Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 97
As the Di newspaper is distributed across the country, the drastic changes in the capital will inevitably shock the local area!

However, not all places can be involved with the capital like Baoding. It is not yet known what kind of situations will arise in different places.

However, the atmosphere here in the capital is completely different from that in Baoding.

In the Wenhua Hall, Prince Zhu Cixiang was sitting at the top, and several cabinet ministers, six ministers, etc. had already stood up, all asking the same question.

No, after Ni Yuanlu, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, finished his report, Fan Jingwen, the chief minister of the cabinet, continued: "Nowadays, all the yamen are panic-stricken and have no intention of doing anything. It is said that Your Majesty actually wants to abandon the capital and go south to Yingtianfu. Your Highness should know what your Majesty is personally conquering." I'd better ask for instructions!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cixiang immediately shook his head and said: "Those are all rumors. My father is going on a personal expedition to save the Ming Dynasty. How could he abandon the capital and go south!"

It sounded like the prince had no intention to say anything, so Jiang Dejing followed suit and said, "In this case, please show your Majesty your Majesty's arrangements. This will also reassure people's hearts!"

Several other important officials in the imperial court heard this and all agreed.

In the past few days, there have been rumors in the capital that the emperor was unable to move, so he led his troops out on the pretext of a personal expedition. In fact, he was hiding. If the capital was safe, he would return, and if the capital was in danger, he would lead his troops south.

In addition, the capital side prohibited anyone in the city from leaving the capital with property, which also aroused great public outrage.Of course, this so-called public anger must be those who have money, wealth and the ability to escape the capital.

Under the instigation of thoughtful people, the news of the emperor's move south has spread throughout the capital, so that people are panicking, and many people feel that the end is coming.

At the beginning, the Jinyi Wei Colonel and the Dongchang Fanyu arrested a group of people who spread these messages, but unfortunately there were too many people and they could not catch them.

Nowadays, many yamen are on strike, and they all want to escape from the capital.

However, Zhu Cixiang kept his father's words in mind and shook his head and said: "My father has only been away for a few days. When the time is right, I will announce my father's personal conquest!"

Fan Jingwen was very embarrassed after hearing this, and asked: "Your Highness, why can't you announce your Majesty's purpose? If so, I'm afraid I won't be able to suppress the people below and won't be able to do anything!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Fang Yuegong also followed suit, "People's hearts are fluctuating, and they would rather believe that they have something than believe that they have nothing. In panic, I am afraid that things will eventually get out of hand!"

After hearing this, Zhu Cixi thought for a moment and said, "Just wait a little longer. My father wants to deal with the civil and military officials, eunuchs and the army who are secretly colluding with thieves. If the news leaks out, I'm afraid his success will be ruined!"

Hearing this, the courtiers in the Wenhua Palace were stunned.Afterwards, they came to their senses, and Fan Jingwen asked tentatively: "Did Emperor Taizu suggest it?"

"Yes!" Zhu Cixiang nodded after hearing this, "So don't be impatient. My father's affairs are related to the Ming Dynasty. I will wait a few days and announce to the world my father's personal conquest!"

Hearing this, Fan Jingwen and others stopped talking.

As far as they are concerned, they actually don’t believe those rumors.At least for Fan Jingwen, when he first requested to fight for the emperor in person, the emperor's words of "horse-leather shroud" were still in his ears, and his true feelings were revealed. They were true and not false.

If the emperor is really as rumored, then he can only say that the emperor's palace is so deep that he cannot tell the difference from his many years of experience in the ups and downs of officialdom.

However, he and his colleagues believed in the emperor, but those who worked underneath and the ordinary people in the capital did not understand the emperor, and they believed the rumors that the emperor would go south to Yingtian Mansion!

This is difficult!
Come on, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has said that it will affect what the emperor does, and then affect the Ming Dynasty. But if you don’t say it, just a few of them believe that without the cooperation of the subordinates, the government will be paralyzed!
They didn't commit any crime, but they stopped doing things because they were flustered. You can't tie them up to do things, right?Even if someone is replaced, don't say that they are not skilled in doing things. The key is that they may not be able to do things well if they change people. People are all panicked and feel that they have been abandoned by the emperor!
With this thought in his mind, Fan Jingwen, the first assistant, felt that his hair was going gray again. Just when he didn't know what to do, he heard footsteps coming from outside. Then, he heard a chamberlain enter the door of the palace and report: " Your Highness, Commander-in-Chief Li sent someone to ask for an audience, saying that a group of Jingying children from Xuanfu have arrived outside the city, how should they be accommodated?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cixi stood up immediately and asked happily: "Are you from the Jingying Primary School in Xuanfu?"

