Dashun Yongchang

Our army took the crown prince as a call, and it was an act of honor to go south. The lower officials thought that we should first persuade them to surrender, and sent people to his camp to encourage the loyal men. Anyway, they will surely win without fighting. "

However, Jin Shenghuan, who had just voted for Dashun, objected: "Because Liu's people are divided at this time, our army should be suppressed with the force of thunder, and this army can be broken with one blow. Once this army is broken, Liu Zeqing will be terrified. , then Huai'an City can be easily acquired..."

Looking at the dispute between the two former generals of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Nai realized that what Emperor Yongchang said was true. The biggest enemy he had to face was not the Ming army on the opposite side, but these Ming army generals who surrendered to Dashun.

For example, Qiu Lei advocated appeasement, because he wanted to take over part of Liu Zeqing's troops, so that he didn't have to be a polished general like he is now.Jin Shenghuan's desire to attack by force is not because he is loyal to Dashun, but because he wants to take advantage of the chaos of the war to make a fortune in Huai'an. Although Dashun's army has a military law that strictly prohibits private looting of civilians, Liu Zeqing has already robbed wealthy merchants in Huai'an Once again, everyone just needs to loot Liu Zeqing's troops.

After Zhang Nai thought it over and over again, he finally said aloud: "At this time, going to the Sanhekou Camp as an envoy is not a small risk, Mr. Qiu, are you really willing to take on the responsibility of being an envoy?"

Qiu Lei immediately said: "The officer is willing to issue a military order."

Zhang Nai shook his head and said, "There is no need for a military order. Our army will give them a night to think at most. If you can't convince them, you must return before noon tomorrow.

Commander Jin, take your troops across the Qinghe River tomorrow morning to form an array. As soon as our troops leave the north bank of the Yellow River to defend the enemy from crossing the river, and once we leave the upper reaches of the Qinghe River, if the Sanhekou Battalion does not surrender before noon tomorrow, then we will launch an attack at the same time and break the Its big camp. "

Both Jin Shenghuan and Qiu Lei were not dissatisfied with this arrangement, but before crossing the river, Qiu Lei said confidently to his colleagues: "I will not ask the two armies to use swords when I go to Sanhekou. Jin will not have the chance to earn military merits." There is."

Regarding the arrival of Qiu Lei, the envoy of the Shun Army, the Ma Huabao camp was also arguing. Liu Zeqing's nephew Liu Zhiqian and his confidant Yao Wenchang, who were stationed in Sanhekou, said that Qiu Lei should be taken to Huai'an City and handed over to Liu Zeqing, but Wang Zuntan and Zhang Siyi objected It is an ancient ritual to think that the dispute between the two countries is not cut off.

Ma Huabao finally reconciled with Xini, saying that he would lock Qiu Lei in the camp first, and then let Liu Zhiqian go back to the city to inform Liu Zeqing.It can be said that they were detained, but Qiu Lei and his entourage were free to walk around in the camp, and talked with those officers and soldiers of the Liu Department about the current situation of the prince and the treatment of the Shun army. Even more demoralized after these words.

After the military discussion, Wang Zuntan also approached Liu Konghe, a friend from his hometown, and asked him about his plans.Liu Konghe was the son of Liu Hongxun, an academician. Although he came from an aristocratic family, he liked horseback riding and archery. After the chaos in Shandong, he recruited the tenants of the Liu family to kill the officials of Dashun, and then fled south to Huai'an, where he made friends with Liu Zeqing.

To Wang Zuntan's question, he replied subconsciously: "My Liu family has received national grace, how can I be a thief? Your family is also a family of officials and eunuchs, and thieves plunder the rich and take away my property. Don't you want to Surrender to these thieves?"

But Wang Zuntan replied calmly: "It's not for Zicheng, but for the prince. Today we are not rejecting intruders, but rejecting the prince. If we shoot an arrow to the north, we will be between the prince and Nandu. After choosing a position, if the crown prince is restored in the future, we will be traitors. Who do you think will forgive us? What's more, judging from the court decrees of the past two months, the one in Nandu is not the real son. Why should I wait? To be buried with him?"

Chapter 129 Under Huai'an

The next morning, Ma Huabao, the chief general of the Sanhekou Camp, discovered that a part of the Shun Army had crossed the Qinghe River and was forming formation by the river.This surprised him, he asked people to bring Qiu Lei to the big tent, and at the same time called all the generals in the camp to discuss countermeasures.

