Seeing the depressed Li Jizhou, Emperor Chongzhen's first thought was that the crown prince Zhu Cihong's health was not good.

Although Dr. Zeng reported that Zhu Cihong was not sick and was just a dream of his ancestors, Emperor Chongzhen did not believe it. Even if Emperor Taizu Gao wants to entrust his dream, he should entrust it to himself, how can he entrust it to the crown prince? What does he know as a child?

Moreover, yesterday morning, the Donggong Dian Pharmacy reported that the prince was unwell and in poor spirits, and he had to take a day off. Today, the crown prince was supposed to go to the court to listen to the government, but he didn't come. Most of them are really sick......

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen asked Li Jizhou: "What's wrong with my brother?" Have you seen it with the Imperial Doctor? ”

This one...... Li Jizhou was stunned, something big happened to the prince! But I'm afraid the imperial doctor can't manage it, so I have to let the emperor personally discipline it.

However, Li Jizhou thought so in his heart, but what he said was another big thing, and he lowered his voice: "The fire is on fire in the direction ......of the Changping Imperial Mausoleum."

"Ahh Emperor Chongzhen was dizzy.

Changping is the location of the Ming Tombs, less than 60 miles away from the city of Beijing. The imperial tomb is guarded by mausoleum guards, so naturally it will not catch fire casually. At the moment, there is only one reason why the imperial tomb is on fire, that is, Li Zicheng has arrived......

He's coming too fast!

Set fire to the Imperial Mausoleum in Changping now, tonight and tomorrow morning, the striker should be outside Beijing, right?

Chongzhen froze down, and then glanced at the stunned courtiers, and sighed: "I am not the king of the dead country, all the ministers are the ears of the dead country!" ”

After saying this, he didn't have the heart to hold another court meeting, so he stood up and left, entered the Huangji Gate, and went to the Qianqing Palace. A group of internal officials, including Li Jizhou, all followed behind Chongzhen's ass in a hurry.

When Chongzhen walked near the Imperial Palace, he suddenly stopped, turned to look at Li Jizhou, and asked: "Li Jizhou, you are the bureau of the East Palace Pharmacy, why did you come to report the fire in the Changping Imperial Mausoleum?" What about Wang Chengen? Where is he? ”

"Return, return to the emperor, old slave, the old slave came to report to His Majesty by the order of the young master......"

"What?" Emperor Chongzhen was even more confused, "What's the matter?" Isn't my brother sick? ”

"Master, Master is not sick...... cold sweat dripped down Li Jizhou's forehead.

Chongzhen asked: "How did he know that Changping was on fire?" ”

"Xiao Ye Yuan and Lord Wang were in the inner school field together, and it was the ...... that the King Inspector arranged for the net army on the upper floor of Desheng Gate City to see the smoke and dust in the direction of Changping and report to the inner school field."

"What is my brother doing in the inner school field?" Emperor Chongzhen frowned, "Since he is not sick, why don't he come to the court?" ”

Li Jizhou replied: "The master is here...... After learning that the fire broke out in the Changping Imperial Mausoleum, he went to Deshengmen and Andingmen to inspect and set up defenses......"

Chongzhen was dumbfounded, there was such a thing, the crown prince actually went to raise the army without telling himself! Does he still have his own father in his eyes!

"Then Wang Chengen is also with his brother?" Chongzhen asked again.

"Exactly," Li Jizhou said, "the brave man who lined up on the street on the north wall of the imperial city today to join the army seems to have been recruited by the prince in the name of the crown prince...... Master, Master asked Wu Xiang to take his family to rectify with him, and he was busy all morning, and he had already sorted out a battalion of more than 2,000 soldiers. ”

Okay, we all have our own army...... also colluded with Wu Xiang, a general of the foreign dynasty, what does he want to do?

Thinking of this, Chongzhen suddenly shouted loudly: "The heart of the king, Tian Cunzhi!" ”

"Old slave in ......"

"The minister is here."

Chongzhen said with a cold face: "Go and give my brother and Wang Chengen to my ......"

Wang Zhixin and Tian Cunzhi heard this, and their hearts hung up, for fear that Chongzhen would say the word "catch".

Li Zicheng came to the door! There is no pay for the major generals in Beijing, and Wang Chengen is an honest man who has no idea, from the thirteenth toss to the present, the defense of Beijing City is still the same, if the prince has a way to gather a little people, it is not a bad thing......

"Go find it!" Chongzhen finally didn't say the word "catch", thank God.

……

"What a big smoke! Is this burning the imperial tomb or burning the mountains and forests? ”

On the upper floor of Desheng Gate City, Zhu Cihong was holding a monocular that Zheng Zhilong had paid tribute to, looking at the smoke rising from the northwest direction, and he didn't take it seriously, and he couldn't hear a little pain in his tone of questioning.

