Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

During the summons on this day, all the ministers and ministers were silent about specific issues such as how to fight and how to defend the city.Emperor Chongzhen said bitterly: "I am not the king of the subjugated country, all the ministers are the subjugated ministers of the country!" and walked away.This was the second time the courtiers had heard the emperor talk about subjugation, and they couldn't help feeling a little sad.

But this summoning was more or less fruitful.On the same day, Emperor Chongzhen ordered Yu Zilian, Wu Shigong, Wu Sangui, Tang Tong, Zuo Liangyu, and Huang Degong to be earls respectively. Upgraded.Although this is obviously suspected of flattering the warlords, after all, it is a catastrophe, and it has to be done.

As for the purpose of ennobling and promoting officials, of course, is to let the generals work hard for themselves, so at the same time as conferring titles, Emperor Chongzhen ordered his supervisor Yu Zilian, general Wu Shigong of the gangsters, Tang Tong, the chief soldier of Jizhen, and Liu Zeqing, the chief soldier of Shandong, to lead the troops immediately. The Ministry entered Jingqin King.

On the ninth day of the lunar new year, Emperor Chongzhen finally ignored the gains and losses outside the pass and his own face, and ordered to abandon Ningyuan, and ordered Jiliao governor Wang Yongji and Wu Sangui to lead troops into the Wei capital.But it was already too late, the Dashun army occupied Xuanfu on this day, only four or five hundred miles away from the capital.

So Tang Tong, who was closest to the capital, was the first to lead his troops to Beijing. In fact, he was the only general who caught up with King Qin.On the twelfth, he led [-] soldiers to station the army outside Qihua Gate (that is, Chaoyang Gate), and immediately met the emperor.

Emperor Chongzhen finally saw a rescue soldier. He was very happy. He gave a banquet and rewarded silver. .

Emperor Chongzhen originally meant to let the Tang Tong Department be stationed outside Beijing to defend against the enemy, and also sent the eunuch Du Zhizhi as the Tang Tong Department's supervisor.But Tang Tong was very annoyed by this, and said to others: "The emperor promoted me to be a grand teacher. He made me an earl, but let the internal officials control me on my head. I am not as good as a slave!" So Shangshu said The small number of soldiers is not convenient for field battles on flat ground, so we should go to Juyongguan to set up a dangerous situation to wait for the enemy.Then, without waiting for the imperial court's approval, he took his own team and left.

When the capital was under martial law for the first time, Yuan Chonghuan led his troops thousands of miles to help, with a strong force, but he had to be intimidated by the majesty of the court from time to time, and life and death depended on the order of the emperor.And now.A small military officer with only 8000 troops is so arrogant and domineering. Emperor Chongzhen is really moved by looking back on the present and looking back on the past.

But the matter has to be done in a hurry, because these generals are still needed, so there is nothing to do.He only hoped that Tang Tong could stop Li Zicheng's Dashun army at Juyongguan.At least it can withstand some time, so that more Qin Wang's teachers can arrive.

But the other King Qin troops never came.The messengers sent to the south are like sheep entering the mouth of a tiger.There is no sound.No message is returned at all.However, Wu Sangui from Liaodong had many soldiers and civilians who needed to be resettled outside the pass, and was slow to move because of his family. He did not enter Shanhaiguan until July [-], but at this time the capital was hopeless.

As for Langxiao Town, Yuji's town in Zhenyuan City, because they wanted to take over the empty city of Ningyuan, they couldn't spare their troops to enter the customs.On the contrary, his own strength has also become weak.Moreover, Yu Ji kept in mind Wu Shigong's order for them to take root outside the pass, and he could not just give up the two cities of Zhenyuan and Ningyuan, so he could only turn a blind eye to the crisis in the capital.

In mid-July, central Beijing was already in chaos.Many officials who lived in the capital but were not in office and a large number of family members of officials wanted to leave the city and seek refuge in the south despite the ban.Ordinary civilians, businessmen, and businessmen also wanted to flee, and vehicles of all sizes at the gate of the city had become overcrowded.

However, Emperor Chongzhen was afraid that a large number of fleeing would disturb the morale of the army and the people, and he was even more afraid that a large number of spies from the Dashun Army would sneak into the city, so he decided to close the city gates and not allow casual entry and exit. Some city gates were even blocked with bricks and soil.He also sent an order to the Ministry of War: "Anyone who dares to confuse the public with his remarks or sends his family members out of the city privately will be arrested and punished." But apart from these measures, there is no long-term strategy.He still kept summoning the courtiers, but every time there was no result as usual, thinking of the bad fate and the hateful courtiers, he couldn't help feeling sad, and went back to the palace crying bitterly for several days.

On the [-]th, Tang Tong, who had expressed his loyalty a few days ago, and his eunuch Du Zhizhi surrendered to the Dashun Army at Juyongguan, and the last barrier in the northwest of the capital no longer existed.On this day, General Liu Zongmin of the Dashun Army had already sent the call to action to the capital, saying that it was "scheduled to enter the city on the [-]th."

So the Ming court hastily stationed the "Three Great Battalions" of the capital's main force outside the Qihua Gate, preparing to meet the enemy in the east of the city, while refusing to defend in the west of the city.However, Li Guozhen, the Governor of the Beijing Camp, Xiangcheng Bo, had no idea on how to defend the city. He just sat on the tower and listened to the command of the admiral Wang Chengen in everything.Most of the soldiers guarding the city were replaced by poor people hired by the rich and powerful families of the capital. They had no fighting spirit and lack of training. Coupled with lack of food and pay, morale was extremely low.

The city of Beijing is an extremely difficult city to defend, because it is simply too big.If there are [-] troops, it is enough to guard the outer city wall, and facing the enemy's concentrated attack, it is possible that a certain part of the city wall will be overwhelmed and the enemy will break through.Therefore, in the past, the method of defending the city of Beijing was to station the army outside the city of Beijing, relying on the firepower on the city wall to prevent the enemy from approaching the city wall to prevent the enemy from attacking the city.

And now Li Guozhen, the governor of the Beijing Camp, Xiangcheng Bo, is also following the old example to defend Beijing.But he didn't consider the actual situation at all. The soldiers of the Beijing camp were already demoralized, standing outside the city, not to mention fighting, they couldn't do it even if they didn't run away.So Li Guozhen wasted these precious troops in vain.

Li Guozhen should simply withdraw all the three battalions into the city and stick to the city, maybe he can create a miracle.After all, those soldiers of the Beijing camp can fight under the cover of the city wall, and they will be more courageous.In addition, there is nowhere to escape in the city, so in the end, they can only fight Li Zicheng's Dashun army desperately.

On the [-]th, Emperor Chongzhen still summoned the local officials who were elected in Beijing according to the original schedule.At this time, the army outside the city was in such a hurry that it was reasonable to stop these non-urgent tasks, but in the early court, the officials did not say a word to each other, and he himself did not know what to do. Instead of sitting and worrying, it is better to do something.

But when they were summoned, the selection officials had noticed that the emperor's behavior was quite abnormal.He raised the old questions of how to raise military pay and how to reassure people's hearts to the people who were summoned, but he couldn't concentrate on listening to the officials' chatter. He lost his usual solemn and stern look. (To be continued..)