Chapter 1056 Emperor Chongzhen’s Abdication Edict (1)

(1056)

On December 25, the 12th year of Chongzhen, Xi'an Prefecture.

At noon, snowflakes fell down, rendering the entire Sanqin land into white. Standing on the city tower of Xi'an City and looking around, the only different color that can be seen is bright red. It is the color of the Hu Ben Army's flag. After a brief battle, the imperial army surrendered completely, and the Hu Ben Army completely controlled Xi'an Prefecture and other places.

The city towers of Xi'an City were filled with the military flags of the Hu Ben Army. Below the military flags, the soldiers of the Hu Ben Army were standing. They were all wearing thick cotton coats to keep their bodies warm. Their bodies were covered with snowflakes, and even the bayonets were condensed. From time to time, they would shake the Hu Ben gun in their hands and shake off the snowflakes.

Outside Xi'an City, there will be frequent cavalry patrols of the Hu Ben Army walking slowly. The war horses left deep horse hoof marks on the snow. Looking from a distance, it was like a string of black pearl chains left in the snow. However, soon after, these horse hoof marks were covered by more snow. All the pearl chains disappeared. At first glance, there was no trace anymore.

...

After Wu Sangui launched the rebellion, he immediately joined the Wang Dou army and marched towards Xi'an Prefecture. At the same time, the Xuanwu Legion of the Hu Ben Army stationed on the front line of Tongguan, as well as the Qinglong Legion of the Hu Ben Army stationed in Puzhou, all marched towards Xi'an Prefecture. The court, under the attack of the three major armies of the Hu Ben Army, was suddenly in a hurry and panicked.

In Xiangyang further away, the White Tiger Legion and Li Yan Legion of the Tiger Army jointly launched an attack on Shuzhong. The Huben Army troops stationed in Huguang also began to go upstream along the banks of the Yangtze River and launch an attack on Kuizhou Prefecture and Chongqing Prefecture. The purpose of these two armies was to suppress the imperial troops in Shuzhong and force them to not reinforce Guanzhong.

"Surrender!"

Hong Chengchou ordered helplessly.

The Xuanwu Legion of the Hu Ben Army used a large number of explosive packs to blast the front line of Tongguan, causing the defense of the imperial army to completely lose its effect. After two days of fighting, the Hu Ben Army completely cleared the obstacles in front of Tongguan and directly approached the Tongguan city wall. At this time, Hong Chengchou wisely chose to give up resistance.

Everyone knows that it is meaningless to continue to resist at this time. It is a foregone conclusion that the Hu Ben Army has taken over Xi'an Prefecture. Hong Chengchou is confident that he can't stop the attack of the Hu Ben Army Xuanwu Legion, and he doesn't believe that Wang Kun and Shi Kefa can block the attack of the Hu Ben Army Qinglong Legion. Since he can't stop it, why continue to cause death?

"Squeak!"

The city gate of Tongguan was slowly opened.

The soldiers of the Xuanwu Legion of the Hu Ben Army lined up in an orderly manner and rushed in like a flood. They had almost no stop in Tongguan and rushed directly to Xi'an City. After about two thousand infantrymen entered Tongguan and controlled the surrounding areas of Tongguan, more than 10,000 Hu Ben Army cavalry flocked in, and then they continued to be infantry.

"Da da da da!"

The sound of horse hooves shook the entire Sanqin land.

These Huben cavalry were the various battalions of the Huben cavalry transferred back from Japan. The current Huben cavalry has a total of seven battalions, which are basically concentrated in Tongguan and the front lines of Shanxi. In other places, the cavalry teams are not available. More than 10,000 Huben cavalry rushed through Tongguan like a flood, which scared all the officials and soldiers of the court.

It is said that the power of the Hu Ben Army is strong, and it is still a bit unbelievable if you don’t see it with your own eyes. But now, they have completely believed it. The Hu Ben Army cavalry that appeared in front of them are not ordinary cavalry, they are cavalry that can defeat the Tartars face to face! As long as you think about the cruelty of the Tartars, you will know how powerful they are.

Hong Chengchou stood silently behind the city gate, waiting for the arrival of the senior commander of the Hu Ben Army. Behind him were hundreds of officials under his command. No one knew what kind of treatment they would receive after surrender. At this time, they all regretted it. If they had known it, they would have surrendered to the Hu Ben Army with Sun Chuanting.

"You are Hong Chengchou, are you?"

