golden scales

"Since ancient times, the army has been able to advance but not retreat. General Niu has repeatedly led troops to pretend to be defeated to lure the enemy. It can be seen that the art of leading troops is the best in the contemporary era." Zhu Cihong helped Niu Chenghu up again, and said gently: "Victory and defeat have always been commonplace. Now At this time, we are about to rely on the prestige of the general army to gather the defeated soldiers!"

Niu Chenghu was born with the square face of a great Han from northern Shaanxi, and since he followed Wang Qiaonian to hunt for thieves until now, he has been straight to the end.Therefore, Bai Guangen refused to take the position of vanguard officer, Gao Jie refused to take it, and only he, Niu Chenghu, was willing to play.Hearing the words of His Highness the Crown Prince, Niu Chenghu couldn't help feeling hot, and immediately had the urge to die for his confidant, but he didn't know what to say.

Zhu Cihong took a step back, patted Niu Chenghu on the shoulder, turned his head and explained to Wu Wei, Wu Weiye and others behind him: "Don't underestimate the feigned defeat. I don't know how many generals in ancient and modern times tried to lure the enemy with feigned defeat, but it turned out to be true. Defeated. If you can’t use your soldiers like arms and fingers, it’s absolutely impossible.”

Wu Xuan smiled and said, "No wonder even in the novels, only a fierce general like Zhao Yun can take on the important task of pretending to be defeated to lure the enemy."

The atmosphere in the tent suddenly lightened, and Niu Chenghu disappeared from his initial embarrassment.

"Xiao Mo, I'll leave it to Mr. Niu to gather the defeated soldiers." Zhu Cihong said to Xiao Mo, "The East Palace troops are gradually drawn out, ready to intercept Li Zicheng's pursuers."

"Yes!" Xiao Mo replied crisply.

"Think twice, Your Highness," Sun Chuanting couldn't help but said, "Li Zicheng's army is now in full swing, there is no natural danger to defend outside of Tongguan."

Zhu Cihong shook his head slightly, and said in a vibrating voice: "Mr. Baigu, if you don't defend if there is no danger, then why fight? Since there is no natural danger, our army is a natural danger! If there is no pass, my people are the pass! This is the soldier of the military family way."

"Your Highness taught me that." Sun Chuanting said insincerely, and remembered that he was already a victim, so his expression darkened.

"It's not me teaching Sun Du a lesson." Zhu Cihong shook his head and said, "The supervisor is the only civil servant left in the court who really knows how to fight. The current situation is caused by the supervisor losing the sense of normalcy that a general should have."

Sun Chuanting suffered from the rain at this time last year, and now it's the rainy season again, don't he remember his last name?It was really because the DPRK was urging too quickly, and finally ended up alone.If His Highness the Crown Prince hadn't set up a stronghold at this intersection, I'm afraid it would have been a thousand miles away, and he had to flee from Shanxi to Shaanxi in the end.

Tracing back to the source, it is the imperial court's urging!

Zhu Cihong knew that Sun Chuanting could not be blamed for this, but he couldn't say anything about his father's shortcomings, otherwise Sun Chuanting would not only not be grateful, but maybe he would be able to die and help the emperor take the blame.Well, maybe in the original history, Sun Chuanting died in the battle at Tongguan, and this is also considered.

Such a loyal minister... really made Zhu Cihong feel heartbroken and helpless.

"Li Chuang is like a wolf in the mountains and forests. Once we turn around, he will pounce on us and bite our necks off." Zhu Cihong said: "We can only feel at ease if we fight two hard battles head-on with him and make his legs weak. Gather up the defeated troops at Tongguan, retreat to Xi'an, and retreat to Taiyuan after rectification."

Sun Chuanting was taken aback: "Your Highness is going to give up even Shaanxi?"

"I can't keep it." Zhu Cihong shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about Shaanxi, maybe even Shanxi has to be abandoned."

Sun Chuanting was silent.

Who doesn't know that the last trump card in the hands of the emperor is Sun Chuanting's Qin soldiers, and now that the Qin soldiers are defeated, who else can stop Li Chuang's army of more than [-].

"I still have Liu Zongmin and Niu Jinxing in my hands. Both of them can exchange something with Li Chuang." Zhu Cihong said: "The key depends on how much weight they have in Li Chuang's heart."

"Your Highness," Wu Xuan shouted, "these two are Li Chuang's right-hand men, how can they go back to the mountain like a tiger?"

"Of these two, Niu Jinxing is just a strategist for power. I never take him seriously." Zhu Cihuang walked and sighed, "The key is Liu Zongmin. This person is a general for a while, and I can't bear to kill him."

"Your Highness, you can't have the kindness of a woman at this moment!" Niu Chenghu bluffed.

Zhu Cihong smiled at him.

Are you really a woman?

Don't think about victory in everything, think about defeat first.Today, the two most powerful armies in East Asia are undoubtedly Li Zicheng's Chuangying and Manchurian Cavalry.Guan Ning's iron cavalry, who has been shouting loudly, is actually rotten to the extreme, otherwise there would be no Wu Sangui's capricious surrender and rebellion in the original history.

