The Ming Dynasty began in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

After Li Yan withdrew, Gu Jun'en glanced at Niu Jinxing, pondered for a moment, and then stepped forward to present his memorial:

"Your Majesty, General Li Yan is stationed in Changping. What should the Prince of Song do?"

Emperor Chongzhen's million-strong army was ultimately defeated and killed by Li Zicheng.

Why would Li Zicheng care about the powerless former crown prince? By bestowing the title of Prince of Song upon Zhu Cilang, he mainly wanted to demonstrate his magnanimity.

When he assigned Li Yan to garrison Changping, he completely forgot about Zhu Cilang.

Unlike Li Zicheng, Gu Jun'en was not short-sighted. He knew very well that if the Ming Dynasty's crown prince was used by someone with ulterior motives, the consequences would be severe.

That's why they asked how to deal with Zhu Cilang.

Gu Jun'en's words startled Niu Jinxing.

When Li Zicheng asked Zhu Cilang for his opinion, Zhu Cilang said he didn't want to be with military officers, so Li Zicheng let him follow Li Yan.

Li Zicheng would neither place Zhu Cilang under house arrest nor keep him too far away.

Sending Zhu Cilang to follow Li Yan was to have Li Yan monitor the Ming Dynasty's crown prince.

For Niu Jinxing, Zhu Cilang was definitely a hot potato. It would be best for him to go to Changping with Li Yan. If anything happened in the future, Li Yan would still be the one to take the blame.

If Zhu Cilang had stayed in the capital, Li Zicheng would have certainly placed him among the civil officials.

In Li Zicheng's mind, there were only a few civil officials he trusted: Niu Jinxing, Li Yan, Song Xianze, and Gu Jun'en.

The civil official whom the emperor currently trusts the most is Niu Jinxing, the prime minister of the Great Shun Dynasty.

He was a little annoyed by Li Yan because Li Yan always liked to contradict him.

Li Zicheng still trusts Li Yan. With Hong Niangzi around, he doesn't believe Li Yan would betray him.

Niu Jinxing was well aware of this. Gu Jun'en brought up the matter of the Prince of Song, and it was highly likely that Niu was afraid that Zhu Cilang would follow him.

Before Li Zicheng could speak, Niu Jinxing hurriedly stepped forward and bowed in respect.

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Song is still a child. He is used to being with Li Yan. There are many female soldiers around Hong Niangzi, and they know how to take care of the Prince of Song."

"I believe there is no need to make the Prince of Song readjust to a new environment in order to control the abilities of General Li Yan and his wife, and no unexpected events will occur."

"Furthermore, Changping is the location of the Ming Dynasty imperial tombs. Sending Prince Song to Changping is tantamount to having him guard the imperial tombs. Prince Song will surely be grateful for His Majesty's kindness and will not repay kindness with ingratitude!"

Li Zicheng nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this:

"Very well, the Prime Minister understands me best. There's no need to discuss this matter further."

"Your Majesty is wise! Long live the Emperor!"

As expected, Niu Jinxing quickly offered a compliment.

Li Zicheng had made his decision, and Gu Jun'en wouldn't say anything more, letting out a silent sigh.

"Isn't Niu Jinxing afraid of letting a tiger return to the mountain in order to oust Li Yan?"

Seeing that no one submitted a memorial, Li Zicheng coughed lightly and asked:

"I intend to appoint Tang Tong to guard Shanhaiguan. What do you, my esteemed ministers, think?"

Li Zicheng was also worried that the torture incident would affect Wu Sangui, so as to be on the safe side, he decided to let Tang Tong take over Shanhaiguan.

At this time, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan was Gao Di. Although he had neither rebelled against the Shun dynasty nor explicitly submitted to it, a familiar general had to replace Gao Di.

Tang Tong was a general of the loyalist army who had surrendered. The two sides had fought before, and Li Zicheng was quite familiar with him and knew Tang Tong's abilities.

"We, your subjects, second that proposal!"

Everyone immediately seconded the motion.

For Liu Zongmin and his men, it was best to keep a Ming general who had surrendered far away, as the area around the capital would eventually be their own people.

Seeing that no one objected, Li Zicheng issued an imperial edict ordering Tang Tong to garrison Shanhaiguan, with Gao Di retaining his official position and assisting Tang Tong in defense.

After a moment's thought, Li Zicheng decided to allocate 50,000 taels of silver to Tang Tong as a reward for the soldiers at Shanhaiguan.

With the Shanhaiguan issue resolved, Li Zicheng thought of Wu Sangui.

According to intelligence, Wu Sangui was ordered to lead troops to defend the emperor, but he had not yet arrived in the capital.

