Chapter 500: Shun Minglu

In order to avoid regrouping after the Ming army broke up, Liu Zongmin divided two groups of 3,000 people each to pursue, and in the dark night, he didn't expect any results, it was nothing more than a deterrent.

Liu Zongmin was not as rude as the outside world rumored, his troops were always some distance away from Gao Jie's camp, and no one stepped forward to observe the provocation.

After a short rest here, the cavalry of the brigade waited for the order behind, and the Ming army was scattered in such a hurry just now, which was equivalent to the collapse of the last living force of the Ming army in the north.

In the past two years, nearly 600,000 Ming troops have been annihilated in a row, and the governors, governors, commanders, generals, and eunuchs have also killed a lot, and now it can be said that they have reached the peak.

But there was no joy on everyone's face, they were all extremely cautious, and the current situation was not at all the time to celebrate.

Only slaughtered the dog, but I didn't expect that there was a tiger watching behind him, the timing of the appearance of the Shandong soldiers and horses was so accurate, the Shun army never figured out the details of the Shandong soldiers and horses, the only few contacts, are related to the heavy casualties of the Shun army, this time the Shandong soldiers and horses are coming again, what will it look like, everyone's heart is bottomless.

The pursuing soldiers and horses came back in the middle of the night, and He Renlong, Bai Guangen, and Xu Dingguo, several general soldiers, were very knowledgeable, and each took two or three personal guards to escape along the path.

In such a situation, it is estimated that even if you want to gather troops and horses, it will take many days to barely gather a scale, which is no longer a problem.

When these soldiers and horses returned, the brigade of soldiers and horses led by Liu Zongmin had already returned to the way they came, but there were also foot soldiers who had just arrived, building fortifications and digging deep ditches here.

Even if it is temporary, it is necessary to separate Gao Jie's camp from the main force of the Shun army at a distance, many of these soldiers who built fortifications are stationed here directly after the completion of the repair, and even if their order is dead, they can't let the Ming army and Shandong soldiers and horses on Gao Jie's side come over.

General Liu Zongmin changed horses in a row, returned to the camp on the side of Xiangcheng, broke into the king's urgency, and could not be lazy, and when he returned to the camp, it was Li Shuangxi, the leader of the guards, who came out to greet him.

Although Li Shuangxi is the righteous son of King Chuang, he knows how to measure proportions, and he is quite polite to these noble generals, and respectfully said to Liu Zongmin:

"Lord Chuang and the generals of the battalions have been waiting for a long time."

It has already happened like this, and it must be rearranged, but with the lights in the old camp, Liu Zongmin found that Li Shuangxi's face was very bad.

Now it is true that the situation is not good, the enemy is current, but Li Shuangxi is just the leader of the guard, this face is still too sad, Liu Zongmin directly asked:

"During the day, there should be no movement on the side of the camp, if the Shandong soldiers and horses have already arrived, our Tanma has already reported the news."

Li Shuangxi hesitated, Liu Zongmin's status, there should be nothing in the Shunjun military newspaper that he couldn't see, and immediately opened his mouth and whispered:

"When it was dark, the scouts brought the news back, saying that the thieves' soldiers and horses were still about half a day away from here, and they arrived there almost in the afternoon, and our sentinels suffered heavy casualties, but they still wore the news back, and He Jin's side, I'm afraid it's gone."

In this way, the Shandong soldiers and horses were almost a day and a half away from this side yesterday, which proves that the Shandong soldiers and horses have been planning for a long time, otherwise the time would not be so accurate. And it wasn't until this evening that the sentry came back with the news, and it must have been specially arranged for people to intercept and kill the sentry of the Shun army, which would cost a lot of manpower.

The relationship between He Jin, who was stationed in Weichuan, and Liu Zongmin and others was not too close, but He Jin's death in battle did not make them feel very emotional.

He Jin's death is nothing more than proof that the defense line in Weichuan has collapsed, this fact has long been accepted, but the performance of Li Shuangxi, the leader of the prince's guard, is a little too much, Liu Zongmin was puzzled, and walked a few steps, but Li Shuangxi himself spoke, already a little choked.

