Chapter X

In the middle of March of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the critical moment of the survival of the Ming Dynasty was approaching, and the eyes of the people of the whole country were fixed on Beijing.

Since the eighteenth year of Yongle to the present, the Ming Dynasty has moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and it has been two hundred and forty-four years. Not only the whole of China, but also countless foreign countries, see Beijing as the heart of China. How can the city of Beijing today not attract the attention of the people of the whole country? People are worried about Beijing's future with all sorts of emotions. From the north to the south, people are worried: Will Beijing be able to survive? If Beijing can't keep it, the Ming dynasty will be over. At that time, not to mention the lives of thousands of households in Beijing, and even the lives of the country's official eunuchs, wealthy families, and ordinary people would be affected, and many people would go bankrupt with the change of dynasties, so that their families would be ruined, but at the same time, there would be many people who suddenly made a fortune when the dynasty changed, became upstarts, and became princes. So the whole country is now concerned about Beijing.

In Liaodong and Mongolia, eyes are also on Beijing. Shenyang, in particular, is now the capital of the emerging Manchurian regime. The imperial court there has decided to march into the Central Plains to fulfill the long-cherished wish of the first emperor, Huang Taiji. Ever since he received the report that Li Zicheng was marching into Beijing, he has been constantly discussing and sending people to investigate, concerned about whether Beijing will fall into the hands of "thieves." If Beijing does not fall into the hands of "thieves", how should the Qing state march into the Great Wall? If Beijing falls into the hands of "thieves", how should the Qing state march into the army? That's the central question they are considering. In particular, the young auxiliary king Dorgon, who had just seized power, had been ambitious and had always wanted to march within the Great Wall, but now in order to consolidate his dominance, the Manchurian nobles who opposed him had to obey him, and he had to take this opportunity to establish immortal feats and trample others under his feet. So he was constantly thinking about Beijing, and even dreamed about how to seize Beijing.

As for the people living in Beijing, they are even more concerned about the fate of Beijing every day. The price of rice has risen recently, and the price of firewood and coal has also risen. In the event that Beijing is besieged, the food supply is cut off, the coal and firewood are cut off, and thousands of households in Beijing will experience a catastrophe. At the same time, people began to talk about Li Zicheng's personality. Some people say that Li Zicheng is very benevolent and righteous, and some people say that Li Zicheng is a "thief" after all. If Li Zicheng entered Beijing, wouldn't so many royal relatives, nobles, and eunuchs be ruined? Although the common people are not subject to royal favors, the situation is different, but in case of rape, abduction, burning, and killing, how can it be good? So these days, from the prince's house to the common people, there is no one who is sensible and does not worry about Beijing. Some old men, although they still carry their birdcages to the open area in the morning, but acquaintances sigh at each other. Someone often sighs in a low voice: "Alas, Beijing! Beijing! ......" then shook his head, and said no more.

At this moment, on the road from Ningyuan to Shanhaiguan, the grass and trees were slightly blue, the climate was still cold with the remnants of winter, the weather was gloomy, and the spring did not come to the customs for a long time. There were about 20,000 or 30,000 cavalry and infantry, protecting the families of civil and military officials and gentry, as well as the Han people, who claimed to be 500,000 but were actually only about 200,000, and advanced towards Shanhaiguan. There were still 20,000 or 30,000 horses at the end, in case the Manchurian soldiers were chasing from the north, robbing the population and baggage. It was a torrent of great retreat, but saw countless wagons, ox carts, carts, and camels, mules and horses that could carry heavy loads, moving forward along the dusty avenue. In front was an elite army, about five or six thousand cavalry and two or three thousand infantry, which was already very close to the Great Wall. The Great Wall made a turn north of Shanhaiguan, from north to south to the sea. And this vanguard is now advancing towards the Shanhaiguan Sea near the sea. The Jiang Nu Temple in the water by the sea has been seen very clearly, and all the ships carrying grain appear in sight.

In the middle of this elite team, there is a particularly elite cavalry that protects Pingxibo Wu Sangui and his dependents. The title of Earl of Pingxi was recently conferred, and he was encouraged to rush to the rescue of the capital. It had been six days since he left Ning Yuan. If he could lead the light cavalry from Ningyuan to advance day and night like Yuan Chonghuan did in the past, he should have arrived at the city of Beijing at this time, set up a camp outside the Desheng Gate, and waited to meet the intruders. However, he marched slowly, marching less than fifty miles a day, and was still on his way to Shanhaiguan. Even if the emperor kept urging him, the military department came to Yuyu to urge, and the governor of Jiliao personally urged, it could not make him change the speed of the march. Of course, carrying hundreds of thousands of Liaodong people, the road is blocked, and transportation is difficult, which is also an excuse for the slow march, however, why not draw out 20,000 elite soldiers, led by Wu Sangui himself, leave the army, and rush to Beijing?

Chongzhen didn't fully understand the reason for Wu Sangui's slow march, and he didn't dare to give an order, so he could only urge Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao. He looked forward to Wu Sangui's rescue day and night, and often sighed in the Qianqing Palace, which was really long-sighted.

At this time, in the northwest direction of Beijing, there was also a team that was rapidly advancing. They numbered about sixty or seventy thousand horses, including many Ming troops and civilian officials who surrendered along the road. The cavalry looked like there were thirty or forty thousand men, and the infantry numbered about twenty or thirty thousand. Walking in front were all elite troops, about forty or fifty thousand people. The front team has arrived in Yanqing Prefecture and is heading towards Liugou Fort. The rear team is still in Tumubao and Huailaiyi. Li Ziben himself has already passed the Huailaiyi. At this time, the sky was just bright, but the weather was still the same as two or three days ago, with strong winds, yellow sand, and darkness. However, this team was neatly organized, and everyone had a victorious look on their faces, as if the cold wind and yellow sand did not exist in front of them. Li Zicheng was wearing felt riding boots, riding an oolong horse, wearing a yellow robe, and a yellow umbrella in front of him. Surrounded by his cronies and generals. Song Xiance, a military advisor, Niu Jinxing, a scholar, and a large number of scholars who surrendered in Xi'an all followed him on horseback. The princes of the Ming Dynasty, such as the King of Qin and the King of Jin, also followed. There were about two or three thousand cavalrymen, riding selected tall horses with neat armor, escorting Li Zicheng and a large number of Wenchen forward. The cavalry was led by a young general, Li Zicheng's close nephew, Li Qiang, who three years ago was the leader of his own army, and today he is a general Guo Yi. Behind the escort pro-army, they were also followed by Bai Guangen, Jiang Jiu, the chief military officer of the Ming Dynasty, and Du Xun, the eunuch Du Xun, and their personal soldiers and slaves.

Li Zicheng rushed around immediately for days, and although he couldn't help but feel tired, he had never been so proud as he was now. Because when he was in Xi'an, although he changed the country name to Dashun and the year name "Yongchang", and changed Xi'an to Chang'an and set it as the capital, he always felt relieved if he did not take Beijing, and the people of the whole country would not think that he had won the country. And now that we are getting closer and closer to Beijing, maybe tomorrow we can come to the city. After more than ten years of hard work and bloodshed, there is finally a result, and Beijing is about to get it. Because I was constantly thinking about victory in my heart, I almost completely forgot the fatigue on my body.

He not only thought about entering Beijing, but also thought about going down to the south of the Yangtze River and reunifying the whole country. Regarding the lower Jiangnan, he discussed many times with Niu, Song and other Wenchen, and everyone thought that as long as Beijing was taken and the throne was officially ascended, Jiangnan could be passed on, even if there were some people who did not know the times, they would fight for the Ming Dynasty, but the general trend would never be a big war. He thought of Manchuria again. Li Yan had told him several times, saying that Manchuria was a great trouble in the north, and that he might take advantage of the disturbance of the army to march within the Great Wall, and he must take precautions. But many people think it's overkill. Li Zicheng also thinks this is overthinking. He thought, after all, Manchuria was a small nouveau riche who had just started up, and the reason why he was able to harass the Ming Dynasty was because the Ming Dynasty had been rotted like a big tree that had been eaten by insects, and it was like a dilapidated family, and anyone could bully it. Manchuria may not dare to touch Dashun. Even if it dared to send troops into the fortress, as long as the number of people was small, it would not be a problem. In the past, Manchuria entered the fortress several times, and there were not many people, but it was only the Ming Dynasty officials and local officials who feared the enemy like tigers and collapsed when they heard the wind, so that a small number of captives entered a no-man's land. Today, he led the Dashun army to Beijing, which is a division that has won a hundred battles, and the Dongyu will never dare to act rashly.

Now he is worried about Wu Sangui's people. He had already received a report that Wu Sangui had left Ningyuan a few days ago and led his troops to King Qin, and he was afraid that he had entered Shanhaiguan at present. He didn't know how many men Wu Sangui had, he just attached great importance to this force. He thought that if Wu Sangui had 20,000 or 30,000 horses and arrived in Beijing first, it would be difficult to break through the city of Beijing. If the city of Beijing could not be breached in a few days, he would not be able to stay under the city for a long time. Since ancient times, such a large city has never been besieged with tens of thousands of horses. And under the garrison fortified city, the time was a little longer, and the people of the king of Qin from all walks of life came one after another, and he could not help but retreat. Once the army is withdrawn, it is inevitable that the military prestige will be damaged and the morale of the army will be shaken. Zhang Xianzhong can take the opportunity to make trouble, and the feudal officials of the Ming Dynasty and the local tyrants and gentry will also cause trouble. So he couldn't help but be a little worried in his pride. However, he thought about it again, he could reach the city of Beijing within two days, and he would probably attack Beijing before Wu Sangui. If Beijing is broken within a day or two, Wu Sangui will not dare to come to Beijing; Even if he came, he was a step too late, and he couldn't save Chongzhen's life, nor could he save the Ming Dynasty. Thinking of this, he became proud again. It turned out that in February, he heard rumors in Beijing that Chongzhen was going to flee to the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, he was very worried that Chongzhen would make this move, thinking that if there was such a thing, it would be very troublesome to destroy the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. Fortunately, he later learned that Chongzhen had no intention of escaping, and had decided to defend Beijing. So he felt relieved, and he didn't expect that in a few days, Chongzhen would be captured alive, or Chongzhen would commit suicide, all in all, the Ming Dynasty was over.

At this time, Li Zicheng's military generals were also happily thinking about entering Beijing, but because they were close to him, no one dared to speak loudly casually. However, the joy of being accomplished was uncontrollably revealed in everyone's faces and eyes.

The old groom, Wang Changshun, walked behind, about half a mile away from King Chuang, where the generals could speak in a whisper. Some people joked with Wang Changshun, calling him "Bi Ma Wen", also known as "Horse Herding Envoy". Some people also advised him to find a beautiful wife after he arrived in Beijing, so that he would not have no one to take care of his life as an old man. Everyone, you say a word, I say a word, Wang Changshun laughed. However, while laughing, Wang Changshun was always a little relieved in his heart. He thought, if Beijing can't be attacked, can he still sit firmly in the world when he retreats to Xi'an? He also heard that the cavalry of the Hu people was very strong, and if the Hu people came in and the king lived in Beijing, wouldn't there be no risk? In any case, he always felt that he was not very steady, but in the cheerful atmosphere of the generals on the left and right, he could only bury his worries deep in his heart. But when he was in Xi'an, he occasionally went to visit Tian Jianxiu, and the two could still talk a little from their hearts. No one would be able to listen to him, and he would not dare to speak again.

After walking for a while, Liu Zongmin sent someone from the front team to report to Li Zicheng, saying that the front team had passed Liugou and that there were no enemy soldiers to defend it, leaving an official to wait, saying that Tang Tong, the chief military officer, was in Badaling to welcome the holy car. Li Zicheng was very happy to hear this. Although Bai Guangen and Jiang Hao had written to Tang Tong beforehand, persuading him to surrender, and he also expressed his willingness to surrender, Li Zicheng was always a little worried that Tang Tong, who had been named Dingxibo by Chongzhen, would delay the date of attacking Beijing if he led his troops to resist in the area of Badaling and Juyongguan. Even if he only resisted for three days, Wu Sangui would take the opportunity to go to Beijing first, increasing the difficulty of breaking through Beijing. Now that Tang Tong has surrendered in Badaling, this has greatly relieved him. Li Zicheng rode on a horse, looking at the mountains and rivers, thinking that this majestic country was about to change owners, and a heroic mood was unconsciously full of mind, so he raised his whip and urged the horse, and told the people and horses to speed up. Originally, he was clear about his daily itinerary, but at this time, he unconsciously asked left and right: "Ah, is it March 16 today?" According to the expected schedule, they could reach Beijing on the 18th or 19th, and according to Song Xiance's divination, they would attack Beijing in these two days and seize the Ming Dynasty. So when he heard that it was March 16th, he smiled unappetly.

Li Zicheng arrived at Liugou and did not stay. There were several official gentry from the city of Yanqing Prefecture, kneeling on the side of the road to greet them. Because Zhizhou had fled, Tongzhi presented the official seal. Niu Jinxing sent a message to the officials and gentry instead of Li Zicheng, asking them to serve as usual, so that the people in the city could live in peace and wait for the new officials to come. Li Zicheng just glanced at these officials and gentry, neither spoke nor stopped to take a closer look. Now that he is the emperor of the Great Shun Dynasty, he no longer takes the ordinary surrendered gentry in his eyes.

When they arrived at Qinglong Bridge, Tang Tong, the Ming Dynasty's Dingxi Bo and chief military officer, and Du Zhizhi, the eunuch of the town, sent people to kneel here to pick them up, and gave a message to Li Zicheng: the two of them led civil and military officials to pick up outside the Badaling Great Wall. Li Zicheng had already known in advance that Tang Tong and Du Zhizhi had surrendered, and at this time, he nodded and smiled at Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing immediately. Not long after, they arrived outside the Badaling Pass of the Great Wall, and sure enough, they saw a large group of surrendered generals kneeling down to greet them with Tang Tong as the capital. He dismounted with a smile and walked up to Tang Tong with a relaxed attitude and asked him to stand up. He also said some words of reward to Tang Tong and Du Zhizhi respectively. Immediately, he saw Liu Zongmin also leading the generals out of the Great Wall, dismounted and saluted him. He said to Liu Zongmin:

"It's important to go to Beijing quickly, you don't have to delay here, after you get to the city to fight, you can lead the front team to Beijing."

Liu Zongmin agreed, and hurriedly led the generals to get on their horses and whip towards the Badaling City Gate.

Bai Guangen met with Tang Tong and stood on the road to greet for a while. Bai Guangen praised Tang Tong and Du Zhizhi for being people who knew the current affairs, knew that the destiny of heaven was crucial, and abandoned the darkness and turned to the light. Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance also praised Tang Tong's loyalty, and if he can praise the founding of the country, he will be reused and enjoy wealth forever. Tang Tong and Du Zhizhi said that they had already seen that the Ming Dynasty had exhausted its qi and that the fortunes of Dashun were prosperous, and it was only today that they could join the new dynasty. Li Zicheng nodded and smiled, and said:

"The new dynasty is in need of employing people, and I have been thinking about your service for a long time, and now I am very happy to have you come. In the future, it will dominate the world and pass it on to all generations. You are also the founding heroes of the country, and your name will go down in history and shadow future generations. ”

Hearing these words, Tang Tong and Du Zhizhi quickly knelt down again, kowtowed and thanked him, and shouted long live.

After entering the Great Wall, I turned two corners, and Juyong Guancheng was in front of me. At this time, the banner of Daming in the city had been hurriedly replaced with the banner of Dashun. After the whole army entered Juyong Pass, a part of it continued to advance, all in green clothes and white hats, and the troops were purged. Although Tang Tong's army still wore the Ming army uniform, they also wrapped a white cloth around their arms in a hurry, and the word "Shun" was written on the white cloth. The people in the city are all at the door of the roadside of the incense case, on the incense table erected a yellow tablet, on the book "Long live the Emperor Dashun". There is a word "Shun" pasted on the door of every house. The gentry and some of the elders of the city knelt outside the city gate to greet them. Tang Tong and Du Zhizhi led the local gentry to lead with drum music, and welcomed Li Zicheng into the city of Juyongguan and rested in a house. Although this house is not very large, it is rare in Juyongguan City, and it has been cleaned up overnight.

After Li Zicheng sat down, Tang Tong led the local officials and gentry to kneel and kowtow three times again, and then ordered someone to put out the prepared banquet. Li Zicheng dined in the music, sat alone, and the officials and gentry withdrew from the hall, not daring to accompany each other. Li Zicheng wanted to stay with Niu, Song and Tang Tong for dinner so that they could talk, but due to the royal system, it was impossible to be as happy as before. Especially temporarily stationed in Juyong Guancheng, Tang Tong and Du Zhizhi took over and offered imperial meals, and Tang Tong did not dare to have the slightest negligence. After Li Zicheng had dinner, Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance led the generals Bai Guangen, Tang Tong, the eunuchs Du Xun and Du Zhizhi of the newly demoted prison army, and all the civil and military dignitaries who accompanied the car came to the hall again, and after saluting, they were divided into two groups and stood solemnly. If in the past, Li Zicheng would get up to greet everyone, greet everyone cordially, return the salute politely, and give up his seat kindly, but now his identity has changed greatly, especially in front of Tang Tong, Du Xun, and Du Zhizhi, for fear that they will still be "thieves" behind their backs, so he looked solemn, without a smile, glanced at Wu Ruyi, and commanded softly:

"Reward the soldiers of the Tang Battalion!"

Although Tang Tong was a general of the Ming Dynasty and was named Dingxibo, he only had a few thousand soldiers under his command, and even the men and horses withdrawn from Liugou and Yanqing Prefecture were less than 10,000, and he falsely reported 15,000. A reward of 30,000 taels of silver was awarded, and Tang Tong and some important generals and staff were specially rewarded with gold, silver and silk. There are also many rewards for Du Zhizhi and his entourage. After the award and thanksgiving, the music stopped, and Li Zicheng only left Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Tang Tong and Du Zhizhi to talk, signaling the other scholars and martial artists to withdraw. He first asked Tang and Du about the defense of the city in Beijing. They all said that the city of Beijing was empty of troops, and the three battalions were just a broken shelf. The 30,000 men defending in the Shahe area could not fight at all, and Li Guozhen, the commander of the army, was a hakama son, and as soon as the army arrived, these 30,000 people would collapse without a fight. As for the city of Beijing, there are neither soldiers nor money, and the common people are unwilling to defend the city for the Ming Emperor. As soon as the army reached the city of Beijing, the eunuchs who defended the city would collapse. After Li Zicheng heard this, he was very happy in his heart. Song Xiance asked on the side:

"According to you, will Wu Sangui come to Beijing in the next two days?"

Tang Tong said: "I don't think Wu Sangui is a fool, he won't come to Beijing anytime soon. If he had been honest and diligent, he would have come a few days ago. ”

Niu Jinxing said: "It is said that he brought 500,000 people to Guannai, and he could only walk forty or fifty miles a day, so he came slowly. ”

Tang Tong said: "If he is really diligent king, he can choose a part of the elite cavalry to rush day and night." It is only three or four days' journey from Ningyuan to Beijing. In the second year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan came to Beijing from Ningyuan to Qinwang, marched day and night, and only walked for three days. Wu Sangui said that he led the people into the customs, but this was just a cover and could not be a reason for him to delay time. ”

Li Zicheng felt that Tang Tong's words were very reasonable, nodded and asked, "Since Wu Sangui is half-hearted about King Qin's affairs, how should we deal with it?" ”

Tang Tong said: "If Long Live allows him to be a high-ranking official, even if he enters the Shanhaiguan, he will stop and watch the direction of the wind." After our army entered the city of Beijing, we should properly protect Wu Xiang's family, give all kinds of preferential treatment, and then ordered Wu Xiang to write a letter to his son. The last general is also willing to write a book, and he will not worry that Wu Sangui will not be happy to return to obedience. ”

Li Zicheng was very happy and said: "After breaking Beijing, Wu Xiang's family will naturally be treated preferentially, as long as Wu Sangui is willing to surrender, he will never be treated badly." Lone must be crowned with a lord, with mountains and rivers, and rest with the country. In this matter, we have to count on General Tang and General Bai to help from it. ”

Tang Tong and Bai Guangen said respectfully at the same time: "The ministers should serve Your Majesty. ”

Niu Jinxing asked: "General Tang used to fight against the captives in Songshan the year before last, according to your opinion, will there be any action in front of the Dongjiao?" ”

Tang Tong said: "This is difficult to predict, the Dongyu is indeed very strong, and he always wants to enter the Central Plains. ”

Niu Jinxing said: "However, the chief Taiji has only died not long ago, and there are internal strife, and there are four auxiliary kings, who are suspicious of each other. I heard that among the auxiliary kings, there is a man named Dorgon, who seized power at a young age and had the heart to invade the Central Plains, but he was a domineering man and might not be able to convince others, so he may not have the strength to enter the Great Wall to harass him at the moment. ”

Tang Tong hurriedly said: "What the scholar said is very true, although the full army is also very strong, but it will not rashly become an enemy of Dashun. Just now, I just talked about the Ming army's war against the Manchu army in the past few years, and I always felt that the Manchu army was stronger than the Ming army. As for whether Dolgon dared to enter the army to harass after Huang Taiji's death, I can't predict it, it seems that he probably won't dare. ”

While he was talking, a report came from the head of the front team, saying that the front team had passed Changping, and he hoped that the holy driver would not be delayed too long in Juyongguan. Li Zicheng talked with Bai Guangen, Tang Tong and others for a while, then got up and led everyone out of Juyongguan City to Beijing.

