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"What's the reaction of the imperial court?" Li Yunrui asked about the content of today's court meeting, since Shaanxi was lost, Chongzhen sent people to invite Huangshi back to participate in the court meeting, and the cabinet ministers also came to Zhendonghou Mansion to meet Chongzhen's lobbyists, the reason is nothing more than that since Sun Chuanting is finished, the reason why Huangshi does not go to the court does not exist.

Today's court discussion is mainly aimed at the issue of Dashun's eastward crusade, and Huang Shi agreed to personally take command of the expedition and lead the new army to resist the Shun army.

"Of course, the imperial court was shocked," Huang Shi immediately got the report on the content of the court meeting, and He Baodao came to him after the court meeting and carefully discussed the follow-up military action: "The emperor and the cabinet have concluded that the Shun army will definitely not attack Shanxi, and will not 'commit the heavy army in the world', and they believe that the Shun army will go to Henan and attack the Beijing division from the south." ”

"Oh," Li Yunrui noticed that Huang Shi was the first to use the title Shunjun, as a high-ranking official of the Ming court, Huang Shi obviously stood in favor of Li Zicheng's friendly and neutral position and did not feel that there was anything wrong, even a confidant like Li Yunrui felt a little excessive: "What do you think, my lord?" ”

"Let them continue to think about it, today the emperor and the cabinet said that the art of war emphasizes avoiding the real and attacking the false, haha," Huang Shi had a gloating expression: "If the Shun army really has 100,000 soldiers and horses, it can indeed avoid the real and attack the false, but does the Shun army have it?" Obviously not, a flood in Kaifeng almost drowned the Shun army, where can they slow down after a year, they dare not avoid the real and attack the false, they must fight steadily and steadily, and eat away all the Ming troops in one mouth. Otherwise, their main force will take the south road, wouldn't Shaanxi be singing an empty city plan? ”

"Your Excellency has concluded that the Shun army will pass through Shanxi." Since Huangshi took the lead, Li Yunrui also changed the name of the camp.

"Obviously, the strength of the Shun army is too small, although Li Zicheng threatened to attack the Beijing division, and had an agreement with me, but they can only take one step at a time, and if they can easily obtain Shanxi, and the loss of troops is not large, they will continue to advance eastward; If they are blocked in Shanxi, then focus on keeping the territory that has been gained, if the imperial court uses all its forces to reinforce Shanxi, the Jin army may still hold on, and because of Shanxi's strong forces, the Shun army does not dare to leave the surrounding Shaanxi, and the Beijing division may still be safe, maybe. Since you don't go to reinforce Shanxi, this is probably the last New Year of the Ming court. ”

Li Yunrui never had much doubt about Huangshi's military judgment, and his current concern is elsewhere: "So, what about the New Army?" ”

"If nothing else, we will leave Jingshi in three days, and Brother Jin has already passed through them, and they have all agreed to go with me."

"All agreed?" Li Yunrui was a little surprised, now the senior officials of the New Army all have a large number of industries in the north, and the operators buy and sell in large quantities from legal to illegal, and they are also inextricably linked with the powerful people of the imperial court.

"The thing is very simple, if I leave, they will not be Xu Ping's opponent if they stay, things still can't be kept, come with me, at least the money they have made in the past three years can be taken to the south, and the food and clothing for the rest of their lives, or even generations of children and grandchildren, will be enough." Huang Shi habitually shrugged: "For example, Brother Li, you have also saved a lot of money in the past three years, right?" ”

"Zhu Ming's money, don't take it for nothing," Li Yunrui's face was ashamed: "Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely change it when I get to the south." ”

"I'll watch you." Huang Shi smiled slightly, no more blame.

"What will happen to the new army when it gets to the south?" Li Yunrui felt a headache when he thought of the problems within the New Army, many things had become a common practice, such as running casinos and brothels, assisting in smuggling, and so on. Moreover, there are a large number of soldiers in the new army who come to serve as soldiers like other Ming troops, and after getting the settling-in allowance and the first few months of military salary, they began to think about how to desert, in this regard, the following battalions are the same as other Ming army departments, using various means to monitor the soldiers, Li Yunrui is worried that after leaving the Beijing division, there will be a large number of escapes in the new army, as for those related children who enter the army by the door, they are just to put on this tiger skin to run a business and make a fortune, Li Yunrui feels that these people may not be willing to go to the unfamiliar south.

