The seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the end of March.
The grass grows and orioles fly, everything revives, the canals are crowded up and down, and a large number of ships, carrying soldiers, are ready to set off.
Shi Kefa, the Minister of War in Nanjing, was looking at the Nanjing soldiers boarding the ship one after another with bright eyes, and couldn't help but murmured:
"This time King Qin will definitely convince His Majesty to move south!"
Then he remembered that in the early years of Chongzhen, when the slaves besieged the city and the siege of Beijing was lifted, there were tens of thousands of Guan Ning cavalry and Xuanfu soldiers and horses. If they persisted for a year and a half, it should not be a problem.
Shi Kefa couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
He never slacked off when issuing edicts from King Qin to the imperial court. There were only 50,000 to 60,000 people in Nanzhili. He raised money and food, selected troops and generals, and nearly 30,000 people set out from Pukou.
Already tried our best.
"Budang, something serious has happened!"
At this time, suddenly a staff member ran over in a hurry, shouting.
"The army is about to go to war, how are you doing?"
Shi Kefa said displeased.
"If you are not rude, this is really a shocking event."
The staff said in fear.
Shi Kefa was stunned, and quickly took over and took a look. After a while, he cried and said: "Your Majesty, why did you abandon the world?"
After saying this, he knelt down facing north and knocked his head against the pillar, causing blood to flow.
For a moment, the dock became panicked, and the generals got off the ship one after another, trying to figure out what was going on.
Later, I finally understood that Emperor Chongzhen of Beijing hanged himself and the city of Beijing was destroyed.
The army suddenly became restless, and the noise was endless.
After the persuasion of many people, Shi Kefa came to his senses and personally attended the funeral for Emperor Chongzhen.
As soon as there was a funeral, the news of Chongzhen's death spread throughout Nanjing in an instant, causing all officials to panic and six ministries to be uneasy.
The Donglin Party members instantly realized that this was a good opportunity, a good opportunity for Cong Long Zhi Gong, and a good opportunity to regain power.
In the third year of Chongzhen's reign, due to the case of Yuan Chonghuan, the situation of all the upright people in the court was shattered. Donglin Party members were demoted one after another, or went south to serve in Nanjing.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen died and ended up in such a situation because he did not trust the Donglin Party members and was jealous, so the government was in bad shape.
For a moment, they couldn't care less about being sad for Emperor Chongzhen, or in other words, they just wanted to laugh. The Donglin Party members took action one after another, full of blood for the Ming Dynasty.
As the controller of the military power in Southern Zhili, Shi Kefa's right to speak is extremely important.
Zhang Shenyan, the official secretary of Nanjing, Lu Daqi, the governor of Jiangxi, Jiang Yueguang, the director of the Hanlin Academy, and other Donglin bigwigs all sent letters:
"Although King Fu Zhu Yousong is the grandson of Emperor Shenzong and should be established as a king according to his seniority and ranking, he has seven major shortcomings: greed, prostitution, alcoholism, unfilial piety, abuse of subordinates, illiteracy, and interference with officials.
King Zhu Changzi of Lu is Shenzong's nephew, he is virtuous and intelligent, so he should be made king."
Shi Kefa thought so.
However, Shi Kefa considered that he did not have many soldiers and horses under his command, and if he united with Fengyang Governor Ma Shiying, he would be sure of success.
So, in Pukou, the two met secretly.
Ma Shiying's words, the order of the King of Blessings should be established.
Shi Kefa said: "At that time, the cases of "Demon Book", "Strike", and "Moving the Palace" were aroused. If King Fu pursues his grievances in the future, will the court be safe?"
Ma Shiying was dissatisfied: "King Lu is the nephew of Shenzong, the same generation as Guangzong, and one generation older than the late emperor. The blood relationship is far away, how can he convince everyone?"
Therefore, the two of them were not convinced, discussed for a long time, and finally compromised and reached a compromise plan that would not offend either, that is, they gave up King Fu and King Lu and supported King Zhu Changying of Gui.
