The first battle of Shanhaiguan was attacked by the Qing army, and more than half of the casualties of the Dashun army were studied.

However, Li Zicheng relied on the tenacious organizational strength of the generals and veterans in the battalion to collect the remnants along the way, turn the pieces into wholes, and still maintain a certain formation and retreat to the Beijing division. And in the process of retreating, he organized several ambush counterattacks against the Qing army pursuing behind him.

Both sides suffered losses from each other, and the Shun army was even worse. First Liu Zongmin was seriously injured and did not wake up, and then Gu Kecheng, who was cut off and intercepted, died, and Zuo Guangxian's leg was accidentally cut off after being broken together, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then.

The leader of the Qing army in the pursuit was for the white flag lord Aixin Jueluo. Duoduo, the official to the general of Dingguo, has 60 Niu Lu of the Eight Banners under his command, supplemented by 3,000 Han and Eight Banners Wuzhen Hachao, a total of more than 20,000 people.

In the past few days, Li Zicheng has become more and more aware of the strength of the Qing army, and as he understands it deeply, he has become more and more frightened.

He once ordered his subordinates to throw gold and silver in the middle of the road in an attempt to slow down the Qing army's pursuit, which was used against the Ming Dynasty officials and soldiers many times, but it was used on the Qing army but it was ineffective. Moreover, what he feared the most was that the Qing army Baijia Bayala, who must take the lead in every battle, was called cavalry, but it was actually a kind of heavily armored cavalry infantry, wearing chain mail, cotton armor, and iron armor from the inside out. The arrow does not penetrate the knife and does not cut in, and with one enemy and ten, the Shun army kills it and calls it "the king of the white armor of Hades".

The second is the Wuzhenha Super Division, which is a firearms battalion established by the Qing army with Han people outside the Guan, with all kinds of artillery and firearms and stronger than the Shun army. These are all due to Huang Taiji's emphasis on firearms, as well as the firearms technology and firearms aiming essentials brought by Ming generals such as Kong Youde and Shang Kexi after they surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

At this point, even if the Shun army and the Qing army still had the strength to fight in the field, Li Zicheng did not want to fight again, and only wanted to withdraw to Shaanxi, and wait for the scattered Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, and Shaanxi departments to gather, and then make plans.

It's just that such an act is undoubtedly to hand over Jingshi and Hebei to the Qing army.

Of course, Li Zicheng was also reluctant, and after forcibly marching to Beijing for several days, he first killed Wu Xiangmanmen. And because he didn't want the Qing army to easily obtain the orthodoxy of the throne, he ignored the obstacles and executed the heirs of Chongzhen who were found before, that is, Zhu Cijiong, the former prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Cijiong, the king of mourning, and Zhu Cijiong, the king of eternal mourning.

Subsequently, in Beijing and Hebei, the firm wall was cleared, all the gold, silver, grain and grass were looted and taken away, and the Wenchen who was willing to enter Shaanxi with the army entered Shanxi from Jingcheng in the Shimen area, and guarded the Guguan and Niangzi Pass.

The news of the defeat of Shanhaiguan spread to all parts of Shanxi at a very fast speed.

At the same time, the Tang newspaper about the destruction of the city of Beijing and Chongzhen's self-hanging has just reached Yingtianfu (Nanjing).

Since the Dashun army came to the capital, the decree of the imperial court was no longer allowed to be issued, and the six ministers of Yingtian received the order of Chongzhen to "order the world to raise troops and work for the king" after receiving the order of Chongzhen. It was King Qin again, and there was no news at all, which made the ministers, garrison eunuchs, and lords of Nanjing feel more and more uneasy.

In a secret cabinet of the Ministry of War, Shi Kefa, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, gathered the senior officials of the DPRK and China here and held a closed-door meeting.

The matter discussed is nothing more than Emperor Chongzhen's great travel, the whereabouts of his heirs are unknown, and which vassal king is appointed as the lord of Sheji. This matter is divided into two factions in the court, one is according to the theory of blood kinship, Zhu Yousong, the king of Fu who is close to Huai'an, is the best in terms of order and geography, and people of insight in the court all support King Fu.

The other faction was composed of members of Donglin and Fushe, and Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Donglin Party, took the lead in proposing to re-establish Zhu Changshu, the king of Lu. Why? In the early years of the Mingshenzong period, he wanted to establish Zhu Changxun, the king of fortune, as the crown prince, but this matter was hindered by the Donglin Party and came to naught. And Zhu Changxun's son is Zhu Yousong, if King Fu ascends the throne, how can he not liquidate the Donglin Party on this matter?

