stubborn thief

July twenty-four.

Outside the city of Yulin, there is Zhenbeitai.

Zuo Maodi, the magistrate of Hancheng, was completely confused when he was summoned to the battlefield by Liu Chengzong.

Six days ago, at the same time when Liu Chengzong handed the letter to Ren Quaner, he also wrote another letter and sent it to Hancheng by express horse, calling on Zuo Maodi to go to Yulin as soon as possible to watch the battle.

The reason was legitimate. Liu Chengzong said he was going to attack Yulin. The useless generals in the city refused to surrender and were prepared to defend the city to the death, so he needed a witness to let the court know that the old general of Yulin was dying for the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, Zuo Maodi had already made up his mind to bully Liu Chengzong.

As long as Liu Chengzong did not attack Hancheng, he planned to die in Hancheng and never meet him.

But his scalp tingled when he saw the letter.

It was not because Liu Chengzong’s wording in the letter was so harsh, but because Zuo Maodi couldn’t understand it.

Yulin is a military base, so it is not surprising that those generals would make any choice between life and death.

The one who is wrong is Liu Chengzong.

He suppressed the three borders and pacified the five towns, and had the power to hold the enemy outside the Great Wall hostage. If he was willing, Zuo Maodi believed that Liu Chengzong would definitely be able to persuade Yulin City to surrender.

Take your time and talk some more.

At worst, he could just besiege Yulin City without attacking it, and the city would eventually fall into his hands.

But Liu Chengzong chose the most complicated method among those simple ways.

He sent back to Shanxi the young people in Yulin who might surrender to him, and left behind the old soldiers and useless generals who had no future if they surrendered... Why bother?

Zuo Maodi didn't understand, but Liu Chengzong had good reasons to summon him to the north, and he had to go to Yulin.

If there was still room for improvement, he hoped to persuade Liu Chengzong to use gentler means against the Yulin defenders.

If war was necessary, Zuo Maodi also hoped that he could convey to the court the bravery and loyalty of the veterans of Yulin City.

After five days of traveling, a year after they had been exchanging letters, Zuo Maodi finally met Liu Chengzong at Zhenbeitai in Yulin City.

Like most people who met Liu Chengzong for the first time, although Zuo Maodi had made sufficient preparations in his heart, he was still secretly surprised at Liu Chengzong's youth.

In fact, there were many things that surprised him.

For example, the city of Yulin at that time truly made Zuo Maodi understand what it meant to be an isolated city.

Outside the city, the sky was thick with war clouds. Tens of thousands of troops were stationed on all sides of Yulin, and the city was also under strict defense.

But just eight miles north of the city, in Yima City on the banks of the Yulixi River, only one mile southwest of Zhenbeitai, a market was opened with great fanfare.

Firecrackers blasted, thousands of cavalrymen gathered, and Han and Mongolian merchants gathered in succession. The noise was louder than the artillery defending the city of Yulin firing at the siege trench.

Moreover, in Zuo Maodi's opinion, Liu Chengzong paid much more attention to Yima City than Yulin City. The most obvious thing was that several battalions of Liu Chengzong's elite troops in neat armor were maintaining order along the banks of the Yulixi River.

On the contrary, outside the city of Yulin, the main force of the Marshal's Mansion was almost invisible.

"Mr. Zuo, the Marshal invites you to come up to the stage for dinner."

After hearing the call, Zuo Maodi came back to his senses from his thoughts and realized that the person who conveyed the order to him was Liu Jinjue, the captain of the Huben Camp.

Liu Jinjue was an officer of Hancheng, so he still kept the old custom of addressing Zuo Maodi as the "parent official".

His original official position was garrison commander. When Liu Chengzong attacked Guanzhong, Liu Jinjue, together with Sun Shoufa, Li Guozheng and other generals of Han He camp responded to Xi'an Prefecture's call for help. The four camps were defeated by Liu Chengzong in three hours and he became a surrendered general.

In fact, those garrisons were quite dissatisfied with the placement of them in the Marshal's Office. They were just garrisons, and at most they were appointed as commanders of garrisons. But when they came to Liu Chengzong, they couldn't even get the rank of lieutenant commander.

Just give me a hundred generals.

But treatment is determined by comparison. Liu Jinjue, Sun Shoufa and others had no resentment towards Liu Chengzong at this time.

They even felt that they were able to hold the official position of Tiger Guard Captain because of the help from their hometown party in Shaanxi.

After all, the surrendered generals and soldiers from Ningxia and other places are now preparing for the siege outside Yulin City. In comparison, the treatment of them has been much better.

At the northwest corner of Zhenbeitai, Liu Chengzong was breaking a dough into pieces and dipping it into mutton soup. When he saw Zuo Maodi coming on stage, he smiled and greeted him, "The mutton is fresh, come quickly, Brother Zuo!"

When he came forward, Liu Shizi looked at the Yima City on the riverside at the foot of the mountain, shook his head very complacently, and said with emotion: "What a beautiful scenery of the border town!"

