Chaoyang Gate was called Qihuamen during the Yuan Dynasty. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed Chaoyang Gate, and it was also called Qihuamen among the people.

Outside Chaoyang Gate is the canal transport terminal of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and forty miles east is the Beitongzhou Wharf. Whether the grain transported from the south and north is the canal transport terminal outside Chaoyang Gate, it must be transported into Beijing through Chaoyang Gate. For this reason, Liu Bowen also carved a bunch of ears of grain on the city gate hole.

This Chaoyang Gate is the starting point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. Officials and merchants who go south of Beijing or come to Beijing from the south to pay homage. Officials and merchants who do business must stop at Chaoyangmen Pass. Therefore, since the Yuan Dynasty, Chaoyangmen Pass is one of the most lively urban areas in Beijing. There are many shops on both sides of the Guanfang, and teahouses are lined up one after another, and there are traffic all year round.

However, at this moment, Chaoyangmen Pass was in chaos.

All the shops closed early, and all the teahouses and restaurants were closed.

Shortly after nightfall, Zhu Chunchen, Duke Chengguo, who was ordered by the emperor to guard Chaoyang Gate, had already surrendered the thieves. A group of more than 30,000 thieves had already opened into the inner city of Beijing through Chaoyang Gate, controlling the entire Guanxiang area outside the city. Although the rumors of "the king of treasury comes and does not pay food" have spread throughout the capital, no people dared to go to the streets to welcome the thieves. Everyone hid at home, and only dared to look through the cracks in the door to look at the bandit soldiers and soldiers coming and going on the streets outside.

The military discipline of the bandits was indeed very different from when they first started the army. With Li Zicheng's order, the bandits and armies of all walks of life were really unscrupulous to the people of the capital.

Not long after this group of thieves controlled Chaoyangmen Pass, more than a dozen black-topped boats quietly approached the dock in the night because the dock was full of ships stranded in Beijing. The approach of these dozen small boats did not attract the attention of the dozens of thieves guarding the dock.

A head poked out of the cabin of one of the small boats and glanced at the dock, then quickly shrank back.

A voice of annoyance sounded in the cabin: "General, it seems that we are late. The dock and the entire guard have been controlled by the thief, damn it!"

"Don't be anxious." A low voice sounded in the cabin. "Huang Degong, you dive underwater and kill the whistleblower. Shi Lang immediately notify the other brothers of each ship to surround the group of thieves from all sides. You must deal with them in the shortest time. You cannot make too loud noises, so as not to alarm the thieves inside and outside the city gate."

"yes!"

Two depressing responses sounded from the cabin, and then two figures were touched out of the cabin.

Soon, more than fifty figures came out of more than a dozen small boats, and scattered with the cover of the night, quietly touching the twenty thieves guarding the pier. Huang Degong slid into the water like a fish, swimming under the water to the thieves standing upright on the arrow tower like a javelin.

The thief whistleman was very vigilant, and he never expected anyone to sneak attack the dock.

These fifty or so people were all elite officers selected from one in a hundred, and were personally led by Wang Pu!

Wang Pu went to Beijing this time just to save people. If there were too many people, it would easily expose his target, so he only brought 300 people and took ten large ships to Beijing as a grain transport fleet of the Cao Gang.

As soon as the brigade arrived at Tongzhou Wharf, bad news came one by one in front of him. To be cautious, Wang Pu left ten large ships and most of the people, and only brought more than fifty people to the outside of Chaoyang Gate in thirteen small boats, so the scene just now came.

Huang Degong floated up from the water like a ghost, and silently climbed up the arrow tower along the wooden stakes that were hit into the water.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the bandit whistleman turning around and peeing, Huang Degong pounced on him. With a light wave of the dagger in his hand, the bandit whistleman's throat was cut off. Huang Degong stretched out his hand and hugged the bandit's body again. The bandit twitched in his arms for a few times and stopped moving.

Not far away, more than 20 thieves were still sitting lazily chatting to relieve their boredom, unaware of what happened here.

Whoosh swish swish swish...

A breeze passed by, and dozens of black shadows rushed out like cheetahs from the shadows around. Although the more than 20 thieves were veterans who had experienced many battles, they were obviously no match for these elite official troops who were selected from a hundred. In less than a moment, all the thieves had already crossed their bodies on the spot!

