When the three poles were called, there were pedestrians on the road, but they were all in a hurry, as if they were fleeing. Occasionally, a few horses would gallop by, and the whips in the hands of the soldiers would be waved wildly, scattering the hurried people. An old man was swept down by a horse that had just passed, and Yuan Chen hurriedly stepped forward to help him up.

The old man was ragged and had fluffy sideburns. After getting up, he thanked him and hurried away. Yuan Chen took the opportunity to hurriedly ask, "Uncle, what's wrong?" ”

"What's wrong?" The old man asked rhetorically, and then asked himself, "Something is wrong!" Brother, you haven't heard of it, have you? Luo Rucai reversed, and King Xinshun gave an order to raise troops to clean up. Just last night, Luo Rucai and his subordinates were all killed! ”

"Oh?" Yuan Chen heard the old man call himself little brother, deliberately lowered his voice, and asked in a man's tone, "Why did you run away when General Luo died?" ”

"Oops!" The old man hurriedly covered Yuan Chen's mouth, looked around and whispered, "Don't you dare to call General Luo anymore, the reason why we want to run away is because we are all the people of the area under Luo Rucai's jurisdiction, because this time Luo Rucai fornicated with the Ming general Zuo Liangyu, and we were all implicated." Just last night, after Luo Rucai's death, the subordinates of King Xinshun made a surprise interrogation of the people in his jurisdiction overnight, openly saying that they would exterminate the rebels, but secretly they were actually eliminating dissidents. Most of the men who originally supported Luo Rucai and had a slight complaint about King Xinshun were forcibly dragged to become soldiers, and the women with a little grace were also snatched into the army, and the remaining old, young, sick and useless could not escape the fate of being beheaded. You say, "If we don't run, will we die?" ”

"What? And such a thing? After Yuan Chen heard this, his eyes widened with anger. For her, a modern person, especially a modern police officer who maintains social order, it is really unimaginable to encounter such a thing.

"Be quiet, be quiet!" The old man said, "Don't you see soldiers on horseback on both sides?" For old immortals like us, they all turn a blind eye and run away. But for a young brother like you, if you run away and are caught up, you will inevitably die. ”

"Oh?" Yuan Chen wondered, "I met a lot of soldiers along the way, but they didn't embarrass me." ”

"Really?" The old man also bowed his head and wondered, "How could it be?" Then he said, "Anyway, I have to go first." Take care, little brother. If it's a little later, I'm afraid I won't be able to walk away from this old bone. ”

"Wait a minute, old man, I still want to ask you something." At this time, Yuan Chen suddenly had an idea, this old man seemed to be kind-faced, and he had seen and heard a lot, why not ask him about something? Although she is interested in this history, she is limited to Chen Yuanyuan and what happened around her, and she only knows a little about things that have nothing to do with it. Now that such a living textbook has suddenly popped up in front of me, it is better to know more about it. After all, I'm walking in another space at the moment, and it's a very chaotic time, so I have to be safe, just like I do before every special mission. This is a good habit she has cultivated in the Force. Of course, that mesmerizing nightclub trip was the only exception.

The old man hesitated, a little reluctant. Yuan Chen took out a silver ticket that Wu Ruojie had given him when they parted and gave it to the old man. The old man took the silver ticket and his eyes widened. Several cavalry horses galloped over from a distance, Yuan Chen grabbed the old man's arm, and the two hid in the bushes more than half a person high.

The soldiers and horses sped by, but they did not notice them. The two of them walked to the bushes and squatted down. The old man untied the bag, took out a gourd, opened the lid, drank a few sips of water, and handed it to Yuan Chen. Yuan Chen took the gourd, raised his head and drank a few big sips, he suddenly felt that the taste was very strange, and asked with a frown, "What water?" ”

"Stream." The old man said.

Yuan Chen retched a few times, but he couldn't spit out the water he swallowed, and poured some water out of the gourd on his hands, the water was turbid, and some sediment and turf were mixed in it. Seeing this, she felt a stirring in her stomach.

The old man didn't pay attention to it, but took out a small cigarette pouch by himself, dug out some broken tobacco leaves from the blanket, lit the fire with flint, and handed it to Yuan Chen. Yuan Chen shook his hand, the old man retracted his hand, and he swallowed the clouds and spit out the fog by himself.

