Chapter 377 No War in Jiangbei
Passing through the middle right gate is the Cining Palace area. After Chen Cao went to court, he came with Zhao Xin. The person he wanted to see today was Zhang Yan, the queen of Emperor Tianqi.
There were quite a lot of people serving in the Cining Palace. Chen Cao was more caring and transferred almost half of the eunuchs in the Nanjing Palace.
As soon as they entered the palace, the maid and eunuch knelt on the ground. Chen Cao greeted him a few words and then entered the main hall of Cining Palace.
Zhang Yan sat expressionlessly inside the inner curtain, with two palace maids waiting beside her.
Chen Cao waved away the people in the palace, then slowly walked up to Zhang Yan, and bowed his hands respectfully: "Queen Zhang..."
Zhang Yan raised her eyes and glanced at Chen Cao, feeling mixed in her heart. The man in front of her was once her right-hand man, but now he was a traitor who usurped the truth.
When Chen Cao saw that she didn't respond, he sat down and said, "Sister-in-law of the Emperor..."
Chen Cao was included in the genealogy by Zhu Youjian after he was granted the title of King of Liang. He was listed under the name of Zhu Changzhi, the fourth son of the Wanli Emperor who died young, and became Zhu Changzhi's heir. From a genealogical perspective, he and Zhu You The school and Zhu Youjian became cousins, and it was not too much to call Zhang Yan the emperor's wife.
Zhang Yan's tender lips parted slightly: "Chen..."
For a moment, Zhang Yan didn't know how to address Chen Cao.
Seeing his embarrassment, Chen Cao laughed and said: "I did not change the title of the country after I ascended the throne. I even honored Emperor Taizu as the Supreme Emperor of Taizu, recognized the rule of Emperor Zhu Jia, and also issued an order to the kings of the south, asking them to immediately Anyone who comes to Nanjing to congratulate me will still be a king in the Ming Dynasty of my Chen family. Therefore, I have great respect for the Zhu family royal family;
The emperor's sister-in-law can also call me 'emperor's brother'..."
Zhang Yan was stunned, and then lamented: "It's all your Majesty's fault..."
The majesty he was talking about was Zhu Youxiao, and Chen Cao also knew it: "Sister-in-law, the safety of the Ming Dynasty is entirely in my hands. If I, Chen Cao, fall, the entire Han family will become slaves of Jiannu in the future. Whether the Zhu family's royal family can still become the royal capital as promised earlier is another matter."
Zhang Yan knew about Jian Nu's inhumane behavior after breaking through the barrier. After listening to Chen Cao's words, she raised her head and said, "Emperor...Emperor brother...what do you want me to do?"
Chen Cao said word by word: "As the Emperor and Queen of Tianqi, I call on the world to expel the Tartars and restore China..."
"Is this... so simple?" Zhang Yan couldn't believe it: "Brother, you didn't issue such an imperial edict after you ascended the throne, why do you need my Zhu family to cooperate?"
Chen Cao smiled calmly: "I ascended the throne as Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so I can completely ignore the Zhu family, but at any rate, I ascended the throne as a prince, and I am also willing to recognize the status of the Zhu family. I am so generous, and I believe the Zhu family will not be stingy. Right."
Zhang Yan thought about it for a while, and then asked: "But my dear brother, are you worried about the opposition of the southern kings?"
"Hahaha..." Chen Cao laughed a few times and stood up, walking slowly in the inner room: "Those under my command suggested that I clean up the Zhu family royal family, but I am kind and unwilling to commit murder again. But if the southern kings want to raise a banner to rebel, I don't mind clearing them all out. After all, the current surname of the Great Tomorrow is Chen, which has nothing to do with the surname Zhu;
If we raise more vassal kings, to be honest, it will be a big burden to our prosperity in the future. If they come to Nanjing honestly this time, forget it. I will definitely treat them as usual. If they don't understand the current affairs, they have to deal with I'll do it, hehe..."
Zhang Yan immediately understood the meaning of Chen Cao's words. It was very simple. Chen Cao wanted to use Zhang Yan's words to make the southern kings surrender. Otherwise, they would only be given cold guns and the final destruction of the royal family surnamed Zhu. .
"What if they don't listen?"
Chen Cao walked up behind Zhang Yan and hummed: "Hong Chengchou's hundreds of thousands of troops have gathered in Huguang and Jiangxi. The kings in the south...except for the kings of Shu and Chu who have some strength, I really can't think of what kind of power they have." Against those soldiers with muskets."
Zhang Yan is a woman after all. Chen Cao spoke behind her again, which frightened her to stand up and step aside: "Emperor...Emperor brother...you...respect yourself..."
Chen Cao chuckled: "Sister-in-law Huang, you are smart enough to understand why I call you 'Sister-in-law'. After all, I, Chen Cao, have nothing to do with your Zhu family..."
Zhang Yan stood aside, a little embarrassed: "Why did you send people all the way from the capital to rescue us?"
Chen Cao sat back down, with a serious look on his face: "When I first saw the emperor's wife outside Yingtai, I felt that she was so beautiful and charming that I always cherished her. In fact, I don't hide it from the emperor's wife. I have always liked her since I met her. , just because of my status, but now it doesn’t matter..."
"Stop talking..."
Zhang Yan's face was already red. Seeing this, Chen Cao felt that he should not be too anxious, so he comforted Zhang Yan for a few words, then deliberately stepped forward to force her into the corner, used a wall-dong trick, and said softly: " Sister-in-law, please live in peace. If you need anything in the future, just tell me..."
