At the end of the seventh year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, the battle to defend the capital division can be said to have no technical content at all.

In other words, whether it is Yang Yiqing, who is governing the army on the front line, or Zhang Xuan, who was temporarily appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of War, has never seen such a devastation scene...... The enemy's team can push forward flatly, no matter how thick the armor of the Ming soldiers is, how heavy the shield is, they can't withstand the powerful artillery fire on the opposite side.

Even when it came to medium-distance combat, the bullets fired from various machine guns and rifles that swept across a large area on the opposite side came like a storm, making the Ming side completely unable to parry.

As Dongzhimen was directly blasted open by enemy artillery fire, the defenders in the city felt a deep despair.

However, the besieging side then chose to retreat and reassemble outside the city, and did not plan to attack the city overnight, but trapped the gates of the Beijing division with six phalanxes, and did not adopt any tactics of encircling the three and one, that is, blocking all the escape routes and stationing outside the range of the defenders' artillery.

It seems that the other side has no intention of taking the capital of Daming at one time.

"Yang Ge Old ......"

Zhang Xuan's grizzled face appeared inside the Dongzhi Gate.

The city gate has been smashed by the enemy's direct artillery fire, and the soldiers and civilians in the city took great risks to piece together the door panels dismantled from nearby houses and rebuilt the gate, as if to show that the Ming Jingshi was not breached, and the city gate was still there.

Yang Yiqing sat under the eaves of a private house more than ten meters away from the city wall, under his buttocks was a long wooden bench, and on the table of the Eight Immortals in front of him was the meal prepared for him by the guards, but he didn't have the heart to eat.

When he raised his head when he heard the sound and saw that it was Zhang Xuan, under the reflection of the surrounding torches, his face was solemn, his chin was raised, and he asked, "Didn't you go out of the city with Your Majesty?" ”

"Can't get out!"

Zhang Xuan replied with a bitter face, "The situation outside the city gate is not much better than here...... Outside the Xizhi Gate, nine out of ten cavalry rushed out were killed, and the rest fled back in disarray...... The firearms on the other side were too sloppy. ”

Yang Yiqing pointed to the broken Dongzhi Gate, shook his head and said: "I really don't understand, what the enemy is going to do, he obviously has the strength to break through the city defense of my Ming Jingshi in one fell swoop, but he never launched an attack, this is to torture the soldiers and civilians in my city?" ”

Zhang Xuan asked, "Can the envoys sent to contact Waiyi have a return?" ”

"Nope!"

Yang Yiqing shook his head, and a fierce color flashed on his face: "But there are eight hundred miles in the south on my side, saying that there are my Ming soldiers on the other side's ship, and when attacking Nanjing, there are Ming soldiers leading the way." ”

"Huh? What does Yang Ge Lao mean by this? ”

Zhang Xuan was very surprised when he heard this.

It stands to reason that it is not unusual for the enemy to capture a few Ming soldiers or civilians as guides, but Yang Yiqing clearly did not mean this.

Yang Yiqing said: "Those soldiers who went to sea in the Ming Dynasty, after a few years, what did they do after they went to sea, do you understand?" ”

Zhu ...... Zhu Jingdao? ”

Zhang Xuan's face became very ugly.

Yang Yiqing stood up with an indignant expression: "If the thieves outside the city were originally my Ming soldiers, this move is tantamount to a rebellion, and that Zhu Jingdao...... He is very clear about the garrison situation of my Daming, if he is a chaotic minister and thief, Daming is in danger! ”

Zhang Xuan smiled bitterly.

What is the danger of the Ming Dynasty, now that the gates of the capital have been captured, the soldiers and horses of the king of Qin everywhere have not been able to kill all the way, and the soldiers and civilians in the city have long been panicked, and now they want to escape but can't escape.

