Chapter 36 The Bell Tolls
.When he returned from Cining Palace, Wang Fu had a faint smile on his face, and the two girls behind him were even more smiling. The concubines of the Ming Dynasty had a tradition. Generally, the queens and imperial concubines came from small households, and rarely came from the daughters of important officials of the court. This was to prevent the tyranny of the foreign relatives. Liu Ziluo, Piaotianwen, and spread from afar, and spread throughout the entire city of Nanjing in an instant.
The man who was reunited with an ordinary family was surprised to put down his chopsticks. The officers and soldiers who had already rested at home on holiday walked out of the yard. The craftsmen who had worked hard for a year and had finally had a day off...
Officials from the fifth rank and above rushed to put on court uniforms and quickly ordered their servants to prepare a carriage. The sound of firecrackers just now disappeared without a trace.
The bells alarmed the people of Nanjing. Except for some children who were confused and ignorant, everyone was shocked and doubted. What happened? The emperor would let someone ring the bell?
The big bell in the palace is naturally not ringing casually. Only when major events occur will it ring. Generally, if a royal family member dies or foreign enemies invade, a large bell can it ring. Usually, all civil and military officials go to court and go to court with small bells. The big bells are sounded together. Anyone who can reach the top position in Beijing must arrive at the palace as fast as possible. If the bell stops, there are still people who have not arrived. The waiting place will be severely punished.
Nowadays, the royal family members are simple. Apart from the emperor, there is only one empress dowager in the palace. Two talented people in Xinnadi are not as good as ringing the bell even if there is something to do. Naturally, the emperor cannot die. The empress dowager's health has been in good health recently. I have never heard of getting sick. What would that happen? Could anyone be treason? Or did the Tartars fight?
Whether it was ordinary people or ministers who were rushing to the palace, everyone was thinking heavily and guessing what happened. Some people even had thoughts in their hearts. It would be better if the empress dowager died. However, as soon as this thought came, they immediately thought of the sin and dared not think about it any more.
"Quick! Hurry!" Along the way, you can see officials running in ground carriages. The bells sounded tighter and more like a death urging. The ministers could not speed up. Almost all ministers did not choose to sit in the sedan chair.
When Wang Fu sat in the Golden Palace, he remembered whether it was too reckless to order the bell to ring the bell. With this bell, I am afraid that the people of Nanjing will not be able to have this New Year well. Wang Futeng remembered a picture. The magnificent Forbidden City, Chongzhen, who was disheveled, personally rang the bell of Jingyang Palace, over and over again. Time came, but not even a minister came. Everyone was waiting to pay homage to the new master. Chongzhen's mood at that time should have been left with the sentence: I am not a king who destroyed the country, but all the ministers who destroyed the country were ministers.
Will he fall to this point? Wang Fu shivered and his eyes were full of illusions, as if he was Chongzhen, who was ringing the bell over and over again.
"No." Wang Fu shouted, as if he woke up from a nightmare, and felt that his back was wet and uncomfortable. In the cold winter, Wang Fu's back was actually wet.
At this time, ministers had already come in in the hall. When they heard the emperor screaming, all the ministers looked at the emperor in shock, not understanding what was going on.
The bell stopped, the hall was filled with people, and the ministers were already full of officials, and many were disheveled, which showed how hasty they were coming.
"I will meet the emperor, long live my emperor! Long live! Long live!"
"Dear everyone!"
"Thank you, the emperor! Long live! Long live! Long live!"
After all the ministers thanked each other, they stood at their own positions. Wang Fu looked at the ministers in the hall and asked, "Where is Zhang Zhengchen, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel?"
Zhang Zhengchen stood out from the queue: "I'm here."
"Today I call on the bell to discuss major events, and officials above the fifth rank in the capital will arrive."
Zhang Zhengchen swept over the ministers on both sides with his eyes. The ministers quickly raised their chests and belly, so that Zhang Zhengchen could see clearly. In fact, Zhang Zhengchen had a list in his heart, but he just wanted to confirm it again. He only scanned it and replied immediately: "Report to the emperor, there are thirteen people including Li Chuo, Cheng Anbo Ke Zuoyong, General Li Zhongxing, etc. who did not arrive."
