Early the next morning, Wu Sangui had just ordered the whole army to mourn Chongzhen, when he saw Xia Guoxiang walking in.

"Uncle, Li Zhaoji is here." Xia Guoxiang said.

"Li Zhaoji is here, what are you laughing at, why do you want to spread it, just let him in." Wu Sangui saw Xia Guoxiang's face with an incomprehensible smile, and said directly.

Xia Guoxiang said: "This guy is a little strange, he brought four relatives with him, went to have two carriages, and said that he wanted to come in together." He inspected the carriage, on which were his bedding, change of clothes, and daily necessities, and his weapons were nothing but the musket and waist knife that he had with him. ”

"What does this mean, is he coming to live with me?" Wu Sangui shook his head, thought for a while, but didn't think it through, so he could only say helplessly: "Forget it, don't want to, and let him in, can he still suffocate Ben Bo with a bed?" ”

After a while, Li Zhaoji came in, and Xia Guoxiang first arranged his personal entourage and the things he carried into the wing.

Li Zhaoji was not polite, he sat directly on the chair next to Wu Sangui, picked up the teacup, it was empty, and saw that his soldiers brought tea to Wu Sangui, so he directly took two sips. Seeing him so wanton, Wu Sangui said, "Mr. Li, it seems that you are a little too polite." ”

Li Zhaoji smiled: "Ping Xibo, last night, I went to the Yamen, guess what." Lord Shen directly took the clothes of my two relatives and changed them, and took me out of the yamen, and then quietly left Shanhaiguan and went to the direction of Ningyuan. ”

"Oh?" Wu Sangui immediately became vigilant, and he didn't care about Li Zhaoji's rudeness, he asked: "What does this mean, Lord Shen is going to Ningyuan, and I will arrange the carriage and horses, isn't it more logical?" ”

"I guess he doesn't trust you anymore, and now the Son of Heaven has died and the capital has been lost. The Central Plains was seized by the thieves, and now in the north, there is only one of your soldiers and horses on the Ming side, if you want to surrender to the thief, wouldn't you want to cut off his head as a gift?" Li Zhaoji said while drinking tea and eating snacks on the table.

Wu Sangui was stunned for a while, and said in his heart that he had not yet made official contact with the thief, and the messengers sent had not returned, this kind of secret would not be revealed, and Shen Youlong was not a prophet of the future, but a rainy day.

"Hmph, he Shen Youlong is really the heart of a villain, the father of the gentleman, Ping Xibo is loyal to the court, for the king of Qin, he works tirelessly, as the governor, he can't invite me to Liaozhen to pay silver, and he is still suspicious here, it's really chilling." Xia Guoxiang reprimanded on the side.

Li Zhaoji didn't care, after eating the snack, he ate the fruit again, took a bite of the apple and felt sour, so he put it back and changed it again.

Wu Sangui smiled and said, "Mr. Li won't believe that Benbo will surrender to the thieves, right?" If Mr. is as suspicious of Ben Bo as Lord Shen, I'm afraid he won't eat fruit here. ”

Li Zhaoji smiled, put down the fruit, and said, "Then you are wrong." ”

"Oh, where did Benber say something wrong?" Wu Sangui asked.

Li Zhaoji said: "He Shen Youlong is suspicious and unsure, but I believe that you Ping Xibo must be ready to surrender." ”

"Nonsense!" Wu Sangui was furious.

Xia Guoxiang shouted: "Come on, insert this madman!" ”

Li Zhaoji hurriedly said: "Slowly, slowly, let me finish speaking." ”

Wu Sangui let out a sigh of relief, and said in his heart that Li Zhaoji is not a person who regards death as his home, and he will stake his life to mock himself for a few words, which is obviously not something that a normal person can do, not to mention, Li Zhaoji is a hero in the world, and he is very incomparable.

Li Zhaoji smiled and said: "Ping Xibo, I came here this time to take refuge. Whether you surrender to the thief or be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, how about taking me with you, let's advance and retreat together and enjoy the glory and wealth together. ”

"You ........" Wu Sangui didn't expect Li Zhaoji to say such a thing, but after thinking about it, Li Zhaoji's attitude was very reasonable.

He is not even a Ming person, let alone loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness? At this time, the situation is corrupt, and as a mercenary leader, it is very reasonable to seek a way to survive and a future.

But Wu Sangui didn't dare to admit it directly, he still had to worry about whether Li Zhaoji was sent by Shen Youlong to test it.

After thinking about it again and again, as soon as Wu Sangui raised his hand, everyone in the hall dispersed, leaving only Xia Guoxiang to serve alone.

Wu Sangui said: "Mr. Li, you know how I treat you. Since you arrived in Liaodi, our two families are harmonious, when we dealt with Shen Youlong in the front, the method of defeating and returning from defeat was also taught by you to Benbo, you and I can't talk about deep affection, but we also have a lot of friendship.

Don't be joking here, what do you mean by coming this time? ”

Li Zhaoji said mysteriously: "I came here this time for one thing, to teach Ping Xibo to dance. ”

"Dancing?" Wu Sangui smiled: "The more you talk about it, the more confusing it becomes, don't play dumb riddles, what dance do you want to teach Ben Bo to dance?" ”

Li Zhaoji said: "My dance, called dancing on three eggs, others can't dance, and they don't have the qualifications to dance, only Ping Xibo, who has mastered the 50,000 army of Liaozhen, is qualified to dance, and I'm not qualified to dance, but I'm willing to tell you about the number of ways." ”

Wu Sangui laughed, he already understood, Li Zhaoji came this time, he was definitely not fooling around, there must be something big, and the words three eggs dancing sounded like nonsense, but there was no deep meaning, he said: "Mr. Li, I guess these three eggs, one is called Daming, one is called Manchu, and the other is called Dashun, right!" ”

Li Zhaoji gave a thumbs up and said, "It is worthy of Ping Xibo, and he is really qualified to dance this dance." ”

Wu Sangui nodded: "Prime Minister, don't put your hands behind your back, put away your knife." Mr. Li is not an outsider, and he has no bad intentions, he and our Liao Town, but they have a common will. ”

Li Zhaoji said: "That's it, General Xia is holding a knife, and the back of my neck is cold."

I'm a person, I usually don't speak in tune, in case I just say a wrong word, this guy who eats is cut down, wouldn't it be very wrong. ”

Wu Sangui also suddenly understood why Li Zhaoji would bring bedding utensils to his place, and he immediately ordered: "Prime Minister, you arrange for someone to find a place for Mr. Li to live, close to my bedroom, so that I can ask for advice at any time."

Mr. Li didn't just come to teach dance, and he wasn't ready to leave. ”

"I'm going to be here for at least twenty days." Li Zhaoji held up two fingers.

Wu Sangui laughed: "Then I don't have a southern cook here." ”

Li Zhaoji said: "To be honest, Li Mou's ancestor is from Shandong, and he is not used to eating rice, but he only loves to eat our steamed buns here. ”

Wu Sangui patted his head: "I look at this brain, just patronizing and talking, your Mr. Li eats fruit desserts as soon as he enters the door, I didn't even think of eating." Minister of State, feast, feast, there must be buns! ”

Li Zhaoji added: "There are still eggs!" ”

"Yes, eggs, three!" Wu Sangui shouted.

At the dining table, the guests and hosts were happy, but there were no maids and soldiers around, and the three men poured themselves a wine jug, and each was happy.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Wu Sangui introduced the joke into the topic, he said: "Mr. said, three eggs dance, you say one by one, I will peel eggs for you, you tell me eggs." ”

As he spoke, Wu Sangui picked up a boiled egg, bumped it on the edge of the bowl, and peeled it off little by little.

Li Zhaoji said: "This first egg is a thief." The strength of its strength has already been introduced. Ping Xibo, the two of us together can't beat others, you say yes or no. ”

"It's hard to say, but it's true." Wu Sangui shrugged his shoulders and did not take care of his status as an earl.

