In Dongnuan Pavilion, Zhu Yuanzhang's jade belt had been pressed under his belly, and he listened to Liu Wenbing's war report with an angry look on his face.
He was angry not because the war was unfavorable, but because Li Zicheng could have been captured, but someone let him escape.
It turned out that when he arrived at Li Zicheng's camp three hours ago, Gao Jie and others had defeated the Xuanjia cavalry and formed an encirclement.
He was overjoyed when he saw this. He originally wanted Wang Shoulin to lead an army to attack Li Zicheng's central army. Unexpectedly, Ma Jinzhong's army was defeated by the fleeing Bai Guangen's troops, leaving a gap in the encirclement.
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately ordered Wang Shoulin to round them up, but because they were too far away, by the time Wang Shoulin and his army arrived, Li Zicheng had already led his troops out of the siege.
Fortunately, Li Ruolian rushed out at this time and blocked Li Zicheng's way.
However, Li Ruolian only had 2,000 light cavalry under his command, so he had no advantage in a head-to-head fight with Li Zicheng's black armored cavalry. Li Chengdong's troops, who were closest to Li Zicheng and had the strongest offensive, actually only surrounded and suppressed Tang Tong's soldiers at this time and did not support Li Ruolian in time.
In fact, even if Li Chengdong did not support him, Li Zicheng could be captured as long as Wang Shoulin's 3,000 heavy armored cavalry rushed over.
Unexpectedly, when Li Chengdong's troops saw Wang Shoulin's cavalry coming, they not only did not give way, but took advantage of the opportunity of fighting to block the cavalry's advance.
Just at this time, Li Mou and Liu Zongmin led their troops to help.
Li Ruolian was attacked from both sides and was immediately defeated, allowing Li Zicheng to escape.
"Your Majesty, now Li Zicheng has joined Li Guo's troops and retreated to the Juyongguan area. Wu Sangui, Gao Jie and others have written to ask if they will pursue the victory in pursuit?"
While Zhu Yuanzhang was deep in thought, Liu Wenbing softly repeated the question just now.
Seeing everyone's worried expressions, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "We heard that Liu Fangliang is also here. Where is he now?"
Hearing this, Liu Wenbing was silent for a while and said: "Liu Fangliang's five thousand cavalry and Liu Zongmin's remnants have retreated to the Langfang area, presumably to join the Baoding army."
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and said: "Dong An Guo, you don't need to keep silent. Li Zicheng's move is clearly to block the sea route to prevent us from escaping south."
"After such a defeat, this person is still so thoughtful and has such courage and courage. He is indeed a talent."
Wang Shoulin heard this and thought that Li Zicheng had escaped under his nose and was still so rampant at this moment. He stepped forward with an annoyed look and said: "Your Majesty, Li Zicheng only has tens of thousands of remaining soldiers. Please issue an order and the general will immediately lead his army to capture him." Capture him."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said: "Okay, Wang Qing is very brave, we appreciate it very much!"
"However, although Li Zicheng was defeated, his combat power is still there. In addition, the Baoding army may be arriving soon, so we should not underestimate it."
After saying that, he glanced at Shen Zhanran again and said, "Shen Qing, what do you think of this situation?"
Shen Zhanran was silent for a while and said: "Your Majesty, according to An Guogong's report, Li Guo's Laoba Battalion was not damaged, and Liu Zongmin's army still had more than 10,000 people. This shows that although the rebels were defeated, they No bones or muscles were broken.”
"It is really unusual for this situation to occur in such a huge victory. Wei Chen feels that Li Zicheng must have noticed this and made such arrangements."
"Therefore, in my opinion, it is not appropriate to fight again at this moment. We must first reorganize the city defenses and appease the reinforcements to prepare for any danger!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he looked at Liu Wenbing and said, "Dong An Guo, what do you think of Shen Qing's suggestion?"
Liu Wenbing respectfully said: "Your Majesty, what Master Shen said is reasonable. When I was fighting at the Chaoyang Gate, I found that although Guan Ning's cavalry was galloping, they only killed the soldiers and did not capture Liu Zongmin. This shows that they are not willing to wipe out all the rebels. "
"Moreover, our 20,000 elites have suffered more than 5,000 casualties in the war, and they are in urgent need of rest and recuperation. It is not appropriate to fight again!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and after asking Gong Yonggu, Li Ruolian, Jiang Dejing and others for their opinions one by one, he finally looked at Zhu Cihong and said, "Prince, what do you think of the opinions of the ministers?"
When Zhu Cixi heard this, a look of panic flashed across his face, and he forced himself to be calm and said: "My son, I feel that all the opinions of the ministers have merit, but they are too pessimistic."
As Zhu Cixiang spoke, he glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang again. Seeing that his eyes were full of encouragement, he couldn't help but raise his voice and said: "All the ministers feel that the reinforcements will not go to death, so they are worried about the reinforcements."
"But since the reinforcements have come to help, you should know that they really have the intention of saving King Qin. The reason why they don't go to any lengths is just because they don't want to interrupt their own promotion path."
"You must know that the Ming Dynasty has always valued civility over military affairs. Most of the generals in the court were bullied by the literati. It was not until rebels emerged that military talents rose up due to conquests."
"So in order to maintain their own glory and wealth, they will inevitably raise their own self-esteem. At the same time, in order to avoid being looked down upon by the court, they are not willing to fight to the death, lest they lose their own strength."
"So I believe that if this problem is not solved, no matter how many reinforcements there are, they will not be able to truly defeat the rebels."
"So now we should use kindness and power to bring the reinforcements home, so that the rebels will not have anything to worry about."
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that although Zhu Cixiang's words were superficial, his thinking was correct, and he asked again: "In your opinion, how should we solve this problem?"
Zhu Cixi thought for a while and said: "My son feels that the reinforcement generals contributed a lot to this great victory. My father issued a decree to commend him to reassure him."
"At the same time, we ordered to severely punish the surrendered generals Bai Guangen, Tang Tong and others, so as to shock the generals and make them fearful."
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Zhu Cihong was talking about severely punishing Bai Guangen, he hesitated, and then asked: "In your opinion, how should they be punished?"
Zhu Cixiang hesitated for a while and said in a deep voice: "Bai Guangen, Tang Tong ignored the emperor's kindness and surrendered and rebelled again. It is really an unpardonable crime and should be beheaded in public!"
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Zhu Cixiang's face turned a little pale after he finished speaking. He nodded encouragingly and said, "We think the prince's words are very reasonable, but the details still need to be improved."
With that said, he looked at Shen Zhanran and said: "Shen Qing, go back to Li Jing and work out a plan with him to reward ordinary soldiers who have made meritorious service in this battle, especially those who died in the battle, and they should receive more compensation!"
When Shen Zhanran heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then agreed with admiration.
"Li Qing, please ask the Jin Yiwei to conduct a thorough investigation and make a list of those who are cowering in this battle or secretly collaborating with the enemy. Give it to the reinforcement generals and ask them to punish them severely and write a letter to report to us!"
"Dong An Guo, go and discuss with Fan Qing and draw up a reward decree for Wu Sangui, Gao Jie and other generals. It does not emphasize loyalty over military merit!"
"Wang Qing, you will escort Bai Guangen, Tang Tong and other surrendered generals out of Chaoyang Gate early tomorrow morning, and peel the lasts under the city gate. At the same time, you require that the generals from more than 100 households in the reinforcements must be present to watch the execution!"
...
As Zhu Yuanzhang issued a series of orders, everyone's previous worries were wiped away, and they stepped forward to take orders.