Now that the capital has been captured by the Shun army and Emperor Chongzhen has died for his country, Wu Sangui certainly wouldn't dare to come.

Li Zicheng looked at his nephew Li Guo with his one eye and asked:

"Li Guo, do you have any intelligence on Wu Sangui?"

Li Guo hurriedly stepped forward and bowed:

"Your Majesty, Wu Sangui arrived in Fengrun, Jizhou a few days ago. He may have learned that the capital is being defended to the death, so he has temporarily stationed himself here."

Li Zicheng nodded:

"Send someone to contact Wu Sangui. If he is willing to surrender, I will bestow upon him the title of Earl of Pingxi and allocate 200,000 taels of silver to reward the Guan Ning Army."

"As you command!"

No one in the court objected to Li Zicheng's decision, as Wu Sangui's tens of thousands of Guan Ning troops were the strongest fighting force in the Ming Dynasty.

If Wu Sangui surrenders, a bitter battle will be avoided, and 200,000 taels of silver and a count's title will be nothing.

……

Li Yan returned to the camp.

Seeing that his expression was not good, Hong Niangzi hurriedly asked:

"Why are you in such a bad mood, my lord? Is that Taoist priest causing you trouble again?"

Li Yan nodded:

"Niu Jinxing impeached the Lady in court, saying that she had indiscriminately killed innocent people. Liu Zongmin testified to this, but the King of Chuang listened to only one side and punished us by garrisoning Changping."

"what……"

"This is outrageous! That old man doesn't do his job properly, all he does is think about ostracizing my husband. My husband and I are wholeheartedly devoted to the Great Shun Dynasty, how can the King of Chuang be so biased? I'll go and talk to the King of Chuang to get to the bottom of this..."

Upon hearing this, Hong Niangzi's almond-shaped eyes widened immediately, and she wanted to go and confront the rebel king.

Li Yan reached out and grabbed Hong Niangzi:

"Madam, please calm down. Your husband has thought it over carefully. With Niu Jinxing's constant instigation, the rebel king no longer trusts us. Going to Changping is a good thing; at least we'll have some peace and quiet."

"Madam, please make arrangements. The army will march to Changping tomorrow. Compared to the Xishan military camp, the living conditions in Changping city are much better."

The matchmaker was very angry:

"However, after going to Changping, you will be unable to attend court, your position in the court will be insecure, and the title of General will be merely nominal. This is unfair to you!"

Li Yan shook his head with a wry smile:

"Can't you see, my wife? I had a Ming Dynasty official title in my previous life, and with Niu Jinxing's instigation, the rebel king has doubts and it will be difficult for him to return to the center of power."

"Look at the people around the rebel leader: Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong, Tian Jianxiu, Yuan Zongdi, Li Guo, Zhang Nai, Shuangxi, and so on. Which one of them didn't follow him through thick and thin?"

"Although you and I are loyal to the Great Shun and have made significant contributions, we joined the country halfway through. It is already quite an achievement that we have managed to reach the rank of General. I am very satisfied."

No matter how Li Yan tried to comfort her, Hong Niangzi remained filled with anger. Recalling the past, she grew increasingly disappointed in Li Zicheng.

"Li Zicheng is unrighteous. The more I think about it, the angrier I get. I might as well resign from my post and go back to my hometown to farm."

Knowing that his wife was momentarily agitated, Li Yan did not directly answer her question. Instead, he took Hong Niangzi's hand and smiled, saying:

"Don't be angry. His Highness is a good person. Ask him what he thinks!"

Zhu Cilang was also helpless at this time. Although he understood history, he was not clear about the situation outside.

Where is Wu Sangui? Liu Zongmin didn't touch his father, nor did he seize Chen Yuanyuan. What will Wu Sangui do?

Although they were outside the city, they were not free. Hong Niangzi did not allow the Eastern Palace guards to go far away, clearly to prevent them from escaping.

While discussing training matters with Fang Zhenghua and Gao Wencai, Li Yan and his wife entered the barracks.

"Greetings, Madam General."

Upon seeing Li Yan and his wife arrive, Fang Zhenghua and Gao Wencai greeted them and withdrew, while the young eunuch Wu Zhong hurriedly served tea.

The two men bowed to each other in greeting.

"Your Highness, I apologize for disturbing you!"

Zhu Cilang smiled and said:

"No need to be so polite, please have a seat!"

Li Yan thanked her and had barely sat down when Hong Niangzi began to complain.

"Your Highness, we are going to be stationed in Changping. We will depart tomorrow!"

Holy crap!