Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 161 The ministers are incompetent, what's the crime of His Majesty!
"This matter will be discussed at the court!"

Zhu Youjian decided not to mention whether to bury Li Zicheng according to the imperial ceremony for the time being.

Civil servants always like to tangle with these red tapes. A big ritual event in history lasted almost half of the Jiajing Dynasty, which laid a deep foundation for future crises.

Zhu Youjian didn't want the court to be like this again, especially in this critical moment when the country would be destroyed if he didn't pay attention.

As soon as he left the Grand Marshal's Mansion, Zhu Youjian instructed the Guangming Daily to start reporting the news of Jiannu's southward migration in greater detail, exposing the brutal behavior of Jiannu's southward migration.

At the same time, Zhu Youjian also asked Guangming Daily to analyze the consequences of hundreds of thousands of invaders if they voted for the Qing army and the imperial court, and tried to exaggerate the important role played by the hundreds of thousands of invaders in the contest between the imperial court and the Qing army.

Zhu Youjian did this to let the courtiers know what is the most important thing now, and whether Li Zicheng can implement the emperor's funeral, which is more important compared with Jiangshan Sheji.

At this time, the courtiers were as excited as Ma Shiying, Li Banghua and others after learning that Li Zicheng was dead. As the rule protectors of the Ming Empire, even these big bureaucrats who are still following the Ming Emperor Zhu Youjian Loyal ministers, but naturally they deeply hated Li Zicheng who messed up the Ming Dynasty and even took the capital, and almost made them the ministers of the subjugated country. Now I heard that Li Zicheng's hatred of the country and family has been avenged.

However, as the supreme ruler of the empire, the Ming emperor Zhu Youjian, who should have hated Li Zicheng the most, did not lose his mind at this time.

Perhaps it was because he was a time traveler from later generations. At this time, he was resisting more rationally than emotionally. At this time, Zhu Youjian knew very well whether Li Zicheng would carry out the emperor's funeral and whether he could recruit hundreds of thousands of invaders. What's more important than the other's interests.

Although the rest of the Chuang army was beaten back by the Qing army, it does not mean that this army has no combat effectiveness. Li Zicheng's embarrassing defeat is not only because of the strength of Jiannu, but because he ignored the power of Jiannu at first. When he first entered Beijing, he did not have enough time to build the rear base area. Even most of the main force was still on the bank of the Yellow River in Shanxi, and most of the troops who followed him into Beijing were still the surrendered Ming army.

Therefore, Li Zicheng lost the opportunity in the initial battle of Jiannu, and in the end he lost his confidence at all and fled in embarrassment. At this time, Guanzhong was no longer like the Han and Tang Dynasties, and there was no good rear support at all.

But in fact, most of the invading troops are old rogues with rich combat experience, and they have been suppressed and beaten by Jiannu all the time. , It is absolutely possible for this army to exert its strongest strength, and it can undoubtedly become the main force against the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian could not just watch these hundreds of thousands of invaders become rogues or surrender to become slaves and follow the path of Wu Sangui and others when they were desperate.

In fact, in the original history, the Nanming Yongli Dynasty persisted in resisting the Qing Dynasty for much longer than the Hongguang Dynasty. It has nothing to do with its main anti-Qing force being the original peasant army. The army's appeasement is effective, but naturally it has little effect on the peasant army.

The news that hundreds of thousands of Chuangjun intends to join Daming and demand that Li Zicheng be buried with the emperor's ceremony also spread throughout the court.

Unsurprisingly, the entire imperial court was full of discussions because of this, especially the cabinet minister Gao Hongtu and Wuyingdian scholar Li Banghua, the Minister of Rites Liu Zongzhou and the Minister of Punishment Jiang Yueguang and other ministers who paid attention to human relations and integrity were particularly opposed. I hate Li Zicheng's behavior of committing such crimes.

