Just when Zhou Shixian went all the way south, had passed through Linqing, and was about to arrive at Dongchang Mansion, Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi also led the remnants of the defeated army and returned to the capital, and were asking Li Zicheng for his guilt.

"In other words, you were defeated by a mere brocade guard? It also damaged thousands of elite horses. Li Zicheng sat on the throne of the Jianji Palace, his eyes were angry, and his majesty was fully displayed.

"Your Majesty, that may not be a simple brocade cloth guard." Niu Jinxing suddenly came out of the ranks, and hugged his fists:

"According to the minister's investigation, Zhou Shixian was born in the family of the official eunuch, and he was the horse selected by Chongzhen himself, it is said that he is both civil and military, I am afraid that he has the will of Chongzhen, and the old ministers help him, otherwise with his qualifications, it is impossible to control those soldiers."

In order to stabilize his position as prime minister, Niu Jinxing naturally wanted to win over these Li Zicheng's henchmen, and he also guessed that Li Zicheng would not really be ruthless to his old brother, of course he had to help him at this time, exaggerating Zhou Shixian's ability, in fact, he didn't believe that a hundred households had this ability.

"Your Majesty, Zhou Shixian has 5,000 elite soldiers under his command, and he should have collected the defeated soldiers of Beizhili and the king of Shandong Qin/soldiers who went north." Gu Kecheng also hurriedly said.

"That Pang Lun is their internal response, the Ming army is just an ambush of cavalry, more than three thousand, the minister and General Gu pursued too quickly, so that people are tired and tired, careless, under the sudden attack of nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses of the Ming army, it is difficult to resist at all." Hao Shaoqi also followed the nonsense.

The two of them did not dare to admit their guilt at all, and they lost more than 1,300 cavalry and nearly 5,000 horses in the First World War, and now they can only continue to make up reasons to reduce their guilt.

It's just that the battle outside Dezhou City has already announced the failure of the Shun army's pursuit, and Emperor Chongzhen has completely escaped.

Otherwise, how will Li Zicheng serve the public in the future?

As for the scapegoat Pang Lun, he had already been ordered by Li Zicheng, and he was beaten to the last breath. But at this point, he is no longer worth much.

Even if there is no matter of Chongzhen, just by taking the enemy lightly and rashly advancing, and losing so many war horses and veterans in World War I, Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi will be a living crime.

Li Zicheng has been in trouble for so many years, where is it so easy to deceive, he naturally knows that Gu Kecheng and Hao Shaoqi's thoughts are just going down the slope to get off the donkey.

Therefore, a traitor in the Ming Court who is about to run out of breath is much easier to use than a general who can speak well and even talk nonsense.

"In any case, the two of you have an unshirkable responsibility for this battle, if I don't punish you, how can I serve the people?" Li Zicheng listened to the words of these people below, and couldn't help frowning:

"Gu Kecheng, Hao Shaoqi, you lightly attacked the enemy, resulting in heavy losses for our army, considering the cunning of the Ming army, the battle situation is difficult to guess. Now I will punish you for one year, Gu Kecheng, as the chief general, will be removed from the post of the forward battalion general, and the general will be controlled by power, and the army will be temporarily led. ”

Li Zicheng said, and the two immediately knelt down to thank him, and this way of dealing with it was actually a show, and even with Hao Shaoqi, he also got a favor.

After all, most of the current Shun army are not Li Zicheng's old subordinates, Li Zicheng has become a balanced soldier and horse, and he must show his generosity.

At this moment, Niu Jinxing spoke again: "Your Majesty, the minister has something to report. ”

If you want one thing to pass completely, the best way is to cover it up with another thing, and Niu Venus naturally understands this truth.

"Accurate!"

"Your Majesty, now there are many unjust cases in the local area due to the recovery of stolen goods and salaries, and many states and counties have been boiling with public resentment, and even a squire rebellion has broken out." This kind of thing was not serious originally, but now that Chongzhen is not dead, the situation is different, Niu Jinxing's political sense of smell is still there.

