Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng have lived a miserable life since they fled to the Dabie Mountains!
Although it includes more than 20 counties in northeastern Hubei, southeastern Henan and western Anhui, it is still very large.
But the land here is barren, the people themselves don't have much food, and the rebels can't grab much food.
The common people actively joined the rebel army. Although they said "if you follow the rebel army, you will starve twice in three days", they still have a stutter.
At first Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng were quite happy.
After Hong Chengchou withdrew his troops, they had no obstacles in the Dabie Mountains. A large number of people joined the rebel army, and the two men's team expanded a lot.
Zhang Xianzhong's army had expanded to more than 20,000 people, and Li Zicheng took over the title of "Chuang King" and gathered some of Gao Yingxiang's remnants, growing it to 30,000 people.
But soon the two of them couldn't be happy anymore. All the gentry and landlords in Guangzhou, Shangcheng, Gushi and other places they occupied had been killed.
But not much food was found. This place was really poor. Not to mention compared with Fengyang South Zhili, it was not as good as my hometown in northern Shaanxi.
No wonder the people in this place have a good foundation. They are all people who don't have enough to eat. Those who stutter dare to rebel.
And the most important thing is that it is now the autumn harvest season. If they don't hurry up and go out to grab a wave, it will be difficult to survive the winter in the Dabie Mountains.
In desperation, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng had no choice but to part ways and began to leave the core area of the Dabie Mountains and develop into the surrounding wealthier areas.
I heard that the main force of the Ming Army was fighting a decisive battle with the pirates in Denglai, so they had to seize the opportunity to develop.
Zhang Xianzhong is very cunning. Although the rebels in Henan have a certain mass base, they are not a wealthy area.
Huguang is known as the "granary of the world" with a lot of food.
So he intentionally gave up Henan, the traditional base of the rebel army, to Li Zicheng, while he went to Huguang to open up a new world.
After all, it was agreed at the Xingyang Conference that Zhang Xianzhong would go south to Huguang, so Li Zicheng didn't have much to say.
Zhang Xianzhong finally figured it out. As long as the few thousand men and horses in the old camp were there, everything else could be abandoned.
With food, he can pull out many more troops in an instant.
When Zhang Xianzhong was in Shaanxi, he adopted four people, Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi, as adopted sons.
Several people also changed their surname to Zhang after their adoptive father Zhang Xianzhong.
However, several of them are still young and can only stay in Zhang Xianzhong's youth camp.
Most of this youth camp are nephews or orphans of the old camp in northern Shaanxi. The old camp followed Zhang Xianzhong through life and death. The youth camp is equivalent to a preparatory camp for the old camp.
Don't underestimate these youth camps, they are not just hanging out in the army.
Instead, he takes on the important task of gathering information.
Before Zhang Xianzhong captured the city, these young men sneaked into the enemy city, spread rumors, gathered intelligence, and sometimes even carried out assassinations.
The youth camp calls the four Zhang Kewang "young generals".
Zhang Kewang is fifteen years old this year, and he himself is eager to contribute to his adoptive father Zhang Xianzhong.
So Zhang Xianzhong arranged him into the Pioneer Camp, and the Youth Camp was led by the younger Zhang Wenxiu and Zhang Dingguo.
Zhang Kewang lived up to expectations and led the 3,000 vanguard battalion to defeat Huangtu Pass, Hutou Pass, and Yinshan Pass, and directly broke out of the Dabie Mountains.
Zhang Kewang's heroic performance was recognized by many rebel generals.
Zhang Xianzhong also said happily: "My son is very brave. He is indeed a tiger father and no dog son!"
So Zhang Kewang was named General of the Eastern Expedition and commanded the vanguard camp.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty was imposing additional "Liao rates" and "Lian rates", which caused widespread resentment among the people in various places. Zhang Xianzhong's rebel army continued to use the slogan "Equal land and free grain, regardless of high or low".
In comparison, the people quickly joined the rebels.
On the eighth day of October in the third year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong led his army out of the Dabie Mountains and captured Macheng, which shocked Huguang.
Although Zhang Xianzhong likes killing people, he still listened to Zhong Guangdao's suggestion!
There is no future for being a pure bandit.
The rebels under his command not only promoted the slogan "Equal land and free grain, regardless of high or low", they also began to pay attention to win over some poor scholars.
There were also many clerks in his camp who were responsible for material distribution and account management of the rebels.
However, Zhang Xianzhong himself did not like scholars, and he was extremely suspicious, so there were no scholars in his rebel army who could serve as his staff.
He just used these literati to promote himself.
But the appearance of one person changed everything.
