Chapter 226 Zhu Di Arrives in Beijing, His Loyalty
In mid-May of the 17th year of Chongzhen, Zhu Di swaggered into Hebei.

At that time, Hebei was not actually called Hebei, but Northern Zhili.

Including the entire Hebei Province, it is under the jurisdiction of Beijing.

Apart from Beijing, the official in charge of local affairs in Hebei was Song Quan, the governor of Shuntian.

This was a traitor who first joined Li Zicheng and then immediately surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

But because Zhu Yuanzhang had not yet announced who in the north had surrendered, he planned to go to Beijing and start killing people himself.

As a result, the officials in Beijing had no idea what they had done later, so naturally there was no such thing as abandoning their posts and running away, or being killed by Chongzhen.

However, Song Quan did not welcome Zhu Di in Hebei.

He was stationed in Zunhua on the orders of Chongzhen to prevent the Jiannu from attacking the capital and other places from the Yanshan Mountains.

Therefore, the person responsible for welcoming Zhu Di was Shuntian Inspector Liu Yindong.

This guy is also a traitor.

Young Zhu Di did not shoot him, but left him for Old Zhu to kill.

Again.

Wang Yongji died because he opened the gate and let the Qing Dynasty in. The crimes of those traitors who surrendered later were not as serious as Wang Yongji’s, so it would have been the same if they had died a few days later.

Just like the situation in Shandong, Liu Yindong led the officials of all ranks in Hebei to welcome them respectfully and did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.

Not even a single thing happened along the way.

It seemed as if Zhu Di was not here to attack Beijing, but to enjoy the scenery, which made Zhu Yunfeng feel a little bored.

After passing Dezhou, the canal goes to Dongguang, Hebei, then Cangzhou, Xingji, Jinghai, and finally Tianjin, which is only about 100 kilometers away from Beijing.

There are no obstacles and everything flows smoothly.

By late May, more than twenty days had passed since Zhu Di set out from Fengyang.

The fleet entered the Tianjin wharf with great arrogance, and countless people who had already received the news flocked to the wharf, hoping to see Emperor Taizong.

To be honest, I encountered too many such things along the way.

However, compared with Tianjin, there are fewer star-chasing fans in other places along the way.

After all, after more than 200 years of development in the Ming Dynasty, Tianjin’s business has flourished. The city is spacious, with many shops in the city. Many Changlu salt merchants gathered here, making the population here very dense.

Although it cannot compare with super first-tier cities such as Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Beijing, it can be regarded as between first-tier and second-tier cities, especially in terms of water transport.

It is mid-summer and the sun is high in the sky, but the temperature in the north is not hot. Instead, it is cool and dry, making people feel relaxed and happy.

The ship slowly entered the Tianjin port.

People from both sides of the strait lined the streets to welcome them. Many people even fell into the water due to the crowds. The scene was in chaos.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please look at us, please look at us.”

“What’s Chengzu? You should call him Taizong.”

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”

The sound of mountains and seas came from all directions, and there were huge crowds of people on both sides of the canal. It was estimated that there were at least 70,000 to 80,000 people along the way, and the end was not visible at a glance.

“Ah, my charm is so overwhelming that it makes me feel like I’m back home even though I’m on the Northern Expedition. But Beijing seems to be my home.”

Little Zhu Di stood at the bow and looked out for a while, feeling very empty inside.

He was so popular that no one came to stop him.

If we don’t fight a single battle, can this be called the Northern Expedition? Can this be called the Fengtian Jingnan? What’s the difference between this and deciding by issuing an edict?
Zhu Yunfeng said disdainfully: “Why are you pretending? Have you ever been to Beijing?”

“You’ve tricked me. If you hadn’t come, I would have been fighting the Mongols in Beijing.”

“When I wasn’t here, did you have a cell phone to play with? A computer to play with? A suspender black stockings to buy for your wife?”

“My grass!”

Zhu Di was startled and looked around hurriedly. Seeing that there was no one around, he said angrily, “How can you say such a thing?”

