On the tower, the soldiers and some eunuchs crowded forward and looked down. There were killing sounds, smoke and dust billowing, and a large number of cavalry galloping. The formations were constantly changing, and they seemed to have the power to destroy the world.
.
Their faces immediately turned pale, thinking that the intruders were attacking the capital again, so they formed the formation like this. However, they soon realized that the purpose of this move was to allow His Majesty to review the army, so they made such a change.
They all looked at it dumbfounded and exclaimed. It was the first time in these years that they had seen an army with such orders and prohibitions. Everyone had a murderous look on their faces, and their perseverance was natural. Every sound and every move was in harmony with the capital's strength.
The defenders were very different.
The army below had a great reputation and was called the elite of the Ming Dynasty. However, the Beijing camp, which was once an elite, was in a state of decay and looked ashen. Compared with it, it was like comparing monkeys with tigers. There was no comparison at all.
Zhu Ling was riding a tall horse, accompanied by Li Yuan, and guarded by several personal guards behind him. He was admiring such a spectacular army formation in front of him, and felt quite excited.
Without concealing the excitement in his heart, he said: "You are worthy of being an elite of the Ming Dynasty. You really have the aura of a strong army. Looking at this formation, this murderous aura is far beyond what the army of thieves can match. King Pingxi did it
It’s pretty good!”
Seeing that His Majesty did not hesitate to praise Guan Ning's army, Li Yuan also showed a sense of pride in his heart, so he replied: "Your Majesty, Guan Ning's army has been a powerful army of the Ming Dynasty since its early days. Every battle involves death.
, or win! There is never any talk of surrender, the soldiers inside all have the power to defeat tigers, so they are naturally in an invincible position!"
"It's such an elite force, but it's a pity that there are less of them. It would be better if there were more, and the Ming Dynasty wouldn't be like this." Zhu Ling sighed, being completely shocked by the momentum displayed by Guan Ning's army in front of him, and the excitement in his heart could not subside for a long time.
I will think of the sick garrison and the Beijing camp in the city. If I hadn't risked being criticized by the scholars all over the world for ransacking some officials' mansions and getting so much money, I'm afraid they would have surrendered the intruders long ago.
It's a bit sad, but also a bit sad and angry. Those so-called court officials, civil servants are greedy for money, military ministers are afraid of death, do nothing when encountering trouble, and panic when encountering chaos. How can these people themselves expect them to put down the rebellion?
It would be great if Sun Chuanting was not dead and he could still use him as an official.
"Your Majesty, although Guan Ning's army is brave and good at fighting, it is very costly without annual salary and other expenses. Normally, 10,000 infantry only costs a few hundred thousand, but when it comes to Guan Ning's army, three million silver taels is not enough.
! Therefore, the general once wrote to His Majesty to beg for military pay, which was quite helpless. The cost of cavalry is huge, and even if the general spends all his family property, it will not be enough."
As he spoke, Li Yuan was also trying to excuse Wu Sangui's repeated petitions for military pay, for fear that His Majesty would blame his general for this matter.
But it was obvious that he was overthinking. Even though the former Emperor Chongzhen knew that Wu Sangui wanted too much and the court was simply unable to pay, he still tried his best to piece it together and had no intention of blaming him.
Maybe it's not that he didn't have it, but that he didn't dare. In those days, Li Zicheng was unstoppable, fighting all the way from Shaanxi to Shanxi. Most of the prefectures and counties along the way almost surrendered. Tang Tong, who had planned to fight to the death, was also forced to surrender, and the people were even more desperate.
Thinking that the rescuers were coming, they rushed out to greet them.
Chongzhen did not expect such a fast and smooth offensive, and the soldiers from the Beijing camp who came out of the city to block the attack fled directly. Li Guozhen had no choice but to withdraw to the capital, and could only place his hope on Wu Sangui.
If he shows the intention of blaming and punishing, if he delays even a little longer, the capital will be hopeless!
And now Chongzhen, that is, Zhu Ling is also quite afraid of this Wu Sangui, not because he is afraid of rebellion, but more afraid of being unable to control this person. Even though he controls his family, most of the northern part of the Ming Dynasty now
It has fallen, and only the Gyeonggi area and around Shanhaiguan are still controlled by Shandong.
Of course, not to mention the Gyeonggi area, it was already ravaged by intruders. Liu Zeqing from Shandong was a villain and could not be trusted. The only thing he could rely on was the 40,000 troops in Wu Sangui's hands.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ling showed an affinity and said to Li Yuan: "I have no intention of blaming Wu Qing, but it is related to the danger of the capital and even the entire Ming Dynasty. It is urgent. Wu Qing was once interviewed by me.
