Just half an hour later, a white flag was raised at the head of the city, which had been bombed into ruins.

At the same time, the closed city gate of the county seat was also opened.

A general holding a white flag and without any weapons rode a war horse and rushed towards the camp of the Northern Army in a daze.

After another half an hour, groups of officers and soldiers who had laid down their weapons began to walk out of the county in an orderly manner and surrender to the Northern Army.

At this moment, in the case of the deliberate release of water by the Northern Army. After three consecutive hours of galloping, Xu Guohou finally saw the towering and tall walls of the capital.

The front of the Northern Army, although it is still hundreds of miles away from the capital. However, the cautious imperial court had already taken a step forward and put the entire capital under martial law.

Therefore, as soon as Xu Guohou, who was full of exhaustion, rushed to the gate of the capital, he was surrounded by the soldiers of the Beijing camp who hurriedly gathered.

Subsequently, he was disarmed by these Beijing soldiers and escorted to the gate of the palace, waiting for Chongzhen to summon him......

On the palatial hall, Xu Guohou just walked in, and knelt in the middle of the hall. Then, he cried to Emperor Chongzhen.

"陛xià...... Majesty, you have to be the master of Weichen......"

"If it weren't for the blessing of His Majesty, there would be the mercy of God. Wechen may have turned into a corpse now, and he will never see you again...... Please give Weichen the master, and return Weichen a clean slate. ”

Hearing this, he was just about to ask Xu Guohou in front of him why he left his post without permission, but Emperor Chongzhen, who returned to Beijing at this time, directly swallowed back the question that had already reached his mouth.

Then, with a puzzled face, he asked rhetorically......

"It's up to you. I'd love to know. Why should I call the shots for you? You, the chief soldier of the imperial court with heavy troops. will also be wronged outside that I have to be able to make decisions. In addition, I also want to know if you are afraid of the rebels who are attacking the capital when you don't fight the rebels on the front line and leave your post and return to the capital without permission......"

Under a series of questions from Emperor Chongzhen, Xu Guohou was weak-hearted. However, he still held back his inner fear and faced Emperor Chongzhen. continued to cry: "Your Majesty, Weichen, it's not that Weichen left his post without permission and returned to the capital for fear of the rebels. Instead, Weichen was on the front line, and he was almost cut down by his subordinates and sent to the rebels for credit. ”

Hearing this, the puzzled expression on Chongzhen's face became even thicker, and he subconsciously asked: "I was cut off by my subordinates, and I have to send it to the rebels to ask for merit...... Could it be that there are thousands of soldiers under your command? I plan to betray the court and betray my ......"

When it comes to the last sentence. A trace of murderous aura has been invisibly emanating from Chongzhen's body.

A pair of eyes that can almost be used to kill people stared at Xu Guohou in front of him, waiting for Xu Guohou to answer.

At the same time, the faces of the ministers of civil and military affairs standing in the court also showed a shocked expression from the heart. Everyone looked at Xu Guohou, who was kneeling in the middle of the hall, waiting for Xu Guohou to answer.

Xu Guohou, who felt great pressure in an instant, had to affirm for the sake of his future and his family.

"Please atone for your sins, it is the fact that Weichen did not command the soldiers under his command, so he led them to betray the court and betray your ......."

After the inference in his heart was affirmed, Chongzhen's face turned red as if he had been slapped very loudly. Anger from the heart, of course. It also quickly emanates from the body.

In front of a group of courtiers, he scolded mercilessly.

"Since your subordinates have betrayed the court and betrayed me, why are you coming back...... Don't you know that after your subordinates have committed the following crimes, or even rebellion, you, the Supreme Commander, will be convicted together? ”

"As a general who commands thousands of troops, he can't even control his own generals, what face do you have to come back. The face of the court has been lost by you. If someone comes, I will immediately drag him down for me and hand him over to the Xingbu for conviction according to the law. I don't want to see him now. ”

Xu Guohou, who was kneeling in the main hall, had already thought that Chongzhen would be angry. However, what Xu Guohou didn't expect was that Emperor Chongzhen's anger would be so strong that he didn't even give himself a chance to explain.

Facing the two inner guards who were walking towards him at the gate of the main hall, Xu Guohou hurriedly begged Emperor Chongzhen for mercy.

"Please atone for your sins...... There is a reason why Weichen risked his life to return to the capital and return to the imperial court, please listen to Weichen's explanation......"

"What Wechen did was for the Ming Dynasty, for His Majesty, definitely not for his own selfish interests, please listen to Wechen's explanation, Wechen will definitely give His Majesty a satisfactory explanation......"

When he pleaded with Emperor Chongzhen, Xu Guohou did not forget to give his friends in the hall a look and ask them to help speak.

The silver that Xu Guohou gave out every year by eating the blood of soldiers was not given in vain. The two inner guards had just set up Xu Guohou and were about to drag him outside the main hall. A military attache of the same rank stood up directly.

