Shi Kefa has always looked down on Ma Shiying's flies, but at the critical moment of life and death in Jiangnan, he had to choose to cooperate with Ma Shiying.

After a long discussion, the two went in the same direction, but there was a big difference in pace.

Ma Shiying's meaning is that he can accept Li Zicheng's conditions and surrender unconditionally to the Heavenly Mandate Army, as for the interests of the Jiangnan gentry, it has nothing to do with him, if it was not for the purpose of winning over Shi Kefa at that time, he would not oppose the "Land Law" and "Tax Law" of the Heavenly Mandate Army.

Although Shi Kefa is not from Jiangnan, he is inextricably linked with the officials, businessmen and gentry in Jiangnan, he can't help but consider the supporters behind him, if there is no support from the Jiangnan gentry, how can he fight with Ma Shiying for so long?

Although he knew in his heart that once the Heavenly Mandate Army crossed the Yangtze River, the rich land in Jiangnan would definitely be destroyed in the war, but he was really unwilling to hand over himself and the Jiangnan gentry to the Heavenly Mandate Army like this!

Ma Shiying seemed to understand the development of the situation better, "Master Shi, since ancient times, how can you just rely on the Yangtze River to defend the south of the Yangtze River? What's more, the naval army of the Mandate of Heaven has been anchored on the river outside Nanjing, look at the battleships, those rotten wooden ships of the imperial court, can they stop these warships? ”

Shi Kefa was silent, still thinking in his heart that if Huaxia could give up commercial taxes, it would be to give up Jiangnan, and it was not impossible......

Ma Shiying was anxious, and said hatefully: "I said Master Shi, why don't you open your mind?" In addition to the naval army, Sichuan and Huguang have Chinese garrisons, and if they advance eastward, they will not have the Yangtze River!"

"The lake is wide to Nanjing, and Jiangxi is separated by it," Shi Kefa said: "Isn't there an army of Zuo Liangyu in Jiangxi?" ”

"Zuo Liangyu?" Ma Shiying scoffed, Zuo Liangyu and his teacher Hou Sui have always been very close to the people of Donglin Academy, and they only know how to loot people's wealth on weekdays, "On that day in Henan and Huguang, Zuo Liangyu's hundreds of thousands of troops were defeated and fled every time in front of the Mandate of Heaven Army, not to mention that the Mandate of Heaven Army is stronger today?" I believe that Zuo Liangyu can stop the Heavenly Mandate Army, and it is better to believe that Emperor Chongzhen got up from the imperial tomb......"

"Ma Shiying, you ...... You're a big rebel!"

Shi Kefa got up, he didn't expect that there were hurried footsteps outside, and then there was a panicked voice, "Lord Shoufu, it's not good......" The person who came paused outside the door for a moment, and then pushed the door open a crack, glanced at Ma Shiying, but did not continue.

"What's the panic? Out of breath!" Ma Shiying saw that it was his own mansion, so he drank: "Is the sky falling, is it still considered that the Mandate of Heaven army has crossed the Yangtze River?" ”

"The sky has not fallen, and the Mandate of Heaven Army has not fought the Yangtze River," Fu Ding bowed and said, "However, the Mandate of Heaven Army has already attacked the Xiaguan Wharf with warships......

"Shimonoseki Pier?" Shi Kefa was taken aback, the Heavenly Mandate Army had crossed the Yangtze River so quickly? Don't...... He glanced at Ma Shiying and said, "Lord Shoufu, Xiaguan Wharf is your defense area, right?" Isn't there a tiger squat cannon on the dock? ”

Ma Shiying glanced at Shi Kefa and said to Fu Ding: "Did the cannon fire on the dock?" ”

"Looking back at Lord Fu, the cannon was fired on the dock, but it was useless," Fu Ding was afraid of Ma Shiying scolding, so he said carefully: "On the battleship of the Heavenly Mandate Army, the artillery is much larger than the Tiger Squat Cannon, and the range is much longer, and the Tiger Squat Cannon can't fight back at all, and it has damaged a lot of ......."

