Inside the Forbidden City. Qianqing Palace.

At this moment, the palace is already overcrowded. Outside the Qianqing Palace, I saw eunuchs and palace maids running around at any time. This happened in the rest of the palaces, as the news of Yi Xin's invasion of the city with his troops had already spread. Even, the news that Yixin and the foreigners led troops to approach Zhengyangmen was also flying all over the sky, so the chickens and dogs in the palace jumped, and it became a pot of porridge.

Li Zhen took the soldiers of the Sharp Knife Battalion to sit in the Qianqing Palace, which was quite stable and there was no chaos. Among them, Ci'an, Cixi, Zaichun, the great eunuch Han Laiyu, and other important people in the palace all gathered here. Even, some concubines and so on in the harem also rushed to the Qianqing Palace and wanted to leave together.

Li Zhen glanced at the group of concubines who were chattering, and saw that these concubines had packed their bags and the eunuchs who were standing next to them with their luggage, and their brows were already furrowed.

These people carry too many things.

If he brought these people's bags and didn't need to chase after them, the team he was carrying would automatically collapse. Li Zhen thought about it and immediately said: "Everyone's bags, except for the necessary things, throw away all the unnecessary ones." Remember, what is necessary is a change of clothes or two, not your gold, silver, jewelry, agate, etc. ”

Li Zhen's eyes were like knives, and his voice was cold: "Yixin colluded with foreigners, the army is about to enter the Forbidden City, if you bring gold and silver jewelry, as well as pearl agate, etc., so that you are unable to move." When the time comes, you won't be able to walk, you'll be left behind, and you'll be caught up by Yixin's soldiers, don't blame me for leaving you. ”

At this time, there were only a few guards in the Qianqing Palace and some soldiers of the Sharp Knife Battalion under Li Zhen.

Zhang Zhiping's soldiers had not yet arrived, so Li Zhen was still waiting. Without Zhang Zhiping's army, it was impossible for Li Zhen to leave the Forbidden City, and he must be escorted by a team of soldiers.

Cixi believed in Li Zhen's judgment, turned her head and ordered the palace maids who belonged to her, ordering: "Immediately give up all gold, silver, jewelry, pearls, agate, and unnecessary clothes." Obey Master Li's arrangement, only leave two sets of joyful ones, and the rest don't need to stay. Well, all the antiques and the like that you carry are also thrown on the ground and don't need to be taken away. ”

Cixi was the empress dowager of the West Palace, and before Xianfeng's death, she was favored by Xianfeng and received countless rewards. Pearls, agate, antique jewelry, gold and silver money are innumerable, and there is a lot of wealth. As soon as she gave the order, the palace maids under her command were unwilling to put down the things they didn't need. A bar of gold, a bar of silver, a piece of jewelry......

All the items were placed on the ground, shining brightly, shining with golden light, dazzling.

After Cixi set an example for everyone, Ci'an did as she was told.

Cixi and Ci'an are the giants in the palace with countless money. The money of the two was piled up on the ground, and it was already piled up into a hill, a golden hill. Immediately afterwards, the concubines followed suit, throwing the excess gold, jewelry, and the like on the ground, and gathered together.

In this way, in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, it is even more gathered into a small mountain.

However, there are also a small number of harem concubines who are unwilling, and still hide their money, jewelry, etc., or carry gold and silver jewelry in bags, and are reluctant to throw them away. Li Zhen smiled coldly and did not open his mouth to force these concubines. If you don't throw it now, it will affect the speed of the rush in the future, and Li Zhen will not be merciful.

"Step! Trample!!! ”

There was a rush of footsteps, the sound of footsteps seemed messy and fast.

A moment later, an army arrived.

This army is the army led by Zhang Zhiping. The number is not large, just over 1,800 people. Zhang Zhiping rushed over, didn't even glance at the money and jewelry piled up on the ground, and saluted with fists.

It's just that the soldiers under his command are still slightly affected.

Li Zhen bowed slightly, waved his hand and said, "Mr. Zhang, now I will give you a task, immediately pack up the gold, silver, money, and jewels piled up on the ground." When we withdraw from the Forbidden City, retreat all the way, and you let the soldiers sprinkle gold, silver, and jewels along the way. Tell all the brothers that if they leave the city, they will have a lot of money. If anyone is greedy for money now, I will not spare him if he is found out. ”

Zhang Zhiping said: "Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely complete the task." ”

As soon as he heard Li Zhen's words, he knew that Li Zhen was using money to throw it on the ground to delay the pursuit of the soldiers under Yixin's command, so he was very concerned. Zhang Zhiping passed the order, and specially asked the 100 soldiers under his command to be responsible for collecting the money and property piled up on the ground of the Qianqing Palace, and was specifically responsible for sprinkling gold, silver, jewelry and other jewelry on the road. These 100 soldiers are the guards trained by Zhang Zhiping, and they are absolutely loyal, so he can rest assured.

"Report!"

A soldier from the Sharp Knife Battalion rushed in and said loudly: "Great Shuai, the foreigners have broken through the Zhengyang Gate, and now they have entered the Imperial City and are already running towards the Taihe Gate, I am afraid that it will be the Qianqing Gate soon." Please withdraw immediately, otherwise it will be too late. "According to the layout of the Forbidden City, Zhengyangmen is at the front, and Taihe Gate and Qianqing Gate are facing Zhengyangmen.

Once Zhengyang falls, the remaining two gates will not be far away.

