When Pierdan saw the leader of the cavalry lying in front of him, with one leg pinned under him by the horse, his old and new grudges came to mind for a moment, and he couldn't help but immediately grabbed the whip and hit the man.
It was drawn from his body.
"Bah bang bang..." There was a sound of whips followed by shrill screams...
Just as Pierdan was whipping vigorously, the sound of horse hoofbeats sounded again from behind. Pierdan, who was whipping vigorously, looked back and saw that it was groups of cavalry rushing towards him from behind. These cavalrymen were rushing towards him.
Wearing a black helmet and black armor, carrying what looked like a blunderbuss on his back, and holding a scimitar high in his hand, he was rushing towards Pierdan.
Seeing this scene, Pierdan was so frightened that he quickly threw away the whip in his hand and ran towards the roadside. When he ran to the roadside and found a place to lie down, he realized that those knights were not aiming at him.
He came, but pursued forward.
Pierdan, who was lying on the side of the road, breathed a sigh of relief and cursed: "Fuck, it turns out they didn't kill me. Who are these people? Why are they wearing black armor? It's so weird.
"
"call......."
Just when Pierdan took a long breath and was about to sneak away, there was another sound of horse hoofbeats from behind, and more than a dozen black-armored knights galloped over again. When they came to Pierdan, the first knight
He reined in his horse, turned his head in the direction of Pierdan and shouted: "Boy, come out, I saw you just now."
Hearing the other party's loud shouts, Pierdan stood up timidly, stood in front of the knight and lowered his head, thinking: "I can't run away anyway, so I'll let him behead me if I want to."
I only heard the knight on the opposite side yell: "Boy, why did you run away when you saw us?"
Pierdan raised his head and glanced at him secretly, and found that although this knight had a face with Chinese characters and a solemn and majestic expression, he did not give people a sinister look, so he boldly said: "Master Jun,
You just rush over here. If you don't run away, why are you still standing there waiting to die?"
"Huh?" After hearing Pierdan's words, the knight's face froze obviously, and then he laughed loudly: "Good boy, I have been in this place where no one has shit for so long, and you are still the first
Someone who dares to speak to me like this. Well, not bad!"
As the knight spoke, he looked at Pierdan's strong figure and kept nodding. After a while, he asked again: "Boy, what's your name?"
Pierdan puffed up his chest and replied loudly: "In response to Master Jun, my name is Pierdan."
"Pi Erdan?" The knight looked stunned for a while, and then laughed: "Good boy, it seems that you are not only brave, but you also have a good name. Let me ask you, why did you hit that boy just now?"
"Who asked him to snatch my pheasant and whip me with a whip? My father said that it is not a gentleman to refuse to retaliate. So if I have the chance, I will definitely whip it back."
"Well, good boy, you are really a good soldier. What a pity." The knight showed admiration at first, then sighed and turned his horse to go back.
Seeing that the knight and others were about to leave, Pierdan became anxious and quickly shouted, "Master, please stay!"
"Huh? Do you have anything else to do?" the knight asked with a smile.
Looking at the leader and the mighty knights around him, Pi Erdan's eyes showed an envious look, "Master Jun, you... do you still want a soldier? I want to be a soldier too!"
"You also want to be a soldier?" The leading knight showed a playful look on his face, and said jokingly: "Boy, being a soldier is not a good job. It means hanging your head on your belt and risking your life. You
Aren’t you afraid?”
"Afraid of a ball!" Pierdan swore on the spot. "It's better to be killed than to be starved to death or beaten to death. Just now that bastard dared to whip me, wasn't it because he had the handle of the knife in his hand?
, when I become a soldier, I will also hold the handle of a knife to see who dares to beat me!"
Pierdan's firm look and slightly innocent words made all the cavalry laugh. The leading knight laughed loudly and said: "Boy, I should have recruited you into my team because of what I said to you.
But our Zhou army has strict rules. If you want to be a soldier, you have to go to the recruitment site to sign up. Otherwise, the military law is not forgiving. If you really want to be a soldier, go to the recruitment sites in big places like Nanyang Prefecture or Xiangyang Prefecture.
You just have to sign up. There is no recruiting station in our small place here, and even if you sign up, it’s another question whether we will be accepted. If you are lucky, we can meet in the same legion in the future. If
If you have bad luck, it will be difficult!”
After saying that, the knight waved his hand, and a bright light flew towards Pi Erdan. Pi Erdan reached out and caught it without thinking. The knight turned the horse's head and galloped away, far away.
He only heard the other party say: "Boy, if you don't become a soldier, this is the money to compensate for your two pheasants. If you really want to be a soldier, this money can be used as a living expenses for you!"
Watching the other party's figure gradually retreating, Pierdan held the silver in his hand and murmured: "Master Jun, just wait, I will definitely become this soldier to show you, but I don't know your name yet."
Woolen cloth........."
This small episode in Xuan County had little impact on Pang Gang and Li Zicheng. However, after the Spring Festival, the friction between the Chuang Army and the Zhou Army increased a lot. This friction occurred at the border of Hubei and Shaanxi.
The frequent occurrences have increasingly affected the stability of the Hubei border.
In the governor's office of Wuhan Prefecture, the guerrilla general Hei Tie walked into the custody room angrily and shouted: "Master governor, this can't go on like this. Those rogue bandits come to our border every day to cause trouble. The villages along the way have long been complaining, and many people are complaining.
They are clamoring for us to send troops for protection, but we only have two battalions with more than 10,000 troops in Hubei. We have to guard against Li Zicheng in Shaanxi, Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan and Liu Zongmin in Hunan. The troop strength has already been increased.
If you can't make ends meet, something will happen sooner or later if you continue like this?"
Hua Yan, who was giving instructions on official documents, saw Hua Yan coming in, put down his pen and consoled him: "General Hei, I don't know what you are talking about, but I have no right to make the final decision. However, the dispatch of troops and horses is coordinated by the prince.
Moreover, the prince also replied to the letter a few days ago, asking me to wait a little longer and the reinforcements will arrive. After all, Henan has to guard against the Tatars, and Shandong has to guard against the officers and soldiers from Jiangsu. The prince has a heavy burden on his shoulders.
It’s not a big deal either, you have to understand the prince’s difficulties.”
Heitie snorted coldly and said: "It's hard to think about it. When we only had a few thousand soldiers and horses, we could fight whoever we wanted. Now that we have strong soldiers and horses. Now that we have an army of 100,000, we are tied up."
, look at us, we only have two battalions of soldiers and horses in Hubei, what is this?"
"Can that be the same?" Hua Yan glared at Heitie, "At that time, we were backed by the big tree of the imperial court. With the imperial court's backing, we could naturally attack whoever we wanted. But now we have established our own business. We have no backers.
However, there are many enemies, including bandits, Tatars, the imperial court, and Zheng Zhibao from the sea. We have to guard against any of them. If something goes wrong, we will cry without crying."
Although Heitie can be considered a veteran, he was really frightened when he saw Hua Yan's serious face. He lowered his head and muttered, "If you don't say anything, don't say it. If you make me anxious, I'll do it."
Lead the men to take away the intruder's lair."
Hua Yan sighed. He could understand Heitie's mood. Although Pang Gang had only proclaimed himself King of Zhou, everyone understood that as Pang Gang's strength and territory continued to expand, it was only a matter of time before he became emperor.
The most popular thing about the Zhou army is military merit. As long as you have military merit, you can straighten your back. Otherwise, when Pang Gang wins the world's merit-based rewards, other old guys will be granted titles and titles one by one, and you will
If you are made a count or don't even have a title, then you will be embarrassed to go out.
Finally, Hua Yan said sternly: "Okay, don't say anything. During this period, you should send more troops to patrol the surrounding areas. You must not let the bandits come to harm the people. If the spring plowing is delayed because of this, the prince is blaming me."
Before the official, I will be the first to take action on you!"
"Yes!" Seeing Hua Yan getting angry, Heitie agreed a little aggrievedly and walked out of the Yamen to make arrangements...
While the Zhou army was on tight defense in Hubei, Li Zicheng, Li Yan and others in Xi'an Mansion were paying close attention to every move of the Zhou army.
