Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 636 It’s the other way around!

In this way, Emperor Chongzhen put the matter on hold, intending to let Xu Xiancheng "understand" it himself, hoping that Xu Xiancheng would take the initiative to help him shoulder this responsibility.

But Xu Xiancheng was not stupid. He was not a worm in the stomach of Emperor Chongzhen, so he could not guess what Emperor Chongzhen was thinking. Moreover, as a local official, Xu Xiancheng dispatched the navy without permission to take back the soldiers and civilians from Pi Island. Not to mention whether Dongjiang Town in Pi Island would obey his orders, even if he did, once the court investigated, how many heads would Xu Xiancheng have to chop off?

Therefore, although there were constant memorials sent back and forth between Shandong and the capital in the past few days, the matter had not been settled. As time went on, Huang Taiji was about to complete his repairs in Korea and mobilize the Korean navy to attack Pi Island, but Xu Xiancheng still did not move, which made Emperor Chongzhen extremely anxious.

"How come Xu Xiancheng doesn't know my intention?" Emperor Chongzhen was holding a memorial just sent by Xu Xiancheng. The content of the memorial was about the Pi Island incident and reported the movements of Korea. Xu Xiancheng said that judging from what he knew, Huang Taiji would probably take action against Pi Island soon. There was not much time left for Pi Island. He hoped that the court would make a decision as soon as possible, whether to fight or withdraw, there must be an explanation in any case.

Looking at the memorial, Emperor Chongzhen frowned and felt irritated. In his opinion, the ministers should know his thoughts and help him solve his problems. Xu Xiancheng was too ignorant. He didn't understand this principle?

Unable to help but stand up, Emperor Chongzhen walked around impatiently. He really wanted to ask Xu Xiancheng in person whether he really didn't understand or was he just pretending to be confused? Did he have to explain this matter himself? But how could he say it directly? If he issued an order directly, he would have no way out as the emperor. At that time, the responsibility for the loss of Pi Island would be on his head. Emperor Chongzhen didn't want his image as a wise ruler to be damaged because of this matter.

After pondering for a long time, Emperor Chongzhen felt that this was not going to work, so he had to send someone to pass on a message to Xu Xiancheng to let him know what he meant. Although he couldn't issue an order in writing, he could always send someone to pass on the message, right? Even if something went wrong later, he could just deny it and put Xu Xiancheng in a difficult position.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen made a decision and opened his mouth to call for help. But before he could open his mouth, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside, and then saw a man stumbling into the side hall from outside. Upon closer inspection, he found that the man was Fang Zhenghua, the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department.

Fang Zhenghua was sweating profusely from running, his robes and crown were scattered, and he looked frightened and out of breath.

"Asshole!" Emperor Chongzhen could not help but curse. As the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, Fang Zhenghua was such a jerk. Where were the rules of the palace? How could a eunuch like him become like this?
Just when Emperor Chongzhen was getting angry and was about to call for someone to punish Fang Zhenghua, he saw Fang Zhenghua stumble and fall to the ground. However, he did not get up immediately. Instead, he knelt down and kowtowed to Emperor Chongzhen, saying, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty...something bad has happened! Your Majesty...is rebelling! He is rebelling!"

"Your Majesty... is rebelling?" These words stunned Emperor Chongzhen, and he was unable to recover for a while.

Wang Chengen, who was standing by, reacted quickly and stepped forward to ask Fang Zhenghua: "What happened? Why are you so panicked? Rebellion? Who rebelled? Tell me in detail!"

"Your Majesty..." Fang Zhenghua panted heavily. He almost ran out of breath after running all the way from the Imperial Household Department. He calmed down and continued, "Zhu Shenzhui, a member of the Jin vassal clan, has rebelled. His army has already captured Baoding and is heading towards the capital. Right now, the vanguard has passed Liangxiang and will reach the capital in one day at most!"

"What!" Emperor Chongzhen and Wang Chengen were both shocked, especially the former, who widened his eyes with an incredible look.

"When did this happen? How come I don't know anything about it? Baoding is gone? Where is Yang Wenyue? And Cao Minglei? Why haven't they reported it? Who is this Zhu Shenzhui? Is he from the Shanxi Jin Clan? Which branch of the Jin Clan? Where did he come from? How many troops does the enemy have?"

Fang Zhenghua couldn't explain it clearly. He just got the news and saw that the matter was so serious that he ran to report it without delay. As for what Emperor Chongzhen asked, he knew nothing about it, let alone the specific situation.

Seeing that he could not get any information, Emperor Chongzhen flew into a rage and scolded Fang Zhenghua, asking him what he was doing, "Why did you rush to report without knowing anything?" He was not even sure whether the news was true or not, so wasn't this just a false threat? He asked Fang Zhenghua to find out what happened and report back. Fang Zhenghua quickly agreed, kowtowed to Emperor Chongzhen, got up from the ground, and hurried back to the Silijian.

After Fang Zhenghua left, Wang Chengen was extremely anxious and told Emperor Chongzhen that he would also go to inquire about the situation and report back immediately if he had any news.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded. After all, Wang Chengen was in charge of the East Depot, which monitored the Embroidered Uniform Guard and was the emperor's eyes and ears. It would be much more appropriate for him to understand the situation than Fang Zhenghua. Moreover, it would be a lie for Emperor Chongzhen to say that he was not panicked at this time, especially when Fang Zhenghua said that Baoding was gone. Cold sweat broke out on Emperor Chongzhen's back.

Although Emperor Chongzhen had never left the palace, he was familiar with the capital area. There were maps of various places in the palace. He had looked at maps a lot in the past two years because of the rebellion of bandits. How could he not know that Baoding was the southern gate of the capital?

