All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 86 Gao Jie, tell me about your relationship with Li Zicheng’s wife (For the leader? Yu Yu added)

"Ring, ring, ring~~~"

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!" In the backyard garden, Chen Ran gripped the handlebars tightly and called for everyone to get out of the way, "We're about to hit you!"

‘Click! ’

As expected, the handmade chain broke again and the homemade bicycle fell to the ground.

Chen Ran, who jumped out of the car early, shook his hands and said, "The quality is too poor."

He had been in Yangzhou City for several months. When he had nothing to do, he found a craftsman and built a wooden bicycle for his own entertainment.

"Grand Commander." A girl not far away ran over holding the hem of her blue skirt, smiling very brightly, "Didn't you say you would teach me how to ride this? I want to ride it~~~"

"Yuanyuan, you don't know." Chen Ran kicked the wooden bicycle, held the girl's slender hand and walked into the house. "How can riding a bicycle be as fun as me?"

It was already afternoon when we rode along.

Chen Ran woke up from his dream, held the headlight and said with emotion, "Holding such a hard handlebar is not as comfortable as holding the headlight."

After some more trouble, he got up and went to the study.

This is Yingyuan, the private garden of the famous painter Zheng Yuanxun.

When Li Zicheng came here before, Zheng Yuanxun took his family across the river and fled to the south of the Yangtze River.

After taking over Yangzhou City, Chen Ran chose this place as his residence.

"Grand Commander, Duke Wei has sent another letter."

I took the letter and read it. As expected, it was another notification letter.

It was the same old story, reporting the dynamics of the officialdom in Nanjing and even Jiangnan, saying that the Donglin Party had revived and was fighting for power in the court. It was also saying that Li Zicheng was rampant in Jiangnan and had conquered many cities.

On that day at the Guazhou ferry terminal, the fleet of Duke of Wei Xu Hongji was attacked by artillery fire and almost wiped out.

He fell into the water and luckily escaped to the shore, but was also captured.

Chen Ran did not kill him, but asked him to be a messenger and take a message back to tell everyone in Jinling to surrender as soon as possible and not to put up any futile resistance.

The civil and military nobles in Jinling did not pay too much attention to this.

But Xu Hongji had personally experienced the terrible bombardment and witnessed how powerful the troops under Chen Ran were.

His self-confidence was destroyed.

After returning to Jinling and conveying the message, it took him several days to recover.

After that, I started to save myself.

First, they sent people across the river to bring valuable gifts to Chen Ran, such as blood coral, running beads, self-ringing clocks, etc.

Chen Ran accepted all the gifts, but the tone of his reply was still "You must interrogate your family. Your family must hand over everything except their salary. If you have done nothing evil, you can be stripped of your title and become a commoner, but you can save your life."

Xu Hongji was in tears. If he was stripped of his title and had to hand over his property for the sake of the people, what was the point of living?
If I meet my ancestor after I die, won’t I be beaten to death by him, Xu Da?

Later, with the advice of an expert, he searched all over Jiangnan for the most outstanding beauty.

Finally, it was in Suzhou Opera House that he found Chen Yuanyuan, who played the role of matchmaker in The West Chamber.

It really works.

After sending Chen Yuanyuan to Yangzhou, he received a reply from Chen Ran, which contained an additional sentence: "Find ways to make more contributions."

This is why there are frequent tip-offs.

Chen Ran just watched the quarrels in the Jinling court and let it go.

The Donglin Party, whose roots were in the gentry of Jiangnan, wanted to establish a puppet emperor after its revival.

He fought endlessly with those who were not members of the Donglin Party.

This is also the traditional routine of the Ming Dynasty's civil servants, so there is no need to pay attention to it.

What really concerned Chen Ran was paying attention to Li Zicheng's movements.

Li Zicheng is rampant in the south of the Yangtze River and is almost reaching Suzhou.

Chen Ran never sent troops across the river, which obviously allowed Li Zicheng to destroy the foundation of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.

The area south of the Yangtze River is indeed rich, but the rich are the gentry.

Ordinary people were forced to stop growing crops and instead plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms, which led to famine in the former grain-producing areas and the people were displaced.

What's worse, those gentry who easily owned tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of acres of land turned the common people into their slaves and tenants on a large scale, which was slaves in disguise.

This led to public outrage and constant uprisings.

Led by Li Zicheng, the fierce dragon who crossed the river, the entire Jiangnan region is now in flames.

Chen Ran did not move, just waiting for King Chuang to slaughter most of the gentry before going to pick peaches.

I picked up my pen and wrote a reply letter to Xu Hongji.

The main content is to let him continue to pay attention to the dynamics of various places in Jiangnan. In addition, strengthen the control of the navy, and when the army crosses the river, the navy must play its due role.

The Duke of Wei was the chief commander of the troops in the Jiangnan area.

Their family has been operating in the south of the Yangtze River for more than 200 years and can be said to have deep roots. The vital river defense is of course also under the management of Duke Wei, who is in charge of all river affairs.

The so-called Caojiang means the admiral Caojiang, who is in charge of the defense of the upper and lower rivers.

In short, everything on the Yangtze River is under his control.

Naturally, this also includes the most important fleet.

Chen Ran also had a fleet, but it was mainly composed of sea vessels, which were used to deal with Nicholas Zheng and Zheng Zhilong.

Since Xu Hongji took the initiative to surrender, then give him a chance to show his abilities.

After packing the letter, he called for help to cross the river and deliver it to the Duke of Wei.

Just as I was about to take a shower, another guest came to visit.

