Chapter 49 Li Zicheng's rapid breathing in the third quarter

But Li Zicheng didn't wait for time, and his rapid breathing became louder and louder.On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Li Zicheng sent someone to send a letter of war to Chongzhen, telling Chongzhen that a decisive battle was imminent, and the time was set for March 10, and the place was Beijing.Li Zicheng's 500,000 troops will approach the city at this time. Chongzhen's cautious optimism evaporated in an instant. March tenth. Deadly March 10th. March tenth of a dynasty. If counting from the tenth day of the first lunar month, then the Ming Dynasty is only 60 days away from this life-and-death moment.

Chongzhen began to feel emotional again. Can not but sigh with emotion. Can't help but seize the time to sigh with emotion. Because under the current situation, the emotion is less and less. I am not the king of a subjugated country, everything is an image of a subjugated country.The ancestors lived in the wind and rain, once lost, what face will they see in the ground?I hope that the supervisor will personally fight a decisive battle. He will not hate anything when he dies on the battlefield, but he will not die with peace of mind. This is a painful emotion. This is a feeling from the bottom of my heart.

This is the last emotion. The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty cried together again, and then expressed their determination and loyalty, crying and shouting to go to war on behalf of the emperor.Among the many true and false candidates for the expedition, Chongzhen's tearful eyes locked on a cabinet minister named Li Jiantai.This Li Jiantai is from Shanxi, and now Li Zicheng is attacking the city on the ground in Shanxi. In order to defend his hometown, Li Jiantai should not work abroad, and Li is a rich man in Shanxi. If he contacts a few rich Shanxi businessmen, military pay should not be a problem.

Just him.Success is also him, failure is also him.Daming has only one Li Jiantai.The last Li Jiantai. The expedition ceremony was so grand that nineteen tables were set up.There are nine tables for civil servants, nine tables for military officials, and the middle table is the imperial seat.All officials use gold cups for drinking, and his grandma's gold cups are also used once less, so they can't be reserved for Li Zicheng.Chongzhen personally poured wine for Li Jiantai, drank three glasses in a row, and told him kindly that the two of us were one person, which made Li Jiantai burst into tears while drinking, and the tears fell into the wine, and the wine became water-filled wine , no smell.But at this time Li Jiantai was in a complicated mood, and had no intention of tasting anything at all.The weight of a dynasty was on him, and he was almost crushed.

Li Jiantai set off, and the mighty team lined up from the Meridian Gate to the Zhengyang Gate.Chongzhen watched him off for a long time, until Li Jiantai went farther and farther and turned into a little ant, and he returned to the palace in melancholy. However, Li Jiantai did not bring good news to Chongzhen after he left for the expedition. His journey was not smooth. The local governors did not know where Li Jiantai’s troops were short of soldiers and wages. They were afraid that he would come to Shanxi to recruit soldiers and wages, and rejected him one after another. Entering the city, he led his men and horses running around like headless chickens in the wilderness, which made him hungry and thirsty.On the twenty-ninth day of the first lunar month, his men and horses reached Guangzong County, but they couldn't reach it. They wanted to go to the city to replenish supplies, but a small Guangzong county magistrate dared to stop him from entering the city, which made him angry and sent troops. Attacked the Guangzong County Yamen and won his first victory since his expedition.

The next thing is to fail.On the fifth day of March, he fought against the Peasant Army. He was defeated in Zhending, so he had to "retreat strategically" to Baoding City. As a result, the Peasant Army attacked the city violently. Li Jiantai thought of the adage "He who knows the current affairs is a hero" at the critical moment. He resolutely chose to surrender.After that, the future was bright, and he successively served as the prime minister of the Dashun government and the academician of the inner courtyard of the Qing government (again, the result of "a man who knows current affairs is a hero").After Chongzhen knew all this, he once again felt that what he used was inhuman.But what can be done?In times like this, it's nice to have someone use it.The local government has long refused to listen to the call, how many people in the Forbidden City are willing to serve him loyally?

Pledging allegiance to the death is a very resounding slogan. But just slogans.That's all. When Chongzhen fell into confusion again, Zuo Zhongyun Li Mingrui offered a plan: move the capital to Nanjing in order to make progress. Of course, Chongzhen understood that it was nonsense to seek progress, and the purpose of forming the Northern and Southern Dynasties with Li Zicheng was the goal. If the move of the capital is accomplished, it would be tantamount to handing over half of Daming to others. Can the ancestors accept this? Can the broad masses of cadres accept it? In particular, as a diligent monarch, can I, Chongzhen, bear such a shame?

Chongzhen could not answer these questions.Although Li Mingrui has been brainwashing Chongzhen since the third day of the Lunar New Year, I hope he will face the reality, make a calm choice, and move the capital resolutely in order to make progress.But Chongzhen has been procrastinating—it was not until Li Jiantai became the prime minister of the Dashun government that he put moving the capital on the agenda.The cabinet began to discuss Li Mingrui's proposal. The chief minister of the cabinet, Chen Yan, deeply loved his motherland and opposed moving the capital, but he was a little timid and did not dare to directly confront Chongzhen. At this time, Guang Shiheng was not afraid of death, and Shang Shu called the proposal of moving to the south a "heresy" and demanded that "Mingrui be cut to reassure people's hearts."Of course, Li Mingrui refused to accept it, and started a war of words with him. For a while, the imperial court advocated the relocation faction and the anti-relocation faction had a clear stand, and vowed not to stand on both sides.

