Nanjing, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, the tiger occupies a dragon plaque!

Since Zhu Yuanzhang established a career in Nanjing, Zhu Di launched the Jingnan Campaign and moved the capital north, Nanjing has served as a sub-capital capital, with a set of bureaucratic institutions opposite to Beijing, six ministries, the Censorate, etc., and the rank is the same as that of Beijing, but it has no real power.

When the Dashun Army captured the capital, Nanjing became the center of the Ming forces for granted. However, facing an unprecedentedly complex situation, Nanjing was also confused and could not figure it out.

Among the civil and military officials in Nanjing, three positions are the most powerful, including the Minister of War who is the counselor of the Ministry of War, the eunuch who represents the emperor, and the governor of the military affairs minister.

These three also represent the three major forces of the Ming Empire. However, now the emperor is finished, so the eunuchs left behind naturally stand aside. By the same token, the ministers also depend on the emperor and have no weight in speaking. The one who can really dominate Nanjing affairs is the Minister of War, the famous Shi Kefa!

From standing aside to entering the center of history, you can actually rely on the fall of pies from the sky.

However, what is facing Shi Kefa is a huge mess. As the saying goes, a country cannot be without a monarch in a day. Now that Beijing is in danger, what is most needed is to choose a suitable monarch and inherit the throne.

It was really hard to choose who to inherit the throne. In fact, this question is not complicated. Choose the emperor according to his bloodline. King Fu Zhu Yousong is the grandson of Wanli and Chongzhen's cousin. He has a close relationship and should ascend the throne.

But there was a hatred here. At that time, Wanli preferred the old King Fu, but the Dukes of the Donglin Party supported the eldest son Zhu Changluo, and launched three famous attacks around the throne, Red Pill, and the palace movement case. In the end, the Donglin Party had the upper hand, and King Fu had to leave the capital sadly.

However, the feng shui changes. Now the little Fu King Zhu Yousong has become a popular candidate for the throne. The Donglin Party members are all very unhappy, for fear that the little Fu King will avenge his father and counterattack.

Therefore, they firmly raised the banner of establishing wise men and wanted to support Lu Wang. In fact, it was just a rhetoric. They were all descendants of the old Zhu family. Except for some of the best, the vassal kings were all virtuous. Lu Wang did everything in a way that was even better.

As a disciple of Zuo Guangdou, a member of the Donglin Party, Shi Kefa, and a tried-and-tested party member, he should have supported the Donglin Party’s proposition without hesitation. However, Shi Kefa is not stupid. He knew that supporting King Lu would be inconsistent with the truth, and he would definitely be troubled. Maybe a civil war would occur, so he was undecided and suffered.

While Shi Kefa was thinking hard, his subordinates suddenly came to report that Grand Secretary Wei Xucheng came to visit. When Shi Kefa heard this, he hurriedly stood up to greet him. Wei Xucheng was one of the officials who ran out of Beijing. He personally confirmed the news that Beijing was breached and the Chongzhen Coal Mountain was hanging.

Shi Kefa politely invited Wei Xucheng into the study. After the two of them sat opposite each other to offer tea, Shi Kefa discovered that Wei Xu was restless in the process, looking like he wanted to speak but stopped.

"Mr. Wei, just say anything, I'll listen carefully."

Wei Xucheng looked around and deliberately lowered his voice and said, "I got a little bit of wind. It seems that His Royal Highness is still in the world and has been rescued from the capital."

"What?" Shi Kefa suddenly stood up and asked hurriedly: "Sir Wei, it is related to the country, you must be sure!"

Wei Xucheng sighed: "I don't know the truth is important. In fact, when the thieves entered the capital, some people said that the late emperor entrusted the crown prince to Zhu Chunchen and left the jade seal. Then someone spread an announcement in the capital, which disturbed the chaos in the capital. I also escaped afterwards. Thinking about it later, maybe someone made an arrangement to protect the crown prince from leaving the capital."

When Shi Kefa heard this, he frowned and couldn't help but complain: "Since there is such a thing, why didn't you say it earlier, Mr. Wei?"

"It's not that I don't want to say it, it's really a sensation and I dare not speak casually."

"How dare you say it now?"

Wei Xucheng smiled bitterly and said, "Two days ago, a family member could not escape from the capital. He brought news that he had heard that after the prince left the city, he arrived in Wu Sangui's army. It was said that there was a lord named Gu who was protecting the prince."

The surname Gu?

Shi Kefa thought about it for a few times but did not think of this character. However, since the prince is still there, especially the jade seal of the last emperor, it is a veritable candidate for the emperor, and other vassal kings don't have to consider it at all.

"Master Wei, according to your statement, the prince should be in Wu Sangui's army. We should send someone to welcome the prince immediately!"

Wei Xucheng looked embarrassed and couldn't help but say, "It's terrible and not that simple. According to my family, it seems that Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. He also brought a notice, for example, Shanxi merchants colluded with the Qing Dynasty and betrayed the various actions of the Ming Dynasty."

As he said that, Wei Xucheng took out a few pieces of paper from his arms and gave it to Shi Kefa.

Shi Kefa glanced at him a few times, and his eyebrows stood up and his fists slammed hard on the table: "Since that's true, all Shanxi merchants can be killed!"

"Sir Shi, look at the signature below."

