The defense line of Badaling and Juyongguan, which is known as the natural danger of Xiongguan, was opened to the emerging Dashun Dynasty because of the surrender of Tang Tong and others thirty miles out of the city.

Li Zicheng and his civil and military ministers, as well as the officers and men of the various battalions, were all elated, believing that according to such progress, the city of Beijing would definitely be defeated within two or three days, and then the word would be passed on to the south of the Yangtze River, and the great cause of a thousand years would be laid from then on.

Liu Zongmin left 2,000 men and horses to garrison Juyongguan and Badaling instead of the surrendered Ming army. The army of 70,000 or 80,000 continued to advance and poured like a tidal wave towards Beijing. Li Zicheng and the central government's office, such as the Prime Minister's Mansion, the Military Division's Office, and the Six Governments, did not have to rush with the army, and temporarily went to Changping City to rest. Because there were important matters to discuss, Liu Zongmin was also left by the emperor.

The Changping Prefecture is still relatively spacious and is used as the temporary palace of the Dashun Emperor. The military division office was stationed in the Zhentai Yamen of the Changping General Army, the Prime Minister's Office was stationed in the Xue Palace, the six governments and other yamen were crowded into other yamen and private houses, and the imperial camp and other troops were stationed in barracks, and many tents were erected in the open space. After dinner, Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin had a few words, and then ordered the propaganda officials to send a message to the prime minister, the military advisor, the six government scholars, the squire and the bachelor of the Wenyu Academy and other central ministers to come to the palace to hold a pre-imperial meeting.

Since crossing the river to the east and conquering Shanxi, there have been many imperial meetings on the march, and the strategy has been constantly adjusted according to the development and changes of the situation. From the original intention to take Shanxi, to capture Datong, and then to encompass the entire Xuanda, to now, people have begun to deduce the tactics of capturing Beijing.

At this meeting tonight, we will discuss many major measures after the capture of Beijing, including where the Emperor Dashun will be stationed outside Beijing, where he will enter the inner city of Beijing after the outer city is breached, where he will enter the imperial city and the Forbidden City, and what palace he will live in after entering the Forbidden City.

"It's a little cramped here! In fact, in the humble opinion of the ministers, it is better to be stationed at the ancestral mausoleum of Chongzhen in Tianshou Mountain! It's a big place, and even hundreds of thousands of people can live there! ”

Wang Si, the general of the imperial camp, led his men and horses to patrol all over Changping Prefecture, and when he saw the crowded scenes in various parts of the city, he couldn't help but pouting and complaining. However, it can only be just words. How can there be a reason for the founder of the country to live in the imperial tomb of the previous dynasty?

If it is according to Wang Si's plan, not only will the soldiers and horses be stationed in the imperial tombs, but also the dozens of tombs will be set on fire, and then the sealed soil will be blown up, and the bones inside will be burned out, "just like they did in Mizhi!" ”

In order to avoid the indiscriminate retaliation of his subordinates, after passing the Juyong Pass, Li Zicheng rewarded Chen Yongfu and his son, and ordered his father and son to lead the men and horses of the headquarters to quickly occupy the Ming Tomb of Tianshou Mountain, and put an end to the destruction of the Ming Tomb by stragglers and soldiers of the Shun army.

At the beginning of the imperial meeting, Li Zicheng asked Song Xiance when he would be able to break the city. For a moment, his colleagues turned their eyes to the face of this military advisor, waiting for him to give a clear answer to the emperor.

Since the Dashun army entered the Great Wall without a fight, and crossed Changping, Song Xiance received a report from the forward generals, knowing that Li Guozhen of the Ming Dynasty led three battalions to defend Shahe. Li Guozhen, the uncle of Xiangcheng, was originally a son of a hakama, with no military experience, and could only talk about it. Led thousands of three battalions of soldiers - most of them are market gangsters, and they are all good at wandering around the three tiles and two houses of the flower streets and willow alleys on weekdays, and if they really fight, it is not as good as one of ten.

