Li Xiao's decisive words made the eunuch Xu Gao, the Sili Principal, instantly widen his eyes.

I really didn't expect that King Tang's statement was so fast and so responsible.

He originally thought that Li Xiao, who is now the King of Tang and is almost completely independent, would be despised in his heart for this almost pleading decree. Then he complained heavily on the surface, constantly emphasized difficulties, and refused to withdraw his troops and return to his country. However, he did not know that Li Xiao, an important official who had rebelled against the court, would agree so readily.

More importantly, Li Xiaogui, as the prince, proposed to go to rescue him personally. Such a move to put life and death outside of the country shows loyalty and righteousness, and it shows his sincere and loyalty.

For a moment, Xu Gao was extremely excited and almost wanted to bow to Li Xiaofu and thank him.

However, he thought in an instant that even if the Tang army, who had been in Liaodong for a long time, was not easy to withdraw immediately.

"King of Tang, I heard that your troops are all in Liaodong and the navy ships have not returned in Shandong. If you want to withdraw your troops, can you only wait for a while?" Xu Gao asked carefully.

"The large-scale withdrawal of troops is indeed not enough now. But I can lead the elite cavalry first and return from Yingkou on existing ships. I hope that no matter what, I will rescue the emperor from the capital!" Li Xiao said word by word.

Looking at Xu Gao's very confused expression, Li Xiao sighed and continued, "Eunuch Xu, when you came from the sea, the bandits had already attacked from Xuanfu and Beizhili to attack the capital. The situation in the capital was already like a burden and was in danger. How could I have time to wait until all of my kings were arranged and then withdraw my troops back to the country. If we have to wait until our Tang army all retreated from Liaodong by boat, then the capital city was probably captured by the bandits for a long time! The current plan is to lead my personal soldiers and rush back to the capital first. In any case, we must rescue the emperor from the capital first and then make a decision."

Xu Gao finally understood what Li Xiao meant.

It turned out that Li Xiao had made the worst plan now. That is, with the bandits' offensive so urgent and fierce, it was impossible for the current capital to be saved.

The only feasible solution now is to save Emperor Chongzhen, the head of the Ming Empire, from the capital while the enemy has not yet captured the city, so as to retain the foundation for revitalization of the entire Ming Dynasty.

When Xu Gao thought of this, he sighed in his heart.

However, he thought for a while and asked tentatively: "King Tang, our family is thinking that the bandits are acting so fast. Even if we rush back immediately, what if the capital is surrounded by bandits?"

When Li Xiao's face suddenly became more and more serious and steep when he heard Xu Gao's question.

Li Xiao knew that the situation Xu Gao mentioned was the worst and very likely to happen.

And once this most terrifying thing happens, even if Zhuge is reborn and Sun Wu is reborn, there is nothing he can do.

Li Xiao did not answer immediately, but turned his head and looked out the distant window. After a long time, he slowly replied: "Do your best and leave it to heaven. Even so, I will go and save him personally, in order to do my best to rescue His Majesty from the capital. Once this statement is made, I will never regret it."

When Xu Gao heard this, he became more and more impressed by Li Xiao. He didn't say much, but raised his collar and knelt in front of Li Xiao like he met the emperor.

"The King of Tang is so loyal and courageous, our family is so impressed. Please accept our family's worship!"

"Why should Eunuch Xu do this? See you quickly." Seeing Xu Gao kneeling down like this, Li Xiao hurried forward and helped him up from the ground.

"Then, my family asks, when will the King of Tang lead his troops to set off?" After Xu Gao stood up from the ground, he quickly asked again.

"Be prepared today and set off tomorrow morning. Eunuch Xu is here to work hard, so let's have a good rest today and return to the capital with me tomorrow."

"Okay, then our family will take back first."

After Xu Gao retreated, Li Xiao immediately sent someone to call Tian Wei and Liu Guoneng to come to the living room to discuss matters.

Soon, the two came to the living room, and Li Xiao didn't talk much nonsense with them, and immediately got to the point.

Both of them were shocked when they heard Li Xiao’s introduction to the current situation.

Next, after hearing Li Xiao’s own plans, the two were even more stunned.

"Mr. Li, you must not! The situation is so dangerous now that the capital is in danger. The King of Tang is a body of gold and the leader of a army. How can he take risks? He must personally rescue the emperor! Although he is incompetent, he is willing to replace the King of Tang and immediately rushed to the capital to save the emperor." Tian Wei looked at Li Xiao anxiously, with an indescribable anxiety on his face.

