Outside the city of Pu County, the northwest rebel camps stretched as far as the eye could see.
However, the leaders from all walks of life did not show any joy. On the contrary, they argued endlessly.
"We have been attacking back and forth for four or five days. So many people have died, but we still cannot defeat them. If we continue to waste our time, the army will be surrounded on all sides, and we will all die here."
When Zhao Sheng, the lamplighter, was talking, his eyes were only fixed on the burly man opposite him, and he could have an attack at any time.
"Let's stay well in the mountains. There's nothing the officers and soldiers can do against us. We prefer to die and bring the big guys to attack Pu County. Now that the losses are so huge, if we continue to fight, we will have this little business in our hands." But it’s all broken.”
Liu Jiusi, the monkey in the sky, also started to think about quitting.
A month ago, Gao Yingxiang suddenly summoned everyone and said that he wanted to attack Pu County to obtain food and grass. At that time, many people were reluctant.
The rebels had no siege equipment and would suffer heavy losses when attacking the county town.
However, the biggest leaders such as Gao Yingxiang, Zijin Liang, the Eight Kings, Cao Cao, and the Sweeping King all agreed, and the other small leaders did not dare to rebel.
Then the news spread, and everyone knew that it was Gao Yingxiang's nephew and general Li Zicheng's idea to attack Pu County.
If Pu County is successfully defeated, everyone will definitely look at Li Zicheng in a new light.
As a result, after five days of continuous attack, all the ministries suffered heavy losses, but Pu County was safe and sound, and the leaders of all walks of life began to complain.
There was a person in the middle of the big tent, looking at the turbulent crowd but smiling.
"King Chuang, brothers will speak indiscriminately when they are in a hurry. You, sir, can understand. But...can we defeat this Pu County?"
"My Healing Game"
The person who spoke was Prince Zijin Liang, the current leader of the thirty-six families.
Even though Zijin Liang was just a subordinate of Wang Jiayin, even with the troops he brought out, he was the most powerful among these leaders.
Therefore, thirty-six families formed an alliance and elected him as the leader of the alliance.
However, Zijin Liang was keenly aware that among these leaders, there were some who could not compete with him.
For example, Gao Yingxiang, who is sitting sideways, is also quite popular. Moreover, he has many elite soldiers and generals, and his work is relatively fair.
For Zijin Liang, the most important thing is to suppress Gao Yingxiang and consolidate his position as leader.
After fighting in Pu County for so long, Gao Yingxiang's men also suffered a lot of losses. Therefore, he had nothing to say in the face of everyone's anger.
"Brothers, we went down to attack the county town for no other reason than to find a way out? Everyone knows that now we have become a thorn in the side of the government. The Governor of Xuanda, Zhang Zongheng, led eight thousand elites, and we Next to us, maybe someone will kill us at some point. Xu Dingchen, the governor of Shanxi, has blocked our way to the north again. When the evil star Hong Chengchou comes again, will we still have a way to survive? For the current plan, we must fight our way out. It’s serious.”
The leaders were naturally aware of the situation in Shanxi, but they did not relax because of this.
"If you say one thousand and ten thousand, if you can't conquer the county town and get no food and grass, we will die faster."
What Zhang Cunmeng said is also true.
At this time, only one person is still trying his best to bridge the conflict.
"King Chuang, we all know the basics, and we will never be selfish for the sake of the big guy. Anyway, staying in the mountain will lead to a dead end, so each of us should work harder to find a way out."
The speaker was Lao Hui Hui Ma Shouying.
There were a lot of intrigues and intrigues among the leaders of the thirty-six families, but Ma Shouying always adhered to his loyalty and was always there to help each other.
Because of this, he is the most popular among the leaders, and the big guys trust him the most.
After listening to his words, I stopped chasing Gao Yingxiang.
Gao Yingxiang returned to his tent with a rather ugly expression on his face.
"Zao'er, are you being deceived?"
Li Zicheng is only in his twenties now, he is still immature, and he is far from the earth-shaking King Chuang he was later. He is still hanging around with his uncle Gao Yingxiang, and has only earned the title of a general.
What depresses him the most is that his uncle always calls him by his nickname.
"Uncle, Guo'er said that the flag officer under him is brave in fighting and has a lot of strategy. He shouldn't lie to us."
Gao Yingxiang was much more cautious.
"People's hearts are separated from each other, so it's better to be careful."
He thought for a while and said, "Let Li Guo bring the little flag officer here, and let's explore him personally."
Before Li Zicheng could make a move, Li Guo actually came to find him in person.
"Uncle, uncle...uncle, good news."
Just like Li Zicheng didn't like Gao Yingxiang calling him "Zaoer", Li Guo was also reluctant to call Li Zicheng uncle, let alone Gao Yingxiang uncle.
Because he is six years older than Li Zicheng.
But there is no way, seniority is there, and now is not the time to care about it.
Li Guo said enthusiastically: "Xizhou is done. As long as we send troops there, Xizhou can be conquered in a day."
Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng jumped up, their joy beyond words.
"really?"
