Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen quickly gave in.

If it were usual, he would be a person who cared a lot about his face, after all, he was the emperor.

But since he came to the military camp and saw those soldiers living at the bottom of society, he has changed a lot.

These soldiers are not well fed and clothed, but the entire country is not protected by those well-dressed people, but by these hard-working soldiers.

As long as fewer people died, he was willing to put down his status temporarily.

After all, his face had almost been lost when his ancestral grave was dug up.

Seeing that the Ming army did not stop him, Kong Youde was already somewhat happy. He knew that it was now difficult to escape, so he thought of taking a risk and trying his luck.

It would be great if Chongzhen could give him a chance to redeem himself and make meritorious contributions. He was very familiar with the situation of the Ming court. As long as he recruited soldiers and had an army in hand, the emperor would have to endure it even if he became suspicious in the future.

Of course, if the emperor does not give a chance, that doesn't matter, it's death anyway. He has already ordered his subordinates behind him that if they fail, they should fight back immediately. Whether they can escape or not is up to fate.

Thinking of this, Kong Youde threw the head in front of Emperor Chongzhen, fell to his knees and said:

"The guilty minister Kong Youde pays homage to His Majesty!"

Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Zhang Shikang and immediately entered the actor state. He put on a cold expression and asked:

"You surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and now you are defeated, yet you call yourself a subject before me. How can the Ming Dynasty have a subject like you? I am not your Majesty."

When Kong Youde heard this, beads of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.

Of course, he knew that this move was extremely risky. As long as the emperor gave the order, he would have no chance of survival. He immediately fell to the ground and cried loudly:

"Your Majesty, I have my own difficulties. At the beginning, the camp was short of food and money. The soldiers under my command not only disobeyed military orders, but also attacked Denglai without my consent, which led to the subsequent events.

Although I cannot escape blame as a battalion officer, this was not my intention. Yuan Dabiao even threatened to commit suicide. If I had not obeyed, I would have been buried in the dust.

Thanks to my loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, even though I am in the enemy camp, I dare not forget your Majesty's kindness. Yuan Dabiao was killed by my little trick, and I will only wait for an opportunity to return to the Ming Dynasty and continue to serve your Majesty with my life.

I have been waiting until now.

I beg Your Majesty to consider my painstaking efforts and give me a chance to redeem myself and make meritorious contributions!"

Kong Youde sobbed and talked for a long time. Zhang Shikang looked at him coldly and thought to himself, you are the one who is wronged the most, right? You should pretend, let's pretend together.

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen said nothing, Kong Youde felt that there was hope, but he did not dare to stand up and continued to cry:

"The Emperor Taiji of the Pseudo-Qing Dynasty, seeing my bravery, not only treated me with courtesy and honor, and made me a king, but also... he wanted to marry his ancestors' wives to me.

I know that this is Huang Taiji's strategy to win over the hearts of the people, and I am just pretending to be nice to him.

Since I followed the fake Prince Dorgon into the pass, I was first defeated by Governor Lu, then by Admiral Zhang, and now I am defeated by Your Majesty. "

As he spoke, Kong Youde stood up slightly and bowed to Emperor Chongzhen.

"How can we, the Han soldiers, kill each other? In fact, I was defeated on purpose to reduce casualties.

My loyalty is witnessed by heaven and earth. I sincerely request Your Majesty to show mercy and allow me to make amends for my crime.

I will be armed to the teeth and fight to redress my grievances, and wipe out the bandits for Your Majesty!"

At the end of the story, Kong Youde burst into tears. People who didn't know him well might have thought that Kong Youde was a loyal minister who endured humiliation and hardship.

"Well, if that's true, then I really have wronged you." Emperor Chongzhen lost his previous coldness and suddenly said to Kong Youde.

When Kong Youde heard this, he was overjoyed and was about to continue expressing his loyalty, but he heard a cold snort from Zhang Shikang.

"Hmph! Kong Youde, I seem to have heard these words of yours somewhere before. Let me think about it.

Yes, what is your relationship with Xing Daorong in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? "

Zhang Shikang joined the acting game with a contemptuous tone.

His role is very simple, Brother Chongzhen plays the good guy, and he plays the bad guy.

Kong Youde didn't expect Zhang Shikang to suddenly appear, and his heart, which had been at ease, was once again in suspense.

"I...I have never heard of Xing Daorong. I don't know why you said that, my Lord?"

“Hahaha, when Xing Daorong was captured alive, what you said was exactly the same.

I guess what you are going to say next is that I will release you to the Jiannu as an internal supporter, and once my Ming Dynasty army arrives, you will join forces with them to help my Ming Dynasty win the battle?

You may have become obsessed with watching the Three Kingdoms with those Tartars!"

Kong Youde's eyes rolled around when he heard this, and his brain was working frantically.

"Your Majesty, Lord, I don't know any Xing Daorong.

I am truly loyal to you, and I have no intention of following your words. I am just trying to show my loyalty. As long as Your Majesty gives the order, I am willing to follow your wishes."

"Come on! You really think you are something important." Zhang Shikang said contemptuously.

Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Zhang Shikang and said with a little dissatisfaction:

"How can Lord Guanjun be so mean? The court is in need of talents right now. I think General Kong must have been harmed by a traitor.

Since General Kong is determined to abandon the dark and join the light, if I do not allow it, won't the world laugh at my Ming Dynasty for being intolerant? "

Zhang Shikang was shocked when he heard this, and immediately explained:

"Your Majesty, I didn't mean that. I just felt that this person was two-faced and didn't seem like a good person."

"You mean that loyalty or treachery is entirely determined by appearance? Uncle Guanjun, how can you judge a person by his appearance?" Emperor Chongzhen said a little angrily.

Seeing the dispute between the emperor and his ministers of the Ming Dynasty, Kong Youde was extremely happy.

He knew long ago that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was foolish and incompetent, and it was for this reason that he dared to take the risk to seize an opportunity for himself.

Kong Youde suddenly came up with an idea when he saw this. He sneered in his heart, but said:

"Your Majesty, Lord Earl, I have no other intentions, and I dare not compete with Lord Earl for credit. I only wish to serve Your Majesty and the court in this life, no matter how hard it may be!"

He said this openly, saying that he was willing to endure humiliation and did not want the emperor and his subjects to quarrel over him, but secretly he stabbed Zhang Shikang in the back.

Sure enough, as soon as he said this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zhang Shikang with a strange look in his eyes.

"You are so good, Uncle Champion. I was wondering why you are so mean. It turns out you are afraid that General Kong will steal your credit!"

"Your Majesty, I don't mean that. Your Majesty, your Majesty, I..."

"You back off!"

Zhang Shikang was terrified and was about to explain, but was angrily rebuked by Emperor Chongzhen, so he had to retreat to the side in fear.

"I almost blamed you wrongly. General Kong, please get up quickly. I wonder where this head is..."

Emperor Chongzhen then revealed a gentle smile and pointed at the bloody head on the ground.

Kong Youde was overjoyed, but his face remained calm. He picked up the head and showed it to Emperor Chongzhen, saying:

"This is the head of Tong Gui, the commander of the Eight Banners of Jiannu. I will chop it off in front of the battle to show my determination!"

The head was fine when it was far away, but suddenly it was placed so close in front of him, covered in blood. Emperor Chongzhen was so frightened that he just covered his eyes and let Kong Youde throw it aside.

Kong Youde quickly obeyed the order, but in his heart he despised the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty even more.

He originally thought that if possible, it would be nice to continue staying in the Ming Dynasty as a general to guard a region, but he saw that the emperor was so timid and foolish, and was in no way comparable to Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty.

His mind changed again.

It seems that the Ming Dynasty has really run out of luck. It will have to find an opportunity to escape in the future. The Qing Dynasty is the orthodox one, and Huang Taiji is his majesty.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen naturally praised Kong Youde again. Zhang Shikang said with an unhappy look on his face:

"Kong Youde, tell your men to lay down their weapons and accept my supervision."

Kong Youde immediately became alert after hearing this, and Emperor Chongzhen quickly comforted him:

"General Kong, do not be suspicious. I have noticed that there are many Mongolian Tartars in your army.

After all, they are foreigners, and there may be people with ulterior motives among them. We just need to check them out, and if there are no mistakes, they will return the weapons.

I promise that your subordinates will still be under your command, and I will also select elite troops from the Beijing camp and hand them over to General Kong.

"My Ming Dynasty has General Kong, it is truly a great general!"

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen was so kind to him, Kong Youde finally let down his guard. He had been worried about the lack of troops, but now that was great, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was really a timely help.

With this in mind, Kong Youde issued a military order to his subordinates, asking everyone to lay down their weapons and kowtow to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Shikang waved his hand and a group of soldiers from the Beijing camp rushed over. They not only took away the weapons that those people had thrown away, but also took out ropes and started to tie people up.

Kong Youde's subordinates were not easy to deal with and started to resist immediately.

Kong Youde's heart was pounding.

"Your Majesty, this..."

"Oh, General Kong, don't worry, if you don't tie them up, how can you tell the loyal from the treacherous?

But it's all temporary. Once everything is confirmed, I will untie them myself."

Kong Youde felt relieved again and shouted at his subordinates:

"This is the process of appeasement. Don't resist!"

Only then did the group of people obediently accept being tied up.

A full quarter of an hour passed, and more than three thousand people were tied up one after another. Because they were tied so tightly, the group of people lying on the ground looked like lobsters waiting to be slaughtered.

Seeing that the situation was set, Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Zhang Shikang.

Kong Youde stood obediently aside, wondering what was going on with the emperor.

Why don't you release him or give him an official position?

Logically speaking, shouldn't this be the best time to show my ambition and win him over?

He had already prepared himself mentally, thinking that based on his past battle record, he would at least be a general.

Until Emperor Chongzhen's gentle words shattered Kong Youde's beautiful dreams, leaving nothing behind.

"Shikang, how should we deal with Kong Youde? Should we just kill him?"

……