Five years after Chongzhen, the disasters in the northwest and central plains became even worse.
In the past six years, drought locusts have spread all over Shaanxi, killing more than half of the people in Yaozhou and Chengcheng counties. Local reports said that people competed for the grass in the mountains. When the grass was gone, they peeled off the bark of the trees to eat. After the bark was gone, they could only eat Guanyin soil. , and finally died of abdominal distension. There was a locust drought, people were eating each other, all vegetation was gone, local bandits arose, and there was great desolation in the north and south... Dead people abandoned their children, and rivers blocked the roads.
Lu Weiqi, the former Minister of War who lived in Henan, also wrote to the court: "For several years, my hometown has been suffering from drought every year, every month has been hard to fight, and every day has been hard to save the defeat. Gengwu (the third year of Chongzhen) was drought; Xinwei drought; There is a severe drought in Renshen. There is no green grass in the fields, and nine out of ten houses are empty... There are no barking dogs in the village, but they are still knocking on the door to urge for conquest; there are cuckoos in the trees, which are sprinkled with the blood of whips. The ground is yellow and red, and the villages are almost deserted; bones are white Green phosphorus, like hearing the cry of ghosts every night. If you want to prevent the poor people from turning into thieves, you can't get it." The drought also caused a locust plague, making the disaster worse.
When the capital Chongzhen heard about the great disaster, he burst into tears in the palace.
There are rumors in the capital that this scene is a sign of the end of the world.
...
At Lushunkou, after reading the latest newspaper sent from Dengzhou, Dayong looked at the sea and let out a long sigh.
"After Hauge succeeded to the throne, he changed the seventh year of Tiancong to the first year of Chongde. He had no intention of abandoning Shenyang. Instead, he reorganized the civil engineering and prepared to rebuild Shenyang City. In addition, the spies sent to Shenyang also found out that Hauge was preparing to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. , I heard that even the national title has been chosen." Wu Heyin reported in a low voice the information sent back by the spies from Shenyang.
After hearing this, Dayong said without looking back: "Is it the Qing Dynasty?"
"How does the commander know?" Wu Heyin was surprised. He had just received the information that Hauge wanted to change the post-Jin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. How come the commander knew about it first? Could it be that there are secret spies besides the Military Intelligence Department? exist?
Shi Dayong did not answer Wu Heyin's question, he just stood there and looked across the sea in a daze.
The sea water is very calm, and the waves are shining with golden light, which is so bright that it is very uncomfortable for human eyes.
Wu Heyin did not dare to disturb Shi Dayong and stood there cautiously, wondering what Shi Dayong was thinking as he looked across the sea.
After a long time, Dayong Fang withdrew his distant gaze, turned around and glanced at Wu Heyin: "Did the imperial court send someone again?"
Wu Heyin said hurriedly: "People have already arrived in Dengzhou. I heard that the person who came this time is the Supervisor of Ceremonies, who has a much higher status than the previous ones."
"Whoever comes here, ask Li Dashan to drag him first."
"Commander, the emperor's envoys have come several times. The court has become suspicious of the commander-in-chief's delay in meeting him. However, some people say that the commander-in-chief has no king and no father. I heard that the emperor once said that he..." Wu Heyin hesitated and did not dare to say.
"What?"
"The emperor said that he saw... the wrong person..."
"The emperor is still young. He cannot see through or understand many things. It's not that I, Shi Dayong, don't want to go to Beijing. It's really...sigh..." Dayong sighed again. Why didn't he want to go to Beijing to report his victory? But he was afraid that he would never come back because he had done too many things that were criticized.
Seeing Dayong's behavior, Wu Heyin advised: "It's not a big deal that the commander is always dragging his feet not to enter the capital. Although a horse's power is known from a distance, and a person's heart is known over time, we have to be on guard when three people become tigers. Since ancient times, loyal ministers and good generals have been in power. There are countless things that have caused harm to the church."
"It's not even a day or two that I, Shi Dayong, are said to be domineering or that I have a bone in the back of my head. I'm not afraid. What are you afraid of?"
Wu Heyin said hurriedly: "The younger one is just afraid that the commander-in-chief's reputation will be damaged, but he is not afraid of other things."
"By the way, Mrs. Hong really died of illness?" Dayong said another thing.
"I heard that the nosebleed started outside the mouth. I came back from thousands of miles away to help. When I saw the tragic situation in Shenyang City, I was so furious that I couldn't bear to fall ill. I died after a few days." Regarding the cause of Tai Hong's death, the spies from the Military Intelligence Department had no idea. Find out some.
