On the 15th day of the first lunar month in the eighth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other tribesmen captured Fengyang, the capital of the Ming Dynasty. They destroyed the imperial mausoleums and palaces, burned dragons to build temples, killed more than 60 eunuchs, and beheaded the Prime Minister Zhu and thousands of officers and soldiers who were left behind in the Ming Dynasty.
The occurrence of this incident resulted in the killing of a large number of civil servants and military generals, and Emperor Chongzhen also issued the first sinner edict.
Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen dispatched his most capable generals to protect the imperial mausoleum from being destroyed by bandits. It was led by the eunuch Lu Jiude and had two generals under his command, one was Huang Degong and the other was Liu Liangzuo. Among them, Huang Degong is naturally the most famous, with outstanding military exploits.
At about the same time that Li Laiheng led his troops onto the sea ship, Liu Liangzuo, who was far away in Fengyang Mansion, was drinking and cursing in his back office.
"Is it a human thing to want a horse to run and not eat grass?"
"Damn it, you made me anxious, so you turned against me!"
"..."
This Liu Liangzuo had two most famous battles. One was in the tenth year of Chongzhen, when Cao Cao and Luo Rucai led an army of 50,000 men, claiming to be 250,000 men, to storm Yunyang. Liu Liangzuo rescued Yunyang, and the whole army was wiped out.
The other time was more famous, but it didn't happen in this plane. According to the original historical development, Liu Liangzuo, who had surrendered to the rebels, attacked Jiangyin. On the 81st, he captured Jiangyin held by Yan Yingyuan and massacred all the people in the city!
At this time, when his son Liu Zehan, who was drinking with him, heard his words, he was shocked and quickly advised: "Father, be careful what you say, be careful what you say!"
At the very beginning, the imperial court beheaded Wang Pu, He Renlong and others who had escaped from the battle. When military discipline was strictly enforced, Liu Liangzuo did not take it seriously and even complained in private. The imperial court did not provide military pay, money and food, so how could this war be fought? Why is military discipline so serious? It's really getting urgent. Let's see who is in a hurry in the end, the court or who else!
Later, he heard news that Zuo Liangyu and Governor Hou Xun wanted to clear the emperor, which was tantamount to rebellion. That day, he drank to his heart's content and took great pleasure in his misfortune.
He liked to see Zuo Liangyu making such a fuss. If the quarrel succeeds, the court will no longer be able to restrict the generals who hold military power, which is to his benefit; if there is a stalemate and ultimately fails, that's okay. At least let the court know that it is okay not to make blind comparisons with these generals who hold military power. Otherwise, who is responsible for forcing the rebellion?
However, he did not expect that Zuo Liangyu would be decided by the court just after he called Qing Junzi. The whereabouts of Zuo Liangyu and Hou Xun are still unknown. This news shocked him greatly.
At first he thought it was Min Hongxue, Minister of War, leading the troops, but later he heard that it was the recently powerful Xingguo Gong who was leading the troops. He actually had this ability, and it was determined that Zuo Liangyu was stronger than him in a battle.
Since hearing the news, Liu Liangzuo has become much more honest, restraining his men not to disturb the people.
However, the situation does exist. The military pay and food provided by the imperial court were very limited. Without money and food, his men will make trouble!
For this reason, Liu Liangzuo approached Lu Jiude.
The answer he got from Lu Jiude was that the imperial court had a decree and asked him to report the real strength of the troops according to the facts. He was not allowed to use empty pay or use weapons to fill the numbers, and he was to follow the prescribed strength. In this way, the imperial court will issue corresponding military pay.
This matter made Liu Liangzuo angry again.
In the battles with the bandits over the years, who cares what the rules were before, which was to raise a group of servants, then expand the cannon fodder as much as possible, and then select some capable soldiers from the cannon fodder to enrich the servants.
As for the so-called servants, they are not on the roster of the Ministry of War and belong to Liu Liangzuo's private soldiers. The imperial court wanted him to confiscate this private soldier and no longer use the imperial court's money to raise private soldiers for generals.
Of course Liu Liangzuo didn't want to do this. Not only him, but other generals are also the same, no one is willing!
However, Zhang Mingwei's men were mainly from the Jingying camp, which was expanded from the Yongwei camp.
Among the current imperial officers and soldiers, only the newly formed Yongwei Battalion is a serious regular army. The soldiers are listed on the roster and belong only to the emperor's personal troops.
As for Wu Sangui, Bai Guangen and others, they originally fought as servants. However, the entire army was wiped out in the Battle of Songjin. The newly led army was selected from the soldiers and civilians who had withdrawn from Liaodong. They were also regular troops and did not include any servants.
In this regard, perhaps it is a blessing and a curse, otherwise, it would be difficult to use these five general soldiers. Those servants do not listen to the court, but only to the masters and generals who support them.
On the south side of the Yangtze River, Huang Degong's troops are still dominated by the original Yongwei Battalion. Although after stationed in the south, as the soldiers of the original Yongwei Battalion died in battle, he also had a tendency to move towards the servant system, but it has not yet become large-scale. After all, He had only been separated from the Yongwei Camp for a short period of time, and he himself was still very loyal to the imperial court.
