There was a popular scene in the Middle Ages in Europe, where whenever a princess was in trouble, a prince would come to her rescue on a white horse.

In the far east, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was also a popular bridge section, whenever the peasant rebel army was in distress, Huang Taiji would ride a war horse to come to the rescue.

Just when Chongzhen and Zhang Xianzhong were bargaining and having a good time, Huang Taiji also came to join in the fun, and he sent someone to send a secret letter to Chongzhen through Fang Yizao, the governor of Liaodong, and the content of the secret letter was very simple, just one sentence.

For the sake of the two sides living in harmony, he hoped that the Ming army would retreat to the Guanningjin defense line and return Haizhou, Gaizhou, Fuzhou, Jinzhou, the Liaohe River and the Santaizi River to them!

This is obviously blackmail, Chongzhen is stupid, like a pig, it is impossible to agree to him.

What are you kidding, the entire Liaodong was originally a good Ming Dynasty, for the sake of harmony between the two sides, why don't you return to Jianzhou and return Liaoyang, Shenyang and Dingliao Youwei to the Ming Dynasty.

Huang Taiji received Chongzhen's reply, and immediately became angry, and within a few days, he led 100,000 Manchu and Mongolian cavalry from the Great Wall north of Jizhou Town to break into the pass, and looted wildly in the territory of Shuntian Mansion and Yongping Mansion!

This was obviously a premeditated action, he knew that Chongzhen could not agree to such an unreasonable request, and he had already gathered all the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry in the Mongolian steppe in southern Mongolia, just waiting for Chongzhen to refuse, and then used this as an excuse to rush into the pass and plunder frantically.

This can frighten Chongzhen, because the main force of the Ming army is either in Liaodong or Huguang, at this time, there are only 20,000 border soldiers in Jizhou Town, and there are only 20,000 garrisons in Changping, and the border soldiers in Xuanfu Town and Datong Town have been evacuated by Yang Sichang, that is to say, there are only 40,000 Ming troops in the vicinity of Gyeonggi at this time, and there are more than 20 cities in Shuntian and Yongping, if all these 40,000 people are transferred to the capital to garrison, then all the cities in the entire Gyeonggi may be captured by Huang Taiji!

What to do?

At this time, Chongzhen showed the responsibility of an emperor, he was not the kind of unscrupulous monarch who abandoned the common people, at least he thought so, he did not transfer the defenders of Jizhou Town and Changping to the capital, but ordered them to hold all the cities of Shuntian Mansion and Yongping Mansion, as for the guards of the capital, he figured out his own way.

Although there is no conventional army in the capital, there are still a lot of miscellaneous armed forces, including more than 20,000 people in 17 guards under Jinyiwei, more than 10,000 internal guards under Dongchang, and more than 20,000 guards under the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses, these people's equipment is actually not worse than the ordinary border soldiers, that is to say, the capital actually has nearly 60,000 defenders, and they can barely withstand it for a while, and there are many family guards in the homes of Beijing officials and gentry, and these people can organize to defend the city.

Although Chongzhen was startled, he did not panic, on the one hand, he issued an order to declare martial law in the whole city of the capital, close all the city gates, and on the other hand, ordered the Jinyi Guard, the Dongchang Inner Guard, and the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses to cancel their vacations, cancel the rotation, and all go to the outer city, the inner city and the city wall of the imperial city to garrison, and on the other hand, he mobilized the officials and gentry in Beijing to organize the family guards of their mansions and go to the city wall to assist in defending the city.

However, this time, the candidates for the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief of the city have changed, and the governor of Jingying Rongzheng is no longer the British Duke of the military department, but the celebrant Bingbi, the governor of Dongchang, Cao Huachun, and the assistant Jingying Rongzheng are no longer capable ministers Zhang Bin, but his own trusted ministers, cabinet scholars, and Yang Sichang, the secretary of the military department!

Of course, Zhang Bin was not abandoned by him, at this time, he must use all the strength he can use to defend the capital, no matter how suspicious he is, Zhang Bin is such a capable minister He will not throw it aside, so he sent Zhang Bin an assistant Fuchengmen guard minister position, presiding over the defense of Fuchengmen in the west of the inner city, commanding all the nearby Jinyi guards, Xicheng soldiers and horses and the family guards of the officials and gentry in Beijing, defending Fuchengmen and the city walls on both sides.

This position sounds a bit strange, but it is actually equivalent to the temporary guard of Fuchengmen, but there are all miscellaneous troops under him.

After arranging the guards of the capital, Chongzhen summoned Yang Sichang to the imperial study and began to discuss how to drive Jiannu away.

Yang Sichang didn't know the province at this time, so he even suggested sending someone to negotiate with Huang Taiji, asking him to abide by the secret agreement made by the two sides, live in harmony, and withdraw his troops immediately!

Fortunately, at this time, Chongzhen was rarely wise, he didn't completely listen to Yang Sichang, after all, he had been an opponent of Huang Taiji for more than ten years, and he still knew a little about this person, he knew that sending someone to talk to Huang Taiji would not be able to negotiate a result, and in the end he would have to organize a large army to drive him away.

