On a hillside thirty miles southwest of the capital, Gao Jie and Li Chengdong were looking into the distance with telescopes.
"Brother Gao, I heard that Li Zicheng has 500,000 people, and I see that his military camp is in good order. Isn't it too risky for us to charge the camp with more than 20,000 people?"
Li Chengdong put down his telescope and said to Gao Jie beside him with some worry.
Gao Jie made a cold sound and said: "Old Li, you have also been in Li's bandit army. How can you believe his lies?"
"He said half of the 500,000 people would be good. If we exclude the old, weak, women and children, the number that can fight will not exceed 100,000 at most."
"And Liu Zongmin suffered a big loss at Zhangyimen. I heard that even Hao Yaoqi was arrested, so his strength must be greatly reduced. The only ones who can fight are Li Guo's 20,000 to 30,000 people."
"And Li Guo is still confronting Wu Sangui at the moment and has no time to look around. As long as we seize the opportunity and break through the Li thief's camp in one fell swoop, even if we can't become the governor, we should be able to become a prince. This life will not be in vain. live."
Hearing this, Li Chengdong still hesitated and said: "Brother Gao is right. It's just that Li Guo just repelled Wu Sangui's reinforcements today. You must know that Guan Ning's cavalry is the strongest cavalry in Guan. Even they were defeated. We can't be careless." ah!"
Gao Jie glanced at Li Chengdong with some dissatisfaction and said, "Old Li, why are you so timid today!"
"Don't you know how much Li Guo has? Even if he has the Black Armor Cavalry, he is definitely no match for Guan Ning's Iron Cavalry."
"If my guess is correct, Wu Sangui probably did not use Guan Ning's cavalry in order to preserve his strength, otherwise he would never have been defeated so quickly."
Seeing the dissatisfaction on Gao Jie's face, Li Chengdong said in a low voice: "Brother Gao, it's not that I'm timid, it's just that we only have this little money, and the situation is complicated now. If we lose the bet, then we may not be able to get along in the future."
Gao Jie shook his head and said, "Don't worry, we won't lose. Moreover, the reason why your sister-in-law stayed at Huang Degong's place was not only to cover our journey north, but also to take the opportunity to persuade some rebels to surrender."
"You know what your sister-in-law is capable of. Even Li Zicheng was subdued by her back then, and she was able to persuade several defeated troops to surrender, so you don't have to worry about us running out of capital."
Li Chengdong knew that Gao Jie was always conceited and it was difficult to change his decisions, so he immediately changed the topic and said, "Brother Gao, Ma Jinzhong and Wang Yuncheng have also lurked in the capital. How about we make a strategy and let them take the lead?"
Hearing this, Gao Jie pondered for a while and said, "That's good, but although Ma Jinzhong is brave, he has no independent opinion."
"In addition, he is under the command of Zuo Liangyu, and Wang Yuncheng, who is traveling with him, is also a close confidant of Zuo Liangyu. As Zuo Liangyu is so cunning, he must have instructions for them. I am worried that I may not be able to persuade him."
Li Chengdong smiled and shook his head and said: "Brother Gao, you don't know something about this. In Chongzhen's edict to Zuo Liangyu, he explicitly made his five tigers, including Ma Jinzhong and Wang Yuncheng, viscounts, and claimed to be the first to arrive in the capital. to be made an earl again."
"Zuo Liangyu was worried that the Five Tigers would trespass after knowing about it, so he hid the matter. Unexpectedly, his son Zuo Mengeng told the truth."
"When the Five Tigers learned about this, they were all furious. However, they were afraid of Zuo Liangyu's power and did not show it. However, they had already violated Zuo Liangyu's orders."
Gao Jie was stunned and said: "I asked why Ma Jinzhong was so diligent this time. It turns out there is this story. In this case, then you go and try it, but don't force it too hard."
"In addition, you try to spread the news of our arrival in Beijing to the palace, so that Chongzhen can see the strength of our two brothers, and you are not afraid that he will not grant us official titles."
Hearing this, Li Chengdong smiled flatteringly and said, "Okay, I'll go and do it now, and I'll keep it for my eldest brother to make him a marquis and prime minister!"
Gao Jie smiled and said: "Old Li, you are wrong. We are the ones who are conferring marquisships and becoming prime ministers together!"
The two were talking happily when suddenly a sentry came over to report that Wu Sangui's people wanted to see them.
Gao Jie frowned, looked at Li Chengdong with some dissatisfaction, and said, "Have you contacted Wu Sangui?"
Li Chengdong shook his head repeatedly and said: "Brother Gao, I have been by your side since I left Shanxi. If I contacted Wu Sangui, how could you not know?"
