Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 48 Entering the DPRK
On the official road, a large carriage was moving slowly forward.

There were five or six strong servants in black clothes in front and behind the carriage, with long swords hanging on the side of the horse, guarding the carriage on both sides.
The car curtain was opened, and an old man looked out of the window

It was October, the time for autumn harvest, but the fields on both sides of the road were barren, with only a few people harvesting rice in the fields.
The old man frowned slightly. Since the fall of Nandu, the situation of the court has become increasingly critical. In order to resist the increasingly threatening Eastern Tartars, the court had to step up the recruitment of soldiers.
However, the northern capital and the southern capital fell one after another, and the core area of ​​Jiangnan was also lost last year. The court had no money or food to recruit soldiers, so the several provinces still under the control of the court began to collect taxes more and more urgently.

Guangdong Province is the only fertile land left in the Ming Dynasty, and the taxes it bears are naturally increasing day by day.
The people of Guangdong Province could not bear so much levy, so they abandoned their land and fled. Therefore, even though the war has not yet spread to Guangdong Province, there are still a lot of abandoned fields in Guangdong Province.
Chen Zizhuang looked at the letter on the table in the car. It was a handwritten letter from the King of Gui, whom he had never met before. The letter was asking him to come to the court to assist in the administration.

Chen Zizhuang had been living in Nanhai since the Hongguang reign and no longer cared about the affairs of the court. Nanhai and Zhaoqing were both in Guangdong Province. In fact, he had received a letter from the court as early as October 5. If he had set out immediately, he should have arrived in Zhaoqing City by now.

But now it is the twelfth day and he is still on his way
He had no objection to supporting the King of Gui, and on the day he received the letter, he sent someone to bring the congratulatory letter back to the court, but he had doubts about whether to enter the court to assist in the administration.
Chen Zizhuang was already well-known in the court during the reign of Chongzhen, and was even appointed as a Grand Secretary and entered the cabinet to assist in government affairs during the reign of Hongguang. However, after experiencing Ma Shiying's monopoly of power in the court and forming cliques for personal gain, and the Qing army's attack, which frightened the court and led to its surrender without a fight, he was already extremely disappointed with the Ming Dynasty and wanted to retire.

But he was famous, and although he wanted to retire, he still couldn't find peace.
This was not the first time he received an imperial edict to assist in government administration.

After the fall of Nanjing, Qian Qianyi and other cabinet ministers surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Qian Qianyi then left the city in disguise and fled back to Guangdong Province to live in seclusion, determined to return to his hometown to teach and no longer serve as an official.

However, Emperor Longwu was re-established in Fujian Province and invited him to the court to assist in government administration. Emperor Longwu and Chen Zizhuang had a feud.
When Emperor Longwu was the Prince of Tang, the Qing army attacked the border and threatened the capital. The Prince of Tang recruited soldiers to the court without the court's permission.
However, the Tang prince was sent back by the court only halfway through his journey. However, Emperor Chongzhen still intended to release the Zhu family princes from their captivity, hoping that the wise princes in various places could lead troops and serve as officials normally, so as to maintain the situation of the court.

At that time, the ministers in the court were discussing this matter. Chen Zizhuang expressed his opposition to the memorial. Emperor Longwu, who was still the King of Tang at the time, impeached him for alienating the royal family. Chen Zizhuang was even imprisoned for this.

It can be said that there was a long-standing grudge between Emperor Longwu and Chen Zizhuang, but even so, when Emperor Longwu established the system in Fujian Province, he still had to hold his nose and summon Chen Zizhuang to the court.

Not to mention that Chen Zizhuang had already decided to retire at that time, even if he still wanted to serve as an official, he would never have been able to join the Longwu Dynasty.
Therefore, when Chen Zizhuang received the Longwu imperial edict, he refused it and lived in seclusion in his hometown, never going to Fujian Province.
But he could never have imagined that before the newly established Longwu Dynasty lasted a year, news came that Fujian Province had fallen and Emperor Longwu had died in Tingzhou.
The Ming Dynasty had three emperors in three years, all of whom died at the hands of the bandits. The Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. At this time, Chen Zizhuang finally couldn't bear it anymore.

