On the fifth day of the third month, it was about three o'clock, that is, before noon.

Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youzhen, officially left the capital of North 0.

If you don't count it, he went out of Qihuamen that night and met Zhou Yuji and others.

He, the emperor, should have left Beijing for the first time in his life.

The bright spring light renders the world outside Beijing colorful.

However, Zhu Youzhen couldn't show the slightest joy at the moment.

He is now just an ordinary Dongchang prisoner.

Except for Wang Chengen and a few reliable people in Dongchang, no one knew that there was no one in the yellow cart at this time.

And His Majesty the real Emperor was riding a horse, holding an embroidered spring knife, looking left and right with eyes like an eagle.

Even the officials didn't notice it, they are all following behind now, and they only know that His Majesty is in front.

Because the baggage had already set off yesterday, the evacuation speed of the retreating team of Zhu Youjian was not slow.

After walking for an hour, according to the outpost, it was not far from Tongzhou.

However, just when Zhu Youzhen ordered him to rest for a while, he suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the forest on the side.

Oh, I saw dozens of thieves wearing red scarves galloping on horseback, like sharp arrows straight into the yellow cart in the middle, that is, the emperor's car.

Zhou Yuji shouted when he saw this: "Protect Your Majesty!" ”

The cavalry of the guards on both sides quickly surrounded the emperor's chariot, and Wang Chengen and Zhu Youzhen were also wrapped.

"Don't let Chongzhen go!"

At this moment, a thief was heard riding loudly and smashing an iron ball the size of a grapefruit at the yellow cart.

At the same time, the other thieves also threw iron balls.

The yellow cart exploded in an instant.

However, fortunately, this is a solid iron bullet, not a flowering bullet, so it did not set off a wave.

But Wang Chengen still jumped to the yellow cart and blocked Zhu Youzhen on the pretext of saving the driver.

"Hit the mark!" As soon as the thief saw that there was no one in the yellow cart, he hurriedly withdrew, and Zhou Yuji immediately shot it with a bow and arrow, and he had to personally lead the cavalry to pursue.

But Zhu Youzhen drank Zhou Yuji: "Don't chase after the poor, our top priority is to reach Tongzhou as soon as possible." ”

"Yes!" Zhou Yuji responded, and sent a few more sentry horses to guard along the way, he didn't dare to let such a sudden attack happen again.

Zhu You's face sank like water.

He could expect that there must have been Li Zicheng's inner presence near the capital at this time.

So, he was not surprised by this sudden attack.

Of course, he didn't feel the need to pursue, after all, the most important thing for him now was to get out of here as soon as possible.

Evacuate this danger zone.

So he stopped Zhou Yuji.

But Zhu Youzhen also felt a little bad.

The dozens of thieves are not a small force, and they can skillfully dodge Zhou Yuji's sentry horse, if they don't steal the beams and change the pillars in advance, the attack will almost be successful.

This shows that this group of thieves and cavalry is Li Zicheng's elite.

In other words, Li Zicheng's army was not far from the capital, and a large number of sentinels had appeared in Gyeonggi, and they tried to stop him when they learned about his withdrawal from the capital from Neiying.

Even, it cannot be ruled out that there is also Li Zicheng's internal response in the team he evacuated.

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but clench the embroidered spring knife in his hand.

The ministers were also so frightened when they saw the yellow cart being smashed that their faces turned pale, and some people even shouted directly: "Your Majesty!" ”

But when they saw that there was no one in the yellow cart, they regained their calm.

Empress Zhou and Concubine Yuan also lowered the curtain and let out a long sigh.

However, at this time, the sound of horses' hooves came again.

Zhou Yuji didn't dare to take it lightly, directly pulled out his knife, and personally guarded Zhu Youzhen and Wang Chengen.

Everyone else drew their swords and was ready to go.

Before evacuating the capital, Zhu Youzhen ordered everyone to evacuate with him a sword, so at this time, even Empress Zhou and Yuan Guifei also drew their swords.

The bright cold light was particularly dazzling in the sunlight.

The whole air also froze.

Mrs. Liu held her breath and watched vigilantly, and the spear in her hand gently drew an arc on the ground, making the bluestone slab on the official road make a loud sound.

As soon as Zhou Yuji glanced at him, ten horsemen danced with scimitars and followed the sound.

Fortunately, it was only the sentry rider on his side who appeared.

