Chapter 475: Wenhua Palace, unfilial sons and grandchildren
King Chuang Gao Yingxiang ordered Zhang Xianzhong to lead people to attack the officers and soldiers guarding the Fengyang Imperial Tomb. Li Zicheng did not expect that he would lead people to Fengyang City. He couldn't help but be surprised and said: "Eight Great Kings, the officers and soldiers guarding the mausoleum were destroyed?"
"
Zhang Xianzhong laughed loudly on his horse and said triumphantly: "Then Zhu Guoxiang can't do anything, let's burn the ancestral tomb of the Dog Emperor with fire." Then he raised his whip and shouted towards the city: "Gou Officer, Kaicheng surrenders, we will keep you.
You must survive, otherwise when the city is destroyed, no chickens or dogs will be left alive!”
When the city heard that bandits burned the imperial mausoleum, and saw the fire rising to the southwest, who dared to doubt that in the chaos, some timid officers and soldiers really opened the city gate, and bandits suddenly poured in.
Seeing that the situation was over, Wu Zhenying fled home and led his entire family to hang himself.
...........
Zhu Guoxiang, the commander-in-chief guarding the Fengyang Imperial Tomb, was a drunkard. When Zhang Xianzhong led the rebel army to kill him, he was still holding a wine jar. When he heard that the traitor soldiers were coming, he dropped the wine jar and hurriedly organized soldiers to resist. The traitor army came unexpectedly.
Quickly, the officers and soldiers guarding the mausoleum hurriedly faced the enemy. There was no match for the traitors. Some of the soldiers followed Zhu Guoxiang and broke out of the camp. The traitors surrounded them under the command of Zhang Xianzhong. Zhu Guoxiang was unable to break out, so he gave up even with the strength of his drink.
, the commander's army and the bandit soldiers fought together. Zhu Guoxiang was extremely brave and slashed more than a dozen bandit soldiers with his sword. However, he was finally killed by the bandit army because he was outnumbered. Before he died, he shouted "Kill the bandit, kill the bandit!"
When Zhu Guoxiang died, except for hundreds of officers and soldiers who took advantage of the chaos to escape, the rest of the officers and soldiers guarding the mausoleum lost their fighting spirit and put down their weapons and knelt down to beg for mercy from the traitors.
Zhang Xianzhong took the thousands of officers and soldiers guarding the mausoleum under his command, and then led the traitors to the imperial mausoleum and set fire everywhere. After a while, the imperial mausoleum was engulfed in flames.
During the fire, Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to Fengyang again.
…
In Fengyang Mansion Yamen, the prefect Yan Rong Xuan was enjoying tea and relaxing in the spring breeze, accompanied by a maid. There were all kinds of lanterns in the house, and everyone in the house sat around to enjoy the lanterns. It was a peaceful time. They were playing with their newborn son.
, but there were panicked guards outside reporting that there were bandits attacking the city.
Yan Rongxuan was horrified and asked the messenger to go to the imperial mausoleum quickly and ask Zhu Guoxiang, the commander-in-chief, to quickly send troops to destroy the bandits. Unexpectedly, after the messenger hesitated for a moment, he turned around and ran away without looking back. Yan Rongxuan was startled and didn't react yet.
The group of fawning officials who had been surrounding him all ran away.
The female family members in the mansion were all panicked. Yan Rongxuan also lost his plans. He took off his official robe in a hurry, and ran out of the mansion without caring about his wife, children, and children. The street was in chaos, and there were panicked people everywhere. Yan Rongxuan followed him.
The crowd ran around for a while and suddenly stopped, thinking that I can't run with these rioters. I have to find a place to hide. Well, yes, hide in the prison. After the rebels come in, they will definitely open the prison and let people go. I happened to be among the prisoners.
He took advantage of the chaos and escaped.
The prefect Yan Rongxuan, who was in a hurry, rushed into the prison, got the key from the porter, entered a cell, opened the door and hid among the prisoners. The prisoners in the cell looked at Yan Rongxuan with doubtful eyes, wondering what the old man was doing.
came to the hiding place.
