Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 21: Such a country, wouldn't it make people nostalgic?

Yesen did want to attack Juyongguan.

But when he was unlucky, not only did he get stuck in his teeth when drinking cold water, but the heavens were against him. When Yesen led his army to Juyong Pass, it was snowing heavily. Yesen looked at the frozen city wall and was speechless.

The first snow of the fourteenth year of Zhengtong,

Coming earlier than usual.

The red cannon parked at Juyongguan,
Took away the last falling yellow leaf.

The first snow of the fourteenth year of Zhengtong,

It is the complex of staying in Juyongguan.

You are like a butterfly flying around,

Swaying in the season of falling snow.

Luo Tong, the commander of Juyongguan, made full use of the heavy snow. He ordered the defenders to continuously pour water on the city wall. As a result, the entire pass tower was frozen into ice and the city wall turned into an ice wall.

When Yesen saw that the entire Juyong Pass had turned into a huge block of ice, he looked up and cursed the heavens. How could he attack? There was no place to lend a hand, and he even slipped when he walked to the bottom of the pass.

But he still did not give up, and he marched towards the capital of the Ming Dynasty with great momentum. He couldn't just go back like this, right? He ordered an attack, because there were less than 10,000 people at Juyong Pass.

Luo Tong, the commander of Juyongguan, was not panicked at all. Although there were not many defenders, he had cannons and muskets, and with the help of archers, he bombarded Yesen's army indiscriminately.

Yesen saw his soldiers floating in the air like snowflakes, and he finally understood.

Can't beat it, can't beat it at all!
At this time, Boyan rode his horse to his side and reported: "Great Khan, the Ming army's pursuit is only thirty miles away from Juyong Pass."

Yesen had no choice but to issue the order to retreat, for if they didn't leave now, they would be unable to leave.

He turned around and looked at the legitimate emperor of the Ming Dynasty who had been being led away, and thought to himself, I don't want to be a prisoner.

The Wala army retreated across the board. They decided not to fight anymore. They really didn't want to fight anymore.

Yesen sat on the horse and looked at the capital of the Ming Dynasty again with endless regret and sorrow.

He can't figure it out!
I was able to win in Tumu Fortress, so why did I lose in the capital?

Benhan, I will be back!

……

Zhu Qizhen and Shi Heng chased to Juyong Pass and stopped.

They climbed up the gate tower and looked at Yesen's army fleeing in panic in the vast snow. Zhu Qizhen, wearing armor, grasped the knife in his hand and whispered:

"In the dead of winter when snow falls, the cold sword is unsheathed, placed horizontally and vertically, to cut the snow when no one is around, to cut heads and drink blood when there are people around."

During this period, he and the Jinyiwei fought bloody battles on the battlefield, and he trusted them with his back. He began to understand a little bit what brotherhood was, and perhaps guarding the border with his brothers was much freer than going back to be the emperor.

"Your Majesty, it's time to go back." Shi Heng bowed, "If you don't return to the capital, Lord Yu Qian will definitely punish me. I have made great contributions this time, and I want to be a higher official."

"Look at what you have accomplished!" Zhu Qizhen gave him a sidelong glance.

Finally he won, and he felt relaxed. Looking inside and outside the Great Wall, he saw snow falling for thousands of miles.

"Such a landscape is indeed something to be nostalgic for," he murmured.

He stood in the snow and asked Shi Heng to order the army to rest at Juyongguan for one night and return to Beijing the next day.

night.

The bonfire was blazing, the soldiers were drinking from their cups, and Zhu Qizhen enjoyed himself with all the soldiers.

Shi Biao brought the remaining fifty Jinyiwei, holding a wine glass to Zhu Qizhen, and bowed: "Your Majesty, we offer you a glass of wine. From now on, we will go through fire and water, as long as your Majesty says, we will die!" "Bullshit!" Zhu Qizhen raised the wine glass, his face sad, "I don't want you to die, it's better to live lazily than to die well. Shi Biao, remember the brothers who died this time, and give them pensions when you go back."

"I remember them all!" Shi Biao's eyes were moist, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "The little stone who blocked an arrow for your majesty was very proud before he died. That kid, in the underworld, is probably still bragging to his other brothers!"

Zhu Qizhen poured out the wine in his cup: "Let's toast to them first!"

In this battle, not only the Jinyiwei who followed Zhu Qizhen, but the entire army, respected His Majesty the Emperor.

He took the head of the enemy general in the midst of thousands of troops and almost killed the Oirat Khan Yesen.

Such a heroic Majesty is enough to make them proud.

……

The next day, the army returned to the capital, but the desire to return home was no longer urgent.

Zhu Qizhen refused the comfortable carriage and chose to ride on horseback. But what he saw and heard along the way made him feel heavier, as if a huge stone was added to his heart with every step forward.

Yesen's army marched southward like a hurricane. Wherever they went, people's homes were reduced to ruins and their property was looted.

In addition, this year has been hit by natural disasters, droughts and floods, withered crops and unsustainable livelihoods. The road is devastated and extremely desolate. The villages along the way are not only empty, but the occasional smoke rising from the chimneys is also sparse and scattered, revealing an indescribable sadness and helplessness.

Passing by a village, a shepherd boy was riding a green cow and singing a ballad:
Fifteen to join the army, eighty to return.

Dao is a native of the country, who is there in the family?

From a distance, it is the Jun's house, and there are many pine and cypress mounds.

The rabbit enters from the dog sinus, and the pheasant flies from the beam.

……

"Aren't there military households? Why do we want common people to join the army?" Zhu Qizhen asked.

"Your Majesty, these Nianwei troops fled in large numbers, and the court had to recruit them from the people," Shi Heng replied.

Zhu Qizhen snorted.

Originally, Zhu Yuanzhang's household registration and occupation system, which determined people's occupations from generation to generation, was unreasonable.

"I encountered many refugees along the way." Zhu Qizhen frowned, "Why don't they go back to farm the land?"

"This..." Shi Heng hesitated to speak.

"Just tell me what you know!" Zhu Qizhen glared.

Shi Heng's expression was tangled for a while, then he spread his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, I'm telling you, please don't blame them. They have no land, so they have become refugees, right?"

"Alas, since Emperor Renzong began to build Renshou Palace, Qingning Palace, Weiyang Palace, etc., a lot of land has been owned by the royal family. Then many princes, civil and military officials followed suit and annexed a large amount of land. They openly robbed the people's land, or reported the cultivated land of the people as wasteland, or forcibly purchased it at a low price, resulting in a large amount of land being plundered from the people."

"According to statistics in October of the first year of Zhengtong, the land occupied by eunuchs and relatives of the emperor reached more than 60,000 mu. In the fifth year of Zhengtong, according to the investigation of the Ministry of Revenue, the princes of various places occupied more than 10,000 mu of land owned by the people."

"Also, the constant natural disasters in recent years have made matters worse. The people can't eat, and their land has been sold off by those people at low prices."

Zhu Qizhen listened and frowned.

This is a fucking mess. It's so easy to ruin a family. How many years have passed since the reign of Renzong and Xuanzong, and it has degenerated into this?
After the death of the Three Yangs, Emperor Zhengtong took power. From the moment he began to favor Wang Zhen, the crisis of the Ming Dynasty was doomed.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Zhu Qizhen muttered to himself, "I'm already the emperor, shouldn't I be free and easy? These things have nothing to do with me. I don't know how long I can stay as a fake emperor."

He glanced around and saw nothing but desolation.

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(End of this chapter)