CHAPTER XXXIX

Li Zicheng ordered the battalions to march around Kaifeng, and sent another group of men and horses led by Tian Jianxiu to go straight to the west, passing through Zhongmu, capturing Zhengzhou, Xingyang, Xinzheng, and Changge counties, cutting off Kaifeng's west road to help, and at the same time collecting grain and grass for the army of Chuang and Cao. Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai and their old battalions set off from the outskirts of Chenliu City a day after the departure of the battalions and their old battalions. They agreed in advance that the two old battalions would be stationed in Yanli Village, about 20 miles west of Kaifeng City, but the two old battalions set off late, and it was dusk not far from Zhuxian Town. Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai decided that the two old camps would stop outside Zhuxian Town to rest and rest because of the hot and humid weather, and that the five drums would continue to hurry tomorrow while the weather was cool, while a large number of mule and horse transport teams, ox carts and carts transporting grain and various military materials would leave for half a day early, and walk in front under the protection of thousands of elite infantry and cavalry, and have already turned northwest through Zhuxian Town, stopping near Xinghua Camp at dusk.

As soon as the old camp stopped to rest near Zhuxian Town, someone under Luo Rucai got an unconfirmed piece of news and quickly reported to Cao Cao that Xiao Yuanying had escaped from Qi County. Cao Cao was taken aback at first, but then he felt that it might not be believable. Yuan Shizhong and Li Zicheng were not of the same mind, which he and Ji Jue had long understood in their hearts, but Yuan Shizhong's rebellion became so fast, it was indeed unexpected by them. Even the resourceful Ji Jue thought that the news of Yuan Shizhong's escape was not very credible, and whispered:

"Xiao Yuan's battalion of 30,000 troops, suddenly the whole battalion fled, without leaking a little wind in advance, it's really strange! In my opinion, this absurd believer is very unreliable, and it is strictly forbidden to gossip in our camp. ”

Cao Cao pondered for a moment and said: "It turns out that the two of us privately said that King Chuang was smart and confused for a while, and after listening to Lao Song's idea, he broke up the marriage of a pair of good duanduan, and forced Huimei to marry Yuan Shizhong. You're waiting in the camp for news, I'll go to Zicheng right now. ”

Ji Jue said: "If King Chuang has not received the report, please do not inquire, lest you be suspected of knowing in advance." ”

Cao Cao smiled and said, "I don't lack a heart and eye than others. ”

In Li Zicheng's old camp, someone just heard that Xiao Yuanying had escaped from Qi County, but no one believed it, so he never told King Chuang to know. The news only reached the ears of Wu Ruyi of the Chinese army. He thought that Yuan Shizhong had recently won the love of King Chuang, and he and Huimei were also husband and wife, so there was no reason why he would suddenly rebel. Although there was some gossip and not enough harmony between the soldiers of the old mansion and the little Yuan camp in Shangqiu, Yuan Shizhong was very loyal recently, engraved thousands of small songs, and ordered the soldiers of the whole battalion to recite them, and those little mustards have been completely eliminated. Isn't it ridiculous to suddenly rumor that Yuan Shizhong led his entire battalion to escape now? Could it be that Huimei can agree? He suspected that this rumor came from Cao Ying, and immediately secretly ordered that he was not allowed to talk about this matter in the old camp, and at the same time, he was not in a hurry to report to King Chuang, and only sent someone to Qixian to find out. King Chuang had an all-night military meeting yesterday, and he never closed his eyes, and today he was busy with many official affairs, and then he marched here, and he was really tired, and he rested early after dinner.

When Luo Rucai came, Li Zicheng fell asleep. When Wu Ruyi heard that the general was coming, he hurried out to greet him. Only then did you know that Zicheng had just fallen asleep, so you didn't let Ruyi be alarmed, and only asked Ruyi:

"Ziyi, is there any new military information?"

Wu Ruyi said: "There is no new military situation, general. ”

Ru Cai asked again: "Our two old camps will continue to go to Yan Li Village early tomorrow morning?" ”

"Yes, Cao Shuai. The generalissimo did not have any new orders, and naturally continued to do what he had planned. Is there anything urgent for Cao Shuai to come to see the generalissimo? Do you want me to wake him up? ”

"Don't wake up King Chuang. Since there is no new situation in Kaifeng, it is natural to follow the original plan. Luo Rucai deliberately mentioned Kaifeng to avoid Wu Ruyi from being suspicious in the future, he knew in advance that Yuan Shizhong had escaped from Qi County.

Wu Ruyi was really suspicious and asked, "What news did Cao Shuai hear?" ”

Luo Rucai smiled and said casually: "I think that the civil and military officials in Kaifeng City know that we are here to besiege Kaifeng, and they will also guess that we must start to harvest wheat in the suburbs first." Their best strategy was to send 20,000 or 30,000 officers and soldiers to train their courage and set up a fortress outside the city, one so that our army could not freely harvest wheat in the suburbs, and the other was to protect Ding Zhuang in the city to go out of the city to grab wheat. So I thought I couldn't rest assured, and I came to see the generalissimo in person and asked if there was anything new. If the city had sent troops to camp in the suburbs, we would have been able to send men by surprise tonight to rob the camp. If not, it won't be troublesome, and I'll go back to sleep in the tent. Damn, the civil and military officials in Kaifeng are all straw bales! ”

After sending Luo Rucai out of the camp gate, and watching him and his relatives get on the horse, Wu Ruyi returned to his tent and quickly fell asleep, so that he could get up before five drums tomorrow.

About midnight, Wu Ruyi was woken up by the soldiers on duty at night, and saw Li Yan standing in the candlelight, his face was serious. This was something that had never happened before, and he could not help but be greatly surprised, and he jumped to his feet, and quickly asked:

"Lin Quan, what's the emergency?"

Li Yan leaned close to his ear and whispered two or three words, not letting the soldiers next to him hear. Wu Ruyi was shocked and said:

"Wait a minute, I'll hurry up and wake up King Chuang."

"I have to wake up King Chuang quickly and decide on a way immediately."

Now that the situation is getting bigger, a large military tent is always set up in the camping place of Xingyuan, which is used as a place for Li Zicheng and his civil and military dignitaries to discuss matters, and sometimes he reads, works, and stays here after the discussion. There was only a brief meeting tonight, and then Li Zicheng took care of some official business, and then went to rest in Mrs. Gao's tent in the back. Outside Mrs. Gao's sleeping tent, there was a female soldier and a middle-aged servant woman on duty at night. In the past year or so, there is no longer a fear that officials and soldiers will come to steal camps and rob villages, and female soldiers are sent to be on duty at night in order to call and convey someone at any time. Now in addition to a large group of female soldiers around Mrs. Gao, there are also more than a dozen middle-aged servant women who are in charge of rough envoys, most of whom are selected from the wives of the old camp and pro-army, and they all have horses to ride when they march. Whenever the king stayed in Mrs. Gao's tent, an older servant woman was added to the night duty, so that it would be convenient to enter the tent once something happened. Wu Ruyi hurriedly came to the door of Mrs. Gao's dormitory, and ordered the female soldiers and servants on duty to quickly wake up the generalissimo, saying that he had an urgent report. The servant woman exchanged a look with the female soldier next to her, did not dare to slack off, turned around and walked into the tent, and woke up King Chuang.

No matter how tired Li Zicheng is, he is always very alert when he sleeps at night, and when something calls him, he wakes up as usual, opens his eyes violently, sits up tigerly, and never sleeps and hesitates. Now he didn't know what was going on, so he quickly put on his clothes and walked out of the tent with his shoes on. Mrs. Gao was awakened by him, and quickly raised her head from the pillow and listened attentively.

Wu Ruyi waved his hand to make the female soldiers and servants retreat, and approached Li Zicheng's ear to report that Xiao Yuanying had escaped from Qi County. Zicheng's face changed, and he whispered angrily, "Fuck, there is such a thing? …… No conscience! ”

Wu Ruyi said: "Yes, he actually did this. ”

There was a moment of silence. Mrs. Gao knew that something had happened, but she didn't know what it was, so she was secretly surprised in her heart, and quickly got dressed and lit candles.

King Chuang instructed Wu Ruyi, "Please wait for Lin Quan in the big tent." Hurry up and send someone to wake up Mr. Niu and Song Junshi, and ask them to come to discuss the matter quickly. Also, Jiexuan and Yigong are also coming. Send Pegasus to the camp of the mend, and ask him to come quickly, come quickly! ”

Wu Ruyi said: "Yes, I will immediately send people to invite them." Also, after the watch, the general came to see you, and since you had rested, he left, which seemed a little strange. ”

Zicheng thought alertly: Did he also know the rumors? Then he asked Wu Ruyi: "Why don't you tell me and let me see him?" ”

"I see that you are very tired today, and he has nothing important to do, so I ......"

Li Zicheng intercepted and said, "You quickly go to Cao Ying in person and invite the general to come to discuss the matter!" ”

After Wu Ruyi left, Li Zicheng returned to the sleeping tent and quickly got dressed, and Mrs. Gao asked in a low voice while helping him button his clothes:

"What the hell is going on? Has anyone defected? ”

Li Zicheng simply told her that Yuan Shizhong had defected and led all 30,000 horses of the small Yuan battalion to escape from Qi County. After saying that, he strode out. Madame Gao was startled, almost unsteady on her feet, her throat felt congested, and she chased after him and asked:

"Is Huimei still alive?"

When the armies of Chuang and Cao marched from Shangqiu to Kaifeng, a detachment of Li Yan's men and horses was ordered to stay between Qixian and Chenliu for three days, responsible for collecting grain and grass. According to the social habits at that time, he should take the opportunity to go back to Lijiazhai to sweep the tomb and meet with his relatives. Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance are both sophisticated people, and suggested that Li Zicheng let Li Yan go back to his hometown to have a look. King Chuang readily agreed, and personally told the Li Yan brothers about his intentions. Many of Li Yan's soldiers also wanted to go home to see, and asked Li Yan to listen to King Chuang's words and go back to Lijiazhai to sweep the tomb. But Li Yan had another mind and refused to go back to Lijiazhai. Although he has been revolting for a year and a half, he has been deeply courteous to King Chuang, and has severed his righteousness with the Zhu family's court, but he can't get rid of painful thoughts in the depths of his soul, and always thinks that he is the "unscrupulous son" of his parents, and he is ashamed of his ancestors. He refused to go back to Lijiazhai, nor did he let Li Yu go back on his behalf, only the old housekeeper Fan Dechen and twenty cavalrymen went back, and chose a day to remove Mrs. Tang's coffin from the ancestral hall and temporarily rest next to Zu Qi. When Xiao Yuanying defected, Fan Dechen and the twenty cavalrymen had just finished their work and had not yet left Lijiazhai. The men and horses of Xiao Yuan's camp were in a hurry, did not enter Lijiazhai, stopped for a while when passing through the town, and continued to run south after hitting the point, threatening to intercept and kill the officials and soldiers who came from southern Henan to save the provincial capital. Fan Dechen and the others saw that there was something strange about this, so they hurried back, found the camp of Li Gongzi's brothers near Zhuxian Town, and told Li Yan to know. Li Yan knew that although there was a saying that the official army came from the north and south of Henan, but he did not know when it came from the north and south of Henan, King Chuang did not order Yuan Shizhong to intercept and kill the official army, and concluded that it must be a rebellion, so he personally came to report to the marshal overnight.

Li Yan had just talked to Li Zicheng about the news that Fan Dechen had brought back, and the soldiers sent by Shao Shixin to report the news had also arrived. This person disguised himself as a hawker and rushed to the area of Zhuxian Town, but due to the large number of people and horses, it was not easy to find the temporary residence of the generalissimo. He tore the corner of his jacket, took out the note written by Shao Shixin in a hurry, presented it to King Chuang with both hands, and wrote on it:

Xiao Yuan Yingyun was ordered by King Chuang to block the imperial army in the south and hurriedly pulled out the camp. I hereby bow down.

Li Zicheng was familiar with Shao Shixin's handwriting, and he had also seen Shao Shixin's personal soldier, although there was no signature on the note, he knew that it was Shixin's handwriting. He asked some more about the situation when Xiao Yuan's camp was raised, and ordered this man to go down to rest. Li Zicheng was so angry that his face turned pale, and he was silent, walking around in the big tent. Li Yan sat in the tent and did not speak, waiting for Niu, Song and Liu Zongmin to arrive.

Since Mrs. Gao broke Luoyang, she tried her best to avoid interfering in major military affairs. This is also Li Zicheng's opinion. He believed that sooner or later he would seize the country, and he would never let the disadvantages of the harem that the previous dynasty had often had in the past appear in the new dynasty he created. But tonight is to deal with Yuan Shizhong's rebellion, which is related to Huimei's life and death, she can't help but come to the big tent, hoping that the result of the discussion can not only severely punish Yuan Shizhong, but also save Huimei. Li Zicheng looked at her, understood her mood very well, and motioned with his eyes for her to sit down on a small pony carried by the marcher.

Niu, Song, Liu Zongmin, and Gao Yigong soon arrived, and then Luo Rucai also arrived. As soon as he heard Wu Ruyi say that the generalissimo had asked him to discuss matters urgently, he understood in his heart that he ordered his soldiers to prepare their horses immediately and gallop over. When preparing for the horses, Wu Ruyi told him the news that Yuan Shizhong had defected from Qixian with all the men and horses of the small Yuan battalion, and he pretended to have heard nothing, feeling ridiculous in his heart, and said hatefully:

"Hmph, there is such a thing!"

Everyone has arrived, only Li Guo is far away from the station, and he has not yet arrived. Since Li Zicheng entered Henan in October of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, his career and prestige have been rising like the rising sun. The people of Zhongzhou regarded him as a savior, compiled it into a ballad, and sang it everywhere. He himself and the left and right Wenwu both think that he is a "natural saint" and will sit in the country within a few years. Because of this kind of environment and atmosphere and a psychological state that was very different from the hardships and hardships in the past, he was easily deceived by Yuan Shizhong for a while, and he didn't expect Yuan Shizhong to suddenly rebel and flee with the whole battalion. He was now not only angry, but also bitter and remorseful for having damaged his prestige. When everyone was talking about how to send troops to pursue Yuan Shizhong, only Li Zicheng and Mrs. Gao did not say a word. Li Zicheng couldn't wait to immediately catch Yuan Shizhong, Liu Yuqi and others, behead them for public display, in order to vent his hatred in his heart, and to give a warning for the betrayer. However, he, a usually resourceful and decisive person, was hesitant for a while under an unexpected mental blow and couldn't make up his mind. He is now about to besiege Kaifeng with all his strength, and it is expected that the imperial court will inevitably use the greatest strength to save Kaifeng, and now at this juncture, he suddenly divides his troops to pursue Yuan Shizhong, and he will inevitably weaken the forces besieging Kaifeng, and he will inevitably kill and wound many useful soldiers, so he does not want to use force immediately. However, if Yuan Shizhong is not eliminated, others will despise him and laugh at him behind his back. Now it has been a day and two nights since Yuan Shizhong defected from Qi County, and he has traveled a long way, and he may not be able to catch up. Yuan Shizhong was very familiar with the geography of eastern Henan, and even if he could catch up, he might not be able to wipe him out in a battle. If the war is entangled for too long, the loss of troops is lost, and the siege of Kaifeng is involved, even if it is victorious, the gains may outweigh the losses. Also, if Yuan Shizhong was forced too quickly, wouldn't it be more harmful for him to surrender Ding Qirui or Yang Wenyue who were in southern Henan with 30,000 horses? ……

Lee has arrived. He already knew what was going on, so he walked into the big tent with an angry countenance, and without sitting down, he asked King Chuang and everyone:

"How to decide? Who to send? ”

King Chuang didn't make a sound, and no one else made a sound. Gao Yigong motioned for him to sit down on a pony.

Li Guo refused to sit down, glanced at Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing, and then said: "When Yuan Shizhong just surrendered and asked to get married, I felt that there was a ghost, and I couldn't believe it, so as not to take regret medicine." Fortunately, my uncle said that I could not marry Laneige to him. As a result, the military advisors came up with the idea to break up the marriage between Zhang Nai and Huimei, and marry Huimei as the adopted daughter of King Chuang to the surname Yuan. Taking Huimei as the adopted daughter of King Chuang, I am a hundred in favor. This girl grew up under my nose, she was smart and clever since she was a child, loyal and righteous, and she also practiced martial arts, and she was born and died by my second aunt's side, and made great contributions several times. forced her to marry the surnamed Yuan who flew from the wilderness, what happened to her? Are you still alive today? He thought that if Huimei hadn't been killed, she would have been killed soon, and he couldn't help but sigh with hatred. Then he sat down and continued: "I didn't agree to this marriage at that time, and neither did the flag and the Hanju, but by the time everyone knew, the wood had already been completed, and the raw rice had already been cooked. I can only pause secretly, hoping that the surname Yuan has a little conscience. Now that the matter has come to this, it is useless to just think about regretting that the medicine is unpalatable, so we must quickly send troops to chase him and kill him without leaving a piece of armor. Who to send, has it been agreed? ”

Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing had always been worried that Mrs. Gao would say words of complaint and reproach against them, and they kept secretly looking at Mrs. Gao's heavy face. They didn't expect Li Guo to open his mouth and treat them with such a look and tone that they had never used before, so that they were only ashamed, speechless except for a wry smile, and their expressions were very embarrassed.

King Chuang lowered his head and did not make a sound. Although he was dissatisfied with Li Guo's reproach for Niu and Song's words being too straightforward, he himself felt remorse in his heart and couldn't blame his nephew for speaking out. He was afraid that Mrs. Gao couldn't help but say unpleasant things to Niu and Song, and looked at her twice. Mrs. Gao knew how to break into the eyes of the king, so she didn't say a word after her nephew complained to Niu and Song, but just sighed deeply and wiped away the two lines of tears that poured out for Huimei with her sleeve.

Cao Cao saw the joke in his heart, but he had to say: "There is no need to mention the things that have passed, now just hurry up and decide how to deal with it." The soldiers were fast, and if they didn't send troops to chase after them, Xiao Yuanying would flee into the border of Yingzhou, surrender Ding Qirui to the south, and Zhu Dadian to the east, it was very easy. Generalissimo, if you think that the siege of Kaifeng is important, and other men and horses can't be separated, how about ordering my Cao Yingmen to chase and suppress them? ”

Li Zicheng replied: "The chickens are beating forward, and the pheasants are not flying with wings." The pheasant is alive, so let it fly. ”

Everyone felt suddenness when they heard Li Zicheng's words, and they couldn't figure out what the intention was. Some people secretly thought: It would be too lenient to let Yuan Shizhong escape like this.

Liu Zongmin is usually prone to anger and intimidating, but now he has been thinking calmly. He complained in his heart that Niu and Song should not have persuaded King Chuang to marry Hui Mei Xu to marry Yuan Shizhong, but he thought that King Chuang would treat Niu Jinxing as a guest and worship Song as a military advisor, and he could not blame them for their mistakes for a while, so that they could not get on and off the stage with face, causing civil and military discord. He also understood that King Chuang hated Yuan Shizhong's defection, and was worried that pressing Yuan Shizhong too hard would prompt him to surrender to the official army, and he was also worried that Huimei would be killed by Yuan Shizhong. Taking advantage of everyone's silence, he raised his head and looked at Zicheng and asked:

"Generalissimo, is it okay to leave this matter to me?"

