Wandering the Heavens

"Yu Xian, my family will never forgive you!" At this moment, Wang Zhen forgot about the sword that was still pressing on his shoulder.

Before Yu Xian could say anything, Little Nose stepped forward and slapped Wang Zhen in the face, knocking out all his dentures.

"When I was with Emperor Taizong, I always followed my duty. But I never expected that among the eunuchs there would be such a bold and arrogant beast like you!"

"Come here, detain this thief and hand him over to the three judicial officials for punishment when the time is right." Yu Xian didn't waste any words.

After hearing what happened, the people behind him stepped forward, tied up Wang Zhen, removed his jaw, fed him a gourd of medicinal wine, then closed his jaw and threw him into the prison van.

At the same time that Wang Zhen was arrested, an event that would determine the future and fate of the Ming Dynasty was taking place in the Forbidden City. The regent and ministers, who had received accurate information from the emperor, would decide at today's court meeting how to deal with the situation in which the elite army was completely wiped out and the emperor was captured by the enemy.

All the ministers with a little foresight went with the army and died in Tumu Fortress. Almost all those who remained were a group of middle and lower-level bureaucrats. It was unreliable to expect them to make constructive remarks.

Xu Yun was slightly stronger. In front of the anxious ministers, he suggested fleeing to Nanjing, and used the astrological signs of the past few days as the theoretical basis for fleeing south.

He may understand astrology, but he doesn't understand the Ming Dynasty.

When the regent Prince of Qin was hesitant, Yu Qian stepped forward and reprimanded Xu Yun for his cowardice, thereby gaining support. He was then in charge of the defense of Beijing and was responsible for the fight against the Oirat during this period.

Although Yu Qian gained the support of the entire court and quickly deployed and transferred second-line troops from all over the country to Beijing to strengthen the defense force, the court officials who had a chance to take a break were brewing a bigger storm during this period.

On August 23, the 14th year of the Zhengtong reign, Chen Yi, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, submitted a memorial to the emperor to punish Wang Zhen and exterminate his entire clan. When he spoke of his grief, he burst into tears in the court. Seeing this, the ministers also burst into tears and rushed to impeach and list Wang Zhen's crimes. The situation was out of control.

Finally, they unanimously demanded that King Qin order the execution of Wang Zhen's accomplices and the entire family. The ministers were so angry that they seemed to be threatening. Seeing this, King Qin wanted to back off and put the matter on hold, but he didn't want to be forced by the ministers to express his position on the spot.

At this time, Ma Shun, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stepped forward and reprimanded the officials, successfully attracting the anger of the officials towards himself. Ma Shun was beaten to death in front of King Qing, and then Wang Zhen's party members Mao Yugui and Wang Changsui were caught and beaten to death in the hall.

Beating someone up is fun, but holding someone accountable is a recipe for disaster. At the critical moment, Yu Qian came forward to stop the frightened King of Qing and pardoned the officials who participated in the fight. Afterwards, the officials arrested and executed all of Wang Zhen's followers without the King of Qing's permission.

After liquidating Wang Zhen's followers, Yu Qian had to consider how to deal with the trouble of Zhu Qizhen while coordinating military affairs.

Acting Minister of War Yu Qian and Minister of Rites Wang Zhi took the lead in submitting a petition to persuade Prince of Qin Zhu Qiyu to ascend the throne to reassure the people.

However, no one expected to see Empress Dowager Sun here. She clenched her fists as she looked at the civil and military officials kneeling on the ground. The one captured by the Oirat Mongols was her son, who was born after ten months of pregnancy and was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He had ruled the world for fourteen years, but when he fell into trouble, he was abandoned by these ministers without a single thought of rescuing him.

"My Lords, the Emperor is only on a hunting expedition in the north. He will return home sooner or later. During this time, I am only the regent. Your request is a treason and will not be granted!"

Zhu Qiyu glanced at Empress Dowager Sun and then at the direction of Zuo Shunmen and said coldly.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor has gone on a hunting expedition to the north, and the country is in turmoil. Please ascend the throne to calm the people, so that these subjects can have a hope of survival!"

