Juyong Pass, connecting the key points of Beijing and Shanxi, is different from other passes, here is quiet, from the south pass to the north pass dozens of miles on the side wall, a red battle flag flutters in the wind, the Ming army is still very dutifully armed and guarded, it seems that it is not affected by the approach of the thieves. The master of ceremonies and eunuch Wang Zhizhi hurried to the south pass, shouting to open the city gate, only to find that the pass had been replaced, and there were Datong cavalry sitting everywhere, why did they suddenly come? Under the persecution of a few horses, Wang Zhixin honestly explained his identity and intention, and after a while, he was led up to the Nanguan City Tower, and several generals were talking in a whisper, among which it was the naturalized Hou Li Yu who was sitting.

"Big boss, no, naturalized Hou, why are you here? Great, we have a decree for you. Wang Zhixin bowed and said that most of the money he made bought Datong's bonds and stocks, and he could show off his might to others, but only Li Yu did not dare to be presumptuous, and this person could make him bankrupt with a word.

"Princess, can't I come?" Li Yu smiled and took the holy decree.

The Presidential Office and the Prime Minister's Office reached an agreement to take Juyong Pass as a precaution, and the Busi Town of Zhou Yuji was transferred to Xuanfu, but the Council was worried about getting involved in the war and could not make a decision for a long time. Li Yu couldn't wait any longer, and quoted the clause in the "Federal Regulations" that "the president has the right to call in cavalry of less than 3,000 at any time, without the resolution of the Senate", and ordered the cavalry town stationed in Dushikou to send an association to Xuanhua to join forces with his own Flying Tiger battalion to seize Juyong Pass.

When Li Yu arrived in Xuanhua, Kubai led the dissatisfied Labudu Zuoxie to also arrive, and Juyong Pass was already under the control of Datong at this time - Ge Kuli, the commander of the eastern Xingtai, Bai Xianzhi, the military governor, and Cai Ruxun, the prefect of Xuanhua, were all veterans, and they noticed that the situation was not good, and they mobilized more than 3,000 militiamen from Xuanhua and Yanqing to enter Juyong Pass. The Ming army guarding the pass has run halfway, and the remaining thousands of people are in a state of flux, and they are so excited that they burst into tears when they see their neighbors taking the initiative to help, and they open the gate to welcome the enthusiastic people, and they pick up a big bargain for nothing.

Juyong Pass is in hand, surrounded by mountains, the terrain is dangerous, the defenders of the pass have 3,000 cavalry, 3,000 militia and 1,000 Ming troops, Zhou Yuji can arrive in three days at most, and the thieves don't want to sneak into Shanxi from here - Li Yu is at ease, and he finds Bai Xianzhi, Kubai and You Shiwei to discuss the next step of the battle.

You Shiwei got his wish and became the commander of Shaanxi Xingtai, but soon found that this official was not good, he was so tired that he couldn't get any benefits, and if something went wrong, the people in the parliament would look for trouble. Du Wenhuan went to Huguang, the Datong army was short of experienced veterans, Li Yu planned to transfer him to the military affairs office of Zanhua, the old guy was proud, he must show his hand, this time he volunteered to ask for praise and painting with the army.

You Shiwei had been the chief soldier of Changping for several years, and he was extremely familiar with the situation in this area, so he suggested that he quickly seize Changping and spy on the Jingshi to adapt to the situation, Li Yu and the others were still hesitating, and Wang Zhixin came with a decree to urge them to make up their minds as soon as possible.

"'If the minister does not live up to the king, the king will not live up to the minister', the emperor didn't say anything, but he said everything." Li Yu handed the holy decree to You Shiwei and Bai Xianzhi, and paced in the room with his head down.

"Naturalized marquis, the courtiers are ill-intentioned and refuse to serve the country, the emperor is completely disappointed in them, in front of our family, you can write this edict, can you ignore the emperor!" Wang Zhixin's eyes turned red and he told the situation of the Jingshi again, and Li Yu and the others were terrified when they heard it, no one could have imagined that the imperial court would be so detached from morality, and the emperor and the courtiers would be like fire and water.

"We don't care about the Ming Dynasty, but Datong respects the emperor, we can't see death without help, let's fight, what kind of fight it is." Li Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Princess, where did the thieves go? Can the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp hold the Beijing Division? Bai Xianzhi immediately asked.

"It's over, it's all over, the thieves have hit the city of Jingshi, there are thieves outside Yong'an Gate, Dongzhi Gate, and Xizhi Gate, where is there still a Beijing camp now, the people's hearts are scattered, and the ministers privately spread the 'Convention to open the door to welcome thieves', no one is willing to protect the emperor, when I went out of Changping, the officers and soldiers in the city were still coercing the general soldier Wang Chengyin to surrender to the enemy, and the fall of Jingshi may be a matter of the past few days." Wang Zhixin roared with a crying voice.

