Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 5
Asking Wang Chengen and his son-in-law captain Gong Yonggu to escort the prince to see Zhou Yuji was Zhu Youjian's first step in responding to Li Zicheng's imminent attack on the capital.

As for the loyalty of Wang Chengen and his son-in-law captain Gong Yonggu, Zhu Youxiao was naturally at ease, and would not worry that the two would directly join the intruders on the road.

Both of them were martyrs in the original history.

Wang Chengen hanged himself on Meishan Mountain.

Gong Yonggu's family was martyred.

And Wang Chengen is the admiral of Dongchang who has four or five hundred soldiers of Dongchang who are good at fighting. Gong Yonggu also has three or four hundred family members as a dignified son-in-law. Together, it is more than enough to escort the prince Zhu Cihong to Ningwuguan.

What's more, the land of Gyeonggi is still in Daming's hands!
Even though the sun was setting in the Ming Dynasty, a group of civil and military officials found out that the crown prince had escaped from the capital, and they would not dare to attack the crown prince of Daming.

In order to paralyze most of the civil and military officials who already had two minds, Zhu Youjian sent Li Mingrui and Ni Yuanlu, two officials who were relatively loyal and coincident with him, into prison in the imperial court.

But this does not mean that Zhu Youjian really wants to do something to Ni Yuanlu and Li Mingrui.

In his opinion, these two people may be of great use in the future.

However, at this moment, Fan Jingwen, Shangshu of Dongge University's household department, and Li Banghua, the censor of Zuodu, suddenly asked to see Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian knew that these two people also advocated his southward migration, and they were both loyal ministers who died for the Ming Dynasty.

I am afraid that I came to see myself today because I sent Ni Yuanlu and Li Mingrui to prison.

"Show them in!"

Zhu Youjian gave an order and waited for these two people to come.

Both of them looked dignified, and they both knew that the Ming Dynasty was in danger, so they earnestly asked His Majesty Zhu Youjian to go to Nanjing as soon as possible, and temporarily seek peace until another day.

But the situation in the court today also made them feel angry and heartbroken.

The ministers of the Manchu Dynasty have already begun to prepare for the change of the dynasty, and dare to force His Majesty to punish Ni Yuanlu and Li Mingrui!
Because of this, the two did not speak again in the court, but now they still couldn't help but begged to see His Majesty the Emperor, and wanted to persuade Zhu Youjian to move to Nanjing again.

"Your Majesty, trespassers are powerful, and there are no more soldiers in the capital. I am afraid that Wu Sangui has already had a second heart, so he has been reluctant to send troops to rescue him. He should move south quickly, otherwise the great Ming Jiangshan Sheji will be destroyed. It's hard to guarantee!"

Fan Jingwen said emotionally.

Seeing that he was in such a hurry, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but feel warm in his heart. At this time, he can still worry about himself, the last emperor. Let alone his ability, at least his loyalty is commendable.

"I don't know, it's just that there are many ministers obstructing the city. You have also seen the matter of Ni Yuanlu and Li Mingrui today. Do the two lovers really think that I intend to punish them? It can be seen, but so what, I will almost become Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, how dare I have the slightest claim, if I go south, I don't know how many local civil and military officials along the way have become burglars, and the hearts of our people have been If you want to go south and regain the hearts of the people, you have to think long-term."

After Zhu Youjian said it pretending to be sad, Fan Jingwen immediately knelt on the ground and cried:

"Your Majesty, it is the incompetence of the ministers that made His Majesty fall into this desperate situation, and let the first-class treacherous ministers enter the court! Your Majesty!"

Fan Jingwen belonged to the bookish type of person, his emotions were clearly revealed, and he was quite upright.

But it is precisely because of his sincerity that he has won Zhu Youjian's heart.

Li Banghua, on the other hand, has a relatively introverted and steady personality, and he hasn't said a word until now.

But Zhu Youjian's words and Fan Jingwen's crying made him feel the same way. Li Banghua couldn't help saying:

"What your Majesty said is very true. Now that the Ming Dynasty is in danger, the strategy of moving south cannot be decided at will, but I have an idea. Your Majesty can let the two princes, King Yong and King Ding, enter the vassal in advance. The vassal king cannot stay in the capital for a long time. The king must immediately become a vassal, and the ministers of the court must not stop it, because this is the patriarchal system of the court."

