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Part One: Penghu Storm Chapter 550: Ming Dynasty Loyalty

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    The proposal to move south failed again. Now Emperor Chongzhen has fallen into an isolated and helpless position and has no idea what to do.

    The bandits are approaching the capital step by step.

    On March 17, the 17th year of Chongzhen, the bandits commanded by Li Zicheng arrived in Beijing.

    The situation in Beijing was extremely urgent, so Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of the Pingxi Army stationed in Ningyuan, was urgently ordered to come to the capital to aid. After receiving the order, Wu Sangui sent troops to the capital, but his actions were slow.

    At this time, Wu Sangui had become very important.

    Chongzhen can currently look forward to only two troops, one is Wu Sangui from Ningyuan, and the other is Ding Yunyi from Fujian.  Fujian was too far away from the capital, and Ding Yunyi was unruly. Chongzhen failed to mobilize his control, so he could only put all his hopes on Wu Sangui.

    Wu Sangui received the order on March 7th, abandoned Ningyuan on March 10th, and arrived at Shanhaiguan on March 16th. For a group of 200,000 soldiers and civilians, this speed was not slow.  .  Wu Sangui could leave the people and rush to Beijing, but Li Zicheng had not arrived in Beijing yet, so there was no need to be in a hurry, but the situation soon changed.

    On the 17th, Li Zicheng personally led an army to attack the nine gates, and the offensive and defensive war in the capital officially broke out.

    Li Zicheng¡¯s attack on Beijing has always been a huge mystery.

    Although the rogue bandits killed many people along the way, they only occupied Shanxi.  The Ming Dynasty focused on the capital and neglected other provinces, and had always assembled heavy troops in Beijing.  The three major battalions are said to have 470,000. Although there is a lot of vacancy, half of them should be available.  Although the combat effectiveness is not strong, the Manchu and Qing soldiers have come to the city many times, and the Beijing camp can be regarded as battle-hardened.  Beijing's city defense is very strong, and foreign enemies have been unable to break through the city many times.  During the Chongzhen period, the Manchu and Qing dynasties also attacked Beijing many times. The field campaign in the Beijing camp might not be effective, but the defense of the city could at least last for several months, with the help of red cannons.  The rogue bandits were very poor at attacking fortresses, and they lost tens of thousands of elite troops at Ningwuguan Pass. Why was it that attacking Beijing was like trying to get something out of a bag?  It is difficult to explain Chongzhen's delay in moving south and his order for the prince to go south. It is heroic for a king to die for his country, but who is willing to be the king who subjugates his country?  Unlike other dynasties, the Ming Dynasty used Nanjing as its companion. Chapter 550: The Ming Dynasty was the capital of loyalty and martyrdom, and the prince was stationed in Nanjing in the previous dynasty.

    Chongzhen was not so mediocre.

    It can be said that Chongzhen did not believe that the city would fall when the rogue bandits approached, and the civil and military forces also had this confidence, otherwise they would have fled in all directions.

    It should be said that Chongzhen did not believe that the city had fallen when the rogues were approaching. Wu Sangui would arrive soon. Once the rogues were trapped under the fortified city, King Qin's troops from various places would also arrive one after another.  Chongzhen didn't need to defend the city for a long time. As long as he could hold on for a few months, he would be able to turn the corner.

    The most incredible thing is that when Li Zicheng came to the city, he sent the eunuch Du Xun as an envoy to negotiate peace with Chongzhen. The conditions he offered were: "We will cede the northwest area to the king, reward the army with millions of silver, and retreat to Henan."  In order to contain the bandits in the imperial court, he could especially recruit troops to help control the Liao vassal, but he did not obey the imperial edicts or pay tribute."  We are about to enter the city, and we are offering such favorable terms?

