golden scales

In the 17th year of Chongzhen, the whole situation was like an avalanche, which could no longer be restrained and collapsed.First Shanxi fell, and then Datong surrendered without a fight.

The surrender of Datong made it difficult for the adjacent Xuanfu to resist. Wang Chengyin, the general of the Xuanfu, sent people to Datong to discuss surrender, and secretly cooperated with more than a thousand intruders to sneak into the Xuanfu.

Governor of Xuanda Wang Jimo summoned all civil and military officials in the city to make a blood oath at the Guandi Temple. He shouted fiercely and shed tears and poured out his heart, while the others just responded silently. All the generals under his command also secretly wrote letters to Dashun, asking for refuge , has almost become an open secret.

Wang Jimo was different from other governors who were obsessed with trusting the land. Since he knew that the Xuan Mansion could not be guarded, he brought more than a hundred soldiers to escort Ku Yin and more than [-] taels back to the capital.Unexpectedly, as soon as they reached Tianchengwei, all the soldiers shouted loudly, robbed Hao Ma and Ku Yin, and ran to join King Chuang.Wang Jimo was alone, and could only look up to the sky and mourn: "There is no soldier, general or people who will not turn against the thief."

On the second day of March, Li Zicheng led the main force of the army to Xuanfu. Wang Chengyin and Du Xun, the supervising army, went out of the city and knelt to meet them.

Zhu Zhifeng, governor of Xuanfu, went up to the city wall to supervise the battle, but the soldiers just stood there with their arms folded, refusing to listen to orders.He went to fire the cannon himself, but found that the line of fire was cut off and the cannon port was plugged tightly, making it useless.At the last moment, Zhu Zhifeng had no choice but to leave his watch and hang himself to death.

So far, Li Zicheng's army is only less than three hundred miles away from Yanjing, which is indeed a few days earlier than the original script of history.

……

"Does Your Highness still remember Xu Biao?" Sun Chuanting's voice was low.

"What? He also surrendered to the thief?" Zhu Cihong felt a little inconceivable.He had a good impression of the governor of the three provinces, and tried to recruit him to the Eastern Palace.However, Xu Biao was also a stubborn defender of Taoism, and he did not accept the prince's kindness.If such people have turned to thieves, no wonder the emperor would not believe anyone.

"Just received the Tang newspaper," Sun Chuanting said, "Li Maochun, the general who left Guguan, surrendered to the bandits and passed the call to Zhending. Xu Biao smashed the cards and wanted to fight to the end with the bandits. Mutiny, he was tied up and beheaded, the governor Xie Jiafu was elected as the deputy general, and the fake Yongchang year name was used to order all the counties to welcome the bandits."

Zhu Cihong said "Oh", and said: "It seems that this army is chasing us very closely, who is leading the army?"

"It was Ren Jirong and Li You who led the army," Sun Chuanting said.

Zhu Cihong smiled and said: "It's Li You again, it seems that Xiao Donglou didn't blow him completely stupid."

"It is said that Li Chuang originally wanted to use Ren Jirong and Ma Chongxi, a pair of thieves, but Ma Chongxi had already died in battle, so he could only use Li You. It is said that Li Chuang sighed for a long time." Sun Chuanting said with a smile: " Ma Chongxi was the bandit general who was captured by Xiao Donglou in the Battle of Ganzepo, and was beheaded to sacrifice the flag later."

"Oh!" Zhu Cihong sighed: "I didn't expect him to be valued by Li Zicheng. We should have returned the head to Li Zicheng if we knew it earlier. Tsk tsk, now I don't know which wilderness he was thrown to be eaten by beasts."

"Your Highness," Sun Chuanting smiled, and then said seriously, "It is sure to fall, and our whereabouts may have been exposed."

Zhu Cihong never used the banner of the Donggong Guards Battalion along the way, but marched in the name of Sun Chuanting's Governor-General's Biao Battalion.It must be Xu Biao's residence. He has done a good job in reclaiming wasteland and resettling refugees, which made Zhu Cihong feel pity for talents. Only then did he meet and reveal his identity.

Since it is certain that those people even beheaded their own governor, they must have sold the crown prince without hesitation.

Now Zhu Cihong is stationed in Cangzhou, four hundred miles away from Yanjing.And Li Zicheng's army has already passed Xuanfu, and it is only three hundred miles away from Yanjing.

"Since you've been exposed, let's raise the banner and leave camp for Tianjin immediately after resting!" Zhu Cihong said, "If any of the prefectural and county guards along the way do not follow the army's instructions, they will be punished as thieves!"

Seeing that Li Zicheng had Yanjing City at his fingertips, he no longer had to put on the veil of tenderness.The recent news of local civil and military martyrdom has stimulated Emperor Chongzhen, and should have stimulated those "loyal" civil and military officials-now it is no longer a matter of losing land, but a matter of the destruction of the country!If you don't keep some vitality, there will be no chance of turning things around in the future.

