The majestic city of Beijing, since the Ming Dynasty became the ancestor Yongle 19 years after the capital of Beijing, after years of continuous expansion and reinforcement, has been a super city, looking at all countries in the world, only the Ming Dynasty has this great city.

At this time, the city of Beijing was in a state of misery, and the plague had ruined the great city.

In April of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, the plague was introduced from Zhili to Jingshi, Tongzhou, and Changping, and was transformed into a highly contagious pneumonic plague through mutations, and tens of thousands of people died of infection every day.

Five or six out of ten of the small households along the streets died, and the most died at the door, and there were no children even playing on the streets.

Fortunately, a medical team was dispatched to Nanjing to publicize epidemic prevention and treatment, and with the support of Chongzhen, the plague situation in Beijing was gradually reversed.

In the light rain, Zhang Shize, a British prince in armor, climbed the city wall with heavy steps and inspected the city defenses of the nine gates.

The old British Duke Zhang Zhiji died of illness last year, as the eldest son Zhang Shize took over the British dukedom, and now the thieves are approaching, as a noble family that has mastered the Beijing camp for generations, he is obliged to take up the important task of defending the city.

Zhang Shize's face was full of confusion, at present, there are more than 50,000 people in the Beijing camp in Beijing City who can breathe, and only less than 30,000 can go to the city to kill the enemy, although the others are still alive, but after being infected with the plague, their bodies are too weak and have no combat effectiveness at all.

When the emperor inspected the Beijing camp, he proposed to lead 5,000 cavalry of the Shenshu battalion to escort the Son of Heaven to break through to the south, but the emperor refused.

Zhang Shize didn't understand, what was the emperor thinking, why was he so confident that he could hold the Jingshi, and was he so confident in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty?

With complicated thoughts, Zhang Shize went up to the Yongdingmen city wall, and many soldiers here were busy setting up Hongyi cannons and preparing bows, crossbows, fire oil and other tools to defend the city.

He glanced away, his brows furrowed slightly, many of the defenders in the city did not seem to be nervous, their expressions were numb, and their enthusiasm for doing things was very poor.

Zhang Shize knew that Jingying had not paid food and salary for two months, and the imperial court gave priority to the silver money to the front line, which made the children of the family in Jingying very dissatisfied.

Some people's eyes were full of disdain, and they privately discussed: "I don't know how the gang on the front line fought, so many food and salaries were hit with water tickets, and there was not even a sound." ”

The guards on the city wall responded sparsely in response: "That's it!" We are also in Jingying, and the emperor will give us a tael of silver if we want to defend the city? It's really home! ”

Zhang Shize sighed, he knew that the emperor had no money, and the money in the treasury had already been spent, of course, he knew very well that these big-headed soldiers guarding the city would not care about this.

As soon as he walked away, he heard several soldiers gathered behind him, whispering again.

"These royal relatives and magnates eat delicacies from the mountains and seas, big fish and meat every day, what about us? Eat wowotou every day! ”

"That's it, they don't treat us as people on weekdays and deduct our food, but now that the thieves are calling, they all think of letting us contribute."

Zhang Shize sighed again, now that the thieves are besieging the city, the defenders are unstable, and they must ask His Majesty to pay a reward, otherwise the city is not easy to defend......

In the Qianqing Palace.

Wang Chengen persuaded: "Emperor, you can summon the crown prince to go north!" ”

Chongzhen frowned and said unhappily: "Needless to say, the high walls of Jingshi City are thick, and there are the elites of the Shenji Battalion, the Shenshu Battalion, and the Yulin Wei Battalion, I can block Li Zicheng!" Didn't Dorgon also come to the city in those days? It's not a retreat yet! ”

Wang Chengen said bluntly: "Emperor, this is not what it used to be, the current army has millions of soldiers, coming all over the mountains, just like locusts, covering the sky and the sun, no matter how good the sword is, can it stop the locusts?" ”

Chongzhen was silent, sitting there looking unusually calm, but in fact, he was panicked, he also had some understanding of the support speed of the Ming army, and God knew when the reinforcements from all over the country would come to King Qin.

