It was very cold, and Liu Guoneng was also cold in his heart, but he was sweating on his back, and he even felt that the clothes inside were almost sweaty.

He was really frightened at this moment, looking at the dense imperial army outside the city, he really wanted to jump from the city gate.

Why are you so stupid, I don't know how to run away early, now it's okay, Chengcheng is surrounded by officers and soldiers on all sides, and I can't run away if I want to.

Will Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, come to save himself?

This question, he has already vaguely guessed the answer at this time, why do people come to save themselves, just kidding, there are 100,000 officers and soldiers outside the city, King Chuang wants to save himself, he has to fight all the elites in his hands, will he fight for himself, don't think about this question, absolutely not!

"What should I do? The officers and soldiers are all on all sides, and we can't run away if we want to! An old steward's frightened voice came to mind at an inopportune time.

"Ahh , Liu Guoneng unconsciously replied a few times, and then said with a straight face: "What are you afraid of, King Chuang said that he will come to save us." ”

Although he had roughly determined that Li Zicheng would not come, at this time, he couldn't say that, because as soon as he said this, his subordinates had to fry the pot, and I was afraid that before the officers and soldiers rushed up, his side would already be in a mess.

The old steward was still a little frightened and said, "What if you don't come to the king?" ”

This guy, really can't open any pot and mention which pot, Liu Guoneng glared at him fiercely, and said angrily: "What are you panicking, haven't the officers and soldiers started to attack the city yet, wait a few days and see the situation." ”

If this guy weren't a little related to himself, he would have to kick this fool down from the city gate, if he can't speak, shut your dog's mouth if he can't speak.

The team was stared at by him like this, shrunk his neck in fright, and didn't dare to squeak anymore, although the other teams were full of panic, they didn't dare to ask again, and the boss was obviously in a bad mood at this time, and if he asked again, he was probably going to beat someone.

Why did Liu Guoneng conclude that the officers and soldiers would not attack the city within a few days?

It's very simple, because the officers and soldiers didn't bring siege equipment, although the city wall of Chengcheng is only a few feet high, it is not something that can be climbed up directly, at least you have to make some cloud ladders or something to rush up, and it takes at least two or three days to build these siege equipment.

In fact, Xiong Wencan didn't bring 100,000 people over, he only brought 80,000, and he left 20,000 Shanxi soldiers to stay in Huanglong County, because he was afraid that the thieves would run away from the direction of Huanglong when he led the army to chase and suppress, and it would be terrible.

Another point, Liu Guoneng also thought wrongly, he did not prepare to attack the city after two or three days, because he was familiar with military books and knew that the soldiers who surrendered without a fight were the great benevolent ones.

He is ready to scare and scare the anti-thieves in the city first, to see if they can surrender, after all, the loss of siege is too great, he has no muskets and artillery in his hands, he can only wave the army to attack, 30,000 thieves garrisoned by the city, no matter how bad it is, it can make him pay the price of thousands of people, and the number of injured will definitely exceed 30,000, and he will be half-crippled in one trip, how to fight later, so he wants to appease it first, see if he can appease this gang of thieves, it is really not possible to attack the city again.

This is not what Yang Sichang meant, but his own thoughts, in history, Xiong Wencan advocated to appease the mainstay, it was precisely because he successfully appeased Zheng Zhilong that he won Chongzhen's appreciation, and it was precisely because he appeased Zhang Xianzhong that he was put together, and finally dragged out by Chongzhen and cut down.

The so-called nature of the country is easy to change, even if the trajectory of history has changed now, his favorite Mao Bu has not changed.

As for how to scare the anti-thieves in the city, he also thought about it, that is, to show the might of the officers and soldiers and make the anti-thieves frightened.

So a strange scene appeared, after the 80,000 army set up a large camp outside the city, not everyone ran to build siege equipment, only about half of them went to build siege equipment, and the other half practiced outside the city, and they also shouted trumpets to practice, the earth-shattering shouting and killing sound, simply made the peasant army in the city tremble.

Liu Guoneng regretted it even more at this time, his intestines were blue, where is this just gathered guard, it is clearly the elite of the elite, that action, that momentum, a discerning person can see at a glance, the officers and soldiers outside the city and the Tianxiong army under King Lu Yan have to fight.

Of course, the white pole soldiers of the Sichuan army and the Tianxiong army have a fight, if Lu Xiangsheng and Ma Xianglin are right, and the number and equipment of both sides are the same, then it is really hard to say who can win.

Xiong Wencan let the 30,000 Sichuan army white-pole soldiers practice outside the city, and all the siege equipment was handed over to the 50,000 Shanxi soldiers to build.

This effect is quite obvious, Liu Guoneng has been frightened, he has even thought about it, if Li Zicheng does not come to the rescue when the officers and soldiers start to attack the city, he will surrender to the officers and soldiers!

