Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 360 The Imperial Court

Although Qian Biao was reprimanded by Meng Jun, the meaning conveyed in his words made all the civil officials understand a little. It turned out that the Ming Dynasty was really a thing of the past. The generals could openly discuss the matter of ascending the throne and becoming emperor, while the king's attitude seemed to have said nothing, and yet seemed to have said everything. A three-month salary deduction, such a light punishment, was already a blatant hint in the eyes of civil officials such as Lu Zhenfei.

But in fact, Meng Jun had no intention of becoming emperor at all. There were still many forces in the south. If he became emperor now, perhaps the ambitious people in the south would unite and attack Meng together. By then, Dorgon would probably wake up laughing in his sleep.

In Jinling City, Meng Jun worked hard to improve the internal strength, revitalize the economy, crack down on corruption, encourage farming, set up workshops, strengthen armaments, stockpile firearms, and build warships.

Although the war has ended now, the training of soldiers cannot be slackened, especially the six townsmen reorganized by the Loyalty Camp. Meng Jun knew that the six towns were suddenly expanded and were all remnants of the Shun Army. In order to guard against mountain forces, Meng Jun split up the six towns. Three towns were under the command of Lin Shiqi of the Huguang Camp, and the other three towns returned to Nanjing after the reorganization was completed.

At this time, under Meng Jun's command, there were Changlin Town, Lin Shiqi's Ningwu Town, Han Xiong's Kewu Town, Bai Yongfu's Guwu Town, Wang Fugui's Wuxing Town, Qian Biao's Wuning Town, Liang Sanhu's Wusheng Town, Wu Tiao's Wuping Town, Zhang Yingwei's Pingdu Town, Zhao Yongping's Wuan Town, Gao Jinku's Wuwei Town, five thousand heavily armored troops, ten thousand fully armed Po Lu troops, plus the newly formed six town soldiers, as well as cavalry, navy, twenty thousand loyal troops, plus the surrendered troops from all over Jingzhou and Wuchang. Meng Jun's military strength now has exceeded 230,000.

Today, the Yongli court, the nominal orthodox court in the world, is still lingering in Kunming. The current Yongli court is just an empty shell, with no money and no soldiers. Sun Kewang has increasingly felt that keeping this court will bring him no other benefits except trouble.

Almost no one would listen to the imperial edict issued in the name of Yongli, and even if they did, they would only pretend to obey it and actually disobey it. This was not to mention powerful military leaders like Meng Jun, Li Chengdong, and Zheng Chenggong. Moreover, after Zheng Chenggong returned to Fujian, he asked the Yongli court for the throne. The court officials were prepared to hold their noses and confer the title of Prince on Zheng Chenggong, but for some reason Sun Kewang had to intervene and force the court to downgrade him to a king.

Therefore, after ten days of discussion in the court, Zheng Chenggong was conferred the title of Prince of Nan'an (historically, Zheng Chenggong was Prince of Yanping, because Zheng Chenggong was often stationed in Yanping area in his early years, but in this time and space, history had changed, so the title was changed to the kingship of Zheng Chenggong's hometown).

Yunnan, Kunming Prefecture.

Inside the simple palace.

Li Yuanyin, who was standing outside the palace, had grown his hair long again from his old rat-tail hairstyle. After Li Chengdong rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and returned to the Ming Dynasty, Li Yuanyin went to Yunnan and entered the court.

Emperor Yongli was quite fond of Li Yuanyin, a man of heroic appearance and loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Knowing that Li Yuanyin was the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard during the reign of Emperor Longwu, when Li Yuanyin arrived in Kunming, he was promoted to the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and kept by his side.

Although he was promoted, Li Yuanyin was not happy. The longer he came to Kunming, the more disappointed he felt with the current court officials. Even though the Wu and Chu factions had been warned by Sun Kewang and several civil servants had been killed, the infighting had never stopped when the threat of the Qing army was getting farther and farther away.

There were endless disputes and chaos in the court. The court did not have an overall plan to lead the full-scale resistance against the Qing Dynasty and restore the great cause. Moreover, there were no soldiers or money, and the conflicts among the ministers were difficult to mediate, so the problem became more and more serious.

Until now, the imperial court's orders have not left the palace. The battle in Huguang is so important, but the court officials seem to have never heard of it. No one discusses the matter in the court, and no orders or decrees are delivered to the army. The ministers fled to the western frontier and were trapped in the cage of the Western Army, but they fantasized that King Zhou would succeed in the Northern Expedition and return power to the emperor, just like the story of King Fenyang in the past. In Li Yuanyin's view, this is nothing but a fool's dream.

Inside the hall, Zhu Youlang was feeling terrified. Two cabinet ministers, Ding Kuichu and Qu Shisi, stood beside him, and Ma Jixiang was serving him.

Zhu Youlang's eyes were filled with tears, and he said tremblingly: "I heard that the King of Qin had repeatedly proposed to depose and enthrone the emperor. I have done nothing wrong to the world, so why did I suffer this hardship..."

Qu Shisi said with a serious face: "Your Majesty, rest assured. Even if I risk my life, I will protect your Majesty and defend the Ming Dynasty!"

Ding Kuichu narrowed his eyes, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Although Zhu Youlang had no talent, he had an intuition about danger. He no longer felt safe in Kunming. If he stayed any longer, he might encounter unexpected danger. When there was danger, the first thought that came to Zhu Youlang's mind was to escape.

Therefore, Zhu Youlang lowered his voice and said, "It has been thirty years since the Liao incident. The court has been defeated repeatedly. Now the King of Zhou has reversed his decline and defeated the Tartar army. The Southern Capital is no longer threatened. I want to discuss with the King of Qin and confer the title of King of Qin on him. He will rule Yunnan and Guizhou for generations. I and the two Queen Mothers want to return to the Southern Capital. I wonder if it is feasible?"

After these words were spoken, Ma Jixiang, Ding Kuichu and Qu Shisi fell into deep thought.

To be fair, Ding Kuichu felt that perhaps Sun Kewang would really agree. Ding Kuichu knew that Sun Kewang now regarded Meng Jun as his biggest rival. Sending Emperor Yongli back to Nando would, if nothing else, at least cause internal unrest in Meng Jun. Ding Kuichu also did not believe that Meng Jun would dare to take the risk and kill the emperor.

Thinking of this, Ding Kuichu bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty wants to return to Nanjing, and I believe the King of Qin will not stop you. I am willing to discuss this with the King of Qin, but please sit in the palace."

After Ding Kuichu and Qu Shisi left, Emperor Yongli suddenly collapsed in his chair and shed tears secretly. Seeing this, Ma Jixiang hurriedly comforted him, "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and you have the protection of God. Since Your Majesty wants to return to Nanjing, it will be smooth sailing!"

Yongli shook his head gently and said with a sob: "I am afraid that once I leave the tiger's den, I will fall into the wolf's den!"

The Ming Dynasty had now come to this point. Ma Jixiang didn't know whether Sun Kewang would let the emperor go. Even if he did, he didn't know whether the emperor could safely reach Nanjing. Once in Nanjing, would the emperor's situation be better than in Kunming?

Ma Jixiang was worried, but he still comforted Emperor Yongli and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. There are many officials at all levels in Nanjing who were officials of the former Ming Dynasty. Loyal officials and righteous men are like crucian carp crossing the river. When they arrive in Nanjing, it will be a new scene. Your Majesty should cheer up. The great cause of reviving the world and restoring the Ming Dynasty is just around the corner!"

…………

(Friends can guess whether Sun Kewang will let go O(n_n)O)