Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 643 Yingcheng Shrike Army

Hei Yunlong and Hei Mingzhong had both seen Zhu Shenzhui. In their early years, they were stranded on the grassland and were rescued by Zhu Shenzhui. If it hadn't been for Zhu Shenzhui's help, they father and son would never have been able to escape back, and their bodies might have already rotted somewhere on the grassland.

The life-saving grace is greater than heaven, Hei Yunlong is not an ungrateful person. Moreover, he still has the handle in Zhu Shenzhu's hand. There are many letters between them over the years. Even if Hei Yunlong did not know Zhu Shenzhu's identity at that time, Hei Yunlong could not escape the charge of "colluding" with Zhu Shenzhu just based on these letters.

During the Jisi Rebellion, Hei Yunlong followed the Xuan army to defend the emperor, and Zhu Shenzhui also brought people with him, so they were still comrades-in-arms. In addition, during the battle of the capital, the Jiannu attacked the camp and Man Gui was killed, and Hei Yunlong and his son were in a desperate situation. If Zhu Shenzhui had not led troops to rescue him, Hei Yunlong would have either died in battle or fallen into the hands of the Jiannu. This was the second time he was saved.

Moreover, although Zhu Shenzhui did not bring many people with him in this battle, Hei Yunlong could clearly see the strong fighting power he displayed. Hei Yunlong originally thought that Zhu Shenzhui only trained a small-scale army for self-protection, but until Zhu Shenzhui raised an army to quell the rebellion, Hei Yunlong suddenly realized and was secretly shocked.

At present, Zhu Shenzhui's heavy troops besieged the capital, not only causing the capital to be in a state of emergency, but also defeating You Shiwei who came to reinforce before he even touched the edge of the capital. As a minister in the same court, Hei Yunlong certainly knew You Shiwei, and had a considerable understanding of You Shiwei. You Shiwei was also a fierce general. Although his subordinates were not as elite as Xuanda's army, they were not weak either. Even if Hei Yunlong's Xuanfu soldiers went to war with You Shiwei, he would not be absolutely sure to defeat You Shiwei with the same force. However, Zhu Shenzhui surrounded the city and attacked the reinforcements, and defeated his troops in no time, and even beat You Shiwei to flee in embarrassment.

From this point of view, it is enough to prove the strength of Zhu Shencui's military force. Moreover, Hei Yunlong has known Zhu Shencui for many years and knows what kind of person Zhu Shencui is better than others.

Compared with the current Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Hei Yunlong actually prefers Zhu Shenzhui. In his opinion, the current emperor is not a wise ruler at all, let alone the wise ruler as rumored. On the contrary, Zhu Shenzhui is far superior to Emperor Chongzhen in terms of temperament, insight, means and ability. If Zhu Shenzhui can really take over the capital and replace him, it will not be a bad thing for the Ming Dynasty.

Emotionally, Hei Yunlong is inclined to Zhu Shencui, but rationally, Hei Yunlong is worried that Zhu Shencui will not be able to bring disaster. After all, the capital is not so easy to attack. The capital is the center of the world, with high walls and strong defenses. There are 800,000 soldiers and civilians in the city. In the previous Tumubao Incident, Gengxu Incident, and Jisi Incident, the capital was also in danger, but it was still held. Even the Mongols and Jiannu could not do it. Can Zhu Shencui do it?
If the capital cannot be taken, the so-called second Jingnan will be just empty talk. When the troops from various places arrive, Zhu Shenzhui's army will not be able to resist no matter how strong it is. After all, Zhu Shenzhui has too few people. According to the information obtained by Hei Yunlong, Zhu Shenzhui has only tens of thousands of troops, and the logistical pressure is not small when they come from afar. Even if Baoding is taken as a retreat, how can Baoding alone compete with the entire Ming Dynasty?

Although the Ming army was strong and weak, and there were not many troops capable of fighting, they still numbered a million. Once so many troops arrived in the capital, how could Zhu Shenzhui stop them? In Hei Yunlong's view, as long as Zhu Shenzhui could not take the capital within half a month, his defeat would be doomed, and the so-called Jingnan would be just empty talk.

