Why was Li Zicheng, who had just been tricked by Zhou Yuji, and was so angry when he heard that Cai Maode was coming to surrender, that he was willing to fall for it even if the other party was cheating?
The reason is simple, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, he is willing to wait and bet!
The reason is that he, who was born as a grass bandit, really hopes to be recognized by orthodoxy, and as the backbone of orthodoxy, he is a scholar and civil servant, which is his dream.
Literati controlled the direction of public opinion in this era, and they were the final important component in the structure of this dynasty.
Everything is inferior, status is noble.
However, being a thief is the most shameful profession even for ordinary people in this era. It is a profession that they will not be able to see their ancestors after they die.
Not to mention the existence of those who are simply natural enemies in the eyes of those literati who rely on their integrity. This is why although Li Zicheng was so powerful, there were very few literati who defected to him. Even those who surrendered after the city was broken were only in vain. With the Snake Committee, there was only one talented person named Zhang Linran, the prefect of Pingyang who helped him write the famous edict of the first year of Yongchang. Before he could write it, Chang Yu killed him with a single shot.
Although he had established a country in Xi'an and proclaimed himself emperor, he knew in his heart that he was still just a copycat, and he needed the endorsement of scholars for him.
Cai Maode, an ascetic monk, was an orthodox civilian cadre. He had been working in the Ministry of Education of Jiangxi Province since early on as deputy envoy for promoting education. He also lectured at Bailudong Academy, a famous university, and was famous all over the world. Later, he was transferred to Shanxi and had a close relationship with Sanli Academy. , it is not an exaggeration to say that this person is the leader of Shanxi literati.
Now that Cai Maode suddenly vowed to endorse him, could he not make his blood boil? He was simply happier than his own father coming back from the dead.
Some people may think it's too exaggerated, but it's not at all!
This is evident when you think about Li Zicheng's kind treatment of those generals who were surrendered by the Ming army, let alone such a famous civil servant.
In fact, in history, after the city of Taiyuan was destroyed, Cai Maode hanged himself in Sanli Academy and did not meet Li Zicheng. However, when he was in Datong, Li Zicheng met Wei Jingyuan, another great civil servant.
Do you know what he did?
He really knelt in front of Wei Jingyuan and burst into tears: "I'm just a farmer. It's God's will to get into this job. For God's sake, just obey me."
Of course Wei Jingyuan replied to him: Fuck you.
After waiting for three days, Li Zicheng saw that he would rather die than surrender, so he said: "You are a good official and a loyal minister. Since you are not willing to surrender, I will send you home."
But Lao Wei was loyal to Ming Ting and said: "Don't talk nonsense, kill me quickly."
Blind Li said: "I won't kill you."
When Lao Wei heard this, he was afraid that he would not be a loyal minister and a dutiful son, so he secretly went to Haihui Temple and committed suicide.
Even so, after hearing this, Li Zicheng took fifty taels of silver and sent the coffin to Wei Jingyuan's hometown in Hancheng for burial, which shows his desire and kindness towards famous civil servants.
This is why when he heard that Cai Maode was coming to surrender, he still had to give it a try even if he knew there was a trick. This was also where Chang Yu calculated correctly. No matter how Zhou Yuji teased him, he would stand up to the sky and burn with desire. Water can cool him down and keep him docile.
Moreover, the origin of this matter is strange, but it does not rule out that Cai Maode really intends to surrender.
But how much is this true? Blind Li and his staff need to make careful calculations.
Some details can be vaguely inferred from the lines of Cai Maode's words. In fact, he may not have wanted to surrender, but the King of Jin ordered him to go through the trouble to protect his life. After assessing the interests after several arguments, Lao Cai finally recognized it and hurriedly came from Taiyuan. It happened that Zhou Yuji had just tricked the blind man Li, so he persuaded Zhou Yuji with a lot of spitting, and wrote a handwritten letter to the blind man Li to express his sincerity.
If it is true at this time, we can achieve three goals with one stone. We have Cai Maode, martial arts have Zhou Yuji, and king have Zhu Shenxuan. It is simply too exciting.
Although this matter is too watery, it is not nonsense. The belief is 50% true, not to mention that Li Zicheng is willing to bet even if there is only a 1% chance.
The main reason why he and his staff thought it was not nonsense was that they believed that the Jin King would surrender was highly credible.
Why?
It's not that Li Zicheng was too cruel to the Ming Dynasty clan before. From Kaifeng, Luoyang and other previous vassal kings, as long as he caught any one of them, he would not have his skin cramped, men would cut off his penis, and women would become military prostitutes and ravage them inhumanely. This matter After being processed through various gossips, it became even more horrifying and has already spread throughout the world.
The King of Jin was young and his determination was too weak. Hearing about the tactics of the traitors and the fact that they were approaching the city at this time, it was not surprising that he was frightened and willing to surrender to protect the lineage of the King of Jin. In fact, before the traitors crossed the Yellow River, Cai Maode set up a defense line in Pingyang Mansion. At that time, the King of Jin was so frightened that he quickly asked him to come back to guard Taiyuan City. If not for this, Chen Shangzhi and Zhang Linran might not have surrendered so easily.
Moreover, although Cai Maode was the governor, the King of Jin was the boss in Taiyuan City. Officials did not dare to disobey what he said, and no matter how soft or hard he said, it was easy to see the benefits. Cai Maode was moved by compassion and was willing to risk infamy for future generations to help Zhu Shenxuan. .
