Chaoyangmen closed the box.

Monk Zhang nodded, Jing Maocheng was about to release people, another group of thieves and cavalry rushed into the urn city at a gallop, the thief who led the army was none other than Li Yan's brother Li Hu, Li Hu saw Monk Zhang at a glance, and couldn't help but rush forward and shout: "Monk Zhang!?" ”

Wang Pu, who was mixed in the crowd, couldn't help but secretly scream miserably!

Jing Maocheng has already agreed to release people, but he didn't expect another extraneous branch, this Li Hu arrived sooner or later, but he rushed to Chaoyangmen at this time, it seems that it is difficult to escape this catastrophe today! The only thing to be thankful for is that Wang Pu has already thrown away all the royal things on the four sisters and brothers of Princess Changping, so even if he becomes a prisoner of the thieves, he may not reveal his identity, as long as he does not reveal his identity, he will definitely have a chance to escape.

Li Hukeng pulled out his waist knife and rushed up to cut Monk Zhang, but was stopped by Jing Maocheng.

Jing Maocheng pulled Li Hu aside and whispered a few words anxiously.

Li Hu's face changed, and he said sharply: "Release people? There are no doors! ”

Jing Maocheng hurriedly said: "General Li Hu, the last general has already promised the monk brothers. ”

Li Hu sneered: "You agreed, but General Ben didn't agree!" Now that General Ben has arrived, General Ben has the final say here, nothing to do with you, come on, take down this group of monks! ”

"Yes!"

More than 100 thieves behind Li Hu suddenly agreed, and immediately swarmed up.

Jing Maocheng said hurriedly: "General Li Hu, you can't do this!" ”

"Jing Maocheng!" Li Hu said coldly, "Don't forget that you are just a partial general, this general is the forward general of the South Road Army, if you dare to stop it, even you will take it!" ”

Jing Maocheng's face changed drastically, he glanced back at Monk Zhang guiltily, and retreated abruptly.

Monk Zhang's eyebrows flashed a trace of anger, and quietly turned back and glanced at Wang Pu, Wang Pu shook his head imperceptibly, and the anger in Monk Zhang's eyes melted down like ice and snow, and more than 100 thieves had already swarmed up, pressing Monk Zhang, Wang Pu and others to the ground, and tying them up into zongzi one by one.

"Take it away." Li Hu waved his hand and said loudly, "Take them to the camp outside the city." ”

Looking back, Li Hu said to Jing Maocheng again: "General Jing, don't be angry, you also know that our army is now short of food and salary, but Sun Chuanting and Wang Pu occupy the rich land in the south of the Yangtze River, and they have money and food, why don't they exchange Monk Zhang and Sun Chuanting's family with them for food and salary, and let these two dog thieves use the silver to ransom people." ”

Jing Maocheng arched his hand helplessly, and reluctantly said, "The general is wise." ”

■■■

Outside the city, the transport wharf.

Huang Degong and Shi Lang were waiting when they were not annoyed, when they suddenly saw the fire on the city wall, the figures were building, and a team of thieves and cavalry rushed into the city gate like the wind, the two couldn't help but be surprised, stood up from the ground, Huang Degong said: "It seems that something must have happened." ”

Shi Lang said: "Could it be the generals?" ”

"It's hard to say." Huang Degong shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Pass the order, all the brothers are ready, but without General Ben's military order, no one is allowed to act rashly, otherwise, ...... Military law engaged! ”

"Yes."

Shi Lang responded in a low voice and quickly conveyed Huang Degong's military order.

What made Huang Degong and Shi Lang feel strange was that there was no sound of fighting in the urn city, and about a quarter of an hour later, a team of rogue cavalry rushed into the city gate like a whirlwind, and not long after, they saw a large group of rogue thieves escorting a group of people out of the city gate, and a sharp-eyed sailor exclaimed: "It's not good, it seems that the general is them!" ”

"What!?"

"Huh?"

Huang Degong and Shi Lang were taken aback when they heard this, and looked at it urgently, only to see that the thieves' torches illuminated the city gate up and down as bright as day, although they couldn't see it really from a distance of nearly 100 steps, but Huang Degong and Shi Lang, who had excellent eyesight, still found that the people captured by the thieves were indeed a little like Wang Pu.

"Fuck." Shi Lang turned over his hand and drew his knife, and said sharply, "Brothers, copy the guys and save people!" ”

"Wait!" Huang Degong shouted, "There are nearly a thousand thieves in and out of the city, and two hundred steps away is the camp of thieves, tens of thousands of horses are arriving in an instant, just with our more than 20 people, we are not opponents at all, if we rush out like this, we can't save the general, not to mention, but also take our own surname in vain." ”

"What then?" Shi Lang hurriedly said, "You can't see death without help." ”

Wang Pu has the grace of knowing Shi Lang, and Shi Lang is willing to sell his life to Wang Pu.

