Niu Jinxing quickly settled the members of the Little Tiger Team near Luoyang City. Before the celebration banquet started, Li Laiheng took Gao Yigong, Hao Yaoqi and others for another round of Luoyang City.
In the past, Liu Zongmin was responsible for all the work of breaking into camps and plundering. But after Liu Zongmin died, this task was handed over to Li Shuangxi. Li Laiheng thought to himself, Li Shuangxi had a simple and rough temperament, and he was responsible for the torture and plundering.
It will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.
But after walking around Luoyang City, Li Laiheng discovered that Li Shuangxi's handling skills had also improved a lot. He used Shao Shichang, a book clerk who had been recruited and surrendered in Luoyang City, as his mastermind, and recruited many assistants from the yamen who were good at writing and calculation.
Officials, divide the people into three groups: one group is for copying grain, another group is for copying money, and the other group is for copying valuable things.
Each sentry is led by a general leader, called a sentry officer, who is the only one who can deal with mistakes. Each sentry has several teams, each with a chief and deputy leader. Each sentry is equipped with two scribes and a copying leader.
The chief inspector must supervise carefully and ensure that all the money and valuables confiscated are returned to the public. They are not allowed to keep or embezzle privately, nor are they allowed to be neglected or omitted.
King Fu had a lot of grain, and most of it was packed in bulk in the warehouse. If he didn't prepare enough sacks, the cloth bags wouldn't be able to be transported away, so he opened the warehouse and stared.
Shao Shichang suggested to Li Shuangxi that he start collecting sacks, cloth bags and other items throughout the city. Worried that it was not enough, he sent people to Xin'an, Yanshi and nearby market towns and villages to collect as much as possible.
King Fu's gold, silver, and jewelry were piled up like mountains, and he also had two large rooms filled with copper coins. Due to age, many of the coin strings were rotten and would break when he moved them. It was also Shao Shichang who gave Li Shuangxi the idea and hired a large number of carpenters to make them.
Packing boxes, imitating the government's method of distributing large amounts of money, grain, and silver, King Fu's savings were quickly disposed of.
Gao Yigong was Li Zicheng's brother-in-law and naturally had a good relationship with Li Zicheng's adopted son Li Shuangxi. He was extremely happy for Li Shuangxi's growth and praised: "Since our uprising, we have never destroyed a city as wealthy as Luoyang.
.No one has any experience in how to plunder and confiscate gold and silver materials in such a city. However, we did not expect that Shuang Xi'er would think of asking Shao Shichang and his team to do things for us, and humbly accepted their suggestions.
It was done right.”
Fang Yiren was a scholar, not a soldier. He did not ride a war horse. Instead, like Niu Jinxing before him, he rode a small donkey and followed Li Laiheng and others.
After hearing Gao Yigong's praise, this "black scholar" had a different thought in his heart: Mr. Li has thousands of troops and is already the first-class figure in the camp, but he is just the righteous brother of Li Zicheng's nephew Li Guo.
Son, how does he compare with Li Zicheng’s adopted son Li Shuangxi?
It seems that Li Laiheng and Li Shuangxi have a very good relationship, and their relationship is also very sincere, but...
Fang Yiren hurriedly shook his head to drive these inappropriate thoughts out of his mind. Where was Chuangjun going now? The important thing has not been accomplished yet, and it is far from the time for intrigues!
Li Laiheng didn't say anything. He was completely immersed in the cheerful atmosphere of Luoyang City. Ever since the rebel army began to open warehouses to release grain, not only this city, but also the entire southwest Henan region had the same lifeless and miserable atmosphere in the past.
All were swept away.
There are always people setting off firecrackers in all the streets and alleys of Luoyang City. There are three major operas in the city, one is Western Henan Bangzi, one is Yuediao from Nanyang, and one is Shaanxi Bangzi, the so-called Qin Opera, which are performed at the same time.
In each camp of the Chuang Army, pigs and sheep were being killed in preparation for celebrating the New Year, creating a joyful atmosphere.
"Leshan, what do you think the boss will do next?"
Li Laiheng waved his whip lightly on the horse and called him by Fang Yiren's nickname, which showed that the relationship between the two parties was several levels closer. He suddenly raised this question, not only to test Fang Yiren in the school, but also to test Fang Yiren's true thoughts.
, to see if Mr. Leshan has any plans to join the army.
Fang Yiren thought for a while and then understood Li Laiheng's intention. It is always convenient for smart people to speak. For example, Li Laiheng and Fang Yiren could easily understand the deeper meaning of each other's words.
Hei Xiucai knew that Yang Sichang had already reported to Chongzhen, saying that he had "compassionately died" in Yiling. With Chongzhen's character, if he returned to the court alive at this time, Chongzhen would definitely kill him because he could not lose face.
deal with.
But Fang Yiren felt that breaking into the army was unlikely to be a big deal, so it might be better to make money and escape back to his hometown in Tongcheng, hiding his name. But Li Laiheng's performance made Fang Yiren, as a scholar, feel something that might be for the founding of the country.
The emperor's thoughts.
Therefore, he replied seriously: "When we passed the Dragon Gate, I saw Qi Weng inscribed this poem on the wall, 'A hundred generations competed for deer in the Central Plains, Guanhe River was in chaos and vicissitudes of life. Where is Zhou Ding after the fall? Luoyang has been the hometown of emperors since ancient times.'"
"Oh? I haven't noticed it. Leshan, what do you think Qi Weng's poem means?"
"I think Qi Weng's meaning is very clear. To summarize it simply, it can be summed up in six words: 'Conquer Heluo and fight for the Central Plains'."
