Ming Empire

Chapter 189 Emperor Chongzhen's Last Words

Emperor Chongzhen woke up in the middle of the night after being drunk, and sat like this until dawn.

In fact, before dawn, Emperor Chongzhen was still fantasizing about a miracle, and he was even making the final effort to recruit Li Zicheng.

Emperor Chongzhen sent a peace envoy to start negotiations with the eunuch Du Xun who had previously surrendered to the bandits.

But the negotiations did not achieve any results. Li Zicheng clearly rejected the appeasement proposed by Emperor Chongzhen, saying that now the Ming Dynasty has perished and the world belongs to Dashun.He asked Emperor Chongzhen to give up resistance and give up the Forbidden City.If Emperor Chongzhen is willing to do this, he will treat members of the royal family favorably, and let Emperor Chongzhen continue to be the prince of Dashun, enjoying the glory and wealth until his old age.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen could not accept Li Zicheng's request, and the peace talks were shattered, and the final result was a meeting of soldiers.

Just when the sun was rising, Emperor Chongzhen received the news that the bandits first captured Guang'anmen on the west side of the outer city and entered the outer city.Later, Emperor Chongzhen received bad news. The eunuch Wang Xiangyao who guarded Xuanwu Gate, Zhang Jinyan, Minister of the Ministry of War who guarded Zhengyang Gate, and Chengguo Gong Zhu Chunchen, who guarded Qihua Gate, had opened the city gate and surrendered to the bandits.

The army of thieves has entered the inner city of Beijing, only one step away from the Forbidden City.

At this time, the Emperor Chongzhen had lost all thoughts, and none of the expected King Qin's troops arrived, but what was expected was the siege of the rogues.What made him even more angry was that few of the ministers he used so much were willing to die for Ming Dynasty. Zhu Chunchen and Zhang Jinyan opened the city gate and surrendered to the rogues without any resistance. Into the city of Beijing.

Emperor Chongzhen originally estimated that even if the rogues attacked the city, they could last at least ten days or even longer with Beijing's fortified city.But I didn't expect that the current Beijing city turned out to be an undefended city, and there were 10,000+ people in the Ming Dynasty's capital camp, but not many people were willing to resist.

In the middle of the night today, after the Emperor Chongzhen sobered up, he and his personal eunuch Wang Chengen climbed Meishan Mountain, looking at the sky-high beacon fires outside the city and around Zhangyimen, he couldn't help but sighed and burst into tears.Wang Chengen persuaded Emperor Chongzhen to leave the palace as soon as possible before the bandits entered the city. He would personally organize the elite of the Beijing camp to escort the members of the royal family out of the city, but Emperor Chongzhen refused.

As soon as it was dawn, Emperor Chongzhen personally rang the bell in the front hall to summon all the officials to discuss countermeasures, but after several rounds of bells, no one came to the palace, and Emperor Chongzhen collapsed on the ground. I have been wronged by the ministers. The monarch died in the country. Once the world in 270 and seven years was abandoned, it was all wronged by the treacherous ministers. As a result, it is too late for me to regret. If you don’t listen to what the treacherous ministers say, call Cao Yue’s Nanjing as soon as possible If the new army went to Henan and Shaanxi to fight, the rebellion of the bandits might have been put down; if the Nanjing Jingying camp had been summoned to Beijing to serve the king a month earlier, there would not be no one to resist when the enemy was present, and I regret it too late!"

Looking at Wang Chengen who was crying bitterly, he didn't know what words to use to comfort Emperor Chongzhen. He could only stagger his head, expressing his willingness to live and die with the emperor and never betray him.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was already mentally prepared for "the king's death in the country", but there was still a thorn in his heart, which was his beautiful concubines and children.The rogues would soon capture the city of Beijing, and Emperor Chongzhen could not tolerate his concubines and his children becoming the dolls of the rogues.Moreover, he didn't want the Ming Dynasty to perish. He asked Wang Chengen to send the prince Zhu Cihong, Dingwang Zhu Cijiong, Yongwang Zhu Cizhao, and five sons Zhu Cihuan to the father of state Zhou Kui, hoping that Zhou Kui could protect the safety of these sons.

