Zhang Cong did not see Zhu Hao, and Zhu Hao did not see him.
Guan Jing is not the kind of person who is good at words. He is only responsible for leading troops. As for the meeting with Zhang Cong, Zhu Haorang will say whatever he wants. It is just a script, more like an ultimatum before the war... Regardless of Zhang Cong,
What do you think? Anyway, we will take down the capital next time we launch an attack.
"What happened to you after you went to sea? Whose army is besieging the capital now? Who is the enemy of the Ming Dynasty?"
As an envoy, Zhang Cong knew that he would have to go to the emperor for a mission when he returned, and he would need detailed information, so he would not be easily dismissed by Guan Jing with just a few words.
Guan Jingdao: "I am representing the Chinese Empire now, and the army of the Chinese Empire is naturally fighting against you. According to the decree of the Emperor of the Chinese Empire, the Ming Emperor can retain the throne, but in the future he can only exist as a vassal of the Chinese Empire. As for the Emperor of the Chinese Empire,
, will save his life, and even enjoy wealth forever, but from now on, the people of the Ming Dynasty will be the people of the Chinese Empire."
"Crazy! Crazy!"
Zhang Cong was furious.
Hearing from the other party's speaking style, he looked very much like Zhu Hao. After all, it was Zhu Hao who brought Guan Jing out. Zhang Cong naturally felt that these words were taught by Zhu Hao.
It's just that Zhu Hao himself didn't come out to see him.
Guan Jing asked someone to bring over something that looked like a certificate of credence, forcefully stuffed it into Zhang Cong's hand, and said coldly: "This is for your emperor. There are still three hours until dawn. Three hours later, the Chinese Empire will
The army will attack the city without mercy, I hope he will take care of himself!"
…
…
Zhang Cong left the camp with his credentials.
He was very surprised by the situation in the camp. The Javanese soldiers who were keeping watch at night were all neatly dressed, with steel helmets on their heads and black military uniforms on their bodies. The men standing guard held their heads high and held steel guns, like a pine tree.
They are as straight as each other, and the walkers are in twos in a row and three in a row. They are all natural movements. At first glance, they are an elite teacher.
Zhang Cong was very puzzled, where did this army come from?
In just a few years after Zhu Hao went to sea, he formed an army mainly composed of indigenous people, and the military discipline was so strict... How could this group of barbarians who didn't even understand the language obey Zhu Hao's orders?
Isn't Zhu Hao afraid that they will rebel?
Anyway.
Zhang Cong felt that his mission as an envoy had been accomplished. Not only did he bring back the negotiation terms offered by the other party, giving the emperor a choice, but he also brought hope to the soldiers and people in the city.
As long as the emperor surrenders.
He couldn't understand what the Chinese Empire was, but he vaguely felt that as long as the emperor abdicated, he could be a prince with peace of mind in the future. That's probably what it meant. From now on, the Ming Dynasty would be controlled by this Chinese Empire, but who was the emperor of the Chinese Empire?
, he was not sure for a moment.
When he appeared under the city, Yang Yiqing was surprised that Zhang Cong could come back alive.
"Bingyong, how's it going?"
Yang Yiqing asked people to open the city gate and welcome Zhang Cong into the city.
Zhang Cong was angry about being ordered to go on an envoy by Yang Yiqing. After meeting, he said coldly: "The bandits have decided to attack the city before dawn, and threatened to raze the capital to the ground! You can figure it out yourself!"
Yang Yiqing said: "Then we can only take the initiative to attack! At present, it seems that the thieves have the least number of troops and horses in the north of the city. With 20,000 cavalry concentrated in the attack, we may be able to fight!"
"hehe."
Although Zhang Cong is now the Minister of War, he no longer has any decision-making power.
Almost all the military power of the Ming Dynasty fell into the hands of Yang Yiqing.
Zhang Cong is also thinking about it. It seems that you don’t know how powerful the opponent is unless you suffer a loss... The problem is that tens of thousands of cavalry rushed to kill before, but everyone saw it. Why do you think there is hope tonight?
