As the saying goes, 'One mountain cannot tolerate two tigers!'
Henan, Shandong, lips are dead and teeth are cold!
For Liu Ruyi, sending troops to the Central Plains was no longer an option!
But Taizu said it well, 'Strategically, you can despise the enemy, but tactically, you must pay 100% attention to the enemy!'
At the beginning of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng led more than 50 personal followers and set out from Shangluoshan. In less than a year, he had entangled four to five million migrant troops and swept across most of the Central Plains. His momentum was fierce and his momentum was fierce.
So fierce!
Ding Qirui, Fu Zonglong, Yang Wenyue and other imperial troops suffered consecutive defeats and suffered heavy losses. Invisibly, this not only added countless combat experience to the Chuang army, but also greatly improved the Chuang army's confidence!
But Liu Ruyi's side has just returned from Liaodong, and the newly recruited 50,000 new troops are not yet fully on track. It would be unwise to blindly send troops now!
Moreover, although Emperor Chongzhen suffered a heavy hemorrhage and promoted Liu Ruyi to the title of "Qi Guogong", the imperial court did not have half a penny of food, salary and material support for this expedition to the Central Plains. This meant that all the military food and salary consumption for this expedition was completely lost.
Liu Ruyi must pay for it himself!
Even though Liu Ruyi had a lot of surplus food in Caishi Town and Jinan City, in the past, it only supplied the Caishi Army with more than 10,000 soldiers. At this time, the Caishi Army suddenly expanded to more than 60,000 people. Liu Ruyi's
The logistics line is obviously overwhelmed!
The new Caishi Army has just been established, and all kinds of weapons, armor, guns and other weapons and equipment also need to be deployed and allocated. It will be extremely difficult to complete in less than a month!
In later generations, some philosophers once said, 'Life is like sailing against the current, like climbing on a steep cliff! You can keep going forward, but you can never relax, because once you relax, what is waiting for you
It's not just a retreat, maybe, it's more likely to be an abyss of destruction!'
Starting a business is difficult, but staying successful is even harder!
At this time, Liu Ruyi's family has a great cause, and every move he makes is related to the life and death of countless people. Therefore, he must be extremely cautious and doubly careful every step he takes!
"I want to ride the wind back home, but I am afraid that the beautiful buildings and jade buildings will be too cold to be high up there!"
~~~~~~
In the study, Liu Ruyi leaned quietly on the soft couch, listening carefully to the soldiers' latest battle report on the Central Plains front line!
At the end of November, as Li Zicheng's last two main forces, Li Yan's troops and Hao Yaoqi's troops, arrived at Luoyang City, the refugee army had formed an encirclement of Luoyang City!
At this time, the total number of members of the refugee army has reached nearly half a million!
Although most of them are hungry people who have been coerced into joining the gang, after nearly a year of integration by Li Zicheng, the fighting strength of the refugee army will not be less than 100,000, and the lethal and threatening elites will not be less than 100,000.
It will be less than 50,000!
But Li Zicheng and the refugee army are now facing a huge problem related to life and death!
-------That's food and grass!
Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan have been plagued by natural disasters in recent years. The land has been bare for thousands of miles, and crops have been harvested. Although Li Zicheng burned, killed, looted, and obtained some military supplies, for the "half a million army" under his command,
Obviously a drop in the bucket!
But Prince Fu of Luoyang owned tens of thousands of hectares of the most fertile farmland in the world, hoarded countless grains, and had more than a million dollars of wealth?
If Li Zicheng attacked Luoyang and obtained King Fu's wealth, food and grass, it would be like adding more power to a tiger, and the consequences would be disastrous!
Historically, it was because of Li Zicheng's desperate efforts to capture the city of Luoyang that the strength of the refugee army rapidly expanded and it became capable of competing in the world!
For Liu Ruyi, these wealth and provisions were an irresistible temptation!
If these things are obtained by Liu Ruyi, then at least for three to five years, the Colored Stone Army will no longer have to worry about food, grass and baggage!
Leaning quietly on the soft couch, Liu Ruyi frowned and slowly fell into deep thought!
If you want to gain, you must pay. This is the eternal truth!
However, in the current situation, it is really difficult for Liu Ruyi and Caishijun to choose!
The new army has not yet been formed and the troops are exhausted before going to war. This is absolutely undesirable!
But if Li Zicheng is left to capture Luoyang, that is definitely not Liu Ruyi's wish!
Fortunately, Luoyang City was heavily fortified at this time, and supported by tall city walls, and there was not much manpower, so it could barely hold on for a while!
As for Wang Chengen, Liu Ruyi also found an excuse to temporarily settle him in Caishi Town!
In the past few days of contact with Wang Chengen, Liu Ruyi discovered that compared with Emperor Chongzhen, Wang Chengen was obviously a more "reasonable" person and easier to get along with. This was also an excellent opportunity for Liu Ruyi!
After the soldiers reported the battle report, they did not dare to disturb Liu Ruyi's thoughts and knelt aside one after another, not daring to express their anger!
At this time, another soldier announced outside the door, "Reporting to the Duke of the country, the prince wishes to see you!"
Liu Ruyi was startled, and then returned to the real world, waving his hands to the soldiers and saying: "Thank you for your hard work! Leave for now! Keep a close eye on the movements in the Central Plains, but if there is any trouble, report it immediately!"
"Yes!" The soldiers retreated one after another.
Liu Ruyi straightened her clothes and strode towards the door to greet her!
~~~~~
"Eunuch Wang, the weather is so cold. You didn't stay in the house to stay warm for a while, but you came to visit Ruyi. Ruyi is really flattered!" Liu Ruyi smiled at Wang Chengen, cupped her hands, and personally welcomed Wang Chengen into the inner room.
Wang Chengen was supported by Liu Ruyi and sat down on the soft couch. He couldn't help but shook his head with a wry smile, "Qi Guogong, if you don't send troops, the crisis in the Central Plains will not be solved. How can the Za family stay in the house! Even if they are dressed in beautiful clothes every day,
Food, but in Zajia’s mouth, it’s like chewing wax!”
Liu Ruyi smiled and waved her hand for the maid to serve tea, "Your Majesty, you sincerely support me, Da Ming. Ruyi admires me!"
Wang Cheng'en didn't have the intention to drink tea. He stared into Liu Ruyi's eyes and said: "Qi Guogong, we have been writing for three or four days! Can you tell the truth to the Za family today! When can we?
Send troops!"
Liu Ruyi did not shy away from Wang Chengen's eyes. After thinking for a moment, he said: "What the prince said is exactly what Ruyi thought in his heart! At the moment, Ding Butang (temporarily in charge of Shaanxi Governor Ding Qirui), Yang Du and other imperial troops
(Yang Wenyue, Governor of Baoding), one is in the west and the other is in the north. The distances are far closer than Ruyi! But on Ruyi's side, the army has just returned from Liaodong, and the army is exhausted. The bones of the fallen soldiers are still there.
We haven't had time to lay the foundation for peace in the future, and the new army has just been established and is far from forming combat power! My lord, it's actually even more difficult to get what you want!"
"Hey!" Wang Chengen sighed deeply, "The Za family also knows what Qi Guogong said! But Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue have been defeated repeatedly, and they are alone. Their strength is no longer able to alleviate the crisis in Luoyang.
! The imperial court is in the Central Plains, and only you, Duke of Qi, have the strength to decide the outcome in one battle!"
Wang Chengen deserves to be a professional waiter, and the words he speaks make people feel comfortable no matter how they are heard!
However, Liu Ruyi was born with a hard ear, and he only trusted his own vision and judgment!
At this time, the Caishi Army has not yet achieved its fighting strength, so sending troops hastily is definitely not a wise move!
The most important thing is that Henan is the heart of the Central Plains and the birthplace of Chinese civilization!
