Dashun Yongchang

After mental calculation, Li Laiheng said: "It was sent out yesterday morning, and it will arrive early in the morning the day after tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

Li Zicheng nodded and said: "Go and invite Ruan Dacheng to Pingshan Hall, I want to have a talk with him..."

The scenery in Pingshan Hall is still the same. Although the sun is not so good today, you can’t look far away, but looking towards the direction of the Yangtze River is still an open-minded landscape.It's just that Ruan Dacheng was not in the mood to enjoy the scenery today. After entering Pingshan Hall, he focused all his attention on Li Zicheng.

After chatting with Li Zicheng about the weather, Ruan Dacheng couldn't wait to express his heart to Li Zicheng, "I am really grateful for your majesty's hospitality in the past few days. However, your majesty has a long-term ambition, so how can you waste time in Yangzhou?" , I am willing to do the work of a dog and a horse for Your Majesty, running across the river to fix the south of the Yangtze River, I don't know what Your Majesty means?"

Li Zicheng looked at him and nodded slightly and said, "Of course I'm very happy to get Mr. Yuan Hai's help. Right now, I really want to invite Mr. Yuan Hai to visit. I wonder if Mr. Yuan Hai is interested in this?"

Ruan Dacheng was naturally very excited to be accepted by Li Zicheng.The previous meeting with Li Zicheng made him realize that it is still uncertain whether Emperor Hongguang is finished or not, but Ma Shiying and those who support Hongguang Emperor have nowhere to go.

After Emperor Hongguang abdicated, he might be able to remain stable for a period of time as a supervisor of the country, but waiting for the crown prince to ascend the throne, those who supported Emperor Hongguang would naturally become sacrifices.How could the prince sleep without cutting off the wings of Emperor Hongguang?Even if the prince is not aware of this, the people around the prince will remind him.

Therefore, before crossing the river, he discussed with Ma Shiying and others that they could only use Li Zicheng's desire for Jiangnan to detain the prince, which was their chance of survival.Li Zicheng claimed that he went south to help the crown prince succeed to the throne, but they didn't believe it, not only did they not believe it, even the Donglin party members didn't believe it either.

It's just that no one thought that the four Jiangbei towns would be so vulnerable. At this time, no one could believe that Li Zicheng went south to help Daming regain the great rule.If you don't believe this, you will have to face the Shun army who went south under the banner of the crown prince to seek rebellion. After losing the four towns in Jiangbei and the title of righteousness, Nanjing can't afford to organize King Qin's army to fight against Li Zicheng and the crown prince.

Therefore, they could only admit the justice of Li Zicheng's going south to support the crown prince, while secretly negotiating with Li Zicheng, hoping to persuade the other party to give up this detrimental and unfavorable move.

However, after Ruan Dacheng came into contact with Li Zicheng, he immediately gave up even Emperor Hongguang. After talking with Li Zicheng, he finally realized that he could not get ahead in the South, and it can even be said that he could not get ahead in the Ming Dynasty.Because as Li Zicheng said, as long as Daming still insists on governing the country with loyalty and filial piety, then his identity as a treacherous minister cannot be cleared.

Only on Dashun's side, relying on Dashun's idea of ​​building a country, can he completely cleanse his reputation and turn the opposition between the eunuchs and Donglin from the opposition between a small man and a gentleman into a confrontation between righteous and evil ways. Shilin's criticism of himself.Although Dashun's concept of founding a country was not so friendly to the gentry, it was a change for Ruan Dacheng, because he was about to be expelled from the mainstream society of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.

Generally speaking, it is difficult for a marginalized gentry to reintegrate into the mainstream of the gentry, and his children will be less likely to marry those famous families in the future, which means that their family will become ordinary landlords after a few generations. Ordinary landlords are also poor, and their status is just a little better than those of self-cultivating farmers.

Ruan Dacheng, who was worried about this, naturally had to reach out and hug Li Zicheng's thigh tightly after meeting Li Zicheng who was giving him a way out.This time he made a bigger bet than supporting Emperor Hongguang. He almost bet on his own family. With such determination, Ruan Dacheng no longer concealed it in front of Li Zicheng.