So, where is the army to be sent to drive Huang Taiji away?

Tune the Liaodong Army?

No, there are still more than 100,000 Jiannu in Liaodong at this time, and the Liaodong army has been dispersed to various cities to garrison, and it is a bit unrealistic to assemble to enter King Qin.

Jiannu can have more than 100,000 elite horsemen at this time, if the Liaodong army comes too little, it is purely to deliver food to others, if there are too many transfers, Liaodong will be empty, such a large territory, how can it be defended.

This may be Huang Taiji's trick, he led the cavalry into the Kou may be to make himself panic, and transfer all the troops stationed in Liaodong to King Qin, so that he can easily take most of the cities and fortresses in Liaodong.

Chongzhen still won't do this kind of stupid thing, thinking about it, the only thing that can be mobilized now is the more than 200,000 troops of Huguang to suppress thieves.

In Chongzhen's view, the suppression of thieves is actually coming to an end, Liu Guoneng and Li Wanqing have accepted the appeasement, Li Zicheng has also been wiped out, and the only ones who still have a little strength in the anti-thieves are Zhang Xianzhong and the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo, the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo has been inconspicuous, and in Chongzhen's eyes, he is a little minion, and Zhang Xianzhong has agreed to accept the appeasement at this time, but the conditions of the two sides have not yet been negotiated.

At this time, the only difference between the two sides was the issue of food, Zhang Xianzhong had reduced the salary to 80,000 horses, which was not very different from the 50,000 in Chongzhen's mind.

The more Zhang Xianzhong got to the back, the more grinding he became, he had already begun to drop 5,500, and there was a trend of becoming 2,000 or even 1,000, and I don't know how long it would take to reach the consensus of 50,000.

Chongzhen gritted his teeth and simply agreed to his request, 80,000 is 80,000, Huang Taiji has come to the capital, he can't care about this bit of food, and it is only right for Xiong Wencan to quickly lead the army back to help.

On the one hand, he sent people to Huguang to inform Xiong Wencan, and at the request of Zhang Xianzhong, he immediately led the army back to the capital to help, and on the other hand, he ordered the officials in Beijing to strictly guard and not slack off, and also discussed with Yang Sichang how to let Jiannu withdraw the army.

Yang Sichang is still keen on peace talks with Huang Taiji, he thinks that Huang Taiji brought all the cavalry this time, obviously not to attack the city, but to show off his might and increase his bargaining chips.

This negotiation is sometimes similar to gambling, both sides take the chips and choose the time to bet to win the maximum benefit, Huang Taiji bet is not surprising, talk to him, let some interests, he will definitely withdraw the army.

Chongzhen is still obedient to Yang Sichang as always, since Yang Sichang insists on peace talks, he simply let Yang Sichang be fully responsible for talking to Huang Taiji, if he can make Huang Taiji withdraw his troops by playing tricks, it is naturally the best.

Will Huang Taiji withdraw his troops?

No kidding, he's robbing it right now, he's really not here to attack the city this time, he's purely here to loot!

Zhang Bin led the army to recover nearly three-thirds of the territory of Liaodong, which made his income plummet, and now, it is a little difficult for him to maintain an army of 180,000, and he is a little unable to sustain it if he does not come to the Ming Dynasty to plunder.

The one chosen at this time is called a good one, except for the one stationed in Liaodong, almost all of the Ming army's troops have been transferred to encircle and suppress the thieves, he is like no one in the Gyeonggi area, as long as he doesn't attack the city, no one will pay attention to him at all!

At this time, he has looted nearly 200,000 people, gold, silver, treasures, grain, poultry and so on, and he can't count them, it's really fucking cool!

He's cool, his subordinates are also cool, not to mention the Manchurian cavalry, wherever they go, where they grab, no one stops them at all, women play casually, things can be taken casually, food and poultry can be eaten casually, so cool, even the Meng Yuan foot soldiers who are responsible for "handling" are also cool at this time, don't want it, although the gold, silver and jewelry are not their share, but women they can also play casually, and they can also eat food and poultry at will, which is even cooler than the New Year!

They are happy, but the people near Gyeonggi are like falling into hell, extremely miserable, their wives are separated, their families are ruined, they are reduced to slavery, and they are slaughtered by others, this is their fate.

At this time, the envoy to the peace talks sent by Yang Sichang finally found Huang Taiji's plundering army.

Huang Taiji was very enthusiastic, he was courteous to the envoy of the peace talks sent by Yang Sichang, treated him as a guest, spoke with a smile, and his tone was as good as he was, just like a humble gentleman who was as gentle as jade.

For Yang Sichang's request to let him withdraw his troops, he did not refuse, he just made a request, you withdraw the troops, I will withdraw the troops, as long as the Ming army can return to the Guanningjin defense line and return Haizhou, Gaizhou, Fuzhou, Jinzhou, the first line of the Liaohe River and the first line of the Santaizi River to them, he will withdraw his troops immediately!

