The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 121 Arriving in Jiangnan
Zhu Cihong rectified the guard post in Xuanda, formed an alliance with the Tumote Ministry, and the fleet heading south had also arrived on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

As the fleet went down the canal and passed Xuzhou, officials and scholars from prefectures and counties along the way came to meet them one after another, and Zhang Yan also met them one by one on the boat.

Stopping and stopping like this, it was not until mid-October that they arrived at Jiangpu County on the north bank of Nanjing. Because the fleet arrived in Tianchang, they turned to land.

At this time, the news that the Empress Dowager Yi'an and the imperial concubine came to the south of the Yangtze River to worship their ancestors and sweep the mausoleum had already spread throughout Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and even Huguang.

Originally, the officials and gentlemen in Jiangnan were divided into three factions, and they quarreled over who should be supported as emperor.

From April to May, until August and September, it was still unclear whether to choose King Fu or King Lu.

Neither side backed down at all.

Originally, according to history, King Fu ascended the throne in the end, and the eunuch party headed by Ma Shiying gained the upper hand.

But now the four towns in Jiangbei are missing, and Zuo Liangyu in Huguang supports the Donglin Party members, so the Donglin officials headed by Qian Qianyi and Gao Hongtu, or the former officials disagree with life and death, and want to support King Fu's ascension to the throne. King Li Lu ascended the throne.

The last faction is dominated by Shi Kefa and a small number of officials and scholars, and proposes to send envoys to Beijing first, and then make a decision after confirming the specific situation.

Therefore, it was unavoidable to be jointly suppressed by people from the two factions, which led to several waves of scholars and officials sent to the north. In the end, accidents happened before they left Nanzhili. Either the boat capsized or encountered water. bandit.

In the past few months, the two sides have been constantly wooing various forces to join their camp.

If Ma Shiying hadn't brought King Fu to Nanjing in person to win over Wei Guogong and other nobles, he would have been defeated long ago.

Similarly, if it weren't for King Lu's delay in coming to Nanjing, and Zuo Liangyu's unwillingness to lead troops south, the Donglin party members might have already done so.

Just when Fu Wang's family was about to use force to forcibly ascend the throne after winning over the nobles such as Wei Guogong and having some troops, the news of the Tongzhou battle came in time.

Immediately, all the people from the two factions were frightened, especially King Fu, who had already lived in the Nanjing Palace, was said to have moved out overnight.

Wei Guogong and other nobles also stopped their flags and drums, and thanked the guests behind closed doors. At the same time, Lu Wang, who had already sneaked halfway, turned around and went back to Pan.

If the imperial court defeated Li Zicheng, the gentry and literati in the south of the Yangtze River still had confidence, then after the defeat of Jiannu, almost no one dared to mention the matter of setting up a new king.

At this time, whether Zhu Cihong really killed the king and father and seized the throne is no longer important. What is important is that as long as Zhu Cihong insists that he has never done it, then he definitely has not done it.

So they were all waiting for Zhu Cihong to send an imperial envoy to the south to clarify the rumors, pardon everyone, and then hello, hello, everyone, who ever wanted the imperial envoy to come for a long time, which made everyone panic again.

Especially when it was heard that the imperial concubine and red lady were going south with an army of [-], it really frightened everyone. Fortunately, there was also the Empress Dowager Yi'an, which made everyone feel relieved.

So when the red lady and Zhang Yan arrived at Jiangpu, countless officials, scholars and nobles rushed to the north bank to pick them up.

I'm afraid that if I go late, I will be treated as a rebel.

If you want to say who is the most afraid person, it must belong to King Fu.

But even if King Fu wanted to put all his eggs in one basket, no one was willing to talk to him anymore, even Ma Shiying abandoned him mercilessly.

Obviously everyone is not stupid. They understand that the emperor will pardon anyone, but King Fu will not be pardoned.

At this moment, the wilderness outside the city on the north shore was filled with people, at least over a hundred thousand people.

Except for a few officials and scholars, Zi Xungui, most of the others were merchants, ordinary people and gentry who came to see the fun, and whether it was land or river, there was still a steady stream of people rushing towards Jiangpu.

Almost everyone wanted to see the demeanor of the imperial concubine who turned the tide and defeated Jiannu.

I also want to see what kind of phoenix that Empress Yi'an is.

"My brother has seen the emperor's wife, and the emperor's concubine."

"I will pay my respects to the Empress Dowager Yi'an, and to the Imperial Concubine!"

Under the leadership of King Fu, a group of high-ranking officials and highly prestigious official officials bowed down to Zhang Yan and Hong Niangzi on the high platform.

And the countless scholars behind him, the common people who came to join in the fun, and even some brothel girls who came in a flower boat, also saluted to this side.

"Stay flat!" Zhang Yanxu raised her hand.

"Thank you Empress Dowager, thank you noble concubine!"

Everyone hurriedly thanked them, and then got up one after another, their postures were very low.

Obviously, the deterrent effect of Hong Niangzi's [-] soldiers and horses is still very large.

"The Ai family and the noble concubine are sent by His Majesty and the Supreme Emperor to worship their ancestors in Nanjing..."

Zhang Yan began to speak slowly, and from the beginning to the end, she only talked about the ancestor worship, and how Zhu Cihong defeated the trespassers and established slaves, and did not mention a word about the rumors and the establishment of a new king in the south of the Yangtze River.

"Your Majesty is truly an eternal sage, and my Ming Dynasty has such a sage, and ZTE is not far away!"

Qian Qianyi spoke first with a look of excitement.

Qian Qianyi was the happiest dancer in the past, but now he can't wait to praise the new monarch so much. Although everyone despises him, they all nod in agreement and praise him again and again.

Only King Fu bit the bullet and asked Zhang Yan: "Sister-in-law, my brother heard that the Supreme Emperor was unwell at the time, so he passed on the throne to His Majesty when he was in danger. I wonder if the Supreme Emperor is still in good health?"

Everyone also looked at Zhang Yan in unison.

"It's rare that King Fu still misses the Supreme Emperor. Don't worry, everyone. The Supreme Emperor is in good health. When he came, he personally instructed Ai's family on many matters. His Majesty and the Supreme Emperor also heard rumors spreading in Jiangnan, which misled many sages in Jiangnan. It all started because of Chen Yan, and now that Chen Yan has subdued the law, this matter has been exposed, and no one is allowed to mention it again."

Zhang Yan nodded, and then said.

After everyone heard the words, the stone in their hearts finally fell. The emperor would definitely not issue an imperial decree to pardon such a disgraceful thing, otherwise how would the history books record it?
Not long after, more than [-] people around knew that the Supreme Emperor was not dead, and the Queen Mother had personally confirmed it.

And all of this is because Chen Yan wants to betray his master and seek glory, so he deliberately spread rumors to discredit His Majesty.

At this moment, almost all literati were condemning Chen Yan, and even ordinary people cursed him.

And here Hong Niangzi and Zhang Yan's boat finally headed for Nanjing Pier surrounded by many boats.

Looking at the broad Yangtze River, Hong Niangzi and Zhang Yan both came to the deck, looking at the densely packed boats on the river, both of them couldn't help being moved.

Obviously, it was the first time for the two of them to see such a wide river, and it was also the first time to see so many luxuriously decorated ships.

It's simply dazzling and dazzling.

(End of this chapter)