Dashun Yongchang

Although Liu Zongmin and Li Guo thought it was a way to join hands with the Ming army to eliminate Zhang Xianzhong, they did not support it in their hearts, because they always felt that they had the intention of betraying their brothers, so they simply kept silent.

But Li Zicheng took a look at everyone and changed the topic: "Apart from these two things, is there any other news?"

Liu Zhong was more concerned about these two matters, so he was able to speak in detail. As for the other news, he thought it was irrelevant, so he didn't deliberately record it. Hearing Li Zicheng's inquiry, he could only rack his brains to recall with.

Li Zicheng listened for a while. Although he paid more attention to the reply of the Ordos Ministry to Dashun's request for trade and commerce, the news from Xi'an itself was very simple. Liu Zhong saw that the Ordos Ministry rejected the trade request, so he did not pay attention to both parties. How did you negotiate.

Seeing that Liu Zhong was speechless, Li Zicheng got up and said to Chen Yongfu, "Uncle Wenshui, you can go and settle down with Uncle Pingnan first. Uncle Pingnan, you and Uncle Wenshui will hand over the army. situation, then Wen Shui Bo will take over your army."

Liu Zhong and Chen Yongfu got up together and bowed to Li Zicheng, then followed Li Laiheng out of the room.After Li Zicheng watched the two walk out of the room, he turned to Liu Zongmin and Li Guo and asked, "Do you think Chen Yongfu's proposal is good?"

Liu Zongmin was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Although it works, I don't want to support it. It's always been our rebel army united to fight the official army. This joint official army fights the rebel army, and I feel uncomfortable."

Seeing this, Li Guo hurriedly said: "We are the officers and soldiers now, and those are just survivors of the former dynasty. Now they are helping us to fight the yellow tiger, not us helping the officers and soldiers to fight the yellow tiger. This is completely different. However, I think that Huanghu is Huanghu, and the Great West Army is the Great West Army. It is only natural for His Majesty to exterminate the Yellow Tiger, but after all, the Great West Army is the rebel brothers who fought side by side with us. I think we should give them a way out. You can’t knock down everyone on board with one blow.”

After listening to the two finished their opinions, Li Zicheng said slowly: "Although I said that we should look at the problem from the perspective of the imperial court, but before that, we should make it clear that this Whose court is it?"

Both Liu Zongmin and Li Guo looked at Li Zicheng with some doubts, but they heard him say: "If this is my court, then Huang Hu, the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongguang, or the emperor of the Qing Dynasty , anyone who competes with me for the throne should be eliminated. Don’t you think so?”

Liu Zongmin and Li Guo looked at each other and nodded cautiously, but Li Zicheng went on to say: "If the court is a court of gentry, then whether it is Zhang Xianzhong, us, or those who dare to rebel should be wiped out. Don't you think so?"

Now Liu Zongmin couldn't bear it anymore, and he said to Li Zicheng: "What exactly does your Majesty want to say? I'm so stupid that I can't think of so many things. Please speak directly, Your Majesty."

This time, Li Guo supported Liu Zongmin in his heart for a rare time, and felt that what Liu Zongmin said this time was indeed reasonable.Since Shanhaiguan retreated, Li Zicheng's temperament has changed again. The reason why he said it was because Li Zicheng changed once after Niu Jinxing took refuge here, but after all, he did not become worse than this time, because everyone knows the last change , Li Zicheng wants to be the emperor, but this time everyone can't guess what Li Zicheng wants.

Even so, even Li Guo, who is most familiar with Li Zicheng, felt that Li Zicheng had changed a bit this time, as if he had really changed himself.Of course, this is a good change, because after the change, Li Zicheng has become more sensitive in the general direction. In the past, Li Zicheng insisted on the direction, and everyone can vaguely see the goal, but this time they really can't see the goal, but everyone However, there is a feeling that there are indeed better scenery in the direction Li Zicheng pointed out, because the Shun army is becoming stronger and stronger by following the direction Li Zicheng pointed out.

However, this change also brought a little sequelae to Li Zicheng, that is, he no longer confides his thoughts in front of the generals as before, and then asks everyone to obey him.Now Li Zicheng likes to listen to everyone express his own ideas, and then refute them one by one, and then come up with his own ideas, which makes people feel like a fool.

