"Eat his mother, wear his mother, open the gate to welcome King Chuang, but when King Chuang comes, he will not pay for food... The morning seeks promotion, the evening seeks marriage, and it is difficult for poor people to survive these days. Open the door early to greet King Chuang, and the discipline is happy for both the young and the old. "
Suddenly there was singing in his ears. Chang Yu followed the sound and saw that at the entrance of an alley, several children were singing happily, holding a few unnamed snacks in their hands with a smile on their face.
Hey, Li Yan really spent money on this propaganda. Chang Yu secretly laughed. This is Li Yan's usual method, which is to let his subordinates pretend to be merchants and wander around the streets to spread rumors: Breaking into Wang Renyi's army, killing or plundering... ...and use snacks to lure children into learning and singing those propaganda nursery rhymes, and wantonly deceive the people's hearts.
But even this technique, which would be regarded as very crude and superficial by later generations, achieved great success at this time. This is related to the general environment of contemporary people's lives. The country is suffering from internal and external troubles, coupled with natural and man-made disasters, food harvests are lost, starvation is everywhere, and people are in dire straits. However, the imperial court imposed excessive levies and levies, and a piece of pie drawn on paper became the hope of all of them.
So Li Yan succeeded, and his influence can be seen just by attacking Kaifeng. The first attack on Kaifeng was in the spring of the 14th year of Chongzhen. "It was estimated that there were only three thousand thieves and 30,000 followers." Who was the aid? , are the poor people who were tricked into being cannon fodder.
When Kaifeng was attacked for the third time a few months later, more than 100,000 followers had been defeated. With the help of these cannon fodder, Kaifeng was finally defeated.
He really has a way. Chunxiang and the others felt it was really new. They had been living in the inner palace for a long time. Although they had heard about it before, experiencing it for the first time was still a surprise.
"Uncle Li, are you really leaving?" In a house not far away, a woman walked out of the door and shouted to the opposite door. A house opposite was busy packing up, and people with large and small bags seemed to be fleeing.
"What should I do if I don't leave? I heard that the thieves have broken into the capital of Fenzhou and are about to reach Wenshui. If it's too late, I won't be able to leave." A relatively wealthy old man in his sixties frowned at the door and responded to him.
"Hey, just come. I heard that those thieves are pretty good and won't hurt the people."
The woman suddenly lowered her voice as she spoke: "I also heard that they either didn't levy any money or food, or only levied half of the original government fee. To be honest, I really hope they come."
"Bastard, a thief is a thief. He's not as good as you think." The old man blew his beard and glared angrily. The woman curled her lips and said nothing, turning around to go home.
At this time, two young people came up and took the initiative to talk to each other: "The eldest sister just said it is right, King Chuang will not pay for his food."
"Who are you?" The old man glared at the two of them impatiently.
"We from Fenzhou escaped yesterday. My family just came to look for me and asked me to go back. They said that the city of Fenzhou is safe and that the people who broke into the king are in strict military discipline and do not disturb the people or rob or plunder..." One person pointed to the people beside him. Another man: "This is my brother. He came here to look for me. If you don't believe me, ask my brother..."
Chang Yu shook his head slightly with disdain on his face.
"Spy" Li Xingzu whispered behind him.
Of course Chang Yu could tell who these two people were, and immediately gave Chunxiang and Li Xingzu a wink.
Li Xingzu was startled: "Did you do it?"
"if not!"
Chang Yu snorted and turned to leave.
Li Xingzu looked around and quietly followed the two spies with the two of them.
"The storm is coming and the wind is blowing all over the building." On the second floor of a tea house, Chang Yu stood leaning on the railing. He looked at the hurried passers-by in the neighborhood and sighed: "But it's much calmer than I thought."
"That means the thieves' scheming is very effective, right?" Chunxiang asked.
Chang Yu nodded: "It also shows that the court has lost the support of the people, and that the reputation of the officers and soldiers has been ruined... Hey, it explains too many things."
"Killing, killing..."
Suddenly, an exclamation came from an alley not far away. Chang Yu looked up and saw a few hurried figures flashing across the street. It was Li Xingzu and the other three.
"A lot of people are destined to die today," Chang Yu looked around and whispered.
"Is he a spy in the city?"
Chunxiang asked.
"There are only a few in the city." Chang Yu stretched out his hand and pointed to the north: "Over there, as I expected, Zhou Yuji has already taken action."