Zicheng asked, "What do you do?" ”

"I think that we can't send troops to chase and kill for a while, and we don't have to push too hard, lest he surrender too soon. Don't let him poison Huimei. At present, it is appropriate to be able to dispose of it in this way. ”

Luo Rucai couldn't help but be shocked in his heart, and nodded in admiration: "It's careful, it's thoughtful!" Jiexuan is worthy of being a general, and he is not chaotic. ”

Zicheng said: "Jiexuan, you can tell all your methods and let everyone discuss it." ”

Zong Min said: "Please make up for your hard work and go to catch up with Xiao Yuanying." Salute first and then soldiers, persuade Yuan Shizhong to turn back quickly, and never pursue what he did wrong. I estimate that Yuan Shizhong will definitely not listen to the advice, and he will probably fight inevitably. Supplementing it can defeat Xiao Yuan's camp, but it won't necessarily catch Yuan Shizhong, and it can't be ......."

Li Guo interjected: "Since the army is mobilized, I have to do my best to catch him or kill him, and leave no trouble." ”

Zong Min then said: "Make up for it, you listen to me. The focus of our current operations is on Kaifeng, and we must not only besiege Kaifeng on all sides, but also prepare to defeat reinforcements from all sides, and we should not disperse our troops. Xiao Yuan's camp has 30,000 horses, and if you want to surround and destroy it, you will need 50,000 horses, let alone 50,000 horses, and you will have to drag on for a long time. At present, we will not do this kind of division of forces. We can't let this kid Yuan Shizhong drag an arm. ”

Li Guo asked, "How many men do you give me?" ”

"I'm going to give it to you...... Fifteen thousand men and horses at most, half cavalry, half infantry. More centaurs don't. ”

Li Guo groaned and said: "Only give this one person, I can only catch up with him and teach him a lesson, not necessarily able to eliminate him and catch him." ”

Zong Min nodded and said, "Yes, yes, that's exactly what it means." If you catch up with him, you only need to give him a hard lesson, so that he will lose his army, know the pain, and lose his vitality, but you must also stop it in moderation and not force him to surrender prematurely. You also have to make him think that it will be of great benefit to him not to do Huimei a bad thing. ”

Li Guo smiled slightly and said, "I completely understand what you mean." What you gave me was a difficult problem, and it was not easy to do a good job in this article. ”

Liu Zongmin turned to Li Zicheng and asked, "Generalissimo, you see, this little article is just like this, there is no need to make a big fuss, okay?" ”

Zicheng nodded, and then asked everyone, "What do you guys think?" ”

Luo Rucai first praised and said: "Gao Ming, Gao Ming." I didn't expect this to be the case with this article, and sure enough, Jiexuan was thoughtful! ”

Niu Jinxing said: "After catching up with Xiao Yuan's camp, you can declare the generalissimo's virtue, and all soldiers who are willing to defect and return to their old mansion will be exempted, and there will be a heavy reward." When the general set out, he should bring more silver to prepare for the reward before the battle. With such a combination of grace and power, persuasion and punishment, it is not difficult for most of the coercive people in Xiao Yuanying's camp to disintegrate. ”

Song Xiance continued: "I also want to bring a handwritten edict from the generalissimo to advise Yuan Shizhong not to believe slander and become suspicious, so that the relatives will be painful and the enemies will be happy." I hope that he will repent, return with Huimei quickly, and treat him as kind as before, and do not mention all mistakes. ”

Gao Yigong said: "Huimei is a meritorious person in our old eighth team, and she is already the adopted daughter of King Chuang, so I can't help but save her back." According to her temperament, once she understands that Yuan Shizhong betrayed King Chuang, she will not give up. Buzhi led the troops forward, and he must find out whether Huimei is dead or not. If she hadn't died, would the more than 400 men and women who had married still be by her side. Make up for it, if you go this time, if you can save Huimei back, of course it is the best; If you can't save her back, you must try to make Yuan Shizhong dare not kill her. ”

Li Guo said: "What Uncle Gao said is that if my cavalry can rush into Yuan Shizhong's station, they will naturally rescue her and take her back." However, I heard that she is already happy, who knows if she has changed her mind now? ”

Mrs. Gao thought of Huimei's marriage, she was really painful and angry, and was trying to find a topic, but after listening to Li Guo's words, she immediately said angrily to her nephew: "Make up for it, you just said that Huimei also grew up under your eyelids, why did you suddenly say this again?" Huimei will never betray King Chuang. You see, she will die at the hands of Yuan Shizhong! ”

King Chuang didn't want her to say angry words to Song Xiance and the others, so he persuaded him: "We are discussing a way, you don't have to worry." ”

Mrs. Gao said: "No matter what method is used, it is important to save Huimei's life. Now there are only more than 400 men and women around her, although they are all selected and loyal to Huimei, but after all, they are under the control of Yuan Shizhong's army, and if Yuan Shizhong wants to kill Huimei, they will all die, and Huimei will not be the only one killed. The more Mrs. Gao spoke, the more excited she became, and suddenly turned to Song Xiance, "O military advisor, this family affair was instigated by you, you want to save Huimei's life and return her and the more than 400 horses to me." There is also Huijian, you know each other, her brother is the Black Tiger Star, who was injured and died under the city of Kaifeng. Two or three years ago, when he was in Shangluo Mountain, he entrusted his sister to me and said, 'Auntie, I only have this one sister, and I will rely on your old man to take care of her in the future.' She is still young, and although she has martial arts, she is not sensible. 'If this black girl also dies in Xiao Yuanying with Huimei, how can you who are military advisors and come up with ideas be worthy of the Black Tiger Star underground? ”

This paragraph made Song Xiance's face hot. Niu Jinxing also felt very embarrassed, so he reluctantly said: "Please rest assured, Madame, there will be a proper way to save Miss Huimei." ”

Mrs. Gao's eyes turned red and said, "Even if we can save her, the girl is already married." Killed her husband and left her widowed for the rest of her life. She is only twenty-one years old this year, so how will she live in the future. It's all your day's best idea! After saying that, he got up indignantly and left, with tears in his eyes as he went. Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance hurriedly stood up to see them off, but she didn't look back and didn't say hello to them.

Li Zicheng asked his nephew, "When are you leaving?" ”

Li Guo said: "Immediately prepare to stop, and set off on the fifth watch." ”

Li Zicheng looked at Li Yan: "What else does Lin Quan have to say?" ”

Li Yan said: "I think Yuan Shizhong will vote for the imperial court as a last resort. Zhu Dadian is far away in Fengyang, and there are Huang Degong's men and horses in the middle, so it is not easy for him to go east to vote for Zhu Dadian. Ding Qirui is now stationed in the Runing area, and it is easier for him to vote for Ding Qirui. When Bu Zhi was chasing Xiao Yuan's camp, he could send a light cavalry to gallop between Chenzhou and Shangshui, bluff, and block his way south. In addition, in the name of Mrs., I wrote a letter to Miss Huimei, first describing my feelings of longing, knowing that she was still in the world, and I felt a little relieved. Then he asked him to persuade Yuan Shizhong not to fall for others, to rein in the precipice as soon as possible, and to come back to see the generalissimo to ask for guilt, so as to keep him safe and sound, and his grace will not be reduced. Even though he was suspicious and refused to come back for the time being, King Chuang had asked your eldest brother not to chase after him because of your presence, and to leave a turning point. As long as you are here, Shizhong does not descend to the court, everything is easy to say, even if Shizhong does not come back within a year or two, it doesn't matter. If you are unfortunate enough to be poisoned and die or surrender to the court in the middle of the time, one of the two will be cut off from the grace of the time and the middle of the day, and you will become incompatible, and so on. Put these words in the book. caught an enemy soldier on the battlefield, gave him more silver, and bribed him to give the book to Huimei. This book will definitely be seen by Yuan Shizhong, so that he can figure out the gains and losses in his heart. ”

Everyone nodded in agreement. King Chuang ordered Niu Jinxing to write an exhortation to Yuan Shizhong for him, and Li Yan wrote a letter to Huimei for Mrs. Gao. That concludes the meeting.

The day after leaving Qixian, Huimei had already seen that the whereabouts of Yuan Shizhong and Xiao Yuan Ying were suspicious, and Shao Shixin told her all kinds of circumstances, she concluded that Yuan Shizhong had betrayed King Chuang, and she was deceived and coerced. She was reluctant to leave at that time, so she sent someone to invite Shi Zhong for questioning. However, Yuan Shizhong had already prepared, and during the march, he surrounded her more than 400 male and female pro-troops, front and back, left and right, and coerced them to follow the army. Huimei said angrily:

"Today is either you or I die. If you die, it's not that I'm going to kill you, but that King Chuang wants to send people to deal with you. I die because you will kill me; If you don't kill me, I won't follow you to betray King Chuang. ”

Yuan Shizhong persuaded her to go together, what kind of marriage and husband, and what kind of young couple want to be harmonious, said a lot. But Huimei kept a straight face, and let the more than 400 pro-soldiers under her command put on a desperate posture and resolutely refused to leave. In an instant, Yuan Shizhong wanted to kill her. But after a little thought, he still couldn't bear it, after all, he still liked Huimei very much, especially when he knew that Huimei was pregnant, and he wanted to have a child very much, so he decided not to lose his temper no matter what. Then he said to Huimei:

"No matter how much you don't listen to me, I can't bear to kill you. I know you're pregnant, it's my blood, maybe it's still a boy. If you want to die, I won't let you die. As long as the men and women under your command do not make the first move, I will never touch a single hair of them. I'm just urging you to come with me; If we don't leave, we will all be killed. I didn't want to leave King Chuang, but King Chuang listened to the gossip of the people around him, and he was very uneasy about me, and when he heard that he was going to kill me, I had no choice, so I fled with my men and horses. This is only for a while, and when King Chuang understands that I am loyal to him, I will naturally return to his banner and serve him faithfully. ”

Huimei wept and said, "If you are willing to return to King Chuang, I am willing to obey you and serve you until you are old." Since I am married to you, I will not fail to treat you as a husband. But if you betray King Chuang, surrender to the official army, and ask me to go with you, don't think about it. Every time Madame asks me, I earn face for you, saying that you are loyal to the king and fight the world, but now you have rebelled, what face do you say I have to go to see Madame when I am alive, and what face do I have to meet the soldiers who broke into the camp? ”

The two of them fought for a long time. No matter how Yuan Shizhong persuaded her, Huimei always refused to leave; And no matter how Huimei cries, Yuan Shizhong always loses her temper. But after a long time, Yuan Shizhong's subordinates gradually became unbearable, and they blew their beards and glared at them, instigating Yuan Shizhong to take coercive measures. Yuan Shizhong had no choice but to say to Huimei:

"Since you have married me, life is a member of my Yuan family, and death is the ghost of my Yuan family. The husband is the wife, and it is justified. You have to leave today, and if you don't go, you have to go, how can a wife not listen to her husband? ”

When Huimei heard this, she became even more angry and said: "Since you have surrendered to King Chuang, you should be born as a person under King Chuang, and die as a ghost under King Chuang, how can you still betray King Chuang?" To betray the king is to be unfaithful and unjust. I'd rather die than go with you, an unfaithful and unrighteous man. ”

The husband and wife were arguing, and Yuan Shizhong's second concubine, Jin, walked out. Since Huimei "passed the door", she saw that Yuan Shizhong and Huimei had a good relationship, although she was jealous, but because she was a little afraid of Huimei, she didn't dare to mess around in front of her, but sometimes she played tricks with Yuan Shizhong behind her back. Today, when she saw Yuan Shizhong arguing with Huimei and was about to use force, and the soldiers of the Xiao Yuan battalion surrounded the "Xiaochuang battalion", she suddenly became emboldened, pointed to Huimei's nose and said:

"Don't think that you are really the young lady of King Chuang, in fact, you are also a girl in his family. It was only for the sake of marrying our General Yuan that I adopted you as an adopted daughter. You, you're not much more noble than I am! Although you are the main room and I am a concubine, I came two years before you. Don't be angry just because you're pregnant, it's not sure if it's a man or a woman, and maybe you can give birth safely. What's so rare about having a baby? If I hadn't marched every day, I would have given birth to a child for our Yuan family a long time ago. She scolded a few more ugly words, and suddenly turned back to Yuan Shizhong and said: "Your wife has changed her mind, maybe you will die in her hands in the future, it is better to take a break from her as soon as possible!" ”

Huimei didn't expect to kill such a shrew halfway, and she was a little stunned at first, but the more she listened, the more angry she became, and when she heard this, she finally couldn't bear it anymore, and suddenly pulled out her sword, took a step forward, and shouted:

"I'll kill you!"

Jin hurriedly hid behind Yuan Shizhong's back and cried more and more. Huimei snatched her up several times to kill her, but was stopped by Yuan Shizhong. Huimei had no choice but to say to the soldiers on the left and right:

"You're not going to get rid of this shrew?"

As soon as the sentence came out, Huijian had already run over to pull the Jin's family. Yuan Shizhong was annoyed and said:

"You dare to hit her? Although she is a concubine, she is your master after all! ”

Huijian said: "Uncle, she is the master of your family, and she is not a master in front of our kings." Don't be biased to protect her, here are our military rules: no messing around in the army! ”

Yuan Shizhong was so angry that he wanted to hit Hui Jian's ear scraper, but Hui Jian opened it hard and showed no weakness. Yuan Shizhong suddenly remembered that it was inconvenient for him to do anything to this group of female soldiers, so he sighed hatefully and stopped caring about it.

Huijian walked over and pushed the shrew, pushing her more than five feet away, and falling to the ground. Jin simply sprinkled in front of everyone, crying, screaming, and rolling, saying that she was half a master, and now she was bullied by the slaves, and asked Yuan Shizhong to make the decision for her, otherwise she would die in front of everyone. Hui Jian's eyes were red with anger, no matter how angry Yuan Shizhong was, he strode over, stretched out his five fingers and grabbed Jin's back neckline, lifted her up from the ground, fell six or seven feet away, fell to the ground, and shouted: "If you make trouble again, I will kill you!" You are not half my master, and I am not a slave. There is only military law here and nothing else! ”

Yuan Shizhong gritted his teeth in anger, stomped his foot, and said to Huimei: "If you are obsessed, don't resent me in the future!" With that, he turned around and left.

Immediately, around Huimei and her "small camp", hundreds of elite soldiers were added to Yuan Shizhong. Huimei's men and horses were surrounded even tighter. Shao Shixin and Lu Er's sister-in-law felt that it was not possible to continue such a stalemate, so they quietly discussed, and persuaded Huimei:

"Don't suffer the immediate loss, let's go with him for a while. It would be nice if I could find a chance to escape back to my wife. It would be better if you could wait for the opportunity and persuade your uncle to change his mind. ”

Huimei thought for a while, and felt that what they said made sense, and there was really no better way at present. She walked back to the tent, cried angrily for a while, and discussed with Shao Shixin for a while, and then asked Shao Shixin to see Yuan Shizhong, and promised to go to Yingzhou with Xiao Yuanying, but put forward three conditions: First, to respect the identity of Mrs. Huimei, no one is allowed to mess around in her station, and no one is allowed to bully the male and female soldiers she marries. Second, there should be no shortage of food and grass for the male and female soldiers she married, and all kinds of supplies should be abundant. Third, although Yuan Shizhong has betrayed King Chuang, he should not do things absolutely in the future, and leave room to return to King Chuang.

After listening to the above three articles, Yuan Shizhong thought that Huimei had already half changed her mind, was overjoyed, and agreed. As soon as this matter came to an end, Yuan Shizhong suddenly made a detailed report, saying that the people in Qixian County rumored that King Li Chuang was about to send a large army to chase after him. He couldn't help but be suspicious in his heart, and ordered the whole battalion to pack up and set off quickly.

From then on, Huimei and her more than 400 pro-troops were always tightly surrounded by Yuan Shizhong's elite soldiers and could not move freely. No matter where the march goes, it is always like a great enemy. They didn't dare to leave their station easily, and Yuan Shizhong didn't dare to go to Huimei's tent casually. Huimei and her more than 400 men and women waited day and night for the king's pursuers to come.

In order to deal with Yuan Shizhong's defection, Li Zicheng had to transfer a part of the elite troops to Li Guo to pursue and suppress. As soon as Li Guo left, Li Zicheng suddenly received an urgent report, knowing that Ding Qirui, Yang Wenyue, and Zuo Liangyu were aiming to meet near Runing, and were raising grain and grass day and night, and went north to rescue Kaifeng. It seems that Xiao Yuanying's rebellion has not yet been disposed of, and the big war around Kaifeng is in the clouds again. He couldn't stop near Zhuxian Town to convene a meeting of generals and redeploy the military. It was not until May 2 that he and Cao Cao moved the two old battalions to Yanlizhai (also known as Yanjiazhai) in the west of Kaifeng. His old camp was encamped in the house of a landlord in the village. Cao Cao's was rooted outside the village, three or four miles away. The next day, May 3, the armies of Chuang and Cao closed Kaifeng.

The wheat is ripe. The rebels did not attack the city, but only cut the wheat outside the city. Soldiers and civilians were also sent out in the city to harvest wheat. The rebels grabbed outside the embankment, and the soldiers and civilians in the city grabbed the harvest inside the embankment. There were occasional sporadic battles in and around the levees, but both sides were dominated by wheat grabbing; Sometimes they are so close that they don't pay attention to each other.

For ten days in a row, the rebels divided tens of thousands of troops to grab the wheat with all their might. The sheaves of wheat were transported to the various stations, and there were people in charge of the fields. Part of the beaten wheat was transported to Yanli Village, and some of it was retained by the battalions. This kind of busy summer scene has never been seen before. Even in the years of peace, the wheat harvest season was very lively, but the common people were scattered in different families, and it could not be compared with the situation of tens of thousands of troops engaged in wheat harvesting and threshing.

In the days when the soldiers of the righteous army were rushing to harvest wheat, Li Zicheng was always watching the movements of Zuo Liangyu and other reinforcements, preparing for the imminent big battle. When he learned the news that the officers and soldiers who rescued Kaifeng had left Runing to the north, he sent someone to send a secret message to Li Guo, asking him not to chase Yuan Shizhong exhaustively, and to return to the division in the starry night after a victory. He also sent an order to Tian Jianxiu and other generals, asking them to quickly withdraw their troops from Zhengzhou, Xingyang and Xinzheng and rush back to Kaifeng. The road is rumored that the army that rescued Kaifeng has about more than 200,000 horses, even if it is only five or six out of ten, it should not be underestimated. Among the reinforcements, Zuo Liangyu had about 100,000 men and horses, which were more capable of fighting, and the more than 10,000 people and horses under the governor of Baoding, Hu Dawei, were also more elite. In addition, we must be wary that 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers can be dispatched in the city to cooperate with the reinforcements. Although Li Zicheng has won great victories in the Central Plains in the past year and a half, because he has only recently escaped from the arduous and difficult stage, he does not dare to be careless about this war in the slightest, and is always thinking about a complete victory.

On the evening of 16 May, he convened another military meeting in Yanlizhai, which was attended by Luo Rucai, Ji Jue, Liu Zongmin, Song Xiance, and Niu Jinxing. The meeting lasted for a long time, and it was dispersed after the third watch, but the combat strategy has not yet been finalized. Therefore, it cannot be conclusively determined, because now I only know that there are many officers and soldiers, and they are rushing to Kaifeng; But I don't know whether the official army reached the city of Kaifeng, or occupied a place near Kaifeng and fought against the rebels. They estimated that the officers and troops would adopt the latter plan, so that the rebels would have to deal with strong reinforcements and guard against the defenders in the city, and would be in an unfavorable situation of "being attacked from the belly and back." However, it is still impossible to judge and understand what place the official army wants to occupy, maybe it is in Zhuxian Town, maybe it is in the east of Kaifeng, that is, between Chenliu and Kaifeng, or it may be in Chenliu, because Chenliu is only more than 40 miles away from Feng. Since the intentions of the official army could not be finally ascertained, the meeting decided to make some emergency preparations first, and gather all the men and horses of the rebel army around Kaifeng, so that as soon as there was a situation, they could immediately go into battle. After the meeting, Luo Rucai left first, and then Liu Zongmin and the others also went back to their accounts.

Li Zicheng returned to the sleeping tent and was about to rest, when suddenly Zhang Nai came to report the matter. Li Zicheng inquired about the situation of the firearms battalion by the way, and instructed him to prepare all kinds of firearms so that he could go out to fight with the reinforcements at any time. While talking to Zhang Nai, he ordered someone to call Shuangxi and asked Shuangxi to pack up some important documents and prepare to take them away at any time.

Zhang Nai and Shuangxi had not yet left, and suddenly Li Guo stepped into the door and said:

"King Chuang, I'm back."

Everyone was very happy to see Li Guo come back. Seeing that the war is about to break out, Li Guo is an important general, and with him, King Chuang will have one more right-hand man.

Mrs. Gao also came out of the inner room and ordered Li Guo to get something to eat immediately. Li Guo hurriedly said, "Second aunt, don't take anything." I've already eaten it on the way. ”

King Chuang said, "Make up for it, I'm waiting for you to come back." Okay, let's report on your pursuit of Xiao Yuanying. ”

After Li Guo set out from Zhuxian Town, he arrived in Qixian County that day, and because he knew that Xiao Yuan's camp had gone far, he made a bold decision to lead thousands of light cavalry to chase after him day and night, and ordered the infantry to march according to the station. When he arrived in Zhecheng, Yuan Shizhong was really caught up by him. It was dusk, and Li Guo's cavalry was very tired. Seeing that Xiao Yuan's camp had occupied a favorable terrain and was camped against the mountains and rivers, he had no choice but to camp across the river until the next morning when he could see the terrain clearly and attack the enemy. That night, he sent someone to send the book of King Chuang's advice to Yuan Shizhong and Mrs. Gao's letter to Huimei's family to Xiao Yuan's camp, but there was no reply, and even the two brothers who wrote the book were also detained.

After dawn, Li Guo ignored the 30,000 people in the Xiao Yuan battalion, led 8,000 cavalry to cross the river from the shallow, and first announced the generalissimo's virtue to the soldiers of the Xiao Yuan battalion, and called for a reward to return to the banner of King Chuang. As soon as the soldiers of Xiao Yuan's battalion took over the battle, they scattered one after another, and many people defected and returned. Yuan Shizhong had less than 10,000 infantry and more than 1,000 cavalry left, and more than 400 men and women who were surrounded by Huimei fled in the direction of Bozhou. Li Guo was going to continue to chase, but because he received an order from the generalissimo to hurry up with his division, he came back.

Because they had received the Tangma report sent by him before, they were very clear about the situation of this operation, so they did not ask any more questions. He also wanted to add a little more about the details of the battle with Xiao Yuanying, but was interrupted by Mrs. Gao with a gesture and asked anxiously:

"Do you know Huimei's situation?"

"I kept inquiring about Huimei's news, and I didn't get the real news until many soldiers from Xiao Yuan's camp surrendered. In particular, we caught a few wounded cavalrymen of Yuan Shizhong on the battlefield, and the news became clearer. Many of them had been stationed with Huimei's pro-army, and although they didn't dare to say that all of what they said was true, it seemed to be similar. ”

"What's the situation, tell me quickly!" Mrs. Gao asked.

"Although the situation is not very good, Huimei is not dead, Yuan Shizhong does not dare to kill her immediately, and he does not want to kill her."

"Tell me the truth, whether it's good news or bad news, tell me the truth! This girl can be regarded as the one I raised her, and now she is not alive or dead, and her life is in the hands of Yuan Shizhong, why don't you tell me not to care? Say it quickly, don't hide your head and tail. ”

Li Guo shook his head, sighed and said, "This girl is indeed good, and she is loyal to King Chuang. Then, he explained how after Yuan Shizhong's defection, how Huimei was kept in the dark at first, and only then did she know the truth when she arrived in Suizhou, and how she almost met Yuan Shizhong, and Huijian almost killed Aunt Jin's wife...... All kinds of experiences have been told one by one. Mrs. Gao burst into tears, and asked, "What about in the future?" ”

Li Guo said: "The future situation is not very clear, I only heard that in Zhecheng, Huimei knew that the pursuers were coming, persuaded Yuan Shizhong to surrender, and the husband and wife quarreled again. Fortunately, Shao Shixin and Aunt Lu persuaded her, and Huimei cried a lot and didn't make any more noise. In my opinion, at present, Yuan Shizhong does not dare to kill Huimei, nor does he want to kill Huimei, but if he surrenders to the official army in the future, Huimei does not agree, and then he will see black and white. I also heard that Huimei now cries every day, often skips meals, and regrets that she didn't kill herself before she got married, and that she ended up in this field. ”

There are still some situations that Li Guo did not say. He heard that Huimei had scolded Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance in addition to her pain, and had also complained about King Chuang. Li Guo didn't want to make everyone sad, so he didn't say anything.

However, even what he said had already made Mrs. Gao and a group of girls such as Huiying standing at the door cry while listening. Zhang Nai lowered his head and felt his heart cut like a knife. Although he used a lot of strength to keep the tears from rolling out, after hearing it, a few tears still rolled down from the corners of his eyes involuntarily. King Chuang also sighed, and walked around the house with his head down, not knowing what to say.

Mrs. Gao rubbed her eyes with her sleeve and said, "Wang Changshun told me a long time ago that I was afraid that we would lose a good girl, but it didn't capture Yuan Shizhong's heart. Now that it is so, it will make me regret it for the rest of my life. It seems that Huimei will not survive. ”

Li Guo hurriedly persuaded and said: "Second aunt, don't worry too much, wait until we break the seal, and then find a way to save Huimei back." ”

Mrs. Gao said: "Who knows if Huimei will still be in the world at that time? ”

When Huiying heard this, she couldn't help but let out a sobbing sound. Zhang Nai stood up from his seat silently, did not say goodbye to King Chuang, and walked out with his head down, not beware of colliding with Li Shuangxi, who came in in a hurry. He glanced at Shuangxi's somewhat unusual face, and did not say hello, at this moment he didn't care about anything other than Huimei's misfortune. As soon as he walked down the steps, he heard the voice of double happiness coming from the house: "Father, according to the report of the detective horse, the army of the Ming Dynasty to rescue Kaifeng has arrived at the border of Weishi County, and it seems that it is going straight to Zhuxian Town." Zuo Liangyu and Hu Dawei's men and horses marched quickly, obviously trying to seize Zhuxian Town. ”

King Chuang's voice: "Huh? Zhu Xianzhen? Have you arrived at the border of Weishi County? ”

Double Happiness's voice: "Yes, Father." It seems that the enemy army will occupy Zhuxian Town tomorrow on the fifth watch, and I ask my father to deploy quickly to meet the enemy. ”

King Chuang jumped up from his chair and said, "Okay, this battle will be fought in Zhuxian Town!" Hurry up and order someone to call Song Junshi, Mr. Niu and several generals to come, discuss it quickly, send troops quickly, and occupy Zhuxian Town before the enemy comes! Also, tell the little ray to come back and listen to the order! ”

Zhang Nai heard it clearly, his spirit suddenly became excited, he no longer thought about Huimei, and he didn't wait for Shuangxi to call, he turned around and strode up the steps, almost colliding with Shuangxi again. Standing on the steps, he cried out into the room:

"Firearms battalion leader Zhang Nai has arrived!"

CHAPTER 40

The army of the Ming Dynasty that came from Runing to rescue Kaifeng was divided into two groups, one went to Qixian, which was ostensibly fanfare, but in fact it was a partial division, with only one or two hundred thousand people. The other is the main division, with nearly 150,000 horses, half of which are more elite, passing through Fugou and Wei's family, going straight to Zhuxian Town, it seems that tomorrow dawn will arrive in Zhuxian Town.

Li Ziyuan regarded the one that went to Qixian County as the main division of the official army, just like when Zuo Liangyu rescued Kaifeng in the first month of this year, he first occupied Qixian County as a foothold, but he did not expect that a large number of elite troops of the official army had already come north from Fugou and Weishi in a straight line, and obviously wanted to seize Zhuxian Town and set up a large camp, and Kaifeng City was a horn against each other. Li Zicheng briefly discussed with everyone, and they all agreed that it was necessary to occupy Zhuxian Town before the official army arrived. But at that time, only Liu Zongmin and Gao Yigong were stationed in Yan Lizhai. Zong Min had to help deploy the military, and the Chinese military camp with high merit must not be transferred out of the old camp. Moreover, Li Zicheng knew very well that he was good at fighting and was good at it, so he urgently met the enemy, rushed and struck, and overwhelmed the enemy with momentum, and his success was not as good as Li Guo's. He thought for a moment, and then said to Li Guo:

"Make up for it, ordering others to go now will delay time, you just came back and haven't rested, so I have to let you work harder, immediately pick out three thousand cavalry from your men and horses, and rush to Zhuxian Town overnight, seize the territory, so that the enemy army can not enter the village. You must go at once, and you may leave the food with you, and the army will arrive after that. ”

Li Guo stood up and said, "I'll leave now, and I won't delay." ”

King Chuang also said: "There are many officers and soldiers, and they have just arrived in Zhuxian Town, and they are full of vigor and vigor, so they should not be underestimated. If they have already secured Zhuxian Town, you don't want to rob it, you can occupy the terrain to the west of the town, and quickly build the camp. If the army comes to attack, you can only defend, not fight, and wait for the army to arrive tomorrow before making a decision. ”

Li Guo was just about to leave, but King Chuang stopped him again, and told him again: "Remember!" If the enemy has entered Zhuxian Town, you are to set up camp on the west side of the town. ”

"Yes!" Li Guo agreed, and couldn't help but ask again, "But isn't it better to camp north of Zhuxian Town?" Didn't our army set out from here to the north of Zhuxian Town first? Occupying the north of Zhuxian Town, you can cut off the passage between Kaifeng and Zhuxian Town. ”

King Chuang replied simply: "No. There is a river in Zhuxian Town that flows from west to east, and now it is a dry day, and people and horses cannot be without water. If you occupy the west of Zhuxian Town, you are occupying the upstream, which is very important, don't forget. As for the road leading to Kaifeng in Zhuxian Town, I will send another army to cut it off, you don't have to worry about it. ”

Li Guo said "yes" again, turned around and walked out.

After intense preparations, about the time of the third watch, Liu Zongmin led Liu Fangliang, Yuan Zongdi, Gu Ying, Hao Shaoqi and other generals, with 30,000 horses, plus 20,000 horses sent by Luo Rucai, to march to Zhuxian Town in a hurry.

Now it is known that the number of officers and soldiers is very large, claiming to be 400,000, but in fact there are 170,000, and this number cannot be underestimated. Li Zicheng personally sent Liu Zongmin out of the camp, watched Zong Min get on the horse, and instructed:

"Jiexuan, there are a lot of officers and soldiers, Zuo Liangyu and Hu Dawei are both famous generals. Especially Zuo Liangyu, Cao Cao and Jing Xuan have been defeated at his hands several times, and now this is the first time we have fought against him, so we must not take it lightly. You go there first, and don't let the 3,000 cavalry who make up for it suffer their big losses. I and Rucai then rushed to Zhuxian Town. This time the war must not be frustrated; In case of setbacks, it will affect the whole situation. You know what I say. ”

Liu Zongmin nodded immediately. He fully knew that Cao Cao had always been unstable in his heart, and if this battle was frustrated, Cao Cao would change his mind, maybe he would surrender to the official army, maybe he would run to Zhang Xianzhong again, and join forces with Zhang Xianzhong and the Revolution and the Fourth Battalion of the Left, so that the prestige of King Chuang would be greatly damaged and his power would be greatly weakened. King Chuang knew that Zong Min understood his worries best, and instructed:

"Also, after you arrive in Zhuxian Town, you have to drag down the officials and troops so that they can't reach the outside of Kaifeng City. Originally, I thought that if they arrived outside Kaifeng City, we could encircle and destroy them. But then I thought about it, when they arrived outside Kaifeng City, they might split a part of their men and horses to go around the north of the city and set up a camp between the south bank of the Yellow River and the north gate, so as to open a rescue road for Kaifeng, from the south bank of the Yellow River to the north gate can transport grain and grass, and our long-term plan to Kaifeng will be in vain. So you must find a way to make it impossible for the officers and troops to go from Zhuxian Town to Kaifeng, as long as you can do this before dawn, as soon as our army arrives after dawn, you don't have to worry about it. ”

"That's what the generalissimo thought. Zuo Liangyu, this kid would have thought of this move. Tonight, I want to capture Zhuxian Town on the one hand, and on the other hand, I will find a way to make them unable to reach the outside of Kaifeng City. ”

Li Zicheng turned his head and said to Song Xiance, "Strategist, you can go with Jiexuan." With you going, I'm more at ease. ”

Song Xiance said: "I was about to ask the generalissimo to let me go with General Jiexuan, and I would discuss it at any time in case of trouble." ”

Liu Zongmin led 50,000 horses, including Cao Ying, to rush towards Zhuxian Town in the bright moonlight. About halfway through, he met a junior colonel under Li Guo and came at a gallop. He was ordered by Li Guo to go to Yan Li Zhai to ask King Chuang for help, and met Liu Zongmin unexpectedly. He immediately reported to Liu Zongmin with his hands crossed:

"General Sentry Liu Ye, the enemy has a large number of soldiers and horses, and they are attacking our army step by step, and the artillery fire is also very fierce. General Li has been wounded, but he still fights hard, and the losses are very heavy. Please Liu Ye hurry up and save it. ”

"How many enemy soldiers are fighting against your General Li right now?"

"The number of enemy soldiers is not clear, but it seems that there are ten times more than us. The difficulty was that their artillery fire was very fierce, and we rode forward, but there was no artillery fire, and the arrows were almost finished. Now retreating to a small area in the northwest corner of the town, it is almost surrounded by officers and troops on all sides. Li Jiangye said: I'd rather die than take a step back. At the moment, everyone is desperately resisting, and many brothers and horses have been hit by artillery fire......"

Liu Zongmin waved his hand to the little colonel, discussed a few words with Song Xiance, called the generals to the front, made arrangements in this way, and then galloped towards Zhuxian Town with Song Xiance, Hao Shaoqi, Liu Fangliang, and Yuan Zongdi with only 15,000 cavalry. I only heard the horses' hooves move the ground, like a storm, and everywhere it passed, the yellow dust rolled out, covering the shadows of the people and horses, and the stars and moon in the sky were dimmed.

At this time, Li Guo was fighting hard.

When his cavalry entered the Zhuxian town from the west gate in the middle of the night, the officers and troops had already entered the village from the south gate and the east gate, reached the center of the street, and occupied the Yue Wumu Temple. The people in the village almost fled because they received the news that the official army was coming in advance. The streets in the village were narrow, not suitable for cavalry combat, and they were caught off guard, and they were in a disadvantageous position at the beginning of the battle. After a scuffle, although the men and horses suffered heavy losses and he himself was slightly wounded, his courage was still the same, and he still shouted loudly to supervise the battle. Suddenly, his horse fell to the ground with an arrow, and he jumped up from the ground with a bone, and saw that there was an officer next to him who stabbed him with a spear, and he opened his sword and stabbed the general off his horse with another sword, grabbed the horse, flew and jumped up, and continued to kill the enemy. His men and horses have become fewer and fewer, he had to leave some of them desperately to defend a section of the wall and a house in the northwest corner of Zhuxian Town, and he himself led the rest of the hundreds of cavalry to rush outside the town, galloping left and right in the wilderness, suddenly killing to the east, and suddenly killing to the west. The enemy already knew that he was Li Guo, the nephew and right-hand man of King Chuang, so he shouted: "Capture Li Guo alive!" Capture Li Guo alive! The centaurs swarmed towards him, and at last they became more and more numerous. Li Guo's arrows were almost finished, and he easily stopped firing them, only when the enemy was too close, and every shot was sure to hit. In this way, although the officers and soldiers surrounded him several times, they did not dare to press too close to him.

Fifteen thousand reinforcements are rushing in. When he was about to arrive at Zhuxian Town, Liu Zongmin heard the shouts of killing in front of him and knew that the enemy was besieging Li Guo, and the situation was very tight. He immediately ordered Li You to lead a thousand cavalry to support Li Guo:

"Yisan, go quickly, help make up for the bastards' arrogance and give them a little color!"

Song Xiance had been observing for a while, and when Liu Zongmin had finished giving instructions to Li You, he walked up to Zong Min and said how to deal with the enemy while pointing with a horsewhip. Zong Min nodded his head and said:

"Well, do what you want. In addition, I will send another cavalry to make them lose sight of the other. …… Wave the flag! ”

"In!"

"You lead two thousand cavalry ......"

When Liu Zongmin paused slightly, Hao Shaoqi hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, quickly give me 2,000 cavalry, rush straight to the center of Zhuxian Town, and kill these dogs and things!" ”

Liu Zongmin continued: "It's not that you want to go to the center of the street to fight, but that you want to bypass Zhuxian Town, to the south and southeast of the town, five miles away from the town, within ten miles, and burn the houses you see, and burn the wheat that has not been cut in the fields. ”

Hao Shaoqi asked, "Why is that?" Now that the war is tight, why do you want me to do such a thing, wasting time? ”

"Don't ask too many questions, but do what I tell you to do. I will not send you back, but you will burn the house and the wheat, and if you come across a few enemies, destroy them. You only have 2,000 men, and you are not allowed to fight a tough battle and lose your capital. ”

Hao Shaoqi didn't dare to ask again, led two thousand cavalry, and galloped away.

Liu Zongmin looked up at the direction in which Li You went, and estimated that Li You's 1,000 cavalry had already reached the west of the town and fought with the officers and troops besieging Li Guo. Sensing that the time had come, he said to the generals around him:

"Let's do it too. Hanju, you led the men and horses to rush into the center of Zhuxian Town and seize the Yuewumu Temple. Erhu, you and Shiyao and Bai Wang led 5,000 cavalry to cut off the enemy coming to the east of Zhuxian Town, if the enemy in the town fled to the east, you would kill him without leaving a piece of armor. ”

Yuan Zong's first and other generals left immediately. Liu Zongmin said to a cronie colonel: "You quickly go to meet the rear team, and order General Gu Zijie to draw 15,000 infantry from the army, cut off the road leading to Kaifeng from Zhuxian Town, find a place with good terrain, dig a trench and build a village, and do not allow the officers and soldiers to pass." In addition, it is necessary to send more rangers out, so that the news of Kaifeng cannot reach Zhuxian Town, and the news of Zhuxian Town cannot reach Kaifeng. The rest of the men and horses hurried here. ”

After seeing the little colonel leave, he didn't want to wait for the army behind him to arrive, so he drew his double knives with a brush, looked at Song Xiance and said:

"Let's go too."

Song Xiance pulled out his sword and said, "Go!" ”

Liu Zongmin raised his sword and jumped on his horse, shouting and rushing straight into the place where the enemy had the most. His own soldiers and generals were invincible, following him to the left and right and behind, unstoppable. In the galloping sound of war horses, only one person's voice was heard like a lion's roar:

"I'm coming! I'm here! ”

After Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai joined forces, the popularity became more and more popular, with five or six hundred thousand people, and more than one million people were heard. The actual elite soldiers were only about 130,000, including 100,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry. Four or five hundred thousand other people, including various craftsmen, grooms, and pack caravans...... All kinds of non-combatants who belong to the logistics aspect, as well as the people who came from Mu Yi, Huang Guan, and the three religions and nine streams. Since there is no base area, there are more than 100,000 men, women, old and weak dependents in the camp alone. In addition, there are a large number of recruits, who have not been trained, and they are also among the five or six hundred thousand. The good thing is that the cavalry is indeed a crack soldier, with two or three horses per soldier, and a large number of non-combatants can also participate in the battle when the crisis is critical. There are several weaknesses in this huge revolutionary armed force: First, because the number of elite soldiers is small, when besieging Kaifeng, it cannot divide troops to occupy important towns around Kaifeng, and even Zhuxian Town, a strategic place, does not leave men and horses to garrison. Secondly, in the absence of a reliable base area, a large number of non-combatants and more than 100,000 dependents of the battalion had to move with the main force in order to be protected, which made it more difficult for the army to move and suppose. Third, because he had a different dream from Luo Rucai, he couldn't let go of his hand to make Cao Yingbing fight alone, and Li Zicheng also had to control part of his troops by his side to prevent Luo Rucai from leaving him. At present, these weaknesses of Li Zicheng's army have been exposed due to the battle of Zhuxian Town.

When Li Zicheng learned that the actual number of reinforcements from the imperial court was about 170,000, he decided to use all his forces (including Cao Ying) to deal with the enemy who came to help, and strive to defeat them in one fell swoop. After discussing with everyone, Li Zicheng decided to divide the men and horses into three parts: some soldiers and their families from the old camp temporarily stayed in Yanli Village to wait; Most of the men and horses drove to Zhuxian Town in the middle of the night; In addition, a part of the people and horses were allocated to the place fifteen miles west of Zhuxian Town, which was not far from the west bank of the Jialu River, and the village name was Liuzhuang, and the new old camp of the two battalions of Chuang and Cao was prepared. As soon as the deployment was completed, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai took their respective personal soldiers and generals and a small number of standard battalion cavalry to Zhuxian Town by moonlight. As dawn approached, a white mist began to rise on the ground. The fog grew thicker and thicker, the moonlight dimmed, and gradually the shadows of the people and horses outside became blurred. Only the sound of horses' hooves constantly sounded in the fog, and occasionally the clashing of weapons came from the fog. Because this area is all flat and flat, and they are all familiar with light rides, so although there is a fog in the sky and underground, they still gallop very fast.

When we arrived at Zhuxian Town, the fog was even bigger, and the moonlight was completely invisible. The strange thing is that it is only two or three miles away from Zhuxian Town, and there is not a single sound of cannons, nor can I hear the sound of shouting and killing. A strange silence in the wilderness. While Li Zicheng rode his horse forward, he was worried, not knowing whether Li Guo had died in battle, nor what the situation on the battlefield was. He couldn't help complaining about Liu Zongmin: Why didn't he send someone to report to him in time?

In fact, the people of Liu Zongmin's faction had already passed, and because they got lost due to the fog, they ran to Yan Li Village from another road, and did not meet King Chuang. The war in Zhuxian Town has stopped for a long time. Since Liu Zongmin arrived in the town, the official army suddenly changed from an advantage to a disadvantage, but the reinforcements of the official army had also arrived, and there was a fierce battle with the righteous army. Just then, the fog came up. The officials and soldiers in the town did not dare to fight, and took advantage of the fog to withdraw from Zhuxian Town. The rebels were afraid of being ambushed, and they did not chase after them, but only occupied Zhuxian Town, and also occupied all the good terrain outside the town, waiting for the fog to clear before fighting bloodily.

When Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai entered Zhuxian Town, the sky was already bright. Although the fog was still heavy, the faces of people and the colors of horses could be discerned three or four feet away; The outlines of houses and trees more than a dozen feet away were also revealed in the fog.

Zhuxian Town is a very famous town in Henan, and it has been famous since the Song and Jin Dynasty. In ancient times, there were two roads from the south to Kaifeng, or from Kaifeng to the south. The eastern route continues to the southeast of Suizhou and Shangqiu, crosses the Huai River to the north bank of the Yangtze River, and then goes to Nanjing or Yangzhou, and the road is separated again. The west road passes through Zhuxian Town, from Xuchang, Yexian, Nanyang to Xiangyang, and then goes to Hunan and Liangguang via Wuchang, or to Jingzhou along the Yangtze River into Sichuan. The gentry, juzi, and merchants of Yunnan and Guizhou wanted to go to the north, also through Xiangyang, Nanyang, and Zhuxian Town, and then go north from Kaifeng across the Yellow River. As for the people of the prefectures and counties in southern Henan to go to the provincial capital, Beijing, or Shandong, Zhuxian Town is also the only way. Therefore, Zhu Xianzhen has been very famous since its origin, and it is not just because Yue Fei attacked the Golden Vulture that he had stationed troops here. Of course, Yue Fei's garrison added to the glory of Zhuxian Town's history, so that people with patriotic thoughts talked about it and aroused feelings of generosity.

Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai traveled all the way, only to see that the rebels were resting. Some are cooking, some are feeding the horses. The horse did not unsaddle it, only loosened the belly strap. The men were not disarmed, but because of the heat and the fact that they had just marched and fought, they were very tired, so many of the soldiers lay down in the streets and fell asleep. Some people still have bowls in their hands, and the bowls are still full of water, but they are already asleep. Of course, there are also many people who are on guard outside the village, patrolling on horseback or on foot to prevent enemy attacks. At this time, the men and horses of Yan Li Zhai had arrived one after another, and they all set up camp in accordance with the location designated by Liu Zongmin, occupied the terrain, and immediately dug trenches and built fortresses outside the station. Li Zicheng and Luo Ru had only gone far before they were seen by one of Liu Zongmin's junior colonels, who led them to the Yuewang Temple. When they dismounted, they ordered all those who accompanied them to stay outside the temple and went inside.

Yue Wang Temple is a very large temple, also known as Yue Wu Mu Temple. Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai walked through the main courtyard and entered the side courtyard, and when they were about to enter the Taoist house where Miaozhu lived, they heard Liu Zongmin's loud voice coming from the upper room. They stopped outside the door for a moment, only to hear Liu Zongmin tell Bai Minghe to quickly go to the north of Shuipoji to repair the fort and wait for Zhang Nai's firearms battalion. When he told Li to go to sleep, but Li Guo refused, he rebuked and said:

"Make up for it, you are really disobedient, you were hit by two arrow wounds, and you still don't go to sleep!"

Li Guo said: "Wait a little longer, maybe the generalissimo will arrive soon." ”

Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai came in with a smile. Zicheng first instructed Li Guo to lie down and rest, and then briefly asked about the casualties of the soldiers, and then asked:

"Have all the officers and soldiers arrived? How are they deployed? ”

Liu Zongmin replied: "Now that they have all arrived, a group of people from Qixian County will also come this morning." Last night, they arrived twenty or thirty thousand people first, and almost occupied seven stops in Zhuxian Town. There were too few people to make up for it, and we suffered a loss, but fortunately we came quickly, and then fought with the officers and soldiers. The officers and soldiers were a little flustered when they saw that we were coming very violently, and they didn't know how many men and horses we were coming. In addition, the mongrel who waved the flag also did a good thing, and ran to the south of Zhuxian Town with 2,000 cavalry to set fire everywhere. We are in a good fight, the fog is up, no one can see anyone, and this battle will not be able to continue. ”

King Chuang asked again: "Where is the camp of the official army now?" Did you find out? ”

Liu Zongmin said: "The enemy originally wanted to occupy Zhuxian Town, but he didn't get it, so he stationed in the area of Shuipoji. Shuipoji is just to the southeast, ten miles away from here. According to the spies who came back just now, they had already set up camp, and the inside and outside of the village were about 20 miles longitudinal and horizontal, Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue were stationed in the west, and Zuo Liangyu and Hu Dawei were stationed in the east. Yang Wenyue did not have many soldiers, only 18,900 people, but there were many firearms, so it was worth being careful. What else is unclear at this time. ”

"Where's the strategist?"

"Old Song went upstream along the bank of the Jialu River to inspect."

After they talked for a while, King Chuang said to Cao Cao, "Rucai, you should rest first, you have not slept well in the past two days." ”

"Brother Li, please rest too."

"I'll take Double Happiness and Ziyi, go out to have a look, and I'll be back soon."

"Brother Li, the fog hasn't cleared yet, and you can't see far, you have to be careful."

King Chuang smiled: "It's better if it's foggy, I can go all the way to the enemy's camp to see." ”

After that, they walked out of the Yuewang Temple together. Cao Cao left the west gate of Zhuxian Town and went to rest in his own camp. King Chuang took Wu Ruyi, Shuangxi and less than 30 personal soldiers out of the south gate of Zhuxian Town to inspect.

At this time, the sun had risen above the treetops, the fog had dissipated a little, and the shadows of men and horses could be faintly seen twenty zhang away, and human faces could be seen five or six zhang away. King Chuang looked at several places and was satisfied to see that some of the highlands near the water were occupied by his men and horses. When he went to another place, he saw the rebels building a fort there, and a trench had been dug in front of the fort. The king ordered them to dig the trench deeper and wider, and they continued to patrol onward, and before they knew it, they had reached the vicinity of the enemy camp. He still looks here and there. was observing, and suddenly a pro-soldier exclaimed:

"There are enemies! There are enemies! ”

All the swords were drawn "brushed". Not far in front of them, two or three hundred enemies were rushing towards them.

After the second watch, Li Yan, who was stationed in the east of Kaifeng City, received an order from King Chuang, led his men and horses, and quickly rushed to Zhuxian Town. When he was about ten miles away from Zhuxian Town, he heard the sound of killing cannons, so he led a thousand cavalry first, and ordered Li Yu and Li Jun to lead the infantry and the few cavalry left behind to follow. After only a few miles, the fog rose and the sound of killing cannons stopped. He knew that the war must have stopped, but whether the enemy was beaten out of Zhuxian Town, or the rebel army was beaten out of Zhuxian Town, there was no way to know. He continued to gallop forward, not daring to delay, when he was about to arrive at Zhuxian Town, he saw the righteous army, asked for a while, only to know that the fighting had indeed been temporarily stopped, and the officers and soldiers were all driven out of Zhuxian Town. So he sent a junior colonel to ask Liu Zongmin where they were stationed. The colonel soon came back and told the location, so he took the cavalry to the designated place and set up camp, and sent a herald to meet Li Yu on the main road, and asked Li Yu to bring the men and horses here directly. He also laid out how to dig trenches and build fortifications.

And when everything was settled, he entered the village through the west gate. At this time, King Chuang had left the Yuewang Temple with Cao Cao for a while, but Li Yan didn't know that King Chuang had entered the north gate, and thought that King Chuang had not arrived. He entered the Yuewang Temple, met Liu Zongmin, and also saw Li Guo. Li Guo was lying on the ground and sleeping, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of wheat straw. He didn't alarm Li Guo, only talked to Liu Zongmin for a few words, knowing that King Chuang went to inspect the official army camp near Shuipoji, and he also wanted to see it in person, so he quit Liu Zongmin and came out, got on the horse again, and galloped out of the south gate of Zhuxian Town with a group of personal soldiers.

At this time, King Chuang and his entourage were fighting a hand-to-hand battle with the two or three hundred enemies they suddenly encountered. Because when they spotted the enemy's horse, they were already too close to shoot their arrows, so they had to draw their swords to meet the enemy. King Chuang was very calm, and he skillfully wielded the sword of the flower horse, and he was brave. Shuangxi, Wu Ruyi, and his own soldiers followed him closely, fighting desperately to keep the enemy close. But the enemy, relying on the large number of men, still swarmed forward, although a few were killed or wounded. They didn't know that it was King Chuang himself who was besieged, but they just wanted to capture the horses of this small group of rebels.

The enemy general who led the team was very young, wearing iron armor and bronze helmets, and was very brave. He saw that King Chuang was the leader of this small group of rebels, so he rushed straight towards King Chuang with his spear and prancing horse, the tip of his spear shining silver in the mist. When he was about to rush in front of King Chuang, he heard him scream, and suddenly he was hit by an arrow and fell to the ground. The officers and soldiers had no leader, and they had no intention of fighting, so they fled in a hurry.

King Chuang was wondering where the arrow came from, and Li Yan had already galloped to his side on horseback. Before King Chuang could speak, Li Yan said first:

"Please generalissimo back and rest, I'll catch up."

With that, he whipped his horse and chased it in the direction where the officers and soldiers had retreated. His own soldiers followed him closely. King Chuang also waved his sword, and went after Shuangxi and Wu Ruyi with his own soldiers. After a while, the enemy left some of the corpses behind and fled without a trace in the milky white mist. When the troops returned, King Chuang said to Li Yan on the horse:

"You've come just in time, and if you're a little late, I'll probably suffer their losses. The fog was too great here, and they came to the side unexpectedly, and they were surrounded by them. ”

Li Yan said with a smile: "Generalissimo Fu has a great life, these hundreds of officers and soldiers, even if I don't come, I won't hurt my subordinates." When Tongguan Nanyuan broke through, so many officers and troops were surrounded by layers, didn't the subordinates get out of danger safely? ”

Li Zicheng said: "No matter what, you have done a great job for me today to save me from danger, and if you win the world in the future, you will never forget this achievement." ”

They talked casually and walked west along the banks of the Jialu River to check the terrain. There were rebels everywhere, some were building fortifications, some were resting on the ground, and some were looking over the slope. King Chuang wanted to go to the vicinity of Shuipoji to take a look in person, but Li Yan persuaded him:

"Please, Generalissimo, don't go any further. These are the affairs of ordinary generals, and they do not have to be seen by the generalissimo himself. For many years, whenever the generalissimo came to the battlefield, he always took the lead and committed a white sword, which has rarely been seen since ancient times. The generalissimo advocated righteousness in heaven, hung the people for crimes, and built the cause of soup and martial arts, so risky and deeply violated the heart of the soldiers. When Kaifeng was attacked for the first time, it was because the generalissimo personally went to the city to watch and was too close to the city that he was hit by an arrow. Today, I am in front of the enemy, and I unexpectedly encounter a large number of enemies. Such things should be avoided in the future. The ancients said, 'The son of a thousand daughters cannot sit down.' Of course, this does not apply to us, because if you go to war, you have to take some risks. However, the generalissimo is not only the commander of the whole army, but also the savior of the world, and he is responsible for the blessings and disasters of the world, so he must be careful. ”

King Chuang smiled: "As the saying goes, 'There are three points of danger in riding a horse and a boat', let alone fighting? Even if there is danger, it is not just about being cautious and cautious, but it has become a waste of food due to choking. ”

Li Yan also smiled: "When you encounter an enemy, if you are injured, it is very different from choking in your throat when you eat." In the future, if the generalissimo does not come out, it will be enough, and if he wants to come out, he must have many soldiers to protect him. Sun Ce is strong in martial arts, but because he traveled lightly to hunt, he suffered an accident. ”

"But you can't always take a lot of horses with you when you inspect the enemy's camp, otherwise you won't be startled?"

"It's okay to bring fewer men and horses, but then you can't get too close to the enemy stronghold. In short, the generalissimo must know that the situation is different in the past and present, and it is no longer the time to be in Shangluo Mountain. ”

King Chuang was secretly grateful to Li Yan for his loyalty, and no longer insisted on going to Shuipo to inspect the enemy. They came to a higher mound, and by this time the fog had dissipated, and the whole battlefield and the enemy and enemy camps were vividly visible. King Chuang wanted to continue the conversation with Li Yan, so he asked the entourage to retreat to the bottom of the mound and wait, and at the same time instructed Wu Ruyi to go back to the Yuewang Temple first to inform Liu Zongmin of the situation.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves came to the bottom of the slope, and King Chuang took a look, and saw that it was Hao Shaoqi running with more than a dozen personal soldiers, and saw Shuangxi waved his hand to prevent them from going uphill. He thought that Hao Shaoqi must have come to find him, and it seemed that he was anxious to say something to him, but he ignored it and continued to talk to Li Yan, sometimes nodding and sometimes smiling. 李岩 says:

"Generalissimo, what is the matter with the flag waving to see you?"

Zicheng said: "We haven't finished talking yet, let him wait a little longer." ”

He continued to talk to Li Yan, and Hao Shaoqi had to look at them anxiously.

Li Zicheng and Li Yan talked secretly for a while before they reined in and went downhill together. Double Happiness immediately stepped forward to report:

"Father, I wave the flag uncle......"

Without waiting for Shuangxi to finish speaking, Hao Shaoqi was already impatient to ride over and said loudly:

"Generalissimo, forgive me for being rude! I've been waiting for you for a while. ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Waving the flag, we are friends of life and death, you can come to me at any time if you have something, forgive me for being rude!" ”

"Generalissimo, you can't say that. Now you have hundreds of thousands of people under your banner, which is very different from the situation in the past, if every general comes to you casually, then you will be busy to death just talking every day, how can you command the army and think about many important things? I have come to you today because I have something important to report to you. Double Happiness didn't let me go uphill just now because you and Li Gongzi were discussing important matters, and he did the right thing. But, alas, King Chuang, really, how I would like to speak to you quickly! ”

"Oh, that's double happiness, isn't it?" King Chuang turned back to Shuangxi and said, "Shuangxi, in the future, if you want to see me at any time in the future, let him see me, regardless of whether I am talking to others or not." ”

Double Happiness knew that King Chuang had to say this, so he just laughed and replied, "The boy knows." ”

Hao Shaoqi hurriedly said: "This is not good. I can look for you when you're fine, how can I bother you when you're fine. Now that you are the generalissimo, although I am an old man, I must also learn to understand the rules and know the etiquette. Let's just take the title, if you are not careful behind your back, you can call your name or call you Brother Li, but in front of everyone, you must be called Generalissimo. ”

When King Chuang heard this, he laughed and said, "Wave the flag, you are too careful." We are old friends who have shared life and death for many years, and you can call me anything. ”

Waving the flag and saying, "No, no. Since ancient times, what you do should be like something. You are now the Generalissimo, and you will be the true son of heaven who will sit in the Jinluan Palace. Don't talk about the court's etiquette, just talk about private etiquette, then it doesn't look like a ninety-five honor, right? Without further ado, I'm coming to the generalissimo now, just for one thing, and I want to report it quickly. ”

"What's the matter, tell me quickly."

