Chongzhen asked, "What did Li Thief say when he asked you to enter the palace?"

Du Xun said to Chongzhen: "Li Zicheng invaded the capital, but he and the emperor have no grievances and no enmity......"

"Nonsense, I am the lord of the people, he is a traitor who kills the people, what does it mean to have no revenge?"

"As far as the slave knows, Li Thief still respects the emperor to this day and does not say a bad word about the emperor. He knew that the emperor was also a holy monarch, and the state affairs were bad in the court, and the ministers were not good, and he mistook the emperor and the country. If the ministers are powerful, the emperor will be a wise lord. When Li Zicheng left Xi'an, he issued a notice and posted it along the road, and the Xinjiang ministers and the military department must have reported to the emperor, and the announcement made it very clear, why didn't the emperor believe it?"

Li Zicheng's Northern Expedition proclamation is also a text, although Chongzhen had seen it, but after reading the first two sentences, he was very angry, immediately threw it to the ground, trampled on it with his feet, and then was picked up by the eunuchs of the Qing Palace, and took it out and burned it to ashes.

Now after being reminded by Du Xunyi, he immediately asked, "What does the traitor's proclamation say?"

"I beg the emperor to forgive the slave and maid for the death penalty, and the slave and maid dare to play. ”

"As long as you play it, I will never blame you!"

Du Xun's cultural accomplishment was originally very low, and there was an allusion in Li Zicheng's Northern Expedition that he didn't understand, and he couldn't remember clearly, so he had to casually recite nonsense, but some of the words were roughly the same: "The slave and maid don't remember very accurately, only remember a few sentences that seem to be written like this, the gentleman is very wise, isolated and blinded a lot; There are many other words, and the slave maid can't remember clearly. The emperor, even Li Zicheng's proclamation praised His Majesty's wisdom, saying that His Majesty is often deceived by his subordinates, and political corruption is due to the bad of his subordinates. ”

The original sentence in Li Zicheng's Northern Expedition text is that Jun Fei is very dark, isolated and eternal. Du Xun changed the first half of the sentence to Jun Shiming, changed the word "yang" in the second half of the sentence to blindness, and changed Hengduo to many.

Chongzhen looked at Du Xun and was silent, thinking that these words written by Li Zicheng in the proclamation were still the true meaning of praising him as a wise king, and on the other hand, he had some slim illusions. After a while, he asked Du Xun again: "Du Xun, it seems that although the traitor Li Zicheng has committed a heinous crime, his conscience has not yet been completely cleared. What did he mean by telling you to come to the palace to see me?"

Du Xun seized the opportunity and said: "Li Zicheng knew that the government and government were ruined by the civil and military ministers, and the emperor was not immoral, so the 200,000 army surrounded Beijing, and he couldn't bear to attack the city immediately, and refused to burn all the jade in Beijing." ”

Chongzhen seemed to wake up suddenly, and asked, "Does he want to clear the monarch's side?"

"Emperor, please forgive the slave for speaking bluntly. He doesn't want to clear the king's side, but he wants to, he wants to ......"

"What do you want?"

"The slave and the maid are dead, and they really dare not say it. ”

"Say it, don't hide a word!"

Du Xun kowtowed twice in a row, very frightened, risked his death, and said in a slur manner: "The emperor is wise and wise, the candle shines on everything, and the slave and maid tell Li Zicheng's rebellious opinion as usual, please don't be angry...... , Li Thief really asked the slave maid to enter the palace to persuade and persuade the emperor...... Let go of the country. He said that this was a gift to imitate Yao Shun's chan. He also said that as long as the emperor gave up the country, he swore to ensure the safety of the officials and gentry in the city, and the emperor and the royal family would continue to enjoy glory and wealth. He will honorifically call the emperor as... Let the emperor still enjoy the blessings of the emperor. He said......"

When Chongzhen heard this, he slapped the imperial case hard, and pushed it violently, almost overturning the imperial case, and then suddenly stood up and grabbed the Longquan sword that was placed on the imperial case, and there was a cold light flashing in front of everyone's eyes. The eunuchs standing on either side of him and behind him were all pale, and they stopped breathing. The ten Jinyi Banner School standing at the foot of the stairs all thought that Du Xun would persuade the emperor to give up the country for the traitor, and he would be killed, so he immediately became nervous, held the hilt of the sword tightly, and was ready to climb the steps at any time to push Du Xun out of the noon gate and behead him.

But the emperor didn't have an edict, so they could only stand and wait, staring angrily at Du Xun who was lying on the ground trembling and kowtowing, but his body did not move at all, and he did not dare to disobey and draw his sword out of the sheath. The young eunuch standing behind the throne and holding a yellow umbrella was worried that Du Xun might suddenly jump up and stab at the emperor with a hidden weapon, so he pressed the umbrella handle mechanism in an instant, and the yellow umbrella brush pulled down, revealing a sharp spear tip half a foot long at the top of the umbrella handle.

