Dingguo escorted Zhang Xianzhong all the way to the west, while Zuo Liangyu joined forces with Chen Hongfan and pursued closely behind.

Although Zhang Kewang resisted all the way back, the old battalion dragged his family and moved slowly, and finally caught up with the official army in Yunxi County.

In the face of the roaring officers and soldiers like a tide, Zhang Xianzhong had no way out, so he had to pull all the people into a mountain forest, and the officers and soldiers followed, and they surrounded this mountain forest.

The night was getting dark, and seeing that the officers and soldiers had no intention of attacking for the time being, Zhang Xianzhong ordered each battalion to set up more sentry scouts and strengthen vigilance, and then found a big stone nearby to sit down, and asked the soldiers to bandage their wounds while asking about Zhang Kewang's whereabouts: "Dingguo, is there any news of Kewang?" ”

Dingguo held the plum blossom gun in his hand, guarding Zhang Xianzhong's side, and when he saw his father asking, he immediately put the gun horizontally and reported: "The child has sent scouts to inquire around, and there is no news of the eldest brother for the time being." ”

Zhang Xianzhong sighed slightly, and asked again, "Where is this?" ”

Dingguo then replied: "Father, this is already the boundary of Yunxi, and not far to the west, it is our hometown in Shaanxi." ”

Hearing that he was about to arrive in Shaanxi, Zhang Xianzhong suddenly fell into deep thought, and it took a long time before he came back to his senses.

I saw Zhang Xianzhong move a position slightly to the side, patted the stone, and motioned for Dingguo to sit down next to him. Waiting for Dingguo to sit down, Zhang Xianzhong glanced at him with deep eyes, then raised his head to look at the sky, and asked thoughtfully: "Dingguo, do you know who the woodcarved statue I worship every day is?" ”

"I remember when I was young, the child once asked about his father, and the father said that he was your savior, but he didn't seem to tell the child his name." Dingguo searched in his memory for a long time, and finally shook his head and gave up.

Zhang Xianzhong smiled bitterly, and then told Ding Guodao: "His name is Chen Hongfan." ”

"What? Chen Hongfan? That Chen Hongfan who joined forces with Zuo Liangyu to chase down us? Suddenly hearing this name from Zhang Xianzhong's mouth, Dingguo opened his mouth a little incredulously.

Zhang Xianzhong nodded, and then said to himself: "It's him!" I think back then, I Lao Zhang was still a general under the command of the general soldier Wang Wei, and later because of the crime, he should be beheaded for the crime, and Chen Hongfan, who was a general at the time, desperately pleaded for mercy, and I Lao Zhang saved his life. Without him Chen Hongfan, how could I Lao Zhang live to this day? Every time I think of his kindness, I carve his statue in the army, worship it every day, and worship him like a reborn parent. ”

I didn't expect that Zhang Xianzhong, who was the commander of the Xiying Righteous Army, would be the official generals who were not in the same place as the army every day.

Zhang Xianzhong didn't pay attention to Dingguo's reaction, and looked up to the sky and sighed: "Now that we are sitting here, it can be said that there is no way to heaven and no way to enter the ground!" Thinking about it, I'm afraid the only chance is on him Chen Hongfan. ”

"What are you going to do?" Dingguo was still immersed in the shock just now, and asked casually absentmindedly.

Zhang Xianzhong stroked his long hair lightly, and said with a sad smile: "If it is just you and I leading a small group of light cavalry to break through, let him have ten times more officers and soldiers, what can I do?" However, the old camp family is here, and they really have more than enough strength to do it, and the only way to do it today is to gamble! ”

It was only at this time that Dingguo came back to his senses: "Father, could it be that you want to plead with Chen Hongfan and ask him to release a way out?" ”

"Dingguo, Lao Tzu is going to go to Chen Hongfan's camp to see him in person, but now that Kewang is not here, everything in the army will be handed over to you for the time being!" Zhang Xianzhong stretched out his injured right hand and gently patted Dingguo's shoulder, then supported his thigh with his left hand and struggled to stand up from the stone.

"Never! It's too risky! If Chen Hongfan doesn't remember the old love of the past, and takes his father to invite merit and reward, what should he do? Ask your father to write a letter and let the child go for you! Hearing that Zhang Xianzhong was going to Chen Hongfan alone to negotiate, Dingguo couldn't help but be shocked, and hurriedly got up to stop it.

