Late at night on the seventh day of the seventh month of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen

There is a very large courtyard in an ordinary courtyard in the slums of Beijing, and the courtyard is full of hundreds of civilians dressed in ordinary people's clothes, if you have a heart to think about it, you will find that these people are all young and strong young men, and there is a hint of tyranny on the faces of these people, at least it does not look like a good stubble, they faintly enclose a house in the courtyard, as if there is something very important inside.

And at this moment in this house, Li Zicheng, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and others, who were not found by Pang Gang and others, were sitting at a shabby low table at the moment, and a dim oil lamp reflected the sad faces of several people in a particularly gloomy manner. It turned out that when Li Zicheng broke through today, he deceived Liu Zongmin and others, and Li Zicheng, who had been hiding from the Ming army for more than ten years, knew that under the siege of 100,000 troops outside the city, if he broke through with thousands of pro-troops, the chance of himself being able to stand out was too small, so he led Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and hundreds of pro-troops to hide in a remote house, the original owner had already been killed by him, Li Zicheng estimated, according to such a remote and poor place, Even if you stay here for an extra ten days and half a month, there will be no problem.

After a long time, Li Zicheng asked in a deep voice, "Master Song, how is the situation outside the city?" Hasn't the brother we sent out to find out the news come back yet? ”

Song Xiance shook his head: "King Chuang forgives his sins, Poor Dao sent three groups of spies out to inquire about the news, and only one group came back, and the remaining two groups of people are estimated to have fallen into the hands of the Great Zhou Army." However, it is estimated that the news from outside said that General Liu, General Li, and General Hao were all killed, and Li Gongzi and his Henan battalion were not missing, as for Mrs. Gao" Speaking of this, Song Xiance couldn't help but pause.

"How is my wife, you say!" Li Zicheng was anxious, he and Mrs. Gao had been husband and wife for so many years, and their relationship was still very deep, and now when he heard Song Xiance's tone. Immediately I was in a hurry.

Niu Jinxing on the side saw that Li Zicheng was really anxious, and hurriedly comforted: "Don't panic, Mrs. Gao and the female camp spies under her command have not received the news, thinking that it must be the Ji people who have their own natural appearance, and they will be safe." ”

Li Zicheng didn't want to listen to Niu Jinxing's words of comfort, but he also knew that it was useless to be anxious now, and he was now a mud bodhisattva crossing the river - it was difficult to protect himself, and he couldn't take care of others at all. Li Zicheng suppressed the anxiety in his heart, showed a look of apology on his face, and said to Song Xiance: "Song Junshi, Gu Shicai is a little anxious in his heart, and he has no words, please atone for his sins, I don't know what tricks you have to make Gu escape from Beijing City?" ”

Looking at Niu Jinxing coldly and Li Zicheng, who showed a flattering look to himself, Song Xiance shook his head and said: "There is no other way at this moment, the Great Zhou army has just occupied Beijing City today. Their defense must be very strict these days, let's wait a little longer, and wait until their defense is a little slackened before we think about going out. ”

"That's all it can be." Li Zicheng also knew that Song Xiance's words were very reasonable. I had to bow my head helplessly.

Today, Niu Jinxing and his son Niu Shuan are also separated, he is also worried about his baby son now, and always wants to find out about him, but seeing the appearance of Li Zicheng and Song Xiance, he also knows that it is unrealistic to go out to find people now, and now the streets and alleys are full of Great Zhou Army, I am afraid that he will be arrested as soon as he goes out.

After thinking about it, Niu Jinxing said: "King Chuang, Song Junshi." Aren't there many homeless people in Beijing now, and we can pretend to be homeless people to go out of the city tomorrow, what do you think? ”

Li Zicheng thought about it, first felt reasonable, and then shook his head and said, "No." You don't know what kind of virtue the outcasts are, let alone us, even if it's the brothers outside, which of them looks like a homeless? ”…,

Niu Venus thinks about it, and that's right, those homeless people are all hungry and skinny. They don't look like chronically malnourished people. And the people in the guard camp outside are all murderous and unblinking, if you let those people outside who are also from the soldiers' brothers see that they are exposed, alas, let's wait.

