The wind is bleak, the moon is dark and the wind is high.

In the east of Tong Guandong, Li Huaxi personally led 3,000 soldiers and horses to kill the Han army camp.

The banner hunted in the wind, and in the Han military camp, Zheng Zhilong was looking at it with the generals on the platform in the camp.

"Three thousand Qin soldiers came to attack the camp."

"The puppet superintendent Li Huaxi personally commanded the troops."

"The 4,000 soldiers and horses left behind in Tongguan were led by Ma Shiyao, the leader of the original Chuang Army, and he reported that people came to inform Li Huaxi of his attack, saying that he was willing to lead his troops to surrender to Tongguan."

Zheng Zhilong laughed, "I have also heard of this Li Huaxi, the Qing official who was once praised by His Majesty, and it is said that he was also a protégé of Li Gelao, and he is also a teacher with our Majesty." When I went on this expedition, His Majesty also specially explained that if he could, he would be well protected. ”

"This old master, the old nerd, is at this time, but he still has to protect the restoration." Zheng Zhilong shook his head, "But since Your Majesty has something to say, then you have to save his life." ”

"Yes."

Li Huaxi rode a yellow horse, and his heart was resolute. Knowing that it was impossible for these 3,000 people to defeat the Han army, he still did not hesitate.

Suddenly, there were shouts of slaughter, artillery rumbled, and a large number of Han troops poured out from all directions.

"It's not good, the thieves have already noticed it, we have been ambushed!" A Qin general shouted in panic.

Li Huaxi's face changed greatly, he stretched out his hand to draw his sword, and shouted, "Soldiers, the time has come to be loyal to the country, kill thieves with me!" ”

"Kill the thief, kill the thief!"

He shouted hoarsely, but there were few responders around.

Li Huaxi rushed out for a while, turned around, but saw that only a few family members followed behind, and most of the rest of the Qin army remained in place.

He waved the long sword in his hand angrily and shouted angrily, "Kill thieves for the country!" ”

The Han army surrounded it on all sides, and countless swords faced each other, but they besieged but did not attack.

This time. Zheng Zhilong rode his horse to the front of the formation, and under the illumination of countless fires, the golden tiger on his body shone brightly.

"Dare to ask the other side, but Li Huaxi, Lord Li?"

Seeing this situation, Li Huaxi sighed, threw down his long sword, and kicked his horse forward.

"The old man is Li Huaxi, since he is surrounded by you, the old man only has one request, but he wants to die quickly, and the old man can go underground to see the emperor!"

"Old sir. Today, His Majesty's generation of British lords, not long after ascending the throne, the world has shown too peaceful and stable scenes, the outside is full of Mongolia, the inside is full of bandits, the peaceful scene has appeared, the people of the world are all happy to support, why is the old gentleman still obsessed? ”

Li Huaxi was speechless for a while.

The thought of loyalty in his heart has always restrained him, making it impossible for him to take that step. But now. He really has to admit that Liu Jun is the emperor, and Liu Jun's Han Empire is indeed far ahead of Zhu Ming.

Today's world. Although there are still disputes, it is true that the disadvantages and decay of the late Ming Dynasty are gone.

"Mr. was also an old protégé of Li Ge, and it is said that he is also from the same school today, and His Majesty has a lot of praise for the old man. It is said that Mr. has served many official positions, and he is honest and honest to subdue one party, and he is a good official who thinks about the people. His Majesty knows that Mr. is in the Qin army. I specially ordered me to find Mr. and invite Mr. to Beijing, and His Majesty wants to reuse Mr. ”

Li Huaxi was stunned, he didn't expect the emperor to have such an explanation, and for a while, he was both a little surprised and a little moved.

"The old man is a minister of the Ming Dynasty, one person does not matter to two masters."

