Li Zicheng's awakening is still too late!

At the beginning of October of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng conquered Tongguan, captured Xi'an, swept Shaanxi, until the first month of the following year called the emperor the Eastern Expedition, swept Shanxi during this period, he once pinched a good hand.

If he can awaken at that time and realize that "winning the hearts of the people" means that you have to firmly grasp the net worth and life of the "people" first, and then you can think about how to get the hearts of the "people". That's it!

Otherwise, how would you know that you have won the hearts and minds of the people? Do you think about it in the palace by yourself? Isn't this the same as Emperor Chongzhen?

It's a pity that Li Zicheng felt too good about himself at that time, and he didn't realize that he didn't really get the "hearts of the people", but those poor people who were oppressed by the corrupt officials and gentry and the faint monarch who thought he was wise had a good impression of him as the leader of the rebel army and pinned their hopes on him.

That's not to win the hearts of the people, but the people have expectations for him, and they are still far from "de"!

If Li Zicheng could take advantage of the expectations of the people, by confiscating the land of the gentry and corrupt officials, redistributing it (it does not have to be distributed equally), and establishing a system of equal land granting, he would control the population and land in Shaanxi, Shanxi, western Henan, and northern Huguang, and at the same time distribute sufficient benefits to his followers.

The Great Shun Celestial Dynasty became a ......

But at that time, Li Zicheng knew that he was a big eater, and he hurriedly entered Beijing to climb the pole for the second time, but when he entered Beijing, he began to decline all the way, losing one after another, and it was only at the beginning of the second year of Yongchang (the eighteenth year of Chongzhen) that he had a little bit of a sense of recollection, but he was not fully awake! It's just that the "land reform pilot" is being carried out in Xiangjing and Shenyang, isn't it too late?

Just when Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing felt that it was "not too late", in Yulin Town in northern Shaanxi, the catastrophe was already coming!

Yulin Town, also known as Yansui Town, is one of the so-called three sides of Shaanxi, the other two are Ningxia Town and Gansu Town, which are now in the hands of Wu Sangui. As for Yulin Town, Wu Sangui has no interest in getting involved for the time being - this is because the territory of Yulin Town is really a bit rotten, and Wu Sangui can't look down on it.

Because the area of this town is not mainly distributed in patches, but in points and lines. From Qingshuiying on the edge of the Yellow River in the east to Huamachi in the west of Ningxia Guard, it stretches for more than 1,200 miles and forms a border defense line along the northern edge of Yan'an Prefecture. In order to guard this line of defense, the Ming court also spent a huge amount of money to build the Yansui border wall that was more than 1,700 miles long, and also built a pier defense system that stretched for more than 1,200 miles. Along the border wall of Yansui, 36 battalions and forts were also built and deployed. Tens of thousands of soldiers were stationed all year round to prevent the Mongol cavalry from going south.

Such a crooked and narrow border town, of course, has no oil and water, unless the neighboring Yan'an is taken together. And the Yan'an Mansion with thousands of ravines is not as good as Ningxia, which is known as the south of the Yangtze River, and it is not as good as Gansu, which can pass through the Western Regions and the snowy regions, and Wu Sangui, who is bent on finding a good territory for himself, naturally looks down on Yulin Town.

Although Li Zicheng was well aware of the importance of Yulin Town, his Dashun regime was still implementing the promise of "no levy for three years" until not long ago, and its finances were all dependent on eating large households and plundering. Naturally, there is not much spare strength to support the defenders of Yulin Town, and most of the defenders of Yulin now are the border troops of the Ming Dynasty. And these border troops resisted Li Zicheng's surrender in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, when Wang Shiqin, Hou Shilu, Hou Gongji, You Shiwei and others who were appointed and retired from the general army of Yulin Dao and retained were stationed in Yulin City, resisting Li Guo and Liu Fangliang's 70,000 troops for 13 days. After the city was broken, You Shiwei and other generals were executed, and the defenders in various parts of Yulin Town successively returned to Dashun.

Of course, Li Zicheng did not believe in such a Yulin army, and the incorporation of them was just that someone needed someone to guard the border wall of Yulin, so as not to prevent the Mongolian tribes in the Hetao grassland, who had long since declined, from going to Li Zicheng's hometown Tianbao Mansion (Yan'an Mansion) to spread wild.

