Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 167
I heard Gao Jie's rather ferocious order: "Gather the troops immediately, and the whole army will defend the top of the mountain."

Ms.So, she quickly said: "If we stick to the top of the mountain, we don't have the supplies. This sudden attack won't last long."

After hearing this, the rest of Gao Jie's subordinates also quickly started admonishing him.

"Commander, stick to the top of the mountain. There is no way out, it can only be a dead end!"

"Yes, Marshal, it's still too late to leave now. If it's too late, those thieves will surround us and they won't be able to run away!"

"Commander, think twice!"

"..."

Although everyone tried to persuade him, Gao Jie remained unmoved and said even more firmly: "Have you ever thought about it, if we escape, we will have to regroup. The imperial army has moved south and will arrive in Xuzhou soon. The emperor It is very likely that you will lead the army yourself. You said that you have thought about the old days, where you not only had to kill thieves by yourself, but also did everything else, had to worry about everything by yourself, and maybe even had someone sitting on your head who didn't understand anything. Civil servant? Or do you want to enter the capital camp and just fight under the emperor? "

Upon hearing this, his men, including Xing, were stunned.

Gao Jie looked at them and continued to speak quickly: "In the past, we had to run away when we encountered a stronger bandit army; but you guys should have heard that the emperor has become wise and powerful now. Not only did Li Zicheng lead dozens of Tens of thousands of troops fled in despair, and even the Jianlu in Liaodong were defeated by the emperor himself. This is unprecedented! Tell me, are you willing to fight under the emperor's command and win the war? "

Hearing this, his men were moved.

As a soldier, who doesn’t want to win the war?Who wants to run away easily?

Not to mention, under the emperor, there is no need to worry about the dictates of civil servants who do not understand military affairs and do not care about money and food!

Seeing them like this, Gao Jie further persuaded them: "I have sent a horse to go north to find out the news. Some time ago, the imperial army was already in Yanzhou Mansion. Counting the time, we only need to hold on for a few days before we can wait for the imperial army." Rushing to Xuzhou. Think about it for yourselves, when the emperor comes, is it better for us to be defeated, or is it better to hold on to the top of the mountain and fight with the bandits?"

At this point, he raised his voice a little and yelled a little harshly: "The future of wealth is now. After killing for so many years, don't you dare to take advantage of it now?"

Mrs.

After hearing the words of the handsome couple, their men were finally moved.
"When did the commander-in-chief miss it? Listen to the commander-in-chief!"

"Yes, rather than being chased and killed by others, why not give it a try!"

"Yes, what can be better in the world than being a member of the Imperial Guard?"

"I heard that the emperor became extremely brave and very considerate of ordinary soldiers. In the battle of Guan Pass, in order to save the lives of some soldiers, he went to fight against the stars. If such a good emperor doesn't follow, then who will?"

"..."

Seeing that Gao Jie had convinced his men, he immediately asked his men to gather the soldiers and defend the hilltop.

Then, a funny scene appeared.

In the morning, Gao Jie's troops attacked the rebels from the bottom of the mountain. In the afternoon, Gao Jie was on the mountain and the rebels attacked from the bottom of the mountain.

At this time, more than half of Gao Jie's troops, including those who died in battle, those who escaped, those who were separated, etc., have gone, and there are still more than 1000 people guarding the mountain.All the food, grass and baggage in the camp, including wounded soldiers and artillery, were thrown to the rebels.

But thanks to the food and baggage left by the Silver Rat on the mountain, I barely managed to avoid going hungry.

At the bottom of the mountain, Chen Yongfu saw that he could not attack up the mountain in one go, so he did not attack by force. He just ordered to surround the main passage down the mountain, and then stationed down first.

Of course, if Gao Jie had a ready-made camp, he wouldn't be polite.

However, in this case, there is a problem.No, he saw his subordinates reporting to him: "Uncle, what should we do with the wounded soldiers in the imperial court?"

Keeping it not only takes up space, but also consumes food.

However, after hearing this, Chen Yongfu sighed and said: "It's not easy. Those who can move, let them go by themselves. Those who can't move, move them to a place to see if their lives are in danger!"

