The freezing Little Ice Age came very quickly.
The outside of the pass was covered in ice, while the inside of the pass was also covered in silver.
This was the sixth snowfall of the year in Great Ming Capital.
The battle at Guangqu Gate two days ago had taught the Imperial Court a great lesson.
There were a total of 150,000 soldiers stationed in the capital camp. They were divided into 16 guards to protect the safety of the imperial court.
However, it was rotten to the core.
It was rotten from the inside out, corruption, corruption, extravagance, and extravagance. There was no sign of the tiger and wolf army when Emperor Yong Le was in power.
Six of the nine city gates were open, and the guards were stationed in front of each city gate, ready for battle.
The commoners were entering and exiting the city in twos and threes. They were carrying simple goods in wheelbarrows as they passed by along the street.
Most of the snow on the main road in the city had been cleared, but the tavern and inn were still surprisingly lively.
The common people were only interested in that. If they were not complaining about the soaring prices, they were gossiping about politics and the military.
"Eh, I heard that Shengjing City has been broken through by the army of my Ming Dynasty?”
"Don't talk nonsense, Ning Yuan's cavalry was still fighting a bloody battle at Guangqu Gate. Who's going to attack?"
"But why did I hear that Huang Taiji ran away?”
"This is the problem that the court is having a headache over. My third uncle is the garrison outside the pass. According to him, a large army suddenly appeared outside the pass…"
"Could it be the rebels of the Central Plains?"
"What are you thinking? How could the peasant army get out?”
"Then who could it be?"
"Who cares who he is, as long as he's a Han…"
"If this isn't our Great Ming's army, wouldn't we be making ourselves king? Wouldn't we still have to fight our way in?"
"Shh! Are you looking to die? Let's drink…"
Groups of people, groups of people, groups of twos and threes, crowded around the table and beside the charcoal stove. They wanted to serve some simple dishes and talk about it.
But once it involved the court, he immediately changed the topic.
There were also storytellers who were dressed in green robes and holding gavel in their hands. They were sitting in front of a table and lecturing about the bloody battle in Shengjing City.
He couldn't help but add fuel to the fire as if he had seen it with his own eyes.
Even Huang Taiji's head was chopped off in their mouths.
Compared to them, the Imperial Court was not so leisurely and elegant.
From Shanhaiguan, the messengers who rushed here overnight had changed at least three to five times.
Even so, when the messenger arrived at the Forbidden City, he was already exhausted. After handing the letter to the eunuch in the palace, he collapsed on the roadside and fainted from exhaustion.
The morning court session had not ended yet.
The civil and military officials gathered in the Taihe Palace, each holding a wooden board. They were talking loudly in the huge hall, and their saliva flew everywhere.
Emperor Zhu Youjian was the quietest.
His face was as black as the bottom of a pot. In front of all the civil and military officials, he flipped through one memorial after another. They were all memorials that he had read through the entire night yesterday.
Finally.
He slammed the table with a loud bang, causing the court to immediately fall silent.
Dragon Face was furious.
The stacks of memorials were mostly about Li Zicheng, Gao Yingxiang, and Luo Rucai. They were all rebellions in the Central Plains, and the Emperor was particularly heartened to read them.
"Your…Your Majesty, take care of your dragon body!”
In the end, it was still the cabinet chief Zhou Yanru who immediately turned around and worriedly complimented him.
"Dragon body. If I can use my dragon body to exchange for peace in the world, my death will be worth it.”
Chong Zhen grabbed a stack of memorials and waved it in front of everyone."Which one of you isn't an important official of the Imperial Court? Which one of them isn't my subordinate? However…the rebels of the Central Plains had been in the army for more than a year. They had killed local officials, killed people, set fires, and committed all kinds of crimes. However, which important official could calm them down?”
After he said that, no one made a sound.
It was also f * cking strange.
In the Guanzhong Plain area, along with the area south of the Yellow River, rebels rose one after another. Many county offices, state capitals, and other local officials were all killed.
Even the local gentry, aristocrats, councilors, and other wealthy families were all killed.
"Today, there will be war here, tomorrow there will be war. When did the Great Ming Dynasty fall to such a state?”
Chongzhen had not slept for three to five days and was extremely angry.
"Your…Your Majesty…"
Qian Qianyi went forward submissively and said,"The Guanzhong region has suffered from a drought for three consecutive years. Plagues frequently occurred in the Central Plains and other places, and nine out of ten families died. These were all natural disasters. The imperial court reduced taxes for them, but it was still useless.”
"Oh?"
Zhu Youjian snorted coldly." With your intentions, Lord Qian, is this country going to perish?"”
Plop!
Before he could finish his sentence, Qian Qianyi immediately knelt on the ground and slammed his head on the floor tiles."This lowly subject doesn't mean that. Your Majesty is wise, Your Majesty is wise!”
"Now that the world is plagued by internal and external troubles, if you really think about the people's livelihood and the court, then show me something that I can trust…"
Before he could finish speaking, Cao Huachun, a fifty-year-old eunuch, hurried into the side door of Taihe Palace.
"Your…Your Majesty…"
The old eunuch tiptoed to the front of the dragon table, holding the envelope in both hands.""A letter from outside the pass. It's urgent. Yuan Chonghuan sent a special envoy overnight to deliver it.”
Chong Zhen was stunned and snatched the envelope away on the spot.
He roughly tore off the outer packaging and opened it with a crash. His eyes fell on the words between the lines.
Suddenly, there was an uproar.
He held his breath and widened his eyes. Even the hand holding the envelope could not help but tremble.
He couldn't remember how long he had been reading the letter. It seemed to be over and over again.
In the huge Taihe Palace, all the officials were focused on the Emperor. They tried to read some information from the old eunuch Cao Huachun's eyes.
Unfortunately, the old man's single eyelids were narrowed as if he had no eyes.
Clang!
Suddenly, Chong Zhen grabbed the envelope and slammed it on the dragon table. After being angry for less than two seconds, he swept all the items on the dragon table to the ground.
The atmosphere in the air froze.
"How arrogant! How arrogant!"
This was the sentence that Chong Zhen had been holding back for a long time. His eyes were red as he said,"Zhen…I can't wait to kill Yuan Chonghuan right now, bastard!”
"Your…Your Majesty…"
Zhou Yanru knew it was time to step forward, so he raised his head appropriately."Are the soldiers of Shengjing City unwilling to submit?”
"150,000!"
Chong Zhen placed his hands on the table and was so angry that he was dizzy. He muttered to himself,"Shengjing City already has 150,000 troops, and the leader is a young man who is not even twenty years old.”
"What?"
"Less than twenty years old? Your Majesty, this…"
"Could it be that Yuan Chonghuan didn't investigate properly and was tricked?”
"Your Majesty, I have long noticed that Yuan Chonghuan has disloyal intentions…"
"A hundred and fifty thousand troops came out of seclusion. As the governor of Ji Liao, how could Yuan Chonghuan not notice?”
"Your Majesty…"
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