At this time, Zhong Jinwei was accompanied by the Dongchang squadron, Jin Yiwei and Hu Hao's Ye Bu Zhi, as well as some white pole cavalry. A large number of people descended the slope in a mighty manner and headed towards the gathering place for the prisoners.
Ma Xianglin fell at the back. He ordered several white-pole cavalry troops to go to the rear to meet the Datong Army to prevent them and the merchants from thinking about the battle on the front line, and then he caught up with Zhong Jinwei and his party.
The work of the leader of the Jiabieliu bandits went very smoothly. The captured leaders included Wang Jiayin from Fugu County, the leader of the bandits, Gao Yingxiang from Ansai who claimed to be Chuang Wang, Liu Guoneng from Yan'an who was known as Chuangtai Tian, and Qingjian from Qingjian who was known as the star of the sky.
Prime Minister Hui Deng, Zhao Sheng from Qingjian who was known as lighting lamps, Li Wanqing who was known as shooting down the sky, etc.
In addition, the bandit leaders found in the corpses include King Suide, known as Zijin Liang, Ma Shouying, known as Lao Huihui, He Yilong, known as Ge Liyan, Tuo Yangkun from Qingjian, known as Scorpion Block, known as the King of the World.
Yan'an people cultivated Lin Lin, Luochuan people known as Zhang Cunmeng and others.
Another important bandit leader, Luo Rucai, who called himself Cao Cao, was not found.
Zhong Jinwei listened to these names, some of which he had heard of, some of which he had never heard of, but these were not the people he cared about most.
There are two people that Zhong Jinwei cares about most. I believe that anyone from later generations will definitely know those two people.
One has been captured alive, but there is no news about the other one.[
So he asked Ma Xianglin: "There is a man named Li Zicheng among the bandits, have you found him?"
Ma Xianglin was not impressed by what he heard, so he turned around and asked the thieves for news about Li Zicheng.
After returning after a while, he reported to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Hou, no one has heard of the name Li Zicheng. Is he not among this group of thieves?"
Zhong Jinwei was not sure, but he remembered something and said to Ma Xianglin: "Bring that Gao Yingxiang over here."
After a while, a tall man wearing a white robe and a white scarf with slender arms was escorted over.
"Are you Gao Yingxiang?" Zhong Jinwei confirmed.
Gao Yingxiang was caught after his horse was injured and fell to the ground. Thanks to his years of experience in selling horses, his riding skills were superb and he was not injured when he fell.
He had been engaged in the rebellion for two years, and he had already put his life and death aside. He thought that the Marquis of the imperial court wanted to confirm his identity and kill him as a warning to others, so he was not afraid at the moment and replied calmly: "That's right, I will kill or cut him into pieces."
"
Xie Dong, a member of Qianhu of Jin Yiwei, was right in front of him. Hearing his arrogance, he whipped him and scolded him: "When the Marquis asks a question, answer him honestly."
Gao Yingxiang did not dodge and was whipped abruptly, glaring at Xie Dong.
When Xie Dong saw it, he got angry and dared to glare at me, so he picked up the whip and wanted to hit me again.
Zhong Jinwei frowned slightly and signaled to stop, telling Xie Dong to retreat.
When Gao Yingxiang saw him, no matter what, he felt a little more fond of the young Marquis of the Imperial Court and looked at Zhong Jinwei.
"Is your nephew called Li Zicheng?" Zhong Jinwei asked.
Gao Yingxiang was stunned after hearing this. He only had a nephew, Li Hongji, and there was no one named Li Zicheng.[
He didn't understand why the Marquis asked this for a moment. If the person he asked was really his nephew, he seemed to be a very important figure in the rebel army at this time. He didn't know why the Marquis was so concerned.
"No." Gao Yingxiang replied to Zhong Jinwei with a precious word.
Zhong Jinwei was surprised. The history books said that Gao Yingxiang was Li Zicheng's uncle and that he took over the title of King Chuang after Gao Yingxiang's death. Why didn't Gao Yingxiang say otherwise?
Zhong Jinwei looked at Gao Yingxiang's expression and found no trace of lying, so he asked again: "What is your nephew's name?"
"Li Hongji." Gao Yingxiang knew that this matter could not be hidden. As long as the prince asked other people, he would know the name of his nephew, so he said it directly.
Oh, by the way, I seem to have heard of the name Li Hongji. It should be Li Zicheng's original name. Zhong Jinwei woke up and asked, "Where are the others?"
Gao Yingxiang shook his head, don't say he didn't know, even if he knew, he didn't want to tell him.
Zhong Jinwei thought that Gao Yingxiang was hiding something and refused to tell. This was understandable, after all, he was his nephew.
Therefore, Zhong Jinwei asked Ma Xianglin to check the whereabouts of Li Hongji.
To Zhong Jinwei's disappointment, Ma Xianglin came back soon and reported that Li Hongji was alive and dead, but his body was not found. He might have fallen into the Yellow River, or he might have fled back to Qin.
