The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 31 Peace Talk Again
The overall layout of the capital in the Ming Dynasty was convex, with the inner city to the north. It was built in the Yongle period in the early Ming Dynasty. The layout of the city was symmetrical, and the streets were wide and straight.

To the south is the outer city. Since it was originally built by merchants, the buildings in the city are disorganized, there are many shops, and the streets are narrow and congested.

Later, due to the gradual expansion of the scale, the wall city was built during the Jiajing period, which is indeed inferior to the inner city wall.

But it is still about seven to eight meters high, nine meters wide at the top, and covered with blue bricks, comparable to important towns such as Taiyuan and Luoyang.

This time, the thieves buried all the ten-mile-long moat to the south, built dozens of siege ladders, and stormed for three days, but they still couldn't break through the city, and tens of thousands of people were killed or injured again.

However, the defense of the Ming army in the three days seemed to be more than capable, and they did not feel the pressure at all. It can be seen that the soldiers have indeed undergone radical changes.

The morale of Chuangjun fell into a downturn again.

Inside the Chinese army tent.

Facing King Chuang's roar, all the civil and military personnel were silent.

"Why don't you talk anymore? Don't everyone shout on weekdays? Are they all dumb now?"

Li Zicheng was panting heavily, hammering on the table like a defeated bull.

"Brother, it's not that the brothers don't work hard, but that this capital city is too damn difficult to attack."

Liu Zongmin had a bitter face, and the others nodded frequently.

"Do you still need to say this? If it was easy to fight, that kid Zhu Cihong would have already become a prisoner of Lao Tzu!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down. According to Chen's observations in the past three days, if he wants to break the city, he must gather the elite veterans from all the ministries and attack fiercely in turn..."

"fart!"

"It's just nonsense!"

Before Li Yan finished speaking, all the generals in the tent cursed, as if they were stepping on their tails.

Even Hong Niangzi was silent, and she was reluctant to take the lives of her old brothers to attack by force.

"Your Majesty, all the elite troops are old soldiers who have been fighting with His Majesty for many years. They are the foundation of our army. They must not be used for such a strong attack. Otherwise, the soldiers will complain and be alienated. In the end, even if the outer city is captured, the gain will not be worth the loss."

Niu Jinxing quickly stood up and said.

These words almost touched the hearts of everyone, and once again provoked a wave of applause and echo.

In fact, Chuang Wang also agreed with Li Yan in his heart, but he could only nod his head and said: "What the Prime Minister said is very true, let's let this matter go, don't bring it up again."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Everyone sang in unison.

"In this case, we can only send people to negotiate again."

Li Yan sighed in his heart and suggested again.

After the three-day war, the morale and combat effectiveness of the Ming army increased day by day, and there was no shortage of troops.

In this situation, if you want to break through the city, no matter how many recruits you have, it is useless. You must be elite and dare to die.

But the generals still wanted to preserve their strength and were unwilling to send elites, so he had no hope of breaking the city.

This time, everyone did not object to Li Yan's suggestion.

Even Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance, the two deadly enemies, didn't say anything.

"It seems that it can only be so."

Li Zicheng nodded. In fact, he didn't have much hope now, he just wanted to blackmail a fortune and run away.

The envoy was still the one from last time, a prefect who surrendered, surnamed Liu, who returned in just an hour.

"Liu Canzan, how did the little emperor reply?"

Everyone looked at the magistrate surnamed Liu in unison.

"Back to the king, the little emperor did not directly refuse, but proposed to ask Li Junshi and his wife to go to the city to talk together, otherwise the talk will be avoided."

After Liu Zhifu finished speaking, everyone looked at Li Yan and his wife, who were also a little surprised.

"Hehe, it seems that brother Li is really famous, even the little emperor can't help but want to meet, admire, admire!"

Song Xiance chuckled, cupped his hands and said.

Although he was flattering, how could Li Yan fail to understand the meaning of his words, but there was no excuse for such a thing.

"Military division, Chief Red, the little emperor asked you two to negotiate by name, what do you two agree?"

Li Zicheng looked at the two and asked.

There was no abnormality in the face.

"Back to Your Majesty, don't say it's just going to the city to negotiate, for the great cause of my rebel army, even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire, Li Yan will not hesitate!"

