In March of the 17th year of Chongzhen, Beijing fell.

In the same month, the emperor stayed in Shandong.

The ministers in Jiangnan were waiting for the emperor's sage to appear, but they did not wait for it. There was no news in Shandong that the emperor was coming to the Shandong Palace and set up a business to investigate affairs and ask about politics. For a time, rumors spread everywhere. Some people said that the crown prince forced the palace and the emperor was under house arrest; some people said that the emperor had actually died in the country, and the crown prince did not make a secret funeral in order to consolidate people's hearts. Those officials who knew that the emperor was indeed in Laizhou did not dare to guess the inside story of the Tianjia.

The actual situation is far less complicated.

When Zhu Cilang went to the temporary palace to meet Chongzhen and Zhou Hou, he kicked the ball openly at Chongzhen's feet:

"Does the father stay in Shandong or go to Nanjing?"

Chongzhen also answered readily: "Nanjing." He participated in Zhu Cixuan's military parliament and political parliament. From the crowd, it can be seen that the crown prince had already built a team as if he was a magician. Although this team was not enough to take charge of national affairs, it was enough to assign various prefectures, especially now, it only occupied the two prefectures of Deng and Lai, as well as part of Qingzhou Prefecture.

In such an encirclement, the emperor's halo was covered up, and his orders could not even be out of the inner hall. Although Chongzhen had thoughts of suicide and abdication, he calmed down and saw that Jiangnan was still the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and there were still troops in the Jianghuai period, so the country might not be destroyed. What's more, the ancestors set up the two capitals just to slow down the rush? If they guarded the tombs, they would let down the ancestors' painstaking efforts.

Chongzhen did not understand this principle before, but it was difficult to calm down under pressure. After watching the military discussions of the Eastern Palace system, he also asked for a map of the Emperor Mingkun, locked it in the house for three days, and finally decided to go to Nanjing to revive the court.

——If it really doesn’t work, I will lead the troops to fight myself! My ancestors can do it, my son can do it, why can’t I?

Emperor Chongzhen was excited for a moment, hoping to unite the troops and fight back after arriving in Nanjing.

But reality is cruel.

"I can't go." Zhu Cixuan was not really capable of letting the emperor do multiple-choice questions, but just used this question to draw out the truth he wanted to say, and to eliminate the emperor's thoughts. He shook his head and said, "Father, there are really no troops to be transferred now. There are bandits in the mountains along the way, and there is no escort from a battalion, which is really too dangerous."

Chongzhen was speechless for a moment. He knew that Zhu Cixuan had two battalions of war soldiers. He also saw the sand table with his own eyes and knew that these two battalions were distributed on a four hundred-mile-long defense line. Moreover, the defense line was all planned fortresses, not natural barriers, and it was even more difficult to defend. If troops were drawn from such a stretched deployment of troops, Chongzhen himself could not say anything.

"Zhou Yuji has set up a horse farm in Pingdu Prefecture and has begun to train cavalry battalions." Zhu Cixuan said: "Danning is also training the preparation battalion. There is also Xiao Tugeng's Fire Equipment Department. Once these three troops are formed, we can advance towards Jiaoxi, connect with Nanzhili, and escort his father back to Nanjing."

"Should we also tell the world that we should order the royal army to come to Shandong?" Chongzhen could no longer point fingers at Zhu Cixuan as a prince. Even the current simple and vulgar but hard-won life was all due to the prince.

Zhu Cilang shook his head and said, "Father, if there were any army to support the king, I would have gone to Beijing long ago. The only way to do this is to rely on one's own strength."

"Aren't you worried that the thieves will go south?" Chongzhen frowned.

Zhu Cilang smiled and drew a triangle in the air, saying, "Father, it is 560 miles from Shanhaiguan to Beijing. If you pass through the four cities of Yongping, it will be nearly 200 to 300 miles. Let's count the farthest, where can Li thieves go south? You can only go to Wudi County, which is the junction between Shandong and Beizhili. Father, Wu Sangui is now the King of Guangning. But do you have any other ambitions after being passed down from generation to generation? For example, destroying the thieves for the Emperor Ming Sect Master, getting more land within the pass, even occupying Shenjing and annexing Youyan."

People's ambitions never suddenly expand. At that time, Emperor Guangwu of Han just wanted to be an official position like a Jinwu - the Great Han General of the Jinyiwei - and finally became the emperor. For example, Li Zicheng. He only wanted to have enough food at the beginning, but later became the King of Chuang. Now he dared to sit on the imperial throne in a big way, and really thought he was the true emperor.

