Chongzhen intended to escape from Beijing in micro-suits, but the news that he was stopped by dozens of Yushidang Street on the way was sent to Li Zicheng, who was stationed in the Ding's garden in Diaoyutai, almost immediately, through several different channels.

"Erhu, is Chongzhen really going to escape?"

Li Zicheng didn't care about the fatigue of deliberating for half a day with Gao Yigong, Zhang Nai, and others about the unsmooth progress of the negotiations between the Beijing camp and the Nanyue Army, so he just looked directly at Liu Tichun, who was in charge of the secret agents, secret piles, and meticulous work in various places, and was ready to find out something from the subtle changes in the expression on his face.

Regarding Chongzhen's attempted escape, Liu Tichun can be said to be a true thing. This news was not only reported by his meticulous work in ambush in the capital, but also notified to him by relevant parties through secret channels. Several sources corroborated each other, and he could confirm that this was unmistakable.

"Lin Quan, Jie Xuan, Mr. Niu, Mr. Song, what do you think of this matter?"

Li Zicheng summoned his subordinates Li Yan, Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and other leaders of the civil and military sides to one place, and ordered Liu Tichun to explain the latest movements in the capital to these people.

"Good! Chongzhen Xiao'er didn't succeed if he wanted to run, and was intercepted by the ministers under him?! Liu Zongmin rubbed the corner of his cloak excitedly with his big iron hand, ignoring the corners of his clothes, and the corners were soon crushed by him.

"The imperial history of the former Ming Dynasty has always been quite stylish. Back then, Ming Wuzong planned to go out of Beijing to Xuanfu to frolic in Xuanfu, but he was stopped by Yushi. This time, I can't imagine that these imperial histories have once again emulated their predecessors. Niu Jinxing twisted his beard and admired these imperial histories.

"This generation of Lu beetles has made a great contribution to my Dashun! If Chongzhen Xiao'er escaped from the capital and joined Feng Yuanbiao and others in Tianjin, not to mention that the Guan Ning army commanding Wu Sangui stubbornly resisted our army, or fled straight south, it would cause great trouble to my Dashun! Li Yan also praised the behavior of these pig teammates in the imperial history.

Speaking of the trouble that Chongzhen's escape to the south might bring to Dashun, Li Zicheng couldn't help but think of the unsmooth negotiation with Lin Wenbing that Gao Yigong had reported just now, and couldn't help frowning slightly, and after thinking for a while, he made up his mind.

"Yigong, you and Xiao Wu will work hard again and go to Tongzhou. It was to tell the messenger in the south that I was now busy besieging Beijing, and had no time to consider acknowledging Chongzhen's arrears for the time being. As long as the city of Beijing is taken, the matter can be discussed. But, one way or another, our trade with the South cannot be interrupted. ”

Li Zicheng's proposition is undoubtedly a delaying strategy, but it is also the only feasible method at present. You can't let Emperor Yongchang of Dashun announce that he wants to repay the usury for Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty outside Beijing, right? This kind of thing has not happened before, but you Chongzhen is not a peerless beauty, and you are not a big girl who wants to return to Beijing after her father died, why should there be a hero to help you at the end of the road? Li Zicheng is not Zhao Kuangyin who sent Jingniang thousands of miles away, nor is he such a confused servant, and he sent the silver to Sister Lan'er's ship.

However, as long as it can be exchanged for the Nanyue army taking a neutral position of not helping each other during the attack on Beijing by the Dashun army, this is a great favor to Li Zicheng.

"Jiexuan, today I will send an order to all battalions to be ready to attack the city. Little Ones. ”

"Erchen is here!" Zhang Nai, as one of Li Zicheng's adopted sons and the commander of the artillery battalion, naturally knew that there was an errand assigned to him at this time.

"Put the big and small artillery we brought, line up along the line of Fucheng Gate, Changyi Gate, and You'an Gate, and set up the cannons to bombard me!"

"Your Majesty, our old Liu will lead the battalions to prepare for the siege. However, the emperor, the group of guys in Chaoyangmen, I'm afraid that our Lao Liu will personally go out to deal with it! Damn, it's been a long time since I've had an enjoyable fight! After the city of Beijing was laid, the emperor's country will be unified for all generations, and it will be difficult for us Liu blacksmiths to fight again! ”

Liu Zongmin had already learned about the combat effectiveness of those new troops in the Beijing camp from Gu Ying's mouth, and he couldn't help but be a little happy.

"It's good! Let Luo Hu take his people with you! Li Zicheng thought about it for a while, and then made up his mind.

"Your Majesty, if you deal with a group of gentlemen, you won't use Xiaohuzi's soldiers and horses, right?"