So he wrote a letter back to Nanjing, talking about the crowding of King Gui, and asked Nanjing to immediately send someone to welcome King Gui.
This immediately stirred up a hornet's nest. The Donglin Party was in chaos and the Lu faction was furious.
King Lu and King Gui both belong to the Chang generation and are both distant sects. What is the difference?
Besides, King Gui is in Guangxi, so far away that the day lilies are cold.
Therefore, Shi Kefa offended the Zonglu faction and had to flee Nanjing in Yizhen.
After returning to Fengyang and knowing Shi Kefa's results, Ma Shiying sneered:
"Shi Budang, you are still too immature and have no responsibility. If you were half as capable as your teacher Zuo Guangdou, why would you be like this?"
Ma Shiying was not a member of the Donglin Party, but had a close friendship with the so-called eunuch Ruan Dacheng.
When they raised funds for Zhou Yanru to return to the cabinet, the Donglin Party did not agree with Ruan Dacheng's return, so Ruan recommended Ma Shiying to return.
Ruan Dacheng was very benevolent to Ma Shiying, so he had no feelings for the Donglin Party.
Since there was no way to get through with the Donglin Party and he didn't want to share the credit for his support, Ma Shiying decided to go to Huai'an to help the king first.
At that time, there were four generals in Huaibei, including Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Gao Jie, and Liu Zeqing.
Gao Jie finally escaped from Shanxi and did not dare to go to Gyeonggi Province. He fled to the south and returned to his historical track.
He quite agreed with the suggestions of Ma Shiying, the governor of Fenglu, and agreed to start the rebellion together to share the merit of supporting it.
Ma Shiying also formed an alliance with the Nanjing garrison eunuch Han Zanzhou and the honorary minister Liu Kongzhao, and granted them benefits.
Eunuchs, military officers, generals, and he, a civil servant, with representatives from all directions, marched towards Huai'an.
Lu Zhenfei, the governor of water transportation, was half helpless and half excited, so he supported Prince Fu to succeed him.
…
Qian Qianyi was caught cheating during the Zhejiang examination in the tenth year since Chongzhen, so he had to resign and raise his family in his hometown.
Yushan, Jiangyun Tower, the golden house built by Qian Qianyi after the famous prostitute Liu Rushi.
"How unreasonable——"
At this time, a howl came from the house, disturbing the gray geese in the pond and frightening the wandering slaves.
"Husband, why are you so upset?"
On the side, a young woman with red lips, thin eyebrows and a graceful figure was looking at Qian Qianyi with a trembling beard and couldn't help but wonder.
"There were no intruders in Beijing, and His Majesty died."
Qian Qianyi came over slowly, with an angry look on his face: "The Ministry of Military Affairs abandoned Lu and embraced Gui!"
Liu Rushi was shocked and asked: "Then, what will happen?"
Qian Qianyi cheered up and said: "The country cannot live without a king for a day! The prince and the two kings have not gone south. The only ones who can support them now are King Lu and King Fu."
"The King of Gui is far away in Guangxi and will not arrive for several months. The King of Lu is in Huai'an and will only take a few days. How can we sacrifice the near for the distant?"
"What about King Fu? What about King Lu?"
Liu Rushi understood, and a smile appeared on his pale face.
"King Fu, when Emperor Shenzong abolished the elders and established younger ones, he deviated from the ancestral system. He was the chief culprit. How can he be re-established?"
Qian Qianyi spat out, his words full of dissatisfaction.
"Prince Lu is humble and possesses both political integrity and talent. Although he is inferior to Prince Fu in rank, he is the best candidate to ascend to the throne."
"But according to the ancestral system, according to the order, it should be King Fu." Liu Rushi said puzzledly.
"As we have said, the building is about to collapse. We need an emperor with both political integrity and talent. It is better to choose talents. Prince Fu is not suitable, and the ancestral system also needs to be adapted."
Qian Qianyi said seriously.
Immediately, he wrote several letters and conspired with the Donglin Party members in Nanjing to support King Lu and once again achieve a situation where everyone was right and the government was in full swing.
Unfortunately, they conspired too much and ended up being too far apart.