About two hundred steps apart, both parties stopped at the same time.
This is a safe distance, the cavalry bow cannot reach this range, and it ensures that the cavalry of both sides can charge up, so that the cavalry of one side will not be caught off guard.
Immediately, a bandit on horseback rode up to the front of the formation and shouted.
"My right-hand military advisor has important matters to meet with His Majesty the Emperor!"
"Where is His Majesty the Emperor? My right-hand military advisor invites you to speak in front of the formation."
"Your Majesty, there must be fraud in this, you can't go." Wu Linzheng immediately stepped forward to dissuade him.
Meng Zhaoxiang also admonished: "If a son of a rich man cannot sit down in the hall, the Holy Master must not put himself in danger."
"It doesn't matter, Li Yan is still a gentleman." Zhu Gaoyuan said, "If you are worried, you can let Jin Qing still have some charcoal to go out with me."
Several civil servants had nothing to say.
Because Li Yan had already arrived in front of the formation, he only brought two followers.
At that moment, Zhu Gaoyuan brought Jin Xuan and Wu Batan to the front of the formation.
"The Holy One has a good plan." Li Yan said quietly, "You had expected this day, right?"
Zhu Gaoyuan smiled slightly and said: "Li Yan, what I said on the Chahar Grassland still stands. It's still too late for you to abandon the darkness and turn to the light. I promise not to pursue the past."
Li Yan said: "You have long expected that Wu Sangui has a disobedient heart and Jiannu will also raise a large number of troops. There will be a battle between our Dashun army and Wu Sangui and Jiannu, right?"
Zhu Gaoyuan: "Following Li Zicheng will lead to no results. Just know how to return when you have lost your way."
Li Yan said: "You have even predicted that our Dashun Army will be defeated, right?"
Zhu Gaoyuan: "Only by serving the imperial court can you have the opportunity to display what you have learned throughout your life and your ambitions."
Li Yan said: "But there is something I don't understand. If the Holy One has such calculations and the ability to use troops, why has Yuji refused to go on a personal expedition for seventeen years? Otherwise, why would we be here today?"
Zhu Gaoyuan finally answered Li Yan directly this time: "I had a dream just before you broke the city. Emperor Taizu Gao and Emperor Chengzuwen taught me their lifelong military experience in their dreams. Do you believe it?"
Li Yan smiled and said: "How many people would believe such nonsense?"
"Look." Zhu Gaoyuan spread his hands and said, "To be honest, no one believes it."
"Whether it is true or not is no longer important." Li Yan waved his hand and said, "No matter what, the power of the Ming Dynasty has been exhausted. It is already the fact that I am the Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty, please stop making unnecessary struggles."
Zhu Gaoyuan said: "If you just want to tell me these things today, that's enough. I'm still in a hurry, why don't we just say goodbye?"
"It seems that I can't persuade the Holy Spirit." Li Yan shook his head and said, "Then let someone else do the persuasion."
After saying this, he turned around and waved his hand and shouted: "Come here, bring the false Ming Taizi, Prince Ding and Prince Yong."
"Prince?" Jin Xuan's heart moved. He looked up quickly and saw a group of thieves escorting three young men in brocade clothes walking out of the queue.
Zhu Gaoyuan frowned slightly. Was he planning to use Zhu Cixiang and his three brothers to blackmail him? It was really a bit tricky.
When Wang Jiayan and others who were guarding the formation saw this, they feared that the bandits were being deceived, so they quickly came forward with a group of cavalry, only to find that the three prince brothers who came out of the bandits' formation were actually three.
"Prince? King Ding, King forever!" Wang Jiayan said with great joy.
"Father, my son and I are inconvenient and cannot salute you."
The three Zhu Cixi brothers were tied behind their backs and could only pay attention to Zhu Gaoyuan.
Following Wang Jiayan to the front of the formation were Liu Lishun, the left center officer of Zhan Shifu, and the three brothers Zhu Cihong paid their attention to Liu Lishun and called him master.
Liu Lishun was one of the lecturers Chongzhen found for the three Zhu Cixi brothers.
Liu Lishun returned the greeting, glared at Li Yan and shouted: "Li Yan is a traitor, what do you want?"
Li Yan ignored Liu Lishun and just said to Zhu Gaoyuan: "Your Majesty, I brought three princes and brothers to see you today. I have no other intention. I just want to tell you that if you surrender and abdicate, not only can father and son be reunited, but also their lives can be preserved."
The Zhu family is rich and noble!"
"Otherwise?" Zhu Gaoyuan asked coldly.
Li Yan said: "Otherwise, we can only die together!"
After a pause, he continued: "Not only are the three princes and brothers unable to escape death, but you, the Holy One, do you really think you can escape? Are you probably oversimplifying the current situation?"
"You will win today, and the final result will be the same."
"You might as well tell your Majesty that I have already flown on horseback to inform Liu Fangliang, the general of the left camp stationed in Baoding, and Yuan Zongdi, the general of the right camp stationed in Henan. By the time the troops of the emperor arrived at the border of Baoding and Henan, the two generals had already led hundreds of thousands of troops.
If you lay down a dragnet, Your Majesty, you won't be able to reach Nanjing."
"Whether I can get to Nanjing or not, I won't bother you." Zhu Gaoyuan pointed at the three Zhu Cixi brothers and said, "It's just that my three princes are really innocent. I hope that you will be noble enough to release them. If you can
If this is the case, I will be very grateful, and I will surely be richly rewarded in the future."
