Lu Ming

Time: October [-]th, seven days after the Northern Expedition broke through the three camps.

Location: Beijing.

The traumatized Beijing city finally ushered in a day of relief today.Since the morning, the fifteen gates surrounding the capital, including the four outer gates of Fucheng, Chaoyang, Zuo'an, and You'an, have finally been opened, and the flow of materials and people from inside and outside the city has begun.

As for the other gates of Desheng and Anding facing the north, they will definitely not be able to open in a short time. After all, no one can tell what is going on with Jianlu.The remaining ones will be observed and observed in the next few days, and they will be opened one after another according to the situation.

To be honest, it would be impossible not to open the city.Although there are food and fodder reserves in Beijing, the siege for more than a month has exhausted the supplies in the city after all.Especially for the impoverished families in the city, many of them can no longer afford the daily price of grain and urgently need to replenish supplies.

Fortunately, Jianlu finally retreated a few days ago.

At the beginning, although they saw the Jianlu army hastily withdrawing troops, the Ming army guarding the city did not believe it.After all, the previous day was still very hot, and the sudden withdrawal of Ruthless lacked a proper transition in the middle, which always made people feel like a trap.

After that, suddenly the people who had been carried away returned.

The garrison of the capital, who was still in shock, breathed a sigh of relief after detailed investigation: Jianlu had indeed left behind the hostages in an emergency, and even had some belongings, and hurried back to Zunhua.

People and wealth are the fundamental purpose of Jianlu's entry into the customs.No matter what happened in the direction of Zunhua, since Jianlu left the stolen goods, it must not be fake.

In this way, I observed for another two days in panic.It wasn't until a large number of people returned one after another that the four gates of the capital that confirmed the news were finally opened on the [-]th.

Early in the morning, as soon as the gate of the city was opened, there were first the highest priority Titang officials of the imperial court, and then messengers on horseback from all walks of life.

Next, anxious people began to rush out of the city to the surrounding area of ​​the capital after rigorous investigation. After hundreds of years, the area has spread. I am afraid that they have already left the second ring road, and the number of residents is huge.

This time, the surrounding areas outside the city were in catastrophe, so as soon as the city was opened, many people rushed out to find relatives and friends.There are also those who hid in the city early, and came out immediately to check whether their homes were safe.

During the extraordinary period, people from all walks of life were arranged at the gate of the city, and all people entering and leaving the city would be closely searched and interrogated, so the gate of the city was in good order.

Like the bus, when you arrive at the station, you have to get off first and then get on.After the people in the city were released, vehicles transporting supplies from outside the city began to enter the city.

These materials were urgently dispatched from the south of Tongzhou.Although many cities around Gyeonggi suffered from war this time, the stability of the capital is the most important thing after all.The courier sent out a few days ago has urgently ordered the governments of various prefectures and counties to urgently organize the transportation of materials to the capital.

In the afternoon, seeing supplies trucks representing stability entering the city, and all the people guarding the city gates, they finally breathed a sigh of relief: From this moment on, the Bingzi Jianlu war that lasted for more than a month The disaster is over.

In the days to come, there will no longer be that precarious feeling.

It might be a little early for people to be happy.

The next situation seems to be developing in a good direction.

First of all, information such as battle reports and memorials sent from various places to the capital, which had been blocked for a long time, began to pour in like a flood.The backlog of all kinds of information soon filled up with the official cases of officials at all levels in the capital.

Among these pieces of information, some of which I knew in bits and pieces before, are now beginning to be pieced together.For example, the detailed process of the battle between Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou and others that took place in Henan.

There are also scary news that pop up out of nowhere.For example, the trilogy of a Cao thief, a general surnamed Cao, "helped defend" the three towns of Wuhan. The court has not yet publicly announced that a certain Cao is a traitor.

In just two days, the real-time/expired information gathered in the capital from all over the world has become a massive existence.

Fortunately, the capital city, which was in an isolated state before, has a huge bureaucratic system that is very eager for outside information.In addition, there is a labor model Emperor Chongzhen who is diligently chasing Qin Shihuang, so in the past few days, the bureaucratic system in the capital can be regarded as a power for love. .

Just when Shang and Xia breathed a sigh of relief and were about to free up their hands to deal with several messes in the country, on October 17th, a historic sad news was urgently transmitted six hundred miles from Fuchengmen in the west. Come in: Li Zicheng's main force captured Jinyang during the daytime on the [-]th.

The subtitle of this news is: Jinyang did not have much resistance at the time.

In real history, Li Zicheng finally led his troops into Shanxi, and encountered resistance from some defenders on the way.But at that time, Daming, who was dying, had no strong troops in Shanxi, and resistance was futile.

Anyway, it's still the trick.At that time, Li Zicheng entered Shanxi with great fanfare, and many frontier soldiers and bankrupt farmers who were owed wages also came to defect, which made up for the battle losses.

But in this plane, Li Zicheng, who was much stronger than in history, took heavy cavalry and explosives all the way, relaxed and happy, and occupied Jinyang, the capital of Shanxi, without much effort.

After the news reached the capital, the whole city was shocked.Emperor Chongzhen immediately summoned the officials above the second rank in the court to discuss countermeasures.

I never thought about it, before the monarchs and ministers discussed it and came up with a one-two-three. On the 2.0th, the historical bad news version [-], from Fuchengmen, entered the Six Departments of the University: Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor in Jinyang, the name of the founding country was "Dashun", and the Yuan was changed to "Yongchang" , The meritorious officials were awarded the fifth-class title.

At the same time, Li Zicheng set up the government organization, changed the cabinet to the Tianyou Hall, set up the state affairs of the University Scholars Pingzhang Army, and set up the posts of State Teacher, Minister, Minister, and Jiedushi.

On the same day, Li Zicheng, Emperor of Dashun, issued an imperial edict: To conquer the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

In real history, Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an before leaving Shanxi.

But in this plane, because everything came so smoothly, Li Zicheng was in a hurry the whole time, and he was always on his way and dealing with the sudden expansion of internal affairs, so he had no time to proclaim himself emperor.

In the end, after entering Jinyang a few days ago, Li Zicheng was able to hurry up and declare himself emperor.In this regard, Li Zicheng's imperial edict did not state that the capital is Chang'an as in history.

In the past few days, since the detailed information of the Henan battlefield has been obtained, the capital has just figured out Li Zicheng's true strength.

Before Shang Shangxia could recover from the astonishment, the news of Li Zicheng's personal conquest really came down like a catastrophe, blasting the entire capital into a charred mess.

What to do, this is Li Ni, who has wiped out the only second field corps of the Ming Dynasty, with a serial armored horse and explosives!What to do, wait online, urgent!
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Time: Morning of October [-]th.

Location: In front of the Huangji Hall in the Forbidden City.

Characters: the emperor, officials of the sixth rank and above in Beijing, and all the relatives and ministers in Beijing.

The most memorable temporary court meeting of the Chongzhen Dynasty began.

It seems to be God's last omen for the Ming Empire.Today's sky is covered with thick black clouds, which are so heavy that they seem to fall down.

Coordinating with this were the silent ministers of Daming.At this moment, the sky is slightly bright.Puppet-like crowds lined up in the square in front of the Emperor Palace.Accompanied by the bone-piercing cold wind, the atmosphere was suppressed to the extreme.

The Zuosi Chancellor of Honglu Temple, Master Feng Jingjie, stood at the end of the line in his spare time, and the old god was there.Although the weather in Little Ice River was extremely cold in mid-October.But Mr. Feng was wearing pure cotton thermal underwear inside, wool long johns and a sweater outside, and cotton leather shoes on his feet.The current Master Feng is not afraid of the cold, and he can play freely.

Everything is still the same, and the topics at the court meeting basically have nothing to do with Master Feng, the soy sauce party.This meeting is speaking in front of Majesty Dan, Zhang Jinyan, Minister of the Ministry of War.

The content of Zhang Jinyan's report is: During this period of time, the imperial court has sent troops to take over the comprehensive intelligence feedback of front-line passes such as Jizhen, Zunhua, and Santunying.

This summary of the situation is the first topic of today's Great Court Meeting, and it is also a topic of concern to many people: To solve Li Zicheng, we must first figure out the movement of the army that built the captives into the customs.Then, what is the situation on the front line of Santunying, we must first figure it out.

Glancing sideways at Zhang Jinyan, the Shangshu of the Ministry of War who was speaking loudly in front of Majesty Dan, Master Feng raised his head to the sky, looked at the thick and indissoluble dark clouds above his head, and murmured inaudibly: "It's changed! Really? Dead!"

What caused Master Feng to change his words was an ominous omen today: for the first time in history, Emperor Chongzhen sat in the dragon chair on Majesty Dan ahead of time, waiting for the arrival of his courtiers.

To be honest, Master Feng understands the emperor's anxiety.

Shanxi urgent reports received from the capital are usually two or three days late.Counting from today's [-]th, the main force of Li Zicheng's department has most likely set off from Jinyang for more than three days.

Jinyang is only [-] miles away from the capital. In other words, Li Zicheng's cavalry vanguard should have left Taihang Mountain today.

After leaving Taihang, it is a map of Pingchuan.Li Zicheng can reach the foot of the capital by lifting his legs on the official road of three or four hundred miles.Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, maybe. It shouldn't be more than the day after tomorrow.

This kind of simple arithmetic problem, even if Master Feng is not working in the Ministry of War, he will not make a mistake.So he understands the emperor's mood very well at this moment, anyone who can only sit on the dragon chair for three days is anxious.

Master Feng, who was filled with emotion, glanced again at the Shangshu of the Ministry of War who was still chattering.Fortunately, after a while, Zhang Jinyan finally finished speaking.The officials who participated in the Great Court Meeting can be considered to have figured out the current situation of the Yanshan Corridor in the north.

According to Zhang Jinyan's report, the imperial soldiers and horses have now taken over Jizhen, Zunhua, and Santun without damage.Including the Tianxian Xifeng Pass, there were no captives along the way, and the imperial court had "recovered" all the passes.

In addition, according to the latest military newspapers from Juyongguan, Zhangjiakou and other places, the imperial court was convinced that there were small groups of Mongolian and Manchu cavalry of varying numbers who forced their way out of the pass.

In summary, it can be inferred that the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia that entered the customs before have all withdrawn from the border of Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Jinyan finally mentioned a piece of information, the content of which was that the officers and soldiers found traces of fierce fighting in Santunying: the east wall of Santunying had collapsed.

This piece of news, for the few people who know the inside story, they know who smashed the wall.

For example, Master Feng.

In addition, for some people with relatively strong reasoning ability, they may also be able to estimate part of the truth.

And for most of the courtiers who are confused, isn't it reasonable and logical for Santun to collapse a wall?Jianlu invaded the bandits, and the officers and soldiers of the three camps fought hard to resist. Finally, Jianlu destroyed a wall and was able to occupy the city.

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Yes, as of today, the imperial court still has not received the exact battle report about the Northern Expeditionary Army.

This is the seventeenth century, an era of extremely inefficient information.Due to the strong blockade in the direction of Tianjin, the capital has been unilaterally transparent about Tianjin.

Although some Tianjin businessmen have privately sent people to detour in the past few days to communicate news to relatives and friends in the capital, but this kind of information cannot be displayed at the Great Court Meeting: what the court wants is military newspapers/reports from official channels that have been officially confirmed , not a chaotic joke passed around in private.

In fact, in the current capital city, there were three surprises overnight.All kinds of folk rumors about Jianlu, Li Ni, and Cao thief have spread to the sky, and no one's version can be believed.

In the direction of Santunying alone, there are versions of rumors about Ning warriors, living Cao Cao's fake Daoist attack on King Guoqin, Huang Taiji's sudden death, Azig's return to the teacher and seizing the throne, and so on.

However, the report from Tianjin, which the imperial court had been waiting for, did not appear for a long time.Whether it is the Tianjin civil service system, the Jinyiwei system, or the military and security system, since the relocation of the Dongsan Prefecture, it has been like a mud cow entering the sea, completely without information.

As for sending people to investigate, in just a few days, those who went from the direction of the capital were either driven away by men in black who could not prove their identities with muskets, or they disappeared after entering Tianjin.

"Is there a military newspaper from the Three Eastern Prefectures?"

After listening to Zhang Jinyan's report, after an awkward silence, Gao Ju, who was sitting on the dragon chair, asked this question intentionally or unintentionally.

Zhang Jinyan, who knew what the emperor wanted to know, honestly said: "To the east of Santunying, there are ten rooms and nine empty areas in Dongsanfu, and there are no bandits."

"Also." Probably because he was afraid that the emperor would be too depressed, Zhang Jinyan finally told the good news: "The Wu Sangui Department of Shanhaiguan has already communicated with the imperial army."

When Zhang Jinyan said this, he immediately shut up.

Following Zhang Jinyan's silence, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty looked at their noses, their noses, their noses, their noses, and their hearts, not to mention saying a word, expressing their support for the Minister of War with silence.

Now, it's time for Chongzhen to express his position.

What's your attitude?Tianjin!

The content of this passage just now is actually very simple: the emperor tried to bring out topics such as Tianjin and the Cao family, and then the officials discussed to find a solution.

And the reply just now by the Minister of the Ministry of War has already hinted at his own and the attitude of the Ministry of War as much as possible: I will not mention the matter of Tianjin.Your Majesty, Li Zicheng is coming to kill you, can we just pretend that Cao Cao doesn't exist?
Then, the officials expressed their desire not to talk about the Cao family in an extremely impolite silence.

The match between the monarch and his ministers cannot be left in the cold.However, today's big court meeting has been cold twice in a short period of time.

After a long time, when Master Feng Jingjie at the end of the team was speculating like a joke about whether the irascible emperor would go mad, the emperor on the dragon chair finally spoke in a cold tone: "Since the captives have retreated, Pass the decree, seal Wu Sangui as Ping Xibo, and lead the three guards into Jingqin King!"

"The minister obeys the order."

After another two breaths, seeing that the emperor had no new orders, the officials finally breathed a sigh of relief: the situation is stronger than others, and the emperor has clearly distinguished the priorities in the face of tremendous pressure.

At this point, those topics just now have been turned over.Theoretically, next, the monarchs and ministers should discuss how to defend the capital and eliminate the coming army of Li Ni.

However, there was an official who did not walk according to the rules: the prince of the Eastern Palace of the True Royalist Party gave a lecture, and Bu Daxing master Bu.

As soon as the emperor came out, everyone present knew that it was probably the emperor who was embarrassed to say something clearly and wanted to convey it to his subordinates.

Sure enough, Bu Daxing brought up a topic again: Emperor Nanshou.

The translation is: Chongzhen wanted to run away and moved the capital to Nanjing.

In real history, in the last days of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen actually planned to move the capital to Nanjing several times.

As a result, Chongzhen failed to move the capital to Nanjing under the opposition and reluctance of Chen Yan, Guang Shiheng, etc., the first academician to move the capital.

For the second time, Chongzhen, Zuo Zhongyun, Li Mingrui, and Zuodu Yu Li Banghua reconsidered the southward move, and asked the great scholar Chen Yan to take responsibility.As a result, Chen Yan was unwilling to take the blame, and he was dismissed shortly after.

After that, Chongzhen once again asked the son-in-law Gong Yonggu to ask the important ministers to guard the capital, and left the capital on the grounds that "the holy driver made a tour of the south and recruited soldiers to ask for it."

However, the ministers were afraid that the emperor would run away and the others would become scapegoats for the peasant army to vent their anger, so they still refused to let Chongzhen leave the capital.

There is no further future. Li Zicheng has entered Beijing.

Look, this is the true relationship between Chongzhen and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty in history.

But in the plane of crossing the public, because the time was advanced a few years, and the situation collapsed overnight, Chongzhen didn't have time to discuss with the ministers to move the capital again and again.

This incident, that is, when the capital was besieged a month ago, was briefly mentioned, and there was no disturbance.

But today, when Bu Daxing, the imperial microphone, once again raised the idea of ​​"southern hunting" in public, all the officials knew that the emperor was really scared.

However, facing Li Zicheng, who was about to kill him every minute, and courtiers who had already lost all obedience to Chongzhen, how could the emperor be allowed to run away at this juncture?Just like in history, the emperor whose godhead had begun to disintegrate had now become a sacrificial offering to Lao Li by his officials.Tomorrow, the emperor, you ran away, leaving us to be beheaded by Li Zicheng?
The next moment, a person in the ranks of officials stepped forward and pointed his halberd at Bu Daxing angrily: "It's absurd! This is a crisis of life and death. It's time for the monarch and his ministers to work together to drive away evil spirits and plot against Li Ni. Bu Daxing, you have no courage." Rats, how dare you run away in front of the battle, and trap the king in an injustice?"

Wow.Who is so staunch?
When the ministers took a closer look, it turned out that the one who came out and burst into anger was none other than Feng Jingjie, Zuo Cheng of Honglu Temple.

When it was too late to say it, Feng Jingjie was the first to say something, and then turned around and bowed to the king: "Your Majesty, the country has been supporting servants for 270 years, and it is today. I am humble, but I swear that I will not be with Li Ni." Let's wear the sky together. Tomorrow, I would like to personally go to the top of the city to supervise the defense and protect my emperor Ming Guozuo!"

With such a sudden appearance, the Chongzhen Emperor, who had already forgotten who Master Feng was, was immediately overwhelmed by the impassioned cynics.Opening his mouth, the emperor didn't know what to say.

Fortunately, after being scolded, Master Bu regained his composure and began to fight back.

I don't want to argue, but there are Gao Jie, the imperial envoy of Henan Province of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Liu Jue, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, Hu Ping, a member of the military department, and He Zhen, the right counselor of the General Administration, and others.

As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four dogs.After several rounds of debates, Mr. Bu couldn't support himself alone, and was heckled by Bingzi and five righteous men all the way.In the end, the matter was so messed up.

——————————————————————————————————

After the two issues before and after were resolved, it was almost noon.But today's emperor seems to be reluctant to leave the court.So, the next topic started again: payment.

Now that the Guan Ning army has been decreed to come to serve the king, and the righteous men have refuted Bu Daxing's capitulationist right-leaning thought, the next step is for the monarch and his ministers to be single-minded, abandon all distracting thoughts, and defend the capital to defeat Li Ni.

So, what is the most important thing to guard the capital?
Everyone on the earth knows: pay and silver.

Without pay, no matter whether the soldiers or the people are strong, they mutiny collectively every minute, and they still keep their hair.Didn't the Ming Dynasty have fewer cities sold by the defenders over the years?

But the imperial court is now so poor that it is almost like pants, and the sleeves of Emperor Chongzhen are worn out and no one makes up, so what is the payment.So as soon as the topic was opened, the household department and the military department first cried for poverty, and then it evolved into a chorus of officials collectively crying for poverty.

There was nothing the emperor could do about this commonplace topic.In the end, the old routine was followed: calling on officials to donate money.

For things like donations, according to the standard routine, everyone must first look at the leaders, and then downshift according to the number of leaders.

Therefore, Zhou Kui, the father of the Empress Dowager Zhou, the number one rich man with the highest theoretical level on the scene and well-known in the capital, was the first to be picked out as a "happy loser".

However, if the country is about to perish, there will be idiots everywhere.

Zhou Kui, the fortune-teller who relies on his daughter for his position, is the same as King Fu who was boiled with bone soup before. At this juncture, he has no shame and cries poorly.

In the end, there was really no other way, so Zhou Guozhang agreed to pay 4000 taels of silver.

So the ministers followed this example and pledged donations one by one.

To be honest, this is already a little bit better than it has been in history.In real history, Zhou Kui has always been indifferent.In the end, he took 5000 taels of silver from his daughter Queen Zhou's sale of jewelry, and then plucked another [-] taels of hair from it. In the end, Zhou Guozhang only handed over [-] taels of silver to the court.

These idiots don't even think about it, just like them, the royal relatives who can only rely on the old Zhu's family to dawdle, once the dynasty changes, will the money in their hands, including their own lives, survive?

Finally, under the sky covered with dark clouds, the last great court meeting of the Ming Dynasty came to an end.

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Taking the first step out of the imperial city, Mr. Feng Jingjie, who was at the front of the queue, looked up at the gray sky and let out a long sigh.

For some reason, the officials who left the palace today have lost their usual chatter.Everyone hurried away in silence.

The same is true of Master Feng.I saw him swinging the sleeves of his official uniform, walking all the way like a car.Not long after, Master Feng Shi Shiran came to the door of Lu's Shaobing.

There is a side street on the side of Lujia Biscuit Shop.At this moment, at the corner of the side street, there is a half-old old-fashioned carriage parked.

Lifting the curtain, Master Feng quickly rushed into the car.

"coming?"

"coming!"

"Have your sister and Heping'er settled down?"

"It's very good. I live in the hotel of Master Mei's family in Tianjin. The food and lodging are good, and the nephews are also good!"

"Then hurry up and go."

Brother-in-law Tang San, who was already waiting in the car, was wearing a suit of unremarkable coarse cloth and short brown.Seeing his son-in-law getting into the car, Tang San hurriedly handed over a set of ordinary robes, and waited for his son-in-law to change: "If you leave today, the court will meet tomorrow, the emperor will not look for you, right?"

"There will be no court meeting tomorrow."

After making the attributive statement in a melancholy tone, Master Feng, who hastily changed his clothes, had a very complicated expression, not only mixed with three points of shame, three points of anger, but also three points of reluctance: "Even if there is, a fool like me For my generation, the emperor would probably not be able to remember the fact that he would eat a vegetarian meal every day."

Uncle Tang didn't hurt so much.After a while, seeing my uncle changed his clothes, he got out of the car, whipped his horse, and went straight east.

It took about half an hour for the carriage to go through the streets and alleys, and finally stopped in front of the Dongbian Gate at the corner of the outer city.

Before that, Dongbian Gate was also one of the city gates where people from the outer city used to come in and out.But now, due to military operations, the two convenient gates in the east and west of the capital have been closed for a long time.If you want to leave the city, you can only go to the four gates that are open for a limited time. However, the inspection of the four gates is extremely strict, and it is not easy to enter and exit.

Reining in the horse, parking the car, Tang San helped the uncle out of the car.Immediately afterwards, the two hurried forward, and then Tang San took out a round wooden sign from his arms, and gave a glance to the lazily leaning patrolman on the city wall.

After the watchman saw this thing, he shook his head indistinctly, motioning Tang San to go to the inner side of the city gate, the cave where the watchman is on duty.

Without further ado, Tang San led his uncle into the small brick door.

In theory, the cave should be dark and gloomy, but because of the relationship between two kerosene lamps, it is very bright.The faces of three or four patrolmen inside were clearly photographed.

After entering, Tang San showed the sign again.Then, a chubby young man dressed as a patrolman opened the booklet on the wooden table and began to check:
"Codename."

"Run 33."

"ID code."

"12315."

"Well, but Honglu Temple Feng Jingjie and Tang San?"

"Exactly."

"Just wait." After checking, the little fat man said, "Let's go together when the others come."

Having said that, the fat man thought about it and made arrangements: "Give them some dry food and water, and then go to someone else to dispose of the carriage."

Master Feng waited until nightfall in the Cangbing Cave.During this process, the five righteous men of the court meeting came to the Cangbing Cave one after another, and several masters met again in another way.

Not long after dark, a gap was opened at the east gate, and a group of people sneaked out.On the outer wall of the city, the chariots and horses that have been prepared will transfer the guests to Tianjin overnight.

Standing at the top of the city, Liu Wang, who watched the carriage leave with infrared binoculars, returned to the cave of Tibetan soldiers.

At this moment, he is no longer wearing patrol uniforms, but has changed into a patched coolie outfit.

Facing a group of subordinates who also changed their clothes, Liu Wang arranged the final task: "The last group of people has also been sent away. Now I have the highest rank in the capital. I now order everyone to follow the No. [-] plan and start lurking." .”

"Yes."

"Attention, in the days to come, you must remain as poor peasants for three generations of poor peasants. During the incubation period, pay attention to the surrounding environment, and stay in the slums, and don't join the rich and noble families."

"Yes."

"The last days are here, and we will succeed if we get through it, everyone, work hard!"

"Captain Liu, take care!"

"All scattered and retreated."

After arranging this group of team members who were about to lurk, Liu Wang rushed to the safe house outside the palace city. There was already another group of team members waiting for him.

As for why he came to the imperial city for a top-secret mission at this time, it is inconvenient to disclose.

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The long night is gone.

The people in the capital didn't know what happened in the night.Everyone was asleep and waited until the dawn of the next day.

Today, October [-], [-], on this plane, the Ming Empire ushered in its final conclusion.

In the early morning, the military newspaper that came quickly brought the latest news: Li Ni had arrived in Zhuozhou.

The capital immediately closed the nine gates and put the city under martial law.

In the afternoon, the military newspaper that came quickly brought the latest news: Bandit Li had arrived in Fangshan,

In the evening, the military newspaper that came quickly brought the latest news: King Li Chuang had arrived in Fengtai.

At this time, the defenders standing at the top of the city could already see the galloping enemy cavalry.

And just before nightfall, the high-moralized Chuangjun began to try to attack the Xizhi, Pingze, and Desheng gates with flying ladders.The defenders either fled or surrendered.

Then, a scene similar to history appeared: Zhengyang Gate guarded by Zhang Jinyan, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and Xuanwu Gate guarded by eunuch Wang Xiangyao, opened the city one after another.

The Chuang army who had already begun to occupy the outer city of the capital clashed with some defenders overnight.In the middle of the night, there was a fire in the city, and the flames reflected the sky.

Standing in front of the palace, looking at the bright red light in the sky, the 25-year-old Chongzhen Emperor knew that something was wrong and was extremely depressed.

So in the following time, the emperor drank all night in the palace and said: "It's hard for my people."

Seeing that the emperor was depressed, the eunuch Zhang Yin stepped forward to persuade the emperor to surrender, but was stabbed to death with a sword.

In this way, October [-], which heralded the fall of the Ming Dynasty, ended when Li Zicheng began to occupy the outer city of the capital.

Another dawn.

Morning, October 21, [-].

The emperor went to court as usual.Wearing twelve rounds of Longming yellow dragon robes, he sat on the dragon chair in front of the Huangji Hall, quietly waiting for the courtiers of the empire to come to discuss matters.

There are very few people around the emperor today.Except for the eunuch Wang Chengen, the supervisor of ceremonies, there were only a group of low-level eunuchs left.There is no trace of the big clang in the rest of the palace.

Soon after, the courtiers from the upper court finally came.

In the empty square, a lone figure, wearing a full set of Ming Dynasty uniform, slowly came to Majesty Dan along the usual route of court officials, knelt down and saluted: "Your servant wakes up, please see my emperor, long live, long live. "

"Hahaha."

Looking at the only courtier who came to support him, the emperor finally broke his guard: "Huanghuang Daming, but you and I are the only ones."

Pushing away the case table, the emperor, who looked a little crazy, strode to the front of the hall, raised his arms and pushed the cone, and rang the Jingyang Bell with his own hands, summoning all the officials.

The distant sound of the bell rippled and spread to every corner of the capital without stopping for a long time.

However, no matter how hard Ren Chongzhen rang the bell, after a long time, in front of the empty hall, there was still only Bu Daxing, a lone courtier standing there.

"Dead, after all, is dead!"

The Chongzhen Emperor, who seemed to be insane, looked up to the sky and laughed loudly, then cried three times.Immediately, he pulled out the sword that he didn't usually wear at his waist, and strode towards the harem.

All the eunuchs hurriedly followed.

At this time, the country will be overthrown, the universe will be reversed, and Bu Daxing, who is already ready to die for his country, will no longer follow any palace etiquette.So one of his foreign ministers hurriedly followed behind the emperor.

In this way, a group of people went straight into the harem.Not a moment later, the emperor first stepped into the inner hall of Kunning Palace.

In the inner hall, Empress Zhou, who had a premonition for a long time, was already wearing the queen's formal attire. She sat quietly on the seat with Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan, who had been favored in the past, waiting for the arrival of the emperor.

Standing in front of the queen, there were three young men: Prince, Yongwang and Dingwang.

The emperor, who had a ferocious face, couldn't help but soften after seeing this scene.He slowly walked up to the prince Zhu Cihong, touched the crown of the prince's head, and then ordered the eunuch to take the third son to the apse, find some poor clothes, change them, and send them to their relatives' homes.

After arranging these, the emperor began to perform the next procedure: in order to avoid being humiliated by the rebels, he asked the queen to commit suicide.

Empress Zhou, who had been prepared for a long time, first bid farewell to her three sons, then knelt down in front of the emperor, and performed the final husband and wife ceremony: "I have been with your majesty for 18 years, and I didn't listen to a word. If I die together today, how can I hate you?" ?”

After finishing speaking, Queen Zhou calmly went to the apse and hanged herself.

Concubine Tian Gui also silently returned to the apse and hanged herself together.

During this process, the sad emperor picked up the jug on the table and drank dozens of glasses of spirits.

In the end, probably because of the alcohol consumption that finally paralyzed the nerves, the emperor drew out his sword and pierced the heart of Concubine Yuan who was still crying.

After finishing all this, the emperor, whose sleeves were covered with blood, went to the apse.After seeing the corpses of the empress and Concubine Tian, ​​the emperor began to look for Princess Changping again in the apse.

Unexpectedly, after searching for a while, there was no figure of Princess Changping, Aimee Zhu: "Where is Ajiu?"

The maid at the side shivered, saying that the princess had been gone since morning.

And historically different.At this time, Ah Jiu was only six years old and was very small, so he probably could not be found easily.

Weiji, the emperor who couldn't find the princess, took the sword and went to the bedroom of his sister-in-law, the wife of Emperor Jiazong Zhu Youxiao of Ming Dynasty, and Empress Zhang Yanzhang.

As a result, there was no one in the bedroom, the ground was in chaos, and the maids and eunuchs disappeared.

After a long sigh, Chongzhen went out of the palace again, ordered Wang Chengen to find some horses and military equipment, and distributed them to all the eunuchs around him.Even Bu Daxing, a civil servant, was given a dagger.

Next, Chongzhen mounted his horse with a three-eyed musket in his hand, and went to Donghuamen together with a cavalry team composed of dozens of eunuchs.

Unexpectedly, when the guards at the Donghua Gate saw the figure in the yellow robe, they immediately shot down random arrows, abruptly preventing the emperor from going out.

At this moment, the emperor finally woke up: the courtiers would never allow him to flee the capital today.

With an attitude of unwillingness and disbelief, Chongzhen then detoured Wenhua Gate and ran all the way to Chaoyang Gate.

The expected ending appeared again: Cheng Guogong Zhu Chunchen, who was favored by the emperor, refused to accept him behind closed doors.

Seeing the last hope of escape shattered, Chongzhen turned around and returned to the imperial city in despair.

At this time, the emperor's entourage had already dispersed, and there were only two people by his side: Bu Daxing and Wang Chengen.

And the emperor, who had become muddleheaded, staggered all the way, only going to the harem.

Unconsciously, the emperor passed through the Shenwu Gate and climbed to the commanding height of the harem: the Shouhuang Pavilion on the top of Meishan Mountain.

Standing under the crooked neck tree next to the Shouhuang Pavilion, the already exhausted Emperor Chongzhen, leaning on the tree stump, watched his Daming for the last time.

At that time, black clouds shrouded in the distance, and the fires inside and outside the capital reflected the sky, causing chaos everywhere.The billowing thick smoke vaguely mixed with the sound of shouts and killings made it look like a scene of the end of the world, but it was a true portrayal of the Great Ming Dynasty.

Seeing this tragic situation, Chongzhen let out a stern laugh, and then sighed: "The monarch died in Sheji. In the 270-year-old world, once it is abandoned, it will be the fault of treacherous ministers, so that's the case."

After saying this, Chongzhen took off his belt.The eunuch Wang Chengen, the supervisor of ceremonies, took it with sobs, and tied the rope ring on the branch for the emperor.

On this side, the emperor took off his bright yellow robe, bit his fingers, and wrote the letter in blood on the blue shirt: "I have been on the throne for eight years, although I have despised my virtue, I have committed the blame of heaven, and I have committed rebellion." The thieves approached the capital directly, but all the officials misunderstood me. When I die, I will see my ancestors in the ground without a face, and I will remove the crown to cover my face. Let the thieves split my corpse, and don't hurt a single person."

During the whole process, the prince of the East Palace said that he could not kneel down and covered the ground with his forehead.

After the emperor finished writing the blood letter and Wang Chengen fell to his knees, the emperor covered his face with hair, then raised his foot and stepped on Wang Chengen's back.

At this time, Bu Daxing began to kneel down three times and kowtow nine times to send the king a big gift: "The emperor will go ahead for a while, and the minister will arrive later."

The next moment, the emperor put the belt around his neck, and with a strong kick, he kicked Wang Chengen away and hung himself in the air.