"Brother Fangliang died in the south of Jiaxian, Brother Liu Tichun wanted to come back to report the news, but he didn't expect to meet those township dog thieves on the way, and he couldn't parry for a while, and several brothers around him snatched people back, and an hour ago, the body was brought back."

General Liu Zongmin was originally walking quite steadily, but when he heard Li Shuangxi's words, he stumbled and shook before he stood firmly, his mouth opened, but he didn't know what to say, so he shook his head and said in a rough voice:

"When this matter is over, let's go and slaughter that place."

As he spoke, he had already walked to the place where the military tent was, and some of his own soldiers opened the curtain, and the lights in the tent were bright, and King Chuang and all the generals were discussing there.

Hao Shaoqi, who was responsible for leading the foot soldiers on both sides to surround the Ming army's rout, was also in the military tent, and was arguing with King Chuang, the voice was quite loud, and the guards around the military tent were consciously a little farther away, and when Liu Zongmin walked in, this argument did not stop at all.

Since Li Zicheng returned to Henan, the generals below have become more and more respectful of him, and there are rarely such face-to-face arguments, and Hao Shaoqi completely ignored it this time.

"Lord Chuang, let's withdraw, now there are about 70,000 soldiers and horses with horses and livestock, now go to Baofeng to Ye County......"

"The enemy is now, what do you say to withdraw, isn't this shaking the heart of the army!!"

Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, sat there and did not make a sound, but Li Laiheng on the side scolded him sharply, Li Laiheng is the adopted son of the general Li Guo, and he is Li Zicheng's nephew, although he is a general Guo Yi, he can speak relatively casually.

Hao Shaoqi glanced at Li Laiheng, and didn't pay attention to it at all, what kind of identity he had in the Shun army, and he was worried about such a junior, he had lost his identity, and when he saw King Chuang muttering there, he began to continue to speak:

"Lord Chuang, the army of General Lu Thief Zhengxi should be out of Runing now, and Jiaxian's side is pinched by Lu Thief's horse army, and we are afraid that it will be too late if we don't withdraw."

Li Laiheng said what he said just now, but the other party ignored it, his face was flushed with anger, and he was about to continue arguing, but he was pulled by Li Shuangxi behind him, glared at him, and told him to shut up.

"Lord Chuang, what Lao Hao said makes sense, out of Runing, if we go to Ye County along Wuyang, it will block our way back to Huguang, and at that time, we will be forced to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the thieves."

Yuan Zongdi, who was standing on the side, also meant this, because he was too poor in the first stop with Hou Xian's soldiers and horses, he has been disgraced and very low-key during this time, but he has a close relationship with Hao Shaoqi, and he has heard Hao Shaoqi talk about several battles with Shandong soldiers and horses, which makes him also cautious.

Hao Shaoqi saw Liu Zongmin who walked in, Liu Zongmin is the head of the generals, he speaks more effectively than everyone else, if he can help himself a few words, it will definitely be very effective in King Chuang.

However, Liu Zongmin hugged his fist at King Chuang Li Zicheng, nodded at the people around him, and walked to the right side of King Chuang, without speaking out of voice.

General Hao Shaoqi was silent, and said again:

"Today's horse exploration returns, most of the thieves are foot soldiers, and there are artillery baggage, the action is naturally much slower than my Dashun soldiers and horses, as long as we take advantage of the night to pull out the camp, they will definitely not be able to pursue, and wait to retreat to the land of Huguang, there is Xiangyang Tianxia Xiongcheng, and there are waterways and natural dangers, as calmly deployed!"

King Chuang Li Zicheng sat there silently, but the hand he put on the armrest was tapping gently, and those who were familiar with King Chuang knew that this was Li Zicheng's hesitant state.

"A total of 70,000 people can go with animal power, but we have a total of 300,000 here, what about the rest?"

"Lord Chuang, with our old battalion's elite guards, how many soldiers and horses can't gather, Lao Hao is afraid that if we can't go, I'm afraid that if we can't leave, I'm afraid that we won't be able to leave when the time comes."