Wang Chengen continued: "If war is necessary, the emperor can hand over the defense of the capital to the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs, and then go to Nanjing on the pretext of touring south. ”

Chongzhen sighed: "Since I ascended the throne, I have never left the Beijing Division half a step, at this time, the southern tour is tantamount to escaping, the hearts of the army and the people will collapse immediately, at that time, the Beijing Division will really not be able to hold, I dare not bet!" ”

In the battle of Tumubao in the past, Emperor Yingzong was captured, and he also sent a large army to Beijing Division, what a crisis the situation was, and the Ming Dynasty still held on.

Every time he thinks of this history, Chongzhen's confidence in his heart increases, he doesn't want to run, he may be able to hold the Jingshi if he stays, but if he runs, it will be a shame and an insult to the ancestors!

What's more, he didn't believe that the crown prince Zhu Cihong could tolerate him, and when he arrived in Nanjing, it was just the end of Li Yuan and Li Longji, and he was kept under house arrest in the palace.

Wang Chengen cried blood and bowed down: "Emperor, don't be stubborn!" ”

Chongzhen stood up, held his head high and said, "I am a stubborn person, I would rather die standing than steal my life!" ”

"Wang Chengen, if you are afraid of death, you can go, go to Nanjing to serve the new master, I will never stop you, get out!"

Hearing this, Wang Chengen was chilled, and said with tears: "The old slave grew up watching the emperor, how can he turn his back on the emperor." ”

After saying that, he lowered his head and slowly withdrew from the main hall.

Chongzhen sighed, he also knew Wang Chengen's loyalty, but the current situation was troublesome, and he couldn't care about it.

Soon after, Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, came to meet him, and Chongzhen asked him about the defense strategy.

Chongzhen was displeased, and then asked, "What about Liaodong?" How can I ignore the North? ”

Chen Xinjia stubbornly said: "Now that the imperial court can't fight on two fronts, Your Majesty will make peace with Jiannu, and give up all the land outside Shanhaiguan in exchange for twenty years of border peace!" ”

Chongzhen sneered: "The Daming Dynasty was taken back by Emperor Taizu from the hands of the Tartars, and the foundation has been established for more than 270 years, how can I let the ancestral foundation be interrupted and sent out in my hands?" The land of the ancestors, I will not let an inch of land! ”

The capital is gone, what are you talking about the ancestral land?

Chen Xinjia was disdainful in his heart, but when he saw the emperor's murderous face, he hurriedly explained: "The minister means to mobilize the Liaodong army, transfer Wu Sangui back to defend against the thieves, and the Liaodong army will leave Hong Chengchou and Mao Yuanyi generals to defend." ”

Chongzhen's face softened slightly, and after some thought, he finally nodded and said, "Summons Wu Sangui, let Wu Xiang repair a book, and send it to Ningyuan together." ”

Chongzhen has always been wary of Liaodong Jiangmen, and he was worried that Wu Sangui would hesitate to send troops, so he used his father Wu Xiang to add an insurance.

Chen Xinjia happily went and personally went to the Wu Mansion of the Beijing Division.

An hour later, he hurriedly ran back and told Chongzhen that Wu Xiang said that if he wanted to mobilize the Guanning army, he needed at least one million taels of silver as military salary.

Chongzhen was angry from his heart, and secretly scolded this group of Liaodong generals for really extortion, he had no choice, because he couldn't take out this million taels of money, and now he doesn't even have a hair on his body!

After scolding himself, Chongzhen was surprisingly not angry, not angry, just waved his hand casually to let Chen Xinjia retreat.

Now that he's figured it out, what's the use of being angry? What's the use of Long Yan's anger? Are the princes still afraid of themselves? The sticks have hit their heads!

In the afternoon of the same day, the British minister Zhang Shize asked for an audience and reported the situation of the defenders.

Chongzhen didn't say a word, and asked people to pull all the gold, silver and jade in the palace to the inner city Mingyufang and sell them, all of which were used as military salaries to motivate the soldiers who defended the city to defend the city well.

As for the one million taels of silver that Wu Xiang wanted, he wouldn't give a copper plate, Wu Sangui loved to come!

On this day, Chongzhen figured out a lot of things, he once again sent out a fundraiser, asking the ministers and wealthy businessmen in Beijing to donate money and wages, and carry out the last wave of squeezing, which was also the last test of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military affairs.