Zhu Gaoyuan had already come to the elephant house near the Imperial Horse Prison.

During the Ming Dynasty, neighboring countries such as Burma, Siam, Korea, and the Ryukyus often sent tribute and offered their own exotic beasts, while Burma, Siam and other countries paid tribute to many elephants.

Burma, Siam and other countries paid tribute, plus breeding elephants, and there are no less than 20 elephants in the elephant house.

Looking at the well-cared for elephants in the elephant house, Zhu Gaoyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, the key to whether he can break through successfully this time lies in these dozens of elephants.

"Hooray." Behind him, Wang Chengen's wheezing voice was heard.

Looking back, I saw Wang Chengen trotting over.

Wang Chengen is still holding a set of mountain armor and a pocket in his hand.

"The old slave has visited the arsenal, and there are still more than 100 barrels of gunpowder."

"But there are not many left, such as the Three-Eyed Gun, the Rumi Gun, the Bird Gun, etc."

Zhu Gaoyuan couldn't help frowning, this is not good news.

"Where's the horses?" Zhu Gao said from afar, "How many horses are left?" ”

Wang Chengen said: "There are still a lot of imperial horses left, there are more than 300 of them. ”

While the two were talking, there was a sudden neighing sound from the direction of the Imperial Horse Supervisor.

Zhu Gaoyuan immediately put on a mountain armor and went straight to the Imperial Horse Prison, and saw from a distance that a team of people had gathered on the grass fence field on the south side of the Imperial Horse Prison.

It was Gong Yonggu, the captain of the horse, who arrived.

Gong Yonggu only brought a dozen family members.

Moreover, these family members are all dressed in civilian clothes, and they do not have any battle jackets.

And he also had clubs in his hands, but he rode horses.

Gong Yonggu himself only wore a cotton armor and a top scarf on his head.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoyuan's face suddenly turned black to the bottom of the pot, too much!

There are only a dozen family members in the Duwei Mansion? Can't even get a few firecrackers? I believe you're a ghost!

However, Zhu Gaoyuan also knew in his heart that this was the bane planted by Chongzhen himself, Chongzhen was extremely suspicious, and he was extremely vigilant about the clan's relatives to support their families and privately prepare weapons.

Tang King Zhu Yujian took a thousand Ding Qin kings out of good intentions,

As a result, instead of being able to exchange Chongzhen's gratitude, he was placed under house arrest.

Therefore, Gong Yonggu, Liu Wenbing and other nobles were very cautious in front of Chongzhen.

Yesterday, Chongzhen summoned the two into the palace and asked them to gather the family to protect him to break through, and the two said that we strictly abide by the rules of the imperial court and did not raise too many family members, so we were really powerless.

As a result, this one came again today, and they all burned their butts and were still guarding against Chongzhen.

Chongzhen, Chongzhen, how did you become an emperor? Fire prevention, anti-theft and anti-Chongzhen!

Seeing Zhu Gaoyuan, Gong Yonggu knelt down and sang: "Minister Gong Yonggu is late to escort, capital crime!" ”

"Get up." Zhu Gaoyuan said with a dark face, "There are only a dozen or so family members in the Captain's Mansion?" ”

"Yes, there are only these family members in the minister's mansion." Gong Yonggu lowered his head and said, "Because according to the regulations of the imperial court, ......"

"That's enough." Zhu Gaoyuan said impatiently, "Hurry up and take your people to the arsenal to get weapons, and you can also pick a set of mountain armor to put on, don't make people laugh." ”

"Yes." Gong Yonggu received the will and went.

After a while, Liu Wenbing also hurried over.

Liu Wenbing, the Marquis of Xinle, was as cautious as Gong Yonggu, bringing only a dozen family members and holding sticks.

Immediately afterwards, Hui'an Bo, Zhang Qingzhen, and Xuancheng Bowei Shichun also arrived one after another, and the two of them, like Gong Yonggu and Liu Wenbing, only brought a dozen family members, all of whom were carrying sticks.