The identity of the guest this time was a little interesting. His name was Gao Jie, and he came as a messenger for Li Zicheng. After they arrived at the flower hall and sat down, Chen Ran took the carefully checked letter and read it.

The content of the letter is not complicated. The core is one thing: Li Zicheng is willing to submit to Chen Ran.

"I also know a little about King Chuang's reputation."

Putting down the letter, Chen Ran looked at the tall and handsome Gao Jie. "You have surrendered and rebelled many times. Do you think I am the same as those stupid civil servants?"

Gao Jie was obviously a little embarrassed.

Of course, it’s not because he is afraid of the soldiers with swords around him. Those who have fought on the battlefield don’t care about these things.

He felt Chen Ran's gaze towards him, which was very strange, as if it was the kind of 'I know your secret'~~~
"Grand Commander." Gao Jie calmed himself down and bowed. "King Chuang sincerely wants to surrender. We all believe that the one who can end the chaos and unify the world so that the people can live a good life must be the Grand Commander."

"That's just something you can say."

Chen Ran waved his hands impatiently. "No one will believe these empty words. No need to say so much. Let's get to the point. What does Li Zicheng want? Divide the river and rule by the river?"

"Uh~" Gao Jie paused, looking slightly panicked.

There was no way. The bottom line of their negotiation was actually stated by Chen Ran. For a moment, they didn't know what to say.

After hesitating for a while, he finally responded in a low voice, "Yes."

"Who gave you this idea? Didn't you use your brain?" Chen Ran asked with a curious look on his face. "How could I possibly agree to such a request? Are you trying to bring me to the Battle of Red Cliffs?"

"Although I regard Prime Minister Cao as my mentor, it is not easy for him to trick me."

Gao Jie became even more embarrassed.

The reason is very simple. There was indeed a counselor who suggested that they should follow the example of Liu Bei and Sun Quan in the Three Kingdoms period and form an alliance with the Jinling court to deal with the powerful General Chen.

In the blueprint drawn up by the strategist, Li Zicheng was compared to Liu Bei.

Cooperate with the Jinling court and use the natural barrier of the Yangtze River to defeat Chen Ran.

Afterwards, he planned to seize Jiangnan, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guangdong and Guangxi as his base.

In the end, of course, he would follow the example of our dynasty's Taizu, launch an expedition to the north and unify the world!
I have to say that this strategist is definitely a senior fan of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but he takes things for granted too much.

Let’s not talk about whether Chen Ran will be defeated by two rotten fish joining forces.

The mere idea that the bandits formed an alliance with the Jinling court is nonsense.

If large-scale bandits want to survive, they need to keep moving and looting to maintain their survival.

The only places in Jiangnan where wealth and food could be looted were the homes of the gentry and wealthy families.

Ordinary people had nothing but penniless homes, so it was not difficult enough to rob them.

At this time, the Donglin Party held a dominant position in the Jinling court, and the Donglin Party was essentially the spokesperson for the gentry from all over Jiangnan in the court.

Talking about alliance under such antagonistic relationship?
Li Zicheng probably didn't know that the Donglin Party was best at internal strife.

Even if our country is destroyed and our family is ruined, we must fight to the end!

At worst, I can just kneel down and shave my head.

"Let's not talk about Li Zicheng." Chen Ran looked at Gao Jie with interest. "Tell me about your story."

Gao Jie was surprised. "My business?"

"That's right." Chen Ran smiled strangely. "Tell me about you and Li Zicheng's wife."

"Hiss~~~"

Gao Jie was so frightened that he jumped up.

'Clang!'

The soldiers around him drew their swords and surrounded him.

"It's okay." Chen Ran waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to retreat. "Have you ever thought about what the consequences would be if Li Zicheng knew about your affair with his wife? After all, paper cannot cover fire."

Gao Jie was really scared.

His affair with Xing was kept extremely secret, because if it were exposed he would surely be killed by Li Zicheng.

But unexpectedly, the Grand Commander found out.

This, this, this.
He didn't dare to admit it, and could only laugh dryly to cover it up, "The Grand Commander was joking, there is absolutely no such thing."

"You know best whether there is one or not."

Pointing at Gao Jie, Chen Ran continued, "Once you do something like this, there is no turning back. Even if you betrayed Li Zicheng and joined the imperial court, he might forgive you, but he will never forgive you for cheating on him."

"Don't even mention Li Zicheng. Even the eunuchs would go crazy if they encountered something like this."

"Grand Governor!"

Gao Jie knelt down very straightforwardly and kowtowed heavily. "I was actually coerced by the traitor Li and had no choice but to rebel against the court. In fact, I have long wanted to turn over a new leaf. I beg the Grand Commander to give me a chance~~~"

He is also a ruthless person.

He knew that there was no need for evidence for such things. As long as Chen Ran spread rumors, he would be dead for sure.

Then just bow down and find a way out.

"Of course we have to give opportunities to cure diseases and save lives."

Chen Ran frowned slightly and said, "Stand up and talk."

"I can give you a chance, it depends on how you perform."

"Don't worry, Grand Commander!" Gao Jie patted his chest vigorously. "I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

"Go back and wait for notification. When we need you, don't be lazy."

Half a month later, Li Zicheng broke into Suzhou City, entered Songjiang Prefecture, and massacred the entire family of Xu Jie, a wealthy gentry in Songjiang Prefecture.

Half a month later, Li Zicheng headed south to Hangzhou, slaughtering entire families of gentry along the way and taking countless civilians hostage with him, with great momentum.

On the same day, Chen Ran personally led the army across the river and headed straight for Jinling City!
(End of this chapter)