Dragon Soul in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 16

Tongzhou Lilai has a prominent position in North China. In ancient times, there was a saying that there is a capital, two guards and three Tongzhou. However, as long as the grain supply in Tongzhou is cut off, it will be a disaster for Bei Jing, which has a population of one million. Before Beijing, that plague was even more destructive.

The importance of Tongzhou City, at the end of the Ming and Qing dynasties, almost every emperor allocated huge sums of money for repairs, not to mention far away, Gu Jiusi repaired the old city in the 19th year of Wanli, when the Miyun Bingbei Dao King saw Binxiu to repair the new city, he greatly demolished and repaired it , the stacking wall is three feet five feet high (11 meters high), more than ten feet thick, and one thousand three hundred and forty feet long, which is much taller and thicker than before.Li Gong once built the new city enemy platform, which was the founder of Tongzhou enemy platform.

In the fourth year of Chongzhen, because the northeast corner of the old city and the southwest corner of the new city were vulnerable to enemy attacks, an additional enemy tower was built in the northeast of the old city. There are three floors, all with doors, and the moon city is added and built with gun doors.

Facing such a city, not to mention [-] red soldiers, even [-] heavy artillery can't break through the fortress, but Zhu Gan has his own plans, and Tongzhou City is not as strong as it looks.

When two thousand red-clothed soldiers crossed Beijing and appeared on the official road to Tongzhou, the fear of national subjugation was permeating everywhere in the capital, which was no less than when Zhu Di invaded Nanjing.

After the fire in the 25th year of Wanli, the Huangji Hall was rebuilt in the seventh year of the Apocalypse. After the apocalypse, there was no extra financial repairs since the Chongzhen Dynasty. At this time, there was no sound in the magnificent Huangji Hall. The young prince.

Zhu Cihong, who had just turned five years old, was born in pink and jade, hiding in the arms of Queen Zhou, with a pair of big eyes as black as jewels, constantly looking at the officials under the bead curtain.

I saw one person suddenly come out of the queue, at first glance the official uniform was no more than seventh grade, but at the second look it was in the middle of the matter, I saw this person suddenly knelt down amidst a sound of astonishment, calmly took off the official hat and put it aside, suddenly raised his head He howled: "The country is about to perish! The country is about to perish! The country is about to perish..."

The sudden mulberry made Zhu Cihong cry out in fright, waving her little hands continuously, like a frightened kitten, shivering while hiding in Queen Zhou's arms.

Faced with the sudden change, the official censor was caught off guard, and swallowed the words of impeachment. Could it be that he yelled twice to tell the prince to shut up? A little baby who doesn't understand will not be famous in history, but will only be infamous for thousands of years.

Seeing that the prince was frightened into such a state, the whole court was terrified and knelt down to plead guilty. They didn't know whether they were crying for the Zhu family's dynasty or the viciousness of the hundreds of officials in the court.

Zhang Yan is the widow of Emperor Tianqi and the sister-in-law of Chongzhen. Looking at Zhu Cihong who was frightened and crying, she felt a little distressed, and a sullen look flashed across her face. What time is it? The chief minister of the cabinet, Wen Tiren, who was kneeling on the ground and about to fall asleep, Zhang Yan took the Crown Prince from the hands of Empress Zhou, comforted him a few times, and immediately the little guy burst into tears and let Zhang Yan hold him obediently.

Zhang Yan fondled his head, and pulled Queen Zhou with the other hand. Ping Ping Ting Ting was in her prime of life, her child died without her husband, and she was raised alone in the deep palace. A canary in a cage is even more bleak.

When Chongzhen was able to win the throne, it was almost entirely due to her mediation that Wei Zhongxian's plot failed. Not only did he rely on the mercy of the bastard Emperor Tianqi, but also had extraordinary wisdom. The official bowed deeply.

They are not great because they are noble, but they are noble because they are great. At this moment, the two of them are the mother of the country, but they bowed down to salute their ministers. With the bodies of women, no one dared to say that they were rude. Other than shock, they were shocked.

Zhang Yan looked at the group of officials kneeling below the Huangji Hall, some complex lights flashed in his eyes, and Tankou said lightly: "The three major battalions of the capital, from preparation to departure, are less than sixty miles away. After walking for three days and three nights, is it because they are afraid of thieves? Probably not, but they have their own plans in their hearts. There is a King Fu there, but you all know in your heart, is that person really King Fu? Where are you in Dongchang and Jinyiwei? Do you not know who those people are? Why did we have to go to this point, we orphans and widows got rid of you. "

Tears flickered in Empress Zhou's eyes, except for the name of a queen, although she didn't have much ambition, she was content, virtuous and sensible. She was inseparable from Zhu Youjian in her life, he was her god, so Said that when Zhu Youjian asked her to commit suicide and die for the country, she could say those sincere words, and then died without hesitation.

Now she wants to protect this country and their little home for her husband. For this, she can save money and donate all the gold and silver jewelry as military expenses. The suppressed officials compromised, just asking for no more party disputes.

The glamorous Zhang Yan is worthy of being one of the five queens. She has a frown and a smile, a sorrow and a joy, and her aura is full of power. Her bending over makes all the officials feel more satisfied than the virtuous Zhou family.

