The good news of the Battle of Jiujiang was quickly whipped up and spread 600 miles to Nanjing, which immediately caused the whole city to rejoice.

People poured out of their homes to cheer and laugh, the sound of firecrackers was everywhere, scraps of cannon paper were all over the streets, and all the firecrackers in all the grocery stores in the whole city of Nanjing were sold out on this day.

The name of Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, once again resounded in the sky over Nanjing, and the people of Qianshou rushed to talk about it, discussing the great achievements of the Duke of Qi.

When Zhang Xianzhong led hundreds of thousands of troops down the river and broke through the Jiujiang River to occupy Jiangxi, Nanjing and even the entire southeast were shaken, and the people were terrified as if the end was coming.

Over the years, Zhang Xianzhong's thief army has wandered in the Jianghuai area, and the notoriety of slaughtering and looting has spread all over the Ming Dynasty over the years, and the people have been displaced and the population has been emptied.

Unlike the Shun army in the north who couldn't survive and took the initiative to defect to Li Chuang, although the people in the south were also very poor and were also exploited by the gentry and government, there was no problem in filling their stomachs and surviving, and Nanjing was the capital of a country, and the people here lived a better life.

Life can go on, naturally no one wants the Western Army to come, because that will bring endless disasters. It is better to be a peaceful dog than a troubled world, this is the consensus of all the people in this era.

Therefore, the fear of the people of Nanjing and even the entire southeast can be imagined that the western army is about to attack. At that time, the imperial court had just experienced the defeat of the Northern Expedition, the elite troops were empty, and everyone fell into despair.

Fortunately, Emperor Chongzhen decisively ordered the reactivation of Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, and let him lead the army to resist the overwhelming Western Army. And Chen Yue really deserved the reputation of the invincible god of war, in just a few months, he defeated hundreds of thousands of thieves and achieved a hearty victory! Therefore, the joy of the entire Nanjing people can be imagined.

It was not only the people who rejoiced, but also the entire court officials and the Shilin of Nanjing. The victory of Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, enabled the Ming court to turn the tide of safety, and Guozuo could continue, and they could continue to be powerful and prosperous.

Therefore, when the good news came, the whole court was rejoicing, and the officials called friends to drink after they were on duty, and the business of the restaurant and tavern was booming, and the romance on the banks of the Qinhuai River was better than in the past.

And the most happy to the victory is Emperor Chongzhen, when the good news came to the palace for the first time, Chongzhen turned over and over on the sickbed to see it three times, suddenly laughed wildly, after laughing, he ignored the dissuasion of the great eunuch Li Guofu who was waiting on the side, got up from the sickbed blatantly, walked around the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, and then ordered to pass the meal.

After Chongzhen ate a bowl of warm and fragrant noodles, a little blood surged on his face, and his condition improved significantly, which made Li Guofu sobb happily.

When the news of the emperor's improvement in condition reached the foreign courts, the Manchu officials celebrated it, and even those who strongly demanded the establishment of the prince also stopped a lot.

Of course, there are families happy and worried, and there are also people who hate the victory in Jiujiang and grit their steel teeth, such as Liu Kongzhao, the original sincerity.

Although he aroused the vigilance of Jinyiwei, Liu Kongzhao did not leave Nanjing these days, because he had big things to plan.

In the past few days, Liu Kongzhao has secretly contacted a number of court ministers, opened the way with the huge amount of money provided by the Zheng family in Fujian, and successfully dragged many ministers into the water by soft and hard means, promising to support the Tang King to inherit the unification.

Of course, for such a major event as succession, the general ministers could not say much, at most they shouted a few times in the court, and only a few cabinet elders really played a decisive role, and there were internal supervisors and lords who held military power, such as Zhu Guobi, the governor of Beijing, and Chang Yanling, the marquis of Huaiyuan, the governor of Caojiang. Of course, there is also Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi who holds the greatest military power in the Ming Dynasty.

These bigwigs who really hold the power and can decide the ownership of the throne, the only one who was really dragged into the water by Liu Kongzhao was Han Zanzhou, the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi and the governor of Dongchang, and the Zheng family through the teacher-student relationship between Zheng Sen and Qian Qianyi, the second assistant of the cabinet, and promised to give the Qian family huge benefits, such as maritime trade interests, and only then did they get Qian Qianyi's secret promise that they would advocate for the Tang King at the appropriate time.

According to Liu Kongzhao's understanding of Qian Qianyi, this duke is absolutely cunning and dark-skinned, and his promises to him must not be taken seriously. If King Tang really has the possibility of winning the throne, Qian Qianyi will actively come forward, if there is a decline, this person may be the first to turn the spearhead and draw a line with himself and others.

And how likely is it that the Tang King will ascend the throne? It was Liu Kongzhao himself who smiled bitterly, a prince of Chaoyuan Sect, a branch of the ancestor Zhu Di brothers, the generation is the current grandfather of Emperor Chongzhen, under normal circumstances, it is difficult for King Tang to ascend the throne.

Liu Kongzhao himself was thinking that if he had chosen King Lu instead of King Tang, the situation would undoubtedly be much better. But I can only think about it, as King Lu, even if he has the intention of ascending the throne as the emperor, he will never accept a rebellious person like Liu Kongzhao. So Liu Kongzhao didn't have many choices, and the Zheng family in Fujian also didn't have many choices.

The bigwigs in the court are still easy to solve, with the help of the celebrant and the cabinet assistant Qian Qianyi, and then with money to open the way, it is not impossible to push King Tang to the throne. But what really made Liu Kongzhao jealous was Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi Guo, because Chen Yue had the most elite troops in the Ming Dynasty in his hands. Even if he can successfully put the Tang King on the throne, if Chen Yue does not agree, it will be easy to send troops to make a difficult move, and it will be easy to return to Nanjing and oust the Tang King from the throne.

Liu Kongzhao has always hoped that Chen Yue could defeat both the Western Thieves in Jiujiang, and even be completely eliminated by the Western Thieves. If Chen Yue's army was destroyed and the Western thieves took the opportunity to go down the river and conquer Nanjing, it would be easier for the Tang King to ascend the throne, and he and the Zheng family would be able to support the Tang King to ascend the throne without much resistance, and the banner of reorganizing the Ming Dynasty would be justified.

Therefore, Liu Kongzhaocai and Zheng Zhilong set up a conspiracy, secretly ordered Zheng Hongkui to withdraw his troops in Hanyang and Hao Shaoqi, and let Zhang Dingguo's troops in Wuchang go down the river to attack Jiujiang. What he fought was the idea of letting the Western Thief destroy Chen Yue!

Who would have thought that Chen Yue's combat power would be so rebellious, and in this case, he still killed Zhang Xianzhong's 500,000 army and wiped out the entire army, and his carefully planned strategy was completely defeated.

According to the caution from the palace, Emperor Chongzhen was encouraged by the great victory, and his condition eased a lot, which undoubtedly made the Tang King even more miserable when he ascended the throne. At this moment, Liu Kongzhao felt full of bitterness, and he didn't know what it was like in his heart, maybe his only chance to make a comeback would disappear, and maybe he could really only wander on the rivers and lakes in the future, and there was no possibility of coming out.

"Uncle, the Zheng family sent someone to send a secret letter!"

Just when Liu Kongzhao was depressed, suddenly a henchman ran in and handed Liu Kongzhao a small bamboo tube containing a secret letter.