Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 71 People are here in the city, and they will never insult the power of our Ming Dynasty.

More than ten thousand cavalrymen all got on their horses, their armors and swords clashed, making a clanging and powerful metallic sound.

He Zan's troops were the vanguard of the army and took the lead.With the guidance of the banner and the sound of horse hoofbeats, we exited the left gate of Chang'an, walked north along the half-side street of Huodao at the root of the Imperial City, crossed Andingmen Street, and exited Andingmen.

At this time, martial law was still in place in the capital, and the ban would not be lifted until the establishment of the Baojia Law was completed.Otherwise, the people along the street would be shocked when they see it.

Empress Zhou and Prince Zhu Cixiang, together with all the civil and military officials, walked across the bloodstains on Chang'an Street to see the emperor off, but they were ordered to stop at the left gate of Chang'an.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Empress Zhou who had a concerned and worried look on her face and said nothing. She just looked at Zhu Cixiang and said in a deep voice: "Guard the capital well. If you are in the city, you must not insult the power of the Ming Dynasty!"

When the young man Zhu Cixi heard the voice, he immediately clasped his fists and responded generously: "Father, don't worry, you will never insult the power of the Ming Dynasty when you are in the city!"

He paused, hesitated for a moment, and then asked Emperor Chongzhen with a little envy: "Father, when will my son be able to lead troops on an expedition?"

Obviously, Zhu Cixiang wanted to lead the army after seeing his father's majesty and enthusiasm as a young man when he led the army.

Emperor Chongzhen understood the young man's character and immediately said seriously: "Leading troops in a war is a life-and-death fight, not a picnic. Your first step is to learn to work diligently, so that you can persevere, instead of fishing and sunbathing for two days. net!"

After hearing this, Zhu Cihong was a little disappointed, but he quickly cheered up and immediately replied: "Father, don't worry, my sons will follow your father's example, get up early and go to bed late, and do their duty!"

Emperor Chongzhen nodded after hearing this, and then turned to look at the group of people behind him. They included Li Ruolian, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Wang Chengen, the eunuch in charge of the rites and the governor of the East Factory, Fan Jingwen, the first assistant, and the assistant ministers of the cabinet...

After traveling through time and setting off in a hurry, there are still too many things to do.However, there are priorities, so we can only focus on saving Ningwuguan first.On the capital side, at least important positions have been replaced by reliable civil and military ministers. I hope they can do a good job and relieve themselves of worries.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen didn't say much. He pulled the reins, clamped his legs at the same time, drove the horse forward, and was about to embark on the expedition.

At this moment, he suddenly saw Fan Jingwen, the chief assistant, striding out of the queue, kneeling to Emperor Chongzhen, with a sincere face, and loudly said: "Your Majesty is the foundation of the country, but the war is dangerous. I sincerely ask your Majesty to think twice. I have the experience of leading troops, and I am willing to go to war for His Majesty and die to serve the country without any regrets!"

Previously, Emperor Chongzhen's heavy pressure prevented him from saying this.If you don't say anything now, the emperor will leave.

After hearing his words, other civil servants and military generals finally seized the opportunity and knelt down to Emperor Chongzhen to ask for battle to show their loyalty.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw this, he reined in his horse and turned to look back at them. He saw that except for the queen and the prince, they all knelt on the ground to plead for battle.

He knew that some of the officials, such as Fan Jingwen, should be sincere in what they said, but there were definitely a large number of civil and military officials who were actually just pretending to be fake and taking the opportunity to show off.

After scanning it once, Emperor Chongzhen said seriously: "Since I am the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, in this critical moment, I should lead the troops to go on an expedition! You see, I haven't even repaired the imperial mausoleum. If I die in battle one day, I will be with everyone. The officers and men are the same, but the body can be wrapped in horse leather. Your Majesty, you should assist the prince and do your job well!"

In later generations, some people slandered Emperor Chongzhen for hiding tens of millions of taels of silver but being reluctant to spend it. This is really unreasonable!

After any emperor ascends the throne, the first thing he does is to build an imperial mausoleum for himself, because he never knows when he will die.However, Emperor Chongzhen has been on the throne for 17 years and has not built his own imperial mausoleum at all. Could it be that he does not pay attention to it? At least the ancients did not pay attention to it, especially the emperor, who valued his own mausoleum even more.Then why not repair it?The answer is very simple, it’s not because you hide money and don’t spend it, it’s because you don’t have any money at all!