Zhu Yunfeng said happily: “It doesn’t matter if there are no people around. Besides, do they understand?”

“.All right.”

Zhu Di thought so too.

The soldiers around only knew that they had arrived at the end of the Ming Dynasty, but they had no idea about the modern situation.

Not to mention them, even Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi were not clear about it, and they even thought that the modern world was Zhu’s fairyland.

As they were talking, the fleet had slowly arrived at the dock.

Just as before, local officials came to greet him and respectfully invited him into the city.

In addition to local officials, Cao Huachun, the former chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, also sought an audience.

Seeing that it was still early, Zhu Di decided not to stay in Tianjin and continued on his journey. He also rejected Cao Huachun’s request for a meeting.

He guessed that he came to plead for Chongzhen.

But Zhu Yuanzhang was already furious and gave Chongzhen one last chance. Chongzhen refused it, which embarrassed Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang would certainly not let this descendant off easily.

Although he was Emperor Taizong, he had no face in front of Emperor Taizu, so how could he dare to confront Zhu Yuanzhang? Naturally, he could only ask someone to tell Cao Huachun in a tactful way.

By evening, the team passed Yangcun and arrived in Wuqing.

As young Zhu Di moved forward, the news also reached the capital.

At this moment, Chongzhen, who was far away in Beijing, had no idea that Gao Qi had escaped, nor that Wu Sangui had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and even less that the Jian Nu planned to enter the pass.

In fact, when he learned that the Jiannu were let in by Wu Sangui, Wang Yongji and others, he wanted to summon them to the capital immediately and execute them by slow slicing.

But considering that this matter had to be kept secret, it was finally decided to act in secret.

no way.

Wang Yongji could perhaps be summoned and killed, but Wu Sangui, Tong Kuixing and others were stationed at Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan with troops.

They all have large armies under their command.

Although the troops in Shanxi and Hebei have not been defeated by Li Zicheng, the Ming Dynasty has no soldiers available.

But the Ming Dynasty had indeed almost reached the end of its rope.

Chongzhen drew out the garrison troops from Shanxi and Hebei, and only allowed Wang Jiayan to lead less than 50,000 troops to Shanhaiguan. The number of troops could be said to be pitifully small.

Under such circumstances, the heartland of the Central Plains, and even the border area of ​​Shanxi adjacent to Mongolia, can almost be said to be completely empty.

Without many troops and a meager garrison, the Mongols could even go south and plunder at will.

This shows that Chongzhen had reached an extremely embarrassing situation.

If he wanted to kill Wu Sangui, Tong Kuixing and others and cause the troops in Shanhaiguan to mutiny, I’m afraid Wu Sangui alone would be able to destroy the Ming Dynasty without Zhu Yuanzhang having to wait for him to go north.

So he had to think of something.

After discussing with many scholars in the cabinet, he planned to use a trap to kill the enemy.

The news about Zhu Yuanzhang had spread throughout the world. Ningyuan, outside Shanhaiguan, was only 800 miles away from the capital. It was impossible for Wu Sangui not to know about the future demise of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Chongzhen did not spread the news that Wu Sangui was one of the culprits, which left room for maneuver.

Chongzhen’s plan was to first secretly arrest Gao Qiquan and execute him, and then issue an imperial edict to praise Wu Sangui, saying that he would fight to the death at Shanhaiguan in the future and was a loyal minister who had served his country wholeheartedly.

Of course, Wu Sangui himself didn’t know what he would do in the future. Chongzhen’s imperial edict was to characterize him, so as to relax Wu Sangui’s vigilance.

At that time, let Wang Jiayan summon Wu Sangui to Shanhaiguan for a meeting, and arrange for executioners to take his life easily during the meeting.

But Chongzhen himself did not expect this.

The Ming Dynasty was too corrupt.

Not only was the officialdom corrupt, but his Imperial Household Department was even more corrupt.

The person sent to capture and kill Gao Qiquan was naturally his trusted eunuch, but he was bribed by Gao Qiquan and secretly passed the information.

