Chapter 230 The Time Has Come, Li Zicheng's Death
In a state of hysteria, Hongniangzi was taken to an underground cell.

"Boss, why...what happened to you? Where are you hurt?" When the third boss saw Hong Niangzi, he was a little confused.

He just couldn't understand how it was possible that Hongniang, with her martial arts skills, was captured.

What was even more unimaginable was that the matchmaker in front of him looked determined to die, and no matter how he shouted, she didn't even look at him.

How could this be the impetuous boss he knew, the boss who was full of fighting spirit and never knew how to retreat?
"The boss?"

"You bunch of bastards, what did you do to the boss? Zhu Yonggan, after all, she was engaged to you, what did you do to her?"

The third in command cursed with red eyes, but it did not attract the attention of people outside. Instead, it made Hong Niang look up at him.

"It's over. Everything is over. All we have done is just to make wedding clothes for others."

"What's all over?"

"Zhu Yonggan has been using us from the very beginning..."

After Hong Niangzi finished making fun of herself, the Third Master looked at her in amazement. He was completely stunned and couldn't even utter a complete sentence.

a long time,

He slammed his fist on the cell. "I told you that you shouldn't have kept him here, but you refused and believed Li Yan's lies."

"This guy is full of tricks..."

In the next few days, Chongzhen asked people to send them food and clothes as usual, but they were all rejected by Hongniang.

He came twice during the Chongzhen period, but did not persuade her to eat.

But since he came, Hongniang was no longer pretentious. She ate and drank whatever was sent to her, and even wore the daily necessities and clothes from wealthy families.

This is due to Hong Niangzi's personality. She has been performing for a living since she was a child and has seen life and death and all kinds of dark sides.

Since I lost, I lost. I should at least see how far he can go? !

Is it really possible to distribute the land and exempt the grain tax as he said, or is he just saying it to himself?
She has seen what the Ming Dynasty was like since she was a child, how could she not know?

Moreover, Prince Xin's troops were so powerful, especially after they captured Suzhou and Hangzhou, it was basically impossible to recruit them because the people under him had killed too many officials and gentry.

But the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty did not indulge him.

After all, you are just a vassal, and the Ming Emperor has always been wary of vassal states. Now that you have become a rebel king and have hundreds of thousands of troops at your disposal, can the emperor trust you?

The issue of distributing land and exempting grain has too many consequences, involves too many people, and affects the interests of the powerful. If not handled properly, it will be the death warrant of "Prince Xin".

If that is the case, the rebel army can still be saved... everything is still uncertain.

Even Chongzhen had to admire his ability to adjust his state of mind in such a short time, especially as he was still able to eat and sleep well in such a situation.

If Chongzhen was not the emperor, and there was no fundamental conflict, perhaps he would really be convinced by her.

But it was precisely because of this that Chongzhen developed a little fear of her.

However, this person is more helpful alive than dead, so it is not advisable to kill him before everything is settled.

In the next few days, whenever the patrolmen left, Hong Niangzi would tell the Third Master about the aftermath, "If we can get out, we must reveal the identity of this person."

"Besides that, we need to make sure everyone in the village can read and write."

In the past, she knew that literati, integrity and other things were all in books, but now she feels that those are secondary, and the cunning and scheming of literati are real.

She suffered this kind of loss every time she failed.

"Boss, you..."

"No need to say more." Lady Hong lowered her voice, "I'm telling you this just to make the final preparations. Zhu Yonggan will definitely make a big move next, and we may have a tiny chance."

"Ah?" The Third Chief swallowed hard, "Big Boss, whatever you say, I'll do whatever you say."

……

In the inn where Li Zicheng was, King Chuang, Li Shuangxi, Niu Jinxing and others had gone to the Prince Xin's mansion to attend a party and had not returned yet. Only Song Xiance was looking at Li Yan on the pillar.

Song Xiance sighed and said, "I had nothing to do, so I read your fortune. The fortune shows that you are too stubborn and I'm afraid you won't live through this month."

Song Xiance was proficient in the art of Qimen Dunjia and Tuchen.

Li Zicheng believed in this very much, so he was appointed as military advisor.

Unfortunately, he was now excluded from the core of power by Li Zicheng, and he was not even taken with him to the Xinwang Palace. Instead, he was asked to guard Li Yan again.

"Why don't you believe me?" Li Yan stared at Song Xiance with bloodshot eyes, "Please, let me go. It's a matter of life and death for King Chuang. It will be too late if we delay any longer."

Song Xiance shook his head. "It's not that I don't believe you, but what you said is too bizarre."

