Chapter 123 Knock out Zhu Youjian's teeth to prevent him from biting his tongue and committing suicide
The movement in the city was unusually fast. One hour after Shang Zhouzuo knocked on the door, more than 300 eunuchs and the palace maids who were eating with them were hung under the city gate.

"Ke Shi had been flogged to death, and Ke Shi's brother Ke Guangxian and son Hou Guoxing were all sent out. The eunuchs of Wei Zhongxian's faction also suffered a bad fate. Even Liu Yingkun was tied up and hung."

Shang Kejin, who returned with more than 300 spoils of war, reported to the commander-in-chief.

After the Liao army recovered Haizhou, Liu Yingkun was promoted again, from being the seal holder of the Imperial Stables to being the writing eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, where he sat and sat with his godfather Wei Zhongxian.

Because the Liao army was approaching, the area outside Beijing became much more deserted. The news that the evil eunuchs in the city had been sent out spread like wildfire to the villages outside Guangqumen. When Shang Kejin and his companions returned, thousands of people followed them.

The militiamen in the Liao army camp were also in an uproar. The reputation of Jiu Qian Sui was too bad, and many people were just waiting for the commander to chop the Wei eunuch to death and share his flesh.

"Everyone line up, come one by one."

There was no need for a guillotine. Li Hao picked up a wood-chopping axe and asked the Liao soldiers to line up the eunuchs, and started working amid the cheers of the surrounding people and soldiers.

"Marshal, spare my life. You and I are from the same family. My original surname is Li. I also know the garrisons in Beijing and how many cannons are on the top of the city..."

Wei Zhongxian was an old man with a square face, a wide mouth, thick eyebrows, and was only 58 years old this year. His original robes were stripped off by the Ming army in the city, leaving only the lining clothes. His hair was disheveled, and his valuable headdress was also stolen.

The original 9,000-year-old demeanor was gone, and he lay on the ground begging for mercy like a wild dog with a broken spine.

Having lost the favor of Emperor Tianqi, he could not even defeat the old eunuch Liu Chao who had been dependent on him.

"That's not true! Your surname is Wei, a genuine member of the Wei family."

It was really unlucky to have the same surname as Wei Yan, so Li Hao decided on his ancestor and then chopped him off with an axe.

Of course, Li Hao made sure that Wei Yan's head was intact. As for the body, he only chopped it into several pieces with seven or eight blows of the axe. He divided the meat like slaughtering a pig and threw it to the surrounding people and militiamen.

"Marshal, we want to eat rice and meat too!"

Rice meat is an elegant name for human flesh, and the Liao soldiers begged for meat eagerly.

Wei Zhongxian was also famous throughout the world, and those who ate his flesh would have something to brag about to their descendants.

Li Hao picked up two hind legs and gave them to the Liao soldiers before continuing to work.

Among the entire eunuch party, only Liu Yingkun survived. Marshal Li did not kill him because he had been a military supervisor in Shanhaiguan and Jingying before and after, and had some understanding of the defenses of both places. He also knew the high-ranking officials in the city.

The descendants of the Hakka family also died miserably. The people who followed Shang Ke and entered the city formed a pile and divided the bodies of the Hakka people. The corpse of the famous Hakka family had long been cold, but the people still stripped her clothes and tortured her.

"Why do they hate Keshi so much?"

Li Shuai was a little confused.

"Keshi competed with Empress Zhang for favor, causing the early death of Crown Prince Huai Chong. Yang Lian, the imperial censor, impeached Keshi and Wei Zhongxian, but was beaten to death in prison by this vicious woman and powerful eunuch. The people of the capital wished that everyone could eat her flesh and drink her blood."

Li Liangfu, a small flag officer of the Jinyiwei at Xifengkou, came up to the commander-in-chief and explained that he was very flexible and had already acknowledged Shang Kexi as his godfather. Shang Kexi reported the matter to Li Hao, and Li Hao also acquiesced.

He is now considered the Marshal's godson.

"Yang Lian was a madman. He used all means to seize power for the Donglin Party, but he was kind to the people. Find a way to find his remains and take the head of Wei Zhongxian to offer as a memorial."

Li Hao gave the order.

In the evening, Marshal Li, who was having dinner with his generals, received a piece of military intelligence that gave him a headache.