Wang Pu finally came out of the cabin and said in a deep voice: "Monk, you bring more than 20 people into the city with me. Huang Degong and Shi Lang stayed, pretending to be a thief to guard the pier!"

The three of them were humble and drank, and they acted separately.

Huang Degong and Shi Lang pretended to be thieves and continued to guard the dock. Monk Zhang selected more than twenty brothers with high martial arts skills and followed Wang Pu straight to Chaoyang Gate. When they were still dozens of steps away from Chaoyang Gate, the thief leader who was responsible for guarding the city gate stood in front of the city gate and shouted: "Stop, who is the person in front?"

Wang Pu fell behind and winked at the monk Zhang behind him.

Monk Zhang understood and immediately stepped forward and shouted sternly: "I am Jing Maocheng, the general in front of General Li Yan's tent. He has urgent military affairs to report to the king in person. Let your people get out of here. If you miss the military opportunity, hum, you will have to leave!"

"General Li Yan?" The little thief leader was stunned by the fright, "Didn't the army of the South Road have just passed Baoding? Why did they arrive in Beijing in the blink of an eye?"

"Do not go away!" Zhang Monk drew his sword and shouted in a slight manner, "If you don't let go, don't blame me for being polite!"

Wang Pu whistled and drew his sword at the same time as more than 20 brothers. The night sky was cold and cold. The little thief leader guarding the city gate was inevitably timid and instinctively dodged to the side. Monk Zhang and Wang Pu had already rushed into the city gate like a whirlwind. The little leader opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he was filled with ashes.

After passing the Wengcheng and Guanxiang, Wang Pu took his men straight to the Forbidden City.

The sides of the long street were pitch black. At this extraordinary moment of dynasty change, no one in the capital dared to light the lights. From time to time, there were teams of thieves patrol patrols who were openly fired. Most of them would stop Wang Pu and his party from interrogating, but they were easily sent by Zhang and Shang Qiao Zhuang and Jing Maocheng! After all, there were too many thieves, forty or five hundred thousand people. Except for a few main leaders, who knew whom?

Shouning Palace.

Princess Changping didn’t sleep either. In fact, how many people in Beijing will fall asleep tonight?

Princess Changping is now sixteen years old. She has curved eyebrows, her beautiful big eyes are black and bright, her skin is as white as jade, frost and snow, and her slender body is graceful and graceful. When she walks, she is as graceful as a willow that supports the wind and turns into a weak willow. She looks like a fairy-like person. Compared with other beautiful women, she has more nobleness as a royal princess.

Seeing Emperor Chongzhen walking in with a bloody sword in his hand, Princess Changping's face was gloomy. She soon knew her fate. She couldn't help but step forward and grabbed Emperor Chongzhen's sleeve and cried with pear blossoms and rain, which made her look even more charming. Emperor Chongzhen saw it but felt in her heart.

Empress Zhou was open-minded and generous, with the style of the mother of the nation, Concubine Tian was gentle and virtuous, and never became arrogant by favor. They all played a significant role in Emperor Chongzhen's heart, but the woman Emperor Chongzhen cared about the most was Princess Changping!

Princess Changping has been blonde and beautiful since she was a child. She is extremely cute. Emperor Chongzhen has always regarded him as a treasure. He really put it in his mouth and was afraid of melting it. He was afraid of falling on his palm. He wanted to pick the moon in the sky and give it to her. This shows how much he valued Wang Pu's ability to command the army when Emperor Chongzhen decided to marry Princess Changping to Wang Pu!

Emperor Chongzhen's tears flowed down involuntarily, looking at his beloved daughter, sighed: "Oh, Ru'er, why were you born in the imperial family, why were you born in the imperial family? If you were born in the ordinary people's family, how good would it be? How good would it be..."

Emperor Chongzhen's tone was sad and his expression was lonely.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was no longer the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He was just a helpless and helpless father. He was left with deep guilt and endless grief. He felt guilty that he could not protect his beloved daughter. He was so sad that he wanted to kill his beloved daughter with his own hands...

Seeing such a bitter scene, Wang Chengen, behind Emperor Chongzhen, couldn't help but turn around and burst into tears.

