CHAPTER XX

It is now the beginning of October of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, and in the Zhongzhou area, a battle has just ended, and a new war is about to begin.

After killing Fu Zonglong, the two battalions of Chuang and Cao rested for ten days, waiting for Zuo Liangyu to come to fight. However, under the pretext that the Ge and the 4th Zuo Battalion had the intention of harassing Huguang, Zuo Liangyu did not move in the Guangshan and Gaocheng areas, and also sent a detachment of men and horses to the Yingshan and Qichun areas, so that the imperial court knew that he was fighting against the Ge and the 4th Zuo Battalion. Li Zicheng saw that Zuo Liangyu was cowardly, and even part of the left army stationed in Xinyang was withdrawn, so he decided to attack Kaifeng. He held several meetings in a row and agreed with Luo Rucai on the operational strategy for attacking Kaifeng.

In early October, Li Zicheng sent a small number of men to break through Fugou and other counties, and it seemed that they would immediately attack Kaifeng, but the army suddenly moved southwest, claiming to attack Nanyang, and then enter Shaanxi from Nanyang and Dengzhou out of Xixiakou, and capture Xi'an through Shangzhou. also released rumors, saying that this was a strategy offered by Song Xian, and King Chuang had already adopted it.

Soon, the army broke through the military stronghold in Wuyang County, Beiwudu, killed the surrendered general Li Wanqing, and then divided the army into two groups: one went south, passed Yuzhou (Fangcheng), tended to Bowang, and rode until the bank of the Baihe River more than ten miles away in the eastern suburbs of Nanyang. The other went northwest and attacked Yexian. At the same time, Li Zicheng wrote to the nearby prefectures and counties in the name of the generalissimo of Fengtian Advocate Righteousness, and told the local officials and gentry that those who surrendered to the city should quickly offer mules, horses, and grain, and that the officials would continue to serve as before, and that the people, whether rich or poor, would continue to live and work in peace as usual; If you dare to resist and do not surrender, you will be slaughtered in the city.

It is one hundred and twenty miles from Yexian to Yuzhou, and there is a place called Baodian in the middle. This Baodian is sixty miles away from Yexian and Fangcheng, and it was developed in the Qing Dynasty and renamed Baoan Town. Twenty miles southwest of Baodian, there is a passing shop with only about 20 households, because there is only a lone big tree next to the street of this passing shop, people call this place Dushu. Although these two places are on the Wanye Avenue and are the only way for pedestrians, it was not until the middle of the Qing Dynasty that the peace lasted for a long time and the population gradually increased, so a solid earthen village was built. After a few more years, Baoan Town was built into two earthen villages, each other's horns. But in the Chongzhen period, this area of the place but see the ups and downs, the village is dilapidated, sparsely populated, full of barren grass, fox rabbits flocks, a bleak scene.

Between Baodian and Dushu, within twenty miles, a large army gathered. King Chuang's old camp and Cao Cao's old camp were both set up near Baodian, four or five miles apart, but Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai had already left the old camp two days ago and arrived north of Jiuxian, less than ten miles away from Yexian County. Liu Zongmin was stationed here as the general post of the camp and commanded Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi and Cao Ying's general Sun Shenzu to besiege Ye County. The siege had not yet begun, and was waiting for the king to come. Zhang Nai's firearms battalion had already arrived at the edge of the city and set up artillery positions.

Yexian County has been surrounded on all sides, and within a few miles around, there are barracks everywhere, dotted around, so that Liu Guineng, the rebel general guarding Ye County, has no way to escape. The rangers who broke into the camp went out four times a day, as far as Xiangcheng and near Lushan.

At dawn on the ninth day of October, the siege began. Before the siege began, Liu Zongmin led his generals to gallop outside the city, preparing to personally command the siege. Li Zicheng and Song Xiance remained in the camp near the old county, waiting for the arrival of Mrs. Gao, the Red Lady, and Huimei. Yesterday evening, Li Zicheng sent a flying horse to the vicinity of Dushu to summon them to come, and they arrived before dawn. What's so urgent? No one knows. Last night, he discussed military affairs with Cao Cao, Song Xiance, Ji Jue, and others until late at night. Regarding the fact that he wanted to ask Mrs. Gao, Red Lady, and Huimei to come quickly, he even hid it from Cao Cao. Many generals in the old camp were surprised: Do you still have to ask Mrs. Gao to supervise the battle when attacking Ye County? Apparently not. Since the destruction of Luoyang, there are many soldiers and generals, and there is no need for Mrs. Gao to show up in the war. As for the healthy women's battalion led by the Red Lady and Hui Mei, they will not be allowed to participate in the siege battle, and now that Li Guo and Yuan Zongdi have enough people, why do they need the Red Lady to come? So around King Chuang, everyone also speculated in vain. After the military meeting at night, Cao Cao and others rushed back to their stations, preparing to go to the edge of the city to watch the battle after the siege began the next day. Li Zicheng left a big tent alone and did not sleep. Just like every war, he always reworked his battle strategy. Even though it was a battle to be won, he never took it lightly. He rethought and thought about the plan to attack Yexian and Nanyang, in order to win without damaging the men and horses. He thinks that attacking Ye County can be foolproof, and attacking Nanyang may inevitably lead to a bloody battle. Although he hoped to break through Nanyang without a bloody battle and clean up the fierce as a tiger, he understood that being as fierce as a tiger was different from a generally cowardly general, and unlike Liu Guoneng, there was no way not to fight a tragic battle. After thinking about it, he read the military book under the lamp while waiting for Mrs. Gao and the red lady. It was getting dark, and it was estimated that they were about to arrive, so he simply stopped sleeping.

The battle to attack Yexian began. Li Zicheng heard the rumbling cannons endlessly, and the shouts came and went. He walked out of the tent, but saw that there were many fires around Yexian, and there were also fires on the city, and he heard the constant neighing of war horses outside the city. He heard that the artillery fire of the attacking troops was getting denser and denser, and concluded that it would be difficult for Liu Guoneng to hold Yexian County, but he was worried that Liu Guoneng would break through and escape. He and Liu Guoneng were originally brothers, Liu Yuan was also a famous leader in the rebel army, although there are few people now, it is very difficult to break through the siege, but he may also try to abscond. If he can't be caught, he will inevitably leave trouble.

Thinking like this, Li Zicheng really wanted to personally deploy outside Yexian County, so that Liu Guo could abscond and could not fly. But he had to wait for Mrs. Gao, the Red Lady and Hui Mei, if they didn't arrive at dawn, they might miss a big deal. He stood on a high post and watched the siege artillery fire, and from time to time he looked back at the southwest road to see if anyone was coming from the southwest Pegasus. After watching for a while, there was no sign of him, and he could not hear the sound of horses' hooves. He went back to the tent and sat down, secretly anxious.

After a while, sure enough, the sound of horses' hooves came from the southwest, and listening to the sound, there were at least fifty war horses. Li Zicheng said happily in his heart: "It's here!" Here it comes! He hurried out of the tent, stood in the starlight and waited, and sent Shuangxi to meet him on the road with a few of his own soldiers.

Mrs. Gao, the Red Lady and Hui Mei were led to the generalissimo's tent, and the male and female soldiers were placed in the tents next to them to rest. After Mrs. Gao sat down, she quickly asked:

"King Chuang, what is the urgent matter that called us overnight?"

Zicheng smiled and said, "Naturally, there was an urgent dispatch to call you here." There is a very important matter, unless you can't do it, and you can't do it late, so I asked you to come overnight, and I will teach you face-to-face. This plan must not be leaked. ”

Mrs. Gao said, "What kind of trick is it? Say it, and we'll do what we do. ”

When Li Zicheng was about to say to Mrs. Gao, Wu Ruyi came in and said that the general was going to the edge of the city to watch the siege, and sent someone to ask on the main road outside the camp: Is the generalissimo also going at this moment? Li Zicheng didn't want Luo Rucai to see Mrs. Gao coming at this moment, and he didn't want to snub Rucai, so he said, "I'll go and tell him." Then he stood up and took Wu Ruyi and a few personal soldiers out of the camp and walked to Guanma Road, half a mile away.

Mrs. Gao asked the red lady, "Can you guess what important assignment the generalissimo has to us?" ”

The red lady shook her head and said, "I'm also a monk of Zhang's second brother, and I'm confused. ”

Huimei asked in a low voice, "Could it be that the county seat of Poye uses us?" ”

Mrs. Gao shook her head and whispered, "I don't think so." King Chuang and Liu Guoneng were originally brothers, and I was also very familiar with Liu's sister-in-law. If King Chuang sends me to take you into the city to meet Liu's sister-in-law and persuade Liu Guoneng and his wife to open the door and surrender, wouldn't they send us to the rebel generals as hostages? What's more, when it comes to the first layer of worship, Liu Guoneng is a brother, and our generalissimo is a brother, how can there be a brother and daughter-in-law in the world to go to see Brother Abozi and speak? ”

They all laughed, and then fell silent in a cloud of suspicion, waiting for the king to return to the account.

Li Zicheng and Cao Cao stood on the road and talked for a while, nothing more than saying that he still had something to deal with, and he would rush to the city after dawn. He instructed Cao Cao to persuade Liu Guoneng to surrender as soon as possible, so as not to kill and wound the soldiers on both sides innocently and harm the people in the city. Although Cao Cao promised to go to the city to act and call Liu Guoneng to the city to talk, he really didn't want to meet Liu Guoneng in his heart, and he was afraid that things would change in the future, but he would become suspicious. After Cao Cao got back on his horse and left, Wu Ruyi whispered to King Chuang:

"Generalissimo, I'm a little worried: Cao Shuai went alone, would he let Liu Guoneng go without permission? They turned out to be sworn brothers, and they also had a good relationship! ”

King Chuang rolled his eyes and said, "No, the matter of Agate Mountain, usually when you talk about it, you also hate it." ”

On the way back to the military tent, King Chuang couldn't help but have doubts in his heart. Really, won't you secretly let him go? ……

Li Zicheng thought all the way and returned to the tent. After sitting down, he smiled at Mrs. Gao and the red lady and asked:

"Do you guess what I called you for?"

Mrs. Gao said: "We also thought about it, and we can't guess what is important, probably it has nothing to do with attacking Ye County, right?" ”

King Chuang nodded and said, "Nature has nothing to do with attacking Ye County. Now I let you come for the sake of Nanyang. This time I didn't attack Kaifeng immediately, I came here, attacking Nanyang is a topic, Yexian is not a topic, and a good article should be done in Nanyang. Part of the army stationed in the area of Dushu and Baodian will go to Nanyang tomorrow, and there are already more than 10,000 horses near Nanyang, and then 20,000 horses, a total of 30,000 people, to besiege Nanyang together. In addition, Sister Xing and Huimei should work together to draw 500 healthy women from the healthy women's camp and make a great contribution to Nanyang. ”

When the red lady heard this, she hurriedly asked: "Siege?" ”

King Chuang shook his head with a smile and said, "No, go and greet Miss Zuo, who is Zuo Liangyu's adopted daughter, and bring her to our old camp." ”

Mrs. Gao usually only heard that Zuo Liangyu's adopted daughter was in Kaifeng, but she didn't know that she had arrived in Nanyang, so she asked, "Why did Miss Zuo get to Nanyang?" ”

The red lady couldn't help but ask: "I don't know that there is this Miss Zuo, is she really in Nanyang?" ”

King Chuang said: "This Miss Zuo was originally the daughter of a general named Qiu Lei. Qiu Lei is Zuo Liangyu's sworn brother. Zuo Liangyu committed a crime in the past, and Qiu Lei went to prison on his behalf. Later, Zuo Liangyu became the chief soldier and ransomed Qiu Lei with money. Now that Qiu Lei is in Shandong, I heard that he has become the deputy chief soldier, but there are very few generals under him. Qiu Lei gave birth to a daughter before he was imprisoned, and his wife died of illness, and Zuo Liangyu raised this daughter. Because Zuo Liangyu has no daughter herself, she treats her as if she were her own daughter. It is said that this girl is good-looking and smart, Zuo Liangyu and his wife love her like a pearl in the palm of their hands, and their name is Zuo Mingzhu. ”

