"It's news from Jianchang." Yang Youcai thought that Deng Ming was suspicious, so he emphasized: "But the same news has come from other roads." ”

"How is the military spirit on Jianchang's side now? I had heard before I came that there was a lot of panic. Deng Ming didn't know how much Wen Anzhi said in his letter to Chengdu, but he probably didn't say it all, Deng Ming originally told Liu Yao and Yang Youcai about Feng Shuangli, the king of Qingyang, asking for help from Fengjie.

"Oops, no wonder Qingyang sent someone to ask for reinforcements before." Yang Youcai shouted after understanding the ins and outs of the matter. He told Deng Ming that Feng Shuangli had asked for reinforcements from Chengdu some time earlier, specifying that he would be led by a loyal officer, but he borrowed troops from Liu Yao on the grounds that Wu Sangui might send a small force to attack Jianchang, and that his troops were insufficient.

"What did the two generals say to him?" After listening to Wen Anzhi's introduction, Chengdu is full of old Sichuan troops, and Deng Ming guessed that they would definitely not care about the life or death of Feng Shuangli, a former general of the Western Battalion.

"We can't even send out guards to guard the city wall, where are the troops to support Jianchang." Sure enough, as Deng Ming expected, Yang Youcai spread his hands, and his face was full of helplessness. In fact, this expression contains the meaning of doing it for Deng Ming.

After receiving Feng Shuangli's letter for help, Liu Yao and Yang Youcai immediately refused, and they also sneered at these thieves behind their backs. In the past, the head of the army entrenched in Jianchang was the old Sichuan army, and it was Liu Yao and their friends, if Liu Wenxiu in Xiying had not incorporated Jianchang's territory and army, Liu Yao and Yang Youcai would have reinforced, but now how could they send troops to Feng Shuangli, who had no friendship and more hatred? Who dares to say that he has the idea of annexing Chengdu's forces in his heart?

When Deng Ming and Yang Youcai answered each other, the guards behind them had been talking about it, which had never happened before, no matter what emergency they encountered in the past, these people would stand behind Deng Ming.

The most abnormal is Li Xinghan, he is worse than the other dozen or so Sichuan army cousins, when the news of the Son of Heaven abandoned the country, Li Xinghan fell into deep thought, holding his head and squatting on the ground without saying a word. After arriving in Fengjie, Li Xinghan finally regained his sense of belonging, he directly obeyed Wen Anzhi's dispatch, and once again firmly locked himself in the chain of allegiance. It was only a few days after this good rì, and Li Xinghan once again turned into a rootless duckweed, and it was even more complete than the last time. In the past, when there was a Son of Heaven, Li Xinghan could justifiably call himself an officer and an officer and call the enemy a thief -- whether or not you have gained an advantage in the whole country, but I am an officer and soldier who is loyal to the Son of Heaven, and those of you who disobey the Son of Heaven are thieves.

But now the shape is completely reversed, the education he received since childhood has made Li Xinghan very clear about the definition of officers and soldiers and thieves, doing things for the Son of Heaven and obeying the orders of the court are officers and soldiers, and in turn contributing to themselves or those who stand up for themselves as kings are thieves, such as breaking into the camp and Xiying, even if some of them follow the chaos because they have no food to eat, but they are ignoring the righteousness of the court for their own survival, there is no doubt that they are still thieves. The problem now is that the Son of Heaven has abandoned the country, and Li Xinghan can no longer claim to be the Son of Heaven to serve and be loyal to the imperial court, so he feels that he has lost the justice of the war. If he can't find the chain of allegiance that leads to the Son of Heaven, then he will become the same as the thief and thief he despised before.

Zhou Kaihuang, Yuan Xiang, and Liu Jinge, who were born in the camp, were much calmer than the rest of the people, and they also knew that the shape was already very critical, and that the abandonment of the Son of Heaven was equivalent to the commander's abandonment of the army on the battlefield and absconding, and that the actions of the Son of Heaven would destroy the remaining morale of the Ming army, and make the people of the world have no doubt about the final victory of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Of course, the three people who broke into the camp did not respect and love the Son of Heaven as much as the Sichuan Army, but they also felt a burst of anger after learning about this, and they really couldn't think of any need to continue to be loyal to such a Son of Heaven.

After asking about the situation, Deng Ming nodded, and instructed the two generals in Chengdu: "I still hope to keep the matter of coming to the capital a secret, and I will go to Jianchang when the horse recovers." ”

"Mr. Deng still goes to Jianchang?"