It only takes one day for a fast horse to reach the capital from Baoding. If Baoding is really lost, the rebels will be able to reach the capital very soon. And Fang Zhenghua just said that the rebel vanguard has reached Liangxiang, which is closer to the capital. Doesn't this mean that the rebels will be at the gates of the city in the blink of an eye?

Thinking of this, how could Emperor Chongzhen sit still? Without waiting for Wang Chengen and others to come back, he hurriedly ordered the cabinet ministers, the Minister of War, the governor of the Beijing camp, etc. to come to the palace immediately, and at the same time ordered the nine gates of the capital to be closed and prepare for the defense of the city. Soon, orders were issued from the palace one after another. Along with the delivery of the orders, there were also various news coming from the south, which made the entire capital panic for a while, and everyone was in danger.

Soon, news came to the hands of Emperor Chongzhen. An hour and a half after Fang Zhenghua arrived to report the news, Emperor Chongzhen finally understood the situation.

Just as Fang Zhenghua reported, Baoding was gone, and the fate of Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue and Baoding General Cao Minglei was unknown. Zhu Shenzhui, a member of the Shanxi Jin vassal clan, suddenly raised an army, and the army had already passed Liangxiang and would reach the capital in one day at most.

The situation of Zhu Shencui has also been clarified. Zhu Shencui is a descendant of King Jin and grandson of King Jiaocheng. He is given the title of Lieutenant of Fuguo. According to the clan ranking, he is the ancestor of Emperor Chongzhen.

In theory, Zhu Shenzhu's title was not high. Not only was he not a prince or a duke, he was not even a general who supported the country or defended the country. He was just a low-ranking lieutenant who supported the country. There were many such royal family members in the Ming Dynasty, at least thousands of them, and they were not very impressive.

If this incident had not happened, Emperor Chongzhen would probably never have heard of Zhu Shenzhui's name, let alone this person. But now it is different. This inconspicuous member of the royal family actually raised an army, and came all the way from Shanxi without anyone noticing. Not only did he capture Baoding, he also fought as far as Liangxiang, and was about to approach the capital. This was simply unimaginable.

How did this guy show up? Where did he come from? How could he be so courageous? When Emperor Chongzhen learned this, he was more angry than afraid. He gnashed his teeth and silently repeated Zhu Shenzhu's name several times, wishing he could pull out his tendons and skin him on the spot.

A royal family rebellion was unheard of. Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen had always claimed to be a wise ruler, but it was a huge joke that the capital was threatened by a royal family rebellion that appeared out of nowhere.

Without a second thought, Emperor Chongzhen ordered the Cabinet and the Ministry of War to immediately prepare for the defense of the capital, and issued an order to mobilize border troops to return for support, trying to defeat the rebels outside the capital in one fell swoop and capture this daring member of the royal family.

Just as he was making such arrangements, Wang Chengen hurried back from outside. He looked very unhappy. When he met Emperor Chongzhen, he first bowed. Emperor Chongzhen saw his expression and knew that something must be wrong, so he asked him directly what else he had found out.

Wang Chengen looked around but didn't say anything. Emperor Chongzhen was impatient and told him to speak directly. Helplessly, Wang Chengen took out something from his arms and handed it over, saying that his people had just obtained Zhu Shenzhui's uprising manifesto from the south and brought it back to Emperor Chongzhen.

Emperor Chongzhen took the paper and started reading it. After reading only two lines, he became so angry that his face turned red and his hands and feet trembled. Especially when he saw the six words "clear the court and quell the national crisis" written on it, Emperor Chongzhen almost vomited blood.

"What a rebellion! This man is despicable! He deserves to be killed! He deserves to be skinned alive!"

Emperor Chongzhen bit his silver teeth, his eyes were red, and he was shaking with anger. At this time, Prime Minister Wen Tiren asked Emperor Chongzhen if he could take a look at the manifesto.

Emperor Chongzhen casually threw the manifesto to him. Wen Tihen and several cabinet ministers read it carefully. When they saw the content of the manifesto, their faces changed drastically and they looked incredible. They never thought that Zhu Shenzhui would be so bold that he not only rebelled as a member of the royal family, but also wrote such a manifesto.

"Your Majesty! I am willing to lead the Beijing camp out of the city to defeat the enemy!" At this time, Wu Weiying, the Marquis of Gongshun, stood up and said passionately. Not only him, but Li Guozhen, the Earl of Xiangcheng, also volunteered, saying that the rebels were nothing to be afraid of. Although they had captured Baoding, it was probably just a sneak attack. What ability could Zhu Shenzhu, a low-ranking royal family member, have? Even if they rebelled, his subordinates were just a mob.

When Prince Ning raised an army as a prince to seize the throne, wasn't he wiped out in an instant? What about a mere lieutenant of the state?
The capital is the center of the Ming Dynasty, and the Beijing Camp is the elite of the Ming Dynasty. The two capitals of the Ming Dynasty, the southern and northern camps have more than 400,000 people, of which the number of people in the capital exceeds 200,000. With so many people, how could Zhu Shencui resist? There is no need for the border troops to come to the rescue. As long as they lead the Beijing Camp to go to war, Zhu Shencui will surely be defeated and killed.

Even if the capital city ate nearly half of the empty salaries, there were still more than 100,000 people. Zhu Shenzhui came from afar, how many troops could he have to attack the capital city? With so many people at hand, to put it bluntly, one person's urine could drown Zhu Shenzhui. Although Wu Weiying was a playboy, he was also a descendant of a noble family after all, and it was rare to have made great contributions to suppressing the rebellion. How could he miss this opportunity to make merit?

(End of this chapter)