While Pang Gang was marching towards Beijing, Chongzhen in the Forbidden City was like an ant on a hot pot, pacing around the Kunning Palace.
For the past few days, Chongzhen couldn't eat and couldn't sleep at night. Not only were his eyes sunken, his face was gloomy, but he was also dizzy and his body could not support himself. However, the country's demise was right in front of him. He could not fall down and give up on the fate of the country, nor could he go to Yangdezhai.
I slept painfully on the imperial couch for a while.
He originally thought that his life would end and the fate of the Zhu family would be cut off, but after hearing Wang Chengen say that Pang Gang would arrive with his army, his desire to survive became stronger again. Losing the throne is nothing, Chongzhen
Having been the emperor for more than ten years and having lived a hard life for more than ten years, he naturally knows how hot the throne is, but he has to work hard to support the Zhu family. Now if he finally loses it, he
Although there is still reluctance in my heart, it is more of a kind of relief. But at the same time of relief, there is also a deep sense of loss.
It was already noon. Just when Chongzhen was about to look around, Wang Chengen came in. This morning he was ordered to lead his chamberlain and some of the remaining royal guards in the palace to defend the inner city wall. There was no news. Chongzhen had been waiting for him to come back.
Now I saw a noise in front of the main hall, I looked up and saw him coming in, and immediately asked: "My companion, how is the situation now?"
Wang Chengen prostrated himself on the ground and sighed: "Your Majesty, the outer city has been lost!"
"What? So fast!"
Chongzhen was startled at first, and then closed his eyes in pain. He did not expect that such a strong outer city would be lost in less than a morning.
There was silence in the palace. Queen Zhou and Concubine Yuan hugged their children tightly and began to cry. However, they were afraid of offending Chongzhen, so they tried hard to suppress their cries. A low wailing sound echoed in the palace.
Seeing such a situation, Wang Chengen quickly comforted and said: "Your Majesty, don't panic, I will defend the inner city even if I risk my life. As long as we hold on until Pang Gang's army comes, we will be saved!"
Chongzhen let out a long sigh. "I knew the outer city couldn't be defended, but I didn't expect it to be so vulnerable. My companion, please report quickly. What happened after the traitors entered the outer city?"
Wang Chengen said harshly: "My servant saw that the bandit infantry and cavalry were in the city and were living in various places. There were also small groups of cavalry in the streets and alleys outside Zhengyang Gate. The bandits (Liu Zongmin) were leading the bandits in the streets and alleys.
to capture the fleeing officers and soldiers. The slaves also saw that the outer city was full of bandits and soldiers, and that all seven gates of the outer city (Yongding Gate, Zuo'an Gate, You'an Gate, Guangqu Gate, Guangning Gate, Dongbian Gate, and Xibian Gate) were all open.
Your Majesty, since the outer city has been lost, our only way to survive is to guard the inner gate. I hope your Majesty will make up his mind quickly!"
Chongzhen asked again: "My lord, didn't I ask you to worry about the emperor's relatives discussing matters and organize your servants to go to the inner city wall to defend the enemy? How is the discussion going now?"
Having said this, Wang Chengen couldn't help but burst into tears: "To report to the emperor, I have sent the ministers to pass on the emperor's oral instructions separately. I summoned the emperor's relatives and ministers to gather at the Chaoyang Gate Tower to discuss matters. Everyone was afraid of donating money to defend the city and refused to go forward in accordance with the order.
Come, the only people who came to the Chaoyang Gate Tower were Xinlehou Liu Wenbing and Prince Consort Gong Yonggu. They didn’t come together and the meeting couldn’t be held. They two royal relatives had to go back home crying."
"These bastards!" Chongzhen stood up and said bitterly: "These royal relatives and ministers are usually deeply favored by the country, and they are connected with the country and share weal and woe. It is so hateful that they are like this today!"
Wang Chengen said anxiously: "Your Majesty, stop counting on your relatives and ministers, and make up your mind quickly without delay!"
Chongzhen pondered for a long time, gritted his teeth and said: "Now that things have come to a point, I can't care about that much anymore. It's better to ask for yourself than to ask for others. My dear friend, please quickly order someone to bring my weapons. I will personally go to the city wall to defend against the enemy!"
"
"What!" When everyone heard this, they were all shocked. The emperor wanted to go to the city wall to fight the bandits in person? Are you kidding? This is absolutely impossible.