Liu Zongmin was a little surprised.

"It's enough for us to go to Lao Liu."

"I know that you are the chief sentry of the camp, Liu Ye, is very brave, but the lion fights the rabbit with all his strength, and these guys are not good men and women. Let the little tiger get on, and you can sweep him in the array. ”

As for the commander-in-chief of the western capture of Changyi Gate, Fucheng Gate and other places, Li Zicheng's nephew Li Guo was naturally commanded by Li Guo, his nephew. According to Li Zicheng's statement, the siege in the west is the starting point, and the focus is to solve the tens of thousands of new troops in the Beijing camp in the east.

"A few months ago, our army had already entered the outer city with many fine works, pretending to be all kinds of people in the rivers and lakes, small merchants and hawkers, small craftsmen, nailing dishes and bowls, and mending pots." They had many secret contacts with the poor people in the city, and it had already been agreed that when the army besieged the city, the poor people living in the Quang Ninh Gate would open the city gate and let our army enter the city. Break the outer city first, everyone in the inner city will be afraid, and the eunuchs who defend the city will also sacrifice the city gates. As soon as the outer city is broken, the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of the Beijing battalion outside the city are also frightened birds, and they will be in chaos without a fight! ”

This arrangement made Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Gao Yigong and other veteran generals of Dashun very satisfied, "If I break the city here first, it may not be the first achievement!" Li Guo, who was in charge of supervising the battalions to launch an attack in the west, was not without a smug reverie in his heart.

And Liu Zongmin, for the sake of insurance, said to Li Zicheng, "Xiaohuzi's Zhenshan Camp is the result of our Dashun's hard work, and it is just like the soldiers of the old battalion." How can it be easily damaged? It is better to let Tang Tong and other newly returned ministries have an opportunity to make contributions to Dashun. ”

Liu Zongmin's words are very high-sounding, but everyone understands his words very clearly, that is, let the newly surrendered Ming army go to fight with the new army in Beijing, which of them kills whom, it is a good thing for Dashun. Kill the Beijing camp to go to the external troubles, and kill the miscellaneous cards to remove the internal troubles.

When the deliberations were over, each of them went and prepared according to the arrangement.

According to the auspicious moment calculated by Song Xiance, Li Zicheng was closely protected by two hundred imperial troops led by Li Shuangxi, starting from the Diaoyutai Palace, led by the yellow umbrella, with the two captured princes of the Ming clan of Qin and Jin, and some civil and military ministers.

Li Qiang, the commander of the imperial camp, led many pro-troops of the imperial camp to guard along the road, and it was strictly forbidden for idlers to break into the royal road. Li Zicheng and his group walked about two miles south out of Diaoyutai in the silence of the people, turned eastward on the main road in the wilderness, walked another two miles, crossed a small river over a stone bridge, walked south for a while, and then turned eastward, and soon entered a lush pine and cypress, and came to the front of a mountain gate of a Taoist temple. The white-bearded and drooping abbot was notified in advance, and led all the more than 200 old and young Taoists, with a frightened face, kneeling outside the mountain gate to greet him, prostrating on the ground, and then raising his head and saying: "All the Taoists of Baiyun Temple, welcome the holy drive of the Yongchang Emperor!" ”

Sure enough, in everyone's field of vision, there is a bluestone plaque on the top of the mountain gate, which is engraved with five big characters of "Ejian Baiyun Temple". "This is also a famous Taoist temple in Beijing, where the real people of Changchun practiced in the past." Song Xiance is also mixing in the rivers and lakes under the banner of a Taoist priest, and when he meets his peers, he naturally wants to come out to protect him.

The Taoist priests of Baiyun Temple have completely inherited the style and glorious tradition of Qiu Chuji. Li Zicheng's troops came to the city of Beijing, and the Taoist priests of Baiyun Temple immediately came out to greet them with all their magic weapons and honor guards.

Li Zicheng ordered the soldiers of the imperial camp to wait outside the mountain gate, accompanied by Li Yan, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Wu Ruyi and others, and the abbot of Baiyun Temple led the way to the temple to rejoice.

This Taoist temple was founded in the Jin Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty was renamed Taiji Palace, and later renamed Changchun Palace, and after reconstruction, it was renamed Baiyun Temple. Although the temple was rebuilt twice after two major fires, some of the ancient trees were old in Jinyuan, so when you enter the courtyard, you can see many pines and cypresses, and the branches are connected, and the green shade is forested.

