There was a hint of irrepressible excitement in Zhang's honest words, and years of experience told him that this time he might have encountered a big fish.

As a nocturnal person, it is essential to have a keen sense of observation, which is also the basic quality of a nocturnal person.

As an old man with four years of military experience, Zhang Laoshi still knows a lot about the Dashun army headed by Li Zicheng, and when he saw the few thieves guarding the perimeter from a distance just now, he found that these people were a little different from the rogues he saw on weekdays.

Although these people are wearing ordinary people's clothes, and their feet are wearing either straw sandals or ordinary cloth shoes, the guys in these people's hands are not ambiguous. He could see that those guys who glittered in the sun were all weapons made of stainless steel, although these weapons were very common in the Great Zhou army, but in the Great Shun Army, which was so poor that they had to pick their assholes and puff their fingers, such high-end goods were not something that anyone could afford.

The one who can afford this kind of goods is at least an elite under the command of an important general in the Dashun army, and now these people Zhang Laoshi knows at a glance that they must be a group of dead soldiers who disregard life and death, but now these people are obediently guarding outside, what does this mean Zhang Laoshi knows too well, if there are no important people in the village to kill Zhang Laoshi, he doesn't believe it.

Soon, Mr. Bai behind him came to Zhang Laoshi's side and asked in a low voice, "Zhang Laoshi, what is the situation ahead?" ”

Zhang Laoshi handed the clairvoyant mirror in his hand to Mr. Bai, who took the clairvoyant mirror and said with some envy: "You guys don't receive treatment at night is his mother's good, even the foreign committee is equipped with clairvoyance, which is like us, only officials above the head of the thousand are qualified to wear it, it is really more people than people have to die, goods have to be thrown away!" ”

Mr. Bai said in his mouth, the movements of his hands were not slow, and he quickly observed the situation of the foreign committee of the small village five hundred steps away from the frame from the frame.

Zhang Laoshi whispered on the side: "Lord Tang, there are a total of thirteen thieves outside the village, judging from the blades they hold in their hands, they must be the elite of the thieves. If it is not bad as expected, there must be a certain leader of the thieves in the village. ”

The Bai Zong, surnamed Tang, asked in a low voice: "Zhang Laoshi, can you quietly kill those vigilant thieves, and then let's touch them again and catch them off guard?" ”

"I'm afraid not!" Zhang honestly shook his head and said: "These thieves are elite at first glance, if we don't use firearms, we can't kill them quietly." ”

"Then forget it!" Tang Bai didn't care about it after hearing this, and he was very confident in himself, so he summoned the two leaders in the team and ordered in a low voice: "You each bring thirty brothers to secretly outflank from the left and right directions, and this official will lead the remaining brothers to attack from the front. Don't let a thief go! ”

"Yes, yes!"

The two captains immediately agreed, and each of them led thirty sergeants to dismount, and led the horses quietly from both sides. And Tang Baizong was not idle, he led the remaining dozens of sergeants and a few night guards to sneak forward from the front, striving to meet the enemy as covertly as possible.

When General Tang Bai led the men and horses to the distance of about two hundred steps away from the thief, a sharp whistle suddenly sounded in front of him.

"Oh no, it's been discovered!"

Mr. Tang Bai's face suddenly changed, and a trace of chagrin appeared. I didn't expect the vigilance of these thieves to be so high, these sneak attacks failed, so they could only be changed to strong attacks.

Mr. Tang Bai turned around and shouted, "Brothers." Get on my horse and rush forward, and I must annihilate this group of thieves! ”

After speaking, Mr. Tang Bai quickly got on the horse and rushed forward first

When the first sharp whistle reached the village, after eating the dry food, the faces of Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing, who were resting in the village, immediately changed, they never expected that they had only been resting here for less than two hours, and the pursuers behind them touched it, and it seemed that they were still too careless. …,

Li Zicheng grabbed the treasure knife beside him. Immediately rushed out of the shelter, and behind him was the bull Venus who followed him.