Everyone in the hall, including Queen Zhou, knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, think twice. You are the king of a country. It is related to the country and the country. If there is something wrong with you, what should you do? Defend the city."
If someone else does it, how can you go there yourself?"
Chongzhen said sadly and angrily: "Is this what I want? Now all the civil and military officials in the dynasty have shrunk, fearing that they will have anything to do with me. Even Yang Sichang has disappeared. If I don't personally defend the city, who will?
Defend the city personally?"
After hearing Chongzhen's words, everyone couldn't help but burst into tears. They didn't expect that what they were doing now was so unbearable. They even asked the emperor to go to the tower to defend the city in person, while the civil and military officials of the dynasty hid in their homes and trembled.
After a long time, Queen Zhou stopped her tears and said resolutely: "Well, since the emperor has made up his mind, I will not stop the emperor. After all, it is the ancestral precepts for the king to protect the country. But the emperor has gone up to the city wall, and I will not stop him."
Why wait for others to die? Let’s go to the city wall together with the emperor later.”
"Zitong, what are you doing?" Chongzhen looked at Queen Zhou in confusion.
Empress Zhou looked at Chongzhen and said with blurred eyes: "Since the emperor is determined to die, why should I cherish this life? Why don't I accompany the emperor to defend the city? Anyway, we will live together as a family, and if we die, we will
Let's die together."
Seeing the rare firm look in Queen Zhou's eyes, Chongzhen knew that Queen Zhou had made up her mind. His heart was filled with sadness and sweetness at the same time. Finally, he nodded heavily and said: "Well, anyway, if there is a person in the inner city,
None of us can survive, so we might as well go to the top of the city together and die together! I am the king of a country. If the king dies in the country, justice is righteous. I will never think otherwise, but I hate that no one among the officials
From Dead Ear!”
Wang Chengen choked and said: "I am willing to accompany the emperor on the city wall. Even if I die, I will die in front of the emperor!"
Chongzhen looked intently at Wang Chengen's tear-filled eyes, nodded, and couldn't help sobbing sadly.
At three quarters of noon, after Chongzhen and his family had a full meal, he led three hundred servants of the Forbidden City who knew martial arts to the top of the inner city.
When Chongzhen's family went up to the city wall and saw the defenders on the city wall, their hearts froze. Who are the defenders on the city wall at this time? There are young people here, common people, and some who have retreated into the interior.
The defeated soldiers of the city and the servants of the Royal Horse Guards, these people have no unified command, let alone morale. They are all leaning lazily behind the battlements, some are lying down, and some are secretly looking out.
, in short, it is a doomsday scene.
"Long live your arrival. Everyone welcomes you!"
When a sharp and high-pitched sound sounded on the city wall, all the defenders on the city wall were stunned. A Ming army officer couldn't help but cursed: "Who is this little turtle who is shouting nonsense? I'll chop off his head."
"Snapped!"
As soon as the officer finished speaking, a chestnut hit him on the head.
"Asshole, I'll kill you!"
The officer immediately stood up, drew his sword, and looked at the person coming without thinking.
"Be bold!"
A series of violent shouts rang out around him. Then a crisp metal collision sounded in front of him, and a sword stopped in front of him. It turned out that a chamberlain pulled out his weapon and stopped his sword.
Immediately, a foot was lifted on the officer's body, almost kicking the officer upside down.
When the officer roared and wanted to get up and fight the intruder, he suddenly saw a middle-aged man wearing bright yellow clothes with five-clawed golden dragons embroidered on the clothes looking at him intently.
The officer was stunned for a few moments, then the sweat on his face slowly seeped out of his forehead, and his face turned pale.
"Bang!" There was a sound. The waist knife that had been collected fell to the ground.
After shaking his body for a few times, he knelt down on the ground and said tremblingly: "The villain Yang Shuo from a hundred households in the Shenwu Camp of Jingying is here to see the emperor. Long live my emperor! Long live the emperor! This villain offends the face of Heaven and is punished with death!"
"Get up!"
Chongzhen was strangely not angry. Instead, he raised his hand and helped the man named Yang Shuo up and said in a deep voice: "Get up. Those who don't know are not guilty. I don't blame you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The man named Yang Shuo saved his life and quickly stood up, standing respectfully with his hands down. After Chongzhen helped Yang Shuo up, he didn't say much, but walked to the crenel.
