Hong Wuye sat on the emperor's throne, sighed, and called Chongzhen's name: "Youzhen, what's the use of you martyrdom? You should escape, escape and restore your ancestors." You are still young and should not have died in the palace in vain. ”

Chongzhen cried and asked: "Please make it clear to Emperor Taizu, how can a grandson escape from Beijing?"

Hong Wuye groaned and said: "You have to find a way to escape from Beijing, and if you can't escape, you will commit suicide and martyrdom." ”

"How do you get out?"

Chongzhen bowed to the ground for a moment, but Emperor Gao did not answer. He boldly raised his head, but saw the smoke on the high throne, and the appearance of the manifestation gradually blurred, until at last only a gray, floating cloud of smoke remained, and a sigh came from the smoke.

Chongzhen couldn't help but cry bitterly. Wei Qinghui stood next to the imperial couch and called out repeatedly: "Emperor!

Chongzhen woke up, but he hadn't fully woken up, and it wasn't clear whether he woke up crying or being woken up. He opened his eyes blankly, saw the Wei palace people standing on the edge of the couch, and blurted out unconsciously: "I dreamed of Emperor Taizu Gao......"

The people of the Wei Palace shouted again: "Emperor, the big thing is not good, you wake up quickly!"

Chongzhen's eyes widened suddenly, and he asked in a panic: "What's the matter?

Wei Gongren's voice trembled and said, "Wu Xiang came back from Pingzemen, and he saw that the traitors had broken through the outer city. The gates of the outer city were wide open, and thousands of infantry and cavalry entered the city in whole groups from the Changyi Gate and the Xibian Gate. ”

Chongzhen's face suddenly turned earthy, trembling all over, and he sat up from the couch suddenly, but his feet fell from the couch to the vermilion lacquer pedals, but he couldn't put on his boots. The people of the Wei Palace hurriedly knelt down and served him to put on the yellow satin boots embroidered with Yunlong. Chongzhen asked, "Where is Wu Xiang?"

The people of the Wei Palace trembled and said: "Because of the rules in the palace, no one is allowed to enter the Cultivation of Virtue Zhai to do things, so Wu Xiang is waiting for the holy car in the Ganqing Palace at this moment." ”

Chongzhen asked in a panic, "Did you hear him say that the thieves have entered the outer city?"

The people of the Wei Palace replied calmly: "The defense of the inner city is very strong, please don't be afraid......

"The snapshot is really playing to me, what did Wu Xiang say?

Wu Xiang returned to the palace in a panic just now, asking the slave to wake up the emperor. Because the slave and maid said that the emperor was very poor, not long after he was blinded, he told the slave and maid that the traitor had entered the outer city from the Changyi Gate and the Xibian Gate, and that the big thing was not good, and the emperor must be played immediately. ”

Chongzhen understood everything, his whole body trembled even more, and his legs became weak. He wanted to go to the Ganqing Palace immediately to ask Wu Xiang in person. When he stepped off the pedal, his feet were weak, he staggered a few steps, and took advantage of the situation to sit down on the dragon chair. He didn't want to look panicked in the eyes of the eunuchs of the Ganqing Palace, so he instructed the people of the Wei Palace: "Spread that Wu Xiang is here to do something!"

The people of Wei Palace were surprised, afraid that they didn't hear clearly, so they asked in a low voice, "Ask Wu Xiang to come to Yangde Zhai to do something?"

Chongzhen suddenly woke up from his confusion and changed his words: "Tell him to wait in the Ganqing Palace, and I will go to listen to him immediately!"

At this time, two teenage palace maids came in. A palace maid brought warm water to wash her face in a golden basin, knelt in front of the emperor, and put a face towel woven with white cotton thread as a tribute from Songjiang Mansion in the water, and embroidered a small picture of two dragons playing with pearls with yellow and red threads at one end of the face scarf; another palace maid also knelt on the ground, holding a silver plate, and placed a dry white cotton face towel on it, so that the emperor could wipe his hands with a dry towel after washing his face.

But Chongzhen no longer washed his face with warm water after waking up in the afternoon according to his usual habit, but scolded in foul language: "Get out!"

Then he bypassed the two palace maids kneeling in front of him, hurriedly walked out of Yangdezhai, and walked towards the front of the main hall of Ganqing Palace. Seeing him one step high and one step lower, the Wei palace people hurriedly grabbed his left arm and whispered: "Emperor, you have to be calm, the defense of the inner city is very strong, enough to support it for several days, wait until Wu Sangui's Qinwang soldiers and horses arrive." ”

Chongzhen didn't hear Wei Qinghui's words clearly, in fact, he was not interested in listening to any empty words of comfort now, and the most concerned question in his heart was whether he could escape from Beijing, how to die if he couldn't, and how to deal with the palace dependents. When he had already approached the front of the Ganqing Palace, he did not want the eunuchs to see his fear and weakness, so he shook his left arm vigorously, got rid of the hand held by the Wei palace people, and walked forward with strong steps.