"As of now, all the rebel kings have suffered heavy losses, and only the troops of King Xin have won the battle. But you said that it was someone from King Xin's court. You should produce evidence. It's good that King Chuang didn't kill you for such slander."

The veins on Li Yan's forehead bulged, but he could do nothing about it. "You...you will regret it sooner or later."

However, Song Xiance remained unmoved. He shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying, "I think you won't cry until you see the coffin."

Li Yan clenched his fingers for a long time, and suddenly an idea came to his mind, "Then why don't you tell your fortune? To see whether you are lucky or unlucky?"

After hearing this, Song Xiance paused for a moment, thought for a moment, took out a tortoise shell and three copper coins from his arms, shook them vigorously a few times, and then sprinkled them on the ground.

A few jingle sounds...

All three coins are facing up.

Song Xiance looked at the hexagram, looked at Li Yan in disbelief, and then told himself another hexagram.

But the hexagram is still the same as last time, very bad!
His face finally turned panicky, and he ran out, looking at the sun outside. "The sky is horrible, the sun is dim, we should flee as soon as possible... Not good, this trip of King Chuang is dangerous."

Then, he hurried back to untie the rope that tied Li Yan, "Tell me everything you know, and we will go separately to inform King Chuang."

Since the hexagram showed a very bad omen, it meant that King Chuang and himself were most likely already involved in the game. If the two of them acted separately, even if one of them was caught, the other one would succeed and the game could be resolved.

But when the two walked out onto the street, they discovered that the entire Wuchang Prefecture had fallen into chaos.

Song Xiance suddenly grabbed a running bandit soldier and asked, "What happened?"

"The government troops are attacking the city!"

"The government troops are attacking the city..."

"The grain warehouse is on fire~The fire broke out~"

Song Xiance pushed the man away fiercely and shouted at Li Yan: "Quick, go to the Governor's Mansion and see how the King of Chuang is doing?"

Li Yan stamped his foot fiercely, "I knew that Prince Xin would have no good intentions. In such a short time, he actually let Sun Chuanting attack Wuchang Prefecture, and none of the rebel kings knew about it? This is obviously blocking the news..." "Prince Chuang was bewitched by that bastard Niu Jinxing, otherwise he wouldn't be so passive." Song Xiance's face was also blue and purple, and he said angrily: "At this point, we can only hope that Prince Chuang is not imprisoned."

Sun Chuanting's troops were still in Xiangyang Prefecture a few days ago, and they attacked so quickly. Prince Xin had hundreds of thousands of troops under his command. If he didn't know, the two would never believe it.

The only possibility is that this was Prince Xin's trap.

……

A few days ago, Sun Chuanting was still in Xiangyang Prefecture and had not moved any further east.

Until Zhu Changgan received several letters from the Jinyiwei in the Jiangnan area.

"The gentry in Jiangnan had a hard time making ends meet, so they started to train militias in private, trying to train soldiers to resist the bandits and the policies of the Anti-Corruption Department..."

Zhu Changgan finally smiled after reading the letter, "Tell Sun Chuanting that the time has come and we can march into Jiangnan in a big way."

"Also, have the five battalions of soldiers hiding in Jiangnan cooperate with Sun Chuanting's actions."

The imperial court had previously appointed ministers of militia training in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang and other places, but only the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas were not allowed to conduct militia training.

The purpose of doing this is to drive the victims away. Without destruction, there will be no construction.

Since you are Jiangnan and can’t be penetrated by a needle or poured with water, I will let you grow the abscesses on your own...and these abscesses are the result of their secret militia training.

Training troops privately is against the laws of the Ming Dynasty and is tantamount to treason.

The bandits killed the gentry, that was their reputation. The imperial court wanted to rectify the administration of officials, so it also had to kill a group of people. There was no crime more lethal than rebellion and treason.

In addition to Suzhou and Hangzhou, the big families in Jiangnan also include a large number of gentry, and now they have finally waited for the moment of harvest.

After receiving the emperor's order, Sun Chuanting immediately ordered Cao Bianjiao to lead his troops eastward and attack Wuchang Prefecture.

Long before this, the 50,000 soldiers sent out by the five major camps finally showed their fangs at this moment.

……

In Wuchang City, artillery fire continued to fall and flames shot up into the sky.

The sounds of collapsing city walls, shouts of killing, and the trampling of war horses on the streets rumbled like war drums.

The tightly defended Wuchang Prefecture was quickly breached under the fierce attack, and the rebel kings were terrified.

"Hurry, King Chuang, let's go!" Li Shuangxi and Niu Jinxing protected Li Zicheng and ran out desperately, but when they just turned a corner.

Dozens of bows were pointed at them.

"shoot!"

rustling...

