Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

A few days later.

As autumn arrives, the grass turns yellow both inside and outside the Great Wall.

In an instant, the beacon fires of the Great Wall were lit, and the Qing army destroyed the Qiangziling section of the Great Wall and entered the pass...

The Great Wall, blasted down by artillery fire, billowed thick smoke and dust that drifted far away.

The commander of the right-wing army, General Yue Tuo, drew his sword and pointed it at the Great Wall: "Warriors, march into the pass and conquer the south!"

In an instant, the elite cavalry of the Plain Red and Bordered Red Banners poured into the interior through the gap in the Great Wall, followed by a large infantry force, all heading towards Miyun!

"General, the Ming army has not set up any defenses! They have only lit the beacon towers!" Du Du, the deputy commander of the right wing army, rode up to Yue Tuo's side and said.

He felt something was unusual. Normally, there should be a garrison here, or at most a small number of soldiers who would run away when they saw the Eight Banners warriors arrive. But now he didn't see a single person.

Yue Tuo stood on the Great Wall, looking back at the area inside and outside the wall: "The Ming army is short of manpower and supplies; the garrison might just desert!"

When Yue Tuo came, Huang Taiji told him about the situation of the Ming army. At present, a large number of Ming troops are suppressing Li Zicheng in Shaanxi. The largest army near the capital is the Guan Ning Army, which should not have received orders to be mobilized yet.

Du Du nodded: "The General is right. Should we send scouts to Tongzhou, Xuanfu, and other places as a precaution?"

"Send out a few scouts to check for any Ming troop movements! In a few days, Prince Rui should also lead his troops into the pass. At that time, we will converge at Tongzhou and then bypass Beijing to head south!"

"Yes, sir!"

One hour later.

The Qing army rode their horses to the outskirts of Miyun City, set up cannons, and bombarded the city.

After three shouts, there was no sound from within the city, nor was there any counterattack... The Qing soldiers, bewildered, looked at each other, all seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

Just then, the vanguard commander, Laosa, rode up to Yuetuo, mounted his horse, and shouted, "General, Miyun is an empty city!"

Lausa stopped the vanguard and, under the cover of artillery fire, reached the city without encountering any resistance. He then ordered the vanguard to break down the city gates. Upon entering the city, they found it deserted and immediately returned to Yuetuo to report...

At this time, Miyun was a military town. Unlike inland cities, it was a military town with virtually no ordinary civilians. Half a month ago, Tang Tong, the general of Miyun, received an imperial edict from Zhu Jian and, after implementing a scorched-earth policy, moved to Huairou to join forces with Lu Xiang-sheng, the governor of Xuan-Da, to hunt down the Qing army.

"An empty city?" Yue Tuo said incredulously.

Upon hearing this, Du Du stepped forward and asked, "General, should we retreat to the border for the time being and then make further plans?"

Du Du felt that the situation was getting out of control. Half a month ago, the Qing army reconnaissance troops discovered Ming troops at the Great Wall at Qiangziling, but now it was empty. It was very likely that there was a trap!

Yue Tuo pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "Move closer to Huairou. I don't believe the area north of the capital is entirely deserted!"

Yue Tuo and Dorgon's two armies advanced side by side, both vying for merit. How could he be scared away by an empty city? So after thinking about it, he rejected Du Du's suggestion.

Huang Taiji told him that the Ming army's main force was in Shaanxi suppressing bandits, and even if they had troops, it was only a few thousand. He said that he now had 40,000 elite troops and was sure he could wipe out the Ming army, so he rushed to Huairou without stopping.

at the same time.

Lu Xiang-sheng in Huairou had already seen the beacon fires on the Great Wall and learned that the Qing army had entered the pass.

Arrangements for defending the city have begun.

His orders from Zhu Jian were to repel the Qing army's attacking force, then follow the Qing army south to join the Ming army troops that were marching north from Xianghe in a decisive battle with the Qing army in Tongzhou!