If you compare Chuangying with Manchu iron cavalry, although Li Zicheng was defeated by a stone, but after careful analysis, he did not expect Wu Sangui to bow his knees to a foreign race rather than surrender to Dashun, so that he was caught off guard by the Manchurians.If the two armies were to confront each other, Chuangying, who was at its peak at the time, might not be able to stop Jiannu.

In the subsequent historical scripts, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are undoubtedly playing tricks.

Since Jiashen, it was the princes who broke into the camp and the kings of the Western Camp who really protected the land of China from being ravaged by the iron hooves of other races.Most of the generals of the Ming army who had been in military households for generations shaved their heads and surrendered, serving as eagle claws for the Manchus.

If he killed Liu Zongmin himself, there would be another obstacle in the future to join forces with Chuangying to fight against the Qing Dynasty.

Then if Liu Zongmin is killed, can the historical script of Li Zicheng's invasion of Yanjing be rewritten!

Zhu Cihong thought about it carefully for a long time, and repeatedly deduced the strength of all parties, but the conclusion he came to was helpless: even if Liu Zongmin was killed, Li Zicheng's pace would still not be stopped.

Although Liu Zongmin had a very high reputation in the Chuangying, at this time the Chuangying had passed the stage of relying on personal reputation. It was an influential group that studied the imperial examinations to obtain scholars, appointed officials to build, and managed the local area.Liu Zongmin's influence on the entire Chuangying camp was not too great, especially because there were quite a few people with a higher reputation than Liu Zongmin, at least Li Zicheng, Tian Jianxiu, Zhang Nai (Li Shuangxi), and Li Guo were overwhelmed.Other battalion generals such as Liu Xiyao, Liu Tichun, Yuan Zongdi, He Jin and other generals were also from Shangluo Eighteen Cavalry, and their influence in the army was on par with Liu Zongmin.

Furthermore, did Li Zicheng use Liu Zongmin as his sole general after the Battle of Jiaxian?

Zhu Cihong carefully sorted out the historical details he knew, and came to a conclusion that supported his release of Liu Zongmin.

According to the historical script, after Sun Chuanting was defeated in Jiaxian County, he ran all the way, and then joined forces with Gao Jie, crossed the Yellow River to the north, and detoured through Tongguan from Yuanqu, Shanxi.Bai Guangen then led the rout and fled to Tongguan.In the Battle of Tongguan, he fell into the hands of Chuangying, and Sun Chuanting died in battle. Li Zicheng came to Xi'an five days later, and joined the partial division who was taking the Shangluo Mountain Road.

After Xi'an surrendered without a fight, Li Zicheng led Li Guo's rear battalion and Liu Fangliang's left battalion to go northward, capture northern Shaanxi, and pursue Gao Jie.Tian Jianxiu led his troops south to Hanzhong, pursued Gao Ruli, the general soldier, and controlled the passage into Sichuan.The third general Liu Zongmin, He Jin and Yuan Zong pursued Bai Guangen westward and captured Ningxia, Gansu, Xining and other places.

It can be said that after Li Zicheng's victory in Jia County, the presence or absence of Liu Zongmin has no effect on the general situation of the world.First of all: Yuan Zongdi and He Jin originally had the ability and reputation to be independent.Secondly: Bai Guangen did not die at all, and directly handed over Ningxia and Gansu to Li Zicheng's army, and he himself became a general under Li Zicheng's command.

After Li Zicheng entered the east, except Zhou Yuji, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi, who defended Ningwuguan to death, other civil and military officials from all over the country either surrendered or fled on the contrary.Even the city of Yanjing had its internal officials open the door to offer the city, and never fought a tough battle.

From this point of view, what does it matter if Li Zicheng has Liu Zongmin or not?

"I think back when the bandits' hearts were not stable, Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang was captured and killed, and the camp did not fall apart. Now the bandits' army is stable, but killing Liu Zongmin, besides making the bandits mourn and fight, what use is there? Li Zicheng is at best little Let's be a fierce general." Zhu Cihong pretended to be relaxed, which can be regarded as a lenient deployment, and he had already made a plan in his heart to trade Liu Zongmin for the time and space to retreat.

"Your Highness, if Liu Thief is released, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the court!" Wu Weiye stepped forward and said.

"What do you want from the imperial court?" Zhu Cihong said displeasedly: "Don't let Li's bandits come to the city of Yanjing, this is the greatest explanation to the imperial court and to the emperor! But, Niu Jinxing can be released earlier, this person is not enough. There is more than enough to reveal, maybe he will help us get rid of Liu Zongmin in the future."

Liu Zongmin was indeed framed by Niu Jinxing and lost Li Zicheng's trust.

For Niu Jinxing, who is keen to be prime minister, no matter how history goes, as long as Li Zicheng can become emperor, getting rid of Liu Zongmin is inevitable.Because what he wants to do is to be a prime minister, a prime minister who avoids Dao etiquette!How could it be possible to leave such outstanding generals as Liu Zongmin and Tian Jianxiu to steal the limelight?

At that time, the civil and military struggles in the camp will be like the party struggles in the late Ming Dynasty, and there is only one way to die. (To be continued.)