Li Laiheng on the side was finally angry, and regardless of the system, he opened his mouth and reprimanded loudly:

"Hao Shaoqi, you are too unkind, more than 200,000 brothers, how many of them are veterans who have followed us for several years, these are the backbone of our Dashun, just leave, what do the people of the world think of our Dashun, and how do they think of the prince!!"

"Laiheng, shut up, there's no place for you to talk here!"

Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, took off the red tasseled felt hat on his head and put it on, except when he was sleeping, he was wearing a hat, and taking off his hat back and forth, representing his impatient mood, but the sentence that stopped was said by Liu Zongmin, who was also silent.

"Kindness, kindness, if we can't live in our own house, who will talk to us about this kindness......"

Hearing Li Laiheng's angry reprimand, Hao Shaoqi directly scoffed, sneered and ironically returned, when he was trapped in the mountainous area of the fish belly, when King Chuang once wanted to jump off the cliff, Liu Zongmin and Hao Shaoqi both killed their wives to express their loyalty, who still pays attention to kindness and righteousness.

Seeing Hao Shaoqi so aggressive, Li Shuangxi, the leader of the guards, was also a little angry, although Li Laiheng was Li Guo's righteous son, but after all, he was a relative of the Li family, and when he broke into the king's military discussion, he had always been not very particular about the rules, and if he spoke and argued, he would not be reprimanded.

But at this time, Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, spoke in a deep voice, and it was Liu Zongmin, who had just come in, who asked, and he said:

"Zong Min, do you say that our soldiers and horses are stronger or weaker than they were when they were whirlpool?"

So far, the only large-scale battle between the Shun army and the Shandong soldiers and horses is the battle in the whirlpool, when the exile army of Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai's allied army was killed nearly 100,000 in the first battle, and this battle also gave the Shun army a great psychological shock, making them have a sense of fear for the Shandong soldiers and horses.

And this sense of fear is an unsolvable fear, Shun Jun knows that the armor and weapons of Shandong soldiers and horses are excellent, the soldiers are fully paid, and the training is regular and sufficient, but if you want to do it yourself, you can't support it financially.

General Liu Zongmin muttered there, he was a witness to that battle and a commander, of course, King Li Zicheng was with him, so he naturally knew this, but let him say that there must be a special intention, and several generals in the military tent were staring at him.

It seems that Liu Zongmin's judgment on the strength of the two sides is to decide whether to fight or go, and after a while, Liu Zongmin said in a rough voice:

"When the whirlpool was in the water, Cao Cao's soldiers and horses were at odds with us, and besides, there was a Ming dog on the side of Zhuxian Town, so even if it was a fight, it was not careful."

From this attitude of speaking, it can be seen that Liu Zongmin's scheming is not as rough as he himself shows, after saying this, he turned his head to scan everyone in the military tent, and saw Li Zicheng nodding slightly, so he continued:

"Although 100,000 died that day, but they were all miscellaneous cards that gathered temporarily, our old brothers were the last to go to the top, among the dead people, many of them were novices who were temporarily pulled to the battlefield, and they were already afraid before they got close, and we are now these soldiers and horses, but they have survived life and death on the battlefield, and the soldiers and horses on Cao Cao's side are together with our soldiers and horses."

"You are good at fighting, self-defeating", Cao Cao's soldiers and horses are more elite, good at field fighting on the battlefield, this is famous in the world, the battle of the vortex, both sides are afraid that the other party will consume themselves, and they do their best to fight each other, although many generals of the Shun army are shocked by the tragic defeat of the vortex, but they also feel that they have not used all their strength.

After the fire merged with Luo Rucai, his subordinates except for Yang Chengzu's soldiers and horses ran out, the rest of the troops were completely received by Li Zicheng, and now it has truly formed a complete fusion, and the combat effectiveness has been greatly improved, which is also the former Ming army tens of thousands of soldiers, if the exile army wants to fight a safe total annihilation battle, it generally has to come with several times the number of troops, and this time, Hou Sui soldiers and horses are nearly 100,000, most of them are Ming army soldiers, but Li Zicheng only led more than 300,000 troops, and he wanted to fight a total annihilation battle.