Yan Rongxuan's guess was correct. After Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng broke into Fengyang, they immediately ordered people to release the prisoners from the prison. Yan Rongxuan followed the prisoners and tried to sneak out, but was pointed out by several prisoners at the door of the cell.
A prisoner grabbed Yan Rongxuan and shouted to the soldiers: "This guy is Fengyang Magistrate Yan Rongxuan, he is not a prisoner!"
Several other prisoners also echoed: "Yes, yes, he is Yan Rongxuan, the prefect of Fengyang, not a prisoner!"
A young bandit leader looked at Yan Rong Xuan up and down, and couldn't help but smile: "Look at your thin skin and tender flesh, you look like a prisoner. Come on, let me take you away to see the leader!" After saying that, the two bandit soldiers turned to the left.
Yiyou stood up Yan Rongxuan.
Seeing the magistrate, who had always been so proud, begging for mercy, the prisoners burst out laughing, and then cheered and joined the bandit army.
When he heard that the Fengyang magistrate had been captured alive, Zhang Xianzhong didn't waste any time and asked people to drag him out and beat him to death with sticks.
After Gao Yingxiang and other thieves entered Fengyang, they not only sent people to dig up the emperor's tomb, but also ordered people to burn down the Longxing Temple where Emperor Taizu became a monk when he was a boy.
Under the banner of "Emperor", the treachery was overwhelming and the world was shaken.
........
Thousands of miles away in the capital, the young emperor was summoning the talented Liu Zongzhou in the Wenhua Palace, and the first assistant, Wen Ti, was also waiting for questioning.
After Liu Zongzhou went to the palace to salute, Chongzhen looked at Wen Tiren and asked Liu Zongzhou directly: "Liu Aiqing, I heard from the cabinet ministers that you are very knowledgeable. I came to ask you about the constant internal and external wars. I really want to hear Liu Aiqing talk about the use of troops.
The way." After saying that, he looked at Liu Zongzhou expectantly.
Liu Zongzhou had just become the censor of Zuodu in the Jin Dynasty. He was quite talented and arrogant. When the emperor asked for advice, he immediately expressed his ambition and said proudly: "Returning to the emperor, I believe that the stability of the country lies in the improvement of political affairs. Internal affairs must be repaired."
The people from afar surrendered themselves. In ancient times, during the time of Shun, the Miao people rebelled, and Shun cultivated his own rituals and dances to worship heaven. This is an example of the naturalization of the Miao people."
After hearing this, Chongzhen smiled and did not comment. He only asked Wen Tiren: "Mr. Ge, what do you mean?"
Wen Tiren did not answer Chongzhen, but said: "Your Majesty, I think that firearms are needed to deal with bandits. Tang Ruowang, a Westerner who knows how to use firearms, might as well let him come to see the Emperor."
Wen Tiren did not support him. Instead, he talked about firearms and asked the Westerner Tang Ruowang to come to the palace. This was tantamount to saying that what Liu Zongzhou said was nonsense. Liu Zongzhou was furious and said angrily: "Your Majesty, what the chief minister said is unacceptable to me.
The way to use the army is based on the benevolence and righteousness of Tang and Wu, followed by the moderation of Huan Wen, and the rest are beyond discussion. The reason for relying on the country's prestige instead of relying on people, Tang Ruowang advocated heresy and disrupted the great road, is no longer allowed in the era of Yao and Shun, and today
It is also used as a clever trick to deceive the emperor's mind, and the sin is inexhaustible. I beg the emperor to release Tang Ruowang to return this country to eradicate paganism forever!"
Chongzhen's attitude was the same as Wen Tiren's. He said: "Liu Aiqing's principle is correct, but firearms still have to be used."
Seeing that the emperor could not listen to his opinion, Liu Zongzhou said anxiously: "I think that firearms will not help determine success or failure in the end. The emperor should change his course instead of using firearms to remedy the situation. I think that the government's political affairs
The key is to use good people. Civil servants don’t love money and military generals don’t fear death.”
After hearing this, Chongzhen sighed secretly in his heart, but with a smile on his face: "Liu Aiqing, I have heard what you said, you go down first!"