At this time, after he finished speaking, he clamped the horse's belly hard, and the horse sprang out and embarked on the journey.The eunuch Fang Zhenghua, who was behind him, had a solemn face, and immediately led five hundred cavalry troops and one thousand direct cavalry to follow Emperor Chongzhen and embarked on the expedition.

Among this team, there was a very conspicuous person, wearing a green robe civil official uniform. He was Wu Ganlai, who was in charge of the affairs of Hu Ke. He was the only civil servant who was ordered to accompany the army on the expedition.

Fan Jingwen and others looked at the emperor's heroic back and were very moved. They immediately kowtowed to the ground and respectfully sent the Ming Emperor off.

To get to Ningwuguan, you must first leave the capital to Changping, pass Juyongguan to Xuanfu, then cross Yanghe to Datong, and then reach Ningwuguan. The reason for this is because both the Hengshan Mountains and the Taihang Mountains follow a northeast-southwest trend. Therefore, we had to take a detour, and the whole journey was about 1000 or two hundred miles.

Of course, the reinforcements can actually go south and enter Shanxi via Guguan, which will be closer to Ningwuguan.However, Emperor Chongzhen knew that Guguan would fall earlier, and if he marched from here, it would be difficult to join Zhou Yuji's troops and would be separated by Li Zicheng's army.

The most critical thing is that Emperor Chongzhen's rescue of Ningwuguan also requires the troops and materials from Xuanfu and Datong, two important border towns.Therefore, we can only take a detour and travel day and night.

………………

At the same time, Zhou Yuji had abandoned Daizhou and hurriedly moved to Ningwuguan before the bandits outside the city could react.

The Guancheng of Ningwuguan stands majestically on the Huagai Mountain in the remnants of Hengshan Mountain. It is close to the Hui River and overlooks the east, west and south sides. It has a circumference of 3.5 kilometers. It is narrow in the north and south, long in the east and west, and is rectangular. The city wall is tall and solid, about 12 meters. , the city is built with green bricks, surrounded by forts and watchtowers.

With heavy troops stationed here at Ningwuguan, we can defend Yanmen Pass in the east, support Piantou Pass in the west, and respond to Yunshuo in the north, covering the ground to gain advantage.

Zhou Yuji was the commander-in-chief of the three passes. He abandoned guarding the other two passes and only guarded Ningwuguan to collect food, grass and baggage.He stood on the top of the city, watching his soldiers busy, but he was worried in his heart.

The imperial court had no money and food to allocate. Even if he gathered the food and supplies from the three passes at Ningwuguan, there was not much!As for the number of Li thieves' troops, the difference was really huge.It is almost impossible to stop the army of Li thieves with Ningwuguan!

The most ideal thing is that Ningwuguan can be reinforced by Datong. If it persists like this, the strong strength of Li's army will become a burden, because more troops will require more food and supplies.

But, can they hold on until Li's army runs out of money and food?
Regarding this issue, Zhou Yuji had no idea at all!
If Li's army entered Shanxi and fought all the way, it would consume more money, food and troops, and the hope of holding Ningwuguan would be greater.However, since Li Thief's army entered Shanxi, officers and soldiers from all over the country have surrendered upon hearing the news, allowing Li Thief to gain troops and food effortlessly!

Zhou Yuji felt a little more angry in his heart when he thought about it: he completely ignored the emperor's salary, loyalty to the emperor, etiquette, justice, integrity, and loyalty to the country. He only tried his best to plunder the people's fat and anointing. If it weren't for them, what would be the state affairs? As for that!

Also, the treacherous ministers in the court were in power and deceived the saints, but the loyal ministers and good generals died in battle one after another.

Thinking about this, Zhou Yuji couldn't help but think of his two colleagues in the Yongwei Camp. Sun Yingyuan had died in the battle, and Huang Degong was far away in Fengyang. For a moment, he felt that he was really lonely in the world.

No matter what, in times of crisis, let others bend and bend their knees, but you should stand upright and have no regrets even if you die!

While he was thinking, suddenly there was movement behind him, but it was the personal guards who led people over.He recognized it. He was the messenger who had gone to Datong and Yanghe to report the victory.

(End of this chapter)