stubborn thief

In Wengcheng, Dongmen, Baoji County, Li Jiayan, the county magistrate, took off his official hat, sighed, and led the crowd to surrender.

In two hours, just two hours, Li Jiayan's mood experienced ups and downs, jumping up and down between extreme joy and extreme fear.

Four days ago, Liu Chengzong's army rushed out of Longzhou like a tiger descending a mountain, and the two camps of Zhang Tianlin and Wei Qian'er were the first to board the Guanzhong Plain.

Zhang Tianlin's fighting style is just one word, fast.

He was like a wildfire on the grassland, swift and violent. Li Jiayan had just received the news that the Marshal's army had entered the pass, and immediately sent the county government to rush to the Fengxiang Guard House to ask for help. Ma Kuai hadn't run out of the city yet. Fengxiang, who was following the city at the north gate, ran into the banner army of the Qianhu Office guarding the city.

That is to say, the horse was quick to say something, and asked: "The county lord hasn't allowed you to enter the city yet, why did you come so fast?"

These words reminded the squires in the city that they dropped the iron hanging gate of the Wengcheng on the spot. As soon as the hanging gate fell, the Six Hundred Banner Army of Fengxiang Thousand Households was divided into two groups. Kneeling, it was only then that the city knew that the Fengxiang Thousand Households had been captured.

They were forced to cheat the city after they surrendered.

In the end, he failed to deceive the city, but instead took in three hundred surrendered troops, making Zhang Tianlin outside the city so angry that he scolded his mother: Why did I run so fast?
If you run slower, the people from the county government asking for help will leave the city, and the city will be directly stolen by him.

However, even with the [-] flag troops defending the city anyway, Li Jiayan was still terrified enough, with the three squads of yamen servants in the city and the urgently recruited civilians waiting in full force, ready to fight to the death when Zhang Tianlin attacked the city.

Zhang Tianlin didn't know how to attack the city, and even filled the trenches just for show.

He had been an independent leader in his early years, and he had completely different thoughts from Wei Qian'er. Whether he could win Baoji City was irrelevant to him. What the Generalissimo wanted was to control this land and cut off the connection between Qinzhou and Baoji.

Taking down the city is naturally a mission, but controlling the countryside can also accomplish the mission, and his horsemen are really not suitable for attacking the city.

Of course, Daying has complete technical personnel and the ability to attack the city, but Zhang Tianlin is more concerned about whether he can raise all the food and grass in Baoji County into his own hands as soon as possible.

Therefore, he only left four generals to camp outside the city, and let other subordinates, led by the township leader, run around in Baoji, collecting food, grass and goods from house to house from the Hao family whose property exceeded the limit set by the marshal's mansion.

But the less Zhang Tianlin stopped attacking the city, the more Li Jiayan on the city couldn't sleep at night, for fear that he would suddenly send troops to attack the city... He had heard rumors from those who surrendered the flag army: The generalissimo was in Longzhou to break the city, and now Baoji The city is full of cavalry.

Li Jiayan was terrified.

As a result, after two days of siege, Zhang Tianlin had no intention of attacking the city at all, and even divided up and stationed an army to the west. Li Jiayan didn't know why, but he felt that things had taken a new turn.

After all, Zuo Liangyu was stationed in Qinzhou to the west, maybe reinforcements came from there.

Just thinking about this incident made him very excited, until this morning, he suddenly found out that the army besieging Baoji City was marching westward with the sound of horns, and retreated from the siege!
When the figures of Zhang Tianlin's horsemen finally disappeared in the rising smoke, the magistrate on the city wall collapsed to the ground with his legs limp: "The rest of my life after the catastrophe!"

Who knew that it was only two hours since Zhang Tianlin withdrew to the west, and the bell on the north city gate rang again as if urging her to die, this time the posture was far more terrifying than when Zhang Tianlin came.

