Chapter VI

In December of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng's vanguard began to cross the Yellow River from Hancheng. Soon after entering the Jin Dynasty, Chongzhen received a 100,000 urgent report from the officials of Shanxi. In recent years, he often had a premonition of the loss of the country, and since the news that Li Zi had begun to cross the river as an adult, a tragic ending of the destruction of the country and the extinction of the clan has come to the fore.

He couldn't eat, he couldn't sleep well, and in addition to summoning ministers in the Qianqing Palace, he was restless, sometimes wandering around the pillar, looking up to the sky and sighing, rolling down tears. During the night, he was often awakened by nightmares. Once he exclaimed in a dream:

"I am not the king of the dead country! Seventeen years of food and clothing, dismal management, dare not slack off. Heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, I am unwilling to be the king of the dead country! ”

Then he cried bitterly on the pillow. Wei Qinghui, the housekeeper of the Qianqing Palace, hurriedly ran to his imperial couch and shouted:

"Wake up! Wake up! ”

When Chongzhen woke up, he knew that he had a nightmare and cried bitterly in the dream. He looked at Wei Qinghui with teary eyes and asked what time it was. Wei Qinghui told him that it was three o'clock and advised him to sleep in peace and not to hurt his body for state affairs. Chongzhen felt that it was very cold in Yangde Zhai, and listened to the outside, the wind swept the snow and beat the window lattice; The branches swayed in the wind, whining and mourning. He said:

"I'll get up. Tell the ministers to wait, and follow me to the Fengxian Palace. ”

The people of Wei Palace dissuaded him, saying that it was the middle of the night, the wind and snow were combined, it was very cold, and he was susceptible to wind and cold, so it was better to wait for the dawn before going to Fengxian Palace. Chongzhen was so anxious that he quickly got dressed under the care of Wei Qinghui and came to the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, waiting for the eunuchs to carry the chariot to the Danqi of the Qianqing Palace.

He walked out of the main hall of the Qianqing Palace in the wind and snow, sat on the chariot, and walked out of the Rijing Gate surrounded by more than a dozen eunuchs and palace maids, and went to the Fengxian Palace. The night was dark, and a few palace lamps fluttered in the darkness, and the light was dim. There are also sparse street lamps in Yongxiang, which are also dimly lit. The entire Forbidden City fell asleep, and the majestic palace shadow Hessesen was very terrifying. Wei Qinghui and other palace maids have not been to Fengxian Hall with the emperor on such a snowy night. Their feet were slippery and their bodies were cold, especially when the wind and snow blew, making the flesh on their faces painful as if they had been cut by a knife. Wei Qinghui encountered such a thing for the first time, and said in her heart:

"The emperor's mind is already in turmoil, is he really going to lose the country? Oh my God! ”

She secretly sent a palace maid to Kunning Palace to play the queen.

In the Fengxian Hall, it was particularly cold tonight, the yin air was pressing, and the bamboo shadow was shaking. In recent months, legend has it in the palace that when it is quiet in the middle of the night, there are often footsteps moving gently in the palace, and there are sighs and sometimes weeping. The palace has always been afraid of haunting, but recently it seems that the palace is indeed haunted again. At this moment, the eunuchs and palace maids were cold and afraid, and they did not dare to look into the darkness.

Chongzhen knelt in front of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's god and prayed silently, and sometimes he couldn't help but make a sad voice. Wei Qinghui was allowed to enter the palace gate and kneel on the ground behind the door because she was the personal palace maid who served the emperor and the housekeeper of the Qianqing Palace. There were no mats on the ground for her, and the bricks were freezing her calves and knees. She listened to the emperor's prayer with bated breath, and suddenly seemed to hear the emperor's choked voice, saying that if the country did not guard, he would definitely "die in the community", and the palace dependents could not fall into the "hands of thieves", so as not to insult the ancestors and damage the national body. When Wei Qinghui heard the words "martyrdom", her face suddenly turned like dirt, trembling all over, and she could hardly support it. After Chongzhen prayed in front of the god of Taizu, he knelt down before the god of Chengzu and prayed the same prayer. When he stood up, he mistakenly stepped on the corner of the dragon robe and stumbled. Wei Qinghui quickly stood up and went to support the emperor. The emperor had already stood firm, turned to look at her, and waved her back away. Chongzhen walked out of the palace gate and gently ordered: "Go back to the palace." He glanced at Wei Qinghui again. Only then did Wei Qinghui see clearly that there were tears on the emperor's sad face, and she couldn't help but shout in her heart:

"Ah, the emperor is crying! The emperor's face turned blue! ”

Wei Qinghui shuddered, and hallucinations appeared in front of his eyes: the emperor had his hair loose and the rope around his neck when he committed suicide...... She was so frightened that she almost screamed. But then the hallucinations vanished, and she ran behind the chariot with a group of eunuchs and palace maids stepping on the broken snow.

Empress Zhou was woken up by the palace maid on night duty, knowing that the emperor was in a bad mood and went to Fengxian Hall in the wind and snow. She got up in a hurry, cleaned her face under the waiting of the palace maids, dressed herself, and instructed the palace maids to prepare food for the emperor to spend the night, and then walked to the Qianqing Palace. Because the wind and snow were very strong, and there was no time to ride, I had to be supported by the palace maid. Her feet were small, and although the snow on the road was dry and the ground was flat, it was still difficult to walk. But she didn't take into account the wind and snow at all, she just thought about the emperor's mood and the situation of the country, and she was very scared and desperate.

As soon as Chongzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace, the queen took Wu Wanrong and a group of palace maids to the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace. A palace maid holds a carved lacquer food box with a bowl of white fungus bird's nest soup. Another palace maid opened the food box and placed the white fungus bird's nest soup on the imperial table. There is also a palace maid holding a food box, which contains a plate of tiger's eye nest silk candy that the emperor likes to eat on weekdays, which is also placed on the imperial case. Chongzhen couldn't bear the sudden arrival of the queen, sighed and said:

"Because I couldn't sleep, I went to the temple to pray to my ancestors. Why do you get up on a snowy night and it's cold? ”

"The emperor is so worried because of bad state affairs, how can the concubine sleep peacefully."

"I have already decreed: on New Year's Day next year, all the women will be exempted from entering the palace to congratulate. Your mother can't come either. ”

The queen burst into tears and said: "The state affairs are so unfortunate, the emperor can't sleep at night, what kind of New Year's Day is he congratulating!" ”

Chongzhen lowered his head and sighed, his heart tingled, and he didn't feel crying. In previous years, he always said to the queen that when the world is peaceful, he will give you a lively Qianqiu Festival. In other words, if the situation is good next year, and the wives enter the palace to congratulate them in the first month, you can see your mother again. But now all the nice things can no longer be said. Who knows how to live next year's New Year's Day? What will the days after New Year's Day be like? What is the situation in Beijing?

Chongzhen and Zhou Hou wept relatively together, and Wei Qinghui and Wu Wanrong also cried. After a while, the queen watched the emperor eat the white fungus bird's nest soup, but the tiger's eye nest silk candy did not move. She didn't persuade the emperor to eat sugar, but just persuaded him to go back to Yangde Zhai and lie down and rest for a while.

Chongzhen said: "You can also go back to Kunning Palace to rest." ”

Zhou Hou knew that Chongzhen was worried about state affairs, and he had not been to Kunning Palace for a long time to stay, and there was no "Linxing" Concubine Yuan and other concubines in the palace, and no women were called to come to Yangde Zhaizhong. She thought about being an emperor, it was really hard enough. She looked at the emperor's teary eyes, thinking that she was elected as the princess of Xin at the age of sixteen, married husband and wife for 18 years, and thinking that hundreds of thousands of "thieves" had crossed the Yellow River to Beijing, she thought in her heart: Who knows how many days the husband and wife can stay together? She really wants to accompany the emperor to Yangdezhai and won't go back to Kunning Palace tonight. But after thinking about it, she is the queen, and she has never stayed with her in Yangdezhai, not only did she not, but even Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan did not go to Yangdezhai to stay together. This method can only be used by women who have a low name or who do not have a name. So for herself wanting to stay here with her husband, she just moved her mind and didn't think about it. She stood up and said goodbye, looked back at Wei Qinghui and said:

"Wei Qinghui, although there are many eunuchs and people in the palace who are on duty at night, I can't trust them. Wei Qinghui, you are the most powerful person around the emperor, and you have always been careful and cautious, so you were ordered to be the housekeeper of the Qianqing Palace. The emperor is in a very bad mood tonight, you have to be extra careful to serve, if there is anything, you will personally go to Kunning Palace tomorrow morning to show me. ”

Not long after the queen left, Chongzhen also returned to Yangdezhai. Under the service of Wei Qinghui and another palace maid, he took off his outer clothes and fell asleep again, and also told the palace maids to go to rest and not have to wait. Wei Qinghui knew that the palace maids were very sleepy, so she told them all to retreat and stay on duty by herself. This is the Queen's command, and she must obey it. In addition, only she herself can better understand the emperor's mood and wait for the emperor to sleep, so she stayed.

Chongzhen's mind was so chaotic that he couldn't sleep. In the past, on sleepless nights like this, he would order the palace maid on duty at night to fetch many documents from the imperial case of the Qianqing Palace, and lean on the pillow to borrow the provincial documents to pass the sleepless night. But tonight he had no intention of looking at the urgent document that had made him anxious, desperate and frightened. He thought it was useless to look at it, so he simply left it alone tonight.

He closed his eyes for a long, long time, but still couldn't sleep, so he opened his eyes again, looked at Wei Qinghui, and saw her wrapped in the red satin duvet that the queen had rewarded, sitting on a low chair, leaning against the pillar and falling asleep. He didn't want to alarm Wei Qinghui, so he leaned out of the bed, took a copy of "Zizhi Tongjian" from the coffee table, flipped through it at will, and happened to turn to the 218th volume, and happened to accidentally see the section where Tang Xuanzong left Chang'an out of Yanqiumen. He read a few pages in a row, and in a fit of annoyance, he threw the book down and closed his eyes and thought about it for a while. Suddenly it occurred to me whether he could leave Beijing as a last resort. Thinking of this, it seems that my heart is bright, and then I think of Nanjing is the place where the grandfather built the capital, known as the "dragon and tiger", and there is the danger of the Yangtze River; When Grandpa Cheng moved the capital to Beijing, he renamed Nanjing as the capital of the city, and still retained the central yamen, Guozijian, Jinyiwei, etc. Such an arrangement must have a deep meaning, and he seemed to understand it a little at this moment. He also thought that although the Central Plains and the north were rotten, the south of the Yangtze River was still stable, and the people were prosperous. Hurry to the south of the Yangtze River, isn't it a road to the prosperity of the country......

He thought about it for a long time, and the more he thought about it, the more he thought that this plan was feasible, but it was a pity that none of the ministers had thought of such a good move. He thought that there were indeed many difficulties in going to Nanjing, and he couldn't help but feel cold in his heart. After a while, I thought that I had to go, but now I have almost reached the point of exhaustion, and staying in Beijing is just a dead move. If you move to Nanjing, you will make the right move, and the whole game will be alive. He also thought that in the 17 years since he ascended to the pole, he had always had to deal with the invasion of the Manchurians on the one hand, and the "thieves" in various places on the other. If you get to Nanjing, you will never fight on both sides again. Today, the Lianghuai region is still firmly guarded by the imperial court; Many places in the Central Plains and the north are also still the land of the Ming Dynasty. When he arrived in Nanjing, he took advantage of the wealth and military resources in the south of the Yangtze River to organize the army and military force, and it didn't take long for him to send a heavy minister, such as someone like Shi Kefa, to supervise the north, which was bound to pacify the Central Plains and the north and extinguish the big and small "thieves". Ten years later, it was not impossible to send troops to the north to attack Liaodong to eradicate the scourge of Manchuria and restore the world run by the second ancestor.

He remembered that last winter, not long after Li Zicheng entered Xi'an, there was a man named Liang Yizhang, who was originally the magistrate of Shangqiu, and sent a letter from the prison of the Criminal Department, requesting that the prince be sent to Nanjing to maintain the hearts of the people in the world, and at the same time divide the two kings (Yongwang and Dingwang) into Zhejiang and Fujian. At that time, because the auxiliary ministers did not agree, the matter was not mentioned. But not long after, Ni Yuanlu, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites and Rites, also sent a letter and made roughly the same suggestion. Chongzhen left Mi Shu in the palace and did not send it out. Later, when Ni Yuanlu was summoned alone, he instructed him to keep it secret and not to divulge a word. Ni Yuanlu also understood that this discussion was very important, so he didn't dare to mention it again, and immediately burned the manuscript after returning home. Now Chongzhen thinks that it may be too early to send the prince to Nanjing at that time, but if he continues to follow it now, it will be too late. Thinking about it, there seemed to be the Yangtze River moat flowing eastward, the Nanjing city where the "dragon and tiger are located", the towering Zhongshan where the Taizu Xiaoling Mausoleum is located, and the very wealthy Jiangnan ...... The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help but cry out:

"Gangnam! Gangnam! ”

Wei Qinghui raised her head suddenly, opened her sleepy eyes, jumped up from the low chair, walked to the side of the imperial couch, and shouted in panic:

"Emperor! Emperor! Wake up, wake up! ”

Chongzhen replied, "I'm awake." ”

"No, Emperor, you are dreaming, shouting twice in your dream."

"It's a two-time call, is it a dream?"

"Yes, Emperor, you are indeed dreaming. I hear you shouting in your dreams: 'Gangnam! Gangnam! "Emperor, the things that are close, the sacred heart that you can't finish, you are restless every day, and your cheeks are much thinner, please don't worry about the affairs of Jiangnan anymore." Emperor, you can sleep peacefully for a while. ”

On this cold night in the deep palace, the candlelight is flickering, the cigarette smoke curls in the furnace, and the occasional whisper of charcoal bursting in the copper brazier. Chongzhen listened to Wei Qinghui's very gentle whispered persuasion, and saw that her big bright eyes seemed to have tears, and he couldn't help but be moved. He nodded to her, held out a hand, and looked into her eyes, as if to study her face. Wei Qinghui thought that Chongzhen wanted to sit up and asked her to pull him, so he stretched out his right hand and let the emperor catch it. But Chongzhen didn't mean to sit up, he held her hand tightly and gently pulled it to his side, still staring intently into her eyes. Wei Qinghui was embarrassed, so she had to lean forward, thinking: Could it be that the emperor has something to say to me?

Chongzhen smiled and whispered, "Sit down, sit on the couch." ”

"Slaves don't dare." Wei Qinghui knelt down on the pedal and asked in a low voice, "What does the emperor have to say to the slaves?" ”

Chongzhen originally wanted to tell him that he was the loneliest person in the world, and only Wei Qinghui had a true loyalty to him, but when the words came to his mouth, he didn't say it. He has not forgotten that he is the emperor, and he should not say his true words casually. He saw that Wei Qinghui's usually dignified, intelligent and gentle face showed a nervous, timid and uneasy look at this moment, and he clearly wanted to avoid his eyes, which only increased her cuteness. There was a faint smell of fat powder on her face, which made him almost unable to control himself. But at this moment, he suddenly asked himself sentimentally:

Who knows where she'll be in a few months' time? At that time, the world will change dramatically, will she die or live? ”

Wei Qinghui saw that the emperor's expression suddenly changed: the smile disappeared, a miserable cloud passed over his face, and then two lines of tears flowed from his eyes. She exclaimed quietly:

"Emperor! Emperor! ”

Because her right hand was still in the emperor's hand, she stretched out her left hand, wiped away the tears on Chongzhen's cheeks, and said sadly:

"Emperor, you have to be relieved!"

Chongzhen put his arms around Wei Qinghui's shoulders, suddenly raised his head from the pillow, and kissed her heavily on the cheek. Wei Qinghui's cheeks were crimson, her heart was beating wildly, and she didn't know what to do, Chongzhen suddenly let her go and sighed. At this moment, there was a knock on the tower of Xuanwu Gate. Chongzhen said helplessly:

"It's the fifth watch, it's time for me to get up, it's time to worship the sky, and it's time to go to the morning court again."

Wei Qinghui stood up from the pedal and said gently, "I hope there is good news in the court today." Please sleep for a while, and the slave and maid will call the people of the capital to wait for the emperor to freshen up and dress. ”

When Wei Qinghui was about to walk out of Yangdezhai, she was called back by the emperor and told her not to tell others the words "Jiangnan" that she inadvertently called out at night. Wei Qinghui asked:

"If the queen asks about it, aren't you allowed to play it to her?"

"Don't say it to anyone!"

Wei Qinghui was secretly surprised, and didn't understand why the emperor was so strictly forbidden to leak it. But she knew that the emperor was suspicious and didn't allow the concubines to ask more about state affairs, so she didn't dare to say anything more, and bowed timidly and said:

"The slave obeys the order, and no one dares to say the word 'Jiangnan'."

On the New Year's Day of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the wind blew sand, the weather was hazy, and the sun was dark. In broad daylight, no faces could be seen on the street from ten feet away. The hearts of the people in Beijing are already very gloomy, and everyone has a feeling that the Ming Dynasty is about to die. It happened to be the New Year's Day, and when encountering such weather, it made people's hearts even heavier and unintentional. Chongzhen because of the spirit has been chaotic, last night almost all night can not sleep, the fourth watch just after the rush to get up, by the palace maids waiting to freshen up, eat snacks and bird's nest soup, and then put on the clothes of the great court, take the chariot to the Jiaotai Palace. According to the usual practice, he should sit in the Jiaotai Palace, waiting for the civil and military officials to finish their shifts on the Huangji Palace, and after the whip sounded three times, four imperial historians came to guide him, and he went back to the Huangji Hall to receive congratulations. However, this morning he was in a very confused mood, but he was in a hurry, and refused to wait, and there were still two quarters of an hour before the fifth watch, so he ordered to drive to the imperial palace. Although the eunuchs knew that the time was short, everyone was worried and no one stopped them. Sure enough, in addition to some eunuchs coming to wait in front of the Imperial Palace, there were brocade wrestlers who served as honor guards in the cold wind under the Danqi, and two pairs of horses standing opposite each other by the Jinshui Bridge. The courtyard in front of the Imperial Palace was originally very large, and there were tall buildings all around. Nowadays, because there are few people coming in, the night is thick, and the sky is dark, which makes it even more empty and gloomy.

Because the ministers had not yet come in, there was no bell ringing on the noon gate, there was no silent whip on the Danqi, there was no Honglu official praise ceremony, imperial history correction ceremony, and of course, no one ordered to play music. Chongzhen entered the Imperial Palace and stepped into the throne coldly. This has never been the case before. No one thought that on the last New Year's Day before the death of the country, such a strange thing would happen that had never happened before.

The eunuch on the noon gate knew that the emperor had ascended to the palace, and although there were still two moments before the fifth watch, he couldn't help but ring the bell in advance. After the bell rang, no officials entered the noon gate. There was no figure in front of the Imperial Palace except for the guards. Chongzhen asked left and right:

"Why haven't the courtiers come in yet?"

No one dared to say that he should not go to court too early. Wu Mengming, the envoy of the brocade guard, knelt down and played:

The courtiers did not hear the sound of the bells and drums. Because the holy car came out early, coupled with the wind and haze and darkness, it came even later. Now you can ring the bell again, and when you hear it from far and near, you will naturally hurry into the court. ”

Chongzhen nodded. He was very anxious in his heart, but he understood, the reason was that he went to court in advance, so he was not angry, but sighed in his heart:

"Alas, the New Year's Day, the court is so unlucky!"

After a while, the bell rang again at the noon door. According to the usual practice, after the first bell ringing, the hundred officials enter the noon gate. After the second bell ringing, the noon gate closes. Late civil and military officials are not allowed to enter. Now the bells have been ringing non-stop, and the noon door has been wide open, which is completely abnormal.