As soon as Li Zicheng rushed out of the house, he saw more than a dozen personal soldiers running towards him, and the captain of the personal soldiers named Tie Nan ran to Li Zicheng's side, and grabbed his hand and ran north before he could even speak.

Tie Nan said as he ran: "King Chuang, there are more than a hundred court officers and soldiers outside. They have surrounded the village, and the brethren are stalling for you, so you hurry with the villain to the north, where there are fewer officers and soldiers. In a hurry, this Li Zicheng's personal soldier captain shouted out the previous names for the Ming officers and soldiers.

Li Zicheng and the others ran very fast. At once he ran to the north of the village, but in a hurry, he left a person behind.

Niu Jinxing, who was originally a scholar, has suffered such hardships, although he has been taking refuge in Li Zicheng for a few years, but his usual life is also very comfortable, he has been exhausted after running for a day, where can he keep up with Li Zicheng and their footsteps now.

Looking at Li Zicheng and his party, who were getting farther and farther away from him, Niu Jinxing was anxious, but he didn't dare to shout loudly, he was also afraid that the voice would attract the pursuers.

Just as Niu Jinxing was trying to catch up with one foot high and one foot low, a burst of fried bean-like firecrackers suddenly sounded in front of him, and the seven or eight pro-soldiers who rushed to the front fell to the ground with their bodies spinning.

"Oh no, there's an ambush ahead!"

Iron Man's characteristic loud voice sounded in front of them, and then they ran back, and before they could run to Niu Venus, there was another sound of horses' hooves in front of them. The sound of the horses' hooves grew louder and louder, and soon more than a dozen horsemen rushed towards them, brandishing their sabers and slashing down at the Iron Man.

"King Chuang, let's go!"

Seeing that he couldn't be spared, Tie Nan pushed Li Zicheng forward, and he led the last six personal soldiers to wave their weapons and pounced on the pursuers behind him, he didn't want to kill the enemy, he just wanted to be able to hold off the pursuers for a while, so that King Chuang could escape from here.

"Kill!"

Iron Man waved the long knife in his hand and slashed at one of the cavalrymen who had already rushed to him.

"Dang!"

A loud metal impact sounded, and Iron Man was knocked aside by the other party's blow with the help of the impact of the horse, and then a cavalryman rushed over, his flat saber quickly and accurately swept over Iron Man's neck, and a huge head immediately flew into the air with a spin, and a column of blood also sprayed into the sky from a corpse standing behind him.

After Tie Nan died, several of his own soldiers behind him were also killed by the cavalry who caught up, and after killing these soldiers, the cavalry quickly ran in the direction of Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing without stopping.

Soon, these cavalry caught up with Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing, who were running wildly in front, and the commander of the armor led by him whistled. His hands arced, and the cavalry beside him immediately surrounded the two of them.

Seeing more than a dozen cavalrymen surrounding him, Li Zicheng laughed miserably, he naturally knew that this time he was already in a catastrophe, and the reason why the other party did not immediately rush over was because the other party wanted to catch him alive.

At this time, the surrounding sound of fire guns and shouts of killing gradually subsided, and some cavalry had already felt it, and Li Zicheng was worthy of being a hero who had been in the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years. He took out the treasure knife and put it across his chest, looking at the cavalry around him, he didn't show a trace of panic, just calmly looked around the cavalry, but the two legs of Niu Jinxing beside him were constantly trembling, looking around with a pale face, a pair of eyes were rolling around, and no one on either side was confronting each other without speaking.

There was a sound of horses' hooves, and Mr. Tang Bai also rushed over. Seeing the situation in front of him, he immediately shouted: "The thief in front, if you don't abandon your weapons and surrender quickly, when will you wait!" ”…,

"Surrender?"

Li Zicheng in the encirclement sneered disdainfully, "Hmph." I think I'm Li Zicheng all my life, but I didn't expect that even a cat and a dog would dare to let me surrender today, it's really funny! ”

"Li Zicheng, you are Li Zicheng?"