Therefore, Ruan Dacheng agreed to Li Zicheng's inquiry without hesitation.Facing Ruan Dacheng who was so straightforward, Li Zicheng also fell into a trance for a while. This Ming Dynasty was indeed about to end. He only gave Ruan Dacheng a way out, and the other party couldn't wait to jump ship. No wonder in real history, when the Qing army entered Nanjing, No resistance was encountered.

After he regained his composure, he said to Ruan Dacheng: "Actually, it's the problem of Gao Jie's army. Right now, Gao Jie's army is just a trapped beast. If I want to fight, I can fight it, but it's meaningless. Because Gao Jie's army is only for myself right now. I don’t want their lives, so this battle is meaningless except to shed blood in vain. Therefore, I hope that someone can completely cut off the last hope of Gao Jie’s army for Nandu, and let them lay down their weapons and surrender..."

Chapter 209 New Deal 24

Although it seemed risky to go to Gao Jie's army as a lobbyist, Ruan Dacheng soon realized that the risk of this trip was not that great, because if Gao Jie didn't want to kill his whole family, he wouldn't do anything to him, and even if Gao Jie couldn't think about it , those generals under him will not follow him to the end.Of course, Li Zicheng asked him to persuade Gao Jiejun on behalf of Shunjun, one is to cut off Gao Jie's last thoughts, and the other is to let him prove his sincerity in taking refuge in Dashun.

Therefore, Ruan Dacheng quickly agreed, expressing his willingness to go to Guazhou to deliver the ultimatum on behalf of Marshal Du's mansion.Li Zicheng asked him to go back and make some preparations, and then he could set off after lunch.

After Ruan Dacheng disappeared outside Pingshan Hall, Li Laiheng walked up the steps and reported to him: "Dong Fangce and Li Zhizhen have already brought them."

Li Zicheng nodded at him and said, "Then bring them up."

When Dong Fangce and Li Zhizhen followed Li Laiheng to the Pingshan Hall, they were still a little nervous, because they didn't know what Li Zicheng asked them to do.

After Li Zicheng took a look at the two of them, he said straight to the point: "I didn't ask you to come here for anything else. I heard that the two of you are very popular in Gao Jie's army. Is it true?"

Dong Fangce was still thinking about Li Zicheng's intentions, and Li Zhizhen beside him couldn't wait to please Li Zicheng and said: "I don't have any other hobbies on weekdays, but I like to have a drink or two with others to have fun, so I walk around with the battalions If His Majesty is interested, I am willing to go to Gao Jie's army to let those old friends know His Majesty's benevolent heart."

Dong Fangce also reacted at this time, and hurriedly said: "I am also willing to go with you."

Li Zicheng nodded to the two of them, and said with satisfaction: "You and I are both from Shaanxi. As the saying goes, people are not close to each other. Now that you have guessed what I mean, then I will say it openly. .

Although there are some personal grudges between me and Gao Jie, I have no grudges against his soldiers.Moreover, I have already announced to the whole army and the outside world that the current enemies of China are the slaves in the north and the barbarians who slaughtered our Chinese people overseas. Compared with the public enmity of the country, my personal enmity is nothing.

Therefore, I hope that you will go to Guazhou as my representatives and tell them my true intentions.Now I sincerely hope that Gao Jie and his subordinates will lay down their weapons and avoid this calamity of swords and soldiers.Therefore, if they are willing to lay down their weapons and surrender, then I can retain their current official positions and treatment. If they are unwilling to continue fighting, they can also go home and reunite with their families.

Moreover, if they put down their weapons now, the land grant order will also be valid for them. After the Marshal's Mansion registers their names and places of origin, they will also be granted land.As for Gao Jie, he can make any request and discuss it.

Of course, my patience is not endless. Today is the 25th, and if they still refuse to surrender before the morning of the 28th, then I will have to order an attack.Once the war starts, unless they set up a white flag on the battlefield and withdraw from the battlefield, they will not enjoy any preferential treatment after the war, and I will hold them accountable for killing civilians.Do the two generals understand what I mean? "

Of course Dong Fangce and Li Zhizhen understood what Li Zicheng meant, and after continuing to talk with Li Zicheng for a while, Li Zicheng finally ended the conversation and signaled Li Laiheng to send them away.

