On the day before entering the Jin Dynasty, Wang Jiayin summoned various rebels to go to Qingjian to discuss matters.
Liu Chengzong left Shangtianhou and others to attack Yanshui Pass and headed for Qingjian.
Hundreds of rebel leaders gathered in Wuyangyang, which really allowed Liu Chengzong to meet all the rabble he should see in his life.
People arranged their seats, and Liu Chengzong was ranked fourth against the king. He should have been third, but he gave it to Master Gao.
Finally, it was decided to divide the troops into six groups, with Wang Jiayin's Hequ, Bumu Mu's Jiazhou, Wang Zuogao's Hancheng, Huntian Wang's Yichuan, Gao Yingxiang's Wubao, and Liu Chengzong's Yanshui Pass all entering the Jin Dynasty.
When Liu Chengzong returned to Yanshui Pass, the door was already open to him.
The carrier led a few tall horses and walked forward and said: "Brother, after you left, someone said they were subordinates of King Hengtian and sent twenty armors, thirty war horses, and a golden seal of Marshal Hengtian."
He looked a little panicked: "We didn't know what was going on, so we let him go. What's going on... King Hengtian was recruited?"
"Did you really get the official seal?"
Liu Chengzong also looked confused and asked Wei Qian'er to gather the sentry commanders and entered the Yanshui Pass official office.
There were exactly eight chairs set up on the left and right of the official office, and the sentry commanders sat down one after another, and immediately started talking about them.
Some asked about the establishment of officials, some asked about military strength, and some asked about the situation of the anti-king gathering.
Liu Chengzong raised his arms and pressed down, and waited for everyone to be quiet before saying: "Let me tell you the results of the Qingjian discussion first. There are more than a hundred leaders from all walks of life in Qingjian. They said that there are 140,000 troops entering the Jin Dynasty this time."
Cao Yao, Yang Yao and others didn't think so. Shicheng and I were shocked. Only Chengyun Xin was dumbfounded and said in surprise: "140,000?"
"If you look at the other commanders, you will believe it. They said the number of soldiers themselves."
Liu Chengzong teased Cheng Yun and said to everyone: "What are you doing in Shanxi with 140,000 people? They went straight to Guyuan and beat the governors of the three sides. There are hundreds of leaders, there are too many people."
"I won't talk about the little leaders. Some leaders have many soldiers and horses and don't have many mules to transport them. When it comes to seating, Qingjian arranged the seats."
Liu Chengzong rested his arms on the armrests of the seats: "The first is Wang Jiayin, the king of Hengtian, and the second is Zuo Guazi. After the line is finished, I stand in the middle. Several leaders who say they have 10,000 or 20,000 people dare not sit forward."
The official office burst into laughter, and Cao Yao asked: "Then we rank third?"
Liu Chengzong turned out his palm and showed four fingers: "Fourth, third, I let Master Gao sit down. We will have a long time in the future, there is no need to go there and make short-lived tricks."
"As for the strength of the troops, there are definitely less than 140,000. Everyone has seen King Hun Tian. We had a meal together in Yanchuan a few days ago. His entire battalion has a total of more than 3,000 people, and only 600 of them can be called bandits. When we reach Qingjian, there will be three thousand soldiers and ten thousand auxiliary soldiers."
Everyone burst into laughter again.
The Sky Monkey did not laugh along. He wanted to help his friend and said seriously: "King Hun Tian was chased by Li Bei earlier. Maybe he was afraid of being looked down upon, so he said more numbers."
"Yes, that's what he thinks."
Liu Chengzong suppressed his smile and continued, which was regarded as exposing the matter of King Hun Tian, and said: "I estimate that the troops entering the Jin Dynasty this time will only be 30 to 40 thousand people."
Cao Yao couldn't hold himself back for a long time. Everyone didn't laugh at this meeting, so he simply asked: "General, what's going on with the official position? We haven't overthrown the Emperor of the Zhu family, but we have invited the Emperor of the Wang family back?"
"As soon as I sat there, I was given an official position. I thought it was just a casual comment. I am Marshal Hengtian, General Fudi if I don't touch the mud, King Huntian is called General Huntian, and there are a lot of other generals and lieutenants. Who knows? All the gold seals have been sent.”
Liu Chengzong was also helpless about this, and then stood up with a smile and said: "Whatever, isn't it good for someone to give gold? This grassroots team may fall apart at any time. It's not important. We still have a long time. What's important is... I Draw a line for them.”
There was a map hanging in the garrison office at Yanshui Pass. Liu Chengzong took advantage of this and pointed on the map with a whip in hand: "South of Taiyuan and north of Jiangzhou, five hundred miles in length and breadth, is the place between us and King Chuang. Don't let it go." They come in."
All the sentry commanders were stunned.
Liu Chengzong circled this area, which is almost one-third of the most fertile land in Shanxi.
Yang Yao asked: "General, are they willing to cut off a large piece?"
"What if you don't want to do it?" Liu Chengzong asked with a smile: "Let's fight? They have to weigh it. How do they compare to Li Bei?"
