The next day, on the first day of March in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign in the Ming Dynasty, nearly a thousand remaining soldiers gathered behind the closed gate at dawn.
The whole night passed and no one escaped.
At this moment, everyone had tragic and determined faces, patiently waiting for their commander to arrive.
Half a quarter of an hour later, Zhou Yuji finally walked slowly over. The reluctance and tenderness on his face when he said goodbye to his wife and children had all disappeared.
Behind him, his wife Zhou, their children and a group of maids, holding torches, stared at his back with tears in their eyes. They were already surrounded by dry firewood.
Obviously, Zhou, her children and maids did not want to live alone and chose to follow her husband and father to hell.
"Husband, I will still be husband and wife with you in the next life..." Ms. Zhou finally couldn't help shouting.
Zhou Yuji paused in his steps and his heart was as sharp as a knife, but he forced himself to hold it back and did not look back.
After a long while, he pulled out the long knife from his waist and shouted to more than a thousand soldiers: "Soldiers, switch on and off, come with me and fight to the death with the thieves!"
"Fight to the death!"
All the soldiers also waved their swords and shouted. Although they knew that they would die if they went out, they still moved the bricks and stones behind the door without hesitation.
"Where is General Zhou?"
"Shanxi Commander-in-Chief Zhou Yuji accepted the order..."
Just as the bricks and stones were being moved away and several soldiers were working together to open the door, a sharp sound came from behind.
Everyone was stunned and looked back subconsciously.
I saw several royal guards escorting a eunuch running towards him panting, shouting as he ran.
"Your Majesty, Zhou Yu, accepts the order!"
Zhou Yuji did not expect that an angel would arrive at this moment. After regaining consciousness, he subconsciously bowed to him.
Seeing the commander kneeling down, the others also knelt down one after another.
Even the Zhou family threw away their torches, took their children and maids, and knelt down outside to receive the order.
It can be seen that as long as the Ming Dynasty survives, the supremacy of imperial power will be firmly engraved in the bones of these people, even if they are about to die.
"Phew! Why did our family say that we didn't see anyone on this trip? Turns out they all came here."
The eunuch who delivered the order came forward and said with a sudden look.
"This father-in-law, has he brought troops and horses?"
Zhou Yuji asked eagerly.
A glimmer of hope also ignited in the hearts of others.
"Our family is here to convey the decree this time, and we only brought ten royal guards with us."
"Father, didn't your Majesty decree that Datong's commander-in-chief Jiang Yu lead his troops to aid Ningwuguan?"
Zhou Yuji was disappointed for a moment, and then asked in disbelief.
"Hmph! That bitch has no king or father. Our family went to Datong three days ago to announce the decree. He also obeyed the decree at that time and said that he would send troops immediately.
But a little while later, he said that the soldiers were making noise and marching forcibly, fearing a mutiny, and asked our family to give him 500,000 taels of silver to appease the morale of the soldiers. It is simply unreasonable..."
The eunuch became angrier and angrier as he spoke, and finally his face became distorted, showing that he was really angry.
He had never seen anyone asking for money instead of giving money to the messenger angel.
When everyone heard this, they cursed in anger, and at the same time they gave up completely and no longer had any hope.
The eunuch who delivered the order ignored them and took out the imperial edict.
"The Emperor of Heaven has given this edict: The commander-in-chief of Shanxi Province, Zhou Yuji, is loyal, courageous, and extremely brave. He stubbornly held off the enemy for more than ten days with a small number of soldiers. He killed countless thieves and severely dampened the arrogance of the thieves. He is indeed a great general.
role model…
I am now granted the title of Uncle Zhongyi, Crown Prince Shaobao, and Right Commander of the Central Military Governor's Mansion. I will lead the army to defend the capital today. I express my gratitude to you!"
"Commander Zhou, oh no...it's Uncle Zhongyi, hurry up and take the order!"
After the eunuch who delivered the order finished reading, he saw Zhou Yuji kneeling on the ground sobbing and quickly reminded him.
"My... minister... my minister Zhou Yuji has accepted the order. Long live my emperor!"
