After signaling Li Banghua, Ni Yuanlu and others to get up, Chongzhen remembered what Hao Guangming said that the Guangning Gate would be broken tonight, resulting in the outer city being captured, so he asked: "Who is the current guard of Guangning Gate?"

All the ministers looked at me and I looked at you, but no one could answer.

Chongzhen was dissatisfied at first, and then thought that among these people, there was no one in charge of the defense of the capital. It was understandable if he didn't know who the guard of a certain outer city gate was.

He simply said directly: "I have received news that the intruders intend to break through Guangning Gate tonight, or someone is acting as an internal agent, so Guangning Gate must strengthen its defense.

Shi Bangyao, I now give you the title of Minister of War, responsible for defending Guangning Gate and related city walls, Cheng De and Jin Xuan, you two are responsible for assisting Shi Aiqing."

Chongzhen did this because these three people all had military-related experience and could barely be regarded as people who knew the military. The most important thing was that Hao Guangming said that they were loyal and reliable people who sacrificed their lives for their country.

Shi Bangyao and the other three didn't say much, and just received the order directly.

Then Shi Bangyao said: "Without further delay, if your Majesty has no other instructions, I will go to Guangning Gate right now."

Chongzhen also hoped to eliminate the hidden dangers of Guangning Gate, so he immediately waved his hand and said: "Go."

···

The outer city of Beijing.

Fusi Yamen, Jinyiwei North Town.

Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, was sitting in the hall.

Now that the city is under siege by thieves, it stands to reason that the Jinyi Guards have the task of spying on the enemy and also supervising the civil and military officials in the city. Luo Yangxing should be very busy.

But in fact, he was very free at the moment.

Jinyiwei no longer has the former responsibility. Since Luo Yangxing took over, he has done a good job in supervising all officials.

However, as the emperor's minions, the Jinyiwei could only show off their power in the places within the reach of the imperial power.

Now that Emperor Chongzhen's orders did not even leave the capital, the Jinyiwei under Luo Yangxing's control were naturally restricted to the capital.

At this time, he seemed to be calmly looking through the few official documents on his desk, but in fact, he was worried, entangled, and tortured in his heart.

As the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Luo Yangxing knew more about the situation inside and outside the city than ordinary subjects, even more than Chongzhen. Therefore, he knew very well that facing the siege of intruders this time, the capital city might not be able to defend it for a few days.

Li Zicheng besieged the capital this time, claiming to have led millions of troops.

Even if the water content is eliminated, there are still 100,000 elites and hundreds of thousands of capable soldiers.

As for the capital, the main military strength is the three major battalions of the Five Military Camps, the Three Thousand Battalions, and the Shenji Camp. Theoretically, there are more than 400,000 registered soldiers.

However, everyone knows that the Beijing camp is rotten, and even after many rectifications, the actual number of soldiers will not exceed 50,000.

In the first month of the year, intruders invaded Shanxi. Li Jiantai, a cabinet minister, was worried about the safety of his hometown, so he petitioned for war and was appointed as the supervisor, and went out of the city to recruit troops to fight against the intruders.

Li Jiantai took tens of thousands of soldiers with him when he left Beijing. Due to various reasons, he waited until more than February. When he saw the intruders in Baoding, there were only a few hundred remnant soldiers left with him, so he simply surrendered to Li Zicheng.

It was equivalent to losing tens of thousands of troops in the Beijing camp for nothing.

In addition, the plague has been spreading in the capital for several months, and the number of soldiers in the capital camp has been seriously reduced due to illness. The number of soldiers capable of fighting now is probably less than 20,000, and they are all weak.

The outer city of the capital has nine gates, and the city wall is so long that even 20,000 soldiers may not be able to line up the entire city wall.

It was the emperor who sent some of his own troops to guard the imperial city, plus the cannons on the city, to temporarily hold the outer city.

But this also means that if the outer city is captured, the inner city, the imperial city, and the imperial palace (the Forbidden City) cannot be defended.

Luo Yangxing felt that under such circumstances, it would be impossible for Chongzhen to break out of the encirclement, let alone hold on to the city.

So he was thinking about whether to make plans early and prepare to join Li Chuang.

He doesn't want to keep his current power and wealth, as long as he doesn't lose his life.