After waiting for a long time, no one came. Chongzhen became more and more anxious, and suddenly had an idea, deciding to go to the temple first, and then come back to receive congratulations. However, in previous years, they were congratulated first, and then went to the temple after resting, so Lu Shu and Luan Yu were prepared yesterday and placed outside the noon gate, but they did not bring horses. There was a lot of delay in going to the Imperial Horse Supervisor to lead the horses temporarily. Wu Mengming was afraid of the emperor's anger, and knew that many officials had already arrived outside the East and West Chang'an Gate, so he was in a hurry to get wise, and ordered the Jinyi Banner School to hurry up and bring the horses of the hundred officials to use. Jinyi Qixiao ran to the east and west Chang'an Gate, under the pretext that the emperor was useful, regardless of thirty-seven twenty-one, he grabbed the horse when he saw it, and led one or two hundred horses of good or bad into the end gate. Later officials got away with it. Suddenly there was chaos among the horses inside the gate, some horses cocked their tails to, some urinated near the royal road, and some peons kicked other peons, all out of order. The Jinyi Banner School selected a tall horse to drive the emperor's Luanyu, and selected the left and right horses. The rest of the horses were prepared to be horses for the warriors to ride. But not only were the horses very uneven in fat and thin, but the bridles were not old and new, and they were not the same color. Wu Mengming was frightened when he saw it, and brought Wang Dehua, the eunuch of the master of ceremonies, to take a look. Wang Dehua was shocked and said:

"This is no joke. The Holy One blames, and you and I can't afford to bear it. ”

Wang Dehua hurriedly walked into the Imperial Palace. Chongzhen was urging him to hurry up and drive Luanyu, and Wang Chengen knelt down and played:

"Emperor, the slave maid went to see it, and the horses that were temporarily pulled from outside were not trained and were not tame, and I am afraid that sometimes they will jump and gallop wildly, and they are not suitable for driving Luanyu. Now that the courtiers have arrived, it is better to ask the emperor to receive congratulations first, and then go to the temple to worship. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of five watch drums came from the Xuanwu Gate. Chongzhen suddenly realized in his heart that he had come too early, so he nodded:

"Hundreds of officials came in to congratulate."

In the late Ming Dynasty, civil officials mostly lived in the west city, and military attaches mostly lived in the east city. However, during the time of the court, the civil officials knelt on the east side of the Danqi, and the military attache knelt on the west side of the Danqi, and the civil and military classes were not chaotic. Today, the emperor went to court too early, from the Huangji Gate, the Noon Gate, the Duan Gate to the Chengtian Gate, all opened, and some of the military attaches who lived in the east and the Wenchen who lived in the west could not cross the middle imperial road and enter the class. Because in front of the emperor, no matter how far away you are, if things go around, it is called "disrespectful", which hinders "Tianyan faces up". Crossing the middle of the royal road, you will be impeached by the imperial history and punished. On weekdays, because they arrived before the noon gate opened, the civil and military classes had been separated, and the civil ministers entered from the left gate of Que, and the military ministers entered from the right gate of Que, and they did not offend each other. But today it was chaotic, and it wasn't until the front of His Majesty that Wen Wuchen had the opportunity to crouch under the head and return to his own class and climb the Danqi.

After the morning greeting, the brocade guard had already prepared the horses he needed. Immediately, Chongzhen walked out of the noon gate and transferred to Luanyu. The lead of the halo book, more than 100 officials of the six grades followed, and went to the temple to worship the temple. This is Chongzhen's last New Year's Day, he himself feels very unhappy, and the civil and military officials also think that the "haze" and the chaos of Chaohe on this day are great ominous signs, and some people have a terrible premonition of the death of the country in their hearts.

At present, the news in Shanxi is getting tighter day by day. Chongzhen went to court every day, and sometimes summoned ministers in the palace to ask about the plan to save the country, but no one could say a good way. It was suggested that the Mongols and Hui in the northwest should be contacted to raise troops from the Hetao area to contain Li Zicheng, so that Li Zicheng could not move his whole division eastward. Some people also said that the official army would not work, and it would be defeated in the event of a thief, so it was better to quickly recruit and transfer Yungui and Ding Zhuang of the Miao nationality in western Hunan to form the army of King Qin, so that they could fight against Li Zicheng. These suggestions sounded inexplicable to Chongzhen. He couldn't help but miss Yang Sichang very much, and he also missed Chen Xinjia, and sighed to himself very sadly and said:

"This class of civil servants is full of mediocre and useless people. If one of Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia is alive, why would they be like today, sitting up and down and waiting for the country to die, helpless! ”

He often wept when he went to court, and wept bitterly when he called the ministers, but he still had no decision on whether to go to Nanjing. Someone had focused on shrinking his troops, and suggested that he quickly transfer back the infantry from Datong, Yanghe, and Xuanhua, with some guarding Beijing and some guarding Juyong Pass, Baoma Pass, Bauhinia Pass, and Guguan Pass. Chongzhen thought about it and didn't adopt it. Because this is to give the whole Jin to Li Zicheng, so that Li Zicheng can drive into the army without hindrance. In case one of Juyong Pass, Baoma Pass, Bauhinia Pass, and Guguan Pass is lost, the enemy will go to the city of Beijing. He hoped that Taiyuan would be able to hold on for a month or two. As long as Taiyuan holds out for a month or two, Beijing can wait for the division of King Qin. So he agreed to Cai Maode's request and ordered to send 3,000 elite soldiers from Yanghe to aid Taiyuan in the starry night. He also promoted Zhou Yuji, the deputy commander-in-chief of Shanxi, to the commander-in-chief and added the rank of governor, hoping that he would hold Ningwu as a barrier to Datong. However, he didn't have much confidence in Taiyuan's stubbornness. In the days of helplessness, he was not willing to die in the country, and the question of whether to flee to Nanjing as soon as possible became more frequent in his mind.

One day in the first half of the first lunar month, Zuo Zhongyun Li Mingrui sent a secret letter requesting to be summoned alone. Chongzhen had already heard through the two channels of Dongchang and Jinyiwei that some of the courtiers were privately discussing the matter of moving south, but no one dared to suggest it first. He had heard that Li Mingrui was a man who advocated moving south. Li Mingrui is a native of Nanchang, Jiangxi, originally a cloth cloth, quite ethical, last year by the Zuo capital imperial history Li Banghua and Jiangxi governor Lu Daqi, came to Beijing, awarded Zuo Zhongyun's official position, he is a person who is keen on state affairs and dares to speak. Last summer, he suggested that the emperor personally go to Xi'an to boost morale, and called on the army and people in the northwest to fight against Li Zicheng, so that Li Zicheng could not enter Tongguan. Chongzhen thought that he didn't know about military affairs and didn't pay attention to it, but he admired him for his courage to speak and enterprising. Now that I have watched his secret recital, I know that it must be a matter of moving south, so I feel a joy in my heart in sadness and despair: this important matter was first proposed by Wenchen.

The next day, Chongzhen asked the ministers for advice as usual, and no one said a useful proposition as usual. Chongzhen also saw that among the ministers, such as Li Banghua, the imperial history of Zuodu, clearly wanted to speak, but they didn't say it after all. It can also be seen that Li Mingrui also has some concerns, and he does not dare to say what he wants to say in the court. After the next dynasty, he ordered the eunuch to send an edict to Zuo Zhongyun Li Mingrui to summon the pair separately at three o'clock in the morning of the same day.

Li Mingrui was led by the eunuch to the East Warm Pavilion in the apse of the Wenhua Palace, where the emperor was already waiting. After Li Mingrui saluted, Chongzhen ordered Li Mingrui to sit down opposite him, and asked with a heavy heart:

"What is the important aspect of the request for a separate summons?"

Li Mingrui stood up and said: "This matter is important, please step back and let Rong Chen play for the emperor." ”

Chongzhen waved his hand lightly, causing the few eunuchs who were waiting beside him to withdraw, and then lightly touched his lower cheek, motioning for Li Mingrui to sit down and sit closer. Li Mingrui carefully moved the chair slightly closer to the imperial case. The wide hem of his court robe almost brushed the hem of the emperor's dragon robe. It has always been rare for a subordinate to be so close to the emperor. Li Mingrui thought that this was a rare "special grace", and said in a slightly trembling voice:

"Your Majesty, it is reported that the thieves have entered Shanxi, and seeing that they are approaching Gyeonggi, this autumn of Cheng's survival is in danger, so we must prepare quickly, just in case. In the humble opinion of the ministers, only one strategy to move south can alleviate the current urgency and Xu Tu's conquest. Did Your Majesty ever think about it? ”

Chongzhen sighed lightly and said, "This matter is important, and it is not easy to say!" After a moment of silence, he pointed with the index finger of his right hand to the top of his head and asked, "Who knows what the heavens mean by such a big thing?" ”

Li Mingrui replied: "Your Majesty, life is not normal, the good will be gained, and the ungood will be lost." The destiny is very small, and it is all in personnel. Man will conquer the heavens. The emperor's move is in line with the heart of heaven. The difference is a thousand miles. Know a few gods! The situation has reached this extreme, and it is easy to ignore it. If you don't make a quick decision, you will have the worry of eating the umbilicus on another day, and you will regret it! The authorities are confused, and the bystanders are clear. I hope that Your Majesty will break the sacred heart internally, and the current situation will be external, and you will not delay for a moment. If you continue to discuss with your ministers, it is like building a house by the roadside, and you can't make a quick decision, although you want to do something in the future, I'm afraid it's too late! ”

Li Mingrui knew very well that the disaster of the country was already in sight, so when he said these words, he almost burst into tears, and his tone was very painful.

The emperor was very moved, and saw that there was indeed no one in the Wenhua Palace, and no one eavesdropped outside the window, and said in a low voice: "I have thought about this matter of you for a long time, but because no one praised it, it has dragged on to this day." Your opinion agrees with me, and I am determined! After a pause, he couldn't help but hesitate, and asked softly: "If the ministers don't obey, what can I do?" It's a secret! Secret! ”

Li Mingrui said: "The minister does not dare to divulge a word about such things. Please let the emperor break from the Sacred Heart, and don't follow the wrong path! ”

Chongzhen asked, "How do you get help on the way?" ”

Li Mingrui said: "Of course, it is indispensable to help along the way. According to the minister's humble opinion, Mo Ruo set up troops in all directions to make sure that everything is perfect. ”

"Which four?"

"Dongyi Road is Shandong, which is a place where the emperor must pass. The west road is Henan, so that the 'thieves' cannot go east wantonly. This is a dry road. In addition, we are preparing to sail in Denglai and preparing ships in Tongzhou. This is the waterway. There are four routes for flooding and drought, so it is necessary to set up troops on four routes. However, after the emperor left Beijing, he should walk from the Shandong road, travel southward by light car, and go to Huai'an on the 20th. King Wen is supple, Confucius is micro-obedient, this is also said. ”

The emperor nodded and said, "That's right." However, this matter is too important to be easily divulged; If you leak it out, you will be guilty. ”

Li Mingrui said: "It's the minister's plan, how dare the minister leak it himself." But ask the emperor to make a holy decision! As soon as the emperor goes abroad, he can leap into the dragon and tiger, and all freedom will gather in the palm of his hand. If you sit in Beijing and are trapped in a dangerous city, what good will it do to the country! ”

Chongzhen nodded and said, "I know." ”

This conversation has come to an end for the time being. Chongzhen was very uneasy because he suddenly made a major decision. He needed someone to think about it calmly, so he ordered the eunuch to take Li Mingrui to Wenzhao Pavilion to rest and not leave the palace. At noon, a banquet was given in Wenzhao Pavilion, waiting for the right call again. After instructing him, he took the chariot back to the Qianqing Palace.

As soon as lunch was over, Chongzhen called Li Mingrui to the palace of the Qianqing Palace, that is, the Hongde Palace. Seeing that the emperor was so anxious, Li Mingrui was more and more moved in his heart, and wished that the emperor could immediately make up his mind and leave Beijing and go to Nanjing in a hurry before Li Zicheng passed Taiyuan. He didn't expect that the emperor didn't ask about going to Nanjing again, but asked him how to appoint auxiliary ministers and the pros and cons of the big examination. Li Mingrui was surprised. He knew that the emperor was suspicious and fickle, and he was worried that his suggestions would not be adopted, so he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. He thought: "The country is dying, and the emperor can't make up his mind, so he even asks about these unurgent matters!" However, after all, he was an upright and outspoken loyal minister, and he took this opportunity not to shy away from his personal interests, and bitterly denounced the various shortcomings of the two matters of deciding auxiliary ministers by method of divination and deciding the promotion of officials by method of examination. He asked the emperor to make a new law, suggesting that ministers should not make side merits, not be allowed to participate in the divination, and state and county officials should not make side merits, and should not participate in the examination. Chongzhen didn't think the suggestion would work, but he didn't speak, just sighed softly. Li Mingrui took this opportunity to ask:

"Why does the emperor sigh about the matter of divination and selection?"

Chongzhen said sadly: "I thought that there was no salary for the soldiers, and it would be difficult to leave Beijing. ”

Li Mingrui said: "When the emperor leaves Beijing, there will be people to follow. At present, there is a shortage of soldiers' salaries, and the people are exhausted. For a while, there was no good way to plan for it, but to quickly send internal funds to save the urgent need. ”

Chongzhen said with tears in his eyes: "The money is like washing, and there is no way to do anything about it." ”

Li Mingrui said: "The savings of our ancestors for 300 years will not come to this point. ”

Chongzhen's face was miserable, and he said, "Actually, there is nothing! Then he rolled out tears and whimpered.

Li Mingrui lowered his head, not knowing what to say. Thinking that the country is about to die and the treasury is washing, I am very anxious and sad, but I can't think of any emergency measures for a while, and I think again, the interruption of the inner treasury in the big treasury will not be so empty, how to say?

After a while, Chongzhen ordered Li Mingrui to temporarily go to Wenzhao Pavilion to rest and give him tea, but told him not to leave the palace and wait for another summons.

After Li Mingrui kowtowed and withdrew, Chongzhen sat on the chair and thought for a long time, and suddenly punched a punch on the imperial case with hatred, jumped up, and wandered around the pillar. After a long time, he ordered a eunuch to go to Wenzhao Pavilion to deliver the decree:

"Li Mingrui can go home and rest for the time being, but he will still be called tonight. Not a word is allowed to divulge the main thing that is discussed. ”

At the first watch, Chongzhen summoned Li Mingrui in the side hall of the Qianqing Palace and ordered him to sit down close to the imperial case. This was the third time Chongzhen had summoned a Wenchen in one day. In the seventeen years since his ascension to the pole, there has not been a second case. He had thought about the move to Nanjing thousands of times, so after Li Mingrui sat down, he said:

And he intended to do what he had done. Who will help along the way? What kind of officials are used to lead the troops and collect salaries? Where are they stationed? ”

Li Mingrui replied: "Jining and Huai'an are both critical places, and it is necessary to set up officials for this matter. It is necessary to choose important ministers to lead the troops to respond. Although the emperor is a small line, the two places are very concise, and they must be prevented. ”

"What kind of official title do I need?"

"I need to be a senior officer of the household and the army."

"At this time, the soldiers and horses are closing, and the generals are on all sides, so it is very difficult to deploy, what can I do?"

Li Mingrui thought for a moment and said, "Near the eight prefectures in Beijing, it is still possible to recruit." The emperor's trip, the capital still needs people to take care of it, the closed soldiers cannot be withdrawn, and the generals on all sides cannot be lightly adjusted. Only in the inner prince, marquis, uncle, and cabinet ministers of civil and military affairs, the emperor may wish to summon them to the front of the emperor, interview their talents, and send them away. ”

"Yes, yes."

Li Mingrui also said: "Internal funds must be issued. Now as soon as he leaves the capital, the emperor has nothing but the clothes that must be used, and he should send them out to reward the soldiers. In case the reward is insufficient halfway through, it is very difficult to distinguish between them. The big one left is nothing but a rotten beetle. If the first thing is issued, one money can be used as two dollars; Give it to someone in a hurry, and 10,000 dollars are not worth a penny. ”

Chongzhen no longer stated that the inner treasury was actually empty, but said: "However, the household department should also take measures." ”

Li Mingrui said: "Now that everything is empty, it is difficult for the household department to get together. The emperor is planning for the temple society, and he will do it without delay. Reward money on the road, and hope to prepare as soon as possible, without waiting to dig a well when you are thirsty! ”

Chongzhen had no choice but to nod, and then sighed. After a short period of secret talking, the second watch has been handed in. After Li Mingrui kowtowed and resigned, Chongzhen returned to Yangdezhai, wanting to rest, but he couldn't sleep anymore. He remembered what Li Mingrui said, "As soon as the emperor goes abroad, he can leap forward", and felt that there was a lot to be done in state affairs, and he was full of energy. But thinking that the concubines and palace dependents could not stay in Beijing, it was also very risky and difficult to take them away; Thinking that the Taimiao, the ancestors and the twelve tombs of Changping were all thrown to the "thieves", his heart suddenly became heavy. He barely slept that night. The palace maid on duty at night heard him sigh on the pillow several times, and once heard him calling:

"Jiangnan, Jiangnan!"

The next day, Li Mingrui, worried that the emperor's determination was not strong, added a letter to reiterate his urgent advice.

In fact, Li Mingrui is not the only courtier who dares to face reality and has more insight into the current situation. Some people have been discussing it in private for a long time, and some people have begun to can't help but make bold suggestions. All the suggestions for Chongzhen to flee to Nanjing were "left behind" by Chongzhen and not leaked to the courtiers. He was afraid of three things: First, he was afraid that once it was leaked, the people of Beijing would immediately collapse, and there would be chaos before Li Zicheng arrived. Second, he knew that Li Zicheng's meticulous work was all over the Beijing Division, and he was afraid that once Li Zicheng got the news, he would definitely send an elite cavalry to march to the starry night in Shandong to cut off his way south. Thirdly, he expected that there would be people in the court who would oppose this decision and obstruct him because of his own plans, so that he could not do what he wanted, but instead caused a storm in the city and the people were divided. Although Chongzhen will soon become the king of the fallen country, he is by no means a mediocre person. Therefore, he repeatedly warned Li Mingrui not to divulge a word, and "left the secrets of the ministers" in the middle, which is his due consideration. However, this matter is too big, although he is the emperor, he still can't decide alone. When he received the secret information from Li Banghua, the imperial history of Zuodu, he actually leaked this problem by himself.

Li Banghua is 71 years old this year, and in the 32nd year of Wanli, he was admitted to the Jinshi and began to be an official. When Wei Zhongxian was in turmoil, he was falsely accused of being a member of the Donglin Party and almost lost his life. It has been 40 years since he started his career, but he was forced to leave the government and live in his hometown for 20 years. The more frustrated he was, the higher his prestige became, and the more respected he was by the government and the opposition. Even Chongzhen respected him very much, so after Liu Zongzhou returned to his hometown of Shaoxing the year before last, Chongzhen summoned him to Beijing to take over the imperial history of the left capital of the Imperial Procuratorate. Li Mingrui was recommended by him, and there are common things in character. Li Mingrui respected him very much, and he also valued Li Mingrui very much, and they both had a heart of infinite loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. Recently, they often secretly discussed ways to save the Ming Dynasty from the destruction of the country, but their opinions were very different. Li Mingrui advocated that the emperor leave Beijing quickly and flee from Shandong to Nanjing. Li Banghua advocated that the emperor should stick to Beijing, and opposed the emperor being like King Zhou Ping and Song Gaozong. He thought that what was needed was to send the most reliable minister to Nanking as soon as possible, and at the same time divide the kings of Yong and Ding to the south. In case Beijing does not defend and the emperor is martyred, the prince can maintain the Ming dynasty in the south. They have their own opinions, and they cannot be unified. Li Mingrui was afraid that the opportunity for the emperor to flee to the south would be delayed, so he asked for a summons. Li Banghua knew that Li Mingrui had been summoned by the emperor, for fear that Li Mingrui's opinion would mislead the emperor and the plan to save the world, so he hurried to a secret meeting the next day.

Emperor Chongzhen read Li Banghua's secrets. The tone of Shu Zhong is completely different from that of Li Mingrui, and the suggestions made are almost opposite. For more than a day, Chongzhen's good dream of fleeing to the south was suddenly shattered. He had no idea what to do. Li Banghua's white beard and chest and upright and decisive shadow appeared on Mishu, as if he was kneeling in front of him. Chongzhen read the secret again, read it again, and unconsciously got up from the throne, put the recital in his sleeve, and walked around the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, sometimes letting out a heavy sigh. After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped, took out the song from his sleeve, reread it, and said unconsciously:

"That's right! Well said! Makes sense! ”

But after a while, he thought about it, suddenly shook his head, and asked himself, "What should I do?" Just follow Li Banghua's suggestion? It's hard! It's hard! I really can't make up my mind! ”

Even if the eunuchs of the Qianqing Palace were more face-saving, they were so frightened that they didn't dare to enter the palace or make a sound when they saw the emperor's abnormal situation. Wei Qinghui, the housekeeper of the Qianqing Palace, was called by the queen to the Kunning Palace for questioning, just came back, and got a report from a palace maid who came to the Qianqing Palace to add incense, knowing that the emperor's face was gloomy and his spirit was abnormal, and he had been walking around the palace for a long time, sometimes sighing, sometimes talking to herself, she quickly walked into the Qianqing Palace lightly, walked to Chongzhen and knelt down with trepidation and said:

"Emperor, you didn't sleep well last night, please go to the back of the couch and lie down and rest for a while, state affairs still rely on the emperor alone!"

