Thinking of this, Wu Xiang said to Zhu Cihong and Wang Chengen: "Your Highness, Duke, the emperor's secret decree to send dogs to escort Nan Xing has not been issued yet, right?" ”

Zhu Cihong said: "Not yet, this secret decree is also a central decree, not issued through the cabinet and the Ministry of War, I am afraid that it will be returned by General Wu." ”

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, the holy decree must have a vote on it to approve the red before it can take effect. If there is no vote, only the emperor's approval, that is the so-called Zhongzhi, which is almost the emperor's personal letter.

If Wu Sangui received the order to escort Nan Xing, whether he would carry it out, it was really hard to say. Because he carried out the decree, he offended the cabinet and the civilian clique. If you don't carry it out, you offend the emperor. It's not easy to mess with both sides, it really makes Wu Sangui a little embarrassed!

Wu Xiang patted his chest, "Your Highness, rest assured, the old man will write a letter to the dog, asking him to order 5,000 elites immediately, and join the Beijing Division under the starry night to receive the Son of Heaven Nanxing." ”

"Good!" Zhu Cihong nodded again and again, his face was full of joy, as if there was really something about to be issued...... Of course, there is no Zhongzhi, Emperor Chongzhen is a Ming monarch, how can he bypass the cabinet and go alone?

However, Wu Xiang's handwritten letter is still useful! When Li Chuang's army arrives near Beijing tomorrow, Zhu Cihong plans to take this letter to Chongzhen, at that time, the eyebrows are burned, Chongzhen should break through the bottom line and start to use the Zhongzhi to transfer troops.

In this way, when Zhu Cihong broke through from Beijing, he would be able to get the response of Wu Sangui's subordinates, and his hope of escaping safely would be much greater.

In addition, Zhu Cihong, who was holding Wu Xiang's handwritten letter, also had the capital to bargain with Emperor Chongzhen - this is called the empty glove white wolf!

There was paper and pen in the lobby of the inner school field, and Wu Xiang wrote a letter on the spot, and then handed it to Zhu Cihong.

Zhu Cihong carefully put away the letter from his father-in-law, and then smiled and told Wang Chengen to prepare wine and food. It's not early now, it's almost time to eat, and Zhu Cihong has to continue to fool Wu Xiang and Wu Sanfu, so he has to fool while eating and drinking.

The wine and food will not come up for a while, and Zhu Cihong and Wang Chengen will continue to talk to Wu Xiang and his son. It's not gossip, but it directly turns the conversation to the whole army to break through.

Wang Chengen, an honest man, is still a little efficient, he didn't sleep all night, and gathered a group of godsons and godsons all over Beijing to pull people's heads.

From the Nanhai Zijing Army (an army of eunuchs of about 3,000 men), 300 sturdy eunuchs were selected. He also summoned some veterans of the Yongwei Battalion in Beijing - most of them were old soldiers who were not suitable to continue serving in the army, and some of them were soldiers who had recovered from their injuries in Beijing, and the number was not large, only two or three hundred. In addition, there are also Dongchang Tiqi under Wang Chengen's own jurisdiction, which has also recruited more than 100. In addition, there are some miscellaneous strong men, who are the servants of Wang Chengen and his "descendants". Finally, about 1,000 people were gathered, and now they are all loosely gathered in a corner of the inner school yard waiting for dinner.

Before Zhu Cihong arrived, Wu Xiang and Wu Sanfu, father and son, had already gone to take a look.

"It's okay, it's quite strong, it's much stronger than the soldiers guarding the gates everywhere."

This is Wu Xiang's evaluation of the rabble that Wang Chengen temporarily assembled.

Wu Xiang said: "There are many old soldiers among them, all of whom have fierce faces, which makes the Jingjun Tiqi fearful, and they know at a glance that they have gone through the killing array." If the minister's family can be used as a general, they should be able to form an army. As long as the armor and weapons are sufficient, they also have the power to fight. ”

The family brought by this father-in-law is actually the most valued power by Zhu Cihong!

Now it is easy to get soldiers in Beijing, and it will be difficult to find!

Because the troops that can fight in the Beijing camp have been transferred, that is, there is no organized elite.

However, there are still a lot of strong men, because there has been a shortage of soldiers in recent years, and there will be no shortage of men who have been on the battlefield as soldiers, and who have come to Beijing to find food for various reasons.

Moreover, the base camp of the Yongwei Battalion is also in Beijing, and the formed troops have left, but there will always be no shortage of scattered troops left behind or veterans who have been carried by their sons and nephews.

In addition, many officials and noble families in Beijing have done everything possible to recruit veterans who have been on the battlefield and the elite of the Beijing camp to protect themselves. It also provided jobs for this batch of veterans.

