A day later, the Tang army infantry led by Liu Guoneng, deputy general of Xingzhong Town, finally arrived in Zhuozhou to meet with Li Xiao.

After another day of rest, Li Xiao ordered Lu Xiangsheng to return to the coast east with his Tang army troops and return to Shandong by naval ship.

As for the nearly 10,000 people in Zhuozhou City, they were all taken back to Shandong by the Tang army and shipped, and the entire Zhuozhou became an abandoned empty city.

As for Liu Wenxiu's Dingbei Camp, the troops who entered the aid of the horses were stationed in the Lutai area according to the arrangements of the imperial court's Ministry of War. However, for them, Li Xiao arranged a special task for Liu Wenxiu.

That is, taking advantage of the huge panic caused by the Qing army's massive transit, Liu Wenxiu took in all parts of northern Zhili to scatter the people and refugees from all over the country, transported them to Lutai, and then transported them to Dengzhou, Shandong by the navy.

Li Xiao believed that after this work was completed, at least one place in northern Zhili could collect 300,000 to 400,000 people and refugees!

After arriving in Dengzhou, these people and refugees from Northern Zhili were transported to Jeju first, and then a small part was transported to Heiyi Island and Sakhalin Island to settle, and most of them were transported to Taiwan to settle.

In fact, Taiwan’s population has reached more than three million under the continuous transportation of Li Xiao, which is an amazing achievement.

In Li Xiao's plan, Taiwan's population will be slightly saturated when it is more than 4 million. If more immigrants come, Li Xiao plans to transport them all to the Philippines to resettlement.

Of course, before transporting refugees to the Philippines, Li Xiao must first conquer Luzon Island occupied by the Spanish and sweep away the Spanish's power in order to resettle the immigrants.

What Li Xiao did not expect was that when the Tang army was about to leave, Yang Tinglin, the Minister of War, asked him that he was unwilling to return to the capital and hoped that he would serve Li Xiao from now on.

Li Xiao still had a certain understanding of Yang Tinglin, a famous official in the late Ming Dynasty and a famous anti-Qing scholar in history.

Yang Tinglin, whose courtesy name was Boxiang and whose name was Jibu, called himself Jianshan in his later years, intending to imitate Wen Tianxiang (named Wenshan) and Xie Fangde (named Diesan). During the Chongzhen period, he served as a Jinshi for Hongguang during the Southern Ming Dynasty. After being captured in the Nandu, he became an official in the Longwu Dynasty and was appointed as the Minister of War by Emperor Longwu. He once led his troops as a civil servant and attacked and restored Ji'an County. Later, Ji'an was lost and had to retreat to Ganzhou. In the second year of Longwu, the Qing army captured Ganzhou City and threw himself into the water to sacrifice his country.

"Shilar Yang has an official position, why don't he return to the capital but want to come to serve in my account?"

Although Li Xiao was very happy, he was very puzzled about Yang Tinglin, the Minister of War, who was willing to serve him.

After Li Xiao asked, Yang Tinglin laughed bitterly.

After a while of laughter, he said hatefully: "The reason why Yang was willing to give up his official position and not return to the capital and come to join Lord Li was not on the whim, but the result of Yang's careful consideration. Now, the Ming Dynasty is already so critical. It is a pity that the Chinese civil and military officials in the court are actually like crabs in fishing baskets, fighting for the fishing baskets, fighting to the death, and not knowing that they are about to be thrown into the pot, wouldn't it hurt!"

"Then Yang figured it out that the Ming Dynasty was hopeless, and this increasingly decaying land in China would eventually have no hope! If Yang returned to the capital, he would be greatly exorcised and attacked by the villains in the court, and he would have to live a mediocre life and do nothing. If this is the case, it would not matter whether he had me, the Minister of War, in the court. Therefore, it would be better to abandon his official position and go to Lord Li to serve in the account. Only then can you show your talents and serve the country. If Yang died, he would have no regrets."

Li Xiao sighed without realizing his long sigh after hearing Yang Tinglin's bitter words.

In real history, Yang Tinglin and Yang Sichang, the important minister in the court, were disagreeable, so they were sent to Lu Xiangsheng's army to serve. After Lu Xiangsheng was defeated and died in the Battle of Jiazhuang, Yang Sichang originally thought that Yang Tinglin, the Minister of War who served in Lu Xiangsheng's army, was also killed in battle, and was very happy.

However, he never thought that when Lu Xiangsheng's entire army was destroyed, Yang Tinglin happened to be on the sidelines and saved his life before he was on the battlefield. Hearing this result made Yang Sichang feel regretful for a long time, and finally found him, and then demoted Yang Tinglin to Jiangxi to become a free official. Until the end of the Chongzhen Dynasty, he did not regain his resignation.