There are still some winding mountain roads between Juyong Pass and Nankou. Because there are mountains in the north and the Great Wall, the cold wind cannot blow, and the spring flowers, pear blossoms, and peach blossoms are blooming on the slopes of the mountain. A few small villages, each with three or five families, or at most a dozen or so, dotted with desolate hillsides and ditch banks. Now the common people help the old and the young, go out of the village, and approach the mountain road where the army passes to watch. When Li Zicheng's simple guard of honor came closer, everyone hurriedly put up the incense case and knelt on the ground. Tang Tong said to Li Zicheng:

"Your Majesty, please see, the people in this mountain know that Your Majesty is the true son of heaven, and the military discipline is strict, and they all kneel down from afar to greet him."

Li Zicheng smiled slightly, nodded and said, "You preach to the people, each of them will live in peace, and wait for relief." When I enter Beijing, the world will be decided, and I will not suffer from the war in the future. ”

At this time, Liu Zongmin was almost in Changping. The governor of Changping has fled. Some officials and gentry and elders placed incense cases on the side of the road outside Changping City, waiting to greet the Dashun Emperor, and there were two or three hundred people in the distance who also placed incense cases. The soldiers and horses of Dashun kept advancing from the main road, and they did not pay attention to these people who greeted them. But seeing the yellow dust rolling, the army was cleaned. Every general rode by, and the gentlemen and fathers bowed down to greet them. The generals did not stop, looked at it for a moment, and continued to move forward. Now that the Dashun army has won successive victories, I believe that the splendid country has been won nine times out of ten, and everyone's heart is full of pride and pride, so the discipline is still very good, but the situation of seeing the people asking for cold and warmth in the past is becoming less and less.

Liu Zongmin led a group of generals to the outskirts of Changping Prefecture under the escort of his own soldiers. The officials and gentry saw that he was so mighty, and the generals around him were so tightly guarded by him, thinking that he was Li Zicheng. Everyone quickly knelt down, not daring to raise their heads, only a gentleman secretly raised his eyes, felt strange in his heart, and whispered to a gentleman next to him:

"Sure enough, the instrument is extraordinary, but I didn't wear a yellow dragon robe!"

The gentleman's body trembled slightly, and he whispered: "I won't wear a yellow dragon robe until after I ascend to the pole in Beijing!" ”

As he spoke, Liu Zongmin had already come to the front, and the kneeling people completely knelt on the ground, and a loud voice shouted:

"Changping Prefecture Toushun Subjects Respectfully Receive the Holy Driver!"

Liu Zongmin glanced at the side of the road, waved his big hand, and said, "The holy car is behind." Then he galloped forward surrounded by the generals.

Today, it did not take a single arrow to enter the Juyong Pass, so that the newly emerging Dashun Dynasty's civil and military ministers and the soldiers of the three armies were elated, thinking that the city of Beijing would definitely be destroyed within two or three days, and then spread the word to the south of the Yangtze River, and the great cause of a thousand years was laid from then on. Liu Zongmin left only 2,000 men to garrison Juyongguan and Badaling in place of the surrendered Ming army. The army of 70,000 or 80,000 continued to advance and poured like a tidal wave towards Beijing. Li Zicheng and the central government's office, such as the Prime Minister's Mansion, the Military Division's Office, and the Six Governments, did not have to rush with the army, and temporarily went to Changping City to rest. Because there were important matters to discuss, Liu Zongmin was also left by the emperor.

The Changping Prefecture is also relatively spacious and serves as the temporary palace of the Dashun Emperor. The military division office was stationed in the Zhentai Yamen of the Changping General Army, the Prime Minister's Mansion was stationed in the Xue Palace, the six governments and the Wenyu Yuan were crowded into other yamen and private houses respectively, and the imperial camp and other troops were stationed in the barracks, and many tents were erected in the open space. After dinner, Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin had a few words, and then ordered the propaganda officials to send the central ministers such as the prime minister, the chief and deputy military divisions, the six government scholars, the squire, and the scholars of the Wenyu Academy, to come to the palace to hold a pre-imperial meeting.

Since crossing the river into Jin, there have been many imperial meetings on the march. At this meeting tonight, we will discuss many major measures after the breakthrough of Beijing, including where the Emperor Dashun will be stationed outside Beijing, where he will enter the inner city of Beijing after the city is broken, where he will enter the imperial city and the Forbidden City, and where he will live in the palace after entering the Forbidden City. At the beginning of tonight's imperial meeting, Li Zicheng asked Song Xiance when he would be able to break the city. For a moment, his colleagues turned their eyes to the face of the military advisor, waiting for him to give a clear answer to the emperor.

Since the Dashun army entered the Great Wall without a fight, and crossed Changping, Song Xiance received a report from the forward generals, knowing that Li Guozhen of the Ming Dynasty led three battalions to defend Shahe. Li Guozhen, the uncle of Xiangcheng, was originally a son of a hakama, with no military experience, and could only talk about it. On 17 March, he led thousands of newly recruited soldiers of the three major battalions, most of whom were outlaws, to set up defenses in Shahe, and when he saw the arrival of the Dashun army, he collapsed without a fight, and Li Guozhen fled back to Beijing. Song Xiance carefully analyzed the offensive and defensive situation in his heart, and concluded that the army only needed to besiege the city for two days, and the city would collapse, and the city would be easily broken. He was always aware of the weather changes, especially his left leg, which he had broken while riding a horse when he was young, and he felt pain every time it was rainy. But after all, he was born as a warlock in the rivers and lakes, and he relied on this technique to win the trust of Li Zicheng and the soldiers under King Chuang, and he has been a military advisor for three years, so he doesn't use the simplest words to say his analysis, but slightly stretches out his left hand, palm up, pinching the joints of the index finger and middle finger with his thumb, and muttering in his mouth: "Jiachen, Yisi, Bingwu, Ding Wei, ah, ah, according to the minister, if there is a light rain on the 18th, the city will be broken at dawn on the 19th." If there is no rain on the 18th, it will have to wait for the city to be broken on the second or third day. ”

Li Zicheng looked happy and said: "It seems that the weather will not clear up immediately, and everything will be arranged according to the 19th breaking the city." I decided to set the capital of Chang'an, Beijing is just here, after the matter is decided, it will be renamed Youzhou Mansion, this matter has been agreed in Chang'an. Lonely in Beijing, what palace will you live in after entering the Forbidden City? ”

Niu Jinxing already knew what Song Xiance meant, and of course Li Yan also knew, but they all laughed and said nothing. Li Zicheng usually respects Jin Xing very much, and relies on him and Song Xiance to decide the big plan, seeing that he didn't say anything at this time, for some reason, he looked at him and asked:

"Mr. Niu said first, what palace should I live in the Forbidden City?"

Niu Jinxing has recently tried his best to cultivate a graceful and calm prime minister's bearing, neither competing with his colleagues, but also wanting all major decisions to be made by the emperor, so he respectfully replied to Li Zicheng:

"Among the ministers who were summoned to come to the imperial court tonight, there are many people who have entered and exited the palace in the Chongzhen Dynasty and know more about the main palaces in the Forbidden City, please let them see it for Your Majesty, and then ask the Song military division to express their good strategies according to the principle of the five elements, and then ask Your Majesty to consider whether it is possible to break off their hearts and minds, and it will be foolproof."

Li Zicheng nodded and said to the newly descended ministers: "What the prime minister said is very true, you can express your opinions without scruples. ”

The group of ministers who surrendered from Xiangyang and Xi'an and in Shanxi are considered to be knowledgeable about current affairs and know that "the destiny of heaven is critical", and now they are said to be the "ministers of the dragon" who founded the country in Dashun. Most people think that the emperor of the new dynasty should live in the Qianqing Palace after arriving in Beijing, and there is no need to discuss it. Gong Yan, the secretary of the government of Li, stood up and said:

"Your Majesty should be lucky, hang the people and kill the crime, the sky and the people will return, and this Hongye will be achieved, Debi Yao Shun, and Tang Wu will be meritorious. The conquest of Beijing, as expected by the military advisors, was just a matter of Gu Jian. The minister thought that after His Majesty entered the city, he should live in the Qianqing Palace, which was justified, and there was no need to choose another place. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "I often heard the name of the Qianqing Palace, where is it in the Forbidden City?" Is this palace very big? ”

Gong Yan replied: "In the Forbidden City, there are many palaces, and it is difficult for foreign ministers to know in detail. After the minister released the brown, in the past ten years, he first served in the Ministry of Works, and then served in the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy, and the number of other courtiers was summoned by Emperor Chongzhen, and the right place was called to the platform, or for the Wenhua Palace, or for the Qianqing Palace, so the minister was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to the Qianqing Palace twice. The palace in the Forbidden City was built, divided into a front and rear harem, which is in terms of the main layout in the middle. The so-called former dynasty refers to the Huangji Palace, the Middle Pole Palace, and the Jianji Palace, which are collectively referred to as the three major halls. Between the harem Qianqing and Kunning two palaces, there is a hall, which is called Jiaotai Palace, and takes the righteousness of Qiankun Jiaotai. After His Majesty enters the Forbidden City, of course, he should live in the Qianqing Palace and deal with state affairs. The Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing in the nineteenth year of Yongle, and it has been more than 220 years since then, only the two emperors of Zhengde and Jiajing, ignoring the government and politics, do not like to live in the Qianqing Palace, which is not enough for training. His Majesty came into being, and ruled the world with water virtue instead of fire virtue, how can he not live in the Qianqing Palace to show the righteousness of the world? ”

Li Zicheng felt that Gong Yan's words were quite reasonable, but seeing that Song Xiance, Niu Jinxing, and Li Yan did not approve of it, he had doubts in his heart, so he asked other Wenchen:

"What do you guys claim?"

Gu Junen, a scholar of the Wenyu Academy, said: "The Book of Changes says 'Dazai Qianyuan', and it also says that Qianyuan is the sky and the king, and Kun is the earth and the queen. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty built the imperial palace, and the palace where the emperor lived was named Qianqing Palace, and the queen's residence was named Kunning Palace. "Qing" and "Ning" are the meaning of peace and prosperity, so between the two palaces is the Tai Palace, covering the meaning of the Thai hexagram of the Book of Changes, like saying: "Heaven and earth are handed over, Thailand." Just now, Gong Shangshu suggested that His Majesty should live in the Qianqing Palace, which is quite reasonable. However, don't worry, you might as well consider another palace. ”

Li Zicheng asked, "What are you worried about?" ”

Gu Junen said: "From the perspective of the ministers, although Chongzhen is the king of the dead country, he is different from the kings of the dead country in the past dynasties. Chongzhen has a strong temperament and is well known. When the city was broken, he would neither surrender nor be captured and humiliated, and he would commit suicide in the Qianqing Palace, or hang himself, or take poison, or self-immolation, and even he would summon the concubines to the Qianqing Palace, and die in the fire together, and die a vigorous martyrdom. Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to consider another palace as a place to stay, so as not to be temporarily busy. ”

Li Zicheng was unmoved, nodded lightly, and asked the ministers:

"What other palace can be stationed?"

Yu Shangyou, the secretary of the military government, replied: "In the Ming Dynasty, the minister was a speech official, in addition to participating in the early dynasty, he was also called to the right, or on the platform, or in the Wenhua Palace, so he knew a little about the Wenhua Palace. Wenhua Hall is an important palace in the Forbidden City, in the east of Zuoshun Gate, not far from Donghua Gate. Mandarin Hall ......"

Li Zicheng nodded: "This Wenhua Hall is very famous, and I often hear people talk about it." You go on, go on. ”

Yu Shangyou continued: "The Wenhua Hall was built in the Yongle period, and it was not often visited. Jiajing practiced Zuo, rebuilt the Wenhua Palace, replaced it with yellow tiles, and then it was the location of the Spring and Autumn Banquet, and often summoned the ministers here. In the middle of the hall, there is the throne of the courtiers, the palace is called the golden platform, and the general summoning is in the east and west warm pavilion. There is a plaque hanging in the hall, on which is written the twelve words of 'learning two emperors and three kings to rule the world by the great scriptures and great laws', which is the imperial pen of the gods. This Wenhua Hall and the Jinshen Hall behind it, plus the Wenhua Gate and other houses, become a complete palace courtyard, which is very tight. Moreover, the Wenhua Hall is very close to the cabinet. The cabinet turned east in the noon gate, and there were several houses carved out of the Wenyuan Pavilion, which were the places where the auxiliary ministers were on duty. Although my Dashun Dynasty restored the prime minister system since the Tang and Song dynasties, called Tianyou Pavilion scholars, and did not need auxiliary ministers to form a cabinet, but the Prime Minister's Mansion had a large number of personnel, and they could not all be in the Forbidden City. The cabinet facing east in the noon gate will still be Prime Minister Niu Cheng's duty room in the Forbidden City, so that the emperor can summon him at any time to discuss military affairs. If His Majesty uses the Mandarin Hall as a temporary residence in the palace, then the cabinet can be said to be close at hand. Therefore, Weichen was ignorant and took the liberty to suggest that His Majesty should be stationed in the Wenhua Hall after entering the Forbidden City, and there was no need to think about anything else. ”

Li Zicheng nodded with a smile, and praised Yu Shangyou in his heart for making sense, but he didn't speak immediately, waiting for other ministers to express what they saw.

The ministers saw that the emperor's expression was happy, and Prime Minister Niu was also encouraging everyone to speak with his eyes, so they continued to speak around this topic, except for Niu, Song and Li Yan, almost all of them spoke. However, people did not have any new suggestions, but only expressed their opinions on the Qianqing Palace and the Wenhua Palace, and the general opinion was that if Chongzhen did not burn down the Qianqing Palace and did not commit suicide in the Qianqing Palace, Li Zicheng would naturally enter the Qianqing Palace, otherwise he would be stationed in the Wenhua Palace. For example, some people say that if the emperor enters the Donghua Gate and stays in the Wenhua Palace, it is in line with the meaning of the ancients that "purple gas comes from the east", and purple gas is auspicious qi. Some people wanted to take the opportunity to cater to Niu Jinxing's intentions, and said to Li Zicheng:

"Your Majesty, although our dynasty is Dingding Chang'an, Beijing will be renamed Youzhou Mansion, and it is only in line at present. However, the period of action can be long or short. Stayed for a few months, but also walked. In the humble opinion of the ministers, after the emperor stationed in the Wenhua Palace, the prime minister took the cabinet as the duty room, and might as well change the name of Wenyuan Pavilion to Tianyou Pavilion, which is justified and the eyes and ears of the new world. It's easy to do, it's just a matter of getting a new plaque. ”

Li Zicheng saw that the ministers had no more important opinions, and looked at Niu, Song and Li Yan and asked:

"Qing and the other three, what do you think?"

Niu Jinxing said: "Regarding this matter, the minister, Song and Li, the two military advisors, naturally have to discuss privately because of the close ministers of His Majesty and the participation of the secret, and they dare not be negligent. But such a big event, if it is not under the city of Beijing, it will be secretly heard, and the ministers will not dare to divulge a word. Since this matter is discussed in front of the emperor tonight, I would like to ask the ministers and others to discuss it, and I would like to ask the emperor to make a decision. ”

Li Zicheng said in his heart: "Ah, it turns out that you have already discussed! He looked at Song Junshi and asked, "If you are proficient in the five elements of yin and yang, you must have high insights, you can say it quickly." ”

All the ministers attending the Imperial Council focused their eyes on Song Xiance's face, waiting for him to make a statement.

As if to show solemnity, Song Xiance stood up respectfully.

"Your Majesty, Wei Chen thinks that tomorrow the Holy Driver will go to the city of Beijing, and where to temporarily stay must be decided tonight so that he can make proper preparations."

Li Zicheng said: "Yes, we are about to go outside Beijing, where is it appropriate to stay, this matter must be agreed quickly!" ”

"Your Majesty," Song Xiance said, "although the ascension ceremony has not been held, in Chang'an has been established Dashun and changed to Yongchang, so Your Majesty has actually ascended to the Ninth Five-Year Honor, which is not comparable to the decisive battle in the past." After stealing the saint's drive to the city of Beijing, where he was temporarily stationed; After the city is broken, where will the holy driver enter the city, and when will he start to enter the city; After entering the Forbidden City, he lived in He Palace...... All these major events are related to the fortune of the country. The small people can not do everything carelessly when they move, break ground, and put on the beams, not to mention that when the holy driver first arrived in Beijing, everything should be contrary to the principle of the five elements. Although the ministers have opinions, they still need to be discussed by the ministers and cut off from the holy heart. And what needs to be decided urgently is where to stay outside the city, and I hope you will discuss it in detail. ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "You are a regular military teacher, and you should come up with more of your own ideas in these matters." ”

Song Xiance continued: "When the army is still a day's journey from Juyong Pass, and Tang Tong, the guard of Juyong Pass, is surrendered, and the situation that our army will go to Beijing without a fight has been determined. On that day, His Majesty immediately asked his ministers: 'On the day of arrival at the city of Peking, where should I stay?' The minister meditated in his heart for a moment, and then replied to His Majesty: 'Please wait, Your Majesty.' Tang Tong and the civil and military officials came out of Yongguan for thirty miles to welcome the holy driver, and they had already seen the banner, and when Tang Tong and others came, the ministers could show their humble opinions to His Majesty for His Majesty's holy heart. It can be seen that the minister is fortunate to be aware of the encounter, and he is entrusted with the responsibility of his heart, lest he is not thoughtful, rashly suggests, and delays the opportunity. As a matter of fact, as for where His Majesty should be stationed outside Beijing, as early as two days ago, the minister's foolish opinion had already talked with Qidong and Lin Quan, and they agreed, but before meeting Tang Tong, the minister still had an unknown situation and did not dare to say it to His Majesty too early. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "Why do you have to meet Tang Tong before you dare to say your suggestion?" ”

Song Xiance said: "After passing the Xuanfu, I heard that Wu Sangui had been edicted by Chongzhen, and Shening had entered the king of Guanqin, but I didn't know where the soldiers of Guanning had gone. If on the day when our army arrived at the city of Beijing, Wu Sangui had already passed through Yongping and came west, and the march was very fast, His Majesty should be stationed in the eastern suburbs, on the one hand, to urge the righteous army to attack the city, and on the other hand, to deploy troops in Tongzhou, to attack the army of King Wu Sangui Qin, to destroy it in one fell swoop, at least to defeat it, and force it to surrender. After seeing Tang Tong, he knew that Wu Sangui had brought a lot of people from Liaodong and could not travel lightly to King Qin, and he was still in the Shanhaiguan area. Therefore, on the same day, His Majesty once again asked the minister immediately, and the minister quickly replied that it was advisable for the Holy Driver to be stationed in the area of Diaoyutai and Yuyuantan in the west of the city, and Gai did not have to worry about Wu Sangui coming to save Beijing. ”

Yu Shangyou asked: "In addition to having insight into the art of war, the military advisor also understands the principles of "Yi", and is also proficient in the techniques of Qimen, Dunjia, Fengjiao, and Liuren, which is deeply admired by Shangyou. But I don't know why the Diaoyutai and Yuyuantan area were chosen as the places where the emperor was stationed outside the city. ”

Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin both knew the reason why Song Xiance chose Diaoyutai, and they agreed very much, and ordered the relevant generals to quickly go to the garrison to make proper preparations, but he listened to Yu Shangyou's words at this time, nodded to the military advisor and said:

"Advice, you tell this truth for everyone to hear."

