A tent was erected outside the Donghua Gate, and Chongzhen's body was parked in this simple tent.

After learning of Chongzhen's whereabouts, Li Zicheng led a group of civil and military ministers, and brought Wang Dehua and other palace eunuchs to identify.

When he saw the two bodies at the foot of the coal mountain that were carried down by the soldiers of the Dashun Army, from a distance, Wang Dehua couldn't cry. When I got closer, I cried and wailed loudly.

"Emperor! The slave and maid failed to save the car from the city, and the slave and maid died! ”

Seeing Wang Dehua and other eunuchs so grieving, Li Zicheng and the others knew that the corpse in front of them was undoubtedly Chongzhen.

After more than ten years of fighting, Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Zhang Nai and others have naturally seen countless corpses, their own people's, the Ming army's, and ordinary people's. However, today's two corpses have brought a huge psychological impact to Li Zicheng.

Chongzhen's face was still very young, with white skin (of course, his face became gray after death), a slightly delicate short beard, and long hair that was scattered, covering half of his face. The hat was gone, his eyes were half-closed, his tongue was slightly exposed, there was a purple mark made of silk under his neck, one boot was missing, and only a white sock was worn on his bare foot. Li Zicheng's heart moved, and he couldn't bear to look at it more. At this moment, he looked at Chongzhen's corpse, and instead of feeling the joy and excitement of victory, he had very complicated thoughts and feelings, which actually made him sigh in his heart.

"Lin Quan, you are familiar with the rules and regulations, and Chongzhen's future affairs will be handed over to you to take care of."

"Wechen understands that the minister will definitely handle this matter. Even thousands of years later, historians will comment that they will also praise His Majesty's benevolence and generosity. Li Yan was very happy to take over this errand.

"Wang Dehua."

"The slave is here."

"You are faithful to the Lord, and I like it very much. You are naturally responsible for the aftermath of your late master. If he obeys the mandate of heaven and gives up the world to me, and does not commit suicide, I will treat him with courtesy and care for life. It's a pity that he didn't know my true heart, and he clung to the ancient premonition of 'the monarch dies in the society', and forced the queen to commit suicide first, and he himself hanged himself. You are Chongzhen's henchman, and you are the eunuch who holds the seal of the celebrant eunuch, I see that you don't forget the old master, and you still have a conscience. You have to assist Prime Minister Li Cheng in Haosheng, find a good coffin in the palace, carefully decorate your old master, park it in the Shouhuang Palace, protect it, and wait for the holy decree of Lonely. Are there any palace maids in the Qianqing Palace? ”

Someone next to him replied: "Most of them committed suicide by throwing themselves into the water, and some escaped from the palace, and now there are still more than a dozen palace people left who are still living in the Qianqing Palace, waiting for their fate." ”

"After you carry Chongzhen's body to the Shouhuang Palace, order the palace maids of the Qianqing Palace to comb Chongzhen's hair, tidy up his makeup, and change his clothes, boots and hats."

"Command!" Wang Dehua kowtowed again, and asked again: "Slaves and maids have the courage to ask, Emperor Chongzhen has been in the dynasty for 17 years, once he is martyred, he is deeply blessed by His Majesty's sanctity and is allowed to be buried, which is really unprecedented in ancient times." I don't know if the emperor's robe can be used to crown the funeral? ”

Li Zicheng was about to agree and take care of Chongzhen's aftermath with the gift of the Son of Heaven, but unexpectedly, Niu Jinxing next to him spoke.

"In the humble opinion of the ministers, Chongzhen is the king of the dead country, so naturally he can't use the emperor's crown dragon robe to be buried. Moreover, the coffin found temporarily is not Zi Palace, and it cannot be buried in the emperor's clothes. His Majesty gave Yao Shun's benevolence to the king of the victorious dynasty and did not add the punishment of corpses, which is rare in the annals of history. Use palace casual clothes or regular court clothes to enter the funeral, and allow the prince, the second king and the old ministers of the Sheng Dynasty to 'cry', which is enough for the ceremony. ”

However, now that the crown prince and the two princes of Yongwang and Dingwang, the three people closest to Chongzhen, are missing, this matter is naturally difficult to handle. Therefore, the only way to set up a tent was to put the coffins of Chongzhen and Queen Zhou inside, set up a spiritual seat, and offer incense and candles for the ministers in the capital to worship and cry.

