It was February 19, the seventeenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone over the imperial capital, making it look a little gloomy.
There was even more gloom and gloom in Zijin City.
Inside the Qianqing Palace.
"Father, just listen to my advice!"
"Ningwuguan cannot be defended, and the officers and soldiers of Xuanfu and Datong towns cannot be trusted."
"General Zhou is one of the few good generals left in our Ming Dynasty, and he is so loyal. Since he died in Ningwuguan in vain in the end, it would be better to let him lead the army back to Beijing."
"When the time comes, no matter whether my father wants to wait for reinforcements or move the capital to the south for patrolling, there will be no troops to deploy and no generals to use!"
The fifteen-year-old prince Zhu Cixiang knelt on the ground, looking at Emperor Chongzhen who had gray hair on his temples, bloodshot eyes and a tired look on his face, and begged bitterly.
However, Chongzhen, who had just returned from the imperial court and was filled with anger, couldn't listen at all and said angrily: "You traitor, shut up, it's not your turn to interfere in military and national affairs..."
"Father, why can't you listen to my advice? I'm sorry, please send General Zhou back to Beijing as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late!"
"presumptuous!"
"Go back to the palace. If you dare to say such treacherous words again, I will deprive you of your position as crown prince..."
After saying that, he kicked him over.
The eunuch Wang Cheng'en, the eunuch Wang Cheng'en and the eunuch Wang Cheng'en, who was in charge of etiquette, looked at this scene and couldn't bear it. He stepped forward to help Zhu Cixiang up and whispered: "Prince, the emperor is angry, please stop talking. Listen to the old slave's advice and hurry up." Let's go back!"
"Son... I'm resigning!"
Zhu Cixi held his chest, glanced at Chongzhen, sighed in his heart, and finally turned around and left slowly.
This kick made him no longer have any hope for this cheap dad.
He was originally just an ordinary college student in the 21st century.
A year ago, he was inexplicably reborn into the body of Ming Prince Zhu Cixiang.
He has also read many novels about rebirth and time travel in previous lives, especially those from the Ming Dynasty.
I am familiar with this period of history in the late Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, even if he knew that the Ming Dynasty was about to die, after learning his identity, his excitement was far greater than his fear.
He believes that with his understanding and knowledge of this period of history.
Not to mention helping my father, Emperor Chongzhen, revive the Ming Dynasty, but it should be possible to hold on for another ten or twenty years.
Who would have thought that although his father was as diligent and frugal as in history, he was also indecisive, lacked the courage to take on responsibility, and could not distinguish between good and bad, good or evil.
The suggestions I made to him over the past year always failed to make up my mind, and finally came to nothing.
As a result, Li Zicheng is still as rampant as in history. In one month, he will come to the capital to demand his life.
And all day long, he knew how to negotiate with those civil servants and nobles, and even tried to borrow money and food from them.
It's so ridiculous and a waste of time.
Today, he did not give up and once again suggested that the commander-in-chief of Daizhou, Zhou Yuji, be transferred back to the capital so that he could defend the capital and wait for reinforcements, but this ended up again...
Thinking of this, Zhu Cixiang could not suppress the anger and resentment that he had been holding in his heart for more than a year.
He had long been fed up with this kind of frustration and anxiety that he was aware of the development of history but was powerless to change.
Looking at his son's leaving figure, Chongzhen felt a little regretful in his heart. The kick he just kicked was a bit harsh.
Thinking of what the prince said just now, I felt a little irritated in my heart. I looked at the pile of memorials on my desk and had no intention of dealing with them anymore.
Now, he finally understands that even if he spends all his time dealing with the memorials, he will not be able to save the precarious situation.
Fortunately, we finally drove to Kunning Palace.
Ignore those government affairs, this is the first time since I came to the throne.
Kunning Palace.
Seeing His Majesty arrive so early today, Queen Zhou Wan was also overjoyed, but looking at Chongzhen's haggard and pale face, she felt a pain in her heart.
