On the fifth day of May, Emperor Zhu Youjian stood in the Qianqing Palace, listening to Wang Dehua, the eunuch in charge of Dongchang, report on the situation in the capital.
There is a turbulent undercurrent in the capital these days. The commander of Jinyiwei made Luo Yangxing get close to the civil servants, but he delayed reporting the situation in the capital, making Zhu Youjian like a blind man. Zhu Youjian had no choice but to let Dongchang handle Jinyiwei's affairs. Dongchang personnel There were relatively few Jinyiwei. They were originally used to monitor officials. At this time, they were sent by Chongzhen to the streets and alleys of the capital to understand the movements of the people in the capital.
Wang Dehua is a thin young man who looks younger than Zhu Youjian. His eyebrows are raised and he is somewhat heroic. However, in front of Zhu Youjian, his figure is very soft.
"Your Majesty, I have found out. On April 30th, Duke Li Zhi of Tianjin smuggled 100,000 copies of "Tianjin Daily" into Beijing and distributed them in the streets and alleys. That day's "Tianjin Daily" was dedicated to the story hidden in Taipu Temple. The incident of hiding the silver spread throughout the city. All of a sudden, the people were in an uproar."
"Your Majesty, now every day, people gather in front of Chengtian Gate and shout that they want the court to kill people. These people change their names every day. They are not a group of people. They are people from the whole city who change their dials and shout."
"Nowadays, people gather at the entrance of every vegetable market, and from time to time someone makes an impassioned speech. Dongchang's bosses have gone up to check these people who stood up to speak, and they are indeed ordinary people. These people shout that they want to kill the traitor every day, and watch on. The common people just applaud."
"On May 2nd, the Duke of Tianjin smuggled another batch of newspapers into Beijing, adding fuel to the fire!"
"The chief minister Zhou Yanru, several cabinet elders, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and other key department officials were scolded by the people. They said that the treacherous ministers they promoted were plotting to harm the country. What was the use of them? The people blocked the roads every day. Let these officials go to court."
"Officials from the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate are responsible for criminal interrogations. They have been slow to handle the case of Taipu Temple hiding money, and they were scolded even more fiercely by the people. Two servants from the family of Liu Zongzhou, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, went out to buy When I was doing groceries, I was beaten by the common people with my head covered, and blood was all over my body."
"Nowadays, everyone in the civil service is in danger and they dare not wear civil service robes in public on the street."
Wang Dehua talked a lot, and finally said: "Your Majesty, if the case of hiding the silver in Taipu Temple is not handled, I am afraid that not only the border troops will not agree, but also the people in the capital will be in chaos. Now the civil servants have lost their bearings. We don’t have the momentum to unite against Duke Jin like we did at the beginning.”
Zhu Youjian took a breath while listening to Wang Dehua's report.
"Wang Dehua, you have done a great job. I am here in the Forbidden City every day, and I don't even know the news about the market outside. If there was no Dongchang, I would really be a blind man!"
"The 160,000 frontier troops have been stationed in the suburbs of Beijing for seven days. This victorious division that fought a bloody battle in Jinzhou was stationed under the city, but I have never seen it. Wang Chengen, you go prepare the guard of honor. I want to go to Chaoyang Gate and go to the city gate. Come up and see what Master Chen's begging army looks like."
Wang Chengen was stunned for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, on this city gate"
"Go and get ready!"
Wang Chengen was unwilling to disobey and hurried down to prepare.
Zhu Youjian waited for a quarter of an hour, and the emperor's guard of honor was ready. Zhu Youjian left the Forbidden City with his guards and headed towards Chaoyang Gate.
When the people on the road saw the emperor's guard of honor coming, they quickly got out of the way and knelt on both sides of the road, lying on the ground and not daring to look up. Zhu Youjian's team drove all the way to the east. After a while, the news of the emperor's patrol spread. .Officials such as the Minister of Industry and the Ministry of War, who had not been attacked by the people, as well as Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao who had already entered the capital, chased him from behind on horseback and rushed to both sides of the emperor's guard of honor to protect him.
Hong Chengchou jumped from his horse and knelt down under the emperor's chariot, shouting loudly: "Your Majesty, you must never go up to Chaoyang Gate! The 160,000 border troops had moved five miles outside the city wall yesterday, and Li Zhi's flower bombs were at this distance.
It’s time to eject the city gate!”
When several ministers heard this, they all knelt on the ground and loudly begged the emperor to stop.
Zhu Youjian laughed loudly and said: "Hong Chengchou, are you saying that the Duke of Jin is going to fire cannons to kill the king? What good will it do him if he kills me?"