You Shiwei shook his head and said: "Wang Chengyin is a fellow villager I brought to Liaodong, he is honest and kind, but he has soft ears, he can't suppress the situation, it is estimated that he has already surrendered to the enemy, we are afraid that it will be too late." ”

"Lao Bai, you take the militia to guard the pass, and the cavalry will set off immediately, and rush to Changping before dusk, maybe you can take advantage of the chaos to attack the city." Li Yu put on his helmet and waved his hand to order, and Kubai promised to run out to gather the team.

"I'll go with you." You Shiwei nodded.

"Our family is also going to save the emperor." Wang Xin rubbed his eyes and shouted.

Datong Tie rode out of the south entrance, and did not go far in the direction of Changping to meet with five or six thousand Changping officers and soldiers on a narrow road, the other party under the banner of the Shun army had obviously surrendered to the thief, Li Yu did not hesitate to order an attack, Li Xuan's Flying Tiger Battalion, Labudu's cavalry town Zuo Xie immediately pounced. Almost all the officers and troops in Changping were foot soldiers, and the vanguard and the elite iron cavalry were about to collapse at the touch of a button, and the rear team of men and horses were coaxing and counterattacking, but they could not withstand the blows of arrows and horses, and were forced to retreat and form a formation.

The officers and soldiers of Changping were panicking, and more than a dozen horsemen rushed from the opposite side, and the first one stopped in front of the formation, took off his helmet and shouted: "I am You Shiwei, the old brother should still recognize me, the old soldier, and call Wang Chengyin to come out, I have seen his banner." ”

Wang Chengyin didn't dare not see the old Shangguan, and after a while, he arrived in front of the battle, and saluted You Shiwei with a red face: "The old handsome man is fine, and he can't bow down with his armor on his body." ”

"Wang Chengyin, you have a chance, the general soldiers of the dignified court actually surrendered to the thieves, that little post man became the emperor, do you really kneel down?" You Shiwei said sarcastically.

"Wang Chengyin, you are a coward, the faces of the people of Yulin have been lost by you, how can our old military family come out of you scum!" You Renjun and You Renjie behind You Shiwei also shouted.

Wang Chengyin's face twitched continuously, bowed his head and scolded without saying a word, a Shunjun lieutenant came over with a knife, pointed at him and roared: "Wang Chengyin, immediately lead people to kill these dog thieves, and what are you doing in a daze, do you dare to be half-hearted with me?" ”

The lieutenant of the Shunjun army scolded and gestured with a knife, Wang Chengyin was angry in his heart, his hand involuntarily held down the handle of the knife, and said in a cold voice: "Li Daniu, shut your stinky mouth, Lao Tzu has no place for you to speak here." ”

Li Daniu must be a rough man, he was furious when he heard the backlash, and he raised his knife to Wang Chengyin and slashed, but the other party's hand was faster, and before his knife fell, the knife flashed in front of him, and the head had been cut off.

Wang Chengyin watched Li Daniu get off the horse with contempt, turned around and shouted to the soldiers: "Brothers, this is a troubled time, the Ming Dynasty is dead, and thieves are not a good thing, being a soldier and eating food is nothing more than killing for others, my old king doesn't want to do it, you guys disperse, go home and surrender to thieves." ”

After a while, the officers and soldiers exchanged heads and ears, and most of them dispersed, throwing their swords, spears and weapons on the ground, leaving a thousand people at a loss, still waiting for their commander to speak.

You Shiwei nodded and said, "Wang Chengyin, it's good that you can get lost and know how to return, so follow me in the future." ”

"It's boring, I've been in the army for decades and fought enough, and I understand it, it's nothing more than fighting for the throne, but so many people have to die, I can't see the end, I don't want to fight anymore," Wang Chengyin shook his head in despair, and then pointed to the officers and soldiers who stayed in place and pleaded with You Shiwei, "Old Shuai, these brothers were brought by me from Yansui, and I don't want to go to thieves if I have nowhere to go, get rid of Lao Shuai and take care of them." ”

You Shiwei nodded in agreement, Wang Chengyin thanked him, and then smiled and shouted "Go home", and the blade in his hand turned and plunged into his abdomen.

At night, the Datong iron cavalry arrived in Changping, the fires flickered in the mountains in the distance, the thieves were setting fire to the imperial tomb of the Ming Dynasty, but no one cared about the emperor's ancestral tomb, You Shiwei and several Changping town officers shouted to the city for a while, the soldiers in the city saw the old general soldier bring the iron cavalry, and felt that he was saved again, and then opened the city gate anyway, Datong iron cavalry took Changping City without a fight, You Shiwei immediately led the troops to rectify the city defense, and the cavalry also seized the time to rest, and there was a big battle to be fought tomorrow.