Dong Fangce and Li Zhizhen joined Ruan Dacheng's entourage after lunch, then crossed the canal from Yangzhou to Yizheng from the avenue outside the west gate of Yangzhou, and arrived outside Guazhou City at about [-]:[-] Shen Shi.At this time, Dong Fangce and Li Zhizhen quietly left the team, after discussing with each other, they each went to find acquaintances.

On the other side, hearing that the Shun Army sent a group of envoys to arrive at the city of Guazhou with great fanfare, Gao Jie in the feudal mansion glanced at his wife who was holding his son and standing silently on the steps outside the hall, and finally sighed to his nephew Li Benshen. He ordered: "Please come here."

At this moment, Mrs. Xing finally spoke, "Our army is not the only one in Guazhou City, why don't we invite General Zhang Tianlu and the supervising army Guo Weijing here as well."

Gao Jie said indifferently: "Guo Weijing is just a scholar, and Zhang Tianlu's subordinates are just some miscellaneous soldiers. I can decide this matter in Guazhou city by myself, why do I need their opinions."

Mrs. Xing said calmly: "The envoys of Emperor Yongchang entered the city with such great fanfare. How could they not receive the news? If they are not invited, what if they jump over the wall in a hurry? Invite them to the feudal mansion, and then send If Gao Jinku takes over the main roads in the city, no matter whether there are other people in the city who have other ideas, no one can take the lead."

After a moment of silence, Gao Jie said to his nephew, "Just follow your aunt's wishes and invite Mr. Guo and General Zhang."

Faced with Li Benshen's invitation to come to the door in person, Zhang Tianlu was actually a little nervous. He was Cao Bianjiao's subordinate. After Cao Bianjiao was killed in the attack on the Qing army's camp, he fled back to the pass and was transferred to the south to garrison Guazhou.

Although he was stationed in the same city as Gao Jie's army, he was quite wary of Gao Jie, fearing that this irritable peasant general would go on a killing spree in Guazhou and annex his men and horses.With the development of the world situation at this time, even he, a general who was loyal to Daming in the past, is full of resentment towards Nandu.

Zhang Tianlu has two grievances. The first is that Nandu actually allocated his garrison to Gao Jie. With Gao Jie's domineering army, his subordinates have suffered a lot these days; the second is that Nandu does not accept Gao Jie's army to cross the river. I understand, but it's a bit too much to allow loyal officials and troops like them to cross the river.

At this time, Emperor Yongchang sent an envoy to Guazhou. He was already a little moved, but he was a little afraid that Gao Jie would trick him into beheading him indiscriminately, and then coerce his army to surrender to Dashun.It wasn't until he asked clearly that Guo Weijing, the military supervisor, was also invited to the feudal mansion, that he relaxed a lot.

Facing Li Benshen's impatient eyes, Zhang Tianlu called his younger brother Zhang Tianfu and gave him a lot of careful instructions before following Li Benshen to the feudal mansion.After sitting in the reception room of the feudal mansion for a short time, he saw Guo Weijing walk in with an uneasy expression.

Seeing the soldiers of the feudal mansion walk out of the room, Zhang Tianlu hurriedly approached Guo and said, "Master Guo, I heard that Li Zicheng sent envoys into the city. Gao Zhen invited us here. What does it mean?"

Guo Weijing glanced at Zhang Tianlu. To be honest, he didn't want to talk to him at all. Judging from what Zhang Tianlu asked, this person probably had the idea of ​​surrendering in his heart.But after he thought about it, he said coldly: "The left and right are just here to persuade him to surrender. Zhang Zongbing thinks that Gao Zhen can really obey Li Thief?"

After Guo Weijing's rhetorical question, Zhang Tianlu suddenly remembered the rumors about Gao Jie and Li Zicheng, and he broke out in a cold sweat.Indeed, Gao Jie invited himself here because he might have figured out whether he intended to surrender. Given the conflict between Gao Jie and Li Zicheng, he might not really surrender. It was cut with a knife.

He stretched out his sleeve and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and sincerely cupped his hands to Guo Weijing and said, "Thank you, Mr. Guo, for your guidance. I will never forget you when I am in office. After I am down from office, Mr. Guo must be the only one who will follow suit. Please, Mr. Guo, don't forget to remind me." What should the officer do?"

