Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 81 Beep if you want to win!
Zhu Changgan first wrote a letter and put it on the desk, then he still felt uneasy and activated the call function with Emperor Chongzhen again.

"Please wait, we are searching for Chongzhen."

now,

In Prince Xiang's mansion, Chongzhen had already drunk the second dose of medicine given to him by the doctor. When he heard the voice in his ears, it was like the sound of nature.

He sat up suddenly and said, "Zhu Changgan, what do you want to do? Do you want to destroy the Ming Dynasty? Do you know that the Ming army is so weak that it is not enough to resist..."

The first two times, it was Zhu Changgan who spoke first, but this time it was Chongzhen who spoke out all his anger and worries in one breath.

As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he experienced three invasions of the Qing Tartars. The fear of the Tartars was almost ingrained in his bones, and he had never been able to match them.

Huang Taiji was even less stupid. If he felt that there was a danger of being blocked and eaten if he went deep into enemy territory, would he have allowed the Manchu Tartars to enter the pass many times?
The first time there were 20,000 people, the second time there were 30,000 people, the third time there were 50,000 people, and this time there were 100,000 people... How could Chongzhen not be frightened?

However, there was silence on the other side.

After a long while, a voice came out from inside, "Chongzhen, I know what you want to say, but this time I only have one request, that is, don't interfere, don't talk nonsense...

This battle will not only verify whether my idea of ​​saving the Ming Dynasty is correct, but also determine whether the Ming Dynasty can continue its national destiny."

"You are taking a gamble!" Chongzhen couldn't help but shout.

"When you agreed to exchange with me, wasn't it a gamble?"

Chongzhen was stunned. Yes, they said Zhu Changgan was gambling, but wasn’t he also gambling?
Zhu Changgan's voice came to my ears again, "Buy it and leave it. I'll do the work, you just watch, don't force me!"

"Not to mention, the thing is already halfway done, and it's impossible to stop it even if you want to."

"And I have a backup plan. I will not leave the capital of the Ming Dynasty unattended. Besides, I currently have 30 million taels of silver in my hands. The more than 27 million taels of silver seized by the Jinyiwei from the Shanxi merchants will soon arrive in the capital. There are also hundreds of thousands of shi of grain, which is enough to support this expedition."

"If you want to regret it, wait until after this expedition against the Tartars."

"Don't forget, I have absolute control over the exchange."

"You..." Chongzhen was stunned for a moment. He clenched his fingers, his heart beating like a drum. Zhu Changgan's last sentence was a fatal blow.

The other party has absolute control. When Chongzhen and Zhu Changgan exchanged bodies, they needed to seek Chongzhen's consent. But if they wanted to stop, they didn't need Chongzhen's consent, only Zhu Changgan's agreement was needed.

But at the same time, Zhu Changgan did not want to stop and could continue the exchange during the day.

Chongzhen was in a difficult situation. Even if he went back to "set things right" at night, Zhu Changgan could still pull him back to his own track during the day.

What the imperial court feared most was inconsistent government orders, especially military orders.

It will only get more chaotic then.

Chongzhen gritted his teeth and said word by word: "Okay, let's talk about it after this battle."

"I want to know, what is the chance of winning?"

"As long as you don't interfere, your chances of winning are more than 70%."

Chongzhen said nothing because he didn't believe it at all.

Zhu Changgan had already cut off the call.

I know that Chongzhen's suspicion, jealousy, and impatience are not easy to change. He must be disciplined and reformed after this incident.

At this time, Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming walked in from outside, "Is my son Qilin feeling better?"

"Father, why are you here?"

"I was sitting at the door and heard you talking in your sleep again, so I came in." Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming stared into Chongzhen's eyes, "Tell me the truth, have you seen anything dirty these days?"

"Dirty things? What do you mean?"

"That's it..." Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming gestured.

Chongzhen immediately understood that Zhu Yiming was talking about ghosts and monsters, and shook his head quickly, "No, everything is fine in this palace, how could we encounter such a thing?"

"My father has an old friend who is very knowledgeable about this matter. I told him about this situation and he has agreed to exorcise the demon for you." Xiang Wang Zhu Yiming comforted him, "Don't be afraid, he will be here soon."

"..." Chongzhen's mouth twitched involuntarily, "Father, this is a sorcery technique, absolutely not allowed. If someone reports this to the emperor, he will definitely be punished."

Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming frowned and looked at Chongzhen, "Are you sure there's nothing dirty?"

"Absolutely not!" Chongzhen stood up, jumped a few times, and recited an article to King Xiang. "Father, look, if you lose your mind, how can you write an article?"

The Ming Dynasty strictly prohibited the practice of witchcraft, especially the witchcraft disaster during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, which made the practice of witchcraft have a mysterious and frightening color and was opposed by successive dynasties.

