Daming kill

On the evening of the second day after Zhang Rujing arrived in Luzhou, Zhang Xianzhong, who was in the imperial camp, was playing with the telescope in his hand uneasy.

The imperial battalion is the Zhonglaoying battalion, which is under the personal control of Zhang Xianzhong, and also where the commander-in-chief is located.

The telescope in Zhang Xianzhong's hand came from two Hongyi people.

These two Hongyi people are both missionaries, one is Lilesi (because of the difference in transliteration, some are also called Lilesi), an Italian, born in 1606, came to Daming in 1636, once preached in Jiangnan, and then went to Beijing Assist in the calendar. In 1642, he was recommended by Xu Guangqi and invited by Liu Yuliang, a scholar originally from Sichuan, to preach in Sichuan.

The other is An Wensi, a Portuguese, who came to Daming in 1640. His birth cannot be tested. He first engaged in teaching affairs in Hangzhou, and then entered Sichuan with Li Leisi.

Regarding the experience of these two missionaries, especially those belonging to the state, Zhang Xianzhong actually did not know and was not interested.

However, Zhang Xianzhong was very obsessed with the Western technological culture brought by the two missionaries.

Specifically, accurate calendars and advanced mathematics.

In addition to the telescope, Zhang Xianzhong especially envied the two spheres of heaven and earth and the horizontal sundial made of red copper by the two missionaries after they arrived in Sichuan. On top of it, look spectacularly.

Traditional Chinese sundials are vertical, also known as equatorial sundials. Although simple, they are also the most accurate. Western sundials are small and compact and easy to carry. Both Chinese and Western sundials have their own strengths in this regard.

At that time, most of the foreign missionaries who entered China were intellectuals with some kind of scientific and cultural expertise. Before coming to China, they had undergone certain special training, especially language training, so communication was no problem. Then the dissemination of science and technology was the means for them to open up the road of missionary work.

Zhang Xianzhong often invites these two missionaries to give lectures for him, mainly on mathematics, and he is very fond of the astronomy taught by Tang Ruowang, a German who has lived in Daming for a long time and is currently living in Beijing.

In front of the two missionaries, Zhang Xianzhong showed great enthusiasm for new things and a special preference for mathematics.

Zhang Xianzhong actually likes mathematics, which is a very interesting thing.

Zhang Xianzhong's IQ and demonstrated ability have been highly praised by two Western missionaries in history. They described him as "great intellect, outstanding decision-making, gifted and sensitive, contented and resourceful."

The story about Zhang Xianzhong and these two missionaries was later sorted out by the Frenchman Gu Luodong in the early years of the Republic of China and recorded in detail in "The Story of the Holy Religion Entering Sichuan", including the details of Zhang Xianzhong's murder.

Although the two were later captured by the Qing army, and then served the Qing Dynasty, and died in Beijing in April of the 16th year of Kangxi (1677) and October of the 23rd year of Kangxi (1684), some of the remaining records may be inevitable to be influenced by the Qing Dynasty.

But they belonged to outsiders after all, and they were regarded as a third party. In terms of the actual situation of the Daxi Army and Zhang Xianzhong, including Zhang Xianzhong's killing, they must be more credible than the Qing Dynasty's own accounts.

Li Leisi and An Wensi were actually invited into the camp by Zhang Xianzhong.

Zhang Xianzhong actually knew that Matteo Ricci, an Italian who had died in Beijing in 1610, and that Ricci had been reused by Emperor Wanli, his vision is very surprising.

After Zhang Xianzhong invaded Chengdu, he heard about these two foreign missionaries, and then he invited the two who had fled to the countryside to seek refuge, and "paid for the royal banquet", "as the guest of honor, invite the two priests ( The official rank and title of a Catholic priest) Consultant in Chengdu".

Even two foreign missionaries felt a great deal of mercy towards them.

As a result, Catholics were quickly developed within the Great West Army, and churches were built to chant scriptures.

However, Zhang Xianzhong quickly changed his attitude towards these two foreign missionaries.

This time it was not that Zhang Xianzhong was mentally ill.

Rather, Zhang Xianzhong quickly saw through the essential difference between Western missionaries and other religions already in China.

China has always been a country where church and state are separated, and no ruler has ever allowed religion to influence and interfere in governance, and any religion must be localized in China.

But Western religions obviously cannot do these things, and everyone should know why.

Zhang Xianzhong likes what he likes, and what he is curious about is curiosity, but he has never planned to join Catholicism, let alone be kidnapped by others.

He is mainly curious, curious about new things.

Moreover, the propositions of the two foreign missionaries are very different from the traditional Chinese etiquette and ideas. They even tried to make the entire Great Western Army believe in Catholicism. More than 30 members of Zhang Xianzhong's father-in-law and family were developed into the Catholic Church. Gradually feel unacceptable.

At the same time, these two foreign missionaries were very clear against Zhang Xianzhong’s indiscriminate killings, especially they couldn’t understand that Zhang Xianzhong didn’t get close to the educated aristocrats and big landlords, and even wanted to overthrow them. admonish.

This made Zhang Xianzhong very unhappy.

Finally, when the preaching of two foreign missionaries more and more affected the thinking of Zhang Xianzhong's army, Zhang Xianzhong's dissatisfaction also broke out.

Before leaving Chengdu, Zhang Xianzhong warned the two of them to restrain themselves, saying bluntly, "We were born in China, and we have our salute, so we should keep it."

Then, Zhang Xianzhong also took practical action.

The adopted sons and servants of two foreign missionaries were killed, and some of the church members in the army were killed.

Playing with the binoculars, Zhang Xianzhong unconsciously thought of the two Hongyi people again, and then said to himself with a sneer: "Hmph! Think I can't see you clearly. But this thing is really useful. Keep it You guys for a while, wait for our old man to get tired, and then kill you."

At this moment, a loud report suddenly came from outside.

The veins on Zhang Xianzhong's forehead twitched, and he hurriedly called someone in.

Not long after, Wang Zhaoling, Zhang Kewang (Sun Kewang) and Zhang Wenxiu (Liu Wenxiu) rushed over one after another.

As soon as they entered the door, the three of them froze.

I saw Zhang Xianzhong with a happy face holding a prism looking at the colorful light in the afterglow of the setting sun in front of the window.

The prism is the most commonly used by Western missionaries to enter China to attract the attention of Chinese people, and it is also the most effective.

The prism is not only cheap and easy to carry, but most importantly, it can quickly capture the curiosity of all classes in China, including the poorest bottom who cannot read.

"The news just came back that Li Ping happily accepted the gold and silver treasures I gave him, agreed to talk, and hosted a banquet in honor of Zhang Rujing, and at the same time put his supervisor Zhang Kuang under house arrest. What will happen next, Zhang Rujing I will have a detailed discussion with Li Ping in the next few days." Zhang Xianzhong said after turning his head slowly.

"Father, is the news accurate?" Zhang Wenxiu was a little surprised, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Exactly. There is not one person who spread the news, but a team. They are not under the control of Zhang Rujing, and I personally sent them. And they don't know that I have explained to them separately, and the news will not be wrong."

"Congratulations, father." Zhang Kewang immediately congratulated loudly.

But Zhang Wenxiu looked at Zhang Kewang strangely and said, "Li Ping is cunning, what if he is playing tricks?"

Immediately, Wang Zhaoling felt as if he had caught something, and hurriedly said: "This statement is reasonable, we have to guard against it. I think that Li Ping is so happy, there must be a fraud, we should not believe it, it is better to continue fighting."

But Zhang Xianzhong said disdainfully: "It doesn't matter if Li Ping plays tricks or not, he just needs to accept the things."

"Ah? What do you mean?" Wang Zhaoling and Zhang Wenxiu looked at each other, both of them dumbfounded.

Then, Wang Zhaoling was self-righteous and unwilling to remonstrate, saying: "Although I heard that Li Ping has always been honest, he just accepted things temporarily and didn't clearly promise anything. You can go back on your word. Think twice, Your Majesty!"

Furthermore, the emperor thinks about your great cause, are you really willing to hand over half of the world to others?Li Ping's army also just learned that Beijing was destroyed and that man was dead. Now is the best time to cut off Li Ping.Don't miss this opportunity, never miss it again! "

"Hahaha...haha." Zhang Xianzhong suddenly burst out laughing.

Then he said in the bewildered faces of Wang Zhaoling and the other three: "I came to you for this purpose! Get rid of Li Ping, we can now make a good plan, but the matter must be kept secret, and it will be difficult to handle it if it is leaked. "

"Cutting off Li Ping? The emperor won't make peace with Li Ping?" Zhang Wenxiu was stunned.

"Nonsense. I never thought of making peace with that Li Ping. If I don't kill him, I feel as if a wall is blocked in my heart! I can't eat well, and I can't sleep soundly." Zhang Xianzhong said bitterly.

"But, then you still..." Wang Zhaoling was immediately confused.

Zhang Xianzhong said with a sneer: "It doesn't matter if Li Ping is cheating or not, as long as he accepts the things and his subordinates see the gold and silver, then his morale in the army these days will be chaotic and he will be defenseless.

Soldiers are cunning, he is not paralyzed, this battle is not easy to fight.Then Li Ping's soldiers and horses are really strong, we can't turn a blind eye to them, we must use tricks.As I said before, a child who can't bear to bear can't catch a wolf.After cleaning him up, the gold and silver will still be ours. "

"Your Majesty, you are so tall!" Wang Zhaoling was surprised.

"Father is wise, father is wise." Zhang Kewang immediately said loudly again.The difference was that he was smiling this time and seemed to be in a very good mood.

Only Zhang Wenxiu suddenly nodded silently.

……

In the early morning of the next day, Huang Chengdong was walking back and forth in the room alone.

He has been up for a long time.

Since Zhang Xianzhong arrived in Syria, Huang Chengdong became very anxious, and he couldn't eat well or sleep well.

Huang Chengdong has actually made up his mind to leave.

He realized that once Zhang Xianzhong made peace with Li Ping, the secret between him and Li Ping would surface sooner or later.

In that case, he would never even want to live.

Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Ping failed to make peace, and Huang Chengdong still felt that Li Ping could win.Wang Zhaoling's words are reasonable, but the problem is that Li Ping is not an ordinary person at all.

Everyone who underestimated and looked at Li Ping with common sense lost miserably in the end.

In this regard, Huang Chengdong has a very deep personal experience.

Moreover, the white cripple may have discovered some of his mistakes and would report him at any time, so he had to go.

But go, you can't just go and go.

Time is needed!
Moreover, Huang Chengdong and his cronies have been hesitating whether to make a nomination certificate.

It's too dangerous to vote for a certificate!

But they didn't vote for the certificate, and they were a little bit unwilling.

Witnessing the rise of Li Ping with his own eyes, Huang Chengdong felt that he should also be more courageous.

He has always understood the principle of seeking wealth and insurance, and has actually been doing it all the time.

Moreover, Huang Chengdong was not taken down by Zhang Xianzhong that day, which meant that Cripple Bai hadn't grasped any substantive issues with him, so he could take it easy.

But the problem now is that Huang Chengdong's troops are currently on the front flank of the Great Western Army, far away from Zhang Xianzhong's Central Army where the Great Western Army's entire army has spread out for dozens of miles.

It also allowed Huang Chengdong to go to Zhang Xianzhong's place for a meeting, and hardly see other generals or important figures, and then wanting to arrest or kill someone is even more ridiculous.

This made Huang Chengdong very depressed and anxious.

Huang Chengdong's troops were deployed at the forefront far away from the city of Xuzhou. They were assigned by both Bai Wenxuan and Zhang Xianzhong.

With 100 million people, the city of Syria can't hold it.

And there will be 100 million people soon, and they will continue to attack in the future, and it is impossible to continue to rely on the shrinking defense of the city.

Moreover, Xuzhou City, which is located on the Yangtze River, is very far from Luzhou City, that is to say, it is very far from the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Tuojiang River. It is definitely not a suitable place for Zhang Xianzhong's million-strong army to organize an attack along the two rivers. .

Before Zhang Xianzhong arrived in Syria, he had already defined the deployment area for the main force of the army.

An area far away from the city of Syria and closer to the city of Luzhou.

So Bai Wenxuan chose to go forward when Zhang Xianzhong's army began to gradually arrive in Syria according to the order.They have been stationed in Syria for a period of time and are more familiar with the geographical situation. They should also do this kind of forward barrier for the army to join forces.