Everyone laughed again, General Li became a unit of measurement for combat effectiveness.
But having said that, no one dares to take food from Liu Chengzong's mouth.
Nowadays, there are many rebel kings who have fought against the official army, but only the first four people have actually fought. Wang Zuo lost and Gao Yingxiang was defeated, relying on Liu Chengzong to win the battle.
Only Wang Jiayin and Liu Chengzong were able to defeat the officers and soldiers in an upright confrontation between the two armies.
Of these two, Wang Jiayin was the more powerful. Liu Chengzong was waiting for work in Yan'an Mansion, while Wang Jiayin had been wandering around the border wall since the beginning of the uprising, constantly poking the butts of Yansui Town officials and soldiers.
Without Wang Jiayin, all the rebel kings in northern Shaanxi would not be so comfortable. Once the border troops at the second border wall were mobilized, Wang Jiayin would surely steal their homes.
Liu Chengzong smiled and said: "But it's actually not as tense as you think. The people behind you don't dare to say anything. They say there are six routes to enter Jin, but in fact there are only three routes. Wang Hengtian and Bu Zhanni are on the same route. We are with King Chuang, and we are on the left. Gua Zi and King Hun Tian went up, down, middle, and just divided Shanxi."
"The King Hengtian passes through Kelan Prefecture, and there is Xinzhou Daizhou, which is also a fertile place. If Zuo Guazi can break through Hancheng, there will be fertile fields east and west of the river... Remember to take this map away after a while."
After admonishing Chengyun, Liu Chengzong continued: "But we do have an advantage. We have two sides from the north and the south. It is unlikely that we will be intercepted by a large number of officers and soldiers. The biggest problem is Luliang Mountain and ourselves."
ourselves?
The eight sentry commanders and the Sky Monkey all looked confused. Wang Wenxiu curled up his beard and said, "General, please give me your instructions."
Liu Chengzong stood up, put his hand on the table and pressed it hard, organized his words a little, and said: "You are all people whom I, Liu Shizi, trust. We can't take advantage of the five hundred miles."
"We Shaanxi people, who are soldiers, are accustomed to despising life when it comes to life and death. We are also living on the bones of hungry people and refugees until today. The drought in Shanxi is not like this. The people there are somewhat oppressed, but they can still survive. I don't want to end up in Shanxi because of me." , let those people who could have lived die."
"If they all crowd into one place, I can't tell who is killing and robbing for stuttering, and who is killing innocent people for fun. This imperial court, which can't control the captives on the outside and calm the people on the inside, regards us as thieves. It has exhausted all its power. Shit, we can’t think of ourselves as thieves who harm the people, we are anti-thieves.”
Several sentry commanders with backgrounds in the border army chuckled.
Not only are you laughing at the court, but you are also laughing at yourself.
They all shed their blood for Ming Dynasty.
If the Ming Dynasty is a galloping horse, everyone once thought that they were flesh and blood, but later they realized that they were grass, chewed up and swallowed the grass!
Bang bang twice.
Yang Yao, who was sitting on the chair, straightened his spine and slapped the table: "The general is right, we are rebels, not thieves who harm the people!"
The sense of honor cannot be eaten as food, but it is very useful after eating.
On the other hand, Wang Wenxiu, the other chief executive, was much calmer. He glanced at Yang Yao with his big beard and chuckled: "How many days have you had enough food? I don't care about the people of Shanxi. My brothers rely on the generals to eat." When I’m full, I’ll do whatever the general orders.”
Gao Xian and Liu Chengzong looked at each other and said with a smile: "Don't look at the three of us. Commander Cao is an old rebel, and we are just small rebels at most. Too many people have died in this world, and I feel that there are too many It’s better to die.”
Feng Rui smiled and said nothing, but nodded towards Liu Chengzong.
The old rebel Cao Yao fell into thinking.
Liu Chengzong asked: "What does Brother Cao think?"
"Well...it doesn't matter whether we live or die in this world." Cao Yao frowned and sighed: "But there is one thing. When we enter Shanxi, we are just discussing matters. You listen to me and think about what we are going to do."
Cao Yao spread his hands and talked eloquently: "The big families who annexed the land, as well as the corrupt officials, oppressed the good gentry, destroyed or divided the land, equalized the land and freed grain. This has always been done by failed rebellions. "
"There are also vassal princes. It has been many years since the Qingcheng Palace. I thought carefully. After the raids, they would have food and return to Shaanxi. I knew that Chengyun had said before that he would penetrate into Shanxi and lead the people to resist taxes like he did in Yan'an Prefecture. "
After that, he put his hand on the table: "But in fact, this is helping the imperial court. Those bastards in the imperial court who want to kill us have never dreamed of doing this."
Cao Yao spread his hands, his meaning was obvious.
The vassal kings, the annexation of land, the large gentry family, and the imperial court were suffering from chronic diseases.
"Fushi County and Ansai were able to achieve success because of natural disasters and the army. Wang Jiayin in the north held back the border troops, and Liu Guan's team was stationed in Yan'an Prefecture. We successively attacked Lu in Yanchuan. It was luck or trickery, and in Yanhe Hequ's fight against Li Bei... Grandma's battle was really cowardly, it's not like she couldn't win, it's just, alas, it's not important."
