Inside the Forbidden City.
The outside world is in the fourth year of the Ming Dynasty's revival.
This was still the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty.
Although the fifteenth elder brother has ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor with the support of his ministers, he has not yet had time to take any title.
The fifteenth-year-old Aixinjueluo Yongyan sat on the throne with a gloomy face. This chair was once his dream, but now it makes him restless.
The news brought back by some Eight Banners soldiers and officers who escaped from the front line proved one thing: His Emperor Ama, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, was really captured alive by the Ming Dynasty army! !
And in Beijing.
It is almost certain that the supporters behind Kong Qingrong and Dong Gao who helped Lao Shiqi up to fight with him were the Sons of the Ming Dynasty - now the so-called Sheng Gong Army has publicly displayed the sun and moon flag, and the Ming Dynasty's Thousands of households in Jinyiwei have become temporary middle- and high-level officers of an army. He firmly controlled both Shandong League Training and Zhili League Training.
In addition, the Han people in the capital, from the gentry to the common people, all knew that the Ming Dynasty was back. Now that it was clear that they did not want to follow the declining Qing Dynasty, they all defected to Lao Qing, the Ming Dynasty.
And it's even worse.
Not just Han Chinese.
Even many bannermen went to join Old Seventeen.
The situation is really too bad. Although he became the emperor, no matter how he was promoted, the emperor always came to take the blame. That is to say, the blame for the fall of the Qing Dynasty was very likely to be carried on his own head. Come on!
Why is Kong Qingrong so blind? Why didn't he look for him in the first place?
The situation is so embarrassing now.
"Your Majesty, none of the people we sent out to contact Guihua City came back."
Coming in a hurry was He Shen and his younger brother He Lin.
The two brothers are now the foremen of the Qing Dynasty's civil and military affairs.
However, the Qing Dynasty was about to break up, so the two brothers didn't seem very excited.
If Aixinjueluo Yongyan has a way out, it is to go to Guihua City.
There are more than 600,000 Eight Banners residents there.
In addition, Governor Lebao of the Western Regions had 30,000 soldiers, and the total number of banner people and Han people who were colonized was more than 200,000.
If he could escape, he might still have a future as the emperor of the Western Qing Dynasty.
But now the Forbidden City has become a prison.
And until now, the Emperor of Heaven has no intention of sending anyone to recruit people to surrender.
Is it possible that the emperor of tomorrow is going to massacre the Eight Banners?
It can be said that this idea lingers in the heads of all the Eight Banners in the Forbidden City, like a nightmare.
Yong Yan looked at He Shen and said helplessly: "The Ming army has blocked the road to the north. What should we do now? How many troops do we still have on hand?"
He Lin took a step forward and said: "There are now 600,000 banner men and 30,000 soldiers in the Forbidden City. If all the men who can wield swords and guns are counted, there will be another 700,000 to 80,000 people. But the number seems quite large. But it’s of no use.”
"Why?" Yongyan raised his head and looked at He Lin, "Back then, Emperor Taizu raised an army to resist the Ming Dynasty with his thirteen armors. Now I still have hundreds of thousands of bannermen."
"Times have changed. At that time, the Ming Dynasty had rogues inside, border troubles outside, and suffered disasters all year round. It couldn't get the money of the local tycoons in the south of the Yangtze River. How could it survive?" He Lin shook her head and said, "But now the Ming Dynasty has powerful people. Soldiers can draw huge wealth from sea trade to support their troops. In addition, war now is no longer an era of skilled archers and horses, but an era of muskets and artillery. Your Majesty, don’t look at how many we can mobilize now. Thousands of soldiers are coming, but how many rounds of artillery bombardment can these tens of thousands of soldiers withstand?"
Old Fifteen sighed: "What should we do now? Many bannermen have gone to Old Seventeen."
He Shen and He Lin looked at each other, but did not speak.
Let alone an ordinary bannerman.
Even He Shen himself exchanged all his wealth for Ming Yuan and deposited it into the Ming Royal Bank.
The Qing Dynasty was about to end, and everyone could see it.
If Emperor Qianlong was still alive, he could still take everyone to the west to seek life.
But now Qianlong has been arrested, and the two princes of the Qing Dynasty are fighting.
What future is there?
So even if we are all bannermen, it is time for everyone to find their own way out.
"Brother Chongru, I remember when you were doing the roll call at Donghua Gate and becoming a Jinshi in high school. I was only a teenager at that time. I was really envious when I saw my brother riding into the palace on horseback."
At Liu Yong's residence in the capital.
Ji Yun and Ji Xiaolan were obviously a little drunk.
His face turned a little rosy.
The two old men slumped down on their chairs and began to think about those years.