Guo Weijing glanced at Zhang Tianlu in a daze, not knowing what the other party understood what he meant in his words, he really didn't hide any other thoughts in what he said just now.Although he had heard about Gao Jie's prying into Li Zicheng's corner, he didn't think such a thing would make Li Zicheng pursue Gao Jie fiercely, because Li Zicheng was going to be emperor after all, and a woman could exchange for a general like Gao Jie. Obviously worth it.

However, Zhang Tianlu misunderstood himself, so he misunderstood, at least he didn't want to die for the country yet.Therefore, in the face of Zhang Tianlu's flattery, Guo Weijing's expression finally eased a bit.Just when the two had just exchanged a few words, the door here was opened again, and Li Benshen walked in and said to the two: "The envoy of Emperor Yongchang has arrived, and I would like to invite Mr. Guo and General Zhang to meet the envoy in the front hall." Bar."

Guo Weijing didn't say much, so he got up and walked out of the wing room. He had come to the feudal mansion not once or twice, so he naturally knew the way to the front hall, so he walked in the front without any hesitation.

As a result, as soon as he walked to the corridor on the right side of the front hall, he saw a group of people who were ushered in from the main entrance. The warriors here may not know the person who walked in the front, but he, who had served as the censor of Nanjing City, He recognized who the other party was at a glance.

Guo Weijing went down the steps angrily and yelled at the man, "Ruan Dacheng, why are you here? Are you a thief? Well, you are a traitor. Sure enough, no one misunderstood you."

Ruan Dacheng looked intently, only to realize that it was Shi Kefa's younger brother who scolded him in public. He immediately sneered and said, "Guo Yushi, don't speak so harshly. I was ordered to cross the river this time. Your Majesty Yongchang With the achievement of escorting Emperor Daxing Zigong, the crown prince, and hundreds of officials to the south, what is a thief? Your majesty ordered me to cross the river to discuss how to take the emperor Daxing and the prince and others to cross the river. You say that His Majesty Yongchang is a thief, so what is your majesty's order? Can't you make a mess?"

Guo Weijing couldn't react to Ruan Dacheng's words for a while, he really didn't know about Nandu sending people across the river to negotiate, but at this time Gao Jie had already heard the news and walked out of the hall.Hearing Li Benshen on the side talk about Ruan Dacheng's identity and the reason for crossing the river, he immediately stomped his feet angrily and said: "What a court, the general was still guarding the Guazhou Ferry for the court, but the court sent someone to surrender first. You bastard. Ben Shen, bring everyone in. If someone dares to make trouble again, don't blame me for not giving the court face..."

Chapter 210 New Deal 25

After Guo Weijing recognized Ruan Dacheng, Gao Jie knew that he had no choice.Sure enough, after Ruan Dacheng entered the hall, he said bluntly to everyone: "Your Majesty ordered me, Pang Tianshou, Zhou Bi and others to cross the river to discuss with the Prince's representative about the burial of Emperor Daxing. Welcome the prince across the river to ascend the throne as the new emperor.

The prince has an order that Jiannu is the great enemy of China. My great ancestor, Emperor Gao, got the mandate of heaven by expelling the Hulu. Therefore, there is still peace between Daming and Dashun, but there is no such thing as peace with Jiannu. .

Wu Ni Sangui, holding the whole country's money and food, could not guard the gate of the country in Liaodong, and he refused to follow the order of Emperor Daxing to return to Beijing to defend the capital. China's sinners, the Emperor Daxing did not have such unfaithful and unfilial rebels, nor did China have such wolf-hearted thieves.

Therefore, the prince decided to form an alliance with Dashun to resist the barbarians and Di and punish the country's thieves.I was ordered by the Crown Prince and Emperor Yongchang to convey their orders: From now on, all the armies in the north of the Yangtze River will be controlled by the Marshal's Mansion. Gao Zhen, Guo Jianjun, and Zhang Zongbing, do you have any opinions? "

Guo Weijing stared at Ruan Dacheng, and asked with a livid face, "Your Majesty is going to abdicate? This is a disorderly order. How could they not come out to oppose such a disorderly order? I want to cross the river to meet Your Majesty in person..."

