Before returning to his hometown, Li Zicheng was a post guard at the post station. In the third year of Chongzhen, the imperial court abolished the post station, and Li Zicheng, who was a post officer at the time, lost his livelihood. This Xu Ping already knew, but what Li Zicheng wanted to talk about was his work at the post station.

Seeing that Li Zicheng hadn't spoken for a long time, Xu Ping estimated that King Chuang must have a past that was difficult to look back on, so he didn't get impatient or ask questions, but waited patiently. Xu Ping saw Li Zicheng open his mouth several times, but he didn't make a sound, but his arm was shaking uncontrollably. The moonlight shone on Li Zicheng's face, Xu Ping saw a complicated expression, and King Chuang's single eye was also full of unspeakable pain.

"Before the abolition of the post station, I had heard of Lord Liu's recital." Li Zicheng finally made up his mind to start telling his story: "After I became literate, I found it and read it carefully, and the trilateral post government costs 680,000 taels of silver every year, and Lord Liu said that eighty percent of it is used by officials to do their own private affairs, and less than 20 percent is used for official business." ”

may be because he didn't talk about the sad past, so Li Zicheng's tone seemed fluent and free, and he didn't stumble as Xu Ping expected, he told Xu Ping about Liu Mao's reform: "Actually, what Lord Liu said is still too polite, where is there two percent of official business?" I didn't do any official business at all, at least that's the way I was at the inn. Mine, as well as a few post stations around, should have 800 post guards according to the book, and the sum of a year's salary and horse grass silver is more than 10,000 taels, but in fact there are only 50 post guards, and the money for a year is only 500 taels. There were no official documents delivered on weekdays, and they were all for officials to eat and drink. ”

Speaking of this, Li Zicheng paused, and Xu Ping couldn't help but ask, "How can you afford five hundred taels?" ”

"Of course we can't afford it, and besides, if we use it to supply officials, how can we fill our own stomachs?" Li Zicheng's arms began to tremble again, and after a long silence, Li Zicheng continued, his voice becoming so low that he had to prick up his ears to hear clearly: "We can only go to the houses of the people around the post station to get it." ”

There was silence between the three of them, and only the sound of Li Zicheng's breathing getting heavier and heavier could be heard, and the sound of him struggling to swallow saliva.

"Stagecoach horses have long been gone, we can't afford to raise horses, if there are officials who want to change horses, we can only go to get the people's horses, and if we get them back, we will be whipped." Li Zicheng's head hung to the ground: "Brother Xu, you must not have heard of these things about me, and I have almost never told anyone about these things...... Next to the inn lived a family of widows with two young children. She had no men in her family, and only kept two horses, which she rented to a farmer's family. Normally, our brother at the inn would never touch her horse...... It's just that...... Just ......"

Li Zicheng wanted to say that it was a retired Shangshu who crossed the border, not to mention Shangshu himself, that is, the accompanying magistrates were all big people who could not afford to offend the post guards; Li Zicheng also wanted to say that because of the pomp and circumstance of Lord Shangshu, as soon as the surrounding people got the news, they fled in time with their livestock; Li Zicheng wanted to defend himself even more, it was not his idea to lead the horse, and even Li Zicheng tried his best to intercede with his colleagues on behalf of the widow.

But in the end, Li Zicheng couldn't say a word, because several post guards finally took the widow's horse away, and Li Zicheng himself stubbornly ignored the woman's heart-rending cry: "That woman cried so miserably, I still seem to remember her cry today." Li Zicheng only felt his heart tighten for a while, that day the widow dragged a companion's leg and did not let them go, I didn't expect that the thin woman would have so much strength, the companion couldn't struggle for a long time, a fellow post man whipped the woman's head with a whip, only beat the widow to the point of blood, but she still refused to let go: "We finally knocked her unconscious, and then took away her two horses." ”

Listening to Li Zicheng's story, Xu Ping couldn't help but recall his past in Shandong—the village he was ordered to break, the women and children who were taken away choked and refused to leave the bodies of their dead husbands and fathers, and the soldiers had to drag them away from their relatives one by one. At first, the soldiers of the Forces nouvelles were a little unable to do anything, but after a moment of tearing, the soldiers of the Forces nouvelles became angry at the resistance they received and began to beat the civilians with weapons to force them to obey.