He was also a member of the imperial army, and he had fought to the death with Li Zicheng before.Only later, when Sun Chuanting's men were chasing Li Zicheng's troops, Sun Chuanting was defeated and fled to Tongguan with his troops. However, he left the Henan troops he led to block Li Zicheng's troops, who were extremely powerful. The key was that they still had no food and grass. Neither of them were convinced and eventually rebelled.

For him, this was actually a last resort. It was impossible for him to kill Zeng Paoze, who had no power to fight back.

Soon, Chen Yongfu's men started cooking and solving the problem of food first.

Just as they were finishing their meal, Silver Rat appeared with the remnants of his group.

I just emerged from the forest, feeling very embarrassed.However, he was also gloating about his misfortune and said to Chen Yongfu: "Fortunately, my uncle came at the right time. Gao Jie didn't even run away and was blocked by my uncle on the mountain. Quickly send troops to attack the mountain and capture him and that bitch to express to His Highness Please take credit!”

After hearing this, Chen Yongfu just said lightly: "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

When Silver Rat heard this, he was stunned for a moment. When he came back to his senses, he was a little embarrassed and quickly said he didn't dare.

Chen Yongfu said to him: "Where is the promised food?"

This is what he cares about most.

When he was still an official of the imperial court, he was guarding Kaifeng, but Li Zicheng dug up the Yellow River and flooded Kaifeng. At the same time, many areas east of Kaifeng became flooded areas, and Guide Mansion was one of them.

In these troubled times, this is adding insult to injury.Food has always been a knife hanging over Chen Yongfu's head. If he accidentally ran out of food, he would have no choice but to lead his troops and flee.

After receiving Silver Rat's request for rescue, he speeded up his march and came. It was not because he was worried that Silver Rat could not withstand the attack of the imperial army, but because he was worried that there would be no food if he arrived late.

Upon hearing this, Silver Rat quickly replied: "I hid the food on several nearby hills. Nowadays, most of the hills occupied by Gao Jie's men. But don't worry, uncle, I hid it well and he won't be able to find it." But if he stays on the mountain all the time, there is no guarantee that he will not be discovered. So, uncle, let’s see if we can attack the mountain as soon as possible?”

When Chen Yongfu heard this, he took him to carefully check the situation on the mountain.This is the home of the silver squirrel. With his introduction, Chen Yongfu has a better understanding of the terrain.

After reading it, he had to admit that Gao Jie was indeed a good fighter.Every suitable road up the mountain is guarded by troops.If we forcefully attack the mountain, we will suffer a lot of losses.

The silver rat either wanted revenge, or was afraid that Gao Jie would find out where he hid the food, so he kept nagging in Chen Yongfu's ears. Anyway, he wanted to attack the mountain as soon as possible.

Chen Yongfu didn't want the Henan soldiers he led to suffer heavy losses, so he said to Silver Squirrel: "You are still the most familiar with this mountain. You lead the troops to attack first. My people will follow your people and try to attack the mountain in one fell swoop. "

This was reasonable. Although Silver Rat was reluctant, he agreed and said, "It's getting late today and my people are very tired. How about we wait until early tomorrow morning and have a good meal before attacking again?"

Of course Chen Yongfu had no problem, so after early morning the next day, they were ready to attack the mountain.

Unexpectedly, before they could take action, Gao Jie sent someone down the mountain, saying that he wanted to surrender and asked to discuss a surrender treatment.

When Silver Rat heard this, he refused and said, "This Gao Jie has now become a turtle in a urn. He has no place to escape and has to negotiate terms. What a dream!"

However, Chen Yongfu didn't think so and said: "Although he is a turtle in a urn, he can still fight against a trapped beast and jump over the wall! If he has no way out, we don't know how many men and horses will be lost. If he can surrender, what's wrong? In this world, Aren’t there enough people who died?”

In troubled times, human life is like a piece of grass.Some people are already numb to the dead. As long as they don't kill themselves, it doesn't matter how much they die.

However, there are also people who feel compassion when they see too many dead people and do not want more people to die.Chen Yongfu belongs to the latter.

Silver Rat was a lustful man and married seven wives after his rebellion.Then he killed all seven of his wives because they persuaded him not to attack the capital. He was obviously the kind of person who didn't care about human life.

