Chapter 16 4.Under Ningwu Pass

It had only been three days since the Dashun army occupied Taiyuan, and the Yangqu and Xinzhou defenders had handed over their surrender forms.Then, Shouyang and Meng counties in the east, and Jingle and Lan counties in the west also sent surrender forms. Li Zicheng's fingers wandered on the map of Shanxi Province, and finally stopped in Daizhou. "Is Daizhou called Yanmen Pass in ancient times?" He asked Song Xiance who was standing aside. Song Xiance nodded hurriedly and said, "That's right, the Yanmen Pass is in the north of Daizhou. In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was one of the three passes against Khitan, and it was an important point in the north and south of Shanxi."

Li Zicheng didn't wait for him to finish, and hurriedly said: "Yes, I understand, it's the place guarded by Yang Liulang." Song Xiance couldn't help but nodded and said: "The emperor is wise, draw inferences about everything." Li Zicheng asked again: "Who is the general guarding Daizhou?" Song Xiance said: "This place is adjacent to Wutai, Fanzhi and other four counties. The Ming Dynasty sent a general here called Zhou Yuji, a big man from the Northeast—" Li Zicheng hurriedly said: "Zhou Yuji, Zhou Yuji, I have never heard of this person, it seems that he is a nobody."

Song Xiance's introduction was actually not over yet. Seeing the emperor's tone now, he hurriedly reminded him: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, Zhou Yuji is from Jinzhou. In the area, they defeated Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai several times." But Li Zicheng still responded casually: "Really?" At this time, Niu Jinxing and Liu Zongmin were walking from outside. Hearing Song Xiance talk about Zhou Yuji, Liu Zongmin hurriedly raised a document in his hand and said: "Don't worry, Wutai County's surrender list has also come. Zhou Yuji only has 5,000 soldiers, so what if he doesn't surrender?"

When Li Zicheng heard that Wutai's surrender list had come, he couldn't help being happy, and said, "Hey, Liu Fangliang, the pioneer, has become a surrender envoy, and he only accepts it all the way. All the passes are all hopeful surrender." Niu Jinxing said at the same time: "The emperor's blessings are equal to the sky, it seems that the whole Jin Dynasty can be established." The monarchs and ministers were talking happily, and at this moment, there was another express delivery to the military newspaper ahead. This military newspaper was only an hour slower than the Wutai County's surrender table, but it was a shocking defeat——Zuoying General Liu Fangliang and General Zuo Guoyi Liu Tichun suffered a great loss under the city of Daizhou.

It turned out that Liu Fangliang and Liu Tichun led 30,000 horses as the vanguard, and went all the way to Daizhou. Because Wutai had already surrendered, they thought that Daizhou's surrender would happen sooner or later, so they didn't care, and didn't want to send sentry horses to Daizhou to report It is said that the gate of Daizhou city is closed tightly, and there are no pedestrians outside the city. This Liu Tichun, also known as "Two Tigers", is one of Li Zicheng's fierce generals. He has already inquired about Zhou Yuji's resume. , the opponent is still Cao Cao (Luo Rucai)."

Liu Fangliang said on the side: "Two tigers, don't worry, set up the cannon tomorrow, and watch me fight him!" The two agreed that 30,000 horses would set up camp outside the city of Daizhou immediately. After dinner, an order came from above: rest early and see you at the top of the city tomorrow. In the middle of the night, 30,000 horses and horses were sleeping soundly. They didn’t want to hear the sound of a trumpet behind them, the flames shot up into the sky, the shouts were loud, and the drums of "Dong Dong" sounded from the top of the city——Zhou Yuji, who was ambushing behind the mountain, led two thousand people and horses to charge from behind the garrison. Come on, the city also opens its doors and fights out.The Dashun army is still in a dream, I don't know how many people and horses they have, and where they came from, they are in a panic, and they are dizzy, but here the Ming army rushed into the camp, chopped down everyone, burned the tents, and killed the Dashun army They ran for their lives in a hurry, killed each other and trampled on each other in the chaos, retreated thirty miles at once, and counted the number of people at dawn, and lost nearly 3,000 people.