"The minister thinks that although my Dashun has now occupied the entire northern country, but the local government has recently recovered, the people's hearts are not stable, and the remnants of the Ming army in the southern provinces have not been eliminated, and it is not appropriate to fully recover the stolen goods, so as not to lose the support of the local government and chaos in the rear."

As soon as these words came out, the civil and military ministers of the Shun Court standing on the Jianji Hall were talking for a while, and Li Zicheng couldn't help but nod.

After all, since the first lunar month, the Dashun army has taken over the entire Shanxi, northern Henan, and many places in the western part of Beizhili in a short period of time, and the grassroots strength is simply insufficient, and each county can only send one county order and two hundred garrisons to take over.

Such a weak force was simply not enough to suppress the local gentry who had been in control of the local area for many years, and in order to raise military salaries, they pursued stolen goods and subsidies from the local squires regardless of priority, which greatly shook the establishment of the ruling order of the Shun army.

Now that Chongzhen has fled south, once the news spreads, there will inevitably be countless local gentry who are dissatisfied with Dashun to rebel, so Li Zicheng must adjust his policy as soon as possible to stabilize the interior.

"The prime minister is right, this matter must be properly handled as soon as possible, otherwise the southern expedition will be a nonsense." Li Zicheng nodded, and then said: "Song Xiance, this matter will be supervised by you and the prime minister, and you must be as fast as possible to appease people's hearts." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." The two immediately clasped their hands into fists and said in unison.

"What's going on over there with Wu Sangui, has there been any news from Tang Tong?"

Although the matter of Emperor Chongzhen's escape to the south is important, it is not urgent, after all, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army in the south is not worth mentioning.

In other words, as long as the north is stabilized, Li Zicheng will directly send a group of troops and horses south to take Nanjing, and the rest of the places will be decided.

You must know that the border troops of the Ming court are all in the north, and whoever controls the hundreds of thousands of border troops on the nine sides will win the world. Jiangnan is just a land of food.

But once Wu Sangui in Shanhaiguan changes, it is a direct threat to the capital. For Li Zicheng, this is also very important, and because Chongzhen fled south, Wu Sangui's movements immediately became very urgent.

"Back to Your Majesty, after Tang Tong met with Wu Sangui, the conditions have been basically negotiated, and just last night, Wu Sangui had already announced his surrender in Yongping.

Early this morning, Wu Sangui's 30,000 soldiers and horses should have been deployed, and it is expected that they will be able to reach the capital in ten days. Tang Tong obeyed His Majesty's will, and the former Ming Tingshan Customs Commander, and the general Gao Di continued to advance eastward to take over Shanhaiguan. Song Xiance immediately folded his sleeves and said.

Li Zicheng nodded, sneered, and suddenly said:

"Hmph, it seems that these are all the tricks of that Jinyi Wei Baihu, what Wu Sangui will take refuge in the Tartars, it is simply a sound to attack the west.

Which of us have been on the battlefield for decades? It's actually all played with by a few brocade clothes and hundreds of households, is it ridiculous? ”

"Your Majesty!" When the Dashun ministers in the hall heard this, they couldn't help but tremble in their hearts.

"Huh!" Li Zicheng raised his hand, stopped these courtiers from speaking, and said with a faint smile:

"It seems that Wu Sangui is not a big trouble, and the so-called Tartar is just the nonsense of the hundred households named Zhou Shixian, used to distract us.

The three departments of Guo Sheng, Zhao Yingyuan, and Dong Xueli immediately continued south along the canal to receive Shandong. Also, let Yuan Zongdi return to Henan by the same route, march into Hubei, and together with Bai Wang, flank Zuo Liangyu. ”

"Yes!" When the ministers below heard this, their hearts were relieved, and they clasped their fists again, and said in unison.

"Remember, Chongzhen is dead, send fast horses to spread the news quickly, and it must be faster than the speed of the Ming army going south." Li Zicheng suddenly grinned.

Since that brocade-clothed guard set him along, Li Zicheng naturally would not be beaten in vain, and he wanted to return it all at all.