On March 18, the sky was still dark, drizzling with scattered snowflakes, the Datong Iron Cavalry hurried out of Changping to the south, arrived at the Desheng Gate at dawn, there were only a few thousand Shun troops outside the city who were disheveled in clothes and armor, and the weapons were incomplete, and the Iron Cavalry defeated them effortlessly.

"Princess, a large group of thieves will be killed soon, I can only hold out until noon at most, you go and pick up the emperor out of the city, if you don't leave, it's too late." Li Yu shouted anxiously with the horse lance, and Wang Zhixin turned his head and ran towards the city gate with a bang.

The capital division is already a dead air, the emperor for the fifth time under the "Guilty Edict" to review the mistakes, calling on the subjects to restore the county, the shame of the evil, but to this day, the people are panicked, every time the call is right, the big bureaucrats only say "to be guilty", the junior officials are silent, the military department Shangshu Zhang Jinyan was forced to be anxious, simply threw the black gauze hat, and prayed for the dismissal, the emperor had nothing to do, but to sit and wait for death.

The eunuch Du Xun, who had already surrendered to the thief, suddenly came back, claiming to have come to negotiate peace for Li Zicheng, and the emperor was moved, and called the first assistant Wei Zaode to accompany Du Xun to summon Du Xun - Li Zicheng made peace conditions: negotiate to cut Henan and Xiangyang, divide the country and the king, and reward one million taels of silver.

"What is this point of view? The matter is urgent, and it can be decided in one word. "The thieves are coming to the city, this condition is not too much, at least it can be used as a delaying strategy, the emperor turned his head and asked Wei Zaode, but this old slippery head bowed and bowed his head without saying a word, the emperor's heart was cold, and he said to Du Xun lightly, "You can go out of the city to reply, I have a plan, and there is another purpose." ”

Du Xun retreated, the emperor stared at Wei Zaode hatefully, the other party still didn't reply, so angry that he overturned the dragon chair and hurriedly left - the general trend has gone, you can only find a way by yourself, the emperor then summoned Gong Yonggu, the commander of the concubine, and ordered him to take the family to escort the prince to Nanjing, this person is the husband of his sister Princess Le'an, loyal and honest, the prince can rest assured that he handed it over, but Gong Yonggu was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, and repeatedly said that he obeyed the ancestral teachings, and did not dare to support his family privately, and a few old and weak house slaves were not enough to break out of the encirclement, and he really couldn't bear such a big responsibility.

The emperor was disappointed again, and Wang Zhixin shouted at this time, "Great joy, the naturalized marquis has been killed in Xuanwumen!" Running in, the emperor stood up in surprise, but when he heard that only three thousand iron horsemen had come, he sat down in frustration, and the king's heart urged eagerly: "Your Majesty, take the queen and the prince and go quickly, no matter how late it is, no matter how brave the naturalized marquis is, he can't defeat hundreds of thousands of thieves." ”

"The Zongmiao Society is here, and I won't leave." The Emperor replied coldly.

The king's heart was even more anxious, and he begged with his head: "Your Majesty, even though the naturalized marquis is not in every way, but he is a good person, when the country is in danger, which of the Manchu Dynasty civil and military does not harbor ghosts, only he holds the lance and fights bloodily, and the loyalty and goodness of the previous dynasties are no more than this!" ”

"Is he loyal, why don't you mention the deployment of a large army to relieve the siege of the Beijing Division, do you want to bring me to Datong to humiliate?"

"Datong can't save Daming from being tired, the naturalized marquis said that he only saves His Majesty regardless of the court, His Majesty can go to Nanjing if he doesn't like Datong, he promises to come and go freely, Your Majesty, for so many years, the courtiers have scolded him for being a northern captive, a traitor, and the first traitor in ancient and modern times, but when dare to say that he is not trustworthy, Your Majesty should trust him!"

Gong Yonggu interjected: "The minister also heard that Hu Lu was tyrannical, but he feared heaven and earth, if he gave him grace, he could also use it, and if he was not a madman, he could entrust the prince to this person." ”

"Not allowed!" The emperor flatly refused.

Gong Yonggu knelt down and begged: "Your Majesty, the matter has been taken care of a lot, the royal bloodline must not be trapped in the Jingshi, Your Majesty does not leave, the prince does not leave, can you send the first prince away?" ”

The emperor hesitated and lingered in the main hall, at this time, a dense cannon sound sounded outside the city, and the inner servants crawled to report that the guards of Changyi Gate "opened the door to welcome the thief".

"Where are the Jingying soldiers? Where is Li Guozhen? The emperor hurriedly asked--Li Guozhen, the Bo of Xiangcheng, was the governor of Beijing, and he was in charge of the defense of the Beijing division together with Zhang Jinyan, the secretary of the military department.