In this way, three days later, Zuo Liangyu finally led people to make the siege equipment almost, early in the morning of the fourth day, Xiong Tingbi ordered everyone to assemble, put on a posture, pretending to attack the city, and then, he sent Ma Xianglin, beat the horse and ran to the south gate one hundred and fifty steps, and shouted at the city gate: "The fifth acceptance of Lord Xiong has an order, ordering you to immediately lay down your arms, go out of the city and surrender, if not, there will be no forgiveness." ”

The leader of the anti-thieves is at the south gate, which can be seen by everyone, because Liu Guoneng takes a group of pipes to look at the officers and soldiers outside on the south gate tower every day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, each time for about an hour, and it is very punctual.

Liu Guoneng is naturally on the city gate tower at this time, he runs up every day not to look at the officers and soldiers, but to see if there is an army behind the officers and soldiers Li Zicheng, as a result, three days have passed, and I haven't even seen a ghost, so it's still a fart, surrender!

Of course, it is okay to surrender, but it can't be so simple, he doesn't want to be confiscated by the officers and soldiers, and then let others slaughter, he also wants to take his men and horses to be safe, even if he follows the officers and soldiers to exterminate other peasant armies.

Can this condition be negotiated?

He replied tentatively, "Can you please send someone to talk to you?" ”

Let's talk, okay, isn't appeasement just to negotiate terms with the thief, Xiong Wencan received the return, and immediately ordered Ma Xianglin to take the team of guards, set up a ladder, and walk towards the city wall.

Ma Xianglin is also a fierce general who kills in and out of the army, and he doesn't care about this thief, so he dares to take more than ten personal guards to negotiate with Liu Guineng, Zuo Liangyu doesn't dare, he is not as lifeless as Ma Xianglin, he is very desperate.

Liu Guoneng saw more than ten people coming over with a ladder, and he didn't order anyone to stop it, but greeted him in person, Ma Xianglin led people to climb the city wall and discussed with Liu Guoneng for a while, and after carefully asking Liu Guoneng about his conditions, he took his guards down the city wall and ran back to report to Xiong Wencan, and even he didn't bother to kick the ladder, so he leaned on the city wall.

Liu Guoneng's condition is actually very simple, that is, to let the imperial court give him an official position and let him lead his men to fight for the imperial court.

Xiong Wencan promised to give him a guerrilla general and let him continue to lead the troops to fight for the imperial court, but he must send a boss to supervise him and pass on the imperial court orders.

Liu Guoneng thought about it for a while, and then agreed, didn't he just send someone to supervise him, he was afraid of a fart, can more than 30,000 people still be afraid of one person!

As a result, it was not one person who came to supervise him, but eleven people, and Qin Zuoming, the deputy chief soldier of Sichuan, came to the city wall with ten personal guards, and ordered him to immediately go out of the city and set up camp and let Chengcheng County out.

Liu Guoneng didn't say anything, in his opinion, eleven people are not much different from one person, eleven is eleven, anyway, it is impossible to do more than the 30,000 troops under him.

It's not that Xiong Wencan prefers to use the white pole soldiers of the Sichuan army, he has actually been instructed by Yang Sichang to reuse Zuo Liangyu as much as possible, the problem is that Zuo Liangyu's subordinates don't have this fierce man who dares to go to tens of thousands of thieves to supervise the army, he has no choice but to use the people of the Sichuan army.

In this way, Liu Guoneng accepted the appeasement.

Xiong Wencan thought about it for a while, and did not order him to lead the army to attack Li Zicheng, nor did he let him lead the army to appease Li Zicheng, but asked Ma Xianglin to lead the Sichuan army to "accompany" them to Huayin to appease Li Wanqing.

Because he knew that Li Zicheng was unlikely to accept the appeasement, if Liu Guoneng was allowed to appease Li Zicheng, it was very likely that Liu Guoneng would be "appeased" by Li Zicheng and become a member of the anti-thieves again.

And Liu Guoneng is obviously not Li Zicheng's opponent, if he is asked to attack Li Zicheng, it is very likely that he will be forced to throw himself into Li Zicheng's arms.

This Li Wanqing is different, the two of them are almost inseparable, and the relationship is very good, with Liu Guoneng as an example, coupled with the threat of Sichuan Jun and Lu Xiangsheng, Li Wanqing is very likely to accept the appeasement of the imperial court like Liu Guoneng.

This appeasement is not a simple matter, there are a lot of exquisiteness, not everyone can be appeased, not everyone can be appeased, after the appeasement is completed, you have to consider how to use people, how to prevent people from rebelling again, these, Xiong Wencan has carefully studied, just right, this time came in handy, and obtained a good start, in one fell swoop to appease the thief Liu Guoneng Department, if nothing else, the thief Li Wanqing Department will also accept the court's appeasement.