Chongzhen stopped walking, glanced back at Wei Qinghui, and said, "Stand down, don't kneel beside me." ”

Wei Qinghui said with tears in her eyes: "Yes, the slave obeys the order, but please ask the emperor to cherish the holy bow for the country!" ”

After Wei Qinghui kowtowed and withdrew, Chongzhen returned to the imperial case where he regularly reviewed documents, sat down dejectedly, and tried his best to calm down his mood. He thought for a while, re-read Li Banghua's secrets, but still had no idea, and immediately ordered the eunuch to go to the cabinet to send the first assistant Chen Yan to the Wenhua Palace to summon him. Immediately, he quickly changed his robe under the service of the palace maids and went to the Wenhua Palace. When he sat down on the chariot, his heart was very heavy and anxious, and he secretly sighed sadly:

"The Emperor's fortune must be decided immediately!"

Chapter VII

Although Chen Yan is the first assistant, he is at a loss when this state affairs cannot be supported, he just goes up and down every day, goes to the cabinet office, and accepts bribes in his private house. After coming to the East Warm Pavilion of the Wenhua Hall to kowtow to Chongzhen, Chongzhen ordered him to sit down, took out Li Banghua's recital from his sleeve, handed it to him to see, and said:

"Qing is the first assistant, when this country is in danger, please make up your mind for me."

In the past two or three days, Chen Yan also knew that the ministers were privately discussing whether the emperor should go to Nanjing as soon as possible, and some people advocated sending the crown prince to Nanjing. Some of the ministers quietly consulted him, and he was noncommittal. He once secretly calculated that whether the emperor went to Nanjing in person or sent the prince to Nanjing, the distance was far away, and the "thieves" were arrogant, so it was inevitable that there would be no risk. As the first assistant, as long as he says the words of approval, whenever he encounters a risk, he will be guilty and will be scolded by the government and the opposition. Moreover, he took a lot of bribes, and the amount of gold and silver treasures he had accumulated was considerable, all in Beijing. Whether he went out of Beijing from the emperor or assisted the prince to go south, how to deal with this savings? …… Because of all these concerns, he had already made up his mind when he entered the palace by order, and if the emperor asked him about his opinion on this matter, he would never give a clear answer.

After reading Li Banghua's recital, Chen Yan understood that Li Banghua was suggesting that the crown prince should be sent to Nanjing immediately while the emperor stayed in Beijing, and his tone was very resolute. His brows furrowed, and he didn't dare to speak immediately. Chongzhen didn't want to wait and asked:

"What do you claim, sir?"

Chen Yan raised his head and said: "This matter is related to the foundation of the country and is very important. His Majesty goes to Jiangnan in person, or the prince accompanies the army to accompany the capital, each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and it is best to discuss it with the courtiers to make sure that everything is possible. ”

Chongzhen's face was unhappy, and he said, "How can such a thing be openly discussed in the court?" ”

"At the very least, we should have a secret discussion with a few auxiliary ministers."

"Okay, you go down and discuss with the ministers, but you are not allowed to leak it out."

After Chen Yan resigned, Chongzhen scolded in his heart: "Accompany the prime minister!" ”

Chongzhen immediately ordered his ministers to pass Li Mingrui into the palace, and after Li Mingrui kowtowed, he anxiously asked Li Mingrui:

"Have you discussed it with Li Banghua?"

"Weichen and Li Banghua are fellow villagers in Jiangxi, and the minister is recommended by Li Banghua, and he admires Li Banghua for worrying about the country and the monarch, being loyal and selfless, and being a model of knowledge and morality, so a few days ago, the minister and Banghua had discussed this matter several times, and each had his own opinion. After being summoned by His Majesty the day before yesterday, he did not dare to divulge a word because he obeyed the order, and did not meet with Banghua. ”

Chongzhen said: "Li Banghua does not agree with Qing's proposition, he has other suggestions, and his words are sincere. It is difficult for me to decide what is convenient for you and Banghua's suggestion, so look at his secrets. ”

Li Mingrui knelt on the ground, picked up the secret given to him by the emperor, and after reading it, he raised his head and said:

"The old ministers of the three dynasties of Banghua, the world is favored by the country, this letter is sparse, the words are sincere, which shows the loyalty of the country, and it is touching to read. He advised the emperor to defend Beijing ......"

Chongzhen said: "Yes, his negligence said: 'Fang Jin's rebels are rampant, the country is in danger, the minister thinks it is a fundamental plan, and the emperor can only insist on not going. Be the master of China, and guard China; For the trillion democracy, the trillion people should be guarded; As the owner of the mausoleum temple, he should guard the mausoleum temple. Zhou Ping and Song Gao's ugly plan is not unheard. Look at how resolute his tone is, without hesitation. He was worried that the partial peace situation of King Ping's eastward migration and King Kang's southern crossing would be seen again today! Qing and Banghua are both loyal to the country, but their propositions are so different, and each has its own reasons. Alas! I am at a loss. In all fairness, what do you say about Banghua's words? ”

Li Mingrui understood that Li Banghua's words were worried that the emperor would move to the south, the north would fall into the hands of the Manchurians, and the south would become a situation of partial security, so he used the words "defend China" and "guard Zhaomin", and used allusions to King Zhou Ping and Song Gaozong, and denounced them as "bad tricks", which were all rebukes of his suggestions. But he doesn't mind, he just thinks that Li Banghua only knows the scriptures but doesn't know the power. He firmly believed that only when the emperor moved to Nanjing as soon as possible could he not lose the country and that there was hope for the recovery of the Central Plains. Chongzhen saw that Li Mingrui was silent in thought, and did not urge him to answer. He himself read a few words of Li Banghua about sending the prince to Nanjing, and said:

"Li Banghua advocated sending the prince to Nanjing as soon as possible, and you can see that he said in the middle of the sparseness: 'The southeast is far away, the thief atmosphere is gradually extending to Qilu, the north and south are interrupted, and the southeast is scattered, and there is no one to clean up, and Shenjing is desperate, and the accident happens. The minister saw the prince Renmin's heroic martial arts, and it was appropriate to look at the south of the Yangtze River and bow to the affairs of the army, so please imitate the story of Renmiao and raise the army to accompany the capital. On the same day, close to Jane's cronies, loyal and brave, subordinate counseling, concession to act cheaply, do not be from the middle. As soon as the prince arrives in Nanjing, he will be able to revitalize the country's prestige, support him, and consolidate Jianghuai. The safety of this sect is at stake, and it must not be relieved immediately. What do you think of Banghua's words? ”

Li Mingrui replied: "The prince is young, and at this time when the world is in turmoil, it is not authoritative to act in the event of an emergency, and it is not filial piety to act in a dedicated manner. In the humble opinion of the ministers, it is better for the emperor to do it himself! ”

Chongzhen glanced at Li Mingrui. When Li Mingrui thought that he had touched the holy wrath and was secretly preparing to be blamed, Chongzhen lowered his head and stopped talking. He had already been moved by Li Banghua's suggestion, thinking that if the East Palace went to Nanjing, called on the righteous soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River, and went north to Yulu, he could contain the "thieves" so that the "thieves" could not besiege Jingshi with all their might. But Lee's words were like a scoop of cold water that extinguished his hopes. He thought that the crown prince was a sixteen-year-old child, what did he know about governing the country and the country? Over the years, the court has been at a loss, resulting in today's disaster. Even if the prince can reach Nanjing safely, he can only be played in the hands of the traitorous eunuchs, and there will be no good results. After thinking about it for a while, he still felt that he could save the danger by going to Nanjing by himself. However, there were so many difficulties that he could not decide at once, so after a moment of silence, he raised his head and said:

"Qing will go down first, and then I will think about it carefully."

Since Chongzhen summoned Li Mingrui and Shoufu Chen, it was no longer possible to keep a secret about whether the emperor went to Nanjing in person or escorted the prince to Nanjing. There were people in the court who continued to go up, either to persuade the emperor to go in person, or to approve the prince's southward journey. In addition to suggesting that the crown prince be sent to Nanjing, Li Banghua also suggested that King Yong and King Ding should be divided into Zhejiang and Jiangxi, thinking that Nanjing would be wings. Some of the courtiers also suggested that the crown prince should be sent to Tianjin to raise the army. Some people also impeached Li Mingrui, believing that persuading the emperor to move south was a crime that could be beheaded. Chongzhen hoped to flee to Nanjing, take advantage of the wealth and military resources in the south of the Yangtze River to cheer up, and clean up the erosion of the Central Plains and the north. So on the morning of the eighth day of the first month, he summoned a group of ministers to discuss before the emperor.

Chongzhen often summoned his ministers alone or in groups, and the locations were mostly in the platform, the Wenhua Palace, the Hongde Hall of the Qianqing Palace, or the East and West Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, and occasionally in the Wuying Palace. But today it is in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace. Although he may not have any special intentions, he cannot help but make the ministers who participated in the summoning have a particularly serious feeling.

Chongzhen sat on a throne in the center, about three feet high from the ground, and after the ministers kowtowed to him in batches, they stood silent in two shifts, waiting for questions. Chongzhen glanced at the ministers and said with a worried expression:

"Near the Shanxi Tang newspaper, hundreds of thousands of 'thieves' have crossed the Yellow River, claiming that the east is committing a crime against Beijing. Taiyuan was empty, and the king of Jin and the governor of Shanxi, Cai Maode, were in a hurry. Shanxi is the right arm of Beijing, Taiyuan is particularly important, I had no choice but to order the governor of Xuanfu, Wei Jingying, to quickly dispatch 3,000 elite soldiers to reinforce Taiyuan in the starry night. In case Taiyuan can't be fortified, the enemy will either go out of the solid pass, or take Datong, Yang and Donglai, and Jifu will be unimaginable. Recently, the courtiers have been discussing a lot, or suggesting that the prince escort the army to Nanjing, or suggesting that I drive the imperial expedition in person, but there is no consensus. Today, I summoned the secretary and others, and asked the secretary and others to be loyal to the country and make a decision on my behalf. Speaking of this, he picked up Li Banghua's letter from the imperial case, opened it and read: "'The auxiliary minister knows but does not dare to speak, and he will ask it. Then he looked to the left and asked Shoufu Chen Yan, "What do you mean by this?" Why did the ministers know and not speak? ”

Chen Chengban played: "Recently, the thieves have been arrogant, and the ministers either persuade the emperor to conquer in person, or persuade the prince to raise the army in Nanjing. The auxiliary ministers also knew that this matter was important, but they had not yet reached a consensus and did not dare to play it. As for Zuo Zhongyun, Li Mingrui's suggestion, Shao Zhan Zhiyu also has this intention. ”

Chongzhen glanced at Xiang Yu. remembered that once when he was lecturing at a scripture banquet, Xiang Yu euphemistically expressed his hope that he would go to Nanjing. He watched several times to see what the ministers were doing. The cabinet ministers present at that time had the highest status as the second assistant Wei Zaode, but they never said a word. Chongzhen was very angry in his heart, but he didn't want to lose his temper at the feast. Usually at the sutra feast, he always looks solemn and respects the teacher. Now he was so distraught that he sometimes couldn't help but shrug his body, sometimes he couldn't help but stretch his legs suddenly, sometimes he even paused, or he raised his head and sighed. A group of ministers who participated in the feast were very frightened and did not know what to do. Wang Dehua, who was standing about a zhang away from the throne, saw that the emperor was in a bad mood, walked to his side respectfully, and whispered: "The emperor didn't sleep all night last night, and the emperor is sleepy today, so it is not suitable to sit for a long time, please go back to the palace to rest." Chongzhen nodded slightly, stood up and said, "Today's feast will stop, and I'll talk about it next time." Then he went back to the Qianqing Palace. Thinking about it now, it still makes him unhappy. But he didn't look at Chen Yan and Wei Zaode's assistants, but his eyes turned to Li Banghua and asked:

"What else do you have to say?"

Li Banghua's attitude towards this matter is very different from that of Li Mingrui. Li Mingrui's life in the DPRK and China was too shallow, and he spoke with a loyal enthusiasm for national affairs. For example, last summer, he suggested that Chongzhen go to Xi'an, command the men and horses, and defend Tongguan, which was all fantasy. Now his suggestion is not fanciful, but he estimates the difficulties too little. This is not the case with Li Banghua. He thought deeply about this matter, and always disapproved of the emperor leaving the capital, and only hoped to send the crown prince to Nanjing as soon as possible, but the concerns in his heart could not be said in front of the ministers, nor could he be completely said in the sparseness, for fear that the emperor would feel hopeless, and he was afraid that if his secret was leaked out, it would be very detrimental to the country. He now believes that as long as the emperor does not leave Beijing, Li Zicheng will not abandon Beijing to chase the crown prince. As long as a few men and horses escorted the prince, the prince could reach Nanjing safely. If the emperor acts rashly and flees in a hurry, accompanied by the ladies of the six palaces, ministers and hundreds of officials, the soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp, the people and horses are mixed, the mud and water are dragged, there is no order, and it is difficult to receive help on the road, Li Zicheng will definitely intercept it with light cavalry or chase after it with heavy troops. At that time, you can't face the battle, and if you want to retreat, it's too late. The ministers will ride from the birds, and the birds will be frightened, and they will flee for their lives, won't the emperor and the six palaces fall into the hands of the "thieves"? What's more, Li Mingrui's suggestion is to ask the lord to go hunting, and the prince will stay in the house. That is, the co-lord of the long monarch, the light car escaped, and in the name of raising the army and supervising the country, the East Palace was entrusted to the tiger's mouth, although the fool did not do it, how could the emperor take this policy? After a while, these thoughts were repeated in Li Banghua's mind, and he decided that it was still better not to say them, so he knelt down and kowtowed, choked up and said:

"It's urgent! Please ask the emperor to defend to the death, and to defend the hearts of the people of the Beijing Division. Hurry up and transfer Wu Sangui's troops back to rescue the Beijing division and meet the thief Feng. Li Guozhen was ordered to select the elite of the Beijing camp and go out of the city to garrison important places, thinking that he was a horn. The matter of defending the city is left to the discretion of the ministers. I hope that the emperor will edict to punish himself, and send out the savings of the inner treasury to supply the soldiers, and do not lock them up and leave them for thieves. If this is the case, why can't Li Zicheng be captured and beheaded in Xishi? ”

Chongzhen was reluctant to heed the advice that he should stick to Beijing. It has been 17 years since he ascended to the pole, and there are Manchuria outside and "thieves" inside, which has made him fight on both sides and fall into the situation where he is about to lose his country. Now he can't wait to go to Nanjing immediately and get out of this predicament forever. However, Li Banghua's mention of quickly transferring Wu Sangui's Guan Ning soldiers and horses back to Beijing made his heart suddenly move. However, he didn't talk about Wu Sangui, ordered Li Banghua to stand up, turned to Li Mingrui and asked:

"Qing advocates that I go to Nanjing as soon as possible, and I have a lot to say, do you have anything else to say?"

Li Mingrui hurriedly walked out of the class, knelt down and said, "The minister thinks that the most urgent person is the emperor's personal expedition." There are no less than 100,000 armor soldiers in the Beijing camp, and 100,000 can be obtained from recruitment. As soon as the holy drive comes out, the loyal and righteous divisions of the Quartet will have those who respond to the wind, so there will be no soldiers and no one. ”

Chongzhen glanced at Li Banghua and saw Li Banghua's heavy expression, obviously disagreeing with Li Mingrui's words. He himself disagreed, and thought to himself: "What recruit 100,000 yuan, where does the salary come from?" But because he really wanted to leave Beijing, he didn't point out Li Mingrui's disregard for reality, but just said softly:

"Keep talking, keep talking."

Li Mingrui continued: "Didn't Emperor Taizu Gao once fought in Poyang Lake in the past? Didn't Emperor Cheng Zuwen fight with the Mongols in Mobei? The ancestors had a difficult business and often needed to weather the wind and rain. If the emperor wants to sit in peace and enjoy the world, how can he do it? Today's situation is urgent, and it is not broad and unrealistic to want the emperor to sit upright and rule the world? ”

"Keep talking, keep talking."

"Rare and easy to lose, time. Today's events cannot be delayed, and the opportunity is lost, and there is no regret. Li Mingrui was afraid that someone would oppose the emperor's escape to Nanjing, so he changed his tone and said: "The palaces of the kings of Shandong all have palaces, so you might as well stay for the time being, and wait for the army of King Qin to gather, and then discuss the westward expedition." The thieves have heard of the Son of Heaven's divine martial arts, and they will take the lead and thwart their cunning, and then some of the thieves will turn against each other. The ancestral mausoleum of Fengyang, known as the central capital, can also be stationed. Shandong and Henan are advancing to the west, and there are no worries between Jianghuai. His Majesty's personal conquest is intended to call for loyalty, and there is no need for the emperor to risk the arrow. Moreover, there are Shi Kefa and Liu Kongzhao in Nanjing, all of whom are loyal and good ministers, and they know military affairs and can entrust them with big things. Summoning them to the emperor's left and right and plotting together, they will be able to destroy the enemy's flames, clear the territory, and establish the great cause of Zhongxing. Don't lose time. Please ask the emperor to decide to conquer in person! ”

Chongzhen listened to Li Mingrui's recitals, although he knew that half of them were vain, but one of these words pointed out a way for him to live, and the other was that Li Mingrui's expression and voice were completely out of loyalty, so he was deeply moved, nodded frequently, and then asked:

"After my family's conquest, how will Jingshi hold on?"

Li Mingrui said: "I heard that Changping and Juyongguan are heavily armed places, and there are no soldiers to control the defense, so it is easy to be watched by thieves. Relying on the lieutenant to plan for military affairs in two places is really not a perfect strategy. His Majesty Fu Qi dispatched the generals from west to east from outside the Huangling Mountain, surrounding Gonghua City, and gathering heavy troops. Ordered the East Palace to live and guard, enter the prison country, and raise the army when exiting, which is the responsibility of the crown prince. After the emperor set off, he left Wei Zaode and Fang Yuegong to tutor the East Palace and take care of military affairs. As long as the emperor personally recruits the land, the people will inevitably be thunderous and morale will be boosted. If this is the case, then it is really determined to be east and west of Shuntian, and you can no longer worry about the atmosphere of thieves. At present, the thief has crossed the river to the east, and its momentum is very sharp, and the whole Jin is empty, and it is difficult to hold on. If the court continues to be gentle, day after day, can the world's major events still be done? Once the thief arrives at the country, the monarch and the minister will tie their hands, and they will devour the umbilicus! ”

Chongzhen felt that the situation was more critical than many courtiers, and the disaster of the destruction of the country was imminent, and he hated that most of the ministers were still confused, talking about the door, making personal profits, and feeling annoyed in his heart when he was a monk for a day and a bell for a day in state affairs. He suddenly glanced at the ministers, and said with anger:

"Retreat! Today, the six departments and nine secretaries will go down to discuss it quickly, and it will be decided tomorrow! ”

After Chongzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace, his thoughts were very chaotic. On the one hand, he does understand that only going to Jiangnan is the best policy now, if this move can be lived, the whole game will be alive. However, Li Banghua did not agree with him to leave Beijing, and only agreed to send the crown prince to Nanjing, and King Yong and King Ding to Jiangnan as well. Li Banghua is an old minister with high moral integrity and who is admired by the government and the opposition, and his opinions should be taken seriously. There were also auxiliary ministers and the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, such as the Six Ministries and the Nine Secretaries, who did not speak out and made clear their views, which added anxiety to his thoughts. However, he did not sit in the Qianqing Palace and wait for the results of the meeting of the six ministries and nine qings, but could not wait to order a eunuch to find the "Emperor Ming Yutu" and put it on the imperial case, carefully look at the situation of the mountains and rivers from Shandong to Nanjing, the location of important towns, and consider the route of the southward escape.

During the seventeen years that he ruled the world, he didn't know how many times he had seen this huge map with yellow silk as the cover. Sometimes, in order to pacify the rampant activities of "bandits" and "bandits" in southern Hebei, Shandong, Jiangbei, and other places, he watched it many times with great anxiety and anxiety. Sometimes it is a newspaper of 100,000 urgent military intelligence in a certain place, and a map is consulted. On two occasions, the Qing invaded the territory of Kifu, southern Hebei and Shandong, and he often consulted maps in those days. Therefore, there are many prefectures, states, and counties, and the directions and roads are far and near, and he is generally clear in his heart. But today's focus is different. Today, such as Dezhou, Jinan, Linqing, these important places, along the route to the south of the canal, the cities to pass, although he looked in detail, but he paid the most attention to the eastern part of Shandong, hoping to turn around from Dezhou, bypass the east of Jinan, and then from what direction to the south, to Huaiyin, and then to Yangzhou. He was worried that the road to the south of the Qing Dynasty might be cut off by Li Zicheng's cavalry first, so he had to think about it in advance and take a safer road to the south. After studying the map for a long time, he was afraid that if the "thief soldiers" got the news and the army entered Shandong, a part of the light cavalry cut off the road to Jiaodong, and as a last resort, he had to board a ship from Tianjin, enter the sea from Tanggu, and land in Haizhou. Thinking of the danger of the sea storms, and thinking of his respect for the heavens and ancestors, he has not lost his virtue in running the world for 17 years, but he fell into this step of the field, and he unconsciously shed tears. So he pushed away the map, sighed, choked with indignation, and said:

"The ministers mistakenly misled the country, and there is today!"

