Qianqing Palace and Hongde Palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat upright and looked at Li Guozhen who was talking about city defense expressionlessly, and the jade belt around his waist had been pressed under his belly.
Standing on his left was the chief minister of the cabinet, Wei Zaode, followed by Fan Jingwen, Zhang Jinyan and other civil servants.
When they heard Li Guozhen's narration, some looked frightened, some frowned, or some closed their eyes in deep thought.
The leader on the right is Zhu Chunchen, Duke of Chengguo, followed by Liu Wenbing, Gong Yonggu, Li Ruolian, Gao Wencai and other generals.
Due to the small number of generals, Shen Zhanran and Huang Nilu, who were summoned by Zhu Yuanzhang as an exception, also stood at the end in Confucian attire.
Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Li Guozhen's story and pressed down the jade belt from time to time, his face becoming more and more gloomy.
It turns out that according to Li Guozhen's account, since the defeat of the three major battalions, the rebels have successively besieged the Outer Seven Gates and the Inner Six Gates.
Although the number of soldiers and horses of each sect varies, the rebels are in a very high mood and are actively preparing for war. They believe that they will launch an offensive no later than tomorrow.
In addition, the rebels' southern army, led by Liu Fangliang, was divided into two groups.
The group was personally led by Liu Fangliang, attacking Baoding and other important towns, and actively moving closer to the capital.
The other group was under the command of Ren Jirong and Ma Chongxi. After capturing Zhending, they kept their troops stationary, intending to block reinforcements heading north.
On the other hand, the defenders in the city were not only short of dilapidated ordnance, but also seriously lacking in personnel.
Although the Beijing army has a nominal strength of 100,000, after excluding the vacant pay quota, the number of available men does not exceed 60,000.
In addition, the plague raged last year and some soldiers were lost.
If we exclude some of the old, weak, sick and disabled, the number of people who can actually fight is only about 30,000.
The remaining 30,000 people were seriously in arrears with wages and their morale was very low.
Before the war started, many people were secretly discussing how to save their lives after the city was destroyed, and some were even thinking about how to surrender.
The people in the city were even more panic-stricken, especially in the outer city. Since there were very few soldiers patrolling the streets, it was almost a mess.
Not only are the remote streets plastered with reactionary slogans and notices to provide for the peace of the people, but even in the bustling city, people can often be seen talking with the rebels' books of peace for the people in their hands. There are even many children singing the rebels' nursery rhymes while playing.
Although Li Guozhen sent people to rectify the situation several times, the results were not great. Now the people in the outer city are looking forward to the rebels entering the city as much as they look forward to the New Year.
Because the inner city is where courtiers and wealthy households live, it is relatively peaceful, but it is only superficial.
Because Li Guozhen heard that many wealthy households and even officials had surrendered to the rebels secretly.
It is said that these people were also negotiating to bribe the city defenders and prepare to help them open the city gate when the rebels attacked the city.
There are even rumors that someone is preparing to capture Chongzhen alive as a gift for surrender...
After Li Guozhen finished speaking, he saluted Zhu Yuanzhang, walked slowly to the right, and stood behind Zhu Chunchen.
After Zhu Yuanzhang waited for Li Guozhen to return to his ranks, he glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice: "My lords, Li Qing has just given a general description of the city defense and other situations. We have all discussed it. Is there any good strategy for retreating the enemy?"
As Zhu Yuanzhang's words sounded, many civil servants couldn't help but shrink back, for fear of being seen by him.
Li Jing, who was standing behind the civil servants, wanted to write a memorial, but saw Shen Zhanran shaking his head slightly, so he stopped.
Seeing that no one spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang pressed the jade belt subconsciously, looked at Wei Zaode and said, "Wei Qing, you are the chief minister of the dynasty, let's talk about it first!"
After Wei Zaode heard this, he saluted respectfully and said: "In my humble opinion, the only plan for now is to defend the city tightly, and the key to defending the city is weapons and soldiers."
"Regarding these two aspects of the situation, I feel that first let Chengde, a doctor in the Ministry of War, and Wang Duzhang of Dongchang talk about it, and maybe we can find a solution."
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that he knew Wang Dehua was not present, but deliberately mentioned it, knowing that he wanted to use Chongzhen's favor for the eunuch to muddy the water.
So he glared at him and shouted: "This is where the courtiers discuss matters, what does it have to do with the inner court!"
When Wei Zaode heard this, a proud smile flashed across his lips, and then he continued to accuse him.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang had also remembered the memory of Chengde.
It turned out that Chengde was a Jinshi in the fourth year of Chongzhen. Because of his unrivaled moral integrity and hatred of evil, he offended Wen Tiren and was framed and imprisoned in the garrison for seven years.
Later, Wen Tiren was dismissed from his post, and he was able to use him. After being promoted to the head of the arsenal, he was recently promoted to doctor in the Ministry of War.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought that Chengde should be considered a loyal person, so he pressed the jade belt again and asked in a deep voice: "Where is Chengde?"
