Eight hundred and sixtieth chapters defeated like a mountain
The tragic bloody battle at Ningwu also made everyone in the Dashun Army tremble. Therefore, the generals of the Dashun Army all agreed with Li Zicheng's statement and prepared to return to Shaanxi and wait for another day to fight.
Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, Li Zicheng suddenly received letters of surrender from Datong Town Commander-in-Chief Jiang Xiang and Xuanfu Town Commander-in-Chief Wang Chengyin. This made Li Zicheng overjoyed and decided to drive straight through Datong and Xuanfu Town to Juyongguan.
It's a pity that the good opportunity that Zhou Yuji bought with his own life was wasted by his pig teammates. But now, in front of the Dashun Army, it has completely become a smooth river.
Zhou Yuji, as a veteran general who has been on the battlefield for a long time, had no food or reinforcements inside and outside, and only relied on his thousands of lone brigades to stop hundreds of thousands of Dashun troops. He was undoubtedly trying to beat an egg against a stone. Could it be that even
Can he not even know this? The reason why he dared to risk the disapproval of the world and choose to fight to the death with Li Zicheng's Dashun army was definitely not just out of the "foolish loyalty" of a general guarding the border to the defeated Ming Dynasty.
", he is using his life to practice the Confucian integrity and defend the long-lost responsibility of this era. He is truly admonishing to the death in literature and fighting to the death in military affairs. It is a pity that in such an apocalyptic world and in the Ming Dynasty, such a general
Too rare.
The news of the fall of Ningwu and the annihilation of Zhou Yuji's army also dealt an even heavier blow to Emperor Chongzhen. By this time, he finally understood Li Zicheng's military intentions and knew that the main force of Dashun's army must pass through Datong and Xuanfu.
, attack the capital from the northwest. According to this route and the speed of the Dashun Army's advance, it will only take a few months for the troops to reach the city.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen, who had no idea at all, repeatedly summoned the ministers who also had no idea at all to discuss countermeasures. However, the ministers either said a few meaningless empty words or simply remained silent. No one came up with a specific plan.
Opinion.
After such empty discussions, the topic of moving south was finally brought up again. Li Mingrui, who had always advocated moving south, exchanged opinions with some important ministers in private, and probably secretly revealed some information that the emperor was interested in fleeing south. However,
Li Banghua, the more responsible censor of Zuodu, believed that the emperor was a symbol of the country, so he could not run away in fear of death. But to be on the safe side, the prince should first go to Nanjing to escape. If Beijing did not survive, there would still be a master in Nanjing.
During the court meeting, Li Banghua expressed this suggestion; Li Mingrui also reiterated his opinion on asking Emperor Chongzhen to "campus south". However, there are still many people who oppose Emperor Chongzhen's move south. They are simply afraid that Beijing will not be able to hold on after the move south.
The emperor must punish those who advocated moving south. Many people were afraid that the emperor had escaped and they would be left to defend the city, which would be a narrow escape. As for letting the prince go to Nanjing to supervise the country, most people thought it was reasonable, so for a while, cabinet ministers and ministers
All ministers agreed with Li Banghua's opinion.
But this opinion was the last one Emperor Chongzhen wanted to hear. Because letting the prince move south was tantamount to admitting that the capital was in danger, and he had no choice but to die for his country.
So Li Banghua said clearly: "The emperor can only adhere to the principle of serving one's life and not leaving."
In the view of Emperor Chongzhen, the statement made by Li Banghua and other ministers was extremely abhorrent. Since ancient times, only loyal ministers have dedicated themselves to die for their country and their Lord. How could there be any reason to force the emperor to die for his country? After searching through historical records, he could not find one.
Similar examples.
In addition, he was worried that even if Beijing could be defended in the end, if powerful ministers supported the crown prince in Nanjing, just like Tang Suzong did when he honored Xuanzong as the Supreme Emperor in Wulingyao, wouldn't it be the same as losing the world?
In fact, at this time, someone in the palace, Guang Shiheng, said loudly: "As the prince goes to the south of the Yangtze River, what do the ministers want to do? Do they want to follow the story of Su Zong's martial arts in the Tang Dynasty?"
However, Emperor Chongzhen was unable to directly refute the high-sounding arguments of his ministers. His vanity prevented him from expressing his true intentions to his courtiers, and he was even more embarrassed to make a decisive decision to flee south despite the objections of his ministers. He could only say: "I have been running the world for more than ten years and still can't make a difference. What can I do for my brothers and my children? Gentlemen have already talked about the strategy of war and defense. There is no need to say more." The so-called dying to save face, Emperor Chongzhen really practiced it thoroughly!
Still unable to escape, Emperor Chongzhen had to once again call for all the soldiers and horses from all over the world to come to serve the king. But by this time, Li Zicheng's troops were about to arrive in Datong, and many troops around the capital had already adopted the banner of Dashun.
The main force of the Dashun Army arrived in Datong on the first day of July. Datong's commander-in-chief Jiang Yu and the governor-general Du Xun surrendered to the city. At this time, the people's support in the entire Yanbei region and Xuanfu area was almost all with the Dashun Army, and officers and soldiers from all walks of life He had already made up his mind to surrender. Wang Jimo, the governor of Xuanda who was stationed in Yanghe (today's Yanggao, Shanxi Province), saw that his subordinates were secretly planning to surrender. He planned to take more than a hundred relatives and flee back to the capital, but when he came to Tiancheng Guard (today's Yanggao) Shanxi Tianzhen) was again captured by his own men, and all the money, money, and good horses were taken away to welcome him. So he lamented in his report to the court: "Look at this time, there is not a single soldier, general, or citizen who does not turn against the thieves."
Not long after, Wang Jimo, who was desperate, had no choice but to "turn against the bandits" and surrendered to the Dashun Army. When the Dashun Army arrived at Yanghe, the Ming Dynasty Yanghe troops prepared a road from Chonghua to the suburbs ten miles away to meet them, and the people were eating pots. Wang Chengyin, the chief military officer of Xuanfu, also sent people to Datong early to contact Datong for surrender, and assisted the vanguard of the peasant army to sneak into Xuanfu.
By this time, Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, had become an isolated island. The communication system in the northwest was completely paralyzed at this time, and the communication in the south was also paralyzed due to the approach of the Qing army. The court could not figure out what was going on. What is the situation in Datong and Xuanfu areas, which are important gateways to the capital?
The court received all kinds of rumors. Some said that Datong was still under siege, others said that even Xuanfu had been breached, and there was even particularly optimistic news that Li Zicheng had led his army back south after defeating the entire Jin Dynasty. ! Emperor Chongzhen was confused by all kinds of news. The general feeling was that the sword of death was already hanging over his head, but he didn't know when it would fall.
On the seventh day of July, Emperor Chongzhen summoned his ministers on the platform and once again raised the issue of moving south. He had just received a memorial from Li Jiantai, who was still lingering in the southern area of Beijing, and also asked the court to move south.
But the ministers had already made up their minds, but they still kept saying the same thing. Emperor Chongzhen probably felt that even if he decided to flee south at this time, it might be too late, so he said angrily and forcefully: "The king will die in Sheji. Where else can I go?" From then on, the emperor and his ministers no longer mentioned the matter of the emperor and the prince moving south.