Tang Bai couldn't suppress the ecstasy in his heart, and even his voice trembled, he originally expected that he might catch a big fish this time, but he didn't expect it to be the biggest one, if he could capture this person alive this time, it would not be difficult for him not to be promoted to a thousand presidents or even guerrillas, right?

Come to think of it. Mr. Tang Bai shouted loudly: "Li Zicheng, if you are arrested, this official may be able to open the net and leave you a way to live, otherwise you will be disciplined to become a ghost under the knife!" ”

Li Zicheng glanced at the cavalry around him who had surrounded himself and Niu Jinxing, and he snorted coldly in his heart: "Hmph." What kind of person am I, Li Zichengxing, how can I be humiliated by a villain like you!"

After speaking, Li Zicheng quickly raised the treasure knife in his hand and slashed it on his neck, and a stream of bright red blood spurted out, until this time he was still staring straight at Tang Baizong. Then he slowly fell to the ground.

Li Zicheng's movements were very fast, and the cavalry around him couldn't stop them, so they could only watch this area of heroes kill themselves in front of him.

There was silence all around, no one made a sound, even the war horse stopped neighing, and everyone quietly looked at Li Zicheng who fell to the ground silently.

I don't know how long it took, Tang Bai, who came back to his senses, set his eyes on the middle-aged man who was also stunned on the spot, and secretly screamed in his heart for Li Zicheng's death, but he asked with a fierce look in his eyes: "Who are you?" ”

Niu Jinxing, who was brought back to his senses by this loud drink, cried loudly: "Don't kill me, don't kill me, I am Niu Jinxing, the prime minister of Dashun, if you kill me, your prince will definitely blame you."

The sky slowly darkened, and the Ming army wearing red armor inside and outside the Forbidden City of Beijing had disappeared, and a group of soldiers of the Great Zhou Army wearing black helmets and black armor and carrying Mini rifles on their shoulders had replaced the soldiers who defended the city in the past.

The Kunning Palace in the inner court of the Forbidden City was brightly lit, and a famous palace eunuch shuttled inside and outside the Kunning Palace like a stream.

Since Kunning Palace is the residence of the queen, the main hall of the reception is not as large as the Qianqing Palace. But despite this, it is still more than enough to have dozens of people eat together.

At this time, in the main hall, Pang Gang, Chongzhen, Empress Zhou, Concubine Yuan, and five children, including the crown prince Zhu Cihong, were all present.

Tonight is the day when Chongzhen invited Pang Gang to the banquet, but here, neither the eunuch palace maid nor Chongzhen's family showed any signs of joy, Chongzhen's family just ate the meal silently, which made Pang Gang, who was sitting under Chongzhen, feel that this meal was like chewing wax.

Finally, Chongzhen put down the chopsticks in his hand and sighed: "This meal is the most reassuring meal I have eaten over the years, I don't have to worry about the defeated military report sent from the front, nor do I need to watch the twists and turns of urging food and salary, this is all the credit of Pang Qing!" ”

Listening to these words that I don't know whether it was praise or sarcasm, Pang Gang calmly put down the dishes and chopsticks and said indifferently: "The emperor has won the award, the minister is ashamed and dare not be, the emperor has been worried about state affairs for half his life, and it is time to enjoy the blessings." ”

Pang Gang's nonchalant attitude angered a person, and he only heard a young man's voice snorting softly.

It's not loud, though. But in the silent hall, it clearly reached the ears of everyone.

Pang Gang's reputation turned out to be the prince Zhu Cihong who was sitting under him, and the sixteen-year-old prince was staring at Pang Gang with unwavering eyes at the moment, and his mouth was still open.

The young man's sudden words made the hearts of everyone in the hall suddenly hang, and they all looked at Pang Gang worriedly. …,

Seeing this young man looking at himself angrily, Pang Gang was not angry, but looked at the young man with interest and smiled: "You are the prince Zhu Cihong." ”

"What's the matter?"

The young man stared at Pang Gang with a red face, in the young man's heart. It was the person in front of him, the Forbidden City, who led the troops to surround him, put his entire family under house arrest, and it was he who took away the Zhu family that was passed down from his ancestors.

