Travel back in time and become Chongzhen, watch me turn the tide

This sudden sea storm was like a ferocious and violent flood beast, which seriously disrupted Chongzhen's overall plan with its thunderous force.

At that time, they were struggling to find a route to Nanjing on the vast and turbulent ocean. However, during this difficult journey, the situation in Nanjing had undergone earth-shaking and fundamental changes.

According to the established system of the Ming Dynasty, the Nanjing Minister of War was ranked first among all officials in the capital. Shi Kefa, the then Minister of War, naturally became the highest-ranking official in Nanjing at that time.

In history books, Shi Kefa is portrayed as a glorious and great national hero, and he is also fair, honest, upright and resolute. However, as an important official in the court, he lacks political wisdom. His most fatal weakness is his lack of talent and strategy. He always wants to deal with everything and please everyone, but in the end he gets the opposite of what he wants.

Especially when dealing with the major event of the fall of Beijing and the disappearance of Emperor Chongzhen, Shi Kefa made serious mistakes one after another, which laid the hidden dangers for the final demise of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

On March 29, ten days after the fall of Beijing, this shocking news spread to Huai'an like a violent whirlwind.

After learning the news, many officials in Nanjing, the capital of the former Soviet Union, were terrified and did not dare to take any action rashly as the whereabouts of Emperor Chongzhen and his three sons were unknown. They fell into a state of panic and had no idea what to do.

But soon after, news came from the capital that Emperor Chongzhen had successfully escaped.

An official who fled hastily from the capital to Nanjing claimed that the current emperor had successfully escaped from the capital and was heading towards Nanjing under the full escort of Feng Yuanyang, the governor of Tianjin, and Huang Fei, the commander-in-chief of the navy who was in charge of the Guanliaotongjin Huaihaijiangzhen navy.

The source of this news was very accurate. It was Jin Xuan's servant and Li Ruolian's personal guard who fled with Emperor Chongzhen.

Before going out to sea, Emperor Chongzhen asked them to pass the news back to the capital, one to report his safety to his family, and the other to secretly contact the loyal ministers of the court and ask them to find a way to escape to Nanjing.

The purpose of Chongzhen doing this was to convey the news that he was not dead to Nanjing. In this way, no matter whether they could arrive in Nanjing in time or not, after receiving this news, the officials in the capital would not rush to push the new emperor to the throne, leaving themselves enough time.

Unfortunately, things still develop along the trajectory of history...

On the seventh day of April, after learning that Emperor Chongzhen had taken a boat to Nanjing, the Minister of War Shi Kefa did not hesitate to personally lead his soldiers north along the coastal route to greet him.

However, before they had gone far, they received shocking news...

The fleet encountered an extremely violent storm at sea, and the entire fleet was buried in the storm. Emperor Chongzhen unfortunately died.

Soon, the authenticity of this news was confirmed!

Local fishermen found several survivors at sea. They were sailors who had sailed with Emperor Chongzhen. When they encountered a storm, their boat was destroyed by the wind and waves and they fell into the water. They then drifted on the sea for several days.

By chance, they were washed ashore on a remote island. When they were rescued, they were already dying.

Shi Kefa personally met with these sailors and, after careful questioning and confirmation, finally confirmed the accuracy of the news.

With Emperor Chongzhen dead and his three sons missing, the Ming court in Beijing was effectively destroyed. Nanjing, the capital, naturally became the political center of the remaining half of the country.

At this point, the issue of establishing a new emperor became a top priority. Since none of Chongzhen's three sons had managed to escape, the princes became the most powerful contenders for the throne. Among the princes, Prince of Fu Zhu Yousong, Prince of Lu Zhu Changxun, and Prince of Gui Zhu Changying each had their own supporters.

But at this critical moment, Shi Kefa made the mistake of wavering and indecision. Just when he came up with this plan to support Zhu Changying, the Prince of Gui, Ma Shiying had already decisively decided to join forces with Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Lu Jiude and others to swear to support Zhu Yousong, the Prince of Fu, in front of the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum, and personally led troops to escort the Prince of Fu straight to Pukou. At this point, Shi Kefa had no choice but to accept this fact.

On April 29, the 17th year of the Chongzhen reign, Prince Fu Zhu Yousong, accompanied by Shi Kefa, arrived at Yanziji, outside Nanjing, by boat from Pukou. Officials and gentry from Nanjing flocked to pay homage to him.

On the first day of May, Zhu Yousong stepped onto the shore and first paid homage to the Xiaoling Mausoleum. He then entered the city through Chaoyang Gate and took up residence at the Nei Shoubei Mansion. On the third day, Zhu Yousong took office as regent in Nanjing, cast a regent seal with gold, and issued an edict to the world.

