March 15, the seventeenth year of Chongzhen.

Beizhili, Tongzhou.

Li Zicheng stood on the city wall, looking in the direction of the capital. After capturing Liangxiang at the end of February, the Dashun Army accelerated the pace of their attack. During the attack, they adopted a step-by-step approach, first capturing all the cities outside the capital.

, including the cities of Changping, Shunyi and Tongzhou, and finally completed the complete siege of the capital.

This may seem like a waste of time, but it cuts off all connections between the capital and the outside world.

Through continuous battles, Li Zicheng completely dissipated the haze and fear in his heart. Next, he would lead his army to directly attack the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Tongzhou is less than a hundred miles away from the capital. According to the speed of the Dashun army's advance, it will take about one to two days to completely surround the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

"King Chuang, the army has made all preparations. It will start marching at Mao o'clock tomorrow and attack the capital at Mao o'clock the day after tomorrow. I believe that the army will be able to capture the capital of the Ming Dynasty..."

Niu Jinxing, who was standing next to Li Zicheng, looked calm, but his words were full of excitement.

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, and all arrangements for the attack on the capital were completed. So far, the Dashun army had not seen the so-called Ming army rushing to aid the capital. On the contrary, the Ming army stationed in the city had either chosen to surrender or escape.

"By the way, what's the situation in Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi? These days, Li Guo always says it's very good. I'm a little worried, and I don't know what Zhang Dongtao is doing in Kaifeng Fucheng..."

Li Zicheng suddenly mentioned Li Guo and Zhang Dongtao, which made Niu Jinxing a little dazed.

Song Xiance finally spoke.

"King Chuang, our Dashun army has been going strong all the way. It is about to capture the capital of Ming Dynasty. All these news have been sent to Kaifeng Fucheng. Under such circumstances, it is expected that Kaifeng Fucheng will be particularly stable. I thought Dashun

After the army captured the capital of the Ming Dynasty, King Chuang ordered General Li Guo to go to the capital. As for Deputy General Zhang Dongtao and General Li Yan, they still stayed in Kaifeng Fucheng and were on standby..."

The situation in Kaifeng City was extremely stable. Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance also felt strange. The secret line they had planted had not sent any information for more than half a month. Of course, this may be a special arrangement made by Li Guo.

After all, Li Guo knew about these hidden clues. What the two of them were worried about was Zhang Dongtao. They had used all possible means to plot against Zhang Dongtao. Is it possible that Zhang Dongtao could accept it with peace of mind?

Besides, Li Guo was inferior to Zhang Dongtao in terms of strategy and ability. If Zhang Dongtao really wanted to cause trouble, Li Guo would have no way to deal with it.

Fortunately, the Dashun Army's expedition was extremely smooth, which was enough to scare Zhang Dongtao, Li Yan and others.

After Song Xiance finished speaking, Li Zicheng nodded again.

"What Mr. Song said is that I am just worried about Zhang Dongtao and Zhang Guoxin. Our Dashun Army attacked Beizhili and Shuntian Prefecture, but the Denglai New Army did not attack. It can be seen that Zhang Dongtao and Zhang Guoxin went to Jinan Fucheng to negotiate with the Denglai New Army.

He still did a good job, but Zhang Guoxin was detained in Jinan, Shandong Province, and I still feel a little uncomfortable when I think about it..."

At this time, Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance were both silent. They felt a slight chill running down their spines. They didn't know what King Chuang meant when he suddenly mentioned this matter at this moment. Could it be that all the responsibilities were transferred to him?

Do you recommend it to both of them?

The game of power is far from as easy as it seems. In order to plot against Zhang Dongtao and remove the obstacles on the road to power, Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance worked together and finally suppressed Zhang Dongtao completely. But in the final analysis, if King Chuang had no intention of suppressing Zhang Dongtao,

It is impossible for the two of them to bring down Zhang Dongtao.

Now, Chuang Wang suddenly began to pity Zhang Dongtao and Zhang Guoxin again. Could it be that he was thinking of overturning the verdict of the two? If this was really the case, then Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance would have to strike first and simply take away Zhang Dongtao's

life.

Perhaps sensing the oppressive atmosphere, Li Zicheng turned around, looked at Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance and spoke.

"We don't have to worry about the situation in Kaifeng City. The Dashun Army will begin to attack the Ming Dynasty's capital tomorrow. The most important thing right now is to capture the Ming Dynasty's capital..."

Li Zicheng got off the tower and went straight to the military camp outside the city.

Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance also have to deal with related matters in Tongzhou City.

Looking at Li Zicheng's back, Niu Jinxing's face turned gloomy and she spoke to Song Xiance beside him.

"Brother Song, after we capture the capital, we will take action. We cannot spare Zhang Dongtao's life. If King Chuang suddenly shows kindness one day, and Zhang Dongtao and Zhang Guoxin stand up, you and I will be in trouble..."

Song Xiance nodded accordingly.

"Brother Niu, what you said is right, but we don't have to wait until the moment we capture the capital. We sent intelligence to the hidden clues left in Kaifeng City and asked them to take action immediately. More than 300 guards monitored Zhang Dongtao and Li Yan. They

It's easy to take Zhang Dongtao's life..."

There was a hesitant look on Niu Jinxing's face.

"Brother Song, if we do this and King Chuang finds out, it won't be good to blame us."

