Preparations for the escape had begun a few days earlier, and by the evening of the 20th, preparations had been going on for four or five days.

Here in the palace, under the arrangement of Empress Zhou, Empress Yi'an, Empress Zhou herself, Yuan Guifei, King Ding, King Yong, the five princes and Zhu Cihong's fiancé Concubine Ning's little beauty, as well as the two princesses, as well as several concubines of Emperor Chongzhen, have all packed up and changed into the clothes of the people. The henchmen and eunuchs who served them also changed their clothes.

The carriages used to escape were also prepared, all of which were purchased by Huang Dabao and the two royal merchants, Soy Sauce Huang and Lao Misu, from the private sector at a high price in the past few days, which were sturdy and durable, and not as dazzling as the royal vehicles. These vehicles and chariots are now all concentrated in the military warfare bureau outside Bei'anmen, and the right battalion of the Kenan battalion is responsible for taking care of them.

Hundreds of wagons, mule carts and camels are now concentrated in the inner school yard. On the cart and on the camel's back, there were large and small boxes, which looked heavy, and most of them were yellow and white.

In addition, in the urn city of Chaoyangmen and Dongzhimen and its surroundings, a large number of chariots, horses, camels and heavily armed generals were also gathered.

Assembled in Chaoyangmen Urn City are the main force of the Kenan Battalion, the elite of the Beijing Battalion, and some of the East Palace guards. Most of the backbone children of the noble royal relatives who had paid money in the capital also arrived at Chaoyangmen, each prepared horses, family members, and a small amount of soft and dry food. And they all followed Zhu Cihong's instructions and changed into the clothes of ordinary people. Those who had armor to wear were covered with coarse cloth over the armor.

The situation in the area of Dongzhimen is a bit chaotic, there are too many people in the carriages and horses, and the organization is too poor, and there is a lot of chaos, not only can not be stuffed in the Dongzhimen urn city, but even the Dongzhimen Street is crowded. The nobles who were about to run away from Dongzhimen also changed into the clothes of the common people, and the ladies also deliberately smeared mud on their faces, all of them were dark, and they didn't know if they could hide from the eyes of the rogue?

The sound of crying and quarreling sounded on Dongzhimen Street from time to time. It turned out that some nobles were in a hurry to run away and couldn't wait patiently, so they quarreled with the pure army who maintained order in Dongzhimen Street and Dongzhimen Urn City.

Commanding this pure army was Zhu Cihong's original companion eunuch, and the current imperial horse eunuch and eunuch Qiu Zhizhong. Seeing the chaotic and noisy scene, he was also so anxious that he was sweating profusely. There are thieves' cavalry outside the city!

Just this group of messy guys and the more than 2,000 and less than 3,000 pure troops he just took over, how could they run?

Just when he was in a hurry to get on the fire, the noisy and noisy sound suddenly came from Dongzhimen Street.

One of Qiu Zhizhong's godsons, who is also a eunuch, flew to Qiu Dajue, who was anxious in the urn city, and was about to bow down, when Qiu Dajue shouted: "What are you worshipping?" Speak up! ”

"Godfather, the emperor and the chitose master are here!"

"What?" Qiu Zhizhong was stunned, "You read that right? ”

"How can this be wrong? Godfather, let's go and catch the car! ”

Qiu Zhizhong hurriedly tidied up his python robe, and then took a few Da Jue from the pure army to the inner gate of the urn city. As soon as I walked there, I saw the emperor's guard of honor, the guard of honor of the East Palace, and the queen's guard of honor coming along Dongzhimen Street.

Walking in front of these honor guards was a team of Han generals in golden helmets and armor, all riding high-headed horses and carrying long-handled broadswords, which were not majestic.

Is it really the emperor? Where did Qiu Zhizhong dare to slack off, he hurriedly stepped forward, and after walking a few steps, he was stopped by a golden armor general.

"Father-in-law Qiu, Master Chitose is behind, let you go and see yourself."

Qiu Zhizhong glanced at the man, he was an extremely long man, with a very neatly trimmed beard, and his eyes were very large, and he stared like a copper bell.

"Isn't this Lin Dayan? But got an official position? ”

Qiu Zhizhong recognized this person, his name was Lin Yihu, he was a person from Tianjin Wei, he was selected as a Han general because he was big, but he was an ordinary Han general, and he had no official status. But today, he seems to be an official in charge.

"Haha, Father-in-law Qiu has good eyesight," Lin Dayan smiled, "I have won the appreciation of Master Chitose and become the commander of the guard battalion." ”

There were not many guards in the East Palace, and they were not organized into battalion heads, and many old guards were incorporated into the Kenan Battalion as officers. Therefore, before Zhu Cihong incorporated the Han generals, he did not have any guard battalions, but he transferred soldiers from a bureau from the Kenan battalion, plus some of the original guards, all of whom were in the name of guards and commanded by Wang Qi.

