Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

The next morning, just as dawn broke, Zhu Jian arrived at the Wuying Hall in the Forbidden City of Nanjing, where there were four other people.

The soldier gently pushed open the door, and Zhu Jian slowly stepped into the main hall.

Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi all looked at Prosecutor Zhu.

"Did you all sleep well?"

After saying that, he waved his hand lightly, signaling the soldier to place the lunchbox on the table.

"Greetings, Your Majesty! We slept well!" the four said in unison.

After following him for so many days, they had a general understanding of Zhu Jian's habits. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was ruthless in killing, but he even killed princes and their people, so they couldn't help but look at him with more respect.

Prosecutor Zhu nodded slightly: "Have you all made up your minds?"

Li Dingguo stepped forward, staring at Zhu Jian, and asked, "If we go to Liaodong, isn't His Majesty afraid we'll rebel again?"

"Trust those you employ, and don't employ those you don't trust!"

"Our godfather (Zhang Xianzhong) has already surrendered to the court, so why did the emperor launch a surprise attack on us?" Liu Wenxiu asked from the side.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jian replied nonchalantly, "From the sixth year of Chongzhen's reign until now, Zhang Xianzhong has feigned surrender far too many times! He has lost all credibility with me. However, I wasn't wrong in my judgment; Zhang Xianzhong has absolutely no intention of surrendering!"

The four men felt slightly embarrassed after hearing this, as they knew the inside story, which was the same as what Prosecutor Zhu had said.

"We will not turn our swords against the peasant army!" Li Dingguo was already wavering. He really didn't want to live a peaceful life in his house anymore. These days, all he did was eat and sleep. Occasionally, he could exchange a few words with the soldiers who brought him food and learn about the latest news from the outside world. Otherwise, he would have been bored to death long ago... But not turning his sword against the peasant army was his bottom line!

"The peasant army is nothing more than a group of people who just want to survive. As long as they can survive, they will gradually disperse on their own!"

Then, changing the subject, he added, "Premier Hong Chengchou of five provinces has already led his troops to suppress Luo Rucai!"

The four were not surprised to hear this. Their original plan was to lie low and wait for an opportunity to rise up one after another, but now they were wiped out.

"Luo Rucai is dead?" Sun Kewang asked curiously.

"No, they led their troops and fled to Shaanxi!" He then tossed an egg to Li Dingguo: "One person, one egg each. The rest are yours to take!"

The other three, without any hesitation, started taking them.

"Is His Majesty planning to bring Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai together and wipe them out at the same time?" Ai Qineng asked while peeling an egg.

Zhu Jian shook his head: "Nowadays, Shaanxi is suffering from frequent natural disasters, and the people of Shaanxi and other places can no longer withstand the chaos of war. Li Zicheng doesn't seem to have any intention of moving the territory, so it's best to just let things remain peaceful!"

"After returning to the capital from Nanjing, I plan to conduct disaster relief, train troops, and guard against the Jurchen raids from the south! Since repelling the Jurchen invasion last year, they have been quite peaceful, which I find a bit too docile!"

"I heard that the Jurchens all kept pig tails, and they even made all the Han Chinese people under their rule keep pig tails too?" Ai Qineng asked curiously.

Zhu Jian nodded: "That's true! The Han people in Liaodong are second-class citizens; above them are the Jurchens who call themselves masters!"

Upon hearing this, Li Dingguo asked, "I wonder what His Majesty's plans are for the four of us going to Liaodong?"

Have you heard of Dongjiang Town?

Liu Wenxiu paused, then asked in confusion, "Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Town? Wasn't Mao Wenlong killed by Yuan Chonghuan?"

"I plan to build a small navy in Dengzhou and Laizhou to retake Pi Island and harass and contain the rear of the Later Jin!" Zhu Jian said, glancing at Li Dingguo.

After a moment of silence, Li Dingguo spoke up, "Dongjiang is located in Liaodong, and we're not very familiar with the situation there!"

"I will allocate 300 Liaodong soldiers to you, along with the newly recruited troops, for a total of 10,000 men, to capture Pi Island! Re-establish Dongjiang Town! Gather those civilians on Pi Island who want to escape back! All supplies and personnel will be transported from Dengzhou and Laizhou!"

