Time flies, like a white horse passing through a gap, tossing and turning, more than a month has passed, and many rebels have been driven to the junction of Zhangde Mansion and Weihui Mansion, wandering between the two mansions, evading the pursuit of the official army, looking for a temporary place to escape.

It was the middle of autumn and winter, everything was withering, and the bleak atmosphere was permeating every place, and this situation was like the situation of the rebel army, depressed and embarrassed, and the glory of the past was no longer there.

On the banks of the Qishui River, a group of rebel armies are stationed here, like a grid on a chessboard, dotted around, although the camps of the various rebel armies are adjacent to each other, but they are distinct, faintly revealing the meaning of mutual defense.

The camp is big or small, the war horses are neighing, the voices are boiling, and the scene is not noisy and chaotic. The clothes are even more varied, dazzling, and the weapons in the hands are also different, good and bad.

The warm sun was rising, approaching noon, in the middle of many camps, there was a very large tent set there, two meters away from the tent, almost three steps and one post, five steps and one sentry, and a group of soldiers were patrolling, and no one was allowed to approach.

The armor is distinct, the weapons are sharp, the soldiers have a cold expression, they stand straight, they are the elite of the rebel army at a glance, the military quality is extremely excellent, exuding a strong sense of slaughter, guarding the safety of the big tent and isolating it.

No matter what was said in the tent, people outside could only hear a faint voice, unable to discern what was inside.

In the big tent, there were fifty or sixty people sitting, all dressed in strange clothes, but they had a common feature, mainly dressed in red.

At this moment, these people include almost all the current figures, all of them are the heads of the rebel army from all walks of life, there is some tension in the solemn atmosphere, and the situation in the seats is even more strange, completely subverting the past.

The seats are in a circular structure, from the inside out, layer by layer, and the circle is getting bigger and bigger, and more and more people are doing it.

If you put a table in the center and one more person stands there, it's more like a lectern.

At the same time, it is not difficult to find that the leaders of the rebel army who sit in the final are all important people, one of the best, and extremely influential among the many rebel armies, and some of the people who sit in the circle in the center are Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Miaoshou, Luo Rucai, Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng and others, the predators in the rebel army.

Needless to say, the farther you sit, the weaker your troops are.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think that in order to unite the rebel armies from all walks of life and form an effective combat force, we should elect a new alliance leader as soon as possible, lead everyone to break out of the encirclement, get out of the predicament, and break the encirclement of the official army, so that is the best policy."

"What Ge Liyan said is right, I, King Zuojin, am the first to agree, and I am willing to elect the leader of King Chuang Gao as the leader of the general alliance and lead everyone to break out of the encirclement."

Obviously, it was the people from Gao Yingxiang's camp who said these words. However, Gao Yingxiang twisted his beard for a long time, and before he could be happy, other voices came.

"I, Guo Tianxing, also agreed to elect a new alliance leader to lead everyone through the difficulties. However, I elected Li Zicheng, a general, to serve as the leader of the rebel armies. ”

"I also support the general Li Zicheng as the leader of the alliance." The stars also jumped out, as if they felt that the water was not mixed enough, and said further: "When the Lord of the Wang Alliance was alive, he especially respected the generals. Moreover, Leader Li is brave and strategic, wise, and his character and combat power are also obvious to all, and the Li Jiajun under his command is even more extraordinary, and can hardly shake the elite division of the official army. ”

Hearing these words, Li Zicheng's face was calm and unmoved, knowing that someone was sowing discord and wanted to stir up the relationship between himself and his uncle Gao Yingxiang, but he didn't explain anything. Because he knows that there is much more to it than that.

"Cut~ I think the leader of the Eight Great Kings Zhang is quite suitable, and he is more suitable for the position of alliance leader. Not to mention anything else, since last year, Leader Zhang has been crisscrossing the three Jins, and no one can plunder him. In terms of today's total military strength alone, it is one of the best. ”

Although there are many leaders of Zhang, there is only one of the eight kings, and that is Zhang Xianzhong.

"I elected Cao Cao and Luo Rucai, the leader of Luo is a humble person, and he has a good relationship with almost every leader. Even if it is not to the extent that the relationship is irreversible, it is not far off. Moreover, the most important thing is that the leader of Luo is fair, righteous, and distinguishes between right and wrong, once the rebel armies from all walks of life attack the city together, they will definitely be able to achieve fairness in the distribution of money and food. ”

"I elect Zhang Miaoshou ......"

......

As the names of one leader after another were called, as the candidates for the new alliance leader, the expressions of those people were all happy, flashing a hint of hope, and then their faces were full of solemnity, and they bowed their heads and became silent.

