Li Zicheng listened to Liu Zongmin's words, nodded with satisfaction, since the day he rebelled and started the army, he understood a truth, no matter what he did, he was afraid that people's hearts would not be aligned. And now in the camp of the Shun army, he and Liu Zongmin have the same attitude, which is the key to the unity of Dashun, after all, this time to attack the capital in the north, half of the main force of the Shun army is under Liu Zongmin, he will not have the possibility of doing it, but Yang Feng Yin is violated, and Li Zicheng can't stand it.

"Go on, Marquis Ru, you go on." Liu Zongmin's thoughts were the same as those of him just now, so Li Zicheng encouraged him to continue.

Liu Zongmin continued: "These days, Weichen has been thinking back to some of the words of the Marquis of Japan some time ago, and I think it makes sense. In the current situation, there is no harm in preparing for the worst, and it is better than getting carried away and being taken advantage of by surprise.

Therefore, even if we don't know when the Dongyu will call, we should not stay here longer, it is better to return to the capital as soon as possible and arrange defenses. ”

Zhang Nai asked: "Marquis Ru, our army came from the capital, and the emperor said in front of hundreds of officials that he wanted to surrender Wu Sangui, and if he didn't submit to him, he would be defeated." Now that Wu Sangui has not returned to obedience, let's just go back, isn't it ......... ”

Zhang Nai said as he peeked at Li Zicheng and found that his face was not very good-looking, so he didn't finish his words, but the meaning had been clearly expressed.

Liu Zongmin sighed and said: "The emperor's face is important, but you can't patronize the face in the world, you can keep the inside, and then take care of the face."

Now the situation is very clear, and the news from Dongyu Koubian was provided by Wu Sangui's side on his own initiative, indicating that either they had the exact information in advance, or they had already contacted Dongyu. And from Wu Sangui's side, let's fight with Donglu in order to get a higher price.

Now that Dongyu has sent troops, of course he will not be obedient now. Whether you want to return to Shun depends on whether our Dashun can win the Dongyu, what price you want, and whether our Dashun needs his help.

The news provided by Lai Heng is also very important, good fellow, a leader, in charge of a small Zhuangzi, there are dozens of big animals at home, and there are many horses and mules. On the other side of the eastern captive, there must be more horses and more cavalry.

If we tear up our faces with Wu Sangui now, I estimate that before Shanhaiguan is defeated, the people will arrive. From Shengjing to Shanhaiguan, riding a horse all the way, it is estimated that it will take seven or eight days to arrive, and we will fight it, which is to force Wu Sangui to surrender to the east.

Neither can fight, Donglu is also marching, it is better to withdraw to the capital as soon as possible, and discuss with Wu Sangui here, even if he doesn't vote for our Dashun, don't vote for Dongyu, we will have one less trouble. If Wu Sangui is really forced to partner with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, not to mention anything else, this capital will definitely not be able to be saved. ”

Li Zicheng nodded: "Yihou, don't say it, Ruhou's words are not good, but it is true, my face, give up, as long as the battle is won, any face can be recovered." ”

Zhang Nai chose to shut up, but Song Xiance smiled and said, "It may not be so." ”

"Oh, but the military advisor also feels that the future is not good?" Li Zicheng asked.

Song Xiance waved his hand, put away the fan in his hand, and said, "How the situation develops, Ruhou has made it clear. According to Weichen, the battle with Donglu is now more urgent, so the emperor needs to lead the army back to the capital and arrange to deal with it, but he may not bring all the soldiers and horses back. ”

"Military division, it's not possible to divide the troops!" Liu Zongmin said immediately.

Li Guo also said: "Yes, there are not enough soldiers and horses, wouldn't dividing the troops be a dead end?" Then Li Zhaoji said, there are 1440,000 soldiers and horses in the country, and there will be no less than 100,000 soldiers and horses entering the customs. ”

Song Xiance arched his hand: "Marquis Ru, Marquis Bo, please let Weichen finish speaking."

