CHAPTER XIX

On the night of the 18th, Li Zicheng's base camp, which was stationed outside Beijing's Fucheng Gate, and all the civil and military yamen and military camps, including the Diaoyutai Palace, were brightly lit all night, and civil and military officials, large and small, almost stayed awake all night. Not only could they not sleep peacefully because they were in a state of infinite excitement, but they also had to discuss and prepare for the entry into the city tomorrow morning.

Sure enough, by dawn on the 19th, the nine gates of Beijing's inner city were opened almost at the same time. What the hell is going on, no one has made it clear so far. Legend has it that Cao Huachun asked his subordinates to open the city gate, but there is no conclusive historical evidence to prove it. In short, before Chongzhen's death, the city of Beijing had already collapsed, and after the outer city opened its doors to welcome the surrender yesterday afternoon, the spirit of the eunuchs and soldiers and civilians defending the inner city was even more disintegrated. The eunuch leaders discussed secretly overnight, and their activities were very tense. At dawn, the besieging rebels fired several shots at the city, urging them to open the door, but the shells passed over the city and did not hurt anyone. The eunuchs guarding the Fucheng Gate, Xuanwu Gate, and Chaoyang Gate first opened the city gates, and then the city gates opened all the time.

When the city gate was first opened, some of the soldiers and civilians defending the city in the west city did not know the conspiracy of the eunuch leaders, and when they saw that the Dashun army was about to enter the city, they fell into terror for a while, and they rolled down from the city and fled for their lives. Many of the people living near Fuchengmen carried their burdens, helped the old and the young, and ran to places they thought were safer. After a period of chaos, the Dashun army entered the city from the city gates, and there was a cavalry that entered the city from the Zhengyang Gate, about a thousand people, all of whom were white hats and green clothes, wearing cotton armor and carrying bows and arrows, and were divided into several teams after entering the city, holding Liu Zongmin's order flag and arrows, and shouting while moving forward quickly:

"The chief general of the Dashun Dynasty, Ruhou Liu Ye, has an order: I am ordered by the Dashun Emperor to lead a large army to calm the people of Ru, don't be alarmed. You must write the word 'Shunmin' on yellow paper and stick it on the hat and stick it to the door! ”

But when the city gates were first opened, there was a bit of confusion. Some troops entering the city shouted along the streets in accordance with the habit of breaking the city in the past: "Don't open the door, kill the one who opens the door!" Those who have mules and horses are quickly sacrificed, and those who violate the order are killed! Since the Anmin troops who entered the city on Liu Zongmin's order shouted along the street with the order flag and the arrow, the people stopped running around and told each other: "Okay! All right! No more killing! So no one ran for their lives, nor did they call for their children, and the streets were very silent, but the sound of galloping horses' hooves and the clashing of weapons was heard.

After all, Beijing has passed through the Liao, Jin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and has been under the emperor's wheel for hundreds of years, and is a political city. The residents knew that the new emperor Li Zicheng was about to enter the city, and every household on the street invariably placed incense tables outside the gate, offering yellow paper tablets, and wrote in Gong Kai: "Long live the Yongchang Emperor!" Hooray! Or the Great Shun Emperor is written as "the Great Shun Emperor", and there are also miswritten as "Shun Emperor". If everyone wants to go out of the gate, they write the word "Shunmin" on yellow paper and stick it on their hats.

Last night, Li Zicheng stayed up almost all night. After dinner, because the inner city of Beijing was about to be broken and the city was about to enter the city, he sent Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Li Yanzhao to the palace to discuss the important urgent matters after entering Beijing. Since the uprising in the second year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng has finally had today: he entered Beijing, destroyed the Ming Dynasty, and seized the country. The whole army of the Dashun Army, all the civil and military generals, are excited, thinking that it is a great success, Jiangnan can be passed on to the decided, Li Ziben himself of course also thinks that the eternal cause of the Dashun Dynasty has been decided, just wait for the grand ceremony to be held in Beijing, and then return to Chang'an, while unifying Jiangnan, while building the Dashun Palace, restore the scale of the Tang Dynasty. Tonight's small imperial meeting lasted until late at night. From the third watch to the fourth watch, during this period of time, Li Zicheng just lay down and looked at it for a while, but because he wanted to know whether Chongzhen would set himself on fire in the palace, he asked twice if he saw the Forbidden City on fire.

After the fourth watch, the imperial camp pro-army and civil and military officials stationed in Diaoyutai all rose up. Eat a full meal before dawn, pack your bags, and stand ready to enter the city. Li Zicheng also had breakfast in advance, sitting in the warm pavilion of the main hall of the palace, waiting for a report on the situation in the inner city. Because of his excitement, he was always thinking about all kinds of problems, sometimes big problems, and sometimes small problems. Now in his thoughts, he thinks of the question of calling "lonely" and "me", and he can't help but smile.

He called himself a "me" to people when he was a child, and he called it for more than 30 years. In March last year, he killed Luo Rucai in Xiangyang, called the king of Xinshun, and also began to set up officials at all levels from the central to the local. At that time, the Wenchens led by Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance unanimously suggested that he call himself "Lone". He is no stranger to the king's self-proclaimed "lonely", and the king on the stage either calls himself "lonely" or calls himself a "widow", and does not call himself "me". He had read Mencius when he was a child, and King Hui of Liang called himself a "widow" when he spoke to Mencius. After Xiangyang was called the king of Xinshun, he still called himself "I" when he spoke for a long time, and he was not used to changing his mouth to "Lonely", which caused Yang Yongyu, Yu Shangyou and other ministers who were "from the dragon" in Xiangyang to admonish him several times. After arriving in Xi'an, Xi'an was changed to Chang'an, and the situation was very different. From the New Year's Day of this year, the establishment of the national name Dashun, changed to Yongchang, by the civil and military officials to congratulate. At that time, the ministers all knelt down and bowed to him, shouting long live, and regarded him as the founding emperor, so they suggested that he call himself "I" to correct the public. However, he repeatedly expressed humility and promised to change his name to "me" when he arrived in Beijing. Today, I will enter the Forbidden City in Beijing, although the grand ceremony has not yet been held, it can also be called "I"; It's not a habit for a while, but it's going to get used to it soon. Thinking that in less than two years, he went from calling himself "I" to "Lonely" to "I", and then to "I", he couldn't help but burst into tears and laughed quietly for a while.

At this moment, Li Shuangxi opened the curtain and came in, knelt down and said, "Father Qi, the gates of the city have been opened!" ”

Li Zicheng stood up suddenly and said, "As the military advisor did!" Does the Marquis already know? ”

He had given the order that Anmin's 3,000 cavalry began to divide into the city. The first to enter the city through Zhengyangmen was a thousand cavalry. He himself will soon enter the city. ”

"Is there a fire in the Forbidden City?"

"There was no fire on the Forbidden City side. I saw only two fires in the southeast corner of the inner city. People say that the fire is inside the Chongwen Gate. ”

Li Zicheng sat down and said, "Ah, Chongzhen didn't self-immolate!" Then he asked, "Did the Qing palace led by your eldest brother set off?" ”

"I have already set off, and my Uncle Yi and the deputy military division will go with him." Shuangxi looked up at his father-in-law with a spring breeze on his face, and said, "Song Junshi and Prime Minister Niu Cheng will come to the palace in a while and accompany the saint into the city." ”

Li Zicheng nodded slightly. Although he loves his adopted son Double Happiness very much, he is usually influenced by the traditional idea of "strict father and loving mother", and his attitude towards Double Happiness is always very serious. At this moment, because he was about to drive into the city, his heart was excited, and he was unusual, and suddenly smiled at Shuangxi and asked:

"Zhu Yuanzhang had no way to live, so he went to Huangjue Temple to be a little monk. Later, Huangjue Temple was also so poor that he had no food to eat, so he went to serve as a soldier under Guo Zixing. Do you know the story? ”

"Erchen has heard people talk about Zhu Hongwu's 'small background' and knows his story of becoming a monk."

"Double happiness! Zhu Yuanzhang started as a soldier, was born and died, went through a lot of hardships, and spent fifteen years to finally seize the world and establish the Ming Dynasty. Since the uprising alone, do you say it's a coincidence? It's been fifteen years! ”

Shuangxi hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Long live my father!" Banzai! Hooray! ”

Li Zicheng was complacent at this time, and then said: "Zhu Yuanzhang has experienced a hundred battles, expelled Hu Yuan, established the Ming Dynasty, and his achievements far exceeded that of Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. It's a pity that the Ming Dynasty died in less than 300 years, only 260 years. I will never be like this in the Great Shun Dynasty! ”

Shuangxi said: "Of course, the Great Shun Dynasty is the unification of all ages. ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Since ancient times, there has been no immortal country; Although the Zhou Dynasty has been said to be 800 years old, after King Ping moved eastward, after two generations, Zhou Tianzi had a false name, which is very sad. It is enough to hope that the Great Shun Dynasty can enjoy the country for 400 years. He smiled with satisfaction and asked, "Double Happiness, do you have anything else to do?" ”

"Father, Wang Changshun came to ask for a meeting, did you ask him to come in?"

"Changshun? Where is he now? ”

"I've been waiting in the hospital for a long time, and I don't dare to come in rashly. He asked his sons to play the Holy Lord, and those who had a decree dared to come in. ”

"Call him in."

Shuangxi kowtowed and withdrew for a moment, Wang Changshun tidied up his clothes in the courtyard, entered the warm pavilion gently, knelt down and kowtowed in front of Li Zicheng, and said:

"The old groom, Wang Changshun, knocks on the holy car!"

Li Zicheng smiled and nodded: "Wang Changshun, you can no longer be called an old horseman, you are already the envoy of the Great Shun Dynasty." What's the urgency for you to come to see Gu now? ”

"The minister has fed horses for His Majesty for more than ten years, shed blood and sweat on the battlefield, and looks forward to His Majesty's success every year. Today, the holy car entered the city of Beijing, and the ministers had the courage to make a plea to Your Majesty, and I hope that Your Majesty will grant it! ”

"What do you plead? Is it some of your close friends who want a half-job? ”

"It's not. If such a thing happens, the minister will never dare to plead with His Majesty. Even if the minister knows that His Majesty will approve it, the minister will never beg His Majesty for official affairs! ”

"What the hell is the big deal with you?"

"Today's holy drive into Beijing, but also into the Forbidden City, this is a great founding event of my Dashun Dynasty, please read the holy minister is the old man of the uprising, loyal to follow His Majesty for more than ten years, there is no merit and hard work, Qin Zhun Xiaochen Hu from the holy car into the city, the minister will be forever grateful!"

Li Zicheng asked with a smile: "There are already several groups of people entering the city, why don't you hurry up and enter the city?" ”

"Xiaochen is not in a hurry to see the scenery of the royal street in Beijing, then, it is the same in the morning and evening. On the road of thousands of miles to the east, Xiaochen even dreamed of how the people of Beijing would welcome the holy car in the middle of the road. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and the minister does not want to miss it! ”

Li Zicheng laughed unconsciously: "Such a trivial matter, you want to escort into the city, tell Shuangxi that you have it, why do you have to go through my approval?" I haven't forgotten that you are an old man who followed the lonely uprising, born and died on the battlefield for more than ten years, and always followed the lonely horse! ”

The emperor said this sentence that did not forget the old feelings, which made the old groom's tears burst out of his eyes, prostrated to the ground, and then choked up and said:

"Having said that, but now that Your Majesty is the emperor, you can't do without royal rules, how dare the ministers not talk about the rules!"

Li Zicheng saw Changshun's tears, and suddenly recalled the past after the uprising, especially when he was besieged in Shangluo Mountain and when Luoyang was first broken, and his heart was also full of feelings. Smile said:

"Changshun, after breaking Luoyang, everyone discussed whether they should build a king in Luoyang, you said a few words to Lone, and Lone has always kept it in mind. Lone once said to you, no matter if Lone is called king and emperor in the future, as long as you want to see me, you can go to the palace to see me at any time. As the saying goes, Lao Tzu of the imperial court still has three poor relatives, not to mention that you are a person who has made great contributions when you are lonely and difficult. Modo talks about royal rules! ”

Wang Changshun hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Long live the emperor's grace!" Long live the Emperor's grace! ”

Shuangxi came in, and revealed to the emperor that Prime Minister Niu and Song Junshi had come to the palace and waited to see him. Wang Changshun kowtowed again, and quickly got up and withdrew. Li Zicheng immediately walked out of the warm pavilion and came to the main hall, where he sat and waited in the south. Niu and Song walked in respectfully, and were about to kneel down and kowtow, when Li Zicheng waved his hand to stop him and asked:

"Do you want to drive?"

Niu Jinxing bowed down and said, "The ministers are here to invite the emperor to drive." ”

At this time, three cannons rang out outside the palace gate, followed by a burst of drums. Li Zicheng was accompanied by Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance on the left and right, and a group of personal generals walked out of the palace. As he walked out, he asked Song Xiance, who was walking a little further on the right:

"Li Guo went to the Qing Palace, can he find Chongzhen's body?"

Song Xiance replied in a low voice: "Li Guo has already reported from Pegasus twice: Empress Zhou has committed suicide, and Chongzhen does not know her whereabouts. ”

"Did you flee during the night?"

"They are looking all over the Forbidden City, and Wu Ruyi has also sent people to search for them all over the Imperial City. The minister was worried that he had escaped from the palace last night and hid among the people, waiting for an opportunity to escape from the city. The stakes are so high that his whereabouts must be found today. ”

Li Zicheng's heart sank, and he instructed Niu and Song in a stern tone: "If he hides in the people, be sure to post a notice widely: Anyone who dares to hide Chongzhen will be beheaded by his whole family; If there is a sacrifice of Chongzhen, you can get a reward of 10,000 gold, and reward it to high-ranking officials! ”

Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance echoed in unison: "Obey the order!" ”

Li Zicheng set off from Diaoyutai with a burst of drum music. Walking in the forefront was Li Shuangxi, and behind him were two hundred cavalrymen with neat appearances, all of them with licorice yellow and tall horses. Behind the 200 cavalry was a guard general, mounted on a horse, tall and carrying a yellow umbrella. On the left and right of the yellow umbrella are ten guards and propaganda officers, all of whom are handsome and have solemn expressions. Then there is Li Zicheng, wearing a pale cyan arrow-sleeved silk robe embroidered with flying dragons and tides, wearing an apricot yellow silk silk around his waist, and a wide-brimmed white felt hat with a high hat tassel made of golden silk thread, and a dazzling gold top on the top of the hat. The cap is prefixed with a sparkling blue gemstone. The yellow umbrella, the hat tassel, and the embroidered dragon on the robe indicate that he is already the emperor, and the light cyan dragon robe and the blue jade in front of the hat indicate that he is "water virtue should be lucky". In order to let his subjects understand that he had won the world from horseback, and Jiangnan had yet to be pacified, it was agreed in advance that he would enter the city with arrow sleeves today. Because it is an arrow-sleeved military uniform, this pale cyan embroidered dragon silk robe is half a foot shorter than ordinary robes, only reaching the cuff of the boots. He was already a burly man, but today he is wearing a military uniform, with a sword at his waist, and riding on a tall and majestic oolong horse, which shows his majesty and heroism.

This Oolong Pony, the imperial horse of Emperor Dashun, has been replaced with a yellow bridle, yellow silk reins, silver chewing rings, gilded stirrups and gilded copper bells in Xi'an.

Riding a horse followed around the "holy car", and a little later, it was Prime Minister Niu Cheng and the Song military division, in case the emperor had any inquiries at any time. Following the "holy drive" horse was the Shangshu of the Six Governments. According to the Dashun system, this group of civil officials, because the Son of Heaven is in military uniform, they all wear blue official civilian clothes today, and temporarily replace the jade belt with crimson silk. However, in order to show the rank of civil officials on the way to the East, there are also complements on the official civilian clothes, and the color is light blue. Niu Venus is a first-class Wenchen, so the complement embroiders a large cloud with gold thread. Song Xiance's complement is embroidered with two clouds. Shangshu is tentatively set as three products, and three clouds are embroidered with gold thread on the complement. Then there was a petty official who Li Zicheng was specially allowed to drive into the city, that is, the old horseman Wang Changshun. Although Li Zicheng once said that he would appoint him as the envoy of the Horse Husbandry Garden, because the official system of the new dynasty is not yet complete, it has not yet been determined how many officials the Horse Husbandry Court envoy of the Dashun Dynasty is, so Wang Changshun is only wearing a blue robe with arrow sleeves today, and there is no complement. Although his official position is not high, he is an expert in selecting horses, and he is Li Zicheng's old groom, riding a snow-white and red-lipped horse made in Qinghai today, which makes people envious. Behind Wang Changshun were 200 escort cavalry, all of whom were jujube red horses. The soldiers of Dashun are all in blue clothes and blue hats, which are very neat. The slaves, entourage, and personal soldiers of the civil and military officials were numerous, and they all rode at the end.

Li Zicheng as the emperor of Dashun, along the road "vigilant", from the outside of the city slowly, looking at the open Fucheng Gate, Xizhi Gate, do not enter the city, but continue to go north, and then turn the northwest corner to the east, to the Desheng Gate. The soldiers of the Dashun army guarding the city gate knelt on both sides of the avenue to greet them. Starting from the street outside the gate of the urn city to the street along the way after entering the city, it has been hurriedly cleaned by the soldiers and civilians, and the incense cases on both sides of the street have also been put out.

Li Zicheng was subordinated by ministers and generals and walked into Desheng Gate majestically. Liu Zongmin led dozens of military generals who had already entered the city at dawn, as well as civil officials above the sixth rank of the central yamen of the new dynasty, all of whom greeted the holy car inside the city gate. According to the new emperor's entry ceremony drawn up by Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing in front of the emperor, according to the rules of entering the city victoriously in the war, the emperor does not ride the law, does not need to use a halo book, a blanket of clothes, and rides into the city, and the civil and military officials who welcome the car ride on horses and stand on both sides of the street, without prostrating on the side of the street. Liu Zongmin was the first of the hundred civil and military officials in the Dashun Dynasty, so he immediately stepped forward alone, and then according to the habit since the Tang and Song dynasties, he was in the east and the west. The Wenchen first rode horses in the order of the yamen and then according to the order of rank, that is, according to the traditional rules of "step-by-step" as the saying goes, riding horses and standing solemnly on the east side of the street; The generals rode on horseback to the west side of the street in the order of the official ranks of General Quan, General System, General Weiwu, General Guoyi, and Guerrilla General. Seeing Li Zicheng's yellow umbrella coming to him, Liu Zongmin hurriedly clasped his fists on the horse and bowed down, and said in a loud voice:

"Minister Liu Zongmin, lead the civil and military officials, welcome the holy driver!"

Li Zicheng said softly: "Qing led hundreds of civil and military officials into the palace with him!" ”

Liu Zongmin said in a loud voice: "Obey the order!" Immediately, Liu Zongmin pulled his horse to the center of the street, walked in front of the yellow umbrella, and guided the holy car forward.

When Li Zicheng walked in front of the ministers, especially when he saw the high-status six government scholars and servants, he almost couldn't help but return the salute. But suddenly remembered that Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance had repeatedly explained to him last night that the emperor could not return the salute to his subordinates, so he didn't give it up, and only answered the ministers with a smile.

After the two lines of civil servants and military generals who greeted the holy car, there were more than 300 people who knelt on the ground to greet them. They had already dismounted, and as soon as they saw the yellow umbrella, they quickly knelt down and fell to the ground. Li Zicheng saw that this group of people kneeling on the ground to greet them were all in python robes and jade belts, and their crowns and uniforms were neat, but they seemed to be slightly different from the civil official crowns and uniforms of the Ming Dynasty, and the most special thing was that these people were bare on their chins and lips, and they had no beards. He was about to ask left and right, when he suddenly saw Du Xun raise his head from the ground and said in a loud voice:

"Slave and maidservant Du Xun Qi played the saint: Wang Dehuagong, the former minister of ceremonies and eunuchs, led the ministers of the twelve prisons and twenty-four yamen, and Cao Huachungong, the governor of Dongchang, led the ministers of all levels of Dongchang, and there were also ministers of the prison army who surrendered to Datong, Xuanfu, and Juyongguan, a total of 312 members, came to kneel to welcome the holy driver!"

