Chapter 6 lessons learned

Just when the local scholars and people fell into grief and chaos due to the fall of the Beijing imperial court, in Nanjing, known as the "Liudu", intense activities have been launched to save the nation and survive. The situation is so grim and urgent: for those left-behind ministers who are still committed to loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, if they do not want to repeat the mistakes of Beijing, if they are not willing to reconcile themselves and the lives of a group of people they represent, To be completely ruined by this monstrous and violent flood, we must try to use the rich land in the south of the Yangtze River to quickly establish a new regime that can compete with the powerful peasant army.Among them, the most important thing is to find and elect a legal successor from the royal family system surnamed Zhu as soon as possible, a new emperor who symbolizes "orthodoxy".

Intense activities surrounding the resolution of this top priority matter had actually been secretly brewed and carried out earlier in the circle of ministers with decision-making power.For example, the serious minister who came from the Dazhong Bridge in a Qingman official sedan chair carried by four people, surrounded by entourages——Lv Daqi, the right servant of the Nanjing Military Department, was one of the most active people. one.This Sichuan-born official of the Donglin faction is short and sharp.On the thin, compact face, there are a pair of piercing big eyes; the sensitive and bony nose, together with the lips that are often pressed tightly together, and the chin protruding forward like a spade, make this picture His face looked shrewd and capable, but also stubborn.He had just participated in a small-scale secret negotiation in the mansion of his immediate boss, Shangshu Shi Kefa of the Nanjing Ministry of War, with Gao Hongtu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Households, Zhang Shenyan, the censor of the right capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Zhan Shijiang Yueguang, the head of the Imperial Academy, etc. man, had a difficult and sometimes emotional debate.Because he remembered that two close friends were waiting for news at home, he rushed back as soon as the meeting was over.

Right now, it is late April.It's getting quite warm.Brocade-like sunlight drifts down from the blue sky with white clouds floating, and the red flowers and green trees flanking the road are as dazzling and vivid as if they have been washed in water.Nanjing City, known as the land of golden powder in the Six Dynasties, almost always starts its most joyful and charming travel season at this time.In the past, there must have been many pleasure boats floating on the Qinhuai River, and the teahouses and restaurants in the winter and spring must have been busy regrouping and welcoming tourists from all over the world.But now, due to the shocking news of the fall of Beijing and the martyrdom of the emperor, which has begun to spread rapidly among the people like a plague, and the whole city is under emergency martial law, the situation has obviously changed.Although the shops are still open for business, and the poor people are still busy with food and clothing for the day, however, the smiley expression on people's faces in the past has disappeared.The street, which was always bustling and bustling, suddenly became deserted for some reason.Even the Qinhuai River, with blue waves for ten miles, has lost the excitement and warmth of the past.Instead, teams of heavily armed officers and soldiers patrolled the streets from time to time, posing as if they were facing an enemy, which added tension and panic to the hearts of the people in the market.

Lu Daqi got off the sedan chair in front of his mansion, and stood for a while, in order to tidy up his messed up sleeves.Then, without even looking at the servants who rushed out to wait upon the sound, he tightened his lips, took quick and strong steps, entered a small door on the right side of the gate, and walked straight into the house. As a minister involved in the top secrets, the current situation information that Lu Daqi currently possesses is naturally more specific and detailed than ordinary officials, gentry and ordinary people.For example, regarding the martyrdom of the most important Emperor Chongzhen, according to definite news, it was in the early morning of March 19th.At that time, the outer city and inner city of Beijing were successively captured by the peasant army within one day.Knowing that the general situation is over, Emperor Chongzhen first summoned Empress Zhou and Concubine Yuan Gui to Qianqing Palace, put wine in a gold cup, and bid them a final farewell; The eunuch Wang Zhixin escorted them out of the palace as soon as possible, and temporarily took shelter at the home of the uncle Zhou Kui.After that, the outside situation became more and more urgent, and the bloodshed and death in the court also began: first, the empress hanged herself to death in the Kunning Palace, and then Concubine Yuan Gui attempted suicide and was hacked several times by the watching Emperor Chongzhen The sword was finally martyred.At the same time, there were several concubines who were "fortunately" killed by the emperor.However, the most tragic one is the eldest princess who is only fifteen years old.Probably the emperor was worried that after the city was broken, she would be humiliated by "rogues", so he specially summoned someone, looked at her for a long time, sighed and said, "Why were you born in my family?" At last, he gritted his teeth and swung his sword to chop off.The princess instinctively blocked with her hands.As a result, with a "click", half of the arm was cut off, and the person passed out on the spot.Seeing this, the emperor relented, dropped his sword, and turned away.At five o'clock the next day, this hopeless and exhausted Venerable Wan Cheng took the eunuch Wang Chengen, who was holding a pen, out of the Shenwu Gate in a hurry, and came to the east foot of the Long Live Mountain. With a straight face, he used a white ribbon to end his young and noble life under an ancient locust tree... Lu Daqi felt so heartbroken about this tragic change that has been kept secret for the time being but has been verified repeatedly At the same time, the determination to establish a new monarch in the south of the Yangtze River as soon as possible has become more certain and urgent...