"Your Majesty, Li Zicheng is a national traitor, and a national traitor is unforgivable! Holding an emperor's funeral is really detrimental to the majesty of the imperial court!"

"Your Majesty, at this time of crisis, although the common people can be forgiven for the crime of being a thief, but Li Zicheng is the chief culprit. If you forgive me, what will your majesty look like? How will you see the late emperor in the future?"

"Li Zicheng's crimes are heinous, and he should have lost his bones and ashes, but now that the Hulu invaded the south, it is for the overall situation of the world, and he may be forgiven, but performing the emperor's ceremony is really against the dignity of your majesty. Has your majesty ever forgotten the hatred of destroying the mausoleum? , the pain of the fall of the northern capital!"

When Li Banghua said this, all the officials in the court began to sob and cry. All of them were important officials in python robes and red robes, but they were crying in Zhu Youjian's eyes, so that Zhu Youjian didn't know what to say for a while. good.

Zhu Youjian had no choice but to follow suit, wiped the corners of his eyes, and forced out a few tears: "I understand your feelings as Aiqing. If you want to talk about the hatred between Li Zicheng and Li Zicheng, the hatred between me and Li Zicheng is the deepest." , I can't wait to eat its flesh and sleep on its skin!"

In order to show that he really hated, Zhu Youjian slapped the dragon chair after gritting his teeth, scaring the officials so much that they didn't dare to cry anymore, and hurriedly shouted: "Your Majesty!"

"However, at present, the Qing army is going south and has already occupied the entire territory of Shanxi and Shaanxi! Prince Azige of Qingying even approached Jingxiang. Yu is making trouble near Anqing! Have you ever thought about what the consequences will be if these hundreds of thousands of troops join the Qing army or join forces with Zuo Liangyu if we don’t agree to the Chuangjun’s request!”

As Zhu Youjian spoke, he directly asked Li Banghua to stand up: "Li Aiqing, tell me what the consequences will be."

Li Banghua had no choice but to reply truthfully: "If these hundreds of thousands of intruders join the Qing army, Azige's troops will go straight down to the right side of the river. If Zuo Liangyu's troops surrender again, our Nanjing right wing will face nearly a million troops attacking, such as Duoduo's troops." When the time goes south again, the south of the Yangtze River will be attacked by the enemy, and our great Ming country and society will undoubtedly perish!"

"Listen!"

Zhu Youjian roared loudly, and asked Ma Shiying to talk about the strength of the hundreds of thousands of troops.

"They are all old bandits who fought against Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou, and Zuo Liangyu back then. Although they are not as good as the Qing army Tartars, they are stronger than the official army. Once they vote for the Qing or Zuo Liangyu, it will be a huge blow to the court. challenge."

Ma Shiying said so.

All the ministers fell silent. Everyone knew that it was of great significance for hundreds of thousands of troops to join the imperial court, but it was difficult for anyone to accept Li Zicheng's imperial burial, so they all looked at Zhu Youjian, meaning that if If His Majesty can accept it, they can only accept it with gritted teeth. Anyway, he ruined your Zhu family's country. If you can pass this hurdle, we can too!
Zhu Youjian really didn't have any psychological pressure, but he still pretended to be sad and said: "Because of knowing these consequences, for the sake of the country, the country, and the common people in the world, I have to agree to rush into the army and hold the emperor's funeral for Li Zicheng! Think about it, Beidu In the fall, Li Zicheng, a small postman, can make the country fall into ruins. In fact, it is my own fault. If it is not for my excessive expropriation, if it is not for my blind demand, which makes the people of the world unbearable, what is the reason for this? To pursue Li Zicheng, the one who is truly unforgivable is myself!"

Zhu Youjian's self-criticism made all the ministers burst into tears again, and hurriedly knelt down: "It is the minister who is incompetent, so what is the crime of His Majesty!"

"I can also understand the feelings of all the lovers. Li Zicheng is a man who has committed a heinous crime and ruined my ancestors.

(End of this chapter)