Chapter 257: Sunset Forbidden City (I)
Huailai County is the first stop out of Juyongguan, and it is the key to Jingsui, which is a very prosperous place. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoHowever, since the rise of the Flying Tiger Regiment, the security of Huailai has deteriorated, the number of merchants has gradually decreased, and the management of the entire county has gradually been encroached upon by the senior brothers of the Flying Tiger Regiment. In addition, the Jinmen was lost, and the routed troops first fled to the capital, and then rushed to Huailai, fleeing in the direction of Rehe, and the situation became more and more difficult.
The local elder brother of the Flying Tigers is also a vigilant person, and he is deeply afraid that the imperial court will see that the Flying Tigers are not in a good position, so they will change their course and carry out extermination. The east and south gates of the city were piled up with sandbags, leaving only the west gate to enter and exit.
The West Gate is also closed on weekdays, calling the city to open, and the people of the Flying Tiger Regiment are on duty day and night with knives and forks, checking the passing merchants. If the official documents are exchanged, they are hung from the top of the city with a basket and the messenger is not allowed to enter the city, and the official documents are checked by the elder brother and allowed to be released before they can be sent and received, and their shape is the same as that of usurpation.
The dry hot air and low air pressure make it difficult to breathe and make the mood extremely dull. A few Flying Tiger members leaned against the battlements, stripped off their shirts, and took a puff fan to fan the wind. Beside him, there is a half-baked watermelon, chatting to relieve the heat.
There are more and more official documents exchanged and exchanged, and the news is getting worse and worse, even if that senior brother said to everyone that the Divine Fist has manifested and killed countless overseas foreigners, it can't hide a fact. There are fewer and fewer overseas foreigners, and there are more and more foreigners in front of them, it seems that the masters and fathers are too strong in their spells, and they are afraid to kill the foreigners, so they collectively take refuge in the Central Plains. This time, I am afraid that my life will be sad.
From the capital, some refugees have already fled here, but they are either entangled in robbing CDs or are not allowed to enter the city altogether. According to the senior brother, these people should not be allowed to confuse the people and disturb the morale of the army. Everyone also knows in their hearts that once the news of the Flying Tiger Regiment's loss of power spreads, without the government's action, it will be difficult for the local gentry to get around themselves.
In addition, they also heard the news that the two palaces may have to leave Beijing for refuge, and if this is the case, then Huailai is a necessary place. The senior brother chewed the straw stick and said coldly, "The two palaces of the ball!" The emperor and the queen mother, it was in Beijing, and everyone recognized it. Since ancient times, the tiger has not left the mountain, the handsome has not left the position, and the national disaster does not stay to fight with the foreign hair, but runs first, where can it be counted as two palaces? As long as it is out of the palace, it will not be recognized. ”
It's not that he doesn't admit it, but he doesn't dare to admit it, for fear that if he recognizes the emperor, he will be in danger. Several subordinates looked at each other with some concern, not recognizing the emperor, that is, rebellion, they did not have this courage.
In the distance, a carriage drove this way, and the driver was in a hurry, the whip shook quickly, and the smoke and dust rose high. Next to the carriage were a dozen attendants, brightly dressed, but their faces were covered with dust. This seems to be the son of a rich family who fled for his life with a long-term bodyguard, and it is estimated that he also came from Beijing. One of the leaders asked, "Senior brother, do you want to open the door and let them into the city?" ”
The senior brother held up a thousand miles and looked at it for a long time, "Let's open it, don't open it too big, put people in and search carefully." I see that they are two cents, and they must have foreign goods on them, and according to the rules, the foreign goods will be confiscated and people will be driven away. ”
The so-called search for foreign goods no longer cares about matches and cloth, but cares about foreign money and foreign money. There is no courage to rebel, and there is always the wisdom to escape. But you have to have a sum of money in your hand to do it. A few people went down to open the city gate, but only the owner of the car and a few elders were allowed to come in.
The young master was so pompous that he didn't move in the carriage, and a group member squinted his eyes and said, "Where did this come from?" With such a big pomp, he even refused to get out of the car, could it be a paralyzed person? Our senior brother pinched his fingers, suspecting that you were Ermaozi, go, and go with us to burn the watch in front of the altar to determine loyalty and treachery. ”
The attendant who accosted him was a tall and healthy man, dressed in a short beat, and seemed to be a dart player. He smiled at the groupman, "This master, your senior brother's spell is not effective, and he is really not a second man in this car." ”
"Bastard! Dare to say that our senior brother's spells are not effective? Our senior brother's spell is the first in hundreds of miles, and if he is said to be Ermaozi, it must be. If you don't believe it, let's search it. Could it be ...... Is it a inside? The group of people smiled, "If that's the case, you have to come down, and you have to search for it." ”
That Chang Sui was not annoyed, "No, that's not what I said, I'm sure he's not Ermaozi, the reason: he's a foreign hair!" ”
As soon as the words fell, the curtain of the car was lifted, and the muzzle of a black hole was pointed directly at the door of the groupman, and before he could react, the gun had already gone off. These followers who came in had already drawn out their hidden short guns at this time, and in the midst of the gunfire, more than a dozen people had fallen in a pool of blood, and the rest of them fled in terror, throwing knives and guns on the ground. At the head of the city, the Qianli Lookout in the hands of the senior brother had fallen to the ground, and he looked into the distance in amazement. On the desolate post road, the sand and dust are gradually rising, and an army is sweeping here from far and near.