Huayin is also a hundred miles away from Chengcheng, Ma Xianglin led 30,000 Sichuan army white pole soldiers to urge the thief Liu Guoneng to travel all the way, and came to the boundary less than ten miles away from Huayin in the evening, because it was late Ma Xianglin did not urge Liu Guoneng to continue to move forward, but stationed on the spot, and set off to Huayin early the next morning.

At this time, Li Wanqing was taken aback, his attention was in the direction of Tongguan in the east, and he didn't send anyone to guard in the direction of Chengcheng in the north, because it was his brother Liu Guoneng's territory, why should he be vigilant.

As a result, fifty or sixty thousand "officers and soldiers" suddenly appeared in Chengcheng, how could he not be frightened, Xiong Wencan didn't know whether to forget, or wanted to surprise him, he didn't let Liu Guoneng send someone over to say hello, so he directly let Ma Xianglin lead the army and Liu Guoneng to come over, so frightened that Li Wanqing almost didn't immediately lead his main cavalry to abandon the city and flee.

Just kidding, there is a King Lu Yan in the east, and 50,000 or 60,000 officers and soldiers suddenly appear in the north, how can he bear it.

Fortunately, Liu Guoneng soon came to the north gate with his own horse, and asked him to drop the rope, saying that he had something important to discuss with him when he entered the city.

This important matter was changed to someone else, Li Wanqing probably had to think about what kind of relationship Liu Guoneng had with him, and he did not hesitate to order someone to drop the rope and "welcome" Liu Guoneng up.

As soon as Liu Guoneng came up, he scolded Li Zicheng, exposed this guy's conspiracy to use the two of them to consume the strength of officers and soldiers, and then persuaded Li Wanqing to accept the court's appeasement with him, under the same conditions as him, to give him the position of a guerrilla general, and lead the army to fight for the court, but he needed to accept the supervision of his boss appointed by the court.

As soon as Li Wanqing heard that Li Zicheng actually played this trick, what else was there to say, he couldn't even stand a King Lu Yan, and there were 100,000 troops of the imperial court in the north, Li Zicheng couldn't be relied on, what else could he do.

As a result, Xiong Wencan did not spend a single soldier, so he recruited two anti-thieves, and in the entire Guanzhong Plain, Li Zicheng, the big thief chieftain, was left.

This Li Zicheng is not so easy to deal with, he just slaughtered the emperor's own uncle King Fu, and looted the Fuwang Mansion in the rich world, it is almost impossible to make him submit to the imperial court, and the only way to deal with him is to use it.

Xiong Wencan is not just good at appeasement, he has still studied a lot of military books, and it is not a problem to command a battle, he carefully studied the map, and then ordered.

Lu Xiangsheng was ordered to leave 10,000 people to garrison Tongguan, and at the same time lead the Tianxiong army to enter Huayin, defend the two cities of Tongguan and Huayin, and further tighten the encirclement in the east.

The Shanxi soldiers who stayed in Huanglong were ordered to send 10,000 troops to Chengcheng and defend the two cities of Huanglong and Chengcheng together, further tightening the encirclement in the north.

He Renlong led 10,000 Qin troops to garrison Gaoling, defend the two cities of Gaoling in Xi'an, and further tighten the encirclement in the west, so that the anti-thief Li Zicheng's troops were confined to an area of less than 300 miles between Huayin, Chengcheng, Gaoling and Lantian, and the difficulty of pursuit and suppression was more than doubled.

Immediately afterwards, he ordered Qin Zuoming's surrendered Liu Guoneng troops to guard Weinan, and ordered Qin Zuoming's surrendered Li Wanqing troops to guard Lintong, preventing Li Zicheng from defending the city, and at the same time trapping Li Zicheng in the net of heaven and earth.

After arranging all this, he led the 30,000 Sichuan army and 50,000 Shanxi soldiers to attack Lishan, because according to Liu Guoneng and Li Wanqing, Li Zicheng led the army to be stationed at the northern foot of Lishan in the south of Lintong.

It is said that Yang Sichang used Xiong Wencan to implement the plan of "four positive and six corners, ten sides of the net" to suppress the thief, Xiong Wencan's strategy of combining suppression and appeasement is a good way to exterminate the anti-thief, and he also has a very good set of nets, and he easily laid a net to put Li Zicheng in the net.

It's a pity that his plan of "four positive and six corners, ten sides of the net" is wrong from the root, because this plan is too expensive, Chongzhen in order to support this plan has to levy and expropriate, increase the levy and training of wages, making the lives of the people in the five northwestern provinces more difficult to maintain, but making the soil for the survival of the thieves more "fertile", it is really difficult to completely exterminate it, even if Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are eliminated, there will always be a few Zhang Zicheng and Li Xianzhong or something.

In short, his method of quenching his thirst by drinking water is not a good strategy to exterminate the anti-thieves, but will make the anti-thieves more and more prosperous like wildfire!