In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the whole situation was like an avalanche, and it could no longer be contained. First, Shanxi fell, and then Datong surrendered without a fight.

The surrender of Datong made it difficult for the neighboring Xuanfu to resist, and Wang Chengyin, the chief soldier of the Xuanfu, sent people to Datong to discuss the matter of surrendering, and secretly received more than 1,000 thieves to infiltrate the Xuanfu.

Wang Jimo, the governor of Xuanda, convened the city's civil and military officials to swear a blood oath in the Guandi Temple, and he was loud and fierce, shedding tears and livers, while the others just responded silently, and the subordinate generals also secretly wrote to Dashun, asking for refuge, which almost became an open secret.

Wang Jimo was different from other governors who were stubborn and trustworthy, and since he knew that Xuanfu could not hold it, he brought more than 100 soldiers to escort more than 10,000 taels of treasury silver and fled back to Beijing. Unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the Tianchengwei, all the soldiers shouted and shook the sky, robbed the good horses and treasury silver, and ran to join the king. Wang Jimo was alone, and he could only look up to the sky and mourn: "No soldier, no general, no one will face the thief." ”

On the second day of the first month of March, Li Zicheng led the main force of the army to Xuanfu, and Wang Chengyin and Du Xun, the supervising army, went out of the city for thirty miles to kneel to greet him.

Zhu Zhifeng, the governor of Xuanfu, personally climbed the city wall to supervise the battle, but the soldiers just stood by and refused to listen to the order. He personally went to fire the cannon, but found that the line of fire was cut off, the cannon door was plugged, and it was useless. At the juncture of Zuihou, Zhu Zhifeng could only leave his watch and hang himself.

By this time, Li Zicheng's army was only less than 300 miles away from Beijing, which was indeed a few days earlier than the original historical script.

……

"Does Your Highness remember Xu Biao?" Sun Chuanting's voice was low.

"What? He's a thief, too? Zhu Cihong felt a little incredible. He had a good impression of the governor of the three provinces, and also tried to recruit him to come to the East Palace. However, Xu Biao is also a stubborn defender and does not receive the prince's kindness. If such people have all fallen into thieves, it is no wonder that the emperor will not believe anyone.

"I just received the Tang report," Sun Chuanting said, "Li Maochun, the general who guarded the fortified pass, surrendered to the thief." Deliver the text to the truth. Xu Biao slashed the broken cards and wanted to fight with the thieves to the end. His subordinate standard battalion mutinied, tied him up and beheaded, elected Du Si Xie Jiafu as the deputy commander-in-chief, and used the pseudo Yongchang year name to order all counties to welcome thieves. ”

Zhu Cihong let out an "oh". Said: "It seems that this group of men and horses is chasing us very closely, who is leading the troops?" ”

"It was Ren Jirong and Li You who led the troops." Sun Chuanting said.

Zhu Cihong smiled and said: "It's Li You again, it seems that Xiao Donglou didn't completely blow him up." ”

"It is said that Li Chuang originally wanted to use Ren Jirong and Ma Chongxi, the two thieves, but Ma Chongxu had already died in battle, so he could only use Li You. It is said that Li Chuang also sighed for a long time. Sun Chuanting said with a smile: "Ma Chongxu is the thief general who was captured by Xiao Donglou in the Battle of Ganzepo, and was later beheaded to sacrifice the flag. ”

"Oh!" Zhu Cihong sighed: "I didn't expect that he was still very valued by Li Zicheng, and I knew that we should return the head to Li Zicheng." Tsk, now I don't know which wilderness I was thrown in and was gnawed by animals. ”

"Your Highness." Sun Chuanting smiled, and then said seriously, "It's really fallen, I'm afraid our whereabouts have been exposed." ”

Zhu Cihong did not use the banner of the East Palace guard battalion along the way, but only marched in the name of Sun Chuanting's governor standard battalion. It must be Xu Biao's station, and he has done a very good job in reclaiming wasteland and reconciling displaced people, which made Zhu Cihong feel compassion, and then they met. Identities exposed.

Since those people were really beheaded even by their own governors, they must have sold the crown prince without hesitation.

Now Zhu Cihong is stationed in Cangzhou. It is still 400 miles away from Beijing. And Li Zicheng's army has already passed through Xuanfu, and it is only 300 miles to Beijing.

"Since it is exposed, then play the banner, and immediately leave the camp and go to Tianjin after resting!" Zhu Cihong: "Along the way, if there are officials in the prefectures and counties who do not follow the army to listen to the investigation, they will be punished as thieves!" ”

Seeing that Li Zicheng has Beijing City at his fingertips. No more veils of warmth. Recently, I have received news of the martyrdom of local civil and military personnel, which has stimulated Emperor Chongzhen, and it should also stimulate those "loyal" civil and military officials - now it is not a problem of losing land, but a problem of the destruction of society! If you don't retain some vitality, there will be no chance of a turnaround in the future.

