After Dorgon led his troops to withdraw from the customs, for a long time, there was no movement from Shenzi outside the customs, as if Braid was beaten stupid by a certain prince.
It wasn't until the beginning of summer that the important news was discovered through the intelligence agents there, that is, Huang Taiji planned to "open a mine"!
Hundreds of thousands of coated slaves were sent out to reclaim the plain north of Tieling.
Even if it's just a small part, it would probably cover millions of acres.
Once successful, Huangtai Chicken can easily harvest millions of stones of grain every year.
If vigorous development is carried out, it is possible to create 10 million acres of arable land within five years.
How fertile the land in the Northeast is, a certain prince knows better than Huang Taiji.
But there is the hinterland of Braid, which belongs to the rear area. There are hardcore doglegs like Horqin to the west and mountains to the east.
It is better to expect Siberian tigers and blind bears to kill a few slaves than to expect the Ming vassal king to send troops and horses to conquer or harass...
I have to say, Huang Taiji’s move is really powerful. A certain prince stared blankly when he found out about it. It can be said that he “looked at the ground and sighed”!
Let Huang Taiji own a huge and very safe granary, the consequences would be disastrous.
As long as there is enough food, plus the cavalry and war horses provided by Menggu's ministries.
Huang Taiji can also make his own guns, train infantry, and it is possible to produce three to four hundred thousand braided soldiers.
It's just that there are fewer banner soldiers and more Han soldiers. Although the combat effectiveness of the Han soldiers is inferior to that of the banner soldiers, it is scary enough to produce two to three hundred thousand.
All my airships, tanks, mortars and troop training methods were learned from others.
The Royal Chicken suffered a big loss in the winter, but it still held back in the summer. It turned out that it was a big trick that was being suppressed at home!
The braid was originally one mine, but once this granary was built, it had to become two mines.
The previous base of a certain prince is also counted as one mine, and the mining of mines everywhere plus the contribution of a certain father is counted as two mines.
If this continues, it will mean that both sides are evenly matched and are back on the same starting line.
Fortunately, a certain prince still had a backup plan. He could win over the second-rate Tokugawa general in the east, and he could still use the Japanese army to support him for a while.
By forming an alliance with France in the west, you can also show goodwill to Rome and recruit some German mercenaries to fight in the east.
Then after Dongfan Island was captured, Zheng Zhilong sent a fleet to transport a large number of Fujian people there.
As long as they are willing to move there, men and women of suitable age can get thirty acres, and the elderly and children can get ten acres each.
The most important thing is that the imperial court does not collect taxes, and Zheng Zhilong does not collect taxes.
So the people who moved to Dongfan all offered a portrait of a certain prince to burn incense in their homes...
The original intention was to enshrine Zheng Zhilong, but Zhen Haibo was frightened. This move was almost equivalent to proving the crime of rebellion.
So he hurriedly sent people to distribute a bunch of portraits of the prince. This prince can offer whatever he wants. The capital has already started!
In exchange for tax exemption, a certain prince only asked for food from the people on Dongfan Island.
That is one of them. The cultivation of other crops, especially sugar cane, is absolutely not allowed on the island, with the exception of vegetables and fruits that are self-sufficient for the island.
Secondly, based on the population, each family can keep four shi of grain per person, and the rest must be sold to the court. The court purchases it at one tael per shi, and can also be exchanged for various commodities, which are converted at market prices without premium.
Dongfan can achieve at least five years of maturity, and even if the damage caused by the storm is included, it can still reach four years of maturity.
Based on the calculation that one mu of land can produce five shi of grain per year, one million acres of land is equivalent to 5 million shi, and after excluding the self-retained land, there must be 4 million shi.
By transporting all this grain to the north, plus the portion purchased by Zheng Zhilong from Annan and Guangdong and Guangxi, the needs of the capital's population can be met.
All the grain produced in Jifu was hoarded as military grain and strategic grain storage to prepare for emergencies.
It is foreseeable that Huang Taiji will launch an unprecedented fierce attack after completing its preparations.
A certain prince also had to prepare carefully. Food was one of the most important strategic materials.
Two mines are attacking two mines, and the opponent's troops are exposed, which is very difficult to deal with.
Fortunately, a certain prince could still work hard on technology and turn one base into a two-base one.
Since no more units can be added, the offensive and defensive capabilities of the existing units must be improved.
Since Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting still had not solved the problem of rogue bandits, a certain prince in the north did not dare to allow the imperial court to expand its army at will.
Zhang Xianzhong and the fifth battalion of Ge Zuo were frightened by the attack by the army and simply hid in the Dabie Mountains.
No matter how Hong Chengchou carried out a dragnet-style campaign, he failed to achieve the expected results.
After Sun Chuanting returned from the capital, he continued to pursue Li Zicheng's troops from Shanxi to Shaanxi.
In the end, Li Zicheng actually reunited with Chai Shihua's troops entrenched in Gansu, which meant that the rebels were chasing more and more...
After negotiating with Zuo Maodi, the governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting borrowed 15,000 Yulin recruits, plus the original troops under his command, and under absolute firepower cover, began a large-scale attack on the two groups of rebels in the spring.
