***

The Ming monarchs and ministers in Beijing seem to be a little unreasonable, or they are too confident in the "elite" of Xuanfu Datong.

In short, Li Zicheng's main force was in Shanxi, but the Ming court focused its fortification on the line from Beijing to Baoding, and the main defense was Liu Fangliang, a partial division of the Dashun army that attacked from the south. Li Jiantai, a scholar of Dongge University who went on the expedition on behalf of the emperor, was stationed in Baoding.

As a result, the Xuan and Da general soldiers surrendered one after another, and even the defenders of Juyong Pass, the gateway to western Beijing, surrendered.

When they received the news, Li Zicheng had already led the army to sweep Changping, Shahe and other places, and the troops were directed at the capital.

The unprepared Jingshi suddenly fell into endless panic.

What's even more terrifying is that the Dashun army has first sent a large number of people to pretend to be merchants, and spread the word inside and outside the capital that the Dashun army does not kill, does not love money, does not commit adultery, does not rob, buys and sells, and exempts money and grain, and will give money to the rich and the poor.

Everyone heard that most of the puppet officials in the prefectures and counties selected were Shanxi Xiucai, and they believed it to be true, so they didn't know Xiucai, they all wanted to be officials, and the ignorant poor people all wanted to get money, and those who owed the court money and grain all hoped to be exempted;

The people are spreading the saying "open the gate to welcome the king, and when the king comes, he will not pay food". People called welcoming Li Zicheng "welcoming Allah," and the poor people in dire straits eagerly awaited the arrival of the Dashun army.

On March 13, after the Dashun army set fire to the imperial tomb of the Ming Dynasty in Changping, they quickly forced the capital, and the military department hurriedly sent Tanma to Changping to inquire about the enemy's situation, and as a result, these Tanma directly surrendered to the Dashun army, and no one returned.

The vanguard rangers of the Dashun army had reached the Pingzemen of the capital, and the monarchs and ministers in the city were still ignorant of the enemy's situation.

On March 17, the Dashun army completed the siege of the Beijing division and began to besiege Jiumen. The focus was on attacking the Changyi Gate, and the three battalions originally set up outside the gate all surrendered to the Dashun army.

The commander of the Beijing division lacked food and salary, and the soldiers fled very much, and at this time there were very few who were still defending on the city wall, and in desperation, Chongzhen could only use eunuchs to supplement;

The wind knows the grass, and the board knows the Chengchen.

At this moment, the eunuchs turned out to be the main force guarding the capital, and for those who were impassioned all day long. It is a great irony for the literati who scolded the eunuchs.

At the Jinluan Palace, Chongzhen summoned the ministers to ask for countermeasures, but no one spoke up, including Wei Zaode, who had just succeeded Chen Cheng as the first assistant of the cabinet in February and had always been silent.

Chongzhen endured his anger and glanced at the ministers with their heads drooping, the cannon outside the city rumbled, and there was a dead silence in the hall, Chongzhen repeatedly urged questions, but still no one answered. I couldn't help but feel extremely sad in my heart, and I didn't say a word, leaving the dragon chair where the golden dragon was coiled, and I didn't say anything about scattering the dynasty. Walk straight into the screen behind the dragon chair.

At this time, a minister in the hall finally began to wipe his nose and tears, and whimpered in a low voice, making the entire Jinluan Hall sad and bleak, as if they had died of their fathers and mothers. The sadness of the end of the world is unbearable to watch.

Contrary to the dead silence in the Jinluan Hall inside the city, a fierce argument was going on in Li Zicheng's big tent outside the city. This time, only Li Zicheng, Prime Minister Niu Jinxing, and Song Xiance, the great teacher, were present in the big tent.

I only heard Niu Jinxing say: "Have you ever thought about the Ming army in Liaodong and the Manchu Tartars? Can the great cause master know that those who want to win the world cannot lose their righteousness? ”

Song Xiance immediately refuted: "The king follows the sky and conforms to the will of the people, how can he ever lose his righteousness? ”

"The king has just issued an edict in Taiyuan, saying that the king is not very dark, and at this time, it is not a great righteousness to break the city and kill the king?"

Song Xiance was speechless, Niu Jinxing struck while the iron was hot, turned his head to Li Zicheng and said: "King, our army has lost a lot of elites in Shanxi, although it is not difficult to break the city at this time, but to break the city and kill the king, first lose the righteousness, and then become the target of the public." Now Qin Mu, who lives in Huguang Jiangxi, has become a fierce enemy, and Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan has also become a separatist trend, and what is even more worrying is the Tartar outside the Guan;

The Tartars have been deducted year after year over the years, once the king enters Yanjing, the first thing to face is probably the iron cavalry of the Tartars, when is the real time, the offensive and defensive transposition, the king immediately fell into Chongzhen's current predicament, and he is afraid that he is still not strong enough to deal with the Tartars, and how to sweep the south?

When we had to fight with the Tartars with all our might, Qin Mu and Zhang Xianzhong were developing safely, growing day by day. The Ming court gathered the power of the world, and it was still difficult to deal with the Tartars outside the Guan. Now the king only occupies the land of Jiangbei, and the Central Plains is ruined, the red land is thousands of miles, Guanzhong has just been recovered, and it has not been governed. ”

Niu Jinxing's words made Li Zicheng's back secretly cold, as Niu Jinxing said, once Beijing City is captured, Chongzhen's mess will have to be taken over by himself, how can the Tartar outside the gate be easy to give?

He relied on the ruined land of Jiangbei and the Tartars to the death, but Qin Mu and Zhang Xianzhong sat in the south to reap the benefits of the fishermen, and continued to grow themselves, and in the future, they would crusade against themselves for the crime of killing the king, and even the name of righteousness was taken away.

People have both the lining and the face, but they are fighting with the Tartars outside the gate with the great crime of killing the king, what is this?

Song Xiance sneered: "The prime minister doesn't need to be alarmist, the king, the minister heard that Wu Sangui's family is in Beijing, after the city is broken, let's hold his family hostage first, and then send someone to recruit Wu Sangui first, I am not afraid that Wu Sangui will not return to the king, and then there will be his Guanning iron horse at the top of Shanhaiguan, we can also draw troops to sweep the world." ”

"The great master dares to guarantee that he will be able to recruit Wu Sangui? In case Wu Sangui does not surrender, what does the great master plan to do? Niu Jinxing retorted without giving an inch.

Song Xiance was not ambiguous, and immediately sneered: "The prime minister has seen thousands of miles, why didn't he dissuade him before setting out on the expedition?" Now that the labor is moving, it has cost countless people, and finally the soldiers are coming to the city, seeing that Yanjing can be broken with one blow, but the prime minister is about to give up, what is Prime Minister Niu's intention? Ask Prime Minister Niu again, will my hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Dashun Army agree? The king, the king, Wu Sangui turtle shrinks the mountain customs, the supply has been cut off, there is no choice but to belong to the king, the king does not have to worry about this. ”

Li Zicheng listened to Song Xiance's words, and couldn't help but cast a suspicious look at Niu Jinxing, when he first set out on the expedition, Niu Jinxing, as the prime minister, not only did not object, but also expressed support, but now at this bone juncture, you want the army to give up the siege in disgrace, which is really unreasonable.

Niu Jinxing hurriedly explained: "King, there is no contradiction between the original expedition and the current stop. The king, the army of the east, sweep the three sides, as far as Shanxi, can uproot the Ming court can threaten my Dashun Dynasty Liliang, and occupy Shanxi Henan, strategically can form a siege of the capital, this bureau is complete, the king will take the initiative.

Moreover, now that the king's soldiers are coming to the city, leading but not sending, forcing Chongzhen to sign the alliance under the city, the king can not only protect the name of righteousness, but also let the Ming court continue to hold Liaodong, the king can withdraw, coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, send troops south, calmly sweep the world's various shili, wait for the world to be calm, and then let Chongzhen Zen position, in this way, compared with immediately breaking the city and killing the king, the high judgment is made, please think twice. ”

Niu Jinxing's words made Li Zicheng feel a sense of sudden enlightenment, but Song Xiance immediately refuted: "King, Guanzhong is initially decided, the Central Plains is broken, and it is extremely difficult for me to supply grain and grass for millions of male teachers. Looking north of the river, now only the capital has money and grain;

The king, the high-ranking officials in the capital are everywhere, the powerful are like clouds, and the money and grain hoarded are innumerable, and now they can be captured in one fell swoop, if they stop here, the officers and soldiers in the army will definitely be dissatisfied, and besides, without the money and food in the capital, our army's food and salary will not be good, and the army's heart will be chaotic, so how can we sweep the world? ”

Song Xiance can be said to have gotten to the point, money and food are needed to fight a war, but whether it is Guanzhong or Shanxi, let alone Henan, over the years, there have been wars, famines, and plagues, which have been extremely dilapidated, and the money and food that can be raised are extremely limited.

Although he won the eastward expedition one after another, he won the same battle as rewarding the soldiers and compensating the dead in the war. That alone costs a lot of money.

The little money and food he grabbed along the way was not enough for the soldiers to eat and chew, and if he couldn't get the money and food in the capital, his army would really not be able to sustain itself.

Niu Jinxing's words are very reasonable, but the practical problems mentioned by Song Xiance can't be faced, what should I do?

Niu Jinxing continued: "King, when you force Chongzhen to sign the alliance under the city, you can ask him to pay me money and food at the same time." ”

********************************************

PS: The spring rain is continuous, and the sun has not been seen for half a month. Well, may happiness be like a drizzle, and the original ticket will be like a drizzle, and it will not stop. (To be continued......)