I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Tang requests an audience!"

Zhu Youjian looked up in surprise: "Who?"

"Your Highness, the King of Tang!"

"Zhu Yujian? What's he doing here?"

"His Highness the Tang Emperor says, 'I am ordered to defend the Emperor!'"

Zhu Youjian pondered for a long time, then waved his hand and said, "Summon them!"

At the same time, he said to Li Ruolian, "Wait a moment."

"yes!"

Li Ruolian agreed and silently stepped aside.

A moment later, Zhu Yujian arrived in a hurry and immediately knelt down to pay his respects upon entering.

"Your subject Zhu Yujian kowtows to Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"

Zhu Youjian looked Zhu Yujian up and down. Zhu Yujian was wearing a tattered python robe with patches, and his shoes were covered in mud. He looked travel-worn.

"No need for formalities!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Yujian stood up, his expression excited, and said, "Your Majesty, I've finally met you!"

Why did the Tang Emperor suddenly come to Zhending?

Zhu Yujian was the ninth-generation descendant of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, while Zhu Youjian was the eleventh-generation descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang. Although the two were only eight years apart, according to seniority, Zhu Youjian should call Zhu Yujian "Grandpa".

It would be quite awkward to call him that, and Zhu Yujian probably wouldn't dare to agree. It would be better to just call him the King of Tang, using the terms of ruler and subject.

Zhu Yujian said, "My first reason is to express my gratitude, and my second is to lead troops to defend the emperor by imperial decree!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

This Tang king had a rather unfortunate fate. According to the course of his previous life, he was the second emperor of the Southern Ming regime, namely the Longwu Emperor. However, the trajectory of history had changed, and the peculiar Southern Ming regime was destined never to be reborn.

Before Zhu Yujian came of age, he was embroiled in the succession struggle and spent most of his time in prison.

His father, Zhu Qisheng, endured sixteen years of hardship before being poisoned and dying in prison.

In the same year, after many hardships, Zhu Yujian finally inherited the throne as the grandson of the heir apparent. In order to avenge his father, he ignored all advice and beat his two uncles to death.

In August of the ninth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, the Jurchen general Ajige led his troops to attack Beizhili and other places, advancing directly towards Beijing.

Zhu Yujian submitted a memorial requesting that the emperor come to his aid, but it was rejected by Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian.

After all, in the Ming Dynasty, it was taboo for princes to raise troops to serve the emperor.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yujian still secretly recruited soldiers and led a thousand men north from Nanyang.

Unfortunately, this man had great ambitions but little combat skill. He didn't encounter the Jurchen army along the way, only fought a few chaotic battles with the peasant army, and even lost them.

Emperor Chongzhen was furious and ordered him to be demoted to commoner status and then sent to Fengyang to guard the imperial tombs.

These events all occurred before Zhu Youjian's time travel. In any case, Zhu Yujian had no intention of rebelling. Therefore, after issuing a proclamation to all the princes, he remembered that there was a Prince of Tang in Fengyang, so he issued an edict to pardon him.

After regaining his freedom, Zhu Yujian's first act was to sell his family's property, regroup his troops, and head north to defend the emperor.

Zhu Youjian nodded: "After I issued the edict, you were the first to respond, which greatly pleases me."

"The founding emperor enfeoffed his descendants as regional governors to protect the central government. Now that rebels are rising up everywhere, we, as descendants of the Zhu family, have an inescapable duty to fight on the front lines!"

"Very good. I wonder how many troops the Tang Emperor has brought?"

"Twenty-six!"

Zhu Youjian was speechless. He spoke with such righteous indignation, but all he brought were twenty-six people?

Are you here to serve the emperor or just to freeload?

Upon seeing this, Zhu Yujian quickly explained, "When I set off from Nanyang, I gathered more than 500 men. On the way, we encountered several bandits. After fighting, we had both sides with victories and defeats. It's also my fault that the soldiers I hastily gathered were of mixed quality. After being defeated, they ran away. In the end, only these 26 men remained. They are all guards from the Prince's Palace and are quite loyal."

"Your Majesty, you've worked hard!"

Zhu Youjian thought to himself, "It's good enough that you're alive."

Fortunately, the main force of the rebel army was in Zhengding and Juyongguan. Otherwise, you might have ended up like Prince Fu, captured and boiled alive.

Zhu Yujian was very excited and continued, "I only had twenty-six men left with me. I thought I would never see Your Majesty again. Unexpectedly, I suddenly heard rumors that Li Zicheng was dead, so the bandits scattered and fled. That's how I was able to reach Zhengding safely. Your Majesty, is Li Zicheng really dead?"

Zhu Youjian chuckled and said, "Li Zicheng is still at Juyong Pass. As for the rumors you've heard... well, I'll explain later. I happen to need manpower right now, are you willing...?"

"Yes, of course I'm willing!"

