Ding ding ding!
Wang Chengen rang the Jingyang Bell.
The clear and deafening sound of the bell could be heard for more than ten miles, echoing throughout the city.
When the women in the imperial city heard the bell, they were all startled. They thought the bandits were coming, and their faces were filled with sorrow: "Damn the bandits!"
On the streets of Beijing, people who were out early were carrying bird cages as usual. Three or five people were sitting at breakfast stalls on the street, and as the bells rang, everyone started talking.
"Your Majesty is ringing the bell again. Are the bandits about to break in?"
"You're right. The bandits broke through Xuanfu yesterday. I estimate that they will reach our Beijing city within ten days."
"Can the capital be defended?"
"I don't know. Anyway, the bandits only rob the rich. We poor people don't have money to rob. Besides, whether we can defend the city is something His Majesty should worry about. We should just take care of ourselves."
"It's cold, see you later."
On the cold city wall, soldiers and eunuchs from the three camps were shivering in the cold wind.
When the bell rang, only a few small leaders glanced in the direction of the imperial city, then hid behind the battlements of the city wall and blew on their frozen hands.
The weapons were scattered all over the ground, and the steamed bread in their arms was frozen hard, but they couldn't chew it but couldn't bear to throw it away. With insufficient food and wages, they couldn't even afford to buy charcoal for heating, let alone steamed bread.
cold!
The spring of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen was very cold.
......
Inside the Huangji Palace.
Civil and military officials had already gathered. Chongzhen took a deep breath and walked in slowly.
"Long live the emperor!" Civil and military officials kowtowed in unison.
Chongzhen stood on the steps and glanced at his ministers.
Half of the six ministers are bad, and there are also many bad vice ministers.
After taking a quick look, his eyes fell on the cabinet chief Wei Zaode.
This guy is dying. One less sight of him is one less.
"Everyone, please stand up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" All the officials kowtowed again in unison.
Wei Zaode, wearing a bright red court robe and a black gauze hat, looked around and then stood up and said, "Your Majesty, according to the news, the bandits broke through Xuanfu yesterday and headed straight for the capital."
The status of ministers in the Ming Dynasty was far inferior to that in the Qing Dynasty.
In the eyes of the emperor, ministers are subjects, not slaves, and there is no rule that requires them to kneel down at every turn.
Chongzhen nodded and asked, "Do you have a plan to defend against the enemy?"
Wei Zaode's mind was working fast. He had no real skills, but was good at speaking. When Chongzhen asked him, he directly gave the answer he had prepared in advance: "The army and the people of the capital are united and can resist the bandits."
Empty words! Saying them is as good as saying nothing.
Chongzhen continued to ask: "How to unite the army and the people?"
Wei Zaode bowed and said: "Of course it's a large sum of money!"
As soon as he finished speaking, not only the emperor, but even his subordinate, Shen Weibing, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, looked down on him.
If the imperial court had money, it would not have allowed the bandits to fight all the way from Shaanxi to Xuanfu!
Isn't this pure bullshit!
"Do you have any ideas?" Chongzhen looked at Li Banghua.
The letter must be spoken by Li Banghua, and he must bear the responsibility.
The king cannot put forward his opinions in the court, but can only choose to support those who put forward their opinions. This is what is often said as only answering multiple-choice questions, not filling-in-the-blank questions.
If he was wrong, he could put the blame on his ministers, saying that the emperor was deceived by his ministers.
Since ancient times, kings have never admitted their mistakes!
This is the art of emperors!
The Chongzhen in history knew nothing about the art of ruling!
Actually, we can’t blame him. No one could have thought that the throne would fall into his hands!
After Li Banghua received Chongzhen's signal, he raised his head and glared at Wei Zaode, then stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the bandits are coming fiercely. In order to protect the Ming Dynasty, it is better to let the crown prince go to Yingtian Prefecture, and let the Prince of Yong, the Prince of Ding, the concubines of the six palaces, and a few officials accompany him. The rest of the people will stay in the capital with Your Majesty and wait for the army to come to defend the king."
"What do you think?"
Although Chongzhen had already made up his mind, he could not agree immediately in front of all the ministers. He had to follow the procedure and let the court officials participate!
Only by allowing these scholars and officials to participate in the process can they feel that they are governing the world together with the emperor.
This is also the art of emperorship.
Li Banghua's words were like a bomb, detonating the quiet Huangji Palace.
“Your Highness, this is impossible!” Zuo Zhongyun Li Mingrui immediately knelt down, “The Crown Prince is too young to be the regent, so why don’t you do it yourself!”
Li Mingrui was in charge of recording the prince's daily life. Based on his understanding of Zhu Cilang, he knew that this person was not yet a great person. Not to mention Zhu Cilang, even if Zhu Youjian himself went there, he might not be able to defeat the officials of the six ministries in Nanjing.
"Li Mingrui, you are so bold! Letting Your Highness move south is a crude plan of Zhou Ping and Song Gao! Aren't you afraid that the situation of being isolated in a corner will happen again? The Ming Dynasty is not the Song Dynasty. We can't divide the country into two! It is the best strategy for Your Highness and me to defend the capital!" Li Banghua, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, argued with reason.
"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is to unite the military and civilians to defend the capital! Although the bandits are huge, the capital city is strong and the artillery is powerful. As long as we hold on for three to five days, the bandits will retreat after the troops from all over the country arrive to defend the king. Once the prince goes south, the people will be in chaos, which will be unfavorable for defending the city. The intention of these two people to destroy our Ming Dynasty is obvious, and Your Majesty should punish them." Guang Shiheng, a member of the military department, said after coming out of the class.
Although Jieshizhong was a minor official of the seventh rank, he had enormous power. He could supervise the six ministries, impeach officials, and even reject the emperor's approval.
A close minister to the emperor.
Otherwise, with his seventh-rank official position, he would not be qualified to attend the palace meetings.
"I second the motion!" Shen Weibing, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, came out.
"I second the proposal!" Minister of War Zhang Jinyan stood up.
After the Minister of War took sides and expressed his attitude, the debate in the court immediately became heated.
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