As for the two plans of whether the emperor should go to Nanjing as soon as possible or send the prince to Jiangnan, because Chongzhen personally instructed the ministers of the six ministries and nine Qing to discuss, and on the same day, there were different opinions and sent to the Qianqing Palace. Among them, there is a letter from the military department to Guang Shiheng, opposing the emperor's proposal to move south, and also opposing the sending of the crown prince to Nanjing, and the wording is the most intense. It is believed that Li Mingrui's vain talk of moving south has disturbed people's hearts, and he should be immediately beheaded. He mentioned that the emperor should only stick to the Beijing division and wait for the division of the king of the world. The twelve mausoleums, the nine temple gods, and the ancestors have been operating for more than 200 years. He quoted the "Spring and Autumn Righteousness" in the recital, which made Chongzhen feel ashamed in his heart. He also looked at the notes that approved his departure to Nanjing, but none of them were from the auxiliary ministers or the officials of the Six Ministries. Although other courtiers also have a script, most of them are wandering, but they are not as good as Guang Shiheng's vigorous rhetoric, which is justified and strong. He also looked at Li Mingrui's new recital today, and although it could be seen that every word was loyal, and he was extremely anxious, he also made some excuses, and did not dare to directly say that he would move to Nanjing, but only said that "the emperor can be stationed in Linqing" and that "he can be stationed in Fengyang, so that he can personally preside over the suppression of thieves." Moreover, there are also nondescript facts cited by Li Mingrui, such as saying that Emperor Sejong Jiajing also once had the honor of Fengtian, which is even more ridiculous. In normal times, he would be very annoyed by the fact that this quote was inappropriate, and he would have issued an edict to Li Mingrui, and even punished him. Today, however, he has become very reasonable and fully understands Li Mingrui's hard work. Thinking that everyone in the court is single-minded, there are not many people like Li Mingrui who can be loyal to him and plan big things, and he can't help but sigh.

There are only two people who Chongzhen values and is closest to among the many royal relatives, one is Liu Wenbing, the Marquis of Xinle, who is his uncle's cousin; One is Gong Yonggu, the commander of the horses, who is the husband of his half-sister. Gong Yonggu is young and promising, just because he is a royal relative, limited to the imperial court system, he can only eat for nothing and accept rewards, and cannot be an official who is actually in power. Encountering such a major and difficult problem today, Chongzhen secretly summoned Gong Yonggu into the palace and asked him for his opinion on moving south. Gong Yonggu advised Chongzhen to go to Nanjing as soon as possible, and not to miss the opportunity. Chongzhen frowned and said:

"I also think that empty words are useless now, and only a strategy to move south can save the danger of the community and try to prosper again. However, when leaving Beijing, we must obey the troops. The Beijing camp soldiers are very unbelievable, how to be good? ”

Gong Yonggu said: "The ancestors of the country for three hundred years, there is no shortage of loyal people among the people, as soon as the emperor decided to move south, he called on the heroes of Qi Fu to raise troops to escort them, and immediately got tens of thousands of volunteers. As for the Beijing battalion soldiers, they selected the elite and moved south with the emperor, and the rest stayed in Beijing. ”

"Volunteers...... How easy is it to assemble? ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is easy to gather volunteers. If the policy of the ministers is used, the emperor decides to go south, not to mention tens of thousands of volunteers, hundreds of thousands can also be summoned. I hope the emperor will make a quick decision! ”

Chongzhen thought that the military salary could not be handled, so he bowed his head and was silent.

Gong Yonggu also said: "If you just want to defend to the death, and the people of the Jingshi are tired, and it is difficult to return to the accumulated evils, and the teachers of the Qinwang in various places cannot be counted on, they can only sit in the trap, which is not beneficial to the overall situation." Please make a quick decision and don't delay! ”

Chongzhen stood up, his heart was very chaotic, and he kept walking around the house. When Gong Yonggu saw the emperor leave the throne, he had no choice but to stand up, and while waiting for the emperor to make a decision, he said in his heart:

"Don't go down the wrong track!"

After a while, he was about to urge the emperor to make a decision, when he suddenly saw Chongzhen stop in front of him, looked at him and sighed and said:

"There is no useful minister in the DPRK, and everything is difficult to do! Go back, and I'll summon you to the palace when it's urgent in the future." Alas, my mind is in turmoil at the moment! ”

Gong Yonggu didn't dare to speak anymore, so he had to kowtow and resign. When he walked out of the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, he didn't feel a sour in his heart, and quickly wiped away his tears with the sleeves of his robe.

As soon as Gong Yonggu walked out, Wang Dehua, the eunuch of the celebrant Zhangyin, and Wang Chengen, the eunuch of Bingbi, came in together and sent the draft of the "Edict of Guilt" drafted by the cabinet ministers. This is an important document that Chongzhen ordered the cabinet to draft on behalf of a few days ago, and it has been repeatedly reviewed, returned, and revised many times, but it has not satisfied Chongzhen. In the end, Chongzhen himself revised many places and ordered the celebrant to copy them again. Although Wang Chengen is still a eunuch of Bingbi, because of his diligence and prudence, he has won the emperor's appreciation, and his status has been promoted above all the eunuchs of Bingbi, and his ranking is only below the eunuchs of the palm print. After they kowtowed to the emperor, Wang Dehua first submitted a list of the ten eunuchs that the emperor planned to send to Datong, Xuanfu, Juyongguan and other important military towns and Jifu to serve as supervisors, and the most important thing was the eunuchs sent to the three places in front of them. Chongzhen has two plans. One hand is to flee south; The first hand was to strengthen the defense in the above places and stop the advance of Li Zicheng's army. He glanced at the list and said:

"The ministers are useless, the generals are unreliable, I hope that the three ministers sent to Datong, Xuanfu and Juyongguan can help me in times of emergency."

Wang Dehua said: "The ministers are the emperor's domestic slaves, and naturally life and death are the emperor's people. ”

Chongzhen said: "Wang Dehua, this Du Xun is from your disciple, and he is still loyal in his work, but he has been treated differently. In the first two years, I held internal exercises, and I also relied on him to do things. This time you recommended him to go to Datong to supervise the army, and I think he can do it. Datong is the first gateway to Beijing through Taiyuan, and you have to tell him not to live up to my kindness. ”

Wang Dehua said: "The slave has been solemnly instructed. ”

Chongzhen mentioned Zhu Bi and criticized at the back of the list: "All the ministers must gallop to this town at night, supervise the army and suppress thieves, and make contributions to the country, admire this!" ”

Then he took the manuscript of "The Edict of Guilt" from Wang Chengen's hand, his heart was sore, and he couldn't bear to read it carefully. This "Edict of Guilt", he had no intention of issuing it immediately, threw it on the imperial case, and then asked:

"In recent days, there has been a discussion among the courtiers about the southward migration, and you should be clear among the celebrants. Why are the ministers mostly ambiguous, and the ministers are so strong that they oppose it? ”

Wang Dehua said: "The ministers are afraid of taking responsibility, the second is older and unwilling to run around the dust, and the third is that most of them have many families and property in Beijing, and they are unwilling to leave, so they have a wait-and-see attitude and refuse to have any ideas. ”

Chongzhen said angrily: "Isn't this sitting and waiting for the country to die? ”

Wang Dehua didn't dare to answer. Chongzhen asked again:

"Why are the officials opposed?"

Wang Chengen replied: "Emperor Qi: They are against it, how can it not be a 'private' word!" ”

"Huh?"

"As soon as they become speech officials, they all want to win the reputation of being 'outspoken'; as for the country's fundamental plans, they may not take it to heart. In the past, he opposed Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia, why did he take the country's plan to heart? Today, the officials are afraid that as soon as the emperor leaves Beijing, they cannot follow the south, so they can only stay in Beijing. They believed that as long as the emperor stuck to the Beijing division, there would be the army of King Qin to relieve the siege of Beijing. As long as Beijing lifts the siege, they will still eat the court's money, and they will not leave their wives and drive south, which is unpredictable. So they found all kinds of reasons to prevent the emperor from going south. ”

Chongzhen snorted with his nostrils and said, "It's beautiful to think about, I don't want to be the master of King Qin can't count on it!" What if the capital can't be defended? Will they all surrender to the thieves and be willing to be officials in the new dynasty by then? ”

Wang Dehua and Wang Chengen didn't dare to answer, and lowered their heads. Chongzhen angrily waved the sleeves of his robe, causing Wang Dehua and Wang Chengen to retreat. There was a sentence in his heart that had been dull for more than a month, and now he muttered it quietly unconsciously:

"The king is not the king of the dead country, the minister is the minister of the dead country!"

Then he looked at the "Edict of Guilt" on the imperial case and quietly wept.

Knowing that Zhu Sanle, the chief soldier guarding Datong, had few soldiers in his hands, I was afraid that he couldn't count on it, Chongzhen hoped that the officers and soldiers could defend Xuanfu for a few days, so that he would have a respite from mobilizing King Qin's soldiers and horses. The chief soldier guarding the Xuanfu is Jiang Xuan, who has been in the military for a long time, and is not a general. He decided to send his cronie eunuch Du Xun to Xuanfu at night to monitor Jiang Jiu's army to avoid accidents. In the afternoon of the same day, he summoned Du Xun in the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, one to instruct him in person, and the other to express his special favor. When Du Xun knelt in front of him and kowtowed, he said in a kind tone with a melancholy look:

"Du Xun, the country is in trouble at present, and I know that you have always been very loyal and understand military affairs, so I sent you to Xuanfu to supervise the army. The Xuanfu is very important, and only by keeping the Xuanfu can we keep the Juyongguan. You have to do your best to defend the Xuanfu for me, so that the 'thieves' can't go east!" ”

Du Xun knelt on the ground and said: "Du Xun is the emperor's slave, and life and death are the emperor's people." As long as Du Xun is here, the Xuanfu must not be lost, and the 'thieves' must not be able to go further! ”

"Xuanfu won't fall?"

"If the Xuanfu is lost, it will be the day when the slave and maid die on the battlefield for the emperor."

Chongzhen was very moved, nodded and said, "Okay, good." Hearing you say this, I am relieved about the affairs of Xuanfu. ”

"The slave maid has been nurtured by His Majesty for many years, and would rather die on the battlefield, share the worries of the emperor, and never live up to the emperor's trust!"

"Good, good. Now we need loyal servants like you! ”

Chongzhen instructed Du Xun again, and encouraged him, and rewarded many things, especially made an exception to show his kindness, and ordered Du Xun to select twenty horses from the imperial horse supervisor to be strong. As an emperor, he treats a domestic slave eunuch, in order to expect this domestic slave to be able to defend him against the enemy, and he can say all he can say. Du Xun was very grateful for the emperor's dependence, and repeatedly shed tears to express his gratitude to the emperor, and swore to defend the Xuanfu to the death. After being summoned, Chongzhen's heart couldn't calm down for a long time, and he thought silently:

"It's still your own house slave reliable! If half of the warriors can be like Du Xun, how can the 'thieves' be rampant so much! ”

The next day, Chongzhen summoned the cabinet ministers, the ministers of the six ministries and nine secretaries, the thirteen imperial histories, and the six departments on the platform to inquire about the results of the meeting on the matter of moving south. The ministers still have no opinion. Li Banghua still insisted that the crown prince and the second king should be sent to Jiangnan as soon as possible. Li Mingrui still advocated that the emperor go to Nanjing in person, leaving the crown prince in Beijing. Shao Zhan Zhiyu supported Li Mingrui. Chongzhen glanced sternly at the officials and asked:

"What do you and other officials think?"

Guang Shiheng was a little frightened when he saw the emperor's eyes. But at the same time, several of his colleagues winked at him and encouraged him to come out and speak. Someone next to him gently touched him with the crook of his elbow. He suddenly mustered up his courage, but he could not help but turn pale, his legs trembled, he walked out of the class, knelt down six feet in front of the royal case, and said:

"Your Majesty, at this time when the country is in great danger, all ministers and ministers should do their best, be loyal and brave, and ensure that the Ming Dynasty does not fall. Anyone who persuaded His Majesty to go to Nanjing was a fallacy to confuse the public, surrendering Shenjing to the enemy, and abandoning the ancestors and gods and the twelve tombs. It was clearly a move to the south, but it was actually a flight to the south. Your Majesty has been respecting the heavens and ancestors for 17 years, and the business is dismal, so what's the matter? How can you be an emperor who flees in a hurry? What will be the spirits of the fathers and fathers in heaven? What will it do to all the people of the world? How will it be to the millions of subjects of the capital division? Please Your Majesty quickly cut off Li Mingrui's head and hang it in the country, thinking that he would propose a ban for those who flee south! ”

Li Mingrui hurriedly walked out of the class, knelt down and said: "The minister suggested that the emperor temporarily go south and stay in the capital, so as to reorganize the army, restore the Central Plains, clear the north, and establish the great cause of Zhongxing." As long as the emperor arrives in Nanjing, he can leap forward and move the world to the palm of his hand. What is the benefit of being trapped in Beijing? Moreover, there is no shortage of precedents to learn from the past dynasties: the Tang Dynasty moved and reverted, and the Song Dynasty moved and the national lineage lasted for 150 years......"

Chongzhen made a gesture and ordered Li Mingrui to stop talking, and then slapped the royal case and said sharply to Guang Shiheng:

"I'm just thinking about whether I should go on a conquest and sweep away the thieves, not fleeing, not moving south. How could I abandon the Nine Temples and the Twelve Tombs in the hands of thieves, and entrust the millions of subjects and clans of the Beijing Master to live and die without regard for it? It was not Li Mingrui who suggested that I go south to personally conquer, so why did you attack Mingrui alone? Obviously, he was a friend, and he should have been beheaded, so he forgive this ...... Go down! ”

When the ministers saw the emperor's anger, all of them were colorless, and some couldn't help but tremble. Even like Li Banghua, an old minister of the Four Dynasties, who is known as a bone fisher, he did not dare to mention sending the prince to Nanjing.

Chongzhen immediately took the opportunity to return to the Qianqing Palace, sat in front of the imperial case stacked with many military documents, thought sullenly for a while, and suddenly couldn't help crying.

At this time, Wang Chengen was talking to Wang Dehua from the Yamen of the Celebrant Supervisor, went to the duty room, and walked on the East Yi Long Street near the Qianqing Palace with two long entourage. Not far in front of him walked a palace maid of low stature. He had something on his mind, walked faster, and soon caught up with this palace maid. The palace maid heard the footsteps, glanced back, quickly hid on the side of the road, and bowed down. Wang Chengen glanced at her and recognized that this was Fei Zhen'e, the palace maid in Shouning Palace, who accompanied Princess Changping to study. She originally served the emperor in the Qianqing Palace, she was very smart, and she was very good at writing and writing, and she was deeply liked by the emperor and the queen. He saw Fei Zhen'e holding a brocade box, so he asked her:

"Zhen'e, what are you holding?"

"Back to my father-in-law, the queen mother ordered me to take the imitation book written by the princess in the past ten days to the Qianqing Palace to present it to the emperor."

Wang Chengen let out an "oh" and said, "I heard that the princess is coming to Zhao Meng, and she is growing up very quickly. You can take it, the emperor is in a bad mood today, and reading the princess's imitation book may be able to relieve his depression. ”

Fei Zhen'e saw Wang Chengen raising her feet to leave, she couldn't help but raise her head boldly, blessed with blessings, and then asked: "Princess, I have a thoughtful word hidden in my heart, I don't know whether to ask or not." ”

Wang Chengen felt strange, looked at the palace maid's expression, saw that she was very frightened, breathing nervously, with tears in her eyes, and immediately guessed that she was like thousands of palace maids, missing her parents, and no one could ask, but she knew that his temper was better, so she asked him. He asked with a smile:

"What do you ask, huh?"

"May I ask my father-in-law, where is the 'thief' Li Zicheng now? Is he coming to Beijing? ”

Fei Zhen'e's voice trembled when she asked this, so low that she could only hear it. She didn't dare to look at Wang Chengen, and lowered her head and prepared to be severely reprimanded.

Wang Chengen's smile disappeared suddenly, and he said in a gentle reproachful tone: "You live in the deep palace, why bother to inquire about such a thing?" ”

"No, father-in-law, just because I live in the deep palace, I can't help but worry about such things."

"You're a human being, even if you know, what's the use, isn't it a leisure?"

"It is precisely because I am a native of the capital and I am deeply favored by the emperor and queen that I can't help but ask. After knowing this, I was fortunate to have a preparation in my heart. ”

Wang Chengen glanced at Fei Zhen'e again, and praised this little palace maid in his heart for being very unusual, but she was a person with a heart. But his face was even more stern, and he said:

"I have a family law, and no one in the harem is allowed to talk about state affairs casually, and they are not allowed to inquire. Don't say that you are not allowed to inquire about being a person, and even the queen and concubine don't ask much. You are fortunate enough to ask me, if you ask someone else, don't you be immediately guilty? Be cautious in everything in the palace, don't inquire about things outside the palace, don't lie, remember carefully! ”

After Wang Chengen finished speaking, he hurriedly took his entourage away.

Although Fei Zhen'e was reproached and her questions were not answered from Wang Chengen's mouth, she already knew in her heart that the situation was very serious, and Li Zicheng was leading a large army to Beijing. With a particularly heavy heart, she walked into the courtyard of the Qianqing Palace through the back door.

Hearing that the housekeeper Wei Qinghui was waiting for the emperor in the East Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, she went around from the west side of the main hall and arrived in front of the main hall. She was suddenly startled: the emperor's cry came from the East Warm Pavilion. Some eunuchs and palace maids stood under the eaves of the Qianqing Palace, and no one dared to make a sound, and no one dared to go in to persuade the emperor. She walked into the main hall on tiptoe, turned to the right, and went to find Wei Qinghui. She gently lifted the corner of the curtain of the East Warm Pavilion, and Wei Qinghui saw her, making her look at her and stop. At this moment, she heard the emperor ask in the inner room of the Dongnuan Pavilion with great sadness and despair:

"Oh my God, what's next? What's next? After saying that, he continued to cry bitterly.

Wei Qinghui walked out with tears in her eyes, pulled her out of the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, turned the west gable, and saw that there was no one on the left and right, so she stopped and asked:

"Is it a copy of the princess's book?"

Fei Zhen'e nodded lightly and asked quietly, "What is the emperor for?" ”

Wei Qinghui winked and whispered, "Don't ask." Keep the princess's imitation book, and I will present it to the emperor for you. After you go back, don't tell the queen about the emperor's crying, and don't say a word to the princess, just when you don't know anything. Remember, this is the rule in the palace. ”

Fei Zhen'e saw that Wei Qinghui's face was very heavy, and she couldn't help crying, and she couldn't help but shed tears. After she handed over the brocade box of Princess Sheng's imitation book to Wei Qinghui, she hurriedly left through the back door with inexplicable fear and sadness.

The middle of the first month is almost over. In recent days, very bad news has come to Beijing every day. Chongzhen has issued the "Guilty Edict" to the whole country. He thought that if he blamed himself like that, and put all the blame for getting the country to this point, he would surely be able to move the subjects of the world. However, after the issuance of the "Edict of Guilty" this time, he understood that it was too late to do anything, and the people of the world would no longer listen to these words.

Chongzhen knew that Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin had indeed crossed the Yellow River from near Hancheng, and led an army of 500,000 to Taiyuan, claiming to come to Beijing. There are also follow-up troops, which may be in the millions. He also knew that the prefectures and counties of Shanxi Province were either looking forward to the wind and surrendering, or the gentry abandoned the city and fled, and collapsed without a fight. It was also rumored that Li Zicheng had broken Pingyang, but in fact, Li Zicheng had not yet arrived in Pingyang, and Pingyang was broken on the 23rd day of the first month, and it was already early February when he reported to the capital. On those days, rumors and real news were mixed in and poured into Beijing to sensationalize. Chongzhen cried silently and cried more in the Qianqing Palace. He still dreamed of going to Nanjing, but after the opposition of the officials led by Guang Shiheng, he no longer understood it, and was afraid that he would end up with a reputation of running away, which would be very disgraceful in the history of the youth. One day when he went to court, he looked around at his ministers with desperate eyes, and said in a choked voice:

"Alas, I am not the king of the country, everything is the image of the country. In the world where the ancestors are in the wind and rain, once lost, what will be the face of the ancestors in the ground! I am willing to personally supervise the division and fight the thief to the death, even if I die on the battlefield, I will not care. It's just that the country's three-hundred-year-old cultivators are actually full of leaks, and there is no capable person, so that I am lonely and unable to die! Then he began to weep bitterly.

