After the thieves captured Changping County, the last barrier of Gyeonggi, Emperor Chongzhen knew that the general situation had gone, and he could not wait for the arrival of King Qin's army.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Xuanping was captured by the Liukou, the general soldier Bai Guangen died, the 8,000 elite soldiers of the department were wiped out, and the brigade of thieves went down the Shahe River, and they have attacked the Pingzemen in the outer city of Beijing, and the fires were soaring along the way, and the thieves swept the mountains," when convening the monarchs and ministers to discuss the military situation urgently, Emperor Chongzhen reported the military situation sadly and helplessly, looked at the ministers of His Royal Highness who were silent, and roared angrily: "I am not the king of the dead country, everything is the image of the dead country, the ancestors are in the wind and rain in the world, once lost, what face will be seen underground?" ”

After listening to Emperor Chongzhen's roar, the ministers were all trembling and silent. Seeing the appearance of His Royal Highness's ministers, Emperor Chongzhen Huo Ran got up, walked down the imperial steps, stood in front of the palace, and looked at the faces of the ministers at the head of the hall one by one. The king died and died, and I am determined to live and die with the Zongmiao Society, with the ancestral mausoleum, and with the millions of living beings in Beijing! You Aiqing can go back to the mansion, gather the family to protect the home, distribute equipment, and fight the thief to the death! ”

Emperor Chongzhen seems to have never been so decisive, after he walked back to the palace, he ordered the first assistant Liu Zongzong, the second assistant, Zhang Jinyan, the secretary of the military department, and other officials to recruit the strong men of the Beijing division to organize the Qinwang army, and divide the equipment to defend the Beijing division, and at the same time he issued a holy decree, hoping that the emperor's relatives and relatives and hundreds of officials in Beijing would take state affairs as their thoughts and donate family resources to help the army's salary.

Seeing the emperor so sad and angry, the ministers were relatively gloomy. They all looked ashamed. However, some of them are not thinking about suffering with the emperor and the Ming Dynasty at this time, but thinking about the future of themselves and their families. But there was still no shortage of loyal and brave people among the ministers, and many of them returned home. Immediately donated money and materials to help the imperial court fight against the Liukou, and at the same time organized his own family and nursing home, ready to join the ranks of the defense of Beijing.

Emperor Chongzhen ordered the governor of Xiangcheng to be the governor of Jingying, and ordered Wu Xiang to supervise Jingying, and appointed Wang Chengen, the eunuch of the seal of the celebrant supervisor, as the governor of Jiumen, to work with Li Guozhen.

Wang Chengen is Emperor Chongzhen's most trusted eunuch, and now he doesn't have too many people available, and the great eunuch summoned by his side has no choice but to send out to lead the army. All the glory of Wang Chengen was given by Emperor Chongzhen. He didn't dare and would not have any excuses, and after donating tens of thousands of silver taels, he immediately received the will of Emperor Chongzhen and personally arranged the defense of Beijing City.

Many people know that Beijing's defense force is very weak at present, and although the number of troops in Beijing is more than 100,000, it has long been abandoned, and most of the squad troops regularly recruited from various garrisons have been converted into silver taels or sent to border towns to garrison and build fortifications. The pro-army stationed in Beijing, the sergeant of the Beijing Guard, or the old, weak, sick and disabled. or have someone call them on their behalf, or they may be taken by the family of their relatives for hard labor. The Beijing camp nominally had 110,000 soldiers, but the real number of soldiers was less than 60,000 at most, and these 60,000 horses did not have much combat effectiveness. It's just a rabble, not even a rabble.

In the dead of night, the Forbidden City, which has always been majestic and solemn, is now a bleak scene. However, in the Qianqing Palace, it is quite lively. Emperor Chongzhen held a family banquet here. It's just that none of the people present have an appetite, and they don't even have the idea of using chopsticks to taste the delicious food on the table in front of them. Only Emperor Chongzhen eats joy. There was still a smile on his face, and he even personally fed Princess Zhaoren Zhu Jie. But anyone can see that the honorable Emperor Ming is just smiling at this time, and most of the people present understand that maybe this is the last family banquet of the Ming royal family.

In a few days, their fate may also be dominated by others, and the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty will also be occupied by others.

Queen Zhou is also smiling, as the mother of the Ming Dynasty, this young woman who is glorious and luxurious, at this time, what worries her the most is not only the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty, but also the fate of her children. If Beijing is attacked by the rogues, then her sons and daughters will all die. Seeing that her son and daughter are going to suffer, as a mother, how can she not break her heart.

In the end, the family banquet ended in silence and depression, Emperor Chongzhen drank a lot of stuffy wine, and was carried back to the palace by the eunuch after getting drunk, and Empress Zhou did not dare to leave, and personally served in front of Emperor Chongzhen's dragon boat. She didn't sleep all night, and she could be said to have shed tears to the sky.

The only thing that made Empress Zhou happy was that her favorite daughter Zhu Yujiao was not in Beijing now, and followed Cao Yue to Nanjing. Empress Zhou prayed that her daughter, who had just become a mother, would be able to live a safe life in Nanjing.

When Zhu Yujiao followed Cao Yue to Nanjing, she was very reluctant, and even blamed Cao Yue for letting Zhu Yujiao go to Nanjing to suffer for her own selfish interests. Now, she doesn't think so anymore, and she thinks that Cao Yue is very prescient, left Beijing, the land of right and wrong, and escaped a disaster-

The Liukou has already hit the outside of Beijing, and the shadow of the Liukou can also be seen outside some city gates, so it can be said that outside the city of Beijing now, there is a scene of chaos everywhere.

Outside the Chaoyang Gate in Beijing is the Caoyun Wharf of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Forty miles to the east of Chaoyangmen is the North Tongzhou Wharf, and any goods transported from the south, whether they are landed in Tongzhou or disembarked at the Caoyun Wharf outside Chaoyangmen, must be transported into Beijing through Chaoyangmen. It can be said that Chaoyangmen is the northern starting point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and officials and merchants who leave Beijing to the south, or who enter Beijing from the south to make pilgrimages and do business, must stop at Chaoyangmen. Whether it is Mengyuan or Daming, the area around Chaoyangmen is one of the liveliest urban areas in Beijing.

Inside and outside Chaoyang Gate, the teahouses are sprinkled one after another, and there is a lot of traffic all year round. But now, the scene of traffic can no longer be seen, the gate of Chaoyang Gate is firmly guarded, the suspension bridge is hung high, the guards at the head of the city are tightly armed, and the sergeants patrolling are very dense, even in the second half of the night.

The Liukou are about to attack the city of Beijing, and although the defenders of Beijing are a rabble, they will always have to defend themselves like a great enemy.

It was almost dawn, and the sergeants patrolling the city were still in batches, but the sergeants on patrol were already very tired. Fortunately, there was nothing going on inside and outside the city, and the canal wharf was also full of doors, and the boats could not be seen, which made them breathe a sigh of relief.

But in the morning light, in the originally quiet canal, several large ships came quickly, and these big ships were not ordinary cargo ships, but sailor warships equipped with artillery, and there were five of them in total. The defenders at the head of the city noticed when these large ships appeared in view, and immediately everyone became nervous and raised the battle alarm, and the city was in a hurry. However, after seeing the battle flags flying on the warship, the defenders at the head of the city breathed a sigh of relief, maybe this was a army that had just arrived at King Qin.

But they did not dare to be careless, and remained fully guarded, and the sergeants hid on the walls with bows and arrows or muskets, and kept a close watch on the approaching ships. (To be continued.) )