"Everyone, when we were in Vortex and Zhuxian Town, we claimed to be millions, how many could we fight, each of you had thousands of soldiers in your hands, plus more than 20,000 people in the old camp, and Cao Cao had more than 30,000 people, and it was only eighty or ninety thousand, so what, in this Xiangcheng area, which one has not fought and seen blood, they are all strong pawns, these people are all the seeds of our Dashun generals, just drop it like this, I don't know when we can get together."

Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, put his red tasseled felt hat on his head, never took it off again, and put his hand on the armrest and did not move again.

"Look at the news from everywhere, the soldiers and horses on the Runing side are only ten thousand, but not ten thousand in Jiaxian, the main force of the Lu thieves who are about to come is more than 40,000 people, and the Lu thieves are few, this is also common sense, presumably there will be no concealment and ambush, Chuang Wang, everyone, to fight with us is more than 40,000 people, more than 300,000 to these 40,000, are you so unconfident, Lao Liu is a rough man, this Li Laohu led more than 40,000 people, inevitably arrogant, there is a saying, what soldiers will be defeated, we have a chance of winning, It's a few more points! ”

When Hao Shaoqi, the general, heard Liu Zongmin say this, he finally understood why he and Liu Zongmin followed King Chuang's rebellion together, were born and died together, and even saved King Chuang's life several times.

What King Chuang was thinking, he hadn't figured it out, but Liu Zongmin's analysis was also very reasonable, even Hao Shaoqi himself was somewhat convinced, and Yuan Zongdi on the side was even more so, he took a step back and didn't want to speak again, and the younger Li Laiheng and Li Shuangxi were even more excited and excited.

Looking at King Chuang's expression, Hao Shaoqi knew that things would definitely develop in the direction he opposed, he still felt bottomless, he had led the troops to face the Shandong soldiers and horses several times, the other party's equipment, organization and combat effectiveness, that advantage was not a little bit, and the strength changes listed by Liu Zongmin were not false, but could they catch up with or even surpass in this way, it was really unconfident.

After hesitating, seeing that King Chuang was about to stand up, Hao Shaoqi was still about to say something:

"Chuang Wangye, if Chuang Wangye gives an order, Lao Hao, I have no words to say from birth to death, but some things still have to be explained, our 300,000 soldiers and horses are arranged according to the way of encircling and annihilating Ming Dog, this is a large shape of a semicircle, the thief is coming, but outside this circle, only the soldiers and horses that can be on top at that time are facing the thief, and the rest will be outflanked by the movement, and I am afraid that I will not be able to catch up in time."

Li Zicheng, who had been silent for a long time, stood up from his seat, Hao Shaoqi also stopped talking, Li Zicheng groaned slightly, and said:

"Hao Shaoqi, you work hard tonight, to adjust the arrangement of the soldiers and horses left and right, there are two places to put at the moment, one is the direction of Ye County, immediately arrange for the 20,000 people in the rear camp to go to Ye County to garrison tonight, Ye County and Wuyang are our back road back to Huguang, we must not lose."

When Hao Shaoqi heard this order, he sighed in his heart, knowing that things would definitely not change as he fought for, but since the military order was issued, it could only be done.

Seeing Hao Shaoqi bowing down to listen to the order, Li Zicheng turned to Li Shuangxi on the side and ordered:

"Double happiness, immediately pass on my general's order, order the horse army not to rush to this side again, and camp on the spot!"

This order is a bit strange, but Li Shuangxi still bowed down to receive the order, and Li Zicheng opened his mouth and said solemnly:

"Li Laiheng, Yuan Zongdi, the two of you will start preparing now, order the old battalion to pull out the camp and go to the north where the Ma army is, don't delay or hesitate, go now!"

Those two people also bowed down in unison to receive the order, and Li Zicheng opened his mouth to explain:

"Tomorrow's big war, the horse army should be the main force, running around for a day, can let them rest for a while, it is necessary to cultivate the horsepower and manpower, the battalion led by the king, to meet them, is what the flag just said, since the Shandong soldiers and horses are outside the encirclement semicircle, the old camp retreats, let's fight with him in the semicircle!"

This arrangement is indeed old and steady, and everyone in the military tent is also a veteran who is accustomed to military affairs, so he naturally understands that no matter what the mood of everyone is, this fight must be fought.