However, his family can be regarded as receiving favor from the emperor, and Chongzhen single-handedly promoted him to the high position of Commander of the Imperial Guards, which is extremely favoring.

It was really hard for him to surrender to Li Chuang.

But he never wanted to let him accompany Chongzhen to die for his country.

Just when Luo Yangxing was struggling with which choice to make, there was movement outside. A group of people quickly rushed into the lobby of the Yamen, led by Li Ruolian, who had frosty white hair.

As a fellow commander of Nanzhen Fusi, Li Ruolian was theoretically Luo Yangxing's subordinate.

But in fact, the relationship between the two is not good.

Luo Yangxing stood up and shouted: "Li Ruolian, you are so brave, how dare you lead people to break into Fusi Yamen in Beizhen?!"

Li Ruolian's old face looked cold, and he directly showed Chongzhen's handwriting and said loudly: "Your Majesty has decreed that Luo Yangxing is an adulterer and a thief with the intention of surrendering to the enemy. He is hereby arrested and his house confiscated!"

Luo Yangxing was dumbfounded.

He just thought about it in his heart. He didn't mention it to his confidants. At most, he just hinted it. Chongzhen actually knew about it?

Could it be that one of his subordinates betrayed him and reported him to Chongzhen?

"What are you doing here? Take it down!"

Li Ruolian shouted loudly, and a group of Jinyi guards who followed him immediately swarmed up and captured Luo Yangxing.

As for Luo Yangxing's confidants, they were blocked out by Gao Wencai and others.

After being arrested, Luo Yangxing belatedly shouted: "Unjustly accused! I did not commit adultery! I want to see His Majesty!"

Li Ruolian didn't listen to him at all, and said to a hundred households: "Take him to the Fusi Prison in Nanzhen and keep him under custody. The rest of the people will follow me to the Luo Mansion to ransack the houses!"

"yes!"

A group of Jin Yiwei from Nanzhen Fusi suddenly accepted the order, with excited expressions on their faces - ransacking a house is an easy job.

···

Royal Supervisor.

As the palm eunuch, Wang Zhixin also felt uneasy at this time.

Although he is greedy, he also knows that no eggs are left intact after the nest is overturned.

But what he was thinking about was not whether to surrender to Li Zicheng, but how to please Li Zicheng after surrender, maintain his wealth and status, and even go one step further to become the most powerful eunuch in the new dynasty.

'If Li breaks through the capital and becomes the new emperor, the biggest threat to me among these eunuchs is Wang Dehua. It would be great if I could get rid of him when he breaks the city.

As for Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua and others, there is nothing to worry about.’

Just when Wang Zhixin was enjoying the massage from the palace maid next to him and making plans for the future, the door was violently pushed open, and then several soldiers in brocade clothes swarmed in and lifted Wang Zhixin from the armchair like a chicken.

stand up.

Wang Zhixin looked confused at first, then when she came to her senses, she shouted loudly: "You guys are so bold! How dare you offend our family like this?!"

"Wang Zhixin, what happened to you has been revealed. Long Live has issued an order to arrest you. Are you still showing off your power here?"

As a familiar voice came, a familiar person also walked into the house.

It was Wang Chengen.

Wang Zhixin was shocked at first, and then his face turned pale and he was sweating coldly.

He did not complain, not because he didn't feel wronged, but also because he knew that as the emperor's slave, how he was dealt with was a matter of the emperor's word.

Now that the emperor has decreed to arrest him, it is useless to say anything.

Wang Chengen signaled the people who came after him to search the house. He sat on Wang Zhixin's chair, looked at Wang Zhixin and said: "Long live now, I'm short of money. I heard that you were greedy a lot, and I immediately got angry. If you want to survive, you have to be old."

Honestly hand over all the money you have stolen. If there is enough, I may be able to spare your life."

Wang Zhixin's originally bulging eyes rolled around, and he regained his ability to think. He immediately realized that Chongzhen was probably extremely short of money, and he didn't know where he knew he was rich, so he directly issued an order to kill him.

.

He knew that it was useless to say anything now. He only hoped that, as Wang Chengen said, Chongzhen would spare his life for the sake of money and past affection.
Chapter completed!