A senior officer from the Hu Ben Army came to Hong Chengchou.

"Shame, the villain is Hong Chengchou."

Hong Chengchou said bitterly.

"My name is Yang Zixuan, the commander of the Xuanwu Legion of the Hu Ben Army. I believe you knew my name early in the morning. This is a handwritten letter from the Governor. I hope you will think about it carefully."

The senior officer jumped off the horse's back and handed Hong Chengchou a letter.

"Thank you, Governor."

Hong Chengchou said respectfully, and took the letter with both hands.

The followers behind him stared at the letters in Hong Chengchou with a little nervousness. They were all trying hard to guess what Zhang Zhun would say to Hong Chengchou in the letter. Hong Chengchou had been fighting with the Hu Ben Army for so long, and I believe that Zhang Zhun would definitely not have any good results for him. Perhaps, Zhang Zhun might want Hong Chengchou to commit suicide.

Hong Chengchou was naturally very nervous. As a stubborn person, Zhang Zhun would definitely not treat him well. However, it was strange that if Zhang Zhun wanted to deal with him, there was no need to write a letter to him. It was completely unnecessary! I guess Zhang Zhun must have some special requests and deliberately made it difficult for him to do it.

Taking a deep breath and trying hard to calm down the thoughts in his heart, Hong Chengchou slowly opened the letter. The content of the letter is very short and concise. The words are very beautiful. You can tell at a glance that it was not written by Zhang Zhun. The so-called handwritten letter is only the signature below is written by Zhang Zhun. However, for Hong Chengchou, this is also a kind of courtesy.

"Thank you for your grace by Lord Governor."

After reading the letter, Hong Chengchou had no expression on his face.

Yang Zixuan waved his hand behind, and a guard came up and handed Hong Chengchou a package.

Hong Chengchou took the package with a little confusion, his face full of confusion. The people around him were also confused. Zhang Zhun, what are you going to do?

"If you don't understand, there is an explanation in the package!"

Yang Zixuan nodded and said casually, then he turned over and rode away.

The followers behind Hong Chengchou rushed to Hong Chengchou and looked at Hong Chengchou in anticipation, hoping that he could reveal some content in the letter. Someone looked at the package in Hong Chengchou's hand in wonder. Zhang Zhun actually gave Hong Chengchou a package. What does this mean? Do you want Hong Chengchou to put his head in the package?

"Mr. Governor... I hope I can accompany His Majesty the Emperor... to a very far place... start again..."

Hong Chengchou said slowly with a bitter smile.

The faces of the people around him changed slightly.

Does a very far place refer to the underworld?

Hong Chengchou noticed their faces change, shook his head gently, and said slowly: "He is not trying to kill us, but to send His Majesty the Emperor to the African continent. Zhang Zhun said that if we have the ability, we can obtain a much larger territory than the current Ming Kingdom in the future. If we don't have the ability, we can only starve to death."

While speaking, Hong Chengchou slowly opened the package in his hand. It turned out that there were some maps and books. Hong Chengchou spread out the map and found that it had already circled out Madagascar with a red brush. This was the far place he wanted to accompany Emperor Chongzhen to.

"It's really far!"

Hong Chengchou said with a helpless smile.

...

Shi Kefa's bitter smile was much more painful than Hong Chengchou.

The Qinglong Legion of the Tiger Ben Army crossed the river from Puzhou and attacked westward. Wang Kun and Shi Kefa's troops were defeated in less than a day. Shi Kefa was anxious and angry and wanted to commit suicide, but was stopped by Wang Kun.

"You're Shi Kefa?"

Jerry Yang came to Shi Kefa and said slowly.

In fact, Jerry Yang knew Shi Kefa completely, and the two had met before. He asked this just to ask the other party in the attitude of a winner to show his superiority. This is the privilege of the winner. The winner is not criticized.

"I am!"

"If you want to kill or cut, you can do whatever you want!"

"It is impossible to surrender!"

Shi Kefa raised his head and showed his unyielding appearance.

Wang Kun next to him was shocked and hurriedly pulled Shi Kefa's sleeve. He was not as loyal as Shi Kefa. When he found that something was wrong, Wang Kun immediately chose to surrender to the Hu Ben Army. He was worried that Shi Kefa would anger the other party and implicate himself. As a result, Shi Kefa took away Wang Kun's hand in disgust.