He stuck his head out of the crenel to look at the situation in front of him, and what he saw in front of him shocked the great emperor of tomorrow.
At this time, the inner city was already densely surrounded by people, and there were soldiers wearing gray-brown armor everywhere. They were busy preparing, with countless ladders placed beside them, and there were people pushing them in the distance.
Heavy objects came one after another, and Chongzhen could see that they were artillery pieces.
Looking at the black muzzle of the cannon, Chongzhen's heart felt as if he had fallen into an abyss. His body holding on to the crenel swayed a few times and he almost lost his balance. He murmured: "Is it possible that God not only wants to destroy the Ming Dynasty, but also wants to destroy the Ming Dynasty?"
Do you want to destroy the Zhu family’s inheritance?”
Seeing that Chongzhen was a little excited, Wang Chengen quickly walked over, supported Chongzhen's body and whispered in his ear: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. As long as we can survive today, we will be saved. Although artillery is powerful, it cannot be used in a short period of time."
It’s not like we can break through our city wall in just half a day.”
"Well, yes, we still have reinforcements!" Hearing this, Chongzhen felt better. He turned around and looked at the soldiers on the wall, Qing Zhuang and others who were looking at him eagerly. Although he was not fighting
He had experience in this area, but after being an emperor for so many years, he also knew that the most important thing now was to stabilize the morale of the soldiers who defended the city.
Chongzhen came to Yang Shuo, who had almost chopped him down with a sword just now, stared at him and asked: "Just now, you said you were a member of the 100 households of Shenwu Camp?"
Seeing the emperor asking him something, Yang Shuo was about to kneel down and answer, but was stopped by Chongzhen.
"This is not the Jinluan Palace, you can just stand and answer!"
"Yes!" Yang Shuo bowed and replied: "To report to the emperor, the villain is a member of the 100 households belonging to the Shenwu Camp, one of the three major camps in the Beijing camp."
"Shenwu Camp?" Chongzhen looked at him thoughtfully and then asked slowly: "Didn't your troops in the Beijing camp disperse long ago? Why are you still here?"
Chongzhen's voice was not loud, but it made Yang Shuo and the dozen or so Beijing soldiers around him want to hide their heads under their crotches.
A hundred years ago, the Beijing camp, which was known as the strongest army in the world, had more than 100,000 troops and received hundreds of thousands in salary from the court every year. But when the bandits came, they immediately dispersed and hid in their own homes hugging their wives and children.
Trembling, if their seniors saw such a scene, they would definitely be so angry that they would jump out of their graves.
Looking at the dozen or so soldiers from the Beijing camp with their heads hanging down in front of them, Chongzhen felt a sense of sadness in his heart. He did not expect that when the earth invaded, he could only rely on the young men in the city and thousands of eunuchs in the palace to surround the inner city.
"That's all!" Chongzhen waved his hand in frustration, "I'll ask you why you are still here, but now the bandits are about to attack the city, do you want to stay here and kill the enemy with me, or run back
In your home?" Chongzhen asked, with a strong look of sarcasm on his face.
"Your Majesty." Huang Shuo knelt down with more than a dozen soldiers from the Beijing camp around him. At this time, Huang Shuo was already crying and kowtowed: "Please allow Your Majesty to allow me to kill the enemy together with Your Majesty again. Even if I die on the spot, I will die on the spot."
No matter what!"
"Get up." Chongzhen heard the rare voice and said: "I know that you are all members of the family, and it is human nature not to want to die with me. I don't blame you. But you can run, but I can't.
Run, my Ming Dynasty has always said that the king dies in the country. Today I am not only here, but I have also brought the queen, the noble concubine, my prince and princess and several princes. Even if I die, I will die well. I will definitely die.
We will not disgrace the reputation of the ancestors of the Zhu family!"
Chongzhen's words were sonorous and powerful. Hundreds of servants around him, the common people and the defenders all listened. Countless common people and defenders burst into tears after hearing this.
"Long live Lord, please stop talking. You... if you keep talking, I will be ashamed of myself." At this time, Yang Shuo was already bursting into tears. He kowtowed to Chongzhen and said fiercely: "Long live
Please don’t worry. Even if I die today, I will die before you. Brothers, don’t you think so?”