"The new army, it's enough to deter Nanjing, I won't replenish the new army after I get to the south, let alone expand them," Huang Shi showed a sneer on his face, and when the new army, an irreparable tool, completed its historical mission, Huang Shi didn't plan to keep it anymore: "As for my old brothers, they are so rich, it's time to get old." ”

Li Yunrui looked at Huangshi for a while, and said in a thoughtful tone: "My lord, do you still remember the story of Hou Yi. ”

"Well, the marksman Hou Yi, you can see the goose feathers a hundred miles away, but you can't see the hearts of people close at hand," Huang Shi smiled and asked rhetorically, "Is Brother Li reminding me?" ”

"Yes, sir." Li Yunrui replied: "Even if you lie, the adults must deceive them first, so that they feel that they are still high-ranking officials in the south." ”

"If you have no desire, you are strong, to put it mildly, if there is no me, hehe, there will never be an immortal army," Huang Shi did not intend to pursue anyone's army management issues, and now he has figured it out - under the feudal system of the Ming Dynasty, it is strange that the new army does not become like this, but although he understands this truth, he will never be happy about it: "Without the new army, my business is difficult to do, but it is not impossible, but I can't care about their life and death for so many old brothers." Since they are old brothers again, and I don't ask them for anything, then I don't have to lie and be a villain. ”

"Where's Brother He?"

"I've talked to him about this matter carefully these days, and I had a showdown with him yesterday, I know it's a difficult thing for him, but it's finally ......" Speaking of this, Huang Shi sighed with relief: "Today he promised to go with me, he He Feihu hasn't been home for so many years, and their father and son should also meet." ”

"Brother He doesn't care about the emperor and the court? Did you really make it clear to him? ”

"To make it clear, I don't want him to serve, I just want him to be neutral, let it go, and pick a place in Suzhou and Hangzhou to live well." Huang Shi got He Baodao's reply today: "Brother He agreed, after I don't play for the Ming Court, he won't play for me anymore, it's fair, I'm very satisfied, haha, what am I talking about?" That's what I meant. ”

"What are the specific arrangements for the adults?"

"Go as soon as possible, save you a lot of dreams at night, and we will swear to set off the day after tomorrow."

"Do you completely tear your face with the imperial court?" Li Yunrui asked the most critical question.

"Yes," Huang Shi replied without hesitation, the new army would prepare enough supplies for the march in the next few days, and Jin Qiude and the old brothers still kept a hand, only hinting that if the situation was unfavorable, the new army might go south instead of defending the Beijing division. However, Huang Shi planned to launch a surprise attack to occupy the city gate the day before the imperial court stipulated the departure of the oath, and take the military families in the city with him. Huangshi did not intend to attack the imperial city, and was very sure of a bloodless operation to seize the door, and after receiving the families of the generals of the new army, Huangshi would immediately lead the army out of Beijing, although this was similar to an open rebellion, but Huangshi had nothing to fear, anyway, it was a matter of time.

……

On the same day, the army commanded by Xu Ping had already driven to the junction of Shaanxi and Shanxi.

"Have you written the inscription for the officers and soldiers?"

"My lord, it's for Zhu Ming to read the text, not for the officers and soldiers, we are also officers and soldiers now." Yu Shenhe next to him reminded with a smile.

And Li Dingguo also smiled: "Could it be that adults are used to being thieves and don't want to change?" ”

"That's true, I really don't talk out of my head," Xu Ping remembered that King Shun had ordered the army to pay attention to changing their words, so he instructed the battalion officers around him: "If someone accidentally says something wrong, don't punish them, it's harmless." ”

"Understood, sir." Yu Shenhe and Li Laiheng replied in unison.

For example, the front army of the Eastern Expedition commanded by Li Dingguo had three western battalions under its jurisdiction, and Xu Ping no longer directly governed other battalions except the guards battalion, and he hoped to use the method of decentralization to reduce the probability of the Shun army making mistakes: according to Xu Ping's experience, when the number of belligerents exceeded 10,000 people, mistakes were inevitable, and whichever side made fewer mistakes would gain an advantage.

In the inscription shown to the Ming army in Shanxi and Zhili, Xu Ping claimed to be the vanguard with an army of 500,000, and Li Zicheng personally mentioned a million army behind.

"With an army of 1.5 million, no one would have believed it, but now the government and the opposition are coaxing that we have an army of one million, so the officers and soldiers of Shanxi may think that we have hundreds of thousands of people under suspicion."