Li Zicheng discussed with his staff enthusiastically, but all his generals went to the military camp. They prepared to make a decision after the initial discussion. If the negotiation could not be concluded, or Cai Maode was also a cover, they stopped talking nonsense and immediately sent troops to attack Taiyuan.
On the contrary, over in Wenshui City, Chang Yu in Jiaocheng seemed much more relaxed. It was getting dark early and the soldiers had already eaten and were performing their duties.
In the county government house, Chang Yu was devouring a whole roasted lamb in front of him. Zhou Yuji was grilling it himself, Cai Maode was spreading cumin next to him, Niu Yong and Wang Yongkui were pouring wine and having fun together, and Zhu Kongxun was the only one missing from the three major generals. , because he was on duty outside.
"The factory owner is really sure that I can frighten the intruder?" Cai Maode sprinkled cumin, his brows still furrowed. He was not confident in himself. He had asked this question countless times.
Chang Yu smiled slightly and wiped the corners of his mouth: "It's a done deal. Mr. Cai, please wait a moment. We can guarantee that there won't be many intruders and someone will send a letter to discuss the specific matters."
"The factory owner always seems to predict things like a god." Zhou Yuji looked at Chang Yu with a half-smile but not a smile.
"Don't dare, don't dare"
Chang Yu laughed: "But our family knew that the intruder was very excited at this time, but he was worrying about gains and losses!"
Niu Yong and Wang Yongkui laughed in agreement: "The factory owner knows things like a god."
It would be nice if that was the case. Chang Yu looked up at the night sky. He had no idea what was happening to Wu Mengming now. He had been gone for three or four days and he looked very much like him.
What is Wu Mengming doing?
It’s a long story, he was cursing!
In the mountains more than ten miles northwest of Weihui Mansion (the government governs today's Weihui City), Wu Mengming was nesting in a thatched shed, tearing apart the fragrant hare in his hand while keeping mpp in his mouth.
After three days and three nights of almost non-stop running, the skin on his buttocks was almost peeling off, and the bird's nest underneath was almost destroyed. Finally, he rushed to Wei Hui in a hurry.
The dust and sadness along the way, who knows who can use it, Wu Mengming dared to swear that this was the first time in his life that he had suffered such a crime.
In fact, the hardships along the way were secondary. The most heart-wrenching thing was the mental torture. He was timid by nature, but every step he took was one step closer to the bandits, and he felt like he was being sent to the tiger's mouth.
Liu Fangliang's tens of thousands of troops are in Huaiqing Mansion (Qinyang), which is only more than 300 miles away from here. They can attack at any time, and if they are not protected, they will encounter small groups of rebel soldiers, and they will be exposed by accident.
Fortunately, he was on tenterhooks all the way, but there was no danger. After all, the rebel army was either due west or due south. He came all the way from the north, so the chance of encountering him was not high.
Kankan rushed to the vicinity of Wei Hui Mansion before noon. In order to hide his whereabouts, he led his team into the mountains and found a remote valley, where he had his men hastily built a camp in the woods and settled there.
The fifty men who arrived before him had already entered the city in batches, contacted the local Jinyiwei of Weihui Mansion and sent some information.
Not long ago, the bandit general Liu Fangliang entered Huaiqing Mansion. The deputy general Chen De arrested the patrol censor Su Jing and surrendered to the bandit army.
The bandits walked into the Huaiqing Mansion without using a single sword or arrow. Now, King Zheng and some of the squires who were entrusted here were in trouble.
Who is Chen De? It should be mentioned here that he is not an ordinary Ming army deputy general, because his father is Chen Yongfu, who shot and killed Li Zicheng and then surrendered and was made a count.
I have to say that Chongzhen is so damn arrogant. I have already turned into a traitor, but my son has not been arrested quickly, or at least dismissed from his post for review. How can he actually believe that he can distinguish between loyalty and filial piety? Killing relatives for righteousness?
"Liu thieves are in the city wantonly torturing the royal family, squires, wealthy households and people, and handling government affairs. According to their usual practice, they have set up defense envoys, governors and magistrates of the six counties under their jurisdiction.
It is unclear whether King Zheng Zhu Yiduo escaped or was captured."
This is the information Jin Yiwei brought about the Huaqing Mansion.
As for the situation in Wei Hui Mansion in front of us, the situation is much more detailed.
Because they were so close, there was chaos in the city. Many wealthy and wealthy families had begun to flee out of the city, and most of them took refuge in the mountains. This Wu Mengming had already encountered several groups in the mountains. When he saw people and horses hiding among them, those people almost peeed in fear. .
Wu Mengming also refrained from ransacking them in order not to lose the watermelon because of Sesame.
As for Prince Lu's Mansion, he has arranged for manpower to keep an eye on it for twelve hours. At the same time, he has deployed manpower at the east gate and north gate of Weihui City. If there is any trouble, he will know it immediately.
Chang Yu, Chang Yu, I hope your guess is right, otherwise I would have traveled thousands of miles in vain.
Wu Mengming thought in his mind and glanced at Cheng Ming and Tang Potian beside him. The two of them had been sleeping since lunch at noon. They really didn't know why they were so worried.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I just celebrated the New Year and am still a little busy, so I can only update once a day, please forgive me! Thanks to book friends for their support. Yesterday, the number of subscriptions exceeded 400. I am very happy. Thank you to the book friends who voted for rewards. Special thanks to the book friends called Beast, Northern Industries, the melancholy romantic Wai Xiong, that moment of hesitation, 161027... In no particular order, I love you all