At this moment, a loud voice suddenly sounded, breaking the scene of endless arguments.

"Guys, be quiet... Be quiet and listen to the next word! ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, raised their eyes, and saw that the person who spoke was Li Zicheng.

"Leaders, let me declare that I, Li Zicheng, have no intention of serving as the leader of the alliance, and everything is based on my uncle Gao Yingxiang."

Li Zicheng was a blockbuster and directly stated his position, which surprised everyone, Li Zicheng didn't care about such a big piece of fat, so he turned it away and pushed it out.

Gao Yingxiang was also stunned, although he had already gotten the news and Li Zicheng's previous hints, but he didn't expect that his nephew would be so happy and direct, so give himself face?

Although there are only four words, it is so easy to say, but it has the power of a thousand catties, and it has a particularly deterrent effect, if the two armies are combined, it is definitely the first place. Especially the combat effectiveness of the Li Jiajun and the prestige of the fight, which instantly calmed the scene.

Obviously, almost everyone realized this, and Zhang Xianzhong's expression was ugly, as if he had lost something extremely important.

In this short silence, all of a sudden, Luo Rucai stood up and said, "Leaders, Luo thinks that it is too early to elect the leader of the alliance. The first task of today's plan is to quickly think of a clever plan to break out of the encirclement as soon as possible. Once all the officers and troops press up and besiege us somewhere, it will be all over. ”

"What Leader Luo said is also that it is too early to elect the leader of the alliance, and it is definitely not something that can be determined in three or five days. Moreover, there is not much time left for everyone, and the officers and troops may catch up at any time, so it is most important to think of a plan to get out. ”

"I also agree, don't elect the leader of the alliance first, everything is mainly to tide over difficulties. The momentum of the officers and troops is getting bigger and bigger, and there is a great posture of not completely eradicating us and vowing not to give up, so it is better to think carefully first and find it safer to get out of trouble. ”

......

Obviously, the election of the leader of the alliance is not popular, and the vast majority of people do not want to get a emperor out. Everyone is full of money, the will of the people is difficult to disobey, no one mentions the matter of the alliance leader, and you and I begin to discuss things one by one.

"Everyone, be quiet, and listen to me." Zhang Miaoshou suddenly shouted loudly, and after the tent gradually returned to quiet, he said slowly: "I think everyone knows very well that our rebel army from all walks of life is just to keep warm. ”

However, the total number of people is only about 100,000. Removing the families of the soldiers and the wounded, the strength of the army is between 50,000 and 70,000. However, the strength of the officers and troops was at least 20,000. ”

Suddenly, the silence in the big tent was terrifying, the sound of needles falling on the ground was especially audible, everyone's hearts were very solemn, and Zhang Xianzhong asked with some impatience: "Chief Zhang, what do you want to say?" Is it possible, do you want such a small number of troops to fight hard with the officers and soldiers, so as to break through the siege? ”

Obviously, Zhang Xianzhong's question was the speculation of many people and spoke the words of most people's hearts.

"Chief Zhang, don't worry, Zhang doesn't mean that." Zhang Miaoshou responded in a hurry, and seeing the disbelief on everyone's faces, he further said: "Leaders, my meaning is very simple, since we can't fight and escape, why don't we pretend to surrender?" ”

"Fake surrender ......?" Luo Rucai muttered, a trace of essence flashed in his eyes, nothing more, sitting there quietly, waiting for Zhang Miao's words.

"Brothers, although the person in charge of encircling and suppressing us is Xuan Mo in name, in fact he is Wang Pu, Lu Jiude, and Yang Jinchao, two eunuchs, and the three of them are extremely relied on by Chongzhen Huangkou Xiaoer. Now, as a strong encirclement and suppression faction, Cao Wenzhao has been transferred to Datong, Shanxi. If the sham surrender tactic is used, it is not impossible to succeed. ”

"I agree with Chief Zhang's proposal."

To everyone's surprise, Li Zicheng, who has always been strong, was the first to respond to Zhang Miao, and silently echoed a sentence, as if he felt the strange gaze of everyone, and added without humility or arrogance: "Of course, if you want to surrender, you can't just surrender on paper, before that, you have to make some preparations to be perfect." ”

"General Li Chuang, what do you ......mean by some preparations?" Luo Rucai was already interested, and was attracted by Li Zicheng's selling guanzi, so he asked at the right time.

Li Zicheng did not answer immediately, but stood up and walked towards the center of the field, step by step, although his expression was unwavering, he exuded a faint sense of confidence, and what he said was even more incomprehensible.