"The two sick horses that were given to the widow died within two days." Li Zicheng's speech became slower and slower, and he continued the story with difficulty: "The widow borrowed rice from the neighbors with her injuries, but the people around her were very poor, and she couldn't get by. So he bought his daughter and exchanged it for a foal to raise. When raising the pony, the widow ran to the post where Li Zicheng was, wanting to ask for some forage to go back, and the Ming army in the post station was also a little sorry for the woman who was covered in bruises, so he helped her cut some forage, and Li Zicheng also sent it to her family several times: "But unfortunately, the foal also died." ”

Although this is a tragedy that I don't know how many tragedies will happen every day under the Ming Dynasty, every time I hear this kind of story, Xu Ping still feels unbearable.

"She sold herself, too, and like her daughter, followed the passing caravan, and gave the money from the sale to her son's brother-in-law." The widow made a new dress for her son and sent it to his aunt's house, after the woman left, Li Zicheng often saw the child crying outside, and his uncle treated him badly. But when the post station was cut off, the court still asked the people for this silver, and in the next year, there was a great drought in Shaanxi, and the court still did not even give 100,000 taels of silver. ”

Yang He, who offered relief to the victims to avoid unrest, failed because the imperial court refused to give him 100,000 taels of relief silver, and Shaanxi's taxes continued to be collected. The desperate victims and the people who resisted grain and taxes converged, and the war raged in the Shanxi area, and the imperial court, which was unwilling to pay 100,000 taels of silver for disaster relief and was unwilling to tax exemption, decided to send troops to suppress it from the Lian Yu, which levy an additional 2 million taels of silver.

Lord Liu, who tried to cut off people's financial routes, was scolded to the fullest, and soon lost his official position and died in a foreign land. He offended so many people that the magistrate did not mourn him. Everyone was afraid of the government, and no one even dared to carry his coffin, even if it was a passing merchant, no one dared to take care of the aftermath for Lord Liu, and no one dared to transport his remains back to his hometown, leaving Lord Liu's coffin exposed to the side of the road, exposed to the sun and rain. Li Zicheng's words were full of emotion: "But I still clearly remember the day when the post station was laid off, the people around rushed to tell each other, and there were firecrackers everywhere for dozens of miles, and it was set off for three days in a row, which was more festive than the New Year." ”

"The king, the king of the Ming court is treacherous, and when the king of the other day is successful, he should be able to give Lord Liu a proper conclusion." Unconsciously, Xu Ping also used honorific titles for Liu Mao.

"There is no way to make a living, and the people are not happy, I Li just wanted to take my brothers to find a way to live at first, but today, if there is still no dissent in my heart, it is of course a deception." Li Zicheng smiled lonely: "It's just that if I am defeated, then the literati's Lord Liu will be a traitor who will cause trouble in the world; If I succeed, then the literati will call what Master Liu did 'the precursor to the king'. In any case, I can't speak for Lord Liu, and every time I praise him, it can only make his crime more serious. As for the sound of firecrackers among the people, they will never be written in the history books. ”

"Because they're scolding themselves when they write it down." Xu Ping turned to Qingzhi: "It seems that there is only a master to count on, among the three of us, only you have the opportunity to write down King Chuang's words today, and maybe it can be passed on as a wild history." ”

"Poor Dao is not a literati, and the words he writes are not even wild history." Qingzhi shook his head and said: "God has the virtue of a good life, and what Liu Jushi asks for will not be passed down in history, right?" ”

Xu Ping nodded: "That's a good thing, Lord Liu still wants to relieve his worries for the faint king, and the faint monarch also rewarded him with dismissal and violent coffin." ”

When he heard Xu Ping talk about the child's story just now, Li Zicheng was also moved, so he stood there and listened. Now that he has finished telling the hidden story in his heart, Li Zichang let out a breath of air: "I came here tonight, I wanted to talk to you about the governance of Kaifeng Mansion, but I inadvertently confided in a matter of my heart, and I was much more relaxed." ”

"The king's meaning is very clear."

