Nanjing, Forbidden City.

Fei Ruhe handed a letter to Zhao Han: "Your Majesty, this is sent by Li Zicheng." covered the mud and said that only His Majesty would see it. ”

Zhao Han cut the sealing mud with a knife, read the letter, and couldn't help but smile.

This letter was obviously written by Li Zicheng himself, and the choice of words and sentences was very colloquial.

"His Majesty the Emperor personally enlightened, I, Li Zicheng, have been fighting for half my life, and in the past few years, old injuries have often flared up, and I can't walk in pain. My nephew Li Guo also died of illness, and my own son survived and will turn five years old this year......"

"The land in the Hetao was originally excellent. It's just that the weather is getting colder and colder, and the grain harvest is not as much as before. There are Mongol Tatars everywhere, and after subduing a few, they are going to rebel again. I led the troops to kill several times, and there was not a single Mongolian leader left in the Hetao. According to the words of the military advisor, he learned from the Manchurian Tartars, made flags for the herdsmen under his rule, and chose the prestige herdsmen as the flag owners, and finally gave birth to a lot of peace......"

"Now, Hetao is my territory, and those Khalkha Tatars in Mobei don't dare to go south from Yinshan to grab things. How could it be that the Han people still didn't have enough Dingkou, and they had beaten Jining several times, and it was easy to fight and take advantage of the trouble. My territory can't be bigger, and if it's big, it's going to make trouble......"

"I originally planned to go to Mobei and lead the troops out of Yinshan for more than 20 miles, so I returned to Hetao in a gloomy manner. There is the Gobi Desert everywhere, so poor that the birds don't poop and the crops can't grow. If you want to fight the Mongol Tartars in Mobei, you must prepare enough food and grass, otherwise you will definitely starve to death halfway. I was trapped in the Hetao, with the Gobi to the north and the desert to the west. ”

"You can only fight to the east, hit once, throw once. The soldiers fought less and less, and the livestock fought more and more. There are not enough Han people, so I can only let Mongolian herdsmen serve as soldiers, and if this continues, I will soon become a Mongolian Great Khan. I am very rich now, and there are too many war horses to use up, if the emperor does not have enough war horses, even if he sends someone to Hetao to buy horses......"

"I don't know how many years I can live, my son is still young, and when I die, I'm afraid I won't be able to suppress those old brothers, and orphans and widows will have a very hard time. I can't kill all my brothers, first, I won't be so ruthless, and second, I'm going to be in chaos in the Hetao......"

"I'm really asking for surrender this time, I don't want anything, just a word from the emperor. Allow me to go back to my hometown in Shaanxi to settle down and share some land and do family business. The goods and grain I have saved, the emperor, you can take them. The troops under my command, as well as this Hetao territory, you can take it with you, the emperor. Leave me some heirloom money, and I can become a rich man when I return to my hometown. ”

"My son is smart, the emperor wants to allow him to study, and allow him to be an official in the imperial examination......"

After reading this letter, Zhao Han couldn't help but sigh: "Li Zicheng is really old, otherwise he won't admit defeat easily, he shouldn't be able to ride a horse soon." Look at this letter, too. ”

Fei Ruhe took the letter, read it and said: "Li Zicheng can't be left in Shaanxi, he must be kept in captivity in the capital with his whole family." ”

"No need," Zhao Han shook his head and said, "He can hand over the territory and the army, which is enough sincerity." I don't even dare to let him go back to his hometown, and I have to keep his whole family in captivity, wouldn't the dignified son of heaven look small-bellied? ”

Fei Ruhe scratched his head and smiled: "Hehe, that's right." ”

Zhao Han said: "Li Zicheng once resisted stubbornly and caused many killings, and it stands to reason that at most, like Zhang Xianzhong, he was thrown to Taiwan to deal with Shengfan. However, Li Zicheng laid down the entire Hetao and took the initiative to donate land and troops, which had the merit of opening up the territory and expanding the territory. He wants to take his wife and children back to his hometown, and these can be agreed. The title should also be given, and the marquis is forgotten, and many generals in the Datong army are not convinced. Give Li Zicheng a earl, and give him a knight in the name of his hometown. ”

Fei Ruhe said: "This old thing is a good fate, he has rebelled for so many years, and in the end he can still get an earl." ”

Zhao Han called the cabinet members and showed them Li Zicheng's handwritten letter.