Li Dingguo thought for a moment and said awkwardly, "This...this humble general is willing to go!"

The re-establishment of Dongjiang has several advantages for them. It means that they have autonomy, and even if the Ming Dynasty raises taxes and oppresses the people in the future, they can refuse to obey orders!

"This humble general is also willing to go!" the other three said in unison.

Zhu Jian waved his hand: "There's no need for so many people. I intend to send Dingguo and Wenxiu instead!"

"Ke Wang and Qineng can stay by my side to train new recruits and reorganize the border towns! We must guard against the Jurchen invasion, especially their small groups of sentries! After I wiped out all the Shanxi merchants, the Jurchens lost a large source of supplies and will definitely accelerate their raids to survive, so we must be on guard!!"

He could trust Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu, but he didn't trust Sun Kewang. Sun Kewang had a history of surrendering to the Qing, so it was better for him to stay in the interior. Furthermore, Sun Kewang was fighting with Li Dingguo within the Great Western Army, severely weakening its internal strength, and he also revealed the internal situation of the Southern Ming to the Qing court, accelerating its demise…

Therefore, Zhu Jian's trust in Sun Kewang was not complete. It could be said that Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi were gifts from Li Dingguo. If it weren't for Li Dingguo, the three of them would have been sent to Zhang Xianzhong by Zhu Jian long ago... There would be no need for this nonsense!

The four nodded slightly after hearing this, feeling that what Zhu Jian said made sense. With the vital artery of goods from the Shanxi merchants cut off, the Jurchens would definitely invade the border many times to plunder resources and people.

"When does Your Majesty plan to head north to re-establish Dongjiang?" Li Dingguo asked.

"I'll head north again in a couple of days. I just arrived in Nanjing yesterday. Let's see how the people of Jiangnan are doing!" After saying that, he added, "Don't mention the re-establishment of Dongjiang, lest the Jurchens become wary!"

"Yes!" the four answered in unison.

The four chatted and ate, and soon they had almost finished eating. Seeing this, Zhu Jian said, "Dingguo, Wenxiu, come with me to see the naval commander and learn from him!"

"Sir, sir?" Liu Wenxiu asked in confusion.

The other three also looked at Prosecutor Zhu with puzzled expressions.

"Zheng Zhilong!"

"Zheng Zhilong!" the four exclaimed in unison.

Inspector Zhu nodded: "We'll arrive at the dock around noon!"

"Would you like to learn about naval warfare?"

Sun Kewang and Ai Nengqi exchanged a glance, and Sun Kewang said, "This humble general will not go. If possible, we two would like to go to the army ahead of schedule!"

"Can!"

"I am dispatching twenty soldiers to escort you north to the capital, to the training camp of Military Minister Sun Chuanting! You will be appointed as deputy commanders for now!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Sun Kewang and Ai Nengqi said, bowing in gratitude.

"Bianjiao has arranged for twenty soldiers to follow Ke Wang and Neng Qi northwards!"

"As you command!"

Before long, twenty-two fast horses galloped north from Nanjing. Around noon, they slowed down to rest for a while.

Sun Kewang's gaze swept over the twenty soldiers, then he leaned down and whispered in Ai Nengqi's ear, "We can run now if we want!"

Ai Nengqi was taken aback by these words and asked in surprise, "Run? Where to? Become a bandit? Or join Li Zicheng?"

"Anything but following Li Zicheng! If we go to him, he'll definitely kill us! Have we forgotten how tense we were in Sichuan?!"

Ai Nengqi shook his head and refused, saying, "I won't become a bandit or a vagrant. I'm the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army now, why would I do such a thing?"

"Take another look at the Emperor's decrees and methods; perhaps he truly can revive the Ming Dynasty!"

Sun Kewang smiled and said, "I was just saying. Now that the court has exempted taxes for three years, fewer and fewer people are willing to rebel. Let's talk about it again in three years!"

Sun Kewang felt it was better to stay in the capital for a while longer. After all, there was no longer any pretext for rebellion, and ordinary people who could survive were unwilling to join in.