Li Zhen saw that the soldiers under Zhang Zhiping had packed up their money, and immediately ordered: "Two queen mothers, let's retreat from Shenwumen, withdraw from Beijing first, avoid the edge of Yixin and foreign soldiers, and then find a way to kill back." ”

Shenwu Gate is the north gate of the Forbidden City, and it is also the back gate of the imperial palace, which is an important access control for daily access to the palace. Now that Yi Xin led the army to kill from the front door, Li Zhen obviously couldn't take a small number of soldiers to fight hard, so he had to evacuate through the back door.

Cixi hugged Zaichun, who was still in swaddling clothes, and ran towards Shenwu Gate surrounded by soldiers.

There are thousands of people in the line, which can be called mighty.

In fact, there were not many soldiers accompanying him, only more than 1,800 people led by Zhang Zhiping. However, the accompanying concubines, palace maids, and eunuchs accounted for a large part, and there were thousands of people.

Such a team seriously affected the speed of the journey.

After Li Zhen saw it, he decisively ordered the soldiers of the Sharp Knife Battalion to escort Cixi, Ci'an, Zaichun, and the great eunuch Han Laiyu and his party to hurry away, abandoning the eunuchs, palace maids or Xianfeng's concubines hanging behind, etc., and did not bother at all. In this way, the speed of travel is much faster.

When he arrived at Shenwu Gate, Li Zhen suddenly gave the order for the army to stop.

Li Zhen looked at Zhang Zhiping and ordered in a deep voice: "General Zhang, there is the Shenwu Gate outside, let the soldiers explore the road first, and then let a team of soldiers stay behind us to protect us, and we will be inserted in the middle." ”

In front of him is the Shenwu Gate, once out of the Shenwu Gate, he left the Forbidden City.

Li Zhen was afraid that there would be an ambush outside, so he asked the soldiers under Zhang Zhiping to go out to explore the way. Zhang Zhiping knew the seriousness of the matter, and immediately sent three hundred soldiers to rush forward to explore the way. As soon as this group of soldiers rushed out, a burst of gunfire immediately rang out outside the Shenwu Gate. Dense gunfire came, and the soldiers who rushed to the front suddenly became a sieve, and their bodies were full of bloody holes from bullets.

The screams and wails of the soldiers were endless, and one corpse after another fell, which made Zhang Zhiping's heart ache.

It's just that Zhang Zhiping was also a little lucky, fortunately he didn't rush out.

He sprinkled the cold sweat on his forehead, if he rushed out recklessly just now, he didn't know what the consequences would be. Fortunately, Li Zhen stopped everyone in time and asked the soldiers to test it. However, even if he now found out that there were enemy troops outside the Shenwu Gate, Zhang Zhiping knew that he had to rush out. If you can't rush out, once Yixin's army catches up, you will definitely not survive.

Zhang Zhiping yelled: "Brothers, rush, as long as you rush out, the opportunity will come." ”

These soldiers are all elites under Zhang Zhiping, and only by obeying orders can they rush outside the Shenwu Gate without fear of death. Rao was like this, and the soldiers who rushed out were also fiercely attacked by the enemy soldiers outside the Shenwu Gate. Yi Xin had already thought that Cixi, Ci'an and others might escape from the Shenwu Gate, so he was prepared.

Li Zhen and his entourage came out, and the soldiers in ambush outside immediately came out to intercept them.

Li Zhen saw that the momentum of rushing out was blocked, and he heard the noise faintly coming from the direction of the Qianqing Palace behind him, and his mood was extremely heavy. He looked at Yang Luchan and Dong Haichuan, and quickly ordered: "Dong Lao, Yang Lao, you two must be careful to protect the two queen mothers, and you can't let the two get hurt." ”

"Yes!"

The two guarded Cixi and Ci'an with serious expressions.

Although the two of them were old, their rickety bodies suddenly straightened up, like a sharp sword unsheathed, revealing a powerful momentum, which was diametrically opposed to the old man who ran away with the army before. This scene made many soldiers show surprise, but they didn't expect the two old men who followed Li Zhen to be so powerful.

Li Zhen ignored the eyes of these people, looked at Long Yu again, and ordered: "Brother Long, let the soldiers of the Sharp Knife Battalion aim at the enemy outside and help the army break through." ”

"Yes!"

Long Xi agreed, leaving the people of the Thirteen Guards of the Long Group to protect Li Zhen, and then personally took the soldiers of the Sharp Knife Battalion to help the soldiers under Zhang Zhiping's command attack. The soldiers of the Sharp Knife Battalion aimed and fired, and the gunfire rang out, and the enemy soldiers outside the Shenwu Gate immediately fell one after another. Although the firepower is still there, at least it is not a one-sided situation like just now.

Zhang Zhiping encouraged the soldiers and once again braved the rain of bullets to charge.

More than 1,800 people died before they rushed out of the Shenwu Gate and rushed towards the north of the city. At this time, the number of concubines, palace maids and eunuchs who kept up with the army continued to decrease, but no one cared about it, because there were still chasing soldiers behind. Li Zhen and his entourage rushed out of Beijing City, and it was already the second half of the night.

At this time, the crowd was already mentally exhausted, and their bodies began to be unable to support it.

Zhang Zhiping sighed: "It's finally out!" ”

Li Zhen said with a solemn expression: "I'm afraid, it's not that simple!" His eyes looked at the official road outside the North City, and then looked back at the gate of the North City, and he felt in his heart that he was afraid that Yi Xin's methods would not stop there.

"Li Zhen, I have been waiting here for a long time on the orders of Prince Gong."

The voice that made Li Zhen feel very familiar came out, and Li Zhen had an impression of this voice, but he couldn't remember it. He looked up ahead and his eyes widened.

ps: Three more to call it a day; Sorry for the late update.