Chen Xinjia knelt down in the direction of the capital, and the ten guards who followed him to Shanhaiguan also knelt down.

Wu Sangui stood aside, looking at Chen Xinjia and others who were kneeling, with complicated eyes.

News came from the capital that the palace had been captured by the Dashun army. The emperor, Queen Zhou and Queen Yi'an hanged themselves. The crown prince, the third prince and the fourth prince were captured alive by the Dashun army. The fate was at stake and the Minister of War, Chen Xinjia, was in great pain.

, after crying loudly, he came to the city wall to worship the emperor.

Chen Xinjia, who has always been rational, is still sober. Although he was not able to mobilize the Denglai New Army immediately after arriving at Shanhaiguan, in terms of time, even if the Denglai New Army attacked immediately, it would be too late. He started from March 16th.

Departing from the capital, we ate and slept in the open air, and arrived at Shanhaiguan on the night of the 18th. By this time, the outer city of the capital had been captured by the Dashun army. On March 19, the inner city and the palace were captured by the Dashun army, and the emperor hanged himself.

With the imperial court gone, where should the Ming Dynasty go? Chen Xinjia, who had escaped the disaster, was at a loss. He had nowhere to go. It was absolutely impossible to return to the capital and submit to Li Zicheng. Now he had to either stay in Shanhaiguan.

Either leave Shanhaiguan and go to Nanjing via Shandong.

"Your Majesty, I deserve death for my crime. I betrayed your great trust and failed to dispatch Denglai's new army to aid the capital. The capital fell, and I cannot escape my guilt..."

...

Half an hour later, Chen Xinjia stood up and walked to Wu Sangui.

"General Wu, I don't know when Lord Wu will be able to arrive at Shanhaiguan. I still have an imperial edict to deliver to Lord Wu."

Wu Sangui thought for a while, then clasped his fists and spoke to Chen Xinjia.

"Master Chen, the letter has been sent out a long time ago. Your Excellency should be able to arrive at Shanhaiguan within today."

"Okay, then I will wait for Lord Wu. Although Emperor Long Yu has passed away, I still have to hand over the imperial edict to Lord Wu."

After speaking, Chen Xinjia looked at Wu Sangui, turned around and walked towards the bottom of the city wall.

Wu Sangui did not follow and left. He looked at the backs of Wu Sangui and others, with a hint of cold light in his eyes.

...

Zeng Yongzhong, Liao Wenru and others looked at Wu Zongrui but did not speak.

Wu Zongrui's analysis of the battle process was extremely accurate. The Dashun army captured the outer city on March 18th, and captured the inner city and the palace on March 19th. The emperor hanged himself, the queen, Queen Yi'an and others also hanged themselves. The crown prince

Zhu Ci, the third son of the emperor Zhu Cijiong and the fourth son of the emperor Zhu Ci were all captured alive, and the Ming Dynasty no longer existed.

As for the officials in the capital, most of them surrendered to the Dashun Army, while a small number threw themselves into the river or hanged themselves and followed the emperor underground.

The comprehensive deployment of the Denglai New Army has been launched. According to Wu Zongrui's deployment, the Denglai New Army led by Liu Ning and Luo Dianming set out from Dezhou, Shandong Province, divided into two groups, entered Henan Province all the way, went to Kaifeng Fucheng, and took the cauldron all the way.

The ship went to Tianjin Wei and secretly assembled at Tianjin Wei as quickly as possible.

Shanhaiguan directly threatens the security of the capital. Li Zicheng, who has occupied the capital, must be uneasy and will definitely take action. In the eyes of Zeng Yongzhong and Liao Wenru, a war that will determine the overall situation in the north is imminent.

The two of them also thought about how to deal with Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, who had arrived at Shanhaiguan.

The role of public opinion is very important. The capital was occupied by the Dashun Army and the emperor hanged himself, which meant that the Ming Dynasty no longer existed. However, there were many princes of the Ming Dynasty in various parts of the south. After these people learned of the changes in the capital, they were very likely to

With the support of local civil and military officials, he ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

The best time for Wu Zongrui to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor is when Li Zicheng ascends the throne and proclaims himself emperor, is completely defeated by Denglai's new army, and after Denglai's new army completely controls the situation in the north.

"My lord, the emperor hanged himself. The capital was occupied by Dashun's army. My subordinates thought that Li Zicheng should immediately ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, so that he could appeal to the world. However, our Denglai New Army is stationed in Shanhaiguan, which poses a threat to the capital.

Huge, under such circumstances, Li Zicheng is afraid that he will not immediately ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor..."

Wu Zongrui, who had been looking at the map for about ten minutes, turned around and looked at Zeng Yongzhong.

"Sir, you are right. The situation has entered the most chaotic moment. Zhang Dongtao and Li Yan rebelled in Henan, which may have given Li Zicheng a huge stimulus, prompting Li Zicheng to immediately ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. Another point, if nothing unexpected, Li Zicheng's letter

I will arrive at Shanhaiguan soon, and he will definitely give me many promises in the letter."

Zeng Yongzhong nodded.

"Sir, our Denglai New Army will definitely reject all requests made by Li Zicheng. In this case, Li Zicheng will definitely lead his army to Shanhaiguan for conquest in an attempt to defeat our Denglai New Army."