Along the banks of the Yulixi River, herdsmen from various tribes who came from the south and north of the desert gathered on the east side of the river, driving herds of cattle, sheep, camels and horses, carrying skins and wool. They set up camps along the river in accordance with the old rules of the Ming court of dividing the market area, issuing licenses, and conducting trade on a regular basis.

Merchants from Guanzhong built kilns in Hexi and brought large quantities of cloth, silk, salt, tea and other goods to Yima City to start trading.

However, unlike the previous rules of the Ming Dynasty, this time the market opens, there are no restrictions on the goods.

In order to promote this city, Liu Chengzong mobilized goods from Juerwan in Kangning Prefecture on his way back, and even transferred some city officials.

There are all kinds of civilian iron pots and ironware, gold-paper farm tools, bronze Buddhas and gold utensils.

As for the nobles and leaders recognized by the two military governorates in the south and north of the desert, waist knives, arrowheads, single-barreled guns, three-barreled guns, gunpowder, artillery shells, even noodles, armor and ball-shot cannons can all be circulated in the market.

The scale of the huge market is unprecedented in the Nine Frontiers.

The level of liveliness is naturally extraordinary.

But to Zuo Maodi, Liu Chengzong's behavior seemed like madness.

He was not afraid of disobeying Liu Shizi, so he simply clasped his fists and said, "Grand Marshal, please forgive me. I did not see the beautiful scenery, I only saw the Grand Marshal inviting the wolf into the house."

"Hehehe!"

When Liu Shizi heard this, he was a little stunned, then he laughed a few times in relief, then sat down again, breaking a piece of steamed bun in silence.

He thought to himself that every time there was a big riot, the Han people would start by beating themselves up in the Central Plains before others joined in the chaos.

After a moment, he raised his head, still with a nonchalant smile in his eyes, and asked: "Brother Zuo, do you really think that there are no wolves, tigers and leopards in China, and that these are special products from outside the border and need to be specially imported?"

Zuo Maodi originally instinctively disliked Liu Chengzong's army, which was full of the smell of mutton, but when he heard this, he was suddenly stunned.

Only then did he suddenly realize that it was completely unnecessary to discuss this topic with Liu Chengzong.

The young man in front of him with a smile in his eyes has tamed half of the wolves, tigers and leopards in the world in the past eight or nine years. He can be called the best animal tamer in the world.

In other words, Liu Chengzong himself is the most terrifying among those jackals, tigers and leopards.

The terrifying foreign invaders in his eyes might just be harmless and docile kittens in Liu Chengzong's eyes.

At this time, Liu Chengzong said very seriously: "It was the Ming Dynasty that let the wolf into the house, not me. Only the government army can rely on the prestige of the orthodox court to borrow troops from the nobles outside the border to help suppress the rebellion when it is weak. The rebels don't have this ability."

He raised his hand and pointed to Yima City in the southwest, and walked past the camps of various tribes one by one: "I can only subdue the tribes one by one, and draw troops and soldiers. The phrase "let the wolf into the house" sounds really funny. I am the strong man who breaks into every house."

Zuo Maoyi was speechless for a moment, but he recognized this description in his heart. That's right. Looking back at Liu Chengzong's resume, it was a process of beating whoever he caught and robbing whoever he met. He entered the sea and drove Huo Luochi into U-Tsang; he was invited to enter Nangqian and occupied the entire Kangning; he knocked on the pass of Jiayu and annexed Zhangye and Gansu; he allied with Chahar and became the Khan of Chahar; he beat up Wala and became the suzerain of Oirat.

The whole person was like a tiger, and urine stains were everywhere when he splashed it.

Thinking of this, Zuo Maodi couldn't help but laugh out loud: Letting a wolf into the house...a wolf is not as efficient as Chengzong.

He couldn't help but clasp his fists and said, "Since the Marshal has such ambition, why not recruit the many old marshals in Yulin to surrender? The Marshal's army is already very prestigious, why do you have to insist on this battle?"

"Surrender?"

Liu Chengzong looked at Zuo Mao strangely for the first time and said, "Brother Zuo, think about it, is this possible? Who are those people? Instead of trying to persuade them to surrender, you might as well just tell me that you want me to surround them in the city and starve them to death."

Create a few Zhang Xuns?

After saying that, he picked up the bowl of mutton soup and started slurping it, leaving Zuo Maodi sitting awkwardly opposite him, thinking.

Liu Chengzong did not eat frantically, but quickly and cleanly. However, his eating manners were not good because his eyes were not looking at the bowl, but at the outline of Yima City in the distance.

He finished half of the bowl in a flash, and then he took a breath and said, "Killing thousands or tens of thousands of people on the battlefield is easy, there are many ways to do it, but heroes are different. The most terrifying opponents in the world are heroes."

Liu Chengzong did not wait for Zuo Maodi to answer, and said to himself: "Because when a hero dies, his spirit will rise from his corpse and live forever."

"The more despicable the means of killing, the more tragic the death, and the greater the heroism. Brother Zuo killed those who were not well-off, so it is normal that you don't know them. Many heroes died at my hands, and countless others whose names I have never heard of. I have seen such heroism."

