In early April of the first year of Chongzhen, Sun Chengzong, the former governor of Jiliao, was abandoned by the capital for treason and collaborating with the enemy. Li Tiran, the special envoy of the Marquis of Pingliao, was also executed by Lingchi.
The news spread back to western Liaoning. On April 8, Liu Zhao and Sun Guang issued a Jingnan appeal and killed thirty-seven members of Wu Xiang's family in front of Shanhaiguan to sacrifice the flag. Only Wu Xiao's youngest son was left alive. This son was Wu Sangui, who had just turned ten. .
On April 9, 120,000 Kaiyuan soldiers and civilians divided into two groups and marched by land and water to attack the rebels.
Led by Liu Zhaosun and Deng Changxiong, 80,000 troops passed through Shanhaiguan and attacked the capital along Yongping and Zunhua to meet the Jizhen frontier troops defending frontally.
One group was led by Qiao Yiqi and Yuan Chonghuan. After landing at Weihaiwei, they continued to advance northwest, passed through Laizhou and Qingzhou Prefecture, cut off the canal in Shandong, entered Zhending Prefecture from Shandong, and detoured to the south of the capital to intercept King Qin's army coming from the south.
This is the Little Glacier harvesting operation that Marquis Pingliao has been thinking about.
Attacking from the north and south, advancing from east to west, they harvested the capital with thunderous momentum.
After learning that the king had rebelled in Jin and Shanhaiguan had fallen, the Ministry of War urgently mobilized troops from all over the world to go to Beijing to serve the king.
The Ming Dynasty gave up the suppression of chieftains and refugees in Shaanxi, Chengdu, Henan and other places, hoping to mobilize the power of the whole country to fight the Kaiyuan Army decisively.
However, distant water could not quench the near thirst. Except for the Ming armies in Jizhen, Tongzhou, and Changping, which could still be assembled for battle, the rest of King Qin's army arrived in the capital only half a month later at the earliest.
By then, Emperor Chongzhen might have hanged himself in Meishan - if he and his brother Zhu Youjian had the same fate.
Moreover, after experiencing the disastrous defeat at Ningyuan not long ago, various Ming armies had a new understanding of the strength of Ping Liaohou.
As long as they are not determined to be buried with the Ming Dynasty, they are not willing to confront the Kaiyuan Army easily.
You Shiwei died in battle, Zu Dashou was defeated, and everyone was not a fool. Liu Zhaosun would often swarm hundreds of thousands of horses and ants to attack the city. This kind of strategy can only be used by madmen.
The logistics troops in various parts of North Zhili hesitated and deliberately slowed down their march, while the troops in Henan and Hebei were also blocked in Shandong.
Yuan Chonghuan concentrated his red artillery to violently bombard the canal node towns, and allowed his subordinates to burn the canal boats. In mid-April, the North Canal in Shandong was cut off. Instigated by the training officers, tens of thousands of unemployed trackers joined the rebel tide and swept through northern Shandong.
A battle broke out between Fengyang, Nanzhili and other places and the Kaiyuan army in Bengbu. The Ming army in Nanzhili, which had not experienced fighting for a long time, fled southward along the canal under the sharp offensive of the Kaiyuan army.
The cutoff of the canal caused a series of chain reactions. Prices in Nanjing, Guazhou, Linqing and other places skyrocketed, and people complained. The price of rice in the capital rose to five taels of silver per stone.
On April 9, the Liaodong governor Wang Zaijin led his troops to surrender in front of Shanhaiguan. Liu Zhaosun appointed Wang Zaijin as the commander-in-chief of the expedition against the world.
On April 12, Marquis Pingliao took the surrendered troops from Shanhaiguan as the forerunner and gathered together a force of 100,000 soldiers and civilians to quickly approach Yongping Prefecture.
On April 15, the army arrived at Yongping, and Yongping guard Chai Guozhu opened the door and surrendered.
On April 18, Kaiyuan's army stormed Qian'an. The next day, Qian'an's defenders killed the prefect and Nacheng surrendered.
On April 22, Kaiyuan's army arrived at Zunhua, less than four hundred miles away from the capital. The beacon fire in Ji Town continued for hundreds of miles, and the capital was shaken.
Emperor Chongzhen urgently summoned Man Gui, the chief military officer of Jizhen, to the capital. He promoted Man Gui to the position of governor of Jiliao and was granted the title of Crown Prince and Grand Master.
Mangui refused to be granted the title by Chongzhen on the grounds that his "qualifications were shallow and unfit for practical use".
