Dashun Yongchang

He could only sigh and said: "Our cavalry is still insufficient. When encountering such a large cavalry group, we can only consider defense first, and then look for opportunities to defeat them. As long as they don't want to stay and entangle us, we It is almost difficult to keep them. If Azig does not even stay in Zhengzhou, we may have lost the opportunity to severely damage Azig's main force."

Li Guo said disapprovingly: "Battle against cavalry, it's quite good to be able to fight like this. If the cavalry didn't focus on fighting the infantry, then the infantry would not be able to defeat the cavalry.

The minister thought that it would be a good thing to let Azig run back to the north of the Yellow River like this. At least we can preserve our strength and fight the Qing army in the east.However, I think the most important thing right now is not chasing and annihilating the Azigs who have lost their will to fight, but two other things. "

Li Zicheng withdrew his thoughts, looked at Li Guo and asked, "Oh, what do you think are the two most important things right now?"

Li Guo said frankly: "One is to urge all localities to do a good job of spring plowing. In order to ensure the manpower for spring plowing, the war in Henan should be quelled as soon as possible, and then those young adults should be sent home;

According to Liu Zhong's disposition, if our army goes directly to Luoyang, it will not only lengthen the front line, but also hinder the plan to let the peasants go home for spring plowing.The minister thought that someone should be sent to persuade Liu Zhong to return to the Marshal's Mansion. After all, he did not openly surrender to the Qing army, so he should still accept His Majesty's persuasion. "

Regarding Liu Zhong retreating to Luoyang to wait and see the situation, and maintaining a tacit agreement with the Qing army not to fight each other during Azig's southward journey, everyone in the Marshal's Mansion knew that this person had betrayed Dashun, and it was nothing more than that he had not negotiated a surrender with the Qing army. price only.For example, Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongdi both advocated that after defeating the Qing army, military law must be enforced against Liu Zhong to make him responsible for the collapse of the Yellow River defense line.

It's just that the Shun army was not fully sure of defeating the Qing army before, so they only talked a few words about Liu Zhong's question, and did not make a final conclusion.After all, the current biggest enemy of the Shun army is the Qing army, not a grasshopper with both ends.At this time, Li Guo formally proposed to Li Zicheng a suggestion of lenient Liu Zhong, and obviously believed that the Azig army could not turn the tables again, so he put forward this opinion with the idea of ​​ending the war in Henan as soon as possible.

Li Zicheng thought for a moment, announced the end of the meeting, and then left Li to talk alone in the back hall.In the small living room of the county government, Li Zicheng said to Li Guo: "What you just said is right, if we want to liquidate Ping Nanbo's mistakes at the beginning of the war, maybe we will really force him to the Qing army.

Luoyang is the key to Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi. If Ping Nanbo really rebelled, we really had to send troops to open up this passage to Shaanxi.Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us to contact Shaanxi and Shanxi, which will have a great impact on the morale of the soldiers. After all, if we defeat the Qing army, how can we still lose contact with our hometown.

However, Luoyang's status is so important, even if Ping Nanbo is pardoned, he can't let this person stay in Luoyang, so I want to transfer him to Xuzhou, but Ping Nanbo's subordinates can't be transferred for the time being, so as not to trigger these thoughts Soldiers who are not stable enough think wildly, causing unexpected riots.

My idea is that in the short term, if you sit in Luoyang, on the one hand, you will deter the local tyrants in Luoyang and restore Luoyang's people's livelihood and economy; on the other hand, you will digest Ping Nanbo's troops. The soldiers below still deserve our attention, and these people should not be tied together with Liu Zhong. "

After thinking for a while, Li Guo replied to Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty's words are very true. Luoyang is really important to my Dashun, and it cannot be left in the hands of unreliable people. But, in what name should I rectify it?" What about Liu Zhong's troops?"

Li Zicheng looked at him and said: "After this experience of fighting the Qing army, the old army organization is obviously outdated. If we continue to use the Ming army's organization, it will be difficult to make a profit in the short term. The Qing army was suppressed internally.

Although the new army has many problems, one thing is undeniable, that is, the fighting will of the new army is much higher than that of the old army, because the soldiers of the new army are not fighting for the general and the emperor, but for Fight for country.

