Wei Qinghui said to Chongzhen: "I have been in the country for three hundred years, and the national foundation is forever. Since Emperor Yingzong, Beijing has been besieged several times, and he can turn evil into good fortune, and this time it is the same, please don't be too anxious and damage the royal body. Please give an edict and urge Wu Sangui's rescue to come quickly. ”

Chongzhen nodded: "Call the celebrant to come." ”

Wei Qinghui immediately withdrew from the warm pavilion, summoned the eunuchs waiting outside the palace, and quickly summoned the eunuchs to come. Taking advantage of this time, Chongzhen wrote an edict to Wu Sangui: "Tell Ping Xibo Wu Sangui to lead the army to Beijing at a rate and suppress the rebels to relieve the danger of the Beijing division." ”

After the celebrant eunuch took this emperor's edict, he covered a Chongzhen imperial pen seal on the yellow paper, sealed it, and added six hundred miles to the envelope to deliver five words, register the month, day and time of the document, and send it directly to the military department without going through the cabinet, and immediately send Tang Ma out of the capital.

Wei Qinghui added incense to the Baoding-style copper incense burner made in the Chenghua year, and sent a cup of fragrant tea and put it on the imperial case. She saw that the emperor was meditating on his heart, thinking that he had been eating abnormally for days, sleepless at night, and haggard, and it was rare that he was in a slightly better mood at the moment, so she whispered to him: "Emperor, since there is great news, Wu Sangui is about to lead Guan Ning's elite soldiers to relieve the siege of Beijing, please relax the emperor's heart a little, and go to Yangdezhai to rest on the imperial couch for a while." ”

Chongzhen looked at her, did not make a sound, and continued to think about the military situation of Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao. He knew that Wang Yongji had personally galloped to Ningyuan and urged Wu Sangui to quickly lead his troops to Qinwang, and later received Wang Yongji's flying music, saying that Wu Sangui was walking towards Shanhaiguan and could arrive at Guanmen on 16 March, and he galloped back to Yongping first to arrange the resettlement of the Liao people in Guanguan, and there would be no news in the future.

Now Chongzhen is in despair, and when he suddenly receives Wang Yongji's secret music, it is like seeing a savior in a desperate place, and he naturally can't help but be ecstatic in his heart. Chongzhen picked up the secret music and re-watched it, nodded again and again, as if facing Wei Qinghui, the palace maid standing in front of him, and seemed to say to himself: "Wu Sangui is really a rare loyal minister, and he has led tens of thousands of elite soldiers from Shanhaiguan to save Beijing. ”

Wei Qinghui looked at the emperor, her eyes were full of tears with excitement, and her lips wanted to open and stop. According to the rules of the palace of the Chongzhen Dynasty, the palace maids were not allowed to say a word or ask about all the major events in the court, so Wei Qinghui pretended to tidy up the incense burner, quietly wiped away the tears of excitement, and sighed in her heart: "Thank God! Thank God!" and then quietly walked out.

If Chongzhen had been so ecstatic in previous years, he would have immediately announced Wang Yongji's flying performance to the cabinet, and then the Yamen in charge would announce the news to the subjects of Jingshi to reassure the people. However, recent experience has made him cautious, and on many occasions his hopes have turned to despair, and his temple has been ruined by the collapse of the situation.

In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, he urged Hong Chengchou to lead the eight general soldiers to save Jinzhou, and last year he urged Sun Chuanting to go out of Tongguan to enter Yu to suppress thieves, and the results of the two wars were exactly the opposite of his expectations. In the battle of rescuing Jinzhou, the whole army of the Eighth General Army collapsed, Hong Chengchou was surrounded by Songshan, and then surrendered, and Zu Dashou, the defender of Jinzhou, had to surrender the city. Sun Chuanting broke through in Ruzhou, the whole army was defeated, the thieves entered Tongguan, and entered Xi'an without a fight, and the overall situation was irreversible. Thinking of these two painful experiences, he did not dare to hold out great hope for Wu Sangui's rescue of Beijing.

Now he is worried that Wu Sangui is afraid that the thieves will be strong, and he will cower and wait and see in the Shanhaiguan area, and he will not be able to come in the starry night.

Since the three battalions broke up in Shahe yesterday, he has suppressed the fear of losing the country in his heart, and he only hates that no one in the Manchu Dynasty can share his worries. Because of this desperate mood, he refused to rashly announce the news of Wu Sangui's coming to save the Jingshi to his subjects, and when he wandered around the house alone in the Ganqing Palace, he sat down again and thought sadly, and suddenly sighed deeply, not noticing that Wei Qinghui came in to deliver tea.

Wei Qinghui was actually very hard, at this time she could have sat in her own comfortable, fragrant small room behind the Ganqing Palace to rest, and ordered other palace maids to bring tea to the emperor. Delivering tea to the emperor on time is very simple, and there is no need for her, the most prominent palace maid who is the housekeeper of the Qing Palace, to come in person.