The Longwu Dynasty had just collapsed, and suddenly there was news of the support of the King of Gui. Not long after, he received another handwritten letter from the King of Gui, asking him to come to the court to assist in the administration.

Although Chen Zizhuang had the idea of ​​serving as an official, he still did not agree easily.

The Hongguang Dynasty had Ma Shiying, the Longwu Dynasty had Zheng Zhilong, but the new Zhaoqing Dynasty also had Ding Kuichu.
He was a famous official in Guangdong Province. How could he not know the reputation of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi in his hometown? If he rushed into the court without understanding the current situation in Zhaoqing City, it would only be a repetition of the old events of the Hongguang Dynasty.

So after receiving the letter from the King of Gui, he mobilized his students and old friends to keep inquiring about the situation in Zhaoqing City.
After that, he received a letter from Qu Shisi. After learning that Gui Wang Qiangbian and the other two had forced Jiao Lian to come to the court, secretly wooed Li Mingzhong, and recruited himself and He Wuzuo and other ministers in the opposition to come to the court, he decided to get up and go to the court.
Chen Zizhuang was also a long-time official, and Qu Shisi did not hide anything. How could he not see the various actions of the Gui King?

The ultimate goal of the King of Gui's efforts is to check and balance Ding Kuichu and take back the power of the court.

Although Chen Zizhuang had never met the King of Gui before, he had already sketched out the image of the King of Gui in his mind. This person's methods and actions vaguely overlapped with someone in his impression.
During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, he thought that Emperor Chongzhen was impatient, stubborn and self-willed, and was not a wise ruler. However, after watching the reigns of Emperors Hongguang, Longwu and Lu, he suddenly realized that Emperor Chongzhen was a rare wise ruler compared to those dynasties.

Chen Zizhuang was holding the letter from the King of Gui in his hand, but his mind had already drifted away unconsciously. Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves interrupted his thoughts.
The sound of horse hooves stopped outside the car, and soon a middle-aged man got into the car.
The middle-aged man had an angry look on his face, holding a letter in his hand. He entered the carriage and said:

"Teacher, there is an urgent letter from the court. Please take a look. It is really outrageous."

Chen Zizhuang glanced at Mai Erxuan, who looked angry, and frowned slightly, but did not speak. Instead, he took the letter from Mai Erxuan and checked it.
Chen Zizhuang opened the letter and read it, but as he read it, his brows furrowed more and more.

"Su Guansheng is such a treacherous villain that he dared to lead the army into the court without permission. He even used the military funds in his hands to deceive Your Highness, hoping to consolidate His Highness' favor with the army. He is truly a great thief of the court."

Mai Erxuan looked at Chen Zizhuang who was holding the book for a long time without saying anything, and couldn't help but cursed
"How do you know that Su Guansheng is a treacherous villain? Have you ever met Su Guansheng before, or worked with him? Do you know how he behaves?"

"Otherwise, what basis do you have to say that he is a treacherous villain? Just because the person who wrote this letter said that he is a treacherous villain, you also think that he is a treacherous villain."

Chen Zizhuang stared at Mai Erxuan in front of him with a stern look.
Seeing Chen Zizhuang's stern expression, Mai Erxuan's expression also changed. He wanted to speak several times, but in the end he had to speak

"I really didn't know this Su Guansheng before," Mai Erxuan said, but then he spoke again

"Even if I don't know this person, isn't he a traitor for doing such an evil thing? In order to keep his position, he did not hesitate to deceive His Highness and deceive His Highness into giving him a handwritten order. Without the order of the court, he led the army into the court, disturbing all the civil and military officials. If this isn't a traitor, then what is he?" Mai Erxuan said loudly, looking unconvinced.
"You are still unconscious. How do you know that he obtained the order from His Highness by trickery? You were there at the time. If you were not there, how would you know that he obtained the order by trickery? Since he had the order from His Highness, how could he not have received the order from the court?"

Chen Zizhuang's expression became more and more severe. He put down the letter in his hand and stared at the student in front of him.

