Chapter 31 5.Silver is not as good as biscuits

The rogues finally swarmed in, and in the blink of an eye, they surrounded the imperial capital like an iron barrel... The Jingyang bell on the Meridian Gate rang again, once and again, very quickly, piercing through the clouds and fog, wandering in the hazy space in Beijing, it was Emperor Chongzhen ringing the bell himself.Because the ministers didn't come for a long time, he didn't know how many times he bumped, and he was out of breath, and he didn't know how to stop. The natural danger Juyongguan said it would surrender, and the 200,000 troops were disarmed; the Twelve Tombs were burned as soon as they were said to be burned, and the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty were shamed underground, and they summoned Tang Tong's twelve gold medals to help guard Juyong. He turned against each other; Wu Sangui's 50,000 Ningyuan iron cavalry did not come for a long time, and the other Qin King's teachers were nowhere to be seen, and the titles, yin and yang, and the grant of farms could not move the hearts of these people.Among the court scholars, those who advocated moving the capital at the beginning did not come, and those who opposed moving the capital also did not come. This group of courtiers who eat the king's salary but can't solve the king's father's worries, talk about loyalty and filial piety when they have nothing to do. The master is worried about the humiliation of his ministers, and the master humiliates his ministers to death, but when it is time for them to die, how come none of them disappeared?

Wang Chengen saw that the emperor was still ringing the bell, so he had no choice but to persuade him: "My lord, it's better to avoid it. As far as I know, among the ministers, those who are hearty have already gone to the city to supervise the battle without waiting for the urging of the emperor. It’s completely devoid of liver and lungs, and it’s useless when it’s here.” Chongzhen repeatedly said: "The country is so critical, there are still people hiding at home?" Why is there no one hiding at home, and there are still some who communicate with the rogues.But right now Wang Cheng'en didn't want to say any more, because it would be nonsense to say any more, but the emperor was aggressive, so he could only say coldly:

"Let's think of other ways." other way?What else can I do? Nearly 30,000 soldiers of the three major battalions placed in Shahe collapsed upon encountering bandits, and the defense forces in Beijing are now less than 30,000 old and weak soldiers, but there are 154,000 women's walls inside and outside the imperial city. Five battlements are not enough for a single soldier.Although he sent all the young and strong eunuchs in the palace to the city to guard the city, some of the emperor's relatives who knew the soldiers also went to the city. Going to buy sesame seed cakes to satisfy hunger; at this time, the yellow sand blocked the sky, the wind was bitter and rainy, hail and thunder were coming, and the veterans had not received their salaries for a long time, and they complained one by one. , Lying on the ground, Xiangcheng Bo Li Guozhen, who was ordered to guard the city, drove the man away with a whip in his hand, and then drove the man up, and the man fell asleep again.

Li Guozhen was helpless, so he had to tell the truth one by one. After hearing the report, Emperor Chongzhen stared at Li Guozhen with round eyes, but he didn't know what to say. Li Guozhen had no choice but to say: "As far as I know, Wu Sangui's Ningyuan Bing forward has arrived at Fengrun, and it's only a day or two away. That is to say, as long as we can guard for three to five days, there is hope." Emperor Chongzhen said: "Looking at it like this, does it seem like it can last for three to five days?" Li Guozhen said: "The most urgent task at the moment is to try to boost morale. As long as the whole city can fight against the enemy like it did when the Manchus invaded, it is nothing to guard for three to five days."

That's right, the Queen also said the same thing. The Manchurian braided soldiers entered the customs five times and surrounded the capital twice. It took more than three or five days. Isn't the city of Beijing standing still and as safe as a rock?Since it can deal with the Manchu soldiers, why can't it deal with the rogues? Chongzhen remembered the scene when Manchurian soldiers invaded the capital for the first time. At that time, Lai Yuan Chonghuan rescued quickly. He stationed troops outside Chaoyangmen, and his subordinates Man Gui, Zu Dashou and other fierce generals struggled with Manchuria. In addition, reinforcements from all directions came. Finally, the braided soldiers were forced to retreat, but why couldn't Wu Sangui come here as quickly as Yuan Chonghuan did?Perhaps Wu Sangui was afraid, even though he was promoted to Ping Xibo, the doubts and fears in his heart would not disappear, because Yuan Chonghuan was sentenced to prison when he rescued the capital, and was finally tortured at Caishikou.