As soon as the Dashun monarchs and ministers walked to the front of the "Jade Calendar Changchun" hall, a few snowflakes fell from the pine and cypress branches and leaves to everyone's robes. Li Zicheng looked up, the clouds were dense, and the snowflakes fell on his face, which was quite cool. He happily looked at Niu, Song and the others and said, "Okay, good, it's really snowing!" ”

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

Li Yan continued: "Sure enough, congratulations, the military advisor is like a god in managing yin and yang!" ”

The old abbot was so happy when he saw that Li Zicheng was so happy for a few snowflakes, how could he let go of such a good opportunity? Hurriedly bowed down and said: "The emperor is happy to see a few snowflakes, and the monarch and ministers are congratulatory, which shows that His Majesty cares about the people, and he is really a rare monarch of Yao Shun." ”

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

The abbot said: "Long live the echo, there has been little snow since this winter, and if you want to come to the beginning of spring, you will have to be dry and vicious, and this is the time when the wheat seedlings want to rain, if there is no rain to fall, there will be no hope for summer grain, and starvation will carry the road." ”

Li Zicheng continued to think about the imminent destruction of the city, and glanced at the abbot absentmindedly, but did not make a sound. Seeing Li Zicheng with a smile on his face, the abbot quickly knelt down, and then said: "Foreign Minister Fang has to meet the Holy Lord today, and he is willing to risk his life to ask for his life for the people." After the emperor set Youyan at the end, he would be fortunate to pray for rain for all the people in Baiyun Temple as soon as possible, or build a universal Jiao in Baiyun Temple, and there will be spring rain to benefit the country and the people. ”

Although it was a sales method to peddle business, Li Zicheng was quite comfortable listening to it, "Lin Quan, this matter will be hard for you and Mr. Niu, after entering Beijing, everything will be settled, and then arrange for the whole world to pray for the blessings of the society and for the fallen soldiers over the years." ”

While Li Zicheng and the others were talking in the view, the people outside were hurriedly settling his throne, which was more than a mile away from the Changyi Gate City, and was set up overnight in a yellow felt tent, with a brass treasure top and shining gold. This military tent specially made for him in Xi'an is called the marching imperial tent, also known as the tent hall. A three-zhang high flagpole of the tree in the southeast corner of the imperial tent is hung with an embroidered dragon blue flag, and there is the word "Da Shun" on the red velvet sewing in it; In front of the imperial tent, facing the city gate, there is a throne, and there is an embroidered dragon yellow satin chair draped. On the left and right sides of the imperial tent, two forts were built, each fort was ten zhang apart, and there were four 32-pounder siege cannons in total. In addition, there are four twenty-four-pounder siege cannons, which are also separated by ten zhang. The red silk armor of each cannon had been removed, and an officer in charge of the cannon burned incense in front of each cannon, and behind each cannon stood ten gunners, wearing blue over-the-knee crotch, with a round white cloth sewn on the front and back of the heart, on which the word "cannon" was written. Three feet in front of the throne, two low stools were placed on the ground to the left and right, with red cushions. This is a seat set up for the King of Qin and the King of Jin.

A moment later, Li Zicheng, under the escort of everyone, strode to the front of the imperial tent, sat down on the throne proudly, and raised his eyes to look at the city. The two kings of Qin and Jin sat down on a low stool slightly before the left and right of the throne. Li Guo, Li Yan, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, as well as a group of important ministers of the new dynasty, such as the six government scholars and the left and right servants, and the scholars of the Wenyu Academy, set up the throne left and right. Officials below the squire also stood in the back rows on the left and right. Du Xun, the eunuch who surrendered, also stood in the back row with all the civil and military officers. Wu Ruyi and Li Shuangxi stood behind the throne because they had to listen to the emperor's call at any time. Li Qiang led 500 firecrackers and 1,000 archers to stand outside the city, eyeing the city.

If there is a suspicious action or curse on the head of the city, as long as Li Qiang gives an order, these 1,500 people will shoot dense projectiles and sharp arrows towards the city in an instant, so that the people defending the city can not raise their heads, and Zhang Nai, who is standing on a mound, waves the red flag in his hand, and all the cannons aimed at the head of the city from the north to the south of the Tianning Temple from Xibianmen to the south will be ignited together, and the city tower and the pheasant moat will collapse in many places in an instant.

Such a big move will naturally not hide from the eyes of the soldiers and eunuchs guarding the city. After all, from the north of Xizhimen to the south of Fuchengmen, it is not a joke to face the cannons on the hundreds of batteries made of sandbags on the city wall! There are vehicles, mules and horses in and out of the moon altar outside Fucheng Gate, and it is not fake to transport truckloads of gunpowder shells to various artillery forts!