Zhang Xuan said: "Di Yi is clearly a Javanese savage, and he doesn't understand the Ming language, how can it be said that it is Zhu Jingdao's responsibility?" Just the thousands of guards he brought out? Is Yang Ge too ...... Worried? ”

Zhang Xuan didn't know how to describe this incident, and he was also thinking in his heart, if it was really Zhu Hao, it would be a good thing, it would be a big deal to change the dynasty, and there would be no need to worry about the Chinese civilization being wiped out by foreign people.

Now the general view of the court is that the Ming Dynasty snatched back the orthodoxy of China from Meng Yuan Waiyi, and now it is likely to be buried again, which is the most terrible thing...... The people in the city were also very worried that the other party would directly slaughter the city.

Yang Yiqing said: "The battle has stopped tonight, but it is estimated that the thieves will attack the city early tomorrow morning, and they can't hold it...... As a courtier, martyrdom for righteousness, the old man has no complaints and no regrets...... Bingyong, do you now want to send an envoy to the enemy camp outside the city, or do you want to stay in the city? ”

"This ......"

Zhang Xuan couldn't help frowning.

I didn't send an envoy to negotiate on the emperor's orders, why did you Yang Yiqing speak so abruptly?

"Get out of town!"

Yang Yiqing looked at Zhang Xuan, a fierce color flashed on his face, and said, "The scepter has been prepared for you, you just have to go...... Otherwise, they will retreat from the battle and deliberately disturb the morale of our army, and they should be punished! Weigh it for yourself! ”

"You!"

Only then did Zhang Xuan know that Yang Yiqing was not discussing with him, but giving orders.

Although Zhang Xuan was the secretary of the military department, he saw the eyes of the soldiers around him, all of them fierce and vicious, full of murderous aura, he knew that he might have persuaded the emperor to flee before, and then helped the emperor to torture and kill the king of the military department, which completely annoyed the front-line soldiers.

We were born and died in front, defending the capital at the cost of our lives, but you persuaded the emperor to flee?

Does that mean we should die?

Now the city gates have been attacked by thieves, if the other party will attack in the future, the Beijing division is likely to be unable to hold it, but it is also possible that the other party is not enough, and wants to use the current advantageous situation to negotiate with the Ming Dynasty, maybe the court will hand over some benefits, and they can retreat?

But this required someone to go to the enemy camp for an envoy.

"Elder Yang Ge, do you want to make trouble? His Majesty did not let anyone go out of the city to negotiate with Di Yi. Zhang Xuan didn't dare to attack, so he could only speak in a low voice.

At the same time, it is also to avoid being heard by others and let the situation develop to the point of being out of control.

Yang Yiqing said coldly: "Bingyong, everything the old man does is for the consideration of the Daming Jiangshan Society...... I'm afraid this is the last chance for the Ming Dynasty, you have to go if you don't go, otherwise the soldiers won't agree! Do you think it's too late to go and ask Your Majesty now? ”

Yang Yiqing almost said, whether you can find the emperor now is another matter.

Zhang Xuan was extremely angry when he saw that someone had brought him an envoy's scepter, but a soldier stood behind him, probably carrying him out of the city as an envoy, so he took the scepter, turned around, and went angrily to the city gate.

……

……

The fighting has subsided for the time being.

Zhu Si, who was hiding in the inner courtyard of the palace, was guarding Empress Chen at this time, trying to keep his composure, and the carriage loaded with gold, silver, jewelry and valuable things had already been packed, as long as the front line was clear, he could embark on the journey south at any time.

"Your Majesty......"

Zhang Zuo came in a hurry.

Zhu Si hurriedly got up and asked, "How is it?" Is there a gap in the south of the city? How are the people? ”

Zhang Zuo said: "No...... The city gate was not opened, and there were all thieves outside the city, and Yang Ge Lao had ordered that the city gates should be strengthened on guard. And also...... The artillery fire outside the city has stopped, and it seems that the thieves are ...... There will be no siege tonight. ”

"Gone?"

Zhu Si looked confused.

I'm waiting for the city to break down, and then take advantage of the chaos to escape, but you said that if you don't attack, you won't attack?

