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

Chapter 648 Martial Law
After the Hall of Supreme Harmony, there are its ancillary buildings. Continuing forward are the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. These three halls are also known as the front three halls and are the three main halls of the Forbidden City.

After passing the Baohedian Hall, the Qianqing Palace, the first of the three palaces at the back, is in front. It is also the residence of emperors of all dynasties. Emperor Chongzhen usually lived in the Qianqing Palace. However, the Qianqing Palace covers a large area. Because Emperor Chongzhen was busy with state affairs every day, he was used to living in the side halls of the Qianqing Palace. On the contrary, he seldom stayed in the main hall, which is the main building.

"Sixth brother!" As soon as he arrived at the Qianqing Palace, Wang Jinwu hurried over. He looked very excited and delighted.

"You did a good job, kid!" Zhu Shenzhui looked at him, clenched his fist and punched his chest. Wang Jinwu laughed with joy. There was no trace of the ferocious look he had when he led his troops into the capital and the palace.

"Where is Li You?" Zhu Shenzhui asked after looking around and not seeing Li You.

"This guy is still leading people to search. I heard you were coming, so I came to greet you first."

"What's the situation in the palace?" Zhu Shenzhui asked seriously.

Wang Jinwu said: "There are only a few rebels left, and all those with weapons have been dealt with. The palace is too big to search, especially if we search each palace one by one. Not only do we have to prevent people from causing trouble, but we also have to check their identities and guard them separately. I'm afraid it will take some time. But don't worry, Sixth Brother, give me half a day at most, and the palace will be completely clear. Even if a rat hides, I will definitely find it!"

"Good!" Zhu Shenzhui was very satisfied. Although Wang Jinwu seemed careless on weekdays, he was still very reliable in doing things. He knew his brothers very well, so he could rest assured to leave this matter to him.

Then, Zhu Shenzhui asked about the situation in the harem, including Emperor Chongzhen and everyone in the harem. Wang Jinwu told Zhu Shenzhui that Emperor Chongzhen was currently imprisoned in the Qianqing Palace, and as for his concubines, princes and princesses, none of them escaped and were all captured.

Not only Emperor Chongzhen, but also the former Empress Zhang of Emperor Tianqi was captured, in addition to other concubines and palace maids in the harem, including Li Xianshi, who was known as Xi Li, now known as Li Kangfei.

These people were temporarily concentrated in Chengqian Palace for custody. As for other palace people, including eunuchs, they were all temporarily kept under custody. The entire palace was taken over by their own people to ensure that nothing could go wrong.

Wang Jinwu's arrangement was considered appropriate, which made Zhu Shenzhu very satisfied. At this time, Wang Jinwu asked Zhu Shenzhu if he wanted to meet Emperor Chongzhen first.

Zhu Shenzhui shook his head slightly and said that he would not meet him first, and there was no point in meeting him now. He asked Wang Jinwu to take good care of him, not to abuse him, and to be polite to him. He could not let Emperor Chongzhen commit suicide, and at the same time, he had to ensure his absolute safety.

In addition, no one is allowed to talk to Emperor Chongzhen. No matter what he does, as long as his life is not endangered, he can do whatever he wants. Even if he curses, just pretend you don't know. Now that we have just arrived in the capital, there are too many things to do. Let's talk about it after everything is settled.

Wang Jinwu patted his chest and promised to do all these. Zhu Shenzhui nodded, took a look at the nearby Qianqing Palace, and then turned around and went to the Wenhua Hall. The Wenhua Hall is located to the east of the Taihe Hall, opposite to the Wuying Hall in the east and west. It used to be the place where the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty observed government affairs, and later it was the place where the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty held imperial lectures. Zhu Shenzhui had thought it through when he entered the palace. He did not choose the Qianqing Palace or other palaces, but chose this place. Naturally, there was a deep meaning behind it.

By daybreak, the entire capital had gradually calmed down after a night of war. Zhu Shenzui's troops in the city were still searching to avoid hidden resistance forces and eliminate hidden dangers.

By the afternoon of that day, the remaining resistance forces were completely eliminated, the capital was completely under control, and the situation was completely stabilized.

Then, Zhu Shenzui had people post notices to reassure the people of the capital, informing them that he was not plotting a rebellion, but was bringing troops into the capital to purge the emperor's court and quell the national crisis. In addition, he announced to everyone that Emperor Chongzhen, including the empress, concubines, princes and princesses, were all there and were being settled in the palace, and that the situation within the palace had been pacified. Apart from executing the resisters, Zhu Shenzui did not kill any member of the royal family, let alone attack the harem.

Because of the special circumstances, the entire capital city is temporarily taken over by Zhu Shenzhui, and all city defenses are handed over to the Qinwang Army. The soldiers and yamen runners in the Beijing camp and various government offices will be sorted out by the Qinwang Army, and order will be restored after some time.

Before this, the capital adopted martial law measures, and all government orders were issued by Zhu Shenzui of Wenhua Palace. The nobles, civil and military officials, and ordinary people in the city did not need to panic. They should stay in their homes and not go out without permission. Special people would come to their homes to check and register one by one, and they would be free after ensuring that there were no problems.

If anyone secretly plots or even intends to do something wrong during this period, they will be dealt with according to military law during the martial law period. Regardless of the other party's identity, they will be beheaded directly and their entire family will be implicated. There will be no forgiveness.