Zhang Xianzhong pressed Dingguo back on the boulder, and repeatedly advised: "No one can do this!" The matter has come to this point, and I am afraid that the only one who has the opportunity to talk about Chen Hongfan is my old Zhang! Dingguo, you remember to Lao Tzu, if you don't see Lao Tzu come back before dawn, so that everyone doesn't have to make senseless sacrifices, and they disperse! It's just a pity that there is no Xiying name in the world from now on! ”

After saying that, Zhang Xianzhong resolutely turned around, took only two personal soldiers, and went into the bushes and headed in the direction of Chen Hongfan's defense area, and the three figures quickly disappeared into the night.

After Zhang Xianzhong left, Dingguo immediately ordered the whole army to be on standby, once there was news that Zhang Xianzhong was detained by Chen Hongfan, he immediately sent troops to rescue, but the scouts sent out wave after wave, but they never brought back the news of Zhang Xianzhong.

I don't know how long it took, but suddenly there was a chaotic sound of footsteps in the silent night sky.

"Someone! Urgent alert! I don't know who let out a low roar, and everyone instantly raised their vigilance, and all eyes converged on the bushes.

After a while, I saw three black shadows coming out of the bushes, one of them was wearing a white felt hat, with a yellow face and long hair, and several layers of bloody coarse cloth wrapped around his cheeks and forehead.

Seeing Zhang Xianzhong's safe return, Dingguo was overjoyed, hurriedly stepped forward, and said excitedly: "Father, you can be regarded as back!" I'm so anxious! ”

Zhang Xianzhong took off his felt hat, handed it to Dingguo casually, and took the cowhide water bag from the hands of his own soldiers on the side, drank a large sip of water with a bang, and then wiped his mouth vigorously, grinning: "Okay!" I Lao Zhang knows that Brother Chen is still angry! Dingguo, hurry up and let everyone gather, let's leave overnight! ”

With an order, the Xiying rebels in the encirclement extinguished their torches one after another, and their horses picked up their bells, slowly moving towards Chen Hongfan's defense area in the east.

Among them, Dingguo led 3,000 people from the Longxiang battalion to open the way in front, Feng Shuangli and Bai Wenxuan each led 2,000 troops to guard the left and right wings of the old camp, Zhang Wenxiu and Zhang Nengqi 10,000 people were the Chinese army, followed by Wang Shangli to defend the old camp, and Dou Mingwang took 3,000 people to be responsible for the broken back.

According to the prior agreement between Zhang Xianzhong and Chen Hongfan, after Dingguo arrived near the official army camp, he immediately had a torch lit and shook it from side to side.

When the officers and soldiers in the camp saw the fire, they immediately opened the front and rear gates, and then also raised their torches and shook them in the direction of the woods.

Dingguo received the signal from the opposite side, and immediately led the soldiers of the Xiying camp to rush out of the woods, and under the cover of the night, quickly passed through the official barracks.

Seeing that the front army was not stopped, the old battalion and the men and horses on the left and right wings also rushed out of the woods one after another, passed through Chen Hongfan's defense area, successfully jumped out of the encirclement, and discarded all the gold, silver, jewelry and all kinds of baggage on both sides of the road.

Estimating that the old camp was almost far away, Dou Mingwang ordered the soldiers in charge of the broken Xiying to hold torches high, raise their voices, and rush out of the woods shouting slogans.

After all the Xiying rebels passed, Chen Hongfan slowly ordered 3,000 men and horses, went out of the camp and pretended to chase for a while, and then immediately led the army back, cleaned the battlefield, and picked up all kinds of materials discarded by Zhang Xianzhong.

Zuo Liangyu heard the roar of artillery fire from the east in his sleep, and the sound of killing shook the sky, for fear that Chen Hongfan would not be able to resist, so he hurriedly led troops to support, but when he arrived, how could he still see a trace of a rebel army.

In October, Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, entered Sichuan, trapped Chengdu for more than 20 days, besieged the city and sent reinforcements, completely annihilated tens of thousands of reinforcements and soldiers, killed the chief soldier Hou Liangzhu, and the deputy chief soldier Luo Xiangqian.

Zhang Xianzhong also gathered the rout army along the way, and converged with the Chuang Tian, Ge Li Eye, Lao Hui Hui and other departments in the area of Macheng and Qizhou, and once again supported more than 100,000 troops, and the momentum was revived.

