Li Zicheng smiled and asked, "Then when will I go?"

"Calculated by the minister, set at two o'clock in the palace to drive the most auspicious, after crossing the bridge around the Baiyun Temple gate to the east, has been a moment of the holy drive to the Changyi Gate, in the imperial tent to rise into the throne, the Ming Dynasty Qin Jin two kings sit on the left and right ground, Hu driving the minister to stand on both sides of the throne. Then there was a loud military general to the army and people in the city to declare the emperor's edict, with great righteousness, urging them to open the door and surrender as soon as possible, and welcome the army into the city, and the autumn did not commit any crimes. His Majesty only stayed outside the Changyi Gate for two moments and drove back to the palace. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "When did Du Xun enter the palace to persuade Chongzhen to give up the country?"

"When the emperor drove the Changyi Gate, Du Xun stood on one side, so that the soldiers and civilians defending the city could see, and when His Majesty drove back to the palace, Du Xun could enter the city from the Changyi Gate. ”

Li Zicheng nodded in agreement with Song Xiance's Chen Song, and then ordered the military division to return to the garrison to rest, and ordered the propaganda officials to send a separate message to Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, and the ministers of the central yamen, as well as the surrendered eunuch Du Xun, etc., to be sure to come to the palace at three o'clock in the morning, and drive to the Changyi Gate.

After the early dynasty, according to the auspicious moment calculated by Song Xiance, Li Zicheng was closely protected by 200 imperial troops led by Shuangxi, starting from the Diaoyutai Palace, with the yellow umbrella in the lead, and a part of the civil and military ministers followed. Li Qiang commanded many royal camps and pro-troops to guard the imperial tent outside the Changyi Gate, and there were also some guards along the road, strictly prohibiting idlers from breaking into the royal road.

Li Zicheng and his group walked about two miles south out of Diaoyutai in the silence of the people, turned eastward on the main road in the wilderness, walked another two miles, crossed a small river over a stone bridge, walked south for a while, and then turned eastward, and soon entered a lush pine and cypress, and came to the front of a mountain gate of a Taoist temple. The white-bearded and drooping abbot was notified in advance, and led all the more than 200 old and young Taoists, with a frightened face, kneeling outside the mountain gate to greet him, and prostrated to the ground.

"All the Taoists of Baiyun Temple, welcome the holy drive of Emperor Yongchang. ”

Li Zicheng nodded lightly to the abbot, then turned his eyes to the mountain gate, and saw a bluestone plaque on the mountain gate, engraved with five big characters of Baiyun Temple, he didn't feel a smile, and said in his heart: "I heard that this is a famous Taoist temple in Beijing, and Qiu used to practice here. ”

As soon as I passed the Baiyun Temple, I saw the Changyi Gate and a large yellow felt tent that was set up overnight more than a mile away from the city, with a brass treasure top and shining gold. This is a military tent specially made for him in Xi'an, called the marching imperial tent. A three-zhang high flagpole of the tree in the southeast corner of the imperial tent is hung with embroidered dragon blue flags, and there are two characters of Dashun sewn on the red velvet sewing in the middle; in front of the imperial tent, facing the city gate, there is a royal seat, and there is an embroidered dragon yellow satin chair draped. On the left and right of the imperial tent, two forts were built, each fort was ten zhang apart, and there were four red-clothed cannons in total.

In addition, there are four ordinary siege cannons, also one ten zhang apart, erected on the left and right of the red-coated cannons, the red silk cannons of each cannon have been removed, and there are artillery officers who burn incense watches in front of each cannon, and behind each cannon stand ten gunners, wearing blue over-the-knee crotch, and a round white cloth is sewn on the front and back of the heart, on which a cannon word is written.

The soldiers and civilians defending the city at the head of the city, thinking that the Dashun army was about to open artillery to attack the city, were so panicked that their hearts were beating wildly, their legs were paralyzed, their faces were bloodless, and they kowtowed to the sky, and some people were ready to roll down the city to flee for their lives.

When Li Zicheng had not yet walked to the gate of Baiyunguan Mountain, there was a young general, riding a white horse, galloping, followed by a dozen horseback attendants, they went to the shore of the city to rein in the horse, put an arrow on the city, and then shouted to the city head in a natural and harmonious language.