Wu Sangui is much higher than their starting point, and he has grown up in Liaodong for generations. He is Zu Dashou's nephew. He has two generations of father and son and has a solid foundation. Although the number of Liao Town soldiers in his hands is not large, he is an elite soldier polished with the Manchus all year round, and his reputation is quite good. If Li Zicheng came out, Wu Sangui would never have the truth to sit and watch.

What's more, after Wu Sangui settled down in the Qing Dynasty, he fought desperately to rebel despite his old age and physical weakness. How could such a personality miss any opportunity to expand the power?

"If Li Zicheng hadn't gone south all the time," Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "I might not be afraid of him."

In addition to the more than 8,000 people from the two guards, Zhu Cilang also had a hidden soldier - the Sichuan soldiers led by Luo Yukun. This army successfully defeated Liu Zeqing's troops the day before yesterday. Liu Zeqing rushed out of the siege under the protection of his servants and fled south, with no more than fifteen cavalry. In this battle, Luo Yukun suffered more than 600 casualties, captured 2,784 Liu's troops, seized 200,000 taels of silver, 300 good horses, 400 pack horses, donkeys and mules, 300 grains, and several cotton and silk.

These things were the spoils that Liu Zeqing robbed Lin Qing. Before he could sell the stolen goods, he was caught up by Luo Yukun's copycat mandarin duck formation and was beaten up suddenly.

"I'm very dizzy and I'll chase you too much!" After Luo Yukun fought, he finally let out a long sigh and accidentally exposed the truth about surrounding Liu Zeqing's troops.

Chen Chong was writing a report, but when he heard this, his pen shook, and the ink suddenly became a ball on the paper. He said in surprise: "I thought it was you who used troops like a god and surrounded me just right."

"Who knows if these refugees can fight? How dare I surround me like this?" Luo Yukun leaned over and looked at Chen Chong's report: "You said we have seized so many good things, will the crown prince give me rewards?"

"Reward?" Chen Chong looked solemn: "Do you know how many people we died?"

"More than 600, why? It's not our own people, they are all refugees." Although Luo Yukun also cared about the lives of refugees, the lives of fellow villagers in Sichuan seemed more important to him. Because the only one who is truly reliable is still his own direct lineage, and every time he dies, it makes him heartbroken.

"That's our own people." Although Chen Chong's voice was low, he spoke firmly: "This time he annihilated more than 300 enemies, and the battle loss ratio was 2 to 1, and he died twice as much as the enemy. This is a negligence that is enough to be dismissed in the Eastern Palace."

Luo Yukun was stunned: "It's really hard to live in the East Palace."

"But we don't have standard equipment, so we shouldn't be scolded." Chen Chong took another piece of paper: "I'll see if I can also find out if I can ask for training officers and doctors in the green clothes."

"Okay, okay!" Luo Yukun finally saw the extraordinary part of the Yuanyang Formation and was very eager to learn the full set of formations. The formations of this village alone had the strength to fight against the officers and soldiers. If he learned them all, wouldn't it be invincible in the world?

"This battle is really not proud." Chen Chong wrote, "If it weren't for the large number of us, most of Liu Zeqing's army was scared away, how could it be so easy to win? You still have to catch the training."

Luo Yukun nodded and said, "Even if this formation is not fought, it is scary enough to stand neatly. Originally, the refugees looked at the vast crowd, but they didn't expect that they would have such momentum in an array."

It was this momentum that scared Liu Zeqing's troops to flee everywhere. Because they had just looted Linqingzhou, the soldiers had more or less private goods and had no intention of fighting. If all refugees were equipped with iron tools instead of just holding a wooden stick or a hammer, Liu Zeqing's troops would suffer even more casualties.

"What should I do if the things are? I have to hand over?" Luo Yukun asked.

"Of course." Chen Chong said: "All the seized ones must be handed over to the public. Those who dare to hide their secrets will be 50 sticks, and they will not be expelled."

"Can you pay the military salary first?" Luo Yukun asked tentatively.

"Of course not!" Chen Chong insisted: "This matter is one code and one code, and the East Palace will definitely pay the salary on time!"

Luo Yukun was bored and muttered and walked out: "I'm very dizzy! A little bug is also holding me!"
Chapter completed!