It was already past noon, and the sun was gradually setting in the west. Li Zicheng, who was lying on the couch, saw that there had been no news from Li Guo and Luo Rucai for a long time. He comforted himself by thinking that it was because the journey was far away or that escorting the emperor was more complicated, so it was too late.
some.
But because he was feeling rather depressed, perhaps because he felt irritable about Jiexuan being captured alive, he got up and went out to get some fresh air. Staying in the big tent for the past few days gave rise to a lot of fatigue.
Perhaps a few days ago, he could have gone straight to the capital, entered the palace, and become the real Emperor of Dashun. But now, not only did he fail to ascend the throne, but he lost the battle, and even one of the generals around him was captured alive.
It really feels like stealing the chicken but losing the rice.
He was not a pessimistic person at all, and because of this, when only eighteen riders were left after being beaten, he did not accept the surrender, but fled directly into the mountains and disappeared. After a while, he turned back.
In one moment, they directly swept through Henan, leveled Shaanxi, entered Shanxi, and finally attacked the capital.
What was originally a good situation turned out to be such a crisis because I was too kind to the emperor.
"Perhaps we should attack the capital directly on that day, otherwise Jiexuan will not be captured alive and Dashun will be established earlier." Li Zicheng couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh, his eyes filled with regret.
"No, no, the king is just as kind as an emperor and as arbitrary as a king. What happened these days is just a small setback for us."
At some point, Niu Jinxing appeared behind him and said respectfully.
"If the emperor escapes, I'm afraid Dashun will really fall short." Li Zicheng was full of worry, regret and anger.
"General Li and General Luo join forces to pursue, and Chongzhen will definitely not escape."
However, Niu Jinxing was quite lacking in confidence when he said this, and his tone was quite...
"I hope so. If they are defeated or return without success, let them kneel in front of the camp and be punished." After saying that, Li Zicheng finally felt tired and walked away.
A strange light flashed in the eyes of Niu Jinxing behind him. He looked back to the east, but there was a sigh in his eyes. Then he turned around and waved his hand, calling a man in a green shirt and said in his ear: "Tell me
Those people, let them prepare, give them a higher reward, and make them a duke!"
…
Capital
"My Lord Governor, Your Majesty has gone far."
On top of the Dongzhimen Gate Tower, Meng Zhaoxiang held his telescope high and kept looking to the east. He couldn't bear to stop. He could only see the figure of His Majesty's team. Next to him was an armored general with a sword. Seeing the Governor like this, he couldn't bear to persuade him.
"My son will accomplish something by following His Majesty."
"Your Majesty, your beloved son will definitely be a dragon among men. He is accompanying your Majesty now, and he will definitely be a pillar of our Ming Dynasty in the future." The general also answered and praised.
"Let's go, Your Majesty should be safe."
Finally, he put away his thoughts about his beloved son and put down his telescope. Only then did Meng Zhaoxiang stop looking eastward and was willing to take care of national affairs.
"Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and he is blessed with great blessings, so he is naturally fine."
"The order goes down. From today on, no one in the city is allowed to leave the city. Each tower is guarded day and night. Three hundred people are transferred from the capital camp to patrol the towers. If anyone has a wrong mind, he can be beheaded!"
Meng Zhaoxiang turned around and looked at the capital of Nuo University. He suddenly felt that the burden on his body was inexplicably heavy. His Majesty's journey south had solved a problem in his heart. He was not afraid of intruders. With Liu Zongmin in hand, they would not dare to
Siege the city.
I'm afraid that there are some people with evil intentions in the capital. If they rebel and rescue Liu Zongmin, and the intruders suddenly attack the city, then the capital may not be able to defend it at all.
Thinking of this, he immediately said: "Send two hundred more people! We will take turns patrolling at twelve hours a day, and Liu Zongmin must not be released!"
Seeing the governor's sudden nonsense, the general beside him was very confused and asked quickly: "Sir, what are you doing?"
"If the intruders are defeated by His Majesty, what escape route do they have?"
The general lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said tentatively: "If we don't retreat directly to Xi'an, Xi'an is the place where thieves have established themselves as kings, and then there is the northwest area, and it may be..."