"That's it." Huang Degong thought for a while, and said in a deep voice, "You take the brothers to guard the dock, you must not act rashly, this general sneaked to the edge of the official road to see the situation, if it is really the general and they were captured, then we have to find another way to save people, and it will definitely not work to be brutal." ”

Shi Lang nodded in response, and the two of them went their separate ways.

Huang Degong's body is like a raccoon dog, and he touched the edge of the official road through the shadow a few times, and got into a tea shop from behind, through the gap in the bamboo door, watching the team of thieves escorting people swaggering across the street, this time Huang Degong saw clearly, it was really Wang Pu and them who were caught by the thieves!

As soon as the thieves passed, Huang Degong returned to the Caoyun Wharf like a ghost, and Shi Lang stepped forward and asked urgently, "How is it?" ”

"See clearly." Huang Degong said in a deep voice, "It's indeed the generals." ”

"It's a big problem." Shi Lang hurriedly said, "I have to find a way to save people quickly!" ”

"Don't worry." Huang Degong waved his hand and said, "I heard a few thieves just now say that they want to escort the generals to the big camp, so we have to find a way to sneak into the big camp." ”

While the two were discussing, a small group of thieves lazily went up to the dock with a few wooden barrels.

Shi Lang turned his hand and was about to draw his knife again, but was stopped by Huang Degong, and soon, the group of thieves went to the dock, and one of the thieves said angrily: "Why are you still stunned, you have come over for breakfast." ”

Huang Degong and Shi Lang stood still, and the other 20 or so sailors also stood still.

"Hey, you're fucking deaf?" The thief threw the barrel in his hand to the ground and scolded loudly, "You bastards, don't think that you are also members of the Righteous Army now, you can pick the fat and pick the thin, tell you, our Righteous Army is about seniority, and those who have just surrendered like you only deserve to eat this!" ”

This gang of thieves was just a gang who came to deliver food, and the people who guarded the dock before were a group of officers and soldiers who had surrendered not long ago, so this group of thieves and gangsters did not notice anything unusual, and regarded the two groups of people before and after as a group.

Huang Degong's heart moved, he turned around and slapped Shi Lang's head, and scolded: "Stinky boy who doesn't have long eyes, it's good to have something to eat, and you still pick and choose?" You don't want to think that you can't even eat this when you work for the court! You don't eat? If you don't eat, just stay next to each other, brothers, and we'll eat. ”

As he spoke, Huang Degong stepped forward, picked up a large porcelain bowl from a wooden barrel, scooped up a bowl of rice soup that was so clear that he could almost see a shadow, and drank it in a hurry.

The little leader of the group of thieves said proudly: "That's right, according to the rules of our rebel army, you can only eat this in the first two months after joining the gang, and you will only be qualified to eat dry after half a year, and you can only eat Xiaozao when you become the captain!" Eat, hurry up, and you'll have to work later. ”

"Big brother." Huang Degong asked tentatively, "Can you ask what kind of work will you do later?" ”

"What are you doing?" The little leader of the thieves glanced at Huang Degong and said disdainfully, "Just you guys who can't support the wall, thousands of people can't do anything to our hundreds of old brothers, what else can you do?" Is it possible that I still expect you to fight? Really, just you goods, you will help take people and chase after dirty. ”

"Take people? Chasing dirty? ”

Huang Degong muttered twice, and was about to scoop another bowl of rice soup into the bucket, but the little leader of the thieves honestly and unceremoniously snatched the big bowl in his hand, and scolded at the same time: "One bowl per person, no one eats much!" Whoever the fuck dares to eat more, Lao Tzu will break someone's dog's leg, hum! ”

■■■

The next day is noon, the Imperial Palace.

Li Zicheng strode up the golden steps, touched the dragon chair of Emperor Chongzhen, then turned around and sat down, followed Li Zicheng into the hall Niu Jinxing's eyes turned, quickly knelt down on the Danqi, knocked three times in a row, and sang: "Chen Niu Jinxing, knock long live my emperor, long live long live......

"Hahaha." Li Zicheng looked up to the sky and laughed three times, waved his hand proudly, and said, "Get up." ”

After all, Li Zicheng was born as a post man, he had no culture, and he didn't understand the set of etiquette that the Confucian scholars had drummed up, so he naturally couldn't remember that the emperor asked the minister to get up to shout flat, and Niu Jinxing, who was kneeling under the Danqi, snickered in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it on his face, so he got up and stood on the side of the hall.