Of course Chongzhen knew that there was someone behind Guang Shiheng, and this person was Chen Yan, the leader of the anti-relocation faction and the chief assistant of the cabinet.Chongzhen was quite annoyed by Chen Yan's uncooperative spirit.You are patriotic for his grandma, but I, Chongzhen, am not patriotic?This country still belongs to Chongzhen!You think I'm willing to move, isn't there no way?The situation has reached such an unmanageable point that they can only temporarily move south and make plans.You are fine, a majestic chief minister of the cabinet, so ignorant, you have to force me to stop you?Fortunately, before Chongzhen's removal order was issued, Chen Yan resigned voluntarily-in this era, if I don't want to be the chief minister of the cabinet, or die from overwork or be killed unjustly, I can't do it!Chen Yan waved his sleeves and said goodbye to Yi Dynasty quietly.

Chen Yan left, but Chongzhen's troubles still existed.The successor Chief Assistant Wei Zaode, like Chen Yan, also adopted a non-violent and non-cooperative attitude towards Nanqian, which made Chongzhen feel a profound loneliness.A friend is hard to find.It's hard to find a bosom friend.These days, it is so difficult to find a bosom friend who is willing to move the capital together. It seems that the world has really changed—could it be that my Ming officials produced so many patriots overnight. Empress Zhou's words made Chongzhen finally understand what a Ming patriot is: most of the people who opposed the southward migration were northern officials, who were not used to the southern climate and living habits; Move, nothing left.In addition, some officials still had illusions about the development of the situation, believing that Li Zicheng would not be able to capture Beijing after all, so they opposed the southward move.

I see.But that's all.Chongzhen couldn't help admiring his wife, Mrs. Zhou, but he still didn't understand one question. Why did the Taoist family, who had always lived in the inner palace, see all this so clearly? Because people's hearts are all the same.They all like to consider issues from their own standpoints. The concubines are from the south, thinking about moving and returning; while those who oppose them are from the north, thinking about stability and staying.People's hearts are all the same.emperor. So where should I stand to consider the issue?On this issue, do I still have Chongzhen's position? Chongzhen was distressed. The discussion of moving south finally fell through. Chongzhen understood, and could only let it go.Because people's hearts are scattered, it's hard to lead the team. Even if he gives the order to leave, how many people will follow behind?Most officials will stay in the capital to take care of their money and real estate in the name of patriotism, and will not go with Chongzhen. This is the reality of Chongzhen's seventeen years. Cold reality. The wages of avarice is death.The ancient and the modern are the same. If the capital could not be moved, Chongzhen had no choice but to find another way.In order to defend Beijing, he proposed to transfer Liaodong General Wu Sangui to enter the customs for discussion among officials. The officials were confused.Is this still up for discussion?Isn't it a matter of your emperor's words to adjust people?Why discuss? Chongzhen remained silent with a gloomy face, and the officials quickly understood that what happened to his grandma was not a trivial matter, it was an event bigger than the sky!Once Wu Sangui enters the customs, it means giving up a large area of ​​land outside Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan.Who dares to bear the "crime" of abandoning the country without fighting? The emperor didn't dare to take responsibility, so we had to discuss it. Discussion is a statement. A statement has a position. Where there is a position, there is right and wrong. None of the officials wanted trouble. Zhang Xuyan, Minister of the Ministry of War, said that whether Wu Sangui will be transferred or not depends on whether Ning Yuan is released or not, and it all depends on the emperor.Other officials didn't even claim to be. Chongzhen laughed dryly, feeling very annoyed in his heart: Haha, kicked the ball back again, you bird people, you want all the benefits, and you don't deserve the responsibility. Why should I be arbitrarily judged by myself, and finally let me bear the charge of being a fool? !Why? But the situation is stronger than people, and when Chongzhen and the officials were playing Tai Chi push hands, Taiyuan fell.Now Chongzhen was in a hurry, he ignored all the officials, but went directly to Wu Sangui's father, Wu Xiang, to hear his opinion. Of course Wu Xiang understood that Chongzhen had been looking for a substitute for the dead.The officials are not willing to take the place of the dead ghost, so of course Wu Xiang is not willing either.During his in-depth discussion with Chongzhen, he cited a practical problem to make Chongzhen retreat: It is not impossible for Ningyuan guards to return to the pass, but it is expensive.Almost each of these military masters has farmland worth several hundred taels of silver outside the customs. Now you tell them to abandon it and not rush into the customs. What kind of land will the court take to compensate them? Woolen cloth?Also, the imperial court still owes them 14 months of military pay. If my son Sangui hadn't been there to suppress them vigorously, they might have rebelled a long time ago.If they enter the customs at this time, is the imperial court going to pay off their military pay?There are also six million ordinary people outside the customs. They also have to enter the customs. How to resettle them and where will the resettlement money come from?Has the emperor made up his mind? Chongzhen's head got dizzy when he heard it. He didn't expect so many problems. It is his usual style to walk around when encountering problems. You might as well delay this matter first.Of course, Chongzhen also considered the possible serious consequences of "dragging", but this time he did not expect the consequences to be so serious that he directly ran into the red line.Because Li Zicheng never gave him another chance. Last chance.