Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

Zhang Xianzhong said with a smile, "I have not raised you for so many years in vain, let's do it! Time is running out, Dingguo, you take the people to attack Changsha Prefecture, and Wang, you go to attack Hengzhou Prefecture. You only need to delay for three days, and then immediately go to Huaihua to meet up and enter Sichuan together!"

Zhang Xianzhong was beaming, Luo Rucai clapped his hands in applause, Li Dingguo nodded with a smile, only Sun Kewang looked confused...

Volume 395: Chapter Chapter : Mr. Jiang wants to steal the house again

The Dashun Army marched north in full force, claiming to have a million men. They passed Dingxing, captured Zhuozhou, and besieged Daxing. They arrived at the outskirts of Beijing while eating hot pot and singing songs along the way. The capital was shocked inside and outside. Chongzhen ordered ten officials from the inner palace to supervise the gates, and ordered the cities in the capital to recruit local militia to prepare for city defense.

Teahouses and restaurants everywhere in the capital were discussing the defense of the capital. Many people were not panicking. They believed that the city walls of Beijing were high and thick, the circumference of the city was sixty or seventy miles, and there were 100,000 Beijing troops in the city. It would be no problem to defend the city for three months or half a year.

It's not the first time that the capital of the Ming Dynasty has been besieged, and every time it was a disaster, it was turned into a blessing. This is just a small matter, so just sprinkle some water on it.

As long as the capital holds out for a month or two, Grand Commander Hong Chengchou can lead his troops north, or tens of thousands of troops from Liaodong can come back to help, and everything will be fine! , they are just a group of bandits.

There are also smart people who are very worried. The plague that spread here a few days ago has made Beijing a mess, and the Beijing Camp has suffered a lot of losses. What's more, what is the composition of the Beijing Camp? Just like the leader of the Shamatte group is no longer in Shenyang, there is no so-called 100,000 troops in the Beijing Camp. There are many people who eat empty salaries. Counting the new troops trained in the past few years, it would be good to be able to pull out 50,000. How to resist millions of bandits? What's more, the new troops have been sent.

Moreover, at this critical moment, there is still no imperial edict to send the Liaodong army to help, and the officials of the court are all in Gan Shenmo? We can't just continue to play music and dance, right?

Many people had mixed feelings. Seeing the momentum of the bandits, claiming that a million of them were approaching the capital, could the capital be defended? If the capital fell and the Ming Dynasty perished, where would they go?

In this anxious mood, many people took advantage of the fact that the bandits had not yet completed the siege of the capital, quickly made a profit, and fled out of the city with their families. Among them, the most intelligent people were businessmen.

However, some people privately discussed whether the Ming Dynasty had reached the end of its luck after encountering such a disaster, and that it should follow the trend and welcome a new master. However, most people chose to wait and see.

A court meeting was being held in the Huangji Palace in the capital.

The atmosphere in the hall was somewhat tense. The ministers kept coming out to make reports, but what they talked about was not the defense of the capital, but how to defeat Yang Sichang who was in great trouble.

After Yang Sichang's defeat, Chongzhen actually had the intention of protecting him, hoping to give his favorite minister some dignity. However, the ministers in the court disagreed. A large number of them kept writing letters to attack Yang Sichang for harming the country and requesting that he be held accountable for the fall of the vassal state. They were determined to put the former chief minister of the cabinet to death completely.

Chongzhen kept all these memorials without publishing them, and eventually acquitted Yang Sichang on the grounds of "discussing his merits".

At today's court meeting, Chongzhen summoned the six ministries, nine ministers, and other officials to discuss how to deal with the bandits and how to defend the capital. However, the ministers still disagreed with his handling of Yang Sichang.

Suddenly, a shout rang out. It was the newly appointed Minister of Finance Ni Yuanlu who shouted, "What do you want? Do you really not care about the survival of the Ming Dynasty? Now that millions of bandits are approaching the capital, the ministers are actually discussing Yang Sichang's crimes! Is it still the time for us to fight among ourselves?!"

Ni Yuanlu glared at the ministers in the court, his appearance full of resentment, and his words were filled with anger, heartbreak and other emotions.