It turned out that Zhou Yuji heard the news that Dashun's troops were on a smooth journey and was about to kill Daizhou. He thought to himself that he had only 5,000 troops and was outnumbered. For this reason, he discussed with his deputy Chen Ruzhi, and while sending people to Datong for emergency, he actively prepared for the battle. He expected that the Dashun army would have a smooth journey and would underestimate the enemy, so he adopted a strategy of attacking as defense, letting Chen Ruzhi lead 3,000 troops to defend the city, while he led 2,000 troops to lie in ambush in the jungle outside the city, and waited until midnight to raise fire as a signal , The internal and external attacks caught the Dashun army by surprise.

Everything was as expected, and a lot of baggage, mules and horses were seized. Here Liu Fangliang suffered a big defeat and was very angry. He didn't know how many troops there were in this small Daizhou, but he had suffered such a big fall. He didn't dare to make mistakes. Report to Taiyuan. Here, Li Zicheng's monarch and ministers were shocked when they saw the defeat. Li Zicheng shook his head and said, "Hey, this Zhou Yuji is really not an idler. Liu Fangliang underestimated the enemy." Li Yan and Song Xiance looked at each other, and Li Yan finally said: "Your Majesty, I had acquaintance with Zhou Yuji once, and I would like to write a letter to show him how powerful I am, and persuade him to surrender."

It turned out that Zhou Yuji was born in the army. At first he only worked as a postman in the Ministry of War. He was fined fifty silver for violating the military order. He was tall and tall, like a promising person, so he paid the fine on his behalf and recommended him to work in Shanhaiguan. Therefore, Zhou Yuji regarded Li Jingbai as his reborn parents. Have friendship. This is where Li Yan finished speaking. Gu Junen, Lu Zhiqi and other demoted generals of the Ming Dynasty all advocated surrender, and they all have some connection with Zhou Yuji, and they are willing to write a book to try.

Hearing what they said, Li Zicheng was about to accept it, but Liu Zongmin, who didn't want to be aside, said: "Huh, a small Daizhou dared to resist the heavenly soldiers, and killed and injured so many of my soldiers. I can't spare him even if he surrenders, Your Majesty, watch the ministers go and deal with him." Niu Jinxing also said: "The emperor is begging for heaven, and the three Jins are looking forward to the return of the wind. Seeing that the world is about to be settled, Du Zhou Yuji blatantly despises it. If it is not wiped out, how can it be established?"

