The sound of artillery, gunfire, and shouts of killing on the battlefield in the eastern part of Nanjing suddenly stopped around noon on the sixth day of September in Chongzhen.
Less than half a quarter of an hour ago, the artillery team of the New Army of Defeating Xiaolingwei finally opened a gap thirty to forty steps wide in the east wall of Xiaolingwei with six Hongyi cannons. At this gap, The upper half of the city wall was gone, and the city bricks and the rammed earth layer inside collapsed and formed a slope.
The fire gun soldiers commanded by Feng San rushed to the bottom of the slope and blasted with bird cannons and turtle dove foot fire cannons. The Xu family's servants who tried to block the gap and the Nanjing soldiers recruited with generous rewards were beaten to death and wounded!
However, Feng San did not command his troops to attack the gap. The reason was that the collapse of the city wall was too high, and the slope formed by the collapsed masonry and soil was too steep, making it difficult to climb without the use of equipment. So Feng San could only temporarily stop attacking and let people prepare the ladder.
But Zhu Cixiang was unwilling to wait. A city as large and strong as Nanjing could not be captured by force! Moreover, Nanjing is still the fundamental place for Prince Zhu’s future, so it cannot be allowed to be so devastated by the war. So you have to focus on your heart! And isn’t attacking one’s mind just deceiving? Zhu Cixiang is the best at this...
"Master Chitose, have mercy on me, Master Chitose, please have mercy..."
"We are all coercive and forced!"
"Master Chitose, spare your life, I won't dare to rebel again..."
Those who were shouting and begging for mercy were all the rebels captured on the battlefield of the Great Sacrifice Altar. Thousands of them were escorted by Hao Yaoqi's fire rifle soldiers to Zhu Cihong, and they knelt down in front of Zhu Cixiang in darkness. Zhu Guobi was also captured and was slightly injured. One of his legs was broken while escaping. Now he was carried to Zhu Cixiang by two prisoners. This guy was completely depressed, his face was pale and his whole body was shaking. He even forgot to beg for mercy when he saw Prince Zhu.
His crime is so serious, how can he be spared? It's definitely a dead end...
"Zhu Guobi, I didn't expect you to be a tough guy!" Zhu Cixiang looked at him with a smile, "So many people are begging for mercy, but you are the only one who doesn't beg for mercy...are you preparing to be stabbed a thousand times?"
It's going to be late!
After Zhu Guobi heard this, his body trembled, tears couldn't help flowing down, and he burst into tears.
"Why are you crying? If a man dies, he will die!"
"Marquis Funing, we are all loyal ministers, even if we die, our names will go down in history!"
Seeing Marquis Funing crying, Zhang Shenyan and Han Zanzhou, who were being escorted and stood beside Zhu Cihong, began to persuade him, but these words obviously could not comfort Zhu Guobi.
Zhu Cixiang glanced at the two of them and said with a smile: "What are you two yelling about? You have come to this point, and you still want to leave your name in Qingshi? Qingshi will not say good things about you, because Qingshi was written by someone from this palace. Ma Zhijun , what do you think?"
Ma Shiying looked at Zhang Shenyan with disdain, "Zhang Miaoshan, you are an eunuch, plotting rebellion, treason, and unforgivable evil!"
"You, you..." Zhang Shenyan looked at Ma Shiying fiercely, "How can I be a eunuch?"
Ma Shiying pointed at Han Zanzhou and said, "You are in the same party with this eunuch, how come you are not an eunuch?"
"Okay, okay," Zhang Shenyan said angrily, "I am an eunuch, so how about you and Huang Degong?"
Ma Shiying looked serious: "Of course we are Donglin's successors!"
Zhu Cixiang nodded, "I am also the crown prince of Donglin! My teachers Mr. Qian, Mr. Hou, Mr. Gong, and Mr. Wu are all gentlemen of Donglin, so I am also the successor of Donglin!"
"You, you..." Zhang Shenyan was a little speechless. He had never seen such a thick-skinned person!
An unfaithful and unfilial prince actually said that he was the successor of Donglin, and also described himself as a member of the Donglin Party who was an eunuch. Is this justified?
Zhu Cihong snorted: "You two eunuchs still want to quibble?" He turned his head and asked loudly to the dark prisoners in front of him, "You were deceived and bewitched by eunuchs Zhang Shenyan and Han Zanzhou, so you opposed me. With the Holy One?"
Many of Nanjing's soldiers and junior officers at the grassroots level came from the city, and they were all smart people. When they heard Zhu Cixiang's question, they immediately knew how to answer it.
