and bandaged the wound that Chongzhen said: "Li Yan, last time you told me in Hara Hetao that Junzi Zhize was killed by the fifth generation. It can be seen that you have also read Mencius's Lilou chapter sentence, There is a saying in it, "He who loves others will always love him", do you remember?"

Li Yandao: "Mencius said: The reason why a gentleman is different from others is because of his heart. A gentleman has benevolence in his heart and propriety in his heart. A benevolent man loves others, and a courteous man respects others..."

"That's enough, there's no need to memorize it anymore." Chongzhen said, "Let me ask you, do you have any benevolence in what you say and do today? Do you have etiquette in your eyes? What did you do? Don’t you feel ashamed when you keep saying that you must call yourself a gentleman?”

Li Yan remained silent, with a really ashamed look on his face.

In fact, it was not his intention to bring Zhu Cihong and his three brothers to blackmail Chongzhen.

Li Yan's original intention was to tell Chongzhen that his three sons were safe and sound, so as to ease Chongzhen's heart and encourage him to surrender with peace of mind, but it turned out to be the current situation.

At this time, Zhu Cihong shouted again: "I tell my father, my son is determined to go on a hunger strike today, and use the bandits to blackmail my father!"

"The prince is not allowed!" Liu Lishun was shocked.

Wang Jiayan also said: "The crown prince is the foundation of the country, you should not commit suicide!"

"It doesn't matter." Zhu Cihong said with a smile, "Father is only in his thirties, and he is in his prime. After arriving in Liudu, he will choose a few concubines. Why worry about not having a new heir?"

As soon as the words fell, Zhu Cijiong, Ding Wang on the other side, also said: "Father, the sons and ministers are the same!"

Only the youngest Zhu Cizhao was still crying.

Seeing this human tragedy of farewell between father and son, Li Yan finally couldn't bear his conscience.

In the final analysis, Li Yan is a traditional Confucian student, and morality and etiquette have taken root in his thinking.

But it is impossible for him to let Zhu Cihong and his three brothers go. If he really lets go of Zhu Cihong and his three brothers, Li Yan's personal integrity will be preserved, but it will damage the interests of the Dashun Dynasty. The righteousness of the monarch and his ministers will be defaced.

At that moment, Li Yan said solemnly: "Your Majesty is right, but I am wrong. However, it is absolutely impossible to release the Crown Prince, King Ding and King Yong, but I can assure you that no matter today, our Dashun Army and the Ming Army will fight in the end. Whether it is victory or defeat, I will definitely ensure the safety of the three prince brothers, and will never vent my anger."

(End of this chapter)