A man named Zhang Jiao presented Zhang Xianzhong with the "Field Dividing Policy", which simply means issuing land deeds to the rebels and those who participated in the rebellion.
As the heads of the gentry fell to the ground, their food and money fell into Zhang Xianzhong's pocket.
The fields in their hands naturally became Zhang Xianzhong's means of winning people's hearts.
However, the "Field Dividing Policy" of the Rebel Army was very particular. Only when an adult man in the family joins the Rebel Army will his parents be given farmland.
The fields were divided but the grain was divided. Most people simply could not survive the next year to plant grain again, and eventually followed the rebels.
If you join the rebel army yourself, then you will also be allocated fields.
Zhang Xianzhong has a document specially issued to you to open the land deed and stamp it with Zhang Xianzhong's seal.
It doesn't matter if you leave. As long as the rebels come back in the future, these fields will still be yours based on this title deed.
Therefore, these rebels all have dreams, which is equivalent to Zhang Xianzhong writing a "blank check" to them in advance. As long as he succeeds in the future, these "blank checks" can be cashed.
To be precise, this is not completely empty. After all, the rebels have indeed put the land into your hands. Although there is a risk of it being taken away after the rebels leave, as long as the rebels come back, these will be yours.
This is equivalent to early dividends. As long as the rebellion succeeds, everyone in the rebels will have shares.
In this way, the land that the rebels could not take away was taken away by land deeds.
Zhang Xianzhong also issued land deeds to the soldiers who had meritorious service in the rebel army. As long as they followed him, Zhang Xianzhong would be able to fulfill these deeds in the future.
I have to say that this move is indeed powerful.
Zhang Xianzhong "attacked local tyrants and divided their fields" in Macheng, and soon expanded his troops to hundreds of thousands.
And now the rebels have begun to screen out the old, weak, sick and disabled.
For those who were screened out by the rebels, Zhang Xianzhong would give them some portion of the land as long as there was plenty of land.
This is also an encouragement to them to become volunteers!
In this way, the next time Zhang Xianzhong fights back, these people will become internal agents of the rebel army.
They will definitely keep these land deeds at the bottom of the box, hoping that Zhang Xianzhong will come to the world in the future so that they can fulfill them.
Zhang Jiao also naturally became Zhang Xianzhong's adviser.
There is no way Zhang Xianzhong's murderous intention is too serious. If he is really allowed to bring disaster to Huguang and Sichuan, then Li Xianzhong will be crying without tears in the future.
That's why Li Xianzhong came up with this "Field Dividing Policy" to let Zhang Jiao appear next to Zhang Xianzhong.
Zhang Xianzhong kills people, which is one aspect of his brutality. In fact, this is also one of his strategies.
On the one hand, he really did not have so much food to feed the idle people, and on the other hand, the people of Ming Dynasty were very homesick for their land.
Li Xianzhong offered generous conditions in Liaodong, allowing people to move their families to Liaodong, but not many people were willing to go.
Where did Zhang Xianzhong get this condition?
Therefore, he could only adopt primitive and barbaric methods, killing people, destroying their homes, and forcing these people to follow him.
In addition, this can also destroy the court's tax revenue, which not only strengthens itself but also weakens the court.
But now that Zhang Jiao's "Field Dividing Policy" is in place, the only function left for him to kill people is to establish his authority.
There is no need to kill people every day.
After all, with the "Field Dividing Policy" as a big killer, the people were looking forward to Zhang Xianzhong's coming to the world as soon as possible. There was no need for him to kill the people who supported him.
Another benefit of "Field Dividing Policy" is that it saved many scholars.
After all, dividing land and issuing land deeds is also a arduous task, and it cannot be done by just a few people.
Moreover, the land deeds released must be registered in a register. If Zhang Xianzhong really rules the world in the future, these fields must be honored.
Even Zhang Kewang believed that Zhang Jiao's "Field Dividing Policy" would definitely be a weapon for his adoptive father Zhang Xianzhong to rule the world in the future.
Zhang Jiao is as talented as Xiao He of Han Dynasty!
As for the rebels who were assigned to the field deeds, they all attacked the city and captured the territory all the way, winning consecutive battles and victorious battles.
The army attacked Luotian and Xinzhou all the way, and came to Huangzhou Prefecture.
Xiong Wencan, the newly appointed Governor-General of Huguang, quickly sent troops to support Huangzhou.
It has to be said that Chongzhen's orders for various countries to organize and train new armies were effective. Now Wuchang Prefecture has quickly gathered tens of thousands of troops.
Since the rebels almost killed the gentry, although the people supported them, the gentry everywhere regarded Zhang Xianzhong as a scourge.
