After seeing Xuan Chengyuan's depressed look when he came back, he already knew what the result was. And after the former Yu Qian's words were repeated, he was even more annoyed: "Okay! Since you refuse to accept my kindness, let you regret your decision. Order the whole army to launch an attack early tomorrow morning! ”

This last sentence was addressed to the herald outside the account. With a word of agreement, a few horsemen and horses quickly left, and the military order of Yexian was quickly spread throughout the army. Suddenly, the Mongolian military camp, which had been quite quiet just now, suddenly boiled like boiling water, the flags were shaking, and excited roars came from everywhere from time to time.

And all this also fell into the eyes of the defenders at the head of the city, but many people showed a bit of fear in their eyes. Although they had already realized the decisive battle when they were ordered to come to the capital, they still felt a sense of weakness when they saw the strong Mongolian cavalry under the city, coming and going like the wind. These soldiers and horses are not the elite of the Ming Dynasty after all, and most of the time they are just farmers with little experience in battle formations.

Fortunately, there were still some generals around them who opened their mouths to cheer up, so that their military morale did not collapse because of this. With the orders of the generals, the soldiers also began to get busy, placing all kinds of city defense equipment one by one in the most suitable position, and bows and arrows were well stocked.

At this time, it can also be seen that the garrison strength of Beijing City is sufficient. There were millions of bows and arrows hoarded all over the Nine Gates alone, and there were countless other rolling wood stones. Another cauldron was already on top of the firewood, and the gold juice and boiling oil in it were bubbling after being boiled, and exuded a pungent smell that made people daunted. However, the surrounding soldiers did not have the slightest intention of retreating at this time, but were extremely interested in this, because they knew that this was also the most powerful weapon that could kill and injure the besieging enemy.

At this moment, there was another shouting from under the city, and it seemed that something heavy had been carried up. This immediately aroused the curiosity of many people, now is not the time for rice, and the wooden barrel containing rice steamed buns is not so heavy, you need to roar one step at a time.

When the people looked down, they saw more than a dozen people struggling to carry a cannon made of pig iron from below. Although this thing doesn't look too big, it obviously has a lot of weight, and I saw that these people almost took a step at a time, and only moved up to the city little by little after they started to exert their strength in unison.

Moreover, there were no less than ten cannons, according to the command of the military attaché at the head, so they were evenly divided above the head of the Yongding Gate, and the muzzles of the black hole were aimed at the city.

As for artillery, although these soldiers have also heard of it, this is the first time they have seen this thing with their own eyes, and they can't help but look at it curiously, and even want to touch it, wanting to feel the cold texture. After some reprimands from the generals, these people's actions were stopped.

Then, boxes of gunpowder and fist-sized projectiles were carried up and placed behind the artillery. Several well-dressed soldiers followed closely and began to fiddle with the direction of the artillery, apparently adjusting the landing points of the shells. These people are the only few remaining elites of the Shenji Battalion in Beijing today, and the others have either died in the battle of Tumubao or have gone out of the city with Lu Jin.

This unbelievable busyness calmed down the original mood of the defenders of the city a little. People are always in awe of the unknown, and correspondingly, after seeing that they have such mysterious weapons, they have a lot more confidence.

Originally, these guns were hidden in the storehouse and in the barracks of the Shenji Battalion. It was Lu Zhen who talked to Yu Qian when he left, and felt that it should be more stable to defend the city with artillery, so Yu Qian asked the Son of Heaven to move it out and put it at the head of the city.

On this day, both sides of the city and the city were constantly busy, making final preparations for the upcoming offensive and defensive battles, and under the entire sky, the air pressure seemed to be so low that it seemed to be overwhelming.

And the people in the city, at this time, are all hiding at home and dare not go out, there are those who believe in Buddhism, at this time they are constantly chanting and praying, hoping that the gods and Buddhas can bless Beijing to avoid the first catastrophe in a hundred years.

It was Zhu Qiyu, the son of heaven, who was also extremely nervous at this time, before he went to the Taimiao again, asking the ancestors and the ancestors to pray, until Yu Qian came to play, he came out of the hall, but his face was still full of apprehension: "What does Yu Qing want to play?" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister is here to ask for sin. Just now, the Tartars sent an envoy to persuade him to surrender, but he was categorically rejected by the minister. Yu Qian bowed and said.

"Yu Qing did this very right, how can we surrender to the Tartars, why bother to ask for guilt?"

"Your Majesty doesn't know, this time they also used the emperor to blackmail the minister, but the minister didn't think about his safety at all." Only then did Yu Qian make the point.

Zhu Qiyu's face showed a tangled look, and after pondering for a long time, he gritted his teeth and said, "Yu Qing doesn't have to blame himself, you did a good job in this matter." No matter how noble the royal brother is, he can't compare to the lives of the soldiers and civilians in this city. ”

When Yu Qian heard this, he was sure in his heart: "Your Majesty Shengming is really my Ming Dynasty and the blessing of the world." But ......" said, a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face again.

