"Ah?" Du Zhizhi shouted out loud.
He lay on the ground with an ashen complexion and kept kowtowing: "Your Majesty, this slave is unjustly accused. Someone must have framed me."
"This servant is Your Majesty's servant and I swear to be loyal to Your Majesty to the death!"
Seeing that Chongzhen was silent, Du Zhizhi turned to look at Wang Chengen.
"Your Majesty, I was brought here by you. I will never betray Your Majesty. Please be careful, Your Majesty!"
Wang Chengen frowned. The emperor had no evidence. It was a secret letter written by Feng Yuanyang.
Killing Du Zhizhi was nothing more than appeasing Tang Tong.
After thinking clearly about these reasons, Wang Chengen snorted coldly: "Du Zhizhi, you are an adulterer, the evidence is conclusive, why are you still making excuses? Come here, take down Du Zhizhi and push him out to be punished!"
After hearing the order, the two Jinyi guards pushed open the door and entered. One on the left and one on the right, they controlled Du Zhizhi and dragged him out without any explanation.
Du Zhizhi was completely panicked. He struggled to look around and his eyes fell on Tang Tong.
At this time, he could no longer care about anything, and shouted loudly to Tang Tong: "Master Tang, please help me, Your Majesty, I really have no illicit connections."
Tang Tong snorted coldly and pretended not to hear.
Du Zhizhi was desperate!
Seeing that he was about to be dragged out of the hall, Chongzhen stretched out his hand to stop the two imperial guards. He looked at Tang Tong with a smile on his face: "Uncle Ding Xi, according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, what is the crime for having an affair with a thief?"
Tang Tong was shocked and immediately understood Chongzhen's intention. He said in a deep voice: "According to military law, he should be executed."
"As a supervisor, Du Zhizhi knows the law and breaks the law. Since the charges have been verified, he should be dealt with according to military law."
Tang Tong couldn't help but look up at Chongzhen. He couldn't understand what the Ming Emperor was up to.
He was the one who sent Du Zhizhi to supervise the army yesterday, and he is the one who wants to kill Du Zhizhi today.
Could it be that Du Zhizhi really had an affair with a traitor?
No...impossible!
No one has the purpose of collaborating with thieves, but the eunuchs do not.
When changing dynasties, old ministers from the previous dynasty can be used, and there are also examples of marrying concubines from the previous dynasty, but there is no precedent for using eunuchs from the previous dynasty.
What is Du Zhizhi trying to do with the thieves?
"Tang Tong, Du Zhizhi is a traitor, why don't you kill him for me?"
Tang Tong didn't have time to think too much. He knelt down and kowtowed respectfully: "My lord, I obey the order."
After saying that, he stood up and came to Du Zhizhi's side, grabbing the other man's neck.
The moment he turned around, he could no longer conceal his inner ecstasy, and dragged Du Zhizhi out of the hall with a grin.
"Your Majesty, this servant has been wronged!"
"What an injustice!"
"injustice..."
After a moment, Du Zhizhi's voice begging for mercy stopped abruptly.
Tang Tong returned to the hall with satisfaction, and his previous dissatisfaction with Chongzhen disappeared with the death of Du Zhizhi.
The only uncertainty is who will be the next Supervisor.
"Your Majesty, my execution has been completed and Du Zhizhi is dead. I wonder who your Majesty will send to supervise the army."
"There are no supervisors." Chongzhen smiled slightly.
Tang Tong was stunned for a moment, "Your Majesty, I don't understand."
"Uncle Dingxi is the pillar of the Ming Dynasty. I believe in you, so there is no need to supervise the army."
"Wang Cheng'en, go to the internal fund and withdraw 20,000 taels of silver from Uncle Xi. I will find a way to make up for the remaining money."
Looking at the aloof Emperor Chongzhen, Tang Tong's eyes instantly moistened.
The grievances and distrust I had suffered before all disappeared in this moment.
He kowtowed to the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I must guard Juyongguan to the death and not let the bandits take a step forward."
"No, you can't hold on!"
Tang Tong was startled.
Your Majesty kills people and gives money. Isn't the purpose of making you sacrifice your life for him?
You just expressed your opinion that you will stick to it, why doesn't Your Majesty agree?
Chongzhen shook his head slightly: "Li Zi divided his troops into two groups to attack the capital. His general Liu Fangliang has now occupied Baoding Mansion. Once Li Zicheng is blocked, Liu Fangliang will definitely support him. By then, Juyong Pass will be attacked from two sides, and Ding Xibo will be in danger."
"This... I... I am not afraid of death!" Tang Tong said bravely.