The reason why Wei Qinghui came to deliver the tea in person was because she was very relieved about the current national affairs, the country was dying, not only she couldn't rest assured, she knew that none of the palace people could rest assured. But the rules in the inner palace are strict, and no one else can get the news, only she is always by the emperor's side, and she may know some information, so not only the people in the Qing Palace ask her, but even Wu Wanrong in the Kunning Palace is the same.

She couldn't sit still in her room, couldn't lie down, thought about it, and decided to come and bring tea to the emperor in person, to see if there was a chance to inquire about some news. Since the country is dying, she is not afraid of being reproached by the emperor. As soon as the country died, the emperor and the slaves and maids were going to die together anyway, so she tidied up her sideburns in front of the bronze mirror, cleaned her hands, and came to bring tea to the emperor.

When she heard the emperor sigh deeply when she was delivering tea, she was taken aback, and then said in a gentle whisper: "Emperor, great news has come, why are you so sad?"

On weekdays, Chongzhen would wave his hand to make the Wei palace people withdraw, although he knew her loyalty, he would never say a word to her, but when the disaster of the country was imminent, Chongzhen's attitude towards the palace maid also changed. He was angry that the civil and military ministers were all bastards, and there must be many people waiting to surrender to the thieves, and some people waiting to escape from the city. He hated that the courtiers argued endlessly about every incident he encountered, but today no one came into the palace to offer him emergency measures.

He glanced at the Wei palace people with haggard faces and tearful eyes, and sighed in his heart: "In times of trouble, only this weak woman in front of me is still as loyal to me as before. ”

He was deeply moved by the loyalty of the people of the Wei Palace, and almost burst into tears, nodded slightly, and motioned for her to take a step closer. The Wei palace man took a step closer and stood in front of him. Chongzhen sighed sadly again, and said in a low voice: "Although Wu Sangui is coming to King Jingqin from Shanhaiguan, I am afraid that the far water will not be able to save the near fire. The thieves have arrived at the city of Beijing, and they will definitely attack it more than once, the three battalions have been dispersed, and Beijing relies on thousands of eunuchs and citizens to defend the city, so what can help. ”

The people of the Wei Palace boldly whispered: "Isn't there a person in the Manchu Dynasty who is willing to serve the emperor loyally?"

Chongzhen shook his head and didn't answer, and couldn't help but burst into tears. At this moment, the people of Wei Palace understood more that the tragedy of the country was indeed coming, and they also shed tears, and said in a low voice: "I hope that God and the ancestors will bless you, and the country will turn evil into good fortune." ”

Chongzhen couldn't help but hold one of the hands of the Wei palace people, and said in a sincere tone: "If you are blessed by heaven and ancestors, Beijing is safe and sound, and after the matter is decided, I will make you a nobleman, so that you can enjoy wealth forever." ”

When Chongzhen held one of her hands, due to an accident, he didn't feel a battle, and when he heard the emperor say such a thing, he quickly broke free from the emperor's hand, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and said in a trembling voice: "Thank you for the emperor's grace!"

At this moment, on the one hand, she was grateful for the kindness of Tianyu, and on the other hand, she also understood that it was too late, thinking that it was fate that she could not be entitled, and could only be martyred for the emperor as a palace maid. So after prostrating his head and thanking him as usual, he whimpered and wept quietly.

Chongzhen understood that the whimpering of the Wei Palace people contained the pain of the imminent death of the country, and he also sighed and shed tears. But he didn't want the eunuch to see that it was a loss of royal dignity, so he pulled the Wei palace people and whispered, "Get up!"

The Wei palace people kowtowed again, got up from the ground, wiped their tears with their sleeves, and were still choking intermittently. At this time, Xin Chengqin ordered Wang Chengen, the eunuch of Bingbi, who was appointed as the governor of Beijing and the chief of affairs guarding the city, to come in. He first glanced at the people of the Wei Palace, so that the people of the Wei Palace avoided it, and then put the edict given by Chongzhen to Wu Sangui on the imperial case, knelt down and played: "Emperor, now all the city gates are besieged by rebels, and there are many thieves patrolling the suburbs, and I heard that there are many thieves going to Tongzhou, and the edict to Wu Sangui cannot be sent. ”

Chongzhen was shocked: "Dongzhi Gate and Qihua Gate are surrounded?"

Even the Dongbianmen and Guangqumen in the outer city were surrounded by an army of traitors, and the slaves and maids went to Qihuamen to inspect, and when they met their own soldier Zhang Jinyan, he returned the edict given by the emperor to Wu Sangui to the slaves and maids and brought them back to the palace. ”

Chongzhen's face was miserable, he was silent for a moment, and then asked: "In the second year of Chongzhen, the Dongyu invaded and came to the suburbs of Beijing, how dangerous it is. However, as soon as Yuan Chonghuan received the edict of King Qin, he left a part of the men and horses to guard Ningyuan, and he himself led Mangui, Zu Dashou and other generals and 20,000 or 30,000 elite soldiers, quickly entered the pass, marched day and night, and quickly came to the Beijing Division, camped outside the Guangqu Gate, and turned the city of Beijing into safety. Taking Yuan Chonghuan as an example, Wu Sangui knew that the Beijing division was in danger, he led the Guanning cavalry, from Shanhaiguan to Chaoyang Gate for two days and nights, part of the city was guarded, and part of the city was stationed outside the city to fight against the traitors, Beijing can be foolproof, do you think Wu Sangui will come within two days?"