Now as long as Wang Chengen can come up with a few more money, he can always raise some. And when it comes to making money, Zhu Cihong still has some solutions.

However, if there are strong men, no officers to organize them, and no military discipline to restrain them, they are a rabble, and they cannot defeat the rebellious army.

But in his eagerness, where can Zhu Cihong find a group of officers who can really organize the army? There are many people with the rank of military attache in Beijing, but how many can really go into battle?

Even if there are some, most of them are scattered officers who are not organized, and they cannot organize the army at all in a few days...... In those years, the army was not standardized, and there was no military academy to train standardized officers. A group of officers from different units get together, and if they don't run in with the previous period, they can't bring soldiers with them at all.

However, the family members brought by Wu Xiang from Ningyuan were a group of old family members who were both organized and battle-hardened, and there must have been old family members who had served as grassroots officers. And Wu Xiang is their old master, taking them to fight for life and death for half their lives, who has much ability, Lao Wu still doesn't know?

Therefore, with the family brought by Wu Xiang and the strong men hired by Wang Chengen, and with the right weapons, an army can be formed immediately.

A tough battle can't be fought, but with Wu Xiang, an escape expert, leading it, it shouldn't be much of a problem to protect Emperor Chongzhen's family and escape for their lives......

"Wang Banban, how much do you give them a day?" Zhu Cihong asked Wang Chengen with a smile.

He didn't see the rabble, probably because the eunuch in charge was afraid of being frightened, so he let them avoid it.

"Back to Chitose Lord, in addition to the people of Dongchang and Jingjun, the old slave gives each other two hundred dollars a day, and also takes care of two meals."

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, copper coins were minted indiscriminately, so the value was very low, and only the best copper coins were more expensive. But Wang Chengen is not so generous, and the money sent out is ordinary small money, about 5,500 Wen can be worth one tael of silver. 200 wen yuan is three cents and six cents of silver, and if calculated on a monthly basis, it is about one tael. It is lower than the one or four dollars of the Guan Ning army, and it is about the same as the salary of ordinary Ming soldiers.

"Let's go, let's see!"

Zhu Cihong didn't know if it was premeditated or a whim, so he actually stood up and asked Wang Chengen to lead the way to see the strong man.

……

The so-called strong man does not look very good at first glance. There were 300 of them who were handicapped and unwilled. There are more than 100 old men from the Yongwei Battalion, and many of them even have gray hair. There are also more than 100 Ti Cavalry from Dongchang, who are spies, and they are elites selected from Jinyi Guard, but they are not ready to fight. Except for these uncles, pure soldiers, and spies, there are less than three or four hundred people left, and they still look a little like strong men.

When Zhu Cihong arrived under the guidance of Wang Chengen, these so-called "strong men" were gathering together to devour bread. Clustered together. Several of Wang Chengen's "grandsons" were still shouting in the spot: "Master Chitose is here, hurry up!" ”

The strong men all lived under the roots of the imperial city, and of course they knew that "Chitose Lord" referred to Zhu Cihong and several of his brothers, all of whom were indescribably noble. At that moment, he stopped eating bread, and gathered up in hulala, knelt down and saluted.

"The little ones meet Chitose!"

A eunuch with a loud voice took the lead in shouting, and then everyone shouted along, which was quite lively.

Zhu Cihong listened to it with interest, and said with a smile: "Get up, get up...... Eating? Is there meat? ”

The eunuch with a loud voice immediately replied: "Back to Chitose Lord, the little one didn't prepare meat for them." ”

"Then hurry up and get ready...... These are all strong men who defend my Ming Dynasty, how can they have no meat to eat? ”

"Well, the little one will go to the palace to buy it immediately." The eunuch replied immediately.

"Wang Banban," Zhu Cihong turned back to Wang Chengen and said, "200 copper coins are too little, one person will give one penny of silver."

Wang Chengen was stunned for a moment, this prince is a big man, and he is for meat to eat, and he is to add money...... This is too much of a loser, right?

"Chitose Lord, a penny of silver, it's three taels a month......"

"Give it!" Zhu Cihong waved his hand, "Wang Companion, go and get the money, give it in front of the palace, everyone has a share...... Both the Pure Army and the Ti Cavalry also have a copy. ”

"Thank you for the reward of Lord Chitose!"

"Master Xie Chitose ......"

A group of "strong men" are happy, and they got a penny of silver and meat to eat without doing anything, where can they find such a good thing?

Now on duty on the inner and outer city walls of Beijing, only 100 copper coins a day, and I don't care about food!

Wang Chengen couldn't resist the decree in front of Zhu Cihong, so he could only ask people to take two taels of silver, and in front of Zhu Cihong, ten people gave one tael of silver and let them share it themselves. Of course, everyone is happy with the "strong men", but the people who follow Zhu Cihong are frowning.

That's too much money...... The prince won't live!