In the blink of an eye, it is the first month of another year, and it is the eighth day of the first lunar month of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen.
At this time, Liu Yan was discussing the latest structure of the shogunate with Zhao Min, Tian Huixu, Miao Shao, Yue Ming and others. Although several plans had been sorted out, Liu Yan was still not satisfied and believed that these plans were still too much. It was conservative and was completely copied based on the structure of the imperial court at that time. It was not suitable for the needs of the rapidly developing Qinglai Town.
So Liu Yan put forward several requirements, which was to incorporate the chamber of commerce and various industries into the shogunate structure, as well as medical clinics, firearms manufacturing supervision offices, armor manufacturing supervision offices, military town government affairs, city management, etc. , must be included in the structure of the shogunate.
Zhao Min, Tian Huixu, Miao Shao, Yue Ming and others were considered representatives of the subordinates. After hearing Liu Yan's request, they all frowned and discussed in low voices from time to time.
Liu Yan also had some ideas at this time. On the whole, he would adopt the six-department structure at this time, and then add a few new departments, and there would be some adjustments to the rest.
However, Liu Yan did not speak out these thoughts, but let Zhao Min, Tian Huixu, Miao Shao, Yue Ming and others think about it themselves. Now Qinglai Town is developing rapidly and its scale is getting bigger and bigger. You can't do everything yourself. You still have to let all your subordinates grow up as soon as possible. It is best for all of them to be independent.
"Don't worry, Headquarters. I'll discuss it again when I get back and come up with the latest strategy as soon as possible."
At the same time, Li Zicheng stationed troops in Henan and began to organize the bandit army.
After Li Zicheng led his army into Henan, it was in the stage of recovering from defeat and lacked troops, so he went north along Funiu Mountain from Xichuan and Neixiang. The mountains here are undulating, the roads are dangerous, the residents are sparse, and there are many unemployed refugees living there.
Subsequently, Li Zicheng's troops continued to grow, including Krushan, Jiaxian, and Yiyang counties. When they arrived in Yiyang, they took in tens of thousands of remnants of Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, and Ainengqi's troops, and their momentum increased.
At this time, Li Zicheng had 480,000 soldiers and horses, and more than 300,000 refugees, including their family members and other military personnel, totaling more than 800,000, known as a million people.
After rectification, Li Zicheng reorganized the troops and horses of the front, rear, left, right, and middle camps. The tens of thousands of troops of Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, and Ai Nengqi were reduced to less than 30,000, equipped with firearms and artillery, and served as a firearms battalion.
The specific grouping is as follows:
In the middle camp, the flag is green; General Quan Liu Zongmin, General Tian Jianxiu, General He Jin, General Guoyi Ren Jirong; General Wu Ruyi, General Guoyi, General Zhang Nai, General Weiwei, Deputy General Dang Shousu, General Zuo Weiwu Xin Sizhong, the mighty general Li You on the right.
In the left camp, the flag is white; the commanding general Liu Fangliang, the deputy commanding general Liu Xiyao, the left general Guoyi Ma Shiyao, and the right mighty general Liu Rukui.
On the right camp, the flag is red; General Yuan Zongdi is in charge, General Bai Minghe is General Guoyi on the left, and General Liu Tichun is General Guoyi on the right.
In the front camp, the flag is black; the commanding general Li Laiheng, the left general Gu Kecheng and Xie Junyou, and the right general Guoyi Tian Hu.
In the rear camp, the flag is yellow; General Li Guo is in control, General Zhang Neng is Guoyi on the left, General Ma Chongxi, Helan, Lu Yingbiao and Gao Yigong are generals in Guoyi on the right.
Firearms Camp, the flag is red; General Li Dingguo is in control, Sun Kewang is General Guoyi on the left, and Ai Nengqi is General Guoyi on the right.
The remaining Li Yan, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Gu Junen and others were named the four major military advisors: front, rear, left and right.
In addition, Li Zicheng organized more than 300,000 family members who accompanied the army into the old camp, and organized the elite knights and other elites from the old camp into the middle camp. The remaining troops and horses were also divided into separate camps.
After some reorganization, the middle camp was the strongest, with 20,000 knights and 120,000 infantry; the front camp, rear camp, left camp, and right camp each had 80,000 troops, and the firearms camp had nearly 30,000 troops.
After reorganizing and regrouping, Li Zicheng spent more than ten days conducting simple drills on each battalion. Li Yan also selected some firecrackers and even more than 20 Folang machines from the captured military equipment from various ministries. artillery, as well as some captured official gunners.
However, Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, and Ai Nengqi had strong opinions on this reorganization. The three of them brought 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers and horses. After the reorganization, there were only less than 30,000 people left. The strength of the army was obvious. was weakened.
As the saying goes, the situation is stronger than the people. Facing the invading army in full swing, the three of them endured it and concentrated on training the firearms camp. Li Zicheng felt relieved when he saw the three of them acting like this.
Yiyang County is seventy miles away from Luoyang in the east. It is located on the Luo River and is surrounded by mountains and water. It is bordered by the Luo River in the north and Jinping Mountain in the south, forming a fan-shaped natural barrier.
At this time, Li Zicheng was so satisfied that he continued to garrison Yiyang County with the middle battalion and the old battalion. He also ordered the firearms battalion to stay behind and conduct strict training. The front camp, rear camp, left camp, and right camp were ordered to attack in all directions. In less than a month, the bandit army defeated Yanshi, Lingbao, Xin'an, Baofeng and other counties, clearing the periphery of Luoyang. , the world was shocked for a while.
The news that the bandit army was about to attack Luoyang City spread like wildfire, and horses from all over the country quickly reported to the capital.
When Emperor Chongzhen heard that Luoyang City was in danger, Long Yan was furious. He immediately sent Jin Yiwei to Huguang to investigate Yang Sichang's condition and prepare to urge Yang Sichang to gather troops and go north to Henan as soon as possible to block Li Zicheng's troops along the Luoshui River.
The ancient capital of Luoyang was an important town in western Henan and the seat of the vassal mansion of King Fu Zhu Changxun. Prince Fu Zhu Changxun was the third son of Ming Shenzong, and his biological mother was Concubine Zheng, the most beloved concubine of Ming Shenzong. As the saying goes, children are more precious than mothers, and Zhu Changxun has been particularly favored by Ming Shenzong since he was a child.
Originally, Ming Shenzong's intention was to make Zhu Changxun the crown prince, but it aroused resistance from the ministers in the court. Finally, under the pressure of public opinion from the courtiers, Ming Shenzong reluctantly agreed to make the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo the crown prince.
Therefore, in order to retaliate against the power of civil servants, Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty launched the attack case, palace transfer case and red pill case one after another, which involved the courtiers in this whirlpool of endless palace disputes.
At the same time, because Zhu Changxun's dream of becoming a prince could not come true, Shenzong compensated Chang Xun financially. Not only did he make extraordinary rewards, but he also agreed to all requests for land, salt, and commercial taxes from King Fu, and all of them were paid in the morning and evening.
In the 29th year of Wanli, Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty named Zhu Changxun the King of Fortune. The cost of organizing his wedding was as high as 300,000 gold. He also built a magnificent palace for him in Luoyang, which was ten times more than the cost of a normal royal system. Hundreds of millions of money went into King Fu's vassal. King Fu asked for 40,000 hectares of land. Since there was not that much land to give, he had to reduce it by half. After King Fu came to Luoyang to become a vassal, he sent officials from the government to occupy land everywhere, tried every means to collect people's fat and anointing, and gathered wealth wantonly. He was known as King Fu's gold, silver and wealth!
As a result, King Fu Zhu Changxun lived a life of extravagance and extravagance. He would rather let the grain rot in the granary and watch thousands of hungry people starve to death than give out a single grain to help the poor. Therefore, it aroused strong indignation among the people.
It can be said that the people around Luoyang City were very resentful towards Prince Fu Zhu Changxun, especially the refugees who had their land seized by Prince Fu's Mansion. They wanted to skin Zhu Changxun alive.
So after Li Zicheng commanded the battalions to clear the obstacles outside Luoyang, he made the decision to attack Luoyang with the advice of Li Yan and Gu Junen.
Then the bandit scouts of the brigade began to advance towards Luoyang. From the cautious exploration at the beginning, they became extremely arrogant. Even three or five bandit scouts dared to swagger through the suburbs of Luoyang City without putting the defenders in the city at all. In eyes.
But even so, King Fu Zhu Changxun still turned a blind eye to such a dangerous situation. He drank and had fun every day and had sex with beautiful women. He was completely prepared to get drunk and die in Wenwen Township.
At this time, the situation in Luoyang was already extremely critical. Except for Zhu Changxun, the King of Fortune, many people were watching.