If Li Zicheng was not Li Zicheng, everyone would not like this way of discussion, because Li Zicheng's right is based on everyone's mistakes.If Li Zicheng was just a general in the army, such a person would definitely be excluded. In fact, not only in the army, but even in the officialdom, such a person is not liked by people.

Yu Qian, Wang Yangming, Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui, Xiong Tingbi, Xu Guangqi, Yuan Keli, Lu Zhenfei, these capable officials who tried to point out the mistakes of their colleagues, were not all excluded by other officials.Most of the time, what mediocre people hate the most is not the mediocre people around them, but the people around them who are much more capable than themselves.

Just when Li Guo was a little distracted, Li Zicheng continued: "I mean, if there is no rebel army standing behind me, then it is impossible to sit here and say I am a widow, but I should be tied up by the government in the vegetable market." I cut my mouth open."

Chapter 432 About Us

Now Liu Zongmin and Li Guo were both alert. Before the rebel army became popular, they fought against the government army with their heads up, so they knew very well that what Li Zicheng said was not a joke, but a real truth.

In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Wang Er, the starved people of Baishui, first killed officials and rebelled, followed by Fugu Wang Jiayin, Hannan Wang Daliang, and Ansai Gao Yingxiang led the uprising, and the leaders of these rebels were all suppressed by the officials and killed.

The reason why they are able to sit here now is not because the government is merciful, nor is it because they are more talented than those dead rebel leaders, but because they have survived the encirclement and suppression by the government army again and again.

Li Guo couldn't help but asked Li Zicheng, "What does Your Majesty mean by this?"

This time, Li Zicheng didn't bury any more questions, but said bluntly to the two: "Although our current environment is much better than in the past, if we forget who we are, then we will still fail."

Liu Zongmin said bitterly at this time: "Your Majesty is right, the rebels are brothers, those scholars cannot become our brothers, they just want to protect their family and family business, so they have to bow to us.

Didn’t Liu Zhong also say just now that the Qing army hadn’t approached Datong City yet, those gentry officials couldn’t wait to betray us, they never regarded us as a new imperial court, they just regarded us as thieves, that’s why Zhang Tianlin died .

He treated Jiang Guan as a brother, and even guaranteed him a ticket in front of His Majesty, but he still died in the hands of this brother.In the eyes of these officials, Zhang Tianlin is always a thief. "

Li Guo was also silent, although he sometimes felt that Liu Zongmin was too stubborn, but now what he said is not bad.At this time Li Zicheng said again: "So, the Dashun must be the Dashun of the rebels, not the Dashun of the gentry and scholars, so that we can keep our heads and our reputation after we die.

Otherwise, like Zhu Yuanzhang, I will be deceived by the gentry and eventually become a tool for them to suppress the people, and you will either be domesticated by the gentry like me, or you will be eliminated by me, because you hinder the gentry from the world. rule. "

Liu Zongmin felt that what Li Zicheng said today completely entered his heart, and this was exactly what he felt uneasy after Dashun established his foundation in Xi'an but couldn't make sense of it.Just because Li Zicheng drifted away from his old brothers after he became emperor, Liu Zongmin's dissatisfaction with Li Zicheng also accumulated more and more, and finally broke out after entering Beijing.

At this moment, after hearing Li Zicheng's words, Liu Zongmin slapped his thigh and said, "It's the truth. I've been thinking about it for a long time. Those scholars have a bad taste. We have worked so hard to fight the world, so many brothers died. In the end, it is these scholars who set the rules for us. We have been fighting with the court for so many years, what happened? These scholars should not support them."

Excited, Liu Zongmin even came out with the local accent of Shaanxi.The rebel army has fought in Henan for many years. In fact, almost all the leaders of the rebel army have learned Mandarin. Can't they communicate with people from other provinces without using Mandarin?

However, Li Guo had a different opinion on this. He interrupted and said, "It cannot be said that all scholars are bad people. Are scholars like Hai Gangfeng and Xu Zixian good for the common people..."

Liu Zongmin couldn't think of how to refute the other party for a while. Hai Rui was recognized as an upright official by the people of Ming Dynasty, and even Emperor Jiajing scolded him. I scolded him all over the place, although the article he scolded the emperor was written quite skillfully, but it didn't change the connotation of the article.In addition to his ability to swear, Hai Rui's ability to manage people's livelihood is also much better than Zhang Juzheng's. This is why the people regard Hai Rui as the most upright official in Ming Dynasty.

As for Xu Guangqi, the rebels were not familiar with this man in the past, but under Li Zicheng's praise, the rebels finally began to understand this great scientist.If we say that Hai Rui represents the image of an upright official in the eyes of the people, then Xu Guangqi is another kind of good official. He is not the kind of official who solves problems for one or two ordinary people, but tries to propose a fundamental solution to the problems of ordinary people. The only way is that Daming did not give him this opportunity.

Li Zicheng once said to the people around him like this: "Xu Zixian's greatness does not lie in translating a few Western classics and proposing to learn from the West the technology of casting guns and cannons. His greatness lies in trying to change the Ming Dynasty, using a kind of foreign knowledge to transform the existing The Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, which was rigid and unable to reform itself, found a way out for the desperate Ming Dynasty. It's just that he didn't have the luck of Zhang Juzheng, and he never got the support of an emperor, so he could only do trivial chores. For Daming, for He personally is actually a kind of misfortune."

Of course, what makes everyone remember this name is not only because of Li Zicheng's admiration, but also because of the original geometry he translated.After Li Zicheng used geometry as a compulsory textbook for officers, Xu Guangqi's name finally spread among the Shun army.

At this time, Li Zicheng came out to help Liu Zongmin, "Yes, it is true that there are no good people among scholars, but this and whether they are our own people are two issues."

Li Guo had nothing to say now, Liu Zongmin also nodded repeatedly and said in agreement: "Your Majesty is right, it is exactly what I thought. How can we old men and those white-faced scholars pee in the same pot? "

Li Zicheng quickly pulled the topic back again, unwilling to be misled by the two, he continued: "So, compared with those gentry, Zhang Xianzhong is actually closer to us, because he couldn't survive at the beginning. against the imperial court.

If there is a conclusion for us and the gentry, it is that in the past we were all oppressed at the bottom, and the gentry were the class that oppressed us.Those of us who rose up to rebel, whose rebellion are we rebelling against?Isn't it the opposite of these gentry?

In the matter of fighting against the gentry, Zhang Xianzhong and the Daxi Army are at least our allies. It can be said that it is from this standpoint that the rebels in the world can unite and defeat the imperial court.If we give up this position, then we will be defeated by the gentry.

Why did the Manchus enter the customs and beat us?Because the Manchus themselves were oppressors, they forced the Liaodong Han people to be their slaves and created wealth for them. In terms of oppressing the people, the Manchus and the gentry had the same interests.

Therefore, if we really join forces with the gentry in Sichuan to attack Zhang Xianzhong at this time, it will only weaken our own strength and strengthen the strength of the gentry.How can such a stupid thing be done? "

At this time, Liu Zongmin and Li Guo roughly understood what Li Zicheng meant, so they sincerely asked Li Zicheng for advice on how to deal with Zhang Xianzhong and Daxijun.

After so much foreshadowing, Li Zicheng's mood became a little excited. He simply got up and walked back and forth in the room a few times to sort out his thoughts. Then he said to the two: "I don't just think about how to treat Zhang Xianzhong and Zhang Xianzhong. It is not a question of the Great Western Army, but how we should treat those historical rebels.

Whether the Dashun established by us rebels can survive, I think it will depend on how we view the rebellion.Scholars often talk about Taoism, often saying: the sky does not change, and the Tao does not change.

In my opinion, this sky is the sky that only respects Confucianism. Therefore, after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, if the dynasties of the past dynasties want to maintain long-term stability, they must maintain the Confucian orthodoxy.In other words, Confucianism is the learning of rulers, the learning used by oppressors to oppress us oppressed.

Therefore, in the records of the scholars, those rebels are thieves who are restless and self-conscious. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang came up from the bottom, the scholars of Ming Dynasty still think of the rebels as a group of thieves.In the eyes of the scholars of Ming Dynasty, the most insightful of us rebels is Song Jiang who wants to surrender to the imperial court all day long on Liangshan. Nor do we think about why we rebelled.