"There were several hundred cavalrymen coming out of Xizhimen and heading west. We only saw a man in very gorgeous armor among the cavalrymen. I think he was a high-ranking official in the city."

Inside the central army tent, the cavalry responsible for surveillance at Xizhimen galloped back to report the news.

"This high-ranking official who escaped was very scheming. He chose to wait until the afternoon to escape."

Li Hao exclaimed in praise.

The Liao soldiers were located in the southeast corner of Beijing City, and Xizhimen was on the upper left side of the convex structure, that is, the northwest corner of Beijing City.

The convex shape is eighteen miles wide at the bottom, and about thirteen or fourteen miles long and wide at the top.

It takes nearly thirty miles to go around the city from Xizhimen to Guangqumen, and the Liao army camp is still eight miles away from Guangqumen.

If the fleeing official's speed was similar to that of the Liaodong cavalry, during this period of time, the fleeing official had already run more than 30 miles from Xizhimen.

The straight-line distance between Xizhimen and the Liao army camp was still thirty miles.

To pursue this group of people from the Liao army camp, they had to bypass Beijing city, but whether they went from the south or the north, the distance between the two sides would be widened to sixty or seventy miles.

It seems that not all the people in the city are good-for-nothings. Now that the situation has become critical, both sides of the pursuit will not march during the day and rest at night like a normal march, but will just run for their lives.

Therefore, the first sixty or seventy miles of escape are extremely important.

"Bring Liu Yingkun here. Generals, guess who this high-ranking official is?"

Marshal Li issued two orders in succession.

"It may be a certain minister who went to the west to urge the troops from Xuanfu and Datong to come to the rescue."

"Maybe it's Prince Xin. The emperor's son was frightened to death six months ago."

Among the generals' guesses, the most likely ones were the cabinet minister and Prince Xin Zhu Youjian, and officials such as the Minister of War and the Vice Minister were also mentioned.

Liu Yingkun, with disheveled hair, was brought in. After listening to a few words of description, he gave a positive answer directly: "Marshal Li, this person must be Prince Xin Zhu Youjian, or perhaps the Concubine Dowager who holds the seal of the Queen Mother."

Li Hao stopped eating and stood up suddenly, "Are you sure?"

If we can get Zhu Youjian, it wouldn't be too much to delay for a few days.

"It can only be him. Before I was arrested, I worked in the Imperial Household Department and heard the gossip that the emperor summoned Empress Zhang, Concubine Liu, and Prince Xin."

Liu Yingkun was extremely certain that he had lost all thoughts of loyalty after being sent out of the city by the emperor. Now he was thinking about currying favor with Marshal Li to see if he could save his life.

"Shang Kexi will lead a hundred men to chase them from the north around the city, and I will lead men to chase them from the south. Each of us will only bring a replacement horse and two days' worth of unleavened bread and fried flour. We will not return to the camp until we catch up with this group of people."

Li Hao acted decisively and ordered his generals to follow the steps to mobilize the nearby civilians and build siege weapons, then he took his elite troops and chased after them overnight.

The only descendants of Emperor Taichang were Emperor Tianqi and Prince Xin. Coincidentally, both of them had no children. As long as Zhu Youjian was caught, the seriously ill Zhu Youxiao would not be able to escape to Nanjing.

After the capture of Beijing, the northern half of the Ming Dynasty was immediately paralyzed.

The combat effectiveness of the Ming army in the late Tianqi period was not even as good as before the Battle of Songjin during the Chongzhen period. At least during the Chongzhen period, many strong soldiers were trained through years of fighting against the Eight Banners and the rebel army in Liaodong, Henan, Shaanxi and other places.

Although the south can still function and collect taxes and grain, the southern army only has a few local chieftains who have some combat effectiveness. If they can deal with the eight military garrisons in the north, the Zhu family's rule will be over.

……

in the dark.

"Mrs. Dowager Toffee, Mrs. Dowager Toffee~"

After traveling eighty miles west from Xizhimen, the royal team fleeing south received the first bad news.

Concubine Xuanyi gritted her teeth and rode her horse at a rapid pace along with the team. After several hours of bumpy ride, she finally couldn't hold on any longer and asked the team to stop. She only had time to hand over the seal to Prince Xin before she passed away and went to heaven to meet Emperor Wanli.