On April 22, a hundred thousand troops besieged Zunhua. Kang Yingqian sent people into the city to negotiate peace. Yang Weiyue killed the envoys and attacked Kaiyuan's army at night.
Liu Zhaosun ordered a heavy artillery attack day and night. On the 25th, the city gate was breached and all the remaining Ming troops in the city were executed.
On the 27th, Ping Liaohou Da Zun traveled to Jizhou. Man Gui, the chief military officer of Ji Town, defected before the battle, killed the eunuchs of the supervisory army, and led Kaiyuan's army into Jizhou.
On the 30th, the surrendered Ming army was the vanguard, and the Kaiyuan army suppressed the formation. A total of 130,000 troops fought with the Tongzhou defenders in the east of Tongzhou city.
After the bombardment began, the Tongzhou garrison's artillery exploded one after another and collapsed without a fight.
The cavalry of the Kaiyuan Army covered them up and the Tongzhou Army was defeated. The commander-in-chief Wang Shuquan fled towards the capital under the protection of his servants, and the remaining soldiers surrendered.
On May 3rd, the 15th Army arrived in Beijing.
Marquis Ping Liao decided to remove Shunyi and Changping first to remove the flank threat.
The defenders of Changping, Shunyi collapsed without a fight.
Du Xun, the eunuch sent by Chongzhen to supervise the army, took the lead in surrendering and welcomed Marquis Pingliao with grand ceremony.
Historical records record that Eunuch Du "went to the countryside thirty miles away with the sound of a python in his robe."
On the same day, Changping soldiers prepared their way to Chonghua and followed the same method. "They went ten miles out of the suburbs to meet the Marquis of Liao. The soldiers and people were choked with cattle and wine."
On May 5, Marquis Ping Liao arrived at the capital city. Du Zhizhi, the eunuch in charge of the army, and Song Tong, the chief soldier who came to serve the king, surrendered without a fight. Governor He Qian and chief soldier Ma Dai escaped before the battle.
On the same day, Emperor Chongzhen summoned thirty-three people including the newly appointed magistrate of Ziyang County at Zhongzuomen to discuss the strategy of "suppressing the bandits and making money".
Huang Guoqi said: "Today's plan urgently needs to calm people's hearts, and the second is to employ people."
Zhu Youxiao asked: "How to reassure people's hearts?"
Huang Guoqi replied: "It is not difficult to calm people's hearts. As long as the emperor goes to the southwest, people's hearts will be at ease."
Chongzhen wanted to ask again, but Wang Chengen, the personal eunuch, suddenly handed over a letter.
The emperor opened the imperial reading, his expression suddenly changed, and he stood up and went inside.
Since then, everything has stopped, and the capital's desperate situation has become irreversible.
On the 6th, Marquis Ping Liao commanded the army to advance from Shahe and directly penetrated Pingze Gate, with flames reaching into the sky.
When Kaiyuan's army came to the city, the Donglin gentlemen in the capital, who had vowed to fight to the end, immediately divided and disintegrated upon seeing this mood, like a building about to collapse, and went their separate ways.
Ye Xianggao, the Minister of Rites and the Grand Scholar of Dongge University, together with Zhao Nanxing, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Gao Panlong, the Yushi of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and more than 20 Donglin bigwigs, secretly planned the response and met to open the door to respond to the arrival of Marquis Ping Liao in Beijing.
At noon, Kaiyuan's army attacked Pingzemen, Zhangyimen, and Xizhimen. The soldiers of the three major battalions guarding the city (Fifth Army Camp, Shenshu Camp, and Shenji Camp) collapsed at the first touch.
In the 47th year of Wanli, when the three battalions of the Yuan Dynasty captured the capital, they had close contact with this powerful army and knew that they were no match. Moreover, over the past three years, the soldiers of the capital camp had become increasingly weak, with food and wages in arrears, and weapons Insufficient, the only remaining defenders of the city were the old, weak and remnant soldiers and the eunuch camp.
The capital was surrounded by dark clouds, with an army of more than 80,000 people and a vast number of refugees, and a force of 160,000 horses surrounding the city.
At three quarters of noon, Liu Zhaosun, surrounded by Chinese guards, arrived in front of Zuo'anmen city gate.
Standing in front of the turbid moat, Liu Zhaosun thought of Jin Yuji, the wife whose life and death were unknown, the scene of his first visit to Beijing to offer prisoners in the 47th year of Wanli, and Xiong Tingbi.
