Time passed day by day, on March 15, Li Zicheng captured Juyongguan and Zhending Mansion, and finally formed a three-sided encirclement of Beijing City, on the 16th, Li Jiantai, a scholar, surrendered in Baoding Kaicheng, Baoding fell, except for Shanhaiguan in the north, Beijing City completely cut off foreign aid.

"Hahahaha, Chongzhen, you dog emperor don't hurry up and surrender out of the city, maybe this king will be happy, not only spare your life, but also immediately be able to seal you a 'send the marquis' dangdang." Outside the Xizhi Gate, Li Zicheng looked at the dozens of cannons that had been erected, and laughed arrogantly at the city of Beijing.

"Your Majesty!" A person who looked like a eunuch next to him suddenly spoke up.

"What for?" Li Zicheng stared.

"You are now Your Majesty, you can't call yourself the king, you have to call yourself 'I'." The eunuch said with a flattering face.

"Uh--,yes, yes! Benda - no, it's me, I'm already Your Majesty, I'm the emperor of the world, the title must be changed, it must be changed! Li Zicheng nodded approvingly.

"You're still faithful, eunuch! Don't worry, I won't treat you badly! Li Zicheng smiled and touched the eunuch's head, like a dog, but the eunuch was not the slightest bit unusual, but even more flattering.

There was a great chaos in Beijing, and after Emperor Chongzhen received Li Zicheng's shout, he sat on the dragon chair tiredly, unable to scold Li Zicheng at all.

"Boom! Blow open the city gate for Lao Tzu! ”

Li Zicheng laughed and brazenly ordered the city to be bombarded, and suddenly dozens of cannons let out an earth-shattering roar, and for a while, the houses in the city collapsed, the rubble fell, and the people in Beijing panicked.

At night, in the Shangshu Mansion of the Ministry of War.

Zhang Jinyan, the secretary of the military department, is conspiring with a man in a beggar's suit in a secret room.

"Little brother, did King Chuang really promise that as long as I open the door and surrender, he will not hurt my life and make me the prince of the country?" Zhang Yanyan asked cautiously with a flattering face.

"Naturally, as long as you are sincerely obedient, Your Majesty will not break your word, Emperor Chongzhen is mediocre, the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed overnight, and the world will be our Majesty King in the future, Lord Zhang should not have any hesitation, otherwise, the heavenly soldiers will enter the city, lest they have to be beheaded." The young beggar said half-threateningly.

Zhang Yanyan's face changed, and after a moment, he gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, this official has decided to surrender to the Ming Lord, and ask the little brother to go back and tell His Majesty King Chuang that he will open the Zhengyang Gate in the early morning of the day after tomorrow to welcome His Majesty King Chuang into the city." ”

Time was pressing, and on the 18th, Zhu Cihong suddenly took Zhang Kuishan and dozens of Donggong guards to the Daming Firearms Manufacturing Bureau of the Ministry of Industry.

"Hurry up and let your chief here come and see Prince Ben."

After a while, an old man who looked to be in his fifties came here, accompanied by a young man.

"Chen Xin, director of the Firearms Manufacturing Bureau of the Ministry of Ministers, visited His Royal Highness the Prince!"

Zhu Cihong didn't talk nonsense, and asked directly: "This prince asked you, do you still have firearms stored here, and tell me how many of them." ”

"Back to His Royal Highness the Prince, the Manufacturing Bureau has not allocated silver for a year, and the manufacture of firearms has basically been suspended, and now there are only three general cannons, about 8,000 arquebuses, and 200 thunderbolts in stock." Chen Xin replied.

"For these stocks, Prince Ben wants 3,000 arquebuses and all thunderbolts." If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't take it, Zhu Cihong really wanted to move all the inventory away, lest it be left to Li Zicheng after the city was broken.

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, slow down, you can't call the shots if you want so many firearms, I don't know if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has an approval from the Ministry of Works, or His Majesty's holy decree." Chen Xin asked with a sad face.

