In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, on the eleventh day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, in Wu'an County, Zhangde Prefecture, Henan, on the base of Taihang Mountain.

A force of nearly 10,000 Li Jiajun is ready to go, all of them are equipped with firearms, almost everyone is holding a three-eyed gun, a thunderbolt gun and a two-purpose firearm such as a three-eyed gun, a thunderbolt gun, and a strong aura on his body, at first glance, he looks like a modern soldier.

Li Zicheng stood on a high platform, looked at these people with a solemn expression, and issued a series of orders.

"Li Ziqi, you lead 3,000 men and horses, the troops out of Huangzeling, through Xingtai, Chen Bing is in the southwest of Julu, ten miles away, you must hide your whereabouts."

"Yes, Boss!"

"Li Zhong, give you 3,000 soldiers and horses, and the troops will go out of the Taihang Mountain base and approach the giant deer from Handan."

"Yes, Boss!"

"Chen Zuoting, give you 4,000 soldiers and horses, soldiers out of Huangyu Pass, and block the Qing army from the west,"

"Yes, Boss!"

......

When Li Jiajun was about to make a big move, far away in the imperial city of Jingshi, a hundred miles away, where Chongzhen usually dealt with the government, Yang Sichang's face was full of anxiety, and he reported with emotion: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that it is better to negotiate with the Qing army first, and the matter of quelling the rebellion and bandits is the first priority, the most important thing, Luoyang City has fallen, King Fu died tragically, the situation is extremely critical, it is already imminent, and we can no longer hesitate." ”

Chongzhen's heart was shocked, and he couldn't calm down for a long time, he still couldn't believe that Luoyang City was defeated, King Fu was killed, his mouth opened slightly, opened and closed twice, and then said weakly: "Yang Shangshu, you should know that now the situation has changed greatly, the Qing army has bypassed the land of Beijing, divided its troops into two routes, and went straight south, all the way along the border between Beizhili and Shanxi; The other way is along the Grand Canal, directly to Shandong and other places, in this case, how do you let me negotiate peace? ”

"What's more, don't forget, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, even in the most difficult times, there has never been a matter of peace, one does not negotiate peace, two does not make peace, and three does not cut the land, which is the default iron law of our dynasty. Otherwise, I will be reduced to a sinner through the ages, and my name will forever be engraved on the pillar of shame. ”

At this time, Gao Qi on the side stepped forward and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, this time is different from the past, the Qing army is coming, looting around the Beijing Division, if you collude with the rebel army again, the consequences will be unpredictable, and the Qinwang troops in various places will be blocked north of the Yellow River." ”

"Moreover, the emperor, according to the news obtained by Jinyiwei, if it were not for the freezing of the Yellow River, he would not have known that Shaanxi had completely fallen into the hands of the rebellious army and was controlled by the Li family's army. Not only that, Li Zicheng even took Luoyang directly, presumably in the near future, Henan will also fall completely. ”

Speaking of this, Gao Qiqian suddenly knelt down, his voice was slightly crying, and he pleaded and said, "Your Majesty, you can't hesitate." What's more, with the current strength of the imperial court in Beizhili, it is simply impossible to confront the Qing army head-on, since this is the case, why not negotiate peace? Only by solving the internal troubles can we fully resist the Qing army~! ”

Hong Chengchou, who had been silent, finally couldn't bear it anymore and couldn't help but speak.

"Emperor Qiqi, even if it is to negotiate peace, now is not the time."

As soon as these words came out, they immediately attracted the attention of everyone present, Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian frowned slightly, Hong Chengchou's reaction was completely unexpected by them, and the former even interjected: "Lord Hong, what do you mean by this?" ”

Hong Chengchou did not pay attention to Yang Sichang's inquiry, but continued to take care of himself: "Since ancient times, if you can't take the initiative on the battlefield and rush to peace talks, not to mention whether the other party will agree, even if you agree, the imperial court will not be able to bear the price of peace talks. ”

Speaking of this, Hong Chengchou was stunned, and looked at Yang Sichang directly, although his expression was calm, his words were so aggressive and slightly resentful, and then he answered the other party's inquiry.