There was nothing to say all night, the night passed slowly, the sun slowly sprinkled on the earth, and the residents living in Beijing found that the army occupying Beijing City had changed one today, and the flag of the white tiger flag on a black background was so strange to them. Some bold residents inquired, the feeling is that the people of the Great Zhou Army of Shandong have come, they not only wiped out the thieves who have occupied Beijing City these days, but also even Beijing City has been occupied by him, since ancient times, the people at the feet of the Son of Heaven are the most sensitive to this kind of thing, after getting these news, they pondered and came back to their senses, could it be that this world is really going to change?

However, no matter what these ordinary people thought, the army of the Great Zhou Army marched in large numbers, and one by one, the energetic armies wearing black armor drove into the city of Beijing one by one and began to converge towards the inner city.

There is one thing that is very famous in the city of Beijing, that is, the famous big bowl of tea in the country. Big bowl tea is one of the characteristic tea culture in China, especially popular in the old Beijing area, there are two kinds of tea, one is sencha, that is, the tea leaves are put into boiling water and boiled directly; There is also a unique type of tea, which consists of a large bowl of boiled tea covered with glass waiting for thirsty pedestrians at the crossing.

When drinking tea, a group of five people gets a large tea bowl. Under normal circumstances, it is a bowl of two pennies, and drinking a large bowl of tea in a teahouse in midsummer can not only quench your thirst but also meet the needs of the people under the roots of these imperial cities, which is also a major feature of Beijing.

At this time, in the teahouse of a restaurant in the city, many tea customers gathered in the teahouse, looking at the soldiers and horses driving downstairs and discussing.

A middle-aged man with a big black mole under his right eyebrow and a white coat shook a big fan, looked at the endless army downstairs, and said in an excited tone: "Eh, I said all the old and young masters, we haven't been so lively in Beijing for a long time, these days those military masters are driving in one after another, and then they are made into a pot of porridge, our Ming officers and soldiers, the thieves of the Dashun Army and the Great Zhou Army over there are all in it, good guys, they have all caught up with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms!" ”

"Not really!" A middle-aged man in a gray short suit, with eyes like copper bells, and green muscles on his hands, also shook his head and said: "I am dizzy when I look at it, the world is in chaos, and the business of our dart game is not easy to do." ”

"Huh? Chu darthead, this world is not peaceful. You are a good martial artist, and your business should be better, why is it not good to do it? At this time, a person who didn't know how to do asked him.

This person's words were met with a blank of eyes around him, and someone scolded: "Shopkeeper Chu, in troubled times, do you think Chu Darttou has beaten the Ming officers and soldiers or the thieves?" Or is it the Great Zhou Army? You're still an old man in our Lion Alley, and you don't even understand this. Bai has grown such a big trick! ”

Everyone talked about it, and there was everything, and finally the old man in his sixties with a wisp of goatee shook his head and said: "You guys, don't guess, according to the old man, the world may change color this day."

This old man's surname is Xu, known as Mr. Xu, who once showed off his talents during the Shenzong period, and is also the most literate person in the civilian area in this area. Therefore, everyone liked to ask him for advice, and now when he opened his mouth, all eyes were on him.

The shopkeeper Chu on the side said, "Mr. Xu." You told us that we are all confused these days, when is this calling back and forth, it is all us ordinary people who are suffering! ”…,

"You know what?" Xu Laoxiucai's eyes glared and he was about to speak, when the footsteps of "oh oh" sounded downstairs, and a young man ran up with a notice, shouting loudly: "Everyone, everyone, the military master outside is posting a notice." I also asked for one, Mr. Xu, you can show us what the top is talking about! After the guy finished speaking, he quickly handed the notice to the shopkeeper Xu who was sitting on the side.

