I have a cornucopia

Chapter 262: Tired, destroy it!

The emperor, who had no idea that he had been declared missing, was still swimming in the Yangtze River.

He even swam across the iron chain that locked the river...

After all, he was in the Yangtze River, actually drifting downstream, and it was winter now. The water was icy cold, and with his swimming skills, which were only good enough for swimming in a pond, it was a miracle that he didn't drown.

Around him were broken wood and floating corpses. He and Lao Wang, each holding a gourd, drifted in the rough river, approaching the north bank little by little. Behind them, there was still artillery fire, but it was getting farther and farther away, and only the sound of artillery like a summer thunderstorm continued to ring. The emperor, who had obviously lost his mind, kept cursing those traitors while drifting, repeating his words that all ministers could be killed over and over again, like a collapsed woman.

The old king was very calm...

He's used to it.

Following Chongzhen over the years has been a lot of hardship. Besides, compared with what happened at the Lugou River, this is actually not as good as what happened back then.

It's even worse than in Baoding city.

At least there were no charging cavalry around them, but they were being trampled and killed by cavalry on the Lugou River.

"Your Majesty, this is also an opportunity. At least you have gotten rid of Li Zicheng. In my opinion, we might as well hide our identities first. I still have some valuables on me. After we get ashore, we will find a dead person to change into their clothes to hide your identity. Then we can find a chance to find someone to change into coarse cloth clothes and find a way to leave here. Although Li Zicheng and Nanjing are both traitors, the world is not like this after all. How can Teng Jiao and others still be loyal? But he can't do that. He has to listen to the Huguang Elders Association, but the Duke of Qian and even those in Sichuan are still loyal to Your Majesty.

I also know the Duke of Qian, and he will protect Your Majesty.

If all else fails, we can go to Shandong. I always think Yang Feng will not die so easily."

He said as he looked at the reed marsh that was getting closer.

Of course, Yang Feng is not safe either. In fact, Yang Feng is the earliest traitor, but at least Yang Feng will not kill the Emperor.

That would make it difficult for him to face the princess in the future.

Lao Wang is still very confident about this.

As for the safest place, it is of course Mu Tianbo's place, but the problem is that it is too far away, and it is not easy to get to Yunnan safely.

As for He Tengjiao, he is definitely not an option.

He Tengjiao would indeed not kill the emperor, but it is hard to say how his subordinates, including the Huguang Elders Association behind him, would face the emperor.

The emperor was a hot potato to them. Li Zicheng could give up the emperor himself, but he would never allow others to get the emperor. Whoever got the emperor would be his enemy. If He Tengjiao accepted the emperor, Li Zicheng would surround Wuchang with his army the next day. Similarly, the Jiangnan elders would happily watch Li Zicheng turn to Huguang. After all, Huguang had already sent troops to cooperate with Li Zicheng. This was an enemy civil war, so of course they had to watch happily. The Huguang gentry would understand this. If the emperor really went to them, it would most likely be given to Li Zicheng or the ship would simply sink in the middle of the journey.

His Majesty the Emperor now has reached a point where he has no place to stay despite the vastness of the world.

Jiangnan no longer wanted him, and he had offended the Yi and San tribes before him. It was clear that Li Zicheng wanted to sacrifice him, and he would not have a good ending if he went back. The weaker ones did not dare to want him, and even the Jianlu would not want him.

He already has a son.

In fact, the current situation has exceeded the range that Lao Wang can handle, and he is now completely in the dark.

The only people he could trust and who were sure would not kill the king were Mu Tianbo and Yang Feng.

But Yang Feng is still missing!
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Why should I hide my head and show my tail? I'm the supreme ruler of the world. I'm going to go out with dignity. Let's see who dares to kill the emperor!

I will go back with an army of 200,000 to massacre Jiangnan!
Kill all the millions of soldiers in Jiangnan. The sword in the box is still stained with blood. I want to kill people like Emperor Taizu Gao! "

Chongzhen roared.

Old Wang looked at the reed marsh ahead with melancholy...

Who dares to kill the king?
How many times has this person been murdered?

Why aren’t you awake yet?
The 200,000 troops are Li Zicheng's 200,000 troops, not yours.

As the Emperor roared, they continued to drift forward. After an unknown amount of time, they finally followed the water into a reed marsh, and then gradually reached shallow water. They walked outwards in the thin ice and mud, shivering for about a quarter of an hour. Suddenly, they heard the sound of horse hooves outside, and the Emperor, who was almost frozen stiff, perked up...