Under Li Yan's intentional arrangement, Li Banghua, Gong Yongchang and other former Ming officials and nobles died on the spiritual seats of more than 20 people who died after the Dashun army entered the city, and accompanied the sacrifices on both sides of the spiritual seats of Chongzhen and his wife, which can be regarded as a warning to these officials who came to worship.

However, Li Yan never thought that his careful arrangement was a pretty look for the blind!

"Thirty of the ministers wept and worshipped, and sixty-nine worshippers did not cry, and the rest were all ignored, but the chief Liu Yangzhen touched the ground with his head and mourned." , "The mud head went to the curtain, staggered and ran, knelt in front of the palace and cried", "Touching the steps with his head, the blood flowed on the face".

However, do not think that the thirty officials who shed a few tears, and the sixty who came to worship a few times without shedding tears, belong to those who have lost their conscience. In comparison, they are full of discipline.

Just as they were shedding tears and worshipping in the tent, several horses passed by on the road leading to Donghua Gate outside the tent.

The rider on the horse, with a round-necked gauze hat, refused to look at the shed, and rode past.

"Who is this?"

"Hanlin Academy, Jintan, Nanzhili, Fushe Mountain Chief, Zhou Zhong's is!"

"Humph! Sure enough, it's the Donglin thief again! ”

"Shhhh Silence! This person is now a guest of Tianyouge University Scholar Niu Venus Constellation, Niu **** admires his name, and has many recommendations in front of His Majesty, and he is a dignitary of the new dynasty! ”

Zhou Zhong, the word Jiesheng, a native of Jintan, Jiangsu, and Zhou Bi's younger brother. For all beings, there is a reputation. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), he was a scholar and a scholar of the Hanlin Academy. Growing up in Jiangnan, where humanity gathers, he has been regarded as a talented man since he was a child. The Restoration Society is a large society where talented people in Jiangnan are concentrated, and Zhou Zhong is a leader. Being able to hold the position of president shows the prosperity of this person's moral articles.

As he was riding his horse and walking slowly, the gong sounded loudly in the distance, and a small team came over. Zhou Zhong's eyes were sharp, and when he reined in the horse's head, he turned over and dismounted, and stood respectfully on the side of the road to greet him.

In front of it are two servants holding a pair of tiger head cards, one is written on the top of the "avoidance", one is written on the top of the "quiet", then there is a pair of yarn lanterns, on which is written the words "Tianyou Pavilion", and then there are two lines of sergeants guarding the sedan chair, sounding the gong to open the way, a simple guard of honor, four servants holding water and fire sticks, two servants carrying a sandalwood burner, and then a person riding on a horse, holding a blue umbrella cover, and then four personal servants, freshly dressed horses, one of the servants holding a red brocade prayer post, and an eight-carrying green sedan chair is guarded by the stars and the moon. It's like the prime minister of peace, so majestic!

But it was the team of Tianyou Pavilion University scholar Niu Jinxing who went out to the palace to meet Li Zicheng.

"Student Zhou Zhong has seen his teacher!" When Zhou Zhong saw Niu Jinxing's team coming, he knelt down and reported aloud on the side of the road.

Hearing the voice of Zhou Zhong in the sedan chair, Niu Jinxing hurriedly stomped on the floor of the sedan chair several times in a row, and the sedan chair drivers hurriedly got off the sedan chair.

Zhou Zhong is famous all over the world, and his friends are all over the south of the Yangtze River, so Niu Jinxing naturally wants to recruit him and recruit him to his command to strengthen his momentum.

After entering Beijing, there were many things, and the various political and military affairs that Li Yan had to deal with were even more complicated. So he gave Niu Jinxing and others a vacancy.

The main activity of the ministers led by Niu Jinxing was to prepare for the new emperor's enthronement ceremony, and to step up the preparation of a new court dress and crown in accordance with the "Great Shun Huidian". The ministers on every three, sixth, and ninth days on the table of merit, everyone competes to work the persuasion of the table, and some people do not hesitate to ask four or six handwriters of the Beijing division to write with generous gifts, and strive to praise the words ingenious, not clichéd, and to be elegant, stable on the battle. Everyone is waiting for Qin Tianjian to hold a new emperor's ascension ceremony after selecting a good day and auspicious days, and from then on, the Dashun Dynasty will be officially founded, and the Dashun Emperor will also become the orthodox co-ruler of the world. The newly surrendered Wenchen in Beijing was looking forward to being hired by the new dynasty. Like Zhou Zhong, who has been awarded an official position, he is even competing to write his new official title on a big red paper in the thick ink block of the pavilion and paste it on the door. Some newly demoted officials, in order to seek progress for their fate, handed over protégé posts, and worshiped Ox Venus as the teacher.

