"Prince-in-law, these defeated troops already have nothing to fear, you must not take this risk!"

Li Banghua had already reached the city wall at this time. He had his hands clasped and his face seemed a little anxious.

Moreover, since Zhou Shixian rescued Emperor Chongzhen from the palace, Li Banghua no longer dared to look down on this young man.

Then, under the command of Zhou Shixian, the convoy broke out of the capital and entered Yongqing City without any danger. Everything seemed to be under the control of the opponent, which impressed Li Banghua even more.

Although the convoy is not completely out of danger now, everything is developing for the better. Under Zhou Shixian's plan, this undoubtedly strengthens the confidence of these soldiers and officials in victory.

This is crucial. Without this confidence, given the current situation of the convoy, soldiers may defect at any time.

And as long as one soldier successfully defected, not to mention whether it would leak military information and cause the Shun Army to send a large number of troops to pursue and intercept, it would be an extremely serious blow to the morale of this unit.

It is no exaggeration to say that today's Zhou Shixian is the reassurance for everyone, not only for officers such as Xue Laoer, Wang Chaodong, Zhu Maozhen, and Zhang Hong, but also for Emperor Chongzhen, Empress Zhou, Princess Kunxing, Li Banghua, Ni Yuanlu, and

A reassurance for Tang Ruowang and others.

Zhou Shixian was very calm about Li Banghua's worries. He still had to take such risks.

This is not because Zhou Shixian is young and energetic, and does not think carefully, nor is it because he is reckless and underestimates the enemy, but the fundamental reason why he leads this team is violence and money.

The combination of kindness and power provided by the "Ten Princes' Palace" at the beginning was the best manifestation of this.

Use white money to stimulate the desire of these soldiers who lick blood with their swords, and use the violence that the soldiers are most familiar with and the only violence that they are convinced of to awaken cowardice and obedience.

This may seem like a disobedience to the rules, a helpless act in a chaotic situation, but in such troubled times and in such a dangerous situation, it is actually the most rule-abiding.

You must know that at this time, whoever has a strong fist can dominate the world. And wealth requires a strong fist to maintain it, otherwise it will just be a wedding dress for others.

In other words, fists are the rules of this world, and Zhou Shixian is acting according to the rules.

The time and space he came to seems to have changed, but human nature has never changed, so the logic of dealing with things has also not changed.

He knew very well where people's bad nature lies, so he relied on Jin Yiwei's force to obtain money. With force and money, he controlled more powerful force.

Now, he wants to copy this model again and bring more available soldiers and horses under his command.

The world is very fair. As long as you understand the rules and make good use of them, you can make a difference.

This applies no matter what era, unless you meet someone whose strength and money are far superior to yours, then you are out of luck and you have no one to blame.

"Don't worry, Weng Meng. With only one or two thousand defeated troops, my consort can still win.

Moreover, they don’t know our details, so they can’t attack easily. They probably didn’t come here for us, but to rob the county and obtain supplies.”

Zhou Shixian smiled, then turned to look at Xue Lao'er beside him: "Xue Lao'er, if they are soldiers and horses from the Beijing camp, are you sure you know them all?"

"Don't worry, Prince Consort, as long as you are an officer in the Beijing camp, even if your subordinates don't recognize them, they will definitely recognize the people who have a good relationship with them. It will be no problem to get on the line and meet each other." Xue Laoer has been standing on the side, listening.

After watching the conversation between Zhou Shixian and Li Banghua, I was actually a little worried.

Zhou Shixian listened, nodded approvingly, and then looked at Zhang Hong, who had just returned: "Zhang Hong, have your scouts found out clearly? Are you sure that the rebels outside the city are all from the Beijing camp?

"

"I'm sure, even if those little turtles turn into ashes, the old... the last general, the last general will recognize them." Zhang Hong cupped his hands and clasped his fists, and he was so anxious that he almost felt proud in front of Zhou Shixian.

Zhang Hong was very courageous. As soon as he received the order from Zhou Shixian, he personally led two sentries to the place about thirty steps away from the rebels to conduct reconnaissance. He also greeted an officer he knew from the capital camp.

’s old lady.

"Then do you think these people can be recruited to protect the Holy Emperor of the Tian Family and go south to rebuild the imperial court?" Zhou Shixian didn't beat around the bush, with a calm smile on his face. He looked at the two people in front of him and asked straight to the point.

Xue Laoer and Zhang Hong were silent for a while, neither of them dared to speak.

Of course, they also knew that the three hundred escorting troops and horses were too few. If they encountered the shun army, or if the shun army rushed to catch up at all costs, they would not even be able to divide their troops to stop them. The prince-in-law wanted to recruit some more troops.

There is nothing wrong with it, and it is even a precautionary measure.

But the problem is that the following are all defeated troops. Although Zhou Shixian has shown his courage and strategy, three hundred versus two thousand cannot reveal the identity of the Holy Emperor. With Li Banghua alone as an imperial envoy, can they afford this?

?

After all, they were still worried that Zhou Shixian could not control the situation. The young prince-in-law was capable, but it was not enough for them to believe that he could handle everything properly.

In other words, although Zhou Shixian had a certain prestige, it was not enough. Some of the prestige even came from Emperor Chongzhen and the Ming Dynasty, rather than being established step by step by himself.

It is very important to establish his unquestionable authority step by step, as it is related to Zhou Shixian's future cause of resisting the Qing Dynasty, and even his longer-term plans.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Li Banghua, Xue Laoer, Zhang Hong and others are worried and questioning. If Zhou Shixian wants to be the one who sticks to his word in the entire escort team, he needs to do more that others cannot do.

things to come.

Otherwise, why would these soldiers in the convoy go through life and death for your words from Zhou Shixian?

"Why, do you think I can't do it and can't suppress them, or do you think their ruffian nature is hard to change and hopeless?" Zhou Shixian asked in a cold voice, his face straightened.

"I will not dare." Xue Laoer and Zhang Hong heard this and quickly bowed their waists and said in unison.

"Does that mean they think their scoundrel nature is hard to change and hopeless?" Zhou Shixian looked at the two of them and asked calmly.

After all, the military discipline of the Ming army and the style of its generals would be an understatement to say they were scoundrels. Especially as the finances of the Ming court deteriorated and military pay could not be paid, the generals relied on their own troops and killed ministers without permission.

Situations happen from time to time.

But now, the capital of the Ming Dynasty has fallen into the hands of thieves, and these people have become veritable rebels. I am afraid no one can guarantee whether Li Banghua, the imperial envoy, can still control them.

"Husband-in-law, it's true." Xue Laoer quickly answered: "What the general is worried about is these ungrateful, ungrateful bastards who don't understand the general situation and have no scruples. I'm afraid that they will use a rat-like weapon to hurt the prince-in-law.

"

"Mr. Xue Qi is right, Prince Consort, none of those turtles are good. Even if Prince Consort, you really want to give it a try, don't take the risk yourself. I will go and meet them later. If they are really still loyal,

, it won’t be too late for you to recruit me, my consort.”

Although Zhang Hong is also a veteran, his temperament is more upright and loyal than others. Zhou Shixian did what he said about the military pay and rewards, and actually took them to escort him, which convinced him and made him feel more loyal.

I secretly made the determination to follow.

"Otherwise, if any one of them does not know what is good and has the intention to cause trouble, no one on the Holy Emperor's side will be able to shoulder the responsibility of protecting him. Even if a small general is dead, there is nothing he can do.

It will hinder the overall situation, but the prince-in-law must not be harmed."

"Husband-in-law, Mr. Zhang Bai is right!" Li Banghua also hurriedly advised: "I have a lot of bones. I will depend on you, my husband-in-law, all the way south."

After listening to everyone's advice, Zhou Shixian knew that these people were worried. However, these worries were not unreasonable. Zhou Shixian wanted to capture the soldiers and horses outside the city, but he would not act recklessly.

After explaining to these close men and Li Banghua, Zhou Shixian immediately revealed his countermeasures.

In fact, it is very simple, it is nothing more than being prepared.

If most of these rebels outside the city are unwilling to become thieves and still want to serve the Ming Dynasty, it will not be difficult to organize them, especially when Zhou Shixian now has money, food and soldiers.

But in terms of weapons and equipment, Zhou Shixian is still powerless for the time being. Moreover, his old soldiers must be fully armed to form an advantage over the newly conquered military leaders, so that they can be frightened.

After all, Zhou Shixian now has tens of thousands taels of gold and tens of thousands taels of silver pledged. He has this huge wealth in his hands and he has to guard against it.

If the situation were just the opposite, and most of the military leaders outside the city just wanted to plunder a fortune, and then go back to their homes, or go to join the army, or they simply looked down on their imperial team, then the Zhou Dynasty dignitaries would

If we break through safely, we will have to fight with them.

But he will not challenge them together. As long as the strongest one among the armies outside the city is defeated, others will naturally not dare to provoke them again. Even after showing their strength, it is not certain that they can recruit some troops.

.

This was something Zhou Shixian had to do. It was absolutely impossible for the military leaders outside the city to let them leave casually.

Moreover, if it is done, not only can he leave Yongqing safely and continue southward to gather troops, Zhou Shixian's prestige in his small group will also be further improved.

If they are defeated, there will be nothing to say. Even a group of rebels can't solve the difficulties and dangers of more than two thousand miles south. The four towns in Jiangbei, people like Zuo Liangyu, and Dorgon, Duduo, and Azige's subordinates

The nearly 100,000 Manchu Eight Banners soldiers would certainly be difficult to deal with.

In fact, this was something with a huge chance of winning, and Zhou Shixian was not too timid to do it. Xue Laoer, Zhang Hong, and even Li Banghua also felt that they had to do it after hearing Zhou Shixian's explanation.

However, Zhou Shixian also made concessions and sent people to inquire about the situation first. After getting a clear picture of the situation, he would then make long-term plans.
Chapter completed!