Mrs. Gao said: "This name is very good, how did she get to Nanyang?" ”

King Chuang said: "In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Zuo Liangyu sent his family to Xuchang, and because of the mutiny, Mrs. Zuo and her daughter were separated. This girl was only eleven years old at the time, and she was taken by her nursing mother, lost to the people, and was obtained by the Tukou Liu Biantou. ”

The red lady asked: "Is it the Liu Biantou in the Suiping area?" ”

King Chuang said, "This is the man." At first, Miss Zuo and her nurse did not dare to tell her real name, and it was only two years later that Zuo Liangyu found out her whereabouts. Liu Biantou knew that she was Zuo Liangyu's adopted daughter, and he was very courteous, so he followed Zuo Liangyu's advice and sent her to Kaifeng for a temporary stay. When we attacked Kaifeng for the first time, Miss Zuo had just arrived in Kaifeng, and later because Zuo Liangyu was fighting at the junction of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Huguang provinces, Miss Zuo still stayed in Kaifeng. A month ago, Zuo Liangyu ordered someone to take Miss Zuo to Nanyang, preparing to let her live in Wuchang. After arriving in Nanyang, because of the swarm on the road, he was afraid that something would happen on the way, so he stayed in Nanyang City. Recently, we had decided to leave Nanyang for Xiangyang, because our men and horses suddenly arrived around Nanyang, from the vicinity of Wollongong to the vicinity of Xinye, there were our rangers, so we never left. ”

Mrs. Gao asked: "Since she is in Nanyang City, we can only wait for the city to be broken, find her, and take her to our army to settle down." Now that the city has not yet been attacked, how can the camp of healthy women receive her? ”

King Chuang smiled and said, "Our Song military division is resourceful and sent someone to listen to Miss Zuo's whereabouts very clearly. He suggested that I get Miss Zuo in my hands and give her preferential treatment, which will be of great use in the future. As for how to pick her up, there are also detailed methods. ”

Mrs. Gao asked, "What is the solution?" Miss Zuo is in Nanyang City, how can she pick it up if she doesn't break Nanyang? ”

The red lady said: "This is a problem. Miss Zuo must be lured out of Nanyang before she can be picked up. ”

Huimei also interjected and said: "There are many troops around Nanyang, and Miss Zuo will definitely not dare to go out of the city." ”

King Chuang said: "We can only bring Miss Zuo before attacking Nanyang. Once the siege began, it was too late. Because Nanyang is as fierce as a tiger defense, it will fight to the death, and after the city is broken, it will be burned to the death, and it will be too late to pick it up at that time. He lowered his voice again and added: "When Nanyang is broken, in case Miss Zuo falls into the hands of Cao Cao, things will be difficult to do." ”

The red lady asked, "How do I get to the city to pick it up?" Do you want to pretend to be a famine-fleeing man? ”

King Chuang smiled and shook his head: "Fierce as a tiger guarding the city, you can't get in; Even if they can blend in, a dozen or so people can't get close to Miss Zuo, and they can't kill them. ”

Huimei asked anxiously, "Then what should I do?" ”

King Chuang said, "You rest and eat first, and the military commander will soon return from outside the city." After dinner, I will go to the edge of the city to command the battle, take over Miss Zuo's affairs, and let the military advisor teach you a clever plan. This matter is so confidential that even the Double Happiness people don't know about it. I'm afraid that if this plan fails, not only will Miss Zuo not be able to take it, but you will also suffer. Whoever divulges secrets must be dealt with in accordance with military law. ”

Everyone wondered in their hearts, Mrs. Gao didn't believe that she would let her go to the edge of Nanyang City, and asked, "What else do you want me to do?" ”

King Chuang said, "Naturally, this matter is indispensable to you. Sister Xing, when they received Miss Zuo, they were immediately sent to you, and you took care of them personally, so don't wronged her. ”

Immediately, he instructed his soldiers to take washing water and prepare breakfast, and instructed Pegasus to go outside the city to invite the military adviser back to the camp, and at the same time asked Mrs. Gao to take the red lady and Huimei to rest in a tent next to it. By this time it was already getting dark.

The red lady and Huimei asked each other during the break, but they didn't know how to pick up Miss Zuo, and they couldn't guess what the military advisor had planned. But they were very excited in their doubts, because this mission was very interesting, and they received Miss Zuo, which would indeed be of great use in the future, and they could be regarded as making a contribution to King Chuang. They all looked at Mrs. Gao, thinking that Mrs. Gao had a lot of experience, and she might guess the clever plan of the military advisor. But Mrs. Gao just shook her head and said with a smile:

"I don't know what kind of medicine is sold in this Song dwarf's gourd."

The sound of siege cannons and shouts continued to be heard from the direction of Yexian County, which made their desire for meritorious service even more excited. Later, the red lady said:

"We don't have to guess. Soon the military adviser will return, and everything will be clear. ”

Sure enough, everyone had breakfast in a hurry, and Song Xiance also came back. Li Zicheng left Song Xiance to teach Mrs. Gao and others the secret plan, and he himself took his own soldiers and Wu Ruyi, Li Shuangxi and other personal generals to the edge of the city. Before leaving, he said to Song Xiance:

"Strategist, you have to carefully explain the strategy to them, ask them to hear it clearly, remember it in their hearts, and improvise with them." He turned to the Red Lady and Huimei and said, "No matter what, even if there will be a scuffle, you can't hurt Miss Zuo. Be sure to keep her safe. Only after you took Miss Zuo did you make a great contribution, it was more important than you killing hundreds of officers and soldiers! ”

The sound of the cannons has stopped. The soldiers took turns eating. There was a small earthen city outside the southern city, which was first occupied by the rebels; There was also a small earthen city outside the northern city, which was subsequently occupied by the rebels. Now Liu Guoneng's men and horses are retreating in the brick city. Because he did not have many men and horses, less than 2,000 men in total, he did not have the strength to go out of the city to counterattack. From time to time, some soldiers in the rebel army shouted to the soldiers and civilians defending the city, persuading them to tie Liu Guoneng to surrender so that they could avoid being slaughtered. Some soldiers stood on the earthen city outside the south gate and shouted at the brick city, while others ran out of the city and shouted until they walked to the edge of the moat. The people on the brick city did not shoot cannons or arrows, and sometimes when they saw that Liu Guoneng's soldiers were not around, they stretched out their heads to look at the soldiers of the righteous army, and the bold ones talked to the soldiers of the righteous army.

Liu Guoneng knew that he was in a dangerous city, and he was determined to defend it. But he also knew that the people were not of the same mind as him, so he issued a proclamation: anyone who dared to seduce the thieves outside the city without permission would be beheaded by his whole family; At the same time, it was strictly forbidden for the people defending the city to talk to the rebels outside the city. However, his soldiers were afraid that the people in the city would change and that they would die without a place to bury, so when they found people talking outside the city, they did not really do anything, although they kept scolding and even threatening to cut off their heads.

Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai also came to the south gate outside the moat and called out to Liu Guoneng to answer. Liu Guoneng was in the city at this time and refused to show up. His relatives on the right and left advised him to answer, and listened to the tone of King Chuang, who said, "Lao Tzu will not speak to him." What is there to say? If you can fight, you will fight, and if you can't fight, you will die, and you have no friendship with the thief. ”

A pro-general persuaded him: "Although we are now doing our own thing, we are all from Yan'an Mansion, and the general is a sworn brother with King Chuang, and Cao Cao is too, and there is always a little old love." Maybe they still remember some old feelings and talk about righteousness. ”

Liu Guoneng shook his head and sighed: "What stupid things are you talking about, hey! Since I, Liu Guoneng, have returned to the imperial court and have become a royal minister, and they have been driving on the road, on the road, each doing their own thing, and the friendship has long been severed, what kind of righteousness will they say to my surname Liu! ”

One of the generals said, "Nevertheless, you have not harmed them. After we were recruited, we did not fight with them, and we did not have hatred. ”

Liu Guoneng sneered and said, "How can there be no hatred? After the battle on Agate Mountain, I could no longer have any friendship with such a thief. Although it was Zhang Xianzhong who was beaten, Cao Cao and Xianzhong were screwed together at that time, didn't they hold a grudge? ”

Another pro-general said: "But Chuang and Xian have always been at odds, we beat Zhang Xianzhong, what do we have to do with Li Zicheng?" ”

Liu Guoneng said: "You guys are really confused! Although he was at odds with Zhang Xianzhong, they wore a pair of pants to people like me who were loyal to the court, and hated me for refusing to be a thief with them to the end. ”

Left and right said: "When fighting Agate Mountain, although Cao Cao and Xianzhong were screwed together, but later they fell out again, and they became together with Li Zicheng. Cao Cao had a good relationship with the general in the past, and today we are in danger, and he may be able to help speak. As long as he can make Li Zicheng suspend the siege, it will be easy for us to come up with a way to break out. ”

Liu Guoneng sighed and said, "You guys don't understand! Cao Cao obeyed the orders of the thieves today, and was held hostage by the thieves, how could he speak for us? Today, there is no good way but to defend it. After the city is broken, you are at your own convenience, and I, Liu Guoneng, am willing to die for the country, be a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, and live for generations. Then he looked to the left and right, shook his feet, and said, "Hurry up and fire the cannon!" ”

Still hesitating left and right, Liu Guoneng was furious: "Hurry up!" ”

Li Zicheng saw the cannon port moving on the city, glanced at Luo Rucai, waved his hand, asked everyone to dodge, and said with a smile:

"As expected!"

Everyone followed him to the back of the house. He ordered loudly to Zhang Nai, who was about twenty zhang away:

"Zhang Nai, open the gun!"

The cannon in the city went off first, but only two roofs were damaged, and no one was hurt. Zhang Nai's fort had been repaired at night, and more than ten cannons were fired at dawn, which collapsed half of the city tower and damaged several battlements. Now three cannons were lit at the same time, and they were shooting towards the city.

Liu Guoneng saw the flash of fire in the city, and immediately waved his hand, asking everyone to disperse quickly and hide from themselves. Two more battlements were damaged by the shells, and one of the shells flew into the city, destroying a people's grass hut and blazing.

King Chuang ordered the cannons to be stopped, so as not to injure the people by mistake.

Starting from the outside of the southern city, the rebels fired arrows into the city from all sides. On the ringing arrow is the "Message" of King Chuang, and the content is as follows:

King Chuang earnestly advised, and the army and people of Yanger obeyed. Within two days, incense was burned and the city was opened. The army did not commit any crimes, and the lives of a city were preserved. The righteous master entered Ye County, and only rebelled against the national energy.

As soon as the people of the city heard the sound of arrows, they knew that the "oracle" of the king would be shot into the city. Wherever the arrow fell, many people immediately ran to pick it up. Although Liu Guoneng's soldiers shouted, "Don't pick up arrows!" But in Yexian City, Liu Guoneng had no prestige, and no one refused to listen, scrambling to pick up arrows, circulate the "Message", and hide the "Message".

The officials and gentry all saw these "proclamations", and some of the soldiers also saw them. Everyone talked about it in private, and it was impossible to prohibit it. Because Ye County and Xiangcheng are neighboring counties, the news of Xiangcheng's surrender has reached Ye County yesterday. Everyone heard that after Cao Sizheng, the magistrate of Xiangcheng County, received the "message" from King Li Chuang, he convened a meeting of the gentry in the county yamen overnight, and advocated surrender in exchange for the safety of the city. I also heard that when the gentry were discussing whether to surrender, someone took out a book called "Huangming Tongji", pointing out that during the Chenghua period, the two brothers Liu Liu and Liu Qi led their men and horses to Henan, and they also "told the state" and county: those who surrender are exempt from attack. At that time, Xiangcheng surrendered and offered some mules, horses, and grain, and sure enough, the city was preserved, and the court was not deeply responsible afterwards. Everyone also heard that after Xiangcheng surrendered to King Li Chuang two days ago, King Chuang really did not send men and horses into the city.