And yesterday morning, after Wang Qi led people to incorporate the Han generals, the number of guards increased to more than 1,000 people, and they could form a battalion. Therefore, it has the name of the guard battalion of the East Palace, and Wang Qi serves as the commander of the Qian, that is, the head of the first battalion. The general manager, the general manager, and the general manager of the flag below are all temporarily appointed. This Lin Dayan has a bold personality and martial arts skills, and he is known for his prestige among the Han generals, so he was given a boss.

Qiu Zhizhong politely said hello to Lin Dayan, and then walked forward quickly, walking dozens of steps, only to see Zhu Cihong, who was dressed in the prince's regular clothes, walking side by side with Wang Chengen and Zu Zepu, as if they were still explaining something while walking.

Seeing Qiu Zhizhong running over sweating profusely, Zhu Cihong hurriedly waved at him and asked him to come forward to talk.

"Chief Soldier Zu, this is Qiu Zhizhong, the Admiral of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, who was originally the companion of the palace." Zhu Cihong smiled and introduced to Zu Zepu and Qiu Zhizhong, "This is Zu Zepu, who has just been appointed by the palace as the chief military officer of Jizhou. The way out of Dongzhimen is dominated by General Zu. Qiu Banban, you have been reappointed as the eunuch of Jiliao Town. ”

He leaned down, approached Qiu Zhizhong, and said in a low voice: "Qiu Banban, you remember to the palace that no matter what, you must arrive in the army of Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao in Yongping." ”

As he spoke, Zhu Cihong took out a few copies of the decree of the prince of Fujun and handed them to Qiu Zhizhong. This decree was approved by the Cabinet and approved by the Prince, which is equivalent to a legitimate decree. Then he whispered: "Look again on the road, and you will know what to do after reading it." ”

Qiu Zhizhong took the order with both hands, looked at the chariot behind Zhu Cihong, and asked, "Chitose Lord, ...... the emperor?"

Zhu Cihong said: "Everything is as usual, but you need to hide people's eyes." ”

Qiu Zhizhong nodded and said, "The old slave understands. ”

Zhu Cihong said again: "Accompany the palace to the city tower, and then prepare a place for the palace to change clothes." ”

Zhu Cihong arrived in the prince's regular clothes, in order to create the illusion that he and Emperor Chongzhen were in Dongzhimen. Therefore, he couldn't leave from Dongzhimen Street as it was, and had to go to Chaoyangmen by the city wall. And he also had to change his clothes with the guards around him, change into the mandarin duck jackets of the soldiers of the Beijing camp, and leave quietly.

went up to the city tower, Zhu Cihong called Wang Chengen and Qiu Zhizhong to his side, and while asking them to wait for him to change his clothes, he whispered: "There are many people and horses on this road, and it is not neat, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to get out of them all." However, the three princes and the concubine Niangniang must be foolproof! Do you understand? ”

"The old slave knows what to do." Qiu Zhizhong nodded, "It's just where to go after you get away?" ”

"Go to Wang Yongji's army in Yongping." Zhu Cihong said, "This palace has also taken care of Zu Zepu...... He will take the family of his ancestors to escort you east.

If there is anything in case, you and Zu Zepu will each work together to protect a prince to break through to Yongping! ”

After the order, the clothes were almost changed. Zhu Cihong didn't stay any longer, and immediately took his guards to Chaoyangmen.

The security on the side of Chaoyang Gate is much stricter, and the city and the city are all armed with weapons of the Jiannan battalion and the Beijing battalion. Wu Sanfu and Zhu Chunjie waited on the city wall, and when they saw Zhu Cihong coming, they hurriedly stepped forward to greet them.

"Everyone's here? How's the preparation going? Zhu Cihong asked when he saw them.

"Everyone in the palace has arrived, but the old emperor hasn't come yet......," Zhu Chunjie replied, "The people who have arrived have all changed into the clothes of the people, and no one knows." ”

Wu Sanfu said: "Most of the Kenan Battalion, most of the East Palace Guard Battalion, as well as the Tiger Guard Battalion adapted from the elite of the Beijing Battalion, and the Dragoon Battalion adapted by strong men such as the Han General have all arrived...... There are more than 6,000 people in total, all of whom are still elite, and they have been rewarded all over again, and their morale is okay.

There are also more than 1,000 sons and daughters of noble families and capable families, all of whom are capable of fighting.

In addition, Huang Gonggong and the two royal merchants also gathered 2,000 strong men to fight, and they also managed more than 600 carriages, mule carts and more than 200 camels. ”

"Good!" Zhu Cihong nodded, "I'll come when I go to the palace...... You send someone to urge the old emperor again, and tell him that the time is not enough, so you won't wait for him. ”