Li Zicheng was quite strong in his words, so he did not adopt Li Yan's idea. The next day, Liu Zongmin ordered the troops of the headquarters to pull out the camp and go to Daizhou.He has 50,000 pro-armies under him, including Gu Kecheng, Ren Weirong and other generals. They are the elite of the Dashun Army. The two generals, together with the left assistant, the right bi, and the six governments and other civil servants, meandered all the way to Daizhou. Liu Zongmin rushed to the city of Daizhou at a fast speed, but Daizhou was already an empty city.It turned out that Zhou Yuji saw that the city wall of Daizhou was crumbling and there was no danger to defend it. When Li Zicheng's army came, it would be difficult to fight in such a tiny place, so after discussing with Chen Ruzhi, he withdrew all the troops to Ningwu Pass. This Ningwuguan is the Shanxi town guard, backed by the Great Wall, and the source of the Sanggan River and the Fen River to the south. Not only is the city strong, but the situation is very dangerous.Zhou Yuji served as the commander-in-chief since the 15th year of Chongzhen. In the past two years, he has set up defenses here against danger. Not only has the city been reinforced, but also forts have been built on the surrounding hills. Liu Zongmin advocated a strong attack. First, he didn't pay attention to Zhou Yuji's 5,000 troops. Second, he wanted to show his skills in front of everyone. Since Xi'an was taken down, a large number of officials and generals in the Ming Dynasty had surrendered to the Dashun Dynasty. At that time, there were a lot of talents. Li Zicheng regarded this group of people very highly. Ask them to discuss, in comparison, the illiterate General Liu pales in comparison.Liu Zongmin thought to himself: Grandma, who are these people? I am not oppressed by them, and I am not rebellious. They helped Chongzhen suppress us before, but now they are going out of their way. We don’t want to eat this. One set. With this in mind, he wanted to fight, and seeing Zhou Yuji not only defending the city, but also occupying the hills on both sides, he thought, if he doesn't take these hills first, won't he get in the way when he attacks the city?So the camp was firmly established, and the siege of these hills was immediately launched. Here Zhou Yuji couldn't help but be happy to see the Dashun army swarming.It turned out that he had already calculated the terrain and knew where the Dashun army would camp when they came, where they would camp, and where the troops would gather. He had already sent people to plant gunpowder and landmines in the places where the troops gathered. Opportunity, so he ordered to fire at the Dashun army. When the cannon fired, gunpowder and landmines were immediately triggered. Suddenly, a thunderbolt landslide, and gunpowder smoke everywhere, and the explosion caused the Dashun army to fly with flesh and blood, shouting for their father and mother, and fleeing with their heads in their arms. Liu Zongmin didn't expect Zhou Yuji to have such a skill. He saw that after a burst of gunpowder smoke, there were many dead bodies at the foot of the mountain, and he couldn't help but get angry. His confidant general Ren Weirong personally grabbed a big flag and took the lead to charge up the mountain. They were all repulsed, and Ren Weirong was hit by an arrow in the shoulder. After only one day of fighting, Liu Zongmin lost nearly a thousand troops and only occupied two small hills. Seeing that the small Ningwu City was as solid as a rock, Liu Zongmin was so angry that he swallowed his saliva, especially when he thought of Li Yan's words, he felt that he had lost face in front of the emperor, so he ordered the 80,000 troops to be sent out, and Ningwu Surrounded the city and several hills around it, and sent people to shoot a letter of persuasion into the city, saying that if they did not surrender, the whole city, young and old, would be killed on the day the city was broken. This letter caused an uproar in the city—because the letter was unsealed and it was shot into the city, many people saw it, so the news spread as soon as the news spread, the deputy general Chen Ruzhi hesitated first, and he personally came to see Zhou Yuji with the letter, saying : "Master Zongzhen, we are guarding Daizhou and Ningwu. With a mere 5,000 troops, we have killed thousands of bandit soldiers. We are worthy of the court and the emperor. Seeing that reinforcements are not coming, the isolated city is difficult to defend. I hope that you will be safe." For the sake of men and women in the city." Seeing this situation, Zhou Yuji couldn't help but burst into tears. He summoned all the soldiers and said: "Yuji has