Yang Yiqing asked again: "Besides, what else is there?"
Zhang Cong said: "I will only report the rest to Your Majesty."
"You don't have to go!"
Yang Yiqing waved his hand, and someone immediately captured Zhang Cong.
Zhang Cong asked sternly: "Young man named Yang, do you want to rebel?"
This time he has already risked his life. Yang Yiqing ordered him to go on a mission before, but now he is not allowed to see the emperor when he returns from the mission. It is clear that Yang Yiqing is ready to firmly hold military power in his hands, or that Yang Yiqing is ready to use the method of a Confucian minister.
Martyrdom for the country”.
From Yang Yiqing's point of view, if the military power was in the hands of the emperor or someone like Zhang Cong, family and national affairs would probably go in an uncontrollable direction, and he must save the last face for the Ming Dynasty.
Yang Yiqing said: "The emperor is guarding the country, and the king is dead. I will find someone to do it for him to enter the palace and participate in the performance. Just tell the details of your mission in detail, otherwise you will be killed immediately and sacrificed to the flag."
Zhang Cong lamented in his heart.
Sure enough, it was thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi. After the Zuo Shunmen incident ended, the era in which the emperor controlled everything came to an end at this moment. As the saying goes, "There is reincarnation in the way of heaven, who will be spared by heaven" is a true portrayal of the current situation.
The emperor used an uncool and passive way of avoiding war, which chilled the heart of the passionate ministers. The civil servants headed by Yang Yiqing now want to carry out a "coup", or it cannot be called a "coup", but Yang Yiqing and others want to use their own way.
determine the direction of this war.
Zhang Cong originally wanted to persuade Zhu Si, how about we assess the situation and surrender, leaving the green hills without fear of running out of firewood, but now he knew that he had no way to tell the emperor anything, not even the needs of the enemies outside the city.
The probability will not reach the ears of the emperor.
…
…
Zhu Si hid in Qianqing Palace, dressed neatly, and ready to run away at any time, but no news came.
His concubines all slept together on the floor in their clothes.
Zhu Si waited anxiously and walked out of the palace gate to get some fresh air. He saw that the guards around him had been replaced.
"Your Majesty, Yangge Lao sent someone to say that he wants to replace the palace guards."
Zhang Zuo appeared in front of Zhu Si with a troubled face.
Zhu Si said angrily: "I have long seen that the person named Yang has a disobedient heart! Order the Jinyi Guards and Jinwu Guards to guard the imperial gate tightly! In addition, send someone to capture the person named Yang!"
"Your Majesty, at this time... why don't you put the overall situation first?"
For the first time in his life, Zhang Zuo did not want to obey Zhu Si's order.
Zhu Si did this a bit randomly. Although Yang Yiqing seemed to be guilty of rebellion, at least he was guarding the last line of defense for the Ming Dynasty. If Yang Yiqing was captured or killed at this time, there would be a mutiny in the army... Then the emperor
He completely lost his heart.
Zhu Sidao: "Why, do you also want to rebel?"
Zhang Zuo hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, if you want to defend the capital, you must retain veteran ministers like Mr. Yang Ge who know how to fight. For example, after the Tumu Fort Incident in the past, it was only the minister Yu Qian who defended the capital. Your Majesty can strengthen the various parts of the palace.
Guard, all the gates of the imperial city are closed, and no one from the army has been seen since."
"Um."
After careful consideration, Zhu Si agreed.
The risk of quarreling with Yang Yiqing was too high, and his purpose was to sneak out of the city and run to Anlu with his family.
Zhu Si was also thinking in his mind. Fortunately, I have always regarded Anlu as a backup nest. Everything there should have been repaired. If it is suitable, I can move in. I don’t believe that those thieves can chase me all over the Ming Dynasty.
!
…
…
Yang Yiqing originally wanted to control the emperor. If everything was under his control, the integrity of the Ming emperors and ministers could be maintained.