Although he was unwilling to give in at this time, his status in the Dashun Kingdom was not as high as Chen Yongfu's. Now he had just suffered heavy losses. Thanks to Chen Yongfu's troops coming to rescue him, he could not compete with Chen Yongfu.

Although Silver Rat was very reluctant, he could only rely on Chen Yongfu's opinion.

So, negotiations began immediately.

Gao Jie's people put forward conditions. Whether Chen Yongfu agrees or not, he has to go back to the mountain to report to Gao Jie, and Gao Jie makes the decision.It takes time to go back and forth without saying anything, and the response is still very slow.

By the afternoon of the next day, Chen Yongfu felt that something was wrong, and asked Gao Jie to negotiate in person, otherwise he would not negotiate and attack the mountain the next day.

Gao Jie's reply after receiving the news was that Chen Yongfu could not bring bows and arrows, and the two could negotiate alone.

After all, Li Zicheng's eye proves that everyone is worried about Chen Yongfu's magic shot.

After hearing this, Silver Rat was very envious and said: "My uncle's magic shot makes even Gao Jie tremble with fear. It is so powerful. I guess only the current emperor can compare with my uncle!"

When Chen Yongfu heard this, he was a little surprised and said: "How good is the archery skill of the current emperor?"

Silver Rat has been suppressed by Chen Yongfu these days, and he still feels vaguely contemptuous and unhappy.At this time, after hearing Chen Yongfu's question, he decided to attack Chen Yongfu.

I only heard Silver Rat reply: "I went on an expedition with His Highness and fought against the current emperor several times. Naturally, I know that the current emperor is really good at archery. Maybe he is even better than my uncle!"

When Li Zicheng attacked Kaifeng, it was naturally impossible for him to run to the city by himself. He was shot in the eye by an arrow from Chen Yongfu from a long distance. This archery skill was definitely very powerful, and it was also Chen Yongfu's proud shot.

But at this time, when he heard that the current emperor's archery skills were even better than his own, he was surprised and a little unconvinced, so he asked: "How can the current emperor's archery skills be so good?"

After hearing this, Yin Shu immediately started talking and said: "The first time I saw the current emperor's archery skills was when he was in Daizhou. At that time, he shot an arrow at His Highness the Third Prince on the top of the city. He was protected by his bodyguards. , His Highness the Third Prince was only shot in the arm, but two of his bodyguards died..."

After hearing this, Chen Yongfu was a little surprised. After all, it was the current emperor who shot it. However, he was not shocked or admired because he thought about it. As long as the opportunity was right, he could do it.

Silver Rat was still there and continued: "...The second time was when the current emperor attacked Zhendingfu City and shot down the suspension bridge with only two arrows! You have to know that he was at least 150 steps away from the city head at that time. It's amazing. Bar?"

After hearing this, Chen Yongfu nodded and said: "I have never heard that the current emperor's martial arts is so powerful! With such archery skills, even among the Ming army, there are only a handful of them!"

There is an implicit meaning in this sentence. The so-called "few people" actually means that there are other people who can do it, such as Chen Yongfu.

Silver Rat originally wanted to suppress Chen Yongfu, who looked down on him a little, but unexpectedly it didn't seem to work well, so he continued to talk.

"You don't know, during the battle of Zhending, I heard with my own ears that the emperor used a thousand-jin Fo Lang machine cannon to break Cihou's spear array, and Zhending fell. You said, this strength Is it big?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yongfu just smiled lightly. Apparently he didn't really believe it and thought it was exaggerated.

When Silver Rat saw it, he understood the reason, and then said: "When I was stationed at Jinghai, I heard something. When the emperor was fighting in front of the Xuan Mansion and the princes of the Qing Dynasty, he directly used arrows. He shot the charging Prince of the Qing Dynasty off his horse, and then when more than 20 of his bodyguards rushed to save people, they were shot off their horses one by one by the emperor. Isn't this considered awesome?"

Chen Yongfu was really shocked when he heard this.

There is no doubt that Jianlu is powerful.As the personal guard of Prince Jianlu, he is definitely the elite among Jianlu.

Twenty or so personal guards went to save people, but they were all shot off their horses by the emperor. This was definitely not something that ordinary marksmen could do.

