Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 302 Entering the Pass! The Jingnan Rebellion!
【"What did you say?!"】

Inside Zhongdu City, Jin Wuzhu stared in disbelief at the messenger, whose message was so bizarre that he felt as if he hadn't woken up properly...

The messenger was so frightened he was almost crying. Faced with Marshal Wuzhu's questioning, he could only tremble as he recounted the battle report from the front: "Reporting to the Marshal, His Majesty... His Majesty's personal campaign was a great defeat; the entire 500,000 Imperial Guards were annihilated!"

Jin Wuzhu's eyes rolled back, and he nearly fainted on the spot... but he still pressed on, asking, "And what about His Majesty?"

"Your Majesty...His Majesty has gone on a hunting expedition to the north..."

[“Moreover, His Majesty has been forced by the rebels, and has not only issued an edict ordering all the passes along the Great Wall to cease resistance, but also to lead the loyalist army back to Zhongdu to purge the treacherous ministers from the emperor's side…”]

[Jin Wuzhu: ...]

[Knocking on the gates? Serving the emperor? Purge the court of treacherous officials?]

In an instant, Jin Wuzhu donned a mask of pain...

[Dajin, it’s over! 】

【…】

[In the 223rd year of the Shaoxing reign of the Song Dynasty, you successfully lured the Jin emperor and 500,000 imperial guards out of the Great Wall using the strategy of "luring the enemy deep into the territory." Then, you led 3,000 Manchu and Mongol cavalry... Bah! I mean, 3,000 Mongol and Jurchen "Imperial Guards" in a lightning attack on the Jin emperor's carriage, defeating tens of thousands of imperial guards in one battle and capturing the new Jin emperor who was unable to escape!]

With the Jin emperor captured, the morale of the remaining imperial guards naturally plummeted. Furthermore, you personally led the army to Luoyang, where you explained the dire situation to the Jin emperor… Thus, the Jin emperor was forced to submit and issued an edict ordering the entire imperial guards to surrender.

Thus, the entire army of 500,000 was annihilated and captured by you...

[And you, who had been anxiously watching the battle unfold, finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the massive army of imperial guards kneeling in surrender... Thank goodness! Thank goodness the emperor surrendered!]

[After all, your Embroidered Uniform Guard has only been established for less than three years, its accumulated divine power is not much, and its number is only three thousand. This raid on the Imperial Guard is extremely risky. If you fail to capture the Golden Emperor in one fell swoop, then if the subsequent war turns into a war of attrition, you and the Embroidered Uniform Guard will only be worn down to death...]

[There's no need for a war of attrition, because after this battle, the Imperial Guards' hard-earned strength will be completely depleted... So right now, you're not only not strong, but actually quite weak. Being able to force the Imperial Guards to surrender in one battle is already a stroke of luck!]

Of course, no matter what, you won this battle, and now that you've won, it's time to accept everything that a winner deserves...

That year, you held the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords. After your earnest explanation of the advantages and disadvantages, the helpless Jin emperor had no choice but to acknowledge you as a righteous and loyal minister and general… He first pardoned your treasonous crime of attacking the imperial guards, and then issued an edict bestowing upon you the titles of "Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces," "General Who Punishes Rebels by Imperial Decree," and "Grand Tutor of the Jin," granting you the legitimacy to lead troops into the pass.

[Then, under your coercion, He drafted an edict, first denouncing the heinous crimes of the "Wuzhu anti-Jin treacherous clique" in deceiving the emperor and concealing the truth, and then personally leading troops to knock on the gates, ordering all the passes along the Great Wall to be opened wide and not to obstruct the "Jingnan Army" from returning to Zhongdu...]

[And so, in the 223rd year of the Shaoxing era, you transformed yourself from a rebellious traitor into a loyal "Grand Tutor of the Jin Dynasty," and your more than 300,000 rebellious border troops became the "Jingnan Army," ready to go to Zhongdu to eliminate Wuzhu and other rebel leaders!]

[The government troops turned into rebels, and the rebels turned into government troops; there could be no greater joke or reversal in the world...]

That year, all the passes along the Great Wall, which had been in a state of panic, were opened to the emperor's command, and the generals personally welcomed the emperor, the Grand Tutor, and the Jingnan army into the pass...

That year, Grand Tutor Zhou led an army of 300,000 into the pass to "pacify the rebellion." Towns along the way surrendered without resistance, and the army crossed the Yanshan Mountains and the Yefuling area, reaching the outskirts of Zhongdu, the capital of the Jin dynasty!

The news caused great panic in the capital. Soldiers fled in haste, and civilians rushed out of the city to escape. The momentum was so great that even Jin Wuzhu could not stop it…

Even the imperial family and high-ranking officials were now in a panic and approached Wuzhu, demanding an immediate order to move the capital south from Zhongdu to Bianliang, hoping to secure a precarious peace in a corner of the country!

However, Wuzhu refused to order a southward relocation, instead demanding that the remaining troops and civilians near the capital be mobilized to defend the city in preparation for a desperate battle!