"Fuck." Li Zicheng touched the dragon chair, looked up at the carved beams and paintings on his head, and said with emotion, "This Jinluan Hall is really big. ”

"Hooray." Niu Jinxing said in a sneering voice, "In the future, you will be the founding emperor of the Dashun Dynasty and the father of all the people in the world. ”

"There's no rush for now." Li Zicheng shook his head and said, "Did Chongzhen find it?" ”

Niu Jinxing said: "I found it, and I hanged it on the coal mountain." ”

Li Zicheng said: "Dead? ”

Niu Jinxing said: "Dead!" ”

Li Zicheng's brows tightened suddenly, although he was a rough man and had no culture, but in any case, Li Zicheng used to be a pawn of the Ming Dynasty, and he had eaten imperial grain for several years, and now although he said that he was going to change the dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen should not die in his hands Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng was very reluctant to be infamous for killing the king.

After thinking about it, there was only one way to undo the impact, so he said to Niu Jinxing: "When you go back, you will send someone to bury Chongzhen's corpse and Queen Zhou's corpse together, and then carry it outside the Donghua Gate, let the old officials of the old Ming Dynasty go to hang it, and then order it to go down, don't embarrass those old officials of the old Ming Dynasty who came to pay their respects." ”

"Yes." Niu Jinxing replied respectfully, "Long live Shengming." ”

Li Zicheng said again: "Have Chongzhen's three sons and two daughters been found?" ”

Niu Jinxing said: "I only found Chongzhen's youngest daughter in the Showa Palace, but the other three sons and eldest daughter are missing." ”

"Find, dig three feet into the ground and find out!" Li Zicheng frowned and said in a deep voice, "Especially if you can't leave the crown prince Zhu Cihong!" ”

Niu Jinxing said: "Long live, the minister has already been assigned, he wants to see people in life, and he wants to see corpses in death." ”

"Hmm." Li Zicheng nodded, and said, "Prime Minister, have the treasury of the Ming Household Department and the Inner Government Key Treasury of the Forbidden City been sealed?" ”

This is what Li Zicheng is most concerned about at the moment, his army has expanded to nearly a million people, and the amount of food consumed is not a small amount, and he is also counting on the treasury of the Ming Dynasty and the treasury of Chongzhen's inner government to provide him with a large amount of silver, according to Li Zicheng's estimate, how can he get four or five million taels of silver.

Niu Jinxing lowered his head and replied in a low voice: "It was already sealed last night." ”

Li Zicheng stood up from the dragon chair and asked, "How much silver is there?" ”

"Long live Hui." Niu Jinxing didn't dare to look at Li Zicheng's eyes, and responded in a low voice, "No...... Less than ten thousand taels. ”

"What did you say?" Li Zicheng couldn't believe his ears, and said angrily, "Less than 10,000 taels!?" ”

Niu Jinxing raised his head and smiled bitterly: "At first, the minister didn't believe it, but this is indeed the case. ”

Li Zicheng frowned and said, "How can this be? How could this be! ”

Niu Jinxing said in a low voice: "Long live, the minister has an idea that can alleviate the lack of food." ”

Li Zicheng said: "What idea? Say it. ”

Niu Jinxing said: "Chase dirty and help!" The ministers heard Wang Dehua's eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty say that the treasury of the Ming Dynasty and the key treasury of Chongzhen's inner government have long been empty, but the imperial relatives and officials in the capital are all rich and sweaty, why not send troops to arrest these guys and ask them for silver? ”

"Okay, leave this matter to Liu Zongmin."

Li Zicheng nodded and agreed without thinking, eating big households has always been the "fine" tradition of thieves, squeezing the imperial relatives and high-ranking officials and lords in Beijing, Li Zicheng has no psychological obstacles, and Li Zicheng has always had no good impression of these moths who have sucked up the people's fat and people's cream!

Li Zicheng is still a grass coward after all, he has no strategic vision, he only sees the oil and water on these moths, but he doesn't know that these moths are actually very powerful, because they are not a few, but a large group, he opened the moths in the Beijing Division, and the moths outside the Beijing Division will be in danger for everyone, and Li Zicheng will become the biggest enemy, which is very detrimental to Li Zicheng's great cause!

At the beginning in Jiangnan, Wang Pu didn't let his subordinates pretend to be thieves to rob, and that's what he was worried about!

Although the money came quickly, Wang Pu could accumulate enough money to recruit new troops in a short period of time, but the sequelae of this were also very serious, so that Wang Pu would push himself into the opposite side of the entire Shilin gentry class, at that time, the Shilin gentry occupied the position of the ruling surname, and it would never end well to oppose them.

