Chongzhen never thought that Taiyuan would be lost too quickly, Cai Maode was not unwilling to be loyal, he only had 3,000 people under his command, how could he stop Li Zicheng's army? He also summoned soldiers from all walks of life to defend Taiyuan, but it's a pity! Except for Zhou Yuji's soldiers all the way, none of them were willing to come to save Taiyuan! And when Zhou Yuji was still halfway, the Dashun army broke through Taiyuan.

In the end, Cai Maode had to hang himself, because Cai Maode was a Taoist, under many years of practice, his body was extremely light, and he couldn't swallow a breath when he hanged himself, and finally Ying Shisheng took off his armor and pressed it on Cai Maode's shoulder to make Cai Maode lose his breath. Subsequently, Ying Shisheng also committed suicide and followed Cai Maode.

(Note: Baidu Encyclopedia in 1644 wrote that Li Zicheng broke Taiyuan on March 15 and went to Beijing on the evening of the 16th!) That's a flying speed! In February, Li Zicheng sent troops from Xi'an, and the river defense was fragile, and it was Taiyuan that broke in February. The 1644 Baidu Encyclopedia entry is incorrect. ）

Where Li Zicheng passed, no one dared to resist him, and when he marched to Ningwu, the general soldier Zhou Yuji rose up to resist, so that Li Zicheng could not advance under the city of Ningwu, and spent a lot of time unable to advance.

Zhou Yuji's stubborn resistance was something that Li Zicheng had never encountered, and Li Zicheng had the idea of retreating, leaving Ningwuguan and heading east.

The generals under his command did not let Li Zicheng retreat at all and gave up attacking Ning Wu, because they had already claimed that if Ning Wu did not surrender in five days, they would slaughter the city!

If hundreds of thousands of troops can't break through a Ningwu City, it will be a very big blow to the Dashun army! Besides, the Dashun Army has just established the capital, and it is not allowed to allow such a thing that damages the reputation of the Dashun Army! Li Zicheng's generals couldn't swallow this breath. Advocate that Li Zicheng must fight! Ning Wu must break through!

Including Song Xiance and Li Yan's opinions, if Ning Wu does not break it. Then the rear is unstable. Eastward expansion will also be due to the instability of the rear, and there will be accidents! Li has become decisive since then, and he will do whatever it takes to break Ning Wu!

Hundreds of thousands of troops attacked Ning Wu, who was only guarded by a few thousand people, and under the onslaught, he would definitely be able to break through.

Li Yan looked at Ning Wuguan and thought: "Zhang Guoxiong asked me to save Zhou Yuji no matter what, saying that Zhou Yuji is a fierce general, he is afraid that Zhou Yuji will be killed by the Dashun army in the fierce battle, and wants me to protect him!" And don't let Li Zicheng know the way! Alas! Kunio. You've got a big problem for your brother! But since I am a brother to you, I will do my best to fulfill your wish! Zhou Yuji is your good brother, then he will also be my good brother! I have to save him! Although I am advocating that the emperor must break Ningwu, this is also my duty! I have to be honest with the emperor! That's what loyal ministers do! ”

Li Yan also knew that Lu Dao wanted him to hide from Li Zicheng to save Zhou Yuji, if he let people know that Lu Dao reported to Li Zicheng, his situation would be even more difficult! Since he strongly persuaded Li Zicheng not to send troops to the east, but to consolidate his strength first, he fought the basis of reason, and offended Li Zicheng.

Now that he is saving the generals who dare to stop Li Zicheng, how can Li Zicheng let him go?

Li Yan is really righteous. He let go of his honor and disgrace, and he was determined to save Zhou Yuji.

Zhang Biwu brought his subordinate Zhong Yaofa and Zhong Yaofa to bring fifty armor soldiers. These are Zhang Biwu's elites, they were ordered to save Zhou Yuji, and they will go with Li Yan's people.

The general attack was launched, and the front row of the horse team of the Dashun army was killed, and the back row followed, and it was necessary to capture Ningwu.

Although the Ningwu defenders are also brave, they can block a hundred with one, but after all, there are too few people! Zhou Yuji fought hard, he himself had to personally lead the troops out, and he wanted to be loyal to the great tomorrow.

When Li Zicheng watched the battle, he saw that the defense was so tenacious, he sighed and said, "General Zhou is really powerful!" Fortunately, there are not many capable generals like Zhou Zongbing in the Ming Dynasty, if everyone is like Zhou Zongbing, can I easily seize the world of the Ming Dynasty? This year, I have been in the army for 17 years, and after more than ten years of hard work, I am about to seize the world! ”

"I joined the army in my twenties, and Zhu Hongwu also joined the army in my twenties. At the age of forty-one, he conquered the world and ascended the throne as emperor! And I, Li Zicheng, will ascend the throne when I am nearly forty years old, but I will also conquer the world at the age of forty-one! Or even earlier! I must do better than Zhu Hongwu! So Zhou Yuji must lose to me! ”

Now Li Zicheng has compared himself to the outstanding kings of the past, and he is full of ambition, thinking that he is better than any previous king.

