When Zhu Cixi quickly came to the Meridian Gate Tower, six to seven hundred people had gathered below the tower.
Among them, the group at the front was the loudest, howling like they were mourning their heirs.
The group of armored men at the back were full of excitement and loudly encouraged everyone to break into the palace. Several of the generals even looked at Liu Chang who was standing in the middle from time to time.
Right in front of the Meridian Gate, there was also a faint sound of shouting from the Chengtian Gate, and at the same time, many courtiers came to greet them.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Cixiang's eyes immediately filled with murderous intent. .z.
He glanced at Liu Chang and others standing in the middle, and said to Wu Laoliu beside him: "Wu Laoliu, are you ready?"
Wu Laoliu heard this and said hesitantly: "Your Highness, really..."
"You're not prepared?"
Zhu Cixiang shouted at Wu Laoliu with an angry look on his face, and the murderous intent in his eyes became even stronger.
Seeing this, Wu Laoliu hurriedly knelt down and said, "Your Highness, the general has arranged 300 gunmen on the tower and a thousand elite soldiers around the Meridian Gate..."
After Zhu Cihong heard Wu Laoliu's arrangement, he calmed down his anger and said in a deep voice: "Then shout for them to leave. If anyone doesn't obey, capture them all!"
"As for those who have evil intentions and take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble, behead them on the spot!"
After Wu Laoliu bowed in agreement, he was about to give the order, but was stopped by Fan Jingwen. Then he saw the other man kneeling down and said, "Your Highness, this is not allowed!"
"Many of the people below are veterans who are loyal to the Ming Dynasty. They are here for the safety of the Ming Dynasty. They are not rebels. If you capture them, it will definitely arouse the anger of the people."
"And the generals behind are ready to make a move. If you give the order now, they will definitely resist desperately. Once a mutiny occurs, the situation will be out of control. Please think twice!"
Zhu Cixiang didn't want to pay attention to Fan Jingwen at first, but he remembered that the other party had been kind to him when he was at Chengtianmen.
After Chongzhen left Beijing, the other party tried his best to assist him.
At this moment, seeing the other party's beard turning white and his body trembling slightly, he felt a little unbearable.
So he said calmly: "Fan Shoufu, I am not a bloodthirsty person, it is really a last resort."
"You also know that the reason why there are so many rumors in the capital right now is that Liu Chang and his group are behind it."
"If I don't stop this evil trend today, we won't own this capital without waiting for the rebels to attack the city."
"As for the mutiny, you don't need to worry. Wang Shangshu has taken the opportunity to recover from his illness and contacted many generals. He even went to the capital camp in person to take charge just now."
"In addition, I have sent a hundred Jinyi guards to sneak into the military camp before I came here. Even if I kill them today, no one will be able to leave the military camp."
Fan Jingwen was slightly startled and glanced at the familiar faces below, feeling quite unbearable.
Then he thought that Chongzhen had killed many ministers after he claimed to have obtained the true biography of Taizu. Now this prince who had read Confucian classics since childhood seemed to have a murderous tendency, and he felt even more uneasy.
Because he knew that once a king became obsessed with force, it would be extremely difficult to educate him.
So he kowtowed again and said: "Your Highness, there are many people downstairs who have a history with me. I think they may have been deceived by others here. Please allow me to go and persuade you. If they insist on not obeying, you... ..It’s never too late to give another order!”
Zhu Cixiang was silent for a while and then said to Wu Laoliu: "Send a few capable people to follow Fan Shoufu!"
Hearing this, Fan Jingwen thanked him repeatedly and walked away quickly.
"Mother, what's going on with Master Fan now? Are you going to persuade those people?"
On the city wall to the left of the Meridian Gate, Zhu Auao, who was surrounded by a group of royal guards, looked at Zhou Houdao with some confusion.
Queen Zhou glanced at the people in the city and said, "Why, do you think your brother shouldn't do this?"
Zhu Yasuo nodded and said, "Of course you shouldn't!"
"You must know that the opponent's arrogance is now strong. If Sir Fan tries to persuade him at this moment, not only will he not be able to persuade him, but he will actually increase the opponent's arrogance."
Zhou Houqiang smiled and said: "There are many people below who are Fan Jingwen's old acquaintances. How did you know that he would not be able to persuade him?"
? "
Zhu Yasuo shook her head and said, "I definitely can't persuade you!"
"If they were willing to listen to Master Fan, they would not come here to ****, but should go to discuss with Master Fan privately..."
As she spoke, she saw Empress Zhou looking at Zhu Cixiang with a worried expression, and quickly changed her words: "Mother, you don't have to worry too much."
"My brother has always been smart. Whatever my daughter can think of, he must have thought of it. I think he must have other purposes for doing this!"
