On the road from Beijing to Tianjin, more than a dozen people in ragged clothes walked on the road overgrown with weeds.

Beizhili, the rich North China Plain, was originally the anointed land of the Ming Dynasty, with a large population and prosperous commerce, but because the Qing army entered the army several times, it was already dilapidated, and could not provide any materials and supplies for Beijing.

Beijing, as the capital of the Ming Dynasty, was all fed by materials brought from the south.

In Beijing, you can still see a little bit of anger, but out of the city, it is a thousand miles of red land, everywhere is a barren and dilapidated scene, the whole land of Hebei, ten rooms and nine empty, thousands of miles without rooster crowing.

Beijing was finally captured by the invasion army, and Emperor Chongzhen left "I died, and I saw my ancestors in the ground without a face, and I took off my crown to cover my face." Let the thief divide the corpse, and don't hurt a single person. After the edict, Yu Jingshan hanged himself.

Li Zicheng entered Beijing surrounded by a large army, and the city rebelled like a cloud, and the officials and gentry happily welcomed the new emperor into the city, wanting to throw themselves into the arms of the new dynasty, but they didn't want a disaster to be on them.

At this time, Wang Yan, together with Gao Wencai, a thousand households of Jinyi Wei, and a few men, had already escorted the prince and several princes and princesses to escape outside the city.

It was getting dark, there were dilapidated villages on both sides of the road, and everyone was a little tired after a long journey, especially a few princes and princesses, who had already suffered like this, and their faces were already pale.

"Gao Qianhu!" Wang Yan called anxiously, "After walking for two days in a row, it doesn't matter if we arrive, but the prince can't stand it, find a place to spend the night and let the prince rest." ”

Gao Wencai also noticed that several princes and princesses had turned pale.

He straightened up and looked left and right, and saw a ruined village in the distance, so he said, "Okay, let's go there and rest first, but not too long, we must meet with Governor Gao as soon as possible." ”

Gao Wencai licked his chapped lips, turned back to the prince and saluted, "Your Highness, let's go over there to rest!" ”

Gao Wencai is a thousand households in brocade clothes, after the city was broken in history, the whole family of seventeen, all martyred.

The crown prince nodded with a pale face, "Everything is arranged by the Qing family." ”

At that moment, everyone went down the official road to the village, and on the way, Gao Wencai stopped and said to Wang Yan: "Governor Wang, you lead the prince and them over to rest, and I just went to find out the news." ”

Wang Yan nodded, he had absolute trust in Gao Wencai, and he was definitely a loyal man who could give up his wife and children and escort the prince to Nanjing.

"Gao Qianhu be careful!" Wang Yan said solemnly, and then went to the ruined village with the prince and others.

The Qing army entered the Kou Pass six times, and the population taken away each time was hundreds of thousands, counting the people who were killed, Beizhili can be said to be ten rooms and nine empty.

Now in addition to a large number of people living in Jingshi, other places are sparsely populated.

The village where everyone came did not know how deserted it was, and it was full of waist-high weeds.

Wang Yan and a few others worked together to clear a clearing, where skulls and bones were scattered among the weeds, and a mouse ran out of the skull, startling several princes and princesses. A brocade guard was overjoyed to catch the mouse.

This Jinyiwei is none other than Fang Jiayu, the Jinyiwei Elementary School who had some intersections with Gao Yicheng in Shandong, but he is now one of the hundred households in Nanzhenfu.

The place was cleared, and Wang Yan asked the prince and the others to eat some dry food and then rest.

Wang Yan, two eunuchs, and two brocade guards leaned against the ruins around them to keep guard to prevent wild beasts and thieves from approaching.

At this time, it was already dark, Wang Yan leaned against the broken wall and heard a few sobs, it was Princess Kunxing and several princes crying quietly, the prince was very calm, and from time to time he was safe for the brothers and sisters around him.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound around Wang Yan, and he looked up vigilantly, only to see Fang Jiayu suddenly stepping on the weeds and appearing in front of him, making a silent gesture, and then pointing outside the village.

