"Your Majesty, good news, good news!"
Niu Jinxing's voice reached the ears of Li Zicheng, who was in the main hall of the former Jin Palace and now the Dashun Palace, squinting one eye and looking at the Tang newspaper sent by Yuan Zongdi from Xiangyang.
Li Zicheng raised his eyes and saw Niu Jinxing flying towards him. Then he knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty vassal in Datong has agreed to join forces with us! Now we can teach the Tatars a lesson!"
"What?" Li Zicheng frowned slightly, "You agreed now? Did you mention any conditions?"
"I didn't mention it...according to Luo Xiushen, Dai Fan just received a wax pill order from the young prince of the Zhu family, which ordered Dai Fan and our Dashun to join forces to fight against the Qing Dynasty!"
Li Zicheng was silent for a moment, and then suddenly turned his attention to Song Xiance who was standing aside: "Military advisor, what do you think?"
Song Xiance said: "Your Majesty, didn't Yuan Hou's Tang newspaper say that the crown prince of the Zhu family sent a prince to Taiping Mansion to greet Military Advisor Gu?"
Li Zicheng nodded: "It seems that the young prince of the Zhu family is not willing to fight with his brother to death anymore!"
"In addition, I also received a newspaper sent by General Ma today. The newspaper told about Zhang Xianzhong's attack on Chengdu." Song Xiance added, "Zhang Xianzhong has always had the ambition to become emperor. If he becomes emperor in Chengdu, , the next step will probably be an eastward expedition to Huguang."
"Huh!" Li Zicheng snorted, seemingly dissatisfied with Zhang Xianzhong's entry into Sichuan, because he also wanted to take Sichuan, the land of abundance, as his own. In early September, the general Ma Ke and his troops were sent to Sichuan to seize territory. It is estimated that they are now fighting Zhang Xianzhong. However, Li Zicheng's main attention is now on Shanxi, and he does not have much spare energy to spend on Sichuan. He was not sure whether Ma Ke could win.
Song Xian continued his analysis: "Before, the crown prince of the Zhu family fought with nobles and ministers from the south of the Yangtze River in Nanjing, which was a huge blow! ... And Zuo Liangyu was also involved. Therefore, I think that the crown prince of the Zhu family will not be able to control the overall situation in the southeast so easily, and there will probably be internal strife on Can Ming's side next!"
"That's right!" Li Zicheng stroked his beard and exhaled, "He has too much time to take care of himself, so he wouldn't embarrass himself. He doesn't expect them to help, as long as they don't stab him in the forehead during the bloody battle with the Tatars. Hit with one knife!"
"No," Song Xiance smiled, "Zhu Cijiong, a child, doesn't understand the truth about lips dying and teeth falling cold. How can three old foxes Wang Yongji, Jiang Yu, and Gao Di understand it?"
Li Zicheng nodded, and just as he was about to continue discussing with Song Xiance, someone came to report that Luo Hu, the general of Guoyi who was stationed at Guguan, had arrived in Taiyuan according to the order and was waiting outside the palace.
"Please come and see Uncle Tongguan!" The smile on Li Zicheng's face became even thicker.
This Luo Hu was a general from the Children's Camp. Li Zicheng watched him grow up. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he had the same affection as father and son. Moreover, because the backbone of the troops led by Luo Hu are all "children" who followed Li Zicheng to conquer the world since they were young, they are particularly loyal to Dashun. They are particularly brave in fighting and are not afraid of death. They are the most reliable force in each battalion today.
It is precisely because of this that Li Zicheng asked Luo Hu to guard the pass and guard the tunnel from Jingxing to Shanxi.
Luo Hu was quickly brought to Li Zicheng and bowed. When he raised his head, Li Zicheng saw a face full of resentment.
Li Zicheng looked at Luo Hu and asked in the tone of an elder: "Xiaohu, what's the matter? Someone bullied you?"
"Your Majesty, it's not that the child was bullied, but that the Tatars bullied others too much!" Luo Hu said, "These days, refugees from Beizhili come to Guguan every day, supporting the elderly and the young... ..They are all Han Chinese whose houses and land were taken away by the Tatars and who were unwilling to be slaves."
"what happened?"
Luo Hu said: "My child asked. It turns out that the Tatars moved the capital from outside the customs to Beijing, and brought a large number of officials, soldiers and family members. In order to accommodate them, the Tatars have been encircling the city of Beijing since September. . All fertile and fertile fields are directly occupied by horse racing, and they do not cultivate them themselves, but force the original owners or tenants to work as slaves!