The auxiliary ministers quickly knelt down, persuaded the emperor not to be sad, and said that the current "thief situation" Fang Zhang, the army and the people are centrifuged, and the emperor is personally recruiting, it is really not the best policy, it is better to stick to it and wait for help, it is safer.

Chongzhen hated these empty and perfunctory words very much, and he didn't even look at them. He just glanced at Li Banghua and Li Mingrui, and although his vision was blurred because of crying, he could still see that their expressions were different. Li Banghua stood proudly, with a solemn expression, tears in his eyes, deep white eyebrows, and closed his lips. Chongzhen suddenly thought: If the country dies, he will be exhausted! Li Mingrui also had tears in his eyes, and there was a sense of injustice in his expression. Chongzhen said in his heart again: "It would be nice to have a few more such people in the court." He suddenly remembered Yang Sichang and cried even more painfully. The ministers could hear both grief and resentment in the emperor's cry, so everyone had a sense of terror.

Chen Yan understood that as the first assistant, he had an unshirkable responsibility, and when he saw that his cabinet colleagues were all looking at him, he had no choice but to walk out of the class, his face was pale, he knelt down in front of the imperial case, and said in a trembling voice:

"Although the minister is dull, he is willing to supervise the thief on behalf of the emperor."

Chongzhen shook his head and said, "Qing is from the south, no." ”

Chen Yan no longer asked, kowtowed and returned to the class. Then Wei Zaode, Jiang Dejing, Qiu Yu, Fan Jingwen, and Fang Yuegong, the five auxiliary ministers, according to their ranks, knelt down one by one to ask the acting emperor to supervise the teacher. Chongzhen disagreed. It was Li Jiantai's turn to go down, and he also knelt down and kowtowed as usual, asking for the emperor to supervise the teacher. Chongzhen knew that he was usually very famous, generous, and a native of Shanxi, unlike the southern Wenchen, who had a weak physique, so he thought that this person might as well give it a try, so he didn't shake his head immediately, wiped his tears with the sleeves of his robe, looked at him and said:

"Would you like to go?"

Li Jiantai hoped that the emperor would disagree as usual, but Chongzhen asked such a question, so he had to make a heart and generously replied:

"The minister is a Quwo person. At this time, the atmosphere is rampant, and it is better to gallop to Taiyuan, recruit soldiers and horses, and advocate killing thieves in the township. Without the money of the state, a hundred thousand people can be gathered. ”

Chongzhen was working hard and the treasury was empty, and he could not raise military salaries, and he was very happy to hear Li Jiantai's words. At that time, Shanxi people were famous for being good at business, and Chongzhen also heard that Li Jiantai's family had opened a pawnshop with a business name all over the country, so he believed very much in Li Jiantai's words of using private wealth to recruit 100,000 soldiers. His face, which had been filled with despair and resentment just a moment earlier, began to show a smile of excitement and relief, as if a bright color had appeared in the gloomy sky. He looked at Li Jiantai and said:

"Okay, okay, Qing is from Shanxi, and he went to Shanxi on behalf of me to level the thief, which is exactly what I want. At present, the thieves are in a hurry, like a fire burning the prairies, and if they are extinguished a little later, I am afraid it will be too late. When will it take place? ”

Li Jiantai replied: "Hurry up and prepare from today, and you can make the trip in a few days." ”

"If you go quickly, I hope for it. On the day of Hou Qing's departure, I will imitate the ancients to 'push the hub' to show my favor and honor, and to be a strong deed for Qing. ”

Li Jiantai kowtowed to the ground to thank him, tears were in his eyes, and he shouted long live with a choked voice. Chongzhen faced this situation at this moment, and he also burst into tears, and praised in a low voice:

"Loyalty! Loyal Ministers! ”

Chapter VIII

After the next dynasty, all the preparations for the scholar Li Jiantai to go to the Jin Governor on behalf of the emperor were carried out quickly. This important news immediately spread throughout the capital, causing a sensation and causing private discussions among the subjects. Most people don't believe that Li Jiantai can do anything when he returns to Shanxi, and think that the emperor is sick and rushed to the doctor. But there were also those who had a glimmer of hope that Li Jiantai would be able to block Li Zicheng's march to Beijing, so that the capital would have time to wait for rescue.

Li Jiantai recommended several civil and military talents and went to Shanxi with him. Chongzhen was all appointed as agreed. Li Jiantai was originally a cabinet assistant minister with the title of the right attendant of the household department and a scholar of Dongge University, but now he has the title of secretary of the military department, gives Shang Fang the sword, listens to his cheap actions, and awards him a silver seal of the superintendent and an edict. The edict reads:

I admire the mandate of heaven, follow the ancestor Hongtu, from Wuchen to the present, Jiashen, seven out of ten years. The war has been famine for many years, the people are fighting, and the poison is directly in the province. Today, I am personally recruited, encouraged to be loyal and brave, and selected heroes; Its arrogant and cowardly generals, greedy and cruel officials who advocate escape, should be engaged in with Shang Fangjian. Dispatch rewards and punishments between the lines, and they are not in control. Qing Yi is afraid of things, and he is scheming, really soothing, and sweeping away the demonic atmosphere. Whirlwind play Kai, Le Ming Zhongding. It is necessary to represent the meaning of me, and to proclaim it all over the place!

According to the auspicious day and good day selected by the Qintian Supervisor and the ritual note drawn up by the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites with reference to the old practice, early in the morning of the 26th day of the first lunar month, Wan Wei, who was already over 70 years old and had a white beard, went to the Taimiao to sacrifice the whole bull on behalf of Emperor Chongzhen, and sacrificed to the gods of the royal ancestors and ancestors, and informed the ancestors of the major event of sending Li Jiantai to supervise the teachers in Shanxi instead of the emperor. This is called the temple ceremony.

It was almost noon, from the noon gate to the front of the Zhengyang gate, there were thousands of flags, guards like a forest, and all kinds of honor guards were complete. After three cannons on the noon gate, Chongzhen took the dragon chariot carried by 36 people out of the noon gate, led by the halo book, came to the Zhengyang Gate in the sound of drums, and climbed the tower of Zhengyang Gate from one side. Honglu praise, the imperial history correction.

In the past few days, Li Jiantai has been preparing to leave Beijing, and on the other hand, he has been unpredictable about the future, he has very little sleep, his face has lost the usual ruddy glow due to pampering, his white eyeballs are full of bloodshots, and his lower eyelids are swollen and drooping. He walked out of the Wenchen class in the sound of music, and according to the loud praise of the officials of Honglu Temple, he knelt three times and kowtowed to the emperor, and then raised his head and played in a slightly trembling voice, saying that he had received the emperor's favor, and when he went to Shanxi, he must be loyal to kill the thief and share the emperor's worries. Chongzhen didn't have great expectations for Li Jiantai at first, but after listening to Li Jiantai's generous speech in this extremely solemn atmosphere, he couldn't help but be excited and said a few words of encouragement and comfort. Li Jiantai was already in a heavy mood, and after listening to the emperor's words of encouragement, he couldn't help choking up and crying.

Then a banquet was given on the tower of Zhengyang Gate. The emperor's seat is naturally centered to the south. Li Jiantai's seat faces north and south, and the tables and chairs are relatively low, facing the emperor, about five feet away. The other ministers did not accompany the banquet, but walked down the tower in two, and stood solemnly outside the tower and waited. In the music, the ministers poured three glasses of wine for Li Jiantai. Then Chongzhen held the golden cup in his hand and personally gave wine to Li Jiantai. The eunuch caught the gold cup, put it into a very delicate carved silver plate, and brought it to Li Jiantai. Li Jiantai had already knelt on the ground, kowtowed to thank him, shouted long live, and then held the golden cup in both hands and drank all the wine. This was repeated three times, and all the officials stood aside and saluted. The music stopped, and the simple banquet was removed. Chongzhen said to Li Jiantai, who continued to kneel in front of him:

"The country is in trouble, Mr. has worked tirelessly, on behalf of my relatives, I hope to rely on the ancestor Weiling, this trip is successful, lay an an, and live up to my ardent hopes!"

Li Jiantai said a few words of affection and generosity, indicating that he was determined to serve the battlefield and live up to the emperor's grace, and then kowtowed and got up. At this time, a minister took out a vermilion lacquer painted gold cloud dragon plate, and on it was placed something wrapped in yellow satin, and came to Li Jiantai. Li Jiantai was in a daze, when he suddenly heard another eunuch screaming:

"Li Jiantai knelt down and took the hand-given gift from the Long Live Lord!"

The music sounded again, Li Jiantai hurriedly knelt down again, his hands trembled, and picked up the emperor's hand from the vermilion lacquer painted gold cloud dragon plate. A courtier came and opened the yellow satin package for him, and then opened the framed hand scroll, on which were written four big characters: "On behalf of my relatives". The first line of small words: "Give the auxiliary minister Li Jiantai". The next line of small print: "The auspicious day of the first month of the first month of Jiashen in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen". The middle of the top is covered with a Yangwen seal, and the four seal characters are "Chongzhen Imperial Pen". Li Jiantai held it with both hands, and after reading it, he quickly handed it over to the eunuch, kowtowed to the ground and thanked him, and the mountain shouted long live, tears were vertical and horizontal, and he couldn't cry.

Chongzhen imitated the ancient "push hub" ceremony, and all the rituals for Li Jiantai were about to be completed. Eventually, some of the ministers re-ascended the tower and stood in two lines before the emperor. In the sound of drums, there is a eunuch who wears red for Li Jiantai, another hairpin for him, and another holds out the sword of Shang Fang. Li Jiantai knelt down and kowtowed to thank him, shouted long live the mountain, and took Shang Fang's sword. The ministers accompanied him down the city tower and out of the Zhengyang Gate in the music. The civil and military officials waiting below bid farewell to Li Jiantai together, watched him sit in the eight-lift sedan chair, and set off to the sound of drums.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and Li Jiantai and his party rolled up their flags, and the team was messy. Li Jiantai heard a "click" somewhere in the sedan chair, and he was startled, thinking that the sedan pole was broken, but it was actually just a false alarm, but it also frightened him.

Braving the wind, sand and cold, Chongzhen continued to stay on the Zhengyang Gate, leaning on the female wall, watching Li Jiantai walk south in the escort of hundreds of civil and military officials and soldiers. He watched for a long time. Just when he saw Li Jiantai set off, he suddenly remembered that four years ago, he was also in the same place to send Yang Sichang to Xiangyang, and thought that Li Jiantai's skills and prestige were far inferior to Yang Sichang, and today's situation is much worse than back then. He didn't dare to have any hope for Li Jiantai's situation, and said in his heart: "Alas, give it a try!" It wasn't until Li Jiantai and his entourage turned in the direction of Guangning Gate and couldn't see it that he walked down the city tower and returned to the palace with little hope. The civil and military ministers only dared to disperse after Chongzhen left.

After Li Jiantai left Beijing, the situation was completely different from that of Yang Sichang. After Yang Sichang left Beijing, he hurried in the starry night, and he couldn't wait to reach Xiangyang in one step. After Li Jiantai left Beijing, he was slow to travel, and soon heard news from Shanxi, knowing that Pingyang Mansion had fallen on the 23rd day of the first lunar month, and his hometown Quwo had also fallen, and all his family wealth had been confiscated by Li Zicheng. This terrible news hit him very hard, Shanxi can't go, the dream of using private wealth to raise soldiers has been shattered, where is he going now? How to report to the emperor? He himself understands that nominally he is still the overseer, but in fact he has become a lost dog!

Frightened by this, Li Jiantai did not eat for a whole day, and then fell ill. He walked only thirty miles a day, delaying as much time as possible. Chongzhen was completely aware of Li Jiantai's slow journey, but he was unusual, and he did not give orders and responsibilities for such a delayed incident, urging him to move forward quickly, nor did he mention the matter to the courtiers. He didn't expect Li Jiantai to do something about the overall situation, but now he is completely desperate.

Li Jiantai only took 500 men with him when he left Beijing, and due to constant desertion, there were only more than 300 people left when he arrived in Dingxing County. The officials and gentlemen in Dingxing City were afraid of being harmed by the officers and soldiers, so they closed the city gate and did not let Li Jiantai enter the city. Li Jiantai urgently needed to go to the city for treatment and replenishment. But with the respect of his supervisor and auxiliary ministers, coupled with the power of Shang Fang's sword, he couldn't help it. Li Jiantai could not continue to advance because he had no provisions, so he stationed troops outside the city for three days, claiming that he would transfer troops to attack the city. Later, he said that he would never harass the people after entering the city, and the people who defended the city opened the city gate.

Li Jiantai stayed in the city for two days, got some provisions, and his condition improved slightly, but because the king was here, he had to continue on the road. After arriving in Baoding, I heard that Liu Fangliang's men and horses had left Henan and came to Baoding, which was only more than 300 miles away. There is also a group of people who have already arrived at Guguan, and I heard that they will also come out of Guguan. Li Jiantai could not go any further, and did not dare to retreat to Beijing, so he had to stay in Baoding City and wait for the Dashun army to attack the city. He knew that Baoding would not be able to be defended, so he presented the emperor with an urgent letter of 100,000 yuan, persuading the emperor to go to Nanjing as soon as possible, or send the prince to the south. By this time, it was already the middle of February.

Chongzhen knew that Taiyuan had been lost and Baoding was also in danger, so on the one hand, he considered whether he should flee to Nanjing as soon as possible, and on the other hand, he considered transferring Wu Sangui to lead Guanning to rescue Beijing. Regarding the transfer of Wu Sangui to King Qin, it turned out that in the second half of the first month, Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao, had secretly suggested to him, and then Li Yutian, the governor of Shanyong, also made the same suggestion. On the second day of the first month of February, he received Wang Yongji's second 100,000 urgent recital, and put forward this suggestion again. He thought about it for a long time, but still "left it in the middle". He understood that if Wu Sangui led Guan Ning's elite troops to Beijing Qinwang, he would inevitably give up several important towns such as Ningyuan and a large area of land, so that the Manchurians would be forced to close the gate. The people who give up their land without a fight will become the unworthy descendants of their ancestors, and they will be reproached by the whole country and become sinners through the ages. As a last resort, he did not consider transferring Wu Sangui to lead the army to the king. Now he can't make up his mind to give up the people of the land outside the border.

He thought more about fleeing to Nanjing, but he knew very well that there were many difficulties in escaping south with his concubines and princesses. For example, will Li Zicheng's men intercept or chase him on the way? If there is a lack of rewards and provisions, will the men and horses who obey them clamor to mutiny? Will the mutiny kill or sacrifice his family to Li Zicheng, so that he and his concubines will die humiliated at the hands of "thieves"? Suddenly, he thought that Concubine Tian had died the year before last, and he sighed in his heart: "Alas, she died well, died well!" He then thought that of course, there would be many loyal righteous men along the road who would raise troops to guard him to Nanjing. Moreover, the civil and military ministers between the Jianghuai and Huai will also lead troops to the north to greet them. In the midst of the extreme contradiction in his thinking, he had planned to send some ministers to Tianjin, Dezhou, Jinan, Linqing, and other places to prepare for his southward journey, but he did not do so, and only secretly instructed Feng Yuanyang, the governor of Tianjin, to prepare sea ships, and did not give clear instructions on the intention of preparing sea ships. In short, he has lost the rules in his heart, and he doesn't know what to do.

After receiving Li Jiantai's secret, Chongzhen summoned some Wenchen to the platform to "face". He first handed over Li Jiantai's secret to the auxiliary ministers for circulation, and felt that the circulation was delayed, so he ordered a pen-based eunuch standing beside him to read it to everyone slowly, and then asked the ministers what their opinions were. Several scholars, led by Li Mingrui and Xiang Yu, advocated that Chongzhen should immediately go to Nanjing in person. Several ministers headed by Li Banghua advocated that the emperor should stick to Beijing, send the crown prince to Nanjing as soon as possible, and at the same time send the two kings of Yongding to the south of the Yangtze River, and divide them into Taiping and Xingguo, thinking that Nanjing was the wings. This is still the opinion of the other day, and it is just a repetition. Several officials led by Guang Shiheng knew that the war was very unfavorable, and whether the emperor would leave or not decided on this imperial meeting. When the emperor leaves, their petty officials with low official positions and no money will be left behind, so the opposition is even more fierce. They also opposed sending the crown prince away, believing that if the prince was sent away, the emperor was likely to take the opportunity to leave Beijing. It turned out that Guang Shiheng still had a lot of respect for Li Banghua, the old minister of the Four Dynasties and the imperial history of the left capital, so he only attacked Li Mingrui. Now his attitude has changed, and even Li Banghua has fiercely attacked. He knelt in front of Chongzhen and said loudly:

"The ministers didn't think about how to transfer troops and pay to stick to Shenjing, but blindly suggested that the prince be sent to Nanjing to raise the army, what was their intention? Do you want to make the story of Tang Suzong's Lingwu appear again today? ”

Chongzhen was taken aback, and said to himself in his heart: "I didn't expect it!" ”

After a moment of silence, he glanced at the ministers angrily and said, "Retreat!" After a hateful pause, he got up and went back to the Qianqing Palace.

After returning to the palace, after hesitation and repeated consideration, his mind has been decided. In the afternoon of the same day, he summoned his auxiliary ministers to the Xinuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace and said to them:

"The matter of moving south has been discussed many times, and the ministers have their own opinions, and they have no opinion, and they have lost hope. Now that Taiyuan is lost, Baoding is tight, it seems that this discussion continues, how to save the country? My country's 300-year-old warriors are deeply gracious and generous, and they are not disappointed by their ministers, but when the country is in danger today, there is no one who can be used! Back then, I used a Yang Sichang, who was skillful in strategy, quick in his work, honest and honest, and lost the war in a hurry, and the responsibility was not him, but he was attacked before and after his death. Where are talents like Yang Sichang among today's ministers? If there is half of Yang Sichang in the court, why today! The court spoke for the southward migration, quarreling endlessly, what is the use, it is all a sign of the death of the country! ”

The ministers knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads, waiting to be severely reprimanded by the emperor. Chongzhen continued:

"When the country was in peril, the capital was moved to rebuild the great cause of Zhongxing. Yin Zhi Pangeng, because of the relocation of the capital and Zhongxing. The Tang Dynasty also moved the capital twice. But when we talk about moving south today, it is so difficult, and we can't see that the ministers and workers are in the same boat through thick and thin, and they are helping each other from the bottom of their hearts! ”

Jiang Dejing raised his head and said: "What the ministers say is from the heart of loyalty and patriotism, and there is no other intention, please calm your anger!" ”

Chongzhen also said: "In the fourteenth year of Tianbao, An Lushan was so rampant that he even fell into the east and west, but there were still figures like Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi in the Tang Dynasty who fought for the imperial court. Where are Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi today? At that time, there were also those who did not surrender, Yan Gaoqing defended Changshan, and Zhang Xun defended Suiyang. In the past two years, the 'thieves' have occupied Huguang, Henan, Shaanxi, and now they have entered Jin Province. I only heard that some of the magistrates surrendered to thieves, and some advocated fleeing, but I didn't hear that there were half Yan Duqing and half Zhang Xun! When Emperor Tang Ming went to Chengdu, there was still Chen Xuanli leading the Imperial Forest Army to escort him, but now there is half of Chen Xuanli's person? ……”

The more Chongzhen spoke, the more sad and angry he became, his voice trembled, and tears followed, and then he cried bitterly.

The ministers leaned lower, not daring to look up, nor daring to utter a word of consolation. Chongzhen cried for a while, wiped away his tears with the sleeves of his robe, and said hatefully:

"I've made up my mind. The ancients said: 'The monarch is dead. And the righteousness of "Spring and Autumn": "The country destroys the king and dies, and it is right." 'If the will of heaven kills me, I will not hesitate to die for the country, but I hate to die and the country will be destroyed, and I will have no face to see my ancestors and ancestors in the ground! ”

The auxiliary ministers raised their heads slightly and said some words of consolation, thinking that although the "thieves" had entered the Jin realm, they were still far from the Beijing Division, and they should quickly recruit and transfer the Qin Wang's Division, and Beijing could be worry-free. If the reinforcements are gathered, they will deal a heavy blow to the "thieves" outside Beijing in one fell swoop, it is not impossible.