Among these persuasion forms, the persuasion form of Zhou Zhong, the president of the Restoration Society, is naturally the most brilliant. He said in the "Persuasion Table" that Emperor Chongzhen "**** bestows the head, and all surnames return to the heart", and praised Li Zicheng as "better than Yao and Shun and have martial arts, and Maitang and martial arts are not ashamed." In the blink of an eye, Li Zicheng, the commander of the peasant army who was wanted by the Ming Dynasty government two months ago and was known as the thief Qukui, in Zhou Zhong's view, his martial arts have surpassed the models of previous kings - Yao, Shun, Shang Tang and King Wu of Zhou; On the other hand, he criticized that two months ago, he kowtowed and said that the holy Chongzhen was ****.

Some people also told him privately that Li had killed too much since he started his army, and he was afraid that it would be difficult for him to succeed. Zhou Zhong responded lightly, back then, wasn't Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the former Ming Dynasty, the same?

This kind of conscious behavior of defending the Dashun regime at all times, both openly and covertly, can naturally scratch the itch of the important members of the new regime. Zhou Zhong was appreciated by the Kejia department in the Dashun regime headed by Niu Jinxing, and was like a fish in water in Beijing, attracting the envy and imitation of his old colleagues.

And another figure of the new dynasty in the capital is also a talent. Zhongyun Liang Zhaoyang. When he saw Li Zicheng in Jin, he couldn't wait to accuse Chongzhen, who was lying in the tent, "just restored to his own use, and the blood of the monarch and the ministers is not connected, so that all the people are miserable." "The situation of the Ming Dynasty today is pushed to the point that Chongzhen can't listen to the opinions of the masses and refuses to adopt the opinions of their scholars. As for Li Zicheng, a former Ming Dynasty post soldier who took off his rough clothes, he touted him in public and said that he "saves the people from fire and water, does not kill Shenwu, is better than Long Yaoshun, and Tang Wu is inadequate." -- It is a step further than Zhou Zhong's praise, Zhou Zhong thinks that Li Zicheng and Tang Wu are the same level of saints, and Liang Zhaoyang thinks that Tang Wu and Li Zicheng are not at the same level at all.

"Jiesheng, what do you want?"

"Teacher, the student has a clumsy work, and I planned to go to the teacher's mansion to ask Mr. to correct one or two, and then present the Son of Heaven."

"Oh! Jiesheng has another splendid article published? The old man wants to have a sneak peek! ”

After the Dashun army entered Beijing, Zhou Zhong gave full play to his writing advantages, and several articles in a row made the civil officials led by Li Yan in the Dashun court amazed, "In the end, it is the foundation of Shu Jishi!" "Whether it is the persuasion table, or the "Theory of Priest Seeing Danger", Niu Jinxing read it, and he was greatly admired. For Zhou Zhong, it is natural to look at it differently. And Zhou Zhong is a wonderful person who knows the meaning of elegance when he hears the string songs, and he will say everywhere that Mr. Niu really knows me with the grace of encounter, just like a reborn parent.

"The student's clumsy essay made the gentleman laugh. "Lower Jiangnan Policy". Zhou Zhong ordered the servants around him to take out a manuscript copied in small Kaigong pen from the worship box, and respectfully presented it to Niu Jinxing, the former Lu family's lifter, and asked him to give him some advice.

Niu Jinxing flipped through this policy in the sedan chair, and I have to say that Ji Jishi's writing is really good. In the article, Zhou Zhong analyzed the necessity and importance of leaving Zhili, entering Shandong, and going down to the south of the Yangtze River for Dashun, and also put forward opinions on how to deal with the small number of former Ming remnants led by Li Shouhan, the stubborn Liang Guogong who was entrenched in the south of the Yangtze River. or appease, or exterminate, or use discord and sowing discord to make them kill from the guys, all kinds of things.

"Jiesheng, the article is very concise. It just so happens that today the prime minister is going to enter the palace to face the saint. How about you and me, master and apprentice going together? ”

"Obey the teacher's orders."

Zhou Zhong rode his horse beside Niu Jinxing's sedan chair and followed suit, respecting his disciples. Accompanied Niu Jinxing's Taoist team into the palace.

At this time, Li Zicheng was not in the Wuying Hall where he was stationed.

He led Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Tichun, Zhang Nai, and Luo Hu, who had just entered the city from outside the city, to the commanding heights of the capital Coal Mountain to enjoy the scenery after the snow in the capital!