As a general who leads troops to fight, he knows very well how difficult it is!

When Silver Rat saw his shocked look, he continued to add information and said: "There is another thing that I have heard about, but it is basically true!"

When Chen Yongfu heard this, he quickly asked: "What's going on?"

Seeing that he was so concerned, Silver Rat felt a little proud in his heart for some reason, and immediately said: "The imperial army and the Qing army fought in Changping. It is said that the Qing army sent their most powerful white-armored soldiers at that time. , a sturdy man wearing triple heavy armor, guess what?"

"What's wrong?" Chen Yongfu asked quickly after hearing this.

Although he was not transferred to Liaodong to fight Jianqi, he was in the imperial army system, so he had naturally heard how powerful Jianqi was, and among them, this white-armored soldier was the most powerful!
These white-armored soldiers cannot be hurt by arrows, and even fire cannons cannot harm them. They must be killed with heavy weapons.

However, generally speaking, white-armored soldiers also use heavy weapons, and it is difficult to defeat them.Especially if the white-armored soldiers rush into the formation, there will definitely not be one or two, so it will be more difficult to deal with.

In this situation, unless you are prepared in advance, you will definitely be broken by it.

At this time, Chen Yongfu felt as if he was facing a group of white-armored soldiers charging into the battle, and he wanted to know how he was able to crack it at that time.
Because he heard about a result: the emperor defeated the Dashun army and drove the Jianlu out of the pass.

When Silver Rat saw Chen Yongfu asking, he said proudly: "You will never expect it!"

Seeing that he didn't answer directly, Chen Yongfu was a little dissatisfied and shouted coldly: "Say!"

Normally he seemed to be kind to people, but when he suddenly became cold, the contrast became even stronger. The silver mouse was immediately surprised, and suddenly he remembered that he had asked him to do something about the emperor. If you suppress him, you are asking for trouble!
Thinking this, he quickly replied: "I was killed by the emperor!"

"Huh?" After hearing this answer, Chen Yongfu was not satisfied and immediately asked, "Don't hide it. How did you kill him?"

Silver Rat had no choice but to reply: "I heard that the emperor killed one of them, and then used the white-armored soldier he killed as a weapon to smash the other white-armored soldiers to death!"

Chen Yongfu: "..."

He thought of many tricks to deal with the charge of the white-armored soldiers, but he never thought that he could do this!
In his mind, he imagined that the current emperor would crush the white-armored soldiers to death with their corpses. For a moment, he was a little stunned.He was appointed as the commander-in-chief after the Battle of Kaifeng, and he had never gone to the capital to see him.

In my mind is just the shadow of an emperor wearing a dragon robe, waving the corpse of a white-armored soldier...

The silver rat next to him actually regretted it at this time. After all, he and Chen Yongfu were in the same group. Which emperor was his mortal enemy? How could he use the emperor to suppress Chen Yongfu!

So, he quickly added: "I have not seen these things with my own eyes, I have heard about them. Think about it, uncle, he is the emperor, and everyone in the world can only flatter him, what kind of things can't be made up? Let me tell you, I guess all fake!"

Hearing his words, Chen Yongfu came back to his senses. He just glanced at him lightly and said nothing. He just ordered his men to reply to Gao Jie and said that he agreed not to bring bows and arrows and that the two sides would meet and negotiate.

On a gentle slope with few trees and a wide view, Gao Jie and Chen Yongfu faced each other, about five or six feet apart. Neither of them had weapons, but they were both wearing armor.

Others were far away, including Xing and Silver Rat, who didn't come close.

When the two parties met, Gao Jie first clasped his fists and saluted and said, "I would be very grateful if Marshal Chen can agree to my request!"

When Chen Yongfu heard his name, he didn't care. He just said: "Tell me, how can I surrender? My patience is also limited. I don't think about you, but also think about the soldiers who are following you. You are now It’s already a desperate situation!”

In his opinion, he has indeed done his best.

But who knows, Gao Jie listened and said to him with a smile: "Marshal Chen, you should have heard that the current emperor has a decree. Except for Li Zicheng, everyone else can be pardoned. So, I think Yes, you should give up the darkness as soon as possible and don’t be a thief again!”