I have been to Jingying Family Primary School in Jizhen and Baoding before, but I haven’t finished my visit and there are more to follow.But he heard clearly, this time it was the Jingying Family Primary School in Xuanfu, and he was pleasantly surprised.

To be honest, although he listened to his father and insisted not to tell where his father was, he was actually under a lot of pressure.He was afraid that he would betray his father's trust and make the capital a mess.

When Fan Jingwen and others heard this, they were also surprised. It turned out to be the Jingying family primary school in Xuanfu?As far as they know, the sources of the soldiers in the Beijing Camp are not from the Xuanfu!

At this time, after receiving confirmation from the chamberlain, Zhu Cixiang happily said to the first assistant: "Now I can say that my father led the troops to save Ningwuguan. But there are both Xuanfu and Datong. He is the commander-in-chief of thieves, so the whereabouts of my father cannot be leaked, and now it is possible!"

The young soldiers selected by the Xuanfu to enter the capital camp have all arrived in the capital, which means that his father has taken care of local affairs, and there will be no problem.

Fan Jingwen and others were surprised to hear this. For them, they naturally did not know that after the battle of Ningwuguan, Datong Xuanfu and other places would surrender without a fight, and Li Zicheng's army would easily approach the capital city.But now that they knew why the emperor didn't announce the itinerary, they were relieved.

However, he was a little worried immediately and said: "Your Majesty has just led more than [-] cavalry troops. Even if you add the border troops from Xuanfu and Datong, there are millions of Li thieves in Jin. The situation is still... It’s still very dangerous!”

As far as military strength is concerned, based on Fan Jingwen's experience, he may not have known that Li Zicheng's so-called army of one million was an exaggeration. The combined strength of the border troops should be enough to fight.However, the key thing is that he did not believe in Emperor Chongzhen.Because Emperor Chongzhen had never led troops to fight before.

As soon as he led the troops, he was in a decisive battle with Li Thief's main army. If he didn't worry, he would be a ghost!

Compared with his worries, Zhu Cixiang was more confident in his father. He immediately comforted Fan Jingwen and said, "Don't worry, chief minister. My father, Emperor Taizu, gave me some advice and gave him great power. I am sure that Emperor Taizu will never lose if he personally passes it on." Yes. We just need to do our duty and guard the capital!"

To this day, he still remembers how majestic his father was when he led the troops on the expedition.Just rush here, how could you be defeated by a mere thief!
Fan Jingwen felt the prince's admiration for his father and couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. However, they did not deny that if the current emperor really had the skills passed down from Emperor Taizu, he would certainly be able to win.But, is it really possible to personally teach Emperor Taizu the ability to lead troops in war?

No matter what, the emperor's whereabouts were finally known. Fan Jingwen and others felt relieved and went back immediately to appease the people of the capital.

However, this question has always been there in their minds.

To dispel their doubts, it is actually very simple, just use victory to dispel them!

………………

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was also rejoicing, because he had just received news that Yanmen Pass had been captured.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, it's not surprising.

Because Yanmen Pass itself is the jurisdiction of Zhou Yuji, the commander-in-chief of the three passes, Ningwuguan is the middle of the three passes and can reinforce Yanmen Pass at any time.Among them, the traffic arteries, dangerous layout, etc. were definitely not as familiar to Zhou Yuji as the bandits who had just occupied Yanmen Pass.

In addition, the bandit army mainly attacks Ningwuguan. They naturally believe that Ningwuguan has absolutely no extra troops to attack Yanmenguan. After all, Yanmenguan was abandoned by Zhou Yuji on his own initiative. If he had enough troops, could he give up?
For this reason, it is reasonable to take Yanmen Pass by surprise.

