Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 9 Drilling into Yanshan
"My lord, what about the surplus food?" Liu Wenbing asked.

Chongzhen frowned and asked, "Why, can't we take them all away?"

When I broke out yesterday morning, because the time was too tight, and the breakout required light clothing, I didn’t carry any luggage, but now that I have broken out, I must bring enough luggage.

The next step is to stay in the mountains for half a month.

If there is not enough food, it is impossible to survive this half a month.

Then there is the felt, the bitter cold in the mountains, without the felt to keep warm, it will freeze to death.

"Each war horse has already carried [-] to [-] catties of baggage, and there can be no more." Liu Wenbing said, "Any more will affect the speed of marching, and the horses will not be able to bear it."

"Aren't there more than a hundred pack horses?" Chongzhen said.

Liu Wenbing said: "Each pack horse has already carried more than three hundred catties of baggage, but even so, there are still more than a thousand stones of grain that cannot be taken away. What should I do?"

Chongzhen was silent.

Gong Yonggu said: "Your Majesty, you can't leave the excess food to the thieves, burn it."

"It can't be burned." Wang Wenyan said anxiously, "If you burn the food, you may not starve the thieves. It is the people in Gyeonggi who will suffer."

"What Wang Aiqing said is very true, so let's leave the excess food to the people of Gyeonggi." Chongzhen sighed, "I have been in power for seventeen years, but I haven't brought happiness to the people of Gyeonggi."

"It brought them a lot of disasters."

"At the time of parting, it can be regarded as a little compensation for them."

Speaking of this meal, Chongzhen got on his horse again and said in a deep voice, "Let's go to Tianshou Mountain."

Although they temporarily got rid of Dashun's pursuers, and even captured Changping Prefecture City through a surprise attack, this did not have the slightest impact on the current general situation of the world.

The Dashun Army still holds an absolute advantage.

To reverse the general trend of the world by relying on this mob, it is simply a dream.

Once the news of Changping's fall came back to Beijing, Li Zicheng would definitely send a large army to hunt him down. Chongzhen didn't think that his thousand mobs would be able to escape under the siege and interception of hundreds of thousands of Dashun troops.

Crossing Chishui four times and occupying Zunyi twice can only be fought by Teacher Mao. He does not have the skills of Teacher Mao in Chongzhen, so let's just drill the valley honestly, so in the next half a month or so, they can only fight. He tucked his tail and hid in the depths of Yanshan Mountain, waiting for the outbreak of a big battle.

……

When the news of Changping's fall reached Beijing,

Li Zicheng had just discussed with Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance how to deal with the civil servants outside Chengtianmen.

Early in the morning, Wei Zaode, chief assistant of the Ming cabinet, brought thousands of officials, large and small, to kneel outside the Chengtian Gate, demanding that Dashun be recruited as a whole.

The Jiashen state was in disaster, and many officials were martyred.

But more people were eager to surrender to the Shun Dynasty.

After discussion, Li Zicheng decided that all officials above the third rank would not be used.

Those below the third grade can give priority to selecting a group of clean and self-disciplined officials to entrust them with important tasks.

With one operation, the first batch of more than one hundred demoted officials of the Ming Dynasty were entrusted with important tasks. For example, Zuo Maotai, the former official minister, was directly promoted from the fifth rank doctor to the third rank Zuo Shilang of the military government, and was promoted four consecutive ranks!

As soon as Zuo Maotai took office, he received the defeat report of Changping's fall.

"My lord, Changping fell, and Guo Qi, the brigade in charge, died in a fierce battle." Zuo Maotai reported.

"What did you say, Changping fell?" Li Zicheng said in astonishment, "Who did it? Chongzhen kid?"

Zuo Maotai replied: "According to the report from the defeated army, some of the bandit soldiers who attacked Changping last night did shout the Holy One, so the bandit soldiers who attacked Changping should be the defeated soldiers of the false emperor Chongzhen."

"Is it really Chongzhen's child?" Li Zicheng's face collapsed.

"It's impossible." Liu Zongmin didn't believe it. "After Chongzhen's collapse, he didn't go south, didn't go east, but went north to Changping? Is he stupid?"

"Yes, is Chongzhen a fool?"

Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing also have the same doubts.

There is still a chance to go south or east, but going north is a dead end.

After all, Juyongguan is blocked there, how can the hundreds of mobs of Chongzhen children take down Juyongguan, which is heavily garrisoned?Even if Wang Yangming is reborn, it is absolutely impossible to do it.

……

"He's not stupid." Li Yan shook his head and said, "Not stupid at all."

"Why aren't you stupid?" Li Nian disagreed. "If Chongzhen ran away directly to the south after the siege, although it was inevitable that he would be caught up in the end, the Qiao Zhuang refugees might still have a chance to escape."

"After all, even if the master sends a document to arrest at sea, it may not be able to catch it."

"If you go east, there is a great possibility to join the Guan Ning army."

"Guan Ning's army has [-] to [-] troops, and it is still worthy of a battle with our Dashun army."

"But to the north, there is Juyongguan in the front and pursuers in the back. After the mighty general of the right and his elder brother find out that they are in the air, they will definitely lead the cavalry from the east and west wings to the north and outflank it."

"At that time, my Dashun army will be surrounded on all sides, where else can Chongzhen go?"

Li Mou also said: "That's right, isn't the old man Chongzhen seeking his own death?"