Song Xiance looked at Niu Jinxing and smiled coldly.

"Brother Niu, you can rest assured. I think King Chuang has no intention of letting Zhang Dongtao go. What he said today is to remind you and me. Otherwise, why would King Chuang be worried about the situation in Kaifeng City? Li Guo is here

With Kaifeng Fucheng in charge, King Chuang should feel completely at ease..."

Niu Jinxing suddenly understood, looked at Song Xiance, and nodded vigorously.

...

Forbidden City, side hall, greenhouse.

All the cabinet ministers, the six ministers, and the left and right envoys of the Procuratorate are here.

There was no expression on Zhu Youjian's face, and his eyes were a little blue.

The situation deteriorated faster than Zhu Youjian imagined. All the cities around the capital fell. The capital was already heavily surrounded by Dashun troops. His three imperial edicts had no effect. No troops from the south came to rescue.

, I received a memorial from Zhang Guowei, Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, a few days ago, saying that 50,000 sergeants from the Nanjing Jingying camp went to the capital to help. It has been more than ten days, and not a single hair of the Nanjing Jingying sergeants has been seen.

Zhu Youjian knew very well that it was no longer possible for the southern army to come to rescue him.

There are less than 100,000 soldiers stationed in the capital, and it would be impossible to defend against Li Zicheng's million-strong army.

At this point, it was impossible for Zhu Youjian to evacuate the capital and go to Nanjing.

Zhu Youjian looked at Chen Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet who had just taken office.

"Chen Aiqing, the capital is already in great danger. I want to ask you if you have any countermeasures..."

Chen Yan swallowed hard, clasped his fists and spoke to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the only immediate solution is to dispatch Denglai's new army stationed in Liaodong to assist the capital..."

When he heard the words Denglai New Army, Zhu Youjian's expression changed instantly.

In recent times, apart from Li Zicheng, the one that has made Zhu Youjian the most angry is the Denglai New Army. Zhang Guowei, the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, and Song Xian, the right minister of the Ministry of War, wrote a secret letter, saying that after the Denglai New Army entered Nanjing, they would not obey

The deployment of the Nanjing Military Department showed signs of rebellion. Besides, Denglai's new army was stationed in Liaodong and Shandong, close to Beizhili. They watched Li Zicheng attack Fuzhou County in Beizhili, but never sent any troops.

rush to the rescue.

"Chen Aiqing, Wu Zongrui has always wanted to rebel. Should I welcome him into the capital and invite him to sit on this royal chariot?"

Chen Yan only paused briefly, not caring about the emperor's attitude.

"Your Majesty, Denglai's new army rushes to the capital and fights against Li Zicheng's bandits. Both sides will lose. The Denglai's new army is extremely brave and will definitely be able to defeat Li Zicheng. When the time comes, the emperor will personally commend Denglai's new army and it will surely influence them.

I thought that with everyone in the world watching, Mr. Wu Zongrui would not dare to openly rebel."

"I think that once the new Denglai army rushed to the capital and held back Li Zicheng, the emperor could issue orders to the many governors in the south and strictly order Zhang Guowei, the Minister of War in Nanjing, to mobilize the southern armies to rush to the capital. When the armies from all walks of life rush to the capital,

Denglai’s new army does not dare to take any action.”

"Your Majesty, the bandits are very close. The only ones who can rush to the capital's aid are the Denglai New Army..."

What Chen Yan said was true. Shanhaiguan is 600 miles away from the capital, which is indeed quite far away. However, as long as Denglai's new army is willing to dispatch, Li Zicheng will definitely have doubts once the news comes, and there are nearly 100,000 troops guarding the capital.

Day time is possible.

Zhu Youjian's face was gloomy and scary. He turned around and looked at Wang Chengen, Cao Huachun, Gao Qiqian and others beside him.

Wang Chengen spoke.

"Your Majesty, I think Master Chen's suggestion is feasible..."

Cao Huachun also spoke, thinking that Chen Yan's suggestion was feasible. Only Gao Qiqian did not speak. He and Wu Zongrui once had an unusual relationship. They were criticized by the emperor, and it took a long time to clear the suspicion.

.

Seeing that Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun both agreed with Chen Yan's suggestion, Zhu Youjian nodded silently.

Seeing the emperor nodding, Chen Yan continued to speak.

"Your Majesty, I think that in order to show the court's sincerity, Mr. Chen Xinjia, Secretary of the Ministry of War, can go to Liaodong to report the requirements of the emperor and the court, and order Mr. Wu Zongrui, the governor of Jiliao, to personally lead the Denglai new army to aid the capital. I believe that Mr. Wu will definitely

Will lead the troops to attack..."

Zhu Youjian waved his hand.

"I understand. This matter will be discussed by the cabinet and an order will be issued within half an hour..."

Next, it was time to arrange the specific matters for guarding the capital. Zhu Youjian no longer trusted the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty. He handed over the general power to the eunuchs around him, and used Cao Huachun to guard the inner city, command the Jin Yiwei and the magic machines in the capital camp.

The battalion guarded the outer city with high altitude and low altitude, and commanded all the garrison troops in the capital, including all the sergeants of the Five Cities Military and Horse Division. In total, there were nearly 20,000 sergeants guarding the inner city and 80,000 sergeants guarding the outer city.
Chapter completed!