After seeing this flag, Zhang Xianzhong's face became more and more vicious and hideous, he roared, rushed over and pulled out the flag fiercely, knocked it his knee, clicked, and broke it in two. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

"Dare to destroy my Dingguo Children's Department, Li Xiao, who is a dog, I swear to take your life!" Zhang Xianzhong roared like thunder, he turned his head and shouted to the crowd: "Hopeful! Where is this Shanxian County, Shandong? ! ”

A tall, fair-skinned, and even a bookish young general squeezed out of the crowd and arched his hand to Zhang Xianzhong tremblingly: "Father-in-law, Shanxian County is in the south of Shandong, which seems to be at the junction with Guide Mansion in Henan, but it is more than thousands of miles away from Luzhou. ”

"Then our army will set off tomorrow, follow the trail of Li Xiao's soldiers and horses, and rush to Shanxian County, Shandong as soon as possible, and recapture Dingguo!" Zhang Xianzhong shouted almost frantically. The look of anger on his face made the hearts of the generals next to him tremble.

A faint look of jealousy flashed on Sun Kewang's face, and then he replied, "Obey the orders of my father-in-law." ”

In many novels, Zhang Xianzhong is always written as a demon without emotion and reason, in fact, I think, these authors still underestimate the complexity of human nature.

Zhang Xianzhong is cruel and vicious to the people, to his subordinates, and even to his own wives and concubines. is the only one who loves Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi, but he loves and values him a lot.

According to the history of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Xianzhong, who became the emperor of Daxi, before going out of Sichuan to resist the Qing Dynasty, had killed his own children, slashed his wife and concubine, and scared Sun Kewang and others who were watching from the side. But he didn't expect Zhang Xianzhong, who killed his wife and son, but said to him in a solemn tone: "This is going to resist the Qing Dynasty, life and death are unpredictable, so get rid of his wife and concubines and children to be dead." If I die, you will return to the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible, and the Ming Dynasty will lack generals, so you will be reused. ”

Sun Kewang and others, who were in a desperate situation, heard Zhang Xianzhong's words, and they wept and bowed. Later, Zhang Xianzhong was shot and killed by the white swing teeth of the Qing Dynasty's British prince Azig, and Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo and others all obeyed his orders and finally surrendered to the Southern Ming court.

Among these four righteous sons, Zhang Xianzhong values Li Dingguo the most.

Li Dingguo's martial arts are outstanding, brave and strategic, showing his talent and command that is very incommensurate with his age, Li Dingguo's outstanding talent, so that Zhang Xianzhong is extremely appreciative, there have been many times, Zhang Xianzhong has planned, if he dies, he will hand over the foundation to Li Dingguo.

Zhang Xianzhong, the adoptive father, has a preference for Li Dingguo, which makes Sun Kewang, the head of the four righteous sons, jealous.

The entanglement and grievances of Sun and Li finally broke out after the surrender of the Southern Ming, and the two turned against each other and attacked each other. Nanming, on the other hand, collapsed and eventually perished.

Zhang Xianzhong only rested for one day, then gathered all his troops and pursued them all the way along the route of Li Xiao's retreat.

And Li Xiaojun, after returning to Chuzhou Mansion, did not go to Huai'an Mansion along the way he came, but returned directly to the north, along Linhuai, Fengyang, Suzhou, and then into Yongcheng County, Guide Prefecture, Henan, and then went north to Xiayi, crossed the Yellow River, and returned to Tielongcheng in Shanxian County.

Li Xiao's choice of this route was the result of careful consideration.

Now Li Zicheng, King Sweeper, King Taiping and other rogues have already returned to Henan, so there is no trace of rogue in the entire Fengyang Mansion. By the time Li Xiaojun entered the territory of Guide Mansion in Henan, Li Zicheng and the others had already arrived in western Henan, so they would not pose a threat to themselves at all.

In the absence of a threat, Li Xiaojun could march back as soon as possible, so that it would be difficult for Zhang Xianzhong's troops, who were chasing after him, to catch up quickly.