The reason why the Chongzhen Dynasty fell into the situation of being a full-fledged dynasty later was that apart from the fierce party struggle, the more important thing was that it was exhausted from Wanli.It is true that Emperor Wanli's failure to go to court did not affect his control over the country and the court, but his failure to appoint officials caused the emperor who came to the throne to fall into a situation where no one was available.

It should be noted that a prime minister of a country is by no means born, and needs local experience and polishing in the central government. Even Zhang Juzheng has been polished for nearly 30 years before he can finally take over the power of the empire.If the Tianqi dynasty had a real prime minister, it would be absolutely impossible for the Donglin Party to dominate alone, and it would be even more impossible for the Qi, Chu, Zhejiang and Fujian parties to form an alliance with Wei Wei.If there had been a real prime minister at the beginning of Chongzhen's ascension to the throne, it would have been impossible to set off the "reverse case" party struggle that extended to the Southern Ming court.

This root is broken in Wanli.

Zhu Cihong didn't get so inflated that he thought he could truly and perfectly control this huge country, after all he was inexperienced.But as a professional, he knows the importance of the talent echelon.As long as he is sane, Daming will definitely not fall apart in his own hands, but to ensure that the next emperor does not do stupid things, he must start building a team ladder from now on and train ministers who can take on various roles.And the future Zaifu should be the officials of today's prefectures and counties.

When Zhu Cihong walked out of the Chinese army camp, he suddenly thought of Wu Congyi, the county magistrate of Chang'an.If it weren't for this national disaster, that Qiang Xiangling might have become an excellent Yushi Zhongcheng.

……

"Mother," Princess Kunxing approached Queen Zhou, pretending to be excited, "I saw the willow tree by the lake sprouting. I think it must be a good thing for it to sprout in such a cold day."

Zhou Hou gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, looked at the two sons and one daughter sitting down, and knew that it was Empress Yi'an who was afraid that she would think wildly by herself, so she purposely called her to accompany her.Although these three children are young, their minds are not young. Knowing that their mother is worried about their elder brother's affairs, they always find good things to say, and never take the initiative to bring up external matters, as if they are completely ignorant.

Ding Wang Cijiong stepped forward and gently shook Zhou Hou's knee, saying: "Mother, take us to play in the garden."

Zhou Hou took a break from her sorrow, and soon resumed her role as a mother, with a serious face: "I know how to play all day long, have you memorized your homework? Brother Chun has never been playful at your age, and he can write well." His handwriting is so good that even the ministers of the outer court admire him." She unconsciously said about her eldest son, Cihong, and her heart ached again, with a sense of aggrieved feeling, wishing she could go straight to the Hall of Martial Arts in the outer palace. , grabbed her husband by the collar and asked him, "Where did my son go!"

King Ding was choked up by his mother, and deeply regretted that he had hit the muzzle of the gun.

Kun Xing gave a dry cough, and was about to change the topic when he suddenly heard the sound of soft-soled cloth shoes rubbing against the floor tiles.She looked back, but Aunt Liu, who was always gentle and dignified, was trotting in with a panicked expression.

After Liu Gongzheng paid his respects to Zhou, he quickly said: "Your Majesty, there is news about Brother Chun!"

Zhou Hou immediately stood up, stepped forward and grabbed Liu Gongzheng's hand: "Where is Brother Chun! Is it okay!" She said, tears streaming down again.

Liu Gongzheng hurriedly said: "Someone from the outer court impeached Brother Chun, saying that Brother Chun abused civil service and used the bodyguard battalion to threaten the officials of the states and counties along the way. He has already arrived in Tianjin."

"Is he okay?" Zhou Hou asked nervously.She didn't think about the meaning of "abuse of civil service" and "coercion of officials". She just wanted to know whether her eldest son was healthy and safe.

"Brother Chun is afraid that nothing will happen. He has so many officials around him." Liu Gongzheng quickly counted: "The servants heard about the crown prince's guest Wu Wei, the governor of Shaanxi Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shanxi Cai Maode, and the governor of Tianjin Zhou Yingqi. ...They are all high officials, and who else can control them except Lord Qiantui."

Zhou Hou rubbed his chest and finally let out a long breath, and praised repeatedly: "Thanks to the spirit of our ancestors in the sky, Gods and Buddhas bless us, my brother Chun is fine."

Liu Gongzheng hurriedly laughed and said, "My lady, relax, Brother Chun came down from the stars in the sky, what a blessing that is! Where can something happen? That day I also heard that people from the Lingtai were inquiring about when Brother Chun was born. There are no visions!"

Zhou Hou smiled softly: "There are so many people here, how can there be any visions? Isn't it... Eh, when you put it that way, I had a strange dream when I was pregnant with Brother Chun..." (To be continued.)