"I have just arrived to the south of Shuipoji, and I have seen the enemy's situation clearly. They are camping. There were 120,000 people in front of them who had already set up camp and faced Zhuxian Town. The back was chaotic, and most of the barracks were not firmly entrenched. I think that if we attack with all our might, we will definitely be able to beat the officers and soldiers to the ground. "Waving the flag and talking, excited." Besides, we have been resting in the vicinity of Yanli Village for many days, and the enemy must be very tired when they come from Runing every day. Don't miss the opportunity, attack them immediately! ”

"You have a point, we can win the battle at the moment. But we have a better way to win without a big fight. ”

Hao Shaoqi was a little disappointed and said: "If you want to have any strategy, of course it's good, I'm afraid that I missed this opportunity." ”

King Chuang smiled and said, "No, I'm going to discuss with the military advisor soon." There will be a war you will fight in the future, what are you anxious about? ”

Hao Shaoqi shook his head, showed a wry smile, and said: "My generalissimo, I am a king, you know that I have planted a few heels and done some wrong things, although you can still afford me, Jie Xuan just doesn't believe in me, I am always afraid that I will not be able to do big things." Last night, knowing that the battle in Zhuxian Town was very tight, and there were few people to make up for it, he couldn't parry, so he didn't let me rescue him, nor did he let me enter the village to fight the enemy's heart, but he sent me to the field outside Zhuxian Town and Shuipoji to burn the wheat that had not been cut. King Chuang, this taste is not pleasant! Since I Hao Shaoqi rebelled with King Gao Chuang, I have not lived by eating idle food. Why can't I go in and kill when others can go in and kill? This is too contemptuous of my surname Hao! ”

King Chuang laughed and said, "Hey, waving the flag, you're confused again." There are various ways to fight, sometimes you have to kill a lot, sometimes you don't kill, and the credit is the same as the killing. Last night, we had to rescue and make up for it, and we also wanted to take Zhuxian Town from the hands of the official army, and it was not enough to fight hard, so Jie Xuan sent you to set fire everywhere, so that the enemy panicked, I don't know how many men and horses we have, I am afraid that the back road will be cut off, so we will retreat while the fog is heavy. Although you didn't fight in the village, you did a great job. I'm here today, Jiexuan is the first to report your great achievements, why does he look down on you? ”

Hao Shaoqi was satisfied, laughed cheerfully, and said to Li Yan: "Lin Quan, I am a rough person, like you to discuss things in front of King Chuang, I can't do it. But if I was asked to fight hard, I wouldn't even blink. But now I feel that I shouldn't be like before, when I see King Chuang, I call Brother Li at every turn, let alone self-contained. I should be like you, and learn some etiquette in a proper manner. King Chuang's situation today is very different from the past, we don't respect him, how can others respect him? Now that there are people from Cao Ying, and there are new people, how can they respect him? I understand this, so I also want to learn some etiquette from you. ”

King Chuang and Li Yan both laughed. King Chuang said: "Wave the flag, although you say that you are a rough person, but you have learned very carefully." Let's go, let's go and rest, we still have to go to the military advisor to discuss things. ”

After Hao Shaoqi left, King Chuang and Li Yan rode their horses up the slope again, intending to go west to inspect the terrain. King Chuang already had the idea of cutting off the water of the Jialu River to cause the enemy army to collapse itself, but he had not talked to anyone else. He wanted to know exactly where to cut it off, so he planned to look upstream.

At this moment, Wu Ruyi hurried over on horseback and reported to King Chuang that breakfast had been prepared, and Liu Ye, the chief sentinel, asked him to return to Yuewang Temple for dinner as soon as possible, and discussed the strategy of attacking the official army. King Chuang asked:

"Has the military advisor returned?"

"The military advisor has returned. He told Liu Ye, the general outpost, that he already had a clever plan to make hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers collapse without a fight. ”

"What's the solution?"

"The chief whistle Liu Ye also asked him what his clever plan was, but he smiled but did not answer, and said: Wait for King Chuang to come back, and then discuss after dinner."

King Chuang was happy in his heart, and said with a smile to Li Yan: "Let's go, let's go and hear what he has to say." ”

After Cao Cao joined forces with Li Zi in front of the Yuewang Temple, he did not go back to rest, but immediately took Ji Qi and a group of personal soldiers and generals to inspect his own camp in the southwest of Zhuxian Town, and arranged how to build a fortress and dig a trench around the camp. He is an experienced commander, and at such junctures, he is careful not to suffer losses and be weakened by his troops. Although he was tired from yesterday and marched all night, he was in good spirits in the face of such a big battle, and he could not see any tiredness. After inspecting his camp, he and Ji Jue went to the east and south of Zhuxian Town to observe the geographical situation. When he returned to the village, he personally interrogated several prisoners to understand the deployment of the officers and soldiers. When he arrived around the end of the day, he was about to lie down and rest for a while, when Li Zicheng sent someone to invite him and Ji Jue to go to the Yuewang Temple to discuss matters. He replied: "I will go immediately." Then he invited Ji Jue and asked:

"How do you think we can come up with a way to win?"

Ji Jue asked rhetorically: "Do you want the officers and troops to be defeated?" ”

Cao Cao was surprised and asked, "What do you mean by asking?" Didn't you make a decision with Zicheng when you were in Yan Li Village? If all the officers and troops can be wiped out or defeated in this battle, the overall situation of the Central Plains in the future can be roughly determined. ”

"Not really. Since he regarded the general as a confidant, he had to give a little advice. If the general is planning to break into the king's great cause, he should do his best to come up with a strategy for victory. But in today's situation, in Yi Jue's opinion, the general can't help but leave a little step back for himself. ”

Cao Cao's heart moved, looked at Ji Jue, and asked softly, "......What does the brother mean?"

"Today, the imperial court has spent a lot of effort to gather these 170,000 people, known as more than 200,000. It is hard-won, and it is also a desperate bet. If it is defeated, it may be impossible for the imperial court to gather so many people and horses. From now on, King Chuang will be complacent, and he will no longer take the officials and troops to heart, and it is indeed difficult for the officials and troops to do anything again. If this happens, the general will be in danger. ”

Cao Cao lowered his head and pondered. He also thinks that Li Zicheng attaches great importance to him and tries his best to win him over, but it is just because the imperial court still has the strength to do so. If this battle really wiped out all the officials and troops, maybe King Chuang would poison him. In the past ten years, he has experienced a lot of things in the rebel army. What big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp, you want to find my loophole, I want to take advantage of you, Cao Cao has not only seen a lot of these things, but he has experienced a lot of them. Now that Ji Jue reminded him, he couldn't help but look into Ji Jue's eyes and said:

"Lao Ji, now that the matter has come to this, I can't fight it. But judging by what you mean, it doesn't seem to advocate the elimination of the official army. So you say, what should I do? ”

Ji Jue smiled coldly, gently twisting his sparse slightly yellow beard, his eyes looked extremely cold, as if this war was not on his heart, he was thinking about something else entirely. After a moment of silence, he said slowly:

"General, today we want the officers and troops to suffer defeat, or if the officers and troops are in a great predicament, this is easy to do. Even if they were to be defeated by their entire army, it would not be difficult. Now it's up to us to see how far we want it to fail. In my opinion, we can let it suffer defeat and get into trouble, but we don't have to make it lose everything. It must be known that if there is the strength of the official army, there is our Cao Ying. Today's officials and troops are all wiped out, and tomorrow it will be difficult for our Cao Ying to join hands with King Chuang. This thing is so clear, can't the general see it clearly? ”

"What you said is exactly what I thought. But now I don't want you to be reasonable, but I want you to come up with an idea for me to consider. ”

Ji Jue's face became even more gloomy, and a strange light shot out of his eyes. He stepped forward and pulled Cao Cao a little, and took a few steps back, obviously not wanting the soldiers and generals who were standing nearby to hear the slightest sound. He said:

"General, the survival of the 170,000 officers and soldiers now depends on us. If we fight hard with the camp, the officers and troops will surely be defeated. It would be nice if we did a little less to show that we were loyal to the king, but not to wipe out the entire army of the officers and soldiers. ”

"So, then, what's the next move?" Cao Cao was still puzzled.

Ji Jue fell silent again. Although he had a plan in his heart, he was also worried that speaking out would make Cao Cao angry. After much thought, he was determined to say it bluntly. When he said this, his voice trembled a little:

"General, although we have only been together for more than a year, you have to believe that I am loyal to you. Even though I am broken, I have no selfish intentions. What I'm about to say, it's okay if you don't listen, I just hope you can think about it in your heart. Maybe one day, you'll find it useful. ”

"You don't want to spit out. The two of us can say anything secret, so why be so sneaky. ”

"According to the following intentions, we can help King Chuang fight this battle, but we don't want to destroy all the officers and soldiers. When victory or defeat was decided between breaths, we suddenly turned against us, surrendered to the court, and fought together against the king. The officers and troops are in front, we are in the rear, and we will win a complete victory. Once King Chuang is defeated, the court will inevitably reuse the general, and it is not difficult to get the title of marquis and uncle. ”

Cao Cao was taken aback when he heard this, and asked softly: "Isn't it too early to do this now?" ”

Ji Jue replied categorically: "If you don't make this move today, I'm afraid it's too late to regret it!" ”

Cao Cao hesitated and said, "There will be a chance in the future, right?" ”

"Otherwise, otherwise, the opportunity must not be lost, the time will not come again, and there will be no such shop in this village after this village."

"If King Chuang is finished, I can't bear it in my heart. As a person, you must always talk about righteousness, not to mention that you are not thin to me. ”

"Fight for the world, the first to strike is stronger. Since ancient times, heroes have been doing things when they get along, and they don't talk about the kindness of women. When the interruption continues, there is no regret. ”

Cao Cao disagreed in his heart. Although he is also wary of Li Zicheng, he is unwilling to join hands with the officials and troops now, eliminate Li Zicheng, and make everyone in the world scold him. And he didn't have the slightest good impression of the court and the official army, and he didn't believe it. He pondered for a moment and asked:

"If it is self-contained, how can the court tolerate me?"

Ji Jue smiled coldly again and said, "Why did the general say this? Whether the imperial court can tolerate the general or not, this matter is not in the imperial court, but in us. If we are defeated and weak, even if we kowtow to the court and ask for tolerance, the court will never be compatible. Li Qingshan, Shandong, rebelled last year, and was deceived by the imperial court in the spring of this year and surrendered. He originally thought that after he surrendered, the imperial court would give him a reward and make him an official. Unexpectedly, he was escorted to Beijing, sacrificed to his majesty, and was executed by Ling Chi. If we are weak, even if we help the court eliminate King Chuang, we will still inevitably end up with Li Qingshan. However, if we take the opportunity to expand the number of men and horses after the elimination of King Chuang, as long as we have 100,200,000 male soldiers in hand, we can be neither afraid of the court nor any official army. Every dynasty, after the chaos, there will inevitably be a situation of separation, and the Tang Dynasty is a living mirror. In today's situation, it is impossible for Chongzhen to think about ZTE. But the 270-year-old Ming Dynasty will not fall immediately. In the following opinion, after this chaos, the Ming Dynasty can survive for decades, or even hundreds of years. This was the case after the 'Anshi Rebellion' in the Tang Dynasty. And the whole of China will inevitably be divided by the heroes, each dominating one side. The imperial court gave each title as a restraint policy. As long as we have hundreds of thousands of male soldiers in hand, even if the court is suspicious, it will not do anything. At that time, why not worry about being a marquis and a prince, and enjoy wealth for a long time? This is the best policy, please make a decision and do not miss the opportunity. ”

Cao Cao was silent in thought. Ji Jue remembered the strategy they had talked about when they went out to inspect together in the morning, and said:

"Now let's go to King Chuang to discuss matters, and ask the general to say a few perfunctory words, and don't tell all the strategies we discussed this morning to break the official army."

Cao Cao was still thinking. Regarding the good strategy he discussed with Ji Jue to break the official army, he couldn't make up his mind whether to say it or not, but he didn't refuse Ji Jue's advice, just nodded lightly and said:

"Let's go."

CHAPTER XLIV

At this time, it was almost noon, and in the Taoist room in the east side courtyard of Yuewang Temple, Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin and Song Xiance were waiting for Cao Cao and Ji Jue there. There are a few soldiers standing inside and outside the courtyard, and idlers are not allowed to enter. Li Zicheng, Liu and Song had been discussing secretly for a long time, and made a preliminary decision on how this battle should be fought, and in order to respect Cao Cao, they still invited him and Ji Jue to come to discuss. When Cao Cao and Ji Jue arrived, they quickly got up to greet them. After sitting down, Li Zicheng said in a calm voice:

"Now our army has taken advantage of the position. We have captured a number of prisoners, asked some information, and can conclude that the total number of officers and soldiers is about 170,000; If you widen it, it will be counted as 180,000. The Zhu family's court once met so many people on the same battlefield, this is the first time! ”

He was clearly confident about everything in front of him, smiled slightly, and glanced at everyone. Seeing that everyone agreed with his estimate of the number of officers and soldiers, he continued:

"Zuo Kunshan is an experienced general, and now he is a general of the thief, and there are several general soldiers and deputy generals who actually lead troops to fight, and there are 120,000 people. Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue together have 50,000 or 60,000 people. Although Yang Wenyue is a defeated general under us, the chief soldier under him is ......"

Liu Zongmin interjected: "Bear! ”

Zicheng smiled, and then said: "Not to mention the bear or the tiger, it is this tiger Dawei, who is also a chief military officer with experience in war." Judging from last night's battle, the morale of the officers and soldiers is also higher than in the past. At the moment of the great enemy, we cannot afford to suffer the loss of the word 'underestimate the enemy'. You must not underestimate the enemy! We say that there are hundreds of thousands of horses, but we know in our own hearts that there are not many soldiers after all. How exactly this battle will be fought now, I would like to hear the opinions of the general and Mr. Yoshi. ”

After King Chuang said that, Liu Zongmin and Song Xiance both urged Cao Cao to speak. Ji Jue glanced at Cao Cao, hoping that he would not give out his clever plan and plan, but Cao Cao had already made up his mind on the way, and then he showed a very confident smile and said:

"In my opinion, it is not difficult to defeat the official army, as long as we are good at using tactics and can make it a rout without much effort."

King Chuang smiled: "Rucai, you are a famous Cao Cao, resourceful. Since you have a clever plan in mind, please say it quickly. How do you think we can win without losing our soldiers? ”

"It's also difficult not to lose soldiers at all, and there must always be dead and wounded in a war. I mean: we can win with very few casualties. This is the best policy. The next strategy is to fight to the death and defeat the enemy. ”

King Chuang nodded and said, "Okay, good." You go on. ”

Ji Jue glanced at Luo Rucai again. Ru Cai ignored it and continued: "Although there are many officers and soldiers now, and they are more able to fight than in the past, they have the point of defeat and are easy for me to use. Ding Qirui, Yang Wenyue, and Zuo Liangyu, the three teams, were really reluctantly combined, when Zuo Liangyu was only the chief military officer, he was still arrogant and domineering, and did not listen to the dispatch; Now that he is a thief general and has a lofty status, how can he take Ding and Yang in his eyes? Although Ding is the overseer and Yang is the governor, in fact, he can't do anything with him. These three strands of people and horses are three strands of rope that cannot be kneaded, not a rope. Damn it, we'll take advantage of their weakness and make them lose at our hands. We can refrain from attacking the enemy for the time being, but only need to use a little provocation and military pressure, and within a few days, the enemy will have internal changes, and then we can storm with all our might, and we will be able to clean up the enemy without much vicious fighting. ”

Hearing this, Ji Jue's heart was cold, and he stared at Cao Cao again, which meant: "How can you say such a thing!" ”

But Cao Cao didn't look at him and continued: "It is not difficult to make the enemy army chaotic. ”

Song Xiance nodded and said, "Of course, we can sow discord and make them suspicious of each other. ”

Cao Cao said with a smile: "King Chuang and you are both resourceful people, so I don't need to say more about this provocative method." What I want to talk about now is a small plan that is sure to be nine out of ten, and as long as we follow the plan, we can definitely cause the entire army to collapse by itself. ”

King Chuang hurriedly asked, "What is the clever plan?" ”

Cao Cao ignored Ji Jue's eyes and replied, "There is a river between this Zhuxian Town and Shuipoji, and now it is dry, although the river is not big, it is very important. If there were no river, there would be no source of drinking water for the 178,000 troops of the official army. Drilling wells alone could not supply 1780,000 people, tens of thousands of horses, and thousands of mules. The river flows from the northwest and passes through us before it reaches Shuipoji. If we cut off the river three or four miles upstream, so that it does not flow southeast, the officers and soldiers will have no water to drink. In such dry weather, and so hot, it is difficult for men and horses to drink water, and we will inevitably collapse without a fight. ”

Everyone nodded their heads. Song Xiance thought secretly: "What the hero sees is slightly the same, Lao Cao is really extraordinary!" ”

Luo Rucai said again: "In addition, the officers and soldiers did not bring much grain and grass here. Last night Hao Shaoqi burned wheat everywhere, and we can continue to do so today. Between 10 and 20 miles around the barracks of the officers and soldiers, all the wheat that had not been cut in the fields was burned, and the trees were also burned, so that the officers and soldiers had nothing to plunder, and not only did they have no water to drink, no food to eat, and no firewood to burn, and within three days, they would inevitably be in chaos. At that time, they had a military spirit in turmoil, and a large army outside was pressing, and the officers and troops did not flee, and I Cao Cao walked with his head down. When it breaks and flees, we will chase it in front and behind, and will we not let it be completely annihilated? ”

King Chuang jumped up, slapped his thigh fiercely, grabbed Luo Rucai's shoulders with both hands, and said loudly:

"You Cai, you said it well, you said it well! We discussed it for a while, and this is what it means, so it can be seen that the gongs and drums in our hearts have been beaten to one point. Wow, old Cao! ”

Luo Rucai laughed, glanced at Ji Jue, and said, "I knew that the generalissimo, as well as the military advisor and Jie Xuan, would definitely come up with this good move." ”

King Chuang turned around again and asked Ji Jue: "If Ziyu has any clever plan, please tell me as well." ”

Ji Jue's heart was unhappy, but he quickly replied with a smile: "We Cao Shuai have already said it just now. What he said was exactly what the Generalissimo had in mind, and it would not be difficult for the Generalissimo to adopt it at his discretion. I don't have much more to say. ”

King Chuang said: "Before breakfast today, our Song army division walked a few miles up the river, and we have already seen a good place to cut off the river and lead the water to the Hebei depression and merge into a lake. In addition, several ditches were to be dug to bring water into our barracks for the army to drink. At present, the fort is also being built in a hurry, and the fort of the left battalion should be repaired faster and higher. In order to contain the officers and troops, I ordered Hao Shaoqi to lead 2,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry to the east, west and south of Shuipoji, burn the wheat in the fields, and disturb the officers and troops. If a large army comes, they will retreat; If a small army comes, they will destroy it. Now I ask Cao Ying to also send 500 cavalry and 2,000 infantry to coordinate the waving of the flag, so that the officers and troops will not be at peace, and they will not be able to collect firewood or food. ”

Cao Cao said, "It's easy. When I returned to the camp, I sent them immediately. I wonder what else the generalissimo commands? ”

"One of the difficulties now is that we don't have enough troops. In the art of war, it says: 'Ten rules surround it'. Although we claim to be hundreds of thousands, our soldiers are only a few hundred thousand. We don't have a lot of weaknesses either. It is very unfavorable for us to deal with the reinforcements and the soldiers in Kaifeng City, and to meet the enemy on both sides. I think that the 20,000 horses currently left behind in Yan Li Zhai may have to be transferred, and the troops will be enough to use them. However, Yan Lizhai left more than 100,000 dependents with the camp, various craftsmen, and a lot of grain and baggage, which were never transported away. After the people and horses were transferred, the dependents and craftsmen naturally followed, but what about the grain and baggage? I haven't figured out a proper way yet, so please think about how to deal with it. ”