The ministers are all happy, and they all praise it, and the soldiers take the Hetao without blood, who is not happy about this kind of great joy?

Zhao Han said: "You can arrange it." Let the Ministry of Rites engrave the earl's seal, and then select envoys from Honglu Temple, and go to Hetao to handle this matter well. The generals under Li Zicheng's command also want to be appeased, and those who are willing to return to their hometowns to live in peace will be allowed to relieve them of their military rights and return to their hometowns. Then he ordered the military department and the governor's mansion to let Cao Bianjiao take over Li Zicheng's troops. Li Zicheng's soldiers eliminated the old and weak, leaving only 8,000 people. Cao Bianjiao brought 5,000 soldiers to the past, and the two were merged to form the Fourth Cavalry Division of the Datong Army. This army will be responsible for guarding the Hetao in the future. ”

Li Zicheng and those generals cannot be killed indiscriminately, nor can they stay in the Hetao, they must be thrown back to their hometowns, so that they can really take over and control the army.

After arranging things, the cabinet ministers bowed and retreated, and Zhao Han took Fei Ruhe to the Imperial Garden to meet Fei Rulan and Fei Rumei.

……

Naturalization City (Hohhot).

The Tumo River, which meanders and flows outside the city, was also known as the Eile River in ancient times.

Eilechuan, under the Yin Mountain. The sky is like a dome, covering the four wildernesses. The sky is blue, the wilderness is vast, the wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep.

In the entire Tumochuan Plain, there are few cattle and sheep, and there are many farmlands. The alluvial plain of more than 10,000 square kilometers is extremely fertile, and as early as the Altan Khan period, Han people were recruited to reclaim countless rice fields.

"Drive, drive!"

Li Zicheng rode a horse and galloped on the grassland south of the Dahei River, bending his bow and arrows to accurately hit a wild deer.

"Your Majesty's Divine Marksmanship!"

The accompanying civil and military cheered in unison, and they still obeyed Li Zi to become the emperor of Dashun.

Li Zicheng is only 46 years old this year, and he seems to be in the prime of life, but he is actually an old injury. There are injuries he suffered when he was a rogue, and there are also injuries he suffered when he fought in the grasslands, and he suffers every winter.

In recent years, he has suffered from rheumatism again, and his joints hurt so much that he can't walk.

Every time he was bedridden for several days, he would go out hunting, indicating that he was in good health. But the more this happened, the more weak he became, and he was afraid that those old brothers would have different ambitions.

He doesn't have any relatives now, and his nephew Li Guo has died of illness, so he has his wife and children and a brother-in-law. There are also a few concubines, but there is no family affection at all.

If he dies, will his wife be able to hold it down?

Even if it can be suppressed in peacetime, sooner or later the Datong army will come to attack the Hetao, and how many people will secretly surrender at that time? Or even defect at a critical time!

A few years ago, Li Zicheng still had some ambitions and wanted to carve out a large territory in the grassland.

But the reality is always cruel, and a grain-producing area in Hetao is not enough to support the logistics of his northern attack on the desert. Attacking Jining to the east, although it was always easy to take, it was lost in a blink of an eye. He didn't dare to divide his troops to stay in Jining, he had tried, and was soon besieged by the surrounding tribes.

Li Zicheng took away too few Han people, and ruling the Hetao was already the limit.

If you can't continue to expand, you can only nest in the Hetao, and the days are worn out day by day, and your ambition is also worn out little by little. As his son gets older, he will turn five years old this year, and Li Zicheng began to think about what happened after his death.