Seeing Yang Tinglin's firm eyes, Li Xiao smiled and patted Yang Tinglin on the shoulder heavily, and shouted: "Okay! Since Mr. Yang is willing to serve me, I will welcome you. I will temporarily entrust you to serve as the predecessor of our army."

Yang Tinglin looked happy and bowed his hands and said aloud: "Thank you, Duke Tang, for taking in it. I will do my best to do my best to help you drive the adults!"

After accepting Yang Tinglin, all the Tang army, the iron flowing rolled in, led the people of Zhuozhou to travel east.

When the Tang army was rolling eastward, the envoy who went to the capital to report the news also reported Lu Xiangsheng's death to Emperor Chongzhen and Yang Sichang, who was also in charge of the Ministry of War.

After receiving the news of Lu Xiangsheng's death, Emperor Chongzhen, who was relaxing in the imperial garden, was stunned.

The morning breeze came slowly, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the willows were swaying, the lake was rippling, and the green lotus was illuminating. In this vibrant scenery, the emperor stood blankly next to Taiye Pool like a wood, holding Li Xiao's handwritten memorial, and was trembling slightly.

Quickly, the emperor's eyes began to turn red, and two clear tears fell silently on the memorial.

He suddenly thought of the scene when Lu Xiangsheng said goodbye to himself before the stairs. Now he thought about it, it seemed like yesterday.

"Cultivation, why, why are you so loyal to the country so quickly? Haven't you told me that you should retreat to the Qing army and return to Beijing in triumphal? You have gone like this, but I am not prepared at all!" Chongzhen murmured to himself in a crying voice.

Chongzhen stood there for a long time, and anger surged on his face. He shouted angrily at the eunuch beside him: "Why are you still standing there? Come back to the palace quickly! Summon Yangge's troops to the palace to meet again!"

"Yes, I obey the order!"

At this time, Yang Sichang, who heard the news of Lu Xiangsheng's death at Yang Sichang's mansion, had an uncontrollable smile on his face.

"Alas, Lu Jiandou is stubborn and self-righteous, so he is so arrogant that he is so lonely and helpless that he is defeated and dies in Zhuozhou. It is also a pity."

Yang Sichang stroked his beard and tried to express his regret, but he felt very proud.

Humph, Lu Xiangsheng, you are determined to act alone, regardless of the advice of our cabinet, and provoke the emperor to confront the Qing people to the end. You are also blamed for such a tragic ending now!

While Yang Sichang was sighing, a young eunuch suddenly came to report to him and announced that he rushed to the palace to meet him.

Yang Si frowned and immediately thought that it must be the emperor who came to ask himself for the death of Lu Xiangsheng in battle. Therefore, after a moment of thought, he quickly changed his court wardrobe and followed the eunuch to the Forbidden City.

As soon as he entered the Qing palace, Yang Sichang caught a glimpse of the emperor sitting on the dragon chaise with a sad face and frowned, and he chuckled in his heart.

"My minister, Yang Sichang, pay homage to the emperor, long live my emperor!"

"I'm flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Yang Sichang stood up, and Chongzhen asked coldly: "You are also familiar with the fact that Yanggemen, Lu Jiandou died of Zhuozhou in battle."

"Go back to the emperor, I already know."

Chongzhen stared at Yang Sichang's pretended heavy face and sighed: "Lu Jiandou, as the Grand Marshal of the World, has died for the country, which really has a great depression in the morale of our army! Weakness, in your opinion, how should I, the Ming Dynasty deal with the Qing army that entered the pass next?"

Yang Sichang was waiting for the emperor's words. He knelt down and replied loudly: "Your Majesty, I am bluntly saying that the momentum of entering the Qing army in the pass is really too great. Our Ming official army is not its opponent in terms of morale and combat power. Please send someone to contact the Qing army as soon as possible and discuss peace talks between the two countries. It is important!"

"Party discussion, peace negotiation, peace negotiation, peace negotiation! Apart from peace negotiation, our Ming official army has no ability to fight the Qing army?! If we sign such a city alliance, the Qing barbarians will be more contemptuous and despised our Ming Empire! If so, how can the Ming Empire be like this? How can the face of my emperor be like this?"

Emperor Chongzhen stood up angrily from the dragon throne, paced back and forth on the steps like a trapped beast.

"Your Majesty, if you do not negotiate peace with the Qing court in order to take into account your face, how can the Qing army attack cities and plunder the land, slaughter the people, and rob money and food in the heart of our Ming Dynasty? If this continues, wouldn't the losses of our Ming Dynasty be even greater? I am afraid that after all, the elite troops of our Ming Dynasty will be destroyed by the Qing army entering the pass, the hidden bandits in the country will definitely take advantage of the momentum and will be unstoppable!"

Yang Sichang finished speaking anxiously, and the expression on his face was very complicated.

"you!......"

Chongzhen had a blue face and his teeth were chewing, but he couldn't say anything to refute for a moment.