Song Xiance said: "Obey! He turned to his colleagues in the ministries and institutes, and then said: "In previous years, I didn't meet **, I mixed up in the rivers and lakes, and sold Bu Jingshi." Occasionally, on the good days of spring and autumn, the clouds are light and the wind is clear, with a scholar, planning a trip, or close to the Diaoyutai area, as far as Yuquan Mountain and West Mountain, such as the Reclining Buddha Temple, Biyun Temple, Xiangshan Red Leaves, all have enjoyed the scenery, and the friends outside the party to taste tea and gossip. In order to offer advice, 800 miles of Taihang Mountain to Beijing West Mountain knot, so the West Mountain is lush and green, the king is very strong, the Ming Dynasty has been exhausted, can not keep this heaven to give the king the ear. My emperor is carried by the sky, and the dragon is prosperous in the west, so the "Chronicles" cloud 'eighteen children sit down'. Now Dingding Chang'an, not only because Shaanxi is the land of the emperor's mulberry, the mountains and rivers are dangerous, but also in response to the prophecy of 'sitting'. Diaoyutai is geographically connected with Yuyuan Pond, just in the exchange side of the Beijing Division, and the holy driver is stationed here, which is also the meaning of 'sitting on the exchange'. And the king of Xishan is very prosperous, the Ming Dynasty is in decline, can not enjoy, and the great Shun righteous master came from the west, this lush and vast Xishan king gas belongs to my Dashun. ”

Niu Jinxing interjected with a smile: "What the military advisor said is extremely true. In fact, after my righteous teacher crossed the river, he marched all the way north, and he surrendered everywhere, like a bamboo, and marched so victoriously, unexpectedly there were Tang poetry as prophecies. ”

Li Zicheng was even more joyful, and hurriedly asked: "How can Tang people's poems be prophecies?" ”

Niu Jinxing: "Tang Shiyun: 'The three Jin Yun Mountains are all northward, and the wind and rain of the Erling come from the east. Isn't this previous poem a prophecy for His Majesty to lead a large army north? ”

The ministers of Conglong, who were discussing in front of the emperor, smiled and nodded one after another in respect and prudence.

Li Zicheng was full of spring breeze, nodded frequently, looked at the ministers, and shared happiness. Unexpectedly, at the moment when he was very happy, he inadvertently saw that only Li Yan, although he was also smiling, but he was reluctant to smile, and he was obviously thinking about something else. Li Zicheng remembered that four months ago, when he was discussing the decision to march to Beijing in Xi'an, although Li Yan was not the only minister of civil and military affairs who advocated the Northern Expedition from the Slow Xingxing Division and did not agree to the immediate expedition to Youyan, Li Yan's admonition at that time was the most resolute, which made him very unhappy and made him unwilling to reuse Li Yan when Xi'an was founded, did not appoint him as the secretary of the military government, and only appointed him as Song Xiance's deputy in the newly established Military Division. At this moment, his mind was like lightning and remembered this unpleasant past, and said in his heart:

"Strange! My Dashun army has won all the way, and has arrived outside Beijing, and the Manchu Dynasty is jubilant in its civil and military affairs, why are you the only one Li Yan who has other thoughts, and I am not happy that I will ascend to the pole as soon as possible! ”

Li Zicheng's personality was deep, and he did not reveal the unhappiness of Li Yan in his heart, and then looked at the military advisor and said:

"Advice, your good opinion hasn't been finished yet, keep talking, keep talking."

Song Xiance continued: "Moreover, in the area of Diaoyutai and Yuyuan Pond, there are not only springs gushing out from the ground, hence the name Yuyuan, but also Yuquan Mountain and water from other places also flow here, rippling blue waves, lush vegetation, which is rare in the near city. I should be transported with water virtue, and it is most appropriate for the holy car to be stationed here. ”

Li Zicheng nodded again, and asked Li Yan with a smile, "Lin Quan, what is your opinion?" ”

Although Li Yan was like a scholar who paid attention to the study of the world at that time, he also knew a little about the principles of yin and yang, but he was not convinced, and he was unwilling to talk about the small way of mathematics, so although he and Song Xiance were friends, they often had the same knowledge on major issues, but they had different paths to learn and different attitudes towards the world. Probably because of this difference, they are by Li Zicheng's side, Song Xiance is more and more trusted, but he cannot be trusted in the same way. He was thinking about several major events after entering Beijing, and Song Xiance advised him not to show it to the emperor for the time being, so he had a lot of worries in the midst of the joy. Hearing the emperor's inquiry, he hurriedly bowed over and replied:

"What Song Junshi said just now is that it is appropriate for His Majesty to garrison Diaoyutai outside Beijing, and the minister agrees very much. Offering advice said that Diaoyutai is outside Fucheng Gate, and there are three advantages to staying in Diaoyutai: one is to usher in the king of Xishan, the second is to conform to the prophecy of 'sitting on the table', and the third is to coincide with the luck of water virtue. All of this is very incisive, and I would like to ask your Majesty to adopt it. For the sake of the convenience of the garrison, the ministers also felt that it was best for the imperial camp to be stationed here. ”

Li Zicheng asked, "Why is it the best?" ”

Li Yan replied: "There are 3,000 cavalry in the imperial camp, plus 500 mules and horses. The central yamen together had 1,200 mules and horses. Chenwen Diaoyutai and Yuyuantan are not only empty places, but also rich in water and grass, nearly 5,000 mules and horses are stationed here, which is the most convenient. ”

Li Zicheng said happily: "Okay, this one you added is also very important!" We still have a lot to discuss tonight, and we don't need to discuss the matter of stationing at Diaoyutai anymore. He turned to everyone, and then said: "I just got a report that Chongzhen sent Li Guozhen, the commander of Xiangcheng, to lead three battalions of soldiers and thousands of soldiers to deploy in Shahe, in a vain attempt to block the advance of our army. Two hours ago, the soldiers of the three battalions saw the banner of the front team of our righteous army, and they collapsed without a fight, most of them fled, and some of them surrendered with white flags. That Li Guozhen, seeing that the army's morale was disintegrated and out of control, hurriedly rushed back to Beijing with a group of personal soldiers and slaves. Haha, after all, it's the often said hakama kid, what a lord! Lord! ”

Li Zicheng laughed unconsciously, it was out of his heart's true joy, and at the same time, he also thought that this department was "destined for heaven", and he was in front of him when he entered Beijing. In the praise of the new ministers, he suddenly looked at Liu Zongmin, the Marquis of Ru, and said:

"Jiexuan, you have to hurry up and command the army, and you must surround Beijing tonight. Lone only asks you, what is your opinion on the suggestion of staying in the Diaoyutai place? ”

Liu Zongmin said: "Your Majesty, I only care about commanding the troops to fight, what are the five elements of yin and yang, stargazing and looking at qi, I am a layman." I believe in Song Junshi's words, yes, just do as he says. Your Majesty, I'll go first. ”

Li Zicheng said: "By the way, you tell Wu Ruyi and Li Qiang, and order them to lead two thousand imperial battalion troops to go with you, arrange a palace in the Diaoyutai area, be careful and vigilant, and prepare to meet tomorrow." ”

After Liu Zongmin left in a hurry, Li Zicheng smiled and nodded at him because he was satisfied with Song Xiance's suggestion, then remembered another question and quickly asked:

"Advice, just now after talking about the orphan entering the Forbidden City, it is appropriate to live in the palace, some people advocate that the emperor live in the Qianqing Palace is a matter of course, and some people suggest that the Wenhua Palace, which lives in the Donghua Gate, should be a sign of purple gas coming from the east, what do you claim?"

Just now, Song Xiance deliberately put aside the issue of living in the Qianqing Palace or Wenhua Hall after the holy car entered the Forbidden City, and directly suggested that the holy car should be stationed at Diaoyutai when he went to the city of Beijing. In fact, not only where should the emperor live in the palace, but also which gate should he enter the city from when entering the city, and what route to choose, he has thought about it many times according to the principle of yin and yang mathematics, and he has a bamboo in his chest, but he thinks that such a thing does not need to be discussed in the imperial meeting. At this moment, the emperor asked, and he stood up respectfully and said:

"Your Majesty, the emperor and his ministers are tired of saddle horses, and today they have only decided where the saint should stay after he arrives at the city of Beijing, and the saint and everyone can rest early. Changping Prefecture is ninety miles away from Beijing. Tomorrow four more breakfast, five more departure, noon in the Qinghe sharp, between Shen You to arrive outside the Desheng Gate, before dusk can go to the Diaoyutai Palace to rest. It is expected that tomorrow afternoon, our army will be able to encircle the inner and outer cities of Beijing. After the Holy Driver is stationed in the Diaoyutai Palace, there will be many military affairs waiting for the emperor to deal with. As for how the emperor entered the city and lived in the palace after entering the Forbidden City, Weichen will study with the prime minister in detail at another time. ”

Li Zicheng felt that it made sense and nodded.

Chapter XI

Today is the 17th day of March in the 17th year of Chongzhen (the first year of Yongchang in Dashun), that is, the day when Li Zicheng was stationed in Diaoyutai outside Fuchengmen in Beijing.

After breakfast, Li Shuangxi led a thousand cavalry of the imperial battalion to march to Beijing with a large group of mules and horses carrying heavy loads and goods. The officials and entourages of the central yamen then set off. Because of his status as the emperor, Li Zicheng was escorted by Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Li Yan, and set off with a cannon fire, leading by a guard of honor with drum music. Li Zicheng rode on an oolong horse, with a yellow umbrella in front of him, and a silver saddle and golden stirrups flashed. He held the apricot silk reins in his left hand on the horse, and pointed to the mountains and rivers with a horsewhip with his right hand, and Song pointed to the mountains and rivers, talking about how easy it was to take Beijing, and his face was full of smiles.

Today, Li Zicheng's march and garrison are completely different from those in the past. When to start driving and when to stop, all of which are determined by Song Xian's strategy and divination, to seek good fortune and avoid evil. Because he didn't need to personally command the offensive today, according to the advice of the military advisor, he should arrive outside the Desheng Gate between Shen You, and then turn around, and arrive outside the Fucheng Gate after a while. As for how to clean the palace, how to keep a tight guard, and how to designate the temporary stations of the central yamen within a radius of three miles from Diaoyutai and Yuyuantan, Wu Ruyi and Li Qiang have already gone to arrange it, not only do they not need to worry about it, but they don't even need to move their mouths.

When they arrived at the Qinghe place, the escort of the imperial camp stopped to rest, and after hitting the point, they continued to advance slowly. When he vaguely saw the head of Beijing, he glanced back at the chief and deputy military divisions who were following behind him, and wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything. He saw that Li Yan, the deputy military division, was still thinking about something like last night, which made him even more unhappy, and said to Li Yan in his heart:

"Lin Quan, it's not easy to treat your husband and wife, why are you unhappy when this civil and military force is cheering for victory? When you were in Xi'an, you were strong and presiding, and you discouraged the lonely division from going north. Fortunately, he didn't listen to the advice and was determined to cross the river on ice. As expected, I conformed to the luck of Longxing, the sky and the people, and took the Ming Dynasty as if the country was devastated, and today it successfully arrived at the city of Beijing. If I listen to your admonition, will I not miss the great thing of Lonely! ”

Walking for a short time, there is a mound in front of you, there is a gap in the middle, which runs through the north-south avenue, and the mound is densely wooded up and down, the smoke and clouds are swirling, and the weather is extraordinary. Li Zicheng was looking from afar, and suddenly saw many soldiers and generals clustering around a general, riding out of the gap, dismounting at several tall stone monuments, and lining up on both sides of the avenue. Li Zicheng asked Song Xiance:

"Where is this?"

Song Xiance replied respectfully: "This place is commonly known as Tucheng Pass, which is the north gate of the capital of the Yuan Dynasty. It is a few miles away from Desheng Gate. Your Majesty, please see, it was the Marquis of Ru who led the generals to greet the holy driver! ”

Li Zicheng was suddenly overjoyed, and he didn't feel "ah".

Liu Zongmin's station was outside Fuchengmen, and he constantly sent generals to Shahe Road to listen to the news of the holy driving in order to welcome him. Later, when he received a report that the holy car was only a few miles away from Tucheng Pass, he immediately led the generals above General Guo Yi stationed outside Xizhimen, Deshengmen, and Andingmen to line up outside Tuchengguan. Because it was time to fight, the generals only bowed down and hugged their fists on the horse with Liu Zongmin, and said in unison:

"Greetings!"

Li Zicheng asked Liu Zongmin about the situation of the siege of Beijing, and Liu Zongmin replied:

"There are dozens of miles between the inner and outer cities of Beijing, and the inner city is the most important. Our army has surrounded the east, west, and north of the inner and outer cities to prevent Chongzhen from escaping. The southern city is an outer city, and only the gates of the outer city are surrounded by troops, and cavalry is sent to constantly patrol to cut off news from the outer city and the outside world. The siege artillery has been set up, and the ladders needed to climb the city are all ready to stop tonight. ”

Li Zicheng nodded with satisfaction and said: "Everyone has worked hard for a few days, and after breaking Beijing, the soldiers have made great contributions to the country, and they have not hesitated to be promoted from the best." ”

The generals once again clasped their fists on their horses and bowed down, and said in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty!" ”

Immediately, Liu Zongmin led a group of generals to escort the holy car forward. The generals stationed outside the Desheng Gate and Anding Gate sent off the emperor and galloped back to the station.

After Li Zicheng's imperial cavalry entered Tucheng Pass, they walked for more than a mile and then turned westward, and after a few miles, they met the avenue and turned south again, and then continued to the south from the vicinity of the white stone bridge of the Wanfu Horse Villa outside Xizhimen, and walked in the direction of Diaoyutai. The people defending the city saw more than 2,000 neatly dressed cavalrymen walking outside the city, with a yellow umbrella and a simple guard of honor in the middle, and a group of people in civilian clothes who followed behind the yellow umbrella on horseback, guessing that Li Zicheng must have come to the outside of Beijing. Many of the eunuchs and the people of the city who were guarding the city peeked out from the gaps in the battlements and watched. Although there were many cannons on the head of the city, especially the powerful red-coated cannons on several enemy platforms from Xizhimen to Fuchengmen, no one dared to open a cannon to Li Zicheng and his imperial cavalry. The eunuchs and the people who defended the city believed that the general trend of the Ming Dynasty had passed, and they were afraid that if they angered King Li Chuang, they would be slaughtered after the city was broken. Of course, Liu Zongmin is not a careless person, he ordered Zhang Nai to be stationed in the Moon Temple outside Fucheng Gate, from the north of Xizhi Gate to the south of Fucheng Gate, facing the city wall, with sandbags piled up into many forts, installed cannons, as long as the city head dares to put a cannon, Zhang Nai will wave the red flag, and there will be many cannons to the city one after another.

At this moment, it was clear that the oolong horse also understood that Beijing had arrived, and Xiao Xiao hissed excitedly. Li Zicheng looked at Ma Xi, but saw the sunset on the mountain, the mountains around the West Mountain overlapped, and the mountains were gloomy and green, as Song Xiance said, the king of the West Mountain was very strong. He nodded with a smile and said in his heart: "If you occupy Beijing, the country will be settled!" Then he reined in the reins of his horse and stopped his advance. As soon as he stopped, the ranks behind him all stopped, and the Hu Congqin army in front of him was also immediately ordered by Li Shuangxi to stop. He looked back and whispered to the propagandist beside him, "Please Prime Minister and two military advisors!" A herald shouted backwards:

"The prime minister and the military advisors will meet you!"

When Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and Li Yan heard the pager, they immediately lifted the silk reins and rushed to the side of the holy car to listen to the edict. Li Zicheng smiled with a hesitant smile and said:

"A year ago, we were in Xiangyang at this time, and we didn't expect to be in Beijing now!"

Niu Jinxing replied: "It can be seen that Your Majesty's seizure of the Ming Dynasty today is not only a matter of course, but also a matter of course. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "Advice, you said last night that if there is a light rain on the 18th, the city can be broken at dawn on the 19th." I think the weather seems to be sunny now, and if there is no rain tomorrow, it will take a few days to break the city, and will there be a fierce battle? ”

"From the courtier's point of view, just wait for changes in the city, and there is no need to shed blood and storm it."

Li Zicheng looked at the head of the city and said: "Tonight, we must prepare for the siege of the city, so that we can force the city to surrender without storming." ”

Niu Jinxing bowed down on the horse and said: "When resting in Shahe Town today, Du Xun once said to his ministers that he is willing to enter the city tomorrow, meet Chongzhen, and persuade Chongzhen to give way, but please Your Majesty will not kill Chongzhen and his palace dependents, and treat each other with courtesy." ”

Li Zicheng asked Song Xiance: "Does the military advisor know about this matter?" ”

Song Xiance said: "The minister said to the minister, and the minister also asked Du Xun at that time, and saw that Du Xun was indeed out of loyalty to the new dynasty, and did not mean to deceive His Majesty. ”

"Will Chongzhen kill him?"

"The minister was also worried about this, but Du Xun said that he was willing to risk his life, and he would also enter the palace to persuade Chongzhen to give way."

"Qidong, is this feasible?"

"I thought I might as well give it a try. If Du Xun is killed, but he dies in the ear of a eunuch, I will not be harmed. If Du Xun sees Chongzhen's persuasion successful, then His Majesty will be able to win the world with Zen after success, which is also a good name for the ages. ”

"Okay, tell Du Xun to see me tonight!"

Li Zicheng raised the whip slightly, and at the same time gently lifted the apricot yellow silk reins in his left hand, and the oolong horse slowly advanced. Without him saying a word, the entire escort officials, cavalry, yellow umbrellas and honor guards walked quietly in the direction of Diaoyutai under the illumination of the slanting sun. The soldiers and civilians defending the city on the west city looked out of the city in surprise, and did not dare to fire cannons, dare not shout and scold, and did not even make a noise.

Since Li Zicheng announced the establishment of the Dashun Dynasty in Chang'an on New Year's Day this year, changed the Yuan to Yongchang, and greatly enriched the central government established in Xiangyang, although he has not yet officially ascended to the pole, in order to show humility, he temporarily calls himself "Lonely" and refuses to call him "I", but the civil and military ministers actually regard him as the emperor. Now he is temporarily settled in the Diaoyutai place outside Fuchengmen, waiting to enter Beijing and establish his "immortal cause". The old people under him are still fresh in everyone's memory: at first, no matter where he stayed temporarily, he was called "Pan", which was the abbreviation of the word "Pan" verbally called by the poles in the area of Henan and Shaanxi, and later there were many people and horses, and it was called garrison or garrison. Since the founding of Xi'an, the place where he is temporarily stationed is no longer called a garrison, but a garrison. In the past, the courtyard where he and Mrs. Gao and his soldiers were stationed was called the old camp, and his subordinate generals and veterans who had been with him for a long time could enter and leave the old camp more casually; Later, he was called Generalissimo, and the old battalion was much more heavily guarded; Called the king of Xinshun, the place of residence was more strictly guarded, and the Xiangwang Mansion was changed to the Xinshun Wangfu, and it was no longer called the old camp. After arriving in Xi'an, Xi'an was changed to Chang'an, Xinshun was changed to Dashun, and Qin Wangfu was the palace of Dashun, and it was not easy for ordinary generals to enter the palace to see the emperor. In the first month of this year, he left Xi'an as the emperor of Dashun and marched to Beijing. Although the words "station" and "police" are handed down from ancient times, in today's people's mouths, the word "foot" has long been used, and the soldiers of Dashun are not accustomed to these two words when they say them, but this is a matter of national etiquette, and the soldiers cannot but be ordered to gradually obey it.

Now with Diaoyutai and Yuyuan Lake as the center, the east is bounded by the west bank of the Sanli River, and the north bank of the small river is also bounded to the south, within a radius of about three or four miles, it has become the forbidden place where the Emperor Dashun is stationed, and many residents are forcibly driven to other places, and people who really have nowhere to go are not allowed to go out casually, and the word "Shunmin" must be written on yellow paper and pasted on the forehead of the door. If you live next to the road, you have to set up a square table at the door, and there is a yellow tablet on the table, on which is written "Long live Emperor Yongchang". There is an incense burner in front of the tablet. The imperial camp had 3,000 cavalry, and some of the civil and military officials of the central yamen of the Dashun Dynasty (some of them stayed in Chang'an), as well as a large number of personal soldiers, slaves and servants, etc., with a total of about 5,000 foot cavalry. The houses in the Diaoyutai and Yuyuantan areas were far from sufficient, so after Li Qiang and Wu Ruyi led the front team of cavalry and mules and packs, they immediately sent soldiers to occupy public and private houses, drive away residents and idlers, and clean up, and set up many military tents in relatively open places to clean and renovate the road leading to the palace. At all important intersections and around the "palace", soldiers were sent to guard them. One of the largest mansions is counted as the palace of Emperor Dashun, and the other better mansions serve as the residence of Prime Minister Niu and the officials of the Prime Minister's Mansion. In addition, on the bank of the Sanli River, there is a place called Li Huangqin's Garden, which serves as the residence of the chief and deputy military divisions and the officials of the military division.