Pang Gang asked, "Since you are the crown prince, do you know why your Zhu family's country has fallen to such a point?" Even a thief like Li Zicheng can invade the capital, if I hadn't led the army to the rescue, your family would have died a long time ago! ”

Pang Gang's words were very polite, which made Zhu Cihong, a young man, angry, but he couldn't refute it. can only wait for the toad-like eyes to look at Pang Gang angrily.

Not to mention Zhu Cihong, at this moment, Chongzhen and the others in the hall were also angry and embarrassed by Pang Gang's words, but Pang Gang was not used to them. Instead, he continued to say to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that everything in this world has cause and effect. The Ming Dynasty has fallen to this point, although there are other reasons, such as the great drought in the world, the unwillingness of hundreds of officials to do things, etc., but has the emperor ever thought about what he did wrong? ”

"You" Chongzhen pointed at Pang Gang and said angrily: "Pang Gang, I didn't invite you to come here today. ”

Seeing that Chongzhen was angry, Queen Zhou and Concubine Yuan both looked at Pang Gang with some worry. was worried that he would suddenly get angry and call for soldiers to arrest his whole family, and Princess Zhu Yujiao of Kunxing was so frightened that she almost cried.

Unexpectedly, Pang Gang just smiled slightly, and said loudly: "Since the emperor said so, the minister naturally won't say much, but the minister wants to ask the emperor to come back in five years." What kind of brilliance will my Han people's rivers and mountains shine under the hands of the ministers? ”

Speaking of this, Pang Gang's face glowed with a strange expression, and he said loudly: "I don't know if the emperor believes it or not, as long as you give the minister five years, the minister will not only be able to calm down the bandits in the country." Form a preliminary pacification, and also be able to join the division to advance north, recover Liaodong, and sweep away the Manchurians! I don't know if the emperor believes it? ”

Listening to Pang Gang's heroic words, Chongzhen hesitated, he had seen the combat effectiveness of the troops under Pang Gang's command, and he said that he would recover Liaodong within five years, maybe he could really do it.

After hesitating for a while, Chongzhen said: "Pang Gang, I summoned you to the banquet today, not to quarrel with you. Instead, I want to ask you, if I am in the Zen position with you, can you canonize Princess Kunxing as the main palace? ”

As soon as Chongzhen's words came out, Zhu Yujiao was so ashamed that she buried her little head in the arms of Queen Zhou on the side, but her heart at this time was ashamed, angry and worried.

Different from the shyness of Princess Zhu Yujiao of Kunxing, Queen Zhou and Concubine Yuan's expressions were a little dignified, but they understood Chongzhen's potential meaning. Although Pang Gang has promised Chongzhen that as long as Chongzhen can take the throne, the safety of their family will be guaranteed, but this promise is too fragile, but if Pang Gang can canonize Zhu Yujiao as the main palace, then it is enough to ensure the safety of the Zhu family, and if Zhu Yujiao gives birth to a prince in the future, it is possible to ascend the throne and become the emperor in the future, then this country is equivalent to falling into the hands of their Zhu family.

In the eyes of everyone, Pang Gang hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and said: "Your Majesty, please forgive the minister for not being able to do it, the minister already has a main room, how can the princess be crowned as the main palace!" But the minister knows what the emperor is worried about, and the emperor can rest assured about this, after you give in, the minister will be responsible for the safety of your family, and the minister will not imprison your safety, you can settle wherever you want. ”

Listening to Pang Gang's words, Chongzhen closed his eyes and sighed lightly, and then said, "Okay, I believe in your integrity? p>

17. p>

Looking at Princess Kunxing who bowed her head shyly, the fifteen-year-old still had a worried look on her face at the moment, Pang Gang couldn't help but scold in his heart: "Damn arranged marriage!" ”

Pang Gang knew that if he wanted to take over power from Chongzhen peacefully, marriage was the best way, and this was also the best guarantee for Chongzhen's family to ensure their safety in the future.

In the past, Pang Gang was always full of contempt for political marriages, but he didn't expect it to fall on his head today (to be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )