On July 15, the 10th year of Chongzhen, Pang Gang left Luoyang with 500,000 taels of silver and a large amount of grain and grass, heading for Kaifeng Mansion.
Because there was too much food and grass, the baggage camp could not carry so much stuff on the road, so Pang Gang had to store the food and grass in Luoyang and let Cheng Kai, who was stationed in Luoyang, guard it and send someone to pick it up later.
"Pimple eggplant"
There was a sound of horse hoofbeats, and Wang Zhi followed up with his horse, walked to Pang Gang and said: "Sir, if you leave Cheng Youbi and his fifth battalion in Luoyang, our strength will be reduced by half in an instant. With our few men and horses
Can a bandit and an army of tens of thousands resist?"
Pang Gang smiled slightly, "Wang Youyi, I don't believe you don't know the significance of our troops stationed in Luoyang. Now that we have established a firm foothold in Shandong, it's time to expand overseas."
"Sir, you mean to fly." Wang Zhi looked at Pang Gang in surprise, has Sir really decided to expand outward?
In fact, Wang Zhi's joy was well-founded. As the army in Pang Gang's hands further expanded, and the number of troops increased, his generals became increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo. Now Pang Gang's troops have reached three
Ten thousand, in two months it will be 50,000 when the 20,000 new recruits are trained. Coupled with the rapidly expanding navy, there are already nearly 70,000 troops in Shandong. While Pang Gang has strong strength, he also allows his subordinates to
Many generals had a kind of hope in their hearts.
Ever since Chen Sheng and Wu Guang shouted out the words "Princes and generals would rather have the right kind", this sentence has been firmly engraved in people's hearts. Those generals who have completely tied their interests to Pang Gang have already
I just hope that Pang Gang can lead them to win higher benefits and glory.
All the officials and generals in Shandong knew about the relationship between Pang Gang and the imperial court. All they had to do was to tear off their faces and openly raise the flag of rebellion. Although many people were ready to move in their hearts, they were all suppressed by Pang Gang, but they all had no doubts in their hearts.
We are looking forward to the arrival of that day. Now that Pang Gang has taken the first step to reach out to Shandong, is he still far away from the day when he openly raises the flag of rebellion?
Seeing Wang Zhi's surprised look, Pang Gang couldn't help shaking his head and laughing: "You, you are still too anxious. Now is not the time to openly break up with the court. We must continue to focus on developing our strength. In short, just one sentence
, enter the village quietly, no need to shoot."
Although Wang Zhi didn't understand the allusion to Pang Gang's last sentence, he understood the meaning. Wang Zhi nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, sir, I will understand how to do it."
"Do you really understand? Not necessarily?" Pang Gang looked at Wang Zhi with a half-smile, "But it doesn't matter. I believe you will really understand when we get to Kaifeng..."
Just as Pang Gang was rushing towards Kaifeng Mansion in a hurry, Li Zicheng also led tens of thousands of troops to rush towards Kaifeng Mansion. When they arrived at Qixian County, Kaifeng Mansion, they saw a man who was interested in his career.
Meeting this person with a lot of connections was also the turning point of Li Zicheng's fate. If Pang Gang knew about it, he would definitely lament that the wheel of history is rolling forward unstoppably, etc..., Qixian County is under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture, where people live
There is a family, and there is a person named Li Yan in this family.
Li Yan's original name was Li Xin, who was born in Qixian County, Kaike Prefecture, Henan Province. He was elected in the year of Dingmao in Tianqi. His father, Li Jingbai, was the governor of Shandong and had the title of Minister of the Ministry of War. In the early years of Chongzhen, he was convicted of "making friends with close servants and being inferior" in the case of Wei Zhongxian.
, the punishment of "three years' service and redemption for the people".
In the official circles of the late Ming Dynasty, this was actually nothing, so Li Jingbai's reputation in his hometown was not bad. Although he was offered to reduce his position to serve the people, the Li family was still one of the top wealthy squires in Qixian County.
Li Yan was generous and forthright by nature, and often gave alms to the poor; he also loved to fight injustice and uphold justice. His character was like a knight-errant, and he liked to make friends. He had a good reputation in Qixian County, and the people called him "Master Li".
Li Yan has a good reputation among the people, but this does not mean that his reputation among another group of people in Qixian County is also good. As the old saying goes, you cannot take all the good things in the world. Since Li Yan is
If the prestige among the poor is high, then the price parity among another group of people will naturally be very low. What's worse is that this small group of people is the group of people who dominate the fate of Qixian County.
In view of the fact that Li Yan, as a landlord, did not speak for his own people, but turned his elbows outward at all times, many gentry in Qixian County joined forces with the magistrate of Qixian County to launch a series of actions against Li Yan. The subsequent results proved that
The truth in the world is always in the hands of a small group of people.
So Li Yan suffered a tragedy. His family was sealed off and all his servants left. In the words of later generations, he turned from a bourgeois to a proletarian. From a rich man to a pauper, this huge gap is not
Everyone can face it calmly, and Li Yan is no exception.
When Li Yan and his wife Tang were living on the streets homeless, Li Zicheng came to Qixian County. Li Yan, filled with resentment against those who had framed him, simply broke the pot and fled with his wife overnight.
Li Zicheng.
As for Li Zicheng, he was a little man who was born as a post soldier, and he couldn't even recognize Chinese characters. From the beginning of the rebellion in the second year of Chongzhen to the present, his subordinates are all rough men with mud-legged backgrounds, and there is not even a single person around him who can make suggestions.
, and now there is actually a scholar with a good academic background who has come to seek refuge. It would be a lie to say that he is not moved.