When Lu Daqi came to the flower hall, Qian Qianyi, the former right servant of the Ministry of Rites, and Lei Zuo, the military equipment officer, had been waiting there for a long time.Seeing the master's return, the two guests immediately greeted him out the door, greeting each other with their hands clasped together, while showing expressions of eager inquiry. Lu Daqi did not speak, but only made concession gestures, led the guests to turn around a corridor, entered a moon cave door shaded by flowers and trees, and came to his own quiet and secluded study room, then stopped and greeted the guests again .

This is an exquisite study room connected by two small rooms, one bright and one dark.There are tables, chairs, screens and tables in the open room outside, with bonsai and vase flowers, which are mainly used for daily rest, and occasionally for receiving close friends who know each other.Now, Lu Daqi led the guests into the inner room.The inner room with red sandalwood bookcases on three sides of the wall is slightly smaller than the outer room. A rectangular flat-headed bookcase is placed across the face, on which are placed the four treasures of the study; beside it is a huge white porcelain jar with closed mouth of Xuan kiln, in which many lengths and shorts are inserted. There are different scrolls; in the space in front of the desk, there is also an exquisitely made small square table, three bamboo chairs, and a chessboard spread out on the table.When Qian and Lei saw that their master chose to have a conversation here, they both had a premonition that something unusual had happened, so they couldn't help but glanced at each other, and suddenly became nervous.

"Yanlao, I don't know what the outcome of today's meeting will be?" Lei Zuo, with thick eyebrows and big eyes and a big beard, asked tentatively after the young servant served tea and quickly withdrew.He was from Taihu Lake in Anqing Mansion and had been working in Shandong. He was appreciated and received by Emperor Chongzhen for his meritorious service in defending the city and daring to impeach Shangguan.Because of his mother's death a year ago, he resigned as usual and went home to guard the system. He came to Nanjing not long ago.Lu Daqi liked that he dared to speak and act, and he was a firm Donglin faction, so he pulled him into his circle to help with some confidential affairs.

Hearing his question, Lu Daqi only frowned, sipped his tea intently, and didn't answer immediately.After a while, he put the cup on the table, let out a long breath, and said, "It's difficult! If you are still like this, I have to let go of it!" Lei Zuo was slightly taken aback: "Ah, why did Yanlao say that?" Lu Daqi spread his hands together: "One King Fu and one King Lu are already in trouble. But at today's meeting, Gao Yanwen brought out another King Gui!" Gao Yanwen is Gao Hongtu, Minister of the Ministry of household affairs.Among the left-behind ministers in Nanjing, Gao Hongtu has always been known for his uprightness and stability.However, at this moment, Lei Zuo was a little puzzled: "What, King Gui? Why did you think of supporting King Gui again?"

