Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 210 Why is Lady Hong here?
On the official road to Wuchang Prefecture, three hundred miles away from Yuexi Mountain, two women were staying in an inn.

"Boss, didn't you say you wouldn't attend the Wuchang Conference? Why did you change your mind?" Gui Ning grinned as he applied medicine to his thigh, which was rubbed raw from a day of riding a horse.

Gui Ning calls Hong Niangzi "Auntie". She is the child of his eldest sister, so compared with other people, she has fewer concerns when speaking.

If it weren't for Hongniang's sudden decision, she wouldn't have to travel for so many days.

"Is that what you can ask? Go and write two lines. No matter what time of day you are, you must not fall behind in reading and learning to write."

Gui Ning's little face suddenly turned pale as if it had been hit by frost. She obediently took out the copybook and paper from her bag and started practicing calligraphy.

"Humph, what's so good about that guy that you have to go find him?"

Ever since that man came, her life has become difficult. Every day, her aunt watches her read and write, saying that martial arts alone are not enough to help the world.

But when she saw her aunt's expression, she dared not speak anymore and continued writing obediently.

Matchmaker checked the facilities in the room to confirm that it was not a black shop. As they were born into a band of outlaws and were two women traveling together, it would not be excessively cautious.

After confirmation, she went to the backyard to add hay to the horses.

The figure of that person was like an lingering shadow. She could never understand how such a person could come from the Ming Dynasty.

He was full of heresy and genius, but what he was thinking about was overthrowing the imperial court.

Moreover, something so specific and thorough cannot be figured out in a day or two. It must have lingered in the mind for many years.

What does it mean?
This shows that even as a vassal, he was not optimistic about the Ming Dynasty, and he would not tell other people about this kind of thing, but he told himself, a traitor, which shows that... he wanted to create a new court.

"Why didn't I think this through at the beginning and keep him by my side?"

Just as Gui Ning said, he had not originally planned to attend the Wuchang Conference.

But as the deadline was approaching, he felt more and more that there was something wrong with this "Prince Xin". Maybe he really was rebelling?

Once this idea took root in her mind, it could not be stopped from growing, so much so that Matchmaker rushed over without stopping.

If I don't take a look, I will always feel unwilling.

And the two are already nominally husband and wife.

Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog. Unless he doesn't want her anymore, otherwise it will be so unclear and she will never be at peace.

"I had problems at the beginning. If I wasn't so strong, maybe I wouldn't have ended up like this now!" Lady Hong murmured.

Lady Hong looked at the twinkling lights in the distance and asked, "Is that Wuchang City?"

"If it's really him, where should I go? Will he follow me? Or should I follow him? But no matter what, this proves that we are on the same path. With this major premise confirmed, the rest should be easy to solve..."

The night wind was howling, and the lights in thousands of houses were still on, as if they were looking at Hong Niangzi.

She sighed, took out her iron gun and assembled it together. Soon, a rustling and buzzing sound came from the backyard.

No matter when and where, she would never be deterred from practicing shooting.

At this time, sporadic raindrops fell from the sky. A woman heard the noise outside, quietly opened the window, and stared at her aunt practicing shooting with wide eyes.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the woman's posture changed like a dragon and a phoenix. The raindrops wet her body. With every rotation, the iron spear shot out circles of waterfalls in the air.

……

Early the next morning,
In front of the Governor's Mansion, people and horses were constantly coming and going.

Lao Huihui and Li Wanqing also handed over visiting cards. Chongzhen asked Lao Han to inform them that he would come to meet them after he had dealt with his affairs.

Li Wanqing's face looked unhappy, but Lao Huihui said quickly: "No hurry, no hurry... Prince Xin puts government affairs first, which is a sign of a wise ruler."

As they were talking, Li Zicheng also arrived. After hearing the news, he did not get anxious, but followed Lao Han into the yard and waited together.

"King Chuang, are we just going to sit there and wait?" Li Wanqing's face turned pale. He and Li Zicheng were once trapped together in Chexiang Gorge and he had great respect for Li Zicheng. Now seeing that King Chuang was being so humble, he felt extremely dissatisfied.

Li Zicheng smiled and said, "Prince Xin now has 170,000 soldiers and is very busy with official duties. I have no choice but to accept this!"

Li Wanqing's facial muscles twitched, and he could only sit down. "It's been a few years since we last met. I didn't expect the situation to reverse so drastically."

This is the general trend. Whoever has the stronger military force will have the right to speak. This was also the case with the Thirteen Families of Xingyang. Now they have initiated the Wuchang Conference and jointly nominated Prince Xin as the leader, which is also an expression of an attitude.

"It's just right. We haven't seen each other for a long time. It's a good opportunity for us to sit down and chat for a while."

"it is good!"

They were all from one of the Thirteen Families of Xingyang. Now that they were gathered together again, they suddenly had so much to say.

As they were talking, they didn't notice a figure quickly walking over and pushing the door of the room where "Prince Xin" was.

……

Chongzhen really wasn't ignoring the King of Rebellion and the others on purpose, but was genuinely dealing with the government affairs of his subordinates. Ever since he promised Zhu Changgan that he would no longer interfere in the court's affairs, he had been feeling uncomfortable.

Now that he has tens of thousands of subordinates, he finally has things to do. Compared with the past, he is more serious and calm.

The door was suddenly pushed open. Just when he was about to get angry, his brows suddenly relaxed when he saw the person coming. "Father, why are you here..."

Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming turned around and closed the door. He swallowed and said with his chest heaving, "Son, guess who I saw?"

"Who?"

"Mrs. Hong, she actually came to Wuchang Prefecture."

Chongzhen was stunned for a moment. "Didn't we hear that the imperial army attacked Hongniangzi's army at Yuexi Mountain? Why is she here?"

"Who knows, but I couldn't have been wrong, she really came. I was just about to go to the military camp to look for the old blind man, but I saw her from a distance just after I walked out of Mengmen, and I hurried back.

King Xiang looked a little flustered. "What should I do? She must have come to participate in the anti-king conference. If she recognizes me, then...?"

Chongzhen couldn't help but look a little nervous. If his identity as a vassal was discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Will Li Zicheng, Li Wanqing, Lao Huihui and other rebel kings all run away?

The most important thing is whether his identity as a rebel king can be recognized by the people below? Will these hundreds of thousands of troops fall apart overnight?

"Don't panic. Right now, only her faction knows our identity. If we don't let her attend the anti-king conference as scheduled, our plan will naturally not be discovered." Chongzhen analyzed calmly.

"Don't let her participate in the anti-king conference? How...what do you mean?" King Xiang's eyes suddenly widened, and he instantly understood what Chongzhen meant.

Chongzhen nodded and said, "Try not to hurt her. If it really doesn't work, you have to do what you have to do."

King Xiang pondered for a while and nodded, "This is the only way we can do it now."

Just as he was about to leave, he remembered something, "Just these few days..." Chongzhen knew what he was worried about, and replied directly: "Don't worry, I'll ask Old Han to use the excuse that other rebel kings came earlier and have already sent their visiting cards, so we can postpone it for a few days."

"That's good, that's good!"

After Prince Xiang left, Chongzhen looked at the pile of government affairs on the table and suddenly became upset.

"Governor Hu Hengtai of Denglai...his crime is unforgivable!"

But in fact, it is not the fault of Hu Hengtai, the governor of Denglai, because he acted strictly in accordance with the emperor's order and sent the designated personnel to the designated place at the designated time.

The desired effect was achieved, which not only demonstrated the power of the Ming army, but also prevented Hongniang's army from suffering any serious damage.

If Matchmaker left halfway, he couldn't control it, right?
But there was no point in complaining now, as people were already here and he could only intervene based on the current situation.

As for Old Han, when King Xiang finished explaining Hong Niang's situation, he immediately understood what he should do.

They cannot make a big noise, and they must try their best not to harm Hong Niangzi's life. Hong Niangzi is very skilled in martial arts, so they need to send out elite soldiers and generals, and also make careful plans.

Even for the Jinyiwei, this task was arduous.

……

Chongzhen calmed down for a moment before finally walking out from the back court to meet Li Zicheng and others.

They had already met yesterday, so when Li Zicheng and Chongzhen spoke, both sides were much more natural. Lao Huihui and Li Wanqing would occasionally interject, but most of the time, it was Li Zicheng and Chongzhen who did the talking.

What Li Zicheng was concerned about was how Prince Xin's program and system were established?
Chongzhen was thinking of what Li Zicheng said: "If I had been given two acres of fertile land in Luoyang, I would not have been able to wear the seals of the six kingdoms later."

So both sides are testing each other, and what both sides say is extremely obscure.

Compared with Li Zicheng, Chongzhen was much more sincere.

Whenever Li Zicheng asked a question, Chongzhen would answer it seriously.

"These people at the bottom of society are worried about filling their stomachs. The idea that the emperor is greater than heaven has long been engraved into the people's bones. As long as they can survive, no one is willing to rebel."

"So my consistent purpose is to let them survive. How do you say that... Yes, to break the class rigidity."

"What does it mean to break the class system? Ever since Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started the uprising, they shouted: Are kings, princes, generals and ministers of different species?"

"Lao Tzu said, 'The Way of Heaven is to reduce the surplus and make up for the deficiency. The Way of Man is not like that. It reduces the deficiency to serve the surplus. Who can have surplus to serve the world? Only those who have the Tao."

"We rebels are acting on behalf of Heaven, that's the truth..."

Chongzhen was an emperor himself, so he was well versed in the Four Books and Five Classics. He also studied the "art of ruling" and some things left by Zhu Changgan on the imperial desk, from which he gained some knowledge.

His level may not be enough for Zhu Changgan, but it is a dimensionality reduction blow to Li Zicheng, Li Wanqing and other peasants.

Not only Li Zicheng was stunned by what he heard, but even Lao Huihui and Li Wanqing were listening eagerly and absorbing the knowledge crazily.

"No wonder King Chuang is like this." Li Wanqing finally understood what Li Zicheng said, "This is the general trend, we have no choice but to accept it!"

……

Next, they talked about the Ming Dynasty’s reforms in the southeast region, and the situation of Sun Chuanting and his more than 100,000 troops pressing towards the southeast.

All four of them were silent for a moment.

"We are rebelling simply because the Ming court is corrupt and the people are suffering. If the Ming court can solve the problem of starvation, there will be no need for us rebel kings to exist." Chongzhen said with an open-minded attitude.

"If the Ming court can really do this, why should we rebel?" Li Wanqing shook his head and sneered.

Lao Huihui and Li Zicheng were silent for a moment and chose to agree.

Because if the imperial court really solved the problem of the hungry people, these rebels would completely lose the soil for their growth. Even if they were unwilling, the number of people in their team would only decrease, and their demise would only be a matter of time.

Chongzhen saw that the groundwork was almost done, and finally asked the question that had been buried in his heart, "I heard that you once thought about making peace with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and even submitted a letter of surrender?"

"No way! How could I surrender to the Ming Dynasty?" Li Zicheng stood up suddenly, his face flushed. "I said that Chongzhen should abdicate and another wise ruler should be appointed. Only then will I consider surrendering to the Ming Dynasty."

Li Zicheng had submitted a "surrender letter" to Chongzhen, and not just once. Historically, when Li Zicheng reached the capital, he also submitted a "surrender letter" to Chongzhen.

For just one million taels of silver, the King of the Northwest would withdraw his troops.

"Oh?" Chongzhen raised his head slowly. "If Chongzhen really abdicates and appoints another wise ruler, what kind of title do you want?"

Li Zicheng looked up and met Chongzhen's extremely serious and burning gaze. He felt a little dizzy for a moment and was even a little dazed at that moment.

At this moment, the atmosphere suddenly condensed like water.

Both Lao Huihui and Li Wanqing couldn't help but choke up and breathe.

Finally, Li Zicheng tilted his head, waved his hand and sneered: "How is this possible? How can the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty abdicate just like that?"

Chongzhen also calmed down and realized that he had just gone too far. He smiled and said, "It's just a hypothesis. If Zhu Youjian really abdicated, what title would you like?"

"Then he should be a marquis at least!" Li Zicheng just finished speaking and laughed again, "But that's unrealistic. I'm actually satisfied with being a general. After all, it's almost impossible to be a marquis without military merit in the Ming Dynasty."

Commander-in-Chief... The muscles on Chongzhen's face twitched, looking extremely unnatural.

After making such a big fuss, all you want is a marquis? A general?!

Li Zicheng looked at Chongzhen's expression and explained, "We are just saying this for fun. How can the Ming court change the emperor, let alone solve the problem of the hungry people?"

Chongzhen also smiled and said, "Yes, it is Yile."

Then the four of them continued to discuss the issue of resisting the Ming court tacitly until noon, when the old blind man's apprentice came in and had someone bring the food over.

They continued chatting while eating.

……

In Wuchang Prefecture, Gui Ning and Hong Niangzi had just come out of the Governor's Mansion, leading their horses.

"Boss, this Prince Xin is so rude. We came to pay a visit, but he actually postponed it to five days later?"

"Who made us come late?" Hongniang took a look at her visiting card and was speechless, but she had to follow the host's wishes and did nothing else.

"Since we are here, we don't have to rush back. We can just walk around in Wuchang Prefecture. Come on, don't you always want to eat sweet-scented osmanthus cake? I heard that the sweet-scented osmanthus cake in Wuchang Prefecture is excellent."

"This is what you said, auntie. You are not allowed to go back on your word. I want to buy two kilograms." Gui Ning's eyes suddenly brightened. She no longer cared about whether Prince Xin was hateful or not, and ran towards the street.

Ever since she followed her aunt in the rebellion, she would just glance at them every time they passed by on the street. Now she can go shopping and run around happily.

They didn't notice that someone was watching them from upstairs.

(End of this chapter)