"It turns out that he died of excessive blood loss." Dayong smiled. It seems that Mrs. Hong also died of excessive blood loss in the original history. The story about Dorgon killing his brother is pure nonsense. A woman bleeds a lot every day. How many days can a person with bleeding live?
Dayong suddenly asked Wu Heyin: "The imperial court must have known the news of Mrs. Hong's death. How do you think the imperial court will view this matter?"
"Of course I'm happy..." Wu Heyin was talking, but seeing something wrong in Dayong's eyes, he kept silent.
"I heard that old slave Hachi died at the hands of Yuan Chonghuan?" Dayong said this meaningfully.
"The fact that old slave Ningyuan was shot cannot withstand scrutiny. How can anyone fight again after being shot? What's more, he died a few months later. I thought this was probably Yuan Chonghuan's embarrassment." Wu Heyin, a low-level writer, naturally had no way of knowing how the old slave died, but he knew that the old slave went to fight Mongolia after returning from Ningyuan, so he did not believe the legend that Yuan Chonghuan beat the old slave to death.
But Dayong said: "It's true as well as false. When it's true, it's false, and when it's false, it's true. The only thing in this world is that people are afraid of opening their mouths."
"What does the commander-in-chief mean?" Wu Heyin was confused and didn't know what Shi Dayong meant.
"It has been two months since your Military Intelligence Department was established. The mission of this Military Intelligence Department is not as simple as spying on military intelligence. Sometimes, you also have to engage in propaganda. It should be noted that a person's mouth can kill people, and sometimes it is better than thousands of troops. "
"Propaganda?" Wu Heyin heard this term for the first time and was confused, "What is propaganda?"
"Just to make the world believe everything that comes out of our mouths."
"I understand, the commander-in-chief means that Hong Tai's death should be attributed to us?"
"Smart, now I just want the people in the world to believe that Mrs. Hong died in my hands! Not only the people in the world have to believe it, but the emperor also has to believe it!"
"But Donglu did not conceal Hongtai's death, so how can he attribute it to the commander-in-chief?"
"Donglu said that Mrs. Hong died of illness. Did Hong Tai really die of illness? Is what the enemy said more worthy of the common people's belief than what we said?"
"Young lady knows how to do it. Please don't worry, Marshal. I will make everyone in the world believe that Mrs. Hong died at the hands of the Marshal!"
"Very good, do your best and I won't treat you badly."
"By the way, Marshal, I heard that Chen Qiyu, the governor of the five provinces, wants to encircle the bandits. He has mobilized hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers from all walks of life. The momentum is quite large. If it succeeds, the Ming Dynasty will be really peaceful."
"Peace?" Dayong shook his head, "Chen Qiyu will not succeed."
...........
In Shaanxi, after Chen Qiyu took office as governor, he won more than 20 battles, big and small. However, more and more thieves were suppressed. Seeing the thieves fleeing in all directions, Chen Qiyu summoned his subordinate governors and gathered in Xi'an. After the meeting, he mobilized an army of 150,000. They came from Shaanxi, Hubei, and Henan, intending to encircle the bandits and decide in a battle.
Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang, heard that Chen Qiyu, the governor of the five provinces, was mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops from all walks of life to encircle him. Knowing that the number was huge, he did not dare to fight head-on. He summoned the eight kings Zhang Xianzhong, Xing Zikuan, Zhang Miaoshou, Li Zicheng and others to discuss how to break out of the encirclement.
Li Zicheng made great achievements in the past two years. He crossed the Yellow River south, led his army to attack Mianchi and subdued Gu Junen's tribe. Although he didn't have many men, Gu Junen was a scholar and had a lot of strategy. Li Zicheng fell in love with him at first sight, and he regarded him as a military adviser and participated in the secret.
After receiving the order from King Chuang, Li Zicheng and Gu Junen went to the meeting. Before they entered the meeting hall, they heard a commotion inside.
It turned out that the Eighth King Zhang Xianzhong advocated entering Sichuan at the meeting, while Xie Zikuan, Zhang Miaoshou and others clamored to hide in Shangluo to avoid the officers and soldiers.
Although Li Zicheng has risen in the past two years, he still has no status in the Thirty-sixth Battalion. When he saw the leaders quarreling, he quietly came in and sat aside to listen.