It's just that Rao is like this, compared to Li Xiaojun, there are many rogues and cavalry, and the speed of travel is greater, if Li Xiaojun doesn't have any way to slow down the pace of Zhang Xianzhong's troops, then Li Xiaojun can't reach the border of Henan, and he will still be caught up by Zhang Xianzhong's troops.

Zhang Xianzhong's army still has more than 40,000 soldiers and horses, and if he really wants to fight with Li Xiao's 5,000 soldiers and horses, Li Xiao will still lose the battle nine times out of ten.

Li Xiao's subordinates also thought of this, and on the way to the rapid march, many of his generals had worried faces and heavy worries.

Among these people, only Li Xiao knew that although he was in such a helpless hurry, he had a team of soldiers and horses, which would eventually win valuable delay time for Li Xiaojun.

That's the advantage of the traverser.

Because this army of soldiers and horses is Yang Yipeng, the governor of Caoyun and the governor of Fengyang, who brought 5,000 soldiers and horses from Huai'an.

When Li Xiaojun had just passed by the dilapidated Fengyang and headed north to Suzhou, Yang Yipeng's soldiers and horses had just arrived in Fengyang.

At that time, Chongzhen mobilized Yang Yipeng's Huai'an soldiers and horses, Luo Ju's Suizhou soldiers and horses, and Deng Xi's Xinyang soldiers and horses according to Wen Tiren's strategy.

Zhang Guowei's Ying Tianfu soldiers and horses, a total of four soldiers and horses to aid Fengyang, as a result, because the Liukou marched too fast, when the four soldiers and horses were still on the road, the army of thieves had conquered and bloodied Fengyang, so that the four Ming troops ran in vain.

As a result, after getting the news of the fall of Fengyang, the other three soldiers and horses have all returned, and only Yang Yipeng's soldiers and horses continue to march towards Fengyang.

Yang Yipeng had no choice, because he took up the post of governor of Fengyang, and Fengyang was lost, and he couldn't get out of it. What he could do now was to continue to rush to Fengyang to see if he could recover some losses from this city that had almost been burned to the ground as much as possible.

Yang Yipeng had to do it. Because in his opinion, if he can do a good job in the aftermath, the court will investigate it in the future, and he can also reduce some of the guilt as much as possible.

Yang Yipeng is now leading the army to Fengyang, because he learned the news that Liukou has unified the army south, he does not have the original fear in his heart, but has more desolate feelings.

As the governor of Fengyang, Yang Yipeng certainly knows the weight of Fengyang, the central capital, in the heart of Emperor Chongzhen.

Fengyang in the Ming Dynasty, is the place of Taizu "Longxing", Zhu Yuanzhang's parents are buried here, called the imperial mausoleum, and Zhu Yuanzhang himself, because he was a teenager in Fengyang City outside the Longxing Temple as a monk, and this city is also quite related. Therefore, Fengyang was designated as the central capital by Zhu Yuanzhang and enjoyed a special status in politics.

It's just that in this Fengyang realm, although there are splendid palaces, verdant and majestic mountains, pampered eunuchs and local officials, but for the local people, it is an out-and-out hell on earth.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang once ordered "the people of Fengyang and Linhuai counties should be restored and endowed, and there is nothing in the world." In fact, these regulations, except for Zhu Yuanzhang, have never been truly implemented, and by the late Ming Dynasty, the local situation in Fengyang was getting worse and worse.

Since there was an Emperor Zhu here, there have been many kinds of pretentiousness and errands, which have overwhelmed the people of Fengyang. "Seven battles for one family a day, but still not exempt from whipping." The peasants "worked hard for a year" and finally laid a little grain, and the servants followed, "if they did not cooperate, they would be tied to their necks, and if they did not cooperate, they would hang their bodies upside down, and if they did not cooperate with their wives, they would move to other rooms." The people are calling for nine days, and the hall is tens of thousands of miles, how can they hear this little east? "And the saddest thing is that the suffering of these ordinary people, even if they reach Tiancong, will not be sympathized with by the Emperor of the Zhu family.