Li Zicheng came to the place where Diaoyutai was "stationed", and Wu Ruyi and Li Qiang knelt on the side of the road to greet him. Then, the officials of the central yamen of the Dashun Dynasty were all taken by Wu Ruyi to their respective stations to rest, leaving only Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and Li Yan to escort Li Zicheng into the palace. This place was a place where the emperor often came to play fishing in the Jin Dynasty, and it was abandoned after the death of Jin. In the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, it was bought by a dignitary surnamed Ding, rerepaired, and added many pavilions, winding corridors, rockery ponds, and water pavilion docks, becoming the famous Dingjia Garden, so it is also known as the Garden Village. In the more than 200 years of the Ming Dynasty, the owner of this place changed several times, and the old name of Dingjia Garden was still preserved. After two courtyards, to the third courtyard, there are five halls in the middle of the north facing south, there are roll sheds in front, there are five east and west rooms on the left and right, there is a temporary throne in the middle of the hall, it is a carved sandalwood Taishi chair, and the yellow satin embroidered chair is draped. There is a table of eight immortals in front of it, and a yellow satin curtain is hung. A little earlier, two rows of smaller Taishi chairs with blue satin embroidered cushions and cloaks were placed on the left and right for use by important civil and military officials at imperial meetings. Because according to the doctrine of "the end of the five virtues", Dashun is the "King of Water", and the color is still blue, so in addition to yellow as the color of the royal clothing, the officials and the people should take blue as the top.

After Li Zicheng sat down on the throne, Niu Jinxing and the others were about to kowtow and salute, but they were stopped by him with gestures. He ordered everyone to sit down, and then asked Wu Ruyi:

"Where's Du Xun?"

Wu Ruyi bowed down and replied: "The minister has prepared five military tents for him, in the direction of the city gate, only more than three miles away, there is a small street next to it, and there is a pine forest where you can tie horses and shelter from the wind." The ministers of the Bun Yuan also camped there for the time being. ”

"Quickly order someone to go and tell Du Xun to rest and eat quickly, and wait for Gu Zhao to see that he has something to ask!"

"Yes!"

Li Zicheng looked at Niu Jinxing and the others again and said, "You are tired from the saddle horse today, and you are covered with wind and dust, and now you are going back to the station to rest." Since Du Xun is willing to go into the city to persuade Chongzhen to give way, Gu thinks that this is a big deal, so he might as well give it a try. You go back to your station first, and wait for the first watch of the lonely to tell you to come and discuss important matters. ”

After Niu Jinxing and the others saluted and withdrew, Li Zicheng was left with his servants to clean the dust on his body, wash and comb his hair, and then eat. After dinner, he walked around the palace compound under the escort of Double Happiness and a group of personal generals. He walked up to the Diaoyu Tai in the southwest corner of the palace and looked out into the open barren pond for a while. The moon had risen in the east, shining on the rippling waters. This is the season when frogs in the Beijing area begin to courtship and breed after they are unearthed. Whether it is the middle of the pool, the frogs are constantly chirping everywhere, responding to each other; From time to time, there are fish splashing on the surface of the water, and at the same time the white light flashes. Li Zicheng ordered Shuangxi to send a few propaganda officials to send several important ministers to come to discuss the matter quickly, and also sent Du Xun to come. After giving instructions to Double Happiness, he said excitedly in his heart:

"It is no accident that I went to Beijing to 'station' in this good place, and it was indeed the 'Water Virtue' that came into being!"

When the second watch came, Li Zicheng knew that Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Li Yan had arrived, and were waiting for the summons in the east courtyard in the front yard of the palace. Liu Zongmin and others entered the hall and kowtowed to him. He ordered them to sit down on a chair next to them. Liu Zongmin sat directly on a chair, but Niu, Song and Li Yan bowed respectfully before they dared to sit down. Li Zicheng asked:

"Du Xun said that he was willing to go into the city to persuade Chongzhen ......"

Before Li Zicheng finished his words, suddenly there was a series of cannon sounds from the city near Fucheng Gate. Everyone was not surprised, and listened to it for a while, but it was silent. Song Xiance said with a smile:

"This is a three-shot air cannon, loaded only with gunpowder, not shells."

Li Zicheng asked: "The city knows that Lone's imperial camp is here, what does it mean to release air cannons?" ”

Song Xiance was about to get up and answer, when suddenly Liu Zongmin shouted outside the curtain: "Someone!" Immediately a general came in with the curtain lifted, and stood in front of him with his hands bowed and solemn, waiting for orders. Liu Zongmin said:

"Quickly go to the east bank of the Sanli River and send an order to our artillery: we must return to the city with three artillery, fight on the spot, and let the eunuchs and people defending the city taste the power of our artillery!"

"Obey!"

Li Zicheng asked the military advisor again: "Advice, what does it mean to release empty cannons in the city?" ”

Song Xiance got up respectfully and replied: "It must be that the eunuchs guarding the city saw that a big official was ordered to patrol the city around Fuchengmen, and the eunuchs deliberately set off three empty cannons, thinking that they were perfunctory, not really defending the city, and they did not dare to be my enemy, lest they hurt the rebels outside the city." ”

Niu Jinxing also stood up and said: "The ancients said that the survival of a country depends on the will of the people. Chongzhen has reached this day, not only has the people's hearts been lost, but even the house slaves he raised have also changed their minds. Since my righteous teacher crossed Datong, the guards and eunuchs of the important towns along the way have all hoped to surrender to the wind. The eunuch guarding the city fired three cannons, but the eunuch guarding the city had changed his mind and had a sign of dedicating the city. ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "I also thought that the Northern Expedition to Youyan would be successful, but I didn't expect that it would be so easy to capture Beijing!" ”

Niu Jinxing said: "This so-called destiny is crucial. If Beijing is conquered without a fight, the prestige is within reach, and Jiangnan will definitely be able to spread the word. ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "What you said is true." According to Gu's view, after breaking Beijing, Jiangnan will definitely be able to spread the word, although there is a war, but it can not be annoyed with bloody battles. He paused for a moment, and suddenly asked: "Du Xun went to the palace to persuade Chongzhen to surrender, if he didn't succeed, he would be killed, and even his family would be beheaded." Why did he take such a risk? ”

Niu Jinxing replied: "Maybe he calculates that Chongzhen will not kill him." ”

As he spoke, the cannon erected on the east bank of the Sanli River rang out. Everyone listened, and every moment a cannon was fired, and three shots were fired in a row, which not only shook the earth, but also the sound of cannonballs rumbled in the sky into the distance.

Song Xiance said with a smile: "This is the real magnifying cannon, the cannonball crosses the city and falls far into the city, which is enough to deter the enemy." ”

Li Shuangxi came in, knelt down and bowed to the emperor: "Du Xun has arrived, waiting for the summons." Li Zicheng nodded and commanded softly:

"Tell him to enter the temple at once!"

Li Shuangxi went to the door and gave an order to the guards, and then two propagandists shouted in unison: "Spread Du Xun into the hall!" After a while, Du Xun cautiously bowed down into the hall, knelt down in front of Li Zicheng, kowtowed three heads, and said sharply:

"Slave minister Du Xun knocks to see the emperor!"

The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty originally called themselves slaves and maids in front of the emperor, but today Du Xun called himself a "slave and maid" to Li Zicheng, and added the word "minister", which took some time to consider in his heart in advance. He relied on his status as a supervisor in the important town of Xuanfu to welcome the surrender, and wrote a letter to persuade the eunuch Du Zhizhi to go out of the pass to welcome the surrender, and he was a person who made great contributions to the new dynasty, and should be reused by the new dynasty in the future, so the word "minister" was added after the "slave maid", and if the emperor of Dashun tacitly agreed, the status of the eunuchs in front of the emperor would be improved one step later. Li Zicheng didn't understand Du Xun's subtle intentions at all, but he was not ambiguous on an important issue. He didn't ask Du Xun to be flat, nor did he ask him to sit down, and he didn't affectionately call him the word "Qing". He asked:

"Du Xun, I heard Prime Minister Niu just now, you are willing to go into the palace to persuade Chongzhen to give way, but is it true?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. If Chongzhen is willing to abdicate, firstly, the emperor will have a good reputation in the world because of his concessions, and secondly, the subjects of the capital can avoid the suffering of war. ”

"Do you think Chongzhen is willing to give way? If he is willing to give way, Gu Bu will not only keep him alive, but also treat him with courtesy, and he will still be rich and noble. Do you think he can step aside? ”

"Now Chongzhen is trapped in the empty city, isolated, there is no one available in the government and the opposition, if you don't give way, there will be the disaster of destroying the country and the family, and if you give way, although the country will be destroyed, it can save the life of the family and enjoy the wealth and prosperity. The slave servant was originally a close confidant of Emperor Chongzhen, as long as he could enter the palace, meet the old master, bitterly show his interests, and persuade him bitterly, so that Emperor Chongzhen knew that His Majesty was martial and lenient, and returned to his heart. It is very good that he can listen to persuasion, and if he does not listen, he will not miss His Majesty to attack the city. Moreover, when the slaves and servants enter the city, they can also tell the eunuchs guarding the city to know the situation, and persuade them to open the door and dedicate the city to welcome His Majesty. ”

Li Zicheng thought to himself: "This guy is really good at talking!" Then he looked at Du Xun and asked:

"I heard that Chongzhen was stubborn and self-serving in his life, with a violent temperament, and killed ministers at will. You go and persuade him to give way, not afraid that he will kill you? ”

"The slave has a younger brother and a nephew, and the whole family lives in Beijing. When Emperor Chongzhen was angry, he would not only kill the slave and the servant, but also kill the slave and the servant's entire family of ten. However, the ancients said: 'If you don't enter the tiger's den, you will get the tiger's son.' 'The slaves and servants are bent on serving Your Majesty's work of dogs and horses, and become Your Majesty's reputation for being the world's favorite, and they are willing to risk the disaster of breaking their bones and killing their whole family. ”

"When are you going to enter the city?"

"I will enter the palace tomorrow morning, and no matter what the result of persuasion is, I will definitely come back in the afternoon. If there is no news about the slaves and servants tomorrow afternoon, they will be killed by Emperor Chongzhen, please Your Majesty attack the city on a large scale. ”

"Well, you go into town. Tomorrow afternoon, I am waiting for your reply. ”

After Du Xun kowtowed and withdrew, Li Zicheng wondered why Du Xun was so willing to kill himself, so he asked Niu, Song and others:

"Tomorrow, Du Xun will enter the palace to persuade Chongzhen to give way, how much hope does he have for success?"

Song Xiance replied: "In Weichen's view, Chongzhen is not a weak person, if he can't escape from Beijing, there is no way to recover the country, he will definitely commit suicide and die in the community, and there is no reason to give way in fear of death." ”

Li Zicheng asked again: "Chongzhen's temperament, Du Xun knows it completely. What is the purpose of his plan to risk death to enter the palace to persuade him to surrender? ”

Song Xiance didn't answer, and Li Yan didn't make a sound. Niu Jinxing stood up respectfully and said:

"Why Du Xun is willing to risk his death, the minister can't understand. However, our army will be in Beijing within a day or two, and Du Xun's entry into the palace will not be successful, so it will not hinder the big plan, and we will only be ready to enter the city tomorrow. ”

Li Zicheng said again: "Jiexuan, no one in Beijing is willing to defend the city for Chongzhen, the hearts of the people have been dispersed, everything should be done after the city is broken, are you ready?" How to break the outer city first, and then the inner city, and where the battalions will be stationed after entering the city, must be decided in advance, so as not to disturb temporarily. Also, how to arrest officials above the sixth rank of the Ming Dynasty and strictly recover the stolen goods, you have to be prepared! ”

Liu Zongmin was not used to standing up quickly every time he spoke in front of Li Zicheng, bowing down his hands. He sat down in his chair and said aloud:

"Please rest assured. The minister and the military division are ready, tomorrow is March 18, first break the outer city, and then break the inner city on March 19. A few months ago, our army had many fine works into the outer city, pretending to be all kinds of people in the rivers and lakes, small merchants and hawkers, small craftsmen, nailing plates and bowls, bone road pots, they had many secret contacts with the poor people in the city, and they also had a series of connections with the Hui Hui who lived in the Guangning Gate. Break the outer city first, everyone in the inner city will be afraid, and the eunuchs who defend the city will also sacrifice the city gates. Du Xun is willing to persuade Chongzhen to give way and let him go, in fact, this is like catching a rabbit on the first day of the New Year, celebrating the New Year with it, and celebrating the New Year without it. ”

Li Zicheng laughed, and several ministers also accompanied him to smile, but except for Liu Zongmin, none of the ministers dared to laugh out loud. Liu Zongmin said suddenly:

"Your Majesty, as soon as I arrived at the military camp outside Fuchengmen this afternoon, I listened to the generals' report that the soldiers and civilians defending the city of Guangning Gate had already connected with us two days ago, and intended to open the door to welcome the surrender after the siege of the city."

Li Zicheng asked: "When will the door open to welcome the surrender?" ”

"It is only said that the door will be opened on the 18th to welcome the landing, and the time is undecided. Yesterday the gates of the city were closed, and the inside and outside were closed, and there was no further connection. ”

Li Zicheng groaned and said: "The offer originally occupied a hexagram, and if there is a light rain on the 18th, the outer city can be broken; After breaking the outer city, the inner city can be broken at dawn on the 19th. It is good to try to urge the soldiers and civilians defending the city to open the door as soon as possible to welcome the surrender, and offer advice, is there a way? ”

Song Xiance replied: "In the past few months, all kinds of fine works of our army entering Beijing have been personally dispatched by Liu Tichun, and some of them live in Guangning Gate, and they have long been mixed with the residents. It was only because the situation in Manchuria and Shanhaiguan was unclear that the minister and Lin Quan could not rest assured, and had ordered Liu Tichun to lead his Xiaoliu battalion to Tongzhou to spy on the news of Manchuria and Shanhaiguan. The minister immediately sent a flying horse to chase Liu Tichun back, and discussed with him overnight, we must find a way to communicate with the city, urge the soldiers and civilians guarding the city at Guangning Gate, and be sure to open the city gate tomorrow and let our army enter the city. ”

Liu Zongmin suddenly said loudly: "There is! Pregnant! There is no need to call the two tigers back, I have a way to make the people of the defending army and people of Guangning Gate collapse, hurry up and open the door to welcome the surrender, and do not work for our army to attack the city. ”

Li Zicheng was overjoyed: "Jiexuan, what can you do?" ”

"I naturally have a way, so I won't say it for the time being." Liu Zongmin turned to look at the two military advisors and said, "Offer advice, Lin Quan, go, follow me to Guangning Gate to have a look!" …… Your Majesty, rest in peace. After I went to the Guangning Gate with two military advisors to see it, I prepared overnight, and I will enter the palace early tomorrow morning to pay tribute to you! ”

Song Xiance asked in surprise: "Jiexuan, you have a good plan, say it in front of the emperor first, and discuss it, isn't it?" ”

"Now it's almost three watches, we went to Guangning Gate to see the terrain, and prepared quickly overnight, without delaying for a moment. Let's go, take Li Qiang and Wu Ruyi with you! ”

Liu Zongmin did not hesitate and asked Song Xiance and Li Yan to leave the palace with him. Li Zicheng felt strange in his heart, looked at Liu Zongmin's back and smiled slightly, and then said to the ministers:

"Jiexuan, the Ming army only knows that he is brave and invincible. In fact, in times of emergency, he is very resourceful and indeed a great general. He went to Guangning Gate to inspect the terrain and the situation of the city's defense, and he must have a new idea! ”

Niu Jinxing said: "Ruhou must have an unexpected good idea, please wait for the emperor." ”

Li Zicheng nodded, and then ordered the ministers to go back to the station to rest. When everyone saluted and withdrew, Li Zicheng walked into the courtyard and looked at the city for a while, but saw that the lights on the city were sparse, and there was no cannon shot, and there was no shouting from the city guards, only the lonely sound of bangzi came from a few places. He thought that Ruhou would have a good plan tonight, breaking Beijing was in front of him, and Dengji was also in front of him, a smile appeared on his face, and he said softly in his heart:

"Dashun is determined from now on!"

March 18th.

Although Li Zicheng has been very tired for the past few days, he got up very early today. Before the fifth watch, he had already woken up, called his adopted son Shuangxi to the bed, and asked Liu Zongmin and the two military advisers what plan they had agreed on after inspecting outside the Guangning Gate last night, and how to prepare for the night. Double Happiness will tell you in detail about last night's events. After Li Zicheng understood, he nodded and smiled, and said softly:

"This plan works!"

After he freshened up under the service of the slaves, Song Xiance entered the palace. He told him in detail about the preparations for tomorrow night, and this morning he asked the emperor to come to the gate of Changyi, sit in front of the imperial tent, and tell the soldiers and civilians defending the city to descend quickly. Li Zicheng asked:

"Not Quang Ninh Gate? Why did it become Changyi Gate again? ”

Song Xiance said: "Although the west gate of the outer city of Beijing is called Guangning Gate, Beijingers are used to calling it Changyi Gate, and it is often the same in public and private documents. In previous years, the minister sold Bu Jingshi and lived outside the Xuanwu Gate, which was close to the Guangning Gate, so it was also called the Changyi Gate. ”

"How far is the Imperial Tent from the city?"

"The people in the city can't see clearly, so the imperial tent is only more than a mile away from the city gate, so that the soldiers and civilians defending the city can see the emperor's demeanor and the appearance of the imperial camp."

"It's only a mile away from the city gate, don't you worry about the cannon in the city?"

"Last night, Jie Xuan looked at the terrain at Changyi Gate, and when he said this suggestion, Chen and Lin Quan were also worried about artillery in the city. However, we carefully studied and made arrangements overnight, believing that the soldiers and civilians defending the city would be even more angry when they looked at the holy car, and we would never dare to open a single cannon to the imperial camp. Yesterday afternoon, the holy car through the Xizhi Gate to the south, only two miles away from the city, the guard of honor yellow umbrella leading, hundreds of officials followed, the imperial camp was neat, according to the bridle graceful Xu Xing. Once His Majesty stopped at the horse, looking at the head of Beijing in the east, looking at the king of the West Mountain in the west, raising the whip and pointing, how calm! At this time, the soldiers and civilians in the city secretly watched and watched, silent, and no one dared to fire a cannon, and no one dared to shout and scold, which is enough to witness that the hearts of the people are scattered and do not dare to be enemies with me. Yesterday's situation was already like this, not to mention that since last night, the inner and outer cities have been completely besieged, the siege is ready, and the soldiers and civilians defending the city have disintegrated even more. Besides, after the overnight deployment of the ministers and others, the soldiers and civilians defending the city were even more frightened. Therefore, this idea of Ruhou seems to be a dangerous move at first glance, but in fact there is no danger, just to borrow His Majesty's might, but to make the people in the city open the door and surrender as soon as possible. ”

Li Zicheng asked with a smile: "When will the lone general go?" ”

"Calculated by the minister, it is set to be the most auspicious to drive the palace at two o'clock in the morning, after crossing the bridge, go around the gate of Baiyunguan to the east, and drive to the gate of Changyi at the moment of the hour, and ascend to the throne in the imperial tent. The two kings of Qin and Jin in the Ming Dynasty sat on the ground on the left and right, and the ministers stood on both sides of the throne. Then there was a loud voice of the military general to the army and people in the city to declare the emperor's edict, with great righteousness, urging them to open the door and surrender as soon as possible, to welcome the army into the city, and the autumn did not commit any crimes. His Majesty only stayed outside the Changyi Gate for two moments, and then drove back to the palace. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "When will Du Xun enter the palace to persuade Chongzhen to give up the country?" ”

"When the emperor was fortunate to be at the Changyi Gate, Du Xun stood on one side so that the soldiers and civilians defending the city could see it. As soon as His Majesty drove back to the palace, Du Xun could enter the city from the Changyi Gate. ”

Li Zicheng nodded and agreed with Song Xiance's Chen Zuo, and then ordered the military division to return to the garrison to rest, and ordered the propaganda officials to send a separate message to Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, and the ministers of the central yamen, as well as the surrendered eunuch Du Xun, etc., to come to the palace at three o'clock in the morning and escort them to the Changyi Gate.