Li Yan said: "If the Holy One surrenders, father and son will naturally be reunited."
After a pause, he revealed his murderous intent: "If the Holy One insists on having his own way, not only will the Holy One be unable to protect himself, but the three imperial heirs may also die!"
"presumptuous!"
"How dare you, thief!"
Wang Jiayan and Liu Lishun were furious.
"Father, please listen to my words."
Prince Zhu Cixiang's voice suddenly sounded among the noise: "Sima Gong once said that everyone is destined to die. It may be heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than a feather, and the use of it will vary."
"Compared with our country, the country of Ming Dynasty, my sons and ministers are like feathers."
"Please father, please quickly go south to stay in the capital and reorganize the country. There is no need to worry about your sons and ministers."
After hearing this, Wang Jiayan, Liu Lishun and other ministers just lamented that the prince knew the overall situation, but Li Yan and Zhu Gaoyuan changed their expressions. They had heard the prince's farewell message.
The prince is only fifteen years old. How can he be so courageous at such a young age?
"Be careful!" Li Yan shouted immediately, "Don't let him kill himself!"
Before Li Yan finished speaking, Zhu Cixiang had already hit his neck against the blade of the thief beside him.
Fortunately, the thief reacted quickly enough, and when he had no chance, he suddenly retracted his knife, and finally avoided Zhu Cixi's neck, but still left a bloody streak on his face. The blood flowed out in an instant, which was very scary.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Your Highness the Crown Prince?!" Wang Jiayan, Liu Lishun and other ministers almost went crazy on the spot when they saw this.
"Father, you don't have to think about your son. I bid you farewell!" In the chaos, another loud roar suddenly sounded. Everyone looked at it anxiously, but it was Ding Wang Zhu Cijiong who slammed into the thief general beside him.
Fortunately, this time the thief was on guard and reached out to hold Zhu Cijiong's little head.
Zhu Cijiong's eyes widened in anger and he struggled to shout: "Father, don't worry about us, let's go quickly!"
Seeing this, Yongwang Zhu Cizheng burst into tears. After all, he was only an eleven-year-old child.
There was chaos in front of the bandit formation. Wu Batan and Jin Xuan immediately wanted to rush forward and grab someone, but Zhu Gaoyuan reached out to stop them.
Don't act rashly at this time, otherwise it will easily lead to a melee. Although the Ming army has four thousand cavalry, it is okay to bluff people, but if they really fight, they may not be able to defeat them.
Even if he could beat him, Zhu Gaoyuan didn't want to fight.
Because he only has so few troops on hand and cannot afford to use them up.
What's more, if they really wanted to fight, they might actually harm Zhu Cihong and the others.
Perhaps we can put pressure on Li Yan from a moral perspective to force him to release his troops, and then persuade him to withdraw.
It wasn't until the rogue thief stopped Zhu Cixiang's bleeding and bandaged the wound that Zhu Gaoyuan said: "Li Yan, last time you told me in Hara Hetao that a gentleman will be killed in the fifth generation. It shows that you have also read Mencius' chapter on Li Lou.
, there is a saying in it, 'Those who love others will always love them', have you ever remembered it?"
Li Yan said: "Mencius said: What distinguishes a gentleman from others is his intention. A gentleman's intention is benevolence, and his intention is propriety. A benevolent person loves others, and a polite person respects others..."
"That's enough, there's no need to memorize it any more." Zhu Gaoyuan said, "Let me ask you, in what you said and did today, do you have any kindness at all? Do you have etiquette in your eyes? Do you behave like this?
Is this what a gentleman did? You keep saying that you will be called a gentleman, don't you feel ashamed?"
Li Yan remained silent, with a look of shame on his face.
In fact, it was not his original intention to bring Zhu Cihong and his three brothers to threaten Chongzhen.
Li Yan's original intention was just to tell Chongzhen that his three sons were safe and sound, so as to soften Chongzhen's heart and encourage him to surrender with confidence, but the result was the current situation.
At this time, Zhu Cixiang shouted again: "Reporting to the emperor, I am determined to go on a hunger strike today to die in order to threaten my father's thoughts with the help of the bandits!"
"Prince, no!" Liu Lishun was shocked.
Wang Jiayan also said: "The prince is the foundation of the country and cannot commit suicide!"
"It doesn't matter." Zhu Cixiang said with a smile, "My father is only thirty years old and in his prime. After arriving in the capital, we can choose a few concubines. Why worry about not having a new heir?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong on the other side also said: "Father, the same goes for your sons and ministers!"
Only the youngest Zhu Cixiang was still crying.
Seeing this human tragedy of the farewell between father and son, Li Yan finally couldn't bear it in his conscience.
After all, Li Yan was a traditional Confucian scholar, and morality and etiquette took root in his thoughts.
But it was absolutely impossible for him to let Zhu Cixiang and his three brothers go. If he really let Zhu Cixiang and his three brothers go, Li Yan's personal integrity would be preserved, but it would harm the interests of the Dashun Dynasty.
The righteousness of the king and his ministers has been tarnished.
At that moment, Li Yan solemnly said: "The Holy One is right, but I am wrong. However, it is absolutely impossible to return the Crown Prince, King Ding and King Yong. However, I can assure you that no matter what happens in today's battle between our Dashun Army and the Ming Army,
No matter whether we win or lose, I will ensure the safety of the three princes and brothers, and I will never express my anger."
