Chapter 1003 Breaking into Cao’s bandit army and taking another look at Kaifeng Mansion
Author: Snail is not a cow
Chapter 1003 Breaking into Cao’s bandit army and taking another look at Kaifeng Mansion
The army of the Western Camp was waiting in formation. The Eighth King Zhang Xianzhong gave an order and all the soldiers mounted their horses. He himself was about to mount his horse, but was held back by Luo Rucai.
Luo Rucai reluctantly whispered: "Jingxuan, although I am called a general here in Zicheng, I am actually relying on others, which is not a long-term strategy.
Although you will have to make a name for yourself for the time being, once you enter the Dabie Mountains, you will be able to stand out on your own and no longer act based on other people's opinions. You will definitely achieve great things in the future.
You can only use these two people, King I and Ground Dragon, temporarily. If they no longer obey, you can just kick them away.
Ge, Ge Liyan has always been the leader of the fourth camp on the left. He has always had a good relationship with me. You can hold him tightly. As long as you can hold him, you can hold the four battalions.
It makes it difficult for you to sing alone.
Old man, please mount your horse, I won't send you far!"
Zhang Xianzhong saddled his horse, smiled happily and cursed: "Damn it, the old god did have some tricks. The arrow wound on my thigh actually doesn't hurt at all."
He was about to order the whole army to set off, when suddenly there was a very rapid sound of horse hooves hitting the ground from the direction of Yushan, which shocked everyone present.
Zhang Kewang grabbed the hilt of the sword even more tightly and shouted loudly: "Damn, things have indeed changed. Li Zicheng still refuses to let us go!"
Luo Rucai's expression was very calm. He sat on his horse and said calmly: "Don't panic, everyone. As long as I am here, there can only be civil changes, but never military changes!"
Pan Duao asked at the side: "May I ask Commander Cao, what is literary change and what is military change?"
Cao Cao, Luo Rucai, seemed confident and said easily: "But as long as I am here, even if King Chuang regrets for a moment, he will never send a large army to pursue Jingxuan.
If you listen carefully, you can judge from the sound of hoofbeats that there are not many people chasing him. It must be that King Chuang didn't want Jingxuan to leave, so he sent someone to try to persuade him to stay.
But this is also a sudden change, so it is a cultural change!"
Zhang Xianzhong agreed very much with Luo Rucai's conjecture, and he also shouted: "Kewang, you lead our Xiying troops to set off first and wait ten miles away.
Dingguo, you lead one hundred fine cavalry to stay with me and stay for a while."
While he was talking, a small group of cavalry had already galloped up. There were indeed only about twenty people. Under the light of lanterns and torches, Zhang Xianzhong could see clearly that the person coming was none other than Li Zicheng's general Wu Ruyi.
He shouted loudly: "Xiao Wu, why are you here so urgently? But what other orders does Zicheng have?"
Wu Ruyi pretended to have a surprised look on his face and asked: "Shuai Zhang, King Chuang has ordered an afternoon banquet to be prepared at the camp tomorrow to bid farewell to the soldiers of Xiying. Why do you have to leave without saying goodbye?"
This is not the Yushan Village, so Zhang Xianzhong naturally looked down upon Wu Ruyi, a junior. He laughed loudly and said: "King Chuang is about to lead his troops to Runing to destroy Fu Zonglong and Yang Wenyue.
But I heard that these two bastards, Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu, were coming from Xinyang and Luoshan to rescue them. The military situation was so tense that I didn't dare to delay for a moment, so I set off quickly so that they could not rush to rescue Runing.
You can also do some work for King Chuang.
I have asked Commander Cao to go see King Chuang on my behalf tomorrow morning to say farewell, but now you have come at just the right time, please go back and let King Chuang know about my intention to serve King Chuang."
Wu Ruyi had already rushed to Zhang Xianzhong. He reined in his horse, clasped his fists with a smile and said, "King Chuang's prediction is really accurate! He thought that Zhang Shuai was an impatient master and would not sit back and watch Zuo Liangyu come from the north. He would not wait until dawn."