Yao Wenchang immediately said, "The general said yesterday that Qiu Lei came for unknown reasons. I'm afraid he didn't come to surrender us, but to divide us. Sure enough, it took only one night for the Shun army to cross the river." , It is obvious that they want to use force to coerce us to surrender.

How can we be worthy of the commander if we surrender at this time?The last general thought that he should push the traitor Qiu Lei out of the gate and behead him to boost morale, and then send troops to drive the soldiers who crossed the river back to the other side, so that the Shun army would know that we are not easy to mess with. "

Zhang Siyi immediately objected: "It's not appropriate to kill Qiu Lei. The commander-in-chief has not decided whether to go to war with the Shun army. After Qiu Lei is killed, the two families can sit down and negotiate? If the commander-in-chief intends to be loyal to the prince, who will bear the responsibility of killing?" Qiu Lei's responsibility?"

Yao Wenchang curled his lips and said: "The command of the commander-in-chief has not been issued yet. Who can be sure that the commander-in-chief will be loyal to the prince? If we lose the Sanhekou camp and the commander-in-chief does not intend to be loyal to the prince, who will bear the responsibility?" ? In short, as long as the commander-in-chief has not ordered us not to attack the Shun army, then we should naturally fight to the death for the commander-in-chief..."

At this time, Liu Konghe suddenly interrupted him and said: "The country entrusted Huaidong thousands of miles to Liu Shuai, but after Liu Shuai arrived in Huai'an, he only knew how to build mansions and collect beautiful women. , How can you fight for such a stupid person. Gentlemen, are you here fighting for the country, or for a Gaoyang alcoholic? If it is the latter, forgive me for being ordered."

Yao Wenchang was furious immediately, he pressed his waist knife and reprimanded him: "Liu Jiezhi, are you planning to rebel?"

Wang Zuntan winked at Yu Shaoxun who was on the side, and the two quickly stepped forward to grab Yao Wenchang and said, "General Yao, calm down, General Liu is just a few angry words, everyone is a brother who eats in a ladle, why are we so tense?" ..."

Ma Huabao also had to pretend to reprimand Liu Konghe a few words, but when everyone focused on Liu Konghe, unexpectedly Yao Wenchang let out a scream.Ma Huabao, Zhang Siyi and the others immediately turned their heads to look, only to see Wang Zuntan wiped his arm with a dagger, and then inserted it into the holster around his waist, while Yao Wenchang was lying on the ground with his hands covering his throat, Blood continued to flow out from the gap between his fingers, and it seemed that he couldn't live.

Subconsciously, Ma Huabao got up and drew his sword, and asked Wang Zuntan sternly, "Wang Taiping, what are you doing? Even if Vice General Yao is at fault, you can't use lynching."

Wang Zuntan looked at Ma Huabao and said calmly: "The prince is in the north, whoever dares to shoot an arrow to the north is a traitor. Yao Wenchang already knew that Qiu Lei was the prince's envoy, and he intended to kill him. Isn't this a traitor? I mean Let's support His Highness the Crown Prince together with the princes to defend the Zhengshuo of the country, would you be willing to help the Daming Society together?"

Everyone in the camp looked at Liu Konghe who was blocking the entrance of the big tent, and then at the generals standing beside Wang Zuntan, finally someone couldn't help but said to Ma Huabao: "Shuai Ma, what the two generals Wang and Liu said Not bad. The crown prince is in the north, and the Shun army supports us. If we fight the north, the soldiers may not be willing to fight."

Ma Huabao hesitated for a moment, he knew that the soldiers below really didn't want to fight, Liu Zeqing hid in Huai'an city and enjoyed wine and beauties, but pushed them out to resist the Shun army going south, the army has always been full of complaints.You must know that the main force of their army is Shandong soldiers. When the Qing army and the Shun army attacked Shandong, Liu Zeqing ran away without resisting for a day. Could it be that they are now asked to defend the Huai'an people?This is obviously unreasonable. How can an army that does not defend its own hometown defend other people's hometowns.

Just when Ma Huabao was hesitating, Zhang Siyi suddenly put away the waist knife, then retreated to Wang Zuntan, cupped his hands towards Ma Huabao and said, "Ma Shuai, His Royal Highness' orders must not be disobeyed, otherwise, where else in Jianghuai will accept us? Will those ministers in Nandu let me wait to retreat across the Yangtze River to defend Nandu?"

