Chapter 2 Opening Bloody Dusk in the Forbidden City

In June of the fourth year of Jianwen in the Ming Dynasty (1402), the city of Nanjing was shrouded in the scorching heat of midsummer.The sun was shining, there were no clouds, and there was no wind.The outside of the city was dilapidated.Even if there are still some tidy houses, they have already been emptied.In the dull silence, only the scorched smoke from the burnt building blocks shows that time has not stopped.These building blocks are neither extinguished nor flamed, like the people in the city, they are waiting for something.What was waiting was a gust of wind, which could burn into a skyrocketing fire, what was waiting for a torrential rain, and it could seek relief from this, but now it can only emit heart-wrenching black smoke.

This is the capital of the Ming Dynasty.The war between the current emperor and King Yan has been going on for four years.The court said that King Yan had the intention of disobedience and conspired to rebel, so he cut his title as early as four years ago;In the first few years, the King of Yan suffered repeated failures and rises, but did not improve much.But this year, they failed to defend the city and continued to attack Nanjing. By this time, Zhenjiang had been broken and the throat of the capital was pointed at.Things will probably be resolved.In the summer of this year, a large number of locusts suddenly flew in and out of the capital, swarms, like black clouds covering the sky, and they continued to make trouble for more than ten days.Maybe this is an ominous sign?

The current emperor is the grandson of Emperor Taizu Gao Zhu Yuanzhang, and he is a rare benevolent and gentle emperor.He entrusted all the major affairs of the court to Qi Tai, Secretary of the Ministry of War, Huang Zicheng, Secretary of Taichang Temple, and Fang Xiaoru, a scholar of attendant lecturer. He did not expect to get things to this point in a few years.Just a few days ago, the news of Zhenjiang's fall had spread to the palace, and the defenders along the river surrendered to King Yan one after another.The emperor was very worried and wandered around in the palace.He asked Fang Xiaoru what to do. Fang Xiaoru said: "There are still 200,000 strong soldiers in the city. The city is high and deep, and the food is sufficient. All the residents outside the city were evacuated and driven into the city. Can it stay for a long time?" Fang Xiaoru's plan was to fortify the wall and clear the country.But wouldn't the people suffer in this way?But that was the end of the matter, so it had to be done.

The people outside the city were already panicking.Although this war has been fought for four years, the battlefield has always been thousands of miles away in the north.The Jiangnan area has not seen an army for more than 30 years since Taizu Gaodi Zhu Yuanzhang.King Yan's rebels have crossed the Yangtze River, who knows whether it will be good or bad?They had no choice but to obey the emperor's order and hide in the city.Military and civilian merchants, evacuating houses and transporting wood, non-stop day and night.The capital is famous for its intense heat, not to mention that in midsummer, the common people were hungry, thirsty and toiling, and many people died in this intense heat.Some people couldn't bear the hard work of transporting wood, so they simply set fire to their houses. Seeing the black smoke billowing, the houses collapsed.The howling of the fire and the cries of the people rang out together.People digging soil on the city wall came and went, and bursts of dull chant were revealed amidst the noise of chaotic footsteps.In order to prevent the Yan army from attacking the city, the imperial court ordered the army and the people to strengthen the city wall.Unexpectedly, with so many people and mixed hands, the city wall in the southwest collapsed.The imperial court immediately sent soldiers and civilians to build it.Unexpectedly, the city wall in the southwest has not yet been repaired, and the city wall in the northeast has also collapsed.The common people can't breathe day and night, could it be said that the emperor's breath is exhausted?Otherwise, why can't even a section of the city wall be repaired firmly?

The Yan army went up the river from Zhenjiang and went straight to the capital.Take advantage of the victorious army, high-spirited.The swarthy faces of the warriors were covered with sweat and glistened in the sunlight.During the several years of war, they lived and slept in the open air, and endured hardships. Now they can see the Nanjing City Tower from a distance, and they really can't hold back their excitement and anticipation.Although there was no wind, the flag embroidered with the word "Swallow" was still fluttering non-stop because the army was marching very fast.After the striker passed, I saw dozens of mighty generals in the Chinese army, surrounded by a tall horse. The riders wore a black gauze folded-up scarf called Yishanguan, and wore a red robe with a collar and narrow sleeves. Both shoulders are embroidered with golden dragons, leather boots, and a belt around the waist. The jade ornaments on the belt are crystal clear.This must be King Yan.