As soon as Li Zicheng heard that they were all ministers of the Ming Dynasty, Zhuma asked, "Who is Wang Dehua?" ”

Wang Dehua raised his head and said in fear: "The minister is Wang Dehua." ”

Li Zicheng asked again: "You are the head of the ministers of the Ming Dynasty and a confidant of Chongzhen." Now Chongzhen's whereabouts are unknown, do you know where he fled? ”

"Last night, the minister was on the Fucheng Gate, not in the palace. I only heard that there was chaos in the palace, but I don't know where Emperor Chongzhen fled. ”

"Chongzhen escapes from the palace, and there must be ministers with him. Do you know which of the courtiers followed him? ”

Wang Dehua replied: "There are seven eunuchs in the eunuch of the celebrant and the eunuch, one of whom is weak and sick, and has been on leave at home for a long time. Five of the six eunuchs of Bingbi came to kneel with the ministers to welcome the holy car today, and only one Wang Chengen was by the side of the emperor Chongzhen every day, and he was quite favored and trusted, and he met the holy car in the future today, and I heard that he escaped from the palace with the emperor Chongzhen before dawn. ”

Li Zicheng didn't ask anymore and said, "Let's drive!" The newly surrendered ministers, those who have positions follow behind, and those who do not have positions go home and wait for their fate! ”

The herald then shouted: "Let's go!" ”

If you want to enter the Forbidden City as soon as possible, the nearest way is to enter the Imperial City by Di'an Gate, and then enter the Forbidden City through Xuanwu Gate. However, the new emperor could not go through the back door, and the second could not go through the side door, and must take the gate of the imperial city to the south, that is, the Daming Gate at that time, and today's Zhonghua Gate. The route from Deshengmen to Damingmen was agreed upon by Niu, Song and a group of Wenchen. Along the way, there are soldiers stationed at short distances, and the atmosphere is solemn, but it is too late to pave the road with yellow sand.

Li Zicheng was followed by the civil and military officials and the imperial camp pro-army, and walked south after entering the Desheng Gate, and then went east from the Xidan archway and turned onto West Chang'an Street. Everywhere you go, it's unusually quiet; On both sides of the street, every family closes the door, and a incense case is placed outside the door, and there is a yellow tablet on the case, which reads: "Long live the Emperor Yongchang!" Hooray! "There is yellow or red paper pasted on the door, and the word "Shunmin" is written on it.

Li Zicheng rode on the tall oolong horse, with a solemn demeanor, and always reminded himself in his heart that he was the emperor of Dashun, which was different from the past. He lightly lifted the apricot yellow silk reins with his left hand, lowered his right hand, sat up straight, his eyes were blazing forward, and he refused to look casually. However, under the cover of this calm appearance, his heart was very excited, and he kept thinking nonsense, and suddenly remembered the situation of herding sheep and beating for the landlord of the Ai family in his village in his childhood, and also recalled many difficult past events after the uprising, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart:

"Sure enough, there is today!"

He thought that all his soldiers had been looking forward to today, even the old groom Wang Changshun. Changshun drove into Beijing and realized his dream for many years, and he must be happy at the moment...... Thinking of this, Li Zicheng couldn't bear it anymore, and glanced back at Wang Changshun.

Wang Changshun has been looking forward to King Chuang for many years to seize the country and enter Beijing, and today he really got his wish, and he himself was fortunate to follow the holy car into the city, so he was naturally very excited. But he was very disappointed with the deserted scene on the street where the holy car passed, closed to pedestrians. Some residents heard Liu Zongmin's message and knew that the Dashun army would no longer kill people, so they began to dare to open half of the gate and come out to pick up the driver, but they all knelt next to the incense case, did not dare to raise their heads, did not dare to make a sound, and the word "Shunmin" written on yellow paper was pasted on their hats.

Wang Changshun couldn't help but think of a few things from the past. Just after the New Year of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, King Li Chuang's men and horses broke through Luoyang, and the next day he followed King Chuang into the city. The people, men, women, and children greeted him on both sides of the official road a few miles away from the city, some carrying boiling water, some carrying millet porridge, and some setting off firecrackers. People complained to him about the unrighteousness of King Fu, the cruelty of the officers and soldiers, and the tyranny of the local officials. The people complained and wept as they cried: "King Chuang, you are the savior of our people!" "King Chuang sometimes greeted the people with tears rolling down his eyes. Entering Luoyang City, no matter which street you pass, the people are welcome and set off firecrackers. King Chuang nodded and smiled incessantly on his horse, and returned the salute to his fathers and elders......

In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, when King Chuang broke Xiangyang, some common people carried slaughtered cattle and sheep to Zhangjiawan east of Fancheng, and some people even greeted Shuanggou to complain to King Chuang about the various crimes of Zuo Liangyu's garrison. When Liu Zongmin led the front team into Fancheng, Zuo Liangyu had not yet retreated in Xiangyang, just a river away, and the people and local gentry of Fancheng were not afraid of the retaliation of the Zuo army......

It turned out that Wang Changshun was always guessing that when Emperor Dashun entered Beijing, he didn't know how lively it was, and the grand occasion must be ten times more lively than Luoyang, and the paper flowers of firecrackers would pile up half a foot on the street. He didn't expect that King Chuang became the Emperor of Dashun, and when he entered Beijing, it would be so deserted that the common people were not allowed to stop the horse's head to welcome him, so he could only kneel on the side of the street with his head down, and most people did not dare to come out. He knew that this rule was called "vigilance." So he thought again, when the county magistrate went out of the yamen, there were still people in front of him holding a pair of tiger head cards of "avoidance" and "silence", not to mention that the emperor was passing by on the street? This "vigilant" is "Quiet Street", and it should be, but there is no yellow sand paving the ground today!

Wang Changshun sighed in his heart: "In the end, it's the emperor, it's no longer King Li Chuang, you can't let the people hold the horse's head and talk casually!" He looked at the deserted streets, where there were incense cases at the door of every house, and said to himself in his heart: "After all, it is the city of Beijing, look, the common people know how much the rules are!" ”

Let's say that Li Zicheng was walking east on West Chang'an Avenue when he suddenly ordered to stop in the horse. He asked for a carved bow and three feathered arrows from the hand of one of the generals beside him, and whispered:

"Pull out the arrowheads!"

The guard quickly drew the arrowhead and presented it to him with both hands. He was not in a hurry, his demeanor was steady, he fired three arrows in a row behind his back, and said a few words. But because he is now the emperor, he can't shout like he used to do on the battlefield in the wilderness, so what he said can only be heard by the civil and military generals who are close by, but he doesn't have to worry, immediately a trained edict official in Xi'an Le Ma came out of the queue, and in the blink of an eye, Li Zicheng's dictation was compiled into a four-word rhyme in the center of the street, and with a loud voice like a bronze bell, sonorously announced backwards:

Long live the purpose,

The military and the people admired.

The soldiers enter the city,

Don't be alarmed.

Every house is open,

Business as usual.

Officers and men of the three armed forces,

Xiangui barracks.

harassing the people,

Don't let it go!

Li Zicheng's "holy car" continued to move forward and was about to enter the imperial city. Wang Changshun's heart was extremely excited: "How many days have I been looking forward to this day!" I was so excited that tears welled up in my eyes.

The civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty went to the court, if they wanted to enter the Chengtian Gate, they came from the east from the left gate of Chang'an, and from the west from the right gate of Chang'an, and there was no detour into the Daming Gate. But Li Zicheng is the emperor, and he can't go sideways to enter the imperial city. He was followed by civil and military officials and imperial battalion soldiers, turned south from about half a mile outside the right gate of Chang'an, entered the right gate of Gongsheng, walked forward along the west side of the red wall of the imperial city, and walked until he reached the Zhengyang Gate and turned left, and arrived in front of the Daming Gate. Between Zhengyangmen and Damingmen is a square square, commonly known as Tianjie, also known as Qipan Street, which is a good place for idle citizens to enjoy the moon.

The gatekeepers of the Daming Gate were originally Jinyi Banner School in the Ming Dynasty, and from this morning onwards, they were replaced by the imperial camp of the Dashun Dynasty. They all knelt on the ground to meet them, not daring to look up. In previous years, Li Zicheng treated them like brothers, and there is no return. Li Zicheng walked past the dismount monument and stopped his horse in front of two huge stone lions. And the soldiers and generals who accompanied them all dismounted in front of the dismount monument. He looked up at the city gate tower with heavy eaves and ridges, and the owl kiss was towering, which was very magnificent. The city gate is three, and there is a stone plaque "Daming Gate" in the middle; The couplet hanging on both sides of the gate in the middle is:

The sun and the moon are bright

Mountains and rivers Zhuang Emperor's residence

Li Zicheng read the couplet in a low voice, and then read the line behind it: "The minister Xie Jinfeng Gong Shu", and unconsciously praised and said: "What a big style!" To be able to come up with such a couplet is worthy of a famous talent! Then he looked at the couplet again, and each word was one foot and two inches square, neat and powerful, and the calligraphy also made him very much admired. He asked Niu Jinxing beside him:

"Qidong, Bachelor Xie is more than 200 years old, did he write this couplet himself?"

Niu Jinxing was stumped by this sudden question, but after all, he was a person with rich miscellaneous knowledge and was familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty, and immediately replied:

"Your Majesty is very enlightened, and this question is really unexpected by the foolish ministers. Xie was imprisoned about ten years ago in Yongle and died in prison, and his wife's clan was in Liaodong. Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing in the nineteenth year of Yongle, and it seems that Xie Bachelor did not come to Beijing, and he must have been ordered to write this couplet for the Nanjing Palace Gate. Although it used the verses of the ancients, it was used very appropriately, so the Yongle Emperor praised it greatly. Soon after the expulsion was convicted, the couplet must have been ruined after he was imprisoned. Later, Chengzu Yan drove and Renzong succeeded to the throne, knowing that Xie Jin was not guilty, he issued an edict to release Xie Jin's wife's clan from Liaodong. Injong reigned for less than a year. This couplet must have been after Renzong, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, imitating the couplet originally written by Xie Bachelor, hanging here. The minister has read very little, so he can only make this conjecture, and ask His Majesty to forgive the minister's ignorance and nonsense. ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said: "Those who are kings should always be tolerant, and must not kill ministers and destroy talents." ”

Song Xiance hurriedly said: "Your Majesty will become the king of Yao Shun through the ages, which is really a blessing for the subjects of the world!" ”

Li Zicheng said: "Don't replace this couplet, the plaque on the door should be replaced with the words 'Dashun Gate'." ”

Niu Jinxing said: "Yes, Your Majesty, it will be changed soon." ”

Song Xiance continued: "This middle gate is the emperor's royal road, which is closed on weekdays. Now for His Majesty, the middle gate will be opened, and the Holy Driver will be invited to enter through the middle gate on horseback. ”

Li Zicheng looked north from the middle doorway, did not enter immediately, and looked back at the back of the Zhengyang Gate, only to feel that everywhere was majestic and magnificent, which really shocked him, and couldn't help but admire in his heart:

"Sure enough, it's Beijing City!" Then he said in his heart: "Although the capital of Lone is Chang'an, Beijing is also the Wanshi family business of Dashun." From now on, there will be a close general stationed here, and Lone will often come here to patrol! When he thought of who would be stationed in Beijing, he thought of his nephew Li Guo, and thought that in the near future, Luo Hu, who was very loyal and reliable, would be promoted to the rank of general, and made him a lord as Li Guo's deputy. In the future, if Li Guo is ordered to lead a large army to the south of the Yangtze River and conquer Sichuan, Luo Hu will be ordered to stay in Beijing. …… Just thinking of this, Li Zicheng was followed by Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Li Shuangxi, and walked into the middle gate. But the four of them also had to avoid the royal road in the middle paved with white marble. In addition to the four people, all the civil and military generals and the guards entered through the left and right gates.

After Li Zicheng rode into the imperial city, his dream of replacing the Ming Dynasty in the past few years came true today. Suddenly I thought of discussing the timing of the Northern Expedition in Xi'an, if I listened to Li Yan's slow advance policy, how could I have today? On the contrary, it delayed the opportunity and gave Chongzhen a chance to breathe! At this moment, he even thought that his future deeds should be comparable to Tang Taizong's. Seven hundred years apart, he established the Li Dynasty unified by the four seas, which was much more powerful than the Western Xia Kingdom built by his ancestors, and it was simply incomparable! Now that he has broken Beijing, he will soon pacify the south of the Yangtze River, mix a universe, Li Jiqian passed on to Li Yuanhao, and then passed on to him, so that the Li family can really carry forward.

There are two rows of corridor houses opposite to each other in Daming Gate, the roof ridge is connected, there are more than 100 rooms each, called the Thousand Step Corridor. In front of the two rows of porches is a wide stone-paved road, and behind the porches is the red wall of the imperial city. The yamen of all the central ministries are outside this red wall. Walking on the royal road in the middle of the thousand-step corridor, Li Zicheng looked at the world-famous Chengtianmen getting closer and closer, and he had already heard of a pair of white marble watches and the white jade railings on the Jinshui River Bridge, all not far in front of his eyes. In front of Chengtianmen is the sacred forbidden land, which now belongs to his Li Zicheng's royal private property, and he will soon ride a horse to approach Chengtianmen. In the past, he led his soldiers to charge into battle in an army of 100,000 people, although the horse's hooves shook the ground, the sound of killing shook the sky, the arrows were like flying locusts, and the blood flowed like a river, but he came to it with a commanding spirit, accustomed to it, not frightened, not breathless, calm as usual, but the victory at this moment made him very excited, and his heart couldn't help but beat a few times......

According to the prior instructions of the military advisor: the horses of the central civil servants were led out of the left and right gates of Chang'an by their respective servants and temporarily sent to their respective yamens; The war horses of the royal camp soldiers guarding the holy car were suspended on the south side of the Jinshui River, and after the emperor entered the palace, their war horses could be led into the Chengtian Gate from the side gate and sent to the Sheji Altar Courtyard to feed. According to the royal system, although Liu Zongmin, Niu and Song had a high status in the Dashun Dynasty, they could not ride into Chengtianmen. They were all scheduled to be stationed in Dongcheng, so their horses were then led by their retinue to wait outside the Donghua Gate. At this time, the Chengtian Gate, like the Daming Gate, has been guarded by the imperial camp of the Dashun Dynasty, and these soldiers have already knelt on the ground to take over. Li Zicheng rode a horse and walked over the white jade bridge in the middle, only Li Shuangxi was responsible for protecting the holy driver, and he could follow Li Zicheng's horse to cross the bridge on foot, but he also had to avoid the middle of the bridge, and could only walk close to the carved dragon railing of the bridge.

Li Zicheng crossed the Jinshui Bridge, still couldn't help but look up at the sturdy beauty of Chengtianmen, and suddenly thought that after the great ceremony was held, he needed to order the ministers to draw a couplet for Chengtianmen, and write it into a two-foot square black lacquer script, lined with a golden cloud dragon bottom, and hung on both sides of the Zhongque Gate...... As soon as he thought of this, Song Xiance came to his horse's head and bowed down to remind:

"Your Majesty, please shoot the 'Gate of Heaven' with arrows to clear the Ming Dynasty's ominous atmosphere."

Li Shuangxi hurriedly took out the strong bow from his back, and took out a carved arrow from the arrow, and held it to the emperor with both hands. Li Zicheng made the oolong horse take a few steps back, raised his bow and arrow, only to hear the sound of the bowstring, and an arrow hit the empty space in the middle of the "Gate of Chengtian" card, that is, the bottom of the word "Tian" and the top of the word "Zhi". The civil and military ministers and the escort pro-soldiers immediately cheered:

"Hooray! Hooray! ”

Li Zicheng's arrow shot at Chengtianmen, bringing his joy of victory to a climax. This move was designed by Song Xiance on the way to Beijing, and was approved by Niu Jinxing. When Song Xiance suggested to him that before entering the palace, he should shoot arrows at Chengtianmen to eliminate the ominous, Niu Jinxing even said, "This proposal is very good", and said:

"Your Majesty, do you remember the story of 'King Wu Keshang'?"

"I can't remember. What about the Warrior King? ”

"King Wu of Zhou led the army of the princes to the capital of the Shang Dynasty, and the king of Zhou had already climbed the deer platform and set himself on fire to death. King Wu fired three arrows at Lutai, then got out of the car, hit it with a light sword, cut off his head with Huang Yue, and hung a big white flag. The three arrows are also to purify the ominous. ”

"Okay, good, Lone also has to shoot an arrow to eliminate the ominous, and then enter the palace!"

Now, Li Zicheng has shot through the Chengtianmen, as if he was King Wu of Zhou, riding towards the palace.

When we arrived at the noon gate, there was silence on both sides of the room, and all the doors were closed. The noon gate tower is tall and magnificent, greatly surpassing the Chengtian Gate. In the past, it was a very sacred place in front of the gate at noon, and no one had ever ridden a horse in front of Wufeng Tower, nor did there be a chaotic footstep. Today, however, the situation in this place has changed dramatically.

Li Guo, Li Yan, and Wu Ruyi, who were in charge of the Qing Palace and the search for Chongzhen's whereabouts, hurriedly walked out of the noon gate and knelt down to pick up the car. Li Zicheng could see from their expressions that they had not found Chongzhen's whereabouts, and his heart couldn't help but sink: "Could it be that they escaped from the city while they were in chaos?" However, he tried his best to remain silent in front of all the civil ministers and generals and the royal camp pro-army, as if he didn't care, and once again looked up at the city tower, and asked Niu Jinxing:

"Is this Wumen Tower commonly known as the Five Phoenix Tower?"

Niu Jinxing bowed down and replied: "Yes, Your Majesty, in the future, Your Majesty will go to court on the fifth watch every day, and the eunuch will ring the bell on this Wufeng Tower first." ”

Li Zicheng said softly: "Okay, let's enter the Forbidden City." ”

Song Xiance hurriedly said: "Wait, you still need an official to lead the royal horse for Your Majesty." ”

Li Zicheng smiled slightly and said: "Half a lonely horse, trekking through mountains and rivers, and walking all kinds of dangerous roads. Now walking into the Forbidden City, do you still need someone to lead the horse for a lonely person? ”

Song Xiance said: "The minister doesn't know that the oolong horse is the horse that the emperor is used to riding, and he has never been on a business trip. In previous years, on the two armies' formations, the artillery fire was continuous, the sound of killing was everywhere, and the oolong horse carried His Majesty into battle, made great achievements, and became famous in the whole army. It's just that what the minister is worried about is that now when he enters the noon gate, there are steps up and down everywhere, and there are tall palaces everywhere, which are resplendent and magnificent, extremely majestic and solemn, and the oolong horse has never seen it. Once the horse is frightened, the slightest mistake is a bad omen. It is better to have an official lead the horse for His Majesty, in case the oolong horse enters the palace and has an accident. ”

Li Zicheng considered everything from the auspicious consideration, agreed to the advice of the military advisor, and asked later:

"Who is the one to lead the horse?"

Wang Changshun suddenly walked out of a group of guards, walked quickly to Li Zicheng's horse's head, knelt on the ground, and said in a trembling voice with excitement:

"King Chuang...... Ahh …… Emperor! The minister Wang Changshun followed His Majesty for fifteen or six years, was born and died on the battlefield, never left His Majesty, never left the oolong horse, hung a few colors on his body, shed several bloods, and had no merit or hard work. Please give your majesty a little face to your old groom, and ask the ministers to lead the horse into the palace for the emperor! ”

Li Zicheng smiled and nodded: "Okay, Changshun, it's up to you to lead the horse into the palace!" ”

Entering the noon gate, Li Zicheng was shocked by the majestic palace that appeared. He pointed north with his horsewhip and asked softly:

"This is the Golden Luan Palace?"

The eunuch who led the way bowed and replied, "Back to Your Majesty, this is the Emperor's Gate." After the Huangji Gate is the Huangji Palace, commonly known as the Jinluan Palace. ”

Li Zicheng let out an "ah".