In the past, warriors obtained glory and wealth by killing people. Although they could recruit a group of powerful soldiers, most of them were villains from various places. The purpose of these people joining the army was to get promoted and get rich. Under the protection of the army, they The bad habits are even more magnified.

This kind of army is an expert when used to harm the people, but when used to fight against foreign enemies like the Manchus and Mongols, it will become extremely timid. Zuo Liangyu's subordinates and the officers and soldiers of the four towns in Jiangbei are almost all like this of warriors.

If we want to transform Ming Dynasty and build a new country, we must transform the army. If there is no army that dares to safeguard the national interests, then this new country cannot survive.Therefore, in the future, all the troops in Dashun will be reformed. We must eliminate those who join the army just to get promoted and make a fortune, and form an army with civilians who are loyal to the country and obey the laws of the country. bad habits.

During the process of the Qing army going south this time, although some people succumbed to the Manchus, there were also some people who withstood the test, such as Chen Yongfu, Liu Fangxing and others.What I mean is, based on the subordinates of Chen Yongfu and Liu Fangxing, together with Liu Zhongde's subordinates and some German local regiments who are willing to join the army for armed training, form the sixth division to be responsible for the defense along the Yellow River.

When the reconstruction of this army is completed and Luoyang is restored, the problem of Liu Zhong's troops will be solved.Before our army and the Qing army's East Route Army have achieved results, you will sit in Luoyang..."

After a long talk, Li Guo accepted the new task.After he left, Li Zicheng asked Li Laiheng to call in representatives from various places.

Chapter 422 The Pursuit Part 13

Facing Liu Hanchen who was wearing a mask, Li Zicheng certainly knew why the other party was wearing this mask.Although he was not the one who ordered revenge on the Xiangcheng scholars, but as the leader of the rebel army, this responsibility will only fall on him.

Someone can read most of the memories in Li Zicheng's mind. Although Li Zicheng seems to have no sympathy for Luo Rucai and other rebel leaders, the way these rebel leaders treat civilians does not deserve the sympathy of ordinary people.

For example, although Luo Rucai was kind to the Yijun brothers and seemed very loyal, he was not so kind to ordinary people. Luo Rucai was lustful and married many concubines, but these concubines did not follow him voluntarily.The reason why after Li Zicheng killed Luo Rucai, most of Luo Rucai's subordinates still followed Li Zicheng was because Luo Rucai had no intention of restoring social order, but only wanted to continue to live the life of a warlord with his own force.

Li Zicheng is different from these rebel leaders who are used to living in troubled times. Although he really wants to be emperor, at least he hopes to restore peace to the world. So after taking Kaifeng, he let go of Chen Yongfu who was fighting against him, and took Ningwuguan Sometimes he spared the soldiers and civilians who resisted the rebels, but some of his generals didn't think so. They always hoped to destroy those who dared to resist themselves.

As the current Emperor of Dashun, Li Zicheng can only take responsibility for some outrageous things done by his subordinates, but he will not take the initiative to mention the mistakes made by these subordinates, which will only destroy the internal unity.Because this is a troubled time, everyone who joins the rebel army, who didn't take up arms to resist the court in despair, they don't even care about their own lives, how can they cherish the lives of others.

Even if Li Zicheng lived in a soul from later generations, after reading Li Zicheng's memories, he gave up the idea of ​​evaluating the actions of the rebel army based on the values ​​of later generations, because the two sides are not the same world, and you can't expect a person who has a good understanding of the world's morals. What kind of moral values ​​do desperate people have to abide by? Most of the people who joined the rebel army never imagined that they would live to see the day when Ming Dynasty perishes.

Li Zicheng did not take the initiative to mention Liu Hanchen's mask, so naturally Liu Hanchen would not mention this physical defect that made him feel ashamed.He chose the Marshal's Mansion just to save the people of Xiangcheng from the flames of war, not to really eliminate his prejudice against the Shun Army.However, Li Zicheng announced in front of the public today that the decision of the Marshal's Mansion to help the people rebuild their homes and restore Henan's economy still slightly changed Liu Hanchen's perception of Li Zicheng.