In other words, Zhang Xianzhong's army of millions gathered was not in or around the city of Xuzhou.

Suddenly, one of Huang Chengdong's cronies broke in from the outside and reported: "A group of soldiers and horses from the imperial camp suddenly appeared beside us. They should have come here last night. They reported that Zhang Wenxiu, the king of Funan, was checking the geography on behalf of the emperor. Let's take it easy and just go about with it."

"Come here last night? Why do you have to travel at night to check the geography?" Huang Chengdong asked suspiciously.

"Yeah! I didn't think about it either. Could it be that Li Ping didn't bird the emperor, and the emperor was preparing for the war? But if you want to start a war, the movement should be bigger!" The confidant said confusedly.

Since Zhang Xianzhong only received the fact that Li Ping had accepted the big gift yesterday, many Great Western Army, especially those farther away from the Central Army, did not know about this situation.

But Huang Chengdong didn't continue to think about this question, but quickly muttered: "Zhang Wenxiu? There are not many people?"

Then his eyes suddenly lit up.

Then Huang Chengdong said happily: "Let our confidant warriors get ready immediately, I'll go meet that Zhang Wenxiu, and then try to lure him out. Cut off his head, won't we have a nomination certificate?"

"Yeah!" The confidant was taken aback for a moment, then became happy, and said, "I'll make arrangements now."

At this time, in the city of Luzhou.

Zhang Rujing also got up early.

He was also disturbed.

When his wife Liu found out, she habitually hugged him from behind and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Everything is going well!" Zhang Rujing didn't hide his anxiety.

"Isn't that bad?"

"I can't say it. It's very different from what I expected! It's not normal. And I always feel that the general who recruits thieves is very strange, especially when he looks at me sometimes. I am familiar with this look, very similar to every time I used to fight My little soldiers were looking at me after the battle was over. But it shouldn't be!"

"Have you told anyone?" Liu asked carefully.

"not yet."

"I don't want you to go back." Liu suddenly sobbed.

Zhang Rujing was taken aback, gently supported his wife's trembling arm, and then sighed helplessly.

His mind is in a mess.

At the same time, Zhang Kuang, the military supervisor, was also in a mess.

He was looking at Liu Rushi, Dong Xiaowan and Li Xiangjun in a small courtyard, dumbfounded.

Although he had never seen the three women, he had heard of them.

Their names are too great among scholars.

Especially when Zhang Kuang was in Wuchang, he happened to hear about the strange case that happened in Nanjing, which was also a sensational case.

It is said that the officials in Nanjing found several damaged small clothes in a forest not far from the scene, and later proved that those small clothes belonged to the three women according to the initials embroidery on a small clothes.

Although it was not finalized.

But everyone said that the three women in small clothes attracted the attention of the gangsters, and then they were killed by the gangsters.

As a result, this not only caused panic among women in Nanjing, but also caused more people to criticize women wearing small clothes as a matter of immorality.

But now...

Early this morning, Zhang Kuang was suddenly released from house arrest, and was then invited to the small courtyard where the three women lived.

After listening to the cries of the three women, Zhang Kuang felt his brain explode.

Why?Why?Why?
Apart from being dazed, Zhang Kuang was still dazed.

Of course, Liu Rushi and the three daughters were also very confused.

Does anyone know why?
Suddenly, the outside door was opened, and then Li Ping, who had been invisible all this time, appeared.

Zhang Kuang shook his head desperately, rushed over and said in a hurry: "The thief is cunning, and he has always been the most greedy. It is absolutely impossible to give up so much gold and silver treasures. The thief is trying to paralyze the general, the general must investigate! "

Li Ping smiled, and said lightly: "I know. We learned the location of Zhang Xianzhong's Zhonglao camp from a few drunk guys through the banquet of the Daxi Army. Last night, an elite army set off to A sneak attack on the Zhonglao camp where Zhang Xianzhong is located, today, a full-scale attack will also begin."

"what?"

Zhang Kuang was stunned.

He looked back at Liu Rushi and the third daughter who were also in a daze, and then turned back to look at Li Ping.

Then my mind became more confused.