At the same time, Yang Sichang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, thought that the soldiers and salaries were ready, so he formulated a plan to eliminate the thieves in March, and formally asked Emperor Chongzhen to issue a general encirclement and suppression order.

For a time, officials and troops from all walks of life were surging over.

On the fifth day of December, he sent Lu Ding'an, a student, into Baiguo Village, Macheng, intending to recruit Zhang Xianzhong, who was stationed here.

Zhang Xianzhong hesitated about Zhao'an, so he settled Lu Ding first, and then summoned the generals of Xiying to discuss the matter.

"Zhao'an! Zhao'an! Recruit a bird! According to Lao Tzu, he directly chopped off the head of the dog surnamed Lu with a knife and sent it to Xiong Wencan, so that he could break this mind from now on! Dou Mingwang slapped the table and scolded angrily.

"We killed so many court officials, and by the way, we dug up the ancestral grave of his old Zhu family, so can Chongzhen Lao'er be so kind? Can you have such a magnanimity, and you are not to blame in the past? Others believe it, but I don't believe it! Zhang Kewang didn't believe that the imperial court would sincerely recruit peace, and immediately expressed his opposition.

"Yes, yes, it must be Xiong Wencan's trick to trick us into laying down our weapons, and then catch them all! Jing Shuai, don't be fooled! Bai Wenxuan echoed beside him.

Zhang Xianzhong glanced around and asked, "So what do you mean by not accepting Zhao'an?" ”

"Zhao'an, it's okay!" Suddenly, a voice came from the crowd, and everyone heard the voice, and it turned out to be Dingguo.

"Oh? Dingguo, what do you think? In fact, Zhang Xianzhong was also thinking about Zhao'an, but after waiting for a long time, he didn't wait for a satisfactory answer, and finally heard Dingguo say that he could recruit An, and immediately couldn't help leaning forward and looking at him expectantly.

"Father, now Yang Sichang is spreading nets everywhere, fortifying step by step, wanting to trap us to death! However, he made the wrong crucial move! Speaking of this, Dingguo deliberately sold a pass, glanced at the generals in the tent, and then continued, "That's Xiong Wencan!" This person has always advocated the suppression of Fu instead of Fu, but Yang Sichang put him in the key position of the prime minister's military affairs, which is the biggest loophole in this big net! ”

"Er, what do you mean...... Fraud? Zhang Kewang patted his head and suddenly realized.

"Exactly, now that we are short of food, it is a dead end to be trapped here! In this case, why not push the boat down the river, pretend to accept Zhao'an, and then justifiably ask the court for money and food, recuperate, and wait for the situation to change in the future, and then raise the banner again! The child is foolish, please make a decision! After saying that, Dingguo sat back in his seat.

"Having said that, we are different from others after all, don't forget, we have burned the imperial tomb! If the court's recruitment is fake, and the extermination is true, won't we all become pigs and sheep to be slaughtered? Ma Yuanli's eyebrows were tightly locked, and his heart was full of worry.

The generals also had a lot of discussions, some supported the deception of the country, and some supported Dou's fame and hard resistance. Seeing that everyone had been arguing for a long time, but they couldn't come up with a reason, Zhang Xianzhong was irritable, so he ordered all the generals to retreat, sit alone in the big tent of the Chinese army, and think about it for a long time, which made people call Lu Dingan over.

Seeing Lu Dingan, Zhang Xianzhong asked him to go back and tell Xiong Wencan with a smile on his face, saying that he was willing to accept Zhao'an, but it would take some time to prepare and convince the generals in the army.

Lu Dingan was originally sent by Xiong Wencan to inquire about Zhang Xianzhong's tone, and he was ready to return empty-handed, but he didn't expect Zhang Xianzhong to say that he was willing to accept Zhao'an, Lu Dingan couldn't help but be overjoyed, and immediately bid farewell to Zhang Xianzhong, and rushed back to Xiangyang happily to find Xiong Wencan to invite merit and reward.

After sending Lu Dingan away, Zhang Xianzhong still couldn't make up his mind, and just when he hesitated, he suddenly heard that Zuo Liangyu's army was coming.

Zhang Xianzhong wanted to preserve his strength, so that he could bargain with Xiong Wencan in the future, so he was naturally unwilling to fight with Zuo Liangyu, so he immediately took the soldiers and horses of the Xiying camp, quietly left behind the other righteous armies, braved the rain and snow, galloped more than 700 miles day and night, and went to Gucheng.