Arrows rained down like raindrops on Li Zicheng who was fleeing in front.

It turned out to be the troops from the five major camps. All other rebel kings could be let go, except Li Zicheng.

The Ming Dynasty tried to persuade Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng and others to surrender, but Li Zicheng's will to rebel was unshakable. He was so determined that Chongzhen tried several times to test him but to no avail.

So they had no choice but to kill him.

"Where are the reinforcements? Didn't Prince Xin say there were reinforcements?"

"Hold on for a while, reinforcements will be here soon." Niu Jinxing gritted his teeth and covered an arrow on his shoulder, "Who are these people? Why are they biting us?"

"I don't know, they must be the imperial court's soldiers. They all have fire guns and palm thunder in their hands. We can't resist them at all." Li Shuangxi's face was blackened by the explosion, and his body was covered with blood. Fortunately, there was no fatal injury. The steel knife in his hand was shaking: "Foster father, I feel something is wrong. These people seem to have known who we are for a long time. They don't talk to us at all, and just keep chasing and killing us."

Li Zicheng's face was extremely gloomy. At this point, he also realized that something was wrong. "As Liu Zongmin said, things are getting troublesome!"

Liu Zongmin and Gao Guiying still had tens of thousands of loyal soldiers and horses. Liu Zongmin had previously written a letter to Li Zicheng to warn him of this matter and had already sent some soldiers and horses over.

It was supposed to arrive yesterday, but for some reason it hasn't arrived today.

"Hold on, Liu Zongmin and your stepmother are on their way, as long as..."

Boom~
Before they could finish their words, the wall they were leaning against collapsed.

In the dust and smoke, the government troops, dressed in armor that shone with a cold glow and holding muskets, rushed towards them one after another.

bang bang bang~
Li Shuangxi and his men climbed out from the bricks and stones and could only retreat again and again.

After a burst of musketry, Li Zicheng felt his body go limp. He looked at the weapon in his hand, and the phenomenon that kept coming out of it was so scarlet in the firelight that it was chilling.

"Father!"

Li Shuangxi pushed Niu Jinxing away and turned around to rescue Li Zicheng, but it was too late. The government army's spear had already landed on Li Zicheng's neck, and dozens of soldiers tied him up.

Niu Jinxing grabbed Li Shuangxi and said, "The military advisor has been captured. Retreat into the courtyard and don't let the government troops enter the courtyard."

"Godfather~"

Li Shuangxi was dragged into the yard by Niu Jinxing, but soon several palm mines were thrown in. After several explosions, more soldiers rushed in.

The two sides were in a one-sided situation in the narrow space.

You stabbed Li Shuangxi and I stabbed Niu Jinxing with a knife and a gun.

Blood flowed out of the sewer.

……

……

ps: Let me say a few words about the death of Li Zicheng (I’m stuck on the word count, these two hundred words, free of charge).

When it comes to employing people, Li Zicheng does have problems. It's not that Li Zicheng doesn't have any useful people at hand, but his biggest problem is that he doesn't know how to judge people.

Take Niu Jinxing as an example. When he first arrived at the camp, he was very dedicated. He not only recommended talents to Li Zicheng, but also put forward strategic suggestions such as "reduce punishment and killing, provide relief to the hungry, and win the hearts of the people", and became Li Zicheng's most trusted adviser.

But when Li Zicheng proclaimed himself king and established the Dashun Rebellion, Niu Jinxing was appointed prime minister. He was greedy for enjoyment, and did not send reinforcements in time when Li Zicheng fought Wu Sangui at Shanhaiguan, which led to Li Zicheng's defeat.

After that, he made a series of stupid moves, including killing Li Yan and sowing discord among Liu Zongmin, Song Xiance and Li Zicheng, which eventually led to the collapse of the Dashun Army.

On the other hand, Song Xiance was a man of unparalleled talent and wisdom, and had made great contributions, but he was not highly valued.

After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, Song Xiance was one of the few people in the Dashun army who could keep a clear head. Like Li Yan, he was very worried about the corruption of Dashun and made repeated suggestions, but received no response from Li Zicheng.

He was very clever, and used his expertise in strange theories to impress Li Zicheng. He also used celestial phenomena as a warning to Li Zicheng, saying: "The celestial phenomena are tragic, the sun is dim, and the execution should be stopped as soon as possible." His advice was finally adopted by Li Zicheng, and many people were saved.

Unfortunately, he realized it too late. It was not until Li Yan was killed that Song Xiance realized that Li Zicheng was not the wise leader he should assist. He became increasingly alienated from Niu Jinxing and others, returned to the underworld to run his old business, and disappeared. - Nearly 200 words for free.

(End of this chapter)