Liu Wenbing wiped away his tears with the sleeves of his robe, and then said: "Li Banghua and Li Mingrui are both fellow villagers in Jiangxi, and they originally advocated that the emperor move to Nanjing to avoid thieves and seek recovery. When Li Zicheng was still in Shanxi, moving south was a wise policy. However, because the emperor secretly said that he would move south, Li Banghua sent the prince to Nanjing instead and the emperor sat in Beijing, which was a policy to destroy the country. ”

Li Mingrui had very little prestige in the court, and he advocated the emperor's move to the south alone, so the important ministers did not dare to respond. As soon as the emperor objected to the officials, he did not allow any more proposals to move south, so he turned a game of chess into a dead chess piece, and he hated it for a thousand years. Li Zicheng was able to pass Datong, and he was still far from Juyong Pass, and the governor of Tianjin secretly asked the emperor to quickly enjoy Tianjin, and went south by sea ship, and said that he would lead a thousand elite soldiers to Tongzhou to meet him. ”

"At that time, if the proposal of Jinfu Feng Yuanbiao was adopted, the country would not die, and the emperor would not be martyred. No one has ever dared to say about the calamity of congestion in the court, so there is today. What the minister said at this moment is already too late, and there is no way to save the overall situation. The ancients had a cloud bird that was about to die, and its song was also mourning, and the emperor was asked to forgive the sin of mourning. ”

Chongzhen was completely sober at this time, sighed, and said with tears in his eyes: "Since ancient times, it is not uncommon for the Son of Heaven to leave the capital and return to the country with difficulty, and there were two in the Tang Dynasty. Although I want to be dusty today, why is it so cruel to me?" he couldn't help crying bitterly.

The two young royal relatives also fell to the ground and wept bitterly, hearing the sound outside the palace. Several eunuchs and palace maids Wei Qinghui, who were more prominent in the Ganqing Palace, no longer obeyed the system of no eavesdropping because the country was about to die, and they were scattered outside the window to eavesdrop, secretly crying.

The sound of cannons came from the west and north cities one after another, but the sound of the cannons was weak, and it did not alarm the crows in the palace. This cannon was an empty cannon fired by the defenders of the city from the city to the outside of the city in order to deceive the palace, to show that they were serious about fighting the enemy.

After crying for a while, Chongzhen sighed and asked them: "If it weren't for the ministers' empty talk and misguided the country, I went to Nanjing with my palace family half a month ago, can I leave Beijing safely?"

Liu Wenbing said, "If the emperor leaves Beijing half a month ago, the minister dares to say that nothing goes wrong. ”

Gong Yonggu also said: "Even if the emperor left Beijing five days ago, the thieves are still outside Juyong Pass, and they will be safe." ”

Chongzhen asked, "Was it too late five days ago?"

Liu Wenbing said: "Tianjin Wei is only more than 200 miles away from Beijing, as long as you go to Tianjin, you will not have to worry about getting to Nanjing." ”

Chongzhen once again thought nonsense, and asked in a reproachful tone: "At that time, the court was indecisive about the southward migration, why didn't you say anything?"

Liu Wenbing replied calmly: "The minister has already said that the ancestral family law is very strict, and relatives are not allowed to interfere in the government affairs. At that time, if the ministers violated the ancestral system and suggested moving south, the emperor would definitely not allow the ministers to speak. ”

Chongzhen said remorsefully: "Ancestral system! Family law! I didn't expect that in my seventeenth year of respecting heaven and law, there would be the disaster of destroying the country today!"

Chongzhen couldn't help but whimper again. The two royal princes fell to the ground and wept. After a while, Chongzhen suddenly said, "I am determined!"

Liu Wenbing asked, "How does Your Majesty decide?"

"I decided to commit suicide in the palace and die in Sheji, and never think about it again. ”

Liu Wenbing choked up and said: "The emperor was martyred, and the ministers will be martyred by the emperor, and they will never steal their lives." ”

Chongzhen thought of his maternal grandmother, and his heart moved: "How is Mrs. Yingguo?"