"I guess there are a lot of spies in the city." Chunxiang walked to Chang Yu and looked around, then a smile appeared on his face: "We also have a lot of manpower."
Chang Yu and his group of more than thirty people entered Wenshui City in batches to avoid being noticed, but they did not dare to go too far away from Chang Yu. They were all within a hundred meters. If there was any accident, they would come immediately with just a shout. support.
"Brother, why did we take such a big risk to come here? Why don't we wait for the army to advance and come here calmly? What are we trying to do?" Chunxiang really couldn't understand Chang Yu.
Chang Yu laughed and turned around and said, "I can't explain it. I like adventure and excitement, and I have to do whatever I decide to do immediately. I don't have the patience to wait. This may have something to do with my personality and career."
"Profession? Aren't you just a eunuch serving the master like me?"
Hey, Chang Yu chuckled and ignored his words: "As for the reason for coming here, I want to see what the most realistic enemy-occupied area looks like, and get some information and do some damage. You don't understand this kind of mentality. Because I can’t understand how curious people in later generations are.”
Future generations? What nonsense did he say again? Chunxiang shook his head. Chang Yu often said things he didn't understand, so he was used to it.
After leaving the teahouse, Chang Yu finally found a tavern. As soon as he entered, he was pushed out by the shopkeeper, saying that he was closed today and would not accept customers.
But when a five-tael ingot of silver was thrown over, the shopkeeper began to serve enthusiastically.
But when he saw twenty or thirty people suddenly pouring in, his expression changed again: "Dear kings, uncles..." He couldn't finish his words. He took out the ingot of silver tremblingly and walked to Chang'an. Yu returned the favor with both hands.
"What is this for?"
Chang Yu pretended not to know, stood up and stuffed the money into his arms: "We the shopkeepers are serious people, don't think nonsense, hurry up and get some food and bring it up."
As a serious person, the shopkeeper shuddered in his heart. This strong man in black clothes, who was in his 20s or 30s, looked at the bulge in his clothes and it was obvious that he was hiding something. He also spoke in a deliberately imitated dialect. It's a long journey. I've been to Fenzhou Prefecture in the south and Taiyuan Prefecture in the north to see the world.
However, he does not admit that he is a thief, and his words and deeds are neither arrogant nor domineering. As long as he eats, he seems to have no ill intentions. In this case, he pretends not to know, and just waits for him.
With enough water and food, Chang Yu and others left the tavern and looked for an inn. They were told that it was full. It turned out that it was full of guests who had fled Fenzhou Prefecture.
Chang Yu found it funny. Are these people who are fleeing stupid? If they want to escape, why don't they go as far as Taiyuan to this small town?
But then I thought again, they were most likely taking a temporary break, because even Zhou Yuji and others did not expect that the rebel army would take Fenzhou non-stop and go straight north without rest, let alone these ordinary people.
Wenshui was too small and there were only three or four inns. Chang Yu searched all over and finally found a courtyard inn near the east of the city. It was a cheap brand that mainly provided Datongpu for those who traveled north and south.
I didn't sleep all night, and I was already sleepy after running around for dozens of miles. At this time, I was still picky and contented with having a place to sleep. Even though the smell in the Datongpu room was enough to be used as a fermentation tank, I had slept with a eunuch. Even in the dormitory, he thought it was childish.
It was dark when I slept, but I didn't know that someone thousands of miles away was dizzy.
At the door of Qianqing, Chongzhen had a splitting headache. Although it had been half a day, he saw the secret report sent by Chang Yu. It was thrown away on the second day of February in Fenzhou Mansion and Huaiqing Mansion on the same day!
Two cities were lost in one day! It was already a heavy blow, and more importantly, it closed the prince's dream! Isn’t it true that God’s will cannot be violated?
Do you really want to destroy my Ming Dynasty? Is it true? I have tried my best. I have tried my best. What else do you want from me?
Chongzhen rubbed his head vigorously and glanced down. There was a courtier who was spitting and impeaching Chang Yu, the admiral of the East Factory. He was domineering, arbitrary, unbridled, and trembling... Several courtiers nearby echoed from time to time.
The prince Zhu Cihong who was listening to the government on one side glared at the courtiers with red eyes and said nothing. He wanted to curse these courtiers but could not speak. This was a rule. The prince could only listen but not speak when he was listening to the government.