But as the people he sent to take over the palace guards failed, and even a confrontation with the Imperial Guards occurred at the entrance of the palace, and finally the emperor's cronies took complete control of the key parts of the imperial city, Yang Yiqing realized that the lieutenants of the army actually trusted him.
There are limits too.
In the face of a formidable enemy, the soldiers supported Yang Yiqing not because they wanted him to commit rebellion, but more because he was afraid that rebellious ministers and traitors would harm the country.
And you send people to control the emperor, what do you call this?
"Mr. Yang Ge, I asked about it. Gui E, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was originally in charge of defense in the north of the city, but now he has escaped without a trace or entered the palace. No one has been found yet."
Yang Yiqing was even more annoyed after hearing the report from his generals.
What he wants to do now is to "clear the emperor's side". In this era of supremacy of imperial power, the emperor is always blameless. The only ones who are guilty are the sycophants around the emperor. If those people in the palace cannot be cleaned up for the time being, he will first clean up the rites faction.
The people in the court, except Zhang Cong, were headed by Gui E, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and both of them were his serious troubles.
Now Zhang Cong is under control, but Gui E has escaped.
"Did anything be found on Zhang Bingyong?"
Yang Yiqing asked sharply.
Immediately, someone presented the credentials that Zhang Cong carried with him to Yang Yiqing. When Yang Yiqing saw the contents above, he was shocked.
"Mr. Yang Ge, it seems that everything has... room for change."
Apparently the generals had read the contents of the credentials before.
As mentioned above, as long as the monarchs and ministers of the Ming Dynasty leave the city and surrender, they will avoid the bad luck of destroying the country and can live in peace. At most, the monarchs and ministers of the Ming Dynasty will regard the Emperor of the Chinese Empire as Zhengshuo...
From the emperor's point of view, this was simply unacceptable, but for the courtiers, especially the soldiers who charged into battle, this was actually negotiable.
It's not that they don't want to be loyal to their country.
It's because... I really can't beat him.
Death is in vain.
"No one has ever died since ancient times, and his loyalty will be recorded in history! I, the Ming Dynasty, will never surrender under the iron heel of thieves and bandits! Prepare your cavalry and launch an assault in the north of the city! Defeat them one by one!"
…
…
A big battle was initiated by the Ming army in the city.
Twenty thousand cavalry gathered in a dark mass inside the Desheng Gate in the north of the city. What they wanted to do was to open a gap from the north of the city where the enemy's defenses seemed to be weakest.
It was previously thought that the South Gate was the weakest defense, but as the people gathered there, there was too much noise. The opponents in the south of the city were already on guard, and it was also difficult for the cavalry to line up and rush out of the city in a densely populated area, so
Yang Yiqing turned to seek a breakthrough from the north of the city.
The east part of the city was the main battlefield. Before the west part of the city, the emperor sent a cavalry assault and almost wiped out the entire army... He could only take advantage of the night to complete the final blow in the north part of the city.
"You are the last hope of the Ming Dynasty. Everything depends on you! It's time to be loyal to the country!"
Before the war, Yang Yiqing personally issued a mobilization order to the three armies.
It's a pity that most of the cavalry who were ordered to attack did not have the determination and courage to die. They had already seen the power of the opponent's firearms. After rushing out, even if they won, they would suffer heavy losses. More than half of the losses would be light, especially if they rush in.
The cavalry in front is almost the same as dying.
Are you still saying that you will be loyal to the Ming Dynasty?
"Mr. Yang Ge, this is floating in the sky. I don't know where it fell. In the past hour, it has been scattered everywhere in the city. Take a look."
Someone handed Yang Yiqing the surrender documents that had been scattered across a large area of the city through hot air balloons outside the city.
After reading it, Yang Yiqing felt angry in his heart.
"send troops!"
Yang Yiqing shouted sharply.
Someone immediately questioned: "If we still need to send troops, will it..."
Yang Yiqing had no better choice, because even the ordinary people in the city had seen the surrender letter, so how could the palace palace not get such a surrender letter from heaven?
When the emperor reacted, the dispatch of troops would be impossible to carry out.