Team training and local heroes from all over the country came to Huangzhou to help.
The landlords and wealthy people also fled Huangzhou Prefecture and Wuchang City with their families.
They will be exterminated when Zhang Xianzhong comes, so what do they care about their local sentiments?
The rebel army's attack on Huangzhou City was not successful.
Zhang Dingguo also said: "I would like to inform my father, there are many troops in Huangzhou City, and there are more than 20,000 officers and soldiers from all over the country. Moreover, the gentry even transported food to Huangzhou. Even if we besieged Huangzhou, their food It’s more abundant than us.”
Zhang Kewang also said: "Not only the soldiers and horses from Huangzhou, but also the reinforcements from Wuchang City are coming to Huangzhou soon. I think we should adjust our goals."
Zhang Xianzhong, known as "Yellow Tiger", has always been cunning in battle.
He ordered Zhang Kewang to lead more than 10,000 people to pretend to attack Huangzhou, while he led the main force secretly to the west and marched towards De'an Mansion.
Sure enough, the attention of the officers and soldiers was all on the Huangzhou front line, and the De'an Mansion was empty of troops.
On the first day of November, Zhang Xianzhong captured Xiaogan, entered the territory of De'an, and captured the envoy Xiong Wencan, the governor of Huguang, sent to Xiangyang to mobilize troops.
At this time, the main force of the official army was in Huangzhou, and the De'an Mansion was empty of troops.
On the fifth day of the lunar month, Zhang Xianzhong raised 120,000 troops and captured Anlu, the capital of De'an.
After the "Chuzhou War", the rebel army once again captured Fucheng, which also greatly increased the confidence of the rebel army!
After occupying Anlu, the rebel army received a large amount of supplies.
Zhang Xianzhong started "killing the gentry and dividing the fields" here again, which won the support of a large number of people.
The rebels kept true to their word and actually distributed the fields of the wealthy gentry and official lands to the people.
Moreover, with the help of the common people, the gentry's private money and food had nowhere to hide.
Under Zhang Jiao's persuasion, Zhang Xianzhong also began to change. Not only did he not kill ordinary people, he also gave a small part of the food to the people and began to win people's hearts!
Three days later, Sun Kewang's pioneer battalion also arrived in Anlu, but with it came 20,000 officers and soldiers chasing him.
Zhang Xianzhong asked Sun Kewang to lead 30,000 troops to defend Anlu. The army attacked for more than ten days and suffered casualties of 3,000 to 4,000 people, but there was nothing they could do about Anlu City!
In the center of the city, gentry officials from the Ming Dynasty have already met with the Lord of Hell, and the people in the city have more or less received the land deeds or grain issued by Zhang Xianzhong.
Naturally, they helped the rebels defend the city.
At this time, Zhang Xianzhong led the main force northward and captured Suizhou.
After the capture of Suizhou, the entire De'an Mansion was basically under the control of the rebels.
Of course, this was not Zhang Xianzhong's main purpose. The purpose of conquering Suizhou was just to open up the passage.
His real goal is Xiangyang.
Huguang was called Jingzhou in ancient times, but anyone who has read "Three Kingdoms" knows that there are three places that are crucial to controlling the land in northern Jingzhou.
One is naturally the capital Wuchang, and the other two places are Xiangyang and Jiangling.
If Zhang Xianzhong wants to make a difference in Hubei, he must win one of these three places to gain a foothold.
Wuchang had a large number of troops and it was difficult for him to conquer it for a while.
Jiangling's position is too central, and he has no navy, so it is difficult to hold on.
Only Xiangyang is suitable. On the one hand, the Jianghan Plain under Xiangyang's jurisdiction is an important grain-producing area and can provide enough food for the rebels.
In addition, Xiangyang is also a passage connecting Shaanxi and Henan. After occupying this place, we can open up passages to many provinces.
Li Zicheng also made great progress in Henan. After taking Xiangyang, he could echo Li Zicheng from afar, and his momentum became even greater.
The most important thing is that he previously captured the envoy sent by Xiong Wencan to mobilize troops in Xiangyang. This troop deployment document was genuine.
Zhang Xianzhong successfully lured out the eight thousand defenders of Xiangyang City, successfully ambushed them, and then allowed his rebels to blend into the defeated army and escape back to Xiangyang City.
That night, the rebel soldiers who sneaked into Xiangyang set fire to several places in the city. The people in the city woke up from their sleep and found that there were flames everywhere and the whole city was in chaos.
In the chaos, the uprising took the opportunity to occupy the city gate and let in the rebels outside the city.
