On the first day of the first month of the first month of 1644, the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng officially founded the country in Xi'an, and the country name was Dashun. He named Niu Jinxing as a scholar of Tianyoudian University, Song Xiance as a military advisor, Liu Zongmin as a general, Li Yan as a general, added six mansions of Shangshu, and established a full set of political institutions in imitation of the Ming system.

Zhang Xianzhong also occupied Chengdu at the beginning of this year, proclaimed himself emperor, named the country Daxi, called Chengdu Xijing, and formally established the Daxi regime.

In the first month of this year, Li Zicheng personally commanded the main army of 200,000 and swore to march eastward, aiming directly at the Beijing Division, which opened the prelude to the complete overthrow of the Ming Dynasty. The rebel army announced to the outside world that "three years of exemption, not a single person will be killed", "no killing, no love of money, no adultery, no robbery, flat buying and selling, free money and grain", these slogans were warmly welcomed by the people along the way, the rebel army was like a bamboo, unstoppable, the Ming Dynasty officials and defenders at all levels fled, the Ming court rule collapsed, and the end of Emperor Chongzhen was coming.

The city of Beijing has become a pot of porridge, and the princes, ministers, wealthy merchants and nobles have either moved to the south and fled, or they have transferred their hidden property everywhere, arranged for their families to move south, and even the concubines and eunuchs in the palace have packed up their finesse and are ready to flee for their lives. Some courtiers saw that the general situation of the Ming court was gone, some hung up their crowns and left, some secretly wrote a letter of surrender to the rebel army, preparing to serve as an internal response, and some fled to the special zone, hoping to be protected by the militia group.

Emperor Chongzhen has become a lonely man, he still insists on going to the court every day to manage the government, but his decree is not out of the Beijing Division, and the governors of various places have not listened to his greetings, and even the courtiers are not convened every time they go to the palace. Chongzhen saw that half of the rivers and mountains were lost, and felt sorry for the ancestors and ancestors, and he refused the courtier's proposal to move the capital, and was determined to live and die with the capital.

Chongzhen ordered the defenders from all over the country to enter the king of Beijing and prepare to fight the trapped beasts, but except for Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Shanxi, who was ordered to bring 8,000 Shanxi battalion iron cavalry to answer the call, the soldiers and horses of other towns and Wu Sangui, who was close at hand, were not moved, and in desperation, Chongzhen appointed Lu Xiangsheng as the governor of Zhili and the marshal of the Chinese army in the capital, commanding all the garrisons of Zhili and Jinggi to resist Li Zicheng's attack. In order to make the Ming Dynasty continue to burn incense, Chongzhen sent the crown prince Cihuan into Zhou Kui's mansion, arranged the third son Cijiong to Lu Xiangsheng's mansion, and instructed them to protect the two princes to break through separately and go to Nanjing to take over the throne once the city of Beijing was broken.

In the face of the upcoming changes, Wang Qiang presided over a high-level meeting of the Taiping Sect to discuss the next strategy. Present at the meeting were the elders of the Taiping Sect in the SAR and the chief and deputy altar masters of each altar, but Li Gang did not attend because of his special status, but only put forward his own proposal through a letter.

In the lobby of Wang Qiang's mansion, Wang Qiang sat in the middle, and the leaders of the Taiping Sect all stared at Wang Qiang with solemn expressions, waiting for him to give instructions. Just a year ago, Wang Qiang said about the dream of God when he established the religion, and there were still many people who had doubts at that time, but just entered the first day of the year of Jiashen, "the emperor star is dim, Li Chuang is the emperor" This article was fulfilled, according to the current situation, "Chongzhen is dead, Daming is about to fall" This article is also about to happen, everyone can't help but believe what Wang Qiang said about the dream of God, and he has become more unfathomable in the eyes of everyone.

Wang Qiang coughed and began to speak: "Ladies and gentlemen, Li Zicheng led the troops straight to Beijing, Beijing City cannot be saved, the demise of the Ming Dynasty is just around the corner, the world is in turmoil, it is impossible for the Taiping Sect to continue to develop in the north, we must consider the next strategy, how should we deal with the changes, I would like to ask you to talk about your thoughts." ”

Shang Dayong clenched his fists and said: "Sect Master, now that the emperor has appointed Lu Xiang as the commander, he will command the defenders of the Beijing Division, and our militia and the garrison of Tongzhou are also under his command, if Li Zicheng attacks Beijing, we will take care of it or not."