At the mention of his grandmother, Liu Wenbing couldn't help crying, and then said while crying: "Mrs. Yingguo is eighty years old this year, but she didn't expect to be affected by this collapse of the world, and she didn't dare to say many words to her. Since the Empress Dowager Xiaochun entered the palace, Mrs. Yingguo couldn't meet because she missed her daughter, and she often cried. Later, when he learned that His Majesty was born, Mrs. Yingguo frowned slightly. Soon after, she was shocked to hear that the Empress Dowager Xiaochun had suddenly returned to heaven, and Mrs. Yingguo was very sad, and worried that a catastrophe was coming, she was sad day and night, constantly crying, and was seriously ill for many days. After ten years of this, His Majesty was crowned King of the Letter......"

Liu Wenbing suddenly regretted it, thinking of when it was and why he was gossiping? So he stopped abruptly and fell to the ground and wept bitterly.

Chongzhen choked up and said, "You go on, keep talking." Mrs. Yingguo is eighty years old, and in the face of this tragic change in the country, she does not have to commit suicide for the country. ”

Liu Wenbing continued: "The minister has decided with his family to entrust Mrs. Yingguo to a reliable person tonight to take care of her for the rest of her life. The mothers and all the men and women of the family will set themselves on fire when the thieves enter the city. The minister has a sister who married to the Marquis of Wuqing, and her husband died after a year of marriage, and today the minister's mother has sent someone to take her back, so that the mother and daughter can stay together and die. ”

Chongzhen nodded tearfully, then looked at Gong Yonggu and asked, "How will Qing dispose of the princess's corpse?"

Gong Yonggu said: "The princess's corpse is still in the middle of the hall and has not been buried. The minister had ordered the servants to pile up firewood and grass in front of and behind the hall. Once in the city of thieves, the minister immediately led the whole family into the hall, ordered the servants to light firewood and grass, and died around the princess's corpse. ”

Chongzhen asked sadly: "The princess has five children and is still young, how can they escape?"

Gong Yonggu said with tears in his eyes: "The princess's children are all nephews of the eldest son, and they must not be allowed to die at the hands of thieves. As soon as the thieves entered the city, the minister tied the five young children to the princess's corpse, and then ordered the slaves to light a fire and die next to the princess. ”

Chongzhen felt another tingling pain in his heart, and couldn't help but hide his face with his sleeves and whimper. Liu Wenbing said: "The matter has come to this, please don't have to be sad, but also please prepare to burn the palace quickly, and then the emperor and his family members will generously go to the fire to martyrdom, so that future generations will know that the emperor is the lord of heroic martyrs." ”

Chongzhen already had an idea in his heart about how he would die and how the palace dependents would do their best, but he didn't want to say it now. He approved of the self-immolation of the whole family of the two prestigious royal relatives, nodded and said: "Okay! I am worthy of being the royal relatives! I will live up to the society, the two ancestors, and the country, and my monarchs and ministers will meet in the underground......

The clouds were thicker in the sky, the moonlight was darker, and there was no starlight. The cold wind blew through the eaves, and the iron horse tinkled. Occasionally, the sound of empty cannons could be heard from the top of the city, indicating that the ministers and soldiers were still defending the city.

Tonight, no one in the Forbidden City is sleeping, waiting for the enemy to break through the city, waiting for the emperor to set fire to the palace, waiting for death. There had been a sporadic light rain, but it had stopped again. The entire Forbidden City was shrouded in gloomy clouds.

Liu Wenbing raised his head and said, "Your Majesty! The matter has come to this point, please forgive the ministers for speaking out, and forgive the ministers for speaking out." ”

Chongzhen guessed what he was going to say, and said: "My will to martyr the country has been decided, and I no longer have the idea of going out of the city, what do you say, hurry up and say it directly!"