Even in the Qing Dynasty, there were still people who used witchcraft to harm others. For example, when Emperor Kangxi's nine sons were competing for the throne, Crown Prince Yinreng was cursed by his brothers using this method. This incident made Emperor Kangxi very angry and regarded it as a case of brothers killing each other.

Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming then let out a sigh of relief, "My son Qilin must have scared me to death!"

"Okay, Hongtao, put away the rope."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Hong Tao responded from behind the screen.

Chongzhen was stunned and suddenly realized that if he could not prove himself just now, King Xiang would probably tie him up and perform the so-called witchcraft on him.

"Father, you have always been cautious. Aren't you afraid that His Majesty will find out?"

"Afraid, of course I am afraid?" Xiang Wang Zhu Yiming replied: "But compared to my son, even if I am punished, what do I have to fear?"

Chongzhen looked at Prince Xiang and the dust on his clothes, and suddenly realized that he had been trembling with fear all day, and so was Prince Xiang.
He ran around and looked for several doctors, and he always stood guard at the door without leaving.

"Father, are you willing to come to the capital with me?"

"Ah?" Zhu Yiming, the Prince of Xiang, who was covering Chongzhen with a blanket, paused for a moment, "What are you talking about? How could His Majesty allow a vassal prince to enter the capital?"

……

When Chongzhen woke up in the Qianqing Palace, it suddenly started raining heavily outside.

A smoky mist splashed up from the eaves of the Forbidden City, rising and falling in succession.

The rainwater on the glazed tiles flowed down through the pipes, forming a "roaring" stream, washing away Chongzhen's uncertain mind.

Chongzhen could not help but sigh: "Spring rain is as precious as oil. I haven't seen such heavy rain for many years."

Wang Chengen looked at the emperor in silence.

His Majesty's condition is changeable, and he dare not say that he has figured out the pattern now. Moreover, with the Tartars invading the pass, His Majesty must be extremely worried and his mood is difficult to calm down.

"Your Majesty, this old minister Zhang Zhiji pays homage to Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, Duke of England Zhang Zhiji is outside asking for a meeting." Wang Chengen couldn't help but remind him.

Chongzhen then picked up his gaze from a distance and said, "Let him in."

Both Chongzhen and Zhu Changgan were quite polite to the lineage of the Duke of Yingguo. Chongzhen favored them because from the first Duke of Yingguo, Zhang Fu, to the Chongzhen period, they were all famous generals of the Ming Dynasty.

Even though he held a large number of troops, he never participated in party struggles, so Chongzhen was relieved.

Zhu Changgan's greatest impression of the lineage of the Duke of Ying was that they died for their country together with Chongzhen.

"Old Duke, why are you here?"

"I heard that Your Majesty wants to use military force against the Tartars. This is absolutely not allowed!" Duke Yingguo Zhang Zhiji said angrily, but he kept coughing. "Let alone 70,000 Ming troops, even 100,000 Ming troops cannot defeat the Qing cavalry."

Chongzhen closed his eyes tightly, "I know!"

But this battle, he no longer has the final say.

"Old Duke, I have some specialties that General Qin brought from Sichuan. Do you want some?"

Duke Zhang Zhiji of England stood up suddenly and said, "Your Majesty, please order all places to come to the king's defense. It will be too late if you don't."

Chongzhen gritted his teeth, his arms trembling a little, "Send the Duke of Ying back home!"...

"Report! The army led by Yue Tuo is still 200 miles away from Tongzhou!"

"Report, Dorgon's army is 250 miles away from Tongzhou!"

At this time, the Jinyiwei's military reports were constantly transmitted into the palace and into the Wenhua Hall.

The person on duty tonight was Sun Chengzong. He looked at the military report sent by the Jinyiwei with a sharp gaze and murmured, "Tongzhou, it is really as Your Majesty said. Are they going to meet in Tongzhou?"

"Why do they want to meet here?"

Once the intelligence from the Ministry of War was revealed, Sun Chengzong, Li Banghua, and Yang Sichang completely turned to relying on the Jinyiwei military reports within a day.

at the same time,

The Yongwei Battalion, the Beijing Battalion, and the White Spear Soldiers have also marched towards Tongzhou.

They traveled day and night, trying to set up camp there before the Manchu Tartars arrived.

……

Inside the capital, as the first ray of sunlight shone into the imperial city, Zhu Changgan suddenly opened his eyes, but this time he found that he was not at the morning court, but in the Qianqing Palace.

Obviously Chongzhen also knew that he had to give it a try this time, and there was not much point in attending the morning court again.

So, just give up.

Zhu Changgan nodded and said, "It's better to give up. I'm not afraid of you giving up, but I'm afraid of you messing around."

He walked quickly to the Wenhua Hall, only to see Sun Chengzong still there. Seeing the emperor, he quickly saluted and said, "Master Sun, please stand up. Where are the enemies?"

"As your majesty said, the place where they will meet should be Tongzhou. Yue Tuo's tribe should be less than a hundred miles away by now."

