Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 208 Li Zicheng is here!
Chongzhen's face turned green. You captured my uncle and came to me as a token of your allegiance?
Zhu Changxun was the most beloved prince of Chongzhen's grandfather, the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun. The Wanli Emperor fought with court officials to make him the crown prince.

This "struggle for the foundation of the country" lasted for 15 years. The emperor deliberately avoided court, and in the end, all important officials including four cabinet chiefs and more than ten ministerial officials were dismissed. More than 4 officials at all levels of the central and local governments were implicated, of which more than 10 were dismissed, removed from office or exiled.

In the end, the civil service group won a tragic victory. The fiefdom chosen by Wanli for his beloved son Zhu Changxun was in Luoyang, a place with a prosperous economy at the time.

If the throne could not be passed on to him, he could only enjoy a lifetime of wealth and glory. Emperor Wanli also granted Prince Fu 4 hectares of fertile land. Since there was a shortage of land in the Luoyang area, he would take land from Shandong and Huguang to make up for it. In addition, the salt tax in the canal area was handed over to Prince Fu for collection.

Chongzhen was stunned for a long time before he suddenly reacted. He quickly took the paper and pen and wrote on it: "This Prince Fu is the face of the Ming court. Since you can capture him, you are very brave. I look forward to your arrival."

"I have never seen the rebel king of the Ming Dynasty. Please do not harm his life and bring him to Wuchang to see him..."

What I mean is, you are great and I welcome you, but I have never met the vassal of the Ming Dynasty, so I hope you don't hurt him.

After writing it, he handed it to Lao Han and said, "Hurry up and deliver this letter to Li Dingguo. If necessary, kill him on the spot."

As a captain of the Jinyiwei, Old Han naturally understood what he meant and whispered back, "Don't worry, Prince Xin. I will definitely deliver the letter to the other party as quickly as possible."

Seeing Old Han disappearing, Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming ran over from outside in a panic, "What happened?"

Chongzhen immediately told Prince Xiang about this. After hearing this, the latter stamped his feet anxiously and said, "This is... the flood has washed away the Dragon King Temple. Is this a family attacking another family?"

"Father, why are you here?" Chongzhen asked when he saw Prince Xiang coming hurriedly.

"Oh, I almost forgot something." Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming looked around, "It's already September, how are you going to deal with your imperial examination? The time is almost up. Even if you can't enter the capital this year, you can't give up!"

Chongzhen was suddenly stunned when he heard this. With so many things happening these days, he actually forgot about the imperial examination.

King Xiang sighed, "You know, I was raised like a pig by your grandfather. He was always afraid that I would do something wrong since I was a child. He didn't let me do anything, so I ended up not being able to do anything.

"There are some things that father can't help you with much, so don't complain."

These days, King Xiang felt really distressed seeing his son busy as a vassal. But it was not until this moment that he realized that he, as a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, had really accomplished nothing.

If you don't have martial arts skills, you can't lead troops, let alone knowledge and experience.

I could only stare and was unable to help.

"Father, your good health is my greatest comfort." Chongzhen took a deep breath, his eyes reddened a little, he wiped his eyes unnoticeably, "It's getting late, father, go to bed early."

……

At the same time, the streets of Wuchang Prefecture were decorated with lights and colors.

The Wuchang Conference was held on September 18th. Now it is September 10th and the countdown has officially begun.

Leaders of dozens of bandit gangs and various rebel kings from the four surrounding provinces also began to arrive one after another.

On the way to Wuchang Prefecture, Lao Hui met the rebel king Li Wanqing, and the two teams traveled together.

"Since the year before last when Prince Gao Chuang was unfortunately captured and killed by the imperial court, the situation of our peasant army has taken a sharp turn for the worse. Now that Prince Xin has risen and defeated Zuo Liangyu, we have finally convened another anti-prince conference."

"Yes!" Li Wanqing sighed, "There are only a few of the 13 families in Xingyang left now. Who would have thought that even Zhang Xianzhong is dead?"

He Yilong couldn't help but shake his head, "The new generation replaces the old generation!"

He Jin and Xu Kebian also fell silent.

The thirteen families of Xingyang originally thought that the next step would be a great one, but they did not expect that it would be the most glorious time in their lives. Now Li Zicheng was defeated, Zhang Xianzhong died, Luo Rucai, Liu Guoneng, and Ma Jinzhong surrendered.
Seeing this, Lao Huihui comforted everyone and said, "The situation is not as difficult as you think. Now that Prince Xin has risen, we can go to him and the road ahead will not necessarily be worse than before."