Mai Erxuan looked at his teacher who kept scolding him, with a look of shock and disbelief on his face, and said loudly
"Teacher, do you really think that Su Guansheng is a loyal minister?" "Whether Su Guansheng is loyal or treacherous is none of my business. It is you whom I want to enlighten. You were seduced by a few words. How can you take on important responsibilities in the future?" Chen Zizhuang's eyes were sharp.

Mai Erxuan was shocked at this moment, his face changed, and he bowed to the old man in front of him.

"It is my fault, teacher, please punish me."

Seeing that the student in front of him finally reacted, Chen Zizhuang snorted and said

"You think I am angry with Su Guansheng? After reading this letter, is Su Guansheng the only one you see?"

"Please teach me, teacher," Mai Erxuan said respectfully.

"Su Guansheng is just a random student. If he can be used, he will be used. If he can't be used, he will be fired. How can he be included in the overall situation? The most important person in this letter is Ding Kuichu," Chen Zizhuang said in a cold voice

"Whether Su Guansheng is loyal or treacherous, since it has been verified that he was summoned by the King of Gui, he is a legitimate minister of state, and the soldiers under his command are also generals of our Ming Dynasty."

"But what is Ding Kuichu doing? He knew that Su Guansheng was summoned to the court, but he still dared to lead his troops to attack and kill him."

"The King of Gui has not yet succeeded to the throne. If the country's army attacks each other outside the city at this time, it will surely shock China and the world. Do you know how big an impact this will have? Compared with this, what is Su Guansheng?" Chen Zizhuang said in a cold voice.

Mai Erxuan was suddenly shocked when he heard the words of the old man in front of him. Just now, all he could see was that Su Guansheng led the army into the court without authorization, but he didn't notice the danger of this matter at all.
Only after Chen Zizhuang reminded him of this did he realize the seriousness of the matter. The imperial court was already in turmoil at this time. If the ministers attacked each other, the imperial court would lose face immediately.

The remaining dignity of the central government will be gone, and the ambitious people in various places will probably see the weakness of the court and become more reckless. Compared with this, what is Su Guansheng?

The more Mai Erxuan thought about it, the more terrified he became, and cold sweat broke out on his face.

"I really don't know what Qu Shisi and Lu Daqi are doing in the court. They can't even handle such a big matter in advance. They are really unworthy of being ministers."

Chen Zizhuang snorted coldly, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and then continued to speak

"This Ding Kuichu is really too presumptuous. Now it seems that His Highness was right to transfer Su Guansheng to the court. If it weren't for Li Mingzhong, Su Guansheng and others, I don't know how domineering Ding Kuichu would be."

"This Ding Kuichu relies on the soldiers and food in his hands to control the court. Judging from his behavior, his presence in the court is definitely not a blessing for the country. Now that Your Highness has a large number of soldiers and food in his hands, he can intimidate Ding Kuichu."

"The first thing we must do when entering the court this time is to seize Ding Kuichu's military supplies and bring them back to the court. Only in this way can we restore the authority of the central government and deter the scoundrels at home and abroad."

Chen Zizhuang muttered to himself coldly, and then fell into deep thought.

Mai Erxuan was listening to the old man's words, but cold sweat kept coming out of his forehead. However, he did not dare to make a sound, for fear of disturbing the old man's thoughts.

On another official road, a large carriage was also heading towards Zhaoqing, with a dozen cavalrymen guarding the carriage.
In the carriage, He Wuzuo put down the letter that had just been received in his hand, looked at the sky outside the window, and said nothing for a long time.
“That’s a really good trick.”

I don't know how long it took before the old man in the car slowly uttered a sentence.

The old man had an inexplicable look on his face. He didn't know whether he was saying that Qu Shisi's instigation of the King of Gui to secretly recruit Su Guansheng was a good move, that Ding Kuichu's brazen gathering of troops to attack and kill court officials was a good move, or that Su Guansheng's desperate attempt to lead his troops into the court to preserve his power was a good move.

Outside Zhaoqing City, several armies rode their horses towards Zhaoqing, and two carriages also moved slowly towards Zhaoqing.
As the parties arrived in Zhaoqing one after another, the Gui Wang's regent ceremony was about to begin, and the Ming Dynasty was finally about to welcome its new emperor.

Tomorrow the protagonist will officially take over the country

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(End of this chapter)