My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 107 The Emperor is Coming!

The soldiers guarding the city were stunned for a moment, and then looked into the distance in disbelief.

One of them murmured to himself:

"This is... Dragon... Dragon Banner (Tao)!"

Not far away, the army was advancing like a tide, with the sound of horses' hooves rumbling, as if even the entire Xuanfu was shaking with this force.

A dragon banner embroidered with a flying auspicious dragon was held high, shining with a strange light in the sunlight.

The real dragon on the dragon banner seemed to be flying through the clouds, which was breathtaking!
All the soldiers were frightened by this scene and had no idea what to do next.

There is only one thought in their mind.

That is:
The emperor is coming!

The scene returns to the governor's office in Xuanfu.

When Zhu Cilang's figure suddenly appeared in front of everyone, the whole scene instantly became quiet, and even the sound of breathing seemed to be suppressed.

Even the three generals who had fought desperately before were stunned at this moment.

Some of the people present had never seen Zhu Cilang before, while others had seen Zhu Cilang several times when Chongzhen attended court.

But no matter what the situation was, everyone was intimidated by Zhu Cilang's aura at this moment.

Zhu Cilang ignored everyone present and strode towards Xuanfu Governor Guo Zhicong. He casually threw a secret letter in front of him, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone:
"Master Guo, you are so generous! Even the Emperor Taiji of Jiannu personally wrote to you, asking you to spare those Shanxi merchants so that they can continue to deliver food and fodder to Jiannu!"

"Oh, by the way, here are 100,000 taels of silver, which is Huang Taiji's 'hard work fee' for you."

When Guo Zhicong heard this, he felt like he was struck by lightning. He collapsed to the ground and didn't even have the strength to stand up.

Because he knew in his heart that he was completely finished this time and had no way to survive.

At this moment, General Wang Chengyin suddenly crawled over, knelt in front of Zhu Cilang and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Your Highness, I know nothing about this matter! Please spare my life!"

Zhu Cilang looked at Wang Chengyin lying at his feet, his eyes full of disappointment, and then said coldly:
"Wang Chengyin, if you dare to act and take responsibility, I will respect you as a man."

"But you are just a wimp!"

After saying this, Zhu Cilang no longer paid attention to Wang Chengyin, but asked Fang Zhenghua beside him to take out the list that had been prepared long ago, and then began to read out the names.

"Guo Zhicong, Wang Chengyin, Wang Lixin, Zhu, Fang Mingxuan, Zhang Bai."

Every time a name was called out, the Jinyiwei would immediately drag that person aside.

For a moment, the people in the governor's office were in a panic. Everyone was scared and pale, and only a few people could remain calm.

After a while, Fang Zhenghua finally finished reading out the names, and the group was divided into two groups.

One wave is composed of people who deserve to die, and the other wave is composed of people who need to be appeased!
Zhu Cilang held the list of bribes he had copied from Fan Yongdou's hometown. He looked at everyone with sharp eyes and asked loudly:

"Didn't you expect that Fan Yongdou would record every bribe in this account book and then hide it in his hometown?"

"It clearly records every penny he spent, as well as the time and place."

"You have received at least five or six million taels of silver from Fan Yongdou over the years, and the supplies you sent to the Jiannu through Xuanfu amounted to hundreds of millions of taels of silver."

"The reason why Jiannu is becoming more and more powerful is all thanks to people like you!"

"As ministers of the Ming Dynasty, you are collaborating with the enemy and betraying your country. Are you worthy of the soldiers who fought bloody battles against the Jiannu on the front lines?"

Zhu Cilang's words were like sharp swords, piercing the hearts of everyone present.

They all knew that they were completely finished this time, and the most severe punishment was waiting for them!
If you are lucky, you will be the only one to die.

If you are unlucky, your entire family and nine clans will die with you!

But then, someone in the crowd couldn't help but speak:

"Your Highness, we are indeed guilty, but please spare our lives for the sake of our duty as a border guard!"

"If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince insists on killing us, Xuanfu will be in chaos!"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince wouldn't want to see something like this happen, would he?"

When Zhu Cilang heard this, he immediately looked over and said with a very cold expression:
"Are you threatening me?"

"But your threats are useless to me. I will not let anyone who deserves to be killed go, and I will not kill anyone who does not deserve to be killed."

"I know that some of you were unaware or forced to do so, and some of you were greedy for money but brave in battle."

"For these people, I will show leniency."

Although Zhu Cilang had already made his attitude clear, those civil and military officials who had not been named were still uneasy.

After all, the prince's words can never represent the emperor.

Even if the prince says he wants to forgive them, they will still die if the emperor disagrees!

