Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 113 Find clues, King Tang was attacked
After receiving Wang Yan's order, Hu Weizong searched the dead body for a while, but failed to get any valuable information from the northern soldiers, so he had to move his target to the killed Han Chinese.

After some searching, Hu Weizong found several seals one after another, which made his expression change, and he quickly handed the seals to Wang Yan for viewing.

When Wang Yan saw the seal, his face immediately changed. These are official seals, which means that the Han people who were killed were all imperial officials who fled. As officials, they have all died in battle. Then the situation they faced , is obviously in danger, and at the critical moment of survival, even the survivors have been captured by the Qing army.

At this time Wang Yan took the seal, and he couldn't help but read a little: "Fang Kaishi, the head of the Ministry of Rites, sealed Wu Yongyin from the military department, Gu Xiancheng, Minister of Dali Temple, and Shi Li Wenyin, the head of the Tang Palace~"

Every time Wang Yan looked at a seal, his face became heavy. Each of these seals represented a dead court official, and the seal of the Tang Palace Chief History made his face change drastically, "This is the Qing army. I'm chasing and killing King Tang!"

Wang Yan was not very clear about the matter in Hangzhou, but he knew that after Lufan surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, the most urgent task of the Ming Dynasty was to establish a new leader to resist the Qing Dynasty, so that people's hearts would be subdued, and the righteous men who cherished their homeland could be supported spiritually.

The long history of the Tang Palace is here, and several courtiers were also killed together. From this, it can be seen that the courtiers who did not want to surrender to the Qing must have surrounded the Tang King and fled, and were killed by the Qing army's elite fast horses. hunt down.

Thinking of this, Wang Yan couldn't help feeling anxious, and quickly said to everyone: "I suspect that King Tang was hunted down by the Qing army, and looking at the ministers who were killed, King Tang must be in a very critical situation. The blood on these corpses is not dry. , presumably the battle did not take long, Tang Wang and his entourage should still be nearby, Zong Ke quickly and a few young masters, went around to investigate. I am here, waiting for the news from you."

"Promise!" Hu Weizong clasped his fists when he heard the words.

"When you go to search, remember to be careful. If you find the Qing army, don't act impulsively. Come back and let me know." Wang Yan instructed: "Within two quarters of an hour, no matter whether you find anything or not, you must first Come back and join me."

"The final general knows." Hu Weizong nodded, and then searched in different directions with the five junior teachers.

Seeing this, Wang Yan told the three girls not to get out of the carriage, and together with Su Kunsheng and the coachman, they buried the dead minister hastily.

Not long after, Hu Weizong, who inquired about the news, came back first, "Master Hou, there is a hill not far to the south. The king of Tang and his party are trapped in the temple. More than 20 Qing troops are attacking. It seems that they set fire to the temple. The last general If one person cannot get close, come back immediately and report."

Knowing the whereabouts of Tang Wang, Wang Yan was slightly happy, but when he thought that Tang Wang and his party had reached the point where even the Chinese courtiers personally fought against the Qing army, he immediately became worried.

At this time, Wang Yan could no longer wait in peace. After the young masters came back, they went to rescue the king of Tang, and then ordered Su Kunsheng, the coachman and the three daughters to wait here. Then he took a step ahead with Hu Weizong and ran to the hill.

King Tang and his party left Quzhou City and went all the way south. When they reached Lishui, the fine cavalry sent by Azig suddenly chased them. He was able to escape in time, but Zheng Sen's subordinates and several younger civil servants also died in battle.

Tang Wang and his party hurriedly left the post road and went south into the mountains, trying to escape the pursuit of the Qing cavalry. In the end, he was still overtaken by the Qing army and was blocked in the ruined temple.

More than 20 Qing troops surrounded the ruined temple and attacked it from all sides. However, although Zheng Sen was a Confucian scholar, he came from the general family with extraordinary martial arts skills. temple gate.

The Qing army attacked several times, but failed to break through the door. Frustrated, they took firewood and prepared to burn down the ruined temple, forcing the king of Tang Dynasty to come out and surrender.

Inside the ruined temple, Zheng Sen was the only one who still had some fighting power. The rest of the ministers were civil servants who had been in the court for a long time. It was already the limit to barely guard the temple gate. If they went out to fight the Qing soldiers, they would just die.

The king of Tang did not expect that he would fall into such a desperate situation after only a few days of supervising the country. His heart was already filled with ashes. He glanced at the miserable ministers in the temple, and said sadly to everyone: "You are all loyal ministers of my Ming Dynasty. , but was burdened by this king, and implicated all the ministers into this desperate situation."

"Your Highness, why did you say that?" All the ministers were filled with grief and indignation when they heard the words, and knelt down one after another, "It's all due to the incompetence of the ministers, who failed to protect His Highness, and the ministers are ashamed of the past emperors of the Ming Dynasty!"

"This is not the fault of Qing and others, and God will not bless me!" Tang Wang saw the ministers kneeling down and crying bitterly, and his heart was also miserable. He waved his hands to let the ministers not blame themselves, and then looked at the sword in his hand, full of tears Unwilling Zheng Sen said: "Sooner or later, the ruined temple will be destroyed by the Mantas. This king is the supervisor of the country, so he cannot be insulted by the Mantas. Now he has decided to die for the country. After the death of the king, Damu can lead the ministers to break through the encirclement. Yes, because there is a chance."

"Your Highness!" Zheng Sen and all the ministers cried out in pain when they heard the words.

At this time, the people in the temple understood Tang Wang's desire to die, and they were all sad, but they couldn't stop them. Facing more than 20 Qing soldiers outside the temple, even Zheng Sen, who was highly skilled in martial arts, did not have much chance to escape. If the King of Tang did not commit suicide, there would be two consequences. One would be tortured and killed by the Qing army, and the other would be captured by the Qing army. Both outcomes would be a disgrace to Ming Dynasty.

When the ministers saw that the king of Tang was determined to die, they couldn't help crying on the ground.

At this time, the Qing soldiers outside the temple had already lit firewood, and a burst of thick smoke rose from the mountain, and a lot of smoke and dust slowly drifted into the temple, choking everyone uncomfortable.

Seeing this, the king of the Tang Dynasty was already in despair, so he looked northward at the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Taizu in Nanjing and worshiped. I tried to expel the Manchus and restore the rivers and mountains, but things backfired. So far, I have only fled all the way without doing anything. I feel very ashamed. Now that the Manchus are burning temples, my sons and ministers are killed. They dare not forget the teachings of their ancestors. The only death is to die for the country. !"

After the king of Tang worshiped, he got up and bid farewell to the ministers, and then took a rag and hung it on the beam. Seeing this, the ministers cried bitterly, "Your Highness will die first, and the ministers will come after you."

For a moment, the temple was full of despair and grief, full of weeping and crying. With the support of the ministers, the king of Tang stepped on the high stool tremblingly, and was about to hang himself to death, when outside the courtyard door Suddenly there was a sound of fighting, and an urgent cry: "His Royal Highness, my king Shiheng is here to save you!"

(End of this chapter)