Li Zicheng marched to Chao County, camped outside the city, and heard that the envoys of the puppet Ming were coming, so he met them again in the big tent of the Chinese army, or Zuo Maodi, Chen Hongfan, and Ma Shaoyu.

They may know that half of the Ming Dynasty will be lost to Huaxia sooner or later, and this time the three of them obediently paid a respect.

Li Zicheng was silent, but his heart moved, Liu Liangzuo was defeated, and the navy army quickly advanced eastward, it seems that the puppet Ming court is really afraid, this time Zuo Maodi and their envoy may bring unexpected gifts.

Looking at the way the three of them wanted to speak and stopped, Li Zicheng couldn't help but feel funny, he had a military advantage, and he was in a good mood!

Li Zicheng said lightly: "I am very busy, I have to march tomorrow, I have to rest early in the evening, the time to summon you will not be too long, if you have any matter, you might as well say it directly, I don't like to beat around the bush...... If the three of you like to ask for a lot of money, and then wait for me to sit on the ground and bargain, I will not object, as long as you can afford it. ”

"The emperor's ......" Zuo Maodi is almost the same, omitting the word "Huaxia" in front of "the emperor", and has already regarded Li Zicheng as his own person.

Li Zicheng waved his hand and said, "I still say the same thing, until a peace agreement is formed, the Mandate of Heaven Army will not stop military operations. ”

Zuo Maodi knew that it would be difficult for Li Zicheng to lower his conditions, but as the envoy of He Tan, he still asked: "I don't know what new conditions the emperor has?" ”

"Lord Zuo seems to have a problem with this," Li Zicheng smiled at him: "The three of them were entrusted by the puppet Ming court and did not bring the national letter, so I don't care, you are taking the initiative to send an envoy, it should be you who put forward the goal, Lord Zuo asked me what new conditions I have, which seems inexplicable." ”

"It's Ben's fault!" Zuo Maodi realized that he was confused, and he didn't even say the goal, so what conditions did Li Zicheng propose? Hurriedly sneered: "The envoy is saying, what conditions must the emperor meet before he is willing to stop the sword soldiers?" ”

"I seem to have told the three of them," Li Zicheng said, "I don't know if Lord Zuo is forgetful, or if Lord Zuo did not report to your court after returning to Nanjing, after Lord Zuo went back, I have been waiting for Lord Zuo to reply!"

"Don't dare, don't dare," Zuo Maodi said in his heart, this Li Zicheng, did he not understand the procedures of the talks, or did he do it deliberately, how could the peace negotiation be achieved at one time? "The emperor is saying that only when the Ming court surrenders, will the Mandate of Heaven army be willing to quit?"

"I don't know how your court replied?" Li Zicheng said in his heart, either to see the truth on the battlefield again, or to surrender unconditionally, in addition, is peace negotiated?

"Your Majesty, if the court sincerely makes peace, ......" Zuo Maodi knew that the initiative of the peace negotiation was in the hands of Li Zicheng, but he still kept a hand and couldn't turn over the hole cards at one time.

Li Zicheng knew Zuo Maodi's thoughts, but the Mandate of Heaven Army was in full swing, and it was Zuo Maodi who was in a hurry, and it was Zuo Maodi who was anxious, he glanced at the three of them, "I seem to have told you that my conditions cannot be changed!"

Zuo Maodi's face was suddenly covered with haze, Li Zicheng is the emperor, naturally he is full of words, and the Heavenly Mandate Army has enough strength to support Li Zicheng's self-confidence.

It would be troublesome to talk to the emperor, and it would be good if Li Zicheng sent a special envoy, he sighed softly: "If the emperor insists on the original conditions, then the peace negotiations will not be able to proceed, and it is impossible for the Ming court to accept such conditions." ”

Li Zicheng doubted that the haze on Zuo Maodi's face was not deliberate, he proposed last time that Emperor Hongguang should be angry and angry, why did he send a messenger back?

Now that the envoy has returned, the position of the Hongguang regime should be greatly softened!

Thinking of this, Li Zicheng said indifferently: "I still like the battlefield, the victory or defeat is clear, without the slightest drag, millet, send off!"

"Minister......

"Wait!" Zuo Maodi saw that Li Zicheng was really going to send off the guests, so he panicked in his heart, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, if the Ming Dynasty surrenders, can the emperor give Jiangnan some preferential conditions?" The envoy said that if the emperor wants to conquer Jiangnan, even if he wins, there will be casualties among the soldiers, and Jiangnan will be destroyed in the war...... For the sake of China, the emperor doesn't want to face a desolate Jiangnan, right? ”

"It turns out that Lord Zuo has been hiding it?" Li Zicheng pointed at Zuo Maodi and said with a smile: "It's not pleasant to talk to Lord Zuo, let's say, what conditions does the Hongguang Imperial Court offer?" ”

In my heart, I thought that Emperor Hongguang should be for his own future, right? Will he ask for a fief from himself? Should I give it to him? If so, where is it appropriate?

When the Mandate of Heaven Army has an absolute advantage, it is still a good war, the battlefield is determined to win or lose, the winning side has everything from the other side, and the losing side not only loses the pants, but even bets on his life, and from then on let the other party hold his neck......

