Author: Taofu

The Ming army was defeated at the Battle of Songjin. The commander Hong Chengchou was captured alive, and the rest of the soldiers fled and were wounded. It was miserable. Because Hong Chengchou's trick was so cruel, he almost sent the Manchu emperor Huang Taiji to meet his father Nurhachi.

Therefore, the Manchu Qing's counterattack was particularly brutal. After a day and night of fierce fighting, the Ming army suffered more than half of its casualties and had no fighting spirit.

When the Eighth Army Generals learned that Hong Chengchou had led his troops to attack the Jiannu Camp and had heard nothing from him since then, they concluded that Hong Chengchou should have died in the battle, and internal disputes arose. Some wanted to avenge Hong Chengchou, while others discussed abandoning Songjin and heading south.

There was a dispute over the withdrawal for a while, and if the dispute continued, everyone would do their own thing. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people collapsed and fled in all directions.

In January of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the Qing army drove the Ming army to Songshan City. The soldiers spread out and directly surrounded Songshan City. Yutian Commander-in-Chief Cao Bianjiao and Miyun Commander-in-Chief Tang Tong were all trapped in Songshan City.

The soldiers had besieged the city for more than two months, and the food in the city was exhausted. Seeing that a whole city of soldiers and horses were about to die in the city, there was really no other way. Songshan Lieutenant General Xia Chengde secretly sent a message to the Qing army, willing to use his son Xia Shu as a hostage to negotiate for surrender, and promised the Qing army

Open the city gate for them.

In March, the Qing army was invited to attack at night. Songshan City was defeated, and the general Cao turned into a dragon. Tang Tong and the two men vowed not to surrender, but they were both killed by the Qing army. The Songshan City Wall hung on top of the city for seven days before they were restrained and put in a coffin!

Songshan was defeated, and the Qing army attacked Jinzhou in an aggressive manner. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zu Dashou, the defender of Jinzhou, led his troops to surrender directly. Then Jinzhou, Tashan, and Xingshan were all occupied by the Qing army. The Ming army was proud of it.

The Guanningjin defense line was completely collapsed, and the Qing army once again had an absolute advantage over the Ming Dynasty.

After Hong Chengchou was captured, people who fled from Jinzhou came to Shanhaiguan and told Wu Sangui that the Qing army took Hong Chengchou to the Wujiwang Camp in the north of Jinzhou City and directly executed him.

Be loyal to your country!

Wu Sangui was heartbroken when he heard this. He still recognized Hong Chengchou, so he sent eight hundred miles to rush to deliver military reports to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen was anxiously waiting these days.

I wanted to hear the news of Hong Chengchou's victory to stabilize the morale of the army, but I waited here and there. After waiting for two or three months, I still didn't see the news of Hong Chengchou's victory. I was anxious to issue another imperial edict to urge him. Did Hong Chengchou fail to follow the instructions of Jian Ji?

Duel battle!

Just when he was hesitating, Liaodong Babaili arrived urgently.

Chongzhen was overjoyed when he saw this and summoned civil and military officials to come and listen to the report.

When the messenger entered the palace, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed when he saw Chongzhen. Chongzhen was very moved when he saw that the messenger was dusty and had blood on his body, so he ordered a reward of wine and meat, but the soldier did not eat it. Instead, he took out eight hundred miles and rushed

: "Your Majesty, Liaodong was defeated. Commander Hong was killed in battle. The Songjin defense line collapsed. Jian Nu marched straight in. Our army suffered countless casualties. Most of the hundreds of thousands of troops were reduced to bones. Please make your decision!"

"What!"

After listening to the messenger's report, Chongzhen's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. He stared at the messenger and said, "Say it again."

"Liaodong was defeated!"

"ah!"

Chongzhen couldn't stand the stimulation, so he knocked down all the memorials on the table at once, and sat on the dragon chair. His face was deathly gray, and he collapsed.

And this news also caused an uproar in the civil and military affairs of the court. The Songjin defense line collapsed and Hong Chengchou died in the battle. This was really exciting to the princes of the court. It was so exciting that they didn't know how to answer the question. This

When he looked at Chongzhen, his eyes were slightly dull, Zhou Yanru stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, please take care of the dragon body. Although the defeat in Liaodong was tragic, it did not hurt the country. The pine brocade is gone. We still have Shanhaiguan. As long as Shanhaiguan is

If we don’t lose, we don’t lose!

After hearing this, Chongzhen looked at Zhou Yanru blankly: "Have we not lost yet?"

Zhou Yanru said: "Shanhaiguan is still there, Commander-in-Chief Wu Sangui is still there, and Guan Ning's cavalry is still there. It's okay. However, Your Majesty, I have some bad news to tell you now."

"Say, I can bear it!"

"Just yesterday, in eight hundred miles of Shandong, the invaders rushed to attack Jinan Prefecture. Most of Shandong fell. I am afraid that the invaders will march north in the near future!"

"What! Poof!"

After hearing this, Chongzhen couldn't hold back any longer and spurted out a mouthful of old blood. With a pop, all the dragon bookcases in front of him were sprayed into blood!

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, call the imperial doctor quickly, call the imperial doctor quickly!"

