Chapter 7: Siege of Nanjing (I)

Nanjing is also known as Shicheng, Shitou City, Moling, Jinling, Jianye (Ye), Jiankang, Baixia, Jiqing, Yingtian, Jiangning, etc. Nanjing is one of the four ancient capitals in China, also known as the "Ancient Capital of the Six Dynasties". It was once the founding capital of the Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin, Song, Qi, Liang, Chen, Southern Tang and Ming dynasties.

Most of Nanjing is low-mountain hilly terrain, and the Zijin Mountains, Mufu Mountains, Qixia Mountains and other areas in the territory form the western section of the Ningzhen Mountains. The Yangtze River enters Zhenjiang from northwest to southeast in Nanjing. The larger sandbanks in the river include Baguazhou, Jiangxinzhou, Qianzhou, etc. The Qinhuai River is the most important regional river in Nanjing. Its north and south originates in Jurong and Lishui respectively. After the convergence of Fangshan in Jiangning, it is divided into internal areas outside the Tongjimen (Dongshui Pass) in Nanjing.

The two outer branches are the Qinhuai River in the inner city, and are the famous "Ten Miles Qinhuai" Confucius Temple located on its shore. It reunited with the Qinhuai outside. It merged into the Yangtze River. Other important waters in Nanjing include the Jinchuan River in the north of the city, the Chu River flowing from Liuhe District, the Gucheng Lake in Gaochun, Shijiu Lake in Lishui, etc. There are also large and small lakes such as Xuanwu Lake, Mochou Lake, Nanhu, Qianhu Lake, and Biwa Lake. The scenery is beautiful and the mountains and rocks are magnificent.

There are dozens of hills of all sizes, including Zijin Mountain, Mufu Mountain, Qixia Mountain, Shizi Mountain, Wutai Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Beiji Pavilion, Qingliang Mountain, Bazi Mountain, Tiger Mountain, Yuhua Gang, Shizi Gang, Gulou Gang, etc. It constitutes the "dragon, tiger lingering" terrain pattern. It has been considered to have the spirit of an emperor since ancient times.

Spring is here, and it is a time of vitality, but at this moment, the Yang Palace of Zhongshan Xizhi in Nanjing seems to be dull and has no trace of vitality or vitality.

The soft sunlight in the morning shone inside and outside the red palace walls, but the inner courtyard of the palace, which was originally crowded, was now deserted. The guards on duty looked at the faces of unknown fate. They looked up at the sky. It was clearly full of sunshine, but why did it feel like it was covered with dark clouds? A gust of storm was originally warm and could melt people's hearts, but now they felt the icy wind was urinating and cold.

The situation is about to change, and all the people in Nanjing think so.

Fengtian Palace, Empress Dowager Xu ordered people to pass on an imperial edict last night. This morning, officials in Beijing above the fourth rank must feel Fengtian Palace before Chen Hou and discuss strategies to fight against the enemy.

With a towering imperial throne, the elegant and luxurious empress dowager Xu Rongrong sat upright with a baby emperor less than two years old to nourish her spirit. Xu Rongrong now looks a bit majestic. Standing beside her was the eunuch of the inner court with a pair of dead fish eyes, Han Zanzhou, the 9000-year-old Wei Zhongxian, who was the eunuch in charge of the seal and the admiral of the East Factory, stood at the imperial stairs in a dignified manner and became the leader of civil servants. This has to be said that "the internal officials are not allowed to interfere in politics" has become a huge joke in this solemn Fengtian Hall.

"I believe that the king is ruthless, and does not care about the kindness of the late emperor's raising him, and plans to usurp the throne and drive our orphan and widowed mother out of the capital. If Wei Changgong was not loyal to the late emperor, our mother and son would have died long ago with the sword of the traitor. The Ai family and the emperor finally had a place to live, but the traitor emperor refused to give up, and they were still thinking about going to the place where our mother and son were killed. You are all loyal ministers under the army of the late emperor. Now the traitor emperor has come to Nanjing. Do you have no way to do anything? Are we really letting our orphan and widowed mother die under the sword of the traitor?" Xu Rongrong's voice was crying, her eyes were red. Facing the Nanjing ministers in Fengtian Hall accusing Zhu Yinglong of his cruelty and shamelessness!

"The Empress Dowager is right. King Xin is a cunning person. He planned to seize the throne many years ago. He used sinister intentions to do miscellaneous studies and promoted new Confucianism. It was simply a betrayal of the saints and a betrayal of the late emperor. How could such a person be the king of a country? Do you think?" Qian Qianyi stood on the side of the Empress Dowager Xu Rongrong with a clear attitude and took the lead in criticizing Zhu Yinglong. In fact, he was also selfish. Since Zhu Yinglong vigorously advocated the retro and the Neo-Confucianism movement, the Donglin Party was seriously divided, and fewer people supported him. His reputation was even blocked by young people like Huang Zongxi. In addition, he was narrow-minded and persistent in pursuit of fame and fortune. His will was not firm. He first turned to Wei Zhongxian, and now he relied on Empress Dowager Xu Rongrong, and was known as the backbone of the "fence-mounted" faction.

Unfortunately, his passionate remarks did not respond at all. Compared to his reputation, these officials who were abducted by Wei Zhongxian to Nanjing thought more realistically. Their lives were much more important than reputation. If you want to be noble, don’t be an official.

