Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 222 Li Yan: Everything I said is true
ps: I’m a little late because of something today!
The sound of swords, spears, metal and stone clashing suddenly rang out outside the Governor's Mansion, and bricks, wood chips, and grass were chopped and flew everywhere.

Old Han was hit by the third in command's heavy sword on a steel knife, and was thrown out and hit against a door panel. Just as he was about to escape, he was caught up again.

At this moment, outside the Governor's Mansion, the vendors selling things were in bad luck. Charcoal, soup pots, boiling water, wontons, and even red-hot charcoal were constantly flying everywhere like cannonballs. The vendors and diners were so frightened by this scene that they covered their heads and fled in all directions.

"The Prince Xin's Mansion is investigating a case, everyone stay away!" Old Han shouted.

In terms of martial arts, the third in command is slightly better than Lao Han, but this is in the Governor's Office.

At this moment, Old Han's knuckles were cracked. Although he could not defeat the Third In Command, the Third In Command could not get rid of him in a short time. In such a short time when the two fought, soldiers from the old camp had already arrived.

"The Xinwang army is arresting the murderer, everyone disperse!"

They were from the Jinyiwei, and their best skill was the combined attack technique.

As soon as the third in command jumped up, he was knocked down by several people throwing darts.

Figures from both sides were flying up and down. People from the Jinyiwei side were constantly blasted away by the third in command, but more people surrounded them.

Shouts and the sound of weapons clashing continued to ring out.

The atmosphere is hot, like cooking oil.

The tables and chairs on the street, as well as the chopping boards for kneading dough, were often chopped in half, and the wooden poles used to hang lanterns on the street also broke one by one.

Soon another person was struck and flew away, screaming while covering his wound.

"With a musket!"

"No, not with a musket!"

Old Han hurriedly stopped him. He remembered clearly that Prince Xin told him to capture the other party, not to kill him. Moreover, from the tone of Prince Xin's voice, he could judge that this person was someone Prince Xin was familiar with.

As a captain of the Jinyiwei, he still has some emotional intelligence. If he kills someone by mistake, he will have to bear the consequences. This is not uncommon in the Jinyiwei.

Soon, the Jinyiwei's special net was thrown out.

No matter how skilled the Third In Command was in martial arts, he was ultimately outnumbered by four hands and was pinned down by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

Old Han asked a few people to stay behind to clean up the scene, while he took the man into the Governor's Mansion again.

……

In the Governor's Mansion, Chongzhen was waiting anxiously. Seeing the tied-up Third Master being brought in by Old Han, he quickly stood up and asked him:
"Who else knows that you're here at the Governor's Mansion?"

The Third Master's chest rose and fell, his breathing became heavy, and he looked at Chongzhen angrily, "What do you think? Since I'm here, how could the First Master not know?"

"I never thought that you would believe the king!"

"It's really... the most ridiculous thing in the world. You, a vassal, actually sat on the position of Prince Xin. What's even more ridiculous is that so many rebel kings in the world actually came to Wuchang Prefecture to participate in the Wuchang Conference and nominated you as the leader of the rebel kings."

At this point, how could the Third In Command not understand the reason behind this?
And because the amount of information was too large, he failed to react immediately and was stopped by the other party.

Otherwise, with my skills, the chances of running away are still very high.

"Hongniang actually knows about this too..." Chongzhen's scalp suddenly went numb upon hearing this. He kept clasping his hands together and paced back and forth in the room. "What should I do?"

Old Han suddenly said, "Should we just kill him? That way, there will be no evidence."

"No!" Chongzhen shook his head and looked at the Third Master. "This man once did me a favor, and many people on the street saw him. It may not be that easy to completely block the news."

"Since it has been leaked, we might as well go all out. We can quietly tie up Hong Niangzi, so that the hidden danger can be eliminated before it happens." Old Han suggested again.

"No, the rebel kings are all in Wuchang Prefecture now. If we suddenly attack Lady Hong, it will probably scare the other rebel kings and be detrimental to the overall plan." Chongzhen thought of several ways, but none of them seemed right, so he could only say, "Lock him up first and treat him well."

"Yes!"

After Old Han left, he sat down again and sorted out the key points.

After a moment, he stood up suddenly and said, "Send a message to Shi Daoshen, and tell him to capture Hangzhou Prefecture within five days."

Since the incident has already occurred, all that can be done is to advance one's plan as quickly as possible before one's identity is exposed, and to minimize the disastrous consequences that may result from it.

……

To the east of Wuchang Prefecture, Li Zicheng bought a courtyard with a cellar.

The candles flickered inside.

A man was tied to a log.

"I've been good to you, haven't I? If you want to leave, just tell me. Why run away secretly?" Li Zicheng stared at Li Yan with a cold gleam in his eyes.

"King Chuang, I have no intention of betraying you. I... I just found a suspicious point and want to confirm it again."

"What's the suspicion?"

"Prince Xin, he might be an acquaintance of mine."

"Oh?" Li Zicheng narrowed his eyes even more. "Who is this acquaintance of yours? Do you have any old acquaintances?"

"You may not believe it, but I suspect that Prince Xin is Lady Hong's husband, that is, the royal relative of the Ming court and the royal vassal."

"...Haha~~" Niu Jinxing was stunned for a moment, and suddenly laughed out of anger, "A vassal of the Ming Dynasty? Li Yan, even if you are making up a lie, there is no need to make up such a story to deceive the King of Rebellion, right?"

"That's right. Prince Xin has more than 200,000 rebels under his command. He fights with the Ming court every day and has killed so many officials. Now he is even raising troops to attack Suzhou Prefecture and Yangzhou. Do you think it's possible?" Li Shuangxi also laughed from ear to ear.

Even Song Xiance, who usually pleaded for Li Yan, couldn't help but shake his head.

"This..." Li Yan was stunned for a moment. He was a little confused about this. That was why he kept investigating. Only then was he caught by Li Shuangxi and Niu Jinxing outside the Governor's Mansion.

Li Zicheng looked at him and said, "Considering your talent and the fact that this is your first offense, I will cut off one of his fingers to teach him a lesson."

"Yes!" Shuangxi suddenly grabbed Li Yan's neck and dragged him out.

Li Yan's eyes bulged out suddenly, and he shouted loudly: "Chuang Wang, Chuang Wang...Everything I said is true, every word is true. Give me a little more time, and I will definitely get to the bottom of it."

A few minutes later, there was a scream of "Ah~".

Li Yan had one of his fingers cut off, and was dragged away and locked in the woodshed, but he was still shouting, "Everything I said is true... It's all true..."

"Shut his mouth." Li Zicheng shook his head, rubbed his eyebrows vigorously, and sighed: "How can such a young man have such insight? Even Li Yan surrendered to him. This is not my luck!"

……

Shengjing,

When Ajige rushed to the palace of the Qing Dynasty, he found that the court was already full of court officials.

This made his eyes even more fierce. He walked into the court and bowed to Dorgon on the throne, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"Ajige, do you admit your guilt?"

"What have I done wrong? I didn't lose Korea. The Ming Dynasty had already captured Seoul before I arrived. The withdrawal was also ordered by Your Majesty. I don't know where I did wrong." "Shut up..." Dorgon pointed at him and scolded, "I think you have had ulterior motives for a long time. You attacked Korea just to establish yourself as king. The soldiers below have already sent a message to me."

"If you hadn't delayed the opportunity to use the Korean troops to wear down the Ming court's military strength, how could it have come to this point?"

"This... 800 miles in five days. Although this is a bit slow, it is still within a reasonable range, right?"

Dorgon stared into his eyes. "Okay, even if you are not held accountable for your marching speed, you should admit that you massacred the city and looted money and women when you came back from Korea, right?"

"This is to scare North Korea and Ming Dynasty."

Yue Tuo stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Korean soldiers hate us so much that they would rather be killed than fight for the Qing Dynasty. From now on, there is no other use for these 100,000 Korean soldiers except to kill them all."

"Did you hear me? Without these 100,000 Korean soldiers, we, the Qing Dynasty, will have to take the lead in fighting the enemy as the vanguard. The casualties will increase greatly, and how many of our Eight Banners' children will not be able to return home?" Dorgon cursed with veins bulging on his forehead, "You actually still say that slaughtering is right and robbing is good?"

"Ajige's crime is unforgivable and he should be executed according to the law." Yuetuo's younger brother also stood up at this moment.

"According to the law, he should be executed!"

"According to the law, he should be executed!"

"."

Upon hearing this, other banner leaders and generals who had surrendered to Dorgon also echoed him.

"Come on, put Ajige in jail."

However, Dorgon did not order the execution of Ajige, because this would make the world feel that he, the emperor, would not kill his own brothers, and the White Banner under Ajige's control would be even more grateful to him for not killing their master.

Ajige took a step back suddenly, and saw several soldiers suddenly rushed out from outside and protected him. "The throne belongs to the virtuous. You, Dorgon, have a bad character and are hated by heaven and people. You should abdicate and let others do the right thing."

Jirgalang also spoke up at this moment: "Your Majesty, our Qing Dynasty is in your hands. First, we lost the southern Mongolia, and now we have lost Korea. Prince Zhishun rebelled against our Qing Dynasty, and Prince Huaishun was killed by the Ming court... all these things happened one by one."

"Your Majesty, our Qing Dynasty has been restricted in many ways in such a short period of time. This is precisely because a person's mind is limited. When the Great Ancestor was alive, the four great beiles jointly ruled the country and there was no such problem." A figure walked out from behind. It was Daishan.

"Some things go wrong because of the unauthorized changes to the ancestral system. Under Taizu, we expanded our territory and were successful in everything we did. The country was thriving. But since the late emperor ascended the throne, the situation of our Qing Dynasty began to deteriorate."

"Yes, my great ancestor's system was the best. He swept across the Central Plains and was invincible. But now... only a few years have passed. Why are we no longer capable of doing so? Is it because we, the Manchus, have become weak? Or is there something wrong with the current system?"