Zhang Siyi's attitude immediately attracted many generals to Liu Konghe and Wang Zuntan's side. Looking at the hesitant expressions of the remaining generals in the tent, Ma Huabao finally dropped the sword in his hand and said: "Yao Wenchang tried The crown prince who rebelled against him should be killed. After all, the Daming Sheji belongs to the Zhu family. Since the crown prince asks us to surrender, what can we courtiers do? Let’s bring Qiu Lei here, and ask him to enshrine our letter of allegiance to the crown prince. let's go…"

Zhang Nai, who was about to cross the river, saw Qiu Lei who had been sent back by the other side, looked at the surrender form he brought back, and asked in disbelief: "They surrendered now? Could there be some conspiracy?"

Qiu Lei nodded and said: "Yes, General Zhang, the Sanhekou camp has indeed surrendered. Although there are more than 2 people in the camp, more than 3 are local strong men who were captured. Among the 1 people under the command, they are divided into five generals, and there are already conflicts among them. Once the banner of righteousness is lost, they will fight themselves, so why resist our army?"

Zhang Nai thought for a while, then asked him: "Then what does General Qiu think our army should do next?"

Qiu Lei thought for a while and said: "Since Liu Zeqing got Huai'an City, he has regarded this city as his own private property. Huang Fei, the general of the landing army, and more than [-] members of the Denglai Navy and his family members withdrew to Huai'an from Shandong, but Liu Zeqing Huang Fei refused to bring the navy officers and soldiers into Huai'an, settled them in Andong City, and planned to annex his troops.

Although Huang Fei's navy was stationed in Denglai, most of its members came from Yanding in Huai'an. Therefore, as long as Liu Zeqing forced Huang Fei to leave with his confidants, the backbone of the Denglai navy would fall into Liu Zeqing's hands.Huang Fei must be resentful towards Liu Zeqing, and asked the general to let me go to Andongwei to persuade Huang Fei to surrender, then Huang Fei blocked Liu Zeqing's passage to the sea in Andongwei, so Liu Zeqing would have nowhere to go.

As long as the general bluffs to force him, Liu Zeqing will definitely abandon the city and flee, and the subordinate officials will be able to catch him in Antonwei.If the general blocks Liu Zeqing in the city of Huai'an, it will become a battle between trapped beasts instead, which may not be a good thing. "

Zhang Nai nodded to Qiu Lei and said: "This strategy is very good, and when I take over the Sanhekou camp, you can go to Anton."

Receiving a surrendered army is actually quite a complicated matter, but for the current Dashun Army, it is much simpler. Dismiss the strong men who were forcibly conscripted, and then divide the remaining troops who want to eat soldiers. 1 to 3 camp heads, and then reorganize them one by one.

It only took half a day, and the army in the Sanhekou camp was left with less than 9000 main troops and more than 1 auxiliary soldiers. Zhang Nai told these auxiliary soldiers that as long as Huai'an City was recovered, they could go home The morale of these auxiliary soldiers suddenly rose, and they cooperated with the Shun army to control the entire camp.After the Ming army announced the treatment of the soldiers of the Shun army, the soldiers of the Ming army who were still a little confused gradually calmed down.

So that night, Qiu Lei took a few boats to Andongwei in the northeast of Huai'an, Liu Kong and Wang Zuntan each took a group of troops to Qingjiangpu, and Zhang Nai led the main force to the camp at Sanhekou.

On August 8, Zhang Nai brought Ma Huabao and Jin Shenghuan to Qingjiangpu. Qingjiangpu is the junction of the canal and the Huaihe River. Because the Yellow River seizes the Huaihe River, it is difficult for ships to pass through the lock. Passengers from the south have to disembark and cross the Huaihe River. It is a section of land, so there is a saying that "the south boat connects the north horse, and the throat is at the north and south".

It is also because of this that there are endless buildings and shops for ten miles along the bank of Qingjiang River. For Shun Jun, who is used to seeing the dilapidated scenes in the north, it is the first time they have seen such a paradise in the troubled times.Because of this, the already good military discipline of the Shun Army became a bit more awe-inspiring, because they really couldn't bear to destroy the peaceful scene here.

With Shun Jun watching, both Jin Shenghuan's department and the original Liu Zeqing's department were much more careful.When Wang Zuntan and Liu Konghe arrived at Qingjiangpu last night, there was almost no battle, because after hearing that the Sanhekou camp had fallen, the officers and soldiers of the Liu Department stationed at Qingjiangpu fled back to Huai'an City.