After the snow, the city of Beijing, the palaces and temples that row upon row, the official pavilions of the private houses, are covered by snow, just like the Qionglou Yuyu Heavenly Palace.

Li Zicheng and the others seemed to have seen such a beautiful scenery for the first time, looking at the snow-covered capital, they were all praised.

For more than ten years, Li Zicheng led the rebels of the old Eighth Brigade, which were initially active in Shaanxi, Henan, and Shanxi, and later entered Huguang, fought back to Shaanxi, and crossed the river to the east. He has walked through countless mountains and rivers, and he is not as comfortable as he is when he climbs the coal mountain at this moment.

In fact, the coal mountain is not a mountain. It is the early years of the Ming Dynasty when the city of Beijing was rebuilt, the north city wall of the Yuan capital was demolished, and a part of the city wall was piled up to form this rockery, which not only can not be compared with the mountain, but also can not be compared with the hills of the remaining veins of the mountain. In terms of its area and height, it is not worth mentioning. According to the calculations at that time, it was 14 zhang from the top of the mountain to the ground.

The middle peak of this small rockery was the highest point in Beijing at that time. After Li Zicheng climbed to the top of the middle peak of the coal mountain, he looked southward, from the splendid Forbidden City to the southern city and the outer city with rows of houses, from the Wumen, Duanmen, Chengtianmen, Daming Gate, Zhengyang Gate until Yongding Gate. The sacrosanct Forbidden City is now under his feet. The imperial capital of the Liao, Jin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties is now stepping under his feet. To occupy Beijing is to destroy the Ming Dynasty and seize the world. After more than ten years of fighting, I have only now seen the real victory, and it is done!

Li Zicheng stood on the top of the middle peak of the coal mountain, and was both happy and amazed, and unconsciously raised his head to the sky and let out a long roar.

With Li Zicheng's long roar, Liu Zongmin, Liu Tichun, Yuan Zongdi, Zhang Nai and others next to him drew their knives in their hands and shouted. It's as if you're fighting to the death with the enemy on the battlefield again.

However, Li Yan, who came later, had a calm face, and nodded approvingly to Luo Hu, who was standing aside, very friendly, "Uncle Shan has worked this trip." If you hadn't taken Tongzhou without blood, this snow would have been in the capital, and there would have been a shortage of food in the capital. ”

In the battle of Chaoyangmen, Luo Hu conquered the Chaoyangmen tower, cut off internal and external contact, and wiped out the garrison in Jingying City in one fell swoop.

Liu Zongmin saw that the momentum was in favor of his side, and even if he waved his army, he gradually compressed the space of the Beijing camp.

Hearing the shouts and killings from inside the city, the rows of firearms at the head of the city kept hitting the Beijing camp under the city, and the soldiers of the Beijing camp were hit by projectiles and fell to the ground with a scream.

These information are cruelly reminding Luo Mingzu and Tan Chery that the situation is becoming more and more unfavorable to Jingying! The emperor Chongzhen in the city, I'm afraid that there is no hope of escaping!

"Old talk! We can't afford to delay here any longer! Fast! Gather the people and get ready to stir up the water! In a hurry, Luo Mingzu's mouth also came out of the black words that he had learned from Wang Long Luo Hu's mouth.

If the Ming army of other parts encounters such a situation, it must be a thousand miles away. However, this new army is regarded by Luo Tan and the others as the capital of their life in this troubled world. Not only did he not deduct military salaries, but he even did not hesitate to advance military salaries with family wealth, and paid for the soldiers to add vegetables out of his own pockets. The upper and lower levels are tied by kindness and righteousness, and the internal relationship is handled quite harmoniously.

At that moment, Luo Mingzu and Tan Qirui greeted each other, and officials at all levels gathered their soldiers one after another, sorted out the formation, and each team gathered in one place alternately to prepare to withdraw from the battlefield.

If it is according to the meaning of Bai Minghe and others, it must be to wave the army and bite the team of Luo Mingzu and Tan Chery until they are defeated and eliminated. However, in Liu Zongmin's battle-hardened eyes, although the team in front of him closed the formation because of the unfavorable battlefield situation and excessive casualties, the so-called poor Kou Mo chased and returned to the division. If you wield your own troops to kill, you will inevitably let the other party fight the trapped beast and cause huge casualties to yourself.

Liu Zongmin ordered Bai Minghe and others to quickly lead troops into the city and hand over the defense of Chaoyangmen with Luo Hu's department. He and Luo Hu led the Zhenshan Battalion and the two thousand old battalion elite cavalry, and also slowly gathered the team, monitoring the movements of the Beijing Battalion.