Li Wanqing looked at the four people, "Have you really decided? If we join forces and go there, we will have to follow their lead from now on."

Why become a rebel king, risking death and living in fear? Isn't it just to live a carefree life and to build a foundation?
The risk is high, but the reward may also be the greatest.

In the end, maybe he will become a king or an emperor.

But if you belong to someone else, it would be equivalent to giving up the qualification to be king.

"I've thought it through." Old Hui looked at the Wuchang City within his reach. "There are so many rebel kings in the Ming Dynasty. How can all of them be kings?"

He gave up the qualification to be king, but the corresponding risks were also reduced. After joining Prince Xin's team, his strength became stronger. Even if he could not become king in the future, it should not be a problem for him to be granted a title of nobility.

Seeing that the old Huihui was determined, Li Wanqing stopped trying to persuade him.

"Let's go into the city!"

"Enter the city!"

As soon as they arrived at the foot of the city, a soldier came forward and said, "Wuchang City is about to hold an anti-king meeting. Everyone is requested to dismount."

Li Wanqing frowned, "Are all the people getting off their horses?"

“Brother Li, even Prince Xin has dismounted, so don’t insist.” The old Huihui had been here once before and knew the rules.

Wherever Prince Xin passed, except for messengers and important soldiers who were allowed to ride horses in the city, no one else was allowed to ride horses in the city.

He set an example himself and the people all praised him.

Upon hearing this rule, Li Wanqing handed the horse to his subordinates and walked into Wuchang City with Lao Huihui, He Yilong and others.

In the afternoon, Li Zicheng's troops also arrived in Wuchang City. Hearing his adopted son Li Shuangxi talking about this rule, he couldn't help but look at Niu Jinxing who came over with sharp eyes.

Niu Jinxing's eyes showed fear, "He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. This shows how ambitious this man is!"

Since ancient times, all those who wanted to gain power as rebels were masters at manipulating people’s hearts.

Because only the people's hearts can attract more people to join the team. If you lose the people's hearts, you will inevitably be abandoned by the people and eliminated by history.

Li Zicheng pondered for a moment, handed the horse to his subordinates, and then stepped into Wuchang City.

Just like when Li Yan stepped into Wuchang Prefecture, his eyes suddenly widened.

There are tall buildings on both sides of the street, with brightly colored carvings and paintings on the roof ridges.

The streets are filled with the cries of hawkers.

The street stalls are filled with a wide variety of snacks, fruits, groceries, etc., and the aroma is everywhere.

Citizens walked around, shopping, chatting, or doing business.

In the center of the street, a juggling show attracted the surrounding audience. The acrobats' agility drew applause and cheers.

Children are running carefree in the streets
"Godfather, I didn't lie to you!" Li Shuangxi was not very old. He followed his father to rebel when he was only twelve or thirteen years old. Later, his father died in the battle, so he recognized Li Zicheng as his godfather. Now he is just a young man under twenty years old. Looking at the things in front of him, he was deeply attracted.

But Li Zicheng was not too excited. Instead, his brows were furrowed even deeper. He did not look at those colorful things, but at a notice in an open space.

"The former inspector of the Ministry of Revenue was unfilial and unrighteous. In order to avoid returning home to mourn, he concealed the news of his father's death."

Ok?
"Why is Prince Xin's announcement so similar to the imperial edict?" Niu Jinxing's expression was also extremely ugly. "He even cares about matters like mourning?"

This is truly unimaginable.

The ancients attached great importance to filial piety. After the death of their parents, they would return home to observe mourning for three years, which was called Dingyou.

The reason why it is three years is because Confucian sages believe that everyone grows up in the arms of his or her parents for three years after birth.

These three years are the most tiring for parents, so we need three years to repay their kindness.

That's true, but it's not realistic. Now that your father is gone, of course you have to go home.

But if you go back three years, you will have to give up the career you have worked so hard for and give your position to your competitors.

When you come back three years later, you won’t have to take the imperial examination again, but the connections and reputation you have accumulated will disappear, and all your efforts will be wasted.

You don't have to go back to show your filial piety. You have to wait for three years alone. You don't even know whether you are filial or not.

Even though you were unwilling and unconvinced, you didn't have the courage to confront your superiors face to face, and you didn't fight them alone.

For thousands of years, those who have ruled the world with filial piety have known that being disrespectful to parents is a great disrespect and can result in death.

Li Shuangxi bought a string of candied haws and ate them while retorting, "You're overthinking it. How could the official documents of the rebel king be similar to those of the imperial court?"

