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

July 10th, the 17th year of Chongzhen, was destined to cause a storm in the history of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

Chongzhen, who was supposed to have been buried at sea, suddenly appeared in Yangzhou. Accompanied by Shi Kefa, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Li Chengdong, and Huang Fei, he summoned all the officials in Yangzhou and publicly declared his legitimacy. He angrily denounced the Hongguang Emperor's incompetence and demanded his abdication.

This news was like a thunderclap, shocking all the civil and military officials in Nanjing so much that they didn't know what to do!

The news was reported to the palace by Ma Shiying and Lu Jiude on the same day. Although no one knew what was said at the time, the bodies of a palace maid and a eunuch were carried out of the palace that night, which showed how angry Emperor Hongguang was!

Immediately afterwards, Emperor Hongguang, who usually did not attend morning court, suddenly announced that he would hold an early morning court. All the civil and military officials knew that something was wrong!

The next morning, the night was as dark as ink, hanging heavy over the city of Nanjing. The stars twinkled in the sky, like countless pairs of eyes watching the city about to fall into chaos. By then, officials had already arrived at the palace gates, waiting nervously.

As the melodious and heavy bells rang, the officials entered the palace one after another with uneasy feelings.

At this time, the Nanjing Imperial City was in shambles, like a large, chaotic construction site, with various building materials piled up like mountains and placed in a disorderly manner.

The original palaces in the imperial city had undergone more than two hundred years of erosion by wind and rain and the gnawing of termites. Many palaces had already collapsed into ruins, with broken walls and broken walls everywhere, making it completely uninhabitable.

Zhu Yousong's first order of business after ascending the throne was to repair and rebuild the palace, and these materials were prepared for this purpose. Normally, at this time of year, the construction site would have been bustling with activity, with craftsmen busily moving about. But today, the site was eerily silent, with not a single figure in sight, as if even the air had frozen.

Today's morning court was held in the Wenhua Hall, which also showed that this morning court would be different from usual ones. Before all the officials had time to stand, Emperor Hongguang strode up hurriedly and sat down on the throne.

The Hongguang Emperor of today had lost his usual calm and relaxed demeanor. His face was etched with rage, his portly features grimace in anger. His eyes, usually sleepy, were now wide as bells, bloodshot and threatening to burst into flames. The complex mixture of anger and fear in his eyes made the officials present afraid to look directly at him.

"Lord Ma, please come and tell everyone!" Emperor Hongguang suppressed the anger in his heart and spoke in a low and hoarse voice. The voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, revealing endless anger.

The anti-rebellion manifesto issued by Chongzhen was like a sharp thunderclap, striking directly at the heart of Hongguang Emperor Zhu Yousong, making him feel anxious all day long. Chongzhen was the emperor of the previous dynasty, the true orthodox one. You have to know that Zhu Yousong still used the Chongzhen reign title, and the first year of Hongguang had not yet officially begun!

Even more devastating was the fact that Shi Kefa was standing beside Chongzhen! He was also accompanied by Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, and Huang Fei—all three of them commanding large armies. Although Gao Jie hadn't appeared, Li Chengdong was one of his men. If he was considered supporting Chongzhen, then three of the four Jiangbei towns were already on Chongzhen's side.

In such a situation, could he still sit on the throne safely as emperor? Could he continue to rule?

"Your Majesty, Shi Kefa joined forces with the three towns in northern Jiang and Huang Fei to issue a manifesto in the name of the former Emperor Chongzhen. This is a heinous act!" Ma Shiying stepped out helplessly and said solemnly.

"Let me ask you, is Emperor Chongzhen real or fake? Do you understand it clearly?" Emperor Hongguang frowned and asked anxiously in his eyes.

Last night, Ma Shiying and Lu Jiude entered the palace at night, but they were vague and unclear about this matter, which made Emperor Hongguang very angry and full of dissatisfaction.

"It should be... uh... according to the rumors it is... true..." Ma Shiying replied hesitantly.

In fact, he already knew whether this matter was true or not, but Emperor Hongguang always had a glimmer of hope in his heart, so Ma Shiying did not dare to speak too absolutely, for fear of angering this moody emperor.

"Your Majesty, the Chongzhen Emperor has long been confirmed dead, so how could he suddenly be resurrected?" At this time, Ruan Dacheng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and the Right Censor-in-Chief, stepped forward and argued convincingly, "It must be that Shi Kefa, dissatisfied with Your Majesty's neglect of him, instigated the three prefectures to commit such a heinous act!"

"Ridiculous!" Upon hearing this, Huang Daozhou, the Minister of Personnel, immediately stepped forward and refuted righteously, "General Shi is loyal to his country. How could he do such a disloyal thing? There must be some hidden reason."

"Hidden secrets? They've even brought up the former Emperor Chongzhen, so what else could there be?" Ma Shiying sneered and said disdainfully, "Besides, that's the former Emperor Chongzhen. If it's true, what will Your Majesty do?"

"This..." Huang Daozhou was suddenly speechless and groaned in his heart.

Yes, one is the current emperor, the other is the emperor of the previous dynasty. How should these two people choose? This is really a very difficult problem.

