"Lao Liu, I heard that you sent someone to raid Wu Xiang's house?" Li Zicheng asked.

"Yes, don't you know, Your Majesty, this old thing really has a lot of money at home, there are millions of taels of silver, tsk, a cellar full of the boss, full of it!" Speaking of this, Liu Zongmin's eyes flashed with silver, "No wonder Chongzhen's treasury can starve to death of rats, it turns out that the silver is in their hands." ”

"It's just that this Wu Xiang is different from others." Li Zicheng shook his head and said, "His son is outside, and he still has tens of thousands of troops in his hands. ”

"What's wrong with tens of thousands?" Liu Zongmin crooked his mouth and said, "How many tens of thousands are we going to kill along the way." ”

"Guan Ningjun is different from them." Li Zicheng shook his head and said.

Liu Zongmin had also dealt with the Guan Ning army before, to be honest, the Guan Ning army at that time was indeed not easy to fight, compared to other Ming armies, their equipment and training were better, if it was true, they were only afraid that they could fight better than the Qin army. It's just that the Guan Ning army is generally more slippery, and when there is a benefit, they rush fiercer than anyone else, and once the situation is not right, they turn in quickly. In general, in the past, in the battles between the two sides, the invading army suffered more losses.

"Then who knows. In the past, the Xuan army was also very capable of fighting, and it was not necessarily weaker than the Guanning army, but now? Liu Zongmin said, "I heard that Guan Ningjun's lair has been taken away by the Tartars, and the old book is long gone." It's the same as Xuan Dajun, it's just a silver-like pewter spearhead. ”

Li Zicheng still shook his head and said, "Guan Ningjun is definitely different from Xuanda...... They have money. Moreover, Wu Xiang's son also had a reputation for being able to fight before, and when it comes to fighting, I am afraid that it will not be much worse than Cao Xiao, and I am afraid that it will be even more powerful than the Zhou Yuji we met not long ago. He could have been able to fight, and he had money in his hands - you think that his father kept so much money in Jingshi, most of it was used to bribe those dog officials, and there was so much money in Jingshi, he must have more money in his hands. He has money and can fight, where can the Xuan army be compared. ”

These words made Liu Zongmin also silent, he knew that what Li Zicheng said was reasonable, but now that the money has been deducted by him, can it still be sent back? If you really want to do this, isn't that a public statement, we are afraid of Guan Ningjun and Wu Sangui? This is too great a blow to the morale of the military.

"Your Majesty, I didn't think about this matter enough." Liu Zongmin thought about it, and still honestly admitted his mistake, "But Your Majesty, it doesn't seem that this money is easy to return back, the sergeants know this money, if you return it, it will be too damaging to morale." If you want me to say, simply, let's arrest Wu Xiang and ask him to write a letter but surrender his son. ”

"Can this be recruited?" Li Zicheng asked.

"I don't know." Liu Zongmin shook his head and said.

"If it were you, would you surrender?" Li Zicheng asked again.

"Your Majesty, you know, my father has died a long time ago!" Liu Zongmin's eyes widened and said.

"Didn't I say if you were Wu Sangui? If you are Wu Sangui! Li Zicheng also glared at Liu Zongmin.

"Ah...... That's it...... Then the emperor, you let me think about it. Liu Zongmin said.

"He's not going to surrender. At least not a real surrender for this. Li Zicheng didn't wait for Liu Zongmin to come up with any result, and said, "Do you think, if he surrenders, we let him come to Jingshi, will he come?" When he came, it became that both father and son were in our hands, so what if we ...... Didn't he lose a lot? Moreover, it still has the capital to the left and right, and once he surrenders to us, even if it is only nominally, it will be a big loss to reputation. Besides, what do we get by surrendering? So, I don't think he will surrender directly, but he will talk to us about surrendering so that we can stabilize us as a delaying tactic, but I think we can also talk to them, and we can also stabilize him as a delaying tactic. Well, Lao Liu, how many princes of Chongzhen have not been found yet? ”

"No, Your Majesty, you say it's weird. The last general also inquired about the eunuchs in the palace, and those eunuchs all said that on the night of the city breaking, Chongzhen of the former Ming Dynasty asked the eunuchs and Jinyi guards to escort the prince and several princes to their grandparents and uncles, but in these two places, whether it was Tian Hongyu or Zhou Kui, they said that the prince had never come. Even if he was tortured, he still couldn't ask what to do. I don't think these guys are so hard at all, if the prince was with them, they should have confessed it a long time ago. And we searched both places, so to speak, we have already dug three feet into the ground, and still found nothing. According to the eunuchs, although there were not many people when the prince was sent, there were dozens of people. On such a scale, where is it easy to hide? Moreover, there are so many people in their house, and it is impossible for the people in the house not to know the slightest movement. But these subordinates, no matter how they tortured, couldn't ask anything, and they talked nonsense when they were in a hurry, but as soon as we heard it, we knew that they were being beaten up and talking nonsense. So I think, Your Majesty, I'm afraid that Chongzhen's princes have really never been to them. ”

