Feng Ruoshu sighed and said: "Virtuous son-in-law, you are right, no minister in the court agreed to this peace talk today, and Wan Sui was angry and lifted the table, making the court break up unhappily." ”

Zhu Hongsan thought to himself: "Of course I know, your long live is a stubborn guy. I don't want to bear the consequences at all, I kill the minister for a little reason, and everyone who can do anything for him is killed. So that now there is no one to help with the escape and peace talks. ”

Thinking of this, Zhu Hongsan said: "Uncle must be ready, Li Zicheng should be coming." ”

On March 17, the city of Beijing finally welcomed the army of Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang. More than 60 of Li Zicheng's pioneers finally appeared in front of the Pingze Gate in Beijing. On the evening of 17 July, Li Zicheng's 500,000-strong army finally arrived outside Beijing.

The city of Beijing has been attacked many times since it was built in the Yongle period, and the Mongols and Jurchens have attacked it, but it has never fallen. Emperor Chongzhen also thought so, and he ordered 100,000 horses in the capital camp to climb the city to kill the enemy.

But in fact, the Beijing camp has become corrupt, and a large number of elite soldiers have been drawn to quell the rebellion. Now the Beijing camp is full of gentlemen like Zhou Xian and a large number of hooligans and ruffians.

When the soldiers of the Beijing camp in the inner and outer cities saw Li Zicheng's men and horses coming, they either collapsed or surrendered, and few could resist on the city wall. The officers drove the soldiers forward, but a large number of soldiers refused to accept orders, and there was only one person every twenty meters on the city wall.

One of the reasons for the soldier's refusal to do his duty was that he had been in arrears for more than five months. When the news reached the palace, the emperor had no choice, so he had to send internal exercises, that is, 3,000 armed eunuchs to the city wall to defend the city.

On the 18th, the peasant army began to attack the city, and there were still Ming troops defending the city firing cannons. The peasant army threatened the defenders: "Open the city gates quickly, or you will be killed!" The defenders of the city were frightened, so they changed to empty cannons, not loaded with lead bullets, but only released a little gunsmoke. He also waved his hand and motioned for Li Zi to get a horse and ask them to step back before firing the cannon.

Li Zicheng personally went to Changyi Gate to supervise the battle, and the peasant army set up a cloud ladder to attack Xizhi, Pingze, and Deshengmen. The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had no sense of resistance at all and fled one after another. After the defeat of the Beijing camp outside the city, the Ming army's defensive weapons trains and giant cannons were obtained by the peasant army. The peasant army was immediately available, and the artillery of the siege roared.

The peasant army drove the residents of the outer city of Beijing to carry wood and stone to fill the trenches, and the ants attached to the siege of the city. At this time, the Ming army's 10,000 enemy artillery fired, but dozens of their own people were accidentally injured. The defenders of the city were crushed. For a while, there was a shout of the city being breached, accompanied by a cry, and the whole city was crying and running.

The emperor's trusted eunuch chiefs were in charge of the gates, and the lords had no intention of guarding the city. What these stinky old nine people are thinking about is how to communicate with Li Zicheng so as not to kill Chengpo.

But there are still a few loyal ministers, and Li Banghua, the imperial history of the left capital, went to Zhengyang Gate and wanted to go to the city to understand the situation, but was rejected by the eunuchs. Zhang Jinyan, the secretary of the military department, repeatedly came to the city gates to inspect the situation of the guard, but was also blocked back by the eunuchs. He urgently wrote to the emperor, and Emperor Chongzhen gave him a handwritten edict allowing him to go to the city.

Zhang Jinyan came to Changyi Gate and found that there were few guards in the city. Wang Jiayan, the squire of the military department, asked him to send troops for reinforcements, because there was only one soldier in the two arrow stacks here. Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of Li Zicheng's army cutting down the wall. Wang Chengen, the only eunuch who was willing to fight, fired cannons at the enemy, but the eunuchs Cao Huachun and Cao Huacheng drank freely.

Emperor Chongzhen received Zhang Jinyan's military intelligence report, issued an edict to personally recruit, and urgently summoned Wang Chengen to gather eunuchs to escort him. Unexpectedly, the internal exercises fled one after another, and in a blink of an eye, the emperor understood that it was no longer realistic to go to the army.

Emperor Chongzhen suddenly wanted to flee out of the city, but changed into a civilian costume, took the eunuch Wang Chengen and the last group of eunuchs, and planned to go out from Zhengyangmen. When approaching the Zhengyang Gate, I saw three white lanterns hanging on the city tower. The white lanterns range from one to three, indicating the degree of aggression of the enemy. Knowing that it would not be possible to escape, the emperor had to return to the palace.

On the 18th, the Changhua Gate was automatically opened, and Cao Huachun opened the city and surrendered. Li Zicheng's army poured into the capital like a tidal wave.

