Wu Sangui led several generals and ran all the way through the land of Gyeonggi.
After running for an hour, Wu Sangui felt thirsty. Not only was he thirsty, but the horse under his crotch was also very tired and thirsty, and urgently needed to find a water source to drink some water.
However, in the villages passing by, the people in the capital looked at Wu Sangui and his group with vigilance.
The people in Gyeonggi are different from the people in Jiangnan. The people here have really benefited from the reform.
After the emperor equalized land taxes in Northern Zhili, those heavy land taxes no longer burdened the powerless people. Even if they were donated to the homes of the gentry, the landlords used to charge 30% to 40% of the land rent, but now
The gentry basically only dared to charge a meager rent slightly higher than the land tax.
The lives of the people in Gyeonggi Province are more than twice as good as before.
Therefore, the people of Gyeonggi Province are very hostile to the various rebels who besieged the capital. If the rebels really invade the capital and kidnap the emperor, then the good life of the people of Gyeonggi Province will be over. I am afraid that the gentry will intensify their efforts to exploit the peasants.
The losses of the past few years will be clawed back several times.
In order to prevent thieves, villages in this era usually built adobe walls. At this time, seeing the Jiangbei Army and rebels fleeing, the common people stood guard in the village one by one, closed the village gate, and stood guard with sickles and hoes.
Village wall.
Occasionally, fleeing soldiers would knock on the village door, hoping to ask for a bowl of water. But when the villagers heard that the people outside asking for water were the rebels surrounding the capital, they wanted to rush out and kill these rebels. In the end, they often ended up outside the door.
The rebels were stoned away by the villagers.
So Wu Sangui rode for an hour and couldn't find a village to stop and drink water.
As Wu Sangui and the generals behind him walked forward, the expressions on their faces became gloomier.
If we continue like this, we won't even be able to find a place to buy dry food or ask for water. How can we escape to the south of the Yangtze River? These farmers in Gyeonggi Province all support the emperor's reform, and I am afraid that at this time they are all vying to be the spies of the Tiger Army. Wu Sangui and his party
These farmers would tell the pursuers behind them exactly how to escape south.
The defeat in Gyeonggi Province was very different from the defeat in Jiangnan.
It seemed that it would be difficult for Wu Sangui to escape the pursuing soldiers and escape to the south of the Yangtze River.
Wu Sangui was followed by more than a dozen generals. Some of these generals were old men under Wu Sangui, and some joined after Wu Sangui became the general of the Jiangbei Army. These people were naturally loyal when Wu Sangui was proud, but by this time Wu Sangui had already
If they are in trouble, these people may not be able to survive.
While galloping, the generals behind Wu Sangui exchanged glances with each other, and seemed to have gradually reached a tacit understanding.
As Wu Sangui rode, he also felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere behind him.
After looking back at these generals for a long time, Wu Sangui understood that he could no longer escape with these generals.
Wu Sangui stopped his horse, waved his hand and said: "Li Benzhen, you and Zhao Zhu's seven men go west to Xi'an. We have two thousand garrison troops left there. You seven men can mobilize these soldiers and horses and go south to Xiangyang and Xi'an.
I'll meet up."
In name, he asked Li Benzhen to mobilize his troops, but in fact Wu Sangui wanted to drive away Li Benzhen and other seven generals who had come to him later, so as to prevent the seven generals from having evil intentions in the desperate situation of escaping.
At this time, the seven people have not yet made up their minds, so they should be separated first to avoid a long night and many dreams.
Li Benzhen and the other seven people looked at each other, cupped their hands, and then drove their horses to the southwest.
Wu Sangui stood on horseback in the field and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Li Benzhen and the others walking away.
Waving to the five people behind him, Wu Sangui said: "Li Benzhen is an idiot. After Xi'an's soldiers and horses learned that our army was defeated, they fled in all directions. Where will there be soldiers to command him? Let's continue walking south, the fastest
Return to Nanchang."
Looking at the three people behind him, Wu Sangui said with a smile: "Don't worry, I still have 900,000 taels of silver hidden in Nanchang. The four of us share wealth and wealth, and we can escape to the south to remain anonymous, and we can also live a wealthy life with no worries about food and clothing."
Life."
The three people behind Wu Sangui looked at each other for a while.
One of the generals, Han Daren, said: "I didn't expect that the commander-in-chief still had a back-up plan. The commander-in-chief is indeed very resourceful."
Wu Sangui laughed loudly and said: "How can I not get any profit and water from being the commander-in-chief of Jiangbei Army? Don't worry, you also have a share of the 900,000 taels, and I will never treat you badly."
Han Daren and the other two looked at each other for a while and said, "It's a pity that the commander-in-chief may not have the life to spend all this money."
Wu Sangui trembled when he heard this.
After hesitating for a second, Wu Sangui's expression changed and he shouted sternly: "Han Daren, I have always treated you three very well. Are you going to kidnap me to see Li Zhi too?"
Han Daren looked at the two people next to him and said: "The commander-in-chief really treats us well, so we can't kidnap the commander-in-chief. But since the commander-in-chief has sent away the seven people of Li Benzhen, they must have broken the pot.
He will come back to arrest the commander and surrender to Li Zhi. Now we are busy running for our lives and cannot help the commander."
When Wu Sangui heard Han Daren's words, he knew that he had done something wrong in his panic.
If Wu Sangui had left Li Benshen and the other seven around, these people might not have turned against Wu Sangui because they were thinking about Wu Sangui's money. But now that Wu Sangui had sent them away, these people would have nothing to worry about. After they left, they had unified their opinions and would definitely do so.
Come back and capture Wu Sangui.
If the seven Li Benzhen men captured Wu Sangui and went to see Li Zhi, they would at least have a surrender certificate, and maybe Li Zhi would treat them courteously.
Wu Sangui's face turned pale, and he stopped talking nonsense with Han Daren, whipped his riding whip, and fled south alone.
After a while, Li Benzhen and the other seven people turned back on horseback and headed straight for Wu Sangui in a menacing manner.
Wu Sangui ran as fast as he could in front, while Li Benzhen chased after him.
After chasing after each other, Wu Sangui's horse power gradually became exhausted. A general behind Li Benzhen jumped up from his horse and landed on the ground. He took out his front-loaded rifle and shot Wu Sangui's horse in the buttocks.
Wu Sangui's war horse let out a mournful cry, stumbled and fell to the ground.
The seven generals rode quickly to Wu Sangui's side and looked at Wu Sangui without saying a word.
Wu Sangui cursed angrily: "You seven idiots, with Li Zhi's big heart, you won't get any official title even if you kidnap me!"
Li Benshen sneered and said: "Commander, do you still want to be an official at this moment? The Tiger Army's pursuers are right behind us. We really have no confidence that we can escape. If we kidnap you and surrender to the Tiger Army, we can at least keep it.
As for my life, I will be content with being an ordinary citizen from now on."
"Commander, you took the lead in rebelling against the Emperor and Li Zhi. Now you are destined to end up like this. Commander, just accept it."
Wu Sangui was speechless by Li Benzhen and closed his eyes helplessly.
Li Benzhen waved his hand and shouted: "Let's take Wu Sangui back to the capital and surrender to Huben's army."
