Chapter 863
Shocking News in the Capital
Chapter 863 Shocking News in the Capital
With the emperor captured, all the officials in the capital gathered in the main hall and began a heated discussion.
"Esen sent a letter demanding that we cede the lands of Yan and Zhao to him, and also to open the gates of Xuanfu so that he could personally escort the emperor back to the capital!"
"You actually believe that? Once the city gates are opened, it'll be difficult to close them again!"
"How did His Majesty fall into Esen's hands? Were the more than 200,000 troops accompanying him just sitting around doing nothing?"
"Is this the time for accountability? The most urgent thing is to think about what we should do, and what His Majesty should do?"
The statement itself is not wrong, but the person who said it was Ma Shun, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
He was Wang Zhen's confidant.
So when he spoke, the officials, upon learning of Wang Zhen's death and that they knew part of the truth about the northern expedition, were filled with rage. Pointing at Ma Shun, they shouted, "It is you treacherous eunuchs who have ruined our Great Ming! People like Wang Zhen, even if they are dead, should have their entire families executed!"
Ma Shun, of course, disagreed.
If Wang Zhen were to have his entire family executed, wouldn't that mean the purge of his associates as well?
As is widely known, he was Wang Zhen's confidant.
Therefore, Ma Shun strongly opposed it.
Wang Hong, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, was furious. His long-standing resentment towards Wang Zhen and the Embroidered Uniform Guard erupted. The emperor's capture caused his emotions to fluctuate wildly. When he saw that Ma Shun was not thinking about rescuing the emperor but was only focused on exonerating Wang Zhen, he was immediately enraged and rushed forward with his fists clenched.
One person started it, and the rest of the crowd became excited, clenching their fists and rushing forward, hitting and kicking.
Yu Qian was caught in the middle and felt like the sky was about to fall.
Such outrage, if investigated later, could cause the entire court to fall apart.
He pushed through the crowd, tearing off one sleeve in the process, and grabbed the pale-faced Prince Cheng who was trying to leave. He shouted, "Your Highness, Your Highness, Ma Shun and the others deserve to die! They should be beaten to death! Now that His Majesty is in distress, the entire world depends on you!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd regained their senses and glanced over. They saw that Ma Shun had been beaten to death and was lying motionless on the ground.
Yu Qian acted as if he hadn't seen anything, pulling the Prince of Cheng back to his original seat while ordering the guards to drag Ma Shun's body out.
Just then, someone pushed through the crowd and rushed to Yang Dan's side, grabbing him and saying, "Yang Dan, your family is waiting for you outside the palace. Chief Minister Yang... he was shocked to hear that His Majesty had been captured and has passed away."
Yang Dan's expression went blank, and it took him a while to react. He pushed aside his colleague and was about to run away when he remembered something, turned back, knelt heavily before Prince Cheng, and cried out, "Your Highness—"
Upon hearing the news, the Prince of Cheng also stood up abruptly. Hearing his shout, he was deeply saddened and couldn't help but cry out, "Sir—"
All three Yangs served as teachers to the emperor, and Prince Cheng, as the emperor's younger brother, also studied under the three teachers for a period of time.
Later, his elder brother had to learn how to be a good emperor, while he had to learn how to be a good subject. So he stopped studying with them, but he always regarded them as his teachers.
Yu Qian's eyes were also slightly red, but he knew that this was not the time to be sad. He held the Prince of Cheng's hand tightly and said in a low voice, "Your Highness should order the Ministry of Rites to give Chief Minister Yang a grand funeral, and then announce to the world that the reserve troops in the two capitals and Henan, as well as the anti-Japanese garrisons in Shandong and the coastal areas of Nanjing, should be sent to the capital for defense."
Prince Cheng nodded repeatedly.
However, some court officials expressed their opposition. Xu Cheng, who was well-versed in celestial phenomena, stepped forward and loudly proclaimed, "Your Highness, the celestial phenomena are unusual. If we continue to reside in Beijing, there is a risk of collapse. We request that the court move south and relocate the capital back to Nanjing."
