On the way back to Shaanxi, Liu Chengzong remembered the days when he returned to Heilong Mountain for no reason.
My father once said that thieves would enter Pingyang Mansion in Shanxi Province.
I'm afraid Mr. Liu never dreamed at that time that the first bandit to lead troops into Shanxi would be his second son.
On the march, they were like a plague of locusts. The five leaders gathered in one place, but their henchmen led their troops to disperse.
Some walked along the mountain ridge, some along the official road, and some walked on the fields. In front, back, left, right, and in all directions, there were ragged people walking with their heads down. Even the desolate land became a road when they walked through it.
Suddenly seeing him laughing, Gao Yingxiang, who was riding a big donkey, turned around and asked, "Little lion, what are you laughing at?"
"I remembered that when I came home from Yuhebao in February, I said that I wanted to give it to my brother and me. We found a good match and accomplished a life-long event. Hey."
Liu Chengzong was also riding on the back of a mule, rising and falling slowly with his horse's steps. He raised his whip and pointed towards the barren mountains and ridges that could be seen everywhere. He said with a smile: "It used to be hard to find a match, but now I'm afraid you can't find one in the world."
The Ming Dynasty's laws were so thick, and the family easily broke half of them.
The family is full of loyal and loyal people, and their family is full of vicious people.
Gao Yingxiang laughed dumbly. He wanted to say something, but in the end he just squinted his eyes and faced the sunlight, sighed, shook his head and said, "Everything in the world is impermanent."
Things are impermanent.
He is thirty-seven years old this year. Going forward seven or eight years, he could never have imagined his current situation.
For people who grew up in border areas, even if they did not join the army, it would be difficult for them to distance themselves from the military in their own affairs.
Gao Yingxiang grew up in such an environment. He is skilled in bow and horse, smooth and domineering.
Traveling inside and outside the Great Wall, he knew what the Mongolian leaders liked and how to deal with frontier officers.
In addition to buying and selling horses, they also used horseback convenience to smuggle salt and tea, and took in deserters and desperadoes outside the Great Wall to protect themselves. In this way, the poor boy from Ansai expanded his business.
At the best time, six Gaojia boats were transporting goods on the Yuxi River, and eight four-horse and four-wheeled carts were running back and forth in southern Shaanxi and northern Shaanxi.
I have traveled through three towns and four towns, and also lived in the county prison.
He had many contacts and made many friends, so he often gave generously. His family fortune was not big or small, and he was established at the age of thirty. This was probably the most prosperous time in his life.
But the drought came, three consecutive droughts in one year, strong winds broke out in Ansai in midsummer, and all the green seedlings were uprooted. The people ate up the grass and bark, and the bark and stones, and sold their sons and wives, leaving nothing useless. Men throw themselves into cesspools.
People say it is better to be a thief and be killed than to wait to starve to death.
It's hard to sit still and wait for someone to rely on you.
Since the first month of last year, Gao Yingxiang has sold his property, hired craftsmen to make weapons and purchased grain and grass, and sheltered desperadoes unscrupulously. He even recruited a group of Mongolian Yidin who fled from Hetao to Han.
By October, more than a hundred people were officially recruited as bandits in Ansaila, and they began to engage in the business of robbing families and homes.
His planning was very shrewd.
After all, we used to do business, and everything was about cost.
The smaller the team size, the less food and grass they consume, and the safer they are without attracting the attention of the officers and soldiers.
While maintaining a small scale, the more good players there are, the more customers can be robbed, and the greater the profits.
Therefore, Gao Yingxiang's thieves also pursued a policy of elite troops at the beginning.
Regular troops and trained paramilitary personnel such as border army deserters, local guard troops, bankrupt postmen, and desperate government officials were his main force.
But plans can never keep up with changes, and there are too many poor and hungry people.
Bandits and bandits have become the most desired employment target for young people. Hunger has made fear of death no longer a weakness of human beings.