He said in his heart: "An Imperial Gate is so magnificent! He glanced at Wang Changshun, and it happened that the old horseman's eyes were turning back from the Huangji Gate, and they met with his eyes. Wang Changshun's eyes were full of surprise and tears, and he choked up and said, "Your Majesty, the minister really saw today!" Li Zicheng heard Wang Changshun's whisper, and he felt the same way, but he avoided Changshun's eyes, turned back to Song Xiance and asked:

"Are you going to the Wuying Palace?"

"Please Your Majesty take advantage of the Wuying Palace, all things are auspicious."

Li Zicheng was obeyed by the civil and military ministers, went west through the Guiji Gate (also known as the Right Shun Gate), crossed the white marble bridge on the Neijinshui River, and dismounted in front of the Wuying Gate. According to the prior agreement of the military advisor, the prime minister and the ministers of the courtesy government, he must sit on the emperor's throne in the Wuying Hall and be congratulated by the ministers in the music, so as to complete today's ceremony of entering the city. However, because Chongzhen's whereabouts are unknown, Li Zicheng is not interested in receiving congratulations from the ministers in Wuying Palace, and even Liu Zongmin, Niu, Song and other close ministers also think that this matter is very serious, and the top priority is to make every effort to find Chongzhen in Beijing, whether he is dead or alive. After Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin and several other close ministers entered from Wuying Gate, the civil and military ministers stood quietly under the steps outside Wuying Gate, and the eunuchs waited outside the Jinshui Bridge, waiting for the announcement.

Everyone was waiting respectfully, and a proclamator came to Wuying's door and said loudly to everyone:

"The chief general of the battalion and the scholars of Tianyou Pavilion said: By the holy decree, today's court is temporarily exempted, the civil officials will go back to the yamen to do business, and the military generals will return to the station. The Ming Dynasty surrendered to the ministers and temporarily returned to their respective homes to wait for hiring. Tomorrow dawns, but listening to the noon bell, the ministers of the new dynasty will come to the Wuying Palace to go to court, and they must not be delayed! ”

The civil and military ministers immediately retreated across the Neijinshui River and all went out from the Guiji Gate. Everyone already knows that Chongzhen's whereabouts are unknown, and this news has shaken the hearts of the newly descended civil servants for nearly a year much more than the generals. They were afraid that if Emperor Chongzhen escaped from Beijing and went to Wu Sangui's army, and then escaped to Nanjing under the protection of Wu Sangui, the Ming Dynasty would not die, and Li Zicheng might fall into the fate of Huangchao, and they, who were eager to "climb the dragon and attach the phoenix", would not only lose their lives and leave a bad history, but also rob their families and exterminate their families. Just now they all triumphantly followed the new monarch into the palace, but at this moment, they left the palace with a heavy heart, and none of them dared to confide in their thoughts.

The eunuchs all lost their original arrogance, did not dare to argue with the civil and military officials of the new dynasty, took a step back, and waited for the civil and military ministers to walk out of the Guiji Gate, and then they left with a mood of seven up and eight down. For the convenience of entering the palace, only a few of these eunuchs lived outside the imperial city, while most of them lived inside the imperial city. Some people live in the north of the imperial city, that is, inside the Di'an Gate; Some people live in the alleys around Xi'an Gate and the west of Yuxi Palace; There are people who live in the vicinity of Dong'anmen and Dong'anmen. Almost no one lives in the South City. Now I heard that Emperor Chongzhen did not know his whereabouts, and did not commit suicide in the palace, at the beginning they were surprised, and suddenly moved a trace of old feelings, neither could bear to walk through the Dongchang Street on the left side of the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace, nor could they bear to walk next to the Yikun Palace where Concubine Yuan lived for a long time, so some went out of the Xihua Gate to the north, and some went north from the Xihua Gate along the front of the Langxia house, and then went out of the Xuanwu Gate, and there were also a few people who went out of the Guiji Gate to the east, passed through the Huiji Gate (also known as the Zuoshun Gate) and then went east out of the Donghua Gate to go home.

The last to leave from outside Wuyingmen was Wang Changshun. Although he just understood that his official position was low, and he could not follow the ministers into the Wuying Hall to congratulate Emperor Dashun, but he wanted to rely on the soldiers and generals guarding the door to be from Yan'an Mansion, and they were the younger generations, so they would not drive him away. But now, because Chongzhen, who deserves to die in the country, has no whereabouts, he canceled the court today, which makes him feel confused. Wang Changshun looked at the Wuying Hall from a distance for a while, but when he saw that the steps were very high, the hall was deep, and there was no one, he understood that it must be the emperor and several ministers who entered the warm pavilion to secretly discuss how to search for Chongzhen. He didn't care about Chongzhen's escape from Beijing, thinking that he would be caught if he offered a heavy reward. What made him sad when he left Wuyingmen was that from now on, the palace was strictly forbidden, and it seemed that it would not be easy for him to see King Chuang in Wuyingdian.

When he crossed the Neijinshui Bridge, he glanced inside the Xihua Gate, wanting to take another look at the Oolong Horse, but he didn't see it. He took a few steps forward and asked the three Imperial Camp soldiers guarding the Guiji Gate where the oolong foals were feeding. An officer with a rice fat accent smiled and said:

"Uncle Wang, the emperor's oolong horse has already been brought to the stables of the imperial horse supervisor by the shepherd, and it will not be treated badly if it is fed with several of Chongzhen's imperial horses. You don't have to worry about it. ”

Wang Changshun suddenly thought that he was really worried about it, and smiled, but he couldn't help but feel an inexplicable emptiness and sadness in his heart.

CHAPTER XX

Emperor Dashun was obeyed by the civil and military ministers and came to the Wuying Palace, and the time was almost noon. He had a brief discussion with Niu Jinxing, and ordered the ministers of the six ministries and the Wenyu Yuan to go back to their yamen, familiarize themselves with the place of work, and gather their subordinates to prepare for the start of government affairs. It is scheduled to be held tomorrow at the end of the day, and the morning pilgrimage will be held without delay. He only left Li Guo, Li Yan and Wu Ruyi behind to inquire about some information about the Qing Palace. Li Guo has no whereabouts because of Chongzhen, and the prince and the two kings of Yong and Ding have not been found, but they have heard that they have all been sent out of the palace by the eunuchs. He must hurry up and continue to search for Chongzhen in the imperial city, and find out where Chongzhen's three sons are hidden by the eunuchs. Li Zicheng just told him to "no matter whether Chongzhen lives or dies, he must find his whereabouts" and let him go first.

Since the official proclamation of the king in Xiangyang last year, although various strict etiquette systems including court ceremonies have not been established, in general, the relationship between monarchs and ministers in feudal countries and the difference in rank have begun to pay attention to; After arriving in Xi'an, this feudal ritual system was clearer and more complete, and from the date of the official establishment of the Dashun Dynasty and the announcement of the change of Yuan Yongchang on New Year's Day this year, the relationship between the monarch and the minister became more stringent, and the partnership in the uprising years soon disappeared. If a year ago, Li Zicheng would have left Li Yan and Wu Ruyi to have lunch together, and listened to them talk about the details of the Qing Palace while eating. But now he can't leave them. He is a king, they are ministers, and they cannot eat at the same table according to the etiquette system; If you leave them to eat, it will make them anxious. Therefore, he only flashed his thoughts about leaving Li Yan and Wu Ruyi to have lunch together, but what he said was something like this:

"Sit down, sit down, and tell me about your palace." He is not used to using the word "performance", but asks them to "talk", so his tone is cordial.

Li Yan and Wu Ruyi did not sit down, but stood respectfully in front of him and told him a brief description of the situation in the palace. When Empress Wu Ruyi had hanged herself before the fifth watch and was buried in Kunning Palace, Li Zicheng couldn't help but be moved and said softly:

"Actually, the queen can not die. If she doesn't die, Gu will treat her with courtesy and raise her for life. He said to Wu Ruyi again: "You ask the eunuchs, there must be a good coffin in the treasury of the palace, and order the palace maids to decorate the queen and protect her body carefully!" …… What about the imperial concubine? ”

Li Yan replied: "The minister went to Yikun Palace when he came out of Kunning Palace, and the imperial concubine Yuan was also ordered to commit suicide before the fifth watch......

Li Zicheng asked, "Is it an order?" ”

Wu Ruyi said: "I heard that Chongzhen ordered the palace maid to pass the decree and told her to commit suicide quickly. Before she could breathe, the rope suddenly broke. She wanted to kill herself, but the palace maids all cried around her, and no one was willing to tie a rope for her, so she didn't die. ”

Li Yan asked, "Your Majesty, what to do with Concubine Yuan?" ”

Li Zicheng said: "Chongzhen's concubines, all those who have not died and whose mother's family lives in Beijing, will send them back to their parents' home. Have you found the Queen of the Apocalypse? ”

"After the minister came out of the Yikun Palace, he broke up with General Ziyi, and he was led by the eunuch to the palace of Princess Changping, and the minister went to the palace of Empress Zhang. Empress Zhang is not dead yet, she is crying bitterly, and the palace maids are also crying around her. The minister stood at the foot of the main hall of Ciqing Palace, and passed His Majesty's message through the curtain: If she is willing to live, I will treat her with courtesy and give her a lifetime of preferentiality; If you are willing to temporarily return to Emperor Zhang's palace, the ministers will send soldiers to escort the queen out of the palace. The minister also said that when the queen left the palace, she could bring four palace maids and two eunuchs to wait with her. Jewelry can be brought out of the palace at the discretion of the queen to show our court's favor. ”

"What did she say?"

"This Empress Zhang is really extraordinary. Without fear, she said through the curtain: 'General! This palace is the widow of Emperor Tianqi, the imperial sister-in-law of Emperor Chongzhen, and the honorific title is Empress Yi'an. Now that the capital is in chaos, please send soldiers to escort the palace to the palace of Emperor Zhang of Taikangbo, so that the palace can calmly commit suicide, and you can also say goodbye to your parents. Today, the country of my dynasty is not guaranteed, and the palace is about to return to Huangquan, so why carry jewelry when leaving the palace! ’”

"She suffered this tragedy of the country, and she didn't cry to you?"

Her voice was quite generous and calm, but it was slightly hoarse, and it was clear that she had been crying with the palace maids for a long time before the ministers arrived at Ciqing Palace.

"You have already sent someone to send her to Zhang Guoji's mansion?"

Li Yan knew that Li Zicheng usually talked about Empress Yi'an's uprightness in the Tianqi Dynasty, and did not go along with the guest and Wei traitors, and respected her in his heart, so he would find five sedan chairs from the palace, the larger one was sat by Empress Zhang, and the four-seated sedan chair was sat by four palace maids, and sent troops to send the queen and the four palace maids and two imperial guardians who served with him to the palace of Emperor Zhang, and planted a flag outside the gate of Zhang's mansion, strictly prohibiting soldiers from entering and harassing him, etc.

"Well done, well done, does Empress Zhang know that you are also from Qi County?"

Li Yan was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Back to Your Majesty, Weichen is not for the friendship of fellow villagers. Although Empress Zhang died in the country, her attitude was still very noble, and she never asked the name and place of origin of the minister. The minister himself did not utter a word. ”

Li Zicheng turned to Wu Ruyi and asked, "What else do you want to talk about?" ”

Wu Ruyi first said how Chongzhen went to Shouning Palace to slash Princess Changping, and the princess was carried out of the palace by the eunuch He Xin and sent to the palace of the imperial prince Zhou Kui to live temporarily, and then said that Chongzhen killed the six-year-old princess with a sword in front of the Zhaoren Hall of the Qianqing Palace. 李自成 says:

"Chongzhen is too ruthless!"

He also inquired about other situations in the palace, and knew that the total number of palace maids was about 10,000, more than 30 people committed suicide by throwing themselves into the water at Xihuamen, and about 300 escaped. There are a total of seven or eight thousand people who stayed in the palace, Xiyuan and Beihai palaces, and the rest were scattered in the imperial tombs in Changping and the royal tombs in the western suburbs to wait for incense, and most of them were older women. Li Zicheng instructed:

"There were many eunuchs in the Forbidden City, some of them fled, and those who did not escape were allowed to go home. None of the palace maids were allowed to leave the palace, but they had to find the roster, wait for a few days, roll call according to the book, and distribute rewards to the meritorious soldiers. In this Forbidden City, there are thousands of households, you have to continue to investigate in the afternoon, and in the afternoon, Lone has to go everywhere to see, and it is enough for Shuangxi to follow. You've been working hard for days, so go rest and eat. ”

Li Yan and Wu Ruyi said, "Leader!" He bowed respectfully to him and withdrew. Although Li Zicheng understood that kowtowing and kneeling was the proper etiquette of any courtier to the emperor, he was still a little unaccustomed to it, and unconsciously returned the salute to them.

Li Yan and Wu Ruyi had just withdrawn, Li Shuangxi came in, knelt in front of him and asked:

"Father, lunch is ready, do you want to eat?"

"It was prepared by the chef we brought from Chang'an?"

The eunuchs in the palace did not escape, and the ministers ordered them to prepare lunch. A few cooks we brought from Chang'an also entered the imperial dining room, and they were careful everywhere, all kinds of meat and vegetarian dishes and all kinds of dim sum must be tasted before they are allowed to be delivered. This was the order of the Song military division, and the eunuchs who defended the dining room had two hearts. ”

After Li Shuangxi withdrew, lunch was set up in the East Warm Pavilion. Double Happiness came in again and invited Li Zicheng to dinner. Li Zicheng came to the Dongnuan Pavilion, sat down facing south, and saw the delicacies of the mountains and seas, meat and vegetarian dishes, filled with a large square table, the utensils were exquisite, and there were gold bowls and silver plates, inlaid with gold tooth chopsticks and jasper wine glasses. His heart suddenly became disgusted, and he glanced at double happiness, and couldn't help but ask in a reproachful tone:

"Why are there so many dishes?"

Shuangxi bowed down and said: "Erchen personally went to the imperial dining room and saw that the dishes were ready, just waiting for the meal. Erchen immediately said to the eunuch in charge of the imperial dining room: The new emperor was born in a peasant family, he is frugal and frugal, and he hates vanity and waste, why do you prepare so many dishes? According to the steward eunuch, the daily imperial meal of Emperor Chongzhen on weekdays is 34 taels of silver, and dozens of meat and vegetarian dishes must be prepared for each meal, as well as various snacks and side dishes, which is the royal rule, and music must be played during lunch. ”

"Hmph, it's all a waste of people's fat and people's ointment! How much can Chongzhen eat? This kind of old rules in the palace are unreasonable! ”

"Chongzhen only selects delicious dishes to eat, and the rest of the dozens of meat and vegetarian dishes, delicacies from the mountains and seas, often do not move the chopsticks, and they are all withdrawn to the eunuchs and palace maids in the Qianqing Palace, and the eunuchs in the imperial dining room today are shocked, and the lunch prepared for the emperor is frugal enough, and they are still afraid of punishment!"

Li Zicheng sighed and said: "The emperors of the past dynasties, only the founding lord, grew up in the midst of the sorrows and sorrows, shared the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, was born and died, operated miserably, and had the world in a hundred battles. In the future, the lord of the inheritance of the country will grow in a deep palace, with fine clothes and jade food, and he does not distinguish the grains and does not know the suffering of the people. Lone hates this! You sent an order to the imperial dining room, regardless of lunch and dinner in the future, only a few dishes are enough, plus a small plate of chili juice. Also, no gold or silver utensils, no jade cups! ”

As soon as Li Zicheng finished speaking, the two eunuchs in the imperial dining room brought two more gold food boxes painted with vermilion lacquer, and when they arrived outside the gate of Wuying Palace, they were caught by two palace maids. They hadn't yet entered the warm pavilion, and they were seen by Double Happiness, who gave them a look and waved their hands at the same time. The palace maids understood in their hearts, and quickly and quietly retreated.

Li Zicheng ordered the palace maid to move a chair and put it opposite him, and then ordered Shuangxi to accompany him to dinner. But Shuangxi was afraid of violating the "Great Shun Ritual System" that had been formulated in Xi'an, so he didn't dare to sit down. Zicheng said:

"I command you to sit down, and don't be afraid. I am a prince and a father and son with you. You're with me for lunch, and I'm going to ask you questions. Sit down! ”

Double Happiness sat across from him very stiffly. A maid who served the meal immediately placed a pair of ivory chopsticks in front of him. During the meal, Li Zicheng did not talk much with his adopted son, he was worried about the whereabouts of Chongzhen and his three sons, especially he was worried that if Chongzhen escaped from Beijing, he would leave a lot of trouble. But even though he didn't talk to Double Happiness in the middle of the meal, he actually loved Double Happiness very much. Among the child soldiers that year, his favorite was the three children, the older ones were Shuangxi and Zhang Nai, and the younger ones were Luo Hu. Double Happiness is Li Zicheng's adopted son; Although Zhang Nai is not an adopted son, in the eyes of Li Zicheng and his wife, there is no big difference between him and his adopted son. These three young generals all lived in Li Zicheng's righteous army since childhood, grew up to become adults in the southern and northern wars, practiced superb martial arts, learned to command operations, and made great contributions to Li Zicheng's establishment. Zhang Nai has been named the Marquis of Yi, Luo Hu's military rank is a mighty general, was named Feng Xiangbo, and will soon be promoted to the title of Marquis, Zuo Li Guo sits in Youzhou (that is, Beijing), if it is necessary to use troops to the south of the Yangtze River, Li Guo will part ways with Liu Zongmin and lead the army to the south, and the heavy responsibility of guarding Youzhou will be handed over to Luo Hu. As for the double happiness that has not yet been knighted, Li Zicheng has another deep meaning. Song Xiance, Niu Jinxing, Liu Zongmin and several other important close ministers all understood in their hearts, but no one dared to mention this matter. Li Zicheng is thirty-eight years old this year and has no son, if there is no son in a few years, the only decision to become a prince is between Li Guo and Shuangxi. Li Guo's superior conditions lie in Li Zicheng's own nephew, but Li Guo is the same age as Li Zicheng and has no biological son, so he should not be established as the prince. Although Shuangxi is an adopted son, it is suitable to be established as a prince according to other conditions. Among the leaders of the late Ming uprising, they always attached importance to adopted sons, and there was no lack of precedents for adopting sons to inherit the throne in the five dynasties. Li Zicheng plans not to give Shuangxi the title for the time being, so that Shuangxi can continue to make more military exploits on the one hand, and on the other hand, follow him to learn more about how to deal with military affairs, and after a few years, if he has no son, he will give Shuangxi the title of a prince. As long as Double Happiness is crowned king, it is equivalent to being the prince.

Looking at Double Happiness, Li Zicheng suddenly asked:

"You and Little Naiko are already married, and you're done alone. Luo Hu is twenty-two years old this year, right? ”

Shuangxi stood up and replied respectfully, "Yes, he is a pig." ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Not only are there many famous ladies in Beijing, but there are also thousands of palace maids in this palace. Luo Hu is a meritorious general, and he should choose a talented and beautiful woman as his wife. You have to tell Uncle Ziyi that you know. ”

Shuangxi said happily: "Erchen obeys the order!" ”

After lunch, Li Zicheng returned to Xinuan Pavilion and sat down. The palace maids immediately knelt in front of him according to the customs of the Ming Dynasty, some people brought warm tea for gargling, and some people held silver gargles for mouthwashing. Although he felt unaccustomed, he still did it according to the rules of the emperor's life in the palace, and at the same time sighed in his heart:

"The life of the emperor is really different from that of the common people!"

Li Zicheng has not had a day to rest for many days, and now he has broken Beijing, seized the Ming Dynasty, and stationed in the Wuying Palace, and his wish for more than ten years has been realized, although Chongzhen's whereabouts are unknown, but the mood also feels relaxed. He needed to lie down and sleep and then take a look around the Forbidden City. Before he could say what he meant, he only yawned lightly, and a palace maid hurriedly bowed down in front of him and said:

"Please go to the palace to rest on the couch, it is ready."

"Where's the dormitory?"

"It's the Renzhi Hall behind this Wuying Palace."