Immediately, he seemed to have thought of something terrible, and immediately exclaimed: "Could it be that they are going to attack the capital?"
Meng Zhaoxiang sighed, paced back and forth, and continued to add: "That Liu Zongmin is said to be the good brother of the intruder Li Zicheng. If he is arrested, Li Zicheng will not let it go, and if he knows that His Majesty defeated the army they blocked, he will definitely
Vent all your anger on the capital."
"When they brought in cannons, gathered their troops, and arrived at the gates of the capital city, they could not see the capital city a few steps away because we had Liu Zongmin in our hands!"
"In this case, there is nothing to fear from intruders." The general was a little confused and asked Liu Zongmin to hold him hostage. This was everyone's inner thought. What doubts there was.
"How likely do you think it is that Liu Zongmin will be rescued by the intruder?" Meng Zhaoxiang asked again.
Hearing this, the general just chuckled, obviously very disdainful, and said resolutely: "The general thinks it is impossible!"
"Why are you so sure?"
Meng Zhaoxiang's expression looked a little playful at this moment.
"Although the capital does not have an army of 100,000, it still has 5,000 elite men and tens of thousands of soldiers guarding the capital. In addition, the capital city has tall buildings, deep buildings, and complicated streets. What's more, Liu Zongmin is in Zhao Prison. There is probably no one in this world.
You can escape from it!"
What the general said was very firm, and when faced with such an unquestionable question, he was extremely convinced of his answer.
"If you put it this way, Liu Zongmin has no chance of escaping at this moment. Faced with tens of thousands of intruders pressing down on the border and cannons bombarding my tower, will you allocate part of your already small force to watch over Liu Zongmin?"
Such a question immediately made the general hesitate, and he fell into deep thought. He couldn't answer it for a while, and finally hesitantly replied: "I'm afraid the general is unwilling. If the invading army presses the border, everyone will face the enemy."
"But if the intruders dare to attack the city, we can just push Liu Zongmin out. The general will not believe that they dare to continue firing cannons and arrows."
"You just said that when the intruders attack the city, you will not arrange more guards. After all, he is in prison and cannot escape. But you also said that when the intruders attack the city, you will take Liu Zongmin out.
, go to the tower and threaten the intruders."
"Why don't you think about it? Zhao Prison is indeed safe, but what if you are taken out? There are many houses passing by around. Although this road is not far, it is not close either. If there are killers around to rob someone, they may even escort him
What should we do if there is guilt among the people?”
"At that time, it is naturally impossible for you and me to escort him in person, and it is even less possible for us to divide our troops to escort him. But at this time, it is the easiest time for Liu Zongmin to escape!"
Listening to Governor Meng's words, the general suddenly felt that his idea was quite simple and even had huge loopholes. At this moment, he was reminded by the Governor, and he finally came to his senses.
"In other words, the moment we escorted Liu Zongmin was the weakest link!"
"That's right!"
Meng Zhaoxiang waved his hand and said sharply, "When that time comes, we must send at least two hundred people to escort us, and from today on, we must find the spies in the city!"
"Spies? There are actually spies in the capital?" The general couldn't believe it for a moment, and his eyes widened. Is there actually a spy in the imperial capital of the Ming Dynasty?
"Think about the last time His Majesty was besieged and killed in Ge Lao's Mansion. Luo Yangxing was clearly in prison, but he escaped and even gathered hundreds of Jinyi guards. His Majesty was even assassinated earlier today, and the assassin was
Mr. Huang is also related to the intruder."
After saying that, Meng Zhaoxiang suddenly sighed and said seriously: "There are only a lot of spies in this capital. Your Majesty is right to go south. Even if the intruders don't take the initiative to attack the city, they will be assassinated several times by spies in this capital.
"
"Then sir?"
"It's up to you to arrange it. Make it clear to the brothers that the governor has a lot of money. As long as he finds a thief and a spy, he will be rewarded with five taels. If he kills a spy, he will be rewarded with ten taels. If there are too many people involved, I will write a document and seal it.
He is an official, the lowest is seventh rank!"
[Author's digression]: I posted a bit slowly today. I should have posted before ten o'clock, but I didn't expect that the coach asked me to practice driving at nine thirty and scolded me. I was speechless.