The time when Zhao Gao entered Beijing has reached the end of February, at this time the periphery of the city is all lost, and the Qinwang army from all walks of life has come one after another, but most of them were strangled by Li Shun's army in the periphery, Zhao Gao traveled all the way, day and night, and it took more than two months to successfully enter the city of Beijing. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

It has been less than a year since Zhao Gao left, and the prosperity of the prosperous era at this time has completely disappeared, the entire Sijiu City is empty, most of the gentry and giant clans are closed, and there are very few pedestrians on the road, and everywhere seems desolate and dilapidated.

At this time, there are less than 10,000 defenders in the Beijing Division, but they are all used by the perennial honor guards, and there has never been a war, but the capital city is high and deep, if you concentrate on defense, you can always hold on to it for a month or two, but now the people's hearts have been scattered, and most of the subordinates have said that they are sick and no longer go to the court, even if they are in the court, there are ten thousand words in the sky above the court, and there is no way to do it, often focusing on attacking each other, and at the end of the day, it is completely meaningless.

In Zhao Gao's opinion, the best situation at this time is just to negotiate peace with Li Chuang, recuperate and then try to fight back, but this idea will not be spoken, those ministers are useless, but in spraying people, Zhao Gao definitely does not want to try.

And with Chongzhen's arrogance, he will never agree.

A day later, Zhao Gao put on a goldfish suit and saw Chongzhen again.

A year ago, although the time was very short, Chongzhen also left a deep impression on Zhao Gao, although Chongzhen was thin at that time, he was neatly dressed and majestic, and when he was in high spirits, there was still a trace of red tide on his face.

And at this moment in the study he was lonely, not wearing a shirt, the yellow shirt inside was also a little wrinkled, when Zhao Gao entered, he was kicking an old eunuch, knocking over the tea to the ground, there was resolute anger and helplessness on his face, but pale without a trace of blood.

Chongzhen is an epic historical figure, Zhao Gao knew it last time, but this time, Zhao Gao almost didn't feel any coercion from him, on the one hand, Zhao Gao led tens of thousands of troops, and his own momentum has also improved a lot, on the other hand, it can also be said that Chongzhen has weakened to what extent at this time.

"I heard that you killed Li Chuang's rebellious Liu Tichun, which is considered a great achievement, and you should have been rewarded." Chongzhen looked at Zhao Gao, who was kneeling outside the threshold of the Warm Pavilion, and there was a rare sneer in his tone, but he said helplessly, "It's a pity that there is nothing to reward you now, but I have wronged you." ”

"Don't dare!" Zhao Gao didn't raise his head, and replied respectfully.

"Bang", but Chongzhen angrily smashed the jade cup in his hand and said loudly: "What else do you dare not have?" I heard that you now have tens of thousands of people, why are there only 500 people who come to King Qin? People's hearts are sinister, people's hearts are sinister, even you betray me, even you dare to betray me, is this your so-called loyal and patriotic heart? ”

The jade cup was smashed in front of Zhao Gao, and Zhao Gao listened to Chongzhen venting, but he didn't say a word.

When Chongzhen's mood stabilized a little, Zhao Gao raised his head, the fragment of the jade still hurt his face, and a drop of blood slipped from his forehead, but he didn't use his hands to wipe it, but instead fell to the ground with both hands, and said firmly: "This is the minister's loyal and patriotic heart!" ”

Chongzhen laughed angrily, his hands kept shaking, and his mouth kept muttering about it.

Zhao Gao didn't wait for him to speak, and then said, "The minister is favored by the emperor, and his subordinates, whether it is 500 men or 10,000 horses, are all His Majesty's private army, has Your Majesty forgotten our agreement?" ”

"Since you are my private army, why don't you bring King Qin!" Chongzhen said angrily.

"Your Majesty believes in the minister, so the minister cherishes Your Majesty, as well as your Majesty's private army." Zhao Gao raised his head, pointed to the outside of the city, and said, "Sun Chuanting has hundreds of thousands of troops, countless firearms and horses, and he is still defeated by the thieves. ”

Chongzhen opened his mouth several times in a row, but he didn't know what to say, and his raised hand hung down weakly, Zhao Gao was right, 10,000 new troops who had just been trained, not to mention that they couldn't be brought, even if they could be brought into the city of Beijing, they would have no specific effect, after all, hundreds of thousands of troops who had been trained for several years were also beaten away.