"If that's the case, they are all cavalry, and we can contact Yue Tuo's troops as early as this evening?"

Sun Chengzong nodded, "Based on military intelligence, this should be the case."

"Everything is ready, the east wind has arrived, and the rest depends on their performance."

……

At noon, the three camps finally arrived at the designated location.

"When setting up camp, no open flames are allowed!" Cao Huachun sat on his horse, looking at the mighty army, feeling mixed emotions in his heart.

The court was in chaos because of him, the commander-in-chief.

In particular, all the civil servants and censors submitted memorials one after another, calling themselves members of the eunuch party and scolding the emperor for re-employing the eunuch party.

He cursed the eunuch party for bringing disaster to the country and the people, and cursed Cao Huachun for usurping the throne... It would be good if he won this battle, but if he lost, he would probably be the first one to be dragged out and beheaded.

His left and right were Qin Liangyu and Li Banghua, and the three of them formed the central military camp.

The people who led the charge of the Yongwei Camp were Huang Degong and Sun Yingyuan. The person who led the charge of the Beijing Camp was Zhang Shize, the son of the Duke of Yingguo, who was promoted by the emperor. The person who led the charge of the White Spear Soldiers was Ma Xianglin, the son of Qin Liangyu.

And there is no military supervisor. It can be said that this time the military and government are truly simplified. With one order, everything can be done.
Following his order, a messenger galloped back on horseback, shouting, "The commander has ordered us to set up camp and not light any open flames!"

"Report! Dorgon's troops are still 180 miles away."

"Report! Yuetuo is less than 80 miles away from here. We have captured several of Yuetuo's liars and confirmed that the Qing army this time has a total of 80,000 troops."

"Explore again!"

"Yes!"

At the same time, the Jinyiwei's intelligence was also continuously transmitted to Cao Huachun's central army, and in the process they killed the scouts sent by the Tatars one after another and brought back their heads.

Cao Huachun marveled at the emperor's foresight. Such a large-scale spying on the enemy was simply unbelievable.

But I have to admire it, it is really useful.

Silver. To achieve all this, you need silver and food as support.

……

Yuetuo Lilie Prince, the eldest son of Daishan, was a general and Bayile Dudu as his deputy commander this time, leading the right wing army to invade Ming.

As the Qing army captured Qiangziling, his subordinates began to sweep across the Ming Dynasty like a gust of wind.

Everywhere there were the galloping figures of the Eight Banners Manchu and Mongolian cavalry, like gusts of strong wind blowing past, and the Ming army was invincible.

Beile Dudu galloped on his horse, raised his spear and knocked over a fleeing Ming soldier, and couldn't stop laughing: "It is said that the Ming Dynasty castles are very strong and can be attacked. Is Qiangziling just like that? It was conquered after only one day."

This time, they not only captured Qiangziling, but also captured eleven beacon towers.

The Qing army split up and then joined together, advancing together and galloping across the wilderness, but there was no Ming army to stop them.

Yue Tuo frowned, "Why hasn't the scout returned for so long?"

"Explore again!"

Finally, after sending out scouts several times, they finally got the news back, "Report! There are Ming troops 70 miles ahead, about 20,000 of them!"

Yue Tuo nodded and said, "No wonder, the Ming army that was able to kill our scouts so cleanly must be a powerful force."

"Twenty thousand?" Beile Dudu gritted his teeth when he heard it, "General, give me ten thousand troops, it will be enough to destroy them."

After the Battle of Sarhu, the Qing army had an innate sense of psychological superiority over the Ming army. They despised the Ming army from the bottom of their hearts and did not take it seriously.

Often, just a few thousand of them could overwhelm tens of thousands of Ming troops and kill them completely. To put it bluntly, even a group of running cattle and sheep could cause more damage than the Ming troops.

At least they kept their heads down and ran forward, instead of just running away halfway.

"Hahaha~" There was a burst of laughter in the army.

"Don't underestimate the enemy. I'll give you 20,000 soldiers and horses. We'll win in one battle!"

Although Yue Tuo said not to underestimate the enemy, his expression and actions showed his superiority over the Ming army.

Even though the Ming army had the same 20,000 troops, he believed that they would undoubtedly be defeated.

……

At the Ming army's central location, the Embroidered Uniform Guards continuously brought in news.

"Report! The enemy is still forty miles away from us!"

"Report, the enemy is still thirty miles away!"

"Report..."

"Report, the enemy is still ten miles away!"

The flag bearer in the central army camp passed information to each camp in the form of flag signals.

"We're here, we're finally here!" Huang Degong's face flushed with excitement, his entire body trembling, and he shouted to the Yongwei Battalion behind him:

"Artillerymen, get ready for me!"

The artilleryman suddenly removed the felt covering the cannon and loaded a shell into it first.

The rest of the people also quickly and orderly placed the shells around so that they could quickly replace the ammunition after firing a round.

(End of this chapter)