But because Jiliao was hundreds of kilometers away from Beijing, the news had not yet reached his ears. He was only concerned about one thing now – Zhu Di’s whereabouts.

“His Majesty.”

Wang Chengen walked in with small steps into the study of the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing, Ming Dynasty.

Chongzhen, who was sitting behind his desk, raised his head and asked, “Has Chengzu arrived in Tianjin?”

“Yes, but Chengzu did not stop in Tianjin. Instead, he continued walking. According to the distance, he should spend the night in Wuqing today and reach the capital tomorrow.”

Wang Chengen replied.

“Has Cao Huachun visited Chengzu for me?”

Chongzhen asked again.

“He went, but Chengzu didn’t see anyone.”

Wang Chengen replied.

Cao Huachun had been ill in recent years, so he returned to his hometown to recuperate and had been away from the court for six years.

He was from Tianjin. When Zhu Di came to Tianjin this time, Chongzhen also gave him a task.

However, Zhu Di’s target was Beijing. Apart from the execution of Wang Yongji in Shandong, he did not meet any officials in other places along the way.

Including Cao Huachun, the envoy of Chongzhen.

Therefore, Chongzhen’s intention to contact Zhu Di was completely gone.

In fact, everyone still advised on this intention.

Chongzhen was a man who was too concerned about his reputation to care about anything. He had already contradicted Zhu Yuanzhang, so of course he was too embarrassed to turn back.

After all, he has been emperor for so many years.

Many scholars in the cabinet, high-ranking officials from the six ministries, and even Wang Chengen, Empress Zhou, and Concubine Tian all tried to persuade him, but they were still unsuccessful.

He even threatened that if Taizu came, he would come, and if he was deposed, he would be deposed, and he would not bow to anyone.

Finally, it was Empress Yi’an Zhang who stepped in and persuaded Chongzhen to issue an order to Cao Huachun, asking him to contact Zhu Di.

But it is obvious that Zhu Di strictly followed Zhu’s orders, and his goal was to capture Beijing.

“Forget it, let’s just not see each other.”

At this juncture, Chongzhen had calmed down.

“Your Highness the Prince of Wu told Eunuch Cao that the Grand Master was furious and that it was useless for anyone to plead for Your Majesty. I think Your Majesty must personally go and admit his fault.”

Wang Chengen smiled bitterly and said, “Although this is your Majesty’s family affair, I think there is nothing wrong in admitting your mistakes to your ancestor. He is the Great Ancestor, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. Why should we continue like this?”

Chongzhen shook his head and said, “Of course I know that Taizu gave me a chance, but I did lose the Ming Dynasty. I have no face to see my ancestors. Even if Taizu spared me, how could I feel at ease?”

The bitterness on Wang Chengen’s face became even more obvious.

He had been with Chongzhen for more than 20 years and knew his majesty’s character very well.

To put it nicely, it’s strong-willed.

Just as Emperor Taizu said, if the rebels break into the capital, Your Majesty would rather kill his wife and hang himself than surrender to the enemy.

But to put it bluntly, he is stupid. He won’t turn back even if he hits the wall, and he won’t give up even if he crosses the Yellow River. His stubborn character is really incomprehensible.

It is understandable that you did not surrender to Li Zicheng and wanted to preserve the last bit of dignity of the Ming Dynasty. But it is incomprehensible that you did not submit to Taizu and confronted the founder of the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Chengen naturally did not dare to say that Chongzhen was not a normal human being, so he could only say: “Emperor Chengzu will arrive in the capital tomorrow. Your Majesty, should you personally welcome him?”

“No, I will wait in this palace.”

Chongzhen’s expression became calmer and he said softly, “Let Jiang Dejing lead the civil and military officials of the court.”

In the 17th year of Chongzhen, there were many grand secretaries in the cabinet, namely Chen Yan, Jiang Dejing, Wei Zaode, Li Jiantai, Fang Yuegong, Fan Jingwen and Qiu Yu.