Hao Shaoqi rode to the surrounding camps, and the headquarters of the big camp where Li Zicheng was also began to make noise, and many soldiers who had already fallen asleep were called out by the generals again.

Li Shuangxi is the leader of the guards, and he will return to the handsome tent after conveying the order, when Li Zicheng gave them the order just now, he has already recovered the domineering spirit of directing the country and calmly giving orders, and this kind of spirit is also the reason for their confidence.

But Li Shuangxi walked into the handsome tent, but saw that Li Zicheng's expression was not as calm and calm as Fang Cai, but solemn and abnormal, Li Shuangxi still had something to say when he came in:

"Chuang Wangye, sent a lot of scouts back, along the way, the previous honest stockade forts are crazy, see our lone sentry spies go up to kill, some bold, dozens of cavalry squads dare to rush up to surround and kill, a few who came back are wounded, Chuang Wangye, so if it continues, our Tanma, I'm afraid they can't go out, isn't this a trouble?"

Li Zicheng's face was gloomy, and he said in a deep voice:

"Then Li Meng is also the prince of the imperial court, and they are people on the same line as these officials and gentry and landlords, and now that the army is coming, naturally everyone has jumped out, these people thought that there would be no harm in going to the mountains and falling grass, and when our matter is over, they will be washed one by one."

"Fortunately, the thieves' soldiers and horses are so rampage, there is no other arrangement, otherwise it will really make these miscellaneous things a big deal, Chuang Wangye, the mounts and guards outside are ready for you, and Mr. Niu Xiao's civil officials are also ready to stop, let's go."

Li Shuangxi complained indignantly a few words, and then asked King Chuang for specific matters, King Chuang Li Zicheng nodded, Li Shuangxi confessed, and turned around to go out to arrange.

Li Zicheng suddenly laughed and said in a low voice:

"Eighteen children are the main artifact, this Wei Wei corresponds to a Li character, I was a little stunned at the time, so isn't there a Li character in Li Meng's name?"

Li Shuangxi's body stiffened, these words were not something he could speak, so he pretended not to hear them at the moment, and walked out of the door quickly.

There was a lot of noise and noise in the camp, and it was already the beginning of the action, but in the hidden places around the camp, there were many spies in different colors, either on foot or on horseback, staring at the movements of the camp, seeing the changes in the camp, and the experienced ones had already understood the meaning, turned around and hurriedly went to report the news.

There are still some people who don't understand, and they are still ignorant there, and the horse scouts of the Shun army were intercepted and blocked, but these landlords and militia groups who are familiar with the terrain are all taking action.

The Shun army is a mortal enemy with them, it is incompatible, the Ming army is the marquis, so that people can't trust it is also a wait-and-see attitude, but this Shandong Qi State Duke Li Meng, the situation in Kaifeng is there, the future is immeasurable, look at that Yuan Shizhong, look at that Jia Dashan, at this time if you don't go to the service, when will you wait.

Most of the horses of the Shun army are used to pursue the Ming army, and then it is the messenger who contacts everywhere, this sentinel probe has no advantage at all, and now he is in a hurry to change his position, for these "insects and ants" outside, he will go, and all the arrangements made by the Shun army tonight are yang conspiracy, and the big action of marching and arranging the formation.

The weather in Henan is only a little chilly at this time, but in Beijing, at this night, there is already a charcoal fire in the house.

When the Governor Hou Sui led the army to the south, several times to break the soldiers and horses of the thieves, victory was in sight, and the messengers who reported the victory were endless, the whole Beijing division was beaming, and the scholars and scholars of the various ministries were all in shifts to ask the Inspector to go to war, and the heart of serving the country was earnest.

However, in the past ten days, these atmospheres have disappeared, and after the soldiers and horses led by the Inspector Hou Sui sent a document to report their merits 15 days ago, there was no news.

The letter was folded and Hou Sui said that the thief chief Li Wei had been forced to the end of the road, and he was waiting for the minister to lead the loyal army to annihilate, and asked the saint to wait for good news.

But after that good news, it was silent, and the entire Henan except for Zhangde Mansion was in the gap between Beizhili and Shanxi, which was still in compliance with the imperial court's order, and the rest of the places were either controlled by the Shun army or mastered in Shandong, how could the news spread.