The sound of horse hooves comes from the government troops, of course, Li Zicheng's government troops.

Previously, the boundary of the control area of ​​both sides was Qi River. Du Yinxi, the governor of Huguang, was originally stationed in Qizhou. In fact, he only had Qizhou and Guangji. Huangmei was still occupied by the Qing army. The west of Qi River was Hao Yaoqi's territory. After Du Yinxi took over the anti-rebel army, he directly gave up this meaningless control area. Li Zicheng's cavalry then moved eastward to occupy Qizhou, Guangji, and Wujiaxue, and completed the encirclement of the Xiaochi fortress group on the north bank. The latter had no ability to attack, but only defended the fortress. Therefore, the west of Longgan Lake was controlled by Li Zicheng's cavalry, and even the Qing army retreated to Huangmei.

I have to say that the situation in this area is really complicated. In fact, it was a three-way confrontation. But after Li Zicheng's 200,000 troops poured in, they all retreated to defend themselves.

Dorgon has used the annihilation of Babutai's army to test the improvement of Li Zicheng's strength. The current Li Zicheng is no longer the same as before. Unless he gathers all his forces, it will be really difficult to fight. An attack by a small group of local garrisons will only result in suicide and will also attract Li Zicheng's anger.

He was just there to watch the fun, but he couldn't get involved.

Therefore, Dorgon strictly prohibited the Qing army in Huangmei from leaving the city. As for himself, he now led the main force on the eastern front, confronting the armies of Gao Jie and Zhu Datian.

I, Prince Rui of the Qing Dynasty, have fallen to the point of confronting Gao Jie.

What a world!
But those bastard 10,000 servants, Liu Yuanqing's Shandong Corps in the north, Zhu Datian's Lianghuai militia, and Zhejiang New Army, these were really not something the ragtag Qing army could withstand.

"I'm here, who's the general outside?"

In the reeds covered with thin ice, His Majesty the Emperor quickened his pace and shouted anxiously.

In order to show his friendliness, he even deliberately learned the Guanzhong accent.

Lao Wang originally wanted to say something, but finally gave up. After all, given their current situation, if they continued walking they would be in danger of freezing to death. Anyway, it was already like this.

tired.

Destroy it!
As a loyal old slave, he was really exhausted.

"Here!"

Shouts were heard immediately from outside.

Then came the sound of cavalrymen marching through the reeds.

Chongzhen moved forward anxiously and soon saw a large number of cavalrymen. They also spotted the emperor. After all, the latter's red dragon robe was too eye-catching. They quickly surrounded him, and the leading officer ran straight to the front of His Majesty the Emperor...

"I'm here, come quickly!"

Chongzhen shouted with joy.

He was almost frozen and didn't notice that the latter were closing in on him.

Lao Wang did see it, but he just sighed.

The officer and his cavalry quickly stopped in front of Chongzhen, and he looked at the Emperor with interest.

"Are you the emperor?"

He said.

"I am the one. General, please send me to see the King of Qin."

Chongzhen said, "How can you look like an emperor? You have a pointed face and a gloomy face. You are in rags and have nothing on your head. You look like a beggar. How dare you pretend to be His Majesty? Although we have never seen His Majesty, we know His Majesty's majesty. Brothers, chop off this dog who pretends to be His Majesty. He dares to pretend to be the emperor. It is simply treason."

The officer said with contempt.

Chongzhen...

Lao Wang sighed.

"You can kill the king if you want. There has never been a king who has not perished since ancient times. But your fathers and grandfathers were once His Majesty's subjects, and they have been blessed by the Emperor for generations. Why do you have to humiliate His Majesty like this?"

He said.

"I'm sorry to make you laugh, old man. My father and grandfather all starved to death because of your majesty's grace. I am the only one left in my family. Grace?

I have never seen such a thing, but your Majesty has seen many corrupt officials."

The officer sneered.

They were ordered to search on the north bank to make sure Chongzhen didn't drown in the Yangtze River. In order to ensure that they could do it more cleanly, Li Zicheng deliberately selected such subordinates. In fact, there was no need to select them. Most of his confidants in the old camp were probably starved to death. Li Zicheng wanted Chongzhen to disappear. He had no choice but to become emperor. If he didn't want to, his subordinates would have to put on the yellow robe for him. What's more, Chongzhen was obviously not honest. He was jumping up and down these days. If the emperor continued to perform, there would be accidents.

It is better to end this special situation quickly and let His Majesty the Emperor end his performance!