"Really? You know I was a juren before, so I am very familiar with the court documents. I feel like I am like the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Youjian."

Niu Jinxing was once a juren who was stripped of his official title. He had an inexplicable feeling towards the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Youjian.

He even refuted all of Zhu Youjian's orders among the people one by one.

"All official documents in the world are similar. It is possible that someone borrowed the format from Zhu Youjian."

Li Zicheng shook his head and continued to read the contents of the document. "I seem to have heard of this person. I have to say that Prince Xin did much better than us. Before this, I never thought that it was possible to use such crimes of the court to reap the bureaucrats and gentry."

The notice said that this Ministry of Revenue official from Wuchang Prefecture had just returned home to mourn his father's death this year. He had to kowtow every day, and his kowtow was loud. He looked haggard in front of guests all day long.

He also built a shed in front of his father's grave and guarded it day and night.

Not afraid of wind and rain.

He was a well-known filial son throughout Wuchang Prefecture, and Li Zicheng had heard of his reputation in Henan.

But all this changed dramatically after Prince Xin entered Wuchang Prefecture.

Someone reported that he spent the first half of the night in front of the grave and went home to enjoy himself in the second half.

There are as many as thirty-six "skinny horses" in his house.

No ethics at all.

Niu Jinxing looked at the person on the notice and said, "I have heard of this person too. It is said that his reputation for filial piety has spread to the capital. Even the emperor knows about it and has even prepared a high position and generous salary for him. I didn't expect that Prince Xin would do it now!"

"This is the extraordinary quality of Prince Xin. He has made clear arrangements for things that even the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty could not resolve. What do you think the people will say?" Li Zicheng narrowed his eyes and straightened his back.

"Shuangxi, lead the way, let's go and pay a visit to this Prince Xin."

Li Shuangxi swallowed the remaining two candied haws in one gulp and said, "The Governor's Mansion is just two streets ahead. Just turn the corner and you'll arrive."

Wuchang, Governor's Office.

After the Governor of Huguang Gou Youquan fled with his family, this residence became Chongzhen's temporary residence and office.

"Jing Gongjie really deserves to die. He said that his father had passed away and he was too sad. He also said that his mother was in poor health and he had to take care of her. But all these things were just fake? Father, tell me, is this the case with the Ming Dynasty?"

Chongzhen was so angry that he slammed the bowl in his hand on the table. If he had not come to Wuchang Prefecture as a rebel, he would have been deceived by this man.

Now there is no way for me as an emperor to demote you, but as a traitor, I can directly demote you to the bottom, not only stripping you of your official position, but even killing you.

King Xiang scratched his head and said, "If you say that none of the tears they shed for their parents were real, I may not believe it, but if there were more than two, I also don't believe it."

Chongzhen bit his back teeth, his cheeks bulging, "Emperor Hongwu advocated ruling the world with filial piety, I didn't expect it to collapse like this!"

"It's not just Jing Gongjie who is hateful, but also the officials in Wuchang Prefecture. They all endorsed him and submitted memorials to the capital to promote his reputation as a filial son. Otherwise, how could the emperor's imperial edict to promote him by three levels arrive before he even returned to the capital?"

"They deserve to be killed, all of them!"

Prince Xiang asked in confusion, "The officials of Wuchang Prefecture submitted a memorial to the court, saying that the emperor promoted him three levels? I didn't even know that, how did you know?"

"This..." Chongzhen's eyes suddenly shrank, realizing that he had let something slip, and hurriedly explained: "Listen to Lao Han and the others..."

At this moment, Lao Han walked in from outside and saw that both of them were looking at him strangely and was a little confused.

Just as Prince Xiang was about to ask something, Chongzhen interrupted him, "Old Han, I remember you were on patrol, why did you come back so suddenly?"

Old Han immediately remembered the important matter, walked to Chongzhen's side, and whispered: "Prince Xin, the people below sent a message that Li Zicheng has entered Wuchang Prefecture."

"Ok?"

Chongzhen raised his head suddenly, "When did it happen?"

"A quarter of an hour ago, and now it is heading towards the Governor's Palace."

"Should I change my clothes?" Chongzhen clenched his fingers.

Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion.

After Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng became the rebel king that gave Chongzhen the most headaches. For countless days and nights, he lost his appetite and could not sleep, all because of Li Zicheng.

He hoped day and night that Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting could escort Li Zicheng to Beijing.

Now that he was suddenly going to see the other person in person, Chongzhen was actually a little nervous. He couldn't tell why.

(End of this chapter)