Zhengde raised leopards here, Jiajing practiced Taoism here, Wanli held parties here, and Tianqi worked as a carpenter here.
Since Chongzhen ascended the throne, he has almost never set foot in Xiyuan. He determined to be a diligent king and thought that playing with things in Xiyuan would lead to loss of ambition, so Xiyuan became a decoration.
Today, Chongzhen and his concubines go to Xiyuan to visit the lake every day.
The sky is clear and the breeze is blowing. Life turns out to be so beautiful.
Chongzhen completely gave up on the mess that was the imperial court. The inner court was handed over to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and the outer court was handed over to the cabinet. No matter how they fixed it, it would still be the same regardless of whether there was an emperor or not.
The queen and concubines often cried in private, knowing that they did not have long to live.
But facing Chongzhen, they forced a smile. And there was nothing to argue about. The harem became extremely harmonious and even learned to play mahjong.
Yes, play mahjong.
In recent years, Wang Diaoding not only presented books to Chongzhen, but also presented many novelties from the south.
At this moment, the queen and her concubines are playing cards on Qionghua Island in Nanhaizi. A few hundred meters to the east is Meishan, the place where Chongzhen hanged himself in history. I wonder if he has chosen the place where he will die.
Chongzhen sat in front of the window, looking at the distant scenery, with the sound of playing mahjong behind him.
The sun shines in through the shade of the trees, and the lake breeze blows from time to time. Chongzhen is very comfortable leaning on the chair.
He sometimes thinks that if he had been born a hundred years ago, he might have been able to spend his whole life peacefully like this.
Chongzhen opened the latest edition of "Datong Collection", which was left by Wang Tiaoding.
"Sanyuan Chapter" shocked Chongzhen greatly. He was the "Emperor who served Heaven" and Zhao Han would be the "Emperor who served the people" in the future?
Putting aside all prejudices, Chongzhen can now read books calmly.
He finally read "Datong Collection" and finally understood why Zhao Han became powerful. But it was useless. It was useless to understand it ten years earlier. "Heaven" is the source of his legal system. If he puts the people first, he is not an emperor.
.
Closing the page, Chongzhen wrote down an edict and asked the eunuch accompanying him to take it out, hand it over to the Chief of Ceremonies and the Cabinet for review, and then take it to the imperial edict to be written into a real edict.
Xue Guo, the first assistant, saw the contents of the imperial edict. Although he was extremely shocked, he remained calm and even felt like he was suddenly enlightened.
No wonder the emperor has ignored government affairs recently, and no wonder the princes and princesses suddenly disappeared.
It turned out that Chongzhen had been lying down waiting for death, and he also married the princess to Zhao Han, and wanted to make Zhao Han the king of Wu.
Xue Guoguan carefully drafted the edict, handed it to the imperial edict making room and the ceremonial supervisor to make the edict and seal it, and then asked the Ministry of Rites to engrave the seals of "King Wu" and "Captain Prince Consort".
It took a few days for the big seal to be carved.
The Ministry of Rites, the Supervisor of Ceremonies, the Department of Pedestrians, and the Jinyiwei... These organizations rushed to Nanjing to declare the edict to Zhao Han. First, they could form a good relationship with the new monarch, and second, they could take the opportunity to take refuge south.
Xue Guoguan has no intention of leaving the capital. His wealth and property in the capital are worth at least two to three million taels of silver.
Where can he go after leaving Beijing?
Will you return to Shaanxi to die? Or will you be robbed by bandits on the way?
He could only squat in the capital, waiting for the arrival of the new king, and then sneak out to the city to perform meritorious service. It was like this when Li Zicheng came, and it was still like this when Zhao Han came. Anyway, he would surrender whoever came to Beijing.
Of course, Xue Guoguan hoped that Zhao Han would come first.
After all, it had been spread throughout the court that King Zhao Tian of Jiangxi was not robbing money, but just wanted to forcibly divide the land. If Li Zicheng came, he would probably have to pay a fortune, as rogue bandits were notoriously good at plundering.
Because Chongzhen ignored the government affairs, the officials also gave up on themselves.
