This sentence was asked very explicitly, and everyone changed their faces and did not dare to answer.

Wu Sangui smiled and said: "I know what everyone is thinking, in fact, everyone understands in their hearts that it is different from the past." The imperial court two years earlier has gradually commanded the military towns that cannot move the world, why? Because the court has no money! But what about the imperial court today? Look at Zuo Liangyu, the imperial court asked him to disarm and return to the field, so he really had to disarm and return to the field. Why? Because today's court has money and soldiers. But where did all this money and this soldier come from? So, is the current Ming Dynasty still the Ming Dynasty? Nowadays, it is said that it is the Ming Zhongxing...... But is it Guangwu Zhongxing, is it still the big man from before? ”

"Dashuai ......," He Jinzhong said, "What do you mean is that now you plan to go out to Linfen in order to ...... A New Saint Shows Loyalty? ”

He Jinzhong originally wanted to talk about the new Son of Heaven, but he felt that this meaning didn't seem right, so he conjured up such a new saint again.

"That's right." Wu Sangui didn't deny it, "Now that our Guanning Army's territory is too small, it can't be done on our own, and if we don't belong to the imperial court, what else can we do?" Zuo Liangyu bought his soldiers as pig babies and exchanged a lot of money, and there is an island, which is said to be rich in copper mines, and now their family is honestly a rich man. It's just that a certain family is not old enough to just want to be a rich man, and wants to run for a greater future. And Zuo Liangyu went to be a rich man by himself, but what about the generals under his command? Some of them went to study in the schools of the model army, and after completing their studies, they came out to be appointed. Hehe, the model army has its own system, they go directly to become officers, who can serve them? To study, I heard that it takes at least two to three years. In two or three years, who knows what the situation will look like? The other part was transferred to various places, and became a petty official guarding the local area, with civil officials on top of him, living on a few dead money. Some simply followed Zuo Liangyu and became the owner of the island. Even if a certain family really wants to make a big island and go overseas to be the king, the monarchs have just become the deputy general of the general army, do they want to go to the South Seas with a certain family to be the owner of the island? ”

This made everyone laugh. Wu Sangui said again: "If you want to say that Fenglingdu is indeed a good place, relying on the natural danger of the Yellow River, as long as we collect the ferries on the ferry in advance, can those Jianqi still plug in their wings and fly over?" It's just that if you were that Dolgon, would you come to Fenglingdu? Besides, how strong do you think this Jianzhi has the ability to attack fortifications? ”

"The siege of Jianqi is all about siege." He Jinzhong said, "For example, in the past, Dalinghe and Jinzhou relied on long-term siege until there was no food in the city to take it. Now that they occupy Jinzhou, they have their own ability to cast cannons. It's just that the last general felt that it was impossible for the enemy army to travel thousands of miles with artillery. If they had brought cannons, they would have been in Mongolia right now. If there were no cannons, what difference would there be between Jianyan's ability to attack fortifications and Da Linghe's time? ”

Wu Sangui praised: "General He said well, we may not be able to defeat Jianxuan in the field, but if we talk about defending the city, as long as the city is a little more decent, plus there is enough food, it will definitely not be able to be captured by Jianxuan in a short time." Jianzhi is far away, and he can't besiege us for long. Therefore, I think that if we can end the battle of Tongguan now, we can move our army north and occupy Pingyang to resist Jianguan. Surrounded by mountains and rivers, Pingyang is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is a place where soldiers must fight. It is also the seat of state governance, and it is a large city that can accommodate a lot of soldiers and horses. If our army had occupied this city first, Jianshen would not have been able to continue southward, and it would have been a greater credit. The risk is not really big. ”

"Dashuai, then why don't we go forward a little further and go directly to Taiyuan?" Xia Dengshi asked again.

"To Taiyuan, there are a lot more roads, and we may not necessarily be able to grab the front of Jianxuan. Moreover, if we really arrived in Taiyuan, then Dolgon really couldn't grab much. Then he's really going to fight us. Moreover, everyone, generally speaking, when is the combat effectiveness of the Jianzhi who has entered the Kou the weakest? ”

"I think it's time to grab enough things and start retreating, right?" He Jinzhong said, "At that time, they were all in a hurry to go back, who still wanted to fight? All the times Jianshen entered the Kou, my Ming army's army was also able to follow behind when the enemy retreated, and my Ming and Jianxuan fought and obtained many beheadings, many of which were obtained at this time. ”

Wu Sangui nodded and said: "If we block Jianshen in Taiyuan, Jianshen can't grab too many things, even if we have to withdraw in the end, we don't have many things with us, and the guard force that can be used is stronger, if we go out, it is more likely that they will be beaten back." So, I think Binh Duong is relatively better. What do you think? ”

……

However, Tian Jianxiu suddenly hesitated again for some reason, and it took two more days to surrender with 4,000 of his subordinates. Wu Sangui carefully checked Tian Jianxiu's soldiers, and saw that most of Tian Jianxiu's soldiers had really not eaten for several days, and when he asked again, he realized that Tian Jianxiu's soldiers had been out of food for several days. After Tian Jianxiu surrendered, Wu Sangui left 2,000 men to defend Tongguan, and scattered Tian Jianxiu's soldiers, most of whom served as auxiliaries. Then he led the army all the way north to Pingyang. But it was said that Pingyang City had also been taken by Li Zicheng some time ago, and the Pingyang prefect originally wanted to wipe his neck, but he was afraid of pain and wanted to hang himself, but he was worried that his tongue would stick out after death, which was quite unbeautiful, and finally he was caught by Li Zicheng in hesitation, and then he surrendered Li Zicheng without hesitation. Then he was retained by Li Zicheng. Unexpectedly, Li Zicheng was useless, and he was driven out not long after he conquered Beijing. As soon as Li Zicheng was defeated, the prefect immediately went anyway, but although the imperial court pardoned a military leader like Jiang Jiu, it did not have such a past blame for the rebellious civil officials. Although this is the prefect anyway, he was still dismissed, and his position fell into the hands of Ma Shiying's brother-in-law Yang Wencong.