She is already sixty-five years old, and to be able to perform like this is already worthy of the blessings she has enjoyed.

Prince Xin cried incessantly and ordered the soldiers of the Shenji Camp who were accompanying him to think of a way to make sure Concubine Xuanyi died gloriously.

"Your Highness Prince Xin, why don't I send a few dozen people to stay and find a decent coffin. Your Highness can continue on your way. Most of the Liao soldiers are barbarians, who are very good at horsemanship. They can chase him day and night without any problem. Li Ni will arrive in a moment."

Many of General Wang, the lieutenant general of the Shenji Camp, had soldiers under his command who had gone to Liaodong for foreign aid. They were well aware of the horror of Liaodong's quick turn and close-range surprise attack, so they advocated continuing to flee south.

Zhu Youjian was heartbroken. Concubine Xuanyi and his brother were the people closest to him. Now one of them would soon be gone, and the other had already passed away. He didn't know what to do.

He is only fifteen years old. How can he shoulder the burden of the Ming Dynasty?

Seeing that Prince Xin didn't say anything, Lieutenant General Wang didn't dare to force him, so he had to kneel down and cry with his men.

Apart from the Fengyang Mausoleum Guard, the Zhongwu Camp and the Shenji Camp were probably the most loyal official troops to the Ming Dynasty. Admiral Wang felt that he could not afford to waste time, so after a while he urged Prince Xin to set off south again.

Zhu Youjian did not want to bear the name of being unfilial for abandoning his grandmother's body and fleeing south. The two sides were deadlocked for half the night. Finally, after Brigadier General Wang took the responsibility, the fleeing team set off again.

After entering daytime, the marching speed of this Ming army increased greatly. Although the soldiers were tired and hungry, they had gained some weight during the weekdays, so they would have no problem lasting for the next few days.

The situation in the west and south was far less severe than that around Beijing. There were even small vendors and porters coming and going on the roads. The hundreds of cavalrymen scared the vendors along the way so much that they took their goods and hid far away.

Zhu Youjian was deeply shocked by this, "Is the reputation of our Ming soldiers so bad?"

Adjutant General Wang comforted the king and said, "It's just that the border troops have affected the reputation of the Ming soldiers. I have served in Gansu Town, Xuanfu Town and Beijing Camp. The soldiers closest to the capital have the best military discipline. Maybe they have received the grace of the saints."

Zhu Youjian stopped talking. He knew the background of this Brigadier General Wang. His ancestor was Wang You, Marquis of Qingyuan, who participated in the Jingnan Campaign. Later, he was stripped of his title for offending Emperor Chengzu and only retained the hereditary title of commander of the Xining Guard.

They fled south until dusk, and rushed into a village to rest.

But before he could have his first hot meal since leaving Beijing, the rumbling sound of horse hooves could be heard from the village entrance.

"My king has received the grace of the country for generations. Please believe that Your Highness will go first."

Lieutenant General Wang ordered his captains to escort Prince Xin out of the village. He led the bird-gun soldiers of the Shenji Camp to delay the Liao soldiers by relying on the houses in the village.

Unfortunately, the soldiers of the Beijing camp were not good at horse riding. Not long after the captain who was escorting Prince Xin left the village, he was caught up and killed by the Liao soldiers who were blocking the village. Before Wang Chengen died in the battle, he was tied up and taken to the village.

"First knock out Zhu Youjian's teeth to prevent him from biting his tongue and committing suicide."

While fighting with the Shenji Camp, Li Hao gave orders to the Liao soldiers.

After confirming that Prince Xin had been captured, Wang Chengen did not hesitate. He knelt down facing the city of Beijing in the east and slit his throat to commit suicide.

The servants of Lieutenant General Wang fled with the corpse of their commander, and the rest of the soldiers fled if they could, and only put down their muskets and surrendered when they could not escape.

The battle was quite short, and no matter how loyal the soldiers in the Beijing camp were, their morale could not match that of the elite Liao soldiers who had been trained outside the Great Wall.

"Are you the Prince Xin?"

Looking at Zhu Youjian with blood in his mouth, Li Hao asked.

PS: This Lieutenant General Wang Chengen was a real military general of the Ming Dynasty. In the third year of Chongzhen, he followed Sun Chengzong to recover the four cities of Zunhua and Yongping. Please recommend and monthly vote.

(End of this chapter)