Kneeling on one leg, he said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Please calm your anger, the old minister thinks that we should give Lord Xu Guohou a chance to explain." In addition, only Lord Xu knows what is happening at the front. If Lord Xu is held accountable, the imperial court will not know the latest situation on the front line. ”

"Therefore, Lao Chen thinks that it is not too late for us to make a decision after listening to Lord Xu's explanation first......

The angry expression on Emperor Chongzhen's face, at this moment, finally showed the slightest sign of dissipation.

After taking a deep breath, he ordered the guards in the main hall, "You go down first...... I'll listen to you today...... If this Xu Guohou can give me a reasonable explanation, I will continue to reuse him. However, if he Xu Guohou can't give me an explanation, then I will not only ask him for his guilt, but his family will also be punished. ”

Xu Guohou did not let go of this opportunity, under the gaze of Chongzhen and all the courtiers, he was like a general of how to use heavy artillery to kill and injure the soldiers under his command, how he had no room to fight back, and how the soldiers under his command lost thousands of people in just half an hour...... The picture is displayed in front of everyone in the hall without leaking......

In the face of Xu Guohou's immersive appearance, no one in the hall doubted the authenticity of what Xu Guohou said.

As soon as Xu Guohou finished speaking, a burst of inhalation began to sound in the main hall. Everyone's faces showed expressions of shock from the bottom of their hearts.

And after the shock, there was a look of panic that quickly enveloped their faces.

Because, they were all frightened by the power of the heavy artillery in Xu Guohou's mouth.

They did not dare to imagine: with such a powerful heavy artillery, as long as there were enough shells. Will the Northern Army directly open the way with heavy artillery, and hit the foot of the capital all the way unstoppably.

At this time, in the main hall, a minister asked in a low voice: "My lord, are your subordinates planning to cut off your head and use your head as a gift to surrender to the Northern Army just because they are afraid of the powerful power of the heavy artillery of the Northern Army?" ”

Xu Guohou, who was still kneeling in the middle of the main hall and pretending to be weeping bitterly, quickly replied after glancing at the minister with a grateful face......

"Yes, these subordinates who are afraid of the heavy artillery of the Northern Army and plan to betray the imperial court have this kind of thought. Cut off my head and give it to the Northern Army as a greeting gift......"

"However, God has eyes, and His Majesty blesses him, so that Weichen discovered this conspiracy in advance......"

"In order to report the battles that took place on the front line to the imperial court, and to prepare the imperial court for the heavy artillery of the northern army. Wei Chen directly took the guards of less than 300 people under his command and killed them out of the county seat......"

"In the end, there were only less ......than 150 people who successfully followed Weichen out of the county and returned to the capital to report to the imperial court."

"Therefore, what Wechen wants to tell the emperor is that Wechen is not afraid of death. However, Weichen didn't want to die in the hands of his own people so inexplicably. Even if he dies, he will die on the battlefield where he fights with the Northern Army. ”

Hearing this, the anger on Chongzhen's face disappeared completely. looked at Xu Guohou's gaze, and there was no murderous aura just now.

After suppressing the shock in his heart at the strong combat effectiveness of the Northern Army, he said in as calm a tone as possible: "Xu Aiqing...... Get up, I believe you now, not because you are afraid of death, and you will leave your post without permission and return to the capital's ......"

After finishing speaking, his calm face suddenly became stern, and he asked loudly: "However, I still have to make a determination about this matter: the heavy artillery equipped by the Northern Army is really as powerful as you said...... And it also has dozens of these powerful heavy artillery pieces......"

Facing Chongzhen's gaze at him, Xu Guohou affirmed loudly.

"Yes, Your Majesty...... Wechen dared to vouch for his life......"

"Among the Hongyi cannons we are equipped, even if they are the most powerful, they are not the opponent of heavy artillery like the Northern Army."

After finishing speaking, Xu Guohou didn't care about Emperor Chongzhen's changing face again, and continued to add in a surprising voice: "Weichen is a person who has really seen the power of this kind of heavy artillery, and he almost died under the bombardment of this kind of heavy artillery. So, for this kind of heavy artillery, Weichen knows it better than anyone else......"

It is precisely because of this that Wei Chen desperately came back to sue sù majesty, if the imperial court could not come up with a specific way to fight it. The tens of thousands of troops arranged in front of the imperial court will definitely not be able to stop the advance of the northern army......"

As soon as Xu Guohou finished speaking, a very noisy discussion sounded outside the main hall.

Sitting on the dragon chair, Emperor Chongzhen, who was not in a good mood, was just about to get angry. A scout with a tired face was dragged into the main hall by two eunuchs......

Emperor Chongzhen, who was shocked in his heart, didn't have time to speak, and the scout who fell directly on the main hall had already taken a step in advance, and whispered in his tired voice: "Front-line emergency battle report...... Lord Xu Guohou's subordinates took the initiative to surrender to the Northern Army this morning...... The Northern Expeditionary Army has sent troops to occupy the county seat, and there are signs of further attacks......" (to be continued......