The mighty army spread out on the barren wilderness, and the cannons were pulled by donkeys and mules. The dense banners quickly occupied the entire range of sight, and the brave soldiers formed teams to seize the city. outside all the advantage areas.

Then the donkeys and mules unloaded the artillery at the front of the position, the sergeants began to pile up mountains of earth, and some people rushed under the city to start the routine to persuade them to surrender.

The soldier with a loud voice yelled loudly to persuade him to surrender, but he was extremely lacking in emotion, because it was really just a routine persuade to surrender to him. Everyone on the battlefield knew that the generalissimo's persuasion to surrender was basically the work of Lord Hades. Urgent.

It can't be said that it has never been successful, but most of the people who were persuaded by Liu Chengzong to surrender died unexpectedly.

Even Liu Shizi himself lost his illusory hope of persuading surrender.

Zhizhou and the eunuch who hanged himself in Longzhou City touched him a lot. In terms of causing psychological harm after the defeat, Zhizhou Hu Erchun and the guarding eunuch Li Qimao are undoubtedly the most powerful opponents Liu Shizi has encountered since he raised his army.

They are far better than Yang Jiamo, who led the heroic soldiers to burn themselves through fire, because everyone knows that even if Yang Jiamo surrenders, he may not survive, and these two people can live well even if they surrender, even if they do not hold the city, they are even better than them. To do better, but to hang himself to death - in Liu Shizi's view, this is a kind of contempt.

Very successful in combating his arrogance.

This kind of behavior is definitely not something that can be done with a simple sentence of "talking about one's heart at ordinary times, and repaying the king when you are in danger". Talents are useless on the battlefield. In addition to kneeling down and begging for mercy, there is also the way of being loyal to the death.

In fact, the person who said this was born in the eighth year of Chongzhen, and was raised in the family of military officers in the Ming court. He lived 69 years without any disasters and difficulties under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and he taught for a lifetime.

Everyone has the right to choose which way to go, Liu Chengzong respects this choice, and at the same time he also makes his own choice:

No longer count on persuading the capitulation of one city after another, just fight down one city after another, and take the whole of Shaanxi into the bag.

But this time, the city gate of Baoji County opened.

Li Jiayan is a very happy person. In fact, during the two hours when Zhang Tianlin withdrew, after confirming that Zhang Tianlin had withdrawn, he led the people to clear the filled trenches outside the city, and asked the sixth house of the county government to The subordinate officials wrote meritorious essays to Chen Qiyu.

He wants to tell Governor Chen Qiyu that we have made meritorious service and we will stick to Baoji.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with his actions. He doesn't want to do big things these days, so why come to Shaanxi?
But among those who came to Shaanxi to serve as officials, there was one who pursued progress and had ideals.

As a result, Liu Chengzong came before the letter of meritorious service was sent out. He was led by tens of thousands of people and equipped with guns and guns. It was by no means that his small city of Baoji could stop him.

Li Jiayan thought for a moment at the top of the city, rather than being beaten to pieces, it would be better to surrender first while there was no close combat.

After all, he already knew that Hu Erchun, the magistrate of Longzhou, was dead, and it would not help if he died. Should Longzhou be captured or captured, but the Marshal's Mansion did not embarrass the people, and did not slaughter the city or destroy the land. This is basically in line with Li Jiayan's ideal. Thoughts.

As for the big household... To be honest, as a county magistrate affiliated to Fengxiang Mansion, he has long been displeased with the self-righteous local gentry in Fucheng.

The Marshal's Mansion confiscated their property into the army, not to mention that Li Jiayan planned to surrender, he just stood on the wall in the city, and when he heard the news, he wanted to jump up and applaud.

The people of Baoji City didn't have any objection to this matter, except that the Three Hundred Banners Army who was locked in the Wengcheng anyway scolded their mothers.

Their thousand households were surnamed Wei, and when they heard that Li Jiayan planned to open the city to surrender, they became impatient, cursed in the city, and planned to bring someone over to kill Li Jiayan.