If we allow these scholars to compare us rebels and thieves, will the people of the world still support us?The Dashun we established will still fall into the hands of these scholars in the future?Because they are the eternal heaven, and we are just a group of thieves who only know how to kill people, so governing the world still depends on Confucianism, then this heaven will naturally return to the Confucian heaven.The era when the gentry oppressed the common people will still come back. "

Liu Zongmin, who had always advocated strict treatment of gentry officials, felt a little powerless at this time. Although he knew that scholars could not be killed, he always felt that if he could kill some, he would always bring some changes to the world.But hearing what Li Zicheng said, he felt a little depressed. Obviously, killing scholars alone to change the world would not work.

Li Guo's thoughts are somewhat different from Liu Zongmin's. After the establishment of Dashun, he always felt that the rebel army in the past should be changed, and he could no longer regard himself as an unruly peasant rebel.So after hearing Li Zicheng's words, he was not so depressed. He just said to Li Zicheng: "But if we don't use Confucianism to govern the country, what should we use to govern the country? This is the way of the world."

But Li Zicheng shook his head and said, "So if we want to change the morals of the world, we must first create a bad name."

Immediately, Liu Zongmin became interested and asked, "How do you plan to rectify your name?"

After a few breaths of silence, Li Zicheng said calmly: "Rebellion is justified, and revolution is not guilty. Rebellion is justified, and the reason lies in resisting oppression, not killing civilians; revolution is not guilty, because what we want to eradicate is the way this man oppresses people." , so what is the crime?

Therefore, we should commemorate rebels like Wang Er, Wang Jiayin, Wang Daliang, and Gao Yingxiang. It was they who first raised the banner of resisting oppression, and we were able to bring down the decadent and reactionary Ming Dynasty.Going forward, we still have to commemorate the Green Forest and Chimei Uprising, and then we still have to commemorate Chen Sheng and Wu Guang... The voice of resistance to oppression has always existed in our history, which is why we are called the Rebel Army. , but the righteousness of defending the people and resisting oppression..."

Chapter 433 About Us II

Li Zicheng said so much to Liu Zongmin and Li Guo, in essence, he wanted to reshape the jurisprudence of himself as Emperor Dashun.A soul who has received a complete political education knows very well that if he continues to be the Emperor of Dashun according to the set of laws created by Niu Jinxing, he will be in an extremely embarrassing situation.

Niu Jinxing did not look at the change of dynasties from the perspective of the gentry class, so he made Li Zicheng legal system is the end of five virtues, that is to say, it is destiny for Dashun to replace Daming, because water virtue will replace fire virtue.In fact, it is to tell the people of the world that Dashun's replacement of Daming is to change someone to be the emperor, and everyone can live their lives, so you should not rise up and rebel, unless you want to compete with Li Zicheng for the position of emperor.

But the establishment of the five virtues was actually established for the feudal lords to resist the imperial power, not for the peasant uprising army.Because the feudal lords' rebellion against the imperial power will not challenge the interests of other feudal lords at the same time, so the five virtues are always said to show what the legal principle of being an emperor is.But for the peasant uprising army, what they wanted to overthrow from the very beginning was not just the imperial power, but all the feudal obligations attached to the imperial power.

This is why, after Xi'an established the foundation and established the country, Liu Zongmin and other generals of the rebel army alienated Li Zicheng. He regarded Li Zicheng's Dashun as the righteous army's Dashun, and then accepted Li Zicheng's legal system, and at the same time adopted unconscious passive resistance.

If Li Zicheng had no other powerful opponents, with the peace of the world and the reorganization of the army, those rebel generals with a sense of resistance would gradually disappear due to the establishment of the new dynasty.The rebel generals who refused to disappear will eventually be strangled and killed by the gentry who regained control of the system, just like the heroes of Liangshan after being recruited, they died silently.

However, the entry of the Manchus made Dashun encounter a strong opponent. If Dashun wants to strengthen its strength, it needs to stand on the side of the peasants and oppose the excessive oppression of the gentry, while the Manchus do not need to do so. It is suitable for the theory of five virtues, because this theory can eliminate their alien identity and improve their legal rationality in fighting for the world. The Manchus themselves are also an independent feudal military and political group. They do not need to curry favor with Han peasants, they only need to win over It is enough for a part of the gentry who have taken refuge in themselves to suppress local resistance forces.

Even if the Manchus enclose land around Beijing after entering the customs, it only harms the interests of the people in one area. What's more, the Manchus also take care of the interests of some big landlords and help them regain the land distributed by the peasant army. It is also the main factor for the response of the gentry in the customs immediately after the Manchus entered the customs.

So after the Manchus entered the customs, if Li Zicheng still insisted on the five virtues, he would be in an embarrassing situation. If he wanted the farmers to follow him, he would have to move the land of the gentry, and if he wanted the gentry to support him , you have to give up the peasants, and the five virtues always say that they cannot unite the peasants, because the peasants cannot obtain the land they want from this theory.

Although Li Zicheng went south to Huaiyang, temporarily deterred the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River with force, and used the prince's legitimacy to cancel the possibility of the southern gentry's alliance, but as long as he still needs the support of the peasants, he will inevitably offend the gentry in the world, but without the support of the peasants , he can't stop the Manchus from going south, so someone can only choose peasants.

And if you want to gain the support of the peasants and persuade them to follow you, you have to recreate the legal system, a legal system that suits the views of the peasant uprising, so there is nothing more suitable than someone's thinking in later generations. "Rebellion is justified, revolution is not guilty", these two sentences may seem a little extreme, but in essence they reveal a profound world view, which is to divide the world into two opposites, the oppressor and the oppressed A group that makes people who feel oppressed automatically become sympathizers of rebels and revolutionaries.

For example, Liu Zongmin and Li Guo didn't feel any discomfort with this sentence, especially Liu Zongmin agreed with it very much: "Your Majesty is too right. We rebelled against the court, isn't it because there are too many corrupt officials in the court?" Is it impossible for us to live? Why do those gentry slander us as thieves? Without them, corrupt officials, how could there be us?"

Li Guo also nodded and responded: "Your Majesty is right. The court is unfair. What's wrong with the people rebelling? Your Majesty led us to overthrow the court. Naturally, you should come down to be the emperor instead of letting those scholars comment. Why is Your Majesty To be an emperor..."

Li Zicheng was not surprised at the reaction of Liu Zongmin and Li Guo, because the more than half a year of getting along with these rebel brothers made him feel that almost none of these people had the consciousness of the ruling class of the new dynasty, and they still regarded themselves as saboteurs. The power of the system is representative, so any rules that represent the system are actually not very popular among the rebel brothers.Only those generals of the Ming Dynasty who surrendered to Dashun in the past two years tried their best to rebuild the system and restore their prosperous and leisurely life in the past.

This is the self-awareness of the oppressed. Before completely overthrowing the old oppressors and turning themselves into new oppressors, these rebel brothers who rose up to resist will always spontaneously stand on the side of the oppressed, because they It is very clear that the gentry is not on the same side as them, and supporting the gentry will only send themselves to Caishikou.

Li Zicheng went on to say to the two of them: "So, even if Zhang Xianzhong and Daxi Army oppose me, they are still us, but even if Liu Zhong and Chen Yongfu are loyal to me, it is difficult to become us, because they have no experience of being oppressed, and they are still us." Without the thought of resisting oppression, they are only loyal to the righteousness of the monarch and ministers constructed by Confucianism."

Liu Zongmin, who originally had a lot of opinions on Zhang Xianzhong, finally dispelled some of his anger towards Zhang Xianzhong at this time. He agreed: "Huang Hu is always doing tricks behind the scenes, creating divisions within the rebel army, and surrendering to the court to betray his comrades. But at least it is better than an officer like Liu Zhong. Your Majesty is right, compared to Liu Zhong, I would rather fight side by side with Zhang Xianzhong."

However, Li Guo still hesitantly reminded Li Zicheng: "But Huang Hu has proclaimed himself emperor in Chengdu, even if His Majesty wants to forgive him, he may not believe His Majesty's sincerity, right?"

Regarding Li Guo's doubts, Li Zicheng also knew that this was a big trouble. After all, there is no second day. Once Zhang Xianzhong's Daxi Kingdom is recognized, it is impossible for the Daxi Army to return to the ranks of the rebel army, because the two sides have become Two completely opposing military and political groups are no longer allies who fought against the imperial court together in the past.