After the early dynasty, according to the auspicious moment calculated by Song Xiance, Li Zicheng was closely protected by 200 imperial troops led by Shuangxi, starting from the Diaoyutai Palace, with the yellow umbrella leading, and a part of the civil and military ministers obeying. Li Qiang commanded many royal camps and pro-troops to guard the imperial tent outside the Changyi Gate, and there were also some guards along the road, strictly prohibiting idlers from breaking into the royal road. Li Zicheng and his group walked about two miles south out of Diaoyutai in the silence of the people, turned eastward on the main road in the wilderness, walked another two miles, crossed a small river over a stone bridge, walked south for a while, and then turned eastward, and soon entered a lush pine and cypress, and came to the front of a mountain gate of a Taoist temple. The white-bearded and drooping abbot was notified in advance, and led all the more than 200 old and young Taoists, with a frightened face, kneeling outside the mountain gate to greet him, prostrating himself on the ground, and then raising his head and saying:

"All the Taoists of Baiyun Temple, welcome the holy drive of Emperor Yongchang!"

Li Zicheng nodded lightly to the abbot, then turned his eyes to the mountain gate, and saw a bluestone plaque on the mountain gate, engraved with five big characters of "Ejian Baiyun Temple", unconsciously smiled, and said in his heart:

"I heard that this is a famous Taoist temple in Beijing, and Qiu used to practice here!"

As soon as I passed the Baiyun Temple, I saw the Changyi Gate and a large yellow felt tent that was set up more than a mile away from the moat overnight, with a brass treasure top and shining with golden light. This military tent specially made for him in Xi'an is called the marching imperial tent, also known as the tent hall. The southeast corner of the imperial tent erects a three-zhang high flagpole, hangs the embroidered dragon blue flag, and has the word "Dashun" on the red velvet sewing in the middle; In front of the imperial tent, facing the city gate, there is a throne, and there is an embroidered dragon yellow satin chair draped.

On the left and right of the imperial tent, two forts were built, each fort was ten zhang apart, and there were four red-clothed cannons in total. In addition, there are four ordinary siege cannons, which are also separated by ten zhang, erected on the left and right of the red-clothed cannons, the red silk cannons of each cannon have been removed, and there are artillery officers who burn incense watches in front of each cannon, and behind each cannon stand ten gunners, wearing blue over-the-knee crotch, and a round white cloth is sewn on the front and back hearts, and the word "cannon" is written on it.

The soldiers and civilians defending the city at the head of the city thought that the Dashun army was about to open artillery to attack the city, and one by one they were so panicked that their hearts beat wildly, their legs were paralyzed, their faces were bloodless, and they kowtowed to the sky. Some people were ready to roll down the city and flee for their lives......

When Li Zicheng had not yet walked to the gate of Baiyunguan Mountain, there was a young general, riding a white horse, galloping, followed by a dozen horseback followers, they went to the bank of the moat to rein in their horses, put an arrow on the city, and then shouted to the city head in a natural and rhyming language:

The soldiers and civilians defending the city heard clearly! Our Dashun army will be like a cloud, with thousands of cannons, and the capital has been surrounded by a group of people, and the water is impassable. After entering the city, only the corrupt officials were killed, and the people were not harmed. I, Long Live Yongchang, will arrive immediately to watch the outer city. The two kings of Qin and Jin in the Ming Dynasty have surrendered and are accompanied by left and right. You are not allowed to shoot arrows, you are not allowed to shoot cannons, and you are not allowed to make a sound. If you fire arrows and cannons, alarming the holy driver, and all the cannons in our city will fire in unison, you will be severely punished, and you will never be tolerant!

When the general Da Shun, who was immediately on the edge of the moat, shouted to the city, the eunuchs and the people who were guarding the city stood up from the battlements and looked down at the city. Their panic was a little better, and they warned each other not to fire arrows and cannons at the city. When the Dashun generals under the city shouted to the head of the city, the eyes of the eunuchs and the people guarding the city were attracted by the scene in front of the gate of Baiyunguan Mountain. People pointed to the mountain gate of Baiyun Temple one after another, and whispered in surprise:

"Look! See! What's that for? ”

"Look! There were two Taoist priests who put incense in front of the mountain gate! ”

"The abbot came out with the old and young Taoist priests in the whole view! It's all out! ”

"Ah, ah, here we are! Here it comes! ”

People saw that Li Zicheng was a burly man, led by a yellow umbrella, riding on a dark gray horse with a yellow bridle and a yellow saddle. The throne had been moved in front of the tent, and two low stools with red cushions had been placed on the ground to the left and right three feet in front of the throne. After Li Zicheng arrived, he dismounted outside the small pine forest, was taken care of by officials, strode to the front of the imperial tent, sat down on the throne proudly, and raised his eyes to look at the city. The two kings of Qin and Jin sat down on a low stool slightly before the left and right of the throne. Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan, the six government scholars, the left and right squires, the scholars of the Wenyu Academy, and a number of important ministers of the new dynasty were divided into thrones. Officials below the squire also stood in the back rows on the left and right. Du Xun also stood in the back row. Wu Ruyi and Li Shuangxi stood behind the throne because they had to listen to the emperor's call at any time. Li Qiang led 500 archers, standing outside the moat, controlling the strings and arrows at the head of the city. If there is a suspicious action or curse on the head of the city, as long as Li Qiang gives an order, these five hundred archers will continuously shoot sharp arrows at the city in an instant, so that the people defending the city can not raise their heads, and with a wave of the red flag in the hand of Zhang Nai, who is standing on a mound, all the cannons from the north to the south of the Tianning Temple from the west gate to the south of the city will be lit together, and the city tower and pheasant moat will collapse in many places in an instant. At that time, the power of various cannons, especially the red-coated cannons, was known to the people of Beijing. Therefore, not only did Li Zicheng appear outside the Changyi Gate, but the two kings of Qin and Jin sat at the feet of Li Zicheng, which made the soldiers and civilians defending the city very frightened, and the Dashun army suddenly piled up many forts with sandbags at night, and set up siege cannons, which made the eunuchs and the soldiers and civilians who defended the city feel weak and their faces were as white as earth. At this time, some of the eunuchs in the city already recognized Du Xun standing in the second row to the right of Li Zicheng, but they didn't dare to point with their fingers, and only dared to tell each other quietly. The appearance of Du Xun made the spirit of the eunuchs defending the city even more disintegrated.

According to the plan agreed with Liu Zongmin and others last night, Song Xiance raised his head to the southeast to look at the sun hidden in the faint clouds, and bowed to Li Zicheng and said:

"Your Majesty, at this time, it is about two o'clock in time, and you can announce to the city that you have been ordered by Marquis Liu."

Li Zicheng nodded.

Everything was very well prepared. Immediately, the general on a white horse came to the edge of the moat again, first fired an arrow into the sky above the city, then put his bow in his arm, held a proclamation by Liu Zongmin in both hands, and read aloud word by word in a thick Guanzhong accent:

The chief general of the Dashun Advocate Battalion, Ruhou Liu:

I would like to follow the holy decree of Emperor Yongchang and tell the soldiers and civilians and ministers in the city. The Ming Dynasty has run out of energy, and you are all my subjects. The righteous teacher entered Beijing and was scheduled for dusk today. I only heard the sound of cannons, and you opened the city gate as soon as possible. The army hangs the people for crimes, and discipline has always been strict. After entering the city, all industries remain the same, and the market is not alarmed; Cloth the new and remove the old, and share the peace. If they dare to resist behind closed doors, and refuse to surrender the city immediately, they will be slaughtered as a sign of severe punishment. Earnestly obey this commandment!

Liu Zongmin's proclamation was repeated three times by the loud generals, and the city was silent.

Li Zicheng got up, left the imperial tent under the command of the ministers, and returned to the palace from the gate of Baiyunguan Mountain. When he arrived outside the gate of Baiyunguan Mountain, Li Zicheng ordered Liu Zongmin and the civil and military officials to go back to the station to rest, and he was happy for a while, leaving Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Li Yan to go into Baiyunguan with him to have a look. After dismounting, Li Zicheng looked around and disappeared Du Xun, remembered that Du Xun was going to enter the palace to persuade Chongzhen to give way, and asked Song Xiance:

"Where is Du Xun?"

Song Xiance bowed down and replied: "Just now Du Xun asked Weichen to play His Majesty, he has already gone to Pingzemen, and wants to go to the city from Pingzemen and enter the palace to persuade Chongzhen." ”

"Why didn't he ask the eunuch guarding the Changyi Gate to take him to the city?"

"He was afraid that both Xuanwu and Zhengyangmen had been closed, and the inner and outer cities were no longer connected, so he decided to go to the city from Pingzemen."

"Chongzhen is not an ordinary king of the country, he has a strong temperament, and he kills ministers at every turn, not to mention that the eunuch is his house slave! You say, can Du Xun come back alive? ”

"I don't dare to go against the grain, let's wait for the afternoon."

Baiyun Temple is a well-known Taoist temple in the whole country, so when Li Zicheng turned back and passed through Baiyun Temple, he asked the Imperial Forest Army to stay outside the mountain gate, and only let the prime minister, the military division, and Li Yan follow the three ministers, and the abbot led the way, entered the temple, and looked everywhere. Originally, Wu Ruyi and Li Shuangxi asked him to postpone his entry according to the order, and wanted to lead two hundred pro-troops from the imperial camp to enter the Guanzhong police station first, but they were stopped by Li Zicheng and said to them with a smile:

"It doesn't have to be like that. Wu Ruyi, you stay outside the mountain gate and wait, Shuangxi just take a few personal soldiers to wait. ”

This Taoist temple was founded in the Jin Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty was renamed Taiji Palace, and later renamed Changchun Palace, and after reconstruction, it was renamed Baiyun Temple. Although the temple was rebuilt twice after two major fires, some of the ancient trees were old in Jinyuan, so when you enter the courtyard, you can see many pines and cypresses, and the branches are connected, and the green shade is forested. Dashun Junchen just walked to the front of the "Jade Calendar Changchun" hall, and suddenly there was a sporadic light rain. Li Zicheng looked up, the dark clouds were not heavy, and the raindrops fell on his face, which was quite cool. He happily looked at Niu, Song and others and said:

"Good, good, it's raining lightly!"

Niu Jinxing smiled and said: "It has been a good omen, congratulations!" ”

Li Yan continued: "Sure enough, congratulations, the military advisor divination is like a god!" ”

The old abbot saw that Li Zicheng was so happy that the light rain fell from the sky, and quickly bowed down and said:

"The emperor is overjoyed when he sees a few light rains, and the monarch and ministers are congratulatory, which shows that His Majesty cares about the people, and he is really a rare king of Yao Shun."

Li Zicheng was thinking about how to break the city, and asked casually: "How is the drought situation in Beijing?" ”

The abbot said: "Long live the echo, there is little snow in winter, and this spring is a long drought, and this is the time when the wheat seedlings are going to rain. ”

Li Zicheng continued to think about the result of Du Xun's entry into the palace and the imminent destruction of the city, and glanced at the abbot absentmindedly, but did not say anything. Seeing Li Zicheng smiling, the abbot quickly knelt down, and then said:

"Foreign Minister Fang has to meet the Holy Lord today, and he is willing to risk his life to ask for his life for the people. After the emperor set Youyan at the end, he would be fortunate to pray for rain for all the people in Baiyun Temple as soon as possible, or build a universal Jiao in Baiyun Temple, and there will be spring rain to benefit the country and the people. ”

Niu Jinxing understood that the emperor was anxious to go back to the palace to discuss important matters, and he had no intention of listening to the abbot again, so he gave Song Xiance a look. Song Xiance bowed to Li Zicheng and said:

"Please Your Majesty drive back to the palace and discuss with the ministers the important matter of entering the city."

"Okay, go back to the palace!"

Chapter XII

On the day when the Dashun army passed through Changping, the Ningyuan people led by Wu Sangui also arrived at Shanhaiguan. There were only more than 200 miles from Ningyuan to Shanhaiguan, but Wu Sangui's men and horses walked for five or six days. On the one hand, it was very difficult for the Han men, women, and children in the Ningyuan area to move inward, and because Wu Sangui and his soldiers refused to leave the homeland, so they walked at most 50 miles a day, and sometimes because the common people were crowded on the road, disturbing each other, so that the road could not be smooth, and a delay was a day or two. Fortunately, the Qing soldiers did not chase after them. In fact, at that time, the Qing soldiers had already occupied some important military places on the periphery of the Great Wall, and if the Qing sent a force to chase after them, it would cause chaos among Wu Sangui's men and horses and the people who moved inward. However, the Manchurian court was gathering troops to Shengjing, and there were not many troops stationed in Jinzhou and Songshan Fort, so Wu Sangui's men and people were slowly and safely withdrawn, and it was only three days after Wu Sangui left Ningyuan that a small force of cavalry was sent into Ningyuan City.

Wu Sangui could only arrive at Shanhaiguan tomorrow according to his original schedule, but yesterday Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao, sent an urgent edict from Emperor Chongzhen to ask him and Wu Sangui to hurry to King Qinwang in Beijing, and said that the "thieves" had already passed the Xuanfu. Wang Yongji personally went to the road to greet Wu Sangui and showed him the secret decree. In this way, Wu Sangui had to draw out 20,000 elite soldiers, personally lead them, and accelerate the advance, while the rest of the tens of thousands of cavalry escorted their dependents, people, and a large number of grain and grass to follow behind.

At about noon, Wu Sangui arrived at Shanhaiguan. Wang Yongji had already entered the customs in the morning. Shanhaiguan also had a chief military officer, leading thousands of men. There is also a town guard eunuch Gao Qiqian. Gao Qiqian saw that Wu Sangui's Ningyuan people were about to arrive, and the emperor did not order him to serve as Wu Sangui's supervisor, and the court affairs were already in chaos, so he led more than 1,000 cronies and soldiers to leave Shanhaiguan last night, crossed the south of Beijing, and fled to the Taihang Mountains at the junction of Shanxi and Hebei.

Wu Sangui is now an earl, so naturally the garrison of this Shanhaiguan has to be under his command. When he came to Guanwai, the local gentry, the chief military officer guarding the pass, and the deputy, staff, and tour generals all went to the gate to greet him. The magistrate of Yuguan County had already prepared a trip for him. After he moved in, he met with the local gentry again, and after a few gossips, he asked the local gentry to prepare food and wages, and to ensure that there was no shortage of supplies for the army before he could fight. The local gentry naturally agreed only and did not dare to slack off. After a short rest, he came out to inspect the geographical situation of Shanhaiguan, and instructed his men to station some of their men and horses in Yuguan City, and some to the west of Shanhaiguan, and according to his prior instructions, to find a garrison for his garrison and the people outside the Guanwai within 30 miles of Shanhaiguan and the vicinity of Guanwai. He didn't fully know how many people there were outside the border. When he left Ningyuan, he reported to the imperial court that there were 500,000 people. In fact, this was an exaggerated number, in order to let the court know that his march was not easy and that his supplies were difficult. There were only about 200,000 people who actually followed the army to the south, and many people along the way were reluctant to go any further, so they secretly left and returned to the Ningyuan area. So now there are only about 100,000 soldiers and civilians left.

When he had finished his rounds, he returned to his line to rest, not wanting to meet with his subordinates or with other gentry. One is that he is tired from the journey, and the other is that he has many things on his mind that he needs to think about quietly and quietly alone. Although he knew that the area around Chenghailou was relatively quiet, he could not go, because the military was very tight at present, and according to what Wang Yongji told him, Li Zicheng's men and horses should have arrived in Changping today, and they might even have passed Changping and arrived at the city of Beijing. But he only arrived at Shanhaiguan. Do you want to march to Beijing immediately? He was still hesitating.

After leaving Ningyuan, he knew very well that his soldiers and the 200,000 people he carried were unwilling to leave their homeland, and he was in a very bad mood and complained a lot, so he did not dare to leave the army, nor did he dare to divide the men and horses into two teams, one team to protect the people, and the other team led by him to rush to Beijing. He was afraid that the Manchurians would only have to send two or three thousand cavalry to chase after them, and if the troops had no intention of fighting to the death, some of the people would be taken captive by the Qing soldiers or scattered back to Ningyuan. These 200,000 people who moved with the army were all soldiers and villagers, and once this happened, the army's spirit would be dispersed. However, now that the army and the people have arrived at the outskirts of Shanhaiguan, they will all enter the customs immediately, and most of the baggage and military rations have been transported by sea to the vicinity of Shanhaiguan by sea, and they are anchored on the seashore between Jiangnvmiao and Chenghailou, and they no longer worry about the Manchurians sending cavalry to chase after them. Beijing is so in danger, the emperor is so anxious to save the soldiers, and his father and son are both favored by the imperial court, not without loyalty, should not stay in the closed door, not to go to the king. What's more, his parents and a family of thirty servants are all in Beijing! If he marched to Beijing immediately, he could order people to settle the people and arrange for the Shanhai Pass to guard, and he could lead 20,000 or 30,000 cavalry to reach the outside of Beijing in one day and one night, and then the infantry would arrive. Whether or not to save Beijing is not only related to the survival of Beijing, but also to the survival of himself and Ning Yuan's soldiers. Last night, he gathered a few cronies for a long time to discuss secretly. Most people were shocked by Li Zicheng's strong momentum and still held a wait-and-see attitude. Only one or two people were in favor of choosing 20,000 elite cavalry to rush to the rescue of Beijing. Now he didn't want to convene any more meetings, but he sat alone in the room and couldn't make up his mind. Thinking about it, he couldn't help but say to himself:

"Beijing! Beijing! ……”

Wu Sangui led the troops to fight at the age of about 20, became a general at a young age, and was promoted to the general military palace a few years ago, and recently was named Ping Xibo, and can also be described as a very popular minister among the military ministers. Although he also suffered many setbacks on the battlefield, he was never in such a difficult situation as he is today, which made him distraught and undecided. No matter how difficult it was in the past, there was always a place to stand. In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Songshan was defeated, and other generals had no choice, and even a general military officer like Wang Pu was finally beheaded in Beijing, but he Wu Sangui fled back to Ningyuan, still guarding one side and relying on the imperial court. No matter how difficult it is for the imperial court, no matter how difficult it is, we have to find a way to help. But now that Ning Yuan has given up, there will be no such a foothold for two generations of business in the future. There are still a few days to go to Beijing, will the "thieves" break through Beijing before he arrives in Beijing? Even if Beijing can support it for a few days, it is rumored everywhere that Li Zicheng has hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, and this strength cannot be underestimated. He originally only had more than 30,000 horses, and temporarily incorporated some Ding Zhuang people into the team, plus the garrison of Shanhaiguan, there were no more than 50,000 or 60,000 together, how could he deal with hundreds of thousands of strong enemies? If he can't win the battle under the city of Beijing, and the emperor is so suspicious, will he be punished by the emperor? Once the crime is punished, how will his tens of thousands of soldiers in Guanning and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and people survive next? If you don't hurry to Beijing, there are 100,000 urgent edicts from the emperor, and there is the governor Wang Yongji urging here, how can you stay and watch? If he does not rush to save Beijing, once Beijing falls, he will be scolded for thousands of years, saying that he is disloyal to his ministers and unfilial piety to his son. However, there is no power to save, there is no certainty of victory, and if it fails, it will be uncontrollable, and there is no place to retreat. Thinking of this, he sighed deeply, and was about to go down, when an old woman crept in and said to him:

"Uncle, all the carriages and sedan chairs have arrived."

Wu Sangui glanced at the housekeeper and asked, "Have you arranged the size and size?" ”

The housekeeper replied, "It's all arranged." The empty houses on the left and right sides were full. ”

He asked again, "How is Mrs. Chen?" ”

The housekeeper said: "She is not used to hard work on the road, and yesterday she suffered from a cold and had a fever. I just took the medicine and have fallen asleep to rest. Everyone else is fine. ”

Wu Sangui said: "Let Lang Zhong be careful and take a look, don't delay." We can't stop here long, it's not good to be sick. ”

The housekeeper said: "Don't say that Mrs. Chen is from Jiangnan, she has never worked hard, even if we were born and raised in Ningyuan, it is easy not to have such hardship." Our uncle's mansion is quite good, women and children have sedan chairs to sit on, and the entourage also has carriages to sit in. The common people were miserable enough, some sat on ox carts, some sat in open carriages, and some had to ride oxen and donkeys, brave the wind and snow, and starve. Alas, uncle, which life has created sins and accumulated sins, making everyone abandon their hometowns, abandon their ancestral graves, and live like a group of refugees in troubled times! ”

Wu Sangui didn't want to listen to this, and he didn't want this loyal housekeeper to say such things to affect the army's heart, but he didn't blame her, waved her out, and just admonished again:

"Let the maids take care of Mrs. Chen carefully, and quickly cure the disease, maybe they will march tomorrow."