After all, if you want to surrender, you should surrender as soon as possible. Our brothers can also take the lead in conquering the city; if you want to defend the city, we must die to defend the city. city.

We came to lie to the city, you give us anyway, drive Zhang Tianlin away; now the Generalissimo is here, you are going to surrender again, you are comfortable, what are we with the Generalissimo?

However, Wei Qianhu led the soldiers and ran slowly. When they ran to the south gate, Li Jiayan, the county magistrate, had already opened the city gate, so he had to go up to the city and point at Li Jiayan and scold him. Dozens of banner troops rushed out from the north of the city, and ran out of the city in a flash.

Liu Shizi didn't care about the people who ran out, he was rubbing his eyes before the battle: "Really surrender?"

Some people have surrendered to him in the past, but like Li Jiayan, who obediently opened the city gate as soon as he finished shouting, it was really the first time for a big girl to get on the sedan chair.

It wasn't until Li Jiayan led the county magistrate and a group of subordinate officials to the front of the formation, bowed down and presented the bronze seal of the magistrate of Baoji, Liu Chengzong restrained his expression, and did a good job of managing his expression, then he pulled his horse out of the army and waved his hand to let the subordinates go up. Received the official seal before.

Li Jiayan looked up and saw Liu Chengzong, guessing in his heart that this was the Generalissimo of the Marshal's Mansion, he quickly said: "The villain is ignorant to resist the army, and I hope the general will not lower his prestige to the small county."

Liu Chengzong was happy when he heard this, because he knew that Li Jiayan was telling the truth.

This person's performance is very obvious, and he is very aware of current affairs. Zhang Tianlin has many soldiers, but it is difficult to quickly attack the city, so he resists to defend the city; Liu Chengzong has more soldiers and a lot of artillery. Kaesong has fallen.

Conversely, if it was the peasant army who came, then Li Jiayan would most likely lead the army out of the city and kill everyone.

Liu Shizi looked at each other. He actually admired this kind of work attitude. If he could defend, he would defend, and if he couldn't, he would surrender. He neither abandoned the city and escaped, nor killed the soldiers and civilians in vain.

This is an ordinary person, and his integrity is definitely not as good as those official heroes who know that they are invincible and still fight to the death, or who are defeated and commit suicide.

But after so long, Liu Chengzong has gradually realized that if he is really that kind of hero, he will not surrender to him, so what he admires most now is such a helpless ordinary person who accepts his fate.

"Get up, don't worry, the county magistrate opened the city to save the city from the flames of war, not only innocent but also thanks to the local government." Liu Chengzong said, got off his horse and walked forward, and asked: "The commander-in-chief's mansion is just at the time of employing people. Are you willing to use it for me?"

Surrender is a big gamble, and no one can know their own fate before they actually surrender.

Even though Liu Chengzong spoke kindly, Li Jiayan was still very disturbed in his heart. After getting up, he said quickly: "The villain is willing to do the work of a dog for the commander."

"It's not necessary to use the labor of a dog and a horse, Mr. Li will just continue to be an official."

Liu Shizixin said that he should do the work of dogs and horses. You, the county magistrate, have a good idea. Then my cat, my dog, and my horse are living happily by the Qinghai Lake. Every day, there are endless small dried fish and endless gnawing big bones.

Being my official is much more tiring than theirs.

Liu Chengzong admired Li Jiayan's knowledge of current affairs, but he also had doubts about his talent. He asked with some thoughts on the exam: "Since sir, you are willing, now it depends on your ability. Fengxiang Mansion is full of people dying of hunger. I want it." To provide disaster relief, the second thing is to raise troops. We are suffering from a lack of money and food. You have known about the situation here for a long time, do you have any good ideas?"

Li Jiayan knew that this was Liu Chengzong's test. After thinking for a long time, he finally raised his head and asked Liu Chengzong: "Marshal, how many soldiers do you want to raise in Fengxiang Mansion?"