Zhang Yongqi, who accompanied Liu Hanchen, explained to Li Zicheng that Xiangcheng's surrender to the Qing army was entirely his own idea after entering the door. Facing this influential figure among Xiangcheng scholars, Li Zicheng quickly interrupted his pleading Said: "The past can be put aside for now. I just said in front of the people that the most urgent task at present is to help the people in Henan rebuild their homes and ensure this year's spring plowing. Other issues can be put aside. You two representatives The people from Xiangcheng must have come here to let the people of Xiangcheng live and work in peace and contentment, not to settle accounts with me, right?"

Facing such a candid Li Zicheng, Liu Hanchen and Zhang Yongqi were speechless for a while, but soon Liu Hanchen came to his senses and cupped his hands to Li Zicheng and said: "Your Majesty is so magnanimous, the grass people here thank you on behalf of the people of Xiangcheng. .”

Liu Hanchen and Zhang Yongqi are not actually grassroots, but they called themselves so in front of Li Zicheng, in fact, they also expressed their attitude to Li Zicheng tactfully, that is, although they were willing to represent the people of Xiangcheng to vote for the Marshal's Mansion, but they themselves did not become new officials. towards the meaning.

Li Zicheng only pretended not to understand the meaning of the two people's words. He just talked to them about the relief methods he and the people of Tongxu County had said to them, and then asked them if they had anything to add.

After Liu Hanchen and Zhang Yongqi looked at each other, Liu Hanchen said to Li Zicheng: "The relief method your Majesty said is really good. The grassroots believe that if it can be implemented locally, many people will benefit. However, for those What about the areas that the Qing army has not passed through, but have been ravaged by war many times before? The people in these places are actually suffering no less than the people in the areas ravaged by the Qing army this time..."

Li Zicheng nodded to Liu Hanchen and said: "Mr. Liu is right, but the Marshal's Mansion does not have so many people to investigate the situation in various places... In fact, the best way is to set up three-level councils at the county, prefectural, and provincial levels. The council composed of representatives is always clear about the local difficulties. They can communicate with the Marshal's Mansion to explain the local difficulties, so that the Marshal's Mansion can target them.

In addition, the Marshal's Mansion does not have so many people to go to the local government to help every family. In fact, the council is responsible for the local people's livelihood affairs, and then it is the easiest and quickest way to ask the Marshal's Mansion for funding.Therefore, I hope that people of insight in Henan can promote the formation of councils at all levels, and make the councils a place for local people to speak out as soon as possible..."

From afternoon to evening, Li Zicheng met with more than a dozen local representatives who rushed to Weishi County one by one, dispelling some doubts about the Marshal's Mansion in these areas, and reached a consensus with these local representatives to rebuild their homes.

At noon the next day, Li Zicheng continued to march towards Zhengzhou with his army. On January 24, Li Zicheng arrived in Zhongmu. At this time, Liu Zongmin sent someone to send back the news that the Azig army did not stay in Zhengzhou, but directly retreated across the Yellow River. , Liu Zongmin said to Li Zicheng in the letter with regret: "After the Azig army crossed the Yellow River, they regained support from the rear, but our army lost the advantage of fighting inside, so he had to order to stop the pursuit." .”

Li Zicheng approved Liu Zongmin's judgment. On January 25, Li Zicheng arrived in Zhengzhou, and the city, which had been occupied for several months, returned to the Shun army again.Outside the east gate of Zhengzhou, Li Zicheng saw Liu Zongmin and other generals who greeted him outside the city.

After receiving Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, who accompanied Li Zicheng into the city, gave him a brief introduction to the process of his pursuit, and finally said with regret: "These Manchus actually showed a lot of flaws when they ran to the edge of the Yellow River. Our army did not have enough cavalry to pursue the Yellow River, so we did not seize the opportunity to give them a heavy blow, and watched them escape the Yellow River. After opening the passage to Shaanxi this time, we must start from Get some horses back from the grassland, the Central Plains is really not suitable for raising horses."