The reason why the Chongzhen Dynasty later fell into the situation of the Yongzhen Dynasty. In addition to the fierce party competition, the more important thing is that the vitality has been greatly depleted since Wanli. It is true that the Wanli Emperor's absence from the court does not affect his control over the country and the imperial court, but the failure to appoint officials will lead to the embarrassment that the emperor who ascended the throne later will be completely unavailable.

It must be known that a country's Zaifu is by no means innate, it needs local experience, polishing in the central government, and even names like Zhang Juzheng have been polished for nearly 30 years before they can finally take charge of the authority of this empire. If the Apocalypse Dynasty had a true Zaifu, it would never be possible for the Donglin Party to dominate the party, let alone allow the parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, and Fujian to form an alliance with Wei Eunuch. If there was a real Zaifu at the beginning of Chongzhen's ascension, it would be impossible to set off a "reverse case" party dispute that extended to the Southern Ming Dynasty.

This root is broken in Wanli.

Zhu Cihong didn't swell enough to think that he could truly control the huge country perfectly, and he lacked experience in the end. However, as a professional, he knows the importance of talent echelon. As long as he is sane, Da Ming will definitely not fall apart in his own hands, but to ensure that the next emperor does not do stupid things, he must start building a team ladder from now on and train ministers to take on various roles. And the future Zaifu should be these state and county officials today.

When Zhu Cihong walked out of the Chinese army camp, he suddenly remembered Wu Congyi of Chang'an Zhixian County for no reason. If it weren't for this national disaster, that strong order might also become an excellent imperial historian.

……

"Queen Mother," Princess Kunxing approached Zhou Hou, pretending to be excited, "I saw that the willow tree by the lake has budded, and it must be a good thing that it can bud on such a cold day." ”

Zhou Hou gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, looked at the two sons and one daughter under the seat, and knew that this was Queen Yi'an who was afraid that she would be cranky alone, so she deliberately called her to accompany her. Although these three children are young, their minds are not small, and they know that their mother is worried about their brother's affairs, and they always find good things to say, and never take the initiative to mention outside things, as if they are completely ignorant.

Dingwang Cijiong stepped forward and gently shook Zhou Hou's knees, and said, "Queen Mother, take us to the garden to play." ”

Zhou Hou took out of her sorrow, and soon resumed her role as a mother, with a pale face: "Do you know how to play when you become a child, and have you memorized your homework?" Brother Chun has never been playful at your age, and he can write well, and even the ministers of the outer court are amazed by the articles he makes. She unconsciously said that her eldest son Cihong felt a pain in her heart, and she felt a sense of grievance, and she couldn't wait to go straight to the Wuying Hall in the outer palace, grabbed her husband's collar and asked him: "Where did my son go!" ”

King Ding was choked by his mother and said nothing, deeply regretting that he had hit this muzzle.

Kun Xing coughed dryly, and was about to divert the topic, when he suddenly heard the sound of soft-soled cloth shoes rubbing against the floor tiles. She looked back, but it was Aunt Liu, who had always been gentle and dignified, who was trotting in with a panicked face.

After Liu Gongzheng bowed to Zhou, he quickly said: "Niangniang, there is news of Brother Chun!" ”

Zhou Houden stood up, stepped forward and grabbed Liu Gongzheng's hand: "Where is Brother Chun!" But it's okay! As she spoke, tears flowed down her cheeks again.

Liu Gongzheng hurriedly said: "It was someone in the outer court who impeached Brother Chun, saying that Brother Chun'er abused civil service, and used the guard battalion to coerce the officials of the prefectures and counties along the way, and he has already arrived in Tianjin. ”

"Is he okay?" Zhou Hou asked nervously. She didn't think about what it meant to "abuse civilian service" and "coerce officials", she just wanted to know whether her eldest son was healthy and safe.

"Brother Chun is afraid that nothing will happen, there are so many officials around him." Liu Gongzheng hurriedly counted: "The slaves and maids heard that there were Wu Fu, the prince's guest, Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, Cai Maode, the governor of Shanxi, and Zhou Yingzhi, the governor of Tianjin...... They are all big officials, who else can suppress them except Chitose Ye. ”

Zhou Hou stroked his chest and finally let out a long breath, and praised again and again: "Thanks to the spirit of the ancestors in the sky, the gods and Buddhas bless, my brother Chun is fine." ”

Liu Gongzheng hurriedly laughed and said: "Niangniang, relax, Brother Chun is a star in the sky, what a great creation that is!" Where can there be trouble? That day, I also heard that the people from the Lingtai were inquiring and asked if there was any vision when Brother Chun was born! ”

Zhou Hou smiled softly: "There are so many people in these places, how can there be any vision?" Not yet...... Hey, when you say that, I had a strange dream when I was pregnant with Brother Chun......" (to be continued......

PS: Sorry for being late~~ But there's still a chapter later! Xiexie support!