, canonized, and gave him full power to pacify the slaves. At that moment, he was responsible for the entire situation in Liaodong."
"What your Majesty said is absolutely true. The general went there and couldn't sleep well every day, just to pacify the Jian slaves as soon as possible and give the Ming Dynasty a stable Liaodong."
"Li Qing, you are now responsible for the fate of me and the entire imperial court."
"Ah? What did your Majesty say?"
This sentence shocked Li Yuan, and his heart beat rapidly. He thought that His Majesty just said this casually.
"Let me tell you, there are only 3,000 people available in the Beijing camp, and the defenders above." Zhu Ling said, turning back to look at the top of the city tower, then laughed at himself and said: "Most of the people are not available, if
I was cruel and took some silver out to calm their hearts a little, but Li Qing, I'm afraid the capital had already fallen two days ago."
"His Majesty……"
"Needless to say, since you arrived, it means that I and the Ming Dynasty will not perish! The Ming Dynasty still has hope to continue."
"The Ming Dynasty will last forever!"
Li Yuan didn't say much, but followed up with a compliment.
"Let the soldiers stop. The intruders are still not far away. If my whim made the army exhausted and the intruders came to kill them, it would be my fault." Zhu Ling withdrew his gaze and expressed regret.
, then turned around on horseback, several guards avoided the road, and then walked back on horseback.
Li Yuan bowed slightly and bowed his hands to send His Majesty back to the capital. Then he immediately ordered the deputy commander to stop the formation and start building a camp to defend against the intruders. After receiving the order, the deputy commander quickly stopped the army and closed the door.
Ning's army stopped in a moment and began to build the camp in an orderly manner without any fatigue.
Halfway through, Zhu Ling suddenly stopped, turned around and said loudly to Li Yuan: "Li Qing, just leave one person to take command. The other generals can take them to the capital."
"As you command!"
After saying this, Zhu Ling speeded up his horse and immediately returned to the city gate. The guards behind him also speeded up to follow, but the city gate was still open, waiting for Li Yuan to enter the capital.
Li Yuan called the deputy commander-in-chief and several generals, discussed it, and left one general. The others and some generals gathered around and entered the city gate, followed by the city gate.
Close up.
When the officials waiting inside saw that His Majesty had finally returned, they rushed forward to ask about Zhu Ling's situation.
"Your Majesty is fine. I am no longer worried."
"Your Majesty, you must never do this in the future. What if something happens? Alas."
Naturally, he had heard these words a lot, and Zhu Ling ignored them all. However, it was already afternoon, and the curtain wall did not know the intruder's movements yet, so he had better go back to the palace to discuss countermeasures.
"Mr. Fan Ge, you and Shangshu Ni, together with Meng Zhaoxiang, Wen Yao, Li Banghua, and Wang Jiayan have all come into the palace. I know that you have not eaten in order to wait for me, so you will have a meal with me to discuss the strategy of traveling south to worship your ancestors.
Some generals from the Guan Ning Army outside will also come."
"I obey the decree."
All the ministers bowed down to accept the order. Among them, Wen Yao was the most excited. He suppressed the excitement in his heart and couldn't help thinking that he was just a left governor with no real power. His Majesty must have planned to use him in the future.
Invite yourself to such a distinguished banquet.
Without further words, he directly rode his horse back to the palace accompanied by the royal guards. At this moment, Wang Chengen heard that His Majesty had returned to the palace, so he was naturally overjoyed and hurried to discuss with His Majesty the rebuilding of the East Factory.
At this moment, Li Zicheng's camp was also having a heated discussion about the news about the 10,000 Guan Ning Army led by Li Yuan.
Liu Zongmin, the most capable general, did his duty and stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, I feel that this Guan Ning army only has 10,000 people. We are stronger than them, so we must not be afraid at all."
"Although your words are reasonable, they are also biased." Niu Jinxing stood up and said in a deep voice.
"Why?"
Li Zicheng suppressed Liu Zongmin's impatience and asked seriously.
"Your Majesty, I sent someone to check from a distance. Although Guan Ning's army only has 10,000 troops this time, are we sure it is only 10,000 troops? If there are Wu Sangui's other troops following closely on the road, then we will definitely be attacked from a flank."
"I agree with what the Prime Minister said, but judging from my hexagram, King Qin's army is only 10,000 and nothing else. From the actual situation, Shanhaiguan must be guarded by someone, and this person must be Wu Sangui."
"Du Xun, what do you think?"
[Author's digression]: The exam will be over tomorrow. There will be more updates and the quality will not be low. Please feel free to vote down. The popularity has dropped a bit in the past few days. It's so sad.