Zhang Cheng looked at Liu Tichun and continued angrily: "Since you claim to be a good man, you should know loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, etiquette, justice, integrity and shame. It is disloyal to turn yourself into a thief and bring trouble to your family and country. Since you are a thief, you have brought shame on your family. You will not be able to live long in your lifetime." It is unfilial to think about progress and plan for future generations; it is unkind to drive people to fill trenches and dig cities, causing the loss of life; it is unjust to deprive the people of all their food supplies without leaving a way for them to survive.
Now our army is invincible wherever it goes. If you and other bandits continue to resist stubbornly, it is like throwing an egg against a stone. I remember that you are skilled in martial arts and must serve your family and country. If you have the intention to repent, I can report to the court and pardon you. If you are guilty of causing rebellion, you will remain in front of my army to serve. "
Liu Tichun was determined to die. For a huge bandit like him, a veteran thief who had been licking blood with a knife for more than ten years, he had already seen through life and death. He had never thought about being defeated and captured this time. Stay alive.
It's just that he was captured at the wrong time. Now that King Chuang has entered Henan, the situation is very good. All the old thieves and generals have begun to dream of supporting King Chuang to conquer the world and become marquises and generals in the future.
Liu Tichun felt the same way in his heart. He was really unwilling to ask him to die now.
At this moment, he saw that Zhang Cheng actually wanted to surrender, but his loyalty to King Chuang made him unmoved. He only saw him yelling angrily: "Huh, the emperor is dim, the dog officials are in power, and the fields are starved to death, but the kings are ringing bells In spite of the food shortage, corrupt officials are still imposing excessive taxes and expropriations. This is the government forcing the people to rebel.
My King Chuang "only kills corrupt officials and does not harm the people", and he "does not pay for food". He is actually the great savior of the people in the world. One day he will definitely be able to break into the capital and call for the change of dynasties in the world! "
He seemed to be dissatisfied and continued to curse: "You are only rampant for a moment today. I have been in power for more than ten years and I have never seen any strong generals. Even if you gain power today, sooner or later your army will be defeated and killed."
"Hahaha……"
Zhang Cheng was scolded by him, but instead of getting angry, he smiled and said: "Corrupt officials have existed in all dynasties, and they are not unique to our Ming Dynasty. As for Li Chuang's so-called 'only killing officials, not harming the people', his own Although the people were not harmed, they were driven to fill trenches and attack the city."
When he said this, he raised his hand and pointed to the wilderness under the high platform and the city roots, and said: "Just like you, there are corpses of hungry people everywhere under the city of Kaifeng. Aren't these people people? Aren't these people what you call yourself?" He was forced to death by thieves and bandits who did not harm the people!"
Zhang Cheng's voice got louder as he spoke, and he continued: "As for what you said about not paying for food, Li Ze was focused on expanding his troops and did not engage in production at all. He did not organize canal construction, reclamation and farming. Now he has gathered more than 100,000 people. How to feed it?
It’s not just about plundering! In the end, as you said, you robbed the rich and gave to the poor, but can you guarantee that the houses you robbed are all for the sake of the rich and are unkind? How much of the grain you robbed was used for the people?
If you are so dedicated to destruction and not to production, how can you say that you are relieving the people from suffering and saving them from the fire and water! "
Zhang Cheng's words were so heartbreaking that Liu Tichun was speechless. He stared and said loudly: "I can't compare to your eloquent tongue. Give me a quick reward. If you blink or frown, you are not a good man." .”
Zhang Cheng sighed and said to him: "Why bother. I also think you are a man, so I just wanted to keep you alive. Follow me, kill the enemy and serve the country, strive for fame and fame, and in the future, you will be your wife and son. Wouldn’t it be great to be famous for generations?”
A glimmer of light flashed in Liu Tichun's eyes, and he seemed to see some hope, but he still said stubbornly: "Since I followed King Chuang, I never thought of taking refuge with the Dog Emperor. If you want to kill me, behead me quickly. You today If you let us go, we will kill you on the battlefield in the future!"
Zhang Cheng also knew that Liu Tichun was a stubborn thief and would never be subdued by him easily, so he said in a deep voice: "As you said, if I kill you here today, it will seem like I am afraid of you." of.
Liu Tichun, please listen carefully. I will not kill you today for no other reason than to cherish your talents and leave you with a useful body. I hope you will think about it carefully after you go back. If you have figured it out in the future, you can come at any time. Looking for a handsome man. "
While Liu Tichun's face was full of astonishment, Zhang Cheng turned to Zhang Chengfang and ordered: "Chengfang, give him a war horse and let him go!"
Zhang Chengfang also had a look of astonishment on his face. He never thought that his father would let Liu Tichun go like this. He stepped forward and said, "Commander father, don't let the tiger go back to the mountain."
Zhang Cheng looked at Zhang Chengfang solemnly, then turned to Liu Tichun, and said solemnly: "If I can catch him once, I can catch him a second time. Liu Tichun alone can't make any big waves."
"But Commander-in-Chief, if you let him go today, how will you explain to the court?"
"Hmph, I caught the person. I can decide how to deal with it, but I want them to take care of it!"
"But Commander-in-Chief, it's easy to let the tiger go but hard to catch it. If you let him go today, it will be difficult to catch him again."
Zhang Cheng smiled and said to Zhang Chengfang: "Don't be annoying. I told you to let go. Just do it. Take a few people with you and escort him through Wei Zhice's car formation. Then give him a horse and tell him to do it himself." Go ahead."
Liu Tichun had been standing there stupidly listening to the conversation between Zhang Cheng and his son, and then he interrupted with a confused look on his face: "You, do you really want to let me go?"
Zhang Cheng looked at Liu Tichun and said in a calm tone: "Liu Tichun, when you go back, give Li Ze a message. He massacred Fu Fan in Luoyang and will never be recruited by the court from then on. However, if Li Ze is willing to consider others, As long as he pleads guilty and is executed, I can protect the lives of his thief generals."
When he said this, he waved his hand and said: "Go and see you on the battlefield tomorrow. If you can survive, you can come to our army and surrender at any time!"
…………
Groups of old thieves from the invading army held up their shields and stood guard in front of the invading king Li Zicheng. Their eyes were slightly frightened as they looked at the rockets falling in front of them and the jumping and rolling iron cannons. .
There was no trace of fear on Li Zicheng's face, but Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance standing beside him could faintly hear that his breathing was obviously much heavier.
Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and others had not experienced any major battles before. Even when they attacked Luoyang, they mostly participated in the planning. They rarely visited the front line in person like today.
Both of them were pale-faced, and their breathing became heavier. They looked at the battlefield ahead where the thieves were still struggling to kill the fleeing hungry people.
But after all, there were too many hungry people, and they were scared out of their wits by the cannons, artillery and rockets of the army. Now they were running back in large numbers. It was difficult to stop them with only the swords, guns, bows and arrows of the thieves, but they could barely drive them away to prevent the hungry people from colliding with each other. It's just the Chinese army who came to King Chuang's side.
Song Xiance even sighed in his heart: The officers and soldiers were so vicious that they fired artillery and rockets first, killing our army in vain, and then used fire cannons to drive away the hungry people.