Wherever the band of thieves passed by, there were already crowds of followers without having to climb high and shout.
Old acquaintances came to seek refuge, and they said: Brother, save me.
He was obliged to do so.
The food prepared before the army was launched could only last for a few days, and the large plundering households could not satisfy the many refugees.
Later, he led his men to surround the Semen garrison, which was the garrison of the troops in Ansai. He expected that there would be food.
Who would have thought that the officers sitting in the fort with guns and cannons were overjoyed to see him besieging the fort.
As long as I can ensure that the brothers in the cell can eat a few full meals, I will surrender.
Ansai has no food.
The rich households don't have it, the country gentry doesn't have it, and the army doesn't have it either.
Who doesn’t want to be a free-spirited mountain king? It’s just that among the hundreds of thousands of mountains in northern Shaanxi, which mountain can survive?
The so-called impermanence of things means that all previous life experiences are of no use.
Those who follow the rules will die, and those who deviate from the rules will live.
Suddenly, Huntian Monkey laughed strangely: "Another one dies."
The crowd in front moved around on the official road, and several donkeys and mules walking side by side also moved out of the way on both sides.
Liu Chengzong didn't lower his eyes to watch. He scooped out half a bowl of fried noodles from the saddle bag with a wooden bowl, poured it into his mouth, chewed it, and tightened the reins to guide the mule in the right direction.
Some people died as they walked.
Just like the hungry people who joined in as they walked, there was nothing unusual about it.
Huntian Monkey asked: "Bu Zhan Mu, is this your person?"
"You ask me, who am I going to ask?" Bu Zhanni's face was not angry at all. He looked at the potbellied corpse on the ground and raised his hand to push Tianhou: "Guandao in front of you is yours, right? Can he bury it?" "
"You know how to order your grandpa all day long."
The Sky Monkey scratched his head and complained, but unlike others, he had nothing to do with the corpse.
He hurried forward two steps, jumped down and handed the reins to Liu Chengzong: "Master Liu, please help me lead the horse. I will bury my brother's body."
After that, when Liu Chengzong took the reins of the donkey and mule, the monkey in the sky turned around and ran around calling people to carry the body to the roadside. He pulled a piece of linen cloth from somewhere and asked people to dig a hole in the ground with hoes and shovels.
The groups of people gathered around Gao Yingxiang each had many mules and horses. In terms of the number of horses, the mule camp was the smallest.
Gao Yingxiang had a rule that no one was allowed to ride a horse except for the scouts who were covering the march of the large troops.
Except for the chiefs, the team leaders of each team, and the women with bound feet, no one can ride donkeys and mules. They all walk. Donkeys and mules are only used to carry soldiers, armor, and baggage.
Liu Chengzong led several horses and mules, and when he saw the figure of Sky Monkey wielding a hoe disappearing into the crowd behind him, he turned to Gao Yingxiang and asked: "Master Gao, is Sky Monkey always like this?"
Gao Yingxiang knew what he meant, a smile appeared on his square face, and he nodded: "Don't think Jiusi is a bad coward, a gambler and dirty, but as long as others respect him, he can pay them back." Husband."
"Even if I don't say anything, the dirty monkey will go down and bury people. Even if I call him a king, I won't treat them badly."
Bu Zhanni, who was leading the war horse, laughed, came over and stretched out his hand towards Liu Chengzong: "What do you want to eat? Give me some, too?"
"Have you never eaten fried noodles?"
Liu Chengzong reached out and scooped up another bowl and handed it over.
This thing is a treasure.
Not fried noodles, just fried noodles in a simple sense.
Steam all kinds of grains, including wheat, rice, black beans, and mung beans, in sequence with sesame oil. After steaming, grind them into noodles, add salt, and stir-fry. You can also add sugar if you consider the taste.
This is the easy way to do it.
If possible, pour high-strength shochu, dry it in the sun and pour it again, dry it and pour it again, until the shochu cannot be immersed in it.
