After Governor-General Shi Kefa of Jiangnan finished speaking, the ministers present were all stunned.
But then they realized what was going on.
Yes, they have already recognized Zhu Qiyu's throne and honored Zhu Qizhen as the Retired Emperor.
Now that Zhu Qiyu has passed away, Zhu Jianshen, as the crown prince, should rightfully succeed to the throne.
Upon realizing this, the ministers present immediately stopped crying and knelt down in the hall.
He addressed the Crown Prince Zhu Jianshen, who was seated above:
“Your Highness, Governor Skelfa is right. With His Majesty's passing, you, as the Crown Prince, should rightfully succeed to the throne.”
"Yes, Your Highness, you are the Crown Prince and should rightfully succeed to the throne."
"Your Highness..."
Young Zhu Jianshen looked at the many ministers offering advice. Although he was young, he had experienced the struggle with his deceased elder brother, the crown prince, since childhood.
From the moment he left the capital, he knew that very few of the people in front of him would truly protect him as he journeyed south to Nanjing.
Most people simply used this opportunity to escape the capital.
Now that the capital has fallen, countless civil and military officials have either died or surrendered.
A large number of official positions in the court immediately became vacant. These officials wanted to support him as emperor and then reorganize the court in Jinling. They would be promoted several ranks based on their merit in supporting him.
However, this outcome is also very advantageous for him, because he is unlikely to walk into a trap in the capital.
However, his status as crown prince was not as useful as that of the emperor, and it just so happened that his uncle intervened.
He could rightfully inherit the throne.
After all, Emperor Zhu Qiyu is dead, and he is the crown prince. Isn't it right for him to succeed to the throne?
With the support of his ministers, Zhu Jianshen ascended the throne in Jinling and became emperor.
At the same time, like Li Qin, he also issued a call to the world.
For a time, two emperors and courts appeared in the north and south of the Great Wu.
Inside the capital.
Li Qin was looking at the intelligence report that his nephew, Li Xuanshang, had given him.
Since they set out, he has divided his troops into several routes to conquer various parts of Hebei.
The local officials, however, offered very little resistance.
Many cities were without officials; those officials had all abandoned their posts and fled.
Many officials even sent messengers to surrender before they had even seen his army.
His actions in Zhili, north of the old course of the Yellow River, could hardly be described as a campaign; it was more like a takeover.
In a short period of time, he had already captured Baoding, Zhending, and Hejian prefectures and their subordinate counties.
They are now heading towards Shunde, Guangping, and Daming, and their military strength is intact. They are preparing to take over Zhangde, Huaiqing, and Weihui in Henan.
I believe he will soon be able to take over the remaining three prefectures of Zhili and bring Zhili completely under his control.
Li Qin was naturally very happy to see Li Xuanshang's reports of successive victories.
Their progress was much smoother than they had imagined.
However, after seeing that he had captured Zhending, Li Qin still wrote to him, urging him to be on guard against the Taiyuan army launching a surprise attack from Jingxing.
He also instructed him that if he sent troops into Shandong and encountered those Wu vassal kings, he must do his best to appease them and not touch their farmland or property.
After sending the letter to Li Xuanshangjun, Li Qingang wanted to take care of some other matters.
He immediately saw a report from Bo Wengu, the advisor he had appointed as the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, in charge of the capital.
That is, the body of Grand Secretary Yang Shizhong has been found.
After the fall of the capital, he drowned himself in a lake.
After seeing Yang Shizhong's results, Li Qin sighed.
If only he were still alive. He was the leader of the Yang family in the Northwest, a family deeply rooted in the region.
Moreover, he has disciples and former subordinates all over the world. If he were in my hands, my future would be much easier.
Especially if I were to attack the Northwest later, it would be incredibly easy with the help of the Yang family.
He could also use him to persuade Yang Zhiyong of Taiyuan to surrender.
In the end, Li Qin simply ordered that he be given a proper burial.
He died for his country, after all; I should give him the respect he deserves.
Because he was a loyal minister who died for his country, I will also vigorously promote the deeds of these loyal ministers.
After all, it's better to promote him as a loyal minister who drowned himself to uphold his principles than to promote Qian Qianyi, who drowned himself but complained that the water was too cold and surrendered.
After putting down Bowen Gu's report, Li Qin picked up another military report.
It was sent by Wang Taihe and Dugu Yu together, which meant that they had basically pacified the various prefectures and counties of Xuanfu.
They have basically taken control of Xuanfu, and at the same time, they have sent people to monitor Jiang Xiangyang's movements in Datong.
After finishing up some tasks at hand, Li Qin looked at the map in his hand.
Based on the current situation of the governors in various places, they now believe that Shi Kefa in Jiangnan is an absolute diehard who will never yield to them.
The only way to deal with him is through force.
Fortunately, there were no cavalry in Jiangnan, and the plains in Jiangnan were mostly flat and open for him to launch a northern expedition.
Those were the home grounds of their own Liaodong cavalry and the Jurchen cavalry they controlled.
Moreover, he had already instructed his good nephew, Wanyan Gun, to transfer the more than 10,000 Jurchen cavalrymen who were stationed north of Liaodong, along with their families, into the pass.
Li Qin has decided to clear out a piece of land near the capital to settle the families of the Jurchen people.
Li Qin spent a long time selecting this location, and finally settled the families of these Jurchen soldiers next to his army camp outside the capital.
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