"Your Majesty..." Liu Wenyao's brain worked rapidly and he quickly understood Chongzhen's intention.

He paused for a moment and then bowed, "I obey your order!"

In a short while, this oral instruction reached everyone's ears.

The nobles were immediately furious!

"What? Four carriages! There's not enough space for people, so where are we going to put our stuff?"

"It's only been half a day since we were notified to move south, and there are still many things in the mansion that we haven't packed. His Majesty said that each household can only use four carriages, so what should we do with these things?"

"No, absolutely not!"

"I'm going to argue with His Majesty!"

Soon, a group of nobles came to Chongzhen to ask for an explanation.

Duke of England Zhang Shize stood in the front, with the others following behind him.

Among the five first-class dukes, only the Duke of England could plead for mercy with the emperor.

Duke of Wei Xu Wenjue was stationed in Nanjing, and Duke of Qian Mu Tianbo was stationed in Yunnan. Duke of Ding Xu Yunzhen was suspected of assassinating the emperor and could not go to Nanjing. Duke of Cheng Zhu Chunchen was imprisoned and could not go to Nanjing either.

Without waiting for them to speak, Chongzhen spoke first: "Everyone, you are here to escape, not to travel. With so much wealth on the road, aren't you afraid that the soldiers will mutiny and rob you of your money?"

After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

What Chongzhen said made sense. The ones responsible for the escort were the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang guards. These people were always greedy. Who could guarantee that they would not mutiny in the middle of the journey?

Being rich is something that people will envy, and people might even kill people for their money.

"Besides, the convoy is too big and moves slowly. Now the bandits have occupied the Hejian area. They only need to send a team of light cavalry to Shandong at night. If you are caught up by them, do I need to tell you what will happen to you?" Chongzhen said with a serious expression.

"The Crown Prince is the future of the Ming Dynasty. I cannot let you delay his journey."

Everyone was silent.

Zhou Kui, the Earl of Jiading, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, can you make some concessions?"

Chongzhen stared at Zhou Kui, his heart growing colder.

His old father-in-law was really hateful. Not only was he extremely greedy for money, but he was also extremely stingy.

In the winter of the 16th year of Chongzhen's reign, the emperor called on all officials to donate money to help suppress the bandits. Since they had to find a role model to donate money, Chongzhen asked the eunuch to borrow money from Zhou Kui.

As a result, Zhou Kui was greedy for money and would rather die than donate.

Seeing that the matter was getting no better, Queen Zhou gave five thousand taels of silver from the sale of the jewelry to Zhou Kui and asked him to donate it to save the royal family's reputation.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Kui only donated three thousand taels.

A net profit of two thousand taels!

Seeing this, other nobles and ministers followed suit, and in the end only a few hundred thousand silver coins were raised.

After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, Zhou Kui was captured. First, his wife and children were killed, and then he was severely tortured. Finally, he handed over 520,000 taels of silver. The rest of his property was worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. This is quite impressive!

When Chongzhen saw this name on the list of people moving south, he wanted to cross it out, but then he thought that this would be a good way to lure the snake out of its hole.

The place where he hid the silver was extremely secretive and ordinary people could not find it at all.

It’s better to take advantage of the opportunity of migrating south to catch them all!

"Those exceeding the number must stay in the capital and help me fight against the bandits!" Chongzhen reiterated his point of view.

The nobles looked at each other, at a loss as to what to do.

If they stay, once the capital is lost, these nobles will suffer a miserable fate regardless of whether they surrender or not.

Even if you don't die, you will be skinned alive.

If you want to leave, you have to leave the money behind.

Money or life?

Zhou Kui was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, I am willing to stay in the capital and fight against the bandits together with Your Majesty!"

Chongzhen smiled slightly and said: "The father-in-law is really the backbone of the court. I am very pleased."

Duke of England Zhang Shize bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I also wish to stay in the capital."

"Good, very good!"

With the two of them taking the lead, nobles and ministers expressed their opinions one after another.

Some would rather leave their property behind, while others are reluctant to part with their property and choose to stay.

Chongzhen couldn't help sneering in his heart. These people had not yet realized the seriousness of the matter.

Can I keep my property by staying in the capital?

The answer is no!

Chongzhen stood on the high platform, looking at the dark crowd under the flickering lights, and said loudly: "This journey is long and arduous, you must do your best to protect the prince's safety. I promise you in the name of the emperor that after arriving in Nanjing, all of you will be promoted one level and rewarded with three months' salary."

The officials and nobles did not react, but the factory guards and royal guards who were in charge of escorting them were suddenly shocked and shouted in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Chongzhen paused, then waved his hand and said, "Prince, move south, set off immediately!"

There were no bells, drums, or other musical instruments.

The prince's convoy migrating south was assembled in front of the Meridian Gate. At the emperor's command, more than a hundred carriages slowly set off and left the capital.

After leaving Zuoanmen, the convoy moved very fast.

As they left the city gate, several people who looked like businessmen outside the capital jumped on their horses and galloped away in different directions.

Looking at the dust flying in the moonlight, Jinyiwei Captain Gao Wencai frowned.

From the moment the team assembled, he was uneasy.

Although the bandits were still far away from the capital, they had sentries all around them. Once there was any movement in the capital, the news would be sent out as quickly as possible.

The team of nearly three thousand people included not only the crown prince, princes and princesses, but also Ming nobles and important officials of the court.

It can be said that he escorted half of the Ming Dynasty.

The greater the responsibility, the greater the pressure.

Gao Wencai rode his horse to the side of the Left Commander Liu Wenyao and whispered, "Commander, it's less than sixty miles to Tongzhou. I think we should hurry up and hurry up, or else something unexpected might happen."

"It's a bumpy ride, and I'm afraid the women won't be able to bear it." Liu Wenyao was very worried.

"Before leaving, Lord Li had someone put thick bedding inside so it wouldn't be too bumpy."

Liu Wenyao thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay, tell everyone to hurry up."

"Yes, sir!"

......

Capital, outside the Meridian Gate.

Watching the southward-moving convoy disappear into the darkness, the nobles and ministers turned around and were about to leave.

"Please stay, princes and ministers. His Majesty has an order." Wang Chengen limped forward and shouted.

Everyone stopped and turned around, came to Chongzhen and saluted again.

"Everyone, you all know that I was assassinated today, right? The capital is not safe anymore! You are all traveling alone late at night with a lot of money. What should you do if you encounter a thief?"

"How about this? For your safety, I have specially marked out an area in the imperial city. You can park the carriage here. I will send someone to send the carriage back after dawn. How do you think?"

After hearing this, everyone was stunned at first, and then looked at each other.

What does your Majesty mean by this?

Since you can’t borrow money, you try to rob, right?

Zhou Kui was the first to refuse. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty is exhausted from working for the state. I will not trouble you any more."

"I, your old minister, please take my leave!" He turned and left without waiting for Chongzhen's consent.

Could Chongzhen let him succeed?

"Wang Chengen!"

"I am here!"

"Go, lead all the carriages in front of the Meridian Gate and near the Zuoan Gate into the Imperial City. If anyone stops us, arrest them on the spot and take them to the Pacification Office."

"As you wish!"