He wanted to leave here, so he sent me to see Zhang Shuai off on his behalf, and brought two thousand taels of silver as a gift to help Zhang Shuai in urgent need."
Zhang Xianzhong was surprised when he heard this, and he said happily: "Good fellow, Xiao Wu, you are here to see me off, and you have brought two thousand taels of silver! Dingguo, please quickly accept the money that King Chuang gave us.
Here.
Xiao Wu, although we, Mr. Zhang, are not short of money now, but since it was a gift from King Chuang, we would be disrespectful. Please report back to King Chuang on my behalf and say that I, Zhang Jingxuan, will bow to his brother immediately and express my gratitude."
After saying this, Zhang Xianzhong actually bowed twice towards the north, and Wu Ruyi had no choice but to sit on his horse and return the gift to him on behalf of King Chuang.
Soon, Zhang Dingguo accepted the two thousand taels of silver presented by Chuang Wang Li Zicheng. After the two sides completed the handover of the silver gift, the young general Wu Ruyi handed over his hands on the war horse and said: "Please Zhang Shuai, please drive. The last general will respectfully see Zhang Shuai off on behalf of the Grand Marshal."
"
Zhang Xianzhong immediately returned the gift and said: "It's no trouble to see you off, so let's just say goodbye. Please return to Yushan to report to King Chuang on my behalf. Just say that our old Zhang has already done this under the banner of King Chuang."
gone."
When Wu Ruyi saw that the money had been clearly delivered and the purpose of the trip had been achieved, he no longer forced it. He just clasped his fists on his horse and said, "I wish Zhang Shuai a victory and success immediately!"
Zhang Xianzhong said goodbye to Cao Cao, Ji Gui and others, and then led Zhang Dingguo and a hundred cavalry to ride up and chase the brigade led by Zhang Kewang.
…………
It was precisely because of the previous lawsuit that everyone in Chuangying had some complaints about Luo Rucai's private release of Zhang Xianzhong.
Therefore, Ji Guicai often secretly persuaded Luo Rucai afterwards, asking him to be as humble as possible in front of Li Zicheng, so that King Chuang believed that he, Luo Rucai, had no intention of fighting against him, and that he would not want to work alone in Chuang camp.
Luo Rucai obeyed Ji Gui's advice, and he did it very naturally. Today he reduced his status to that of Li Zicheng's general, and came to Dongfang together with Ji Gui, Gu Ying and others.
The gate welcomes King Chuang as he enters the city.
Li Zicheng rode his horse to the east gate. When he saw Luo Rucai and Ji Gui, as well as several important generals in Cao's camp, they immediately greeted them at the city gate. He was also very grateful. This feeling made him very comfortable.
There were still flashes of fire inside the east gate of Nanyang City, and some buildings were burning brightly.
The gate tower of the east gate had been blown down by the cannons of the intruders, and bricks and rubble were scattered all over the ground. After entering the city, it was even more obvious that there were corpses of dead people everywhere on the street. Some of them were seriously injured but were still rolling and struggling on the ground.
The sound of wailing continued.
The blood flowing on the ground also condensed quickly and gradually turned into a sheet of blood ice. Some bodies died leaning against the wall, and the blood marks left by their struggles were still clearly visible.
Li Yan also followed Li Zicheng into the city from the east gate. What he saw in front of him was horrifying. Although Li Yan had rebelled a year ago, it was the first time for him to see such killings like today.
arrive.
Of course he knew very well that since ancient times, massacres had been used to punish those who resisted and refused to surrender, and they also used this as a demonstration to warn other cities.
But before, he had only heard about it or read about it in books, but now he saw it with his own eyes.
He felt sad in his heart, but he turned around and looked at the people around him. It seemed that they had all been accustomed to this. Everyone's faces were filled with the joy of victory, and they were completely blind to the tragic scene in front of them.