The Donglin Party was frightened by this, so they disregarded the order and only supported the king of Lu, Zhu Changshu, for their own selfish desires.

"At this time of crisis, there is still infighting, and the Ming Dynasty will not die?" Shi Kefa looked at the appearance of the two groups of people competing against each other, and his heart was full of sadness. At present, Shi Kefa has a pivotal position in Yingtian, and it is not an exaggeration to call him the chief minister, but the more he does this, the more he is in a dilemma, because his decision will really affect the direction of the entire country.

Master Shi Ke learned from Zuo Guangdou, and Zuo Guangdou is a member of the Donglin Party, so he also has the Donglin label on his body, but he really wants to be negligent and not pro-family, and violate the code of ethics?

"Ugh." Shi Kefa sighed helplessly in the quarrel of the people around him.....

Chongzhen, who is far away in Datong, does not know and cannot predict the death of his heir. Because in his later memories, he only has a certain understanding of some major nodes in history, and he doesn't know the specific context, and he can only complain that he is a science student in later generations and does not study history well.

Yang Bo has been recruiting troops in Yanggao for seven or eight days, but he still hasn't returned.

Chongzhen was not idle, and dragged Song Xiancai around the city, asking him to introduce and make friends with the generals and officials of the Shun army.

No, today Song Xiancai organized another wine bureau in Fenglin Pavilion, saying that a big man was coming.

After Chongzhen finished washing, he changed into a cyan robe, and looked at himself in the bronze mirror, much younger than before, as if he had returned to the year of the weak crown. suddenly remembered a foreigner movie I had watched in my later life, and now it's good, but don't really rejuvenate yourself.

Chongzhen laughed at this matter, sorted it out, went out with Song Xiancai to the restaurant to make an appointment, and after the two left, Wang Chengen quietly walked out of Chongzhen's room and left through the back door.

Pushing open the bead curtain of the No. 1 room of the Tianzi room of the Fenglin Pavilion, Chongzhen saw at a glance that the documents at the door of the palace of the Ridai were sitting in it. There was also a swarthy and wicked man sitting next to him, with his chest and abdomen exposed, holding the equally disheveled Mei Ji in his hands, and taking care of his own hands.

The clerk also saw Chongzhen, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, and he had a playful look.

Song Xiancai invited Chongzhen to sit down and introduced: "Come on, come on, I'll introduce you to the two adults." ”

"This is the Gu Duwei that my brother mentioned to the adults before, and he is the brother..."

Before he finished speaking, the clerk interrupted: "Lord Duwei, farewell that day, the demeanor is even worse." ”

Song Xiancai looked puzzled, and looked at the two, could it be that you know each other?

Chongzhen replied lightly: "I didn't expect to meet so soon, fate." ”

"Huh, you know?" The wicked man stopped what he was doing and asked, the clerk silent.

"This is General Zhang." Song Xiancai felt that the atmosphere was a little weird, poured wine, and introduced it to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen hugged his fists at the villain and said, "But Zhang Tianlin, the star of the sky? ”

"Do you know each other?" Zhang Tianlin thought he was a fellow villager in Shaanxi and claimed to be a newcomer.

"I don't know, but I've heard of Zhang Da's reputation in Beijing, and Song Junshi has a good appreciation for you."

Regardless of whether he is flattering or not, Zhang Tianlin just listens comfortably, laughing, "Drink and drink!" ”

Everyone raised their wine glasses and drank them all, and Zhang Tianlin reluctantly asked Mei Ji to wait for him next door, obviously preparing to get down to business.

"Lao Ke, how did you two meet, you didn't say it just now."

Only then did the clerk answer: "It's just a fate, the captain asked Lao Song to ask me to come this time, but for the purpose of recruiting soldiers?" ”

"Recruitment? What kind of soldiers to recruit? Zhang Tianlin followed and asked.

Chongzhen opened his mouth and said: "Lord Ke said that he laughed, with two adults in charge, how dare he need to recruit soldiers?" It's just that before leaving, Song Junshi confessed to a certain and trained some caretakers for the Song Mansion. ”

"That's it? It doesn't count..."Zhang Tianlin thought it was a big deal, and when she heard Chongzhen say this, she was about to accept it, but was stopped by an adult surnamed Ke.