"Emperor, although the Qing barbarians are powerful, they are enemies outside the pass, and it is difficult to shake the root of our Ming Dynasty for a while. Even if the trouble is so great now, it is still a scabies. If the thief revives, poisons all directions and causes the entire Zhongzhou to suffer a disaster, it will be a major concern for the country to destroy our Ming Dynasty! Emperor, at such an emergency, it is related to the lifeline of the country. Please make a decision quickly!"

After Yang Sichang finished whispering this passage, he knelt on the ground and did not look up again.

After listening to Yang Sichang's words, Chongzhen's heart felt like a knife was cut.

But he couldn't help but admit that Yang Sichang's words made sense.

Because although these Qing troops are arrogant now, they will eventually withdraw from the custody and will not invade the Ming Dynasty again at least in a short period of time. Once their elite bandits and Ming troops are all lost to the hands of the Qing captains, the bandits in the country will be unable to be curbed and will only continue to grow bigger.

There are two roads, two directions, and whether it is light or dark, whether it is revival or degenerate, who can really predict that, perhaps only history can know the final result.

For Emperor Chongzhen, such a choice that was extremely heavy about the destiny of the country, it was really hard for him to make such an urgent decision now.

In the final analysis, although Chongzhen was a diligent and ambitious emperor, his talents were too mediocre, suspicious, moody, and arbitrary. He was arbitrarily killed ministers. In addition, he had not received systematic imperial training since childhood. All kinds of shortcomings have been superimposed, which made his shortcomings infinitely amplified.

In the late Ming Dynasty, when only a wise monarch could make a difference, a mediocre emperor like Chongzhen was unable to control the Ming Empire, which was already full of troubles and was difficult to be competent.

Chongzhen, who was confused in his mind, suddenly thought that Li Xiao had asked him in the memorial how to make a decision.

Chongzhen's eyes lit up and said to Yang Sichang: "Yang Ge's army, Duke Tang, said this to me in the memorial. He said that if the Qing army was to withdraw from the customs as soon as possible, he would not object to peace talks with the Qing army, but there was a prerequisite."

Yang Sichang felt a stern and said, "What are the conditions mentioned by Duke Tang?"

"That is, a great victory must be won. Under such conditions, the Qing army can retreat in the face of difficulties and be forced to negotiate peace with our Ming Dynasty. He also said that if our army was defeated again and again but had no victory, he would bow his head to seek peace to the Qing people, then the Qing people could use peace talks as bait, while stepping up the plunder of our country in order to obtain the greatest benefit. It may even be that in the end, our Ming Dynasty would both compensate our wife and soldiers, so that we would seize both hands and gain nothing."

After hearing the emperor's words, Yang Sichang felt a warmth on his face, and a feeling of shame suddenly appeared in his heart.

Li Xiao is right. If they seek peace with the Qing army entering the pass under the premise of successive defeats, they will definitely put forward extremely strict terms to force themselves to sign this humiliating alliance under the city. If this is the case, even if the Qing army retreats, their own losses will be too great.

What's more, such aggrieved peace is very likely to lead to greater consequences.

That is, the Qing army will be more difficult to curb its ambitions. Even if they retreat now, they may re-enter the pass next year and plunder again. In that case, what kind of humiliating conditions should they use to exchange for the Qing army's ceasefire?

"Yang Gemen, Li Xiao said something in the memorial that impressed me deeply." Seeing that Yang Sichang was silent, Emperor Chongzhen continued: "Li Xiao said that seeking unity in struggle will be united, and seeking unity in compromise will be united. I really appreciate Li Xiao's view."

Hearing the emperor praised Li Xiao like this, Yang Sichang took a deep breath. He was also very impressed by Li Xiao's ability to put forward such incisive views.

Of course, he and Chongzhen would never have thought that this was Li Xiao from later generations who copied the thoughts of a great man.

"Did Li Xiao ask in the memorial how to deal with the Qing army a major blow?" Yang Sichang thought for a while and asked.

"Oh, Li Xiao said, now the Qing army is working together to go southeast, and it is estimated that the next step is to focus on attacking Shandong. So in the memorial, he hopes that our Ming official army will focus on guarding the troops in Shandong, and do not seek to eliminate the Qing army entering the pass. As long as they can hold them down and make it difficult to advance and retreat in Shandong, then let the Tang army under his command come to defeat the Qing army in front and defeat the Qing army one by one. What is the Yangge tribe doing to visualize Li Xiao's suggestion?"

After Chongzhen finished speaking, he looked at Yang Sichang with inquiring eyes.

What surprised the emperor was that after hearing the emperor's words, Yang Sichang looked solemn.

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry to say that although this suggestion of Duke Tang is worthy, I feel that if I must act according to Li Xiaozhi's suggestion, the already domineering Tang army will only lose sight of the court!"

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Chapter completed!