"What the general said is right, I only correct two points, the first is that Zhu Ming coaxed us to have a million troops in Dashun, and the second is Zhu Ming's Shanxi soldiers." Li Dingguo was very satisfied with Xu Ping's victory to command the main force of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, and the Kaifeng flood caused heavy losses to the elite of the Shun army, although after a year of repair, the troops that could fight in the field were only 50,000 people. After discussion, Li Zicheng agreed to incorporate all the Shun troops under his command with combat experience into the ten battalions that Xu Ping had planned to complete the training, and also set up an empty Eastern Expeditionary Army rear army that was actually an empty shelf, commanding three empty battalions with titles but almost no soldiers and equipment, known as the 13th Battalion of 500,000 troops—in fact, 50,000. The 50,000 troops now under the command of Xu Ping are almost all the field forces of Dashun.

In addition to the military reason, that is, Xu Ping is more familiar with the new tactics and these troops, there is also a key reason for the need for political propaganda. 50,000 people, after all, still seems too weak, not even half of the strength of the army before the Battle of Kaifeng, Li Zicheng does not personally command them have the opportunity to cause some confusion to the Ming army, that is, Li Zicheng has a stronger army than the Dashun forward.

"Yes, the Shanxi soldiers of the Ming Dynasty," in addition to the intimidating text of the Eastern Crusade, Xu Ping knew that Dashun had also mobilized all the intelligence forces in Shanxi. Fortunately, a series of big victories in Shaanxi and Henan caused panic in Shanxi, and these Dashun spies were all dispatched, trying their best to contact the Shanxi gentry, trying to encourage some of them to be lobbyists for Dashun, helping them to contact the Jin generals: "The Jin army still has more than 100,000 people, I don't know how many will resist." ”

"If the new army does not reinforce Shanxi in time, then they may not dare to fight our million-strong army, and if Huanghou rushes to Shanxi at full speed, I am afraid it will be another central capital." Li Dingguo agreed with Xu Pingbinggui's quick proposal that in order to gain time, the only 50,000 field troops in Dashun still had not been gathered together. After the ceremony was completed, without waiting for all the troops to be ready, the closest to the full strength of the guards, armor and the west first battalion left Xi'an to set off, the west first battalion was postponed for five days, and tomorrow it was possible to catch up with the main force and return to the command of Li Dingguo, Li Guo's sharpshooter battalion was said to have set off yesterday, and the Xifeng battalion probably had one more day to complete the preparations: "I hope the imperial court will think that we are going to Henan safely." ”

"If we have an army of millions, we will really go to Henan, since the imperial court ...... Oh, Brother Li, what did you just say? It's Zhu Ming who is not the imperial court, since Zhu Ming thinks that we have a million troops, then they really think that we will go to Henan. Xu Ping was very confident in his trip to Shanxi, because he knew a secret that Li Dingguo did not know, that is, the Marquis of Zhendong had made a secret agreement with King Shun, and Shanxi would not receive any support. Although Li Dingguo agreed that he must take advantage of the great victory in Shaanxi and the opportunity of rumors to develop an offensive, he still felt that it was a bit risky to send troops in such a hurry in winter, and Xu Ping knew that this was not a risk.

"If the Shanxi Ming army surrenders, what does the general plan to do?"

"Then let them stay in Shanxi, and we will continue to march east." Xu Ping did not have any extra troops left to defend Shanxi, and if it were not for the fear that the Ming army in Shanxi would be unreliable, untrained and would create unnecessary worries for the generals, Xu Ping would have been willing to use the future troops to supplement his several battalions that were not satisfied.

"If they see that we are few people, will they think about anything else?"

"As long as we destroy all the way and destroy Zhu Ming, they just know that we have few people, so what?" Xu Ping was not very worried about this, and after the Shanxi Ming army was convinced that the Chuang army actually did not have many central field troops, the Ming court had collapsed, and they had no place to take refuge in the past, he asked rhetorically: "Can't we use our army to stay behind and let the surrendered army attack the Beijing division, right?" Then they see that we don't have many troops, and maybe they will turn back on the battlefield, and we will scatter our forces if we stay behind. ”

At this time in Taiyuan, the general soldier Jiang Pai was indeed in a dilemma, and now many generals in Shanxi who hold military power are suffering. Jiang Ping, who also had lobbyists who asked to see, did not say anything about the visitors who came to speak for Dashun, but secretly entertained them and gave them out of the house.

"Master, you have to have an idea."

Seeing that Jiang Yan hesitated, his henchmen were as anxious as ants on a hot pot.

"The Shun army came west, although there are certainly not 1.5 million, but there are always hundreds of thousands," Jiang Jian felt that the 40,000 troops under his command were too weak, but he did not decide to surrender as in the original history of Huangshi: "We still have to wait, we have to wait for the news of Huanghou in Beijing."

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