Since learning that Chen Yan and others were a nuisance, Chongzhen ordered Chen Yan, Wei Zaode and Li Jiantai to be imprisoned.

The rest, including Jiang Dejing, Fang Yuegong, Fan Jingwen and Qiu Yu, were all loyal ministers who died for their country, so they stayed. Currently, Jiang Dejing is the chief minister of the cabinet.

“Yes.”

Wang Chengen responded and wanted to continue persuading Chongzhen, but when he saw Chongzhen slowly close his eyes, his whole body unexpectedly relaxed, as if something had been removed from him, he could not help but be stunned.

After a while, Wang Chengen knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Chongzhen, saying in a low voice: “Your Majesty has worked hard for the past 17 years. Now that Taizu and Chengzu are here, Your Majesty should also take a rest.”

Chongzhen opened his eyes and looked down at him.

Suddenly I felt that I didn’t particularly like Wang Chengen before, but because there are fewer and fewer old people in Prince Xin’s Mansion, the eunuch who has come to this day is so pleasing to the eye, even more so than when I learned that Wang Chengen would accompany me to hang myself.

“Yes, I should take a rest. Perhaps being imprisoned in Fengyang will be more comfortable than being imprisoned in this Forbidden City. I hope that when I get to Fengyang, I can go out for a walk.”

Chongzhen laughed.

He heard Taizu say that he was half responsible for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

But has Taizu ever thought about what a mess he has taken over?

When he became emperor, how many honest officials were there in the court?
What a corrupt state the guard post outside is in!
Bandits were everywhere in the world, disasters were endless, officials were fighting each other, and the people were separated from their wives and children.

Yes.

I am indeed incompetent.

There is no ability to save the Ming Dynasty.

But he also worked diligently as emperor for more than ten years, trying hard to maintain this dilapidated situation.

Chongzhen could not tolerate the accusation that he was responsible for half the crime and that all the blame was put on him.

So he talked back to Taizu and refused to admit his mistake, just because he didn’t want to take the blame.

But that’s fine.

This emperor had been on the throne for more than ten years, yet he seemed to have aged thirty years.

Taizu and Chengzu are here.

Then just take a good rest and put this burden aside.

The night passed.

Chongzhen did not return to his bedroom last night, but stayed in the study all night.

The next morning, Zhu Di passed Wuqing and arrived at the outskirts of Beijing. The news, which was less than 20 miles away from the capital, spread throughout the court.

The chief minister Jiang Dejing led nearly a thousand officials from the cabinet, six ministries and the capital, plus the common people who came to watch the fun. The banks of the Tonghui River Canal at Chongwenmen in the south city were already crowded with people.

The canal has even stopped operating in recent times.

Or it could be said that it did not stop, but that no ship dared to overtake Zhu Di’s ship and could only follow far behind it, so that no grain transport ships entered the capital in recent days.

At the end of the morning, which was around 11 o’clock, tall ships appeared on the canal in the distance, drifting towards the capital.

A large number of trackers were pulling the fleet, and there were many soldiers on horseback on both sides. The momentum was so huge, as if there were thousands of troops surging.

“Chengzu is here, Chengzu is here.”

“Our Ming Dynasty is saved, and the people are saved.”

“Hurry up and pay your respects to Emperor Chengzu. Pay your respects to Emperor Chengzu.”

The people on both sides of the strait continued to cheer and roar. If they had not been blocked outside by Sun Chuanting’s soldiers, they would have rushed over long ago.

Many people even knelt down on the spot, which led to a wave of protests, with countless people kneeling down and kowtowing.

Wherever the fleet passed, the sea of ​​people on both sides became even larger.

Not long after, the team arrived outside Chongwenmen. From the boat, Zhu Di first looked at the large number of officials waiting at the gate, as well as the countless civilians along the surrounding canal, under the city wall, inside and outside the city.

Then he looked up at the magnificent Beijing city wall and suddenly laughed: “I built this city, hehe.”

(End of this chapter)