In the camp of the Ming army in the north, several war horses galloped out of the formation of camp posts that were separated like a crack in the waves, and as the command of the general came out, the Ming army's front slowly retreated.

The two groups of men and horses faced each other towards the middle ground, which had been shrouded in death and carnage.

"Bai Minghe, send someone Pegasus to Diaoyutai to report the military situation here to the emperor. Ask him to immediately wave his army and storm Zhangyi Gate and other places, Chongzhen is categorically impossible to escape from the east! As long as the outer city is broken, these Beijing camps will be chaotic without a fight! ”

Liu Zongmin put down the telescope in his hand, laughed twice, and called Bai Minghe, who had already bandaged his wounds, to his side and whispered a few words.

Bai Minghe nodded, and ordered his right-hand man Pegasus to go west.

In the middle of the military formation, Luo Hu hugged his fist to the oncoming Tan Chery, "Some days I haven't been on the battlefield with my brother, I can't imagine that my brother's methods are still the same, and the old spicy is better than in the past." ”

Tan Chery faced Luo Hu's praise from the heart, he didn't say anything on his face, but he smiled in his heart. Overnight, he and Luo Mingzu successively defeated Gu Ying, the general of the Dashun lineage, and Liu Zongmin, the leader of the famous and fierce thieves, also left in front of their horses with hatred. Such a record, if it weren't for the fact that when the Dashun soldiers were approaching the city, they were only afraid of being boasted of becoming a great victory, "kill 100,000 elite thieves, the armor staff is like a mountain, the corpse of the thief blocks the river, the river does not flow, and the thief leader Liu Zongmin" and other sayings will appear.

"Hey, hey! Brother Huzi, there is no way, at this time, it is not possible not to work hard. Your emperor has put the knife to his neck, and we don't want to die, so we can only fight hard. ”

Tan Chery waved his whip and pointed to the wounded soldiers and corpses lying on the battlefield, not without pride. Although these people are still wearing the Mandarin Duck jackets of the Ming Army, they are already soldiers of Dashun.

However, no matter what, being able to defeat the troops that are twice as large as himself in one battle and repel Liu Zongmin, this record is enough for him to show off in front of others.

Naturally, the two of them couldn't say anything about the old friendship in the place where the corpses were all over the place, Li Jinbao led people to find a place where the leeward and sunny side of the nearby river was, hastily cleaned up, and invited the two lords to sit over.

"Harrier! You pretend to be a pig and eat a tiger! I said that I wouldn't gamble money, but as a result?! Slaughtered Lao Tzu one by one as sheep! Seeing the old friends who drank and gambled together at the beginning, Tan Chery laughed and cursed, waved the leather whip in his hand and gently whipped it twice on Li Jinbao's shoulder.

"The Harrier has also come out, and now he is in charge of two thousand horsemen in my camp. Talking about my brother, do our brothers really want to do a real fight here? In my opinion, it is better for you and Brother Luo to go with me to see the emperor, with the ability of the two of them, the position of an uncle general is indispensable! ”

In the face of Luo Hu's solicitation, Tan Chery shook his head like a windmill.

"No, I can't. Brother, your heart, your old brother's heart understands. However, a certain family has been favored by the emperor, and now that the Ming Dynasty is in trouble, how can he betray the court? I think King Li Chuang won't like those people in his heart, right? ”

Tan Chery said in his mouth, but his eyes were signaling to Luo Hu, not far from the edge of the battlefield that were discarded there several military flags, which were marked with the names of Tang Tong, Wang Chengyin, Jiang Zhu and others. Luo Hu's face turned red, "Who would have thought that after crossing the river, it would be so easy." Originally, Mr. Wu and Mr. Niu only wanted to take Shanxi, but they didn't want to look at the wind all the way and fall like a bamboo. The brothers couldn't stop if they wanted to. ”

"Alas! It's really a gas number! Tan Chery said a very taboo sentence.

"Since Zhu Ming's qi is exhausted, why did the eldest brother bother to bury him? There is a way to be a good minister......"

"Brother, I understand your thoughts. It's just that the old brother has some secrets here. Tan Chery interrupted Luo Hu with a wave of his hand.

He also knew the farce that happened in the city yesterday. It has come to such a time, and the group of dogs and crows are still fighting against the emperor, and it seems that this Beijing city will not be left behind! It's just that he left like this, and he was a little unclear, which made him quite unwilling.

"Big brother, if you have anything to say, just come out and make it clear! What else can our brothers hide? Luo Hu saw that the tone of his words was a little loose, and hurriedly struck while the iron was hot.

"It's true."