Although Ji Gui was also a scholar, he was used to such scenes and didn't take it seriously at all. He rode on his horse and said to Li Zicheng: "Today the general entered the city from the east gate, which is what the ancients called 'Purple Air East'."
Come', it is indeed a blessing for all the people of Nanyang!"
Li Zicheng was very happy at first after hearing this. He nodded repeatedly to Ji Gui, but then he realized that the words seemed to contain sarcasm, and he felt a secret hatred in his heart, but he could not bear it.
, with just a faint smile on his face.
The group of them walked on the bloody ice and headed towards the palace gate of Prince Tang's Mansion.
Not far ahead, we arrived at the place where the Ming Dynasty's General Soldier was fighting to the death with the invading army. Li Zicheng even went to see the body of the fierce tiger in person.
He also asked about the specific details of killing Meng Ruhu, and praised Meng Ruhu in his heart as a loyal and brave man, and then ordered his soldiers to find a coffin to bury him and temporarily store it in the Guandi Temple near the palace city to avoid being killed.
Wild dogs nearby ate the carcass.
The four gates of the palace of the King of Tang Dynasty were guarded by troops from Gu Ying, and no outsiders were allowed to enter. Only after the property in the palace was transported out, the palace of the Tang Dynasty was set on fire.
Li Zicheng got off his horse in front of Duanli Gate and walked into the palace to look around.
The palace was also full of recently deceased corpses. Most of the male corpses had been stabbed to death with knives and spears. They were lying in a mess on the cold ground.
There were also many corpses of women. Most of them were found in remote places in houses or back gardens. Most of them hanged themselves due to fear when the city was breached. Some of them were thrown into the cold pool and drowned.
The King of Tang was hiding in a cave behind a rockery in the back garden. Now he has been found by the soldiers of the Chuang Army. He is tied to a red painted pillar in the Qin'an Hall and is waiting to be interrogated by King Chuang himself before being executed.
Li Zicheng looked at Tang Wang Zhu Yudiao who was kneeling on the ground with a very contemptuous look, and casually said to Gu Ying who was following him: "No need to interrogate anymore, just push it out and chop it off."
Gu Ying received the order and immediately ordered people to pull Tang Wang Zhu Yuduo to the gate of Qilin Pavilion and behead him.
It happened that there was a stray dog there, and it was killed by an arrow during a street fight just now. The body of Tang Wang Zhu Yudiao was lying together with the dog's corpse under the stone steps of Qilin Pavilion.
A generation of Ming Dynasty princes ended up like this. I really don’t know whether it was his own sorrow or the sorrow of the entire era!
…………
Chuang Wang Li Zicheng gave some other instructions to Gu Ying, especially telling him that it was most important to check the Tang Palace's inventory as soon as possible, and then walked out of the Tang Palace.
His soldiers had already led the war horses from outside the palace city to wait outside Donghua Gate. After mounting their horses, King Chuang rode back to the palace and looked at the towering stone rockery in the back garden.
Although the Tang Palace is not as majestic and magnificent as the Fuwang Palace in Luoyang, it is worthy of being the residence of a generation of princes.
Li Zicheng sat on his horse and said to Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and others: "Zhu Ming's family has made kings everywhere and built countless palaces. I really don't know how much people's fat and money have been used up!"
Niu Jinxing also continued: "If you look at the Tang kings in detail, most of them were dissolute, and the people have long hated it. Let's talk about this rockery, and the people call it Wangfu Mountain.
Legend has it that the last two generations of Tang kings, when they had nothing to do, would often go to this rockery and see someone marrying a daughter-in-law in the city. They would send people to stop the sedan chair and force the bride into the palace. It would take two or three days for the bride to be married.
Let him go out of the palace.
Therefore, all counties around Nanyang go to church to get married during the day, but only in Nanyang City and the surrounding suburbs, they go to church to get married after dusk, in order to avoid being seen by the King of Tang on the rockery."
Li Zicheng asked with doubts in his eyes: "Is this really the case?"