"Forty thousand soldiers and eighty thousand mules."

Li Jiayan just wanted to slap himself on the face: Why should I open the city gate?

He shook his head resolutely and said: "If the commander-in-chief raises 120 soldiers, this year Fengxiang Mansion still has spare capacity for disaster relief; but with [-] soldiers and [-] horses and mules, there are still [-] soldiers and [-] horses and mules to help the victims. Even the positions are full, and I can’t afford to support them.”

As soon as the experts make a move, they will know if there is any.

When Liu Chengzong heard about the five permanent warehouses at 120, he knew that Li Jiayan was relatively clear about local affairs, and he was not the kind of fool who didn't know what to ask, so he became interested and continued to ask: "Tell me, Fengxiang Mansion's disaster relief In addition to raising [-] soldiers, how to raise them?"

"Return to Marshal, Fengxiang Prefecture has seven counties in one prefecture. According to the law, there are 120 Changping warehouses and 23 shi of grain storage; The Changping warehouse in Fengxiang Fucheng has long been empty, but Baoji County still has 94 shi of grain storage untouched."

"Collecting Changping and Shecang from various places, the villain estimates that there are at least 20 stones left in the grain storage, which can be used by [-] troops for a year."

When Liu Chengzong heard this, he interrupted: "I see that there are also hungry people in Baoji County, and there are still grains stored in Changping warehouse. Why didn't they take out the food for disaster relief earlier?"

"Baoji originally stored [-] grains. Last year, the villain ordered the subordinates to take out and sell them to stabilize grain prices, but this year there is a war..."

Li Jiayan glanced at Liu Chengzong, shook his head in a low voice and said: "The generals from all walks of life led the hungry troops to cross the border, and dare not let people know that there is food in the city."

Liu Chengzong choked when he heard the words, and pointed at Li Jiayan: "You know it's a hungry army, you deserve to lose!"

Unexpectedly, Li Jiayan was very calm, and then shook his head again and said: "Commander, the villain only knows Baoji County. They are hungry to find food roads. If there is no food in the food road, they go to the governor. Those who are hungry, Changping warehouse is not to let..."

Liu Shizi raised his hand to stop him. Of course, what the magistrate said has his reasons, but if he continues, he should be beaten: "Relief, there are 10,000+ hungry people in Fengxiang Mansion. I don't plan to immigrate to Longxi, just tell me , how to help?"

"Prepare for the famine in detail, rescue the famine properly, and the food for the relief of the famine is limited. The most urgent thing is not to displace the hungry people..." Li Jiayan had a plan in mind, but he paused when he said this, as if he was thinking that the Marshal's Mansion would not go to Longxi The meaning of emigration, and then said: "Stop the grain, re-equalize the people, and organize the fifth-class households."

"It's called extremely poor, second poor, slightly poor, ordinary households and rich households. The extremely poor will receive rice, the second poor will receive money, and the slightly poor will be given loans. Organize ordinary households to exterminate locusts and persuade rich households to donate."

In fact, when he said the words to stop the grain, the military officers and soldiers around Liu Chengzong looked at him very dangerously, and it was only Liu Shizi's eyes that encouraged him to continue to speak.

Li Jiayan had a decent disaster relief method in mind, but Liu Chengzong couldn't help but misunderstood.

"You're right. It's not good to rein in grain like this. The wealthy households in Guanzhong are all in Xi'an Prefecture. They all ran away after collecting grain all the way... just do as you said."

The biggest advantage of Liu Shizi is that he can listen to persuasion, and he hopes that wealthy households can also listen to persuasion, otherwise it doesn't matter if the persuasion fails and they donate.

"I just need a talent like you." Liu Chengzong smiled and patted Li Jiayan on the shoulder: "Master Li, the magistrate of Fengxiang." (End of this chapter)