Wang Yan Shunzhi looked at his eyes and saw that on the official road not far away, there were more than 100 cavalry with torches, quickly passing the army.

The rest of the people in the deserted village were also shocked, and they all looked extremely nervous, watching the cavalry pass by.

"Are you chasing us?" Waiting for the pair to go away, Wang Yan couldn't help but ask nervously.

Fang Jiayu shook his head, "I can't say, but sooner or later the thieves will find out the problem." I see their posture, most of them are chasing us, trying to run to the front to set up a card and intercept us! ”

When Wang Yan heard this, his heart couldn't help but sink, "I don't know, where did the Gaofutai people hit?" ”

As he spoke, there was another group of cavalry in the distance, passing through the official road.

Wang Yan was a little frightened in his heart, "What should we do now, should we transfer?" ”

Fang Jiayu shook his head and said: "It's dark now, it's best not to move, so as not to bump into the thieves, we still have to wait for Gao Qianhu to bring back the news before deciding." ”

Wang Yan nodded, this can only be the case for now. If the intrusive army really finds out the problem, it will definitely send people to pursue it everywhere, and his rash actions will attract danger.

After a sleepless night, Wang Yan was worried until dawn, Gao Wencai came back with an injured person, and the three brocade guards who went with him were nowhere to be seen.

Looking at Gao Wencai's appearance, Wang Yan's heart sank, and he knew that most of the other people had suffered misfortune.

"Gao Qianhu, what's the situation?" Wang Yan hurriedly greeted him, and Fang Jiayu helped Gao Wencai to sit down, quickly tore the clothes of the wound, checked the wound, and then bandaged him.

Gao Wencai's expression was solemn, "It's clear." Governor Gao's soldiers and horses were blocked by thieves in the south of Jinghai County, and it is difficult for us to pass now. ”

The thieves and soldiers were divided into three routes to the east, of which the north road and the middle road converged in Xuanda, and the soldiers of Juyongguan came to Beijing. This is the men and horses attacking Beijing, and there is also the South Road army led by Liu Fangliang, which marched along the north bank of the Yellow River until it reached the Daimyo's Mansion, and then went north to seize Baoding, intending to cut off Beijing's connection with Shandong and Nanzhi.

Gao Mingheng's people met Liu Fangliang's army.

Wang Yan's heart tightened when he heard this, and he hurriedly asked: "Last night, several teams of cavalry passed overnight from the official road, did the thieves find the prince heading south?" ”

Gao Wencai said with a gloomy face: "The thieves claimed that His Majesty, the crown prince, and the princes were all martyred in Beijing, but the pair of cavalry set up a checkpoint near Jinghai County, and I suspect that the thieves knew that the prince had gone south." ”

"It's broken!" After Wang Yan heard this, his heart sank, the prince lived in the palace, except for the palace maids, eunuchs, and teachers who could know him, other ministers did not know the prince at all. Li Zicheng insisted that the crown prince was dead, which could quickly stabilize the north, and at the same time shake the hearts of the people in the southeast and hit the morale of the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Yan suddenly became serious, "Gao Qianhu, we must send the crown prince to Nanjing as soon as possible." The crown prince carries a palace token, as long as he arrives in Nanjing, he can identify his identity, and then quickly ascend the throne to stabilize people's hearts. If it's late, I'm afraid something will go wrong. ”

Gao Wencai frowned, now the army said that the prince was dead on the surface, but in fact they stepped up the investigation, and it was difficult for them to escape the search and arrest of the army.

"Governor Wang, a few of us, each with a prince, will act separately. In this way, even if they are caught by the thieves, they will not be wiped out. Gao Wencai deployed: "After we separate, if you have a chance, you will go south, if you don't have a chance, wait for the opportunity, as long as there is a person who goes to Nanjing first, there is still hope for the Ming Dynasty." ”

Wang Yan was silent for a while, gritted his teeth, and nodded heavily, "Okay, let's go our separate ways, and those who go to Nanjing first must explain the truth about Beijing to the ministers." ”

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