"Lord Yang, I will say that if you go outside, you must first settle inside, you should first negotiate peace with the Qing army, and after destroying the chaotic army, you should turn around and deal with the Qing army. However, have you ever wondered if Huang Taiji will really make peace? ”

Unable to answer Yang Sichang, Hong Chengchou's voice rose a few points, blocking his words back to his mouth.

"Looking at the battles with the Tartars over the years, when the Tartars have the intention of making peace, what is the situation? Although it is not that the war situation is very unfavorable for them, it is not very good, and the war is no longer beneficial to them, and there is even some kind of crisis. ”

"That ......" Gao Qiqian just spit out a word unwillingly, wanting to refute, but was blocked back by Hong Chengchou's words behind.

"Once they have the upper hand on the battlefield, they will never negotiate peace, but will wreak havoc in the pass, burning, killing and looting, destroying fertile land, killing people, and everywhere they pass, it will be a scorched earth, so that the local people will no longer be able to resist."

In a short sentence, it is just a few hundred words, but it contains a lot of information, which is tantamount to a slap in the face, reminding everyone that back then, Yuan Chonghuan was also the main peace, stabilized Huang Taiji, and did not hesitate to kill the general Mao Wenlong.

However, the result was the opposite, the outcome was just the opposite, there were no worries, there was no Mao Wenlong's containment on Phi Island, Houjin frequently attacked Shanhaiguan, and even more without scruples to conquer the east and west, to the west to subdue some Mongolian tribes, to the east to attack Korea.

Now at this time, looking back on the past, everyone present knows very well in their hearts that there was nothing wrong with advocating peace talks at that time, but Mao Wenlong should not be killed, without this general wedged near the Tartar's lair, without deterrence, Huang Taiji has no scruples, no worries, and can show his strength and do whatever he wants.

Otherwise, there would not have been a series of accidents later, and the Tartars repeatedly invaded the pass.

If Mao Wenlong is still there, guarding Phi Island, if Huang Taiji still dares to invade the Guannei on a large scale, or attack Shanhaiguan and Ningjin defense lines, his lair will be dangerous, and he will be served by Mao Wenlong.

After all, the total strength of the Qing army was just a little bit, 100,000 people entered the pass at once, and tens of thousands of people were in the Ningjin defense line to contain the Guanning Iron Cavalry, and the remaining troops can be imagined.

At this moment, Chongzhen had calmed down a lot, sat up straight, looked at Hong Chengchou, and said in a deep voice: "Hong Chengchou, the safety around the Jingshi will be handed over to you and Sun Chuanting, as for the Qing army that invaded the south, it will be taken care of by Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Sichang." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, Weichen obeys the order!"

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Youzhen looked at Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian again, and instructed: "Yang Shangshu, Gao Qiqian, Du Du led the Qing army to cross Zhuozhou and go straight to the giant deer, you two must do your best to assist Lu Xiangsheng, block them, and prevent them from meeting Yue Tuo in Shandong." ”

"Yes, the emperor, the Weichen commands!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the slave obeys the order!"

Several people left, and when they came to the outside of the main hall, Gao Qiqian and Yang Sichang stood side by side, the former looked at Hong Chengchou's figure that was getting farther and farther away, and said with a little dissatisfaction: "Lord Yang, what's going on?" Hong Chengchou is the person you recommended, how could he defect today, he won't miss the big matter between you and me, and make the emperor lose trust in us, right? ”

"Don't worry, Gonggong Gao, although I don't know what happened to Hong Chengchou today, but there is one thing you can rest assured, the emperor still trusts you and me." Yang Sichang frowned slightly, and while answering lightly, he also looked meaningfully at Hong Chengchou's figure that was gradually moving away.

"Oh~ Lord Yang, why do you say that? Is there any basis for this? Gao Qi was overjoyed, but he still couldn't help but ask.

"Father-in-law Gao, if the emperor didn't trust you and me, he wouldn't let us stay in such an important position and lead so many soldiers?" Yang Sichang retracted his gaze, stroked his beard, looked at Gao Qiqian, and said with great confidence: "Moreover, although the emperor has not said anything on his face, he has leaned towards the peace talks, as long as we ...... a little."

As he spoke, Yang Sichang's voice became lower and lower, and he whispered in Gao Qiqian's ear, who nodded frequently and looked like he was deeply appreciative.