Chai Shihua had heard of Sun Chuanting's name a long time ago, but he always thought that it was exaggerated. If it was so powerful, why not kill Li Zicheng?
So he led the main force of the rebel army, about ten thousand people, and fought a battle at Liangzhou Guard, the gateway to Gansu.
The two sides fought fiercely for three days, and finally Chai Shihua fled in a hurry with five thousand remaining troops...
In contrast, Li Zicheng was much more pragmatic. Knowing that Sun Chuanting was not easy to mess with, he ran away.
There is nothing to be ashamed of, Sun Chuanting has already punished everyone who was embarrassed!
There are four ways before Li Zicheng. One is to merge with Chai Shihua's troops and continue to resist Sun Gou's attack.
Second, leaving the customs to the north will only lead to hard days, after all, the surrounding area outside the customs is all desert.
Third, go south and enter the Tumut territory. Although it was someone else's territory at the time, as long as you conquer it, it will become your own.
Fourth, go to Yilibali via Hamiwei, that is, the Western Region. No matter how hard the Sun Dog Thieves pursue them, they won't be so crazy, right?
At the crossroads, Li Zicheng was hesitant and still waiting for news from Chai Shihua.
If Chai Shihua's troops can resist the attack of Sun Gou's thieves, it means that there is still hope for running Gansu.
Otherwise, while the troops are still intact, they will immediately get into trouble!
Chai Shihua lived up to expectations and retreated in panic.
Li Zicheng also knew that once he was bitten by the Sun Dog Thief again, it would be difficult to escape quickly.
There is no dog-headed military advisor around him who can give him advice.
After careful consideration, Li Zicheng finally decided to head west directly.
If the Sun Dog thieves come after them, they can continue to the west or south into Tumut territory, or they can go out and kill Ningxia.
On the contrary, temporarily living in northwest Gansu, no matter how bad the conditions here are, is much better than eating sand in another place.
At some point, Li Zicheng wanted to surrender to the imperial court, but he was afraid that the imperial court would not trust these people who were friends with Luo Rucai and others.
If I had known it now, why bother then!
If that doesn't work, wouldn't it be nice to go to a sparsely populated place, build a court yourself, and become a local emperor?
Once this idea arises in your mind, it becomes a lingering thought that may appear at any time.
It's definitely not possible within the pass. Either go to Tumut or Yilibaili. In short, we just can't let the Sun Gou thieves catch us.
Li Zicheng was depressed, and Sun Chuanting was even more angry!
From the time when the prince supervised the country until now, he has mobilized troops and mobilized people, spending a huge amount of money every month, but still failed to eradicate the root cause.
If it were not for the fifteen thousand Yulin soldiers, it would be impossible to carry out a push-type attack in the huge territory of Shaanxi with just the tens of thousands of people in his own hands.
However, after many Qin soldiers returned to their hometown, they found that the people's lives seemed to be better than before.
This is all due to Shaanxi Governor Zuo Maodi's implementation of the Prince's new order. The mining of Yulin Coal Mine, Yanchang Oilfield and gold mines has alleviated the financial pressure that Shaanxi had previously faced to a certain extent.
In addition, the prince ordered Yulin to be used as a base to organize and train the new army. The idle young people in the area were recruited as workers or soldiers. Even if there were people with ulterior motives who wanted to rebel, they would not be able to recruit enough soldiers.
Zuo Maodi didn't know how to unite the army to fight, so the imperial court also sent people who were good at recruiting and fighting to command the local troops.
Therefore, they were unable to deal with the arrogant Chai Shihua. Before, they could only barely maintain the situation and prevent the rebels from becoming powerful quickly.
Chai Shihua's army was originally not large in scale, but after borrowing troops from Tumote, he successively captured the Liangzhou Guard and Xining Guard.
Taking advantage of the situation, he took control of key areas such as Yongchang Guard, Zhenfan Guard, and Zhuanglang Guard, and his military strength suddenly expanded to more than 20,000.
Coupled with the help of the Tumote cavalry, Zuo Maodi had no choice but to stick to the Lanzhou Central Guard and turn this place into a forward position.
Chai Shihua originally planned to block Sun Chuanting's attack at Zhuang Langwei, the southernmost area under his control.
But considering the huge power of the Tumut cavalry, I wanted to invite you to enter the urn, and then catch the turtle in the urn!
The specific plan is to attract Sun Chuanting's troops to Liangzhou Guards and use the fortified city to defend the enemy.
After Sun Chuanting's troops were defeated, the Tumote cavalry was responsible for intercepting and killing them halfway.
In order to motivate his allies, Chai Shihua first gave the other party a large amount of goods and promised that as long as Sun Chuanting lost, the spoils on the battlefield would belong to the other party.
If you can capture the Lanzhou Central Guard in the future, you can take away all the items in the city!
Considering that this time our side only killed the Ming army halfway, not the main attack, and also got the benefits first, the Tumut people agreed.
But neither side expected that Sun Chuanting could really take down Liangzhou City!