This question is actually something that Wang Qiang has always felt embarrassed about. Li Zicheng has a strong army, and his own men and horses can't withstand the rebel army, and the most important thing is that Wang Qiang still doesn't want to directly conflict with Li Zicheng from the bottom of his heart, after all, Li Zicheng is still deeply popular with the people. If he didn't have his son and Concubine Li in Beijing, then Li Zicheng would have come and just evacuated, but now he had to try to rescue his relatives.

Gu Yanwu said: "Now, Li Zicheng's army will soon reach Beijing, and our materials and military academies in the Special Administrative Region need to be moved in advance to avoid being damaged and scattered in the war." ”

Leng Feng said: "Chongzhen is mediocre, the people's hearts are lost, we can no longer work for him, besides, according to the foreshadowing of the sect leader, the destruction of Beijing City and Chongzhen's death are destined by God, and we can't protect it if we want to." We're just going to leave now. Gu Yanwu and Tian Jingming also nodded in approval.

Wang Qiang is not good at telling everyone about wanting to save Concubine Li and his son, after all, it is not a glorious thing to steal the emperor's wife and give birth to a son. He got up and walked around the hall, thought about his rhetoric, and then sat down and said: "We established the Taiping Sect to create a peaceful and prosperous world, neither against the imperial court, nor do we want to become enemies with Li Zi, our main enemy should be the Manchu Qing." If we want to develop and preserve our power, we must have the support of the common people. ”

"If we withdraw now, it will be tantamount to an open reversal, where we will retreat, and the southern provinces are still big after all

The world of the Ming court, can we be allowed to go west is Li Zicheng's world, then Li Zicheng has already called the king, can we be allowed to survive and develop in his territory, and if we withdraw, the court will put the crime of the fall of Beijing on our heads, although the people all over the world do not support the court, but they will also look down on us, you wonder if this is the reason?"

Everyone thought about it along his train of thought, and it was true that Li Zicheng went all the way east, and whether the officials and soldiers fled or surrendered, they were looked down upon by others. Everyone couldn't help but nod.

Wang Qiang saw that his words had worked, and then said: "So we can't withdraw openly now, but we must be prepared to withdraw." Li Zicheng came from the west, and he must send the main force to attack Beijing from the west first, and divide his troops to surround Beijing from the north and south and from the east. In addition, Li Zicheng's team also has our Taiping Sect brothers, and they can send a letter to Li Zicheng, saying that the defenders of the Special Administrative Region do not want to become enemies with Li Zicheng, and will withdraw by themselves at that time. ”

The Tianji Altar Master Jin Song stood up and said, "Sect Master, we are secretly developing sect members in Li Zicheng's army, and we are basically peasant troops who only joined after joining the sect. I think we should write a letter to Li Zicheng in the name of the sect leader to show that our attitude is good. Ask the Lord to decide. ”

Wang Qiang nodded in agreement.

After some research, the meeting decided:

First, concentrate the forces of the Taiping Sect in the south, move the Taiping Sect headquarters to Wuchang, Hubei, and transfer the materials and militia groups of the northern rudder to Wuchang, in preparation for the formal formation of the Taiping Army.

Second, Yunnan will be used as the second base for development, and the military academy will be moved to Kunming, Yunnan, as an important base for the Taiping Sect to organize and train the new army, train cadres, and raise food and wages.

Third, it is necessary to draw forces from various localities to expand the establishment of the military guard in the general rudder, and make preparations for contingencies together with the militia groups of the special administrative region.

Fourth, Gu Yanwu and Tian Jingming went to Yunnan to take charge of the military academy and the Taiping Sect business. Leng Feng led the staff of the general rudder hall and the altar to Wuchang to be responsible for the preliminary preparations for the settlement of the general rudder and the establishment of the army. Shang Dayong, the three brothers of the Yan family, Xiaoshanzi and Jinsong led their soldiers and horses to stay in the SAR to cope with the changes. Inform Li Gang to stay with Wu Sangui for the time being, and move according to the change of situation.