After more than half an hour, Gao Yingxiang saw Zhang Xianzhong and the others arguing endlessly without reaching a conclusion. He felt upset and stood up and shouted: "Everyone is wasting their breath here, but the officers and soldiers don't wait for us. If we continue to argue like this, what will we accomplish?" ." After saying that, he looked at Li Zicheng and asked, "Why are you silent? Oh! The Confucian scholar next to you hasn't asked for Gao's name yet."
When Gao Yingxiang saw Gu Junen, who was in his thirties, dressed in Confucian robes, with a sparse long beard floating under his chin, and a rather elegant manner, he suddenly felt good about him and felt sympathy for each other.
Li Zicheng pulled Gu Junen and said, "This is my new acquaintance Gu Junen, the military advisor. He is a scholar who has attended the county school. Meet King Chuang soon!"
Gao Yingxiang didn't wait for Gu Junen to salute, and hurriedly raised his hands and said: "We have all gone to school, so let's bow!"
Gu Junen refused and said: "Since ancient times, there has been an order of respect and inferiority, and it must not be disrupted." He knelt down and worshiped.
Zhang Xianzhong saw him on the side and laughed and said: "You two rotten old scholars, you have a knife to your neck, and you are so fussy about it!"
Gu Junen bowed to everyone, and then said: "The eight kings are right, what a scholar is it? But after listening to everyone's words just now, the student thought it was wrong. The eight kings said that they should go to Sichuan, but actually they owe OK."
A scholar who had just joined the gang dared to question himself. Zhang Xianzhong suddenly became angry. He stared at Gu Jun'en with his eyes wide open and said, "What's wrong? You should tell me something. If you can't tell me, I want you to look good!" "
Gu Junen was not intimidated by Zhang Xianzhong, but after looking around at everyone, he spoke eloquently: "We are in Yunyang, with connections in all directions. There are many ways out. To the northeast, we can connect to Xichuan and Neixiang in Henan. The northwest can lead to Pingli, Xing'an, Xunyang, and Shanyang in Shaanxi; the southwest can lead to Dachang and other places in Sichuan; the south can lead to Jingmen, Yuan'an, and Yiling of Huguang; and the southeast can go directly to Xiangyang by the Han River. At present, Chen Qiyu has deployed heavy troops in the west, northwest, northeast, and southeast, but he can only open one side in the southwest. What does he want to do?"
Without waiting for anyone to answer, he continued: "He intends to drive us into Sichuan. Yes, Sichuan has been the land of heaven since ancient times, but don't forget the difficulty of the road to Shu. We are pursued by elite soldiers, and we are surrounded by enemies from both sides. It is really dangerous. Even if we fight desperately to enter Sichuan, the mountains there are miasmatic. Our ancestral home is in the north, and the climate and climate are not suitable for us. If we spend a few years like this, we will be able to fend for ourselves without the need for an army to encircle us."
"What a cruel and cruel plan!" Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and Gao Yingxiang was even more shocked. He was originally leaning towards Zhang Xianzhong's plan to enter Sichuan, but now it seems that it is a good evil plan!
Zhang Xianzhong is also a smart man. He immediately understood why Chen Qiyu left a hole in the southwest. He rubbed his big hands and said anxiously: "Then, where should we go?"
Gu Junen's eyes were glaring and he said: "There is only one way to fight back to Shaanxi."
Scorpion Block asked in confusion: "There is a state affairs interceptor in the northwest, how can we get by?"
"Soldiers who, deception also……"
Gu Junen thought that most of the people in front of him were rough men who were illiterate, so he quickly changed his words and said: "He practices state affairs and doesn't know much about soldiers. He must have thought that we would not return to Shaanxi when he came. Secondly, he relied on Hong Chengchou behind him. Although he had many soldiers, He must be careless. Besides, there are mountains and hills to the northwest. How can he cover everything without making any mistakes? We caught him by surprise and attacked him unprepared. By the time the officers and soldiers understood, we had escaped from the encirclement and killed the enemy in Shaanxi."
Gao Yingxiang said worriedly: "Hong Chengchou is very good at using troops and should not be underestimated. You must have never had any dealings with him, so it doesn't matter."
Li Zicheng said: "Hong Chengchou has just been demoted, and he feels bad! He may not be willing to die. When we arrive in Shaanxi, we know both the people and the land, so we go into the valley and circle with the officers and soldiers. No matter how many they have, they can't do anything to us!"
Gao Yingxiang looked around and saw that there was no objection from everyone, so he said: "The troops are divided and isolated, and it is easy for the officers and soldiers to defeat each other. Let's work together to open a hole to the northwest and return to Shaanxi."