I have a cornucopia

Chapter 232: Punishment on behalf of Heaven, special permission from the Emperor!
Governor Kuang quickly got up.

"Then start choosing!"

He wiped the cold sweat and dust from his face and said with some lingering fear.

Accompanying you is like accompanying a tiger!

Although this description is not quite appropriate, but guarding a mentally unstable god of death and a notorious devil, he really feels similar at the moment!

The militiamen who had been waiting nearby hurried forward with boxes and distributed bamboo sticks to the voters. There were two colors of bamboo sticks, red and blue, one for each person. As for the voting method, they went over and inserted the bamboo sticks into the red and blue racks. Red represented welcoming the King of Qin, and blue represented not welcoming. The voters chose whichever one they wanted to insert, and then counted the number of sticks on the spot to determine whether the people of Jiangxi welcomed the King of Qin.

But Li Zicheng had already gone back and sat down.

Li Laiheng went out with his big flag and waved it at the cavalry lined up in the distance.

Soon after, the shaking of the ground could be clearly heard, and even the grass debris on the roof of the thatched hut began to fall. The momentum of ten thousand cavalry horses trampling the ground was still terrifying in that era.

Of course, they shouldn't be prepared to just demolish this place with all their might if something goes wrong.

After all, Yang Feng is here.

But a demonstration is still necessary.

However, the elders obviously did not want to lose to them. Then, on the other side of Tujiabu Fort, the flames of heavy artillery suddenly spurted out, and the next moment, a thunderous roar also shook the venue, and such artillery sounds continued. And it was not a blank shot, because at the same time, the whistling of the shells passed overhead, but hit a ruin not far away, and directly penetrated through the ruins.

"My lord, times have changed!"

An elder spoke to Li Zicheng in Yang Feng's usual tone.

Li Zicheng didn't say anything.

His current situation was still very embarrassing, because if he couldn't take De'an, he couldn't transport heavy artillery southward by land, and he couldn't transport it from the flank mountainous area. But if he couldn't transport artillery here, he couldn't open the Tujiabu line of defense. If he couldn't take this place, he couldn't attack Wucheng, the key point to enter Poyang Lake downstream, and he couldn't open the waterway to Nanchang. As for the remaining choice, it was to fight a decisive battle with Zheng Chenggong's navy at Hukou. And this was also his biggest disadvantage. He had to face the advantages of the regiment training with his own disadvantages. Even if he made full preparations during this period, he still couldn't guarantee that he could win the water battle.

After all, he had never done this job before.

He was deeply impressed by Zheng Chenggong's warships. In fact, there was not only Zheng Chenggong in Hukou. Together with Wu Zhikui and other troops, there were actually more than 300 warships of various sizes waiting.

There are also artillery batteries on the shore.

And it is a series of artillery batteries.

He really had no guarantee of victory, so the most certain thing for him was still to capture Nanchang, join up with Sun Shoufa and other troops, and then head straight to Zhejiang.

Avoid the battle on the Yangtze River.

As long as they could capture Raozhou and Guangxin, the Zhejiang militia would have to rush back to protect Zhejiang, and would eventually have to fight him on land in Zhejiang where he had the upper hand. Although the Zhejiang militia was strong, they only had tens of thousands of people and almost no cavalry. If his hundreds of thousands of troops pressed forward, they would be trampled to death by 30,000 cavalrymen, so he really took this vote very seriously!

but……

"King Qin, the result is very clear. The people of Jiangxi do not welcome King Qin."

The elder looked at the voters who were voting and said with some pride.

The red stand representing welcome to Li Zicheng was empty, while the stand representing unwelcome to him was already lined up. There was no need to wait for the count, as it was certain that he had lost. Although he did gain the approval of the people, everyone would back off if they really wanted to elect him.

This is the inevitable result.

Jiangxi is not a place where people are starving and suffering from large-scale famine.

Although there were also constant natural disasters, the advantages of natural conditions meant that this place was far from the famine that ravaged the northern part of the country. As long as they could still have food to eat, it was difficult to take the risk of choosing Li Zicheng. After all, these voters had families behind them. Once they chose Li Zicheng, even if the gentry did not dare to regret it, they would still dare to kill their families to vent their anger. Moreover, in some places, such as Nangan, the gentry were already prepared to resist. Once they chose to welcome Li Zicheng, the gentry would kill their entire families without hesitation.

If you don't choose Li Zicheng, you won't die, but if you choose him, it will be very difficult to survive.

The gentry had countless ways to kill them, including their families.

But as they were talking, a voter walked up to the red stand.

"Have you thought it through?"

An old man who was drinking tea immediately shouted with a gloomy face.

