The house leaks and the wind is even rainy, and the Ming Dynasty is like a giant ship sailing on the sea with huge waves. Although the ship was huge, it was in tatters, patched everywhere, and there were countless loopholes, and it was not only hard to be hit by huge waves, but also to endure the violent storms in the sky.

On this day in August, the rebellion in Shaanxi and Shanxi had just eased somewhat, and the situation had improved markedly. However, at this moment, next to a city next to the Daling River in Liaodong, a large number of Eight Banner cavalry gathered and surrounded it.

On the city wall, Zu Dashou looked into the distance with a solemn face, his expression was very ugly, and there was a person standing on the side, it was Zu Dashou's cousin Zu Dale, who also had an ugly look on his face at the moment, and said anxiously: "Cousin, the grain and grass in the city have long been gone, and those people don't have much. If it is the latter, it is tantamount to self-extinction, and there is no chance to fight with Huang Taiji. ”

"Da Le, I know all of what you said, but what can I do? So far, there has been no news of Sun Yuanhua's reinforcements, and our place has completely become a dead city. You also know that Huang Taiji is also too cunning, not only sending heavy troops to surround this place, but also pretending to be reinforcements to lure us out of the city. If I hadn't reacted quickly, I would have died outside the city a long time ago, and how could I have spare time here to you here! ”

Hearing this, Zu Dale's expression was much more lonely, and he said sneeringly: "But, cousin, there is no way to go on like this." If we continue to dry up, even if Huang Taiji doesn't attack the city, we will starve to death, and we won't be able to last long. ”

At this moment, a trace of coldness flashed in Zu Dashou's eyes, his expression was very resolute, and he whispered: "Hmm... I may have a way to save our lives and get through this difficult time. ”

"Really? Tell me, cousin, what is the solution? Zu Dale's spirit was shocked, and he couldn't help asking.

"This is not the place to speak. Let's go, go back first, find He Kegang, and let's discuss. Zu Dashou turned around, looked at Zu Dale, and said so lightly.

Not long after, in a secret room in a courtyard in the city, Zu Dashou, Zu Dale and He Kegang had a secret meeting together, showing a triangular state, sitting opposite each other. As soon as he sat down, Zu Dashou did not hesitate, and said directly: "General He, the current situation in the city, you also know, it will not last long, let alone break out of this layer of encirclement. Therefore, for the sake of the lives of all brothers and subordinates, and to preserve our strength, we must learn to forbear, and temporarily tide over difficulties, which is the best policy. ”

He Kegang was stunned for a moment, his face was suspicious, and he asked puzzledly: "General, the last general really doesn't understand what you mean, what kind of forbearance strategy?" ”

After a pause, he seemed to have thought of something, his face was thin and angry, He Kegang's eyebrows rose slightly, and he said in a low voice: "Of course, if there is any good plan to save the lives of the soldiers, the general will have no objections." ”

Hearing this, Zu Dashou's tense expression eased a lot, and he pretended to be relaxed and said: "Kegang, you should understand that now, if you want to save the lives of you and me and even the soldiers, there is only one way......"

"What's the solution?" He Kegang suddenly asked, his two eyebrows trembled, and there was a hint of disdain mixed in it, which was fleeting.

When Zu Dale heard such words again, he was still excited, and looked at Zu Dashou with hope, waiting for his nimble cousin to speak, what kind of way could he save everyone's lives?

"General He, since Huang Taiji has persuaded him to surrender many times, why don't we agree to him? In this way, the difficult situation of our situation will be solved all at once! ”

Zu Dashou said very excitedly, and he had a posture of talking eloquently, but before he finished speaking, he was reprimanded by He Kegang: "Zu Dashou, Zu Dashou, in vain, I admire Your Excellency's heroic life, I didn't expect the general to have such an idea, it's really chilling, I dare not agree!" ”

After a slight pause, when Zu Dashou's face was full of anger and Zu Dale was shocked, his voice immediately rose a little higher, and he continued to shout loudly: "General Zu, the last general should have never heard of this, and Your Excellency has never mentioned it, nothing happened. Moreover, the last general advised the general to dispel this idea as soon as possible, how can I live for a day, and I will never allow you to do this! ”

In an instant, Zu Dashou's face changed several times, and it was gloomy and terrifying. No one has spoken to him like this since the army.

