Emperor Chongzhen lay on the bed and turned over again.
It was on the afternoon of the 15th that he received a report from Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao, and learned that Juyongguan had fallen and Tang Tong had rebelled.
This news is actually not surprising, because before Juyongguan, there were two important towns, Datong and Xuanhua, that successively surrendered to the rebels. The Ming Dynasty was already on the verge of collapse. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that Tang Tong surrendered to the thieves, but it was extremely strange to hold on to the end like Zhou Yuji.
But after Emperor Chongzhen learned that Tang Tongxianguan surrendered the bandits, he still felt like he had fallen into an ice cave.
If we do not consider Wu Sangui's troops who are still in Shanhaiguan, Tang Tong's 8,000 men are Chongzhen's last hope to defend the city of Beijing. Chongzhen hesitated for a while on how to use Tang Tong's troops, and finally chose Juyong Pass, a place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack and close to Beijing, for Tang Tong to defend.
We don't really expect Tang Tong to be able to block Li Zicheng, but as long as he forces Li Zicheng to take a detour, the mission has been completed.
Because as long as Li Zicheng took a detour and broke through other places along the Great Wall, he would have wasted a little time, and Beijing would have gained some precious time. Moreover, after Li Zicheng breached the Great Wall, Tang Tong's troops were able to quickly return reinforcements and continue to hold on in Beijing.
After two delays like this, we should be able to wait until Wu Sangui's reinforcements arrive. With Wu Sangui's 40,000 troops, Beijing's defenders numbered as many as 50,000 to 60,000, and they were quite elite.
By then, there should be no problem in holding Beijing and repelling Li Zicheng. The problem is just the Lu Chou outside the pass. It is impossible to defeat Li Chuang and Lu Chou at the same time relying solely on the troops of Wu Sangui and Tang Tong, so the southward movement will eventually be carried out. After repelling Li Zicheng, we can try to move south again... But now, the wishful thinking has completely failed, and the city of Beijing will soon be besieged by the insurgent army.
And there was no preparation for moving the capital to Nanxing. If he fled in a hurry, he would be alone. After arriving in Nanjing, would he be able to command the world as he does now? No one outside the city listened to the decree he issued in Beijing. Otherwise, why would the Ming Dynasty be like this? If you lose your ancestral mausoleum, lose all your officials and nobles, and go to Nanjing in misery and panic, won't your prestige be ruined?
Emperor Chongzhen stood up and sighed heavily.
The eunuch on duty outside suddenly became alert and tiptoed closer to the curtain, listening to what was going on inside. It is Yin time on the 16th, and it is time to prepare for the morning court. Compared with those late emperors who did not love going to court, the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty is really very diligent. He has been diligent every day since he came to the throne. The early morning dynasty that started before dawn has never been interrupted, and most of the time he is better than his ministers. Arrive at Fengtianmen earlier. After going to court, I still have to approve memorials, listen to lecturers preaching the principles of Confucianism, summon internal and external officials, and think about strategies for suppressing bandits and Ping Liao. I have to be busy every day before going to bed after Haishi, and I don’t go to bed every day. Do you know if I can sleep for two hours? Even the iron-clad King Kong can't stand it! But this emperor persisted for seventeen years!
That’s really hard work day and night, taking care of everything! Looking at the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty, probably only Emperor Taizu Gao and Emperor Chengzuwen were so diligent, right?
But what is even more rare is that under the diligent and dedicated governance of this emperor, the Ming Dynasty was in turmoil and was about to be destroyed... For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, the thirty-three-year-old emperor even turned his hair gray. Few, but they just can’t stop the defeat in all aspects!
God is really blind!
Emperor Chongzhen got out of bed and coughed lightly.
"Long live Lord, do you want some water?" The eunuch on duty gently opened the curtain, pinched his throat, and asked Chongzhen in a soft voice.
Emperor Chongzhen nodded. When I was in bed just now, I was in a daze and couldn't sleep at all. Now I feel dizzy and weak when I sit up.
The eunuch on night duty quickly brought some water and handed it to Chongzhen.
Chongzhen drank it all in one gulp and asked, "When is it?"
"It's five o'clock." The eunuch replied.
"It's time to go to court..." Chongzhen sighed.
He already had a vague feeling that something bad was going to happen, and he didn't know how many days left before he could go to court?
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen was so sad that he almost shed tears.
The eunuch on duty didn't know how to comfort Chongzhen, so he had to ask other chamberlains on duty to light the lamps, and at the same time personally helped Emperor Chongzhen put on his shoes, socks, and robes. After a while, the lights in the Qianqing Palace were brightly lit. The maids and eunuchs were busy walking silently along the corridor in the early morning. It seemed that the drastic changes taking place outside the palace had nothing to do with them.