"Even if you want to surrender, we will not accept it. The Governor has already said that anyone can surrender, but Shi Kefa cannot."

Jerry Yang said coldly.

"What did you say?"

Shi Kefa was immediately hit hard.

Damn Zhang Zhun, what does this mean?

Do you look down on your own abilities or your integrity?

"Our Hu Ben Army needs people who do practical things, not people who are not sociable."

Jerry Yang continued to say coldly.

"You! Nonsense!"

Shi Kefa was once again severely hit.

"But, our Governor, will give you another chance."

Yang Zhiyuan waved his hand, and an escort came up from behind and handed a package to Shi Kefa. Yang Zhiyuan looked deep and said slowly: "This is what the governor wants to give to you. He said that with your ability, you may not be able to take on such a heavy responsibility. However, he is still willing to give you a chance. He has a very important thing, which involves your Emperor and needs your help to complete it. Of course, if you feel that you are not capable of completing it, then forget it."

Shi Kefa didn't want to accept it. He subconsciously felt that Zhang Zhun must be playing some tricks. But after thinking for a while, he still took the package. His personality has indeed had a big flaw, that is, he couldn't stand the excitement. So, Yang Zhiyuan's simple excitement method would make him change his mind obediently.

"Walk!"

Yang Zhiyuan smiled coldly, turned over and turned around.

Wang Kun waited for Yang Zhiyuan and his group to walk away before turning around, looked at the package in Shi Kefa curiously, and said strangely: "At this time, what else will Zhang Zhun give you? Is it all the packages inside silver?"

While speaking, he couldn't help but stretch out his hand and pinched it hard on the package. As a result, he regretted that the package was hard and seemed to be all books. Sure enough, when Shi Kefa opened the package, there were indeed books and a thick stack of maps. In addition, there was a letter.

Wang Kun also saw the letter and couldn't help but look at Shi Kefa, and said a little sourly: "It seems that it was written by Zhang Zhun. Maybe I want to invite you to Gaozui! Xianzhi, before, we partner, I have never treated you badly. Now, I am a eunuch and have no way to do things. In the future, you have to take good care of me."

Shi Kefa picked up the letter without expression, tore open the seal, took out the letter paper, and browsed it quickly. Of course, he had no good expression on Zhang Zhun's letter. However, after he quickly browsed, his face became a little puzzled. Then, his face became a little solemn again.

Wang Kun asked hurriedly: "Xianzhi? What's wrong?"

Shi Kefa did not answer, but hurriedly opened the map and looked for something carefully. As a result, he quickly found the destination he was looking for. His eyes became a little stiff, staring at the place on the map that was circled with red pens.

Wang Kun leaned over curiously and found that the focus of Shi Kefa's sight was on a place called Madagascar. He seemed to understand something vaguely. However, he shook his head and walked away silently.

Obviously, Zhang Zhun wanted Shi Kefa to accompany Emperor Chongzhen to the distant island of Madagascar. Zhang Zhun did not kill the court, but exiled them to a distant place. Originally, Wang Kun was also on this list. However, Wang Kun refused. He would rather live the life of ordinary people in the Central Plains than go to such a distant place.

...

The Hu Ben Army, who rushed in from three directions, soon surrounded Xi'an City. Cao Huachun, the admiral of the Beijing Camp who was responsible for Xi'an City's defense, hurried to find Emperor Chongzhen. The main figures such as the cabinet, Jinyiwei, and Dongchang also all came to Chongzhen. The Hu Ben Army was already at the city, and where did the court go? I'll wait for Chongzhen's words.

"Open the city gate and let them in!"

Emperor Chongzhen's face was dark and his tone was difficult.

He knew what consequences his words would bring.

This means that the Ming Dynasty, which had been passed down for two hundred and seventy years, will disappear from now on. He, Emperor Chongzhen and Zhu Youjian, will become the king of the Ming Dynasty's devastated country. He will have no face to meet his ancestors. But at this moment, is it possible that he will refuse? Or is it necessary for him to refuse?

If it weren't for a letter from Zhang Zhun to bring to King Xiang, perhaps Emperor Chongzhen had committed suicide. He had made up his mind to commit suicide in the morning. The emperor guarded the country and the king died in the country. He wanted to create a heroic page among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. However, Zhang Zhun's letter changed his mind. If the Ming Dynasty was really as Zhang Zhun said, he could rise again in another continent, he should bravely take responsibility.
To be continued...