Zhu Qiyu lay alone on his pillow, speechless all night.
Early the next morning, at dawn, Zhu Qiyu woke up the palace maids and eunuchs on duty, urged them to serve him, change clothes and wash up, then dismissed everyone and hurried to the main courtyard.
According to Zhu Qiyu's own expectations, no one should take the initiative to ask to go with him.
But unexpectedly, the palace officials Cheng Jing, Yu Gang, Yu Shan, four young eunuchs, and twenty palace guards were already standing neatly in the courtyard.
As soon as Zhu Qiyu appeared, everyone bowed down and saluted.
Zhu Qiyu asked curiously: "Are you all going to follow me to the south of the Yangtze River?"
Everyone then shouted in unison: "We are willing to follow Your Highness."
Zhu Qiyu was startled, and he was really surprised, so he stared at everyone carefully.
The faces of the three people standing in the first row were full of respect. Cheng Jing, standing in the middle, was the ninth-rank official in the royal palace.
Yu Gang, standing on the left, is the chief judge of the Royal Inquisition Office, the sixth rank.
Yu Shan, who is standing on the right, is the companion of the palace, from the ninth grade.
Zhu Qiyu looked at it and couldn't help but smile bitterly: He was going to be the emperor soon, but looking at these 'Conglong Ministers' under him, they were just three or two real big cats and kittens. His current appearance is only slightly better than that of a seventh-grade county magistrate, and obviously incomparable to that of a prefect.
Although there are still two officials of the fifth rank in his own palace: the Chief of History and the left and right of the Chief of History. But it was obvious that these two 'big officials' who were on an equal footing with the prefect no longer planned to 'follow the dragon'.
Zhu Qiyu took a closer look at the eunuchs and guards behind him, and they were quite decent. Looking back, there were several carriages, except for one that was obviously for him to sit in. Each of the remaining carriages had several large boxes tied to them.
Zhu Qiyu then asked Cheng Jing: "Mr. Cheng, is everything ready?"
Cheng Jing hurriedly replied: "Prince Qi, everything is ready. After asking for the Queen Mother's decree yesterday, I went to each yamen to prepare all the necessary customs and defense routes.
Gold, silver, soft food, dry food, water, daily necessities and other supplies are all available and loaded on the carriage. If there are any shortcomings, please let me know. "
Zhu Qiyu nodded with satisfaction and thought to himself: Mr. Cheng is really a talent. Not only did he realize in a short period of time that his insistence on leaving Beijing was not crazy, but had a deeper meaning. Moreover, when doing things, he is also very organized, smart and capable, so he doesn't have to worry about anything.
So Zhu Qiyu patted Cheng Jing on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Cheng. You did a good job."
After speaking, Zhu Qiyu turned to everyone and said with a smile: "You have done a good job, I will not treat you badly. Now everyone mounts up and sets off immediately."
Everyone hurriedly responded and surrounded Zhu Qiyu into the carriage. The group of people performed their duties, guarding the guards, driving the carriage, and left the palace in a short time.
Zhu Qiyu didn't even look back at the palace, and left without any regrets. From then on, he parted ways with all the princesses and concubines, and lived in peace with each other.
Since Cheng Jing had already led the Guanfang Road yesterday, and the Queen Mother Yi was on hand, Zhu Qiyu and his party left the imperial city very smoothly and galloped along the post road. Just after noon, they had already run out for thirty miles.
Since Zhu Qiyu didn't really intend to run to Hangzhou in one go, he ordered everyone to stop and rest until they were full before setting out on the road.
Zhu Qiyu is a very optimistic person. After leaving the capital and breathing the free and fresh air of the wild, he immediately felt good. At that moment, Zhu Qiyu was sitting on a big stone by the side of the road, looking at the sky with his hands crossed leisurely.
But she said that Queen Mother Sun was not in such a good mood at this time. Yesterday, the Ming army was defeated in Tumubao. When it was close to noon today, the military report had been sent to the Ministry of War.
Ordinarily, this military report should be handled by the Minister of War, but at this time, the Minister of War was gone.
Yu Qian, the left minister of the Ministry of War, received the military report. After being shocked, he immediately came to the cabinet.
Several pavilion elders had read the military report and were all dumbfounded. Not to mention that everyone has never experienced this kind of thing, even if you read all the history books, this kind of thing is unheard of.
After a while, Chen Xun, the second assistant, came back to his senses and asked in a trembling voice: "Shilang Yu, where is your majesty?"
Yu Qian shook his head: "I don't know, His Majesty's whereabouts are unknown."
Chen Xun, who had always been mature and prudent, now slumped down on his chair and muttered absentmindedly: "It's a disaster, it's a disaster..."
Yu Qian had no choice but to remind him from the side: "Mr. Ge, now is not the time to be flustered and depressed. We should quickly summon the important ministers in Beijing, and then go to meet the Queen Mother together."
After Chen Xun heard this, he calmed down and ordered people to summon the important ministers in Beijing.
Why is Chen Xun, the second assistant, in charge? Because now the chief assistant is gone too.
When Queen Mother Sun had just finished her meal and was about to take a nap, she saw Jin Ying running in in a panic.
Empress Dowager Sun was very unhappy and scolded her with a cold face: "What are you doing in a hurry? Jin Ying, you are also an old man in the palace. Why do you still need Aijia to teach you the rules?"
Jin Ying hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, and replied: "Queen Mother, it's not good. Second Assistant Chen Ge Lao and more than a dozen important court officials are asking the Queen Mother to summon her personally."
When Queen Mother Sun heard this, her heart thumped, and a bad premonition came to her.
After all, after so many years and countless ups and downs, Empress Dowager Sun knew very well that if there was no real major event, it would be impossible for Chen Xun to inexplicably bring more than a dozen important officials to see him.
So Chen Xun and others successfully entered the Cining Palace. When they saw the Queen Mother, they all fell to the ground and burst into tears.
Empress Dowager Sun read the military report and was so frightened that she could not recover for a long time.
After a while, Queen Mother Sun asked in a trembling voice: "What's wrong with the emperor? Why did he suffer such a disastrous defeat? How should we deal with it next? You are all important ministers, please speak quickly."
All the ministers looked at each other in confusion, but only Yu Qian replied: "Queen Mother, the most urgent task is to first appoint King Tan as the supervisor of the country and take charge of the country's affairs, and then mobilize the army to guard the capital and rescue Your Majesty."
Empress Dowager Sun was shocked when she heard this and replied: "Yesterday King Tan came into the palace and asked to take care of him in the south of the Yangtze River. The Ai family has approved it."
Hu Hu, the Minister of Rites, took a step forward and asked curiously: "Your Majesty is driving the expedition in person, and King Yin is ordered to stay in the capital. How can the Queen Mother allow King Yin to leave."
In fact, the Empress Dowager Sun was quite aggrieved. Prince Yin was the guardian of the capital in name only. In fact, Prince Yin did not need to do anything. He only needed to stay in the palace. Moreover, before the Tumubao Incident, no one could have imagined that the entire army would be wiped out and the emperor's whereabouts would be unknown.
When Queen Mother Sun felt that King Yin was of no use, and because King Yin begged so hard, she softened her heart and agreed.
Hu Xi continued to complain. Yu Qian quietly gave Hu Xi a hand and advised the Queen Mother: "For now, it is no longer useful to complain to each other. It is better to ask the Queen Mother to send someone to summon King Xi into the palace as soon as possible. Maybe now Xi The king is still in the palace, even if King Tan has left the capital, just let the Jin Yiwei travel quickly to catch him back."