"What Mr. Qiantose said is that we were deceived by the eunuchs Zhang Shenyan and Han Zanzhou..."
"Those two eunuchs are the worst! They lied to us and said they wanted to be loyal to the king, but in fact they wanted to rebel!"
"They want to vindicate Wei Ni and destroy the gentlemen of the Donglin Party..."
Gentleman Donglin was criticized in later generations, but in Jiangnan in the late Ming Dynasty, he was the embodiment of justice and truth!
The eunuchs are notorious in Jiangnan. Anyone who is considered to be an eunuch must be a public enemy of Jiangnan Shilin, and even the people who don't know the truth will join in the hatred.
Of course Zhu Cixiang knew what the Donglin Party was, but he would not go against the public opinion in Jiangnan. It would not work to use the slogan of annihilating the Donglin Party as soon as he arrived in Jiangnan - these Donglin Party people were not successful enough. , more than enough to expose the matter!
Therefore, Zhu Cixiang's strategy has always been to do things against Donglin under the banner of Donglin... Anyway, he is the prince of Donglin, and whoever opposes him will be an eunuch!
Now Qian Qianyi and Hou Xun, the leaders of Donglin, are all Zhu Cihong's people, and Shi Kefa has also been sent to Qufu to defend Confucius. Donglin Junzi's certification right is equivalent to being in his own hands! In this case, of course he has to certify himself as a Donglin gentleman, and he is also the core leadership of the new generation of Donglin Party.
Zhu Cixiang nodded, and the guards behind him immediately shouted: "Quiet! Silence!"
The scene quickly became quiet, and thousands of people were looking at Prince Zhu eagerly, waiting for him to speak.
Zhu Cihong said: "Since you are all deceived by the eunuchs, I will spare your life. Then each of you will be given one tael of silver and let you go back to the city... You go tell the soldiers guarding the city. , I am the Prince of Donglin, and it was the gentlemen of Donglin who ushered in Jiangnan, and I came to save the people of Jiangnan from the fire and water. The rebel leaders who are now opposing me are all remnants of the eunuchs! They want to poison For the people of Jiangnan!
As long as the soldiers guarding the city repent and fight back, I will be rewarded heavily! "
When Zhu Cihong said these words, he would pause for a moment, and the loud-voiced guards present would repeat it, so that everyone present could hear clearly.
After listening to Zhu Cixiang's words on Tuesday, Zhang Shenyan and Han Zan's faces turned ashen.
Because they know that Zhu Cixiang's seemingly low-level psychological attack strategy is absolutely effective in the panic-stricken inner city of Nanjing!
Boxes of silver were carried out. The Nanjing soldiers who walked around in front of the gate of hell were divided into more than ten teams under the command of the new officers and soldiers who were escorting them. They lined up to get the money, and then lined up to be escorted to Chaoyang. Go outside each gate in the inner city of Nanjing to "call the door".
This method is exactly the same as Li Zicheng's method to deal with Beijing City at that time!
After dispatching these miscellaneous soldiers, Zhu Cixiang turned to look at Zhu Guobi who was slumped on the ground, looking a little stupid. He smiled and asked: "Zhu Guobi, are you a eunuch or a Donglin?"
Zhu Guobi replied without thinking: "The guilty minister is Dong Lin..."
"Nonsense!" Ma Shiying shouted angrily on the side, "You dare to pretend to be a gentleman of Donglin when you are about to die. You should be punished by one degree, no, you should be punished by three degrees!"
Zhu Cixiang nodded and asked again: "Zhu Guobi, if you think about it again, are you Donglin or an eunuch?"
"The guilty minister, the guilty minister is an eunuch..." Zhu Guobi has no other ideas. He is Lingchi's fault. What will happen if he is added to the third level?
"Just admit it!" Zhu Cixiang smiled, "I am the most merciful person. Even if you have committed a heinous crime, as long as you repent and change your past, your punishment can still be reduced... Yours Life is not unforgivable, the key depends on performance! Do you understand?"
"The guilty minister knows..." As soon as Zhu Guobi heard that he could survive, he even forgot about the severe pain in his legs and feet. He struggled and kowtowed to Zhu Cixiang.
Zhu Cixiang waved his hand, "Take him down and take good care of him. Don't let him die..."
A rebel leader who is willing to admit that he is an eunuch and wants to eliminate the Donglin Party, of course cannot die, and you are pointing at him to bite people!