Emperor Chongzhen also washed his hands and face as usual, had some refreshments, and soon sat behind the desk in Dongnuan Pavilion. On the desk are the imperial edicts approved last night, all approved by Chongzhen's imperial pen. He is a wise king, so of course he will not let the eunuch of the Supervisor of Ceremonies do it for him. However, these approved imperial edicts still had to be brought to court by the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
Gao Yushun, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, and Wang Zhixin, the second eunuch who held the pen, had already arrived. After saluting Chongzhen, they began to pack up the imperial edict to be issued today.
"Wang Cheng'en didn't come?" Emperor Chongzhen asked. Before he spoke, he had already remembered it and replied with a wry smile, "By the way, he went to defend the city..."
Putting Wang Cheng'en in charge of Beijing's defense was a bit of a fool's errand, as Emperor Chongzhen could have imagined.
In fact, the internal service system of the Ming Dynasty also had civil and military divisions. Eunuch Wen controlled the ceremonial supervisor, and eunuch Wu controlled the imperial eunuch. Yumajian has always been in charge of the military, so those who can rise to the rank of Dajun in the Yumajian system have certain military experience. Wang Chengen, on the other hand, was a civil eunuch in the ceremonial supervision system and had no military experience.
The city of Beijing is facing a disaster. If an eunuch who doesn't understand anything is appointed as the city's defense commander, will there be any good results?
"Long live my lord," asked Gao Yushun, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, "do you want to call Wang Cheng'en to serve you?"
Emperor Chongzhen shook his head. The matter of defending the city was important, so let Wang Chengen be busy now. Seeing that Gao Yushun and Wang Zhixin had finished cleaning up, he stood up and walked out of Qianqing Palace towards Fengtian Gate.
Just a few steps out of the door, he saw a eunuch wearing a red python robe walking towards him, and almost bumped into Wang Zhixin who was opening the way in front.
Just when Wang Zhixin was about to reprimand, Emperor Chongzhen recognized that the man was Tian Cunzhi, the eunuch of the Royal Horse Supervisor.
Although this guy is a eunuch, his behavior is like that of a warrior. He is also very burly, his face is somewhat ferocious, his skin is dark and rough, and with a beard, he looks like a fierce man.
Because of his rough appearance, he was sent to the Yongwei camp from the early years of Chongzhen. In the past ten years or so, I have spent most of my time on the front lines, and I have developed a fickle style.
"Is this Tian Cunzhi? Come forward and speak." Emperor Chongzhen waved to Tian Cunzhi and asked him to come forward.
Tian Cunzhi stepped forward and saluted, and then said in a voice with a bit of surprise: "Long live the Lord, what good news! When I entered the palace, I saw thousands of people queuing up on Huangqiang North Street. After asking, You know, they are all volunteers who came to serve in the army!"
According to the old rules, eunuchs are not allowed to live outside their homes. However, this kind of rule has long been invalidated. A big man like Tian Cunzhi not only has a foreign residence, but also wives and concubines, and his family wealth is tens of thousands of dollars.
Therefore, Tian Cunzhi, like the court officials, went to the imperial city early every morning to be on duty. However, the eunuchs did not go through Daming Gate when entering the imperial city, but through Bei'an Gate. That's why I saw the heroes of the capital who had been tricked by Zhu Cixiang waiting in line on Huangqiang North Street.
Emperor Chongzhen could hardly believe his ears and looked at Tian Cunzhi blankly, "Really? Are there really thousands of people?"
"Really, long live my Lord, I dare to guarantee it with my life!" Tian Cunzhi said with certainty, "Several thousand people came early in the morning, and they will definitely exceed 10,000 by night! It seems that the people in the capital still care about the Ming Dynasty. !”
Chongzhen breathed out: "Thank God, it's all the kindness of our ancestors... The Ming Dynasty can be saved! It can be saved!"
…
"Master Chitose, the Ming Dynasty can be saved! It can be saved..."
At the same time, Zhu Cixiang, who had just gotten up, heard the same news. It was brought to him by the old eunuch Li Jizhou, the bureau chief of the Donggongdian Pharmacy.
Because Zhu Cixiang was "sick", Li Jizhou should be waiting on him, but yesterday the sick prince spent a day wandering outside Duanben Palace. So Li Jizhou had to get up early today and come to Duanben Palace to block Zhu Cihong. When entering the palace, he also saw a long queue on the North Wall Street of the Imperial City.