A large number of officials who did not have much money simply left with their seals and took their families with them to Nanjing. They were not going to be thieves, but to seek refuge with King Wu of the Ming Dynasty.
Everyone knows the meaning of King Wu.
Zhu Yuanzhang was the King of Wu before he ascended the throne!
…
Tianjin.
The city of Tianjin was besieged, and the rebels also blocked the Grand Canal. These people came from Liaodong.
A large number of people from Liaodong fled to Shanhaiguan to seek refuge, following the soldiers garrisoning the forts.
Ma Ke, the commander-in-chief of the Shanhaiguan Army, was worried about the shortage of troops, so he took the opportunity to recruit these Liaodong soldiers and expanded his troops to several thousand people at once.
However, the fleeing people could not be resettled, so Hong Chengchou tried to establish settlements. But he lacked food and could only arrange for two to three thousand refugees, while the rest were left to fend for themselves.
These refugees from Liaodong scattered and begged in different directions. After leaving Shanhaiguan, they quickly evolved into two rebel armies, the north and the south.
In the north, the bandit leaders who had not been wiped out by Hong Chengchou came out of the mountains with more than 200 remnants to recruit refugees, and once again grew into a force of thousands.
In the south, because there was no food to eat, these refugees took action on their own.
A retired soldier with a broken arm was the leader and called himself the "Begging Army". They did not kill the people, not even the landlords. Whenever they arrived, they surrounded the houses of big landlords and ordered the landlords to hand over their food quickly.
"Sir, the river is blocked by rioters." Scholar Xue Zongzhou anxiously entered the cabin to report.
Wang Diaoding smiled and said: "Don't panic, I'll go out and take a look."
Prince Consort Ran Xing was a little panicked and couldn't help but said: "Why don't you return to Tongzhou first?"
"No need." Wang Tiaoding said confidently.
Yuan Jixian didn't care about this at all and sat there reading to his son and princess.
The passenger ship continued forward and was soon surrounded.
Wang Diaoding stood at the bow of the ship, and Fu Shan and Xue Zongzhou stood on his left and right with swords in their hands.
Wang Diaoding said loudly: "Call your leader, I will give him a great fortune."
"Who are you?" a rioter asked.
Wang Tiaoding did not answer, but shouted: "Plant the flag!"
The military flags of the Datong Army were planted everywhere on the passenger ships.
The rebels could not understand, so they began to board the ship one after another, surrounded Wang Diaoding and said, "Hand over the money and food, and I will let you go immediately. Our general said that life is not easy, and we will not kill people indiscriminately."
If you don’t hand over the money and food, I will send you to death today!”
Wang Tiaoding pointed to the Datong military flag and asked, "Do you know whose flag this is?"
"The emperor's flag will leave money to pay for the road today!" the mob shouted.
Wang Diaoding said with a smile: "This is the military flag of King Zhao Tian of Jiangxi. King Zhao has conquered half of the country, and he will be the emperor in the future. Call your leader, I will give him a great fortune, and you can do the same in the future
Conglong meritorious ministers. Conglong meritorious ministers, do you understand? They are honorable men who follow the emperor to conquer the world!"
The rioters looked at each other and finally stopped taking action.
Not long after, a one-armed man came over. Although his body was strong, he was cheap but sunken and thin. He came to the boat and asked: "Is this really King Zhao's boat?"
"Do you also know King Zhao Tian?" Wang Diaoding asked back.
The one-armed man said: "I had never heard of it in Liaodong, but after entering the customs, I have admired his name for a long time. I also got a copy of "Datong Collection", and Zhao Tianwang is a well-known man. To be honest with you, many of me have not been famous all the way.
They killed indiscriminately just to go south and join King Zhao Tian."
Wang Tiaoding was ecstatic and said without changing his face: "Just follow me to Nanjing. What is your name?"
The one-armed man said: "My name is Wu Huapu. I was the deputy commander of the Sanshan Battalion in Liaodong. The forts in Liaodong either surrendered or fled. I led the soldiers to escape back to Shanhaiguan. The commander-in-chief Ma Ke took my soldiers into his army. This guy thought I was disabled.