The gentry in the city were willing to surrender, and there were discussions everywhere, and Liu Guoneng was completely clear. He convened a few cronies to discuss, but not only did everyone come up with no ideas, but instead told him that the morale of the army was also a little unstable. Some people even used euphemisms to persuade him to go out of the city and surrender, thinking that King Li Chuang would not harm him. Liu Guoneng ordered his cronies to quit and stay in the house alone, thinking about it repeatedly, unable to think of a good way. Outside the city, artillery is being fired again. He couldn't help but sigh and wander around the pillar, and said to himself:

"Alas, I didn't expect my Liu Guoneng to fall into this fate!"

It was almost noon, and the officials and gentry in the city came to Yuanmen to ask for a meeting. Liu Guoneng welcomed everyone into the chamber. The scene in the hall today is very different from the past. Two or three months ago, when Liu Guoneng first arrived in Ye County, he set up his deputy commander-in-chief yamen here, and the hall was not very imposing at that time. Only ten days ago, Liu Guoneng convened the gentry here to discuss the reinforcement of the city's defenses. After the meeting, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves. At that time, everyone thought that Li Zicheng would not come for the time being, and they were happy that Liu Guoneng had brought 2,000 people, and Ye County would be safe. The officials and gentry talked and laughed freely, and praised his troops as the Great Wall. However, once upon a time, the situation suddenly changed, and today the hall was full of sad faces, and the atmosphere was heavy, as if the city was about to be destroyed.

After everyone had sat down, one of the leading gentry said:

"Now the officials and gentry of a city have come to see your lordship, not for anything else, but to ask your lord to try to save the lives of the officials, gentry, soldiers and civilians of a city."

Liu Guoneng understood their intentions in his heart, but deliberately said: "This town is trying its best to defend the palace and prepare to fight to the death against the thieves, this is to protect the lives of the officials and gentry of a city." ”

Another gentry said: "You must not win a battle to the death, and you cannot be sure of defending the city." If they hold on, not only will they not be able to save the lives of the gentry and the people, but they will be slaughtered in the city. Has the general ever thought about it? ”

Liu Guoneng said impassionedly: "I have thought about everything. As a prince and a general, I have no reason to surrender, all I think about is how to hold on, how to fight to the death, and nothing else is asked. ”

There was an older gentleman, who was originally a well-known man in the county, and who had also served as an official in other counties, and now went home to live in the city, and after listening to Liu Guoneng's words, he was very disapproving, and asked:

"The general thinks about one of his loyal words, but has he ever thought about the lives of the people in the city?"

Liu Guoneng replied speechlessly, just sighed and said: "As a military general, I only have three words in my heart." ”

Someone asked, "What are the three words?" ”

Liu Guoneng said: "Don't be afraid of death. ”

Another gentry immediately said indignantly: "It is not enough to have the words 'not afraid of death', there should be three more words: 'love the people'." ”

Liu Guoneng said: "I came here because I love the people. After being stationed in Ye County, the soldiers never dared to harass the people, which is what everyone has seen. ”

A gentleman said: "Everyone knows what happened yesterday, and the general did not harass the people much when he came here. But today is different from yesterday, and today must be decided. If you surrender, a city will be saved, and if you fight, you will be slaughtered all over the city, what does the general think? ”

Liu Guoneng said: "I think Ye County can stay for a long time, and the thieves will never stay here for too long." ”

Zhang Wuyi, the magistrate of the county, didn't want to talk much, but now that the gentry have clashed with Liu Guineng, he has to say: "Please think twice, the general has no solid will, no help in the lonely city, and there is no reason to break it." I am also an official of the imperial court, and I have the responsibility to defend the land when I am here. The general is loyal to the court, am I not loyal? I was also born as a Jinshi, read the books of sages and sages at an early age, and was taught by Confucius and Mencius. However, however, now the people of a city are waiting for us to make a decision, and the safety depends on the general's word. If the general and I can focus on the people, temporarily surrender, and save the people, it will be considered a good thing. ”

Liu Guoneng sneered and said: "Since the county parents also have the idea of surrendering, I dare not advise you not to surrender, but you should also think that you are a person who has received the grace of the country and eats the emperor's fortune, how will you treat the emperor in the future?" But if the people are considerate of you, how can the law of the land be considerate of you? ”

Zhang Iyi said: "Xiangcheng has surrendered the day before yesterday. Cao Sizheng, the magistrate of Xiangcheng, obeyed the will of the people, surrendered to King Li Chuang, sacrificed mules and horses, and secured a city. I think that at this time, we should change our power and not stick to a word of loyalty. After the king retreated, we still defended the land for the court, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds? ”

Liu Guoneng shook his head and sneered: "I'm afraid you'll regret it too late then!" ”

was arguing endlessly, and suddenly someone sent in to break into the king's second "message". There was a gentry surnamed Chen who resolutely advocated surrender, regardless of the presence of Liu Guoneng and Zhixian, first snatched the "Xiaoyu" into his hand, read it, his face changed greatly, and said loudly:

"You don't have to fight anymore, please listen to me! Say it! ”

The gentry shouted, "Read! Read! ”

So the gentry surnamed Chen trembled slightly, held Li Zicheng's "message", and read aloud:

Ben Shuai saved the people and intimidated the innocent people.

Tell you again to break the city tomorrow morning. ……

Everyone didn't wait for him to finish reading the "message" and began to talk about it. Some said, "Oh, tomorrow morning we will attack the city!" It was originally said to be limited to two days, but now it is only limited to one day! The other said, "Oh, how good is that!" How good is this! Another muttered in a low voice: "Intimidate the innocent people, and attack the city in advance!" ”…… The gentry surnamed Chen then read:

Quickly discuss opening the door and landing, and Paul's chicken dog is not surprised.

If the state is willing to submit, it will be lenient and tolerant according to the rules.

Regardless of the previous crimes, I hope that you will be loyal and make meritorious contributions.

After reading, the hall was silent, everyone looked at each other, and then their eyes focused on Liu Guoneng's face, waiting for him to speak. Liu Guoneng still has a fluke mentality, thinking that Li Zicheng surrendered in two days, and suddenly subtracted one day, it must be Zuo Liangyu's men and horses to save Nanyang, so that he does not dare to stay here for too long. But as soon as Liu Guoneng said these thoughts, the gentry surnamed Chen immediately refuted:

"I don't think so. In my opinion, it must be King Li Chuang who understands that the soldiers and civilians in the city have no intention of defending the city, so he decided to surrender or not to surrender today. ”

Everyone echoed in unison. Seeing that his situation was very isolated, Liu Guoneng was silent for a while, sighed, and said:

"Let's discuss it in the evening, I, Liu, will never affect the officials and gentry of a city!"

After the meeting ended, Liu Guoneng boarded the north city and wanted to inspect the breakthrough road. He saw that the camp of the rebels was everywhere outside the city, and there was no gap to take advantage of. At this time, it is the high autumn season, the weather is clear, the sky is cloudless, you can see the Woyang Mountain eighteen miles away at a glance, and you can vaguely see that there are also many flags on the Woyang Mountain. He understood that there was no way to escape.

After dusk, when he was feeling helpless, Zhang Wuyi, the magistrate of the county, and a group of gentry and elders came to see him again and asked him to make a quick decision, so as not to ruin the lives of a city. They told him again and again that if he did not make a decision tonight, he would attack the city early tomorrow morning, and everything would be delayed. After Liu Guoneng heard this, he couldn't stop walking around in the hall and sighed repeatedly. Although he had no choice, he still refused to say a word of surrender. At this time, the besieging rebels suddenly fired three cannons from the south, and a cannonball rumbled from the air, crossed the roof, and landed in the backyard of his old camp. When he received a panicked report from the lieutenant of the Chinese military colonel, he immediately ran to the backyard with the officials and gentry to watch, but saw that the shells had penetrated more than half a foot into the ground. Everyone looked at each other, some shook their heads, some stuck out their tongues, and some snorted.

Liu Guoneng returned to the hall with everyone. Everyone urged him to make a quick decision. He said to one of his pro-generals:

"When you go to the south gate, shout out of the city, saying that I, General Liu, will go out of the city tomorrow and meet King Chuang in person. Please do not attack the city tomorrow morning, lest the innocent people of the city suffer. ”

The general asked, "Do you say that your lord has decided to surrender?" ”

Liu Guoneng glared at him: "You say what I say, why bother asking?" I just went to see Li Zicheng in person, what a surrender! ”

"Obey!" The pro-general quickly turned around and exited the hall.

Liu Guoneng said to everyone: "All of you go, tell the people of the city to rest assured that the thieves will not attack the city again." I, Liu, can't be loyal to the emperor to defend the city, and I should save the people from being slaughtered with my own body. ”

Everyone silently quit. Some people secretly praised Liu Guoneng in their hearts for being a generous and loyal person after all; Some people think that he is forced to surrender today, and he may still be a "thief"; Some guessed that after he saw King Chuang, he would be killed by King Chuang; There are also people who think that King Chuang will let him go. But these thoughts, no one spoke.

Zhang Wuyi, the magistrate of the county, was about to withdraw with everyone, but Liu Guoneng stopped him again and instructed: "Tomorrow, the thieves will enter the city, and the seniors of Wangxiang will endure humiliation and bear the burden, and they must not let down the people." ”

When Zhang Wuyi heard this, he expected that Liu Guoneng would commit suicide tonight, so he persuaded him: "I heard that King Li Chuang is broad-minded, and the general has a friendship with him, so he will definitely treat him with courtesy." As long as the general is loyal, it is not too late to serve the court in the future. ”

Liu Guoneng sneered, did not speak, arched his hands, and walked back to the inner house.

On the morning of October 12, the sun was particularly bright and the ground was slightly frosty.

After breakfast, Liu Zongmin immediately went outside the city, but saw that the ladders everywhere were ready to stop, and more than a dozen cannons were mounted on the Nanguan earth city wall and high outside the city, aiming at the brick city.

The soldiers were waiting for Liu Guoneng to surrender. If you don't surrender, you will start the siege.

As soon as the hour arrived, a white flag appeared on the head of the city and waved it again and again. Immediately, Liu Guoneng took his ten-year-old son down to the city, crossed the dry trench, and walked straight to the place where Liu Zongmin was immediate. He waved his hand from afar and asked:

"But Jiexuan? Where is the self-contained? ”

Liu Zongmin smiled slightly, returned the salute, and then jumped off the horse and said, "I am Zongmin, waiting here." King Chuang is not far ahead, please come with me to meet you. ”

Li Zicheng had already moved to Gaofu, which was more than two miles away from the city, yesterday. There are many military tents here, and they are dotted within a radius of two or three miles. He sat in the tent, while discussing with Song Xiance about attacking Nanyang and then besieging Kaifeng, while waiting for Liu Guoneng to come and surrender. Although he expected that Liu Guoneng would come, he was also wary of him playing a trick and delaying the army, so he had already instructed Liu Zongmin that if Liu Guoneng did not go out of the city by then, he would first bombard it with artillery; If you don't see him out of the city again, they will attack it on all sides. At the same time, he also knew that the people in the city were willing to surrender, but Liu Guoneng was very stubborn, so he repeatedly instructed Zong Min to send orders to the whole army, and after entering the city, only Liu Guoneng would be killed, and the people should not be killed in vain; For Liu Guoneng's soldiers, all those who are willing to surrender will not be killed, and they will be properly resettled.

Luo Rucai concluded that King Chuang would kill Liu Guoneng, and he neither wanted to save Liu Guoneng nor fall into the name of killing his friends, so he pretended to be unwell, stayed in his own tent and did not come, and played leaf play with his cronies. Li Zicheng did not force him to come.

A personal soldier came in and reported: "Vice General Liu has come to surrender and has already walked outside the tent. ”

Li Zicheng gestured to Double Happiness with the corners of his mouth. Shuangxi immediately instructed his own soldiers: "Please let him in." There was a shout outside the big tent:

"Please!"

Liu Guoneng followed Liu Zongmin into the big tent, followed closely by his ten-year-old son. Wu Ruyi was ordered to wait outside the camp gate and also entered the big tent together.

