Ming politicians

Dorgon suddenly launched an attack from the direction of Xuanfu Town.

Dorgon, who had been prepared for a long time, moved very quickly. The sergeant, who had recharged his batteries, defeated the three guards of the Xuanfu with lightning speed. In fact, the remaining troops of the three guards of the Xuanfu were not enough. Too much, more than half of the sergeants were transferred to Cangzhou to participate in the battle against the Jiangning battalion. Most of the rest were old, weak, sick and disabled, with little combat effectiveness. Captured Xuanfu Town and marched towards Changping Prefecture.

Dorgon's methods were very cruel, and wherever he went, he did not leave behind, which led to a large number of people fleeing, including wealthy gentry and ordinary people, and a large number of people rushed towards the capital. , Even the wealthy gentry in Changping Prefecture ignored everything and ran for their lives in the direction of the capital.

The news spread to the capital, which caused a huge shock. No one would have thought that Dorgon, who was huddled in Datong, would suddenly launch an attack at this time. Could it be that Dorgon was thinking of taking down the capital of Daming with tens of thousands of people? Well, no matter how you look at it, it is unlikely.

Dorgon's attack caused a huge shock, and also plunged the Ming court into an unprecedented panic, especially those ministers in the court and the wealthy gentry in the capital. If the Jiangning camp attacked the capital, they would not be worried, because Su Tiancheng doesn't know how to plunder, and they can also attach themselves to Su Tiancheng and serve as officials in the Jin court. After all, Su Tiancheng is a Han. To put it bluntly, everyone is the same as a Han emperor, and Su Tiancheng is the real one. Capable, but the Manchus are different. The Manchus are cruel and inhumane, and they don’t treat the Han people as human beings at all, and they are in the eyes of the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty.What are the Manchus, are they also qualified to rule the Central Plains?

Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant of the Ming cabinet, was a little dizzy. Dorgon launched an attack suddenly, which he did not expect. If Dorgon really captured the capital, the capital would be completely destroyed.The civil and military ministers in the DPRK who were not very vocal at this time all spoke at this time, and countless memorials flew to the cabinet. The son is arrogant around the capital.

There are also various methods proposed, the most is to mobilize the Liaodong frontier army to defend against the Houjin Tartars. After all, there are nearly 30 troops in Liaodong, and the Houjin Tartars are only tens of thousands.Some people even suggested that the imperial court should quickly report this news to the Jiangning camp stationed in Tianjin, and let the Jiangning camp clean up the Empress Jin Tartars.

The emperor has fallen into complete despair, and he doesn't care much about such an important matter. Thinking about it, the imperial court can't deal with the Jiangning camp stationed in Tianjin.Now the Houjin Tartars took the opportunity to attack again, and they had to face attacks from two sides at once.It is impossible to say that it is not destroyed.

The pressure was all on Zhou Yanru. In order to deal with the attack of the Hou Jin Tartars, the cabinet also had fierce quarrels. The final opinion was to mobilize the Liaodong Frontier Army to resist the Hou Jin Tartars.In any case, the Houjin Tartars cannot be allowed to threaten the capital.In fact, everyone knew very well that since Dorgon launched an attack from the direction of Changping, how could the Houjin Tartars stationed south of the Liaohe River have not acted, and might mobilize the Liaodong frontier army.It will lead to a crisis in Liaodong, but at this time, everyone can no longer control the affairs of Liaodong. What they think of is the safety of the capital and their own safety.

In the process of this kind of quarrel, a large number of people began to pour into the capital, the inns and restaurants were full, and many ordinary people chose to sleep on the street, the climate in the twelfth lunar month was the coldest, three nine four nine Pigs and dogs freezing to death, how could they bear to sleep outside, there are also a large number of people outside the capital, crying and asking to enter the capital, as if entering the capital, their lives can be saved.

The defense of the capital city was already very tight, but at this time, it became even more tense.

Zhou Yanru's final opinion to the emperor was to mobilize 20 frontier troops from Liaodong to guard the capital, leaving behind nearly [-] Liaodong frontier troops. To defend against the attack of the Houjin Tartars, the Guanningjin line of defense must be well protected. , otherwise the Golden Tartars would drive straight in, and no amount of troops would be able to defend the capital.Zhou Yanru knew that with less than [-] Liaodong frontier troops, it was impossible to protect Liaodong. Such a move would be tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst. Unfortunately, in such a situation, Zhou Yanru had no choice, and the court could not think of a good way to deal with it. up.

This opinion was quickly passed, and the imperial decree was quickly sent to Liaodong.

