Xu Ping's unprecedented victory in Henan shocked not only the Ming court, but also the breaking army here when the news reached Sichuan at the end of September. After Li Zicheng defeated the imperial court to suppress the bandit army, he pursued the Sichuan army all the way, attacked the border of Chongqing through the northern part of Huguang, broke the stone pillar soldiers, beheaded Xiong Mingyang and other Sichuan army generals, and broke Chongqing and Hezhou in succession. It's just that winter is approaching, and the breaking army was blocked in front of the new defense line of the Ming army, and it was unable to attack Chengdu smoothly for a while.

"King, Sichuan is rugged, not a place for big soldiers, let's return to Henan." Niu Jinxing once again proposed to Li Zicheng that the main force should return to Luoyang in the east, and only the troops would continue to attack Sichuan.

At this time, there was no other person in the account, and Li Zicheng asked bluntly: "Are you still not worried about Xu Ping?" ”

"Yes, the king, Xu Ping will not lose his land, there are already two prefectures and dozens of counties, if the king stays in Sichuan, I am afraid that the lord is weak and the minister is strong."

Li Zicheng shook his head: "I don't think Xu Ping is a scheming person. ”

"I didn't say that he was treacherous, but if the lord is weak and the minister is strong, the harm to Brother Xu is the greatest." When Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo defected to Li Zicheng, Niu Jinxing felt that Xiying's power was too great. If Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo only had a thousand people under them, it would be perfect, and Niu Jinxing would immediately suggest that Li Zicheng entrust them with important tasks; But Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo brought tens of thousands of people in one go, including more than 5,000 elite soldiers, which is almost equivalent to Li Zicheng's strength, and this situation can't help but Niu Jinxing is not worried.

At present, the biggest trouble within the Chuang army is Luo Rucai. Since Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai joined forces, all the seizures, Chuang Camp and Cao Camp are all 73 open, it seems that Li Zicheng's income is more than twice as high as Luo Rucai, but Li Zicheng, as the leader, needs to take care of the whole army. For example, this time to recruit Xu Ping and absorb Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang, the resources they need will come from Li Zicheng's seventy percent. The expenses of adopting orphans and distributing farm tools were also borne by Li Zicheng independently. Niu Jinxing had tentatively proposed to ask Luo Rucai to share a part before, but it caused the other party's indignation: If it weren't for my help, would King Chuang be where he is today?

If Xiying is allowed to stay by Li Zicheng's side, then with the strength of Xiying and Sun and Li's desire to perform, their contribution to the camp will not be less than 20%, and if Li Zicheng does not want to cause dissatisfaction, he will naturally share 20% of the results of Xiying. With the passage of time, Xiying's two-percent share in the Chuang army will be fixed and become a new Luo Rucai. Niu Jinxing categorically did not want Xiying to become the second Cao Ying, and then divide Li Zicheng's resources.

Out of this concern, Niu Jinxing persuaded Li Zicheng to send Xiying to Xu Ping's men. He had hoped that these miscellaneous armies would be weakened against the officers and soldiers of Kaifeng Prefecture, so that Li Zicheng could safely and boldly bring them under his command; Even if things don't work out, Xu Ping will share most of the results, and the weight of Xiying in the army will naturally be greatly reduced.

But to Niu Jinxing's surprise, the partial division of Xiying, under the command of Xu Ping, achieved greater results than the main force of the breaking army. In the past six months, Xu Ping's strength has swelled dramatically, catching up with the sum of Chuang Ying and Cao Ying. The strength of the Xiying has also risen with the tide, and its proportion in the army has not decreased, but has increased.

"The king," Niu Jinxing persuaded again, "we should defend the land without losing it, and you agreed to this, but the king has never seriously considered sending a magistrate......

