Transformed into a Princess of the Late Ming Dynasty: Invincible

As Zhu Mianzhu's carriage arrived at the front of the army, before long, the official from the Ministry of War who had ridden back to call people came back, and with him came two other officials from the Ministry of War.

When the other two saw the four-horse carriage, which was entirely dark black, they also gasped and couldn't help but sigh, "At this time when the country is in crisis, how can such extravagance exist?"

Wang Nianzhi, a doctor in the Ministry of War, thought of the rumors in the court before, that gold mines were discovered in Pinggu County, and even a large amount of cloth was produced, without having to pay a penny of tax. Later, the county magistrate of Pinggu County was transferred away, and no new one was appointed. It was rumored that it was the private property of His Majesty. Now it seems that the rumors are wrong.

At this time, Xiaohuan and Mansui, wearing armor, followed Zhu Mianzhu on both sides and walked out to protect her. After seeing Zhu Mianzhu emerge from the carriage, one of the people opposite said:

"I am Wang Nianzhi, a doctor in the Ministry of War. I am honored to meet Her Royal Highness. Please show me the token of your entry into the capital."

Zhu Mianzhu took out the imperial palace travel token that Zhu Youjian had given her when she left the capital that year from her pocket and handed it to Xiaohuan. Xiaohuan took the token, which was emitting golden light, and walked towards Wang Nianzhi. After Wang Nianzhi checked the token and returned it to Xiaohuan, he said:

"Your Highness, the Imperial Palace Pass isn't enough to allow you to lead your troops into the capital, but it will allow your men to temporarily camp outside the capital. Coincidentally, the camp built by Governor Hong in the east of the city, which was built to support the emperor, is still there. Your Highness, you can temporarily station your troops there."

Zhu Mianzhu's spiritual sense sensed the large camp in the east of the city. Although it was called a large camp, it felt more like a village, with a pile of scattered tents placed in a mess, and among them there were small houses built with wood and stones.

Zhu Mianzhu turned to look at Zhao Kailai and Wu Shiliang, and said in front of Wang Nianzhi and the Ming army:

"Zhao Kailai, Wu Shiliang, you two, take your respective troops and follow them to the camp and wait for my order. No matter who comes, you are not allowed to remove your weapons. You are free to shoot if necessary."

After saying this, he turned to Wang Nianzhi and said:

"Can they provide food?"

When Wang Nianzhi heard Zhu Mianzhu's request for food, he bowed and said:

"Your Highness, the capital is also short of food. The army sent to support the king has consumed all the food in the capital in the past two months. The Ministry of Revenue has been in deficit for years. Governor Hong went to the border and took away the last bit of food from the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue is now facing a situation where there is no food left."

When Zhu Mianzhu heard this, she couldn't help but sneer in her heart. The Ministry of Revenue is out of money, but you guys have a lot of money in your pockets. Just now, my divine sense swept across the capital, and the underground of every house was filled with grain and silver.

After hearing Wang Nianzhi's words, Zhu Mianzhu waved her hand and said, "Alright, I'll send people to the grain merchants in the city to buy food. You'll also be in charge of the city gates. Please prepare the passage procedures for my people. Otherwise, the hungry soldiers will mutiny. You know the consequences."

After listening to this, Wang Nianzhi wiped the nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I will make sure to arrange everything."

After hearing what the other party said, Zhu Mianzhu looked at the sky which was getting darker and darker, and said to the coachman, "Let's go to the palace." Then she turned and walked into the carriage.

As the wheels creaked as they rolled over the dead branches on the ground, Zhu Mianzhu's carriage continued to move towards Shuntian Prefecture.

At night, as Zhu Mianzhu showed the palace pass, the carriage stopped outside the palace, and Zhu Mianzhu took Xiaohuan and Mansui to Kunning Palace. Looking at the palace with lanterns hanging in the distance, Zhu Mianzhu couldn't help but think of the major events in the next two years.

Starting from this year, the days of the Ming Dynasty became increasingly difficult. Severe drought was accompanied by locusts. When locusts swarmed together, they would become poisonous. When the locusts also encountered severe drought and had nothing to eat, the hungry locusts would even bite people. They were also poisonous and were simply walking natural disasters.

The next year, the Battle of Songshan will begin outside the Great Wall. It will take two years and require the whole country to continuously transport food and weapons to the outside of the Great Wall. There are severe droughts and floods inside, and the Qing Dynasty is dragging and restraining the Ming Dynasty outside. With the last elite troops of the Ming Dynasty wiped out, the entire Ming Dynasty is no longer able to fight against the peasant army and the Qing army outside the Great Wall.

Zhu Mianzhu, who showed the pass token again, had already entered the Kunning Palace with Mansui and Xiaohuan. As soon as she entered the Kunning Palace, she saw Empress Zhou and Chongzhen sitting in the main hall holding a little girl.

Looking at the two people in the hall, Zhu Mianzhu said to Xiaohuan:

"Xiao Huan, you are familiar with the palace. Take Man Sui to the side hall to wash and eat. If I need you, I will send a message to you."

In the second half, Zhu Mianzhu used her divine consciousness to convey the words to the two people. It was the first time that they heard such a magical voice ringing in their minds. A hint of surprise flashed in their eyes, and then they said:

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Yes, Master."

As Zhu Mianzhu entered the main hall of Kunning Palace, she shouted:

"Father"

"Mother"

Empress Zhou, who was holding the little girl, and Zhu Youjian, who was teasing the little girl, saw that Zhu Mianzhu had also stopped teasing the little girl. Empress Zhou pointed to the seat opposite them and said:

"Mianzhuo, sit here."