There has been a saying since ancient times: 'Whoever conquers the Central Plains will conquer the world!'
Since Liu Ruyi plans to send troops to the Central Plains this time, he has no intention of letting go easily again!
If we can defeat Li Zicheng in this battle and connect Henan and Shandong together, there will be no one in the world who can be Liu Ruyi's opponent!
Liu Ruyi took a deep breath, looked into Wang Chengen's eyes and said: "Eunuch Wang, this battle, from all aspects, is extremely detrimental to our Caishi Army! According to Ruyi's wishes, we give up Luoyang for this battle.
How about returning to Kaifeng to defend Kaifeng? As long as you give Ruyi half a year to wait until the strength of our Colored Stone Army is established, it won’t be too late to fight Li Zicheng decisively!”
As soon as Liu Ruyi said this, Wang Chengen couldn't help but change his face, and said tremblingly: "Qi, Qi Guogong, this, this is absolutely impossible! Luoyang is the heart of our Ming Dynasty, we must not make any mistakes! If Luoyang
If you lose it, you and I will die a hundred times, no, ten thousand deaths will hardly make us atone for our sins!"
Liu Ruyi's face couldn't help but turn cold, "Eunuch Wang, if our Colored Stone Army attacks rashly and loses to Li Zicheng's sharpness, then~~~ Even if we want to fight back in the future, it will be extremely difficult!"
Wang Chengen seemed to have aged ten years as if he had lost his heir. But for a moment, he suddenly laughed and slapped his forehead hard, "Qi Guo Gong, Qi Guo Gong! Everyone in the world says that they have not resolved the crisis in Luoyang.
The Zajia family believes in your ability! But you are the only one. The Zajia family will definitely not believe it when you say this! Qi Guogong, whatever you want, just say it! As long as you can be exposed to the crisis in the Central Plains, as long as you can deal with the emperor and the Ming Dynasty
There is an explanation, as long as the Zajia family is within the scope of its capabilities, the Zajia family will do its best!"
Liu Ruyi rubbed her temples tiredly, but she also chuckled, "My lord, you are too flattering to Ai Ruyi! Trying your best is not a wise move after all!"
"But we have no choice now, don't we?" Wang Chengen smiled bitterly, "Our Ming Dynasty lasted for three hundred years, which is so glorious, but we must not be defeated by these idiots!"
Wang Chengen's words were a bit heartbreaking, and Liu Ruyi's expression also changed slightly.
The two looked at each other, but no one spoke anymore!
After a long time, Liu Ruyi suddenly smiled softly and said, "Eunuch Wang, Eunuch Wang! The sky is falling, and there is someone taller on top! You are really trying to push Ruyi away!"
Seeing that Liu Ruyi finally relaxed, Wang Chengen couldn't help showing a hint of joy in his eyebrows, "Qi Guo Gong is a hero in the world, only Qi Guo Gong has one ear!"
Liu Ruyi laughed loudly, "Eunuch Wang, I admire your broadmindedness! However, Ruyi has a small request, and I hope Eunuch Wang will agree to it!"
Wang Chengen was startled, but nodded slightly, "Qi Guogong has something to say, but it doesn't matter. As long as the Zajia family is within its capabilities, the Zajia family will do its best!"
"It's very simple! In this battle, you will be the supervisor of the Colored Stone Army!" Liu Ruyi said with a smile!
Wang Chengen couldn't help but gasped. Now, he finally understood what Liu Ruyi meant!
This, this is to be right...
But at this point, he has no choice at all!
After a long time, Wang Chengen couldn't help but nodded heavily, "The Za family will report this matter to the emperor as soon as possible! Just as the Duke of Qi said! However, the dispatch of troops is urgent and we hope that the Duke of Qi can set a time as soon as possible!"
Liu Ruyi smiled and said, "As a gentleman says, a horse is hard to catch! With the words of the prince, Ruyi can guarantee that in ten days, the 50,000 elite Caishi Army will come out and approach Luoyang City!"