Hong Chengchou was stunned, but couldn't answer this sentence.
Zhu Youjian said loudly: "I believe that Li Zhi is a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty and will never commit rebellion."
After Zhu Youjian said this, he stopped staying and walked towards Chaoyang Gate with the guard of honor.
When we arrived at Chaoyang Gate, first the guards from Dongchang rushed up to check whether there were spies at the gate. Then the "big Han general" from the palace came to guard the gate. Then the tall golden flag of the emperor was lifted up the city with poles.
The gate was erected on the nearby city wall. Then the emperor's golden melon, golden umbrella, golden fan and other ceremonial guards were lifted up one by one.
With the gorgeous ceremonial guards, one can tell at a glance that they are the emperor's procession even from a few miles away.
Finally, the emperor climbed up the stairs.
As soon as Zhu Youjian climbed up the city wall, he saw the border troops arrayed five miles away from Chaoyang Gate. Seeing the mighty border troops arrayed for more than ten miles, Zhu Youjian took a breath and said after a long time:
"My Ming army is so strong. No wonder I was able to defeat the Tatar army of 230,000 in Jinzhou."
Hong Chengchou's face turned white and he walked to the emperor and said: "Be careful, Your Majesty. If you see a bomb flying towards you, you must lie down to avoid it."
Zhu Youjian looked at the city wall for a long time before saying loudly: "They are all my king's masters in the Ming Dynasty and loyal ministers. How can they rebel?"
After a while, the border troops outside Chaoyang Gate saw the emperor's guard of honor.
Those golden melons, golden umbrellas, golden fans, golden pillars, and golden flags were dazzling, and it was obviously the emperor who had ascended the city gate. The soldiers standing in formation under the Chaoyang Gate faced the emperor, thinking of the bloody battle in Jinzhou, thinking of Pao Ze who died in the battle, and thinking of the emperor.
The treacherous ministers in the court were all in tears. One hundred and sixty thousand frontier troops sacrificed their lives to kill slaves on the front line. Which one of them wanted to rebel?
When I saw the emperor at this time, I just wished I could go up and state the hardships and grievances of the 160,000 border troops.
Tens of thousands of people stood upright, staring blankly at the emperor's guard of honor. No one shouted long live, and no one knelt down, but each one did not know how to react.
Suddenly someone sang the Red Turban Army's military song loudly. The song was like a spark falling on the grassland. It instantly resonated with the surrounding soldiers and inspired everyone to sing loudly.
In Jinzhou, at the critical moment when food and grass were running out, this song inspired the soldiers to join the battle and kill the slaves.
"The wind follows the dragon, the clouds follow the tiger, fame and fortune come from dust and earth. Looking at China, the people are suffering, and the fertile land for thousands of miles is barren. Looking at the world, all the barbarians are gone, and the broken way of heaven can only be repaired."
"A good man, regardless of his parents, he only cares about the common people and not the master. He holds a ninety-nine steel knife and kills all the beards before he stops."
Tens of thousands of people sang loudly in front of the emperor's guard of honor on the city gate, and the singing resounded through the sky.
When the civil servants heard the power of tens of thousands of border troops singing in unison, their faces turned pale.
Governor Zhu You thought deeply and said, "This is the military song of the Red Scarf Army! Hong Chengchou, why did the border army soldiers sing the military song of the Red Scarf Army when they saw me?"
Hong Chengchou's face turned pale and he said: "It is clear from the Holy Spirit that during the Battle of Jinzhou that day, 170,000 soldiers sang this war song and went forward to fight bloody battles. They refused to retreat and defeated 230,000 Tatars."
Zhu Youjian pondered for a long time, then sighed and said: "The soldiers of the border army are telling me about the hardships of the battle in Jinzhou and their unwillingness to be murdered by the traitor!"
Zhu Youjian listened to the war song outside the city gate, suddenly felt the same and burst into tears.
"Where are the rebels of Duke Jin here? They are all loyal ministers of my Ming Dynasty! Where are the rebels?"
Seeing the emperor crying, the eunuchs and civil servants knelt down in panic and prostrated themselves on the ground. For a while, a large area of people knelt on the city gate.
"Wang Cheng'en, please pass on my decree. I have understood the issue of the 160,000 frontier troops begging for their lives. The frontier troops fought bloody battles with Dongnu, but were seriously injured by traitors. If the army had not charged with loyalty and loyalty, Jinzhou would have been
After a huge defeat, our Ming Dynasty is in a critical situation."
"You must listen to the 160,000 soldiers begging for your life. You must kill the traitors who are causing harm to the country!"
"According to the instructions of the Duke of Jin, he will be killed."