The range of shore artillery is not even comparable to that of naval guns? Ma Shiying was also secretly frightened, pondering for a moment, but looking at Shi Kefa, his face was quite happy.

Fu Ding continued: "The naval guns of the Mandate of Heaven are all using flowering shells, and the brothers on the dock have suffered heavy casualties...... Fear...... I'm afraid it won't last long......"

Shi Kefa's face changed, and he glared at Ma Shiying fiercely, but there was nothing he could do.

Could it be that the defense line of the Yangtze River is also vulnerable in front of the Heavenly Mandate Army?

Shi Kefa leaned back in his chair, if the defense line along the river was broken by the Mandate of Heaven army, the imperial court would become a lamb to be slaughtered, and what kind of face would he have to put forward conditions to Li Zicheng?

Could it be that the gentry in Jiangnan can only wait to be killed?

Looking at Ma Shiying's appearance, he wished that the Heavenly Mandate Army would break through the defense line along the river earlier, so that he could bow down to Li Zicheng......

Shi Kefa decided to save Jiangnan himself!

He bowed his hand to Ma Shiying and said, "Lord Shoufu, the situation in the imperial court is difficult, the lower official is ready to meet Li Zicheng in person, and make suggestions to him in person, if Li Zicheng agrees to the lower official's suggestion...... Lord Shoufu temporarily stayed in Nanjing and took control of the situation in Jiangnan. ”

Ma Shiying narrowed his eyes, looked at Shi Kefa with a strange gaze, and was secretly angry in his heart: Okay, you Shi Kefa, at this time, you actually met Li Zicheng privately, and completely pressed the credit for welcoming the Heavenly Mandate Army on your own head?

He and Shi Kefa have been fighting openly and secretly, that is, the position of the first assistant, and he was also snatched from Shi Kefa's hands, seeing that the Heavenly Mandate Army was about to fight Jiangnan, at this time he fell behind Shi Kefa, and in the future in the Chinese Dynasty, will he fall behind Shi Kefa?

Ma Shiying suddenly opened his eyes and said lightly: "In order to show the sincerity of Jiangnan, this official will walk with Master Shi, and the city defense of Nanjing will be handed over to the chief soldier Chen Hongfan for the time being!"

How could Shi Kefa not understand Ma Shiying's thoughts, this meeting with Li Zicheng is likely to be the last, that is, to welcome Li Zicheng to the south of the Yangtze River, it is not impossible, how can Ma Shiying let go of the opportunity to welcome Li Zicheng?

If it weren't for the gentry in Jiangnan, he would rather leave this credit to Ma Shiying, Li Zicheng is the king of a country, and he may pay more attention to the official character and the development of Jiangnan......

He bowed his hand to Ma Shiying and said, "Without further ado, you and I will cross the river to see Li Zicheng." ”

The Xiaguan wharf was being shelled by the warships of the Mandate of Heaven and was temporarily unusable, so Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa, under the guidance of Zuo Maodi, boarded a small boat from the civilian wharf on the east side, raised the white flag, and sailed towards Pukou on the opposite bank.

As soon as they reached the center of the river, Xiaozhou was captured by the Heavenly Mandate Army, fortunately, many soldiers knew Zuo Maodi, who had twice been out of the Heavenly Mandate Army, and the soldiers did not embarrass them, but took them to the big tent of the Heavenly Mandate Army outside the Pukou Wharf.

Li Zicheng heard that Zuo Maodi asked to see him again, and couldn't help but smile slightly, it's only three things, Zuo Maodi's third envoy, Huaxia and the puppet Ming's peace negotiation, there should be a final result, right?

This time, no progress can be made, and seeing that the Mandate of Heaven Army is about to cross Jiangnan, there is no need for peace negotiations.

Li Zicheng is not worried about military affairs, on the contrary, he is a little worried, but the gentry and people in Jiangnan, once the war ignites in Jiangnan, the people will certainly suffer, and the gentry in Jiangnan will probably be greatly injured, if the rich Jiangnan is ruined, it is really a pity!