    But Chongzhen actually refused to agree when the country was overturned.  Li Zicheng has already occupied Shaanxi and Henan, and it doesn't matter whether he cedes it or not.  Moreover, he has already established himself as king. Now it is just a matter of spending one million silver. He can also use him to destroy Zhang Xianzhong and other bandits, and even resist the Manchus.

    Even if the end is too big to be lost in the future, it is still ten thousand times better than the destruction of the city and the country.  Assuming that Chongzhen accepted this alliance under the city, Li Zicheng would rescue the siege and throw away the victory he had won.

    But all these mysteries will never have answers

    After Chongzhen issued the "Order of Diligent King", Wu Sangui finally sent troops to work diligently, which was much better than other generals.  Chongzhen issued a call for "Qinwang" soldiers and horses from all over the country, but almost no one responded.  Liu Zeqing lied about falling from a horse and injuring his foot, so he refused to comply with the edict.  Only Tang Tong's tribe was close to Beijing, and he led 8,000 troops to Beijing first.  This is really a drop in the bucket, how can it save the Ming Dynasty from danger!

    An atmosphere of fear enveloped the capital. The bandits outside the city were attacking the city more urgently. Almost all hope had been lost.

    "Where are the teachers of King Qin?" Until the end, Chongzhen still did not give up hope.

    The new Minister of War, Zhang Jinyan, let out a long sigh: "Your Majesty, where are the teachers of King Qin? Now we in the capital can only rely on our own strength!"

    Chongzhen was dumbfounded and could not utter a word. After a long while, he sighed longly: "I am not the king of the country that has perished, but my ministers are all the ministers of the country that have perished!"

    At this point, Zhang Jinyan didn't care anymore: "Your Majesty, the people of the three major battalions in the city are running away and scattered. People's hearts cannot be gathered together. Now we only have 40,000 usable soldiers left. The huge city of Beijing  Ah, this mere 40,000 old and weak soldiers can't defend it at all. There are only three crenels above the head to allocate one soldier. In addition to these 40,000 old and weak soldiers, there are thousands of people in the palace to assist.To defend the city, even if you add them together, they won't be of much use.  Moreover, this group of old, weak and disabled soldiers had been in arrears with pay for a long time. This time, because they were required to defend the city desperately, they were given a hundred yuan each. Since no one was in charge of food, they often had to ask for leave and go to the city to buy sesame seed cakes to satisfy their hunger.  "

    Chongzhen smiled bitterly: "I have been in office for seventeen years. In the past seventeen years, the war in Liaodong and the Central Plains has been a last resort. The deployment of troops and pay is really a last resort. Years of wars, more taxes and more dispatches, the original intention is to calm the people.  As a result, it is my fault that the burden on the people has been increased. The corrupt officials took advantage of the situation and deliberately exploited people, causing hardship to the people.  Instead, I treated the people as enemies by burning, killing and looting, which caused the sores to fester. It was my fault that I had so many faults, and I really have no shame in dealing with them!

    Everyone was silent.

    Chongzhen didn¡¯t say a word. He lowered his head and wrote twelve words on the imperial case. Wang Chengen, who was standing next to him, took a look at it and then erased it.  Six of the words are "Every civil servant can be killed." In the emperor's mind, the government was ruined in the hands of these civil servants.

    The siege of the rogue bandits became more and more urgent.

    ??Initially, the rogue bandits attacked Pingzemen, Zhangyimen, and Xizhimen.  The soldiers guarding these three city gates, the so-called "three major battalions", are actually old, weak and remnant soldiers and eunuchs with no fighting ability.  What's more, no one is cooking, and everyone is hungry. How can they withstand the overwhelming attack!

    Although the positions outside the city wall were covered with obstacles such as trains, giant cannons, caltrops, antlers, etc., they still could not stop the peasant army in yellow armor that came like a tide and surrounded the capital.

    On March 18, Li Zicheng commanded the bandits to attack fiercely in the rain.  The defenders on the city fired cannons outside, but there were no shells. There was only a burst of smoke and an empty sound, as if they were setting off firecrackers and fireworks in a half-hearted way.

    Chongzhen summoned the Prince Consort Gong Yonggu and asked him to lead his private armed forces to escort the prince out of Beijing and south.  Gong Yonggu told him that he had never dared to raise private weapons, and even if he had, he would not be able to break out of the siege.  This unrealistic dream had to be given up.  Zhu Youjian called the eunuch Wang Chengen and asked him to summon the palace personnel to prepare to guard the Forbidden City.

    Zhu Youjian, who was wandering in the palace, received a report from the eunuch that the inner city had fallen, and asked: Where are the soldiers in the camp?  Where is Li Guozhen?  The answer was: Li Guozhen, the governor of the Beijing camp, had already fled for his own life, and the soldiers of the camp had also dispersed and fled.  They advised the emperor to "leave in a hurry". The matter had come to this, and the only option was to run for his life.  They did not expect that the emperor's choice was not to "leave in a hurry"

    Chongzhen has made a decision: to die for the country!

    ¡°There are only emperors who die for their country, there are no emperors who run away!¡± This was Chongzhen¡¯s final answer!

    There was a beacon fire outside the city, and the flames soared into the sky.

    Emperor Chongzhen and his personal eunuch Wang Chengen came down from the coal mountain. They sighed and suddenly faced Wang Chengen and said, "Am I a good emperor?"

    "Your Majesty!" Wang Cheng'en burst into tears and said, "Your Majesty is a good emperor, the best emperor since the founding of our Ming Dynasty! Your Majesty is diligent and frugal, and every day he works hard to revitalize the Ming Dynasty. There is no better emperor in our Ming Dynasty than your Majesty.  ah!"

    "But why did the Ming Dynasty perish in my hands?" Chongzhen smiled bitterly: "I am a good emperor, I am a good emperor, but it is a pity that I was born at the wrong time!"

    The devastated Chongzhen returned to the palace and wrote an edict, ordering Duke Zhu Chunchen to command the armies and assist the crown prince Zhu Cihong.  He also ordered Empress Zhou, Concubine Yuan Guifei and her three sons to enter the palace. After giving some brief instructions to the sons, he ordered the eunuchs to send them to their relatives' homes for hiding.

    He tied the belts for the children himself and said to them sadly: "Today you are still the sons of the emperor, but you will soon become ordinary people In this troubled world, you must remain anonymous. When you see an old man, you will call him an old man, and the young will call you an old man."  Call me uncle."

    These are his last words to the children.

    "The emperor has the way to die, and the emperor has the majesty of the emperor!" After arranging these things, Chongzhen suddenly regained his emperor's style. Then, his eyes fell on Queen Zhou: "You are the mother of the country, so you should  Martyrdom for the country.¡±

    Queen Zhou cried and said: "I have been with you for eighteen years, and your Majesty has not heard a word from me, even today. Now that your Majesty has ordered me to die, how dare I not die?"

    After saying this, he took off his belt and hanged himself.  Zhu Youjian turned to Concubine Yuan and said, "You should go with the queen!" Concubine Yuan cried goodbye and hanged herself.

    Chongzhen summoned the 15-year-old eldest princess and said with tears: "Why did you want to be born into the emperor's family?"

    After saying that, she covered her face with her left sleeve, pulled out a knife with her right hand and slashed her left arm, then cut off her right shoulder, and she fainted to the ground.  Chongzhen also ordered the people around to urge Queen Zhang to commit suicide.

    ?Chongzhen looked around at a loss. At this time, there was only one eunuch, Wang Chengen, accompanying him.

    ??????????????????? What about those generals whom I trusted so much before?  What about those ministers whom I trusted before?  When the bandit army attacked the city, he personally rang the bell to summon the ministers, but except for the eunuch Wang Chengen, no one came to the palace!

    I had the civil and military talents of the entire dynasty, but in the end, the only one I could trust was one eunuch!

    Chongzhen¡¯s heart was filled with sadness at this moment

    "Your Majesty!" Seeing this human tragedy, Wang Chengen fell to his knees on the ground with a plop: "Your Majesty, your Majesty wants to die for the country, and the old slave can only accompany you, but your Majesty is not alone! Your Majesty is burdened with  I am the country of the Ming Dynasty, and I am the millions of people of the Ming Dynasty! Your Majesty, this old slave will fight to the death to protect your majesty from the city!"

    "Out of the city? Out of the city?" Chongzhen smiled bitterly and shook his head.

    How else can I get out of the city now?

    At this time, there was a commotion in the palace. It turned out that the eunuchs and maidens knew that the bandit army was coming and the capital was about to fall. They all panicked and wanted to escape.

    Wang Chengen shouted loudly: "Your Majesty is here, who dares to move!"

    Wang Chengen had been trusted by Chongzhen for a long time and was very majestic in front of the young eunuchs. When he shouted angrily, all the young eunuchs actually stood there without moving.

    Just listen to Wang Chengen loudly say: "My dears, the bandits are attacking the city and the country is in danger, but Your Majesty is still here! The Ming Dynasty is still here! We useless people who have nothing below us, if we don't repay the emperor's favor now, when will we fight?"  But once you die, you will protect your majesty. Those who are not afraid of death will stay here and wait for the rebel army to come and fight them! "

    The young eunuchs all stood there in shock, and suddenly heard a young eunuch who was no more than sixteen or seventeen years old said loudly: "My father-in-law has been kind to me. My father-in-law is not afraid of death today, so why should we be afraid of death?"  Ah, come on, kill the enemy!"

    His cry immediately aroused the determination of all the eunuchs. All the eunuchs, big and small, shouted one after another: "Kill the enemy, kill the enemy, all follow the father-in-law to kill the enemy!"

    Wang Chengen looked at the little eunuch: "What's your name?"

    "Back to father-in-law, my name is Zhang Yishan in the palace, but my real name is Xu Dezhong."

    "Ah." Even his good friend Zhou Xi was stunned by these words. Only now did he know that the name of his good friend Zhang Yishan was fake.

    Wang Chengen no longer has time to ask Xu Dezhong why he used a pseudonym: "Okay, okay! Although we are all going to die now, our names will go down in history!"

    Wang Chengen doesn¡¯t want to live anymore. Wang Chengen regards himself as a dead person, but he must die vigorously!

    Looking at these loyal and brave eunuchs, Chongzhen's eyes filled with tears.  At the most critical moment now, the only ones who are still loyal to him and willing to accompany him to die for his country are actually these eunuchs.

    But Chongzhen was wrong.

    Just as he was weeping, a loud shout suddenly came from outside: "The Imperial Guards are commanding the Qianshi Hong Tiaoyuan, and Ji Dechun from Qianhu is here to escort him!"

    Hong Tiaoyuan and Lao Ji are here!

    Chongzhen was startled and quickly remembered who they were: "Ah, it's you. Are you just transferred from Nanjing?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty!" Hong Tiaoyuan said loudly: "I have only been in the capital for a few months, and no one has made arrangements for me and others. Now I heard that the intruders are in a hurry to attack the city, and they broke into the palace before notifying Your Majesty. It is a capital crime!  "

    "Okay, okay, you are not guilty, you are all loyal ministers of my Ming Dynasty!" Chongzhen's voice also became trembling.

    However, at this moment, another voice came: "Ding Yuanzhao, the right minister of the Ministry of War, is here to escort you!"

    Ding Yuanzhao is here too!

    Ding Yuanzhao was wearing ill-fitting armor, holding a sword in his hand, with a gray beard, arrogant and high-spirited, standing upright: "Ding Yuanzhao, the guilty minister, heard that the thieves were attacking the city, especially  Come to the palace to protect you!"

    Chongzhen was surprised and delighted: "Ding Aiqing, I have dismissed you from office, and you, you are still here to protect me?"

    "Your Majesty dismissed the minister's official position. That is what the emperor did. It is the minister's duty to protect you. How can the two be confused?" Ding Yuanzhao said loudly.

    "You are all my loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty!" Chongzhen clenched his hands into fists: "You, Wang Cheng'en; you, Ding Yuanzhao; you, Hong Tiaoyuan; you, Ji Dechun! And you, all of them are loyal ministers  , Who said that our Ming Dynasty has no loyal ministers! Let¡¯s wait until the intruders arrive. Let¡¯s see, our Ming Dynasty has an emperor who is not afraid of death, and our Ming Dynasty also has ministers who are not afraid of death!¡±

    "Hong Tiaoyuan has met his mentor!" When the emperor finished speaking, Hong TiaoyuanTiaoyuan hurriedly stepped forward to meet Ding Yuanzhao.

    Ding Yuanzhao smiled slightly: "Hong Tiaoyuan, today there is no distinction between teachers and students, today there are only heroes who work together to celebrate the death of the country!"

    "Yes, today there are only heroes who are celebrating the death of Sheji!" Hong Tiaoyuan laughed, and then suddenly said loudly: "Ding Yunyi, third brother, did you see? You are living freely in Fujian as your Wu Liehou,  But the capital is about to be destroyed! Your Majesty, your father and your elder brothers are ready to die for the country. Are you ashamed to be in Fujian?"

    Chongzhen was startled after hearing this: "Hong Aiqing, what is your name Ding Yunyi?"

    "Third brother." Hong Tiaoyuan said with a smile: "Your Majesty, back then I was the commander-in-chief of Penghu, and I was sworn brother to Ding Yunyi. There were a total of sixteen people who were sworn sworn brothers. They called themselves the 'Sixteen Heroes of Penghu', but now ours  This third brother has become an arrogant Wu Liehou."

    "Brother, look who I am."

    Chongzhen had not yet spoken, but a voice suddenly spoke slowly and authentically.

    Everyone looked there one after another, and Xu Dezhong and Zhou Xi called out at the same time: "Uncle Ghost?"

    Hong Tiaoyuan and Lao Ji lost their voices and said: "Lao Shi?"

    They did not admit their mistake, Uncle Gui was the tenth among the "Sixteen Heroes of Penghu"!

    Uncle Gui stood up with a smile: "The eldest brother and the second brother still remember me, the old ten. There are not many of us in Penghu Sixteenth Ying who are still alive. The eldest brother and the second brother are a little wrong. The third brother, ah, Wu Liehou Ding Yunyi does not  Forget Your Majesty, the Tiger Guards are rapidly marching towards the capital. If we hold on for a few more days, the Tiger Guards may be able to arrive!"

    Chongzhen was overjoyed, but then his expression turned gloomy.  How many days will it last?  The current situation cannot last even one day!

    "Eldest brother, second brother, I am a heavenly eunuch." Uncle Gui was still smiling: "That's why the Marquis sent me to deliver information to the palace. Your Majesty, this is a capital crime, but I'm not afraid now. Anyway, we all can do it very quickly."  They are all going to die, but please rest assured, Your Majesty, Wu Liehou and his Tiger Guards will definitely arrive!"

    Wang Chengen also laughed: "The ministers have long said that Ding Yunyi is nothing more than a powerful minister, and definitely not a traitor. Your Majesty, if the capital is destroyed, then the capital will be destroyed. Ding Yunyi will avenge us sooner or later!"

    Chongzhen thought for a while, and then laughed: "Okay, then let us die happily together!"

    Daming, there are still these monarchs and ministers who are not afraid of death!  The Ming Dynasty cannot be destroyed!  Ming Dynasty, no matter how passionate the storm is, it will still make that battle flag fly in the wind and never fall down!  !  !  !
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