Qiu Junsun immediately came forward to appease the people of Qingjiangpu. With the appearance of this Jinshi from Shanyang County, Huai'an, the people of Qingjiangpu, who were originally uneasy, stayed at home with peace of mind, which saved Shunjun a lot of trouble.After releasing some of the men and women captured by the Liu Department back home, the people in Qingjiangpu also accepted the order of the Shun Army and took on some logistical work for it.

On the other hand, after learning last night that the Sanhekou camp had surrendered to the Shun Army, Liu Zeqing quietly took his confidantes and household belongings and fled to the sea early in the morning. When the main force of the Shun Army appeared in Qingjiangpu, the officers and soldiers in the city found out Liu Zeqing and Chief Cao Tianyang disappeared.

The escape of the two highest-ranking military and political officials in Huai'an City made the officers and soldiers in the city lose the courage to resist.Under Shunjun's call, the highest-ranking official in the city, Superintendent Fan Mingke came to surrender with the imperial seal, and Zhang Nai accepted the surrender of the officers and soldiers in the city.So Bai Yongfu, the general soldier, led his troops and the officials and people in the city to meet him, and Zhang Nai conquered Huai'an.

On the afternoon of August 8, Huang Fei and Qiu Lei came from Andong by boat and brought back Liu Zeqing and Tian Yang by the way.So Qinghe County on the north bank of the Huaihe River also sent personnel to ask for surrender. On August 13, Haizhou sent people to surrender.

Lu Wang Zhu Yuhai and other clans who fled to Baiyan Shimen in Shandong before, decided to go south and surrender to the Shun army after hearing that Huai'an had been captured by the Shun army.Wang Jun, the leader of the Dacang Mountain Rebel Army who had already reached an agreement with Zhu Yuhai, had no choice but to say to his subordinates: "Emperor Yongchang's luck is still there, and he has a prince in his hands. Since King Lu has decided to surrender to Dashun, there is no need for us to surrender." Keep Daming alive. I intend to go to Huai'an to meet Emperor Yongchang and see if he really has the air of a son of heaven."

On August 8th, Li Zicheng's boat arrived at Qingjiangpu, Lu Zhenfei and Wang Fan entered Huai'an City to appease the gentry and common people, and the people of Huai'an followed suit.On this day, Gaoyou surrendered to Shunjun forward sentinel Kaesong.It was Wang Mingde, son of Wang Yongji, who led the Gaoyou gentry to open the city.The road from Shunjun to Yangzhou has been unimpeded.

On August 8, Li Zicheng entered Huai'an City and settled in Liu Zeqing's Fanzhen Mansion.The mansion of Liu Zeqing’s vassal town located in Xuanchunfang, Huai’an New City, was originally the headquarters of the Commander of Dahewei. Its specifications are similar to the palace.

When Li Zicheng entered the mansion, he couldn't help admiring the magnificence of the mansion and the garden Ququ. While praising, he smiled and said to the generals next to him: "Isn't this Liu Zeqing knowing that I am coming to Huai'an, so even The house has been built for me, what do you think he is planning? When the soldiers were pressing the border, he put all his energy into building the mansion..."

Chapter 130 Next Step

After visiting Liu Zeqing's uncompleted feudal town mansion, even if he only opened up the gardens of the adjacent squire's mansion, the feudal town mansion at this time is already quite good, but Liu Zeqing is obviously not satisfied with this, and has arranged several The construction of pavilions and pavilions tried to completely integrate the adjacent gardens with the former Dahewei Department. Therefore, when Li Zicheng inspected this feudal town, he could still see many construction sites that were suspended for construction.

During the inspection, Zhang Nai also reported to Li Zicheng by the way: "This Jinshiyu and Jiashuxuan are the residences of Yan Zaipeng, a local gentry. A generation is famous in the local area for its poems and prose, which can be regarded as quite famous, will this mansion be returned to him?"

After pondering for a moment, Li Zicheng said: "Salt merchant Congwen? Then don't rush to return him, and he will not have no place to live. Several buildings here will stop if they stop, but the roads and drainage should still be done. It's been repaired. Well, the garden is finished, let's find a place to talk about the next actions of our army."

