Zhu Yuanzhang was suspicious, so he carefully checked the seals and secret markings of the two secret letters, and found that there was nothing unusual, so he couldn't help but frowned.
Because everyone's secret message is different, and no one else knows it except themselves.
Now the secret codes on the two secret letters are normal and there are no signs of tampering, which rules out the possibility that the secret letters were transferred.
Moreover, the time of the two letters is roughly the same, but the content of Gong Yonggu is quite detailed, indicating that there is a problem with Wu Mengming's news channels.
He had previously thought that Wu Mengming went to Xi'an to deal with the assassination of the surrendered general. Now it seems that Wu Mengming sneaked into Xi'an only after the Jin Yiwei in the north was severely damaged.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought that the reason why he had been able to win many battles before was not only because he was proficient in strategy and knew the enemy well, but also to a large extent because of the news about Jin Yiwei.
But now as the war situation expanded, Jin Yiwei's news could no longer meet his needs, and he couldn't help but feel worried.
Zhu Yuanzhang read two more secret letters carefully, pondered for a while, and murmured to himself: "Judging from Bumbutai's actions, the Jurchen invasion should be confirmed, but I don't know the specific situation."
"But even if the Jurchens succeed, they will only be a lone army. In addition, Dorgon and Hauge have been defeated. Jierhalang should not dare to go deep in order to frighten the various Mongolian tribes."
"Perhaps it is for this reason and the fact that the Jinyiwei stronghold was destroyed that Wu Mengming didn't know about it."
"The reason why Niu Jinxing killed Li Yan may be to enhance Jierhalang's confidence, but Li Yan has always been unwilling to form an alliance with the Jurchens. Gao Yigong is a person he trusts, so he should not agree to this."
"But since he wants to fight against the Jurchens, even if he dare not release Liu Zongmin and others, he can still suspend the battle in Taiyuan and other places and let Hao Yaoqi and others go north to stop the Jurchens."
"Moreover, towns such as Yulin in Shaanxi have high walls and thick walls. It is impossible for the Jurchens to break through easily. Could it be that the rebels did it intentionally?"
"If this is true, Thief Li may have been secretly manipulating all this, but if it was just a ruse, how could Li Yan be killed..."
"The key to this matter still lies with Thief Li. If we can figure out his character, the matter may be clear. But who in the army..."
He suddenly remembered that Gao Jie's wife, Xing Shi, had been Li Zicheng's wife and should know something about Li Zicheng, so he asked Yang Qi to send Xing Shi to come.
Unexpectedly, Yang Qi came back for a while before Xing came over.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Xing's bun with exposed temples, springy brows and eyes, Luo Shang that seemed to be untied, with looming waves, and a snake waist that was about to dance and then rested, showing all the convexities, he suddenly felt disgust in his heart, and at the same time, a vague figure appeared in his mind.
But as soon as this figure appeared, he was forced back.
Just when he was surprised, Mrs. Xing saluted him as "the daughter of the people".
Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed the pungent smell and said in a deep voice: "You have been fighting with your husband for many years, but you have given up all your military achievements to Gao Jie. You are indeed a virtuous woman. Let's make you the third...deputy general first!"
Because Zhu Yuanzhang didn't like Xing's dissolute attitude, he originally wanted to make her the third-grade imperial concubine and restrain her with etiquette and law.
However, thinking that this title might increase his flattery, he changed his title to deputy general.
Mr. Xing was stunned when he heard this, and immediately understood that she would be wrong. She immediately stopped her flattery and expressed her gratitude respectfully.
After Zhu Yuanzhang signaled her to stand up, he asked directly: "Do you know Li Thief?"
A flash of surprise flashed across Xing's face, and at the same time he hid the resentment in his eyes, bowed and said: "The people...will be against those..."
Because she didn't want to mention Li Zicheng, she was about to evade it politely, but as soon as she spoke, she saw Zhu Yuanzhang's stern eyes.
Mr. Xing remembered that Zhu Yuanzhang looked like this when he slaughtered the soldiers alive before. After being shocked, he whispered: "The people... The general doesn't know much about this person. He only knows that he has a violent nature and is somewhat murderous. ....."