"Okay, okay," Li Zicheng became a little impatient, and he interrupted Niu Jinxing's words: "But there are no literati, who will be a magistrate?" ”

"Brother Xu didn't have any literati there, but they established our government." Niu Jinxing hurriedly used Kaifeng Mansion as an example, and he also argued: "In fact, many literati are waiting, and they are unwilling to take refuge in the king, because they think that the king's defense of the land is an empty word." If the king had left troops to garrison the place, I think there would be many literati who would be willing to come out and serve the king. ”

Li Zicheng was not very interested in establishing a base area, and Niu Jinxing's words almost grinded Li Zicheng's ears out of the cocoon: "Brother Niu, it's not that I don't want to stay in the garrison, but you also know that we don't have much money, and if we are stationed everywhere, it will cost too much money, and I don't have it at all." ”

Except for large cities like Luoyang, Li Zicheng rarely left troops in the local area. It was this time when he entered Sichuan through Huguang, and the prefectures and counties he conquered along the way were also abandoned by him. Zuo Liangyu has been following behind the invading army, and after the invading army leaves, he will go to recover these states and counties, and then report the victories to the imperial court one by one.

"Then how can Xu Ping stay behind?" Niu Jinxing didn't know Sun Kewang's policy, but he thought that Xu Ping's gains from the local government must have exceeded the cost of garrisoning, otherwise the invading army in Kaifeng Mansion would definitely not be able to swell so fast: "Brother Xu is definitely not doing a money-losing business." ”

"I said that grain was not allowed," Li Zicheng's brows furrowed, "Are they disobeying my orders?" ”

"I didn't say that, I think Brother Xu and Brother Sun will not disobey the king's orders." The army has always relied on plundering the assets of the eunuchs to maintain military expenses, but Niu Jinxing knows that these alone are definitely not enough: "That's why the king should go to Brother Xu to have a look." ”

October 5, on the outskirts of the Beijing Division, the General Staff of the New Army.

"General Pu, I know what you mean, but this matter can't be rushed."

The general of the new army standing in front of Jin Qiude is named Pu Guanshui, he is Jia Minghe's righteous brother, since he heard that the righteous brother was surrounded in Kaifeng, he ran to Jin Qiude every day, and strongly advocated that a large army be dispatched immediately to relieve Kaifeng.

After hearing Jin Qiude's words, Pu Guanshui's big red face became even redder, and he shouted angrily: "Kaifeng's grain and grass can only last until the end of the first month, Lord Jin must send troops after the beginning of spring, do you want to watch General Jia and his brothers starve to death?" ”

"If you save some food and collect some surplus grain from the rich households in the city, the grain and grass in Kaifeng will be absolutely no problem until the end of February." Jin Qiude didn't know what the situation was in Kaifeng City, Xu Ping once again cut off all the lines of communication, and now the court was also panicking. According to Governor Gao Mingheng's letter, there were already hundreds of thousands of people in the city before Kaifeng Mansion was surrounded. Hearing that the army was coming, the scholars in Henan fled into Kaifeng with their families, and the grain transported into the city by the Jia Ming River could only make Kaifeng Mansion last for a few more months. Many of these people are relatives of Henan officials in the DPRK and China, and there are countless people who have ties with the DPRK and China officials and have friendship with teachers and students.

Before Jia Minghe set out, the officials of the imperial court were all cheering, and whenever they met those who had relatives and friends in Kaifeng, or inquired about the news, or begged the imperial court to send troops, the officials always confidently declared that Kaifeng would be relieved of the siege in the near future. Their actions annoyed Kim Kyu-tak greatly, because in order to reassure those who were anxious, these officials took the trouble to tell them about the sheer scale of the New Army's troops, and they did not hesitate to publicize the details of the court discussions, so that there were no secrets about the strength of the New Army, the route of its march, and the date of its arrival. Jin Qiude felt that Xu Ping's ability to accurately block Jia Minghe in Lanyang had a lot to do with these officials. If it weren't for the imperial court's urging so tightly, Jia Minghe would not have divided his troops to fight any damn county.