However, no matter what, Emperor Chongzhen was very happy and immediately ordered Fang Zhenghua to record the achievements of the soldiers in capturing Yanmen Pass and wait for the war to recount the achievements.

Then, he asked Zhou Yuji next to him: "Now that Yanmen Pass has been closed, the bandits will know that you have received reinforcements. What should we do next?"

The shouts of killing at Ningwu Pass continued. They could be heard clearly here in the General Military Mansion, but no one paid any attention to that. They listened to Zhou Yuji telling Emperor Chongzhen: "Now we have two passes, Datong, Yanghe and Xuan." The mansion will no longer be attacked by the bandits, and you can rest assured about farming. But on the bandits’ side, one thing remains uncertain, that is, when will the bandits know that it is His Majesty’s personal expedition?”

Having said this, he paused and then explained: "Your Majesty's safety is of paramount importance, and the bandits must be the most concerned about it. Therefore, the general believes that if the bandits know whether your majesty is at Ningwuguan, they will definitely adopt different strategies!"

Emperor Chongzhen listened and nodded in agreement.

If he had been replaced by Li Zicheng, he would definitely have different ideas if he heard that the emperor was in Ningwuguan and that the emperor was not in Ningwuguan!
If he could be caught as the emperor in Jin, it would be half the battle for Li Zicheng.

The reason why I say half of it is because there was a precedent in the Ming Dynasty where the emperor was arrested but still refused to surrender!With this in mind, Emperor Chongzhen said patiently: "What do you think Li Thief will do in my presence or absence?"

After Zhou Yuji heard this, he directly replied without thinking: "The general thought that if the traitor Li knew that His Majesty was at Ningwuguan, he might continue to attack and try to capture Ningwuguan or Yanmen Pass to block His Majesty here, or even It would be better to catch him!”

Emperor Chongzhen listened, nodded, and asked: "What if Thief Li doesn't know?"

"If you don't know, but you know that the general has reinforcements here, he will be able to capture Yanmen Pass. For Li Thief, it is equivalent to closing the door for Li Thief to go north. If he wants to attack forcefully, he will have to pay a greater price The price. The general thought that maybe he would go east out of Beizhili, enter Zhending via Guguan, and then attack the capital!"

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen naturally did not want Li Zicheng to lead his army to leave Jin and go directly to the capital.

On the North China Plain, if the two armies fight, they will really compete for their military strength.

Emperor Chongzhen was self-aware. His army was just pieced together and had not been trained together. A battle between the two armies on the plains would be a disaster.

Therefore, he asked Zhou Yuji: "In this case, how about I show up on my own initiative and tell Thief Li that I am here, attracting Thief Li to continue to spend his troops here!"

Zhou Yuji actually had this plan in mind, but he also had concerns, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, the military strategy is so good, but if it is really like this, it will put Your Majesty in danger, and the general will be really uneasy!"

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately laughed and said: "Qing Zhou is looking down on me! How can I care about the danger since I am leading troops on an expedition?"

When He Zan, who was standing by the side, heard this, he also smiled and said to Zhou Yuji: "Your Majesty, Emperor Taizu, reminds me that the skills of riding and shooting and lance have improved rapidly, which is not what Marshal Zhou expected!"

Zhou Yuji had never seen Emperor Chongzhen practicing archery and spear training, because he had always been stationed at Ningwuguan.If he didn't show up and other general soldiers came instead, it would be easy for the thieves to discover the flaw, and thus the reinforcements would be discovered earlier.

At this time, when he heard what He Zan said, he was surprised and remembered that the emperor came to reinforce him day and night.If he was still the emperor in his impression, just riding this horse would be impossible for the emperor!

Thinking of this, Zhou Yuji couldn't help but want to see what the emperor's battlefield skills were, so that he could have an idea.

Just at this time, the shouts of killing had subsided. It was obvious that the siege was over.

So, he reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, can you go to the martial arts field and let the general see you?"

He only came down from the top of the city after hearing the news of the victory at Yanmen Pass. It was normal for him to be away from the top of the city occasionally. This happened to be the end of a war, so he had time to see how the emperor was doing.

Emperor Chongzhen was very interested after hearing this, and immediately said: "I also want to know how my battlefield skills are. Let's go to the martial arts field and let's compete!"