"Why did the old gentleman say that? Ming is rotten, the people are miserable, why does the old gentleman still guard him? At the beginning of today's new dynasty, all over the country is waiting to be revived, it is the time of my Chinese rejuvenation, and the people also need capable ministers and officials like Mr. to do things for the people. ”

Zheng Zhilong continued, "Back then, the Confucian sage Benlu was a native of the country, but he also traveled around the world for more than ten years, and he also received the money to defend the country. Although the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty are two dynasties, they are connected in one vein, both are orthodox in China, not barbarians, why can't the old gentleman understand the truth of this? ”

Li Huaxi sighed and was silent.

The three thousand Qin soldiers behind him had already thrown down their weapons one after another.

"Old gentleman, the Han Dynasty is Ming, it is a natural response, you see that today, reunified, the Han people are no longer weak and poor, and the Manchurians and Mongolians outside the customs are all dependent on the ministers, so strong and inspiring, is the old gentleman not proud as a descendant of Yan and Huang?"

"Tell the old gentleman another news, Ma Shiyao has led the Tongguan defenders to surrender to Tongguan, and now Tongguan has returned to the imperial court, and all those who are trying to restore in Guanzhong are all local chickens and dogs, and the war will be decided."

Hearing that the defenders of Tongguan surrendered to offer the pass, Li Huaxi sighed, "God bless the Ming Dynasty." General Zheng, the old man has only one request, I hope the general will not embarrass these soldiers. ”

"Don't worry, our Han army has never killed prisoners, on the contrary, it will treat prisoners preferentially."

Li Huaxi dismounted and surrendered.

After dawn, Zheng Zhilong moved to Tongguan.

"Marshal, our soldiers will take Tongguan without blood. Now that Zhu Cunji is personally leading tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to come, I don't know the changes here, I think that we should send the elite to ambush halfway, wait for the Qin army to pass by, kill him by surprise, defeat them in one fell swoop, and then take advantage of the victory to march in, but take Xi'an without much effort. ”

The chief of staff's words made Zheng Zhilong agree with it.

"Yes, Ben Shuai also has this intention, and it is indeed the best fighter at the moment. Someone came, ordered the front army to march, and lay an ambush halfway, preparing to intercept and ambush the Qin army. ”

Hanzhong.

Zhu Youxiang discussed with Luo Rucai, the king of Wei, and Li Zicheng, the king of loyalty.

"Unexpectedly, Zhu Cunji and Zhu Cunji brothers killed each other." Li Zicheng sighed, he didn't know until now that after Zhu Cunji secretly ambushed him, he was immediately stabbed in the back by his brother Zhu Cunji and killed his brother to seize the throne. If he had known the news earlier, he wouldn't have had to travel thousands of miles to join Luo Rucai.

Zhu Youxiang said, "After Zhu Cunji killed his brother, he claimed to be in prison and trespassed. ”

Li Zicheng's eyes flashed, and he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the minister is willing to lead his troops into the Guanzhong, persuade the King of Qin to go to the prison of the country, attach himself to the imperial court, and respect His Majesty Zhengshuo." ”

Luo Rucai secretly thought that after Li Zicheng entered Hanzhong, Zhu Youxiang made Li Zicheng a loyal king, implicitly wanting to promote Li Zicheng and divide his military power. Now Li Zicheng voluntarily left to go to Shaanxi, which is a good thing.

Therefore, after a little contemplation, he also said loudly, "Your Majesty, the minister also thinks that Guanzhong is extremely important to the imperial court. If Guanzhong can be controlled, the imperial court will have the foundation to fight against Han thieves. If our army takes Sichuan again, it will be able to connect Yunnan, Guizhou in the east and Shaanxi and Gansu in the west. ”

"Okay, I agreed to King Zhong's request, and specially ordered King Zhong to lead his headquarters to Shaanxi."

Luo Rucai also added tea on the cake at this time, expressing his willingness to replenish Li Zicheng with 5,000 soldiers and horses, as well as some ordnance, grain and grass.

Out of the line, Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng are parallel.

"How does King Zhong plan to take Shaanxi?"

