In Jiyi Hall.
As the ministers left one after another, the originally full hall suddenly became empty.
Zhu Qiyu sat at the top, looking intently at Yu Qian, who was standing in the hall, with a complicated expression.
This was the first time he had played alone with Yu Qian since he woke up this time.
But such scenes have been experienced countless times in previous lives.
Zhu Qiyu has complicated feelings about Yu Qian.
From the emperor's point of view, he was a hero of the Ming Dynasty, a loyal minister, a critical minister, and a good minister, but he was never a confidant.
What he cares about is the peace of the world, not the peace of one family.
According to Confucianism, Yu Qian accomplished almost every aspect of cultivating one's moral integrity, harmonizing one's family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world. However, in the end, he ended up in ruins.
Frankly speaking, Zhu Qiyu was dissatisfied with Qian.
In terms of fame and fortune, he gave Yu Qian unprecedented trust, as Shaobao, Prince Taifu, and Minister of the Ministry of War. There is no better minister than this.
In terms of actual power, he has been in charge of the Ministry of War for eight years without any change. In fact, Zhu Qiyu even handed over the power of admiral to the capital camp to him.
The Ming Dynasty's tradition of using culture to control military affairs began with Yu Qian's hands.
Even his most trusted Jin Yiwei was handed over to Yu Qian's son-in-law Zhu Ji.
He never treated Qian poorly, but Yu Qian failed him!
When the incident of seizing the gate occurred, the only person in the entire capital who had the strength to change the situation was Yu Qian.
He holds the two most powerful forces in Jingying and Jinyiwei in his hands.
As long as he is willing to give the order, Shi Heng's tangled mob of more than 3,000 people, even if they occupy the palace city, cannot stop Yu Qian who holds hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers from the Beijing camp.
But he didn't...
To this day, Zhu Qiyu has long been able to figure out why.
Yu Qian lived an upright life and worked hard for the Ming Dynasty.
After all, the Supreme Emperor was the Supreme Emperor. If he had sent troops at that time, he would have committed rebellion and would be criticized by future generations.
This is what Yu Qian, who has always been famous all his life, does not want.
What's more, Zhu Qiyu had no heirs at the time. Once he died of illness, the one who eventually ascended the throne would be the deposed prince Zhu Jianshen who once lived in the East Palace.
And when the Supreme Emperor is restored to the throne, he will eventually pass the throne to his son.
After all, there is no difference between great inheritances, so why bother?
What's more, once the army is mobilized, rivers of blood will flow inside and outside the palace walls. If the feudal kings from various places take the opportunity to cause chaos and disrupt the country, Yu Qian's life's hard work will be ruined.
This was something he couldn't accept no matter what.
Therefore, his final choice is to fail one person but not the world!
Although he knew what he would face if he did this, Yu Qian had never been a person who was afraid of death...
Today, Zhu Qiyu can understand what he is thinking and understand his choice.
To be fair, from Yu Qian's perspective at the time, he chose the most beneficial method for Ming Dynasty.
only……
The price is too heavy!
Both Yu Qian and others have forgotten one thing.
The person who seized the throne and restored the throne was no longer the orthodox emperor who had the world in mind and wanted to achieve great things.
But he was a vengeful emperor who was imprisoned for seven years and harbored resentment towards everyone.
Recalling Zhu Qizhen's various measures after the restoration, Zhu Qiyu still feels shuddering to this day.
Yu Qian believed that as long as he surrendered, he would be able to achieve a smooth transition in the situation.
But a heart of revenge will burn away all a person's reason.
Among the cabinet ministers who played an important role in the government and the public, including Yu Qian, two were killed, three were sentenced to confiscation and exile, and two were forced to become officials.
All six were empty!
Seven ministers at the rank of minister were dismissed, exiled and beheaded.
Whether they are important ministers who have devoted their lives to the imperial court and worked hard for more than ten years, or they are mid-level and senior ministers who have been favored by Zhu Qiyu.
Killed, dismissed from office, exiled...
The court hall was full of heads and blood flowed like rivers.
In just one month, almost all the important ministers in the entire court were replaced.
Yu Qian sacrificed himself, hoping to preserve the peace of the court and the stability of the country, but Zhu Qizhen was completely destroyed...
Scenes after scenes kept flashing in Zhu Qiyu's mind, making it difficult for him to speak for a long time.
Yu Qian stood at the bottom, feeling the complicated gaze of King Xi, and couldn't help but feel a burst of surprise in his heart.
He had no friendship with this King of Tao, so why did he look at him with such complicated eyes?
Raising his head slightly, Yu Qian took a look at King Tao, and felt that his eyes looked at him with admiration, reliance, regret and unwillingness, and even a hint of anger... In short, Extremely complicated...
Before Qian Yi could figure out where this gaze came from, he felt his superior's gaze retracted.
Then Zhu Qiyu was heard speaking.
"Nowadays, the safety of the capital depends on the minister. I, the Ming Dynasty's country, should also rely on the minister to save the world. I have no virtue, so I would like to express my gratitude to the minister first."
Yu Qian raised his head and saw Zhu Qiyu standing up, bowing to him uprightly and bowing his hands in salute. He couldn't help but turn pale with shock and prostrate himself in the tunnel.
"Why did the prince say this? I would never dare to be treated like a prince."
At this moment, Yu Qian was just an ordinary Sixth Minister, not even a minister.
Although he had firmly stood on the side of King Xin during the discussion, Yu Qian would never dare to accept the offer.
What's more, Zhu Qiyu said that he would like to express his gratitude on behalf of the emperor...
As a human minister, who dares to accept the gift of the emperor calmly?
Therefore, a little cold sweat suddenly broke out on Yu Qian's forehead.
Zhu Qiyu came down, helped Yu Qian up with his own hands, and said softly.
"You deserve it. This is what the king owes you, and what the Zhu family owes you..."
Even more, the emperor owes you...
Zhu Qiyu added another sentence in his heart.
After saying these inexplicable words, Zhu Qiyu took a deep breath, finally calmed down his emotions, returned to his seat and sat down again, and said.
"Shilang Yu, the Ministry of War has been taking inventory of soldiers and generals these days. How is the situation?"
Yu Qian was still thinking about the meaning of Zhu Qiyu's words just now. When he heard him mention business, he quickly gathered his thoughts and spoke.
"Back to my lord, the situation is not optimistic."
"It has been four days since the army reported to Beijing. In the past few days, I have led officials from the Ministry of War to urgently take inventory of the available officers and soldiers in the capital. This is a detailed report."
After saying this and thinking for a moment, Yu Qian took out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it over.
Zhu Qiyu raised his hand to take it, glanced at it briefly, and focused on Yu Qian's narrative.
"There are 70,000 registered troops in our three major battalions in the capital, but less than 50,000 combat-ready troops, most of whom are old, weak and disabled soldiers. In recent years, military equipment has been weakened, the officers and soldiers have been slack, and the governor's office of the fifth army has committed fraud. There are too many soldiers and insufficient combat power. It’s even worse than when I was in the early years of my reign.”
"And among the tens of thousands of soldiers, less than one in ten is fully equipped with helmets, armor, muskets, magic arrows and other equipment. In addition, these days, although the news of the imperial court's defeat has not spread, people fleeing from the border continue to enter the city. , the morale of the officers and soldiers in the Beijing camp is low. If this continues, it will be extremely difficult to defend the capital..."