He is vigorously developing industry and commerce in the northwest, and the rich Jiangnan may be the most suitable for the development of industry and commerce, whether it is abundant funds or the experience accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years, as long as it is properly guided, it is entirely possible for Jiangnan to take charge of China's industry and commerce.

At that time, the development of industry and commerce in Xining and Lanzhou was really a last resort, and a rich place like Jiangnan was not in the hands of the Mandate of Heaven......

Li Zicheng thought for a moment and decided to meet Zuo Maodi in Xi'an, hoping that the people of insight in the Hongguang puppet Ming regime could see the general trend of the world and make a choice that was beneficial to China.

He Xiaomi led the three envoys into the big tent, except for Zuo Maodi, the other two were strangers.

Although Zuo Maodi walked in the front, he no longer had the confidence and calmness he had last time, and after a little hesitation, he finally knelt on the ground, "Zuo Maodi knocks to see the emperor!"

Behind Zuo Maodi, an old man in his fifties, dressed in brocade clothes and wearing a black veil on his head, was obviously a high-ranking official of the pseudo-Ming Dynasty.

He took two steps forward, crossed Zuo Maodi's position, and knelt on the ground without hesitation, "Ming Shoufu Ma Shiying, knock to see the emperor!"

Ma Shiying?

Li Zicheng was stunned, isn't this the first minister of the Hongguang puppet regime? How did he get here?

The person who originally entered side by side with Ma Shiying and was in his early forties was obviously also a high-ranking official, he hesitated for a moment, then looked at Ma Shiying who was kneeling on the ground, and then slowly bent his knees and knelt side by side with Ma Shiying, "Daming Wuyingdian University Scholar, Military Department Shangshu Shi Kefa, knock to see the Emperor of China!"

Shi Kefa?

Li Zicheng was even more surprised, in the history books of later generations, this is a famous figure, in order to resist the Qing Dynasty, not only took his life, but also led to the Manchu Qing Dynasty massacre in Yangzhou......

"Yangzhou Ten Days" is not only a shame for the Han people, but also an eternal pain in the hearts of the Han people, the culprit is naturally the Manchu Qing, but Shi Kefa does not know the current affairs, knowing that there is only a weak loyal camp in Yangzhou City, but he just hit the stone with an egg......

Forget it, in the face of foreign butcher knives, people who can adhere to national integrity are always worthy of respect!

Li Zicheng looked at the three people kneeling now, tried his best to suppress the excitement in his heart, and said lightly: "No courtesy, flat body!"

"Emperor Xie!" After the three of them got up, they stood with their hands down in front of Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng's brain has been running at a high speed, and Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa, the two most powerful high-ranking officials of the Hongguang puppet regime, visited at the same time, which has already shown the greatest sincerity of the Hongguang puppet regime, which is almost equivalent to Emperor Hongguang personally crossing the river to beg for mercy.

Compared to the two of them, the accompanying Zuo Maodi was almost negligible.

Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa visited at the same time, and the meaning of the Hongguang puppet regime to seek peace has been very clear, but I don't know what new conditions Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa will put forward, for the officials, businessmen and gentry in Jiangnan, or for Emperor Hongguang?

Li Zicheng hoped that China could be completely unified, and that it was best not to leave a tail in this important region of Jiangnan, which would make it difficult for future generations, or even bury the tendency of independence.

He gave the three of them a seat, and asked his soldiers to serve tea, and said with a faint smile: "The barracks are hard, not as good as Jiangnan, these teas are my thoughts!"

"The emperor is serious!" Ma Shiying sat on half of his buttocks, and then arched his hand to Li Zicheng, his face full of flattery.

Li Zicheng suddenly found that Ma Shiying called himself "Emperor", and Shi Kefa called himself "Emperor of China", the thoughts of the two were obviously different, Zuo Maodi and Ma Shiying were also called "Emperor", and they should be Ma Shiying's people.

In the court of the puppet Ming, Ma Shiying should have the upper hand, and Shi Kefa has the support of the Jiangnan gentry, but the position of the court is deep-rooted!