Daming: Stealing Chen Yuanyuan at the beginning

Chapter 98
On June 22, in the Jinluan Palace in Xi'an, the morning court.

"The queen is a thousand years old!"

The civil and military officials shouted, their voices were orderly and loud, and their attitudes were respectful and solemn.

Mrs. Gao has been queen for more than a year, but she is still not used to these red tapes. She said with a smile, "Get up, get up and talk. How can one person live for thousands of years? The thousand-year king is 8 years old. I can live as long as I can." At the age of seven or eighty, and die without illness or disaster, this life is worth it.”

The officials laughed and stood up one after another, and the atmosphere was relaxed and cheerful.

The Dashun court was not without merit, and many people still retained the simplicity and loyalty of farmers.Especially the emperor and the empress, they were both low-key and very approachable.

Empress Gao glanced at the ministers, but did not see Prime Minister Niu Jinxing, and asked, "Where is Prime Minister Niu, is he sick? He is old, and if he gets sick, he has to find a doctor quickly!"

Li Guodao: "I am on duty in Tianyou Pavilion today, and I haven't received the letter of leave from Prime Minister Niu, so I will send someone to the Prime Minister's Mansion to see what's going on..."

Just as he was talking, suddenly an old and mournful cry came from outside the hall: "Empress, you want to be the master for the old minister, you are the master for the old minister!"

Immediately afterwards, Niu Jinxing staggered in, knelt on the ground and cried loudly.His official hat was crooked, and the hem of his official uniform was stained with a lot of dust, as if he ran all the way into the palace.

The officials were taken aback, Empress Gao hurriedly asked: "Prime Minister Niu, what happened?"

Niu Jinxing raised his head, tears streaming down his face, as if he had aged several decades overnight, and said in a hoarse voice: "The Tartars sent troops to attack Tongguan, Tongguan fell, and my son... my son died in battle..."

"What?" Li Guo exclaimed, and asked in a high-pitched voice, "When did the Tartars send their troops, and when did Tongguan fall? Why didn't there be any news beforehand? General Liu Fangliang, where are they? place?"

Tongguan is the gateway to Xi'an. Once it is lost, it means that the Tartars will soon come to the city.

The officials were also flustered, looking at each other with doubts and horror on their faces.

Niu Jinxing said: "I'm sitting at Yinshi today, and I'm going to enter the palace early, but my servant who doesn't want to follow my son to join the army suddenly came back and told me about the fall of Tongguan. I lost my position and was very sad, so I came late It's..."

Then, he turned his head and said to the outside of the hall: "Come in, and tell the Empress what you know in detail."

A soldier in a tattered military uniform walked into the hall tremblingly, and knelt down dumbly.His face was covered with dust and blood, and it was extremely dirty, except for the luster in his dark eyes, which showed that he was still alive.

"This is the servant who reported the news." Niu Jinxing introduced and urged, "Speak, tell them all, and the Queen will make the decision for our Niu family!"

The servant kowtowed several times, and said, "My young master guarded Tongguan, so I went to serve him in the army and followed him all the time. A few days ago, about nine days ago, suddenly there was a loud killing at night. Somehow, Zizi came to attack Tongguan, then broke through the pass and came in."

"The Tatars killed everyone they saw, and there was chaos in the pass. I hurriedly went to look for the young master. I only saw people dying all the way. I also saw General Liu Fangliang hit by several arrows. The whereabouts of the young master were unknown, and he was probably dead... "

"I had no choice but to escape and run towards Xi'an. I arrived in Xi'an early this morning. They are all dead, the young master is dead, and General Liu Fangliang is also dead..."

In the end, the servant was a little delirious, as if he was insane.

Li Guo always felt that something was wrong, so he rushed to his servant, grabbed him by the collar, and shouted: "You are the only one who escaped, where are the others? Tell me, are you lying, are you defecting to the Tatars?" spy?"

Niu Jinxing said: "Li Guo, what do you mean? This servant has been in my Niu family for many years, and he is an honest man. How dare he tell such a big lie! Besides, my son died in battle, and I am more distressed than anyone else..."

Niu Jinxing's son, Niu Quan, was originally incompetent, but because his father was the prime minister of Dashun, he became Liu Fangliang's lieutenant general.After the Battle of Huaiqing, Liu Fangliang was ordered to guard Tongguan, and Niu Quan served in the army.

Admiral Tian Jianxiu said: "The quarrel is useless now, everyone calms down. Nine days have passed, maybe the Tartars are leading the army to kill Xi'an, we have to make preparations to meet the enemy."

Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin were not in Xi'an, and there were only a few Tian Jianxiu in the army who were high-ranking and powerful. When he spoke, the queen and all the ministers nodded in agreement.

Li Guo asked for orders: "I brought ten thousand soldiers and horses to attack Tongguan. First, I came to inquire about the news, and second, I came to stop the Tartar army and buy time for the defense of the city."

Niu Jinxing said: "No, it is very dangerous to go out of the city to meet the enemy, let the old minister go! The old minister only has one son, and now the yellow plums don't fall, and the green ones fall, and the white-haired man sends the black-haired one. The minister is dead, and the minister is unwilling to live. , I just want to kill the Tartars for revenge!"

Tian Jianxiu said: "The enemy's situation is unknown. It is too risky to go out of the city to meet the enemy. It is better to stick to Xi'an. We were able to defend Xi'an last year, and this time we can also make the Tartars return without success! It's just that the emperor has not returned since he went south, so we should hurry Send someone to send a message to ask the emperor and General Liu Zongmin to come back to rescue Xi'an, when the Tatars will be attacked on both sides, the siege crisis will be resolved without a fight."

