Chapter 23 Zhang Xianzhong's Story of the Founding of the Kingdom of Heaven (1)
After Zhang Xianzhong and He Yilong led their troops to fly across the Three Gorges area to Shu in the 16th year of Chongzhen, and heard the news that Li Zicheng was continuously conquering cities and territories in the north, Zhang Xianzhong accelerated his pace and stepped up the river, advancing both by land and water.
Go straight to Sichuan.
Due to the rapid flow of the river and the difficulty of traveling through the high mountains on both sides, the Daxi Army's queue stretched very long during the march, and the follow-up troops could not keep up for a while. In addition, the number of soldiers and family members accompanying the army was quite large, and the relatively poor prefectures and counties in eastern Sichuan were along the way.
It was extremely difficult to obtain food and grass, so we were delayed for a long time in the eastern Sichuan area.
The Ming army fighting in eastern Sichuan and the Daxi Army mainly came from the troops under the command of General Zeng Ying. Later, Li Zicheng swept across the northwest, and some remnants of the Ming army in the northwest fled from the Hanzhong area into Sichuan, which also became
One of the forces that resisted Zhang Xianzhong's occupation of Shu.
Zeng Ying used Fuzhou and Chongqing in eastern Sichuan as bases and repeatedly launched attacks against the Great Western Army. Zhu Changhao, the Rui King of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Shiqi, the governor of Sichuan, Wang Xingjian, the prefect of Chongqing, Wang Xi, the magistrate of Ba County, and other figures also gathered here
In the city of Chongqing, they called on each other to resist the advance of the Western Army, which caused a lot of trouble to Zhang Xianzhong.
In addition to these Ming army forces, Wang Yingxiong from Ba County, Sichuan, who served as an auxiliary minister in the Ming Dynasty, and Fan Yiheng, a native of Yibin County, Sichuan, who served as a military officer in Shaanxi Province, are figures with high prestige and appeal among the gentry in Shu.
They also took active actions.
Since the Zuo Liangyu Group was completely wiped out by Li Laiheng, Chongzhen has ordered local organizations to organize team training and made it clear that the court "will never control it."
Emperor Chongzhen's new policy failed to restore the Ming Dynasty's ruling order in the north, but in Sichuan, it added many difficulties to Zhang Xianzhong.
Fan Yiheng was stationed in Chengdu in the name of the new governor of Sichuan. He used the original standard battalion force as the backbone, and later joined forces with Gao Doushu and Wang Guangen who had retreated from Hanzhong to Sichuan, forming a quite powerful force.
Wang Yingxiong, in the name of governor of Hunan and Guizhou's military affairs, sat in Zunyi, using Guizhou's military strength and military pay, plus the defeated troops who fled from Hunan into Guizhou, local armed forces moved northward from Qijiang and Naxi to threaten the flanks of the Great Western Army.
Zhang Xianzhong failed to succeed in several attacks on Chongqing, and was unable to open up a situation in eastern Sichuan for the time being. The situation of the Daxi Army became increasingly passive.
However, when the good news of the northern invasion army spread to the south one after another, it aroused the fighting enthusiasm of the soldiers of the Daxi Army. The soldiers were all highly morale, because in the minds of Xiying, the two families of Chuangying and Xiying
The troops and horses are always evenly matched. Since the Chuang Army can achieve such a big situation, the Great Western Army will not lose too much to the Chuang Army.
Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong decided to step up the counterattack against the Ming army in eastern Sichuan. He handed over the task of advancing into Chongqing to He Yilong, and sent two strong men from the Western Camp, Zhang Kewang and Zhang Dingguo, to lead their troops to support.
Since Ma Shouying died of illness, all his troops have been annexed by Zhang Xianzhong. He Yilong said nothing on the surface, but had countless other plans in his mind. He did not answer Zhang Xianzhong immediately, but looked at all the generals in the Great Western Army
They pretended not to care and smiled:
"Brothers and brothers, today I am not a toad crawling into the weighing pan and claiming to be self-respecting. Today, the Eighth King has caught my eye with a pair of wise eyes and shields, and wants to hand over this pair of Yu Jinqiu Dan to me.
No matter how incompetent I am, for the sake of the face of our Daxi soldiers, I will still have to stand on stilts and try to regain my ability. Let’s put it this way, within ten days, I will definitely win the city of Chongqing... Don’t laugh, everyone, I am a gentleman
A word is hard to catch, so I won't talk nonsense. If I can't win Chongqing in ten days, then I might as well stop being a man in the next life and become a woman with small feet!"
Everyone couldn't help laughing after hearing this strange oath. Zhang Xianzhong grabbed his beard and laughed and cursed:
"When Lao Ge becomes a woman, she will not be a hag, but also a female worm!"
Zhang Dingguo also joked: "Uncle He, with your looks, no one would dare to marry a woman!"
He Yilong looked solemn at this time and said: "Let's put it here first. It's no problem to leave the attack on Chongqing to me. But Zeng Ying is still entrenched in the Wangzhouguan area of Fuzhou, and Wang Yingxiong's Guizhou soldiers are also very far away from here.
Recently, Lao Zhang, Chongqing was left to me, and Zeng Yingke will be left to you!"
Zhang Xianzhong immediately slapped his thigh and swore to the sky: "If I let Zeng Ying come down to Chongqing, I will give all my beard to Lao Ge."