King Yan is the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang. In terms of seniority, he is the uncle of the current emperor.Speaking of which, this war was fought by my own family.King Yan's name was Zhu Di, and he was famous all over the world for being good at fighting.He was born with a majestic appearance, with a beautiful beard fluttering on his chest.Years of military life have created his unique military dignity, and he shows his heroism between glances; there is a fierce and murderous spirit in his decision.The situation developed really fast, and it was only four full years since he started his army in Beiping (now Beijing). During these four years, he visited Yaishi in person, went through life and death, suffered defeat several times, and almost lost the confidence to fight again, but he was brave after all. People must never be willing to fail.Now, Emperor Jianwen is gone, and he will be the winner of this war.When the victory was in his hands, he felt that it was so easy to win it.

When Yan's soldiers came to the capital, Gu Wangzhu and Cao Guogong Li Jinglong who were guarding the Jinchuan Gate opened the gate to welcome the surrender, and Yan Wang hurried up the tower.He leaned on the fence and looked far away, and he had a panoramic view of the majestic capital.In the east, Zhongshan winds around the capital like a dragon, and in the west, Shitou Mountain stands on the bank of the river like a tiger.The mighty Yangtze River flows northeast from Jinchuan Gate.The golden towers and pavilions in the southeast corner of the city are the imperial city.In the third year of Hongwu, he was named the King of Yan there, and in the thirteenth year he became a vassal of Beiping, when he was only twenty-one years old.With his talent and bravery, can he just be a vassal guarding the border?Now he is on the Nanjing City Tower again!All of a sudden, the flying snow outside the Great Wall, the bright moon over the Baigou River, and the dead bodies under Dongchang City all appeared in front of my eyes again, for a total of twenty-three years!However, after all, he boarded the Nanjing City Tower again.None of this existed, as if he was born to be a winner.It was only when he caught a glimpse of Zhongshan Zhiyang's Xiaoling Mausoleum that he couldn't help feeling sad.How lonely is Minglou Baocheng surrounded by a piece of short pine trees at the moment.What are the civil and military ministers on both sides of the Shinto saying to Emperor Gao?He still vaguely remembered the grand ceremony for the canonization of the crown prince held in the palace.Together with his second and third brothers, he was waiting at the Majesty of Wenhua Hall to congratulate his elder brother who became the crown prince.The second elder brother led all the younger brothers to present a congratulatory speech, saying: "Little brother, I am very pleased to meet the elder brother, the Crown Prince, who has been honored as a treasure. I would like to lead all the brothers to congratulate His Royal Highness." Why was he so depressed when he said that he didn't look happy at all when he said "I'm so happy".At that time, he didn't understand that this ceremony had already decided their fate, and they were destined to go to other places to be vassal kings for the rest of their lives.Now that he has led troops into Nanjing and climbed up the city tower of Nanjing, if Emperor Gao is alive in heaven, what face will he face?

Suddenly, billowing black smoke from the southeast corner of the city caught his attention, which was the imperial palace.After the black smoke, the flames rose.What a big fire, the tongue of flames soared upwards, facing the scorching sun.There was great chaos in the palace, and people's voices could be heard from a distance, and people running out of the palace could be seen.He was very calm at the moment, as if he was watching a monotonous drama, and he expected everything to be like this. He seemed to have seen this scene when he started his army in Beiping, the end of Emperor Jianwen.Let the fire burn to its heart's content!He will start over here.His heart flew up to the sky with the rising flames, wandering in the sky, looking down at the eight poles, from now on he is the master of this world.

The big river flows silently, and under the clear sky and scorching sun, it swims slowly towards the sea like a giant dragon with shiny scales.