Zhu Si spoke tough, but in his heart he was weak. He said that the king died in the country, but he was more concerned about where to escape.
On that day, Zhu Si hurriedly summoned the cabinet ministers Liu Chun, Zhang Cong, and the six ministers into the palace. They only talked about one thing, that is, how to defend the capital. Zhu Si made it clear as soon as he came up that he planned to keep the capital.
He gave it to these people in front of him, and he himself was preparing to go south to Anlu, asking the ministers to help him guard the capital.
"...If the Holy One is not here, how can we stabilize the morale of the army? Please stay in the capital for the sake of the country and the people."
As the Minister of War, Wang Shizhong had not given Zhu Si any good advice on the use of troops before, but he insisted on admonishing Zhu Si to defend the capital.
Zhu Si was furious and reprimanded: "I heard that the walls of Nanjing City were blown down by bandits, so the walls of the capital were almost undefended. The situation was so dangerous that I was allowed to stay and defend...even the people who could be relied on were allowed to stay.
If there is no barrier, wouldn't it be easy for the bandits to get in front of me?"
Wang Shizhong hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, although the city wall is strong, it is a dead thing and cannot be relied upon. The key lies in the support of the people. Although Nanjing City was broken, Di Yi did not invade the city because they were afraid of street fighting... Although the bandits' firearms were powerful, they
It is not conducive to close combat. As long as they enter the city, I can give full play to my numerical advantage and attack them in groups. The bandits will suffer huge casualties and will flee. Please believe in the determination of the army and the people to fight to the death!"
"you!"
Zhu Si was very angry and stopped arguing with Wang Shizhong.
He seemed to have figured it out. If he chose to escape, the minister would definitely disagree. What was the point of arguing with these people about whether he should leave or not?
It's better to leave those who want to defend and hide in peace, that's the best policy.
Zhang Cong said: "Your Majesty, if you want to move the capital, you should use Guanzhong as the foundation and return to Anlu... I'm afraid it won't last long."
Zhu Si said coldly: "Now that I have left the capital, where will it be different? I know that there are dangerous passes such as Tongguan in Guanzhong, but at critical times, can we count on these passes to resist the bandits' artillery? How was the Nanjing city wall broken?
"Hmph, should I say that I can't count on you people? If Zhu Jingdao is in the capital, I don't have to worry about this at all!"
At the critical moment, Zhu Si finally thought of his good brother Zhu Hao again.
Zhang Cong got angry after hearing this.
The situation is as critical as this. You still don't believe us and still remember the kindness of that boy Zhu Hao? What kind of ecstasy soup did that boy give you?
Zhang Zuo came in from outside with a nervous expression: "Your Majesty, the bandits have begun to divide their troops and are preparing to encircle the capital. If we don't leave now, I'm afraid... it will be too late!"
When Zhu Si heard this, he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.
Just as he was about to give the order to move the capital, Wang Shizhong rushed out, knelt in front of Zhu Si, and shouted sternly: "Your Majesty, the emperor guards the gate of the country, and the king dies in the country. Even if the minister dies, he can't do anything."
Let Your Majesty leave the capital at this time!"
"Wang, are you going to rebel?"
Zhu Si originally thought that as the emperor, he had the power of life and death over the people of the world and could do whatever he wanted. In fact, he did act unscrupulously in the previous Zuoshunmen incident. The ministers seemed to have no threat to him in recent years.
Who would have thought that the Minister of War in front of him would be so tough when his family and country were in danger? This was something Zhu Si did not expect. He also wanted to use the majesty of the emperor to scare Wang Shizhong away, but Wang Shizhong would not accept his tactics at all.
.
Zhang Cong thought.
Just run away and just give us a notice after you leave the city. You have to summon the ministers to discuss it, which will waste time and bring trouble to yourself.
Why does this happen?