Beside him stood a bearded military attache in a big red python robe, looking at Zhu Cihong in a daze, with only an expression of disbelief on his black face.

This bearded man's name is Zhang Shize, the official worships the governor of Zuodu, and he is the British duke, and he is the descendant of Zhang Fu, the British duke, who is the ninth generation of the British duke. He also had a dispatch from the commander of the Beijing camp, who was nominally a military general, so he was sent by Wang Chengen to supervise the defense of Deshengmen.

When the fire broke out in the direction of Changping, he did not supervise anything in Deshengmen, nor did he go to court, but drank and listened to the play with the visiting Chengguo Duke Zhu Chunjie in the British Mansion of Jiaozhongfang. When he was having a good time, a family member came to report that the prince had arrived at Deshengmen...... There was no choice but to put on an official uniform and run to Deshengmen.

When I arrived, I found out that the prince came because of a fire in the direction of the Changping Imperial Mausoleum, but to Zhang Shize's surprise, the prince was not in a hurry at all!

Your ancestral graves have been burned, why aren't you in a hurry? The ancestors are going to be barbecued, so they have to cry bitterly......

But Zhu Cihong is not in a hurry!

The Ming Tombs to New China are fine, what is he anxious about? Most of the people of Li Zicheng set off the mountain fire to shock the hearts of the people of Beijing.

And his inexplicable soul penetrated here, wasn't he pitted by a certain ancestor?

"British ......" Zhu Cihong put down the binoculars and looked back at the black-faced Guogong, who looked loyal, and didn't know if he would be a third minister - it was not the second minister who surrendered in Beijing, because Li Zicheng would not last long, and they would soon have to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, that is, the three family slaves.

"The minister is here." Zhang Shize didn't know that Zhu Cihong had an opinion of him, so he still bowed respectfully.

"Will it block the door?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"Blocking the door?"

"It's to use stones, trees, dirt or something to block the door of Desheng Gate." Zhu Cihong paused, "Before blocking the door, seal the Desheng Gate for me...... Admiral Wu, how to block you and teach him. ”

Wu Xiangna is a veteran general who has been in battle for a long time, although he has not won any battles, but there are still ways, and he immediately said a few of the easiest ways to block the city gate. In fact, it is not that difficult, but it is more laborious and requires hiring a lot of strong men.

"Will it be?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"Yes, the ministers will." Zhang Shize nodded again and again.

Pretty smart...... As soon as you hear it, you can teach it!

Zhu Cihong asked tentatively: "Can you block the Desheng Gate, Xizhi Gate, and Anding Gate before dawn tomorrow?" ”

"Yes!" Zhang Shize nodded, "The minister will let people do it immediately." ”

So easy to talk to?

"I don't have any money for you right now." Zhu Cihong said again.

Actually, he still has some money. Queen Zhou asked people to send 5,000 taels to Duanben Palace, and Wang Chengen gave 30,000 taels before and after, and now Zhu Cihong has spent a lot, but there are still a lot left.

Zhang Shize heard Zhu Cihong say that he had no money, so he said indifferently: "It's okay, isn't it just blocking the door?" For five cents of silver, you can hire a strong worker, and five hundred taels of silver can hire tens of thousands of strong workers, and the minister can afford this little money. ”

I found a loyal minister!

Zhu Cihong nodded approvingly at Zhang Shize, and said: "Since this is the case, the British Duke will pay a little more and block the Fucheng Gate, Xuanwu Gate, and Chongwen Gate to the palace." ”

"Okay!" Zhang Shize nodded, "Master Chitose, six of the nine gates of the inner city have been blocked, and the remaining three ministers have also asked people to block them together?" ”

He's still a loyal servant with a lot of energy! Promising!

"No need." Zhu Cihong said, "Chaoyang Gate and Dongzhi Gate, the palace will arrange people to guard it, and there is no need to block it." Zhengyangmen must also be kept, otherwise you won't be able to go to the outer city. ”

"I understand."

"Then let's do it!" Zhu Cihong explained, "Time is tight, and the army may come to the city tomorrow...... Don't supervise Desheng Gate, just block the door! ”

"The minister will order, and the minister will go to Zhang Luo." Zhang Shize didn't shirk it at all, and he didn't want to think about whether Zhu Cihong should care about this matter, so he turned around and left, which was quite quick.

Zhu Cihong nodded, "It's hard to see loyal ministers in the country!" He said to Chen Rui, the teacher beside him: "Mr. Chen, if he really blocks the six gates of the inner city tomorrow morning, he will add the British father and son to the list of going south." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves downstairs in Deshengmen City, and it was Wang Zhixin and Tian Cunzhi who had arrived.