Emperor Chongzhen's words had long been expected by Zhu Cixi - he could figure this out without using his brain to analyze it, he could figure it out with his knees. When will Emperor Chongzhen choose an optimal solution to a major problem? Just refuse to run away.

If Chongzhen was willing to run away, his soul would probably be changed!

Fortunately, Zhu Cixiang had more than one escape plan in his mind. Escape with Emperor Chongzhen, Empress Zhou and others on the night of the 16th was just the best plan among many. Even if it could not be realized, there were several other plans that could be implemented.

choose.

Moreover, the result of staying in Beijing for a period of time may not be as good as running away immediately. If you run away now, your pockets will be empty, and you will be short of money after leaving Beijing. So it is not a bad idea to stay for a few more days, collect more money and run again.

, but the risk is greater, so it is not considered optimal.

However, the price offered by Emperor Chongzhen to command the internal and external military camps together with Wang Chengen and the nine admirals was still too low.

Seeing his son sighing and being silent, Emperor Chongzhen began to make calculations in his heart.

What he planned was to defend Beijing and then revive the great cause of the Ming Dynasty. Those things that Zhu Cixi did in normal times could of course be abolished. But the situation is different now. Defending Beijing has become an inner demon of Emperor Chongzhen.

Chongzhen was a man of one mind and stubborn. Once he set his sights on the target, he would go all the way to the end. Defending Beijing must be the first goal, and Nan Xingliu was forced to do so as a last resort, and he was shouted at by the ministers.

Walking from Huangji Gate...

But now, the blessing of his ancestors has given him another life-saving straw named Zhu Cixiang, which will give him a certain chance to defend Beijing. What reason does he have for not holding on tightly?

As for Zhu Cixiang's crime of fooling Wang Cheng'en, fooling Wu Xiang, and fooling a group of strong men in the capital, of course it is not as important as guarding the city of Beijing. Chongzhen still understands the principle of settling accounts after the autumn! It is spring now, and it is not the autumn yet!

Therefore, the most important thing is not to settle accounts with his son, Wang Chengen, and Wu Xiang, but to defend Beijing. This is also because Zhu Cixiang is so good at deceiving him and tying himself up with Wang Chengen, Wu Xiang, Wu Sangui, and thousands of brave men.

If Chongzhen wants to attack Zhu Cixiang, he must kill them all... It seems that he doesn't have the strength, and after killing them all, who will attack Li Zicheng? Who will defend the city of Beijing?

Only by guarding Beijing can he continue to be a wise king to the millions of people in the Ming Dynasty! Are you afraid that he will not have the chance to deal with the prince's party in the future?

If he couldn't hold on, he would immediately become a fatuous king who would subjugate his country. He would not be able to see his ancestors even if he died!

How could such a wise king subjugate his country? This is not allowed...

Having made up his mind, Emperor Chongzhen gritted his teeth and said to Zhu Cihong in a more serious tone: "Brother Chun, I am determined to lead hundreds of officials, nobles, the capital camp and the inner servants to defend the capital and wait for the arrival of Wu Sangui's army!"

You feel so good about yourself! Zhu Cihong said in his heart: At this time, do you still believe that officials, nobles, and chamberlains will be buried with you? If they don't open the door to welcome surrender, they have already lived up to the conscience of heaven and earth!

"Father," Zhu Cixiang said calmly, "I do not want to command the internal and external military camps and supervise the dispatch of the nine gates."

Chongzhen nodded, thinking: I finally know something about advance and retreat!

Zhu Cixiang said again: "My son wants to go out of the palace to support the army, and the governor is directly responsible for military affairs in various places. I also want to ask for Shang Fang's sword, which can kill noble officials below the prince!"

What? As soon as Emperor Chongzhen heard Zhu Cixiang's request, he immediately became angry. The governor-general was only responsible for the military affairs of various departments in Zhili. Anyway, as soon as Li Zicheng's army arrived, the capital was surrounded by a siege, and he could not contact all the other places in Zhili. But for the prince and below

I can’t give you the Shang Fang Sword from your dear official!

This is the real power of life and death... In the capital city, only the emperor can have such power!

Seeing Emperor Chongzhen's expression of disapproval, Zhu Cixi sighed and said: "Father, you can ask Wang Banban, if you don't count the three battalions of soldiers of your son, how many soldiers and horses are there in the capital city now? Can you stop the crenellations of the inner and outer city walls?

Full? How much money can they use to pay salaries? Will the money they receive be enough to support their families?

In addition, how much rice grains are stored in various warehouses in the capital city? How long can hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians be fed?"