After he killed Yuan Chonghuan, he vaguely felt that there might be grievances in Yuan Chonghuan's case. If a general like him with a heavy hand in his hands really wanted to rebel, if he really colluded with the Manchus, would he be able to defeat the Manchus repeatedly in Ningyuan?Can the Manchus bypass Ningyuan and attack Beijing?Can Beijing City have it for me?A generation of famous generals died tragically at his own hands. After Yuan Chonghuan died, there was no one at the border. From Yuan Chonghuan, Chongzhen thought of Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Changsi, Huang Zhong destroyed and abandoned, and Wa Ke thundered.Jingyang Zhongkong wailed to himself, unable to recall the past years.

Thinking of this, a feeling of self-blame and self-reproach arises spontaneously, he thought, if he wants to boost morale, he can only blame himself.So, what else can be done besides issuing an imperial edict? Yuzhi Yuxiong's Emperor Chongzhen has completely lost his way, and only one move of self-destruction is left.After returning to Qianqing Palace, he once again wrote the edict of sin against himself: I bow down to my ancestors, inheriting the pedigree of my ancestors, and descending to billions of trillions in ten thousand places, and I have lived here for seven years.If the government is not improved, disasters will come every day.Should the sage be in the next position?Those who are unworthy are not far away?To Qiantian's anger, accumulating grievances and people's hearts.The child turned into a thief, the mausoleum was shocked, the prince was slaughtered, the shame of the country could not be greater than this.I personally lead the Sixth Division to the past, and I have entrusted the crown prince with important tasks for the country.Tell your subjects, if you have the ability to work hard, be loyal and brave, or help food, grass, equipment, mules, horses, boats and carts, they will be used by the army to wipe out ugly and rebels.I will never break my promise to divide the rewards of the grass and soil.

I read it in a hurry, although I felt that the words were incoherent, the words did not express the meaning, and the reading was awkward. It was not as catchy as the previous writing. Even Wang Chengen wrote better than him, but he couldn't care less.He only ordered Wang Cheng'en to send it to the cabinet for announcement. Next, he asked Wang Chengen to summon his trusted eunuchs to prepare to personally supervise and guard the city.At this moment, the eunuch Wang Dehua, the eunuch in charge of the supervisor of ceremonies, hurried in and said: "Report to the emperor, Du Xun is waiting outside the palace."

Upon hearing Du Xun's order, Chongzhen thought he had heard it wrong, so he hurriedly said, "Who, who, Du Xun, what is he doing here?" Wang Dehua bite the bullet and said: "Since the fall of Datong, Du Xun was unfortunately surrounded by bandits. He did not forget the emperor's kindness and virtue, and fled back among the thieves. It is said that he has a plan now to escape the emperor's distress." Hearing that Du Xun "fled back among the thieves" because he "did not forget the great kindness and virtue of the emperor", although Chongzhen knew that this was a lie, he became interested in the word "get rid of distress", or gave birth to a thread. hope, and said:

"If he came to be a lobbyist for the rogues, then don't come. I am determined to die for the country; if there are other things, then let him come in." As soon as Chongzhen finished speaking, a figure flickered, and Du Xun came in from the outside. He didn't dare to straighten up, and knelt down on the ground as soon as he entered the door, kowtowing and saying: "My lord, my servant Du Xun is here to rescue you." Chongzhen didn't seem to hear the word "rescue" in Du Xun's mouth, but only asked: "Since you became the supervisor, I have given you a job as a royal guard, and when the bandits fell into Datong, I was very sad. And I'm going to set up a sacrifice for you to summon your soul, but you, why can't you do your best for me?"

