Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's troops marched thousands of miles in Sichuan, conquering more than a dozen prefectures and counties, and their troops grew stronger day by day. Yang Sichang worriedly tried his best to mobilize troops and generals, pursue and intercept them, but in the end they lost troops and generals, with no results.

This situation is caused by many objective factors and the so-called general trend, but also by Yang Sichang's personal subjective reasons. Wang Aoyong, the governor of Yunyang, once wrote about Yang Sichang in a book: "Sichang used troops for many years and could not quell the bandits. It was not a matter of calculation.

It’s not long, because it’s too hard to worry about. It’s easy to just outline everything in the world, but it’s difficult to be careful about everything. What’s more, the situation of thieves is changing rapidly, and the timing of the conquest for thousands of miles is perfect. Everything is done by one person, Sichang.

Going back and forth every ten months, orders and events are inconsistent, no wonder the rewards of defeat are often heard... I believe that Sichang controls the generals, and does not need everyone to give instructions, but only needs to check whether the instructions are correct and implement the essentials.

Get rid of the tediousness, make decisions and make clever plans to win. Why delay the years and waste the teacher's salary?"

Wang Aoyong's comments about Yang Sichang are fair and insightful. In terms of being self-righteous and taking matters into his own hands, Yang Sichang does have many similarities with Emperor Chongzhen. He is indeed particularly smart and capable among the officials in the late Ming Dynasty, but this kind of smartness and capability is also

It is an important reason that causes the battle to be fought thousands of miles away, the failure of dispatch, the discord between generals, and the morale of the army.

Emperor Chongzhen always liked those ministers who were internally consistent with him in some aspects. He rarely trusted Yang Sichang to the fullest extent. Of course, he would not listen to the words of Wang Aoyong, so he issued an edict to reprimand him and still encouraged Yang Sichang to continue.

He went his own way. Yang Sichang also refused to listen to other people's opinions and still took care of everything to the end. By the spring of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, the war situation finally reached a point where it was beyond control.

The entry of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai into Sichuan completely disrupted the Ming army's deployment of encircling and suppressing the peasant army. At this time, because a large number of Ming troops were transferred to Liaodong to fight, the official troops in the Central Plains were already stretched thin, and were replaced by Zhang and Luo Rucai.

With such a mix of coalition forces, the situation of encircling and suppressing the peasant army in the Central Plains was completely reversed. Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai achieved extremely brilliant results in this last joint operation, and also gave powerful force to the peasant armies on other fronts.

support.

At this time, taking advantage of the Runing Army's shrinking front line, the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo also moved and hid in the Dabie Mountains. Seeing that there was no Ming army around that could threaten them, they were almost ready to move.

And just when Yang Sichang was following Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai on a thousand-mile march in Sichuan, another peasant army suddenly appeared in Henan after being dormant for more than two years. That was Li Zicheng's army.

Li Zicheng's tribe had been lurking in the mountainous areas on the borders of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei since the beginning of the 11th year of Chongzhen reign. There had been no movement. The Ming Dynasty court generally believed that this group of peasants had been completely wiped out. News of Li Zicheng's death also spread among the government and the public. But by the 10th year of Chongzhen reign,

In the winter of the third year, Li Zicheng's troops miraculously reappeared, galloping past Neixiang in Xichuan, southwest Henan.

The appearance of Li Zicheng immediately demonstrated his huge appeal. Bandits from all over the country finally had a backbone. Together with a large number of refugees, they joined Li Zicheng's peasant army one after another.

When he first arrived in Henan, Li Zicheng's team only had more than a thousand people. Within half a month, it had already exceeded 10,000 people. In early January, it reached tens of thousands. In December of this year, Li Zicheng conquered Lushan, Jiaxian, Yiyang (

Counties such as Ruyang (now Ruyang), Yiyang, and Yongning (now Luoning) turned the entire eastern Henan region upside down.

The Ming court was also completely caught off guard by Li Zicheng's appearance. The eastern Henan area was also the place where the Ming army's defenses were most lacking. Even the Runing army was completely caught off guard by Li Zicheng's appearance.

At this time, the Runing Army, in accordance with Wu Shigong's plan, prepared to launch a large-scale rout and pursuit after Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai returned to Huguang, taking advantage of their close contact with the Gezuo Fifth Battalion, in order to gain a large amount of land.

and population.

Therefore, the Runing Army has also concentrated its forces in Junzhou, Nanyang, and the southern area of ​​Runing, and is preparing to find the right time to send troops. Unexpectedly, the main force of the Runing Army is in the south, and Li Zicheng suddenly appears in the north. This makes Runing

The Ning army could not mobilize its troops at all, so it could only transfer part of its main force to Runing, Nanyang and the northern line of Guide to prevent Li Zicheng's peasant army from spreading to the area under its control.

As a result, the Runing Army was unable to attack on the northern front in a short period of time. After Yan Jing, the magistrate of Ruzhou, heard that the Runing Army had withdrawn the troops from Tuntian Village in Ruzhou, he abandoned the city and fled without hesitation.

He took his family and fled to Runing.

However, at this time, no one cared about Yan Jing's crime of abandoning the city. On the 19th of the first lunar month, tens of thousands of Li Zicheng's troops began to besiege Luoyang, an important town in eastern Henan. Luoyang is not only the ancient capital of the past, gathering the essence of the Central Plains, but also controlling Guanzhong and

The military fortresses defended in the two directions of Xiang and Yun have an extremely important position politically, militarily and economically.

More importantly, Luoyang is also the residence of Zhu Changxun, the lucky king of the Ming Dynasty. This Zhu Changxun was the son of Emperor Wanli and Concubine Zheng. Emperor Wanli once had a huge quarrel with the courtiers because he wanted to change him to the crown prince. Later, he was changed to the prince.

Although Si's plan failed, Emperor Wanli gave this precious son who was enfeoffed in Luoyang a huge property, including 20,000 hectares of land alone, in addition to a large amount of annual income from salt tax and commercial tax.

This blessed king is said to be the richest in the world, and he is the closest to the current emperor. He is the direct uncle of Emperor Chongzhen, and the eldest among the direct uncles, so he has the most noble status among dozens of clan princes. Because of such a person

With a prince living in the city, Luoyang's political significance was even more extraordinary.

But the defense of Luoyang City is almost a joke. Wang Shaoyu, the commander-in-chief of Luoyang, is quite famous among the leading generals in Henan, but his fame is not for his ability to march and set up positions, but for his ability to withhold military pay. Others deduct 60% of the military pay.

, he deducted 80% of it, and then gave another 10% to the soldiers. The remaining 10% was given to the soldiers in Luoyang City, so Wang Shaoyu had the nickname "Wang Bacheng", and he gradually omitted it and replaced the "Cheng"

If you remove the word "", it becomes "bastard".

Because his troops were short of food and pay, the morale of the army was disorganized, and Wang Shaoyu was greedy and had no ability. Therefore, no matter how many governors deployed Henan soldiers and horses, they could not defeat him. Therefore, originally

This bad reputation also became a protective umbrella. But I didn't expect that Li Zicheng had already attacked Luoyang City.
Chapter completed!