"Your Majesty......! In case the inner city is lost, the emperor should burn down the temple, burn the three major halls, and burn the Ganqing Palace. The ministers saw the fire in the palace and knew that the emperor was martyred, so they followed the family to self-immolate to repay the emperor's kindness. ”

Chongzhen nodded and said, "Don't worry." I am not a cowardly lord, and I will never fall into the hands of traitors. It's already the second watch, and the city is about to be destroyed, so let's go back quickly! Get out of the palace quickly!"

After the two royal princes kowtowed and left, Chongzhen sat in the warm pavilion of the Ganqing Palace for a while, silently thinking about his thoughts. Now that the last thought of escaping from the city has been shattered, there are only three things left, one is how he committed suicide and martyrdom. The second is how the palace dependents should not fall into the hands of traitors and thieves, which will humiliate the country.

On the first question, although the two royal princes suggested that he set himself on fire in the palace, which was also a feasible way, and that he would die a heroic death without the thieves killing his body, he had other ways of dying, and he had already made up his mind, but because of the habit of being emperor, he was reluctant to confide his true feelings to anyone at the moment. On the second question, he had been thinking about it in his heart for three days, and he had already made up his mind, but until the last moment he refused to announce his decision.

There is a third problem, how to get his three sons to escape from the palace, especially the crown prince to live, so that he can recover the country in the future. At this moment, he has no illusions of escaping, nor is he afraid of suicide, he can think relatively calmly, and he has the mentality of seeing death as home.

The loyal Wu Xiang, because he heard the two emperors suggesting to the emperor outside the window that they should set fire to themselves in the palace, the emperor did not say that he disagreed. If he wants to burn the Ganqing Palace and the three major halls, he must prepare a lot of dry firewood in advance, and it will be too late when the time comes. He walked into the warm pavilion and knelt in front of Chongzhen, originally wanting to ask if he ordered the ministers to prepare firewood immediately, but he didn't dare to ask directly, and asked timidly: "Emperor, the matter is urgent, what are your orders?"

Chongzhen asked, "Where is Wang Chengen now?"

"He's waiting at the door. ”

"Are Wang Dehua and Cao Huachun here?"

"The slave and maid sent their ministers Pegasus to the city to deliver a decree, telling them to enter the palace quickly. I searched for a few places, but I didn't find them, and asked the emperor to forgive the slaves and maids for capital crimes, and it seems that they are all hiding. ”

Chongzhen hated and hated his feet, and scolded: "Damn!" and said: "Lead the royal horse to serve, and tell Wang Chengen to prepare to leave the palace." ”

Wu Xiang was taken aback: "Where are you going to go out of the palace now?"

But he didn't dare to ask more, so he immediately kowtowed and withdrew, and passed the decree according to the emperor's instructions. He knew that the emperor was dead and escaped from the city, so he decided to set himself on fire. What he was anxious about was that if he didn't prepare a lot of dry firewood in advance, it would be too late to burn down the Ganqing Palace and the three major halls.

Chongzhen walked out of the Ganqing Palace, and instructed a minister: "Load my three-eyed gun with ammunition!" and then a small eunuch carried the palace lamp, bypassed the east gable of the Ganqing Palace, and walked towards Yangdezhai.

The palace maids of the Ganqing Palace all knew that Li Zicheng's men and horses had broken through the outer city, and they were about to break through the inner city, and the emperor either committed suicide or was killed. Thinking that they themselves would be raped or killed, the catastrophe was just around the corner, and they were divided into several groups, and they wept and wept relatively well. Only Wei Qinghui did not cry with them.

She had just followed the two or three eunuchs of the Ganqing Palace to quietly stand outside the window close to the Dongnuan Pavilion and eavesdropping. When the two imperial princes withdrew from the Ganqing Palace, she temporarily hid in a dark shadow, and later Wu Xiang entered the warm pavilion to ask the emperor for instructions, and she stood outside the window again, so the emperor's movements before the death of the country, she knew better than all the palace maids.