In May last year, Wu Sangui went to Beijing on the secret order of Emperor Chongzhen to secretly explain to the emperor his strategy for dealing with Manchuria.

That visit to Beijing coincided with the death of the emperor's prince Tian Hongyu in the epidemic a few months ago. Wu Sangui heard that Chen Yuanyuan was very beautiful, so he bought it from the Tian family for 1,000 taels of silver as a concubine. At that time, although Ningyuan was seriously threatened by the Qing soldiers, and the important military bases nearby were occupied by the Qing soldiers one by one, Wu Sangui still had 30,000 elite soldiers in Ningyuan City, and the sea channel for food supply was still unblocked, and Juehua Island, the supply terminal by the sea, was firmly in his hands, so the Qing emperor only expected to recruit him to surrender, and had no intention of using his troops to capture Ningyuan and lose his troops. Under such circumstances, although Ningyuan was a front-line city against the Qing army, there was actually no war: the Ming army was unable to attack, and the Qing army could not gnaw this bone, and it was a state of confrontation for a short time. The Ming Dynasty believed that since the fall of Jinzhou, Ningyuan was the last important military town retained by the Ming Dynasty outside the Guan, and it must not be lost. Chongzhen had surrendered to Manchuria because Wu Sangui's uncle and ancestor Dashou, and the Manchurian side continued to surrender to Wu Sangui, and heard that Wu Sangui had the intention of surrendering Manchuria, so he was very afraid, so he issued an edict and was personally sent to Ningyuan by the governor of Jiliao, asking Wu Sangui to secretly come to Beijing to report on his work, and at the same time escort his parents and family to live in Beijing. In order to keep the Manchurians from knowing that he had left Ningyuan, his parents and family first left Ningyuan and were escorted into the pass by hundreds of elite cavalry, and then sent to the capital by dozens of personal soldiers and cronies, and lived in a huge residence arranged for Wu Xiang by the imperial court. Chongzhen gave Wu Xiang a large official position, nominally as the governor of Beijing, but in fact it was an empty title, making him a decent duke in Beijing, but the actual nature was a hostage controlled by the imperial court, so that Wu Sangui could not surrender to Manchuria.

Wu Sangui first sent Guo Yunlong to lead a few servants into Beijing to make arrangements, and then sent his close general Yang Shen to escort his parents, wives and concubines and other families of more than 30 people. Although Yang Shen is a military general, brave in battle, and has made military exploits, his special strength is not in leading troops to fight, but in being alert, knowing in the blink of an eye, and being good at dealing with the scene. How to settle the Wu Mansion in Beijing, how to repair an old mansion allocated by the public family, including the garden, in a short period of time, in line with the identity of the governor of Beijing, Yang Shen must be sent to Beijing. Also, when the old chief soldier enters Beijing this time, the emperor will inevitably summon him, and he should send generous gifts to the eunuch in charge of the seal of the master of ceremonies and the eunuch in charge of the Qianqing Palace, open up the joints, and temporarily take care of the old chief soldier entering the palace. Wu Xiang, the old soldier, entered Beijing this time, regardless of whether he was actually in charge of affairs in the capital or not, on the surface, he was promoted to the commander of the Beijing camp, and he wanted to meet and banquet some colleagues in Beijing, accompanied by Yang Shen, and pay respects respectively.

When Yang Arsenic left, Wu Sangui not only instructed him to do all kinds of things that should be done, but also quietly told Yang Shen to find a beautiful concubine for him in Beijing, no matter how much money he spent, he would not feel distressed. Yang Shen smiled and agreed, asking his coach to rest assured.

What made Yang Shen especially happy was that Concubine Tian's father died of a serious illness, and the group of beautiful concubines left behind needed to be dealt with. Yang Shen heard that there was a woman named Chen Yuan, with round characters, who turned out to be a famous prostitute in Jiangnan, who was only nineteen years old this year. A year ago, Tian Hong met Jiangnan and traveled to Jiangnan and forcibly bought it as a concubine. It didn't take long for Tian Hongyu to become seriously ill, and the medicine was ineffective, and he died soon.

Yang Shen heard that Chen Yuanyuan was born very beautifully, slightly literate and elegant. Now Tianfu is ready to sell Chen Yuan, but first, because the price is too high, and second, because Chen Yuan thinks that he is a famous prostitute in Jiangnan, she is reluctant to go to the ordinary official eunuch's house, and she does not marry when she is old, so she has not left Tianfu. After Yang Shen heard this, he hurriedly asked the trustee to discuss with the head of the Tian Mansion and asked the Tian Mansion to postpone marrying Chen Yuanyuan.

After Yang Shen escorted Wu Xiang to Beijing, he realized that the emperor's secret summoning of Wu Sangui was only related to the officials of the Yamen of the Ministry of War, and the eunuch who held the seal of the master of ceremonies was also very important, so he vigorously moved to these two places. Soon I got the definite news: the relevant ministers of the Ministry of War were about to secretly play the emperor, and asked the emperor to quickly summon Wu Sangui, the general soldier of Ningyuan, to come to Beijing to ensure Ningyuan, defend the east, and shield the mountains and seas.

Chongzhen's summoning of Wu Sangui to secretly go to Beijing to report on his work was a surprising event among Wu Sangui and his cronies. In less than ten days, he secretly arrived in Beijing. According to the prior arrangement, he left 180 people outside Chaoyang Gate, and he and Yang Shen only led 20 personal soldiers and a few civil and military officials into the city and entered the spacious and magnificent Wu Mansion.

Since the Yamen of the Ministry of War and the Master of Ceremonies had already made arrangements in advance, Wu Sangui was summoned by the emperor alone in the Wuying Hall on the third night of his arrival in Beijing. Chongzhen first inquired about the military situation of the confrontation with Manchuria, and gave some important instructions to Wu Sangui, promising him that no matter how difficult the interior was, food and wages would be supplied in a steady stream. Wu Sangui's greatest concern was that the Manchurian soldiers would enter the Great Wall from some places, then occupy a place in eastern Hebei, and then capture Shanhaiwei from the west. Therefore, there must be a general in the Acropolis of Mountains and Seas, and there must be a heavy garrison. Chongzhen nodded lightly and promised to discuss it later. Although Chongzhen had guessed that Wu Sangui wanted to concurrently serve as the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan and renamed the original Ningyuan general soldier as the general soldier of Guanning, he could not agree at present, and the summons were not long, and Wu Sangui kowtowed and resigned. He has important military affairs on his side, and he must return to Ningyuan as soon as possible after being summoned. Now the one thing left is how to buy Chen Yuanyuan as a concubine and bring it back to Guanwai.

Tian Hongyu is already dead, and Emperor Tian can't set up a banquet for Wu Sangui, so there is no way for Wu Sangui to meet Chen Yuanyuan in person. Also, the government and the opposition in Beijing all knew that before the death of Emperor Tian's concubine, they had decided to choose Concubine Tian's sister into the palace as a concubine, but due to the tight military situation and the empty treasury, the matter was delayed. But because of this incident, the gate of Emperor Tian's palace is strict, even more than in the past. As the common people say: "A pair of iron lions outside the gate of Tianfu can't even stay on a fly." ”

Wu Sangui can't stay longer in Beijing and must return to his Guanwai garrison within two or three days.

Suddenly, Yang Shen came up with a way to solve the difficulty. Wu Sangui was very happy when he heard Yang Shen's method, and said with a smile:

"You deserve to be my confidant lieutenant, there are so many ways! Well, you immediately go to the palace of Emperor Zhou, and make sure that this matter is done. ”

It turned out that a month ago, Yang Shen had accompanied Wu Xiang, the new governor of Beijing, to meet the current queen's father, Jiading Bo Zhou Kui, so he met Li Zichun, the governor of Zhou Mansion. Today, Yang Shen decided to take advantage of this relationship to make Wu Sangui and Chen Yuanyuan meet at the banquet in the Zhou Mansion. Moreover, the banquet must be held at noon tomorrow, so as to leave Beijing early the next morning. Wu Sangui is the chief general of the defense of Manchuria outside the Shanhai Pass, and now Ningyuan has become a lonely city, he is in danger of the country, so he must return to the defense place in the starry night, and today he should report the date to the military department, and the military department will secretly play the emperor.

The system of selecting concubines in the Ming Dynasty was different from that of the previous dynasty, in order to avoid the disaster of relatives interfering in politics, the concubines were only selected among the girls of the innocent and good families, and it was forbidden to choose the girls of the relatives of the lords, nor were they allowed to choose the girls of the wealthy families. Moreover, the concubine's father and brother were only allowed to reward the gold and silver manor, and they were named Hou Bo, and they were not allowed to hold real positions. In these troubled years, although Zhou Kui is the father of the queen, he is also willing to deal with Wu Cheng without harming the court system, maybe it will be useful in the future. After Yang Shen discussed with Li Zichun, the governor of the Zhou Mansion, the Jiading Bofu immediately sent an invitation to Wu Sangui and arranged a banquet for the general soldier of Ning Yuan at noon the next day. On the other hand, Li Zichun contacted Tian Mansion and picked up Mrs. Chen (because she was Tian Hongyu's concubine) tomorrow morning to come to Zhou Mansion to "sit idle".

At noon the next day, Wu Sangui only took the deputy general Yang Shen and four personal soldiers and rode to Jiading Bofu. The banquet was set up in the middle of the hall, and the entourage and soldiers were seated elsewhere. In the hall, the master was Jiading Bo Zhou Kui, and two Zhou officials were accompanied. The host and guest were Wu Sangui, accompanied by Yang Shen.

Soon after the banquet began, the two musicians in the Zhou Mansion led four or five seventeen or eighteen-year-old women with heavy makeup to come in, first saluted the banquet, and then the two musicians retreated to the small square table in the corner of the hall and sat down. Because Zhou Kui is originally from Yixing, Jiangnan, the women he bought are all from Jiangnan, with white and tender skin and curvaceous waists. The girl at the head held the sandalwood board in her hand, tapped it, and sat down at the small square table. The flute and the three strings sounded, and the girls sang a tune from "The Legend of the West Chamber".

Wu Sangui grew up outside the pass, and he was a military general, and he didn't understand the situation of the rich and noble families in the capital at all. Looking at this group of women, he couldn't guess who Chen Yuan was. And these beautiful courtesans blessed the table and retreated to the table where they were sitting. Wu Sangui was guessing blindly when he suddenly heard the sound of dingdong behind the screen. Zhou Kui was raising a glass to persuade him to drink, he also picked up the glass, then stopped drinking, and waited for the people who came in. When the first beautiful girl appeared, Wu Sangui was shocked, put the wine glass back on the table, and secretly said in his heart: "This is Chen Yuan, it's really good!" ”

However, Zhou Kui didn't have a special expression, so he also sat still. But at this moment, another woman appeared, followed by a maid. This beauty's clothes are elegant, and she is not like ordinary women who apply too much grease and powder. As soon as she entered the hall, everyone was taken aback, as if a spirit of beauty came to her face, and her white and tender face made people feel full of brilliance. Her eyes, full of gentleness and intelligence, made Wu Sangui's heart shake and he couldn't face it. Zhou Kui smiled and asked her to sit down on an empty chair that had been left behind, just opposite the chief guest Wu Sangui. Wu Sangui couldn't help but think of the many women he saw outside the gate, and sighed in his heart:

"Those people are like dung compared to this flower-like person!"

Chen Yuanyuan sat down for a while, stood up and poured wine for Wu Sangui first, and then for Zhou Kui. When she came to Wu Sangui's side to pour wine, Wu Sangui saw that Chen Yuan had very little jewelry on her hands, only wearing a ring inlaid with rubies, which set off her slender fingers as white as jade. And at this moment, Wu Sangui smelled a faint, vague fragrance. Because Wu Sangui had to look at his hands, the wine, and the beautiful woman's exposed wrists, his heart shook again, and he couldn't understand whether the fragrance came from the fat powder on his hands or the sleeves of the beauty.

After Chen Yuan poured wine for Wu Sangui, he poured wine for Zhou Kui, and then returned to his original seat and sat down, not pouring wine for other officials accompanying the banquet. Zhou Kui called Chen Yuan Mrs. Chen because she was already a concubine of Emperor Tian, so he never wanted her to pour wine for others. But he smiled at Chen Yuan and said:

"Wu Zongbing's young Yuan Rong, garrison outside the pass, the national cadre. He will leave the capital early the day after tomorrow morning and return to Liaodong. He has heard that his wife is both beautiful and artistic, and she is famous all over the Yangtze River, can you ask his wife to sing a few words to help Yaxing today? ”

Chen Yuanyuan did not shirk, turned around and glanced at a girl ring standing behind him, and the girl ring understood and immediately walked behind the screen. Before she could get there, a middle-aged woman, dressed elegantly and elegantly, walked out from behind the screen, and handed a pair of ivory clappers about seven inches long to Yahuan. She took the opportunity to glance at the banquet with a smile, especially at Wu Sangui. Wu was about to get up and ask her to sit down, but was stopped by Zhou Kui's eyes. He was wondering who it was, and the man retreated behind the screen. At this time, someone told Wu Sangui that the woman was Mrs. Chen's mother.

Chen Yuan stood up, left the banquet, took the ivory clapper, whispered a word to the maid ring beside him, and immediately told the musician. Then there was silence in the living room, all the cups and chopsticks stopped, and the servant who served the food stopped outside the door with a plate in his hand. Chen Yuanyuan used an ivory clapper to press the verses, and the musicians sang a few sentences of "Soap Luo Robe" in the play "Peony Pavilion - Dream". Wu Sangui grew up in the army, only outside the customs activities, he listened to Chen Yuanyuan's beautiful singing, saw her singing cherry lips and small mouth, teeth like braided shells, eyes like paint, and couldn't help but ask in his heart: "Is this true?" Living in the world and getting this beauty is worth this life! ”

Chen Yuan sat for a while, got up again to pour wine for Wu Sangui and Zhou Kui, then said goodbye, turned to the screen, and when he arrived at the back house, he said goodbye to Mrs. Zhou Kui, and left in a car from the back door.

The hall continued to play and sing, and continued to drink. The servants constantly brought delicacies from the mountains and seas, and all kinds of delicacies. But in Wu Sangui's eyes, the hall suddenly became empty, and the light and color suddenly dimmed.

After Chen Yuan's adoptive mother saw Wu Sangui, she was satisfied. When Chen Yuan was still three or four years old, his biological mother died, and his father couldn't live in his hometown and couldn't take her to beg for food. The adoptive mother bought her and treated her like a pearl in the palm of her hand. When she was five or six years old, she hired a famous teacher, taught her to read, taught her piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, taught her to play and sing, and trained her adopted daughter according to the standards of famous prostitutes at that time. Chen Yuan's original nickname was Yuanyuan, which means happiness and consummation, and later studied from the teacher, and the teacher named her Chen Yuan, the word is round, more like everyone's lady. Her adoptive mother originally had three adopted daughters, all of whom were middle-class and upper-class personalities, and they could also play and sing. The adoptive mother relied on the three adopted daughters to earn money and maintain her use, and did not let Yuanyuan pick up customers casually, which raised Yuanyuan's reputation and status more and more.

Yuanyuan has a girlfriend surnamed Dong Xiaowan, who is only one year older than Yuanyuan, and she was also a famous prostitute in Jiangnan at that time. Dong Xiaowan married Rugao Mao Gongzi, who was the same age, and was quite envied by the famous prostitutes in Jiangnan at that time. Chen Yuan's adoptive mother also hoped to find a husband like Mao Gongzi for Yuanyuan, but he didn't expect Tianhuangqin, a pervert in his fifties, to visit Jiangnan before last, and when he heard Yuanyuan's name, he must marry Yuanyuan as a concubine. And the magistrate tended to be attached to Emperor Tian's relatives and aided in the abuse, and simply used the method of robbery to snatch Yuanyuan onto the ship and bring it to Beijing.

Now Tian Hongyu is dead, but the road south of the Yangtze River is far away, and there is chaos everywhere, and it is not easy to return. Fortunately, Wu Sangui, the general soldier of Ningyuan, came to Beijing, and perhaps it was Yuanyuan who met the person who supported him. So her adoptive mother followed her to Jiading Bofu, first stood behind the screen and peeked, working hard to see the face, and then took advantage of the opportunity to deliver the ivory clapper to see it clearly.

In the car, Chen Yuan leaned on his adoptive mother and quietly asked, "Mom, what do you think?" ”

The adoptive mother was happy in her heart, recalling the past, and unconsciously moved her feelings for her daughter, held her daughter in her arms, and clenched one of her daughter's hands hard, and whispered:

"Child, I heard from the head of Tianfu last month that this Chief Wu is only thirty-two years old, and it can be said that he is a young Yuan Rong, and this family affair is very rare. As the saying goes, after this village, there is no such temple. According to my mother, I will agree to this family business. You tell me? ”

Chen Yuan deliberately asked coquettishly: "How does the head of the Tian family know that he is Chinese New Year's Eve two years old this year?" ”

"Didn't you listen to Yang Shen, the deputy general of General Wu's soldiers?"

Chen Yuan was happy in his heart, and deliberately asked: "Mom, you know a lot, what kind of official is the deputy general?" ”

The adoptive mother pushed Chen Yuan out of her arms, poked her forehead lightly with her index finger, and said with a smile:

"I heard that General Wu got up early the day after tomorrow and left Beijing, let's go back and pack our luggage!"

A few generals wanted to come to pay tribute, but when they saw Wu Sangui's gloomy face, they didn't dare to come in. Wu Sangui didn't want to listen to the troubles at this time, so he used his eyes to make them retreat and walk around the house by himself. After a while, he called softly, "Come," and immediately a young good-looking servant came in and curtsied him. He said, "Take the cigarette pouch." "At that time, tobacco pouches were only popular in coastal areas such as Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang, and had not yet spread in the provinces of Guannai. However, it is not only men who smoke, but also many women. So the servant hurriedly filled a tobacco pouch with the minced tobacco leaves and handed it over with both hands. Wu Sangui then puffed the agate cigarette holder in his mouth. The servant lit the smoke pot with paper coals, and when he saw that there was no other command, he quietly withdrew. The servants around Wu Sangui knew that he had a temper: when he was unhappy, it was best to leave him and not come to him casually, so as not to make him angry. Usually he was kind to his slaves and the Goshkhas, and he did not hesitate to reward them, but when he got annoyed, he would kick them over, or punish them at every turn. So when he was upset, everyone didn't report to him, and even his cronies stood at the bottom of the corridor and didn't dare to make a sound.

While smoking a cigarette pouch, Wu Sangui couldn't help but think of many things recently. When he had to leave Ningyuan, the generals came to him one after another and raised many difficulties. The dependents of the generals and the people who were about to move into the customs were even more sad and shed tears of sadness. As the saying goes, it's hard to give up a home. What's more, these people have lived in the Ningyuan area for several generations, and some of them were originally in the area of Tieling, Liaoyang, Shenyang, and Jinzhou, and later because Manchuria was strong and defeated the Ming army, they fled to Ningyuan to settle down, but now they are wandering from Ningyuan to Guannei. The suburbs of Ningyuan and Sixiang have their fields and houses, the trees they planted with their own hands, and the graves of their ancestors. So even though there is the emperor's holy decree, everyone is still crying and crying, unwilling to leave this land. When the day of departure came, many people went to the grave, to the ancestral hall to say goodbye to their ancestors, to their parents underground. Wherever there were graves in the wilderness, paper money was burned everywhere, and there was a cry everywhere. People know that after this departure, the Manchurian soldiers will soon arrive, and it is probably impossible to see the graves of their ancestors again, and it is impossible to return to their hometowns. The young man's heart is still relatively open-minded, and the old people don't know where their bones will be thrown in the gate, and they can't be buried next to their parents' graves anyway, so they are even more sad. Wu Sangui saw these situations with his own eyes, heard them with his own ears, and felt sad. What's more, the ancestral tomb of his Wu family is also outside Ningyuan City, and it is not easy to come back in the future to add a handful of soil to the ancestral tomb and burn a piece of paper money. At this time, all kinds of scenes of leaving Ning Yuan appeared in front of his eyes again, and he felt a sadness. He thought, if the battle to save Beijing is lost, how will the families of these soldiers and the people living in the customs survive?

After thinking about it, he felt that it was important to go to Beijing as soon as possible, but what was more important was how to save the soldiers and people brought from Ningyuan. As soon as I thought of this, a parent suddenly came to report:

"Master Maker has arrived!"