Du Xun kowtowed and said, "I don't know. At that time, the guard had already surrendered and opened the door to let the bandits into the city. The incident happened in a hurry, and the bandits came in droves. The servant had to draw his sword and fight in the street. He didn't want the horse to stumble, so he threw the slave off his horse." Come on, as soon as the rogues rushed forward, the slave was captured only after exhausting his strength." After hearing this, Chongzhen felt a little comforted, nodded, and asked again: "Since you can't kill a thief to death, you must have surrendered the bandit. What else can you say when you come to see me today?" Du Xun said: "Although the slave is trapped among the thieves, he misses the emperor all the time. Now he has escaped and returned because he wants to get rid of the emperor's distress." Chongzhen said: "What ability do you have to make the bandits retreat?" Hearing what Chongzhen said, Du Xun couldn't help becoming more courageous, so he cried and said: "My lord, my good lord, the capital is over now, and the Ming Dynasty is over." When Chongzhen heard this, he couldn't help frowning and said, "Du Xun, do you want me to listen to your words?" Du Xun continued to cry and said: "My lord, no, these days, the slave was at the rogue's place, and met Li Zicheng, the leader of the rogue. After Li Zicheng knew that the slave was the emperor's side, he was still polite to the slave, and the slave took the opportunity to greet him. Plead for mercy, and say that the Ming Dynasty has three hundred years of history, deep benevolence and generosity, and the people appreciate it, the king can not destroy my Ming Dynasty, and the death of Ming Dynasty will be punished by heaven." Chongzhen nodded and said, "Then what would Li Zicheng say?" Du Xun said eloquently: "After hearing what the slaves said, Li Zicheng said that the emperor is a good emperor, but those officials did something bad, especially the Donglin party members, who can only talk big and can't govern the country. The country is in chaos. Now it is not difficult for me to retreat. First, I want the emperor to kill all those Donglin party members. Second, I will rule with the Yellow River as the boundary. The south of the Yellow River is my land in Dashun. The north of the Yellow River is the territory of Ming Dynasty. Da Ming will give me gold, silver, and beautiful women every year, so that we can keep each other safe." When Chongzhen heard this, he couldn't help but sneered, kicked Du Xun's waist with his toe, and cursed: "Du Xun, so you came to persuade me to surrender. Li Zicheng is a rebellious bandit who committed heinous crimes. Now he not only wants to fight with you I ruled the frontiers, divided courts against rites, and asked me to pay gold and silver every year. If it is true what you said, what kind of country and society will there be in the Ming Dynasty? How will I face my ancestors in the future?" When Du Xun saw that the emperor was angry, he couldn't help panicking, and kowtowed repeatedly, while Wang Dehua on the side was even more frightened and at a loss.The four cities were closed, and Du Xun came up from Goucheng. After he came up, he explained his intention to them: Emperor Dashun knew their loyalty, so they must make sure that Emperor Chongzhen could not escape before the city was broken. Chongzhen must ensure their safety, and everyone will continue to be an official.They were very happy to hear that, and were about to send Du Xun out of the city, but Du Xun said that he would meet the emperor and persuade him to surrender. His appearance was triumphant and full of confidence. Wang Dehua didn't advocate that he meet the emperor at that time, because he knew that Chongzhen would never surrender, and doing so would only be risky and not beneficial, but Du Xun insisted on meeting. Now the emperor is clearly angry.Wang Dehua thought, once the emperor wanted to kill Du Xun, not only would he lose a matchmaker with Li Zicheng, but also the emperor would definitely take his anger out on him and issue an order to interrogate Du Xun. He stole a glance at Du Xun. Although Du Xun's face was also pale, he was still calm.I saw him kowtow again and again, crying loudly: "My lord, the matter has come to this point, it is impossible not to give Li Zicheng an answer, not to mention that the acting king and the king of Jin are still in their hands, even Li Zicheng's group of arrogant soldiers are also sharpening their swords and showing off their might Yes. It seems that there will be a massacre after entering the city. That will make the country lose the country, and the emperor will have no face to see his ancestors." At this time, Chongzhen, with sharp ears and eyes, had already heard that this bastard was blackmailing him. Thinking that he had not used loyal ministers all these years, but trusted this group of Xiaoxiao, so that the traitors were in power and the loyal ministers suffered, he felt ashamed.He thought to himself, Du Xun should kill thousands of knives, cut ten thousand knives, and it would be no exaggeration to put the oil in the pan, but it is too late now, he can't kill this eunuch anymore. Thinking of this, he couldn't help stepping up to kick him, and yelled: "Get out, you and I get out!" After scolding Du Xun away, Chongzhen understood that the rogues would attack the city in the next step. Thinking that the city was a mess of loose sand, and the soldiers couldn't even guarantee three meals, he couldn't help feeling flustered, not knowing what he would do next, Wang Chengen reminded: : "My lord, as the saying goes, the emperor does not send hungry soldiers. The first