"Yes, yes. You won the Jinshi in just a few years." Liu Yong said with emotion.
"Time flies, and more than seventy years have passed."
The two of them sighed.
"Seeing this prosperous place collapse suddenly," Ji Yun said with emotion.
Liu Yong shook his head: "How can it be considered a prosperous age if it can collapse so easily? But it's good. At least there is no mountain of corpses and sea of blood."
The two couldn't help but fell silent.
At their level, there are actually not many choices.
The most appropriate solution is to retire.
This is also the practice of most old ministers in previous dynasties.
But now that the old emperor of the Qing Dynasty has been arrested, and two new emperors have appeared, the situation has become a bit chaotic for a while.
"Now it depends on the future of these millions of bannermen. Recently, many people have defected to Lao Qiu's side." Ji Yun said.
"It's just human nature." Liu Yong shook his head.
The people of this banner are also human beings, and not all of them are really die-hard slaves of the Aisin Gioro family.
But slaves are there for the benefit.
Who would be a slave without any benefit?
Ji Xiaolan was silent for a moment and said, "That's right. Maybe the future of the banner people will fall on Lao Qi."
"Although it is a puppet that was lifted up, since the Emperor of Heaven wants to use a puppet, it at least shows that he still gave these millions of bannermen a way to survive."
Where is the way for the bannermen to survive?
Yonglin, the seventeenth son of Qianlong, was the last hope for many bannermen.
Since the Emperor of Heaven supports Yonglin, it means that the Emperor of Heaven wants to use bannermen and the Eight Banners. If the Eight Banners are useful, there will be a way to survive!
So in the past few days, many bannermen have sneaked to Lao Qi's side.
But now in Aixinjueluo Yonglin, it is not the seventeenth prince who has the final say.
It’s not even Kong Qingrong, the Duke of Yansheng, and Dong Gao, the minister of military aircraft.
It was Wang Dingjia and Fang Ke, the two commanders of Jinyiwei.
The two of them can now be said to have made great achievements.
Not only did he control an army of tens of thousands, he also helped the Ming Dynasty basically protect the city of Beijing.
Just rely on this credit.
Both of them have a future as marquises.
However, both of them are still young and have not yet reached the stage of lying down, so they are still very active in seeking progress.
Especially when the emperor's message came from above.
The emperor appreciated their actions very much and gave them a new task: to gather the banner people as much as possible and not allow the banner people to flee.
But what to do with these bannermen who have taken refuge?
The emperor didn't say it clearly.
"Commander Wang, do you want me to meet the Emperor of Heaven?"
Seventeenth Brother Aixinjueluo Yonglin asked in disbelief.
"It's natural, Lord Seventeen, don't think that going to Tianjin is to surrender. You won't be able to shame your face. This is your chance!"
"Chance?"
"Isn't it true? Look at so many bannermen coming to seek refuge with you. Why do you think they come to seek refuge with you?"
Yonglin's face changed slightly.
Of course he knows why.
Because he is the puppet of the Emperor of Heaven!
Now on his side.
Not to mention him, even Kong Qingrong and Dong Gao couldn't speak.
Because the "Holy Duke Army" was basically controlled by the Qianhu and Baihu of the Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei.
When the leaders and soldiers of the Shandong and Zhili regiments heard that the Ming court had come to recruit them, they happily cut off their braids.
Especially those Shandong soldiers.
They originally thought that they were following the Qing Dynasty to suppress the rebellion, and they might not be able to get an official position or something from the Qing Dynasty.
As a result, the Qing Dynasty itself became a rebel force.
Fortunately, things have turned around.
The Ming Dynasty has come to recruit people!
What are you waiting for?
The people of Shandong like to recruit people the most.
Now this army is loyal to the Ming Dynasty from top to bottom. Yong Lin can't command it at all. He is just a puppet who was brought out to compete with Old Fifteen.
And those bannermen came to seek refuge.
It's not because his seventeenth elder brother is more wise and powerful than his fifteenth elder brother, but because of his status as a puppet.
One sentence.
Today's bannermen are all afraid of being beaten and are afraid of being exterminated by the Ming Dynasty.
So everyone regarded Lao Qi as a life-saving straw.
Kong Qingrong and Dong Gao looked at each other and said nothing. Sitting in this position, they actually made up their minds to vote.
It's just that he is a minister of the Qing Dynasty, and his reputation is not good for taking the initiative to seek refuge.
But if the emperor of the Qing Dynasty voted for himself, and then followed suit, would he not be considered a second minister?
Yonglin was silent for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll go to Tianjin to meet the emperor!"
As soon as this statement came out.
Everyone present could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
It seems that this Seventeenth Master still knows what it means to be a man who knows the current affairs.
(End of chapter)