Zhong Jinwei was slightly disappointed, but it was okay. He thought that after entering Qin, he would discuss with the local officials how to quell the uprising of the peasant army, which would be more troublesome.
But now, they bumped into the peasant army on the road and captured most of the people who would cause trouble to the Ming Dynasty in the future.
Even if Li Zicheng ran away, he would run away. As long as he assisted Emperor Chongzhen in getting rid of the root cause of the peasant uprising, even if Li Zicheng ran away, he would not be able to cause trouble.
When Zhong Jinwei thought of this, he stopped paying attention to Li Zicheng's affairs.
But there was another problem before him, which was how to deal with these more than 3,000 prisoners.
Zhong Jinwei himself wanted to go to Shaanxi, but the government along the way was already under a lot of pressure to supply his army of nearly a thousand people. If he had to bring more than 3,000 mouths with him, the food problem would not be easy to solve.
So Zhong Jinwei, Ma Xianglin and others held a small meeting to discuss this matter.
Zhong Jinwei asked them to work together and express their opinions freely to see how to best arrange it.
After Zhong Jinwei finished speaking, no one spoke, and there was a slight silence. Ma Xianglin saw that several people were silent, and said: "Master Marquis, these are actually just hungry people. The general principle of the court is to repatriate them to their place of origin and strictly monitor them."
Zhong Jinwei shook his head and said: "It's because I didn't have anything to eat that I became a bandit. Now if I want to be repatriated to my place of origin, will I be able to eat?"
Ma Xianglin knew that the key was the problem of food, but the imperial court generally used this method. If they were repatriated, the local government would provide some relief if they could, and if they couldn't, they would be left to their fate, but they would be watched over to prevent them from rebelling again.
When Ma Xianglin saw Zhong Jinwei looking at him, he replied: "Ask the court to allocate some food and salary, just to put some food on the table."
With Ma Xianglin taking the lead, the atmosphere of the discussion became a little more lively. Gu Baichuan also interjected at this time: "The imperial court is allocating food and salary, but I am afraid that the water from far away cannot quench the thirst for near."
Zhong Jinwei nodded, and then asked: "Is there any other way?"
Seeing that Ma Xianglin's suggestion was not good and that he did not receive any rebuke from Marquis Zhongxing, Xie Dong, a member of Qianhu of Jinyiwei, boldly said: "Master Marquis, since they have no food, they will definitely rebel again if they are sent back, so why not take advantage of now..."
When he said this, he made a gesture with his hand like a knife.
Zhong Jinwei was startled when he saw it, and quickly shook his head and said: "No, no, these are the people of the Ming Dynasty, we can't do this."
It was very difficult to have neither food nor the desire to kill prisoners. The group suddenly ran out of ideas, and the atmosphere became cold as no one continued to talk.
Zhong Jinwei looked at these people, all frowning and thinking, but they didn't speak. It seemed that he had no idea, so he had to think of a solution himself.
Although Hu Hao, who was standing behind Zhong Jinwei, had a low position, he was Zhong Jinwei's savior. He usually guarded Zhong Jinwei and had an understanding of Zhong Jinwei's temper. Now seeing that they had no idea, he leaned over and interjected: "Hou
Master, isn't there a grain truck behind us?"
When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up, but Zhong Jinwei shook his head and said: "No, these grain trucks are intended to be used in Shaanxi. It is inappropriate to use them before they arrive in Shaanxi."
But Zhong Jinwei was inspired by this, clapped his hands and said: "Yes."
"Haha, Mr. Hou is still very powerful. He has an idea right away." When Li Laosi saw Hu Hao, he came over to talk. He also said the same sentence. He felt that his participation in Mr. Hou's meeting made his status seem to have become higher.
I learned a lot and felt a little proud.
"Master Hou, what can you do?" Gu Baichuan also joined in the fun and asked following Zhong Jinwei's words.
"Didn't I say before that we would divert some of the victims to Zhangjiakou? Just send all these prisoners of war. I will write a note to the emperor and ask the capital to send people from the cement factory to Zhangjiakou as soon as possible." Zhong Jinwei said.
own way.
This method is indeed a solution. There happens to be a large amount of food in Zhangjiakou, so we are not afraid of so many mouths.
But Xie Dong was a little worried and reminded: "Master Hou, although these people were hungry people before, they have now organized against the imperial court. Will there be any problems if they are distributed together? What if they rebel in Zhangjiakou?
"
Xie Dong's worry is not unreasonable. These people all have superior and subordinate organizations. Some of them have certain military capabilities and are used to the life of thieves. It is worth exploring whether they will no longer live the hard life before.
Zhong Jinwei thought for a while and said to Xie Dong: "Well, there are white-pole troops over there. These people can't shake things up. In addition, the leaders of the peasant army can't be let go so cheaply. They won't be sent to Zhangjiakou with these peasant troops."
go."
"Then what does the Marquis mean...?" As he spoke, Ma Xianglin imitated Xie Dong's gesture before, forming a sword with one hand and slashing down.