priority right now is to feed the soldiers guarding the city." At this time, Li Guozhen went to the palace again to ask for an order, saying that if he didn't pay any money, not to mention the bandits coming in from the outside, even the soldiers in the city would enter the imperial city first. When Chongzhen heard this, he looked at Li Guozhen in panic, not knowing what to say, and then turned to look at Wang Chengen. Wang Chengen also looked pale and had nothing to say.At this time, Empress Zhou had heard the news and came to the front hall, and she stood behind the screen. When she heard the conversation between the monarch and his ministers, she said loudly like scolding a child in spite of everything: "Hurry up and pay the money, if you don't pay the money at this moment, when will you have to wait?" Chongzhen seemed to have just woken up from a dream, and hurriedly nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice, saying repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes, send, send, send." Seeing that the emperor finally let go, Li Guozhen pressed another question: "I ask for an order, when will it be issued, and how much will it be issued?" Chongzhen stared at a pair of terrified eyes, his lips were trembling, his hands were shaking constantly, and he said, "Just give it, just give it, give it away immediately, as long as they are willing to work hard, can't I give each one an ingot?" The emperor finally understood that although the suppression of bandits was a national war, it was actually his family's business, and it was for his Zhu family to eliminate disasters, so he became generous for the first time. But Li Guozhen and Wang Chengen couldn't be happy at all. They separately called people to the palace to collect the money, or went to notify the officials in charge of the internal treasury to distribute the money. As soon as he arrived at the inner treasury, Wang Chengen, who had served as the supervisor of ceremonies and eunuch for more than ten years, opened his eyes. The emperor's inner treasury was divided into several categories, including gold, silver, jewellery, colored satin, porcelain, and other items made by the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Cast copper coins.Unlocking the rusty iron lock of the silver vault, and pushing open the heavy iron door, he felt a bad smell rushing towards his face, forcing Wang Chengen to take a few steps back, and opened his eyes to take a look—oh my god, I saw the man The silver in the house is horseshoe-shaped, cylindrical, or in blocks. Each block is engraved with its weight and year of casting, and they are stacked into mountains. The silver on the top layer is oxidized, and the color is like black paint When I reached out to grab it, it was as brittle and rotten as bean dregs, but when I peeled off this layer of silver ash, it revealed a brilliant silver light. This is Neiku!For decades, from Wanli to Chongzhen, the national treasury was empty and the internal treasury was abundant. This is actually an open secret, but the emperor kept it secret, for fear that his courtiers would be jealous. , Between the monarch and his ministers, they know each other well, why were they tortured later, and were cut to death?Isn't it just because he didn't know the reason, he actually proposed several times to send internal money to pay for the army. He was jealous of the emperor's private money, which was a big rebellion! Seeing this, and thinking of this, Wang Chengen was deeply moved—the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty were all interested in money, and even Emperor Wanli was only interested in money. At that time, his annual income had reached 4.35 million yuan. Strange, but the annual expenditure is only more than 3.4 million yuan, and the surplus is a huge one million, but this emperor is still not satisfied, he boils salt to make iron, mines to make money, pursues diligently, and demands endlessly.Li Sancai, the minister at that time, pointed out in the book: "Your Majesty loves pearls and jade, and the people also desire food and clothing. How can you worship the collection of money and bribes, so that the common people will have no peace?" But even if it is golden and jade good words, who will listen to them?It's all right now, the bandits have finally come to clear the treasury, the mountains and rivers are broken, the silver is turned to ashes, everyone who guards the city has a big treasure, can they defend the imperial city? Yes, the Emperor Chongzhen, who guarded the wealth of his ancestors, is going to give up the entire golden mountain and silver sea right now, and he may not be able to buy back the size of the Ming Dynasty. Everyone moved silver silently, because the air was filled with silver oxide dust, Wang Chengen felt a little choked up, so he had to back out. Knowing that one ingot per person has been actually distributed to the soldiers, Emperor Chongzhen felt relieved, thinking, this is all right now, under the heavy reward, there must be a brave man, isn't an ingot fifty taels? , These soldiers, I am afraid that they have never touched a shiny silver ingot in their lives, and now they have this rare thing in their lives, why don't they rush to sacrifice their lives for me first?Thinking of this, he became generous again, and passed on the decree, saying: "As long as all the soldiers are brave enough to kill the thief, I will reward you a lot." However, Wang Chengen, who was ordered to deliver the decree, refused to leave for a long time.Emperor Chongzhen was furious, and angrily reprimanded Wang Chengen, saying: "Go with me, go and supervise them, why, are you also