received the great kindness of the emperor, and he is determined to serve the country with his death. If you cherish your life, you can bind me and see a thief." Zhou Yuji was a clean and honest official. He never withheld his military salary. The adults of the total town live and die together. Seeing that the soldiers were united in one mind, Zhou Yuji couldn't help cheering up, even Chen Ruzhi didn't waver anymore, they planned to make people raise and lower flags on the city, and sent some old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers out of the city to meet the surrender. The Dashun army was overjoyed when they saw it, thinking that the letter of persuasion had played a role. They were led by a sixth-rank captain, and the crowd swarmed in. They didn't want to go in before only more than 2,000 people. The troops couldn't get in, and the vanguard suffered disaster. I saw ambushes everywhere in the streets, alleys, city walls, and roofs. Zhou Yuji personally led the whole city to surround the two thousand people and kill them desperately. There were more than 2,000 people, and the official ranks were only the first and sixth-rank capitals, and they were not subordinate to each other. Naturally, it was difficult to form an effective resistance. In an instant, they were all killed by the Ming army commanded by Zhou Yuji. Liu Zongmin was very anxious outside the city, so he ordered a general attack, and adopted the wheel warfare method, set up a ladder, and stepped forward, only allowed to advance but not to retreat. For fear of accidental injury, he ordered all the soldiers to not wear hats and helmets. After three consecutive days of fighting, Ningwu City finally failed. Zhou Yujinai dismounted and swung a short knife to fight. His guards gradually died. In the end, he was wounded and captured. At this time, Liu Zongmin's eyes were red with blood. When he saw Zhou Yuji being so unyielding, he couldn't help but get angry. He rushed up with a knife and slashed at Zhou Yuji. It became a pile of meat paste. The red sun was sinking, and the smoke had cleared. The Dashun Army finally planted the banner of victory on the head of Ningwu City, but at this time, inside and outside the city, it was quiet. There were only dead bodies, but no one alive... Li Zicheng had heard the news of Liu Zongmin's loss again on the way, and couldn't help feeling anxious. He asked Niu Jinxing to lead a group of civil servants behind him, but he hurried to Ningwu with the chief and deputy military divisions. By the Sanggan River, I finally saw Liu Zongmin. There are a lot of rocks, several stalks of weeds, and several wounded soldiers lying on their backs in front of them, groaning softly. Liu Zongmin is covered in blood, holding a bloody knife, sitting alone on a rock, with his right hand resting on his chest, his eyes staring straight. , staring blankly at the river beach in front of him, like a dry monk in meditation. "Liu Tiejiang, what did you do?" Li Zicheng stopped two steps away from him and said loudly, "How can we break into Beijing with this style of play?" At this time Liu Zongmin was consciously disturbed, not wanting Li Zicheng to see him, not only did not say comforting words, but also blamed him when he opened his mouth, he couldn't help being ashamed and angry, and shouted at Li Zicheng: "I killed it seven times and seven times. It made his head roll. Are you afraid that you won't be able to enter Beijing?" Li Zicheng couldn't help getting angry when he saw his rude words. He stared at Liu Zongmin with stern eyes, and shouted in the same loud voice: "Hmph, seven in and seven out, but this is the end of more than 10,000 horses. Zhou Yuji only has 5,000." People! Going to Beijing, there are 100,000 Datong soldiers, 100,000 Xuanfu soldiers, 200,000 Juyong soldiers, and 200,000 Yanghe and other town soldiers. The total is about 600,000 to 700,000, which is enough for you to enter seven times and leave seven times. killed?" Liu Zongmin was also angry, and for a moment, regardless of his status as a monarch and minister, he shouted loudly: "Why are you in a hurry, I promise to take down the country and let you sit." Li Zicheng was deeply shocked when he heard this, and stayed there for a while without speaking. Seeing Liu Zongmin's tone, Song Xiance signaled to him secretly, reminding him to be careful, and said, "Please calm down, Your Majesty. According to my ministers, the battle of Ningwu was just a small miscalculation. It was Jiang Taigong's attack on Zhou, isn't it?" Did you also suffer from Zhang Kui under Mianchi City?" When Li Zicheng heard this, his face gradually calmed down. It turns out that Shaanxi people like to watch