I probably felt that the time had come to show my level. Mr. Xu sat upright, looked at the eyes around him and looked at him, and an indescribable sense of superiority surged in his heart, he took a sip of the big bowl of tea and slowly put it down, coughed lightly before slowly picking up the notice and said, "Since this is the case." The old man will tell you about this notice. ”

After speaking, Mr. Xu read slowly

"If you find the traces of thieves, you can quickly go to any place in the Great Zhou Army to report, if it is true, the Great Zhou Army will have a reward, catch an ordinary thief and reward two taels of silver, a general of the post will be rewarded with five taels of silver, the captain will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, the mighty general will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver, the general will be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver, and the general will be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver, if it is found that the thief and thief leader Li Zicheng will report to the Great Zhou army, the Great Zhou army will be rewarded with five thousand taels of silver."

"Wow"

When I read this, the people around me were shocked, and they began to get excited one by one.

"Five thousand taels, I found that Li Zicheng rewarded five thousand taels of silver!" Chu Dart's face flushed with excitement, and he kept rubbing his hands, "Old guys, if you find the traces of Li Zicheng, all of us here can make a windfall, and there are hundreds of taels of silver on everyone's head, which is enough for us to eat for several years!" ”

"Phew, go dream!" Some people around laughed and struck unceremoniously: "If you Chu Darttou can have this shit luck, the ancestral tomb would have been smoking a long time ago, why not nest here with us and drink this big bowl of tea!" ”

In the face of everyone's ridicule, Chu Darthead was silent, and his eyes were rolling around

In the Forbidden City, Chongzhen, who has been living in Kunning Palace for the past two days, was stunned for a long time after hearing the news from Wang Chengen, and finally sighed: "It seems that it is really providential, Daban, order someone to open the city gate and let that Pang just enter the city!" ”

The inner gate, which had been closed for several days, finally opened, and the heavy gate, which was wrapped in thick iron sheets, creaked back and opened, and the heavy jack gate was also pulled up by the ten soldiers on the city wall pushing the winch.

Pang Gang, who was riding a red horse, slowly came to the city gate under the escort of thousands of personal soldiers and looked inside silently, at this time, an elderly old eunuch slowly walked out of it with staggering steps.

He came to Pang Gang and asked softly, "Dare to ask if this is a huge person?" ”

Pang Gang stared at the old eunuch, who was about fifty years old, with gray hair and a little hunched back, if it weren't for the glimmer of essence from time to time in his cloudy eyes, Pang Gang might have ignored him. Looking at the old eunuch, Pang Gang said, "Exactly, I don't know what my father-in-law is called?" ”

The old eunuch smiled faintly, "The crippled people don't dare to have Lord Lao to remember, and the slave is called Wang Chengen." I was ordered by the emperor to wait for you again! ”

"Wang Chengen?" Pang Gang was shocked in his heart, and looked at him again, this is the eunuch who accompanied Chongzhen to hang on the crooked neck tree of the coal mountain in history?

For eunuchs, although Pang Gang doesn't have a lot of colds, he still admires this person who can accompany his boss to hang, after all, not everyone has the courage to die generously, let alone a eunuch.

Thinking of this, Pang Gang's eyes softened even more. He said softly: "The prince has worked hard, since this is the case, let's bother the father-in-law to lead the way, this official has not seen the emperor for a long time!" ”…,

Wang Chengen looked at the young general in front of him, although his surface was silent, but his heart was very surprised, he was also the first time to see this traitor who made the emperor hate in the past, and always thought that he came with a big victory, holding an elite division in his hand. must be a lord who is arrogant and arrogant, but he didn't expect him to be gentle to himself, a crippled person.

However, Wang Chengen is also a well-informed lord, although he is shocked in his heart. But he still quietly lowered his head and said respectfully: "Please move!" ”

Pang Gang did not shirk, and walked towards the majestic palace under the escort of his own soldiers.