"I haven't introduced myself yet, I'm ashamed to say it, the contemptible person is Ke Tianxiang, who used a fake name to test the captain that day, and he was offended, and he looked at the captain Haihan. However, Ke did have an acquaintance who served in the rear camp, and I had a correspondence with him recently, so I asked him about the situation of the lieutenant, but my friend didn't know if he had no eyes or what? actually said that there is no such person as a captain, you say, what is the matter? ”

Zhang Tianlin also heard something strange from Ke Tianxiang's words, staring at the two people across the table with angry eyes, and didn't dare to look up at Song Xiancai, and kicked Chongzhen again and again, wondering what was going on.

Whether you have a heart or not, this level is really not easy to pass today. Chongzhen remained calm and responded calmly: "A certain new soldier has been following Song Junshi to do things, your brother doesn't know, isn't it normal?" ”

Ke Tianxiang stood up leisurely, paced around the wine table, and said: "What Du Wei said is reasonable, but Du Wei once said that he served in Jinyi Wei before, and Ke was also curious, so he asked my brother to check the list of ministers, Lao Zhang, guess what?" ”

"How?"

"My brother said, there is no such person!"

Zhang Tianlin lifted the table and got up, Chongzhen grabbed Song Xiancai and quickly got up and jumped back, so he was not splashed by the food. Hearing the movement in the house, the soldiers of the Dashun army outside the door rushed in one after another, drawing knives to surround the two.

Song Xiancai was paralyzed with fright, and he didn't know what the situation was, why did he start the sword in three or two sentences? My brother's letter is absolutely true, but this ......

I saw that Chongzhen was not afraid, raised his head and looked at everyone, and said with a smile: "There are only two toads left behind in Datong, sitting in the well and watching the sky, how much can you two know about the things in the capital?" I look at today, who would dare to kill me? ”

At this point, the soldiers didn't know what to do, so they hurriedly looked at the two officials, and the tip of the knife couldn't help but stay away from Chongzhen.

With just one side, how could Ke Tianxiang, who wanted to investigate Chongzhen, be the person who could be shocked by a word? said to Chongzhen: "Then please ask Lord Duwei to prove yourself, otherwise my life will not be guaranteed." ”

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the corridor outside the door, and a general wearing a former Ming standard mountain armor led dozens of personal soldiers to rush in, and the personal soldiers were all holding crossbows, aiming at everyone in the room.

Seeing Jiang Hao leading people rushing in, Zhang Tianlin shouted angrily: "What are the dogs doing? Want to make grandpa's rebellion? ”

"Jiang Xuan! You! Ke Tianxiang pointed to the door, and there was no ease at all.

Jiang Hao held the waist knife, without saying a word, and with a "bang" sound, the knife was half out of the sheath.

The crossbow in the hands of the crossbow soldiers fired together, and the room was instantly full of dead and wounded, Song Xiancai knelt with his head covered and moved to the corner of the wall, trembling.

In addition to Jiang Hao and his own soldiers, only Chongzhen was left standing in the room, Chongzhen turned his back to Jiang Jiu and did not move a step.

Song Xiancai squinted and saw Jiang Hao walking towards Chongzhen with a knife, and said in his heart: "It's over, it's our turn." ”

Unexpectedly, Jiang Hao respectfully bypassed Chongzhen and cut off all the heads of Ke and Zhang. Then he held the bloody heads of the two and knelt down in front of Chongzhen.

"Jiang Xuan, the chief soldier of Datong, has the emperor's grace, please give death to Your Majesty!" After that, he held the knife flat and handed it to Chongzhen, but he didn't dare to look at Chongzhen's face.

The rest of the soldiers also fell to their knees for a while.

The window was blown open by the wind, the robe on Chongzhen's body floated slightly, and he took the bloody knife in Jiang Hao's hand.

Jiang Hao had already accepted his fate, lowered his head and closed his eyes, since the moment he saw Wang Gonggong in the General Town Office, he had been tormenting every day and night, until today he finally made up his mind and arranged everything.

Chongzhen slowly squatted down and handed the knife to Jiang Jiu, who raised his head and looked at the emperor who was "on an equal footing" with him.

"Jiang Xuan, the chief soldier of Datong, listened to the order, set things right, and put the thieves in order."

"No!"

.....

"Phew.... "A pop pierced the clouds and made the arrow fly up and explode, waking up the city of Datongfu.