"Chiefs, although the attack of the officers and soldiers is very strong, the action is like a storm, as if it is about to strike a thunderous blow, wanting to wipe us out in one fell swoop. However, they are not ironclad and not without weaknesses. ”

"Chief Li, can you explain it more clearly, I'm almost confused."

Guo Tianxing interrupted Li Zicheng's speech, but the latter was not annoyed and still carried out his rhythm in an orderly manner.

"Everyone knows very well that whether it is Wang Pu or those eunuchs and eunuchs, they are not those veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time, and they are easier to get through. Before we express our intention to surrender, spend some silver, you might as well spend some silver to get through Wang Pu, Lu Jiude and Yang Jinchao. ”

"Yes, yes, if you do that, things will be more secure." Zhang Miaoshou couldn't help but echo a sentence, his face was full of excitement, and he added: "Not only do you have to buy Wang Pu, Lu Jiude, and Yang Jinchao, but also the generals and entourage around them." As long as someone can speak for us and pretend to surrender, the possibility of success will be greater, and it will be more certain. ”

At the beginning, when Zhang Miaoshou proposed a fake surrender, everyone may still have doubts and do not agree with this method. However, when he heard the latter words, he was already moved and acquiesced in Zhang Miaoshou's proposal.

After all, although most of the people present were big and rude, they also knew something about the officialdom of the imperial court, especially the officials and generals who were closest to them.

What pretends to be a military meritorious, what treats civilian corpses as anti-thieves, etc., these are all pediatrics. If there are no key people to mediate, even if you have made great achievements, you will not escape death!

Otherwise, if there is no one to protect, if there is no money to make a point out of it, it is not enough to slaughter the people, take the lead and merit, and die ten times.

Therefore, as long as the background is hard enough and rich enough, there is nothing that cannot be done, and there is no disaster that cannot be eliminated. There are many such things as participating in the imperial history and exposing them, and those generals are not all alive and well.

For example, You Shilu and his son, slaughtered thousands of people in Liaozhou City, and said that it was a matter of anti-thieves, which caused a storm in the city, and almost everyone knew about it, and there was even a royal historian who reported to Emperor Chongzhen. However, the final result of the handling was that the matter was over, and You Shilu and his son were not punished at all.

It was only when they knew this that the leaders agreed more with Zhang Miaoshou's proposal, as long as they took out enough gold, silver, jewelry, and rare antiques, they could buy off those eunuchs who were in charge of the army, that is, Chongzhen's eyes and ears.

As long as those eunuchs nodded, as for the generals in charge of the war, they didn't dare to say everything, and most of them didn't dare not give some face. Otherwise, as long as those eunuchs say something in front of the emperor and enter some slander, it will be enough for them to drink a pot.

After thinking about this, the big tent became quieter, and the air was filled with a strange atmosphere, not as nervous as it was at the beginning.

At this moment, Zhang Miaoshou was in a hurry, not only because he was the initiator of the proposal, but also deeply aware of the urgency of the crisis, even if it was a minute or a second, it could not be delayed.

Of course, just by looking at it, Zhang Miaoshou guessed everyone's thoughts, calmed down his restless mood a little, and then said earnestly: "Leaders, the situation is critical now, and there is not much time left for us, the sooner the plan is carried out, the safer we will be." If the imperial army attacks, the heavy army encircles and suppresses, and we are defeated, whether it is a fluke to escape, or a captured surrender, those money, rice and grain will have nothing to do with us at all. ”

"If you take out some of the money now and buy off those court officials, not only will you have more hope of escaping, but you can also keep some of the money as the capital for a comeback. Moreover, as long as you escape this difficulty and leave this place, once you enter the weak point of the imperial garrison, you can fly high and regain everything that is lost now. ”

After saying that, Lao Hui Ma Shouying was the first to respond: "Leader Zhang, I support you and am willing to take out ordinary gold, silver and jewelry as bribes." ”

"I also support that Li Jiajun will take out half of all the money." Li Zicheng followed closely and echoed, his expression was very calm, as if the silver he took out had nothing to do with him.

"I'll give 20,000 taels and four antique calligraphy and paintings!"

"I'll give you eight thousand taels!"

......

One person took the lead, and the others responded, although the money they took out was different, but it was the maximum they could give.

After all, no matter who you are, you have to keep some silver taels and use them to buy grain for future development.

After everyone had reported a specific amount of silver, everyone began to discuss the specific details of the "false surrender", who would carry it out? Which officials and generals need to be bought?

Of course, one of them must not be missing, once the plan fails and the imperial court does not accept surrender, what should be done?