"Are we going to Jianchang?"

The three camp guards behind him and Yang Youcai, who was standing opposite, couldn't stop shouting together.

Originally, Yang Youcai thought that Deng Ming already knew that Yongli had absconded to Burma, but as for what Deng Ming and his party went to Jianchang to do, he couldn't care about it, as a subordinate, he was just used to obeying Wen Anzhi's orders; But now I know that Deng Ming didn't know about this incident, and Wen Anzhi sent Deng Ming to Jianchang to appease the army, whether it was Liu Yao, Yang Youcai or Yuan Xiang, Liu Jinge and Zhou Kaihuang, they all guessed that the atmosphere in Jianchang was weird, and the army could get out of control and rebel at any time.

"yes, where are we going if we don't go to Jianchang?" Deng Ming seemed to be saying something very ordinary.

"Never!" This time, it was rare for the Sichuan army and the people who broke into the camp to agree and block it in unison.

As soon as the words came out, Liu Jinge's heart tightened, and he found that he had violated the will of his father and master again, and first spoke against Deng Ming's will, but then found that almost everyone present spoke out against it, and he was also bold.

Deng Ming glanced at the people around him who were seeking approval, only to see that everyone was shaking their heads, and finally saw Li Xinghan, who was still holding his head and squatting on the ground motionless, so he named him: "Mr. Li Qian, are you willing to go to Jianchang with me?" ”

According to Deng Ming's experience, Li Xinghan and Zhao Tianba have one thing in common, that is, they are afraid that others will underestimate him. As soon as this kind of question that questioned his courage came out, he would definitely get the answer that Deng Ming wanted, and with the first person who agreed, the rest of the things would be much easier.

This question is like a needle, Li Xinghan seemed to have been pricked, jumped up from the ground, and shouted: "The Son of Heaven abandoned the country and was humble...... No, Weichen dares to ask His Highness to ascend the throne! ”

Li Xinghan's shout was like thunder on the ground, which made Deng Ming's head buzz, secretly thinking about what Li Xinghan was thinking about when he was squatting on the ground?

It was not only Deng Ming who was hit by the thunder, but the other fifteen Sichuan soldiers in the guard also reacted, and shouted together: "Weichen invites His Highness to ascend the throne." ”

Some people speak standing up, others kneel on one knee, and some simply kneel on both knees, and they don't know what etiquette to use at this time.

Zhou Kaihuang and the other three people who broke into the camp reacted relatively slowly, but as they all understood, isn't this the legendary merit of support? It's a pity that Yuan Zongdi and Liu Tichun were not at the scene, but because of this, they couldn't let this great achievement slip away from their fingertips, otherwise they wouldn't have become sinners who broke into the camp.

"Weichen dares to ask His Highness to ascend the throne." Three more knelt down behind him.

There are also legends about Deng Ming's life story here in Chengdu, and Yang Youcai will be suspicious of this, while Liu Yao is the opposite, he always feels that the clan does not seem to appear so bizarrely. But when they saw the guards sent by Wen Anzhi like this, the two of them suddenly believed a little more in their hearts. The merit of supporting, although the Ming Dynasty is already in danger, but who dares to say that he can see the destiny of heaven in advance, no matter what, this great achievement that falls in front of him can be picked up by reaching out, how can there be any reason not to pick it up?

"Weichen seconded the proposal, please Your Highness ascend to the throne as soon as possible to calm the hearts of the people in the world." Liu Yao and Yang Youcai took the lead, and suddenly they knelt down again. Several soldiers in charge of raising chickens in the yard heard the shouting of many people in the house, and hurriedly ran to the door to probe their brains, and they all knelt down outside the door. After a while, the chickens felt that the distance was a little far, and Deng Ming might not be able to see it, so he got up and ran into the house again, kneeling beside the others.

"Now is not the time." It is impossible for Deng Ming to agree with this mention. First of all, it's really not the time, and secondly, if you want to inherit the unification, can you still hide it and not explain your life experience? Inspector Wen Anzhi and Jin King Li Dingguo didn't know what their attitude was, and Deng Ming didn't want to derive a Tang and Gui infighting because of himself.

But everyone disagreed, and began to shout together.

