Zuo Liangyu didn't think about whether Li Zicheng would do anything to him after he bought his grain, but he still sold the grain to Li Zicheng. This is mainly due to two reasons, the first is that he is increasingly short of money. The deal with the Zheng family once made his economic situation better, but the next few defeats made him suffer heavy losses, he was not like Guan Ningjun, he could get a large amount of military salary every year, and he earned all his money by himself. However, the Zheng family was not righteous enough, although they still traded human beings with him, but they took advantage of the danger to reduce the price of buying human beings. Of course, the Zheng family will not admit this, they will only accuse Zuo Liangyu of the quality of the goods provided to them getting worse and worse, so naturally they can't sell them for a price. As for the fact that they have raised the price of armor and weapons, that is normal, and now that the price of the raw materials used to make these things has risen, you can't lose money, right? In order to get money, Zuo Liangyu had no choice but to arrest people more vigorously, but in doing so, more land was abandoned, and more people ran to Xiajiang or simply to Li Zicheng's control area. The exodus of the population has led to the abandonment of large tracts of land and the reduction of normal incomes. The abandonment of the fields in the Huguang area has led to the rise in grain prices, which also makes the money in Zuo Liangyu's hands more and more insufficient. In this case, buying some grain from the Zheng family at a high price, and then selling it to Li Zicheng and them at a higher price, also became a means for Zuo Liangyu to solve his financial difficulties.

As for the second reason, Zuo Liangyu knew that even if he didn't sell it, someone would sell the grain to Li Zicheng behind his back. Because of the loss of a large number of veterans, he had to expand the size of his army, and on the other hand, because of the financial constraints, he could not feed his troops, which naturally made his control over his army decrease, and he could no longer do the order and prohibition. Since there are people selling it anyway, it is better to sell it yourself than to sell it to others. Besides, if he refuses to do business with Li Zicheng, God knows if Li Zicheng will come over directly to rob him?

"Shizi, don't you know that the thieves are in the Han River, and they have also trained a naval army...... And...... Some unscrupulous people in our army actually turned their backs on the emperor's favor and surrendered to the thieves, and now the Yangtze River is in danger, and it is really ...... Now Wuchang really can't hold on...... If the prince can't enter the army, please leave us a way to retreat! Seeing that Zheng Sen had no intention of sending troops to rescue immediately, Zuo Mengeng said so.

"General Zuo." Zheng Sen looked into his eyes with a smile and said unhurriedly: "Our army is not ready now, so naturally we can't send troops, as for getting out of the way, a way to retreat...... Hehe," Zheng Sen sneered, "General Ping Thief (this was originally Zuo Liangyu's title, but Zuo Liangyu later gave it to his son) knows why our army can reach Jiujiang in just ten days?" The grain and straw of our army along the way were all lent by the gentry in Jiangnan. Do you know why those gentry are willing to take out these grains? What are their conditions? ”

Zuo Mengeng's face turned white all of a sudden, and he asked in a trembling voice, "...... them Are they ......?"

"Their condition is that neither the army of the thieves nor the army of General Zuo shall go south to the south of the Yangtze River." Zheng Sen interrupted him and said coldly.

"This ......," Zuo Mengeng said, "Shizi, why is this?" ”

"Why is that?" Zheng Sen sneered, "General Zuo, don't you know why?" Let's make it clear, your army is notoriously corrupt in military discipline. Wherever he goes, he harms the place, and there is too much trouble for the trouble. Not to mention anything else, it is Wuchang City, which has been looted by your army more than once. How dare those gentry in Jiangnan let your army pass? ”

"Son, those gentry...... Besides, the things of the world are bad for them! Now that the rogues are so rampant, the great revenge of the first emperor has not been avenged, shouldn't they come up with some money and contribute to the revenge of the first emperor? If they can't even give up this thing, they are rebels and thieves! Isn't it the right thing to do with them like this? If the prince is willing, the two of us can ...... together" At this time, Zuo Mengeng suddenly calmed down.

Zheng Sen looked at Zuo Mengeng, and suddenly remembered Prime Minister Zhuge Cheng's famous sentence "I have never seen such a brazen person", and couldn't help laughing: "It turns out that your army is plundering everywhere, but it is 'doing the right thing for heaven'?" Jiangnan is where the country's financial resources lie, if you are allowed to go to the scourge, you may not be able to recover for many years! Anyway, Zi said: 'The gentleman is in righteousness, and the villain is in profit.' I'm just going to be a villain today and tell you about this 'benefit'!" For my Zheng family, Jiangnan is a hen that can lay golden eggs. My family bought porcelain from Jiangxi, silk and cotton cloth from Jiangsu, and then trafficked it to Taixi, Japan, which can bring a lot of income to my family every year. If you use troops to rob and rob it, where will you have any money next year? Just consider this point, don't say that the gentry in Jiangnan are unwilling to let you go east, even my family, and I will not allow your army to go east! And the saint also made a will, ordering your army to defend Huguang, if your army must resist the decree to advance eastward, it is a rebellion, when the time comes, the saint ordered our army to rebel, General Zuo, do you say that our army listens to the saint? ”

Zuo Mengeng also lowered his face and said: "Does the son of the world have to put me to death?" ”

Zheng Sen just smiled and looked at him, but did not answer.

Zuo Mengeng gritted his teeth for a while, but he softened again, and pleaded: "Shizi, our two families are good friends, we are all good friends, you can't just watch us die, right?" In this situation, you must show us a way to live! ”

Hearing this, Zheng Sen laughed out loud and said, "You say this, it's the truth." After all, our two families have a friendship. We're not going to see you running out, are we? Speaking of which, the two of us have partnered in business, not once or twice. Old friends, old customers, aren't they? I have an idea, you listen, go back and discuss it with Ning Nanbo, and see if it works. Okay, give me a reply as soon as possible. ”

"Shizi, I don't know ......" The look of gain and loss appeared on Zuo Menggeng's face again.

"General Zuo, I don't think the sergeants of your army are very capable of fighting now. Moreover, now that the troubled times are coming to an end, Zuo Ningnan doesn't seem to have any special ideas, what does it mean to raise such a team that can't be played? It's better to be like this, how many people in your army are there now, and how about selling them to us in a bag? Zheng Sen said with a smile.