Fifth, inform all rudders to actively prepare for contingencies, and if there is chaos in the local area and cannot settle down, they will all be transferred to the Wuchang rudder, and leave reliable people to lurk secretly.

Sixth, the identity of the sect leader can be publicly announced to the sect, and the news that Wang Qiang has already recovered can be announced.

At the end of the meeting, Wang Qiang asked Gu Yanwu to write a letter to Li Zicheng in his own name, stating the teachings of the Taiping Sect and expressing his agreement with Li Zicheng's current proposition and his willingness to cooperate with him. In addition, he affirmed the potential threat of the Manchu Qing outside the Guan, hoping to attract Li Zicheng's attention, and said that once the Qing army invaded, he would join forces with Li Zicheng to fight against the Qing army.

A few days later, the envoy who sent a letter to Li Zicheng returned, but the result was a great disappointment to everyone.

Today, Li Zicheng has occupied most of the northern region, with 600,000 cavalry and 400,000 infantry, and has become the most powerful force in the world. This time, he personally led 200,000 elites to the east, along the way, the remnants of the Ming Court were destroyed, and the defenders of the Ming Court surrendered one after another, and they were supported by the people along the way, and he was confident that the world was already in his pocket, and he could not help but breed a sense of pride and complacency, and he did not put the remnants of the Ming Court in his eyes at all.

When the messenger returned, he recounted in detail what had happened to Wang Qiang, monk Dayong and others

On that day, Li Zicheng was discussing with the generals in the tent, and the Chinese army came to report that the Tianping Sect had come to deliver a letter. Li Zicheng and the generals of the peasant army also knew a little about the Taiping Sect, but they didn't pay much attention to it, thinking that it was just some kind of incense hall and gang organization through superstition.

The messenger entered the big tent, explained the intention, and then handed Wang Qiang's letter respectfully, Li Zicheng silently read the letter, and suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahahaha" He got up and shook the letter with his hand and said to the generals: "Everyone, this letter is actually the letter of the little eunuch who won the battle in the Northeast and was stupid later." Guess he's going to do it?"

All the generals also laughed, and someone said: "Then you still need to guess, you must want to vote for the king." "Why do we need a eunuch, just wait for the king to ascend the throne in Beijing and become the emperor, let this kid tell us stories and relieve everyone's boredom, hahahaha."

The messenger made the listeners humiliate their own sect leader in this way, and they were angry, but they had a heavy responsibility on their shoulders, so they only bowed their heads and remained silent.

Li Zicheng walked down the steps, handed the letter to the advisers around him, and then said in a contemptuous tone: "If he came sincerely, I read that he has not done too many evil things, and he has resisted the Tartars, maybe I can spare him a dog's life." But he was ashamed to ask me to work with him, which was really wishful thinking. There is also that Shang Dayong, who was there at the beginning

The northwest is our mortal enemy, killing many of our brothers, such people, not to mention cooperation, are coming to surrender, can my brothers agree?"

"You can't be a eunuch who brings disaster to the country and the people, there is no good thing, you will only slap the horse and oppress the people."

"The surname Shang can't stay, he killed our brother the most in Tongguan"

Everyone expressed their opinions.

Li Zicheng continued: "As for the Manchu Qing outside the Guan, there is nothing to be afraid of. They live in a corner, the land of projectiles, although ferocious, but how many people can the whole clan add up to my Han people are a thousand times or ten thousand times his, each person can drown him with spit, I Dashun has millions of soldiers, and the Qing people dare to attack, so I will raise troops to level his lair. The little eunuch actually used this to bluff me, it's ridiculous. ”

At this time, the general Li Yan had already read the letter, he was known as Li You, and he had been saved by Wang Qiang, so he paid more attention to Wang Qiang's affairs, and knew that Wang Qiang was not easy to mess with, and now he saw that Li Zicheng obviously wanted Wang Qiang to die, and he had the heart to reconcile, so he said: "Wang, although this Wang Qiang is young, he has defeated the Qing army twice, and he is also a capable minister in the Ming court, and now he has created the Taiping Sect, and the slogan is also to eliminate violence and calm the people, which is really a usable talent, so I suggest that it is better to say that this person is lowered, Wouldn't it be better for me to use it? ”