"Okay, you're leading the way. Double Happiness, you go check it out! ”

The scale of the Renzhi Hall is slightly smaller than that of the Wuying Hall, and it is rarely used on weekdays. In the seventeen years of Chongzhen's reign, there was only one queen in the early years of Chongzhen (the queen was only eighteen years old at that time!). In the Renzhi Palace, the women who were ordered to congratulate on New Year's Day, so that the women could get off the sedan chair in the Xihua Gate and come in conveniently. After that, the country was difficult, and every New Year's Day was passed on to congratulate the exempted women. Although this Renzhi Hall is still taken care of by palace maids and eunuchs, it is no longer used. At dawn today, Li Guo, Wu Ruyi and Li Yan led their soldiers into the Qing Palace in the Forbidden City. They knew that the Wuying Hall and the Renzhi Hall were the places where the Dashun Emperor lived, and they had to quickly send someone to supervise dozens of eunuchs and palace maids to clean up and arrange the required royal furnishings. The eunuchs and palace maids trembled, and no one dared to slack off when they changed into the habit of slackness before the death of the country, and in less than an hour, they really made the Wuying Hall and the Renzhi Hall clean everywhere, and there was no dust on all kinds of furniture. The large imperial couch is placed in the inner room of the West Warm Pavilion of the Renzhi Palace, and the yellow satin embroidered dragon bed tent is hung, and the yellow satin embroidered dragon bed sheet is spread, and there are yellow satin embroidered dragon quilts and embroidered dragon pillows. A bronze lion incense burner is placed on the high table of rosewood carving, and a light smoke is slightly exhaled from the mouth. The tranquil aroma fills the warm pavilion.

Li Zicheng was led by the palace maid, followed by Shuangxi, walked into the backyard from the west sandwich road of the Wuying Palace, and then entered the Renzhi Palace. Although the scale of this Renzhi Hall is slightly smaller, it also has a tall Dan Majesty and a Dan Qi with copper tripods and copper cranes, surrounded by beautifully carved white marble railings.

The layout of Wuying Hall and Renzhi Hall is the same as that of Wenhua Hall and Duanjing Hall, plus the east and west wings, forming an independent palace courtyard, surrounded by red walls. On weekdays, there are several old palace maids who serve as guards and sweepers in the Renzhi Palace, and today more than a dozen younger and more beautiful palace maids have been added, selected from other palaces, and live in the wings of the red palace wall at both ends of the Wuying Palace. When Li Zicheng came to the Renzhi Palace, the palace maids all knelt on the Danqi to take over, and then the two palace maids who had just led the way continued to lead the way, opened the curtain for him, and walked into the inner room of the Xinuan Pavilion. When he sat down on the dragon chair next to the imperial table, one of the palace maids brought a hot cup of tea on a silver tray, and another palace maid held the tea cup on the imperial table with her slender hands. Although the porcelain lid of the pastel grass insect has not yet been opened, there is a refreshing fragrance of tea emerging from the tea cup, which stimulates his tongue and tongue.

Li Zicheng asked Shuangxi, who was standing in the door of the warm pavilion, "Where are you resting?" ”

Shuangxi took a step forward and replied respectfully: "Back to my father, before entering the city, the military advisor asked the eunuchs who surrendered and the old ministers of the Ming Dynasty who were new to Conglong, drew a map, and instructed the sons and daughters to live in the Nanxun Hall after entering the palace, and the two hundred escort soldiers were stationed in Xihua Gate and Guiji Gate, and they should be strictly guarded in front of and behind the Wuying Palace. After entering the palace today, the military advisor saw that there were seven rooms in the Wuying Palace, and the place was very large, and ordered the ministers to live on one side of the Wuying Gate, and the other side was the place where the ministers were waiting to be summoned. ”

Li Zicheng praised in his heart: "Song Xiance is really a rare good military teacher, no matter how big or small, he thinks thoughtfully!" He then asked, "Where do the eunuchs of the Wuying Hall live?" ”

"The military advisor said that this group of unconscionable slaves and maids, even if they surrender to our court, they also have two hearts, so yesterday they instructed Erchen and Uncle Ziyi in person that the original eunuchs of Wuying Hall and the eunuchs of the new faction live in the empty house of the Liuke Corridor in the Guiji Gate at night, and they can only enter the Wuying Gate after dawn to do the things in the courtyard and the palace, and when they are fine, they are on duty in the wing room in the Wuying Gate, and they are not allowed to enter the emperor's bedroom. The emperor dined in the Wuying Palace, and only the palace maids waited by him. ”

"Ahh …… Where do the missionaries we brought from Chang'an live? ”

"They also live in the wing room inside the Wuying Gate, and they can't enter the dormitory. If the father has something to say, he can order the palace maid to pass it on to them. ”

Li Zicheng stopped asking, ordered Shuangxi to go out to rest, and asked him to come to Shen Shizhen and follow him in the Forbidden City.

As soon as Shuangxi left, the two palace maids who led Li Zicheng to the dormitory came to him again, and the older one asked:

"Does the emperor want to sleep on the couch for a while?"

Li Zicheng nodded, yawning unconsciously. As soon as he took off his felt hat, he was immediately held by a palace maid with both hands and put it in a large cabinet with red lacquer and gold, Li Zicheng wanted to take off his robe with arrow sleeves, and the older palace maid immediately untied the silk for him, unbuttoned it, helped him take off his robe, folded it and put it in the cabinet. Li Zicheng was very satisfied with the careful service of the two palace maids, and then sat down on the edge of the bed, intending to take off his boots. The two palace maids did not wait for him to do it himself, and immediately knelt on the ground, and one took off one for him. Li Zicheng smelled a fragrance from their bodies, and asked with a smile:

"What's your name?"

The elder replied: "Back to the emperor, the slave maid is called Wang Ruifen, and her name is Li Xianglan." ”

Li Zicheng asked again: "Are you from the Qianqing Palace?" Or is it from Kunning Palace? ”

Wang Ruifen replied: "The slaves and maids are called from other palaces. The people of Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace almost committed suicide by throwing themselves into the water, and a few people who did not throw water also fled with other people from the capital out of Xihua Gate. ”

Li Xianglan added: "There are still four palace maids left in Kunning Palace guarding the queen's body. ”

Li Zicheng stopped asking questions and lay down on the couch. He was reaching out to pull open the yellow satin embroidered dragon quilt stacked in the imperial couch, and Wang Ruifen, with an intoxicating fragrance, quickly pulled the quilt for him and covered him. There was a faint wonderful fragrance that Li Zicheng had never smelled from the embroidered dragon quilt, and he looked at Wang Ruifen and asked:

"What kind of aroma is this quilt smoked?"

Wang Ruifen bowed and replied: "Back to the emperor, General Wu, who came into the Qing Palace this morning, selected the palace maids to come to the Wuying Hall and the Renzhi Hall to serve the emperor, and also brought the slaves and maids. The quilts, mattresses, pillows, and tents on this royal couch could not be used by the emperor of the previous dynasty, and all new ones were taken out from the inner treasury of the imperial prison. This embroidered dragon has been kept in the warehouse for several years, and after the slave maid takes it out, it is placed on the smoking cage and smoked with the spices of foreign tribute, so it is not an ordinary aroma. ”

"What spices are paid by foreign countries?"

"Legend has it that this is a kind of dragon in the sea, sometimes to bask in the sun on uninhabited islands, the saliva in the mouth flows on the stone, and after drying, it emits a strange fragrance and lasts for a long time. The natives came to the island to fetch spices and present them to their kings. The king offered it as a tribute to the emperor of China, so this spice was called ambergris. A few years ago, the queen rewarded Tian Niangniang, the imperial concubine of Chengqian Palace, but it has not been used up. The slave maid is a dragon quilt smoked for the emperor with ambergris. ”

Li Zicheng smiled and nodded, glanced at the palace maid again, and then closed his eyes. When he first entered the palace today, he had not yet been congratulated by hundreds of officials, let alone held a grand ceremony, and he already knew the dignity of being an emperor. The furnishings in the palace are rich, and the palace maids around him are beautiful, gentle, courteous, and serve him carefully and thoughtfully. He thought about his glorious martial arts, great victories, and the future life of the emperor...... Thinking about it, he fell asleep with a satisfied smile.

After Shen Shi, Li Zicheng was woken up by the palace maid. Wang Ruifen took the three palace maids to completely follow the rules of serving Emperor Chongzhen, knelt on the ground to put on boots for Li Zicheng, one palace maid brought warm water with a golden basin to ask him to clean his face (the palace does not use the word "wash face"), the other palace maid used red lacquer to paint the gold dragon and phoenix tray holding a blue flower imperial kiln teacup, holding half a cup of warm tea, and asked him to rinse his mouth, and the other palace maid knelt on the side, holding a white jade-like porcelain small gargle with a cloisonne plum blossom tray, and accepted him to spit out the warm tea that he had gargled through. Afterwards, the palace ladies carefully and quickly served him to put on his robes and hats. Although Li Zicheng felt cumbersome about the service of the palace maids, he did not ask for exemption, but accepted it comfortably in a very unaccustomed manner. From the poor and miserable childhood to the Yinchuan post guard, and then to the uprising, after 15 years of arduous and hundreds of battles of the horse career, to enter Xi'an in October last year, he began to think that it was a great success, changed Xi'an to Chang'an, on the one hand actively prepared for the establishment of a new dynasty, on the other hand, led 10,000 horses, built bridges, practiced palaces, imitated Han Gaozu to return to his hometown, returned to his hometown with the imperial style to worship his ancestors, and was a close relative of the imperial family, and on the other hand, he was preparing to go east to conquer Youyan and seize Chongzhen's Daming Jiangshan. However, the fly in the ointment is that he occupies the Qin Palace's palace in Xi'an, and everything is hastily created, there are no eunuchs, and there are no palace maids who know royal etiquette. Those temporarily selected folk girls, although they have the name of palace maids, are neither literate nor understand royal etiquette. In his opinion, those women can only be regarded as rough maids in the nouveau riche family, and they cannot be compared with the palace maids of the Ming Dynasty. In the short time after waking up in the afternoon, the pink necks, peach cheeks, and cloud temples of the palace maids who bowed their heads and knelt in front of him appeared in front of him, as well as the light posture of walking, the gentle and tactful Beijing accent when speaking, and the wonderful fragrance of fat powder and the quiet fragrance on the clothes. He was a man in the prime of life who was not yet thirty-eight years old. Different from the personalities of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, for many years, he tried his best to suppress the feelings between men and women for the cause of righteousness and the military, and was praised by people as not greedy for sex, not loving money, and having great ambitions. Now that he has entered Beijing and entered the Imperial Palace, his feelings have changed dramatically in the midst of a great victory. Although he is very serious on the surface, he can't help but move the love between men and women in his heart.

Ruifen, the queen of the palace, played to him, Li Shuangxi had come just now, because he saw that the emperor had not woken up, he did not dare to disturb the holy car, and went back to Wuyingmen to wait. After Li Zicheng heard this, he immediately left the dormitory and came to the Xinuan Pavilion of the Wuying Hall with the attendants of the palace maids. immediately called Li Shuangxi in. He glanced at the palace ladies standing on the left and right, and everyone withdrew in awe.

"Is there any whereabouts for Chongzhen?" Li Zicheng asked Shuangxi.

Shuangxi knelt on the ground and replied: "Father Qi, the Qing palace soldiers have been looking for all over the imperial city, and the notice to find Chongzhen has also been posted throughout the city, but there is no news so far. However, the crown prince and the second king have been found. ”

"Found it? How did you find it? ”

"They were all sent to the palace of the Zhou emperor by the eunuchs, and soon after the notices were posted on the streets, the Zhou emperor and the other royal family did not dare to hide them and sacrificed them."

"Where now?"

"Now in custody on the Wufeng Tower, Uncle Ziyi and General Lin Quan are asking the prince about the affairs in the palace, waiting for their father to summon them."

"Tell the propagandist to go to the noon gate to pass the decree: Li Yan and Wu Ruyi will quickly bring the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and the two kings of Yong and Ding to see Gu!"

After a while, Li Yan and Wu Ruyi brought the crown prince and the two kings of Yong and Ding to Li Zicheng. Wu Ruyi asked the prince and others to kneel down quickly, but the prince stubbornly refused to kneel. Seeing that he would not kneel, neither would his brothers. Li Zicheng said to Wu Ruyi mildly:

"If you don't want to kneel, you don't have to force it." He asked the prince again in an elegant tone:

"Why did your father die?"

The prince was confident that he would die, and generously replied: "My father is diligent and loves the people, and he is indignant and trying to govern the country, but he has not lost his morality, but because the ministers have misled the country, he has lost the country." ”

"Do you know where your father is?"

"I was escorted out of the palace by the ministers before dawn, and I didn't know anything about the affairs in the harem."

"You don't have to be afraid. You are still a teenager, and you are not the lord of the country. All kinds of maladministration in the Ming Dynasty are not your fault. Every time I read history books, I saw that after three generations, once the dynasty changed, the successor and founding lord could not be lenient and benevolent, and the royal family of the previous dynasty would not be killed, even if the child was not spared. Lonely in his heart disagreed, and sometimes he sighed. Lone wants to emulate the three generations of holy masters, so after breaking Xi'an and Taiyuan, he will not kill the two kings of Qin and Jin and their family relatives, and they will be nurtured as one. Now the two kings of Qin and Jin have come to Youzhou with Gu, do you know? ”

The prince didn't know that Li Zicheng had renamed Beijing Youzhou, nor did he know whether Li Zicheng's words were true or false, so he bowed his head and remained silent. Because Li Yan often participates in secret discussions, he knows that Li Zicheng's words are all sincere and have been seen in action. He said to the prince:

"Your Highness don't be afraid, the new emperor is the lord of Yao Shun, and he has no intention of killing you. You should be thankful for the grace of not killing. ”

Li Zicheng said in a sincere tone: "Before entering Youzhou, Gu Zeng discussed with the ministers and decided that if the day the soldiers came to the city of Youzhou, your father knew that the Mandate of Heaven had been changed, and he was willing to give Zen and give him special courtesy, so that he could continue to enjoy the honor of the world, travel the years, and protect the palace dependents. Gu also announced to the ministers of civil and military affairs at the imperial meeting: On the day when our Dashun army enters the city, if Emperor Chongzhen has committed suicide and martyred the country, and finds the crown prince and the two kings of Yong and Ding, one is not allowed to kill, and the other is not allowed to be abused. Lone wants to treat the prince with the gift of the Song Dynasty and make him a big country. To put it bluntly, King Zhou Cheng will make Weizi the Duke of Song, and the lonely general will make you the King of Song. As for your two younger brothers, they are one level lower than your knighthood, one is the Duke of Yongguo and the other is the Duke of Dingguo. This matter has already been decided, just wait for the great ceremony of the lonely, and then he will give you the title of king, award iron coupons, hereditary replacement, and live with the country. ”

Wu Ruyi gently pushed the prince: "Hurry up and kneel down and kowtow to Emperor Dashun to thank you!" ”

Li Yan also said with emotion: "This is an unprecedented benevolence of less than three generations, Your Highness hurry up and thank you!" ”

The prince was still stubborn and did not say the word "thanksgiving". His two younger brothers saw that he had such an attitude and did the same as him. Li Yan was worried that the stubbornness of the crown prince and the second king would anger the Dashun Emperor and look at the crown prince; The palace maids who were eavesdropping outside the window were even more worried that the crown prince and the second king, who could have been immortal, would cause a murderous disaster, and were secretly anxious. Wu Ruyi urged the prince to thank him again, but the prince still did not move. Li Zicheng saw that the stubborn prince's eyes were full of tears, but he just endured to prevent the tears from flowing. He said to Wu Ruyi compassionately:

"Forget it, don't force him to thank Lonely. His country is dead, his mother committed suicide and martyrdom, and his father does not know his whereabouts, so he should be sad in his heart, and he should also hold a grudge against me, and ask him to kneel down and kowtow to thank him, of course he refuses. Lonely now has won the world, why care about these small sections! ……”

Although Li Yan led the people to revolt six years ago, defected to King Chuang, and broke with the Ming Dynasty, after all, he was the son of Li Jingbai, the secretary of the Ming Dynasty's military department.

"Your Majesty is so lenient to the Shengchao, and it is rare to see it after three generations. Within the four seas, the subjects of the former dynasty will be thrilled by it! ”

Li Zicheng nodded and calmed Li Yan, and then said to Wu Ruyi: "You send a team of soldiers to escort the crown prince and the second king to Liu Zongmin and take proper care." You look for a few more old eunuchs from the East Palace and go to serve. ”

Wu Ruyi bowed down and said, "Command!" So he went out with the prince and the second king.

Li Zicheng was anxious to see the Jinluan Palace, which he had already heard of, and also wanted to see the Qianqing Palace where the emperor lived and the Kunning Palace where the empress lived, but he wanted to go with Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance, and by the way, he could talk about some other things. He asked Shuangxi to order the edict to go to the cabinet to announce that Prime Minister Niu came in, and sent another edict official to the military division to summon the Song military division to come quickly.

Double happiness played: "Back to my father, the military advisor once came to Wuyingmen at the moment of Shen Shi to ask to see the driver, saying that he had something to do to play the emperor. Erchen said that the emperor was tired all day long and could not rest, and he took a nap in the dormitory of Renzhi Hall just now, did he wake up the emperor? He said, 'Don't be alarmed, I'll go to the cabinet to discuss with the prime minister first, and when the holy driver wakes up, you can call me.' At this moment, the military adviser must still be in the cabinet. ”

"Tell the military advisor to enter the palace with the prime minister!" Li Zicheng said softly that now that he wants to summon the military adviser and the prime minister, he no longer uses the word "please" but the word "call".

The cabinet is in a small courtyard to the east of the noon gate, the courtyard gate is to the west, and after entering the door through a screen, you will enter the cabinet courtyard; There are five bungalows facing north and south, except for one of which is dedicated to Confucius and the four matching gods, and the other four are the offices of the auxiliary ministers. In the Ming Dynasty, this was a confidential place, and it was strictly forbidden to meet guests in the cabinet and chat. However, one is that the Great Shun Dynasty abolished the auxiliary vassal system and restored the prime minister system, and the other is that Song Xiance has a lofty status, and of course he can meet with Prime Minister Niu Venus at any time to do business.

Not long after, Niu and Song arrived. After they kowtowed to Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng told them to sit down and asked the military advisor first:

"What does it matter if you enter the palace just now?"

Song Xiance made his eyes look and asked Shuangxi to retreat from the palace maid standing outside the window. Shuangxi went out to wave off the palace maids, and he himself went to the duty room of Wuyingmen. Song Xiance knelt down in front of Li Zicheng again and played:

"The minister got the confirmatory news, Wu Sangui ......"

Li Zicheng said: "Give advice and sit down to talk." ”

Song Xiance kowtowed and got up, sat on the chair, and said: "Wu Sangui's troops should not be underestimated, he took Shanhaiguan as his successor, and some of his men and horses have advanced to Yongping, Yutian and Sanhe, which is quite unfavorable to Beijing. At present, the civil and military ministers of our dynasty hope that Your Majesty will hold a ceremony to ascend to the pole as soon as possible, and especially the civil ministers who have surrendered in Xiangyang and Xi'an hope that Your Majesty will ascend to the pole. Your Majesty entered Beijing today, and it is estimated that a large number of Ming ministers will surrender and be willing to serve the new dynasty. Once they surrender, they also hope that His Majesty will ascend to the pole as soon as possible. As soon as His Majesty ascended to the pole, they could be regarded as supporting the new dynasty. However, in the humble opinion of the ministers, the major events of His Majesty's enthronement ceremony must be intensified, and the recruitment of Wu Sangui is even more urgent, so as not to have too many dreams at night. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "How many people does Wu Sangui have?" ”

Song Xiance said: "In August of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou was defeated in Songshan, although Wu Sangui was one of the eight general soldiers led by Hong Chengchou, and the loss was not light, but Ningyuan was the foundation of Wu Sangui's father and son for many years, and it was also the place where Hong Chengchou must defend outside the pass, so the defeat of Songshan only lost the division that went out to aid Jin, and his old book stayed in Ningyuan and was not frustrated. Because Wu Sangui's strength was still there, he was able to hold on to Ningyuan after the defeat of Songshan. The captives marched to Tower Hill and did not dare to advance any further. In the past six months, I heard that the captives bypassed Ningyuan and captured the castles of Zhonghou and other castles, all between Ningyuan and the Great Wall, but they did not dare to attack Ningyuan or capture Juehua Island. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "Where is Juehua Island?" ”

Juehua Island, also known as Chrysanthemum Island, is located on the southeast coast of Ningyuan City, which is an important place for transporting grain from the mainland to Liaodong by sea, and is also the lifeblood of Ningyuan. The captives did not capture Ningyuan City and Juehua Island, but they were unwilling to attack, because Wu Sangui was a hard bone in Ningyuan and was not easy to eat. Therefore, at present, Ning Yuan's troops are stationed in the area of Shanhaiguan and Yongping, just like the garrison in Beijing, and His Majesty must not be negligent with Wu Sangui. ”

"Lone asks you, how many people does Wu Sangui have?"