"Transfer my will to remove these thirteen titles and official positions, and never be used."
"I obey the order!"
Everyone was shocked. It was already severely punished for dismissal of official positions. Unexpectedly, even the title was removed. This was a hereditary title. I wonder if the people with the title would faint when they heard the emperor's order. The few people who came later even patted their chests, and were very afraid. It would be wrong to say that these people dared not to come when they heard the sound of the bell. Most of them had been delayed, and they could not come in even if they were outside the palace.
"My dear ministers, I have received the news that the Tartars are besieging Huai'an, and today we call..."
Wang Fu just finished speaking and had arrived in Huai'an. The entire hall was "buzzing" loudly, and it was full of noise, and Wang Fu could no longer say anything.
"Where is Huang Degong? Where is Huang Degong? How could he let the Tartars reach Huai'an?"
"What should I do? When the Tartars arrived in Huai'an, Yangzhou was below."
"The navy will be transferred to Annanbo's navy into the Yangtze River immediately. We must not give the Tatars the chance to cross the river."
A quarrel broke out in the hall and became panicked. Huang Degong had been confronting the Qing army on the front line for more than a month. Xuzhou concentrated 70,000 elite forces of the Ming Dynasty, most of the supplies. Just when everyone thought that the Xuzhou front line could be stable, they suddenly learned that the Qing army had crossed Xuzhou and entered Huai'an. The vibration caused was conceivable.
"Quiet! Quiet! The enemy is still hundreds of miles away. Why are you the ministers in the court?"
The emperor sternly scolded him and finally calmed the hall again. Everyone lowered their heads and pondered. Wang Fu looked at Ma Shiying's direction and asked, "Ma Aiqing, now that the Tartars have arrived in Huai'an, you are the chief minister and the Minister of War. What do you think you should do?"
"Returning to the emperor, the Ming Dynasty has many soldiers and generals. I think it should be mobilized to rescue the army immediately. There is no war in Huguang at present. Jin Shengheng, Sun Chengyin, Wang Deren, Zhang Yingyuan and others can go there. Half of the 60,000 military camps can be drawn. In addition, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou, as long as each province costs 10,000 people, the Ming Dynasty can be drawn at least 150,000 troops. The Tartars are not worth worrying about."
Ma Shiying's words were quite rich. If he really wanted to mix people from Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi, the daylily would be cold. However, these remarks calmed a lot of ministers who were still in a panic just now. Although the Tartars arrived in Huai'an, the Ming Dynasty did not have the power to fight back.
Wang Fu also nodded secretly. Ma Shiying was undoubtedly extremely experienced. Regardless of whether it was possible or not, at least he would calm down the hearts of the people first.
"What are some more additions to you, my ministers?"
"Master Ma is very insightful." Everyone praised.
"What Ma Aiqing said is indeed a stern word, but have you ever thought about how long it will take to dispatch troops from the nearest Huguang, and how long it will take to be the farthest Yunnan and Guizhou?"
Everyone was stunned. Everyone agreed with Ma Shiying's words, but to protect Nanjing. As long as Jiangbei can stand for a while, Nanjing has so many troops and Zheng Zhilong's naval guards, even if Jiangbei is completely destroyed, Nanjing can still live a stable life.
"Since everyone has nothing to say, then I will say a few words. Yangzhou cannot be missed, Huai'an cannot be missed. Xuzhou, although I don't know why the Tartars arrived in Huai'an, I am sure that Xuzhou is still in the hands of the court, and Xuzhou cannot be missed. Huguang's troops can be adjusted, Zhejiang and Jiangxi's troops can also be adjusted. It is better not to move lightly in other places. Now the fastest troops that can save Jiangbei are still Jingying and 50,000 Yulin Guards. Jingying cannot be moved lightly. I decided to lead 40,000 Yulin Guards in person!"
The hall was quiet, and everyone's calling was heavy. Although the emperor had defeated Zuo Liangyu in person, most of the ministers thought it was due to luck, but now they are facing the Tartars. Does the emperor still have luck?
Chapter completed!