In a house at the gate of the city, Zhou Yuji's face was solemn: "The bandit army has previously sent people to inform them that if the conflict is suspended, they will send people to negotiate in the afternoon. If the general had not delayed the time, he would have killed them..."
"They are just a delaying tactic," Chang Yu interrupted.
"The general doesn't know that everyone is delaying each other."
Zhou Yuji looked at Chang Yu and smiled bitterly: "We have just made a plan. With the ambiguity, we should be able to delay it for two or three days. But at this time, I am afraid that it will be difficult to delay for a day. I am afraid that if we disagree today, we will face life and death." .
Chang Yu felt the gazes of several people and slowly came to his senses: "You mean that killing Li Laiheng will anger the intruders..."
Zhou Yuji and others didn't speak, but their eyes expressed one meaning, otherwise?
This time it was Chang Yu's turn to smile bitterly, and after a long silence: "Then how to deal with it now, I'm afraid the people sent by the other party are coming soon."
Zhou Yuji spread his hands and said: "Keep stalling for as long as you can. If you can't drag it on, just beat him. Who is afraid of whom?"
"Domineering" Chang Yu gave a thumbs up: "Our family appreciates General Zhou's courage. We will fight sooner or later anyway, who is so afraid of whom?"
"But how do you plan to delay it?"
Zhou Yuji chuckled and glanced at Niu Yong and others: "One is a bad guy, and the other is a red face."
Before half time (around two o'clock in the afternoon), an army of three thousand thieves marched slowly south of Jiaocheng. In front of them, more than ten thousand troops were waiting in formation. The negotiators of the thieves' army arrived.
got windy? Chang Yu, who was standing on the top of the city, looked up at the sky. Perhaps he felt a strong murderous aura. The originally clear sky suddenly changed color and even started to be windy.
Tens of thousands of troops were waiting in full formation. This was a show of force and momentum. This powerful aura made the three thousand bandits on the opposite side immediately shrink back.
Three thousand soldiers and horses of the bandit army stopped a hundred meters away from the officers and soldiers, then rushed out a fast horse and came directly to the front of the formation.
"Chen Shangzhi, the forward of Ruhou of Dashun Army, and General Xiong Tong came to see General Zhou on the order of Emperor Shun."
Four people, including Zhou Yuji and Niu Yong, rode from behind the formation and walked more than ten meters away from the front: "Please."
Not long after, more than ten riders came out of the bandit formation and slowly arrived five meters away from Zhou Yuji. The person in front was Xiong Tong, and the person next to him was Chen Shangzhi, the deputy commander-in-chief of Pingyang Mansion. The other person next to him was obviously a civil servant. Looking a little unfamiliar, several people hugged Zhou Yuji on their horses and said, "General Zhou, you are well."
"Traitor, if you are not a good person, you will become a thief and a lackey." Niu Yong snorted, with a look of contempt on his face.
"Stooges" Zhu Kongxun and Wang Yongkui also shouted and cursed.
Xiong Tong looked ashamed, coughed slightly and said nothing, looking at Zhou Yuji.
Zhou Yuji raised his hand to signal Niu Yong and others to be silent, and looked at Xiong Channel: "For the sake of my former colleagues, if you have anything to say, please speak up."
"Sir, what else can you say to this bitch? I'll kill this bitch when I'm humbled." Niu Courage could only shout loudly, and he was about to rush over with his knife.
Zhou Yuji stopped him and said, "If the two armies are fighting and don't kill the envoy, we can't break the rules and let the conversation go off the rails."
"Bah, they are still human beings! They are just a bunch of thieves and lackeys." Wang Yongkui looked angry.
"Say it"
Zhou Yuji ignored Wang Yongkui and others, looked at Xiong Tong in front of him and said calmly.
"The general is so forthright, I won't beat around the bush anymore. Emperor Shun has admired the general's demeanor for a long time and is willing to form a good relationship. If the general surrenders, he will be granted the title of king and marquis..." Xiong Tong talked eloquently.
Niu Yong couldn't help but chime in: "He's just a bandit, and he claims to be emperor. It's ridiculous, it's ridiculous. If you become a thief for one day, you will never be able to stand up again. A thief is a thief... Mr. Zhou has unparalleled loyalty and righteousness. How could you do that?" If you dare to say one more thing if you are willing to be a thief next time, I will chop you into pieces!"