In November of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Qian Shisheng, the right attendant of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, was ordered to pay tribute to the Fengyang Emperor's Mausoleum, and wrote a report on the decay of the Fengyang area:

"Fengyang is known as the emperor's hometown,...... When the minister entered the realm, he saw that the land was barren, the houses were scarce, and the tomb was reckless, and he looked bleak. After consulting it, it is said that the Fengtu is indeed barren, and the counties in Jiangbei are under the river, and the dwellings are all Tuci. In the event of a flood and drought, he will be abandoned like a piece of, take the burden of his wife and children, and beg to live in all directions. And the hukou is in exile, and the endowment is accumulated over the years. Urging the levy will never hesitate, and the solicitation is suspected to be empty talk. There is a division that is bound to the positive amount, and it has to be levied with the grain of the household. So the more losses accumulate, and the one who sees it turns to others. This land is so scarce, the household account is consumed, the positive amount is lost, and the lodging is so accumulated. …… I don't mean that the hometown of the ancestors Tang Mu has the image of exhausting the roots, and the heart is hurt. …… Today, the government is heavy, and the people are poor and wealthy,...... And the minister is said to be benevolent, and it is advisable to be the emperor's hometown. That is, it is especially reduced, but Taicang's rice ear. ”

It should be said that Qian Shisheng's request is not high, and in the case of Taizu's edict, reducing Fengyang's taxes should be the most normal and reasonable thing. However, Emperor Chongzhen did not agree, but severely reprimanded Qian Shisheng for being alarmist, and said that he had empty words such as "his concern for the people has been repeatedly decreed".

In fact, the emperor's real mind is that he is afraid that Fengyang will set a precedent, and if the money and grain are reduced, all localities will follow suit, and the three salaries that are now being scavenged will become a big problem.

Since the court refused to be gracious, the poor people had no choice but to pin their hopes on the Liukou. Just when Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other rogues besieged Yingzhou, "the poor people of Fengzhi were invited hundreds of miles away, and they were given to thieves: a certain family is rich, and there are no soldiers somewhere." As a result, the thieves surrounded the crowd and burned and looted, shaking the ancestral tomb. ”

In a sense, the rapid development and growth of the Liukou is actually due to the fact that the Ming Dynasty itself lost the hearts of the people, so that even the people in Emperor Taizu's hometown began to rebel against this court.

Thinking of this, Yang Yipeng sighed and read softly: "The country does not know that there are people, and the people do not know that there is a country." ”

Not long after, Yang Yipeng's soldiers and horses arrived in Fengyang, and when he saw the ruin-like Zhongdu, Governor Yang couldn't help but sigh again.

Yang Yipeng originally thought that what he had to do now was just to clean up the mess and wait for the court to fall, but he didn't expect that his own soldiers had only been stationed for one day, and there would be an urgent return from the sentinels sent abroad, and those rogues who went south had returned to Fengyang again!

"Have you ever probed carefully?" Yang Yipeng's voice trembled a little.

"It is indeed a rogue soldier and horse, extremely heavenly and earthly, mighty and mighty, and the soldiers and horses do not know how many mortals." The sentry rider hurried.

Yang Yipeng's face was like earth, he paced back and forth in the room, and finally said in a trembling voice: "Fengyang has become a white land, and there is no city wall, Anke can hold on, you can quickly retreat to the nearby Changhuai Guard, and the army of the Ministry of Guards is compatible, desperately blocking the thieves." ”

After Yang Yipeng retreated his troops and horses to Changhuaiwei, Zhang Xianzhong's troops rushed to Fengyang.

Hearing that the sentry cavalry came to report that Changhuaiwei had a large number of soldiers and horses stationed, Zhang Xianzhong was shocked, thinking that Li Xiaojun was stationed in it.