Wu Sangui suddenly woke up from his contemplation, put down his cigarette pouch, and said, "Hurry up and please." He stood up to greet him. There was a paging outside:

"Master Maker has arrived!"

Wu Sangui said in his heart as he walked: "Eighty percent is the emperor's 100,000 anxious ......."

Before he finished speaking, Governor Wang Yongji had already walked into the second gate.

In the past three or four days, Emperor Chongzhen has known that Xuanhua and Yanghe have been lost one after another, and the governor Wei Jingyu has done his best for the country, and he has also coaxed the eunuch Du Zhizhi to do his best. Now the "thieves" are coming to Juyong Pass. He felt that the critical moment for Beijing's survival had arrived, the general situation was very bad, and the tragedy of the country's demise was just around the corner. He slept restlessly every day. Although the table was still as delicacious as ever, he rarely ate. No matter what the dish, the so-called imperial cuisine comes from the hands of the most famous chef in the imperial dining room, and it tastes like earth in his mouth.

When Chongzhen felt that the situation in Beijing was critical, he handed over the responsibility of guarding Beijing to his close eunuch Wang Chengen, and ordered him to supervise the Beijing camp to guard the city. But Wang Chengen didn't have much to do. The Jingying soldiers have not verified it for many years, and most of them are empty. The salaries were pocketed by the generals of the three battalions or the lords and officials at all levels who were in charge of the Beijing battalion. These soldiers alone could not defend the city, and yesterday they drew thousands of men and horses and handed them over to Li Guozhen to lead them to Shahe to set up defenses. There was a shortage of soldiers to defend the city, so they had to let some eunuchs go to the city, and some of the common people were driven to the city.

When Wang Chengen was summoned to the Qianqing Palace, Chongzhen couldn't stop crying when there were few soldiers and food shortage. Wang Chengen knelt in front of him, and he couldn't stop crying, and he couldn't think of any good way.

Chongzhen asked, "Why didn't Wu Sangui's rescuers come for a long time?" ”

Wang Chengen replied: "Emperor, the situation is like this now, there are a few people who are really dedicated to the emperor!" ”

Chongzhen said: "I am not kind to his father and son, and I named him Ping Xibo, which is also a rare special favor, can't I encourage his loyalty?" ”

Wang Chengen replied: "The emperor is indeed kind to the Wu family, but like many generals, he knew that he was not the opponent of the thief, so he did not dare to come to King Jingqin, and deliberately delayed his departure. ”

Chongzhen said hatefully: "The military generals are afraid of death, and the civil officials love money, so how can I support this situation!" ”

After saying that, he couldn't help but choke. Wang Chengen could only comfort Chongzhen with a few empty words, saying: "Each gate is guarded by lords and eunuchs, and the capital can guard until the reinforcements come, please don't worry too much." ”

As soon as Wang Chengen left, a eunuch sent a secret letter from the military department. Chongzhen opened it and took a look, and inside was a post sent by Liu Zongmin, a "thief". This so-called unveiling post is actually a proclamation from Liu Zongmin to the officials and people of the capital, which reads:

Liu Zongmin, the chief general of the Dashun Advocate Battalion, told the matter: Chongzhen has no way, and the sky is angry and resentful. Our emperor set out to march to the north, and everywhere he went, the people welcomed him. It is scheduled to conquer Youzhou on the 18th of this month, look up to the officials and gentlemen of the city, and welcome the soldiers into the city, so there is no need to be frightened. Hereby informed!

The following notes: It is limited to be sent to the Youzhou Huitong Hall before the city is broken on the 18th. The date is written as "March 15 of the first year of Yongchang". There is also a vermilion gate on top of the message. On it are the words "the head of the battalion of the Great Shun Northern Expedition and the general of the guard". Chongzhen took this message, his face was pale, his hands trembled very much, cold sweat broke out on his body, and his face was like dirt. He thought: How did this "thief" send his message to the capital? Is it true that the capital will be lost on the 18th? Why do you write about Youzhou and not Beijing? He read it again, then tore it up and lit it on a candle. While burning, I suddenly realized in my heart: Oh, it is rumored that the "thieves" want to build the capital of Xi'an, and Xi'an has been changed to Chang'an, so it is unwilling to call Beijing anymore, and wants to replace it with the old name of Youzhou. Oh, I see! He became more and more frightened, and did not say another word for a long time.

When dusk came, he went to the temple of the ancestors, knelt before the god of his ancestors, and wept aloud. The eunuchs serving inside and outside the palace all knelt on the ground, not daring to persuade them, and they all felt that the tragedy of the country was coming. Some of them lay on the ground and wept quietly, while others choked up. Chongzhen cried for a while, and when he walked out of the Fengxian Palace, he already felt that his legs and feet had no strength, he rarely ate for a day, and his body was almost collapsed. In addition, the danger of losing the country is imminent, which makes him even more unable to keep his spirits up. He got on the chariot and ordered him to go back to the Qianqing Palace.

As soon as I arrived at the Qianqing Palace, dinner was served. The housekeeper's mother-in-law, Wei Qinghui, knelt down and invited him to dinner. He walked to the north of the vermilion lacquer case of the imperial meal, and sat down facing south. The musicians played fine music as usual. He shook his head and whispered two words:

"Tune out!"

The musicians quickly retreated from under the front porch. He ate a few bites, put the chopsticks on the table, entered the Dongnuan Pavilion, and lingered for a long time. He thought, "Is it true that the city will be broken on the eighteenth?" Can Wu Sangui come before the 18th? He called in a eunuch and asked:

"What else does the military department have to report?"

The eunuch knelt down and said, "There has been no repercussion." ”

Chongzhen asked: "Where is the person who sent the 'thief' to expose the post now?" ”

The eunuch replied, "The secret recital of the military department has already made it clear that the man has been beheaded." ”

Chongzhen picked up the secret music of the military department from the imperial case again, and saw clearly that it was a peasant who brought the unveiling post into the city, and after the military department asked, the peasant was beheaded. Chongzhen stopped talking and sat down in his chair again. Wei Qinghui came in with a plate, put a blue and white double dragon bowl on the table, knelt down and said:

"The emperor didn't eat a little bit of dinner, and now this bird's nest soup is for the emperor to use."

Chongzhen didn't speak, and raised her hand to let her withdraw. He paused for a moment, felt very anxious in his heart, and got up and went to Kunning Palace.

After Zhou Hou greeted Chongzhen and sat down, he saw that his face was more sad than before, and he lowered his head without making a sound, so he asked in a low voice:

"Does the emperor have any orders?"

Chongzhen paused, sighed and said, "I'm coming to see you, I don't have any orders." There is not much time left to see each other in the future. ”

After a week, I didn't feel that tears welled up. A month ago, when discussing whether to go to Nanjing, Chongzhen glared, and she didn't dare to say any more. Now she understands that there is no chance of escaping if she doesn't go now, so she boldly said:

"The concubines don't dare to ask about the affairs of the court, but the emperor is so sad, if he goes to the south, ......"

Before he finished speaking, he was stopped by Chongzhen with his eyes. She didn't dare to say any more, and two lines of tears suddenly welled up, and her heart was as uncomfortable as a knife. Chongzhen stood up and looked at her, and said:

"I have my own opinions, and at present, I can only defend the capital to wait for the division of the king of the world. Wu Sangui's elite division will be able to defeat the 'thief' every day. When is this, don't disturb my heart! ”

Zhou Hou sent him out of the yard. He didn't look back, nor did he take a ride, and went back to the Qianqing Palace.

Sit for a while in the East Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, feel uneasy, and then walk to the West Warm Pavilion, as soon as he sat down, a eunuch hurriedly came in and presented him an urgent report. This is a report from Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao, saying that Wu Sangui's men and horses can go to Shanhaiguan on the 16th and gallop to the capital at night. Chongzhen's heart suddenly had hope and asked:

"It's a dozen today?"

The eunuch replied, "Today is the fifteenth day of March." ”

After Chongzhen asked, his heart was more realized, thinking that Wu Sangui could reach Shanhaiguan on the 16th, and on the 17th and 18th, the cavalry would rush on a moonlit night and always reach the city of Beijing. Sure enough, Beijing is very saved. But after a while, he felt a little slim: Will Wu Sangui's men and horses arrive at Shanhaiguan without stopping and rush to Beijing in the starry night? Over the years, the generals have been frightened, especially the "thieves" who are afraid of the tiger, is he willing to come immediately? The more he thought about it, the more uncertain he felt. So he thought of Yang Sichang again: If Yang Sichang didn't die and centralized scheduling, there would be no difficulties today, and he was not afraid of "thieves" to break through the Beijing Division. After a while, he thought of Yuan Chonghuan again: If Wu Sangui can be like Yuan Chonghuan, galloping under the starry night, he will come to Beijing a few days ago, why be afraid of "thieves"? He returned to Yangdezhai and wanted to lie down and rest for a while. But as soon as he entered the room, he fell on the desk and wept bitterly. Outside, it began to drizzle with snowflakes. The cold wind gusted, blowing on the window lattices.

I don't know which little palace maid was punished in the inner study, and she was on duty tonight. In the cold wind with snowflakes, from the long alley of Yuehua Gate came the sound of small gongs and mournful and trembling cries:

"The world ~ peaceful! …… The world ~ peaceful! ……”

After the third watch, Chongzhen fell asleep on the imperial couch, and Wei Qinghui gently added agarwood and clothes to the Boshan furnace and slept in the door of Yangdezhai, so that the emperor could call at any time.

Chongzhen had just fallen asleep when he dreamed that he summoned Yang Sichang in the Wenhua Palace. He asked Yang Sichang:

"Now that the Jingshi is in danger, in Yiqing's opinion, is it feasible for me to drive the expedition in person and go to Nanjing first?"

Yang Sichang said: "In early February, if the emperor goes south, he will not lose the opportunity. It's too late. Those who have misled the country are the ministers who prevent His Majesty from going south. These people are still talking in vain, ignoring His Majesty's country and safety, and always want to leave a good name in history. ”

Chongzhen said: "Could it be that after the loss of the capital, they will not be harmed by the 'thieves'?" ”

Yang Sichang said: "This matter is not easy to predict, but Yichen guesses that many people today admonished His Majesty to go south, impassioned, quite loyal to Sheji. Once the capital is not defended, it is inevitable that the first thieves will not be these people! ”

Chongzhen sighed and said: "The court raises this group of civil servants, and they usually only know how to set up their own doors, attack each other, and compete for power and profit. Once there is something in the court, it is still empty, and it cannot relieve the worries of the monarch's father, but corrupts the big thing. Hateful! Hateful! ”

After a pause, Chongzhen said in a pleading tone: "Now that the matter is over, can't Qing save me from the catastrophe?" ”

Yang Sichang kowtowed and said, "The minister is powerless. In previous years, the emperor favored the ministers and took the heavy task of suppressing thieves, but the court had empty theories, constrained in all directions, and attacked by everyone, so that the ministers were at a loss, and finally failed. The past is a long time coming, and it's even harder to be effective today. Isn't it clear to Your Majesty? ”

When he had said this, he fell to his knees and wept bitterly. Chongzhen also cried.

Yang Sichang kowtowed and resigned, crying bitterly as he walked. Suddenly, another eunuch came in and played to Chongzhen:

"Emperor Qi, Yuan Chonghuan has been waiting for a long time to see him."

Chongzhen was shocked, his heart jumped wildly, and he broke out in a cold sweat. He thought that Yuan Chonghuan's ghost would never do anything good when he came to see him, and asked the eunuch who was kneeling on the ground:

"Yuan Chonghuan has been killed by me more than ten years ago, what does his ghost see me? Could it be that you have come to ask for my life? ”

The eunuch replied: "Since ancient times, the monarch and the minister have to die, and there is no reason for the minister to ask the king for his life. The emperor didn't have to be suspicious, and summoned him in. Maybe Yuan Chonghuan was under Jiuquan, and he couldn't bear to see the emperor in danger of losing the country, so he came to offer advice. ”

Chongzhen hesitated for a moment and said, "Pass him in!" ”

Yuan Chonghuan floated in like a shadow, bringing in a cold air. He knelt down and bowed and raised his head. Other ministers often had a very frightened look when they saw him, but Yuan Chonghuan did not have this look, but his face was full of injustice.

Chongzhen was very scared and asked, "What is the important thing for Qinglai to play to me?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan raised his head and said: "The emperor has reached the end of his rope today, and his life is very critical, so the minister can't bear to come and say a few words to the emperor." ”

Chongzhen said: "If there is a way to save the country, you might as well tell the truth." ”

Yuan Chonghuan said: "If fifteen years ago, the minister did have a strategy to save the country, but it is a pity that His Majesty fell for the enemy's countermeasures and killed the minister by mistake. From then on, the matter of Dongyu has been wrong step by step. The wrongful killing of a minister is His Majesty's self-destruction of the Great Wall and the destruction of His Majesty's country. The affairs of the East Prisoners are becoming more and more unmanageable, and the affairs of the thieves are also becoming more and more unmanageable. This is all the emperor's suspicious and arbitrary, willful behavior, to today! ”

Chongzhen also heard that Yuan Chonghuan's defection to the enemy was nothing, but he listened to the eunuch's misplay. But for many years, he kept this matter secret, and others did not dare to say a word in front of him. Now after listening to Yuan Chonghuan's words, I don't feel a cold sweat. But he pretended to be calm and said:

"I didn't kill you by mistake. If you are still loyal to your country, there is no need to mention the past. At present, the country is in trouble, and it is the time for you to be loyal to the imperial court. What are your best plans to save the country? ”

Yuan Chonghuan said coldly: "Your Majesty killed the minister by mistake. The minister has only one life and one head. After killing, he told the minister not to remember the past, but to continue to serve His Majesty. Why doesn't Your Majesty think about it for your ministers and not for your country? killed the minister, mistook the country, and mistook His Majesty himself. It is because His Majesty is suspicious and arbitrary and kills loyal ministers in vain that he is in such a difficult situation today! ”

Chongzhen was unconsciously furious and said: "Those who mislead the country are ministers. The ministers are in charge of the battle for the portal, and although I am a wise lord, there is no way to do it. ”

Yuan Chonghuan did not budge, and said: "Although Your Majesty thinks he is wise, he trusts eunuchs and does not believe in loyal ministers. ”

Chongzhen said: "The civil and military ministers are not credible, I have to take the ministers as my confidants, and the ministers as my eyes and ears." ”

Yuan Chonghuan said: "Your Majesty just misbelieved the words of the ministers and killed the ministers in vain, so that the power of the East Capture became more and more prosperous." ”

Chongzhen said: "You secretly communicated with Dongyu, that's why I killed you, why is it in vain!" ”

Yuan Chonghuan smiled coldly and said, "Your Majesty thinks that he is more discerning and clever than others in everything. In fact, he was deceived by the surrounding crowd, such as in a dream. The two ministers fell for the enemy's plot that day, and His Majesty mistakenly believed their nonsense. The minister pleaded again, but His Majesty insisted on not listening to the minister's words and killed the minister. If the ministers had not been killed, the eastern captives would not have been so rampant, so that Your Majesty would not be able to take care of the east and the west, and the outside would not be able to take care of the interior, and the enemy would have been attacked on both sides, and the people would have exhausted their wealth and money, and they would have fallen to this step of the field. I want to be the minister who was ordered to be the king of Qin, from Ningyuan to Jingshi, day and night, not three or four days to arrive. Now His Majesty is waiting for Wu Sangui, looking forward to it. I'm afraid that Wu Sangui has not arrived, and the Jingshi has fallen. Comparing the two, who is His Majesty's loyal minister? ”

Chongzhen broke out in a cold sweat again, and his body and limbs trembled. He was not only angry at Yuan Chonghuan's unscrupulous outspokenness, but also felt that what Yuan Chonghuan said was the truth, but it was too late for him to hear such truths. He went against the normal state of being rigid and self-serving, and he admitted that the country really couldn't be protected, and asked in a sad tone:

"The thieves claim that they will break the city on the 18th, do you think it's true?"

Yuan Chonghuan said: "The day of the broken city ......"

Chongzhen said: "You speak slowly, your Cantonese accent is very strong, and I can't tell the difference when you say it quickly." ”

Yuan Chonghuan said: "Yes, the minister's Dongguan accent is very strong. What the minister just said was: The minister can't predict the day of the city's destruction, the minister can only predict that Beijing will not be able to hold on for a long time, and the fall will only be a matter of a few days. ”

Chongzhen could barely control himself, trembling all over, and asked, "Is it really inevitable that the country will be destroyed?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan said with tears in his eyes: "Half of the days, half of the people are not plotting, resulting in the disaster of the country." ”

Chongzhen said: "Since Qing is a loyal minister, can't he save me?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan said: "It is too late for the ministers to save Your Majesty, but we can only cry bitterly in Jiuquan for Your Majesty, what is the urgent need of the world!" ”

Chongzhen choked up and said: "I have been running the world for 17 years, conscientious, day and night, respecting the heavens and ancestors, diligent and loving the people, taking care of all opportunities, not daring to neglect, always want future generations to call me the lord of Yao Shun." Unexpectedly, he became the king of the dead country......" Speaking of this, I couldn't say it anymore, and I couldn't stop whimpering and crying.

Yuan Chonghuan said: "When His Majesty first ascended to the pole, he killed Kewei, Qing Eunuch Party, pro-Zhengchen, and the whole country praised His Majesty as wise and wise, and everyone wanted to rule. If it goes on like this, it cannot be called the king of Yao Shun, but also the lord of Zhongxing. The one who misunderstands His Majesty is none other than His Majesty's own ears. ”

Chongzhen said unhappily: "The ministers are mistaken, and it is not my fault." ”

Yuan Chonghuan said: "The ministers mistook Your Majesty, Your Majesty mistook the common people!" ”

Chongzhen said: "I have no loss of morality. The ministers misled the country, and there is today. ”

Yuan Chonghuan said: "Your Majesty has been suspicious and arbitrary all his life, stubborn and self-serving, loves to listen to praise, avoids listening to loyal advice, and is a little careless, and often kills ministers, or court staffs, or edicts and prisons......"

Chongzhen was furious and shouted, "Get it for me!" ”

Yuan Chonghuan was calm, kowtowed and got up, with a sneer on his face, and walked out. Two wrestlers came to him and stopped him, and tried to arrest him. But his body was fluttering, as if there was no substance, and no one could catch him, so he went out of Wenhua Gate.

Chongzhen shouted: "Take it!" Take it! ”

Wei Qinghui came in in a panic, and while pushing him, he shouted, "The emperor wake up!" Wake up! ”

Chongzhen was half asleep and half awake, and said hatefully: "You actually blame your father's mistakes, what kind of system have you become!" ”

Wei Qinghui shouted again: "Emperor! Emperor! ”

Chongzhen opened his eyes, looked at Wei Qinghui, and said, "I had a fierce dream, and I was in a nightmare. In recent days, I have been restless in my dreams! ”

"Please be relieved by the emperor, don't damage the royal body."

"More than a dozen today?"

"By the time the child is over, he has already paid sixteen."

"The 'thief' said it was ...... on the 18th"

"Emperor, what's going on on the eighteenth?"

"Go out and rest. I'm dizzy and have to sleep again. ”

Not long after Wei Qinghui went out, Chongzhen fell asleep again. Unexpectedly, the night of three springs turned out to be a night of terror, and Chongzhen immediately fell into even greater horror.

Chongzhen dreamed that Beijing was broken by "thieves", and in the panic, Wang Chengen led two or three hundred eunuchs to protect him and escape from the capital. On the way, he was caught up by a cavalry of Li Zicheng, killed the eunuchs, killed Wang Chengen, and he hid in the deep dry grass and survived death. Later, he continued to run alone, not knowing where to flee, only remembering that he wanted to flee to Nanjing. Staying in the Sanjia Village Hotel at night, fortunately living in a single hut, connected to the façade of the house, the window is facing the small courtyard, but there is no window lattice, only a large square hole remains. He was unescorted, and he was very afraid, especially afraid that the people in the store would know that he was the emperor. At about the second watch, another farmer came to stay in the house, pushing a small car, and calling the door outside the pavement door. Chongzhen heard the question and answer between the farmer and the shopkeeper, and it was very terrifying:

"Who? Where did it come from? ”

"I'm from Beijing, I'm going back to Zhuozhou. It's getting late, please open the door and let me stay for the night, thank you very much. ”

"Hey, the road is not calm, you are so bold to come to stay so late!"

The shopkeeper yawned lazily, opened the paved door, and then asked:

"What's on the cart?"

"Don't hide it, brother, this cart is not a cargo, it's a dead body."