The man stood there hesitating.

"Just do what you want. I'll back you up. If anyone dares to harm you, I'll kill all his clans."

Li Zicheng said.

Yang Feng also looked at it curiously.

The man stood there, holding the stick tremblingly.

There were a few people behind looking at each other in bewilderment.

So in the end, some people couldn't resist the desire to stop paying taxes to the King of Rebellion.

The man finally stuck the red stick in his hand into the rack with determination. He seemed to have used up all his strength and sat on the ground all of a sudden. The elder who was obviously from his place gave him a hideous sneer.

"You are courting death. You dare to betray your hometown. There will be no place for you in Jiangxi from now on."

The elder said fiercely.

Li Zicheng waved his hand and Li Laiheng immediately walked over.

The militia behind the elder stepped forward.

"This is a meeting place, the use of weapons is prohibited!"

Yang Feng said kindly.

Those in the queue also stopped and watched silently.

"Put them all away. Let's give face to the King of the East Sea."

The elder said calmly.

The main reason was that Li Laiheng was alone, but there were four militiamen protecting him. The four militiamen immediately put down their short guns, and Li Laiheng also took off his weapon and rushed forward. The two militiamen rushed forward at the same time, but at the moment of meeting, one was simply knocked over by Li Laiheng's arm, and the other took the opportunity to hug him and throw him, but he didn't throw him at all. Li Laiheng grabbed his back, lifted him up very simply, and suddenly threw him towards the other two. At the moment they hit each other, he jumped up and kicked this guy in the back.

All three fell down together.

The old man finally reacted and was so scared that he quickly threw away the teacup and stood up to run away.

But Li Laiheng was very fast and grabbed him by the neck, strangled him with one hand, threw him backwards to the ground, and then dragged him towards Li Zicheng. The elder struggled and reached out to several other elders, but because he could not speak, he could only make strange noises in his throat.

"King of the East Sea!"

An elder shouted anxiously.

Yang Feng spread his hands calmly.

"Yang is only a prince, how can he control the actions of a vassal king?

Moreover, Yang is also under the jurisdiction of the King of Qin. This time the King of Qin is inspecting on behalf of the Emperor and has the power to execute first and report later. Yang has no right to interfere. "

He said.

"Drag him out and find a mud pit to drown him. Let's also give face to the King of the East Sea."

Li Zicheng said.

The elders stood up without hesitation and rushed out one after another.

It will be too late if you don't run.

If Yang Feng didn't interfere, Li Zicheng would probably kill them all.

Li Zicheng did not chase them, but just watched their miserable appearance from behind, smiling smugly. Soon all the elders in the meeting hall ran away, and Li Laiheng was pressing the elder's head into a mud pit outside. He was too lazy to find deep water, and this mud pit happened to be outside. The poor elder's head was pressed into the mud by him, and he struggled like crazy, but it was meaningless. He soon stopped weakly, only twitching weakly, and finally motionless. Li Laiheng pulled out his head like pulling a carrot, and then dragged it back and threw it on the ground.

"continue!"

Li Zicheng looked at the voters and said.

Those who were originally undecided immediately walked towards the red shelf with the red sticks.

Some people who were queuing at the blue shelf also began to walk out and return to their seats to exchange for red tickets. The number of red tickets on the originally empty red shelf also increased rapidly.

Of course, it can't change the outcome.

The final result was that the vast majority of people still chose not to welcome Li Zicheng, while more than forty people welcomed him, which was a huge loss. But on the other hand, the fact that more than forty people chose him was actually a success in itself.

At least for Yang Feng.

These peddlers, these peasants, finally realized that they can really choose their own destiny. The result is not important. As long as they dare to take this step, they are already successful.

This result made him feel relieved, and also made Governor Kuang feel relieved.

"King Qin, the ignorant people cannot understand your sincere intention, but the people's will is indeed like this. Please follow the agreement and withdraw your troops from Jiangxi."

He quickly saluted Li Zicheng and said with a smile on his face.

Li Zicheng ignored him and just stood up and walked out.

"All of you follow me, I will let you return in glory!"

He suddenly turned around and said.

After saying that, he turned around and walked out decisively.

Those voters who had voted to welcome him quickly got up and followed him out. They had no choice but to follow Li Zicheng. If they dared to go back, they would be sunk in the Gan River within two days.

"Your Highness, Prince Qin, I have news to tell you."

Yang Feng said suddenly.

Li Zicheng stopped.

"The Southwestern Allied Forces led by Zhang Xianzhong should have reached Jingzhou by now."

Yang Feng said.

Li Zicheng was silent.

"Wang Yingxiong also surrendered to the bandits?"

he said suddenly.