Li Zicheng, who was riding on the horse, also nodded slightly in response: "In the battle against the Manchus, it is obviously impossible to inflict heavy damage on them without cavalry. We really need to find a place where we can raise horses. Without a stable source of horses, our cavalry will not be able to deal with them. It is impossible to maintain and expand. However, since the Azig Army escaped directly from the Yellow River,

Have the Qing troops in places like Xingyang and Gongyi fled? "

Liu Zongmin replied: "After the Azig army escaped the Yellow River, the Qing soldiers in Zhengzhou, Xingyang and other places surrendered, so I sent Zuo Guangxian and Ma Bao to recover Gongyi. The next thing is to see how Liu Zhong in Luoyang will go." How did you choose..."

In fact, Liu Zhong had nothing to choose. Since he gave up the Luokou defense line to avoid the Qing army and retreated to Luoyang, his subordinates did not listen to him much.As the general of the Ming army who surrendered to Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng was actually quite good to Liu Zhong. During the previous battle between the rebel army and the Ming army, Li Zicheng let Liu Zhong guard Lu'an, but Liu Zhong abandoned it. Li Zicheng did not punish him for this. Guarding the Luokou-Luoyang line, he avoided the battle again.

What Liu Zhong did has actually caused confusion among his subordinates. Some soldiers thought that Liu Zhong had received such preferential treatment from Li Zicheng, but he still refused to fight to the death. If they did this to Li Zicheng, why couldn't they do this to Liu Zhong?

There are also some soldiers who saw the strength of the Qing army and felt that they should join the Qing army.They felt that they had already opened up the defense line of the Yellow River and let the Qing army go south. Why didn't they go further and surrender directly?At least they voted for the Qing army, and they can still follow the Qing army to go south to get a share of the pie. If they retreat to Luoyang like this, they will not get Li Zicheng's understanding, and I am afraid that the Qing army will not be satisfied, and Liu Zhong himself cannot stand on his own, because Luoyang is broken. Not enough to build a foundation.

Although these two groups of soldiers insisted on their own opinions, they looked down upon Liu Zhong's indecision, but they also knew that in this troubled world, they needed to stick together to survive. Ann is about to be held accountable.

As for Liu Zhong, he actually knew that surrendering to the Qing army had increasingly become his only choice. Although he was grateful for Li Zicheng's kindness to him, he was not moved to the point of giving up his life for Li Zicheng.

Moreover, Liu Fangming, who urged him to surrender outside Luoyang City, although he has a lot of friendship with him, is also a very tough figure.Liu Zhong also admitted that he was inferior to the opponent, and Liu Fangming, who was backed by the powerful Qing army, was not something he could reach.The reason why Liu Fangming didn't attack Luoyang right now is because Liu Fangming still wanted to take over his men and horses in their entirety.

Although Liu Fangming, who had taken refuge in the Manchus, kept his official position, the army in his hands had not expanded, and it was still only 3000 soldiers. In addition, there were about [-] or [-] local powerful men such as Li Jiyu in Henan. There are less than [-] troops, while the army in Luoyang City exceeds [-] people, which means that Liu Zhong's troops are actually watched by less than half of his own troops.

Liu Fangming got in touch with Luoyang City through Li Jiyu and other Henan local tycoons, and kept sending people into the city to persuade Liu Zhong's men to surrender to the Qing Dynasty as soon as possible, so that he could earn a family background in the new dynasty.Liu Fangming's strategy was quite successful, if the Azig army had not fled.

Just when more than half of the generals in the city believed that they should surrender to the Qing Dynasty, Li Jiyu suddenly entered the city and brought the news of Azig's failure to the city.The reason why Li Jiyu came to the city to bring this news was mainly because he wanted to protect himself. Although he had surrendered to the Qing army before, it was the most important thing for him to defend his hometown. root of duckweed.

When the Qing army marched southward, it was coming in a menacing manner. Anyone who looked at it felt that the Shun army was about to end. In addition, Liu Zhong had an ambiguous attitude towards defending the Yellow River defense line. Therefore, Li Jiyu naturally wanted to jump off the sinking ship of Dashun and attach himself to the forces. A more powerful full Qing Dynasty.

It's just that Li Jiyu didn't expect that the Qing army, which seemed to be trying to flatten the Central Plains, would fail so easily. Azig escaped the Yellow River without hesitation, and had no intention of defending Zhengzhou at all. Let them, the local tyrants in Henan, fall into a predicament.