He sat in the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Ganqing Palace and listened to Wu Xiangyu's performance. It turned out that when Wu Xiang was ordered to arrest Du Xun in Pingzemen, Du Xun had already left the city, surrounded by a group of people, riding a horse, and was about to walk to Diaoyutai. He was talking with Wang Dehua in the city tower, and suddenly a eunuch guarding the city told Wang Dehua that a large number of thieves had entered the Changyi Gate, and then they had also entered the outer city from the Xibian Gate.

Chongzhen stopped and asked, "How did the city gate open?"

"I heard that it was opened by the ministers and soldiers and civilians who were defending the city. Hateful crowds of ordinary people forgot the grace of our dynasty for 300 years, and crowded into the city gate to greet the thieves, and some even set off firecrackers. ”

Chongzhen suddenly cried: "Oh my God!

Wu Xiang has been promoted to the eunuch in charge of the Ganqing Palace for several years, and he is a person who follows the rules, looking forward to the improvement of the country's fortunes every year; unexpectedly, he fell to the point of destroying the country, so when Chongzhen cried, he also knelt on the ground and cried loudly.

Wei Qinghui and several palace maids, as well as a few eunuchs, all stood outside the window of the Dongnuan Pavilion, heard the emperor and Wu Xiang crying bitterly, knowing that the outer city had been broken and a catastrophe was coming, some cried bitterly, some sobbed, and some did not dare to cry out, but their nostrils were sore, and hot tears flowed.

Wu Xiang cried for a moment, then raised his head and persuaded: "This is already the case, please think of another way quickly." ”

Chongzhen cried and asked, "Where are Wang Dehua and Cao Huachun now?"

Wu Xiang knew that Wang Dehua and Cao Huachun had changed their minds, and the head of the ministers guarding the Changyi Gate was Cao Huachun's disciples, but he didn't dare to tell the truth, so he had to reply: "They are all in the city, and the governor and the ministers and the army and the people stick to the inner city, and they dare not relax." But the soldiers and civilians defending the city have no fighting spirit, and the inner city is broken in front of them, please think of a way quickly, you can't count on Wang Dehua and Cao Huachun. ”

Chongzhen was silent for a moment, and once again remembered the words that Emperor Taizu had instructed when he appeared to the saint: "You have to find a way to escape from Beijing." ”

But he couldn't think of a good way, so he asked himself: "Are you waiting for the city to be killed and your ancestors to die?"

He suddenly decided to summon hundreds of civil and military officials into the palace to discuss a plan to help him escape from Beijing, so he said to Wu Xiang: "You go to deliver the decree, and the bell rings urgently at the noon gate!"

Chongzhen once practiced martial arts, and personally presided over the internal exercises twice in the empty courtyard between the coal mountain and the Shouhuang Palace, so he was unwilling to die in the palace when he was dying. At this time, his mood was confused, and he could no longer think calmly, so he had a whimsical idea to lead a part of the young ministers who had learned martial arts, and then select hundreds of young family members of the imperial family.

The inner city of Beijing had not yet been lost, and he decided to leave the crown prince in charge. Except for a few young and promising officials who could be driven and fled to Wu Sangui's army with him, the rest stayed to assist the prince. The queen and the concubines took it away if they could, and those who couldn't have to stay in the palace and commit suicide in accordance with the order. This decision made him feel sad and terrible, but now, what can he do if he does not take this path? Thinking of this, he could not help crying loudly again.

An urgent bell rang from the city at noon, and he thought that the civil and military officials would come to the palace one after another when they heard the bell, and he would announce the decision to pro-conquest to the panicked ministers, and also to announce a pro-conquest edict. So he stopped weeping, sat down in front of the royal case, and drafted the edict amid the constant sound of the bells. While drafting the edict, he whimpered and wept, and tore up the draft of the edict, tore it up and redrafted it, although he was usually more cultivated in writing, but today's edict is very difficult in wording.

The fact is that his country is already in sight, and he fled in a hurry, and his life and death are unpredictable, but he wants to write the wording in a high-sounding manner, not only can it not damage the identity of the emperor, but if he can't escape, this edict will not become his reputation when it is passed on to future generations, so he has changed drafts several times, and it is always difficult to be satisfied. It was not until the bell stopped ringing for a long time that Chongzhen prepared the draft of the edict.

Chongzhen had just left the red pen, and Wang Chengen came in. He is now the only confidant of the emperor's side. Chongzhen had long hoped that he would enter the palace quickly, but now he heard the sound of the curtain, and when he turned around and saw that it was him who came in, he immediately asked: "Wang Chengen, the thieves have entered the outer city, do you know?"

Wang Chengen knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the slave maid heard that the thieves had entered the outer city, so they quickly left Qihua Gate, first to Zhengyang Gate, and then to Xuanwu Gate, to watch the situation in the outer city......"