As he spoke, this guy even got angry with himself, clapped his hands and said: "We are here, dividing the land equally for the people, and leading the people to resist taxes. That is what everyone wants, but you won't leave? Can you lead all the people away? What will they do if you leave? Continue to resist the tax? Fight with a knife to your head."
"There was no natural disaster, secondly the corrupt officials were killed, thirdly the wealthy families who collected the rent were gone. Paying taxes would not destroy the family, and the donations were gone. In this way..."
Cao Yao waved his hand and circled the crowd: "Let's go to Shanxi. I don't dare to tell the south or the north. The imperial court will harvest at least half more autumn grain in Shanxi this year."
Cheng Yun kept frowning and listened, and waited until he finished speaking before saying: "Guan Cao, let's keep some people to continue fighting the tax. We will keep the injured veterans and teach them how to train and fight against the Minzhuang, the tax collectors, and the banner army."
"Can."
Cao Yao first confirmed the idea of carrying luck, and then said: "There must be such a person who lives full of anger and doesn't know who to seek revenge. If you don't show him a clear way, he will fall into the grass or hang himself. He will be determined to do it." Yes, but again, Shanxi is not Shaanxi, and others are not Heilongshan."
"There are a few talents like that. Go and train them. One family will give us a strong man. The family lacks a strong laborer for farming, and the people's livelihood will be lost. After training for half a year, they will fight with the army. After the fight, these people will die, and the village will They were looted by the government and the army. Next time we enter Shanxi, the people will also take up swords and guns to deal with you and me."
Cao Yao opened his palms and shook his head silently: "The situation in the middle may not be better than that in the north and south."
Chengyun wanted to say something more, but his hand had already been raised above his head, and finally fell down weakly: "What should we do?"
Zhong Hu clutched his hair scarf in distress, and finally looked helplessly at Liu Chengzong: "General, this is too damn complicated. Who do you want to kill?"
Liu Chengzong smiled and said: "Actually, I have thought about what Commander Cao said. In the past, there were no conditions in Shaanxi. The troops were limited. They were either driven away by this or beaten by that. They could not disperse into the countryside to control the villages, and there was no way to think about the long term. The only thing that matters is the Xingzi River, which is big enough."
"It is true that we have not been in Shanxi for a short time. There are two mountains and a river. It is difficult to get in and get out. But I still want to try. If the people continue to resist the tax after we leave, it will kill all the people who care about us. Then we will not resist the tax. Well."
Liu Chengzong said very easily: "People, people are more important than horses, people are more important than money, people are more important than anything else. As long as these people are here, we will not lose money. If we pay for the food to the court, we will pay for it. At worst, we will go there again to pay the autumn food." So why not just arrest the officials and rob them?"
"What if we step back ten thousand steps and let them collect some grain? The people in those villages are waiting for us. Without the apportionment, the people will collect more grain. We don't expect the people to give everything. We will help when they can. That’s enough, why should others risk their lives for us?”
He did not think that the people would fight to the death with the officers and soldiers, and in his heart he was opposed to the people fighting to the death with the officers and soldiers after they left.
The biggest lesson he learned from Emperor Chongzhen was to know that others need to eat.
Is it realistic for people to abandon their homes and careers, their wives and children to devote themselves to training and contribute to their rebellion?
People need to eat, and they need to eat to stay alive.
There is only one possibility for most people to rebel and fight to the death, that is, if the people are not allowed to live, no matter what, they will die, so some of them will choose to fight to the death.
"Leave the name of the rebel army behind. This time the people are afraid. Next time the people will not run away. Next time the people will line the streets to welcome you. We have to eat the food one bite at a time, but we have to make it step by step. We can do better than the officials and soldiers of the imperial court. This is confidence. None?"
Liu Chengzong smiled extremely easily.
The drought in Shanxi is mild, but Shanxi still has frontier troops. The frontier troops also have no military pay and no enough food.
The officers and soldiers cannot rob the gentry, the government, or the king's village. The officers and soldiers can only rob the common people.
They are different. They can rob too much, but the common people are the least necessary.
The benefits are low and the harm is high.
"It won't do any harm. You just need to explain these things clearly to the sergeants under the sentry. At the same time, you must strictly observe military discipline and do not plunder without authorization. 50% of the profits of each sentry will be handed over, 20% will be retained, 10% will be distributed to the officers, and 20% will be distributed to Soldier, just do these two things."
"This is the first time we have appeared in the eyes of Shanxi people, letting them know that we are rebels and not thieves who harm the people."
Liu Chengzong repeated this sentence again, and then said solemnly: "The whole battalion is protected, from top to bottom at all levels. The sentry commander protects the captain, the captain protects the commander, and the commander protects the sergeant to ensure that the soldiers under his command will harm innocent people. Fight bravely, and anyone who violates the rules will be killed... Anyone who can't do it will return to the Xingzi River."