Li Zicheng and Song Xiance stood up to greet each other and saluted each other with Liu Guineng. Li Zicheng took a step forward, took Liu Guoneng's hand, called his words, and said:

"Junchen, I have been separated from Brother Ren for a few years, but I didn't expect to see each other again here. The past has been written off, and I will never take it to heart, but I would like to work with my brother again. ”

Liu Guoneng said: "Self-made, after separating from you, they will go their own way, and I don't want to be defeated today, so I will meet here." The foolish brother came to die without any other thoughts. ”

Zicheng hurriedly said: "Brother Ren why did he say this! Sit down and talk. I really don't remember the old evils, and I say that I work with you from the bottom of my heart. Sit down, sit down. ”

After everyone sat down, Li Zicheng persuaded Liu Guoneng to surrender. Liu Guoneng said: "Zicheng, I don't tell lies to real people, please don't persuade me anymore." The eldest husband dares to act, and since he has surrendered to the court, he can no longer be a thief. All my words of persuasion were in vain. I walked into the tent this time, hoping for a quick death, and I didn't want to go back alive. ”

Liu Zongmin said on the side: "Junchen, what you say is a dick!" You were also a suffering person, but you were confused for a while, and you descended to the court, and now you are looking back. You are not Chongzhen's filial son and grandson, so you can't die for him. ”

Liu Guoneng said unhappily: "Jiexuan, how can you say that? The emperor is my king, I am his minister, loyal to the minister, and I will do what I can. ”

Liu Zongmin snorted contemptuously, seeing that King Chuang was glaring at him, and the curse below was not spoken.

King Chuang said: "Junchen, although you are willing to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty has run out of energy, why not find another way out?" ”

Liu Guoneng said: "The foolish brother was recruited by his mother's order, if he is not loyal today, how will he see his mother underground?" ”

Song Xiance interjected: "Please think twice about the general." King Chuang has already said just now that the Ming Dynasty has run out of energy. If the general can work with King Chuang, he will be the founding father of the country in the future. It is much better to be the founding father of the new dynasty than to be a loyal minister for the new dynasty. ”

Liu Guoneng said: "Today's emperor is not unruly, nor is he virtuous, but the ministers are stupid, so there is today." What's more, it is unknown whether the number of Da Ming Qi has been exhausted, so please Mr. Song don't say it too early. ”

King Chuang knew that Liu Guoneng was unwilling to surrender, so he sighed and said, "Junchen, we are both fellow villagers and sworn brothers. If you want to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, I can't stop it, and if you have anything else to say, I will do my best to do it. ”

Liu Guoneng said: "I hope that after you enter the city, you will not kill a single person to the officials and gentry and the people." ”

Li Zicheng smiled and said, "Why do you tell me this? With that, he pulled Liu Guoneng's son in front of him, hugged him on his lap, caressed it, and said to Liu Guoneng: "Junchen, you don't hesitate to die yourself, don't you think about this child?" ”

Liu Guoneng said: "I was friends with you for eight years, and although I went our own way, I never had a personal grudge. If you are really generous, please kill me, keep this child, let my wife take him back to his hometown in Yan'an, and I will not be cut off from my descendants. ”

Li Zicheng replied with emotion: "If you are bound to die, please rest assured that the future will happen." Your wife is my sister-in-law, and your son is like my son. I will definitely send someone to escort them out of Ye County. I won't kill your own soldiers, just let them escort your sister-in-law and nephew back to Yan'an, and I will arrange for you the travel expenses along the way and the money they need to make a living in the future. ”

Liu Guoneng stood up and said deeply: "In this way, I will die blindly." ”

Li Zicheng looked left and right, and saw that Liu Zongmin was angry, and Song Xiance also glanced at him frequently. With tears in his eyes, he said:

"Junchen, I can't keep you. In terms of personal affairs, we are friends of eight worships; On military law, I can't allow you to defect to the court, and I won't turn back. Please go out of the account. ”

He glanced at Wu Ruyi. Wu Ruyi took a personal soldier to escort Liu Guoneng out of the tent. Li Zicheng stroked Liu Guoneng's son's head again and said:

"It's a business matter, and it's a last resort. You don't have to be afraid, I will raise you like a father. ”

While speaking, Wu Ruyi turned back and reported to King Chuang that he had beheaded the rebel general Liu Guoneng. As soon as Liu Guoneng's son heard that his father had been beheaded, he burst into tears, jumped from Li Zicheng's arms, and ran out of the big tent. Li Zicheng ordered his soldiers to go out with the child to see his father's corpse, and said that after reading it, he would pack a coffin for General Liu and bury him. Then he said to a pro-soldier:

"Quickly call Zhang Nai's account."

Zhang Nai hurriedly arrived, approached King Chuang, and asked, "Do you want artillery to enter the city?" ”

Before King Chuang could reply, suddenly one of his own soldiers ran into the tent and reported to him, "Generalissimo, that boy has committed suicide by his father's body because of our accident. ”

King Chuang was shocked, and went out of the tent to look, and saw that the child had indeed killed himself by cutting his throat with a short sword. King Chuang asked:

"How could this kid kill himself?"

The soldier said: "He looked at his father's corpse, cried a few times, and took advantage of everyone's defense, pulled out a short sword from his waist and wiped it off his neck, cutting his throat at once. ”

King Chuang paused again and again, sighed a few times, and said, "I didn't expect this child to be like an adult." After a while, he sighed again and said, "Well, it's not strange. It must be that after the surrender of the country to the Ming Dynasty, he often taught the children with the words of the loyal monarch, so that the children were as confused as him. ”

He returned to the tent and ordered Liu Fangliang to lead 2,000 men and horses into the city, and the army marched to Nanyang on the same day. He also ordered Liu Guoneng's family to be protected, and Liu Guoneng's confidants escorted him back to his hometown in Yan'an. Treat Liu's soldiers, one is not allowed to kill, those who are willing to stay will stay, and those who are unwilling to stay will be dismissed with money. He paused for a moment, remembered one thing again, and said to Liu Fangliang:

"Mingyuan, although Zhang Iyi, the county magistrate, is our fellow villager in Shaanxi, he is willing to surrender, but he has been in Ye County for two years, corrupt and bent the law, and the people are very resentful. When you enter the city, you will arrest him, and behead him in public, and do no harm to the people. The military advisor will go with you into the city to settle the people. Zhang Iyi's major crimes are known to the military advisor. ”

After Liu Fangliang left, King Chuang turned to Zhang Nai, didn't say the main topic for the time being, and asked with a smile: "This time I broke through Yexian County and killed the rebel general Liu Guoneng, your firearms battalion didn't shoot much, and I didn't ask you to seriously shoot artillery into the city." I've heard you complain that this battle doesn't taste good enough, but is it true? ”

Zhang Nai replied with a smile: "Yes, King Chuang, I brought more than a dozen cannons that I didn't use well, and I deliberately hit a few shells that didn't explode." Playing like this is far less lively than fighting in a fire shop. ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "You have to learn the 'Art of War'!" I have told you and Shuangxi many times about the truth of the 'Art of War', but you didn't eat it. Our battle is what the 'Art of War' calls 'a soldier who surrenders without a fight'. The 'Art of War' says: 'A soldier of a subdued man, not a war; Pull out the city, not attack it. 'We won't hurt a single soldier in this battle, this is the real taste! He put away the smile on his face and continued, "We are preparing for a great war, which is incomparably bigger and fiercer than the siege of the Burning Shop. Poye County, it's just a big drama that has just beaten gongs and drums. Now I order you to go to Nanyang, leave immediately, and take a nap and rest on the horse. This is 240 miles away from Nanyang, and you can arrive in the second half of tomorrow, so you can't delay! ”

Zhang Nai said: "The cannon hauling will not be so fast. ”

King Chuang said: "I understand that the cannon hauling will not be so fast. Zhang Nai, you handed over the firearms battalion to the Black Tiger Star to lead, and set off to Nanyang to prepare for the siege. You yourself only led two hundred light horsemen, galloped to the vicinity of Nanyang, met your wife, listened to her orders, and did not delay. ”

Zhang Nai asked, "Where is Madame Nanyang now?" ”

King Chuang said: "Your Yufeng Uncle is now stationed in Xinshanpu to command the army, and when you see him, you will know where your wife is." ”

Zhang Nai asked again: "Why is it so urgent?" ”

King Chuang said, "When you see your wife, you don't need to ask." Meng Ruhu is a very experienced veteran, and I am afraid that the Red Lady and Huimei will despise him and suffer his losses. Let's go! ”

Zhang Nai didn't know what would happen to Huimei, but he didn't dare to ask more, so he turned around and left, feeling up and down in his heart.

CHAPTER XXI

Nanyang is an important military town in the southwest of Henan, the city wall is particularly high and thick, and the south is not far from the Baihe River, forming a natural barrier. And on all sides of the city were moats, which were often filled with water. Outside the four gates, there are also some disconnected earthen cities, inhabited by people who have fled from various states and counties.

Now this Nanyang City is shrouded in the atmosphere of war, the city gates are closed during the day, only the west gate is open for a few hours a day, and only half of the side gate is opened, so that the firewood can enter the city. There is a group of soldiers standing at the gate of the urn, and at any time you can close the gate first, and then close the second gate. The sandbags were piled up inside the urn gate. Once there is a police, close the city gate, not only to the waist bar, but also to block it with sandbags. Unless it is with a cannon, it is not necessary to use manpower to knock open the urn gate. However, the gate of the urn city is not on the west pass, and it is oblique to the southwest, and it is difficult for the cannon to hit. Moreover, the second gate is the main gate, which is stronger, and even if it is destroyed in vain. On all sides of the castle were prepared for defense, such as rolling logs, stones, firearms, and lime jars.

During the day and night, the streets were patrolled by infantry and cavalry. Every dusk, in addition to the official army going to the city, every household has Ding Zhuang going to the city, and the sound of bangs keeps knocking all night.

On the streets, at the intersections, on the walls of the various government offices, in front of the temples, and in the restaurants, the martial law notices of the chief military officer guarding Nanyang were posted everywhere. In the past few days, several spies who have infiltrated the city have been found (whether they are spies or not, no one knows), and they have been beheaded in the city, and their heads are hung in front of the government gate. As a general rule, this head should be hung outside the city gates. But now the city gate is closed, and the people cannot go out of the city or enter the city, so the heads are hung on both sides of the wall in front of the gate of the palace and the yamen, and they show the people in the city, so that every household in the city will no longer dare to harbor bad people. Although the prefect was vacant at that time, the outside of the prefect's yamen was still the lively center of the city.

The situation is indeed urgent, and in the past few days, Cao's army has gathered near Nanyang. In the east, from Bowang to Xinshanpu, until the east bank of the Baihe River, and from the north to the foot of Dushan, there are people and horses who have set up camp for the king, and the rangers often haunt four or five miles away from the city, and sometimes they suddenly enter two or three miles away from the city to reconnoitre. The road from Nanyang to Dengzhou, Zhenping and Xinye was cut off by the rangers who broke into the camp, so although the West Gate was still passable, people did not dare to go out of the city unless they had to do it because of an emergency.

Yesterday afternoon, it was suddenly rumored that Zuo Liangyu had a group of men and horses to Xinye, and the supervisor Ding Qirui also led the army to Dengzhou. The gentry, the military and the people in the city were skeptical. There was a great desire for the officers and soldiers to come to the rescue, so the news was surprisingly gratifying. But because of the years of war, and because they have long known that the officers and soldiers are afraid of the righteous army, although they heard that they are coming, it is still difficult to say whether it is true or not. In order to pray for the arrival of the officials and soldiers, many people, especially important local officials and gentry, went to the Fucheng God's Temple to burn incense and make wishes, and also went to the most famous Guandi Temple to burn incense and make wishes. The general army was as fierce as a tiger, and constantly sent people out of the city to investigate. According to the report of the spies, there was no trace of "thieves" from Wollongong to the bank of the Luan River, which was 30 miles away from the city. The local people said that the official army had indeed arrived in Dengzhou and Xinye to save Nanyang; Because there were a lot of officials and troops, all the men and horses of King Li Chuang retreated to the east of the Baihe River, and even the Dushan area, which was eighteen miles away from the city, became an empty camp. However, no one dared to go to the vicinity of Dushan to investigate, but from a distance, they saw that there was no longer a banner of the rebel army in the Dushan area.