Zhang Nai immediately stopped talking about returning the garden, and led Li Zicheng and others to a building by the lake. This building was shaped like a tall dragon boat, divided into upper and lower floors.Everyone went up the stairs to the second floor, and the view here was really wide, taking the scenery by the lake into their eyes.

Li Zicheng and the others admired the lake view, and then asked them to sit down. He glanced at them and said, "The people sitting here today are all from our own family. Shun is loyal, so he is not an outsider."

After hearing this, Jin Shenghuan was elated, got up and saluted Li Zicheng, saying: "Although I just saw Your Majesty today, I have long longed for His Majesty's reputation. Shengheng is willing to fight for His Majesty to the death..."

Zhang Nai, who was sitting first to Li Zicheng's left, glanced at Jin Shenghuan who was kneeling on one knee, and then looked away.Li Zicheng stepped forward to help Jin Shenghuan, praised him a few words, and then sat back in his seat and continued to say to the crowd: "Huai'an is coming down, Baoying and Gaoyou have opened the door to us again, and the road to Yangzhou will be unimpeded." up.

At this time, Huang Degong and Gao Jie were still confronting each other in the Yizheng area, and Yangzhou City was at a loss as to who to open the door to.Therefore, next, instead of showing our force to Yangzhou, we should show our goodwill to Yangzhou.Only when the people of Yangzhou stand with us, whether Gao Jie or Huang Degong loses the opportunity to gain a foothold in Yangzhou, otherwise it will become three guest armies fighting in Yangzhou, while the people of Yangzhou sit on the sidelines and watch.

Our army plus Huang Degong's troops naturally overwhelmed Gao Jie's army, but Huang Degong had neither vision nor a big picture. Although he swore allegiance to the prince at this time, he was still an unreliable factor.Although Gao Jie's army was trapped in the north of the river, if he could be sincerely accepted by the southern capital and cross the river to get the support of manpower and material resources from the south of the river, half of the mission of the army's southward mission would have failed.

Because of our current strength, we can't help Gao Jie's army with the Yangtze River as the line of defense.Not to mention that he still has the material support of the entire Jiangnan behind him, so our current goal needs to be revised slightly, and we need to use the power of Nandu and Huang Degong to force Gao Jie's army to surrender to me, and then take Yangzhou City. "

Zhang Nai and all the generals were a little confused. He couldn't help asking like Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty, I can understand the use of the power of Huang Degong's Ministry, but how can the power of Nandu be borrowed? Gao Jie is now the only one in the four towns of Jiangbei." Still obeying Nandu’s feudal town, Nandu and Gao Jie’s army can be said to be bitter, how could they help us to persecute Gao Jie’s army?”

Li Zicheng glanced at the generals, and saw that a group of people were either confused or just staring at him, waiting for him to explain.He could only sigh in his heart. Song and Yuan wanted to stay in Xuzhou to arrange defensive measures against Jiannu going south. The staff around him was obviously not enough. These generals met the expectations of the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty. How to fight, don't care why you fight like this.

He coughed a few times, straightened his thoughts, and then explained to the generals: "Nandu, no, it should be said that some people in Nandu really need Gao Jiejun to protect their position, but most people in Nandu and Most of the gentry in Jiangnan wanted to defend their own interests.

For them, as long as our army does not show the desire and ability to cross the river, they will not let a feudal town with an unknown position cross the river and enter Nandu in the first place.For Nandu, Gao Jie's army is, after all, an unreliable army of defectors, not a well-known official army. Once Gao Jie crosses the river and picks up the butcher's knife, Nandu has no way to check and balance Gao Jie's army. root cause of the rampage.

Therefore, before we go south to Yangzhou, we must do three things well.The first is to send people to negotiate with Nandu, so that people in Nandu have a reason to reject Gao Jie's army crossing the river; the second is to publicize the deeds of Gao Jie's army burning, killing and looting in Yangzhou and northern places to all parts of the south of the Yangtze River, so that the gentry and people in the south of the Yangtze River have a firm rejection of Gao Jie. The heart of the army crossing the river; the third sent people to negotiate with Yangzhou City and strive for Yangzhou to surrender to our army.