When Chen Yongfu heard this, he immediately became angry and shouted coldly: "You really don't really want to surrender, so there is nothing more to say. Just wait for the challenge!"

After saying that, he was ready to turn around and leave.

When Gao Jie saw it, he quickly stopped him and said, "Commander Chen, don't be anxious. I advise you to abandon the darkness and turn to the light. It's for your own good. If you persist in your stubbornness, you will really be in trouble!"

Hearing what he said, Chen Yongfu looked at him coldly and shouted angrily: "Okay, I want to hear how I can prevent disaster! If you don't satisfy me, none of you can escape today!"

After hearing this, Gao Jie didn't care about his threat. He just kept smiling and said to him: "I believe I know Li Zicheng better than you. Don't look at him saying that he won't pursue the blind matter, that's because he still needs people. If Wait until one day he can really rule the world and become emperor. Do you think of Liu Bang or Emperor Taizu? Li Zicheng uses his eyes every day, and when he feels inconvenience, he will think of you first. When the time comes, you will say, you can still do it. Not to kill you? "

In fact, it goes without saying that Chen Yongfu himself has never thought about this?But, he had no other choice.

The anger dissipated a little, but he still had a cold face and shouted: "That's it?"

Let’s talk about what happens next.If Gao Jie wanted to move him just based on this, he would be treating him as a fool.

Of course, Gao Jie didn't have just such a reason. He kept smiling and continued to say to Chen Yongfu: "The reason why I said that Marshal Chen is going to be in trouble is because the current emperor has personally led the army south and will arrive in Xuzhou soon. . The reason why I delayed for the past two days was to wait for reinforcements!"

Hearing this, Chen Yongfu was immediately surprised and immediately confirmed: "Is this true?"

After hearing this, Gao Jie stopped laughing, became serious, and said to him: "You are with the rebel army now, so naturally you are not as well informed as I am. I calculated that the emperor did lead the army south, so he sent people north to find out the news. . To tell you the truth, a few days ago, the Confucius family in Qufu was dealt with by the imperial court. If the emperor was not in the army, it would be absolutely impossible to deal with the Confucian family in Qufu like this! But now, counting the time, the military front of the imperial camp in Beijing has been very fast. Go to Xuzhou!"

At this point, without waiting for Chen Yongfu to speak, he continued to say in a sincere tone: "The reason why I told Marshal Chen this news and wanted to persuade you to abandon the secret and turn to the bright side is actually for myself!"

Chen Yongfu listened to him and frowned, but did not interrupt him.

So, Gao Jie continued: "Let me tell you the truth. I couldn't escape Li Zicheng's army before, so you chased me. Needless to say, this must have violated the court's laws. If I really want to say it, I must Therefore, I heard that the emperor had become wise and powerful, and that the imperial court was expected to be rejuvenated, so I thought that it would be the luckiest thing for any general to be able to fight under the emperor's command. Therefore, I fought hard to attack the people entrenched in Xuzhou. Silver Rat, including persuading you, is just so that I can get more credit!"

"I don't know how much you have heard about the current emperor, but I can tell you one thing clearly. As far as the current situation is concerned, if the emperor can defeat Li Zicheng's army and knock out the previously invincible Jianlu, this world will It will still be the Ming Dynasty, and no one can take it away! You are the commander-in-chief of the imperial court, and after surrendering to Li Zicheng, you did not do much to disgrace the imperial court. If you join me in dedicating a stable Xuzhou to the emperor, you will definitely be pardoned , maybe I can join the emperor in conquering the world in the future, with your ability and my ability, it’s no longer a matter of making me my wife and my wife!”

When Gao Jie said this, he once again said in a sincere tone: "That's it. I hope Marshal Chen will think twice."

Chen Yongfu listened and remained silent.

Although he is with the Dashun Army, he is defending the eastern area of ​​Henan, the southern section near Beizhili, and he can hear some news.And Jinnan is also close, so naturally we can hear some news about Jin.

Although many rumors are exaggerated, a basic impression can still be made.Probably the emperor became wise and powerful, and personally led the army to quell the rebellion in many places.