Chapter 423 The Pursuit Part 14

The tyrants of the Luoyang generation are headed by Li Jiyu, Shen Jingbang, Ren Chen, and Zhang Ding. Among them, Li Jiyu has the most outstanding ability. .

It's just that Li Jiyu realized that he might capsize this time. In the past, one of the confidences he used to deal with Daming and the peasant army was that he had to jump repeatedly to protect the people of one side.But before Li Zicheng united the rebel army, after the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty began to ignore the authority of the court, officials and thieves were all the same in the eyes of the people who could survive, and their arrival was destroying their own lives, so Li Jiyu's behavior can Get the support of the people at the bottom.

But this time he surrendered to the Qing army, Li Jiyu actually did not get the support of the majority of people, because Dashun's policy of local restoration after the founding of Xi'an was indeed stronger than that of the Ming court.But the only problem is that Dashun has not established a complete bureaucratic system in the controlled area, so even the people who support Dashun cannot be organized and mobilized.

Although Li Zicheng absorbed Niu Jinxing and other literati, and recruited a large number of officials from Shaanxi after returning to Shaanxi, the area that the Dashun regime could really control was around Xi'an, and the places outside Xi'an were still managed by those Ming officials who surrendered. Or seeing that the powerful officials of the Shun army abandoned their posts and went home, they could only rely on the local gentry for self-government.

Although Dashun can send officials to take up local positions, it is actually difficult for these officials to fight against the local gentry groups alone. They will obey when the Shun army is strong, and once the Shun army is in a bad situation, these officials Immediately lost authority, Dashun officials who did not have time to retreat in some areas of Hebei were killed by local gentry rebellion.

Therefore, the Dashun regime at this time cannot really be called a regime, but can only be called an armed group. Where there is force, there is rule, and where there is no force, it cannot be controlled.This is also the reason why the Qing army sent a small number of troops to conquer Datong, and was able to take down the important border town of Daming in the past, because what the Qing army had to deal with was not the soldiers and civilians of Datong Town, but the troops stationed in Datong by the Shun Army.

The Qing army didn't need to do it themselves, and the local forces dissatisfied with Dashun could rise up and wipe out these scattered Shun army troops.Only in the Marshal's Mansion established in Xuzhou, someone forcibly relocated more than [-] soldiers and civilians from Hebei, directly breaking the local gentry's self-government system, rebuilding the grassroots power structure in the area, and implementing military and civilian settlements. , so that Xuzhou's surrounding areas were truly brought under the control of the Marshal's Mansion.

This is also the reason why the Qing army made no progress in attacking Jining, because what the Qing army faced here was not the isolated and helpless Shun army, but the entire mobilized military-civilian combat system.The Qing army hardly received any support here, while the Shun army could assign tasks other than combat to the mobilized civilians, which greatly improved combat efficiency.

But it doesn't mean that the local people really don't support Dashun if the Shun army doesn't establish a bureaucratic system. In fact, compared with the tycoons like Li Jiyu, the people in Luoyang still support Dashun's management of this area. .Because Dashun, who was trying to establish a country, is not the same as the bandits in the past. The bandits only wanted to destroy the imperial court's control over the local area, while Dashun tried to rebuild the control over the local area. The reason why the three-year exemption policy was started.

A local tyrant like Li Jiyu may have obtained the support of his hometown elders under the banner of defending his hometown at the beginning, but relying on the voluntary support of his hometown elders alone is not enough to maintain a team that resists thieves externally and suppresses opponents internally force, so these tyrants will eventually become local oppressors rather than protectors.

Compared with the big powers that have a vast area that can levy taxes, the tyrants entrenched in Henan can only maintain their own survival by increasing the pressure on the people in the controlled area. When an armed army stronger than you is coming, what can you use to resist?

In the more than ten years of wars in Chongzhen, Henan was almost at the center of the wars. The tyrants who can survive to this day almost survived by relying on their ability to adapt to the wind and continuous internal oppression.Under such circumstances, the people of Henan are naturally willing to support the reconstruction of a unified dynasty, and they are unwilling to continue living in this tyrannical autonomous society that is constantly involuntary.