As long as these three things are done, even if the Southern Metropolis has the manpower to go against the crowd and support Gao Jie's army to cross the river, it will be too late.Because it is impossible for Gao Jie's army to cross the river openly in front of our army that has occupied Yangzhou City, otherwise this army will be finished. "

Of course the generals knew why Gao Jie’s army was doomed, because the city of Yangzhou went south along the canal to Guazhou Ferry. How could Gao Jie’s army of 6 or [-] horses cross the river in an orderly manner under the oppression of the Shun army?Of course, if Yangzhou City is not in the hands of the Shun Army, then there is at least a barrier between Gao Jie's Army and the Shun Army, and Nandu will not feel that time is pressing.

Most of the Dashun generals who were eager to try after taking Huai'an originally wanted to go south quickly to join forces with Zuo Guangxian and Huang Degong to attack Gao Jie's army, wipe out Jiangbei in one fell swoop, and then see if there is a chance to cross the river, but after Li Zicheng's plan Next, everyone calmed down a little.

Indeed, if Gao Jie's army could be forced to surrender, not only would the four Jiangbei towns be wiped out, but Dashun's power would also be greatly enhanced. It would become even easier to attack Jiangnan.

However, Jin Shenghuan still couldn't help asking, "Your Majesty, if Gao Jie's tribe surrenders, should we still live in peace with Nandu? Or take advantage of the situation to cross the river and take Nandu, Jiangnan will be peaceful."

Many of the generals also nodded in agreement, obviously they were very happy to take a trip to the affluent Jiangnan.At this time, Li Zicheng felt that it was indeed a good thing for him to take these low-ranking generals with him. If Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi and other generals were here, it would be difficult for him to persuade them to let go of such an idea.

After all, if Gao Jie surrendered, Nanjing would be equivalent to a stripped beauty lying on the bed, and the eunuchs would probably be the ones who couldn't hold back at this time.After thinking about it, Li Zicheng quickly abandoned this idea, which was equivalent to pointing at his own nose and cursing.

He slightly raised his head and glanced at Jin Shenghuan and the other generals, before he said unhurriedly: "Jiangnan is right there, and they don't know how to run away, and the four towns in Jiangbei have been wiped out, what else can Nanjing do?

Instead of crossing the river to get the wealth of Jiangnan, why not let Nanjing hand over the wealth of Jiangnan.In this way, the armies are spared the trouble of crossing the river to fight, and can once again attack the prestige of the puppet dynasty in Nandu.

As long as Nanjing can continuously send Jiangnan's wealth across the river, then what are we worried about about Nanjing?Without money and food, it is impossible to have a new army, and local dissatisfaction with Nanjing will also deepen. When Nanjing loses the allegiance of the people in Jiangnan, Jiangnan will be a ripe persimmon. It will fall into our hands..."

Under Li Zicheng's planning and coercion, the generals quickly unified their understanding and obeyed Li Zicheng's strategy of pacifying Yangzhou.After talking about this main issue, Li Zicheng began to discuss with the generals how to deal with the three kinds of armed forces in Huai'an. One is the Shandong Army led by Liu Zeqing; the Denglai Water Army led by Huang Fei; .

This problem is actually not complicated, because before Li Zicheng arrived in Huai'an, Zhang Nai was already dealing with it, and Li Zicheng just reconfirmed Zhang Nai's arrangement.It's just that he slightly modified two points. One is to retain the establishment of the Denglai Navy, and the other is to formally separate Wang Zuntan, Liu Konghe and the two departments from Liu Zeqing's department.

Liu Konghe's troops were asked to clear the bandits and neutral forces from the Huaihe River to the Yangtze River coast, while Wang Zuntan was asked to go south along the canal to occupy the Nantong area and surrender the defenders of Chongming Island.Then, the Denglai Navy will start from Haizhou and go south to the mouth of the Yangtze River to force the Chongming defenders to surrender and contain the Zhenjiang Navy on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

After discussing these two matters, this military meeting can be regarded as coming to an end.After the generals retreated, Li Zicheng pulled Zhang Nai and said, "You need to pay more attention to the matter of reorganizing the army. If our army goes south, it must be cleaned up. We can't bring a group of disorderly troops south, otherwise we will only let you go." The people of Yangzhou and Gao Jie have underestimated us. This time, the main purpose of dealing with Gao Jie’s army is to deter Gao Jie’s army. If he cannot be deterred, there will be a chaotic battle in the future, and many of our goals will be difficult to achieve.”

Zhang Nai cautiously clasped his fists and replied: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, although Liu Zeqing's troops and the Denglai Navy are timid, the training of the sergeants is not useless. As long as they can win the hearts of the soldiers, they still have some confidence in dealing with a bereaved dog like Gao Jie." .”