Ruan Dacheng interrupted him unceremoniously and said: "Zhou Bi was recommended by the Shi Ge Department, why do you need to cross the river? When you go to see His Majesty Yongchang and His Royal Highness, you will naturally be able to ask. Or should I say, You are no longer willing to obey the orders of His Majesty Hongguang and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

Zhang Tianlu, who was sitting near the door, stared at the blue bricks on the ground without saying a word. He was very clear about his identity. He was the deputy commander of Guazhou. Strictly speaking, it was not his turn to speak on this occasion. Opinion, that is, now that the court's discipline has been relaxed, and the warriors are becoming more and more unconstrained, he can sit here and hear such important matters.

But even so, it is Gao Jie and Guo Weijing who really have the decision-making power. The former is a powerful military leader, while the latter represents the court.It's just that the current situation doesn't look good, Guo Weijing can no longer speak on behalf of the court, and Guo Weijing, who has lost the support of the court, is just a scholar with no power to restrain a chicken.

So Zhang Tianlu concentrated all his energy on Gao Jie, wondering how he would react to the bad news Ruan Dacheng brought.It's just that Gao Jie kept silent for a rare time, and didn't respond to Ruan Dacheng for a long time, which made the atmosphere in the hall extremely tense.

Just when Ruan Dacheng was flustered by the dull atmosphere, Gao Jie stood up and flicked his sleeves and said: "The news Mr. Ruan brought is just these words, so the commander needs to think about it. Ben Shen, take them down." Good hospitality, I will continue the discussion after I have figured it out..."

Seeing this, Guo Weijing wanted to stay and talk to Gao Jie, but Li Benshen immediately stopped him and said, "Master Supervisor, the commander-in-chief won't be disturbed at this time, you'd better go to the wing room and have a cup of tea first." .”

Seeing Gao Jie's back quickly disappear from the inner hall, Guo Weijing just sighed and turned to go down the hall.Gao Jie, who returned to the back hall over there, finally took off the disguise on his body. He picked up a porcelain pot and poured himself a bowl of tea slowly. On the ground, "Ma Shiying, Cao Nima, you are selling grandpa. Shi Kefa is not a good guy either, they are all in the same group."

"It's useless for you to lose your temper here. They are safe in Nanjing now." Mrs. Xing walked over from behind him while talking, and squatted on the ground to pick up the broken porcelain pieces.

Seeing Mrs. Xing squatting on the ground, Gao Jie couldn't help feeling irritated for a moment, so he said to his wife: "What are you doing picking them up, you cut your hand carefully. Are all the people outside dead? Come in and tidy up."

Under Gao Jie's anger, two maids finally ran in and helped Mrs. Xing pick up the broken porcelain pieces on the ground.Madam Xing saw that the ground was almost clean, so she let the two maids go out, and she walked to Gao Jie's side and sat down.

"Marshal, it's time to make up your mind. Although Ruan Dacheng is an eunuch, I have never heard of him deceiving others. Since he dared to appear in Guazhou and said it so clearly, it is obvious that he said it. It is indeed true."

Gao Jie sighed and said: "The knife handle is in our hands. No matter how arrogant and unreasonable Li Zicheng is, we can protect the safety of your mother and child. But if the knife handle is handed over, the life and death of our family will be nothing more than It’s between someone else’s thought.”

Mrs. Xing knew that her husband was telling the truth. In the past, under the high pressure of the court, many ministers and generals had their heads chopped off. The only generals who have been able to stabilize themselves are their family, Liu Zeqing, Wu Sangui, and Zuo Liangyu.And the reason why these families can survive safely is because everyone has held on to the military power and will not let go.

At this time, whether to hand over the military power or to Li Zicheng, who had a grudge against him in the past, is indeed a very difficult decision.The most difficult part of this decision is that no one can guarantee that Li Zicheng will keep his promise.Because the monarch in power does not need to keep his promises, this is an unspoken rule that the world tacitly accepts.

But Mrs. Xing thought about it for a long time, and said to her husband: "But we can't procrastinate any longer. Since Li Zicheng sent an ultimatum, and deliberately asked Ruan Dacheng to be an envoy, this is a warning that we have nowhere to go. Now even if we want to continue to fight, the soldiers in the army may not be willing to die with us. In this case, why not obey the wishes of the soldiers, so that at least we can continue to get the support of the soldiers, and we will not be forced by them resentment."