Returning to Guihua City with the prey, the royal palace here is relatively shabby, left by Altan Khan.

Niu Jinxing heard that Li Zicheng had returned to the city, and immediately came to meet him.

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "The prime minister came just in time, he hunted some beasts, you take two and go back to cook and eat meat." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Niu Jinxing said in a low voice: "The caravan that went to Jining has returned, and I have heard important news. ”

Li Zicheng said disdainfully: "What's the news? The Mongolian Tartars over there, are they going to unite again? ”

"No," Niu Jinxing said, "the Nanjing Imperial Court is sending people to connect the various ministries, saying that they are asking all the ministries to send troops to the steppe of the Bahrain Department together to fight against the Khalkha Mongols. This Khalkha Mongolia, blocked by us in the Yinshan Pass and unable to go south, has expanded its territory to the southeast for thousands of miles, and it is almost to the Yanshan area. ”

Li Zicheng pondered: "This is indeed a big deal. ”

Niu Jinxing said: "Your Majesty can take the initiative to ask Ying, cooperate with the Datong army to fight, and take the opportunity to make greater achievements." ”

Li Zicheng waved his hand and said, "Don't say this again." For the sake of his wife and children, he is willing to hand over his land and troops. Let the Zhao Emperor in Nanjing fight? E-k is not his general, and I will not bow to him even if I die. ”

Niu Jinxing is not good at persuasion, in fact, he wants to make meritorious service and wants to go to the imperial court in Nanjing to be an official.

Niu Jinxing also has a son, the eldest son is nine years old and was born in Shanxi. He knew that Emperor Zhao had great intentions and was 100% going to fight Hetao, and if he didn't surrender as soon as possible, he would definitely be a prisoner at that time.

Therefore, Niu Jinxing kept pushing Li Zicheng to donate his soil, so as to leave a way back for himself and his children.

Now that he heard about the expansion of Khalkha Mongolia, Niu Jinxing had a mind again, and wanted to use Li Zicheng's troops to cooperate with the imperial army to fight and make meritorious contributions.

Prime Minister Niu Jinxing, who is loyal to Li Zicheng, has so much thought, not to mention those generals of the Dashun Army. They couldn't get out, they were trapped in the Hetao as big landlords, and they had long lost their ambitions.

Li Zicheng suddenly asked: "What do you say happened to our hometown?" ”

Niu Jinxing was stunned, shook his head and said, "I don't know." ”

Li Zicheng said: "I asked the businessmen from Shaanxi, after we left, there was only one year of severe drought in Shaanxi, and the rest of the years were smooth and rainy. The common people have divided the land, and their lives are excellent, and every family can eat white noodles during the New Year's holidays. The Emperor Zhao in Nanjing, although he stole the country, he was indeed stronger than the country. Losing to him is not wronged. ”

Niu Jinxing said: "Your Majesty is also wise in governing the country, and he is not inferior to Emperor Zhao. ”

Li Zicheng waved his hand: "Ezhiguo is definitely stronger than Chongzhen, and compared with Emperor Zhao, it is still not comparable." I understand my own ability and don't say those big words. In the past, I also underestimated the Mongols, always thinking that if I brought troops over, I would be able to build a large territory and build a country. But in the past few years, there has only been a loop. Mr. told the story of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and it was not Huo Quai. Even if Huo Qu's illness is not open, it can't be opened in the grassland. Huo Qu was sick and had no grain and grass for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and without the cooperation of other armies, he could not seal the wolf by himself. ”

"Your Majesty sees it very thoroughly." Bull Venus can only echo.

Li Zicheng rubbed his swollen and painful kneecaps and said, "I don't have any other thoughts now, I just want to go back to my hometown and get some fertile land to grow wheat." If the government doesn't come to bully E, it's best to let Ea be a rich man in the countryside. That desert Northern Mongolian Tartar, leave it to Emperor Zhao to fight slowly. ”

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