Although the anger in his chest was tumbling and steaming, and he didn't know the anger, Zu Dashou still suppressed the anger in his heart and said again: "General He, when did my Zu Dashou say that he really surrendered to Huang Taiji, those Tartars?" The reason why I said this is that this decision is only a stopgap measure. As long as he survived this difficulty, overcame the encirclement, and then changed his course, he was still a soldier of the imperial court. ”

"Even if it were, it wouldn't work! I would rather die standing than live on my knees, steal my life, and bear the infamy of this life! ”

After finishing speaking, He Kegang stood up suddenly, snorted coldly, waved his sleeves, and then walked away, dropping a decisive word.

"Hmph... If you don't speculate for more than half a sentence, the end will never accept this plan! ”

At this moment, the atmosphere in the secret room was extremely stiff, and it did not disintegrate with He Kegang's departure, but eased somewhat, but became more depressed.

At the same time, Zu Dale didn't dare to take a breath, he looked cautious, and he didn't dare to move, for fear of making a little movement and angering Zu Dashou, who was on the verge of breaking out.

Zu Dashou suddenly laughed, the smile was very weird, it seemed very infiltrating, Zu Dale was even more excited, and cold air was coming up from his back. Immediately after, the former asked leisurely: "Da Le, what do you think about this method?" Agree or disagree? ”

Hearing this, Zu Dale was stunned, pondered for a while, and then said, "Big brother, I agree with your method. ”

Zu Dashou nodded with satisfaction and motioned for the other party to continue.

"Big brother, our ancestral family was able to gain a foothold in Liaodong, not because the people in the clan held important positions, and they occupied almost half of the army. It also relies on the strength of the family in Liaodong, and the two complement each other, which is not only feared by the imperial court, but also the reason why Huang Taiji is wooing. ”

"Da Le, you're right. If it weren't for these two reasons, you and my brother would have been arrested by the imperial court to ask for guilt and make up for Inspector Yuan's footsteps. Zu Dashou said a word at the right time, and he didn't wait for Zu Dale's words later.

"So, big brother, we can't fight with Huang Taiji. Unlike He Kegang, these brothers in the city are almost all of our family backgrounds and rely on them. Once it is exhausted, even if it can survive and survive this time, the imperial court will definitely be held accountable, and it will be light to be dismissed from military duties. If it had been in the past, the entire ancestral clan might have been exterminated. ”

"In that case, Da Le, what do you think we should do? He Kegang is a lieutenant general, and if he can't get his consent, this plan will never succeed. ”

"Hey, hey... Big brother, why bother asking me, you should have paid attention a long time ago, right? Zu Dale smiled meaningfully.

Zu Dashou didn't answer again, he quieted down, his eyes flashed coldly, flashed twice, and said coldly: "He Kegang is there, just leave it to me." Two days later, I will repair a book, you and Han Dong took advantage of the night, quietly went out from the north gate, carried my letter, and talked with Huang Taiji to see how the other party's sincerity was? ”

......

At the same time, in Wuqiao, Dengzhou, in the middle of the night, the heavy rain was pouring down, mixed with flying snow, and it was extremely cold at this time. A noisy sound of horses' hooves suddenly sounded, whistling, shuttling between the rain and snow, the spur of "driving" continued, and a group of eight hundred cavalry was like a ghost in the night, and suddenly stopped.

At the front of the cavalry ranks, a burst of shouts rang out: "What's the matter?" Why did the team stop suddenly? ”

At this moment, a cavalryman galloped from the rear, and as soon as he stopped, he said urgently: "General Qiyu, it's not good, the brothers in the back can't stand the cold and hunger, just now, suddenly some people turned their horses' heads and went straight to a small town next to them." Judging by their appearance, they should go to get some food and clothing. Moreover, there are some brothers who are ready to move and want to fight into the city. ”

Hearing this, the leader was furious, and immediately shouted: "Someone! Come with me, slaughter those troublesome shit, unlucky things! ”

At this time, the leader was suddenly stopped, and a voice sounded: "General, no, those brothers are really helpless." These days, the food and salary of the imperial court have been delayed, and the brothers have long been hungry with their chests and backs, and now they are experiencing such extreme weather, and it is human nature to do such irrational things. ”

The leader put down his horsewhip and softened his attitude, but he still said: "Li Yingyuan, you should know that we are on the orders of Governor Sun Yuanhua and Sun to go to the rescue of the general army of Zu Da Shouzu. If you delay here, you will delay the military situation, and once it is investigated, it is not something you and I can afford. ”

However, Li Yingyuan still grabbed the sleeve of the leader and said again: "General Kong, the brothers marched rapidly for two days and two nights in a row, and they hardly had a few full meals. If we kill Da Linghe like this, the general thinks, what are our chances of winning? ”

The person at the head is none other than Kong Youde, who was sent by Sun Yuanhua to rescue Zu Dashou, a general in Dengzhou.