Wu Sangui was originally the chief soldier of Ningyuan, with about 30,000 elite infantry soldiers, and recently he was renamed the general soldier of Guanning, and was awarded the title of Ping Xibo, and Shanhaiguan was also under his jurisdiction. The soldiers and horses guarding the mountain customs are known as elite, not to mention five or six thousand soldiers, so the total number of Guanning soldiers is more than 35,000, plus the soldiers stationed in Qinhuangdao and various places near Guannei, the total number is in the early 40,000s. The Guanning soldiers are the strongest in cavalry and are known as the Guanning Iron Cavalry. ”

When Li Zicheng heard Song Xiance's report, he remained silent on the surface and smiled, but his heart suddenly became heavy. After a moment of silence, he asked Niu Jinxing:

"What is Qidong's opinion?"

Niu Jinxing replied: "Although the military advisor has been in the military for several years, he has been very respectful, but he has always visited Zhou in Bo, so what he discussed was quite pertinent." In the humble opinion of the ministers, it is currently the best policy to recruit Wu Sangui to descend. On the one hand, I prepared for the great ceremony, so that the four seas knew that the destiny of heaven had been decided, and I sent appropriate people to Shanhaiguan to persuade Wu Sangui to come and surrender as soon as possible, and not to wait and see. If Wu Sangui can come to Beijing to participate in the emperor's grand enthronement ceremony or send someone to send a congratulatory watch, he can not only set an example for the northern generals, but also set an example for the four towns in Jiangbei. I hope Your Majesty will send someone to surrender quickly! ”

Li Zicheng said: "If he is willing to surrender, he will not hesitate to be a high lord." Do you think he can surrender? ”

Niu Jinxing was confident, and said calmly: "In the humble opinion of the ministers, Wu Sangui was made an earl, and he was ordered to be the king of Qin, abandoning Ningyuan, which had been run by father and son for two generations, and carrying 500,000 people into the customs, and Ningyuan was immediately occupied by Dongyu. His troops entered Yongping, and our army had surrounded Beijing, making his plan to serve as the king come to naught. Now trapped between the mountains and seas and Yongping, the advance and retreat are lost, the military and the people have food, and the source of salty is lost. Although he has 30,000 or 40,000 Guan Ning elite soldiers, he is like a wandering spirit, so he has to surrender to His Majesty. Wu Xiang, the father of Wu Sangui, together with his mother, his wife, sons, nephews, servants and maids, and more than 30 other people, moved to Beijing last year, and has now become a hostage of our dynasty. Since Chongzhen broke Luoyang in February of the 14th year, His Majesty has commanded hundreds of thousands of people in the past three years, invincible, and powerful in the sea, and today it is easy to capture Beijing and capture the Ming Dynasty. The ancients said that 'the first voice to seize the people', with the name of His Majesty's current god martial arts, the East Captives may not dare to invade, Wu Sangui is isolated and helpless, and this Wu Sangui has to surrender to His Majesty. There is also the fourth, the eighteenth army led by Hong Chengchou in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, of which Bai Guangen and Tang Tong have surrendered, and they are quite courteous, and the officials are the same. Bai Guangen is in my dynasty and has been knighted. Wu Sangui saw these examples, how could he resist stubbornly and seek defeat? The minister asked His Majesty to be relieved, and tomorrow he could order Wu Xiang to write a book, and send an appropriate member to take His Majesty's handwritten edict and Wu Xiang's family letter, and take the army silver, go to Yongping, and persuade Sangui to descend quickly. Within ten days, there will be good news. ”

Li Zicheng nodded with satisfaction, and asked again: "Who is more appropriate?" ”

"The minister thinks that Tang Tong is the most suitable, please consider it from the bottom of your heart. Tang Tong was a famous town general in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and Wu Sangui was named a doctor at the same time, and was one of the eight general soldiers of Hong Chengchou to aid Jin, and Wu Sangui was a friend in distress, and his seniority was older than Sangui. As an envoy to persuade surrender, he will be competent. ”

Li Zicheng nodded in agreement, then turned to Song Xiance and asked, "What does the military advisor want?" ”

Song Xiance replied: "What the prime minister said is extremely true. However, Tang Tong is a martial artist after all, and his words are inevitably too straightforward. The minister thought that it would be more appropriate to send Zhang Ruoqi to accompany him, a civil and military partner, Zhang and Chi, and many advances and retreats in case of trouble. ”

Li Zicheng smiled, nodded again and again, and then asked Li Yan:

"What is Lin Quan's opinion?"

Li Yan thought that Song Xiance's worries were also his worries, and he didn't agree with Niu Jinxing's words, but when he was in Xi'an, he had already been deeply punished by the Lord for admonishing the premature eastward expedition, and Song Xiance often reminded him that now he had better say less words that would make Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing unpleasant. He was conflicted for a moment, then stood up respectfully and said:

Weichen was also worried about the situation in the east, but after listening to the prime minister's words, he felt a little relieved. The minister still has some opinions, and after a few days, His Majesty will have a little time to play it again. As for the dispatch of the envoys, the prime minister and the military advisers were thoughtful, and the ministers had nothing else to discuss. ”

Li Zicheng was anxious to see several major palaces such as the Three Great Halls and the Qianqing Palace, so he nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to lead Niu, Song and the others to get up to see the three major halls, Shuangxi walked into the warm pavilion with an excited expression, knelt in front of him, and said in a hurried voice:

"Enlighten the father, Chongzhen, Chongzhen...... Got it! Got it! ”

Niu, Song, and Li Yan were all taken aback, staring intently at Shuangxi's excited eyes. Li Zicheng jumped up from his chair unconsciously and asked loudly:

"Where is Chongzhen hiding? Did you get hurt? ”

Shuangxi replied: "It was Chongzhen's body that was found." He had hanged himself. ”

Li Zicheng breathed a sigh of relief, sat down again, and suddenly had an inexplicable feeling, and then said in a relaxed tone:

"That's a good deal! …… Where did he hang himself? How did you find it? ”

Shuangxi said: "Father, all the Qing palace soldiers, continue to search everywhere in the imperial city in the afternoon, but there is no clue. Just now, the person who suddenly made up for it said that Chongzhen had hanged himself at the foot of the eastern mountain of Coal Mountain, and the body was found. A middle-aged man with no beard was hanged from a small tree next to him, as if he was a eunuch. For fear that the corpse would not be recognized, the two eunuchs of the Qianqing Palace were also called. ”

"Has Chongzhen's body been removed from the branches?"

"I heard that the two corpses have been unloaded and parked on a grassy field. Supplement just now sent someone to tell his son, please ask your father to go and see in person, and give an order on how to deal with it. Now he sent soldiers to strictly guard the north gate, and did not allow idlers to enter the coal mountain courtyard. He asked his father for an order, asking if he could carry Chongzhen's body to the Qianqing Palace for temporary parking, and find a coffin to decorate. ”

Li Zicheng looked at Niu, Song and the others and asked, "Look, what should be done?" ”

Niu Jinxing replied: "In the humble opinion of the minister, although Your Majesty takes Beijing as his residence, he does not intend to stay for too long. But sooner or later, the Qianqing Palace should be cleared of the ominous, and before the holy car returned to Chang'an, move to the Qianqing Palace to live for a few days, or summon the ministers in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, announce the decree, and hear the whole world. For this reason, Chongzhen's body should be parked elsewhere and should not be carried back to the Qianqing Palace. ”

Li Zicheng asked, "Where to park?" ”

Song Xiance bowed and said: "The minister heard that it is the Shouhuang Palace that is facing the coal mountain, so why not order the eunuch to open the door of the Shouhuang Palace, clean it slightly, and park Chongzhen's body in the Shouhuang Palace for burial." ”

Li Zicheng nodded, and asked again: "What kind of coffin is used for burial?" What to wear for burial? After he and the queen were decorated and buried, where were they buried? ”

Niu Jinxing replied: "Since ancient times, the coffin of the emperor and queen is called Zigong, which is extremely exquisite, and it can not be prepared in a few days, and Chongzhen is the king of the dead country, so he doesn't need it." There are good ready-made coffins in the palace for the elderly palace dependents, which can be found to decorate Chongzhen and Zhou Hou. Chongzhen can wear the official uniform of the Chang Dynasty, and the queen also wears the dress of the Chang Dynasty. This way of dealing with it is relatively simple, and it does not lose His Majesty's gift to the emperor and queen of the dead country. ”

"How to bury?"

Song Xiance replied: "Since Chongzhen has died in the country, there is no need to build a mountain mausoleum for him. You can open the door of Concubine Tian's tomb, move Concubine Tian's coffin to the side room, put the coffin of Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Chongzhen in the main room, and then seal the tomb door. ”

Li Zicheng asked again: "What is Lin Quan's opinion?" ”

Li Yan bowed and replied: "What the prime minister and the military advisor said is very appropriate, but Weichen asks His Majesty to send craftsmen to build a reed spirit shed outside the Donghua Gate overnight, and place the coffin of Emperor Chongzhen in the spirit shed tomorrow, Ren Shengchao's old ministers go to 'cry' to pay tribute, and the prince and the two kings of Yong and Ding should also go to pay tribute to their parents." You can also order the monk Daolu Si to send the monk to chant in front of the spiritual shed to surpass the dead. Seven days later, he was sent to Changping for burial in the tomb of Concubine Tian. Such a disposition shows the holiness of our emperor's leniency towards the victory dynasty. The ministers are unheard, and they don't know whether what they say or not. ”

Li Zicheng said happily: "Good, good! Qidong; This matter was ordered to be done jointly by the government and the government. Now, they all went with Gu to see Chongzhen's corpse. ”

He stood up first. Niu, Song, and Li Yan also quickly stood up. Li Shuangxi led ten guards to follow. When he walked out of Wuyingmen, he turned back to Shuangxi and asked:

"Where is Wu Ruyi?"

Shuangxi took a step forward and bowed down and replied: "He was ordered to go to the front of the noon gate, and sent a team of soldiers to escort the prince and the two kings of Yong and Ding to the head of the camp, and was about to return to the Wuying Palace, when he just walked to the Jinshui Bridge, and happened to get a report: My Qing palace personnel found Chongzhen's eldest daughter, Princess Changping, in a dry well......"

Li Zicheng was taken aback and asked, "Didn't you hear that Princess Changping was slashed by Chongzhen with a sword last night, and then carried out of the palace by the eunuch?" ”

Shuangxi said: "Yes, the son-in-law and Uncle Yi also feel strange. Uncle Ziyi scolded the officials who came to report, he couldn't ask a clue, and hurried to Shouning Palace. ”

Li Zicheng looked at everyone and said, "Strange thing! What a strange thing! Let's go, let's look at Chongzhen's corpse! ”

When Li Zicheng led Niu, Song and other cronies to the north gate of Coal Mountain, because Shuangxi had already sent someone to inform Li Guo, Li Guo hurriedly came to the Banzai Mountain Gate to pick up the car. Li Zicheng asked:

"How was Chongzhen's body found?"

Li Guo bowed and replied: "Just now a eunuch saw Chongzhen's Yuma Jiliang come out of the compound of the coal mountain, go out of the north gate, look left and right, as if he wanted to enter the Xuanwu Gate, but refused to enter, raised his head and shouted a few times. The saddle bridle of this horse was not removed, and even the belly strap was not loosened. The minister couldn't find Chongzhen's whereabouts, he was sitting in the Xuanwu Gate to rest, got the report, immediately came to the Xuanwu Gate, took the royal horse to look, and suddenly understood in his heart, patted the horse lightly, led the horse into the Banzai Mountain Gate, and said: 'Yuma, you lead the way, go to find the emperor, find your master!' 'With the royal horse leading the way, he found Chongzhen's body in a very hidden place. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "You took the soldiers into the coal mountain courtyard in the morning to check, why didn't you see the imperial horse?" ”

Li Guo replied: "According to the eunuchs of the imperial horse eunuch, every imperial horse in Chongzhen is very tame. Chongzhen got off the royal horse, no longer cared, and even the belly belt was not loosened, and hurriedly went up the mountain. The horse waited for his master's return, and did not dare to go far; Later, when he couldn't wait for the master, he grazed at the bottom of the mountain and went deep into the woods. When the minister entered the coal mountain courtyard, he only cared about climbing the mountain to find Chongzhen, and also encountered two sika deer who were frightened away, but did not pay attention to the imperial horse. It is also that the minister is not familiar with the place, and he is negligent for a while. The horse waited in the dense forest for half a day, did not see the master return, only to look for everywhere on the mountain and down, to a secluded place to see that the master had hanged himself, then ran out of the Banzai mountain gate, stood on the road and screamed, telling people where Emperor Chongzhen was. ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said: "As the saying goes, good horses understand human nature, it is true!" Where is Chongzhen's body now? ”

Li Guo said: "Put it under the hanging locust tree, how to dispose of it, wait for Your Majesty's decree." ”

"Let's take a look."

The bodies of Chongzhen and Wang Chengen were placed on the barren grass at the foot of the coal mountain, less than a zhang away. Li Zicheng saw that Chongzhen's face was still very young, with a white face (of course, it was gray after death), a slightly delicate short beard, long hair was scattered, the hat had been lost, his eyes were half-closed, his tongue was slightly exposed, there was a purple mark made of silk under his neck, and a boot had been lost...... Li Zicheng's heart moved, and he couldn't bear to look at it more. At this moment, he looked at Chongzhen's corpse, and instead of feeling the joy and excitement of victory, he had very complicated thoughts and feelings, which actually made him sigh in his heart.

Several eunuchs who followed him and the ministers all turned to the feet of Chongzhen's corpse at this time, led by a middle-aged eunuch with an obvious high status, knelt down to Chongzhen, and kowtowed three times, and the leading eunuch couldn't help but whimper quietly, and tears flowed. Li Zicheng asked the eunuchs:

"Do you have any eunuchs from the Qianqing Palace?"

The leading eunuch couldn't hold back his whimper, kowtowed, and said: "Back to the saint, the slave and maid are the ministers who have died in the country, and they were originally the eunuchs in charge of the Qianqing Palace, named Wu Xiang. ”

Li Zicheng glanced Wu Xiang up and down, ordered him to park Chongzhen's body in the Shouhuang Palace, find a coffin to decorate, and said:

"If your master is willing to give up the world to Lonely, and don't kill himself, Lone will definitely treat him with courtesy and care for life. It's a pity that he didn't know Lone's true heart, and he clung to the ancient premonition of 'the monarch dies in society', and forced the queen to commit suicide first, and he hanged himself. You are the eunuch in charge of the Qianqing Palace, and you still have a conscience if you don't forget the old master. You have to find a good coffin in the palace, carefully decorate your old master, park it in the Shouhuang Palace, protect it, and wait for the holy decree of Lonely. Are there any palace maids in the Qianqing Palace? ”

Wu Xiang replied: "Most of them committed suicide by throwing themselves into the water, and some escaped from the palace, and now there are still more than a dozen palace people still living in the Qianqing Palace, waiting for the fate." ”

"After you carry Chongzhen's body to the Shouhuang Palace, order the palace maids of the Qianqing Palace to comb Chongzhen's hair and change his clothes, boots and hats."

"Command!" Wu Xiang kowtowed, and then asked: "May I ask the Holy Lord, in the seventeenth year of Emperor Chongzhen's reign, once he was martyred, he was deeply blessed with His Majesty's holy virtue and allowed a funeral, which is really unprecedented in ancient times." I don't know if the emperor's robe can be used to crown the funeral? ”

Regarding this matter, Li Zicheng had already adopted the opinions of Niu, Song and others just now, but at this moment, his mind was very confused, and he actually forgot to discuss in the Wuying Palace, so he couldn't make up his mind for a while, and glanced back at Niu, Song and the others.

Niu Jinxing hurriedly said: "In the humble opinion of the ministers, since Chongzhen is the king of the dead country, he naturally cannot use the emperor's crown dragon robe to be buried. Moreover, the coffin found temporarily is not Zi Palace, and it cannot be buried in the emperor's clothes. His Majesty gave Yao Shun's benevolence to the king of the victorious dynasty and did not add the punishment of corpses, which is rare in the annals of history. Use palace casual clothes or regular court clothes to enter the funeral, and allow the prince, the second king and the old ministers of the Sheng Dynasty to 'cry', which is enough for the ceremony. ”

Li Zicheng once again agreed with Niu Jinxing's opinion, instructed Wu Xiang to do the same, and said that the queen's funeral should also be handled accordingly. Li Zicheng instructed Bi to leave, and Wu Xiang, who was kneeling on the grass, suddenly said:

"Your Majesty, the old master of the slave and maid, Emperor Chongzhen, wrote a few words on the placket of his clothes before he died, please take a look at it."

Li Zicheng asked in surprise: "What did you write?" ”

Wu Xiang said: "When Emperor Chongzhen wrote the edict, the minister stood outside the window of the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace and did not see it with his own eyes. At that time, only Wei Qinghui, the steward of the palace, stood beside Emperor Chongzhen and waited, and the minister listened to what the Wei palace people said. The emperor might as well take a look inside his shirt. ”

"Hurry up and open his shirt and let Lone see what last words he wrote!"

Wu Xiang kneeled on the barren grass to Chongzhen's legs, opened the placket of the robe, and sure enough, a few words were written crookedly on the robe. Li Zicheng and the ministers around him hurriedly looked down. Because Chongzhen was flustered and trembling at that time, and the font was scribbled, Li Zicheng couldn't fully recognize it, so he ordered Wu Xiang to read it quickly. Wu Xiang read while everyone watched. After reading, everyone looked at each other, and for a moment they were silent, but they all thought about many questions. They could not help but be moved by the sentence "When a thief comes, it is better to destroy the corpse than to hurt the people." Subsequently, Li Zicheng said depressedly:

"From ancient times to the present, there is no immortal country in the world. There have been kings of the dead country in all generations, but they are not the same. Although Chongzhen lost the country, this is the number of qi, which is caused by the national fortune he encountered. The ancients said, 'Cover the coffin', according to Lonely, Chongzhen is not an ordinary king of the dead country! ”

Niu, Song, and Li Yan didn't speak. They were all moved because they saw Chongzhen's last words, and they also agreed with Li Zicheng's comments. However, this is a very sensitive issue, so none have expressed an opinion. Li Zicheng looked at the other corpse on the grass, glanced at Wu Xiang again, and asked:

"Who is the eunuch who accompanied Chongzhen to hang? Do you recognize him? ”

Wu Xiang replied: "Back to the saint, he is the eunuch Wang Chengen, the master of ceremonies, and when the army is about to arrive in Beijing, he is ordered to supervise the Beijing camp and the ministers to guard the city, but there are no soldiers and no pay, and he is at a loss, so he has to accompany his master to hang himself." ”

Li Zicheng said: "He is also a person who is loyal to his master. How should his body be buried? ”

"Back to the emperor, Wang Chengen has a family living in the capital, and he can order his family to bring the body back and pretend to be buried by himself."

Li Zicheng said: "Since Wang Chengen has a family living in the capital, you can do this." ”

"Slave Command!"