Zuo Maodi had forgotten Li Zicheng's send-off just now, he decided to start over, bowed his hand to Li Zicheng, and said: "Your Majesty, can the "Land Law" and "Tax Law" not be implemented in Jiangnan? ”

"Huh?" Li Zicheng really didn't expect that the Hongguang regime would offer such conditions, so what about Hongguang, is he willing to let himself be a pet by the neck? He said lightly: "What other conditions do you want, Lord Zuo might as well say it at once!"

"The gentry and people of Jiangnan have only this requirement!" Zuo Maodi glanced at Li Zicheng's face, thinking that Li Zicheng agreed, and couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart, such a condition is really not high!

If it weren't for Li Zicheng's categorical "unchangeable", he really wanted to put forward some additional conditions......

The corners of Li Zicheng's mouth showed a sneer, obviously for the officials, businessmen and gentry in Jiangnan, but in the name of the people, would the people oppose the "Land Law" and refuse the land distributed by Huaxia State for free?

The difference between Huaxia's "Tax Law" and the Ming Tax Law is mainly that all personnel are required to pay taxes equally, in addition to the collection of industrial and commercial taxes, and does not increase the people's taxes.

Although Li Zicheng's face was still smiling, there was a hint of coldness in the smile, which seemed to be a precursor to the cold wave, "According to Lord Zuo's meaning, after the surrender of Jiangnan, the laws of Huaxia cannot be implemented in Jiangnan?" What exactly are the officials, businessmen, and gentry in Jiangnan going to do? Is it a country within a state? ”

Zuo Maodi's face turned pale in an instant, and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, just for a little profit, the Ming Dynasty has never levied industrial and commercial taxes...... As for the country within a country, I never thought of it......"

Li Zicheng waved his hand and said: "You are envoys, I will not embarrass you, go back, tell Emperor Hongguang, tell those people in Jiangnan with ulterior motives, in the land of China, it is the Jingshi, and these laws must also be implemented!"

Zuo Maodi wanted to say something more, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he was stopped by Li Zicheng waving his hand, "Xiaomi, send off!"

"Obey the order!" He Xiaomi was very unimpressed by these talkative messengers, agreed, and immediately said: "Three, please here!"

Zuo Maodi had no choice but to salute Li Zicheng, and then took Chen Hongfan and Ma Shaoyu to leave the big tent and go back to Nanjing overnight.

When Li Zicheng summoned Zuo Maodi and them, the pace of the fourth battalion did not stop for a moment, Li Ji knew about the envoys sent by the puppet Ming to Huaxia, and he vaguely felt that if he didn't hurry up now, maybe there would be no battle soon.

He is different from Liu Zongmin, Liu Zongmin is still young, and there is an opportunity that he is already old.

Li Ji understands the emperor's thoughts, maybe after the reunification of China, Liu Zongmin will be corrected, and he, the commander of the fourth battalion, will probably have to be disarmed and return to the field at that time, the emperor may remember the love of these years and will not let him go home to farm, but it is difficult for him to have the opportunity to make contributions on the battlefield again.

Thinking that this was the last chance, Li Ji launched a fierce attack on Huang Degong's troops stationed in Chuzhou and Hezhou.

Although the number of the army was not superior, the superiority in combat effectiveness and morale was fully reflected on the battlefield, and with the assistance of the cavalry of the second battalion, the fourth battalion defeated Huang Degong's division several times, and surrounded the remnants of Huang Degong's army in the two isolated cities of Chuzhou and Hezhou.

Huang Degong asked for help in Nanjing and Yangzhou on the one hand, and personally defended Hezhou City.

The sailors of the Mandate of Heaven had already arrived in Nanjing, and in addition to one giant ship on the river, there were five huge warships, followed by countless small warships and transports.

Huang Degong heard that these warships were flying the Kyushu military flag of the Heavenly Mandate Army, and knew that the general trend had gone, and the reinforcements would definitely be gone, even if his army could break through, there was no way to escape.

In desperation, Huang Degong committed suicide and martyrdom, and the city of Hezhou was broken.

The news of Huang Degong's suicide reached Chuzhou, and the morale of the soldiers dropped to the freezing point, and they only held on for one day.

Li Zicheng marched into Chuzhou and ordered Zuo Guang, who was with the army, to recruit a division of soldiers from among the surrendered troops, train on the spot in Chuzhou, and wait for orders.

Considering that a large number of people were being relocated to Liaodong, there were some difficulties for the time being, and that the fourth battalion currently had only three divisions, which was not the ideal establishment of four divisions in his mind, Li Zicheng transferred Luo Tai from the first division, promoted him to the rank of division commander, and recruited a division from the surrender of troops in Hezhou to form the fourth battalion and the fourth division.

In the entire north of the Yangtze River, only Yangzhou, a lonely city besieged by the fifth battalion, was left, and the naval army of the Mandate of Heaven was already cruising in the Yangtze River, and this lone army had lost contact with Nanjing.

Li Zicheng arranged the affairs of Chuzhou and Hezhou, and then immediately entered Jiangpu County and set up camp tents on the periphery of the Pukou wharf on the other side of Nanjing.

In Nanjing, Ma Shiying made an appointment to meet Shi Kefa again.

Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa, who are not only the most important civil leaders of the Hongguang regime, but also control part of the military power, they are the continuation of the eunuch party and the Donglin party in the Ming Dynasty Hall, and they have always been each other's containment and rivalry, however, at this moment, these two biggest opponents in the court have become solid allies who rely on each other.

This time, they are not secret meetings, Emperor Hongguang is already under their control, and they no longer need to hide it.