Yang Wencong was born in a person, and he could not directly give the post of prefect to one party, but Ma Shiying pushed his brother-in-law to this position in the name that Yang Wencong had participated in the Guiyang Guard War and was "talented in war and defense". This Pingyang is not a good place at this time, in fact, Ma Shiying threw his brother-in-law over, but he just let him be gilded, and he has some qualifications, and it will be easy to use later. But I didn't want Yang Wencong to take office not long ago, and he met Jian Yan. Ma Shiying intended to let Yang Wencong pretend to be sick at home and hide, and wait for Jianxuan to retire before taking office. But he didn't want to, after Yang Wencong learned the news of Jianxuan's entry into the Kou, not only was he not afraid, but said: "Wencong has read sages since he was a child, what did he learn? Does Ann have a reason to retreat when he sees the thief? Regardless of the dissuasion of others, he only brought his eldest son Yang Dingqing and a few relatives to Pingyang to take office.

(Yang Wencong is the Yang Longyou mentioned in "Peach Blossom Fan".) This person was the most famous painter in the late Ming Dynasty and one of the original members of the Restoration Society. After Zheng Hongkui's defeat, Nanjing fell, and all officials surrendered, Yang Wencong retreated to Suzhou, destroyed his family and relieved his difficulties, organized a righteous army, and insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty. The Qing army sent people to surrender, and Wen Cong beheaded the envoy to show his determination. Later, the king of Tang ascended the throne, and Wen cong defected to the king of Tang and continued to resist the Qing Dynasty. Later, the Qing army besieged Quzhou, and Yang Wencong's army and more than 30 people from his family went to reinforcements, but they were defeated and captured, and died unyieldingly. Thirty-two members of the family were martyred, which can be described as full of loyalty. Just because he was Ma Shiying's brother-in-law, he was slandered by the Donglin Party. "Peach Blossom Fan" does not say that he resisted the Qing Dynasty and was martyred, but it is said that he abandoned his official position and fled. It's a great injustice. ）

After Yang Wencong arrived, he immediately rectified the city defense, but in this Pingyang city, there are not many people left, and when he heard that Jianyang was approaching, he was shocked overnight, and even the officials in the official office also fled. Not to mention organizing a rebel army or something, Yang Wencong was so busy that his hair turned a lot gray, but he barely organized more than 300 people to prepare to defend the city.

Yang Wencong naturally knew that these 300 or so people would not be able to hold Pingyang, so he was also ready to take righteousness and become benevolent. But he didn't want to, Wu Sangui led the army to Pingyang before the Qing army. Yang Wencong was naturally overjoyed, and hurriedly went out of the city in person to greet him, and invited Wu Sangui's army into Pingyang.

Wu Sangui and Yang Wencong met and discussed the current situation in the prefect's yamen. Yang Wencong arched his hand and said: "If you want to talk about fighting, Wu Shuai has experienced a hundred battles, and he can't be compared with the lower officials. If the marshal has a place to get an official, he just gives an order. The lower officials will not give up. ”

Wu Sangui was also very happy to see that Yang Wencong was so upright. You must know that my Ming magistrate looks down on military generals and likes to interfere in command indiscriminately, which is a bad habit for many years. And Yang Wencong has quite a background, he is the brother-in-law of Shoufu and a friend of the prince of Anping. If he also has this problem, it is also a headache. Then he also smiled and said: "How dare you dare, there is only one thing in the end, but now you need to have Master Lao." The last general came all the way and saw that there were still village populations in the countryside. The last general was worried that when Jianshen came, these people would be taken away by Jianshen, and secondly, he was worried that Jianshen would drive these people to attack the city at that time. Lord Yang, these people are also the sons of the Son of Heaven, how can they watch them fall into such a situation? But if they were all in the city, they would not have much food to bring, and if they were to build a siege, it would be difficult to sustain them. Therefore, the last general felt that the lord did not give the order and let them avoid the south first. The last general could send someone to escort them to the south of the Yellow River. When Jianshen retreats, it's not too late to let them return to their hometowns. ”

Yang Wencong thought for a while, and then asked: "What the big marshal said is very true, but these people, who have left their hometown and arrived in Henan, can they have food to eat?" ”

Wu Sangui said with a smile: "Don't worry about this, Sangui attacked Tongguan there before, and laid down a lot of military rations, and there is water transportation on the Yellow River, and it is relatively convenient to transport grain and grass." Don't worry, adults. ”

Yang Wencong thought about it for a while, and then said: "In this way, the lower officials will fully cooperate with the marshal!" ”

The two talked for a while, and Wu Sangui got up to say goodbye, saying that he was going to the army to arrange defense. Yang Wencong got up and sent the general out. Wu Sangui went out, arched his hand towards Yang Wencong again, got on his horse, and left with a hundred or so cavalry.

After entering the barracks, Wu Sangui ordered someone to find his henchman Sun Wenhuan and said to him: "You arrange for someone to contact the trading house of King Anping, and say that I have a group of people here, and ask them if they don't want it." ”