After hearing Queen Zhou's instructions, Zhu Mianzhu sat in front of the two of them as Queen Zhou wished. At this time, the little girl in Queen Zhou's arms seemed to feel the solemn atmosphere and did not make a sound.

Zhu Youjian looked at his ten-year-old eldest daughter and said:

"Mianzhu, are you going to leave the palace again after coming back this time?"

When Zhu Mianzhu heard Chongzhen say this, she took out the secret letter written by Empress Zhou from her bosom, placed it on the table, and said to Chongzhen:

"I have to go to the fiefdom this year, but it's a little small. It would be great if I could have the whole of Shandong."

When Chongzhen heard Zhu Mianzhu say this, his eyes widened, he took a deep breath, looked at Zhu Mianzhu and said:

"Since ancient times, no woman has actually controlled military and political power. Jinan Prefecture is your fiefdom. There is no one in history who is greater than you. You have to eat one bite at a time."

After Chongzhen finished speaking, he continued:

"It's mainly the Shandong area. Prince Lu and Prince Heng are both still alive and haven't done anything wrong, so we can't give it to you. Prince De's area is because he was abducted by the Manchus and there are no direct descendants in Jinan Prefecture. So the royal family won't say anything if we give it to you. Even if the ministers object, it's our own family matter."

After Zhu Youjian explained the relationship, Zhu Mianzhu said:

"You can give me no fiefdom, but just nominal administrative power. As far as I know, the princes only receive salaries and tax-free property management rights in their fiefdoms, along with a large amount of land. Nothing else."

"Because of the Jiannu invasion of the Shantung Pass, the position of Governor of Shandong is still vacant. The Governor of Shandong hasn't been appointed yet, right? Why not give it to me directly?"

When Chongzhen heard what Zhu Mianzhu said, he asked:

"I asked you to defend the king before, why didn't you send troops? If you had, the Jiannu might not have been so rampant."

"I only have 20,000 men, 20,000 infantrymen on foot. How can they defeat over 100,000 Jiannu cavalrymen? They are all veterans of the battlefield, while mine are all rookies. If they are all gone, the Ming Dynasty might not even have its last chance. If you had given me a fiefdom directly, I might have trained an army of 100,000 by now and defended the Great Wall, preventing the Qing army from entering."

Chongzhen sighed when he heard Zhu Mianzhu's answer:

"As long as the people of the world are not trampled upon by the Qing army, and do not suffer from the pain of war, and every household can live and work in peace and contentment, I will give you everything you want. Tomorrow at court, I will announce your appointment as Governor of Shandong. The officials at court and the local officials will certainly not accept you. This matter can only be resolved by you."

"and many more"

When Zhu Mianzhu heard that Zhu Youjian would make the announcement tomorrow, she hurriedly stopped and said to Zhu Youjian:

"Wait a minute. I've sent Zhao Yi and Wu Cheng to the Jizhou Great Wall defense line to stop the Jiannu. When the victory report arrives, Father, you can directly appoint me as the Minister of Henan Province."

Zhu Youjian was stunned when he heard Zhu Mianzhu's words. What an ancient phrase! Zhu Youjian slowly searched through his memory to find where it came from, and suddenly said angrily:

"You rebellious girl, why don't I just make you the Prince of Yan? My Ming Dynasty doesn't have a Prince of Yan right now. Do you still have to control all the troops in the world?"

"Father, you have to give it to me."

Zhu Mianzhu whispered, "Next year, the Qing will gather hundreds of thousands of troops outside the Great Wall to attack Jinzhou. Two years later, Jinzhou will fall, and hundreds of thousands of elite Ming troops will be wiped out."

Before Zhu Mianzhu finished speaking, Zhu Youjian said:

"What? The whole army was annihilated?" Zhu Youjian suddenly felt dizzy and it took him a while to recover. "Mianzhu, you mean that Jinzhou fell in two years and the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty were completely annihilated."

"Yes, Father, if you don't grant me a larger fiefdom, in a few years we will be powerless to reverse the situation. In the next few years, the entire north will suffer from severe droughts, accompanied by locust plagues that will block out the sun, and floods will occur in the south. In a few years, the situation will reverse, with floods in the north and droughts in the south."

Seeing Zhu Youjian about to faint, the four-leaf clover in Zhu Mianzhu's eyes flashed, and she used the spiritual power of plants to maintain Zhu Youjian's body and ensure his wakefulness. Zhu Youjian heard Zhu Mianzhu talking about what would happen a few years later, and said with difficulty:

"I'll give you whatever you want. When your troops return, I'll announce your appointment as the Minister of the Henan Province."

Zhu Youjian said to himself, "In fact, I don't want to be the emperor at all. The Ming Dynasty that my brother left me is plagued by internal and external troubles. Over the years, I have attended court every day and processed memorials until midnight, but the Ming Dynasty is getting worse and worse. I have clearly tried my best, but it is getting worse and worse."

After saying this, he looked at Queen Zhou and the daughter in her arms:

"I would rather be a vassal king and live a carefree life with my wife."

After saying this, he pulled Empress Zhou to her feet, looked at Zhu Mianzhu, and said to her, "Although I don't know what you rely on, Mianzhu, to have such confidence in solving all this, if possible, try to let the children of China live longer."

After saying that, he took Empress Zhou to the Qianqing Palace. After a while, Zhu Mianzhu looked at the empty Kunning Palace. It seemed that Zhu Youjian had handed the Kunning Palace over to her.