Three to four thousand Dashun imperial soldiers with messy uniforms and scattered flags gathered in their camp.
It's said to be a camp, but in fact it's a bit scattered, with only a few tents! Although trenches were dug, fences were erected, and parapets were built according to the regulations of the Dashun Army. However, the trenches were only shallow enough to reach a person's knees, and there were only a few stockade fences. The breastworks were low and could be crossed by raising one's legs.
Such a defense, let alone Dashun's imperial camp, even Sichuan Xiangyong who had just opened the Ming Dynasty could not set up such a camp!
However, this powerful force that Li Zicheng single-handedly led and followed the three generations of Dashun emperors Li Zicheng, Li Guo and Li Laiheng in their military campaigns and made great achievements, this time, they were in bad luck with Li Laiheng and had fallen into this situation.
After they escaped from Chongqing Mansion, they became bereaved dogs. Not only were they fiercely pursued by the elite soldiers of the Ming army, but they were also constantly ambushed by the Sichuanese Xiangyong who organized themselves!
When they first retreated from Chongqing, they could still fight back and forth with various pursuers and ambushes. However, the day and night fighting still caused them to continue to suffer losses. Moreover, they became more and more exhausted as they fought, and their food supplies became increasingly scarce. Shao——Due to the withdrawal of Fu soldiers, the local political power of Dashun in Chongqing, Luzhou, Xuzhou, Wumeng, Dongchuan and other prefectures also disappeared. Following Li Laiheng and Tian Jianxiu, they withdrew from Chongqing Prefecture and Luzhou Prefecture. It is difficult for the army to get supplies, and they can only get some food and drink by looting along the way. Because they are getting more and more embarrassed as they run, and they have lost most of their baggage, artillery, chariots and horses, and camping equipment. Now they can barely survive. It's really not bad to set up a camp.
This army is now stationed in front of Ma'anshan, a key pass retreating from Dongchuan Prefecture in Sichuan to Xundian Prefecture in Yunnan. Ma'anshan is located to the south of Dongchuan Valley. This area is densely covered with mountains. There are no spacious official roads, only winding valley bottom paths in the middle of the mountains. The hillsides on both sides are not steep, and there are many terraced fields. Along the way, you can see a lot of debris that has just been discarded, including tattered daily necessities and vehicles. From time to time, you can also see people lying on the roadside. The dead bodies...are all those of old, weak, women and children!
This should be the body of Fu Binghu who went south. He died on the way to Yunnan before leaving Sichuan!
This was not the first time that Li Laiheng's imperial camp had seen such a scene during their escape... Every time they saw it, the morale of the army dropped!
These people are all the elders of the imperial camp soldiers! They could have retreated to Yunnan in an orderly manner, but now they ended up in such a miserable end because Li Laiheng abandoned Chongqing and escaped.
It sounds like this is all Li Laiheng's fault!
He had only been emperor for a short time, but the Dashun Dynasty had lost Sichuan. The good days for him had come to an end. What would he do in the future? With only one Yunnan and Myanmar left, can the Dashun Dynasty still be maintained?
When Li Laiheng's imperial camp arrived in front of Ma'an Mountain in Dongchuan Prefecture, they finally encountered the Dashun government who was still functioning. The Dongchuan Jiedushi who were originally stationed in the Dongchuan Valley withdrew to Ma'anshan. When they heard that the emperor had escaped, they finally sent some soldiers to bring them some food and supplies and let them camp here temporarily, but they were not allowed to cross Hengshan. March to Kunming.
In the past, Li Laiheng would have regarded this behavior as rebellion and mobilized troops to attack Ma'anshan Fortress! But now...the atmosphere is not right!
Not to mention that the Shun army coming down from Ma'an Mountain was not right, even the imperial camp protecting Li Laiheng looked wrong... So he could only wait anxiously for news from Kunming.
Now it was time to start dinner again. The pots and stoves were set up, and the smell of cooked rice was wafting on the hillside, but Li Laiheng had no appetite and was just in a daze in his tent.
He was originally a rogue and was good at mobile warfare. When he followed Li Zicheng and Li Guo in their expeditions to the east and west, he relied on mobile warfare to shatter the Ming Dynasty's rule in the Central Plains. So in his opinion, the transfer to Yunnan should not be too difficult.
But it turns out... Dashun, who has been a bandit for more than 20 years, can no longer move!
The retreat from Sichuan seemed to be a disorganized mess! Especially after he retreated from Chongqing, there were rout everywhere. I don’t know how many people were killed or captured during the rout!