The decision of Li Jiyu and others to betray Dashun naturally did not get the support of these people, and then they plundered the area for the Qing army to collect food and fodder, which angered the local people even more.Even if the news of the defeat of the Qing army had not reached Luoyang before, the people around Luoyang had already begun to show sporadic resistance. When the news of the defeat of the Qing army came, even some tyrants who were already dissatisfied with surrendering to the Qing army began to resist. defected.

Li Jiyu knew very well in his heart that if the Shun army came over, it would be impossible for the Qing army to hold the Luokou area, so they would definitely retreat to the north of the Yellow River.Then they were left with two options, either to cross the river with the Qing army, or to surrender to the Marshal's Mansion again.

Crossing the river with the Qing army is actually the worst choice, because their forces are all in their hometown, and they can run to the regiment training below, but they will not run away. Running alone with the Qing army is tantamount to giving up the foundation of their hometown.Moreover, the Qing army is not a good person. Those Manchus are used to plundering. Although there is no extra effort to plunder this time, it is inevitable to blackmail the place where they surrendered. Only by donating property to the generals of the Qing army can they be exchanged for the power to continue to rule the place.

Like Azig, how much money a county magistrate will pay is clearly marked.Therefore, the local officials appointed by the Qing army were almost all corrupt officials after they took office. They searched the place desperately, and divided the property into two parts. The officials who gave gifts to the generals were quickly dismissed and replaced.

This kind of blatant corruption in the officialdom is something that even some gentry can't see. Although the officials of the Ming Dynasty are corrupt and accept bribes, they still want face. Only these officials appointed by the Manchus were shameless one by one, and they began to search for the people as soon as they arrived.

However, the Manchus did not take the public's comments on the officials of the Great Qing Dynasty to heart. The Manchus themselves were very self-aware. Would the upright officials who loved the people like their own sons be of one mind with them?Only these officials who are hated by the people have to rely on the Manchus.And with these corrupt officials, they no longer have to do the robbery themselves, which is also a good thing.

Although he has only dealt with the Manchus for a few days, Li Jiyu has already understood the character of the Manchus. If he can continue to provide property to the Manchus, or if he has an army in his hand, then the Manchus will treat him with courtesy, but If he had nothing, then don't expect the Manchurian to look at him again.The Manchus are an extremely real existence, and those who are useless are not worthy of their respect.

Therefore, most of the tyrants, including Li Jiyu, thought that they should stay. After all, the golden nest and the silver nest were not as good as their own kennels.But if he wanted to stay, he had to be accepted by the Marshal's Mansion again. Li Jiyu and the others didn't think that if he didn't do anything, the Marshal's Mansion would easily let him go.

Therefore, after discussing with the Shen Jing Gang, Ren Chen, and Zhang Ding, Li Jiyu quietly entered Luoyang City to see Liu Zhong.At first, Liu Zhong thought that Li Jiyu would continue to be a lobbyist for the Qing army, so he asked his cronies to bring him into his study. When he saw Li Jiyu, he said annoyedly: "Didn't I let someone Tell Xiaowu, and let me think about it for a few more days, and he asked you to rush me after only a few days?"

Hearing this, Li Jiyu's face showed a bit of embarrassment, and then he gritted his teeth and said, "Uncle, I misunderstood, this officer did not come here under the order of General Liu."

Liu Zhong looked at Li Jiyu in astonishment, and asked after a while, "You were not sent by Xiaowu, so why did you come to the city?"

Li Jiyu hurriedly replied: "Actually, the purpose of entering the city this time is to send a message to Uncle. General, oh, Azig was defeated by His Majesty, and it is said that he has already retreated to Zhengzhou."

Liu Zhong stood up abruptly, took a few steps forward, stared at Li Jiyu and asked, "Is what you said true?"

Li Jiyu didn't dare to raise his head, he just smiled wryly and said, "Uncle, how dare I tell you a joke."

"Defeated, is this defeated?" Liu Zhong lost his mind for a while. He was not one of those inland officers and soldiers. He was from the side of the army and he naturally knew the pros and cons of the Manchus. His subordinates will definitely not be able to keep it.

To be honest, although he retreated to Luoyang to wait and see who was stronger between Li Zicheng and the Manchus, he did not have a trace of hope that Li Zicheng could defeat the Manchus, but he never imagined that Li Zicheng could be so straightforward. Drive Azig away.