"The soldiers and civilians defending the city heard clearly, my Dashun army will be like a cloud, and thousands of cannons have surrounded the capital, and the water is impassable. After entering the city, he will only kill corrupt officials, not hurt the people, buy and sell peacefully, and the four people will live in peace. I, Long Live Yongchang, arrived immediately to watch the outer city, the two kings of Qin and Jin in the Ming Dynasty, who had surrendered and accompanied him left and right. You are not allowed to shoot arrows, nor cannons, nor make a sound. If you fire arrows and cannons, and alarm the holy driver, and all the cannons under our city fire in unison, you will be severely punished, and you will not be tolerated. ”

When the Dashun generals, who were immediately on the edge of the city, shouted to the city, the eunuchs and the people who were guarding the city stood up from the battlements and looked down at the city. Their panic was slightly better, and they warned each other not to shoot arrows and cannons at the city. When the Dashun generals under the city shouted to the head of the city, the eyes of the eunuchs and the people guarding the city were attracted by the scene in front of the gate of Baiyunguan Mountain.

People pointed out to the gate of Baiyun Temple one after another, and whispered in surprise: "Look, what is that for?"

"There were two Taoist priests who put incense in front of the mountain gate. ”

"The abbot came out with all the old and young Taoist priests in the whole view. ”

"Ah, ah, it's coming!

People saw that Li Zicheng was a burly man, led by a yellow umbrella, riding on a dark gray horse with a yellow bridle and a yellow saddle. The throne had been moved in front of the tent, and two low stools with red cushions had been placed on the ground to the left and right three feet in front of the throne. After Li Zicheng arrived, he dismounted outside the small pine forest, was taken care of by officials, strode to the front of the imperial tent, sat down on the throne proudly, and raised his eyes to look at the city.

The two kings of Qin and Jin sat down on a low bench in front of the throne, and a group of important ministers of the new dynasty, such as Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan, the six government scholars, and the left and right squires, and the scholars of the Wenyu Academy, were divided into the left and right thrones, and the officials below the squire also stood in the back row on the left and right. Du Xun also stood in the back row, and Wu Ruyi and Li Shuangxi stood behind the throne because they had to listen to the emperor's call at any time.

Li Qiang led 500 archers, standing outside the city, controlling the strings and arrows at the head of the city. If there is a suspicious action or curse on the head of the city, as long as Li Qiang gives an order, these five hundred archers will continuously shoot sharp arrows at the city in an instant, so that the people defending the city can not raise their heads, and with a wave of the red flag in the hand of Zhang Nai, who is standing on a mound, all the cannons from the north to the south of the Tianning Temple from the west gate to the south of the city will be lit together, and the city tower and pheasant moat will collapse in many places in an instant. At that time, the power of various cannons, especially the red-coated cannons, was known to the people of Beijing.

Therefore, not only did Li Zicheng appear outside the Changyi Gate, and the two kings of Qin and Jin sat at the feet of Li Zicheng, which made the soldiers and civilians defending the city very frightened, but also the Dashun army suddenly piled up many forts with sandbags at night, and set up siege cannons, which made the eunuchs and the soldiers and civilians who defended the city feel weak and their faces were as white as earth. At this time, some of the eunuchs in the city already recognized Du Xun standing in the second row to the right of Li Zicheng, but they didn't dare to point with their fingers, they only dared to tell each other quietly, Du Xun's appearance made the spirit of the eunuchs guarding the city even more disintegrated.

According to the plan agreed with Liu Zongmin and others last night, Song Xiance looked up to the southeast and looked at the sun hidden in the faint clouds, bowed down to Li Zicheng and said, "Your Majesty, at this time, it is about two o'clock in the hour, and you can announce to the city that you have announced the decree of the Marquis Liu Ye. Li Zicheng nodded.

Everything was very well prepared, and then the general on horseback came to the edge of the city again, first put an arrow into the sky above the city, then put his bow in his arm, held a proclamation by Liu Zongmin in both hands, and read it aloud word by word in a thick Guanzhong accent.

"I would like to follow the holy decree of Emperor Yongchang to tell the soldiers and civilians and ministers in the city. The Ming Dynasty has run out of gas, and you are all my subjects, and the righteous division entered Beijing, set at dusk today, only to hear the sound of cannons, and you will open the city gate as soon as possible. After entering the city, all industries remained the same, and there was no panic in the market; the new cloth was used to eliminate the old, and the peace was shared. If they dare to resist behind closed doors, and refuse to surrender the city immediately, they will be slaughtered as a sign of severe punishment. ”

Liu Zongmin's proclamation was repeated three times by the loud generals, and the city was silent.