Gao Jie immediately said angrily: "I'm a soldier, don't you dare to turn against me. Let's take a look. If we don't make a sound, someone will jump out. Didn't Li Zicheng give you three days? I'll just take a look." , Does he count what he says?"

For her husband's stubbornness, Mrs. Xing couldn't persuade her anymore.However, Gao Jie obviously miscalculated. His ability to control his subordinates began to waver when he dragged Ruan Dacheng to his side.

What shook the soldiers was Li Zicheng's draft land grant order issued in the name of the Marshal's Mansion. According to this draft, as long as they surrendered to the Shun Army now, they would become small landlords of at least 200 mu of land.

For those veterans who are tired of the war career, they have also accumulated a lot of property during these years of war, and they really don't want to continue this kind of bloody life.It is indeed very attractive to retire and return home with this land granting order.In addition, for those recruits who were recently arrested and brought into the camp, they hated Gao Jie very much, and now they heard that they could go home, and they started to connect one by one.

In the past, these recruits were subject to strict control in the camp, because everyone knew that they did not enter the camp willingly, and some even had enemies with the army. If the recruits were not strictly controlled, then someone might The army retaliated.However, as long as these recruits are brought to kill a few times, they will no longer dare to escape from the barracks, because they have also become perpetrators.

But now the veterans in the battalion and the middle- and lower-level officers have become more active. They are secretly gathering to discuss whether to surrender before the battle, so naturally they can't take care of these recruits.Some people even wanted to continue the troubles caused by the recruits to test Gao Jie and others' true thoughts on surrendering to the Shun army, so they provided some convenience.

So on the afternoon of September 9, some soldiers of Gao Jie's army suddenly gathered outside the north gate, blocked the north gate and shouted: "Allegiance to the prince, the prince is the Ming dynasty; Fufan stepped down and dissolved the Nanjing court..."

At first, the residents of the city outside the north gate hurriedly hid back to their homes, thinking that a mutiny was about to break out.Although the military discipline of Gao Jie's army has improved a lot since it was transferred to Guazhou, after the anger and grievances in Yangzhou and Yizheng, the soldiers of Gao Jie's army finally restrained their actions a little bit, because they still carry a large number of military relatives. If they are all offended, they will not be able to supply food and clothing.

But the residents of Guazhou still know the "great achievements" of Gao Jie's army, and living with such a group of tyrannical soldiers, everyone is very worried that Gao Jie's army will kill in Guazhou City.So after seeing all the soldiers on the street outside the north gate, they hid one by one.

But soon they discovered that this group of soldiers did not plunder the property in the market, but kept shouting slogans.Finally someone had the courage to walk out of the house and asked the taxis what those slogans meant.Knowing that it was the soldiers who didn't want to fight with Emperor Yongchang and the crown prince, they ran outside the north gate to protest. The man immediately passed the news to his neighbors.

Soon some merchants came forward to gather the residents of the city outside the north gate and said, "Everyone, these sergeants support the prince because they don't want to fight with the Shun army. This is a good thing for us Guazhou people. If there is a fight, your houses and shops will be destroyed." Isn't it going to be a ruin? We should go out and give them some support, so that if there is a real riot later, these soldiers may be able to defend us..."

The proposals of these merchants won the support of the residents in the city outside the North Gate. They also understood their situation very well. Whether they were fighting with the Shun Army or watching the civil strife of the Gao Jie Army, they were the first to suffer.So instead of sitting at home and waiting to die, it would be better to follow what the merchants said, to form a good relationship with those sergeants, even if it is a good thing to move the place where slogans are shouted from the north gate to the east and west gates.

So the soldiers standing outside the north gate shouting slogans soon welcomed the support of the people of Guazhou, which immediately boosted their confidence and began to shout for peace even more happily.At the same time, more and more soldiers who had been standing on the sidelines joined the ranks of opposing the Nanjing court.So when Gao Jie received the news and came to the north gate tower, the situation could no longer calm down quietly.