A large group of troops arrived, and it was too late for the officers and soldiers to resist. After the rebel army entered the city, they went straight to Prince Xiang's Mansion and captured Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming alive.
The next day, Zhang Xianzhong followed Zhang Jiao's plan and killed Xiang Wang Zhu Yiming on the spot in front of the people of the city.
He also opened the treasury of Prince Xiang's Mansion and distributed some food to the hungry people in the city.
This set off the climax of the "Field Dividing Policy", because Zhu Yiming, the king of Xiang, had more than 10,000 hectares of land in Xiangyang and other prefectures, which is more than one million acres.
In addition to the properties of other gentry and wealthy merchants in Xiangyang City, Zhang Xianzhong could be said to have made a lot of money.
There were millions of taels of various types of gold and silver, and more than 700,000 dan of grain were confiscated, which was enough for the rebels to survive this winter.
Many officers and soldiers directly became rebels after receiving the land deed from King Xiang.
Many people directly asked Zhang Xianzhong to proclaim himself emperor.
Zhang Xianzhong said modestly: "Currently, I only have the land of Xiangyang and De'an. Have you ever seen the emperor who only has the land of these two prefectures?"
Everyone also understood that it was not that the Eight Kings did not want to be emperor, but that their territory was too small.
It’s just that it’s not easy to conquer territory.
On December 18, Zhang Xianzhong's general Zhao Wushuang captured Yunyang Mansion west of Xiangyang.
"Cao Cao" Luo Rucai, who had been beaten by Chen Qiyu and fled, also led more than a thousand tribesmen from Hanzhong to surrender.
Zhang Xianzhong was naturally very happy after seeing his old brother coming.
Luo Rucai heard about Zhang Jiao's "Field Dividing Policy" and sighed: "This is really a sharp weapon. Before, the rebel brothers only regarded these fields as useless things that could not be taken away. Why did no one think of the fields? If you can’t take it away, the field deeds can indeed be taken away. In the future when our rebels fight back, these field deeds will count!”
After finishing speaking, he knelt on the ground and said: "The last general Luo Rucai begs your majesty to grant me fields!"
I have to say that Luo Rucai is worthy of the name "Cao Cao". This horse photo of Zhang Xianzhong is so comfortable.
So Zhang Xianzhong gave Luo Rucai and his soldiers ten thousand acres of fertile land outside Xiangyang City.
Naturally, Zhang Xianzhong could not make a loss-making business. His ten thousand acres of land were given to Luo Rucai and his soldiers.
These fields are worthy of the loyalty of more than a thousand elites.
On the first day of the first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong proclaimed himself emperor in Xiangyang, Huguang. His country was named Daxi and his reign was named Dashun.
Zhang Jiao was granted the title of Prime Minister Zuo, and Luo Rucai was appointed Marquis of Yiyang to guard Yiyang south of Xiangyang.
As for his four adopted sons, they were named Zhendonghou, Zhennanhou, Zhenxihou and Zhenbeihou respectively.
Other leaders, big and small, also received rewards, and the people of the three prefectures were exempted from taxes in the first year of Dashun.
The people in Xiangyang and other three prefectures were naturally convinced after receiving the land deeds in Daxi and being exempted from taxes. Many people from the surrounding areas even came to Zhang Xianzhong's territory.
And the elites under the command of Emperor Zhang Xianzhong of Daxi already numbered as many as 250,000!
Zhang Xianzhong was making waves in Huguang, and Li Zicheng was naturally not idle in Henan either.
After he separated from Zhang Xianzhong, he fought all the way to Xinyang Prefecture.
At this time, most of the soldiers and horses from the Henan prefectures were transferred to Shandong, and Xinyang had less than 2,000 defenders. Facing Li Zicheng's 30,000 rebels, they were naturally helpless.
The rebel army captured Xinyang City in just one day.
Since Zhang Xianzhong already had Zhang Jiaoxian's "Field Dividing Policy", Zhong Guangdao was naturally not far behind.
Although it was Li Xianzhong's idea, in order to avoid arousing suspicion, Zhong Guangdao changed the name to "Juntian Ce", but the core content is still the same.
It means issuing land deeds, writing bad checks, issuing original shares to the rebels, and cashing them in when Li Zicheng becomes emperor.
Soon the gentry in Xinyang also began to suffer misfortune, and Li Zicheng also started to divide the land here.
The rebel army's "Juntian Policy" soon spread throughout Henan.
Henan had already been raided by the rebels, so the title of King Chuang was still very useful.
Soon Li Zicheng controlled most of Runing Mansion.
When Li Zicheng led his army from Xinyang north to Runing Fucheng, suddenly there were people dressed as scholars on the roadside.