"Hmph, it's not all about the 'order of relationship'! I always worry that the decision to establish 'Lu' will be suspected of being partial and wrong. In fact, those who want to achieve great success in troubled times only ask about success or failure. How can there be such scruples!" Lu Daqi said disapprovingly, pursing his lips angrily. Lei Zuo let out an "oh", blinked his eyes, and stopped talking for a while.Indeed, the decision on who will be the emperor will directly affect the future and destiny of the new regime. It is an extremely important matter that cannot be ignored.However, how to resolve the dispute over the "order of relationship" is another problem that is quite a headache at present.Originally, Emperor Chongzhen, who just "ruled the sky with dragons", left behind three sons—Prince Cihong, Prince Ding Cijiong, and Prince Yong Cizheng.As long as there is one of them, the matter is not difficult to solve.But to this day, apart from hearing that they had fled in subdued clothes when the capital fell, and may still be alive, there has never been any news from the south.It is not known whether he died later.In this case, according to the traditional ritual system, only the heir can be selected from the closest collateral royal family.Then it should be the turn of Emperor Chongzhen's cousin, Zhu Yousong, the king of Fu who has fled to the south, to be the emperor.However, for Lu Daqi and other ministers of the Donglin faction, there is an inextricable knot in this.Because the father of the King of Fortune, Zhu Changxun, the old King of Fortune, was born to Concubine Zheng. Relying on the favor of Emperor Shenzong, Concubine Zheng once tried to squeeze out the eldest son of the emperor, and put her own son, the old King of Fu, as Li. For the prince.After this plot was thwarted, when the eldest son of the emperor succeeded to the throne, she threatened in every possible way in an attempt to obtain the title of empress dowager in order to control the government.It was only because of the resolute resistance of the orthodox ministers in the court (including the later Donglin party members) that her plot failed.This incident, entangled with several suspicious cases that occurred in the court at that time, once turned into a life-and-death partisan struggle.During the Tianqi period, Wei Zhongxian's eunuch party took advantage of these incidents to beat Donglin people to death.It was so hard to survive until Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, and the unjust prison was rehabilitated.Therefore, this time to support the new king, if King Xiaofu becomes the emperor, will he stand on the side of the eunuchs and take the Donglin party members again?This is something we cannot but guard against.It was precisely because of this concern that Lu Daqi, Jiang Yueguang, Zhang Shenyan and other ministers proposed to change and support Lu Wang Zhu Changhao.Zhu Changhao is the nephew of Emperor Shenzong, who has been sealed outside for a long time, and has nothing to do with Zheng Guifei or the eunuch party.Moreover, this person has an easy-going temper and often recites scriptures and worships Buddha, nicknamed "Lu Fozi".It should be said that this is an ideal candidate.But in terms of lineage, he is the distant uncle of the late Emperor Chongzhen, and he is several layers away from his cousin Xiaofu Wang.If we abandon "closeness" and establish "sparseness", the etiquette system will be somewhat difficult to explain.Therefore, even within the Donglin faction, opinions have not been unified.Probably in view of this, Gao Hongtu proposed a third option—Guiwang Zhu Changying...

"King Gui is the fifth son of Emperor Shenzong," Lei Zuo said in a deep voice. "Compared with Fufan who is the second son and grandson, although he is still a little less close, he is much closer than Lufan. And the important thing is He was not born of Concubine Zheng, so it is natural to establish him. However, the country has undergone such great changes, and it is urgent to establish a new monarch as soon as possible to calm people's hearts. Gui Fan is far away in Guangxi, and it will take too much time to come and go. .” Lu Daqi smiled bitterly and said: "Just now, Jiang Juzhi also said the same thing. Now the two kings Lu and Fu are in Huai'an. If you want to stay close and seek far away, once the traitors rush to stand up first, you will be a rare commodity. I'm afraid my generation will be full." All games are lost!"

Lei Zuo nodded: "According to my younger brother's secret report, Fu Fan has come south this time, and he is determined to covet the high position. Recently, due to rumors that Liudu is quite fond of Lu Fan, he has secretly sent people to lobby the generals in Jiangbei for fear that he will not be able to stand. With the help of the backing, you must guard against it!" The so-called Jiangbei town generals refer to several generals who are currently stationed on the front line of Jianghuai—Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Gao Jie, and Liu Zeqing.This group of people has always been self-respecting, domineering and arrogant, and takes an attitude of not listening to the orders of the court.If they really unite and support King Fu, it will be really difficult to deal with.So when Lu Daqi heard this, he stood up from his chair in surprise. "What, the four towns in Jiangbei want to support King Fu?" "Of course, they didn't dare to act rashly, they are still waiting and watching. But if we are still undecided, it will inevitably change later!" Lu Daqi was stunned.After a while, he slapped the table and gritted his teeth angrily: "What's the 'establishing a king as a relative' is the family law of the ancestors and cannot be changed! It's already at the critical moment, and it's still such a cowardly way of doing things, only one is finished account!" After he finished speaking, he put his hands behind his back and started to pace up and down in a panic...