It can be stored for a long time if you make it this way. When needed, you can pour some water and mix it, or you can pour it into a pot, cut off small pieces of vinegar cloth, cook it and eat the batter, or like now, grab a handful and eat it dry as a snack.
Liu Chengzong didn't know how long this way of eating had been going on. In this era, it was an emergency ration for the army.
The necessary necessities for the expedition were six pounds per person. According to military law, they were not allowed to use them until the besieged country ran out of food.
But another memory let him know that this kind of military ration will still exist on this land for a long time, no matter in the past or in the future.
The Ming army ate this, the Qing army ate this, the Red Army also ate this, and even the volunteers who aided Korea ate this.
"It's quite dry. It's not unpalatable, but it's choking."
After pouring a mouthful of mud, he spat out the flour when he opened his mouth to speak. He quickly handed the wooden bowl back to look for water.
After gulping down two sips of water, he finally took a breath and said, "Is this something from the border army?"
"Yes, emergency military rations. I grabbed a lot of food from the inn earlier, as well as oil and sugar. Eating too much will bloat your stomach."
In fact, according to Bianjun's normal method, there is no sugar or oil, so it is difficult to make it delicious.
In the year when he left Qiufang, Liu Chengzong was still riding in the Tang Dynasty. He was separated from the rest of the army during the burning of wasteland. He survived for half a month on six pounds of fried noodles without sugar.
If you don't stick to the mud, you just want to taste it. He took two more sips of water, shook his head and said, "Then I see you'll keep eating."
"Hey, I haven't stopped talking since I left Yan'an Mansion."
Liu Chengzong laughed and put the wooden bowl back into the saddle bag: "Maybe he will die if he bumps into an officer or soldier that day. Let's enjoy the food while we are alive, and eat on horseback to save time."
Gao Yingxiang smiled and said: "I thought you weren't afraid of death when you caused such a big trouble. What would you have planned if you hadn't met me?"
What was the original plan?
Liu Chengzong spread his hands and said: "Originally I wanted to stay in Shanxi for a month or two, but I was unfamiliar with the place. When I entered, I found that there were passes from the north to the south. I wanted to grab a Wangzhuang, but was blocked by Luliang Mountain. If I hadn't met, I would have returned to Shaanxi. Go back to Yan'an Mansion."
"To enter Shanxi, you have to go through Hancheng. From there, go directly to Pingyang Mansion. We will go there sooner or later... but it's best not to mess with the Shanxi soldiers first."
Liu Chengzong didn't know whether Gao Yingxiang was talking about his own plan or Wang Jiayin's arrangement: "King Hengtian is in the north, we will go south, and we will divide our troops when we leave Yanchuan. Huntian Monkey will go to Luochuan to find Wang Hu and Heisha Shen. .”
As he spoke, Gao Yingxiang pointed behind him: "Shangtian Monkey went to Yichuan to look for the Flying Mountain Tiger and the Big Red Wolf, and Bu Mu Mu went to Yijun and the central part of the country. They each gathered the refugees and hungry people, bandits and deserters, robbed the grain, grass and horses, and tried to occupy the territory. county seat."
Liu Chengzong frowned when he heard the plan: "Occupy the county seat?"
"Yes, we don't just want to attack the county town. We are in Yan'an Prefecture, trapping Yanzhou City on all sides, and waiting for an opportunity to capture Hexi Road. There are fields on both sides of the Luo River for farming. There is Yan'an City in the north, Jinsuoguan Pass in the south, and east and west. There are big mountains. If we retreat, we can defend Hexi, and if we advance, we can enter Guanzhong. What do you think?"
It is profitable to trap Yanzhou and plunder the wealthy families on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Destroying the express delivery at the three post stations in the north, south and west can also cut off the connection between Xi'an and Yulin.
However, Liu Chengzong heard Gao Yingxiang's intention and wanted to occupy the Hexi Road from Yan'an to Jinsuoguan for a long time. It was a bit unrealistic to separate the regime.