"I'm just afraid that my brothers will misunderstand me, and my volunteer is to let the people have enough food and clothing." Li Zicheng hoped that Xu Ping could understand him and untie the knot between the two: "After so many years of fighting, countless people have died in the hands of my Li Zicheng. In the past, when we were chased by officers and soldiers, Brother Liu and I cursed and swore revenge, but after the first defeat of the officers and soldiers, we first had a burst of ecstasy. But after relieving my anger and seeing the corpses all over the place, I couldn't help but think that we asked for a way to live, but we killed so many lives, I don't know how many people still have parents, wives and children waiting for them to feed, that day, Brother Liu and I got drunk, and after every big victory in the future, we will be drunk like mud, so kill, kill, kill, kill, and kill, I don't know when it will be the end. ”

Xu Ping nodded slightly, he also had the same feeling, so Xu Ping resolutely refused to kill the prisoner, only in this way could he make himself feel more comfortable.

"I heard that Brother Xu doesn't kill prisoners, I guess Brother Xu and I have the same heart, and the way I use to comfort myself is not to levy food, only if the people on my territory can have something to eat, I won't have nightmares after killing people." Li Zicheng said: "If we fight with the officers and soldiers, we will kill many people, and if we don't fight with the officers and soldiers, there will still be many people who will die, we are traitors, what we do is not right, what we do is wrong." I always thought that if I let the people have a good life, then my sins would be less. There are two paths in front of me, both of which are the wrong paths, and I am at least the one that is not too wrong. ”

"The last general and General Sun did those things, it was really helpless. Since the king wants to pacify the people, then we must have the force of the people......"

Without waiting for Xu Ping to finish speaking, Li Zicheng nodded again and again: "Brother Xu is right, I am a little confused for a while, and it is not too late for us to remove these decrees when the Ming army is driven away." ”

"The king's concerns are right," although Li Zicheng admitted his mistake, Xu Ping did not accept it: "I often ask myself, where is my bottom line?" In order to gain the strength to be able to stand up to the officers and soldiers and the new army, how far can I do to the people of Henan? If I could do everything, then there would be no difference between me and the government, and I would have no reason to comfort myself and my subordinates. ”

"Where is Brother Xu's bottom line?"

"Whether they are scholars or not, as long as they have never sat in the hall of the government and harmed the people, I will treat them equally." Xu Ping has basically suspended the cautious raid on his home, and now the recovery of stolen goods in Kaifeng Mansion and Guide Mansion is limited to the group of people who have served as officials: "For these innocent people, my bottom line is to never harm their lives, as long as I have a mouthful of food to eat, I will not watch anyone starve to death, as long as I still have clothes to wear, I will not watch any of them freeze to death." ”

"That's a good idea." Li Zicheng praised: "As long as Brother Xu and Brother Sun promise that they will never push the people to a dead end like the government, I don't care what you do." ”

"King, we swear by high-fives."

Xu Ping and Li Zicheng slapped three times in a row, and the system of the New Deal for Guide to Germany has thus been unanimously approved by the camp.

……

The next day, Xu Ping told Li Zicheng again about the fact that the imperial court had sent a new army to Henan. Pu Guanshui's military operations have been made public, and there is no secret to the breaking army. The three battalions of the new army are expected to have 12,000 officers and soldiers, and there are hundreds of thousands of stone grain and grass accompanying these new troops.

