"Yes, this man is spreading rumors and confusing the people, disrupting the morale of the army. Please order him to be executed, foster father!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill him!"
In the lobby of the county government, there were more and more voices calling for Gao Shiming to be killed.
Seeing this, Zhang Xianzhong began to hesitate.
In May of the 16th year of Chongzhen, he occupied Wuchang and proclaimed himself the King of Daxi. In the same year, Li Zicheng proclaimed himself the King of Shunyi in Xiangyang. When Li Zicheng learned that Zhang Xianzhong had proclaimed himself the King, he was very dissatisfied and sent someone to send a letter to intimidate him.
Li Zicheng's power was great, while his was small.
Moreover, he was sandwiched between Li Zicheng and the Ming army, which was an awkward and dangerous position.
It was for this reason that he went down to Hunan to attack Yuezhou, attacked Jiangxi, and then went upstream to attack Sichuan.
If Li Zicheng knew that the Ming court had summoned him to surrender, once the other party got angry, the consequences would be disastrous.
It would be better to kill Gao Shiming to prevent future troubles.
"Father, you can't do that!" Seeing Zhang Xianzhong was about to kill Gao Shiming, Li Dingguo stood up and said, "I think..."
At this point, he paused for a moment and asked Zhang Xianzhong: "Foster father, please detain Gao Shiming first. I have something to say."
Zhang Xianzhong nodded and ordered two soldiers to take Gao Shiming away.
After Gao Shiming walked away, Li Dingguo spoke up, "Father, I think this matter should be dealt with slowly."
"What do you mean, second brother?" Sun Kewang frowned.
"Foster father, everyone, do you think we can be sure of victory in this expedition to Sichuan?" Li Dingguo did not answer but asked instead.
"Yes! Our army is invincible and victorious in every battle."
"The Dashi Army is invincible!"
Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, Ai Nengqi, Wang Zhaolin and other generals and officials expressed their opinions.
Li Dingguo smiled bitterly: "Everyone, you can deceive the enemy, but you can't deceive yourself!"
"Brother, have you drunk too much? Why are you talking nonsense when you're drunk?" Liu Wenxiu had a good relationship with Li Dingguo in private, so he immediately came out to smooth things over.
Now the Dashi Army is aiming at Chongqing, and the two armies are about to engage in battle.
Li Dingguo's words completely destroyed his own morale and boosted the enemy's prestige.
To put it mildly, it is rude remarks, and to put it seriously, it is disrupting the morale of the army.
He's going to be beheaded.
As expected, Wang Zhaolin immediately criticized: "General Li, what do you mean by this? Are you hoping that our army will fail?"
"Second brother, what you said is too much. Don't say it next time." Sun Kewang coughed and tried to skip the topic.
"Listen to what he says!" Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand, signaling others to be quiet.
Li Dingguo had long been trusted by him, so the other party must have his reasons for saying that.
Li Dingguo nodded and lowered his voice: "Father, it would be good if we succeed in attacking Sichuan this time. If we fail, where will our army go?"
"By then, there will be Qin Liangyu in front, Zuo Liangyu in the back, Li Zicheng in the north, and Guangxi and Guizhou in the south! The people there are tough and the products are scarce. Going there is like digging your own grave."
"Godfather, please think carefully!"
Zhang Xianzhong was stunned, and there was a hint of expectation in his eyes when he looked at Li Dingguo.
In fact, this issue had been considered long before the attack on Sichuan. The worst plan at the time was to retreat to Kuizhou after the defeat, and then hold Jingzhou, Yuezhou, Changde Prefecture and Changsha.
Control the southern part of Huguang.
But there is still a risk of total annihilation.
At that time, he was caught between Li Zicheng and the Ming army and had to take this risky move.
"What does Dingguo mean?"
"If we win, we will go to Sichuan to recuperate. If we lose, we will pretend to be in peace and wait for a comeback! If the Ming army asks us to attack Li Zicheng, father can take the opportunity to ask for military pay... The Ming army is short of pay, so naturally there is no pay to pay."
"Our troops can then rest and recuperate in a natural way!"
Zhang Xianzhong's face was already full of smiles. Just as he was about to agree, he thought of one last question: "What about Gao Shiming?"
Gao Shiming wanted only two answers: to grant amnesty, or not to grant amnesty.
As soon as they released him, they attacked Chongqing. Naturally, their attitude towards the court was that they would not accept the amnesty, so if they were defeated, they would have no way of retreat.
If you don't let go...the attitude will be clearer.
Li Dingguo thought for a moment and said, "He has a wound on his butt. It will take at least a month to heal."
"What happens after the injury heals in a month?"
"His injury may not heal..." Li Dingguo's eyes flickered.
Zhang Xianzhong laughed loudly, no longer trying to hide his smile, and ordered his attendants, "Everyone, do as Dingguo wishes!"
"There are two purposes for this march into Sichuan. One is to conquer the land of Western Shu and recuperate, and the other is to take the property in the Shu Palace. You must work together and fight bravely with me!"
The rest of the people obeyed the order and looked at Li Dingguo with complicated eyes.
There is happiness, envy, indifference and jealousy...
Although there was a hint of unwillingness in the corner of Sun Kewang's eyes, his face was filled with a bright smile.
"Kewang, Dingguo, Wenxiu, Nengqi, you stay here, the rest of you can leave. Oh, and treat Gao Shiming well, but don't let him recover from his injury."
After the irrelevant people left, Zhang Xianzhong dismissed his attendants, took out a map, and said to his four adopted sons: "According to the locals, this flood will recede in two months at most, or one month at least. Once the flood recedes, I want you to immediately surround Zhongzhou (now Zhongxian) and kill Qin Liangyu at all costs."
"She only has 5,000 soldiers and horses. There is no way she can stop my 200,000-man army!"
Although the four adopted sons showed no fear on the surface, they were quite critical in their hearts.
Qin Liangyu was simply Zhang Xianzhong's nemesis.
After so many battles between the two sides, Qin Liangyu's winning rate could reach a terrifying 80% or even 90%.
If it weren't for the great victory in the 13th year of Chongzhen that annihilated all of Qin Liangyu's 30,000 elite troops, they would never have been able to occupy Kuizhou, let alone dare to lay hands on Sichuan.
Even though Qin Liangyu had lost her elite troops, they still felt some resistance in their hearts.
"Godfather, I am willing to be the vanguard!" Li Dingguo held his head high and chest puffed out.
"Good!" Zhang Xianzhong pointed at Zhongzhou and said, "Capture Zhongzhou and you will be credited with the first achievement!"
......
Chungju.
In the lobby of the government office, a 70-year-old woman in casual clothes sat on a chair and sighed.
This man has a face as white as jade and bright eyes. Although he is old, he is very strong and his every move is full of agility.
A heroic female general.
This person was none other than General Qin Liangyu, a lady of the second rank.
She looked at the map in front of her and muttered to herself.
"No power, no money, no soldiers, no generals! How can we defend Zhongzhou?"
"It has been more than a month since Li Zicheng attacked Beijing. I wonder how Your Majesty is doing."
"I heard that the Crown Prince, Prince Yong, and Prince Ding went to Nanjing. I wonder if those old foxes from the six departments in Nanjing bullied him?"
"And... the war in Liaodong and Henan, ah!"
Just as Qin Liangyu was sighing, her nephew Qin Yiming walked in quickly: "Aunt, someone from the capital is here."
"Ah?" Qin Liangyu raised her head, her red eyes gleaming with a gleam: "Who's here?"
"Jinyiwei!"
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