Emperor Chongzhen sighed a long time, finally made up his mind, blocked his face with his left hand, raised his sword with his right hand and stabbed Princess Changping's chest. Princess Changping cried with tears of sadness, and grabbed Emperor Chongzhen's sleeves even harder with both hands, just like a drowning person who was desperately grasping a life-saving straw.

Emperor Chongzhen was so heartbroken that he could not stab the sword any longer.

"Forget it!"

Emperor Chongzhen threw his sword on the ground, sighed and turned around and left.

Wang Chengen chased after two steps and came back, and said to Princess Changping: "Your Highness, you can't stay in the palace for a long time, so you'd better leave the palace and run away quickly."

"Father." Princess Changping paused her head to the ground, looked at the back of Emperor Chongzhen as he gradually moved away, and cried sadly, "The palace is the home of my son minister. Where can I go after the palace?"

Emperor Chongzhen seemed to have not heard it and left without looking back.

Wang Chengen sighed and said, "Your Highness, the prince and the two little princes have already gone to the father-in-law's mansion."

"But..." Princess Changping cried, "But I don't know the way?"

Princess Changping has been in the palace since she was a child. She usually has palace maids and eunuchs to go out, and she has a car and sedan to ride. Suddenly, she asked her to go to the father-in-law's mansion by herself. She really didn't know the way, but Wang Chengen had no choice. The eunuchs and palace maids in the palace ran away, scattered, and hid. He even wanted to find someone to lead the way for Princess Changping, but he couldn't find it.

"well."

Wang Chengen finally stomped his feet and sighed, chasing Emperor Chongzhen.

After leaving Shouning Palace, Emperor Chongzhen came to Zhaoren Hall again. This time he was not soft-hearted and killed Princess Zhaoren who was only nine years old and still sleeping on the bed. Then he went to the harem to kill dozens of concubines. At this time, killing sounds of killing in the front hall were everywhere, and bandits had already entered the palace. Emperor Chongzhen then fled to the coal mountain with Wang Chengen's company and sighed to the sky at the Shouhuang Pavilion: "I treat the scholars well. At this point today, why aren't the ministers following each other?"

In the end, Emperor Chongzhen was helpless and hanged himself under an old plum tree.

Shouning Palace.

Princess Changping walked out of the hall with a staggering pace and stood on the steps and didn't know where to go, a group of "titles" who were openly stalked and suddenly rushed to the front. Princess Changping was shocked and hurriedly wanted to avoid entering the hall, the group of "titles" had already swarmed up and surrounded her in the middle.

Princess Changping is already an adult and has been familiar with human affairs. She thought that if she falls into the hands of a thief, she will be insulted. When she was about to commit suicide by tragedy to protect her innocence, a clear voice suddenly sounded: "Your Highness, Princess!"

Princess Changping trembled when she heard this. When she looked up quickly, she saw a slender figure standing in front of her. The man had a fair face, sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes. Although he was dressed in tattered clothes, he could not hide the heroic spirit between his eyebrows. He looked familiar. When he thought about it carefully, he couldn't help but feel happy. Isn't this enemy the prince-consor Wang Pu?

"You, you..."

Princess Changping was so sad that she was very happy again, and she was speechless.

Wang Pu waved his hand and said to the monk behind him: "Monk, please change your clothes for Your Highness the Princess. It is not advisable to stay here for a long time."

Monk Zhang stood still and said in a low voice: "General, this matter is... I dare not obey my duty."

Wang Pu would come over and drag Princess Changping into the Western Warehouse of Shouning Palace without saying a word. When the two of them came out again, Princess Changping had already taken off her elegant and luxurious palace outfit and changed into Wang Pu's rag shirt with sweaty smell. Fortunately, Princess Changping's delicate body was slender and more than 1.70 meters tall. Although Wang Pu's clothes looked wide on her, they were not too embarrassed.

Wang Pu gave the only ragged clothes on his body to the princess, and then put on a pair of cow-nose shorts. He shouted at Monk Zhang and more than 20 brothers with bare shirtless: "Hurry up, go to the father-in-law's mansion right away!"

Just as he was changing his clothes, Princess Changping told Wang Pu that the prince Zhu Cilang and the king of Yong Zhu Cijiong and the king of Ding Zhu Cixiao had already gone to the father-in-law's mansion, but as for Emperor Chongzhen, he didn't know where he went!