If you keep wandering in the wild, you can still rely on luck to avoid the army or defeat the army by luck. In the final analysis, you can hope to win.
"Master Gao, you can still rely on luck in field battles. Offensive and defensive battles are all about strength. Tens of thousands of horses and horses look overwhelming, but how many of them can stop running when they hear the sound of cannons?"
Liu Chengzong shook his head and raised a finger on the back of the mule: "Two thousand people can hold up to death, and those who can withstand the lead pellets of the artillery shells and move forward, if there are more, there are only one thousand two hundred people."
Of these 1,200 people, Liu Chengzong counted half of the mule camp.
Capturing these places is easy.
But expecting this few people to defend the north in Yan'an Prefecture and the north-south siege, to guard the Xi'an Prefecture direction at Jinsuoguan, and to guard the officers and soldiers in the direction of Guyuan and Qingyang in Ziwu Ridge is nothing more than a dream.
The bastard doesn't want to establish a base area, but he doesn't have the strength to fight against encirclement and suppression and establish a separatist regime. Not only will it be of no benefit, it will also trap him to death.
Gao Yingxiang felt that Liu Chengzong was too pessimistic and shook his head: "You can't say that. Those Liaodong women are no better than barbarians who drink blood from their hair. They didn't have as many people as we did at the beginning. Didn't they fight back and forth with the imperial court, and they still carry it till now?"
Liu Chengzong sneered: "Master Gao, if you can make the imperial court close its eyes, wait until the whole of Shaanxi is defeated before sending troops to suppress us, and station the officers and soldiers east of Tongguan, I won't have a problem with you establishing a government and becoming king, so can we. Create a Salhu in Henan."
He clapped his hands on the back of his hands and said, "This is not the case now. Whenever a general officer comes, our military formation will be scattered. If we can't go out to fight in the fortress, the fortress will not be able to hold it; if we can't hold the key points, Hexi will be lost." , it’s nothing more than a matter of keeping watch for a few months.”
Gao Yingxiang was not stubborn, nor did he think it was a loss of face for him to be refuted. On the contrary, he raised his head and laughed, pointing at the mud-free and muddy monkey and saying: "I came to you for this... They all think this plan is good, so do you have a better idea?"
Huntian Monkey raised his hand and held his beard, and sneered in a low voice: "I really think it is good to build the county government office. It is protected by the city wall. Isn't it better than being outside in the wind and sun? Not only me, Dirty Monkey thinks so too."
"It's okay to fight; it's okay to rob; it's okay to leave it there."
Several people were riding closer, and Liu Chengzong changed the topic: "But the officers and soldiers are coming, we can't defend it. When the officers and soldiers of Xi'an Prefecture come, three to five hundred people can try to defend Jinsuo Pass, and the large army will go north." withdraw."
"The north is now full of red land. There won't be a large army attack from the north of Yan'an in a short period of time. A force of two to three hundred people can also defend it."
"The most critical point is Ziwu Ridge. Guyuan is where the Trilateral General Administration is located, and there are also officers and soldiers from Qingyang. It is easy to gather a large army to fight. When they come, we have to leave and inform each other of the news. We will advance south of Yanzhou. Huanglong Mountain is extended in the north direction, and finally can be merged in the Yanchuan and Suidezhou areas."
Liu Chengzong said with a sly smile on his face: "The army has always sent troops to carry three days of food and grass. As long as we don't let him resupply, the road from Qingyang to Yanchuan is 700 miles, and from Jinsuoguan to Yanchuan is 500 miles. Even if it's on the way Even if they have a little supply, they will be exhausted by then."
"As long as they are hungry, we have thousands of armored and well-fed men, and we will be able to fight and win a battle."
He raised his hand and said: "It doesn't matter whether we have territory or not. We will defeat the elite troops of the government and the army. In the vast northern Shaanxi, we can sleep wherever we want this winter, and the emperor has no control over it!"