Zhang Cong said: "Wangbu Tang, we should step up the defense of the capital now. Why do we care about this at this time? All ministers, please go back and be loyal to your duties. Your Majesty, please arrange for your ministers to be stationed on the city wall. I will definitely live up to the emperor's favor."
This means that let's not get emotional here first, and first think about how to block the arrogant and powerful enemy outside the capital.
Zhu Si pointed at Wang Shizhong, the Minister of the Ministry of War, who was kneeling in front of him. His eyes were splitting with tears: "Drag this animal down! The post of Minister of the Ministry of War will be temporarily replaced by the cabinet minister Zhang Cong!"
The emperor was also angry.
"His Majesty……"
A group of people wanted to intercede for Wang Shizhong.
Zhu Si said fiercely: "Wang Shizhong failed to make any correct judgment at the beginning of the war, so that the bandits fought all the way to the capital. Now he wants to bite back and say that everything is my responsibility. This kind of unkindness, injustice and disloyalty is not good. What qualifications does a filial person have to stay in the court?"
"His Majesty……"
Wang Shizhong originally wanted to show his style of admonishing the ministers, but suddenly found that he was going to be used as a scapegoat.
What the emperor said sounds reasonable.
If it weren't for your incompetence as the Minister of War, how could you have brought the enemy to the emperor's feet, and you actually want to drag the emperor along with you?
The emotional capital has been captured, the emperor must die, and you can just surrender to the enemy and become a minister?
The emperor is immortal, so you are embarrassed to surrender to the enemy, right?
…
…
Wang Shizhong was captured.
Zhu Si was going to take his family and escape from the capital that night. At the same time, he ordered the 10,000 soldiers and horses in the capital camp, plus the Jinyi Guards, Jinwu Guards and other palace guards. It doesn't matter whether the other royal relatives take them with him or not... The most important thing is that My family will be safe.
The preparation time was extremely hasty, less than half an hour.
Just before dark, Zhu Si was about to leave the city from Xizhimen, but was told that there were enemies everywhere outside the city.
"Fight out of the city!"
What Zhu Si wants now is to break out of the encirclement.
The capital is too dangerous, and Anlu is a place with high mountains and far distances from the sea. I don’t believe that if I run away quickly, can the group of people catch up?
When you chase me to Anlu, the worst I can do is to flee to the west. There will always be places where you can't catch up. I will come back and become the emperor when the troops of King Qin from all over the country kill you and retreat.
His idea... was simply unreasonable in the eyes of the minister.
But Zhu Hao felt that this was the best way for Zhu Si to retain the throne.
Don't be timid, but when it's obvious that you can't beat them, only by keeping Qingshan around can you have a chance to make a comeback. Otherwise, if you stay in the capital with strong enemies around you, and the target is so big, you will have to burp sooner or later.
Emperors of all dynasties since ancient times have proven one thing, that is, escaping is often a good choice before the capital is besieged. For example, if Emperor Chongzhen, a descendant of Zhu Si, fled to Nanjing in time, the Ming Dynasty might not be able to survive. It can last for tens or even hundreds of years.
Of course, there are cases of successful defense, but the price of holding on is to live and die with the capital, but not every emperor has that courage.
The powerful people who were riding on the heads of the people did not have the courage to defend. In the late Ming Dynasty, the officials and nobles opened the city and surrendered to Li Zicheng, which is clear evidence of this.
…
…
The soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp in the city rushed out from Xizhimen. They wanted to take advantage of the enemy troops outside the city to finish gathering, and rush through a gap to create conditions for the emperor to escape.
When the cavalry rushed out of the city, they realized that their idea was too naive.
The artillery was no longer fired in a point or line, but covered all directions. After a blast of artillery fire, there were almost no cavalry on horseback. Even the city gate was bombed into craters, and the nearby city wall also had many defects.
The remaining cavalrymen who survived fled back to the city like frightened birds.
Only then did Zhu Si realize that even his way to escape was blocked.
Now we have to fight to the death.