The newly appointed cabinet chief, Chen Yan, laughed and said, "As long as the traitor Yang Sichang's crimes are not proven, the world will not be stable."

Although he had a smile on his face, his words were filled with a cold chill, and it was obvious that he hated Yang Sichang deeply, stressing the importance of either him or me.

Chen Yan was a mediocre person with a mean personality. He was incompetent and had a bad temper. During his tenure as an official, he eliminated dissidents, took revenge on personal enemies, deceived his superiors and concealed the truth from his subordinates. He had no plans at all. After promoting him, Chongzhen cried out that he had been cheated, but now there was no one else available.

Chongzhen slammed the table in anger, stood up and said, "Yang Sichang was appointed by me. He was ineffective in using the army. I judged him myself. Besides, he still has talents to be recruited. You say that I protect Sichang just to gain reputation!"

He roared, his face turned red with anger and anxiety, his thin body was tense and his voice was shaking as he spoke. However, faced with the emperor's furious expression, the ministers remained silent and completely ignored him, not taking it seriously. Today's court officials are no longer as afraid of imperial power as before. They looked at Chongzhen as if he were a clown.

Minister of Industry Fan Jingwen sighed, "I am the emperor's salary and I am loyal to him. The most urgent thing at this moment is to deal with the thief Li. The state affairs are the most important."

The enemy was in great danger, and the court officials had intended to dispatch Wu Sangui for support. However, the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, Wei Zaode, objected: "The enemy has entered the pass again and is approaching Shenyang. We cannot show that we are weak. Dispatching troops to the south is not a good idea."

Chongzhen thought it made sense and that the land outside the Great Wall could not be lost again, so he gave up the idea of ​​letting the Liaodong Army enter the Great Wall to provide support.

Next, the court officials came up with suggestions to seek reinforcements everywhere. Even a guerrilla general who only had 3,000 men was nominated to return to help. While thinking about various ways out, many ministers came up with the same idea: the Ming Dynasty is about to be destroyed, so let's abandon the dark and join the light (Dashun).

Although Dashun was founded by rebels, the current situation is obviously better and it is deeply loved by the people. Especially when people heard that Li Zicheng treated scholars very well, they must have heard that the barbarians in the south, such as Jiang Han, were much stronger. If he won the world in the future, he would have to recruit talents to govern the country. By then...

However, everyone still kept this idea in their hearts. After all, joining the army also depends on who comes first, and the colleagues at this moment may very well be the opponents of Conglong in the future.

In the end, the result of the meeting was: to summon Shandong General Liu Zeqing, Shanxi General Wang Wannian, Shaanxi General He Renlong, Miyun General Wang Tingchen, Jizhou General...

At present, the only military forces left in the northern country are these remnants of the defeated army. We can only hope that they can gather together to put pressure on the pseudo-Shun army, and then lead troops to provide assistance after Hong Chengchou defeats the Jiannu.

The pseudo-general Liu Zongmin sent an edict to the capital, saying bluntly: "The Dashun Army will enter the city soon. Everyone in the city should prepare to welcome them!"

The capital was greatly shaken, the whole city was in turmoil, and there were rumors that thieves were approaching. Many people in the city started buying things for free. It can’t be said to be buying things, they even broke into people’s homes, burned and looted them.

Chongzhen strictly ordered all ministries, the Eastern Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Five Cities Military Department to send personnel to set up patrols in the alleys, prohibit night travel, arrest criminals, and maintain order in the capital.

On that day, Emperor Chongzhen personally inspected the Beijing Camp, and his worries grew even greater. The situation in the Beijing Camp was really unpredictable. As soon as he saw it, his blood pressure was rising. How could an army not even have enough armor and weapons? Was this still the Beijing Camp?

...

The majestic city of Beijing has become a super city since it was established as the capital in the 19th year of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. After years of continuous expansion and reinforcement, it has become a super city. Looking around the world, only the Ming Dynasty has such a great city.

The city of Beijing at this time was in a desolate state. The plague had destroyed the city beyond recognition.

In November of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the plague spread from Zhili to the capital, Tongzhou, Changping and other places. It has been six months since the beginning of the spread. The plague has already evolved into new variants, turning into highly contagious pneumonic plague, and has also become more resistant to cold. The number of infections and deaths per day is tens of thousands.