As the palace city of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City is divided into two parts: "outer court" and "inner court". The outer court is located in the front part of the Forbidden City, which is composed of the central axis of the end gate - the noon gate - the Taihe Hall - the middle and the hall - the Baohe Hall and the palace pavilion corridor on both sides of the central axis. The outer court was also the place where the emperor received his courtiers, and few people could enter the inner court.

The inner court is located at the back (north) of the Forbidden City, including the Qianqing Palace, the Jiaotai Palace, the Kunning Palace and other buildings, which are the residences of the palace concubines, princesses, and minor princes.

It stands to reason that if Chongzhen wants to see Pang Gang, he should meet in a foreign court. But he has been passing through the outer court, but he didn't see Wang Chengen stop, but went directly to the inner court, if he was seriously suspicious, he might have to suspect that Wang Chengen had some conspiracy, but Pang Gang had the army in his hands. I wasn't afraid of any tricks he would do, so I didn't say anything, and just walked over.

After passing through the inner court, Wang Chengen led Pang Gang to Kunning Palace, and watched the palace maids and eunuchs coming and going along the way looking at Pang Gang and the expressionless sergeants behind him. There was a hint of panic on their faces.

When he arrived at the gate of Kunning Palace, Pang Gang saw Emperor Chongzhen standing at the door of the palace with the support of dozens of palace maids and eunuchs, and behind him stood two beautiful women in palace clothes, and there were five young men and women standing next to these two beautiful women.

Looking at Pang Gang, who was walking and walking with a large number of elite soldiers behind him, Chongzhen's heart was very complicated, this traitor who had been hated by himself and gritted his teeth was standing in front of him at this moment, he saved his life, but he wanted to take away the country left by his ancestors, so at this moment, Chongzhen's eyes looking at Pang Gang were very complicated. And the person who showed a complicated look couldn't help but be Chongzhen, even the Empress Zhou, Concubine Yuan and the palace maids and eunuchs around them, for them, Pang Gang's attitude towards Chongzhen was very important, which was also related to their fate.

Pang Gang strode in front of Chongzhen, without the slightest hesitation, knelt on one knee on the ground and said loudly: "Minister, Pang Gang has seen Your Majesty, may my emperor live long live!" ”

Pang Gang's kneeling stunned the people around him, and everyone's eyes showed a look of disbelief. At this time, Pang Gang is not as good as before, now he has 200,000 elite soldiers, more than 30 million people in five provinces, looking at the Central Plains at this time, who can block his soldiers, I didn't expect that after seeing Chongzhen, he would still be respectful and respectful of the courtiers.

"You"

Chongzhen's lips trembled slightly, wanting to say something, but he held back.

Time passed little by little, Chongzhen still didn't react, and Pang Gang still knelt on one knee. Now someone is in a hurry, which of the eunuchs and palace maids who can follow behind Chongzhen is not a thoughtful person, seeing Chongzhen silent, he couldn't help but secretly cry bitter in his heart, and said in his heart: "My emperor, please let me see when it is, thousands of elite soldiers are standing behind him, why are you a bare-bones emperor putting up a shelf?" Thinking of this, those eunuchs and palace maids seemed to see the murderous aura in the eyes of the sergeants behind the huge man getting heavier and heavier, and they couldn't stop beating the drum in their hearts, for fear that the huge man would suddenly stand up and slaughter them all.

However, someone finally relieved Chongzhen, Queen Zhou gently came behind Chongzhen, pulled his sleeve and said: "Your Majesty, the huge person is still kneeling on the ground, don't hurry up and let the family be flattened!" ”

"Oh oh" Chongzhen woke up from a dream a few times, and quickly raised his hand and said, "Aiqing, hurry up!" ”

"Emperor Xie!" Pang Gang stood up at this time.

Pang Gang, who stood up, looked at Chongzhen like this, the look in his eyes was as calm as the sea, and he did not have the slightest dissatisfaction because of Chongzhen's difficulties just now. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )