Gao Yigong said solemnly: "A brother who came over from the border army said that there were rumors that the emperor had issued an order to ask the vassal princes to provide money and food to solve the problem of military pay and food arrears. He didn't believe it and came over, but originally there were many and None of the brothers he wanted to come with came, saying they would wait and see."
After he finished speaking, the lobby was very quiet for a while. Suddenly, Liu Zongmin burst out laughing. He broke the silence first and said, "Can you believe this? This is more rare than an old sow climbing a tree!"
When he said this, the atmosphere suddenly became lively again. Yuan Zongdi also said: "It has been so many years, and it is not just recently that the payment was owed, and the emperor has not just ascended the throne. How could it be possible that the feudal prince's palace has not been asked to provide money and food until now? If he really meant this, he would have given up long ago. , why wait now?”
"Yes, Brother Yuan is a sensible person!" Liu Zongmin laughed loudly, then pointed at Gao Yigong and said, "Look, it scared Brother Gao, isn't it?"
Li Zicheng listened to their conversation and felt relieved. To be honest, he was really scared just now. The elite of Qin's border army are actually famous throughout the country. If it weren't for the lack of pay and food, and the lack of military morale, who would dare to stay in Qin!
Just as he was thinking about it, Gao Yigong still said with a serious face: "Brother, this matter is being spread around. I didn't take it seriously at the time. I asked several times in a row and there was such a rumor. In addition, I also heard a rumor. , I don’t know if it’s true or not, it’s said that the emperor even went on a personal expedition!”
"Ah, what?" When Li Zicheng heard this, he asked in surprise, "The emperor is on his way to the expedition in person?"
Before Gao Yigong could answer, Liu Zongmin yelled again: "Brother Gao, can you use your brain? How dare you leave the Forbidden City even if you are so rich? How dare you go out of the Forbidden City? Conquer it yourself? You wouldn't even dare to dream!"
After he finished speaking, he laughed again and glanced at the others, hoping that others would have the same idea as him and laugh at the dog emperor like him!
However, Li Guo frowned, stood up, and said to Li Zicheng: "Uncle, I heard from the brothers who escaped from Shanxi that some time ago, Hong shaved his head and King Lu Yan was in Shanxi, and they ransacked the houses of famous people. All the Shanxi merchants copied it. Originally, I thought that we wouldn’t go to Shanxi anyway, and I didn’t care much about it. However, when I heard the news from General Gao, if we put it together, I am afraid that the emperor really A lot has changed!”
Li Guo was considered an important person in the army, and he was Li Zicheng's nephew. Therefore, everyone else stopped talking and looked at him, waiting for his next words.
"I'm worried that the emperor may really change after being stimulated. Maybe he can also do what he ordered to the feudal prince's palace." Li Guo continued, "With Hong's head shaved, the support of King Lu Yan and others, the emperor personally marched on the expedition. , it’s not impossible!”
After he finished speaking, the hall became quiet again. They knew in their hearts that if the emperor really had to go on a personal expedition, and if the vassal palaces provided money and food, their life would be very difficult.
No, I heard Liu Fangliang say hesitantly: "How about... how about we go back to Shangluo Mountain first and check the situation? We can't go to Henan anyway, otherwise we will bump into the Imperial Forest Army. That's no joke. of."
"What's there to be afraid of? I could just twist off the emperor's dog head and use it as a urinal!" Liu Zongmin still refused to give in, but his voice was much lower than before.
The others said nothing and looked at Li Zicheng, waiting for him to make up his mind.
After a while, Li Zicheng made a decision and said: "We still don't know whether the matter is true or not. If we just run back to Shangluo Mountain, we won't be laughed at by other people! In this way, we will immediately send someone to inquire and verify the information." Okay, let’s discuss it again!”
This is considered a safe move, and others will naturally not have any objections.
Afterwards, it’s time to eat and drink again. But obviously, the atmosphere was not as lively as before.
Unlike Li Zicheng's side, Zhang Xianzhong's side in Hubei no longer had the excitement of destroying the imperial officers and soldiers at the beginning of the rebellion. At this time, he was discussing matters with Luo Rucai, Hui Dengxiang, Wang Guoning, Chang De'an, Yang Youxian, and Wang Guangen.
Then Zhang Xianzhong asked with a serious face: "You must have heard about it, about the emperor's personal conquest?"
Luo Rucai and others nodded after hearing this.
