At about the right time, the first ray of sunlight passed through the clouds and through the leaves, shining on Li Yan, melting away the thin layer of cold dew that had condensed on Li Yan's eyebrows.
But the cold dew in Li Yan's heart became deeper and deeper.
Zhu Gaoyuan was really right. After leaving the Miyun guard yesterday afternoon, the bandits really made a comeback and quietly returned to Gubeikou under the cover of night to ambush again.
However, this was in vain, as the Ming army did not appear.
"You Commander, let's go back." Li You sighed softly and said.
Gu Kecheng also advised: "Yes, the Lord will be really angry if we don't go back."
Li Nian and Li Mou also looked at Li Yan silently. Although they didn't speak, their meaning was obvious.
Li Yan raised his head and glanced at the rising red sun in the eastern sky, and finally nodded: "Okay, go back!"
This time, Li Yan finally did not fight back, and led his army straight to Beijing after leaving the Miyun rearguard. After a day and night of rapid march, he finally rushed back to Beijing before Li Zicheng sent troops.
"My lord, I am incompetent." Li Yan said with shame, "I failed to capture Chongzhen."
"We'll talk about Chongzhen later. Anyway, he was trapped in Yanshan and couldn't escape." Li Zicheng didn't blame him too much, and immediately went on to say, "You Military Advisor, I'll leave Beijing to you."
"Ah?" Li Yan was stunned when he heard this. This was somewhat beyond his expectation.
What does this mean, Your Majesty? Do you want him to stay in Beijing? Your Majesty, are you willing to let him take charge of his own affairs?
At that moment, Li Yan turned his attention to Niu Jinxing. Niu Jinxing smiled slightly and said, "The Lord means that Beijing is too important and cannot be tolerated. Only if the right military advisor stays to guard him can he rest assured."
It was indeed Niu Jinxing's suggestion to Li Zicheng that Li Yan should stay in Beijing.
But Niu Jinxing's original intention was not because only Li Yan could take on this important task.
This was actually part of Niu Jinxing's plan to eradicate Li Yan.
"Yes." Li Zicheng said, "In addition to Lao Tian and Lao Liu, you can also reassure me as the right military advisor. But now Lao Tian is far away in Xijing, and Lao Liu has to follow me on the expedition, so you can only stay and guard Beijing."
After a pause, Li Zicheng continued: "As for the troops left behind, let Lao Gu's commander stay, and Li Mou and Li Nian's commander follow me on the eastern expedition. My Zhongji camp cannot be without these two troops.
A fierce general."
Li Yanxin said that indeed, the master was still wary of him deep down.
Otherwise, Gu Kecheng would not have been allowed to stay, and then he would have taken Li Nian and Li Mou to the expedition.
But it doesn't matter. He has an open heart and has never been selfish. The Lord will understand one day.
At that moment, Li Yan said: "Since the Lord is not prepared to let his subordinates accompany him, there is one thing that must be said to the Lord. When you go to Shanhaiguan, you must be careful about Wu Sangui introducing slaves to the customs."
Li Zicheng responded casually: "I already know about this."
Seeing this, Li Yan knew that Li Zicheng didn't take these words to heart.
When Li Yan was about to persuade him again, Li Zicheng had already galloped away. He turned back from a distance and said, "You military advisor, while I am away from Beijing, you must remember to prepare for the enthronement ceremony first."
Li Yan cupped his hands and said, "Yes, I will keep this in mind."
…
Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
Thirty miles outside Gubeikou, in a hidden valley.
Wang Jiayan, Wu Linzheng, Meng Zhaoxiang and other civil officials were gathering together to discuss how to give advice.
"Everyone, we can't wait any longer." Wang Jiayan said solemnly, "Today is already April 17th, and it has been nearly a month since the fall of the capital. Judging from the time, the officials in the capital should have received the news long ago."
"Yes." Wu Linzheng said worriedly, "If we delay it any longer, there may be big changes."
Meng Zhaoxiang, Wang Wei and other civil officials also nodded unanimously. They all knew what Wu Linzheng meant.
Wang Jiayan said again: "I will go to the Holy One to remonstrate with you soon. If the Holy One doesn't listen, I will die. In short, I must persuade the Holy One to lead the troops into the pass today no matter what!"
"Yes, if Your Majesty doesn't listen, I will kill you."
"If you add me, if the Ming Dynasty dies, what's the use of keeping me waiting?"
Several civil servants became excited as they spoke, and an atmosphere of determination quickly spread. These civil servants present were not talkative, they were real action men.
While they were discussing, Zhu Gaoyuan suddenly came over.
"Several members of the Qing family are here." Zhu Gaoyuan said with a smile, "What are you talking about? How come I feel the decisive aura of the first-class wind rustling and Yi Shuihan?"
"Reply to the Holy Spirit, I will wait..."
Wang Jiayan was brewing his emotions, but was abruptly interrupted by Zhu Gaoyuan.
"Okay, let's not talk about it for now." Zhu Gaoyuan waved his hand and said, "Hurry and pack up and prepare to enter the customs!"
"Ah?" Wang Jiayan suddenly felt a punch hitting the cotton and said in shock, "Entering customs today?"
Wu Linzheng, Meng Zhaoxiang, Wang Wei and other civil servants also looked at each other in confusion. What did they say? They were all ready to remonstrate with death, but the emperor suddenly offered to enter the border?