Suddenly, with mixed feelings, he rode his horse to the city wall. Under the protection of the guards, he drew his bow and arrow and shot at the Zuo'anmen plaque.
There was a buzzing sound, and the big arrow hit the target.
The sound of roaring mountains and tsunami echoed from all sides.
"Long live Marquis Pingliao!"
"Long live Kaiyuan!"
Liu Zhaosun reined in his horse and looked around, seeing clouds of soldiers and armor in front of him.
Abandoned Fran cannons, iron caltrops, and antlers were scattered all over the city. The armors, staffs, and flags of the soldiers from the Beijing camp were scattered everywhere. Some thin eunuchs were lying on the city head begging for their lives.
Beacon smoke rose from the four walls of the capital, and the sounds of men and horses shouting to kill could be heard endlessly.
There were about thousands of garrison troops at the top of the city. They were hungry, cold, and fearful. They did not dare to fight back against Kaiyuan's army, but only fired cannons at the bottom of the city.
Upon seeing this, Marquis Pingliao immediately called for the messengers to tell the artillery not to use live ammunition to avoid hurting innocent people in the capital.
Kang Yingqian immediately called Du Xun, the surrendered eunuch, and asked him to tell the garrison on the city:
"If the artillery fire on the city kills a Kaiyuan sergeant, the army will immediately massacre the city!"
The defenders were so frightened that they did not dare to load iron balls and lead into the barrel of the cannon, but only fired smoke and gunpowder.
In this way, the firing of cannons became a tacit agreement reached by both parties.
Half an hour after the bombardment, Kaiyuan's instructor Senti shouted at Zhangyi Gate, saying that Pingliao Hou only killed Donglin's rebels and would not harm innocent people.
Li Shouqi, the uncle of Fancheng, replied loudly at the top of the city:
"I have entered the Kaiyuan Army camp as a hostage. Marquis Pingliao can send an envoy to talk to the Holy One."
Senti said angrily: "The North Korean envoy has been harassed by Dong Lin's rebels. Marquis Ping Liao has said that if he dares to break the alliance and abandon the treaty again, the army will destroy the city and no chickens or dogs will be left!"
Kaiyuan immediately sent surrendering eunuchs to the city to spread the message.
After Eunuch Du entered the city, he entered the Qianqing Palace and said to Emperor Chongzhen:
"Liu Thief's soldiers are strong and his horses are strong, and they are unstoppable. May Your Majesty think twice."
"The traitor Liu asked the imperial court to cede territory for peace, cede Liaodong, western Liaoning, and Shandong, and allow Marquis Pingliao to divide the country into kings. In addition, he must reward Kaiyuan's army with five million taels of white shadow. After that, Marquis Pingliao will assist the imperial court in suppressing the traitors and eradicating them. Ping the thieves in the pass and defended against the Mongolian Tatars, but Ping Liaohou did not pay the pilgrimage."
Zhu Youxiao raised his hands tremblingly. He looked around. The ministers were afraid of taking responsibility and remained silent.
The grandson of Emperor Wanli and the prince of Emperor Taichang did not care about the Ninth Five-Year Plan and loudly said to Du Xun in front of him:
"Go back and tell Marquis Ping Liao, I agree!"
When the officials who had been silent just now heard this, they immediately exploded and began to admonish the emperor.
"Your Majesty, the national treasury is currently unable to make ends meet. Last year, the income from various local silver levies was only 3 million taels, and now it is short of 1.5 million taels. How can you spend 5 million taels as a reward?"
"Your Majesty, don't compete with the people for profit. Thief Liu is greedy and wants five million taels. Back then, this thief acted like a lion in front of Emperor Shenzong! Don't pay attention to this person!"
"The capital is impregnable, and the Liu thief goes deep into the army alone. Don't you think that the power of the strong crossbow cannot penetrate Lu Zhen? Once King Qin's army is surrounded on all sides, he will definitely..."
The seventeen-year-old Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youxiao suddenly saw clearly the true face of these Donglin gentlemen.
He said bravely:
"Now that I have a lot of money and nothing to do, I have to rely on you all to raise five million silver rewards."
Zhao Nanxing said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, our ancestors have been saving money for three hundred years, and are they now in such embarrassment?"
Zhu Youxiao got up because of the incident, and Long Yan was furious:
"Indeed not! The late emperor left two million yuan in internal money, which has been handed over to the Ministry of War and distributed to western Liaoning as payment for the Liao Dynasty! Zu Dashou deceived the emperor and harmed the country. It is hateful!"
When Chongzhen said this, he suddenly had the urge to execute Zu Dashou again.