The residents of the city did not dare to leave the city casually for a while. In the years of panic, people are panicked and suspicious. In the end, whether the rebels retreated or not, everyone continued to wait for news. After dusk, there were reports that Wollongong was going west, and it was indeed safe, so that some people began to go out of the west gate to the countryside to hide, and some people went to the city to send their families to the city. More people bring firewood and vegetables from nearby villages into the city.

Due to the slightly widened access control of the West City Gate, the hearts of the people in Nanyang Mansion began to relax slightly, and they all thought that the news that the army of Zuo Zhen and Ding Governor Division had arrived in Dengzhou and Xinye was probably true. However, the government is still very vigilant, continuing to check household registration, continuing to patrol, continuing to arrest spies, continuing to strictly prohibit rumors, and continuing to guard the city day and night. According to the experienced fierce tiger, the armies of Chuang and Cao continued unabated on the east bank of the Baihe River, and the siege of the city would not be spared. In order to help him hold on, he was about to forbid the gentry to flee out of the city, but a guest in the city made him feel embarrassed:

"Won't you let her leave at this time?"

In the big mansion of a rural eunuch in the west gate of Nanyang City, a quiet courtyard with three entrances is divided, and Zuo Liangyu's adopted daughter Zuo Mengmei lives. She lived in the upper room with the nurse Chen, two personal maids, four maids and two rough servants, and housekeeper Li and two hundred guards lived in the front yard. Horses tethered to the backyard. The palanquin driver and groom also live in the backyard.

On this day, the nurse Chen's mother brought good news, saying that there were rumors on the street that Li Zicheng's troops had withdrawn from the west of the city, and the left army and Lord Ding's men and horses had arrived in Xinye and Dengzhou. Miss Zuo listened, and was overjoyed. She has been here for a few days, and she has been very sad, and her days have been like years. She was anxious to go to Huguang to meet her adoptive father, and she was afraid that if she fell into the hands of the rebels, what would she do? Now that she knows that there is a chance to leave Nanyang, she is happier than anyone else. The girls also gathered around, some continued to ask Chen's mother about the news outside, and some persuaded the young lady to make up her mind quickly and leave Nanyang.

Chen's mother said again: "Steward Li has personally gone to Lord Meng to inquire about the news, and asked Lord Meng if Miss can take this opportunity to leave Nanyang and go to Huguang." As long as you wait for Steward Li to come back, you can make a decision. ”

Miss Zuo stood up, walked to the hanging scroll of the statue of Emperor Guan in the hall, burned incense and made a wish, asking Emperor Guan to bless her master and servants to leave Nanyang safely. Chen's mother and the girls also knelt on the ground and kowtowed to make a wish. After standing up, Chen's mother said to Miss Zuo:

"Miss, since the eleventh year of Chongzhen to now, you haven't seen our master for three years."

This sentence touched Miss Zuo's feelings, and she unconsciously shed two lines of tears, sighed, and said: "I hope that God and Emperor Guan will bless you and be able to leave Nanyang safely tomorrow morning." ”

While speaking, Steward Li hurriedly came in and reported to the young lady: "The Zhentai Yamen has received a report that there are no thieves on the way to Xinye, and Lord Mengzhen advises the young lady to leave for Xiangyang tomorrow morning, lest the situation change, and it will be too late to leave." ”

After a while, the fierce Chinese army came to convey his instructions, and sat down with Steward Li in the guest room in the front yard to talk. Zhongjun said that Lord Meng hoped that Miss would prepare quickly and leave Nanyang early tomorrow morning, and if there were any difficulties, he would handle them. Then they discussed together how to escort and find the sedan chair on their behalf. Miss Zuo herself had a two-seater sedan chair, which she and her nurse took. Now she still has to take eight sedan chairs for her maid and servant women. The Chinese army promised to do so, saying:

"This is easy to do, I will be known to Yao Zhi County, and I will quickly hire an eight-passenger sedan chair to send it tonight." I will naturally choose the person who carries the sedan chair honestly and reliable. ”

As for the escort soldiers, the Chinese army said that they could only send a hundred infantry to escort them, because the troops defending the city in Nanyang were insufficient, and if they sent too much, it would affect the defense of the city. After repeated requests from Steward Li, he agreed to add another hundred infantry.

After the Chinese army left, another chief military officer, Liu Guangzuo, came to see Steward Li in person. He passed by Nanyang more than ten days ago, and was left by the Tang King to help defend the city, although he had the rank of chief soldier, but he actually only had a thousand people. He was originally going to Huguang, but now he wants to take this opportunity to show some courtesy to Miss Zuo, so that Zuo Liangyu can take care of him in the future. He repaired a letter, asked Miss Zuo to bring it to Zuo Shuai, and promised to send fifty infantry to escort it. In this way, together with Miss Zuo's original 200 pro-soldiers, a total of 450 people escorted. Now that the rebel army has withdrawn to the east of the White River, there is no large force of bandits to Xinye, and with these four hundred and fifty people escorting, it is completely possible to arrive safely. If there were still bandits along the way, as long as they heard that it was the young lady of the Ping Thief General Zuo passing by, probably no one would dare to come out to intercept them.

After Liu Guangzuo resigned, Steward Li reported the situation to Miss Zuo. Miss Zuo felt very relieved and said, "Since there are more than 400 people escorting me, I don't think there will be any risks on the road." ”

But Chen's mother is still worried. She was afraid that after leaving Nanyang City, if she encountered an intruder, there would be too few escorts and horses, and she would escape temporarily, which would make the young lady fall into the hands of thieves. After she expressed her concerns, Miss Zuo thought for a moment and asked:

"Is there a fortune teller nearby?"

When Steward Li heard this, he withdrew, and after a while, he invited a fortune teller Sun Banxian from near the prefect's yamen. He first made a statement to the young lady, and then brought the fortune teller into the inner house. Miss Zuo asked through the curtain what the fortune teller used to divinate the hexagram. Sun Banxian replied:

"The mountain people are Qimen Dunjia, and the six wind horns are all-encompassing. Miss can do whatever she wants. However, in the meaning of the mountain people, the word dismantling is the simplest, you might as well ask the lady to say a word, let the mountain people disassemble and disassemble. ”

Miss Zuo thought for a moment and said the word "Chen".

Sun Banxian drew a few drawings on his left palm with his right index finger outside the curtain and asked, "What does Miss want to ask?" ”

Miss Zuo said, "Don't ask me, you can disassemble it yourself." ”

Sun Banxian blinked, pondered for a moment, and said, "I think what Miss wants to ask is whether she can leave Nanyang and go elsewhere." If you ask about it, the mountain people will be easy to disassemble. ”

Miss Zuo said, "You guessed it." Do you think tomorrow will go, auspicious or unlucky? ”

Sun Banxian said: "Walking, it is very auspicious, and it is better to leave early, and it is most auspicious to go at sunrise." ”

Chen's mother asked, "There was fog this morning. What if there is fog tomorrow morning? ”

Sun Banxian said: "If there is fog, it will be auspicious, it will be auspicious early, and if the fog disperses, it will be unlucky, and if you go late, the dragon will turn into a snake." ”

Miss Zuo asked, "How do you say this?" ”

Sun Banxian said: "This is easy to say. Chen is a dragon in the twelve zodiac signs. As the saying goes: the cloud is from the dragon, and the wind is from the tiger. The dragon can't leave the clouds. Going out of the city in the fog is a great opportunity for the dragon to see the head and the end. After the fog cleared, it was an hour late, and when it became Si, Si was a snake among the twelve genera. The dragon turned into a snake, of course, it is not as good as the dragon. Snakes walk on the ground and are at risk at any time. Therefore, the mountain people say that if you are early, it will be auspicious, and if you are late, it will be unlucky. In addition, adding the word "day" to the word "Chen" becomes the word "morning" in the morning, so it is best to leave at sunrise and leave in the morning. Shanren is a famous Sun Banxian in Nanyang City, and everyone knows it. If I say that it is auspicious, it will be auspicious, and if I say that it is not auspicious, it will not be auspicious. I have always been suspicious of others, and I never dared to tell half a lie, please don't hesitate Miss. ”

Miss Zuo felt relieved and said, "As long as we can reach Huguang safely, I will definitely send someone to Nanyang to find you and reward you heavily." ”

After that, he told the girl to give him two pieces of silver, and sent him away.

At this time, Princess Tang sent two maids to send gifts and snacks on the way. Tang Wang Xian had sent a letter to Zuo Liangyu, urging him to send troops to rescue, but there was no response. Now I hope that Miss Zuo will see her father as soon as possible and urge him to send troops to rescue, so she gave a generous gift.

After dinner, Yao Yunxi, the magistrate of Nanyang, personally sent eight small sedan chairs, each of which was two sedan chairs, all of whom were from the city. He also asked Miss Zuo to forward a letter jointly called for help by the officials and gentry of the city to General Ping.

At night, Miss Zuo went to bed early to prepare for the next morning, but because Chen's mother and Steward Li were busy sorting out all kinds of things with the servants, she couldn't sleep for a long time. She thought that since the death of her mother, Mrs. Zuo, she had lived in Kaifeng, except for the nurse and the girl who accompanied her, she could be regarded as unaccompanied, and now she was finally going back to Huguang and meeting her father, and she didn't feel tears on the pillow. Moonlight shines on the window paper. She stared at the moonlight with teary eyes, and her heart was so heavy that it became more and more difficult to sleep.

When the sky was dark, Miss Zuo and her party had already arrived at the West Gate. The general soldier was as fierce as a tiger and sent a Chinese soldier to see him off and take care of him out of the city. After the Chinese army called for the city gate to be opened, and after sending Miss Zuo and her party across the drawbridge, they repeatedly instructed the escorting officers and Steward Li to be careful on the road, and then retreated into the city. The gate was immediately locked, because the fog began to rise at this time, and Mr. Qian, who was stationed at the west gate, ordered that the gate not be opened until the fog cleared.

They walked eight miles along the bumpy road to Wollongong. By this time the sun had risen above the city, but the fog was thicker, and looking eastward, the sun was only pale white, and it was dim and invisible. Wollongong in front of it was also foggy, and only the shadow of a stone archway was seen across the intersection. Further on, the ridges of the trees were hidden in the fog. From the hill slope came the sound of bells and chimes and wooden fish; If you listen closely, the sound of chanting comes from the fog. The position is not high. Miss Zuo's sedan chair soon came to the halfway waist of Wollongong, where it was only a stone's throw away from the Wuhou Temple, and the houses could be seen a little more clearly, and the stone archway across the road could be seen more clearly. When the sedan chair passed here, Miss Zuo looked out of the sedan window, and saw that the archway was originally built quite simple, but it was quite tall, the archway was engraved with the four big characters of "the dragon of the ancient people", and a couplet was engraved on the stone pillar facing east in the front, which was used by Du Fu's verses: "Gong covers three parts of the country, and the name becomes the eight arrays." When the sedan chair turned through the archway, Miss Zuo saw from the sedan window the back of the archway, that is, the west-facing side, also engraved with a couplet: "Indifferent to Mingzhi, quiet to far." ”

Miss Zuo really wanted to go to the Wuhou Temple to have a look, but this thought only flashed in her heart, and she didn't make a sound, because she knew that the situation was very tight and didn't dare to delay here, and Sun Banxian's words of "Long Fei Yunwu can't do it" were still in her heart.

The sedan chair continued along the avenue south of the Wuhou Temple. The gate of the Wuhou Temple faces east, and a tiled house faintly emerges from the fog. To the west and north of the shrine is a large forest, but whether it is a pine tree or a cypress tree, I can't see it clearly, only that the forest can't see the edge. In the vicinity of the stone archway, there are two Taoist children grazing sheep on the side of the road. At this time, it was already early winter, and the grass had withered and yellowed, and the sheep ate the withered grass on the hillside, sometimes "bleating" a few times. There are already people setting up stalls on the side of the road. In addition to the incense table, there are also paper pigs and sheep on the stall, which are all things to repay wishes. In front of the mountain gate, there were also two Taoist boys, sweeping the fallen leaves on the road. After walking a few feet away, I saw some fires and human figures in the woods on the left side of the temple. Steward Li is a very alert person. He followed closely behind the palanquin and rode a horse. At this time, he asked the Taoist boy on the side of the road:

"Who's in the woods?"