In order to vent his anger, Zhu Si had Wang Shizhong executed directly, and his head was placed at the top of Dongzhimen City for public display. He even hung Wang Shizhong's head on the city gate tower.
Of course, no one cares about what is hanging on the city gate tower at night.
Wang Shizhong became the first person to take the blame for the imperial court in this war.
When Zhu Si returned to the Forbidden City, he was completely exhausted. At this time, Gui E, the official minister, entered the palace and explained the current situation to Zhu Si and made suggestions: "...If the capital is really destroyed, your majesty will immediately replace
"I will leave the palace dressed as an ordinary person, choose a private house to hide in, and deceive the bandits. Once the situation is a little more stable, I will sneak out of the city quietly. I will arrange for people to escort His Majesty to Anlu for future plans."
Gui Calyx is more rational.
He could see that if the emperor did not leave, it would push the Ming Dynasty to a dead end.
When the emperor dies, rebellions will arise in various places. At that time, the vassals will proclaim themselves emperors, and generals with military power will take advantage of the situation. The powerful enemies who invade can gradually eliminate the separatist forces in various places. No matter how you look at it, the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed.
Only Zhu Si survived to reach Anlu. The backbone of the Ming Dynasty was still there, and the rebels in various places had less names. At that time, it seemed that the Ming Dynasty could still form a rope to resist violence and humiliation.
"You can see that the capital cannot be defended, right?"
Zhu Si agreed with Gui E's proposal.
All intelligence now shows that the invading enemy is from Java in Southeast Asia.
They don't even understand the Ming Dynasty language. If he, the emperor, puts on ordinary people's clothes, how will they know that he is the emperor?
Taking advantage of the chaos to escape may seem dangerous, but it is already your last chance.
Gui E said: "I have a bad idea. Perhaps the current predicament is all caused by Zhu Jingdao."
"What's the meaning?"
Zhu Si frowned.
Gui E seemed to be speaking for Zhang Cong, saying: "How similar are the firearms used by bandits to those weapons invented by Zhu Jingdao before? Muskets and artillery are very similar... Maybe he has been at sea for many years and has been robbed by bandits long ago.
Only by working for the bandits did we end up in today's dangerous situation."
"hehe."
Zhu Si smiled and said, "You really dare to think about it."
Gui E shook his head and said: "I also know that now is not the time to care about these things, but if your Majesty wants to flee, you need to be careful that your officials will recognize you..."
It means that as an emperor, you'd better be careful when escaping. The enemy won't be able to recognize you, but the ministers are very familiar with you. If someone reports you, you will die without a burial place.
Zhu Si asked: "After the bandits break the city, won't they massacre it?"
"This...I don't know."
Gui E also looked worried, but still offered words of comfort, "But judging from the behavior of the bandits in Tianjin Acropolis before after they broke into the city, it shouldn't be a problem. They just let the soldiers and civilians in the city leave in an orderly manner, and even mixed in with the fleeing people.
None of the officers and soldiers stopped me, and I don’t know what to think.”
"What kind of number is this?"
Zhu Si completely understood what the other party was going to do.
Ever since this enemy army landed in the Ming Dynasty, it has repeatedly broken the understanding of the Ming Dynasty's monarchs and ministers. They have never seen such fighting before.
While they were talking, Zhang Zuo ran in and shouted: "Your Majesty, the bandits have attacked the city! I heard that the soldiers and horses outside Dongzhimen have..."
"how was it?"
Zhu Si was very nervous.
Zhang Zuodao said: "It is very likely that it no longer exists. Now there is chaos in the east of the city. The people in the city are running to the south of the city, dragging their families with them. The city has turned into a pot of chaos!"
"Have all the people gathered in the south of the city?"
Zhu Si's eyes lit up, as if he had found a way out.
He wanted to dress up as a commoner and go out of the city, so he naturally had to follow the crowd, so the south of the city was exactly where he should go now.