From the following conversation, you can see how happy Li Zicheng was that Li Yan came to join him. After they met, Li Yan told Li Zicheng that he would capture Kaiguofu within days. Who dares to pat his chest and say that within two days?
Will we be able to capture Kaifeng Mansion?"
As Li Yan spoke, he looked around at everyone with vigour. At this time, everyone avoided his gaze. Capturing Kaifeng Mansion in two days was a difficult task, despite everyone just talking about Kaifeng being like paper.
In a muddy place, Kaifeng can be beaten to pieces with just one kick. But in fact, everyone knows that although Kaifeng only has five or six thousand soldiers, if the rebels really attack the city, they will not be able to defeat it in less than five days.
Li Yan continued: "Besides, Kaifeng's city is no worse than Luoyang, and the prefect of Kaifeng, Cen Zhi, is not a drunk student. I can guarantee that with Cen Zhi in our rebel army, it will be difficult to conquer Kaifeng even in fifteen days, let alone five days."
Fifteen days later, the imperial court's reinforcements are like turtles, and they can crawl to Kaifeng. Moreover, students are not worried when other officers and soldiers arrive. What students are most worried about is the arrival of the Qingzhou Army, which caused great losses to our rebel army.
, we were really desperate at that time."
Li Yan's words were not loud, but every sentence was like a thorn piercing everyone's heart.
The battle under Luoyang City woke up everyone who had been full of confidence due to the rapid expansion of their strength. Only then did they realize that the army they were so proud of was as helpless as a chicken or a dog in front of the opponent.
With one blow, hundreds of thousands of troops were beaten to a pulp in less than a few days. Now when they heard the words "Qingzhou Army", they felt hate and fear in their hearts.
Seeing the ugly looks on everyone's faces, Li Yan also knew that he had to stop there, otherwise he would really offend everyone and he would be a loner in the army from now on.
Thinking of this, Li Yan changed his tone, "Although we can't fight in Kaifeng for the time being, we may not have no other way to go."
When Li Zicheng heard this, he immediately asked: "What way?"
Li Yan smiled: "This road was originally decided by King Chuang, that is to go to Hubei. According to the students, going to Hubei is indeed a very suitable road for our Mon rebels. Hubei has always been a major grain-producing province, and it is also in the Central Plains.
From the hinterland, we can go west to Sichuan, to the east we can directly take Anhui, to the north we can fight back to Shaanxi, and to the north we can point our troops to Hunan. As long as Hubei is captured, we can advance, retreat or defend. As long as our rebel army has more than one year of training.
In time, with the abundant food and population in Hubei, we can develop a strong army that can rival the Qingzhou Army, and then it will be the time to become King Chuang and aspire to dominate the world."
When everyone heard this, they thought, Huh? Yes, isn’t that the truth? It seems that our Chuang Wang has really seen everything. Now everyone looked at Chuang Wang differently. It was a mixture of admiration and admiration.
gaze.
"Okay!" Li Zicheng was also overjoyed when he heard this. He grabbed Li Yan's shoulders with both hands and said excitedly: "What Young Master Li said is exactly what I meant. It really speaks to my heart."
Li Zicheng had no choice but to be impatient. Previously, in order to find a way out, going south to Hubei was just a last resort choice. However, after Li Yan's analysis, the strategy of going south immediately became Wuye Kuangniu.
With one extremely wise move, Li Zicheng became a coach with great confidence and far-sightedness.
Looking at the smug Li Zicheng, Li Yan just kept smiling. He was very smart and knew that he could only gain a foothold in the army if he could gain the trust of King Chuang. Everything else was secondary. And for Chuang Jun's future, he
There are also a series of plans. As long as King Chuang can listen to him, he will have the confidence to develop this army and overthrow this decadent dynasty in one fell swoop..."
Three days later, when Pang Gang arrived at Kaifeng Mansion, the rebel army had disappeared without a trace. According to the report from Ye Bu, they had already headed towards Xiangfan.
"Xiangfan? It turns out that his target is Hubei!"
After several days of hard work, Pang Gang's face was full of dust. After receiving the report from Ye Bushou, he realized that the army had changed its mind and would not attack the Feng Mansion. This change made Pang Gang
The plan to take this opportunity to hit Chuangjun again failed.
"Li Zicheng has really become smarter. He is able to abandon the wealthy and important town of Kaifeng. This is not like the usual style of rogue bandits." Pang Gang sat on his horse and muttered to himself, facing the south.
"Sir, it is a good thing after all that the bandits are escaping. Maybe they were frightened by the reputation of our Qingzhou Army." Wang Zhi on the side saw that Pang Gang was a little unhappy and couldn't help but comfort him.
Pang Gang smiled slightly when he heard this, and pointed to the village in front of which smoke was rising: "I'm not unhappy, I'm just surprised that according to the virtue of plucking the hair of bandits and geese, now that they have come to Kaifeng, even if they don't attack Kaifeng,
We have to plunder the surroundings no matter what, but look at the surrounding towns and villages and there are no signs of being plundered, don’t you think it’s strange?”
"Huh? That's right!" Wang Zhi was also surprised, "Did these thieves change their nature? Why didn't they stop looting?"
"Maybe they have a clever person, who knows?" Pang Gang said leisurely: "But I have a hunch that we and those thieves will definitely meet again."
"Report..." A soldier rode over and reported: "Sir, Cen Zhi, the prefect of Kaifeng City, led a group of officials from Kaifeng to greet you."
ps: There are too many things to do today, there is only one chapter left! (To be continued!~!
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