Outside the main hall, Du Xun, who had already changed into ordinary rebel clothes, heard the eunuch's loud words, glanced at the ministers on both sides arrogantly, and strode forward.
The surrounding ministers were filled with resentment when they saw how a villain like Du Xun had succeeded. If their fiery gazes had not been on the main hall at this moment, they would have torn this villain into pieces long ago.
At this moment, Zhu Ling looked at Du Xun's arrogant steps, and murderous intent arose in his heart.
According to historical records, Du Xun led the army to the intruder Li Zicheng fifty miles away, then marched directly into the city, and then led people to greet him in person regardless of fatigue. Such a traitor hates that he has no soldiers at this moment, otherwise he would be killed
here.
"How are you doing, Your Majesty?"
As soon as the words came out, everyone in the hall was shocked. Du Xun, who was just a servant of His Majesty a few days ago, turned out to be so arrogant after surrendering to the intruder!
As the chief minister of the cabinet, Chen Yan had no courage or insight. However, as the chief minister, he was extremely indignant at the words that insulted His Majesty. He immediately went out and shouted: "I am just a eunuch. A few days ago, I was just a slave by His Majesty's side."
, you are so impudent in the Ming Dynasty today! Could it be that I, the Ming Dynasty, dare not kill you!"
"Mr. Chen Ge, don't you look at who's army is outside?" Du Xun heard Chen Yan's scolding, but he snorted coldly, and then asked: "It's our King Chuang's army outside! Beijing City
It has been an isolated city for a long time. If we, King Chuang, could not bear the suffering of the people in the city, we would also give His Majesty some face. Otherwise, we would have destroyed the city of Beijing long ago!"
Then he turned around and looked at the indignant ministers, with a look of disdain in the corner of his eyes. He put his hands on his hips and said loudly: "You must remember the favor our king has given you. If there are any more disrespectful people like Chen Yan, none of your relatives will be spared after entering the city."
!”
"enough!"
Suddenly, a domineering shout in the hall made everyone stunned for a moment, and then quickly looked up.
Zhu Ling stood up and walked slowly to the stage, looking at Du Xun as if he were looking at a dead person. Du Xun also felt a little uncomfortable with Zhu Ling's eyes full of murderous intent. In the past, the master felt exactly the same when he killed his slaves.
He couldn't help but stare at me like this, so he stepped forward and said forcefully: "Your Majesty, don't you understand the situation?"
Zhu Ling did not answer, but sat on the dragon chair again, turned slightly to one side, and closed his eyes, as if he was a little tired from many days of hard work.
His reaction somewhat displeased Du Xun, who was Li Zicheng's envoy, but after all, he was surrounded by ministers who were like tigers and wolves. If he was any more arrogant, he might not be able to leave the imperial city.
I had no choice but to lower my voice and say loudly: "Don't your Majesty plan to negotiate peace with my king? If so, I will go back and report to King Chuang."
"Did I say not to negotiate for peace?"
A frightening gaze struck Du Xun, who happened to catch the gaze, and was frightened half to death. His heavy clothes were soaked with sweat.
Seeing that Du Xun was as timid as a mouse, the ministers were also secretly happy. A dog is a dog, and it will be something that cannot be lifted up in its lifetime.
"Du Xun."
"Your Majesty, our home is..."
Halfway through his words, Du Xun suddenly felt something was wrong and immediately stopped what he was about to say.
Seeing this, the ministers burst into laughter. Some pointed at Du Xun and laughed loudly. Everyone laughed at Du Xun's move. They did not expect that Du Xun was still a servant of His Majesty at heart.
Du Xun's ears were filled with the ridicule of the ministers like a tide, his face turned red instantly, but he was breathing heavily, and immediately became angry: "Since your Majesty is not willing to negotiate peace with my king, then we will leave
Yes, Your Majesty, please take it seriously!"
Just when Du Xun was angry and wanted to leave, Chongzhen's words came to his ears: "Tell me, what are Li Zicheng's conditions?"
Du Xun stopped, snorted coldly, turned around, his face instantly changed to a arrogant look and loudly said: "The king has three conditions."
