On November 2, on the fourth day after the curtain of the defense of the capital opened, after the Ming army in Xizhimen fought hard for one night to repel the attack of the Tatars, Chaoyang Gate, Chongwen Gate and Anding Gate were attacked by the Tatars one after another.

During these four days, the Tatars captured Xingzhou Zhongtunwei and Houtunwei around the capital, Yingzhou's left, right, middle, back, front five guards, Dingbiangu and Shenwu Zhongwei and other acropolis. The main reason is that the troops from these places have been transferred to the capital, leaving only a few officers and soldiers to stay. After the Tatars launched the siege, they basically encountered no resistance.

In addition, Fangshan, Liangxiang, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Changping and other counties around the capital were all disturbed by the Tartar soldiers. Fortunately, the military and civilians were united. After the Tartars found it difficult to capture for a while, they adopted a deterrent attitude and sent horses to gallop past these cities from time to time, making it impossible for each county to send troops out of the city.

As a result, the capital was actually in an isolated state. The Tatar Khan's troops arrived in Nanyuan south of the capital under the leadership of Dayan Khan Batumonk.

The total force of the Mongolian troops invaded the capital of Daming was as high as 100,000, but because the capital was too large, it was still impossible to form a comprehensive and thorough encirclement. The capital had nine gates, and the Tatar soldiers and horses were divided into ten armies, of which nine armies each faced a gate of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the central army stationed in Nanyuan led by Dayan Khan Batumonk, who could concentrate troops to attack any gate.

As the winter months began, the capital was in chaos, and many of the officials and the people wanted to escape from this place of right and wrong. However, the capital had been martial law for a long time. Now, with the inspection of the siege of the Tartars, no one could leave the city without the emperor's will. Everyone could only wait for the war to end in the city.

Due to the siege of the Tartars, the government affairs of the court were paralyzed, the central order could not be passed on from the capital, and nothing could be transmitted to the court. The most important yamen in the capital was the newly established military affairs yamen of the Prime Minister. This yamen was not appointed by the emperor, but was established by the cabinet without authorization.

The head of the Prime Minister's Military Affairs Office is Xiong Xiu. The consultants appointed by the emperor were all working in this yamen. All matters in the capital, whether they involve military affairs or civil affairs, are all from the Prime Minister's Military Affairs Office.

There was no prime minister in the Ming Dynasty. However, after the establishment of the Prime Minister's Military Affairs Office, the power of the Chief Secretary Liu Jian was no different from that of the Prime Minister. He exercised the highest administrative and military authority and could even act on behalf of the emperor. Previous government orders had to be approved by the prince's hands, but after the Prime Minister's Military Affairs Office was established, Liu Jian's votes were directly converted into the Principal's Zhuji, and there was no need to be reviewed by the Prince.

Empress Zhang learned the news and advised Zhu Houzhao not to "act recklessly" and to respond to the ministers in the court with trust. The naughty child's first idea was:

"It's so damn nonsense. My father's king's kingdom should be inherited by me. How much does Liu Shaofu take the initiative to jump out to fight for power? If it doesn't work, how can the power fall? I want to lead troops to fight... I will go to any city gate that the Tatars fight, and see who dares to stop me. No matter what, I will wear armor and show my power!"

Zhu Houzhao pretended to follow Queen Zhang's advice and returned to Xiefang Palace. Then he looked for an opportunity to sneak out of the palace gate and took Zhang Yuan, Ma Jiu and others to inspect the Nine Gates of the Capital.

On the afternoon of November 3, Zhu Houzhao was walking around Chongwenmen. When Tatar soldiers attacked the gate, the Tatars built a bridge to break through the moat outside Chongwenmen, and quickly advanced to the city of Chongwenmen. Zhu Houzhao was less than a hundred steps away from the Tatars at this time. Not only did he not retreat, he also picked up a bow and arrow and designed it against the Tatars under the city.

Unfortunately, the naughty child's archery skills were at the "toddler" level, and the arrows were not shot out at all. Instead, the Tatar cavalry rushed past in the distance under the city, and a rain of arrows came quickly. Zhu Houzhao watched the two guards of the vanguards beside him fall into the arrow.

Zhang Yuan shouted quickly: "Be careful with your highness!"

Zhang Yuan originally wanted to play the role of a loyal minister, but he couldn't help but shrink his whole body under the battlements, completely forgetting to protect Zhu Houzhao's safety as the top priority.

The sound of horns outside the city continued to sound, and drums were heard on the top of the city, and the shouts of soldiers from both sides resounded throughout the earth.

Although Zhu Houzhao was in a dangerous place, her face remained unchanged and her spirit was surprisingly excited. Zhu Houzhao shouted: "Kill... kill these dogs and Tartars. I will give you a lot of rewards. Kill them!"

Zhu Houzhao waved his fists and kept urging soldiers to push down the ladders that the Tartars had laid on the city wall, or threw huge rocks under the city and fired crossbows.

Seeing that the prince had not retreated, the soldiers around him naturally had no reason to shrink their eggs. Even though the Tatar infantry killed the city several times, they finally drove the Tatars down.

After two hours of fierce battle, the Tatars left more than a hundred bodies and evacuated the battlefield. Zhu Houzhao sat exhausted on the stone steps on the city, panting heavily. The soldiers all admired them, and they did not expect that the precious prince would fight side by side with them. Although the naughty child just shouted and did not do anything practical.