Of course, Li Zicheng had proclaimed himself emperor before, but it was a makeshift team. What he needed now was a formal one...

In other words, it can be reluctantly accepted by all places, not as a thief, giving all parties a reason to accept it.

The King of Qin escorted the Emperor to the battlefield. The Emperor ignored the King of Qin's advice and insisted on informing the traitors in person to prevent the people from suffering. The traitors were so crazy that they bombarded the Emperor's carriage, causing the Emperor to fall into the water and his body to be destroyed. Because the Emperor had not appointed a crown prince and the prince was only an infant, the soldiers supported the King of Qin to become emperor in anger in order to avenge the Emperor. After the King of Qin became emperor, the country's name remained unchanged, and he made his adopted son Li Cixiong the crown prince and announced it to all quarters, calling on loyal officials to fight against the traitors who killed the emperor. The rest depended on the choices of various places, but at least according to Li Zicheng's calculations, most people would just sit back and watch.

He had no interest in other places. He could accept separatist autonomy in various places, no matter what the form, and it didn't even matter whether they were subject to him or not. It was enough for him to take over the three provinces. He didn't even mind taking those who were willing to be subject to him to rob the wealth of Jiangnan together.

What he wants now is not to unify the world.

At least not for now. In fact, even in the future, he doesn't have such ambition.

Therefore, he did not mind letting the world become the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. He only needed to be the nominal ruler of the world, while the powerful factions in various places could divide themselves into groups of heroes.

As for the future...

As a man without any offspring, there is no point in thinking about his future.

He has no offspring, so he doesn't really need to think about the future.

He just needs to satisfy his desire to be an emperor.

After all, he was never a man with lofty ambitions or the ambition to become a founding saint. He was just a bandit who was pushed around by the situation.

After all, his success was really sudden. Even until the 16th year of Chongzhen, he was still a bandit chased by Sun Chuanting, but he defeated Sun Chuanting, and then in just half a year, he completed the legend of entering the capital. It was precisely because he knew that his success was too fast and too sudden, so even if he became emperor, he did not have a stable rear and did not solve the problems in various places, so he chose to hold the emperor hostage in the capital to control the princes.

He needs some time to establish a solid base.

But now his foundation in Guanzhong is very solid, and other provinces are also in a state of separatism, or in other words, the empire has in fact collapsed, and there will no longer be a court like Hongguang that is accepted by all provinces.

There will no longer be any possibility of forming a joint force to deal with him.

Then he proclaimed himself emperor in this barely concealed way.

Even if various places still do not recognize him, there will not be a new Ming emperor, and even if there is, there will not be only one.

Warlords divided the country into different factions.

And he is the biggest one.

That’s enough, he is the same emperor as Zhu Wen.

At this time, His Majesty the Emperor finally came to his senses. He looked at the cavalrymen who had surrounded him and the swords in their hands...

"Rebel!"

He cursed with grief and indignation.

Lao Wang suddenly knelt down to the officer.

"General, the emperor has his own way of killing, and it cannot be done with a sharp blade. I beg the general to show mercy."

He said.

"It's really troublesome. When the government troops killed my whole family, they didn't use such a long-winded way. They didn't use swords or guns. There's not even a crooked tree here. We won't bring poison with you. Are we going to bury you alive? Then the brothers will have to dig a pit for you. Otherwise, you can go back and tie an iron whip on each of you. I think it will sink. I can give you one."

Another officer said impatiently.

"Forget it, let's just do a good deed and give them a ride!"

The officer said before.

As he said this, he walked to Chongzhen with a bow in his hand.

"Your Majesty, we will take you on your way!"

He said.

After saying that, he took off the bowstring and wrapped it around Chongzhen's neck. A soldier next to him dismounted and pulled the other side of the bowstring.

Chongzhen stood still and let each of them grab one side of the bowstring.

"I……"

He said.

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? I'm not asking you to sit in the palace, and you still want to give orders."

The officer said with contempt.

Then he and the soldier pulled the bowstrings at the same time.

His Majesty the Emperor instinctively reached out and grabbed his neck, struggling desperately in the suffocating feeling...

At this moment, something suddenly fell from the sky. Before they could react, it exploded under their feet. Then white smoke rose up, and then another one fell. The same white smoke rose up, and then a third one fell. As the white smoke exploded, the previous smoke had already spread among the cavalry. The horses first neighed in fear, and then fled like crazy...

"Ah, my eyes!"

"This smoke is poisonous!"

……

(End of this chapter)