Li Zicheng took off his pajamas, put on the formal dress of receiving the ministers, and went straight to the Wuying Palace.

There, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan, Li Guo and others were already waiting there, and when they saw Li Zicheng coming, they kowtowed, Li Zicheng signaled everyone to get up, and then everyone sat down one by one.

Li Zicheng looked around and said, "Isn't Zong Min here yet?" ”

Song Xiance said: "Although General Liu is seriously injured, he must come to some important meetings today, he can't ride a horse, he can only take a car. ”

Li Zicheng said: "Wu Ruyi, you immediately inform the generals guarding the door that Liu Zongmin's sedan chair does not have to be under the Donghua Gate, and can go all the way to the Yingwu Gate." ”

Wu Ruyi was about to go down, Niu Jinxing said: "Your Majesty, this is a little out of order." ”

Li Zicheng said impatiently: "What time is it now, don't worry about this set of etiquette." He suddenly turned back to Li Yan and asked, "How is the situation in the capital lately?" ”

Li Yan said: "The hearts of the people in the capital are fluctuating, there are many rumors, and some even say that Your Majesty will slaughter the city before evacuating Beijing, by the way, recently there are many old ministers of the Ming Dynasty who have expressed their advice to Your Majesty to ascend to the pole as soon as possible, and some Ming officials heard that Your Majesty was defeated at Shanhaiguan, so they tore off the official title posted on the door, and yesterday I heard that Your Majesty was coming, and posted it again, and Li Hongze was one of them. ”

Li Guo suddenly said excitedly: "These dogs must have seen that I couldn't do it, so they were ready to throw themselves at the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and kill them all like this kind of wall grass." ”

Song Xiance hurriedly said: "They didn't really belong to each other, I think this is a normal phenomenon, don't kill them first, our approach has lost the support of the people a while ago, and if it goes on like this, we will only be more isolated." ”

Li Zicheng said: "Don't worry about this for now, the most important thing at the moment is how to resist the Manchus, and second, how to withdraw from Beijing." ”

While he was talking, Liu Zongmin was carried in on a stretcher by several guards.

Liu Zongmin just wanted to come down and salute, but Li Zicheng waved his hand to signal that he was exempt.

As soon as Liu Zongmin sat down, he said: "The enemy still has two or three days to arrive in Beijing, how did Your Majesty decide?" ”

Li Zicheng was about to answer, when suddenly a eunuch came up and said to Li Zicheng: "This is the right of the Ministry of Rites to wait for Lang Yang to see, and Li Yuanding, the secretary of Guanglu Temple, and many ministers of Guanglu Temple. ”

Li Zicheng took it and looked at it, and Niu Jinxing said: "Do you persuade Your Majesty to ascend to the pole as soon as possible?" ”

Li Zicheng nodded.

Niu Jinxing took the opportunity to ask, "What does the emperor think?" ”

Li Zicheng said: "In this situation, I am in the mood." ”

Liu Zongmin said: "Then what are we entering Beijing City for, kill Emperor Chongzhen, withdraw from Beijing without letting go of a fart, and the world will scold us." ”

Niu Jinxing said: "Your Majesty, General Liu is right, if we withdraw from Beijing City like this, what will the people of the world think of us, and this will also make the ministers feel cold, Your Majesty, according to the ministers, tomorrow will ascend to the pole, and then evacuate Beijing." ”

At this time, Song Xiance, Li Yan and other ministers also persuaded Li Zicheng to ascend to the pole tomorrow.

Li said: "We can't lie down in vain when we come to Beijing, is it because of the pursuit of Manchurian dog thieves, the emperor, you will not ascend to the pole, and if it spreads out like this, it will also make the world think that we are frightened by Dolgon." ”

Niu Jinxing said: "Exactly, we forced Emperor Chongzhen to kill, if we don't ascend to the pole, it will only create conditions for the Manchurians to enter Beijing, and we have a bad reputation, and the emperor must ascend to the pole." ”

Li Zicheng hesitated a little and said, "It's so urgent, how can you be prepared." ”

Liu Zongmin said: "If the etiquette is not enough, the emperor will make up for it after entering the customs, and he must be orthodox and orthodox." ”

"It must be the best, and the name is right."

Bull Venus also added one.

