In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 290 The new emperor of Ming Dynasty appears

The decline of the Ming Dynasty actually started after the defeat of Tumu Fort. The battle of Tumu Fort caused the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to lose his military power, turning the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies into a decoration, allowing the civilian family to dominate and control the military power, thus breaking the Ming Dynasty. Balance of power.

Before Tumu Fortress, the civil servants were dogs raised by the emperor. If they were obedient, they would be given a bone. If they were not obedient, they would be killed directly and a new batch of obedient dogs would be replaced. After Tumu Fortress, the emperor became a pig raised by civil servants.

In the past, the Ming Dynasty had nobles in charge of the army and civilian officials running the country. The emperor was supreme and had clear powers and responsibilities. Therefore, it was basically possible to work together and focus on external affairs.

But after Tumu Fortress, the civil servants took the opportunity to seize military power, which suddenly caused an imbalance of power within the Ming Dynasty. The emperor, civil servants, and nobles all focused their energy on internal fighting and could no longer care about external affairs.

After the civil servants gained military power, Yu Fa was greedy and wanted to limit the imperial power. The nobles failed to live up to expectations and surrendered. The emperor was unwilling to be restricted, so he could only constantly instigate conflicts and party disputes within the civil servants, and then Use eunuchs to check and balance to achieve a balance of power and ensure that he does not completely become a puppet emperor.

This political landscape is actually deformed and out of control, with almost everyone vying for power and gain.

The emperor did not trust civilian officials, and civilian officials were afraid of the emperor regaining military power. This made it impossible to get anything done and solve no problems.

Now, the reason why Lin Rui dared to delegate power to civil servants and support Hong Chengchou to become the prime minister was because, to put it bluntly, he, as the emperor, held military power and controlled everyone's life and death.

Therefore, there is no need to worry that the civil servants will evade the imperial power or threaten the imperial power. If there is no threat, there is no need to be prepared, and there is no need to set up checks and balances among the civil servants to act as a troublemaker.

If the prime minister is disobedient, he will be removed. If all the ministers of the ministries fail to act, they will be replaced. If all the civil servants in the world are disobedient, then they will be replaced from top to bottom.

It's simple and direct, and there's no need for any conspiracy at all.

No, in almost all places, as long as the memorials did not involve the emperor or the military, the cabinet basically handled it by itself. The appointment of senior officials was just a formality in the secretary's supervisor. Lin Rui didn't even bother to read it.

After the time entered July, the young men who were recruited began to return to Datong Xuanfu to prepare for the next autumn harvest, and each of them was only paid two taels of silver.

Chongzhen's edict to abdicate and commit suicide has also spread to all parts of the south. For a time, all the southern provinces were shocked, because it was Chongzhen himself who announced the subjugation of the country.

Therefore, civil and military officials everywhere were at a loss and had no intention of suppressing the thieves anymore. This made the rebel thieves such as King Chuang and the Eight Kings take the opportunity to expand crazily.

At this time, outside Kaifeng City, more than [-] intruders had been besieging the city for two months, but they were still unable to break through this large city in the Central Plains.

At this time, in the large tent of Camp Chuang outside the city, the counselors of King Chuang were also arguing heatedly.

They were mainly divided into two groups. Among them, a group of people led by Lady Li Yanhong who had just defected here believed that they should negotiate with the Ming army in the city at this time. While there was no new emperor in the Ming Dynasty, they should support the King of Zhou in the city as emperor, and then Hold the emperor hostage to order the princes.

The other faction, headed by Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance, believed that King Chuang should immediately return to Luoyang at this time to ascend the throne and establish political power, and then recruit various Ming armies and civil servants to fight against the Hua Kingdom.

"King Chuang, after all, the Ming Dynasty has been in the country for more than two hundred years, and the name of orthodoxy has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. At this time, Chongzhen has collapsed and a new emperor has not been established. The hearts of the entire south are bound to be unstable.

If King Chuang chooses to support the King of Zhou as emperor at this time and make Kaifeng the capital, the civil and military officials, gentry and wealthy families from all over the south who are loyal to the Ming Dynasty will rush to join him. At that time, King Chuang will threaten the emperor and order the princes to move the capital to Nanjing. , with the wealth in the south of the Yangtze River, why worry about succeeding in hegemony?