The reason why the Beijing division knew the news was that it was the personal soldiers sent to the home by Xu Dingguo, the chief soldier of Shanxi, because of the good time to go, when the army was encircled, it was already out of the encirclement, but after getting out of the encirclement, it did not go too far, and still knew the news, and after returning to Shanxi, it was reported layer by layer.

In the end, the news finally arrived at the governor of Shanxi, which was the fast horse reported to the Jingshi, and the news was transmitted very quickly, back and forth, and it turned out to be six or seven days of effort.

On the Jingshi side, after the news on the Henan side was cut off, the ministers who were a little more vigilant began to shrink their heads, and when the news of the siege came, all the joyful atmosphere was as if a basin of cold water had been poured on it, and it disappeared without a trace in an instant.

When they were besieged, Hou Sui and several general soldiers thought of the story of Zhu Xianzhen, and the bigwigs of the Beijing Division could not have imagined that when the urgent report from Shanxi came, the news from all sides, and the military information leaked from all over the place, intentionally or unintentionally, also converged on the Beijing Division.

The army of thieves turned out to be elite, with more than 300,000 troops, and the court officers and soldiers led by Hou Sui and the four general soldiers were surrounded in a small area between Jiaxian and Xiangcheng, and the number was fully doubled, not to mention, the situation in Henan was even more dangerous than when Zhuxian Town was in place.

The Ming army of Zhuxian Town was completely annihilated, so what about this side, the imperial court could not find any available soldiers and horses in the north, and Emperor Chongzhen mentioned more than 200,000 soldiers and horses in the Beijing camp once in the court, can you go to the rescue.

As a result, the great eunuch Wang Chengen and Liu Yuanbin, the governor of the Beijing camp, kowtowed together, saying that it was a heavily protected place in Beijing, and there was a big enemy watching around.

This is also reasonable, Emperor Chongzhen can still listen to the words of Wang Chengen and Liu Yuanbin, but there is also some bitterness, his own eunuchs, in his own place in Beijing, do not dare to mention the word Shandong, only dare to mention the enemy, this emperor has reached such a point, it is really wry.

There are two places near the soldiers and horses, one is the Shanhaiguan General Soldier Gaodi, and the other is the Ningyuan Regiment Training General Wu Sangui, which is despite the Shandong soldiers and horses blocking, but it can still be transferred.

And this transfer is harmless when I think about it, anyway, there are Shandong soldiers and horses there to stop the Tartars, don't worry about defense, the empty territory, presumably Shandong will not refuse.

Who would have thought that it would be mentioned in the court, it was not the eunuchs who kowtowed this time, the scholars and monks did not say a word, and those Qingliu scholars wept and kowtowed, saying that it was the territory of the ancestors, so lost, wouldn't it be scolded by the people of the world, and the history books of later generations would be filled with stains.

Although the outside of the gate is withered to that appearance, after all, it is also a land of hundreds of miles, and this loss of land is really a great sin.

was taken by the ministers to talk like this, and Emperor Chongzhen was the most popular in the world, and his ancestors made the law, and he had nothing to say.

The big guys below all know in their hearts, this matter can't be spoken, if it is said from their own mouths, Emperor Chongzhen has a step down, and he directly agreed, if this matter is brought up the day after tomorrow, Chongzhen will be embarrassed, and it will be difficult to borrow your head as a step.

This kind of thing is not unprecedented, so the old ministers are there to wait and see, unwilling to say a word, without Li Meng's history, the situation in the pass is extremely erosive, Wu Sangui's Liao soldiers are considered to be usable strong troops, but several times to transfer troops into the pass, because no one is willing to bear the responsibility and crime of losing land outside the pass, and when Wu Sangui is transferred into the pass, the Beijing division has been captured by the Shun army.

After thinking of a few methods, they couldn't be implemented, the only thing that was available, that is, a sealed transfer document was sent to Huguang and Jiangxi, and there was a thief general Zuo Liangyu over there, and Emperor Chongzhen could take out the reward, that is, the title of the imperial court, and the will was to seal Zuo Liangyu as Ning Nanbo, and ordered him to lead the army into Henan to support the siege.

