"Nowadays, exiles are all over the road, and the roads are full of skeletons. The ghost wind is fierce and the ghosts are green, and the roar is gathered in the green forest. There are also people who close their doors and throw themselves into bamboo baskets... There are people who eat thorns and thorns, and there are people who eat earth and rocks, and they look like ghosts.

Those who groan include those who are frozen in the road and unable to speak... There are those who gather thousands and hundreds of people in the corner of the city to march around and raise the pole."

This is a description of his hometown by a retired Henan official.

As Zhao Han grew stronger in the south, the Ming Dynasty's finances became increasingly difficult, and its exploitation of Henan became even more serious. Coupled with successive years of famine, Henan had a large number of vassal kings, and many prefectures and counties had become ghosts on earth.

First there was the Henan mutiny, and the officers and soldiers took refuge with Li Zicheng.

When Li Zicheng led his troops to Henan, people from all over the country surrendered one after another. The leader of the local rebel army, a bucket of grain and earthen jars, was the first to surrender with his soldiers, and tens of thousands of people were added in an instant. Then, there was another dragon, Zhang Panzi, Song Jiang,

Yuan Laoshan and other leaders each command at least 10,000 troops!

Yongning County.

Wan'an King Zhu Caiqing (beside the gold character) and a hundred landlords and evil gentry were taken to Xiguan, the county seat, for a public trial.

Li Zicheng sat at the presiding desk, and Niu Jinxing stood beside him, holding a copy of "Datong Collection" in his hand.

"Bring the guilty king Zhu Caiqing to the court!" Niu Jinxing shouted.

A soldier then shouted: "Bring the guilty king Zhu Caiqing to the court!"

King Wan'an was pinned to the ground, hissing and wailing just crying, while the people watching were excited.

"Poof!"

Li Zicheng shouted and asked: "Zhu Caiqing, do you know your crime?"

Zhu Caiqing cried and replied: "Your Majesty, please spare my life. I am willing to give up all my treasures. There is still money in my cellar."

"First tell me where the money is." Li Zicheng said.

Zhu Cai wiped his tears lightly and said, "Your Majesty, please first promise to spare my life."

"You dare to bargain, let's give you a beating first!" Li Zicheng said angrily.

The soldiers pushed Zhu Caiqing down gently and beat him to death with a stick. After a while, Zhu Caiqing cried out: "I said, I said, I said where the silver is hidden!"

A prince and hundreds of landowners were tried in one day and all were beheaded on the spot.

The people cheered and cheered.

Li Zicheng said to the people in the audience: "I will not kill civilians, only officials. I am going to attack Luoyang. When the officers and soldiers come, don't pay them food. I will come back soon to make your decision!"

"Long live King Chuang, long live King Chuang!"

Li Zicheng not only killed the prince and the landlord, but also opened a warehouse to release grain two days ago, which had already won the hearts of the common people.

Now, Li Zicheng's troops are divided into two groups, leading his own cavalry, surrendering officers and soldiers, and a bucket of grain and earthen jar troops, heading straight to Luoyang along the Luoshui River. The rest of the Henan rebel army is currently bypassing Ruzhou and fighting along the official road towards Luoyang.

.

A few days ago, the officers and soldiers suffered a huge defeat. Chang Daoli, the governor of Henan, was found guilty and imprisoned. The new governor of Henan, Li Xianfeng, was afraid of the enemy and did not dare to fight.

Yang Sichang was personally in charge in Luoyang at this time!

The strategy of encircling and suppressing the rogue bandits with a net on all sides has completely failed. Because there are too many rebels, they cannot be surrounded and suppressed.

Moreover, the imperial court could not provide food and salary, so the generals had to rely on themselves to grab it.

There was nothing left for the common people to rob, and the landlords suffered again. Some landlords whose families were destroyed by the officers and soldiers simply took refuge with Li Zicheng. As a result, Li Zicheng now had dozens of scholars in his hands.

Of course, the one Li Zicheng trusted the most was Niu Jinxing, who was the first to seek refuge.

Although the timeline is messed up, Niu Jinxing's submission has not changed. This is because as early as two years ago, Niu Jinxing was framed by the wealthy gentry, deprived of the honor of being a civil servant, and serving in the army in Lushi County.

Niu Jinxing's family was wealthy, but he was still a member of the family, but his family was ruined by the wealthy gentry. Li Zicheng led his troops to kill him, how could he not take the opportunity to join him?

After Niu Jinxing surrendered to the army, he immediately suggested "less executions, relief to the hungry people, and win the hearts of the people."

Li Zicheng followed the plan and opened warehouses to release grain, and he won the support of the people. He no longer killed civilians indiscriminately, not even small landowners, but only large landowners, big merchants and officials.

After the public trial, Li Zicheng began to recruit troops.

This time there was no massive expansion of troops, but only two thousand young men were selected and trained for more than a month before attacking Luoyang northward.

Niu Jinxing said: "If your Majesty conquers Luoyang this time, he should recruit refugees to settle the land. It will only take one or two years to have enough food, and there will be no need to plunder in the future. Using Luoyang as the base, we will conquer the whole of Henan, and then capture the scenic spots in Shanxi."

, then we can attack Beizhili from both sides and seize Beijing to dominate the world."