Niu Jinxing smiled first and then said: "It is true that the kings of the Tang Dynasty were debauched and immoral. As for this legend, it just shows that he had great public indignation.
In fact, in ancient times, most people in ancient times came to worship in person at night, but later, for convenience, some places changed the practice to daytime, but Nanyang City still retains the ancient custom."
Luo Rucai suddenly remembered something. He turned to Gu Ying and asked, "Zijie, have you forgotten what I told you?"
Gu Ying smiled and said back to him: "How dare I forget what the general ordered me to do. When I entered the Tang Palace, many maids had already escaped from the palace. Some of them died on the street, and some
Then it is hidden among the people.
I also found some maids in the palace, and selected a dozen or so pretty ones among them. I gave them all to Sun Shengzu and asked him to send some soldiers to escort them out of the city. I first found a place to wait in the north of the city.
Then they will be sent to the general’s camp.”
Luo Rucai nodded with a smile, but said with regret: "It's a pity that I didn't see Princess Tang. The princess should be more handsome."
Gu Ying smiled at the side and continued: "The princesses should all be very old. Although there are some younger ones, it is difficult to guarantee, but they have all escaped from the palace. I don't know whether they are dead or alive."
Luo Rucai's expression looked very regretful and sad, and he kept saying: "It's a pity... it's a pity... it's such a pity..."
When Li Zicheng saw this, he just shook his head slightly and showed a wry smile, but he didn't say a word.
…………
Next, King Chuang and Luo Rucai visited the magistrate's office, the treasury, and other places. Li Zicheng gave Gu Ying a few more instructions, and then rode out of the city from the north gate and returned to the old camp south of Dushan.
A few days later, Tian Jianxiu finished handling everything in Nanyang City. Not only did he transport all the treasures and grains from the Tang Palace, but he also plundered all the grains, grains and wealth from the treasury in the city and from the rich households.
Even the city walls have been demolished.
Since Nanyang City had the presence of the General Soldier, who was as fierce as a tiger, and the Deputy General Liu Guangzuo, they resisted very strongly, which led to the massacre of the city by Cao Cao's coalition forces.
In fact, most of the rebels and the official army are like this. Whenever they attack a city, they will declare that if they surrender obediently, they will be innocent. But once they resist, what awaits them is a massacre of the city.
There are two benefits to doing this. One is that the war-weariness of the soldiers under his command can be vented by massacring and looting the city; the other is that it can frighten other cities and give them an example to follow.
Now that the incident in Nanyang is over, waves of war smoke have begun to spread to the surrounding areas for the next military strategy.
Li Zicheng, the King of Chuang, first threatened to enter the hometown of Shaanxi thieves from Wuguan. On the other hand, he divided his troops and attacked Dengzhou, Neixiang, Zhenping, Tanghe, Biyang and other prefectures and counties, collecting grain and grass everywhere.
mules and horses, and a large amount of gunpowder was collected.
As soon as Laba day passed, the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month was an auspicious day. The Allied Forces of Cao Cao set out to leave Nanyang. They divided into several groups and marched northward in a mighty manner, with their frontline pointed directly at Kaifeng.
The common people everywhere along the road were inspired by the saying "No food will be paid when King Chuang comes", and they came to lead the way for the rebel army. Some even took the initiative to donate their own grain to the rebel army.
In some places, before the invading army arrived, the local people, led by thoughtful people, first tied up the magistrate and then opened the city gates to welcome the surrender.
Therefore, everyone in Cao Cao's army said that if they go to Kaifeng, they will definitely break the city. Among the hundreds of thousands of thieves, everyone is waiting for the order to enter the city and plunder after Kaifeng is conquered in one fell swoop.
When King Chuang first attacked Kaifeng, he was blinded in his left eye by Chen De, the son of Chen Yongfu, the commander-in-chief of Henan Province. At that time, he issued a military order to attack Kaifeng City, and Xu soldiers killed him for three days!