Chapter 211 New Deal 26

Gao Jie looked down the tower, and saw soldiers sitting on the ground on the avenue below. There were almost a thousand of them in the dark. Including the soldiers and people watching the excitement on both sides, it was estimated that there were at least 600 people. People blocked the passage outside the North City Gate tightly, preventing people from entering or exiting at all.

He immediately withdrew his body, turned to Gao Jinku, who was in charge of security in the city, and scolded, "Are you a pig? Why didn't you send someone to disperse these bastards when they first gathered? Now they have gathered so many people Well, what are you going to do if there is a trouble? Are these bastards from that battalion? Where is their superior? Let their superior come over and take these bastards back..."

Although he was full of fear for Gao Jie, Gao Jinku still swallowed his saliva and said, "Commander, it's not that the last general will not send people, but that they are standing outside the city without weapons in their hands. There is a reason to send troops."

Gao Jie finally realized that although it was only a city wall away, he really did not give Gao Jinku such power.Although the military discipline in his army is not very good, he is still very strict in some places. For example, the army outside the city and inside the city cannot change and enter and exit at will. They must have a legitimate reason and get his authorization.

These details are not to strengthen the discipline of the army, but to prevent someone from colluding internally and externally to betray him.For the defender, a city wall may determine whether they can persist.Whether it is Jiannu or the peasant army, they are used to arranging spies to attack the city gates, because they rely on manpower to attack the walls of the county, and the basic casualties are very heavy.

Huang Taiji had just ascended the throne and fought the Battle of Jinzhou, but was blocked by the city wall and had to retreat at last.But after he went back, he learned from the pain and directly formed an Eight Banners heavy artillery team. Now Jiannu can be regarded as freed from the plight of relying on manpower to attack the city.However, apart from Jiannu, the Shun army and the Ming army were still groping for new technologies for siege.

Gao Jie's army is naturally a Ming army with little siege ability, and they are not very proficient in artillery siege techniques, so they are particularly worried about Li Zicheng's surprise attack.Gao Jie divided the inside and outside of the city into two command lines. Gao Jinku stationed inside the city naturally couldn't rush out of the city easily, and even though the soldiers outside the city blocked the road, they didn't do anything against the law, nor did he Reason rushed out to disperse these comrades.

Hearing what Gao Jinku said, Gao Jie felt his head was a little dizzy.Indeed, these soldiers ran out with bare hands to ask him for food, and claimed to be loyal to the prince, which made it difficult for him to make a decision.If he used force to disperse the soldiers below, then it is inevitable that he will be resented by the soldiers.

During the Taiping Festival, the soldiers could suppress any dissatisfaction. For example, when Jizhou encircled and suppressed Qi's army, not only did there not have any problems, but the person involved was even promoted.But now it was wartime, and Li Zicheng sent him an ultimatum. If he ordered to suppress these soldiers now, it is estimated that the hearts of his own army would be dispersed without waiting for Li Zicheng to start a war against him.

Under Gao Jie's order, although the generals of each battalion came, the soldiers below did not show off the face of these superiors, but they must give them an answer from the commander-in-chief Gao Jie, otherwise they would never leave.At this time, Gao Jie also noticed that not only these soldiers were making trouble, but also the mid- and lower-level officers of the battalion had no interest in starting a war with the Heshun Army. On the surface, they were trying to persuade the soldiers under them, but in fact But it is forcing his palace.

When did Gao Jie, who has always been rebellious, ever be threatened by someone? Just when he was about to get angry, Hu Maozhen of the Chinese Army and his nephew Li Benshen stopped him, trying to persuade him: "This time is different from the past, and everyone is not planning to turn against each other." Commander, I hope that Commander can give them a way out. Commander, please restrain your anger..."

Under the hugging and persuasion of the two, and seeing the subordinates dodging and daring not to look at him, Gao Jie finally relaxed his body disheartened, and while patting the two on the shoulder to let them go, he said weakly: "Go and tell them that the commander-in-chief is negotiating with Dashun's envoys, and let them be calm..."

Although Gao Jie did not give an affirmative answer, it was enough for Gao Jie's army to have such a softened tone.They still have some confidence in Gao Jie's promise. If Gao Jie was a coach who turned his back on his promise, then they would not come to block the door, but directly turned against him on the battlefield.