Of the more than 400,000 soldiers in Sichuan, I don’t know if half of them could escape to Yunnan alive!
What a heavy loss!
Thinking of this, Li Laiheng burst into tears. While he was crying, there was a commotion outside the camp.
Li Laiheng pricked up his ears and listened. It seemed that Li Zijing was coming!
"King Changle is here!"
"King Changle has brought us food..."
"King Changle is so good, thank you King Changle..."
What is Li Zijing doing here? Li Laiheng was a little strange, why didn't Li Jicheng come? Even if he can't leave, it should still be Sun Kewang and Liu Zongmin! How could it be Li Zijing, the king of Changle? He never cares about anything!
Just when I was wondering, I saw the curtain of the big tent being opened, and then Tian Jianxiu, Niu Jinxing and Gu Junen came in surrounded by Li Laiheng's great-uncle Li Zijing.
Although Li Zijing is Li Laiheng's great-uncle, he is not much older than Li Laiheng. Because he has always been blessed, he still looks young and looks like Li Laiheng's younger brother.
After entering the big tent, Li Zijing kowtowed respectfully and said: "King Zijin of Changle respectfully wishes His Majesty's peace and congratulations to His Majesty..."
"Wait a minute, what's your name?" Li Laiheng was a little confused, "What's the point of congratulations?"
"Um, I call you the Supreme Emperor!" Li Zijing said, "Congratulations on becoming the Supreme Emperor... You were originally an emperor, but now you have been promoted to the next level and become the Supreme Emperor. Of course it is a happy event."
Has the emperor upgraded?
How is this going?
Li Laiheng was so shocked that he couldn't even speak! Since ancient times, people who have been emperors usually have no ambition. They don't want to be promoted, they just want to stay in this position forever, and Li Laiheng is certainly no exception.
Niu Jinxing, who came in with Li Zijing, smiled and explained at this time: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is filial. He heard in Yunnan that you were defeated in Chongqing and was extremely anxious. In order to be filial, he went to the Long March Mansion and Kunming The ministers who stayed behind persuaded me to ascend the throne and become the emperor. They also asked you to be the Supreme Emperor in your old age and asked you to return to Kunming to take care of your old age... From now on, you will be like the Emperor Chongzhen of the dying Ming Dynasty, eating, drinking and having fun every day. I’m worried about national affairs.”
Tian Jianxiu also said: "Your Majesty, you are really lucky. It's great to have such a filial son! I'm so envious of you. My eldest son is already in his thirties. It's hard for him to hold a big position. He can't even be a magistrate." None of them work well."
Li Laiheng looked at Gu Junen again, and Gu Junen smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince will always be your flesh and blood... Your throne will belong to him sooner or later. He just ascended the throne in advance, so you should look away. . Anyway, you have been an emperor, and it is quite good to be an emperor now."
Li Laiheng almost lost the energy to carry it, but he has only been an emperor for more than a year, and he is still not satisfied with it! Li Jicheng, the rebellious son, is only in his twenties. Why is he anxious? Wouldn't it be okay to remain a prince for another forty or fifty years?
Seeing Li Laiheng's silence, Gu Junen and Tian Jianxiu quickly winked at Li Zijing - the most ruthless emperor's family! Moreover, the Dashun Dynasty also learned from the Tang Dynasty. In the history of the Tang Dynasty, were there not many incidents of father and son fighting, mother and son killing each other, and brothers killing each other? If Li Laiheng refuses to give in, his filial son Li Jicheng may fall out, and then no one can survive!
Li Zijing, this confused prince, still had some brains at the critical moment. He immediately said with a sad face: "The new emperor has tens of thousands of Long March soldiers in Kunming, and they are all fed with silver rupees. His Highness the King of Han is also with the new emperor." , he also has thousands of soldiers near Kunming. Many soldiers who fled from Sichuan were also taken in by the new emperor, and they all obeyed his words. King Qin has been placed under house arrest in the palace, and his soldiers have all been disarmed. .....Moreover, the story of Maweipo is still being spread in Kunming City, saying that the King of Qin is Yang Guozhong, and the Queen is Yang Guifei! Your Majesty, look at this..."
Li Laiheng took a breath. If he didn't agree to this matter, Empress Sun and the children she gave birth to would probably become victims of the sword!
"That's alright!" Li Laiheng sighed, "Well, let's just become the Supreme Prince... Well, let's see how this filial son of mine fights with the filial son Zhu of Ming Dynasty!"