Chongzhen's heart moved, and he thought of the matter of transferring King Wu Sangui Qin. But he didn't make a sound, and said in his heart: "Wang Yongji's suggestion is feasible. Now it seems that Wu Sangui can only be counted on. ”

Some of the auxiliary ministers hoped that they would take the opportunity of escorting the crown prince and the two kings of Yongding to flee to Jiangnan, and said in a tactful tone: "Escorting the prince to Nanjing is also a strategy to save the country, please let the emperor consider it again." ”

Chongzhen glanced at them and was silent for the time being. He'd thought about it many times. His suspicious nature was also suddenly very uneasy about sending the prince to Nanjing. He believed that if a small number of elite men and horses rushed to King Qin, even if they could not defeat the "thieves" outside Beijing, Beijing would hold on and wait for the army of King Qin of the Quartet. If Beijing is besieged for a long time, or if he breaks through from Beijing and goes south, someone supports the prince in Nanjing to establish a state, and then supports the prince to succeed to the throne, and there is a real Lingwu story in the country. Such a fate is the same as Tang Xuanzong's later years, and he can't be reconciled to death. So he looked at the ministers with anger and said:

"I have been running the world for 17 years, but I have not been able to revive the dynasty and eliminate the rebellion, so that I have today. The prince is a child, what does he know? Even if he was lucky enough to be able to get to Nanjing, he was just playing with the hands of powerful ministers, and I am afraid that even Tang Suzong would not be able to do it. ”

The auxiliary ministers knew that the emperor was suspicious, so they didn't dare to speak anymore and waited for the emperor's orders. Chongzhen's heart was excited, his fingers trembled, and he picked up the two letters from the imperial case, Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao, and Li Yutian, the governor of Shanyong, and handed them to the first assistant Chen Yan, and said:

"These two secret letters, the ministers will take a look at them first, and then discuss them with the six Jiuqing and Daoist officials, without delay, I will call you into the palace tomorrow to reply."

The auxiliary ministers returned to the cabinet and read together the secrets of Wang Yongji and Li Yutian, especially the secrets of Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao. Wang Yongji said in Shuzhong that there were eight cities outside the Guan, all of which relied on Ning Yuan for support, so Ning Yuan was very important. Now there are only four cities left outside the pass, and Ning Yuan is lonely two hundred miles away from Shanhaiguan, which has lost its important position. Tens of thousands of elite soldiers stayed in Ningyuan, which did not make up for the situation in Liaodong, but would consume the country's food and salary, and sooner or later they would be besieged by the enemy.

The first assistant Chen Yan and the second assistant Wei Zaode read Mi Shu and disagreed. Other auxiliary ministers, such as Fan Jingwen and Qiu Yu, just groaned and did not say anything. For the sake of the overall situation, only by transferring Wu Sangui to the star of the night can we keep Beijing and save the country from perishing. But none of the ministers dared to say anything in favor. They know Chongzhen's temperament very well. Afterwards, once Beijing is unharmed and someone is held accountable for the people who abandoned the land, Chongzhen will never bear it himself, and will definitely kill one or two ministers to thank the countrymen. The killing of Chen Xinjia the year before last is still very clear to everyone, and it still feels very terrible to talk about it. Chen Yan privately asked Wei Zaode how to answer the emperor, and Wei Zaode said quietly:

"There is a hurry, so Wang Yongji and Li Yutian are in a hurry. If after the matter is decided, I will kill my generation in the name of bullying the emperor, and what can I do? ”

Chen Yan nodded, thinking that Wei Zaode's concerns were very reasonable, so he said to his colleagues in the auxiliary ministers: "Every inch of land and every inch of gold in the country is all obtained from the bloody battles of the ancestral dynasty, why once the land is abandoned?" Abandoning the land and abandoning the people, what is the name of the books and the annals of history? Isn't it the sin of the auxiliaries? ”

Although some people think in their hearts: at this critical moment, it is important to save the country, and there is no need to worry about their own troubles. But no one dared to argue, and they all agreed with the opinions of the first and second assistants, and did not make any decision on this matter, and respectfully asked the emperor to convene a meeting of civil and military officials, or cut off from the "heart".

That night, Chongzhen saw the secret revelation post on the first assistant Chen Yan, saw through the thoughts of this group of assistants, and scolded hatefully: "Useless things!" "It has been decided that a decision will be made tomorrow after the hundred officials have been gathered.

That is, that night, Chongzhen was woken up by Wei Qinghui in Yangdezhai and presented him with a 100,000 urgent military intelligence report. Chongzhen saw that it was a report that Ningwuguan and Datong had been lost, and Li Zicheng's army was coming east. His heart was beating wildly, his face was as pale as dirt, and he was suddenly frightened into a cold sweat, sat up from the bed suddenly, and shouted unconsciously:

"Oh my God! ……”

Wei Qinghui hurriedly draped a silver fox robe on his body. Chongzhen read the Tang Bao again, thinking that the tragedy of the destruction of the country and the annihilation of the clan was inevitable, and he would become a king of the dead country, so he couldn't help crying loudly. His cry woke up another palace maid on duty at night, and she opened the curtain in a panic, and when she saw Wei Qinghui's eyes, she quickly and quietly retreated. Although Wei Qinghui never dared to look at the various documents presented to the emperor, and did not dare to inquire about state affairs, just now the eunuch on duty at night hurriedly came to the back of the Qianqing Palace outside the door of Yangdezhai and instructed her to wake up the holy driver and present this urgent document to the emperor immediately. Chongzhen sat on the bed and cried bitterly, and Wei Qinghui couldn't help crying. In order not to let the emperor see her crying, she turned her back, leaned down, and re-set the charcoal in the brazier, so that the charcoal fire burned more vigorously and drove away the cold of the night.

The next morning, Chongzhen convened a meeting of hundreds of officials on the platform, and even the lords and ministers who usually don't ask much about the government also came. Regarding the matter of abandoning the people of the land outside the customs and transferring Wu Sangui to King Qinqin in Beijing, although some people expressed opposition and some people did not dare to express their position, most people expressed their approval because of the urgency of the situation. Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo, who was more prominent among the ministers, also advocated the transfer of King Wu Sangui Qin. There was no opposition among the speakers. Sun Chengze advocated the transfer of Wu Sangui in the matter, and Wu Linzheng in the other was more resolute and generous.

After the meeting, although no consensus was reached, and the important auxiliary ministers still held a wait-and-see attitude, Chongzhen had already made up his mind and was ready to withdraw his troops in a secret edict. After returning to the palace, he suddenly thought: Wu Sangui's father Wu Xiang is now in Beijing, why not summon him to ask about the actual situation of Ning Yuan's soldiers and horses!

In the afternoon of the same day, Chongzhen summoned Wu Xiang, the former Ningyuan general soldier and the current governor of the Chinese army, on the platform, and asked him:

"Wu Xiang, the ministers discussed for several days, and suggested that the imperial court abandon Ningyuan and other four cities outside the Guan, withdraw the people and horses of Ningyuan Town to guard the Shanhaiguan, and return to Beijing at any time. What do you think? ”

Wu Xiang just hung up the fictitious title of the governor of the Chinese army, and he didn't actually ask about things, and he didn't have much contact with the courtiers, so he didn't know what the courtiers were arguing about in the past two days. Hearing the emperor's questioning, he was startled and quickly replied:

"Your Majesty, the minister only knows that the size of the ancestral land cannot be abandoned."

Chongzhen's heart was cold, and he reluctantly smiled and said: "This is for the sake of the overall situation of the country, not to blame the father and son for abandoning the land outside the customs." ”

Wu Xiang heard it clearly, stopped his heartbeat, and let out an "oh" from his throat.

Chongzhen then asked: "The thief situation is very urgent at the moment, does Qing expect that the strategy of Qing Zi Wu Sangui can subdue the enemy?" ”

Wu Xiang said: "Judging by the ministers, after the thieves occupy the Qin and Jin dynasties, they may not come to Beijing. Even if they come, they will surely send a few pioneers to tempt them, and the thieves will not come by themselves. If the thief comes to die, the courtier Wu Sangui will be able to capture him alive and sacrifice him in front of His Majesty. ”

"There are already millions of people going against the grain, how can Qing say it so easily?"

"The thieves claim to be in the millions, but in reality there are only tens of thousands. The rabble of the Central Plains has not fought hand-to-hand battles with border soldiers. In the past, the generals were all unrestrained and poorly trained soldiers, and when they encountered thieves, they would surrender. and with five thousand, five more for the thief; Go with ten thousand, and add ten thousand for the thief. Suppressing thieves in this way can only make the thieves stronger and stronger day by day, and our soldiers will weaken day by day. The traitor is proud of his victory, and he has never seen a great enemy at all. In the battle of Zhuxian Town, Zuo Shuai can be regarded as a great enemy, and many of our officers and soldiers were defeated and surrendered to the enemy. In the battle of Jiaxian, Qin Governor Sun Chuanting was regarded as the enemy of the thieves. It's a pity that most of Qin Du's subordinates are from Shaanxi, so they were also defeated. If the courtier Wu Sangui suppresses the thief, if he doesn't say it, the traitor will be arrested obediently. ”

Chongzhen saw that Wu Xiang was an old and sophisticated and a bit cunning, and with an attitude of listening to him, he listened to Wu Xiang's bragging. The ministers saw him smile for the first time in many days. He asked:

"How many people are there in the father?"

Wu Xiang saw that the emperor was laughing at him for saying that it was too easy to suppress the thief, and suddenly he was a little afraid of how to answer the number of soldiers, so he couldn't help but bow down and kowtow first, and then replied:

"Death to death!"

Chongzhen was surprised: "What is Qing's crime?" ”

Wu Xiang kowtowed again, and then said: "The soldiers of the minister's father and son, according to the atlas, are 80,000, and the actual number is only 30,000. The food and salary of a few people are not enough to support a soldier, which is a common disease in all towns, not in Ningyuan Town. ”

Chongzhen was surprised that Ning Yuan's soldiers only had 30,000 soldiers, and quickly asked, "Are these 30,000 people brave in battle?" ”

Wu Xiang said: "If 30,000 people are all soldiers, why should we succeed today? There are only 3,000 soldiers who can use ears! ”

Chongzhen was taken aback again and asked, "How can three thousand people be thieves and millions of soldiers?" ”

Wu Xiang said: "These 3,000 people are not soldiers, they are all the sons of ministers and brothers. Since receiving the favor of the country, the minister himself has eaten coarse rice and coarse noodles, these 3,000 people have eaten fine wine and fat sheep, the minister has worn coarse clothes and coarse cloth, and these 3,000 people have worn silk and satin, so the minister can get his death force in times of emergency. ”

Chongzhen asked, "How much money do you need?" ”

Wu Xiang said: "It takes a million taels. ”

Chongzhen was taken aback and asked, "Even if you take 30,000 people and say, why do you use so much money?" At the same time, he scolded in his heart: "Damn! You see that the country is in trouble, and the price is sky-high! ”

Wu Xiang replied nonchalantly: "Your Majesty, a million taels of silver, or the minister said less!" These 3,000 people outside the pass, each of whom has a village of hundreds of taels of silver, now tell them to give up the farm to enter the pass, where will they be given land to plant? Also, how can I make up for the salary that I have owed for 14 months? There are still 6 million living beings outside the pass, and they cannot be thrown to the enemy. Now that they are moved into the gate, how will they be placed? Judging from these aspects, I'm afraid that one million is not enough, how dare the minister say anything! ”

Chongzhen understood that part of Wu Xiang's words were nonsense, and he took the opportunity to ask for money, but he was not angry, one was afraid that Wu Xiang would secretly prevent his son from withdrawing from the border in the starry night and coming to King Qin, and he also understood that part of Wu Xiang's words was indeed true, and the matter of arrears of wages was indeed very serious. As for his statement that 3,000 people were well fed, well dressed, and treated like his sons, and treated like Wu Sangui's brothers, this is not entirely false. He often heard that some generals who can fight wars have some of their own soldiers or family members who are very well treated, so they can work hard for him in an emergency. He is an emperor who reads hard for the governance of the country, has read "Zizhi Tongjian", and knows that An Lushan also has some personal soldiers, and the treatment is very generous, and he can help him die when he fights. This part of the pro-soldiers called it "Drag River". The 3,000 people mentioned by Wu Xiang are also pro-soldiers like "Falling River". He nodded to Wu Xiang and said:

"That's what Qing said. But at present there are only 70,000 taels of silver in the inner treasury. Collect all the gold and silver ornaments, and make up for them, but two or three hundred thousand taels, which is enough. But no matter how difficult it is, I will soon transfer Wu Sangui to Beijing, so let's go down and rest. ”

That night, Chongzhen wrote an edict to the secretary of the military department, writing:

Zhang Jinyan, the secretary of the Ministry of Soldiers: Wu Sangui, the chief soldier of Ningyuan Town, flew to Shanhaiguan, and the whole division withdrew to Shanhaiguan, and the elite soldiers of Guanning came to Beijing to ask for thieves, and it must not be delayed. The people in the Ningyuan area are all my children, loyal and loving, and cannot be abandoned, and those who are willing to return to the customs will be properly taken care of by the general army, and brought back to the customs for the time being, and temporarily settled in Linyu and nearby places. This is the message!

After giving a secret edict to his military subordinates, Chongzhen was worried that Wu Sangui would delay time and delay major events, so he immediately issued an edict to Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao, ordering him to personally gallop to Ningyuan, urging Wu Sangui to abandon the land and enter the customs, and come to King Jingqin in the starry night.

It was late at night. Chongzhen's mood was slightly relaxed, thinking that there was hope for Bao Beijing. But thinking that the land outside the gate managed by his ancestor in a hundred battles was completely lost from his hands, he couldn't help but suddenly fall on the imperial case and cry bitterly.

Chongzhen returned to Yangdezhai with a sad heart, and stripped to bed under the service of the palace maids. When he was about to go to bed, thinking that with Wu Sangui's tens of thousands of elite soldiers, Beijing would be safe and sound, and Li Zicheng would retreat after being frustrated. He looked at Wei Qinghui's somewhat haggard face, and said with concern:

"You don't have to stay in Yangdezhai tonight, ask other people to be on duty for the night, you can rest for a while!"

Seeing that the people of the Wei Palace had no intention of leaving his side, he thought that she was following the queen's orders, so he stopped talking. He decided to go to bed so that he could have the energy to deal with military affairs tomorrow, and he barely closed his eyes. But suddenly thinking that Li Zicheng's army was coming from Xuanfu, and now he was afraid that it would be too late to discuss the transfer of Wu to Jingqin, so he suddenly broke out in a hot sweat, opened his eyes, and said in his heart:

"How good it would have been if Wu Sangui had been transferred a month ago!"

He could no longer sleep, and the more he thought about it, the more terrible the situation became, and the matter of fleeing to Nanking once again came to his mind. Now that Li Zicheng is coming to the east of Datong, the Xuanfu is in very danger, and he cannot decide whether he should stay in Beijing and wait for help or rush to Nanjing. He understood that if Wu Sangui came one step too late, Beijing would probably not be able to hold on, and once again thought that he was going to die for the community, and he would inevitably have the end of the destruction of the country and the nation, so he was very afraid, and couldn't help but cry out sadly on the pillow:

"Beijing, Beijing! ……”

Wei Qinghui woke up suddenly, hurriedly put on her embroidered boots, and came to the imperial couch. He didn't wait for Wei to speak, he quickly pretended to be nothing, and smiled (what a miserable laugh!). said:

"It's nothing, I just thought that Beijing could have no worries."

Chongzhen finally made up his mind to order Wu Sangui to abandon the land and withdraw his troops on February 20. If Wu Sangui did not bring the soldiers and people from Ningyuan into the pass, and only brought tens of thousands of cavalry to the Star Night King, it would not be too late, but to retreat hundreds of thousands of soldiers and people to Shanhaiguan and place them, it would not be as fast as Li Zicheng's march to Beijing. Although Chongzhen looked at the rescuers in the palace, he didn't expect that the sudden wind would meet the slow Langzhong, and Wu Sangui's Ning Yuanbing would not be able to enter the customs!

From late February to early March, there were rumors in the capital every day, all of which were bad news, and the situation became more and more sinister day by day. The most terrifying piece of news is that someone fled from Shanxi and saw Liu Zongmin's message, claiming that hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses from Dashun would come to Beijing on 15 March. If Chongzhen can't fight, he will quickly give way and hand over the country to King Li. There is also terrible news that the canal in Shandong has been cut off by Li Zicheng, Beijing's grain source has been cut off, and grain prices have begun to rise. There is also unimaginable news: on February 20, Zhending Mansion, which is only 300 miles away from the capital, was lost. Didn't believe it at first, so no one talked about it. By the end of February, there was suddenly conclusive news, which surprised Chongzhen. It turned out that Qiu Maohua, the prefect of Zhending, heard that there was a Dashun army occupying Yuci and Pingding, and was about to arrive at Niangzi Pass and Guguan, so he hurriedly sent his family members out of the city. Governor Xu Biao arrested him and sent him to prison in accordance with the holy decree, but unexpectedly, when Xu Biao's lieutenant officers took advantage of his arrival in the city to deploy how to defend the city, tied him up, pulled him out of the city and killed him, threw his body into the water, and then smashed open the prison and invited Qiu Maohua out. Qiu Maohua, as the current prefect, surrendered to Dashun in the prefecture and county to which he belonged. After a few days, only a small number of Dashun troops came out of the Guandong, entered the city of Zhendingfu, collected the seals of the yamen, the silver money in the treasury, and various atlases, and occupied the Zhending Mansion and the nearby subordinate counties without a single sword. This unexpected change occurred in the south of Beijing, and the northwest side of Beijing was the main route of Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin's army, except for the two military strongholds of Datong and Yanghe, which had surrendered to Li Zicheng, the situation in Xuanfu was also unclear, and there were many legends.

Although Emperor Chongzhen strictly forbade the gentry and wealthy families to go out of the city, because the situation is getting worse and worse day by day, who is not afraid of death? Those wealthy dignitaries and gentry all planned to flee from Beijing, but it was only because of the unrest in Kifu that many wanted to flee but had nowhere to escape.

There were people in the court who were brewing to persuade Chongzhen to flee to Nanjing. Chongzhen pinned his hopes on sending troops to guard Juyong Pass and wait for Wu Sangui's elite border soldiers. He was afraid that the court would discuss the matter of going to Nanjing again, and the hearts of the people in Beijing would further collapse, and it would be impossible to defend the Yong Pass. Once when he was in court, Chongzhen couldn't help crying bitterly, and repeatedly asked the ministers for good advice. But no one could say what to do. Someone mentioned the matter of moving south again, and asked the emperor to consider it again. At this time, Chongzhen was very afraid of leaving an ugly name in the history of abandoning the mausoleum of the temple and running away, and he was also afraid that because of the matter of moving south, it would disintegrate the hearts of the subjects of Jingshi who were clinging to waiting for help, so he said in a very resolute tone with a heavy heart:

"The monarch is dead, and righteousness is righteous. Where will I go? If you say that you are escorting the second prince to the south in case of extraordinary changes, hum, brothers, children, do a great job! At present, there is only one heart, one guarding the Yongguan Pass, the other guarding the Beijing Division, and nothing else needs to be said. The wealthy officials and gentry are not allowed to leave the capital without permission, and those who dare to escape from the capital will be severely punished! ”

Two or three days ago, he was still dreaming of escaping south, and he once issued an edict to the auxiliary minister Jiang Dejing, the secretary of the military department and the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and the scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion in Jinfeng, the governor of the river, Tuntian, and military training, and stationed in Tianjin. Another auxiliary minister, Fang Yuegong, was appointed as the secretary of the household department and the secretary of the military department, the scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, the governor of Caoyun and the garrison of the army, and was stationed in Linqing. Later, someone secretly recited: The ministers should not be allowed to leave Beijing, saying that as soon as they leave the capital, they will abscond, so today in front of the ministers, he once again told the officials and gentry that they were not allowed to leave Beijing, and the new appointments of Jiang Dejing and Fang Yuegong were only "proposed", and no customs defense or edict was issued, so naturally he did not mention it again.

The next day, on the fourth day of the first month of March, Qintian supervised the downward movement of the emperor's star, which gave Chongzhen another great spiritual blow. He cried out in his heart: "Do I really want to lose the country? In order to eliminate the disaster, he was completely vegetarian, forbidden drumming, and wore plain clothes, and also told the concubines and the officials of the court to bathe and fast, and cultivate the province sincerely. In addition to kneeling down sincerely on the Danqi of the Qianqing Palace and praying to the sky, he once again went to the Fengxian Hall to cry bitterly to the god of his ancestors.

However, Emperor Chongzhen did not wait for the death of the country. In the absence of any courtiers to contribute to him to save the country, so that he fell into isolation, he planned painstakingly alone, and decided to immediately promote Wu Sangui as Ping Xibo, Zuo Liangyu as Ning Nanbo, Tang Tong as Ding Xibo, and Huang Degong as Jing Nanbo. Jin Feng Wu Sangui and Tang Tong as uncles in order to encourage them to defend Beijing with their own strength. Jin Feng Zuo Liangyu and Huang Degong were because he did not completely give up his plan to flee to Nanjing in his heart, but he refused to confide in a word. After he decided, he immediately awarded the edict and seal, and there was no room for error. In addition, he issued an edict to recruit the world's soldiers and horses Qinwang, in addition to urging Wu Sangui to speed troops into the customs, especially counting on Tang Tong, the chief soldier stationed in Miyun, and Liu Zeqing, the chief soldier stationed in Linqing, to come to Beijing.