"Uncle," said Yuan Chen, "I don't think you're like an ordinary person. ”

"Good eyesight," said the old man, "I have never been a Xiangyang post officer, in charge of the honor guard, carriages and horses, and greeting and sending off in the post station." ”

"Oh?" Although Yuan Chen didn't know the size of Yicheng's official position, from what the old man said, he roughly understood that this was a petty official in charge of pick-up and drop-off etiquette. So she said, "That's an official, too." ”

"Yes," the old man took another puff of cigarette and sighed, "But after King Xinshun arrived in Xiangyang at the beginning of the year, our group of Ming Dynasty officials were all dismissed, because I was just a petty official who managed to welcome and send off, so as not to lose my surname, and those civil and military generals with a little real power had already been killed by King Xinshun." ”

"King Xinshun?" Yuan Chen said, "I've heard you say it a few times, who is he?" ”

The old man turned his face and looked at Yuan Chen like a monster, "You haven't even heard of King Xinshun, have you?" It's King Li Zicheng! ”

"Oh." Yuan Chen suddenly realized.

"No wonder you dare to wander around the road." The old man said, "It turns out that you don't know what happened in Xiangyang City this year." ”

"Let's know a little bit about it." Yuan Chen said, "I'm about to go to Xiangyang City." ”

"Ahh No wonder! The old man slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "I said that those soldiers didn't embarrass you, because you are walking in the direction of the city." If you go in the direction of the outside of the city, I'm afraid that something will happen to you! ”

"Ah, yes, maybe." Yuan Chen snorted.

"Little brother," the old man said earnestly, "listen to my advice, you can't go to the city now." ”

"But my home is in the city, and my family is in the city." Yuan Chen said.

"Alas," the old man sighed again, and knocked out the cigarette pouch on the stone beside him, "don't blame the old man for speaking badly, your family, alas, three long and two short." ”

"Oh?" Yuan Chen pretended to be surprised and said, "How can this be? ”

"You don't know yet, do you?" The old man said, "Let me tell you in detail." ”

Yuan Chen readjusted his sitting posture and put on a posture of listening to the story, and the old man spoke: "To be honest, it's just one thing whether I do it as an official or not. In recent years, Li Zicheng's power has developed rapidly, after all, the slogan of 'Juntian is exempt from taxation' has made the hearts of the common people itch, and he has won the support of the people, and his troops can be invincible. Since the fourteenth year of Chongzhen's beheading of the king, Li Zicheng can be described as smooth sailing, last year he killed the governor of Shaanxi Fu Zonglong, at the beginning of this year, Li Zicheng has been called the king of Xiangyang City, that is, what I call the 'new Shun King'. On the other hand, the Qing army repeatedly invaded, and at the end of last year, hundreds of thousands of people were plundered in Shandong. In my opinion, the fall of the Ming Dynasty is not far away, and I am afraid that in the end, it will be Li Zicheng and the Qing soldiers who will divide the world. ”

"Then," Yuan Chen interjected, "Are Li Zicheng and the Qing soldiers willing to take only half of the world?" ”

"Impossible." The old man said, "Even if Li Zicheng is willing, the Qing soldiers will definitely not be willing." Although Li Zicheng may have destroyed the Ming Dynasty, he will definitely not be able to win the Qing army. Sooner or later, it is inevitable to change the dynasty, but the next dynasty of the Ming Dynasty may be the Qing Dynasty outside the Guan. ”

Yuan Chen nodded, and admired this old man a little, because history is like that, and Li Zicheng was indeed defeated by the Qing soldiers in the end. However, she still wanted to listen to the old man's opinion, so she asked, "Why do you say that?" ”

"Because Li Zicheng is not the king of Chuang, nor the king of Shun, but the king of thieves."

"Oh?" Yuan Chen was stunned for a moment.

"Thief!" The old man repeated, "He is a thief, but there are many people under him, and he is regarded as a king, but he still can't get rid of the essence of a thief." ”

"The nature of a thief?" Yuan Chen wondered.

"That's right!" The old man asked, "Do you know what is the most important feature of Li Zicheng's rule?" ”

"What?" Yuan Chen thought for a while and said, "Isn't it 'Juntian Exemption'?" Isn't that good for the people? ”

"Haha, you're being deceived by appearances." The old man smiled bitterly, "Whenever Li Zicheng goes to a place, he first exterminates the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, that is to say, he must first conquer the city. After the battle, those who refuse to surrender will be killed. Then it was to clear the rich landlords in the city, confiscate all their wealth, and then distribute it to the people. ”

"Isn't that great?" Yuan Chen asked.