So Li Zicheng also said frankly: "This is indeed a big problem. But since we can make Emperor Hongguang abdicate peacefully, then Huang Hu can still adopt the same method. Of course, it is the same thing if Huang Hu believes us or not. We must Let the Great Western Army understand that we are not their enemy. In this way, even if Huang Hu refuses to bow to me, the Great Western Army can at least maintain their rationality and will not take the road of death.

So the top priority now is that we must send people to Chengdu to tell Daxi Army and Huang Hu that we still have no intention of marching into Sichuan, they can stay in Sichuan, and other issues can be discussed, as long as they can return to the rebel army ranks.

In short, I don't advocate joining forces with the Sichuan gentry to wipe out the Great Western Army. Of course, we must also oppose the Great Western Army taking too drastic actions in Sichuan.In Sichuan today, peace should be the top priority. "

Liu Zongmin nodded and replied: "I support His Majesty's proposal. As for the manpower to be sent to Chengdu, I think Luo Daien should recommend someone. When Huang Hu and Cao Cao made friends, he should know who can gain Huang Hu's trust..."

Li Zicheng accepted Liu Zongmin's proposal, and continued: "In addition to sending people to negotiate with Zhang Xianzhong and Daxi Army, I think there must be a reconciliation gesture among the rebels. Although we merged the Gezuo Fifth Battalion and other volunteers from all walks of life, and rebuilt the fifth battalion army.

However, the merger method that day was still a bit rough, and the treatment of some rebel leaders cannot be said to be appropriate.Since we want to make peace with Zhang Xianzhong, we have to make a reasonable explanation for these past actions and correctly evaluate the merits and demerits of these rebel leaders, otherwise Zhang Xianzhong and the Daxi Army will not be able to believe our sincerity. "

If Li Zicheng raised this issue from the very beginning, both Liu Zongmin and Li Guo would probably oppose it fiercely, because these leaders of the rebel army were directly eliminated by their leaders, and rehabilitating them is equivalent to admitting that they have done wrong Li Zicheng cannot be blamed.But now, the two people who have already agreed with the concept of "rebellion is justified, revolution is not guilty" have also clearly realized who the biggest enemy of the current rebel army is.

In the face of the gentry who colluded with the Manchus, they also admitted that their strength was indeed weak. If they could not unite the rebels, then this Dashun would eventually fall under the control of the gentry. A rebel leader is far more harmful.For the overall situation of the Dashun of the rebel army, they had to make concessions.

Li Zicheng quickly discussed with the two and passed the method of rehabilitating the rebel leaders such as Luo Rucai and He Yilong and compensating their descendants.After Li Zicheng entered Zhengzhou on January 25, he did not take any action. He just sent Chen Yongfu to Luoyang to receive Liu Zhong's subordinates, and ordered Li Guo and Chen Yongfu to rebuild the Yellow River defense line.

The Azig army stayed on the north bank of the Yellow River until February [-], and finally retreated again due to lack of food.At the same time, the gentry of Huaiqing, Zhangde, and Weihui who had already begun to be loyal to the Manchus lost their trust in the Manchus because of the task of collecting grain and fodder issued by the Manchus.Because this time the Manchus mainly collected food and fodder, it was these gentry.

The gentry who united with the Manchu Qing to suppress the local rebels finally tasted the pain of the peasants who were oppressed by them to pay the grain two months ago under the tyrannical expropriation of the Manchus.The local gentry were directly arrested by the government because they could not meet the grain payment quota issued by the government. In the past, the county officials who were obedient to these gentry, with the support of the Qing army, carried out extortion against the family members of these gentry who had lost their power. .

In order to rescue the backbone of the family, the family members of these gentry had to sell their property to buy grain and hand it over, and bribed Manchu and Han officials.Except for those officials who took refuge in the Qing court and their homes were not harassed, and they bought a large number of fields and houses at a low price, many gentry almost went bankrupt, and their situation was worse than when the Shun army came.

Chapter 434

When the Azig Army withdrew from the Yellow River to Weihui Mansion, the situation in Huaiqing Mansion suddenly changed. The Huaiqing gentry and tyrants who were suppressed by the Qing army immediately sent people across the river. Contact the Shun Army and ask the Shun Army to cross the river to liberate Huaiqing.