As his words sounded, a muscular man about thirty-five or sixty years old with a dark face came out and bowed in salute.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Tell us about the situation of the ordnance in the capital."
After hearing this, Cheng De hesitated for a while and said: "Your Majesty, due to the tightness of the national treasury in recent years, the arsenal has not purchased new ordnance for a long time."
"And the remaining ordnance from the past is either dilapidated or old and useless, except for some bows and arrows..."
"snort!"
Suddenly, Zhu Yuanzhang let out a cold snort.
Seeing the angry look on his face, Cheng De immediately knelt down and apologized, saying: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I have really tried my best. Please forgive me."
After that, he kowtowed again and again to apologize.
At this time, Ni Yuanlu on the side said: "Sir Cheng, I remember that at the end of last year, your Ministry of War also applied for a sum of money, saying it was to purchase firearms. How do you say you haven't purchased new ordnance in these years?"
As soon as Ni Yuanlu said this, Zhang Jinyan turned pale instantly, while Cheng De glanced at him gratefully.
It turns out that Chengde deliberately left a flaw when he answered just now.
In fact, it is not that the Ministry of War has never purchased firearms and other ordnance in recent years, but these ordnance only come in and out in lists, but never in physical form.
Cheng De felt that something was wrong and wrote many times about this matter, but nothing happened.
Later, Fan Jingwen accidentally discovered the memorial that had been withheld by Wei Zaode, and quietly informed Ni Yuanlu of the incident, and asked him to contact Chengde and prepare to help Chengde directly report it to the emperor.
Unexpectedly, Chengde received a threatening letter that night, saying that his family would be destroyed if he dared to talk about this again.
Although Chengde was not afraid of death, he was a filial son. He was afraid that it would harm his mother at home, so he hurriedly asked Ni Yuanlu for advice.
Ni Yuanlu felt that this matter should not be fought forcefully and advised him to wait for the opportunity, so he temporarily suppressed the matter.
Today, when he saw Ni Yuanlu mentioning this matter, he immediately kowtowed and said: "Although there are records of purchasing ordnance in the arsenal, there are only entry and exit orders."
"I have never seen the ordnance, and I don't know where it is used. It seems that I have not purchased it. That's why I say that I have not purchased it. Please forgive me for my inaccurate statement."
Zhu Yuanzhang had already noticed Cheng De's little thoughts. He pretended not to know and looked at Zhang Jinyan and said, "Zhang Qing, do you know about this?"
When Zhang Jinyan heard this, he immediately knelt down and said, "I have indeed wholesaled such documents before, but things have been complicated recently, and I can't remember clearly at the moment. Your Majesty, please allow me to go back and investigate in detail before reporting again."
"Another detailed investigation? I think you don't even want to be the Minister of War anymore!"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhang Jinyan and said coldly.
Seeing that the delaying strategy was ineffective, Zhang Jinyan looked to Wei Zaode for help and kowtowed to apologize.
Wei Zaode sighed secretly in his heart and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, in recent years there have been frequent battles and the affairs of the Ministry of War are complicated. Mr. Zhang has occasionally been negligent. It is not intentional dereliction of duty. Please forgive him for once."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought that Zhang Jinyan had made many military exploits when he was suppressing bandits in Shaanxi.
However, after arriving in the capital, due to party disputes, he took refuge with Chen Yan and Wei Dezao, and his official reputation became worse and worse.
He knew that if he wanted to end the party strife, he had to punish the leaders.
Seeing that Fan Jingwen didn't speak at this moment, it was too obvious, so he planned to start with Wei Zaode.
So he suppressed the anger in his heart, looked at Wei Zaode, and said: "We are not trying to deal with him, but the ordnance is a matter of defending the city. How can we not be angry that he is so confused?"
Wei Zaode heard this and advised again: "Your Majesty, don't be too worried. Although there are many rebels, they are just a mob. As long as we hold on to the city and wait for reinforcements to arrive, the rebels will retreat without a fight."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Then do you know where the reinforcements are?"
Wei Zaode hesitated for a while and said: "According to the previous decree, I think all the ministries should be on their way here. I believe they will arrive in the near future. Please rest assured, Your Majesty."
"rest assured?"
Zhu Yuanzhang slapped the dragon chair, stood up, and shouted angrily: "Now that the rebels have surrounded the city, we asked you about your strategy to retreat from the enemy, but you said that you asked us to inquire about the arsenal and the army."
"Now that we have discovered that there is such a big problem with the ordnance, you told us to wait for reinforcements, so don't worry."
"Then when should we worry? When the rebels enter the city, or when they put a knife to our neck?"
As Zhu Yuanzhang roared, all the ministers knelt down to apologize.
Guang Shiheng and others, who were usually very active, all trembled slightly and looked down at the ground, fearing to see Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.
For a moment, there was silence in Hongde Hall.