Bull Venus was standing next to him, and there was a man whispering in his ear. Li Zicheng asked: "Prime Minister, is there anything wrong?" ”

Niu Jinxing replied: "Your Majesty, according to the report of the spies, the army of Li Yan, the right army division, has already begun to move and launched an attack on Ning Wu!" ”

"What?" Li Zicheng was surprised and said, "Li Yan also came to join in this fun?" I don't need him at all! He is the right army division, he is mainly for Lone to give advice, and is in charge of military discipline! He only has a few thousand men, and leading troops to fight is not his forte! He didn't report to Lonely! What was he thinking? ”

Niu Jinxing shook his head and replied, "I don't understand!" But I've already sent someone to investigate! Li Zicheng bowed his head: "It's good!" Then go investigate and see what kind of medicine is sold in Li Yan's gourd! ”

Li Zicheng was waiting, he was also watching the battle situation, originally it was his men and horses who tightly surrounded Zhou Yuji, but suddenly, Li Yan's men and horses rushed up, his men and horses retreated, and Zhou Yuji was surrounded by Li Yan's men and horses.

The battle is still raging, Zhou Yuji's defeat is inevitable, he is already at the end of the crossbow, even so, Zhou Yuji is fighting with the heart of killing one more person is a person!

Li Zicheng admired Zhou Yuji's bravery again. At this moment, Niu Jinxing's spies came to report, and Niu Jinxing nodded when he heard it. Li Zicheng was silent, he was waiting for Niu Jinxing to report to him.

Niu Jinxing said: "Your Majesty, according to the report of the spies, Li Yan is the men and horses who went straight to Zhou Yuji, and Li Yan's army seems to have Zhang Biwu's people mixed in!" ”

"What? Zhang Biwu's people! Li Zicheng was stunned unconsciously, he then looked at Niu Jinxing, Niu Jinxing nodded, and replied: "Yes!" Absolutely true! Li Yan's people have Zhang Biwu's people! ”

Li Zicheng looked at Niu Jinxing and said, "Prime Minister, you should be able to see the mystery clearly, just talk about it!" Say whatever you want! ”

Niu Jinxing said truthfully: "Your Majesty, Zhang Biwu and Zhou Yuji are very good friends!" When Abatai led the army to invade, no one reached out to help Zhang Biwu, only Zhou Yuji reached out to help, Zhang Biwu must be grateful for this friendship, he had to save Zhou Yuji no matter what. As Zhang Biwu's backstage, knowing this, Li Yan is a capable man who will save him! Now I think what they have to do is to save Zhou Yuji and hide it in the army. Zhou Yuji is determined to fight against His Majesty, he is a general, and it would be a disaster to keep him! ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "After defeating Ningwu, I will slaughter the people of Ningwu!" No matter who Ning Wu is, even if it's a baby, I'm going to kill it all! Even a single livestock will be killed! Also, Li Yan's army will be searched, and if you want to find Zhou Yuji, you will kill Zhou Yuji on the spot! ”

Li Zicheng glanced at Niu Jinxing again and asked, "Do you have anything else to say?" Then speak up! ”

Niu Jinxing continued: "Your Majesty, don't look at our army now marching east in two ways to fight Beijing, but if Zhang Biwu of Lingbao takes advantage of our distance in Beijing and raises troops to Chang'an, it will destroy our plan!" After all, he is newly surrendered, and he has a large number of people, and His Majesty has already issued a decree to let him leave Lingbao, but he has never left! ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "Yes!" I plan to give Nanyang to him, let him garrison in the Nanyang area, Lingbao and Shaanzhou under my control! has already given Zhang Biwu an order, and he still refuses to carry it out, if it weren't for the urgency of going east, I really want to get rid of him! It's really unreassuring! ”

Niu Jinxing said: "So I have a plan, then we have already seen through Li Yan wanting to save Zhou Yuji, and take Li Yan down, and blame Zhang Biwu, at the same time, all kinds of armies also quickly gathered to Lingbao and other places to oppress!" What do you say will happen to Zhang Biwu? ”

Li Zicheng asked, "What will happen then?" Niu Jinxing replied: "Either obediently obey, or quickly give up his base camp!" If he is disobedient and rebels, Liu Fangliang's men and horses are still guarding near Zhang Biwu, and Zhang Biwu can be exterminated! ”

"Ha Lu Ha!" Li Zicheng laughed and said, "Prime Minister, it's not wrong for Gu to say that you are my Zhang Liang!" Good! Just do what you say! If Zhang Biwu really rebelled, he hadn't gone far with my army, and there were people in Lingbao and other places to clean him up! ”

"Yes!" Niu Jinxing smiled, thinking in his heart: "Lin Quan, you are befriending Zhang Biwu and want to strengthen your strength, then I will cut off Zhang Biwu, and by the way, I will also hit you!" I'll see what else you can do! ”

At this time, Li Zicheng saw a person who was tied to a high pole and shot to death, and his subordinates reported that the one who was hung on the high pole and shot to death was Zhou Yuji.

But Li Zicheng was sneering, he didn't believe it. At this time, he was not in a hurry to go east, he just waited for eight hundred miles to be in a hurry, what was Zhang Biwu's reaction. At the same time, Liu Fangliang's other group of men and horses could quickly advance after receiving the order.

And Li Yan was really invited by Li Zicheng and temporarily put under house arrest, and his army was also surrounded, and Li Yanbu was searched at the same time. Li Yan's younger brother Li Mu asked people not to resist, and let Li Zicheng's men search at will. (To be continued......)