Gao Shiming lay on the ground and took a few deep breaths before slowly saying, "I am here on behalf of the court to discuss the matter of the imperial edict with General Zhang."
Speaking of.
He reached into his crotch, tore open a corner and took out a secret letter wrapped in oil paper.
Li Dingguo was closest to Gao Shiming. He suppressed the feeling of nausea as he took the secret letter and after checking it, handed it to Zhang Xianzhong.
Soon, the letter was circulated among everyone.
There was only one thing in the letter: Zhao'an.
After reading the letter, everyone looked at each other and then at Zhang Xianzhong.
Only Zhang Xianzhong can make the decision on such a sensitive topic!
Zhang Xianzhong stared at Gao Shiming expressionlessly, recalling what happened four years ago.
In the tenth year of Chongzhen, he accepted the imperial edict of amnesty in Gucheng, but did not accept the reorganization and dispatch of his army.
In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, he rebelled again in Gucheng.
Zhang Xianzhong was not surprised that the court had brought up the issue of amnesty again.
After all, there was Li Zicheng in the west, the Mongols in the north, and the Jiannu in the northeast. Joining forces with him to fight against those people was the best choice for the Ming court, no other choice.
but...
Why didn't the Ming court issue an amnesty earlier or later, but at this time?
Yes, Li Zicheng went to attack Beijing!
Thinking of this, Zhang Xianzhong laughed: "Gao Shiming, Chongzhen has a good plan! If I am not wrong, Li Zicheng has already captured Xuanfu, right?"
"Xuanfu is the gateway to the capital! After Xuanfu was lost, the capital was in danger, and Chongzhen had no troops to use, so he planned to join forces with me, right?"
Looking at Zhang Xianzhong's confident look, Gao Shiming was speechless.
This guy's intelligence is too backward.
Li Zicheng retreated to Datong, but he is still in Xuanfu Beijing!
Actually, you can understand it if you think about it.
Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong fought on their own and did not share intelligence. In addition, the mountains were high and the roads were long, so it took at least a month or even several months for news from Beijing to reach Sichuan, so it was normal for intelligence to lag behind.
"General Zhang, your intelligence is a bit delayed. Let me sort it out for you!" Having said this, Gao Shiming raised his proud head while lying on the ground.
Although everyone present showed disdain on their faces, their ears were unconsciously directed at Gao Shiming.
"On March 21, Li Zicheng led more than 100,000 troops to besiege Beijing. Under the joint resistance of more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians in the capital, Li Zicheng was defeated on March 27 and retreated to Juyongguan. He then retreated again and again to Datong."
"In this battle, Li Zicheng lost more than 80,000 men and countless food, fodder, cattle and sheep!"
hiss...
Everyone present, including Zhang Xianzhong, gasped at the same time.
Although they had long expected that Li Zicheng would not succeed easily, they did not expect him to be defeated so quickly.
Seven days!
More than half of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers were lost in just seven days. The Ming Dynasty was indeed a dying centipede.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Zhang Xianzhong's son-in-law Wang Zhaolin raised his voice, "If Li Zicheng was defeated, why would Chongzhen still ally with the King of Daxi? This news must be fake!"
"Yes, it's fake."
"You want to fool people with false information? What do you think we are? Godfather, take this guy out and chop him up."
Everyone expressed their disbelief.
Gao Shiming said with a firm expression: "You can verify the truth of the news yourself. If I lie, you can chop off my head at any time."
Then, his face showed a gloomy look: "The court has abandoned all the land outside the Great Wall, and only after transferring the Guanning Army to Beijing to defend the king did we repel Li Zicheng."
"The Jiannu are now lurking outside the Great Wall and may enter the Great Wall to plunder again at any time. In order to concentrate our forces to fight against the Jiannu, Your Majesty has discussed with the court and decided to join forces with General Zhang to stabilize the situation in the southwest."
"What do you think, General Zhang?"
When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked!
They were not surprised that the Guanning Army came to Beijing to defend the king, but they were surprised that all the land outside the pass was lost!
Is the Ming Dynasty so weak?
Seeing that no one else spoke, Wang Zhaolin mocked, "Whether it's Jian Nu or Li Zicheng, what does the life and death of the Ming court have to do with us?"
"We wish the Ming Dynasty would end sooner so that we can take over and rule the world!"
Pop.
Wang Zhaolin, who was feeling smug, was slapped in the face by Zhang Xianzhong, and he stood there in a daze, at a loss as to what to do.
Zhang Xianzhong ignored him and stared at Gao Shiming and asked, "Is everything outside the Great Wall lost?"
“Lost.”
After a long while, Zhang Xianzhong slowly shook his head and said, "Whether it is lost or not has nothing to do with me. I am sending troops to take Chengdu this time! Go back and tell Chongzhen that I will not accept any form of amnesty. This is my attitude."
Gao Shiming had expected Zhang Xianzhong to say this. He stood up despite the pain and asked in the words Chongzhen had prepared for him: "Now that many heroes are vying for supremacy in the world, what are the chances of General Zhang winning and establishing his rule in the Central Plains?"
"Are you stronger than the Ming Dynasty, or stronger than Li Zicheng, or stronger than the Jiannu in Liaodong?"
"In troubled times, the weak are the hardest to protect themselves. General Zhang, have you ever thought about this?"
Although Zhang Xianzhong had read books when he was young, the ink in his chest had long since dried up, not to mention that bickering was not his strong point.
So he turned his attention to Wang Zhaolin who had just been beaten.
Wang Zhaolin immediately perked up. After a brief thought, he retorted, "It is precisely because he is the weakest that the Great Western King points his sword westward to Chengdu. As long as we capture Chengdu, we can build high walls and store up grain by relying on the natural barrier of Guanzhong. We will be just like Liu Bei of Shu Han back then!"
"Well said!" Gao Shiming's sharp voice echoed throughout the hall. "Excuse me, can you defend the natural barrier?"
"If I remember correctly, General Zhang has been on the move since he started his army. He is good at attacking cities but not good at defending them."
"No matter who conquers the world in the Central Plains, you can't defend Sichuan!"
Everyone wanted to refute, but they had no reason to refute. The Dashi Army's combat method was very special, often using long-range raids, feinting to the east and attacking in the west, and internal and external cooperation.
There are very few head-on battles, and even if there are, the wins are few and the losses are more.
"Then...then we can unite with Li Zicheng, first destroy the Ming Dynasty, then destroy the Jiannu, and then divide the world together!" Wang Zhaolin was a little excited.
"Ha!" Gao Shiming sneered: "Luo Rucai thought the same thing back then!"
When they heard Luo Rucai's name, everyone present shook their heads.
Luo Rucai was a figure as famous as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in the past. After his defeat, he joined Zhang Xianzhong. Because of his disagreement with Zhang Xianzhong, he joined Li Zicheng again. As a result, Li Zicheng found an excuse to get rid of him, and his troops were also annexed by Li Zicheng.
It is extremely tragic.
Gao Shiming continued, "The current situation is that the Ming Dynasty wants stability, and General Zhang wants to survive! You and I each get what we need, so why not do it?"
Wang Zhaolin clenched his fists, his face full of resentment: "Compared with Li Zicheng, the Ming government is even more unreliable!"
"Father-in-law!" Wang Zhaolin turned his head and looked at Zhang Xianzhong. "The Ming court sent Gao Shiming in the name of an imperial edict, but in fact he was trying to sow discord between our army and Li Zicheng. Father-in-law, please order him to be executed."
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