When Zhu Cihong left the inner school field, the sky was already dark, and March 15, the seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, was almost over. By this time tomorrow, Li Zicheng's vanguard will probably be wandering around the city of Beijing!

The day after tomorrow, that is, on 17 March, Beijing's offensive and defensive battle will begin. If history had not changed, two days later, the Shenjing of the Ming Dynasty would have fallen into the hands of Li Zicheng. Emperor Chongzhen will hang himself on the coal mountain, and Zhu Cihong will lose everything and become a prisoner of Li Zicheng......

When Zhu Cihong returned to Duanben Palace with a large group of people, the good mood when he gave people "options" in the inner school just now was gone.

Although in the past day and night, Zhu Cihong has completed several unimaginable "transactions".

He has successfully fooled Wang Chengen and Wu Xiang, the two big figures of the Ming Dynasty, into his "angel investors". deceived the simple Queen Zhou and turned her into his accomplice. also set a trap for an unknown number of brave men in Beijing, and finally issued "options" to Wu Xiang's family members - they were actually issued in front of Wu Xiang, and Wu Xiang did not show any dissatisfaction.

But the time left by history is too short, and now there are less than four days left before the city breaks!

There are only two short days left before the city of Beijing is surrounded!

Therefore, even if Zhu Cihong could piece together a team of two or three thousand people, it would be impossible to transform them into real elites.

Without an elite escort, if you want to escape from the encirclement of Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops, there is still no absolute certainty.

Therefore, the safest way is to flee tomorrow night, before Li Zicheng's army surrounds the city of Beijing.

In this way, in addition to the two or three thousand people who he temporarily put together, he can also have three thousand Nanhaizi Jing troops to protect him, and Song Quan in Tongzhou also has one or two thousand men and horses in his hands...... If you count more, seven or eight thousand troops can make it up.

There are so many people to protect, it is foolproof to go to Tianjin Wei. After arriving in Tianjin, if you can still pull a part of Wu Sangui's Guanning army over, plus Tianjin's defenders and Tianjin's guards, there will be 10,000 or 20,000 people.

With this bit of capital, he and Chongzhen are not considered bare-bones, and it will be much easier to go to Nanjing to reorganize the country......

If Chongzhen doesn't see the coffin, he won't cry...... Then we have to fight in Beijing! But it doesn't matter, Zhu Cihong is still a little sure of breaking through and escaping. Even if you want to fight in Beijing for a few days, it is not without a little way.

There are a lot of Ding Zhuang in Beijing, as long as there is silver in these years, there will be people who will sell their lives!

And the silver in the city of Beijing ...... Have!

"Chitose Lord, I can wait for you, dinner is ready, will I pass it to you?"

At the gate of Duanben Palace, the eunuch Huang Dabao had been waiting for another while, and when he saw Zhu Cihong coming, he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

Zhu Cihong's food is in charge of Huang Dabao. I don't know since when, the imperial dining room of the Ming Dynasty palace will not cook for the emperor, the crown prince, the queen, the queen mother, the princess, the concubine and other nobles - because the food in the imperial dining room is too unpalatable, the cost is high, and it is not cost-effective. simply went their own way, and the eunuchs who served their masters were responsible.

For example, Zhu Cihong has 150 taels of food expenses a month, which is handed over to Huang Dabao, a foodie eunuch, to handle it, which is quite good.

"Let's have a bite to eat." Zhu Cihong turned his head and said to Zhu Chunjie, the foreman of the guards of the East Palace, Bi Jiucheng, the scrivener, Qiu Zhizhong, the eunuch who accompanied him, and more than a dozen other guards, "You all come and eat with the palace." Dabao, is it enough to eat? ”

"Enough, enough." Huang Dabao agreed.

"Dabao, you can come together." Zhu Cihong said with a smile, "Let's eat together, this palace still has something to tell you." ”

Seeing that a catastrophe is coming, even if there is dragon liver and phoenix marrow, Zhu Cihong can't taste it. Taking advantage of the opportunity to eat and stabilize your core team is the most important thing.

Wu Xiang's family members, the trapped Jingshi Zhuang Yong are still the periphery of Zhu Cihong's power circle, and the real core is still the guards around him, the eunuchs who are confidants, and those speakers of the East Palace. Although these people are not good people, they can only be used for now.

"Zhu Chunjie, Bi Shishu, I've been with this palace for a day today, do you know what this palace is going to do?" Zhu Cihong said to his foreman Zhu Chunjie and the waiter Bi Jiucheng while picking up vegetables and rice.

"Chen knows, it's just, it's just ......" Zhu Chunjie didn't know what to say.