"Huh?! …… What corpses? There you go! There you go! Don't come in! We only live in the living, not the dead! ”

"Brother, I'll do it for you, I'll kneel for you. You can do well, accumulate yin virtue, keep me for one night, take more store money, and don't drive me away. Brother, listen to me, listen to me! ……”

The shopkeeper's tone was a little softener, and he asked, "What the hell is going on?" If you don't make it clear, I will never keep you! ”

The peasant said, "This is my fellow villager, my uncle and brother." He had something to do in Beijing, met an unknown person on the way, and walked on the same road for a long time. The man he did not know said to him, 'Brother, since you are also going to Beijing, I have two taels of silver, please take it, and there is a letter asking you to send it to the capital for me, but my wife has been sick for many days and is bedridden, so I will not enter Beijing.' My uncle and brother said, 'What kind of book is this?' Who wrote it? To whom? The man said, 'The book was written by a squire, and it was submitted to the Peking Society, but it was just a greeting, and nothing else.' This uncle and brother of mine were illiterate, and he was honest, and he didn't know what was written in that terrible book, and he was very poor, and he could buy some food for two taels of silver to save his family, so he brought this book into Beijing by the way. I didn't want to be searched out at the gate of the city before I dropped the book, so I killed him. Look how wronged! The whole family is still waiting for him to go back. If it weren't for me selling mountain goods in Beijing, I would have pushed a small cart, collected his body by the way, and pushed it home......"

The shopkeeper said, "Ah, it turned out to be him!" …… In the morning, someone came from Beijing and coaxed the Yamen of the Beijing Military Department to mention a farmer who had brought a book to the Huitong Hall on behalf of the 'thief' and was beheaded. He was a fool in the country, illiterate, and died a wrongful death. That letter was a battle table from Liu Zongmin, the general of King Li Chuang, to the current saints, claiming that the city of Beijing would be broken on March 18. But he didn't know it at all, and he gave away a small life in a daze! If it weren't for you pushing a cart to sell mountain goods in Beijing, not to mention that no one would collect his body for him, and even his family wouldn't want to know the news! ”

The farmer pushing the cart begged the shopkeeper to stay in the house and allow the corpse to be pushed into the courtyard so that it would not be eaten by the dogs. Other customers also helped to say good things, and finally got the restaurant's approval. After the cart was pushed into the courtyard, the peasants returned to the houses facing the street at the shop gate, ate, and fell asleep on the wheat straw bunks with other guests. After a while, the speech stopped, except for some different snoring. The spring night was cold, Chongzhen shivered with cold, without a trace of sleepiness, and looked at the courtyard. The moonlight in the courtyard shone brightly, shining on the cart carrying the corpses.

Chongzhen now knows that the corpse placed on the cart turned out to be the farmer who sent the post for Liu Zongmin. The more he thought about it, the more scared he became. Just as I was afraid, I suddenly heard some noise on the reed mat in the car. He had already gotten out of bed and stood in the window, staring intently at the cart, and couldn't help but feel creepy. After a while, I saw two hands slowly stretched out from inside the reed mat, untied the rope, and the reed mat bag bloomed, and a corpse rolled out of the car, but there was no head. The corpse got up with the little station, walked to the other side, and untied the rope from another reed mat bag. The reed mat bag also bloomed, and the corpse held out a bloody human head with both hands. Chongzhen was almost scared to death. He saw the dead man's eyes closed, his lips moved slightly, and he let out a very soft but resentful sigh. So the corpse held the braid with his left hand, lifted his head, and with his right hand stretched out the closed eyes one by one. Those eyes were wide open, full of resentment, and bloodshot. The corpse carried its head, as if it were carrying a lantern, and searched everywhere with its eyes. Suddenly, those eyes saw Chongzhen, and a hateful sound came out of his mouth. The corpse lowered its head to the cart and walked towards Chongzhen's window. Chongzhen knew that he was here to ask for his life, and shouted in fright: "It was the military department that killed you, I am not wrong!" I'm right! But his throat seemed to be blocked by something, and he couldn't make a sound.

The headless corpse continued to walk towards him, and it was about to crawl in through the window, and Chongzhen could clearly see that the hands in the window were so rough and dirty, he had never seen them before. The neck of the corpse was cut off, and it was very frightening. When the corpse was about to climb into the window, Chongzhen escaped through the small door that connected to the façade room. He heard the sound of the corpse hitting the ground with its feet heavy in the window, and he heard the sound of slamming down on the empty bed, and he felt under the bed and touched something. Chongzhen was afraid that it would chase after him from behind, so he hurried through the façade room, turned back to the small courtyard, and stood under the moonlight. Some of the guests who slept on the floor in the front room were snoring, and some were looking at him with cold eyes and fled in terror, without any intention of saving him. The corpse threw itself into the air, crawled out of the window again, returned to the cart, touched the head again, held the braid with his left hand again, lifted the head, opened the eyelids with his right hand again, and lifted the head again as if it were carrying a lantern. Suddenly, the angry eyes saw Chongzhen fleeing in the shadows of the corner on the pile of rotten bricks. The corpse lowered its head and walked straight towards the pile of bricks. Chongzhen had a high wall on his back, nowhere to escape, shouting loudly, and no one paid attention. The corpse immediately came to the side of the pile of bricks, and had already stretched out his terrible hands to him, almost grabbing his robe, and at this extremely critical moment, he suddenly saw Wei Qinghui standing in the distance, and did not see his death. He shouted with all his might:

"Wei Qinghui! Wei Qinghui! Come and save me! ”

Wei Qinghui rushed in and woke up the emperor. Because she had never heard such a terrifying cry from the emperor, she was so frightened that her face turned pale, her whole body trembled, her legs were weak, and she shook Chongzhen's shoulders while calling "Emperor". Chongzhen woke up from the horror, looked at Wei Qinghui, was stunned for a while, and then woke up, and then grabbed Wei Qinghui's hand and held it tightly, thinking that this absurd and bizarre nightmare was also the face of the death of the country, and thinking that the civil and military generals of the Manchu Dynasty were all useless, and only one palace maid saved him, and couldn't help but burst into tears. Although Wei Qinghui didn't dare to ask, she knew in her heart that the emperor must have had a very fierce dream, and she was so powerful. She thought that in the past few days, the palace has been haunted again, and the ghosts of the temple are crying, and when she sees the emperor like this tonight, she can't help but ask herself in her heart: "Is it really going to die in the country?" Her heart ached for a while, and she didn't say a word, so she could only cry with Chongzhen.

It's already four o'clock, and it's not far from five o'clock. Because Chongzhen worships the sky on the fifth watch as usual, and then goes to the morning court, he no longer sleeps. He sighed in his heart and said:

"Tianming is March 16th, when will the division of King Wu Sangui Qin come? Alas, alas! ”

On the 16th, in the early dynasty, knowing that the "thief soldiers" were close to Yongguan, the ministers had no plan, and Chongzhen cried bitterly and retreated. On this morning, he summoned several ministers in the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace to discuss the matter of raising salaries and defending the city. Everyone still has no good solution, but they just say: "Jingshi is foolproof." In the afternoon, in order to deliberately show his composure and reassure his subjects, he summoned the officials on the platform. He asked about ways to raise wages and reassure the people, which was called "countermeasures." After asking some questions, he himself felt that he was not boundary, and the officials who were selected could not answer the margins. Although his heart was very restless, there was no moment of silence, his two feet were stepping on the ground, and his two hands were constantly moving on the imperial case, but he still patiently continued to ask. When he asked a magistrate who had been selected how to make the military pay adequate and how to reassure the people, the magistrate replied:

"Surplus is not searching, but thrifty. Peace of mind is tied to the Sacred Heart, and peace of the Sacred Heart is peace of mind of the people. ”

Chongzhen heard this, although he thought it was empty, but he also nodded, and approved a few words at that time and awarded him to the matter. While he was still taking the exam, suddenly a eunuch sent a seal to his imperial case. He thought it was Wu Sangui's confidential report to Beijing, so he quickly opened the seal, looked at it in a hurry, and suddenly his face was like ashes, and without saying a word, he got up and went into the palace. The dozens of officials who were selected did not dare to retreat, thinking that the emperor had something to do temporarily, and he would come out soon and continue to question. The deacon, eunuch, and Jinyi guard did not leave, and continued to stand on duty. After a long time, Chongzhen still didn't come out. After a while, a eunuch came out and told everyone to retreat.

Officials began to withdraw. But why things are not clear to everyone at all.

Today is March 17th.

After the Dashun army passed Changping yesterday morning, Li Guozhen, the Marquis of Xiangcheng, who was defending in Shahe, received a report and immediately supervised the soldiers to remove the cannon jacket of the red-coated cannon. Yesterday afternoon, when Chongzhen was examining the selection of officials, he received a secret letter that Li Guozhen sent to Beijing with flying horses. However, when the Dashun army led by Liu Zongmin arrived near Shahe Town, the men and horses of the three battalions saw the dust of the cavalry coming from the north, and immediately panicked, threw the cannons, scattered in a hurry, and escaped separately. Some of them did not escape, and as soon as the Dashun army arrived, they all knelt down and surrendered. Some did not decide to surrender, and were also surrounded by the cavalry of the Dashun army and became prisoners. Then the Dashun army continued to march towards Beijing with the captured artillery.

As soon as Li Guozhen saw that the army's morale had been dispersed and collapsed without a fight, Li Guozhen defected one after another, so he fled back to Beijing with a small number of personal soldiers and slaves from his entourage, and immediately went to the palace gate to ask to see the emperor. Chongzhen was summoned at the Wuying Palace. Li Guozhen played the defeat of the army, fell to the ground and wept bitterly, and asked for punishment for him. If in previous years, Chongzhen would have questioned him and beheaded him. Li Guozhen not only collapsed the whole army in Shahe, but also deserved to be punished with death. However, Chongzhen has changed now. He didn't kill Li Guozhen, and he didn't even get angry. He only asked if there were any people who had set up defenses outside the Desheng Gate. Li Guozhen replied: "Your Majesty, there are no soldiers and no generals, don't expect to go out of the city to fight anymore!" Chongzhen thought that the death of the country was inevitable, so he whimpered and wept, and waved his hand to ask Li Guozhen to withdraw.

CHAPTER XIII

On the morning of March 17, the 17th year of Chongzhen, when a part of Li Zicheng's cavalry arrived outside Beijing, the first to be surrounded were the Desheng Gate and Anding Gate in the north, the Xizhi Gate and Fucheng Gate in the west, and the east gate and the outer city gate of the inner city were not surrounded by the Dashun army until the afternoon of the 17th, and there were cavalry patrolling the suburbs of the outer city. Since then, the city of Beijing has been completely cut off from the outside world.

When the Dashun army, led by Li Guo and Li You, led by 20,000 or 30,000 vanguard cavalry, effortlessly routed the thousands of Beijing battalion soldiers deployed in Shahe, and drove to the Desheng Gate, Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao stationed in Jieyongping, sent 100,000 urgent military intelligence secrets to Chaoyangmen, which was about to be closed, and sent directly to the Tongzheng Division. When the official of the Tongzheng Department saw that it was a military secret sent by the 600-mile Tang horse, he did not dare to open the seal or delay, and immediately sent it to the palace. According to Wang Yongji's secret recital, Wu Sangui had arrived at Shanhaiguan on the 16th, and the 200,000 people from all over Ningyuan and their families who had entered the customs were temporarily settled in various places near the pass, and he himself would lead tens of thousands of elite border soldiers to gallop to the aid of Beijing at night, begging the emperor to make sure that Beijing would hold on for a few days while Wu Sangui's reinforcements arrived. Wang Yongji's secret performance made Chongzhen feel that he was in a desperate situation, and he couldn't help but be ecstatic for a while, slapped the case with his palm, and said loudly:

"Wu Sanguiguo is a loyal minister!"

It happened that Wei Qinghui came to add incense, and she was shocked when she heard the emperor slap the case with his palm, but she didn't hear what the emperor said next. She hurriedly opened the curtain and came in, and when she saw that the emperor was overjoyed, she felt relieved, and said softly:

"Emperor, why did you shoot the imperial case?"

Chongzhen said: "Wu Sangui has led tens of thousands of elite soldiers from Shanhaiguan to Qinwang, Beijing City doesn't matter!" ”

Wei Qinghui said: "I have been in the country for 300 years, and the national foundation is forever. Since Emperor Yingzong, Beijing has been besieged several times, and it has been able to turn evil into good fortune, and this time it is the same. Please don't be too anxious from now on and damage the royal body. Please give an edict and urge Wu Sangui's rescue to come quickly. ”

Chongzhen nodded: "Call the celebrant to come!" ”

Wei Qinghui immediately withdrew from the warm pavilion, summoned the eunuchs waiting outside the palace, and quickly summoned the eunuchs to come. At this time, Chongzhen wrote an edict to Wu Sangui with a red pen:

Tell Ping Xibo Wu Sangui to speed the army to Beijing and suppress the rebels to relieve the danger of the Beijing division!

After the celebrant eunuch took this emperor's edict, he covered a "Chongzhen Imperial Pen" seal on the yellow paper, sealed it, and added the five words "Six Hundred Miles Flying Delivery" on the envelope, registered the month, day and time of the document, and sent it directly to the military department without going through the cabinet, and immediately sent Tang Ma out of the capital.

Wei Qinghui added incense to the Baoding-style copper incense burner made in the Chenghua year, and sent a cup of fragrant tea and put it on the imperial case. She saw that the emperor was meditating on his thoughts, thinking that he had been eating and drinking abnormally for days, that he had not slept at night, and that he was very haggard, and that he was in a slightly better mood at the moment, so she persuaded him softly:

"Emperor, since there is great news, Wu Sangui is about to lead Guan Ning's elite soldiers to relieve the siege of Beijing, please relax your sacred heart a little and rest on the royal couch of Yangdezhai for a while."

Chongzhen looked at her, did not make a sound, and continued to think about the military situation of Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao. He knew that Wang Yongji had personally galloped to Ningyuan and urged Wu Sangui to quickly lead his troops to serve the king. Later, he received a flying song from Wang Yongji, saying that Wu Sangui was walking towards Shanhaiguan and could arrive at Guanmen on 16 March, and that he would first gallop back to Yongping to make arrangements for the resettlement of the Liao people in Guanguan, and there would be no news in the future. Now Chongzhen is in despair, and when he suddenly receives Wang Yongji's secret music, it is like seeing a savior in a desperate place, and he naturally can't help but be ecstatic in his heart. Chongzhen picked up the secret music and re-watched it, nodded again and again, as if facing Wei Qinghui, the palace maid standing in front of him, and seemed to say to himself:

"Wu Sangui is really a rare loyal minister, and he has led tens of thousands of elite soldiers from Shanhaiguan to save Beijing!"

Wei Qinghui looked at the emperor, her eyes were full of tears with excitement, and her lips wanted to open and stop. According to the palace rules of the Chongzhen Dynasty, the palace maids were not allowed to say a word or ask about all the major events in the court, so Wei Qinghui pretended to tidy up the incense burner, quietly wiped away the tears of excitement, and sighed in her heart:

"Thank goodness! Thank God! Then quietly walked out.

If Chongzhen had been so ecstatic in previous years, he would have immediately announced Wang Yongji's flying performance to the cabinet, and then the Yamen in charge would announce the news to the subjects of Jingshi to reassure the people. However, recent experience has made him cautious. There have been many times when his hopes have turned to despair, and his "temple scheme" has been hopeless and the overall situation has collapsed. In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, he urged Hong Chengchou to lead the eight general soldiers to save Jinzhou, and last year he urged Sun Chuanting to go out of Tongguan to enter Yu to suppress thieves, and the results of the two wars were exactly the opposite of his expectations. In the battle of rescuing Jinzhou, the whole army of the Eighth General Army collapsed, Hong Chengchou was surrounded by Songshan, and then surrendered, and Zu Dashou, the defender of Jinzhou, had to surrender the city. Sun Chuanting broke through in Ruzhou, the whole army was defeated, the thieves entered Tongguan, and entered Xi'an without a fight, and the overall situation was irreversible. Thinking of these two painful experiences, he did not dare to hold out great hope for Wu Sangui to save Beijing. Now he is worried that Wu Sangui is afraid that the "thieves" will be strong, so he will cower and wait and see in the Shanhaiguan area, and he will not be able to come in the starry night, or Li Zicheng will divide his troops to the east to block the Guanning soldiers from coming west, and on the other hand, he will step up the siege of the city, so that the Wu soldiers will not be able to rescue. Since the three battalions broke up in Shahe yesterday, he has suppressed the fear of losing the country in his heart, and he only hates that no one in the Manchu Dynasty can share his worries. Because of this desperate mood, he refused to rashly announce the news of Wu Sangui's coming to save Jingshi to his subjects, and when he wandered around the house alone in the Qianqing Palace for a long time, he sat down again and thought sadly, and suddenly sighed deeply, not noticing that Wei Qinghui came in to deliver tea.

Wei Qinghui was actually very hard, at this time, she could have sat in her own comfortable small room at the back of the Qianqing Palace and rested with aroma, and ordered other palace maids to bring tea to the emperor. Delivering tea to the emperor on time is a very simple job, and there is no need for her, the most dignified palace maid who is the "housekeeper wife" of the Qianqing Palace, to come in person.

The reason why Wei Qinghui came to deliver tea in person was because she was very relieved about the current national affairs. The country is dying, not only can she not rest assured, she knows that none of the palace people can rest assured. However, the rules in the inner palace are strict, and no one else can get the news, only she is always by the emperor's side, and it is possible to know some information, so not only the people in the Qianqing Palace asked her, but even Wu Wanrong in the Kunning Palace is the same. She couldn't sit still in her room, couldn't lie down, thought about it, and decided to come and bring tea to the emperor in person, to see if there was a chance to inquire about some news. Since the country is dying, she is not afraid of being reproached by the emperor. Once the country is destroyed, the emperor and the slaves and maids will all die anyway! So she straightened her sideburns in front of the bronze mirror, cleaned her hands, and came to bring tea to the emperor.

When she heard the emperor sigh deeply when she was delivering tea, she was taken aback, and then said in a gentle whisper:

"Emperor, great news has come, why are you so worried?"

On weekdays, Chongzhen would wave his hand to make the Wei palace people withdraw; Even though he knew her faithfulness, he would never say a word of his heart to her. However, the disaster of the country is in front of him, and Chongzhen's attitude towards the palace maid has also changed. He was annoyed that the civil and military ministers were all bastards, and there must be many people waiting to surrender to the "thieves", and some people were waiting to escape from the city. He hated that the courtiers argued endlessly about every incident in normal times, but today no one came into the palace to offer him emergency measures! He glanced at the Wei Palace people with haggard faces and tearful eyes, and sighed in his heart: "In times of trouble, only this weak woman in front of me is still as loyal to me as before!" He was deeply moved by the loyalty of the people of the Wei Palace, and almost burst into tears, nodded slightly, and motioned for her to take a step closer. The Wei palace man took a step closer and stood in front of him. Chongzhen sighed sadly again and said in a low voice:

"Although Wu Sangui is coming to King Jingqin from Shanhaiguan, he is afraid that he will not save the fire from far away. The thieves have arrived at the city of Beijing and will surely storm it without stopping. The three major battalions have been dispersed, and Beijing relies on thousands of eunuchs and citizens to defend the city, what can it do! ”

The people of the Wei Palace boldly whispered: "Is there no one in the Manchu Dynasty who is willing to serve the emperor loyally?" ”

Chongzhen shook his head and didn't answer, and couldn't help but burst into tears. At this moment, the people of Wei Palace understood more that the tragedy of the death of the country was indeed coming, and they also shed tears, and said in a low voice:

"May God and our ancestors bless the country."

Chongzhen couldn't help but hold one of Wei's hands, and said in a sincere tone: "If you are blessed by heaven and ancestors, Beijing is safe and sound, and after the matter is decided, I will make you a nobleman, so that you will enjoy wealth forever." When Chongzhen held one of her hands, due to an accident, he didn't feel a battle, and when he heard the emperor say such a thing, he quickly broke free from the emperor's hand, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and said in a trembling voice: "Thank you for the emperor's grace!" At this moment, on the one hand, she was grateful for the "grace of Tianyu", and on the other hand, she also understood that it was too late, thinking that it was fate that she could not be entitled, and could only be martyred for the emperor as a palace maid. So after prostrating his head and thanking him as usual, he whimpered and wept quietly. Chongzhen understood that the whimpering of the Wei Palace people contained the pain of the imminent death of the country, and he also sighed and shed tears. But he didn't want the eunuch to see that it was a loss of royal dignity, so he pulled the Wei palace people and whispered:

"Get up! Get up! ”