Five to six out of ten small residents along the street died, with most dying at their doorsteps. There were not even children playing on the streets. Not only did soldiers, vendors, and hired workers die in large numbers, but even beggars could not be found in the city of Beijing.

At this moment, it was freezing cold. Duke of England Zhang Shize, dressed in armor, climbed up the city wall with heavy steps and inspected the city defenses at the nine gates.

The old Duke of England, Zhang Zhiji, passed away last year. His eldest son, Zhang Shize, inherited the title of Duke of England. Now that the bandits are approaching, as a member of a noble family that has controlled the Beijing camp for generations, he has no choice but to take on the important task of defending the city.

Zhang Shize's face was full of confusion. There were more than 50,000 people in the Beijing Camp who were still able to breathe, but only less than 30,000 could go up to the city to kill the enemy. Although the others were still alive, they were infected with the plague and their bodies were so weak that they had to cough ten times after walking two steps. They could not even hold a knife and had no fighting ability at all.

When the emperor was inspecting the Beijing camp, he proposed to lead 5,000 cavalrymen from the Shenshu Camp to escort the emperor to break out and go south, but was flatly rejected by the emperor.

Zhang Shize didn't understand what the emperor was thinking. Why was he so confident that he could defend the capital? Was he so confident in the civil and military officials in the court?

With mixed thoughts in mind, Zhang Shize climbed up the Yongdingmen city wall. Many soldiers here were busy setting up red cannons and preparing bows, crossbows, kerosene and other tools for defending the city.

He glanced around and frowned slightly. Many of the defenders on the city did not seem to be nervous. Their expressions were numb and their enthusiasm for work was very low.

Zhang Shize knew that the Beijing camp had not received food and wages for two months, and the court had given priority to providing money to the front lines, which made the children of the aristocratic families in the Beijing camp very dissatisfied.

Some people looked at them with disdain and said in private: "I don't know how those people on the front line fought. So much food and wages were just wasted money, and there was not even a sound."

The guards on the city wall responded sparsely: "That's right! We are also the Beijing Army after all. The emperor only gives us one or two taels of silver when he asks us to guard the city? How stingy!"

Zhang Shize sighed. He knew that the emperor had no money and the treasury had been spent long ago. Of course, he knew very well that the soldiers guarding the city would not care about that.

As soon as he walked away, he heard several soldiers gathered behind him and whispered again.

"The royal family and the nobility eat delicacies from land and sea, meat and fish every day, but what about us? We only eat steamed corn bread every day!"

"That's right. Normally they didn't treat us as human beings and withheld our food and wages. Now that the bandits are attacking, they want us to help."

Zhang Shize sighed again. The city was surrounded by bandits and the defenders were not in a good mood. He had to ask His Majesty to give him money and rewards, otherwise it would be difficult to defend the city...

"Is this the city where humans live? How boring! I thought it would be more interesting." On the streets of Beijing, two cloaked figures are examining the surrounding environment.

"Haven't I told you before? The human productivity level in this world is not high. Moreover, it is difficult for the world to prosper after encountering such a natural disaster. Let's focus more on completing the commander's mission."

One is reckless and the other is calm. They are the iron-blooded duo sent here by Jiang Han to carry out a secret mission.

Scarecrow, and the executioner.

Miss Executioner was drawn by Xu Qing after much difficulty at the end of the ten-day anniversary event. When I saw her at that time, my eyes were filled with tears. This bastard really has no idea what is going on!

"Oh, that kind of thing is easy. You're the one planning it, so there will be no problem." As Scarecrow's old partner, the Executioner is very familiar with his steady old buddy. These two people, one is unhappy and the other is brainless, the Executioner is responsible for recklessness and the Scarecrow is responsible for stability. No one knows why they can become partners, but they are surprisingly quite compatible.

"Let's go. We need to deploy all the surveying scouts to their positions. This job is quite complicated."

The news that Dashun was about to attack made the plan of sneaking into the capital city very difficult. They could only let the Scarecrow and the Executioner sneak in with the intelligence personnel to make preliminary preparations.