"No, Zhang Xianzhong surrendered to the King of Shu. According to the previous decree of His Majesty, the princes of various places are responsible for themselves and have the obligation to protect the local areas, suppress the bandits, and allow them to act at their own convenience. Therefore, the King of Shu accepted his surrender and settled his subordinates as civilians. This time, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou all said that the people did not want to be controlled by the Xi'an court, and were willing to be controlled by the Nanjing Regent. They sent elders and local sages to Nanjing and asked the Regent to make a report on their behalf. However, the journey is long and there are many bandits. Therefore, the King of Shu ordered Zhang Xianzhong to lead 50,000 volunteers, and there are 30,000 official troops from Chongqing General Zeng Ying and Wang Xiang, the governor of Wangge, plus 10,000 official troops recruited from Yunnan and 20,000 local chieftains such as Shizhu, a total of 110,000 troops and horses for escort."

Yang Feng said.

As for who Zhang Xianzhong's volunteers were, there is no need to explain.

The number of 110,000 should be an exaggeration. After all, it is difficult to requisition the ships needed for an army of 110,000 in a short period of time. Moreover, it is impossible for Zhang Xianzhong to really bring 50,000 troops with him. He still has to stay in Xichuan!
But more than 50,000 is accurate.

Even if there are only 50,000 of them, it is enough to decide the outcome of the battle.

They are upstream.

Li Zicheng fell silent again.

He really didn't know this news. Although he also had spies in Sichuan, Zhang Xianzhong had previously blocked Kuimen, and no ships were allowed to pass through. Letters sent by land had to pass through Guizhou, which was under the control of Wang Yingxiong. In fact, Wang Yingxiong also blocked the checkpoints. Even if the spies released by Li Zicheng could get through the blockade by other means, it would take a long time to send the letter out, after all, there would be no post station for them to use. But Zhang Xianzhong went to Jingzhou, which meant he could return to Jiangling in one day.

Li Zicheng had no time to learn the news through intelligence.

"Your Highness, Prince Qin, will you keep your promise? People should keep their word. I am the most trustworthy person, and I don't want others to break their promises."

Yang Feng said sincerely.

Li Zicheng snorted coldly and walked away.

Kuang Zhao watched in fear until his figure completely disappeared from his sight.

"King of the East Sea, will he keep his promise?"

he said carefully.

"Will do."

Yang Feng said.

Li Zicheng is not a stubborn person.

As a mobile fighter, he knew best how to judge the situation and when he needed to retreat, he did not hesitate to do so. There was still a long way to go, and he was still young and strong. If he failed once, he could wait for the next opportunity. But under the current situation, if he still chose to fight, he would really risk losing everything. When Zhang Xianzhong arrived in Jingzhou, Ma Jinzhong would definitely remain neutral. He Tengjiao, Wang Yuncheng, and Wang Guangtai would not fight for him and Zhang Xianzhong. The latter would rush to the upper reaches of Hankou unimpeded and attack Li Zicheng's logistics base at any time.

He could even block the ships transporting grain from Hunan to Hankou upstream, thus forcing Li Zicheng to run out of food.

Li Zicheng couldn't fight this battle.

He had already lost when Wang Yingxiong and Zhang Xianzhong formed an alliance.

Yang Feng looked at the old man on the ground...

"Just carry him away. You have no sense at all. Didn't you see that Li Zicheng was looking for trouble and getting mad?"

He said.

Governor Kuang was speechless.

Of course, Yang Feng cannot be blamed for this matter.

He is just a prince, how can he have the right to stop His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin? Logically speaking, he is still under the jurisdiction of the Prince of Qin. Besides, this matter has nothing to do with voting. It is purely His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin who kills innocent people. But it seems that he is not killing without authorization. He carries the imperial sword and can execute first and report later according to the emperor's order. From governors to civilians, he can execute first and report later without any charges.

The Emperor's edict to the King of Qin clearly stated...

As if I were here in person.

Anyone who is disrespectful to the King of Qin will be treated as extremely disrespectful.

Since it is so disrespectful, let alone killing him, even the entire clan may be killed.

What is imperial power?

The imperial power means the power of life and death.

In the past, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was too weak, resulting in the breakdown of discipline and chaos in the country. Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor authorized the King of Qin to punish on behalf of Heaven and enforce discipline. If His Majesty the King of Qin says you are guilty, then you are guilty.

Li Zicheng enforced strict discipline for Chongzhen...

So magical!

And those voters who chose to reject Li Zicheng stood there in fear.

"What are you looking at? Go home, your work is done."

Yang Feng said.

Then he also left carrying the six pure pestles.

(End of this chapter)