This result was completely unplanned...
Sun Chuanting's unit was equipped with new bronze cannons, as well as a large number of mortars and rockets. The level of projected firepower had already far exceeded Chai Shihua's expectations.
Before attacking the city, dozens of mounds were built less than 200 steps away from the city wall.
The artillery used these mounds to fire frequently into the city. Not to mention the weak firepower of the rebels, they were unable to fight back.
After the female wall that the defenders relied on was almost destroyed, the rebels who had no cover were directly beaten and fled in the face of the fierce attack of the official army.
Under this situation, if Chai Shihua didn't run away, he might be tied up by his subordinates and given to Sun Chuanting as a meeting gift!
After receiving the news of Chai Shihua's defeat, the Tumut people had no intention of helping their brothers.
The two sides are just temporary allies. If they win, they will continue to cooperate, and if they lose, they will go their separate ways.
The Tumut people ignored Chai Shihua at all and decided to return to their hometown in the West Sea (Qinghai).
Seeing that the benefits are almost gone, they are not going to fight to the death with tens of thousands of Ming troops!
Only then did Chai Shihua regret that he had not listened to Li Zicheng's advice and tried to conserve his strength to avoid fighting with the Sun Gou thief.
Li Zicheng once said that many years ago, a Liao people established another Liao Kingdom in the west.
Chai Shihua felt that what he was talking about should be the creation of Hou Liao, that is, the Yelu Dashi of the Liao Kingdom in the Western Regions.
What Li Zicheng means is that since this guy can build a country in the west, we two brothers also have a lot of troops, so naturally we can build it too!
It is impossible for the officers and soldiers to chase him thousands of miles away to the west. From now on, he can live happily in the west.
After defeating five thousand elite soldiers at once, and with Sun Chuanting chasing after him, Chai Shihua felt that Gansu would definitely not be able to defend it now.
It's best to run as far as you can, save your life first.
If I don’t have enough capital in the future, I will never come back to ask for trouble.
While Chai Shihua cursed the Tumote people for their treachery, he also resented Li Zicheng for being as cowardly as a mouse.
But the body consciously ran to Suzhou Guard in the northwest, and then left the customs and went to Hami Guard.
By the time we reach Hamiwei, we will be able to return with our lives saved!
Inform Li Zicheng to run away together?
None of these guys were willing to join forces with him to resist the Sun Gou thieves, and Chai Shihua had no intention of informing him.
So, two people who were planning to leave each other's troops to be digested by Sun Gouzie met halfway...
After Chai Shihua gathered the garrison from various places, there were still nearly 20,000 people.
Li Zicheng's military strength is not much different. If the two sides merge together, they will be a force that cannot be underestimated.
Now Chai Shihua's views on Sun Gou Thief finally agreed with Li Zicheng's, and he no longer wanted to keep his territory.
The only difference is that Chai Shihua plans to settle in Hamiwei and will go to Yiliba if possible.
As long as there is still hope of returning to Shaanxi, Li Zicheng has no intention of taking his men away from home.
If you want to realize this wish, you must go to Tumut or leave the customs. If you go to Hamiwei, you will probably not come back.
Once Sun Gouzie controls Suzhou Guard, which is Jiayuguan, it will be equivalent to controlling the entrance to the Hexi Corridor.
If this road is blocked, if you want to return to the pass, you will have to go to the territory of the Tumut people.
If we go outside the customs, if the army is seriously short of water, it may lead to the entire army being annihilated.
Li Zicheng had not thought about going to Hami Guard, but since the Sun Gou thieves were chasing him too fast, he could only lead his troops to Shazhou Guard first.
Starting from Shazhou Guard and walking northwest for six to seven hundred miles, we will reach Hami Guard.
A few hundred miles further west is the famous Flame Mountain, and you will enter Yilibaoli.
Chai Shihua has been stationed in Shaanxi for many years, so he naturally knows something about the situation nearby.
Li Zicheng felt that having such a guide as his companion was more or less useful.
The furthest Sun Dog Thief could pursue was as far as the Flame Mountain, and if he followed him, then why not go to the Western Region together and become kings side by side!
Chai Shihua said that the Western Regions produced melons and fruits, and the mutton was even more delicious. Most importantly, there were many beauties, almost everywhere.
Li Zicheng was perfunctory and expressed great interest, but in his heart he was slandering this guy. He was indeed a short-sighted person.
If you can't even hunt down the local herdsmen, how can you be happy and free?
The two of them must first establish themselves, and then think about how to be happy!
Li Zicheng claimed to be a descendant of Li Tang, and Chai Shihua claimed to be a descendant of Chai Rong, Taizu of the Later Zhou Dynasty.
It would be okay to build two kingdoms, but on the contrary, should the country be called Tang and Zhou, or Zhou and Tang? ? ?
Since Jianguo was located in the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty was the Tang Dynasty in the Western Region, and the Great Zhou Dynasty was also the Great Zhou Dynasty in the Western Region!
Li Zicheng felt that by using the name of the Tang Dynasty for his own use, he could at least intimidate the local herders...