Zhang Yuan had been hiding before, but now he came out, and went to support Zhu Houzhao with concern and asked, "Your Highness, are you okay? Go down to the city to rest..."

Zhu Houzhao pushed Zhang Yuan's hand away and said impatiently: "What can I do with this palace? Poor soldiers who died have never had a chance to rest. Only the officers and soldiers who have just experienced the battle on the city should have a good rest. I will now accompany them and fight to the end."

"Eunuch Zhang, you should go back to the palace now and tell my father and mother that if they don't let me go out of the city to kill the enemy, I will stay in Chongwen Gate, and even if the city is broken, I will never retreat!"

"good!"

"The prince is amazing!"

"The prince is really a hero!"

The soldiers cheered loudly. Although it was a little abrupt, the flattery was just right. Zhu Houzhao's newborn calf wanted to be praised and praised by others the most. For a moment, he stood up and waved to the soldiers with a bold look, winning a cheer again.

Zhang Yuan was mourning and served Zhu Houzhao. If the little master lacked a finger, his life would not be saved. At this moment, he had to obey Zhu Houzhao's orders and go to the palace to report to the emperor and the queen what Zhu Houzhao did... although he didn't know if he had the chance to meet the emperor.

The news that Zhu Houzhao was in danger in Chongwen Gate was soon passed back to the palace, but the one who knew first was not Zhu Youtang and his wife, but the ministers of the Prime Minister's Military Affairs Office.

When Liu Jian heard about this, he stood up suddenly and asked angrily: "When will the prince go to Chongwen Sect? Why didn't he report before?"

The vanguard of the vanguard of the government army who came to report the report replied in a panic: "Go back to Liu Shaofu, the Chongwen Gate arrived at the Crown Prince at noon. As soon as the people arrived, the Tatars launched an attack on the city and fought fiercely for two hours before retreating... The prince led the way and stood at the top of the city, which inspired the frontline officers and soldiers very much!"

Li Dongyang clasped his beard with his hands and said, "From the Tartars attacked from multiple routes, the Diyi was sufficient, and it was probably over 100,000. This battle was not easy to fight!"

Liu Jian was originally questioning the prince about his own danger. Hearing this, he looked at Li Dongyang and asked, "How did Binzhi get this number?"

Li Dongyang shook his head slightly, not wanting to explain, Xie Qian narrowed his eyes and glanced at Li Dongyang for a moment, but didn't say anything.

Xiong Xiu felt that he was being ignored, so he stood up and asked, "Do you know that the prince is in danger?"

The vanguard of the government army shook his head, meaning that before he could report to the Ganqing Palace, Liu Jian frowned and said, "Yu Qiao, go to Chongwen Gate and invite the prince back to the palace. Binzhi, go and supervise the Ministry of Revenue to collect money, grain and family members of the fallen soldiers, be sure to appease the front-line officers and soldiers!"

Li Dongyang naturally had no problem, but Xie Qian shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Young Fu Liu thinks the prince will return to the East Palace easily?"

Liu Jian sternly said: "I don't care whether to return to the Eastern Palace or not, but the prince must return to the imperial city... Do you want the prince to stay at the top of the city to take risks?"

Li Dongyang helped Xie Qian speak: "Shaofu Liu, there is always someone who can take responsibility to dispatch the city!"

Liu Jian raised his face and said coldly: "As the Minister of War, shouldn't Yu Qiao bravely take on the burden at this time?"

Xie Qian's face was flushed and he was about to fall out with Liu Jian. Although Xie Qian's status in the cabinet was not as good as Liu Jian, his temper was quite good. But Xie Qian finally endured it. He suppressed his anger and argued: "As a civil servant, I have never worn military uniforms. Now I have asked me to go up to the city to dispatch troops. Who is willing to accept it?"

Xiong Xiu said: "Young Fu Liu, let the officials go to supervise the battle!"

Liu Jian shook his head: "You must take action on the Ministry of War in the Ming Dynasty, all matters of all sizes must be handled by you. How can you leave your post without permission? Yu Qiao went to appease the soldiers and dispatch them on the spot, which was the most appropriate! This matter was decided in this way, and no one should have any objections."

Xie Qian was so angry that he thought to himself: "Revenge is clearly a naked revenge! I used to steal the limelight from you and Binzhi in front of the saint, and someone even compared me with you as the prime minister, so you felt resentful. Today I took the opportunity to retaliate and let me go to the city to "work the army" and clearly wanted to push me to die!"

Xie Qian wanted to say something, but was dissuaded by Li Dongyang. Xiong Xiu originally wanted to speak, but he was forced to a high position by Liu Jian and others. Now he is unable to protect himself, so how can he help others?

Xie Qian left the palace angrily and headed towards Chongwen Gate. As soon as he left the palace gate, he heard from the guard that Zhang Yuan, the eunuch of the Eastern Palace, entered the palace from Donghua Gate. He wanted to go and stop him, but he thought for a moment:

"If your Majesty does not know about the danger, it is a deception of the emperor... Even if your Majesty cannot manage the government, the prince will always be concerned about the safety of the prince, right? Don't wait until the capital has not been broken, and send a prince away first, that's a shame!"
Chapter completed!