Chen Yongfu, who was reorganizing the army in Gongyi, immediately sent a capable army of more than a thousand people across the river, preparing to test the fighting spirit of Huaiqing's Qing army.However, the descending Qing and Han troops, who originally relied on the power of the Manchu army to attack the so-called local thieves everywhere, had already begun to avoid fighting passively when they heard the news of Azig's defeat. The retreat made the surrendering Han army that bet on the Manchus even more uneasy.

When the army of more than a thousand soldiers of the Shun army crossed the river, the Qing army in Huaiqing Mansion immediately retreated to the various counties and began to hide in the city.As a result, the village immediately fell into the hands of the tyrants and gentry who were inclined to the Shun army. From the first to the second day of March, the Shun army led by Dang Yilong took Jiyuan and Meng counties under the support of the Huaiqing gentry and tyrants. The Qing army to the west of Qinshui once again abandoned the flood area where they were stationed and fled into Huaiqing Prefecture.

Facing the offensive of the Shun army, at the request of the governor of Henan and other officials, Azig had no choice but to send an army to Huaiqing Prefecture. Scattered to Zhangde Mansion and Guangping Mansion in North Zhili.

Azig did this, on the one hand, because the supply of food and fodder was really insufficient. Although Luo Xiujin and Wu Jingdao had targeted the gentry, the capabilities of the three prefectures really couldn't support the cost of tens of thousands of cavalry; on the other hand, It is the morale of the Qing army that has really fallen to the bottom. It is not that the Manchus have not lost battles, but this is the first time they have been chased and fled like this time. After retreating to the north bank of the Yellow River, both the Han and the Manchus I don't want to fight anymore.

Moreover, after getting in touch with Beijing, the following Manchu generals began to push back on Azig's orders, because they felt that Azig must take responsibility for the failure of the Southern Expedition this time. It would be meaningless for them to risk their lives to fight against the Shun army now. Even if they could win one or two battles, they would not be able to get any rewards. On the contrary, it would be Azig's meritorious deeds.

In the face of the subordinates who have their own thoughts, Azig also feels powerless, because after contacting Beijing, it will be difficult for him to exercise the arbitrary power of the general.If he forcibly exercises the power of the general, he will offend a large number of relatives and nobles in the capital, then it may be difficult to shirk the responsibility for the previous failure. After all, the responsibility for the defeat this time still has to go through the minister meeting to decide.

Local officials such as Luo Xiujin and Wu Jingdao quickly saw through the Azig army's mentality of avoiding war and protecting themselves. The two had to report to Beijing and asked the regent for instructions. Dorgon hinted that with the current morale of the Azig army, it might be difficult to stop the massive attack of the Shun army.

However, the worries of Luo Xiujin and Wu Jingdao disappeared quickly, because Dorgon also realized that after Azig retreated to the north bank of the Yellow River, it might be difficult to command and move the subordinate generals.The Manchus were developed in an environment of enemies on all sides, so the Manchus are the most important military exploits, because with the population of the Manchus, they can't afford to lose a few times and the family will be wiped out.

Even if Dorgon needs to use this big brother to help him control the force of the Eight Banners, it is impossible to let Azig consume the power of the Manchus in vain, not to mention that this time Azige also gave several generals of the two white banners to the army. It's ruined, if it wasn't for worrying about triggering an unpredictable political storm, he would have directly recalled Azig to the capital to reprimand him.

Therefore, before Luo Xiujin and Wu Jingdao's Shangshu arrived in the capital, he had already dispatched his confidant Wu Bai to the south to convey some words to Azig for him, and secondly to take over Azig's military power on his behalf. Stabilize the morale of the army.Dorgon no longer expects Azig's troops to fight any more big battles. He pins his hopes on the side of the ten kings, so after Wu Bai arrived in Azig's army, he didn't correct Azig and let the army disperse. Instead, he ordered to strengthen the defenses of Weihui and Zhangde, and made Huaiqing Mansion the default battlefield for the Heshun army to fight.

Regarding this movement of the Qing army, Li Zicheng and his subordinates quickly came to a conclusion after discussing that although the Qing army had no intention of crossing the Yellow River to fight south again, it had the intention of luring them to go north.

