Chongzhen frowned, and his three sentences were flawless. He finally realized the power of the cabinet chief.
At the same time, he also had the intention to kill!
As a time traveler, how could he not know what Wei Zaode was thinking?
Chongzhen nodded, signaling everyone to return to their positions.
He looked at everyone, his eyes gradually colder: "I heard everything you said just now. Some people's words are reasonable, while others are just nonsense!"
"Guang Shiheng, you said the capital can be defended, how? Tell me how!"
Guang Shiheng rolled his eyes and said, "There are a million people in the capital. If we gather 100,000 civilians, we will definitely be able to defend the city."
Chongzhen asked gloomily, "How should we recruit soldiers? Should we conscript men or recruit them? Aren't we afraid that they will defect in the middle of a battle? Where will the money for recruiting soldiers come from? The military pay can be delayed, but what about the food pay? Should we let the people defend the city with their own food?"
Under the attack of a series of question marks from Emperor Chongzhen, Guang Shiheng's mind went blank in an instant. He stammered, "This... money and grain are the business of the Ministry of Revenue. I only talk about strategy."
Chongzhen was furious: "Okay, I will promote you to the position of Minister of Revenue now. If you don't have a solution, I will chop off your head."
Chongzhen was not really angry. A small official could not arouse his anger at all.
He did this to lure Wei Zaode into action.
Guang Shiheng is a pawn, and Wei Zaode behind him is the big boss.
Guang Shiheng was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I...I am also doing this for the court."
Chongzhen smiled coldly: "Guang Shiheng, are you deaf? I have appointed you as the Minister of Finance, please tell me your countermeasures!"
After hearing the word "please", Guang Shiheng was really scared. There were few living people in the Ming Dynasty who could bear Chongzhen's "please", and if there were, it wouldn't be him.
He knelt on the ground and banged his head on the ground: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I shouldn't have said nonsense in the court. Please calm down, Your Majesty!"
When Chongzhen looked at Guang Shiheng, the Imperial Censor who was kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, the last bit of pity in his heart disappeared.
If Guang Shiheng refused to plead guilty, Chongzhen would let him go because of his stubbornness.
After all, the civil officials in the late Ming Dynasty had long lost their integrity. It is not easy to find one, and we cannot exterminate them.
But his bones are also soft.
Chongzhen waved his hand and asked Guang Shiheng to return to his position. The time was not right now and it would not be too late to kill him later.
He glanced at his ministers and said leisurely, "I am not a foolish ruler. Since I ascended the throne in August of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, there have been constant natural and man-made disasters! I wanted to revive the Ming Dynasty, but it was not as I wished. Today, bandits are rampant, the Jian slaves are rampant, people's hearts are unstable, and the capital is difficult to defend!"
"I am very disappointed. Not only in myself, but also in you."
"We ministers deserve to die. We could not share your worries, nor relieve the people's suffering." The chief minister of the cabinet, Wei Zaode, knelt down and pleaded guilty.
You don't have to do the thing, but you still have to do it.
"We are guilty!" All the ministers knelt down.
"Everyone, stand up. According to Li Banghua's plan, the Crown Prince, Prince Yong, Prince Ding, the concubines of the six palaces, and a few officials will accompany us. The rest of you will stay in the capital with me and wait for the army to come to support the king. As for the list of officials going to Nanjing, let Li Banghua draw up it."
Chongzhen had figured it out long ago that there were only three paths before him, both in history and in reality.
Guard, escape, talk!
First rule out escape.
If they flee south, the consequences will be disastrous.
The emperor's promise to guard the country's borders became empty talk; for decades in Liaodong, countless men shed blood on the battlefield, and it became a game.
More importantly, Wu Sangui, who had traveled thousands of miles to defend the emperor, would be caught in a situation of being attacked from both sides. If he surrendered to the Jiannu as he had done in history, the tragedy of history might repeat itself.
At that time, Chongzhen would not only be sorry for the ancestors of the Zhu family, sorry for the heroes who died on the battlefield, but also sorry for the lives that were destroyed.
Secondly, peace talks are ruled out.
During the Ming Dynasty, there was no marriage alliance, no compensation, no cession of territory, and no tribute. The emperor guarded the national border and the king died for the country.
He can't break the bottom line.
Final answer: Defend.
Historically, Chongzhen spent seventeen years trying to save the Ming Dynasty, and he could do nothing in a week.
The only thing we can do now is to defend Beijing.
As long as Li Zicheng cannot capture Beijing, the Ming Dynasty's basic foundation will remain, and history may be rewritten.
"Your Majesty is wise and we will obey your command!" Li Banghua led more than 30 officials to kneel down and receive the order.
Upon seeing this, the officials who supported Li Mingrui knelt down to accept the order after a brief thought.
What does it mean that the emperor asked Li Banghua to draw up the list of ministers who would accompany the prince on his trip?
This shows that Li Banghua has been given an important position quietly.
If you want to seek refuge in Yingtian, you must side with Li Banghua.
In the blink of an eye, half of the officials in the court knelt down to receive the order.
Wei Zaode's face looked solemn.
For him, the best strategy was to leave all the emperor and princes to Li Zicheng.
As long as he could force Chongzhen to issue an abdication edict, it would be a great achievement and Li Zicheng would promote him and give him a higher title.
But if the prince escaped and Chongzhen stayed to defend Beijing, things would become complicated. Not only would he not get any credit, but he would be targeted.
He had long heard that the Dashun regime was very cruel to Ming officials who had no merit.
Now that his token of allegiance was gone, he felt uneasy.
The rule of the political game is that the minority obeys the majority. Now the emperor and most officials agree that the prince should move south.
This matter cannot be reversed.
But he couldn't figure it out. Under normal circumstances, Chongzhen would definitely be hesitant. He would either summon the cabinet to the back hall to discuss, or return to the palace to think about it.
What happened today? The decision was made in the court!
"Your Majesty!" Wei Zaode tried to wake up the once hesitant Chongzhen.
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