Hei Yunlong is not alone, and the Hei family is a family of generals. He cannot gamble with the lives and property of his entire family, but at the same time he cannot ignore the consequences if Zhu Shenzhui takes over the capital.

Faced with this dilemma, Hei Yunlong was undecided, but Hei Mingzhong's suggestion of keeping the troops in place was exactly what he wanted. After much thought, this was the most appropriate step as it would not offend the imperial court or Zhu Shenzhui. It would not be too late to delay for some time and wait for the outcome to be decided in the capital.

But there needs to be a reason to keep the troops in place, at least both sides have to give an explanation. Hei Yunlong couldn't help but think of the suggestion of the second brother Hei Mingde just now, which was to delay for two days by waiting for the Datong troops. However, this reason was a bit far-fetched, and it seemed to be suspected of "fear of the enemy". If the court investigated it later, it would be troublesome.

Just when Hei Yunlong was hesitating, someone suddenly came to report from outside. The four father and his two sons thought that there were changes in the capital again, so they hurriedly let someone in.

But when they arrived, they found out that it was not the capital that had changed, but Mongolia in the north. News had just come that there were unusual movements on the grassland, and the Tumed tribes and Chahar Right Banner and other tribes were ready to move, gathering troops and showing signs of moving south.

Hei Mingde and Hei Mingren were shocked when they heard the news. This news was too unexpected. However, Hei Yunlong and Hei Mingzhong were surprised and happy. How could these two father and son not know what the Mongolian movement meant? You should know that they knew something about Zhu Shenzhui's identity in Mongolia. Although they did not know that Zhu Shenzhui was the real master of Tumed, they knew his influence in Tumed.

Now Zhu Shenzhui was besieging the capital, and at this time, the Tumed tribes, including the Chahar right wing, were making unusual movements. How could there be such a coincidence? It was clearly arranged by Zhu Shenzhui. Zhu Shenzhui was really good at calculating. He raised troops in the heart of the Ming Dynasty to attack the capital, and at the same time, he let the Mongols pretend to march south in a big way to threaten the nine borders, especially the Xuanfu and Dadu armies. This just gave Hei Yunlong the most suitable excuse. You know, once he transferred troops away from Xuanfu, the defense of Xuanfu would be gone. If the Mongols went directly from Xuanfu to the south of the Great Wall, they would be able to reach the capital in a few days. In this case, even if the capital was in danger, Hei Yunlong would never move.

Not only Hei Yunlong, the same is true for Datong. It seems that the Datong Army will not be able to come to the capital to support the king. Right now, Datong is already in a state of panic, so how can they care about going to the capital to support the king?

"What a good plan! What a good plan!" At this moment, Hei Yunlong finally understood why Zhu Shenzhui specifically told him in the letter that if he didn't want to take sides right away, he could at least delay the time and wait for the changes. At that time, Hei Yunlong thought it was Zhu Shenzhui's request to him, but now he knows that it was just a part of Zhu Shenzhui's plan and explanation. With the reason that the Mongols went south, Hei Yunlong could completely refuse the court's request to come to the king's aid, and even take this opportunity to restrain the various departments in Xuanfu and keep their troops in place until the result in the capital was determined.

Without waiting for his sons to speak, Hei Yunlong spoke first and immediately decided to postpone the reinforcement of the king's army. He ordered the various units of Xuanfu to defend the border and prepare for fighting the Mongols. At the same time, Hei Yunlong asked Hei Mingzhong to report this matter to the angel who delivered the imperial edict as soon as possible, informing him that the situation had changed. It was not that Hei Yunlong did not want to reinforce the king's army, but that there was no way to do so now. He asked him to reply to the court. After repelling the Mongols heading south, Hei Yunlong would lead the main force of Xuanfu to rush to the capital to reinforce the king day and night.

Just as Hei Yunlong was making arrangements, Zhu Shenzui in the capital had received news from inside the city. His army had put great pressure on the capital after several days of fighting, especially after defeating the reinforcements from Changping. People in the capital were in a panic and uneasy mood.