"Yes, Lord Huang, what do you think I should do?" Emperor Hongguang said grimly, his eyes sweeping towards Huang Daozhou like a knife, making him feel like a thorn in his back.

"This..." Huang Daozhou really regretted his rash decision to speak out, but since things had come to this, he could only bite the bullet and say, "We should follow the example of the previous dynasty and enshrine Emperor Chongzhen as the Supreme Emperor..."

"My dear minister, your words make sense." Upon hearing this, Emperor Hongguang's anger eased slightly and he nodded slightly. He was actually weighing the pros and cons in his mind and felt that this proposal seemed somewhat feasible.

At this moment, His Highness Ma Shiying secretly curled his lips, thinking disdainfully: "If I were to make him the Emperor Retired, it would be a wonder that Emperor Chongzhen would agree. If he had returned to Nanjing alone, it would have been fine. If he had been made the Emperor Retired and imprisoned, there would have been no fear of him causing any trouble. But what about now? He commands the troops of the three garrisons, as well as Huang Fei's navy. He now controls most of the Southern Ming's strongest military forces. Making him the Emperor Retired? Isn't that just wishful thinking?"

"Sir Ma, what do you think?" Emperor Hongguang looked at Ma Shiying and asked.

"I agree very much," Ma Shiying nodded and said, "I think Your Majesty should issue an edict to recognize Emperor Chongzhen as the Supreme Emperor and invite him to Nanjing."

"Master Ma is right," Ruan Dacheng echoed from the side. "This has already happened in the previous dynasty. Besides, now that the new dynasty has been established, how can the ruler of a country be replaced at will?"

"Your Excellencies are right." The Hongguang Emperor was actually delighted after hearing this, feeling he had found a solution to the problem. He nodded and said, "Then let's send a minister to Yangzhou to announce the decree... Lord Ma, who should be sent to announce the decree?"

"I recommend that Lord Huang go," Ruan Dacheng said before Ma Shiying could speak. "After all, it was Lord Huang who proposed this. Wouldn't it be perfect for him to announce the decree?"

Ruan Dacheng is really a vengeful person. He just got refuted by Huang Daozhou, and now he wants to take the opportunity to retaliate, putting Huang Daozhou into this dangerous situation.

In fact, everyone knew in their hearts that there was no way Chongzhen could accept such an edict. Perhaps the person who went to announce the edict would be sacrificed by Chongzhen as soon as he arrived in Yangzhou.

"Sir Huang, then you go and announce the decree." Emperor Hongguang said. He did not notice Ruan Dacheng's little thoughts.

"Your Majesty... obeys your order!" Huang Daozhou cursed in his heart, but at this time he did not dare to disobey the emperor's order, so he could only accept the order helplessly.

"Sir Ma, what if they disobey my order?" Just when Ma Shiying thought that the matter was about to be settled, Emperor Hongguang suddenly asked, his eyes revealing worry and fear.

"This..." Ma Shiying didn't know how to answer for a moment. He secretly glanced at Emperor Hongguang, only to see that Emperor Hongguang's face became as gloomy as water, and he couldn't help feeling a little panicked.

"Why are you silent?" Zhu Yousong said angrily, "You were the ones who wanted to support me to ascend the throne, but now those three towns have turned against me. Lord Ma, do you also want to join them and claim the credit for making the decision?"

"Your Majesty, my loyalty to you is known to all. How could I do such a heinous thing?" Ma Shiying knelt down quickly and said in fear and trepidation, with beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Hmph!" Zhu Yousong, though somewhat foolish, was not completely clueless. He knew that few people could help him now, and he couldn't push Ma Shiying too hard. So he sighed and said, "I know you are loyal, but...ah..."

"Nanjing has a garrison of 100,000 men led by Chen Zhilong, the Earl of Xincheng, and Liu Kongzhao, the Right Admiral of Nanjing, who is also in charge of the Jiang defense. These two are both loyal ministers and can protect Nanjing." Ma Shiying said after a moment's contemplation. "Furthermore, we also have Liu Zeqing, the Earl of Dongping, and Zuo Liangyu, the Marquis of Ningnan. They both command heavy troops. Your Majesty can order them to come and protect you!"

"My dear minister...you make sense!" After hearing what Ruan Dacheng said, Emperor Hongguang's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had grasped a life-saving straw. He nodded and said, "I just don't know what the Duke of Dongping and the Marquis of Ningnan think..."

"These two are both loyal ministers and righteous men. They will certainly not let your majesty down." Ma Shiying said firmly, "I will arrange for someone to go and persuade them. They will definitely send troops to rescue us!"

"Okay!" Emperor Hongguang Zhu Yousong was already at a loss. Naturally, he was unwilling to give up the throne. But if he didn't do so, Chongzhen had already gathered a large army in Yangzhou City. Once the army arrived at the city and Nanjing was broken, his end would be terrible.

At this moment, Ma Shiying's proposal was like a ray of light in the darkness, and he naturally had to seize it tightly. He immediately issued an order: "My dear minister, you are fully responsible for this matter. Tell them that as long as they can come to rescue me, I will agree to any conditions!"

"I accept the decree!"