Li Tianmu happened to meet Wu Xiang at the head of Liaoyang City. He was very happy and said: "Brother Wu, let's do business first, and I will meet you for a drink later." He handed his official certificate to Liu Laizi and said, "This is Li Shuai's official certificate.
Just check it out."
Liu Laizi was illiterate and couldn't read even with his official certificate. He handed it to Wu Xiang and said, "Old Wu, take a look, is this true?"
Wu Xiang said: "Don't wait, Hero Li is here. There is no mistake. Let's open the city gate quickly."
Liu Laizi respectfully handed his official certificate back to Li Tianmu and led others to open the city gate.
Li Tianmu saw Liu Laizi limping when he walked, and he was puzzled. When he walked away, he asked in a low voice: "Brother Wu, why is your military leader lame? Could it be that he was wounded in the battle?"
"
Wu Xiang said: "Master Li doesn't know something. That man's name is Liu Laizi. He is a distant relative of Liaoyang Commander-in-Chief Liu Wei who can hit the eight poles. He was born lame. Without Liu Wei, a good relative, he would not be a military leader.
Well, even the big-headed soldier doesn’t have his share.”
Li Tianmu said: "That's it. But although this guy is lame, he is still cautious. He didn't let us into the city rashly just now. This is very good."
Wu Xiang said: "Hero Li doesn't know something again. Liu Laizi is a fool who doesn't know how to distinguish between true and false. I reminded him of this, otherwise he would have let you into the city long ago."
While they were talking, the city gate opened wide, and Li Chengliang and others urged their horses into the city. Liu Laizi led the crowd to pay tribute to Li Chengliang and the prince. Li Chengliang saw his lame look and asked, "Why are you so lame?"
Liu Laizi didn't dare to tell the truth and said: "To tell you the truth, the young man's leg was crippled when he went up to the mountain to fight bandits a few years ago."
Li Chengliang said: "It turns out he was injured by the bandits."
At this time, Li Tianmu had already walked down to the city. Hearing Liu Laizi lie, he said: "Commander, you have been deceived by this guy. His leg was born lame."
Li Chengliang said: "Tianmu, how do you know?"
Li Tianmu pointed at Wu Xiang and said, "This is my former savior Wu Xiang. He told me."
Li Chengliang's face darkened and he said, "Lame man, why is your leg so lame?"
Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Liu Laizi hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "Damn it, little one. This hero is right. The little one's leg was born lame."
Li Chengliang said angrily: "Nonsense, can a cripple become a soldier? How can you fight in a war? Not only did you become a soldier, but you also became a military leader. It is really unreasonable. How did you become a soldier? Isn't that right?
Bought with money?"
When Liu Laizi saw Li Chengliang angry, he was so frightened that he shivered and said in a trembling voice: "No... I didn't buy it, it's... Mr. Liu took pity on me and gave me this job."
Li Chengliang said: "There are many pitiful people in the world, why does Liu Wei only pity you?"
Liu Laizi muttered: "This..."
Li Tianmu said: "Because he is a distant relative of General Liu."
Li Chengliang snorted and shouted: "This Liu Dadao is getting more and more out of shape."
Liu Wei, the commander-in-chief of Liaoyang, was good at wielding the Yanyue Sword and was known as Liu Dadao because of his excellent swordsmanship. He was the bravest of all three armies and was the most powerful general in Liaodong.
Li Chengliang said: "Cripple, why was there no one guarding the city just now? What have you been doing? Are you all sleeping?"
Liu Laizi kowtowed and said: "The little one deserves to die, the little one deserves to die!" This was an admission.
Li Chengliang said: "It is unreasonable to neglect one's duties and sleep while on duty. Loyalty to the world, loyalty to one's nature, loyalty to one's heart, loyalty to Geng, and pure loyalty."
These five people all claimed "Yes!"
Li Chengliang continued: "Except for the lame man, the other soldiers were rewarded with fifty mouthpieces each to tell them to wake up."
The five people said in unison: "Yes!"
Li Chengliang said again: "Cripple, I think you are quite smart. You didn't let us into the city easily just now. I will write down these fifty mouths for you for the time being. If you neglect your duties again in the future, I will want your head."
"
When Liu Laizi saw that he had escaped disaster, he was so happy that he kowtowed in thanks.
Li Tianmu said: "Commander, Liu Laizi is not so cautious. Brother Wu reminded him, otherwise he would have let us enter the city long ago."
Li Chengliang said: "Cripple, I think highly of you. Not only are you unable to avoid those fifty slaps, but they have to be doubled. Shi Zhong, slap this guy a hundred times."
When Liu Laizi heard this, he almost fainted from fright.
Li Chengliang said: "This young man surnamed Wu is very alert, so let's spare him his fifty mouths."
Wu Xiang knelt down and kowtowed: "Thank you so much, Commander."
"Pa..." sounded, and Li Shizhong and others slapped the soldiers so loudly that their mouths and noses bleeded. Some of the weak ones fainted to death before the fifty mouths were finished.
, his mouth followed the pattern of fanning, grabbing their fronts, lifting them up and fanning them until they had enough fan count.
After they finished slapping their mouths, Li Chengliang and others rushed to the General Military Office, and were led by the door to sit down in the flower hall.
After receiving the report, Liu Wei, the chief military officer of Liaoyang, hurried to the flower hall and knelt down to greet the prince and Li Chengliang.
Li Chengliang had a sullen face and did not ask him to stand up. He reprimanded: "Liu Dadao, what do you do as a general soldier? Those little bastards at the top of the city are sleeping. Is this how you lead the soldiers? I think you, a general soldier, do
Soldiers, please stop doing this as soon as possible and go home to take care of your grandson."