Then, he just heard what Silver Rat told him, which became more specific. Combining the news he heard and corroborating each other, he became clearer about the current emperor and the current situation.

Now, after hearing Gao Jie's persuasion again, to be honest, he was actually tempted.

Although Li Zicheng has become a popular figure, this does not mean that Li Zicheng is so wise and powerful, and he is popular among people, which makes him popular. On the contrary, Li Zicheng's reputation is not good.

In the early years, there were bandits, and Henan was a disaster area, and Chen Yongfu was the deputy general of Kaifeng. It's strange that he had a good impression!
Later, Li Zicheng tore up the loyalty of Hun Jianghu and annexed the troops of Cao Cao and Luo Rucai, who were kind to him. He also annexed the fifth camp of Ge Zuo, Xiao Yuan camp, etc., and then his strength became stronger.But how many people will be convinced by this kind of power?

And the reason why he became famous is not because of how strong he is, but because the people's livelihood of the court was dragged down by thieves like him and the Jianlu in Liaodong. Coupled with those corrupt officials and the fighting in the court, it was finally It led to chaos in the world, and the imperial court was no longer able to calm the world.

Also, Li Zicheng's wife can betray him, which is a bit insignificant for such a big event as fighting for world hegemony, but it can also show Li Zicheng's personal charm!

A simple comparison, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was also born in the rebel army, did not have so many disgraceful things. No matter what he did secretly, he still had a reputation for being careless on the surface. As the wife of the poor, Empress Ma never left him. Never give up and become Zhu Yuanzhang's virtuous wife.

Therefore, although the generals of the Ming Dynasty, including Chen Yongfu, surrendered to Li Zicheng, none of them was sincere. History has proved that if something happens, they will rebel against Li Zicheng.

If possible, Chen Yongfu would certainly be willing to return to the imperial court, especially if the emperor became wiser and more powerful, showing signs of resurgence.

However, as a court general who surrendered to Li Zicheng, he actually still had some concerns. He wondered what the emperor would do with him if he really returned to the court.
Therefore, after listening to Gao Jie's words, Chen Yongfu hesitated for a while before asking Gao Jie: "Is His Majesty's decree of pardon serious, or is it just a rumor?"

When Gao Jie heard this question, he immediately knew there was something going on. He was very happy and said quickly: "Of course it is true! I was worried about being punished, so I paid special attention to this matter. This is an imperial edict, and it was posted in Di Bao It’s on, but I don’t have a newspaper with me, so I can’t show it to you with your own eyes. But there’s something, I wonder if you’ve heard of it?”

Chen Yongfu seemed very concerned and quickly asked: "What's the matter?"

Even if he didn't ask, Gao Jie would still have to say it. He just heard him say: "When your Majesty conquered Zhending Fucheng, he captured Li Zicheng's family camp and the bandits guarding the city, a total of about 3 people. But the emperor simply Instead of holding them accountable for the crime of rebellion, he let them go and said that His Majesty understands that they had no choice but to rebel in the first place, and will spare their lives as long as they don't resist next time."

"You have to know that there are even children like Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and Li Guo here, but the emperor just let them go without asking. You said, compared with theirs, our affairs are even more serious. It’s nothing, right?”

This matter is very embarrassing for Dashun Army.Therefore, Li Zicheng naturally issued an order not to discuss this matter, and immediately sent Jia Xiaoying back to Shaanxi.

As Chen Yongfu was a member of the army outside Li Zicheng's direct line, it was naturally impossible for anyone to tell him this.When he heard this, he was immediately shocked and said immediately: "Is there such a thing? I really haven't heard of it!"

After finishing speaking, he said with some emotion: "Your Majesty did this, it is really unexpected!"

When Gao Jie heard this, he was also a little emotional and said to Chen Yongfu: "To be honest, when I heard about this news, I felt that Your Majesty... Your Majesty... was a little bit like that! However, subsequent events proved that His Majesty was really What a brilliant move, if you think about it later, you’ll understand!”