As for the supply of military salaries, of course, it is impossible to give more, and it is impossible to give more to Li Zicheng! He, the emperor, deserves all the losses, what else can he expect?

Therefore, the Yulin Wei established by Li Zicheng has been poor since its opening, and only the three or two thousand Dashun descendants stationed in Yulin City are better supplied. The "border army" stationed in the 36th battalion fort and looking at the 1,700-mile border wall is really worse than when he was a soldier for Emperor Chongzhen.

At that time, there were not many salaries, but there was oil and water to eat in the border pass and the mutual market - because the Mongol Tumut Khanate had weakened early, the Yulin border wall had been relatively peaceful all these years. There are no Mongolian robbers coming south, but the mutual market between the two sides is very lively, and there is no land in Yulin Town, so they point to the mutual market to eat.

However, Li Zicheng ate the big Shaanxi merchants in Guanzhong, and directly ate the Yulin Mutual Market! As a result, a group of border troops who relied on each other for food could not survive, and most of them dispersed on their own. In the second year of Yongchang, the garrison of the 36th Battalion Fort in Yulin did not count the 3,000 Dashun descendants of Yulin City, and there were only 3,000 or 4,000 left.

These people took the sentry as a unit, scattered out, stationed in the camps, forts, and walls, forming isolated strongholds, scattered along the border wall that stretched for 1,700 miles, pretending that the Yulin border defense still existed.

Chen Boliang, the head of the sentry who was ordered to be stationed in Weiyuan Fort, walked down from the watchtower, and smiled bitterly at Gao Wei, the head of the department who lived with one of his sentry men: "It's been another day!" It's peaceful...... It seems that Wu Sangui and the Mongols don't look down on our Yulin! It's just that when will this faded out of the bird come to an end! ”

Gao Wei was a thousand commanders of the Ming army earlier, and after being absorbed by the Dashun Dynasty, he was sealed as the head of the brigade, and later his subordinates fled too much, so he was reduced to the head of the department, in charge of three posts.

When Chen Boliang came down from the city tower, Gao Wei was eating steamed buns outside the barracks downstairs of the city tower.

Hearing Chen Boliang's complaint, Gao Wei snorted: "It's good to be alive...... With a house to live in, a field to plant, and a girl to sleep with, what are you not satisfied with? There is nothing in Weiyuan Fort, no one can look at it, and it happens that Mrs. Ping Ping ......"

As soon as he said this, a snap broke the silence of the grassland outside the border wall. The Mongols on the steppe don't have firecrackers! This must be Gao Wei and Chen Boliang who let go out at night.

Gao Wei immediately stood up and listened attentively with Chen Boliang.

Gradually, I heard the sound of thunderous horses' hooves!

Both of them changed color, and the peace of Weiyuan Fort ended today.

I don't know if it's Wu Sangui's soldiers and horses or the Mongols on the steppe?

Immediately the horn of the assembly sounded over Weiyuan Fort, and the soldiers who had just finished dinner came out of their homes one after another, carrying bows and arrows, spears, swords and shields, and walked towards the north gate of Weiyuan Fort—they were all military families who had lived in Weiyuan Fort for generations, and their wives and children were also here. The land outside Fort Weiyuan is their main source of income now.

To keep Fort Weiyuan is to keep their homeland!

Gao Wei and Chen Boliang had already gone up to the city tower, and it was already dark at this time, and they only saw the torches in the distance merging into a rolling fire dragon. The enemy was in a neat formation, and at a glance it was clear that it was not the Mongols on the steppe.

And there are so many of them that a long dragon of torches flows across the boundless steppe, and there is no end in sight.

Soon, a second, third, and fourth fire dragon appeared in their field of vision!

"Yes, it's Wu Sangui?" Chen Boliang asked in a skeptical tone.

"It's impossible," Gao Wei shook his head, "I'm afraid there are tens of thousands ......of people...... What did Wu Sangui send so many soldiers to do? ”

Now Wu Sangui is still under the banner of the chief military officer of Daming Ningxia and Gansu, and the defenders here in Weiyuan Fort will not resist at all, and it is enough to send a few hundred people over.

Tens of thousands of people......

"It's Dongyu!" Gao Wei's face turned pale, "We're done...... Light beacons, beat war drums, and prepare the whole city for war. Whoever can take up arms will go to war! If Weiyuan Fort is broken by the Eastern Captives, none of us will survive! ”