Liu Zongmin said: "Baggage and grain are very important, and I think it is better not to transfer the people and horses left behind in Yan Li Village for the time being." ”

Song Xiance thought for a moment and said, "Can you transfer half of it and leave half of it to guard the village?" ”

Ji Jue had been reluctant to talk much at first, but now he knew that the plan had been decided, although he was disappointed in his heart, he did not want to continue to make a cold appearance, and after listening to Song Xiance's words, he shook his head and said:

"Now is a critical juncture, losing food, using food to fund the enemy, it is indeed a big mistake. But at present, the men and horses stationed in Yan Li Village are all elite soldiers led by General Yigong, and we also have thousands of elite soldiers there. In my opinion, it is enough to transfer 20,000 and leave thousands of elite soldiers to guard Yan Li Village. ”

Cao Cao nodded and said, "Five thousand people will hold on for a few days, which is generally okay." ”

After that, everyone looked at King Chuang, waiting for him to decide. King Chuang thought silently for a while, and suddenly his eyes were blazing, revealing a resolute look, and he said decisively: "No, not a single soldier will be left, my 20,000 elite soldiers and thousands of your men and horses will all be transferred quickly!" ”

Ji Jue said: "It is good that the generalissimo is so decisive, then he should burn all the grain and fodder and all kinds of baggage that cannot be transported, and not be able to support the enemy." ”

Li Zicheng smiled slightly, and said confidently: "Burn Tun?" …… There is no need to burn it, bring as much as you can, and give the food and military materials that you can't bring to the soldiers and civilians who defend the city in Kaifeng as gifts. ”

When everyone heard this, they were surprised together, looked at each other, and then looked at the chief whistle Liu Ye. Liu Zongmin thought for a while, but didn't understand, then shook his head and said to Zicheng:

"Hey, there are tens of thousands of loads of grain! I'm afraid that there will be more than 10,000 quintals of grain that can't be brought in a hurry; If you don't burn it, won't you give it to the enemy for nothing? And there are many treasures of gold and silver that have not yet been shipped! What do you mean by that? ”

King Chuang smiled and said, "This time, you should be generous with gifts, and you can't be stingy." I have made up my mind that not only a part of the grain will be kept, but also a part of the gold and silver treasures will be left and given to the soldiers and civilians of Kaifeng. As the saying goes: If you can't bear the baby, you can't catch the wolf. Now we're going to be ruthless and throw away these things. ”

Song Xiance understood what King Chuang meant, and said with a smile: "This is the so-called 'if you want to take it, let it go'." ”

King Chuang nodded, and said, "Afterwards, we can see that we are not at a loss. Let the people of Kaifeng move those grain baggage, as long as they don't come to Zhuxian Town and don't pester us from behind. Now that time is running out, we won't go into any more depth. Rucai, Ziyu, go back and rest. How to arrange the troops, Jiexuan will go to you to discuss in detail later. I also want to go to Gu Zijie to have a look, it is very important. ”

As soon as Cao Cao and Ji Jue left, King Chuang asked outside:

"Is the second tiger here?"

"It's coming!"

From night to dawn when the fog rose, the rebels captured a total of three or four hundred people, most of whom were officers and soldiers under the command of Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue, and some were Zuo Liangyu's subordinates. The men and horses on the left came to Zhuxian Town to reinforce at nearly dawn, and the fog rose soon after the battle of the Tongyi army, so there were relatively few people captured. About one-third of these prisoners were wounded, and some of them were wounded in more than one place, which shows that the officers and soldiers were quite sharp when they first arrived here. As soon as the battle was over, Liu Zongmin ordered all the prisoners to be gathered together, handed over to Liu Tichun to take care of, and ordered Liu Tichun to find out the real situation of the officers and soldiers from the prisoners' confessions.

Now Li Zicheng brought Liu Tichun again and quietly instructed him to do so. He knows very well about Liu Tichun's alertness and intelligence, but at present, this matter is related to the overall situation, and he is afraid that Liu Tichun will not understand, so he asked:

"Erhu, do you understand my intentions?"

"Understood. Be sure to follow the instructions of the Generalissimo, and please rest assured. ”

King Chuang nodded with satisfaction and said, "Go, I want to see the officer of the left battalion in the afternoon." ”

After Liu Tichun left, King Chuang asked Song Xiance to stay in Zhuxian Town to assist Liu Zongmin in deploying the military, and he took Shuangxi, Wu Ruyi and 300 standard battalion pro-troops to see Gu Ying. Gu Ying was stationed on the road to Kaifeng fifteen miles away from Zhuxian Town. King Chuang inspected the camp they had built in a hurry, and felt that although this camp cut off the avenue, the side facing Kaifeng was not strong enough. He instructed them to dig two trenches, and to set up more forts on the banks of the trenches, so as to prevent the officers and troops of Kaifeng from rushing over. While he was talking, a colonel and a group of soldiers escorted an enemy officer and ten soldiers to see Gu Ying, and also held official documents, arrows, and waist cards found from these enemies. Li Zicheng was overjoyed in his heart, and asked the junior colonel in a flat tone:

"Where did you catch it?"

The junior colonel replied: "We were ordered by Gu Ye to go east for more than ten miles, and lay in ambush in a village near the main road. These goods detoured from there to Kaifeng for business, and just happened to fall into our hands. ”

Although the officer at the head did not know King Chuang, he saw the generals surrounding King Chuang, his demeanor, and the tone of his voice, and expected that he must be a big man in the righteous army. He quickly knelt down and said:

"The villain was sent by Master Ding to Kaifeng for urgent business, and he didn't want to be caught by your rebel brothers. Please let the general's subordinates live and spare the villain's life. The villain eats the public meal, is under the control of the government, and is sent to Kaifeng to write a book, and he doesn't know anything else. ”

King Chuang ordered them to be stripped of their clothes and hats, given them something to eat, and kept strict guard, so that no one was allowed to escape. Then, he walked with Gu Ying to a nearby big locust tree, retreated left and right, and whispered:

"Zijie, it's a coincidence, it's time for us to win the battle. I'm hoping that you can catch an official soldier who is going to Kaifeng to deliver business here, and sure enough, God will take care of me and make me get my wish! ”

"Breaking the King......

Li Zicheng continued: "Ding Qirui's urgent letter was sent to Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, saying that in three days, he and the 200,000 horses led by the governor of Baoding and the general of the Ping thief will fight a decisive battle with us in Zhuxian Town, and that the officers and soldiers in Kaifeng City should be prepared for the righteousness and bravery. At this he smiled and instructed: "The little leaders and brothers who have captured the captives today will be rewarded heavily." It is strictly forbidden to spread the word about the capture of prisoners. I will take Ding Qirui's letter with me. Officers and soldiers must order special personnel to keep their arrows, coats, hats, and waist tags, and not lose any of them, nor allow many people to see them. ”

Li Zicheng had lunch at Gu Ying's place, sent a personal soldier to Li Yan's camp in Zhuxian Town, and informed Li Yan to go to the generalissimo stationed in Liuzhuang to listen to the order, and sent another personal soldier to inform Tian Jianxiu to meet him in Liuzhuang after the blockage of the Jialu River was completed. Then, he asked Gu Ying a few more words, and then hurriedly got on the horse and left.

Five or six miles to the west of Zhuxian Town, the Jialu River had already been cut off by the soldiers led by Tian Jianxiu in the morning. The river poured into a depression not far to the northwest, gradually forming a new lake. Because there were no mountains or stones in this area, two or three thousand soldiers used baskets, baskets, sacks, and straw bales that they could find in nearby villages...... It is stuffed with loess and piled up one by one in the narrower part of the river to cut off the river. While intercepting the flow, they dug ditches to divert the river to the northwest depression, making it easy to complete the new barrage. At the same time, all the places on the south bank of the river that are prone to breach or overflow are firmly blocked with soil, and a major channel leading to Zhuxian Town has also been dug by soldiers, most of which make use of the original small ditches and low-lying places. In many other places, soldiers were digging small canals to divert water from the main canals to the various stations.

Today, the river to the west of the dam is gradually rising, and the small lake formed in the depression in the northwest is gradually expanding. For the army of Chuang and Cao, this was not only a clever plan to force the enemy to rout, but also how happy it was that small lakes and canals suddenly appeared on this arid plain! Such a new thing, the veterans have seen it for the first time in the more than ten years that they have followed King Li Chuang's uprising!

Many soldiers stood at the water's edge and watched. Many people drink horses by rivers, small lakes and canals. Many soldiers stripped naked, jumped into the rivers and small lakes to bathe, play in the water, and were happy.

Tian Jianxiu has been digging, lifting, and picking soil with the soldiers since the morning. He worked among the soldiers and directed the whole project. His generals and the people on his left and right, because he was already in his forties, and he was a general, and the weather was hot, advised him several times not to do the hard work of digging and picking soil with his brothers, but to sit in a cool place and command. But he ignored it and kept rushing to work. Like the soldiers, he was shirtless, sweat dripping down his back, and his whole body seemed to have been fished out of water. He was barefoot, his pants rolled up to his knees, and even his pants were completely wet. Lunch was eaten on the construction site. After eating, he and the soldiers rested for a while and continued to work.

When the work was completed, Tamihide and his soldiers scattered to bathe in the river and the small lake. Hundreds of Cao Ying's soldiers stationed nearby also bathed in the river. A few young men of their twentieth year, when they saw that the middle of the river was rising to a depth above their chests, whistled and shouted and splashed water at each other, and some floated in clumsy positions, and their feet made the water splash and Mercury splashed on all sides. Tian Jianxiu sat in the shallow water by the river about a foot away from them, smiling, rubbing the dirt on his body, and was hit in the face by the water droplets they made several times. The leader of his own soldiers and his own soldiers, in order to protect him, sat on his left and right, no more than four or five feet away, while bathing, while keeping an eye on his safety, and waiting for him to call at any time. The soldiers showed anger several times, trying to drive the young men far away. Tami-su noticed their expressions and stopped them with a look. The leader of the pro-soldiers came to his side and asked:

"General, I'll rub your back for you."

"No, I don't. Don't let the lads see that I'm different from everyone else, and make them unhappy. ”

"But they were too noisy. Let them know who is bathing here, and they will be quiet. ”

Tian Jianxiu smiled and reproached: "Why do you have to do that? If I don't follow King Chuang's uprising, aren't I also an ordinary ordinary person? Why do you need me to pose in front of these boys? ”

"But, our old mansion, there is no general like you who doesn't have a little bit of a shelf like you!"

"It's better to keep it true to yourself." He smiled and continued, "One day, King Chuang will sit in the country, the world will be peaceful, I will return to the field, or cultivate my own food, or become a monk, or live with the common people in the countryside?" ”

The leader of the pro-soldiers smiled and asked: "General, you often think so, can King Chuang let you return to the field or become a monk when the time comes?" ”

Tian Jianxiu said: "Although I am not a monk now, I am a disciple of Buddhism, and I regard wealth and wealth as floating clouds. Everyone has their own ambitions, and they can't help it. ”

"At that time, what will we do with our group of soldiers who have followed you for many years?"

Tian Jianxiu smiled again and said softly: "You can fight with peace of mind." In the future, the world will be peaceful, and I will not ask you to follow me to the deep mountains and wild temples. King Chuang will naturally reward you for meritorious deeds and give you glory and wealth. Then he waved his hand and the leader of his own army retreated.

A young man who had had enough of playing in the water came to Tian Jianxiu's side and began to rub the dirt on his body. He saw that Tian Jianxiu was kind and kind, without the majesty of the officials, and there were no personal soldiers to wait, so he asked:

"Old man, are you a firehead or a horseman?"

Tian Jianxiu replied with a smile: "I am a groom." ”

The young man looked at the scar on his body and exclaimed, "Old man, you have a lot of color!" ”

"Follow King Li Chuang's southern expedition to the north, fighting is commonplace, can you still hang a few colors?"

"In the generalissimo's old camp, there is a horseman named Wang Changshun, who is very famous. Do you know him? ”

"Know, know. He's my immediate boss. ”

"You have a lot of colors on your body, and you are Wang Changshun's old partner, and in the future, the generalissimo will sit in the world, and you will be happy."

"I am rich and expensive in this piece of material, and I will always have a bowl of rice to eat."

The young man pleaded affectionately: "I can't rub my back, let's change the rubbing, okay?" Come, I'll rub it for you first. ”

"I've already cleaned it myself. Come, brother, I'll give you a rub. ”

The young man said happily, "You are a good man, and you are welcome." If it's okay tomorrow, we'll come here to take a shower, and I'll rub your back first. ”

Tian Jianxiu smiled and nodded. The young man moved in front of him and began to rub his back. Tian Jianxiu's pro-soldiers all looked at this incident in surprise, and the leader of the pro-soldiers wanted to stand up and curse. With a happy smile, Tian Jianxiu hurriedly glanced at the soldiers and did not allow them to make a fuss. Immediately, the soldiers looked at each other and laughed secretly. When Tian Mixiu was rubbing the young man's back clean, he heard someone on the shore call the name of the leader of his own soldiers. He looked back, understood in his heart, patted the lad on the back, and said, "Rub it clean, little brother." The young man smiled at him and nodded, grimaced mischievously, and then ran deeper, stabbed his head in the middle of the river, and swam downstream. Tian Jianxiu hurriedly went ashore, dried himself, and got dressed. The soldiers had gone ashore before him, had already been dressed, and had brought twenty or thirty horses from the shade of the trees. The lad stood in the water, watching him ride away in the midst of a large group of his own soldiers, and was completely stunned at the thought that he had caused great trouble.

When Li Zicheng returned to the old camp, Li Yan was already waiting for him. He introduced to Li Yan the strategy of breaking the enemy that had been decided, and asked with a smile:

"Lin Quan, what do you think?"

Li Yan praised: "It's very thorough. As long as the whole army of Zuo Kunshan was defeated, the armies of Ding and Yang were also defeated. ”

King Chuang said: "We will force Lao Zuo to flee on the road to Xuchang and fall into an ambush. Now there is one thing that is most suitable for you to do, but you have to work harder and lead your men to set off quickly. I'm afraid it's too late. ”

Li Yan replied respectfully: "Please ask the generalissimo to give orders, and I will do it immediately." Do you want us to cut off the retreat of the official army between Qixian and Chenliu? Yudong generals Jiusi fought for King Chuang, and today is the right time. ”

King Chuang smiled: "When Hao Shaoqi came to ask for war in the morning, you were with me, why can't you even bear it now?" This time, I really want you to lead the soldiers of eastern Henan to establish great achievements, but not to Chenliu and Qixian. All you need is a suspicious army, and I'll send someone else. ”

Li Yan already understood in his heart that he was going to send him to the southwest, and said, "Please let the generalissimo give instructions to understand." ”

"I think that if it is three days as fast or five days as slow, there will be a large number of officers and soldiers fleeing to the Xuchang area, going straight to Nanyang, or to Yuncheng and Xinyang. Now I want you and Deqi to take your men and horses to the area of Weishi, open a few stockades, use the collected grain to help the hungry, and proclaim the virtue of our righteous army to the people. And let them prepare sticks, hoes, knives, and guns, and if the scattered officers and soldiers pass there, let them intercept and kill them everywhere, so as to avenge the fathers, elders, brothers and sisters who have been brutalized by the officers and soldiers in the past. This is the matter, please do it at your discretion, and do it as soon as possible. The difficulty was that the officers and soldiers in the Shuipoji area were not allowed to get the news. ”

"Yes! I will comply with it and get things done quickly. If the officers and soldiers fled from there, and the soldiers of eastern Henan fought hard to intercept and kill, the common people would surely rise up and avenge themselves. ”

"Well, without further ado, please lead your men and go at once."

Li Yan hurried away. In order to have the opportunity to make his Yudong soldiers show their skills, his mood was uplifted; However, he was secretly worried that what King Chuang ordered him to do was not far from the 170,000 officers and soldiers gathered in Shuipoji, and it was not easy to make the officers and soldiers unaware. What if the officers and soldiers get the news?

Li Zicheng sent Li Yan away, wanting to take advantage of Tian Jianxiu's arrival to deal with the affairs of the officer of the left battalion, and returned to his big tent to wait, but saw Mrs. Gao, who had just moved from Yan Li Zhai to Liu Village with the old battalion men and women's battalion, coming in with red eyes. He couldn't help but wonder and hurriedly asked:

"What's so sad? You rarely shed tears! ”

"Just now, Erhu brought in an enemy officer, you deal with this matter first, and I'll talk to you again."

As soon as King Chuang heard that Liu Tichun was coming with an officer, he didn't care to ask Mrs. Gao why she was sad, and said, "Oh, this is an important matter, you send someone to invite Miss Zuo here." ”

Mrs. Gao had already learned about King Chuang's plan from Liu Tichun, and replied, "Miss Zuo has already been invited and is waiting in my tent. When she heard that someone from Zuoying had come and could bring a message to her adoptive father, she was very happy and shed tears. After saying that, she ordered a female soldier to invite Miss Zuo.

Miss Zuo is 17 years old this year, tall and tall, with light steps. After less than a year of camping life, her demeanor and demeanor have changed significantly, and she no longer likes thick fat powder and Aya Luo gorgeous clothes like a group of daughters. She often plays with Huiying and others, and also learns martial arts from them. At present, because there is a big war, she wears a sword and riding boots on her feet to prevent unforeseen events. The ten female soldiers sent to her by Madame Gao were not only armed with swords, but also armed with strong bows and feather arrows, ready to fight at any time. Huiying made a report at the door of the tent, and Miss Zuo walked outside the tent surrounded by female soldiers and maids. Everyone stayed. She brought the nurse into the account. She first saluted King Chuang, called "godfather", and then saluted Mrs. Gao. Mrs. Gao pulled her to sit down beside her, smiled, and said:

"Your godfather called you here to see the officer from the left battalion. You can say anything to him, let him go back and enlighten Zuo Shuai. Zuo Shuai will be relieved to know that you are safe and sound here. ”

Miss Zuo nodded, tears rolling out unconsciously.

Then the king gave an order, and the captured officer was brought in. Although this officer is only a thousand generals, his appearance is very vigorous, wearing the armor of the left battalion, wearing a copper helmet on his head, and a treasure sword at his waist. After entering the tent, he first knelt down and kowtowed to King Chuang. King Chuang smiled: "Meet your young lady quickly!" The officer saluted Mrs. Gao again, and then bowed in front of Miss Zuo and said:

"Ask Miss's Ann."

King Chuang ordered him to sit down, and then said with a smile: "We have taken you prisoner, and it is not bad to treat you, right?" I heard that the brothers had also tied you with ropes on the battlefield, which was a bit rude, and then I learned that you were an officer of the left battalion, so I immediately loosened my ties and treated you with courtesy. Your armor and swords have all been found, and they have been returned to you. My love will Liu Dejie also entertain you with wine and meat, okay, don't fight and don't know each other, and become friends in a fight! ”

Because of his cordial tone and humor, everyone present laughed silently. The officer quickly stood up and said respectfully:

"Thank you, Lord Junza, for not killing."