Zhou Yuji wiped the old tears from the corners of his eyes and held the imperial edict with trembling hands.
Then he said in a hoarse voice: "Excuse me, my father-in-law, I would like to inform your majesty that I, Zhou Yuji, am incompetent and unworthy of the emperor's favor. I have been holding on till now and my troops have been exhausted. I have no way to continue. I really have no courage to return to the capital to meet the Holy One, nor can I accept this favor."
Feng, I can only burn with the thieves and jade stones to repay His Majesty's holy grace!"
"General Zhou, Your Majesty asked you to lead the army to defend the capital, but he did not ask you to serve the country with your life and die with the traitor. Don't be confused."
"My father-in-law, to be honest, all the troops under my command who can fight are already here, less than a thousand, and all of them are injured. Even if we return to the capital, it will be of little use."
Zhou Yuji explained with a bitter look.
Originally, he planned to serve the country with his life, but now his heart is as solid as a rock.
"Commander Zhou, your Majesty has repeatedly told us that no matter how many soldiers you have left, we must let our family take you back. Don't you want to resist the order?"
The eunuch was anxious and said quickly.
When he came, His Majesty repeatedly told him that even if Zhou Yuji was the only one left in Ningwuguan, he must be kidnapped back to the capital.
"This... my father-in-law has misunderstood. I am not disobeying the order, but..."
Sure enough, when he heard the word "anti-edict", Zhou Yuji hesitated a little, with a look of confusion on his face.
"Commander, since His Majesty has asked us to return to Beijing, let's go back to Beijing!"
"Yes, Marshal, come back to Beijing!"
"Husband!"
"Father…"
For a moment, everyone knelt down and persuaded Zhou Yuji.
After all, ants still live an ignoble existence. If given a choice, no one would want to die, except for a very few people.
And Zhou Yuji is one of these few.
"By the way, Commander Zhou probably hasn't received the edict yet, right?"
"The Supreme Emperor has sent a letter to His Majesty the Crown Prince twelve days ago. This edict is also issued by His Majesty, not the Supreme Emperor."
The eunuch who delivered the order thought for a moment and then explained again.
"What? Your Majesty actually passed the throne to His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Zhou Yuji was shocked. Apparently the cabinet had not sent the edict here at all, or was still going through the procedures.
After being surprised and convinced that Chongzhen had abdicated, Zhou Yuji finally stopped insisting.
He hurriedly left Ningwuguan with nearly a thousand remaining soldiers and ran northward. Fortunately, the horses in Guanzhong were not lost, and they were able to scrape together more than a thousand riders.
Obviously, although Zhou Yuji is loyal, he also understands that His Majesty is mean and unkind.
Now that he doesn't have many soldiers in his hands, he naturally wants to serve the country with his own life. He doesn't want to return to the capital and be questioned and imprisoned by His Majesty, and end up as a guilty minister.
So after I heard that Chongzhen had abdicated and that His Royal Highness was reorganizing the capital camp in the capital and preparing to defend it to the death, I lost my worries and wanted to return to the capital to do my best again.
Almost as soon as Zhou Yuji left, the Chuang army arrived in the valley and began to attack.
As a result, they captured Guancheng in one fell swoop and found that the huge Ningwuguan Pass had already been deserted. There was no one left.
After Chuang Wang got it, he was so angry that he cursed loudly, but at the same time he breathed a sigh of relief.
Although I didn’t know when the other party left, they still sent a cavalry group to pursue them.
Apparently he hated Zhou Yuji to the core.
Immediately, the army marched into Ningwuguan in a mighty manner, and Xuanfu Datong was no longer in danger.
That night, Datong's commander-in-chief Jiang Yu sent someone to deliver the surrender.
The next day, the surrender order from the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu was also delivered.
Hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers in the two towns surrendered.
As history goes, the Chuang army only made slight repairs. On the fifth day of the third month, the army passed Shuozhou and arrived at Datong. On the eighth day of the third month, the troops arrived at Yanghe, and on the eleventh day they marched into Xuanfu.