"What, Yu Qing, do you have anything else to worry about?"

"Your Majesty, the minister is still worried about one thing, that is, once the Tartars outside the city attack the city, I am afraid that they will use the emperor as a threat again. And here, after all, it is Beijing, and many soldiers recognize the emperor, once this happens, I'm afraid it will ......"

"That's a real problem, but how?" Zhu Qiyu also felt embarrassed.

"The only way to do this now is to wronged the emperor. Your Majesty can make a decree that the defenders of the city can do whatever it takes to defend the city as their first priority, so that they can let their hands go! Yu Qian hurriedly gave his own advice, and at the same time peeked at the emperor in front of him, this was the real purpose of his visit.

Zhu Qiyu's face suddenly showed embarrassment, this is easy to say. Perhaps many people can understand that his intention was to ensure that the defenders of Beijing would not be in a disorderly position. But it is inevitable that some people do not think elsewhere, resulting in some bad speculation. For example, this is because he Zhu Qiyu loves the throne, so he wants to borrow a knife to kill and kill his royal brother!

Even if no one thinks so at this time, after the war, how many years later, there will always be people who have such dark thoughts. And Zhu Qizhen, who is in the hands of the enemy, once he learns about this, he is afraid that he will think about it even more. In this way, it will not be good for their brothers to meet again in the future.

Looking at Zhu Qiyu's tangled appearance, Yu Qian wanted to say something and persuade again. But in the end, he didn't say what he wanted to say, because this is a matter of the heavenly brothers, and it is already very arrogant for one of his foreign ministers to say this part, and if he says more, maybe the emperor will not think about it now, but it will inevitably make him feel a thorn in his heart in the future.

Even if Yu Qian was very selfless in doing this, it was also for Zhu Qiyu's consideration, but after all, he was Zhu Qizhen's courtier, so it was naturally difficult to say that he was loyal in doing so. And as a king, the most important thing is the loyalty of the courtiers. Maybe Zhu Qiyu will reuse him now because of the situation, but once the situation stabilizes, it will be difficult to say.

Therefore, at this time, Yu Qian was not good at saying anything, so he could only wait for the Son of Heaven to make a decision himself.

Fortunately, Zhu Qiyu's performance at this time was quite qualified, although it was difficult, but it was related to the survival of the capital and even the entire Daming Jiangshan Society, and he had to make a choice. Gradually, the look of hesitation faded from his face, and in his place was a resolute meaning: "It's about the world, and I can't take care of it too much." Yu Qing, I hereby decree that the defenders of the Nine Gates do not need to think about the safety of the emperor, and they should take defending the city as the first priority! ”

"Your Majesty, your Majesty's decree!" Yu Qian hurriedly bowed, and the look on his face was much more relaxed. With this will, there will be no worries about defending the city!

Seeing him leave in a hurry, the determined look on Zhu Qiyu's face slowly dissipated, and then sighed lightly, and said in a voice that only he could hear: "Brother Huang, don't blame me, I am also forced to ...... helplessly."

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Yu Qian didn't have the time to dwell on this matter, and after bidding farewell to the Son of Heaven, he hurried back to the Yamen of the Ministry of War, and then took advantage of the fact that the war had not yet started and gathered all the trustworthy and reusable generals in the city.

After some encouragement, he announced the emperor's will, which made the generals present also change color. But then, they felt relieved. After all, without this layer of concerns, then there will be much less restraint in defending the city. Otherwise, as long as the Mongolian people escorted the emperor to the city, the defenders would not be able to resist with bows, arrows, stones, and woods, so what kind of strength would they have.

Afterwards, Yu Qian turned his face again, and arranged the task of defending the city one by one: "Liu An, you guard the Dongzhi Gate!" ”

A tall, black-faced general stood up in response, shouted yes, and arched his hand.

"Liu Ju, you guard the Xizhi Gate!"

"The last general obeys!" It was a white-faced general who replied.

"Li Duan, Zhengyangmen! …… Zhu Ying, Chaoyangmen! …… Gu Xingzu, Fuchengmen! ……”

As Yu Qian kept taking the roll call, a general stood up to take the order. These generals are not from other provinces, but the local generals in the capital, although they are not as good as those famous generals who died in the north, but in terms of the use of soldiers, there is still a set.

After all the nine gates were assigned to each general, Yu Qian got up and said in an extremely serious, even harsh voice: "The nine gates are the last guarantee of my Ming capital, and the last line of defense for the Son of Heaven and the people, so this official will entrust it to you." I hope you will do your best, even if you fight to the death, you will defend it. If there is any loss, it will not be forgiven! ”

"The last general will be ordered!" The generals immediately said yes solemnly, and their voices were neat and sonorous.

At this time, it was the 10th day of August in the 14th year of Ming orthodoxy, and the war was about to break out!