"Your Majesty, the Ji Province is just ahead!”
Liang Cheng said.
He was the commander of the Jinyiwei who had escaped from Beijing. He was just a hereditary thousand households. He had originally been in Dongzhimen. After the city fell, they had hidden nearby. Just when they did not know where to go, Li Daoxuan appeared. As for whether he was inspired by loyalty, habit, or playing with wealth and danger, this was unknown. In short, a total of fifty-four riders had just killed their way out.
"The people are destitute!"
Li Daoxuan sighed as he looked around.
He had run all the way from Beijing to here, and what he had seen and heard along the way made him truly feel what hell on earth was. It was no wonder that the city of Beijing was broken down like a child's play. It could be said that Li Zicheng's success was just a gentle push on a dilapidated wooden building. This country had actually been corroded into an empty shell.
"You can't blame Your Majesty for the plague and natural disaster!”
Old Wang said carefully.
Because he thought that he had to die in Beijing, he had said a lot of truths, so he seemed very frightened along the way. After all, he had said that the emperor was not good at governing the country.
In front of them was a deserted village that looked like a ghost's domain. There was no activity in the entire village, only a few skinny people basking in the sun numbly. Only the movement of their eyeballs on their skull-like faces could tell that they were alive. The bark of many trees around them had been peeled off, forming a sharp contrast with the new green in early spring. Beside a gray-black thatched house, a big-headed child sat beside a skinny female corpse that was on the verge of death.
"Natural disaster?"
Li Daoxuan smiled bitterly as he dismounted and picked up the child."The natural disaster is also my fault."
After saying that, he got back on his horse and took the water bag from Huang Ying, the girl who had escaped from Beijing with him. He poured some horse blood into the little girl. This was something he always had. The current emperor was like an engine that burned blood. After all, when it came to nutrition, blood was undoubtedly ranked first. Moreover, it was convenient to eat. After drinking a few mouthfuls of horse blood, although the child did not recover immediately, at least he was temporarily alive.
The starving people who were basking in the sun did not get up from the beginning to the end. They only turned their necks a few times like a group of zombies. It was as if the only thing left in their world was the warmth that the heavens had given them.
"Your Majesty, are we going to Zunhua or Yutian?”
Liang Cheng asked carefully.
Li Daoxuan's original plan was to go to Fengrun. After they left Beijing, they turned north to avoid Tongzhou and Zhangjiawan, and then went straight east to reach here. There were two roads in Jizhou, one went to Yutian and then Fengrun, and the other went northeast to Zunhua, where Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao, was stationed. From Zunhua, they could go straight to Shanhaiguan. At this time, Wang Yongji had already gone south to Yutian, which meant that they could meet him in Yutian and then meet Wu Sangui who arrived later. However, if they went to Zunhua, they would just miss them and go straight to Shanhaiguan without them knowing.
"To Zunhua!"
Li Daoxuan said after thinking for a moment.
He had to be careful. Wang Yongji was an old fox, and Wu Sangui was a vicious wolf. Neither of them were good people. He was dancing on the edge of a knife, and he had to ensure that everything was safe. The consequences of him directly joining these two people were not so predictable, because his escape history had changed. Similarly, it was difficult to say how the mastermind and main operator who led the Qing soldiers into the pass in history would respond to his arrival. Therefore, the best way was to go straight to Shanhaiguan and use the emperor's name to take control of the army under Gao Di. Unlike Wu Sangui's private army, Gao Di's army was recruited in a hurry. In front of these people, the emperor's name was still useful. Gao Di was obviously not on the same level as Wang Yongji and Wu Sangui. Dealing with this guy was much easier than dealing with the other two. After controlling Gao Di's tens of thousands of troops, they would wait for Wu Sangui to return at Shanhaiguan. With soldiers in their hands, they would have the capital.
It was safer this way.
"Your Majesty!"
Liang Cheng quickly said.
"Thief army."
At this moment, an Embroidered Uniform Guard suddenly exclaimed.
Li Daoxuan quickly turned his head. The dust raised by the galloping cavalrymen behind him could be vaguely seen. It was obvious that the Shun army chasing them had arrived. For a boss like him, Li Zicheng naturally had to give it his all. It was likely that there were more than just pursuers chasing him at this time. He didn't dare to delay any longer. He hurriedly kicked his horse and led fifty-two Brocade Guards, a eunuch, a commoner girl, and a child in his arms towards the direction of Jizhou City. However, the pursuers behind them were clearly faster. When they arrived at Jizhou City half an hour later, the big flag with the word 'Chuang' had already appeared in their sight.
"Open the door, the Saint has arrived!"
Liang Cheng hurriedly rushed to the foot of Ji Prefecture City and shouted loudly to the top.
A head poked out from the city wall, then immediately retracted back. However, the city gate that they had been waiting for did not open. In fact, no one showed their heads again. The entire Ji Province seemed to have become a dead city, completely silent.
"Open the door, the Saint has arrived!"
Liang Cheng shouted anxiously.