While enclosing land, the Tatars also occupied houses in Beijing. That is to say, the Han people in Beijing were driven away from their homes, and their houses and belongings were given to the Tatar soldiers and generals to live in! "
"Really or not?" Li Zicheng blinked one eye in disbelief.
He, Li Zicheng, was such a vicious man that he captured and tortured some officials and nobles of the Ming Dynasty. I never thought about driving all the people in Beijing out to wander!
This would wipe out all the hundreds of thousands of people in Beijing...
"It's unmistakable!" Luo Hu gritted his teeth, "Thousands of people come in every day at the Guguan gate guarded by Hai'er. They are all short of food and clothing, and all of them are miserable... Hai'er personally asked hundreds of people, They all said it was the Tatars who caused the disaster! They also said that south of Beijing, there are desperate people everywhere, dragging their families and begging for food as they travel south, and countless people have died along the way!"
"Tatars are indeed beasts!" Li Zicheng's one eye gave off a strange light.
He who wins the hearts of the people will win the world! Donglu’s trick will definitely not win the hearts of the people!
And Li Zicheng firmly believes that he is more popular with the people than the cunning and cruel Zhu Cixiang!
The world still belongs to the Dashun Dynasty!
"Your Majesty," Song Xiance also became excited, "the Tatars are doing their own evil, and they cannot live without it! They were lucky enough to gain power, and they harmed the people like this... This is our opportunity for Dashun to counterattack Beijing!"
Li Zicheng nodded, "It is indeed an opportunity! But we can't rush back to Beijing. We have to fight the Tatars at Guguan. If we win, we can return to Beijing!"
Luo Hu said: "Your Majesty, my child is willing to be a pioneer!"
Li Zicheng smiled and said: "Don't be anxious. We will meet Luo Xiushen on an equal basis and negotiate the terms before we discuss how to deal with those Tatars who have lost their hearts!"
...
The city of Beijing has never been as orderly as it is now, nor has it been as cold and solemn as it is now.
Luo Yangxing, who had just returned from Datong Mansion, was stunned by the changes that had taken place in this city in less than a month.
When he left Beijing, it was still a big city with a population of at least 500,000. The inner city was particularly prosperous, with bustling streets and row upon row of shops. As soon as you enter any of the nine gates in the inner city of Beijing, you will immediately feel the lively atmosphere of the market, and your ears will be filled with the sounds of vendors hawking and shouting.
But now... when he entered the city from Deshengmen, what he saw was a completely unfamiliar, unpopular city that was even more desolate than Datong Fucheng.
People, where have they gone?
"They were all driven away!"
Luo Yangxing didn't ask, but someone answered.
The person who answered him was Guang Shiheng, who had become the third minister. He was the only one who greeted Luo Yangxing and Zuo Maotai outside Deshengmen today.
Under Li Zicheng, he was the loyal second minister, but in the Qing Dynasty, he was the third minister who was dawdling. Like Luo Yangxing, he did not gain the trust of his master and was hostile to other traitors - the two of them were probably ordered to be traitors! If the cunning and cruel Prince Zhu comes back, they will suddenly become heroes... How can this identity not be hated by others?
So Guang Shiheng was just hanging around casually, but at this moment, he looked extremely sad.
"Who was driven away?" Zuo Maotai, who came back with Luo Yangxing, asked.
"Who else?" Guang Shiheng's voice was very low, "Of course it's from the top... We want to make room for the kings and soldiers from the east!"
"The whole city of Beijing..."
"It's all empty!" Guang Shiheng said, "We Han officials are the only ones left among the Han people..." He smiled bitterly, "If someone comes to attack Beijing again, no one will offer their gates. !”
Zuo Maotai was also in disbelief, looking around at the empty streets with his eyes wide open. Guang Shiheng on the side said again: "Hurry up and go into the palace, tell us the errands so we can find a house and move."
"Moving?" Luo Yangxing was stunned, "Are we moving too?"
His family has been in Beijing for more than 200 years, so he doesn’t have a registered permanent residence?
"Move!" Guang Shiheng said, "With the grace of the regent, we can still find a house to live in the outer city for the time being. The houses in the inner city have been given to the Eight Banners... You have a large family, so you have to go to the outer city. Looking for a bigger yard.”