Fan Jingwen also held back his tears at this time, and suddenly realized that Li Banghua's idea might be good, so he quickly echoed:
"Your Majesty, what Du Yushi said is very true. Let the two princes go to the south to take up the domain first, which can be regarded as an early plan for future changes. However, the fiefdoms of Yongwang and Dingwang are both in Shandong and Henan. If there is no danger to defend, Your Majesty might as well redesignate the two princes and go to the south of the Yangtze River to become a vassal."

"Very good!"

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement.

In his opinion, letting Yongwang Zhu Cijiong and Dingwang Zhu Cihuan immediately go to their fiefdoms to become vassals will not only allow his two sons to leave the capital early, even if something happens to him, the emperor and the prince Zhu Cihong. The prince can also become the next generation of emperor, and can also divert the attention of these officials who have the heart of surrendering to the enemy, while ignoring that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty has quietly left the capital.

And in this way, his three sons will have the possibility to leave the capital early, and no matter who comes to Nanjing in the future, they can become the next generation of emperors.

You must know that in the original history, because neither he nor his son succeeded in going south, the position of the crown prince has always been pending, which made Nan Mingbai miss the opportunity to fight hard for a year, and even intensified the internal struggle in the court.

Now, I have sent my three sons to the south, no doubt in preparation for the fact that the capital will be really unsafe in the future, and I will make a great cause in the south!

As for whether the three sons will fight among themselves at that time, Zhu Youjian can't control so much at this time. After all, now that the country is about to die, it is only one who can run out of a legal heir to the throne.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian agreed to the request of Fan Jingwen and Li Banghua, and asked Li Banghua to submit a memorial to ask the two vassal kings to take over immediately, while Fan Jingwen submitted a memorial to request that the two princes' feudal lands be changed.

Zhu Youxiao immediately agreed to the memorandum of the two, and issued an imperial decree that the king of Yong was changed to the king of Yue and his residence in Hangzhou, and the king of Ding was changed to the king of Ning and his residence in Nanchang.

These two places are important places south of the Yangtze River, and they will be important bases for building a stronghold to resist the Tartars in the future. Letting the two princes go to the town first is undoubtedly a double insurance. Can immediately use these two important areas as bases to prepare for war.

Of course, if he can escape from the capital, all these preparations are unnecessary.

But what Zhu Youjian didn't expect was that when he issued the second imperial decree, that is, King Yue immediately took control of Hangzhou, and King Ning immediately took control of Nanchang and allowed him to set up [-] guards. Youjian's imperial decree refuted it.

In the Ming Dynasty, the regulation of small officials holding great power was followed, and although they were only officials of the seventh rank, they were officials with real power who had the power to refute, and could directly refute the orders of the cabinet and even the emperor.

And at this moment, Guang Shiheng is using his power to prevent Zhu Youjian from taking the two princes, King Yue and King Ning, as vassals.

Zhu Youjian originally thought that these civil and military officials would only prevent him and his prince Zhu Cihong from leaving the capital for the south.

But I didn't expect that these officials with ulterior motives would even stop their two princes from going to the south.

"It's really presumptuous! The kings of the Ming Dynasty have never been allowed to stay in the capital, and they can become a feudal clan if they have to. What kind of intentions do you have, how dare you violate the ancestral system of my Ming Dynasty and not allow two kings to become a feudal clan!"

Zhu Youjian couldn't help being furious, and directly scolded Guang Shiheng.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. At this time, there is a war outside the capital, and bandits and bandits are rampant. The two princes are nobles, and they are still young. Your Majesty, please suspend their proposal to become a vassal!"

Guang Shiheng raised his eyebrows lightly, he naturally knew what Chongzhen was thinking.

But right now, King Li Chuang is about to enter Beijing, and the world is about to change dynasties. If the two princes are allowed to leave the city, there will be more remnants of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he will not be able to explain to the new emperor Li Zi.

(End of this chapter)