"Now is the time for the imperial court to employ people. I cannot put you in danger. You only need to stay at Juyong Pass for a few days. Before Liu Fangliang's army encircles Juyong Pass, you can take everyone back to the capital."
"Yes...I will definitely live up to the emperor's favor!"
Wu Mengming and Wang Zhixin felt a little uneasy as they looked at Tang Tong's retreating back.
Tang Tong was privately dissatisfied yesterday with Chongzhen's behavior of sending Du Zhizhi to supervise the army.
Today the emperor only killed one eunuch and restored Tang Tong's loyalty.
Although it is not clear whether it is true or false for the time being, the emperor's ability to win people's hearts is undoubtedly revealed.
After appeasing Tang Tong, Chongzhen sat on the dragon throne and thought about his next plan.
It stands to reason that when soldiers come, the water will be blocked and the earth will cover it up.
The problem is that now he has no soldiers and no generals.
Influenced by the Ming God of War, the emperors of the late Ming Dynasty had no military power.
There are twenty-six guards in the Beijing camp, and twenty-one of them are more or less under the control of the Ministry of War.
The only ones he could mobilize on his own were the Jinyi Guards and the Tengxiang Four Guards.
The Tengxiang Four Guards were later reorganized into the Yongwei Battalion, which belonged to the elite among the elite.
Unfortunately, Huang Degong and the elite of the Yongwei Battalion were sent by him to capture Zhang Xianzhong, and they were fighting in Anhui thousands of miles away at this time.
Far water cannot quench near thirst!
Even if there is military power, no one in the capital can use it.
In this case, all we can do is make a desperate move!
"Wu Mengming, the king's heart." Chongzhen said with his eyes closed.
"I'm here."
"How many people do Jinyiwei and Dongchang have in the capital?"
"Your Majesty, there are more than 3,000 Jinyi Guards."
"Go back to your Majesty, there are two thousand people in the East Factory."
Chongzhen calculated silently in his heart.
Adding up the three major battalions, Jinyiwei, Dongchang, Forbidden Army, and the Five Cities Military and Horse Division, there are about 38,000 people available for the capital. Excluding the necessary guards of the imperial city, only 36,000 can be mobilized. Li Zicheng's army was claimed to be five hundred thousand, but in reality it was only twenty. After leaving Shaanxi, it split into two routes, which required garrisoning along the way. About 112,000 people attacked Beijing. Although the number was not as large as expected, half of them were elites he brought out from Shaanxi.
One to four ratio.
The old, the weak, the sick and the disabled versus the elite?
No chance!
Of course, this is just his wishful thinking. If he wants to hold on to Beijing, the most important thing is money.
If there are not enough people, you can recruit soldiers, and recruiting soldiers requires more money.
The relationship between the emperor and the soldiers is like that between the boss and the workers.
If you have money, you don't necessarily have to work hard, and if you don't have money, you definitely don't work hard.
Why should those soldiers who were not well fed or clothed risk their lives to protect the emperor who was sitting firmly in the Golden Palace?
Where the money went or why it disappeared is none of their business. As long as soldiers don't get money, they will think it's the emperor's fault.
Chongzhen understood this principle well.
Moreover, in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, the combat power of the Ming army was not low. There is a saying that is widely circulated: The Ming army is not satisfied with the pay, and it is invincible if it is fully paid. Where can there be full pay? Liaodong Huangtaiji.
"How many months of salary are you owed?" Chongzhen continued to ask with his eyes closed.
Wu Mengming and Wang Zhixin looked at each other, hesitating and speechless at the same time. They were embarrassed to speak, for fear of exposing the Ming Dynasty and embarrassing the emperor.
Chongzhen's face darkened, "Tell the truth!"
"Yes, Jin Yiwei owes five months' salary."
"It's also five months in Dongchang."
Chongzhen sighed, wanting to scold someone but didn't know who to scold. As far as he knew, Jinyiwei and Dongchang in the capital were the least owed.
"You do the math for yourselves. To make up for the previous salary arrears, each person will be given another five taels of silver to defend the city. How much will it cost in total?"
Wu Mengming's eyes lit up. He didn't care where Emperor Chongzhen got the money from, as long as he gave him the money.
After a while, the two reported the total to Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, Jinyiwei and Dongchang need a total of 75,000 taels of silver."
"Well, do you know how much money the three camps owe?"
Wu Mengming frowned. As the number one person in Jinyiwei, he still knew this kind of news. The governor of the third camp was Xiangcheng Bo Li Guozhen. He did not want to offend him.
Wang Zhixin was also afraid of offending others and kept silent.
"Wu Mengming, just say whatever you know. There is no need to be secretive at this time."
"Yes, the three major battalions are basically in arrears of wages for eight months."
