Under Zhou Shixian's coercion, Shi Kefa's weakness was exposed again, and he quickly revealed the true situation of the Nanjing camp.

After Zhou Shixian listened, he probably made his own judgment in his mind.

Although Shi Kefa also felt that the Nanjing camp was in decay, he kept emphasizing that there were still seven to eight thousand soldiers in the camp and more than three thousand elite soldiers and horses, so Zhou Shixian should not lose confidence.

However, Zhou Shixian had already asked Xue Laoer and Zhang Hong to see the elite Qin Wang brought by Shi Kefa. Their combat effectiveness was probably inferior to that of Ma Huabao's direct descendants, and roughly equivalent to Wang Hui's model battalion.

Unless such troops and horses have a strength advantage of three to five times, and a strong general is in command, it will be absolutely difficult to resist the shun army or the elite of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

In other words, the Nanjing camp, which was full of nobles and nobles and occupied all the key positions, was actually useless. Let alone protecting Nanjing, it was unclear whether each gate could be defended by 500 capable soldiers.

Moreover, Zhou Shixian cannot touch these noble sons for the time being, lest they attack him collectively in the court. When the time comes, he must attack the civil servant group, otherwise he will not be able to carry out government reforms. In order for the reform to be successful, he must start from other sources.

Obtain support.

The so-called "political struggle" is nothing more than having many friends and few enemies. At the very least, we must ensure checks and balances between powers.

Zhou Shixian actually didn't have any hope for the Nanjing camp at first. He would just mobilize the available troops inside when the time comes.

But after some cross-examination, he found that the situation was worse than he imagined, and he couldn't help but become worried.

In the original history, the four towns in Jiangbei had only more than 10,000 soldiers and horses who could actually fight, and the elite soldiers under Ma Shiying's command were only more than 3,000. In addition to the soldiers and horses in the Nanjing military camp, the entire Ming army in Southern Zhili, except for the soldiers under Zhou Shixian,

Apart from the horses, there are less than 20,000 combatable troops. Not to mention that they are scattered, their combat effectiveness is only at the level of the Ming army in the mainland.

The hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses left by these military leaders can only be used to strengthen the battle when they win a battle. Otherwise, they can serve as auxiliary soldiers and civilians without armor or soldiers.

Zhou Shixian could only integrate the 5,000 soldiers and horses in his hands as soon as possible, and then based on this, use Qi Jiguang's tactics to train the other 20,000 trackers as soon as possible to serve as the main force to resist the Qing army going south.

As long as he had one year, with Zhou Shi's financial resources, the elite soldiers and generals in his hands, and the military pay provided by the imperial court to rebuild the Beijing camp, he was confident that he could build a 20,000-strong army that could truly fight.

A soldier earned fifty taels of silver a year. Under Zhou Shixian's personal supervision, he had more than 1.5 million taels of "stolen money" in his hands, which was barely enough.

As for the supporting weapons workshops, family housing, and even fields, Zhou Shixian had no choice but to find another way.

What he can hope for now is that Li Zicheng can delay the attack in the north longer, allowing Duduo to wait at least another year before attacking southward.

Soon, Shi Kefa's ten messengers from Huai'an returned to Nanjing.

They ran all the way, relying on the inns along the way, without stopping for a moment. Finally, at dawn the next morning, they crossed the river at Pukou Camp on the north bank and passed through the outer city of Nanjing.

After these messengers entered the city, they immediately rushed to various government offices in Nanjing City, the Sixth Ministry, the Five-City Military and Horse Department, the Hanlin Academy, the Taiyuan Hospital, the Five-Army Garrison Admiral's Mansion, the Garrison Eunuch's Mansion... almost in the city

Every government office that has just started operations and is always preparing for the official transformation of Nanjing City is within the scope of notification.

After all, the capital city is in ruins. Regardless of whether Emperor Chongzhen is dead or alive, Nanjing will inevitably turn around. The ministers, descendants of nobles, and even the eunuchs who have been sitting on the bench here for many years will soon turn around.