"Queen Mother, the Emperor is your son, and Prince Qing is also your son. Now only Prince Qing can save the Ming Dynasty if he ascends the throne!"

……

Although the ministers urged him to ascend the throne one after another, Zhu Qiyu became more and more uneasy.

"My Lords, I have something to say!"

Empress Dowager Sun's voice was not loud, but it calmed the crying in the room.

"For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, Prince Zhu Qiyu of Qing ascends the throne as the Ming Emperor. All matters can be discussed between Prince Zhu Qiyu and the ministers. But there is one thing: the eldest son Zhu Jianshen must be made the crown prince!"

Empress Dowager Sun's words stabilized the situation, and Yu Qian and Wang Zhi, who took the lead, also agreed to the proposal.

Zhu Qiyu was very unhappy, because he had deeply experienced the danger of the throne two days ago, and Empress Dowager Sun meant that the throne would be returned to her biological son in the end.

Throughout the entire process, neither the ministers nor the Queen Mother Sun considered the opinions of the prince regent.

"The minister obeys the order."

The situation is stronger than the person, and filial piety is more important than anything else. No matter how unhappy Zhu Qiyu is, he has to follow the words of Empress Dowager Sun.

On the sixth day of September in the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong reign, Zhu Qiyu officially ascended the throne and named his eldest nephew Zhu Jianshen as the crown prince, and remotely respected his eldest brother, who was being held captive by the Oirat and knocking on doors everywhere, as the emperor emeritus.

Yu Qian officially took over as the Minister of War and obtained wartime military command as a civilian official.

Yu Xian was also preparing for battle. Currently, the Beidou Guard had a total of 14,500 people. The Tianshu and Tianxuan divisions had already sneaked into Beijing City and were on standby, while the Yaoguang division was scattered around to gather intelligence. The only ones who could go into battle were the four divisions that had not been dispatched, plus the Central Division, totaling 8,500 people. Yu Xian took the Central Division with him and fought directly against the Wala cavalry with two of the divisions, while the remaining two divisions of 4,000 people carried artillery to set up an ambush at a suitable location outside Juyong Pass, waiting for Yesen to retreat from there and then to fire on the ground.

If Zhu Qizhen was killed accidentally, it would be an accident. However, Yu Xian knew that Zhu Qizhen would not die so easily, and if he really died in the artillery fire, it would be a relief.

From the capture of Zhu Qizhen on August 15th to the end of September, Yesen took him to wander between Datong and Xuanfu, knocking on the gates and extorting money. Except for the concubines in the harem who really received ransom from him, the local garrisons ignored him at all, and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was turned away countless times.

After running out of patience, Yesen led Zhu Qizhen to break through Zijing Pass on October 1st and arrived at the gates of Beijing ten days later. By then, Yu Qian had already completed the defense of Beijing.

During this period, Yesen, who had been fooled by the defenders of Xuanfu and Datong, finally arrived at this great city. Eighty years ago, Emperor Yuan left this city with his clan members and a group of Mongolian nobles and returned to the vast grassland. It seemed that ruling the Central Plains was just a dream.

And today, I have come here again with my soldiers to continue the cause of the great Genghis Khan. The Mongols will eventually dominate this rich and beautiful land.

However, in the first battle attacking Xizhimen, they were repelled by the defending general Liu Ju, with over a hundred casualties. On the way of defeat, they were intercepted by a mysterious army, who shot and killed the Wala soldiers with muskets from a long distance, and did not pursue when they saw someone fleeing, but just watched from afar.

This was a problem. Yesen looked at the shiny conical bullets being removed from the wounded soldiers, and his brows were so furrowed that they could kill flies. He had defeated 200,000 Ming troops at Yaoerling and Tumubao, and had picked up a few muskets to play with, but all the musket bullets were not conical, and were not processed so delicately.

"Please bring over the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!" Yesen decided to find Zhu Qizhen to see what kind of weapon this was.