The two armies, which had been fighting blood-and-blood just now, silently stopped fighting, quietly gathered their men and horses, and gathered the wounded in one place.

"Huzi, if your team rushes, how sure are you that you will kill them or defeat them?" Liu Zongmin was a little unwilling, and he was still thinking about a plan to deal with this army outside Beijing.

"About thirty percent." Luo Hu replied a little stubbornly.

In front of the Beijing camp, the infantry team relied on the East Barracks, the Temple of the Sun and other buildings, lined up in formation, ready to meet the charge of the Dashun army with firearms. The cavalry, who had been on guard on both sides and in the rear, had also regained some strength after a short rest, and lined up in formation.

"Uncle Jiexuan, it's better to be a favor and let them go to Tongzhou. However, it was agreed with them in advance that if they went south and east through Tongzhou, they were not allowed to burn the grain on the canal or destroy the locks. ”

Liu Zongmin pondered slightly, feeling that Luo Hu's idea was more practical. At the moment, hard fighting is not good for Dashun. Just make it pretty!

So, Luo Hu once again flew out with Ma Harrier and negotiated with Luo Mingzu about Chery.

This time, the negotiations went exceptionally well.

The Dashun army gave way to the road, and the Jingying headed east to Tongzhou, and at the same time sent 450,000 silver dollars of military pay as travel expenses. The quid pro quo was that whether the Beijing camp went south along the canal or continued eastward through Tongzhou, the facilities and grain on Tongzhou and the canal must be handed over to the Dashun army.

As a guarantee, Luo Mingzu asked Luo Hu to send a liaison officer to the Beijing camp, "so as not to encounter misunderstandings when your team blocks them on the way!" So, Li Jinbao, who was familiar with Chery and many Beijing camp officers who talked to Luo Mingzu, became an officer of the Dashun Army among the elite of the three major battalions of the Ming army.

The two armies opened a distance of more than ten miles not far away, and rushed east along the canal from outside Chaoyang Gate to Tongzhou.

The refugees and defeated soldiers who fled from the direction of the capital learned about the earth-shaking changes that had taken place in the capital, and Lin Wenbing, who was in Tongzhou on the orders of Li Peiting to negotiate with the Dashun army, had no choice but to sigh and pack his bags and prepare to leave immediately.

However, to his surprise, he was about to leave Tongzhou for Tianjin, and Wu Liangfu, the eunuch who had just escaped from the capital, was unusually and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to return to the palace. He handed over Chongzhen's handwritten decree and several little eunuchs to Lin Wenbing, and asked Mr. Lin to go south to convey the emperor's holy decree on his behalf.

"Our family is the emperor's slave and maid, and he is a poor person. But Grandpa Guo and Mr. Rank do not treat us deviants as outsiders, but as people. Our family also wants to dedicate some heart to Guogong, which can be regarded as repaying his old man's grace over the years. ”

After saying this, Wu Liangfu was very resolute to change the python robe on his body into the clothes of ordinary people, and went west against the fleeing crowd.

Luo Hu used the "send-off pursuit, knock-on blockade", maintained a distance of 20 miles from the people and horses of the Beijing camp, and at the same time sent people to Pegasus to inform the Shun army of all departments along the way, and gave a detailed report on the situation of this team in the Beijing camp. If you think you're better than me, just go and fight, and I'll support you from behind. If you feel that it is difficult to fight, then don't move, as long as they are not trying to go to Jizhou, Luanzhou, Qian'an, and Lulong to join Wu Sangui, everything is easy to say!

However, Luo Mingzu and Tan Qirui didn't think about walking in the direction of Jizhou and Yutian to join forces with Wu Sangui as Luo Hu thought. They were very trustworthy and stopped in Tongzhou for a while, replenished some grain and grass, collected dozens of cao boats, settled the wounded on the cao boats, and then traveled to Tianjin with Lin Wenbing.

Luo Hu took advantage of the situation to accept Tongzhou!

An even bigger gain was on the way back.

Several Ming Dynasty officials stopped Luo Hu's team and reported to him that in the temple not far away, more than a dozen people who had fled were quite suspicious. One of them looked young, but he was the owner of the group.

"Xia Guan also saw this person in Jingshi that day, as if he was the son of the tyrant Chongzhen!"

"Please hurry up, General! The horses of those men were tired and had to stay in the temple for a while. (To be continued.) )