Li Guozhen, the commander of Xiangcheng, led these troops to Shahe to set up defenses, and when he saw the arrival of the Dashun army, he collapsed without a fight, and Li Guozhen fled back to Beijing. Song Xiance carefully analyzed the offensive and defensive situation in his heart, and concluded that the army only needed to besiege the city for two days, and the morale of the army in the city would collapse, and the city would be easily broken.

He pays attention to the weather changes, especially his left leg, which he broke while riding a horse when he was young, and he feels soreness and pain every time it rains and snows. After arriving in Changping, his left leg began to feel soreness again, and he knew that rain and snow would soon fall.

But after all, he was born as a warlock in the rivers and lakes, and relied on this technique to win the trust of Li Zicheng and the soldiers under King Chuang, and he has been a military advisor for three years, so he doesn't need to say his analysis in the simplest words, but slightly stretches out his left hand, palm up, pinching the joints of the index finger and middle finger with his thumb, and muttering to himself for a long time before he speaks: "According to the minister, if there is rain and snow the day after tomorrow, the city can be broken at dawn the day after tomorrow." If there is no rain or snow the day after tomorrow, it will be necessary to wait for two or three days to break the city. ”

"That is to say, no matter what, the emperor will celebrate the New Year in the Forbidden City in Beijing?!" Liu Tichun, who was in charge of mastering Dashun's intelligence and horse exploration affairs, rubbed his hands very excitedly, and his face didn't know whether it was cold or excited, and his face was red.

Li Zicheng also looked happy and said: "I look at the dense clouds in the sky, probably a heavy snow is inevitable." In the words of the military advisor, it is good to plan everything according to the day after tomorrow. I decided to set the capital of Chang'an, Beijing is just here, after the matter is decided, it will be renamed Youzhou Mansion, this matter has been agreed in Chang'an. I am in Beijing, what palace will I live in after entering the Forbidden City? ”

Niu Jinxing already knew what Song Xiance meant, and of course Li Yan also knew, but they all laughed and said nothing. Li Zicheng was very polite to Niu Jinxing, and many similar things relied on him and Song Xian's advice, seeing that he didn't say anything at this time, for some reason, he looked at him and asked: "Mr. Niu said first, what palace should I live in the Forbidden City!" ”

Niu Jinxing has recently tried his best to cultivate a graceful and calm prime minister's bearing, not only not to compete with Prime Minister Li Yan for power and merit, but also to make all major decisions under the emperor's discretion, so he respectfully bowed to Li Zicheng and replied: "Among the ministers who were summoned to come to the imperial court tonight, there are many people who have entered and exited the palace in the Chongzhen Dynasty and know more about the main palaces in the forbidden city. ”

The group of ministers who surrendered from Xiangyang and Xi'an and in Shanxi are considered to be knowledgeable about current affairs and know that "the destiny of heaven is critical", and now they are said to be the "ministers of the dragon" who founded the country in Dashun. Most people think that the emperor of the new dynasty should live in the Qianqing Palace after arriving in Beijing, and there is no need to discuss it. Gong Yan, the secretary of the Li government, stood up and said: "Your Majesty should be lucky, hang the people and fight the crime, the heaven and the people will return, and become this great industry, Debi Yao Shun, and meritorious Tang Wu." The conquest of Beijing, as expected by the military advisors, was just a matter of Gu Jian. The minister thought that after His Majesty entered the city, he should live in the Qianqing Palace, which was justified, and there was no need to choose another place. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "I often hear people say the name of the Qianqing Palace, where is the competition in the Forbidden City?" Is this palace very big? ”

Gong Yan replied: "In the Forbidden City, there are many palaces, and it is difficult for foreign ministers to know in detail. Since the ministers traveled to the Huan Sea, ten years for the Ministry of Industry to give things, and then served in the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy, a number of other courtiers by Emperor Chongzhen called right, the right place, or for the platform, or for the Wenhua Palace, or for the Qianqing Palace, so the minister was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to the Qianqing Palace twice. The palace in the Forbidden City was built, divided into a front and rear harem, which is in terms of the main layout in the middle. The so-called former dynasty refers to the Huangji Palace, the Middle Pole Palace, and the Jianji Palace, which are collectively referred to as the three major halls. Between the harem Qianqing and Kunning two palaces, there is a hall, which is called Jiaotai Palace, and takes the righteousness of Qiankun Jiaotai. After His Majesty enters the Forbidden City, of course, he should live in the Qianqing Palace and deal with state affairs. The Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing in the nineteenth year of Yongle, and it has been more than 220 years since then, only the two emperors of Zhengde and Jiajing, ignoring the government and politics, do not like to live in the Qianqing Palace, which is not enough for training. His Majesty came into being, and ruled the world with water virtue instead of fire virtue, how can he not live in the Qianqing Palace to show the righteousness of the world? ”