"Your Majesty said, we have strong soldiers and horses, and our military strength has reached a level that is beyond your reach. We occupy almost half of the land of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, we are negotiating this peace because we have mercy on you. You must be grateful to us and do not allow any disrespect.
Lift!"
After saying that, Du Xun turned around angrily and glanced at the ministers standing on both sides.
"Is it finished?"
Du Xun didn't know why he stopped serving the emperor of the Ming Dynasty a few days ago, but he still felt a sense of fear after meeting him. Hearing Chongzhen's cold urging tone, he didn't dare to resist in his heart, and continued:
"Your Majesty requests that the northwest area establish its own country. Your Majesty will establish himself as emperor and be equal to Your Majesty. After that, we will retreat to Henan. If Your Majesty is willing to agree, Your Majesty will retreat to Henan within one day to contain the bandits within the court. Then we will retreat to Henan."
Waiting for a powerful force to help your majesty destroy the Liao vassal. But! Your Majesty will not obey the imperial edict, let alone come to see him!"
As soon as these words came out, the court was in chaos like thunder. The ministers' faces were filled with anger. Almost at the same time, everyone cursed Du Xun and Li Zicheng behind him.
"Aren't you afraid of being punished by both humans and gods when you make this request? How bold!"
"Do you really think that the Ming Dynasty is as weak as the Song Dynasty and is willing to cede territory to you so easily?"
"Shameless thief! How dare you do this?"
Chen Yan, however, sat still, as if possessed by Mount Tai. This appearance was naturally observed carefully by Zhu Ling above.
The sounds of ministers' crusade sounded in his ears, but Du Xun was not afraid at all, and his face showed no fluctuation. He knew that at this juncture, these so-called ministers of the humerus were just following the remaining instincts of the sages in their hearts.
.
The real decision-maker is Lord Chongzhen sitting above.
"anything else?"
Zhu Ling was unhurried, as if he didn't hear anything. This reaction caught Du Xun a little off guard, and he couldn't help but think to himself: Is Your Majesty giving up on himself?
But after all, isn't it that I risked being skinned alive to come to this hall just to gain some value for my existence from King Chuang?
He continued to cup his hands and said: "Of course there are still more."
After hearing this, Zhu Ling felt somewhat confident about the memory in his mind, and he probably still had a request for one million silver taels.
Only Du Xun continued: "King Chuang hopes that your majesty will allocate one million silver taels so that the king can reward the army. Your Majesty, imagine that those soldiers rebelled because they had no food and silver taels. This time they sold their names and entered the city. Naturally, they felt in their heart
The desire for silver taels has reached an uncontrollable level. If there is no silver taels to reward the army, I am afraid that the city of Beijing will be in ruins."
The tone of his words softened a lot, perhaps because he was restrained by Emperor Zhu Ling's behavior, perhaps because he was afraid that the angry ministers would attack him and kill him on the spot.
In the past few years, even the commander of the Jinyiwei, who was famous for his killings, was beaten to death by civil servants in court. As a eunuch, he naturally restrained himself.
"What are your opinions?"
Zhu Ling leaned forward and asked the angry ministers for their opinions.
However, upon hearing this, the ministers who had looked menacing just a few seconds ago were all speechless and bowed their heads in silence, causing the "lively" court hall just now to return to its previous dead silence.
"snort!"
Zhu Ling, who had watched several episodes of Ming Dynasty TV series in his previous life, had already expected this and no longer had any hope.
If they can get a reputation for participating in this matter, the civil servants will naturally go forward one by one, without any fear of the imperial staff. But if this matter brings them notoriety, they will definitely stay far away and not touch them.
This was the current situation of most civil servants in the late Ming Dynasty. Led by Chen Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet, they were lifeless. As Li Zicheng said when he was determined to invade Beijing:
Sigh tomorrow, your energy is exhausted!
With such civil servants, which dynasty is destined to perish?
Historical records record that Chongzhen wanted to accept the wishes of hundreds of officials, but was frustrated. No one from the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty came forward to speak out. Chongzhen had no choice but to ask Du Xun to tell Li Zicheng that they needed to discuss it carefully.