Li Zicheng said: "There is only one night of preparation, can you be in time?" ”

Niu Jinxing said: "The ministers will send people to start preparing now, and the ministers are going to send five hundred people to clean the hall, and I think that they will be almost ready by dawn." ”

At this time, Song Xiance said: "According to the usual practice, the new emperor ascends to the ranks, all in the Huangji Palace, if the main hall is held in the Huangji Hall tomorrow, from the Huangji Hall to the Wuying Palace, at least three hundred people will be sent to clean the ground overnight. Doors, windows, and pillars had to be cleaned, and since our army entered Beijing, the eunuchs in charge of this matter had all gone, and now not only was there dust accumulated, but grass had grown between the stone cracks in the courtyard. ”

Li Zicheng said: "It will be held in the Wuying Palace, everything does not have to be prepared according to the original, try to be as simple as possible, by the way, military division, is it auspicious to ascend to the pole tomorrow?" ”

Although Song Xiance knew divination, he was very worried about the Manchu cavalry entering Beijing at this time, and it would be too late to retreat, so he said: "The emperor ascends to the pole, should be in favor of the heavens, and is auspicious at any time, don't worry, ascend the pole tomorrow, and evacuate Beijing on the 29th." ”

After the meeting, everyone began to plan for tomorrow's ascension.

……

Zhou Hao was so excited that he almost didn't sleep all night, knowing that he was going to see Huang Degong tomorrow, he basically succeeded, and in a few days, he began to go south to Nanjing with King Fu to start his new life. At this time, Daming's fate seems to be closely linked to himself.

With a rooster crowing from nowhere, Zhou Hao opened his eyes, saw that the sky was half bright, and immediately urged Cheng Yue and the others to get up.

As soon as the army walked out of the market town, they rode fast horses towards Zhou Hao's team.

Wu Xiong suddenly said to Shen Tao: "Do you think it's Lu Jinbo?" ”

Shen Tao was about to answer, when the knight said remotely: "Are Chief Wu and Shen always there?" ”

As soon as Wu Xiong heard the voice, it was indeed Lu Jinbo, so he said, "Here, Brother Lu, I haven't seen you for a long time." ”

In a moment, Lu Jinbo's galloping horse had arrived in front of the army, and the horse was panting, obviously a long run. Lu Bo said: "Yesterday I received a letter from the two, and Mr. Liu sent me to pick up the two, I don't know if the batch of salt darts was safely sent to Nanjing?" ”

Cheng Yue said: "It's safe, thank you to Mr. Wu and Mr. Shen, as well as this Brother Zhou, otherwise the salt dart would have been robbed by the thieves." ”

Lu Jinbo said: "Mr. Liu is leading the troops to fight with the dart bureau in front of Chenjiazhuang, and I fought for a night last night, so I immediately sent a message to the two of them, and led the troops to support, Mr. Liu said that he had done this vote, and each of them would be rewarded with 1,000 taels of silver." ”

Wu Xiong was shocked: "Mr. Liu really moved the dart of the big dart game." ”

Lu Jinbo said: "The property of a wealthy businessman and gentry in Beijing protected by the Dart Bureau this time is all gold, silver and jewelry, worth no more than 10,000 taels of gold. ”

Wu Xiong said: "Which person, if there is a back. Jing, that's not good. ”

Lu Jinbo said: "I don't know about this, but it is said that Li Zicheng was defeated at Shanhaiguan and was preparing to withdraw from Beijing, and it is said that before the retreat, Beijing and the surrounding areas of Beijing will be looted on a large scale, and the looted property will be transported to Xi'an, and the rich businessmen in the Beijing area will transfer their property to the south. ”

Zhou Hao suddenly remembered that day in the inn Wu Xiong they talked about Liu Liangzuo's dart to move the dart bureau, it seems that this Liu Zongbing is Liu Liangzuo, and it is also the object that King Fu wants to woo, and immediately said: "Zhou is not talented, and he is willing to lead the hundred people under his command to support." ”

Wu Xiong and Shen Tao were afraid that they would lose the credit for introducing Liu Liangzuo to Zhou Hao, so they said, "Let's go together." ”

Cheng Yue came to Wu Xiong and Shen Tao to support the salt dart he had protected, and secondly, he had Zhou Hao, a cash cow who was promoted to become wealthy, and of course he also went with him.