In Qianqing Palace, Queen Zhou saw that her son had guessed it, so she simply told what Chongzhen told him.
After finishing speaking, seeing his frown, she had no choice but to persuade him softly: "Your Majesty, your father is also worried about the war ahead. The most important thing is to transport the silver to the two towns as soon as possible!"
"Hmph, my father is still so naive now. The two towns are very close to Ningwuguan, but no soldiers have come to support them yet. Why?
That's because Jiang Yu and Wang Chengyin, two idiots, have long been prepared to surrender to the thieves. They are just waiting for Ningwuguan to be breached before surrendering. No matter how much money you have at this time, it will be like a meat bun beating a dog."
After saying this, Zhu Cixiang was also very angry.
Historically, on the first day of March, when the Ningwu Pass was broken and Zhou Yuji died in battle, Datong's commander-in-chief Jiang Yu's surrender order was delivered on the same day, and Xuanfu commander-in-chief Wang Chengyin was only one day late.
Apparently, the two of them had already written down their plans for demotion, and they were always paying attention to the situation at Ningwuguan.
Even though he knows, there is nothing he can do now.
Sending the Jin Yiwei to arrest them at this time will only force the two of them to rebel in advance and allow the intruders to kill them in advance.
When Queen Zhou heard this, her body trembled with fright and her face turned pale.
"Hong'er, since there's nothing you can do about it, you'd better move the capital to Nanjing quickly!"
"Don't worry, mother, the child has his own plans. As for moving the capital, now that I have become emperor, it is no longer necessary.
With only a small number of soldiers and horses, Zhou Zongbing can hold off the traitor army, and the walls of the capital are so tall that as long as they are properly organized, it is not a problem to defend them for a year and a half."
Zhu Cixi waved his hand and explained.
It is actually not difficult to defend the capital.
Because there is no shortage of money and food in the city, and there are many people loyal to the Ming Dynasty, as long as the people are organized effectively and with the help of tall city walls, they can completely hold on.
Historically, the invading army did not attack the city in a serious manner at all. They were simply let into the city by the civil servants and nobles in the city.
This shows how poor his father Chongzhen’s organizational skills are.
There is still nearly a month before the intruders arrive, so naturally he will not give anyone another chance to open the city gate.
Although the number of intruders is large, they are still just a ragtag group in the final analysis. As long as no one takes the initiative to attack the city and cannot attack it for a long time, morale will inevitably be dampened and food and grass will not be available.
It shouldn't be difficult for him to send people to negotiate and let Li Zicheng separatize the northwest. This way he will have a chance to breathe and have time to reorganize the country.
After all, in history, Wu Sangui still led troops to serve the king, but the capital was not able to hold on for a day, giving Wu Sangui, who already had few troops, no chance at all.
If the city can hold out for ten days and a half, the outcome is really hard to predict.
"Hong'er, having said that, people are panicking now. What if, what if...otherwise you should go to Nanjing with your younger brothers and sisters. The queen can stay and accompany your father to defend the city."
Empress Zhou still looked worried and advised carefully.
"Mother, your father is unreliable. The child must stay, so don't worry. If you really can't keep it, I won't be too late to take you away!"
Zhu Cixi had no choice but to comfort him patiently.
It's not that he doesn't want to move the capital to Nanjing, it's that he can't.
Once he really moves the capital to Nanjing, it will inevitably be like history, and the Tatars of Houjin will finally pick the peaches, leaving China in a state of eternal doom.
Furthermore, he now has neither soldiers nor generals, and his reputation is bad. If he moves the capital to Nanjing, he will really become a scapegoat.
Those moral gentlemen in Jiangnan will never recognize his status as emperor. Instead of doing this, they might as well defend the capital and finally negotiate with Lao Li.
As long as he could hold the capital and repel Li Zicheng, Chongzhen would have no shame in competing with him for the throne.
"Well, that's fine. Since you have confidence, it's not convenient for the Queen Mother to say anything more."
Seeing that she could not be persuaded, Queen Zhou could only lament.
The mother and son chatted for a while. Empress Zhou thought about it and asked carefully: "By the way, Xun'er, when I came, my mother saw many maids and eunuchs looking in a hurry, and the imperial kitchen was also busy. What's the big deal?"
"It's nothing. I plan to entertain all the royal family and nobles at the Jianji Palace."
Zhu Cixiang was an orphan in his previous life.
Over the past year, Queen Zhou's meticulous care and love made him cherish and enjoy it very much.
Therefore, not only did he not pay attention to her many inquiries, but he felt more cordial. As for the etiquette and rules among the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, he completely forgot about them.
Empress Zhou may have also felt that her son was different from her husband, and she was still as close to her as before after becoming the emperor.
So I no longer had any worries and started persuading him again.
"Hong'er, although your father is a little impatient, what he said does not make sense. The country is in a difficult situation now, and there is a shortage of money and food everywhere. It is better not to be extravagant, but to save some!"
"Mother, money and food cannot be saved. There are some places that cannot be saved. My father has been saving money for more than ten years. What happened in the end? Are you still a poor internal rat?
It is a big joke that the king of a country cannot live as well as those big landlords. The children will never imitate him, and they will not let the queen mother and younger brothers and sisters suffer any further injustice."
Zhu Cixi couldn't help but complain.
"Alas! Queen Mother really doesn't know what to say to you..."
Empress Zhou could only give him an angry look, shook her head helplessly, and stopped the topic.
She has also seen her son's various behaviors over the past year and knows that her son has grown up and has his own opinions.
"Mother, please help me keep an eye on your father's side this time. If there is any trouble, please inform the child immediately."
Zhu Cixi suddenly leaned into her ear and whispered.
"Um!"
Queen Zhou stood up and straightened his collar, then bit her red lips and nodded silently.
Obviously, between her son and her husband, Queen Zhou chose to side with her son without hesitation.
"Hong'er, please promise your mother that you won't hurt your father no matter what, okay?"
"Um!"
Looking at the pleading Queen Zhou, Zhu Cixiang also nodded silently.
After Queen Zhou left, Zhu Cixi drove to Jianji Hall.
At this time, in Jianji Hall, the royal family and nobles had already arrived and were whispering among each other.
Over the two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, countless nobles and royal relatives have been conferred, including three princes in the capital alone, and dozens of marquis and earls.
This time Zhu Cihong invited almost all the royal family members and dignitaries in the capital, over a hundred people.
"Your Majesty is here!"
With a loud shout, everyone immediately stopped and stood up to straighten their clothes.
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
With the arrival of Zhu Cixiang, everyone in the hall knelt down and worshiped after sitting on the dragon chair.
Although Jianji Hall is not as good as Huangji Hall, great ceremony is still required.
"Everyone is safe!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"My dear friends, please take a seat!" Zhu Cixiang said in a gentle tone.
After everyone thanked him, they took their seats one after another.
Although there are many people, Jianji Hall is not much smaller than Huangji Hall, so it is not too crowded.
After everyone was seated, the palace maids and eunuchs filed in and started serving wine and food.
Looking at the sumptuous dishes on the table, everyone couldn't help but murmur in their hearts that this little emperor was much more generous than his father Chongzhen.
In the past, when the imperial edict was issued, if it took too long, Chongzhen would only reward all civil and military officials with a piece of cake to satisfy their hunger, and he would not even give a bowl of noodles.
A banquet of this size is unthinkable.
Almost everyone, like Luo Yangxing, believed that the reason why Zhu Cihong was so extravagant and wasteful was to win over people's hearts and stabilize the throne.