Li Yan took advantage of the severe drought in the north to actively develop peasant uprisings in several provinces, laying the foundation for Li Zicheng's comeback, and Li Yan's measures to reassure the people, such as "free grain in equal fields", now seem to have indeed achieved miraculous results and won the support of the common people. However, recently Li Zicheng has become more and more unpleasant to see Li Yan, he feels that Li Yan is self-assured of his merits, does not take himself seriously, and often puts forward opinions that are contrary to his own to show his ability, and Niu Jinxing privately said to himself that there have been rumors in the army that Li Zicheng can win the world, and more than half of the credit is Li Yan's. Now Li Zicheng saw that Li Yan expressed a different opinion again, he was dissatisfied, and thought angrily: "You really jumped out again, even if you are Zhuge Liang, I am not Liu Adou, how can I be at your mercy"

Li Zicheng glanced at Li Yan and said, "Hmph, the general's words are wrong. If Wang Qiang really surrenders sincerely, why do you want to say that you want to cooperate with us, if you really want to eliminate the tyrants and calm the people, then you can go directly to our rebels, why do you have to set up something to teach him maybe he has some ability, but we have no capable people in the Dashun Dynasty, there are no capable people, how can we defeat the Ming Dynasty, Shang Dayong is the executioner who slaughtered our rebel army, you let me cooperate with him, how can I be worthy of those dead brothers, and how can I appease so many soldiers, this world is all brothers with blood and life in exchange, not me, Li Zicheng alone, It's no one else. I know that this little eunuch once saved your life, but I can't break the hearts of so many of our brothers because of his personal abolition. ”

Li Zicheng's arrangement made Li Yan as uncomfortable as a thorn in his back, he couldn't hold it back, and quickly knelt on the ground and said: "The king's lesson is that Li Yan was confused for a while before he said this, and I was favored by the king's knowledge, and I would never dare to abolish the public for personal reasons, and ruin the king's military morale." ”

Li Zicheng was relieved when he saw Li Yan admit his mistake, helped him up and said: "Eh, general, please get up, you and I are all brothers who share life and death, why be polite, I know that you just said unintentionally, besides, the little eunuch saved your life, is it normal for you to intercede for him." He turned his head and raised his voice at the Taiping envoy and said: "You go back and tell the little eunuch that if you want to come down sincerely, you will prepare 500,000 taels of silver as a gift for Jin Jian, and take your men to vote, I see that in the face of General Li Yan, you can spare him from dying, otherwise, let him wash his neck and wait for the knife to roll."

In the lobby of Wang Qiang's mansion, the envoy told the story of the incident in 1510, and the lobby was silent, and everyone was silent, and they had all the ideas in their hearts.

Wang Qiang listened, and said in his heart: "It seems that Huang Taiji's analysis was very correct at the beginning, this Li Zizhi is just a reckless hero, not enough to achieve great things." He said slowly: "Since this is the case, I'm afraid we will inevitably have a battle with Li Zicheng." However, we can't fight hard, once the Dashun army attacks, we will block it on both sides a little, and then quickly evacuate. Now that Li Zicheng is powerful, it is expected that he looks down on us, so you don't have to care. ”

Shang Dayong said indignantly: "At the beginning, I did kill a lot of them in the northwest to suppress bandits, but at that time, each was its own master, since they have a grudge, I don't ask them, and in the future, on the battlefield, I may not know who will lose and who will win." ”

Gu Yanwu also said: "That's right, I see Li Zicheng as a person, but he just relies on the courage of a moment to fight the world, without the mind and strength of the hero, such a person can't become a hegemon, and it doesn't matter if he joins forces." ”

Wang Qiang said with a smile: "But this envoy sent the letter to be rewarded, at least I know that the Li Yan under Li Zicheng's account is the Li You I rescued in Yanzhou, this person has some skills, and now he is obviously at odds with Li Zicheng, maybe he can be used by me in the future." ”

After some deliberation, everyone divided up and prepared according to the plan that had been made.

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