The scale of the new army this time was quite huge, and Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing attached great importance to it, and Xu Ping commented: "The new army was prepared very hastily, and many officers and men were temporarily transferred from other battalions. What's more, they went on a massive offensive in the winter, which, whatever their justification, was a grave mistake militarily. ”

Niu Jinxing smiled: "It sounds like Brother Xu is already confident. ”

"I dare not say that we are completely sure, 12,000 new troops are still far more powerful than ours." Xu Ping spoke in a relaxed tone, with a faint smile on his face: "If it is spring or summer, so many new troops will pose a very big threat to us, but the winter weather is enough to offset their superiority in strength, and since the king has returned to Henan, there will be no problem." Now I'm thinking about how to hit this new army hard. ”

Both Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing agreed to move some of the troops to Kaifeng, but they still had to leave a considerable amount of troops to continue to monitor the Qin army. Wang Qiaonian, the newly appointed governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, was collecting troops on a large scale and preparing to attack Li Zicheng again out of Tongguan. In the past, whether the Qin army went to Liao to aid Jinzhou, or the last time it entered Henan to attack Luoyang, the Qin army kept a considerable reserve force in Shaanxi, and most of the troops commanded by Hong Chengchou and Fu Zonglong in the past were recruited and trained by them. But this time, in order to organize troops, Wang Qiaonian even did not hesitate to transfer generals stationed in various towns and borders. The size of the Qin army's mobilization is expected to exceed 50,000 this time, most of whom will be veterans rather than new troops formed by recruiting displaced people. Of course, such a comprehensive mobilization is more troublesome, and climatic reasons have also exacerbated the time required for the towns to assemble and change their defenses, so the Chuang army estimates that it is unlikely that the Qin army will leave Tongguan earlier than February next year.

On 22 October, Li Zicheng, accompanied by Xu Ping and Li Dingguo, personally watched the city defense of Kaifeng. Five miles south of the city is the fortress that was rushed up by the Jiaming River, and now the Shanlan camp is holding on to this fortress. The existence of this fortress undermined the integrity of the encirclement of the invading army and seriously interfered with the movement of the invading army. However, Xu Ping and Li Dingguo racked their brains and did not come up with a way to break through this fortress.

"They had a lot of artillery, and the new army was constantly reinforcing the fortress to make it stronger and stronger, and it was impossible to take it by force." Although Li Dingguo was difficult to accept, he finally had to admit that he had nothing to do about this fortress. Li Dingguo said: "The connection between the fortress and Kaifeng is also difficult to sever, General Jia has been in the army for many years, and the experience of sticking to the camp seems to be very rich, I think it is impossible for us to capture it before Kaifeng runs out of food." ”

"The last general wants to ask the king to personally surround Kaifeng." Xu Ping planned to transfer Li Dingguo's battalion to the eastern front to deal with the third battalion of Puguanshui, Li Dingguo's battalion was called Xishou Battalion, Xu Ping commented that the name was not very good, but Li Dingguo disagreed, and felt that the name of Xishou Battalion was enough to show that this was the first battalion in the western camp to achieve the new standard, and it was also the first battalion. Sun Kewang is going to take the numbers of the two battalions, which are called: Xifeng Battalion and Xirui Battalion. These two battalions can hope to claim that they will find a way to solve the ordnance problem on their own, and they do not need Xu Ping to allocate resources. After breaking up with Li Zicheng yesterday, Sun Kewang left early in the morning, announcing that he would return to Guide Mansion to deal with government and military affairs.

Li Guo's troops are still far from completing the rectification, and they also have the task of monitoring the Chu army, since the Guards Battalion and the Xishou Battalion are transferred to resist the new army, then another elite force is needed to monitor the Shanlan Battalion, so Xu Ping hopes that Li Zicheng will take his personal leader to monitor Kaifeng.

Although the 10,000 troops led by Li Zicheng were not as well equipped as the guards and the two battalions in the west, they were enough to maintain the blockade of Kaifeng with other troops.

Such a deployment is naturally Xu Ping and Li Dingguo singing the leading roles, and putting Li Zicheng's personal leader in the supporting role. Niu Jinxing seemed to want to say something, but Li Zicheng agreed before he objected, and Xu Ping's words fell Li Zicheng immediately nodded and said: "It's very in line with my ideas, so let's do it." ”

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