After a word, Kong Youde was speechless when asked. He deeply knew that such 800 people went to the rescue, and there was absolutely no return, and there was no rescue effect at all. In this way, after the incident, he will be charged with a crime that is not conducive to rescue, and will be investigated and punished by the imperial court.

Thinking of this, it seemed that he had thought of something, Kong Youde raised his eyebrows, his face was full of meaning, and he asked instead of answering: "Li Yingyuan, as far as I know, your father Li Jiucheng is Mao Wenlong's old department, what does it mean to say this at this time, and repeatedly stop me like this?" ”

Without waiting for Li Yingyuan to answer, Kong Youde said again: "Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, your father is Mao Wenlong's old department, and Zu Dashou is Yuan Chonghuan's right-hand man, right-hand man, is this purpose just to want Zu Dashou to die at the hands of Huang Taiji?" ”

Li Yingyuan smiled, looking indifferent, he didn't have the consciousness of being exposed to the conspiracy at all, but said: "General Kong, the last general respects you as a good man, I don't know if you should say a sentence or not?" Would you rather hear it? ”

As if he was worried about something, or had some thoughts, Kong Youde did not attack immediately, but asked lightly: "Oh... What words? ”

"General, as the saying goes, being a soldier eats food, being a soldier eats food, being a soldier is to have a full stomach, walking on the edge of life and death, it is nothing more than using this cheap life to eat. But now? The brothers have to brave the rain and snow to go to support, fight with the Tartars, live a life of licking blood on the knife, the court does not pay silver, and let the brothers go to war hungry, how can there be such a reason in the world? ”

Just at the right time, Li Yingyuan suddenly changed the topic, and said loudly: "Since this is the case, the left and right are dead, why should we work for Chongzhen's old man?" General, the last general and all the brothers are willing to honor you, like other rebel troops, divide the land as the king, tear the earth and seal the marquis, and win a moment of pleasure! It's like now, people are not people, ghosts are not ghosts, it's okay if you win a big victory, once you are defeated, you may be beheaded, why bother? ”

"We are willing to respect the general and die on the battlefield!"

......

For a while, the others echoed and shouted, which showed that these people were really hungry, aggrieved to the limit, and endured to the point that they couldn't bear it anymore.

Seeing this situation, Li Yingyuan's two eyeballs flickered, and then followed closely and said: "General, taking advantage of the emptiness of Dengzhou's troops and the unscrupulous generals stationed, as long as you give an order, my brother will immediately be able to take Linyi, Lingxian, Shanghe, Qingcheng Zhucheng, and take Dengzhou, just around the corner!" ”

......

Ten days later, the world was in an uproar, two news shocked the Ming court and the opposition, Zu Dashou led the troops to surrender to Huang Taiji, Kong Youde mutinied, captured the Dengzhou garrison in one fell swoop, captured Dengzhou, Laizhou's two state governor Sun Yuanhua, Huang Taiji is the strength of the Ling River, eyeing the tiger, quite a tendency to attack the Guannai again.

At the same time, in a certain western area of Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi, in the wilderness, Li Zicheng led a thousand Li family troops to appear here, followed by Li Guo, Liu Fangliang, and Wu Ruyi on the left and right, all of whom were dressed in tatters, looking like Huazi.

Of course, Li Zicheng, as the leader, and the captains were much better dressed, like farmers who had just revolted, and the crops were in the style.

At this time, Li Guo held one newspaper after another in his hand, and while riding away, he read the newspaper at the same time, read one and destroy one.

"Leader, according to our brother Mibao who was placed in the capital, Huang Taiji of Liaodong once again committed a war and besieged Zu Dashou in the Daling River, and the latter held out for three months, with no food and grass, and almost ate up the people in the city, and finally surrendered to Huang Taiji."

Also, the governor of Dengzhou sent Kong Youde to the rescue to rescue Zu Dashou from the trapped siege. Unexpectedly, on the way, he led the troops to mutiniy and occupied Dengzhou. ”

......

As the news came into his ears, Li Zicheng smiled faintly and said loudly: "Hehe... God help me! At this time, even if Cao Wenzhao and others would not be transferred to Liaodong and other places, they would stop the offensive and dare not make a big move. ”