"You've already dug three feet into the ground?" Li Zicheng sneered and said, "That silver cellar in Zhou Kui's house, why didn't you dig three feet into the ground?" Or do you want Zhou Kui to confess by himself? However, even if their family still has a cellar that is so well hidden, after all, it is a human being, and they always have to deliver water and food. It seems that most of those princes are really not hiding from them. But where do you say they are hiding now? Do you think they have fled the city by mixing with the common people? ”

"Your Majesty, is this city so easy to escape? We have looked at the city gates strictly, and anyone who enters or exits through the city gates, even the dead, must be carefully examined, which is so easy to get out? I estimate that most of them are still hiding in the city, maybe they will hide in some inconspicuous people's homes. This is the most difficult to find, where are so many people in this city going to check one by one? Liu Zongmin shook his head and said.

"Alas!" Li Zicheng sighed and said, "Originally, I still wanted to catch Chongzhen's sons, and when the time comes, I can use them to recruit some of Qianming's men." In addition, maybe you can make a deal with these princes and others. Now it seems that such a trick cannot be counted on. ”

"Then what are you going to do next, Your Majesty?" Liu Zongmin asked.

"How?" Li Zicheng suddenly laughed, "Lao Liu, in fact, when I entered Beijing, Lao Tzu, oh, I thought about it, this Beijing is not a good place." It's too close to Jianxi, and it's too far from the grain production area. If we really stay in Beijing, the transportation of grain alone will exhaust us to death. And, right now, we've got some money, enough to reward the soldiers, but military rations are still a big problem, aren't they? Beijing's grain is transported by this canal, and now, the Jiangnan side will definitely refuse to transport grain to us, and when the time comes, we will have to leave when we have no grain. So, at that time, I only thought that if we could enter Beijing, get a sum of money, and feed the soldiers, we would go back to Xiangjing. But now that he has entered Beijing, Lao Liu ...... Do you think you're still willing to go back to Xiangjing? ”

"Tell the truth, tell the truth?" Liu Zongmin asked.

"Telling the truth, of course." Li Zicheng said with a smile.

"To tell you the truth, who wants to go back?" Liu Zongmin said, "Beijing has such a big palace and such a good official residence, I don't know how good it is compared to Xiangjing." And this is the capital of the former Ming Dynasty, after capturing the capital, we withdrew casually, and people still think that we lost the battle. Now Da Ming is obviously not good, isn't it, we have fought all the way, how many have surrendered to us? I always thought, if they all surrender to us like those Ming troops, then the world will not be ours? But if we leave and withdraw from Beijing, I'm worried...... Your Majesty, you also know that there is still half of the south of the Ming Dynasty. When we withdraw, they are afraid that their morale will rise, and maybe they will be able to support it for a while longer. ”

"It's not that maybe it can be supported for a while longer, it's that maybe the deer will die." Li Zicheng sighed, "But Lao Liu, we are chasing stolen goods in Beijing, and I am afraid that there are few officials in the Ming Dynasty who are willing to surrender to us." We can't stay in Beijing, and we have to leave if we don't leave. It's just that how you move is very important. If you just go like this, hehe, Wu Sangui's tens of thousands of troops are following behind, and most of our soldiers are newly attached to our army, and when it comes to fighting, these troops ...... And if we want to leave Beijing, we have to retreat to the vicinity of Xiangyang in one go, which is thousands of miles, and if we want to retreat safely, where is it so easy? ”

Liu Zongmin is also an old man, so he naturally knows what Li Zicheng means. A long-distance retreat in front of the enemy is definitely the most difficult operation in military terms. Especially the broken troops, they have been highly nervous, and they are worried that the enemy will attack them, so they must be careful when they leave, leaving no flaws, but on the other hand, they have to worry that the friendly army will run too fast, causing themselves to be too isolated, and finally being pitted by the friendly army and the enemy army, so many times, the enemy army does not even need to really catch up and fight, only need to follow not far away, and constantly put pressure on the retreating army, which can make it demoralized, and even let it collapse without a fight. Just like the later Emperor Napoleon, his army was victorious in the war against Tsarist Russia until the capture of Moscow. However, when he had to retreat from Russia because of supply problems, the retreat of thousands of kilometers became his nightmare, and his victorious army was in such a long-distance retreat, chaotic, and was defeated by the Russian army that pursued all the way, and finally almost completely annihilated. The training level of the army of the Emperor Napoleon was far from being comparable to that of any army of this era, and even such an army would be so dangerous to retreat long distances, not to mention the army of Li Zicheng, most of which were newly attached to the suspicious crowd.

"Your Majesty, I think Beijing is a dead place, and we have to go. If we want to leave, we have to recruit Wu Sangui, stabilize him, and keep him from coming out to pursue us. Or, we will take advantage of the food in our hands to fight Wu Sangui, and it is best to inflict heavy damage on him, so that he has no strength to chase us again. Liu Zongmin thought about it and said.