However, when this decree was issued, even Emperor Chongzhen himself did not believe that Zuo Liangyu would lead the army to rescue him......

Chongzhen is already close to despair, and the people in the palace are also unlucky, since getting the news of Henan, the palace has begun to eat vegetarian, no clothes, no laughter.

Emperor Chongzhen was also in a trance every day when he was in the court, he was already anxious and mean, and there was no turning point for him to do so.

According to the eunuchs who were close to him, Chongzhen sat in the small room dedicated to his ancestors and ancestors in the palace every night, always reciting and praying in a low voice.

From the time when Emperor Chongzhen was really in power, the world began to be in turmoil, and then because of his manipulation, he killed many ministers who should not have died, ruined the good situation that should have been in hand, and then increased taxes, making the world more and more chaotic.

Except for a few ministers who did what they liked, the rest of the people trembled and did not dare to say or do more, for fear that the emperor would be caught in the edict and beheaded when he had a bad temper.

Emperor Chongzhen is now like this, and no one pities him, even the powerful eunuchs who are most attached to the imperial power.

It was originally a smooth road from Beijing to Shandong, but the situation has changed over the years, and the people are okay, and the official is no longer walking on the territory controlled by Shandong, as if there is some kind of natural moat and dangerous road obstruction.

Now Hejian Mansion and Yongping Mansion are nominally under the jurisdiction of Shandong, and the road is blocked tightly, after the news that the Governor Hou Sui was besieged, on the way to Shandong, in addition to those businessmen and civilians who are in a hurry for business and life, there are many more rich and noble people who are dressed in luxurious clothes and act sneakily. At a glance, you can tell that he is a servant of a rich family in Beijing.

It is really interesting that so many people go to Shandong at this time and what to do.

The news in the Beijing division is still insufficient, they know that Hou Sui was besieged, but they don't know that Li Meng, the Duke of Qi, has already led the main force to Henan.

A small courtyard in the depths of the Forbidden City, here is a hall dedicated to the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty, there are two little eunuchs standing at the gate of the courtyard, both of them are standing upright, there is no expression on their faces, but the bodies of the two people are trembling, although the weather is cold, but the cotton robes on their bodies are enough to keep out the cold.

There were screams in the distance, accompanied by this scream, and the movement of "popping", everyone in the palace knew that this was playing the board.

The sound of the board did not change, but the screams gradually weakened, seeing that the beaten person could not live, the little eunuch standing at the door was very afraid, but when he led Banzai to this courtyard, he was blown out by the wind and extinguished a lantern, Banzai thought it was a bad omen, thinking that the little eunuch who played the lantern was deliberate, and immediately ordered to drag people down and beat him to death.

In that room, there were tablets for everyone from Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang to the Emperor of the Apocalypse, and in front of the spirit table, there were only two candles flickering there, and the whole room was quite eerie.

Here, the sound of the board and the screams outside could not be heard, it was very quiet, Emperor Chongzhen knelt straight on the futon, looked up at the tablets, his face was white and stiff.

His eyes were always looking at the tablet of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, and he muttered:

"Brother Huang, Brother Huang, when I was waiting for the throne, I was diligent in government every day, thrifty and self-serving, how can I ...... Why is this world even more unbearable than you......"

The voice is very soft, even if someone stands beside him, he can't hear it, the Emperor of the Apocalypse and Chongzhen are brothers, the relationship between the two is very good, the Apocalypse has a lot of meaning for Chongzhen's eldest brother and father, and when he died, he let Chongzhen take over.

But Tianqi is not a good emperor, he likes men, he is obsessed with carpenters, and he handed over the power of the court to Wei Zhongxian, and the evaluation of literati is very bad.

Emperor Chongzhen's teacher and the companions around him were also satirical and sarcastic, setting up Tianqi as a bad example, so that Emperor Chongzhen would not learn from him in the future.

But Emperor Chongzhen came to power, first weakened the power of the eunuchs step by step, and then reused the scholars and Confucian ministers, but the rapid decline and decline of the world is already a world different from its apocalypse years, Chongzhen has always not understood that he did not reuse the eunuchs, and the second is to govern the country according to the way of the sage, how did the situation become like this.

