After Wu Sangui and the Third Battalion withdrew, Li Zicheng volunteered to stay and guard. What did he mean? Did he really change his mind and become a general who could protect his country, his country, his emperor and his people?
Li Zicheng was leisurely leaning on a chair and drinking a small drink. Several singers were playing and dancing beside him, pouring wine and serving food for him.
"My lord, how long do you plan to stay here?" Goddess Niu Jinxing came over and asked.
Li Zicheng was still immersed in the graceful dance of the dancer: "Why are you anxious? Wu Sangui wants to go back because he is anxious to see his mother-in-law and father. If he is willing to follow the emperor to death, let him go. We have nothing to worry about."
"My subordinates are worried that the Manchus won't let go of the fat so easily. Their retreat may only be temporary. They may fight back as soon as they see people leaving. They may suffer a loss by then.
Became us."
Li Zicheng sneered: "Come on, you have a bunch of crazy ideas, who can make you suffer? Tell me what you think."
"What my subordinates think is not the most important. No matter how clever I am, I still have to make a living under you, right? The most important thing is what you think. Do you really want to surrender to the court and serve the emperor?"
Niu Jinxing stared at Li Zicheng and asked.
"How can you live a good life under the emperor? I can see that there is no peace in this world. The Manchus are still occupying Shanhaiguan Pass. The vassal kings themselves can't stay idle. Everyone wants to take advantage of it.
Take a piece of the pie randomly."
Niu Jinxing nodded: "You are right, now is the best time for powerful vassal kings to gather in the capital."
Li Zicheng raised his eyebrows and looked at him: "What do you mean?"
"Zhang Xianzhong has been living freely in the south for a long time. My subordinates heard that he suffered a loss from Zuo Liangyu in Changsha some time ago. Zuo Liangyu is still chasing him all over the mountains and plains."
Li Zicheng squinted his eyes and touched his beard: "Zhang Xianzhong is very cunning. I have seen Zuo Liangyu. He is a reckless man. It is not easy to deal with Zhang Xianzhong. But you are right. The south is now
It's pretty empty, so it's a good time to divide things up."
There is plenty of food and money in the south. Now that the vassals from the south are coming to Beijing to grab territory, why should he bother to fight with them here? In the end, he may not get any benefits.
It is only a matter of time before the Manchus make a comeback. If necessary, we must make plans in advance. From this point of view, it is better to strike first and divide some land with Zhang Xianzhong in the south. Even if the Manchus invade, they can attack and retreat or defend.
At least he can maintain his own strength.
Li Zicheng nodded when he thought of this, then turned around and told Niu Jinxing: "You go down and prepare. In the past few days, we have been preparing to go south to Zhang Xianzhong to try our luck."
After Niu Jinxing left, Li Zicheng lost interest in listening to songs and watching dancing. He waved his hands and kicked everyone out. He took out a map and studied it carefully.
Can the Third Camp and Wu Sangui save the emperor if they go back? That's not necessarily the case. If the capital really cannot be saved in the end, what will the emperor do? Will he choose to move the capital?
If the capital was to be moved, where would he choose to move? The north was occupied by the Manchus, and it would be difficult to move there, so he could only go to the south.
It seems that after going around and around, everyone has the same destination in the end, so it might be very possible to meet them in the south.
Li Zicheng had long heard that Zhang Xianzhong had established himself as a king in the south and built something big, so he must have lived a very happy life as a local emperor.
Very good, the accounts from back then have not been settled yet, debts have been paid and people killed to pay for their lives, now is a good opportunity to collect debts.
He raised his head and drank the wine in the glass, holding the empty glass in one hand and tapping the Sichuan position with the other hand, with a sinister smile on his honest face.
Zhang Xianzhong's life has been really good recently. After Zuo Liangyu was lured away by a group of remnant soldiers, he quickly realized that he had been fooled. After all, Zhang Xianzhong had returned to the base camp.
Sun Kewang volunteered to avenge his adoptive father and laid a brilliant ambush when Zuo Liangyu was crossing the mountain pass. As soon as Zuo Liangyu won a battle, he was doused with cold water by Tou Tou and withdrew without any armor.
The boundaries of Sichuan.
Coupled with the withdrawal of the vassal princes, Zhang Xianzhong could be said to be invincible in the southern land.
Now he owns a large area of land in the south, and countless local officials have surrendered to him. If he wants anything, he can just give a casual order and countless people will rush to deliver it to him.
Even on days like this, Zhang Xianzhong did not forget to always pay attention to the question of when the Manchus would go south. He looked at the letter unfolded on the table and frowned in confusion.
"Your Majesty, the second prince is here." Someone announced respectfully at the door.
"Well, just let him in."
Not long after, Li Dingguo nodded and stood in front of Zhang Xianzhong: "Father, you are in such a hurry to summon your son and I don't know what to order?"
Zhang Xianzhong pointed to the chair next to him: "Sit down and say, I came to you to discuss something important."
Although Li Dingguo was curious, he was not in a hurry to ask. He found a chair nearby and sat down. Then he looked up at Zhang Xianzhong, waiting for his father to speak.
"Come and take a look at this." Zhang Xianzhong casually picked up the letter on the table and handed it to Li Dingguo.
Li Dingguo took it with both hands and read it carefully from beginning to end. He raised his head with some confusion: "Who sent this letter?"
Zhang Xianzhong clicked on the table: "Have you ever heard of Zheng Chenggong?"
"Zheng Chenggong? I have heard a little bit about him. I heard that he has a high prestige in the Fujian and Zhejiang areas on the southeast coast. There, he wiped out many Manchu deserters who colluded with pirates and bandits. The people in the coastal villages even paid special respects before going to sea.
Worship him."
"Exactly, this letter was sent by Zheng Chenggong." Zhang Xianzhong closed his eyes.
Li Dingguo was surprised: "Is it Zheng Chenggong? What does he mean by sending this letter?"
"What do you want to say in his letter?" Zhang Xianzhong said with a smile.
"He means that the so-called deserters on the coast are not real deserters, but premeditated collusion with pirates to collect intelligence from the south?" Li Dingguo also frowned.
"Yes, he wanted to warn us, and probably wanted to test our attitude." Zhang Xianzhong smiled and shook his head.
"He is worried that we are colluding with the Manchus." Li Dingguo also guessed: "This letter is not written in a polite way. It doesn't look like it was written by a hero praised by everyone."
Zhang Xianzhong opened his eyes: "Even my father here finds it strange. We have never met this General Zheng, let alone had any enmity. No matter whether he has good intentions or not, this letter does not seem like he wants to make friends with us."