Li Zicheng took Niu, Song and other ministers to the north of the coal mountain, looked at the Shouhuang Palace and other buildings from a distance, and then turned to the northwest foot of the coal mountain, along the loess road, and climbed the middle peak of the coal mountain. Prime Minister Niu Jinxing, military advisor Song Xiance, deputy military division general Li Yan, and Hao Houquan general Li Guo stood on his left and right. The adopted son Shuangxi and ten escort warriors stood a foot away on both sides of the middle peak of the coal mountain.

For more than ten years, Li Zicheng led the rebels of the old eighth team, which were initially active in Shaanxi, Henan, and Shanxi, and later entered Huguang, fought back to Shaanxi, and conquered Youyan in the east. He has walked through countless mountains and rivers, and he is not as comfortable as he is when he climbs the coal mountain at this moment. In fact, the coal mountain is not a mountain. It is the early years of the Ming Dynasty when the city of Beijing was rebuilt, the north city wall of the Yuan capital was demolished, and a part of the city wall soil was used to form this rockery, which not only can not be compared with the mountain, but also can not be compared with the hills of the remaining veins of the mountain. In terms of its area and height, it is not worth mentioning. According to the calculations at that time, it was 14 zhang from the top of the mountain to the ground. The middle peak of this small rockery was the highest point in Beijing at that time. After Li Zicheng climbed to the top of the middle peak of the coal mountain, he looked southward, from the splendid Forbidden City to the southern city and the outer city with rows of houses, from the Wumen, Duanmen, Chengtianmen, Daming Gate, Zhengyang Gate until Yongding Gate. The sacrosanct Forbidden City is now under his feet. The imperial capital of the Liao, Jin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties is now stepping under his feet. To occupy Beijing is to destroy the Ming Dynasty and seize the world. After more than ten years of fighting, I have only now seen the real victory, and it is done...... Li Zicheng stood on the top of the middle peak of the coal mountain, was delighted and amazed, and unconsciously let out a sound:

"Ahh

It turned out that because Chongzhen's father and son were not missing, there were great hidden dangers for his Dashun Jiangshan, so that he could not rest assured after he was stationed in Wuying Palace. Now that the prince and the two kings of Yong and Ding have been found, Chongzhen's corpse has been found, and there is only victory in front of him, only Zeji Dengji, surrender Wu Sangui, and then recruit Zuo Liangyu and the four towns of Jiangbei in the south, eliminate Zhang Xianzhong, unify the whole country, and establish the long-standing Dashun Hongye, and he will soon begin to rebuild the capital Chang'an according to the scale of the Tang Dynasty. At this time, although he also thought of the Manchurian invasion that Song Xiance and Li Yan were worried about, he believed that his Dashun Dynasty was not a stormy Ming Dynasty, and the Eastern Prisoners would not dare to come. He said to Niu Jinxing with great ambition:

"Qidong, now that Chongzhen has his whereabouts, preparations for the Dengda ceremony must be accelerated. Although Beijing is good, it will eventually be in the line, and Gu should return to Chang'an as soon as possible, while appeasing Jiangnan, while operating Guanzhong, and laying the foundation of my Dashun Dynasty for all generations. ”

Niu Jinxing bowed down and replied: "When I first entered Beijing today, the six governments have not yet settled down. The minister has told the government that according to the auspicious date chosen by the military advisor, the emperor is going to take the throne on the 8th day of the fourth month. From the 26th, every 3rd, 6th, and 9th day, hundreds of officials sent a table to persuade them, and His Majesty gave them three concessions and then bowed down to the requests of the ministers. The government of the ceremony will quickly prepare for the ceremony from tomorrow, as well as the law driving, halogen books and other things, the hundred officials will also prepare court clothes, and the Honglu Temple will also have to make a lot of preparations. In these three or four days, the old ministers of the Ming Dynasty will inevitably surrender one after another, and they will also make the new ministers in Beijing bow down to the grand ceremony and get the grace of His Majesty's rain and dew. ”

"When will Zhang Ruoqi and Tang Tong go to Shanhaiguan to persuade them to surrender?"

"The minister will call Wu Xiang for an interview tomorrow, write a letter to Wu Sangui in his tone, and discuss with Zhang and Tang how to go, and the household government will raise 50,000 taels of silver and 1,000 silk ribbons as a gift for His Majesty's army. At the earliest, it will take three days to leave. ”

Li Zicheng also said: "I hope that Wu Sangui can come to Beijing with my envoy before the eighth day of the fourth month." ”

Niu Jinxing said: "If Wu Sangui can't come to participate in the grand ceremony as scheduled because of the 500,000 people who have moved into the customs and need to be resettled, a congratulatory watch should be sent." As long as Wu Sangui has a congratulatory watch, he will conform to the general trend and become a vassal before His Majesty, not only will he no longer worry that he will collude with the Manchurian Tartars, but he can also set an example for the southern towns. ”

Li Zicheng smiled and nodded, looked at Song Xiance and Li Yan, and asked them for advice with his eyes. The two of them have a more serious view of the Manchurian problem, and at present they also see the problem of Wu Sangui as more complicated. Because the emperor was full of ambition, Niu Jinxing's words had already made the emperor nod with a smile, and they had to nod respectfully, not daring to say their different opinions. Li Zicheng thought that the military advisor and Li Yan had the same opinion as Niu Jinxing, so he didn't ask any more questions, turned around and planned to go down the mountain. At this moment, Shuangxi saw Wu Ruyi walking into the gate of Wansui Mountain from the gap in the tree, and immediately bowed to him and reported:

"Father, General Wu Ziyi has entered the Banzai Mountain Gate."

Li Zicheng said to the ministers around him: "Let's go back to the palace quickly." It's really a strange thing, I heard that Princess Changping had been carried out of the palace by the eunuch, and just now I heard that the princess did not leave the palace, and she threw herself into the well in the palace and was rescued. Wu Ruyi, who was alone, went to Shouning Palace to deal with this matter in person, and he is here now. Let's go down the mountain. Two princesses...... What a strange thing! ”

CHAPTER XXI

In a complex era of tragedy, due to different living conditions and ideological reasons, the big people play a tragic role, and the small people also play a tragic role.

About two months ago, once Fei Zhen'e met the eunuch Wang Chengen in the east of the palace, she quickly bowed her head and avoided the roadside, and when Wang Chengen was about to walk to the side, she couldn't help it, boldly raised her head, blessed a blessing, and then asked:

"Father-in-law, I heard that the thief Li Zicheng came to attack Jingshi, how is the news recently?"

Wang Chengen stopped, glanced at her, and recognized her as the palace maid of the Qianqing Palace, and recently came to the Shouning Palace to accompany the princess to study. Among the many palace maids in the palace, no one dared to speak to him. The most face-saving person is the palace maid leaders of Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace, and they don't dare to talk to him so casually. The palace maids are not allowed to care about state affairs, let alone inquire about the military situation. Unexpectedly, the beautiful girl in front of him, who was only sixteen or seventeen years old, ignored the family law of her ancestors and asked him about the thief. He said in a reproachful tone:

"You are a capital man, living in the deep palace, why bother to inquire about outside affairs?"

"No, father-in-law, it's because I live in the deep palace that I don't know anything outside."

"You know, what's the use?"

"I should have been prepared in my heart."

Wang Chengen felt that this palace maid was very unusual, and looked at her again, unwilling to reproach her in heavy words, but he also did not tell her any military information outside, and hurriedly went in the direction of Xuanwu Gate.

Since Li Zicheng's army arrived at the city of Beijing, Fei Zhen'e has been secretly thinking about how she will do her best if the city is broken. She had three principles for dying: First, like millions of women of that era, chastity was as important as life, or even more important than life, and she must not live to suffer the disgrace of "traitors." Second, she was born in the court, read the book of Confucius and Mencius, and regarded loyalty as "natural and righteous". Third, she was once loved by the emperor, but by chance the emperor suddenly took her into her arms, put it tightly on her lap, and pushed it out again in a moment. She was a young girl who had just fallen in love, and at that sudden surprise, she was frightened and ashamed, her face was flushed, her heart was beating wildly, her breathing was tight, her body was paralyzed, and she was at a loss; Then he was grateful to the emperor and reveled in his dream-like fantasies. In the era she lives in, if in the home of ordinary people, an innocent woman who is as guarded as jade is suddenly held in the arms of a man, this is a great "incivility", she will resist desperately regardless of her strength and weakness, shout loudly, and give back a slap to the man who was rude and insulting her. However, this time it was not an ordinary man who suddenly held her in his arms and forcibly put her on his lap, but her emperor, and it was a young emperor who was only thirty-three years old, which was completely different in nature. She knew in her heart that if it weren't for the state crisis and the thieves were attacking Beijing, the emperor would definitely "summon her". When she thought of being "summoned" at night, she couldn't help but blush in a heartbeat, her heart shook, and she indulged in the wonderful dream of happiness. She knew that among the thousands of palace maids in existence, she was one of the most beautiful ones; There is also a girl who is called beautiful by everyone is Dou Meiyi, who is next to Empress Yi'an in Ciqing Palace. But Fei Zhen'e is by the emperor's side, has served the emperor for several years, and has become the emperor's sweetheart. She thought that as long as the thieves could not enter the Juyong Pass or could not break the capital after entering the Juyong Pass, as in previous years, the country was in danger, and the thieves retreated from everything as before, and the emperor was relieved, she would be blessed and gradually made a concubine, and at that time, her parents and family would enjoy endless glory and wealth. Not long ago, the emperor gave her to the princess to accompany the princess to study, but she knew in her heart that the emperor had not forgotten her. Every time she presented the princess's imitation book to the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, the emperor always stopped the red pen that was reading the documents and looked at her affectionately. Once the emperor clearly wanted to hold her hand, but unfortunately Wu Xiang came in to do something, and the emperor swung his chin and made her quit. All these things hidden in the depths of her girl's heart, every time she thinks about it recently, it makes her thoughts of doing everything for the emperor more resolute. Not only can she not lose her virgin chastity, but she also cannot live up to the royal grace!

Today's fifth watch, when she ran to Kunning Palace with several female companions in Shouning Palace, and rushed to Qianqing Gate with a large group of palace maids summoned by Wu Wanrong, her idea of committing suicide by throwing herself into the moat began to waver. When two or three hundred palace maids gathered outside the Qianqing Gate, they only heard Wei Qinghui shouting loudly: "Sisters, all those who are ambitious will follow me out of Xihuamen and commit suicide by throwing themselves into the water!" So the palace maids followed Wei Qinghui and staggered around the Neijinshui River in front of Wuying Gate and ran towards Xihua Gate. In the middle of the way, a palace maid who was younger than her fell, she picked up the palace maid, grabbed the arm of the female companion and continued to run forward. The day is starting to dawn. She was even more shaken by the idea of throwing herself into the river, unwilling to die like this, and at the same time thought of the princess.

When two or three hundred palace maids ran out of Xihua Gate and crowded on the bank of the moat, it was very chaotic, many people gathered around Wei Qinghui and Wu Wanrong, ready to throw into the water, some people retreated from the shore, Fei Zhen'e suddenly made up her mind in the confusion, and quickly turned back and ran. She was about to run into Xihua Gate when she heard Wei Qinghui calling out to her in the crowd, and at the same time heard Wu Wanrong say to Wei: "Don't call her!" She's afraid of death, let's throw herself into the river! She was unfamiliar with the road, lost her way in the emergency and panic, and ran to the Guiji Gate by mistake, and had already crossed the high vermilion lacquer threshold, and suddenly saw Li Zicheng's soldiers coming in from the noon gate. She reflexively retreated, remembered the road when she came, staggered and ran north, crossed the Jinshui River stone bridge between the red wall of the Wuying Palace and Chonglou (parallel to the east and west of the Huangji Gate), and ran through the Baoning Gate, only after believing that she would not be caught by the thieves who entered the palace. She thought that Wei Qinghui had already thrown herself into the water and died, and said to them in her heart as she ran forward:

"Sister Wei, Sister Wu, please wait for me, we will meet in the Netherworld!"

When the Dashun army cleared the palace for the first time, the beautiful Feigong people were not discovered, and it was only when the palace was cleared for the second time after lunch that a little eunuch of Shouning Palace revealed his mouth. The soldiers of the Dashun army found her from a dry well.

Since last night, the concubines and palace maids have known that the city is broken in front of them, and they have no intention of eating. Fei Zhen'e saw that the princess refused to eat, and she did not eat. At dawn she jumped into the dry well, the bottom of which was damp and cold. When she was fished up, her legs and feet were frozen, her lips were blue, and she was about to die of torture. People hurriedly draped leather clothes over her, lit a charcoal fire in front of her, and boiled a bowl of ginger soup with brown sugar for her to drink. After a while, her strength regained slightly.

When she was rescued from the dry well by the soldiers of the Second Qing Palace, although her body was very weak, she sat on the ground without fear, and put on a proud look at the officer standing in front of her, and said:

"I am the eldest daughter of Emperor Daming, Princess Changping. Since the country is gone, he is not afraid of death. You must not be rude to me! ”

The officer saw that although she was weak, she was very beautiful and noble, and thought that she was indeed a princess, so he immediately sent someone to report to Wu Ruyi, and then found a few palace maids from Shouning Palace to help Fei Zhen'e into the palace and serve carefully. Although the palace maids of Shouning Palace also threw water and escaped, most of them did not leave the palace. The officers of the Qing court interrogated several palace maids and confirmed that the woman who was fished out of the dry well was not the princess, but the palace maid named Fei Zhen'e who accompanied the princess to study. He asked Fei Zhen'e why she was hiding in a dry well and why she was pretending to be a princess. Fei Zhen'e refused to answer, but said coldly:

"Your official humility, I don't talk to you, don't ask more. If your master has entered the palace, I can tell your master to your face. ”

This officer immediately sent someone to report to Wu Ruyi. When Wu Ruyi came, Fei Zhen'e had already drunk brown sugar ginger soup, warmed up her body by the brazier, and gradually regained her tender whiteness, and slightly revealed the ruddy color of youth from the white tenderness. She looked at Wu Ruyi's aura, attire and the entourage behind her, and guessed that this must be an important general under Li Zicheng. Several palace maids also saw that Wu Ruyi was an important person, and they all knelt down to greet him, not daring to raise their heads. Fei Zhen'e slowly got up from the chair, refusing to kneel or bow, just bowing her head and saying nothing. Wu Ruyi didn't dare to despise her, first said his own name and official position, and then asked:

"Who are you?"

Fei Zhen'e replied: "Fei Zhen'e, who is from the Palace of the Dead Country." ”

The officer who came in early said to Wu Ruyi: "It's her pretending to be a princess." ”

Wu Ruyi asked, "Why are you pretending to be a princess?" ”

"In order to save the princess, I am willing to die."

"Do you look like a princess?"

"It's a bit like, but not all. The princess is a golden branch and jade leaf, how noble, even if others have similar appearances, their spirits are the same. ”

"You look up!"

Fei Zhen'e raised her head.

Wu Ruyi was taken aback, almost daring to face Fei Zhen'e's radiant face and phoenix eyes. He turned his gaze to the two palace maids next to him, and his mood was very uneasy, and asked:

"Do not be afraid, but stand up. What are the people of Fei Gong in charge of by your princess's side? ”

An older palace maid replied: "She was serving the emperor in the Qianqing Palace. Because she reads well and writes well, the emperor gave her to the princess and read by the princess's side. ”

"Who are you?"

"I am Liu Xianglan, the steward of Shouning Palace."

"Does Fei Zhen'e also write imitation books?"

"Her imitation writing is very good. Sometimes she went to the palace to present the princess's imitation book, and the emperor ordered her to present her own imitation book at the same time, and always smiled after reading it, rewarded the palace with colorful satin, and called her the best female talent in the palace. ”

"Go get her imitation book!"

The "housekeeper's wife" of Shouning Palace did not dare to slack off, so she quickly took Fei Zhen'e's imitation book and presented it to General Wu with both hands. Although Wu Ruyi didn't read much, he saw that Fei Zhen'e's imitation writing was really good, which was indeed rare among women. He glanced at Fei Zhen'e again, almost daring to meet Fei Zhen'e's gaze, and then looked at the Fei Gong people again, and asked:

"How old are you?" He unconsciously used the word "Fang Ling", revealing that he did not treat Fei Zhen'e as an ordinary palace maid.

"I am seventeen years old, a few months older than the princess."

"Why are you pretending to be a princess, since you refuse to tell me directly, and you are willing to play to Emperor Dashun, I will not force you, you are so good to eat, rest, freshen up and change clothes, and wait for Your Majesty to summon you." Wu Ruyi said to Liu Xianglan, the "housekeeper's wife": "You take care of her and hurry up to eat, let her rest, don't be negligent!" ”

Liu Xianglan bowed down and replied: "Obey Jun's orders!" ”

Wu Ruyi couldn't help but glance at Fei Zhen'e's face again, turned around and walked out, he said in his heart as he walked:

"In the end, if you find it, the emperor will be very satisfied; Soon back in Chang'an, the queen will be satisfied when she sees it! ”

Liu Xianglan sent Wu Ruyi out of the palace gate, and after returning, she instructed some of the palace maids to go and make poached eggs for Fei Zhen'e, some to prepare ginseng and chicken soup, and also instructed other palace maids to help Fei Zhen'e wash and change clothes after Fei Zhen'e rested and eaten, and waited for the new emperor to summon her. She whispered to Fei Zhen'e:

"Sister Zhen'e, because you are destined to be a noble person of the new dynasty, our sisters in Shouning Palace have been blessed by you, and every evil turns into good fortune. After you ascend to heaven in one step, don't forget the sisters in Shouning Palace, and beg the new emperor to send down the grace of heaven as soon as possible, and let the sisters leave the palace safely and return to their parents. ”

Fei Zhen'e was very sympathetic to the sisters in the palace, but she didn't make a sound, but said in her heart:

"Hey, Sister Liu, I will soon be cut by a thousand knives by the traitors!"

Wu Ruyi knew that Li Zicheng went to Wansui Mountain to see Chongzhen's corpse, and hurried out of Xuanwu Gate after leaving Shouning Palace. He met Li Zicheng in front of the gate of Long Live Mountain and walked out with several ministers, and knelt down on the side of the road and played:

"Your Majesty, what was fished out of the dry well of Shouning Palace is not a princess, but a beautiful palace maid."

Li Zicheng asked: "Why is she pretending to be a princess?" ”

"The minister asked her again and again, but she refused to answer, saying that she wanted to see Emperor Dashun in person."

"Strange thing! Why don't you interrogate them strictly? ”

Wu Ruyi said hesitantly: "This, this woman is extraordinary, she is both beautiful and literate, and she is calm, not afraid, and she can not be subdued by coercion." Please summon her once tonight, ask her face to face, and listen to her pour out her true feelings to Your Majesty. ”

Li Zicheng shook his head and said with a smile: "There are thousands of palace maids in the Qin Wangfu and the Jin Wangfu, and there are also many women in the clans of the two mansions, all of whom you named and disposed of. You're not a hillbilly who just entered the city and haven't seen the world. Does this palace maid really have outstanding beauty? ”

Wu Ruyi said: "The minister does not dare to bully the king. ”

Li Zicheng asked again: "What is the name of this palace maid?" How old are you? ”

"Her name is Fei Zhen'e, and she is seventeen years old."

Li Zicheng smiled, fully understanding Wu Ruyi's intentions. Niu, Song, and Li Yan, who were standing behind him, also understood in their hearts, exchanged glances with each other, and nodded slightly. Li Zi will be "not confused" when he becomes an adult, and he has no heirs, which is not only a major event for the Li family, but also a major event for the Dashun Dynasty. When Li Zicheng left Xi'an for the Eastern Expedition, Empress Gao Guiying once instructed Song Xiance and Wu Ruyi in person, and also instructed Li Yan through the Red Lady to pay attention to finding a concubine for the emperor after entering Beijing. But Li Zicheng's personality is completely different from Zhang Xianzhong's, he listened to Wu Ruyi's words and moved the idea of taking Fei Zhen'e as a concubine, but on the surface, he refused to reveal his eagerness to summon him, first ordered Wu Ruyi to calm down, and then asked casually with an indifferent attitude:

"You just said that this Fei Zhen'e still has literary talent, how can you see it?"