(Whether Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor is still controversial in later generations. He established the Dashun Kingdom in Xi'an and named his ancestor emperor, but there is no record of claiming to be emperor. Even when he attacked the city of Beijing and negotiated peace with Chongzhen, He only asked Chongzhen to recognize his identity as King Dashun, but instead, his words of proclaiming emperor only contained some honorific titles for him.)
Xiong Tong's face turned red after being scolded by Niu Yong, and he immediately kept silent. The scholar next to him stepped forward and said: "General Zhou, the general trend is the general trend. A wise man is a man who knows the current affairs. The Ming court is unpopular... like a man in a violent storm and waves. Ye Bianzhou is destined to be destroyed. On the other hand, the army has strong soldiers and strong horses, and it obeys the will of God and the people. A change of dynasty is inevitable. Why should a general with such talent work for the Zhu family who cannot afford to support him..."
"Shut up!" Niu Yong yelled and was about to scold him, but Zhou Yuji reached out to stop him. His brows were deeply furrowed, thoughtful.
"General, you know the current situation best. At this time, the Ming Dynasty is suffering from internal and external troubles, as well as natural and man-made disasters. It cannot sustain itself. If nothing else, let me just talk about how many soldiers and horses there are in Taiyuan Palace in front of you. Only tens of thousands. How to resist hundreds of thousands of Shun troops? What’s more, the Ming army is short of pay and food, and its military morale is unstable. Are there any people willing to sacrifice their lives for the court? Why did you sacrifice the lives of so many people for one man’s foolish loyalty..."
Civil servants rely solely on their mouths, and the words are really different. Xiong Tong secretly observed Zhou Yuji's expression and saw that he was already hesitant. He couldn't help but look at Chen Shangzhi beside him, who gave him a slight smile.
But then he saw doubts in Chen Shangzhi's eyes. Xiong Tong turned around and saw the team behind Zhou Yuji move away, and three more people came side by side on horseback. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, seeing that the man in front was not very old, could he be the King of Jin? Come on, it’s unlikely, and it doesn’t look like it.
Zhou Yuji also heard the noise and looked back, but it was Chang Yu who was here, so the two nodded slightly as a greeting.
Chang Yu rode up to Wang Yongkui's side and asked in a low voice: "Who is that person?"
"The speaker is Zhang Linran, the former magistrate of Pingyang Prefecture. The short and stocky one next to him is Xiong Tong, and the tall and thin one is Chen Shangzhi. They are a bunch of traitors..."
Zhang Linran? Chang Yu frowned. He remembered that the prince had told him that before the rebels took Pingyang Mansion, Zhang Linran had been placed under house arrest by Chongzhen because of his secret report. How come he still surrendered to the rebels, and now he came openly? It is good luck to recruit and surrender Zhou.
Yes! Chang Yu thought about it for a while and figured it out. I'm afraid that Pingyang Mansion had been lost before Chongzhen's decree was sent to Pingyang Mansion. Just like when Pingyang Mansion was lost, there was a censor who impeached Cai Maode for neglecting his duties, and Chongzhen Furious, he immediately ordered dismissal and investigation. However, when the imperial edict arrived, Taiyuan City had just been abandoned, and the new governor Guo Jingchang had just arrived at Guguan. Hearing that the rebels had broken through Fenzhou Prefecture, he was too frightened to move forward.
Fortunately, because of the appearance of the little butterfly Chang Yu, although Cai Maode was still imprisoned, surprisingly, Chongzhen resisted dismissal and only said that he would stay on for inspection. Presumably he did not want to disturb the public sentiment at this time.
Another possibility is that although Zhang Linran was dismissed from his post, the rebels found him and reused him after they captured Pingyang Mansion. After all, this guy was not very eloquent. In history, Li Zicheng issued the second appeal to the world after he captured Taiyuan. It was written by him. It was really eloquent and nearly a thousand words, just like he was recruiting Zhou Yuji to surrender at this time. He was eloquent and every word was precise.
It seemed that Blind Li was able to keep his composure. Chang Yu looked at the people across from him and thought that if he killed Li Laiheng, Li Zicheng would be so angry that he would directly lead his troops to question him, but unexpectedly, he was still just a few cannon fodder lobbyists.
No matter how angry Niu Yong and other generals around him were, Zhou Yuji remained silent, but his face was hesitant, as if he was making a very difficult decision.
"We brothers may be able to get the first credit this time. Defeating Taiyuan without a fight is our best vote of fame." Chen Shangzhi looked at Zhou Yuji's expression and said with a little pride.
Xiong Tong nodded slightly, his face filled with joy: "It turns out that Zhou Yuji is nothing more than..."