Li Zicheng felt that Gong Yan's words were quite reasonable, but seeing that Li Yan, Niu Jinxing, and Song Xiance did not approve of it, he had doubts in his heart, so he asked other ministers: "What do you all think?" ”

Gu Junen, a scholar of the Wenyu Academy, said: "The Book of Changes says 'Dazai Qianyuan', and it also says that Qianyuan is the sky, the king, the kun is the earth, and the queen. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty built the imperial palace, and the palace where the emperor lived was named Qianqing Palace, and the queen's residence was named Kunning Palace. "Qing" and "Ning" are the meaning of peace and prosperity, so between the two palaces is the Tai Palace, covering the meaning of the Thai hexagram of the Book of Changes, like saying: "Heaven and earth are handed over, Thailand." Just now, Gong Shangshu suggested that His Majesty should live in the Qianqing Palace, which is quite reasonable. However, don't worry, you might as well consider another palace.

After Gu Junen presented the strategy of attacking Huguang and stealthily taking Shaanxi, Li Zicheng completed the change from the generalissimo of Fengtian to the emperor of Dashun, among them, Gu Junen's contribution is not small. Therefore, Li Zicheng also attaches great importance to his suggestions.

Li Zicheng asked, "What are you worried about?" ”

Gu Junen said: "From the perspective of the ministers, although Chongzhen is the king of the dead country, he is different from the kings of the dead country in the past dynasties. Chongzhen has a strong temperament and is well known. When the city was broken, he would neither surrender nor be captured and humiliated, and he would commit suicide in the Qianqing Palace, or hang himself, or take poison, or self-immolation, and even he would summon the concubines to the Qianqing Palace, and die in the fire together, and die a vigorous martyrdom. Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to consider another palace as a place to stay, so as not to be temporarily busy. ”

Li Zicheng was unmoved, nodded lightly, and asked the ministers:

"What other palace can be stationed?"

Yu Shangyou, the secretary of the military government, replied: "In the Ming Dynasty, the minister was a speech official, in addition to participating in the early dynasty, he was also called to the right, or on the platform, or in the Wenhua Palace, so he knew a little about the Wenhua Palace. Wenhua Hall is an important palace in the Forbidden City, in the east of Zuoshun Gate, not far from Donghua Gate. Wenhua Hall ......" Li Zicheng nodded: "This Wenhua Hall is very famous, and I often hear people talk about it." You go on, go on. ”

Yu Shangyou continued: "The Wenhua Hall was built in the Yongle period, and it was not often visited. Jiajing practiced Zuo, rebuilt the Wenhua Palace, replaced it with yellow tiles, and then it was the location of the Spring and Autumn Scripture Feast, and often summoned ministers here. In the middle of the hall, there is the throne of the courtiers, the palace is called the golden platform, and the general summoning is in the east and west warm pavilion. There is a plaque hanging horizontally in the hall, on which is written "learn two emperors and three kings to rule the world by the great scriptures and great laws" twelve words, for the imperial pen of Shenzong. This Wenhua Hall and the Jinshen Hall behind it, plus the Wenhua Gate and other houses, become a complete palace courtyard, which is very tight. Moreover, the Wenhua Hall is very close to the cabinet. The cabinet turned east in the noon gate, and there were several houses carved out of the Wenyuan Pavilion, which were the places where the auxiliary ministers were on duty. Although our Dashun Dynasty restored the prime minister system since the Tang and Song dynasties, it was called Tianyouge University Scholars, and there were no five to seven auxiliary ministers, and the first assistant was the main one, and the state affairs were jointly participated in and the cabinet system was formed. But there are many people in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and they can't all be in the Forbidden City. The cabinet facing east of the noon gate will still be Prime Minister Li Cheng's duty room in the Forbidden City, so that the emperor can summon him at any time to discuss military affairs. If His Majesty uses the Mandarin Hall as a temporary residence in the palace, then the cabinet can be said to be close at hand. Therefore, Weichen was ignorant and took the liberty to suggest that His Majesty should be stationed in the Wenhua Hall after entering the Forbidden City, and there was no need to think about anything else. ”