"Uncle Xiangcheng can't be found, and the soldiers of the Beijing camp are also scattered, Your Majesty, let's go." The chamberlain cried.

The emperor shook his head with a wry smile, beckoned to Wang Zhixin and said, "Come with me", the two walked quickly to the Qianqing Palace, and Queen Zhou and the three princes of the prince, Dingwang and Yongwang also hurried over. After discussing a few words with Empress Zhou, the emperor called the three children to his side, sighed and said softly: "Wait now as the prince, the city is broken, that is, the small people, each of them escape, don't have to love me, I will die Sheji." ”

Empress Zhou hugged the three princes and cried bitterly, the emperor wiped his tears into the inner room, and after a while came out and said, "This is my handwritten letter, which must be handed over to the naturalized marquis", handed over a handwritten edict to the king's heart, and then asked the palace maid to take the old clothes and change them for the child herself, while lovingly instructing: "You were born in the deep palace and have not been in the world, and you must be cautious when you go out. If you meet civilians, the old people call them fathers, the young people call them brothers, the literati people are called gentlemen, and the soldiers are called commanders......"

The king's heart wailed and cried, knelt on the ground and swore to the sky: "The old slave receives the holy grace of His Majesty, but there is a life, and he will never let the prince suffer the slightest grievance, it is not too early, let the prince go on the road." ”

The emperor nodded and said: "The crown prince is the prince, and he must not easily fall into the hands of others, King Yong is still young, I can't bear to let him suffer from the fatigue of the saddle horse, you take King Ding away, and my emperor will be handed over to you and Liu Wenzhong." ”

Wang Zhixin kowtowed three times, pulled up the fourteen-year-old Xiaoding King from the arms of Queen Zhou and ran, crying in the Qianqing Palace, the emperor stomped his feet and urged, "The prince and the king of Yong went to Jiadingbo's house to hide for a while, and they all left, and the three of them were unfortunate and gave birth to my family", and then cried silently.

The fierce battle outside the Desheng Gate was in full swing, the Shun army infantry cavalry 50,000 and Datong iron cavalry fought together, the shouts, the sound of guns shook the earth - the Shun army still hesitated, initially fearful, one by one put troops into the other side to test the strength of the other party, after paying the price of two or three thousand people, only to figure out that the other party only had three thousand people, Li Zicheng felt humiliated, and ordered Liu Fangliang, Ma Ke, Tang Tong to work together to encircle and annihilate the enemy cavalry. Liu Fangliang did not dare to fight hard in the face of a strong enemy, relying on the strength of the crowd to surround and advance step by step, but the opponent's riding skills were extremely exquisite, and he jumped out of the encirclement several times, and beat the Shun army behind him in a roundabout way, and succeeded again and again, killing and defeating countless Shun troops. Liu Fangliang suffered a loss, no longer wanted to encircle and annihilate the other party, and ordered the whole army to spread out in formation and rush up to bite the enemy cavalry in a melee battle, not to the death, and those who retreated in the cowardly battle were beheaded on the spot.

Liu Fangliang's move hit the opponent's weakness, Datong Iron Cavalry is a double horseman, well-armed, the Flying Tiger Battalion is the elite of the elite, and the Zuo Xie of the Riding Town is a heavy armored cavalry, and the combat power is absolutely strong, but there must be room for activity to perform, and being bitten by the other party to fight less and more will definitely be a dead end.

Li Yu felt that the situation on the battlefield was unfavorable, so he ordered the Flying Tiger Battalion and the Left Association of the First Cavalry Town to attack in a wedge-shaped formation, and be sure to kill through the enemy group and get rid of the entanglement as soon as possible. "Speed, speed, crush the thieves." Li Yu shouted loudly, the lance in his hand flew, constantly stabbing the enemy in front of him, Gao Heizi held a shield in one hand to guard, and slashed with an axe in the other, Mo Rige also performed a series of arrows, shooting the bandits in a row, Aobai, Wutai, and Guitu led the guard posts to follow closely, and the horses, bows and arrows in their hands continued to shoot at the enemy, and the corpses were everywhere where the iron cavalry swept by.

There are too many Shun troops, pounce on the stalking, kill a batch and come again, the Datong iron cavalry attack was blocked, the impact speed gradually slowed down, and then sent a signal for help to the defenders of Desheng Gate, but the Ming army was watching the excitement, and occasionally fired a few cannons and did not see the cannons fall. The defenders of the Jingshi may defect, maybe the courtiers' convention "opening the city to welcome the thieves" is true - Li Yu felt a chill in his back, looked up and observed the battlefield, and ordered to turn to attack Ma Ke's military formation, after fighting for so long, he also saw a little way, Ma Ke's mountain navy and Tang Tong's Miyun army basically couldn't work.

"Come with me, kill the soldiers, and cut down the thieves." Li Yu swung his spear and rushed towards the mountain navy.