Tan Qiry sent an envoy to the capital to report safety after Wang Lung fled to Shandong, and at the same time solicited the two of them to go south to Shandong when the Beijing division had an incident, and told Luo Hu and Pan about it. Then, he made a look of annoyance: "Brother Luo and I, I have sent the whole family to Songjiang Mansion right now, not only the whole family has passed, but the dependents of many officers in my battalion have also gone with us." In order to settle these family members, the two of us cheekily went to beg the eldest son, and bought a 200-acre plot of land in Songjiang Mansion to house the brothers' families. Although the eldest prince remembered the old love and gave the price of cabbage, it cost money to build a house. We now have all our belongings in Shanghai! Brother, you think, now the wives and children of the officers in my battalion are all in Shanghai, and everyone's belongings are also there. Even if I wanted to return to Dashun, my brothers would not follow me. Everyone is worried about Grandpa Guo's military law! ”

Talking about what Chery said, it made Luo Hu, who was kind-hearted, a little embarrassed.

You can't let others ignore the lives of their wives and children, their families, and their lives to obey you, right?

Luo Hu was a little speechless for a while. However, Li Jinbao came up with a few personal soldiers and put the cooked meat and hot wine that he didn't know where to get in front of the two, "There are still a few drinks and dishes, and the brothers in the back will send them soon, please use these first." ”

Li Jinbao's move interrupted the awkward atmosphere and gave the two an excuse to change the topic.

Taking advantage of the moment of placing cups, plates and tableware, Li Jinbao whispered to Luo Hu: "The emperor has a will, as long as this Beijing camp is not an enemy of our Dashun, except for not taking Chongzhen and his son, go and stay for two pennies, and any conditions can be agreed." ”

Luo Hu nodded in understanding.

West of Beijing, Changyi Gate.

The thirty-two-pounder siege cannon in front of Li Zicheng's imperial tent was also the first time that he showed his hideous fangs in front of this Yongchang emperor!

As soon as the cannon passed, the corner of the Changyi Gate tower collapsed from afar, and the bricks and rubble flew everywhere, causing the eunuchs, soldiers, and people on the city to run in all directions. The 30-pound cannonball was castrated, fell into the city wall, and knocked several nests and houses collapsed.

"The muzzle elevation angle is larger, adjust the angle!"

This shell was only a test firing, and the effect naturally could not satisfy Zhang Nai, the commander of the artillery battalion, who personally supervised the gunners to shake the crumbling handles and lowered the muzzles of the two 32-pound siege guns and the two 24-pound guns.

A cannon commander squinted his eyes, observed the angle and distance with the help of the quadrant and measuring ruler on his body, and finally nodded with satisfaction.

"Little Zhang! No problem this time, it's guaranteed to hit the city wall with one shot! ”

Four heavy artillery shells flew out and smashed into the city wall near the Changyi Gate Tower, smashing bricks and stones flying everywhere, and many broken stones flew over the moat and landed in the ranks of the Dashun army preparing to attack the city, and there were dead and wounded at that time.

Li Zicheng, who was on the throne, turned a blind eye to the casualties that occurred in his own ranks, and only kept his eyes on the movement on the city.

Sure enough, this shelling made the city even more chaotic, and after a flurry of headless flies scurrying around, the city gradually became quiet.

However, a moment later, a thunderous cheer sounded among the siege troops of the Dashun army under the city!

Several soldiers of the Ming army defending the city kicked the sun and moon flag on the head of the city to the bottom of the city and raised a white flag. Immediately after, the gate of Changyi Gate opened slowly and heavily!

"Your Majesty, the Changyi Gate is open!"

Li Guo, who served as the commander-in-chief of the siege of the West Road, rushed to Li Zicheng quite excitedly and pointed to the Changyi Gate that had been completely opened in the distance. The outer city of Beijing has opened its doors to the Dashun army!

Not only the Changyi Gate opened, but also the adjacent Xibian Gate!

As for who took the lead in opening the two outer gates of Beijing and offering the city to the Dashun army, the mainstream historical materials point the finger at the great eunuch Cao Huachun. However, according to relevant historical records, Cao Huachun had already returned to his hometown in Tianjin to recuperate and enjoy retirement six years before Li Zicheng's army came to Beijing. How could he fly hundreds of miles to Beijing to help Chongzhen defend the city, and then dedicate the city to Li Zicheng?

The person in charge of the defense affairs of Changyi Gate was Zhang Jinyan, the secretary of the Ministry of War.

He was frightened by the artillery fire of the Dashun army, and someone pointed out to him that Du Xun, the former eunuch of the Xuanfu Prison Army, was standing behind Li Zicheng. Before the Dashun army returned fire with artillery fire, he saw the soldiers and horses of Wang Chengyin, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, Jiang Ping, the general of Datong, and Tang Tong, the general of Juyong, passing under the city. Suddenly a little thought sprouted in his heart.

"It turns out that all these generations have returned to Dashun!"