Just listen to him singing loudly: "In the morning, you seek promotion, in the evening, you seek harmony. It is difficult for poor people to survive these days. Open the door early to pay homage to King Chuang, and the disciplines are all happy. Kill cattle and sheep, prepare wine, open the city gate to welcome King Chuang, Chuang When the king comes, he doesn’t pay for the food. He eats his mother and lives for his mother. If he doesn’t have enough food, he will challenge the king. If he doesn’t do his job and doesn’t pay for the food, everyone will have a good time."
Everyone was amazed after hearing this.
Especially the sentence "Kill the cattle and sheep, prepare wine, and open the city gate to welcome King Chuang. When King Chuang comes, he will not pay for food." It is very suitable as a slogan for the rebels.
After all, the common people are uneducated, so "Juntian is free of grain" and the like are not as catchy as this kind of vernacular.
Soon Li Zicheng called the book over.
The scholar said: "Li Yan, a young man, is from Qixian County, Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan Province. He was elected in the year of Dingmao in Tianqi."
"My father, Li Jingbai, was the governor of Shandong and the Minister of the Ministry of War. However, because of his friendship with Wei Zhongxian, he was demoted to civilian status in the first year of Chongzhen!'
"Xiaosheng is here this time to seek refuge with King Chuang!"
Li Zicheng's current generals include Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Gao Jie and others, but there are no literati who have joined him, only some scholars as scribes.
Although military advisor Zhong Guangdao is resourceful, he is an out-and-out farmer in northern Shaanxi.
Of course, his ancestor was a general in the Song Dynasty, so he was proficient in the art of war.
Chuang King Li Zicheng said: "Since Brother Li Yan is the son of a gentry, and he is a member of the family, he must have a lot of assets in his family?"
Li Yan said: "My Li family is one of the most wealthy families in Qixian County. Under the policy of the rebel army, we are among those who must be killed!"
"Li also didn't hide it. The reason why I took refuge in King Chuang was because of "Juntian Ce". I wonder which master wrote this?"
Zhong Guangdao smiled bitterly in his heart. This was naturally the work of Liao Guogong, an expert, but for now he could only shamelessly pretend to be the leader.
So Li Zicheng introduced Zhong Guangdao to Li Yan.
Li Yan gave a salute and said: "Although Xiaosheng comes from an official family, I have also practiced martial arts since I was a child. I am a gentleman with all six arts. I often use my family wealth to support the village and make friends in the world. I actually advocate Juntian. I I am willing to persuade my father to use my family property to help King Chuang achieve a great cause."
Li Yan has a bold personality and is very temperamental towards Li Zicheng and others.
At Li Yan's suggestion, the rebel army changed its previous policy of killing all gentry. They could also accept gentry who were willing to join the rebel army and donate a large amount of their property.
Stimulated by "Juntian Ce", Li Zicheng's rebel army also grew like a snowball.
In just three months, they had occupied Runing, Nanyang, and Ruzhou, and invaded Henan Prefecture.
Due to the excessive levies and extortion imposed by the imperial court, the people could not survive long ago, so they followed King Chuang in rebellion one after another.
The rebel army under Li Zicheng also grew to a size of 300,000.
At this time, news came that Zhang Xianzhong had proclaimed himself emperor in Xiangyang.
Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong intended to let Li Zicheng proclaim himself emperor together with him.
So Li Zicheng asked everyone for their opinions.
Military generals such as Liu Zongmin and Li Guo naturally advocated that Li Zicheng proclaim himself emperor. He and Zhang Xianzhong already proclaimed themselves emperor, so Li Zicheng should naturally proclaim himself emperor as well.
However, Li Yan, the same kind of Guangdao, raised objections.
Zhong Guangdao objected because although the rebel army currently has a large number of people, it has no foundation.
After all, Zhang Xianzhong still has Xiangyang as his foundation, but currently Runing and Nanyang of the rebel army are not suitable.
At least Luoyang or Xi'an must be captured before considering proclaiming emperor.
Li Yan's objection was more practical. He asked: "Should the imperial court conquer the Great Western Emperor Zhang Xianzhong first or the Chuang King Li Zicheng?"
"If King Chuang also proclaims himself emperor, then our territory is to the north of Zhang Xianzhong. The court will naturally concentrate its forces to destroy us first, and then go south to eliminate Zhang Xianzhong. Although King Chuang proclaimed himself emperor, he was actually used as a shield by Zhang Xianzhong."
So Li Zicheng decided not to proclaim himself emperor yet, but to continue using the title of King Chuang.
And concentrate their forces to go north, occupy Henan Prefecture, and capture Luoyang and Xi'an!
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