"Yes, Mayor Tian is right. The King of Tang is the commander of the first army and the backbone of the entire army. You must not take the risk and go to rescue the emperor himself. As long as you give an order, the country will be willing to lead the elite troops to the capital and will definitely rescue the emperor." Liu Guoneng, who was standing aside, also interrupted urgently, and refused to agree that Li Xiaoqian would lead his troops to the capital.

Li Xiao looked at the two beloved generals with complicated eyes, sighed and replied slowly, "Two, I have just been named Prince of the Ming Dynasty. If the emperor is in trouble, how can I not rescue him. Besides, the matter of rescuing the emperor is both the duty of a minister and a major concern. You must not make any mistakes. If the king does not experience it personally, it will be difficult to be relieved. Therefore, after thinking about it, I have to lead my troops to the capital, which is the most appropriate. As for the land in Liaodong, the two still need to work together to garrison, and wait for the ship to ship transport food and supplies from Shandong, and then retreat to the country by camera. This matter is also a major concern. It is fundamental to our army. You must never make any mistakes. It depends entirely on the two of you to do your best."

Tian Wei and Liu Guoneng looked at each other, their eyes full of helplessness.

Tian Wei hesitated for a moment and asked again, "King Tang, have you ever thought about what if you arrive at the capital and the emperor refuses to leave the capital and insists on defending the city?"

Li Xiao's face was stern and replied in a deep voice: "If this is the case, at such a critical moment, I should take decisive measures to withdraw the emperor from the capital. There is no discussion on this matter."

Tian Wei and Liu Guoneng still wanted to persuade each other, but Li Xiao waved his hand to stop him.

"No need to say more, I have made up my mind. Today is ready and I will set out tomorrow. Please follow the rest of the matters."

After Li Xiao finished speaking, he immediately began to arrange various important things, roughly the following content.

1. Li Xiaomingtian took the 500 guard cavalrymen with him and went south to Yingkou, from there, taking the remaining ships at Yingkou Port and sailed straight to Dagu Port, Hejian Prefecture, Tianjin.

2. Tian Wei temporarily handled all matters in Liaodong with full authority, pretending to continue negotiations with the Qing court, and then secretly organized the withdrawal of troops.

Among them, all the troops in Haicheng and Yingkou were withdrawn to Shandong, and all the troops in Zhenyuan Fort were retreated to Jintang City, Xuanfu North Road. When the entire army retreated, they had to completely destroy the two cities into plains, and all nearby rural towns were destroyed. In short, no materials or population could be left to support the enemy.

3. After the ship returning from Shandong arrived at Yingkou, only half of the ship was used to transport their troops back to Shandong. The other half of the ship was transported to the Zudale Fate in Shanhaiguan and the Wu Sangui's troops in Ningyuan City.

The reason for doing this is because Li Xiao considered that the bandits are advancing very quickly now. The Shanhaiguan General Zu Dale Group, located in the north of the capital, and the Ningyuan General Wu Sangui's troops, were probably not too late to enter the capital to rescue, nor could they escape from the attacks of the bandits and the Qing throne. In order to prevent them from surrendering to the Qing court or the bandits, at least half of the fleets were needed to go to the place urgently to assist them in evacuation from the sea.

Li Xiao was convinced that as long as he acted in time, Zu Dale and Wu Sangui who had no time to withdraw would be grateful for their timely rescue.

Tian Wei and Liu Guoneng responded loudly, and then Li Xiaofu discussed some details with them, and the two left.

The next day, Li Xiao personally led 500 guards and cavalrymen, and brought eunuch Cao Huachun and Xu Gao to the top. The group went straight to Yingkou from Haicheng, then boarded the only ships from here and sailed straight to Hejian Mansion.

The worried Li Xiao understood that he was actually racing against time and he had to try his best to arrive before Beijing was besieged by bandits, which was the only hope.

Li Xiao suddenly felt that now, who only led his cavalry to go directly to the capital to rescue the emperor, was a bit like Guan Yunchang in the Three Kingdoms, who was not afraid of life and death and went to the meeting alone.

But, even if I do my best now, can I keep up with the changes in the current situation?

Li Xiao didn't know.

His worries soon became a reality.

Just as they were walking sprinting on the sea and heading south. When they had just arrived at Dagukou Port, the bandits finally surrounded the entire Beijing city from both north and south.

The bandits surrounded the capital in three layers inside and three layers outside, just like an iron barrel. At this point, Emperor Chongzhen had no chance of escaping.