Watching the soldiers under the city finally disperse, Gao Jie also went down the city gate with a gloomy face and went back to his feudal mansion. He knew in his heart that he had already lost this battle in a mess, even if he was tough to the end, the soldiers and generals below would be defeated. The officials will not accompany him to defend Guazhou City.Because the current Guazhou City has become a Jedi, with no reinforcements outside and no morale inside, they all hope that Li Zicheng can fulfill his promise, forget the enmity with them, and allow them to return to their hometown to live a stable life.

When he returned to the backyard of the feudal mansion, he stopped suddenly and looked towards the northern sky, without turning his eyes away for a long time.Li Benshen, who was following behind him, asked him in confusion, "Do you have any orders, uncle?"

Gao Jie shook his head slightly and said: "No, we were just thinking, what is Li Zicheng doing now? Is he complacent, he really drove us to a dead end this time..."

However, Li Zicheng was not as proud of solving the last opponent among the four Jiangbei towns as Gao Jie imagined.After reaching cooperation with Zheng Zhilong and starting negotiations with Nanjing, he regarded Gao Jie as an abandoned pawn on the chessboard.On the chessboard of Go, it is impossible for a soliton to grow up.

In fact, since Gao Jie looted Yangzhou and refused to leave, it was already doomed that this army was doomed.In such an environment surrounded by enemies on all sides, there is no room to move. Although the Yangtze River is behind him, but he has no control over the water power, this is doomed for Gao Jie's army.For such a soliton that must be mentioned, Li Zicheng naturally would not pay much attention to it.

For Li Zicheng, there are more important things in the Marshal's Mansion than the elimination of Gao Jie, such as the further suppression of the gentry group in Yangzhou.Compared with the unfounded Gao Jie army, the gentry in these places are the most troublesome problems that the Marshal's Mansion needs to solve at present.Because these gentry were not dealt with, the Marshal's Mansion could not bypass them and directly contact the peasants.

Whether it's agricultural reforms or mobilizing rural labor to serve the Marshal's Mansion, the support of these farmers is ultimately needed for the Marshal's Mansion, otherwise the official documents of the Marshal's Mansion will only become waste paper in the hands of the subordinate staff.

When Gao Jie was confronting his soldiers upstairs in the city gate, Li Zicheng was sitting in the Pingshan Hall listening to He Duiji's report.While stirring the surface of the tea with a tureen, he casually said to He Duiji: "So, the compensation paid by the Marshal's Mansion and the Council to the refugees outside the city is not only peeled off by the subordinates, but also by local officials. The squires also peeled off their skins, and some squires even colluded with the relatives of the orphans of the victims to sell these children to their teeth, and then divided up the compensation money with the land?"

He Duiji, who always smelled of alcohol on weekdays, now his eyes look very bright. As a child who lost his father and grew up under the care of his mother, he really hates those relatives who have no family. very.Therefore, when he reported these things to Li Zicheng just now, he seemed a little agitated.

Hearing Li Zicheng's inquiry, he was somewhat dissatisfied with Li Zicheng's overly understated tone, so he couldn't help raising his voice a little and said: "That's true. The compensation given to these bereaved families has become a disaster instead. Relatives are popping up one by one now. In the name of relatives, if they adopt children or take orphans and widows back home, they are actually nothing more than a family. If the Marshal's House does not come forward to stop it, His Majesty will be kind, I'm afraid But it can’t have a good result.”

Li Zicheng glanced at He Duiji, and then asked back: "Then what do you think the Marshal's Mansion should do to prevent these people from eating Juehu? According to the Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Rules, it is only natural for them to eat Juehu."

He Duiji's face turned red, the Sangang Wuchang was exactly what he wanted to defend, but at this moment he really couldn't muster up the courage to say that the Sangang Wuchang was the unshakable way of heaven, otherwise he would have no face to see his mother under Jiuquan in the future up.

After being silent for a long time, He Duiji finally spoke out: "It is definitely not the meaning of a sage, it is just a far-fetched idea of ​​future generations. It cannot be said that doing whatever you want in the name of a sage, and wrong things can be changed." It’s a paired thing. I implore Your Majesty to correct this mistake and give those orphans and widows a way out.”