When Chongzhen came out of the warm pavilion, she hurriedly walked back to the back of the Ganqing Palace with gentle steps, and told the other palace maids first: "Sisters, the emperor wants to go back to Yangdezhai, don't cry anymore." Then she returned to the door of Yangdezhai and waited for the holy driver.

Chongzhen's mind was flustered, his face was pale, thinking not only about his own death, but also about the life and death of many palace dependents, princes and two kings. He was greeted by Wei Qinghui, returned to Yangdezhai, sat down on the dragon chair in a dejected manner, gasped slightly, glanced at the place where he had lived for seventeen years, and sighed unconsciously.

Wei Qinghui quickly knelt in front of him and said in a trembling whisper: "The country is not the fault of the emperor today, it is the crime of the ministers. The slaves and maids and all the people of the Ganqing Palace were deeply considered by the emperor and would never wait to be humiliated. Once the emperor raised a fire in the Ganqing Palace, the slaves and maids were willing to go to the fire and die to repay the emperor's kindness. ”

Chongzhen's heart moved, and he thought, "Could it be that she eavesdropped on my secret conversation with the two royal relatives?"

If it was in normal times, he would definitely ask questions and punish him severely, but at this moment, he was about to die, and he had no intention of eavesdropping, so he said to Wei Qinghui: "Change an old pair of boots for me." ”

Wei Qinghui hurriedly found a pair of worn-out boots and knelt down to change them for him. Chongzhen suddenly stood up and commanded, "Take my sword." ”

Wei Qinghui hurriedly took down the imperial sword hanging on the wall, and brushed the light dust off the scabbard with his long sleeves. She herself had never played with the sword, nor had she ever paid attention to where the sword should be hung, and in a panic, she stood on the right side of the emperor and tied the sword to the silk, when she suddenly heard the emperor reprimand: "Left!"

She suddenly understood, quickly turned to the emperor's left side, and tied the sword firmly to the silk. Chongzhen glanced at the people of the Wei Palace, saw her red and swollen eyes and haggard face that were crying, and thought that even the palace dependents had suffered, so he couldn't help but feel sour in his heart, and whispered sadly: "I will come back!" and then strode towards the front of the Ganqing Palace.

Wang Chengen waited on the Danqi. He had already asked Wu Xiang and knew that the emperor had listened to the advice of the two emperors and dispelled the idea of leaving the city. He had decided to lie on the ground and admonish him, but he didn't mention it at this time.

Wu Xiang guessed that the emperor just wanted to take a look at the situation in Beijing before the death of the country, and in order to prevent a sudden change in the city, he had to bring more ministers with him, so that he could return to the palace safely and set himself on fire. He also selected about 30 young eunuchs in the Ganqing Palace who had participated in the internal exercises, each with a sword, and stood solemnly under the Danqi.

He himself stayed on the Danqi and stood beside Wang Chengen, and Chongzhen asked Wang Chengen, "Are you ready?"

Wang Chengen replied: "Back to the emperor, they all waited outside the Chengtian Gate, together with the ministers under the slaves, a total of about 350 people. and brought the horses from the Imperial Horse Warden. ”

Wu Xiang continued: "Your Majesty, there are more than 30 young eunuchs in the Ganqing Palace who participated in the internal exercise the year before last, and they are all waiting under the Danqi. ”

"The ministers of the Ganqing Palace stay, don't leave the palace. ”

Wu Xiang said: "When the emperor leaves the palace, the slaves and maids should obey. ”

Chongzhen nodded and motioned for Wu Xiang to take a step forward, and said in a low voice: "I still have to go back to the palace, as soon as the ministers of the Ganqing Palace go out, the palace maids will not know the situation, and there will be chaos; You stay, lead the ministers to guard the palace, and wait for me to return. ”

Wu Xiang knelt down and said, "Please forgive the slave and maid for the death penalty! Do you want to prepare firewood and grass for the Ganqing Palace?"