Li Zicheng patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Okay, then I will leave the affairs of the army to you. Next, I will focus on the civil affairs in Huai'an and recruiting the volunteers in Shandong. Once the defense line is established, the Shandong defense line we are seeking will not be complete, and Jiannu can go south to attack Huai'an from the east of Mount Tai, so our retreat will be dangerous."

Zhang Nai agreed and said: "Your Majesty's words are very true. If a line of defense cannot be established between Mount Tai and Jiaozhou, there will be no one to stop Jiannu from going south. I think that there are two forces available in this area. One is the Jiushan Rebel Army, which is dominated by the Great Cangshan Rebel Army; the other is the Yang Yufan family, the general. There are many old Yang's troops in the Laizhou Army, especially the first battalion of three thousand birds. The main force..."

Chapter 131 Letters

When Tian Yang was brought in front of Li Zicheng, he also felt uneasy.But Li Zicheng just took a look at him and asked him frankly: "Is Mr. Tian from Yunnan?"

Tian stood up and replied, "Yes, the minister is from Sinan Prefecture, Yunnan."

Li Zicheng continued to ask: "Then who recommended Mr. Tian as the chief cao?"

Tian Yang said: "I am really loved by Bo Cheng, and recommended by Mr. Ma Ge."

So Li Zicheng continued to ask: "Are there still officials loyal to Ming Dynasty in Nandu?"

Tian Yang raised his head and glanced at Li Zicheng cautiously, then replied in a low voice: "There are all officials of Ming Dynasty in Nandu, and no one betrayed Ming Dynasty."

There was a disapproving smile on Li Zicheng's face, and he said mockingly, "Emperor Daxing's bones are not yet cold, the crown prince, King Ding, and King Yong are still alive, but Nandu can't wait to make King Fu the emperor. Is this considered a loyal minister of Ming Dynasty?"

Tian Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and then said palely: "At that time, I didn't know that the crown prince was still there, and the country needed someone to take charge of the affairs, so everyone recommended Fu... today."

Li Zicheng immediately lowered his face and reprimanded: "There is no edict from Emperor Daxing, and the prince is still there. Where did he come from today? Before you said that you didn't know the life and death of Emperor Daxing and the whereabouts of the prince. Those who have already gone south and still dare to support the false emperor are plotting rebellion."

Tian Yang's face became paler, and his whole body trembled, he knew that what Li Zicheng said was right.According to the law of etiquette, Emperor Hongguang is a false emperor who usurped the throne, and those who support Emperor Hongguang are naturally treacherous ministers who seized power.

Li Zicheng supported the prince to go south, which was something no one thought of.Just like Ma Shiying broke the rules of succession to the throne of the Ming Dynasty, it was entirely because of the force in his hands that overwhelmed Nandu.

But now Li Zicheng's force is stronger than Ma Shiying's. After all, the four towns have surrendered two to the Chuangjun. The remaining Liu Liangzuo and Gao Jie, the former's strength cannot be compared with the other three towns. He is the strongest among them, but it is difficult to resist the attack of the two towns, not to mention that Li Zicheng's army is stronger than the four towns.

Therefore, talking about etiquette and law, the prince has all the reasons, and talking about force, Nandu is also powerless to compete with Shunjun.In this way, if Shunjun really wanted to fight Jiangnan, Tian Yang felt that it would be a problem if Nan could last for a few days.Then their actions to support Daming in the past few months have become a joke.

Tian Yang stood tremblingly in the courtyard, and when his back was soaked with sweat, Li Zicheng finally spoke to him again: "I have a letter, and you bring it to Ma Shiying for me. Let King Fu abdicate as soon as possible, and then cross the river to welcome the prince and his son." The Emperor’s Empress Zi Palace can still be forgiven by the Crown Prince, otherwise I will beg for the disrespectful ministers of the Emperor.”

Tian Yang looked up at Li Zicheng in surprise for a while and asked, "Your Majesty wants to let the foreign officials go back to Nanjing?"

Li Zicheng looked at him coldly, forced Tian Yang to bow his head, and then said: "I have said publicly a long time ago that the dispute between Shunming and Ming Dynasty is nothing more than the change of surnames in the country, and the invasion of foreign tribes is the rise and fall of the world. To establish slaves and enter the customs means that you don't even want your ancestors, but I still want your ancestors, so I sent the prince and empress Zigong south.