jealous of Yuanbao?" Wang Chengen turned over and knelt down, and kowtowed again and again: "Your Majesty, the price of rice beads in the city is now more than 20 times higher than that of ten days ago. An ingot is not worth much. The soldiers said that the emperor is worse than rewarding ingots." Enjoy the biscuits." The heart of Emperor Chongzhen was as numb as dead ashes at this time, and he could only think stupidly: there are silver cakes in the inner treasury, where did they come from? He didn't even have much flour in stock. He remembered that before the siege, Zhang Jinyan suggested that he stockpile more grain, but he didn't accept it.But Emperor Chongzhen didn't believe it even until his death. Isn't it a big joke that an ingot is not as good as a biscuit? At this time, there were a few earth-shattering sounds of red-clothed cannons outside the city, and a column of smoke rose into the sky immediately in the city, followed by the sound of golden drums, horns, and shouts of killing, which made Chongzhen The emperor's heart was broken, and the maids around him were at a loss, and all of them burst into tears in fright. Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help crying too.Seeing this, Wang Chengen had no choice but to knelt down and said: "My lord, what's the use of crying, the money has turned to ashes, can the country be made of iron?" Having said that, Emperor Chongzhen still couldn't help feeling sad and indignant.I thought to myself, how could I become the king of subjugation?At the beginning of my ascension to the throne, I acted arbitrarily, mowed down treacherous traitors, and set things right; after I assumed the throne, I was diligent and diligent, governed with heart, respectful and thrifty, diligent and loving the people; in the past seventeen years, I have no intention of singing and dancing, no intention of drinking and sex, and no major construction projects , It is not fatuous and cowardly to labor the people and waste money, to trust treacherous officials, to kill loyal ones, and to avoid all kinds of subjugation of the country, and I am afraid that it will not be far away. Lord?Is this God's will?He thought about it, lost his mind, and in the end he could only attribute it to the name of the sect chosen by Yao Guangxiao: Gao Zhan Qi Jianyou, Hou Zai Yi Chang You, Daming Jiangshan should be finished when it is passed down to you, and the next ten characters It was Chengzu's strongman who made it difficult; he couldn't help but think of the group of courtiers who were called "meat-eating trousers" by the rogues, who would cause family disputes in the court, and be arrogant and lazy on the battlefield, they all deserve to be killed!But now it's over, they all left me, they must meet the rogues, and confess my faults in front of the rogues, they are actually futile, as long as future generations read my sinful edict carefully, they will be able to see my faults Sidley.Then, when the rogues enter the city, I, with the respect of ten thousand chariots, and the world looks up to me, can I accept the insult of those rogues who are not as good as dogs, raising their knives and swords to me?No, absolutely not, I said it in public, I want to sacrifice myself to the country, even if I die, I will die like a king who is diligent in government and loves the people. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but lift up a corner of his dragon robe, spread it on the imperial case, and holding a vermilion pen in his hand, he wrote a will on the inner layer of the dragon robe: I, Liang De, contemptuously bowed, and blamed heaven, but it was all the mistakes of the ministers.When I die, I will see my ancestors without a face, and I will remove the crown to cover my face with hair, and let the thieves divide me, without hurting a single person. After finishing writing, his heart calmed down instead, and he looked at Wang Chengen who was standing alone beside him stupidly, and said: "It's over, Wang Chengen, I am determined to die for the country with my own body, what is annoying is that group of civil and military ministers who usually talk Zhongxiao, in the end, there is no one who can follow me from the ground." At this time, Wang Chengen was crying into tears, so he prostrated himself on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, this servant has received the great kindness of the Emperor, and I can't repay you. If anything happens, I will follow you around." Chongzhen heaved a sigh of relief, his tone became serious, and he said loudly: "Wang Chengen accepts the seal!" Wang Chengen didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the emperor's gourd, so he knelt on the ground and stared blankly at the top.Chongzhen delivered the oral instruction very majesticly: "Wang Cheng'en, the eunuch of Feng Sili and Bingbi, is the admiral of the Nine Gates, and the soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp are all dispatched by him." Wang Chengen prostrated himself on the ground, and said sincerely and fearfully: "My lord, my lord, I never know soldiers, and it's not suitable to be a military supervisor. How can I be an admiral of the Nine Gates?" Chongzhen smiled sadly and said, "Wang Chengen, you can just thank you. I named you the admiral of the Nine Gates. I didn't ask you to lead the soldiers. Where did the soldiers come from? It's just for the sake of being strong. I'm leaving. Can there be someone behind me?" It is not in vain to die for the country with the important officials who command the troops and horses of the Beijing camp and the admirals of the nine sects. Only then did Wang Chengen understand, so he kowtowed to thank him.