After leaving the imperial prison, Chongzhen continued to disguise himself as a guard and returned to the imperial city with Wang Chengen.
The next thing is much simpler.
At the instruction of Chongzhen, the Ming court agreed to Li Zicheng's request.
Before Liu Fangliang had time to get a good night's sleep, he was put into a prison van and taken to Wei County.
When Li Zicheng heard the news, he was not as happy as he had imagined, but instead had more concerns in his heart.
After all, Liu Fangliang was a prisoner, and no one knew what happened to him while he was a prisoner.
"Niu Zuofu, Fang Liang should not surrender to the Ming court, right?" Li Zicheng asked.
Niu Jinxing was a little embarrassed and didn't know how to answer this question.
It was he who proposed to exchange a city for one person. If he doubted Liu Fangliang's loyalty, he should not have proposed this strategy.
If you are in doubt, it's easy to get yourself into trouble.
After all, Li Zicheng and Liu Fangliang have an extraordinary relationship!
After thinking for a while, Niu Jinxing replied: "Your Majesty, I don't think General Fangliang will surrender to the Ming court. But to be on the safe side, it is better to let him rest for a while in the name of rest and recuperation."
"After this period of time, I will return his military power to him. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Li Zicheng thought about it and had no choice but to agree.
Judging from the current situation, Niu Jinxing's method is the best option.
During the time when Liu Fangliang was taken to Wei County, Li Zicheng was paying close attention to the situation in Shandong.
The deployment of Ming troops in various states and prefectures in Shandong, and the progress of the Jiannu's southward advance.
"Report!" The scout rushed in, "Your Majesty, the main force of the Jiannu first captured Weiyang County (now Weifang). Then they divided their troops in Weiyang County, one part went to Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Haizhou; the other part went south to Juzhou and Linyi."
"After arriving near Juzhou and Linyi, the Jiannu did not attack the city, but unsaddled their horses nearby to rest. Juzhou and Linyi are beautiful with clear water and pleasant climate, making them a good place for the army to rest."
Li Zicheng was secretly delighted, but said calmly, "I understand. Go down and claim your reward."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The scout left the house happily.
After sending Niu Jinxing away, Li Zicheng secretly summoned Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong and Hao Yaoqi to a remote hut.
"Do you know everything?" Li Zicheng asked.
"I understand. The main force of the Jiannu has arrived in Juzhou and Linyi!" Hao Yaoqi answered excitedly.
Liu Zongmin was a little worried: "Ju County and Qufu are nearly 300 miles apart, and there is also Fei County (now Pingyi County) and Sishui County in between."
"It's difficult to pretend to be a Jiannu!"
"What's more, Qufu is less than 50 miles away from Chongzhou Prefecture. Once it is leaked, the troops we sent to Qufu will be wiped out."
Li Zicheng finally got a little angry.
He was thinking, you can stop me if you want before I become emperor.
Now that you are the emperor, why are you still stopping me?
Isn’t this emperor in vain?
"Zongmin, is this what a subject should say?" Li Zicheng looked annoyed.
Liu Zongmin opened his mouth, knowing that what he had just said was a little inappropriate, and quickly apologized: "I spoke too much, please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Li Zicheng was still furious: "Even if Qufu is a sea of fire and swords, I will go there! What you need to do is to help me find solutions and solve the problems instead of raising questions and making things difficult for me."
"I know I was wrong!" Liu Zongmin replied loyally.
Li Zicheng's anger gradually subsided, and he turned to ask Gao Yigong: "Yigong, when did you agree with the Ming court to replace him?"
"Seven days later, outside Daming Prefecture." Gao Yigong casually took out Huang Degong's letter from his arms, opened it and concluded: "Huang Degong gave two solutions."
"First, our army will withdraw from Damingfu first, and then they will release the people."
"No, absolutely not!" Li Zicheng shook his head vigorously. "What if we withdraw from the city and they don't let us go?"
As far as credibility is concerned on the battlefield, both sides will try every means to defeat the other.
Gao Yigong shook his head and continued, "The second method is more troublesome."
"The main forces of both sides are arrayed outside the city. When the Ming army sends troops into the city, they will also send a deputy general as a hostage."
"After the Ming army occupied Daming Prefecture, the two sides exchanged hostages on the battlefield."
Li Zicheng looked at Liu Zongmin.
Liu Zongmin nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I think this method is feasible."
"I agree as well." Gao Yigong bowed.
"Me too!" Hao Yaoqi shook his head with a smile.
"That's settled!" Li Zicheng stood up and walked to Hao Yaoqi, "While exchanging personnel with the Ming court, we will launch a surprise attack on Qufu."
The other three people present were shocked at first, then they all stood up and saluted Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty is truly a genius of the time. We admire you so much!"
The exchange of one city for one person is very important to both parties.
No one expected that Li Zicheng would divide his troops and launch a surprise attack on Qufu at such an important time.
In the end, even if the investigation is carried out, it will be the fault of the Jiannu.
After all, the Ming court would not do such a thing.
Li Zicheng was hundreds of miles away and had no power to exchange hostages.
Only the Jiannu were the closest and were the most suspicious.
Once suspicion arises, the crime is established.
According to the theory of the famous biologist Liu Huaqiang, the Jiannu were the greenhorn.
Li Zicheng quickly regained his composure after a moment of smugness. He whispered to the three men, "You must keep this secret for me!"
"We, your subjects, will obey Your Majesty's instructions." The three of them saluted in unison.
"Yes." Li Zicheng thought for a moment and then began to divide the work: "Yaoqi, you will be responsible for attacking Qufu. I will mobilize 3,000 elite cavalry from my personal army, Zongmin, and Yigong, and give you 500 war horses. Then you can leave the barracks in the name of supporting Datong."
"After leaving the city, go south first, then east. Hiding during the day and moving at night, you will reach Qufu in five days. Attack the city in the early morning after seven days. After taking Qufu, only rob the silver and food for the return trip, and don't rob anything else."
Hao Yaoqi was afraid that he would not be able to remember it, so he took out the charcoal he carried with him and found a piece of paper to write it down in simple words.
"Your Majesty, how much silver is appropriate to rob?" Hao Yaoqi asked as he took notes.
There are countless silver treasures in the Confucius Mansion. It is impossible to rob them all. Only a part of them can be taken.
Li Zicheng was calculating in his mind.
Without a carriage, each person could only carry 400 taels of silver. (Converted to about 28 kilograms in modern times)
Three thousand cavalrymen, each carrying four hundred taels, for a total of one million and two hundred thousand taels.
Five hundred war horses can carry several hundred taels of silver without affecting the march (here the silver is put into cloth bags and placed on the backs of war horses. Considering the weight of the cloth bags and the fact that the silver squeezes the internal organs of the war horses, the carrying capacity is limited.)
Excluding losses, they were able to steal less than two million taels of silver.
It’s not a lot, but it’s enough, at least enough for Dashun to use for a year!
After Li Zicheng wrote down the amount of silver on the paper, he looked at Hao Yaoqi.
"Any questions?"
Hao Yaoqi took a deep breath.
This is a challenging task, but the more challenging it is, the more excited he is.
Hao Yaoqi let out a long breath and said with a chuckle, "Your Majesty, I have no problem with that."
"That's good! Be careful on your journey and return triumphantly soon!"
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