Outside Tongzhou City, Yang Rong did not wait for news of Zhu Zhanji's victory, but instead waited for Wang Xian and his cavalry. Seeing Wang Xian's figure appear at this time, the victory of the battle is self-evident. Mo Wen at the top of the city was relieved and smiled at the soldiers who had not yet come to their senses: "What are you still doing? Let's get out of the city!" The soldiers rushed out of Tongzhou City and, together with the Shandong cavalry, grouped the 30,000 people together. Surround them and force them to hand over their families! Yang Rong was also a bachelor. He came to see Wang Xian alone and offered to use himself and the more than 10,000 hostages in exchange for the safe departure of the 30,000 troops. "Scholar Yang seems to be frustrated" Wang Xian looked at the man who ordered Xu Huaiqing to be killed expressionlessly. "It doesn't make any difference whether I go back to Kyoto or not." Yang Rong said with a sad smile: "The emperor actually had the intention of negotiating peace for a long time, but he was persuaded to do so by the three of us. However, we lost this battle. We naturally have to bear our due responsibilities. "Wang Xian pondered for a moment and said, "Okay. But there is one condition. Those people from the East Factory cannot stay." This is what the question means. Yang Rong naturally agreed and took the opportunity to discuss countermeasures after returning. The people from the factory gathered together, and then the officers and soldiers swarmed in and tied them all up. Wang Xian fulfilled his promise and let go of the 30,000 troops. Seeing the soldiers and his parents and brothers hugging each other and crying, he felt that this deal was a good deal Hundreds of thousands of defeated troops fled back to Beijing, bringing news that the army was defeated and that the prince and Yang Rong were captured. . After repeated stimulation in the past two months, such shocking news can no longer cause much fluctuation in the emotions of the people. They were just worried that if the Duke of Zhen attacked Beijing, it would take a long time. What if the family ran out of food? How could the whole family survive? The princes and ministers were also numb. No one was even surprised. It seemed that losing to Wang Xian was natural, but winning against him was a miracle. Many people began to regret that they had not contacted Wang Xian secretly to see if they could surrender. At present, the capital has completely entered a state of war readiness. The nine gates are closed tightly and no one is allowed to approach the city wall. Even if they want to contact them, they have no way to contact them. There are many ministers who are absolutely loyal to Emperor Hongxi. After all, in addition to Wang Xian, Zhu Gaochi is a good emperor who is generous to his subordinates and loves his people like a son. These officials took the initiative to donate their family property to recruit young men, pacified and rectified the defeated troops, and worked hard to defend Beijing for the imperial court. There was a cold wind and rain in the Forbidden City. When she heard that the prince had been captured, Queen Zhang fainted. After listening to Yang Shiqi's report, Emperor Hong Xi was not very surprised. He just shook his head and sighed: "Why do you have to get this step" "Your Majesty, only when you have done your best can you obey fate. How can you accept your fate before everything is done?" Yang Shiqi's expression was also very calm. : "Now please ask the emperor to send an envoy to send the heads of the ministers to Tongzhou to negotiate peace with Wang Xian." "Hey, if I had known this, why did I do it in the first place?" Zhu Gaochi looked at this veteran minister who single-handedly destroyed his country. , but I couldn¡¯t say a single word of blame, and there was no need for it. "Even if it happens again, I will still do the same thing." Yang Shiqi laughed sadly and said, "It's a pity that I don't have the chance to do it again" "Anyway, don't be in a hurry. Today, I will go back and say goodbye to my family." The emperor gave a long sigh. , couldn't bear to look at Yang Shiqi again, and didn't want to see him again. "Your Majesty!" Yang Shiqi endured it again and again, but finally couldn't bear it anymore and said to the emperor again: "There are still more than 200,000 troops in the capital, as well as Marquis Chengshan and others, as well as vassal kings from various places. Please don't be discouraged, Your Majesty. !" After a pause, he raised his voice and said: "As long as we delay Wang Xian's hundreds of thousands of troops outside the pass in the name of peace talks! The final victory belongs to the emperor!" Zhu Gaochi's eyelids twitched a few times, but After all, he didn't open his eyes, but said slowly and in a weird tone: "You still haven't given up" "That's it! I say goodbye to the emperor forever!" Yang Shiqi burst into tears and kowtowed to the emperor three times. Then he slowly stood up with his arms supported, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and left the Qianqing Palace, which he had sacrificed everything for. There was dead silence in the dark palace. After a while, the eunuchs, who had been lowering their heads, realized that the emperor had passed out. ¡°Imperial physician, call the imperial physician quickly!