"It's still what General Tian said is comprehensive and safe!" Many ministers echoed.

Empress Gao said: "Then take action as General Tian said. All ministers must work together to defend the city of Xi'an for the emperor! Hey, when will we be able to live happily?"

……

Five days later, the Tartars really approached the city and surrounded the city of Xi'an.

Azige took 2 cavalry from his headquarters, Wu Sangui took his remaining [-] Guanning cavalry, and together with the [-] Han and Eight Banners soldiers led by Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, surrounded the city of Xi'an.

This time the Manchu and Qing troops came prepared, blocked the news after taking Tongguan, marched westward from Tongguan, encountered no resistance all the way, and beat Dashun by surprise.

Moreover, Dorgon listened to Fan Wencheng's suggestion and adopted the strategy of "ruling Han people with Han people."During this army's western expedition, Azige and Wu Sangui, as princes, had to obey Hong Chengchou's orders, and Hong Chengchou was the commander-in-chief of the army.

After besieging the city of Xi'an, the Qing soldiers did not launch an attack immediately, but set up camp outside the city to rest and reorganize their armaments.

That night, Li Guo went to inspect the gates of the city, looked at the endless enemy camps outside the city, his face was solemn, thinking that it will be another hard battle, whether he can hold the city of Xi'an this time.

Li Guo was in a mess, he went down the west gate and was about to rush to the north gate when he ran into Niu Jinxing.

Niu Jinxing actually put on armor, carried a long knife, and went into battle in person.He was haggard, with a sad face, red and swollen eyes, and a white cloth tied around his waist, immersed in the grief of his son's death.

When the two met, they were speechless for a while.

After a long while, Li Guo sighed, "Prime Minister Niu, please take care!"

"Only one dead ear!" Niu Jinxing raised the knife in his hand and walked up to the city wall.

"It's pitiful to be old and lose a son! Niu Jinxing is not expected to be a prime minister, but he is still a man, hey..." Li Guo sighed, watched Niu Jinxing's back disappear into the night, and then turned and left.

Then he went to see Tian Jianxiu to discuss the defense of the city.I kept talking about the third watch, but suddenly I heard shouts from the city.

Li Guo stood up and asked, "What happened?"

A soldier rushed into the house in panic, his face was pale and he said, "Report to the two generals that the Tartars have entered the city through the west gate..."

"Ah!" Li Guo was dizzy for a while, and his body hit the door frame, unable to recover for a while.

Tian Jianxiu asked: "I didn't hear the sound of cannons. Why did the Tatars come into the city?"

"Yes...it was Prime Minister Niu who opened the city gate and let the Tartars in! Some soldiers saw Niu Quan, the son of Prime Minister Niu. He didn't die. We were fooled..." The soldier cried.

Tian Jianxiu stared wide-eyed and opened his mouth wide, lost his mind.

"Old man, how dare you cooperate with the enemy, I will kill him!" Li Guo pulled out his knife and ran away.

"Wait a minute!" Tian Jianxiu grabbed Li Guo's arm, gritted his teeth, and said, "General Li, the city of Xi'an can't be defended if there are internal thieves. After the Tartars enter the city, if the Queen falls into their hands, The consequences are disastrous, even if you and I are dead, how can we face the emperor?"

"General Li, quickly lead your troops to the palace, protect the queen and escape from the city, and go to the south to meet the emperor!"

Li Guo turned around and said, "What about you?"

"When the emperor went south, he handed over the city of Xi'an to me. I have a heavy responsibility, and I can only die in battle!"

"No, you come with me to the palace to see the queen, and then we escape..."

"General Li, don't say too much. I will lead my soldiers to stop the enemy and buy you time. Go, go, if you don't go, do you want me to kneel down and beg you?"

Li Guo burst into tears in an instant, said to take care, and shouted: "The army horses of the headquarters, come with me!"

Ten thousand soldiers rushed into the palace under the leadership of Li Guo.Empress Gao and Li Guo hugged each other and cried, Li Guo wiped away the tears and said: "Mother, the situation is critical, I will escort you out of the city!"

Not allowing Empress Gao to object, the soldiers rushed forward, led the Empress and several maids out of the palace, and headed straight for the south gate.

Fortunately, all the enemy troops rushed to the west gate at this time, and only a few thousand people remained outside the south gate.Li Guo's army charged all the way, quickly broke through the encirclement, and fled in the vast night, one foot high and one foot low.

After running for a few miles, Li Guo reined in the reins and looked back at the city of Xi'an.

I saw the flames soaring into the sky, thick smoke billowing, most of the sky was red, and the sound of gold and iron horses could be heard in the distance.

Li Guo bent his bow and set an arrow, and shot an arrow in the direction of Xi'an City.The bowstring has a sound, and the feather and arrow have a shadow.

He said angrily and solemnly: "If you don't avenge this revenge, you swear not to be a human being! General Tian, ​​take care! Elders of Sanqin, take care!"

Turning the horse's head, he shouted sharply: "Go ahead, don't stay for a while! Go south to see the emperor, we will call back sooner or later, I want to kill Niu Jinxing and his son!"

The forest is dark and the grass is frightened by the wind, the general draws his bow at night.The beacon fire shines on Xijing, and I feel uneasy.

(End of this chapter)