Brothers fought against the wall to defend against their insults.It's just that I didn't expect that there would be so many rebellious ministers in Nandu. It's shameless to betray the Emperor Daxing and the prince while shouting at Junfu.However, my great enemy is in the north and not in the south. If the false emperor himself resigns from the throne and comes to ask the prince for forgiveness, it can still be discussed. Otherwise, let the rebels in the southern capital wash their necks clean. "

After all, Li Zicheng waved his hand and asked Li Laiheng to take Tian Yang down.He looked at the few clumps of plantains in the corner of the courtyard in the hall, and meditated silently for a while, then Li Laiheng brought Liu Zeqing up again.

Facing the fleeing general, Li Zicheng's attitude was much better than that of Tian Yang, and after Liu Zeqing realized that Li Zicheng had no intention of killing himself, he boldly asked Li Zicheng: "I don't know if your Majesty With the appearance of a dragon and a phoenix on the surface of the sky, he lost his head and resisted the heavenly soldiers led by His Majesty.

His Majesty is so tolerant towards the criminals, even if the criminals are completely out of their minds, it is difficult to report what happened.The guilty minister is willing to be your majesty's vanguard, conquer Yangzhou to redeem the past, and please your majesty to give the guilty minister a chance. "

Li Zicheng stretched out his hand to support Liu Zeqing in the air, and after signaling Liu Zeqing to get up, he said with a smile: "Of course there will be a chance to serve Dashun. But I have more important tasks for you to do, I wonder if General Liu would like it? "

Liu Zeqing was overjoyed and said: "As long as you can do your best for His Majesty, no matter whether it is water or fire, the general will not frown."

Li Zicheng smiled and said: "That's good. I was worried that Huai'an would be difficult for a while, so I persuaded the crown prince and the empress Zigong to stay in Xuzhou. Now that Huai'an has been pacified, let someone go north to welcome the prince and empress Zigong. This is an extremely important mission, and there is no chance of any mistakes on the way. I thought that only General Liu's status and talent could escort the Crown Prince and Empress Zigong to Huai'an safely. What does General Liu think?"

Liu Zeqing looked at Li Zicheng who was smiling all over his face, and his heart sank.This welcome envoy just sounds quite prestigious, but it is actually useless to warriors.He had just succumbed to Li Zicheng, but in fact he wanted to get back the command of the army, even a part of it.During the process of electing Emperor Hongguang in Nanjing, the four towns in Jiangbei understood that the Ming Dynasty from now on would be ruled by warriors.

He looked at Li Zicheng's kindness before, and originally thought of taking the opportunity of surrender to get the army back, and the rest depends on the situation.But Li Zicheng, who seemed quite amiable, didn't even want to leave him with a mouthful. He just asked him to greet the prince by name.

After sending Liu Zeqing away, Li Zicheng got up and went to the West Wing Room in the front yard, talked with several young scholars, and then left Ye Tingxiu and Fu Yijian behind, and ordered them to draft a few copies for him. The recipients of the letters are: Ma Shiying, Liu Kongzhao, Shi Kefa and other ministers of the southern capital, as well as letters to the people of Yangzhou, letters to the people of Jiangnan, letters to Huang Degong, letters to Gao Jie, etc.

It wasn't until Li Laiheng came to report to him that the dinner was ready, and after Huang Fei, Tian Shengjia, Wang Wuwei and other generals of the Denglai Army had arrived, Li Zicheng realized that the sun outside the house had already set to the west.He then said to Ye Tingxiu and Fu Yijian, "Well, you two continue to organize these letters, and then write a copy tonight, and hand over the letter to Li Laiheng tomorrow morning. This is an important task and cannot be delayed."

After Ye Tingxiu and Fu Yijian sent Li Zicheng out of the house, Ye Tingxiu suddenly asked Fu Yijian: "Do you think that the purpose of Emperor Yongchang's writing these letters is really just to persuade Emperor Hongguang to abdicate and save the two countries from fighting? "

Different from Ye Tingxiu who had been an official in the Ming Dynasty, Fu Yijian was just a scholar, so he didn't have much affection for Daming. Now that he has been recruited by Dashun, he naturally said cautiously to the old senior: "Young man Stupid, unable to understand the deep meaning of the Lord. However, Dayi is now in the hands of the Lord, persuading Emperor Hongguang to abdicate, this is an inevitable step, and after that, the younger generation will not be able to know."