On the evening of the 18th, Zhu Hongsan received a notice from Feng Ruoshu, who was returning home, that Li Zicheng had entered the city and was currently attacking the inner city. Zhu Hongsan knew that his opportunity had come. Be sure to enter the palace tonight, and after Chongzhen's death, he will take advantage of the chaos to leave the city tomorrow.

Zhu Hongsan said to Feng Ruoshu: "Uncle, my son-in-law will go to the palace tonight to find out whether the emperor is dead or alive." Now Li Zicheng is attacking Xuanwumen and Fuchengmen in the inner city, I will give fifty people to my uncle, let them escort you out from Chaoyangmen, we will start tomorrow in Tongzhou, and then go south along the canal. ”

Feng Ruoshu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll listen to the virtuous son-in-law." ”

Zhu Hongsan said: "It's best not to bring the female dependents, after all, we have traveled thousands of miles, and we have to go to Dongchang Mansion in Shandong to be safe." ”

Feng Ruoshu gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll take Feng Run and a few slaves." ”

Zhu Hongsan didn't expect this old guy to be so ruthless, and he didn't even want the concubine he had just received, which was much stronger than Ma Jiyuan.

Zhu Hongsan arranged for Han Shirong to take fifty people to stay in the mansion, lead Feng Ruoshu out of the city in the middle of the night, and get up outside Tongzhou City the next day.

After arranging his home, Zhu Hongsan rushed to the imperial city with the other 150 people.

By this time, it was already dark, and the streets were full of people. There are those who flee for their lives, and there are those who take advantage of the chaos to rob. Zhu Hongsan led the men and horses, regardless of the others, and rushed to Dong'anmen.

When Zhu Hongsan arrived at Dong'an Gate, he saw that the gate had been opened, and the guards guarding the door did not know where to go, and many people ran out of the palace, looking at the things stolen in the palace.

Zhu Hongsan said to Wang Jinbao: "Xiaobao, you go and arrest a few people and let them lead the way." ”

Wang Jinbao took a few people to arrest three people, Zhu Hongsan saw that it was two little eunuchs and a guard, and Zhu Hongsan slashed the guard to death. He said to the two little eunuchs, "Whoever of you leads the way will be spared death." ”

The younger one hurriedly said, "Uncle, I'll lead the way." Zhu Hongsan hacked another little eunuch to death with a knife and said, "Take us to the Qianqing Palace, if you don't obey, this is what will happen to you." ”

The little eunuch was so frightened that he peed his pants, and he didn't care about the jewels scattered on the ground, after all, money was more important than his own life.

Under the leadership of the little eunuch, Zhu Hongsan and his party crossed Dong'an Gate and came to Donghua Gate.

Looking at the fifty-meter-wide moat, Zhu Hong said with three hearts: "It's really a tree that is falling and scattered, and with the solidity of Beijing City, it didn't hold it for a day." ”

The Donghua Gate is also wide open, and there is no one guarding the city gate. After entering the Donghua Gate, Zhu Hongsan left 50 people to guard the horses, waiting for him to come out, and kept the Donghua Gate in his own hands.

Zhu Hongsan ordered the guards to advance in an attack formation in groups of ten, and they could shoot and kill them when they encountered snipers. But Zhu Hongsan's order was basically useless, most of the guards in the palace had already run away, and the rest were stealing, how could they care about Zhu Hongsan's more than 100 people.

Under the leadership of the little eunuch, Zhu Hongsan easily crossed the Jinshui Bridge and Fengtianmen and entered the three major halls. Zhu Hongsan and his gang of turtles saw the three major halls for the first time, and they couldn't help but be shocked by this majestic hall. The little eunuch who led the way despised these buns in his heart.

The three halls were not the place where the emperor worked on a daily basis, but the place where ceremonies were held. The door from the middle and left is locked, but this is naturally difficult to solve with Zhu Hongsan, two grenades.

Continuously pass through the middle left door and the back left door, come to the front of the Qianqing Gate, and pass through the Qianqing Gate is the Qianqing Palace, which is the emperor's daily office rest.

When he arrived at this place, he didn't need the little eunuch to lead the way, and Zhu Hongsan ordered to kill the little eunuch who had just laughed at him. Then he entered the Qianqing Gate, and when he was two hundred meters away from the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Hongsan asked the soldiers to stop first, and led Zhu Hongyi to the gate of the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Hongsan and Zhu Hongyi came to the bed, poked the window paper with their fingers, and looked inside. The lights were on in the Qianqing Palace, and the emperor's family sat in front of a table of wine and food, but no one ate or drank.

Just look at the middle-aged Emperor Chongzhen in a yellow robe and said to a noble lady on the side: "The general trend has gone, as a person who is a mother in the world, you should choose a glorious and martyred death." ”

The noble lady Empress Zhou cried bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you listen to the advice, you must know that we still have a home in the south." After finishing speaking, Empress Zhou got up and returned to Kunning Palace to hang herself.