Upon hearing this, Yu Qian flew into a rage and shouted, "Whoever proposed moving the capital south should be beheaded! The capital is the foundation of the empire; if it is moved, everything will be over. Have you not seen the story of the Song Dynasty moving the capital south?"
Xu Cheng was always pragmatic, and when Yu Qian so vehemently opposed it, he immediately fell silent. However, other ministers who also intended to move south were unwilling to back down and insisted on their own opinions: "As long as we have our strength, we can always rebuild. We should preserve our forces and move south now, otherwise, if we fail, the world will be doomed."
Yu Qian looked at everyone and said fiercely, "If we lose the Central Plains, causing the Ming Dynasty to suffer the same calamities as the Song Dynasty, and the Han people to suffer the same hardships as the Northern Yuan, how can we face living in this world?"
After these words were spoken, no one in the hall suggested moving south anymore.
The Prince of Cheng also did not want to move south: "Emperor Taizu deeply hated the Northern Yuan. I am also a descendant of Emperor Taizu. How can I abandon my elder brother and the people and move south?"
Since they're not moving south, the next step is to resolve the issue.
After the incident in the main hall, Prince Cheng realized that all the civil and military officials were in a state of panic. Everyone seemed afraid of making a mistake, yet they were all extreme. The one who could lead the charge was Yu Qian, the Vice Minister of War.
Therefore, the Prince of Cheng immediately ordered him to take charge and dispatch troops from various regions to the capital to resist the Oirat Mongols.
In addition, they needed to immediately issue orders to the border towns of Datong and Xuanfu, deciding whether to hold their ground or bring the emperor back first; a plan was required.
Everyone knew that bringing the emperor back would be extremely difficult, and that the only priority at present was the well-being of the Ming Dynasty and its people.
The experiences of Emperors Huizong and Qinzong of the Song Dynasty are still vivid in our minds. To snatch the emperor back, one would have to turn him into a corpse.
Yu Qian looked up at the Prince of Cheng and knew that the only way to save the emperor was for him to ascend the throne, thus minimizing the emperor's influence and rendering the hostages in Esen's hands useless.
As soon as the grand court assembly ended, Yu Qian approached Wang Zhi and several other important officials and took them to see the Empress Dowager.
The imperial harem is in complete chaos.
When the Empress Dowager heard the news of the Emperor's capture, she fainted at first. When she woke up, the Empress was packing her valuables, intending to send them to the border town to ransom the Emperor.
The Empress Dowager's tears flowed freely. She knew that the Emperor could not be redeemed, but she had heard that the Oirat Mongols and Yang Hong, the general of Xuanfu, were demanding money. So, giving them money should make the Emperor's life a little easier.
Therefore, the Empress Dowager did not stop the Empress; instead, she took out her own private funds and planned to send them to the border town as well.
News of what happened in the front hall quickly reached the inner palace. Upon learning that Ma Shun had been beaten to death by the enraged ministers, the Empress Dowager's face paled slightly, and she vaguely sensed something was amiss.
She never interfered in the affairs of the previous dynasty.
When her son was young, the Empress Dowager was still alive, and she only needed to respectfully serve her.
After the death of the Empress Dowager, her son had grown up and was very opinionated. Empress Dowager Sun was always gentle and obedient, and she valued her relationship with her son. She would never interfere in the affairs of the court.
So it's rare to find her.
Every time she is found, it is a momentous event.
Empress Dowager Sun was terrified. She was also well-versed in literature and poetry, and she guessed what Yu Qian was going to say even before he arrived.
Sure enough, upon meeting, Yu Qian proposed that the Prince of Cheng ascend the throne: "Your Majesty, the country is about to perish, and the Emperor is being held hostage by Esen. China will inevitably be threatened by him. Please make the Prince of Cheng the Emperor and the Emperor the Retired Emperor, so as to preserve the world."
Empress Dowager Sun, pale-faced and anxious, asked, "If the Emperor becomes the Retired Emperor, will you still save him?"
Yu Qian said in a deep voice, "Even if it were just an ordinary citizen, we would do everything in our power to rescue him, so as not to fail our official positions. How much more so the Emperor Emeritus?"
(End of this chapter)