Zhou Yuji was one of the most powerful generals in the late Ming Dynasty. If he fought with him, he would know how much he weighed!

He Zan and Fang Zhenghua looked at each other, both smiling, and obviously wanted to see the result.

So, a group of people moved from the General Military Mansion to the martial arts field in the city.

The news spread along the way, and when the soldiers who had not been fighting in a round heard that the emperor was going to compete with Marshal Zhou, they all immediately became interested. There were no restrictions in military orders, so they gathered in the martial arts field.

However, the space in the martial arts arena was limited and many people couldn't squeeze in, so they had to guess outside.

To them, Zhou Yuji's illustrious reputation was there because most of them believed that it was impossible for the emperor to compare with their Marshal Zhou.

However, for the soldiers who followed the emperor from the capital to Ningwuguan, they had seen the emperor's supernatural power and even the emperor's archery skills, so they had a different view. They felt that although Zhou Yuji was a fierce general, the emperor was not. It’s hard to say who is stronger and who is weaker among vegetarians.

Generally speaking, I still prefer Zhou Yuji. After all, Zhou Yuji is a veteran on the battlefield, and the emperor has never been on the battlefield.

At the martial arts arena, the onlookers were all very interested. It seemed that Ningwuguan was no longer a place for bloody battles, but an ordinary place where a ring was set up to watch the excitement.

When Emperor Chongzhen arrived at the martial arts field, he suddenly remembered something and said to Zhou Yuji: "Since it is a battlefield skill, let's try to be as similar as possible!"

Zhou Yuji was a little puzzled after hearing this, and then heard him order Fang Zhenghua: "Get the armor, I will be the same as when I went into battle to kill the enemy!"

At this time, he was only wearing cotton armor and leather armor. Under normal circumstances, iron armor was not worn.

Zhou Yuji, on the other hand, was wearing two layers of armor and did not take it off because he came down from the top of the city.

Zhou Yuji was a little surprised when he heard the emperor's request. With the iron armor, it was triple armor, which was not something ordinary people could wear!
Others were also shocked, especially Zhou Yuji's men, but after hearing this, they began to look at the emperor with admiration.

The iron armor arrived soon. Under the service of Fang Zhenghua, Emperor Chongzhen immediately put on the iron armor, helmet and faceplate. He carried a bow and arrow, a short-handled spear, and a sword at his waist.

After putting it on, he stretched his arms and legs to make himself feel most comfortable.

Seeing Emperor Chongzhen's movements, he seemed to be very relaxed. All the people present were soldiers. They immediately knew how difficult it was to wear triple armor, and they all took a breath.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't feel it himself, but felt that he was almost done, so he looked at Zhou Yuji through his visor and said, "What should we compete with? How about bowing and arrowing first, and then fighting?"

Zhou Yuji said nothing from the beginning to the end, and kept watching silently. He was shocked at how much the emperor had changed, and he really couldn't recognize him anymore.When he heard the emperor speak, he immediately nodded in agreement.

The martial arts arena is relatively small, and the farthest archery target is only a hundred steps away.

Zhou Yuji imitated the emperor's behavior, put down his visor, equipped his own weapons, and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the last general has to show his humiliation first!"

The reason why he wanted to do this was to let the emperor know that fighting on the battlefield was no child's play. He would use his real skills to show the emperor, so as not to make the emperor happy at this time and underestimate the danger of the battlefield.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't think much, nodded and said to Zhou Yuji: "Zhou Qing comes first!"

He was curious and really wanted to see Zhou Yuji's archery skills first.

After Zhou Yuji responded, he moved very quickly, and immediately "swish, swish, swish" three arrows, and all three arrows hit the bull's-eye.

Then, he turned around, looked at Emperor Chongzhen and said: "This kind of rifle shot can hit the target at a distance of a hundred steps, and there are many in the bandit army!"

He just wanted to tell Emperor Chongzhen that the battlefield is dangerous and he must not underestimate his opponents.

Even so, the emperor might think that he was intimidating the emperor, which would make him unhappy.However, he was responsible for the emperor's safety, and this was definitely not the time to flatter him.

Emperor Chongzhen listened, but he didn't care at all. He nodded and said, "I know, then I'm here!"

After saying that, he took action!

(End of this chapter)