One of the leaders of the Donglin Party, Li Biao, a cabinet scholar, glanced at Wen Tiren, who was drowsy, and finally couldn't help but stand up, and said loudly: "It's still a lenient policy to tie people's hearts. The disaster of the family has gone through four dynasties. Leveraging the eyes and ears of the imperial court, fasten one's own lungs and intestines, the talents will be exhausted, and the country will be in the Sui Dynasty. The scholars and bureaucrats should donate each other's selfishness, and the sages will hold the distinction between the two..."

Li Biao made a talk about benevolent and lenient governance. These things are okay to talk about, but when it comes to reality, they are just two words of nonsense. Seeing everyone's bored appearance, he thought for a while and then said: "The reason why the red-clothed thieves responded to everyone's calls In the final analysis, it is because of droughts every year, the displacement of the people, and the excessive taxation. As long as the taxes are reduced and the people are grateful for the emperor's grace, the red-clothed thieves will definitely be unstable, and then the siege of Tongzhou will be resolved by the strategy of recruiting and surrendering."

Taxes are reduced and exempted, where can we get the money to support the army? To exterminate the peasants and soldiers requires the army, and after resisting the money, the army will be needed. As long as the military expenses are exempted, the army will mutiny first, and the Ming Dynasty will be the first to perish. It may not be possible to get much benefit. The ones who are really fat are the princes in the court, and the huge Jiangnan scholar-bureaucrat group behind them.

Zhang Yan looked at the princes under the court hall, and the disappointment in her heart became more and more intense. The hand holding Zhu Cihong trembled, and suddenly snorted coldly, took Zhou's hand and went back behind the bead curtain. shameless.

I only heard the calm and emotionless words coming from behind the bead curtain again: "The Ai family is tired, you all stand down!"

When the officials left, Zhou looked at Zhang Yan with some concern, and said softly, "Sister-in-law! Although the red-clothed rebels only have 2000 people, they have arrived in Tongzhou after all. Once the city of Tongzhou falls, the whole country will be shaken!"

Zhang Yan's overwhelmed face is full of exhaustion. Recently, too many things have happened suddenly. In this huge imperial city, if a few eunuchs under his command were not able to hide it, it may overthrow the entire Ming Dynasty. The news, I am afraid that the sky has turned upside down a long time ago. Now that the political situation has just stabilized, Cao Wenzhao has defended Datong, and Chen Qiyu has trapped the peasant army. Unexpectedly, there will be rebels in Zhuozhou City, and it is so close to Beijing. If you don't pay attention, you will end up subjugated.

There are too many troubles inside and out, and the two of them have only now realized the pain of Chongzhen's administration. Facing such a situation, how can they not be suspicious, and how can they not have a relationship with the court officials? fire.

Zhang Yan sighed, with a hint of firmness on her pretty face, she shook Zhou's hand, and comforted in a harmonious voice: "The most important thing now is to help His Majesty guard this country, so what if Tongzhou City is broken, as long as you The city of Beijing is still there, and Daming is here."

"Everything depends on the emperor's wife!" Empress Zhou hugged the crown prince, moved lightly, and went back to the harem. Although she knew it was wrong, she was more willing to believe Zhang Yan. After being sent to the throne, now she can also help her husband guard the country.

Zhang Yan did not go to the Zhongji Hall to rest, but stood alone in the huge Huangji Hall. She didn't want to come to this deserted and depressing Huangji Hall, but it was a pity that she had to come. The entire hall: "Cao Huachun, since you entered Prince Xin's Mansion, how many years have you been with His Majesty?"

As soon as Cao Huachun outside the hall heard Zhang Yan's call, he quickly entered the hall and knelt down and said: "Go back to the empress, the servant entered the palace at the age of twelve or thirteen, and later accompanied the emperor's grandson, the servant has almost forgotten how many years, about 20 years. Already!"

Zhang Yan stood on the steps, her voice was small but it spread throughout the Huangji Palace: "Okay, 20 years! If you don't kiss, you can kiss, you are also a family member, unlike those scholar-bureaucrats who yelled, It’s another story behind the scenes, it’s already unbelievable, you immediately admiral Dongchang, call out your cronies, go to get people for the Ai family, the Ai family will organize their own army and horses, and build a [-]th regiment battalion again.”

Cao Huachun at the bottom of the steps was stunned for a moment, and then he woke up from the shock. This queen is so courageous. She wants to do things that men can't do. Although he has no roots, he is a man at heart!

What excites him even more is the sentence that he has kissed after 20 years of kissing. What do rootless eunuchs want, glory and wealth, but what they want more is family affection, so they value their nephews more, and they all say that the Tian family is ruthless , but when I grew up watching Xin Wang grow up, I really kissed him even if I didn’t want to. As long as he is willing to show his heart to him, he can die for you. Fang Huazheng did it, Wang Chengen did it, but those who are full of benevolence and morality The scholar-bureaucrat did not do it.

Cao Huachun got Yi's decree, kowtowed heavily and said: "In this capital, as long as someone dares to stop the slaves from doing things to take people, red knives go in and white knives come out, and they will definitely get them to whoever the lady wants."

As Zhang Yan came out without a single order from the cabinet, the entire capital once again fell out.

The Twelve Regiment Battalion, the masterpiece that Yu Qian tried his best to save the building, if it is really compiled, who will be the first to be unlucky.