Everyone is excited and looking forward to that day coming soon.

Of course, although Shi Kefa immediately led his troops northward after receiving the news, the other powerful ministers in Nanjing did not take this seriously. They just felt that Shi Kefa was too pedantic and was stalling for time.

But although Shi Kefa left, Qian Qianyi came. Although he is only a registered citizen and not a serious official, his qualifications are there and his reputation over the years is there. Officials from the Donglin Party regard him as

As the leader of the party, he would certainly not miss such a major event as "establishing a new king."

Today, the Nanjing court is still full of Donglin Party members. Lu Daqi, the Minister of War under Shi Kefa, is a member of the Donglin Party. Now it is he who has come forward to invite the powerful officials in the Nanjing court to discuss the choice of the new king.

things.

Qian Qianyi came to Nanjing from Changshu specifically to preside over his affairs and save capital for his future return to the court. For this purpose, he also lobbied everywhere, and his position was very clear - he firmly opposed supporting the King of Fu Zhu Yousong.

He believed that Zhu Changxi, the king of Lu, should be welcomed.

Today, in addition to Lu Daqi, the minister of the Ministry of War, Han Zanzhou, the eunuch of the Nanjing garrison, and other people in charge of the military, those who met at the Yamen of the Ministry of War were also present, including Gao Hongtu, the Minister of Hubu, Liu Zongzhou, the censor of the left capital, Zhang Shenyan, the censor of the right capital, and others.

In Nanjing, the backup capital of the Ming Dynasty, almost all the powerful people are here. If they didn't look down on warriors, maybe Ma Shiying, Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo and others would also be here.

In fact, Lu Jiude's guess was not wrong at all: this time, these Donglin Party members, who were full of moral articles at the beginning, no longer intend to be reasonable. It turns out that when fighting for the foundation of the country, the Donglin Party took out the "ethical order"

Being a guise is the so-called "establishing a direct descendant but not establishing an elder".

There is nothing wrong with this. It has been like this for thousands of years. This is the most effective way to ensure a smooth transfer of power under an autocratic rule that lacks checks and balances.

After all, there is no unified standard for what is virtuous and what is not virtuous, and it is difficult to measure. The huge temptation of the throne and the merits of supporting it will make everyone ready to act, and the country will inevitably be in chaos and internal strife.

But now, the Donglin Party members in Nanjing, headed by Qian Qianyi, have deep grudges against King Fu and are worried that once Zhu Yousong ascends to the throne, he will retaliate against them, so they plan to use the method of "establishing virtuous people"

In name, he opposed the establishment of King Zhu Yousong.

And Zhu Yousong is indeed not a good person. When he was the prince, he was famous for being greedy and lustful.

In the original history, Shi Kefa also wrote seven crimes: "corruption, lewdness, drunkenness, unfilial piety, abuse of subordinates, failure to study, and interfering with officials." In the end, Ma Shiying used it as a handle and a powerful weapon to attack him.

It can only be said that Shi Kefa is also extremely naive politically.

Now, these people are discussing in the government office. Qian Qianyi has also been recognized by Gao Hongtu, the Minister of Household Affairs, and he is about to convince everyone.

As a result, an official from the Ministry of War suddenly ran in from outside. Still breathing, he shouted: "The Tian family is hunting in the south. The imperial chariot has arrived in Huai'an. I am now ordering the ministers of the southern capital to go north in batches to pay homage immediately. No one is allowed."

error!"

Lu Daqi originally wanted to scold the other party for not knowing the rules, but now he was speechless at all.

Chongzhen is not dead. Not only is he not dead, he has arrived in Huai'an. The most important thing is that he did not go to greet him!

The room suddenly became chaotic. Qian Qianyi had been running around for so long and finally convinced everyone. But at this moment, it suddenly became a joke.

And these ministers who claim to be the pillars of the country were discussing heatedly just now whether they should support King Fu or King Lu, and laughed at Shi Kefa's pedantry. Now, in the blink of an eye, they have all become firm supporters of Chongzhen. It can be said that
Chapter completed!