Ryan Stein took out the Yellow Dragon Flag from the car and threw it to Huo Qiu, "Go, plant the flag, and take over the city according to your lordship's instructions." The magistrate here, let me talk to him, I am a foreigner, I can be unreasonable. He will continue to be his prisoner, and this credit is destined to be ours. ”
In the capital, the meaning of seeking peace has become more and more clear, and the attitude of the imperial court has become lower and lower. No matter how much King Duan urged, the rear army refused to listen to him and attacked the embassy. The siege on the Beitang side was also ordered to stop, and food, vegetables and fruits, doctors, and medicines were all transported inside. Even the Empress Dowager Cixi was willing to change the rule that coffins were not allowed to enter the inner city since the founding of the country, and allowed the bodies of the dead foreigners to be put into the coffin and stored in the inner city, but all this came too late.
No amount of goodwill could stop the coalition army's boots, and the army, which was supposed to guard Gyeonggi, had already refused to listen to the dispatch. The men and horses of the rear army were ordered to go out of the city to defend, because there was no map, they did not know where to go, and they turned around and did not understand the essentials, and then turned back. The rear army, which was under great pressure, began to frantically ransack the doors of the mansions in the capital, robbing all the treasures, gold and silver that they could see, Dong Wuxing not only did not restrain them, but took the initiative to send pro-troops to participate.
Han Rong's Wuwei army tried to intercept it, but was almost attacked by the rebel army, he personally led the top horse and killed dozens of heads, but it did not help stabilize the situation. And to join this kind of robbery team, there is also the Flying Tiger Regiment.
After they entered Beijing, the money and grain depended on the allocation of money and grain by the government, and seeing that the government was gradually short of supplies, and did not allow them to attack and kill foreigners, realizing that a catastrophe was coming, many people began to join the ranks of the robbers, and after making a fortune, they left the city from Deshengmen and fled.
In the capital, every family is closed, everyone is in danger, and some rumors are also spread in the capital. For example, the foreigners have already hit the outside of the city, and the city will be broken overnight. Or in other words, the foreigners have besieged the capital, and they will be caught when they go out of the city. In short, just like all the previous rumors that the Flying Tiger Regiment had killed all the foreigners, the current rumors are all one-sided, and the foreigners have won a complete victory, and the capital is in danger.
In Le Shou Tang, it was still Han Rong alone, his face was worse than before, it seemed that the ginseng outside the Guanguan did not play a big role. Cixi also knew that Han Rong had worked hard to defeat one after another militarily, even if he was a good person, he would fall ill under such a blow, not to mention that he was already seriously ill, which made it even worse, but he couldn't even say words of comfort.
Emperor Tianyou sat on the sidelines, his face expressionless, or rather, he didn't know what to say. Concubine Zhen had been pushed into the well by the second chief manager and drowned, but she didn't even have the courage to speak for her, and even when she wanted to speak, she was already in a boat. The family is still like this, not to mention the country, what can he do as an emperor, everything ...... Let him go.
In a trance, he almost thought that he was dreaming, and everything in front of him was so illusory and unreal. inexplicably declared war on the powers, and then was beaten all the way to the capital, and his woman was going to be pushed into the well and drowned, what was he going to do next?
Cixi shouted at him twice before he came back to his senses, and seeing him in a trance, Cixi didn't blame him. She also knew that her drowning of Concubine Zhen had eased the relationship between mother and son again. However, if Concubine Zhen does not die, it is possible to persuade the emperor to take advantage of this opportunity to restore by the power of foreigners. is that either Concubine Zhen dies, or the emperor dies with Concubine Zhen, he just made a choice, and the emperor probably won't understand all this.