After taking office as regent, Zhu Yousong, in accordance with the recommendation of court officials, appointed Shi Kefa, the former Nanjing Minister of War, as the Grand Secretary of the Dongge and Minister of Rites, to work in the cabinet.

Although Shi Kefa joined the cabinet, his previous indecision in making decisions forced Zhu Yousong to seek help from military generals. However, Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, and Liu Zeqing, all defeated generals, were rewarded with the credit for making the decisions. This situation led to the formation of a situation where warlords controlled the court, which was the fundamental reason for the rapid collapse of the Southern Ming Hongguang court.

But then, in order to save himself from his previous decision-making mistake, Shi Kefa made another stupid move.

On May 8, Shi Kefa presented the letter of "Respectfully Submitting the First Urgent Matter": "Those who have always defended the south of the Yangtze River must be in the north of the Yangtze River. Even during the Six Dynasties, when the national strength was weak, there was still a struggle for supremacy between Xu, Si, Ying, and Shou. From this, it can be seen that it is very obvious that it is not appropriate to draw the river and defend. But at this time, the bandits are at their peak, and the morale of our army is low. If the troops are dispersed, the strength will be weak, and if we focus on the distance, we will miss the near. We have to choose a place that can be defended, establish a foundation, and then boost morale to move forward, and then seek to advance. I think we should take into account the geographical advantages and urgently establish four vassals. The four vassals are: Huai and Xu; Yang and Chu; Feng and Si; Lu and Liu. Huai, Yang, Si, and Lu are the places for self-defense, while Xu, Chu, Feng and Liu are the basis for advancement. All the subordinates "The troops, horses, money, and grain of the land are all left to them to collect on their own. If they recapture a city or seize a town, it will be within their boundaries... As for the Four Feudal States, we will appoint Jingnan Earl Huang Degong, General Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo, treat them with great courtesy, and make them our vassal shields. We will follow the Governor's (referring to Ma Shiying) inspection and consideration to determine where they should be stationed, and hold them firmly when the opportunity arises. Now that the military power of Jiangbei has been boosted, the people of Jiangnan will naturally be reassured. Huang Degong has already been made Earl, and it seems he should be promoted to Marquis; Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo seem to be worthy of Earldom. If Zuo Liangyu recovers the Chu territory, he should be promoted to Marquis according to Huang Degong's standards. Ma Shiying will summarize the merits of each town, and it seems unlikely that the titles and rewards will be different. Lu Jiude's situation is the same, and he will allow the Silijian to monitor and report."

Shi Kefa's proposal was approved by the then Regent Zhu Yousong, who immediately decided: Gao Jie was granted the title of Xingping Earl, guarding the Xuzhou and Sizhou areas; Liu Liangzuo was granted the title of Guangchang Earl, guarding the Fengyang and Shouzhou areas; Liu Zeqing was granted the title of Dongping Earl, guarding the Huai'an and Yangzhou areas; and Huang Degong, the Jingnan Earl, was given the title of Marquis, guarding the Chuzhou and Hezhou areas.

Shi Kefa was eager to make up for his mistake in supporting the emperor, and wanted to win over the four towns in exchange for the favor of Prince Fu Zhu Yousong and those who supported him to come to power, but in fact it was useless.

The "Four Commanders of Jiangbei"—Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, and Liu Zeqing—were favored by Emperor Hongguang and Ma Shiying for their contributions to strategic planning. By this time, they were already filled with arrogance and ambition, intent on seizing the prosperous territory of Jiangbei. This would allow them to live in peace while also providing a convenient means of threatening the imperial court.

Even when Shi Kefa later became the commander-in-chief, he was unable to command the "Four Towns". In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the Four Towns fell apart in internal strife.

On May 15th, in Nanjing, Prince Fu Zhu Yousong officially ascended the throne as emperor, changing the next year to the first year of Hongguang.

Ma Shiying was favored by Zhu Yousong for his contribution in "making decisions" and was summoned to the cabinet to assist in the administration, presiding over government affairs and serving as the Minister of War.

Shi Kefa was expelled from the cabinet. He resigned from the emperor on the 18th and crossed the Yangtze River to Jiangbei on the 20th to serve as the commander-in-chief of Huaiyang.

On May 25th, at Miaowan, Emperor Chongzhen, who had been adrift at sea for nearly two months, finally came ashore and arrived at Huang Fei's naval camp.

However, in just one month, the situation in Nanjing had undergone fundamental changes. The emergence of the Hongguang court put Emperor Chongzhen in an extremely embarrassing position.

Would the civil and military officials of the Southern Ming court recognize the defeated former emperor, or the current emperor they had just supported?