Ming Dynasty: I, Emperor Chongzhen, swear not to go to Meishan

c Niu Ba, as a rebel spy, returned to Sun Chuanting with a huge sum of one hundred taels of activity funds. He told what Niu Jinxing said and explained, including what he saw and heard in the rebel camp, They all reported to Sun Chuanting in detail one by one.

Very good. Sun Chuanting praised. Niu Ba's trip not only successfully penetrated into the rebel army, but also succeeded in driving a wedge between Li Zicheng and Li Yan. He also inadvertently spied on some extremely important military intelligence.

For example, he inferred from the small details of Niu Ba's meal that the rebels did not have much food reserves. From this, he could roughly deduce the strategic intentions of the rebels, and then make targeted arrangements.

The rebel army claims to be 600,000 strong, and its momentum is indeed scary. However, the disadvantage is that there are too many people, and the amount of food consumed every day is an astronomical figure. The logistics of the rebel army cannot support such a huge consumption, and they must find ways to achieve a quick victory.

In other words, the rebels can't afford to delay. The longer the delay is, the more disadvantageous it will be to the rebels. On the contrary, for him, the longer the delay is, the more beneficial it will be. Knowing the weaknesses of the rebels, it will naturally be easier to deal with them.

The emperor was wise and gave him the privilege of making decisions on the battlefield. He did not need to risk a decisive battle with the rebels. He only needed to use guerrilla tactics of constant harassment to delay the rebels' capture of Kaifeng City, which would severely weaken the rebels.

If the officers and soldiers in Kaifeng City can fully cooperate and defend the city with high walls and thick walls, Li Zicheng may be buried under Kaifeng City.

Sun Chuanting always made clear rewards and punishments. For Niu Ba who had made great achievements, he gave Niu Ba a lot of credit and rewarded him with a bonus of 500 taels of silver. Of course, he only took action because he had made a little fortune recently. So generous.

The emperor asked him to prepare military supplies such as grain, weapons and equipment on his own, and even hinted at what he should do to borrow money, grain and other things. I was so impressed that I fell into admiration.

Wherever the rebels of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong went, they killed the gentry, powerful and wealthy businessmen and robbed their property. Naturally, all the powerful gentry and wealthy businessmen hated and feared them. As the governor of the three sides, Sun Chuanting wanted to lead an army to reinforce Kaifeng. All the powerful, gentry and wealthy businessmen wanted to I wish he could kill Li Zicheng, so I would naturally donate money and food to support him.

The individual donations of these gentry, powerful and wealthy merchants were not much, but they could not withstand the large number of people. They solved Sun Chuanting's food and military expenditure problems at once, but for Sun Chuanting, this was not enough.

Sun Chuanting summoned all the gentry, powerful and wealthy businessmen, and shamelessly borrowed money and grain.

All the powerful gentry felt heartbroken, but the dignified Governor-General of the Three Sides made a big deal, and they dared not refuse to give him face. When they saw Sun Chuanting stamping the seal of the Governor-General of the Three Sides on the IOU, they all secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

There are IOUs and the seals of the governors of the three sides as evidence, and most of them have backing and backing. If Sun Chuanting dares to default on the debt, they dare to go to Beijing to file a complaint, impeach Sun Chuanting to death, and remove him from the throne of the governor of the three sides. , and then find an opportunity to kill him.

Sun Chuanting borrowed a lot of money and thousands of tons of grain. He was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth. He admired the emperor more and more. He was not only wise, but also had the magic of predicting the future.

Under Sun Chuanting's instructions, Niu Ba was transformed from a close guard into a corps leader. He led five ordinary soldiers also dressed as close guards and wandered around the city and outside the city all day long, eagerly waiting for Niu Jinxing to send him. people came out to connect.

The group of soldiers commanded by Niu Ba did not belong to any army and was directly under the command of Sun Chuanting. In other words, in the entire three sides of the land, except for Sun Chuanting, not even the governor or general military officer of a place had the right to command him.

Sun Chuanting wanted to fish for a big fish for a long time, but he didn't know when the big fish Li Zicheng would bite?