Since the news of the defeat of the new army reached the DPRK and China, these high-spirited officials suddenly lost their lives one by one, and the threshold of the elders was about to be broken by groups of scholars who went to cry and complain. In the morning of the day before yesterday, before the emperor could speak, several elders knelt down for the Son of Heaven as if they had made an appointment, and wailed in unison: "Holy Lord, save Kaifeng, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties." ”

The hundreds of officials behind them also scrambled to be the first, and suddenly there was a cry in the morning. The emotional military department Shangshu was crying and rolling on the ground, and an old man from Henan even tore off his beard. As a result, the court agreement of the day was decided, and the new army of the Beijing division was instructed to immediately go south and relieve the siege of Kaifeng again.

……

"Two gentlemen, please be seated."

The other people, including the guards at the door, were still informed of Gu Yanwu and Xia Wanchun's bandits, but Xu Ping knew their real names. Sun Kewang sent these two people to Xu Ping, because the former estimated that if he came forward to entertain them, these two people, even if they were real talents, could only be killed if they were not available.

Originally, Xu Ping admired Xia Wanchun more and had never heard of Gu Yanwu's name, but after talking for a while, his interest gradually shifted to the latter. Since Li Zicheng raised his troops, only Niu Jinxing has been involved, and the two Confucian students in front of him gave Xu Ping the impression that his insight into Confucianism far surpassed that of Niu Juren, and he was of course very surprised by this.

Seeing that Xu Ping was flattered, Gu Yanwu pointed out that Xia Wanchun had already decided not to take the imperial examination, as for Gu Yanwu himself: "The harm of the eight shares is equivalent to burning books, and corrupting talents is better than the suburbs of Xianyang." ”

Having said that, Xu Ping was still a little surprised that the other party was very good at helping the thief, Gu Yanwu said again: "A person in silk wears a stick every day to beat a group of people in cloth clothes, take away their rations, and kill their children, if one day this group of people in cloth clothes can't bear to stand up and beat this person in silk to the ground, I don't think they are wrong." ”

Xu Ping thanked him: "Mr. Gu is fair. ”

"Sometimes, however, when these clothed men had taken the sticks from the hands of the scoundrels, they began to beat the other men in silk, and when they saw them dressed the same, they hated these unrelated people, and even killed them and cooked them to eat to vent their anger."

Xu Ping's face changed slightly: "Is Mr. Gu talking about Huang Chao?" ”

"There is a man in silk and satin, because his family is wealthy, he is willing to give charity, and he often gives to the people in cloth, and among these people in cloth clothes who stand up to resist the murderers, there are still people who have received his favor," Gu Yanwu asked: "If General Xu happens to be the leader of this group of cloth clothes, will he also defeat this good man?" ”

"Of course not." Xu Ping said loudly.

"If General Xu didn't pay attention, and one of General Xu's subordinates rushed over and knocked down this good man, would General Xu stop it? If this subordinate of General Xu beats a good man to death, will General Xu punish him? ”

"Of course." Xu Ping replied almost without thinking.

"Suppose, then, that this man in silk has not done any good deeds, but has not beaten General Xu's men, and he has a lot of food, and General Xu's men are hungry; He had a lot of clothes, and General Xu's men were cold; There was a man who was a good friend of General Xu, and even saved General Xu's life, he killed the innocent man and divided his family wealth. So will General Xu punish your benefactor, avenge a stranger, and protect his bereaved family? Gu Yanwu asked: "General Xu, don't be in a hurry to answer, please General Xu must really envision himself in this position, think about it seriously, and then answer this question." ”

Xu Ping was silent for a long time and still didn't answer, and Gu Yanwu asked again: "General Xu, will you tear up the innocent?" ”

"Mr. Gu, this question stumped me......"

"That's good," Gu Yanwu said quickly: "Then let me change the question, if General Xu is not the leader of this group of cloth clothes, and the leader is someone else, when General Xu and his brothers finally knocked down the villain who was armed with a stick, the leader pointed to a man next to him who was also wearing silk and shouted: 'Brothers, he is also one of our enemies', and General Xu knows that he is actually an innocent person, then General Xu will stop the leader and persuade the brothers to let this innocent person go?" ”

"Of course." Xu Ping was once again able to answer Gu Yanwu fluently.

