On 15 March, the thieves surrounded the Beijing Division, and there were no less than 500,000 or 600,000 people all over the mountains, and some of them should be ordinary people and people, and the thieves may be about 200,000 or 300,000.

The building will be shaky, Emperor Chongzhen has nothing to do, at this time he no longer trusts the civil and military officials, and sent many eunuchs to supervise the city defense and strengthen law and order, but unfortunately the Beijing division has begun to be chaotic, and people are killing people everywhere and setting fire and robbing.

Of course, this is the thief soldiers who have infiltrated the capital and heard that their own army has come to the city, and they can't help jumping out to make waves, and it is difficult for these bandits to pretend to be grandchildren in Beijing for dozens of days, and they drool every day when they look at the money and beauties.

The army finally arrived, and many dark piles immediately picked the targets they were already optimistic about to attack, and once the chaos began, of course, it intensified.

Every city is the least lacking in green skins, gangsters, idlers and the like, and these people will of course jump out and take advantage of the fire to rob if the world is not chaotic.

Seeing that the central command system of the Ming Dynasty was completely ineffective, Chongzhen was anxious, and he personally carried the three-eyed gun and the sword with Wang Chengen and more than a dozen eunuch leaders to inspect the city defense.

On March 17, the army of thieves began to attack the city, although the discipline and combat effectiveness of the thieves were not worth mentioning at all, but at this time there was quantity and quality, because the Ming army against it was even more unbearable.

The Beijing division has defense artillery, and the thieves also have siege artillery, and the Beijing division rumbles in an instant, although the power of the artillery on both sides is not worth mentioning, but the huge roar still makes the chaos of the Beijing division aggravated.

It didn't take long for the chaos to spread to the inner city, and even the imperial city gradually lost order, and many eunuchs and palace maids began to pack their things and prepare to flee, of course, what they were ready to take away was not necessarily personal belongings, but more of the court's belongings, because you take more and I take less, and there have been many brawls.

At this time, Chongzhen didn't care much, he just paid close attention to whether the officers and soldiers could still hold the city, and he felt that it was a torment to wait for the military situation to return in the imperial city, so he picked up the three-eyed gun again and rode out of Donghua Gate with a group of more than a dozen people to investigate the defense on the spot.

But by this time it was no longer possible, and the scuffle had already begun, and they were stopped by indiscriminate guns and arrows.

Chongzhen could only choose to run to Qihuamen again, and Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo stationed here, did not believe that the emperor would come to the front at this time of chaos, no matter who resolutely did not open the door.

Chongzhen had no choice but to turn to Andingmen without stopping, but the defenders here had already dispersed, the gate was locked, and the eunuch could not split it with an axe.

Chongzhen saw that the garrisons in the inner city could flee without a fight, and he realized the critical situation even more, he hurriedly turned back to the Forbidden City, and ordered the eunuch to ring the Jingyang bell, wanting to convene hundreds of officials to discuss how to resist the enemy, but few responded.

The military attaché with military power only rushed to the British Gongzhang Zhiji, and I don't know whether many military attaches need to hold on to resist the enemy or they are worried that they will be ordered by the emperor to carry out an errand to send them to death, so they all choose to pretend to be deaf and cannot hear the Jingyang bell.

The civil officials rushed to Fan Jingwen, the cabinet minister, Ni Yuanlu, the head of the household, Li Banghua, the left imperial history, Shi Bangzhao, the deputy capital of the imperial history, Ling Yiqu, the secretary of the Dali Temple, Wang Jiayan, the right attendant of the military department, Meng Zhaoxiang, the right attendant of the criminal department, and more than a dozen imperial historians and ministers.

The emperor saw that there were thousands of civil and military people in the half of the dynasty, and now the national situation is critical, and even the Jingyang bell has been ringing, but it is only less than thirty years old.

He knew that he had no power to return to the sky, and when he looked at Zhang Zhiji, the only military attache who came in the dust, he saw that there were also blood stains on his body, and he knew how grim the situation was.

Why is it a half-dynasty civil and military? This is not surprising, there are still half of them who took leave last year and went to "Nanming", and they are on their way back to Daming at this time.

Seeing that the family and country were about to be destroyed, Chongzhen couldn't help crying bitterly, and he called Zhu Cihong, the crown prince who had been leading 1,500 musketeers with Cao Huachun to stick to the Forbidden City.

Chongzhen ordered the celebrant to write Cao Huachun and the factory governor Wang Chengen to bring 1,500 musketeers to follow the British prince to protect the prince and fight his way out of the siege and defect to the king of the south.

Although at the last moment, Emperor Chongzhen's mind was not yet confused, he knew that only by entrusting the crown prince to Zhang Zhiji would he have a chance to escape.

The head of the internal army is still eighteen Sichuan girls from the "Nanming" princess battalion, who have come to the Forbidden City in shifts for the second time to train the internal army, and have been working with the musketeers for two years.

As early as February, they received a notice that they could go home, but this was not an order, these Sichuan girls were honest and reliable people, and they knew that the Ming Dynasty was in danger and were unwilling to abandon the eunuchs who had already formed an army to return to the building when they needed it most.

Their actions won the respect of the inner army. Now the emperor has handed over the important task of defending the crown prince to the internal army, and both the Sichuan girl and the internal army have looked up to accept the task.

The internal army has actually been infiltrated by the "Nanming", and too many musketeers have been agents of the development of the "Nanming", but they have never received a task that is not conducive to the Ming Dynasty, and now everyone has been given the errand to defend the prince to break through the siege of the thieves and defect to the king of the south.

Zhang Zhiji saw that the emperor was in a hurry to arrange this, and hurriedly knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, there are hundreds of families under the minister, as well as 2,000 soldiers who dare to fight, and with the assistance of 1,500 musketeers led by Gonggong Cao, the minister guarantees to be able to escort His Majesty out of the encirclement and walk on the Beijing-Tianjin road to Tianjin Wei."

When you arrive at the seaside, there will definitely be 'Nanming' warships and merchant ships in the port, and your majesty will sail out to sea at that time, and the thieves can only look at the ocean and sigh. ”

Fan Jingwen, the cabinet minister, Ni Yuanlu, the secretary of the household department, and other civil officials also knelt down, and they unanimously asked His Majesty to temporarily avoid the edge of the thieves, and it was the best policy to break through to Tianjin Weinai, and they could follow His Majesty to take the "Nanming" warship to accompany the capital Nanjing by sea in order to make a comeback.

The disheartened Chongzhen sighed and said: "No need, since I inherited the Heavenly Imperial Universe, I have been fighting every year, and I have been sent more and more, and I have no shame to see the Jiangdong fathers, I have decided to live and die with Jiangshan Sheji, and you Aiqing can protect the prince Zhou Quan, I am already grateful." ”

Cao Huachun, Wang Chengen, and the crown prince saw that His Majesty refused to go along, and they all refused to go and knelt down to ask the emperor to break through together, but Chongzhen had already developed the will to die and resolutely refused to go, and at this time, there was a shout of killing in the distance.

Chongzhen ordered Zhang Zhiji to take the prince on the road immediately with imperial power for the last time, and asked Fan Jingwen and Ni Yuanlu, who were still loyal civil officials at the last moment, to assist the prince in the future.

Chongzhen let go, he gave all the remaining horses in Ouchi to the inner army to ride, and handed over the war horse that he had been using to the prince.

Hearing the sound of shouting and killing getting closer and closer, the situation is critical, and no one may be able to leave, Zhang Zhiji can only wipe away his tears and set off, and the musketeers who have been waiting for him to act quickly, they immediately turned over and followed Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen to the east with the prince in their arms.