Li Zicheng looked at the military adviser Niu Jinxing in front of him. Although this man was really talented, his performance today made him very dissatisfied. Just now he talked about Jiannu wanting to negotiate a peace, and now he talks about the Ming army also wanting to negotiate a peace. Could it be that he is too big?
Does Shun want to negotiate peace with anyone he meets? Isn't he laughing at Li Zicheng?
"I don't think it's appropriate to negotiate peace."
Niu Jinxing knew that his proposal would not receive a neat reply, so he was not annoyed and continued to explain: "This peace negotiation is not that Daxi is inferior to his Ming army, but that our army's foundation is still shallow, and there are strong enemies in the north and south. We must do a good job
Let’s calm down and develop ourselves first. Only in this way can we be steady and steady! It will be easy to unify the country in one fell swoop in the future.”
Obviously Li Zicheng did not listen, but closed his eyes and said displeased: "Military advisor, I admit that your choices are correct many times, which makes me feel such a great success. But, if all the soldiers are stopped now,
If we are fighting against the Ming army, then all the slogans I Daxi made at the beginning will be false!"
Knowing that Li Zicheng was a little angry because of his successive defeats, Niu Jinxing stopped insisting and had to temporarily say: "The minister still advises the king to rest and recuperate first, and try to let the Ming army fight Zhang Xianzhong or Jiannu. We can just sit back and take advantage of the situation."
profit!"
Hearing this, Li Zicheng felt that Niu Jinxing's proposal was humane. He immediately stood up and said: "The military advisor's words are on point. This time I plan to give up all the troops from Beizhili to Shandong and Shanhaiguan to let the Ming army
Occupy. Let them think they have regained it, but in fact they have an additional opponent - Jiannu!"
"In addition, we can do something in the south to blame Zhang Xianzhong and force the court to kill Zhang Xianzhong!" Niu Jinxing also echoed from the side.
"Okay! This time, I will sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight!"
…
In the past few days, Zhu Ling did not show that he was aware of what Ma Shiying had done in Nanjing. Instead, he continued to contact Nanjing with the frequency of sending a letter every seven days, and Nanjing also responded every time. If he continues to maintain
Go on, I'm afraid Ma Shiying really thought that His Majesty didn't know.
He listened to Shi Kefa's advice that day and secretly contacted the generals and officials of several surrounding provinces. When the time came, he would go to Nanjing to deal with the matter in person. But now he had more important things to do.
Gotta do it.
After defeating Gao Yigong, Wang Chengen's Information Department vigorously published reports of the Ming army's victory in Yanzhou and spread them to various places. After learning that the imperial court had won the victory, many businessmen and officials felt shocked and couldn't help but get excited again.
, I feel that there is hope for the revival of the imperial court! But for many people, it is bad news.
After all, many people still hope in their hearts that King Chuang will come, and at least they will not be exploited by officials.
The businessman Wang Yangguang was also very serious about his work. He seemed to have spent all his energy here. He gathered as many escaped opera actors and storytellers as he could, then trained them, and finally let them go to various places to sing opera and storytellers.
.The purpose is to bring the hearts of the people back to the imperial court again.
But Zhu Ling knows that if the contradiction between the people and the exploiting class is not alleviated for one day, the people will not be truly happy. But this thing is not something he can do alone. It can only be temporarily alleviated. First, he can save the people.
Just do it tomorrow!
After King Lu listened to Zhu Ling's advice, the business was running smoothly, and a set of institutions was quickly established. However, in order to prevent King Lu from nepotism, he still sent Jin Yiwei to secretly investigate the background of these people. However, the final result was not bad.
Although King Lu arranged for a few cronies, their positions were not important. They were for the elderly, so Zhu Ling would not pursue them.
Anyway
On this day, Zhu Ling suddenly called Wang Chengen over and talked about the things he had mentioned in Cangzhou before.
"Do you remember that I said before that we should establish a force under our own control in a timely manner to do some things that are rarely seen by others."
"Of course my slave will remember it." Wang Chengen stood aside and replied respectfully: "It's just that there were too many things going on in Cangzhou in those few days, and the intruders came after me again, so it was not implemented."
"Now that we have defeated the intruders, this army still needs to be established. You will make arrangements in the past few days and you will personally command it. You must hold this army firmly in your hands. If you need anything, I will tell you immediately.
You, let this army do it. But remember, only you and I know about this matter, and no one else can know about it."
What was done this time was a shameful thing, which would never be accepted by ministers like Wang Jiayan. If they knew about it, it would definitely set off a storm of opposition.
"My slave obeys the order!" Wang Chengen immediately bowed his head and obeyed the order.