Li Daoxuan sighed and handed the girl to Huang Ying. Then, he stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder."Stop shouting. If the rebel army hadn't come, they might have opened the door. Now that the rebel army has arrived and they haven't left the city yet, it's already considered that they still have some sense of shame.”
There was nothing strange about this. When the tree fell, the monkeys scattered. He, the Emperor, was already in such a state. Looking at the Shun army behind him, he did not need to guess to know that Beijing had fallen. If those local officials had integrity, they would not have let Li Zicheng enter Beijing. Now that they did not come out to capture him, they were already showing their conscience by showing their loyalty to the new Emperor.
"This bunch of bastards!"
Liang Cheng looked at the empty city wall above his head and said with grief and indignation.
Li Daoxuan did not say anything else. He turned his head silently and looked at the hundreds of pursuers who were less than a kilometer away. Then he took the spear from the hands of a Brocade Guard and controlled the horse to slowly walk to the front. He sneered as he watched the approaching enemy stand with the spear. The Brocade Guard also took out their weapons and stood on both sides of him with their backs against the tightly closed Jizhou city gate, silently waiting for their final fate.
"Isn't this emperor a failure?”
Li Daoxuan said with a wry smile.
"Your Majesty, I don't know anything else. I only know that the common people are indeed suffering. Although natural disasters continue to plague the border and bandits rise, and the courtiers 'cliques are in chaos, Your Majesty's frequent changes in orders are also one of them.”
Liang Cheng also said with a bitter smile.
"Then why didn't you say it before?"
Li Daoxuan said.
"If it was in the past, I would have been thrown into prison for saying such words.”
Liang Cheng said.
"Haha, you are a loyal minister, all of you are loyal ministers. I have no regrets dying with you today. Kill, I, a man of the Ming Dynasty, will die in a grand manner!”
Li Daoxuan kicked his warhorse and charged at the Shun army a few hundred meters away. All the Brocade Guards on both sides of him urged their warhorses, and even Lao Wang followed them with his saber. Opposite them, hundreds of Shun cavalry gradually formed a horizontal formation and charged at them with spears. The two teams collided in an instant.
Li Daoxuan could be said to be leading the charge. At the moment of collision, he suddenly turned his body sideways and avoided the spear that pierced his chest. At the same time, the spear in his hand pierced into his opponent's chest. The huge force caused the spear to directly penetrate his body. The two of them passed by each other. Li Daoxuan snatched his spear with his right hand and stabbed it to the left from behind as if he had eyes. The spear pierced directly into Liang Cheng's opponent's ribs. At the same time, Li Daoxuan grabbed the front end of his spear with his left hand and pulled it out. He threw it forward and hit the third cavalryman in the chest.
He threw away the spear with his right hand and grabbed a spear that was stabbing at him from the right. He bent it upwards and the white wax spear was instantly bent into a U-shape. He then thrust it forward and the tip of the spear pierced into the cavalryman's throat.
However, at the same time, the bowstring on the other side rang, and an arrow hit his chest.
Without any hesitation, Li Daoxuan pulled out the arrow and threw it back. The arrow, still stained with his blood, hit the attacker in the face. His hand swept to the side and strangled a cavalryman's neck. Then, with a fierce force, he lifted the hundred-pound strong man with one hand and smashed him with a loud roar. Two cavalrymen were instantly smashed off their horses.
At this moment, a spear suddenly reached his ribs.
Li Daoxuan suddenly turned his body.
However, his movements were a little slow. The blade of the spear instantly opened a hole under his ribs, and blood immediately gushed out.
He roared like a wild beast and swung his fist at his opponent's arm. As the latter screamed, his arm was broken. However, the large amount of blood loss also made him dizzy. His energy requirement was far more than that of ordinary people, so he was particularly sensitive to blood loss. After all, energy mainly relied on blood transmission, and the recovery of such lacerations consumed far more energy than arrow wounds.
"Your Majesty, please leave quickly!"
Liang Cheng hurriedly rushed in front of him and waved his saber to block a spear for him. At the same time, he shouted anxiously.
"Laozi doesn't have this habit. I can't bring the world to this point, implicate the people, and plunge the people into misery. Death is only my own fault. You don't think I'm guilty, but you're willing to die with me when the country is in danger. How can I dare to abandon you? Today, I'll die. I have no regrets if I can die with you!”
Li Daoxuan grabbed a spear and knocked a cavalryman off his horse while shouting.
"Alright, I'll die today, and I'll live up to the country's three hundred years of nurturing.”
Liang Cheng roared.
All of a sudden, a series of cannon shots rang out behind him. Almost at the same time, an ear-piercing whistle swept over his head. Immediately after, the Shun Cavalry in front of him was splattered with blood and flesh. Then, the sound of the city gate opening came from behind him, followed by shouts and shouts. Li Daoxuan looked back and saw a large number of infantry and cavalrymen rushing out of Jizhou City and charging towards him.
"The country has nurtured soldiers for three hundred years. We can't really watch the emperor die in front of the door, right?”
On the top of the city wall of the Ji Province, an old man stood there and said with a bitter smile.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。