King Chuang then said, "Sit down, sit down." You and my subordinate General Liu have never known each other, and you have never known me. We treat you like this just because you are Zuo Shuai's subordinate. You also know that our army captured the officers and soldiers of the Ding and Yang battalions last night, how to deal with them? And what about the officers and soldiers of the captured left battalion? Big difference! ”

"Yes, yes. These things are seen in the eyes of the contemptible people, and they are clear in their hearts. After the contemptible person goes back, he must tell the truth to Lord Zuo Shuai. ”

King Chuang continued: "Although I and Zuo Shuai fought against each other, there was no personal enmity between us. On the battlefield of the two armies, Zuo Shuai and I went their own way, and the soldiers on both sides were their own masters, so of course they had to fight each other. This is only because I do the right thing for the people and serve Chongzhen loyally. In the final analysis, I have no grudge against him in my past life, and I have no enmity in this life. In order to save time for future meetings, I decree that no harm should be done to the people captured in your left battalion, whether they are officers or soldiers, and they will all be released. ”

Mrs. Gao interjected: "When Shangqiu was opened, King Chuang ordered to protect the Hou Mansion and not to harass the Hou Mansion, which is also a favor for your Zuo Shuai." ”

King Chuang continued: "I sent someone to pick up your Miss Zuo from Wolongong, Nanyang, just because the road from Nanyang to Xiangyang was too unstable, and I found out that a large group of bandits were preparing to rob Miss Miss, and I was worried that she would be in danger. After bringing her in, I treated her like my own daughter. She is my stepdaughter, and I am her godfather. Li Zicheng laughed happily, and then said: "You see, I and Zuo Shuai are enemies in terms of official affairs, but they are relatives in terms of personal affairs!" ”

Li Zicheng laughed, causing people on the left and right to laugh. The officer of the left battalion was infected by the pleasant atmosphere in the tent, and his face was filled with a smile that was both confused and moved, and the smiles that secretly looked at Miss Zuo, Mrs. Gao, and the nurse were not pretended. Regarding Miss Zuo, he had only heard about it, and when he saw it today, he was amazed. In particular, King Li Chuang's approachable attitude and eloquent homely words surprised him even more: "This is this person, hey, he is now commanding hundreds of thousands of troops to fight!" He stood up again and said respectfully:

"My young lady is so loved by King Chuang and his wife, safe and sound, I will definitely report it truthfully when I go back, please rest assured that our Lord Zuo Shuai."

Mrs. Gao said: "I am the same as King Chuang, and I treat Miss Zuo as my own daughter." It turned out that the nurse, maid, and mother-in-law who followed her were not harmed, and they still followed her to serve. In addition, I selected ten female soldiers to protect her and listen to her call. Although it was difficult in the army, she always set up her military tent first and let her rest early whenever she went to a place. The women in our army are all riding horses and are not allowed to sit in sedan chairs, but the old camp specially prepared a small sedan chair for Miss Zuo to be carried by two people, and six sedan chair men took turns to carry the sedan chair for her. When she was on the march, she rode a horse when she was happy, and she sat in a sedan chair when she was happy. Everything that is eaten and used is taken care of as much as possible. ”

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "When your young lady first came to our army, she was still a little unaccustomed, but now she takes my old camp as her home. She will tell you about my situation here, you have to remember it clearly, and when you go back, you will honestly return to Zuo Shuai. I have something else to do, and I can't say anything else. ”

After Li Zicheng left, Mrs. Gao also claimed that she had something to do and left King Chuang's big tent. In the big tent, only Miss Zuo was accompanied by her nursing mother, and three or four other female soldiers who were ready to call stood outside the tent. Miss Zuo glanced at the officers of the left battalion again, for fear that it would not be true, and asked:

"What's your last name? What officer is under my father? ”

The officer bowed and replied: "The lowly surname is Liu Mingzhongwu, and he is a thousand generals under the command of the general Ping. ”

"How did you get captured?"

"Miss Hui, I was ordered to lead 500 infantry to reinforce the official army in Zhuxian Town, but I was separated from the friendly troops who entered the village together in the fog, and I couldn't see clearly, and I was surrounded and captured by the righteous army of King Chuang. Knowing that I was a subordinate of the general of the Ping Thief, they did not harm me, but entertained me with wine and meat, and returned my helmet, cotton armor, battle robe, and sword. The captured brethren did not harm a single one, and all of them were released. ”

Miss Zuo exchanged glances with the nurse, thinking that this person was definitely not pretending, and she couldn't guess the intention of King Chuang in her heart. She knew very well that King Chuang was mobilizing his troops, and many horses passed near the village, and they didn't know where to go. In short, King Chuang was bent on defeating her adoptive father's Zuo family army. She also understood that in such a dry and hot weather, the Jialu River had been cut off, and the officers and troops were very short of water, and King Chuang wanted to force the 200,000 officers and troops led by her adoptive father to collapse without a fight, and then kill the officers and soldiers to pieces, but she couldn't guess why King Chuang let this officer of the left battalion go back, not afraid of revealing military information, and let this person meet her. At present, no matter what strategy King Chuang used, no matter how the battle would end in a day or two, and what the good luck of her adoptive father was, she had to put aside these knots in her heart, and asked the captured officer with a frown:

"Mr. Liu Qian, is my father's handsome health good?"

"Please rest assured, Miss, Lord Zhentai's noble body is very good, and he has been a little blessed again in the past year or so."

"How is my brother?" She asked Zuo Menggeng.

"The young marshal is also very good. The young marshal is currently also the rank of deputy general, and he has been credited twice by the imperial court, and now he is running military affairs with the lord of Zhentai, and he is always around. ”

"Now you've come to Zhuxian Town?"

"In the water-slope army."

Miss Zuo was secretly sad because she thought that she was not far away from her father and brother, but she couldn't meet her. After a pause, she asked:

"Do you know of a General Qiu?"

The officer knew that Miss Zuo was asking her biological father, Qiu Lei, and that Zuo Liangyu was friends of life and death, so he calmly replied:

"I heard that General Qiu is now in Shandong, and he is also a deputy general, and he will be promoted to general in the near future." Then, he said nonsense: "I also heard that Lord Qiu often writes to our Lord Zhentai, but I don't know the details. ”

Miss Zuo was excited, wiped away the tears that welled up with her sleeve, and said: "When you return to my father's camp, you must tell your father truthfully: Everything is fine here, and King Chuang and his wife treat me as a daughter." Rest assured, don't think of me. ”

"I will report it truthfully when I go back, please be relieved."

Miss Zuo felt that she had nothing to say, looked at the nurse, and asked with an undecided look, "Bring the things?" The nurse understood what she meant, got up and walked out of the tent, and whispered to a girl. There was a moment of silence in the tent. Officer Liu Zhongwu had nothing to say to Miss Zuo, and second, he couldn't guess whether he would really let him go back, and he couldn't guess what kind of medicine Li Chuang Wang had sold in the gourd when he arranged for him to meet with Miss Zuo in such military tension. Seeing that Miss Zuo was going to give him something, he didn't bother to ask, so he waited in silence.

After a while, a girl took a small box wrapped in brocade and presented it to the young lady with both hands. The young lady did not answer, and whispered:

"You open it and ask Mr. Liu Qian to look at it in person."

Yahuan held the thing in front of Mr. Qian, untied the brocade baggage, revealing a red lacquer locket; opened the lid of the box again and silently handed it to Mr. Qian. The officer received it and saw that it contained a jade hairpin and a pair of jade bracelets. He was feeling inexplicable, and Miss Zuo said to him in a choked voice:

"This is my mother's relic. After the death of her old man, these two pieces of jewelry have remained with me and I dare not lose them. In the past, I often heard my mother say that this was bought and given to her by my father when he was a junior officer, so she said that it was difficult to forget the hardships and kindness of the year when she saw these jewelry. You take this jewelry box back to my father, but you can't lose it on the way! ”

"Please rest assured, Miss. As long as King Chuang lets me go back to the camp,......"

Miss Zuo suddenly couldn't control herself, burst into tears, choked up, and said: "When you go back to Qi Qi to teach my father, I will say that I will ask my father to be handsome, and I miss his old man day and night; I will eventually return to his side to practice filial piety, please rest assured. My godfather has already said that he has no enmity with my father, and he really doesn't want to see each other. It was not his intention to have to fight with the Zuo family and horses. King Chuang's godfather is willing to send me back, and it will be easy to handle after this battle. You, you go. ”

Liu Qian always saw that Miss Ming still had a lot to say, and he didn't dare to be with Miss for too long, so he quickly put the jewelry box into his arms and said goodbye. At this time, King Chuang and Mrs. Gao returned to the big tent, and Wu Ruyi followed, obviously just disposing of important matters. Liu Qian bowed down to bid farewell to King Chuang, and asked if there were any other instructions. King Chuang said:

"You go back and tell Zuo Shuai, please don't worry about Miss Zuo, I will send her back soon. You also told him that I admired him in my heart, but unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to see him. As long as he retreats his troops from Shuipo and goes south, I will never send troops to chase after him. ”

Liu Qian only obeyed the order, knelt down and kowtowed to King Chuang, stood up and saluted Mrs. Gao, saluted Miss Zuo again, and also said goodbye to Wu Ruyi. King Chuang said to Wu Ruyi:

"He is the man of the left handsome, and he is careful to send troops to protect him. Wait until dusk to send him through Zhuxian Town, so that he can return to the left camp and not let many people see it. ”

After Wu Ruyi took Mr. Liu Qian away, Miss Zuo saluted King Chuang and Mrs. Gao and resigned. Mrs. Gao was anxious to say a few words to King Chuang for the bad news she heard, but her eyes turned red before she could say anything. Just as he was about to speak, Tamihide came. She knew that it was very important for King Chuang to call Yufeng, so she swallowed what she wanted to say back into her stomach and whispered to King Chuang:

"Plan for war first."

Li Zicheng retreated left and right and told Tian Jianxiu about the entire military deployment. Mi-su nodded as he listened. Li Zicheng then said:

"Yufeng, in this battle, we must eliminate Zuo Liangyu. As soon as he was eliminated, the imperial court would be powerless in Henan and Huguang. You set out now, lead 5,000 cavalry, and hurry to the territory of the Wei clan, and estimate where the officers and troops will pass when they retreat, and cut off the main road there. In some places, deep ditches should be dug to block the way, and in others, suspicious soldiers should be arranged. All of this had to be done in three days. I know that you have always taken the lead and shared the joys and sorrows with your subordinates, so this matter is only for you, and I am most at ease. ”

Tian Jianxiu was very happy and said: "I will definitely handle this matter well, and I will never let them escape easily from the main road." ”

King Chuang also advised: "After this matter is completed, you must send someone to tell me immediately." I will attack the officers and troops after I get your exact news. ”

Tamihide left in a hurry. King Chuang was busy for a day and a night, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. He saw that Mrs. Gao was still beside him, and just wanted to ask her why she was sad, when suddenly Wu Ruyi came in and reported:

"Cao Shuai ordered someone to tie up a soldier and send it over, asking the generalissimo to punish him severely."

King Chuang was very surprised, and hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"They only said that they should ask the king to punish him, and I didn't have time to ask more. I heard that it is related to Yufeng. ”

King Chuang felt even more strange, so he walked out of the tent to look, and sure enough, he saw a young general and several soldiers from Cao Ying, escorting a soldier who was tied up with five flowers. When the young general saw King Chuang, he knelt down and said:

"Generalissimo Qiyu, this soldier has not been here for a long time, and he doesn't know General Tian, so he is very rude. Originally, he was going to ask Tian Jiangye to punish him, but he had already ridden away and didn't dare to disturb him anymore. Our general originally said: If we can't find General Tian, we will send it to the generalissimo and ask the generalissimo to severely punish the crime according to law. The general also said: He is usually not strict with his subordinates, and he is also guilty. ”

King Chuang asked, "What is it for?" What's this boy's sin? ”

"Back to the Generalissimo, here's the thing, such a ......"

Cao Ying's young general recounted in detail how this young man bathed in the river and how he asked Tian Jiangye to rub his back for him, and then said:

"Please punish the generalissimo severely, kill when you should kill, and beat you when you should fight."

King Chuang smiled unconsciously, looked at Wu Ruyi and said, "Look, the general has given me a big problem, what should I do?" ”

Wu Ruyi didn't understand his meaning for a while, and said: "For Cao Shuai's sake, punish him with twenty lashes, and you don't have to punish him heavily." ”

King Chuang couldn't help laughing and said, "Ziyi, you're also confused!" Have you forgotten Yufeng's temperament? He was such a good person to the common people and to the people under him, and they all said that he was a living bodhisattva. If he were here now, he would laugh too, and he would never cure this young man. Then he said to Cao Ying's young general: "Untie him immediately." He doesn't know Tian Jiangye, so what's the matter? When you meet Tian Jiangye again in the future, just pay a no, don't care. In the future, it is more important than anything else to kill the officers and soldiers and strive for meritorious service. Let's go. ”

After saying that, he returned to the tent, and then asked Mrs. Gao: "What happened, you tell me quickly." ”

"I just went to the Jianwomen's camp, and I heard from someone who escaped from the Xiaoyuan camp that Huimei had committed suicide." Mrs. Gao said, her eyes turned red again.

"Really?"

It is said that the man who fled also listened to others. After hearing the news, the red lady and many girls cried. I'm sad about it too. In order to fight the country, entrap people, and send a good girl to death, you have now fallen into this fate! ”

King Chuang's heart was sad, and he reluctantly comforted: "If it is a rumor, it may not be very true. Xiao Yuanying must be exterminated in the future, but it is not yet time. Now I have to worry about the war, and when this battle is over, I will immediately send someone to find out the whereabouts of Huimei's life and death. ”

Mrs. Gao sighed and said, "Now that the war is important, you can worry about this battle." ”

CHAPTER XLII

In the past few days, in the area of Shuipoji and Zhuxian Town, it is what people often call "the gathering of large armies", there are people and horses within dozens of miles, and the common people are pitiful, especially in Shuipoji, almost all men, women and children have fled. The very few who failed to escape were also arrested by the officials and soldiers to do hard work for them.

The official army took Shuipoji as the center, facing Zhuxian Town, built many camps, and dug trenches outside the camps. What is missing is that, as there are not many trees here, it is not possible to build a barrier with a large number of branches outside the moat. Judging from the overall battlefield situation, the officers and troops are in a disadvantageous position. The rebel army gathered more than 300,000 horses in the northwest, due north, and northeast, of which more than 100,000 were elite soldiers, forming a semicircular encirclement of the officers and troops with overwhelming superiority. In terms of topography, the rebel army occupies a higher terrain, while the official army occupies a lower terrain.

At first, the morale of the officers and soldiers was still okay, because after all, they had 170,000 horses, claiming to be more than 200,000. In the first night's battle, it only failed to capture Zhuxian Town, lost its geographical advantage, and the loss of men and horses was not large, which did not affect the morale of the army. Just after the afternoon of the next day, the officers and soldiers found that the river had broken down, and only in the low-lying areas of the riverbed was some stagnant water, but it was not deep. This took them by surprise, and the hearts of the people suddenly floated, and the soldiers of all battalions ran out to grab water, some with buckets, some with wooden basins and clay basins. The water was drained at once. They began to dig wells again, but only some of them got water. Some wells have been dug two or three feet deep, but there is no water in sight; Some wells, half-dug and collapsed. Due to the small number of people in the well, the water that was brought up at the beginning was relatively clear, and later it was cloudy muddy juice. There was no alum here, and there was no way to clear the muddy water, so they had to use this muddy water to drink horses and cook. Eventually, the muddy water was exhausted, and the soldiers had to dig a new well elsewhere. In the process of grabbing water, there were many incidents of fighting and even killing each other.

After dusk that day, Ding Qirui took advantage of the fact that the moon had not yet come out, and accompanied Zuo Liangyu to the northwest of Shuipoji to inspect a part of the battlefield held against the rebels, hoping to find the weaknesses of the enemy's camp or the negligence of defense, so that he could send an elite army to destroy the embankment that cut off the river before the fifth watch. However, there are two camps of the righteous army between the water slope set and the embankment, which are well defended and have no gaps to take advantage of. He stood on a high place and looked at it for a while, and returned disappointed, it was almost the third watch.

The garrison of the official army in Shuipoji was readjusted in the afternoon: Ding Qirui, because he was in the respect of the superintendent, and his troops were also weak, and he was stationed in the northeast area of Shuipoji and outside the village, and Zuo Liangyu was the strongest, stationed in the north of Shuipoji, directly facing Zhuxian Town, a few miles from east to west. Most of the battlefields that Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu secretly inspected just now were near Zuo Liangyu's defense line. Although Yang Wenyue had fewer men and horses, because of the abundance of firearms, he was transferred from the northeast side of Shuipoji to the northwest side of Shuipoji at dusk and set up camp to connect with the left wing of the left army, and his vacated position in the northeast of Shuipoji was filled by the left soldiers. In the entire battlefield situation, Zuo Liangyu bears six or seven tenths of the responsibility, and he is facing the main offensive force of the righteous army with Zhu Xianzhen as the main battalion. As far as the officers and troops are concerned, the two armies of the Governor and the Governor relied on the Left Army as the "Great Wall". This situation put the left army under the greatest pressure, and at the same time made Zuo Liangyu even more contemptuous of the superintendent and the governor.

After returning from the inspection, Ding Qirui thought that the situation was serious, and invited Zuo Liangyu to the nearest camp of Yang Wenyue outside the west gate of Shuipoji, and secretly discussed the military overnight. Yang Wenyue was about to see the overseer because of a confidential matter. Because Zuo Liangyu came with the superintendent, he had to not mention it for the time being.

The few important generals and staff members who were supposed to attend the most secret military meeting had sent people to inform Ding Qirui on the way to inspect and turn around, so they soon arrived on horseback. At the beginning of the meeting, Ding Qirui first talked about the current serious situation and asked everyone to put forward a combat strategy to save the crisis. The generals and staff, you look at me, I look at you, silently, waiting for the three of the superintendent, the governor and the general of the peace thief to come up with a proposal. Yang Wenyue was severely reprimanded by the imperial court for the defeat and escape of the burning shop, and was almost imprisoned for punishment, and had to reluctantly advocate the attack verbally, and secondly, he discovered the terrible situation after dusk, and wanted to take advantage of this time to test the tone of the general of the thief, so he first broke the silence in the tent and said:

"At present, the thieves have a large army, seized Zhuxian Town, first gained the geographical advantage, and cut off the Jialu River, so that my army of nearly 200,000 people is in a difficult situation. There are three strategies facing our army, and we must choose one: First, we must fight a decisive battle with the enemy, break the cauldron and sink the ship, and we will not hesitate. Taking advantage of the fact that the morale of our army has not yet decayed, we will attack the enemy and go all out, and at the same time it is agreed that the defenders of Kaifeng will respond from the north and attack from both sides, so that the situation can be reversed. If you can reoccupy Zhuxian Town and communicate with the Kaifeng defenders, you will win the first battle. Keep working hard and win it all. That's why I advocate a decisive battle with the enemy. Do you think so? ”

Yang Wenyue was afraid in his heart, and he really didn't want anyone to echo his proposition, but people couldn't guess his true meaning from his voice and look when he spoke, and they all looked at him with confused eyes, wondering why he advocated a decisive battle. Zuo Liangyu just glanced at him from the corner of his eye, and a smile appeared from the corner of his mouth. After Yang Wenyue finished speaking, he slowly glanced at all the civil and military dignitaries who participated in the secret discussion, and saw that Ding Qirui and everyone were confused, which was very much in line with his actual cowardice thoughts. Only Zuo Liangyu's demeanor made his heart very uneasy. He and Ding Qirui were both afraid that Zuo Liangyu would be arrogant and domineering, so they made their own decisions and threw them to the "thieves". He didn't dare to look at Zuo Liangyu's face more, but just pretended to glance casually, noticing Zuo's coldness and contempt for him. He couldn't help but think of the secrets he had discovered after dusk, and he felt even more frightened. In order to relieve everyone from the predicament of confusion and silence, he knew that Ding Qirui had always been afraid of a tiger, and wanted to use Ding's mouth to dispel the suggestion of a decisive battle, and asked Ding softly:

"Do you think you can fight the enemy as soon as possible?"

