Hong Chengchou died, and the remaining 20,000 to 30,000 defenders in Tianjin surrendered!
The Tianjin defense line is completely destroyed!
Chongzhen learned this news three days later... At this time, tens of thousands of Chu troops had already reached Wuqing County, which was only dozens of kilometers away from the capital.
Logically speaking, urgent military information can be reported five hundred miles away, and the distance from Tianjin to Youzhou City is only over 100 kilometers. With the speed of Pegasus at the post station, one day is enough to send the message from Tianjin back to Youzhou City.
But when the Tianjin defenders killed Hong Chengchou and surrendered, they would still send a message to Youzhou City.
Not to mention reporting the news, the Chu army on the outside and the surrendering Ming army in the city jointly blockaded Tianjin and surrounding areas.
Therefore, the remnants of Tianjin surrendered, and the news of Hong Chengchou's death was delayed until three days before being conveyed back to Youzhou City.
After hearing the news, Chongzhen was furious as usual... he yelled at the ministers for most of an hour, saying over and over again what he was a piece of trash, he should all deserve to die.
Unfortunately, swearing doesn't solve anything.
Now that the Tianjin defense line has been completely destroyed, the Chu bandit army has continued to move north along the canal to Wuqing County. It is estimated that they will be able to reach Xianghe County tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow... those Chu thieves who are destined to die will be able to reach Tongzhou.
And this is still talking about the Chu thieves' main infantry and artillery force, but not the Chu thieves' light infantry or even cavalry.
In fact, a few days ago, a small group of Chu thieves' cavalry appeared outside Youzhou City. At the same time, in Fangshan, Liangxiang, Huangcun and other places, which were only thirty or forty kilometers southwest of Youzhou City, in a few days, It had already fallen into the hands of Chu thieves before.
According to reports from officials at the front, more than 20,000 infantry and artillery cavalry under the Chu bandits raided northward from Baoding and Bazhou. After successively capturing Rongcheng, Xincheng, and Gu'an, they only stopped for a few days, and then successively captured Dingxing, Yi Zhouzhou, Laishui, Zhuozhou and other places.
Starting from the beginning of August, the Chu army in this direction turned to the north and continued to attack, and successively captured the two cities of Fangshan and Liangxiang.
After taking Liangxiang, the Chu thieves in that direction were no more than thirty kilometers away from Youzhou City. Even the Chu thieves' reconnaissance cavalry and even other small groups of infantry appeared in the outer areas of Youzhou City.
Just attack the city directly.
If the Chu thieves who came from Fangshan were unable to carry a large number of heavy artillery and ammunition due to the long supply line and the need for mobility, then the more than 30,000 Chu thieves who went north along the canal relied on the canal to carry a large number of Long-barreled heavy artillery and mortars came over.
Ammunition, food and fodder were loaded in the rear and shipped one after another.
Once the Chu thieves from the direction of Tongzhou and the Chu thieves from the Fangshan direction are allowed to meet under Youzhou City, the number of Chu thieves under Youzhou City will probably exceed 50,000.
How can Youzhou City be defended then?
You know, Youzhou City seems to be a big city with many defenders, but the larger the city, the more difficult it is to defend...
Your city is so big, people can break through the city wall in any direction.
The defenders of Youzhou City seemed to be large in number, but everyone knew that these Beijing camps were basically useless, even Chongzhen himself knew very well.
Otherwise, Chongzhen would not have asked his eunuchs to organize a group of eunuchs for training in an attempt to create an army of eunuchs.
Youzhou City is coming to an end...
The Ming Dynasty is coming to an end!
Not to mention the ministers, even Chongzhen himself felt this way.
The battle for hegemony between the Ming Dynasty and the Chu thieves was at a disadvantage from the beginning. Even after several years of struggle, as they were defeated one after another, especially after the complete failure of the Battle of Tianjin, the Ming Dynasty could no longer There is no competition left.
So in the court, Chongzhen couldn't help but close his eyes when he looked at a group of ministers who were still responsible for each other and impeaching this and that.
After a while, he was heard murmuring: "I am not the king of a subjugated country, but all of my ministers are ministers of a subjugated country!"
After that, Chongzhen waved his sleeves and left!
A group of ministers were left who were still fighting with each other, but these ministers immediately became quiet after Chongzhen left...
You look at me, I look at you... and then they left the hall one after another!
As a group of ministers left the palace one after another and the palace door was closed again, the afterglow of the setting sun shone on the glazed tiles of the palace, showing a suffocating silence!
In the following days, Chongzhen summoned his ministers several times to discuss how to resist the thieves.
On the day when the Chu thieves arrived at Xianghe, only 60% to 70% of the ministers came.
When the Chu thieves came to Tongzhou and the defenders of Tongzhou surrendered without a fight, only 30% to 40% of the ministers came, not even the ministers.
When the Chu thieves arrived at the gate of Youzhou City, they pulled out a group of artillery pieces and started bombarding the city gate. Thousands of soldiers from the Beijing camp who were stationed on the front line of the city gate dispersed under the bombardment. Cao Huachun, who was appointed by Chongzhen as the eunuch to defend the city, took the initiative to open the city gate. On the day when the Chu army entered the city, no courtiers entered the palace...
In the afternoon of August 9th, Chongzhen looked at the empty hall. There were no ministers, not even clan members and nobles, sitting alone on the dragon chair for a long time...
Finally he got up and went to the harem!
Accompanied by the eunuch Wang Chengen, Chongzhen went up to Meishan Mountain to look into the distance. Unfortunately, he saw nothing and didn't even hear the sound of gunfire. The entire palace and the entire Forbidden City seemed to be dead, with no sound at all. .
Because neither the imperial camp in the city, nor the palace guards, nor the eunuchs offered any actual resistance to the Chu army entering the city.
They were like women who had resigned themselves to their fate, lying down obediently and letting the Chu thieves torment them, and even untied their own clothes...
You can't even hear her wail or cry!
Even if you listen carefully, you can hear the joy and laughter that may be suppressed or open!
After looking out, Chongzhen, who saw nothing, could only go down to Meishan and go to the harem.
When going to the harem, Chongzhen carried a Longquan sword and personally killed several concubines and princes and princesses who were unwilling to commit suicide.
At the same time, the eunuch Wang Dehua had led the crowd to surrender to the Chu thieves outside the palace city, and personally led the Chu army into the inner hall of the Forbidden City to look for Chongzhen and his party.
However, the Chu army was still a step too late. Accompanied by Wang Chengen, Chongzhen had already gone to Meishan again, and then hanged himself!
Ming is dead!
After General Li Chengtong learned the news, he looked at the blood letter written by Chongzhen before his death, pointed to the sentence "I am not the king who subjugates the country, and all the ministers are the ministers of the country's subjugation", and faced a group of captured Ming court officials. The official said: "You are really thick-skinned. When I was on the streets before, I have never seen such a thick-skinned person."
Many of these Ming court officials licked their faces and complimented them: "What the general said is true. The Ming Dynasty is what it is today, and it is all because of this tyrant. In this way, Ming will be destroyed and Chu will be reborn."
After hearing this, Li Chengtong laughed again: "I don't know if he is a tyrant, but you are definitely not loyal ministers!"
Then with a wave of his hand, hundreds of guards appeared on the left and right, and then Li Chengtong said with a straight face: "Your Majesty decreed: On the day of the death of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor and his ministers should go to the underworld together. When the country dies, the emperor will die and his ministers will follow him. Only in this way can we become the emperor and his ministers." Way!"
"Your king has passed away, and it's time for you to hit the road. By the way, considering that you are all senior officials in the ministry, I will give you a decent opportunity. If you are willing, you can go to the side hall to choose a white silk. "
"If you don't want to, you can only serve with bullets or bullets!"
At this time, a servant who surrendered immediately said while trembling in fear: "You...don't you mean to treat the surrendered ministers well? Treat the prisoners of war well? You betrayed your trust and killed the surrendered ministers and prisoners of war. The world will definitely despise you!"
Li Chengtong said: "First of all, I, Da Chu, treat prisoners of war preferentially. That is only limited to prisoners of war, and prisoners of war are only limited to soldiers. You are not soldiers. Furthermore, you surrendered too late. There is a saying that 'go to the market early' , and you got up too late..."
"Again... When I entered Youzhou this time, I only accepted the surrender of two people. If I remember correctly, those two were eunuchs..."
"As for you, I did not accept your surrender, let alone your surrender, so you are not considered my prisoners of war, let alone my surrendering officials of Da Chu."
"Remember, you are still ministers of the Ming Dynasty now. It is reasonable for the king to die and his ministers to follow him when the country dies."
"Finally, killing you will be a relief for Mingjun. Looking at the blood letter he left, you can't wait to kill all the nine tribes."
"Don't worry, I will set up a big tombstone for you as a warning to future generations. It will be next to the tombstone of the late Ming Emperor. On the left is 'The King Who Destroyed the Ming Dynasty', and on the right is 'The Minister Who Destroyed the Ming Dynasty'."
After that, Li Chengtong did not look at the dozens of senior Ming court officials below, but turned and left on the spot, leaving only hundreds of Chu soldiers and dozens of senior Ming court officials in the palace.
Li Chengtong had just taken a few steps when he heard bursts of gunfire from behind, followed by various screams!
The capital of the Ming Dynasty is dead. No matter whether these Ming ministers are loyal ministers or disloyal ministers, no matter whether they are corrupt officials or honest officials, there is no need for them to exist!
After torturing the Ming court, he wanted to turn around and run to the Chu court to become an official and continue to torment... Luo Zhixue said that he would not allow this kind of thing to happen.
The world is now mostly unified, and the Ming Dynasty has almost been wiped out. Now is the time to promote the concept of monarch and minister again.
We can't let everyone in the world think that our Great Chu Empire encourages the other ministers...
Their Great Chu Empire was a serious traditional feudal dynasty that encouraged loyalty, not traitors!
In addition to these general directions, it is also related to the private ideas of Luo Zhixue and many high-level civil and military generals in the Chu Empire.
The senior leaders of the Da Chu Empire, excluding Luo Zhixue, were basically from middle and lower classes, and many of them had military backgrounds in the Ming army. They did not have a good impression of the civil servants in the Ming court.
In the past, during the expansion and unification of the Great Chu Empire, due to practical needs, the Great Chu Empire accepted a large number of people who were demoted from the Ming court. But now, the Great Chu Empire has reached Youzhou City and can be considered as occupying most of it. In the world, generals such as Li Chengtong and civil servants such as Chen Xingkai do not want the officialdom of the Chu Empire to have such a disgusting group of moths.