"Quickly take a snapshot of the actual performance, what will happen to the traitor after entering the outer city?"

The slave saw that the thief infantry cavalry was in the city, living in various places, and another small team of cavalry was in the streets and alleys outside the Zhengyang Gate, passing down the strict order of the thief Liu Zongmin, not allowing the soldiers to harass the people, and ordering the people to live and work in peace. The slave and maid also saw that the outer city was full of thieves, and probably all seven gates of the outer city were opened. Emperor, since the outer city has been lost, people have no solid will, this inner city must not be defended, I hope Your Majesty will make up your mind quickly. ”

"How was the Chaoyangmen meeting?"

"Qi Yu Emperor, the slaves and maids sent the ministers to pass on the emperor's edict separately, and summoned the royal relatives and ministers to gather in the Chaoyang Gate City Tower to discuss the matter. Everyone was afraid of donating money for the defense of the city, and they refused to come by order, and only Liu Wenbing, the Marquis of Xinle, and Gong Yonggu, the commander of the horses, came to the Chaoyang Gatehouse. The people were not together, the meeting could not be held, and the two royal relatives went back to their homes crying. ”

Chongzhen said hatefully: "The emperor's relatives and ministers are deeply favored by the country on weekdays, and they are connected with the country with the same fate, and they share weal and woe, but today it is really hateful." ”

"Your Majesty, don't expect the emperor's relatives and ministers anymore, you must hurry up and make another decision, and don't delay. ”

"The bell has been whined on the gate at noon just now, and I am waiting for the civil and military officials to enter the palace, and the monarchs and ministers will discuss together. ”

"Although the bell rings at the noon gate, the matter has come to this point, and the ministers will not come. ”

"I want to go to the enlistment in person, look at the edict I just prepared. ”

Wang Chengen was taken aback when he heard the emperor say the word "pro-conquest", and quickly took the draft of the edict from the emperor's hand and read it. When Wang Chengen read the edict, Chongzhen anxiously stood up from the dragon chair and walked around in the warm pavilion. After a while, he asked Wang Chengen, "Have you finished reading it?"

Wang Chengen said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty is the lord of the ages, and he should have left Beijing to conquer in person a long time ago, but unfortunately it is too late now!"

"Late?"

"Yes, please forgive the slave and maid for the capital crime, it's too late......"

Chongzhen's face was like earth, and he trembled again, stared at Wang Chengen and stopped for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Do you want to sit in the palace and die at the hands of traitors?"

Wang Chengen continued: "If three or four days ago, the enemy was still outside the Juyong Pass, and Your Majesty decided to carry out this plan to go out of Beijing to conquer in person, it would definitely be successful. At present, the 200,000-strong army of traitors has surrounded Beijing, and the outer city has been broken, and only the birds can leave the city. Even though Your Majesty is a heroic lord through the ages, with no soldiers and no generals, how can he go out of the city to conquer in person? ”

Listening to Wang Chengen's words, Chongzhen's mind began to sober up, and at the same time, he lost a wonderful survival force, his whole body was paralyzed, and he fell on the dragon chair, unable to say a word. In this moment when he had just regained his senses, he not only thought that Wang Chengen's words were very reasonable, but also remembered the appearance of Emperor Taizu Gao in his dream this afternoon.

Although Emperor Taizu told him that he should escape from Beijing, when he asked Grandmaster Tai how to escape, he asked twice in a row, but Grandpa Tai was quite affectionate and could not answer. When he cried for the third time, the image of the great grandfather disappeared in front of him, and the high throne also turned into a cloud of smoke, but a deep sigh was heard from the front of his head, from the cloud of smoke that flowed around the thread.

Wang Chengen said sadly: "Emperor, according to the slave maid, the inner city cannot be defended. ”

Chongzhen nodded, sighed helplessly, and ordered Wang Chengen to hand him the draft of the edict that had just been put back on the imperial case. He tore the manuscript to shreds, threw it to the ground, and said in a calm tone: "The king died for the society, righteousness, I will never think about it again, but I hate that no one among the ministers will die with me." ”

Wang Chengen choked up and said, "The slave is willing to serve the emperor underground." ”

Chongzhen stared at Wang Chengen's tearful eyes, nodded, and couldn't help but whimper. Chongzhen concluded that tonight or tomorrow morning, the thieves would break through the inner city. In order to cope with the great changes in the country, although the dinner was in a hurry, he tried to eat as much as possible, and also ordered Wang Chengen and other ministers to have a full meal.

He had already understood that there was only one way to kill himself, and decided to die when the enemy soldiers entered the inner city. But after dinner, he sat in the warm pavilion of the Ganqing Palace to rest, and suddenly a desire to survive appeared in his heart again. He told Wang Cheng'en to quickly order 300 eunuchs who had been trained in internal exercises to serve outside the Chengtian Gate.