Rumors about the emperor's personal expedition were spread everywhere, and there was even news every day. Some say that the emperor has not left Beijing yet, others say that the emperor has already arrived in Henan, and will soon go to Hubei to quell the chaos; there is even news that the emperor has actually arrived in Xiangyang, and will soon bring the Yongwei Battalion to fight. .
They have personally experienced the combat effectiveness of the Yongwei Battalion. Previously, they had no choice but to accept Xiong Wencan's recruitment due to the pressure from the Yongwei Camp.
When the Yongwei camp went north to King Qin, many of them were even hoping in their hearts that the Yongwei camp would be killed by Jianlu. Regarding this, their expectations at the time were actually very high. After all, the Liaodong Jianlu were invincible, especially in field battles. As the Imperial Forest Army, the Yongwei Battalion could not avoid fighting and could only fight. Then they would fight the Jianlu in the field, and the outcome would probably not be good.
However, after they revolted, they received news that the Yongwei camp and the Qin soldiers had driven away the Jianlu and won a great victory, killing nearly 30,000 Jianlu. This news shocked them all and left them speechless for a long time.
At first, some people doubted the authenticity of the news. However, when they found out that those who participated in the battle command included Lu Yanwang, Hong Shaotou, Sun Chuanting and others, having experienced these powerful people, they felt that it could not be fake, and at most it was an exaggeration.
Now, since the emperor is going to fight in person, he must come with this powerful force that can defeat Jianlu. What to do? How else to fight?
Thinking about this matter, the hearts of all the bandit leaders were heavy, and their faces were full of worry.
Think about it, just now, the situation was very good, and they captured Gucheng, Fangxian, Junzhou, Yunxi, Baokang and other places. It can be said that the entire northern Hubei fell into their hands. I was full of confidence in the future, and after recuperating for about a year, it was time to make a difference!
However, why did the situation suddenly change? Even the emperor went on a personal expedition. The invisible pressure made everyone present lose their smiles and became frowning.
Zhang Xianzhong was a police officer and also served as a frontier soldier, so his psychological quality was better. Therefore, after a while, he said: "I think, don't enter Henan first, be safe. In addition, send people to find out the news. You must have accurate news, otherwise there will be an emperor here and an emperor there." If others are not crazy, we ourselves will go crazy first!”
"I agree with this!" Luo Rucai nodded in agreement after hearing this.
Henan is the Central Plains area, and they originally wanted to go to Henan. Now I am so frightened by this news that I dare not go!
Prime Minister Huiden also spoke: "I think during this period, we should not divide our troops, otherwise we will be defeated by the imperial officers and soldiers."
Previously, they had suddenly united and greatly increased their strength to defeat the imperial army, causing Zuo Liangyu to abandon his helmet and flee in panic.
When Zhang Xianzhong heard this, of course he was happy, and he immediately nodded and said, "Yes, we are united and can go wherever we want, and the officers and soldiers basically can't stop us!"
At this time, their apparent strength had reached 50,000, and their momentum was far greater than that of Li Zicheng. It was also this that first attracted the attention of the imperial officers and soldiers. In the original history, Li Zicheng became a key target of the army's encirclement and suppression. Instead, he gave Li Zicheng an opportunity to enter Henan. Under the call of "equalizing land and exempting taxes", it suddenly snowballed, and eventually became the number one bandit in the late Ming Dynasty. With the power, the imperial officers and soldiers could no longer do anything to Li Zicheng.
Another celebrity bandit leader, Wang Guoning, suddenly said: "How about we go to Sichuan? As long as we can get in, it is a land of plenty and a land of abundance. Moreover, the road to Shu is difficult to walk, and it is not easy for the Yongwei camp to enter Sichuan!"
Hearing this, some people agreed and some opposed it.
"Sichuan has been ruined by the She'an family for a long time. How can there be a land of abundance?"
"Yes, it is difficult for the imperial officers and soldiers to get in, but it is also difficult for us to get out. What if we close the door and beat the dogs?"
"You're the dog, I'm going to beat you, the lost dog!"
"What did you say? Can you try it again?"
"..."
People talk a lot, and there are a lot of conflicts. If you are not careful, you will start to quarrel.
Seeing this, Zhang Xianzhong hurriedly sent a table to stop the quarrel among those people. To be honest, he was actually thinking about going to Sichuan. However, when the situation was great, I was still a little unwilling to run into that nest in Sichuan. The most important thing was that I heard that Chen Qiyu had been appointed as the governor of the three sides by the Dog Emperor. If they go to Sichuan, Chen Qiyu will definitely enter Sichuan from Hanzhong to encircle and suppress them.