In a moment when everyone was silent, Chongzhen decided whether to kill Du Xun with a sword on the spot, or order the Jinyi Banner School to push the rebel prisoner out of the noon gate and behead him. Wang Dehua didn't dare to hesitate, quickly knelt down, kowtowed, and said: "I beg the emperor to take a break from the holy anger!" Du Xun came to the palace to save His Majesty from the current crisis, but not to help the traitor persuade His Majesty to give up the country. Please Your Majesty order Du Xun to finish his words, and it will not be too late to cut off. ”

A cloud of suspicion swept in front of Chongzhen's eyes, and he slapped the Longquan sword on the imperial case, shocking a spotted wolf and a vermilion pen from the agate pen holder and rolling down the case.

He asked sharply, "Du Xun, you damn minion, what else do you have to say?"

Du Xun said: "Emperor, what I just said to serve Yao Shunchan to let the world go is all nonsense of the Li thief, and the slave and maid risked their lives to refute it at that time, so that the traitor had to change his mind and agree not to attack the city again, no longer fight for the Ming Dynasty, and be willing to serve the Holy Son of Heaven." ”

Chongzhen was surprised, and said half-convinced, half-doubted: "How do you persuade the rebel thief to change his mind?

Du Xun said: "The slave maid said to Li Thief that the Ming Dynasty has thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, and a three-hundred-year foundation, even if you can break Beijing, you can't destroy the Ming Dynasty." Jiangnan will inevitably have a prince of the clan to succeed him, take the capital as the capital of Beijing, and use the wealth and manpower of Jiangnan to restore the Central Plains; the Manchurians have strong soldiers and horses, and they have long been eyeing the outside of the Guan, always waiting for an opportunity to invade the south. The King ......"

"What king?"

"The slave and the maid are guilty of death! The slave and the maid speak to the thief, in order to convince the enemy with reason, so he is called the king. In fact, the slave and maid hate the traitor to the core, and hate to eat his flesh and drink his blood!"

Chongzhen nodded and said, "Go on, Wang Dehua is flat." ”

Wang Dehua kowtowed, and saw that the anger on the emperor's face had decreased, and he felt a little relaxed in his heart, and secretly scolded: "It's dangerous, Du Xun, this kid really has a hand." ”

Du Xun continued: "The slave maid said to Li Thief, even if you can break through Beijing, but the subjects of the Ming Dynasty are angry all over the world and swear to avenge the emperor, so you can't cope with it. The Manchurians would inevitably take the opportunity to invade Beijing and Kifu, and what was even more terrifying was to occupy Shanxi and Shandong provinces and sweep through the Central Plains. At that time, you will be attacked on your back, but Gu Nan can't Gu North, Gu Dong can't Gu Xi, and at that time, the king ...... "Du Xun stopped his mouth and slapped his mouth heavily to his left and right.

Chongzhen frowned and urged: "Go on, go on." What does the traitor say?"

Du Xun continued: "He said that he was willing to support the emperor and support the Ming Dynasty. As long as the emperor is willing to give half of the country to him, he is willing to lead a large army out of the customs for the emperor, conquer Liaodong, and pacify the country. The kingdom of the emperor is as strong as iron and brass. ”

Chongzhen was speechless for a moment, and silently thought to himself: Is Du Xun's words true or false? How can any traitor still not want to seize the country at this time? The thief has already surrounded Beijing, how can he support the imperial court? Obviously, this is not from Li Zicheng's sincerity? Not to mention that he wants to blackmail me to give him half of the country, how can it be reasonable? Hmph, this is just to test my tone.

But he wanted to know a little more about the enemy's situation from Du Xun's mouth, so he didn't get angry, and asked Wang Dehua who was standing aside: "Wang Dehua, are you true that you heard Du Xun's words?"

Wang Dehua quickly knelt down, flustered in his heart, and didn't know how to answer. He knew that Du Xun's words were all lies, deceiving the emperor and testing the emperor's breath, but he couldn't break Du Xun's lies, which made Du Xun's head different, and also caused him to cause a big disaster.

Chongzhen saw that Wang Dehua knelt down and was silent, so he said angrily to Du Xun: "What you said is not credible! You traitorous slave, you really deserve to die!"

Wang Dehua hurriedly reminded Du Xun and said: "Du Xun, you are really bold, you dare to blaspheme the Holy Hearing with the words of a traitor, and you don't apologize quickly!"