At this time, the imperial court's new requirements for the military system had little impact on Huang Degong, but they had a great impact on Liu Liangzuo.
At first, he only dared to complain privately. At most, he was unable to contribute to the war. After all, he had no money to fight a fart war!
Later, Xingguo's headquarters in Kaifeng was besieged by millions of bandits. As time passed, his men began to cause trouble, so military discipline was relaxed again. And he himself complained more and more.
Lu Jiude once looked for him, but at this time, the veteran leaders who originally held military power were already too big to lose. He was perfunctory, and Lu Jiude was helpless.
However, recently, news came from the north that Luo Rucai was the leader, Li Zicheng was defeated and escaped, and Kaifeng was victorious!
As soon as this news came, Liu Liangzuo was so frightened that he became honest again. He quickly enforced strict military discipline and began to count the rosters, preparing to follow the court's requirements honestly.
However, as further news came, there were rumors that in this battle, Duke Xingguo was not actually that powerful, but the bandits themselves took advantage of Duke Xingguo.
In addition, Liu Liangzuo heard that Duke Xingguo did not take the opportunity to pursue and kill the fled Li Zicheng's troops, so he confirmed that this rumor was probably true. For this reason, Duke Xingguo did not dare to lead his troops in pursuit.
So, this incident of his naturally happened again. Can he hand over his servants? Of course he doesn't want to.
Time passed like this, and of course his men started making trouble again.
Liu Liangzuo was annoyed. After drinking, he naturally began to vent his dissatisfaction.
But his son Liu Zehan is afraid. According to this situation, if his father takes the same path as Zuo Liangyu, he will understand that at least his father is not as strong as Zuo Liangyu. Not to mention how Duke Xingguo defeated the Liu bandits, at least it was a fact that he defeated Zuo Liangyu.
At this time, when Liu Liangzuo saw his son acting so cowardly, he immediately became more angry. He slapped the table and shouted: "Be careful, what the hell, the imperial court can still eat me? The gangsters are so powerful now." , the eight kings are gathering their troops to practice naval warfare in Chaohu, and the fifth battalion of Gezuo has also gone to join them. When the time comes, if the court dares to take action against me, who will go to guard Yingtian Mansion on behalf of the emperor?"
In the original history, during this time period, Liu Liangzuo and Huang Degong teamed up to raid Zhang Xianzhong's headquarters in Qianshan. The victory was a great blow to Zhang Xianzhong's thoughts.
But in this plane, they all stayed in Fengyang Mansion, so naturally there was no Qianshan victory.
And Zhang Xianzhong had just captured Luzhou, and later conquered Lujiang County, seizing not only 300 double-gunned ships, but also other ships were being captured one after another. This made Zhang Xianzhong's ambition even greater, so he recruited sailors in Chaohu and practiced His navy is here.
It is for this reason that Liu Liangzuo has the idea of Shouying Tianfu.
After hearing this, Liu Zehan was still very worried and said: "There was news before that Duke Xingguo had led his troops south. If my father's words spread, then Zuo Liangyu will learn from the past!"
The name Zuo Liangyu still has weight. When Liu Liangzuo heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then realized his own weight and became a little timid.
But after all, in front of his son, he had just scolded him for being a coward, so how could he be cowarded too quickly, so he still said stubbornly: "I finally saw that the court has no money, so I just thought of ways to force me! "
After finishing speaking, he raised his glass and drank it down, then slammed the glass on the table, and then sneered: "Even if I don't report the others, there are so many people, will the court have to dismiss them?" Doesn’t that make the thieves cheap? I just look at it, the court can get this money even if it doesn’t pay it!”
Obviously, Liu Liangzuo was still timid after hearing that Duke Xingguo was leading his troops south.
Hearing this, Liu Zehan asked curiously: "Didn't you say that the imperial court confiscated a lot of money and food?"
When Liu Liangzuo heard this, he immediately curled up the corner of his mouth and sneered: "No matter how much money and food is confiscated, there is always a certain amount, right? The imperial court moved the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong inland, built the Great Wall defense line, and reissued their military pay, and even issued an order to There must be no deprivation of military pay. Also, resettling bandits, demoting soldiers, etc., it is said that water conservancy projects are still being built. Isn’t that a matter of spending money like water? There is also no tax collection north of the Yangtze River, haha..."
Having said this, he said in an affirmative tone: "The imperial court definitely doesn't have much money in hand, and the money and food needed for the south is an amount that is hard to count! I think what Duke Xingguo will do when he comes what to do!"
………………
Not to mention, Liu Liangzuo's guess about the money was pretty close.
Although a lot of homes were confiscated in the capital, as well as those of the eight major Shanxi merchants, they did make a lot of money. However, at the same time, the court also spent money like water, and if the houses were not searched in the future, the money would be used less.
The glass factory is in Jingdezhen, and it also requires a process to get the money from the sales of glass into the national treasury.
Zhang Mingwei led his troops southward along the Yellow River. Not only can it speed up the march, at least many things can be transported by ship. More importantly, he wants to solve the problem of money and food.
Just like in the north, defeating the bandits is not the key. The key is to have enough money and food to solve them.