After Wang Chengen went to make arrangements, Emperor Chongzhen rushed to Kunning Palace with his sword in hand, but Queen Zhou was not there.

Empress Zhou remembered the safety of Emperor Chongzhen, and took a group of palace people to find Emperor Chongzhen.Emperor Chongzhen, who wanted to force Empress Zhou to commit suicide, and then committed suicide himself, did not stay in Kunning Palace any longer, but came to Chengqian Palace.

Chengqian Palace is the bedroom of Concubine Tian Guifei, the favorite concubine of Emperor Chongzhen. Seeing Emperor Chongzhen rushing in with a sword in his hand, his hair disheveled and disheveled, Concubine Tian Guifei's face turned pale and her body was crumbling.

Looking at his beautiful concubine, Emperor Chongzhen burst into tears. He said with grief and indignation, "My beloved concubine, the Ming Dynasty is about to perish. I have no face to face my ancestors. I have to die for the country. In order to prevent you from falling into the hands of thieves." If your hand is insulted, just follow me?"

Tian Guifei stared at Emperor Chongzhen with tears streaming down her face for a long time, finally nodded lightly, knelt down in front of Emperor Chongzhen, and knocked her head three times: "Long Live Lord, my concubine is willing to go with you!"

Emperor Chongzhen closed his eyes and let the tears roll down his face. Finally, he gritted his teeth and thrust his sword into Concubine Tian Gui's throat.

With a scream, Concubine Tian Gui fell limply and died.

After Emperor Chongzhen killed Concubine Tian Gui, he held his sword and prepared to go to Queen Zhou again. Just as he rushed out of Qianqing Palace, Wang Chengen hurried back and told Emperor Chongzhen that he had arranged for several princes to be sent out of the palace.Emperor Chongzhen remained silent, and continued to rush around the palace with his sword in hand. Wang Chengen didn't dare to say anything, and followed silently.

At this moment, the sound of musket shooting and earth-shattering shouts came from outside the palace.

"Cheng En, the rogues have already attacked outside the palace. I don't want to fall into the hands of the rogues. I don't want to be humiliated and lose the face of the Ming emperor. I don't want my concubines to be humiliated. After I kill them, I will commit suicide to thank the world," Chongzhen said. The emperor stared at the trembling Wang Chengen with blood-red eyes, "Are you willing to follow me?"

Wang Chengen couldn't help shivering, but in the end he nodded vigorously: "Long Live Lord, this servant has followed you since childhood, and will always follow you in the future. Wherever you go, this servant will go, and I will never dare to turn my back on you! This servant will definitely Follow you. However, the rogues have not entered the palace yet, so we still try to escape from the city. In the direction of Meishan, the servants arranged for a team to respond..."

Emperor Chongzhen was speechless for a while, but finally shook his head lightly, and then walked away quickly with his sword in hand.Wang Chengen was stunned for a moment, tears rolled down from his eyes, but he quickly wiped away the tears and followed Emperor Chongzhen.

At this time, shouts and footsteps came from the direction of the Jinshui Bridge in the palace, like a large group of people rushing into the palace.Emperor Chongzhen didn't care to look for Empress Zhou again, so with Wang Chengen's support, he ran towards Meishan.After running under the crooked-neck tree in Meishan, Emperor Chongzhen looked back and saw the Beijing city filled with flames and gunpowder smoke, and couldn't help but shed tears again.

He also saw that a group of people and horses were rushing from the direction of the Huangji Hall Square, heading straight for the Empress Palace. After a long sigh, Emperor Chongzhen tore off a large piece of his clothes and bit his fingers. On the lapel of the clothes, there is a vigorous writing: "17 years since I ascended the throne, the rebels have been attacking the capital. When you see your ancestors in the ground with your face, remove the crown to cover your face. Let the thieves split my corpse, and don't hurt a single person of the people."
After finishing writing, he put the blood book into his arms, untied his belt, wrapped it around the crooked neck tree a few times, tied a knot, and slipped his neck into it.Wang Chengen, who was by his side, also took off his belt, and wrapped it around the big tree opposite.

A gust of wind blew by, swinging the two bodies hanging from the tree.

(End of this chapter)