The Taoist boy replied, "They are all hungry people." They could not go into the city yesterday, but they lived in the woods. ”

Miss Zuo saw this Taoist boy, with beautiful eyebrows and very handsome, about fifteen or sixteen years old, but because the sedan chair was walking fast, it passed at once. After walking a few steps, Miss Zuo couldn't help it, asked the sedan chair man to stop, and then asked Steward Li:

"Can I go to the Wuhou Temple to draw lots and make a wish?"

Steward Li replied respectfully: "Please Miss hurry up, take advantage of the fog to disperse, walk ten miles and twenty miles more, and answer Sun Banxian's words yesterday, which is a good omen." ”

Miss Zuo didn't insist when she heard it. The sedan chair continued to hurry to work. Wollongong, where the Wuhou Temple is located, is higher and higher the further west it goes, and the road is full of slow slopes for more than ten miles, and the road is bumpy. Because it is a loess gang, for many years, the big car goes back and forth, and the road is pressed into a deep ditch, which is called the big road ditch in Henan, and it is washed by the rain, and it is often very deep. In the middle of the two tracks, there is a ground more than a foot wide, which is slightly flattened by the hooves of the ox, and it is a pedestrian road. And the real pedestrian road is on the high ground next to the main road. The servants, the sedan chairs, the mules, and Miss Zuo's guards walked in the ditch of the road. Infantry sent from Nanyang walked along the main road. Walking to about fifteen miles away from Nanyang City, on the ridge of the gang, there is a section of the road ditch that is particularly deep, and there are twenty or thirty pairs of firewood burdens parked in it, blocking the road. Farmers carrying firewood are making a fire out of hay and roasting around it. When they saw the palanquin and the soldiers coming, they only cared about the fire and did not give way. The soldiers shouted and insulted, but the peasants who carried firewood still ignored them, but simply asked:

"Are the gates open today?"

The soldier scolded: "What city gate can't be opened, go quickly, don't get in the way!" When they saw that the peasants still wouldn't give way, they cursed and beat them. The peasants who sold firewood and grass suddenly jumped up and picked up their poles to fight back. An officer on horseback shouted: "It's the other way around! It's the other way around! But the peasants didn't care about the three, seven, twenty-one, and only bothered to beat them with flat poles. Because the road was narrow, the men and horses could not start a melee, and the officers and troops in front of them were caught off guard, and several of them had been defeated by the peasants.

At this moment, an urgent gong sounded from a deserted village a mile north of the road, and about 200 soldiers wearing "Chuang" uniforms rushed out of the village, shouting and rushing towards the main road. When the sedan chair drivers saw that it was the king's men and horses, they threw down the sedan chair early, climbed out of the road ditch, and escaped separately. Those who could not run out of the ditch were knocked down by the flat pole that came from the front. Although there were four or five hundred officers and soldiers escorting, as soon as they heard that King Chuang's men and horses were coming, Liu Guangzuo's soldiers fled first. The 200 soldiers of the fierce battalion still wanted to resist, and rescued Miss Zuo alone to return to the city, but unexpectedly, a shout also sounded from the vast white fog in the south, and a loud cry came:

"We are the men and horses of the king, leave the sedan chair and don't kill!"

The officers and soldiers of the Meng Battalion did not know how many intruders there were, and they were afraid that they would be surrounded and killed on all sides, so half of them also fled with the rout of the Liu Battalion. Miss Zuo's 200 guards are all pro-soldiers and family members that Zuo Liangyu raises on weekdays, and they are very loyal. At the critical moment, under the supervision of the guard officer and Steward Li, they did not break up, threw down the maid, the servant woman and the mule, lifted the two sedan chairs on which the young lady and the nurse were ridden by the palanquin drivers, and fought and retreated. Their archery skills were very good, causing the rebels to suffer constant casualties, and they themselves were wearing iron armor and bronze helmets, so the rebels' arrows did them little harm. Steward Li offered a heavy reward to all the officers and soldiers of the Zuo Battalion and the Mengying Battalion, asking them to return to Nanyang City, saying that as long as Miss Zuo could return to the city safely, the officers who were officers would be promoted to three levels, and those who were soldiers would be promoted to officers, and each of them would be rewarded with 50 taels of silver.

The rebels only had two or three hundred people, the second were infantry, and the third was afraid of hurting Miss Zuo and the nurse, so they were not very fierce. Those officers and soldiers who fled at the beginning of the battle encountered the rebels in ambush in the south and west, some were killed, some were captured, and most of them fled back and reunited with the officers and soldiers who had fought and retreated. Because one of them knew that there was no other way to escape, and the other heard the heavy reward called out by Steward Li, they all suddenly became brave.

Seeing that it was only more than a mile away from the Wuhou Temple, the rebel army behind it was no longer chasing. Steward Li began to feel a little relieved, and Lema went to Miss Zuo's sedan chair and said:

"Please don't be afraid, Miss, it's easy to go to the Wuhou Temple."

Steward Li and the guards had a common idea: in case another large group of thieves chased him, he would retreat into the Wuhou Temple, defend it by the wall, and wait for the rescue soldiers in the city to come.

As he walked, he encountered a large crowd of hungry people fleeing the famine, and frightened crowds, burdens, and small carts blocked the road. The escort officers of the left battalion took the lead, shouting loudly and at the same time waving their broadswords to clear the way. Don't beware of being knocked off a horse with a stick by a woman fleeing the famine. All the men and women of the victims suddenly changed drastically, shouting for killing, some wielding sticks, some pulling out swords and waist knives from their torn clothes, and slashing indiscriminately among the officers and soldiers.

Steward Li is skilled in martial arts and very brave. He did not live up to the important task entrusted to him by Zuo Liangyu a few months ago, and he desperately wanted to keep Miss Zuo. He led the remaining hundreds of guards of the left battalion and more than 100 soldiers of the fierce battalion to rush left and right, so as not to let the rebels take away the two sedan chairs, and continued to fight and walk towards the Wuhou Temple. The people who took over the sedan chair were all loyal servants of Zuofu, and they would not leave the sedan chair behind. If one is injured, another person immediately replaces him.

The male and female rebels disguised as refugees did not desperately snatch the sedan chair or block the way, but fought very flexibly to avoid unnecessary damage as much as possible. This gave Steward Li more opportunities to protect Miss Zuo and the nurse and fight and leave.

Steward Li had already suffered two minor injuries and was still driving ahead. Liu Qian, an officer of the fierce battalion, was in the rear to resist the pursuers.

The dense fog had mostly dissipated, and it was only half a mile away from the Wuhou Temple. A group of cavalry appeared in front, although it was only two hundred, but it was very neat, waving the "fierce" flag, lined up one by one, and came slowly. Steward Li shouted in his heart: "Okay! All right! The fierce handsome rescuers have arrived! He also saw that about two miles below Wollongong, there were hundreds of officers and soldiers, all of them were infantry, and only the officers were riding war horses, shouting and rushing westward, obviously the second group of rescuers had arrived.

Steward Li was less than a hundred paces away from the cavalry who came to him, and he clearly saw that the general led by him was very young and extremely handsome, and he was calmly taking off the strong bow from his back and putting on the feather arrow. The other cavalry also followed with bows and arrows. Steward Li shouted excitedly:

"Please shoot off the pursuers and protect the young lady into the city!"

Suddenly, all the arrows were fired together, and Steward Li was the first to fall from his horse, and the left army and the fierce army were hit by arrows one after another. Steward Li understood that the arrow was at stake, and he was about to die, but he still didn't understand what was going on, so he opened his eyes and looked at the handsome young general in front of him, and asked:

"Who are you?"

The young general replied in a contemptuous tone: "You can't think of it, do you? I, the female general of King Li Chuang, the red lady, is! ”

Steward Li trembled and pleaded, "Please don't hurt my young lady!" Then he died.

The people carrying the sedan chair were also hit by arrows, and the two sedan chairs fell to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the cavalry galloped near the palanquin and scattered the officers and soldiers who had lost their hearts.

In front of the young general, when he saw that the sedan chair drivers were dead or scattered, he said loudly: "Please Miss Zuo and the nurse don't panic." There are a lot of bandits on the road ahead, and I am here to protect you! ”

Mother Chen had already got out of the sedan chair, stood in front of the young lady's sedan chair, and said, "You killed me, you killed me, don't hurt the young lady!" ”

The young general on the horse said: "Please rest assured, mother, we are on the orders of King Chuang and Madame Gao, and we have come to greet each other with courtesy, and we will not hurt Miss or Mother." ”

Only then did Miss Zuo realize that she had become a prisoner of King Li Chuang. She threw away her fears and became haughty and composed. In terms of age, she is only fourteen or fifteen years old, but after all, she is the daughter of Jiangmen, with a strong personality, and she has also experienced some wars and chaos in the past few years, which is different from the young lady who was raised in the boudoir. She is not good at martial arts, but she also knows a little. When she left Nanyang this time, she wore a short sword, thinking that she was a weapon of self-defense, and she was ready to protect her innocence by committing suicide at any time. Now she has only one thought, that is, she will never live up to her adoptive father's education, she will never be humiliated, and she will only commit suicide as a last resort. She tried her best to keep her composure, walked out of the palanquin with a noble demeanor, and said:

"Why did you kill my steward and so many of my servants when you greeted me with courtesy?"

The young general replied: "This is a last resort, on the battlefield, it can only be so, please forgive me." The sedan driver has not yet been found, so please ask the young lady to ride on the livestock! ”

Miss Zuo said: "I am the daughter of today's famous generals, the body of a daughter, and I will never fall into the hands of thieves!" "If you suddenly pull out your dagger, you're going to kill yourself. Unexpectedly, a female soldier next to her who pretended to be a disaster victim was quick and snatched away the short sword.

Miss Zuo smiled coldly, as if she was confident.

The young general understood her smile and thought about it in his heart. At this time, two mules were brought in, and the saddles and stirrups were complete. The young general glanced at a cadet military academy and said:

"You hold Miss Zuo and ride on the mule, if there is a mistake, the military law of the king will not be allowed!" He also commanded, "You go back to the lady's camp first, and I will wait for Zhang Nai and Huimei." ”

Miss Zuo didn't want to get on the mule, but the junior military academy couldn't say anything, she jumped on the mule first, and then bent down and grabbed Miss Zuo's two shoulders with her hands, and didn't need help from others, just mentioned it lightly, as if she didn't use any force, so she lifted Miss Zuo to the mule, put it in her arms, and hugged her tightly. Chen's mother saw that Miss Zuo had been put on the big green mule, and she hurried to another mule.

Miss Zuo never expected to get on the mule like this. She thought that she was a young lady, and it was a great insult to her to be held in the arms of a young thief in public. She struggled and tried with all her strength to break free from one of the arms that held her, and threw herself to the ground to die, but the hand that held her was so powerful that no matter how much she struggled, it was useless. When the mule had gone some way, she suddenly wondered if the soldier who was holding her was not a real man, but she looked at the right hand that was holding the reins, and it was as strong as a man's hand, and the middle and index fingers were calloused and very thick. She concluded that "he" was indeed a young thief, and a feeling of insult came over her.

When the scuffle was going on, 500 men and horses were patrolling around the outside of the city, and they heard the people saying that there were shouts of killing in Wollongong, and they rushed towards it. But when they arrived at the post, they saw that there were many cavalry in front of the Wuhou Temple, and the killing sound in the west had stopped, so they were afraid of suffering a loss, so they quickly retreated to the city.

The two young generals in front of the Wuhou Temple in Wollongong immediately followed, one was Zhang Nai and the other was Huimei. They each led a hundred cavalry, and the women were all dressed as men. Seeing the officers and soldiers from the city walking to the front of the post and retreating, they did not chase after them, and hurried to meet the red lady. After meeting, they knew that Miss Zuo had received it, and they didn't delay much, leaving only Zhang Nai and his cavalry to stand on Wollongong, just in case a fierce man came to chase after him, and the Red Lady and Huimei led the female soldiers to gallop north.