Li Zicheng nodded with a smile, and praised Yu Shangyou in his heart for making sense, but he didn't speak immediately, waiting for other ministers to express what they saw.

The ministers saw that the emperor's expression was happy, so they continued to speak around this topic, and almost all of them spoke, except for Niu, Song, and Li Yan. However, people did not have any new suggestions, but only expressed their opinions on the Qianqing Palace and the Wenhua Palace, and the general opinion was that if Chongzhen did not burn down the Qianqing Palace and did not commit suicide in the Qianqing Palace, Li Zicheng would naturally enter the Qianqing Palace, otherwise he would be stationed in the Wenhua Palace. For example, some people say that if the emperor enters the Donghua Gate and stays in the Wenhua Palace, it is in line with the meaning of the ancients that "purple gas comes from the east", and purple gas is auspicious qi. Someone else wanted to take the opportunity to cater to Niu Jinxing's intentions, and said to Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty, although our dynasty is Dingding Chang'an, Beijing will be renamed Youzhou Mansion, and it is only in line at present." However, the period of action can be long or short. Stayed for a few months, but also walked. In the humble opinion of the ministers, after the emperor stationed in the Wenhua Palace, the prime minister took the cabinet as the duty room, and might as well change the name of Wenyuan Pavilion to Tianyou Pavilion, which is justified and the eyes and ears of the new world. It's easy to do, it's just a matter of getting a new plaque. ”

Everyone desperately showed what they had learned in their chests in front of Li Zicheng, and tried their best to show their talent and loyalty in front of the emperor of the new dynasty. It made Liu Tichun on the side secretly amused in his heart, although he tried his best to control his expression, but there were still some muscles at the corners of his eyebrows, eyes and mouth that couldn't help but tremble, silently conveying the master's inner world to the outside.

"Erhu, what do you want to say?" Li Zicheng saw at a glance Liu Tichun's disdain and ridicule for such a Wenchen in his heart, but he couldn't say it directly, so he simply asked him to stand up and reply.

"Your Majesty, what did the gentlemen say just now about the Wenhua Palace and the Qianqing Palace, we have never entered the palace, unlike the gentlemen who came out of the Ming Palace. The natural situation is familiar with the tightness. However, Mr. Gu was worried that Chongzhen Xiao'er would kill himself and then make the palace unlucky. There's no need to worry about that. ”

Liu Tichun's words were full of bones, he said that those former Ming officials who surrendered were naturally familiar with them when they came out of the Ming Dynasty palace, and they just turned around and scolded them for being eunuchs and a group of eggless goods. Li Yan, Gu Junen and others present heard this clearly. But he didn't bother to ask, but he just had doubts about what he said that he didn't have to worry about Chongzhen's suicide.

"General Liu, why do you say this?"

When Gu Junen said this, he felt that he was a little Meng Lang. Liu Tichun is in charge of Dashun's hidden stakes, and is specifically responsible for spying on military intelligence everywhere, so he must have received some secret report.

"Erhu, if there is anything, just say it. Here are all my ministers of Dashun. There is no difference between me and their kings and ministers. ”

"Yes! Decree of the Minister. "Liu Tichun also learned the movements of Niu Venus, and owed himself from the chair," Mr. Gu said, worried that Chongzhen would burn down the palace, or that he would commit suicide in the palace and defile the palace. It is not good for me to open the country. However, the minister received a secret report from the city, and Chongzhen was afraid that he might not be willing to die! He was still there dreaming of escaping from Beijing and going to Nanjing to revive his Ming Dynasty! ”

These words suddenly made Fang Cai still there hotly discuss which palace Li Zicheng should live in after entering Beijing, and the most appropriate civil servants seemed to pour cold water on their heads.

