The original Wuchang Chu Palace, which is now indispensable, has been occupied by Zhang Xianzhong.

At this time, inside and outside the main hall, Zhang Xianzhong and his henchmen and his most valued military advisor Xu Yixian were discussing the upcoming battle.

"Father-in-law, if you want me to say, no matter how much, we just hold on to what kind of rejuvenation of the country!" Kewang, the number one righteous descendant who saved Zhang Xianzhong's life, was the first to stand up and suggest, "As long as the Xingguo Gong is destroyed, the other court officials and troops will definitely collapse when they hear the news!" ”

A general who was obviously relatively young in the main hall, that is, Ai Nengqi, who was the end of the famous four righteous sons under Zhang Xianzhong's name, also immediately echoed and said: "Yes, that Xingguo Duke is so big that he dares to divide his troops, so we will gather heavy troops to destroy him!" ”

At this time, Zhang Xianzhong's side had also heard the news and knew about the division of troops on Zhang Mingwei's side.

Zhang Xianzhong listened and nodded, after so many years of fighting, this tactic has long been used proficiently. That is, by concentrating superior forces and concentrating on annihilating important court officials and troops along the way, you can break the encirclement and suppression of court officials and troops.

However, at this time, the military advisor Xu Yixian frowned and said: "This battle is not so easy!" The most critical place is that it is no longer a competition of force! ”

When they heard him speak, all the people in the temple immediately turned their heads to look at him.

After listening, Liu Wenxiu, who ranked third among the four righteous sons, asked curiously: "Isn't fighting a war just fighting by force?" As long as our fists are harder, we can hit anyone! ”

Ai Nengqi heard this and wanted to echo again, but Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand to stop them from speaking, and then turned his head to look at his military advisor and asked, "I don't know what the military advisor thinks?" ”

Xu Yixian listened, shook his feather fan, looked at Zhang Xianzhong and replied: "Then the Duke of Xingguo came slowly, and sent troops to block our road to the north. The so-called soldier is fast, why is he advancing so slowly? ”

"What's so hard to guess then, isn't it just trying to contain us in this vast lake!" When Sun Kewang heard this, he showed a trace of disdain, and said lightly, "He's dreaming!" ”

After listening to him, Xu Yixian immediately stared at him, and asked with a serious expression: "Then let me ask you again, have you heard that the officials and soldiers of the imperial court came all the way and arrived at a place, and the first thing to do was to rebuild the local government, pacify the people, and even sing songs for the whole army, do you know what songs they sing?" ”

Sun Kewang was stunned when he heard this, not that he didn't know, it was his subordinates who brought the news and told him about it.

However, he didn't pay much attention to it at the time.

Liu Wenxiu didn't know, and immediately asked curiously: "Military advisor, the officials and soldiers of the imperial court still sing songs, what kind of songs do they sing?" ”

In fact, Sun Kewang didn't know the specific content, but Xu Yixian felt strange and sent someone to inquire about it.

This thing was meant to be widely advertised, so it was easy to inquire.

At this time, Xu Yixian was in the main hall and probably said the lyrics of "Defending the Yellow River" and "Three Disciplines and Seven Attentions".

What's a little funny here is that because the tune is so smooth, he sings as he speaks. Of course, it's not that kind of regular singing, but that kind of singing.

After finishing, he looked at Zhang Xianzhong with a serious expression and said: "That Xingguo Gong is the most capable of manipulating people's hearts, don't underestimate these, not to mention the morale of the court officials and soldiers, not to mention, the people's hearts have also been won over by them, if we lose the people's hearts, we will be struggling!" ”

Speaking of this, he reminded very solemnly: "The combined forces of Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai should have been far stronger than the Xingguo Gongsu Department at that time, but in the end, they were defeated. Why? ”

Just paused, and without waiting for others to answer, he replied himself: "Song Dwarf has warned about this, so it can be seen that force is only one aspect, although it is important, it is not omnipotent. The will of the people, that is, the will of the army, is also an important factor affecting the outcome of the war! ”

After finishing speaking, he picked up the golden cup on the coffee table next to him and took a sip of fragrant tea.

Xu Yixian is a military advisor that Zhang Xianzhong values very much, so he specially gave him a seat, and made a pot of fine tea from the palace to show his importance to Xu Yixian.

Several other Zhang Xianzhong's righteous sons didn't have this treatment, so they just stood there and discussed.

After seeing Xu Yixian drinking tea, everyone knew that he was finished.

Zhang Xianzhong's other righteous son, Li Dingguo, who was famous in later generations, nodded at this time, looked at Zhang Xianzhong, and said solemnly: "Father-in-law, what the military advisor said is extremely reasonable. In the past, the officials and soldiers of the imperial court we fought against, such as Zuo Liangyu's department, Liu Liangzuo's department, and other officers and soldiers, were mostly the same, and it was just ordinary to rob the people's things, and even often killed good people and risked their merits. Therefore the people hated them. ”

Speaking of this, he raised his voice and said: "It is precisely like this, even if we are defeated by the imperial court, we can immediately make a comeback, which is the reason why the people are back." His brothers are fighting, and those who have enmity with the officials and soldiers of the court also dare to risk their lives to fight, which is the heart of the army again. ”

Zhang Xianzhong nodded when he heard it, Li Dingguo further explained what Xu Yixian said, and it became clearer.