"The last general is obliged!"

The husband and wife clasped their fists together and answered, obviously neither of them thought that the little emperor wanted to trick them into the city and get rid of their husband and wife.

As for why the husband and wife should be named to negotiate, I couldn't figure it out for a while.

"Commander..."

"Miss Hong..."

On the contrary, Hong Niangzi's subordinates were quite worried and wanted to dissuade them, but Hong Niangzi stopped them.

The two of them were already ostracized in the rebel army. If they refused to negotiate, they would be made into people who were greedy for life and afraid of death.

"Okay! Brother Li and Sister Hong are worthy of being true heroes, with extraordinary courage and insight. My old Li did not misunderstand the person at the beginning. If the negotiation is successful this time, my old Li is willing to form a friendship with the two of you."

Li Zicheng stood up abruptly, praised loudly, and said that in the end he was also arrogant.

In my heart, I really admire the courage of the two of them. If it were him, he would never dare to enter the city.

When Brother Gao was arrested, he was killed for three days and three nights and cut more than 3000 knives. Just thinking about it makes his spine chill.

"Your Majesty praises you so much, my husband and I would never dare to be like that."

Husband and wife hurriedly said modestly, but their hearts were quite moved.

Although the others were a little jealous and unhappy, they also praised her loudly.

But in his heart, he wished that the little emperor would kill the two of them so as to divide up their husband and wife's troops.

After a toast.

The two rode out of the camp and headed towards the city wall.

It's just that she didn't go far, looking at the city wall so close, Hong Niangzi still couldn't help asking.

"Sir, do you think the little emperor really wants to trick us into the city and then kill us? Or I will go alone, so you don't go..."

"Don't worry, lady, the little emperor is the king of a country, and he will never do such a thing that damages his reputation, let alone kill my husband and wife, what's the benefit?"

Li Yan smiled and shook his head.

In fact, he really wanted to go to the city to talk to the little emperor.

He believed that with his perfect tongue, he would be able to persuade the little emperor to agree to peace talks.

After all, such a stalemate would not benefit both parties. Once Jiannu took the opportunity to enter the customs, everyone would be finished.

"Having said that, it's just that the little emperor is only 14 years old."

The red lady was still a little worried after thinking about it.

After all, a 14-year-old boy is immature and moody.

Hearing this, Li Yan frowned slightly, and then said: "That's all right, I will enter the city alone later, and you wait outside. You are a girl, and no one else will say anything."

"How does this work?"

The red lady refused immediately.

The husband and wife argued all the way to the city, but the red lady couldn't hold back her husband and agreed to stay outside.

"The two must be Li Yan and Hong Niangzi, right?"

Just as Li Yan was about to open his mouth to declare his family name, Zhou Yuji, who was on the top of the city, asked first.

"That's right, it's me and my wife, dare to ask the general's name?"

Seeing his extraordinary demeanor, Li Yan immediately cupped his hands and asked.

"My official is Zhou Yuji, the loyal uncle of the Ming Dynasty!" Zhou Yuji raised his voice with his hands behind his back and a cold face.

"It turned out to be General Zhou. I heard the general's name earlier, and I am lucky to meet you today!"

The husband and wife did not expect that he was Zhou Yuji, they both got off their horses and clasped their fists, obviously admiring him very much.

This time, Zhou Yuji couldn't hold back his face anymore, so he bowed back with his hands clasped together, and after a few polite words, he ordered the two hanging baskets to be put down.

"Li Zhuangshi, why doesn't your wife come up?"

"General Zhou, I'm a girl, so it's inconvenient. I can negotiate with the next person in the city. I hope you can forgive me!"

"Li Zhuangshi, I'm afraid it won't work. Your Majesty's order is to invite you and your husband to enter the city together. If Madam Zun doesn't come, your Excellency will have no choice but to invite you back."

Zhou Yuji shook his head, it wasn't that he wanted to make things difficult for the two of them, but that he had to carry out His Majesty's order.

"Never mind!"

Li Yan had no choice but to compromise.

Hong Niangzi was worried at first, and immediately got into the hanging basket when she heard the words.

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(End of this chapter)