Not only were public notices posted all over the streets, but Zhu Shenzhui's men also took Shuntianfu's yamen runners to the streets and alleys to promote the notice loudly, beating gongs and drums. Although many people secretly cursed Zhu Shenzhui, a traitor, for a bad death after hearing the content, and were even more indignant that the emperor had fallen into the hands of thieves when he entered the capital, only a few people actually rushed out of their homes, except for a few ruffians who wanted to take advantage of the situation to make a fortune, and those fearless young men and a few censors in the court who relied on their status to run out to cause trouble. They were caught by patrolling soldiers without saying a word, taken to the street corner and beheaded on the spot, with their heads hung directly at the street corner. Although the rest of the people were terrified, they dared not make any more troubles, and obeyed his orders obediently, not daring to go out at all.

As for the common people, it goes without saying that for the common people, both Emperor Chongzhen and Zhu Shenzhu, who purged the court of evil officials, were members of the Zhu family. Since they were their own people, as long as they did not make things difficult for the common people, who cared who was the emperor?

Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui's army did not burn, kill or loot after entering the city. Instead, they had stricter discipline than the officers and soldiers. As long as the people did not violate the military regulations, these troops were easy to talk to. There were even some people who had no choice but to shout for help from the patrolling soldiers at their doorsteps because of insufficient rice at home. Instead, these soldiers did not get angry, but asked the yamen runners to record the situation and promised to resolve it as soon as possible.

The people thought it was just a formality and didn't expect it to be solved. But they didn't expect that soldiers and yamen runners would come with carts full of rice and other things just half a day later. They charged the market price and sold the rice to the people who were short of food, solving their urgent needs.

Such an act was unheard of not only for ordinary people, but also for officials. Since ancient times, how could soldiers have done such a thing? It was good enough not to burn, kill, and loot after breaking into the city. How could they do such a thing for the people?

In addition to being surprised, many people's perception of the Jingnan Army has changed a lot. They feel that although these soldiers kill people without blinking an eye and are very good at fighting, they are not unreasonable. As long as they follow the other side's rules and do not make trouble, the other side is much better than the government army. This is the first time they have seen such an army.

While pacifying the people in the city, Zhu Shenzui had sent people to sort out and reorganize the soldiers and runners in the Beijing camp and various government offices in the capital.

Although they have captured the capital and occupied the imperial palace, they must know that this matter is not over, it is just the beginning.

The Ming Dynasty was so vast that it was still unknown how the various provincial governments would react. Before, Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict to send troops to defend the country, so perhaps in a few days a large army would arrive to defend the country.

Although Zhu Shenzui's army is capable of fighting, it is small in number after all. At most, there are less than 20,000 of them in total, and there are only more than 10,000 of them in the capital now.

There are 800,000 soldiers and civilians in the entire capital. It is extremely difficult to control such a large population, including an important city like the capital, with the troops in Zhu Shenzhui's hands. Especially since they have to maintain public order in the city and suppress possible rebellions, the troops are even more insufficient.

More importantly, Zhu Shenzhui's troops were all combat soldiers, and it was impossible to let combat soldiers with strong combat effectiveness do these trivial things. Therefore, it was urgent to reorganize and recover the soldiers and runners of the Beijing camp, including the yamen. Among them, the runners of Shuntian Prefecture were the first to be dealt with. After preliminary elimination, these runners, including low-level clerks, were asked to work for the Jingnan Army to appease the people.

As for the Beijing Camp, because some people from the Beijing Camp had surrendered before, and most of the nobles had been ordered to stay at home temporarily and not go out, they were further sorted. After removing the noble identities, some people with families and jobs and honest looks were selected from the ordinary soldiers. After registration, these people became the first batch of Beijing Camp troops to complete the reorganization.

In just one day, more than 10,000 soldiers were selected from the previously captured Beijing Camp and the Beijing Camp that originally defended the city. These people were organized into 20 camps, each with 500 people, including one centurion and one deputy centurion, and under them were pacification officers, general flags, and small flags of varying numbers.

Five battalions formed a brigade, with one thousand-man commander and one deputy thousand-man commander, totaling four brigades. The commanders were Wang Chuer, Lu Yishen, Wang Gui and the new army officer Du Fulong. The centurions of each battalion, including the deputy centurions, were drawn from Zhu Shenzhui's army, as were nearly half of the low-level officers such as the pacification officers, general flag officers, and small flag officers. The rest were selected from the reorganized Beijing camp to form an army.

In order to distinguish the new Beijing Camp from the previous one, the name Shuntian Army was specially used. This name was only used temporarily and would be changed later. Although the Shuntian Army was initially reorganized, its combat effectiveness was very average. Moreover, it was not a good idea to send a newly formed army to the battlefield without training. However, with this army in hand, Zhu Shenzhui's army could get out of the tedious affairs of the capital. At least this army could maintain law and order, stabilize the capital, and deter the city.

Apart from the reorganization of the Shuntian Army, Zhu Shenzui did not release the remaining members of the Beijing Camp, including those mixed soldiers. On the one hand, these people were veterans, and on the other hand, they were also unstable factors. It would be safest to keep them in his hands.

Next, we will continue to select those who can be used and gradually fill them into the Shuntian Army. The rest will be organized in a military way and be responsible for repairing the city walls, transporting supplies and other tasks. At the same time, we will also try to train these people and see if there are any disloyal people among them so that they can be dealt with directly.

In less than three days, the entire capital was completely stabilized. After the Shuntian Army took over the public security in most areas of the city, those people hiding in the capital could not cause any trouble even if they wanted to. At this time, Zhu Shenzhui finally had time to deal with other things. On the one hand, he gradually relaxed some military control requirements. Ordinary people in the capital could go out for a breath of fresh air at regular intervals, and even shops could resume business. However, when it got dark, the capital was still under martial law, and no one was allowed to go out on the streets. If someone was found to go out at night without permission and without a written order from the military control office, the patrolling soldiers could directly arrest him and take him to the street corner to be punished by military law.

(End of this chapter)