Liu Zhong, who came back to his senses, immediately asked again: "Then what are the losses of our army?"

Li Jiyu was silent for a few breaths and then said: "It is said that in the battle of Suizhou, His Majesty personally led 2 infantry out of the city to invite the battle, and Azig himself besieged [-] cavalry without victory. Azig ran away with the cavalry. The casualties of our army should not be large."

The version Li Jiyu said was exactly the version widely publicized by the Shun army to defeat the Qing army. Compared with other more absurd rumors, Li Zicheng led his troops to fight against Azig, and at a critical moment, suddenly there was a golden armor god The version where a person appeared and hit Azig head-on, Azig turned over and fell, and then the Qing army collapsed, etc., are obviously more credible.

But it was also because of their credibility that powerful leaders such as Li Jiyu couldn't afford the courage to confront Li Zicheng. If [-] cavalry could not overwhelm Li Zicheng's army, then how could they, the mob, be able to defend the Shun army's attack?That's why they rushed to find a way out.

Liu Zhongxian didn't believe it. As a veteran, it was hard for him to imagine that the inferior infantry could withstand the impact of the superior cavalry. Li Zicheng was not facing Mongolian herdsmen who lacked equipment and discipline, but the elite of the Manchus. ride.In his memory, the Ming army that could withstand the cavalry no longer existed, and perhaps only the full infantry could withstand the impact of the cavalry.

Chapter 424 The Pursuit Part 15

But looking at Li Jiyu who appeared in front of him at the risk, Liu Zhong came back to his senses. The other party would not tease him with rumors. Obviously, Li Jiyu had definite news in his hands before he would appear in front of him. before.

Slumped back on the chair, Liu Zhong only felt that his eyes were getting dark. It took him a while to calm down, and said to Li Jiyu with a wry smile: "Brother, you can come to the city to report the news, I thank you His favor. I never thought His Majesty would win. I really shot myself in the foot. If I had known today..."

Li Jiyu ran into the city at the risk, not to listen to Liu Zhong's complaints. He quickly interrupted the other party and said: "Uncle is holding on to the isolated city under the siege of the Qing army. Even if he lost Luokou, he never surrendered. Anyway It's hard work, Your Majesty always wants to give Uncle some face. It's just that I didn't understand the situation and took a wrong step, and now I need Uncle to lend a helping hand..."

Liu Zhong, who was still complaining about himself, was a little stunned when he heard Li Jiyu's words, but soon he came back to his senses. Indeed, he really doesn't need to lament now, because he did not agree to the Qing army's persuasion after all. In other words, there is no final determination to surrender.

After being silent for a while, Liu Zhong said hesitantly: "I did not surrender, but will your majesty believe me? No matter how you look at it, I have done nothing in Luoyang for the past few months. If your majesty blames me, I'm afraid It’s also a matter of course. I can’t protect myself now, so how can I lend a helping hand to you?”

Li Jiyu hurriedly said: "Why didn't the uncle do anything? Didn't the uncle just pretend to be a snake to Liu Fangming's surrender all the time, and paralyzed this traitor? Next, the uncle persuaded me to wait anyway, and then gave Liu Fangming Fang Ming gave a sharp blow, and then Uncle led us to attack the Qing army in Gongyi and other places, regained the lost ground, and then went to join His Majesty to make up for the mistakes, and we will have a chance to survive."

Only then did Liu Zhong understand the purpose of Li Jiyu's entry into the city. He also had to admit that it was not a fluke that this person survived in troubled times. He said so, and they really had a fig leaf for this group of people. Under the explanation of Li Zicheng, if he honestly bows his head and admits his mistake in front of Li Zicheng, there is still a great possibility of exoneration.

However, he still hesitated. Li Jiyu, who looked at him silently, became impatient and finally asked, "What doubts do you have, Uncle? I think that there is really no other way to get the best of both worlds."

"This method is very good, but..." After hesitating for a while, Liu Zhong still said in a bit of a dilemma: "After all, Xiao Wu is not mean to me, and I have put up with my excuses many times before, so I am going to sneak attack him this time. It's not fair."