About 20 days ago, after Li Zicheng broke the Xuanfu, the imperial court received a report from Tang, saying that Du Xun, the eunuch of the prison army, Wang Chengyin, the chief military officer, and Zhu Zhifeng, the governor of the army, had all been caught by thieves, and they were generous and unyielding, and they scolded the thieves to the fullest. In particular, the Tang newspaper said that Du Xun was very loyal and brave, and there were many thieves with his hand, and he was about to break out of the encirclement and continue to command the killing of the enemy, but unfortunately he was injured and captured, and the enemy persuaded him to surrender.

Chongzhen ordered the ministers to discuss with the officials of the Ministry of Rites how to give the family table a reward for loyalty. Although there were people in the official script at that time, saying that Du Xun had descended to the "thief", and the spread was false, please behead Du Xun's younger brother and nephew in the capital, but Chongzhen never believed that Du Xun would live up to the emperor's grace and surrender the thief, thinking that the news that Yuan Tang reported that Du Xun was in the Xuanfu was true. So without waiting for the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites to replay, he immediately issued an edict saying, "The country is unfortunate, and the atmosphere of thieves is unstable." On the day of the overall crisis, it is the time for loyal ministers to serve their lives. It was reported that Du Xun, the minister of the Xuanfu Supervision Army, scolded the thief to death, and his loyalty and righteousness were commendable. Special Hong's grace, Du Xun was given as the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingpen, the ancestral hall Xuanfu, and the spring and autumn sacrifices of the priest; Yin's younger brother is the official of the Jinyi Guard, and his nephew is the hereditary Jinyi Qianhu. Chin this! ”

However, who would have thought that Du Xun, Wang Chengyin and others, who had been recognized by Chongzhen as loyal ministers and martyrs, would become loyal ministers and good generals of Dashun again! Continue to contribute allegiance to the new dynasty.

"These people can, why can't we?!"

Hundreds of cavalry of the Dashun army rode into the Changyi Gate, followed by more than 1,000 infantry followed into the city. Originally, I was careful to guard against the various guarding facilities and ambushes that would exist in the urn city or the city gate cave, but I never saw the same. Rushed through the urn city, only to see Zhang Jinyan, the secretary of the military department, leading dozens of officials guarding the city to kneel on the side of the road, "Minister Zhang Jinyan and others welcome the army into the city!" ”

When the city gate was just opened, the soldiers and civilians defending the city in the west city did not know the inner thoughts of these officials who were responsible for defending the city, and saw that the city gate was opened, and saw that the Dashun army was about to enter the city.

After a period of chaos, the Dashun army entered the city from the two gates of Changyi Gate and Xibian Gate, a team of cavalry from Changyi Gate into the city, about 1,000 people, all of them were white hats and green clothes, wearing cotton armor, and the back was embroidered with the words of military law. You must write the word 'Shunmin' on yellow paper and stick it on the hat and stick it to the door! ”

As these law enforcement teams with command flags and arrows rushed back and forth on the streets, the chaotic and noisy situation when the city was broken at first glance gradually settled down, and there was no longer a Dashun army team shouting along the street according to the habit of breaking the city in the past: "Don't open the door, kill the one who opens the door!" Those who have mules and horses are quickly sacrificed, and those who violate the order are killed! However, in the quiet streets and alleys, there were also the clashing of weapons, the shouts of men, and the cries of women, and in the blink of an eye, several fires broke out.

This is the scene that will appear when any city is breached, and often the foreign soldiers and horses have not yet moved, and the soldiers and hooligans in the city will start to kill, loot, and set fire to it.

The dedication of Changyi Gate and Xibian Gate to the city immediately triggered a chain reaction, and within an hour, the remaining Guangqu Gate, Zuo'an Gate, You'an Gate, Dongbian Gate, and Yongding Gate of the seven city gates of the outer city were all presented by the city guards as a vote for the opening of the city to return to Dashun.

A large group of people poured into the city, but the people outside the city were also panicked, and they didn't know why, but they just ran around with the crowd crying and wailing.

Chongzhen, who was standing at the height of the palace in the inner city, had a clammy cold on his face, and he didn't know if it was the tears in his eyes or the snowflakes in the sky melting on his face.

"Companion, I am the king of the dead country after all." Chongzhen didn't need to look back, but he already knew who the owner of the hurried footsteps was, and he poured out his truest thoughts to Wang Chengen in a cracked, helpless and sad voice.

"Emperor! Hugh will mention this again at this time! Taking advantage of the fact that the traitors have not entered the city, we rushed out from Chaoyangmen, joined up with the Beijing defenders there, and went to Tongzhou! There are no thieves all the way to Tongzhou! Come on! ”

couldn't take care of the etiquette of the monarch and the ministers, Wang Chengen ordered a few eunuchs around him to step forward, set up Chongzhen and leave!