For the power of all kinds of artillery, especially the so-called Hongyi cannon, the people of Beijing are most familiar with it.

If hundreds of artillery pieces keep bombarding, how long can Beijing's city walls be said to be strong? If it is because of resistance that the Dashun army is provoked to enter the city and slaughter the city, how can we all escape? Thinking of this, it made the eunuchs and the soldiers and civilians who were guarding the city feel weak and their faces were as white as earth.

However, among the many eunuchs in the city, there were also sharp-eyed eunuchs who recognized Du Xun, the town guard eunuch standing in the second row on the right behind Li Zicheng, but they didn't dare to point with their fingers, they just squeezed their eyes at each other and quietly signaled to each other. The appearance of Du Xun made the spirit of the eunuchs defending the city even more disintegrated.

Li Zicheng seemed to say something on the throne, a general on a white horse galloped over, followed by a dozen horseback attendants, they went to the shore of the city to rein in their horses, put an arrow on the city, and then chanted loudly to the city head in a natural and rhythmic language: "The soldiers and civilians defending the city should hear clearly!" Our Dashun army will be like a cloud, with thousands of cannons, and the capital has been surrounded by a group of people, and the water is impassable. After entering the city, only the corrupt officials were killed, and the people were not harmed. The two kings of Qin and Jin in the Ming Dynasty have surrendered and are accompanied by left and right. If you fire arrows and cannons, and you intend to resist stubbornly, all the cannons in our city will fire in unison, and you will be severely punished, and you will never be tolerant! ”

After the speech, the general on a white horse held a proclamation from Liu Zongmin in both hands, and read it aloud word by word in a thick Shaanxi accent: "Ruhou Liu, the chief general of the Dashun Advocate Righteous Battalion: I would like to follow the holy decree of Emperor Yongchang to tell the soldiers and civilians and ministers in the city. The Ming Dynasty has run out of energy, and you are all my subjects. The righteous teacher entered Beijing and was scheduled for dusk today. I only heard the sound of cannons, and you opened the city gate as soon as possible. The army hangs the people for substitution, and discipline has always been strict. After entering the city, all industries remain the same, and the market is not alarmed; Cloth the new and remove the old, and share the peace. If they dare to resist behind closed doors, and refuse to surrender the city immediately, they will be slaughtered as a sign of severe punishment. Earnestly obey this commandment! ”

After the preaching was finished, the dozen or so horsemen spurred their horses away under the relieved eyes of all the people in the city.

"Damn it! The thieves have all arrived at the edge of the moat, why don't you bombard the thieves?! Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, there was a roar on the road under the city.

However, it was Wang Chengen, the eunuch of Bingbi who was in charge of the defense of the capital, who led hundreds of people to inspect here.

Wang Chengen's two eyes, which had already been stimulated by anger, were bloodshot, and in terms of knowing how to face, this situation was called blood pupils, indicating that this person was extremely angry. Similar to a volcano, it only takes one flashpoint to erupt a huge amount of energy, and tens of thousands of tons of magma will turn anything that tries to stop them in their path to ashes.

Originally, a very well-planned micro-service operation out of Beijing, I don't know how to leak the news, and was stopped by dozens of imperial historians and officials of the DPRK and China who rushed to the street after hearing the news, crying and persuading, and a few people even splashed and rolled on the ground to carry out death advice. Chongzhen was forced to have no choice, and expressed to these people, "I should be the guardian of the temple and the society, and the imperial sister-in-law should go out of Beijing", but a group of people led by Guang Shiheng were unforgiving, and the attitude of beating the water dog was very arrogant and ordered the emperor Chongzhen to return to the palace in full, what imperial sister-in-law left Beijing, no!

"Empress Yi'an is a person from Qi County, and Li Yan, the thief and pseudo-prime minister, is also from Qi County, so Your Majesty is planning to use this township friendship to negotiate peace?"

Someone in the crowd uttered such rebellious and rebellious words. was so angry that Wang Chengen was dizzy in front of his eyes, and he was almost about to fall.

In desperation, Chongzhen and the people who were ready to leave Beijing with him had to return in a huff.

With such twists and turns, how can Wang Chengen not be angry? When he arrived at Changyi Gate, he found that the thieves were showing off under the city, but there was no shot on the city.

"Father-in-law, I am outnumbered. Look! "The town guard eunuch in charge of the front line of Changyi Gate made a bitter look and pointed to the two huge artillery groups that stretched for miles in the north and south of the city." There are hundreds of artillery pieces under the city, and our army only has more than a dozen artillery, how can we fight against them? ”

"You!" knew that this was the eunuch's excuse, but Wang Chengen couldn't find the right words to debunk his lies for a while.