Li Zicheng said, "If the king of Qin is willing to obey the will, it is best, if he is unwilling to respect the will, I might as well get rid of this rebellion for the court." ”

"Haha, that's right, the situation is not good now, no one would have thought that this Liu Jiye, in just a few years, would have such a momentum. Brother Tai went to Guanzhong and took control of the situation in Guanzhong very early. ”

"What are the plans of King Wei?"

"I plan to send troops to Sichuan, the country of heaven in Shuzhong, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Although the Han army has artillery and firearms, it is difficult to travel on the roads in Guanzhong and difficult to transport artillery. ”

"Haha, exactly." Li Zicheng also replied with a smile.

The two were laughing, but they saw a Luo Rucai's subordinate hurrying over.

"Report to King Wei, Guanzhong, lost."

"What?"

"Report to the King of Wei, a few days ago, Li Huaxi, the governor of Qin, led his army out of Tongguan to attack the Han army camp at night, but was surrounded, and finally the whole army surrendered. And the Tongguan defender Ma Shiyao led the defenders to surrender. After Zheng Zhilong took Tongguan, he sent troops into the pass, ambushed halfway, and Zhu Cunji, the king of Qin who came to aid Tongguan, was ambushed and defeated, Zhu Cunji was killed on the battlefield, and the rest were defeated and captured. Zheng Zhilong then took advantage of the victory to enter Xi'an and quickly captured the prefectures and counties of Shaanxi. ”

Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai were shocked and stunned.

"Shaanxi is over like this?"

"It's over."

The two were in a trance, and another famous captain came running.

"Report, King Wei, the former army urgently reported, the Han army commander Zhang Shan, Cai Yuan, two generals, led 30,000 elites out of Yunyang, is killing Hanzhong, Pingli, Xing'an two city defenders, have been defeated, the city lost."

Luo Rucai felt dizzy for a while.

Just now, I thought that the situation was good, but no one could have imagined that the situation would change so quickly. In the blink of an eye, Zheng Zhilong's Western Route Army broke through Tongguan and captured Xi'an. And Zhang Shan and Cai Yuan, who had previously broken through Luoyang, also quickly entered Hanzhong from Nanyang, Xiangyang, and Yunyang along the Han River.

Gritting his teeth, Luo Rucai said, "This place is not suitable for a long time, Zhang Shan is coming head-on, and Zheng Zhilong has captured Shaanxi, if he goes out of Dasan Pass from Fengxiang and kills into Hanzhong, then we will be attacked from both sides, and there is nowhere to retreat." ”

"Where are we going now, Sichuan?"

"It can only be Sichuan."

"But Sichuan has Qin Liangyu, the governor of Sichuan and the three provinces."

"Now, I can't take care of these things, let's talk about advanced Sichuan." Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng have been in Sichuan, and they have also fought with Qin Liangyu, and they have basically suffered losses at the hands of this woman.

But now they have no way out, they can't enter Sichuan, and this small place in Hanzhong can't gain a foothold.

The two chased back to the palace and met Zhu Youxiang again. When Zhu Youxiang heard that the Han army had captured Shaanxi, and Zhang Shan and Cai Yuan were killing Hanzhong again, his face turned white with fright.

Hearing that the two of them were planning to lead the army into Sichuan, they nodded busily.

"Into the river, into the river, immediately into the river."

Zhang Shan's soldiers and horses were still in Xing'an, but Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng had quickly packed up their things and fled to Sichuan.

Many local gentlemen and gentry in Hanzhong joined the Hanzhong court for a little tax before, and when they saw that the emperor and generals were about to run, they panicked one by one.

They have already rebelled, and when the Han army comes, it will be over.

But they didn't want to escape, their homes, their land, and their ancestral tombs were all here, and many local officials and merchants in Hanzhong jointly asked the imperial court to stay in Hanzhong, and they even expressed their willingness to donate silver to recruit soldiers and horses to guard Hanzhong.

It's a pity that no one heeded their requests.

Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng led their troops to escort Zhu Youxiang and hurriedly withdrew, leaving behind countless panicked local gentry, landlords and businessmen, messy in the wind. (To be continued.) )