"Of course there are problems with the current system. The system of Taizu is gone, and the spirit is gone. How can there not be problems? Your Majesty, let's make all these things clear. Let's still make the four great beiles equal, and keep government affairs and flag affairs together. If we discuss it together and keep them together, it will also prevent the emperor from being too tired and unable to take care of everything."

"Yes, that makes sense. In this way, the Qing Dynasty can be said to be united and the world can be peaceful..."

With these two taking the lead, when the other flag leaders heard that they wanted to restore the four great beiles to rule together, they immediately understood what this meant.
Once the four great beiles are restored to jointly rule, their power will increase significantly.

They also stood up and agreed.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to rebel?" Dorgon pointed at everyone with gritted teeth, "Ejiaming, mobilize the troops of the two yellow flags to arrest these traitors for me."

Tujiaming was the newly promoted leader of the Two Yellow Banners, but at the moment, sweat was dripping down his forehead. Hearing this, he immediately knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, the Two Yellow Banners have been seized by Sony Aobai's people."

Dorgon shook his body and gritted his teeth and said, "Good trick!"

"If you cut yourself off from the world, then blame me for being cruel and ruthless."

Ajige's face was gloomy. "Since ancient times, the emperor has always been able to kill and fight as he pleases, and change the government affairs of the court as he pleases. But all we have done is to keep the Qing Dynasty on the right path. I have no regrets even if I die."

Dorgon looked at everyone and said, "Well, now that everything has been revealed, let's settle the accounts all at once!"

When a woman came out from behind, Daishan, Jirgalang and others' pupils suddenly shrank, "You...what are you doing..."

……

The bloody conflict among the Eight Banners in Shengjing did not involve a large area, but the number of core members killed and injured was extremely high.

Famous ministers such as Sony and Oboi were all beheaded, Ajige was beheaded, and Jirgalang and Daishan were stripped of their iron-hat king titles and thrown into prison, never to be released again.

When these secret letters were sent back to the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Changgan could not help but sigh and say, "Good, very good!"

In the entire Ming Dynasty court, there was no one else except Zhu Changgan. In fact, the Ming court's spies also played a role in the Shengjing Rebellion. For example, Dayuer's whereabouts were passed to Yuetuo by Ming Dynasty spies, and Yuetuo passed it to Dorgon.

Compared with Dorgon alone, it is obviously more cost-effective to eliminate old flag owners with outstanding military achievements such as Ajige, Daishan, and Jirgalang.

What’s more important is that since Dorgon ascended the throne, the country’s strength has been declining again and again, and it suffered several defeats in a row.

Morale was already at its lowest point, and now the eight banner leaders and generals were being killed one after another, which would cast a shadow on the other banner leaders and generals.

This shadow will inevitably be like sand in the shoes, making it impossible for both parties to form cohesion in a short period of time.

The Ming Dynasty could take advantage of the chaos in Shengjing to continue to accumulate strength and completely eliminate the south.

"Your Majesty, Sun Chuanting's memorial has arrived."

"bring here."

Zhu Changgan unfolded his memorial, and Sun Chuanting reported it in a letter. According to Sun Chuanting's report, he defeated Liu Zongmin and forced Liu Zongmin to flee to the east.

He then looked at the previous report from Governor Denglai in the north. Great progress had also been made on the northern front.

"This shows that the situation is not as bad as imagined. Everything is under control." Zhu Changgan murmured and put down the memorial in his hand. After thinking for a while, he said, "Wang Chengen!"

"Your Majesty, the eunuch is here."

"Write a letter to Sun Chuanting, asking him to do everything he can to reduce the power of the militia. Also, ask him to conduct a thorough investigation of the militia in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If there are any resistance, they will be charged with treason."

It’s time to put the backup plan in place.

"Yes!" Wang Chengen took a few steps back and suddenly stopped, "Your Majesty, there is one more thing."

"Ok?"

"The Imperial Guards sent a letter saying that we have captured a man from the southern rebel Red Lady Army, his name is the Third Master."

Zhu Changgan's eyes suddenly focused, "Third in command?"

Outside the Governor's Mansion in Wuchang, two women were wandering outside, constantly asking questions to the vendors around them.

But the news they got was that no one had ever seen the person they were talking about.

"This is strange. He clearly said he was coming here, so how could he suddenly disappear?" Gui Ning frowned, unable to understand.

Lady Hong also frowned, "No, they said it without hesitation, as if they knew what we would ask?"

Normally, when asked about something, everyone would have a different opinion, but these vendors said exactly the same thing as the people in the Governor's Office, even the tone of voice was the same.

As soon as I asked, they said without any hesitation that they had never seen it.

What was even more incredible was that although their eyes looked at him differently, they were scrutinizing, and it was obvious that they were hiding something from him.

"The only possibility is." Hongniang turned her head to look in the direction of the Governor's Mansion, and her eyes slowly narrowed.

(End of this chapter)