The Dashun army occupied the outer city, looking out from the inner city wall, as far as the eye could see, it was the fire that rose to the sky, illuminating the 49 city, and the shouts and screams came and went. Wang Chengen, who was in charge of the commander's defense of the city, was no longer able to return to the sky, he just ordered the closure of Zhengyang, Chongwen, and Xuanwu gates in the inner city to strictly guard against it, as for how long he could resist, it was no longer something he could control. By the time the arrangements were made, it was already dawn.

In the past two days, Wang Chengen has not been able to rest day and night, the city was broken last night, and he never closed his eyes all night, and he was too busy to eat. He originally wanted to go to Chongwenmen and Xuanwumen to inspect places, but he was dizzy, tired, hungry, and felt unable to support him. So he got down the wall and rode home with the people.

Wang Chengen's mansion is in Chunshu Hutong near Dengshi Street, and there is his mother, nephew, niece-in-law, and a group of male and female slaves. After hurriedly freshening up, he kowtowed to his mother three times, choked up and said:

"My son is going to enter the palace at this moment, and I am afraid that I will no longer be able to fulfill my filial piety in front of my mother in this life. But when the situation settles down, your old man and his family will still go back to live in Tianjin, and they will no longer have to stay in Beijing. ”

Although his mother was an elderly woman, she also knew what it meant for the city to be ruined outside, and it was self-evident how her son, as the eunuch close to the emperor, would end up as such. She trembled and wept and said:

"My son, go to the palace quickly. Since ancient times, loyalty cannot be fulfilled. I have arrangements for housework, so let's go! ”

Wang Chengen immediately went to the gate and took the servants on the horse, entered the Dong'an Gate, and ran straight to the moat bridge outside the Donghua Gate.

There was a depression in the Forbidden City, and occasionally a few eunuchs and palace maids hurried by, and when they saw Wang Chengen, the big eunuch, few people stopped to say goodbye. Wang Chengen had something in his heart, and he didn't care about dealing with these people, so he hurriedly entered the Qianqing Palace.

Chongzhen sat in the hall, his eyes were bloodshot, and he didn't seem to close his eyes all night. Seeing Wang Chengen come in, his hands trembled, and he asked, "Companion, why was the noise outside the city last night?" Did the defenders mutini and attack the city? ”

Wang Chengen was shocked, didn't the emperor know that the outer city had been lost and the inner city was in danger? He hesitated and replied: "Long live the lord, the outer city has fallen into the hands of the rebels, and Li Zicheng has entered the city......"

Chongzhen's face was bloodless, he sat down in his chair and muttered, "The city is broken? Why didn't anyone tell me about such a big thing? "It was Cao Huachun who was in charge of guarding the inner city, but he didn't inform the emperor of the battle situation in time, whether it was negligence or intentionality, it was extremely scary.

Wang Chengen is from Cao Huachun's disciples, and some things are not easy to say, so he can only remain silent.

Chongzhen said with a dead face: "I have been benevolent and benevolent for three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, and these soldiers and civilians and ministers who defend the city have been nurtured by my Ming Dynasty, why don't you even want to tell me about the fall of the outer city?" Monstrous absurdity! Monstrous absurdity! ”

He thought that he might soon be martyred, his whole family died tragically, and his ancestors died in his hands, so he didn't feel a cold sweat, and shouted three times in a row, "Sky!" He suddenly punched the royal case, which shook the teacup and splashed the royal case. Then he stood up, walked wildly in the warm pavilion, and said again and again:

"I shouldn't be the king of the dead country! It shouldn't be the king of the dead country! ”

Wang Chengen was startled, trembling and persuaded:

"Long live your anger. The inner city is temporarily unharmed, there is no danger, as long as the soldiers are united, they can wait for reinforcements to arrive. Please be relieved, cherish the royal body! ”

Chongzhen didn't look at him, nor did he hear his words, he continued to walk around the room, and said with extreme grief and indignation:

"Oh my God! Since I ascended the throne, I have respected the heavens and the ancestors, been diligent in government and loved the people, have eaten and dressed hard, and diligently sought treatment, so I should not have ended up like this! Firmament! Firmament! Why don't you answer me! …… I am not a lord of immorality, nor a deaf king, nor an old man who is sick and old...... I am in the prime of life, and as long as I appoint and win people, be strict with myself, punish those who have wronged, and change my ways, I can make the country governed and the people can enjoy peace in peace. Oh my God, why don't you listen to my prayers? Don't listen to my complaints? Don't look down on my difficulties? Don't give me a little mercy? He swung his fist and struck the dragon pillar painted with vermilion lacquer, wept loudly, and then touched his head on the pillar again, and it made a bang.

Wang Chengen was frightened, thinking that the emperor was going crazy, and thinking that he was going to touch the pillar and die, so he knelt at his feet, grabbed the corner of the dragon robe, and cried and pleaded:

"Long live Lord, don't be so sad! At this time, don't damage the dragon's body! ”

After hitting the pillar with his head, Chongzhen's frenzied mind calmed down a little, and asked angrily;

"Wang Banban, should I have today's disaster?" He avoided the word "dead country".

"The emperor is sage, all the ministers are guilty of misleading the country!"

"Exactly, I'm not wrong, it's all the ministers who misled the country!" Chongzhen seemed to have found a life-saving straw, and found a reason for himself, "I want to summon them, the traitor has already been killed in front of him, these god-killing ministers, the time has come to be loyal to the country, let them come up with ideas and see how to retreat from the enemy!" ”

Wang Chengen was taken aback, "Long live the lord?" ”

"Order someone to ring the bell, I will convene hundreds of civil and military officials to discuss the strategy of retreating from the enemy!"

"Bell, bell......" The bell of the noon gate rang, which was a signal to summon hundreds of officials to the court.

Chongzhen's eyes were red, his pale face was flushed with a sickly flush, and he sat on the shoulders of several eunuchs and ran towards the Jinluan Palace. The huge Forbidden City is like a dead city at this moment, the silence is terrifying, only the rustling footsteps of a group.

When he arrived at the Jinluan Palace, Chongzhen sat on the dragon chair and waited for the arrival of the civil and military officials, and Wang Chengen stood aside as if he was in the court on weekdays.

In the ordinary court, although there is no halogen book, and there is no music, but there are Honglu Temple officials and the imperial history responsible for correcting the court rituals in Danqi, and there are a large number of brocade wrestlers standing and waiting next to Danqi. Today, there is no Honglu Temple official and the figure of the imperial history, out of the hall of more than a dozen wrestlers, there are only a few eunuchs from the Qianqing Palace, the Jinluan Palace has never been like this court etiquette abnormal, deserted.

After a long time, no one came, Chongzhen asked suspiciously: "Rebel occupies the outer city, the mansions of hundreds of officials are in the inner city, and there are no rebels to stop it, why don't you see anyone coming?" ”

Wang Chengen lowered his head and did not dare to answer.

Yesterday, Cao Huachun summoned him and several big eunuchs in important positions to discuss "important matters" in the palace, it is said that the commander of the Jinyi Guard also went to Luo Yangxing, he could vaguely guess that it was related to the matter after the city was broken, involving the betrayal of the emperor, he couldn't bear it, but he didn't want to tear his face with Cao Huachun, so he could only excuse himself. The ministers are like this, and the rest of the ministers are probably also gathered to discuss how to find a place in the next change of dynasty, and naturally no one will come to the court. But he didn't dare or bear to tell Chongzhen about these things.

After sitting for an hour, only Li Banghua, the left neighbor of the Imperial Palace, and Wang Jiayan, the squire of the military department, rushed to come, both of whom were old ministers in their sixties and had always been known for their uprightness.

Looking at the two old ministers with white hair and trembling when they walked, Chongzhen's desire to discuss with the hundred officials to retreat from the enemy was frustrated, and he sighed: "The elephant of the dead country, the elephant of the dead country!" ”