In just a few days, the capital was full of people inside and outside, and the huge consumption made the capital unbearable. Before the court could react, the problem of food shortage appeared.The imperial court has no place to mobilize grain, and it is impossible in the south, and Liaodong cannot mobilize grain. As for Yongping Mansion, it is difficult to protect itself.

Zhou Yanru is very clear that if this situation continues, major problems will appear in a short period of time. Food shortage is a fatal problem, and the result will be the death of a large number of people. Dare to riot at will, but this atmosphere will affect the combat effectiveness of the Beijing camp to the greatest extent.

But Zhou Yanru had no choice but to watch all this. In desperation, Zhou Yanru even thought of asking for help from the Jiangning camp in Tianjin, begging them to allocate food to solve the problem of food shortage in the capital. It is the death of the common people.

The price of grain in the capital began to skyrocket. Originally, the price of grain was maintained at about three taels of silver per stone, but now it has risen to the price of three taels of gold per stone. In just a few days, it skyrocketed tenfold.

The people outside the capital are even more pitiful. In the cold winter months, it is very difficult to eat bark and weeds. The bark of some big trees is quickly stripped off, and even the Guanyin soil dug out of the ground has become If this situation continues, a large number of people will die, and there may even be a situation of cannibalism.

This twelfth month is Zhou Yanru's most difficult twelfth month. He doesn't know how the situation will change, and he has no good way to deal with it. It is hiding in the harem, no one sees, even if there are any memorials, they are all handled by the cabinet.

In fact, if Zhou Yanru really asked for help from the Jiangning camp in Tianjin, such a dilemma could be resolved. Unfortunately, under the high-pressure atmosphere in the capital, Zhou Yanru did not dare to propose such a solution. Perhaps the letter of appeal for help has not yet been sent to Tianjin. , He himself went into the prison. It goes without saying what will happen when he enters the prison at this time.

In this way, Zhou Yanru lost the best opportunity to solve the food crisis in the capital.

Dorgon quickly captured Changping Prefecture. This day was the 27th of the twelfth lunar month.

The capital was in chaos immediately. It was only more than 100 miles from Changping to the capital. Most of the post-gold tartars led by Dorgon were cavalry, and it took only half a day to reach the capital.If Dorgon attacked the capital in one go, the capital would be in a huge crisis.

At this time, Zhou Yanru's thoughts also changed. He began to urge Shi Kefa of Liaodong to quickly lead an army to guard the capital. As for the situation in Liaodong, he could not take care of it for the time being, and the capital also entered a state of high martial law. , all the sergeants of the Beijing camp were deployed to the four gates of the capital. The capital is divided into the inner city and the outer city. Of course, the inner city is the focus of the guards. The imperial palace is here. destroyed.

But what is strange is that after Dorgon took Changping Prefecture, he did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, he sent a small group of troops and began to harass around the capital. The consequences of this harassment were fatal. More common people Began to be displaced and fled, flocking to the direction of the capital.

Why did the Houjin Tatars temporarily stop attacking? This question Zhou Yanru has never been able to figure out. He discussed with many cabinet ministers, but he did not get a final answer. In fact, Zhou Yanru need not be so anxious. The Houjin Tatars led by Dorgon There are less than 4 people. If you want to attack the capital, it can be said that you are going to the sky. In the capital, there are still 10 soldiers from the Beijing camp, plus Jinyiwei and guards from various prefectures. It is not a big problem to organize [-] people to resist Yes, in addition to the strong city walls and wide moat, without special preparations, don't even think about taking the capital at will.

Not only Zhou Yanru panicked, but the entire court panicked.

It was during this panic that the terrible change occurred.

On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, there are still two days before the New Year's Eve. A large number of dead people have begun to appear outside the capital. I don't know why. Some people fell down while walking, without any warning, but these people They all have a common symptom, that is, a thick neck, or a huge tumor suddenly appearing on the neck. These tumors will fester and emit a foul smell in just a day or two. After some people die, The body is black, and it also emits a foul smell.

On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, this situation also appeared in the capital. The number of dead people began to rise suddenly, and the government didn't even have time to count the number.

In fact, this kind of situation has happened before, the first time it happened in Shaanxi in the sixth year of Chongzhen, but as the food gradually became sufficient, this kind of situation gradually disappeared, and it did not attract everyone's attention, but I don't know Why, such a situation suddenly appeared around the capital.

This situation did not attract the attention of the imperial court. They believed that it was a food shortage that caused a large number of people to starve to death. Moreover, the imperial court simply couldn't care about other things at the moment. The most important thing they needed to consider was dealing with the attack of the Houjin Tartars. Everything else is left behind.

A great change appeared silently like this, which also indicated that the Ming court was bound to perish. (To be continued..)