At this time, she must maintain an external image of motherhood and filial piety with the Son of Heaven, so that she can shirk the responsibility for the defeat, and with the Son of Heaven in the front, no one can blame the Queen Mother for punishing the culprit in the future. Yes, she will not be surprised at this time, but sighs in a motherly tone
"Alas, how do you say this, the emperor is young and has not experienced this yet. Unlike me, I had a hunt with the first emperor in the north, so I finally knew what was going on, poor emperor, how young he had to suffer this crime, which made me have the face to see my ancestors in the future. ”
As she spoke, she was in a sad mood, and old tears flowed, Han Rong fell to his knees, kowtowing more than once, "Lafayette, don't say that." Today's situation is all caused by Duan, Zhuang and Liangfu, Ganglie, and Xu Tong, these people. If they hadn't deceived Sheng Cong and boasted about the evil arts of the Flying Tiger Regiment, they would never have been in today's situation. Today's events are in the other generation, not in Lafayette. ”
"What's the use of talking about that now? Xu Tong's home, I heard that it was raided by the Flying Tigers? The senior brother also dragged him out of Duanwang's Mansion and scolded him on the street? He is the master of the eldest brother, and a group of civilians dare to scold him, which has no royal law and is tantamount to rebellion. But how do outsiders know that the Flying Tiger Regiment is so domineering, only when the court is on the same side as them, I can't wash away the wrongs that I can't wash away when I jump into the Yellow River. ”
Emperor Tianyou saw Cixi crying, and felt a little unbearable, he was indecisive and indecisive, and at this time he actually felt a little pity. He opened his mouth and asked, "Han Rong, how is the situation of the foreigners?" ”
"Foreign soldiers...... It has already arrived outside the city, and it is being planted, and it will not be long before the artillery will be opened to attack the city. Tonight, there may be movement on the Forbidden City, long live don't be surprised. The foreigners' artillery can't hit us so far, and they can't enter our inner city. ”
Cixi asked, "Do you think we can keep it for a few days?" ”
"This ...... The minions are not easy to say, and they dare not say it. Han Rong took off his top and kowtowed, "Under the minions, only Shandong people and horses are available, and the others either can't fight or don't obey." But this Shandong soldier ......"
"These battalions of Shandong soldiers can't move." Cixi blocked Han Rong's request with a single sentence: "Zhao Guanhou, is there still no news?" I really don't know what happened to him now, I hope he doesn't have anything, otherwise, the dynasty will be broken again. The soldiers he left behind were of great use, and it was precisely because of his soldiers that the city would not be in trouble, and those people with ghosts in their hearts did not do anything that God did not tolerate. I shouldn't have let him go to Hexi to die, but it's a pity that he is a loyal minister. These battalions are guarded and must not be moved, and when necessary, we must have soldiers in our hands, you know? ”
"Minions understand." Han Rong knew that Cixi didn't want a few battalions of elites to be consumed in the defense of the city, and only used it for breaking through and escorting them, in other words, he planned to abandon the city and leave. Now there are two cannons outside the West Garden, and the muzzles of the cannons are facing the outside, needless to say, they are guarding against Brother Duanwang.
Since there is no hope of inviting troops, and the city is lost, all he can do is how to send the two palaces out of the city smoothly. Cixi asked, "How is the cart ready?" ”
"The rebel army came to rob it once, but it was killed a lot by the right army, and now we still have more than 180 vehicles in our hands, all of which are full. In addition, I found more than a dozen cars, which were for Lafayette, the emperor and the palace concubine. ”
"Forget about the palace concubine, if you bring more people, it will be difficult to walk. Only bring one Concubine Jin, as well as the three and four grids of the Qingwang Mansion. I liked these two girls very much, took them with me, and talked to me. The eldest princess of Rongshou and Su Yun will come with me, and the others will stay. There can't be no one in the capital to maintain it, and before Zhang Shaoquan arrives, it depends on Lao Qing's means. ”
At this time, King Qing's sign had already been handed in, and Cixi instructed: "Call him up, let him prepare, his role today is the same as the sixth master back then, and the responsibility is very heavy." His talent is not as good as the sixth master, and now it depends on his loyalty. This time, as long as things are done well, his benefits will be indispensable in the future. Zhonghua, you go down first. ”
Han Rong knelt down and walked out, Cixi took advantage of King Qing's arrival, and summoned Li Lianying on the side, "The people's clothes I asked you to prepare, have you prepared them?" ”
"Back to Lafayette, the minions are ready to stop."
"That's good, I'm afraid I'm going to use it in the next two days, hurry up and put it at hand, so as to save time to catch the blind."
Li Lianying and Emperor Tianyou didn't believe it at this time, the huge capital was really so vulnerable? Even if you fight it, you can fight it for ten days and half a month. But it turned out that the city fell faster than Zhi Cixi had imagined.
After a night of artillery preparation, at dawn the next day, the coalition army launched a white-knuckle assault on the capital, and the people outside the city actually took the initiative to provide ladders to the coalition army to help them attack the city. The defenders of the city began to retreat without making any decent resistance, and the capital of Daikin, the city of ******** with high walls and thick walls, fell in just one night. (To be continued.) )