"I will ask King Lu to give you one million taels of silver, which is equivalent to an advance income. If you need support from soldiers and horses, go to Zhu Dadian and tell him that I have agreed." Zhu Dadian was still afraid of Zhu Ling in his heart.
Although Wang Jiayan was the Minister of War, he was easily suspicious. After much deliberation, he still had to go to Zhu Dadian.
"Slave, I'll start making arrangements when I get down."
"As soon as possible."
…
After exiting the main hall, Wang Chengen took his cronies and went to Zhu Dadian to ask for a thousand soldiers and horses, and then received the money. Although he didn't want to give it to King Lu because of his appearance, it was His Majesty's will.
Have to give.
Seeing one million taels of silver being moved out in boxes, King Lu suddenly felt that he was just a wage earner. Not only could he not get a penny, but he had to work hard to death.
After everything was ready, he personally took charge and ordered the generals of the army to lead people into the mountains to search for and eliminate the escaped bandits. During the arrest process, they encountered various resistances, but they were all killed. However, when he saw the officers and soldiers, he thought
They escaped, but were still caught. The next day, they were all gathered in an open space outside the city.
Seeing this scene, these bandits who survived the bandit suppression operation thought that the imperial court was going to kill them. They struggled to resist, fearing that they would die here next moment. If they resisted together, they might have a chance to escape. But
Their resistance was obviously in vain. Their clothes were in tatters and they were unarmed. How could they resist such a large number of soldiers?
Just when they wanted to resist and rush out, countless bows and arrows were pointed at them, and the spears of the surrounding soldiers were also pointed at them. Just seeing this scene, these bandits did not dare to have any more thoughts of resistance.
The next moment, surrounded by everyone, Wang Chengen slowly came to the main seat. He glanced at the hundreds of bandits trapped in the middle and snorted coldly. With a glance, someone immediately took some cooked food.
Throw it into the crowd.
They thought it was some inexplicable thing, and no one dared to step forward to snatch it. Until the paper broke, revealing the steaming food inside, they went crazy. The scene was chaotic, and the bandits were scrambling to grab the food they had not eaten for a long time.
Everyone fights for the food with all their strength. When someone gets it, he immediately knocks that person to the ground and then goes to grab it again.
But everyone has not had enough to eat for several days, and it is hard to find food. How can they easily give it to others?
If the food is robbed, they will naturally have to take it back. But they will not rob it again. Instead, they will directly attack the opponent's vital parts and knock them to the ground. After the opponent has no resistance, they will pick up the food and eat it.
Got up.
But there are also cases where others come to snatch the food after they have just taken a bite, and there are even situations where countless people die and injure many people just for this bite of cooked food. When faced with the option of survival, human nature and emotions are no longer their choice.
There is only one choice at this moment, and that is to survive.
After waiting for a long time and looking at such a cruel scene, Wang Chengen knew that time was almost up. He immediately signaled to others again, and the confidant immediately ordered the soldiers to control all the bandits.
The soldier listened to the order and approached with a spear. He shouted: "Stop! Stop!". The scene was instantly no longer chaotic and became much quieter.
But there were still people there who kept devouring the food, and the soldiers were not polite. They stabbed them directly with their spears, and blood immediately flowed out. The bandit died immediately, and the food in his hand fell aside. There were other bandits who saw this and wanted to pick it up.
He got up, but when he saw the fierce soldier, he had no choice but to squat on the ground and not dare to move.
After the scene completely calmed down, Wang Chengen stepped forward and said: "You are all rebellious officials and traitors. When we suppressed the bandits before, we allowed you to escape. I have no intention of gathering you here again today."
Your lives. I think you are also poor people, bandits who have suffered to become bandits. Now you have a chance - a chance to survive and enjoy a lifetime of glory and wealth! I don’t know if you want it or not?"
After the words fell, no one dared to reply. They were too afraid of death.
"Anyone who answers will be rewarded with a pound of cooked meat! Anyone who talks more will be rewarded with three steamed buns! A meal!" Wang Chengen found that many people inside were staring at the food falling on the ground, but no one dared to take it.
Then he spoke loudly to them, knowing that the temptation of food was far greater than anything else at this moment.
"I come!"
The next moment, someone stood up and spoke for food.
Seeing someone getting up, Wang Chengen immediately ordered someone else to give him a pound of cooked meat. After the soldier gave the cooked meat to the man, he immediately grabbed it and took a few bites. After swallowing it, he was quite satisfied.
"Tell me, do you want this opportunity?"
"What do we need to do?" The man looked rugged, but he had lost a lot of weight because he had no food.
"I will tell you what I will do specifically for the imperial court. You just need to answer whether you accept it or not." Wang Chengen did not want to say more, but coldly gave the other party two options.
Hearing this, the man knew that if he didn't accept it, he would definitely be killed. Anyway, it was a dead end, so he might as well give it a try!