Zhu Cilang naturally understood their concerns. Just as he was about to say something, bursts of rapid horse hooves suddenly came from outside, the sound shaking the earth.

Zhu Cilang knew in his heart that Chongzhen had arrived!

At the same time, Qin Liangyu finally reacted and hurriedly walked towards the yamen gate.

The civil and military officials in the yamen did not know what was happening and were still preparing to die.

Immediately afterwards, Chongzhen, wearing a ochre-yellow dragon robe, walked into the yamen surrounded by the crowd.

When seeing this scene, those uninformed civil and military officials were about to explode!
They never imagined that Chongzhen would come to Xuanfu in person!
When Guo Zhicong and Wang Chengyin saw this scene, they were so frightened that they fainted!

Immediately afterwards, a loud shout was heard.

"Your Majesty is here!"

In an instant, everyone fell to their knees and shouted in unison: "Long live His Majesty!"

"Long live your majesty!"

"Long live your majesty!"

Facing the crowd cheering "Long live the emperor", Chongzhen's face did not show any relief at all.

Because he knew in his heart that all these civil and military officials kneeling on the ground were involved in this incident without exception!

They are all parasites of the Ming Dynasty!
At this moment, he really wanted to kill everyone in anger!

But he can't do that.

For the stability of Xuanfu and the future of the Ming Dynasty, he could only act according to the original plan.

Forcibly suppressing his inner anger, Chongzhen calmly walked in front of the crowd, glanced coldly at Guo Zhicong and Wang Chengyin who had fainted from fear, and then scolded:

"Drag these two damn things away!"

At that moment, two Jinyiwei came forward and dragged the two men away.

In order to prevent any accidents from happening next, Zhu Cilang hurried forward and whispered the current situation in Chongzhen's ear, and at the same time quietly handed the bribery account book to Chongzhen.

Then he winked at Li Ruolian.

Li Ruolian immediately understood and brought the brazier that had been prepared long ago.

Zhu Cilang's meaning was very clear, which was to let Chongzhen burn the account books to appease the remaining people.

Although Chongzhen was angry, he also knew that he was doing this for the sake of the overall situation.

He first walked up to the officials who had been sentenced to death by Zhu Cilang and asked:

"You are all ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and you are all my ministers. I believe I have treated you well. Why did you betray the Ming Dynasty and me?"

"Is it really just for the money?"

"For silver, you would betray the Ming Dynasty and me at all costs?"

"You are truly unworthy of being human!"

These civil and military officials could still argue with Zhu Cilang, but when facing Chongzhen, they did not even have the courage to look him in the eye.

They just knelt on the ground, not daring to say another word.

Everyone looked ashen.

Chongzhen didn't want to waste any more time talking, so he waved his hand.

"Drag them all away!"

The Jinyiwei immediately stepped forward and dragged these people away.

Immediately afterwards, Chongzhen came in front of another group of people.

Zhu Cilang intended to let this group of people go.

At this moment, these people were already in a panic.

Chongzhen looked at them and said:

"Although your names are also in this account book, I believe you are unaware of it."

"You didn't betray the Ming Dynasty, so I won't blame you."

"All previous matters are written off. I hope you will guard the border for Ming Dynasty well in the future!"

"I can assure you that no one will be able to blame you for this matter in the future. This is my promise to you!"

After saying this, Chongzhen threw the account book in his hand directly into the brazier.

As the flames burned, the account book quickly turned into ashes, which also meant that Chongzhen really spared these people.

In an instant, these people burst into tears.

They thought they were doomed this time, and even with Zhu Cilang's promise, they didn't dare to believe it.

But now the one who made the promise to them was Chongzhen, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and they finally believed it completely!
This is the value of the emperor!
Then, all kinds of crying sounds were heard.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty! From now on, I will defend Xuanfu until my death! To atone for my sins!"

"I will not let your majesty down for your kindness today. My life will remain in Xuanfu forever!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for forgiving my sins! I am deeply grateful!"

At this moment, Chongzhen has become a wise and holy ruler in everyone's mind!
Zhu Cilang saw that his goal had been achieved, and he quickly reassured everyone:

"Alright, alright, gentlemen and generals, please stop crying."

"The commotion just now must have caused quite a stir. What you need to do now is to quickly appease your respective soldiers and the merchants in the city."

"Tell them everything is fine, do what needs to be done, and make sure there is no trouble in Xuanfu. Do you understand?"

When these people heard this, they quickly came to their senses and knelt down to Chongzhen again.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will go and appease the troops immediately."

"I will go and appease the merchants immediately!"

"I will definitely not allow any riots to occur in Xuanfu!"

After saying this, these people kowtowed again and then left.

When they went out, they found that they were already soaked with sweat.
There is no doubt that they had just had a close call with death.

(End of this chapter)