When Wang Chengen saw Chongzhen vomiting blood and lying on the Long Book Table, he quickly shouted, Chao Zhongwen and Wu were also panicked. The emperor must not be in trouble at this time. At this time, an emperor is needed to encourage people. We cannot let the emperor take the blame.

Something's wrong!

So the imperial doctor hurriedly came to see him. The imperial doctor looked at him and said, "The fire is attacking your heart. Just prescribe a few medicines and keep it up. It won't be a problem."

So Chongzhen fell ill and was admitted to the hospital gloriously. Of course, he was lucky. He couldn't live without the emperor at this time, so he, the Ming Emperor, survived even if he vomited blood.

As for the other emperors, don't make trouble. One fell into the water and caught a cold. In the end, it was not impossible that he died of wind-cold infection, such as Chongzhen's brother Emperor Tianqi.

It is common knowledge that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is easily soluble in water, but Chongzhen miraculously survived and soon devoted himself to the work of reviving the Ming Dynasty, which was declining. Although Chongzhen was very weak, he had a belief in his heart, that is, I must

Keep it up, Ming Dynasty still needs me, the inheritance of our ancestors cannot be destroyed in my hands!!

So seven days later, Chongzhen issued an edict to commemorate Hong Chengchou's sacrifice for the country and call him a wise man. He also held a meeting to bury him with national rites.

At the meeting, the messenger sent by Wu Sangui told all the adults what they heard about the heroic sacrifice of Hong Chengchou, saying that Hong Chengchou led his army to raid the slave camp. Unexpectedly, the slave camp was cunning, and the enemy chief hid first, leaving the enemy in trouble.

Hong Chengchou missed the opportunity and was captured by the enemy immediately.

But after Governor Hong was captured, he kept yelling and cursing, and kowtowed towards the capital, saying that the emperor was a sage. I tried my best, but I will die today. Finally, I shouted that I wanted to kill the thief, but I was unable to save myself!

The enemy chief admired Governor Hong as a person, promised him a high official and generous salary, and was even willing to replace him with a king with a different surname. However, Governor Hong dismissed him and wanted to die. The enemy chief tried to persuade him for more than a month, but finally lost his mind and directly beheaded his head in public, and passed his head on to his superiors.

In the army.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen burst into tears and ordered the altar to be moved to the front of Chaotian Palace, and then prepared to go to worship in person. Three days later, Chongzhen issued an order to grant Hong Chengchou nine altars, set up an ancestral hall, agree on a posthumous title, and stand in front of Hong Chengchou.

He cried in front of the ancestral hall and said, "I can't save Hong Chengchou!"

Seeing the emperor's behavior, Wang Xigun, the Minister of Rites, raised a question: Governor Hong died without seeing his body. What if there was a mistake or if the Governor betrayed him?

Chongzhen was furious when he heard this and called him a hammer, cough cough...

Chongzhen was furious and scolded Wang Xigun for being rude.

For a time, the whole army of the Ming Dynasty mourned, and Shandong reported urgently. In these few days, Li Zicheng divided his troops to attack Shandong. Shandong's state capitals watched the wind and did not dare to compete with them. At present, the entire territory of Shandong has fallen. Li Zicheng stationed troops in Hebei and the Shanxi border.

It looks like we will enter Hebei or Shanxi soon.

At that time, it would threaten the capital. Chongzhen was so frightened that he quickly recruited the Northern Army to station troops in Hebei to prevent Li Zicheng from stealing his home.

However, most of the capable Northland soldiers were exhausted in the Songjin War, and the rest were incompetent.

Seeing this situation, some smart people realized that the Ming Dynasty might not last long, so they privately suggested that Chongzhen move to the south. If BJ could not hold it, it would be Jiannu in the north and Li Zicheng in the south. Attacked from both sides, BJ City would be complete.

Now that the sandwich is done, we must finish it. The next step is to see whether Manchu Qing is faster or Li Zicheng is faster. Whoever is faster has a greater chance of success!

Chongzhen was very torn about this opinion. After all, he no longer needed the capital for the past two hundred years, and the lessons of the Southern Song Dynasty were right in front of him. If he retreated to the south, the possibility of reunifying the country from the south would be almost zero.

This world can be unified from south to north. For thousands of years, apart from Taizu, Chongzhen could not think of anyone else to come. It can be said that as long as he lives in a corner, he can only hide and wait for death.

The Ming Dynasty has been lingering for decades or hundreds of years. When the time comes, how can we see our ancestors when we go underground?

Chongzhen's idea can be said to be very correct. When he arrived in the south of the Yangtze River, he really could only settle down in a corner. But when he returned to the harem, the Empress did not think so. The Empress said: "Your Majesty, settling down in a corner is better than losing the country. Besides,

Your Majesty can retreat to the south of the Yangtze River and send a group of trusted generals to guard the capital. Your Majesty can command from the south of the Yangtze River and you will not have lost your ancestral heritage."

Chongzhen thought for a long time and couldn't make up his mind, but he felt that the queen was right, but he didn't want to bear the infamy of losing his ancestor's inheritance!