A muffled sound of "bang" interrupted Xiong Tong, and then he and Chen Shangzhi were shocked to find that Zhang Linran beside them fell off the horse, with a big blood hole on his forehead, and blood was pouring out.
"This..." Xiong Tong looked shocked and looked up, only to see the young man next to Zhou Yuji, the gun in his hand was smoking.
Zhou Yuji and others also looked shocked and panicked.
"Quickly retreat" Xiong Tong was still confused. Chen Shangzhi quickly pulled him and then ran towards his camp.
Chang Yu actually shot and killed Zhang Linran! Just when he was talking incessantly, when everyone else was paying attention to Zhou Yuji's expression, he took out the gun in his hand, took a look at it, and just picked it lightly. The man who had just surrendered a few days ago was still spitting. The former magistrate of Pingyang Prefecture was shot in the head and was found dead in the wilderness.
"Lord Factory Master"
Chang Yu's move not only frightened Xiong Tong and Chen Shangzhi and fled in panic, but also made Zhou Yuji and others look horrified.
"What's wrong? You just killed a little lackey, why are you so surprised?" Chang Yu casually handed the gun to Zhou Tianpeng behind him and asked him to load the gunpowder bullets.
Alas, Zhou Yuji let out a long sigh with a look of helplessness on his face: "Mr. Factory Master, although we have agreed that one will be the bad guy and the other will be the hottie, as a delaying strategy, your face is a bit too pale, too pale."
"It's okay. As long as you continue to play red face, it's just a dog that died. Blind Li will not fall out with you. If you don't believe it, just look at it." As he said, the rebels were arrayed, and sure enough, they saw Xiong Tong and others who had fled back to the camp still looking around. The team was not ordered to retreat.
"The reason why our family couldn't help but kill this dog is because we don't like civil servants from the bottom of our hearts, especially such spineless traitors. On the contrary, they are particularly eloquent, high-sounding civil servants who are not ashamed to confuse right and wrong."
Zhou Yuji smiled bitterly: "The play can continue, but it has to change from passive to active."
"If you take the initiative, you may get unexpected gains, and you may be able to delay it for a longer time." Chang Yu chuckled: "Go on, our family is going back to the city." After saying that, he drove off and saw Zhou Yuji and the others. This man is simply He's just a troublemaker. He kills someone within half a cup of tea and then leaves, leaving himself to wipe his own ass.
But this was fine, the more the water was agitated, the better the fish would be, so while smiling bitterly, Zhou Yuji sent someone to the bandits' formation to spread the word: It was an accident just now, and we can negotiate again.
It was getting dark, and Chang Yu was warming himself by the fire in his South Gate residence, thinking about life.
Zhou Yuji and others are back.
"How is it?" Chang Yu stood up and poured hot water for several people.
"I've been pretending for two days and told them to let me think about it. I'll give them a reply the day after tomorrow." Zhou Yuji shook his head and sneered: "I really wanted to chop up all those two lackeys just now."
"Haha, even in a low-level position, I want to kill him quickly, but I don't have the courage of a factory supervisor." Wang Yongkui did not forget to give Chang Yu a high hat.
Courage, hey, that's called recklessness, Zhou Yuji thought to himself, but he couldn't say the words, so he just smiled and said nothing.
"Report, general, Governor Cai sent someone to report that something happened in Taiyuan."
Just then one of Zhou Yuji's soldiers came to report.
Everyone raised their eyebrows. What could happen to Taiyuan? They immediately called the messenger to see him.
"The scholars of Sanli Academy gathered to make trouble and besieged the governor's office, which is related to Dongchang." The messenger sent such news, which immediately confused everyone.
hateful! Niu Yong snorted heavily: "What time has it been? Are these scholars free from work? Are we going to make matters worse at this time?"
The literati making trouble was like the farts of gods, which was extraordinary. You must know that scholars were in control of the public opinion at this time. If you are not careful, the people will be panicked. However, the specific reason why they made trouble was not explained clearly by the messenger. He only said that Cai Maode asked Chang Yu to return to Taiyuan as soon as possible. deal with.
Taiyuan has the King of Jin in charge, the governor and the deputy commander of the army as assistants, but they can't even suppress a student movement. It's really useless. Chang Yu snorted coldly and ordered his subordinates to pack up and prepare to go back. Taiyuan is the top priority, so don't do it. Something happened, and there shouldn't be any fighting in Jiaocheng these days, so I just took the time to go back and take a look.