Seeing that Xing's words were full of resentment and unfair, Zhu Yuanzhang was about to find a reason to send her away, but he heard Xing's conversation change suddenly, saying that Li Zicheng had the appearance of a hero but not the talent of a king.
Then he pointed out the inherent shortcomings of Li Zicheng's regime, and compared it with the sworn friendship between Liu, Guan and Zhang of the Three Kingdoms. He said that Li Zicheng's regime relied on brotherhood, not the courtesy of monarchs and ministers, so it was unable to form a high degree of centralization and it was difficult to restrain the generals.
Then he said that Li Zicheng had been troubled by this and had tried to change it many times because of his limited talents and lack of courage to destroy the old and establish the new...
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Xing's remarks were quite insightful, and his disgust was greatly reduced. He listened carefully. At the same time, he was a little strange about Xing's completely different remarks.
In fact, Xing had some talents, but because Zhu Yuanzhang called her at night, she was conceited about her beauty and misunderstood Zhu Yuanzhang's meaning. In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang later mentioned the shame of her life without scruple, so she lost her normalcy in shame and anger. .
However, when she came back to her senses and saw Zhu Yuanzhang's dissatisfaction, she immediately guessed that he wanted to find out about Li Zicheng, so she hurriedly changed the subject and tentatively revealed some of her knowledge.
While Xing was telling the story, he secretly observed Zhu Yuanzhang's expression.
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang seemed very interested, she immediately tried her best to attract his attention.
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished her story, he asked some targeted questions.
When Xing asked the question, he also thought hard, hoping that the answer would satisfy Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang's disgust increased sharply when he saw that she was suspected of being a patron, and her behavior was even more dissolute.
However, he thought that he would need to rely on the power of the Xing family next, so he made her the third-grade imperial concubine.
When Xing saw Zhu Yuanzhang awarding rewards one after another, he already understood.
She knew that since Zhu Yuanzhang came, the land of Shandong no longer belonged to her, and at the same time she wanted to leave. So she expressed her loyalty to him when she thanked him, and said that she was willing to do her best.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he knew that Xingshi had guessed his thoughts.
Then he saw how clever she was at this moment, and realized that her previous gaffe was not a disguise, and he felt relieved.
So he placed the news of the Xi'an Incident on Zuo Liangyu, and after telling the truth and lies, he asked Xing whether he was willing to lead his troops westward and look for an opportunity to attack Xi'an.
Xing was a little regretful because she lost Shandong, but when she heard that she was asked to wait for an opportunity to attack Xi'an, she was overjoyed and immediately agreed.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw her promise and told her not to advance rashly, he asked her to lead the army first, and promised that if the couple was successful in this trip, they would be heavily rewarded.
Mrs. Xing was afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang would see through her thoughts, so she hurriedly bowed and left in a hurry.
After Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, he looked at Kun Yutu for a while, and said to himself: "According to Xing's statement, Li Thief has been resentful of Liu Zongmin, Li Yan and others for a long time. In order to gain power, it is possible that he took the opportunity to kill them. That matter is most likely a ploy to lure the enemy."
"It's just that he let the Jurchens in for show, isn't he afraid of playing with fire and burning himself?"
As Zhu Yuanzhang spoke, he drew pictures on Kun Yu Tu again, nodded and said: "As long as Xing Shi and Zuo Liangyu guard these checkpoints, Henan and Shanxi will be safe, and we can also concentrate on field training."
"When the army supplies mature in the fall, we can fight whether it's the rebels or the Jurchens!"
After that, he marked out the important places one by one, and wrote down how many troops and horses were needed and other things.
After dealing with all this, he meditated for a while, forcing down the greed caused by Li Zicheng's death.
Because with his current military strength, he must not take risks, otherwise all previous efforts will be wasted.
Later, he once again emphasized the consequences of rash advancement in letters to Xing, Zuo Liangyu, and Gong Yonggu, and strictly ordered them to only hold on to the city.
At this time, Yang Qi ran in with a look of panic.
Some people died, but not completely...