Hearing this, Queen Zhou sighed: "Your brother has always been kind, so he clearly saw this, but still let Fan Jingwen go. It seems that he still has too little experience, his character is not yet mature, and his heart is not hard enough!"
Zhu Auao said with some confusion: "Mother, isn't it good to be kind?"
"I remember when my previous teacher taught us, he always said that kindness should be the foundation."
Empress Zhou said: "Being kind is not bad, it's just that the world is in chaos. If you don't know how to adapt, I'm afraid..."
Before she could finish her words, she suddenly heard a tragic voice saying: "Your Majesty, I am incompetent and cannot advise His Highness the Crown Prince. I can only go to the foot of Jiuquan to apologize to you..."
Hou Zhou went to look for fame and saw Fan Fucui pushing Fan Jingwen away and rushing towards the city wall.
At the same time, more than a dozen old ministers shouted "I am ashamed of you, Your Majesty" and rushed towards the city wall.
Although Jin Yiwei tried his best to stop them, three people were still killed under the city wall.
Dai Ming, who was in the crowd, said that upon seeing this, he said to Liu Chang with a smile on his face: "It is better to use Governor Wang (Wang Dehua)'s method to trick these old people into causing trouble."
"I have to say that these old guys are stupid, and they actually got killed. But that's fine. I'll see how that kid Zhu Cixiang ends up!"
Liu Chang sneered: "How can he end it? It's just soft words to appease him!"
As he spoke, he asked a general who came over: "Are your people ready?"
The general whispered: "Don't worry, our people are already in place. As long as they take action, we will take advantage of the chaos and rush into the palace!"
Liu Chang nodded and said: "Okay, you must be more careful and don't get discovered by Wu Laoliu and the others!"
The general said with a proud look on his face: "Don't worry, these dead soldiers of our Governor Wang have never shown up. Even I only found out today. Wu Laoliu will definitely not be able to find out."
Liu Chang smiled with satisfaction and was about to speak when he saw a sudden commotion in front of him, and then he saw Zhu Cihong walking towards Fan Fucui and others under the protection of Wu Laoliu.
There was a flash of ferocity in his eyes, and he immediately said to the general: "The opportunity has come, you are ready to take action!"
The general nodded and waved back, and immediately a dozen people crowded forward.
Empress Zhou on the east wall saw Zhu Cixiang walking out of the Meridian Gate and couldn't help but sigh: "This child...eh!"
Seeing Zhu Cixiang surrounded by people, Zhu Ainao on the side asked worriedly: "Mother, is it too dangerous for my brother to do this?"
Hou Zhou pointed to a few people mixed in with the courtiers and said: "Look at those people, they are members of the Eighteen Cavalry. With their abilities, they will never be squeezed out by others!"
Zhu Ayao looked at it, and then said worriedly: "Is my brother trying to lure Liu Chang and the others into action?"
Empress Zhou nodded and said, "I'm afraid that's the case!"
"Now that Fan Fucui and others are threatening each other with death, he can't bear to give the order, so he wants to use himself as bait, but..."
As she was talking, she suddenly saw Fei Zhen'e running towards her in a hurry and asked, "Is there any news from the other side of the city gate?"
Fei Zhen'e shook her head and said with some hesitation: "Empress, how about we wait a little longer?"
Queen Zhou was silent for a while, then looked outside the imperial city and said sadly: "Well, maybe I'm overthinking, I'm afraid that person won't come!"
Hearing this, Zhu Ainao said with a confused look on her face: "Mother, who are you talking about?"
A trace of bitterness flashed in Queen Zhou's eyes, and then she said lovingly: "Mother, let me tell you about an old friend. He originally promised to come to relieve the siege, but now I'm afraid he won't be able to come!"
Seeing that Empress Zhou had a strange look on her face, Zhu Aona was about to ask, but she heard
Someone below shouted: "Your Highness, if you don't agree to my request, I will be killed in front of the Meridian Gate today!"
"Yes, if Your Highness doesn't issue an order to kill Shen Zhanran and others today, we will all be killed here!"
"Your Highness, please stop hesitating. Only by killing Jiang Dejing and others will King Jingjiang retreat..."
"Your Highness, as long as you give the decree, we will immediately support you on the throne!"
"I ordered you to hoe the women, otherwise we will all die here. I want to see what the history books say about you!"
...
For a time, the crowd in front of the Meridian Gate was excited.
Seeing that Zhu Cixiang opened his mouth several times, but was interrupted every time, Zhou Hou looked a little helpless. After sighing in his heart, he said to Fei Zhen'e: "You go..."
"Prince, since they want to die, why don't you make it happen!"
Suddenly, a murderous voice suppressed all the sounds.