"When General Xu stopped between this innocent man and his brothers, and saw the suspicious eyes of the brothers who had lived and died together in the past, the former life-saving benefactor asked General Xu bitterly: 'Why did you betray your brothers?' , while the chief shoved a knife into General Xu's hand and said; 'You go and cut the first one, so that we will still be brothers.' ’。 Standing in front of General Xu are all brothers who have lived and died together, and the person behind General Xu is just an innocent person who has never known each other. Gu Yanwu asked, "What will General Xu do?" ”

After not hearing Xu Ping's answer for a long time, Gu Yanwu asked again: "Will General Xu go and cut the first knife?" ”

"I want to ......" Xu Ping recalled the past in Shandong just now, and he shook his head lightly: "I don't think I will make mistakes again and again, I won't do it." ”

Gu Yanwu stared at Xu Ping's face for a while, and sighed: "It's easier said than done, what General Xu said is really light." Although I don't know how General Xu will act before the stormy waves in the future, the trace of dogs in General Xu's heart today is the reason why the two of us came to Henan. ”

"Mr. Gu Gaoyi," Xu Ping let out a long breath, feeling sweat oozing from his forehead: "I have never seen a scholar comment on thieves like this." ”

"General Xu has won the award, we are the protégés of the saints, not the followers of the Legalists who are willing to be the minions of the lone husband," Gu Yanwu waved his hand: "We scholars live a good life, and we can go boating in the rivers and lakes without working in ordinary times, while farmers are not idle all year round, and we don't know a word in our lives." The articles written by our scholars can be passed down to future generations, even if it is only about the wind and snow, and the peasants can only leave blood and sweat, that is, when they are forced to rise up, most of what they leave behind is just a shout. But they are illiterate, they can't write, they don't understand righteousness, and they are our brothers and not wild beasts. It is a catastrophe such as the Yellow Nest Rebellion, and what I want to know is: what kind of evil deeds have turned our cowardly brothers into cannibals. ”

After understanding that these two people were not dreaming of white-clothed prime ministers to join the camp, Xu Ping asked, "What do the two of you want to do in Henan?" ”

"General Xu, do you know how to draw?" Xia Wanchun, who had been listening, suddenly asked.

Xu Ping shook his head again and again: "I don't know anything about it." ”

"Oh, let's cut a long story short." Xia Wanchun also began to tell the story: "There is a painter who is good at making fish and shrimp, and the shrimp under his pen must be made of eight strokes, which is very smart and graceful, and the viewers love it, and the teacher is unsurpassed, as the so-called teacher does not have to be good at the disciple, and the disciple does not have to be inferior to the teacher." After becoming famous, he left his master to open a sect and teach his disciples, although his disciples were numerous, but when painting shrimp, both virtuous and foolish, they were made with eight strokes. A few years later, a young man came out of the house, and he made a shrimp with nine strokes, which had a different taste, and he could find the elders of the same family who were angry: Nine strokes into a shrimp, which can be described as a shrimp? If General Xu is this famous master, if he loves the talent of this younger generation, will he dissolve the sect and expel the disciples? ”

Xu Ping asked rhetorically: "Is Mr. Xia relieved?" ”

Xia Wanchun didn't answer, but just smiled and asked again: "Will General Xu disband the sect that he has worked so hard to establish and dismiss the disciples to recover that young man?" ”

Xu Ping replied coldly: "No." ”

"Good!" Xia Wanchun clapped his hands and smiled: "After this young man left the master, he worked hard, so that the youth was better than the blue, and the master was complacent and exhausted, and finally one day this young man became a generation of grandmasters, and the momentum was even higher than that of the master, which can be described as raising eyebrows." But at this time, the next new disciple of the sect is quite talented, and he turned ten strokes into a shrimp, and the disciples attacked it in groups: ten strokes into a shrimp, can it be described as a shrimp? Expelled him from the division to defend the Taoist system. Dare to ask General Xu if he is the new sect master, recalling the past, will he dissociate the sect and dismiss the disciples in order to chase the rookie's heart? ”

Xu Ping was speechless again.