Li Zicheng got up, left the imperial tent under the command of the ministers, and returned to the palace from the gate of Baiyunguan Mountain. When he arrived outside the gate of Baiyunguan Mountain, Li Zicheng ordered Liu Zongmin and the civil and military officials to go back to the station to rest, and he was happy for a while, leaving Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Li Yan to go into Baiyunguan with him to have a look. After dismounting, Li Zicheng looked around and disappeared Du Xun, remembered that Du Xun was going to enter the palace to persuade Chongzhen to give way, and asked Song Xiance: "Where is Du Xun going?"

Song Xiance bowed down and replied: "Just now Du Xun asked Weichen to play Your Majesty, he has already gone to Pingzemen, and wants to go to the city from Pingzemen and enter the palace to persuade Chongzhen." ”

"Why didn't he ask the eunuch guarding the Changyi Gate to let him go to the city?"

He was afraid that Xuanwu and Zhengyangmen had been closed, and the inner and outer cities were no longer connected, so he decided to go to the city from Pingzemen. ”

"Chongzhen is not an ordinary king of the country, he has a strong temperament, and he kills ministers at every turn, not to mention that the eunuch is his domestic slave, do you say that Du Xun can come back alive?"

"I don't dare to go against the grain, let's wait for the afternoon. ”

Baiyun Temple is a well-known Taoist temple in the whole country, so when Li Zicheng turned back and passed by Baiyun Temple, he asked the Imperial Forest Army to stay outside the mountain gate, and only let the prime minister, the military advisor, and Li Yan follow the three ministers, and Fang Wen led the way, entered the temple, and looked everywhere. Originally, Wu Ruyi and Li Shuangxi asked him to postpone his entry according to the order, and wanted to lead 200 imperial battalion troops to enter the Guanzhong police first, but they were stopped by Li Zicheng.

"Don't do that, Wu Ruyi, you stay outside the mountain gate and wait, Shuangxi just bring a few personal soldiers to wait. ”

This Taoist temple was founded in the Jin Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty was renamed Taiji Palace, and later renamed Changchun Palace, and after reconstruction, it was renamed Baiyun Temple. Although the temple was rebuilt twice after two major fires, some of the ancient trees were old Jinyuan, so when I entered the courtyard, I saw many pines and cypresses, and the branches were connected to each other, and the green shade was forested. Dashun Junchen had just walked in front of the Yuli Changchun Palace, and suddenly there was a sporadic light rain. Li Zicheng looked up, the dark clouds were not heavy, and the raindrops fell on his face, which was quite cool.

He happily looked at Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and others and said, "Okay, good, it really rained lightly." ”

Niu Jinxing smiled and said: "It has been a good omen, and it is gratifying." ”

Li Yan continued: "Sure enough, congratulations, the military advisor divination is like a god. ”

Lao Fangwen saw that Li Zicheng was so happy for the light rain, and quickly bowed down and said, "The emperor is overjoyed when he sees a few light rains, and the monarchs and ministers are congratulatory, which shows that His Majesty cares about the people, and he is really a rare king of Yao Shun." ”

Li Zicheng was thinking about how to break the city, and asked casually: "How is the drought situation in Beijing?"

The abbot said: "Long live the echo, there is little snow in winter, and this spring is a long drought, and this is the time when the wheat seedlings want to rain. ”

Li Zicheng continued to think about the result of Du Xun's entry into the palace and the imminent destruction of the city, and glanced at the abbot absentmindedly, but did not say anything. Seeing Li Zicheng with a smile on his face, the abbot quickly knelt down, and then said: "Foreign Minister Fang has to meet the Holy Lord today, and he is willing to risk his life to ask for his life for the people." I beg the emperor to pray for rain for all the people in Baiyun Temple as soon as possible, or to build a universal Jiao in Baiyun Temple, where spring rain will fall and benefit the country and the people. ”

Niu Jinxing understood that the emperor was anxious to go back to the palace to discuss important matters, and he had no intention of listening to the abbot again, so he gave Song Xiance a look. Song Xiance bowed to Li Zicheng and said, "Please return to the palace and discuss with the ministers the important matter of entering the city." ”

"Okay, go back to the palace. ”