On the fifth day of the first month, Chongzhen ordered the lord and hereditary Xiangcheng Bo Li Guozhen to supervise the training of the Beijing camp, move from the Xiangcheng Bofu to Xizhimen, and prepare to lead the three battalions out of the city to fight. He also ordered the eunuch Wang Chengen to guard the city. After Wang Chengen received the edict, he hurried to the Qianqing Palace to thank him. Chongzhen said to Wang Chengen, who was kneeling in front of him:

"I know that you have a loyal heart and are cautious in your daily affairs, so I have ordered you to be the governor of the city. Don't let me down and let down the country! ”

Wang Chengen choked up and said: "The slave is willing to repay the emperor's favor with a death, but there are no soldiers and no pay at present......"

"Needless to say, I understand the difficulties of defending the city. You go and do your best to deploy first, and I have other arrangements for the lack of pay. Let's go down! ”

Wang Chengen had just withdrawn, and the eunuch on duty sent a letter of urgency that flew six hundred miles. This document came from Ning Yuan and was sealed with fire paint. Chongzhen looked forward to Ning Yuan's news every day, but he didn't know the good luck with this military intelligence document, and his hands trembled slightly. Before opening the package, he said in his heart:

"Oh my God, what's going on? Could it be that Dongyu has invaded again, so that Wu Sangui has to deal with it, and there is no way to leave Ningyuan? ”

When he opened the package and looked at it, he was relieved and suddenly happy. It turned out that this was a joint report by Wang Yongji and Wu Sangui, which said that 500,000 soldiers needed to be brought into the customs, including many old and weak women, and many other things, a lot of grain, livestock, and livestock, and it was very difficult to transport. In addition, the relocation of the people to the land encountered many obstacles, so the withdrawal of troops encountered many obstacles, so it was delayed for some days. Now that everything is ready, let the women go first, and the military rations and other bulky military supplies have been loaded on the ship and will be transported by sea to the Yuguan waterfront. In order to prevent the attack of the Manchu light cavalry and plunder the population, Wang Yongji and Wu Sangui led the elite troops to break off, and they were allowed to abandon Ningyuan on the sixth day of the first month. Chongzhen looked at the date of Ning Yuan's post, and only walked for two days in Beijing! Of course, he understood that this was a 600-mile flying, and he was rushing day and night, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians could not be expected to withdraw into the customs soon. But you can always come to Kannai on seven or eight days, right? He said with relief in his heart:

"Alas, there is already hope! It doesn't matter if you're in Beijing! ”

On the seventh day of the first month, Tang Tong, the chief soldier of the Jizhen Xixi, who was named Dingxi Bo and garrisoned Miyun, was the king of Zhaoqin, and led 8,000 people to come and garrison outside the gate of Changyi. As soon as he arrived, he asked His Majesty to see him, one was to thank the emperor in person, and the other was to ask for training, that is, to ask the emperor to give advice. Chongzhen didn't expect Tang Tong to lead his troops into the guard so quickly, and he was quite loyal, which made him very happy. He summoned Tang Tong in the Wuying Palace, said some words of consolation and reward, rewarded a big red python robe, two pieces of silk on the inside and outside, forty taels of gold, and rewarded the officers and soldiers of the battalion with four thousand taels of silver. Because he received a report from Tang that Li Zicheng led an army of 500,000 troops from Datong to Beijing, Datong had already been in an emergency, and now the situation is unknown, so Chongzhen ordered Tang Tong to lead 8,000 men and horses to Juyong Pass and defend the Great Wall, and told Tang Tong in person that he would order the eunuch Du Zhizhi to go with Tang Tong to supervise the army. Tang Tong is one of the eight general soldiers who fled in Songshan, although he has no strategy and bravery, but he has oral arguments, and is also good at traveling, and he has a lot of dealings with Du Zhizhi on weekdays, so he is very happy that Du Zhizhi went to Juyongguan to supervise the army.

After Tang Tong resigned from Wuying Palace, Chongzhen immediately called Du Zhizhi and told him in person about the dispatch to Juyong Pass to monitor Tang Tongjun, and advised:

"Du Zhizhi, you used to be a supervisor elsewhere, and you also helped Du Xun run internal exercises, and you are also a minister that I rely on. Juyong Pass is the last gateway to Beijing, and you have to defend it with Tang Tong! ”

Du Zhizhi kowtowed and said, "Please rest assured." Juyong Pass is a natural danger, the original three or four hundred men and horses are stationed, and now there are eight thousand men and horses of Tang Tong to go, and there is a general Tang Tong in charge, and it will be able to hold on. When the slave and maid go to supervise the army, they would rather be fooled to the ground than let a thief enter the Juyong Pass. ”

"Good, good. I hope you can be like Du Xun! ”

Tang Tong's guarantee of guarding Juyongguan and Du Zhizhi gave Chongzhen hope for sticking to Beijing, felt a little comforted, and decided to sleep at ease, and returned to Yangdezhai.

Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, he was woken up by the soft and nervous voice of a palace maid. He opened his eyes tiredly, saw that it was Wei Qinghui, and thought that there would be nothing important, so he closed his eyelids again. Hearing Wei Qinghui call again, he opened his eyes for the second time, his mind was a little refreshed, and asked:

"What's the matter?"

"The Tang newspaper just delivered."

"Is it urgent?"

"One hundred thousand urgent, Emperor."

Chongzhen's drowsiness disappeared, Hudi pulled out of the quilt, leaned on the pillow, took the box containing the Tang newspaper in Wei Qinghui's hand, opened it and saw that there were a total of five seals. Before he had time to look closely at the place where the newspaper was sent and the yamen, he first opened the top one, then the second one, and then the third one...... He was sweating profusely, his face was pale, and his hands trembled. After reading it, he sighed deeply, and suddenly remembered the recent controversy in the court, and asked in his heart:

"What the hell is good? Is it to wait for help, or to go to Nanjing quickly? ”

He was so flustered that he couldn't come up with a good idea. At the same time, he knew in his heart that among the courtiers, there was only one argument and no one to ask, and he was really isolated and helpless against the overall situation. He tilted his head sideways, as if looking at Wei Qinghui with inquiring eyes. The people of Wei Palace were so frightened that their hearts were pounding and they lowered their heads. But Chongzhen actually had no intention of looking at her, but sadly thought about the ancestor's country, and couldn't help but two lines of tears quietly rolling down from his haggard cheeks. Wei Qinghui was sad in her heart, and she didn't dare to raise her head to look at the emperor. She knew that the 100,000 anxious Tang newspapers with chicken feathers on the outside of the seal were all very terrible military situations, but the rules in the palace were strict, and she didn't ask a word, so she couldn't comfort the emperor.

With fear and sorrow, the Wei palace people lightly made the charcoal in the large copper basin placed on the low shelf, and then poured half a cup of warm tea from the vermilion lacquer painted gold pot placed on the high table behind the door, put it in the pile of lacquer carved (also known as red) discs, brought their hands to the side of the imperial couch, and said softly:

"Please have tea for the emperor."

Chongzhen ordered her to put the red disc refined by the orchard factory on the rosewood carved coffee table next to the bed. After a pause, he sighed lightly, sat up from the couch, glanced at the small tea bowl of the Chenghua kiln blue-bottomed doucai mandarin duck lotus that he liked to use on weekdays, and continued to think about his thoughts. Wei Qinghui hurriedly took a mink yellow satin dark dragon robe and draped it on Chongzhen's back, uncovered the tea bowl, put it on the carved lacquer disc, and whispered:

"Please have tea for the emperor."

Chongzhen took a half-sip of the tea bowl and continued to think about his thoughts. Suddenly feeling desperate for the overall situation, and thinking of the hateful ministers, he was in a hurry, and suddenly threw the precious tea bowl in his hand to the ground and smashed it. The people of the Wei Palace exclaimed: "Emperor! He immediately knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head, and he didn't know why the emperor was so angry.

The two maids on duty who slept outside Yangdezhai in their clothes were suddenly awakened, hurriedly put on embroidered shoes, and opened the curtain to come in. Chongzhen glanced at the palace maids and ordered:

"I want to get up and go to the Qianqing Palace!"

Wei Qinghui raised her head from the ground and persuaded: "I just played the fourth watch, please sleep for a while!" ”

"Hmph, the country is more important than sleeping!"

Wei Qinghui saw that she couldn't persuade the emperor to get up, so she quickly ordered two palace maids to wait for the emperor to dress and freshen up. She cleaned the broken tea bowls on the brick floor by herself, then went outside to grab her raccoon dog velvet embroidered cloak and draped it on her body, and ran towards the main hall of the Qianqing Palace. She was worried that the two eunuchs who were on duty in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace at night were asleep, and she had to rush forward to wake them up so as not to make the emperor angry. On weekdays, from the backyard of the Qianqing Palace to the main hall, the long sandwich road in the east and west gables is lit all night long, and somehow, the palace lights are all out in the second half of tonight. Wei Qinghui had just entered the West Sandwich Road, and there was a black hole in front of her, and there seemed to be something moving. Recently, it is rumored that the palace is often haunted, and Wei Qinghui was afraid of walking at night, but she couldn't help but feel creepy at the moment. Suddenly, a cold wind blew from the mezzanine, she shivered violently, staggered back to the outside of Yangdezhai, took a palace lamp, and went to the Qianqing Palace again. Recently, she has often thought about the possible demise of the Ming Dynasty, and she is very scared and sad. Tonight, the emperor was very abnormal after reading those 100,000 anxious Tang newspapers, is he defeated everywhere, and he is really about to lose the country? What bad news did the newspapers report? ……

"Alas, another terrible night!"

CHAPTER IX

One of the 100,000 anxious Tang newspapers that Chongzhen read said that Liu Fangliang, the general of Li Zicheng, led a group of men and horses into Jinan, and everywhere he went, the gentry surrendered one after another, and they were approaching Baoding. However, Chongzhen understood that Liu Fangliang was only leading a partial division, with a small number of people, and was not here to attack Beijing, so what he was most afraid of was the army led by Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin from Taiyuan to Beijing. It is rumored that there are 500,000 men and horses, and the imperial court does not know how many there are, but the survival of Beijing depends on the speed of Li Zicheng's army. If Wu Sangui's Qin Wang soldiers had gone to Beijing first, Beijing would have been saved. If Li Zicheng's army comes quickly, Beijing will be finished.

There are two Tang newspapers to report the loss of Ningwu, one is to report the loss of Datong, and the other is to report the urgency of the Xuanfu.

Chongzhen originally thought that Ningwu and Datong were both important military towns, and they could hold on for a while, so that the enemy soldiers could not come east smoothly, but he did not expect that Ningwu only held for three days, and Datong did not fight at all, and the enemy sent people to meet and surrender before he arrived. Chongzhen has a lot of experience in how to read the military intelligence Tang newspaper, and he can't be coaxed easily. There are many contradictions and exaggerated words about the two Tang newspapers about the fall of Ningwu, but one thing is true: Ningwu had fallen on February 25, and Zhou Yuji, the general soldier of Shanxi who was guarding Ningwu, refused to surrender and died in a bloody battle, and his wife Liu led the servants to shoot many enemies with the help of the house, and then set himself on fire.

Datong fell on the first day of March. Wang Jimo, the governor of Datong, fled in advance, and Jiang Jiu, the general soldier of Datong Town, avoided the enemy Xuanfu, and his subordinate generals offered the city to surrender. Wei Jingyi, the governor of Datong, was captured by Li Zicheng after the city was broken, refused to surrender, and hanged himself. Due to the surrender of Datong City without a fight, Jiang Hao already had two hearts, and the Xuanfu was in danger. If the Xuanfu is lost, Li Zicheng's army can drive east for a long time, and it can reach Juyong Pass within a few days. Although Juyong Pass is guarded by Tang Tong, he only has 8,000 men, plus the original garrison, less than 10,000 people, how can he fight against Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands?

After Chongzhen came to the East Warm Pavilion of Qianqing Palace from Yangdezhai in the middle of the night, he immediately lifted the Zhu pen and wrote a handwritten edict:

Yu Du Xun: Ningwu and Datong have fallen, and the Xuanfu is in danger. Xuanfu is a barrier to the Yong, you must work together with Jiang Yang, stick to kill the enemy, and do not live up to my hopes. Cut it off!

He ordered the duty of the Qianqing Palace to agree, and the eunuch Bingbi, who was on duty as the celebrant supervisor, sent his edict to the Yamen of the Military Department overnight and sent it to the Xuanfu by express delivery of 600 miles. This was the only thing he could do to relieve the danger of the Xuan Mansion, and after he was done, he saw that Wei Qinghui and the other two palace maids who were waiting beside him had not yet been freshened up, their sideburns were fluffy, and their faces were tired, and Wei's face looked even haggard. He understood that she had slept less and worked harder with him than anyone else in the past few days, and he felt sad in his heart, and sighed secretly:

"Who knows how long she'll be able to serve by my side!"

A palace maid sent a delicately painted vermilion lacquer plum blossom food box, and another palace maid went to open the yellow satin curtain, Wei Qinghui saw it at a glance, and hurriedly took the food box with both hands, put it down on the imperial case, and uncovered the lid of the box, bowed down and said:

"Please have a snack!"

Chongzhen glanced at a bowl of bird's nest soup and four-color dim sum in the food box, and asked Wei:

"What time is the beginning of the day?"

"Back to the emperor, it's the eighth day of the third month."

Chongzhen sighed: "The eighth day of the third month! ”

He didn't say anything else. According to Wang Yongji and Wu Sangui's secret recital, Ning Yuanbing had only been on his way for two days, and since he was carrying 500,000 people, he could only walk 50 miles a day at the earliest, so he was worried that he might not be able to make time. Picked up the silver spoon and stirred it in the bird's nest, and let out another long sigh.

On the morning of March 12, the day when Chongzhen sent his last edict to Du Xun and sent it to Xuanfu, a small group of about 100 cavalrymen walked out of Xuanfu City, with neat armor and embroidered flags fluttering. In front of him was a pair of tall horses with the same dark red coat, walking side by side, and the samurai on the horses each held an official title sign in their hands, which read: "Qin Ming Xuanfu Town Supervisor Army Minister". Then there were eight horses, also licorice yellow, also running side by side. These eight horses were called "Eight Donkeys" by the ancients, and since the Han Dynasty, only very high-ranking civil officials can use them, replacing the honor guard. Behind the "Eight Horses" is a pure white horse with slightly reddish lips and eyes, decorated with silver on the bridle and carved saddle, gilded copper stirrups, white silk reins, and a snow-white chest guard hanging from the horse's chest, covered with vermilion tassels. Riding on this white horse was a middle-aged man of medium stature, white skin, and no beard, who was the eunuch Du Xun whom Chongzhen regarded as his confidant. The rest of the cavalry followed behind him, in a very neat formation, and hurried westward.

At about midnight, the team walked thirty miles away from Xuanfu, and when they saw the men and horses of the Dashun Dynasty coming, they quickly dismounted and stood on the south side of the road to greet them. Although there is a three-level cold north wind outside the plug today, carrying dust and sand, it is very uncomfortable to hit their faces, but according to the etiquette of the past few hundred years, they can only stand on the right side of the road, facing the wind and sand.

The Dashun army arrived. This detachment consisted of two thousand cavalry, divided into two lines, and hurried on their way. Liu Zongmin walked in the middle of the team, and there was a big flag in front of him, embroidered with the word "Liu" two feet square. Du Xun glanced at his entourage. The entourage hurriedly stepped forward and handed Du Xun's notebook to a Chinese general. Liu Zongmin took the red paper notebook from the hands of the Chinese army, looked at it at the horse, and understood in his heart. Before setting off from Datong, Jiang Hao and Du Xun sent someone to send Li Zicheng's letter of surrender, which he had already read, so at this time, he was not surprised, glanced at Du Xun, and asked with a smile:

"Where is General Jiang now?"

Du Xun bowed and clenched his fists and replied: "Jiang Xuan, the chief military officer, led the civil and military officials of the Xuanfu Mansion and the gentry to greet him outside the city. ”

Liu Zongmin said: "The holy car is behind, you are waiting here to kneel and welcome, you don't have to go forward." ”

Du Xun waited for another half an hour, looked at the many troops in the past, and after two or three thousand imperial battalion troops, he saw Li Zicheng riding the famous oolong horse, followed by a large group of civil ministers and military generals, and approached majestically. Du Xun and his entourage quickly knelt down and handed the notebook to one of the escort generals in front of Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng signaled to Wu Ruyi to order the army behind him to stop advancing, and he left the avenue with a group of civil and military generals, dismounted on a small and sunny hill nearby, and stood there for a while. Wu Ruyi brought Du Xun to Li Zicheng. Du Xun was frightened in his heart, knelt down again, kowtowed three times, and said:

"Surrender to Du Xun, bow to the new lord Sheng'an!"

Li Ziwei didn't have a good impression of people like eunuchs, and Du Xun turned his back on the lord and surrendered, which made him feel even more annoying. However, he still wants to use a character like Du Xun, so he can't help but say with a smile:

"You know that the mandate of heaven has been changed, and it is quite rewarding to surrender to the new dynasty. As long as you are sincerely loyal to the new dynasty, you will not worry about no wealth. ”

Du Xun kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Holy Grace!" Hooray, hooray, hooray! ”

Li Zicheng briefly inquired about the defense of the city in Beijing. Du Xun replied truthfully, and said that it would be difficult for Beijing to hold on, and even the eunuchs had been separated.

Li Zicheng asked again: "Is there any Qin Wang Bing to save Beijing?" ”

When Weichen left Beijing, he heard that the court was discussing the transfer of Wu Sangui to abandon the land outside the customs and enter the king of Qinqin. Later, the situation was not clear. ”

Li Zicheng was shocked and asked, "Did Wu Sangui leave Ningyuan?" ”

"I don't know. However, as long as the Holy Lord marches quickly and arrives at the city of Beijing as soon as possible, Beijing will be His Majesty's. ”

Li Zicheng nodded with a smile, ordered Du Xun and his subordinates to be rewarded with twenty pieces of silk and five hundred taels of silver, and ordered Du Xun to return to Xuanfu first and wait outside the city with Jiang Hao to greet him. Li Zicheng continued to talk with his cronies and civil and military personnel standing under the sunny hillside for a while. He began by saying:

"I'm worried that Wu Sangui's Guan Ningbing will go to Beijing first. If Guan Ningbing had arrived in Beijing first, it would not have been easy to break through Beijing. ”

Niu Jinxing said: "According to our detailed report, whether the court should summon Wu Sangui back to rescue Beijing, the one who is not in decision is whether to abandon the ears of the people of the land outside the border. Although Chongzhen was quite urgent, he was also undecided. It seems that Wu Sangui will bring hundreds of thousands of soldiers and people in the Ningyuan area into the pass, and the march is very slow. Our army has already won Datong and Xuanfu, and if we can quickly enter Juyong Pass, we will reach the city of Beijing within a few days, and the city of Beijing will be at our fingertips. Even if Wu Sangui led tens of thousands of elite soldiers into the customs, it was too late to save Beijing. ”

Li Zicheng looked at the surrendered general Bai Guangen and asked, "General Bai, if Tang Tong surrenders at Juyong Pass, he won't change his hexagram, right?" ”

Bai Guangen bowed down and replied: "Tang Tong is an old friend of the minister, and Chongzhen fought together in Songshan for fifteen years. Since he was sincere in his reply and agreed to sacrifice Juyong Pass to welcome the surrender, there must be no reason to change the hexagram. Please Your Majesty do not worry. ”

Li Zicheng said again: "According to the report, Chongzhen's new dispatch of a confidant eunuch Du Zhizhi to Tang Tong to supervise the army will not make General Tang unable to act freely?" ”

"No, no. Du Xun turned out to be a great eunuch among the celebrant eunuchs, and his status was above Du Zhi's rank. Since Du Xun has been surrendered, Du Zhizhi has nothing to say. What's more, he has no soldiers in his hands, unlike in the past, how could he spy on Tang Tong? ”

Li Zicheng nodded and smiled and said, "If you follow what General Bai said, I, Lonely, Lonely, will be relieved." ”

Before New Year's Day this year, it was agreed in Xi'an that Li Zicheng began to call himself lonely from the first day of the first month of Yongchang, and began to call me after the grand ceremony was held in Beijing, but he has never been accustomed to being called lonely, and he always feels awkward every time he says it. He said to Bai Guangen again:

Chongzhen temporarily crammed the Buddha's feet and hurriedly crowned General Tang as Dingxibo. You can tell General Tang that as long as you contribute to the new dynasty, the lone general will not hesitate to reward, how can it be an uncle! ”

"Wei Chen understands that His Majesty's intention has been made clear in the secret book he wrote to Tang Tong last time."

