"Commander! His Royal Highness the King of Zhou and the Governor have asked you to go to the Governor's Yamen to discuss the military situation." A team leader from the Governor's Yamen hurried over and reported to Chen Yongfu.
"Got it!" Chen Yongfu nodded. Then he saw the squad leader turning around and leaving, so he asked strangely: "Where else are you going?"
"Come on, Marshal! I still want to invite you to recommend me to the official."
Chen Yongfu dressed up and prepared to go down the city wall. However, when he glanced at his cronies around him, he immediately whispered to his son Chen De: "When you have the chance, leave the city. Don't go anywhere, just
Go to Wu Runing's place and don't come back again. Once there, you will be accepted as a cow or a horse. Hey——"
"Why? Dad! I can't abandon you and my mother and run away alone!" The young and energetic Chen De suddenly became anxious.
"You bastard!" Chen Yongfu cursed in a low voice, "I asked you to move reinforcements. As long as Wu Runing comes, I can give up my position as the Henan general soldier to him. Do you think it is easy to leave the city now? If you weren't good at martial arts.
, the water is good, who can rest assured to let you go? The lives of all the people in this city, your mother, me, your brothers and the whole family depend on you."
"Hey!" Chen De blinked a few times in disbelief, then nodded and agreed.
When the war came, he asked his son to leave the city, which also weakened the morale of the soldiers who defended the city. But Chen Yongfu had no choice, because Chen De had shot and wounded Li Zicheng. As long as the city was broken, Chen Yongfu's family would definitely be in trouble.
In order to keep his own bloodline, Chen Yongfu pulled the whole family with his fingers. Only the young and vigorous 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.
"Hurry up and hide!", "Hurry up!"...
The soldiers on the city wall immediately ducked and hid behind battlements or shields. The crowds of people who were actively joining the army and watching the fun at the city gate also 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 lasted two or three rounds. When a few sharp-eyed soldiers saw something tied to the arrow branches, they whispered to Chen Yongfu: "Commander! It's the arrow letter. The thieves are here to persuade you to surrender."
"
Several teams of government officials shouted and shouted, waving their whips and iron rulers and ran towards the place where the arrows and letters fell, trying to collect them all. Chen Yongfu whispered to the soldiers around him: "Go quickly!
Bring one over and see what it says?"
Chen Yongfu and the others deliberately lingered beside their horses for a while. Not long after, the soldiers rushed to Chen Yongfu's side, and the leader handed Chen Yongfu an arrow letter hidden in his arms.
Chen Yongfu handed the arrow letter to his staff and asked him to read it out and explain it. There were too few literate people in the army. Even Chen Yongfu and Chen De's father and son were just blind. Without the staff's explanation, they really couldn't understand the words.
Complex letter.
Sure enough, the arrow letter was written in ancient Chinese, probably written by one of Li Zicheng's staff:
"Li Shi, the civil and military general of the Fengtian Advocacy Camp, said: The civil and military officials and civilians in the city are aware of this. Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu were defeated by the camp and scattered. There are no reinforcements north of the Yellow River. You and others are swimming in the fish cauldron.
How can you be a (long) life in the middle? You can open the door and surrender, all crimes will be pardoned and merits will be punished, and civil and military officials will still be employed. No more killing will be done to bring peace to the world. If the crime is serious and the crime is serious, the resistance will still be postponed. Although the camp is easy to survive
If you kill me viciously, you will be put in the belly of a river fish. Be careful not to indulge in it, or you will regret it."
Read a few sentences and then the staff will explain a few sentences. The rest is nothing but exaggeration, rumors, threats, intimidation and other tactics. But in this announcement, it reflects that the peasant army has transformed from rogue bandits to a regularized political power and army.
, and has also begun to consciously recruit and surrender Ming officials.
For example: Li Zicheng's original battalion number of "Eighth Team" (or Old Eighth Team) was changed to "Fengtian Advocating Righteousness Camp" in the announcement, and his own title of "Chuang King" was also changed to "Fengtian"
Advocating the Civil and Military Generals of the Yiying Camp".
Another example: in the notice, the Ming Dynasty officials in Kaifeng City were ordered to surrender immediately and announced that they would "retain their employment as usual", indicating that the peasant army had a clear intention to establish a political power.
"Bah! What about the general? The rebels will also rub gold on their own faces." Chen De's words immediately aroused a burst of laughter from the people around him.
"You are indeed overestimating your capabilities, you are a clown!" At this time, Chen Yongfu had to agree with Chen De and others. But then, he turned his face and told Chen De very seriously: "You will leave tonight, take the
Ten brothers. When I discuss it later, I will ask you all to write letters to Wu Runing. After arriving in Runing, don't put on any airs. If Wu Runing is willing to send troops, you will not hesitate to knock your head to the ground. Remember!
"
"Hey, Dad!"
When Chen Yongfu arrived at the governor's Yamen, it was already a little late. When he saw Chen Yongfu entering the meeting hall, all the officials saluted one after another. But Chen Yongfu saw that several officials were blushing, and he understood as soon as he thought about it, what had happened in the meeting hall just now
There must have been a dispute, but it was only because of the arrival of Chen Yongfu that the dispute was temporarily suspended.
Chen Yongfu still obediently found a corner and sat down, but as soon as he sat down, Huang Peng, the official of Kaifeng Prefecture, also ran into the meeting hall. Although he was out of breath, Huang Peng was still full of energy. He first said to the person sitting in the seat
Zhou Wang Zhu Gongzhen and Henan Governor Gao Mingheng bowed deeply and said: "Congratulations, Your Highness! Congratulations, Governor! The official recruited brave men at the gate of Lu City. In just half a day, ten thousand people were recruited. The people in the city were all loyal to the court and united as one.
Next, Kaifeng City will be unbreakable!"
However, Huang Peng's words reignited the flames of the war that had just been suspended. An official stood up and said, "It's gratifying that Mr. Huang has successfully recruited troops, but where does the money and food come from? There are rats in the government's warehouse. His Highness has come from several times."
The royal palace is spending money, but the big households in the city are getting nothing. According to what I see, the army should be forcibly collected."
"Do you want the thieves to mess up the whole of Kaifeng before they even enter the city?" Another official immediately said tit for tat, "We are all well aware of Mr. Huang's recruitment this time, and we know that we have obtained His Highness and
The virtuous people in the city secretly financed them. They also provided the most people, and they also provided some of the food, wages and weapons first. Even the generals leading the army were served by the royal military attaches and virtuous sons. How can you say that you don't get a dime? Keep pushing me.
Go down, aren't you afraid that the people in the city will be unstable? According to the official's opinion, the city defense money is still collected from the heads of the people in the city. The money collected from each head of the people is not much, but there are many people, and it is no less than from the virtuous.