After hesitating for a moment, he bit his lips and whispered: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, if you keep the green hills, you won't be afraid of running out of firewood. The north has long been rotten, and the rebel army is powerful, so moving the capital to Nanjing is not a bad idea!"
"Hey, why don't I know?"
"But when Chengzu moved the capital, he hoped that the emperor would guard the country and the king would die in the country."
"If I move the capital to Nanjing at this time, what difference will it make to running away?"
"How can I have the face to meet my ancestors and emperors of the Ming Dynasty after death?"
Chongzhen sighed, feeling extremely sad in his heart.
In fact, he didn't want to move the capital, but he just couldn't overcome the hurdle in his heart.
Seeing that she wanted to say more, he waved his hands a little irritably: "Okay Wan'er, don't worry. Yesterday there was a military report that the bandit army suffered heavy losses in front of Ningwu Pass. I believe that Zhou Yuji can live up to the emperor's favor and defend Ningwu.
Off.
What's more, even if Ningwuguan is breached, aren't there still hundreds of thousands of border troops in the two towns of Datong and Xuanfu?"
Chongzhen seemed to be comforting her, and also seemed to be comforting himself. As he spoke, a touch of confidence returned to his face.
Obviously Zhou Yuji's performance rekindled hope in Emperor Chongzhen's heart.
"Having said that, Your Majesty, I heard that the rebel army still has a southern route and has already reached the final battle. Why don't you let Xun'er take his younger brothers and sisters to Nanjing with him!"
Empress Zhou originally wanted not to speak out and offend him, but thinking of her children, she couldn't help but speak again.
Sure enough, when Chongzhen heard this, he frowned and looked confused and hesitant.
His mood, which had just recovered, became terrible again. After a while, he waved his hand irritably: "We haven't reached that point yet, let's talk about it later!"
"well!"
Queen Zhou could only sigh deeply in her heart and said nothing more.
After getting along with him for so many years, she knew Emperor Chongzhen's temper very well.
If the situation wasn't critical, she wouldn't have said those words just now.
After that, neither of the couple mentioned those bad things again.
It was getting dark and the palace door was closed.
As soon as the couple fell asleep, Wang Chengen rushed in from the outside with a panicked look on his face.
Chongzhen immediately said angrily: "Dad companion, why are you so alarmed and how can you behave appropriately?"
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, Your Highness... Your Highness..." Wang Chengen knelt on the ground, out of breath.
"What's wrong, Prince?"
Queen Zhou was also anxious when she saw his appearance.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince, together with a group of eunuchs and maids armed with weapons and blazing guns, are heading towards... towards Kunning Palace. They have killed many eunuchs along the way..."
"What?"
Chongzhen jumped up and rushed out without even having time to put on his coat and shoes.
Empress Zhou was also frightened and turned pale. She just hurriedly put on a coat and chased her out.
As soon as the couple arrived at the outer room of the palace, the door of Kunning Palace was pushed open with a bang.
I saw Zhu Cixiang, wearing armor and holding a sword, barging in with dozens of palace maids and eunuchs.
Although these maids and eunuchs did not have armor, they all had weapons. The eunuchs held knives and the maids held blunderbuss. They were frightened to death in the middle of the night.
"Sir, you are so brave, what do you want to do?"
Chongzhen was shocked and angry when he saw this scene, and the veins on his forehead bulged.
However, this violent shout clearly showed the majesty of the emperor.
No, the eunuchs and maids were so frightened that they dropped their knives and guns to the ground and almost fell to their knees.
Zhu Cixiang was still not afraid, he was completely different from Bai Tian.
He stepped forward with his sword in hand and said sternly: "Father, the traitors are coming soon and the government and the public are in shock. My father has lost all the support of the people and is completely unable to control the overall situation!
I have the courage to ask my father to abdicate immediately and give up the throne to my son, so that I can regain the people's hearts, save the crisis, and reorganize the country!"