"This, this is real?"
Xu Hongji murmured as he looked at the blood letter in front of him.
He was Xu Da's descendant, the hereditary Duke of Wei. In theory, he was the highest-ranking official in Nanjing at this time. Not only did he have the highest title of Grand Tutor, but he also had the title of Crown Prince Taibao, one of the three divisions. Of course, these were all useless because they were all fake. He was not even comparable to any of the ministers of the six ministries. In addition, he also served as the Nanjing Garrison, the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army of the Nanjing Five Armies. In theory, he was the highest military officer in Nanjing. After the fall of Beijing, he also became the highest commander of the Ming army. However, this was f * cking useless. Without the Nanjing Minister of War, Shi Kefa, he could not move a single soldier.
He was asking Shi Kefa.
"Duke Wei, I don't know either."
Shi Kefa looked at the Embroidered Uniform Guard who had been taken away to rest and said frankly.
He, Xu Hongji, and the Nanjing garrison eunuch Han Zanzhou formed the three giants of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing. They represented the three systems of civil officials, military officers, and internal officials.
This person who claimed to be a Jinyiwei had suddenly stopped his sedan chair on the street with this blood letter. Then, he claimed that he had fought his way out of Beijing with the Emperor and carried the imperial edict to the south to announce the imperial edict. The blood letter he carried with him did indeed have the Emperor's private seal. Shi Kefa could confirm this seal. It was not strange that there was no jade seal. It was also reasonable that the blood letter written with a finger dipped in horse blood had no handwriting. However, the things that this person had said...
"Ridiculous!"
a minister said.
"Lord Liu, don't tell me you think that it's absurd for the spirit of the Great Ancestor to appear in the heavens to save Great Ming in this time of crisis?”
Xu Hongji's face darkened.
"Ugh!"
Lord Liu shut up.
Yes, who dared to say? Taizu's soul ascended to heaven and became an immortal. This was the foundation of the royal family's sacredness. Since he was an immortal, it was naturally possible for him to directly appear to save his descendants when they were in danger. No matter how ridiculous this matter was, no one could say it.
"But we can't just rely on a person who claims to be an Embroidered Uniform Guard, a blood letter that he claims to be an imperial edict, and a private seal that can be forged by anyone who has seen it to confirm that His Majesty has already gone to Shanhaiguan. This is a matter of great importance to the country. How can we make such a hasty conclusion?”
He continued.
"Then if it's a forgery, what's its purpose?”
Another official said.
Yeah, what's the use of forging this thing?
"Water Transport Governor, Huaiyang Governor, Right Qian Imperial Censor Lu has arrived!”
At this moment, a member of the Xu family shouted from outside.
"The imperial edict has arrived. Grand Tutor, Crown Prince Taibao, Nanjing Garrison and Central Army Commander Xu Hongji, Nanjing Official Zhang Shenyan, Minister of Revenue Gao Hongtu, Minister of Rites Wang Duo, and Minister of War Shi Kefa accept the imperial edict!”
Lu Zhenfei, who was holding a roll of yellow silk, hurriedly walked in and unfolded the yellow silk in his hand as he said loudly.
Everyone in the room was dumbfounded.
"Milords, it's true. His Majesty is safe and sound. He has already met up with Wu Sangui's army at Shanhaiguan. Governor of Jiliao, Wang Yongji, Governor of Shuntian, Song Quan, Governor of Liaodong, Li Yutian, and the others are all present. This message was sent from Shanhaiguan with the seals of the above people and Ping Xibo. Furthermore, the news from the north has just confirmed that His Majesty's army has retreated to Shanhaiguan and has adopted Wang Yongji's suggestion to borrow troops from Manzhou to suppress the bandits. His Majesty is waiting for our reinforcements at Shanhaiguan.”
Lu Zhenfei said with a smile.
"The emperor is blessed with great fortune, my Great Ming Dynasty has hope of reviving!”
Shi Kefa was the first to kneel and shout.
Then, Xu Hongji and the others all knelt down and shouted excitedly. As for King Fu and King Lu, they should just stand aside for now. Since the Emperor was still around, there was nothing for these people to do. Regardless of whether they liked Chongzhen or not, they were all sincerely happy at this time. After all, they also knew that if Chongzhen died in Beijing, it would be very troublesome. The current Ming Dynasty really could not afford to be troubled. There was Zhang Xianzhong in the west and Li Zicheng in the north. Each of them was a tiger, leopard, wolf, and jackal who wanted their family's wealth. Only the Ming Emperor was the gentry's considerate person.
Then, it was time to read out the imperial edict.
The content of the imperial edict was very simple. It was nothing more than informing the officials in Nanjing that His Majesty had already set up a special cabinet at Shanhaiguan. However, due to the isolation of the two places, the cabinet could no longer exercise its authority normally. The military and political affairs south of the Yellow River that were still under the control of the court were managed by various institutions in Nanjing. The Nanjing Military Governor's Office and the Nanjing Ministry of War were in charge of the military affairs south of the Yellow River. While defending against the invasion of the south, they were to mobilize troops as quickly as possible to reinforce Shanhaiguan by sea.
Li Daoxuan had no interest in these people in Nanjing.
The system of the Ming Dynasty was very perfect. These guys in Nanjing knew what they should do. After the death of Chongzhen, at least in terms of government operations, there was no chaos in the south. Since that was the case, they should let them do their own things. As for what he wanted, it was actually reinforcements and food. The life and death of the remaining Southern guys had nothing to do with him. He was not afraid that Li Zicheng would go south and beat up all the local tyrants. Or perhaps, all the southern gentry would become fence-sitters and surrender under the threat of Li Zicheng's army. Then, when he counterattacked, he would use these guys as an excuse to rebel and happily beat up the local tyrants like Li Zicheng.
