Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"Marshal! His Royal Highness King Zhou and the governor want you to go to the governor's office to discuss the military situation." A squad leader of the governor's office hurried over and reported to Chen Yongfu.

"Understood!" Chen Yongfu nodded, and then he saw that the team leader turned around and was about to leave, so he asked a little strangely: "Where are you going?"

"I'm so handsome! I'm still going to invite Mr. Tuiguan."

Chen Yongfu got ready to go down the city wall, but when he saw his cronies around him, he immediately told his son Chen De in a low voice: "Go out of the city if you have a chance. Don't go anywhere. Go to Wu Runing's place. Don't come back, even if you go there, you will recognize it. Hey—"

"Why? Dad! I can't abandon you and mother and run away alone!" The young and energetic Chen De was impatient.

"You bastard!" Chen Yongfu scolded in a low voice, "I want you to move the reinforcements. As long as Wu Runing comes, I, the chief soldier in Henan, can give him the position. Do you think it's easy to get out of the city now? If it weren't for your martial arts skills , The water quality is good, who will let you go with confidence? The lives of all the people in the city, your mother, your brother's family and I depend on you."

"Hey!" Chen De blinked suspiciously a few times, then nodded in agreement.

When the war came, he let his son leave the city, which also broke the morale of the defenders.But Chen Yongfu had no choice, because Chen De had shot and wounded Li Zicheng, as long as the city was destroyed, something bad would happen to Chen Yongfu's family.Wanting to keep his own blood, Chen Yongfu pulled the whole family with his fingers, and only the young and strong Chen De was able to escape from the city.

"Whoosh whoosh—!"

As soon as Chen Yongfu and his party got off the city wall, a row of arrows flew into the city.

"Hidden!", "Run!"...

The soldiers on the city wall immediately ducked down and hid behind the battlements or shields.And the crowd who joined the army and watched the excitement at the gate of the city immediately hid under the city wall and under the eaves, for fear that they would be accidentally injured by arrows.

But this row of arrows only took two or three rounds.A few sharp-eyed soldiers saw something tied to the arrow branch, and said to Chen Yongfu in a low voice: "Commander! It's the letter of the arrow, and the thief came to persuade him to surrender."

Several teams of yamen servants yelled and ran towards the place where the arrow letters fell, waving their leather whips and iron rulers, trying to collect them all.Chen Yongfu whispered to the soldiers around him: "Go quickly! Take a letter here and see what is written in it?"

Chen Yongfu and the others purposely lingered beside their horses for a while, and not long after, those soldiers rushed to Chen Yongfu's side, and the leader handed over an arrow letter hidden in his bosom to Chen Yongfu.

Chen Yongfu handed the arrow letter to the staff around him and asked him to read it out and explain it.There are too few literate people in the army.Even Chen Yongfu and Chen De's father and son were not just blind, and they really couldn't understand the complicated letter without explanation from the staff.

Sure enough, the arrow letter was written in ancient Chinese, and it was probably written by Li Zicheng's staff:

"Li Shi, the civil and military general of the Fengtian Advocacy Camp: look up to the city's civil and military officials, soldiers, and people. According to the photo, Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu were all defeated by the camp. They ran away and scattered. The reinforcements to the north of the Yellow River were all gone. You and others swim in the cauldron How can you be (long) alive? You can open the door and surrender. All crimes and achievements will be forgiven. Civil and military officials will still be employed, and no one will be killed to make peace. Vicious killing will put you in the belly of a river fish. Be careful not to indulge in it, and you will regret it."

Read a few words.The staff will explain a few words.Nothing else, nothing more than exaggeration, rumors, threats, intimidation and other tricks.But in this proclamation, it reflects that the Peasant Army has transformed from a bandit to a regular regime and army, and has begun to consciously recruit Ming officials.

For example: the "Eighth Team" (or Old Eighth Team) battalion number that Li Zizi used in his early years.But in the proclamation, it has been changed to "Fengtian Advocacy Camp", and his own title of "Chuang Wang" has also been changed to "Fengtian Advocacy Camp Civil and Military General".

Another example: the notice ordered the Ming Dynasty officials in Kaifeng City to surrender immediately, and announced that they would be employed as usual, indicating that the peasant army had a clear intention to establish political power.

"Bah! What about the general? The rebels will also put gold on their face." Chen De's words immediately caused a burst of laughter from the surrounding people.

"It's really overreaching, the clown jumped the beam!" At this time, Chen Yongfu had to echo Chen De's statement.But then, he turned his face away and told Chen De very seriously: "Go tonight and take ten brothers with you. When I discuss later, I will ask all the adults to write to Wu Runing. When we arrive After Runing, don't put on any airs, if Wu Runing is willing to send troops, you don't hesitate to knock your head to the ground. Remember!"

"Hey, Dad!"

It was already late when Chen Yongfu came to the governor's office.Seeing Chen Yongfu enter the meeting hall, all the officials saluted one after another.But Chen Yongfu saw that several officials were red-faced, and he understood after thinking about it. There must have been a dispute in the meeting room just now, and it was only because of Chen Yongfu's arrival that the dispute was temporarily suspended.

Chen Yongfu still found a corner to sit down obediently, but as soon as he was seated, Huang Peng, the promotion official of Kaifeng Prefecture, also ran into the meeting hall.Although he was out of breath, Huang Peng was still full of energy. First, he bowed deeply to Zhou Wang Zhu Gongyun and Henan Governor Gao Mingheng who were sitting in the upper seat: "Congratulations, Your Highness! Congratulations to the Governor! I am recruiting Jingyong at the Lucheng Gate." In just half a day, tens of thousands of people were recruited. The people in the city are all loyal to the imperial court. With all the will, the city of Kaifeng will be unbreakable!"

However, Huang Peng's words ignited the flames of the war that had just been suspended.An official stood up and said, "Master Huang's successful recruitment is gratifying, but where does the money and food come from? There are rats running in the government's warehouse. Several times, His Royal Highness paid out of the palace, but the big households in the city didn't pull out a dime. According to what I saw , it should be forcibly confiscated.”

"Do you want the whole Kaifeng to be messed up by the bandits before they enter the city?" Another official immediately said tit for tat, "This time Mr. Huang recruited troops, we are all well aware that we have got His Highness and The virtuous people in the city are secretly funded. They also pay a lot of people, and they also pay a part of the food and weapons first. Even the leading generals and schools are served by military officials and virtuous children of the royal family. How can you say that you don’t get anything? Going down, aren't you afraid that the people in the city will not be stable? According to what the officials saw, the money for guarding the city is still collected from the heads of the people in the city. collected there."

... (To be continued..)