shadow puppetry. In the shadow puppetry, there is a story about King Wu's defeating Zhou. Kui was defeated, and it took a lot of effort to kill Zhang Kui.At present, the military master of Song Dynasty saw the emperor was angry, Liu Zongmin disregarded the courtesy of the emperor and his ministers, and almost fought against the emperor. In desperation, he used this allusion. It must be known that a military adviser like Jiang Taigong still miscalculated the enemy soldiers along the way, how can he be blamed? What about Liu Zongmin?Even the emperor's side is also very useful, because King Wu's defeating Zhou was the teacher who revived the king and punished the people. Therefore, after hearing this, Li Zicheng's face softened a lot. However, the atmosphere could not eliminate Li Zicheng's anxiety caused by it. After a long while, he said quietly: "It seems that the Ming Dynasty is not exhausted, and our Northern Expedition is indeed a little impatient." Song Xiance said: "Why did the emperor say that?" Li Zicheng said: "Isn't this obvious? How can the small Ningyuan City be able to enter Beijing with such a lot of trouble? It is serious to withdraw troops as soon as possible." As he said that, he ignored everyone, and walked back with his hands.After walking away, Liu Fangliang and Liu Tichun couldn't help panicking. Liu Fangliang couldn't help pulling Liu Zongmin. Seeing that he was still standing still, he pulled Liu Tichun to catch up, stopped in front and knelt down and said: "Your majesty stays behind, thinking that back then all the generals were united and vowed to go to the Northern Expedition to establish the world for the emperor. Now that the Three Jins have surrendered, the Xuanfu and Datong have been terrified. Chongzhen doesn't have many soldiers capable of fighting. It is time for us to fight. After chasing and fighting fiercely, how can you withdraw troops so hastily and give up halfway because of the small Ningwu battle? Wouldn’t it make others laugh? The ministers are wrong, please punish the ministers, but this soldier will never retreat.” After saying this, both of them fell to the ground. At this time, Li Zicheng was full of thoughts, his face was cloudy and uncertain, he walked away from Er Liu, looked at the sky, and said coldly: "Let's talk, I have to think more carefully." After saying that, he walked towards the imperial camp without looking back. Seeing that the emperor had the intention of withdrawing troops, both Lius blamed Liu Zongmin. Although Liu Zongmin walked back with a livid face, he also felt regretful in his heart. Literati are afraid that they will not be able to fall asleep, and warriors are afraid that they will not be able to wake up. Liu Blacksmith who eats toughened iron, why is this? He is from Lantian, Shaanxi, and he makes a living by forging iron at home.In the first year of Chongzhen, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi, and the hungry people gathered together. Wang Yi and Wang Er first raised the flag of righteousness, followed by Wang Zuogui, Fei Shanhu, Gao Yingxiang and others.In the second year, Jin soldiers invaded Beijing. Li Zicheng, who was a courier at that time, went to Beijing to serve the king with the general kingdom. Li Zicheng was Gao Yingxiang's nephew. Wang Guo led more than a dozen people to vote for Gao Yingxiang. On Li Zicheng's way to vote for Gao Yingxiang, Liu Zongmin met Li Zicheng. It was a scorching hot summer, Liu Zongmin's iron shop was closed long ago due to lack of business, and he was sleeping shirtless under the melon shed alone. Panting, the place where he is located is on a higher terrain, he climbed on the earthen wall and looked, and saw six young men hurriedly running in front of the wall, followed by a line of officers and soldiers chasing desperately, and when they entered the village, the six men began to separate Fleeing, one of the tall and tall men actually stepped into his yard. This person did not see Liu Zongmin, but Liu Zongmin saw him.Liu Zongmin hated the government very much on weekdays, because of his blacksmithing, he was overwhelmed by heavy taxes and miscellaneous taxes. Now his iron shop has been closed, but Lizheng would come to him from time to time to ask for donations, so when he saw someone who was against the government People admired him. Seeing that he was chased by officers and soldiers and had nowhere to escape, he stood under the melon scaffolding and shouted: "Hey, come this way." This person is Li Zicheng.He killed Wang Guo on the way, and took more than ten people to join Wang Gaoyingxiang. He didn't want his uncle to be found, but he was hunted down by the officers and soldiers on the way, and he had