"Shouting?" Li Zicheng was a little puzzled, "It's all hit on this one, either you die or I live, what else is there to say?" ”

Liu Heizi said unhurriedly: "Before leaving, the general of my family said that when encountering a difficult opponent, King Chuang can try Huairou methods. At present, the Luoyang defenders are short of food and salary, the people are panicking, and the morale of our army has plummeted after the bombardment, all of them are supported by one breath, as long as the king of Chuang sends people to shout, promising not to slaughter the city, not to disturb the people, the officials are not held accountable, and the people do not pay for food, the siege of the city can get twice the result with half the effort. Of course, this is just a suggestion, whether you listen to it or not, it's all up to the king. ”

Li Zicheng bowed his head and was silent when he heard this, figuring out the hidden meaning of these words.

Liu Zongmin asked dissatisfiedly: "If you don't slaughter the city, if you don't disturb the people, can't you let them drink the northwest wind?" The brothers are counting on a good grab after the city is broken and play a few big ladies! And let the people not pay food, what kind of bad idea is this? When all the people have stopped paying food and taxes, where will the army be fed? ”

Liu Heizi smiled: "General Liu, there is a blessed king in Luoyang, even if you don't rob the people, you can make a lot of money, why do you care about the people's three melons and two dates?" As for not paying grain, there is no loss for your ministry at all, you are a righteous army, not an official government, and the collection of grain is also unjustifiable, and now robbing the government and large households is enough to support the army, and the so-called non-payment of grain is just a gimmick to incite the people......"

According to Xia Nan's memory, in history, Li Zicheng officially put forward the slogan of "Juntian free grain" in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen (1640), obviously unable to catch up with the battle of Luoyang, and said that under the influence of his butterfly wings, Li Zicheng in this time and space will put forward the same slogan, all the way into the capital, it is difficult to say. In addition, it is said that this slogan was put forward by Li Yan, but there is no record of Li Yan in the official history, and there are still doubts about the existence of this person, even if there is really this legendary figure in history, now Li Zicheng's march into Henan has advanced, history has been changed, this army is in chaos, and I don't know if Li Yan will defect to the army. So Xia Nan decided that it would be better for a good person to do it to the end, send the Buddha to the west, and reveal these tricks in advance to help him succeed.

Li Zicheng thought about it for a long time, and it was a good way to wear down the defenders' will to resist with the gimmick of not disturbing the people and not paying for food. He immediately made a decision: "What Brother Liu said is extremely true, so let's do it." ”

In the night, on the northern city wall, the defenders lit bonfires to keep warm, and their knives and armor did not leave their bodies to guard against night attacks by rogues. The corpses of the soldiers who died in the day had been transported, but the blood stains on the ground could not be cleaned in a while, and a strong smell of blood was everywhere, smoked by the heat of the bonfire, which made people feel sick.

The soldiers endured the discomfort, resisted the invasion of sleepiness, and sat by the campfire. The fierce fighting of the day made everyone lose the interest in small talk, and they did not know when they would die under the cannon or by the knife of the rogue.

Due to the tightness of the north gate, Liu Jianyi, the deputy general who was originally stationed at the east gate, was transferred over and replaced the chief soldier Wang Shaoyu to go down to rest. At this moment, he was sitting in the city tower, with a blue face, wiping his waist knife with a cloth, and not saying a word.

Seeing this, one of the henchmen who followed the left and right asked tentatively, "Your Excellency, are you worried about the war?" ”

"Worry about the fart!" Liu Jianyi spat hatefully, "Lao Tzu is aggrieved. Wang Shaoyu's guy eats meat, and he doesn't leave some soup for us, Lu Butang asked for 3,000 taels of silver from King Fu, which was originally used to make up for everyone's settling-in expenses, but this guy intercepted 2,000 taels and only took out 1,000 taels, even if Li Futai and Kang Zhifu gave it, it was still not enough...... "In fact, what he wanted to say in his heart was that the soldiers' settling-in fees were just greedy for ink, and the most hateful thing was not to take them out to share the spoils, and he was also a deputy general, and he didn't even drink the leftover soup.

The garrison said, "The chief soldier is also a little ugly. Could it be that he saw that the city could not be defended, and wanted to make some money, ready to retreat? ”

Liu Jianyi snorted coldly: "Who knows? If this is the case, Lao Tzu is not stupid and hangs himself from a tree. provoked Lao Tzu, opened the door and Li Zicheng came in, took off his skin, and went to eat with him. ”

The guard's eyes lit up: "This is a make." I heard that Li Zicheng treated the officers and soldiers who surrendered very favorably, and the people who followed him to eat and drink spicy food were not a hundred times better than the officers and soldiers who were bitter? ”

At this moment, shouts suddenly sounded outside the city, coming from all directions.

"Brothers of officers and soldiers, King Chuang said, as long as you give up resistance and let you enter the city, no matter whether you have the blood of the army on your hands, you will not be guilty of the past, and follow you to drink wine in a big bowl, eat meat in a big piece, and divide the gold in a big scale......"

"Fathers and fellow villagers, don't work for the government anymore, they don't even give them settling-in allowance and pension money, what can such a black-hearted government do for them? Follow them! The king has an order, after the army enters the city, it will not disturb the people, and the people will no longer have to pay grain and taxes......"

Similar words were repeated over and over again, and the defenders who listened to them all fidgeted, each with their own thoughts, but none of them shouted to stop the other's psychological offensive. For the people, as long as the rogues enter the city and do not disturb the people, and the safety of their families is guaranteed, they will lose the most important motivation to take up arms to resist the other side. Not paying food and not paying taxes makes their hearts pound, if they really want to cash in, then their good days will come.

With a "dang" sound, Liu Jianyi's knife slashed on the ground, splashing sparks.

"Damn, if Li Zicheng is a talker, Lao Tzu will be the opposite now." In the dim candlelight, Liu Jianyi's face was a little hideous, "Wang Shaoyu swallowed two thousand taels and begged, Lao Tzu followed the big family, and it ......was nothing to get him two thousand taels."

The guard was startled and reminded: "My lord, you have to think clearly, the chief soldier is going to come to change the guard at three o'clock, and it will be less than an hour, don't let him catch the handle......"

Liu Jianyi raised his waist knife and said with a cruel smile: "He is unkind, don't blame me for being unjust." Li Zicheng didn't know where to get so many powerful cannons, the city would be broken sooner or later, it was better to surrender the city as soon as possible and sell it for a good price......"

After a cup of tea, Liu Jianyi's personal soldiers suddenly raised torches and climbed to the top of the city, shouting: "Someone has rebelled, the villagers flee quickly, it is important to save your life!" ”

When the people were already panicked by the shouting, they all jumped up and ran down the city in a swarm, and the city wall instantly became extremely empty.

After the soldiers used tricks to scare away the people, they came to the city gate, jumped on the sandbags that blocked the opening and closing of the city gate, poured vegetable oil, and threw a dozen torches over, and the city gate immediately "beep and peel" and burned. Time is very tight, Wang Shaoyu's men will soon come to take over the city gate, it is too late to remove these sandbags, only burning the city gate is the fastest way.