Li Ruo Lian knew that he had lost his composure, and hurriedly got up and knelt down again, kowtowing repeatedly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have lost my manners. Please forgive me, please forgive me."
"I am the commander of the Imperial Guard, which is the emperor's personal army and is only loyal to Your Majesty. Even if I had the courage of heaven, I would not dare to do such a treasonous thing. I beg Your Majesty to understand." Li Ruolian thought Chongzhen was testing him, so he expressed his loyalty at the first opportunity.
"Do you want to disobey the order?" Chongzhen asked.
"Your Majesty, I would rather disobey your command than do such a disloyal thing." Li Ruo Lian's voice trembled, but his tone was firm and could not be refuted.
Chongzhen frowned slightly. He quickly thought of a countermeasure in his mind. After a moment, he said, "If you don't assassinate me, how can I kill those hypocrites who talk about morality and justice?"
"Where will the money come from if we don't kill those hypocrites?"
"How can we save the Ming Dynasty without money?"
"Do you understand how powerful this is?"
Seeing that Li Ruolian refused to obey, Chongzhen began to explain.
"I asked you to assassinate him just for show. I used this as an excuse to impose martial law in the capital. The task of catching the murderer will naturally fall to you, the Jinyiwei. Don't you have the final say on who the murderer is?"
Chongzhen's words made Li Ruolian suddenly enlightened, and he couldn't help but admire secretly: it turns out that strategies can be used in this way.
"Your Majesty, I understand. But I dare not. Your Majesty is the emperor. If I fail, the consequences will be disastrous."
"You don't really want to kill me, do you?"
Li Ruo Lian kowtowed hastily: "I dare not."
"Then you won't fail. You don't have to actually hurt me. You just need to let people see you assassinate me."
"I'm sorry, but I can't obey your command!" Li Ruolian knelt on the ground but still refused to agree.
Even if it wasn't a trap set against him, it would be a serious crime if someone discovered that he was trying to assassinate the emperor.
If he disobeyed orders, he would be beheaded at most; if he assassinated the emperor, his entire clan would be executed.
Chongzhen was really angry. He slammed the dragon throne, stood up and said, "I am the Son of Heaven. I guard the country and protect the country. What does it matter if I die?"
"I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid that the people will not have enough food or warm clothes, and will be homeless all day long."
"Why can't the bandits be wiped out? Sun Chuanting said that Li Zicheng has the support of the people. What is the support of the people?"
"What do you think is the will of the people?"
Li Ruo Lian didn't say anything.
Chongzhen continued, "The people have their hearts. If you give them a bite of food when they are hungry, you can win their hearts."
"What I want to do is to win the hearts of the people all over the world, but before that, I have to have enough money to pay salaries, provide disaster relief, and exempt grain."
"Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty will be torn apart. Can you bear such a huge crime?" Seeing that Li Ruolian did not dare to accept the task, Chongzhen put a huge hat on him.
Li Ruolian felt his scalp tingling after hearing this and he knelt on the ground for a long time without saying a word.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Ruo Lian raised his head with red eyes and said, "Your Majesty, I obey your command."
call...
Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief again.
"You must handle this matter in person, and no news can be leaked."
"My lord, I obey the order!"
After Li Ruolian bowed, he walked out with heavy steps, and his heart became heavier with every step.
The pressure is too great.
He also didn't expect that the Jinyiwei actually had the mission to assassinate the emperor, and that it was a mission ordered by the emperor himself.
Looking at Li Ruolian's receding figure, Chongzhen asked Wang Chengen, who had just returned from the cabinet, "What time is it now?"
"Your Majesty, it is now the last quarter of the Si hour. It will be another half hour before we can go to the Wuzi Depot."
One hour...in enough time.
Chongzhen ordered: "Wang Chengen, the Crown Prince, Prince Yong, Prince Ding, Empress Zhou and all the concubines go to the Palace of Heavenly Purity. I have something to say."
"As you wish!"
The affairs of the court have been temporarily resolved, and the next step is to find a way out for the Ming Dynasty.
Chongzhen was not 100% sure of being able to defend Beijing. What he could do now was to pave the way for the prince and point out a clear path for the Ming Dynasty.
Soon, the Qianqing Palace was crowded with people.
The three princes and concubines looked at each other, guessing what was going to happen.
At the beginning of the first lunar month, the emperor and the cabinet discussed the move to the south. However, due to various reasons, and Chongzhen's erratic character, the plan failed to materialize.
Gathering everyone today must be a rehash of old matters.
After the three princes, concubines and princesses kowtowed to Chongzhen, they stood on his left and right, everyone was nervous, waiting for their fate.
Everyone knew that it was dangerous to stay in the capital and that it was safer to go to Nanjing.
Chongzhen looked at the group of familiar strangers below, calmed himself down, and said, "Everyone, please sit down. Today, there are only relatives, not the emperor and his subjects."
There were few seats in the Qianqing Palace. People did not dare to speak or sit down, so they had to sit on the floor in turn.
Chongzhen continued, "The bandits are invading the border and are unstoppable. Wang Chengen is the commander-in-chief of the Nine Gates. He said that Beijing City is probably undefendable."
As soon as he finished speaking, the quiet Qianqing Palace suddenly became chaotic.
The Ming Dynasty had a rule that the imperial harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs, not even to discuss private matters. Although they had already learned through other channels that Beijing was difficult to defend, it was still quite shocking to hear this from Emperor Chongzhen.
"Silence!" Wang Chengen's sharp voice suppressed other voices.
"In the 18th year of Yongle's reign, the capital was moved to Beijing, and the world praised the emperor for guarding the country's borders. This is an honor as well as a responsibility. The Zhu family has never feared death and will protect China until death." Chongzhen's voice became heavy.
"But the bandits are so powerful that it's hard to defend the capital!"
“That’s why I’m afraid!”
"I am afraid that the world will be in chaos and the people will suffer!"
"I'm afraid the Jiannu will move south and the people will suffer!"
"I'm afraid that the Ming Dynasty's nearly three hundred years of foundation will be destroyed in my hands!"
"I don't want to be a king who loses his country, nor do I want you to suffer the pain of losing your country."
"Weighing the pros and cons, I think temporarily moving south is the best option."
These members of the royal family remained silent. The capital was their home and they did not want to leave this place. But if they stayed any longer, their warm home would turn into a cold cemetery.
These graves will be knocked over and dug up by bandits.
The bodies that should have been buried with honor will become dry bones in the wilderness.
When they thought of this, some people began to sob softly. Crying seemed to be contagious, and in the blink of an eye, the whole palace was filled with crying.
Chongzhen looked at them expressionlessly, with no emotion in his heart.
The clan members, especially the royal family, are too weak and incompetent.
In the late Ming Dynasty, countless people died from natural disasters and man-made calamities. The royal family cried just because they were away from home. Who would mourn for those graves in the wilderness and the dry bones under the broken bridges?
After everyone calmed down, Chongzhen continued, "I have decided that the Crown Prince, Prince Ding, and Prince Yong will go to Yingtian Prefecture. The palace ladies, eunuchs, and officials will accompany them except for a few. The rest of you will stay in the capital with me and wait for the troops to come to the rescue."
"After arriving in Yingtian Prefecture, the Crown Prince will be the regent."
"If I die for my country, you will ascend the throne in Yingtian Prefecture."
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