Just when Li Banghua went back to plan how to rectify the Beijing camp, Sun Chuanting, who was released from prison, was also taken to the Qianqing Palace after washing up and changing clothes.

"Sinner Sun Chuanting, long live my emperor, long live long live."

"Excuse me."

The last pillar of the Ming Dynasty, with a thin figure and a slightly elegant temperament, only those confident eyes are impressive.

The four-year prison life has not worn out the ambition in his heart at all, and when he saw Chongzhen at this time, the confidence in his eyes still did not converge.

Looking at the confident but unruly Sun Chuanting, Lao Zhu inexplicably felt that Sun Chuanting had a bit of Song Lian's demeanor, although the two did not have much similarity, but this confident temperament made Lao Zhu feel that the two of them were very similar, and made Lao Zhu inexplicably have a good impression of Sun Chuanting.

Lao Zhu asked people to take the map and roughly explain the current situation and Li Zicheng's troops to Sun Chuanting, and then asked: "Now that the war is urgent, according to your estimates, how many people and horses are needed to wipe out the six thieves?" ”

"With the local garrison, five thousand elite soldiers are enough."

Sun Chuanting had already silently calculated Li Zicheng's combat power in his heart, and after giving a small surprising number without hesitation, Sun Chuanting opened his mouth to explain: "The thieves are a rabble, so there is nothing to be afraid of. ”

In Sun Chuanting's words, he was full of disdain for Li Zicheng, of course, he beat Li Zicheng to the rest of a dozen horses and fled, even if he disdains Li Zicheng, he also has that qualification.

It's just that after Lao Zhu heard his words, he couldn't help but shake his head, "The local garrison, five thousand elite soldiers, ......"

This man had just come out of prison, and he was obviously still a little confused.

Since Li Zicheng failed last time and made a comeback this time, it seems to have been reborn.

Not only are the soldiers under his command more disciplined, but he also deliberately spared some literati and appointed them as military advisors.

Now, Li Zicheng's army has numbered hundreds of thousands, and when Sun Chuanting said this, he obviously looked down on Li Zicheng.

In addition, there are also local garrisons, who have long been a little obedient and disobedient, and they will definitely not dare to be disobedient if they are allowed to fight a tailwind battle, but if the war falls into a stalemate, then Lao Zhu can guarantee that those guards will run faster than anyone else.

As for the 5,000 elite soldiers that Sun Chuanting wanted, since the burial of the elite of the Nine Sides, the entire imperial court has no elite soldiers at all.

As far as these soldiers in the Beijing camp are concerned, they can use their fart, and they can not be fired on the battlefield, and they are still counting on them to pacify Li Zicheng, Sun Chuanting is afraid that he will think too much.

Thanks to him, the emperor is he, not Chongzhen.

Otherwise, as soon as Sun Chuanting came out, he confidently said Give me 5,000 elite soldiers, and I will pacify the thieves for you.

Chongzhen, who was already short of soldiers and major generals, was not happy and agreed.

However, when Sun Chuanting found out that the elite soldiers in his hands were not elite soldiers, and he wanted ordnance without ordnance, and when he wanted food and salary, he would tell Chongzhen that this battle could not be fought when the time came, you give me money, I want to train soldiers, just Chongzhen's character, can Chongzhen believe him? If you don't play with your life, urge him to go out to fight.

Thinking of this, Lao Zhu couldn't help but shake his head slightly, and said, "Master Sun has been in prison for too long, why don't you go home and rest for a day and learn more about the war." ”

"When Lord Hou Hou arrives tomorrow, the three of us will discuss how to fight this battle."

Originally, Sun Chuanting thought that Lao Zhu would be very happy when he only needed to say that he could clear the thieves with five thousand elite soldiers, but at this time, seeing Lao Zhu's reaction, he immediately realized that something was wrong with the situation.

Therefore, in the case of unclear circumstances, he did not rashly continue to insist on his opinion, but said in a good manner: "Thank you for your majesty's grace." ”

After Sun Chuanting left, Lao Zhu couldn't help but sigh inexplicably thinking about the current generals.

Perhaps it was because the military generals were suppressed too harshly, or perhaps the current soldiers were writing more and more detailed, and firearms were becoming more and more developed, making fighting simpler and more direct.

As a result, there are now more and more civilian officials and fewer and fewer military generals who lead troops to fight.

Like at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Chang Yuchun and Xu Dana had the courage to be invincible, if they were there, even if they were given 5,000 remnants of the weak generals, after a few battles, they would be able to bring out thousands of elite soldiers.

But these civilian officials are different, they want to bring out elite soldiers, they can only train slowly, and there is no shortcut at all.

Lao Zhu didn't know whether this was progress or regression for a while.

Just when Lao Zhu was a little stunned, Wang Chengen walked over directly and reported: "Long live the lord, Lord Hou has a letter from Lord Hou Suihou, do you want to read it?" ”

"It's a thief."

Lao Zhu was not the slightest surprised, and said directly: "Take it and show it to us." ”

"Long live Lord Shengming, it is the strategy of the thief."

Wang Chengen was really a little stunned this time, the Ping Thief Strategy was personally handed over to him by Hou Sui, and there were not many people handling it along the way, how could Long Live Lord know?

Wang Chengen, who couldn't guess how Lao Zhu knew in his heart, felt that Lao Zhu was a little unfathomable for a while, and his awe for Lao Zhu in his heart was deeper.

Lao Zhu didn't pay attention to Wang Chengen's thoughts, and directly took over this thief strategy that has been recorded in history.

It is not long, and it can be summarized into three points.

First, since the defeat of Wang Qiaonian and Fu Zonglong, the thieves have become stronger and stronger, and there are tens of thousands of cavalry, with strong mobility, coming and going like the wind, and we are all foot soldiers, we can't catch up with them at all, if we follow them, it is easy to suffer a big loss.

Second, the situation in Henan is irreparable, and it is better to give up Henan directly.

Third, there are many thieves and horses, and there is a shortage of food in Henan, so there is not enough for the thieves to eat, as long as they stick to the city and besiege the thieves, and when the thieves do not have enough food, there will definitely be infighting between them, and the thieves will naturally be defeated without a fight.

Each of these three suggestions is very pertinent, and it can be seen that Hou Sui's strategic vision is vicious, and the way to deal with it is also good.

It's just that in history, Chongzhen did not choose to adopt Hou Sui's strategy of pacifying thieves, but directly used the old habit to directly force Hou Sui to fight a decisive battle with Li Zicheng, but in the end, because Hou Sui and Kaifeng were across the river, they did not go to the rescue, and Chongzhen was angry and sent Hou Sui to prison again.

To tell the truth, Chongzhen did waste a little, but Lao Zhu felt that Chongzhen vetoed Hou Sui's thief strategy this time, and Chongzhen could not be blamed for it.

After all, the Ming treasury was already very poor, and now it is still at war with Jiannu and Li Zicheng, and the finances can't bear it at all.

Hou Sui said that he would stick to the city and fight a war of attrition with Li Zicheng, and when Li Zizi had enough food and grass, he would naturally be able to win without a fight.

But the problem is that the officers and soldiers don't have much grain and grass, and they also have to guard against building slaves, so the pressure on grain and grass is even greater.

With Chongzhen's ability, there is no way to get grain and grass, so if it really starts, the grain and grass can't hold up first, and it's not good to get the official army.

So this is a thief strategy that may drag the court to death, and it is strange that Chongzhen can adopt it.

"A strategy is a good strategy, but it's a pity that Chongzhen can't use it."

Lao Zhu sighed slightly, and then said: "But it's okay, he can't use it, we can use it." ”