golden scales

Zhu Cihong has experienced this kind of psychological battle countless times in his previous life. Right now, he doesn't lose the house and land, and there is room for retreat. He has no psychological pressure at all. . On the contrary, Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor in Xi'an, and he didn't even award meritorious officials.It should be noted that the earlier the award of meritorious officials, the more stable the morale of the army.On the contrary, the longer the delay, the more chaotic the army will be.People have been born and died for more than ten years, and what they are waiting for is the present!He said that he would wait for the leading generals to come back before discussing their meritorious deeds and rewarding them together. In fact, everyone can see that the main thing waiting here is Liu Zongmin.

It's just that, Zhu Cihong couldn't go to Taiyuan to celebrate the New Year according to the original plan.This made the parents who were waiting eagerly in Yanjing weep bitterly, as if their son had suffered a lot.In fact, Zhu Cihong slaughtered pigs and sheep in the camp, burned Jiaozi (dumplings) in a cauldron, and celebrated with the soldiers to celebrate the new year, which made the morale of the camp extremely high.

These days, the bodyguard camp is tight outside and inside. It seems that there is nothing abnormal about practicing all day long, but in fact they are spreading eyeliner everywhere, looking for a suitable place to ambush and counterattack.Cai Maode even supervised the work day and night, and sent the artillery and gunpowder from the counties and counties around Pingyang to the guard battalion so that the prince could deploy defenses.At the same time, the residents of Hejin must be relocated to prevent them from being affected by the war.

Hejin is located by the river, and everyone knows the virtue and surname of the Yellow River, and no one dares to ask it for land.Therefore, Hejin itself is not rich in land, and it is difficult to support the consumption of the army.Fortunately, there are princes here!And he is still a county king lower than a prince.In the eyes of the Tian family, the prince is still his own family and has the right to practice family etiquette.The county king is more like a courtier, he can only listen to the crown prince obediently.Cai Maode's mouth, which he couldn't pry open no matter what, was solved by the East Palace with a letter of decree and a team of guards.

King Xihe and King Jiaocheng obediently sent grain, winter clothes, and taels of silver.During the Chinese New Year, they brought women's music, pork, sheep and bacon, and other new year goods. They sent people to kneel outside the gate twice in three days, expressing that they couldn't bear to see His Highness living in a barracks with poor conditions, and begged His Highness the Crown Prince Move to Pingyang.

Zhu Cihong had never seen such a knowledgeable relative since he set off on the expedition. In the first few days, every time someone cried and begged, he issued an order to comfort him.Later, I realized that I was actually wrong. He was just not letting go of etiquette, and he didn't really care about him, so he didn't bother to pay attention to him.But it's good to be willing to take out something. The Eastern Palace guard camp originally spent more than an ordinary camp, and it needs a large amount of protein energy intake.

Xu Dun also sent news about Longmen Town one after another.More and more grain and grass were transported from Xi'an and other places, and the warehouses in Longmen Town were not enough, so they began to expropriate people's houses to store grain.With the increase of military rations, its importance naturally increased.On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Dun sent information: Li Zicheng took Zuo Guangxian as the defense envoy of Longmen, stationed in Longmen Town.

After Zhu Cihong got the news, he was really overwhelmed by the secrecy mechanism of this era.Li Zicheng may have given Zuo Guangxian a defensive envoy for the purpose of appeasement, but Li Chuang's standard for appointing a defensive envoy is one level higher than that of the general army of the Zhao Dynasty, and the jurisdiction is between the government and the road.Zuo Guangxian was the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, so he is indeed qualified to serve as the defense envoy, but Longmen is not even counted as a county, and even set up a defense envoy, is it because he is afraid that others will not know how important this place is?

Zhu Cihong looked at it happily and said in his heart: If you don't take Leng Zi and give him a slap in the face, I'm really sorry for Blind Li's kindness!

Sun Chuanting read the information and was also happy, saying: "Your Highness, this is God helping me!"

"Sun Du plans to come out?" Zhu Ci said with a smile.

"Your Highness," Sun Chuanting is usually serious, but now he couldn't help laughing, "Li Zicheng thinks he is magnanimous, but after all, he doesn't have the stamina to let Zuo Guang lead the troops first, because he is afraid of surrendering the army! Surrounding him, it's definitely okay, but I don't know that Zuo Guangxian is really a titan!"

"Oh, Sun Du means that Zuo Guang can be recruited first anyway?" Zhu Cihong laughed heartily.Li Zicheng did his own crime this time, so he can't live!If Zuo Guangxian was able to lead the army anyway, it would undoubtedly break Li Zicheng's heart.

"Zuo Guangxian was considered loyal and brave when he was under the command of the old minister. He must be the first in every battle." Sun Chuanting said: "Let's wait for a letter from the minister and see what he says."

