Inside Jinling City.
The sound of cannons echoed for several hours along both banks of the Yangtze River. The people in Nanjing lived in fear for a whole day, and the city's defenders could be seen rushing about everywhere on the streets.
Ever since the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui supported the son of the Prince of Daxin Fu to ascend the throne and establish the Hongxi regime, the once prosperous capital city of Nanjing has become a stagnant pool.
Qin Ruhui has ordered all the city gates of Jinling to be closed, preventing the people in the city from escaping.
This was Qin Ruhui's last trump card—to sacrifice the lives of millions of innocent people in Nanjing for himself and the Hongxi regime.
Inside the imperial palace, in the Golden Palace.
Despite the deafening roar of cannons outside the city, the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui, who had already changed into a bright yellow five-clawed dragon robe, walked through the empty Golden Palace and climbed the nine-step staircase step by step.
Filled with boundless longing and affection, after gently stroking the dragon throne in the Golden Palace, which symbolized supreme imperial power, he finally plopped down on it.
Qin Ruhui sat on the dragon throne, looking at the empty Golden Palace, imagining the scene of all the civil and military officials kneeling and bowing to him, shouting "Long live the Emperor!"
A satisfied smile finally appeared on that cunning and shrewd face.
"Prime Minister Qin—"
"It's terrible! Governor-General Su Chen of Liangjiang has led his Liangjiang New Army to defect to the enemy and join forces with the rebel navy of Longcheng on the Yangtze River, routing the rattan armor soldiers of Nanzhao who came to their aid!"
Suddenly, a cry of alarm came from outside the Golden Palace from Luo Yuanji, the Minister of Revenue: "Prime Minister Qin, Su Chen is leading the Longcheng rebels toward Jinling City. If we don't hurry and get out of the city, it will be too late!"
brush!
No sooner had he finished speaking than Luo Yuanji burst into the Golden Palace.
The scene that came into view left him speechless and dumbfounded.
The Prime Minister Qin was actually sitting on the dragon throne wearing a dragon robe, while Emperor Hongxi, Zhao Lingzhan, had disappeared without a trace.
Even Luo Yuanji, who was part of the prime minister's faction, found it somewhat difficult to accept this version of Prime Minister Qin!
This is nothing short of a blatant usurpation and rebellion!
oh?
At this moment, Qin Ruhui, who was on the dragon throne, suddenly opened his eyes, his expression warm and angry.
Clearly, he was unhappy that Luo Yuanji, the Minister of Revenue, had disturbed his peaceful reverie, disturbing the scene in his mind where all the civil and military officials were kneeling and shouting "Long live the Emperor!"
Qin Ruhui, though not angry, exuded an imposing aura and said sternly, "Minister Luo, since the rebel army of Longcheng has already besieged the city, why don't you go up to the city walls to fight the enemy?"
"What is Minister of War Li Jingyu doing? The rebels have already reached our doorstep, and the Ministry of War hasn't come up with a single strategy to defend against them!"
"besides......"
On the dragon throne, the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui, who seemed to have truly regarded himself as the emperor, continued to mutter to himself incessantly.
Inside the Golden Palace, Minister of Revenue Luo Yuanji had no interest in listening to Qin Ruhui's rambling anymore.
He knew that Prime Minister Qin had gone mad, and it wasn't worth following a madman down the same path. The best course of action was to run away from the city as soon as possible.
Luo Yuanji ignored the still-rambling "mad emperor," turned and ran without the slightest hesitation.
snort!
On the dragon throne, Qin Ruhui snorted coldly and said in a shrill voice, "Traitors! They're all a bunch of cowardly traitors who are afraid of death! The great empire of my Xin Dynasty has been completely destroyed by you traitors!"
"Run! All of you, run for your lives! I will protect the last vestiges of dignity and spirit of the Great Xin Dynasty!"
After saying that, Qin Ruhui staggered to his feet, drew the "Emperor's Sword" that he had named himself, and walked out of the Golden Palace step by step toward the city gate of the imperial city.
Along the way, when he encountered palace maids and eunuchs fleeing for their lives, Qin Ruhui, who was powerless to even kill a chicken, would indiscriminately draw his sword and kill them.
Unfortunately, he was far too weak. His sword swings lacked power and momentum, and were easily dodged by eunuchs and palace maids. Instead, everyone looked at this once high-ranking prime minister with the eyes of someone looking at a "madman."
I watched him stumble and fall as he made his way to the city gate.
As for why the shrewd and capable prime minister Qin Ruhui suddenly became so insane overnight?
All of this began last night when three treasure ships carrying the Prime Minister's family and Qin Ruhui's lifetime's worth of gold and silver treasures were intercepted by the Longcheng naval fleet sailing north along the river.
At that time, Chen Huai'an also ordered Xiao Po to imprison Qin Ruhui's eldest son, Qin Tianchao, intending to use him as a bargaining chip to persuade Qin Ruhui to surrender and take Jinling City without bloodshed.
After all, the city walls of Jinling are tall, and if a battle breaks out, there will inevitably be casualties, and innocent civilians in the city will also be harmed.
Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, Chen Huai'an received offers of surrender and loyalty from both the Liangjiang New Army and the Tiger Army.
As a result, Chen Huai'an changed his mind and decided to send the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui on his final journey by killing him out of his spirit.
He immediately ordered Qin Tianchao to be executed, and then ordered Luo Yucheng, the deputy commander of the Longcheng Inner Guard, to bring Qin Tianchao's head and the letter from the Prince of Jin into the city overnight, and throw the head and the letter into the Prime Minister's residence.
Incidentally, he also ordered the Longcheng Inner Guard within the city to spread the news that the Liangjiang New Army and the Huben New Army had defected on the spot, and that the Longcheng Jingnan Army was about to enter the city.
Furthermore, the scene of defeating the rattan armor army during the day today has completely shaken the morale of the Lianghu New Army defending the city.
Even Li Jingyu, the Minister of War, had secretly sent an envoy to meet with Prince Jin, expressing his willingness to assist Prince Jin in conquering Jinling City without bloodshed.
Under the blow of this series of events, especially the pain of losing his son in his old age, the cunning and treacherous minister Qin Ruhui, who had been shrewd and cunning all his life, went completely insane.
The dragon robe he wore, which he had prepared long ago, was something he had always dreamed of wearing, so that he could ascend to the top of the Golden Palace, sit on the dragon throne, and receive the homage of civil and military officials.
Today, Qin Ruhui finally got what he wanted.
When Qin Ruhui staggered onto the city gate, the imperial guards of the former imperial city had long since vanished. The vast palace was deserted, without a single person in sight.
After the Lingwu Coup and the recent entry of the Longcheng Jingnan Army into Jinling, the imperial city was no longer comparable to the one during the reign of Emperor Zhenwu, the founder of the Great Xin Dynasty.
The deserted imperial city is like a ghost town.
Thump thump thump!
Thump thump thump!
Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves, like thunder, came from afar and grew closer and closer.
Although Qin Ruhui was insane, he was not deaf and could tell that it was the sound of cavalry horses' hooves striking the bluestone bricks outside the imperial city.
Soon, the mighty Dragon City cavalry, carrying the banners of the Prince of Jin, arrived at the capital with overwhelming force.
Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin rode his yellow horse and stood proudly before the three armies below the imperial city.
On the city wall stood the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui, dressed in a dragon robe and carrying the emperor's sword;
Beneath the city walls stood Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin, commanding thousands of troops in golden armor.
This scene became the last glimpse of the Great Xin Dynasty before its demise.
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