He may not be able to understand it all his life, Emperor Chongzhen, who is sitting here, naturally does not know that at this moment, the Shun army camp in Xiangcheng has begun to move towards the north, preparing to join the cavalry brigade of the Shun army, and prepare for the decisive battle with Shandong soldiers and horses the next day, and he naturally does not know that Li Meng, the Duke of Qi who is regarded by him as the first rebel in three hundred years, is in the camp east of Xiangcheng, Henan Province, and he is not sleeping.

"Dashuai, the camp of thieves has begun to move northward, and my Shandong Tanma and local militia sentinels have confirmed this matter."

A personal soldier in charge of intelligence liaison reported to the general in the tent that Li Meng was sitting in the tent in armor, nodded, and signaled that he knew.

Yuan Shizhong and Jia Dashan, who are infinitely majestic on the ground in Henan, stood solemnly at the bottom of Li Meng, looking at their hearts with their mouths and noses, and did not dare to have the slightest neglect.

After the pro-soldiers finished reporting the general ceremony, Shi Li turned around and went out, but Huang Ping, the commander of the pro-soldiers, walked in quickly with a few documents, first saluted, and then said in a low voice:

"Lord Tang, the commander of the horse army, has sent news that Gao Jie, the commander of Ming Yansui, has already led his troops to surrender like him, and the 40,000 remnants are under control, please transfer grain and grass to the commander, Lord Tang said, although our horse team is 7,000, but it can be guaranteed that there will be no mistakes, only grain and grass can control the situation in your hands."

Hearing this, Li Meng laughed out loud and said with a smile:

"What else can go wrong, Gao Jie's soldiers who farm the land and herd sheep, we have 7,000 people, it is easy to kill it, Tang Er went out alone, but he knows how to use his brain, the Ming soldiers who have been hungry for so long can probably catch it in their hands if they give some food!!"

Several people in the military tent laughed amusefully, and Li Meng opened his mouth again:

"Mr. Yuan, write a document for allocating grain and grass now, and arrange for the people on the military quartermaster side to do it."

Yuan Wenhong, the master of the Jiaozhou camp on the side, had just finished recording, but he had an idea and reported respectfully:

"Dashuai, Jiaxian, whether it is by water or land, it will take a lot of time, the local righteous people must still have a lot of grain reserves, it is better to be gracious, give them a promise to help the king, and reward them in the future, let them do their best, we come from Kaifeng all the way, many villages and forts along the way are enthusiastic to help, the people's hearts are so available, Dashuai, you see ......"

The Shun army has been unfavorable to the local landlords who have formed villages to protect themselves, and there are a lot of reserves in these villages, and there are also some local snake forces, and they are a deep hatred of blood against the Shun army, and they are afraid that Li Meng's Jiaozhou soldiers and horses will not be welcomed, and Jiaxian needs grain and grass, and it is inconvenient to mobilize from the base camp after all, so it is simply to use these local things.

If they want to be flattered, then give them a chance, here in Shandong, it is nothing more than a piece of paper, Li Meng understood the key after a little pondering, this scholar has a lot of flowers, and he couldn't help but smile and said:

"Mr. Yuan, since this is the case, we can't chill the blood and loyalty of the local righteous people, you draft a document, and Ben Shuai will use the seal to send it after reading it."

Everyone in the military tent laughed along, and Huang Ping also laughed respectfully below, and when he saw Yuan Wenhong going to draft the paperwork, he spoke again:

"The urgent report of the general of the expedition to the west has just arrived, General Chen's soldiers and horses have arrived in Wuyang, Lord Chen said in the letter, the elite of the thieves, gathered in Xiangcheng, the local garrison is not an obstacle, and there are squires and righteous people to help, and they will definitely be stationed in Ye County before the thieves flee south."

Li Meng's mood gradually calmed down as Huang Ping, the commander of the pro-soldiers, recited the military reports from all over the place, everything was in his own arrangement and plan, what else to worry about?

At this time, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves outside the military tent, and everyone looked dazed, where did the urgent news come from at such a late hour.