Li Laiheng nodded. He knew that Fang Yiren's guess was accurate. This was indeed the strategy Niu Jinxing had proposed to Li Zicheng in history. But Li Laiheng saw that Fang Yiren did not agree with this strategy, so he asked: "Leshan's words haven't come yet."
Are you done? These are all members of the Little Tiger Team, so it’s okay for you to speak out."
"Henan is densely populated and suffers from natural disasters, so hungry people are everywhere. It is indeed a suitable place for military use. But I think Heluo is a place for military use, but not a place for foundation."
Li Laiheng raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Can Leshan please explain in detail?"
"At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, due to the uprising of the Yellow River River workers, there was the Red Scarf Army incident. Liu Futong and King Xiao Ming also based in Bianliang to resist the Yuan court troops. This shows that Henan can indeed be used as a place for military force. However, Liu Futong was defeated in the end, and the world was Taizu.
...taken by Hongwu."
“Firstly, because there are so many floods in Henan, and the Yellow River may burst its banks at any time, even if we work hard, it will be difficult to become a land of plenty; secondly, because Henan has a flat terrain and no danger on all sides, making it easy to attack but difficult to defend. Once something happens, the whole situation will collapse immediately.
"
Li Laiheng secretly admired Fang Yiren's views. In his two simple sentences, he really hit the key point of Niu Jinxing's strategy of "occupying Heluo and fighting for the Central Plains".
The invading army in history failed to prevent the Kaifeng officials and gentry from breaching the embankment, making eastern Henan a yellow-stricken area that was flooded and unable to farm at all. Later, after the invading army was defeated in Shanhaiguan, they even organized Taiyuan in Shanxi and Shaanxi.
There were large-scale defensive battles in northern Shaanxi and Tongguan, but in Henan, except for the offensive Huaiqing Battle (Huaiqing actually belonged to Hebei geographically), they failed to organize any resistance and surrendered to others.
"What Leshan means is that if we seize Heluo and fight for the Central Plains, we will only be reduced to the second place in the Red Scarf Army? Should we follow Emperor Hongwu and go eastward along the river, send troops into Wu, and take the southeast as our foundation?"
Fang Yiren shook his head, "No, the heroes in the early days of the country were all from Huaixi, and the soldiers under Emperor Hongwu were all from the south. The people from the north are good at horses, the people from the south are good at boats, and the invading army is all from the north. I don't think they can gain a foothold in the southeast."
"As soon as the news of Zhangpan opening a warehouse to stock grain in Luoyang was released, hungry people from the surrounding areas came to seek refuge in a steady stream. If we recruit local hungry people like we did in Jiangnan, why are we short of southerners who are good at boats and water?"
Li Laiheng refuted Fang Yiren's point of view. Although the main body of the Taiping Army in later generations was the old brothers from Guangxi, they also recruited a large number of people from the Three Rivers and Two Hus along the way. The main force in the later period was also mainly people from the two Hus and Jiangnan.
"What Guan Dui said is right, but apart from that, there are many reasons why it is inconvenient for the Chuang army to go east and south. For example, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River is powerful and it is difficult for the Chuang army to win the hearts and minds of the people; the number of refugees is not as large as that of Qin and Yu, so the Chuang army
It is also difficult to replenish troops; whether along the river or eastward from the Dabie Mountains, we have to march more than a thousand miles, and may be intercepted or flanked by the army at any time, and we may not be able to reach the southeast."
"What's more, the advantages of Wu and Yue are all in the Three Chus; the advantages of the Three Chus are not in Wu and Yue. In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, a proverb said, 'If Su and Lake are cooked, the world is sufficient.' But today people say, 'If Hu and Guang are cooked, the world is sufficient.' The power of the land on the right side of the Yangtze River comes from,
If there is not enough for his people, he must feed himself with grain from Jinghu Lake, so people now say, 'Wu regards the food of Chu as his heaven'."
"And the Three Chus are close to the Central Plains, from Luoyang to Xiangyang, just in a blink of an eye. In terms of folk customs, the folk customs of Chu are also close to those of Qin and Henan. There is no need to worry about the Qin people arriving in Chu and not being able to adapt."
Li Laiheng thought that Fang Yiren's hometown was in Tongcheng near Jiangnan. At this time, he did not strongly ask the army to develop to the southeast so that he could sneak back to his hometown. Maybe his intentions were sincere?
Indeed, in Li Laiheng's own view, Niu Jinxing's strategy of occupying Heluo has been proven to be a failure by history. Moreover, historically, the place where the Chuang Army really achieved success and had a foundation was mainly in Xiangyang, where Bai Wang operated.
De'an, Jingzhou, and Chengtian are the four prefectures, not the Central Plains.
The policy of seizing the Three Chus was indeed more suitable for Li Laiheng than the policy of seizing Heluo.
"What Leshan means is that the fish and rice of the Three Chus are used to feed the soldiers of Qin and Yu?"
But when Fang Yiren reached this point, he stopped going into the topic and just smiled and said: "The guards are just the subordinates of King Chuang. King Chuang must have his own opinions. Why should we overstep his authority?"
After hearing this, Li Laiheng looked at Fang Yiren with deep eyes and said, "Are you asking me to do it for you? I heard that Wuchang fish is one of the best in the world and must be tasted. We may have the opportunity to visit Dongting Lake."
Before either of them had finished speaking, Hao Yaoqi galloped over and shouted: "Guan Du, the banquet has begun! The old boss said that everyone can eat and drink with open stomachs today!"