"Now is not the time!" Deng Ming doesn't argue with them much. He knew that as long as he wasn't the topic of the clan at the beginning, he might not be able to convince everyone even if he talked about it for a few days. The top priority is to go to Jianchang and not waste time on other issues. Thanks to Wen Anzhi's enlightenment, Deng Ming has some understanding of the psychology of people in this era, and he asked everyone to stand up, while not forgetting to reassure everyone: "I will remember that you are the first to support and persuade you." ”

Relying on this sentence and Deng Ming's firm attitude, he finally dispelled everyone's attempt to immediately complete the great cause. Looking at the joy on everyone's faces, Deng Ming secretly sighed that his technique of impersonating the clan had grown from scratch, and now he was already very skilled. However, he thought about it and felt that he still didn't deceive anyone, he just promised that he would not forget that these people supported him to ascend the throne, but he still didn't admit that he had anything to do with the Ming royal family, and in the strict sense Deng Ming still didn't deceive anyone.

"I still have to go to Jianchang." When the house was restored to its original state—everyone stood up, and there were a few more chicken raisers—Deng Ming's old words were repeated.

"Your Highness not!" As the first batch of hard-working people who supported Deng's name, Liu Yao immediately had the consciousness of being a "confidant and important minister", and immediately stood up against it, claiming that it was too dangerous to go to Jianchang, and as a loyal minister, he must not watch this matter come true.

The other loyal ministers also expressed the same opinion, but Deng Ming was unmoved.

He first reminded everyone not to call themselves His Highness: "My name is Deng Ming, and I can't afford to call me Your Highness." ”

"Mr. Deng."

"Mr. Deng."

The crowd immediately reverted to their original titles. Now Deng Ming also understands the meaning of the word Zhongjun, and in his opinion, it is the same thing as the organizational principle of the Bolshevik Party in the former Soviet Union: "the emperor's order" is equivalent to "the decision of the organization", and it must be implemented if it is understood, and it must be implemented if it is not understood.

"Just now, Mr. Zhao Qian asked, the Son of Heaven abandoned the country, why are you still farming, General Liu? General Liu replied, what can you do without farming? Yes, if you don't farm, you will starve, and the Son of Heaven has abandoned the country, but the soldiers of the capital still have to eat and live. We are the same, the Son of Heaven has abandoned the country, but we still have to continue to resist and fight with the Tartars, so what else can we do if we don't go to Jianchang? Could it be that we watched Jianchang fall into the hands of the Tartars, watched the officers and soldiers of Yunnan fall into the dust, and waited until the Tartars wiped out all the friendly troops, and then calmly came to Chengdu to fight us, and then went to Fengjie and the Three Gorges? Unless we surrender. Deng Ming knew that if history did not deviate, the Ming army would not have a few years. Every time he thought of this, he was anxious to create something variable, to change the course of history against time: "But will you surrender?" ”

Deng Ming's gaze swept over everyone, and together with his guards from Fengjie, he straightened his chest and replied in unison: "Swear not to surrender!" ”

Liu Yao and Yang Youcai's faces also showed perseverance, and they took their soldiers together to promise: "Never surrender!" ”

"The Son of Heaven can abandon the country, but he can also come back. Since we will not surrender if there is a Son of Heaven or not, then I will go to Jianchang if there is a Son of Heaven or not. Deng Ming expressed his unchangeable determination: "I will never sit idly by and watch any friendly army be destroyed, even if it is necessary to put it in danger myself." ”

Thinking of Deng Ming's appearance when he was in Wanxian, Zhou Kaihuang, Li Xinghan and others all understood that it would be impossible to persuade him to turn back, so they turned to support his decision. Yang Youcai also patted his chest and promised: "The capital will probably be able to draw out two hundred jīng soldiers, and the last general will take them to Jianchang with Mr." ”

"Well, there are no horses for them, do you?" After receiving a negative answer, Deng Ming said that there was no need for this unit. After all, Chengdu also needs some minimum self-defense forces, and bringing so many soldiers and horses will not only slow down the speed, but also aim too big, and it is easy to alarm the enemy and potential enemies. He stressed again: "As soon as the horsepower is restored, I will go to Jianchang immediately, and the news of our visit to the capital must be kept secret." ”

"The last will obey."

"The two generals call themselves generals......

Deng Ming began to inquire about Jianchang's troops. There was no army there before, only more than 40,000 Ding Zhuang transported by Liu Wenxiu, these were unorganized peasant soldiers, otherwise Liu Wenxiu would not have stayed when he left. This group of people should have little combat effectiveness and can only be at the mercy of others. However, the troops brought by Feng Shuangli were combat-effective, and the main surrender faction and the main battle faction quarreled constantly. Deng Ming wanted to know how many people he would have to face in the worst-case scenario.

