Gao Qiqian is actually a bit obsessed, and a cautious or suspicious person would be suspicious, but Gao Jie is a bit aggressive, or in other words, confident, because he has an army of 50,000 in his hands.
You, the vassal king of a small sect, still dare to kill me?
Historically, Gao Jie also despised Xu Dingguo in this way.
In the end, he lost his life in Suizhou City.
Li Benzhen winked at Gao Jie and hinted him not to go.
Gao Jie didn't pay any attention to it, and just sneaked away with Gao Qi.
Less than two miles out of the main camp, I saw a large number of cavalry standing in the field with torches. Thousands of people were silent, except for the occasional snort of the war horses.
Gao Jie couldn't help but be secretly frightened.
I thought that Huang Chuangzi was really good at running the army.
When they got closer, the cavalry separated to the left and right.
Gao Qiqian led Gao Jie straight inside.
Not far away, he saw a large group of generals surrounding a man in brocade robes in the light of the fire.
Seeing this man in brocade robes, Gao Jie was stunned for a moment. How is it possible? How is it possible! Chongzhen is not dead yet? How could he suddenly appear in Yangzhou?
"Gao Jie, do you know your guilt?"
Chongzhen asked with a groan.
Gao Jie screamed, turned around and ran away.
But where can I run at this point?
As soon as Gao Jie turned around, four Yiding men swarmed him and pushed him to the ground.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Gao Jie kept shouting after his head was trampled into the soil, "I am not guilty, I am not guilty, I am not guilty!"
"You are the only one who has the nerve to say that you are not guilty?" Chongzhen walked up to Gao Jie and scolded him, "On the eve of the fall of the capital, I summoned you to the capital to serve as king. Did you accept the summons? It is not too much to condemn you for resisting and disobeying the decree.
Bar?"
"Sun Chuanting, the commander of the First Battle of Tongguan, was killed in battle, but you fled with everyone. Isn't it fair to say that you are guilty of running away before the battle?"
"The bandits attacked the city and captured the territory all the way. As a military general, you did not want to defend the city for the country, but instead ran thousands of miles. It seems that it is not too much to sentence you to abandoning the territory without any reason, right?"
"They went from Shanxi all the way south to rob, killing innocent people all the way. The soldiers arrived in Yangzhou in just a few days, and a hundred miles around turned into a barren land. As the general soldier of the Ming Dynasty, he was ten times and a hundred times more vicious than the thieves. Such behavior is simply
It is a heinous crime that cannot be pardoned. If you are punished for the above crimes together, it is only right that your nine clans should be exterminated!"
Gao Jie was trembling with fright at first, and then he laughed out of control.
"Hahaha, Your Majesty, you don't dare to kill me, you don't dare to kill me, you don't dare! If you dare to kill me, the 100,000 troops outside Yangzhou City will rebel immediately, and the Ming Dynasty will be completely over, hahaha, hahahaha!"
"Hahaha, the Ming Dynasty cannot do without me. Without me, Gao Jie, the Ming Dynasty will perish! It will perish!"
"Gao Jie, you overestimate yourself." Chongzhen said, "No one in this world is indispensable. You are not as important as you think. Even if you die, the army outside Yangzhou City will not rebel.
, the Ming Dynasty will never end, the sun will rise as usual tomorrow, and everything will operate as usual."
This is the truth. Historically, after Gao Jie was killed, his tens of thousands of troops did not disintegrate, let alone rebel. Instead, they obediently accepted Hongguang's division and win over and guarded various key points in Xuzhou.
Although it is said that the current Gao Jie was killed by Chongzhen, but so what?
He, Chongzhen, was the Ming Emperor and enjoyed supreme authority.
As long as he stated that he would only punish the first culprits and not expand the execution chain, Gao Jie's subordinates would definitely abandon Gao Jie and turn to his subordinate Chongzhen. Human nature is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages!
Gao Jie's people are already dead, are you still following him?
Chongzhen said again: "No one will care about you."
"Impossible!" Gao Jie shouted, "This is absolutely impossible, Li Chengdong and the others will not betray me!"
Chongzhen said: "Nothing is impossible. You think Li Chengdong and Gao Jinku are loyal to you. In fact, they are not loyal to you, but only to the fame and fortune you can bring them. But what you can give them is the same as mine."
I can still give it to them. If you can’t give it to them, I can still give it to them. Who do you think they will be loyal to?”
"Huh?" Gao Jie was stunned for a moment, and then said, "No, they won't betray me!"
"You are too naive." Chongzhen said suddenly, "If you can betray Li Zicheng, they can also betray you. What's more, you don't have to bear the infamy of treason and betrayal by switching to my command. This is called abandoning the dark and turning to the bright."
"Ah?" Gao Jie was stunned. Thinking about it carefully, it seems that this is really what happened.
Not to mention Li Chengdong's generals, even his nephew Li Benshen, would they really rebel for him? If Chongzhen was willing to give them more positions and titles, they would be even less likely to rebel.
Chongzhen raised his hand and signaled Yi Ding to kill Gao Jie.
A guy like Gao Jie must die, no matter how hard he can fight, he must be killed.
Seeing Yi Ding raising his sword, Gao Jie finally panicked and became frightened.
"Your Majesty, have mercy on me, have mercy on me! I already know I was wrong, I was wrong!"
"I realized my mistake now, it's too late!" Chongzhen waved his right hand down.
Yi Ding's waist knife raised high came down and struck Gao Jie on the neck.
There was just a loud bang, and Gao Jie's skull rolled away far away.