"You are wrong." Li Yan waved his hand, "You have ignored a fact."

"What?" Li You and Li Mou asked with puzzled faces, "What did we ignore?"

"Terrain." Li Yan said, "Don't you remember that the governor of the Ming Dynasty, Yang Sichang, used the strategy of 'four points and six corners, and ten sides to spread the net' to encircle and suppress our Dashun army. How did the Lord escape this death?"

Li Youdao: "Why don't you remember that at the most critical time, the Lord led only seventeen cavalry to escape into Shangluo Mountain. It was because of the terrain of Shangluo Mountain that he was able to escape from the pursuit of the Ming army."

Li Mou smiled and continued: "In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, when the Lord came back from Shangluo Mountain, there were only three thousand people. If it weren't for my brother's great help, how could we be where we are today?"

"Shut up!" Li Yan suddenly changed his expression, "How many times have I told you, don't mention this kind of thing in the future."

"Isn't your brother and I talking about it in private?" Li Mou said in embarrassment, "My younger brother promises not to say such a thing."

"Don't say it in private." Li Yan said seriously, "If you say it smoothly, you will blurt it out if you are not careful. If this word reaches the ears of the prime minister and the Lord, you will not be able to say it clearly."

Li Nian changed the subject and said, "Brother, what does this have to do with Chongzhen?"

"Why doesn't it matter?" Li Yan said, "Don't you realize that the situation of Chongzhen at this time is somewhat similar to that of the Lord back then?"

"Well, I understand." Li Nian suddenly said, "Brother, you mean, as long as the hundreds of cavalry from Chongzhen casually drill into the valley of Yanshan, our Dashun Army will have nothing to do with him."

"Yes." Li Yan said, "As long as you enter Yanshan, the small number of Ming troops will become an advantage."

"But brother, it's still not right." Li Nian said, "My lord escaped to Shangluo Mountain to hide his strength and bide his time, in case the situation changes. What's the use of Chongzhen old man hiding in Yanshan?"

"Our Da Shun Dynasty is not hypocritical, it is impossible to give him a chance."

Li Mou also said: "Yes, can the old Chongzhen hide in Yanshan for a lifetime?"

"No, you are too optimistic." Li Yan said with a frown. "There are still variables in the current situation. Putting aside other things, Wu Sangui's Guan Ning Army is a huge hidden danger, and there are even Jiannu outside the pass."

"That's true." Li Nian said, "That's why brother wants to go north to Gubeikou?"

"Yes." Li Yan nodded and said, "Gubeikou is one of the ancient passages to enter Yanshan. If you are lucky, Chongzhen will be blocked by you and my brothers. Taking a step back, even if Chongzhen did not enter through Gubeikou In the end, there is a high probability that we will go out from Gubeikou to join the Guanning army, so we can catch him as long as we hold Gubeikou."

"Understood." Li Mou said with a big laugh, "Old Chongzhen, don't even think about escaping from your brother's clutches."

……

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

Li Zicheng patted the court case and said: "No matter whether the Chongzhen child is really stupid or desperate, since he wants to die by himself, then I have to help him."

"Immediately dispatch flying cavalry and order Li You and Li Yan to go north and outflank the two wings of Changping."

"Let Lao Gu lead two thousand Qingqi to go northward, and together with Li You and Li Yan, capture Chongzhen alive."

"I obey the decree." Zuo Maotai gave a long bow, turned around and left the Qianqing Palace to draft the imperial edict.

Li Zicheng said to Niu Jinxing and Song Xiong again: "Prime Minister, Zuo Junjun, let's discuss the matter just now. Should we fight or surrender to Wu Sangui's tens of thousands of Guan Ning troops?"

Song Xiance said: "My subordinates think that if they can surrender, they should."

Niu Jinxing said: "But Wu Sangui is not the same as Tang Tong, Bai Guangen, and Zhang Tianlin. The strength of the Guan Ning Army is much stronger than that of Xuanfu Town and Datong Town."

Song Xiance said: "It is precisely because Guan Ning's army is strong that they should be recruited."

Niu Jinxing said: "If you appease me, will the tail be too big in the future?"

Song Xiance said: "The subordinates think that we should recruit as much as possible, because once the recruiting is successful, not only can we get a new force to resist the establishment of slaves outside the pass, but also can give Zuo Liangyu, Liu Zeqing and other Ming army border towns in the south of the Yangtze River a bite. Rest assured, it will be much easier for our Dashun army to pacify Jiangnan in the future."

"It makes sense." Li Zicheng made a final decision, "Then it's still a matter of appeasement."

Niu Jinxing said: "Since the lord has decided to appease, it's better to send a few generals to go there. After Wu Sangui sees that the lord treats all the descendants of Ming Dynasty kindly and entrusts the generals with important responsibilities, he will not Regenerate doubts."

Li Zicheng said: "Then let Bai Guangen and Tang Tong go to Yongping Mansion, and take another [-] taels of silver."

To be honest, Li Zicheng also felt that [-] taels of silver was a bit shabby, but he couldn't afford more.

Song Xiance rolled his eyes and said, "My lord, Wu Sangui's father, Wu Xiang, is in the capital. How about asking Wu Xiang to write Wu Sangui a letter of surrender. This letter can be worth [-] taels of silver."

Li Zicheng said: "Shan, let's do this."

(End of this chapter)