When Sun Kewang saw it, he was a little uncomfortable, and immediately snorted and said, "Who doesn't understand these truths?" Stepfather still needs you to teach? ”

"I ......" Li Dingguo listened and opened his mouth to explain, but in the end he didn't say anything and didn't argue.

When Zhang Xianzhong saw it, he didn't care, and it could even be said that he didn't want these righteous sons with heavy troops to wear a pair of pants well, so he didn't seem to see the discordant scene just now, but just looked at Xu Yixian and asked: "What do you think the military advisor should do?" ”

Obviously, the next most important thing is the battle for the hearts and minds of the people and the military, which is the so-called public opinion war in later generations.

Zhang Xianzhong knows this, but how to do it well, he still wants to listen to the advice of the military advisor.

But who knows, Sun Kewang grabbed the topic and replied first: "Father-in-law, this is actually very simple!" As long as we make up a song about what the officials and soldiers of the court have done, and sing it so that everyone knows about it! ”

When Zhang Xianzhong heard this, he just turned his head to look at him, and then turned back to continue to look at his military advisor, with a look of anticipation.

When Xu Yixian saw it, he put down the golden cup in his hand, glanced at Sun Kewang first, and said: "General Kewang is right, we have to talk more about the mediocrity of the court, the rampant corruption of corrupt officials, and the cruelty of the officials and soldiers, this must be done!" ”

Obviously, if he says that, then there is still a follow-up.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong continued to watch and did not immediately draw any conclusions.

Sure enough, I saw Xu Yixian suddenly stand up, his expression became very serious, and he said to Zhang Xianzhong seriously: "That Xingguo Gong came prepared this time, that is, the so-called people who are not good at coming will not come, so it is not enough to do this." In order to stabilize the morale of the army, there will be no lessons like Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai, so I implore the king to give the soldiers a hope, not let them treat themselves as thieves again, and lower the court officials and soldiers out of thin air. ”

Although he can be said to be a rebel, no one can deny that they are actually thieves. At this time, in order to highlight the meaning to be explained, he directly called himself a "thief".

Zhang Xianzhong obviously thought for a while, and then looked up at Xu Yixian, and said with the same serious face: "Then what hope can I give the soldiers?" ”

The four righteous sons standing below were also curious one by one, and they wanted to know what amazing words their military advisors would have.

They actually admire Xu Yixian very much, after all, Xu Yixian's ability can convince Zhang Xianzhong, let alone them.

I saw Xu Yixian say solemnly: "Didn't Li Zicheng claim to be the general of the Fengtian Initiative? It is better for the king to simply go further, directly claim the king, set up officials at all levels, and divide the ministers of civil and military affairs. In this way, the soldiers followed the king to know that the king was going to win the world, and once he succeeded, the soldiers had the merit of following the dragon. In the future, the war with the officials and soldiers of the imperial court will no longer be the relationship between soldiers and thieves, but the competition between the two countries! ”

As soon as he heard this, Zhang Xianzhong's four righteous sons were obviously excited, and they all looked up at Zhang Xianzhong, waiting for him to reply.

In fact, Xu Yixian's statement is not very abrupt.

Because when Zhang Xianzhong conquered the Luzhou Mansion, under the persuasion of Xu Yixian, he had already begun to set up local officials to govern the place.

However, at that time, his way of managing the place could actually be called an officer, and it was not a normal situation.

Zhang Xianzhong listened to his words, but he was not so excited, but frowned and said: "Military advisor, as the saying goes, don't you build a high wall and accumulate grain to become the king?" Why do you want me to be king? ”

He definitely didn't suspect that Xu Yixian meant bad intentions, but he didn't understand this joint, so he asked such a question.

Xu Yixian heard this, and immediately smiled and said: "This time and that time!" When Taizu of the Ming Dynasty was in the past, the rebels were everywhere, and the former Yuan army wanted to crusade against the rebels. And now, the imperial army is here to fight us, and it is impossible for us to hide to the side to accumulate strength. In this case, it is better to play the banner and give the soldiers a hope! ”

Hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong suddenly realized, it turned out that there was such a saying, and he admired his military talent even more in his heart.

After asking some more questions, he made a decision and did as the military advisor said.

So, what was originally going to be the beginning of Chongzhen's sixteenth year was advanced under the flapping of butterfly wings.

Zhang Xianzhong called himself the "King of Daxi", changed Wuchang to Tianzhufu, Jiangxia to Shangjiang County, and set up six departments and five armies to supervise the mansion, and appointed local officials.

In addition, he also opened a department in a very short time, recruited talents, and admitted a total of 30 jinshi and 48 students, all of whom were awarded state and county official positions.

All of a sudden, Huguang, Jiangnan and even the entire Ming Dynasty were in an uproar.