Chongzhen said to Gao Qiqian again: "Gao Banban, go and summon Li Chengdong."
Is it me again? A bitter look immediately appeared on Gao Qiqian's face: "Old slave, take the order."
…
Let’s talk about Gaojie Camp later.
Shortly after Gao Jie left, Li Chengdong, Hu Maozhen, Gao Jinku, Yang Chengzu, Tang Yinghu, Miao Shunhu, Li Xiangyun and Guo Hu also rushed to the Chinese army camp.
Each of the eight major generals led a battalion of troops and were stationed separately.
"Ben Shen, where is the general manager?" Hu Maozhen, the most senior person, asked.
Li Benzhen said: "The main town was summoned by King Fu. It is probably because of important matters."
Li Chengdong said: "I heard that the main town has been knighted? And it's still a marquis?"
"That's true." Li Benshen smiled and nodded, "King Fu has already conferred the title of Marquis of Xingping on my uncle, and made him the commander-in-chief of the fourteenth prefectures and the land and sea troops of the four states in the south."
"Really? This is a good thing."
Li Chengdong, Hu Maozhen and other eight generals were immediately overjoyed.
If Gao Jie is promoted to a noble rank, they can also follow the chickens and dogs to ascend to heaven.
While they were joking with each other, a servant outside reported that Eunuch Gao had arrived.
When they heard that Gao Qi had arrived, Li Benzhen and other nine people quickly divided into two groups and went out to greet him.
When Gao Qiqian entered the Chinese army's tent, Li Benshen smiled and asked, "May I ask my father-in-law, where is the Marquis?"
"The Marquis of Xingping is in front of His Majesty." Gao Qiqian smiled slightly, then looked around and asked, "But I don't know who is Li Chengdong, General Li?"
Li Chengdong hurriedly stepped forward to greet me and said: "The last general, Li Chengdong, pays homage to my father-in-law."
"Are you Li Chengdong? You are indeed born with a strong body and a strong body." Gao Qiqian smiled and said, "The Holy One has named your name. If there is something good, please come with us to meet the Holy One."
"The Holy One actually knows about me?"
Li Chengdong suddenly felt a little superior.
Hu Maozhen and others also looked at Li Chengdong with envy.
I thought that this kid Li Chengdong would become prosperous from now on.
"Let's go." Gao Qi said with a hidden smile, "The Holy One is waiting for you."
Li Chengdong did not doubt his presence and followed Gao Qiqian to see Chongzhen.
As a result, as soon as he arrived in front of Chongzhen, he saw Gao Jie lying on the ground.
Moreover, the bodies had been separated, and Li Chengdong was completely confused at that time.
"Li Chengdong, do you know your guilt?" Chongzhen asked, looking down at Li Chengdong.
"I know the crime, I know the crime." Li Chengdong was stunned for a moment and quickly knelt down, not daring to say a word of defense, "I should not have fled in the face of the battle, should not have abandoned the land without reason, and should not have killed innocent people. I deserve death for my crime.
"
"You really deserve to die, but even death is not enough to atone for your sin!" Chongzhen said with a snort.
"But you are not the culprit. After all, you are just following orders. In addition, it is a troubled time and the country is in need of people. Therefore, I will spare your life and allow you to serve in the army."
According to Chongzhen's original intention, even Li Chengdong could not keep these things.
But there is no way. If Li Chengdong and the others are killed, the tens of thousands of border troops outside Yangzhou City will instantly fall apart. This will not only weaken the military power of the Ming Dynasty, but also pose a serious threat to the security of Jiangnan, because they will be scattered and flee.
The rebel army will definitely launch crazy revenge and looting of various state capitals in Jiangnan.
Such a result was something Chongzhen did not want to see.
So we have to continue to retain Li Chengdong and the others, and we have to appease them.
"I thank you Lord for your kindness." Li Chengdong was so grateful that he burst into tears.
Chongzhen asked again: "Li Chengdong, what position do you hold now, and how many people are there under your title?"
Li Chengdong stood up quickly and responded: "Your Majesty, I am currently occupying a guerrilla position and have bid for 6,000 troops."
"Okay." Chongzhen said, "I am now joining you as the commander-in-chief of the Xuzhou Suppression Campaign. I will lead my 6,000 troops to go north to Xuzhou immediately and station in Pei County. I will not stay for a moment on the way, and I will not allow innocent people to disturb the people. Anyone who disobeys the order will be executed immediately!"
"
"Ah?" Li Chengdong was stunned when he heard this. He was promoted to the commander-in-chief? Doesn't he need to be dismissed?
Wang Chengen on the side reminded him in a low voice: "Mr. Li, why don't you accept the order to express your gratitude?"
"Oh." Li Chengdong just woke up from a dream and quickly fell to the ground, "I thank you, Lord, for your kindness."
Li Chengdong left in despair. After a while, Wu Baotan came back and reported that Li Chengdong had left camp and headed north overnight with his battalion of 6,000 men.
Chongzhen couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief after hearing this.
To be honest, Chongzhen was not sure how Li Chengdong would react after returning to the camp.
Fortunately, the final facts have proved that, at least until now, Chongzhen's status as emperor is still very intimidating, and the trick of slapping someone and then giving him a sweet date is indeed very effective.
Of course, the main reason was that Li Chengdong's status was not high at this time and he had not tasted the benefits of being a warlord.
For someone like Gao Jie who has already tasted the benefits of warlordship, it would not be so easy to be shaken.
Being a warlord is really addictive. This is the main reason why Chongzhen insisted on killing Gao Jie. Unless Gao Jie died, the army would not be able to divide and win over.