"And what are you doing here?" Chongzhen's anger subsided, and he became decadent and lonely again.

"Dare to ask about it!"

"Stand up and speak!"

"Your Majesty is willing to hunt in the south with the ministers, accompany the capital in Nanjing, and be rich in the south of the Yangtze River, in order to make a comeback!" Zhao Gao stood up and looked at Chongzhen with blazing eyes.

Chongzhen shook his head weakly, and said slowly: "The Son of Heaven guards the country, the king dies in the society, I am willing to die to repay the world, and I will never steal my life!" The tone and eyes were extremely firm, and the momentum that dissipated at this time slowly concentrated on him with this sentence, this is the son of heaven of the Ming Dynasty!

"That minister is here to ask for an official!" Zhao Gao already knew that this was the answer, Chongzhen didn't even want to negotiate peace, how could he be willing to run away, what a proud person he was.

Chongzhen Qi said: "I have received a lot of resigned in the past two days, and you are the first to ask for an official, tell me, what kind of official do you want to be?" Shangshu or Governor? ”

Zhao Gao shook his head and said, "Please do something for the crown prince!" ”

"Prince James, the official of the fourth grade, you don't have much appetite." Chongzhen sneered, and after a while, he suddenly reacted and asked, "Do you want to be Prince James?" ”

"Yes!" Zhao Gao said firmly.

Chongzhen stood up and walked a few times around the house, and then asked, "Tell me your reason, why did I want you to be this prince James." ”

"Yes!" Zhao Gao responded and said loudly, "The minister is guilty of death!" With all due respect, the thieves are strong at this time, the capital has no soldiers and no danger to defend, the ministers have their own selfish intentions, and they can't work together, the day of breaking the city is probably just around the corner, and your majesty is afraid that there is something unbearable. ”

Chongzhen's expression was indifferent, and he said, "I have been prepared for this matter for a long time, you go on." ”

"Once this is the case, the thief will inevitably try to the world in vain, and Li Chuang this person, I know a lot, heroic and less strategic, when the trend can endure what people can't bear, when the power is lawless, and the generals are short-sighted and greedy for pleasure, so the ministers are determined, after winning the city, they will lose people's hearts, this is one; Jianzhou Tar slaves, the thief's heart is not dead, the enemy chief Taiji collapsed in Shengjing, and the young son Fulin succeeded to the throne, but at this time it was the emperor's uncle Dolgon, who was eloquent and ambitious, once he had the opportunity, he wanted to enter the Central Plains, this is two; Bashu Zhang Xianzhong, this person is tyrannical, after entering Shu, but there are few killings, and more literary people manage the state and county, which is interested in the world, this is three, and once Beijing is lost, these three will cause disputes. ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Gao saw that Chongzhen's face remained unchanged, and then continued: "Jiangnan has been rich since ancient times, and the money and food are enough for self-sufficiency. Although Kyoto is lost, there are still Shi Kefa Department, Lu Jiude Department, Ma Shiying Department, Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, etc., no less than 100,000 horses, enough to protect themselves, and those who are worried about it have no great righteousness. ”

"Zhu Yousong, Zhu Changshu, Zhu Hengjia, etc., I'm afraid that not only will it not help, but there will be many constraints between each other, what do you want to say?" Chongzhen has never been a stupid person, Zhao Gaogang said a little, and he immediately thought of it.

"If there is His Royal Highness the Prince, forgive these people and dare not disagree." Zhao Gao added.

Chongzhen stared at him for a while, and said slowly: "But what if you have a different heart? After speaking, without waiting for Zhao Gao to justify, he wrote an edict by hand, covered with the imperial treasure, and then instructed the eunuch to bring the prince Zhu Cihong over, at this time Zhu Cihong was fifteen years old, Chongzhen personally helped him to put his clothes in order, and personally put his hand in Zhao Gao's hand, and said: "You and I know each other, I expect that the king will not bear me, and I will hand it over to Qing!" ”

At the last moment, Chongzhen still chose to believe Zhao Gao, because he had no choice at this time.