In this regard, Zhu Gaoyuan didn't even bother to spit it out anymore.

These nobles are so special, and now they can only count on those civil officials.

The few civil officials who arrived after finally did not disappoint Zhu Gaoyuan again.

Wang Jiayan, the right attendant of the military department who supervised the Desheng Gate, brought more than 300 people, including more than 50 family members, all of whom were strong and brave people recruited from their hometown in Putian.

Wang Jiayan actually brought more than 1,000 people at the beginning.

Unfortunately, when I heard that I wanted to protect Emperor Chongzhen to break through, more than half of them were scattered halfway, and when I arrived at the Imperial Horse Prison, there were only more than 300 miscellaneous soldiers left.

Meng Zhaoxiang, the right attendant of the criminal department who supervised the Zhengyang Gate, brought more than 200 people.

Wu Linzheng, the Taichang Shaoqing who supervised the Xizhi Gate, also brought more than 200 people.

There are also members of the military department, such as Wailang Jin Xuan, Zuo Zhongyun, Liu Lishun, Zuo Yude, Ma Shiqi, Wang Wei, the reviewer of the Hanlin Academy, Chen Liangmo, the superintendent of the imperial history, and Wu Ganlai, who are in charge of the affairs of the household department, and they also brought dozens of people and hundreds of people.

In addition, there are also Jinyi guards who command Wang Guoxing and Li Ruolian, who command Tongzhi Li Ruolian, each bring more than 100 Jinyi guards.

By 8 o'clock in the morning, the number of family members, eunuchs, Minzhuang, Jinyi guards and Jingying soldiers gathered in the Imperial Horse Prison Fence had exceeded 1,000 people.

In addition, there are more than six hundred horses.

These were all the weapons that Zhu Gaoyuan was able to urgently muster.

It was less than Zhu Gaoyuan expected, he originally thought that he could gather two thousand people.

But fortunately, there are few people and the advantage of few people, at least these are die-hard elements who are willing to follow him to break through.

Zhu Gaoyuan's eyes swept over the faces of Gong Yonggu, Liu Wenbing and others one by one, and said in his heart that if he had not arrived, if the original historical trajectory had been followed, the officials and nobles present would soon have to die for the country.

At that time, the ministers will die for the king, the wives will die for their husbands, the sons will die for their fathers, the servants will die for the masters, and hundreds or thousands of nobles or officials will die together, and Beijing will be shrouded in a miserable storm.

The Ming Dynasty is the most upright country, and its position in the hearts of the people is almost unshakable.

After the thieves fell into Beijing, there were countless officials and gentlemen who were martyred.

There are nearly a thousand well-documented martyred gentry or scholars!

Even though Zhu Gaoyuan remembered the names of many of these officials, some of them lived in the outer city and could not respond to the edict, some could not find anyone and could not be notified, and of course some refused to obey the edict.

Li Banghua, the imperial history of the left capital, and Ni Yuanlu, the head of the household, failed to find anyone.

Fan Jingwen, a scholar of Dongge University, refused to obey the edict, and the old man estimated that he was completely desperate for Chongzhen.

In short, the only ones who can be summoned are the dozen or so officials and nobles in front of them, and these more than 1,000 hardcore miscellaneous soldiers.

Zhu Gaoyuan beckoned Gong Yonggu, Wang Jiayan, Wang Guoxing and other dignitaries and officials to come closer.

"The wind knows the grass, and the board knows the Chengchen." Zhu Gaoyuan said solemnly, "At this time of drastic changes in the family and country, Qing and others are willing to abandon their family and business to live and die with me, and I am very relieved." ”

"I won't talk about the extra nonsense."

"It's one thing to bring you together, break out!"

"Sure enough, it's a breakout." Wang Jiayan and others were not surprised by this.

Zhu Gaoyuan said again: "The Beijing division has been undefended, and the north of Huanghuai has also been eroded, I am determined to break through the siege and go to Liudu to regroup, and then carry out the Northern Expedition to restore the ancestral foundation in the coming day." ”

Now, Wang Jiayan and the others were a little surprised, the saint actually changed his sex?