Looking at the map on the table, Li Zicheng asked with some worry: "Master Li, Commander Niu, will our provoking the Zhou army really offend Pang Gang? If he really goes all out to attack us, what can we do?"
It’s just too hard.”
Li Yan and Niu Jinxing looked at each other and smiled and said: "King Chuang, just put your heart in your stomach. We just had a little conflict with them. It's just friction at best. If Pang Gang sends his army to attack because of this,
, then his tolerance is too small."
Niu Jinxing also shook the folding fan that never left his body, and said confidently: "Don't worry about the king, we provoked Pang Gang this time, firstly, we took his goods to show it to the Manchu people.
, Naturally, we have to do something to silence others. Secondly, the more noise we make here, the safer it will be for General Liu to withdraw to Shaanxi and join us in Hunan. This is killing two birds with one stone.
What a good thing.”
After listening to Li Yan and Niu Jinxing's explanations, Li Zicheng took a long breath and said with a smile: "Well, Mr. Li and the military advisor are still thoughtful."
After hearing Li Zicheng's praise, Niu Jinxing smiled and said nothing, but Li Yan said modestly: "Haha, King Chuang has given you the reward. Since students work under King Chuang, they naturally have to share the worries of King Chuang. Otherwise, what's the point of having students?"
"Hahaha..." Everyone laughed.
Song Xiance, who had been silent for a long time, asked: "But King Chuang, I still have one thing I have to report to you. It's about the batch of firecrackers that the Manchus gave us."
When Li Zicheng heard this, he immediately became anxious, "Oh, what happened to those batch of firecrackers? Is there something wrong with them?"
Song Xiance shook his head, but looked at Li Yan with a smile. Li Yan sighed helplessly: "King Chuang, since the students got those batches of fire cannons, they have discovered that these fire cannons are in terms of power, accuracy and range.
They are far inferior to the fire blunderbuss used by the Zhou army, so we often suffered losses when fighting against the Zhou army. In addition, our fire blunderbuss had to be dragged with a long match rope every time it fired, making the battle very difficult.
It’s inconvenient, the soldiers are very unhappy about it.”
Li Zicheng asked noncommittally: "Well, what are Mr. Li's plans?"
Li Yan thought for a while and asked: "The students have already inquired about it. Now the fire blunderbuss used by the Manchus have been improved. They have also abandoned the match rope and used flint to fire the fire blunderbuss, so that the soldiers no longer have to carry it on their backs."
The long match ropes are marching. Why don’t we talk to Shopkeeper Qiao and ask them to give us some of the latest fire guns? If they don’t want to give them to us, we can just pay for them!”
"this........"
Hearing this, Li Zicheng pondered for a while, and then shook his head for a long time: "I guess it is unlikely that the Manchus will sell it to us. After all, they have just produced these firecrackers, and they don't have enough for themselves, so they are even less likely to give them to us.
.”
"well........"
Li Yan let out a long sigh. He originally thought that with the firecrackers supported by the Qing Dynasty, he would be able to compete with the Zhou army. At the worst, he could still fight, but he did not expect that the result was still frustrating. From these days,
Judging from the results of the battle, the fire cannons they equipped could not even reach the enemy's side when fighting against them. If our own side had not commanded it properly, the losses would have been even greater.
Seeing that everyone was in a low mood, Li Zicheng changed the subject in time: "Forget it. We don't want those unhappy things. Military Advisor Song, how many soldiers have we recruited in total these days?"
After Li Zicheng came to Shaanxi, he followed Li Yan's advice and began to eliminate the old, weak, sick and disabled, and began to shift to regularization. The most important thing was to strengthen military discipline. Although the effect is still very weak, it is better than before.
Song Xiance still looked enigmatic and smiled at Li Zicheng and said: "King Chuang, Pindao is about to report to you. According to your wishes, these days we will eliminate the old, weak, sick and disabled, leaving only the young and strong. And try our best.
The scale of recruitment has been expanded. We now have 150,000 young and strong soldiers. Among them, the four battalions of Zhongji, left wing, right wing and forward already have 80,000 soldiers. Your old battalion, King Chuang, has also been expanded to 50,000. The remaining
It’s Mr. Li’s Henan Battalion and some miscellaneous baggage and other miscellaneous troops.”