And if it continues to be delayed, once Nanjing is allowed to take the lead in supporting the new emperor, everything will stop. When the Chinese army moves south in a large scale, our army will be trapped in a corner of Henan, with the Chinese army in the north and the Ming army in the south. We are surrounded by enemies from both sides, so how can we resist? "

Seeing that King Chuang, who was in the main position, always showed hesitation, Li Yan came out again and persuaded with anxiety on his face.

He couldn't help but not be in a hurry. What he was fighting for now was time. Whoever was the first to make King Fan of the Zhu family the emperor would occupy the Ming Dynasty's orthodoxy. "I think Brother Li still cares about the Ming Dynasty and wants to be a minister of the Ming Dynasty. The king has dominated the world for more than ten years, attacked Luoyang and destroyed King Fu. How can his reputation be comparable to that of the children of the Lin family?

Now that the king has an army of 20, Kaifeng is the only big city left in the Central Plains. Why support the descendants of the Zhu family and rely on the banner of the Ming Dynasty? "

"Yes, Luoyang is the place to aspire to the throne. With the king's current reputation, he only needs to return to Luoyang to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. He will tell the world that wherever he goes, he will be able to win without a fight. Isn't it better than supporting a puppet?"

Seeing that King Chuang seemed to be persuaded by Li Yan, Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance quickly stood up and spoke tit-for-tat.

Liu Zongmin, Liu Fangliang, Li Guo and other elders naturally supported King Chuang to directly ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.

After all, once King Chuang proclaims himself emperor, these old brothers will immediately become the founding fathers of the country.

In fact, King Chuang was more in favor of Li Yan's strategy from the bottom of his heart, because Henan was too poor, otherwise he would not have stared at the big city of Kaifeng, just to get the money, food and weapons in the city.

Although he has never had contact with the Chinese army, just because the other party can defeat Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangsheng, and Liaodong Jianu, their strength must not be underestimated.

Once the Chinese army goes south, it will be difficult for them to defeat the 20 troops who lack food, clothing, and weapons.

But he was also worried that once he made King Zhou the emperor, he would be self-defeating and lose control in the end.

In the end, after some hesitation, King Chuang chose to adopt Li Yan's suggestion, proclaimed King Zhou as emperor, and then went south to the south of the Yangtze River.

Obviously, King Chuang had just emerged from Shangluo Mountain at this time and had not yet developed such big ambitions.

After all, he was hiding in Tibet the year before last and was almost forced to commit suicide. Last year, he was still running for survival. At the beginning of this year, after capturing Luoyang, he launched a wave of attacks, and a group of literati came to join him, changing his mentality from that of a rogue bandit. Begin to transform into a hero.

Now that I am eager to become the emperor again, I feel a little guilty.

After all, he has no experience and knows that there is a way out before becoming king and emperor. Once he becomes king and emperor, he will either rule the world or die without a burial place.

People in Kaifeng City were already in panic. If King Zhou hadn't spent all his wealth and tried his best to maintain it, he might not have been able to hold on long ago. When he learned that King Chuang was willing to make him emperor, King Zhou and the civil and military officials in the city were overjoyed and just talked about it. It was settled in three days.

After a day of preparation, on July [-]th, King Zhou directly ascended the throne in the Kaifeng Palace, with the reign name of Jianxing. For this purpose, he also forged a false edict of Emperor Chongzhen's succession, and King Chuang was canonized. He is the Protector of the Ming Dynasty.

Sure enough, after King Zhou inherited the throne in Kaifeng, the cities and prefectures in various parts of Henan that were still in the hands of the Ming army seemed to have found a backbone. They immediately congratulated the new emperor. Even Chen Xinjia, who had retreated to Shaanxi, was no exception. The Ming Dynasty civil servants and military generals from all over Huaibei and Huguang also came to congratulate the new emperor.

After all, at this time, officials from all over the country were at a loss as to what to do and had no sense of security. They were all officials in other places, and the power in their hands was given by the imperial power.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has perished and the emperor is gone, it means that the power in the hands of these officials has also disappeared.

As time goes by, the powerful local families will no longer buy their account, so they must find another emperor as soon as possible. At this time, there is no accounting for the legitimacy of the King of Zhou. As long as he is a descendant of the Zhu family, it doesn't matter which one is the emperor. , admit it first and then talk about it.

(End of this chapter)