"The thief is within the range of artillery, it is the time to serve the country and make meritorious contributions, but you are afraid of the sword and avoid the sword here, what are you going to do, you have failed the virtue of the imperial court for many years!"

"Princess, it's not that I'm afraid of death, you see, the King of Qin and the King of Jin are next to the thieves, how dare they shoot the so-called rat trap? In case the two princes are injured by mistake, the little ones can't afford it! ”

Just when the two eunuch leaders were at a stalemate for a while, and the atmosphere at the head of the city was extremely strange and embarrassing, the Dashun army under the city began to act.

Thousands of civilians, escorted by more than 1,000 soldiers, carried wooden planks of various sizes, straw bags and sacks full of dirt, and slowly approached the trenches over the artillery groups placed under the city.

This siege tactic was already very skillful in the Dashun army. The ditch was filled first, and then the soldiers were either attached to the city under the cover of artillery fire, bows and arrows, or the artillery bombarded the city wall with solid shells, breaking the bricks wrapped in the city wall, and then the city was struck to dig up the bricks.

However, first of all, it is necessary to solve the auxiliary defense facilities such as sheep and horse walls and moats outside the city walls.

One by one, the straw bags were thrown into the dry trench by the people who rushed to the edge of the moat, and then the men carrying long planks shouted to erect the plank, tied one end with a long rope, and slowly turned over to the other side of the trench.

"Fire! If you don't fire any more guns, the thieves will enter the city! ”

Without caring about nonsense, Wang Chengen hurriedly stepped forward, observed a little in front of an eight-pounder gun, snatched the cigarette pouch from the hands of a gunner, didn't care about the dirt, took a few puffs violently, and used the cigarette pouch as a torch for igniting the cannon.

The cannonballs flew out, and blood splashed among the crowd of people.

"Hit! Just hit it like that! ”

Seeing that the Dashun army under the city did not fire artillery to counterattack, Wang Chengen suddenly became a lot more courageous, roared loudly, and commanded the defenders at the head of the city to fire artillery at the Dashun army attacking the city and filling the trenches.

For a while, the cannon rumbled.

Wang Chengen, whose face was stained with gunpowder smoke, couldn't help but smile smugly when he saw the Shun soldiers and civilians under the city retreating through the gunpowder smoke above the city.

"Father-in-law, please retreat quickly! I'm afraid the thieves are coming soon! But the eunuch at the head of the city did not rejoice, but dragged him along the road to the city.

Sure enough, in just a few moments, several cannon shots shook the ground, and the piercing screech of the cannonballs as they flew through the air was heard. Dozens of shells swept over the city and landed in the middle of the city, knocking several houses near the city gate to the point of breaking beams and collapsing walls. Where the shells fell, smoke rose, and as the smoke rose and fires came out, bursts of shouting, crying and moaning also sounded in the city.

Although Wang Chengen is a eunuch known as the "inner minister", he is deeply favored by Chongzhen, but he is not a person who does not know soldiers. Not only is he familiar with artillery affairs, but he also worked with Li Shouhan in Changqing and the two white flags for a while. However, the artillery fire of the Dashun army's counterattack just now made him understand that the trend of Shun and rebellion had been reversed.

In my ears, I could hear the sound of artillery faintly coming from the east of the city.

"Father-in-law! It seems to be in the direction of Chaoyangmen! ”

One of his guards took a look and pointed in the direction of the Chaoyang Gate to the east.

This suddenly made Wang Chengen completely panicked. Chaoyangmen, at this time, is an umbilical cord on the body of the Ming court and Emperor Chongzhen, maintaining a little contact with the outside world and the mother. If this umbilical cord is broken, then the Ming Dynasty and Emperor Chongzhen will be completely finished!

Wang Chengen was frightened, hurriedly took the guards on the horse, galloped to the east, and the group passed through the Xidan archway, arrived at the right gate of Chang'an, turned over and dismounted. Because the front of Chengtian Gate is facing the imperial palace, according to the lighting etiquette system, no one is allowed to ride a horse or a sedan chair across the royal road, so Wang Chengen ordered people to take a detour. After the left gate of Chang'an, I galloped to the east single archway, and planned to continue to the east from the east single archway, and went straight to Chaoyang Gate.

On the back of a galloping horse, the cold north wind blows into the robe, making people feel cold to the bone. He gritted his teeth in his heart and scolded the group of courtiers: "The emperor's country will be ruined in your hands!" ”

The sound of cannons and shouts from the west faded away.

The shouts of killing from the east gradually became clearer. (To be continued.) )