Li Zicheng glanced at everyone and said with a little emotion: "More than ten years of hard work, birth and death, there is today." Within a few days, you will be under the city of Beijing. If God favors Wu Sangui to be one step late, it is estimated that Beijing will be able to break through without a big war. Think about it, are there any difficulties that we didn't anticipate? ”

No one made a sound, and they all felt that it was a foregone conclusion.

Li Zicheng's face was full of spring breeze, looked at everyone again, and asked softly, "Huh?" ”

Li Yan bowed down and said: "There are two things that the minister is worried about: one is that the situation of Dongyu is unknown, and the other is that Chongzhen will flee to Jiangnan. ”

"Huh?!" Li Zicheng was stunned.

Li Yan continued: "When I was in Taiyuan, I visited Liu Zizheng at the Jin Temple. Although he did not talk about it in depth, Liu Zizheng reminded his ministers that he was quite worried that Manchuria would take the opportunity to enter the fortress. Liu Zizheng is familiar with the situation in Liaodong, and his words seem to be unfounded. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "That's what you said to Gu when you were in Taiyuan, this Mr. Liu is with Hong Chengchou to make praise paintings?" ”

"That's the man."

Li Zicheng asked Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance: "According to you, will the Manchurians take advantage of this opportunity to be stuffed?" ”

Niu Jinxing shook his head and replied: "In Yichen's opinion, the person who can be worried at present is not the eastern captives entering the fortress, but Chongzhen fleeing south. The minister also paid attention to the affairs of the East, and heard that Manchuria had a new state funeral a few months ago, and Huang Taiji died overnight. After the death of Huang Taiji, the kings almost killed each other in order to compete for the throne. Later, Huang Taiji's younger brother Dolgon advocated that Huang Taiji's five-year-old son ascend to the pole, and set up four auxiliary kings to manage the government together. At this time, Manchuria was too busy to take care of itself, how could it have the strength to raise troops to invade the south? Moreover, Manchuria is located in Liaodong, and only the power to bully the Ming Dynasty may not dare to compete with my Dashun. Therefore, the minister's concern is not that the east is captive, but that Chongzhen fled south. ”

Li Zicheng turned his eyes to the military advisor and asked, "Advice, do you think Chongzhen will flee to Nanjing?" ”

Song Xian pondered slightly, and replied respectfully: "It is quite difficult to predict whether the Manchurians will take the opportunity to enter the blockade. Only after the breakthrough of Beijing, send more meticulous detectives to Liaodong, and don't be negligent. It is difficult to say whether Chongzhen will flee to Nanjing. If he fled to Nanjing and called on the king of the world in Nanjing, it would make it more difficult for our dynasty to unify Jiangnan. But Chongzhen is a person who is suspicious of things, and for such a big event, he will not just leave, such as Tang Xuanzong running to Xichuan. Therefore, my army could only take advantage of the fact that he could not decide on this matter and hurried to the city of Beijing. As soon as our army entered Juyong Pass, Chongzhen had no chance to escape. ”

Li Zicheng asked again: "Now that our army has entered Shandong, if Chongzhen flees south, will he be able to go this way?" ”

Song Xiance thought for a moment and said, "If Chongzhen is Tang Xuanzong and Song Gaozong, he is determined to escape, and he can escape." Shandong can't get through, you can only carry a small number of palace dependents and cronies, leave Beijing lightly, rush to Tianjin, take a boat from Tianjin, float to the sea to the south, take Ganyu near the landing, go south by land to Huaiyin, that is, cross the canal. Or the sea boat goes to Nantong, and it is very convenient to land from Nantong, or to Yangzhou, or to Zhenjiang. But Chongzhen would never dare to risk the storm at sea. In fact, there were no hurricanes at sea in March. Tianjin's sea ships are very large, and they may not necessarily capsize. As long as the ship does not capsize, it is a hundred times better to risk the storm at sea than to stay in Beijing and other countries and perish the people. ”

Li Zicheng didn't expect that Chongzhen could escape from Tianjin Haidao to Nanjing, and after listening to Song Xiance's words, he couldn't help but ask Li Yan with some concern:

"Lin Quan, do you know the sea route from Tianjin to the south?"

Li Yan replied: "What you say is good, you are indeed a good military advisor with a full stomach. As far as Weichen knows, the Tang Dynasty supplied An Lushan with Jiangnan rice and silk, and most of them were shipped by sea. Today, the north-south Grand Canal from Jiangdu to Tongzhou did not exist in the Tang Dynasty, and there was only a section from Kaifeng to Jiangdu at that time. The canal leading to Tongzhou was only available in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was also used to transport seaways. However, at present, there is no real responsible person in the Ming Dynasty, so it is difficult for Chongzhen to make up his mind to flee to the south. In order to be prepared, our army must enter Juyong Pass within a few days, so that Chongzhen cannot escape. ”

Li Zicheng didn't ask any more, and immediately led the civil and military ministers to get on the horse, and marched towards the Xuanfu with a whip. As soon as they moved, the tens of thousands of troops behind them followed.

At this time, Liu Zongmin had already arrived outside Xuanfu City and was greeted by Jiang Jiu. The 2,000 cavalry following Liu Zongmin were stationed outside the south gate of Xuanfu to rest, waiting for the "holy drive". Jiang Hao and a large group of civil and military officials and gentry were also waiting outside the south gate to greet him. Jiang Jiu's men and horses are also the same as the situation in the towns at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the amount of space on weekdays is very large, the actual number is only more than 2,000 people, most of them surrendered in Datong, and less than 1,000 people with him in Xuanfu are now also lining up outside the city, waiting for the "welcome". Zhu Zhifeng, the governor of Xuanfu, heard that Liu Zongmin had led the cavalry to the outside of the city, Li Zicheng was about to arrive, and Jiang Hao went out of the city to meet the surrender, he hurriedly went to the city, deployed against the enemy, and saw that the people on the left and right were scattered, and he couldn't help it, only seven or eight people were left to stay by his side, and his expression was not good for him, as if he was spying on him. After a while, he saw that Li Zicheng had arrived and entered the city through the south gate. The whole city is full of colors, either with silk or with red cloth, and if there is no cloth or silk, with colored paper. The people had the word "Shunmin" on their chests, and they burned incense on the side of the street and knelt down, while the cavalry of Dashun filled the street. Zhu Zhifeng ordered the cannons in the city to be turned left and right to the city, but no one listened. He had no choice but to turn the cannon himself, and saw that the hole in the medicine wire near the end of the cannon had been nailed with iron nails. He cried to the south, untied the silk silk himself, and hanged himself under the eaves of the city tower, and no one dissuaded him. After his death, his body was thrown into the moats.

Li Zicheng was stationed in Xuanfu for half a day, and the army also rested a little. Early in the morning of the next day (March 13), Li Zicheng led the army to set off again.

When the news of the loss of Datong reached Beijing, the confidence of the Beijing government and the opposition in holding on to the Xuanfu and Juyong Pass to block the enemy had been lost, and someone in the court suggested that Chongzhen go to Nanjing as soon as possible, which caused controversy again. Due to the urgency of the situation, there was only one last chance for the emperor to escape from Beijing, and even the concubines in the deep palace whispered about it, and caused a storm between Empress Yi'an, the widow of the Apocalypse, and Emperor Chongzhen.

In the deep palace, only those young palace maids are not very clear about state affairs and live in ignorance, but the slightly older ones are not worried about state affairs. Although Chongzhen's rules do not allow concubines to inquire about state affairs or inquire, how can things like this make everyone not care about them? Moreover, there are eunuchs in charge of each palace, and they have a close relationship with the celebrant and the outside, so they are naturally very well-informed. The concubines' news about the DPRK and the rumors in Beijing were all obtained from the eunuchs who were close to them in their own palace. Although Empress Yi'an is a young widow who lives in the deep palace, she has never inquired about outside affairs, but she has already heard the news outside. Her eunuch in charge of Cining Palace is named Wang Yongshou, and among the eunuchs, even Wang Dehua and others have some respect for him, not to mention eunuchs such as Wang Chengen, who are lower than Wang Dehua. Therefore, the situation in the court, the capital division and the military aspects were all secretly inspired by him to Empress Yi'an. Empress Yi'an rarely speaks, and rarely walks out of Cining Palace. She reads and worships Buddha all day long, but she is also very concerned about the current situation, because if the country dies, she is also the queen, and there is only one way to commit suicide. What's more, although her husband, the Emperor of the Apocalypse, didn't love her, he was her husband after all. The country is in trouble, the ancestors are ruined, and the twelve mausoleums are destroyed, as a queen, the main palace of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, of course, she can't be reconciled. So she carried the palace maid and a group of eunuchs almost every day to ask Wang Yongshou for news, and then sighed silently alone, shed tears sadly, had fierce dreams at night, and slept restlessly. One day, while chanting and praying in the middle of the night, he suffered a cold and fell ill.

Empress Yi'an's illness was not serious, and the imperial doctors consulted her, discussed prescriptions, and treated her wholeheartedly. The eunuchs in charge of Cining Palace followed the palace system and reported her illness to the emperor and empress twice a day. Chongzhen knew that Empress Yi'an was sick and was also very worried. He has deep respect for Empress Yi'an, every year on New Year's Day or Yi'an's birthday, he always has to go to Cining Palace, of course, limited to strict etiquette, just through the curtain to Queen Yi'an to bow four times. Originally, it was enough to bow three times, because after Concubine Tian died, the children left behind were handed over to Queen Yi'an to raise, so she bowed again. Through the curtain, Yi An bowed back to him twice. Now that he knows that Yi'an is sick, although he is in a state mood, he still asks the queen to go to Cining Palace to greet Yi'an as soon as possible. He himself was ready to go. Zhou Hou has always had a good relationship with Yi'an, she respects Yi'an for having a righteous spirit, and sympathizes with Yi'an's persecution by Wei Zhongxian since he entered the palace. Wei Zhongxian dedicated one of his adopted daughters, surnamed Ren, to the Emperor of the Apocalypse, further isolating Empress Yi'an. But Yi'an was not convinced. At that time, she lived in Kunning Palace. Once the Emperor of the Apocalypse came to Kunning Palace and saw a book spread out on her desk, so he asked what it was. She calmly replied:

"I read "Historical Records: The Biography of Zhao Gaolie"."

Tianqi didn't read much, but only knew how to play, so he asked her: "What does "The Biography of Zhao Gaolie" say? ”

"Your Majesty, please, may wish to read it as well. The Qin Dynasty was so big that it was cut off by the dictatorship of a eunuch Zhao Gao. So this "Biography of Zhao Gaolie" is very interesting to read. ”

Apocalypse knew that there was something in Niangniang's words, so she stopped making a noise and walked out.

When the day dawned on Yan, who would inherit the throne, Wei Zhongxian couldn't help but ask Empress Yi'an. Without hesitation, she said:

"The emperor has no son, of course, his younger brother King Xin inherited the unification, and the subjects of the whole country have nothing to say. Hurry up with your ministers to the palace of King Xin to welcome King Xin into the palace, and do not delay! ”

After Yi'an said this to Wei Zhongxian, he quietly sent Wang Yongshou to King Xin's mansion and told King Xin about it.

Because of this important history, Chongzhen and his wife have always been grateful to Empress Yi'an, and they also have special respect for this young widowed sister-in-law. In the Apocalypse Dynasty, she had no other honorific title, just the queen. After Chongzhen ascended to the pole, she was given the honorific title of "Yi'an", and later added a few words of praise, and was honored as Queen Yi'an. Now that she is sick, of course Chongzhen and Zhou Hou should go to say hello, especially Zhou Hou should hurry up.

Empress Yi'an met with Zhou Hou in her bedroom, and affectionately took Zhou Hou's hand and asked her to sit beside her. After a week, he found that he had not seen Empress Yi'an for more than ten days, and she was much haggard, with tears in her eyes, so she hurriedly asked about her condition. Yi An waved his hand to make the palace ladies retreat, and said to Zhou Hou:

"I've always treated my mother as a sister, and I'll tell you the truth, I didn't have much of a disease, but I just occasionally felt cold. There are some medicines for this disease in Cining Palace, and I myself have a little understanding of pharmacology, and I have already taken a little medicine. The doctors prescribed another prescription and took a dose, and the fever had subsided, and there was no other problem. I wanted to meet you and say a few words from my heart, so I sent a palace maid to tell the emperor and tell my mother that I was sick. I concluded that the emperor was busy with business, so he might not come immediately, and besides, there was not much to talk about between uncle and sister-in-law. You will come, and when you come, I will tell you all that I have to say. ”

When Zhou Hou heard this, he already had some understanding in his heart, so he asked: "Imperial sister-in-law, do you want to talk to me about your thoughts because you can't rest assured about state affairs?" ”

Yi An nodded slightly, rolled out tears, sighed and said, "You guessed it." Although my family law is very strict, and the concubines are not allowed to intervene in state affairs, but now that a catastrophe is coming, even if we want to pretend to be deaf and stupid, it seems that we can't do it, so I have something to discuss with you. ”

Zhou Hou was also full of words and wanted to talk to Empress Yi'an, so she quickly leaned closer and asked in a low voice: "Does the imperial sister-in-law know the news of the war?" ”

Yi An nodded lightly: "I know it completely." The 'thief' has already passed Datong, maybe he has reached Yanghe, and will soon come to Juyong Pass. Juyong Pass is only defended by a few thousand people, how can it be defended? As soon as you arrive in the city of Beijing, it is very critical. The ancestors have been in the country for 300 years, and their survival is on the verge of death. You are the current queen, I am the queen of the former dynasty, although we live in the palace, we can't help but worry about our ancestors, the twelve mausoleums, the safety of the emperor and the prince and a group of children. There are no soldiers in Beijing City, Niangniang, you know better than me. Have you ever thought about what to do now? ”

Zhou Hou said: "Imperial sister-in-law, you know the emperor's temperament. I have been married to him for 18 years, and I never dare to inquire about state affairs. What dare I say to him? ”

Yi An said: "Although the ancestral family law: concubines are not allowed to interfere in politics, but it is not a person who has not asked about the government. When Grandpa Tai was alive, Queen Ma sometimes distracted Grandpa Tai. When Grandpa Tai couldn't think about it, Queen Ma reminded him. Sometimes Grandpa Tai wants to kill someone, and Queen Ma dispels Grandpa's decision with a few words. Not to mention the events of two or three hundred years ago, when Emperor Wanli was young, the Empress Dowager Xiaoding also served as the home of half of the imperial court. If it weren't for the Empress Dowager Xiaoding to intervene in the government and support Zhang Juzheng, would Zhang Juzheng be able to do so many big things? You and I are clear about these things of the previous dynasty, and the emperor is not clear. It's just that you've been blindly being a good wife and mother for many years, and you've gotten used to it. I am the queen of the former dynasty, and I am a widow at a young age, so of course it is inconvenient to speak. Now that the country is ruined, it will be too late to speak. I'm waiting for you to come today, just hoping that you will say something in front of the emperor and help him make up his mind. ”

Zhou Hou's expression was miserable, choking back tears, and she asked in a trembling voice: "Sister-in-law, what do you want me to say?" What are your good ideas? ”

Yi An sighed and said, "Niangniang, you have to remind him: we still have a home in the south!" ”

Zhou Hou's heart suddenly moved. She also heard that since last month, some people have suggested that the emperor go to Nanjing, and some people have suggested that the crown prince be sent to Nanjing, and the court and China have discussed it many times. And this matter has been circling in her heart: as a last resort, why sit in Beijing, and the whole family will die in Beijing? Listening to Yi An's words at this moment, she nodded and said:

"Yes, we still have a home in Nanjing! In that year, the Yongle Emperor moved the capital to Beijing, and Nanjing was renamed Liudu, also called the accompanying capital, and there were still hundreds of civil and military officials, and the yamen were complete. Now, if the emperor takes the crown prince to Nanjing, it is of course good that Beijing can hold on. If we can't keep it, won't our Ming Dynasty continue? With the wealth of Jiangnan and the source of troops in Jiangnan, you can still restore the Central Plains, sweep away the 'thieves', and restore the unification of the Ming Dynasty! ”

Yi An said with tears in her eyes: "Niangniang, I treat you as my own sister, and now a moment is worth a thousand gold, and I can't delay a day." Hurry up and remind him in front of the emperor that there is still a home in the south, don't stick to Beijing. I have made up my mind: I will not go anywhere, so as not to give the emperor another burden. If the emperor is willing to go to Nanjing, I am willing to do my best for the country in the palace, and I will kill myself if I don't wait for him to leave. You and the other ladies of the Sixth Palace go with the emperor, don't worry about me. ”

Speaking of this, she suddenly couldn't cry, and Zhou Hou also cried. The two of them wept quietly together. The cry reached the courtyard, and the palace maids guessed eight or nine, and wept silently one by one. Empress Zhou decided to follow Empress Yi'an's instructions and boldly persuade him to take the crown prince out of Nanjing in front of the emperor.

Zhou later returned to Kunning Palace. It didn't take long for Chongzhen to come and ask how Empress Yi'an's condition was. Zhou Hou told him that Emperor Yi'an's sister-in-law only occasionally felt cold, her condition was not serious, she had already taken medicine, and the fever had subsided, so she didn't have to worry about it. It's a national event, and Yi'an can't let it go.

Chongzhen said: "I have my own to worry about major national affairs, and the imperial sister-in-law doesn't have to worry about it." ”

Zhou Hou asked, "Where are the thieves now?" What were the decisions made at the court? ”

Chongzhen said unhappily: "Don't inquire about outside affairs, this is not what you should know." ”

Zhou Hou sighed and said, "Your Majesty, we still have a home in the south!" ”

Chongzhen glared at her and rolled her eyes fiercely. Zhou Hou had plucked up a lot of courage, but now when he saw Chongzhen's stern eyes, his courage suddenly disappeared. She sighed again, rolled out her tears, and said no more.

Chongzhen asked: "You said that we still have a home in the south, do you want me to move south!" Who sued you for this idea? Recently, there has been a lot of debate in the court about this matter, who told you? ”

Zhou Hou's face turned pale with fright, and he plucked up his courage and said: "It was Emperor Yi'an's sister-in-law who reminded me that we still have a home in the south!" Your Majesty, isn't that right? ”

Chongzhen glanced at her fiercely again, and thought to himself: The ancestral rules in this palace have also changed! He stopped talking and left Kunning Palace with an angry expression.

After returning to the Qianqing Palace, he called Wei Qinghui to the front and instructed: "You go to Cining Palace, Qi Yi An Niangniang, and say that I know that the queen's jade body is against the peace, and I was going to go to greet him, but because of the busy state affairs, I can't go immediately, so I specially ordered you to go and have a look." After you read it, by the way, ask Yi An Niangniang, who brought the matter of the southward migration to the palace in the court, and how did she know. ”

Wei Qinghui went to Cining Palace as ordered, played Chongzhen's words to Empress Yi'an, and asked Empress Yi'an according to Chongzhen's instructions. Yi An didn't expect Chongzhen to ask her like this, she knew that if Wang Yongshou was mentioned, this old eunuch would not be able to afford it. So she said to Wei Qinghui very calmly:

"You go back to play the emperor: the matter of going to Nanjing, how to discuss it in the court, the palace does not know; But we still have a home in the south, and everyone knows about it. This is what I thought of, whether the emperor listens or not, the emperor makes his own decisions, and there is no need to ask anything else. ”

Wei Qinghui saw that the Apocalypse Niangniang had an angry face and two bags of tears in her mouth, as if she had infinite grief hidden in her heart, and she didn't dare to ask more. She only now knew about the imperial court discussing going to Nanjing. She herself was also very sad in her heart, and she knelt in front of the Apocalypse Niangniang and whimpered. Empress Yi'an waved her hand and said:

"You go back to the Qianqing Palace, and you can return to the emperor according to my words."

Wei Qinghui returned to the Qianqing Palace and returned to Chongzhen in 1510. This would have been a very small thing to anyone. Whether it was Zhou Hou or Empress Yi'an, when they asked about the situation outside, there was nothing inappropriate. They hope that the emperor will go to Nanjing, and there is nothing bad about it. If it is another emperor, you can discuss it frankly with the queen. However, Chongzhen has been arbitrary and suspicious for many years. He said that if he didn't let the harem intervene in state affairs, he couldn't intervene in state affairs, and he would never let go. And he is always puzzled by the exchange of news between the ladies and the outside. So he thought about it for a long time, and told Wei Qinghui to ask Empress Yi'an again: How did you say that there is still a home in the south? Who brought the news of the court into the palace and told her? Wei Qinghui was also very unhappy in her heart, why bother? But she had no choice but to come to Cining Palace again, kneel in front of Empress Yi'an, and repeat what the emperor wanted to ask.