The real plan is only known to a few people including Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, and Li Guo. The rebels are a loose alliance, and they have been recruiting peace and rebelling against the imperial court in recent years. They have no idea who the traitor is.
Attacking Pu County was just a cover, and the target was Xizhou from the beginning.
The first purpose of attacking Puzhou here is to mobilize the rebel army so that they can easily move towards Xizhou; secondly, it is also to attract the official troops so that they can easily attack Xizhou.
Li Guo was quite excited when he came forward for the first time.
"My little flag officer has received the news from Xizhou. As long as we rush over, we will ensure that the city gate is wide open."
Gao Yingxiang regained his composure and said in a deep voice: "Call the little flag officer in and let's ask him."
After a while, the curtain of the tent was opened, and a man who looked like an iron tower walked in, which made Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng admired from the bottom of their hearts.
"Liang Yue paid a visit to King Chuang and General Chuang. I have already received the news. Please ask King Chuang to send troops to Xizhou immediately. It will be easy to break the city."
Gao Yingxiang stared at Liang Yue, with murderous intent hidden in his tone.
"Brother Liang, you cannot be ignored on the battlefield. Can you guarantee that this battle will be flawless?"
Liang Yue knew that Gao Yingxiang didn't trust him. Once the attack on Xizhou fails, he will definitely be sacrificed to the flag.
But when he thought of his long-cherished wish, Liang Yue knew that this battle was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.
"The younger one is guaranteed by his head."
………………………………
Capital, Forbidden City.
"This one is resigning, and that one is begging for a corpse. Am I so unbearable that I have caused my officials to abandon their hearts?"
In the Yangxin Hall, Chongzhen's roar made the wind roar, and everyone was in danger.
At this time, only Wang Chengen dared to speak.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Xu Ge is very old, and it is justifiable to ask for an official position. Mr. Sun Ge and Qiu Zhongcheng have been arguing endlessly. In my opinion, if this continues, it may not be a good thing for Liaodong."
Chongzhen ignored what he said next, or in other words, he didn't want to pay attention to it after hearing it.
"The two pavilion elders resigned at the same time. People in the world don't understand why and can only talk about my mistakes. Who among these ministers can understand my helplessness?"
Wang Chengen was helpless.
He also understood that Chongzhen's anger was not unreasonable.
Never before have two cabinet ministers resigned at the same time. This is different from the emperor dismissing cabinet ministers. If a minister takes the initiative to resign, it can only mean that the emperor has disappointed his ministers.
What Chongzhen cares about most is his reputation.
Wang Chengen knew best how stubborn and stubborn his master was, so he simply asked: "What does the emperor mean..."
Chongzhen threw the memorial to the ground and said with a cold face: "No, no."
Wang Chengen hesitated to speak, struggled to pick up the memorial from the ground, and left.
It was unbearably hot in the capital in June, but Wang Chengen couldn't feel any warmth while walking in the sunshine.
In his opinion, Chongzhen already had some demonic obstacles.
Xu Guangqi's resignation was clear to everyone and there was no complicated thought. They are old and frail, unable to bear the heavy responsibilities, and need to go home to take care of themselves.
As luck would have it, he encountered Sun Chengzong who also resigned, which suddenly aroused Chongzhen's sensitive nerves and felt that the ministers were deliberately targeting him.
Wang Chengen also knew something about the situation in Liaodong.
Gao Qiqian was in Liaodong, and I often communicated with him.
Gao Qiqian was worried and bluntly stated that the situation in Liaodong was dangerous. If you are not careful, you may lose everything.
The crux of the problem lies in the conflict between Sun Chengzong and Qiu Hejia.
To be more precise, it was the conflict between Sun Chengzong and Chongzhen.
Because he had lost face in the Jisi Incident, Chongzhen was eager to regain his place in Liaodong and maintain the dignity of his holy king.
But Sun Chengzong knew very well that now in Liaodong he could only hold on and not attack.
This was certainly not in line with Chongzhen's wishes, so he sent Qiu Hejia, who was obedient. Not to mention this, fearing that Qiu Hejia was not powerful enough to compete with Sun Chengzong, Chongzhen sent Gao Qiqian to supervise the army.
But what makes Gao Qiqian different from ordinary eunuchs is that he knows his soldiers well.
Although his level is similar to that of Tong Guan in the late Northern Song Dynasty, it is enough for eunuchs.
At least Gao Qiqian had a clear view of the situation in Liaodong and knew that no matter how hard Chongzhen continued, everything would be doomed.
However, he was just a eunuch who could see the situation clearly but could not disobey Chongzhen's will.
Ministers who are dissatisfied with Chongzhen's actions can still resign. If he, a slave, dares to disobey Chongzhen's will, he will only die.
Therefore, while he complained bitterly in his letters to Wang Chengen, he also had to carry out Chongzhen's orders and join forces with Qiu Hejia to force Sun Chengzong to give the green light to build the city on the Daling River.
The most ironic thing in the world is that you can clearly see the outcome, but you have no ability to change it.
The same was true for Sun Chengzong and Gao Qiqian who were far away in Liaodong, and the same was true for Wang Chengen who was staggering around the palace.