Seeing that Chen Yongfu was listening, he knew that there was hope for persuading him to surrender, and he would get more credit for his achievements, so he said enthusiastically: "I guess you don't know, Li Zicheng and Jianlu jointly went to cut off the water transportation, and then They were going to dig up the imperial mausoleum in Changping, but the emperor led his own troops to conquer it, and the captives fled after hearing the news. However, the 7 horses led by Liu Zongmin at the time surrendered the emperor's nearly 6 horses on the spot. Gao Yigong and Li Laiheng could have escaped. , they didn’t even run away, and now they have become part of the Beijing camp!”

"Think about it, if His Majesty had killed those 3 people, just like Hong Shatou, who would have surrendered? If he knew he would die, then he would have to fight to the death, right? So, your Majesty's move, after thinking about it, , it’s really high!”

Chen Yongfu didn't know about this.He only knew that after Li Zicheng led the army and joined forces with Jianlu, he still suffered a big loss, and then Jianlu fled. Li Zicheng said he was going to reinforce Yuan Zongdi and left the capital.This was the first time he had heard of the details.

Thinking about it at this time, he couldn't help but admire him very much: "The way of people's hearts is far inferior to that of Your Majesty!"

Gao Yigong is Li Zicheng's brother-in-law, and Li Laiheng is Li Guo's adopted son. He has also heard that they were both inspired by the emperor. This shows that destiny is still clear!
After sighing with emotion, Chen Yongfu also made a decision in his heart, and immediately asked Gao Jie: "Thank you, Marshal Gao, for clarifying this. I really do not sincerely surrender the thief. What can I do to prevent His Majesty from being punished and continue to serve His Majesty?"

At this point, he hesitated for a moment, and then added: "The best thing is to be able to conquer the world with His Majesty and calm down the troubled times?"

Hearing this, Gao Jie smiled.He had one more credit, which he had not expected in advance and was a complete surprise.

But before he could answer, Silver Rat shouted loudly from behind: "Uncle, why are you talking so much nonsense to him? He is already a turtle in the jar anyway!"

After hearing this, Chen Yongfu turned to look at him, ignored him, and then turned back to look at Gao Jie.

Gao Jie also looked at the silver rat, and then said to Chen Yongfu: "It has been almost a year since we sent grain to the capital. I guess that this time His Majesty led the troops south to ensure the smooth flow of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, so he led the troops to clear it. The silver rat entrenched in Xuzhou. If we can quell the chaos in Xuzhou, it will be a great achievement, and your majesty will definitely like it!"

He had actually said this before, but after repeating it again, Chen Yongfu heard something else and immediately confirmed: "You mean, you want to kill the silver rat? Can't you persuade him to submit to the imperial court?"

After hearing this, Gao Jie sneered and said, "Do you think you can persuade him to submit to the imperial court? Just because he killed seven wives, he must follow Li Zicheng to attack the capital. Everyone here knows that he can submit to the imperial court?" "

At this point, he did not wait for Chen Yongfu to speak, and said sinisterly: "Your Majesty will go south soon. Rather than wasting time persuading such a person to submit to the imperial court, it would be more appropriate to use him as a meeting gift to meet His Majesty."

After hearing this, Chen Yongfu thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, but there is a serious shortage of food and grass in the army. He has food hidden in the mountains. Let's get the food out first!"

When Gao Jie heard this, he smiled and said: "It's impossible for him to know about hiding the food. If he is caught separately and interrogated, he can naturally find out."

The transportation of grain must be done by a group of people, so it is really impossible for only the silver rats to know about this matter.

When Chen Yongfu heard what he said, he recognized it, so the two discussed the remaining matters.

………………

Gao Jie really put a lot of thought into guessing the emperor's whereabouts correctly.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen had already left Shandong and entered Xuzhou Mansion.However, because Li Zicheng had dug up the dams of the Yellow River before, causing the Yellow River to change its course, Henan and Xuzhou downstream became yellow flood zones, and the march slowed down.

Moreover, there was another thing that Emperor Chongzhen had to consider.

Leading the army southward along the canal, we must ensure smooth water transportation.Needless to say, in the Gyeonggi area, a small group of thieves must have been cleared out, and the safety of water transportation can be guaranteed, but other things are hard to say.

In the border area of ​​Shandong, Emperor Chongzhen has arranged for his chief assistant Fan Jingwen to lead 5 troops in multiple routes to clear out the bandits and stabilize the place. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen does not have to worry too much and only needs to lead the army south along the canal, accompanied by a water transport governor. , and can also arrange matters with the local government and Cao army to ensure it.