"The minister also knows." Bi Jiucheng's forehead was also covered with cold sweat when he spoke!

Among all Zhu Cihong's close ministers and eunuchs, the two of them are the ones who have the most consistent interests with Zhu Cihong. Because the big eunuchs and teachers around Zhu Cihong are old, they may not be able to survive Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen's brain is not good, but his body is very good, otherwise he would not be able to bear so many official duties and endless mental blows!

Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen is only thirty-three years old this year, and if he lived to be more than sixty, those elderly eunuchs and civil officials would have died long ago. But Zhu Chunjie and Bi Jiucheng are young and strong, how can they become Zhu Cihong's number one confidants.

So as long as everything is safe and stable, Zhu Chunjie will at least be a guard commander in the future, that is, the commander of the Jinyi guard. Bijiucheng is rarely allowed to enter the cabinet, and Bige will be old in the future!

But what Zhu Cihong did today, as a prince, is really out of line!

As a crown prince, you shouldn't take the initiative to seize military power! This matter is now hidden from the Holy Lord, but how many days can it be hidden? When the saint knows, I'm afraid the trouble will be small. The abolished prince may not be happy, but most of the people around the prince have to eat melons and fall, and they don't even have to take their lives.

"Just out of line?" Zhu Cihong understood Zhu Chunjie and Bi Jiucheng's thoughts, and said with a smile, "This palace also knows how to go out of line, but this palace is not afraid!" ”

"Chitose Lord, you ......" Zhu Chunjie frowned, and he didn't know how to persuade him.

Bi Jiucheng also looked entangled.

"Because this palace has a dream of Taizuto!" Zhu Cihong's tone suddenly became serious, "Taizu told the palace that Juyong Pass has been dedicated to the rebels by the traitors, and the rebel army is about to arrive outside Beijing!" Now the only one who can save Daming and my father is this palace! For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, for the sake of the father, what is there to be afraid of in this palace?

And you also know what this palace did today...... Last month, Wu Xiang offered a price of one million military salaries, and today he didn't ask for anything, so he wrote a letter to Wu Sangui about the transfer of troops, and dedicated his daughter to the palace! Do you think that without the blessing of Emperor Taizu Gao, Wu Xiang would be so easy to speak? ”

He was cheering up his henchmen so that they could rally around him.

When Zhu Cihong was speaking, the voice of the eunuch on duty suddenly sounded outside the door of the Duanjing Palace: "Chitose Lord, the prince asks to see you." ”

Wang Chengen came.

"Please," Zhu Cihong glanced at the few people who were eating at the same table with him, and said in a low voice, "The news of the fall of Juyongguan has arrived!" ”

Wang Chengen had already walked in in a hurry, his face was pale, and when he saw Zhu Cihong sitting there, he said hurriedly: "Master Chitose, Juyong Pass, Juyong Pass is really lost!" Tang Tong and Du Zhizhi have the emperor's grace! ”

Zhu Cihong nodded, "What Grandpa said in his dream, how can it be fake?" By the way, Wang Banban, have you eaten? If you don't have one, let's use a little together. Dabao, go add a bowl and chopsticks. ”

Wang Chengen stepped forward and saluted, and then said, "Master Chitose, the matter is urgent, how can you still sit as usual?" ”

"There's no hurry, there's no hurry," Zhu Cihong smiled, "There is still time to eat and sleep...... There are still more than 100 miles of Juyong Pass so far, and the Badaling mountain road is steep, which is not conducive to the passage of the army. It is estimated that only tomorrow can we trap Changping, and the day after tomorrow will we be able to besiege Beijing. You can rest and sleep tonight, and tomorrow night you will go to Tongzhou at night, and you will definitely be able to get out of the tiger's mouth.

Wang Companion, don't be in a hurry, it's useless to be anxious. Let's eat together, then go back to sleep, and start tomorrow, I'm afraid I'll have to work day and night again. ”

After listening to the conversation between Zhu Cihong and Wang Chengen, Zhu Chunjie, Bi Jiucheng, Huang Dabao, Qiu Zhizhong and others all forgot to eat, and they all looked at Zhu Cihong with their mouths wide open, and they didn't know what they were thinking?

Zhu Cihong smiled and glanced at his subordinates: "Everyone is tired, let's rest after dinner!"

Zhu Chunjie, your people are not allowed to leave today, they are all resting in Duanben Palace. Early tomorrow morning, you will personally go out of the palace and invite Mr. Chen Rui, Li Shichun and Lin Zengzhi to take them to the inner school.

Bi Shishu, from now on, you follow the palace and be the courage of the palace! ”