As early as a few days ago, the Dashun Army arrived in Juyong Pass. General Tang Tong and the eunuch of the army surrendered. The "North Gate Key" of the capital, known as the natural danger, opened its doors in front of the Dashun Army.

In a smooth situation, the Dashun Army quickly approached the capital, which made the Ming court feel gloomy. Chongzhen and his ministers were immediately in a state of panic and helplessness.

As the bandits quickly marched towards Beijing, Chongzhen and the court officials urgently discussed countermeasures in Jianji Hall. What disappointed Chongzhen was that these masters who had been talking nonsense in the past were all silent, but they did not discuss each other's arguments.

The emperor pretended to be calm and summoned the ministers to select the ministers according to the regular rules, and asked them to report to the Qing Dynasty and the Dashun army as well as to raise military funds.

Speaking of which, when the misfortune comes, it is meaningless to do such an official article that is meaningless, just to calm people's hearts. However, at this extremely tense moment, even himself, his inner infinite fear can no longer be concealed.

Every minister in the court clearly saw that when the emperor listened to the comments from the ministers, he was completely absent-minded and could not listen to a few points at all.

"The emperor may listen to it by relying on a few points, or sneer at it, and then the Emperor of the Sun laughed and said quite unfairly. He may pour tea or grind ink, and he may do it himself. If he is not at all in a hurry, it is not the usual scene."

Chongzhen's obvious anxiety and fear made the whole court even more uneasy.

The memorial was not over yet, and at this time, the eunuch Wang Chengen, the eunuch in the inner court, rushed into the hall and handed the emperor a sealed document.

Zhu Youjian opened it and looked at it, and his face was immediately dissatisfied.

He screamed and fainted on the dragon throne.

Seeing this sudden change, the court officials who participated in the report looked at each other, not knowing what was going on, and the court suddenly became a mess.

Seeing the emperor fainted, the court was in chaos. The old slave Wang Chengen was quite independent. He first hurriedly ordered the court to leave, and immediately, with a few eunuchs, drove the fainted emperor to the bedroom.

After helping the emperor to the bedroom, Wang Chengen immediately sent someone to call the imperial doctor over. The imperial doctor arrived hurriedly and scrambled to Chongzhen several silver needles. After taking another dose of decoction, Chongzhen let out a mouthful of blood and woke up slowly.

"Your Majesty, is it better now?" Wang Chengen asked with a bright yellow silk scarf and wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth in his palm.

Chongzhen had a gloomy face and didn't say anything. After Wang Chengen wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, he grabbed the teacup on the imperial table, gritted his teeth and threw it out fiercely.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, this blue and white porcelain tea cup was smashed to pieces on the water-milled white jade floor.

"Your Majesty, you..."

"You all go out for me."

"emperor……"

"Go out! Didn't you hear me talking?!"

Chongzhen's loud shout shocked Wang Chengen, the imperial physicians and the eunuchs beside him.

The imperial doctor still wanted to speak, but Wang Chengen winked at him, signaling him not to say much, and let him go with them, and then he said no.

In the empty bedroom, Chongzhen leaned weakly on the dragon couch, his face full of pain and confusion.

The reason why Chongzhen was so out of control was that the secret letter was the terrible news that Changping was lost and the rebel army was about to come to the city.

It turned out that just yesterday evening, the vanguard of the Dashun Army arrived at Tucheng (the ruins of the north wall of the Yuan Dadu) in the north of the capital. Here, the Dashun Army could enter the city of Beijing without any worries and start siege.

In addition, there is another message that can break Chongzhen's heart.

That is, the last hope he had given him, the last force of the three major camps of the capital led by Li Guozhen, Xiangcheng Bo, all of them were stationed outside the capital. After Tucheng fell, all the Dashun army immediately surrendered as soon as they arrived.

Thirty thousand Beijing soldiers surrendered, and a large number of artillery, firearms and other equipment carefully cast by the Ming Dynasty fell into the enemy's hands, and they were about to become powerful tools for bandits to attack the city.

In the current situation, although the bandits had not started to attack the city immediately, the capital was like a turtle in a jar, and there was no longer any possibility of foreign troops entering the aid.

Chongzhen thought in fear, is it possible that now he can only surrender and take the opportunity to go?

He was anxious and had no choice but to think about it for a long time. He got up from the bed, walked around the hall like a trapped beast, slammed his chest and paused his feet, sighed, and shouted: "I don't know how to use people, and the ministers inside and outside misled me, misled me!"

The spring breeze was chilly, and the emperor's sorrow was quickly torn into pieces by the whistling cold wind, and it was no longer heard.
Chapter completed!