Therefore, Wang Pu adopted the method of opening an entertainment city to earn money, and tried to avoid direct conflict with the Shilin gentry class.

"Hooray, there's one more thing you can't be careful." Niu Jinxing said, "Ning Yuan, guarded by Wu Sangui, is a barrier to the Jiannu outside the gate, and people should be sent to surrender immediately!" ”

"Hmm." Li Zicheng nodded and said, "It's not enough to send people to surrender, you also have to change the guard!" Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan have an important status, and they must be in their own hands! In this way, let Li Guo and Li Yan not use Yanjing, and immediately lead troops to Ningyuan to change defenses, and let Wu Sangui lead the army to Yanjing to accept incorporation. ”

Niu Jinxing said in a sneering voice: "Long live the Holy Ming." ”

■■■

Outside the Chaoyang Gate, the camp of thieves.

A thief general entered Li Hu's Chinese army tent proudly surrounded by more than a dozen personal soldiers, and Li Hu and Jing Maocheng, who were discussing in the tent, quickly stood up, hugged their fists and said: "This is ......"

The thief general pointed at himself and said loudly: "Lao Tzu Li Baoguo, the dragon is a partial general in front of the general's tent!" ”

Li Hu and Jing Maocheng were in awe, the dragon inlay general Li Shuangxi is Li Zicheng's own nephew, and his status in terms of identity is far above Li Guo, Li Yan and him are even more incomparable, and concurrently, the partial generals in front of Li Shuangxi's tent are much more bullish than the generals of the righteous army in other battalions, Li Hu and Jing Maocheng can only be seen with the courtesy of their subordinates.

Li Baoguo said: "The king has an order, Li Guo and Li Yan's troops immediately went to take over Ningyuan, and the camp in Chaoyangmen is now taken over by Lao Tzu." ”

As he spoke, Li Baoguo threw a token to Li Hu.

Li Hu took the token and asked cautiously, "General Li, there are several important prisoners in the Guanxiang camp, can we take them away?" ”

"Criminals?"

Li Baoguo's eyes rolled, and he thought it was Li Hu and the Yanjing big family they had arrested privately, and said in an unquestionable tone at the moment, "Stay behind!" How can anyone go out with a prisoner? ”

Li Hu had no choice but to go out of the account in a huff, and Jing Maocheng ordered the men and horses of the headquarters to rush to Tongzhou to join Li Guo and Li Yan's brigade.

■■■

In the blink of an eye, three days have passed.

The first to be arrested and tortured were a large number of cabinet members and relatives of the emperor, such as Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the cabinet, Zhu Chunchen, the prince of Chengguo, and Zhou Kui, the national abbot.

On the contrary, Wang Pu and others, who were inadvertently captured by Li Hu, were treated as small households with little oil and water by the thieves, and were thrown in the Chase cell and no one cared about them.

■■■

Jiangnan, who was thousands of miles away, soon learned the news of the fall of Yanjing and the hanging of Emperor Chongzhen.

The whole of Nanjing became a pot of porridge in an instant, and Nanjing officials headed by Gao Hongtu, the secretary of the Nanjing household department, and Lu Daqi, the squire of the military department, poured into the Nanjing military department one after another, asking Shi Kefa, the secretary of the military department, to come forward to preside over the overall situation, because He Xiongxiang, the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, had died of illness half a year ago, and Shi Kefa was already the highest official in the Nanjing officialdom.

Yanjing fell, and Nanjing became the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and the six departments of Nanjing also became the highest authority of the Ming Dynasty.

There were only two issues on the agenda for the Nanjing officials.

The first is to employ a large number of dismissed rank members at home, such as Qian Qianyi, a famous scholar from Jiangzuo who lived in Nanjing, Liu Zongzhou, the former imperial historian of the left capital who returned to his hometown, and talented Confucian students led by Zhang Pu and Zhou Bi to enrich the six departments of Nanjing and the imperial history of the science and technology of the province, so as to make the six departments of the remaining capital and the imperial history of the science and technology of the province up and running as soon as possible.

There was not much to say on this issue, and the opinions of Nanjing officials were quickly agreed.

The second is the question of supporting the new monarch, Gao Hongtu believes that although Emperor Chongzhen is dead, the life and death of the prince are uncertain, and before the exact news of the prince, a new monarch cannot be established, while Lu Daqi believes that the country cannot be said to be without a monarch, and should be selected from the nearest King Fu and King Lu who are in exile in Nanjing.

The opinions of the two factions are very different, each has its own reasons, each has its own supporters, and it is quarrelsome.

……

(To be continued)