"I am not afraid of ten enemies, swords, bullets, and cannons firing at me, but I am afraid of that kind of spirit... Hu Erchun and Li Qimao who were hanged in Longzhou, Yang Jiamo who risked his life on the high platform, Duan Fuxing who died of exhaustion in Qianzhou, and Cao Wenzhao who always wanted to get within three steps of me on the battlefield."

"Their heroism makes me wonder if I have taken the wrong path, and if there is a better way in the world that can save more lives."

Liu Chengzong's tone was originally quite heavy, but he suddenly changed the subject: "After killing so many people, I figured it out. The more my subordinates support me, the more the enemy hates me. I can't expect the enemy to surrender to me in desperate situations. I have to be lenient with the enemy. If he wants to be a hero, I will help him."

"Even if they are just pretending, I will make up for his condition."

"Kill him right away, catch his spirit, build a temple for him, and give him an official title, so that his spirit won't run around the world."

"Build another temple for my people and put it next to it, so that people will know that he is a hero, I am a gentleman, and my subordinates are heroes too. He is on the wrong path!"

"But……"

Zuo Maodi raised his hand and wanted to say something, but stopped himself. He felt that all words would be pale and powerless for a lunatic like Liu Chengzong who embodied heroism.

Liu Chengzong is like a mirror thrown into the world by God.

It reflects who you are.

It makes you whoever you want to be.

Zuo Maodi wanted to be a good official in Hancheng, but this rebel leader actually exempted him from taxes and promoted him to outstanding positions.

Wasn't it the same for Chen Qiuyu, the governor of five provinces? He just made a defensive posture, and then he used the teleportation technique of three tribes to stuff all the people in the tribe into the city.

If you want to be a hero, you must be the most heroic hero!
Liu Chengzong is like a ruthless hero-making machine.

Zuo Maodi hesitated for a long time before he said, "But Marshal, since Yulin is determined to defend to the death, it will not benefit the Marshal's army to fight a tough battle..."

But before he could finish his words, Liu Chengzong smiled cunningly.

Liu Shizi thought, no benefit?
Why would I call you here if there is no benefit?
"Brother Zuo, you don't know that I annihilated an army of the Eastern Tartars outside the Great Wall, and the generals who stayed in Qin were eager to fight, and I couldn't stop them."

Liu Chengzong spread his hands, looking embarrassed and saying, "There are a bunch of generals in this city who are also disabled and useless generals in the court. Since they are determined to die..."

"I gave them the heroic deeds of sacrificing their lives for the country, and they gave my men several military achievements. Brother Zuo has the virtue of spreading his heroic name to other generals. Yulin has become a city that will never surrender, and their descendants will also be valued in the court."

Liu Chengzong listed a long list of advantages, which made Zuo Maodi feel cold.

To be fair, he also felt that what Liu Chengzong said made sense, but he still found it strange.

"But the guns and cannons on the battlefield are blind, and the general's soldiers are bound to be killed and injured. Why, why do we have to do this?"

A strong subordinate?

Liu Chengzong thought to himself, how could I let my brave men engage in such a battle?
Haven’t you seen that my veterans have gone to maintain order along the river and manage the market?

To put it bluntly, the benefits that Liu Shizi and Zuo Maodi talked about were all nonsense excuses.

There was only one real reason why he wanted to fight this battle.

Reorganize the surrendered troops.

This should have been done as early as when we went to the East to fight Dai Qing.

But he couldn't do it at that time.

Faced with the evil Eight Banners, whom he had never met before, he was worried that the surrendered troops would cause trouble on the battlefield.

After all, the newly surrendered troops account for a slightly larger proportion on the battlefield, so it is not surprising if any accidents occur.

Bringing them along will not only fail to improve combat effectiveness, but may also result in worse combat effectiveness with more troops.

Only then were they all left in Shaanxi and allowed to surround the city of Yulin.

We don't want to destroy the city, just have something to do and don't sit around doing damage.

Now, there is no such concern.

Liu Shizi deliberately let the young men in the city go and left these old generals behind just to take their heads.

To be precise, it was to let the surrendered troops from Ningxia, Yansui, Zhou Qinghui and Dengxiang, who had never experienced a major battle with the Ming army, take the heads of these old generals.

In Liu Shizi's opinion, it was not unfair for these generals who had passed down their military responsibilities from generation to generation to die in battle. Moreover, they were willing to die in battle. The only thing they lacked was a heroic death.

It would be difficult for those surrendered generals under his command who had not made any contributions to develop a sense of belonging to the Marshal's Office in a short period of time.

The mutual trust between the two sides is justified by this battle.

The intensity is not too high and the contribution is not small.

The most important thing is that after this battle, even if the general in the city sprained his ankle and fell to death, Liu Chengzong would have it recorded as having died in battle.

This is the surrendered general's token of allegiance.

"Brother Zuo, please look. That is our brave general Liu Fangming, who was once a deputy general in Ningxia. Next to him is Ma Xiantu, who is skilled in archery and horse riding."

"That one is Wang Yuncheng, a Liao general who was with Deng Qi earlier. The other battalion is Xu Yong, who is also a fierce general from the imperial court."

"I think they all deserve credit for this battle!" (End of this chapter)