Li Zicheng thought that the Ming court was unwilling, so he personally issued the order to attack the city.
The people who Emperor Chongzhen considered to be his close confidants in the city defense, including the Minister of War and the Minister of Civil Affairs, all opened the city and surrendered.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ling couldn't help but glance at the Minister of War, Zhang Jinyan, who was standing below with his head bowed and calmly like other ministers.
"that's it?"
"No other requirements."
"Can King Chuang keep his promise? Once I agree, I will leave the capital."
Zhu Ling knew that asking was in vain. The decision-making power rested with Li Zicheng. If this person was really greedy for petty profits, he was afraid that his efforts to travel through time to save the world would be in vain.
"No lies."
"Mr. Chen Ge, what do you think?" As the head of the civil service, who will be arrested if they don't arrest you?
Chen Yan must have never expected that Zhu Ling would ask him, and he has always followed the principle of protecting his own safety, and would rather the Ming Dynasty die than take responsibility himself.
Previously, Li Zicheng captured the entire territory of Shanxi. Chongzhen was shocked and ordered Chen Yan to draft an order for Wu Sangui to lead the most elite Guan Ning cavalry at the time to King Qin. Once this order was issued, all the land outside Shanhaiguan north of Shanhaiguan would be lost to
Huang Taiji.
Chen Yan was afraid that Chongzhen would blame him for the loss of the country in the future, so he kept trying to shirk it. Three full months passed before the imperial edict was delivered to Wu Sangui. By this time, Li Zicheng had already arrived in the suburbs of Beijing.
The most hateful thing is that Chen Yan actually took the initiative to donate 40,000 taels of silver to Li Zicheng and arranged for Liu Zongmin, and there were even tens of thousands of silver hidden underground in his home! It was jaw-dropping.
When the Ming Dynasty fell, this man had a share of "merit".
"This matter is of great importance. It is difficult for a humble minister to take on such an important task, so why not..."
Before Chen Yan could finish speaking, Zhu Ling interrupted directly and continued: "Since Mr. Chen Ge has no objections, it is related to the safety of our Ming Dynasty. It is a helpless move. The world of Han people will eventually be the world of Han people. No matter how good it is to establish slaves, it is also a helpless move."
Alien."
The ministers also looked at a loss. They clearly heard that Mr. Chen Ge meant that this matter was too important to let him have the final say alone. Who would have expected that His Majesty would directly pin this matter on which he has received the wrath of the world?
On his body.
Your Majesty, things have changed.
"Du Xun!"
"Our family is here." Du Xun really wanted to slap himself, why couldn't he change his mind?
"Tell Li Zicheng that for other conditions, the leader of the civil servants, Mr. Chen Ge in the court, has no objections and will take my place. However, I can only give five hundred thousand taels of silver. If you agree, I will retreat. I will send someone to deliver the silver, but
If I don't agree, I will have no choice but to die for the country along with the entire city of Beijing."
Chen Yan:???When did I agree?
"Did you hear that?" Zhu Ling scolded loudly. This sound was a sign of resentment and helplessness towards Daming for being so humiliated. It was also a rebuke to Chen Yan who wanted to step forward to defend himself.
"We'll go there right now."
After all, Du Xun never got rid of the habit of kneeling down after listening to Master Chongzhen's words.
[Author's digression]: On March 18, Li Zicheng sent Du Xun, the eunuch who surrendered in Changping, into the city to negotiate secretly with Emperor Chongzhen. According to Volume 4 of "Xiao Fu Chronicles", the conditions proposed by Li Zicheng were: "The intruder Ma Qiang"
Everyone, we decided to cut off the northwest area to divide the king and reward the army with millions, and retreat to Henan. Since Chuang was granted the title, I am willing to curb the bandits within the court, especially to help suppress the Liao vassal with strong troops. However, I will not obey the imperial edict and Jin'er."
I didn’t know about this period of history at the beginning. From what I found when I looked up the information, ordinary people in the late Ming Dynasty really couldn’t save it, but the novel is still worth it after all. If it’s reasonable, I also have a group to help me think about it. I’m very grateful to them.