nowhere to hide. When he saw Liu Zongmin and saw his tattered body, he knew He was also a poor man, so he came forward and said: "Brother, save me quickly." Liu Zongmin said: "Don't panic, follow me." Liu Zongmin took him behind his dilapidated house, walked along a small ravine, and came to a row of abandoned cave dwellings. He pointed to a collapsed cave dwelling and said, "Get in here, don't come out." Li Zicheng, who was desperate, didn't care about anything else, and really got in. Liu Zongmin covered the hole with a handful of weeds. When he came back, three officers and soldiers with knives had already arrived at the door of his house. "Hey, kid, did you see the stranger?" A headhunter asked with the tip of a knife pointed at the tip of his nose. Liu Zongmin was a smart person, and said quickly: "The strangers, you are strangers." The head catcher shook the knife, and said, "Boy, grandpa is a stranger, do you want to tell me? Come on, where did that Li Zicheng go?" Liu Zongmin was taken aback. A few days ago, notices were posted everywhere in the city, saying that he wanted to arrest a man named Li Zicheng, saying that he would kill a superior and lead a rebellion. After hearing this, Liu Zongmin couldn't help thinking about Li Zicheng in his heart. I don't want today, Li Zicheng He really came to his own house. At this time, Li Zheng brought a group of soldiers, and they also rushed here. At the same time, they also brought five of Li Zicheng's accomplices who had been captured. As soon as Lizheng saw Liu Zongmin, he said, "Tiejiang Liu, can you see another one?" Liu Zongmin was upset at this time, so he gritted his teeth and swore that he didn't see it. The gang under the head catcher turned Liu Zongmin's blacksmith shop upside down, but they didn't see any trace of Li Zicheng, so the head catcher ordered the five people to be hung under the melon shed. , beat them in turn with a leather whip soaked in cold water, until the five people called each other their father and mother, one of them couldn't take it anymore, and finally spit out: "We ran separately after entering the village. Li Zicheng seems to have come to this yard." Hearing this, the head catcher ordered the little man to be put down, ordered Liu Zongmin to be tied up, and hung in a row under the melon shed, also whipped with a leather whip, but Liu Zongmin was worthy of being a blacksmith, with a steel mouth and steel teeth, but he refused to admit it. The beating lasted from noon until the sun went down, but there was still not a word of confession. Seeing this, the arrester had no choice but to put down Liu Zongmin who had fainted. Later, Liu Zongmin was escorted to the county government office, and the county magistrate pushed and questioned him repeatedly, but Liu Zongmin still insisted that he saw nothing.At this time, Li Zicheng followed Gao Yingxiang and became a well-known Chuang general under the Chuang Wang. At this time, Liu Zongmin had nothing left, so he climbed mountains and waded, and finally found Li Zicheng. Since then, Liu Zongmin has been following Li Zicheng and is Li Zicheng's right-hand man. Gao Yingxiang was later captured and killed. Riding free, lurking in Shangluo Mountain, most of the people who followed him found their own way out, but Liu Zongmin did not leave.Li Zicheng, who was deeply disappointed in his future, finally fell ill, but Liu Zongmin stayed by his side. At that time, they hid in a ruined temple. Li Zicheng saw a hexagram on the divine case, so he said to Liu Zongmin, we You might as well pray to the Bodhisattva, if I have the status of being the son of heaven in the future, I implore the Bodhisattva to bestow three hexagrams, if not, then you will tie me up and offer it to the government. Saying that, without Liu Zongmin's consent, he picked up the hexagram and threw it three times in a row. He didn't want to throw it out three times. It was either a yang hexagram or a yin hexagram, but none of them was a winning hexagram. Seeing this, Li Zicheng looked up to the sky and let out a long sigh , let Liu Zongmin tie him up, but Liu Zongmin hugged him and cried bitterly, and firmly refused to do as he said.He believes that when the flowers bloom and fall, everyone will go to Maicheng. Blacksmith Liu is a pure steel without any scum. Right now, King Chuang has finally become the emperor, and Liu Tiejiang has become the second in command of the Dashun Army. This Northern Expedition has been smooth sailing, and the momentum is like a broken bamboo. It is said that the price of attacking Ningwu Pass is high, after all, it was captured, but the emperor did not What is the reason for withdrawing troops? He fell on the bed, puzzled.