Nan Ming Sun Never Sets

Chapter 276

In the battle of Tongzhou, the main force led by Yue Le was wiped out, but this patriarchal prince was very "flexible". When he saw that something was wrong, he immediately left the army and retreated first.Because of the poor coordination among the various ministries, and being stunned by the terrifying firepower of the Ming army, most of the Qing army was eventually wiped out or captured.

The terrified Qing troops entered the capital from Guangqumen in chaos, and the common people in the capital immediately became panic-stricken when they saw all kinds of tragic Qing troops running back into the city, still looking like dogs of the defeated army in such a hurry.

The capital immediately instituted martial law, and the Eight Banners responsible for guarding the city boarded the city walls to strengthen their vigilance.The people in the city, afraid of becoming a fish in the pond, began to think of ways to prepare to leave the city, and even the Manchurians were even more enthusiastic.

There are no Han people in the inner city of the capital, and they are all inhabited by the Eight Banners.The Han people in the outer city seemed relatively calm, and many even looked forward to it.

"The Ming Dynasty is coming back!" After closing the doors and windows, many Han people in the capital were very excited.

Li Zesheng is a small businessman in the capital. He runs a humble grocery store that has been passed down from three generations.As soon as he took over the shop, he encountered the Jiashen Incident and the Dashun peasant army entered the city.Later, when the Manchus entered the customs, he was forced to have his head shaved, and a lot of property was confiscated by the Qing army. One of his brothers even died in the hands of the Qing army.He gritted his teeth and borrowed money from others to restart the business. Only today did he see some improvement again.

Perhaps this war may wipe out the wealth he had accumulated for nearly 20 years, but Li Zesheng still hopes that the Ming army will enter the city and return to being an upright citizen of the Ming Dynasty.

Li Zesheng's son didn't quite understand his father's emotions, but he said, "I'm afraid there will be chaos in the city. The Manchus in the inner city are so afraid that they are going to pee their pants. I heard that the Ming army will kill the Manchus." Don't stay, it's been fighting for two years, and the Manchus are almost killed. Outside the city is the army led by the prince Yue Le, who just left the city in a majestic way a few days ago, even the emperor personally sent the conscripts. Thinking of running back in disgrace today, this Ming army is really formidable."

Li Zesheng said with a stern face: "What emperor, the real emperor belongs to Daming. Now that little tartar is probably crying in his grandmother's arms. Sure enough, barbarians have no morals and cannot enjoy the world of the Central Plains. Although we Han people lose for a while, we lose Lost half of the country, there will still be a wise king and good general in the end, who will regain the country."

The son has just started running the family business, and he thinks more about the benefits of the business. He said bitterly: "I'm afraid that after the Ming army enters the city, they will ask us to do something for us. The family's foundation is weak, and they only stocked up a lot of goods a month ago." , if they are all robbed, the loss will be huge."

Li Zesheng's boldness was great, "If it's gone, it's gone. 20 years ago, your father and I made a comeback in the same way. Today, I just want to stop dragging this money rat tail, restore my Chinese clothes, and be able to stop doing things in an upright manner. slaves of the Tartars."

Hearing what his father said, the son stopped talking, and ordered the family servants to seal the doors and windows of the house, and let the old, young, women and children in the family hide in the cellar.

--split line--

Not far from the Li family, Gong Dingzi, a poet and traitor among the three great families in Jiangzuo, and his concubine Gu Hengbo were also extremely panicked.

"How did you get into the capital so quickly?" Gu Hengbo worriedly held Gong Dingzi's hand.

Gong Dingzi was very decadent. He sighed: "I never thought that the Ming army would come to Beijing so quickly. What kind of person is this Prince Jianguo, who just conquered Huguang, Jiangxi and other places recently? They came directly to the capital? Although I know that the Ming army had hundreds of large ships and tens of thousands of oars and sails, it is not unusual to lead a large army on such a long sea route and directly land in Zhili to attack the capital. What a general can do is unprecedented."

The two of him and his wife wanted to make preparations, throw away the official of the Qing Dynasty, and run back to the south of the Yangtze River to hide their identities, and just be a rich man.But this plan was only halfway done when the Ming army had already defeated the last main force of the Qing Dynasty in Tongzhou, and it was about to enter the city.

Gu Hengbo asked: "Master, what should we do?"

Gong Dingzi also had no choice but to sit there, feeling useless: "Perhaps, like Wumeicun and others, he might be exiled to Jiaozhi..."

Gu Hengbo saw that the attack of the Ming army had hit Gong Dingzi so hard. Gu Hengbo quickly knelt down at his feet, grabbed Gong Dingzi's hand and said, "My lord, don't worry, Hengbo is with you even in the ends of the earth. side."

Gong Dingzi was greatly moved, and said to her, "I'm afraid I'll wrong you."

Gu Hengbo smiled bitterly, and said, "What can I do? Should I hang myself as husband and wife?"

Gong Dingzi was terrified of death, so he shook his head quickly: "If you commit suicide at this time, you will either be said to be martyred by the Manchus, which will be shameless for future generations; The minister of the captives, Li Ling's past incidents have already been treasonous, and today's encounter may be the retribution of heaven's law, so we have to bear it."

--split line--

In the palace, a group of eunuchs and court ladies surrounded Xiaozhuang and came to Qianqing Palace.

Xuan Ye was already extremely panicked. Seeing the arrival of the imperial grandmother, he hurriedly rushed forward: "The imperial grandmother."

Xiao Zhuang still carried his dignity, and said to Xuan Ye: "Little Emperor, how can you be so panic-stricken, you are the master of this country, no matter how difficult it is, you will always be happy and angry."

Xuan Ye hurriedly knelt down: "My son is wrong."

Xiao Zhuang glanced at Oboi and asked, "Oboi, can the capital be defended?"

At this time, Aobai did not forget to give Yue Le a sword: "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Prince An has ruined the last seed of my Qing Dynasty in Tongzhou. Now the whole city has [-] soldiers capable of fighting. The Ming army The strength of the army is not yet clear, but we know that there are many cannons, the artillery fire is fierce, and the city walls cannot resist. If you defend the isolated city, I am afraid that you will not last for a few days."

Xiaozhuang nodded and asked, "What about Beishou? Can the Ming army catch up?"

Kitakari is a euphemism for running away.

Aobai hurriedly said: "It is said that most of the Ming troops are infantry and lack of cavalry. If the Holy Majesty and the Empress Dowager go hunting north immediately, the Ming army should not be able to catch up."

Xiao Zhuang made a decisive decision: "Then what are you waiting for?"

These days, the Qing court has been making preparations for fleeing, and even planned several routes.In the end, they thought that a safer route was to go from the capital to the northwest, pass through Zhangjiakou and enter Monan Mongolia, and then turn back to Heishan Baishui.However, the relatively close Shanhaiguan route may be intercepted and attacked by the Ming army, making it unsafe.

(End of this chapter)