After a rain, Nanniwan became waterlogged again.
The Lion Camp traveled hard to Lion Bay, and the Liu family of Heilong Mountain gathered together again.
One year, the Liu family did not sit together and have a good meal for a whole year.
Even on August 15 last year, when the Lion Battalion was stationed at Dawang Mountain, Liu Chengzong only had half a meal at Zhuantianmao, and then rushed back to have a meal with his subordinates in a hurry.
This time he was finally able to have a good meal with his family, but not all of the people he ate with were family members.
Mr. Liu is temporarily living in a cave dwelling in Shiziwan. There used to be a village in this area, but the houses were in disrepair and could no longer be inhabited. They could only clean up a few cave dwellings.
Fortunately, the kiln courtyard is spacious, and there are three tables set up. One table is for the Liu family, one table is for Zhang Tianlin, Luo Rucai and other leaders, and the other table is for the leaders to protect the soldiers.
I don’t know what happened, but Li Bei came to the table.
Hey, the defeated general is sitting at their table, with his father on the left and Yang Dingrui on the right, seated properly.
Moreover, Li Bei is very familiar with his father, Mr. Yang.
A dead man registered in the Ming Dynasty's household registration, sitting among a group of rebellious people, how should I say, showing his ease and naturalness.
It seems that Li Bei is used to living with the Liu family, but he is definitely not used to eating with Liu Shishi.
Liu Chengzong knew this very well.
Li Bei couldn't let go of losing to him, and he couldn't forget that Li Bei almost trained Ren Quan'er to become a master assassin.
Moreover, during the dinner, every time Liu Chengzong wanted to lead the topic to where he would go in the future, his father and Mr. Yang would change the topic.
So I had to eat this meal very reluctantly.
It was not until the evening, after dinner, that Liu Chengzong came out of the house and his brother Liu Chengzu caught up with him. The two brothers climbed up the mountain and sat on a rock to look at the stars in the sky. Liu Chengzong's mood improved a little.
Liu Chengzu said: "Xingzi River is fine. Manager Lin sent someone to tell you to let you rest assured. The winter wheat harvest has exceeded 2,400 shi, and there are still 600 shi left for rent."
It’s a very happy thing that Xingzihe Wangzhuang is fine.
However, Liu Chengzong calculated that the frost at the beginning of this year killed the wheat and the production was severely reduced.
There are 5,000 acres of self-owned farmland and 6,000 acres of leased farmland there, all of which can be fully irrigated. They are rare good fields in northern Shaanxi, so they harvested this.
He sighed and said: "Don't expect to help other places with this little food. It's enough to feed the farmers."
Liu Chengzu was very optimistic and nodded: "I think it's okay. There are only more than 600 people there, and there is still enough to be self-sufficient. I will send a batch of farm tools over next month, and we can start farming here."
"Besides, it's not like we won't be farming anymore. The weather is fine this year."
Liu Chengzong nodded and didn't say much.
The elder brother then smiled and said: "Do you still think about what happened during dinner at home? Mr. Yamato Yang is wooing Li Bei and wants him to be used by us."
"Can that be used?"
Liu Chengzong turned around and said, "How much does he know about us? There are several thousand households, two Wangzhuangs, and this. He knows everything. If he wants to be reinstated, he relies on these things."
"What can I do, kill him?"
Liu Chengzu laughed and said: "When we evacuated from Xingzi River, I thought about killing him, but I was afraid of causing trouble to you. Since I can only keep him, let's give it a try."
Liu Chengzong understood what his brother meant by causing trouble.
Even in today's Lion Camp, the surrendered troops from Li Bei's tribe are still the main force of the fighting force.
"It's annoying to keep such a person, but actually it's my fault. I didn't have the courage or confidence at the time."
Liu Chengzong sighed and shook his head: "Like now, if He Huchen says let him go, he will let me go. I'm not afraid of him."
The battle against Li Bei was truly a fateful one. Even when he recalls it now, Liu Chengzong still has lingering fears.
Starting from that battle, the Lion Battalion, which had been reorganized in the winter, had the strength to confront the thousands-man army of the official army head-on.
Liu Chengzu smiled and asked: "I see that you have been thinking about what will happen next, and you already have a plan in mind? What are you going to do next?"
Liu Chengzong shook his head.
He raised his head to look at the stars in the sky, then lowered his head, changed to a comfortable sitting position on the stone, spread his hands and said: "It's not what I plan to do now. King Qin's army won in Gyeonggi and recovered the four cities of Yongping, and the imperial court was free.
Come, it’s time to deal with Shaanxi with all our strength."
"Officials in Shaanxi submitted a letter to jointly manage the two provinces. Officials in Shanxi criticized Shaanxi for being ineffective in preventing thieves. This year has been really tiring, and it will be even more tiring in the future."
Liu Chengzong calculated that since the uprising in the second year of Chongzhen's reign, he has led his team to travel more than 3,000 miles in Shaanxi and Shanshan provinces. If the bandit suppression in Yonghe County is included, more than 30 battles have been fought. p>
He is almost either at war or on his way to war.
"The imperial court is jointly governing the two provinces. The trick of jumping back and forth at the junction will not work. I can still play this year for another year, so I am a little undecided now."
After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, Liu Chengzu nodded slowly and asked seriously: "Can't you make up your mind?"
"The biggest problem in front of me now is food and grass. There are 6,000 people in the Lion Camp, more than 2,000 war horses, and more than 3,000 donkeys and mules. The transportation calculation was done for me the day before yesterday. These things need to be eaten 560 times a day.
Stone grain."
Liu Chengzong raised his hand, said a very outrageous number, and then said: "Even if the animals are free-range, they still need two hundred shi of food every day, so..."
When he said this, he was very annoyed. He had obviously restrained himself from recruiting troops, but in the end he inevitably embarked on this path.
This is the road where the army is driven by rations.
"You can't put your troops in one place, they have to be separated."
Liu Chengzu had different experiences in this regard. His people had always been scattered, and the total number of people was quite large, but the pressure on food had always been very small. However, he smiled himself and said: "But if you divide it, you may not be able to do it."
Soldiers."
This was so funny that Liu Chengzu couldn’t even explain what was going on. He just felt that the biggest vampire around him was his younger brother.
And he raised this vampire.
The little lion has always devoted a lot to his family, so from the earliest days when he attracted the firepower of the government and military, Liu Chengzu has been providing new blood to the lion camp behind the scenes.
First, Gao Xian's group of veterans were sent out, then Chengyun, then Liu Guoneng, and finally Yang Yanchang.
Think about last year, for two or three months, Liu Chengzu became the leader of the largest peasant army near Yan'an Fucheng. Zhang Tianlin, Wang Monk, Li Wanqing, Liu Guoneng, Yang Yanchang and others gathered under his command to listen to him.
But he has never objected to blood transfusions for the Lion Battalion, sending troops and people when needed.
Losing and losing, these old brothers who had joined forces with him became the second-line troops of the Lion Battalion.
He directly raised his second brother to be the most powerful rebel leader in Shaanxi.
Now Liu Chengzu's headquarters only has a thousand people left, many of whom are newly recruited refugees.
Liu Chengzong said: "I am also considering this matter. Now the Lion Camp has been targeted by the public. Once the two provinces are jointly governed by the imperial court, it will not be so easy to obtain food."
"So I want to take advantage of now to send people to Qingyang and Weibei to collect food. Governor Yang in Guyuan does not know soldiers. Hong Chengchou, who originally guarded Hancheng, did, but he went to Yansui Town. These two places
It's all safe."
"But this is by no means a long-term solution. If the imperial court suppresses me in Shaanxi, I will occupy the border between Shaanxi and Shanxi. If the imperial court jointly governs the two provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi, it will need to jump to the third province. But where is the third province now?" Shanxi is the only province adjacent to northern Shaanxi.
Liu Chengzu took a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and said: "Actually, Mr. Yang and his father have also thought about this matter. They have mentioned several directions, but I didn't tell you because I think some of them can't be done in a short time.
There is something that can be done, but you won’t accept it.”
Won’t adopt it?
Liu Chengzong tilted his head and asked, "Brother, tell me that you won't accept it."
"Go west. The Lion Battalion has enough troops and strong combat power. Guyuan is short of troops in the west and cannot stop you. The situation in Lintao is similar. Gansu is an unlucky place with enemies on all sides. If you don't mess with them, they won't touch you.
."
After Liu Chengzu finished speaking, he pointed to the west: "Rush all the way to Qinghai, occupy the place where the Tatars dominate the sea, recuperate, and wait for the situation to change."
On the Qinghai side is the territory of the Tumut tribe, on the east and north is Gansu Town, and on the south is Uzang.
Let's put it this way, in northern Shaanxi, anyone who doesn't have a certain level of imagination can't bring up this matter.
Liu Chengzong was confused: "Who came up with this idea?"
"Mr. Yang, Mr. Yang said that there is a kingly aura, but I would not have thought about it two months ago, but now the Lion Camp does have the ability to fight against it. It has gathered more than 10,000 people and moved there. It needs talents. Talents are needed.
If you have generals, you may not be able to accomplish big things there, but if you pretend to be king, it might be a good idea to set up a Liu family court."
Are you claiming to be king with just this strength?
But Liu Chengzong thought about it carefully and found that it was indeed possible.
Not all of his border soldiers have experience in fighting the border soldiers, but I am afraid that all of them have a lot of experience in fighting the Mongols.
Old rival, so familiar.
But this is simply outrageous. The door is open to outrageousness.
Under the moonlight, Liu Chengzong's expression was extremely strange. He thought for a while and said, "I can't say this idea."