"Mr. Qian Ge, even if you are right, what can you do? Now we are discussing how to defeat the traitor emperor's army. According to the news I have received, the 100,000 troops of the traitor emperor are about to cross the river soon. I will go all out to the navy and I can no longer stop him from moving south. Does Mr. Qian Ge have any good plans?" Cui Chengxiu, who is also a member of the cabinet, poured a basin of cold water on Qian Qianyi and asked with a gun in his arms.

Qian Qianyi was not a good-looking lamp, and immediately retorted: "Mr. Cui, the strategy of defending the enemy is the business of your Ministry of War. This cabinet is a civil servant and does not understand military affairs. Do you want this cabinet to lead troops to fight?"

"Hehe, our dynasty is a customary practice, civil officials are restrained by military generals, Qian Ge Lao is a literary talent and a top figure in the world, and the mere strategy of defending the enemy is not easy to capture. Cheng Xiu listened attentively." Cui Chengxiu sneered.

Qian Qianyi was willing to admit defeat, but instead said insultingly: "Mr. Cui is the Minister of War, in charge of a country's military affairs. The enemy is about to reach the capital. If you don't think about the strategy of defending the enemy, you will ask our cabinet how to defend the enemy. It's really inexplicable!"

"Qian Qianyi, you..." Cui Chengxiu thought that her mouth was not as good as Qian Qianyi, and her pale face instantly turned red.

"Okay, what are you doing? One of you is the Chief Secretary of the Cabinet, the Minister of Rites, the other is the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and the Minister of War. You quarreled as soon as you meet, and the Emperor quarreled, and the Ai family also quarreled. When will you argue?" Xu Rongrong's pretty face was frosted, and she glared at Qian Qianyi and Cui Chengxiu with a fierce look.

"The Empress Dowager atones for her sins, and I am aware of her sins!" Both of them knelt down and bowed down and kowtowed.

"You are the Empress Dowager, I have something to say." Wei Zhongxian showed his usual respect to Xu Rongrong and his son in front of others. He still had to do his skills on the surface. As for what he did behind his back, only he knew.

"Mr. Wei, please tell me." Although Xu Rongrong and Wei Zhongxian appeared to be harmonious and incompatible with the power struggle in secret, they did not have Wei Zhongxian, nor did they have today as mother and son. Besides, the little emperor was still the seed of their old Wei family. This relationship was that even though Xu Rongrong was extremely dissatisfied or wanted to kill Wei Zhongxian, she had to rely on him now. At least when her son grew up, she would not be able to deal with an elderly eunuch.

"I have ordered someone to write to Zheng Zhilong, the Marquis of Minnan in Fujian. I believe that he will send troops to help the court when he learned that his younger brother General Zheng Zhibao was killed by the traitor emperor. He will definitely send troops to help the court. At that time, the internal and external forces will be defeated by the traitor emperor's 100,000 troops." Wei Zhongxian's face was not very good. Perhaps because there was too much bad news recently, he still didn't dare to sleep in bed every night. He slept under the bed. He became much whiter and his spirit was not as good as before. According to the eunuch he served, he rarely heard his "hehe" terrifying laughter in the past ten days.

Sure enough, as soon as these words were said, Xu Rongrong showed a long-lost smile on her face, greatly praised Wei Zhongxian and rewarded a lot of money. Wei Zhongxian's personal reputation increased a lot, and there were endless voices of praising Jiu Qiansei.

After the court dispersed, Empress Dowager Xu Rongrong left Wei Zhongxian, Cui Chengxiu and Qian Qianyi alone to talk.

"Empress Dowager, someone in the court must have an affair with the enemy. I will attract the snake out of the hole and keep them from appearing one by one!" Wei Zhongxian's face suddenly became rosy and showed a cruel smile.

"What do you want to do?" Xu Rongrong frowned. At this time, Wei Zhongxian was still thinking of using the help of affair with the enemy to cut off dissidents, which made her very uncomfortable.

"These people are headed by Zhou Shipu, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. I want to catch them all in one place and do it forever." Wei Zhongxian sneered.

"Are there too many people on the list you gave to the Ai family? Many people seem to have no sign of collusion with each other." Xu Rongrong's eyes flashed. Although she agreed to cooperate with Wei Zhongxian this time, she also united in order to protect her current status and life.

"Empress Dowager, these people have expressed their appreciation for the act of the traitor emperor. They are the ones who are most likely to surrender to the enemy. We must not be lenient and must be eradicated!" A fierce light flashed in Cui Chengxiu's eyes.

"Mr. Cui, the court is now using people. You arrested so many people and had so many troubles in the court. Who will deal with it? If so many people collude with the enemy, will this battle still be fought?" Qian Qianyi said coldly. Many of them were influenced by Jiangnan. If they really wanted to arrest these people, they would probably have to rebel within themselves before Zhu Yinglong's army entered Nanjing.

"Old Master Qian, this is all evil. What's the use of these unfaithful ministers to the court? It's better to kill them!" Wei Zhongxian glared at Qian Qianyi coldly. Qian Qianyi was probably afraid of Wei Zhongxian's eyes, and his mouth was closed again.

"Do you really want to do this?" Xu Rongrong is a woman after all, and her heart is not as cruel as Wei Zhongxian and others, nor as vicious as them, so she still feels a little unbearable.

"Empress Dowager, now you are kind from time to time." Wei Zhongxian said.

Xu Rongrong lowered her head and looked at her son who was already asleep in her arms. A mother's love smile appeared on her face. She sighed and said, "The Ai family is in short supply. You three are so worried about the affairs of the court. Let's do this according to the factory's wishes."

"Abide by the Queen Mother's decree." Wei Zhongxian and the other three respectfully retreated.
Chapter completed!