Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 586 Hat
Seeing that everyone was so excited and looked nonchalant, Gao Jie stopped talking.

However, Gao Jie was not so optimistic about their optimism, because he felt that Gao Yingxiang's 100,000 rabble could defeat the government army? This was really underestimating the government army.

If Gao Yingxiang was really such a good fighter, why did he keep running around like a rat? He kept running from Shanxi to Shaanxi, then to Huguang, then to Sichuan, then to Shaanxi, then to Henan... He kept running around for more than a year. Apart from plundering the locals and coercing the common people, he never won a real victory, let alone turned around and fought face to face with the government troops such as Cao Wenzhao and Qin Liangyu who were chasing his rebel army.

If Gao Yingxiang's troops had this ability, would they still be able to do this? Therefore, Gao Jie was not optimistic about the "glorious prospects" boasted by Li Zicheng. In his opinion, even if Zuo Liangyu was defeated, the future would still be bleak. The Ming Dynasty had a strong military force and many famous generals. Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang, and Sichuan were so difficult to fight, let alone the northern Zhili and the capital area?

Even if they managed to enter Northern Zhili, how could they possibly take over the capital? Don't forget that the Jurchens from Liaodong had besieged the capital two years ago, but they still couldn't take over the capital despite their strong military strength and powerful fighting power. How could they rely on Gao Yingxiang's troops to break through the capital? It was wishful thinking.

As for going to Nanzhili, Gao Jie also felt it was unrealistic. The Ming Dynasty had two capitals, Nanjing was also the capital, and there were six ministries there. The military strength of the Ming Dynasty in the south was not weak, and how could the Yangtze River be crossed by these rebels? A group of landlubbers from the northwest could not cross the Yangtze River in Jiangnan, let alone whether they could cross the river. Even if they could cross the river, they would have to face the various problems of being surrounded by soldiers and acclimatized.

To put it in one sentence, Gao Jie was absolutely not optimistic about the future of the rebel army. In his opinion, there was no possibility for the rebel army to seize the world. If they continued to struggle like this, Gao Yingxiang and other rebel generals would only end up defeated and killed.

Gao Jie joined the rebel army in order to fight for a future and find an opportunity, not to follow Gao Yingxiang to his death.

In Gao Jie's opinion, the best way out for the rebel army is to first capture a piece of territory, and then manage it steadily and carefully. In this way, they may be able to establish their own territory, or use this opportunity to make conditions with the court and be recruited.

Just like in the Water Margin, those who committed murder and arson were recruited by the imperial court. As long as the conditions offered by the court were right, they could instantly transform themselves from rebels into government troops, and thus gain wealth and glory.

Fighting to the death, without a clear goal, what future does it have to wander around? Anyway, Gao Jie is absolutely not optimistic about Gao Yingxiang's actions. As for Li Zicheng, it is the same. In his opinion, although Li Zicheng has some ability, he is short-sighted and has no foresight. He is basically just a bandit leader like Gao Yingxiang.

But Gao Jie never dared to say these words, after all, he was still working for Li Zicheng. But these days, these thoughts have been growing in Gao Jie's mind. After thinking about it, Gao Jie kept thinking about other ways out. He didn't want to end up with a miserable end with Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng in the future.

"Why is there no more wine?" Wen Xinghu picked up the wine jug on the table and shook it, only to find that the wine was all gone. He was in high spirits, but the wine was gone, which was really disappointing.

Just as Wen Xinghu was about to get up and go to the backyard to get some wine, Gao Jie suddenly had an idea and stopped him.

"Let me handle such a small matter."

"That's fine... Thank you for your hard work, Brother Gao." Wen Xinghu was already about 60% drunk. It was fine when he was sitting, but when he stood up, he felt the drunkenness rising. Since Gao Jie asked him to get the wine, Wen Xinghu naturally would not refuse. He smiled and patted him on the shoulder to show his gratitude. Then Gao Jie stood up and walked towards the backyard, and soon came to a wing room in the backyard.

"Who is it?" A woman's voice was heard knocking on the door in the compartment.

"Sister-in-law, it's me!"

"Brother Gao, weren't you drinking in front? Why are you here?" The door opened with a creak, and a young woman appeared in front of him. This woman was Li Zicheng's wife Xing Qiaoer.

Li Zicheng met Xing Qiaoer when he was traveling around with Gao Yingxiang and encountered a group of merchants.

At that time, Li Zicheng led his troops to intercept this group of merchants and found Xing Qiaoer who was traveling with them. Seeing Xing Qiaoer's youth and beauty, Li Zicheng was moved and forced Xing Qiaoer to marry him.

Li Zicheng has been single all these years since he killed his wife Han Jiner. As a man, it is not a good thing for him to be without a woman by his side now that he is a general. Besides, he is the only junior of Gao Yingxiang, and Li Zicheng has no children. If Gao Yingxiang becomes emperor in the future, he, Li Zicheng, will be the crown prince. He cannot be without descendants.

In this way, Xing Qiaoer became Li Zicheng's wife. Xing Qiaoer was a girl from a merchant family. She was not only young and beautiful, but also literate and good at managing finances. After following Li Zicheng, she helped Li Zicheng manage his finances and soon gained Li Zicheng's favor with her shrewdness and ability.

Li Zicheng was a carefree person. For the sake of convenience, he handed over the management of all the military property to Xing Qiaoer. Xing Qiaoer did a really good job. Coincidentally, Gao Jie was in charge of the military logistics, and the two of them often interacted with each other. Over time, Gao Jie and Xing Qiaoer gradually became familiar with each other.