Five or six miles north of Wollongong, there is a continuous ridge. Between the two high hills, there is a deep and wide valley. On the north side of the valley, that is, on the southern slope of the high hill to the north, on the leeward side, there was a very dilapidated village, in which seven or eight out of ten houses had either been burned down or had collapsed because they had been uninhabited for a long time. The village is sparsely populated and desolate. After dusk the day before yesterday, more than a thousand men and horses of the king suddenly came, all cavalry, both men and women, quietly hiding here, and the common people were not allowed to leak the news. Because in this hilly area far away from the official road, the official army rarely comes to the official army, and the righteous army rarely comes, so when they saw this unaware group of people and horses suddenly came, even the local people felt surprised. If it is to attack Nanyang, there is no need to station troops here; If you want to cut off the road from Nanyang to Dengzhou and Xinye, you don't have to come here. In this area, Wollongong and Xindian to the west of Gang are important places to cut off the avenue, and it is six or seven miles away from Wollongong and twenty miles away from Xindian!

After the rebels arrived, they immediately set up many military tents and horse sheds outside the village, and at the same time took out some miscellaneous grain and silver money to help the people in the village. Because there is a high hill in the southeast of this valley, whether you look at it from the head of Nanyang City or from Wollongong, you can't see the military camp here.

Miss Zuo was held hostage on a big green mule, and she didn't know where these people were going to send her. Along the way, she thought that no matter where she was sent, she would be insulted, and she would rather die under the blade than be humiliated. How can the daughter of a dignified thief general be a thief? Halfway through, she gazed at the stones emerging from the loess several times, thinking that if she could get down from the mule and touch her head on the stones, she would die instantly. Once, taking advantage of the slight weakness of the left hand that had been holding her tightly, she swooped down on the side of the road, and was about to plant herself on the stone, but she did not expect the "thief" boy to be so swift, and suddenly he put her on the saddle again, and held her more tightly in his arms, so that she could not struggle. She tried to bite the hand with her teeth, but the hand was wrapped around her waist and prevented her from biting. She was very angry, but there was nothing she could do. But I think, no matter where I go, there is always a chance to die anyway.

The big green mule carried her up to the top of the hill, and when she looked down, she saw the villages and tents in the valley. What surprised her was that the tent was very neat, some people practiced martial arts in the open field, and a few people collected firewood in the valley, and the whole camp was very quiet. At all intersections, including those far away, there were people on guard, and the military was cleaned up. Before she was ten years old, she had traveled many places with her adoptive father's army, and had seen many people's barracks, and now she felt that although this barracks were not large, they were so neat that they surpassed the barracks of the officers and soldiers she had seen, and they could be compared with the barracks of her adoptive father. Suddenly, she suspected that King Chuang lived in this place, and many legends about King Chuang suddenly appeared in her mind. She had heard that King Chuang was killing people and plundering everywhere, but judging from the military camp in front of her, it didn't look like a rabble. She also heard that King Chuang's name should be "The Chronicles", and he wants to compete with the current emperor, look at the serious appearance of this military camp, is he really different from the ordinary "thief"? Of course, even if he is different from the ordinary "thief", he is still a "thief" after all, she is the adopted daughter of the general of the Ming Dynasty, and her own father is also the deputy chief military officer, she must not lose her integrity in front of Li Zicheng, nor can she lose her identity. Maybe Li Zicheng will kill her to vent her personal anger, if so, she will not flinch and let the "thief" kill her. If Li Zicheng was a womanizer, she would also scold the "thief" and die, and she would never be humiliated. If Li Zicheng neither killed her nor raped her, she asked to let her go back to Nanyang as soon as possible; If she is not released, she will die in front of Li Zicheng, and she will scold him for committing chaos and bringing disaster to the country and the people. ……

Miss Zuo just thought about it all the way, and she couldn't figure out a clue in her heart. The big green mule had already walked down the high post, into the valley, and to the front of the barracks. There seemed to be a dozen people waiting there, and when she saw that they were all dressed up girls, she wondered: how could there be so many girls here? She knows that there are many palace maids in the emperor, there are three palaces and six courts, could it be that Li Zicheng also has so many concubines now? Or is he ready to be the emperor and has already selected many palace maids? As soon as these questions flashed in my mind, a tall and tall girl in military uniform led by a tall girl in military uniform greeted her with a smile on her face and said:

"Miss is frightened, please get off the mule. I am here to welcome my sisters at the behest of my wife. ”

Miss Zuo did not answer, she was in a state of confusion, and the "young man" behind her had already lifted her off the saddle, gently placed her on the ground, and then jumped down herself, and was about to pull her to meet the tall girl. When the "boy's" hand was about to take her arm, she shook it and scolded angrily:

"Thief boy, Hugh has to be rude to me!"

The "young man" riding the green mule was coldly robbed by her, unconsciously turned to the tall girl, and said embarrassedly:

"Sister Ying, she said I was a 'brat'."

The tall girl smiled, took the hand of the "young man" and said, "You are no weaker than a boy in the two armies." Yo, what's wrong with the back of your left hand? ”

The "boy" twisted the corners of his mouth to Miss Zuo and said, "She dug it with her fingernails!" ”

"Look, it's dug up, it's still bleeding, go get the medicine!"

Miss Zuo felt dazed, and then found that the "young man" had holes in his ears, just like the girls who came to greet him. Listen to her voice again, and the voice of a girl is also the voice of a girl, and the eyes that look at her are also the eyes of a girl. Although she is relatively large, she still walks like a girl. So she suddenly felt in her heart that she no longer hated this "boy" who rode a green mule, and she could even say that she had a good impression.

Mother Chen had already come down from the other mule, watching the situation, and thinking about it, when she asked the tall girl, "Who are you?" ”

The tall girl replied: "I am Huiying, a female soldier beside Mrs. Chuangwang, and I am here to welcome Miss on the orders of Mrs. Chuang." ”

Chen's mother asked, "Who is stationed here?" Is King Chuang here? ”

Hui Ying replied: "King Chuang is not here, only the lady is here with the pro-army, waiting to meet the young lady." ”

"Why did you rob my young lady here?"

"To save you young lady."

"What? We are going to Huguang in a good way, and you have robbed this place, and you said that we rescued us! ”

Huiying smiled: "Mom doesn't know, you were trapped in Nanyang, and you immediately broke through the city, and the jade was burned, and the young lady will inevitably not be hurt in the chaos." So King Chuang discussed with his wife that he must rescue the young lady. How to save the law, our Song Junshi thought of a clever plan. We all knew about your young lady's departure from the city. We invited you out of the city according to the clever plan of the Song army. ”

When Miss Zuo and Chen's mother heard this, they suddenly understood. Chen's mother said: "So far, we have no other ideas. You must know that my young lady is the daughter of Jiangmen, a daughter, and you must not be rude to her. ”

Huiying said: "Please rest assured that we will treat each other with courtesy." ”

Miss Zuo couldn't help but ask again: "Since you are afraid that I will not be safe and sound in Nanyang City, why don't you send someone to my residence to protect me after the city is broken?" Why do you have to earn me out of the city, and kill my stewards and my own soldiers? ”

Huiying said: "Miss doesn't know, it is not only our old camp that will attack Nanyang City in the future. ”

"What old man?"

Huiying smiled unconsciously and said, "The old camp is our camp. Attacking Nanyang, there are also Cao Ying's men and horses. Our men and horses who broke into the camp can protect Miss, in case it is too late, Cao Ying's men and horses arrived at Miss's house first, wouldn't it be bad? Therefore, King Chuang and the military adviser planned to rescue the young lady before the siege of the city. ”

Miss Zuo asked again, "What are your plans for sending me here?" ”

Huiying said: "I heard that my wife said that I only ask the young lady to stay with my wife for a while, and stay for a short time." ”

Miss Zuo was skeptical. Chen's mother listened to Huiying's words and felt a little relieved. She felt that in the current situation, as long as the young lady could not be humiliated and killed, it was already a big fluke, and as for how to leave here and return to Huguang in the future, it could only be discussed. At the same time, she felt that Huiying had a generous attitude, dignified manners, and was very polite to Miss Zuo and her. Thinking of this, she asked tentatively:

"You are really the leader of the female soldiers next to King Chuang?"

Huiying smiled again, seemed to guess Chen's mother's thoughts, and said, "Why doesn't Mom still believe it?" To tell the truth, I am indeed a female soldier next to my wife, and if Miss Zuo and her mother have anything to do in the future, or encounter any small difficulties, just tell me. I know the people up and down in this old camp, and everyone doesn't treat me as an outsider. Because I am in charge of things in front of my wife, people say that I am the leader of my wife's female soldiers, but in fact, my wife did not seal me like this. In any case, if you have any difficulties in the future, you can find me. ”

At this time, Huijian had hurriedly finished the medicine and walked back, and Chen's mother pointed at her again and asked, "Who is she?" She was very powerful, she really looked like a boy, but her eyes were much more beautiful than those of a boy, and her lips were not like a boy. ”

Huijian chuckled, a little embarrassed. Hui Ying replied, "She used to be a female soldier next to our wife, and now she is a leader in the camp of healthy women. Her brother was an important leader in the old camp. Female soldiers are also called healthy women in our country. You see, these girls behind you wearing 'fierce' clothes are all female soldiers under our sister. ”

Chen's mother said: "Oh, I have been suspicious in my heart, and sure enough, it is all women!" ”

Huiying said again: "Madame is waiting in the big tent, please Miss Zuo and her mother to come in and meet." ”

Miss Zuo felt pain and limped suddenly after walking a few steps because her thigh was worn by a wooden saddle. Huijian hurriedly supported her. She didn't refuse, but leaned back on Huijian's arm. Hui Jian and Hui Ying remembered the scene when she shook her hand after getting off the mule just now, and unconsciously exchanged a smiling look.

After Li Zicheng robbed Zuo Mengmei into the army, three days later, he and Luo Rucai came from Ye County to Nanyang City, and wrote a letter to persuade the fierce tiger to surrender the city.

But he said that he was as fierce as a tiger, and he was not greedy for life and afraid of death. Three years ago, he was implicated in the crime, was stripped of his military position by the imperial court, and was idle at home, depressed and bored. Yang Sichang knew that he had the talent of a general, and last year he specially recommended to Emperor Chongzhen to use him and lead troops into Sichuan to fight. Because Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, Li Guoqi and other generals are arrogant and domineering, and it is not easy to control, although there are many other commanders and deputy generals who command the army, one is not highly qualified, and the other is not a general, so he relies on the fierce tiger and appoints him as the "thief president". He was grateful to Yang Sichang for his kindness and vowed to repay him with death. On the 13th day of the first month of this year, he led a small number of troops to intercept the Zhang and Luo coalition forces in Huangling City, Kaixian County, Sichuan. His son Meng Xianjie, generals Liu Shijie and Guo Kai were killed in battle, and the whole army was wiped out, and he himself was rescued by his own generals. Zhang Xianzhong took advantage of the victory out of Sichuan and broke Xiangyang. After Yang Sichang committed suicide, he was as fierce as a tiger and suddenly lost his backing, and Ding Qirui was in moderation, which was very unpleasant. A month ago, because the Tang King was in a hurry, the imperial court transferred him from Huguang to Nanyang as the chief guard of Nanyang.

Li Zicheng was relatively strong in defense of Nanyang, and he didn't want to damage the siege soldiers more, knowing that he would not surrender if he was as fierce as a tiger, he still adopted the method of saluting first and then soldiering, and shot a book to persuade him to surrender. Therefore, Nanyang was besieged for three days before the siege began.

Li Zicheng ordered Zhang Nai and Black Tiger Star to bombard the south gate with six cannons, destroying half of the city tower and many battlements, and opening a gap in the high part of Moon City. Fierce as a tiger, he returned fire with artillery, and sometimes sent small groups of soldiers down the city at night to harass the rebels. After two days of fighting, there were casualties on each other. Suddenly, it was rumored that the governor Ding Qirui led a large army from Suizhou to rescue Nanyang, and had reached the north of the Tang River, and the forbidden brigade of the eunuch Liu Yuanbin followed. Li Zicheng wanted to surround and eat Ding Qirui, and suddenly ordered the main force to evacuate Nanyang and go to the Tang River to catch big fish. Ding Qirui blindly avoided the battle and quickly retreated in the direction of Zaoyang. Li Zicheng pounced and returned to Nanyang again, and it was already early November.

