The Ming Dynasty began in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

At this moment, Chongzhen couldn't help but think of what the Crown Prince had said:

"Most officials and nobles in the court rushed to surrender to the rebels, while only a few officials, nobles, eunuchs, and palace maids vowed to fight to the death. Wang Chengen accompanied them and committed suicide on Coal Hill..."

Emperor Chongzhen suddenly burst into laughter:

"Ridiculous! I've read history books, and I've never seen a former dynasty's officials who were useful to the new dynasty continue to be wealthy and powerful. People like Li Guozhen will not have a good end..."

"It's a pity for my people. I have ruled the Ming Dynasty for seventeen years and have never shown them any kindness. Now I have to make them suffer as well..."

As Emperor Chongzhen lamented, the cannons roared and shouts of battle filled the air in the capital as hundreds of thousands of bandits launched a frenzied attack on the inner city gates...

The garrison was small to begin with, and when the outer city was breached, the guards had already fled without a trace, leaving only more than 20,000 soldiers still holding out in the inner city.

After Zhang Jinyan and others were killed, a large number of surrender faction led by Grand Secretary Wei Zaode reappeared. They brazenly opened the city gates and let the rebels into the city...

Of course, the Ming Dynasty was not lacking in heroes. Duke Zhang Shize of Yingguo fought bravely and killed several people before being shot to death by a hail of arrows.

Marquis Liu Wenbing of Xinle, Marquis Zhang Qingzhen of Huian, Imperial Son-in-Law Commandant Gong Yonggu, Earl Wei Shitai of Xuancheng, Earl Yang Chongyi of Zhangwu, and other nobles were killed in battle.

Meng Zhaoxiang, the Minister of Works, and his son, Wang Jiayan, the Right Vice Minister of War, and dozens of other officials all fought bravely and died after the inner city fell...

Besides the officials who died bravely in battle, hundreds of Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) also perished.

None of the eunuchs escaped, and hundreds died in battle. They also volunteered to help the palace maids defending the city. After the city fell, more than a hundred people jumped into the moat...

Compared to the palace maids and eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, most of the Ming Dynasty officials and gentry, led by Wei Zaode and Chen Yan, were worse than pigs and dogs!

Both the inner and outer city walls fell, with only the Earl of Xinjian, Wang Xiantong, still holding the Zhengyang Gate.

At this time, Zhengyang Gate was surrounded by bandits, and Wang Xiantong led his men to defend the city tower to the death and refused to surrender.

After several waves of attacks, thousands of bandits were killed or wounded, which enraged Liu Zongmin so much that he roared and prepared to use the red-coated cannons to bombard and collapse the city tower...

At this time, Li Zicheng led his army to arrive. Upon hearing that Wang Xiantong was determined not to surrender, he couldn't help but think of Zhou Yuji, the fierce general of Ningwu Pass, and immediately had the idea of ​​retaking the pass.

Zhou Yuji and his wife fought to the death at Ningwu Pass, refusing to surrender and inflicting heavy casualties on the peasant army. Li Zicheng almost gave up on continuing his advance towards the capital.

Unexpectedly, in the subsequent battles, the Ming army surrendered without resistance, allowing the peasant army to quickly reach the capital.

Li Zicheng also valued talent, and he had previously tried to recruit Hu Dawei, Zhou Yuji, Sun Chuanting, and others he encountered.

Unfortunately, those brave Ming generals refused to surrender and all died in battle.

Today I met another Wang Xiantong, and he wants to try to recruit him for his own use.

Seeing that Liu Zongmin was about to bombard the city tower, Li Zicheng hurriedly shouted:

"slow!"

Liu Zongmin turned to look at Li Zicheng, clasped his hands in greeting, and asked:

"What are your instructions, King Li Zicheng?"

Li Zicheng smiled slightly:

"This man is brave and loyal; we want to recruit him!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zongmin's eyes widened immediately:

"King Chuang, our army has many brave men, why must you recruit this one? We refuse!"

Liu Zongmin was extremely loyal to Li Zicheng, and in order to continue the rebellion with Li Zicheng, he did not hesitate to kill his wife.

Li Zicheng valued him highly, treating him like a brother. He basically ignored Liu Zongmin's actions, regardless of whether they were right or wrong, which was the main reason for Liu Zongmin's arrogance.

Li Zicheng laughed loudly upon hearing this:

"Jiexuan, we've seen far too many shameless officials who betray the court. Does the new dynasty intend to rely on them for governance?"