"Sister-in-law." When Gao Jie saw Xing Qiao'er, he first bowed and then said loudly, "Big brother and the others are still drinking, but the wine is gone. I came here to ask if there is any wine in your room? I will move some over for Big brother and the brothers."

"No more wine? Why did you drink so much?" Xing Qiaoer frowned slightly. Before Li Zicheng and the others drank, Xing Qiaoer moved two jars of wine. How long did it take for them to finish the two jars?

"Sister-in-law, we are about to go to war, and we brothers can drink a lot. How can two jars of wine be enough? How about you show mercy and find another jar for us brothers?"

Xing Qiaoer hesitated and nodded, "Okay, Brother Gao, come with me and get another jar. Don't drink again after you finish this one. This kind of wine is harmful to your health and it's not a good thing." "I understand, thank you for trouble, sister-in-law..." Gao Jie hurriedly thanked Xing Qiaoer.

Then Xing Qiaoer opened the door to let Gao Jie in, and then closed the door. But before he could close the door tightly, Gao Jie in the room turned around and hugged Xing Qiaoer, and his body pressed directly against her.

"The door isn't closed yet, why are you in such a hurry!" Xing Qiaoer said in a low voice, and kept trying to close the door with her hands and feet, and then she relaxed.

"What are you afraid of? They are all drinking in front. I think they are almost drunk. How can they pay attention to this at this time?"

"Can't you take care of the fact that you were yelling so loudly on purpose just now?" Xing Qiaoer rolled her eyes at Gao Jie.

Gao Jie chuckled and said, "You said it was intentional. If I don't shout, how can I let your man know that I'm asking you for wine?"

"Hmph! You're just smart!" Xing Qiaoer reached out and pinched Gao Jie. Gao Jie didn't care at all and kept laughing. Seeing this, Xing Qiaoer rolled her eyes at him.

Seeing this, Gao Jie took Xing Qiaoer's hand and walked straight into the inner room. When they were about to do something, Xing Qiaoer broke free and said,

"Don't!" At this time, Xing Qiaoer said to Gao Jie in a serious tone: "It's already this time, what if he finds out? And there are other people ahead."

Gao Jie thought about it and felt that it made sense. This was not the right time to do anything. He leaned over to Xing Qiaoer's ear and whispered something. Xing Qiaoer blushed and sighed, and called him an enemy. Gao Jie was immediately overjoyed and continued to do his work.

After a while, Gao Jie finally stopped. At this time, Xing Qiaoer's hair was disheveled and her face was flushed. Unfortunately, they could not proceed to the next step because the timing was not right, and Gao Jie could not stay here for long.

"Sister-in-law, I'll go get some wine and come back to find you when they're all drunk," Gao Jie whispered.

"Go, be careful, I'll wait for you..." Xing Qiaoer's delicate face turned red as if water could be squeezed out of it, and she said this.

Gao Jie nodded in agreement, then went outside, found the wine jar, took a jar of wine at random, and went straight out the door.

When Gao Jie reached the door, he looked around and saw that no one was there, so he pretended to shout into the house, "Sister-in-law, please wait! I'll take the wine first. Thank you, sister-in-law..."

After saying that, he closed the door and went forward with the wine in his hand.

Going back to the front, Li Zicheng and others were still bragging. When they saw Gao Jie coming and bringing wine, they were even happier and asked them to open the jars and pour the wine immediately. The wine was gone, and they were really not having fun!

Gao Jie agreed with a smile, opened the wine jar and filled everyone's wine bowls first, then filled several wine jugs, then sat down aside and continued to listen to Li Zicheng and others bragging.

As he listened, Gao Jie sneered in his heart. Li Zicheng was a conceited guy who called himself a hero, but in Gao Jie's eyes, he was not only a reckless man, but also a living bastard.

Back then, he heard that Li Zicheng rebelled because he killed his ex-wife Han Jiner and Han Jiner's affair with a man. At that time, Gao Jie felt sorry for Li Zicheng, but later he found out that the reason why Han Jiner cheated on him was entirely Li Zicheng's own problem.

After meeting Xing Qiaoer and the two gradually became familiar with each other, Xing Qiaoer once tested Gao Jie, which scared Gao Jie. At first, he thought that Xing Qiaoer was instructed by Li Zicheng to test him, but later he found out that it was Xing Qiaoer who had a crush on him.

At first Gao Jie didn't understand what was going on. After all, Xing Qiao'er was marrying Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng's status and position, including his power in the rebel army, were not comparable to his. Moreover, Li Zicheng was not bad looking, so marrying him would not be unfair to Xing Qiao'er. But why did Xing Qiao'er fall in love with him?

It was not until he got together with Xing Qiaoer that Gao Jie realized that Li Zicheng was nothing but a silver-plated spearhead, which was good-looking but useless. Although he married Xing Qiaoer, he could not enjoy her at all, which made Xing Qiaoer marrying Li Zicheng like a living widow.

That's not all. Li Zicheng is a man with a strong temper. How could Xing Qiaoer bear this? In addition, Gao Jie is handsome. He is much better than Li Zicheng in terms of appearance. Moreover, Gao Jie is better at pleasing women than Li Zicheng. He is not only sweet-mouthed but also smart. He understands women's minds and has a great body. How can Li Zicheng compare to him?
After a few interactions, the two of them secretly got together. The funny thing was that Li Ziben himself knew nothing about this and still regarded Gao Jie as a good brother and helper.

Holding up the wine bowl and pretending to drink, Gao Jie glanced at Li Zicheng and the others, mentally estimating how long it would take them to get completely drunk. As he thought about it, Gao Jie couldn't help but laugh secretly...

(End of this chapter)