He Yilong was beating his head, thinking that Zhang Xianzhong's beard was worthless after all. If he lost it to Chongqing, it would be a big loss. But Zhang Xianzhong had other confidence in winning Chongqing this time:
As early as when the Western Army flew across the natural dangers of the Three Gorges, they captured a Western Jesuit missionary An Wensi who came to Sichuan to preach. This man was a so-called Portuguese, who was well versed in astronomy and geography, and knew the politics of various countries, which impressed Zhang Xianzhong even more.
The one who is interested is An Wensi who knows how to forge cannons, is proficient in cannon skills, and has a deep understanding of arithmetic.
Zhang Xianzhong was different from Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng was a humble and humble person, while Zhang Xianzhong was very talented. Although he had accomplished nothing in his studies as a boy, he had a wild and intelligent spirit.
Moreover, when Zhang Xianzhong was young, he worked as a red date merchant to make a living, and he was already very interested in arithmetic. After the Western Army entered Sichuan and captured the Jesuit missionary An Wensi, Zhang Xianzhong immediately showed a strong interest in the arithmetic knowledge that this man had mastered.
He would discuss Western studies with Anwensi almost every day, and he would debate with him.
Zhang Xianzhong seemed to be gifted with intelligence and extraordinary understanding, which greatly impressed An Wensi. Within a few days, Zhang Xianzhong went a step further and announced that he would be given the title of "Taiwan Imperial Master" by An Wensi.
An Wensi's artillery skills were Zhang Xianzhong's biggest reliance on taking Chongqing and Fuzhou this time. He asked Zhang Kewang and An Wensi to lead the artillery troops of the Daxi Army and follow He Yilong to attack Chongqing.
He took out a cross from his pocket, held it in his hand, stood in front of the dark cannon, and murmured:
"Only the true God, the living and holy God, protects us. He will definitely defeat the enemy this time. If God, the Emperor, protects me, Lao Zhang, and takes over the Kingdom of Abundance, I, Lao Zhang, will definitely build a temple in Chengdu, so that God can also be worshiped in China.
"
Seeing that the army was about to go out, this battle in eastern Sichuan would determine whether the Western Army could gain a foothold in Sichuan. Zhang Xianzhong felt heavy in his heart, so he raised the cross presented by missionary An Wensi to his forehead and whispered:
"God has all things and people, and people have nothing like God. God is clear and thinks for himself. Today, the Emperor protects us. Our life is mine, and my fate is in the sky. There are roads in all directions, and there is no escape from the disaster."
Zhang Kewang, who was also standing solemnly in front of the cannon, secretly curled his lips. He knew that since Zhang Xianzhong became king, his adoptive father had been more and more praised by a group of civil servants around him. He always felt that destiny was in his hands, and he had a particularly strong sense of destiny.
Thought.
However, reality dealt Zhang Xianzhong blows again and again. First, Li Zicheng rushed to capture the city and land repeatedly before Zhang Xianzhong, sweeping the north, making the Xiying's momentum far behind that of the rushing camp. After that, the Great Western Army repeatedly encountered obstacles in eastern Sichuan, and late
It's too late to open up the situation.
All these circumstances made Zhang Xianzhong, who was full of thoughts of destiny, have a doubt, whether the destiny is not in me?
Zhang Xianzhong is a very smart person, he is very talented, but his mood swings are very big, and he is very easy to be happy and sad. Based on Zhang Kewang's understanding of the Eight Kings, Zhang Xianzhong did not vent his anger on others after the recent encounter in eastern Sichuan. In fact, it was only
It's a strange thing.
The reason for this seems to be that after Zhang Xianzhong hung out with the Jesuit missionary An Wensi, the eight kings had the idea of destiny in their minds, the kind of "man's destiny is mine, my destiny is in heaven. There are roads in all directions, and there is no escape from disaster."
The strange idea of "Heaven has all things and humans, but humans have nothing to do with heaven. Ghosts and gods are all clear, and they think for themselves." Unintentionally, it is very consistent with the Catholic thought spread by An Wensi.
After a while, Zhang Xianzhong picked up the cross and became a devout Catholic believer in no time!
Zhang Kewang didn't have much favorable impressions of the Western Heavenly Father religion, but he felt that it was because of the relationship between the Heavenly Father and the Emperor that Zhang Xianzhong's emotional temperament, which was prone to joy and anger, was controlled by the Bible and the cross. For the Western Army,
, this may be considered a good thing, so Zhang Kewang is somewhat happy to hear about it.
"Relying on the power of God, we will wipe out the ghosts and purge the mountains and rivers!"
Zhang Xianzhong also ordered the generals to choose an open and spacious place that could accommodate tens of thousands of people to kneel and worship. He ordered the soldiers of each battalion of the Great Western Army to prepare chickens, pigs, sandalwood and other items. All troops maintained a strict atmosphere, and then led the soldiers to shout loudly.
Let’s worship our Heavenly Father together in repayment
Heaven’s grace, the Lord’s grace is so great.
He Yilong found this "pre-battle prayer" particularly funny, but because Zhang Xianzhong attached great importance to it, many soldiers in Xiying were also bewitched by An Wensi, believing that there really is a Heavenly Father and Emperor in the world.
His attitude was so enthusiastic that He Yilong himself couldn't say anything.