mentioned Yuan Chonghuan, Wang Chengen did not dare to answer. In the past ten years, due to the deterioration of the Eastern affairs, there have been more and more people in the Beijing government and the opposition who have privately talked about Yuan Chonghuan, and they all say that Yuan Chonghuan is a rare talent, Chongzhen first listened to the slanderous words among the courtiers, and then fell into the enemy's counter-plot, killed him in vain, and destroyed the Great Wall. He knew that the emperor had also secretly discussed the government and the opposition from the factory ministers in recent years, and he had heard a little about the enemy's counter-plots, and he regretted it in his heart, but he refused to admit that he had killed Yuan Chonghuan by mistake, so he had no intention of showing off Yuan's unjust case.

Chongzhen saw Wang Chengen bowing his head and was silent, and asked, "You also heard that Yuan Chonghuan died unjustly?"

Wang Chengen kowtowed and said: "Slaves and maids don't dare to speak falsely, and it has been heard that there has been such a discussion among the government and the opposition for a long time. Wu Sangui is only a military general, and he cannot be compared with Yuan Chonghuan in terms of loyalty and strategy. Your Majesty, now that more than 100,000 rebels have surrounded the city of Beijing on all sides, Wu Sangui's rescue troops will not come. ”

Chongzhen shook his head, shed tears, sighed bitterly, ordered Wang Chengen to stand up, and asked, "Have you gone to inspect the situation of the guards in the city?"

Wang Chengen cried and said: "Emperor, so far, the slave maid has no choice but to risk death. There were only 3,000 eunuchs in the city, and there were not many common people and the old and weak soldiers of the three battalions who went to the city, and about three battlements were divided into one person. The people who defend the city only pay a few money every day, and can only buy a few baked cakes to satisfy their hunger, and the city is very cold, everyone is hungry and cold, and they complain and have no intention of defending the city. ”

"Will the rebels attack the city tonight, and if so, how will they deal with it?"

"The rebels have come from afar, and today they have come to the city one after another, surrounded the city, and are still deploying troops. According to the slave and the slave, the traitor will attack the city tomorrow, and tonight will be safe, but he must beware of changes in the city. ”

Chongzhen asked: "Send troops to patrol the city and check the spies, is there no soldiers?"

"Thousands of men of the three battalions fended off the enemy in Shahe and were defeated without a fight. Although there were still 50,000 or 60,000 people in the three major battalions left in the city, two days ago, after Wang Jiayan, the chief servant of Rong Zheng, called the names according to the book, he realized that eight or nine out of ten were shortfalls, and the number of officers and soldiers was less than 5,000, and these less than 5,000 officers and men were also old and weak and useless. Wang Jiayan consulted with the slaves and maids, and selected 1,000 people to go to the city, and the rest were divided into shifts to patrol the inner and outer cities. patrolling the outer city to suppress the bullets, relying on these useless old and weak soldiers. ”

Chongzhen understood that Wu Sangui's rescue army had no hope, the troops defending the city were empty, and the tragedy of destroying the country and destroying the clan had come to him, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, trembling all over, and could hardly hold himself. But after all, he was a fierce emperor, and in an instant, he returned to normal.

"In the civil and engineering changes, Emperor Yingzong fell into the enemy, and the first army was very strong, and he took Emperor Yingzong to come to the city of Beijing, thinking that Beijing was within reach. At that time, the country was so critical, but there was a military department in the court, Yu Qian, who commanded the Beijing camp to meet the enemy and retreat first, so that the capital turned from danger to safety. Now I am not the king of the country, but in the past 17 years, the Manchu Dynasty has been full of civil and military affairs, and there is no loyal minister who seeks the country, if there is half of Yu Qian in the court, how can there be today?"

Wang Chengen knelt down again and said: "This is the number of qi and the fortune of the country, please don't be sad." ”

Chongzhen choked up and said: "Although it is the fortune of the country, if it were not for the mistakes of the ministers, how could the fortune of the country come to this? It can only be said that in the 20 years since the apocalypse, the country has not had any talents and no side talents. It is because there are many ministers in the court who hinder merit and ability, deceive the lord, obstruct the plan, and frame the loyal and good, so that talents are not only often useless, but also cannot die well. Starting from Xiong Tingbi and Sun Chengzong of the Tianqi Dynasty, to Yang Sichang and others in this Dynasty, they all rose up to attack the Khan without showing their ambitions, causing the imperial court to destroy the Great Wall, and there is today's disaster. I am not the king of the dead country, but when I encounter the death of the country, I will not be blind to death. After speaking, another burst of tears welled up, hiding his face and whimpering.