Seeing that Li Zicheng wanted to subdue Wang Xiantong, Prime Minister Niu Jinxing hurriedly offered his flattery:

"Indeed, such a loyal person must have a temperament similar to that of Marquis Ru. If we can win him over, it will be of great benefit to the new dynasty."

Wang Xiantong fought to the death and refused to surrender, causing considerable casualties to the rebel army. Liu Zongmin wanted to tear him to pieces.

Seeing that the rebel leader had the idea of ​​subjugating him, Liu Zongmin was initially very unhappy. However, after hearing Niu Jinxing's words, he instantly understood and immediately laughed:

"Alright, since the King of Chuang has this idea, we will definitely support him. However, I am a rough and uncultured man, not good at talking. The matter of persuading him to surrender is left to you. If he refuses to surrender, we will kill him!"

Whether it was Li Zicheng or Niu Jinxing, if Liu Zongmin disagreed, they would have to abandon their idea of ​​persuading Wang Xiantong to surrender.

There was no other way; Liu Zongmin's prestige and status in the rebel army were unmatched except by Li Zicheng, so they could only try to persuade Liu Zongmin first.

Upon seeing Liu Zongmin agree, Li Zicheng was overjoyed and immediately ordered his men to shout, but Wang Xiantong completely ignored them...

"Damn it, someone, open fire!"

Seeing that Wang Xiantong did not make a move, Liu Zongmin was furious and immediately wanted to bombard the Zhengyangmen city tower, but was stopped by Niu Jinxing:

"Wait, Your Majesty, don't be hasty. Wang Xiantong has neither surrendered nor explicitly refused. I've come to write a letter. If they still don't surrender, Your Majesty, feel free to open fire!"

Liu Zongmin glared at Niu Jinxing and had no choice but to give up for the time being. He could disregard Niu Jinxing's feelings, but he could not refuse Li Zicheng, the rebel king.

After discussing for a moment, Niu Jinxing quickly wrote a letter, instructing Liu Zongmin to personally shoot the arrow onto the Zhengyangmen city tower, and giving Wang Xiantong half an incense stick's worth of consideration...

Wang Xiantong had already resolved to die, and surrender was not even on his radar.

The rebel army tried to persuade him to surrender, but he ignored them completely and ordered his men to take the opportunity to rest and prepare for the next battle.

"Whoosh!"

"Bang!"

Suddenly an arrow flew by and struck a wooden post not far away, its tail emitting a buzzing sound...

Upon seeing the letter attached to the arrow, the lieutenant hurriedly stepped forward, removed it, and handed it to Wang Xiantong, the Earl of Xinjian.

"My lord, there's a letter!"

Wang Xiantong knew it was a letter to persuade him to surrender, but he still accepted it, wanting to see how much benefit Li Zicheng would give him.

The letter of persuasion was essentially a promise of promotion. If he was willing to submit, the rebel king would not harm a single soldier under his command and would bestow upon him the title of Marquis of Xinjian, stationed in Tongzhou.

After reading the letter, Wang Xiantong tore it up. He would not surrender. Even if he were granted the title of Duke, he would not submit to the bandits.

Looking around at the soldiers who were prepared to fight to the death, there were still about three thousand men. When he retreated to Zhengyang Gate, he still had more than ten thousand soldiers under his command.

These three thousand-plus people were his close followers, and they would follow Wang Xiantong unconditionally no matter what choice he made.

Wang Xiantong tore up the letter urging him to surrender, stood up, drew his long sword, and prepared to continue commanding the battle. At that moment, a piece of paper floated down from his body.

This was given to him by Crown Prince Zhu Cilang. Wang Xiantong had completely forgotten about it until he saw the note lying on the ground, at which point he suddenly remembered the Crown Prince's words:

"In dire straits, act as I command. Remember this!"

Now that they were in dire straits, Wang Xiantong hurriedly picked up the note and read it. He saw three lines of small writing on it:

"With the inner city breached, the surrendered rebels have preserved their strength. The Jurchens will inevitably invade in the future. Continue to surrender and develop stealthily, awaiting my army to reclaim our lost territory!"

After reading the note left to him by the Crown Prince, Wang Xiantong was stunned into silence. The Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty was actually asking him to surrender to the rebels.

The most outrageous statement was yet to come: After the Jurchens entered the pass, he was to continue surrendering. How did the Crown Prince know that the Jurchens would enter the pass in the future?

Wang Xiantong was a man of unyielding integrity who vowed never to surrender in history. He was eventually killed by Li Zicheng as a sacrifice to the flag. Would he obey orders?