Liu Qing said repeatedly: "The lower official knows the crime, the lower official knows the crime!"
Li Chengliang said: "You are guilty of this. I will deal with you later. Quickly arrange a room for the prince to rest."
Liu Wei immediately ordered people to clean the guest room. After everyone settled in, he came to Li Chengliang's room and said with a smile: "Commander, are you satisfied with this room?"
Li Chengliang glanced at him and said: "It's okay, is there something wrong?"
Liu Wei took out a banknote and put it on the table beside the kang. He bowed and said with a smile: "Xiaguan has always wanted to honor the commander, but he has no chance. Now that the commander is in charge of Liaodong, I can serve under the commander."
You are truly lucky to obey orders, but this is a trivial matter. I can't do anything about it, just buy a bag of tea for the commander to drink." He was afraid of being punished by Li Chengliang, so he wanted to buy it with a banknote, but he knew that Li Chengliang was doing this.
Under the candlelight, Li Chengliang glanced at the banknote and saw that the number on it was three thousand taels. He smiled slightly and said, "Liu Dadao, what are you doing? I don't need your money."
Liu Wei said: "I just want to show my filial piety, but it's really disrespectful."
Li Chengliang said: "You are not my son, so you have to show your filial piety." After a pause, he said again: "Liu Dadao, you are a man who can't fight in a war. You are famous for your bravery."
, it means that the army is incompetent and military discipline is too loose. You need to pay attention to it in the future. I remember that you have made a lot of contributions to the court in the past. I will not argue with you this time. If you can't control your subordinates in the future, I will really do it.
I want you to go home and take care of your grandson."
Liu Wei said: "The commander-in-chief taught me a very good lesson. Thank you very much for the grace, commander-in-chief. I will keep this in mind."
Li Chengliang yawned and said, "Is there anything else?"
Liu Wei bowed and said: "There is nothing else to do. I will not delay the commander-in-chief's rest. I will retire."
In the morning of the next day, Li Chengliang called Liu Wei into his room and issued a secret mission. After the explanation, Li Chengliang said: "Liu Dadao, this matter is related to the safety of the country. You must handle it well without making any mistakes. If anything happens, It's too late, I asked you to come and see me."
Liu Wei bowed and said: "I'm going to do something for you, Commander, don't worry, I won't be even half a minute late."
Li Chengliang and others left quickly and arrived in Shenyang City at dusk that day. Li Chengliang held a military meeting in the conference room of the General Military Mansion and said: "General Xiong, please introduce the situation first."
There was a huge combat map hanging on the north wall. Xiong Tingbi, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Army, stood up and stood in front of the map. He held a wooden pointer in his hand, pointed at a place on the map, and said: "The Jin Army's camp is currently set up." It was stationed near Xinglongdian, thirty miles east of the city. It was surrounded by Dongshan Mountain in the north and Hun River in the south. It was easy to defend but difficult to attack. It had about 20,000 troops, with cavalry accounting for about half of the total. In the past month or so, Nurhaci had attacked a total of We attacked the city five times, but our army resisted with little loss. The Jin army suffered considerable casualties. They have not attacked the city again for thirteen days.
"There are currently 60,000 defenders in the city, 19 of whom are infantry, and less than 10,000 cavalry. The Jin army's combat effectiveness is not weak. Although our army has the advantage in numbers, its combat effectiveness is not as good as the enemy's, so the official has not left the city to meet the enemy. Currently, there is food and grass in the city It is sufficient and we can hold on for at least three years. The lower official believes that until reinforcements arrive, our army should continue to resist the enemy with the city and not go into battle easily. That's all the official said, please give the commander-in-chief instructions." After that, he sat back down.
Li Chengliang said: "Standing on the city blindly is a tortoise's strategy. I don't think so. I want to open up the battle and fight to the death with the Nurhachi thief."
Xiong Tingbi said: "Commander, if we go out of the city to meet the enemy, our army has no chance of winning."
Li Chengliang's face darkened and he said: "We have 60,000 people fighting against 20,000 of them. Our strength is three times theirs. There is no chance of winning. Are your soldiers made of mud? Do you still have any combat effectiveness?"
Xiong Tingbi said: "Commander, the Jurchens are brave and good at fighting. They are skilled in bow and horse. Each one of them can equal ten. Don't look at the fact that they only have 20,000 people. If we fight head-on, even if we have 200,000 people, we may not be able to win."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chengliang slapped the table and shouted: "Fart, your mother's stinky fart, if you try to shake the morale of the army again, I will chop off your head."
Xiong Tingbi was startled and thought: "The commander-in-chief has been guarding Liaodong for more than 30 years, and he should know the combat effectiveness of the Jurchens very well. What happened today? Why are you talking in layman's terms? Could it be that he is old and confused? He is already ninety this year. , it is possible that he is old and confused. The Holy Spirit is also true. He is so old, why did you send him here? If we have a head-on confrontation, we will definitely lose. He is still arbitrary and refuses to listen to advice. What should we do?"
Mou Rongtian accompanied the prince to attend this meeting. He felt that Xiong Tingbi was right and believed that before the reinforcements arrived, we should be on the defensive and not rush into battle. He had no right to speak. Although he thought so in his heart, he could not say it.
From the next day, Li Chengliang trained the defenders in the city to form a long snake formation, and he wanted to use this formation to fight the Jin army to the death. In the blink of an eye, a month passed. Li Chengliang felt that the formation was almost done, so he wanted to send people to the Jin camp. In the letter of war, Mou Rongtian took the initiative to ask Ying to take on this responsibility.