Xia Guoxiang nodded and took the initiative to say: "Uncle, this King Qin must be fast, we are rash in our troops, for the sake of the court and the Son of Heaven." It is not uncommon to encounter the main force of thieves, the veterans of the division are tired, and the troops are weak.

The forward soldiers and horses, carry out rectification, gather the main force, and slowly advance, this is also the method of using soldiers.

Anyway, let's talk about the past. I think that there is some truth in what Mr. Li said. ”

Wu Sangui pinched his breath, thought about it seriously, and asked after a while: "But if you have to enter the customs after acting like this, what should you do then?" ”

Xia Guoxiang couldn't answer, as Wu Sangui said, this method can be delayed for a while, half a month and twenty days, and it does not solve the fundamentals.

So the two looked at Li Zhaoji at the same time, Li Zhaoji laughed and said: "Ping Xibo, if you say something taboo, don't you think that you can really beat the thief, King Qin will save it." ”

"This ...... The elite soldiers of the world gathered, and I ........ Mingming. Wu Sangui was originally confident, because he had always despised the thieves, but after thinking about it, he had been coming to fight with Dongyu outside the pass for so many years, and it was already nine years ago that Zu Kuan led three thousand elite horsemen to enter the pass with Liaozhen.

Wu Sangui realized that his understanding of the strength of the thief was very weak. But he also knew that the thieves were not the same thieves as they were nine years ago.

After all, three years ago, thieves were still thieves, running around. It is easy to win the battle, but it is difficult to loot and destroy. However, in the past three years, the thieves have occupied the Central Plains and the three sides, and now they have swept through North China and have become a regular army, and they cannot be regarded as rogues.

As a result, Wu Sangui clenched his fists and said, "Mr. Li, if you know the inside story of the thief, can you analyze it for us in Liaozhen?" ”

Li Zhaoji smiled and said: "I have been in business for many years, and I have friends in Tiannan and Haibei, and I also have some understanding of the strength of thieves. ”

"Yes, yes." Xia Guoxiang suddenly remembered one thing, Gao claimed that it was, seeing that Wu Sangui was puzzled, he said to Wu Sangui: "Uncle, a few days ago, I went to Lord Shen with a few town generals to discuss the military, Lord Shen talked about something, saying that in October last year, the Guangdong army was newly built, and when it came to the situation in the north, Mr. Li already knew that the traitor Li Zicheng was going to usurp the emperor, and he also knew that he was called the emperor on the first day of the new year, and the country name was Shun.

If it weren't for Mr. Lee's lack of competent people among the thieves, where would he know this? ”

As soon as Wu Sangui heard this, he was even more convinced of Li Zhaoji.

Wu Sangui said: "Sir, it is a matter of our success or failure, please do not hesitate to give advice." ”

Li Zhaoji waved his hand: "Uncle, you must not be like this, Li is just hearsay, believe it or not, it is all up to the two of you to judge for yourself." ”

The more modest Li Zhaoji was, the more urgent Wu Sangui became, and Li Zhaoji did not hide his selfishness, and informed Wu Sangui of the strength of Li Zicheng's department.

According to historical records, after Li Zicheng completed the sweep of North China and the Nine Sides, his strength can not be underestimated, and his army is divided into two kinds, one is the soldiers and horses of the headquarters that he has become the 'old capital', these soldiers and horses are either old thieves, or the officers and soldiers who were accepted in the early and middle periods or other rogues, and their combat effectiveness is not bad.

And these soldiers and horses combined, about 180,000 to 190,000 scale, of course, the Shun army at this time both north and south of the enemy, so not all soldiers and horses are around the capital.

The 20,000 men of Yuan Zong's first command had just defeated Zuo Liangyu in Huguang, and went north to Henan to suppress the rebellion, leaving 50,000 or 60,000 people in Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan and other places.

From Shanxi all the way to the capital, Li Zicheng arranged garrisons in Shanxi, Henan, and Zhili, with about 16,000 people, and left 20,000 soldiers and horses in Xuanfu and Datong on the nine sides.

In this way, the Shun army had about 80,000 soldiers and horses in the left of the capital, although all the way to the expedition, many Ming troops surrendered, but most of them were placed on the spot, and with Li Zicheng stationed in Gyeonggi, only a small number of cavalry from Xuan and Da.