This situation is strikingly similar to the Tumu Crisis of the Ming Dynasty: the emperor's personal campaign failed, and he was forced by the enemy to come and pound on the city gates, while calls for relocation to the south were incessant, with people hoping to escape the no longer safe capital. Only Yu Qian insisted on fighting the defense of the capital...

However, as the saying goes, the past is the past, and the present is the present. Every dynasty and history is unique, and even if two things are very similar, one cannot blindly copy the other.

[Yu Qian was able to win the defense of the capital mainly because the difference in combat strength between the two sides was not significant, and reinforcements from all over the country were on their way. Therefore, as long as he could hold the city until the reinforcements arrived, he could force back the army of Esen, the Mongol Grand Tutor.]

[But the Great Jin Kingdom is different. Even if the emperor hadn't given away all the elite troops from the capital, it certainly couldn't defeat your 300,000-strong Jingnan army… Moreover, you not only have 300,000 Jingnan troops, but also the Jin emperor as your trump card. As long as he orders the Jin army to implement a "non-resistance policy," then your path will undoubtedly be unobstructed and invincible!] [And indeed, just as Jin Wuzhu was pressuring his ministers and preparing to forcibly organize a garrison to fight a battle to defend the capital, your Jingnan army had already arrived!]

Amidst the exhilarating cheers of countless soldiers, a yellow dragon banner was slowly raised in the army, followed by another massive, fiery red banner erected beside it...

On one side is the Golden Emperor's Dragon Banner, on the other is your "Grand Tutor's Banner"!

Grand Tutor Zhou Jinu, accompanied by the Jin Emperor, is leading a righteous "Jingnan Campaign" against Zhongdu!

When these two great banners were erected among the enemy troops outside the city, the Jin soldiers inside the city, who had finally mustered the courage to defend it, were instantly filled with despair. The morale of the entire Zhongdu defense force plummeted to negative numbers at a visible speed...

[The emperor has surrendered, what's the point of fighting anymore!]

Despair gripped everyone: the battle to defend the capital was lost; they had utterly lost...

【…】

In the 223rd year of the Shaoxing reign of the Song Dynasty, Grand Tutor Zhou Jinu of the Jin Dynasty led an army of 300,000 men, accompanied by the Jin Emperor, to quell the rebellion. The army marched straight to the walls of Zhongdu!

[The Grand Tutor issued an imperial edict ordering the city to surrender and open the gates to welcome the Emperor back to the capital. However, the traitor Wuzhu, oblivious to the will of Heaven, not only refused to surrender but also dared to attack the Jingnan army. Arrows rained down from the city, rocks fell like hail, and cannon fire and thunderbolts rained down in large numbers, shocking the army...]

But these desperate resistances were ultimately futile. At your command, three thousand Imperial Guards charged straight up the city walls… After a fierce battle, the cannons were quickly silenced, and the army was able to breach the city walls!

On this day, the Grand Tutor and the Emperor successfully entered the capital!

On that day, the army arrested numerous nobles, members of the imperial family, and officials, capturing over ten thousand people in total… The Grand Tutor, in person, enumerated the crimes of the nobles, and denounced the officials for corruption, deception, and misleading the emperor, among other things…

After a thorough condemnation and reprimand, the Grand Master imprisoned the officials in the Imperial Prison, where the Imperial Guards subjected them to all sorts of torture in order to recover their ill-gotten gains and military pay. They obtained tens of millions of taels of gold and silver, not to mention countless other treasures, antiques, and real estate...

[But there was one person whom the Embroidered Uniform Guards could never find, no matter how hard they searched… This person was none other than Jin Wuzhu!]

As a senior minister of the Jin court and a pillar of the nation, his disappearance was a serious matter. Therefore, you intensified your efforts, searching throughout the capital.

[While searching, you suddenly had a flash of inspiration and immediately headed towards Coal Hill...and soon after, you found Jin Wuzhu hanging himself on Coal Hill...]

Gazing at Jin Wuzhu's corpse, you remained silent for a long time, ultimately saying nothing. You simply ordered your subordinates to give him a proper burial before returning to the capital.

【…】

In the 223rd year of the Shaoxing reign of the Song Dynasty, following the Tumu Crisis, the Jin general Zhou Jinu successfully defeated over 500,000 imperial guards and captured the Jin emperor. He was then bestowed the title of "Grand Tutor," officially becoming the Grand Tutor of the Jin Dynasty!

In that year, Grand Tutor Fengtian quelled the rebellion, captured the Jin capital, Zhongdu, and forced the Jin general Wanyan Zongbi to hang himself on Coal Hill, causing great upheaval in the world...

Thus, the Grand Tutor officially took control of the Jin government!

[When the Jin army destroyed the Song dynasty, they captured the two emperors and took them north, thus beginning the "Jingkang Incident."]

Now, the Grand Tutor has forced Wuzhu to commit suicide and is using the emperor to command the feudal lords; this is known as the "Jingnan Rebellion"!

[One from the Jin Dynasty and one from the Song Dynasty—it's quite a cycle of cause and effect...]

【…】

[Da Ming: I won't say a word until the lawyer arrives!]

……

(End of this chapter)