Finally, he had no choice but to make a decision: "Send more people to go out and find out where the Dog Emperor is? Lest we bump into him. Once we find out where the Dog Emperor is, we will stay far away. With our strength, the world will be conquered." Go as far as you can!"
"Yes, that's the truth!" Luo Rucai immediately agreed, "If the world is thrown into chaos and the court focuses on one thing and not the other, our pressure will be much lighter."
They were talking when suddenly there were rapid footsteps outside, and then an anxious voice shouted: "Father, stepfather, something is wrong, something serious is going to happen..."
Everyone looked up and saw that the person coming was Sun Kewang, one of Zhang Xianzhong's adopted sons, now named Zhang Kewang. I saw him hurried in with a flustered face.
When Zhang Xianzhong heard this, he couldn't help but feel a tremor in his heart, and immediately asked: "Did you find any trace of Yongwei Camp?"
He never thought that the Brave Guard Camp would arrive so soon.
"No!" Zhang Kewang heard this and quickly replied, "It's that old man Chen Qiyu...he...he has succeeded Xiong Wencan as the new governor of the five provinces!"
"What?"
"What?"
"..."
As soon as the news came out, everyone in the lobby stood up in fright, with panic on their faces.
They all suffered great losses at the hands of Chen Qiyu, and they were almost wiped out. Later, Chen Qiyu was exiled by the Dog Emperor, but they all celebrated. Who would have thought that Chen Qiyu would be used by the Dog Emperor again?
Zhang Xianzhong also asked with an ugly face: "Is this news confirmed?"
"It was the brothers who sneaked into Henan and sent someone to report urgently." After hearing this, Zhang Kewang quickly replied, "They said they saw Chen Qiyu with their own eyes. The brothers arrested the postman and asked them about it, saying that Chen Qiyu was there to replace Xiong Wencan."
Previously, they heard that Chen Qiyu was appointed as the governor of the three sides by Emperor Dog. At that time, the situation here was very good and it was far away, so they didn't care much. At most, I won’t go back to Shaanxi or to neighboring Sichuan, then that’ll be fine.
However, Chen Qiyu still faced them head-on. He actually succeeded Xiong Wencan as the governor of the five provinces and wanted to encircle and suppress them. Especially since the emperor also led the expedition in person and came with the Yongwei camp. This... this is simply not giving people a way to survive!
"In this way, we should go find out the news as soon as possible. We must also be prepared to avoid being surrounded by Chen Qiyu's doggy officer again." Zhang Xianzhong decided again.
Being prepared means nothing more than being able to run away.
The other bandit leaders knew this very well and nodded in agreement. Among them, Luo Rucai also said: "As long as we join forces and rush to a certain place, I believe that no imperial officers and soldiers in that place can stop us!"
"That's the truth. As long as we don't run into the Yongwei camp, who are we afraid of!" Zhang Xianzhong made the final decision, and then all the bandit leaders dispersed and hurried back to make preparations.
At this time, what they were most concerned about was, where was the emperor's chariot? When the dog emperor comes out, he will definitely be the most capable and powerful person around him, and he must not be touched. Even the elite part of the army in other places may be transferred by the Dog Emperor to escort them. Therefore, once they find out where the Dog Emperor is, they will know which direction they can run!
However, they sent people to inquire, and even sneaked into Xiangyang to inquire about the news. At most, I just heard that Jin Yiwei came from the capital and took notice of Xiong Wencan. As soon as Chen Qiyu arrives, he will be escorted back to Beijing for prosecution. But there was still no news about the emperor. Only one thing is certain, the emperor is indeed on his own and has left the capital.
So where is Emperor Chongzhen? Probably no one would have thought of it.
Soon after leaving Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen asked the Yongwei Battalion and the Panshi Battalion to continue to enter Henan under his banner, and divided them into several groups to besiege Zhang Xianzhong and other rebels. He himself led the Hussar Battalion. More than five thousand cavalry, including Wu Sangui's cavalry, suddenly accelerated and entered Shanxi.
Regarding Zhang Xianzhong and this group of bandits, Emperor Chongzhen's plan was to first let Chen Qiyu accept it and then surround them to prevent them from escaping. It would be best if he could be eliminated. If he couldn't be eliminated, wait until he had finished dealing with the Loop incident and then return to the army to eliminate Zhang Xianzhong.
Of course, there is another point. Maybe no one cares about Li Zicheng and his team at this time. But as a person from later generations, especially when he heard that Li Zicheng actually put forward the slogan of "equal land and avoid taxes", he knew that Li Zicheng must be strangled to death as soon as possible.