Chongzhen's Imperial Horse Jiliang Cheng had already been led outside the Qianqing Gate and waited. A small eunuch brought a vermilion lacquer stool. Chongzhen got on the Qibao golden carving saddle, and a long eunuch led the horse for him, bypassed the three major halls, and passed the Huangji Gate, and stopped the horse on the south side of the Jinshui River in the inner Jinshui River, and stopped for a while. He looked back for a while, thinking that the majestic palaces and carved balustrades left by his ancestors were only found in the sky, and in the blink of an eye they would no longer be his, and his heart suddenly felt tingling, and tears burst out of his eyes. Do you want to set it on fire? He hesitated in his heart, and couldn't be so ruthless, so he immediately turned his horse's head and continued to move forward.

Chongzhen held a double-barreled fine short firearm in his hand, a eunuch beside him led the horse, and Wang Chengen followed closely on the side, also holding a firearm in his hand. In Chongzhen's seventeen years of emperor's career, he has never walked so far at night. He walked out of the noon gate in a shadow, walked through the empty and dark courtyards on both sides, walked out of the end gate, and arrived at the courtyard that was roughly the same. The difference between this courtyard is that although there are also east and west row houses between Duanmen and Chengtianmen, they are broken in the middle, and two gates are built, the east leads to the Taimiao, and the west leads to Sheji. Chongzhen couldn't help but look left and right immediately, thinking that he had worked hard to run the world for 17 years, day and night, and never neglected political affairs, and he fell to the end of today: the temple is not guaranteed, and the society is lost! He rolled out tears again, and cried out in his heart: "Heaven! Firmament! ”

Chongzhen was full of sorrow, rode out of Chengtianmen, crossed the Jinshui Bridge, paused for a moment, and looked around with tears in his eyes. Three or four hundred eunuchs led the horses and waited for orders. Wang Chengen understood that Chongzhen's mind was already in turmoil, and he had nowhere to go when he left the palace, so he boldly asked him: "Your Majesty, where are you going?" ”

Chongzhen sighed and said, "Go to Zhengyangmen!" ”

Wang Chengen was taken aback, and hurriedly admonished: "Emperor, the Zhengyang Gate must not be opened, the thieves have arrived in the outer city, and as soon as the Zhengyang Gate is opened, the thieves will pour in, endangering the holy driver!" ”

"I don't want to go out of the city. As the lord of a country, I only want to know how the thieves enter the outer city, how to set fires, and how to kill my people. Come up to the city with me! ”

Wang Chengen ordered three or four hundred eunuchs to immediately get on their horses, escort them from front to back, left and right, and huddled Chongzhen through the thousand-step corridor, walked out of Daming Gate, and came to Qipan Street. In front of it is the closed Zhengyang Gate, and there are bursts of people shouting and neighing outside the urn city, thinking that it is the brigade of the Dashun army. Where to go? Wang Chengen looked at the emperor and waited for orders. At this moment, the eunuchs guarding the city saw in the dim night that the lanterns on the chessboard street were scattered and crowded, and they thought that something had happened in the palace, and they were greatly alarmed, and asked what was the matter. After answering from below, the city could not hear clearly. One of the eunuchs defending the city shouted nervously: "Shoot the arrows!" Shoot the arrows! Hurry up and shoot the arrows! There is a change in the imperial city, hurry up and release the arrows! ”

Someone shouted again: "Put the firearm!" Turn the muzzle of the cannon and fire down! ”

On the chessboard street, someone shouted to the city: "No arrows!" No guns! It's the Admiral King here, it's none other than that! ”

The people of the city asked, "What?" What the? Who the hell is it? ”

Wang Chengen stepped forward, looked up at the city, and said in a majestic voice: "It's me! I am the commander of the capital camp and the master of ceremonies. It's the Holy Driver, don't panic! ”

As soon as the city heard that it was the Holy Driver, it was silent. No one dared to look down, no one dared to make a sound anymore, only the sparse sound of a sparse chirp from afar. In the dim night of the city, three white lanterns were seen hanging from a high pole, indicating that the military situation had reached a moment of great urgency.

At this time, three or four hundred people and horses were crowded on the chessboard street, and it was very chaotic. Wang Chengen knew that the emperor was in a hurry to leave immediately, so he went to him and said, "Please come with the slaves and maids and bypass from the east!" Without further ado! Chongzhen immediately followed Wang Chengen, surrounded by eunuchs, and turned east from Qipan Street to Baijia Lane to return to the palace. The south entrance of Baijia Lane is connected to the west entrance of Dongjiang Mi Hutong, and there is a fence. When he burst into the fence, he suddenly stopped his horse and looked back sadly at the head of Zhengyangmen, only to see three white lanterns hanging on the top of the city. In fact, these three white lanterns had already been hung on a high pole, but Chongzhen and the eunuchs around him were crowded on the chessboard street just now, and they were standing at the wrong angle, so they didn't see it, and now they can see it clearly. (To be continued.) )