On the Ming side, Liaozhen Wu Sangui and Gao Di combined had more than 40,000 soldiers and horses, and the local gentry organized more than 20,000 Xiangyong.

What's more, the thieves owned the northwest and the Central Plains, and had the support of food and salary in the rear, while the Qinwang army all relied on shipping, and now it was the season of March to change the wind, and the shipping was not reliable at all.

What Li Zhaoji told Wu Sangui was a historical fact, but it also surprised Wu Sangui, he really didn't expect that in just a few years, the thief would have this scale, and his strength was not to be underestimated, it was far superior to his own.

After listening to Li Zhaoji's words, Wu Sangui and Xia Guoxiang both fell into silence, Wu Sangui thought about it and said: "The thief is powerful, and the matter of King Qin...... or to recalculate. ”

Li Zhaoji smiled, and said in his heart Wu Sangui is really a person who understands current affairs, and when he heard that the thief was so strong, he immediately had no intention of fighting him.

Li Zhaoji said: "If Ping Xibo's department does not enter the customs, I am afraid that he will not be able to explain it to the imperial court." ”

"What is the best plan, sir?" Wu Sangui was reminded by Li Zhaoji, and when he found the young man in front of him with a bamboo in his chest, he immediately asked for advice.

Li Zhaoji clenched his fists and said: "Two, what you say next, if you say it, I won't admit it." ”

"Don't worry, you and I are advancing and retreating together, rich and prosperous together." Wu Sangui said.

Wu Sangui met Li Zhaoji for the first time, and there is no way to talk about closeness and trust, and the reason why he is so willing to believe what Li Zhaoji said is because the two sides have common interests. Wu Sangui did not want to give up the industry in western Liaoning, which he had been operating for many years, and Li Zhaoji did not want to enter the customs and cause damage to the army, and the purpose of the two sides was the same.

Li Zhaoji said: "Ping Xibo, as far as I can see, King Qin is going to do it, but this capital may not be able to hold it.

But we are facing an attack from the east and west, and we have repelled the thieves, can we still defeat the eastern captives? If Dongyu heard about the great changes in the Guannai, he would not sit idly by. ”

"That's natural, Dongyu has always liked to be opportunistic." Wu Sangui immediately echoed and said. But he obviously also discovered the true meaning of Li Zhaoji's words, and said: "What Mr. Li means is that he sent troops to Qin Wang, just to save the driver and rescue the Son of Heaven....... But if you do this, wouldn't it be a ........ to sit and watch the Central Plains fall. ”

When Wu Sangui said this, he suddenly realized that Li Zhaoji could tell himself or Shen Youlong about the strength of the thief, if Shen Youlong knew about it, wouldn't he have been prepared for it. Wu Sangui exclaimed: "Could it be that Lord Shen is just trying to save the Son of Heaven from the city, and then move the capital to Jiangnan?" ”

"This is certain, but for such a big event, Lord Shen didn't tell me that he had a secret meeting with many scholars and doctors in the opposition in Jiangnan, and maybe this is what he talked about. Therefore, I said that this is the plan, and Ping Xiber may not believe it, but you can give it a try. Li Zhaoji said.

"What's the test?"

Li Zhaoji said: "When the troops are sent into the customs, you will put forward a proposal to rescue the driver and move the capital, if Lord Shen really thinks so, how will he answer?" ”

Wu Sangui thought about it carefully and said directly: "He will not admit it, but will claim it to me." He may just want to be a prince, but he will never give me the opportunity to be Cao Mengde. ”

Li Zhaoji snapped his fingers: "That's exactly the truth." ”

The so-called Taigongwang is Jiang Ziya, who assists the monarch to achieve great deeds and is an example for loyal ministers.

Whether Shen Youlong wants to be Jiang Ziya or not, Wu Sangui has a heavy army, he will definitely not give him a chance to coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, so he will never admit to moving the capital.

Four days later, Changli, Hebei.

"Yanshan is as long as a snake, and it is a thousand miles away."

After crossing the Shanhai Pass, Shen Youlong's vision was filled with the Yanshan Mountain Range, which was winding for thousands of miles, and he couldn't help but recite Su Dongpo's poems.

The Yanshan Mountains are in the north, northwest and southeast, the soldiers and horses of Liaozhen are walking on the North China Plain, the vast plains and gentle mounds are the main terrain of the forward, in the coastal zone in the east, there are large reeds, and the farther is the black Bohai Sea, the wheat in the field is thriving, and the villages in the distance are curling with smoke.

Shen Youlong saw Wu Sangui talking to a group of cavalry in the distance, and rushed over on horseback, and found that the group of cavalry were all one person and two horses, most of them had braided hair, were short in stature, equipped with bows and arrows, and bones, which was exactly the dress of the Tartars. Shen Youlong said: "Ping Xibo, this is your command." ”

Wu Sangui nodded: "Exactly, these Mongolian Yi have learned from horsemanship, and it is most appropriate to use them as scouts and scouts in front."

Lord Shen, don't blame me for being cowardly, it's really that the terrain in this pass is flat, the thieves swept the nine sides, and there were a lot of cavalry, if you don't disperse the scouts and encounter a surprise attack, it will be a big disaster. ”

Shen Youlong waved his hand lightly, and did not comment on the specific arrangements, after sending troops from Ningyuan, these three thousand elite horsemen marched all the way west, and Shen Youlong also ignored the affairs of the army, but he encountered the ridicule and white eyes of the generals of Liaozhen, so that Shen Youlong knew that he knew too little about the practice in the army, and he made judgments and criticism, which reduced the speed of King Qin.

And when he looked at those Hu cavalry, they had already been divided into two lines, with a loose horizontal line in front and a column in the back, which could not only search for vigilance as much as possible, but also support each other.

The cavalry marched through the plain villages, and they didn't even need to control the reins, as if they were walking on the ground, which made Shen Youlong couldn't help but admire.

Shen Youlong was about to praise Wu Sangui for his good training, when he heard a sound of breaking wind, which was sent out by a whistle arrow, and then, after a village, more than ten cavalry galloped out and galloped in the northwest direction, with a flag behind the head and a Tang character written on it.

And Shen Youlong saw with his own eyes that the column behind immediately galloped up, and the sturdy cavalry leaned over behind Ma Zong, took out bows and arrows to pursue, chased and killed all the way, rode and shot again and again, got closer, took out the bones, threw spears, and most of the more than ten enemy horsemen fell off their horses in a moment, and the first person was also knocked on the shoulder by a Hu horseman, and captured in front of Wu Sangui and Shen Youlong.

"Master, this guy has two layers of armor on his body, no wonder the slave can't shoot him." Hu Qi threw a few living captives on the ground, with a layer of armor on the outside and a chain mail on the inside.

Firearms such as three-eyed guns were also found on horseback, and Wu Sangui immediately rewarded Hu Qi.

Shen Youlong called his own soldiers to go to the trial with Wu Sangui's men.

Wu Sangui listened for a while, frowned and said, "Lord Shen, there is something wrong in the situation." ”

"What's wrong?" Shen Youlong asked.

"You listen to the captives' shouts, which seem to be in a local accent. And most of the thieves are from Shaanxi, Gansu and Henan. Wu Sangui said.

After a while, Wu Guogui brought someone to Wu Sangui and said, "Uncle, Lord Shen, ask clearly." These are not thieves, they are Tang Tong's department. ”

"Oh, it's a clash with friendly forces. Tang Tong is also a Qinwang. Shen Yulong said.

The news that Shen Youlong got from the military department of the capital showed that in the towns around the capital, the Tang Tong Department was the most capable of fighting, and he was the governor of King Qin, which should be important.

Wu Guogui said: "No, my lord." These Qiu Ba said that Tang Tong had rebelled and had already become a thief. ”

"Seriously!" Wu Sangui and Shen Youlong's faces changed slightly, and Wu Sangui even grabbed the captives on the ground and asked a few words in person, and his pupils immediately dilated.

Wu Guogui said again: "These captives said that there are many thieves and soldiers, and I am afraid that there are 200,000 people, who have already passed the Juyong Pass and are heading straight to the capital. ”

When Wu Sangui heard this, he immediately entered the state, he motioned for Wu Guogui to step back, and said in a low voice: "Lord Governor, the power of the thieves is far greater than what the imperial court said. I'm afraid that this Qinwang strategy is going to change. We should enter Beijing at the speed of fine horsemanship, rescue the emperor, and temporarily avoid Shanhaiguan. ”

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