Chapter 1372 Changing King's Banner at the Head of the City
Years of life as a rogue made Li Zicheng very resolute in making decisions when the opportunity arose.
Now that we have decided to withdraw our troops, we must act quickly.
When they arrived at Fanjiazhuang in Yongping, Li Zicheng gave an order and Wu Xiang was beheaded.
This guy who had a temporary place in the late Ming Dynasty finally lost his life because of his son's ambition.
Not to mention this, when Li Zicheng returned to the capital, he killed all thirty-four members of the Wu family.
It is also because of this that Wu Sangui and Li Zicheng completely formed a deadly feud, the kind that would never end until death.
From then on, Wu Sangui went to great lengths to hunt down Li Zicheng, and was the main culprit for Li Zicheng's downfall.
Ironically, just when the Wu family was bleeding like rivers, Wu Sangui reached the peak of his life.
Just under Shanhaiguan, Dorgon, on behalf of Shunzhi, canonized Wu Sangui as King of Pingxi.
After being crowned king with a different surname, Wu Sangui immediately became the focus of the world.
However, the Qing army did not take advantage of the situation to pursue the Shun army, but stayed at Shanhaiguan for a while.
The reason is also very simple.
Shanhaiguan is the only way to communicate between the pass and Liaodong, and it is naturally the only retreat for the Qing army.
Dorgon did not worry about victory but defeat first. He would never advance without consolidating his retreat.
While establishing a solid customs defense at Shanhaiguan, he sent a letter to Shenyang, asking the Manchu and Qing officials to start packing and prepare to move into the Central Plains.
While he was opening up the situation, Hauge was not idle either.
Hauge, who was in charge of the overall situation in the rear, first dispatched 5,000 troops and horses to Lushun to prevent the Xia army from Lushun from taking the opportunity to move north.
At the same time, capable officers were assigned to the Siping direction to prevent the Xia army from rushing down from the Heilongjiang River Basin.
After doing this, Hauge personally led the senior Manchu and Qing officials to escort Shunzhi and Empress Xiaozhuang towards the capital.
On April 26, Li Zicheng fled back to the capital in embarrassment.
At the same time, gossip was also rampant in the capital.
Many people know that the Shun army suffered a huge defeat at Shanhaiguan.
Those officials, eunuchs, and nobles who were tortured by the Shun army were all excited and looked forward to the east.
Even though the Qing Dynasty is about to come, it was the Ming Dynasty's biggest enemy. But these people no longer care about so much in order to survive.
"Quickly demolish the private houses and sheep and horse walls in Guanxiang."
Just after it stabilized, Li Zicheng issued an order.
Li Yan stepped out of the crowd and asked, "Does Your Majesty intend to stick to the capital?"
Li Zicheng was exhausted physically and mentally.
"Isn't this the right thing to do?"
Li Yan hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, our army has been newly defeated. The lineup is not uniform and the troops are insufficient. The capital is located on the plain and there is no danger to defend it. Once the Qing army attacks, it will become a dead place. In my opinion, it is better to retreat to Shaanxi.
, use the natural dangers to regroup, and then compete with the Qing army."
Many people immediately jumped out to support Li Yan's idea.
Even Liu Zongmin is like this.
The Shanhaiguan subordinate was seriously injured, which completely destroyed Liu Zongmin's arrogance. At this time, when the Qing army was mentioned again, he was as frightened as a lost dog.
Seeing so many people wanting to abandon the capital, Li Zicheng felt powerless.
By nature, he really doesn't want to give up the capital.
After all, this is the capital of the world, representing the place of orthodoxy. He had just destroyed the Ming Dynasty and replaced it. If he gave up the capital easily, he would probably lose the respect of the world.
He clearly understands the difficulties involved.
But Li Yan's suggestion is not unreasonable.
Li Zicheng thought hard and searched through his memory, but could not find any troops near the capital that could compete with the Qing army.
The Shun troops from other places wanted to mobilize, but it was too late.
But I’m really not willing to just retreat like this!
After all, Niu Jinxing can understand the holy will and know where his crux lies.
"Your Majesty has eliminated the Ming Dynasty and has become the orthodoxy of the world. In accordance with the opinion of my ministers, a grand enthronement ceremony should be held to inform the world and consolidate the people's hearts."
If the capital cannot be defended, it cannot be defended, but it is necessary to make Li Zicheng the emperor an established fact.
With this name, Li Zicheng would be able to organize effective troops no matter where he retreated, and he would always be able to fight back one day.
Sure enough, Li Zicheng smiled after hearing Niu Jinxing's suggestion.
"Just prepare it according to the Prime Minister's method."
All of a sudden, everyone in Dashun became nervous and busy.
Mainly two things.
One was to prepare for Li Zicheng's coronation ceremony, and the other was to transport the looted treasures.
On April 29, Li Zicheng held a hasty enthronement ceremony at Wuying Palace, and Niu Jinxing took his place in the suburbs to hold a trip to pay homage to heaven.
After the ceremony, Li Zicheng quickly issued an edict, telling the people in the city to leave quickly and flee in all directions.
Originally, he wanted to order the burning of the palace and various towers, but before the order was issued, representatives of the Xia Kingdom came.
"My Royal Highness has a message for Emperor Dashun. The capital has been accumulated for hundreds of years and has become a treasure of the world and cannot be damaged. Emperor Dashun should know that he must not go against the will of heaven. If Emperor Dashun insists on having his own way, our Xia Kingdom will never
Sit back and ignore it. Send out troops immediately and fight until death."
Upon hearing the threat from the representatives of the Xia Kingdom, everyone in Dashun was furious and frightened at the same time.
Of course they understand the importance of Xia Kingdom.
Now it is no longer tenable to face the Manchu Qing alone. If the Xia Kingdom sends troops again, there will definitely be no accidents in Dashun's demise.
Even a powerful man like Li Zicheng had no choice but to give in in the face of such a threat, and in the end did not issue an order to burn the palace and towers.
After hundreds of years and countless people working hard to build the capital, it has been preserved.
On the same day, Li Zicheng led Dashun civil and military forces and all the troops to evacuate the capital.
The next day, the Qing army pursued Jizhou. Upon learning that Dashun had evacuated, Dorgon immediately changed his strategy.
He asked Duduo, Azige and Wu Sangui to lead the elite troops to pursue them quickly, while he personally led another part of the army to the capital.
On the second day of May, Dorgon arrived outside the capital city.
At this time, farce was going on in the capital.
It turned out that some people did not know that Wu Sangui had surrendered to the Manchus.
The information they heard was that Wu Sangui defeated Li Zicheng and recaptured the crown prince Zhu Cihong, and was about to support the crown prince's succession.
So a group of bureaucrats happily rushed to the eastern suburbs to greet him, and the eunuchs in the inner palace also eagerly prepared their legal documents and dreamed of regaining power.
When the overwhelming Eight Banners of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties appeared in front of them, these people were all dumbfounded.
Without giving the people in the city any chance, the Qing army occupied every part of the city.
As if in a dream, the people in the capital witnessed three political regimes one after another in just a few dozen days.
As for how long this newcomer can occupy the capital, the people in the capital are already numb.
No matter what, just live your life peacefully.
For a time, the capital was occupied by the Manchus, but it did not cause much chaos.
Everything went so well that Dorgon even had self-doubt.