Li Zicheng bombarded the city and above with artillery, killing and wounding many soldiers and civilians, and destroying many houses. After three days of shelling, the soldiers and civilians defending the city were disheartened. Due to the high terrain in the northwest corner of the city, the rebels built three forts on high places overnight and placed cannons, two of which were Western cannons captured in the Battle of Xiangcheng. By the fifth watch on the fourth day of November, there were cannon shots on all sides of Nanyang City, which caused several fires in the city, and some bullets were fired into the city. Although the lethality of this kind of loud bomb was not strong, the soldiers and civilians of Nanyang had not experienced such an artillery battle at that time, and its huge sound caused them unimaginable horror. When the sun emerged from the east, the cannons in the northwest corner of the city began to bombard, and the two Western cannons exerted their great power, knocking the city wall to the ground. Yao Yunxi, the magistrate of the county, was prostrating himself on the north city and led Ding Zhuang to defend it, seeing that the northwest corner of the city wall was about to be breached, he wanted to escape from the city, but as soon as he raised his head, he was knocked to the ground by a stray bullet, struggled for a while, and soon died. When the soldiers and civilians in the city saw that Zhixian was killed, they were even more frightened and fled for their lives. The two thousand infantry of the rebels, who had been prepared behind the mound, suddenly rushed out and entered the city from the collapse of the city walls with a shout. Some of the rebels killed the soldiers and civilians who could not escape from the city, and some occupied the north gate and let the cavalry and infantry into the city. For a time, all the gates were occupied by the rebels.

After the rebels entered the city, the men and horses of the fierce tiger and Liu Guangzuo had collapsed, some were killed in the city, and some were killed in the streets and alleys. Liu Guangzuo's whereabouts are unknown, some say he died in the chaos, others say he took advantage of the chaos to escape from the city. Fierce as a tiger came down from Xicheng, there were only more than 200 people around him, fighting in the streets, and fleeing towards the Tang Palace, wanting to resist for a while with Miyagi. Before he arrived at Tang Wang's Mansion, there were only a few people left around him. His horse was suddenly struck by an arrow, which threw him to the ground. He had already suffered several wounds, covered in blood, and neither surrendered nor committed suicide, but still walked towards the Tang Palace. There was still a stone's throw away from the palace gate, and suddenly from both ends of the street came the rebels who broke into the king. He knew that there was no way to escape, so he knelt down to the north, kowtowed, and gasped in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty, the power of the ministers has been exhausted!" ...... "He had just stood up when a group of volunteers came to his side. He was about to raise the knife with his weak right hand to resist, but he was stabbed in the center by a shot, and he fell down on the spot, **, and died in a pool of blood.

The sporadic resistance in the city has stopped, but the killing continues......

About an hour later, Li Zichengcai and Luo Rucai set off from the camp south of Dushan. Luo Rucai took the military advisor Ji Qi and a group of personal soldiers and generals to enter the city directly from the north gate, while Li Zicheng made a detour to enter the city from the east gate. He was accompanied by Liu Zongmin, Song Xiance, Niu Jinxing, Li Yan, Wu Ruyi, Li Shuangxi, and Li Qiang. Li Qiang has been promoted to the Chinese Guard, and his status is much higher than when he was the leader of the pro-army last year. Now, Li Zicheng and his entourage are escorted by Li Qiang with 200 personal soldiers before and after, and they go to the east gate majestically. Along the way, Li Zicheng unconsciously remembered that in the past, whenever he broke through a city, he often followed the vanguard troops, wielding a sword, and rushed into the city gate. And since the breakthrough of Luoyang, he no longer needs to risk arrows and stones, make white blades, and go to the danger in person. Entering Luoyang, it was the first time in his life that he adopted the ceremony of entering the city, and in the welcome of the people, he entered the city majestically and majestically. At that time, he rode on the oolong horse, and for the first time thought of the future founding of the country, the country name can be used "Dashun". Now Nanyang was conquered after a bloody battle, and there were many killings, so it can't be as big as when he entered Luoyang. However, the time to enter the city and the gate from which to enter the city should not be sloppy. Long before the attack on Nanyang, Song Xiance had already used the method of divination and decided to enter the east gate at three o'clock. Only by entering the city from the east gate at this time can we avoid evil and be lucky.

When they arrived at the east gate, Cao Cao and Ji Jue and Gu Ying were already there to greet them. Tian Jianxiu was dealing with all the things in the city, and he couldn't be separated, so Gu Ying came to greet him on his behalf. Cao Cao's idea of entering the north gate and then coming from the city to the east gate to meet King Chuang was Ji Jue's idea. Since Zhang Xianzhong's army was defeated and surrendered, after Cao Cao suggested that he be let go, gossip often spread among the generals of the camp, saying that the generalissimo had fallen into Cao Cao's hands, so Ji Jue often persuaded Cao Cao to try to be as humble as possible, so that the king of Chuang believed that Cao Cao had no intention of fighting with him, and he had no intention of leaving the camp. Cao Cao followed Ji Jue's advice and did it very naturally. Today, he lowered his status to be similar to that of a general, and came to the east gate to greet him first with Ji Jue, Gu Ying and others.

When Li Zicheng came to the east gate, he was very happy to see Cao Cao and Ji Jue, as well as several important generals of Cao Ying, who were immediately greeted at the city gate.

There is still a fire inside the east gate, and some houses are still burning. The gate tower had been destroyed by cannons, and the bricks and rubble had fallen to the ground. There are dead bodies everywhere in the streets, and there are many seriously injured people who are not dead, and they are sending out **. Blood flowed to the ground, congealed into ice. Others were leaning against the wall, which was also stained with blood. This scene shocked Li Yan, who was following King Chuang. Even though he had revolted a year earlier, it was the first time he had seen a killing like this. Of course, he knew very well that since ancient times, the method of slaughtering cities has been used to punish those who resist, but in the past he had only heard of it, only seen it in books, but now he had seen it himself. He was very sad, but he looked at the people around him and saw that their faces were full of joy of victory, and there was no one like him.

Ji Jue also saw all this, but he concealed his true thoughts in his heart, and immediately said to Li Zicheng:

"Today, the generalissimo entered the city from the east gate, which is what the ancients called 'purple gas from the east', which is really the blessing of all the people in Nanyang!"

When Li Zicheng heard this, he felt very happy at first, nodded to Ji Jue again and again, and then realized that there was a mockery in his words, and he didn't feel a secret hatred, but he couldn't bear it, just smiled indifferently.

They stepped on the blood stains and walked towards the gate of the Tang Palace. When Li Zicheng saw the corpse of the fierce tiger, he inquired about the killing of the fierce tiger, praised Meng in his heart as a brave person, and then ordered to find a coffin to bury the fierce and put it in the Guandi Temple near the palace, so as not to be eaten by wild dogs. The four gates of the palace city have been guarded by Gu Ying, and idlers are not allowed to enter, and they will set fire to them when they only want to transport their belongings. Li Zicheng dismounted at the Duanli Gate, walked into the palace city, and looked around. There were also many corpses in the palace, and most of the male corpses were killed, lying on the ground; Most of the female corpses were found in the house and in the back garden, apparently hanged in fear during the breach of the city, or drowned in the pool. The king of Tang was hiding in the stone cave behind the rockery in the back garden, and he had been found by the rebels and tied to the red lacquer pillar of the Qin'an Palace, waiting for the king to interrogate him. Zicheng looked at it with great contempt, and said to Gu Ying, who was following behind: "No need to interrogate, just cut it off." Gu Ying immediately ordered someone to pull King Tang to the door of the Qilin Pavilion and behead him. It just so happened that there was a dog there who was killed in a street battle, and the corpse of King Tang and the corpse of the dog were lying at the bottom of the stone steps of the Qilin Pavilion. Li Zicheng gave a few more instructions to Gu Ying, especially how to take care of and check the treasury of the palace, and then leave the palace. The soldiers had already led the horses from outside the palace to wait outside the Donghua Gate.

After getting on the horse, he looked back at the palace and looked at the towering stone rockery in the back garden. Although this palace and rockery are not as magnificent and magnificent as the Fuwang Palace in Luoyang, they are also worthy of being the prince's mansion. Li Zicheng said to Niu, Song, etc.:

"Sealing kings everywhere and building palaces, I don't know how many people's fat and people's ointment have been exhausted!"

Niu Jinxing said: "In the Tang Dynasty of the past dynasties, there were many prostitutes, and the people hated them. This rockery, the people call it Wangfu Mountain. Legend has it that the last two generations of Tang kings, who had nothing to do, climbed the rockery, and saw who in the city married a daughter-in-law, so he sent someone to block the sedan chair, snatched the bride into the palace, and only released it out of the palace after two days. Therefore, all counties in Nanyang are worshipping in the church during the day, only in the city of Nanyang and the suburbs, they are married after dusk, in order to be afraid of being seen by the Tang King on the rockery. ”

Li Zicheng asked, "Is that really the case?" ”

Niu Jinxing smiled and said: "The absurdity of the Tang kings in the past dynasties is true, as for this legend, it is nothing more than to show that his people are very angry. In fact, the ancients worshiped the church and married at night, and later some places changed to daytime, and Nanyang City still has ancient wind ears. ”

Cao Cao suddenly asked Gu Ying, "Zijie, have you forgotten what I told you?" ”

Gu Ying said with a smile: "What the general ordered me to do, how dare I forget." When I entered the palace, many palace maids had already escaped from the palace, some died in the streets, and some hid in the people. I found some, selected a dozen or so handsome, and handed them over to Sun Shenzu, and asked him to send troops to escort him out of the city, waiting in the north of the city first, and then sending them to the general's camp. ”

Cao Cao nodded and said, "It's a pity that I didn't see the princess, the princess may be very handsome." ”

Gu Ying said: "The princess is old, although there are some young ones, but they have escaped, I don't know where they died, and some committed suicide. ”

Li Zicheng asked, "Zijie, have you seen Sun Benxiao?" ”

Gu Ying said: "Sun Benxiao was killed a few days ago. ”

"How was it killed?"

"Ever since we kidnapped Miss Zuo, Fierce as a Tiger has felt strange: why are we so accurate? So he sent people out to investigate. Later, someone told me that we were stationed in the Baitugang area last winter, and Sun Benxiao had come to see the generalissimo. Someone also told that the day before Miss Zuo left, Sun Benxiao was invited to tell the hexagram, and someone in Xichengtou held the lantern three times when guarding the city that night. Fierce as a tiger first found out the person who held the lantern, after being caught, tortured, confessed to Sun Benxiao, so that Sun Benxiao was caught, and he was beheaded at the intersection a few days ago. ”

Li Zicheng sighed after hearing this: "It's a pity! Pity! ”

They went to the prefect's yamen again to take a look. Li Zicheng instructed Gu Ying a few words, and then left the city from the north gate and returned to the old camp south of Dushan.

A few days later, Tian Jianxiu had already dealt with all the things in Nanyang City and demolished the city wall. On the one hand, Li Zicheng threatened to enter Shaanxi from Wuguan, and on the other hand, he divided his troops into four directions, attacked Dengzhou, Neixiang, Zhenping, Tanghe, Miyang and other prefectures and counties, collected grain, mules and horses, and prepared a large amount of gunpowder. After Laba, the ninth day of December is an auspicious day of the zodiac, and the armies of Chuang and Cao left the Nanyang area, divided into several roads, and marched to Kaifeng. The people along the road came to deliver food to the army. In some places, before the rebels arrived, the people had already opened the city gates, tied up the magistrate, and came to welcome the surrender. Everyone said that if you go to Kaifeng, you will definitely break the city, because there has never been such a large army to besiege this ancient city. Everyone is waiting to hear the news that Kaifeng has been breached, and waiting to see what big moves Li Zicheng will make after breaking Kaifeng.