Emperor Chongzhen hurriedly turned to look at Wang Chengen. Wang Chengen said: "Reporting to your Majesty, if you don't count my soldiers and horses, there are still 5,000 people in the Beijing camp and 3,000 people in the Jing army. All the soldiers who go to the city to guard the city will have to pay 10,000 yuan per person per day.

I have one hundred pennies, and I can take care of my own food... There is a lot of food stored in various warehouses in the capital, and it can always last for a month or two. But the military pay is really insufficient. The national treasury and the internal treasury combined only have more than one hundred thousand taels of silver and three thousand taels of gold.

More than ten thousand taels."

Zhu Cixi sneered a few times: "Including the 3,000 people recruited by my ministers, there are only more than 10,000 defenders, all of which are just a mob. The inner and outer cities of Beijing have a circumference of 48 miles, and are guarded by more than 10,000 troops, and there are only 200 people per mile. If we continue

We have to divide it into two shifts day and night, so there are only a hundred people... With a hundred people guarding a one-mile wall, how desolate it is? I'm afraid that I'm afraid I've never fought before!"

"This... what should we do?" Emperor Chongzhen looked at his son, vaguely hoping that Tuomeng's ancestors would teach his son some clever tricks.

"We can only mobilize the nobles, hundreds of officials, and the strong men from the inner-official families to go to the city." Zhu Cixiang said, "But to encourage the soldiers in the city to be brave, how can one hundred copper coins a day be enough? Chuangtei Zhen is here,

You have to give one tael of silver a day, right? If you are a leader leading troops, you have to give double the money... As for the treasury, how many days can the little money in the inner treasury be enough?

In addition, when Wu Sangui’s army arrives, we can’t give it away, right? We should still give it a million dollars! Otherwise, something might happen suddenly on the way to Nanjing!”

After Zhu Cixiang said this, Emperor Chongzhen already understood the use of Shang Fang's sword... He had to give him the power of life and death. If he didn't give it, the capital wouldn't be able to support it for a few days!

But if you give it... can you really make money? Those officials all look dark and thin. I heard that many officials are selling houses, and the sellers are cheating. Do they really have money?

Even if you have money, are you willing to donate? Don't make people panic and force everyone to side with Li Zicheng.

"Father, my sons and ministers know who is rich and who is not rich... Emperor Taizu Gao even told his sons and daughters in his dreams." When Zhu Cixiang said this, his gloomy eyes were looking at Emperor Chongzhen's confidants.

The Heart of the Eunuch King.

Wang Zhixin is rich! He is the richest man among the eunuchs. He and Wang Chengen have been in charge of the East Factory for many years, but Wang Chengen has too many tasks and is too busy. He is actually in charge of the affairs of the East Factory. Anyone who is caught in the East Factory, except

For major cases designated by the emperor, you can spend money to avoid disasters!

In addition, he has a younger brother named Wang Zhiren, who did not become a eunuch but joined the army. Under his care, he is now serving as the general of Su Song's army in Jiangnan. That is a very good job!

General Su Song is the general in charge of Haikou. He has the responsibility of anti-smuggling. Isn't anti-smuggling meant to protect smuggling?

Emperor Chongzhen also noticed that Zhu Cixiang was looking at Wang Zhixin. He was a little strange, so he also turned his attention to Wang Zhixin, which scared Wang Zhixin to death.

Zhu Cixiang said calmly at this time: "Wang Zhixin, you, the admiral of Dongchang, must also know who is rich, right?"

"I know..." How dare Wang Zhixin say that he doesn't know?

Zhu Cixi smiled and said to Chongzhen: "Father, why don't we let Wang Zhixin follow my son and raise funds to defend the city together."

"This..." Emperor Chongzhen looked at his son and thought: Now the ministers are all ministers of subjugation, and the eunuchs are all honest eunuchs. Only this prince suddenly showed some skills and seemed to be able to defend Beijing.

There was finally a smile on Chongzhen's gray and serious face: "Brother Chun, I will give you the Shang Fang Sword, but you cannot kill anyone casually with the sword. I only allow you to kill ten people."

Zhu Cihong kowtowed again: "My son, I accept the decree."

He paused and then said: "Father, without further delay, please issue the decree first."

There seems to be no precedent in the history of the Ming Dynasty for the prince to supervise the army and supervise the war. If it were really discussed at the court meeting, it would be endless. So Zhu Cixiang simply asked Chongzhen to issue the decree first.

"That's fine, I will issue the edict immediately!" Emperor Chongzhen was naturally happy to issue the edict, because the edict was not a legal edict and could be invalidated at any time. If Zhu Cihong could really raise military funds and young men, he could invalidate the edict himself.
Chapter completed!