Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 16 All parties are guilty, and the blame lies with me

Tongzhou City is still full of killing sounds.

Zhang Lun, the deputy envoy of Tongbaohe Bingbei Road in Beizhili, lived up to Zhu Youjian's entrustment.

With the only [-] officers and soldiers guarding the treasury in the city, they resisted the intruder Tian Jianxiubu for seven days!
It has been two days longer than Zhu Youjian's request of only five days.

However, what Zhu Youjian would not have thought was that Zhang Lun was an official who abided by integrity, and he did not follow Zhu Youjian's instructions to retreat on his own after five days.

On the contrary, he decided to live and die with Tongzhou City on the grounds that he was the military guard of Tongzhou.

The thief Tian Jianxiu was finally dragged by Zhang Lun in Tongzhou City for ten days.

Ten days later, Tongzhou City was finally broken!
Bing Bei Dao Zhang Lun finally hanged himself!
However, it was also because the officials and people of Tongzhou City resisted too fiercely under Zhang Lun's call, and in order to strengthen the prestige of the new dynasty, and because Tian Jianxiu's department came all the way from Shaanxi, the food and grass were not enough, and the grain stored in Tongzhou was also transported away by Zhu Youjian .

Tian Jianxiu used this as an excuse to massacre the city of Tongzhou for three days, burning, killing and looting, doing all kinds of evil.

When Zhu Youjian heard the news, he had already left Tianjin Wei and arrived in Bazhou.

Going further south from Bazhou is Baoding.

Baoding is an important town in Gyeonggi along the canal, guarding the only official road leading to the canal wharf.

Now, Zhu Youjian already knows that Liu Fangliang, the burglar, has entered Zhending from Henan, and once Liu Fangliang comes to chase him, he must attack Baoding.

"If you want to go south along the canal to Jinghai, and then enter the territory of Dezhou, Shandong, you must first ensure that Baoding City will not be lost to thieves within ten days."

Zhu Youjian didn't have time to feel sorry for Zhang Lun, and he didn't even have time to scold the general Tian Jianxiu for his cruelty and inhumanity for the people of Tongzhou City.

From a certain point of view, the massacre of Tongzhou City had something to do with him.

As the saying goes, one will succeed and all will die, Zhu Youjian, as the emperor, cannot guarantee that more people will not die under the butcher's knife in the future.

After hearing that Tongzhou City fell, Zhu Youjian immediately summoned hundreds of officials in Bazhou City to make important decisions in the simple county government.

At this time, Li Banghua, the Minister of the Ministry of War who was still with Zhu Youjian, stood up:

"Your Majesty, Mr. Li Ge, who was ordered by His Majesty to supervise the expedition, is now in Baoding City. It may not be a big problem for Mr. Li to guard Baoding as the old man."

Zhu Youjian smiled faintly, he knew that the Li Ge always mentioned by Li Banghua was Li Jiantai.

However, as far as Zhu Youjian knew, it was in Baoding City that Li Jiantai surrendered to the bandit Liu Fangliang.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian is not sure whether Li Jiantai has defected to the enemy now.

"Li Jiantai is unreliable. I don't trust him to guard Baoding City. I have to go to Baoding City to see for myself. Moreover, Baoding City is the key to the canal, so don't take it lightly!"

As he said that, Zhu Youjian asked Zhou Yuji's wife, Liu Shi, to take two thousand horses to Baoding, and first passed on his decree to Li Jiantai, ordering him to prepare to pick them up.

Before deciding to go to Baoding, Zhu Youjian took the time to hold a funeral for Zhang Lun in Bazhou in person, and he, the king, personally laid the funeral ceremony. His posthumous title is Zhonglie.

Because the country is about to collapse, Zhu Youjian knows that he can no longer give these officials actual political and material protection, but he can still give them great honor after death.

This may be the greatest need for many officials who abide by etiquette.

If not, at the end of each dynasty, there would not be so many officials who would choose to die in order to live forever.

The ancients paid more attention to the name behind them, it is true.

In this regard, Zhu Youjian naturally cannot be stingy.

The civil and military officials who followed Zhu Youjian did not expect that a small soldier who prepares the way will be honored by His Majesty the Emperor to pay homage in person, and their loyalty to the king Zhu Youjian is naturally stronger.

After all, being able to choose to follow his officials when Li Zicheng's soldiers were pressing down on the border is naturally more likely to be moved by Zhu Youjian's behavior of loving ministers, and he even forgot that Zhu Youjian had just beheaded countless ministers before.