Zhang Xijun, who had received the news in advance, was not idle in the city. He secretly prepared on the day when Zhu Shenzhu attacked the city. He quietly contacted several people who had been selected long ago and won over the generals who stayed in the Beijing camp. As the situation became more and more serious, these generals no longer had the slightest idea of ​​defending the city. Faced with the possibility of the city being destroyed and their families being destroyed, they would naturally choose the latter option, which would not only save their lives but also allow them to enjoy wealth and glory.

Taking advantage of the interval between battles with the troops roaming outside the city, Zhang Xijun secretly contacted Zhu Shenzhui and made an agreement.

On this day, as the sun gradually set, the artillery fire outside the city began to become sparse, and on the Xizhimen side, the soldiers of the Beijing camp stationed there finally breathed a sigh of relief, as the day's battle was finally over.

At this time, Sun Tingxun, the Earl of Yingcheng and one of Zhu's generals in the Beijing Camp, came to Xizhimen. As the admiral and deputy admiral were absent from the Beijing Camp in the city, Emperor Chongzhen temporarily appointed Xu Yunzhen, Duke of Dingguo, to take over the position of admiral.

Duke Dingguo was a descendant of Xu Da. His ancestor was Xu Zengshou, the third son of Xu Da. When Zhu Di launched the Jingnan Rebellion, Xu Zengshou secretly communicated with Zhu Di in the capital and tipped off the emperor. However, Emperor Jianwen killed him in anger. After Zhu Di succeeded in the Jingnan Rebellion, he named him Marquis of Wuyang and gave him the posthumous title of "Zhongmin" for his contribution.

In the second year of Yongle, Zhu Di was given the title of Marquis of Wuyang and promoted to Duke of Dingguo, with an annual salary of 2,500 dan, which was to be inherited by his descendants.

The lineage of Duke Dingguo had lived in the capital for a long time, and was the top among the nobles in terms of title, but the current Duke Dingguo, Xu Yunzhen, was incompetent and far inferior to his ancestor. Emperor Chongzhen let him lead the Beijing Camp mainly because of Duke Dingguo's title and influence. After all, most of the generals in the Beijing Camp were nobles, and now only Xu Yunzhen could barely maintain it.

However, after he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp, he did not play much of a role and was basically just a clay Buddha. The Beijing Camp was still dominated by the two remaining officers, Yingcheng Earl Sun Tingxun and Qingping Earl Wu Zunzhou.

"My Lord!" Seeing Sun Tingxun coming here, Xie Chengchang, the captain in charge of Xizhimen, hurried forward to salute.

"Thank you for your hard work, Captain." Sun Tingxun said kindly. Xie Chengchang said quickly, "Serving the country is what I should do. I wonder why you are here...?"

"The soldiers have worked hard these days. Benbert is here to congratulate them. Come on! Bring the things over here!" With a wave of his hand, the soldiers behind him came up carrying the things. Xie Chengchang took a closer look and his eyes lit up immediately. Sun Tingxun not only brought several boxes of silver and a lot of copper coins, but also brought wine and meat. These are all good things!

Pointing at these, Sun Tingxun told Xie Chengchang that this money was a reward from the court, but the wine and meat were specially bought by him. The brothers had worked hard to defend the city these days. If it weren't for them, I'm afraid the capital would have fallen long ago. Sun Tingxun said that the battle was over today, and he brought these to the brothers, asking them to distribute the reward money first, then have a good meal with good wine and good food, rest for a night, and wait until tomorrow to cheer up and fight the rebels again to protect the capital.

Seeing these, Xie Chengchang was very happy. They had worked hard these days, defending against the fierce artillery fire of the enemy army outside the city, and many brothers were killed and injured. Now that the court has these rewards, it is not in vain. Xie Chengchang was very grateful to Sun Tingxun and accepted the gift. At this time, Sun Tingxun said that he wanted to have a few drinks with Xie Chengchang. Xie Chengchang wanted to refuse, but he had to give face since his superior said so. Moreover, seeing the tired look of his brothers, and thinking that it was getting late and there would be no more fighting, it would be good to take turns drinking to relieve fatigue, so he nodded and agreed.

(End of this chapter)