"Your Majesty..." Liu Zongzhou wanted to say more, but when he saw that Chongzhen didn't look at him at all, he couldn't help but be disappointed. He suppressed his disappointment and left. When he was blown by the cold wind outside the palace, he thought to himself that the emperor was young and didn't know how to govern a country.
However, it is still good that you still know how to ask me for advice.
After Liu Zongzhou withdrew, Chongzhen asked: "Mr. Ge, what do you think of Liu Zongzhou's words?"
Wen Tiren shook his head: "Back to the emperor, I think Liu Zongzhou has more than enough philosophy but not enough talent. He likes to use the past to ridicule the present to slander the emperor's shortcomings and promote his own strengths. This is not what a minister should do."
"We need to listen to the principles, but what is more important is how to solve practical problems. I have observed that Liu Zongzhou has been successful outside for many years but failed inside. Because he has some connections, it seems inappropriate for me to reuse him."
"The Emperor's Holy Ming."
"Wen Aiqing, you have heard what Liu Zongzhou said. When the country is employing people, I originally thought that Liu Zongzhou was very knowledgeable and talented, but he was actually stupid. Isn't it a joke that dancing during the military deployment can solve the problem? This kind of person can only be a censor. That’s it.”
Wen Tiren smiled: "Liu Zongzhou is the emperor's sage in name only!"
"I have been selecting talents for the country. There are many officials in the court, but there are very few talents who can govern the country."
The monarch and his ministers discussed the matter of talent selection again, but the Supervisor of Ceremonies received six hundred miles of urgent documents.
...........
Wang Dehua, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, received six hundred miles of urgent documents. Fengyang was captured and the ancestral mausoleum was burned. He was confused for a moment. He stumbled and ran all the way, frightened, and ignored the greetings from Ma Yuancheng, the steward of the Qianqing Palace, and Wei Qinghui, the maid in charge of the Qianqing Palace. , thinking about how angry the emperor would be if he knew about it. Reporting good news to the emperor and reporting worries to the emperor are two different things. Wang Dehua didn't want to report to the emperor in person, but the matter was so important that he had no choice but to go to the palace to report.
After entering the palace, he saw that the emperor was discussing state affairs with his chief minister. They thought they were talking about something happy, and the emperor and his ministers all had smiles on their faces. Seeing this, Wang Dehua felt even more uneasy. He did not dare to report directly, but silently reported Liu Baili handed the urgent document to Wen Tiren. Wen Tiren was startled, and when he took it, his expression suddenly changed. He did not dare to speak directly, so he cautiously stepped forward and handed the document to Chongzhen.
Chongzhen was confused. He took the document and read it. There was a thunderbolt above his head. He stood up suddenly and then seemed unable to hold on. He slumped down on the imperial couch, speechless and his hands shook. It was so quiet. , which was beyond Wang Dehua's expectation. He was so frightened that he fell to the ground and did not dare to look up. After a long time, he finally couldn't bear it anymore. His heart was pounding and he took a peek. He saw that Chongzhen's face was pale and his eyes were closed tightly. He couldn't help it. With tears streaming down his face, he persuaded in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, your Majesty, calm down, you still need to protect the dragon body!"
"Calm down? How can I calm down after such a big thing happened! You, all of you, get out and stay away. I don't want to see you!" Chongzhen slowly opened his eyes, his tone was a little angry, but he was still very stern. .
Wang Dehua, as if he had been pardoned, hurriedly waved to the eunuchs and maids serving on the left and right, and carefully retreated. After Wen Tiren left the palace, he hurried back to the cabinet to convene a cabinet meeting to discuss how to deal with the fall of Fengyang.
After Wang Dehua left the palace, he turned back uneasily. When he reached the eaves of the corridor, he heard the emperor's cry coming from the palace: "Ancestor..." He was so frightened that he jumped up and took three steps at a time. Peeking in through the crack in the door.
I saw stacks of documents scattered around the imperial case, and a few pieces of paper fell from the air. Chongzhen repeatedly stamped his feet and cried: "Ancestors, ancestors... Children and grandchildren are unfilial... Children and grandchildren are unfilial... What a shame and great humiliation." , What a shame and shame..."