Wu Ruyi bowed down and replied: "The minister doesn't dare to speak casually, the minister listens to the words of the palace maid in Shouning Palace, Chongzhen praised Fei Zhen'e's literary talent, saying that she is the best female talent among the palace maids." Speaking of which, he presented Fei Zhen'e with a copy of the book.

Although Li Zicheng is not good at calligraphy for half his life, he likes to read on weekdays and likes to appreciate other people's words. He didn't forget his identity as the emperor, so he didn't say it out loud, just looked at two imitation papers, nodded with a smile, handed a copy of the book to Niu Jinxing, and meditated in his heart: Since this palace maid surnamed Fei is very beautiful and has literary talents, she might as well summon her once and make a decision.

Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and Li Yan watched Fei Zhen'e's imitation book together, and they all praised this imitation book. Song Xiance saw that Li Zicheng had already intended to take this Fei Gong person as a concubine, and even said some "beautiful" words. Of course, his praise is not outrageous, for example, Fei Zhen'e's words are based on European characters and Zhao characters as the face, and he said that judging from the small characters she imitated, she obviously practiced "Lingfei Jing", these words made Niu Jinxing and Li Yan nod in agreement. After reading the imitation book, Song Xiance bowed to Li Zicheng and suggested:

"Since this Fei Palace man claims to have something to say to His Majesty, please summon Your Majesty to ask him when he returns to the palace."

Li Zicheng replied lightly: "When I first entered Beijing today, I am busy with everything, so I will summon her when I am free." ”

Because it was getting dark, Li Zicheng took a hasty look at the three major halls, and ordered several ministers to go back to the yamen to deal with important affairs, and ordered Wu Ruyi to go to Liu Zongmin's place to tell him that Chongzhen's body had been found, so he went back to the Wuying Hall before and after Li Shuangxi and the warriors.

Song Xiance's military division was located in the Rongzheng Yamen of the Ming Dynasty, so he and Li Yan sent Li Zicheng out of the Guiji Gate (Right Shun Gate) on the south side of the Jinshui River, and then said goodbye to Niu Jinxing, and then turned around and went east, stepped out of the Huiji Gate (Zuo Shun Gate), and went out of the Donghua Gate from the south of the Wenhua Gate to get on the horse. When they were about to leave the Donghua Gate, Song Xiance stopped Li Yan and whispered:

"Lin Quan, the emperor is not confused in his recent years, and there is no prince yet, this is a major matter that the subjects of my Dashun Dynasty are concerned about. Emperor Shicai listened to Wu Ziyi's performance, and read another imitation book, which had already moved the people of Nafei Palace to be concubines. This is a great thing for my Dashun Dynasty, and he is the deputy military division, and he is the secret minister of the imperial court, so he should persuade the emperor to summon Fei, why is he silent? ”

Li Yan smiled and said: "The foolish brother has received the special grace of His Majesty, and he has been treated as a countryman, and he has no intention of retribution, so don't you care about the great affairs of Your Majesty who has no prince?" Moreover, when he set off for Chang'an, about the matter of looking for a concubine for the emperor, the queen had passed down the queen's edict, how could the foolish brother dare to forget? Just ......"

"How's that for you?"

"My brother has a little shallow opinion, and he only dares to say it to his brother, I hope that my colleagues will not hear about it, and I will not let the emperor know about it."

"You and I have been confidants for many years, and we have nothing to talk about, please speak up quickly."

"In my humble opinion, when the emperor first came to Beijing, he should take Anbang Jianye as an urgent task, first show the world that all the harsh policies of the previous dynasty should be abolished, and more importantly, the three salaries will be abolished from now on, and they will never be levied again; The second is to call on the former Ming officials in Beijing and all localities to hire as usual as long as they are sincere and obedient, but they must severely punish corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and use their family wealth to help the hungry people. Although Beijing was the imperial capital of the Ming Dynasty, there were many poor people under the hub. On weekdays, Jiangnan is endowed with rice and grain, and Lai Caoyun supplies Beijing in a steady stream. Recently, the Cao Yun has been cut off, and the Beijing official family can still support it for a while. Poor people have no food at home, and they will immediately have the worry of famine. How to stabilize grain prices, provide relief to the poor, and reassure the people's minds is a matter of great difficulty, but it is also urgent. In addition, if you want to stabilize the country and establish a hundred foundations, you must recruit talents. Since ancient times, heroes who started a business can win the world immediately, but they can't rule it immediately. Beijing is the world's audio-visual department, but also a place where talents gather, after His Majesty arrived in Beijing, the first urgent task should be to recruit wise men, as the so-called 'Zhou Gong vomits, the world returns to the heart', today His Majesty will pay attention to the selection of concubines as soon as he arrives in Beijing, although from the loyal ...... of his subordinates."

Song Xiance shook his head, didn't let him finish his words, pulled him a few steps forward, and whispered:

"Over the past few years, there have been many good suggestions, and my brother agrees with them. On the way to Funiu Mountain, you wrote the book in the place of Shenyuan, discussing the situation in the world, and making suggestions to the Lord, according to Wanluo, to run the Central Plains, establish the foundation, and plan the world. That letter, insightful, extraordinary, well-written, well-organized, quite like Lu Xuan's public discussion, is rare in modern times. Not only did my brother and Qidong read it again and again, and they were very impressed, and the lord was also full of praise. However, the brother's grand plan and insight, unseen practice, have become empty words. If we follow the strategy suggested by the foot, our Dashun Righteous Army will not go on an expedition alone today, so that you and I will secretly worry about the joy of the whole army. That is, in Xi'an last November, when discussing whether the righteous master would quickly expedition to Youyan, there were only you and me among the civil ministers, and only Tian Yufeng among the military ministers. Today, I have entered Beijing, everyone is happy and excited, and the emperor may not be able to listen to other words, and it is not good to talk too much. ”

"Offering advice is not a matter of the world, but the key to success or failure. There are some major events, you and I don't say, why not to Your Majesty and to all the people? ”

Song Xiance was shocked, looked at Li Yan for a moment, and suddenly patted Li Yan on the shoulder with a relaxed attitude, and said with a smile:

"The emperor and the generals are on the rise, and the ministers are waiting for the emperor to ascend to the top and be promoted to the throne, why do you and I ignore the current affairs and deliberately disappoint the emperor and the civil and military ministers? As for the things which you and I were worried about, it will only be ten days before we will be able to see them. At that time, you and I, as the principal and deputy military divisions, will have an unshirkable responsibility for success or failure, so we must naturally be loyal and advised. As for the emperor's early acceptance of a concubine, it is a trivial matter, why don't you go with the flow on such a trivial matter and be with the light? ”

Li Yan also smiled, nodded and said, "My brother is well versed in the world, and what he says is extremely true. In fact, for the emperor's concubine, the younger brother is also very careful, this morning the younger brother was ordered to deal with the matter of Queen Yi'an leaving the palace, and saw a palace maid with a very unusual appearance, although in a panic, but calm demeanor and elegant manners. I asked Chen An, the eunuch in charge of Cining Palace, and knew that this palace maid's name was Dou Meiyi, and she was one of the best in the harem in terms of appearance, quite literate, and was a six-grade female official beside Empress Zhang, which was different from ordinary palace maids. She asked to go out of the palace with Empress Yi'an to Zhang Guoji's mansion, and committed suicide calmly with the queen. The younger brother thought of finding a concubine for His Majesty, and did not allow her to leave the palace with Yi'an. If His Majesty wants to choose a concubine among the current Rong Ma Xuan, Dou Meiyi may not be stronger than Fei Zhen'e. You should choose one of the two, so why rush to decide today? ”

Song Xiance was suddenly happy and asked, "Since you see that Dou Meiyi is talented and elegant, and can be the choice of the harem of Dashun, why don't you play Your Majesty?" ”

Li Yan said with a smile: "The reason why I am not in a hurry to play Your Majesty is that my brother thinks that His Majesty's choice of concubine should not be too hasty; the second is that the younger brother is unwilling to leave a name for a beautiful woman who does not offer loyalty to the emperor; Third, when the time comes, for example, a few days later, Wu Sangui's submission will be visible, and Beijing will not have to worry about the invasion of the East for the time being, and we will jointly propose to the emperor to choose a concubine, and the government will conduct a primary election, and then ask the emperor to choose himself. In the primary election, whether it was Fei Zhen'e or Dou Meiyi, in addition to the two of them, it was inevitable that there would still be widows in the palace. The ancients said, 'Within ten steps, there must be fragrant grass', not to mention the city of Beijing? Once the edict is issued, in addition to the women in the palace, it is also necessary to carefully select the women of innocent and good families in Beijing. Why rush to decide? ”

Song Xiance couldn't help laughing, and pulled Li Yan towards the Donghua Gate. Li Yan asked:

"Why is Brother Ren laughing?"

Song Xiance said: "My brother feels the same way, but there is one thing that makes my brother laugh after thinking about it." ”

"What makes my brother laugh?"

"You saw a talented and beautiful woman in Ciqing Palace, which is worthy of being the choice of the harem, but you don't want to stay in the name of offering a beautiful woman to the emperor, and you don't want to play the emperor. This is where you are respectable and lovely, but it is also where you cannot be with the light in the rebels. In the past few years, you have become a 'thief' who betrayed the court, but you can't get rid of the eunuch son's anger and scholarly anger, how can you not make me laugh? ”

Li Yan nodded and smiled. They immediately mounted their horses outside the Donghua Gate, and rushed to the Military Division's Mansion on Dengshi Street with a large group of civil and military retinues waiting outside the Donghua Gate.

For dinner, the imperial dining room still prepared a variety of meat and vegetarian dishes and dim sum for Li Zicheng, there were thirty or forty kinds, which were still richer than the formal banquets of the people. Li Zicheng frowned unconsciously, and asked Wang Ruifen, the head of the palace maid standing aside:

"Is the head of the Imperial Dining Room here?"

"Back to the emperor, he is waiting outside the palace."

"Call him in!"

The head of the imperial dining room was a middle-aged eunuch, who had not yet touched the temper of the new emperor, and came in in with trepidation, kneeling down and not daring to raise his head. Li Zicheng looked at him and said in a gentle tone:

"From tomorrow onwards, don't prepare so many dishes for the Imperial Meal. Lone is well aware of the suffering of the people, and he does not want to see such waste in the palace. According to the original Ming Dynasty regulations, the emperor's imperial meal used thirty-four taels of silver every day, which was too wasteful. In the homes of ordinary people, you can't use so much silver to eat in a year! From tomorrow onwards, eight kinds of meat and vegetables will be enough for each imperial meal, plus a plate of chili juice. Has Chongzhen ever eaten lamb soup stewed buns and beef knife-cut noodles? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, Emperor Chongzhen has never eaten it."

"Ah, you probably haven't done it either. The imperial chef brought by Lone from Chang'an will do it, and tomorrow I will ask them to cook these two Shaanxi meals, and you can learn from them. ”

"Slave obeys!"

After dinner, Li Zicheng rinsed his mouth and returned to the West Warm Pavilion of Wuying Hall to rest. Wu Ruyi came in, knelt in front of him and kowtowed, and said:

"Your Majesty, just now Niu Cheng sent someone into the palace and instructed his ministers to play His Majesty, and tomorrow will hold the first morning court after entering Beijing. Because the military ministers were not familiar with the court, it was easy to mess up the shift too early, so he suggested that it be held at three o'clock in the hour. ”

Li Zicheng asked, "Do you want to play music?" ”

"The prime minister said, this is the Chang Dynasty, there is no need to play music. However, other court ceremonies must act in accordance with the "Dashun Ritual System" formulated in Chang'an, in order to show the founding system of our Dashun Dynasty. Now, the officials of the government are busy preparing. ”

Li Zicheng was worried that the generals really did not understand the court rituals, and there were many of them, so it was inevitable that they would make a joke when they saluted. He thought for a moment and said:

"Tomorrow morning, the generals are busy with the military, so they don't have to come, as long as the ministers come to the early court."

Wu Ruyi asked: "Are you also exempt from the court?" ”

"Ruhou is in front of the civil and military officials, and the Marquis is the guard of the inner city of Beijing, maybe the early dynasty and the later lone general have something to ask, so ask them to come to the early dynasty too."

After Li Zicheng gave the order, seeing that Wu Ruyi was still kneeling on the ground and couldn't get up, he felt strange in his heart, and suddenly remembered the matter of the beautiful palace maid, and asked with a smile:

"Ziyi, do you still have something to play?"

Wu Ruyi raised his head, smiled, and said, "Your Majesty has nothing to do tonight, can you summon that palace maid surnamed Fei?" ”

Li Zicheng's heart moved, and he said with a look of indifference:

"Got it."

Wu Ruyi kowtowed and withdrew. For the first morning pilgrimage in Wuying Hall tomorrow, he had to assist the Li government and Honglu Temple to make a lot of preparations tonight, so he told Li Shuangxi a few words at Wuyingmen, and then hurried out of the palace. Among the important generals under Li Zicheng, Wu Ruyi did not have significant military exploits, nor was he outstanding, but with his loyalty to Li Zicheng, cautiousness, diligence and good popularity among the ministers of civil and military affairs, he won the appreciation of Li Zicheng and Empress Gao Guiying, and regarded him as a rare confidant. Today, he happened to see Fei Zhen'e, and he hoped that this beautiful palace maid would be favored by the emperor and be favored. If Fei Zhen'e can give birth to a boy, he will be the crown prince, and he will be even more valued because he has done a great good thing for Emperor Dashun. He understood that Fei Zhen'e could probably only be named a nobleman or a servant at first, but as long as she gave birth to a prince, she would be promoted to a concubine and a concubine, and then gradually promoted to a concubine and an imperial concubine. When the crown prince inherits the throne in the future, today's Fei Gong people will be the "Queen Mother" of the coming day. At that time, even if he was old, because of the favor of the "Holy Mother", the glory and wealth of the family would be stable. Thinking like this, his steps were brisk, his brows were overjoyed, and his heart was extremely stretched.

Li Zicheng stopped for a moment in the Xinuan Pavilion of the Wuying Palace. A palace maid brought a cup of fragrant tea, bent down and put it on the table, opened the lid of the bowl, and said softly:

"Please drink tea!"

Li Zicheng casually glanced at the tea bowl, the tea was golden, with a light smoke, and the fragrance of hot tea was also exuded. Almost at the same time, he also glanced at half of the peach cheeks and cloud temples of the tea maid, and a smell of fat powder made his heart move. He originally maintained the respect of the emperor, but he couldn't help but glance at the palace maid who offered tea.

Wang Ruifen, the head of the palace maid, came to him and bowed down and said, "The emperor has been tired for a day, and there is nothing to do tonight, please go to the dormitory of Renzhi Hall to rest." ”

Li Zicheng nodded lightly and stood up from the dragon chair. But after all, he did not break away from the peasant habits, and glanced back at the tea bowl, felt that it was a pity to pour it out, and took a sip of it. Wang Ruifen asked respectfully:

"Does the emperor like to drink this kind of tea?"

Li Zicheng nodded and smiled slightly. Shaanxi does not produce tea, nor does it pay attention to tea drinking, so Li Zicheng has no knowledge of tea ceremony. But in order to maintain his status as emperor, he refused to ask more. Two palace maids led the way with two palace lanterns, and three or four palace maids followed behind, and he left the Wuying Palace and went to the dormitory surrounded by flowers and incense.

After Li Zicheng sat down in the Xinuan Pavilion of the Renzhi Palace, which was used as a temporary dormitory, a palace maid immediately presented a bowl of fragrant tea with a beautifully carved vermilion lacquered plum blossom tray. Wang Ruifen added incense to the bronze Boshan furnace on the red lacquer and gold high table, turned to him and asked softly:

"Emperor, do you want to wash your feet?"

Li Zicheng remembered that he hadn't washed his feet for three or four days. Although the people of northern Shaanxi do not have the habit of bathing and washing their feet frequently, they are not comfortable after all. He glanced at Wang Ruifen's plump and white face, and unexpectedly met her bright eyes like autumn water, and his heart couldn't help but move. He whispered:

"Bring the footwater!"

Wang Ruifen glanced at the palace maids standing behind. After a while, a palace maid brought a very short red sandalwood carved square table and placed it at Li Zicheng's feet, followed by a palace maid with a gold-plated copper basin and put it on the low table, and another palace maid who followed in held a dry white cotton towel and stood behind. Li Zicheng tried it with his hands, and the water for washing his feet was warm and suitable. He was about to take off his boots himself, when the two palace maids who brought Fang Ji and the gold-plated copper basin knelt down at the same time, took off the boots for him, and took off the white cloth socks for him. Li Zicheng put his feet in the water, and he himself smelled the smell of his feet. He was about to wash his feet by himself, when two palace maids kneeling on the ground hurriedly washed one of his stinky feet. They didn't seem to be dirty, and their white and delicate hands were lightly washed, even the dirt hidden between their toes. After the two feet are washed, the gold-plated copper foot basin is immediately taken away, and the wet feet are placed on the small square table of rosewood. The palace maid with the white cotton foot towel immediately knelt down and dried her wet feet. Another palace maid brought clean cloth socks, put on socks for Li Zicheng, and put on boots. Then, the little square table was taken from his feet, and the dirty socks on the ground were taken away. Li Zicheng felt comfortable, sighed in his heart and said:

"Being an emperor is really different from the people!"

He saw a few imitation books from the Fei Palace on the imperial case, and ordered Wang Ruifen to bring them to him. He looked at the imitation book carefully and couldn't help but smile and nod. From the juanxiu font on the imitation book, he thought of Wu Ruyi's praise of Fei Zhen'e's beauty, which made him think of summoning Fei Zhen'e. However, he didn't want to be called a lustful person, and the ministers would talk about his eagerness to choose beautiful women when he first entered Beijing, so he simply suppressed the idea of summoning Fei Zhen'e.

He didn't understand why, sitting in the dormitory of the Renzhi Hall tonight, the affairs of men and women could not leave his heart, and even Wang Ruifen in front of him could not help but make his heart shake. Wang Ruifen is the personal palace maid and "housekeeper's wife" of the imperial concubine of Chengqian Miyatian, and she has no name as a beauty, but she has good facial features, phoenix eyes and eyebrows, white and tender skin, and gentle speech and demeanor, which has made him fall in love. If it was Zhang Xianzhong or Luo Rucai, he would ask Wang Ruifen to sleep with him tonight, and he couldn't help but suddenly take her into his arms, but he Li Zicheng was different after all. He is usually very strict with himself, does not drink, does not gamble, and is not greedy. In order to pass the time now, he picked up a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" on several books, and flipped to the part of "Burning Warships" that he liked to read most on weekdays, but strangely, he couldn't even read a page. Always thinking about men and women.,It's almost impossible to suppress the lust that rarely appears on weekdays.。

He stared at Wang Ruifen for a moment, which made Wang Ruifen's face crimson, her heart pounding, and she lowered her head, thinking that the "grace" of the new emperor was about to descend on her. But when this "grace" was about to come, she was not only very shy, but also frightened, and uneasy, not knowing whether it was better to kneel or stand, and said to herself in her heart:

"Oh my God, I shouldn't have lit that incense!"

It turns out that there is a secret spice that has been passed down from generation to generation in the palace, that is, "aphrodisiac" is added to the precious spice, called "Mengxian incense", which is sprinkled into the incense burner when needed, and slowly burned together with other incense. Men and women smell this aroma, which stimulates the desire for sexual intercourse, and women are also easy to conceive. In modern terms, it is this kind of incense secretly made by the imperial pharmacy that can stimulate men and women to secrete more sex hormones. When Chongzhen was welcomed into the palace by King Xin's mansion that night and was about to inherit the throne the next day, Wei Zhongxian and the Hakka had not yet been punished, and they conspired to make the new emperor who was less than seventeen years old covet women as soon as he ascended to the pole, and ordered the palace maid to light this incense in the palace where he was resting. He smelled the fragrance and understood the bad intentions of Ke and Wei, and immediately ordered the eunuch to take away the incense burner, and ordered that this incense should never be lit in his dormitory in the future. In the palaces of Queen Hetian and Concubine Yuan, there are this kind of secret dream fairy incense. When Emperor Chongzhen went to Chengqian Palace and Yikun Palace to stay at night, the two concubines' personal palace maids lit this incense in the dormitory, but the dignified Empress Zhou, with her own natural beauty, and also with her and Chongzhen's weal and suffering in the Xinwang Mansion, was not allowed to light this incense, thinking that it would damage her status as a queen. Tonight, Wang Ruifen deliberately sprinkled the incense she brought from Chengqian Palace in the Boshan furnace, and sure enough, she saw that this fragrance made the new emperor's heart flutter, and she herself was a little confused, as if she was a little drunk. At this moment, she thought in a trance that she might receive the "blessing" of the new emperor tonight, and she would ascend to the sky one step from then on......