Before Zhu Youjian could finish speaking, Zhu Yujian interrupted him to answer.

Zhu Youjian nodded: "Very good, Li Ruolian!"

Li Ruolian stepped forward: "Your subject is here!"

…………

Zhao Prefecture, Gaoyi County.

Liu Liangzuo held the letter, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

Back then, the two brothers fought their own battles, one fighting against the Jurchens in Liaodong and the other suppressing rebel armies in Shaanxi. They hadn't seen each other for nearly ten years, only occasionally exchanging letters.

Unexpectedly, my little brother actually sided with the Jurchens and even sent a letter urging him to surrender.

Liu Liangzuo once surrendered to the peasant army, but later rebelled again and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, he had no principles and took the matter of surrendering lightly.

It doesn't matter who I work for, as long as the price is right, it's negotiable.

The price offered by the Qing Dynasty was the Earl of Guangchang, which was quite tempting.

Looking back on this time leading troops to defend the emperor, the army marched day and night, covering hundreds of miles, spending countless amounts of money and food, and annihilated Li Zicheng's southern army. In the end, he was only given the honorary title of Vice Minister of War, and that was in Nanjing!

Hong Niangzi, this rebel, actually gained the title of Marquis of Pingxi for nothing just because she attacked from the north!

Everyone knows that Emperor Chongzhen personally oversees the northern route, and whoever is in the northern route will be the first to break through the city.

This first merit was practically a free gift; Emperor Chongzhen was far too biased.

"Send the order: the army shall rest in place and regroup for three days before setting off again!"

Liu Liangzuo made up his mind to neither agree nor refuse.

You ordered me to enter Shaanxi from Tongguan. If I walk slowly, it can't be considered disobeying an imperial order, can it?

We'll wait until the Qing army marches south and the situation becomes clearer before making any further plans.

If Dorgon takes Beijing, I will be the Earl of Guangchang of the Qing Dynasty.

If Chongzhen wins, I will go to Shaanxi to quell the rebellion.

In short, the initiative is in my hands!

Lieutenant General Qin Dapeng stepped forward and said, "General Liu, we have only traveled less than a hundred li. If we rest now, the imperial court will blame us..."

Liu Liangzuo said unhappily, "If the court blames me, I'll take responsibility. What are you worried about?"

Qin Dapeng could only force a smile and said, "I'm just worried that the court will blame General Liu. We have just made great contributions and should press our advantage. If we successfully recover the lost territory, His Majesty will be very pleased and will surely grant General Liu a title of Earl or even Marquis. We can't let Hong Niangzi be outdone."

Upon hearing about Hong Niangzi, Liu Liangzuo became even more dissatisfied, saying, "I fight and earn my living through my own abilities. That female rebel is just a bit cunning. How much did she contribute in the battle of Zhen Ding Prefecture? She only got a huge advantage by relying on her ambiguous relationship with His Majesty!"

"Yes, yes...you're right, His Majesty's actions this time...were indeed somewhat inappropriate..."

Liu Liangzuo continued, "And then there's that coward Li Yan, who got a prefecture position by relying on his wife. I really don't know what he was thinking!"

"Li Yan is just a bookish scholar who only knows empty talk; how can he be compared to the General?"

As the two were talking, the curtain was lifted and guerrilla general Shen Bao hurriedly walked in.

"General, His Majesty has sent someone!"

Liu Liangzuo's expression changed drastically. He thought to himself, "I just received the letter, how did things get out of hand?"

"Who? How many people did they bring?"

"Li Ruolian, the commander of the Warriors Battalion, brought about thirty men!"

Liu Liangzuo felt slightly relieved; he had only brought thirty men, so it shouldn't be about the letter.

"Oh, and His Highness the Tang Emperor!"

"The Emperor of Tang?"

Liu Liangzuo was greatly puzzled and asked, "What brings the Tang Emperor here?"

"I don't know. Besides, that Tang King was dressed in rags, so I don't know if it's real or not. You see..."

Liu Liangzuo scratched his head, wondering what was going on.

Li Ruolian was Chongzhen's confidant, so where did the Prince of Tang come from?

If I remember correctly, shouldn't the Tang Emperor have been confined to Fengyang to guard the imperial tombs at this time?

"Let's go take a look!"

Liu Liangzuo couldn't understand it at all, so he could only go and greet the king.

Upon reaching the entrance of the main tent, he seemed to sense something was amiss, so he turned around and instructed, "Qin Dapeng, go and arrange for some trusted men to come and guard us. Remember to bring weapons, and follow my signals later."

Qin Dapeng hesitated and said, "General, you mean...?"

"Just go when I tell you to, stop talking nonsense!"

"yes!"

Qin Dapeng dared not say anything more and could only go down to prepare.

Liu Liangzuo quickly made a decision in his mind, then put on a smiling face and led his men to greet the emperor.