Zhu Cihong frowned: "Master Chen, you don't have to worry about this, if someone asks, you just have to push it on the head of the prince, and the prince will go to explain it to his father." ”

"It's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

As Zhang Kuishan and dozens of guards went to the warehouse to move things, Zhu Cihong took a turn here, probably because there were only a few people here because he had not started work for a long time.

Suddenly, when Zhu Cihong saw something on a table, he was suddenly shocked, and his eyes couldn't help but widen.

The flint he found on the table, and a half-finished musket, this musket was different from the arquebus he had seen, the trigger was connected to the flint and the firing pin, could it be... Tunnel pistol!

Zhu Cihong excitedly picked up the half-finished musket.

"Chief Chen, Prince Ben asked you, who was getting this gun just now?" Zhu Cihong's voice seemed very eager, someone in Daming was actually making a tunnel and firing a gun, this is a genius, no matter what, he will take this person with him when he leaves.

"Back to His Royal Highness the Prince, this is the minister's son doing it indiscriminately, and I ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to forgive me!"

"Which one is your disciple, let him come over to see Prince Ben!" Zhu Cihong was overjoyed, there is really this person here.

"Niansheng, you have seen His Royal Highness the Crown Prince soon." Chief Chen said to the young man behind him.

"Grass people Ji Niansheng has seen His Royal Highness the Prince." This is a young man in his twenties, probably the first time he has seen such a noble person as the crown prince, and he seems a little vino.

"Okay, get up!" Zhu Cihong stepped forward with a smile and helped this person up, and asked, "Tell Prince Ben, when did you start making this gun, and is there a finished product?" ”

"Back to His Royal Highness the Prince, this gun was made by the grass people a month ago, and the grass people have failed to build a few of them, but the grass people are confident that this one will be successful." Speaking of this, Ji Niansheng looked longing, his face was slightly hot, he couldn't imagine that the gun he invented had not yet been created to attract so much attention from His Royal Highness the Prince, if it was made, then His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would be happy, wouldn't he be able to glorify his ancestors.

Hearing that there was no finished product, Zhu Cihong was a little regretful, paused and asked, "You may have made it before tonight?" ”

"Yes!"

"Okay, you try to make this gun as quickly as possible, and Prince Ben will come here again in the evening."

Zhu Cihong excitedly returned to the East Palace all the way.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I don't know what the use of His Highness is to take so many firearms?" Zhang Kuishan asked strangely.

Zhu Cihong smiled and said, "General Zhang thinks that the musket is better than the sword?" ”

"The last general thinks that it is slightly inferior, the musket loading speed is too slow, there are many restrictions, although sharp, but except for defending the city, it is almost difficult to use, not as convenient as the sword." Zhang Kuishan thought for a while.

Zhu Cihong shook his head: "Although the musket has a lot of restrictions and the reloading speed is relatively slow, but if it is used well, it is not a problem to defeat twice the Manchurian cavalry that is equal to itself?" ”

"Your Highness, this seems unlikely." Zhang Kuishan looked puzzled, and Zhu Cihong smiled mysteriously, not explaining.

Zhu Cihong thought very clearly, there are 1,500 guards in the East Palace, these guards all belong to the Royal Forest Army, and many of them have been on the battlefield and killed Qing prisoners before joining the Royal Forest Army, and a large part of them have more or less touched the musket, plus the operation of the musket is very simple, and they can fight after a little training.

Zhu Cihong will get them used to the musket three-stage formation during this day, with two muskets per person, so that even if the reloading speed is slow, they can shoot continuously for a period of time at the beginning, and it will not be a problem to defeat twice or even three times the size of the enemy.

Zhu Cihong summoned 1,500 guards of the Imperial Forest Army in the East Palace to gather at the training ground of the East Palace, and asked them to work in groups of 500 people, equipped with muskets to adapt to the three-stage strike formation.

Zhang Kuishan saw all this in his eyes, and with his eyesight, he naturally saw the beauty of this three-stage strike formation invented by His Royal Highness the Prince, and he was very impressed at the moment, and he also gave birth to hope, and secretly determined that if the capital was really broken by Li Zicheng, he would protect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and escape to Nanjing safely no matter what.