Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 57: Abandon Your Old Pen and Wear Your Wartime Collar
Break into the main tent of the army.

The commanders of each camp gathered together and chattered non-stop.

In contrast, Li Zicheng sat high in the main seat, closed his eyes and said nothing.

Sparks from the tallow candle illuminated Liu Zongmin's ashen face.

"My people are about to go to the city, but you stupid guys are stopping us!"

Zhang Nai was equally indignant. "My right battalion has already reached the corner tower of Deshengmen. If Old Song hadn't said it wasn't easy to storm it, and that we were just testing the waters, we could have taken Deshengmen today!"

"Bullshit!" Li Guo kicked over the stool. "If it weren't for the five thousand lives of my men from the Left Camp, would you have been able to touch the bricks of the city wall?"

People stood up from the twenty-two chairs in the tent from time to time. Except for the Confucian general Tian Jianxiu, Ma Shiyao, Gao Yigong and other generals and officers started to scold each other.

Niu Jinxing looked at the scene in front of him without saying a word. After all, he was a postman and groom yesterday, and now he was about to be granted a title of nobility. Anyone would be anxious.

The Prime Minister didn't say anything, so Song Xiance could only pretend to cough, and his short body curled up in the rosewood chair.

"Taibai is in a fight, but Ziwei is still shining. If they force a collision, both will suffer."

Before he finished speaking, Hao Yongzhong sneered, "Old Song is using astrology to bluff again! I only trust the steel knife in my hand!"

"Can a steel knife break the Red Barbarian cannon?" Li Zicheng slammed the table, and the tent fell silent.

Then he pointed at Zhang Nai and said, "Without the artillery of the left camp, can you reach the city wall?"

"You are so used to winning battles that you have forgotten how many good brothers died in Shangluo Mountain?!" Li Zicheng slammed the Yellow Dragon sword sheath heavily on the sandalwood table, and the sword guard inlaid with agate smashed the teacup.

General Liu Zongmin's beard was stained with tea foam, and he swallowed back the swear words that were about to come out of his mouth.

When Prime Minister Niu Jinxing of Dashun saw the veins bulging on King Chuang's neck, he knew that this warlord who came from a former postman was really going to be angry.

The reason why Li Zicheng did not dare to covet the throne was because he was afraid that he would not be able to suppress these increasingly domineering generals!
Everyone is united in their thinking. Once the capital is taken, these people will be reluctant to fight the Jiannu again.

Triangular Eyes glanced at the twenty-two generals in the tent, "Yuan Liguo! How many flying towers did your left camp lose yesterday?"

Li Guo, the general of the Left Camp, twitched his facial muscles. "Three-thirty-seven."

"Zhang Nai!" The King of Rebellion pointed his sword towards the corner. "Did your right battalion find the gate mechanism of the city gate today?"

Even though he was Li Zicheng's adopted son, he couldn't help but shrink his neck at this moment, "Twenty steps to go"

"Twenty steps?"

"Back when we fought our way out of Shangluo Mountain, we died three times in twenty steps!"

The tent was dead silent, with only the neighing of war horses outside the tent to be heard.

The commander of the army, Yuan Zongde, secretly withdrew his foot from the table.

"In your opinion, how many brothers will die if we force an attack today?!"

"Outside are the Guanning Army, the Imperial Guards, and the Jiannu. If the old emperor insists on defending the inner city, how many of us will die? Is it enough to just capture the capital? Will the Jiannu just ignore us?"

"If I, Old Li, were to ascend the throne and confer upon you the title of Duke, would the world be at peace?"

After a series of questions were thrown out, no one dared to refute.

Li Zicheng snorted angrily and skipped the topic.

"Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, at 3:30 AM, the detachment will continue to surround Guangqumen without attacking, just as we did today, to disperse the elite troops."

"Understood!" Yuan Zongde and Tian Jianxiu, two of the most stable and capable generals in the rebel army, stood up at the same time and clasped their fists.

"Li Guo led 50,000 surrendered soldiers to continue filling Deshengmen Gate and see if he could knock out the government cannons."

"Understood sir." Li Guo stood up quickly.

"The rest of the camps made a big noise, and the soldiers took turns to rest, so that the government troops would relax their vigilance."