Li Zicheng worriedly said: "Reclamation will take a year or two. What if there is another big disaster? Wouldn't these two years be in vain? The gentry in various places are powerful and have a lot of food at home, so it is more cost-effective to rob them."

Niu Jinxing said: "Your Majesty, whoever conquers the world without hearing about rogue bandits. If you want to conquer the world, you must have a foundation. Henan is the land of Longxing."

Li Zicheng thought seriously.

Niu Jinxing took out the "Datong Collection" and said: "King Zhao Tianwang of Jiangxi, sitting on two and a half provinces, has the potential to flourish. This book is the essence of political strategy. Although it cannot be imitated blindly, it can divide the fields and release slaves.

But the strategy is excellent."

Li Zicheng thought it made sense: "When we take Luoyang, if the officers and soldiers don't come to attack me anymore, then we can try to farm the land. I can free the slaves, but there is no need to divide the fields. Let the refugees and tenants come to farm the land for me."

While the two were chatting, the soldiers came over to report.

"Your Majesty, another rebel army has come to surrender, and the leader is a sorcerer."

"Bring him in."

Song Xiance was brought in, announced his name, bowed to Li Zicheng with his hands raised.

Li Zicheng asked: "What are your abilities?"

Song Xiance replied: "Qimen Dunjia, military tactics and strategies, prophecies and secret techniques, they are all masters."

Niu Jinxing frowned. He used to be a judge and hated this kind of magician very much.

Song Xiance added: "There are many White Lotus believers in Henan. The White Lotus sect has a prophecy that says: 'The Eighteenth Son is the master of the divine weapon.' I observed the celestial phenomena at night and burned incense for divination, and finally understood this prophecy. The Eighteenth Son, Li Ye, this

The prophecy means that King Li Chuang will conquer the world."

"That must be what it means!" Li Zicheng was overjoyed.

It's not that a magic stick came to Li Zicheng, but he really believed it.

But this prophecy was spread among the White Lotus Sect. As long as it was related to the prophecy, Li Zicheng could gain the support of the White Lotus Sect, or at least cooperate with the White Lotus Sect.

Moreover, the White Lotus Sect has a great influence in Henan, and even ordinary people are often bewitched. Once it is confirmed that "Eighteen Sons, Master Divine Weapon" is confirmed, the people of Henan will be sure that Li Zicheng is the true emperor.

When Fengyang was captured, Zhang Xianzhong was eager to proclaim himself emperor, also in order to conquer the White Lotus Sect, because that imperial title was also passed down by the White Lotus Sect.

Song Xiance smiled and said: "I also made up two nursery rhymes: 'Open the gate to welcome King Chuang, but King Chuang will not accept food when he comes.' The king can send more detailed works and spread them in various places. In this way, everyone will know that the king is benevolent and righteous.

When the city comes to the city, there will be people who come to welcome the city."

"This is a good idea, sir, you are really capable!" Li Zicheng became even more happy.

But Niu Jinxing secretly shouted that it was too bad, this bastard would do bad things.

Confucian scholars hate magic sticks!

…

It is dozens of miles northwest of Ruzhou.

The sun is blazing in the sky.

Zuo Liangyu stood still and sent a large number of cavalry to get information.

"kill!"

Meng Ruhu is commanding the Chinese army, his son Meng Xianjie is attacking Guo Kai, and Li Shizhong is fighting vigorously.

Yilong, Zhang Panzi, Song Jiang, and Yuan Laoshan, the four chiefs, commanded more than 50,000 troops. They planned to attack Luoyang together with Li Zicheng, but they never thought that the officers and soldiers of Runing Prefecture who were suppressing thieves in Kaifeng Prefecture had already been killed quietly.

come over.

Just when the formation of the peasant army was unstable, General Liu Shijie, leading 200 cavalrymen, suddenly circled the flank and launched an attack.

Two hundred cavalrymen rushed into the formation of thousands of rebels and penetrated like a knife slicing through tofu.

Before the thief could even react, Liu Shijie had already arrived on horseback and chopped him down with a single blow.

The thieves were in chaos.

The sentry rider ran back: "General, the bandits will be defeated!"

Zuo Liangyu got on his horse, raised his arms and shouted: "My sons, follow me to kill the thief!"

Zuo Liangyu led his troops to kill, but the thieves had been defeated. Not only did they steal heads, but they also robbed property. They divided their troops to plunder the bandits' baggage.

Feng Ruhu was furious and stopped chasing the rebels. He led his troops to stop Zuo Liangyu and said, "I will fight hard while you watch from a distance. After the bandits are defeated, you come here to take credit. Believe it or not, I will fight you today."

!”

Zuo Liangyu knew that he was in the wrong, so he apologized and said with a smile: "Brother, don't worry, it's all the soldiers under my command who are short-sighted. I will restrain them myself immediately."

The two discussed how to distribute the spoils and immediately led their troops to pursue them.

Liu Shijie, the general, pursued the enemy the deepest, and when they reached the vicinity of Niangniang Mountain, a large number of rebels suddenly appeared in ambush.

However, Luoyang was difficult to conquer. Li Zicheng first took the surrounding counties and heard from people fleeing from the south that many officers and soldiers were found in the direction of Ruzhou.

Li Zicheng immediately led the main force and rushed to the Niangniang Mountain to ambush.
To be continued...