"Report! Jiang Xuan, the general soldier of Datong, surrendered to the enemy, and Datong fell! ”

"Report! Bai Guangen, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, surrendered to the enemy, and Xuanfu fell! ”

Zhu Youzhen and the accompanying officials couldn't help but be shocked when they heard this!

"Your Majesty, the loss of Datong and Xuanfu means that there are no two barriers in the capital, if Juyong Pass is lost again, the army of thieves will only need three days to resist the capital!"

Li Banghua, the secretary of the military department, walked to Wang Chengen's side, nominally talking to Wang Chengen, but discussing the military situation with Zhu Youzhen.

The people who followed Hu were unsettled because they had just experienced an attack, but now they suddenly heard that the Datong Xuanfu had been lost, and they immediately panicked.

A man named Liu Tingzhi was even more frightened and wanted to flee from here.

Seeing this, the other entourage also had to run alone.

Seeing that the scene was about to be chaotic, Zhu Youzhen directly ordered: "Zhou Yuji, this person dares to disturb the morale of the army and kill him!" ”

"Yes!"

However, before Zhou Yuji could shoot an arrow with a bow, he heard a scream from behind.

Zhu Youzhen looked back, but saw that Liu Tingji had been killed on the ground, and the person who killed him was Zuo Zhongyun Li Mingrui.

I saw Li Mingrui pull out his bloody long sword and stumble back: "Er is a minister of the Ming Dynasty, he dares to leave His Majesty at this time of crisis, don't blame me Li for being ruthless!" ”

Li Mingrui couldn't help but shout as he spoke: "There is nothing else to leave!" ”

The entourage was so shocked that they didn't dare to say more, and silently returned to their ranks.

After Zhu Youzhen saw it, he also had a good impression of this Li Mingrui in his heart, and he didn't expect that as a civil servant, he would have such courage at such a time, and directly kill a Wupin Langzhong to stabilize the order.

However, after Zhu Youzhen and the others continued to march for half an hour, another sentinel came to report.

"Report! Yang and lost! ”

"Report! Changping is lost! The thieves have arrived at the mediocre level! ”

"Report! Juyong Guan's general soldier Tang Tong surrendered to the enemy! ”

"Report! The thieves occupied the Imperial Tomb, and the Twelve Emperor's Tombs were destroyed! ”

……

"What, Juyong Pass is lost!"

Juyong Pass is the last barrier in the capital.

Therefore, as soon as the news of the loss of Juyong Pass came, it exploded in the crowd like thunder.

Suddenly, someone panicked again, but because Liu Tingji's head was still hanging on the yellow cart in the Gong Gong Lang.

Plus Li Mingrui's bloody sword.

Therefore, no one dares to act rashly.

However, Fan Jingwen and Wu Xian, as well as Li Jiantai and other cabinet ministers and ministers of various ministries, all gathered towards Zhu Youzhen.

"Your Majesty, it seems that the thieves will not need a day to reach the capital", Li Banghua, the secretary of the military department, opened his mouth first.

Zhu Youzhen was also a little worried.

Li Zicheng has already arrived at the Twelve Tombs, and he also destroyed the ancestral tomb of the Zhu family, these are nothing, after all, it is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years.

The key now is that since Li Zicheng has arrived at the Twelve Tombs, judging from the fact that the news will be delayed, it shows that Li Zicheng's army is now only afraid that it has arrived in the capital.

It can almost be said that he left the capital with the front foot, and Li Zicheng's army arrived at the capital with the back foot.

"How far are we from Tongzhou?"

Although Zhu Youzhen was worried, now as the emperor and the backbone of everyone, he could only force his composure.

Fan Jingwen hurriedly replied: "Half an hour! ”

"You say, will Li Zicheng divide his troops to get the grain of Tongzhou, and will Li Zicheng's army encounter us here!"

Zhu You didn't wait for these ministers to answer after asking, so he directly ordered: "Pass the order, stop the halfway rest arrangement, and run forward immediately!" ”

Zhu Youzhen said and walked away directly.

The rest of the people also hurriedly followed.

The rest of the staff also knew that the situation was critical now, and they couldn't care about their fatigue, so they hurriedly spread their legs and began to run.

And not long after Zhu Youzhen's team ran, another sentry came to report that about 50,000 thieves had divided their troops into Tongzhou, and it was now less than an hour away from Tongzhou!