Lv Weiqi, the Minister of War in Nanjing who was on official business in Luoyang City at that time, was one of them. Lv Weiqi was deeply aware of the seriousness of the situation, so when he visited the house several times but could not see Zhu Changxun, the King of Fu, he wrote a personal letter and asked someone to send it to Fu. The palace.
In the letter, Lu Weiqi wrote: "Three years of strange famine have never been heard of in ancient times. The villages and towns were all starved to death, and the cities were killing people and eating them. Bandits were entrenched everywhere, and combined with the hundreds of thousands of bandits, they destroyed Lushan, Jia, etc. County and Yiyang County, and within six days, they defeated Yiyang and Yongning counties. The thieves were surging, and they were very anxious to peep into Luo. No stronghold can be broken, and no attack can be defeated. Moreover, the hungry people's thoughts are in danger, and the hearts of the people are in danger. Disintegration is feared. Moreover, none of Futai's soldiers have arrived. Although there are two soldiers, Cao and Yi, they have no food and pay, and the men on the city walls are all dead in the shape of ghosts and doves. There is no one in the city to rely on, and there is a danger of laying eggs in the morning. !”
Lu Weiqi hoped that Fu Wang Zhu Changxun could urge Henan Governor Li Xianfeng to urgently send troops and horses to Luoyang to strengthen the city's defense; he also suggested that Fu Wang Zhu Changxun, for the sake of his own wealth and life, use money and food to pay for the food and salary of the defenders in the city.
Lu Weiqi used the fall of the two cities of Yiyang and Yongning as a reference. He said that the clan officials and gentry in the two cities were careless and dependent on the weather, making no plans, not giving up any money, and not listening to a word. Although they are biting their navels now, they regret it. What's the benefit? I hope Zhu Changxun will not act as a short-sighted miser and end up in a position where he can't reach his navel.
However, Zhu Changxun, who wanted money rather than his life, couldn't listen at all. After reading Lu Weiqi's autographed letter, he tore it up and scolded Lu Weiqi for being alarmist and sensationalizing in front of all the servants.
"Where is Luoyang City? It's the ancient divine capital! Li Zicheng may be able to conquer some county towns, but he is still far from conquering Luoyang City!"
Zhu Changxun was fat. After roaring loudly for a while, he felt that he was out of breath. He sat down panting and gasping. The beauties on both sides hurriedly came over to breathe and wipe their sweat. Only then did Zhu Changxun calm down.
"Send someone to tell that Lu Weiqi to finish his work and go back to Nanjing as soon as possible. Don't bother me in Luoyang!"
"yes."
Lu Weiqi was dumbfounded after receiving the reply from King Fu Zhu Changxun. He was obviously loyal, but in the end he was scolded.
Finally, Lu Weiqi left Luoyang City in tears. On the way back to Nanjing, he encountered bandit scouts. Lu Weiqi and the dozen or so servants accompanying him were all killed. Their bodies were dragged by the bandit scouts with ropes for several miles along the way. It was so disgraceful, its bones were so thick that it looked like a human being.
At this time, Li Zicheng led an army of hundreds of thousands of bandits to gather in Luoyang. For a time, the whole of Henan was in turmoil. People around Luoyang City fled one after another. Many people were stopped by the bandit soldiers and horses surrounding them from all directions, and were then taken as refugees. Sent to the old camp.
A few days later, Wang Shaoyu, the commander-in-chief of Henan Prefecture, led two deputy generals, Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai, to help. The three led 8,000 Ming troops to arrive outside Luoyang city day and night.
Later, the chief military officer Wang Shaoyu sent someone to deliver an official document, requesting his troops to enter the city to assist in the defense. However, after hearing the news, King Fu Zhu Changxun sent someone to inform the Luoyang prefecture that reinforcements were not allowed to enter the city. The reason was that there was insufficient money and food in the city to supply the eight thousand reinforcements.
The commander-in-chief Wang Shaoyu was furious after receiving the reply, and immediately led his troops to forcefully enter the city, but was publicly reprimanded by the eunuch guarding Prince Fu's Mansion.
As a last resort, the chief military officer Wang Shaoyu had no choice but to retreat and do the next best thing. After bribing the guarding eunuch, he only led 3,000 of his own troops into the city, while the two deputy generals Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai were left outside Luoyang City with 5,000 troops. The horse is stationed in Dongguan.
Two days later, Li Zicheng led the main force of bandits to attack. Hundreds of thousands of bandits surrounded Luoyang City. The huge city of Luoyang was immediately cut off from the outside world.
Some people died, but not completely...