Zhu Youjian did not only pay homage to Zhang Lun who died in the martyrdom of defending the city, but also paid homage to more than [-] officials and civilians in Tongzhou City who were slaughtered by intruders, and asked Ni Yuanlu, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, to write a memorial speech to mourn Li Shu in Tongzhou .

"Everything is guilty, and I am guilty. What is the crime of the people in the world? If I have been responsible for the country, I should ask the ancestors to blame the unfilial Zhu Youjian!"

Zhu Youjian knelt and sat on the temporary high platform in Bazhou City with a sad face, and said these words in a low tone.

Ni Yuanlu, Minister of the Ministry of Households, Li Banghua, Minister of the Ministry of War, Zhou Yuji, the left governor of Ningwu Bozuo, and other civil and military officials were all heartbroken when they heard this.

Ni Yuanlu knelt down first, and cried loudly, "Your Majesty!"

Immediately afterwards, Li Banghua, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and others also knelt down and cried out the word "Your Majesty".

"Your Majesty's crimes are all due to the incompetence of the ministers and others, which caused the loss of the capital and the suffering of the people. I am willing to use my seven-foot body to sacrifice the souls of the soldiers and people in Tongzhou!"

Perhaps Zhang Luoyan, the young minister of Guanglu Temple, was so moved by Zhu Youjian's behavior that he couldn't help but speak loudly.

Moreover, after finishing speaking, this Luo Yan got up and slammed into the pillar beside him, his head was bleeding and he died directly.

Zhu Youjian couldn't help being shocked!

All the officials couldn't help but be shocked!

The people of Bazhou, who came to watch His Majesty the Ming Emperor, were already very moved when they saw His Majesty the current Emperor offering sacrifices to the suffering people.

Seeing that some officials are now guilty of committing suicide, Zhu Youjian's effect of paying homage to Tongzhou officials and people to win the hearts of the people has been greatly enhanced.

In addition, it was drizzling again in Bazhou City at this time.

This is a gloomy day when passers-by want to lose their souls, and the officials and people are naturally even more moved, sighing at the benevolence of His Majesty the Emperor, and the strength of the Great Ming has not yet been exhausted.

In addition to the officers and soldiers who traveled with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the [-] officers and soldiers of Zhou Yuji's First Guard Army and the Second Guard Army of the Beijing Camp were also deeply moved by seeing this.

If it is said that Zhu Youjian gave them a supplementary military salary before, it was only to give them material security and they were willing to follow Zhu Youjian, the emperor, to retreat south.

Now, they began to feel that following such a good emperor was not just a matter of food, but a sense of mission.

A sense of mission to protect this good emperor who loves the people like a son and make contributions to him.

Although Zhu Youjian is still panicking like a bereaved dog, he is still on the way to flee south, and has to face the siege and interception of Li Zicheng's army and the constraints of various warlords.

But now, no matter whether it is the officials, the army or the common people, they have seen hope from Zhu Youjian, and they have seen the hope of the future of Ming Dynasty.

The death of Zhang Luoyan added a lot of color to Zhu Youjian's actions today.

He never thought of using his own life to complete his cause of regaining the hearts of the people, but Zhang Luoyan's behavior undoubtedly helped him a lot.

Therefore, Zhang Luoyan was posthumously named the right servant of the Ministry of Rites and posthumously named Zhongjie.

However, when the officials Li Shu admired His Majesty Zhu Youjian's wisdom, Mrs. Liu, who was ordered to Baoding to preach to Li Jiantai, came back with injuries and told Li Jiantai to refuse the Ming army to enter Baoding City!
"Elder Li Ge said that even if it is the emperor's will, it will not work. Old Li Ge threatened to submit to the new dynasty. He said that he would not send troops to arrest His Majesty. He also said that His Majesty could choose to go south or surrender to him. Xinchao!"

After Mrs. Liu gritted her teeth and said, all the officials were indignant after hearing this.

Even Zhu Youjian felt that this old man was shameless. Seeing that Li Zicheng wanted to surrender, Dashun wanted to surrender. Seeing that he still had [-] troops, he dared not go out to fight and was afraid of death, so he said it clearly. The monarch and minister wanted to let him go, but also wanted him to surrender to him, and let him go to Li Zicheng to claim credit, really naive!

(End of this chapter)