With heavy troops pressing in outside the city, officials inside the city started arguing.
Some people thought that they should retreat to Fujian and rely on Zheng Zhilong's troops to continue the resistance.
Some people think that they should retreat to Yunnan and seek refuge with Mu Tianbo, the Duke of Qian.
Some people thought that they should retreat to Guangxi and meet with Jingjiang Prince Zhu Hengxun (yīn).
Others thought that they should stay in Nanjing and rely on the strong and tall city walls to hold out and wait for help.
at first.
People were simply expressing their opinions and did not make personal attacks.
As the discussion intensified, people became more and more excited.
"Pang Tianshou, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, controls the government and sidelines the Crown Prince. He should be executed!"
"The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Ren Jun, and the Right Vice Minister, Cao Rong, concealed military intelligence and harmed the country and the people. They should be executed by slow slicing!"
"The Donglin Party is a disaster to the country. They all deserve to die."
"Eunuchs are interfering in government affairs. Not a single one of them can be left alive."
"Say it again? Do you believe I will slap you in the face?"
"Come on! I am proficient in all six arts, why would I be afraid of you?"
The Six Arts originated in the Zhou Dynasty.
They are Li: etiquette;
Music: music and dance;
Shooting: archery;
Driving: the skill of driving a carriage or chariot;
Book: calligraphy.
Number: arithmetic.
A person who is proficient in the six arts is not a weak scholar, but a man who is both civil and military.
If a fight really breaks out, you generally won't suffer any loss.
Seeing that everyone was about to take action, Zhu Cilang winked at the eunuch next to him.
The eunuch shouted at all the strength of his voice: "Silence, silence!"
Everyone snorted coldly and took a step back.
Silence returned to Chunhe Hall again.
Zhu Cilang sighed, "Everyone! Why are you still arguing at this hour? Find a solution quickly, or you will be in big trouble."
Everyone was silent for a moment, and then began to discuss.
After much discussion, the issue escalated into a war of words.
After cursing for a while, everyone was about to take action again.
Zhu Cilang was already in despair.
He finally realized clearly that this group of people could not be trusted at all!
After some hesitation, he decided to send someone to invite Ni Yuanlu to the palace to discuss the matter.
The reason why he was not invited before was that the city was about to be broken, and asking him to make suggestions might implicate the other party.
The situation is urgent now and he can't care about many things.
"Someone come here," Zhu Cilang shouted towards the door, "Go and invite Mr. Ni."
"yes."
After receiving the order, the two guards left the imperial city and came to Ni Yuanlu's yard to explain their purpose.
Ni Yuanlu nodded in agreement and followed the guards to the outside of the imperial city.
In front of the guards, Ni Yuanlu said to Zhang Rong, who was in disguise, "Come on, follow me into the palace to meet the prince."
The two guards pointed at Zhang Rong and asked, "Who is this?"
"He is the book boy of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Book boy? I haven't seen him before."
"You've never seen him before. This is the book boy I just found for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Mr. Ni, you can enter the palace, but this book boy cannot."
Ni Yuanlu asked: "Why?"
"For the safety of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"He is just a servant, not an assassin."
The guard clasped his hands together and said, "Please forgive me, Mr. Ni. This is the rule of the palace."
Ni Yuanlu smiled coldly: "In that case, I will not enter the palace, so as not to arouse suspicion."
"this..."
Ni Yuanlu waved his hand and said, "You can go now. Just say that I disobeyed the order of the Crown Prince and refused to enter the palace."
The two guards were immediately frightened.
While sending people to ask the prince for instructions, he also tried to calm Ni Yuanlu down.
"Bookboy?" Zhu Cilang was stunned at first, then he realized, "I've been so busy lately that I forgot about this matter. Let them in quickly."
The guards arrived outside the imperial city, searched Zhang Rong and then released him.
At this time, he was a book boy.
And the book boy is not qualified to participate in the discussion of such important matters.
Ni Yuanlu asked him to wait outside Chunhe Hall while he went into the hall to meet the prince.
"Your Highness, Ni Yuanlu, pays respect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..."
Zhu Cilang was overjoyed when he saw Ni Yuanlu: "Mr. Ni, there is no need to be so polite. Please take a seat!"
Ni Yuanlu politely declined Zhu Cilang's offer and asked earnestly, "I wonder why Your Highness summoned me here?"
Zhu Cilang said in front of everyone: "The enemy army is about to arrive at the city, and the ministers in the court have different opinions. Some suggest defending Nanjing, some suggest retreating to Fujian, some say go to Yunnan, and some say go to Guangxi... What do you think, Mr. Ni, should we do?"
Ni Yuanlu first scanned the Chunhe Hall with his eyes, and then replied in a deep voice: "I think we should not only listen to the opinions of civil officials, but also listen to the opinions of military generals."
This sentence stunned everyone present.
Zhu Cilang asked hesitantly, "Is this necessary?"
"Of course it is necessary. They are the ones leading the troops to fight. It won't be wrong to listen to their opinions."
Zhu Cilang no longer hesitated: "Okay, send someone to ask immediately."
In order not to disturb Zhu Cilang's rest, the others temporarily left the hall.
Ni Yuanlu opened the side door and quietly brought Zhang Rong in.
At this time, only Zhu Cilang, Ni Yuanlu and Zhang Rong were left in the hall.
Zhang Rong walked to the bedside, knelt down and saluted: "Your servant greets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Zhu Cilang suddenly sat up from the bed.
This is Zhang Rong's voice.
In order to confirm his guess, Zhu Cilang stared at Zhang Rong carefully again and again.
After confirming that it was Zhang Rong, Zhu Cilang began to feel a chill on his back.
At this time, he didn't know that Zhang Rong had been removed from his position as the governor of the East Factory.
He is thinking...
Why did Zhang Rong come here suddenly?
Assassinate him?
Or... was he sentenced to death?
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