Before this, His Majesty had not revealed the slightest hint.
This is a bit embarrassing, why are you still trying to remonstrate?
Your Majesty, can you say hello to your ministers before you do anything in the future?
Otherwise, it will be difficult for those of us who are ministers to keep up with your pace.
"Hurry up, you only have a quarter of an hour." Zhu Gaoyuan said and left.
Watching Zhu Gaoyuan go away, Wang Jiayan and other civil servants were stunned for a long time, unable to react.
On the contrary, Gong Yonggu, several of his nobles, and the commander of the Jin Yiwei, Li Ruolian, had long been on the ground. They had followed the emperor's lead since the siege of the capital.
On the other side, Hu Guozhu had summoned a thousand Yiding and was waiting for Zhu Gaoyuan to lecture.
As usual, Hu Xinshui was not with Yi Ding. Zhu Gaoyuan was always wary of Hu Xinshui. It was impossible to let him stay with Yi Ding again before he returned to Nanjing.
Zhu Gaoyuan is doing his best to make the Yiding people forget the existence of Hu Xinshui.
Seeing Zhu Gaoyuan coming over, Yi Ding, who had been sitting on the ground to rest, stood up one after another.
Zhu Gaoyuan stretched out his right hand and walked in front of the queue. The Yiding in the front row extended their right hands and high-fived Zhu Gaoyuan one by one. This was a ritual that Zhu Gaoyuan brought to the Ming army.
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"Long live!"
"Long live!"
"Long live!"
Yi Ding in the front row high-fived Zhu Gaoyuan and cheered enthusiastically.
The Yiding in the back row couldn't high-five Zhu Gaoyuan, but they still stomped on the ground with the tail of their spears, or slapped their vine shields with their sabers, creating a fiery noise.
Hu Guozhu frowned and looked at this scene, feeling very sad.
None of these thousand Yiding had ever treated his father like this. How could Emperor Chongzhen be so virtuous?
Of course Hu Guozhu could not understand all this. In fact, no one in this era could understand it, because Zhu Gaoyuan used the knowledge of image management here.
Image management is generally defined to include internal recognition and external public relations.
Zhu Gaoyuan has been strengthening internal staff's recognition of him, and at the same time conducting public relations for Yiding, which has been going on for nearly a month.
The methods adopted by Zhu Gaoyuan include but are not limited to eating and living with the Yiding, making daily arrangements, etc., and successfully created the image of a people-friendly emperor who is considerate of the soldiers at the bottom.
For such an emperor, the soldiers at the bottom have no reason not to support him.
As a low-class Yi Ding, there is no reason not to love him.
Of course, it should be noted that the Yiding people still have reservations about their love for Zhu Gaoyuan. For example, once their food and salary are cut off, this love will be greatly reduced immediately.
In fact, these Qian Yiding will soon face a test.
Test their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty and the emperor, and whether they are really willing to follow the emperor.
Zhu Gaoyuan walked back and forth in front of the Yiding queue and climbed to a high place in front of the queue. He said loudly: "There is something I don't want to hide from you."
"The Ming Dynasty has lost its foundation north of the Yellow River."
"In other words, there is no longer any place for us to stand north of the Yellow River."
"So I decided to temporarily avoid the south of the Yangtze River and reorganize the army before launching the Northern Expedition. So I must ask you first, are you willing to follow me?"
Hearing this, Yiddington was in an uproar.
This problem is something they have never thought about.
Are you going to Jiangnan? Isn’t that far from home?
Immediately, a Yiding asked loudly: "What about our wives, children, and children?"
"I really want to say that you can bring your wife, children, and children with you." Zhu Gaoyuan showed a sad look on his face, and then said with a dark face, "However, the cruel fact is, absolutely not!"
If I bring my wife and children with me, I have to bring my guy or something.
How can we march with these guys? Do we really think that bandits are just decorations?
"What, you can't take the little boy away?" The Yiding people exploded instantly.
Seeing this, Hu Guozhu's face showed a look of gloating.
Zhu Gaoyuan did not panic, because he knew that Yi Ding would eventually follow him.
The reason is very simple, you can find another woman, you can have another son, but the chance to change your destiny is probably only once in your life, if you miss it, you will miss it.
Zhu Gaoyuan has been instilling this principle for almost a month.
The Yiding people have longed for the dream of becoming a marquis or uncle in the future.
What's more, even if the Yiding people followed him, the wives and children who stayed in Liaoxi might not be able to survive. At most, they would have a harder life, because in the end, whether it was Wu Sangui, bandits or slaves who occupied western Liaoning,
, will not kill all the Liao people, and their wives and children are just the most ordinary Liao people.
Don't give too much time to think about this kind of thing.
At that moment, Zhu Gaoyuan shouted: "I will not force you, so I will give you a chance to choose. If you are not willing to follow me, come forward, and if you are willing to follow me, stay where you are!"
The Yiding people looked around blankly, but no one was willing to come forward.
A few Yiding actually wanted to step forward, but they didn't move when they saw that others didn't move.
"Very good!" Zhu Gaoyuan immediately shouted, "I must congratulate you, because you have made the most correct decision in your life. Not only will you yourself benefit from this decision, but your wives, children, and children will also benefit from it.
They will benefit from it, believe me, they will be fine!"
"Because we will fight back to Liaoxi soon."
"Hurry up and pack your bags now. We'll leave in a quarter of an hour."