Since yesterday, the muscles in the small corner of Ding Qirui's right eye have been beating frequently, which is caused by excessive fatigue of peripheral nerves, but he himself suspects that it is an unlucky sign, which increases his premonition of failure in the current situation. He had already noticed the coldness and arrogance of the general of the Ping Thief, and of course he could see that none of the civil and military dignitaries agreed to a decisive battle. However, he himself was afraid of a rash decisive battle, and he did not dare to speak out against the decisive battle, which became the emperor's handle on his punishment. In a moment of silence, he only felt that the corners of his eyes were beating very strongly. Seeing that all eyes were looking at him, he had no choice but to twist his beard, which had quickly turned gray in the past two years, and asked Yang Wenyue:

"Lord Yang just said that there are three strategies in front of our army right now, what about the other two? Why don't you say it all and ask everyone to think about it? ”

Yang Wenyue sighed and said: "Now that we are forced to fight a decisive battle, there is still two or three points of hope for victory, as for the other two strategies, I am afraid ...... You don't have to say it. ”

One of the overseers urged, "Lord Yang may wish to explain it so that we can consider it together." ”

Yang Wenyue said: "The second strategy is to try your best to hold on, deep ditches and high bases, and not to fight a decisive battle with the thief army. Use the plan to break into the middle and Cao two thieves, and wait for the gap to move. However, I am afraid that the discord will not be completed, the morale of our army will be lost, and the people's hearts will be disintegrated and out of control. ”

Ding Qirui asked: "What about the third strategy?" ”

Yang Wenyue said: "Support for a few more days, if you have to, the army will slowly retreat to Qixian and Suizhou, and there is no need to be trapped here." If the thief army pursues and goes forward, it will fight a decisive battle in the area of Sui and Qi, so that the water source will not be cut off today. If the thieves do not dare to chase after them, our army can return at any time, so that the enemy cannot besiege Kaifeng with all his strength. ”

Ding Qirui's heart began to clear and said: "This third strategy is definitely not feasible. As soon as the army moves, the enemy takes the opportunity to storm and easily panic and rout. What's more, if you have to withdraw from the army without a hard fight, how can the emperor see the guilt? The student was ordered to supervise the teacher, and there was no culpability for the crime, if he died in the West Market, it was better to die on the battlefield! ”

Yang Wenyue asked, "Then what about a decisive battle?" ”

Ding Qirui said: "I have sent someone to prepare for Gao Mingheng yesterday, and within three days I saw the fire in the area of Zhuxian Town, that is, Chen Yongfu led 30,000 soldiers in the city out of the city to attack the back of the thieves. Therefore, from the student's point of view, it should be held out for a few days until the contact with Kaifeng is ready for a decisive battle. What does General Kunshan think? ”

From the beginning of the meeting to the present, Zuo Liangyu has not said a word, making people unable to guess his thoughts. He did have both complaints and suspicions in his heart, and he was very contemptuous of Ding and Yang. When he joined forces with Ding and Yang in Runing, he once suggested that the army go to Qixian and Chenliu, go straight to Kaifeng City, set up camp in the area of Yuwangtai and Fanta Temple, lean on the strong city, stand in an invincible position, and occupy the south bank of the Yellow River at the same time, so that the Kaifeng North Road is unimpeded, and the grain is received from the Yellow River. However, this suggestion was not adopted, and the goal was to occupy Zhuxian Town as the first step, resulting in a strong enemy in front of today, and no strong city in the future. He estimated that the army would have no danger to defend at Shuipoji, and the water source had been cut off, and it would collapse without a fight in three days. After Ding Qirui asked him to speak, he was silent for a moment with his thick black broom eyebrows, thought for a while, and then said:

"I think the third strategy that Lord Yang said just now is feasible, but it must be fast, and you don't have to retreat too far to be taken advantage of by the enemy. For now, it is true that the only way to retreat to the southeast is to temporarily retreat, which is the best policy. Where to retreat? In my opinion, you can withdraw to the area of Chenliu, not surrounded by thieves, and the people and horses will not worry about cutting off the water, and then try to enter the army outside the city of Kaifeng. In such a hot summer, with no water to drink and no firewood and grass, how can people and horses support? ”

As soon as Ding Qirui heard the words of withdrawing the army, he thought that the emperor would send him to prison for punishment and that the Manchu officials would attack him wantonly, and he didn't feel a hot sweat, and the corners of his small eyes kept beating more and more. He looked at Zuo Liangyu and said:

"Withdrawal? No, no. At the moment, the army must not retreat. The soldiers are panicking and suspicious, and once they retreat, they are prone to collapse. The enemy took the opportunity to pursue with a large army of conflicts, and ravaged them with elite cavalry, and the outcome was unimaginable. ”

Many of the generals and staff present here, mostly under the Governor and the Governor, were opposed to the withdrawal of the army, believing that it was very dangerous for the army to move backwards at this time. Zuo Liangyu scolded in his heart: "Being with this class of mediocre talents, being dragged down by them, making Lao Tzu helpless, what a fuck!" He glanced at everyone, couldn't help but show indignation, smiled coldly, and said:

"Since the Governor and all of you all believe that you should fight the thief here, I have nothing to say, and as for the victory or defeat, I have to resign myself to fate!"

Ding Qirui hurriedly said: "You can't say that, Lord Zuo." As long as we communicate with Kaifeng, make an appointment, and attack the enemy camp in the north and south at the same time for a decisive battle, victory is still somewhat certain. ”

Zuo Liangyu stopped talking and was anxious to go back to the camp to take care of the military. The meeting ended inconclusively.

That night, Zuo Liangyu convened a meeting of his own trusted generals and staff in the tent. He mentioned Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue without any scruples, saying that they were both born in Wenchen, did not understand military affairs, and were defeated under Li Zicheng, especially Yang Wenyue, who actually left Fu Zonglong and fled alone in the battle of burning the shop. Speaking of this, he said with a mocking tone:

"Today's war is not usual, the thief army is powerful, and the location is advantageous. We need to beware of others running away and leaving us alone. ”

His generals and staff also laughed at Ding and Yang Bubing. Some people said that since the water supply was cut off in the afternoon, there have been many rumors in the barracks, saying that the official army has been surrounded by thieves on all sides, and Li Zicheng will attack tomorrow. He also said that at present, the morale of the Ding and Yang camps is unstable. Zuo Liangyu was depressed in his heart and said:

"In such a situation, our military morale is also unstable. Orders are to be given to all battalions to beware of deserters; Catch a deserter and immediately behead him. ”

Another general spoke of the release of the captives in the afternoon, saying: "It is very strange that they entertained our soldiers with food and wine, and then put them back, but some of the soldiers under the command of Ding and Yang were beheaded, some had their right hands chopped off, and some of their ears were cut off, and then they were put back. ”

Another staff member said: "I also think this matter is strange, thinking about it, this is probably a poisonous trick used by Blind Li." ”

Zuo Liangyu said: "This is obviously a trick used by Blind Li to sow discord. I had already talked to Ding and Yang in the afternoon, and they also thought that this was a deliberate attempt to provoke thieves. At such a time when people's hearts are fluctuating, we must strictly prohibit soldiers from believing rumors, let alone gossiping. ”

A general shook his head and said, "Although the two adults, Ding and Yang, know that it is the enemy's plan to provoke them, but their soldiers do not understand. Now rumors are becoming more and more popular, and they all say that some of our soldiers once brought back a letter, which was written by Li Zicheng to the commander. ”

Zuo Liangyu snorted in his nose and said, "Since rumors are becoming more and more prevalent, we must strictly prohibit rumors. I am a general of a thief, and unless the thief surrenders, he will never give me a letter! ”

After the meeting was dismissed, Zuo Liangyu led several important generals to climb a high mansion and look north, but saw that far and near, there were fires everywhere, and some of the fires extended far to the north, clearly more than ten miles away. From the firelight, it can be seen that the camps of the rebel army are dotted one by one. Now it is impossible for the officials and soldiers to expect to approach Kaifeng and echo the city. Zuo Liangyu looked at it for a while, and his heart felt heavy, so he turned around and looked south. He found that there were also many fires in the south, which appeared here and there, and the fires were sometimes small and apparently being extinguished, but suddenly new ones came up. Zuo Liangyu knew that there was no enemy camp there, but some rangers were burning wheat in the fields. He thought again: If the war is unfavorable, Ding and Yang will inevitably flee first, and of course he himself must think of a way to retreat in advance, and at the moment, it seems that he is not very sure whether he will flee to the southeast or to the southwest. He was a deep and majestic handsome, and refused to reveal his thoughts to the left and right. At the same time, although he had already considered the defeat of the battle and the escape, he still hoped that he would be able to persuade Ding and Yang to withdraw their troops from Chen Liu's area tomorrow, and then make a detour back to Kaifeng from Yifeng.

When he returned to the tent, he didn't dare to untie his armor, so he fell asleep. Suddenly, a relative came in and woke him up. He opened his eyes and asked:

"What's the urgency?"

"Captain Yu, the little colonel sent to Kaifeng is back."

Zuo Liangyu sat up and said, "Call him!" ”

This small school was sent to Kaifeng on the road when Zuo Liangyu had not yet arrived at Shuipoji. He took many detours before he arrived at the city of Kaifeng, where he was tied into the city with a rope and presented Zuo Liangyu's book to the governor. Zuo Liangyu said in the book: I am willing to drive the men and horses to Yuwangtai and Fanta Temple to camp in order to protect the provincial capital, and then divide 20,000 or 30,000 horses to be stationed between Kaifeng and the south bank of the Yellow River to open up the grain road. However, the officials and gentry of Kaifeng held a meeting in front of the governor to discuss and oppose it with all their might, saying that Zuo Liangyu's military discipline was very corrupt, and he was raped, kidnapped and burned everywhere, and he must not let his men and horses be opened to Kaifeng. After discussion, the governor replied to Zuo Liangyu with a letter and handed it to the school to bring back.

Xiao Xiao was called into the tent and presented Gao Mingheng's book to Zuo Liangyu. Although Zuo Liangyu didn't know much about writing and ink, he still understood the general meaning, and knew that Gao Mingheng politely refused him to fight under Kaifeng City. From the mouth of the little colonel, he learned about the attitude of the officials and gentry in Kaifeng, and he couldn't help but be very angry, stomped his foot violently, and scolded: "A group of bastards! Then he waved his hand to make the school leave.

At this moment, the rumbling of cannons rang out from the north, followed by the northwest and northeast sides. Although the sound of the cannon was sparse, it was loud and shook the earth. Zuo Liangyu was completely sleepy and walked out of the tent. He was very experienced, and said softly to the left and right:

"This is a test gun of the thief army, you don't have to worry."

After that, he asked one of the generals next to him: "What is the movement between the superintendent and the governor?" ”

The general replied: "They have not moved there yet, but beware of them escaping." ”

Zuo Liangyu nodded, and his heart became heavy: Could it be that they will also throw Fu Zonglong like they threw down Fu Zonglong in the burning shop, and they left me to escape first? What should I do in case of that? Should I go this way before them? In which direction? Where should you retreat? …… A barrage of questions came over him.

That night, after Zuo Liangyu left, a small military secret meeting was held in Yang Wenyue's military tent, which was attended only by Yang Wenyue, Ding Qirui, and a few of his closest generals and staff, and now the meeting has been dispersed. Yang Wenyue asked Ding Qirui to sit down again, and another Chinese general stood next to him, ready to listen to orders. The outside of the tent is heavily guarded, and no one is allowed to enter unless ordered to do so.

Yang Wenyue said softly: "Master Inspector, what do you think is the purpose of today's thieves not killing the captured officers and soldiers of the left battalion, but instead treating them with wine and food, and then putting them back?" ”

"I don't think it's a divisive measure, so you don't need to pay attention to it."

Yang Wenyue shook his head lightly and said, "We must beware of being sold by Kunshan." ”

Ding Qirui was taken aback and said, "Why did your lord say this? I don't think that's it, right? ”

"Don't be unguarded. I am the governor of Baoding, Hebei, and Shandong, and I can't control the general of the thief, and I won't put it in his eyes. He was only subject to the temperance of the overseers. In case the battle situation is unfavorable, a person like Zuo Kunshan can't even control Yang Wuling, not to mention that the adult does not have the respect of Yang Wuling's auxiliary? ”

Ding Qirui sighed. Of course, he knew that he was indeed far worse than Yang Sichang. has been with Zuo Liangyu for a year, although he has the respect of a supervisor, Zuo Liangyu does not take him seriously, so that he often has some dark anger in vain. So he was silent for a moment, and replied helplessly:

Now the arrogant soldiers are indeed difficult to control, and Wang Suixing has suffered the loss of these people: before the battle in Xiangcheng, He Renlong, Zheng Jiadong and other general soldiers fled separately, leaving him alone to defend Xiangcheng, and finally died in the city. The battle of burning the shop was also the first to escape from He Renlong and Li Guoqi. It seems that if Zuo Kunshan is unwilling to fight hard, or has selfish intentions, the situation of you and me will be even more difficult and dangerous. ”

"Zuo Kunshan is a person who can fight, but he is too arrogant. Yang Wenwan treated him well, but he did not listen to the dispatch, resulting in the extermination of the thief, which fell short, but lost Xiangyang, forcing Yang Wenweak to commit suicide. Now, according to my opinion, the thieves are also using various methods to win over Kunshan, and maybe there are some situations that we don't know about secretly. ”

"It's hard to say. The Hou family is the benefactor of Kunshan. This time, the thieves broke Shangqiu and protected the Hou family. The people of the Hou family have fled, leaving only the residence and some slaves, and the thieves actually sent troops to guard them, and they are not allowed to touch the grass and trees of the Hou family. It seems that the thieves have a deep intention, and we have to guard against it. ”

"How can it be that the officers and men of the left battalion who were released today not only did not harm a single person after being captured, but also treated them with wine and food, while the officers and men of our two battalions were either killed, or their right hands were chopped off and their ears were cut off. Although it was Li Thief's plan to sow discord, it is no wonder that the soldiers are full of rumors, which is reasonable. ”

"However, Kunshan himself said this matter first when they met in the afternoon, thinking that it was a thief, so he used a discordant plan."

"It's not good for him not to say the bright things, but the dark things are not necessarily said to the adults."

Ding Qirui was taken aback again, and hurriedly asked, "Isn't your lord something else?" ”

Yang Wenyue leaned forward and whispered, "There is an officer under him named Liu Zhongwu, who was released from the thief after dusk today. He didn't know that my Baoding soldiers and the left battalion had changed guards, and he mistakenly walked the boundary of our Baoding patrol area, and was captured by our soldiers, and found out the evidence of the crime, and had already interrogated and understood, and the situation was very strange. I am now asking the adults to stay alone, precisely to present this matter to the face. When Yang Wenyue said this, he ordered the Chinese army standing on the side and said, "Ask Liu Zhongwu to come and see your lord." ”

The Chinese army went out for a moment and brought an officer. The officer bowed first to Ding and Yang and crossed his hands, then threw himself on his knees, and said to the governor in fear:

"Despicable capital crime, captured by the thief today, fortunately survived, how to deal with it, I beg your Excellency to be extrajudicially benevolent."

Yang Wenyue said: "Now it's not about your sin, it's because the Inspector has something to ask you, and you have to be honest." ”

"Yes, I don't dare to hide a word of humility, and I must return it honestly."

Ding Qirui asked, "Your name is Liu Zhongwu?" ”

"Yes, sir."

"Stand up and tell me how you were captured, why didn't they kill you and put you back?"

Liu Zhongwu stood up, lowered his hands, and replied: "Returning to your lord's question: During the fifth watch, 2,000 men and horses from our left battalion entered Zhuxian Town, and I led 500 men to walk in front, but unexpectedly there was a heavy fog, and no one could be seen on the other side. I went the wrong way and was surrounded by thieves. I haven't seen the enemy yet, they've come to their side, they've been captured alive......"

"And then?"

Later, the people who were arrested were all sent to Liu Erhu, a total of three or four hundred. It was almost noon, Liu Erhu suddenly walked up to the humble position, looked at the humble position and smiled slightly, and said to me: "Brother, I see that you are a little kind-looking, as if you have seen it somewhere. Oh, I remember, I used to have a friend who looked like you. Now do you want to live, or do you want to die? He said: 'Of course I want to live, but I can't surrender.' ’……”

Speaking of this, Liu Zhongwu secretly glanced at Ding and Yang, because even he didn't believe the fabricated lie of "I can't surrender". Seeing that Ding and Yang did not react, he continued:

"Liu Erhu said to the humble position: 'I don't want you to surrender, and I don't want you to die. I have no enmity with you in the past life, no injustice in this life, seeing that you are an officer of the left battalion, I want to save you. I am ordered by the king not to kill the guests of the left camp. And he said that he ...... his humble position."

Ding Qirui stopped and asked, "What, he said you are a guest?" ”

"Yes, sir. Sometimes he called me a guest, sometimes he called me a friend of Zuoying. ”

Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue exchanged glances, and said to Liu Zhongwu: "Go on, he will ...... you"

"He took the lowly post into another military tent, ate and drank with me, told me not to be afraid, and said that he would send me back to the left camp. Liu Erhu also said that in this battle, King Chuang was determined to destroy the soldiers and horses of Ding and Yang, but he did not want to fight with the left army. He also said that Miss Zuo is now breaking into the king's old camp, and King Chuang is willing to make peace with Zuo Shuai secretly and return Miss Zuo Shuai. ”

Ding and Yang exchanged another look, and nodded tacitly. They all already knew about Miss Zuo's robbery by Li Zicheng in Wolongong, Nanyang last year.

Liu Zhongwu continued: "Liu Erhu boasted to the humble position how many men and horses they had to break into the king, how strong the soldiers and horses, and how the grain and grass were sufficient, and if they couldn't say how many days, they would attack the two armies of the governor and the governor. He said that the soldiers of King Chuang and the soldiers of the left battalion do not violate the river water, and as long as the left battalion does not move and only shoots empty artillery, King Chuang will never attack the left battalion. ”

Ding Qirui was skeptical of this, and asked silently in his heart: "Really? Fake? What is the plan to break the thief's discord? He thought for a moment, refused to believe it, and asked Liu Zhongwu again:

"He asked you about our officers and soldiers, and you told you honestly?"

Liu Zhongwu was scared in his heart, and hot sweat broke out on his back, but he pretended to smile and immediately replied: "He also asked about the situation of our officers and soldiers, and he lied to him all over the world and didn't tell the truth. He didn't pursue it, but said, 'We don't need to ask you about the situation on your side, we know it perfectly.' Today I want to be your friend; If you are interrogated, it will not be a friendship. Let's talk less about the military and have a good drink. Therefore, please rest assured that the humble position has not revealed the truth of our official and military side in the slightest. ”

Yang Wenyue said: "Liu Zhongwu, you will soon report to the Inspector what happened to the thief and Miss Zuo." ”

Liu Zhongwu said: "Yes, yes. I dare not hide my humble duties and report them truthfully. ”