"It is difficult to return, and the cycle of chaos is not unique to one country, this is the intention of us to come here to General Xu in Henan." Xia Wanchun and Gu Yanwu are both Donglin people, and Donglin's ups and downs have touched them very deeply: "I had a relationship with Huang Hou in my later life, and I also stayed in Beijing for a while. Today's General Xu in Henan is like Huang Hou in Changsheng Island in the past, suffering from internal and external troubles and hardships step by step, so he can work together and forge ahead. However, no one can escape from the cycle of chaos. If General Xu can go further in the future, I guess the problems that Huang Hou encountered today will be indispensable. ”

Xu Ping raised his hand and saluted: "I am grateful that Mr. Xia has taught me." ”

"I can't teach General Xu, because I don't know how to get rid of the cycle of chaos, that's why the third volume of my book can't be written," but Xia Wanchun firmly believed that this could be avoided, and he agreed with Gu Yanwu not only to be incognito now, but also to retire in the future without greedy for wealth and nobility: "This is why we came to Henan, we hope to find a way out of the cycle of chaos, this road has been looking for thousands of years by our saint protégés." If we can't find it, General Xu's army, the foundation of Li Zicheng, will not be able to escape the cycle of chaos, and one day it will turn into ashes. ”

Xu Ping stood up: "The two of them are ashamed of themselves. ”

Gu Yanwu said: "General Xu doesn't have to be like this. It is our duty to save the world and open up the peace and harmony, and it is not your warrior's business, General Xu, as long as you do your duty as a warrior, it will be very good. ”

"I dare to ask Mr. Gu for advice."

"Because the famous religion of the sage preaches that the people are noble and the monarch is light, the son of heaven is a lord, and the disciples and protégés explore the way to save the people in the world, so they want to drive the only husband who is like a flock of sheep to pit our fellow disciples, to burn our books, to confuse the famous religion with the bones of Confucianism, and to use the method of eight strands to imprison the famous religion." Gu Yanwu said: "Please General Xu hold the sword in his hand, today, protect Lishu in Henan and defend the new policy of Guide; On the other day, if Li Zicheng can go further, please ask General Xu to defend the common people in the world and defend the famous religion of saints. ”

Xu Ping clasped his hands into fists and bowed to Gu Yanwu and fell to the ground: "I respectfully accept the order." ”

Author's note: The enlightenment thought of the late Ming Dynasty has appeared, which is based on the long-term development of Confucianism, such as Mr. Gu Yanwu's: The rise and fall of a country has its own monarchs and ministers, and meat eaters seek it. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the sages had been able to begin to distinguish between the nation, the people, the state, and the emperor and the imperial court.

The author thinks that although the Mengyuan period demoted Confucianism to the ninth class, but unlike the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the destruction of ideas by the Zhongyuan generation was not complete, and the poems are often seen in the bloody shame and Yidi, and the reaction of the rulers of the Mengyuan Dynasty to this is also very different from that of the Manchu Qing, saying that this kind of expression of hatred for the death of the country "is not allowed in the dignified Celestial Empire?" ”。

The author thinks that after the tempering of the Yuan Dynasty and the humiliation of the country, coupled with the 300 years of the Ming Dynasty's excellent cultivation style, if history takes a little longer, the ideological enlightenment of Confucianism will develop greatly, which is not a foreign product from the West, but our own ideas and our enlightenment.

Of course, history has no ifs, but the overhead is asking "ifs...... Then", the author thinks that under the stimulus of the traveler's idea of imported goods (which are imported from both the times and cultures), the Enlightenment led by Confucianism will definitely sweep China. The Enlightenment written in this book probably does not meet your assumptions, because this is just the author's fantasy deduction - history did not give Mr. Gu Yanwu this opportunity, so the author is at a loss as to what she should be. This is the Confucian Enlightenment in my imagination, and I try my best to portray her intoxicating beauty, but only within my ability...... But she must be very beautiful, and if the reader has any flaws, it must not be that she does not have them, but that the author forgot to write them, or wrote them incorrectly.

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