However, after leaving Shandong and entering the southern border of Zhili, it was different. He needed to personally worry about the bandits. At least he had to clear out a large number of bandits, and then Zuo Maodi's Cao army was responsible for security, so as not to leave. Accident.

Therefore, before the army entered Shandong, he learned about the news from all parties, especially the refugees fleeing north, who could learn the latest situation.

It turned out that Xuzhou was home to a group of thieves numbering tens of thousands of people, and the leader was nicknamed the Silver Rat.

This group of bandits cannot be dealt with by the Cao army.Emperor Chongzhen asked Huang Degong, who was in the vanguard, to send Ye Fushou to collect information before the army arrived.

What he wanted was to wipe out this group of bandits in one fell swoop, even if he wanted to recruit them. Anyway, he couldn't delay in Xuzhou Mansion, otherwise he wouldn't be able to carry enough food and grass to last to his next supply point.

What he didn't expect was that he had just passed Peixian County, which was still far away from the capital of Xuzhou, when he received a report from Huang Degong, saying that Gao Jie had led the army to defeat the Yingshu bandits and persuaded the former Henan Commander-in-Chief to Chen Yongfu returned to the imperial court.

This surprised Emperor Chongzhen. He was immediately overjoyed and ordered the two of them to meet in Xuzhou.

In the afternoon of the next day, Emperor Chongzhen arrived outside Xuzhou City.

What he didn't expect was that a mixed army, numbering about 2, had assembled outside the city. When they saw the flag of the Chinese army, they knew the emperor had arrived, and they all knelt down to greet him.

He was not surprised by this miscellaneous army. Li Zicheng's army, including the original imperial officers and soldiers, all wore everything. Even the army he originally pieced together also wore everything.

What surprised him was that at the front of the army, there were two shirtless men, carrying thorn sticks on their backs, kneeling there to greet them, as if they were bearing thorn sticks to apologize.

Emperor Chongzhen guessed that if nothing else happened, the two people must be Gao Jie and Chen Yongfu.

Gao Jie was originally one of the four towns of the Southern Ming Dynasty in history. His troops were strong, and because most of them were from the Qin Dynasty, they were good at fighting and a fierce general. However, he was at odds with Huang Degong. By the time of the Southern Ming Dynasty, no one could suppress him. He was arrogant and disdainful, so he listened to his wife Xing's words and returned to Shi Kefa's control.He was determined to defeat Li Zicheng and had no intention of surrendering to the Qing Dynasty. In the end, he was plotted by Xu Dingguo and used him as a meeting gift for surrendering to the Jianlu.

During the Southern Ming Dynasty, military generals could participate in court affairs, so Gao Jie wrote a letter to speak for many civil servants who had surrendered to bandits, and recommended Wu Shengsheng, Zheng Sanjun, Jin Guangchen, Jiang Tucai, Xiong Kaiyuan, Jin Sheng, Shen Zhengzong and others.

Compared with many people, these people have integrity and have not surrendered to the Manchus, or served various emperors of the Southern Ming Dynasty, or lived in seclusion in the mountains, etc.

As for Chen Yongfu, Emperor Chongzhen remembered that he defended Kaifeng in three battles and shot out one of Li Zicheng's eyes. He felt that he was a sharpshooter similar to himself.

Emperor Chongzhen definitely wanted to use these two people. Now that he saw that they had contributed to the pacification of Xuzhou and had taken the blame, he was naturally more satisfied.

To a certain extent, this is considered a domineering spirit, right?
He was a little complacent about this, at least the original Emperor Chongzhen certainly couldn't do this.

So Emperor Chongzhen stepped forward in person, comforted the two men, helped them up, gave them a few words of encouragement, and allowed them to enter the Beijing camp.

The Jingying camp was regarded as the emperor's imperial army, a military power that he could directly control. Of course, he wanted to include all the fierce generals.

Among them, Gao Jie is still the chief soldier, but Chen Yongfu is demoted to deputy chief soldier.

Chen Yongfu was not unhappy about this, but took the opportunity to plead with the emperor.

(End of this chapter)