In the first month of the tenth year of Chongzhen, with the enthronement ceremony in full swing, Xia Nan quickly began the process of taking over power, and the traces of the Dashun army once controlling the capital were swept away by the autumn wind.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, because of the meritorious service of supporting the crown prince's accession to the throne, Xia Nan was promoted to the governor of the five armies and entered the prince Taibao.

On the tenth day of the first month, Wen Tiren, the first assistant of the cabinet, was awarded the title of Zhongren Bo, the secretary of the Ministry of Shangshu, the prince of Jin, and the scholar of the Zhongji Palace. On the same day, Fang Zhenghua was promoted to the eunuch of the seal and the commander of the East Factory. The two major power organs, the cabinet and the celebrant supervisor, plus the special institution of Dongchang, all fell into the hands of Xia Nan.

On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, the Qiong Navy officially took over the defense of all the gates of the inner city. In the summer, the Southern Military Department took the lead in recruiting children from good families among the civilians and incorporated them into the Beijing Battalion, training according to the model of the Qiong Navy, and only retaining the original structure, and the thousand households, deputy generals, and general soldiers of each battalion were selected and transferred from the officers at the company level of the Qiong Navy Battalion. Jingying is gradually becoming the second-line force of the Qiong Navy.

On the twelfth day of the first month, the original Qianhu Wei Zhong was appointed as the commander of the Jinyi Guard, replacing the original commander Luo Yangxing; Zhou Guoxin, the former 100 households of Guangzhou Jinyiwei, was exceptionally promoted to the commander of Jinyiwei. On the same day, Chen Xinjia, the right attendant of the Ministry of War, was officially appointed as the secretary of the military department, and Yang Sichang, the former secretary of the military department, was demoted to the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites.

In just ten days, Xia Nan used a simple and rude way to control the defense and cabinet, the celebrant supervisor, the official department, the military department, the Dongchang, Jinyi Wei and other key departments of the entire capital in his own hands, and the military and political affairs were grasped, and the power was greater, surpassing any civil minister or military general in the history of the Ming Dynasty, even if the once powerful "emperor" Liu Jin and "nine thousand years old" Wei Zhongxian were far inferior to him.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the folk Lantern Festival, Zhu Cihong, whose year name is Yongli, held the first great court meeting of the real significance.

Yongli, who was sitting on the dragon chair, looked at the civil and military officials standing below, and recalled the scene when he first entered the palace half a month ago, as if he was in a different world. The excitement and excitement when he first sat on the dragon chair had disappeared without a trace, and all of this was thanks to a person, who was standing at the forefront of the hundred officials.

Xia Nan, who participated in the court meeting as the Grand Governor, stood proudly, only a step away from Yongli, less than five meters away. He looked at the young man, and although he kept smiling, there was still a trace of resentment in his eyes. He looked back at the hundred officials behind him, all the ministers had no martial arts, except for Wen Tiren, Chen Xinjia and others, who all lowered their heads in fear after coming into contact with his gaze, not daring to look at each other.

Xia Nan thought to himself, this is what it feels like to be in power, everyone is subservient to power, and there is only a layer of paper between himself and the young emperor, except for the name, there is not much difference from the emperor. As long as Yongli An An is divided into puppets, just like Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty in history, it doesn't matter much if this dragon chair lets him sit for a few more months, or even a few years; If he wants to do something, it is a matter of minutes to pull off the horse.

This kind of grand court meeting is just a routine, and the symbolism is far greater than the actual meaning, and it is more to declare the existence of the new emperor and pave the way for the next takeover of real power. It's a pity that within the foreseeable range, it is already a sure fact that Yongli is being set aside, and this court meeting has been reduced to a formality.

According to the process, the six Shangshu and the Imperial Palace, Dali Siqing and other important officials in turn reported on the affairs under their jurisdiction, according to the modern concept, this is the head of the department to the new emperor to report on their work, although the process is lengthy, but can not be omitted, to be carried out step by step.

When the Dali Siqing, who was at the end of the line, was halfway through his work, a eunuch hurriedly came in from the side door of the main hall and whispered a few words to Yongli, and Yongli's face suddenly changed greatly.

All the officials are shrewd people, and when they see the face of the Son of Heaven, they know that something big has happened. Dali Siqing also stopped his routine "debriefing" with interest and waited for the emperor to give important instructions.

Sure enough, Yongli said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, the court meeting has been temporarily suspended because a major event has happened in the north. Just now, I received an urgent 800-mile rush from Liaodong, and the Tartar puppet Khan Emperor Taiji personally led the Eight Banners army to knock on the pass, taking advantage of the fact that there was no general in Ningyuan to guard it, and he was about to enter the Kou from Ningyuan! ”

The ministers were in an uproar, the last few years have been really many disasters, the Tartars and the rogues have been wreaking havoc in turn, one has just left, and the other has come again. First Azig and Abatai entered the Kou, and then Li Zicheng entered Beijing, only a few days have passed, and Huang Taiji led the army to conquer in person, and let people live?

Yongli named and said: "Where is this soldier?" ”

Chen Xinjia, the new secretary of the military department, glanced at Xia Nan in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and said, "The minister is here." ”

"What countermeasures do the soldiers have for the Tartars?"

Chen Xinjia thought for a moment and replied: "The soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, and the Tartars are coming, so naturally they must send troops to intercept them, and they can't be allowed to go south easily." Beizhili was poisoned by the Tartars and the Rogues in turn, and needed to recuperate, and he really couldn't go through the war anymore. ”

Yongli nodded: "Defend the enemy outside the country?" That's a good idea, but who to send? ”

Isn't this nonsense, apart from Pingnanhou and Ningyuan's general Wu Sangui, who else can fight? Chen Xinjia muttered in his heart.

Although he was quite slanderous about the emperor's pretentiousness, Chen Xinjia still replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that you should send Wu Sangui, the general soldier of Ningyuan, to return to the garrison quickly, and then ask Pingnanhou to sit in the capital division and keep the place in his heart from being lost, so as not to repeat the mistake of attacking the Beijing division against the back." ”

The rest of the ministers nodded their heads, thinking that this was Lao Shen's serious words. Let Wu Sangui fight in the front, anyway, this is his defense area, and the rear is in charge of the Qiong Navy, after all, the safety of the Beijing division needs heavyweights to ensure it.

Yongli was noncommittal, asking, "What else do others suggest?" ”

One person came out of the column and said: "Your Majesty clearly sees that there are only more than 20,000 soldiers and horses of King Qin's southward journey, and he needs to recuperate and need to recuperate. The Marquis of Pingnan is the pillar of the country, and the Qiong Navy is the strongest army in the world, except for his old man, no one else can resist the Eight Banners army of the Tartar Pseudo-Khan. Chen suggested that the Marquis of Pingnan lead the army to Ningyuan to meet the enemy, and the Guanning army would recuperate for a few days, and then set off as reinforcements. ”

Chen Xinjia fixed his eyes, but it was Zhai Xiaoqi, the left attendant of the military department, his former colleague and current deputy.