He is a scoundrel, how can Chongzhen return the land recovered from Liaodong to him, what he means is not to retreat, to grab it well, what to retreat!

Yang Sichang's peace talks with Huang Taiji have made no progress, the people near Gyeonggi are still suffering in hell, and the people in the capital are also panicking, Jiannu has called, but there is no garrison defense in the capital, and even the army of King Qin outside the capital has not seen one, who is not afraid.

There are really people who are not afraid, Zhang Bin is not afraid, Huang Taiji is the defeated general under him, he doesn't know how many Jiannu or something, what is there to be afraid of, even if there is no garrison in the capital, he is not afraid, Huang Taiji has a kind of you to come, see how the master teaches you.

He didn't have the troops to go out of the city to clean up Huang Taiji at this time, but if Huang Taiji dared to run to attack the city, he would definitely be able to fight Huang Taiji all over the place.

Chongzhen thought that if he didn't let him assist in the Jingying Rongzheng, he would have no military power, but he didn't know that Cao Huachun, the governor of the Jingying Rongzheng, was his person, and Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, was also his person, and the British Gongzhang Zhiji, who was in charge of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses, was still his person, and he could all command and transfer Dongchang, Jinyiwei, and Jingying Tunwei!

He still has tens of thousands of elite guards in his hands, these are all good hands with one as ten, and if they want to go to the field to fight a field battle with the Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry, they may not be able to do it, but if Huang Taiji dares to abandon his horse and attack the city, Huang Taiji, who can fight more than 10,000 guards under his command, will not be able to find the north.

At this moment, he was standing on the tower of Fucheng Gate, looking at the great rivers and mountains outside the city gate, without any panicked expression on his face, and he was extremely calm.

In fact, he was not in a good mood at this time, he knew that the people outside the city were suffering in hell, although these were not caused by him, but he also had a certain responsibility, if he didn't let go of Chongzhen and Yang Sichang, the two monarchs and ministers, would have no chance to rush into the gate and wreak havoc.

He was looking at the great rivers and mountains outside the city in a daze, and Luo Yangxing, who was standing behind him, suddenly spoke: "Shuangquan, why don't you fight with Yang Sichang, although this guy is not a big traitor like Wen Tiren, but he is too domineering, except for the emperor, he can't listen to anyone's words, he can fix it as much as he wants, the whole court is a mess, I am angry when I look at it, let alone others." ”

This is a special period, Luo Yangxing is not afraid of people who have a heart to chew the root of the tongue, because Chongzhen asked him to inspect the city defense situation everywhere, and it is normal for him to go to Fuchengmen to inspect it.

When Zhang Bin heard this, he sighed and said: "Tairu, it's not that I don't fight, it's that I can't fight, Yang Sichang can not be principled, regardless of right and wrong, and blindly greet the emperor, but I can't do it." ”

Luo Yangxing said indignantly: "This guy is also shameless, he pretends to be a humble gentleman in front of the emperor, and he is arrogant and domineering behind the emperor's back, doing whatever he wants, or let's go to the emperor to expose him?" ”

Zhang Bin couldn't help but smile bitterly: "What expose him?" Expose him for playing face change? This is not a sin, it is a sin to change your face, then you have to do it, everyone has to keep a straight face. ”

Luo Yangxing's burning anger, he thought about it for a long time, and he really couldn't think of what Yang Sichang had done, this guy didn't bend the law for bribes, nor did he use his power for personal gain, let alone kill people and set fires, if he wanted to charge Yang Sichang with a crime, at most he would sue this guy for forming a party for personal gain, but he also knew that the party that Yang Sichang formed was the imperial party, and Chongzhen instructed him to form a gang against Zhang Bin, and it was useless to sue this guy for this.

He really couldn't think of any crime, so he simply said gloomily: "Otherwise, we will stuff some silver into his mansion, stuff a few million taels, and we should buy his life!" ”

When Zhang Bin heard this, he couldn't cry or laugh, he did have this silver, and he was not reluctant to give it to Chongzhen, anyway, Chongzhen would not use it for his own use, the money in the treasury, Chongzhen basically used it for business, which he was quite clear.

However, he can't be so unscrupulous, in the face of Wen Tiren's shameless traitorous minister, he can play with framing him, but in the face of Yang Sichang, a "loyal minister" who serves the country and the people, he can't play like this, he has to talk about principles in everything, if he doesn't talk about principles, won't he lose himself and be swayed by power.

He shook his head and said: "Tairu, we have to be principled, and we can play these tricks against treacherous villains such as the remnants of the eunuch party, because they themselves are shameless, but, for Yang Sichang, we can't play like this, we can't do whatever we want with power, you know?" ”

Luo Yangxing is just angry and just talking casually, of course he won't really go to Yang Sichang's mansion to play any kind of framing and framing, this Yang Sichang is really helpless, he couldn't help but be discouraged and said: "Then what should I do, do you want this guy to continue to be so rampant?" ”

Zhang Bin looked into the distance and said wisely: "He won't be crazy for long, those who do whatever they want will eventually have to pay for what they do, and he will reap the consequences." ”