"Yes. Even if we die, we will die before Long Live Lord!"
More than a dozen soldiers following Yang Shuo also shouted fiercely, and finally the common people and young men on the city wall roared angrily. These young men who originally went to the city wall for three sesame seed cakes every day didn't know what the big deal was.
, they only know that since even the emperor, who is the emperor, can work with them to collect the city wall, penniless people like them have nothing to fear, they are just leaving this bad life here.
Unknowingly, the morale of the city rose. Young men and soldiers were everywhere, waving their swords and roaring. They wanted to fight the bandits outside immediately.
"Boom boom..."
Just as they were yelling, the Dashun army outside the city also set up artillery, and the rumble of artillery began to sound.
"Whoosh..."
Projectiles flew towards the city head one after another, but the destructive power of these projectiles against the thick city wall was pitifully small. It turned out that these artillery pieces were just small artillery pieces weighing several hundred kilograms. The power was very small, so they naturally caused damage to the city head.
The harm is also very small.
Although these were just small artillery pieces and caused very little damage to the city, they also made the frenzied people and defenders on the city begin to calm down and couldn't help but watch the projectiles bombarding the city wall. Yang Shuo also hurriedly fired at
Chongzhen said: "Your Majesty, please hurry up and go down to the city with all the empresses and princes, otherwise if something goes wrong with this thing, the villain will die a hundred times and he will not be able to escape the blame!"
"What are you going to do? I'm not going anywhere. I'm here with the soldiers today. If we want to die together, we must live together, I also want to kill the enemy with the soldiers!" Chongzhen is not stupid, he naturally knows that if
Once the inner city was destroyed, he would have no place to run even if he returned to the Forbidden City. He might as well stay with the soldiers guarding the city at Guangguang Point.
Seeing that Chongzhen was defending the city with the soldiers as a majestic emperor, Yang Shuo also risked his life. He raised his sword high and shouted loudly to the soldiers: "Soldiers, Long live the Lord is with us. Let's kill the thieves together!"
"
"Kill the thief!"
"Kill the thief!"
Thanks to Chongzhen's example, despite the flying bullets on the city, the morale of the defenders not only did not decline, but also rose rapidly. This also surprised the Dashun troops who were accustomed to the defenders being defeated as soon as the artillery was fired.
.
Seeing that their own artillery failed to crush the morale of the defenders, the Dashun troops finally began to set up ladders and began to climb towards the top of the city.
"Papa..."
Suddenly, a ladder was set up on the city wall, and a soldier named Dashun began to climb up.
"Sir, the bandits are coming!" a soldier on the lookout shouted.
Yang Shuo spat hard and said: "What else can I do? One word, kill!"
"Kill!"
A young man raised his spear and stabbed the Dashun soldier who had just exposed his head at the top of the city.
"ah!"
The soldier who was stabbed in the head let out a scream and fell down the city, but then another soldier holding a shield appeared in his head, and the soldier stabbed him again with a spear.
With a "Dang!" sound, the spear pierced the shield and made a loud sound. The Dashun sergeant swayed and almost fell, but he soon stabilized his center of gravity and climbed up desperately.
With one jump, he jumped onto the city wall, but as soon as he landed, three spears poured out from around him. Facing the spears thrust from different directions, his shield was finally unable to protect his body and was struck by a spear.
The spear stabbed his abdomen. He couldn't help but scream in pain and lay on the ground rolling around. Suddenly, the city was plunged into a fierce offensive and defensive battle.
Seeing people constantly screaming and dying in front of him, Chongzhen and the queen and others behind him turned pale, while the prince Zhu Cixiang and others were so frightened that they cried. Chongzhen endured the discomfort and looked at the tragic scene around him.
Queen Zhou was told to speak sternly: "Zitong, you have also seen that the inner city is now as dangerous as morning dew. If the inner city falls later, you must not fall into the hands of the bandits, and we, the Zhu family, must not become prisoners of the bandits!"
"
Empress Zhou nodded decisively and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I have already prepared. If the city falls, I and others will commit suicide immediately. We will never insult the dignity of the royal family!"
"Yes, father, don't worry. The same goes for your sons and others. We will never become prisoners of thieves!" Prince Zhu Cixiang took out an exquisite dagger from somewhere and waved it in front of Chongzhen's eyes to show his determination.
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