Wu Zongrui waved his hand.

"The Dashun Army launched an attack on Shanhaiguan. This is expected. Now let's go see Chen Xinjia. Wu Sangui just sent a sergeant to report. Chen Xinjia went to the city wall to pay homage to the emperor. He looked a little dazed.

It seems that Chen Xinjia also understands that the Ming Dynasty no longer exists."

Zeng Yongzhong had a smile on his face and looked at Liao Wenru beside him.

"Your Excellency is still foresighted. The capital has fallen. Many people are looking at Nanjing City or Fengyang Fucheng, but both places are controlled by our Denglai New Army. Including Chen Xinjia, I am afraid that he is also hesitant and doesn't know what to do.

Done."

Zeng Yongzhong felt that many of the arrangements and deployments made by Wu Zongrui were made first, and no one could see why or understand the reason. However, as time went by, Wu Zongrui's farsightedness gradually became apparent.

Wu Zongrui waved again.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go see Chen Xinjia. At this time, Chen Xinjia must be in unusual pain. He originally shouldered the heavy responsibility of dispatching Denglai's new army to rescue the capital. Unfortunately, the capital has fallen and the emperor also hanged himself. Chen Xinjia

I'm afraid that a lot of responsibility will be placed on ourselves, but we still have to enlighten them."

...

When he walked into the side room and saw Wu Zongrui with a solemn face, Chen Xinjia burst into tears.

"Wu, Master Wu, Emperor, Emperor Long Yu passed away, the capital was captured by bandits, and the imperial court no longer exists. I regret it. Xiaguan originally shouldered the great trust of the emperor and the imperial court and came to dispatch Denglai's new army to aid the capital.

..."

Wu Zongrui was still the Prince Shaobao of the Ming Dynasty, and his rank was higher than that of Chen Xinjia. Moreover, Wu Zongrui held the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, which was a proper first-rank official. Chen Xinjia was a second-rank official of the Ministry of War. When meeting Wu Zongrui, it was appropriate to call himself a lower official.

"Master Chen, this is not your fault. The capital fell on March 19. At that time, you had just arrived at Shanhaiguan and rested for the night."

Chen Xinjia shook his head desperately, still immersed in sadness.

Wu Zongrui did not speak, but sat aside and looked at Chen Xinjia quietly.

His inner feeling was strange. If it hadn't been for his own time travel, which had slightly changed the course of history, Chen Xinjia in front of him would have been beheaded and abandoned in the market, and his soul had returned to his hometown.

Five minutes later, Chen Xinjia's mood improved a little and he stood up.

"Prince Shaobao, with the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of War, the right deputy censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Wu Zongrui, the governor of Jiliao, received the order..."

According to the rules, Wu Zongrui should stand up, adjust his official uniform and then kneel down to receive the order.

However, Wu Zongrui did not move at all, but looked at Chen Xinjia with a playful smile on his face.

"Master Chen, there is no need to announce the decree. Just sit down and listen to what I have to say. Of course, the choice you make is your business and I will not interfere."

Chen Xinjia's face suddenly turned red, and when he looked at Wu Zongrui, there was a hint of anger on his face.

After standing for two full minutes, Chen Xinjia snorted, walked over and sat down.

"Master Chen, the Emperor has passed away, and I can say some things. You know very well the Emperor's attitude toward me and the Denglai New Army. The Emperor has always thought that I would rebel and that I would not obey the court.

After dispatching until the capital was in great danger, there was still no order for Denglai's new army to rush to the rescue. The emperor may think that if Denglai's new army enters the capital, he will not be able to secure his throne."

Chen Xinjia frowned and said nothing.

"Master Chen, the capital has fallen, Emperor Long Yu has passed away, and the world is in chaos. Li Zicheng has occupied the capital and will be crowned emperor in a short time. Not only Li Zicheng, but also Zhang Xianzhong, who is entrenched in Sichuan and Huguang, may also ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.

, and the Houjin Eight Banners Army in the north, how could they not pay attention to the major changes in the situation."

"At critical moments, someone always needs to stand up, follow the general trend of the world, and sort out this chaotic situation."

Having said this, Wu Zongrui stood up.

"So, Mr. Chen, you don't need to declare the edict. If you want to keep it, just put it on the table. If you don't want to keep it, you can just take it with you."

"I have said everything that needs to be said. Mr. Chen, think about it carefully. If you understand it, then make a choice."

"I would like to remind Mr. Chen that time waits for no one. Maybe the sergeants sent by Li Zicheng will soon arrive at Shanhaiguan."

Wu Zongrui turned and left without giving Chen Xinjia a chance to speak.

Chen Xinjia was like a clay sculpture, sitting blankly for a long time before he blinked.

Where to go, we really have to make a choice, but the emperor has just passed away, is it too cruel to ask him, Chen Xinjia, to make a choice at this time?

...

"Sir, do you think Chen Xinjia will make a decision?"

"Maybe, Chen Xinjia has certain abilities, but he is overconfident. We still need such talents."

"If Chen Xinjia had made other choices..."

"It doesn't matter, sir. The most important thing when we recruit talents is to return to their original aspirations, especially those who are capable. If such people do not return to their original aspirations, the harm they will cause us will be huge."
Chapter completed!