¡± The scream of the old eunuch Zhang Cheng finally broke the suffocating silence. When the emperor woke up? It was already midnight. Zhu Gaochi asked the queen, Zhu Zhanquan and Zhang Cheng who were standing in front of the dragon bed to retreat, leaving only one person in the Taiyuan Hospital and the Zhouyuan Hospital. Zhu Gaochi looked at the tent ceiling with distracted eyes, as if he was wandering in the sky. Judge Zhou knelt down in front of the dragon bed anxiously. It took a long time before he heard the emperor ask slowly: "Tell me the truth, how much time do I have?" Judge Zhou cried and did not dare to answer. He only listened to the emperor's wordsThen he said: "If you don't tell me, I will kill your whole family." Judge Zhou had to say with difficulty: "The emperor's dragon body is extremely ill, and he will Bintian at any time" "As expected" Zhu Gaochi said hoarsely When he laughed, the laughter was so infiltrating But there was a joyful atmosphere in Tongzhou City. The soldiers killed pigs and sheep to celebrate their victory and to celebrate rescuing their relatives. Wang Xian, accompanied by Wu Wei, Mo Wen, and Er Hei, climbed the west city wall and looked into the distance. Although the city of Beijing, which is dozens of miles away, cannot be seen from here, the five-foot-tall, majestic capital of the Ming Dynasty clearly appears in everyone's mind. "Sir, should we attack Beijing next?" Erhei touched his shiny bald head and said with one eye shining brightly. The great victory outside Tongzhou City came too easily, which always left him feeling unsatisfied and whetted the appetite of the Shandong soldiers. Wang Xian looked at Er Hei, shook his head slowly and said, "There is no such link in my plan." "Huh?!" Wu Wei and Mo Wen were not surprised. They had obviously known Wang Xian's plan for a long time. Erhei was shocked and said: "Didn't your Excellency ask the soldiers to prepare for the attack?" "It's just a show, to scare people." Wang Xian said with a slight smile. "Why?!" Erhei couldn't understand. "Because we can't fight if we can't win." Wang Xian said softly: "Don't be dazzled by victory. Being able to get to this day is already our current limit." He sighed and said: "From now on From the beginning, my goal was Tongzhou, not the capital." "What do you mean by not being able to defeat it?" Erhei asked in a muffled voice. "The city of Beijing is not an ordinary city with high walls and thick walls. No siege equipment can climb its top. Moreover, there are more than 200,000 troops in the city. Even if half of them are defeated generals, but their families are all in the capital, they will still They are desperately defending the city. There are also the Qinwang army, the armies of the feudal lords from all over the country, and the more than 200,000 elite border troops who were liberated after Yagyu and the others were trapped. With our 50,000 to 60,000 troops, you. Do you think you can attack it?" Mo Wen explained for Wang Xian. ¡°Isn¡¯t there still a Tiger Master Cannon?¡± Erhei retorted unconvinced. The so-called Tiger Cannon is the small cannon that swept across the official cavalry yesterday. It was secretly developed by Wang Xian based on the current level of artillery, combined with the Tiger Crouching Cannon of later Qi Jiguang, and ordered the Sixth Department of Jinyiwei. The cannon weighs less than fifty kilograms, and its barrel is only three feet long. Four cannons can be transported by a carriage, and can be carried by soldiers alone. At critical moments, they can even be picked up and walked away. It completely overcomes the shortcomings of the current cannon being bulky and immobile. Especially suitable for mobile field battles with large armies. Moreover, the barrel of the cannon is filled with one hundred small lead bullets weighing five cents, and a large lead bullet weighing thirty taels is pressed on top. When fired, the damage range is very large, and the lethality is also very impressive. Several of these Tiger Cannons , you can effectively block the battlefield. The number is larger, and even the intensive attack of the cavalry can be blocked. After this kind of cannon was developed, it was kept as top secret and secretly produced in the Qingzhou Mountains. Except for Long Wuye who was in charge, even senior officials like Erhei saw its power for the first time yesterday. Yesterday¡¯s terrifying salvo of thousands of cannons gave Erhei and many others the illusion of being invincible. "It's specially used to kill enemies in the field, and it won't be of much use in siege warfare." Wang Xian shook his head. "Hey" Erhei sighed regretfully and asked: "Then why do you say you can't attack?" "The capital is not anywhere else. Attacking the capital without a good reason will lose people's hearts." Mo Wen explained: "We The slogan is 'Kill the traitorous ministers and clear the emperor's side'. Now Zhu Zhanji and Yang Rong have been captured. If Yang Rong did not lie to us, the emperor should soon hand over Yang Shiqi. If we continue, we will only lose our hearts. There is no future for people's hearts" "What's the point of not being able to fight?" Erhei asked in a muffled voice. Mo Wen only said three words. "Juyongguan." Erhei was speechless The next day, the imperial court's peace envoys arrived. It turned out to be Yang Pu. This respected old man traveled through mountains and rivers and detoured through Pingxing Pass. After more than a month, he finally returned to the capital. When he received such a task, how could he not feel like he was in another world? When he met Wang Xian, Yang Pu was still in a dream, mechanically conveying the emperor's intention to him, saying that as long as Wang Xian agreed to negotiate a peace, he could agree to any conditions, and then asked someone to present Yang Shiqi's head. Wang Xian looked at the head in the box and said in silence for a long time: "I agree to negotiate peace." Yang Pu breathed a sigh of relief, but the generals in the room were shocked. After finally waiting for Yang Pu to retreat, the generals could no longer bear it and shouted loudly: "Master, what are you doing?"Can you promise the emperor? ! "Yes, sir, let's work together to capture the city of Beijing. The whole world belongs to me, so why should we negotiate for peace?" ! Wang Xian waited quietly for the generals to finish venting, and asked them only one question: "Do you know how many days our army has been without food outside Juyongguan?" ¡± Everyone was immediately speechless just like Mo Wen yesterday.