Weichen said that now the emperor can take the battalion infantry team back to Beijing first, leave a general, continue to appease Wu Sangui, and hold on for a few more days, if Wu Sangui still does not make up his mind, he should not tear his face and bring the cavalry back to the capital.

Anyway, this place is only two or three days away from the capital, and it is only two or three days for the cavalry, even if the east captives enter the border wall of Jizhen and turn back, it is too late. ”

"Why bother, it's better to bring it back together." Liu Zongmin was straightforward and quick-witted, and his political mind was simpler, so he immediately said it.

Li Zicheng, Li Guo and others are all smart, and they immediately understood what Song Xiance meant, since they shifted their focus to dealing with Dongyukou, and saved the face of Li Zicheng, the emperor.

Li Zicheng is now returning to the capital, in order to raise food and salary, arrange soldiers and horses, and deal with the Dongyu Koubian, so the secondary work, that is, to appease Wu Sangui, fell on the general who stayed outside Shanhaiguan, and after a few days, the cavalry also returned to the capital, it is not that the general did not complete the emperor's holy decree, what does it have to do with the emperor, and Li Zicheng's face will be preserved.

Liu Zongmin saw that everyone's expressions were different, and immediately understood that Song Xiance's words had another deep meaning, although he was politically simple, but he was not stupid, after thinking about it a little, he understood, the expression on his face changed a few times, and said: "Why don't you speak, it's too troublesome, there is no cavalry, what can those infantry do, the supply of grain and grass back and forth, how much is the loss."

The method of military advisor is not good, Wu Sangui is definitely not obedient now. ”

figured out the deep meaning, Liu Zongmin was still pretending to be stupid, in fact, he just didn't want to be the one who stayed to appease Wu Sangui.

Li Zicheng laughed, and sure enough, he said: "Ruhou, the strategy of the military advisor is still very good, if you don't understand, don't refute it." You go to the battalions quickly, explain it, and arrange the matter of pulling the camp back to Beijing. ”

Everyone didn't know whether Liu Zongmin was really stupid or pretending to be stupid, and when they saw him mumbling out of the tent, they didn't say anything.

Zhang Nai looked at everyone and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen asked to stay and appease Wu Sangui." ”

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, facing the difficulties, it was a performance of loyalty, Zhang Nai was single-handedly promoted by him from the children's army, which must have been affected by his reputation, and he also took the initiative to ask for help, which shows loyalty.

Before Li Zicheng could speak, Li Guo shook his head slightly: "Yihou, you are too young, and you spend most of your energy on military affairs on weekdays, and you may not be able to deal with treacherous villains such as Wu Sangui." You should go back to Beijing with the emperor to arrange, and I will stay and deal with Wu Sangui for a few days. ”

Li Zicheng looked at the two, and still felt that Li Guo was more serious and more suitable, and Li Guo was the old minister who had followed him for the longest time, and he was a clan, so a little loss of reputation was nothing to him.

"Marquis Bo, this matter is up to you, and it doesn't matter if you force Wu Sangui to submit. It is important to pay attention to the movements in Shanhaiguan, I still have some concerns, afraid that Wu Sangui will be taken prisoner. Li Zicheng said.

Li Guo nodded slightly: "Weichen understands." ”

"Okay, let's go back to the camp and prepare." Li Zicheng said.

Li Laiheng also got up from the mat, he slowed down for a long time, his body relaxed a lot, and when he saw that Li Zicheng was about to break up the military discussion, he immediately interrupted: "Your Majesty, there is another matter that Weichen has not yet had time to report." ”

"What else?" Li Zicheng asked.

Li Laiheng said: "Your Majesty, this raid on Liaodong to investigate the capture situation, Weichen and Li Zhaoji's personal general Tang Mu have dealt with a lot, and they have also contacted the crew of Li Zhaoji's battleship, and they have learned a lot of information, and they need to tell the emperor, there is another important matter. ”

"Oh, don't worry, it's annoying to pull out the camp anyway, and there is time for you to talk." Li Zicheng became more and more satisfied with Li Laiheng, and thought in his heart that after a few days, he would seriously seal him an official position and let him do an errand.

"Yes, Your Majesty. In fact, we got many things wrong about Li Zhaoji.

It seems that he is Wu Sangui's military advisor, but this is not the case, this person speaks the official dialect of the capital, but he is a visitor from the south, not from Liaozhen.

He was a maritime merchant who owned a large trading company called the Oriental Trading Company, and his people called him the Great Treasurer. But this trading company is not the one we think it is, in Juehua Island, Weichen saw with his own eyes that Li Zhaoji has many gunboats, and each gunboat has a dozen or seven or eight Hongyi cannons.

And he also has a brigade of elite soldiers, which is said to be four or five thousand in size, with sharp guns.

His personal subordinates, from the way they dressed to the style of acting, were no different from the army.

By the way, when the emperor first arrived at Shanhaiguan, the little Hongyi cannon he saw, as well as the bird gun that he saw when the Marquis of Bo had a meeting with the military advisor that day, were all Li Zhaoji's subordinates, and had nothing to do with Wu Sangui. The little red cannon is called the field cannon, and the special bird cannon is called the flint...... Alas........ ”

Li Laiheng couldn't remember the words for a while, thought about it carefully, and said: "Weichen really can't remember it, but I also saw it with my own eyes in Tang Mu, and in the bird's pipe, a few lines were pulled out with a steel knife.

Yes, I remembered, it's called a rifled gun, and a gun without a line is called a smoothbore gun. ”

Everyone was a little surprised by Li Zhaoji's background, no one wanted a businessman to have such energy and achievements, Li Guo asked: "Then what is the origin of Li Zhaoji?" ”

"I heard from the sailors that the Oriental Trading Company occupies a large island outside Fujian, and has good contacts with Zhu Ming in Guangzhou. He also attacked an island in the overseas Japanese country, and that island was Treasure Island, with fifty-five gold and silver mountains. While doing business, they helped the Zhu Ming court fight pirates, and caught the line of Shen Youlong, the governor of Liangguang.

Emperor Chongzhen asked Shen Youlongqin to bring Li Zhaoji's Oriental Trading Company Department. Li Laiheng said.

Li Zicheng hurriedly asked: "Since it is Shen Youlong's subordinate, how can you get entangled with Wu Sangui?" ”

Tang Mu said that Shen Youlong was very stingy and was only willing to make Li Zhaoji a general, and Wu Sangui wooed Li Zhaoji, saying that if they were attached to Dashun together, they would ask Li Zhaoji for a hereditary title from you, and they would also seek a fief for him along the coast.

Li Zhaoji was a maritime businessman, and he was moved by these conditions, so he secretly planned to support him, but Shen Youlong didn't know it. Li Laiheng said what he heard from Tang Mu.

Li Guo nodded: "Your Majesty, in this way, Li Zhaoji is not only smart, but also has good strength, this person cannot be underestimated." ”

Everyone agreed, and Li Laiheng said: "Your Majesty, Weichen also found out that Li Zhaoji and Wu Sangui are not of the same mind. ”

"How so?" Li Zicheng asked.

Li Laiheng said: "On the return boat, Tang Mu told Weichen that Li Zhaoji asked Weichen to bring a message to the emperor, saying that he had a common enmity with Dongyu, so he was willing to help any force that was enemy of Dongyu.

By the way, Your Majesty, Li Zhaoji is not a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. So there is no loyalty to Daming. ”

Song Xiance smiled slightly, opened the fan, and looked unfathomable: "This is not worth believing, Li Zhaoji must have found that following Wu Sangui may not be able to get the greatest benefits, he took the initiative to contact us, probably to get rid of Wu Sangui and maximize his interests."

What is enmity with the East Captives, what is helping to fight against the East Captives, it is not credible. ”

Li Laiheng said: "What the military advisor said may not be, because Li Zhaoji is not only talking, but also preparing to do it." ”

"How?"

Li Laiheng took out a bamboo tube sealed with beeswax from his arms and said, "Tang Mu said that this is Li Zhaoji's own handwriting, and he wants the emperor to open it himself." ”

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