Zhang Zuo continued: "Yang Ge Lao sent Zhang Shangshu of the military department out of the city, saying that he was going to negotiate and mediate with the thieves. ”

"Who gave him the power?"

Zhu Si was angry from his heart.

He, the emperor, did not give an order, but Yang Yiqing acted on behalf of the Son of Heaven?

Zhang Zuo looked embarrassed: "Your Majesty, in this situation, you still have to count on Yang Ge Lao to lead the army to defend the city, the previous battle was good to guard the city gate, although the Dongzhi Gate has been blown up, but it has been repaired temporarily." If this is the case...... If you don't follow Yang Gelao's wishes, I'm just afraid of ...... Daming Jiangshan Society is in danger......"

Zhu Si said angrily: "If you don't listen to him, he will kill me first, right?" Could it be that he wants to be the emperor? ”

Zhang Zuo shook his head and smiled bitterly.

At this time, no matter how stupid Yang Yiqing was, it was impossible for him to come up with the idea of becoming an emperor.

Isn't it time to put aside all contradictions and unite with the outside world at the moment of the great enemy? Even if Yang Yiqing's method is a bit extreme, he is probably still thinking about Zhu Si, the emperor.

Zhu Si asked, "Why don't the thieves outside the city attack the city?" Are they going to withdraw their troops? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the enemy shows no signs of withdrawing his troops."

Zhang Zuo also felt puzzled, and analyzed in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the situation in front of you is a bit like Nanjing, the Javanese people do not enter the city after breaking through the city gate and the city wall, it seems that they are afraid of fierce street battles in the Daming city, maybe they ...... What are the taboos in the use of troops? ”

Zhu Si closed his eyes and looked distressed: "I can only hope for this!" If the enemy can withdraw his troops, I am willing to give them gold, silver, jewelry, and beautiful women, and they can give whatever they want! ”

Zhang Zuo really wanted to ask, why didn't you say it earlier?

Do you have to kill the enemy under the capital before you think of exchanging half of the national strength of the Ming Dynasty for your throne?

……

……

Zhang Xuan went out of the city with only two entourage.

In order not to misunderstand the other party, Zhang Xuan held torches beside him and illuminated the surroundings to make sure that they were not a threat.

In the end, Zhang Xuan was able to go all the way to Zhu Hao's barracks.

But Zhu Hao would not come out to see Zhang Xuan in person, after Zhang Xuan entered the barracks, he found that the camp was indeed a group of natives who came out of nowhere, and they looked darker in skin than the Ming people.

Could it really be that Zhu Hao brought them?

"Zhang Shangshu, is it? Please. ”

An indigenous appeared in front of Zhang Xuan, his mouth was full of fluent Chinese language, Zhang Xuan looked up at him, and wanted to ask, how do you know me?

But when he saw that the other party was polite, he followed him into the tent.

Inside the tent stood a man who looked white-skinned, this person was dressed in silver armor, and he knew by looking at the style that he was a person from the Ming Dynasty.

"Who are you?"

Zhang Xuan asked sharply.

The other party said: "Zhang Shangshu, my name is Guan Jing, the general of the Ming Dynasty who went overseas, you don't know me?" ”

"You...... Rebels and thieves! ”

Zhang Xuan didn't know who Guan Jing was, but he probably expected it to be related to the first batch of people sent by Zhu Hao to go to sea, "Where is Zhu Jingdao?" Let him come out and see me! ”

Guan Jing looked serious: "I don't think you understand the current situation, in fact, all you need is an order from my husband, and within an hour, the Ming Jingshi will be razed to the ground." ”

"You ......"

Zhang Xuan originally wanted to reprimand the other party angrily, in order to show the integrity of his minister, maybe he could go down in history.

But he immediately realized that except for Guan Jing, there were a group of natives of Java around him, and the two retinues he brought with him were not allowed to enter here, even if he scolded hard, who would hear it?

And with his opportunistic character, knowing the situation of sending him to death, how could he find his own death?