"Qingyang brought about 3,000 people." There has always been news about Jianchang here in Chengdu, and Feng Shuangli, as a guest general, does not have the ability to block the news.

"The original argument was evenly matched, which was half against half. Now, is it going to be two thousand against one? Deng Ming smiled at everyone as he spoke: "That is, the twenty of us have to deal with the extra thousand, which is better than when we were in Wanxian." ”

As everyone knows, this trip is not completely impossible to succeed, after all, Feng Shuangli is the master of the army, and under his authority, those who advocate surrender will inevitably have weak hearts, and weak hearts will not be strong; Moreover, Feng Shuangli is still a benefactor to the soldiers in the army, as long as he insists on not surrendering, the person who goes against his will is a traitor, and even if the soldiers don't say it, they will despise this kind of ungrateful behavior from the bottom of their hearts.

……

Jianchang.

Feng Shuangli sat in the county office with a sad brow. The 3,000 people brought from Yunnan have already run more than 400 people, and after learning that the Son of Yongli Heaven has fled again, Jianchang's shape has been completely out of control, and now almost no one mentions anything to continue fighting for the Ming Dynasty. Why fight? Even the Son of Heaven was unwilling to fight for this country, and when the soldiers shed blood and died for him to be able to sit on the throne, the Son of Heaven made it clear that he was not willing to take any risks for the throne - he did not think that the throne was worth the risk himself, let alone fight and shed blood for it.

A subordinate general walked in from the door, respectfully saluted Feng Shuangli who was seated, and then walked forward and asked cautiously, "Lord Wang, there is another letter from Pingxi." ”

Feng Shuangli took a look at it, and the person who came was Di Sanxi, a confidant officer, who had been following him for many years, and had been leaning towards the main battle faction before learning that Yongli had fled.

"I don't surrender." Feng Shuangli shook his head, he knew very well what Wu Sangui's letter was for, and he also knew what his subordinates were thinking now.

"It's for the boss, right?" Di Sanxi asked softly.

Feng Shuangli is an orphan who was taken in and raised by Zhang Xianzhong since he was a child, and has a respect and love for Zhang Xianzhong similar to that of a son to his father. Because Zhang Xianzhong was killed in battle with the Qing soldiers, then the Qing court was Feng Shuangli's enemy.

Feng Shuangli didn't speak, and Di Sanxi asked again sadly: "Lord Wang, who are we fighting for now?" ”

Still not answered, Feng Shuangli couldn't answer this question at all.

Zhang Xianzhong, whom he regarded as his father, died in battle, so he turned his allegiance to Sun Kewang; Xiying accepted Yongli's recruitment, Feng Shuangli became a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, and followed Liu Wenxiu to Sichuan to continue to fight with the Qing soldiers; Sun Kewang wanted to usurp the throne, but Feng Shuangli did not object, because he was loyal to Xiying; But after Sun Kewang defected to the Qing court, did Feng Shuangli fight with Li Dingguo, the king of Jin, and Liu Wenxiu, the king of Shu? He couldn't fight and didn't want to fight, so he surrendered after thinking about it again and again, because Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu were both from Xiying, and neither of them was his enemy.

After Liu Wenxiu's death, Li Dingguo designated Feng Shuangli and his subordinates as "old Qin soldiers" and was wary of them in every way. Although Feng Shuangli was dissatisfied, he did not let this sentiment affect his actions, and he refused the persuasion of the Qing army to surrender, even though Sun Kewang wrote him a personal letter.

Until he led the troops to Jianchang, Feng Shuangli continued to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Like the vast majority of people in this era, an object of allegiance is indispensable to him, and Feng Shuangli and his soldiers need a target to fight for. But Emperor Yongli abandoned the country again.

What else does Feng Shuangli do guarding Jianchang? For whom does he serve? For the dead Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Wenxiu, for Sun Kewang who surrendered to the Qing court, for Li Dingguo, who did not trust him, or for the Yongli Emperor who abandoned the world?

"I don't surrender." Feng Shuangli reiterated again.

Di Sanxi's face darkened, and he was about to withdraw.

"But I'm not going to stop you." Before Di Sanxi withdrew, Feng Shuangli said again: "The brothers have followed me for so many years, I have no ability, I can't take everyone to share the wealth, but I won't let the brothers accompany me to die." ”