Liu Chengzu nodded and said: "I had the same reaction as you when I first heard about it. You said it can't be done? It can be done, and there are many benefits. With Gansu as its back, it can recruit deserters from Gansu and fight the Mongols. The court will have a steady stream of meetings.
If we continue to add troops to Gansu, Gansu will continue to produce deserters."
"And I heard that there is no drought there, but the biggest shortcoming, and the reason why I think you won't adopt it, is that it can accomplish great things."
Liu Chengzu said: "Then we can only do some big things and build a small court. No matter how much we do, it will be impossible. Even if there are changes in the Central Plains, we may not receive any news."
Liu Chengzong blinked, this is not a problem for him!
He knows when there will be changes in the Central Plains.
Although we don’t know the exact year, ten years after Chongzhen is the time to rule the world.
But even so, this plan is still quite outrageous.
If you run that far, you will basically quit the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains.
This made him very interested in several other directions that his brother said were unreliable in a short period of time.
Running to Qinghai is not outrageous, so what is?
He asked: "Brother, what do you think the other directions are? Tell me too and let me hear it."
"Mr. Yang proposed a total of three directions."
Liu Chengzu spread his hands and counted: "The first one, and the one that is most likely to be achieved, is the Qinghai I just mentioned."
"The second one is to first occupy Hanzhong, and then enter Chengdu, which is also a royal territory; the third one is to first occupy Lu'an Prefecture in Shanxi, then enter Henan via Huaiqing, and finally occupy Nanyang."
Liu Chengzong felt very strange and asked: "Brother, what makes you think that these two are stranger than going to Qinghai?"
"The other two plans are not surprising. Going to Qinghai is strange, but they are too difficult."
Liu Chengzu said: "Only going to Qinghai can help us survive. How do you feel about fighting in Huanglong Mountain this time?"
Liu Chengzong shook his head decisively: "No, I don't want to fight on the mountain road anymore in my life."
"Mr. Yang said that Hanzhong is a hundred miles from east to west and forty miles from north to south. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and has a mountain road of two to three hundred miles before it leads to Sichuan and Xi'an. In a place like that, if you lose one battle, you will be gone." p>
"Even if we are lucky enough to enter Sichuan, Sichuan has just experienced more than ten years of war and is full of veterans. We are unfamiliar with the place. What do you think the chance of survival is?"
Liu Chengzong said nothing, nodded and asked: "What about Nanyang?"
"Shanxi is also surrounded by mountains, and Henan is a good place to go. Guan Duan Cao is from Henan, but he hasn't been home for more than ten years. He was still young when he left home, so he can't be of much help."
"There is no drought in Henan right now. Just think of what it was like when the hungry people rushed into the Black Dragon Mountain. The wealthy gentry are the people's support. Are you ready for a war with the people?"
"But it's not difficult to fight on this road. It's just that there is no way out. Where the court can mobilize troops to suppress it, it will be more tiring than fleeing."
Speaking of this, Liu Chengzu said with a smile: "Maybe even a arrogant person can't get enough to claim the title of king, and our family will be gone."
In fact, Nanyang is really a good place.
Stand there, head south to Huguang, and west to Sichuan, all of which will become a blessed land.
However, Liu Chengzong also shook his head and said: "It's just that it's not chaotic enough now. If we want to stand firm now, we must be close to the nine sides. The elite soldiers who have no food or clothing on the border are the biggest help."
If they leave Jiubian, they will lose this help.
But not leaving Jiubian also means receiving the most severe beating.
Liu Chengzu spread his hands and said: "So in terms of decision-making, my family really can't help much."
"It's still useful. I've been staring at this three-acre land in northern Shaanxi all day long, looking at Mr. Yang's height, looking directly at the world, and making plans for a few years or even ten years."
Liu Chengzong praised: "Both these two roads will be of great use many years later. They can be called kings in Sichuan, but again, unless you take either Guanzhong or Huguang first, you will not be able to enter Sichuan or get out." p>
"So I think that the two roads mentioned by Mr. Yang can be combined together. When Guanzhong can no longer pose a threat to us, we can first take Nanyang, then go to Huguang, then collect Sichuan in the west, and split the world in half along the Taihang Mountains.
”
Liu Chengzong smiled dreamily, raised his hand and said: "The west belongs to us, and the east belongs to the emperor. Brother, do you remember that poem? Feng Yansi's."
Liu Chengzu thought for a while: "You mean longevity girl?"
"Yes, she is the longevity girl who occupies the western part of the world. She travels from the Taihang Mountains to North Zhili to meet the emperor once a year."
Liu Chengzong happily jumped down from the stone, clapped his hands, danced and sang, and his singing could be heard far in the mountains.
"Spring banquet, a glass of green wine and a song. I pay my respects to Chen Sanyuan again: firstly, I wish that my husband will live a thousand years; secondly, I wish that I will always be healthy; thirdly, I wish that I will be like the swallow on the beam, and we will see each other year after year!"