, one arm was missing, and I was sent away with only half a catty of rice."
"It turns out it's Wu Caoshou," Wang Diaoding said, cupping his hands. "Take your people and go to Nanjing with me."
Wu Huapu said: "There is not enough food, so we have to borrow food from Tianjin first, otherwise we will starve to death halfway."
Wang Diaoding smiled and said, "I'm going to borrow some food."
Wang Tiaoding's scholar didn't have enough prestige, so he called Yuan Jixian as well.
When the two came to the gate of Tianjin City, Yuan Jixian shouted: "Is the governor of Tianjin here?"
"Is this Brother Ji Tong outside the city?" an official popped his head out of the parapet.
Yuan Jixian smiled and cupped his hands: "So it's my brother Xingru, long time no see."
The governor of Tianjin is named Ding Qirui, and the corrupt official Ding Kuichu is his uncle.
Ding Qirui asked: "Why is brother Ji Tong among the bandits?"
Yuan Jixian smiled and said: "These rebellious people are willing to go south to seek refuge with King Zhao Tian. I will take them away right now."
Ding Qirui said in surprise: "Are the rebels really willing to leave?"
"Brother Ji Tong, please give me some food, and leave as soon as you get it," Yuan Jixian said.
Ding Qirui said: "Okay, I'll give you a hundred stones!"
Wu Huapu was furious and drew his sword out of its sheath: "I have thousands of people under my command, and you only give me a hundred stones of food and send them away as beggars?"
"There is not much food in Tianjin, how about two hundred shi?" Ding Qirui bargained.
Wu Huapu said: "At least a thousand stones!"
Ding Qirui guessed that he really didn't have much food, so he scolded: "Three hundred stones, if it's too little, I'll fight!"
"Eight hundred stones!" Wu Huapu said angrily.
After some haggling, the deal was settled for five hundred stones.
Ding Qirui asked Wu Huapu to lead his troops to retreat, at least to the other side of the canal, before he dared to send people to deliver the food.
While the soldiers were transporting food, something went wrong.
A Tianjin garrison carried grain and complained: "We haven't been paid for half a year, and we haven't had enough food to eat. We don't have so much food for our own people to eat, and they ask us to send it out to the rebels. What the hell is this?
reason?"
"That's right, if you were bullied for being an honest soldier, let's just rebel too!"
"Those rebels outside say they want to join King Zhao Tian. Why don't they kill the governor and go together?"
"I don't dare to go. I heard that King Zhao Tian wants to eat people. If his soldiers lose the battle, they will be killed for meat and food."
"Fart, I heard that King Zhao Tian is very benevolent and righteous."
"In this world, who in charge of the army is benevolent and righteous? King Zhao Tian was able to conquer the south only by eating human flesh. The soldiers were afraid of being killed to eat, and every one of them fought without his life."
"The scholars in Tianjin said that King Zhao loves his people as much as his son."
"It is also said by scholars that King Zhao eats human flesh."
"..."
Whether King Zhao Tian eats human flesh or not is a controversial topic.
But a consensus has been reached to kill the governor for rebelling.
What do you think the soldiers would think about a group of soldiers who have not been paid for half a year, and are not even given enough food rations, so they are asked to give food to the rebels?
"Pooh!"
Liu Mang drew his sword and said, "Brothers, kill the dog officer and go south to join King Zhao Tian!"
Thirteen years ago, Liu Mang was a team leader.
Thirteen years later, Liu Mang was still a team leader.
Now that he didn't even have enough to eat, he no longer wanted to think about it. He killed officials and rebelled southward. No matter whether Zhao Tianwang ate people or not, he didn't have to face the Tatars when he got to the south.
"Kill!"
Hundreds of soldiers who were responsible for carrying food turned around at the city gate and fought back.
First, he hacked the generals who led the troops to death, then rushed up to the tower and chopped the governor with a frightened face into pieces.
(Whether Princess Changping was a posthumous gift from the Manchu Qing Dynasty has not yet been determined, and we will not debate it. The previous chapter has been changed to Princess Kunxing.)