As for what they came for, of course, it was to steal all the property in the homes of these officials before Li Zicheng arrived in the capital.

After thinking about it at home for a few days, Jiang Han felt that his plan did have some problems. The idea of ​​letting Li Zicheng directly overturn the chessboard and then taking over and reshaping it was indeed feasible, but what about the money of these gentlemen in the capital?

That's more than 70 million taels! How much food can be bought, how many ships can be used, how many things can be done! ! Just let Li Zicheng take it all? Jiang Han felt his heart bleeding. No, I can't just ignore it. I still have to make a move!

You, Old Li, are just an employee. You have taken over Beijing and sat on the throne. It would be inappropriate for you to take more money. The water is too deep here. Listen to your brothers. Let me do it and see how I handle it.

Of course, it would be impossible for just two people to take away such an astonishing wealth. Jiang Han also specially dispatched several teams of Iron Blood and military dolls, carrying a large number of transportation tools, and stood by outside the city of Beijing.

This time, all tactics are turned to stealing the home base.

In the Forbidden City, the Minister of War Chen Xinjia came to meet the emperor. Chongzhen asked him about defense strategies. After thinking about it, Chen Xinjia still suggested that Wu Sangui return to the capital to provide assistance.

Chongzhen was displeased and asked, "What about Liaodong? How can I ignore the north?"

Chen Xinjia said with a stiff upper lip: "The imperial court cannot fight on two fronts now. Why don't we negotiate peace with the Jiannu and give up all the land outside Shanhaiguan in exchange for 20 years of border peace. This will also free up our hands to deal with the bandits."

Chongzhen sneered, "The Ming dynasty was taken back from the Tartars by Emperor Taizu, and has been established for more than 270 years. How can I let the foundation of our ancestors be destroyed in my hands? I will not give up an inch of our ancestors' land!"

Your home is about to be lost, and you are still pretending!

Chen Xinjia was disdainful in his heart, but when he saw the murderous look on the emperor's face, he quickly explained: "I am only proposing a temporary solution. The most urgent task now is to lift the siege of the capital as soon as possible."

Chongzhen's expression eased slightly. After some thought, he finally nodded and said, "Summon Wu Sangui and ask Wu Xiang to write a letter and send it to Ningyuan together."

Chongzhen was always wary of the Liaodong generals. He was worried that Wu Sangui would hesitate to send troops, so he used his father Wu Xiang as an insurance.

Chen Xinjia happily went to the Wu Mansion in the capital in person.

An hour later, he hurried back to tell Chongzhen that Wu Xiang said that if he wanted to mobilize the Guanning Army, he would need at least one million taels of silver as military pay.

Chongzhen was furious, secretly cursing these Liaodong generals for being so damn good at extorting money. Now he has nothing left! Where did the one million taels come from?

After cursing inwardly, Chongzhen surprisingly did not get furious or angry. He just waved his hand casually and asked Chen Xinjia to leave.

He now understood that the officials were all born in the same group. What was the point of getting angry? What was the point of getting angry? Did the officials still fear him? The stick was hitting him on the head!

That afternoon, Duke of England Zhang Shize requested an audience with the emperor and reported the situation of the garrison.

Without saying a word, Chongzhen ordered all the gold, silver, jade and other items in the palace to be taken to Mingyufang in the inner city and sold. The money was used as military pay to encourage the soldiers defending the city.

As for the one million taels of silver that Wu Xiang wanted, he would not give a single copper coin. Wu Sangui could come or not!

On this day, Chongzhen figured out a lot of things. He once again issued a fundraising appeal, asking ministers and wealthy businessmen in the capital to donate money to support the military expenses. This was the final wave of exploitation, and also the last test for the civil and military officials in the court.

Volume 396: Chapter Chapter : Zhu Youjian, I'm here to negotiate terms

After making all these arrangements, Chongzhen felt tired and reclined on the dragon chair, recalling the events since he ascended the throne.

Before his brother, Emperor Tianqi, passed away, he held his hand and said: My brother should be Yao and Shun.

For the sake of this sentence and for the revival of the Ming Dynasty, he first eliminated Wei Zhongxian and consolidated power. However, after killing the dead eunuch, factional struggles broke out again, followed by the invasion of the Later Jin Dynasty and the incident of Yuan Chonghuan.

After Huang Taiji had finished his troubles, he planned to endure for a few years to improve the domestic economic development and then recover the vast territory. However, natural disasters occurred again and so many people jumped out to rebel.

Disaster relief, appeasement, sending troops to encircle and suppress, all means have been used, and batch after batch of bandits have been wiped out, but more ruthless bandits have jumped out, and troops have been dispatched to suppress them again. Some fled and some surrendered. When they were ready to wipe them out in one fell swoop, the Jian Nu invaded the pass again...

During the past thirteen years, these events in the south and the north had messed up the Ming Dynasty and had also exhausted himself. He slept only four or five hours a day and got up before dawn to attend court. He either quarreled with the officials or watched them quarrel.

Every day when I open my eyes, I hear news of victory: the Liaodong border is in danger! Bandits from the Central Plains are coming! Local officials have been killed! Royal ancestral tombs have been dug up! There is famine in Shaanxi again! There is a locust plague in Henan again! A major plague is coming!

Over the years, I have done my best, worked diligently and without complaint, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not get a perfect ending. Instead, the bandits were at the gates of Beijing.

Chongzhen laughed at himself, feeling indescribably lonely: "It turns out that I don't have the talent of Yao and Shun. Everything is just self-deception."

Chongzhen's original confidence gradually collapsed. He summoned Zhang Shize again, and after whispering a few words to him, he quickly went to Kunning Palace where the queen lived...

Even though they were in the deep palace, everyone knew that the bandits were about to arrive at the city gates, and people in every part of the palace were in panic. Only Queen Zhou was calm as water, playing the piano quietly in the palace.

Looking at her husband who looked unusual, Empress Zhou asked softly, "Your Majesty, you look unwell, what happened?"

Looking at the virtuous queen and the quiet and elegant environment around him, Chongzhen's frightened heart gradually calmed down. He rarely smiled and said, "Queen, how many years have you not been back to Suzhou?"

"It has been fourteen years since I married into Prince Xin's mansion. I have never been back to my hometown. Even if I wanted to go back, Suzhou has already fallen into the hands of bandits..."

"Do you miss your hometown?"

Empress Zhou recalled: "I miss the small bridges and flowing water in my hometown, and the old house of the Zhou family..."

Chongzhen nodded and said, "Okay, I order you to take the four children, Prince Yong, Prince Ding, Kunxing, and Zhaoren, and go south immediately to Nanjing and Suzhou to live for a while... Wait until the Dragon Boat Festival next year, and come back."

Queen Zhou was surprised and asked, "Your Majesty, what happened? Why are you like this?"

Chongzhen held her hand and said, "I just want you to fulfill your wish and go back to your hometown."

"Your Majesty...is the capital no longer able to be defended?" Queen Zhou was so smart. Having followed Chongzhen for so many years, how could she not know the situation in the court? She quickly guessed the reason.

Chongzhen sighed and said, "The bandits are about to besiege the city. They say they will break into the city in three days. The capital will soon become an isolated city and a battlefield. I don't know how long we can hold out."

Empress Zhou's eyes gradually became hazy, and she asked softly, "Your Majesty, what about you? What are you going to do?"

Chongzhen smiled and said, "Of course I will live and die with the capital."

Queen Zhou hugged him fiercely, tears streaming down her face: "I will not go anywhere. I want to be with Your Majesty, sharing life and death with you."

Chongzhen patted her on the back and said in an unquestionable tone: "I want you to go south immediately!"

"no way!"

Chongzhen slapped the strings of the zither and shouted in a low voice: "Go!"

Queen Zhou trembled and cried, "I have said that wherever Your Majesty is, I will be there. I will live and die with Your Majesty!"

Chongzhen hugged Empress Zhou and whispered in her ear like an ordinary husband: "Be obedient, you and the emperor's sister-in-law will take Cixiong and Mianzhu to the south. I have prepared the troops and horses, and we will leave tonight! Although there are thieves in the south, I have heard from the intelligence that the situation there is stable. As long as you are careful, you will be fine."

Empress Zhou cried bitterly, and the palace ladies in Kunning Palace also cried sadly.