So he spread the news in the court, and instantly the whole court was in a state of panic. A group of Donglin party members and senior officials from the south of the Yangtze River all strongly opposed it. They must not lose their ancestral heritage. At this time, it was Lao Zhu's family who moved the capital.

The traitor will bear eternal infamy. It is also said that the outcome is still undecided. Once the emperor leaves, the soldiers and people in the north have no intention of resisting Li Zicheng. Doesn't this mean that they have given up a great country to Li Zicheng?

Anyway, there were a thousand or ten thousand people who were unhappy. They said all kinds of high-sounding things, but the only thing they didn't say was that they didn't want Chongzhen to enter Jiangnan and destroy their already divided interests.

Is Jiangnan the emperor's Jiangnan? No, it is the Jiangnan of the Donglin Party and the civilian clique.

Their interests there are already very fixed, but if an emperor is parachuted in, and he is a powerful emperor like Chongzhen, what will you do to the interest groups in Jiangnan? There will be no way to distribute the interests.

Therefore, they were determined not to let Chongzhen come, and they also had small calculations in mind. Wasn't the Ming Dynasty going to perish?

It doesn't matter, the country is subjugated. Chongzhen, you will die in BJ. How about we support a little emperor in Jiangnan who meets the demands of our interest groups? In this way, our interests can be unprecedentedly satisfied, and it would be great if Chongzhen doesn't have to dictate to us.

.

But if Chongzhen was really determined to move the capital to Jiangnan, in fact, these civil and military ministers had no good solution. After all, in the Ming Dynasty, even at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor still had the right to decide the life and death of ministers.

I, Chongzhen, am shameless and want to flee south. What can you do to me? No matter how unwilling you are, you have to endure it even if you pinch your nose. But Chongzhen is not a shameless person!

On the contrary, Chongzhen was too shameless and cared too much about his reputation, and he would even give up his life for the sake of fame. Therefore, the ministers seized on this Achilles heel and kept preaching to the court that moving the capital was unfilial and would be a disservice to their ancestors.

The king of subjugation, no matter how disgusting you say this, it is just a moral kidnapping!

Chongzhen, don’t you want to revive the Ming Dynasty? How can you revive it in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River?

Chongzhen, aren't you afraid that you will offend your ancestors? If you dare to move the capital, aren't you afraid of being hung up and beaten by Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di after your death?

There are ministers who feed Chongzhen with ecstasy soup. Your Majesty, the situation is not as bad as you think. Li Zicheng is a ragtag group of people who are building slaves and barbarians. We have Shanhaiguan in the north to resist the slave building and Hebei in the south as a buffer. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. We can win if we hold steady!

Chongzhen was so fooled by the ministers that he was almost lame. He was also wavering between moving the capital and not moving the capital. After thinking about it, Chongzhen felt that he should try to move the capital. However, he must not bear this crime himself. He should be accused by an important minister.

, strongly requested, and then I had to comply, so that I would get less infamy in the future.

There is also an explanation for the ancestors, and there is also an explanation for the people of the world and the subjects of the North.

So Chongzhen wrote a letter to Chen Xinjia, Minister of the Ministry of War. Why did he choose Chen Xinjia? Because he was not from Jiangnan. He was from Chongqing Prefecture in Sichuan and had little connection with the Jiangnan gentry.

Chongzhen was not stupid. Although he didn't understand why the Jiangnan gentry was unwilling to let him go, he noticed from clues that the officials in Jiangnan were the ones who were causing trouble. They were also the ones spreading rumors to prevent him from moving south, so he expected them to write a letter.

It is impossible to ask yourself to move south, so it is good to find a minister who has no or few interests in Jiangnan to serve as his mouthpiece.

For this reason, Chongzhen wrote a secret letter to Chen Xinjia, asking him to take the lead in proposing to move the capital during the early court meeting. When the time came, he would agree. It was a God-given opportunity to move the capital to the south. Moreover, Chongzhen promised him that everything would be done.

After he succeeded, Chongzhen would reserve the position of chief minister of the cabinet for him!

The secret letter was given to Chen Xinjia. Chen Xinjia can be the Minister of the Ministry of War. He is not a fool. After reading the secret letter, I scratched my head at that time. Isn’t this asking me to carry the thunder? Jiangnan officials accounted for more than half of the court. As long as I mentioned the capital move,

These officials can tear themselves apart alive. Isn't this looking for death?

To be the chief minister of the cabinet, first of all, you have to live if you want to be the chief minister of the cabinet. Secondly, the Ming Dynasty has been such a bear. The chief minister of the cabinet is so attractive. With such a small profit, you still want me to take care of it for you.

Lei, if you offend the entire Jiangnan Group, aren't you kidding me? Your emperor is amazing!

Then the funniest thing in history happened. Chen Xinjia unfolded the secret letter written by the emperor on the table, and then called ten fast-talking servants. There were even spies planted in his house who shouted beside him:

: "You guys clean up my study, remember! Don't read the secret letters on my desk, don't read them!"

Then we went to have a drink.

The next day, word spread throughout the capital that Chongzhen wrote a secret letter to Chen Xinjia, wanting to move the capital to Jiangnan!
Chapter completed!