Actually proposed to move south by himself? Aren't you afraid of the infamy of abandoning land for no reason?

It's a pity that at this juncture, it's too late for you to be infamy.

Hundreds of thousands of thieves have already surrounded Beijing, and they want to break through with the more than 1,000 miscellaneous soldiers in front of them? It's just that I don't know how thick the sky is.

Holy Lord, you have awakened too late.

Wang Jiayan, who knew the soldiers and was upright by nature, said directly: "Shengshang, at this time, I only remembered that it was too late to break through the siege, and it was impossible to break through the siege of the thieves with this rabble in front of me alone. ”

Kim Hyun, a member of the military department who also knows the soldiers, said: "Yes, it's too late. ”

Gong Yonggu, Liu Wenbing, and other dignitaries and officials also looked gloomy.

Obviously, they also feel that the chances of a breakthrough are slim.

"Is it late?" Zhu Gaoyuan said lightly, "I don't think it's too late at all. ”

"Shengshang, the thieves at this time are no longer the thieves of the first year of Chongzhen, and the Beijing battalion soldiers at this time are not the Beijing battalion soldiers of Taizu, Chengzu or Renzong, and Xuanzong. Wang Jiayan shook his head like a rattle.

Gong Yonggu and the others also sighed, how could the rabble fight a hundred battles?

"You don't have to fight a thief." Zhu Gao said, "We only need to beat the three battalions." ”

"Can you fight three battalions?" Gong Yonggu, Meng Zhaoxiang and other noble officials were all stunned.

Only Wang Jiayan and Jin Xuan moved: "The meaning of the saint is to break through from the front of Chaoyang Gate?" ”

"Yes." Zhu Gaoyuan said in a deep voice, "After the three battalions surrendered to the thieves, they were not dispersed and absorbed, but were still placed outside the Chaoyang Gate on the spot, as long as we defeated the three major battalions, the scattered rebels will overwhelm the thieves' main formation, and the thousands of thieves outside the Chaoyang Gate alone will not be able to stop the rout of the hundreds of thousands of Beijing battalions!" ”

"And the scattered rebels can give us excellent cover."

"At that time, in the face of the hundreds of thousands of rebels scattered and fleeing, the thieves will not know where to pursue."

"Then we will have enough time to calmly move south, or go east to join up with the Guanning army."

Hearing this, the eyes of Wu Linzheng and other officials suddenly lit up, and this strategy seemed to be really feasible.

Only Jin Xuan shook his head and said: "Although the three major battalions are weak and unbearable, there are hundreds of thousands of people, and with our more than a thousand rabble, it is tantamount to an idiot's dream to defeat them." ”

Zhu Gaoyuan smiled and said, "Who said that we only have more than a thousand people? ”

Wang Jiayan asked with a moving expression: "Could it be that Guan Ningjun has arrived outside the city?" ”

"It's not Guan Ningjun." Zhu Gaoyuan shook his head and said, "I have prepared another surprise army. ”

"Odd soldiers?" Meng Zhaoxiang, the right attendant of the criminal department who supervised the Zhengyang Gate, said suspiciously, "If this is the case, you can break through the siege quickly, and if you are afraid that the thieves will enter the city, the big thing will be suspended." ”

"What the right Si Kou said is extremely true." Taichang Shaoqing Wu Lin Zheng said, "Although the minister has blocked the Xizhi Gate, but at this moment the Xizhi Gate is no longer guarded by soldiers, I am afraid that the thieves have already attached themselves to the city, and I am afraid that there is not much time left for you and my monarch and minister." ”

"It doesn't matter." Zhu Gaoyuan said very calmly, "I expect that the thieves will not enter the city before the beginning of the year. ”

Well, this is not expected, but the history books record that the Dashun army has been waiting for the beginning of the city to enter the city in a big way.

Before that, even if the Dashun army rushed to the city, at most it would only control the city gate.

Zhu Gaoyuan smiled again and said, "We have at least half an hour left." ”