Shi Kefa then woke up and saw the last line of small characters, which read: Commander Gu, Zhongyong Bo'an, the Ming Dynasty.

"This, where did the loyal and brave uncle come from the Ming Dynasty? What is this An**?"

"Mr. Shi, this loyal and brave uncle may have saved the prince from the capital. But according to logic, they should be with Wu Sangui and were allies with the Qing Dynasty. They wanted to deal with the thieves together. How could they face the Shanxi merchants? It's really hard to understand!"

Shi Kefa frowned, walked around the ground, stomped his feet and said with a heartfelt heart: "Sir Wei, this matter is of great importance. Don't mention it to anyone, I'll find a way to verify it immediately."

Wei Xucheng also knew the interests of the matter, so he dared not say much, so he hurriedly said goodbye and left. After thinking about it, Shi Kefa immediately sent someone to invite the governor of Fengyang, Ma Shiying, who held military power, to meet secretly in Pukou.

Ma Shiying also came immediately. He and Shi Kefa were also old acquaintances. After meeting and greeting each other, they got to the point.

Ma Shiying laughed and said, "Brother Xian, you have written a secret letter in the previous chapter and proposed to support King Gui. I think it is absolutely impossible. King Gui is far away in Guangxi and the journey is long. Now the situation is turbulent and changing rapidly. I can't wait! Moreover, King Gui is the uncle of the late emperor by generation. If he ascends the throne, where will the late emperor be or where will the Fu king be? It is unethical and it is not feasible."

Shi Kefa was also in pain. The Donglin Party proposed to support King Lu, but others agreed with King Fu. Shi Kefa was embarrassed and had to come up with an idea to support King Gui. However, after Ma Shiying refuted it, there was nothing to refute it.

Shi Kefa shook his head with a wry smile. Fortunately, there were other plans, so he didn't have to go around among these vassal kings.

"Brother Yaocao, look at this."

As he said that, Shi Kefa delivered the statement Wei Xucheng gave him to Ma Shiying, and then said what Wei Xucheng said to him to Ma Shiying. Ma Shiying hurriedly took it over and looked carefully.

In terms of mental tricks, Ma Shiying was far behind Shi Kefa. As soon as he saw the signature, he was overjoyed.

"Brother Xian, if I guess correctly, this loyal and brave uncle should be newly granted by the crown prince. And since he is known as An**, it means that they have a lot of troops. If there is still a loyal and brave army in the north to protect the crown prince, it would be a blessing for the Ming Dynasty and the people!"

Shi Kefa also smiled and said, "If it is true as Brother Yaocao said, it is indeed the case. It is really a bit embarrassing how to contact Shang An and how to get the news of the prince."

While the two were talking, Ma Shiying's master suddenly ran over hurriedly, stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

However, he ignored it and hurriedly delivered a letter to Ma Shiying.

"Sir, I'm so happy. There's news from the prince!"

Ma Shiying hurriedly snatched the letter, which was written by Gu Zhenhua to Ma Shiying.

When An** goes south, he will inevitably be involved in the disputes in the Southern Ming Dynasty. He is extremely disgusted with the Donglin Party Gu Zhenhua. A group of guys who only know how to curse and do things can turn good things into bad situations with them.

Relatively speaking, although Ma Shiying left a bad reputation as a traitor in history, looking at Ma Shiying's actions, he was not at all against the traitor. In the issue of supporting King Fu, Ma Shiying had no mistakes at all, but was caused by the selfish intentions of the Donglin Party. Later, Nanjing was broken and Ma Shiying was executed bravely, which was much better than the Donglin masters.

Because of this, Gu Zhenhua chose to cooperate with Ma Shiying to share the contribution of support.

In the letter, I briefly introduced the incident and then wrote that An** was heading south, and the prince and the will were in the army. I asked Ma Shiying to arrange a handful of people to respond!

With the letter, Gu Zhenhua also attached a prince's jade pendant as evidence.

After seeing it, Ma Shiying immediately knelt on the ground and burst into tears.

"God blesses the Ming Dynasty, God blesses the Ming Dynasty!"

Ma Shiying kowtowed three times, then stood up suddenly and bowed to Shi Kefa: "Brother Xian, the prince is safe, we don't have to worry about supporting one another. I want to welcome the prince immediately!"

"Brother Yaocao, is it a bit hasty? Do you need to verify the identity of the prince? And since you want to welcome the prince, you should set up a complete set of ceremonial guards and send important officials."

"No need." Ma Shiying shook his head: "The letter clearly states that the Qing army is still chasing, and the An** people are trapped and there are no need for assistance. I immediately took the army over. Even if there is a fake, there is no problem with the protection of 50,000 troops."

As he said that, Ma Shiying bowed to Shi Kefa: "Goodbye."

Under the canal, the fleet headed south, and Gu Zhenhua sat firmly on the bow of the boat, and Mei Junruo, a little girl, was with her side. Although she was a famous lady and had a lot of etiquette, Mei Junruo was born with a rebellious spirit. With Gu Zhenhua's instigation, the two of them became more and more distant.

Gu Zhenhua's big hand gently pressed on the jade hand and said with a smile: "Miss Mei, do you have any relatives in your hometown? If there is one, you should meet him, right?"

"What are you trying to do?"

"I have no idea. I'm always a family sooner or later, are you close to me?"
Chapter completed!