Gao Jie thought for a moment and said, "This is strange. We were hidden so secretly that even Li Zicheng didn't notice us. How could he find us?"
Hearing this, Li Chengdong looked at the sentry and said, "How many people are here and who is taking the lead?"
The sentry said: "There are only five of them, and the leader seems to be named Wu Guogui!"
"Wu Guogui?"
Gao Jie exclaimed, was silent for a while, and said to Li Chengdong: "Let's go meet him!"
Li Chengdong nodded and followed Gao Jie forward.
...
Beijing, Wu Xiang's mansion.
Wu Xiang sat on the Grand Master's chair, looking at the imperial edict on the table with an irritated expression, and looking out of the hall from time to time.
Seeing this, Zushi on the side opened her mouth several times but endured it.
At this time, there was a rush of footsteps from outside the hall, and then an old man about fifty years old who looked like a housekeeper ran in quickly.
"Wu Ping, is there any news about the traitor?"
Wu Xiang hurriedly stepped forward and asked without waiting for Wu Ping to enter the hall.
Wu Ping shook his head helplessly and said: "I sent the message according to the method you said, but no one accepted it. Later, I took Xiao Liuzi around Zhengyang Gate for a long time, but I couldn't find a way out of the city!"
Wu Xiang heard this and cursed angrily: "You idiot, won't you give some money to the soldiers guarding the city and let them send you down to the city?"
Wu Ping smiled bitterly and said: "I gave it, but the soldiers refused to accept it. They said that His Majesty strictly ordered that no one be allowed to leave the city. Anyone who violates it will be beheaded!"
Wu Xiang sighed helplessly and said: "Hey, what a traitor. I have told him a long time ago that His Majesty's temperament has changed drastically. I asked him to come back to serve the king honestly, but he refused to live or die."
"Now that I finally came back, I did something like this again. Not only did I lose my troops, but I was also driven to a dead end. If I had known this, I should have strangled this beast to death..."
The Zu family on the side saw him getting more and more scolding, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Master, don't blame Sangui blindly. When His Majesty came to you, you couldn't bear to leave Guan Ning's cavalry..."
"What do you know, woman? Can you compare now with before? Have you not seen how many princes and ministers His Majesty has killed these days? Your traitorous son is still making small calculations. He is good, but he drove his father to death. .”
Wu Xiang didn't wait for Zu to finish her words and scolded her back.
"Master, I don't think His Majesty really wants your life. He probably wants to use this to force the Master to send troops, so there shouldn't be any danger for you to leave the city tomorrow."
Wu Ping saw that Wu Xiang had even scolded his ancestors, and was worried that Wu Xiang would vent his anger on himself, so he hurriedly advised him.
"What do you know? The one who attacked Zhengyang Gate was Zhang Tianlin. She was Li Thief's confidant and the one he hated the most..."
As Wu Xiang spoke, he suddenly stopped and said, "Yes, your Majesty has even killed Wei Zaode and Zhu Chunchen, so killing me is just a matter of words!"
"Yes, yes, Wu Ping, take Xiao Liuzi to Li Ruolian immediately and ask him to help you get out of the city!"
When Wu Ping heard this, he was a little surprised and said: "Is this okay? Li Ruolian is favored by His Majesty now. Will he violate His Majesty's orders for us?"
Wu Xiang kicked him in dissatisfaction and shouted angrily: "Go if you are told to go, there is no such nonsense!"
When Wu Ping saw this, he had no choice but to run out in a hurry.
"Wu Yong!"
After Wu Ping left, Wu Xiang shouted outside the hall.
"Master, what are your orders?"
As soon as Wu Xiang finished speaking, a burly middle-aged man immediately ran in, bowed and asked.
"Go and gather the retired domestic slaves in the mansion. Master, I want to lecture you!"
Wu Xiang ordered with a serious look on his face.
Wu Yong responded respectfully, turned around and retreated.
"Master, you don't want to take the opportunity to leave the city, do you? Then I will go and prepare. Anyway, my brother is outside the customs. We will go out..."
"You idiot, shut up! If you dare to talk nonsense again, be careful I tear your mouth apart!"
When Wu Xiang heard Zu's words, he frowned and scolded sternly: "Just stay here. If you dare to talk nonsense and run around, don't blame me for not showing affection to my uncle!"
Zu didn't know much at all, and usually relied on his elder brother Zu Dashou's remaining power to dare to say a few words in front of Wu Xiang. Now seeing Wu Xiang's fierce look, he immediately backed away in fright.
When Wu Xiang saw this, he glared at her dissatisfiedly before walking out of the hall quickly.