"Zhang Nai, take three hundred warriors and send the eunuchs I've bribed into the city. One day or another, I want to see the Deshengmen Arrow Tower on fire!"

"When the fire starts, all four gates of the five battalions will attack simultaneously!" The twenty-two generals in the tent saluted simultaneously with their fists clasped. "I obey your command!"

After everyone left and only Niu Jinxing and Li Zicheng were left in the tent, the former asked softly.

"Then...should we still send a negotiation envoy?"

Li Zicheng raised his eyebrows, "Of course I have to send someone. Not only that, but I have to relax the conditions in the next two days. I want old Chongzhen to beg for the title of king!"

……

In front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Zhu Youjian didn't know that Li Zicheng on the other side had the same idea as him.

At this moment, he was dealing with more than 700 students from the capital.

These students are the very few high-end talents with ideas and culture in this era.

Especially since these people have not been corrupted by the officialdom atmosphere and have been taught the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and the country since childhood.

It's a shame to waste it.

It is necessary to infiltrate the grassroots level of the new army and do some political work.

"Do you all want to fight against the bandits?" Zhu Youjian asked hypocritically.

An elderly student kneeling at the front hurriedly responded, "Your Majesty, during this time of national crisis, we cannot bear to see our ruler and state humiliated. We, the 737 students, are willing to serve as our vanguard, wielding our swords to resist the invaders!"

"Ridiculous!" Zhu Youjian suddenly flicked his sleeves and pointed at everyone, shouting, "Do you know how many arrows are stuck in the corner tower of Deshengmen?"

The old student raised his head and said, "Although I have not yet faced the battlefield, I am willing to emulate Zhang Suiyang's loyalty to chew his teeth."

"Chew your teeth?" Zhu Youjian suddenly sneered. After receiving Chongzhen's memory, he naturally knew what this allusion was.

During the Anshi Rebellion, there was a defense historian named Zhang Xun in the Tang Dynasty. He led 6,800 people to defend Suiyang for ten months, killing 120,000 enemies. In order to strengthen his confidence, he even gritted his teeth.

"When Zhang Xun was guarding Suiyang, there were still Lei Wanchun and Nan Jiyun. Did you know that General Lei was originally a woodcutter? And General Nan was originally a boatman?"

"Back when Han Shizhong's wife beat the drums and fought at Jinshan, Liang Hongyu had never studied the Four Books and Five Classics."

The old student was stunned.

Zhu Youjian continued to ask, "Let me ask you, the Ministry of War reported that Jizhen has been short of wages for three months. How much food and fodder should be replenished?"

"This……"

"How many secret codes does Jiubian Yebu use to receive messages?"

"student."

"What incantations do the Shenji Battalion gunners use to load gunpowder?"

No student dared to answer, and Zhu Youjian raised his voice again.

"Your parents and fellow villagers have put so much effort into educating you, and the imperial court has invested so much energy in training you! You don't want to use your knowledge to serve your country, but instead want to fight against the enemy army. Is this all you have!?"

The old student's forehead hit the blue bricks hard.

Zhu Youjian turned and looked at the plaque in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. "Back then, Yue Fei said, 'Civil officials don't love money, and military officials don't fear death.' The Yue Family Army 'would rather freeze to death than demolish houses, and starve to death than plunder.' But what about now? The memorials written by civil officials are taller than the city walls, and the servants supported by military officials are closer than their own fathers! When it comes to coveting military pay, each one is more anxious than the other, but no one considers whether the soldiers who have been drained of their blood will rebel!"

"Now that the rebels who have been forced into a corner have come to attack, some people are afraid and some are thinking of the soldiers."

"After the rebels leave, will you continue to drink and indulge in greed, driving out the Tartars from the Ming Dynasty and breaking the backbone of the Five Expeditions to Mobei once again?"

"I don't want a scholar who can write manifestos, nor a fool who is full of passion to give military merit to the rebel army!"

Seeing that it was almost done, Zhu Youjian slowly lowered his voice.

"Last night I reread Lu Zhi's Memorial on the Affairs of Guanzhong, and there is a quote that I hope you will all share: 'A gentleman is not without tools, but tools are not in vain. A scholar is not a warmongerer, but war must be for righteousness.'"

(End of this chapter)