Wang Pu was still hesitating. If he saw Emperor Chongzhen, he would knock him out and tie him to Nanjing, but there was no need to think about it now, because the thief had already entered the palace in large numbers, and there was no time left for Wang Pu to search for Emperor Chongzhen. The most urgent task was to leave the Forbidden City as soon as possible.

After all, the palace is not as good as outside the palace. The thieves who can enter the palace must have a senior leader leading the team. Jing Maocheng, pretended to be a minor thieves, can be fooled by ordinary thieves, but may not be able to fool the big thieves who enter the palace. If you encounter a thieves leader with a higher status than Li Yan, will you just ask a few questions and make a mistake?

Wang Pu was lucky. The thieves I met along the way were busy taking people everywhere in the palace, and no one cared about Wang Pu's group. Obviously, the thieves regarded them as their own people. Originally, they were the same. In the palace, they were usually eunuchs and maids. Such a group of strong men in local clothes, who else could they be if they were not thieves?

Without any trouble, Wang Pu and his party of more than twenty people left the Forbidden City and headed straight for the father-in-law's mansion.

The father-in-law's palace.

The eunuch Gao Qiqian, the eunuch who was in charge of the seal, took more than a dozen young eunuchs to guard the prince Zhu Ciyang. When the king of Yong Zhu Cijing and king of Ding Zhu Cixiao came to the palace in panic, the gate was closed. Gao Qiqian sent someone to call the door for a long time before a servant climbed on the wall and shouted loudly: "Who are you? If we don't leave, we will shoot arrows!"

"Random!" Gao Qiqian shouted angrily, "Do you know who our family is?"

The Ding family said honestly and bluntly: "Who the hell knows who you are? Get out!"

Gao Qiqian's face turned pale and said angrily: "You listen to our family. Our family is the eunuch in charge of the seal of the Sili Supervisor, Gao Qiqian, go and invite the old emperor to come out to see our family!"

"Take." The servant on the wall sneered, "You fucking the eunuch who is in charge of the seal? I'm going to give Wang Chengen."

"You..." Gao Qiqian suppressed his anger again and screamed, "Do you know who is standing on the steps? It is the current prince and the old emperor's nephew!"

The clerk was unmoved at all and said coldly: "Crown Prince!? Do you think I am a three-year-old child, so easy to coax? The prince is staying in the palace, how could he come to us? If you gangsters don't leave, we will really shoot arrows!"

As soon as the family member finished speaking, dozens of figures of servants emerged from the wall of the courtyard. They were either holding bird guns or holding crossbows. Gao Qiqian hurriedly protected the prince Zhu Cixuan and retreated to the steps, shouting from a distance: "Old royal relative, old royal relative, our family is Gao Qiqian. If you hear it, just make a sound..."

The father-in-law Zhou Kui was actually hiding inside the wall. He could hear the conversation between the servant and Gao Qiqian just now, but he didn't let the servant open the door. Of course, he knew that the eunuch Gao Qiqian, the chief eunuch in charge of the Sili Supervisor, and even more, his nephew, the current crown prince Zhu Cixuan, was also outside the door, but he no longer cared about so much for self-protection.

For Zhou Kui, Prince Zhu Cilang has now become a hot potato.

The disappearance of the prince is not a trivial matter. At that time, the thieves will definitely search the whole city. If the thieves find the prince from his Zhou Kui's mansion, can they still spare him? Zhou Kui, a idiot, still fantasizes that the thieves can treat him like the people of the capital and do not violate him. He already wants to be a rich man in the Dashun Dynasty.

Gao Qiqian shouted for a long time but didn't see any response, so he gave up.

At this time, several eunuchs quietly approached Gao Qiqian, and one of them whispered: "Godfather, Zhou Kui is the old man of the prince's grandfather. Now he doesn't even care about the prince. What else can we do? Besides, the Master Long Live only told us to send the prince and the two little princes to the father-in-law's mansion. Now the person has been sent and will not do our business."

Another echoed: "That's right, let's run away separately. If the thief discovers, we will be completely dead."

There was a young eunuch who suddenly said sinisterly: "Godfather, just do it all the time. We simply tied up the prince and the two little princes and gave them to the thief! Maybe we can make great contributions and continue to stay in the palace to serve as a servant for King Dashun in the future, hehe."
To be continued...