"Good?" The old man said, "But he has another means for the people." As he spoke, he lit another bag of cigarettes, "It's what I just said about his methods for the people in Luo Rucai's jurisdiction, first he pulled men to be soldiers, and the beautiful women were also pulled into the army for the use of soldiers, and the rest were all old, young, sick and disabled, for these people, even if they got the land, they couldn't plant it, so they simply only rewarded some food, and the food was counted, and there was no more after eating, so these old and young sick and disabled people died to death and escaped, and most of the cities occupied by Li Zicheng became empty cities." ”

"But his team is still growing." Yuan Chen said.

"Of course." The old man said, "If you don't go to be a soldier, you will not escape the doom of being beheaded or exiled, this is Li Zicheng's consistent practice, he can't use it for himself, and he will never leave it for others to use." What's more, the soldiers in Li Zicheng's team can not only divide the money of local officials and businessmen after each city, but also play with the women in the city, isn't this temptation much stronger than farming at home? ”

Yuan Chen blushed a little and lowered his head.

The old man didn't pay attention to her expression, and continued: "That's why their soldiers will fight to kill the enemy, but just because of this to fight the world, sooner or later there will be problems. Think about it, if the world is over, what goal do they have? What else do their descendants want? It's not a question of two soldiers, it's a top-down problem. Now Li Zicheng is like this, every time he captures a city, he first plunders rare playthings, and then tastes the aunts and ladies who are famous in the city or the officials and merchants who have the appearance of the city, and then reward them to his subordinates. There are countless women who have been killed......"

"Well, uncle, let's talk about Luo Rucai." Yuan Chen interrupted the old man's narration with a red face, she was really embarrassed to listen to it anymore.

"Okay." The old man cleared his throat and said, "Luo Rucai was originally Zhang Xianzhong's general, but the year before last, because of his disagreement with Zhang Xianzhong, he switched to Li Zicheng. It stands to reason that he was a very capable man, and he was good at reconciling the relationship between the rebels. A few years ago, Li Zicheng defected to Zhang Xianzhong after the defeat and was almost killed, but it was Luo Rucai who saved his life. Later, after Zhang Xianzhong's army was defeated, he defected to Li Zicheng, and was almost killed, and it was Luo Rucai who privately sent him 500 men and horses and let him go, but he had a life-saving grace for Li and Zhang, but unfortunately he was abandoned by the two in the end and was killed. ”

"How's his reputation?" Yuan Chen asked.

"Slightly better than Li Zicheng." The old man replied, "Because Luo Rucai is not greedy for women, and he can share his property and land with his subordinates and the people, so he has accumulated a lot of popularity." However, it is precisely because of this that Li Zicheng was jealous, and caught up with Zuo Liangyu last year to lead hundreds of thousands of Ming soldiers and Li Zicheng's troops in Xiangyang, Li Zicheng was almost defeated, it was Luo Rucai who personally led troops to replace Li Zicheng, defeated Zuo Liangyu, and repelled it to Wuchang. This is another reason why Li Zicheng is jealous. Later, Zuo Liangyu wrote a letter to Luo Rucai to sow discord between Li and Luo. Although Luo Rucai was not provoked, Li Zicheng took advantage of the topic to play and after transferring a large number of garrisons in Xiangyang under the pretext, he led the crowd to attack Luo Rucai, who had only a few hundred guards left, last night, saying that he colluded with the Ming general and killed him. Only dozens of people including his subordinate He Yilong escaped. ”

In fact, He Yilong also died, under his own hands and Wu Ruojie. But from this point of view, Wu Ruojie is really right, Luo Rucai was indeed framed. Yuan Chen thought.

"After Luo Rucai's death, the people of Xiangyang City suffered. That's the reason why we fled at the beginning. The old man continued.

"Oh," Yuan Chen asked again, "Is Li Zicheng in Xiangyang City now?" ”

"Long gone," said the old man, "he rested for a while in Xiangyang, and then led his troops north." It is said that he went to Shaanxi. Yesterday's slaughter was just an order from his subordinates. ”

"I see." Yuan Chen remembered the words of the two women last night, and it seemed that they were true. But I don't know what Wu Ruojie is doing at this moment, she suddenly misses him a little.

Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a shout from outside the bushes: "Wait for Hugh to go!" Yuan Chen was taken aback, and subconsciously touched the gun on his waist.

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