"That's very good! Sun Du can tell him clearly: as long as he is willing to behave anyway, not only will he not be blamed for committing the crime of committing a thief, but he will be rewarded with new merits!" Zhu Cihong said without hesitation in writing a bad check.

Since Sun Chuanting dared to propose this plan, he obviously has a lot of confidence.

Sure enough, just two days after the letter was delivered, Zuo Guangxian sent a familiar servant across the river secretly, presented the secret letter, and described in detail how he fought in Tongguan that day, and was captured only after being injured and unconscious.And because of Bai Guangen and Gao Jie's two generals who refused to save him, they were chilled and confused for a while, so they made a mistake and surrendered to Li Chuang.Now that the Crown Prince of Mongolia does not blame the past, Zuo is naturally willing to take the blame and make meritorious deeds, abandoning the dark and turning to the bright.

Zhu Cihong gave the letter to Sun Chuanting, and Sun Chuanting brought up the servant again and questioned him carefully.Finally came to a conclusion: Zuo Guangxian did have the heart to fight back, and he could ask him to turn against him.

Zhu Cihong hadn't been so happy in a long time, and said with a smile: "Since Li Zicheng insists on fighting with me, then I will fight with him! To write a book against the thief, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the deadline, if he refuses to change, then let it go! Anyway, the awards for veterans like You Shiwei have already come down, the imperial court understands their loyalty, and if they think about it, they can also understand the imperial court's helplessness."

Sun Chuanting knew that it was Zhu Cihong who was persecuting Li Zicheng, and he felt a burst of joy in his heart: This Li thief has turned the sky of Daming upside down, and now he is sometimes strangled by someone!

The letter was quickly sent by the courier, all the way to Li Zicheng who was still in Xi'an.Zhu Cihong set a limit of fifteen, precisely because Li Zicheng came in a hurry and could not mobilize all the troops.

Looking at the letter, Gu Junen couldn't help muttering in his heart: Could there be fraud in it?With an army of [-] troops pressing down here, Prince Zhu not only won't escape, but also intends to trade Liu Zongmin for You Shiwei?You Shiwei can certainly fight, but he wouldn't let the Crown Prince take such a big risk.

Niu Jinxing thought to himself: This Zhu family is not a person who can make a fortune if he commits suicide for the sake of a few bad old men who are going into the coffin quickly.

Li Zicheng was also surprised by Zhu Cihong's reaction, but he still said after all: "Prince Zhu may not have any ability to plot against me. It is nothing more than blocking the river and preventing my cavalry from outflanking his rear. Stepping over, how can he resist it?"

"Will there be an ambush?" Song Xiance did not advocate doing such extraneous things.In his opinion, Li Zicheng was slowed down for a full month because of Liu Zongmin, and he didn't let the army pursue and beat Zhu's prince into a dead end. This is already too much for Liu Zongmin.Which founding emperor in the history books treated his generals so benevolently?It is already very generous to release the power of soldiers with a glass of wine, but when you meet a hero like Zhu Chongba-everyone who can conquer and fight well will die!

"Haha," Li Zicheng laughed loudly, "Where is he in ambush? How many people can ambush? I get food from Longmen, and an army of [-] marched to Shanxi. Not to mention a child from the Zhu family, no one in the entire Zhu Dynasty can stand against me. army."

A group of civil servants are unwilling to be serious with Li Zicheng on this issue.

As far as the area under the current Dashun is concerned, it is not too good, and the land of Huguang is still in the hands of Zhang Xianzhong.The local officials have no administrative experience, and are separated from the local powerhouses. It is not known how long it will take to completely resume reclamation.The Dashun Army also advertised that they would be exempted from food for three years. Now the food and grass are all obtained by chasing stolen goods, but who can say for sure how much more they can recover?

It's just a mess!

However, no matter how confused the accounts are, it does not hinder the clarity of the general trend.As long as these tens of thousands of troops advance eastward, unless Zhu Ming transfers all the Guan Ning troops to enter the pass, it is absolutely impossible to stop the advance of the Shun army!

"Returning Zong Min is just a matter of chance. I am very aware of national affairs and personal interests!" Li Zicheng defended himself: "If Zong Min is not there, don't you guys stop fighting in Shanxi? Don't take advantage of the freezing of the Yellow River What are you waiting for when crossing the river? You guys are thinking too much, what’s the point? If Prince Zhu can win one or two battles, he chose the right place. With my army set up, it will be useless for him to fight again!"

This is also the reason for the civil servants to think about it. Anyway, from now on, fighting is the business of the generals.Wenzhi is still very busy here, preparing for new subjects to recruit scholars, and changing the rules and etiquette, how can there be so much free time to take care of these. (To be continued.)