In view of the fact that Li Xiaojun wiped out Li Dingguo's troops with one blow and his combat strength was strong, Zhang Xianzhong was very cautious, and after two days of continuous observation, he saw that the Ming troops stationed in the guard post had scattered banners and low morale, so he concluded in his heart that these soldiers were definitely not Li Xiao's soldiers and horses, and Zhang Xianzhong ordered to attack the city immediately.

Yang Yipeng and the others had no way out, so they had to desperately fight the Liukou and defend Changhuai Guard.

After three days of fierce fighting, Zhang Xianzhong's troops attacked the city, and then opened the guard gate, and the army of Liukou swarmed in like a tide.

The Ming army stationed in Changhuaiwei finally completely collapsed, except for more than 2,000 Ming soldiers killed and wounded, the rest of the more than 4,000 people all surrendered.

Yang Yipeng himself also became a prisoner of Zhang Xianzhong's department.

"I heard, you are the governor of Fengyang, and you also served as the head of the household department of the Ming Dynasty?"

A vacant lot outside the city has been temporarily converted into an execution ground, and Zhang Xianzhong, who was spinning around on the ground with a steel knife in his hand, sneered and asked Yang Yipeng, who was tied up by five flowers.

"Exactly." Although Yang Yipeng was captured, his face was awe-inspiring.

"Lao Tzu told you clearly, I hope you know the current affairs and surrender to our army as soon as possible. In this case, Lao Tzu will give you a chance to live. Zhang Xianzhong said coldly.

"I am an important minister of the Ming Dynasty, an official who guards the land, and I can surrender to the thieves." Yang Yipeng's face did not change, and he replied calmly.

"Dogs. Things, give shame to the face, come to someone, cut it on the spot. Zhang Xianzhong scolded and waved his hand to the sergeant on the side.

"Wait!" Yang Yipeng drank.

"Huh?" Zhang Xianzhong had a mocking smile on his face: "Do you regret it?" ”

"No, I am an important minister of the Ming Dynasty, I should worship the Son of Heaven in the north first, and I can be punished, and I don't know how to count the etiquette?" Yang Yipeng said coldly.

Zhang Xianzhong smacked his lips and nodded again, seemingly agreeing with Yang Yipeng's statement.

Subsequently, he ordered Yang Yipeng to be untied.

Yang Yipeng straightened his clothes, straightened his official hat, and solemnly kowtowed three times in the northward direction.

Subsequently, calmly take righteousness.

"This person is a loyal minister, and he was not intimidated by my old Zhang. Spread my order, find him a coffin, put his head and body together, and bury him alive. Zhang Xianzhong stroked his beard and whispered to the sergeant on the side.

Yang Yipeng, who was righteous in Fengyang, was later given a knight by the imperial court and entered the Loyal Ancestral Hall, and his son Yang Changchao was given a hereditary brocade cloth to guard thousands of households, which completely changed the sad ending of the original history because of the ineffective combat and the beheading of the family by the imperial court.

I don't know if Yang Yipeng, who has returned to the underground, will be grateful to Li Xiao for this after learning about his two fates.

From eliminating Yang Yipeng's troops to starting anew, Zhang Xianzhong's troops have been stranded in Fengyang for five precious days.

At this time, Li Xiaojun had arrived in Yongcheng, Henan.

This Li Xiaojun can't catch up at all.

Now, if Zhang Xianzhong wants to rescue Li Dingguo, he can only attack Li Xiao's old nest in Iron Dragon City, Shanxian County, and there is only one way to go.

After another five days, when it began to snow in Luyu and other places, Li Xiao's whole army finally returned to Shanxian smoothly.

This sudden heavy snowfall made Zhang Xianzhong's department, who had gone all the way north, struggle painfully in the mud.

It wasn't until nearly a week later that the exhausted Zhang Xianzhong finally crossed the Yellow River and reached the boundary of Shanxian County, Shandong.

Looking at the majestic and majestic Iron Dragon City under the gray sky, as if it suddenly appeared from the sky, Zhang Xianzhong, who had a dusty face, couldn't help but sigh: "Li Xiao, a thief, has occupied such a majestic city!" (To be continued.) )