"Okay, okay!" Li Zicheng smiled and slapped his thigh and said, "Our strength has improved so much now. When Jiexuan comes back with his back management, our number will reach 200,000. Then we
Then we can launch an attack on Hebei."
At this time, Li Zicheng was thinking about how to get to Beijing as soon as possible, so he sent out troops to recruit troops every day, so this was no longer a question.
"King Chuang Yingming!" Niu Jinxing smiled after listening to Li Zicheng's words. He said with a beaming smile: "The capital of Gyeonggi is the hub of the Ming Dynasty. As long as Beijing is captured, King Chuang will occupy the title of great righteousness. Then you will be in the Ming Dynasty."
Beijing has ascended the throne and proclaimed itself emperor and commanded the world. Anyone who dares to disobey your orders is a traitor and traitor, and everyone will be punished!"
"Hey... Commander Niu, please don't be like this. The reason why I rebelled against the imperial court was because I couldn't live any longer. I wanted to find a way to survive for the poor people all over the world, not to ascend the throne and proclaim myself emperor."
Li Zicheng waved his hand and said very modestly.
"King Chuang's words are wrong. Of course you are fighting for the poor people in the world, but who else in the world is qualified to be emperor except you? This position must be yours? This is why even the Manchu Qing Dynasty
They are all acknowledged.”
Song Xiance's eyes flashed with an inexplicable light, and he encouraged Niu Jinxing vigorously.
"Hey... Commander Niu, Mr. Song has said too much. Li doesn't dare to take it seriously."
Although Li Zicheng still tried his best to refuse, everyone could see the excitement in his eyes. Looking at the expressions of Li Zicheng and the others, Li Yan secretly sighed in his heart. Before he even said these horoscopes, Niu Jinxing and others tried their best to provoke Chuang.
It's not a good thing for the king to be emperor! But looking at the three people singing in harmony, Li Yan also knew that it would be useless even if he said anything now, he could only find an opportunity to persuade the king again.
"Report!"
Just when Li Zicheng was happy, a soldier shouted loudly at the door: "To report to King Chuang, our general Liu sent a messenger and brought a letter!"
"Oh, there's a letter from Jiexun? That's a good thing. Hand it over quickly!"
Li Zicheng was overjoyed and asked his soldiers to present the letter. Soon the soldiers presented the letter. Li Zicheng took the letter and read it at a glance. As he read, his face became more and more happy.
"Okay, Jie Xuan said in the letter that he had organized the troops, and also loaded the gold, silver and jewelry into more than a hundred carts, just waiting to be shipped over. Unexpectedly, Jie Xuan was only in Hunan and Jiangxi
After going around in a circle, I have gained so much, it is really amazing, hahaha. Military Advisor Niu, I will bother you later and write a letter to Jiexuan, asking him to withdraw his troops to Shaanxi as soon as possible. These are our recruitment
You must take good care of your important money so that nothing can happen again."
Niu Jinxing didn't know what he thought of, the red color on his face flashed, and then he said: "Don't worry, King Chuang, Niu will write to General Liu immediately and give him careful instructions!"
When everyone in the room heard Li Zicheng say that Liu Zongmin had brought back so much gold and silver from Hunan, everyone had different expressions. Li Zicheng was in high spirits, Niu Jinxing was thoughtful, Song Xiance was stroking his beard and smiling, Li Yan was silent.
A trace of unbearable color flashed across his face.
Li Yan knew that he could collect so much gold and silver treasures. Liu Zongmin didn't know how many wealthy families he had robbed to gather so many things. Although Li Yan had decided to follow Li Zicheng in rebellion, he had been studying since he was a child.
As a sage, he had an instinctive aversion to burning, killing and looting. On the contrary, Niu Jinxing, who had also experienced hardships, and Song Xiance, who was a fortune teller, turned a blind eye to this.
"Forget it, anyway, King Chuang did this to overthrow the corrupt Ming Dynasty as soon as possible. Some extreme things are inevitable." At this moment, Li Yan could only comfort himself in this way.
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