Alright, this was his plan.
This was also one of the reasons why he had always stayed at Shanhaiguan Pass. Great Ming needed a large-scale purification. So what if he protected Great Ming's country? If he didn't pull out the root of Da Ming's decay, it would still be over sooner or later. If he wanted this country to truly become rich and powerful, then he had to first purify it. However, he couldn't do this kind of purification, as it would turn him into Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. The best way was to borrow a knife to kill, drive the raiders to do it, and let Li Zicheng destroy the gentry class. Then, under the banner of the gentry's spokesperson, he would destroy Li Zicheng. This way, he would be left with a blank sheet of paper to draw on.
Of course, this was a strategy, but the actual operation would depend on the specific situation.
"Iron Mountain has harmed the country!"
After hearing the imperial edict, Shi Kefa said without hesitation.
"How could His Majesty place the Emperor in a dangerous place like Shanhai Pass? He has naval warships there, so why didn't he send His Majesty south? He, Wu Sangui, and the others could handle the matter of borrowing troops. How could they allow the Emperor to be humiliated by the Tartars? If the Tartars had wild ambitions, wouldn't the Emperor be in danger at Shanhaiguan? Immediately mobilize the navy to welcome the emperor's southern tour!”
Then, he said.
Alright, the thing that Li Daoxuan had been looking forward to the most was easily resolved.
"Right, this Iron Mountain is also muddle-headed. How can they let the Emperor, as a supreme being, go to the Tark to ask for help? They set up the Emperor and a dangerous place for their own selfish interests.”
Minister of Rites Wang Duo said.
Poor Minister Wang didn't know that at this time, Wang Yongji was eager for the Emperor to leave, but the Emperor refused to leave. He had no choice! Of course, there was no point in saying this at this time. The most important thing now was to mobilize troops to the north to welcome His Majesty. Fortunately, this was really a small matter. There were plenty of warships in Nanjing and Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Although it was not the time for Zheng He to go to the West, it was not a problem to gather a few thousand warships. The rest was the navy, which was also a small matter. Although the military leaders in Jiangbei had begun to show signs of warlordism, the Ming army in Jiangnan was still obedient. It was just an order from the Ministry of War.
The rest was simple.
These guys immediately dispersed. Shi Kefa issued the order to mobilize the troops, Xu Hongji blew the whistle, Gao Hongtu prepared the food and pay, and the others also carried out their duties. They also sent letters to the local officials to let them know that the Emperor was out of danger. Of course, in the future, the orders issued by the Six Ministries of Nanjing would prevail. As for the surrender of Zhang Xianzhong mentioned in Li Daoxuan's blood book...
We didn't see that.
Besides, Zhang Xianzhong would not accept the amnesty at this time. They were about to conquer the entire Sichuan, and only Qin Liangyu was struggling to hold on. Speaking of which, in the current situation, if he did not come to seize Jiangnan, he would be burning incense. If he went to surrender, he would be asking for humiliation! In short, this matter did not exist. Even if Chongzhen himself issued an edict, the cabinet should still be sealed.
Just like that, the center of Ming Dynasty's rule was officially transferred from Beijing to Nanjing.
In fact, Jiangnan was also in danger at this time. Li Zicheng's army had already begun to attack the north of the Huai River. At this time, most of Shandong was under his control. He had already occupied Henan, so the next front line was the line between Xusi and the Huai River. However, this line was filled with a group of defeated soldiers who had been beaten up by Li Zicheng previously. Once these people could not hold on…
This was almost certain.
Then Li Zicheng would have to go to Nanjing.
The reason why Li Zicheng's army had yet to go south was probably because they were held back by the Shanhai Pass army. It could be said that the Emperor's move was to use himself as bait to attract Li Zicheng's army and buy time for the Jiangnan gentry to set up defenses. The longer Shanhaiguan could hold on, the safer Jiangnan would be. Both the officials and the gentry in Jiangnan understood this, so they had to go all out to reinforce Shanhaiguan. If the Emperor of Shanhaiguan had 500,000 troops instead of 50,000, then the gentry in Jiangnan could rest easy.
Of course, the emperor still had to get it.
Therefore, with the orders issued by Nanjing, the originally panicked Jiangnan gradually stabilized. At this time, the news of Li Zicheng beating up the local tyrants had already spread among the Jiangnan gentry. After thousands of miles of interpretation, it had completely become a public outrage. This was like a whip driving the Jiangnan gentry, and they supported the court even more firmly. The navy that received the orders from the Bureau of Military Personnel, under the encouragement of the gentry behind them, immediately steered their warships to gather at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and a huge fleet gradually formed. Then, the Minister of Rites, Wang Duo, the Earl of Sincerity, Liu Kongzhao, and the eunuch stationed in Fengyang, Lu Jiude, boarded the warship and went north to welcome the Emperor. They were entrusted by the Jiangnan people, or rather, the Jiangnan gentry.
Or rather, snatch the emperor.
The emperor was a popular person. The principle of using the emperor to command the vassals was clear to these well-learned scholars. With the emperor in hand, one had the right to speak, but it could not fall into the hands of a warlord like Wu Sangui.
As for Lu Jiude, he was summoned by Li Daoxuan in the imperial edict.
This person was the main driving force behind the establishment of King Fu in history. Huang Degong and the others had always been under his control, and among the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, he was considered talented.
More importantly…
Eunuchs were Li Daoxuan's most considerate people!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。