Du Xun understood that he had to get out quickly, and if he angered the emperor again, he would be killed immediately, so he kowtowed twice in a row: "The emperor is wise in the sky, and the candle shines on everything." Li Thief really wanted to force the emperor to give way to the country, but after the slaves and maids risked their lives to fight each other and explained the benefits and disadvantages in detail, he couldn't help but be slightly tempted, saying that as long as the emperor named him the king and guarded Qin and Jin, he was willing not to enter Beijing and lead a large army to conquer Liaodong. ”

"But the slaves and maids are soft-spoken, and the emperor must send one or two emperors and important ministers out of the city to discuss in detail; after the agreement, they swear an oath to the heavens, and ask the emperor to issue a clear edict to proclaim it to the whole world, and the whole world will hear about it. Li Thief was originally scheduled to attack the city in Shenshi today, but later decided to postpone the siege in order to wait for the slave and maid to reply. Li Thief also said that as long as the emperor crowned him as the king and guarded Qin and Jin, not only would he not order the siege of the city, but he could also retreat twenty miles to wait for the oath. ”

Chongzhen asked, "He wants to attack the city when Shenshi?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. At this moment, it is already too late, if the slave maid does not go out of the city to reply before Shen Shi, Li Thief will order the siege of the city. ”

Emperor Chongzhen was originally a very intelligent man and had 17 years of rich political experience, but what he said like Du Xun was inconsistent and full of loopholes, how could he deceive him? However, he was flustered at this time and lost his normalcy; at this time, as long as there was a one-in-10,000 chance to save his life and protect the country, he would not let it go. Li Zicheng besieged the Beijing division and coerced him to be the king and tear the land, which he absolutely could not allow. At this moment, as a strategy to delay the army, he thought that he had to agree, so that the city of Beijing could not be breached within two or three days, and wait for Wu Sangui's rescue troops to arrive.

He looked at Du Xun and pondered for a moment: "You should hurry up and go out of the city." It is necessary to make the traitor Li Zicheng a good heart, not to attack the city, and it is better to retreat twenty miles away. Early tomorrow morning, I will send the emperor's relatives and important ministers to carry the edict and go out of the city to discuss the matter of the feudal king's demolition of the land and the crusade against the eastern captives. Get out of town!"

Du Xun kowtowed and said: "The emperor is sage, the blessing of the subjects of the capital division, and the blessing of the country." Hooray, hooray!"

Chongzhen immediately got up and returned to the East Warm Pavilion of the Ganqing Palace, and it had been a long time since lunch. One of the eunuchs came to him and knelt down in front of him, and asked if he would have lunch immediately. Chongzhen had no intention of eating, and waved his hand to make the eunuch of Shangshan Prison withdraw. His heart was filled with suspicion, resentment, and humiliation, and tears rolled down his cheeks. He quickly sobered up and understood that what Du Xun said to him was true, only Li Zicheng forced him to give in, and the rest of the words were all nonsense, and it was definitely not Li Thief's original intention.

He called Wu Xiang to the front and ordered hatefully: "You quickly and personally bring people to the city to arrest Du Xun back, and beat him to death outside the noon gate!"

However, it was said that after Du Xun left Ganqing Gate, he and Wang Dehua hurriedly walked out of the Forbidden City, got on the horse outside the right gate of Chang'an, galloped with a whip, dismounted at Fucheng Gate, and climbed to the head of the city. Cao Huachun was waiting in the city tower early and ordered someone to prepare wine and food. Du Xun was already very hungry, sat down and drank a glass of Changchun dew wine, and was about to eat vegetables, Wang Dehua reminded: "Du Xun, the emperor is suspicious and fickle, you should go out of the city quickly!"

When Du Xun heard this, he threw himself into the chopsticks and said repeatedly: "Yes, or you think thoughtfully!"

Then they retreated and discussed. The ministers who were waiting outside the city tower couldn't hear what they were talking about, but they only saw Wang Dehua and Cao Huachun nodding lightly, and finally Wang Dehua said: "Du Xun, you have dedicated the important town of Xuanfu to King Li, and persuaded the ministers and town generals of Juyongguan to surrender, and made a great contribution to King Li. King Li sits in the world, and you will be the eunuch of the master of ceremonies. I and the proprietor Cao are both nearly half a hundred years old, and we have long had the heart of retreating. In the future, I will rely on you to take care of you so that I can live in peace for the rest of my life. ”

Du Xun said: "King Li is very benevolent and righteous, please rest assured that the two seniors are completely assured. ”

The long rope and bamboo basket on the head of the city have been prepared. When Du Xun was about to go down to the city, he was surrounded by a group of familiar eunuchs and asked long and short questions.

Du Xun said to them, "Don't be afraid. King Li entered the city and sat on the country, and our wealth is still the same. ”

Some eunuchs even grabbed him and asked him something else. Du Xun said again: "You don't have to ask more, with me Du Xun here, you won't suffer." After saying that, he said goodbye to everyone and sat down in a bamboo basket and went down to the city.

Less than an hour after Du Xun left the city, before the time had passed, the eunuchs and people guarding the Changyi Gate opened the city gate, and the Xibian Gate also opened. Thousands of Shun troops entered the outer city in whole formations, occupying various intersections and important streets, and the other gates of the outer city were also opened.