Li Jiyu looked at Liu Zhong in astonishment, he couldn't figure out how this man survived to this day, and became Ping Nanbo in front of Li Zicheng, but he soon came to his senses and tried his best to persuade him : "Uncle, I'm afraid now is not the time to think about others, if we let General Liu go, how can His Majesty believe that we have really reformed ourselves?

If His Majesty thinks that we are just having a show with the Qing army, then not only the uncle's future is in jeopardy, but our lives may not be saved either.Whether our lives are more important or Liu Zongbing's is more important, it's all in Uncle's mind. "

Liu Zhong listened to Li Jiyu's persuasion. Compared with other rebel generals, Li Zicheng was indeed quite benevolent, but he was also killed in a sea of ​​blood. To catch a general of the Qing army is to fool Li Zicheng as a fool. Li Zicheng who has been deceived is not a kind person.

After repeated silence, he finally changed his mind and said: "I know Xiao Wu well. He has always been cautious in marching and deploying formations. Even with your support, it may be difficult to attack his camp. Since you have received Aji The news of the failure of the Ge army, so there is no reason why Xiaowu cannot hear such news. I am worried that Xiaowu should have already arranged to retreat at this time, and even if we order our troops to attack at this time, we may not be able to keep him. "

After thinking for a while, Li Jiyu finally made up his mind and said: "In the past few months, I have also had contact with Liu Zongbing's subordinates, but in fact, not all of Liu Zongbing's subordinates are devoted to the Manchus.

For example, one of his subordinates, General Liu Denglou, was extremely dissatisfied with the Manchus, thinking that the Manchus' occupation of Beijing was too rude. It was not at all the appearance of helping Ming Dynasty to eliminate the bandits, but intended to live in the pass for a long time. Stance.

After the news of the failure of the Azig army came, I also had contact with these officers and soldiers who were dissatisfied with the Manchurians. Uncle led the army to attack Liu Zongbing's camp, and it was not that no one responded.The lower officials can assure the uncle that when the uncle leads troops to appear in front of Liu Zongbing's camp, there must be people in his camp to meet us. "

Li Jiyu has reached this level, Liu Zhong finally let go of the idea of ​​letting his old friend go, and if he keeps this idea, he may be sold to Li Zicheng by him at that time.When he retreated to Luoyang before, he said a lot of words in front of his subordinates that it would be better to surrender to the Qing army. With the attitude of the other party's eagerness to make contributions, if he couldn't stand up, he would definitely betray himself by the way.

Liu Zhong then asked Li Jiyu, "Then when do you plan to act?"

After thinking for a few breaths, Li Jiyu said, "I originally planned to meet my uncle today, and then my uncle will attack Liu Zongbing's camp in the name of surrender tomorrow. However, what my uncle said just reminded me. Now Liu The commander-in-chief should have also received the news of Azig's failure, so it is impossible for him not to be wary of the uncle. Therefore, it is better to act tonight. Anyway, the subordinate officials have already made arrangements. As long as the uncle makes a move, we will Arrest all the unreliable people in the camp, and then assist Uncle to attack the Qing army anyway."

After a while of silence,

Liu Zhong stood up again, and this time he finally made up his mind and said: "Then do it this way. I will call the generals to discuss the matter now. You can tell the news of Azig's failure in front of them. Anyone who dares to refuse , just take care of it, and then we will send troops..."

Before Liu Zhong summoned the generals to discuss the matter, he arranged his confidants outside the meeting hall to prevent accidents.The generals who were summoned by Liu Zhong saw Li Jiyu standing next to Liu Zhong when they entered the conference hall, and they realized for a moment what Liu Zhong had summoned them to discuss. On the other hand, the generals who advocated surrendering to the Qing army smiled happily, feeling that they had finally made it through.

Liu Zhong looked at this scene, and didn't ask the generals to express any opinions. He just said first: "Vice General Li brought a piece of news when he came to the city this time. I decided to let everyone listen to it before discussing it. Everyone be quiet. , stop whispering."

Hearing what Liu Zhong said, the generals below also responded sparsely: "I will obey the uncle's order."

Li Jiyu then took a step forward and told the generals in the hall the news of Azig's failure in detail. This time, the hall was really silent. Everyone's reaction was similar to that of Liu Zhong who had just heard the news. Same, I can't get back to my senses.