On the city wall of Huairou, Lu Xiang-sheng's sharp eyes were fixed on the direction of Miyun.

Just then, Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu beside him, pressed his hand against the wall, pointed to the smoke rising in the northeast, and said in a deep voice, "Lord Lu, the Qing army's vanguard cavalry is here!"

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded slightly: "Pass on my order: the left wing troops will encircle the Qing army from the rear, forcing them to advance towards Tongzhou!"

"Yes, sir!" Yang Guozhu replied, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

"Li Fuming, Tang Tong, follow me to defend the city!"

"Understood!" the two men said, clasping their hands in greeting. Then Li Fuming walked towards the south city wall, while Tang Tong walked towards the north city wall.

Lu Xiang-sheng personally kept watch on the east city wall, which was also the main target of the Qing army!

Before long, the Qing army's vanguard arrived, and the cannons on the Huairou city wall were fired. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Three cannon shots announced the start of the battle.

Yue Tuole stopped his horse and looked towards Huairou City, muttering to himself, "So the troops stationed in Miyun have moved to Huairou. They've joined forces with the Huairou garrison!"

"This is the general's order: whoever reaches the city first will be rewarded with a hundred gold coins!"

In an instant, the sounds of fighting and the roar of cannons filled the battlefield, and the pungent smell of blood filled the nostrils of everyone present.

at the same time.

The capital city also received news of the Qing army's entry into the pass, and under the leadership of Grand Secretary Zhang Zhifa, martial law was imposed in the capital in the name of the cabinet.

It wasn't that he overstepped his authority, but rather that the cabinet and the vice minister of war couldn't find the emperor and didn't know where he was. They had no choice but to start acting on the cabinet's orders.

On the issue of imposing martial law in the capital, the cabinet was more unified than ever before, with no factional strife hindering its progress...

The cabinet office was brightly lit, and all the cabinet members were present, along with the Vice Minister of War, currently the highest-ranking official in the Ministry of War. Since the Minister of War, Yang Sichang, had been dismissed by Zhu Jian to Huguang, only the Vice Minister remained...

"Grand Secretary Zhang, Grand Secretary Zhang, where has the Emperor gone?" Liu Yuliang, the Second Grand Secretary, asked anxiously, pacing back and forth.

"How would I know where the Emperor has gone?" Zhang Zhifa replied impatiently.

"Have you gone to invite the Empress yet?" Xue Guoguan asked from the side, then added, "Should we ask the Crown Prince to temporarily assume power?"

Before he finished speaking, everyone looked at Xue Guoguan as if he were an idiot. The crown prince was only 9 years old. What kind of rule could he possibly have?

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Xue Guoguan lightly slapped his forehead and said awkwardly, "I was so anxious that I lost my mind..."

Just then, Wang Dehua, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, strode into the Cabinet's office: "Gentlemen, His Majesty's decree!"

"Imperial decree?"

Once they regained their senses, the crowd immediately knelt down.

"With the Eastern captives invading the border, martial law has been declared in the capital. The Grand Secretary Zhang Zhifa and the Grand Eunuch Wang Dehua of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs are in charge of matters in the capital!"

After announcing the imperial edict, Wang Dehua stepped forward to Zhang Zhifa's side and handed the edict to him, saying, "Grand Secretary Zhang, please take a look!"

"Eunuch Wang, where has the Emperor gone?" Zhang Zhifa asked as he received the imperial edict.

"We don't know!" Wang Dehua found out through his own channels that Zhu Jian had left the city, but he didn't know what he was going to do. He couldn't say anything, so he could only report to the cabinet according to the imperial edict.

Then Zhang Zhifa suddenly stood up: "I'm going up to the city wall! Gentlemen, recruit able-bodied men to help defend the city!"

Having said that, he strode out the door, disregarding the darkness, and ran towards the east city wall. Now, the entire capital only had 20,000 old and weak soldiers remaining as garrison troops. He didn't know if the Qing army would attack the capital, nor where the emperor was, but he knew that if the capital fell, the Ming Dynasty would perish...