Zhang Yan was so frightened that her face turned red, her face turned pale, and she didn't know how to deal with it for a moment.
Just when Chen Cao made further moves after Zhang Yan, Chen Cao smiled and stood up seriously: "Sister-in-law, please think about it carefully. If you agree with my previous suggestion, please make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise At that time, those vassal kings chose to proclaim themselves emperor without knowing what was going on. At that time, I...for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the country, I had to take drastic measures."
Chongzhen's Queen Zhou was in the Cining Palace, but her husband had just died. Chen Cao would not provoke her, but just told the eunuchs and maids to take good care of the Cining Palace and then left.
Two days later, Chen Cao received the first wave of military reports from Yangzhou.
"After King Qin's army from all over the country rushed to the capital, they were defeated by the Tatars of Jiannu. According to reliable information, on the third day after King Lu supervised the country, the Tatars launched a general attack on Jinan. According to reports from peripheral spies, the puppet troops mainly surrendered. As the main force, the city of Jinan only lasted five days before being breached. Your Majesty, the Tatars massacred the city in Jinan...
In addition, Zhou Yuji, the commander-in-chief of Zijingguan, and his wife covered the fleeing King Jin, King Dai, King Gu and others heading south, and they are expected to arrive in Yangzhou soon. "
Chen Cao listened to Zhao Xin's report and then asked, "What did Zhu Yanrong say?"
"According to reports from Yangzhou, Zhu Yanrong has been in contact with our people. However, there are still many die-hard Zhu family members in the Gaoyou army, including Qin Liangyu and others. Several princes and princes even directly Tens of thousands of troops were sent north to King Qin, who probably died in Jinan;
According to Yichen's analysis, Zhu Yanrong is likely to choose to surrender when Gaoyou cannot stop the Tatars. "
Chen Cao gently knocked on the armrest of the throne, and then frowned: "Once Shandong falls, a large number of refugees and garrison troops will come. Zhu Yanrong is not capable of winning over so many people, so I still believe in him." We will take action in the near future.”
A royal guard in Jinyi came to the roll call outside the Qianqing Palace. After entering, he performed a military salute to Chen Cao: "Your Majesty, this is an official document sent by the Shence Army Headquarters."
After Chen Cao opened it and read it, he said: "In response to Hong Chengchou's urgent report, the southern vassal kings surnamed Zhu supported their own troops and refused to accept my order to go north to Nanjing. Only the King of Tang in Henan and the King of Gui in Guangxi expressed their willingness to agree with Queen Zhang. suggestions.”
As he spoke, Chen Cao threw the official document on the imperial case in front of him: "Led by the King of Chu, the King of Shu, and the King of Xiang, all the kings in the south have established themselves... Fuyuan, what do you think?"
After Chen Cao became emperor, in order to improve his status, he rarely addressed his ministers by their nicknames.
Xu Fuyuan stood aside, thinking for a long time: "Originally, His Majesty was going to build a fiefdom for King Zhu Jiafan in Southern Zhili, but now that so many people in the South are rebelling, it is a good thing. You can order Commander Hong to pull one by one. That can be done The lineage of the King of Gui and the line of the King of Tang will be flaunted."
"The Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Yujian, also helped me fight. Although Li Yan surrendered, he still ran away. Now he has figured it out?" Chen Cao thought about it for a while, and then felt that Xu Fuyuan still made sense. After all, Zhu Yujian in history can be regarded as the only bloody person among the Zhu family in the late Ming Dynasty. He can be used as a weapon to give an explanation to the descendants of the Zhu family: "Since Tang Fan and Gui Fan are aware of current affairs, as long as they arrive in Nanjing, I will forget the past." However, they are still regarded as the hereditary kings of Tang and Gui, and they can serve as officials. The rest of the people will not have this opportunity in the future."
"Your Majesty, should you kill or retain the king of the Zhu family in Huguang, Jiangxi and other places?"
Chen Cao rubbed his chin and thought, and finally made a decision: "After all, the Zhu family has ruled the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years, and it still has a status in the people's cognition. Moreover, the people will have to be wise in the future. If I die, they will think about me. The previous dynasty's approach to dealing with the royal family was biased, and it still has an impact on the descendants of my Chen family. We should follow Zhao Kuangyin's model, but it needs to be improved;
In this way, I can rest assured about Hong Chengchou's ability to do things. The kings in the south are basically empty-handed. They will have no room to fight back under the attack of rifles. It is only a matter of time to clean them up. Send an order to Hong Chengchou and tell him, As long as the Zhu family king chooses to surrender, he will cease fighting and accept surrender, and send them to Nanjing. Remember to warn him not to kill the Zhu family clan without permission. "
"Your Majesty is merciful..."
There were many former Nanjing officials in the palace. When they heard what Chen Cao said, they all bowed down to sing praises.
Taking this opportunity, Xu Fuyuan bowed: "Your Majesty, I have some suggestions..."
"speak..."
"In the past, when Emperor Taizu founded the country in Nanjing, there was still land in the north of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Emperor Taizu still conferred titles on meritorious officials. I know your majesty's good intentions, and I also suggest that after the title is given, the meritorious service of the meritorious officials can be awarded. Determine whether their title is hereditary, reduced, or transferred, or whether military merit and honor are meritless...
If Your Majesty does this, he will not only be able to avoid excessive titles resulting in redundant titles and bring tax pressure on the country, but also be able to encourage the honored officials to make positive progress in a certain way, thus avoiding the corruption of hereditary titles and useless future generations that occurred during the Zhu Dynasty. This phenomenon has put an end to the idea that the fathers dominate the country and the children enjoy the country. "