Because at this time, the food stocks of the three prefectures in the north of the Yellow River in Henan have been looted by the Qing army. If they cross the Yellow River and seek to fight the Qing army, they need to transport food from the rear, and the Yellow River will soon enter the thawing period. This means that people and vehicles cannot cross the river directly, and even boat crossings are dangerous. After all, the thawed ice will not immediately turn into harmless broken ice, so before all the upstream ice thaws, this section Time is such that few boatmen are willing to cross the river.

Once the passage of the Yellow River was cut off, the Shun army crossing the river would lose its logistical supply, and it would be inconvenient for Shanxi to communicate with this area, and it would be difficult to obtain supplies from Shanxi. This gave the Qing army a chance to come back.

After deliberation, the generals decided to support the anti-Qing armed struggle in the local countryside against the Sanfu of Henan on the north bank of the Yellow River and the North Zhili area further north, but the main force of the Shun army did not cross the river.As for the two counties on the north bank of the Yellow River to the west of Qinshui, they will be occupied first if they can stand up, and they will retreat if they cannot stand up.To put it simply, the generals rejected the surprise attack strategy of crossing the river and rushing directly to Beijing, and decided to stabilize the situation in Henan and Shandong first.

On January 29, the Tongguan guard received a messenger from Luoyang, informing Li Zicheng of the defeat of the Azig army.On the afternoon of the [-]th, Xi'an received the news that Tongguan guards had sent back. Empress Gao,

Tian Jianxiu, Niu Jinxing and others were dubious about this news, because the news they received from Henan before was all bad news, and even Liu Zhong from Luoyang became unreliable after that, so it was hard for them to believe that the news from Henan The situation suddenly improved.

Empress Gao was worried about fraud, so she decided not to announce the news, but sent someone to Henan to find out the real situation. Tian Jianxiu and Niu Jinxing also supported Empress Gao's claim.

from the east of the imperial city

Empress Gao, who left the Zhengshitang and returned to the harem, was also in a state of mind on the road. The climate in Guanzhong is actually warmer than that along the Yellow River in Henan. When the fields in the north of Henan were still gray and yellow, the branches of willow trees could be seen in the gardens around the Zhengshitang. Greenery appeared.In a few days, it will be February [-], which is the day when the dragon raises its head, which means that spring is coming and the season of recovery of all things has arrived.

Being able to hear the news of victory from Henan at this time will naturally give great encouragement to the people in Guanzhong, so that they can better devote themselves to a year of spring farming without worrying that the war will affect the people. The Guanzhong Plain came up.

For Shaanxi people, the continuous natural disasters in the early years of Chongzhen have become a thing of the past. Since Li Zicheng entered Shaanxi to establish a foundation, the Guanzhong Plain began to become smooth again.Although Daming died last year, Shaanxi still had a bumper harvest, so the common people in Shaanxi were the first to accept Dashun's destiny to succeed Daming, because they could finally have enough to eat.

Therefore, although Li Zicheng lost Beijing soon after he entered Beijing, the people of Shaanxi did not think that Dashun was going to die like the people in other regions, and wanted to find other ways out.For Shaanxi people, an emperor who can feed them is a good emperor.During the more than ten years of Chongzhen's rule, at least half of Shaanxi's population died, so who would want Ming to come back?

Even the gentry in Shaanxi would rather support Dashun, because too many people died in Shaanxi, and the original contradiction of more people and less land no longer exists.The country gentry who had a blood feud with the peasant army were either killed or fled to the south during the repeated chaos in the past ten years. Therefore, Shaanxi has become the area with the least conflict between the peasants and the country gentry.

Empress Gao is not the kind of lady who has never been out of the house. As a woman who fought side by side with Li Zicheng during the war, she still has some knowledge.Therefore, she can feel that the current Shaanxi people want to live a peaceful life, and they will support whoever can bring them a stable life.Therefore, as long as the people of Shaanxi can live a stable life for a few more years, their sense of identification with Dashun will be fixed.

The entry of the Manchus at this time actually hit Dashun's weakness. In just a few more years, the common people in Shaanxi who agreed with Dashun would be Dashun's most solid support, but Dashun is not here yet. The popular authority has been established among the people, so when the Manchus came to fight, the only ones who were really willing to live and die with Dashun were the old brothers of the rebel army.But for these old brothers, every death is one less, and there is no way to make up for it.