As soon as they heard that they were going to Linqingzhou, the tears of many Shandong recruits fell uncontrollably.

Thanks to the blessing of this Grand Canal, Linqing was originally the most prosperous city in Shandong, with millions of merchants and people, and the prosperity even exceeded that of the provincial capital Jinan, which can almost be compared with the beauty of Beijing, and the famous "Golden Plum Bottle" took place here.

But in the Qing army of Chongzhen fifteen years, Linqing suffered the most, and the merchants and people in the city did not survive one, and a military draft at the end of Chongzhen's fifteenth year said: "There are thirty-eight survivors, and there are seven merchants in the three elements, Xi Mingyuan, Tang Yin, and Wang Youquan, about ten of the people in Linmin, and some are not enough." Its official offices and private houses were all burned down, and the embers have not been extinguished to this day. The two rivers are parallel to the streets, and the corpses are like mountains, how can they be counted. The battlements were all torn down."

Liu Youlan, the magistrate of Dongchang Mansion in Shandong, also said in the Tang Newspaper: "The humble position can be seen in the throat of the Qing Dynasty, and the rebellion is from the thistle and galloping, and it will be as fast as possible, entrenched for 16 days, killing and capturing the people, so that I have no one to defend; The battlements were knocked down, so that I had no danger to worry about, and I was intercepted in the warehouse of more than 10,000 meters, thinking that it was used to raise horses in the north."

And now Linqing is still "as for the town of Linqing, the name is the throat, and now the pedestrians are cut off, the market is reckless, the rubble is blocked, the thoroughfare shops have become drowning toilets, wives and beards are sold, and flesh is cut to heal sores." In a tragic situation, the stone man fell into tears. ”

Thinking of this tragedy that happened in Linqing, these Shandong recruits burst into tears one by one, but they didn't know where to vent the infinite grievances in their hearts, but Liu Yongxi empathized with them: "The military heart is available, don't go too haste, let the soldiers take this opportunity to complain, let them know why they are fighting!" ”

Fu Ding next to him had already understood: "Little uncle, I understand, I'll let Master Tong Yili do it immediately!" ”

In the past, this kind of trick of painting cakes and pouring soup was handed over to Tong Yili, but Liu Yongxi shook his head and said: "Other things can be entrusted to Tong Xianggong, and I have to be personally responsible for this matter!" ”

Empress Zhang soon found that the speed of the fleet's progress suddenly slowed down, and she didn't know why there were bursts of crying from time to time on the shore, and not only during the day and at night, but sometimes even dozens or even hundreds of people were crying at the same time: "Shi Fengyu, what's going on over there with Xiao Chengyibo?" ”

Shi Chaoli immediately replied: "I have already asked, it was Xiao Chengyi Bo who was listening to the complaints of the brothers below, but listening to Xiao Chengyi Bo himself also cried, and the tears of the brothers couldn't be stopped!" ”

Although Empress Zhang was born in poverty, but this is only relatively speaking, Taikang Marquis Zhang Guoji is a student with a land and a house, naturally "poor" is not anywhere, and after entering the palace, it is far away from the people's suffering, although I have also heard some rumors of building prisoners into the Kou, but there is not much intuitive understanding.

Therefore, it was completely difficult for her to understand that Liu Yongxi and the officers and soldiers would cry so badly: "It seems that during this time, Xiao Chengyi Bo also ate the horse meat of these dead horses, so he cried so loudly, forget it, I will invite Xiao Chengyi Bo to dine with me next time I call the right one." ”

Shi Chaoli hurriedly replied: "Queen Niangniang, leave this imperial meal matter to Weichen!" ”

Empress Zhang didn't expect that the cries on the shore had nothing to do with horse meat at all, in this hell of cannibalism, horse meat is already the most luxurious delicacy, everyone doesn't expect to eat horse meat every day, as long as you occasionally eat a bowl of horse meat vermicelli, you feel like a fairyland on earth.

It's really that the current Linqingzhou is too miserable, Liu Yongxi has always felt that his heart is like a stone, listening to the complaints of Shandong recruits just trying to play on the spot, but listening to his eyes on the side also involuntarily moistened, and then the whole army cried, hating Jianyu to the bones.

Not only the Shandong recruits are crying, but the Cangzhou soldiers are also crying, the Beijing soldiers are also crying, the Liaodong soldiers and the Shaanxi soldiers are crying even more, and even the old people in Zhejiang and Nanjing in the sincerity Bofu are also sympathetic, and they cry directly.

This is the real troubled times!

The scenes of despair made everyone breathless, and everyone couldn't help but think of the dead relatives and friends and the hometown that had been completely destroyed by the war.

Finally, Liu Yongxi pulled out his sword and swore loudly at the river: "No matter what kind of tragic past you soldiers have, from now on you follow me to fight a way to live, I don't guarantee that there will be a glorious and wealthy prince, but at least I can take you to kill a peaceful and prosperous world, so that the people of the world can have no worries about food and clothing!" ”

It is enough to have Liu Yongxi's words, although there are more than 100 Cangzhou soldiers and Shandong soldiers in the team at once, but in the midst of the cries, they are already indomitable and victorious, and the cohesion of the troops is far better than when Cangzhou went south, especially those Shandong soldiers who have just joined the army for a long time are now ready to attack, ready to kill at any time.

After all, although Liu Yongxi's force did not carry red-coated cannons, it was not particularly difficult to break through one or two undefended counties with the current posture, and these officers, guards, and heroes could not even solve the bandits on both sides of the canal, so how could they dare to compete with Liu Yongxi.

Therefore, although the speed of the fleet going south was much slower due to frequent complaints and bitter weeping, it did not encounter many obstacles, but there were constantly displaced people, bandits, and even some powerful people with their dependents to join them.

Liu Yongxi even found several scholars and storytellers among the displaced people who could speak, write, and experience the killing, and formed a grass platform team, and let them be responsible for organizing officers and soldiers to accuse the Qing army of crimes, instead of pretending to Tong Yili These Jinshi and Juren masters.

Liu Yongxi originally thought that he would go all the way to Huai'an without an accident, but not far from Linqingzhou, the scouts at the front rushed back to report the latest situation they had discovered, and Liu Yongxi couldn't help but be surprised: "What? There's a big bandof thieves in the town ahead? And under the banner of Yongchang Emperor Li Zicheng? How is this possible! ”

But these scouts reported very clearly: "Little uncle, this is what we have seen with our own eyes, the thieves are indeed under the banner of Emperor Li Zicheng of Yongchang, with a total strength of no less than four or five hundred, and they are definitely the elite of the thieves, and there are nearly 100 horsemen in the horse team alone!" ”

As soon as he heard that there were nearly 100 horsemen on the opposite side, Liu Yongxi's expression became serious, although he had annihilated Li Zicheng with a team of fifty horsemen in Cangzhou before, but that battle was only a fluke victory, and it was all thanks to the thief leader Chang Jingyi's brain was not clever and he forcibly divided the troops to get a complete victory, if Chang Jingyi refused to divide the troops, Liu Yongxi felt that he would at most fight with the thief horse team and lose both.

But now, according to the scout's report, there were actually four or five hundred thieves under the banner of Li Zicheng in the town in front, including nearly 100 cavalry teams, and Liu Yongxi felt that this battle could not be fought at all.