"General Liu, can this matter be taken seriously?" As a military advisor, Song Xiance's status is relatively detached, and he can intervene in military and political affairs, so he took the lead in speaking on behalf of the civil servants present. I was going to call Liu Tichun "Second Tiger", but this name was really indecent, so I simply called General Liu vaguely.

"Exactly!" Liu Tichun sneered.

Li Zicheng didn't care about that much, just looked at the general Liu Zongmin, "Jiexuan, how is this matter?" ”

"Your Majesty, Fang Caichen also learned about it from Erhu just now. Because our army was moving too fast, the Mingyuan Department of the South Road went out of Taihang from Shanxi and entered Jinan, captured Zhending Mansion and besieged Baoding Mansion, but did not have time to block the southeast direction of Beijing, so that Zhu Youzhen and the people in the capital had a way to escape. ”

The ministers stopped talking, Gong Yan, Yu Shangyou and others all peeked at Gu Junen, but Gu Junen was looking at Li Yan and Song Xiance again.

They all knew what it meant to flee southeast. You can go to Shandong by land, and you can go south from Tianjin Haikou by water!

Liang Guogong sent his cronies to the capital to welcome Chongzhen to the south, and dozens of sea ships of all sizes were prepared in Tianjin, Beitang and other places. As long as Chongzhen is willing to go, he can immediately escape from Jingshi and go to another lair of his own. At that time, sitting on the natural dangers of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, backed by the strong armor of Liang Guogong, at least a situation of rowing the river and ruling is indispensable! ”

Chongzhen can't be allowed to escape! Once he runs away, the point of capturing Beijing City is gone!

"Jie Xuan, Lin Quan, Mr. Niu, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, in the opinion of our old Liu, the governor led his troops and horses south overnight, bypassing the city of Beijing, and capturing Tongzhou to close the path for Chongzhen to escape. Moreover, you can be on alert in the direction of Guanning by the way, to prevent Wu Sangui's Guanning army from suddenly serving his grandmother's king when our army is attacking the city! Liu Zongmin's rough and bold voice echoed in Li Zicheng's palace.

"Your Majesty, from the courtier's point of view, you might as well take a salary from the bottom of the kettle." Li Yan thought for a moment, raised his eyes and looked at Li Zicheng.

"Chongzhen fled south, although there is half of the south of the Yangtze River to rely on, but it is really a person who can be feared, only Liang Guogong has one ear! Since he has an envoy near the left of the Beijing Division, the emperor, in the humble opinion of the ministers, might as well order someone to contact him and persuade him to return to Dashun. Xu Qi is allowed to be the lord of Jiangnan. Guarding Jiangnan for generations! ”

"Lin Quan's law is very good, and the minister seconded it. Since the people of the south are greedy for profit, they are allowed to be high-ranking officials, so that they do not accept Chongzhen, and Chongzhen will have no place to run. The courtiers he relied on were the impermanence that gave him his life! ”

Li Zicheng listened to Li Yan's suggestion, and nodded slightly.

"Who do you think is appropriate?"

"Wu Ruyi, the head of the imperial camp. He was the first to deal with Nanzhong businessmen back then, and he had many acquaintances, so it was easier to get things done! Li Yan replied to Li Zicheng very firmly.

Li Zicheng also nodded in approval. "Speaking of familiarity with the Southern Army, I had planned to send Queshan Boluohu to meet with the envoy of Liang Guogong. But now he is leading the Zhenshan Camp to guard my imperial camp, and he has a lot to do with it. That's good! Then he sent a decree to let Xiao Wu run and find a way to meet the envoy of the Southern Army! ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that in addition to sending General Wu to contact the southern army and temporarily stabilize the southern Guangdong army and prevent them from going north to attack and harass our army, it is also necessary not to send an army to march eastward, quickly occupy the areas of Tongzhou, Yongqing, and Wuqing, and close the road from Chongzhen to Tianjin. It is more appropriate to subordinate the cavalry of the general Gu Ying under the left battalion. ”

"Accurate!" (To be continued.) )