Li Zicheng suddenly asked: "There is a Fei Zhen'e in Shouning Palace, have you seen it?" ”

Wang Ruifen was startled, woke up like a dream, raised her head and replied: "Back to the emperor, the slave has seen it." ”

"Is she beautiful?"

"She was originally waiting for Emperor Chongzhen in the Qianqing Palace, and she was considered a top person in the Qianqing and Kunning palaces."

Li Zicheng stopped talking. Since leaving Xi'an, he has not been close to a woman for nearly three months. On the road to the East, because Beijing had not yet been conquered and the Ming Dynasty had not yet fallen, he took running the world as an urgent task every day, so that he did not have the heart to think more about men and women. Now that he has entered Beijing and won the throne of Jinluan, Chongzhen's body has been found, the crown prince and the two kings of Yong and Ding have been found, and all that remains is to hold a great ceremony and pass on the two things of pacifying Jiangnan. Tonight was the most relaxed and happy moment in the more than ten years of his uprising, and he was not yet forty years old in the heyday of the Spring and Autumn Period, once he lived surrounded by flowery palace maids, and lived in the misty fragrance (he didn't know that there was a "dream fairy fragrance"), he suddenly turned against the usual situation, and had a hungry and thirsty need for women. He saw Wang Ruifen standing a few steps away in front of him, bowing his head and waiting for his command, and seemed to hear her very unnatural breathing and heartbeat. He exclaimed softly:

"Wang Ruifen!"

Wang Ruifen raised her head and replied in a coquettish voice: "The slave maid is waiting for the emperor's orders." ”

Li Zicheng tapped his chin lightly and ordered Wang Ruifen to take a step closer. Wang Ruifen followed the order and moved forward, only two steps away from the emperor, I don't know whether it is better to kneel or stand. Because the emperor didn't speak again, she had to stand still. Li Zicheng asked softly:

"Wang Ruifen, how old are you this year?"

"The slave is twenty years old." Wang Ruifen replied timidly, hiding two years old for herself for no reason.

"Ah, it looks like eighteen or nineteen." Li Zicheng looked at her and nodded and smiled, and had nothing to say.

Wang Ruifen is 22 years old this year and is already very mature. Although she lived deep in the palace and never had the opportunity to meet adult men (except for the emperor and the eunuchs in the Chengqian Palace), one was that her physical maturity made her eager to get male love, and the other was that she was the personal palace of Concubine Tian, before Concubine Tian fell ill, Chongzhen often went to the Chengqian Palace to stay, and she carefully served the young emperor and the imperial concubine on the imperial couch, and gently lowered the curtain for them, and then gently exited the warm pavilion of the dormitory, and sat outside waiting for the call. Whenever she quietly listened to the faint voice on the couch and imagined the love of a young couple on the couch, she couldn't help but be ashamed and very emotional, so she had to quietly leave the outer room of the palace of Emperor Tian and staggered back to her room. It's a memory of the past. At this moment, she saw that the new emperor was a very handsome middle-aged man, and it was obvious that he had taken a fancy to her, and the unusual look in his eyes made her even more shy. Thinking that she might be "pampered", her breathing became more difficult, her heart was more panicked, and her black and white eyes suddenly became rosy and squinting. The other palace maids were not around, and she could hear the sound of her own heartbeat. With a young woman's sensitive sense of a man, she knew that the reason why the new emperor did not speak and kept looking at her was because he had already moved his feelings for her. Thinking that she was favored by the new emperor had come to her eyes, thinking that she and her family were about to ascend to the sky in one step, she felt even more helpless in the nervousness of shyness and fear, just waiting for the emperor's words, a look, and an action. She waited nervously in her heart, and if the new emperor stretched out his hand and gently pulled her, she knelt down at the emperor's feet and threw her body into the emperor's arms......

Li Zicheng praised Wang Ruifen in his heart: "I heard that Concubine Tian is a beauty, don't blame Concubine Tian for being Concubine Tian's personal palace maid!" He couldn't help but look at her again. She bowed her head shyly, avoiding his eyes, and this shyness added to her tenderness and charm, and also made him more emotional, almost unable to control himself. But Li Zicheng is Li Zicheng after all, and his personality is very different from Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai. Just when he almost couldn't help but pull one of her white and tender little hands hanging beside him and pull her into his arms, he suddenly changed his mind, as if Li Zicheng in the past shouted to him: "You can't be an emperor who indulges women!" He suddenly sobered up, and the emotions that were surging suddenly ebbed and flowed, and the right hand that he was about to stretch out was no longer extended. After a moment of silence, he asked her:

"Tian Niangniang has been dead for almost two years, why haven't you released the palace maids in the Chengqian Palace yet?"

Wang Ruifen's mood suddenly calmed down, and she bowed down and replied: "If Emperor Chongzhen doesn't make an order, who dares to mention a word?" Although according to the rules of the ancestors, the palace maids should be released once every few years, and the parents will choose the best marriage, but hundreds of palace maids are in the deep palace and will never see each other again with their families. When he was sick, he was sent to Anle Hall (Anle Hall - there are two Anle Halls in the imperial city of the Ming Dynasty, which refers to the Jin Aoyu. If the slave and maid do not encounter the change of dynasty, and do not meet the saint of the new dynasty to come to the palace, the slave and maid can only survive until the old man dies of illness and is sent to the palace to go obliquely! Speaking of this, she couldn't help but choke up and burst into tears.

Li Zicheng was moved in his heart, thinking that he had decided to reward the palace maids for the meritorious generals, and said:

"All the palace maids who have become adults, all of them will be released from the palace. Don't tell anyone about this, so as not to cause the palace ladies to float and wait to leave the palace. ”

Wang Ruifen immediately knelt down and said in a trembling voice: "The emperor is a wise saint, rare in the ages. Banzai! Banzai! Hooray! She kowtowed three times in a row, and whimpered unconsciously.

Li Zicheng said: "You get up, Lone will not let you palace maids be closed in the palace for the rest of your life!" ”

"Hooray! Banzai! Hooray! Wang Ruifen kowtowed three more times, got up from the ground, and wiped her tears with her red sleeves.

Li Zicheng thought that Wu Ruyi praised Fei Zhen'e's outstanding talent and appearance, and said that Fei Zhen'e had something to say to Chen in person, so he said to Wang Ruifen:

"You sent a palace maid to call Fei Zhen'e, she refused to say anything to General Wu, and wanted to show it to Gu in person."

Wang Ruifen was stunned suddenly, and then said respectfully: "Slave and maid order!" ”

At this moment, Wang Ruifen's heart was empty. She returned to the wing room where the palace maids lived, and immediately sent four palace maids to Shouning Palace to summon Fei Zhen'e to meet the new emperor. She is a careful person, knowing that the palace maids are afraid of ghosts on weekdays, and today's death of the country, the palace changed tragically last night, many people died, and it is far away to go out of Wuyingmen to Shouning Palace, and it is very far to go through two long alleys with dim lights, and also pass through the eerie and terrible Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace that died last night, so she did not send one or two palace maids, but sent four palace maids, with two red gauze palace lamps and two white sheep's horn palace lights. When the four palace maids left, she quickly cleaned her face with warm water, washed away her tears, applied fat powder to the bronze mirror, and took the two palace maids to the new emperor's bedroom to wait. Thinking that the new emperor would definitely take a fancy to Fei Zhen'e, the wish of a quarter of an hour ago turned into illusion, and she lamented in her heart:

"Alas, the sky doesn't complain, the earth doesn't complain, blame me for my blessings!"

After half a day of rest, Fei Zhen'e ate and drank ginseng soup, and by dusk her spirits were completely recovered. Hearing that Emperor Chongzhen's body had been found at the foot of Wansui Mountain, and Wang Chengen was hanged with him, she secretly shed tears.

When the four palace maids in the dormitory of the Renzhi Palace came with palace lamps, passed the holy decree, and summoned Fei Zhen'e to go immediately, the palace maids and eunuchs of Shouning Palace were panicked, and they didn't know whether it was good luck or evil. According to the rules, Fei Zhen'e should kneel down to listen to the decree, but she did not kneel, and after coming out and standing under the corridor to listen to the decree, she said to the palace maids who came to deliver the decree:

"I'll go with my sisters."

She was about to leave, but was suddenly pulled by Liu Xianglan, the steward of Shouning Palace, who was older than her, and returned to the house. Liu Xianglan whispered:

"Tip, you didn't kneel down to listen to the order just now, it's already disrespectful, how dare you stop dressing up and go to the new emperor? Don't be willful, and don't rely on talent and appearance, whether it's a disaster or a blessing depends on this meeting. You are blessed, and your sisters are blessed with it. Come, quickly open the makeup and apply some fat powder thinly. Take out the most colorful palace system like raw flowers, and I'll put two for you. ”

Fei Zhen'e choked back tears and said, "Forget it, Sister Liu! The country has died, the emperor and queen have been martyred, the princess has escaped and the sisters of Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace have committed suicide by throwing themselves into the river, what do I have to do to dress up? I don't want to flatter myself ......"

She originally wanted to say the words "flattering Li thief", but she was afraid of being heard outside the window, so she suddenly stopped, stubbornly walked out, and said to the four palace maids who came to deliver the message:

"Let's go!"

Although Fei Zhen'e was determined to die and was ready to be killed at any time, when she walked up to the Dan Majesty of the Renzhi Hall and saw Wang Ruifen standing on the Dan Qi waiting for her, she knew that she was in front of Li Zicheng immediately, and she couldn't help but beat wildly. In order to calm herself, she secretly bit her lower lip hard. Wang Ruifen stepped forward to greet her, leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"The new emperor is very merciful, don't be afraid. You're going to be a nobleman. ”

Fei Zhen'e was brought to Li Zicheng, although she had hatred in her chest, she couldn't help but kneel down on her knees, kowtowed, bowed her head and said:

"Shouning Palace slave Fei Zhen'e knocks to see the new master!"

When Fei Zhen'e was led into the warm pavilion by Wang Ruifen, because she was lowering her head, Li Zicheng didn't see her face clearly, but her moderate figure and generous demeanor had secretly satisfied him. Now listening to her makes him feel fresh and interesting. In the past six months or so, many of the Ming Dynasty's civil and military generals surrendered to him, and they all called him "Shengshang", "Emperor", and "Your Majesty" as usual...... But this palace maid called him the "new master", which was different. He asked with a smile:

"You have a good reason to call Lone the new Lord. Do you know that your old master is dead and the body has been found? Are you grieving? ”

"The slave has heard that the body of Emperor Chongzhen has been found at the foot of the coal mountain. The emperor and the queen were martyred, and Zhen'e, as a maid of the old court, is not a plant or tree, how can there be any reason not to grieve? ”

Li Zicheng nodded in his heart, secretly praised, and then said: "Fei Gong people, you raise your head!" ”

Fei Zhen'e boldly raised her head so that Li Zicheng could see her appearance clearly, and she also took the opportunity to look at Li Zicheng. She saw that this traitor who broke the capital and forced the emperor to death was not the vicious face she imagined, let alone green face and red hair, but with good facial features, a pair of thick eyebrows, blazing eyes, and a heroic spirit, except for a scar under the left eye, there was nothing wrong. Frightened of his gaze, she lowered her head again.

Li Zicheng was surprised and even surprised by Fei Zhen'e's beauty. Wang Ruifen's appearance just now had already shaken his heart, and he could hardly control himself, but at this moment he saw that Fei Zhen'e was not only more beautiful, but also intelligent, and had a strong aura that is rare for ordinary beautiful women. He secretly decided that after a few days, he would definitely accept Fei Zhen'e as a concubine, or first be named a talent, a nobleman or a servant, and gradually be promoted to a concubine, as for Wang Ruifen, he could stay by his side and be awarded the title at the same time as Fei Zhen'e, or he could reward Wang Ruifen to Luo Hu and complete Xiao Luohu's marriage. He asked the people of Fei Palace:

"If you want to tell the truth to Gu Xuanming, why do you want to pretend to be a princess?"

Fei Zhen'e replied fearlessly: "The slave fainted because she saw that the princess had a sword wound on her left arm, but she was not actually dead. In the chaos, He Xin, the eunuch in charge of Shouning Palace, carried the princess out of the palace and didn't know where to hide. The slave is willing to pretend to be the princess, let it be killed, protect the princess from search, and escape safely. ”

"Good! It's rare that you have a loyal heart! Li Zicheng praised the people of Fei Gong in his heart, and then asked: "Listen to General Wu Ruyi's performance, if you refuse to say anything to him, you must see Lone in front of Chen Zuo, what is the matter?" ”

"The slave is like a lost dog, life and death are up to anyone, and she doesn't care about anything else, but the princess cares about herself. The slave and maid have to see the general today......"

Wang Ruifen said softly: "Don't make a mistake! ”

Fei Gongren's words were interrupted. All the palace maids waiting in the warm pavilion were shocked and secretly looked at Li Zicheng's expression. Li Zicheng was also surprised, turned his head to look at Wang Ruifen, and asked softly:

"Ahh

Wang Ruifen was afraid that Fei Zhen'e would anger the new monarch in her words, so she bowed to Li Zicheng and said: "When Fei Zhen'e came to the emperor, she was very scared, and mistakenly called Her Majesty a general, she really deserved to die, and begged the emperor to remember that she was young and ignorant, and she was shocked, and accidentally said the wrong thing, don't be angry, and let her finish her words." ”

Li Ziyuan was only surprised, but not angry, listened to Wang Ruifen's words, nodded lightly, showed a vague smile, and said to Wang Ruifen in a gentle tone:

"Tell the people of Fei Gong not to be afraid, raise their heads and finish their words."

Wang Ruifen said to Fei Zhen'e: "Zhen'e, you raise your head and boldly show your majesty." Sitting on the dragon chair is not the general, it is the emperor, the new emperor, and the emperor Dashun! You want to be called the emperor, your majesty! Wang Ruifen saw that Li Zicheng had taken a fancy to Fei Zhen'e's beauty, so he added: "Long live you to raise your head and speak, you quickly raise your head!" ”

Fei Zhen'e also decided to change her confrontational attitude just now, and wanted to win Li Zicheng's fancy for her beauty, so as to avenge the martyred emperor and empress. She raised her head obediently, and said in a pleasant accent:

"The slave maid asked General Wu to see His Majesty Chen Zuo in person, which is to plead for one thing: not to track down the whereabouts of the princess, so that she can die in peace. This is the wish of the slave and maid to beg to see His Majesty at the risk of death! ”

Li Zicheng said: "I have heard that the princess is now hiding in the palace of Emperor Zhou. Lone has made an order to protect the princess and let her recuperate with peace of mind. After her body healed and her filial piety period expired, she was presided over by the government of etiquette and married the originally selected concubine surnamed Zhou. The lonely general will give her a manor house, so that she and her concubine can enjoy prosperity in peace. ”

Fei Zhen'e prostrated on the ground, and the mountain shouted long live. It turned out that she thought that Li Zicheng was just a murderous thief who killed people without blinking, and after listening to Li Zicheng's words, her prejudice began to change, and she said in her heart:

"He's really different from the crowd!"

Li Zicheng said: "You are outstanding in appearance, and you are willing to sacrifice yourself as a savior. Lone read your imitation book, and heard that you are known as a female talent in the palace, which is even more rare. What books did you read in the palace? ”

"The slave maid finished reading the 'Four Books', "The Biography of the Daughters", and also read some ancient texts and Tang poems, and read the "Three Character Classic" and "Hundred Family Names" when she was enlightened, which is the same as the folk private school."

"Have you read the Pentateuch?"

"I've only finished reading the Book of Songs."

Li Zicheng heard the "Book of Songs" and said: "Lone in Chang'an, I also hired a learned Mrs. Deng to teach "Mao's Poems" to the queen and princess. Can you memorize "Three Hundred Songs"? ”

"The slave and the maid carried it."

"Do you like to read 'Guan Guan Ju Dove'?"

"This is the first poem of "The Book of Songs: National Style", which talks about the virtue of the concubine, and the slave and maid memorize it well."

"Do you like this poem?"

"Although the slave maid likes this poem, but the slave maid, as a palace maid, never dares to think of a concubine, and the poem says, 'My Fair Lady, the gentleman is good', and it has nothing to do with the palace maids."

"Why is it irrelevant?"

"If the palace maid is not released from the palace by the emperor's grace, and the parents choose a good marriage, even if she is a 'fair lady', she can only die in the palace of old age, and this poem of 'gentleman is good' is empty words."

Li Zicheng listened to her answer and felt that although this palace maid was young, she was a rare smart and knowledgeable woman who dared to express her opinions, which was greatly different from ordinary women, and she was by no means a mediocre and mediocre person. He ordered Fei Zhen'e to raise her head again and look at her beauty with a smile. Not only did he see clearly that her eyes were as bright as autumn water, but also that she had a rare fortitude in her beauty. His idea of charging Zhen'e as a concubine was even more certain, his eyes could hardly leave Fei's face, he had nothing to say, and asked casually:

"What other verses from the Book of Songs do you like to memorize?"

"Back to Your Majesty, there are many good verses in the Book of Songs, sometimes I like these sentences, sometimes I like those sentences, and it varies with the mood of the moment."

"Alone in front of the exam, you can recite a few sentences at will."

Fei Zhen'e blurted out: "'My heart is a bandit, and I can't turn it. My heart is a bandit, and I can't be swept away. ’”

Li Zicheng had been conquered by the appearance and literary talent of the Fei Palace people, and he didn't think deeply about why she recited these few lines of poetry, smiling, and nodding frequently. The people of Fei Palace also saw that Li Zicheng did intend to accept her as a concubine, and there was lust in his eyes. She blushed at the sight and panicked, and lowered her head again.

Wang Ruifen understood that Li Zicheng had taken a fancy to Fei Zhen'e, and she was quite emotional, she was not jealous, walked behind Li Zicheng, and asked in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, do you want to leave Fei Zhen'e in the dormitory tonight?"

Li Zicheng hesitated for a moment, and after thinking about it calmly, he gently shook his head to Wang Ruifen, and then looked at the Fei Gong people kneeling on the ground and said:

"Feigong people, you go back to Shouning Palace to recuperate with peace of mind, read books every day, and don't waste them. In a few days, the Orphan will call you back. Let's go down! ”

"Shane!"

Fei Zhen'e kowtowed and got up, and the four palace maids just now sent her back to Shouning Palace with palace lights. When she walked across the Jinshui Bridge outside Wuying Gate, Wang Ruifen chased after her from behind, held her hand tightly, walked a few steps with her, and then stopped, waved away the four palace maids, and whispered to her:

"Sister Zhen'e, the new emperor likes you very much, and you will soon ascend to the sky. You have to be very careful when you speak. The change of ownership is all destiny, and it is none of our women's business. How many civil ministers and military generals have surrendered to the new dynasty and sought wealth and nobility, you and I are women, no matter what dynasty they are in, and they will always take suppleness as a virtue. You are outstanding, as long as you are favored by the emperor of the new dynasty, the family will enjoy endless glory and wealth. You have to bathe every day, dress carefully, and be prepared for the emperor to summon you to the palace at any time. ”

"Thank you, sister, for your kind attention." Fei Zhen'e turned to look at Xihuamen, sighed softly, and said, "What will the two sisters Wei Qinghui and Wu Wanrong say in Yincao?" …… Alas! ”