Li Zhaoji continued: "The thieves are very strong, and they occupy the capital, I heard that Ping Xibo's family is in the capital, so this egg must not be treated carefully, otherwise a chicken and an egg will not be a disaster for the family." ”

"You won't let your uncle become a thief, then you have the hatred of your father." Xia Guoxiang said.

Wu Sangui glanced at him, and said in his heart Is his son-in-law a fool, why is there no one under his command who can have half of Li Zhaoji's intelligence, Wu Sangui said: "You don't want to interrupt Mr. to speak, if Mr. asks me to surrender to the thief, wouldn't it be an egg dancing?" ”

Xia Guoxiang didn't dare to say any more, Li Zhaoji continued: "Since the family has been taken care of, then Ping Xibo's attitude can't be too tough, although there is a national feud, but for the safety of the family, and for the future, you must be careful in dealing with it."

There are two things to do, one of which is to ask the price code first. Second, the thief wants to release the family. ”

Wu Sangui nodded, pondered for a moment and said, "That's what I plan, send someone to the capital, and ask the thieves to release the prince." I heard that the crown prince was crowned the king of Song by Li Zicheng, so this is a sky-high asking price, and he paid back the money on the ground, so he naturally let my family go. ”

"At least let Ling Zun go." Lee Siu Kee said.

Wu Sangui was stunned for a while, Li Zhaoji's meaning was very clear, in the case of being forced to do so, except for his father Wu Xiang, the rest had to give up, he thought of his beautiful concubine Chen Yuanyuan, and felt a little reluctant.

But at this time, what is the value of a woman, Wu Sangui put the peeled eggs in Li Zhaoji's bowl and said, "What price does Mr. think Li Chuang will give me?" ”

"The price code shouldn't be too high. Li Zicheng is open-minded, since he started an incident, in the Central Plains Shaanxi and Gansu, recruited and rebelled, and he had hatred and hatred with him in the past, he also abandoned his previous suspicions and treated him with courtesy.

The general soldier Zuo Guangxian, born in Yulin Jiangmen, defeated Li Zicheng many times under the command of Hong Chengchou, fought the Taohe River, killed Li Zicheng only a few hundred people, was almost captured, surrendered Li Zicheng, and was still the general soldier.

Ma Ke, born in Qinghai, when Li Zicheng was just a team leader of Liukou, he was killed by him and fled over the mountains and mountains. But he surrendered to Li Zicheng and was made an earl.

Chen Yongfu, who once held Kaifeng, defeated the Chuang army many times, and also shot Li Zicheng blind in one eye, and after surrendering, he was also named Bo.

In this way, there are no less than dozens of people, the officers and soldiers surrendered, many were knighted, and they remained in their original positions and retained their military rights. The same is true of the thieves who join them, or the fire swallows them up. In addition to Gao Jie, almost everyone is attached, which shows his mind and Li Zicheng's generosity. ”

Wu Sangui listened to what Li Zhaoji said about the Tao, and felt that he knew a lot and had real talent and learning, so he immediately said: "Mr. continue, keep talking." ”

"But for you Ping Xibo, Li Zicheng's mind is not enough. He is open-minded, but in the end, he comes from a humble background, and he is a little stingy. Don't say that you want to recruit rebellion, that is, Liu Zongmin, who has followed for many years, is the first fierce general under his command, and after becoming the emperor, he was also named a marquis.

You must know that the generals who were treated well by him were all defeated by him, and they only had thousands of troops, and some of them were even desperate to surrender. And you Ping Xibo has 50,000 elites, and with the strength of your department, it is more than enough to be crowned a king, but is he Li Zicheng willing to give it?

And Ping Xibo, your problem is that there are many soldiers but few land, and a corner of Liaoxi cannot support so many soldiers. If you take refuge in Li Chuang, you must be supported by him.

Although Li Chuang swept across the Central Plains, all the places were not rich, but many years of natural and man-made disasters, soldiers and thieves crossed the border, and the place was poor. And Li Zicheng is tax-free in the world, he doesn't pay food, he doesn't pay food, where is the salary for you, even if it is given to you, how long can it be given? ”

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